#i’m rewatching shadow and bone btw

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

don’t mind me, just screaming into a pillow because of ben barnes

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

I’m already back to talk more about rewatching shadow and bone (s2) about two minutes after the previous post I have more to say about the stadwatch

We’re still barely into episode one btw, as I’m writing just got to Wylan’s introduction

Ok so my original perception of Pekka’s control over the stadwatch was that the showrunners had decided to extend his fake persona of Jakob Hertzoon and I thought that was going to be a really interesting angle, but then he references the Dime Lions and the general vibe changes quite quickly to an awareness of who he is. For me this has more of an effect in making the Stadwatch unlikable and untrustworthy to the public (excluding our characters since we know the stadwatch aren’t safe for them) than it does to make Pekka unlikeable. Like yeah he‘a clearly a bad person and presented so in the scene, but he’s alongside corrupt and dishonourable people acting in the name of the city and the government. I think it definitely perpetuates the idea that nowhere in Ketterdam is safe; not the Barrel, not the upper echelon, not the government. Of course the presentation of Wylan is also really key to that and I’m utterly heartbroken we won’t be able to see his characterisation taken even further than the brilliance of it in season two.

“You were in the boat with us from Os Kervo” “you were with the funny guys and the angry hat”

Side note: Lowkey was so distracted by thinking about the Crows that I was surprised when the Darkling showed up

[kuwdora]

The fraught experience of watching TV in a streaming entertainment economy.

I basically watch new TV with the expectation that current season I’m watching is going to be the last. That includes The Witcher Netflix, btw, but other shows, too. I get the feeling we’ve all sort of…come to this conclusion, right? We’re all so jaded because things get cancelled left and right. Nothing is safe. Nothing. :(

We all have to race to watch The Sandman or Shadow and Bone ASAP instead of enjoying a week-to-week drop. It’s exhausting. I don’t like feeling guilty when I don’t have the brain to watch things. I definitely have just streamed stuff in the background and watched it for real later, too.

Star Trek Prodigy on Paramount? Cancelled and pulled from the platform. People who purchased the rest of the season on Amazon never got the episodes because the rights were pulled. Star Trek is the flagship IP!!! And it STILL GOT CANCELLED. Even though it’s beautiful, and fucking brilliant and incredible television and had new episodes in the pipeline.

The other show I’m currently mourning is Moonhaven. I wrote about that show here. It was renewed for a second season! It’s an fascinating, atypical sci-fi TV premise with great leads and interesting worldbuilding and shooting locations in Ireland. And then AMC decided that they were not going to renew it. It’s similar what happened to Avenue 5 on HBO (Ave 5 was more of a Schroedinger’s Cancellation. It’s cancelled except maybe not? But it really is cancelled.)

A League of Their Own? Cancelled. Willow? Cancelled. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance? Sense8???? The list goes on and on. :(

I think for me it was in 2017 or 2018 that I really started internalizing this idea that none of my favorite, amazing shows were going to last. Santa Clarita Diet was axed by Netflix far too soon. Same with Altered Carbon. Those cancellations changed me, yeah…

I follow a lot of WGA writers on twitter and there’s been a lot of discussion happening about the Suits renaissance. Suits aired on the USA Network for 9 years with 16+ episodes/season. It’s been streaming on NBC’s Peacock platform for awhile and now has 8 seasons on Netflix. It’s currently the most-streamed show in Nielson’s history, something like over 2 billion minutes now. people are discovering it for the first time or coming back to it for a very happy rewatch.

This writer sums up the situation perfectly.

I also can’t track down the tweet where a writer was talking to a development executive at Peacock who admitted that they wouldn’t be able to get Suits made today.

Ugly Betty is another show that’s having a similar bump (thanks in part to Barbie, people catching up to how amazing America Ferrara is. Also watch Superstore!!) because people are looking for these longer shows that have character development and the longevity.

The only streaming platform I currently ‘trust’ with my vested TV interests is AppleTV. And I only trust them because I can see what kind of free reign they’re allowing their creatives to do with their shows. They’re specific and bold premises and commitment to characters and themes. Similar to Netflix in the early years. I doubt this will last much longer.

On Apple TV you’ve got incredible psychological thrillers like Severence and Silo happening. The musical comedy Schmiagdoon! too.

Ted Lasso got to have longer episodes and handed over showrunning duties to the lead actor with some questionable creative choices made in those seasons. It still got to complete the show on its own terms. Amazing.

Apple TV also has Mythic Quest which is a unique comedy in the streaming age.

It’s a workplace comedy about a fictionalized video game development company. Picture Ubisoft who also provides video game assets/interstitials for the show among other things. It’s Community meets Always Sunny in Philadelphia (features writers and actors from both). A comedy that examines toxic masculinity in a workplace, completely roasts the girlbloss tropes and the patriarchy. The main characters are really autistic and ADHD coded. The show is completely self-aware (at times painfully so).

But what sets Mythic Quest apart and what tells me Apple TV is letting creatives do their jobs: This show has Bottle Episodes! And flashback episodes that don’t feature any of the primary actors! But the episodes are still relevant to the the themes and character dynamics the show is exploring.

In a hyper-serialized streaming world where executives and product strategists are measuring engagement by minutes watched and how soon they watch, Apple TV is letting these folks make episodes you can watch out of order or skip. But they’re also episodes with high rewatchability. It’s a show with a ton of heart. Apple TV renews Mythic Quest ahead of a season premiere. It renews it for multiple seasons. I’ve found this commitment to the longevity of the show very heartening.

In the past I’ve fallen in love with shows that were irreverent, campy, self-aware comedies. All of these were ABC shows so I can’t even rail against the streaming model. But like Netflix shows they weren’t given enough time to reach a wider audience even though I think some of these definitely have Cult Acclaim by now. I showed up bright an early for most of these and my god. The cancellations stung so much. That pain just accumulated over the years. A precursor of what was to come. :(

Better Off Ted - 2009 show. Another workplace satire that was just ahead of it’s time in the way it showed us the gallows humor of being a cog in the capitalist system. Addressed sexism, racism and classism. Funny as hell. Portia di Rossi knew the fucking assignment and fucked its brains out with her performance. Maz Jobrani was only in like 5 or 6 episodes and he was SO GOOD. I made sure to see every local comedy show I could to see more of him once I saw him in Better off Ted. - currently streaming on Hulu

Galavant - 2014-2016 - a fantasy musical. Monty Python meets Princess Bride. Featuring creators and lyricists who worked on 90s Disney films. So fucking funny and cheeky and heartwarming and silly. The music is so GREAT. All my Witcher and Our Flag Meets Death friends need to check this one out if they need something new-to-them that is witty and light and heartfelt. - also streaming on Hulu

Don’t Trust the B— in Apt 23 - a 2012 show with Krysten Ritter!! Before she was Jessica Jones! This show has eccentric women characters and James van der Beek playing a fictionalized version of himself. This is a show that had so much potential and they aired everything out of order and and and and and and I loved it so much. - Hulu since this is again an ABC show. Vid Rec: Applause by elipie.

Selfie - JOHN CHO AND KAREN GILLAN! John Cho and Karen Gillan in a ROM COM. The screeching wails from fandom when this got cancelled. It was an amazing set-up, amazing chemistry. Funny, quirky. You could see the growth in both of the characters!! And! We Never! Got enough!! - seriously watch this on hulu if you can. John and Karen are AMAZING.

Every first season of Star Trek has been wobbly or had wobbily episodes that didn't work or actors were still getting to know their characters. Every first season. Including new Trek! The X-Files? Even rebooted again? I don’t think it would work. Heck, even if they made second reboot of Battlestar Galactica I’m not sure it’d last. FARSCAPE! Got cancelled! By SyFy! They (like Sense8 and Firefly and a few others) got to have a movie conclusion. But at what narrative cost?? The Expanse got cancelled and uncancelled. The Orville got cancelled and uncancelled. I can't get my hopes up about anything unless I know it's a "limited series" at the onset.

I'm exhausted and sad by the state of the industry. I hope the writers and actors get everything from the studios and we can see a shift back to the previous working models again. Better working conditions and pay and residuals.

So I'll eventually watch A League of Their Own and 1899 and I know I'm going to fucking love every moment that we got to have. And then mourn. And go dig up all the fanfic and vids and art that I can to get my fix.

I think for now I'm gonna join in the Suits rewatch cause I love the humor and the character growth and relationships are fantastic. I don't think I rewatched Suits or Ugly Betty since they aired.

[andthebubbles]

okayyy shadow and bone 2x08

was waiting for the other shoe to drop for soooo long and then it did and hehhh

i did read spoilers about nikolai but not too carefully, i knew about the monster but i didn’t realise it was gonna be THAT shadow thing

and omg alina!!! i didn’t read that spoiler. she can do the cut with the shadow thing now??? hecccc

so. how did mal come back to life? i liked it btw, i liked that he did, and he no longer loved her, that was pretty cool. esp since nina didn’t bring him back to life. i suppose kirigan is maybe in/part of him somehow

i wasn’t expecting inej to go on that ship. and why are they following a slaver ship; i suppose i would know that too if i read the books lol

nina you should’ve led with the heartrending stuff on rollins...... haaa

the coronation/ending was..................... look, i’m not so into gore, so i sorta looked away, and then i rewatched parts of bridgerton 2x04 to cleanse my eyes lol

actually, most of this ep felt a bit unbalanced, but it definitely paid off at the end, so how can i really complain

ngl i’m not entirely sure i’ll watch s3, mostly because the blood stuff in the coronation scene squicked me, but... it’ll be more than a year before s3 comes out (if it’s been renewed?) so i’m sure i’ll be over it by then

aaaanyway

ETA: so there should be no problem of nikolai telling alina he has the shadow thing in him, right? since he witnessed he do the cut with the shadow power thingies? i mean that’d be cool if they had a mutual freakout together lol

ETA2 - forgot to say several things:

- the scene with kirigan and alina was pretty cool actually, i always like it when the good guy and bad guy have a chat that isn’t basic af

- i thought more on it and perhaps alina brought back mal using (?) merzost? but idk how that works/what she would’ve had to do, so...

- can we get nikolai and alina trying to solve their shadow problems together haha

[lykademigod]

"My life was an unending, unchanging midnight. It must, by necessity, always be midnight for me. So how was it possible that the sun was rising now, in the middle of my midnight?" -Edward Cullen, Midnight Sun ❣ . Hello bookworms. 🥰 I am currently reading Midnight Sun. It's so nice to read about Edward's thoughts this time. Buuuut, I'm still Team Jacob ha 😅🐺 Btw, I heard Twilight Saga is now on Netflix. Will find time to rewatch it. Hehe. I still cant get over with Shadow and Bone TV Series tbh cause it was soooo good. Didnt expect that I'd come to love it even though they've placed the SOC with the same timeline as the SAB 🥰 Cant wait to see Season 2 💛💛💛 Stormhund ftw. 😍 . . . #mybookfeatures #bookstagramfeature #bookflatlay #twilight #twilightsaga #edwardcullen #midnightsun #picsart #bookphotography #bookseries #bookblog #l4l https://www.instagram.com/p/COVb6d7rn4C/?igshid=bv7kidjebyrb

[lover-of-trash-and-people]

bittersweet netflix shadow and bone finale (s1 e8) rewatch; accoutrement: white wine with ice cubes in it (no YOU'RE a mom drink shh)

my wine's like fruity I love her

light and darkness title card we love to see it

Inej looking at Alina before she goes below deck to hide <3

okay that 'what can you really do on your own' was like not fun that shit hurted

okay but Jesper's 'not enough'? <3

oh no my baby Zoya's first inkling that Darkles does not really care

omg Helnik just appeared and I remembered how much heartbreak I have to face in this episode

gods I love Danielle as Nina so so much

'this can't be it' said she with her pleading smile with downturned eyebrows MA'AM I-

don't break my dumb little heart

I might hate Calahan's little accent but they're making me tear up

oh gods I literally cannot keep a hold on myself when Dani's accent bleeds through with full force, it's like she comes more alive or smth

'I will keep you warm' SIR WHAT-

I am surprised they showed a leaning in for a kiss so soon but I'm not mad about it

her little eyebrow twitch at 'what are waffles'

when that rando said 'i hunt slavers now' a dread settled into me because I knew what was about to go down

Matthias looking somberly at the stuffed wolf's head </3

I am so incredibly entranced by this exchange between Fedyor and Nina and what it represents, it's very interesting that they pushed up their storyline to match with the timeline

damn it's kind of jarring to be back in the Fold

'REMEMBER WHO'S DRIVING'??!!!! *you better stop* meme, *i am, disgusted* meme, *oh wow, oh wow* meme

Mal you fucking idiot you could never take the crows by surprise

the music rising as Kaz starts explaining his thought process, fucking perfection

haha Mal bitchass Inej caught you

'Because if he isn't with Kirigan's crew, he's with ours' WHEN I TELL YOU I SCREAMED

'And why would we destroy the Fold? It's the greatest weapon we've got' valid point at the moment but you know I don't necessarily agree with your methods

the use of the light tunnel in the show instead of Alina just being a super flashlight in the books is quite an interesting addition as well

is this an inappropriate time to point out how pretty Ben Barnes is

okay I kind of love the depiction of the shadow powers okay sue me

'they are traitors who tried to kill you' why are you suddenly making valid points despite having kind of committed low scale genocide

'i never said I was smart' YES MAL BE THE VOICE OF HIMBOS EVERYWHERE

Kaz's face going from 'can you believe this idiot' at Mal to 'fuck me I'm gonna do the same thing aren't I' at Inej

'For who would oppose us now?' *himbo romantic rival appears out of nowhere and shoots at him* god I love this show

him standing calmly in his ridiculous all black attire after nodding at his soldier to stop the himbo in his tracks, i fucking can't

could she summon light without the Darkling making her after he put the collar on her until the uhm moment in the books? idts but in the show she can hmm

'only because I'm not in the game' you tell him Jesper

not me snickering at 'you'll be seen not as a saviour, but as a heretic' LMFAO

'Shame. I'll have to give that speech again now.' THIS SHOW IS A FUCKING COMEDY AND YOU CAN'T PROVE ME WRONG

YES LET'S FUCKING GO SULI SOLIDARITY

Darkles casually whipping the Cut out like a shuriken or a throwing knife at Jesper because he shot at him lmao I can't

INEJ FUCKING GHAFA STABBED ONE THE OLDEST AND MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THAT WORLD AND THAT IS VERY TELLING OF HER POWER

that moment where you actually think that affected him despite having read the books and watched the show

and then he has to go and fucking say 'it will take more than this' and I can't be help but be a little bit impressed at this old fool's resilience

throwback to when he said 'the king is a child' sir you make some valid points sometimes and it does make it difficult to hate you

I would just like to inform everyone that it is currently 6:09 am IST and I am sipping my second mug of wine while watching netflix sab for the second time instead of doing my three papers that are due tomorrow

I'm sorry but Inej jumping to check on Zoya after she gets knocked over by the volcra? first class display of solidarity and sisterhood as well as Inej's inherent kindness

Kaz jumping in front of a FUCKING VOLCRA AND STABBING IT WITH HIS CANE to save Inej, you best believe love is true, kids

god the volcra are so ugly and gross, they did such a good job with them

they kind of remind me of these creatures (I think they might have been called Hollows or smth) from the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children movie

STAG VISION TIME

despite my dislike for the callous nature with which the stag plotline was handled, I kind of dig the stag vision scene

'It's just me and you now, Alina. And we're all we need, anyway.' I actually feel bad for this old fool simping for this wonderful gorgeous powerful woman despite lying to her and manipulating her and exploiting her power

okay 'I never needed you' *stabs the bone fragment out of his hand* beautiful power move I fucking love you so so much

alright ben looking like ✨ that✨ not only in physical pain but also emotional pain at what the Darkling clearly considers another betrayal from this girl he wants to give the world and maybe? loves? maybe? or at least has feelings for makes my fucking heart hurt while simultaneously soar at Alina taking back control and reclaiming her power as her own and stepping into her own

'how do you claim such power' okay could have had better dialogue there writers

the fucking score lifting as she says 'you cannot claim what was not given to you' good people my heart is full

one day I'll talk about my defense of the chosen one trope because god damn I kind of love it

hmm I wonder was that brief hesitation that we saw on Alina's face due to her thinking about the 'you chose to betray our people' comment or the 'i was trying to save us' comment because that will define some of her actions in the later seasons (hopefully god if we get some, I honestly don't know what with this stupid brownface debacle)

I'm not saying talking about brownface and pointing out that it is wrong (for further context, I am actually brown) and harmful is stupid btw I'm talking about the incidents involving brownface in question

I don't wanna talk about this anymore but I might feel like I need to and end up posting about it idk

goodness Ivan actually believing in this cause makes me so sad because he too has been victimized by the system that ostracizes Grisha and he has every right to feel the way that he does

Ben actually fighting in that ridiculously heavy cloak and kefta when he's about to turn 40 this year makes me super impressed because I as a 19 year old sometimes wake up with muscle pulls after weeks of inactivity it's weird idk

also I understand that this Mal Darkling fight is completely fanservice and serves nearly no purpose to the plot in general but like I? love it?

'I don't have to kill you Darkling. Your past will do it for me' YES HIMBO GO OFF YOU TELL THAT OLD MAN GODS THAT WAS SEXY AS FUCK

maybe it's because I know Darkles will survive and will come out of it more powerful but I can't get myself to feel bad for him at the moment

Inej and Mal tearing up at Alina's condition made me almost feel something despite it being super obvious she was gonna be fine and save their asses at the last moment

HER POWER

a solitary Kaz in spotted on the western side of the newly expanded fold in his signature all black emo boy look

okay but the crows with zoya and malina is such an adorable team? I literally love them so much?

INEJ'S FUCKING SMILE AT ALINA GIVING HER THE DAGGER AND KAZ LOOKING AT HER AGSGSGSHSJSJSK MY HEART CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE

SHE KNOWS JUST WHAT TO NAME IT WELL GIRLIE I KNOW IT TOO AND MY FUCKING HEART IS LITERALLY GONNA BURST

okay I know they had one interaction but Mal and Jesper would be besties in another universe

Kaz glaring at Jesper when he answers ''course not' to Alina's 'will you still be trying to kidnap me?' tell me one fucking adaptation that got the dynamics between characters this perfectly

okay why do I love that Alina kept the jewellery as maybe a small nod to she has the wits to, um, you know, I don't wanna say steal, but, um, yeah, steal it because she knew she would need money to survive on the run

oh Jessie I love you so much I wish you hadn't said those things on you ig story about the brownface

it's like every single celeb I grow attached to god's like nope that one is going to do or say something problematic (hey btw im not reassigning blame to god for stuff people have done out of their own free will, 'twas a joke)

AAAAAAAH them saying 'the deal is the deal' in the show even though they didn't have to but like they did and I love them for it

Inej literally not being able to not stare at Kaz's face and smile after this <3

'I didn't expect it to burn at all. But it can be destroyed in the end. Just like him' babe you're not wrong but like um just you wait

god Mal being on supportive boyfie mode is well, absolutely adorable, obviously, but I wish we got to see more of him as a person outside of his attachment to Alina

kaz my little demjin I wish you hadn't have had to suffer so much to meet the crows and find your calling

fastforwarding Zoya's arc is also an interesting choice to me

I wish the hug hadn't been done though, it didn't feel earned

maybe Alina awkwardly and half-heartedly (remember, at this point the alliance is fresh and they still don't entirely trust each other) reached for a hug and Zoya avoided her? and then the rest of Zoya's lines followed? that would have made more sense to me at least

I love Sujaya as well, she brought life into Zoya with whatever little screentime and scraps of writing she got

inej asking kaz 'what's your angle?' beep bop bleep morp I sense another incoming embarrassing love confession

'but we do need you' *stares at her face intensely* 'I need you' ah look at the clock, look's like it's time to screech and flap your arms like you're a volcra because you're incapable of containing your emotions

NO YOU CAN'T GO DIRECTLY FROM KANEJ PROGRESS TO HELNIK BREAKUP (TEMPORARY, MIND YOU)

helnik my loves you don't deserve this I'm so sorry for both of you

Matthias fucking smiling ruefully while he says 'this was... just a cruel joke all along' THIS IS NOT FUCKING OKAY

omg hellgate

AAAAAAAAH NINA IS ON THE SAME FRAME AS THE OG CROWS I CAN'T HANDLE THIS

CAMERA PAN FROM KAZ SAYING 'JUST HOW THIS ALL STARTED... WE'RE GONNA NEED A HEARTRENDED' TO NINA OVERHEARING HIM AND LOOKING OVER?????!!!!!! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING THIS TO ME?!

Nina genuinely being curious as to the status of the sun saint because she obviously still cares

Also, 'But she is a Saint' okay Kaz trying to earn brownie points you have succeeded

DID THAT SAILOR JUST SAY 'GOED MORGEN FENTOMEN' TO MALINA BECAUSE I AM NOT OKAY WITH THEM JUST THROWING THAT IN MY FACE ALL OF A SUDDEN

gods I know I'll probably see them again but my heart is full of sorrow as my eyes drink in the sight of my crows for the last time for a while

I know people were annoyed at the meadow flashbacks but guess what? as a darklina, I loved them

'now that the Darkling is dead' could have phrased that a little differently my dudes that line needed to hold more weight

am I glad that they showed Darkles in this state with his nichevo'ya as a tasty little cliffhanger despite not being entirely true to the source material? maybe but only because Ben Barnes saying 'follow' and the nichevo'ya doing exactly so sent a chill down my spine

well, that's it for now, I'll have to move on I guess, get back to my real life which I'm obviously not ready to do

thank you to whoever actually read these things

I probably should have just made reactions or commentary videos instead but I'm lazy

my tumblr will probably go into inactivity once more as I emerge from my stint in the grishaverse

it was quite short (less than 2 months), considering the length of my other obsessions but it was definitely more intense than the other ones

[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

[morganadelacour]

I binge-watched Shadow and Bone today and I really loved it. It's definitely not perfect, but it still met my unbelievably high expectations. Buckle up, because I have a lot to say about it (even though I'll probably forget half of it).

First of all, can we talk about how beautiful and high-quality the set, the props and the cgi are?! I really loved how they made Ravka look. Sadly, we didn't get to see that much of Ketterdam, but I liked what I saw, too. The clothes are one of my favourite things about the show, especially the keftas. They are absolutely stunning, even better than I imagined them.

The plot was pretty good in my opinion. It followed the first book of the grisha trilogy pretty much precisely but was a little spiced up, I liked that. The crows added something to the story, but I think it could have worked without them. Also, I think for the crows it would have been better if they hadn't been part of it. To me, they just seemed a little out of place in Ravka and didn't fit the serious tone of the other scenes that well. That being said, I still loved seeing them on screen. I'm not sure if there were plotholes (I might be able to say more about that after a rewatch), I think not everything made perfect sense but there was also nothing too big that bothered me.

Now to the characters. As I have said time and time again, I absolutely love the casting. For the big majority of characters, the actresses and actors are spot on, in my opinion. Genya is one of the only main characters that I imagined pretty different, but I wouldn't say I hate her casting. For the grisha trilogy characters, I think they are all portrayed pretty well and complex and I even liked some of them (*cough* Mal and Alina *cough*) better than in the books. I am a little conflicted about the crows. I think the actors and actresses all did an amazing job and definitely had the right vibe, but some things felt a bit off. Jesper for example was reduced to "funny guy" a bit too much for my taste. Also, I have seen some praise for Amita's facial expressions but for my taste it was almost a bit too much? Don't get me wrong, I think she is the perfect Inej but sometimes there were just the smallest expressions that I found a tiny bit too much. I think part of this is also due to the fact that the Inej we see on screen is not the Inej in the books. She is younger, newer to criminal life and still shows quite a lot of emotions. I hope that will change in further seasons and we'll see how Inej gets used to the harsh world of the barell. I'm really unsure about Kaz. I love how Freddy portrays him but I think he is written a bit too soft and emotional compared to book Kaz. But more about that in the next paragraph.

Relationships - The relationship between Kaz and Inej progressed a bit too fast, in my opinion. Sure, some scenes between them were super cute and my Kanej feels were really strong, but how others have pointed out: They weren't supposed to be that familiar and open to each other at this point. Kaz should have been a bit more distant, a bit less obviously pining after her. But I can't say I'm totally mad about it because I still loved how cute they were together (and the fact that Inej killed her first man for Kaz had me screaming). The three "main" crows worked really well togehter, even though I hoped for Jesper to have a crush on Kaz and I'm a bit disappointed that it didn't happen. It was something I would have liked to be more obvious in the books but here they just erased it. Malina completely stole my heart, which I didn't expect. So did Fedyor and Ivan's relationship, btw! I ship them so hard and would have loved to see more of them and now I'm sad that Ivan is dead. I was kind of shocked when I first also shipped Darklina a tiny bit (it's honestly all due to the great chemistry between Ben Barnes and Jessie Mei Li). But when the reveal came and the Darkling showed his true colours, I was glad to ditch that ship again (I really hope it doesn't make a come back). Jesper x stable guy was something I didn't know I needed. I loved it, even though a part of me kept screaming "WELL, WHAT ABOUT WYLAN?!!" About Nina and Matthias: For some reason, I didn't enjoy their relationship as much as everyone else, it seems? I think it's because in the books, I really liked how we got to know more and more about their relationship slowly and in little snippets throughout the story, woven into the heist plots. In the show it was just chronologically shown to us (which makes sense, though) and we didn't have the comparison to their later relationship. But even with all that being said, they were still cute and I did have some Helnik feels.

I think that's it for the moment. To summarise: I liked the show a lot, especially the grisha trilogy part. The crows seemed a little bit out of place to me, but were still enjoyable to watch and gave me the feels. I absolutely adore how good the sets and props look. Thanks for coming to my ted talk. Seriously though, if anyone read all of this, thank you so much, I love you, but I also question your sanity.

[figueroths]

THE LATEST — 10/23/22 I AM NOW ON HIATUS 💕 among other things I recently started a new job that's demanding lots of adjustments in my personal life and I just don't really have time for tumblr!

my queue is on its last day of posts as I'm editing this, but my plan is to have all my shit sorted by the end of november, at which point I'll come back, fill any standing requests, totally rewrite this masterpost, pick up on my tracked tag, and start giffing again

moots u can always dm me or hmu on discord!

tracking #usermimsi !! tag me in any fandom listed under faves below, anything I've giffed or reblogged, anything wlw, sci-fi, romcoms, sitcoms, or musical theater, and anything else you really want me to see!

UPCOMING ♢ jatp meme ♢ new girl rewatch — continuation [x] ♢ batwoman rewatch ♢ 2022 film diary ♢ emoji association fills *feel free to keep sending requests btw* ♢ 911/ls meme — [prompts]

I'll update this post periodically 💕

EDITS ♢ edits  ♡ film  ♡ theater  ♡ tv   ♡ 911 lone star   ♡ heels   ♡ julie and the phantoms   ♡ lost in space   ♡ new girl   ♡ the new legends of monkey   ♡ saved by the bell   ♡ stargirl   ♡ superman & lois   ♡ titans ♢ past edits (prior blog) ♢ tutorial: how I gif

OTHER BLOGS @usersitcom (owner) @911verse (member) @911women (member) @tkstrandsource (member) @wlwgif (member)

OTHER TAGS ♢ chat tag ♢ text/shitposts ♢ liveblogs ♢ asks ♢

any shows/movies/books I liveblog are tagged "[title] lb" (sometimes abbreviated, like the vampire diaries is "tvd lb")

ABOUT knowing I have an addiction to the cw probably explains a lot abt me but luckily I am blind to my flaws 💅🏽

anyway I'm camille, I'm grown, and I'm bi & I'm vibing babie. love me some milfs, love romcoms and scifi, wish I could have a little scifi romcom with milfs 🥺👉👈

CURRENTLY WATCHING / FAVES ♢ batwoman ♢ big time rush ♢ dark matter ♢ dead to me ♢ dollface ♢ the expanse ♢ farscape ♢ the flash ♢ ginny & georgia ♢ heels ♢ high fidelity ♢ killjoys ♢ legacies ♢ letterkenny ♢ lost in space ♢ lovesick ♢ the magicians ♢ mcu ♢ mortal kombat ♢ nancy drew ♢ new amsterdam ♢ new girl ♢ the new legends of monkey ♢ pitch ♢ roswell, new mexico ♢ saved by the bell ♢ schitt's creek ♢ shadow and bone ♢ the shannara chronicles ♢ smash ♢ star wars (anakin esp) ♢ stargate atlantis ♢ stargirl ♢ still star-crossed ♢ ted lasso ♢ titans ♢ tvd ♢ upload ♢ the witcher ♢ y: the last man ♢ younger ♢ zep ♢ 911 ♢ 911 lone star ♢

[dreamofragtime]

Catch up game

Tagged by @theloversthedreamersandme82 💜💜💜 and @idoloveouradventures 😊 thank youuuu!

Tag 9 people you want to know better x

Last Song: The Truth (by Elizabeth McGovern) need I say more?

Last movie: omg I’m not sure but I guess it was a rewatch with hubby of “Victoria and Abdul” (I loved it, btw)

Currently reading: “Florence Nightingale e l’Italia”...yes I know it’s odd but it’s really interesting (and besides I’ve been raised in a family full of nurses and well I couldn’t be prouder of them all especially now)

Currently watching: “Shadow and Bone” on Netflix interspersed with episodes of Downton Abbey, Call the midwife, The Doctor Blake mysteries, because well...because that’s who I am!

Currently craving: pizza, but not just a normal pizza...the one from my favourite place

Tagging: @lunalove-blr @rahleeyah @andallthatmishigas @it-is-bugs @seven-dragons @mandalamarigold @crawleyfan @missush @doctoraliceharvey

[mllekurtz]

I was tagged by @saturdaysky and @renquise in the get-to-know-you meme! Thank you! It’s been a while since the last time I did something like this, and you guys have been so thorough in your answers, meanwhile watch me as I forget 99% of what’s been going on in my life recently.

Last Song: Spotify tells me it’s, unsurprisingly, a Clash song (Deny, specifically. I’m partial to their later albums, Sandinista! being my favourite, but there’s something refreshing in the early days high octane punk energy of a band whose bassist didn’t even know how to play bass when they started out. Fake it till you make it indeed). I usually go through long phases with the music I listen to (these days it’s a mixed bag of post-punk and indie rock) but I imprinted on a few bands when I was a child... mostly dad rock, now that I think about it. I wonder why /s

Last Movie: Bringing Up Baby with @stillseekwill, which neither of us had seen before. I’m honestly still reeling. How. Why. How. (I loved it, btw, but wow)

Currently Reading: hahahahah omg. Um. I’m definitely reading several things for work that I can’t talk about. I’m 70% into the last book of the Wayfarers saga by Becky Chambers, which I very much recommend. I started Melissa Caruso’s new series but I don’t think that I’ll finish that one if I’m honest (she’s great but I’m not in the right frame of mind as a reader). I’m following an embarrassing number of WIPs on AO3. I’m about to start the new Vox Machina comic book series. This is not even remotely it but it’s what I remember.

Currently Watching: Bridgerton and This is Us with my best friend; rewatching A Place Further Than the Universe with @floatysparrowthing; Shadow and Bone all by myself, surprisingly!!; and obviously Critical Role with a whole bunch of people.

Currently Listening: Rusty Quill’s Inexplicables, which is a lot of fun.

What is antipoetry to you: I have no idea and, based on the answers I’ve read so far, it doesn’t look like something I would like to know about, so I’m choosing ignorance.

Currently craving: I just had coffee and a slice of chocolate cake for breakfast, so nothing, actually! All my basic needs have been met!

Tagging @floatysparrowthing, @kmackatie, @pinehutch, @stillseekwill and whoever wants to do this!

[funforahermit]

more shadow and bone thoughts

- i watched a review on youtube last night and the person was complaining the whole time about how hard to follow this series was and how a lot of stuff probably only makes sense to people who are already familiar with the books. and i... disagree?? i came into this completely clueless, and i was fine?

- i love how genya uses pretty objects as colour reference when she's tailoring

- i'm laughing because in my last post i basically said ben barnes was too young, and since then i've heard so many people call him an old man xD (btw i checked his birth date and he's younger than me, so there.)

- i want to rewatch all of it

[flying-elliska]

tag nine people to learn about their interests : thank you @sinterblackwell for tagging me !

i suck at picking favorites tbh so this is going to be mostly based on recent stuff

MUSIC

fave genre? pop/folk/rock fave artist? florence + the machine fave song? achilles come down, gang of youths most listened to song lately? distorted light beam, bastille song currently stuck in your head? getaway car, taylor swift 5 fave lyrics?

"breathe so hard I thought I drowned" (biting down, lorde)

"be like the love that discovered sin" (be, hozier)

"à force d'y croire c'en est fini de vivre dans le noir" (comme si j'y croyais, pomme)

"clothe yourself in beauty untold and see life as a means to a triumph" (achilles come down, gang of youths)

"be the light in the dark of this danger, 'til the sun comes up" (a safe place to land, sara bareilles)

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | loud or silent volume | slow or fast songs | music video or lyric video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

fave book genre? fantasy fave writer? hhhhhh right now i really don't know fave book? mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia fave book series? right now, the bone season series by samantha shannon, i'm obsessed comfort book? sally lockhart series, philip pullman perfect book to read on a rainy day? six of crows/crooked kingdom, leigh bardugo fave characters? evelyn from the seven husbands of evelyn hugo (taylor jenkins-reid), lyra from the His Dark Materials series (philip pullman), the Fool from the Realm of the Elderlings series (robin hobb), jane eyre (charlotte bronte), ronan lynch (the raven cycle, maggie stiefvater) 5 quotes from your favorite book? unfortunately i don't have any handy right now hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | read at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVs | judging by the covers or by summaries | rereading or just once

TV AND MOVIES

fave tv/movie genre? hmmm don't really have one fave movie? ????????? i can't choose btw moonlight, portrait of a lady on fire or the handmaiden atm comfort movie? star trek II-III-IV (most of all the one with the whales) movie you watch every year? none fave tv show? black sails comfort tv show? star trek most rewatched tv show? skam france s3 5 fave characters? eliott demaury & lucas lallemant (skam france), jonah simms (superstore), james flint (black sails), jesper fahey (shadow and bone) tv shows or movies | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once | downloads or watches online

tagging @beeexx @bremmommye @summersinpuglia @peoniesandsmiles @hellswolfie @petitspaceling @kissjane @laurenkmyers @dorkdumplings if you want to !

[lettalady]

hey letta! how are you? what have you been watching/reading lately? (besides the loki series lol) have you gotten into any hobbies or done small enjoyable things recently? I'm super grateful you still use your blog cause i really like following you :) hope you have good week!

Hello nonnie, darling! I'm well, or at least making do. There are good days and bad days and days in between. Hope you're well, and staying safe, also? I've fallen into a few rabbit holes as of late - which isn't the complaint it might sound like/ look like at first glance, I promise. And before I forget, if there ever comes a day that I go missing from here -- or if you just want to say hi on a different social media platform -- I pretty much universally use this ID.

In terms of what I've been watching (in addition to the Loki series, ehehe) it's a mixed bag of rewatching comfort things and seeking out things that are new to me.

* going to put the remainder under a readmore cause I'm going to ramble... it's... yea. It's a given *

One of the recent rewatches has been The Librarian movies -- a delightful series of campy made for tv movies that fully embrace the tropes of the adventure drama. I used to watch them when I was feeling ill and didn't have the energy to seek out Bob Ross painting videos. Also went back and rewatched The Alienist because I couldn't quite remember if I'd seen the second season all the way through. Vastly different in theme, I know. Beyond that it's a mixture of rewatching things (The Dark Knight trilogy, Clue, The Mandalorian, etc), watching things that have come out that sounded interesting (Shadow & Bone) and finally getting around to watching things that have been on my list for awhile (The Hitman's Bodyguard).

I've sort of fallen off the wagon in terms of reading, at least according to my goodreads goals. I've picked up the duology that apparently you're supposed to at least read the first one of before starting the trilogy that is the Shadow & Bones series, though I haven't started them yet. I've also recently acquired the duology by Caleb Carr because I wanted to see how closely the show followed the books. Again, yet to actually crack open the book and start reading. I have four or five books on my bedside table that are in various stages of being read but anything that I've read all the way through? I'm pretty sure that would be the Burn Notice novelizations...

If you broaden that out to fanfiction - bwahaha. One of those rabbit holes I mentioned earlier is the Daniel Brühl fandom and I've been binging my way through various works (and writing a few. whoops. Sorry to everyone waiting for YOJA/ Turn/ Unsettled updates).

In terms of hobbies and small enjoyable things: yes. All the yes. Small crafting things, a few no churn ice cream attempts (peanut butter no churn ice cream is delicious btw)... basically trying to get a few things off the Want To Attempt list.

I'm sure there's stuff I'm forgetting. I hope that sort of answers the questions asked though, and I'm not joking about the other social media platforms. Not just AO3 and Wattpad, but elsewhere... though nothing quite matches the energy of tumblr, does it. ( Hotel California plays ominously in the distance )

Thank you for the ask, nonnie dear. Hope your week is a good one!

[oretsov]

hello i am the anon from yesterday back again to bug you👋🏻 thank u for being so nice btw❤️❤️ hope i’m not annoying you (like feel free to ignore this if you want) but i just wanna ask as i am new to the fandom…. is the netflix series worth watching? i do want to watch it (esp for malina❤️ my loves) but i’ve heard it’s more sympathetic towards the darkling and when i tell you i have had enough of aleksanders raggedy ass after r&r i mean it. i know six of crows is also incorporated into the series and i haven’t read that series yet, is it good/ as good as shadow and bone? i also want to read the king of scars series but which should i read first, king of scars or six of crows? (assuming you’ve read either) and should i read six of crows before watching the series? sorry for dumping this all on you but i don’t know anyone else who likes shadow and bone and you were v nice yesterday hehe

welcome back!! i would say yes~ the show is worth watching. the stuff they do with the d*g is annoying and straight up does not make sense and i have Problems with how they handled the racial aspect of it, but as a fantasy book adaptation itself it is highly enjoyable, and as a s&b book adaptation it is definitely fun! and of course, malina is like.....like it honestly blew me away seeing them on screen. jessie and archie are absolutely fantastic, especially archie as mal, he brings the character to life SO well and really shows the people what mal is all about (BECAUSE BOOK MAL AND SHOW MAL ARE THE SAME adjsfk). the pining and yearning is excellent between them.

six of crows is definitely good, and i would recommend at least reading soc before watching the show, maybe even ck too if you have the time. the vibe is a bit different from the grisha trilogy, and you can tell her writing has changed, but it's still very character/relationship driven and the heist is super fun. there are definitely soc easter eggs in the show (and it's like a "prequel" for the events of six of crows so it's nice to be familiar with the characters) so it's fun to notice those little things in the show. king of scars takes place chronologically after the soc duology, so I would read soc/ck first before king of scars

if you have any other questions please feel free to ask!! i just rewatched s&b again (lol) so i have thoughts fresh in my brain

[helihi]

The Good, The Bad, and the Dirty: Spop season 5

I’ve stopped screaming, and I took the time to rewatch season 5 with my little brother. So, here are my thoughts:

The Good

Horde Prime - The cult™ : I really dig the aesthetics, that combo of religious fanatics + fascism hit good. The crew did a good job at portraying Horde Prime as the ultimate villain of the show. He was engaging to watch and his ideology was pretty clear. The way they played with the hive mind concept was really fun, and it was Horde Prime’s biggest strength. He was also a very good manipulator, successfully playing with Glimmer and Adora. He was unsuccessful with Catra because she had already hit her lowest point.

Entrapta: honestly, she was the most hilarious character this season. Not only was she engaging to watch and listen to, I felt really connected to her this season. The fight with Mermista hit really good and it hurt, but you could see her trying her best. I love how open she is and how accepting of everyone and everything. I’m glad we got to see so much of her this season.

Scorpia: baby, she only deserves good things in life. When she got mind control, you could see how fucking powerful she is, but luckily for us, we got to see her shine independently before that. Her interactions with Swift Wind, Perfuma, and Double Trouble made her shine. She’s smart, talented, and without an evil bone in her body. I’m happy she can move on from Catra and find love and friendship. (I hope she reconnects with Lonnie, Rogelio and Kyle in the future too)

Mermista: babe, you were always mood. She has been consistently funny, her get ups and plans are so entertaining to watch, but also: her relationship with Sea Hawk is great! They are definitely made for each other. I’m sad she was mine controlled for the other half of the season, but I’m happy we got to see a lot of her before. (Also she burned someone’s ship OMG GANGSTER SUIT)

Sea Hawk: happy to see him back. He was funny as always, and I’m happy he got his moment with Mermista at the end. 

Perfuma: “ADORA, WHAT DO YOU HAVE THERE?” “A TANK” “NO!” Her relationship with Scorpia is so good! I wish we could’ve seen more.

Netossa: I was one of those who was sad to know the 2 canon lesbians of the show were just background characters. I am so incredibly happy to see her shine this season! SHE SAID MY WIFE. She is the queen of the roasts and I stan.

Spinnerella: Dude, I didn’t know you were this powerful what the fuck. Also, your wife is super cute and she draws like Noelle.

Emotional Support Cat: Bro, I love Melog’s design. I think it was a really clever way to have Catra express her feelings and process them out loud for the audience by giving Catra a supernatural cat.

New She-ra design: I see the subtle reference to Bow, Glimmer and Catra in the design. Honestly, Adora looks 100% more badass.

Not Hordak: I really wish he had picked a name from himself. Aside from Entrapta, this might be the other hilarious character of the season. He goes through his individualization process in a healthier way than Hordak and showcases that the clones can be different from Horde Prime and rehabilitated. I wonder how he will feel about Hordak? But we got no epilogue so idk I guess.

Darla: I can’t believe they named the ship, but I love it.

The Best Friends Squad: I swear to god, when Bow, then Glimmer and then Catra interrupted Adora’s train of thought, I knew we were going to have a great dynamic. The way their characters play of each other is hilarious. Bow, who usually has the only braincell, is cautious and a total dad; Adora is the dumb jock with the heart of gold that gets herself into trouble; Glimmer is the chaotic enchantress with no patience; and finally Catra who’s got all her walls up, but gets shit done. I want a show of them together going on misions and almost dying in the process, thank you.

Catra Redemption: You wanted it, and here you have it! I was cheering for Catra this whole season while proclaiming I’d die for her (which I had only reserved for Scopia previously). Though things may be a little rushed, Catra takes her time to process things, and goes back and forth a couple of times. She deflects, lies, and runs away, but in the end she opens up and rushes back.

In general, the season was packed with content. I was never bored through any episodes and I honestly laughed outloud while watching it alone and later with my brother. There were moments when we paused the episode to discuss what had just happened or to process new information. This makes me feel even more weird about the bland season 2/3 division.

The Bad

Okay so, let me make this clear: I will never attack a ship or anyone who supports it. In this blog we multiship like adults and respect other people’s OTPs.

That being said, while this season was long and packed with content, it also felt rushed when it came to the relationships of the main cast

Glimmer - Catra: The prison episodes had barely any interactions between both of them. I wish they’ve had had more time to talk and to connect. There were Glitra moments that make me feel happy, and my brother was for a moment convinced that they could be canon. They are foils of each other after season 4. The conversation they had, where they realize they had a lot of things in common could’ve been a catalyst for both of them to grow and heal. However, Catra has her change of heart really soon and saves Glimmer, which prevents any deep interactions between them in the future. Aside from the jokes, Catra must be with Adora, and Glimmer must be with Bow, so everything else gets dropped.

Glimmer - Adora: The conflict between them after Angela’s “death” was one of the main plot points of last season. When they reunite again, their issues are solved in a couple of minutes and then brushed off. They really don’t have big interactions after that, which feels completely OOC and empty.

Glimmer - Bow: I wasn’t the only one who felt the sharp turn of their relationship. In previous seasons, it was really platonic, but as soon as they see each other again you know they are going to end up together. The camera zoomed on them, Bow was always holding her protectively, the way they looked at each other change. Since Glimmer is not allowed to have intimate moments with anyone else, it kinda dulls everything up. Don’t get me wrong, I love some best friends to lovers, but in this case it felt rushed for me. If I pinpoint the moment things turned romantic for them, it’s the first time they interact in person this season. It didn’t feel organic (contrast with a ship like Korrasami, where you can point at the moment Asami realized she had feelings for Korra, and then later when Korra’s attitude towards Asami changes after the time skip).

Adora - Catra: Honey, we all knew this was going to be end game, and I love the fact that Catra is dealing with her feelings and Adora acknowledges that. However, after the end of season 3, I’d have expected things to progress a little slower. Catra did put some resistance with the chip scene, but even afterwards, what would’ve been better paced with more episodes, was condensed in a few. Don’t get me wrong. I love that Catra redemption, but I’d have loved a better pacing.

BTW for anyone interested: I ship Glitradora, so any of the 3 ships ending up canon were good for me, and I liked Bow/Glimmer, just preferred them as bffs.

There’s a list of characters that barely show up that could’ve had more screentime:

Huntara: barely appears at all. She’s seen fighting, but there are no references to her or a storyline with her.

Lonnie, Rogelio and Kyle: briefly shown. The gay couple of the century have adopted the baby demon and are now the best dads in the desert. Lonnie is their braincell.

Double Trouble: at least they had a scene and lines, but I feel like they could’ve been more involved after they were discovered by Scopria, especially since they escaped with Sea Hawk and Perfuma.

The Star Siblings: idk man, they were part of a whole episode and then faded into the background. It was a glorified cameo for an episode where Glimmer and Bow fight.

Glimmer’s Aunt: sorry but I was asking “where the hell is she?” until she finally showed up late. She barely had any purpose.

The Dirty

Hey, guys, girls, and nonbinary pals, can we sit down and talk about redemptions?

IDK about you, but just because a show is aimed at kids you shouldn’t “redeem” all the villains. This trend bothers me specially when it touches on abuse or totalitarian leaders.

Shadow Weaver was an abuser until the end. She shouldn’t have had a heroic sacrifice, and her “I’m proud of you” line was bitter for me. I’ve said before I was raised in an abusive household and I don’t think it’s healthy to tell children that you can change your abuser or that you can expect them to change without therapy. I’m glad Shadow Weaver died, but I wish her death wasn’t in any way shape or form considered a “redemption”. A heroic act of sacrifice doesn’t erase all the pain she cause and the years of trauma Catra and Adora have had to endure.

Hordak. HEY HEY ETRAPDAK SHIPPERS DON’T COME FOR ME! I was weirded up by the ship until I realized Etrapta is in her late 20s. I’m happy they found each other but I think it’d be better if Hordak had to redeem himself through a life of service to Etheria. He can't erase the horrible things he has done, but with the help of Entrapta and others, he could give back to the community he ruined. Since we don’t have an epilogue, we just see him reuniting with Entrapta at the end and that’s it.

ALSO SOMEONE GIVE MICAH A HAIR TIE. My man, you are not in a hostile island anymore, go rock a dad bun or a dad ponytail!

--

How do you guys feel about it?

I’m here looking at cute GIFs of Catra and that kiss scene on repeat. I want a Rogelio poster, he was my boy.