#like i said i'll make a gifset at some point <3

[petekaos]

Firoz was my brother. How could I leave him behind? I wasn‘t like my father.

Shahid Kapoor as Sunny and Bhuvan Arora as Firoz in

FARZI (2023), dir. Raj & DK Episode 2: Social Service

[saltpepperbeard]

Poison into Positivity: A List of What I Liked in OFMD S2

Hello hello everyone! Things have been a little rough around here. Even away from the more heated takes, I've still seen a few "down in the dumps" murmurs. To which, I'm giving y'all big hugs, but also offering up some little bits of warmth! I wanted to share quite a few bullets of the things I enjoyed about this season. Maybe it'll serve as a reminder, or maybe it'll just serve as a chaotic, silly little read as per usual PFFF.

But I invite you to read along, and even add some of your own points should you feel inclined! Also, this might not even be my full list; these are just the ones that came to me quickly/off the top of my head. Still, let's dive on down like a fantastical, dazzling goldfish, shall we?

All the callbacks/parallels. My goodness. When I tell you I'm a SLUT for metaphors/parallels/callbacks/etc etc. Seeing so many things and being able to just *Leonardo Dicaprio pointing meme.* I know people might not share that same opinion because some might view it to be excessive, but I personally LOVED being able to point at my screen and be like "oH EYYYYYYY!!!" Maybe because it makes for such immaculate gifset/meta material <3 SJKJDLHSK

The costuming and makeup. WHEN THEY TALKED AT ECCC ABOUT EVERYONE GETTING HOTTER, THEY WERE NOT KIDDING LMAO. EVERYONE LOOKED SO, SO GOOD. and listen, i am on my knees begging for them to give ed with his hair up back to us. i need Her back,,,ALSO, SOMETHING SOMETHING COMPLICATED EMOTIONS TOWARDS STEDE'S LATTER HALF LOOK, BUT ALSO...GOD DAMN, MR. DARBY,,,,,,

Speaking of Mr. Darby, the acting in this season. The ACTTTINNNGG. Everyone acted their ASSES off. Everyone put their entire piratussies into this season. Though, I'm PARTICULARLY impressed with Taika and Rhys, because again with their "oh we're comedians lol so idk drama can be Difficult Difficult Lemon Difficult." MMMM I THINK THE FUCK NOT, MY GUYS LMAO??? They both did SO well with all the drama and painful moments. The acting in episodes 2, 3, 6, and 7 in particular like...God. GOD!!!

I loved so many characters in this season, and I'll of course have to give two individual shoutouts to my two favorite new ladies, but man. LET'S GO FRENCHIE!!! ALWAYS A DELIGHT!!! FANG/KEVIN MY ABSOLUTE SWEETHEART. JIM SERVING ABSOLUTE FUCKING GENDER THIS SEASON. OLU OLU DARLING OLU. PETE NEVER MISSING WITH HIS ONELINERS. LUCIUS BEING SO THEATRICAL AHDJKSDK LIKE NATHAN PLEASE YOU KILL ME. ROACH MAKING ME LAUGH OUT LOUD NUMEROUS TIMES AS HE DOES. WEE JOHN AND HIS KNITTING AND DRAG!!! AND THEN OF COURSE MY DEARLY BELOVEDS, ED AND STEDE. I JUST LOVE THEMMMMM!!! But okay okay okay-

Zheng my beloved. I just love this badass pirate queen with her sweet little pigtails and her IMMACULATE LINE DELIVERIES SDHJKSKL. A lot of my favorite deliveries from the entire season came from her quite honestly. Please see: "Girl, how ARE you?" and "Hiiiiiii. I KNOWWW it's been a day" and "I've killed mediocre men. I've killed exceptional men. But you're the worst kind: a mediocre man who thinks he's exceptional."

AND ARCHIE MY BELOVED. She kills me because I remember seeing like, those ~*~audition tape whispers~*~ WAY back in the day, and subsequently thinking she was going to be quite a different character. Only for this silly goofy bubbly energetic darling to pop up and snag my heart. HER deliveries kill me also, like when she goes "Like...STEDE Stede?" and the whole "I was IN the fuckin' snake!" also hhngngngngnershkfhslkds tattooed ladies Hot :(

Speaking of which, the comedy. THE DELIVERIES. THE WAY I LAUGHED OUT LOUD NUMEROUS TIMES THROUGHOUT, EVEN WITH THE DEEP UNDERCURRENT OF DRAMA/ANGST. The whole bit where Stede is in hysterics over his cursed coat is just hsjkdhsklds; it will NEVER not make me wheeze. And then, like I said, almost EVERYTHING Pete says this season kills me; another thing that will never not make me laugh is "a doggie...?" weird little pirate show with weird little humor my beloved

The ROMANCE??? I genuinely was going into the season with the expectation of getting maybe like, one or two Gentlebeard kisses. Imagine my shock and utter delight when we ended up with FOUR, AS WELL AS AN INTIMATE SCENE, THE LETTER SCENES, AND THE LOVE PROFESSIONS. Like, one of them dropping a legitimate "I love you" felt like an unrealistic expectation--the HIGHEST dream tier really. And then wouldn't you know it. And that doesn't even account for all the rest of the couples either! The murder wives having their chaotic little moments of fucked up affection??? LUCIUS AND PETE GETTING ENGAGED AND THEN MARRIED??? HELLO??????

The sets! I know people have pointed out that the world felt a bit simplified this time around, due to budget restraints and what have you. But I still loved what they did with the world even with the various constraints. The market in episode 6 is a PARTICULAR favorite of mine; it's just so lush and colorful. I also love what they did with The Revenge during episode 6 too!

Also, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I really actually liked that they filmed on location. First of all, love that the Kiwis got to be right at home in Aotearoa. Love that they have an even more special connection to the show now. But second of all, I just like when scenery is...actually THERE? It feels way more TANGIBLE. Don't get me wrong; that hugeass wraparound screen that they use to film a lot of sets is a technological marvel. But I'm a sucker for practical.

The deeper and more complex dives into character motivations/trauma. Like, homie lol...When I tell you episodes 6 and 7 utterly set my brain alight in the best way possible. I was CHUGGING through thoughts. You know those gifs where someone is walking around and ranting/passionately talking,,, yeah. Yeah. Maybe because a lot of it "struck a chord" with me indeed, but I love love LOVE getting brain food like that.

Speaking of brain food, in PARTICULAR, the deeper dives into Ed's self-loathing and into Stede's troubles with confidence and masculinity. A lot of Stede's choices were fueled by those two things, and it was SO friggin fun to catch all of them, put them in a jar, and shake them around. I've seen a lot of people fearing his actions in the latter half were out of character, but to me, I don't see it that way. I just see a man who has been so spurned, so left behind, and SO deprived, a man who is stuck thinking he has to be someone else to mean something. And I think that plays a lot into even the EARLIEST developments we saw in season 1, so it was just so intriguing to watch everything messily play out.

THE INNKEEPER. THE INNKEEPER MY BELOVED. SO much about that episode absolutely has my heart. All the different developments, the stakes, the pacing, and the payoff at the end. Not to mention that I had a FEELING that mysterious figure in the trailers was Hornigold, so it was so SO validating to see him pop up PFFF. And also, all those dream/gravy basket sequences were so so good too. I don't know if it's the chemistry between Taika and Mark, or the deeper symbolism, or the lines that have become vocal stims for me SJKDLS (please see: ooOOoooO eddie eddie eddie...you're laying some heavy shit on me, bro), but man. MAN.

And this one gets its own bullet because of course it does: the fucking mermaid scene. Like, are we kidding. ARE WE KIDDING. THE ROMANCE OF IT ALL? THE FANTASTICAL-NESS INDEED?? THE WAY IT WAS ALL FUCKING PRACTICAL AND RHYS SWAM DOWN TO TAIKA AS A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GOLDFISH AND THEY HAD TO THROW HEART EYES AT EACH OTHER UNDERWATER??? WHAT THE FUCK!!! And don't even get me started on Kate Bush lol. This Woman's Work might easily be one of my favorite songs, if not my FAVORITE song from the season. And man. Man. The whole meaning behind Ed seeing Stede as this beautiful, sparkly being, and not some hypermasculine/extraordinary thing. He fell in love with Stede for who Stede really is. And so I ADORE that acknowledgement.

Speaking of songs, the MUSIC!!! Absolute bangers all throughout. And I loved how there seemed to be even more intermixed within the episodes. Like God... "These are the kids..." 🗣️ HELLO MY LOVE I HEARD A KISS FROM YOU 🦗🦟🦗🦟🦗🦟 . And all the beautiful classic piano pieces and NINA SIMONE AND JUST HSJKDHSFJKLHSKD????

Okay, I've always had and STILL have complicated thoughts and opinions on Izzy, but man, seeing him interact with the Revenge Crew was really something. Seeing Stede's influence come over the lot of them like a warm blanket, extending its welcoming and familial hands...It was just lovely. I love seeing our little sea family care for each other so much. They've probably all hurt so so much in different ways, so to see them all being a collective heart is just so nice.

Speaking of which, the queerness of it all, the queer celebration of it all. The way the whole crew is just...a representation of queer people finding each other, and subsequently finding love and family in each other. Like, when the whole world wants to cast you out, you pull each other in. When no one else wants you, you take refuge in each other. And just...the joy, beauty, and wonder that can be found in that.

And speaking of which x2, the overall care that was put into the entire thing, the effort that was put into the entire thing. I know Max fucked us over with the budget, which subsequently fucked things like the intricacy, the amount of characters, and especially the pacing. But, I don't know; I personally could still tell everyone involved was trying so so hard to deliver for us. Based on the little details, the little callbacks, and the little moments that felt so catered to us, it just seemed so...gifted to us. Not to mention of course, the way they so deliberately chose to end on a hopeful note in case we never get a third season. They care about us. They've always cherished our excitement and passion, so it just...idk; it feels so special to have a bit more of an intimate connection like that. I've never been involved with a piece of media that so avidly SEES its audience, and celebrates along with us. So, despite everything, despite any sort of troubles, despite any sort of lows, that's a big part of what has me clutching all of this so closely to my chest. And I really hope they can still see that love, because I want nothing more than for them to see this beautiful story through.

Also, getting to enjoy this with everyone. Getting to ride the wave from the beginning of filming, all the way through the finale. Getting to see all the excitement, all the theories, all the art, all the fanfiction, all the gif sets, all the meta, and everything in between. It has carried me through some nastiness in my personal life, and has subsequently served as a very welcomed distraction. It's been such a pleasure getting to delight in this new content with you all, and I hope we get to do so into the future. <3

[eobardthawneallen]

hii quick question what was your reaction when you saw dosd ?:))

Oh, that's a quick question to make not to answer because you have activated my trap card >:3 Favorite movie question, where I answer all the ways that I can to that question and I choose to not notice if I'm being annoying while explaining my love (*lying*, that's why I made a short version to answer this, to avoid annoying).

Short version:

Amazed to find out its existence, still amazed from start to finish.

Got obsessed with Seto Kaiba's obsession to get his bf back to life and marrying him💕

All this time yu gi oh! was teaching us, about heart, about dedication, and about how gay love can pierce through the veil of death and save the day. (I thought this twice in the movie)

for some unknown reason to me some people think or thought at the moment that at the end Kaiba time traveled, but I'm on team dimension traveled (come on, it's on the name of the movie)

And I've analyzed this movie so many times and I'll keep doing it, I love DSOD so much, fav movie, my shipper heart can't and won't let it go💕

Long Version:

warning I can and will explain why I loved this movie divided on scenes (mostly in order) on this version and feel free to picture me like the image below

So I was away of the fandom, then re entered around when the movie came out, I didn't re join for the movie, I had just rejoined and was searching the tags when found out a screenshot or gifset from the hologram duel in the movie, and I was like "this is so beautiful! where is this from?!" then found the movie.

The reaction to the actual movie was me squeeing, loving the style, I found my love for Takahiro Kagami way to draw the characters and love that Kazuki Takahashi himself had worked on the movie directly, also love the palette colors, the plot. everything in that movie is a work of art and I've and will continue analyzing it forever.

replaced the bbt movie as the best ygo movie, and also replaced whichever I had on 1st place in general as my favorite movie (still is)

I love so much the plot and how they took it as continuation for the manga, because it was so unfair for Seto to be negated the last moments of seeing Atem on earth then.

and as I said in my short answer, I got obsessed with Seto's steps of grief.

how the duel with the I.A Atem was in a church scenery, he is so in love with him and wanted to marry him the faster he could.

I know now that it can also be read as in "Is in a church so it can also be the part of him giving a funeral to Atem" but fuck it, this is about my 1st reaction and also I can prove that can also means what I 1st thought and was that Kaiba was practicing for his wedding duel.

we'll go back to this a bit later.

squeed again when Seto talked about how much he worked on the I.A to be a good copy.

loved that the I.A got gold arm bracelets, so lovely, and oh boy (gn), when the scene of Jonouchi is saved by Atem I was like "!!!! ATEM HAS THE GOLD ARM BRACELETS! HE'S BEEN WATCHING SETO AND APPROVES THE CLOTHES!!!" (or maybe he was just using the I.A to save Jonouchi or was the I.A itself? however my first thought and the one I keep thinking is the real answer is the one on Caps)

now let's talk about finding the puzzle pieces scene and Diva using his dimension powers to banish people and how Seto avoided it with tech, I went 🥰 "yeah! boy you got this!" and also yelled because that moment pointed Seto's plan to bring back Atem.

the miracle! oh god, I cried, the battle city tournament memories of their souls crossing, oh boi (gn), their souls crossed again 😭💕 they were so connected.

"Gay love can pierce through the veil of death and save the day." (ghost facers, supernatural 03x13)

let's continue, loved the tournament to get the puzzle complete again, I was alone watching this but I pointed to the duel disks and I was like holy shit is a wedding ring! is a ring for Atem!

allow me to explain myself, he made just 2 duel disks and they're themed with their colors combined (the black of Atem and the blue of Kaiba for his own disk, the white of Kaiba and the pink of Atem for the other), he gives it to Yugi because that's the vessel, but the disks as shown in the getting the puzzle pieces scene has the power to stabilize the person to the dimension that currently is. Seto planed to bring Atem with the puzzle but keep him on earth with the duel disk! the guy is so in love and I love him for it.

in love with self sacrifice Seto for Atem to be back again in the duel vs Diva, I cried there too, and specially because he was right.

again we're reminded that "Gay love can pierce through the veil of death and save the day." (ghost facers, supernatural 03x13)

and the end using the dimension canon and arriving to his bf resting place was *chef kiss* 🥰💕✨ go for him and bring his ass back!

later found transcend game manga and just made me love the movie even more 😭💕

I have seen this movie in 3 languages:

1st on Eng dub, didn't grow with it but they did a good job, I loved it :)

2ndly on Jap with subs, loved it more, Atem's voice in the "will see about that" phrase 🥰💕💕💕💕💕💕💕, Seto's voice in the is not a monster is a God , uff hot.

3rdly in Lat. Spanish, sadly not with all the original voice actors, since the ones that were in charge to dub it didn't ask correctly the voice actors for their help 😭, still did a good job to dub

now I wait for a possibly 30 year anniversary movie and see how they talk about Yugi's or Atem's hair, haha 2 years to see if it happens (bbt is for the 10, dsod for 20... is too delusional to hope for a 30 anniversary movie? imo it's fine)

and that's all, in conclusion:

I love this movie so much and I won't stop loving it. 100/10! 💕💕💕💕💕💕✨✨✨✨✨

[gamerism]

😎

Top. 5. yakuza/rgg quotes? I know there are probably Many, but I am Curious. And you know what, who said honorable mentions can't be included too lol.

This one goes out to the translation team ig. Wouldn't be here without them ect ect. There probably are a lot of honourable mentions because this series has a lot of great moments but I'll contain myself to the 5.

5. "No point? You're just makin' things harder on yourself. Deprivin' yourself for no damn reason. You think the world gives two shits if there's a point or not? Keep that up and it'll break you." -Majima YK/1

(And doesn't it just? Doesn't this exact thing break Kiryu down piece by piece? That's something I love about a moment that's so early, that was written so long ago. And how it's come to reflect the series as a whole.)

4. "Hamazaki left a message for you before he went. 'Keep the Tojo Clan safe from the cops. It's the only proof left that guys like us ever existed.' [...] It took me forty years to realise this. But for guys like us... our lives aren't really our own. There's always someone new to help. Someone we need to protect. These past few years, I fought that fate with all I had. But I'm done fighting. It's time I accept the hand I was dealt." -Kiryu Y4

(I can't help but think about the Implications whenever I hear this quote and Kiryu's headspace from 4 on, & especially in 6 as well.)

3. "Once you step into the shadows you're stained black for life. No gettin' that mark off ya. But... You can still choose who you bring down with ya." -Majima Y0

(🥲🥲 always so ouchie)

2. "Every girl dreams of becoming a star one day. I wasn't any different. But the reality is I had already found what makes me whole. I thought that if I could make it as an idol...I'd be able to keep the orphanage running. But it came at a cost. I would have to leave behind the very man who raised me. [...] Even though he was unconventional, I could always rely on him. I...I think of him like a father. And I love him. I love him very much. [...]" -Haruka Y5

(I cut this short but this whole speech makes my heart ache so bad. The definition of illogical action done for deep emotional motivation. & Kiryu doesn't get to hear it. 😭)

1. "I'll let you in on a little something, The yakuza game, it's not like boxing. The man who gets beat down isn't the loser. The guy who can't tough it out till the end, he's the one who loses." -Kuze Y0

(Yes I know that's probably obvious considering I used this for a gifset recently, but it's really just stuck in my mind since I first saw it.)

Though speaking of honourable mentions while coming up with this list I did think of a) a late game ishin scene i like a lot but its long, from multiple characters, and i don't actually want to spoil it for people so :)

And b) ishin's final scene probably says something profound at some point but its genuinely 20 minutes of uninterrupted dialogue and my brain fucking groans and turns off whenever i watch it. so.

[scoobydoodean]

hi it's gadreel anon from yesterday and i just wanna say 'there's no way in hell he'd say yes to being possessed by anything' <- direct quote from dean in 9x01. we don't know what sam would actually have said if given the choice but dean believes he would never agree to it so he and 'ezekiel' have to come up with a way to get a yes from sam without sam fully knowing what's happening. good of him to try to tell sam later but he did believe he had to wait until it was too late for sam to say no.

Hi Gadreel anon! For anyone who doesn't know, this would be related to my tags on a reblog last night about the "Gadreel Situation". Anon had also sent this very appreciated message about a much needed uquiz choice!

I also JUST got another anon message that begins with,

obsessed w people who compare sam’s willingness for death in s8/s9 (which, to me at least, read as him being suicidal) to a DNR.

So DNR anon—this is for you too!

So the issue is, Gadreel anon, in my tags I was thinking of a different moment from the one you were referring to! I was thinking of this moment:

and you were thinking of this moment earlier in the same episode:

So my bad in my tags!

(This makes me even more interested in, at some point, doing a uquiz about fandom memory haha).

Too late for Sam to say no though? I didn't say otherwise. I said that Dean wanted to put the choice back in Sam's hands as soon as possible, but then allowed himself to be convinced not to when he shouldn't have, and that either way, Gadreel would never have let Dean tell Sam.

But here's what I always come back to, which is what the OP whose post I tagged on was getting at and what I meant when I talked about analyzing the situation in a vacuum (I'm not saying this is something you are doing Gadreel Anon—it just got me thinking about some of the ways fandom talks about Sam in this context and then DNR anon came in with their frustrations):

Here's 8.14 "Trial and Error" when Sam originally insists on being the one to do The Trials.

This is a Sam full of hope. This is a Sam who knows his brother intends to treat The Trials as a way to off himself because he thinks he's disposable to everyone in his life and he's disposable to himself. So Sam insists, "No—absolutely not—you will NOT be doing The Trials in this state of mind!! I'm going to be the one to do The Trials and I am going to survive then I'm going to save you from your suicidal ideation!"

By 8.21 though, Sam is no longer a man full of hope. He's a man who believes he needs to die so everyone can be spared of him—so that he can become clean:

[Gifset (EVEN MORE HEARTBREAKING) here]. And here's a rant back and forth between me and a friend about that moment, which is also a more general commentary on my thoughts about fandom framing things as "Sam had peacefully come to the conclusion that he was ready to die and Dean shouldn't have tried to stop him from killing himself in "Sacrifice", and season 9 is just him doubling down on when he was "manipulative" and "selfish" in 8.23 because he *checks notes* convinced his suicidal brother not to kill himself, just like Sam did for him in 8.14 (also, if anyone is actively attempting to manipulate anyone in 8.23—which is not how I like to view the scene on my good days—it's not Dean <3 love and light <3).

So yeah—despite the popularity of reducing the entire thing down to "Sam was ready to die and Dean just couldn't let him go!!!" It is, in my opinion, a terrible take, because it ignores literally everything that happened and Sam's actual state of mind! He originally intended to live!! That was the WHOLE POINT!!! Then that changed to him wanting to kill himself because he thought he was dirty and that he deserved it!

So then Dean makes the same promise to Sam that Sam made to him in 8.14 and couldn't fulfill. He takes on the burden of that promise for both of them instead, and he becomes the one saying, "I'll show you to the light at the end of the tunnel and you'll see there's a future and a hope for you and that you are not irreparably broken and disposable". And Sam agrees!! He agrees that he wants to live!!!

Then they get to the hospital, and Gadreel is saying "There's only one way left I can think of to save Sam" and Dean immediately dismisses it, but then he asks Gadreel, "If I consider this – and I mean just consider it – I need something, man. You got to prove to me how bad he is." And when Dean says that, he means how suicidal is his brother? How much does he still hate himself and how much is he refusing to fight on his own because he hates himself? Is he even really fighting? And this is the answer he gets:

"Nobody else can get hurt because of me"!!! Ahhhhh!!!!

I do think one thing we can argue, is that Dean should have entered Sam's mind and convinced him to fight on his own! However, in desperation, Dean happened to have made an ill-thought-out prayer doxxing his location earlier in the day to a legion of very pissed off angels, all of whom hate his guts and know that a guy whose guts they hate even more is obsessed with him (like—Naomi making him kill thousands of fake Dean's obsessed), so beating him and his brother to death sounded really nice at that moment! So Dean did not have the time! And Sam's issues were far larger than one conversation could fix (as proved by Sam's state of mind in 9.01 coming immediately after agreeing to continue fighting in 8.23).

Dean, when he first made the decision to go into Sam's head through Gadreel to get him to say "Yes", considered the action he took as applying the charge to jolt Sam back to life after he tried to kill himself, which absolutely—was against Sam's expressed wish (re: conversation with Death) that he wanted to die. But when fans complain about that, they are complaining about something we as a society do all of the time when we want people who want to kill themselves to not kill themselves. It's just that this charge Dean applies is angelic and comes with extra strings and complications and another "thing that Sam did not want" besides just wanting to live. However, Dean was thinking, "As soon as Sam is back, I can put the decision in his hands!" Then he kept allowing himself to be convinced "A little longer", "a little longer", "just a little longer" and he thought, "Well, even if Sam hates me, at least he'll be alive!"

Some people will shrug and think, "Well, Dean should have just taken the L!" And that's okay! I have no problem with someone saying, "Dean should not have done it, because even though his motive was wanting to save his suicidal brother, the actions he took to do so were too far and therefore were wrong, and he should have prioritized respecting Sam's wishes and Sam's principles over applying angelic life-support Sam would disagree with". But that isn't what Dean did, and I... just don't think the motivations for his actions were nearly so selfish and evil as a lot of fandom wants to make them out to be, and are choices a lot of people would probably make in the same circumstances and in the same situation. Including, according to himself, Sam—who admits in 9.23, after his initial claim at the end of "The Purge" that he wouldn't do the same thing—"I lied". Then he spends all of season 10 proving all kinds of insane and morally questionable lengths he'll go to to keep Dean around!!! Things that he knows Dean does not agree with!!! While Sam doesn't directly let something possess Dean, in season 10, Dean does not want Sam to use the Book of the Damned and tells him directly not to use it several times—that he does NOT want to be saved using that book, because he is afraid of the consequences. However, Sam uses it anyway and orders Oskar up a human sacrifice in his wake with absolutely zero remorse—like he is ordering pizza—which is something Sam also knows, and has known since season 3 when Sam had a couple of plots that involved it, that Dean is not cool with at all!!! And hardcore Sam stans will argue "Well Sam was trying to save the world from Dean!" but actually no!! He chose this specific path that involved removing The Mark and saving his brother (despite the forewarned cosmic consequences and Dean's repeated insistence that said consequences were unacceptable) rather than locking Dean away forever, because he wanted his brother back!!! And while they were standing in a town being ripped to shreds by Amara, Sam said, "I would do it again"!

All of that to say—I'm not saying nothing Dean did was wrong, but fandom's analysis of the whole situation is bad and attributes motivations to Dean and Sam that are wrong!!!

[catoscloves]

whenever i see an SE shipper or an anti SC person in general (nothing towards my SE mutuals ily all <3) claim a power imbalance between stefan and caroline i'm always kinda struggling to understand....

"stefan was not as invested in the relationship than caroline" uhm no that was m*roline, where matt was constantly putting caroline down and inadvertently pitting her against elena. people think that that was the situation when it came to stefan's elena versus caroline narrative (as in which one he wanted as a romantic partner) when ultimately it wasn't true? when stefan was with elena he didn't express romantic attraction to caroline - in fact he politely and gently rejected caroline's advances because of his interest in elena WITHOUT leading caroline on or comparing her to elena or pitting the two women together. stefan never insults caroline as a person (that was matt - 'deep's not really your thing') - other than that idiotic calculator comment which obvs wasn't great but is not the worst thing a white man said about a woman on this show - and he even respects and values caroline/admires her growth from insecure and 'shallow' and petty to levelheaded and assertive and in control WHILE he's still committed to elena. the fact that he was attracted to elena first doesn't necessarily make caroline a runner up/second best to elena either, and that seems to be a common opinion shared between stelena shippers (which is an opinion y'all are entitled to have, i just think it's wrong lol).

and people like to bring out caroline's claim that stefan "only had eyes for elena during their first meeting" which was essentially true i guess, in their anti steroline gifsets. but they forget that when stefan was an amnesiac, he trusted caroline, a girl whom he'd basically "just met," over a man who introduced himself as his brother and a woman who must have informed stefan at some point that she was his "(former) epic love." stefan also called caroline his attractive "best friend" at their first meeting ('you're hotter in person'). stefan made plenty of advances toward caroline (he initiated!!!!!!), romantically and otherwise, and even chose to dance because it made her happy, without her having to plead (which was always the case when he and elena were together). stefan respected her space and the fact that she needed to work through and resolve her issues after liz's death, their relationship was decided on HER terms ('when you are ready for me i'll be ready for you'), and stefan and caroline were equals in their platonic and romantic relationship (one of the healthiest relationships on tvd lbr).

also if any stefan relationship had a power imbalance it was st*lena imo, not steroline. stefan was a 100+ year old man who harrassed and stalked a seventeen year old that looked like his ex, consistently lied to her and ommitted important details throughout s1, basically forced an already traumatized girl to do his emotional labor/help him pull through his addiction, then almost killed her for the sake of his vendetta against klaus (forcing her to relive her bridge related trauma and the death of her parents), and planned to hunt her down/force feed her the cure she repeatedly and clearly communicated that she DIDN'T want. while caroline was the same age as elena and also an insecure teenage girl, which is why it makes sense that steroline could have easily become that kind of dynamic, none of these problems ever came up for steroline. stefan politely rejected caroline (not even as a person like d*mon and m*tt did, insulting and belittling her personality and values, but simply because he was pursuing another love interest), caroline moved on, they built a mutually respectful and fond friendship dynamic, and caroline had an equal amount of power because she wasn't a vulnerable human but a vampire with control (vampirism also clearly gave her a self esteem boost and helped her work through her insecurities), which meant stefan never had an opportunity to take advantage of her vulnerability.

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend, ready and looking forward to being absolutely unhinged and insufferable for RWRB premier day!! I am ready for this to become my whole personality for the next 5-10 business days and block off time this weekend to read endless amounts of fanfic. Like you said, things won't always play out the way they did in the book and there are probably some scenes I'd love to see onscreen that they just won't have time for, but everyone involved looks like they're so happy and having fun, the clips we've gotten do nothing but bring me joy, and the director and the actors feel like they're so, so respectful of the source material I just can't imagine how it could go wrong at this point. So I'm busting out the popcorn and cheap champagne tonight bestie, we deserve this 🍿🍾!!

And I know you won't have time to do a song before hand, and I kind of want to watch that part of the book play out before I commit, but I absolutely have had a song in mind since I saw that still of Henry leaving a sleeping Alex at the lakehouse. And not just any song, THE SONG, my absolute beloved of SaL songs (I know you know which one). Just how perfect would that be as a Henry POV, with all its water imagery, during their sort of break up that starts with them swimming in the lake and ends during a downpour (I can hear the " I'm only honest when it rains" on repeat in my head)?? Let's see if the movie will deliver all my angsty hopes for that scene, but even if it doesn't I don't think I'll be disappointed. So cheers friend, let's do this 🥂🥂🥂!!!

I have a few hours left and I am dyyyyying to leave work and go Prepare To Be Wrecked! Also, I really need movies and shows to get it together and start utilizing more Sleeping at Last songs for their gut punch potential in sad/dramatic/tender scenes. I can't wait to talk about Neptune (and any other songs that might strike a chord), and flail about something FUN and FUNNY, that doesn't shy away from the love story. I am having a lot of stress today (lots of "is this hotel booking site sketchy or is my bank just being difficult again" stress which is making concert preparations less than fun and joyful) so this is exactly what I need! And as someone who loves love stories, I am READY to be a blushing, giggling mess for 2 hours about these two.

Cheers bestie, I can't wait to talk to you in 3-5 business days when everyone has finally stopped hitting their post limits every day with RWRB gifset reblogs!

[whenfatecollides]

Thank you for the svt recs! I've heard a lot of them, but I'm excited to have a better playlist and place to start with them ❤️

and re: dc notes feeling different (not my ask btw!), I feel the same way! I think you put it into words really well. I've sorta seen the same thing happen with the other group I follow behind the scenes stuff for, where at a certain point in their careers (and definitely during the pandemic), things became a lot more "catered" to fandom rather than a group of people hanging out and sharing a really unique and interesting experience together.

Things kinda feel more.. celebrity (?) now? Like, it's much more apparent to me in some notes and stuff that yup, they're celebrities (which.. kinda made maison a sore spot for me in a few ways, but that's a different story!). Which, duh, but it felt easier to find moments of just silliness and human connection in a lot of the older stuff, and I feel like that's sorta a thing that just happens at a certain success point, where maybe people have less of a desire to share every part of themselves on camera than earlier days. Which is fine! I'm all for more privacy for them, but I agree that I'd be happy with shorter notes with some moments where they're having fun and being together than curating messages or whatever to the fandom. I'm a fan because I love their music and performances, and I watch behind the scenes stuff because I care about /them/ and enjoy /them/ and enjoy /them having fun together/, not because I want to feel recognized as a fan lol

which is also probably why twitter isn't the place for me either, I go on occasionally but have to dodge/block a lot of the weirdo fighting and possessiveness. I wasn't on twitter until idk, a year ago maybe to keep up with content better and ehh lol I imagine it's a lot more sore to have been part of the active fandom pre-2019 and then to see those spaces you were in (and building) change so fast.

That being said! Gosh! You have really done so much, and I use that masterpost of content probably weekly just to find stuff I enjoy, it's such a huge help! Your gifs are always god-tier, and I enjoy reading your thoughts about dc stuff. If i think of any gifsets, I'll send an idea your way <3 I haven't gotten to see a lot of concert content recently, so I'm excited to go watch some stuff (I heard the Mexico concert was really really lovely in terms of fan energy and what not). I hope you have a lovely day!

I hope you enjoy it! 😊

and yeah exactly, I think in a way the dc notes just started following more of a vlog format which is understandable with everything that went on at the time. I do agree with the celebrity thing to an extent, in vlives and concerts they still feel the exact same, the levels of chaos have remained unchangeable so far asdkjh I do agree that they’ve been passing off that image more on the dc notes tho. but like I said I do think they’re slowly getting back to the old format in the sense that in the group ones at least we’re starting to get more of those small moments again. tbh I haven’t seen the solo dc notes of the special clips or the practices bc it’s all very similar... I think dcc could’ve done better with the release of the special clips themselves, I feel like at this point the momentum has completely died out for the special clips 💀 I get that they wanted to space it out to make the most of the content but idk I think they could’ve done it a bit better. I was really looking forward to the solo clips back in the beginning of the cb but that was in march/april? and it’s now july and not all of the special clips are out yet........ I think they dragged it out a bit too much specially considering that the first one was released two months ago already :/

but yeah tbh abt twitter I’ve never been that active there, it’s always been a platform that has never really resonated with me much but even then the change has been really felt, but oh well. I’ve come to make peace that if some content is truly important it will reach me one way or another asdkjh

and I’m glad the masterpost is helpful! I’ve been meaning to update it but the motivation for it has been a bit lost on me :’) still thank you for your kind words <3 I really appreciate that some of you take the time to read the things I put on here sometimes 💕

[dauntlessdiva]

1, 3, 13 for the new year fic ask :)

1. Do you have a word-count goal for the upcoming year?

Nope! I dind that having goals like that stress me out which makes me procrastonate, and the next thing you know I've done the exact opposite of what I set out to do by giving myself that goal.

So I just write what I want and what I can, whenever I want and am able to, and am pleasantly surprised to see my word count total for the year when I check my stats on ao3

3. Do you anticipate writing for a new fandom this year? Which one?

I don't really anticipate it, but I certainly won't rule it out! You never know what'll grab my interest next!

That being said, I did just finish watching Wednesday with my family the other night and really loved it so I wouldn't be surprised if I started writing for that at some point. But, again, who knows?

13. Aside from fanfic, are there any other fan works you’d like to try creating? Fanart, or fanvids, gifsets, or podfic? 

I would love to get into any of it, but I don't have the technical know-how required for most of it and I suck at drawing people. And I mostly do traditional, pen(cil) and paper style artwork anyhow.

That being said, again, I've made fanart before, but it's normally more of a quote tattoo style, surrounded by little doodles of objects that have some canon importance or the fandom has gotten emotionally attatched to.

On the flip side of that, I've done tattoo style art with the object as the main focus, with a fandom quote wrapped around it.

Wow Mars, you should maybe look into being a tattoo artist or something!

I have been thinking about finding and/or adapting some crochet patterns (or possibly making my own patterns) to try and make some textile fanart! Like an amigurumi Demogorgon or a Starfleet badge coaster, that sort of thing.

Thank you, Lilo, for your ask!

(If I stumble upon any of my fanart in the future, I'll be sure to send you a picture of it!)

[navree]

i cant see jonsa happening 😭😭😭 id ont hate the ship or anything but i just cant see how itll work out. jon couldn't even be with dany after he learned that she was his aunt even though they never really knew eachother and never got to emotionally know eachother as aunt and nephew. sansa may be his cousin but he was raised alongside her as her brother and he sees her as his sister. this might cause a lot of issues

Said it once and I'll say it again: ship what you want guys, it's only fiction and if it makes you happy go for it. And if Jonsa is your passion then let it be your passion, do your thing, I support y'all.

But personally, for me? Yeah, no, it's not for me. I don't hate it virulently but it's not for me. It's a combination of things, Jon's not my favorite character by a fair stretch and while I love Sansa's storylines (tho she's been doing some stuff of late that is just Not It for me) I don't really like her as a character at all, to the point of active dislike almost. And we don't see any hint of a relationship in the books that I could build on for shipping, and by the time they got any sort of relationship in the show I'd completely written off the writing is stuff that was pissing me off (and post-books show!Sansa is just......ugh, I could not stand her I'm sorry) so I was never able to get into it. So for me, between that utter lack of Anything from them in iterations I can tolerate, combined with the fact that, yes, he was very much raised to view her as a sister and was socialized that way with her, not dissimilarly to the way he was with Robb and Bran, and that there is an actual blood relation (acceptable by Westerosi standards but still), not a fan.

(I'll admit to some slight hypocrisy cuz of my Jonrya beliefs, but also they're at least giving me shit to work with so far)

I don't necessarily ship Jonerys either, mostly because again, it is incredibly rare for me to pull something out of total wholecloth with two people who've never even met and barely know of each other's existence, if at all, though they had some moments in the show and the theme Ramin made for them is one of my favorite love scores. But I do think that it's the more likely option cuz like you said, I don't think Jonsa's happening. Not in the books, not in the story that GRRM has created. We've got five books out of seven and Sansa, sorry, is in like bottom tier of people Jon thinks about from Winterfell, I could make a more compelling argument for Jon/Robb than I could for Jon and Sansa. More importantly I don't think it would serve any purpose in the narrative, not when Jon's got three potential love interests kicking about (Val who he's already got some affection for and is at the Wall, Dany for the Ice and Fire motif and her importance in the war against The Others, Arya for their prior connection and the fact that GRRM did plan for them to fall for each other in his original outline) and Sansa's story is more tied to the Vale and to the politics of Westeros rather than things like Northern Independence (which is still a bad idea for an endgame I'm sorry) or The Others.

So with all of that combined, not only is it bordering on nOTP status for me, it just seems so incredibly implausible to the point where if it did happen I would absolutely call bad writing that I literally cannot get into it, and I certainly don't believe it's gonna be canon or even hinted at for canon.

That being said, if it's your jam, go for it! Make your fics, make your gifsets, make your art, the ones I've come across are incredibly lovely even if it's not for me, and like I said: it's fiction. Do what makes you happy <3

[nonsensegnomes]

hi I trust your taste and opinion. A, is succession any good, and B, should I watch it

oh thank you <3 altho i’m afraid you must be the first person to still think i've any taste after seeing my blog, i mean We Post Supernatural Here Sir asjwdwehdewhfefasdhjsidq

okay so you posed this as two different questions so i'll try and answer it like that & keep the replies separated as objective vs subjective altho i guess tl;dr is: Yes lmao

A) so the annoying thing for me as like. a practicing contrarian, is i do have to admit that this show is exactly as good as tumblr & the academy & all your friends & probably your great-grandfather's ghost have already told you it is. the dialogue is hilarious and horrendous but also so naturalistic that it can kind of lull you into thinking that it's a normal way of speaking for an hour; the satire is so well-pronounced in a way it could only be after getting smoothed out by precursor shows like the thick of it & peep show, and yet there's real emotion beating at the heart of it which never gets undercut to serve a Point; the soundtrack adds so much weight to every moment that somehow the scenes you're most excited by can be the ones where the characters are Just Walking Somewhere; and turns out all that obscene wealth IS obscenely good to look at.

     so, unfortunately all the awards thrown at it are incredibly deserved, and if i weren’t currently (re)watching the sopranos & the wire i’d be one of those people up in arms about how it’s the most special-est tv show to ever deign to fit onto our screens – as it is i Do think it’s the best one airing atm, and it’s def going to find its place quite high up in the canon of prestige tv! (although i do think ppl overestimate the lear influence; they’re just riffing off of similar themes guys!!)

B) as to whether you’d personally like it! well,, listen as a fellow shameless & spn enjoyer, it really is like barely a question; like you know those moments in early seasons shameless when their lives would be doing okay for a moment + then monica would arrive back and just absolutely Bulldoze through the kids’ emotional stability until it’s one crying knotted-up mess that dredges up every toxic part of every family relationship? yeah that happens like every 2nd episode on succession and you’d think it would get old, And It Doesn’t!!! also watching kendall roy like zombie-shuffle through s2 was one of the most deeply satisfying & painful experiences i’ve had watching tv, so like. if you’re trying to figure out why treasured mutuals are making you look at gifsets of droopy old men.... it’s the poor little meow meow effect for SUREEE, and the only way out of that is through so you might as well join in!!

     my word of caution would be that obviously this site can lead you astray in getting into it For Gay Reasons. like, some fun repressed characterisation makes it so pretty much every roy sibling (plus tomgreg obvs, and ig excluding connor?) has SOMETHING homoerotic going on, but i don’t think it’s a service to the story to be engaging with it Only on that level; there’s a lot they’re saying deliberately which is far more interesting! (e.g. roman imo is written as not at all attracted to women, but it serves the show far better if he never addresses this directly/‘comes out’ & instead continues forcing himself into these sexual relationships with them anyway)

     on the other hand... i’m not saying they WON’T do tomgreg bc like. shit’s getting wild (but to be clear if they don’t i never said this – queerbait who?) on the OTHER other hand: If kenstew has a million fans, then I am one of them. If kenstew has ten fans, then I am one of them. If kenstew has only one fan then that is me. If kenstew has no fans, then that means I am no longer on earth. If the world is against kenstew, then I am against the world

also gonna link some classic posts here bc i think a lot of the people just now getting into the show may not have seen these Gems, which is a pity! & also they might form nice little samplers if you want to try a bite of this show!! i'll put them in increasing order of how much canon you'll need to be familiar with so you can avoid spoilers:

Rejected Lyrics to HBO’s Succession Theme

My [29F] husband [31M] has become obsessed with taking over his dad’s company since watching Succession on HBO

waystar royco IS monsters inc

succession if it were real life tiktok + pt 2 (ik there're more but i am Not tracking them down rn!)

logan has the m&ms

the first scene i ever watched oh my GOD what an introduction to this show

notes on Number-One-Girl-ism

kendall roy’s bathroom breakdown but with paper bag playing

THEE classic tomlette moment

it's rotten work / yeah it really fucking is!

not to me not if it's you. but fuck you're looking at potential corporate manslaughter

tomshiv forever <3

s2 kendall really needed to hang out with paddington bear

tomgreg cruel summer amv

does your mother know amv

The California Pizza Kitchen Controversy

the camera as a character video essay

john berryman ‘dream song 29’

saturn devouring his son >:)

ACTUAL king lear parallels

well, kendall, you’ve done it now… amv

anyway come back after you’ve seen to the s2 finale & stream laura marling’s hope in the air – sound of the summer!

(and i am actually contractually obliged to suggest that if you do end up enjoying kendall roy, perhaps try him in girlboss princess of a space-fish-war flavour?)

[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!)

[astrovian]

Would you say that Berlin Station is worth watching if I wasn't thrilled by the very first episode? I've watched it twice to see if I could get into it and it was interesting, but not particularly compelling to me personally. So if the pilot is pretty representative of the series as a whole, I'll give it a pass and just continue to appreciate gifsets lmao. But if it hits a good groove after ep 1, I'll give it a proper try. Thoughts? 👀 Also have a nice day, I enjoy your posts ❤️

Oh god, this is a hard one.

I’ll be honest here - the first time I started watching Berlin Station season 1, I didn’t get past the first episode because I just wasn’t feeling it at all so I completely get it.

That being said, when I came back about 6 months later I had nothing better to do and hung around until about mid-season 1 which is when I started to actually go “oh, this isn’t half bad”. But to be honest, season 1 is mediocre at best (and I think they revealed certain things far too early in the season but that’s a topic for another time). 

Like you say, it was interesting but not particularly personally compelling.

Then I started season 2 and I was HOOKED. In my opinion, season 2 was the peak of the show in terms of being consistently good (plus, they’re up against facists in season 2 which makes it really fun to cheer for the main characters). 

Very early season 2 is when I got really invested in the characters and their stories so that’s when it became really personally compelling. 

To be perfectly honest the shift to season 2 is when I stopped caring so much that RA was even in it and started watching it because I really, really enjoyed it. 

Season 3 was mostly interesting enough I guess - better than season 1, but some parts of the story dragged a little (also, fair warning - RA doesn’t get as much screen time in season 3 as he does in the other two). It was like a halfway point between mediocre season 1 and great season 2?

It was only in the last few episodes that season 3 got REAL GOOD (like, nearly biting my nails good) for me; I can’t stress how extremely stressed out (in a good way) those episodes made me - I hadn’t had a visceral reaction like that to a show in a long time.

And then once I had finished I was absolutely emotionally devastated that the show got cancelled and we won’t be getting a 4th season that it desperately needs and therefore no resolution to the story.

Which is really just a long-winded way of saying that it’s a show that grows on you over time. I would say if you have lots of spare time and no other shows you’re wanting to watch, go ahead with the mindset that you’re in for the long haul. If you’re wanting it to get a lot better fast, I would approach with caution.

the occasional shirtless scenes help, anyway 😂

best of luck and thank you for the kind words ❤😭 I hope you have a nice day too!

[dojaeism-archived]

OMG I AM SO SORRY I tend to talk so much, you might be writing more because of that :( I can't promise short length but I'll try to restrict my fingers from typing out too much (she says as she types this nonsense that uses a bajillion words already 💔) I've been looking after myself, don't worry~ there's just a lot to do as both my parents work and my elder sister and I mostly try to manage our younger siblings and stuff haha Ah, I get that; glad to know you still like doing it! - ❄️

sorry for taking so long to respond omgg but hi!!!

asfhgjsadkj I'm no one to get excited over T^T the ones I am currently mostly active on are 2 out of ig 5-6 blogs? I rarely post on main but you'll see me do something once every blue moon haha Ooh what do you like cooking most then? I make cheesecake myself at home from yogurt instead of cream cheese and it's very light so I can easily eat a slice ^^ I don't like sweets much so it's rare I even have something that isn't on the more bitter or tart side (even then very picky hehe) - ❄️

Quiche is definitely something you should try; it's basically a savoury pie! Stews are awesome too; if you're a person who likes deep flavours but not in watery form (e.g soups, broths) like me, then that's the perfect option as it's consistency is gravy-like and packs a punch Lol they put zero effort in even trying to know their way around the kitchen so when they're forced to do so in the future, they'll definitely get the hang of it :) - ❄️

haha I'm the kind of person who disappears for days/weeks and then mass produces gifs when they return (as explicitly told by my friend) but I quite enjoy it (*^w^) I think giffing for 1-2 groups specifically made me use so much time that I rarely gif others unless I have the time to; but I do wanna try to gif exo more... I gif txt and stray kids! (and some others on and off on my multi blog) - ❄️

I look forward to becoming friends with you too~ haha merci beaucoup; je fais de mon mieux! Those two were like the only games I liked (the puzzle parts though, not much of the fighting Lol) OOF that's a lot, I hope you didn't lose too much sleep for that! Thank you, good luck with your classes and I hope this year passes by nicely for you (also I deeply apologise because I said I wouldn't talk too much but I'm kinda sure I surpassed the normal word limit 😶) - ❄️

please don’t apologise for talking too much omg i love love hearing what you have to say!! you’re always welcome to send as many asks as you’d like hehe and im glad to hear that you’re taking care of yourself!

jkfgnkjfg i know what u mean, i have like 6 sideblogs and i am allllll over the place for all of them LOL either way, im excited to find out who you are!!!

i don’t think i really have a favourite dish, cooking still isn’t my thing tbh i’d rather eat than cook 😭 i only did it bc my parents were like “u gotta show us what u learnt all this time away at uni” and i was like “omg.. here eat this! now leave me alone!” LMAO but its interesting that you make cheesecake from yoghurt :0 i might try that to see if it turns out better!!!! quiche sounds nice! its kinda hard to get stuff like that and pie/stews etc here bc its not very common so i’ll have to see :0

ohh i get u!!!! when i initially started giffing i’d do it for like 6/7 hours a day no kidding, i literally just sat there and giffed all day (to the point where i had a permanent cramp in my hand) but now im like hmm here’s a gifset once a year maybe haha but i almost exclusively only gif jaehyun lol its kinda tragic 😭 im currently trying to gif more people on my sideblogs bc i’ve always wanted to gif them but the jaehyun tunnel vision is so real 😩 its so ironic that chanyeol is my ult but i have never giffed him ever in my life LMFAOOO i really gotta change that….. but omg i love stray kids!! well i solo stan felix actually but they’re all cute!! id love to get into giffing them!!! i don’t really know txt though, but people are always saying lots of lovely things abt them hehe

omg im the opposite! i hate the boring story bits of games lol i always just skip to the fighting bit… idk how familiar you are w genshin but they have like story quests right and i generally just ignore everything and just go around looking for people to fight lmaoo

thank you! its kinda crazy bc i slept like 4 hours the past 3 days but its the weekend now so im gonna catch up on some sleep hehe i hope you’re staying warm (if its cold where you are) and remember to drink lots of water & stay safe!! also its always always okay for you to send in as many asks as you like, i love talking to you 🥰

[serenagaywaterford]

1) Okay, I'm late (bc rl sucks), but I'm back and I'll gradually address everything. "Also do not feel any pressure to respond to my multiple essays! I understand completely!"The same goes to you, bc I feel like I'm bothering you too much. That being said, I truly enjoy talking to you. Not only you offer fresh/perceptive insights into the characters' minds (which made me a. reconsider scenes and motives, b. wanna rewatch S1 --some scenes you're commenting on are SO fuzzy in my head-- mind you,

2) 2) I’m already rereading the book), but you also provide such hilarious, sarcastic lines (some of them are absolute killers).

3) personalities” I know you have an inkling of who’s who. :D But damn, that ‘lesbianing’ bit had me giggling. Kudos, fellow anon. Since we’re on the subject, I have another question about your fic (if you don’t mind): is it post s2 or s1/s2 canon divergent? b) “Add horrid fangirls to that and it’s a big ass no lol.” Ugh. Fandom smh manages to sour my opinion of characters/ships/series I personally like. Especially when fans start pestering the creators to cater to their whims or harass actors

4) or start ship wars. Double ugh. c) “So, that’s the Mass Effect connection!” Two more similarities: i. Mass Effect’s Miranda Lawson got a lot of fandom hate back then (even though she was a famous character), just like Serena. ii. She has a back-and-forth, bickering (hateful but not THAT complex) relationship with another female character. d) “I have seen Westworld! Well, okay, just the first season. I got too tired/confused to get past the 2nd season premiere.” Oh, sorry. I shouldn’t have

5) assumed. Believe me when I say it’s a good thing you stopped watching when you did. The overall quality of the series remained pretty much the same (e.g. acting, cinematography, direction), but, oh boy, some new plot twists (which I usually like) are SO OVER THE TOP in order to impress (?) the audience. It’s reached a point where some characters are unrecognizable, bc they’re servants to the plot. Maeve has a lot bigger arc in S2 and Newton is thriving (imo, S2!Maeve >> S1!Maeve), but so is

6) Strahovski/Serena. :D e) “don’t go around bitching at people who say shitty things or stuff I don’t agree with, or blocking anybody who doesn’t like her."Ah, another thing we have in common. There were times I’ve been blocked by fandom people (with beautiful edits) that I NEVER interacted with (except for maybe reblogging from each other). That’s not me complaining. Like I said, each to their own.I just find this phenomenon funny at times. Story time. Once, an out of nowhere anon (whose msg I

7) didn’t publish, bc drama is SO not my thing) said they’d block me, bc of an uploaded gifset for a canon pairing (which wasn’t to their taste apparently) that was tagged as #[series]edit (although the ship!portmanteau was right there, too, so that people could easily block it). I remember being like: "Okay. Good for you, anon!” LOL. f) “I dunno if you see spoilers but there’s one about them.) She needs therapy so much more than a cutesy feelgood storyline.��� I did NOT actually, but feel free to8) enlighten me.

——–

I am sort of back! (RL does get in the way of incredibly lengthy essays about fictional TV shows!) NO APOLOGIES NECESSARY!! I am just so happy I get to read all these excellent thoughts, analyses, and feelings you have! (and that we clearly share lol, including the sheer amusement of your writing!). I really want to write more at the mo but my hands are doing that weird old lady thing where you can see the veins popping out and it makes me v uncomfortable to look at. Especially since I have little baby hands. I hate it.

Ok, I’m now kneeling on the floor and the computer is on the kitchen island. This is better. I cannot see the top of my hands. 

SO. Where was I? OW. my kneeeessss. This is a bad idea.

I’m so lost. Fic question. right. It’s post-S2. Like… quite post-S2. I didn’t even deal with HOW or WHY June is back in the Waterford’s house tbh cos I can’t be bothered to sort that out. (Thanks, show.) So, it just assumes that for some reason, she’s back. Which, if the BTS pics/video is to be believed, that’s the case anyway. 

Fangirls (and boys ofc) ruin so much for me. Even if I like the same thing initially. Ugh. Then sometimes they’ll annoy me so much that I end up liking the complete opposite of what they like. Dunno why.

No worries about Westworld! It’s a reasonable assumption! Please don’t apologise, my friend. I do agree that Thandie was very good in S1. IIRC, her character was my fav (other than Clementine lol). Yvonne S2 was just next level shit to me. Like, what you’re saying makes me wanna give S2 WW another shot but when shows get overcomplicated, they’re not much fun anymore when I’m like “BUT WHAT IS HAPPENING LOL”. 

>> “There were times I’ve been blocked by fandom people (with beautiful edits) that I NEVER interacted with (except for maybe reblogging from each other)”

EXACT SAME. It was actually in THT fandom most recently lol. Like, I reblogged one of their pretty edits once. Ever. I didn’t even say anything snarky or bitchy or rude in tags. I don’t think I added any commentary at all. Next thing I know? BLOCKED. Never interacted with them in any way whatsoever. (Typical N/J fangirl lol.) It’s the strangest behaviour and it’s that kind of thing that sours me towards sects of fangirls, and sometimes even the characters they like. Maybe that’s just petty but I think it actually just reinforces pre-existing feelings I had towards the character or pairing.) The only blogs I block are ones that are gross, RP, or spam. (RP blogs is a long history of them stealing and spamming and adding awful commentary to my posts way back in the day, so I just… block em. lol.)

>> “they’d block me, bc of an uploaded gifset for a canon pairing (which wasn’t to their taste apparently) that was tagged as #[series]edit (although the ship!portmanteau was right there, too, so that people could easily block it). I remember being like: “Okay. Good for you, anon!” LOL.”

Oh. My… WHAT. There’s a very odd sense of entitlement here that seems so peculiar to me. Like, that’s what the blacklisting feature is for? I’ve put every version of my most despised pairings, characters, etc. and it works? Very rarely does it miss on. I guess we’re just dramaphobic, mature old fandom farts. Like, “Kids, let me sit you down and tell you about this site before you could block things. Before even XKit was invented…” Not to mention every other website ever lol.

HOLY GROSS… I just got up and a centipede fell off me!! WHYYYYYY. THIS IS WHY I DON’T SIT ON THE FLOOR. (we live near the beach/woods so we get lots of bugs no matter how clean we are…) no more painful kneeling for me i guess…

OKAY. Spoilers. It’s not much but other than the June in Martha costume (which was shown in the teaser Superbowl trailer anyway by now)… there were set pics of Emily, Sylvia, Nicole, and Luke all happy and smiling. IIRC. I can’t find the post anymore. So it may not have been in character. But I dunno… it all seems… too easy? Like, I’m glad Emily is safe but omg. She’d better not be all hunky dory “I stabbed a lady and threw her down the stairs, murdered another, and ran a dude over with a stolen car, but now I’m Canada, I’m all healed!” (Not including the heart attack/crotch kicking here cos that was fair play to Emily. She deserved that.) Like, honestly, as much part of me was like YESSSS at all of those, still… that’s grievous bodily harm with intent to kill, flat out murder, and vehicular manslaughter. For Emily to do those things, you don’t do those crimes without being really broken and damaged. And… yeah. That doesn’t magically disappear when you hop over a border.