#making gifsets of them is hard because they have so many good scenes

[orionsangel86]

Subtext Glorious Subtext! A Dreamling on Netflix analysis in The Sandman - Part 5

1789

How romantic it is to be defended by ones love!

My favourite century! This is where the show starts deviating more heavily from the comic and upping the heat on the subtext (probably why it remains a popular century in fandom especially for gifsets).

Firstly, the show makes some good choices by changing certain elements in order to increase character likeability, which I think were necessary tbh. In the show, Hob mentions getting into a “new trade” regarding shipping and slavery. He describes the process to Dream and is immediately scorned for it via the “poor thing” line. In the show, it is implied that Hob’s involvement in the Slave Trade is something new for him. Dream is immediately dismissive and judgemental of this (as we would expect any decent person to be). Hob initially defends himself “It’s just how its done.”  but agrees to consider Dream’s advice.

This is not how either the comic or the Audible audiobook go and honestly, I was surprised.

In both comic and audiobook, Hob brags about the slave trade. He talks gleefully about actually having a hand in starting it 200 years back. He’s proud of this. He’s completely repugnant in both comic and audiobook and it makes you want to punch him hard. Dream only makes the following comment: “You take pride in treating your fellow humans as less than animals?” but he is otherwise not dismissive or disgusted by these things. He is not judgemental, just curious and surprised. When Hob dismisses this question as it being “business”, Dream drops the topic. It isn’t until the very end of the scene after Johanna’s interuption that Dream tells Hob its “a poor thing...” and that is where both comic and audiobook leave it without giving Hob’s reaction to this line.

You can see why the show made the wise decision to change these things. I think it is another example of where the show is taking the story and characters in a softer, kinder, and more likeable direction. We have to remember that the show versions of Dream and Hob are NOT their comic counterparts. Both comic characters are unlikeable at times and Hob in particular is just generally a pretty shitty person. It is difficult to marry the two versions of Hob sometimes because Ferdie gives SUCH a likeable, warm, engaging performance. Yes, Show!Hob is still a slaver for a short while, and yes, that is absolutely not forgiveable and fandom would be wise to ensure that this is never downplayed or ignored, but I think it is worth mentioning that the show has made the decision to lessen his involvement in the slave trade compared to his comic counterpart. But we shall see where they decide to go with this particularly nasty part of show!Hob's history in future episodes.

I think the show in many ways is taking a more classical view of the Sandman characters - here are your good guys and here are your bad guys, here are the people we want you to love and root for, and here are the ones you should love to hate. The comic tends to keep the majority of characters in the middle ground of morally grey. They have a rather cynical viewpoint imo that works for a gritty graphic novel about a depressed eldritch entity. But that viewpoint wouldn't work so well in a high budget fantasy drama series with a desire to draw in as big an audience as possible.

Anyway, back to 1789. Aside from Tom and Ferdie acting like they want to climb each other all the way through this scene (the sexual tension is through the roof throughout), all of fandoms favourite elements here are new.

Whilst Hob does ask for Dream’s name again here in the comics, there is no response or reaction from Dream given before Lady Johanna interrupts them. In the show, it is clear that Dream is about to give an answer - Hob almost gets his name. This is - tropey. The interruption may be comic canon but the almost response to the answer you’ve been craving for 400 years isn’t. A brilliant little addition. The audience is on the edge of their seats wishing Dream would just tell Hob who he is dammit! It adds to the expectation that eventually Hob will get his name. Dream's identity reveal at this point is basically a Chekov's gun. Hob will get it, even if we don't see it happen.

Then we get the fight. There is no rambling from Hob about some Jack Constantine he knew, instead he is calmly making flirtatious jokes at Dream right in front of Lady Johanna’s salad. “I look terrible, you look worse.” The terrible drawing from 1689 is new for the show, as in the comic it is simply a description of the 1689 meeting that Johanna found. Making it a portrait instead gives the characters something to react to, and I do love how bad the caricatures are in the drawing. Though sorry Hob, but anyone can see that Dream absolutely does not look worse than you, and your teasing flirtations are kinda obvious.

The two characters share catty side eye glances in silent communication as Lady Johanna talks which indicates how close and comfortable with each other they have become by this century.

When Hob jumps up to attack the thugs, he goes for the one with the knife at Dream’s throat first. Hob gets to be an action movie star for a short moment whilst Dream looks up at him in subtle delight. It’s glorious.

AND THEN Dream ONLY makes a move once he sees Lady Johanna has her blade at Hob’s throat.

In the comic, the minute the thugs get their blades out and Lady Johanna threatens them, Dream is like nope! Magic sand! Poof!

But the show, oh the glorious, brilliant, creators on the show, decided this was going to be a “partners defending each others lives” scene. They want to protect and defend each other! They care about each other.

And then we get this:

GIF by ghorestes

Dream. Darling. Sweetheart. He may not have needed to, but you enjoyed it nevertheless.

“Clearly. Still, I didn’t want to be drinking here alone in 100 years time.”

GIF by mrskillingjoke

(Thank you to all gifmakers by the way I am kissing you on the mouth for the gifts you give us)

LOOK AT HIM. We all obsess over these little moments I know, but this is CLEAR flirtation.

If there is a better example of *eye fucking* anywhere outside of a season 4 Destiel scene I have yet to come across it.

It doesn’t even stop there. Because right after the best example of *eye fucking* I have seen since season 4 Destiel is an honest to god proposition.

Hob: "So do you want to find another pub tonight?"

Dream: "She may have told others about our meeting. It wont be safe for you."

Hob: "Im perfectly safe. I can't die remember?"

Dream: "Aye, but you can be hurt or captured. We must be careful"

Hob: “Always.”

NONE OF THIS IS IN THE COMIC.

So what new info has the show given us with this scene?

On a surface level, Hob wants more time with Dream. He wants to find another pub to continue their date.

On a subtextual level, Hob is full of adrenaline from the fight and the mystery man he’s been obsessing over for 400 years is looking at him like he wants to jump his bones. He wants to find another place so they can continue their date, and possibly fuck until the adrenaline has worn off.

On a surface level, Dream cares about Hob’s safety. He doesn’t want them being seen together together outside of the tavern to draw attention to anymore of Lady Johanna’s goons.

On a subtextual level. This is 1789 Hob and they hang men for doing what you very clearly want to do, and it’s not safe with the additional attention Lady Johanna and her goons have put onto you. If I go with you now, they could follow and find us in more compromising positions. Don’t risk it.

In the comic at this point, I would argue that Hob is still nothing more than a curiosity to Dream. He does not show him any real affection or care, and certainly doesn’t comment on his safety at any point. Whilst comic!Hob at this point is clearly itching for more info on Dream, he doesn’t ever push for it, and he is never as focused on Dream as he is talking about other people he’s met and interacted with. They are barely friends.

But by 1789 in the show, we have genuine care for each other, camaraderie, a growing friendship, and arguably sexual attraction.

The other point to note is something I only realised after answering this ask the other day. Comic!Dream has never had anyone else truly care about him enough to rescue him or come to his defence since Alianora (and he basically married her). When Hob defends Dream in the show, its so impactful to Dream because this is a version of Hob who truly cares about him enough to endanger himself (a trait comic!Hob never shows). No wonder Dream looked so pleased and acted so coy about it. He really was ready to pounce!

Basically 1789 is the turning point century. The point at which the show starts to lean heavily into homoerotic tropes and increases the tension. In this century we get:

An almost name reveal followed by an unwanted interuption

Amused side eye glances at each other sharing unspoken communication

Flirtatious jabbing over a bad drawing

Defending each other from harm

Putting themselves at risk in defence of the other

A thinly veiled proposition

Genuine concern and care from a character that never appeared to care previously

Ridiculously over the top eye fucking

All of which adds up to further the audiences investment in the continued development of this relationship whether romantically or platonically and which therefore makes the break up in 1889 even more impactful.

The analysis continues for 1889 in part 6!

[bloodydeanwinchester]

hi jenna gif questions for u 💜 what's your favorite part of making gifs? what's the most valuable thing/tip/trick you've learned? what's some of your favorite gif sets you've made?

hi ida!!!! sorry i took a couple days to answer this i wanted to wait until i had some time to think about it before i answer! i loooove these questions tho so thank you so much for sending them 💜💜

my favorite part about making gifs is probably coloring and like...that moment when i get the gif to look exactly how i want it to. i like to play around with coloring and try a lot of different things with it and that can be so fun! i think over the last like 6-8 months my coloring has really improved a lot and i've been having a lot of fun learning new ways to do things! but i actually had a really hard time coming up with an answer for this question because i mostly enjoy the entire process! the only part that i don't really enjoy is picking out the frames for each gif. i always start with way too many and then i have to cut stuff out and i hate that part. also it's reaaally hard sometimes to not end up with like 20 gifs cause there's so much i want to include!!!

okay im gonna cheat on this one and give a few things i've learned since i started that have been sooooo valuable to me. first is the importance of having a good quality download to start with. i think my gifs got significantly better when i finally downloaded all of the episodes in 1080p instead of using the screen recording on netflix like i had been before. second sharpening is so important! i did not do any sharpening on my first gifs i made! sharpening makes the gifs loook sooo sharp and crisp and pretty. third and kind of similar to sharpening was learning/figuring out how to use the camera raw filter. there's sooooo much you can do with camera raw filter (coloring sharpening lightening). and finally one thing i learned that i think made my coloring look significantly better was to try not to lighten the gif too much and/or to figure out ways to lighten darker gifs without it messing up the background too much (sometimes when they're lightened too much it will like pixelate the background and it looks awful)

and finally (in order of when they were made from oldest to newest) here are links to some of my favorite gifsets:

Bloody Dean Throughout the Seasons Set - this one actually came out really good considering the fact that it was made only a month after i first started making gifs! if i remember correctly it's the first set that i ever used sharpening on.

6x20 F+TM King Set - this one is a favorite mostly just because i love the song so much and tmwwbk is one of my favorite episodes. i think some of my favorite sets to make are the ones that i add lyrics to.

2022 Nov 5th Set - i was really happy with how this one came out! it's so hard to get gifs from episodes over different seasons to look the same! and this one had gifs from 12 different seasons! also i think this was the first set i ever made that got over 1000 notes which i remember being really excited about!

Laughing Dean Set - this one is a favorite purely based on the content of the set. it feels like injecting serotonin every time i look at it<3

1x12 Faith Set - another one based on the content of the set. i just love this episode so much.

Season 9 Dean Set - i LOVE the coloring in this set! and season 9 dean is so beloved to me. he is just so beautiful and bloody and sad.

2023 Cas Day Set - another f+tm lyric set! i love the space overlay that i added and the blue-pink of the coloring so much!

4x18 Destiel Every Episode Set - i loooove this scene so much! this gif series has by far been more popular than any of the other gifs that i post and this set is definitely the most popular in the series. no other set has ever even come close to getting 4k notes like this one did. also i really like the purple coloring a lot<3

[sophsun1]

This gifset I made of Joan and Jack Kinney's perception that Brian was a carbon copy of his father a lone wolf and selfish man vs Justin knowing that was the furthest thing from the truth hits even harder when you flashback to 1.02 where Brian has such a visceral reaction to Ted yelling at Michael "Where do people get off thinking I'm not a kind person? I happen to be very kind, very loving/ My only responsibility is to myself I don't owe anybody a goddamn thing."

Selfish is such a prominent word in his life. We hear it from many of his so called friends. He's selfish and can't or won't love anyone or anything. Yet his actions towards them even when they don't deserve it show the complete opposite. You can sort of see why it cuts so deep when he hears these words "selfish and responsibility" in the context of the scenes with his parents.

We have Joan in church telling Brian he reminds her of Jack, he's equally as selfish always letting her down and mocking her love for God. How she took Jack's abuse and beatings to protect him though we the audience know Brian had his own share of abuse from him both physical and emotional along with his mother's neglect and alcoholism. He denies this but she won't hear of it. Adding on to her previously telling him her new priest has been like a son to her and now Brian has the power to destroy her entire world view and he doesn't. There's also a weird sort of parallel where now instead of her biological son being like her husband, her surrogate son is just like the son she rejects and is ashamed of.

Jack proudly announcing he's a chip off the old block not made to be a family man, Brian agreeing. Throw in the bombshell that if it was up to him, Brian wouldn't even exist. This man who shirked all responsibilities as a husband, a father and role model to his children telling his son who he wished was never born that he is just like him. Imagine the mind fuck. His line about not letting the ladies tie him down, Brian knowing he would never be accepted if he ever came out to him. Then buttering him up for cold hard cash, even though Brian had it ready and waiting because he knew that's all he's worth to him. Which leads me to the anger I feel towards Mel and Lindsey who immediately jump on Brian about his financial responsibility to Gus. Wanting him to sign a life insurance policy because his "lifestyle" according to Mel makes him more of a risk factor. They don't want him to be fully physically involved but they'll take his money. Here comes the theme of death once more, his father didn't want him to exist but he'll take his money. Mel and Lindsey, pointing out if he dies it doesn't matter as long as Gus profits. Yet he fought so hard for Lindsey in the custody battle for J.R, funding it all when he never got that same unwavering support when it came to Gus. Wanting so steadfastly to take care of Justin financially when they were together and apart because that's how he has been made to feel with Gus and his father. So many layers. Sonny boy indeed.

Is it any wonder? Brian Kinney never believed in love and thought it only lead to bitterness and resentment, and settling down meant settling into a toxic environment where hatred flourished. Especially as your parents are your first example of love and family. You literally are the product of that union in most cases, it's a fundamental part of your childhood and has a deep effect on you ergo why therapists always lead with "So tell me about your relationship with your mother/father."

WHICH IS WHY WE SHOULD HAVE HAD A SEASON DEDICATED TO THIS ASPECT!

Ultimately people are always wanting a piece of Brian. The raw, unfiltered Brian Kinney that Justin sees and accepts and loves is not good enough for them. Sure they have their moments and he's by no means perfect but Justin doesn't want to intrinsically change him, he encourages him to be better and we see Brian respond to this. They blow hot and cold, his Peter Pan complex is embarrassing it's time to grow up! Brian tries to change, no this isn't the Brian we know and love, we prefer the old version of him come back! With his friends he's made to feel responsible for their mistakes and fuck ups, to be a support to them, to help rescue them even to his own detriment at times. To feel guilt at his existence in their lives and how it affects them, as financial support or simply telling him how to react/feel to really major emotional life events. Debbie insisting he "owed" his father his coming out, telling Joan he had cancer. Michael at his father's death, that regardless of what he did he was still his dad. The amount of pressure that was placed on him was insane the "responsibility" never ends. It goes to the -> I don't owe anybody a goddamn thing! He got himself out of his terrible upbringing, worked hard and got an amazing loft with a job in a career he excels at. No one gave him a hand out. Technically even when they did in the concerned citizens for truth era he paid them back plus extra. He hates feeling indebted to people, or in need, and yes part of that is pride but also because he's the one that is always on standby to be that for others, so where is his room to fail?

[hurremsultanns]

Completely agree with a lot of your takes on Hurrem and Mahidevran (their parenting, their ambitions, and that they both get way too much hate)

I think that that’s part of the reason Nurbanu was my favorite overall character. I think she has a perfect mix of the things that I liked and admired about both Hurrem and Mahidevran.

Like Hurrem: she has a very tragic backstory, was taken as a slave against her will, has a hard time adjusting to the rules of the harem, has a hard time getting along with the other girls in the harem, tad bit superstitious, has a rivalry with a dynasty Sultan (Hatice for Hurrem and Mihrimah for Nurbanu), epic love story, sometimes makes mistakes out of love and jealousy, completely loyal to her man, surrounds herself with people who are loyal to her, and will do absolutely anything for the sake of her children

Like Mahidevran: she frequently gives good advice, her son is her whole world, initially has a close relationship with the Valide (Ayse Hafsa for Mahidevran and Hurrem for Nurbanu) who offers her advice and protects her but slowly falls out of favor over time, elegant and has a gorgeous taste in clothes, happier and more innocent memories with her man (Suleiman for Mahidevran and Selim for Nurbanu) take place in the provinces before he becomes sultan, and dreams of rising to the highest level in the harem (Valide Sultan).

I would’ve given anything for a series on Selim and Murad’s reign just so Nurbanu can visit Murad in Manisa and have a flashback to when she was there just like Mahi’s flashbacks when she arrives in Manisa. That scene was one of my favorite moments for Mahidevran. Historically Selim was later pressured by his advisors to have more children since he only had the one son. I would’ve loved to see Nurbanu be a mix of both Hurrem and Mahidevran by being the Sultan’s legal wife (like Hurrem) and the closest one to him despite the other women in the harem while also being the mother of the oldest sehezade (like Mahidevran)

I've never understood Hürrem stans who hate Nurbanu. She's one of my favourite characters and one of the best additions to season 4.I made a whole gifset years ago showing parallels between her and Hürrem. Obviously all 3 of them have their parallels. Weirdly enough I think that Hürrem and Nurbanu's motherhoods get downplayed by the fandom because people focus on Hürrem and Süleyman and we don't get many scenes between Nurbanu and Murad. Not to mention that Mahidevran is the one who fits the 'Madonna' stereoype whereas they don't and an integral part of the 'Madonna' type is glorified motherhood.

There's also the difference in that we see Hürrem and Mahidevran fighting over Süleyman while he's sultan whereas Nurbanu fights for Selim and Murad while they're both still princes so she's in a less secure situation than either of them were.

The potential for a series on Selim and Murad's reigns would be so interesting. I'd love to see Nurbanu vs Safiye and add to that the potential for foreshadowing with the looming tragedy of the mass fratricide of 19 princes.

[ronsenthal]

hi! do you have tips and advice for making gifs? i love your gifs so much!

awww thank you so much, that really means a lot to me as I'm still rusty and a bit insecure because I've learned how to make gifs like 10 years ago? things didn't changed that much in terms of method and yet it's still scary, but at the end people like you make it worth!! 🥺🥺🥺

a little disclaimer: I'm colorblind, I can see colors okay! but I just see them a little bit different than most people so sometimes my edits may seem a little weird and that's the reason

Okay It will definitely be a long answer so I'll put under the cut ☺️

My advices would be:

- Just go for whatever scene you like the most, and try to focus on things you enjoy. I like to gif what I love, things I find beautiful as it gives me so much joy to look at the final result 😌

- Fortunately tumblr is full of people willing to share their knowledge and skills and there is lots and lots of blogs with the main theme being tutorials or even inspo and sources, so I always try to follow them to keep up with whatever is trending and just to learn new tricks and tips, some of my faves are @completeresources @gifmakerresource @allresources and @chaoticresources

- Be patient with yourself, if you are trying a tutorial and it is giving you a hard fight you can always stop and try again another time. It happened to me more than once that a tutorial or a particular idea I was trying gave me such a bad fight that I ended up so frustrated, exhausted, angry and feeling shitty but then I would pick another time to give it try and the thing worked hahahaha, so don't forget to respect your time and wellbeing

In terms of tips and tricks:

- Always use high quality videos, like the best quality available as it really makes a difference in terms of the final result

- Oh always resize your gifs!!! I use the crop tool and then I adjust the image size to keep it high quality, I think this is BY FAR the best tutorial as it explains quite well if you are new to editing

- So far I have tried many many different methods over the years, my fav is to cut the scenes I want to edit and for this use any video editing software really and after choosing a couple of scenes I import all of them to Photoshop (my version is the 2022 edition) and then I use the video timeline method (i don't really remember where I learned it but I found this really good tutorial that might be helpful)

- I slow down the gifs I make (idk how to explain it in english I'm sorry) but I set the speed for something in between 50% to 70%, depending on the scene

- In terms of colouring I don't really have a specific preset or fav PSD, I adjust them one by one just trying to focus on what the scene gives and then I work my way around it depending on what I'm trying to achieve or how do I want my gifset to look like (a good example was the Ron one on my last gifset i didn't wanted to look so yellow as it would be too different from the other gifs, it was a nightmare) BUT I guess I tend to use lots and lots of adjustment layers like I start with brightness/contrast, curves, and levels and then I proceed to selective colors, hue, vibration and saturation, sometimes I even use gradients and/or solid color layers with different blending options like soft light, overlay, opacity and fill settings to correct colors (I always use the color wheel principles of opposites and/or complementaries)

- Use smart sharpening!!! Peopel are so brilliant that they gave us actions, it is literally just a click away from all the trouble to do it manually, and it speeds up my process. Personally I have been using this amazing one I found quite recently, and it's really doing wonders to my edits

anyway thank you so much for being so kind and supportive, my ask box and dm are always open if you have any doubts or just want to exchange ideas. Really hope it helps you ❤️

[lover-of-mine]

Hi Anna!!! I have a question for you. I came across a gifset of 6x09, the phone call where Buck tells Hen, Chim, and Eddie about the baby. Eddie sure didn't stick around for that conversation! He's visibly a bit bothered by it, but he doesn't say anything. And I think that's because he's trying not to steer Buck in any direction now like previous events, but I just think he has SOMETHING to say about it! Anyway, do you think he would bring it up at any point and would it create problems for Buddie?

Muah!

Hi, baby <3

Okay, long story short: unless the baby becomes a thing that's actively harming Buck, I don't think Eddie is gonna say anything. It's done, the baby exists, he is not a possibility, he is an actual human out in the world so whatever feelings he may have about whether or not that was a good idea don't matter, because he's not an idea anymore. And even if we end up with buddie and somehow that kid becomes a conversation topic, it's not Eddie's place to say Buck shouldn't have done it, and he knows it, I think that's why he acts the way he acts towards it, he knows it's not his place. I can see Eddie snapping if it becomes something that's creating problems for Buck that he refuses to acknowledge but using it to create problems between them would be just stirring up drama with the least interesting thing they could pull from the deck of buddie drama, because Eddie would never actively try to hurt Buck more by bringing this kid into the conversation.

And regarding the whole thing while the baby is still just a concept, Eddie likes to push against the line of thought Buck is trapped in, sometimes because he's actually about to give some solid advice, sometimes maybe just because he's testing how set on this way Buck is. He only found out about the donation once it was a done deal, Buck had a lot of time to sit and think about it by the time he finds out, considering Eddie finds out right as Buck is about to make the donation, and Buck never goes to him to talk about that, so even though is pretty clear he thinks Buck is making a mistake, Buck never asked for his opinion while it would change anything, so he just ignores whatever concerns he may have.

I think Eddie has a better perspective on what being a parent means to Buck than Hen does because while we like to say the whole team knows, we don't really have that many scenes with Buck and Chris with the whole crew, so Eddie is really the only one watching Buck be a parent on a regular basis, and the question Hen asks, the "can you be a father and walk away" is the real thing that could create problems because one, Eddie is a father who walked away, he went to war and he did come back, but even he admits he ran when he was in the army, and two because he's been watching Buck not walk away for years, so he knows if Buck gets too involved, he's not gonna be able to walk away, and that's the concern I think. Sure, there's the fear that Buck is just believing the whole "they had me for parts" and is giving away even more of himself, and problems that the donation could bring for Buck on a bigger scale, but I think specifically with 6x09, Eddie is listening to Buck refer to himself as a father to a child he will have no involvement raising and he's worried Buck is gonna crash from that too hard if he keeps thinking about it the way he is, but he also thinks Buck doesn't want his opinion, because he never asked, and now the baby is real, so he backs away.

[roxannepolice]

This is one of those "ranting so maybe I'll sleep and stop spilling salt on other people's posts" post, and I'm also setting out on a dean hunt tomorrow which is unnerving, but I guess I have thoughts about episodes that are 1-16 years old.

I'm not going to link that lovely gifset of the Masters talking about being a/the Doctor because I don't like to associate my negativity with other people's hard work, but damn if that didn't leave me gritting my teeth. Not the gifset, of course, just the idea that this is somehow a logical development.

I have ranted way too many times about how there's nothing logical whatsoever about POTD, but really, this isn't the case of a good idea poorly executed, this is the case of the author not understanding what his idea even is. This wasn't supposed to be just a body swap (which would have been SO GOOD, just imagine Whittaker and Dhawan having an occasion for acting tour de forces, imagine Yaz having to say all that sanctimonious stuff about the Doctor having people who love her in the face of the woman she loves rather than a guy who left her on a crashing plane, imagine Whittaker!Master exposing all of Yaz's feelings and mocking her with infos about all the previous companions left behind, something the Master explicitly plays at in the episode, but it wasn't pulled to its full potential, damn it's like Chibs was actively avoiding good ideas!), this was supposed to be the Master somehow becoming everything the Doctor is. And the effect is so so so bloody empty? Like, my first thought was, huh, so will this be about how the same experiences do not shape the same people? As in, now that the Master knows all the pain the Doctor went through, but also the wonder and the beauty, and yes, also their ongoing affection for him, he'll still choose to be evil? Kinda pessimistic, but interesting. Then the episode started pushing the idea that the companions make the Doctor who they are, and my interpretation... could still work, but there the message becomes somewhat messier - again, if the love of people around the Doctor made them who they are, then shouldn't those experiences affect or at least be acknowledged by the Master?

And then I had an oh. right. moment as I realised none of this was thought of - the Master simply doesn't have the Doctor's memories or else he would know who Fugitive!Doctor is. So, what exactly happened in that episode? Genuine question, because the episode sure acts like there was some subjective difference for the Master? Damn, it's just so empty.

I don't think there's much to say about Missy's scene, because it oozes irony, which is great and badly needed, but I might as well commit sacrilege and say I never understood the Doctor's logic in putting the have you thought about the fact that you'll die into his speech, like which one is it: be kind without witness or reward, to thy own self be true or remember thou art mortal?

Which leaves me with the Saxon introduction. And look, I understand it's tiresome when people pander to RTD and I'm not saying his era is flawless but it does do one thing later eras avoid: it doesn't tell you what to think. With his writing, I feel like interpretation is really an act of communication, rather than explanation of a thesis. There just plain is no preaching. And the Master isn't there to tell me stuff about the Doctor, he's there on his own terms. He's not trying to aggrevate the Doctor when he uses the title, he doesn't even know he's there for his election speech. No, he's there to act as proper dark mirror, to show how all of that genius can be used for evil, to be the baddie Doctor. He doesn't aspire to be the Doctor, he's already in the process of "saving" humanity by bringing the Toclafane over with a paradox. This is a gortesque parody of the whole concept of sustaining life! The Toclafane are humanity cannibalising itself, just as the Master will in EoT, exposing the darkness of maintaininig existence at all costs. At this point in the writing the Master isn't just defined by the Doctor, he defines him in return in a beautiful dialectic dalliance, keep in mind this trilogy is when we find up just how fucked up changing history is, this is what the Doctor holds against the Master, it's not "but you're killing people :(", it's "but you're changing history"! I know the tempation of reading the Wonder what I'd be without you in a purely shippy way, but ffs let it not cloud the fact that this is post-TLV Doctor talking, he knows the villain he could have been IF HE DIDN'T HAVE SOMEONE TO DEFINE HIMSELF AGAINST ALL THIS TIME.

Since I'm venting I might as well say this: this "development" is why I would really prefer the show to take a break from the Master for a while. Yes, a cameo in the 60th would be great, but until the show has a need for THE MASTER rather than A DIFFERENT TIME LORD TO EXPLAIN WHY THE DOCTOR IS AWESOME, idk, just resurrect the War Chief or sth.

This isn't just about sentiments, this is about two completely different perspectives on the universe. Let that ring out again.

[addictedtostorytelling]

Hey there! Been enjoying your ep-by-ep reboot gifsets! Since it looks like you might be rewatching the reboot (or at least combing it for footage) I'm curious: have you noticed anything new? I know when I rewatch a movie or show that means a lot to me (even, or maybe especially, one I've seen a million times) I tend to always notice or focus on something different. Salt welcome! But the neutral/positive/miscellaneous is as well!

hi, @clintbeifong!

thank you for your kind words! i'm glad you've been enjoying the gif series.

so, uh—

confession: i have rewatched very little of the reboot even doing this latest project. 

a lot of the gifs are ones that i made previously and am now just recycling into the new sets, and even of the ones i’ve made new, entirely "from scratch" (complete with freshly clipped video from the show to work from), i've only really rewatched the individual scenes themselves and nothing much around them.

the truth is, since gsr was the only part of csi: vegas i actually enjoyed, and, even then, i was infinitely less interested in their work on the hodges case than just their interactions with each other, i haven't really been able to bring myself to revisit the reboot at large just yet.

i’m in it for the cute middle-aged marrieds™, and that’s about it.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

that so, there’s not much i can speak to in terms of new observations.

like.

i’ve noticed a few little visual parallels between the reboot and the original series here and there, but nothing especially significant or revelatory.

certainly nothing related to narrative.

of course—and here’s the salt—i suspect that even if i were to actually sit down and rewatch each episode in sequence, taking good notes, there might not be a lot there to notice, as, frankly, the story itself is underwritten/sparse. there’s just not much going on with it, either in the macro sense, with the hodges case overall, OR the micro sense, with the individual characters. everything is so superficial and one-note that there just aren’t “hidden depths” to plumb or subtexts to be read into or character developments to analyze. it’s pretty much a “what you see is what you get” kind of deal.

that said, with what very minimal, "just the gsr interactions" rewatching i actually have done, my main takeaway is just how impressed i am with the texture billy and jorja managed to give grissom and sara’s marriage—which is something i’d appreciated before, too, but which now seems even more impressive to me, the more that i think about it.

as they both talked about in their bts spots leading up to the reboot, they’d really never gotten the chance to play grissom and sara as a happy, stable, committed couple with their relationship “out in the open” before, so what they were doing for the reboot was in many ways new to them.

returning to a character after years spent away would be a hard enough challenge just by itself, but bringing something new and believable to your performance—taking something that had previously been hinted at and making it explicit in a way that feels organic and substantive—to the degree that they did is just wildly impressive.

there’s just no question that the grissom and sara we see in the reboot are “old marrieds” who’ve spent just about every waking moment of the last six years on a tiny boat together.

they feel so worn into each other, so comfortable around each other.

there’s just no hesitation between them.

and it’s not like we get that sense because we get to see a preponderance of deep, emotional moments with them, because really we don’t.

their almost total lack of personal storyline denies us anything more than just the hug in episode 01x03 “under the skin,” the ring return in episode 01x08 “pipe cleaner,” the kiss in episode 01x10 “signed, sealed, delivered,” and a few other scattered comfort moments here and there.

it all just shines through in the quiet, everyday interactions between them—the little affirming glances, the subtle nonverbal communication, the way they play off of each other, how they anticipate each other’s moves.

it has almost nothing to do with what’s in the script (which is again, next to nothing); it’s all in the portrayal that billy and jorja bring and what they imply, which is just so wonderfully, classically gsr, plus that little bit of “we’ve been together forever by now” extra sauce.

anyway.

among all of the other stuff about the reboot that i don’t enjoy—including how very much the whole production feels like a “first draft” as opposed to a “finished product”—i do appreciate getting to see this incarnation of my otp, where there’s just so obviously so much history and knowing between them as a couple.

it’s very validating.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

[morningpagesmp3]

gifmaker blues

oh my god a gifmaker who's way more popular than me just made a gifset exactly like mine...i know they didn't copy me cause that's not their style, i'm in a sideblog with them and they're very nice. but their set has almost the exact same shots as mine does, and a wildly similar caption, right down to the formatting 😭 and i just know they're going to get way more notes than me. there's this idea that gifmakers can repeat scenes and stuff and it's good, everyone should be allowed to gif whatever they want...but i personally hate repeating what other people have giffed, because if a gifset is older or from a smaller account, that doesn't mean it doesn't deserve notes, you might as well reblog the old one instead, and giffing it again like "resets" it and makes it less likely for people to reblog the other one. especially these days while engagement is at an all time low. and for compilation gifsets (like the one in question) if you do different scenes or different quotes, then that brings a whole new dimension and feel to the set. but they used the exact same scenes and exact same quote 😭 they must not have seen my post, or else i doubt they would have posted one so similar...but it's literally a brand new show, there's less than 20 gifsets for it, it's not hard to look and see what people have already posted.

im going to have to scroll by it whenever it's on my dash so i don't see how many more notes they're getting than me

[psychewritesbs]

It's the JJK writing ask one here! I really like reading your thoughts on the matter and truly give me a lot of great insight. I did want a little more of hakari during his fight when i saw your hakari panel insert (hehe i love him) but he's very entertaining. I honestly believe I will always adore the story despite my own personal issues with it because although I want to see its ending, I have enjoyed reading it when I started it. I really like what you said about failing and I agreed immensely with that. This is more personal, but I do believe that failure leads to growth and I'm curious to see what he can do in the future. I can try and imagine his reasoning for going the way he did with cg but spending that time doing that just seems kind of pointless when the manga is still ongoing. I do try to balance my negatives with my positives and take the story as it is. After all, we won't be certain if the cg was more than he could chew or not until the story is probably done. But, yes, wanting the destination has been a thought I like to selfishly indulge in and I'm terribly impatient I must say haha! Despite my own personal frustrations, I can't say I like having too many expectations, especially regarding jjk. Whether it's intentional or not, gege kind of keeps me on my toes and it can be pretty fun after a while whether I end up liking it or not Authors can be really spontaneous when it comes to their stories and we don't really know what changes they undergo especially as people or in a mangakas case how harsh they take the industry in general and how it affects their choices when it comes to their story. My optimism is not always up to 100%, but i do believe that while criticism is natural and i encourage it to have really rich dicsussions, a constant state of negativity for any series isn't all that beneficial. Anyway, I still love thinking about JJK and thank you for reading all my word vomits, I really appreciate it and you. If it's no trouble I might have another ask in regards to hana/yuji/megumi.

HOLA HOLA!

Yessssss for insights! 

Hiding the word vomit under the cut :)

So glad we both vomit words like there’s no tomorrow 🤮dfkjsd ;bgs.

“This is more personal, but I do believe that failure leads to growth”

Honestly? This is one of the things I struggle with the most. Sometimes I have such a hard time just allowing myself to not be perfect and giving myself the grace of being a flawed human.

GASP WHAT IF I FAIL AND OTHERS CAN SEE HOW HUMAN I AM?!

The irony is that I am such a romantic about fictional characters that are depicted as “flawed humans”.

Also. Don't let me fool you tho. I'm totally such a shit talker 😂.

I recently finished a Gundam Seed re-watch that left me perplexed. 

I’ve come to the conclusion that the writers were both REALLY GOOD because they wrote the kind of melodramatic masterpiece that only a melodramatic teenage girl would love, but also REALLY BAD because they wrote the kind of melodramatic masterpiece that only a melodramatic teenage girl would love.

But to go back to my point of “what is good enough for you?” and finding reasons to love a story... while I won’t be watching Gundam Seed any time soon (or quite possibly ever again unless it’s in fast forward or in gifsets), the re-watch was totally worth it because the show has one of my OG anime crushes and OG OTPs. 

In my opinion, both Athrun as an individual, Cagalli as an individual, and the pairing itself actually happen to have some of the best writing in the series--I seriously think these two carry the show on their shoulders in terms of writing ability.

Shameless Athrun and Cagalli plug because I have been looking for an excuse to use this gif because it’s one of my favorite scenes with them. Also, did I mention they make me fangirl like a melodramatic teenage girl?

Point being, I’ve been vocal about the writing being bad in Gundam Seed and I think all 15 people still engaging in the fandom have probably blocked me by now bahaha.

So... yeah: 

“I do believe that while criticism is natural and i encourage it to have really rich dicsussions, a constant state of negativity for any series isn't all that beneficial”

I totally agree with you and love how you put it :)

“Despite my own personal frustrations, I can't say I like having too many expectations, especially regarding jjk. Whether it's intentional or not, gege kind of keeps me on my toes and it can be pretty fun after a while whether I end up liking it or not”

Yessssss. This is what I’ve always loved about JJK.

Unpredictable story-telling my beloved. 

I think another thing that’s helped me stay with JJK a lot is that I can self-insert my psyche into Megumi’s character. I simply adore Megumi.

Have I mentioned that before? Yes? Ok. No worries I’ll probably say it again a bunch more times lol.

I simply adore Megumi and think he’s stupidly beautifully written.

“If it's no trouble I might have another ask in regards to hana/yuji/megumi.”

Awesome, I’ll do my best to answer if if you do get around to sending it!

Good talk good talk!

Thanks again for vomiting words with me, Recurring Anon :)

[clary-jace]

What I know is that you and I were one of the few things, perhaps the only thing, that has ever made total and complete sense in my life. 

[hopefullystillatheatrestudent]

i'm so excited about you taking asks again ahhhh okay so. if you'd absolutely had to choose. what would be your top 5 cockles moments, and why? thank you ily <3

here’s the thing: there are so many routes i could go down with this, because cockles moments come in all shapes and sizes and formats. these include moments from their panels, their bloopers, the footage we get when they don’t even know they’re being recorded, stories being passed down from photo ops & autographs(one of my personal favorite ways to get cockles, tbh, because they’re all insane), and social media(tweets to each other, instagram posts & comments, etc.). 

SO! since many a list like this has already been made, and i want to stand out from the crowd, what i’m gonna do is definitively give the number one spot to each of these five categories.(i might even throw in honourable mentions because they’re so despicably in love that they warrant that. i really put my whole pussy into this, guys, i hope you’re happy.) 

disclaimer: these are my own personal opinions. but that also means i’m right. so. enjoy. 

number one: top cockles panel moment

so we’re starting off with a bang, because how do you even BEGIN to rank what atrocities jensen and misha commit at jibcon. every single one they’ve had is damning in it’s own right, for different reasons.

however, considering just how much unabashed fuckery they’ve given us to sift through, it’s a good thing i do have a personal favorite despite it all. it’s heartwarming, the sweetest thing i’ve ever seen, AND it’s jarringly cinematic - mainly because it has a whole ass arc to it that was years in the making. it might even be surprising to some people, but my favorite cockles panel moment, and what i consider the one that encompasses their entire gut-wrenching journey from 2008-2013 in the most sweepingly romantic gesture possible, is this one.

i want this burned into my retinas. i am not even joking. when i'm through with my explanation, let me convince you why this is thee most romantic cockles moment of all time.

first, some history: people call this the resume off, but many seem to forget the botched attempt at a resume off a year prior. and yes, you guessed it: it's during their break up. it's a juicy time period for a reason, guys. it came across as exceedingly one-sided and VERY awkward. let me refresh your memory as to just how bad it was, and just how hard jensen was trying and ultimately failing at winning misha over: the funniest part of the whole resume off in 2013??? every joke/bit had literally already been made/done. they were just going through the motions again, but the difference THIS time...is that misha reciprocated jensen's energy. it. is. fascinating. i want to get into it more detail in another post, and i'll link it here when i'm done, but the main takeaway, i think, and the main difference that showcases how much they've grown in a year, is that in jib 3, misha flat out refused to do an accent, and this time around, he indulges jensen for literal minutes. when i tell you they're crazy, they're crazy. i can't wait to actually dive into it later.

ANYWAY, the resume off culminates in this moment here. and, like, a million things happen in this gifset. actually, more like a million and one. the music starts playingneediremindyouthatthesongissingingintherain(h e l p), misha starts dancing, jensen 'perpetually fake grumpy' ackles lets misha think he's not going to join, misha sits down defeated, but no!!! that was jensen's plan all along(look at his stupid fucking smirk) and he offers his arm to his dance partner who immediately grins like a fool, jensen then leads misha into their kick step, they perfectly synchronise and let loose, and are then very clearly having the time of their lives, hanging off of each other with joy and ease. from their expressions alone i can tell that this moment is so. so. so. so! much more than what initially meets the eye. i mean-misha is fighting back the biggest smile i've ever seen. to me, it reads like jensen is offering something to misha, something that misha kind of gave up on expecting, and him offering his arm like that is like, a surprise to him in the best possible way(and it's so not platonic, let me just say that.) as soon as jensen did that, it ushered in a new era of cockles. this panel is jensen and misha's favourite for a reason, and i think this moment is the biggest clue as to why.

whew!!! ok. that took a lot out of me and that was only point one. moving on,

number two: top cockles blooper moment

cockles bloopers hold an extremely special place in my heart, because it shows just how fucking disastrous jensen and misha are. they are so goddamn infatuated with each other that they HOLD UP PRODUCTION ALL THE TIME TO FLIRT WITH EACH OTHER(???). let me repeat. let it sink in. jensen ackles; arguably one of the most professional actors on that show who puts everything he has into each scene, with mountains and mountains of notes to prove it: would rather hold up production to flirt with misha collins. this sounds fake. it's not. he does it. all. the. time. and here's the thing guys!!! i'm gonna let you in on a secret!!! misha loves it. he loveesssss it. on top of that-misha collins: overlooked because he's pranked and people assume he's unprofessional as well, but his only pranks are in retaliation/off-set, and he rarely if EVER causes problems if he can help it....lets himself get carried away when it comes to jensen making kissy faces at him!!! are you actually kidding me!!! i mean. misha. it's just a face. you've seen it a million times. i don't buy that it triggers something in you that strongly....you like it, and you like jensen's reaction. you can't fool me!!! lisa berry's face in that one gifset shows just how fed up the crew is with their gross, coupley boyfriend antics.

i could pull up so many examples. sooooooo many. but my favourite was sealed since the moment i saw it.

i actually already wrote an analysis on it but i can't find it :(((( which SUCKS because i really unpacked the whole thing. i'll try to summarise.

basically, a backstory is part of this too!!! jensen and misha both had a really really hard time with this scene(because it's explicitly romantic there i said it), they sat down for hours and poured over their scripts together, they were super super nervous going into filming, both of them, jensen especially, were super hard on themselves for their performances not being true to their characters but they both complimented the other's work(boyfriend moments fr). so, yeah. they weren't confident going into shooting. and how do they get themselves to feel better???? by cuddling each other, apparently.

a lot. a LOT. happens in this specific blooper. to the point that i saw it years before i knew about cockles and it raised all sorts of flags for me.

1) stop pulling my face towards your crotch(as a thinly veiled request that misha would, in fact, move jensen's face towards his crotch, considering it was jensen moving himself there in the first place. also, why so comfy down there guys???) 2) you're my baby daddy i know(in the most intimate voice i've ever heard please) 3) i know, i know, i love you too i didn't say i love you i know but you wanted to say it etc. misha's right, of course. that's what jensen meant.

it just reeks of comfort, familiarity and intimacy between the two, and it's a moment that is extremely sweet and silly at the same time. they're so <3

number three: top cockles found footage moment

WONDERFUL category. truly the culmination of the cockles experience. many people have said that shipping cockles doesn't work because 'they're just onstage you dummies!! they're playing it up for the audience!!!' here's the thing, love. i could not disagree with you more. once you climb your way up the cockles ladder, you soon learn that they are, in fact, playing their dynamic DOWN, not up. they really are just Like That™, and they could not care less about the paying audience, if we're being honest, considering how much time they take to giggle with each other and refuse to let the audience in on the joke. and i love them for it <3

anyway, my point is that this category is for all you naysayers out there, all you 'jensen and misha's relationship is just for show and is real life queerbaiting'(?????lordhelp???) oh yeah? ok, explain this.

he. he. he calls jensen sweetheart. literally enough said. there's nothing to really add here, except, misha and jared then immediately engage in damage control. jared's method is distraction and misha's is retconning('get out of the car, dude') this was what got me to buy into the cockles dumpster for GOOD good. you don't call your buddy sweetheart accidentally and sound so completely earnest while doing it! especially not when that buddy is jensen ackles!!! you think he would let any of his friends call him that? do you?

one more thing; if it was a slip of the tongue, little mouth thing or whatever, you think jared wouldn't have jumped on it immediately??? i can hear it now. 'did you just call him SWEETHEART???' yeah. that's what i thought. you know why he didn't? because it was too revealing.

number four: top cockles autograph moment

i mean, i think we all know what it's gonna be, and if you don't, well, do i have the piece de cockles resistance that is gonna send you over the edge.

if you haven't heard of this story by now, as a cockles, truther, i'm gonna go ahead and get you to read it, because there is no possible heterosexual explanation for any of it, and you're fooling yourself if you think otherwise.

spoiler alert: it's the story where phones weren't allowed in an auto session, jensen nuzzles himself in misha's hair, leans his full body weight onto him, holds his hand, etc. etc. i'm imploding just repeating this back, actually. also, just, the sheer amount of stories from photo ops where they tackle hug each other or slap each other's asses or sing romantic songs to each other or almost kiss is, frankly, a lot. if i could wish for anything, it would be to witness them in person.

and finally,

number five: top cockles social media moment

this one is super difficult, because there's obviously a lot to choose from. but you know what? full send, i'm going with this one:

i just. what to say about this. how often do misha and jensen watch sunsets together for it to qualify as ‘always’ ??? why are sunsets synonymous with their relationship??? that’s like??? a very romantic thing????? ‘this guy’??? the fact that it’s a CANDID??? i don’t know guys.

that could have been better but i am TIRED so. there you go rose ily

[number5theboy]

1, 7, 34 💛

What are your top 3 favorite sets you’ve made?

Answered that here!

Who are your top 3 gif makers?

Raven this is so mean, how could you make me choose!!! I can't pick a top three, that would feel mean. Instead I'm just gonna hand out some compliments to tua gifmakers off the top of my head. If I forget anyone, don't take it personally, it's just my brain failing me.

Starting off with you, Raven, I genuinely don't know what magic you put into your colouring, but you can make this show look so bright and so well-lit, you have such good grasp on colour in your gifsets, they are stunning.

@capinejghafa is like. A comfort gifmaker. She makes so many sets and they are usually like these little moments that I might have missed and then get to appreciate, but sometimes she busts out some incredible blending skills, it's great.

@seance an uncomfort gifmaker? literally every time she posts a set it makes me lose my mind a little and i have to yell at her in the tags. an absolute artist in combining imagery and poetry in increasingly mindblowing templates.

@viktorhargreeves has made it her mission to chronicle every single thing luther and/or viktor have done across three seasons. she colours this goddamn uncolourable show in the most fun colour combinations and has a knack to make these great dynamics gifsets that I love to bits.

@i-seeaspaceshipinthe-sky makes such good gifsets that dive into Klaus, little moments, little parallels, theirs is the first blog I go to if I am looking for specific Klaus moments because chances are they giffed them somewhere. And they have this incredibly distinct colouring that's so easily recognisable and makes the greens in this show look good (somehow. miraculously.).

@yenvengerberg is just an incredibly gifted giffer with colours, she can make this show look so good it boggles the mind. I'm still thinking about that gifset where she condensed the entire S3 trailer into one gifset with an incredible layout and really cool typography, I'm still in awe of that gifset.

@sohoseance has been doing some incredible work with these really big, colourful, almost psychedelic gifs and really bold, fun typography that I love, with colour combinations I rarely see used, she makes pink and neon green work somehow for this swamp-coloured show.

@hargreevcs makes these very cool, bold gifsets with very bright, saturated blocks of colour and fun typography that are always great tributes to the characters they are about

Shout-out to the lovely Artemis @fiveviktorklaus, I hope you're doing well and I miss your wonderful gifs.

And of course, someone I keep tagging in my gifsets in an old habit or a mournful plea, I'm not really sure, but tumblr user Tess @ogaferoga brought such a gust of fresh wind into the fandom when they crashed into it after S2, and I miss their mind-blowing creations, they really pushed gifmaking to a whole new territory (Tess, if you ever read this, I miss you).

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT MY BRAIN LITERALLY BARRELLED THESE OUT AFTER I ALREADY HIT POST. EMBARRASSING.

@lilapittss who literally suffers to colour scenes I've given up on and can make these really big, beautiful gifs, and is always there to appreciate the TUA ladies in gifmaking form.

@fivehargreve my fellow Five and S1 appreciator whose gifs are just lovely and who has a knack for big formats that are somehow incredibly sharp.

@anthonysharma away on hiatus but always in my heart, makes the most wonderful sibling appreciation posts with her really soft, warm-toned colouring

A set that took you a long time/was really hard but you’re really proud of how it came out?

I called it the mammoth project because it genuinely took me a month or so to complete. It was just a love letter to Five and the range the kiddo gives him, and it really was a chore to figure out, but I'm still very happy with it.

[qinghe-s]

Hi,.....if you don't mind me asking, can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from MDZS? And why do you love them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Sorry if you've answered this question before....Thanks....

oh my gosh of course i don't mind!! the opposite! ♥

i could be cheeky and just list huaisang, but different adaptations (in order it'd be novel, donghua, cql, audio drama, manhua, just ftr) (donghua comes high on the list bc his scenes are more canon compliant than cql) but i'll take you more seriously than that:

nie huaisang still comes first, he's my sun and moon and the reason i got into mxtx at all. i've told this story before but in 2020 a friend of mine played a character based on him in a d&d oneshot and i was instantly charmed, saw her reblog a gifset a while later and then i started watching cql Just For Him. i started reading the novel around episode... 13? whenever they're in the xuanwu's cave, and he just kept ticking all my boxes. some boxes i didn't even knew i had! he might genuinely be my favourite character ever. he's a spoiled, adorable boy and a horribly bitter and devastatingly lonely adult who does awful things for someone he loves? the most character. no one beats him.

nie mingjue, lan xichen, and lan wangji get to share second place because i couldn't choose if i got paid to. they're so good. all three of them are so deeply loyal but show it in very different ways. i adore how nmj has such an incredibly big heart even though he's not presented as especially kind or nice, but his actions speak volumes if you take the time to look beneath the surface. lxc is kindness personified in contrast, serenity in the shape of a man, and the fact that that's both his strength and weakness in context of the main plot is *chef kiss* — plus, you know, he's the perfect man. who doesn't love him! lwj is an angry, petty, jealous, horny bitch and righteous and brave and so unbelievably good. kind without being nice. incredibly stubborn. objectively kind of terrible in bed (i mean HONESTLY) but it genuinely just endears me more. what a guy.

wei wuxian isn't someone i talk about a lot but oh my god. darling boy. i'm constantly overwhelmed by how kind he is to the dead, how gently caring. when he, lwj, and wen ning go back to the burial mounds before the second siege and he holds a skeleton hand to his mouth, holding it so gently? the way he cares? i'm tearing up just thinking about it. he isn't even the type of character i'm usually drawn to because he has such a severe case of main characteritis but i LOVE how his arrogance is his downfall and how, at the end of the day, what he really wants is a place to come home to. i could write way too much about about him & homes but that's for some other day.

my top favourite moments is honestly kind of hard! both because there are SO many but also, like... i can't decide if my favourite moments are the ones that make me happiest or the ones that make me have the most feelings. i'll try, though!

obviously i want to say "at least 70% of everything in the Guile chapters" but if i have to pick just one scene it's the one where nhs' things are burned. which seems horrible!! but it just says so much about him! the way he switches so quickly to fury and how easy it is to read fear into that reaction, like he's been holding things back for a long time and it just boils over. oh my god. baby. but also for real just. Guile. it's got the juice! and by juice i mean nmj/nielan/nie brothers

wwx coming back from the burial mounds the first time. it's so haunting! wwx, jc, and lwj all have so many things going on for them! jesus christ!!!

when the nie brothers arrive at baifeng mountain. they're both displaying such typical traits of masculinity, just on opposite sides of the scale (i've compared them to a lumberjack and a guy in a suit commercial before; the masculinity is equal but wildly different) and it Delights me. bonus: when jgy complains about how much prey nmj has captured and lxc LAUGHS OUT LOUD because he also finds nmj delightful (':

huaisang during the second siege ♥♥♥ i'm Obsessed with how he pushes his own agenda and the desperation you only see when you already know what he's doing. he's so precious to me, my perfect little guy, my most beloved.

i love almost everything about the extras. yes the bichen thing and the library pavillion too. my favourite extra is the lotus pod one, specifically lwj's chapter and absolutely everything about it. the way the lan brothers interact, the way lwj helps the common people, his insistence on picking lotus pods, the little glimpses of what lxc is like when no one's watching him... tearing up just thinking about how he loves the blooming magnolia so much he needs to paint it and how he goes to their mother's cottage to practice playing liebing. and how lwj put lotus pods in a vase there :((( they're such wonderful boys

[togansweep]

2, 3 & 12 <3

2: favourite pairing (cringe fail edition):

tomgreg (what a surprise). tbh I think they could also work if they get their shit together but they will definitely still remain cringe fail if that happens. they make each other worse and they are such losers I love them. every scene with them makes me scream, the chemistry is insane and they're so cringe it's amazing. who does it like them.

3: favourite rarepair:

shivwilla!!! I saw this gifset of them and I went like oh. OH. great shit. overall just shiv with any woman, I'm definitely a shiv=bi/lesbian truther (it's basically canon tbh & she definitely had a thing with lisa at some point) and I'm very kindly asking jesse armstrong to let her have a thing with a woman next season pleaseeee. I'm also a tomroman enjoyer.

12: favourite succ fanfiction/fanart/fanvid/uquiz:

honestly EVERYTHING is SO GOOD. I've never been in a fandom that had so much good shit, like for example I think I've read about 200 succ fanfics now and they were all amazing??? not one shitty one. so choosing one thing for each category was really hard, but here we go:

fanfic: loser in the sky with diamonds by scrunyuns basically tom & greg go on a trip to the bahamas and tom accidentally takes acid that greg took with him, and then the rest of the fic is them having an acid trip. I'm telling you, this is the funniest thing I've ever read in my whole fucking life. it's from tom's pov (which I'm a big fan of overall) and because of the drugs he's even more unhinged & cringe than usual, I was constantly crying of laughter (I was reading this in the middle of the night and I really had to do my best to stay quiet and not wake my family). and it's SO IN CHARACTER it's crazy, I 100% recommend it if you want to have a good time (all of scrunyuns' fics are amazing, don't know if they're on tumblr but if they're reading this I'm your biggest fan) (thinking about making a tomgreg fic recommendations list based on mood btw, like the best sad fics, the best funny fics, the best aus etc.)

fanart: god there are so many good ones but this one made me laugh out loud, always love to see succession gone girl discourse.

fanvid: @mirunalives' feel like like a woman tom fanvid is one I need to watch at least once a week to keep my sanity, it's so funny

and if I had to choose one I made myself it's my spiralling tom fanvid, because I feel like it really captures tom's entire character and his relationship with both greg & shiv and it makes me scream and tear at walls.

uquiz: @romanroydinnerparty's succession bathroom quiz is pure gold, no clue what exactly my result means yet it makes perfect sense. galaxy brain.

[captain-hen]

thoughts on the canonical possibility of buddie?

okay, i have a LOT of thoughts lol, so enjoy the ride!

let me start off by saying that i'm actually pretty optimistic about buddie possibly becoming canon. i know it might seem like a long shot to some, but i have a good feeling about this!

i think it's pretty obvious by now (and i'm pretty sure that the writers and directors must have realized it too) that having canon buddie would really be the easiest direction for the show to go.

it saves on the problem of having the introduce more characters, especially with the main ensemble being pushed to it's limits.

the show doesn't have to deal with the main problem that will undoubtedly arise if buck and eddie got other love interests: a) introducing female characters and giving them zero development, this reducing them to mere love interests and irritating the audience by the misogyny of it all, or b) developing these characters but at the cost of the screentime of the main ensemble, thus annoying the audience bc we're obviously going to be more invested in the mains. having canon buddie wouldn't pose either of those problems.

911? would? literally? make history? to my knowledge, there's no other tv show that would have this level of build up and slow burn for a queer couple. the longest build up i've ever seen for a queer couple has been like...little over one season. and don't get me wrong, a lot of these ships are adorable and amazing even without the build up, but let's admit it, something about a long slow burn is infinitely more satisfying. a lot of iconic het couples on tv have had extremely long slow burns, spanning over mny seasons, and it's pretty frustrating that that much development is never put into queer couples. 911 would be a first!

this introduces the potential for so many new storylines; buck and eddie coming to terms with their sexuality, eddie having to deal with his conservative family knowing about it (because i project upon him lol and he really has been raised with that sort of traditional nuclear family mindset), the logistics of dating your coworker that they'll inevitably have to deal with and so many other things that i can't even think of right now.

i really do think we're heading in that direction, there have been so many Choices™ made in terms of directing, writing and acting made by now that it really can't be a coincidence. look at season 4 alone. they've taken the time and effort to kind of solidify buck's position as part of the diaz family unit, despite how jam packed the season has been with the addition of a new regular and all it's different plotlines. they've established twice that chris has a line to buck outside of eddie. 4x08, despite how much everyone hated it was in some ways a gold mine, it contrasted so clearly the comfortable domesticity of eddie coming home to buck and chatting about chris and his bedtime routine as compared to eddie's awkward af date with ana (where they flirted over math of all things) and that scene at the end of ana meeting chris which felt so forced, rushed and out of the blue. like...there's no way the writers aren't seeing this. these details are not that hard to notice and they've been planning and plotting the storylines for ages, not to mention they're literally trained for all this.

almost every single one of buck and eddie's storylines parallel each other to the point where it simply can't be by chance anymore! their dating storylines with ali and ana were practically identical to the point where some of the dialogue was actually repeated! buck has been paralleled to shannon on numerous occasions, most notably during the lawsuit arc. i'm sure i'm missing out on a lot of stuff. all the gifsets in the world wouldn't be enough to bring out the parallels in their character arcs.

so yeah, i do believe buddie is a long con, and they're actually heading towards being canon. is it naive of me? possibly, but i don't think i'm being overly optimistic here. i'm not even someone who usually picks up on these nuances in while watching shows, at least not immediately, but i was picking them up all the time while watching 911. so i am fairly optimistic about this. we just need to be patient about this and accept that there's a lot of things in both buck and eddie's storylines that need to be resolved before they'll even be ready for another serious relationship...this time with each other.

thanks for the ask, anon, and i hope this was at least a bit coherent! 😅