#but I wanted so much to make a gifset of this short film

[hunter-sylvester]

Hi! I’m the anon who wrote the ask about Hunter’s parental issues and about his attachment to Kevin. Thank you for answering my asks, I absolutely love the way you write and how you explain everything! You’re extremely talented!🫶

I honestly didn’t notice how in love Hunter was with Kevin until I watched the movie a second time. It’s crazy how you can literally see all feeling in Hunter’s eyes when he looks at Kevin. I also loved how you said that their relationship fits a BDSM bratting dynamic, because I totally see it.

[and as someone who has ADHD and deals with RSD on a regular, I completely understand him. It sucks.]

Hey 🤘 [prev ask for context] Yeah I obviously couldn’t be 100% sure they were from the same person but it definitely makes the most sense lol

Thank you so much! I’m really glad you enjoy my rambling thoughts about Hunter as a character <3

If you do like my writing, I’m tempted to sheepishly gesture over to my actual Metal Lords fics over on Ao3 if you haven’t checked them out, even tho it makes me feel like a bit of a dick to do so 😅 (They are mostly locked to registered users, blame AI data scraping. The only Metal Lords fic not locked rn is a tiny ficlet. An Ao3 account is free tho 👀)

In any case, I really appreciate that you pushed me to do a bit of analysis again. Because sometimes I tend to forget that all the stuff that lives in my head as “obvious” isn’t always stuff I’ve said out loud on here lmao

There’s a lot to pull from the film if you’re willing to be a bit mentally ill about it.

And you’re absolutely right about the way he looks at Kevin, I mean, it happened enough for me to make a whole ass gifset of it lmao

Look at him. The boy is smitten. Clueless, of course. But smitten.

Which I credit basically entirely to Adrian Greensmith, as it was a vision he had for the character. I really can’t imagine Hunter having been played by anyone else as he brought so much to the role. (Fun fact, if I remember correctly: Noah Urrea, who plays Clay, originally auditioned for Hunter. No harm but I'm very glad he didn't get that. He makes a good Clay and Hunter just needed to be played by Adrian.)

One of the key things Adrian brought to the role also being, probably accidentally, his anxiety.

"I spent a lot of Metal Lords feeling a bit anxious [...] and in hindsight I wonder if some of that was just a sign that Hunter was quite an anxious character [...] I mean his body's so tense all the time." - Adrian Greensmith.

I shortened that quite a bit so I'm including a slightly longer clip of the interview audio for more context. (I can upload a subtitled video clip if anyone wants that as well as link the video on yt but I'd have to do a bit of a search for that)

Aside: If I had to guess I'd say he's probably referring to Peter Sollett who directed Metal Lords when he mentions a 'Pete'.

And yeah the bratting thing was a little bit of a joke but mostly not a joke. Without going absolutely off the deep end, the mentality behind bratting is something I really see in Hunter.

Evie Lupine has a wonderful video about bratting and why people would be interested in it (and why some people hate it) but a short snippet that always spoke to me from that is the following:

"The motivations behind bratting are pretty varied. I think one of the main ones would be a sense of security and comfort. This is when the acting out is sort of a way to be reassured that even when you, break rules, even when you push at things, the partner that you're with is not going to abandon you." - Evie Lupine

Obviously, with Hunter's fear of abandonment, it's easy to see why this would appeal to him.

He also just...idk he has brat energy - sincerely, a brat.

And Kevin does just play out the counterpart to that. He doesn't always have Hunter under control but he tries to.

And he does mostly act as that safe person to brat against, which again amplifies the impact it has when Hunter starts to think he's actually losing Kevin, destroying that feeling of safety.

Aside: I obviously don't think that these characters, in universe, negotiated for a bratting dynamic. In universe it'd be something that just sort of organically developed within their friendship/relationship. But even more than that it's an archetype of a dynamic that we as the audience can easily read into their interactions if that makes sense.

Can you believe the shit they will accidentally put in movies? lmao

And yeah, I have ADHD as well. And RSD is something that affects me pretty fucking severely. I've only really become more aware of it in the past year or so as my partner has pointed it out more and more.

So it's definitely something that I then noticed more and more in Hunter too.

Obviously this is all just my take on the character, and other people might have totally different interpretations. That's the beauty of art, we all get to find what we need in it and read it in our own ways, influenced by our own life experiences.

Thank you again for asking, Anon 🤘 (if you want to use a nickname or smth to identify that you're the same Anon, let me know. If not, that's totally okay too, but I might not always know it's you)

[shadeslayer]

I’m sorry, how is Killers Of The Flower Moon racist? I saw your tags on a gifset of Lily Gladstone as Mollie and was confused.

youre totally fine, dw! first disclaimer is ive not seen it, but also i dont plan to. i cant vouch for how racist the actual narrative within the movie, for me its more that its situated in a media landscape of films where i saw it advertised and i said to myself "oh i know exactly what that is :/ i thought we were done with this but i guess not"

theres a lot of stuff that i can ramble abt bc its very interesting and theres a million different ways this all plays out even if it all comes from the same source of anti-native thinking. but in particular w this movie its that i know it was gonna be trauma porn possibly mixed with imperialist nostalgia (aka mourning the loss of us/our culture even while actively killing and oppressing us)

there was a really good article i saw a while ago and shared some of the quotes from that talks about this movie specifically! i wont just repost the quotes i pulled before, but in particular for thinking of this movie and not movies in general:

I am not from the Osage community. The response from the tribe about the film, which looks at the events surrounding the deaths of more than 60 Osage people in Oklahoma in the 1960s, has been relatively favorable: many believe that this is a story that should be told, that it will raise awareness and do some good. I hope they are right. I hope something good comes out of this film. I hope the Natives who worked on it continue to have thriving careers and have the opportunity to make better stories for future generations. That doesn't change the fact that I walked into the cinema knowing that I was about to view several rich white men's interpretations of a violent chapter in Native history.

"Killers of the Flower Moon" opens up with a preface by Scorsese, who talks about how he's been wanting to make this film for a long time. He calls the project "proper and authentic." I am reminded of "The Revenant" and how it was praised for its authenticity and "respect." Authenticity is a euphemism non-Native filmmakers use for what Natives call "trauma porn." They think showing the absolute worst of what happened to us in grisly detail is somehow respecting us. The Osage in this film are described by Robert De Niro's character as "sickly people" whose time will run out. And sure enough, the first 30 minutes of film is a collage of dead Natives. As the film continues, hour after hour after hour, more Native men and women are killed off. [descriptions of various grisly deaths depicted in the movie.] Other than [one character being seen serenely walking into the afterlife], there is no moment of healing and catharsis for the Natives in the audience. Our wounds are reopened and left festering for the entertainment and "education" of non-Native viewers.

the full article is really good and i recommend it esp since its a relatively short read, and it really sums up how i felt seeing this movie being advertised and how im sure a lot of native people felt about it U_U

tldr generally is i cant say if the movie itself is like, terribly racist, but at the least it exists in a landscape where non-native media makers continue to find excuses to show native people being brutalized over and over again all while getting to say its because they "care so much" (if they cared theyd support n uplift native voices telling these stories) & native people are all aware of it and pretty much tired of it. so even the ones that may be doing good are, for many people (like my cynical ass lol), beyond the benefit of the doubt and at best are racist out of ignorance of the legacy theyre contributing to

[amrv-5]

8, 12, & 13? 👀

HELLO AL HAPPY MONDAY!!! And thanks for the ask these are fun AND made me actually put down thoughts on an AU I had never actually framed out to myself before!!!!

Answers under the cut for length and pretension, but in short: thoughts on a Solaris AU and brief Mad Men mention; being more mercenary with my writing; yes to fanart/comics and a mayyyybe to podficcing!!!

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is this the year? Can you tell us about it?

OHHH never brave enough to TRY... Nothing coming immediately to mind (besides maybe wanting to get better at writing sex lmao) but if pressed? I do love doing sort of weird AUs and have been slowly quietly only 1% seriously kicking around the idea of a Solaris AU take on MASH. Love the book, going to see the film for the first time Thursday, so we’ll see if that actually kicks something off for me?? Anyway I think it would be really fucking good. And weird. I think it’d be fun to play with that theme of hitting the edge of what it is possible for humans to understand, and staring down the absolutely alien / non-negotiably and permanently inexplicable. I want to put Hawkeye in a ship by himself and have the sentient ocean gently tune into his brainwaves and reproduce in its infinitely changing depths a scene of such horrific uncanniness it is nearly unbearable to observe and makes him temporarily insane. And then BJ of course is the one haunted by the imperfect (and unkillable and superhumanly strong) alien reproduction of his family. Etc. Lots here to have fun with. But Good God The Work Involved. Anyway. That or I’d love to try my hand at a Mad Men fic playing with the beloved Peggy/Stan/Ginsberg dynamic in some formation. HOORAY!

12. Will you change anything about the way you edit or rewrite this year?

Maybe???? I tried a few different things in my approach to All Octobers that I thought paid off. Or at least I still kind of like it even though it’s a few months old now, so that feels like a good sign?? Most of the changes took place in the writing stage, but I tried to be more mercenary with my editing, stricter especially with non-unique or already-extant similes, metaphors, etc., and willing to Gloss / Summarize. It’s The Year of Montage, Baby!!!!!! <- guy high off his ass on and irreparably damaged by hundreds of pages of film theory per week (if that didn’t already come thru in the . Endless meditation on the real / the sign / the image / the lens in All Octobers. Sorry LMAO).

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

YES! Fanart for sure!! I want to get back into drawing regularly if possible. Also if I can draw BJ and Hawk I can then start trying to do sort of — illustrated things (always thinking about Guide to Looking at Explosions for something I wish I had the skillset for, for example!!). Also I thought podficcing was fun to try and I may give it a shot again sometime, but also it’s a lot of work and a huge time suck for something not many people enjoy and which I also don’t get much out of after the literal act of recording it (love reading aloud!! but listening to my own voice… 😧)

[lacomandante]

🧶 — any non-writing hobbies/interests?

munday asks!

Yes! I have quite a few, actually. I like to think I'm a jack of all trades. I do historical sewing, and atm I'm currently working on a pair of regency stays. It's a little annoying because I've been working on multiple dresses, only to have to stop because I don't have the correct undergarments to accurately measure if the dress fits or not. So I had to stop what I was doing and make these mockups...I'll get there eventually lol. I also make dolls! Which I never posted photos of when complete, I'll need to do that. Unfortunately I'm very easily fatigued, and sewing is easily one of the most exhausting hobbies I have physically and mentally, which means a lot of these projects take months or years.

Reading, but I feel like that's a given for most people in the rpc. I feel like it's very important to read in order to grow your own ability to write. Currently rereading the Witcher series, alongside Sharpe's Gold and Company. I've also been reading a lot of English accounts of travels through Spain, detailing the landscapes, customs, manners, etc. I think since January I've read over 8 books detailing these things...probably over 2,000 pages combined? I'm endlessly fascinated with historical accounts and I honestly can't get enough of them. Currently reading Letters written during a journey in Spain, and a short residence in Portugal published in 1808. There's a huge gap in the history of Spain during this period so it's been very helpful (although biased) filling in the blanks.

I also do drawing and painting, but this hobby has kinda fallen on the wayside this year. I find myself impatient, but I need to get back into groove of things, as I do really want to improve more.

I would say I do gardening, but...this year my plants almost instantly fried in the California heat, and every time I look into my backyard I just see their decayed husks so. Maybe attempted gardener is best...I have more houseplants than anything, and I struggle to keep my pothos alive, which are pretty easy to take care of....I think I have more of a hobby of buying plants...

Oh! I also do a lot of penpal writing. I joined a Jane Austen FB group and joined a pen pal group in there. I'm more of a casual fan and not really obsessed with her works, but I do enjoy them. I've got three pen pals so far, and they're all older women in England (one I was luckily enough to find that also writes/speaks Spanish so I get to practice!). Two of them are in Kent, and one is in Yorkshire. They're all very sweet and kind and nothing makes me happier than getting their handwritten letters in the mail. I also adore making fancy designs for the envelopes and stuffing them full of stickers and pretty things. Here's a few samples of things I've made (steadily improving lmao) - two for my penpals, and one for Sam :)

I suppose archival work also falls into this? I know how to pirate, burn and rip dvds and blurays, how to convert and preserve files, and I'm currently learning how to preserve and convert VHS. It's really fascinating to me, and I've even learned a little bit of coding and programming on the side for it.

Oh! I also like to make gifsets and photo manips- 10 years of being in the rpc with photoshop skills helps a lot with this. I LOVE making manips of Teresa in other Sharpe films, or in different scenes. I actually have quite a few but haven't posted many of them. Mostly for au's and rp's/fics Sam and I have written and explored.

I also play the guitar, but I say this very lightly. More like I can read tabs, and play some songs, but honestly I'm self taught and would say I'm very much a beginner at best. I really enjoy it but haven't had much time, nor the means to learn more sadly. But I enjoy plucking and learning chords to my favorite songs.

[thebirdandhersong]

so yearssssss ago when Teen Wolf came out, I lurked around on tumblr back then and saw all the gifsets, and I remember loving Scott and Stiles just from the gifs. my first thoughts about Dylan O’Brien were: he looks like my cousin only funnier looking; he is such a loveable dork I don’t want to ever actually watch the show and see him in pain; and I better get used to his kinda funny face because that man is going places with his acting.

so it’s really funny to me that now years later after he headlined Maze Runner and Love & Monsters and the All Too Well short film, here he is on my dash again as the goofy loveable Stiles😂

xD oh, Ella, Dylan O'Brien goes through SO much pain in Teen Wolf. SO much. it honestly amazes me Stiles is still standing..... I really wouldn't recommend watching if you don't want to see him in pain........ he goes through something majorly traumatic at least three times in each season, probably. (it makes me so sad)

he really IS going places with his acting!! I'm just so impressed by his range :) (he was Despicable in All Too Well and I'm like 15 minutes into Love & Monsters so I don't know about HIS character there yet, but I am So fond of Stiles) there really is a resurgence in interest haha

[nostalgia-tblr]

I agree but also I don't? Let me think with my hands here for a bit...

There have always been short-lived fandoms and they tended to be the ones with a limited amount of, well, "content" (by which I mean canon content). Movie fandoms would usually be over and forgotten within a few months - I know this because as A Poor I would generally first see a film when the DVD was cheap enough in the supermarket and as a general rule by the time I saw a film its fandom would be long-dead.

The exception being a franchise like PotC, LotR or Marvel (& etc) where there are multiple films coming out at intervals that revive and feed the fandom with new stuff.

So everyone in the notes saying "Doctor Who" or "Star Trek" or even "Harry Potter" are still active because they're old is naming something with a large amount of canon content (massive, really, in the first two cases - you might never run out of new stuff to watch) and we can't really compare those to a Netflix drop of 6 to 8 episodes of something. Modern TV/streaming seasons are shorter which means we have less to work with when making fanworks.

Gifs... Look, I know gifmakers work hard but at the end of the day they're all giffing the exact same scenes with a faithfullness that fic and fanart don't require. Yeah all the popular (shippy, v often) scenes will be giffed within a few days, and unless the gifset is doing something fancy and artistic with it there's only gonna be so much demand for "the exact same shots as the gifset I reblogged 30 seconds ago except the colouring's a bit different maybe." Fanfic reuses tropes and so on, but two fics about such-and-such scene will never be as similar as two gifsets of that scene, purely because of how much the artist/author is being called upon to invent and add themselves.

In my experience tumblr is not a great platform for fanfic, even if you're just linking to it, because tumblr prefers visual works (which is valid!) and the reblogging and comment functions have never been ideal for discussion anyway. And AO3 is massive and you don't have sign in to drop a comment but in, say, the LiveJournal days you'd be commenting on a fic by someone you followed (most likely) so you knew them a bit and were more likely to feel comfortable talking to them, and there was sometimes a reciprocal transaction at work when they commented on your fic in turn. I may love someone on AO3 but their fanfic is literally the only contact I have with them. I don't know who they are, I have far less personal connection there.

If you go far enough back in fandom (even just to the 2000s) there was nothing we could offer each other but words and that made words our currency and so we wrote a lot of them.

Even fannish meta (now "Discourse" for some reason) isn't ideally-suited to tumblr as compared to LJ - no threaded conversations, no ability to lock to a limited audience, and oh my god the way some tumblr themes will fuck up a post to unreadable within even three or four reblogs with additions.

Add to that we're not "supposed to" add to the OP (like this!) but to use the tags to add our thoughts and as the complaints about "prev tags!!" remind us the tags are lost on a reblog unless you screenshot or copy/paste to add them onto a post yourself. So an utterly amazing insight can be lost so easily in the tags of a post and we're scared of getting told off if we splurge our thoughts in a format that can be preserved and passed along without effort from the next person along.

The ability to time-travel (archiving) is also a bit shit on newer sites, and the real-time focus makes commenting on older posts harder and scarier or even in some cases impossible.

LJ comments showed up in your email and LBR who didn't at least once get into a fannish fight there one night and wake up the next morning to replies on a topic you no longer gave a shit about? But if you *wanted* to keep up a discussion for a 50-comment thread then you could. And anyone joining in later would get neatly threaded within it.

I didn't unfollow on LJ because fannish posts were interspersed with more personal ones (helped by the friends-lock option where you could talk without everyone on the internet overhearing - imagine that!) so when they left My Current Fandom I might keep them cos I felt like I knew them, I'd read their lives and they were funny or whatever. Like there's a "moot" I have on DreamWidth that I don't think we've been in the same fandom together since about 2006... but I also followed along while they struggled with IVF and started a family and so by 2008 she was someone I felt pretty close to as internet relationships go. We had the chance to share our lives and often to have more in common with someone then Current Fandom. Tumblr is different because when I finally grow bored of gifsets of X And Y Do Something Cute In One Of The 12 Episodes Of My Current Show that's kind of the only thing I was sharing with that fandom's tumblr moots and so when I leave a fandom there might be no point still following someone for that sort of thing. And they feel the same way about me, which is fine! We don't have to marry each other to share a fandom for a while!

Short-form content generally doesn't appeal to me and can allow for limited creation or discussion (Tumblr is for gifs, Twitter is not much use for anything but Hot Takes, TikTok is for... I dunno I found it literally unusable so clearly that's not one for me) but I think the loss of long-form text content hosting is more the issue than the latest media/canons themselves. SPN gets a mention in the OP and aren't there about 15 seasons of that? So again it's about the amount of canon content we have to work with as fannish creators. We can only transform a work so many times before we run out of things to say about it and need to find a new one.

Not people saying “Fandom has always been like this” in that vent post I made. No. It hasn’t always been like this. Fandom has NEVER been like this until recently and if you were in fandom pre-tumblr purge, pre-twitter, pre-netflix boom, pre-tiktok….then you would fucking know it was nothing like this.

We still had the drive to create. We still sold prints and charms and made zines…but it was never like this.

The introduction of streaming, binge shows that drop all at once, tiktok and vine RIP i still love u vine but you were the beginning of a particularly ugly era) creating this bite sized, quick paced ‘content’ era of creation and it bled out into fucking everything else.

Fandoms didn’t die down when the show ended or the season was over. You didn’t mass unfollow artist, writers or moots just because they changed fandoms. There wasn’t this need to please the algorithm in order for your posts to get seen by people and enjoyed.

Fandoms used to last YEARS. Star Trek is literally the oldest running fandom out there and you got people in there that could care less about the new stuff and still have been happily prancing through their fucking fifty year old fandom today. Hell, even SPN after all it’s fuckups and shitshows has a dedicated fanbase STILL creating tons of art and fic.

There is no patience anymore. No calm feeling of taking in fandom and friends at a pace that which doesn’t make you stressed and is still fun.

Do I blame fandom for this? Of course not, but people are complacent with it and start changing their vocab to accommodate and end up making the situation so deep it cant be fixed.

We call Art & Fic Content now, completely stripping the value of what it is to a level of consumerism instead of personal entertainment & community bonding.

[isca-rambles]

6x03 Oh, Nolan's somewhere that isn't LA. Guess he'll get another golden ticket again. No I'm not bitter. Lucy literally took out two major drug players in one op and nada. Not even a thank you. I mean she might've gotten a thank you but still. Anywaaay. Oh domestic Chenford. And Lucy looking gorgeous just...existing. Soft Tim is dangerous for my health. When he does that smile. And that soft voice. But oh he knows how her brain works. And he knows how to work her. He knows she can't resist a shower break. Oh Blair. Fuck you. Sincerely, my future knowledge. Oh Aaron. Honey. No. Lucy, my angel. Smitty, I'm still pissed at you for the pool. Tim, go take another shower and she'll take a break. Take one for the team. Yes, the beginning of Lucy and Celina friendship. Can we please get Celina a Lucy hug now?! Nolan, Bailey, can you be less obvious? Stop filming people it's creepy. But much as Bailan is my least favourite ship, I really don't hate them. And Bailey is growing on me. Tim don't tell your wife off in front of your new adopted daughter/sister. Also are the shops different now? The cage used to be right behind the driver's seat, right? And now it's been moved behind the passenger seat. Unless they can move it themselves? I just remember when Genny did a ridealong she was behind the cage. But maybe it's new cars. Nolan get your shoes off the bed! What is wrong with you people?! Bad enough having outdoor clothes on the bed. Luna, you sweetie. Chenford, stop losing your children! A night swim fully clothed with shoes on? Really? Grey you're such a pushover, you cutie. God Lucy really would be a great TO. Not permanently, just to help out. I do think she'll have some TO duties in S7, maybe not 'officially' but it suits her. Again, I want her to be detective and then she can have some patrol duties and some TO duties and still do short term UC work. Then they can make her captain or chief because, ya know. She's awesome. Um, Nolan, suspected murderer or not, I think this is an illegal search. Right? I don't think a bandage clip/claw gives you probable cause. He was watching her sleep. LOOK AT HIS FACE. HIS SMILE. So she obviously fell asleep in bed while studying and he just settled in beside her? AGGHGGHG. Harper, Lopez, maybe you should've gotten the boat to wait for you. Hey Primm, fuck you and your fragile male ego you piece of shit. God Celina is adorable. How have they got so many adorable sunshine people on this show? Primm you absolutely piece of shit. Don't be mad that Lucy found a way for you to get the position you wanted when you hadn't. Also, Lucy wasn't the one who secured the crime scene. She showed up to what should have been a secured scene! Again, if she'd shown up 5 minutes later, would it still be her fault? How can you look at this pure cinnamon roll and still be such a dick? Her record must be fucking exemplary, and you know she did amazingly on her written test. There really needs to be some sort of IA investigation into this prick. I need more revenge fics against this asshole. Sorry Celina, Tim's got a Lucy to go cuddle up to. I mean he probably wouldn't help anyway but still. Aaron and Celina, they're just getting their friendship back slowly. Why would you take him from us?! Oh Grey. Oh Lucy. My baby. God her face just kills me. Not even a pat on the shoulder, Grey?! That's your daughter! And now begins the ball dropping of literally anyone supporting Lucy aside from Tim. I refuse to believe it's in character. I mean it's canon so it is technically in character, but just...ugh. S6 is just the season of forgetting how much everyone loves and respects Lucy. Fix it in S7. I want apologies. I want grovelling. I want worshipping! Blood sacrifices! Or...maybe just some hugs. God he's so fucking previous. His smile. His eyes. Holding hands. The trophy jesus my heart. And that gifset of her parents saying she's a disappointment and Tim saying she could never disappoint him. Gift giving love language. Her laugh. Can I just stop watching here and pretend nothing else happens?

[eteisvalssi]

your gifs are so good!!!! how do you make them?

thank you so much 🫶 the short version of the story is that i usually use 4k footage, cut the video into a 2-4 second moment, crop it close enough, resize it, turn it into a gif in photoshop, slow it down and post here

full guide under a read more

here i will be going into full detail on how i make gifs. do i need to do this? no. do i want to do this? yes.

i use a macbook and photoshop, so things will be different if you use a computer with some other operating system and/or an alternative to photoshop, but i will still give tips that might be applicable to all. i will first show you how i make a normal gifset with two adjacent gifs and then how i make one that's one clip in two gifs

individual gifs

find a video you want to make a gif out of. i mostly use videos i've filmed myself because i have an easy access to them in great quality. you can also use someone else's videos, but please remember to give credit and source it back to the original video. it doesn't hurt to ask for permission either.

cut the video into a 2-4 second clip, and crop it. some things i recommend taking into consideration when doing this are not cropping at joints, remembering the rule of thirds and preferably not cutting the clip mid-movement. for the ratio i like to use 3:2 vertical or square. i always save the clip as a different clip.

3. open your small video clip in photoshop. first of all go to image > image size. for the individual gifs the image size is not that important, but for the sake of this tutorial i scaled this to the optimal tumblr photoset size, in which the width is 268 pixels for two adjacent gifs/photos. (for three adjacent photos it is 177 | 178 | 177 pixels)

4. then go to file > export > save for web (legacy) to make it into a gif. now save it in this window.

5. close the file and open the gif you just made. now the bottom bar should look a bit different, there's individual frames instead of the video bar. i like to slow down my gifs, so i select all the individual frames, click at the three dots and the downwards pointing arrow, and adjust the delay from other. the delay for this gif on default was at 0,03 seconds, so i set it to double the time, 0,06. if you want to sync the gifs, make sure that the delay and the number of the individual frames match with all of your gifs. if not, just delete some of the frames from the ends.

6. i then went on and exported it again using save for web (legacy). there's no need to change any settings, just save it as is.

7. post your gifs on tumblr. i like to use an "x" to link the source video. use the tags you feel are necessary and remember to tag triggers like flash warning if needed.

you can find the final look of the gifset right here

gifset out of one clip

now if you want to make a gifset out of one clip, it's mostly the same process. i don't want to make this any longer than necessary, so i won't be explaining the same things again. i'll just tell how it differs.

same as the individual gifs

mostly the same, but for this one i use horizontal 4:5 ratio

3. now the image size gets more important. for two gifs you need to scale the width to 540 pixels (268 times two + 4 pixels for the space between the gifs, the margin). the gifset will look wonky, if you don't scale it accordingly.

3.5. THIS IS A NEW STEP crop one side of the image to 268 pixels (the picture in half minus two pixels from half of the margin) and press done

4. save for web the same way you would do in the previous guide. don't close the window under just yet

4.5. THIS IS ALSO A NEW STEP undo the cropping and now crop the other side, also the same 268 pixels and save it again the same way you did the first one.

5. this step is also mostly the same as the first one. open the gifs you just made, not the original video. just remember that if you do delete some frames, delete the same amount of frames from each end so that it's still in sync. and the frame rate for this video was better, so the delay was 0,02 seconds per frame by default and i slowed it down to 0,04 seconds. repeat the process for both of the gifs.

6. same as in the first guide. export them both on save for web (legacy)

7. mostly the same as in the first guide. post it on tumblr. now at least on desktop you can see that the margin (4px) is now nicely in proportion with the pictures. if the gifs do go out of sync when you're posting it, it's no big deal. you can just save it in your drafts and go look at it and it should be in sync when both of the gifs have loaded.

you can find out how this gifset turned out here

i know this turned out long and i probably didn't need to do any of this, but i actually had fun doing it and i hope that at least someone found it useful! please feel free to comment or message me if there are any questions :)

[sensiblekitty]

New Jiew -  ครึ่งชีวิต (ทั้งจิตใจ) - Half of My Life, All of My Heart

The story of Whale and Talay - part 1

[flythesail]

on this gifset of the scene of Ace asking Nancy, "Why did you hesitate at the veil? You said you were doing this for us. What does that mean?" you said in your tags: #i am SOOOO obsessed with the way it was filmed

I would like to invite you to talk a little more about that, if you wanna, because I would love to hear your thoughts. ♡

Hii, YES I will talk about that!!

*Pulls out 3 hour long presentation I've had sitting in a folder labeled just in case.*

The short answer is: I love how much movement there is in the scene through the camera work. Also, how the camera work is used to reflect what's actually happening in the scene.

Yet because this is possibly my favorite scene in the finale, here's the LONG answer + bonus narrative analysis! ->

To recap, this is right after the veil. Nancy comes back to The Claw, saves Ryan's life, and soon after, the rest of the crew arrives. They discuss damage, casualties, and what's next. Nick and George are off to the youth center to open it as a shelter. Bess and Ace are going to empty the freezer and cook food for people.

Ace watches Bess and the others go, and immediately turns to Nancy: "We could use some help if you're up for it."

The important thing to note here is this is right after the veil. The last Ace interacted with Nancy, she told him to run from the veil ("I'm doing this for us, okay?") and right after, grabbed the front of his jacket, apologized in tears, and left. So he's definitely concerned!

Yet instead of being like "what happened back there at the veil?" he takes the I know Nancy route, and invites her to help him and Bess.

It's comparable to 3x01. There, Ace could tell Nancy was off. So when she says this:

He says, "I can help you carry it."

And it works! She accepts. Whereas he's asking if she literally wants help carrying it, it's also his way of saying "hey, I'm here if you want to talk." It gets them alone and leaves the decision to then talk up to Nancy (who we all know tends to not want to do that) (unless it's to Ace 😉).

But in the finale, that method does not work. Nancy does not want to talk. She shakes her head and tells him she's going with Nick and George instead.

In terms of the camera work here (gif below), it's incredibly quick. We jump from Ace, to Nancy saying no, to her grabbing the first aid kit and making a run for it.

It highlights how badly Nancy needs to get away from him. She just held him dead in her arms, found out that wasn't even real, came back to reality only to give him up to save the town, and now here she is at The Claw - needing to pretend none of that happened. Which is more or less impossible because she just experienced some of The Worst moments of her life.

Yet this time, Ace doesn't let her run.

Technically, this is uncharacteristic for him. He never pushes Nancy. He knows that only pushes her away. But this is really important. He also knows it involves him.

So Ace follows her into the back of The Claw. The camera as Ace follows Nancy is another example of how much movement there is in the scene.

We stay right behind him as he practically jogs after her. The camera is a bit shaky, and that highlights the lack of stability in the scene. He knows something's wrong (is probably panicking because of that). Nancy is incredibly upset (needing to get away so he doesn't see her cry, further proving that something is wrong).

Here's where we end up next, with Nancy in the back putting the first aid kit on a shelf. Maybe expecting Ace to not follow, she begins to let herself cry. She's alone now.

Which does not last. Ace arrives and as soon as she realizes that, she has to put all that emotion away.

Interesting to note here is that Ace wastes zero time before asking Nancy what's up. He needs to know, and maybe he's thinking if he doesn't hurry and ask, she'll slip away again.

What I like about this part is the camera is focused on Ace. Yet we can see Nancy too. Ace is focused on Nancy. The perspective doesn't change much from when Nancy puts the kit away and when Ace shows up. He's there that fast, so all she can do is turn to him. I think because of that, the way it's filmed feels personal. To stay with the idea of movement, we've moved with them. We're with Nancy, and then Ace shows up, and we see that from her perspective.

Since Nancy can't run, she gives him an answer. She hesitated because she's never killed someone.

For what it's worth, it's a decent attempt at an answer. Even if it's entirely a lie, as Nancy already killed Temperance once before in the future forecast. But in that sense, there's still truth to it because killing Temperance is something she struggled with in the forecast too.

To discuss perspective, we are now from Ace's. Nancy is now the one talking and Ace is the one listening. Yet look how close we are to Ace, basically at his shoulder. It still feels personal. This entire scene is very personal for them. The camera is still not steady. Even as Nancy gives her explanation, she's starting to move away from him. She's talking fast too, sniffling as she does. There's an urgency here, just like there is in the entire scene.

The second she's said what she needs to, Nancy leaves. She doesn't give him a chance to ask follow-up questions or even respond.

She pushes past him as she leaves, and the camera responds to that.

The camera pushes back as she pushes past Ace. The perspective ends lower and further back than where it started. This distance works in contrast to the moment prior, where we were very close to Nancy and Ace. This shows how alone Ace is. Literally alone because Nancy is gone, and also figuratively as he has no idea what's going on.

I'll also point out that Ace does not move. So much of this scene is movement because the camera is following them. Jumping from Ace to Nancy, the walk to the back room, Nancy leaving, etc.

Now, he's still as the camera moves without him. The camera moving shows the tension isn't gone, but Ace is now at a loss. His attempt to talk to Nancy failed because all he got was a lie (or half-truth). He can't follow her as he knows she's upset. Following her would further upset her, increase the emotional distance between them, etc. He's doing the right thing in letting her go.

As the scene ends on this new angle, he just looks smaller. He looks helpless. He's left to contemplate what just happened, and we don't learn his conclusion until a month later during the famous Apartment Scene. (Where he blames himself, completely unaware of the moth curse via great aunt).

But to wrap things up and return to the point, I don't know that Nancy Drew is a show with a ton of noticeable camera work in every episode. Or maybe it's just that I've only recently started paying attention to it. I'm no expert lol, but I will say 3x13 is a very standout episode.

Another good 3x13 example is after the car crash. How the camera goes low to show Temperance towering over Nancy. Temperance is powerful, and she is in control.

There's also the odd angle (a disoriented feeling after the crash combined with the realization this is not reality). That's in addition to the (not pictured) close-ups on Nancy's face. Getting close and personal highlights how distraught she is.

With Nancy Drew, if there's episodes with cool camera work, there's a good chance Larry Teng directed. Recently when I rewatched 1x17, I was all of ten seconds in when I realized it reminded me of 3x13. And no surprise! Larry Teng directed that one too.

So I feel like it's one thing to just film what's happening, but another entirely to use the camera to emphasize emotions/the story itself. 3x13 is just a perfect example of that, and that's interesting to me.

And if you made it to the end, hopefully this was interesting to you!

[livebloggingmydescentintomadness]

Hi, I've never really watched much SPN but I saw you say in a post to look through your J*red tag, (I could've sworn people loved him but I took a long tumblr break) and I'm confused about the Destiel thing. I thought when the Destiel episode aired, that people said Jensen looked like he was holding back a slur in that episode. But also excited for it? Which is it?

let me preface this by saying that i'm not mad at YOU at all, but i really am fucking annoyed that people took one screencap with no further context and made it a meme that a whole person was homophobic because of what they interpreted as his facial expression.

first of all, here's a gifset of that part of the scene so you can see what's said and how they look while saying it. here's a gif of the specific bit that the screencap was taken from:

i can't speak for anyone else, but i'm pretty good at reading facial expressions, and i've been watching jensen/dean for years now. i can tell you that this facial expression, being shown in response to "i love you" is dean saying please don't, not like this.

because cas isn't JUST saying "i love you", he's saying it to trigger his own death, in order to save dean's life. by the time cas says it, dean knows that, he knows this is goodbye. and he can't fucking bear for what's between them to be said out loud like this, for the first, the only time, not as cas leaving him again, not as cas sacrificing himself for dean.

this is nothing remotely like "i want to say a slur", it's not pain because he doesn't feel the same; it's pain because this is basically dean's worst nightmare. cas has just told him everything he always wanted to hear, and he's saying it as a goodbye.

BUT, what's more important than my personal interpretation of these facial expressions is that in jensen's first panel after this episode, he said - as tactfully as possible - that a lot of dean's reaction in this scene had been cut.

(he also was very animated when talking about the episode and this scene in particular. he said that he had a crew member record the scene on jensen's personal phone because it was so important to him. he and misha sent fan reaction videos to each other that night. he was excited while talking to fans and asking what they thought, all smiles and delight with how much we liked it.)

you can see that, right after the previous gifs, dean looks over his shoulder at where the empty is coming for cas, and his eyes are absolutely filled with tears.

as soon as the camera angles switch back, the tears are gone.

so we know there were takes where jensen was acting his ASS off, he was full-on crying, and they just cut it all for the blandest reaction possible. because the thing is that while they filmed this episode, 15x18, just before quarantine, they finished filming the last two around six months later. however, 15x18 didn't AIR until after those six months.

long story short, it appears that they were going to make destiel canon, but that long break caused the cw execs to get nervous and hit the panic button to cut out as much gay as possible (most likely to keep the gay cooties off of padalecki to repackage him for his new show walker). i cannot emphasize enough how everything about the season (which was genuinely good) leading up to this moment absolutely screamed 'canon endgame destiel', and then something happened, and nothing about the final episode (which was horrible) or what anyone says about it makes any sense.

we know that misha was in vancouver at time of filming the finale, yet castiel never reappeared. we know that at least ten scenes were cut from the finale script, and the aired episode was suspiciously short with a lot of filler. we know that the explanations people have given for why things changed don't hold water, and we've gotten different stories from different people, some of whom are obviously under NDAs.

okay, so the reason i explained all of that is because fans more knowledgeable in filmmaking than i have analyzed this 15x18 confession scene and determined that it's not just that they used the most boring takes, but they actually butchered it. i.e. they used footage of jensen from different parts of the scene and shoehorned it into this moment so that it was as not-gay as possible.

my friend @winchestersingerautorepair has done a bunch of meta on this topic if you happen to be interested on the above mentioned analysis of the editing.

tl;dr: they butchered jensen's acting to make the scene as straight as possible.

and despite that, they couldn't edit out the fact that dean spent hours sobbing on the floor after cas was taken.

[literateleah]

the paradox of emily prentiss’ audience perception and character design

some of y’all about to be real mad at me, but it must be said:

emily prentiss’ character design makes no sense: my personal opinion + an objective analysis

i think it can be challenging to separate the versions of characters we have in our little brains from actual canon content, but doing so is important for understanding what those characters are truly like, especially within the context of their environment and in contrast to others around them. plus developing a deeper understanding of the media we consume is super fun and interesting! with that being said: emily prentiss should not work for the fbi and here’s why (in three parts regarding who’s responsible: cbs, paget, and fans) (sit down and grab a snack i promise this is over 3k words)

quick disclaimer: i don’t dislike emily at all! that’s my girl, i just looked closer and realized some funky things the writers did and felt the need to analyze her of course: so let’s get into it

part one: what cbs did

cbs set the stage for emily’s introduction on the heels of the departure of lola glaudini as elle greenaway! lola has clarified that she decided to leave the show because filming in los angeles was not the best environment for her personally, and after one successful season on a major network (but not much established long term plot or drama beyond elle’s departure as a character) a consistent ensemble cast was required- particularly because the bau had been criticized for being predominantly male in the first few episodes of the show and not much development was given to penelope or jj yet. enter emily prentiss.

for the duration of seasons 2-3ish, emily was framed as a chip off the block that was elle greenaway, just slightly…richer? in her first few episodes emily was hesitantly polite but ambitious, clean cut, intellectually concise and held her own within the team. she seemed equal parts intimidated and frustrated by her male superiors (gideon, hotch) but certainly proves herself among other profilers. her childhood was explored only within reference to her strained relationship with her mother (which was only ever referenced once more after the fact) and we received a short overview of her educational and career history in her first few episodes. emily fit right into the hole elle had left, and didn’t have many major storylines yet.

seasons 4-6 brought a bit more development and depth to emily’s character! she begins dropping more snarky remarks, one liners, and socially deepening her relationships with the other team members. this seems more within the lines of elle’s design, but emily arguably took more time to grow into her place within the team. during the foyet arc she was vulnerable and supportive, and the doyle arc gave her some independence and agency she didn’t have previously. this era also solidified her appearance and persona as more edgy, which falls in line with general fanon perception of her character (especially when compared to jj or penelope). i can’t address this era or season 7 without mentioning that cbs was actively trying to remove paget from the cast, similar to how they did to aj cook as well. paget has spoken about this instance before, and i believe it slightly affected her portrayal of her character, and “lauren” was somewhat of a goodbye for both paget and emily (thus why she wished for mgg to direct since they were best friends).

season 7: in my opinion, one of the best seasons for emily. she was wisened and deeply wounded by her experiences with doyle, which was understandable of course. she returned to the team she loved and learned to appreciate life in a different way, remaining mature during this time period as well! though her departure was a bit less than graceful and sudden at the end of this season, it made sense compared to some other exits the team had seen.

now *sigh* all the rest.

paget as emily appears in two separate guest appearances (once in s9 and once in s11, and she is referenced offscreen as well) before permanently reprising her role as unit chief of the bau. these appearances were most likely to boost ratings and get the team back together (i.e. 200) or just to pepper in international cases (tribute). emily’s personality remains pretty consistent here, just more mature and comfortable in leadership positions (seeing as she is running an entire branch of an international law enforcement organization). then season 12 hit.

upon the departure of thomas gibson as hotch, cbs reached out to paget to see if she would be interested in fulfilling her role as emily within a longer term unit chief position. i’ll get into why this is wack in a few paragraphs, but the remainder of her time on the show is spent on a mature portrayal that seems very distant from her previous versions. emily is more authoritative, gives orders with ease, and has no qualms about leading a team of agents or even receiving promotion offers as director of the entire bureau.

thus concludes a general summary of the canon content cbs gave us as viewers. now let's talk about what they didn’t give us, regrettably

the primary aspect of emily’s design that comes to mind for many is her queer coding. though not much was to be expected from cbs, a prime time cable tv network, each of her relationships on the show (all with men) seemed oddly forced, and without much chemistry as compared to the SOs of other main characters. rumors of scrapped plotlines have floated around about what may have been, but the ultimate lack of acknowledgement of any queer characters in the main ensemble still leaves a feeling of disappointment to audiences, and leaves more to be desired as for how emily navigates social bonds.

part two (sidebar): what paget did

i think it could be agreed within audiences that paget brewster’s portrayal of emily made the role what it was! her dry witty delivery and emotional prowess combined with sitcom acting experience made her performance a mainstay for years. i think she did the best she could with a confusing and at times flat characterization, and brought the role to life.

paget also heavily contributes to fanon indirectly with her comments outside of the show (press, cameos, twitter etc). her general continued interest and fondness for the role post production affects fan perception, particularly in what she chooses to elevate and comment on. she and aj have both spoken about viewing jemily content, and paget and thomas have both also commented on hotchniss. most cast members feel free to comment on their characters in the appropriate timing, and seem open to discussing fanon ships and theories outside of canon!

part three: what fanon did

as we can tell from this fan space as well as the presence on insta, tik tok and twitter, fans LATCHED onto emily super quickly. she’s remained a favorite over the years, and this fan persistence is what brought her back so many times after leaving (so many times). in my opinion, queer coding and a bolder female trope (in contrast to her female counterparts) are the main pulls because they resonated with so many fans- new and old. with that being said, newer fans of the show in the past year in particular have been heavily influential in fanon, solely because of the large influx of fan content and popularity of it.

fan content began to take coding and bite size moments and snippets from the show as canon, and cemented it into much of the content and discourse they created. these small pieces of emily’s character are significant, but have become magnified by how easily they are to share and edit. for example, a collection of catchy one liners from emily over the seasons makes for a great video edit intro, or gifset! there’s absolutely no problem with this content, it just all combines to create a certain fanon perception no character escapes (this isn’t a phenomenon limited to emily or the cm fandom!)

these droves of content also solidified emily’s personality as much more defined, but at the same time, simplified it in a way that’s slightly harder to explain.

fanon: more emo/goth than canon basis

fanon: more introverted/anti social than canon basis

fanon: more violent/chaotic when canon emily is relatively well mannered and doesn’t start many conflicts (particularly in the workspace)

fanon: much less maternal when canon emily displays desire on multiple occasions (even crossing professional borders) for children, particularly teenage girls (possibly projection)

(again, nothing wrong with this interpretation at all and it still varies! This is just a generalization based on most of the popular content i have seen)

part 4: why it doesn’t work

let me start with this: emily prentiss does not like her job.

we don’t receive much in depth information about emily’s internal feelings and thoughts towards her mother beyond resentment. this stems from wanting to make it on her own, as a professional and as an individual (cough cough college deposits). this makes emily’s insistence on proving herself to authority figures in her earlier seasons is interesting to watch in different circumstances. she cites her experience and denies help from her mother when justifying her placement in the bau to hotch, she is extra vigilant about being helpful on her first case with gideon, etc. nevertheless, emily forges her own path outside of diplomacy and becomes a successful profiler and agent, with the help of her privilege, wealth and name whether she likes it or not. but if we read between the lines and fill in the blanks cbs neglected, these ambitions may subconsciously be oriented towards pleasing her mother.

example one: emily’s authority issues go further than just “rebellion” or “anarchy”, she frequently questions the ethics and sustainability of the work that the bau does. every team member does this, but emily much more so than anybody else.

in “amplification”, emily almost breaks federal protocol to inform civilians of anthrax threats. she butts heads with both hotch and rossi on this front, and ends the episode with having a conversation with rossi about the ethics of lying in their line of work. emily resigns to a solemn “it be like that” and moves along, accepting this reality.

on multiple different occasions emily laments to derek about the darkness she sees on the job, and it’s shown that this gets to her quickly on particularly bad cases. this is another contradiction of the design that she can supposedly “compartmentalize” better than others on the team, when she cannot unless the lives of others are at risk (doyle arc, s7 finale).

emily also responds in this way to many cases involving children, a similarity to jj many don’t notice upon first watching the series. “seven seconds” and “children of the dark” come to mind, during the latter in which emily is prepared to cross multiple professional lines to adopt a teenage girl left orphaned by the case, until hotch stops her and establishes that her emotions can’t rule her judgement on the job. regardless of hotch’s thoughts about her attempted caretaking abilities, these actions and impulses deeply contradict the typical bureaucratic pathways of the work the bau does.

the looming reputation of her mother’s diplomatic history hangs over emily, and after going to law school and working for the cia, she most likely did want to forge her own path as far away from being a socialite: being a spy. her inner nature doesn’t always reflect this profession, and leads me to believe that with her knowledge of psychology, law procedure and care for children: emily prentiss might be more inclined to working in social work, placing suffering children and teenagers in homes they deserve.

and finally, the hill i will die on: emily prentiss was an bad unit chief

this wonderful post touches on my general sentiment, but there were many reasons as to why emily prentiss’ career arc makes little to no sense (plot holes included).

first: her background. emily attended chesapeake bay university as well as yale and achieved a ba in criminal justice. keep in mind that though timelines evidently don’t exist in the cm universe, emily prentiss is ONE YEAR older than aaron hotchner (for context). in her first episode, she professes that she has worked for the bureau for a little under ten years in midwestern offices- something the audience laters knows to not be true. emily worked with the cia and interpol as a part of a profiling team and undercover agent up until roughly TWO YEARS before her canon introduction. plot holes and time gaps aside, this makes me wonder, why didn’t she just say the cia was a backstop without revealing the highly confidential nature of her work with doyle (similar to jj’s state department backstop and cover story)? penelope or hotch could have easily accessed her file and seen that she did not in fact have experience with the bureau in midwestern offices recently, and given the fact that erin strauss set up her bau placement, i’m presuming these formalities or references were overlooked.

second: her experience within the team. emily worked as a part of the bau with the bureau for roughly 6 or 7 years. after this, she is invited to run the entire london branch of interpol, one of the most renowned international law enforcement organizations. i’m surely not the most knowledgeable on requirements or standard timelines for such matters, but with the fact that emily had never led a team in her life (not in the bau or interpol previously) and had roughly 10 years of field experience, i don’t believe she would have ever realistically been considered eligible to run the whole london department.

third: her return to the bureau. fanon depiction of their relationship aside, if you believe aaron hotchner’s last wish before going into witsec was to entrust his team to emily prentiss, you’re dead mistaken. bringing emily back was clearly a pull for ratings after the loss of two main characters (hotch and derek), but logistically a bad decision. let’s suppose emily has had 4 or 5 years of experience in london now, this established authority position would be unlikely to change at the drop of a hat, even for old teammates or friends. also considering how close they were after a decade of working closely in bureaucratic and field contexts, i firmly believe hotch would have referred jj for the job of unit chief but that’s another discussion for another time.

emily’s reign as unit chief is odd, because of the many chaotic storylines crammed into it. but amidst bad writing and viewings plummeting, emily’s character is completely flattened. completely. emily is unrecognizable, both in appearance (that god awful wig) and personality. at times she acts as a complete wise authority, giving orders and delegating local authorities as hotch did. but at other times she makes multiple illegal, emotional, and incorrect judgement calls based on personal circumstances that lead to further chaos (deleting the recording of her and reid’s mexico conversation and reprimanding luke in “luke” for the exact same thing she did in season 6 even though she enabled her to do so come to mind).

i’m not sure if this is due to paget trying to find her footing in the role again, or the writer’s bad decisions towards the end of the show wrecking any previous design for their ensemble. then, there’s the infamous “wheels up” scene in s13e1. notoriously cringey, this seems like a vague caricature of something rossi would say many years in the past (the same goes for her pep talk in “red light” in the hunt for diana reid). these moments are meant to mature emily in the audience’s eye, but instead completely removed her from who we understood her to be, and made her an unreliable leader.

part five: and why it does

in theory, emily was a bolder foil to jj, similar to elle who she arguably replaced at first. she came into her own, and stands as a more uniquely developed character than almost any other in the main ensemble. she isn’t as maternal or domestically inspiring as canon jj, less bright and sunny than penelope, not quite as stoic or intimidating as derek or hotch. And yet at the same time, she’s a fairly blank slate. stripping fanon content away entirely, canon emily has few defining traits (all of which are constantly changing), and that may be the key to why we love her so much.

[bleulone]

i love your analysis so much! i have a question as well, like, how do you envision polin's sex scenes ? thanks for your answer (:

    Hey! Thank you very much :)) I have no idea if they are that even good but I’m happy you like them. It’s just my brain tending to produce some iNsIGhiTfUL analyses though they usually end up drowned under a huge wave of stupidity and horrid spelling/grammatical mistakes XD. So, about Penelope and Colin’ sex scenes, I guess we’re getting spicy in this house 🌶. I mean, I don’t blame you. Who’s not hot for Polin ?! The steamy Polin hours have already begun and they’re legit challenging my patience. (Be still my Polin heart, be still).

   Okay, without further ado, let’s talk about sex baby, shall we ? It’s a pretty long answer/meta so bear with me.

    I don’t know if you’ve read Romancing Mister Bridgerton, but a quick reminder (for those who haven’t... yet), there are a bunch of iconic steamy scenes that I’m dying to watch on screen. First we have the famous “thank you” scene where Penelope, now a 28 year-old spinster, asks Colin to kiss her because she doesn’t want to die without having been kissed... then ends up thanking him— which happens to be humiliating for our 33 year-old boy because he thinks that she thinks he did it out of pity while he absolutely did not. The man definitely felt butterflies in his stomach... and in other places as well lol. We also have the ICONIC carriage scene where Colin gives Pen’s generous bosoms™ the attention they deserve. This is followed by his proposal. Later on, after the announcement of their engagement, there’s a pretty hot make-out scene on Lady Violet’s sofa. Finally, we have their first time in Colin’s bedroom, after sneaking out of their own engagement party... which leads Colin to push the wedding date forward. At this point, I just love their horniness, especially Colin’s who’s just so freaking amazed by Penelope for more than 300 pages straight (duh! who isn’t ???).

    When you say envision, I suppose you mainly refer to the way those scenes will be filmed right ? I’m afraid I don’t have an advanced knowledge in film-making but let me start by telling you what elements need to be depicted. I would love Shonda and Chris to capture the real essence of our boos’ feelings : the yearning, the love, the respect and the guilt (specifically on Colin’s side) in their eyes. The more we move forward throughout the seasons, the more we see different layers of the perceptions of they have of each other, going from a childish idealization/immature ignorance to a sudden realization. A mature one. Penelope goes beyond the facade of the charming devil-may-care guy to meet the seriousness and temper of her significant other. Meanwhile Colin discovers how confident, powerful and attractive this woman is and always has been. It echoes what I’ve written about the importance of the gaze in Polin’s love story in this meta. By the time season 4 hits, man... their heart eyes and eye-fucking will jump OUT XD, all fibers of their beings, burning with need. The fact that this evolution took literally years is very emotionally painful, which is why I find it important to keep the slowness aspect of their relationship before and during their love making. I’m really looking forward a slow build-up toward their intimacy. It would differ from Daphne and Simon who merely shared one hell of a kiss in Lady Trowbridge’s garden then shared their sexy times after they married or Anthony and Siena’s rough sex... In fact, there’s a certain (sweet) ardent tenderness in Polin I like due to the fact that they’re slowly (re)discovering each other, as adults. Since they were both introduced in season 1, the audience will have all the time in the world to notice numerous evidences of the many natures of love they have for one another : from an affectionate and friendly love to a more carnal and enduring one.

    Okay so, in terms of filming, with Netflix’s Bridgerton being a show which promotes the female gaze, it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise watching those sex scenes being shot from Penelope’s perspective, like it was the case with Daphne in the first installment of the series. Most of the time, sex scenes in Historical Romance are not gratuitous. Their presence serve an important purpose in a hero/heroine’s journey. In Penelope’s case, they’re here to help her learn to embrace and love herself. In other words, sexuality is synonym of freedom. I don’t know if they’ll show a lot of skin, but I won’t be complaining considering the fact that we’ll have the chance to get a chief kiss treat on screen : a plus size woman in a major successful Netflix period drama getting a love story as romantic and steamy as other more “fit” female characters. No, your weight doesn’t prevent you from being desirable at all. As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t watched a plus-size female character portrayed as an attractive protagonist in a period drama (please if you have, let me know, I can be wrong). Having a beautiful half bare curvy body like Nicola’s being equally filmed like numerous slim actresses will be so inspiring and powerful to watch, especially for (young) women who struggle, like Penelope, to love their body shape which, to them, doesn’t “fit” the “beauty standards”. By showing her female gaze and portraying her as seductive, Pen’s “supposed” imperfections transform themselves into mighty assets, loved and worshipped by our dashing Mister Bridgerton. That’s body positivity at its finest darling ;).

    It will be deliciously erotic watching the undressing process being exquisitely slow, garment by garment, while their gaze are all heated and hungry. Their sex/make-out scenes should be tender and passionate, sweet and raw. The lightning, colored by a dark blood orange yellow or a blue depending the locations^^. Moreover, the depiction of the exploration of Penelope’s desire can translate itself thanks to multiple close ups. For instance, I can imagine a few ones on Pen’s fingers gently roaming over the smooth skin of Colin’s firm chest and back/touching his hair right after he removed his shirt. And a disheveled Colin letting his hands and lips making a journey of their own, mapping, conquering the alluring unknown territory that is her gorgeous voluptuous body... kissing her on the places he knows oh too well will give her pleasure (is this me wanting him to go down on her?— um yeah I sure hope it IS! If he doesn’t, trust me imma riot... AGAIN). Even a close up on her face while Colin is performing his addictively pleasing torment will be a marvelous proof of the female gaze. By the way, why not even adding a post-coital scene after their first time ? I can picture Penelope waking up first and contemplate her handsome soon-to-be husband. She’d bring her hand to his face and let it travel all around his forehead, his cheeks, his lips, his neck and let it rest on his heart— making sure that what she’s just experience was real... obviously, Colin will wake up in the process and he’ll take this as his cue to go for another round of sexy times under the sheets.

   Showing Pen reaction is essential according to me because she was stuck with the idea that she would never experience the luxury of being loved, giving pleasure nor receiving it... she ended up being happily wrong. Throughout her multiple intimate encounters with Colin, I want her to progressively realizes that she can be an active partner. In the carriage, she knew she had an effect on him, but it’s not until their first time that she actually realizes it. Hence the reason why I WANT the mirror’s introduction in one of their sex scenes. Here’s as a little reminder an excerpt from chapter 18 :

“I want to see you sitting up," he groaned, "so I can see them full and lovely and large [about Pen’s breasts]. And then I want to crawl behind you and cup you." His lips found her ear and his voice dropped to a whisper. "And I want to do it in front of a mirror."

“Now?” she squeaked.

He seemed to consider that for a moment, then shook his head. "Later," he said, and then repeated it in a rather resolute tone. "Later.”

   It would be such a shame if the show doesn’t use the incredible potential of this object (/kink). I mean, the symbolism is pretty clear. Penelope has always fled her “ugly” reflection but it seems like Colin wants to show the real her, the beauty that holds every single inch her alabaster skin and the effects they have on him. Thus, I would love to watch a scene where Colin just praises the alluring goddess and siren that is Penelope Featherington. Just imagine! Just IMAGINE the power of this scene : a shirtless Colin sitting behind her on a bed, meeting her gaze in the mirror, his lips touching her right ear, biting and licking the lobe sometimes, whispering all kinda of dirty yet poetic words to her while letting his hands caress her thighs, her hips, her arms, her lovely bosoms™... oof. At the same time, a wonderful and harmonic instrumental music will play in the background and match the melodic partition of shudders, breathes and moans let out by our lovers. I can imagine Luke inspiring himself from his performance in the 2019 short film, Youth In Bed. The way he conveyed the awe and the yearning on his face, in his eyes with his mouth slightly open when he knelt before his partner Shun Yin was just captivating and— and so Colin! I cannot help but bring myself to picture Ethan, the character he played in YIB, in a Polin steamy scene. I cannot unsee this anymore jsksk. I mean, all this gifset radiates this book4chapter18!Colin, you cannot tell me otherwise!

    Also, I would love Shonda and Chris to keep Pen and Colin’s cute/emotional pillow talk. One thing I really love in JQ’s books is the concern she gives to her male protagonists about potentially hurting their partner during the act of penetration. Colin is a rake, and what his experience with women taught him is that he needs to be very gentle with the love of his life. It was so adorable seeing him not wanting to harm her and asking her to tell him if he does anything she doesn’t like 🥺. Plus, before actually doing it, Colin and Penelope shared a few kisses and just laid down side by side, confessing their love. Though our boy kept feeling guilty about not returning her love after all these years. He desires nothing but to make up for the lost time and show his love and desire during this special intimate moment. I hope they’ll keep all of chapter 18’s dialogue. It’s just so telling of our boos’ feelings, you see.

    All in all, I can’t wait to watch those Polin steamy scenes. As much as I may sound crazy, I want them after two other seasons of pure pining and yearning in order to have a very good payoff. I’m not an expert on depicting intimacy on screen, but I loved so far what Lizzy Talbot, the intimacy coordinator who worked on the show, have done in season 1. Sex scenes in Bridgerton seem very real and dive you in the intimacy of the moment, leaving you all flustered and hot. So probs to her! I have faith in her work and have no doubts about what her and the directors will serve us in future seasons. Though, in the end, I think it’s mostly up to the actors, Nicola and Luke, to see if they’re comfortable filming sex scenes.

    If you guys have any suggestions or wishes for those steamy polin scenes, please do share them :) by commenting on this post or by sending me asks! I’d love reading your thoughts/take on this very important matter ;)) 

[kbsd]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

render and export! :)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[thegunlady]

Movies I watched in 2021:

Was this a largely pointless exercise that reveals too much about the painfully boring inner machinations of my mind? Probably! But I have to do something with my film degree, so please enjoy this list of the 70 movies I saw this year, complete with IMDB links and my own deeply insightful (and spoiler-free) commentary:

January: 

The DUFF (2016) - This movie is so dumb but it brings me such joy and I’ve seen it a bunch of times because Mae Whitman and Robbie Amell are so obviously having a great time and enjoying the hell out of each other.

Austenland (2007) - Do the plot details of this movie make any sense? Certainly not. Do I care? Also certainly not. It’s the very epitome of genre-savvy, Austen-inspired, parodic delight and I watch it regularly. 

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - I have not sat and watched these movies in full since they came out, and I also decided I wanted to watch a bit more Seminal Classic Cinema this year (in theory) so here we are. It was a great decision, actually. I expected to appreciate it, but be a little bored/confused because complicated high fantasy is not my bag and neither is a 3-hour movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was much easier to follow and more relationship-driven than I remembered. 

February:

Leap Year (2010) - I have a vague memory of disliking this movie, but it’s been so long and tumblr seems to really like it so I thought I’d try again. Turns out my memory was Correct and I did not like it, which is a bummer because this movie has a lot of really good things going on! There’s a version of the same script that could have been a classic IMHO, we just didn’t quite get there.

In Time (2011) - I saw this in theaters and haven’t even thought about it since then so I’m not sure what triggered it, but I just had the sudden urge to watch this movie. So much so I literally paid 4 of my actual, personal dollars to rent it. And listen, this movie was critically eviscerated for being terrible and I get it. But I still think the designing principle is unique and interesting—and you guys know I’m a sucker for anything aesthetically ultra-stylized. This would be GREAT updated as a limited series.

Booksmart (2019) - A delightfully conceived teen comedy with stellar performances top to bottom. A very few brief moments slightly more gross and slapstick-y than I personally find entertaining, but good work all around.

March:

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) - A very short and quirky romp that’s a little dated but I enjoyed very much. Plus time travel! (sort of) which is a personal favorite. I really appreciate the emotional through-line of this one.

Falling Inn Love (2019) - I can’t explain what made me randomly hit this on Netflix. It’s absolutely every single thing you think it is and nothing more but I had fun.

The Illusionist (2006) - I watched this so many times in high school, and I saw a random gifset of it recently and wanted to know if it held up. Honestly, it kinda doesn’t. It’s a little cringe, as the kids say, and the VFX are...not that great. But I still love it?

April:

The Craft (1996) - Okay, don’t take away my tumblr cred but this was actually the first time I’ve seen this movie! I'm sure I would have loved it more had I seen it during my formative years, but nonetheless it is a vibe™ and deserves it’s high place in the lexicon. I am overcome with the desire to purchase black tights and burgundy lipstick. 

Thunder Force (2021) - This one got a little gross and slapstick-y for me, especially the extremely weird and pointless romantic b-plot but I LOVE the premise of middle-aged lady superhero best friends being hilarious with each other.  

The Stand-In (2020) - I can’t believe this movie slipped my notice all this time but we love a bonkers dark comedy with important themes about identity and two (2) Drew Barrymores!

The Dig (2021) - I really wanted to love this movie and I can appreciate it’s whole theme and aesthetic but it just did not do anything for me at all. I just watched it and I can barely remember it.

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) - A classic! I’ve seen this one a few times and it’s aged...not super great, but weirdly well for what it is? It just cheers me to watch. And y’all know how much I like almost anything about time travel.

Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) - A double feature!! Hmm, this was my first time seeing this one and it is...markedly less charming and evergreen than its predecessor. Barely even any time travel! The poor ladies are just beyond fridged. And I was bored. Also there was so much screaming. I did love the whole grim reaper thing, though.

Bill and Ted Face the Music (2020) - A triple feature!!! The first movie is still the best, and I’m not always the biggest fan of the years-later franchise continuation but this one was really fun! Also, I know it’s not the point, but I would have liked it if this movie was even more (or exclusively) about the daughters.

Dazed and Confused (1993) - Listen, I love ‘70s music and a loosely-structured cruising movie so I fully appreciate what made this film so special. But I am too old and too square to be watching 28-year-old stoner teen movies for the first time. That love and nostalgia just doesn’t really pull through over the slow, un-PC weirdness when you don’t have an existing relationship with the movie. I really enjoyed parts of it though.

Jumper (2008) - Probably because it’s so akin to the beats of my beloved time travel, I find the premise of this (admittedly kind of silly) movie to be rad and I’ve seen it several times. I’m still disappointed that they didn’t adapt the next book.

May:

One For the Money (2012) - I used to love these novels so I was STOKED that they finally started making movies. I’m still upset that this movie bombed and we didn’t get any more, because I think it’s extremely well-made and delightful, and it’s one of my go-to comfort movies. Is it not enough for Katherine Heigl to be endearingly vengeful, comically reckless, and surprisingly good at bounty hunting??

June:

The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996) - Oh-ho-ho this one hit. I clicked it on a whim and discovered an unfortunately titled but endlessly endearing, slightly unconventional romance that got me right between the ribs. It’s dreamy and witty and mildly existential and quite affirming for me, personally. I can’t recommend it enough.

Corpse Bride (2005) - Another one of those classics-among-my-people-that-I’d-never-actually-seen. I ADORED the style, character design, and general concept but I am DISPLEASED with the ending. The mechanics of the world also make little sense and the movie is suspiciously short. Having read nothing else about it, I’m wondering if it did not go through fairly extensive cuts and rewrites. A shame. And perhaps worthy of being adapted again in some form?

After (2019) - It’s no secret that I LOVE bonkers melodramatic romances and will gladly watch and read even the worst ones. Also I needed something to put on while terraforming in Animal Crossing so I thought this would be perfect—and it worked out on that front I guess, but wow this movie is unwatchable. Even for me. In so many ways. It’s so bad. 

After We Collided (2020) - OKAY FINE Netflix queued up the sequel and I let it because a.) I was not done terraforming and b.) I was so shocked the first movie did well enough to warrant the sequel (and apparently a three-quel??) that I had to see what it was about. Honestly, I still don’t really know or care what happened in either movie, but this one was slightly better than the first. 

Luca (2021) - A most joyous and colorful adventure! I wish to visit Italy, and I wish for more Sea Monster Cinema (which is the name of my new pop punk band). 

July:

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021) - I may have watched most of this movie through my fingers in awkwardness but it was SUCH a delight in every way. I haven’t laughed that much in a long time. My only note is that I kinda wish they could have continued to be a poly couple but it’s fine, I get it.

Hysteria (2010) - A genius premise! This movie was so much fun and delightfully unique. The events happened really fast though I almost wish it was a series. Also a bit tonally unsure of itself I think, but joy was had and that’s really my main rubric for anything.

Suicide Squad (2016) - I almost didn’t add this to the list because I just threw it on in the background while working, but I did watch the whole thing. It’s perfectly enjoyable. Gosh I love Joel Kinnaman. Also Leto’s joker is /barf emoji thanks.

Home Again (2017) - What have I been doing since 2017 that I missed this movie entirely?!?!? It is SUCH a cute story and my heart is so unbelievably full!! More justice for middle-aged ladies! And more chad-like film-bro-style characters who are actually sweet and decent dudes!

Midnight Sun (2018) - Following in the trend of After from last month I’m going for the ridiculous teen romance melodramas again. This was your standard YA tearjerker fare if not worse, but I guess I picked an emotional day to watch it because I cried anyway.

Isi & Ossi (2020) - Absolutely chaotic fake dating shenanigans! I actually thought this was a series when I started watching it and I’m disappointed that it’s not because I would absolutely watch these characters do more things.

Lucky Number Slevin (2006) - Loved this! It was my first time seeing it and I knew very little about it even though I know it’s a cult classic. Maybe a tad too much Old Dudes Talking but still a blast. Lucy Liu really makes the whole thing.

The Twilight Saga (2008-2012) - Yes, all 5 movies. I think we can agree they don’t need individual entries. These all dropped on Netflix while I was trapped in my brother’s disgusting apartment after agreeing against my better judgement to dog-sit his (blameless, still beloved) demon corgi for a week, so it was the perfect self-indulgent movie marathon. The first movie is objectively the best but I think New Moon is my favorite? Eclipse is definitely better than New Moon but IMHO it’s just kinda there. And the Breaking Dawn movies are so goddamn weird.

The Kissing Booth (2018) - I’m really outing myself with this whole list re: secretly enjoying ridiculous teen movies. This is definitely that, but it’s so cheery and rote that it’s a great comfort watch.

Ever After (1998) - A classic in every sense of the word! I can’t resist a Cinderella retelling and this one is easily top 3 of all time. The earnest romance! The French countryside! Anjelica Huston!

August:

Jolt (2021) - This movie is purely capitalizing on the success of Atomic Blonde with almost none of the artistry or gravitas, but it’s also purely about Kate Beckinsale wearing great outfits and wrecking many buildings and dudes under neon lights and I am not opposed to this.

Freaky (2020) - Clearly someone in a pitch meeting said “what if Freaky Friday, but a serial killer and his would-be victim instead of a mother and daughter”— and they had a point. I would have liked some more interaction between the two of them and also I’m not really sure what the killer’s goal or motivation was at any point but I still had fun. Also I was engrossed in trying to paint a lil strawberry with my new watercolors for most of this movie so I might not be the best judge.

The Suicide Squad (2021) - Ok in fairness, James Gunn brought some much-needed Guardians of the Galaxy flair to the whole show and I appreciate that. I am however NOT remotely okay with the death of my beloved [REDACTED], and this movie in general was. Very bizarre.

Jackie & Ryan (2014) - This movie was pretty slow and not super well-structured, but it was sweet and simple with lovely scenery and Ben Barnes singing country music. Also movie endings in general I find are the weakest part of them but I think it was the strongest part of this one. It’s been a while since I loved the way a movie ended. 

Fantastic Fungi (2019) - So I thought this was going to be more of a nerdy sci-comm thing about how fungus works, and it sort of is, but it’s also mostly for aesthetic and entertainment purposes, and is very pro-psychedelics. Which is fine! I confess I am a bit skeptical of some of the science and experts they have, but it was still cool! Mushrooms are the best!

Tenet (2020) - You guys know I love stuff that messes with time and time travel and this movie did a lot of cool things but it was also Very Serious and Very Long and the story engine felt pretty flimsy to me. I wanted to see way more of Neil and the Protagonist interacting and doing emotionally-grounded character things, and way less of extras running around in gas masks and wide shots of helicopters. I should really watch it a second time to get a better grip on it but I’m not sure I care enough to do it.

Roman Holiday (1953) - A charming and fashionable romp that changed cinema forever! Despite myself, I’d never actually seen it from credits to credits and I’m very glad to add it to my repertoire. Also I intend to wear far more swishy skirts and Gibson rolls.

September:

Bo Burnham: Inside (2021) - I guess this isn’t a movie per se, but I make the rules here. I visited my best friend for my 30th birthday and she couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen this and she insisted we watch it immediately and she was right. Bo Burnham gets it. I felt things. I already downloaded the album. Oof.

Cruella (2021) - This movie is preposterous but honestly about 30% less preposterous than I expected. I actually thought the punk rock ‘70s backdrop was kind of a cool idea. It was very long and very silly but I am always willing to watch charismatic leading ladies wearing bonkers outfits and being cinematically unhinged™. 

Buffaloed (2019) - Not only is this a clever and poignant premise for a movie, highlighting the insanity of American household debt, but I just got the vibe that the whole cast really got along and was having a blast getting to do so much screaming, scuffling, and dramatically slamming phones down. 

Savages (2012) - Hoo boy. This movie is painfully 2012 and super weirdly paced, but for the first half I thought I would like it anyway because it’s a pretty slick and compelling concept with a fun cast. But it’s way too long, and the second half goes bizarrely off the rails for no reason, and the pointless double ending (?) does nothing to resolve the themes the movie set up and it was just a vaguely unpleasant time all around.

Guys and Dolls (1955) - Despite myself, I just love the frothy midcentury musicals. Not to mention, my dad used to sing songs from this one to me all the time when I was a kid so it’s got a special place in my heart. I haven’t watched the movie in a long time though and I was struck anew by 1. how cool the sets are, and 2. how entirely delightful the chemistry is between Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons.

Love and Monsters (2020) - A very gross bug movie but very worth it. I love a romantic adventure quest! I love an underdog story! I love an actual dog! I love Dylan O’Brien! 

October:

Crimson Peak (2015) - Starting October off strong! Although a spooky and highly-aesthetic fairytale is a good idea anytime of year. I’ve seen this movie a few times and tbh the story doesn’t hold up to too much scrutiny but who cares! Ghosts! Incredible gowns! Crumbling mansions! Blood red snow! It’s got everything.

A Little Chaos (2014) - Having watched them mere hours apart, it strikes me that this movie is kind of....reverse Crimson Peak? It’s incredibly bright and polished and lush with endless pastels and flowers and golden sunlight, featuring a common woman who is lovingly accepted by high society. It was honestly just okay but I liked it! 

Free Guy (2021) - Oh man did I not expect the Ryan Reynolds video game action comedy to have such heart! I just wanted to throw on something goofy, but this movie had my full attention. It’s so sweet and clever and so much more than I hoped for.

Paradise Hills (2019) - This was the flowered, color-soaked, half-futuristic and half-victorian dreamy and deranged horror thriller I never knew I needed. Is it kinda ridiculous? Sure. Does it leave so many questions entirely unanswered? Oh yeah. But it’s cool as hell.

The Aeronauts (2019) - I saw this when it first came out, and it is, surprisingly, just as spellbinding on a second viewing. This movie plays like the most beautiful old time-y storybook, complete with ball gowns and brass telescopes, but it’s also an IMPOSSIBLY HARROWING hot air balloon adventure. I love it so much.

Love and Other Drugs (2010) - Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are both great and thus fun as a banter-y couple, but this movie takes the bizarre stance of a romantic dramedy with the designing principle of...pharmaceutical sales? It also takes place in 1996 literally just so the invention of Viagra can be part of the plot but doesn’t really do anything with it story-wise that couldn’t easily be done a million other ways, or do anything else to make the movie look and feel ‘90s (I know it’s based on a book but the book is from 2005). Relatedly, some of the 2010 humor is a pretty darn yikes. 

Casablanca (1942) - I swore I was gonna watch more Important Classic Films this year and I haven’t really been doing it so here we are. It’s no surprise that this movie is a staple of Hollywood history because it is incredibly stylish and well-observed.

Twister (1996) - Frick I love this movie. It’s another shining star in the firmament of movies with a lived-in, nuanced, and delightful ensemble  working together against a cool ‘monster’ of sorts, with the monster being fun and aesthetic but sufficiently background to the character stuff at play. An unbeatable dynamic also found in movies like The Mummy and Ocean’s Eleven.

Happy Death Day (2017) - This might be my favorite horror movie ever. It’s so clever and funny and well-constructed. It’s Scream updated for the new generation. And of course, I am always on board for a time loop.

Shaun of the Dead (2004) - Have I been calling myself an Edgar Wright fan all these years even though I’d never seen this movie? Yes. But I have rectified the situation. This movie is so funny and I’m never over the way almost every bit happens twice, in a pre- and post- zombie context. It’s brilliant.

November:

Fool’s Gold (2008) - I saw a some random gifs of this and inexplicably decided on a whim that I was going to watch it immediately. It’s surprisingly good for being a mid-2000s romcom. More romcoms should be adventure-based.

The Maltese Falcon (1941) - Once again I attempt to add Classic Cinema™ to the list and once again, despite my literal film degree (and having seen this movie before), I don’t have that much to say about it. This movie is striking to look at and a huge part of movie history and I have total appreciation for that. But hanging out in 2021, it’s just not super fun to watch. 

All Too Well: The Short Film (2021) - This is my first short film this year, and I’ve decided that they count for this list - even if this one is more of a music video, but whatever. Loved it. I was quite struck by the awareness that I, like Taylor Swift, was Sadie Sink’s age when the song was first released, and am Dylan O’Brien’s age now. The video was poetic and beautiful and painful and it’s just an amazing song. 10/10. 

Contact (1997) - You guys know I love alien shit so I truly can’t believe one of the most famous alien movies of all time was barely even in my cultural awareness. My total loss, too, because this movie rules so hard. 

Mr. Right (2016) - A forever favorite! This movie is so colorful and hilarious and romantic and weird and I never get sick of it. More surprisingly wholesome action comedies about feral paleontologists and their reverse-hitman boyfriends!

Chaos Walking (2021) - This movie wasn’t really good enough for it’s Dark Seriousness or clever enough for it’s Jokiness (which was really just the same joke over and over). It set up a bunch of interesting things that never paid off, and threw in a bunch of random stuff that didn’t really matter. It’s a decent concept and an impressive cast, but we are not in the strand of the multiverse where this movie worked.

December:

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) - I saw someone on twitter recently say that Tobey Maguire was a mediocre spider-man in a franchise that really understood and loved spider-man. And that Garfield was a truly spectacular, god-tier spider-man in a franchise that sorta-kinda understood spider-man. Where Tom Holland is a close second to Garfield, in a franchise that doesn’t really give a shit about spider-man OG themes and lore at all. Watching this movie for the first time in several years, I must concur. Story-wise it’s perfectly fine but nothing special - except that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are absolutely flawless in their roles.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) - Oof That Part™ of this movie is still a soulcrusher. This movie also has markedly less fun and interesting side characters than the first movie. But still a cool watch and also this version of peter x gwen 4ever!

The Hating Game (2021) - Ok, technically I watched this after midnight on New Year’s Eve, but I didn’t want to end my night on the minor bummer that was TASM2, or end up with 69 total movies. I just couldn’t. This is your fault, internet! But anyway! The Hating Game is one of my absolute favorite romance novels of all time, and I’ve always thought it could make a great movie (which I actually DON’T think about most romance novels), and survey says it was: so good! It’s a really faithful adaptation and I actually think a lot of the changes they made are even an improvement. Highly recommend. And Happy New Year!

[bondsmagii]

wait why do you hate shadow and bone so much💀💀💀 like is it just the show or the whole franchise?

the original Shadow and Bone trilogy is actually one of my favourite series out there, unironically. yeah it’s young adult and it has all the pitfalls that can come with that but there’s so much to it, there’s so much to get into, it touches on so many issues and it does them well. same with the Six of Crows duology. I love these books dearly, and despite Bardugo constantly trying to rewrite what she said for years now, I still love them because I don’t listen to what authors say about their books and I recommend the practise.

I hate the show. the show absolutely sucks, because it’s so blatantly obvious to me that Bardugo is using it to rewrite a series she clearly doesn’t stand by any longer. for years she’s been pulling shit like this, and she even went as far as to write two whole books shitting on people for daring to relate to the series’ villain. I knew from the moment she described the show as “high-budget fanfiction” that it was going to be a complete bastardisation of everything that made both book series what they were, and I was correct. not only has the plot been completely rewritten and both stories are now taking place at the same time, they also cross over in a completely pointless way. it is not the same story. it is literally fanfiction, but the worst kind. this might be high-budget, but it’s low quality. there is no point to any of this, and it has ripped the heart out of the story I love.

the show itself is garbage. it’s filmed terribly, the scenes are short and choppy. earlier today I described it as a bunch of short gifs clipped together and given sound, because each scene is about as long as a gifset. the acting is terrible, and certainly isn’t helped by all the slow mo shots that are clearly just there to make it more giffable. none of the characters are the characters I remember: Alina is suddenly bold and assertive and everyone loves her; Mal is weak and timid and shy; Kaz is laughably awkward and cringey to watch; Jesper is bland and boring; Inej looks like an Instagram model who just wandered into the wrong building. none of them have the personalities I love them for. there’s also a whole bunch of OCs just randomly made up or refitted from existing minor characters and there’s no point to them. the effects are mediocre. there’s lightning in the Fold, for some reason. it’s too crisp, too clean. there’s none of the atmosphere, none of the characterisation, and none of the plot. what is it even supposed to be?

it’s abundantly clear to me that Bardugo is riding this as far as she can. two shitty sequel novels supposedly about Nikolai but in actual fact just shitting on everything she wrote before and riding the coattails of characters that people actually care about (while shitting on her readers for doing so), destroying Zoya’s character development by reducing her to Girlboss™, and finally being involved with this complete insult of an adaption, which can be called an adaption only in as much as the characters share the same names. everything else is completely different, ruined, watered down, and borderline nonsensical even to somebody who’s read the books. it’s embarrassing, she should feel embarrassed, and I hope to god this show is cancelled and everyone moves on so I don’t have to put up with more of this bullshit. like, we get it, Ms Bardugo. you spent too long on Twitter and now you’re worried you’re going to be cancelled for writing a villain that was too sympathetic. you can stop tanking everything good about the series now.

also I’m gonna say it. I think it’s really fucking sketch that they wrote Alina to be non-white for the show, and then in pretty much every scene she’s in, she’s being racially abused. there’s no basis for this in the books, and while I don’t care if people want to cast a non-specified character as a person of colour, I do mind when the only change they keep in mind is that people call her slurs now. it’s just really not a good look, and it looks sketchy as hell.