#do I need to explain why I made this gifset ;) :)

[ardethbayrulez]

Sleeper Cell - S1 E2- TARGET

Oded Fehr as Farik

[jakeyp]

GRID + TORN PAPER + RAINBOW LAYOUT TUTORIAL (yeah, i'm sorry, but that is the title i came up with)

Hi everyone! This tutorial was requested by an anon, and we're going to make a gifset like this. You need, as usual, basic gifmaking skills and basic photoshop knowledge, but i'll try to explain this as easily as possible!

You'll also need a torn paper brush, which you can download here.

And here are the links to download the fonts used in my gifset: x, x

Okay let's start!

→ First you're going to create a new canvas, and it will be 540x540 px. Make sure to click on create video timeline (if you dont have a timeline, go to window > timeline. We'll leave this canvas there waiting for us :)

Then, onto our first gif. We're going to make the small square gifs first. All i do is resize the image and make it 120 px high, and you'll see why in a moment.

Make sure to remember the number of frames of this gif!! All the gifs we're going to put in the same canvas should have the same amount of frames.

Okay, so we have our first small gif:

As you can see it's a smart object, and I added some brightness, but so far that's all. You can sharpen it, but i like to sharpen until i've colored it. Now onto the important part:

Most of the gifs i worked with were mostly blue (aside from the skin color), which is recommendable, because you can create lots of colors starting from blue, using the hue/saturation adjustment, or camera raw filter. I also recommend you to use a gif that doesn't move a lot, so it'll be easier to color the background:

For the tutorial, we have our predominantly blue gif, but we are going to make it yellow, which is the opposite color, so it's the hardest to get. I hope you can see how i manipulate colors, and do it yourself :)

Here, you can use camera raw filter (filter > camera raw filter) to turn the blues and purples greener, like this:

And click ok to exit the camera raw filter. Then, we're going to use hue/saturation (image > adjustments > hue/saturation) to turn it yellow:

Since it was cyan, i changed the cyans, but if you got a much greener result you'll have to use green (duh, right? i dont know i just dont want anyone to get confused akjsdhs)

And you can also add a selective color adjustment to make those yellows more yellow:

The reason i don't directly use hue/saturation is cause it might look ugly and lose quality, or it wont pick up all the colors i want it to but they're also very small gifs so if you wanna do that, do it :)

I sharpen it until this point, but if you already have that's okay.

Now we're going to color the background! For that, you just add a new layer, and set the blending mode to color.

Then you'll use your brush, set it to 20px and 0% hardness, and pick the color you're using for this gif, you can use the eyedropper tool. This is why it's important that the gif doesn't move a lot, so you can color the bg like this:

I colored carefully around the edges, and that's the result. In some gifs from my gif set I colored Jake's jacket too because i was too lazy, but this looks cleaner :)

You might want to select the color layer and the gif layer to convert them both to a smart object, just to make everything easier. So, be careful, because after that you won't be able to change anything!

But let's say you have a scene that you want to include, and it moves too much and has no blue and it's going to be a nightmare to color it.

Well, don't worry, you can! Simply, instead of manually coloring everything, you can just choose to add a gradient map to it (image > adjustments > gradient map), like this:

And this is the result:

Just remember, it has to be the same amount of frames as the other ones!

You repeat the process, until you have 10 small gifs. I made around 5 manually colored gifs, and 5 gifs with gradient for each gif. That's a confusing sentence but i hope you get it.

We are going to start pasting the small gifs on our first canvas.

(You can paste them one by one but i did this so you can see my 10 gifs)

You're going to create a square that has to be 108x108 px, using the rectangle tool. You can remove the default white background.

And you may be wondering, why did we not just crop the small gifs into those dimensions? Well, you can do that, but to me it's much easier this way, because sometimes cropping isn't accurate, or it's tedious.

Place the small square on top the gif you're going to crop, right where the face of the character is (or whatever objects you're giffing), and while holding ctrl, click on the square. It will select it:

You're going to create a layer mask:

And then drag that layer mask to the gif:

And voila! It's now the same size as the small square. Once that's done, right click on the layer and convert it to a smart object, because we have to remove that mask. Make the square layer invisible, and start placing your gifs where you want them:

You're going to repeat that process with the rest of the gifs, and then place them all together. Don't forget that if you're making the first gif, they will all be at the bottom of the canvas, if it's one of the middle gifs, one row should be at the top and the other one at the bottom, and when you're making the last gif, they should all be at the top. Here we're making the first one, so they will all be at the bottom:

If you forgot to check that all the gifs had the same amount of frames, you can fix it here, just make sure no gif is past this little guy:

Okay! Now, to create the gutter, we're going to add a layer mask to each small gif, so that we can cut some of it.

The gutter has to be 4 pixels, (i recommend you to REALLY zoom in). What i do is make sure the width of the gutter takes 2 pixels from the edges of the gifs, since they are all together. As you can see in the image above, there's no a single empty pixel between the gifs.

This is a close-up of what i'm talking about. I select two pixels from each gif, and go all the way down to create the gutter:

(I hope I'm not over or underexplaining)

I usually use this tool when i have to make so many selections:

But that was just an example :)

(Another way you can do this, is by changing the size of the small square from the beginning and make it be 104x104 px, but i don't know why that seems more complicated to me ajsdks)

Anyway, this is what we have so far:

Now we're going to create the big gif. Its normal dimensions are usually around 1920x1080, unless you have different dimensions and have to crop it, but whatever it is, we're going to resize it and crop it to be around 550 px wide, and 400 px high:

We'll do the same thing of adding an adjustment of gradient to it to make it the color we're using. For this, i usually add a brightness layer before, because sometimes the gradient is a bit dark.

And using a 600px brush with 0% hardness, you can add some "light" on a new layer, like this:

Selecting all the layers, right-click on them and convert them to a smart object. Again, be careful, because once its a smart object, you wont be able to change any of it!

Then we paste our big gif on the canvas with small gifs, and add a layer mask to it. Using the torn paper brush at 600px, remove some of the gif to shape it like the torn paper. Make sure you're using black, otherwise it won't work correctly:

To make the effect better, add a layer UNDER the big gif, and using the torn paper brush, with the same size, you can paint under it:

Yeah, I covered some of jake's face, but that's how it supposed to look so the effect works!

And finally for the text! I used Granesta, at 150 px, and at -10.00º to make it a bit askew.

We're going to double click on it and give it a color overlay, set to normal, and give it a solid shadow if you want, then place it right here on the corner:

But as you can see, it's too big for the gif. So we're going to add a layer mask to it, and again, shape it the same way that we did with the gif. Make sure they're exactly the same shape, like this:

And that's it! This is our final result:

As always I'm sure there are easier ways to do many of these things, this is just how i do it but if you know an easier way to do it, go ahead. I hope this was at least understandable enough so you can apply the logic of it any way you want :)

If you have any questions you can send me an ask and i'll clarify!

If you found this helpful i'd really appreciate it if you left a tip on my ko-fi!

Happy giffing!

[dengswei]

your gifsets are perfect, I'm always in awe of what you can do and you're creativity!!! Could you please explain how you made the broken glass gif with different gif in it on photopea? https://www.tumblr.com/dengswei/754916132337729536/userdramas-creator-bingo-green-asiandramanet?source=share and would it be possible to do something similar with other shapes? Thank you for your lovely creations <33

heyy thanks so much!! and of course! i have to admit the way i do it might be a little bit tedious compared to like everyone else (though i don't know how photoshop users or other photopea users might do it 🤣) okay this is gonna end up being so long because of the way i do it so i'm sorry about that and i hope it makes sense 😭

okay i have to admit i couldn't find the texture i've seen people use for the shattered glass effect so i actually used a photopea default brush from this pack

to download the brush set go to window -> plugins -> brush and then search for wall cracks brush (it's literally the only wall related brush set in photopea so it'll show up the moment you download it)

so for the gif i did above i did my giffing the usual way of creating & colouring for different gifs seperatly and then adding them all to one project (it doesn't have to be 4 gifs i just chose 4 because that's what i wanted to show in this gif)

i've done this twice once for this set and another time for this the blood of youth set and i have to say the most important part of this is keep multiple versions of the brush in the position you want as you can so once you've used it to test it out and you like that version keep it because unless you can manage to position the brush in the exact same place every time you're gonna need to reference those (or even use the magic wand tool for it later) and also you need to keep at least a white on black background version for the outline

in the brush pack the one i used was this one: (3564, crack b 9)

for this part i just say play around with both positioning and sizing of the brush, it automatically opens with the size 3000+ which is fine i think with the tushan jing one (the green gif above) i stuck with that size and just kept clicking around until i got the positioning i wanted (this is another reason why i said what i said in the paragraph above because if the brush size is bigger than 1000 it's doesn't come out in the exact positioning as you expect it too

i decide the positioning of the gifs on the way i like the brick brush looking rather than the other way around, this is the positioning i went with if you're curious & would like to use it if that's easier ��

you'll need to keep this as a seperate layer at the top, i had it set to screen and then added a colour fill layer clipped on later so that i had the outline for when i was masking

so to start off i have the base gif which i do nothing to, that stays as it is, with the brush layer above set to screen

next is where you want to position your other gifs it may benefit to figure this out all at first before doing any of the masking so you know which parts you want to erase and which parts you want to keep

so this is what i decided with my positioning looking at where each of the cracks are

now comes the tedious part, in some ways the way i do this is a lot similar to how i do grid but it's not as easy (for grid photopea automatically locks onto the squares making it easier to mask, here you have to do it all manually)

first put a raster mask on all of the other gifs except for the base gif & use the magic wand tool on the brush layer so you get the outline of the brush and you mask that away from your gif (so if you turned off the brush layer it should look a little something like this: (it's not perfect but it won't matter that much because you should have the original turned on at the end anyway) (you don't have to do this step tbh i just did it because i thought it looked better)

so with the brush layer turned on you can use that as a template to which parts of the cracks you want to erase, you can either use the magic wand or the paint brush tool it really depends on how much of a perfectionist you are and whether or not the sharp edges bother you (plus some of the cracks have small openings so it might erase another part you don't want if you use the magic wand tool so it really is another instance of playing around and seeing what you like, and it might also change once you add the other gifs too)

so this is how it looks after i've done that (notice in the middle you can still see the edge of the gif? that won't matter because one of the other 2 gifs i still have yet to mask will cover that) & just repeat the same thing for the other gifs you want to add

this is how my masking folders look if you're curious

& last but not least i added a green colour fill layer clipped to the brush layer and set that to darken to get the green effect (make sure that the brush layer is still set to screen)

& once you've merged all of the gifs together you should get your desired outcome like the gif above (make sure that all the gifs have the same amount of frames too)

when it comes to other shapes i'm sure you can! like i did a tutorial with the grid version here, i guess it'll just be a lot of trial and error & finding a texture or brush with different shapes to try it out with kinda like how i did with both versions of this (i definitely did it a lot better this time around compared to the first version i did of this)

hopefully this wasn't too long or too confusing, if anything is please feel free to ask me again and i'll try and explain it a little better 🤣

[princeescaluswords]

Found Family?

In the last few days, I came across a really nice gifset celebrating Isaac, Erica and Boyd, but at the same time I was informed about someone arguing that Derek was a better alpha than Scott. I know that everyone loves to reconfigure the so-called Beta Trio into some sort of "found family" archetype and by doing so pretend that Derek Hale made these teenagers' lives better because they listened to him, but I feel it's important to remember that is not what happened.

First of all, the Beta Trio was not a Beta Trio; it was a Beta Quartet. Derek Hale bit four teenagers and when one turned out to be defective, he abandoned Jackson like a cruel dog owner dropping a sick puppy on the side of the highway so he didn't have to take care of him. "You've always been a snake, Jackson, just not the one we're looking for." Yeah, top-grade found-family parenting right there.

Second of all, they were soldiers, not family members. Members of the fandom may dislike -- and they do! -- when Scott yells at the New Hale Pack that Derek's just made them into a bunch of guard dogs, but they forget that that is functionally what they become. The first thing that Derek had them do was beat the crap out of Scott. Derek used Erica for espionage ("I have someone else in mind for you"). Then they kidnapped Stiles. Then they kidnapped Jackson. Then they tried to murder Lydia. Then they tried to murder Jackson.

There is exactly one scene where Boyd, Erica, or Isaac do something for themselves, and that's in Abomination (2x04) where Boyd and Erica attend the lacrosse game. "Derek isn't going to like this!" Erica warns.

Third and most importantly, Derek built a pack for his sake, not for theirs. Even if he did it because he was lonely, he still did it for himself. He watches Gerard declare war, he yells at Scott that this is what the Argents do, but he still goes ahead and recruits Isaac, Erica and Boyd. He also has no idea how to beat Gerard, which he literally says out loud after Peter explains that Gerard is winning. "Tell me something I don't know." He also knows the Alpha Pack is coming. Since the fandom likes to tell so much from glances, examine the look on his face when Boyd and Erica tell him they found another wolf pack in the forest. That's not surprise; that's fear. He wasn't prepared for the Alpha Pack yet, but he doesn't say anything but "You're not leaving; you're running." Once Boyd and Erica die, and once he can dump Isaac off on Scott, Derek never mentions any of them again.

This analysis is pretty harsh on Derek, but as I've always said, there's no need for a redemption arc if the character never does anything wrong. And as for why Scott is a better alpha, that's easy, too:

Scott didn't recruit. Of the thirteen Betas that Scott could be said to have over the course of the series and movie (Stiles, Derek, Allison, Isaac, Lydia, Kira, Malia, Liam, Mason, Hayden. Corey, Alec, and Eli), three of them were friends first (Stiles, Allison, and Kira), five of them joined out of admiration or were invested in what the pack was trying to do (Isaac, Lydia, Derek, Mason and Corey), and five of them were members rescued from peril (Malia, Liam, Hayden, Alec, and Eli). He didn't go looking for new members -- he found them, which actually makes it a found family.

Fandom should also compare how Scott treated Liam, the beta he didn't want to bite suffering from a mental disorder, with how Derek treated Jackson. The only time that Scott even hesitated to act as Liam's alpha was after Liam had beaten Scott to the point of death.

They were Scott's pack; they were his friends. Members of the fandom complain that Scott didn't train his pack or put the pack as a unit first. Absolutely. He didn't see them as soldiers. In Battlefield (2x11), when Stiles says he can't do anymore, Scott doesn't press him even though he needs all the help he can get. Scott doesn't want to bring Isaac with him to meet with Deucalion in Frayed (3x05). Liam doesn't have to be with them if he doesn't want to be in A Promise to the Dead (4x11). They hang out, they go to parties, they study like high schoolers are supposed to do. "While we're trying not to die, we still need to live."

Compare how Derek treated Erica and Boyd when they want to leave in Battlefield to how Scott treats Malia in Damnatio Memoriae (5x12). There is a vast difference between Derek insisting that they need him "Yeah, but I told you how to survive. You do it as a pack. And you're not a pack without an Alpha." and Scott explaining that he needs her. "What if I told you that you were the only one I have left?"

Scott built a pack to help others, not himself. Some critical thinker on X announced that "they all left him" about Scott's pack, which somehow proves Derek was better. They did leave (though most of them came back when he needed them), because he's their Alpha, not their owner. They have lives. Isaac couldn't take Beacon Hills anymore and left. Liam moved to somewhere in Asia. Stiles joined the FBI. Lydia founded a company. When he led them into battle -- and Scott did -- he did it because someone innocent was going to die if someone didn't do something -- whether it was the victims of Gerard and the Kanima, or the Darach and the Alpha Pack, of the Dead Pool, of the Dread Doctors, of the Wild Hunt. The pack came together under his leadership to protect innocents.

I don't understand how parts of the fandom can watch the show and argue that Derek's betas were better off as his betas or that Derek was a better alpha than Scott. Even if you edit out all of Scott's positive traits, as parts of the fandom tend to do, even if you erase Scott entirely, as parts of the fandom want to do, Derek's methods were less than constructive, Derek's motives were selfish, and Derek's end results were less than optimal.

[firstelevens]

Bucky + Realization of feelings at the Worst Possible Moment for the Situation(TM) prompts if you like! 🤗

45. realization of feelings at the worst possible moment

every in-canon version of this that I attempted to write made me So Sad so instead here's an extreme canon divergence that answers a question that I asked in the tags of a gifset back in November of 2021: MR AND MR SMITH AU WHEN?

Bucky is choosing to blame Steve for this.

There are probably others who are more directly at fault. Natasha feels pretty high up on that list, as does Bucky himself. But Nat is too smug to argue with, and Bucky’s blame roster is already pretty full, so he’s decided that this one can be Steve’s fault.

It’s not even that much of a stretch, really: it’s Steve who stumbled onto him while raiding what the Avengers hadn’t realized was a secret HYDRA facility, and it’s Steve who decided to defrost Bucky instead of leaving well enough alone. Steve’s the reason why Bucky ended up where he is, leading a team of technically-reformed criminals on off-the-books missions that Nick Fury deems too high profile for the Avengers, which means that Steve is the reason why, four years ago, Nick Fury sat Bucky down and told him that his lack of a social life and generally menacing demeanor were going to blow his cover any day now.

At the time, Bucky had offered to go fully off the grid, all the better to prep for missions, but Fury had just frowned at him and flatly said, “Or you could just get yourself a goddamn date.”

Part of Bucky had been convinced that it was a joke or some kind of test, but then it had been made clear to him that he would be on desk duty until he did something to shore up his cover identity. It had seemed like pure serendipity when Natasha had wandered in from a mission the next day and had a solution ready as soon as Bucky had bitched about Fury’s ultimatum over a sparring session.

“I know a guy,” she’d said to him. “Ex-military but now he’s an analyst with one of the alphabet agencies.”

“I’ll pass,” Bucky had replied, just barely dodging the roundhouse she’d aimed at his head. “I do enough espionage at work; I don’t need to go home and lie to a civilian about who I am, too.”

“That’s the best part,” Nat had said then, a gleam in her eye. “You wouldn’t have to lie.”

She’d explained, then, that this friend of hers kind of needed a cover story, too. Something about a three year waitlist for an exclusive apartment building, and fine print on the contract heavily implying that unmarried applicants would be rejected. Pretending to marry a stranger had seemed like a bit much just to secure an apartment, but then Nat had pulled up the building’s website on her phone, and Bucky knew just enough about what real estate was like these days to understand why someone might be driven to desperation for a place like that.

Bucky could claim not to know what drove him to say yes, but he’s sure it’s written as plainly on his face now as it had been back then. Sam Wilson had walked through the door, smiled exactly once, and pulled Bucky into his orbit without even trying.

It had been an astonishingly good four years. He and Sam had gone from polite roommates doing each other a favor—Bucky’s cover story had been tailored to the background check he ran on Sam, something about unexpectedly needing a new place to live and the specific requirements of being a veteran—to genuinely being friends. Aside from the one lie of omission, where Bucky had strategically avoided bringing up that he was a formerly brainwashed, hundred year old super soldier who now led an elite spy team, he got to be himself around Sam. Months into their arrangement, it became clear that Sam got to be himself around Bucky, too.

There was room in their apartment for his persistent low-grade grouchiness, and for Sam’s shocking-even-to-Bucky’s-40s-sensibilities collection of vinyl records, and even for the tiny white cat who they’d found shivering in a cardboard box one winter by the grocery store and immediately brought home. He never could have even considered a pet before, but Alpine had been the undisputed queen of their place for two years now, and when missions took Bucky away from home, Sam was there to keep her company. 

He’d even be willing to bet that she likes Sam better by now, but if that’s true, it’s hard to blame her. Bucky has spent the past year increasingly unable to ignore the warmth that settles in his chest when he unlocks the apartment to find Sam curled up on the couch, frowning at his tablet like it personally wronged him. It always takes Sam an extra half-second to realize that Bucky is in the room, and then he smiles just like he did that very first day, and Bucky is a goner for it every time.

It took a particularly harrowing mission to nudge Bucky out of being a coward. He’d been trapped under a collapsed building somewhere outside Prague, smoke filling the air with no sign of help on its way, and when Bucky had closed his eyes in defeat, all he’d been able to think of was Sam and Alpine on that couch, waiting for him to come home.

He’d flown back stateside, taken an extra couple of days to heal up from his injuries, and made his plans to tell Sam everything tonight. 

Bucky has already picked up dessert from the tiny French spot in Dupont Circle that Sam pretends not to love, and there’s an absurdly big flower arrangement that will be ready for Bucky to pick up just as soon as he gets out of whatever meeting was so urgent and secret that it had to be held after all personnel had left the building for the night.

In the elevator on the way up, Yelena mentions a team from a different agency, something about a joint operation to protect a recently turned asset, even though reformed agents are very clearly Bucky’s team’s jurisdiction.

“Don’t worry about it,” says Bucky, as they step out of the elevator. “If they wanted us to play nice, they should have thought about that before elbowing their way onto our turf.”

Yelena makes a noise of acknowledgment and opens the door to the conference room. As soon as she does, Bucky is instantly aware of two things.

One: there is a very small baby in the room, swaddled in a green blanket and fast asleep.

Two: Bucky’s husband is in the room, cradling the baby in his arms and gently swaying. It is the first time ever that it hasn’t taken him an extra half-second to notice Bucky walking through the door.

Bucky feels all the air leave his lungs and can’t remember how to get it back. He’s certain that he looks as shocked as he feels.

He can’t help but notice that Sam, on the other hand, doesn’t.

“Agent Barnes, Agent Belova,” says Fury. “I’d introduce you to Agent Wilson, but I think it might be a little late for that.”

[runnning-outof-time]

Birmingham | Tommy Shelby x Reader (Part 20)

Previous Part

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x reader

Summary: Plans of taking over the tracks get thwarted quickly for the Shelbys as trouble makes its way into Birmingham. Tommy tells (Y/N) to stay away, but of course she can't for too long. Everything gets laid out on the table after a scary experience shakes the both of them.

Warnings: drinking, series typical violence, canon death, injury, blood

Word Count: 4426

A/N: here it is everyone…the final chapter of Birmimgham! Thank you so much to those of you who have stuck with this story…through the break and the drawn out postings. I finished it for you. I’d love to know what you think of how it ended (since I went with the winner of the poll; which was giving a ending that felt finished). Enjoy! :)

A/N 2: the italicized dialogue is taken from the show. I’d also like to give a special thanks to @alicent-targaryen for making the amazing gifsets that helped me write this chapter so quickly — they gave me so much inspiration! :) also if you’d ever like to know what the original ending for this was…feel free to reach out to me…if I get enough interest, I may just write it as a short.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

The story is finished! — I hope you enjoyed!

"Is Tommy here, or has he left already?" (Y/N) asked Polly after she entered the Watery Lane home. She found the older woman working on cleaning the mantle in the living room, and she couldn't stop herself from blurting the question out.

"He should still be upstairs," Polly answered, not even bothering to turn and properly greet (Y/N). It seemed as though she was deep into working on something.

"Can I go up?" (Y/N) asked hesitantly, not wanting to cross any lines.

Her question made Polly turn and look at her. The older woman quirked an eyebrow, probably wondering why the question was even being asked. "If you wish to. His door is at the end of the hall," she answered (Y/N)'s question. (Y/N) nodded, saying a quick thank you before she made her way to the stairs of the home.

She walked down the hall, stopping at the last door and taking a pause before she knocked on it. "Come," his voice came from inside the room, making her twist the knob and open the door. She saw him standing at the dresser, finishing up shaving.

"Hi, Tommy," she said softly, making him stop what he was doing and turn to face her.

"It's early, (Y/N)," he commented, surprised by her presence.

"I know, but I was unable to stay away...ever since you told me today would be the day; my mind won't stop," she explained her reason for being there. She'd been worried about everything that would happen today and couldn't stop herself from going to see Tommy before he left for the races.

Tommy finished up what he was doing, grabbing a rag so that he could wipe his face off before he then gave his attention to (Y/N). He could see the slight bit of worry behind her eyes, and he hated that it was there. For a moment he felt bad that he'd been the one to create it, but worry or not, he knew that she understood what had to be done.

"When will you go?" she asked him, breaking the silence that had fallen in the room.

"In a few hours," he gave a vague estimation, "I need to touch base with my brothers. There'll be a family meeting at half ten; there we'll discuss what will be done. I'd say that we'll be leaving shortly after that," he explained what had been on his list to accomplish. "You can come to the meeting, if you'd like," he then extended an invitation.

"I'll come," (Y/N) nodded, making her decision rather quickly. She figured that hearing his plan in full might serve to give her some solace.

"Good," Tommy nodded, a ghost of a smile teetering on his lips, "we'll be set after this, (Y/N)," he said to her then, his words riddled with confidence. (Y/N) smiled upon hearing it. She loved how self-assured he was; it was almost contagious.

"I'm worried," she said then, retreating back to her own way of thinking. She was itching to reach out and take hold of him from the second she'd walked in, but she didn't know if that would be received well or not. The last thing she wanted was him upset with her as he embarked on this big scheme.

"You shouldn't be," he assured her, "we've got the Lees on our side thanks to John and Esme, and Kimber will think that we're going to fight that family instead of taking to the pitches. He won't expect what'll actually happen," he gave her the rundown of his plan, still holding a great deal of confidence in it. Things were going to go his way today; he could already feel it.

"Ok," (Y/N) nodded along, trying to switch her thinking for his, "and I'll stay here...with Pol to make sure everything runs well on this end," she addressed her part in the plan.

"Good," Tommy nodded. He paused then, pulling his timepiece out so that he could check it. "Love, I should go now," he said as he slipped the watch back into its pocket.

"Ok," she repeated what she'd just said, "I just wanted to see you before you left."

"Come to the meeting," he said to her, a slight smile on his face.

"I will," she assured him, smiling also as she nodded her head.

"Come on," he said then, moving forward and placing his hand to the small of her back as he led her out of the bedroom and over to the stairs. She descended them first with him following behind. "I'll see you at half ten," he told her, walking to the door as she decided she'd stay back and see if Polly needed any help before then. It wouldn't be long until the time for the meeting came anyway; she might as well stick around.

Polly did in fact need help with minor things, and the women quickly got busy with them, passing the time between the meeting like (Y/N) hoped they would. It wasn't long until everyone was gathered in the empty betting shop; all eyes focused on Tommy as he explained the plan (Y/N) had got a preview of in full detail.

"Any other questions?" Tommy asked once he was finished explaining the plans. He looked around the room, waiting for anyone to speak up.

"Yes," it was Polly who answered as she made her way to the door that separated the betting floor from the home, "does anyone object if I bring a newcomer to the meeting?" she asked, looking around the room. Silence came in response, making her move over to the door so that she could open it slightly and whisper "come on," to whoever it was on the other side. She then opened the door wider to show Ada, who had Karl in her arms. "I'd like to introduce the newest member of the Shelby clan," she announced, a smile on her face.

(Y/N)'s cheeks were hurting from the wideness of her smile as her friend took a step further into the room. It was so good to see her back with her family again. Arthur was the one to start the clapping, and soon the room was filled with applause as Ada walked into the room. She stopped where (Y/N) was standing and gave her a smile, to which (Y/N) sent one of her own back.

"Welcome home, Ada," Tommy said to his sister, a smile forming on his lips. It warmed (Y/N)'s heart to see the progress being made.

She then explained the baby's name, earning some laughs from the group that was gathered around her. Arthur then went over to see the baby, taking him from Ada's arms and placing his peaked cap on top of his head. (Y/N) laughed along with the rest of the group as John poked fun at his older brother. Ada sent (Y/N) a smile before Tommy addressed her, asking if he was forgiven. (Y/N) stayed behind and watched Ada move over to him, telling him he was. She felt her heart swell as they shared a hug.

"It's so good to see you back with your family," (Y/N) said to Ada once she'd come back to her side. Tommy and the other men had gotten together to talk finer details of what would be going down. (Y/N) decided to stay with the women instead of learning more of the plan, feeling more comfortable watching Esme make exaggerated faces at the baby than hearing about how they were going to take over the races.

—

After things were finished at the shop, Tommy and the men decided to go to the Garrison to have a drink before they hit the road for the races. (Y/N) offered to join and help out, knowing that things would go smoother if there was another set of hands - hands that knew what they were doing - behind the bar pouring drinks.

Things were going well. (Y/N) was pouring with Tommy and the two had slipped into a comfortable routine. She wasn't going to lie, she quite enjoyed working in these close quarters with him. All was well...until it wasn't.

Arthur entered the Garrison with Jeremiah trailing close behind him. Both men were walking like they were on a mission. "Tommy," Arthur called for his brother, his gruff voice making just about all of the celebrations stop. "I need to talk to you," he said, his seriousness holding as he nodded his head to the stockroom that was behind the bar. Tommy glanced at (Y/N), who was becoming more confused by the second, before he followed his brother and friend into the room.

They were only gone for a matter of seconds before coming back out. "(Y/N)..." he started, coming right over to her, a sense of urgency in his movements and vocal tone. "(Y/N), I need you to leave now, ok?" he said to her, his eyes wide as he spoke; a tell-tale sign that he was now under pressure and needed things to be done timely and in a certain way.

"Wha...why?" she asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"Billy Kimber and his men are coming this way," he told her, "I need you to stay clear of here, you understand me?" he searched her eyes then, his hands blindly searching for hers. It didn't take much to find them, and when he did, he squeezed them for added effect, "stay away from here," he told her again.

"Ok. Ok, I will," she nodded her head, sensing his urgency and falling in line with it, "I'll go and be with Pol and Ada, and I'll wait there for you," she then told him where he could find her.

"Good," Tommy nodded lightly, feeling relieved that she wasn't going to be mixed up in the middle of this developing plan. He was going to need to fight Kimber on his own turf now. It was something he could do, but he wanted to make sure that the people he cared for the most were out of harm's way. "Go on," he said then, dropping her hands so that he could let her leave.

(Y/N)'s heart dropped slightly at the abrupt loss of warmth his hands were giving her, but she didn't have much time to dwell on it as she was following his orders, exiting the Garrison at a hasty speed so that she could get to Watery Lane before all hell broke loose.

Tommy watched her as she went, keeping his eyes on her until she was out of his sight before he focused on the men that had gathered in front of him, waiting for their leader to give them direction.

—

(Y/N) was out of breath when she finally got to Watery Lane. She entered the house promptly, hoping that either one, or both, of the women that she was looking for would be present. To her relief, they both were sitting in the living room.

"Where have you run from?" Polly questioned her, a look of confusion forming on her face.

"I...I just came...Tommy told me to..." she stammered out, resting her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath, hoping that doing so would allow her to get out a complete sentence.

"Come, sit down, love," Polly coaxed her over to the open chair and (Y/N) listened, moving over to sit and take a few more calming breaths. "Tell us when you're ready," she said to the younger woman, both her and Ada waiting intently for the news it seemed she had.

"I ran from the Garrison. The plans have changed...Billy Kimber's on his way here to make a stand. Tommy told me to stay away from the tavern. He thinks that it's going to happen there," (Y/N) explained once her breathing was normal again.

"Bloody hell," Polly hissed, exhaling a sigh as she heard the news, "they're going to get themselves killed."

"I don't know any of the finer details...I just know that they're going to fight them here now," (Y/N) stated, trying to push down the worry that was bubbling up inside of her.

"I've got to go," Ada finally spoke in the midst of her rushing to stand from the couch.

(Y/N)'s brows furrowed as she watched her friend move around the room, grabbing the carriage she'd brought with her so that she could transfer a sleeping Karl into it. "Ada, wait...what are you doing?" she asked, confusion present in her tone.

"I'm going to go make these bloody men see sense," Ada spoke through gritted teeth, making it apparent that anger and frustration were coursing through her. She moved over to the archway that led to the door before stopping and looking at the women, "because I know the finer details of the day, and I refuse to stand by and let this happen," she didn't wait for a response to her pointed statement after uttering it, instead turning and walking through the archway and out the door.

"What does she mean?" (Y/N) asked Polly as soon as the door shut. She was so confused right now. Polly just looked defeated.

"Freddie was to be broken out of his transport earlier today...he was going to come home and help with the effort at the races, and this was all to be done in accordance to Tommy's plan," Polly filled (Y/N) in on what Ada was getting at.

(Y/N) sighed as she heard what the older woman had to say. "She's going to go and confront them, isn't she?" she asked in a blank tone.

"She very well may," Polly didn't give a straightforward answer. Ada was a Shelby after all...Shelbys did what they wanted and rarely cared about the dangers that stood in their way.

(Y/N) knew this all too well. Ada was going to go and confront these two gangs of men. She stood from the chair with an exasperated sigh. Tommy's voice echoed in her mind as she stood; warning her not to go anywhere near the Garrison. She pushed it back, knowing that that was exactly where her friend was going. "I'm going to go and try to stop her, Pol," she informed the other woman as she walked towards the archway.

"Be careful, (Y/N)," Polly offered some words of advice, making (Y/N) nod before she walked through the archway and out of the Watery Lane home.

—

"I want you all to look at me!" (Y/N) heard Ada's voice echo through the empty streets as she ran as fast as she could to the Garrison. Upon turning the corner, she saw two lines of men, the groups facing each other. Ada was smack-dab in the middle, addressing both lines as they had their guns pointed at each other. She's going to get herself killed! (Y/N) thought to herself as she picked up her pace. "Who will be wearing black for you? Think about them. Think about them right now...and fight if you want to, but that baby ain't moving anywhere, and neither am I," she continued, her voice raw and full of emotion.

"Ada!" (Y/N) called to her friend as she made her way through the line of men whom she recognized to be the Peaky Blinders. "Ada, you can't be doing this!" she exclaimed, her eyes frantic as she rushed out into the middle of the standoff in hopes to get her friend to see some sense. "This isn't your war to get into the middle of. This isn't the place for you, or for your baby," she insisted, her eyes locked onto the other woman's as she tried to get her out of the middle of it all.

"I won't move, (Y/N)," Ada stayed persistent.

"If not for your own safety, do it for Karl," (Y/N) didn't back down, "this isn't your war to try to stop," she repeated her previous statement, trying to keep her voice steady as adrenaline started to fill her. She tried so hard not to think of what was standing on either side of her at the moment, putting her sole focus on her friend. "Come on...move for Karl," she said again, her voice softer now as she nodded to the carriage that was off to the side. They held each other's gaze before Ada just barely nodded her head. (Y/N) saw it though, and she moved Ada off to the side, hyper-aware of all of the eyes following her.

"She's right you know..." Billy Kimber was the first to speak up once the women were off to the side, "why should all you men die?" he asked the men surrounding him before looking forward, "it should just be them who've caused it," he accentuated his statement by brandishing his weapon and firing it twice.

(Y/N) squeezed her eyes shut and spun to shield both Ada and the carriage as best she could as pandemonium broke out in the street. Several men were screaming and Karl's cries had intensified before there was one more gunshot.

Tommy was the next person to speak. "Enough!" he yelled, causing everything to halt at once. (Y/N), even though her eyes were still closed, felt relieved that he was still speaking, because that meant he was still alive. "Kimber and me fought this battle one on one. It's over. Go home to your families!" he addressed the men standing across from him.

Nothing else was said as the sound of footsteps rang out, signaling to (Y/N) that people were walking away. She heard Tommy mumble something to someone, and more footsteps were heard then. She stayed by Ada and Karl, unable to really move as she took some steadying breaths.

"Ada..." a man's voice came from the women's left.

"Freddie," Ada breathed, moving from the carriage to go to the man who had approached them.

"Don't scare us like that," he said to her, allowing her to fall into his arms and cling to him. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on the top of her head as he held her tight against him.

(Y/N) smiled softly as she watched them reunite, feeling the emotion radiating off of them. She finally looked back at the street then, seeing that everyone else had cleared off of it. Worried about the rest of the men - especially one in particular - she left the couple's side and hurried to the doors of the Garrison.

She was met with agonizing screams as she opened the doors, and immediately realized that they were coming from Tommy. Hearing them made her heart drop to her stomach. Had he been shot? she wondered, worry immediately filling her body.

Arthur was the one to notice her presence amidst trying to help get the bullet out of his brother's shoulder, "go and wait in the stockroom, love, you don't want to be seein' this," he told her and she nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat and not asking any questions before she made a b-line to the stockroom behind the bar.

She waited there as time passed painstakingly slowly. Hearing Tommy scream out in pain was breaking her heart. She wished there was something, anything, she could do to help.

Then everything became quiet again. She heard some talking, but it was muffled by the door that she'd closed. She decided to stay in the room even though it seemed that the worst of it was over. A few more minutes passed before the door opened to reveal Tommy.

(Y/N) didn't wait for another second. She was walking over to him the second she saw him, her hands raising so that she could take his cheeks into them and bring his lips to hers. She kissed him passionately and with everything she had in her. Tommy's hands found the sides of her waist so that he could hold her against him, prolonging the kiss...as if she was going to pull away anyway.

"What was that for?" he breathed out once they'd pulled away.

"For scaring me," she answered him, an involuntary shudder coursing through her as she let her eyes drop to the bloody shirt that he was wearing. He's ok...he's standing in front of you, she told herself, her eyes finding his again.

Tommy chuckled at her statement, squeezing her waist slightly before he leaned in and kissed her again. (Y/N) happily accepted it, slipping her hands from his cheeks to the back of his neck as she reveled in the feeling of their lips moving together seamlessly. Nothing ever felt this good.

"And that was for?" she asked once she pulled away, breathless this time. She couldn't stop the smile from forming on her face as she looked at him again.

"An apology for scaring you," he told her, his words making her tip her head back slightly as she let out a laugh.

His eyes were still on her when she looked at him again. His gaze made butterflies dance around in her stomach, and she couldn't help but encircle her arms around his neck so that she could hug him; her head resting against the uninjured side of his chest as she did so. She brought one of her hands down from the back of his neck to gently lift his jacket where the blood was present on his shirt. She couldn't see much, but she still had to ask: "you're ok, are you?" Her voice was much softer now, worry creeping back after the excitement of the kisses faded.

"I'm fine, love," he answered her, his voice coming out in a similar tone. "Come on...have a drink with me," he said then, loosening his hold on her waist. She got the message, dropping her hands from his neck so that he could step away and lead her out of the stockroom and back into the bar area. "Under the bar should be a bottle of champagne..." he started off as he walked around to the opposite side of the bar so that he could stand across from her.

"Going for fancy today, are we?" (Y/N) couldn't help but grin as she grabbed the unopened bottle from one of the lower shelves.

"Figured we should...since we're celebrating," Tommy grinned right back at her, watching as she set the bottle on the bartop before going to grab two glasses. As she did that, he turned and rested his back against the bar, taking some of the weight off of his feet. He let out a sigh as he tipped his head back, reveling in a moment of peace after so much chaos.

"Is everything ok?" (Y/N) asked after she turned around and found him.

"Yeah," he breathed, pushing himself off of the bar and turning around to stand straight and face her again, nodding his head then for extra effect. (Y/N) nodded back at him before she uncorked the bottle and worked on pouring it into both of the cups. She tried her best not to mess up under his gaze. She smiled at him once she was finished, handing him a glass before she picked her own up and took a sip from it. "How is it?" he asked, his eyes not leaving hers.

"It's good," (Y/N) answered with a nod and a soft smile.

"You know..." he began then, pausing a moment before continuing, "someone I trust once told me, and I believe they told me here; in this very spot...that people fall for people that they know; people that they've been around and feel comfortable with..." he trailed off, and (Y/N) felt her throat go dry. Those words sounded all too familiar...like the words that she'd told him when he was grappling with Ada being with Freddie. He took a deep breath before continuing, "I want you to help me, (Y/N). With the business, the family, with the whole fucking thing. I want you, no, I need you in my life."

"Tommy this is, wow..." she couldn't finish her sentence, taken back by what he'd just proclaimed. All of the dancing around her feelings for him had led to this...the moment she'd been secretly hoping for for so long. But now that it was here, she was fumbling. "I'm not sure of what to say..." she blubbered out, her nervousness shining clear in her words. She'd never wanted something more in her life...why had she chosen this moment to be awkward?!

"Yes would be a good thing to say," he said, cracking a grin as he noticed her trying to fight back her nervousness, "it'd be a great thing to say, actually."

"Then yes," she breathed, a smile breaking onto her face.

"Then yes," he repeated what she'd said, smiling also as he leaned across the bar to kiss her. She caught his chin, holding him there and making the kiss longer than he intended...not that he was complaining.

"I think we'd ought to leave," (Y/N) said after they'd pulled away from each other, "we've had enough excitement for one day...you should get home," she suggested.

"And what will you do?" he asked her, wondering if they'd now be parting ways after all that just happened. He really didn't want that to be the case.

"I thought that maybe I'd come with you...someone's got to make sure that you keep clean bandages on your shoulder," she answered him, unable to stop the smile from creeping onto her lips.

Tommy caught that, knowing what else she could be thinking that would make such a smile form on her face. "I like the sound of that," he said to her, also grinning before she walked around the bar to come to his side.

The day had truly been won. Not only had Tommy defeated Billy Kimber, but he'd finally let (Y/N) know how he felt about her...and to his relief, she'd felt the same about him.

And for (Y/N)...she had a feeling that she wasn't leaving Birmingham any time soon. That was something she was perfectly ok with.

Tagged: @mgcldydrms @the-anxious-youth @cloudofdisney @look-at-the-soul @elenavampire21 @mrsalwayswrite @julkaamazing @evita-shelby @lilyrachelcassidy @notyour-valentine @shelbydelrey @december16-1991 @onlydeadcells @peakyswritings @just-a-blackhole @watercolorskyy @strayrockette @peakyduchesss @alexxavicry @captivatedbycillianmurphy @yummycastiel @dark-academia-slut @tommystargirl @stevie75 @lyarr24 @signorellisantichrist @zablife @anotherblinder @midnightmagpiemama @cillmequick @l1-l4 @chlorrox @lostgirl219 @woofgocows @bdudette @mrkdvidal1989 @stephhevring @fictional-hooman @httyd-marauders @nataliewalker93 @rangerelik @thecraziestcrayon @cilliansangel @shaddixlife @tracysnook

SERIES MASTERLIST

[mixelation]

FAQs

Housekeeping post! Last updated 9 November 2024.

General:

Who is Tori?

My OC! Check out her masterpost.

Do you have a tags masterpost?

I'm working on it. :)

How do I refer to you?

I've been telling people to call me Mixel, but some people call me Mix. I use she/they.

Can you tag something for me?

I am not good at remembering to tag things. In general, if you following a blog requires certain things to be tagged, I wouldn't recommend following this blog.

You didn't answer my ask!

I don't answer even close to every ask I get. It's nothing personal! Sometimes I don't have time or energy, sometimes I just don't have opinions on the thing, and sometimes I mean to answer later and then forget and then it gets buried. Sometimes this happens even if I've specifically asked for people to send me stuff via an ask meme. Sometimes I don't answer even when I really want to for various reasons.

I want to talk to you about the thing you just reblogged!

Most of the art/fandom posts (like gifsets, original art, etc) are on a queue and I don't actually know what things post and when. If you do not contextualize the post you are referring to, it's likely I will have no idea what you're talking about.

Do you want a recommendation?

Please don't send me recommendations unless I have specifically asked for them.

Can I DM you?

I don't like getting DMs from people I don't know. Please don't DM me unless we've talked before (via comments, asks, etc -- anon does NOT count). If you have a question you don't want answered publicly, you can send me an ask and request it be answered privately.

Also: please do not send me posts with zero context. I cannot read your mind and I don't like not knowing what you expect me to do with the post (reblog it, talk to you about, etc). Yes, even if you think the context is obvious. You do not need many words to contextualize a post.

Do you have a DNI?

No, but relevant to being a fandom blog: I am a bonafide adult, and my view on shipping and other fandom activities is basically "I have no right to judge what fictional scenarios other people enjoy or want to explore, regardless of my personal feelings on them." If either of those things make you uncomfortable, go ahead and block me.

Can I repost your content to another website? I'll credit you!

For fics, absolutely not. Do not repost any of my creative story writing, fanfic or original fic.

For generic tumblr posts, I am wary of giving permission to repost any sort of content on another site. I can’t stop you reposting screen caps of my posts, and I’m not going to hunt them down or (publicly) complain about screen caps of my post on other sites. But if you come to me actually asking for permission.... the answer is no.

Fandom and fics:

I came here to find the Plasticity AUs and what I found confuses and frightens me.

Not to worry! I made a masterpost.

Why did you change your user name?

Here's a post about it. Most relevant notes form that post: 1. Don't refer to me by my old user name, even on other sites. 2. If you find an old tumblr link that's broken, you can replace my old user name with "mixelation" and it will work again!

Can I do ______ with your fic?

I have a permissions statement on my AO3 profile. I try to keep this up-to-date as my feelings on how my work is used evolves.

Can I tag you/send you a post that reminds me of your fics?

Yes, but please explain that's what you're doing. Please don't send me context-less posts. I cannot read your mind through the internet.

I might retract permission for this if I start getting a ton, just for my own sanity. But so far it's been fine.

How do I send you fan art?

Most people have been sending them by asks, but you can also post them to your own blog and @ me, or else comment on the fic itself or send me a link via tumblr asks. Give me a few days to interact before following up.

When are you going to update _____? Is _____ abandoned?

I have a busy life and what fic I work on in my free time is controlled by the whims of my brain. There's no schedule and I am unlikely to be able to give you an estimate. I will tag a fic as abandoned on AO3 if I decide there's no way it will ever get updated. For some fics for which I get this a lot:

Homemade Dynamite - I actually have about 95% of chapter 13 written. Chapter 12, however, is only like half written and I have a pretty big block on it. :(

Fun and Games - I do hope to continue this one, and I have a decent chunk of the next chapter written, plus notes + an outline for the rest of the fic. Unfortunately, to keep writing it, I have to do a decent amount of research on HP canon, and certain recent events have really soured my motivation to interact with that canon.

I found a fic I think you would like!

Please see my answer about recommendations. Don't send them unless I've asked, no matter how good you think it is.

Can you give ME a fic recommendation?

Probably not. I don't have time/energy to read a lot nowadays, and I don't tend to bookmark or save fics I do read. I don't mind sharing if I've mentioned a specific fic, but I feel bad when people ask for recs and I literally don't have anything.

[anjelicawrites]

I bring a potentially angsty question based on that drunk Billy gifset you just reblogged:

How does Billy react if/when reader and Michael ask about his family?

💜

Mel, you can come with all the angsty questions whenever you want!!! I love them!!!

Short answer? He doesn't have two significant others, he has two guard dogs now. Longer one? Let's dive under the cut!

Warning for reference to medications and nightmares. They/them used for reader where needed.

I think he would dodge the questions and be vague about it. Yes, he has an older sister in the police force, yes, his mum and dad still live in London and call him randomly. And that's it because, if he starts opening up about his family, he'll have to explain everything that happened to him. His face was on the papers, after he was extracted from the bombed car but neither you, nor Michael, made the connection and know the actual reason why he moved to Oxford, since the photos were old and in terrible quality, plus his story was sidelined by the bigger sensation that was the whole alt right movement fallout, and the murders connected to it.

As long as the relationship was simply based on sex, it was easier for him to give you both the least information possible, most of the time you two didn't stay over and didn't see his medications, the times he would wake up screaming from his nightmares or realize that Billy never goes back to London, not for love or money, or that his family doesn't come to visit him from time to time.

Things changed tho, like they always do.

You saw his medications by mistake, Michael almost got an heart attack when Billy fell asleep on the couch, only to wake up screaming. You didn't want to press him for information, you wanted to give him time to open up, Michael, and his big mouth, couldn't help but firing questions, Billy, obviously, clammed up and refused to say anything. If the relationship had made a step forward, thanks to Michael, it went back ten steps because Billy wasn't ready to show you two nerds who he had been and what he had done, being so ashamed of it himself.

The three of you didn't meet for weeks, Billy avoiding you on purpose, until you cornered him and made sure he told all that happened.

Talking about his family happens organically at this point.

Michael has to bite his tongue when Billy tells you the ways his family tried to tough him up, comparing him constantly to his sister who, seemingly, was amazing in every aspect of her life. He was embarrassed to admit how this constant reminder of his failures had taken a toll on his mental health, catapulting him into the waiting arms of the alt right group that used him. When Michael, finally, explodes, saying that they're all cunts, you are ready for the fallout.

"They tried their best. They failed, but tried the only way they know." Billy says, his head hanging a bit. "And that's why I can't meet them, because they'll never admit they were in the wrong." "Still cunts." "A bit, yes."

It shines in the way Billy talks about Lana, that he loves her and that love wasn't enough to salvage their relationship: she saved him but was the reason Billy kept falling and falling into the depths of depression; it wasn't her fault, she was the unwilling catalyst though, and you can't forget it. You hug Billy tight and he makes himself as small as possible to fit your frame and feel your hands in his hair, while Michael is grumbling about the whole situation in the background: he's not one for forgiveness. Not that you don't agree: Billy can do whatever he wants with his relationship with his family, you're never going to forgive and forget, even if Billy does. Someone needs to look into these people's eyes and remind them of what they did to him, the harm they caused to Billy, and still to this day.

That his parents and, to an extent, his sister did it believing they were doing right by Billy doesn't truly matter on the long run, not when Billy is still suffering and believes himself to be less than what he is, simply because he doesn't meet their expectations for him.

You don't have the luxury to express your rage as outwardly as Michael is doing right now, someone needs to anchor Billy, and that's your job, but by God you're fuming as you keep him in your arms and are already planning how you're going to show him how great he is, how important he is for you: that's your goal, Michael's? He will never let his family off the hook, it's a promise; if you know someone who never forgets a slight, who is capable of holding a grudge to his grave, that's you math genius boyfriend.

You two will need to coordinate your efforts and you two will succeed in helping Billy truly flourish, and if his family tries to have say in it? They will never know what will hit them, and that's your silent promise to Billy.

Cringefail throuple taglist: @fan-goddess @moris-auri @lexwolfhale

Ewanverse taglist: @vhagar-balerion-meraxes @zaldritzosrose

[daughter-of-sapph0]

watched the first episode of the acolyte, and god it's stupid.

my thoughts below. spoilers or whatever...

okay so positives first:

>live action high republic is cool as hell. finally, something that isn't original trilogy or post empire, the most oversaturated and overrespresented eras of star wars. I'm not the biggest high republic fan, I've only read light of the jedi. but I think the setting has potential for some amazing stories.

>the character designs are also amazing. everyone looks super cool. also nice to see people of color given representation in star wars. it's so cool to finally have a black woman as the main character.

>...

>that's it

.

okay now for negatives:

>it looks fuzzy. idk how to describe it, but it looks like there's a layer of static over everything. this is really obvious with solid flat colors, especially in background shots. it just looks blurry. I've seen supernatural gifsets from 2012 with less grain than this high budget star wars show.

>the plot is incredibly stupid. Osha (yes, her name is osha, like the occupational safety and health administration) is framed for the murder of a jedi, but she says she didn't do it. it turns out that it was her twin sister Mae who everyone thought was dead but is secretly still alive. evil twin is literally the oldest most cliche trope ever. and of course they made a point of giving mae and easily identifiable mark on her forehead so you can tell her apart from Osha

>the dialog is so unnatural. "okay, so we need the audience to know more about Osha so they sympathize with her. how can we do that? let's have Yord explain oshas backstory... to Osha!" okay? Why The FUCK Are You Explain Oshas Own Backstory To Her?! "your family died in a fire, and the jedi order took you in when you were 8 years old" She Literally Knows That Already Because It HAPPENED TO HER!!!! In What Universe Would Any Person Speaking In A Natural Way Talk Like This?!??!?! you know that meme of the guy screaming about megamind 2 for megamind to use the dehydration gun? that's me right now about this fucking scene

>everyone is so bland. you can tell their personalities immediately. Osha is kind and helpful. Sol is loving and a father figure and has attachments to Osha. Yord is a himbo. Jecki is as close to a "mean girl" as a jedi can be. and Mae is just pure evil.

>like, incredibly evil. holy shit. Osha has a dream sequence / force vision and sees a young Mae and Mae is singing a creepy rhyme about how they're twins and inseparable and shit and when Osha asks if she killed the jedi Mae goes "yes! I'll kill them all" and her eyes turn fully black and I'm not even making that up!!! I actually laughed out loud at how stupid it was. I know star wars is goofy, but holy shit

>Yord is naked for a short scene for no reason other than comic relief. Jecki makes a marvel quip about it.

.

I want to like this show, mainly because I know the fandom menace hates it. like, having representation of people of color, and having a black woman as the main character is great! but it literally feels like some corporate executives are trying to check all the diversity boxes, and then forgot to write an interesting show.

and I know that if I give any valid criticism about the show, stupid idiots on twitter will go "yeah! and also it's too woke!" and think I agree with their horse shit opinions.

but like legit, I was sorta excited for this show, and now I'm just too tired to even care. it's not often that a show loses my interest completely after the first episode. and I'm pissed, because high republic star wars has so much potential to be cool.

.

tldr, star wars would be so good if it was good.

[onaslansside]

We finally watched Alice (2009) after seeing the mutuals yell about it for years and. oh. such a good decision. Thank you to @as-dreamers-do, @taleweaver-ramblings and everyone else who insisted on yelling repeatedly about how much they loved this movie. I have a stash of DVDs for movie nights that no one has ever heard of but everyone winds up loving, and this movie is about to go in that stash. After watching, we both dived for our phones to see what all the other liveblog reviews said, so assume we yelled about all the normal things, and please enjoy this list of a few more unique/underappreciated reactions.

Alice is an A+ street smart heroine, love her. Every time we'd yell at the screen, "BAD VIBES, NO" she was also aware of the red flag and doing something about it. I feel as delighted about this as Hoid was about Tress requesting parental assistance/advice.

"Oh this is very Between." "Yeah."

Why does she run like that. I get that the blue dress, half updo, and mincing steps into the unknown are a homage, but SHE IS A BLACK BELT, WHY DOES SHE RUN SO BADLY.

I can't tell what's up with Hatter, every single description everyone has given of his possible motivations doesn't quite match. Like, he does think Alice is pretty, and he does want to help the resistance, and he does want to make money while doing so, but it feels like there's another more consistent reason lurking in his eyes and I have NO IDEA what it is, not even after watching Gen and Athelas for years.

"The decor of this casino is excellently stupid, this place would have Thumb Thumbs- *spots the Ten of Clubs* THERE'S ONE!"

LOVE a fight scene that understands that a gun within lunging range is no longer a particular advantage!!! Was NOT expecting Hatter to step between Alice and the threat with that little hesitation, that brings him up several points in my estimation.

That Jabberwock is so stupid. I love it. The design reminds me of the two-headed dragon in HTTYD.

I'm no film nerd, but the camera work is so good even I keep noticing it. The Scooby Doo chase with the Jabberwock, the focus shifting between Charlie and Hatter, the sliver of light when Alice opens the study door... *chefkiss*

I have known this knight for five seconds and I love him.

I need to rewatch this entire thing already, because the body language of EVERYONE is so good and so detailed that you can't get it all, especially when paying attention to the lines being spoken.

Every single shot of Hatter's reactions to Charlie are so funny.

Love both Hatter and Ten of Clubs doing beautiful sliding halts on the casino floors.

Wait, did the King just rescue not one but two of the clubs from the consequences of the Queen's temper tantrum?? I think he did. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Is he figuring out he's not okay with this situation? Is he secretly undermining her?

Somewhere in the middle of Jack explaining that Alice's father was being brought to the city, I suddenly began to wonder if he might be the Carpenter, because he'd been shown onscreen an awful lot so far...

"Hatter's going to follow her, isn't he. ISN'T HE? ... oh look, so is Charlie, that's great."

We made identical little sad sympathetic sounds when the explosion knocked Charlie over, but we were both very unconcerned for his safety.

I said, "That can be arranged," at the same moment as Alice and I'm very smug about it.

"YOU BETTER NOT GIVE ME THAT 'IT WAS ALL JUST A DREAM' NONSENSE!! >:(" Melwa smirked very loudly because A) that's canon for the original Alice, and B) she'd already seen spoiler gifsets of the end.

And T_T she flings herself at him before we can see if its like in Wizard of Oz and he just was glimpsed and got into her dreams vs he's real, and then we turn around and he DOES know her T_T, and THE POOR MOM who is cropped out of all the gifsets ajghksjfbfbk

[lumiereandcogsworth]

Top 5 batb 2017 trivia 💛

this is exquisite. thank you <3

1. okay the first thing i NEED PEOPLE TO KNOW!!!!!!!!!!! is about adam’s mother. so in this flashback scene it shows her, presumably dead, in bed while adam sings sadly

you’ll notice she has dark hair. BUT LISTEN ! ! ! she actually is blonde and i can explain what happened. first of all, to prove she’s blonde, look! she’s blonde in the portrait!

the actress is in fact blonde as well. so why is her hair dark in that one shot you ask? well, when they did that scene, with her lying in bed and her blonde hair laying along her shoulder, apparently focus groups thought she looked like agathe, the enchantress, and questioned if agathe was in fact actually adam’s mother. so in a quick and desperate attempt to make sure no one thought the two women looked similar, they edited her hair to look dark. i understand the logic and timing-wise it was probably the best they could do, but it does annoy me because now people always think adam’s mother had dark hair🫠 so go spread the word!!!!! adam got his blonde hair and blue eyes from his MAMA!!!!!💛🩵

2. DAN STEVENS DID SOOOO MUCHHHH!!!!!!!!!! he BREATHED life into adam, and i ADORE him for it. my favorite tidbit about all the work he did, was that he did ALL the face acting Twice. he would act in the big suit on the ten-inch stilts on set, and then every few weeks he would go into a room and have his face sprayed with motion-capture dots and then he’d redo all the scenes with Just his face. here’s a good gifset that gives these behind the scenes visuals. it’s just so remarkable and i am so so thankful for all the work he put into it. there are so many (basically all??) scenes were i’m watching and i can just FEEL adam’s emotions, purely by his facial expressions and body language !! like it’s just phenomenal and i’m so eternally grateful to dan stevens for all that he did to bring that beloved boy to life.

3. according to an interview, apparently when they were done filming the final scene (the celebration ball), someone played happy by pharrell williams over the speakers and they all danced to it in their fancy 18th century costumes, in that lovely decadent ballroom. and it’s such a funny and super endearing sight to imagine, i ALWAYS think about it when that song comes on or is mentioned.

4. at the very first table read, when it came time for the THE DANCE, emma thompson just got up and went to a microphone and started singing “beauty and the beast.” no prep at all, and certainly no one expected her to sing on the first go-around, but she did! she sang along while two of the dancers did the dance. she’s such a legend :”)

5. dan stevens knows his name is prince adam and it fills me with immense amounts of joy :)

(around the 0:37 second mark)

he also talks a lot about how he made the scenes, like i mentioned earlier, in this (short) interview!!!!!!!

[grabyoursaintsandpray]

Want to read an Elsa/Jack drabble?

Considering this is only relevant to a handful of my followers, I've thrown it and some backstory behind the cut.

Well first to explain, I've been ridiculously ill all week, some kind of flu/chest infection I'm not sure, all I know is it's wiped me out and I've been getting home from work and going straight to bed every day. I hadn't written anything in days and I think I made like one gifset this week because looking at the screen so intently hurt my eyes. So this was a pleasant surprise possible fever dream

It's like 900 words, not quite crack but possibly crack adjacent, completely unedited because I wrote it on my notes app which has no spell check or anything and why was me being ill relevant to the story? Well because my brain is mostly mush at this point, my temperature has been 39c (Standard is 36-37) so I'm just warning you that this isn't necessarily good and also probably expect errors.

But I thought I'd share (though it's not ao3 worthy) because I haven't written anything for WBN since January, honestly I was a little worried that maybe I'd lost the ability but no turns out I just need to run such a high temp that it melts the writers block right out of my brain.

Hopefully this is the kickstarter to being able to crank out an actual story at some point but for now I'm going to go back to huddling up on the sofa in my Gengar Oodie.

----🐺----

Elsa was not one for sitting idly, much preferring to have some kind of mission, some kind of goal in mind.

Maybe that's due to the life she's led, constantly on the move, never staying in one place too long. It comes with the monster hunting territory she supposes.

It's different now, life is different now. She has a home, somewhere real and permanent that she can return to. She also has more of a purpose, the Bloodstone that is currently conspicuously absent from around her neck seeing to that.

She slides her eyes over to the man beside her, who is practically buzzing with glee because there's one last difference, a big one and his name is Jack.

If there was one thing that had completely turned her life upside down, it was him.

Not that she minds of course, most of the time anyway. In fact normally she's eternally grateful for him quite literally stumbling into her path and changing the direction she had been heading in.

Today though, well today she was not grateful because in all his questionable wisdom, Jack had decided that she was due for some R and R.

Yeah, in theory? Sounded great. Maybe they take a weekend off from monster hunting, rent a little place somewhere the two of them can be alone and reconnect with each other.

Unfortunately, she wasn't being whisked away to a cabin in the middle of nowhere or a quiet island with a private beach.

No, she was checking them both into a spa.

"Do you like it?" Jack had asked as they pulled into the car park and as she turned, seeing those beautiful eyes, wide with excitement and nerves, she found her irritation crumbling.

"It's great" She promised him, mouth tilted in a half smile. He practically slumped in relief and she withheld the sigh wanting to escape her lips.

It was fine, she could get through this. It was hanging around a bunch of people and trying to relax, not torture. She'd laugh about it in a bit.

----

She wasn't laughing. Two hours later and she's slowly losing the will to live.

They'd been in the jacuzzi, great except for the four other people there with them. Steam room, same deal and honestly it felt like sitting in a bloody volcano anyway. Who enjoys that kind of shit?

She begged off going into the swimming pool. Jack, it turns out wasn't too keen on swimming either, which did at least amuse her slightly. She thought all dogs were born with the ability to swim, or was that some kind of strange myth she'd picked up over the years?

With all the various wet things fortunately out of the way and Jack unfortunately out of his swimming trunks and back into his regular clothes. They headed into the relaxation room before their massages.

Her arse was numb from lying on what was truly some kind of instrument of torture masquerading as a bed. For a thing supposed to promote comfort and relaxation, they sure chose a bizarre style in which to do it.

It was solid for starters, no soft fabric to sink into and rest your head on, in fact she painfully banged hers with a loudly echoing thump the second she tried to lay down.

She understood the tile which it was made of was to keep it heated easily but that still didn't stop her from feeling like she was lying on the bathroom floor.

The bizarre hazy purple hue to the room had also left her feeling mildly disoriented and she worried for the sake of her eyesight once she stepped back into the sun.

Not to mention the music being piped in, some hideous repetitive... plinky plonky sounds that barely classified as actual noises, let alone music. There was a wonderful change-up an undetermined amount of time later with seagull sounds being added in, that truly made her contemplate jumping through the nearest window.

She turned her head, neck cracking at the stiff position it had been kept in, to check on Jack. Surely he must be bored by now? If she finds it hard to sit still normally then he is usually like a kid hopped up on sugar.

It really shouldn't surprise her to see that he is completely knocked out. His chest softly rising and falling soothingly.

She lets out a quiet whisper of his name, nothing.

A spiteful part of her wants to yell it, watch him startle so hard he falls onto the probably much softer floor. She stops herself, she's a bitch sure but she has some decorum.

Plus he deserves this much more than she does. They've hunted nonstop for the last few months with the last one being a close call that she truly doesn't like to think about.

She hadn't been paying attention and it nearly cost her life. Worse, it nearly cost his life because of course he spotted the incoming danger and threw himself in front of her, taking the brunt of the damage to a terrifying degree.

She knows that's the reason he's booked this spa for them. It had shaken them both to their core and he just wanted some sense of normality, of just being a couple without all the death and destruction inherent in their line of work.

So she'd give him this, she would let him sleep and soon she would endure being prodded by a stranger and at the end of the day she'd tell him how great it felt and how relaxed she now was and they'd go home, feeling that little bit closer. If she gripped him a little tighter at night, if she woke him up screaming his name in terror then they'd both gracefully ignore it but he'd tuck her closer and whisper sweet nothing's into her ear in Spanish until she drifted back off, the same way he always does.

It was a fair trade and honestly, she'd laugh about this tomorrow, she's sure.

[spicyvampire]

Hi! So sorry to bug you, but I see you post about "4Minutes", so thought I'd ask. In one, the phrase "Great's Dying Brain v. Reality" appears, and (only if you have a spare moment) wondered what that meant? Some friends and I have watched the whole series (some twice) and still don't fully understand it. If not, no worries! Have a great day!

Hey, that is no problem at all, the fun of this show lies in the understanding and what you as a viewer make of it

I'm gonna give you the very surface level of explanation that helps understand the premise of the show but also the parallel gifsets I've made with captions like "Dying Brain vs Reality" or "Great's vs Tyme 4MP"

So what you need to understand for starters is that, in the premise of the show, when someone goes into cardiac arrest they see in their dying brain a life they could have had if they took different decisions for 4 minutes before the lack of oxygen kills their brain and they die forever, it's kinda their own little world/timeline where they can be happy, I call it (and doctor Den in the show call it) the 4 Minutes Phenomenom (4MP), and a good part of the show is those 4MP timelines created by Great and Tyme while they are dying, their heart stopped at the same time at 11:00 while Great was in the hospital and Tyme was dying outside in the rain, thus there is 3 timelines -> Great's 4MP, reality (real timeline) and Tyme's 4MP

Great's 4MP basically most of what you see from ep 1 to 5 : this is the longest one because Great's 4MP was used to establish the lore of the show, also Great could time travel inside his 4MP to actually change what happened in reality, Great's 4MP follows almost the same patterns as the real timeline but he changed a lot of things to be a better person (because when he got shot in reality he was starting a process to be a better person than he actually was)

Reality aka real timeline is most of what happened in ep 6 to 8 : it's the gruesome sad true of what actually happened to everyone story wise, this is why my gifsets of Dying Brain vs Reality are so sad, because what Great or Tyme created in their 4MPs is usually much sweeter than what happened in reality;;; also there are bits and pieces of reality in ep 1 to 5, especially the things Tonkla and his boytoys related

Tyme's 4MP end of ep 7 from when he got shot and start of ep 8 : this one is pretty much fabricated almost completely even if the characters keep their essences (but it is logical because Tyme lost a lot before he got shot, and he was feeling a lot of guilts and regrets)

All the changes in the 4MP timelines are direct results of the emotions and situations they lived during the real timeline, and they come out of that experience changed people, the 4MP was there as a vehicle for character development that you see at the end of ep 8

Disclaimer : personally, I do not think all of this is as cut and dry as I'm explaining it, I think there are signs of Great and Tyme's consciousness intertwining in ep 1 to 5 and in ep 8 while they are dying even if the 4MP timeline was led by only one of them specifically narratively speaking but that's the beauty of this show! While everything was pretty much explained in my opinions, you can always continue theorizing and it still would work, because there are things in there that can be interpreted in many other ways! It's why it's the show of the year for me

If you want/need more explanation, here is a link to a post on MDL that explain like absolutely everything step by step, including the whole deal with Korn/Tonkla/Win and Title & Dome

Hope this helps and don't hesitate to come back and discuss more, this show is fascinating and I'm always happy to talk about it

[emmafallsinlove]

Dean “violently kicked a duffel bags” is such an exaggeration. He kicked a duffel bag so what? He has a right to be mad, people act like he hit her. Also he’s a teenage boy who’s still learning how to handle relationships. Calling him an abuser is a leap.

first of all if you’re celebrating Christmas so i wish you an happy holiday!

now, shall we begin why dean is, in fact, an abusive piece of shit?

look, i didn’t made those gifset but even if i was, i would’ve still think that dean is an abusive piece of shit. and “he was a teenager boy” isn’t an excuse when he, an adult, cheat on his wife with his ex… girlfriend in her room while leading her to believe they broke up?

everything he did from the beginning is just wrong. by kissing her in their… what? third interaction ever in a public place, mind you? how is that normal? by building her a car and than dump her because she didn’t said i love you back? that’s not normal behavior.

the amount of times he calls, the amount of letters he sent in s3 while she’s in washington. his reaction to everything, really, is not normal.

there’s a way to react to anything, and the fact that rory had to write him a letter to explain what was going on because she was afraid of his reaction and the fact that he kicking the bag in public and yes, could’ve hurt rory as well him says a lot about him as a person.

now that being said i would also add that he has every right to be angry. hell, i’ll be angry if i’ll ever build a car and than it got destroyed but also, i would put my anger aside because who cares about the car while considering the fact that the person that i loved got into a car accident. it wasn’t rory or jess fault.

it was a car accident. there was something on the road, jess didn’t want to hurt it and so they got into a car accident.

it was a car accident and he could’ve react way better and not by kicking a bag on the floor because he got furious that the car broke down or something.

the way he’s always around in the beginning of jess and rory relationship, always trying to pick up fight with jess… he thinks he owns rory, dude. you broke up with her in a public place for everyone to see! you had no dignity to break up with her behind closed doors.

and that’s the thing, he always twists it around so he is the victim in every situation and not, in fact, rory. that been yelled at her house and paris, paris, had to step in and protect her.

the way rory literally had a whole panic attack about losing this bracelet he made her, as though she was so afraid to tell him she lost it. like how is that normal? a normal person would just say “it’s okay, stuff like that happen. i’ll make you a new one”

one of my favorite compression is jess reaction to rory hanging out with dean at miss patty show thing VS dean reaction to rory hanging around Jess.

jess doesn’t yell about it, or making a scene, or making rory feel like she had to hide things from him. he just asks her to tell him about it next time so he won’t read it on elsewhere and then he… moves on. like a normal boyfriend should. her entire relationship with dean is like walking around eggs being afraid he’ll get mad!

the fact that rory needs reassurance that jess doesn’t mad at her at the festival episode just shows how badly dean treated her. if she was still with dean, he would’ve yelled already, making a whole scene about how rory dares to hangs around people who isn’t him, as he did in 2x13. it wasn’t rory’s fault jess bought the basket, yet dean make it her fault and turns it around her “you’re hurting me now” (making her feel guilty about the whole thing in the first place) instead of just respecting the fact that there are stuff in this town that doesn’t have nothing to do with him.

jess had more money. the whole point of the whole thing was you have more money, you buy the basket, you take the girl who made the basket to lunch. jess didn’t forced rory to go with him, jess didn’t do anything wrong, he did exactly what everyone else did.

like correct me if i’m wrong but lorelai had to drug out luke to buy her basket so he could take her to lunch and yet, it’s rory’s fault that jess bought her basket.

if I remember correctly jackson also didn’t bought sookie’s basket for some reason and had to buy it from the person who bought it in the first place.

but regardless, you know what the first thing dean does when rory goes with jess? he goes to cry to lorelai about it, to spin it on rory, that rory would be the blame here and not, idk, him for not letting this go.

when rory comes back from it, actually happy and having a good time, lorelai takes dean’s side because dean made her to believe that it is all jess / jess and rory fault.

he blames his reaction and his behavior on her.

so it’s not, “he was a teenager boy he kicked a bag”, it’s more complicated and dean is an abusive piece of shit and that’s the hill i would die on.

[papa-evershed]

Hellooooo! Here’s me crashing into your ask box to wish you a very happy, happy birthday!

I thought I’d ask you if you can remember some specific scenes/moments from a show and/or movie that triggered your “Oh, I need to gif this IMMEDIATELY!” desire.

And please do go ham on your reply, you know very well how much I enjoy them.

Have an amazing day! 🧡

Hey!!! I fucking love you! I don't know how the hell you manage to to do everything you do, but now you've gone and inspired me to start a fandom-friends birthday calendar. 😂😂 I legit admire how you always reach out to people and remember everyone!! But thank you so much for the birthday wishes, it's been a pretty good day so far so I can't complain! 🥰

As for moments I just had to gif?! There's been a fuck ton throughout the years and the men. 😅I'll answer under a cut for length and lets see what all my old lady brain can remember. 👵 I apologize in advance for how long this could potentially get and just how random the gifs probably are. I never feel inspired to gif cool scenes with witty dialogue, I just gif for thirst reasons because I'm a dumpster of a human. ETA: It got really long and didn't even scratch the surface tbh.

For Rob, I'll start with this one. I feel like I post it every time someone asks me about my favorite gifs or moments but listen, that man's god damn belly makes me feral. The context of the scene is also just peak Dad™ for me so it was 10000/10, absolutely had to gif this the second I watched:

This is an interview but you know when you first start checking out a new dude and you see gifs from interviews/shows where they look particularly tasty and you're immediately like I must find this and watch it or else I will perish. That was this interview for me. And how could it not be? Again...BELLY. Hairy belly. Just big, soft, delicious man meat. And thighs. As soon as I found it I had to gif it for myself so I could make it as obnoxiously big as humanly possible.

I watched this zoom live and the moment this motherfucker turned his head my brain said "gif it". Profile? Nose? Greys?

And this shot too. This man was fucking born to smile, he puts his whole ass into it.

This. His arms here. This scene was dark af but I knew I had to gif it anyway. I adore the shape of this man. It feels so fucking real to me. Soft belly, sizeable arms that still look natural. It's realistic, it's comfy, it's fucking sexy. He's just fucking man-shaped.

I don't even have to tell you why because I know you get it.

I'm an American what do you want from me? 🤡 I'm just kidding, it's not because of the gun. 😅IDK if you've watched Downton, but Thomas is just such a fucking capable man. There isn't a task they set him to that he doesn't excel at and I just felt like it was always overlooked and underappreciated by everyone around him. That shot and scene inspired an entire gifset I made about him being a man of many talents.🤓

I can't even explain it, I just knew I needed it. He just looks so man sized. And fuzzy. Just...go off daddy.

You and I both know I'd suck a dick for a good profile shot. The greys, the nose, the man...👀

I can't post all the gifs from this scene/episode so I'll settle for this one. But I knew immediately I'd be giffing it until my fingers hurt (that legit happens y'all, I'm old 👵) Not only did he spend some time in this episode being the soft, caring uncle but he did it in a cozy sweater and it was like they were sure to hit all my weaknesses at once. Soft cozy men? 👀Then they were kind enough to give us the most beautiful close-up shots of his face. And the boy just has a beautiful fucking face.

For old times' sake, I'm gonna include some Jon just for you but to be fair, I liked him for seven damn years so there were a lot. Too many to list or even remember. But here's a few that maybe aren't the obvious shots!

This one. I remember everyone losing their shit over his ass but I was losing my mind over that "soft flash of belly" (really, I was always fangirling the hardest over scenes where Jon looked softer than he really was so we shouldn't be shocked I eventually left for a man with a beer belly 😅)

Speaking of which, this scene too!

And of course, anytime he was covered in blood. I think I actually giffed this exact shot 5 or 6 different times.

And, the obligatory back of his head shot. There are so many here I could post because pretty much anytime I saw the back of Jon's head I immediately needed a gif of it but we'll go with this one, it was probably slept on a little bit.

Alright this is long enough! Bless anyone for reading this long. 😳 But legit, thanks for the fun ask and for the birthday wishes, Stef! 🥰🥰 Your kindness is one of the reasons I will always appreciate having been in Jon's fandom!

[thehighfiveproject]

Round two: ready to go!

Here’s the card we’ll be using for this month’s edition of our bingo! Grab it up and get going. Remember, zero need to sign up, but if you want to share it with us so we can reblog and share the love, make sure you do so by next Wednesday, December 7.

Below the cut: a list of definitions for each of the squares in case you need help or ideas (don’t worry, those will be added to the FAQs post for easy reference), and a black & white version of the card, in case you want to get creative with it.

☆ How do I fill my card? How is each square defined?

Here’s the way we’re defining the activities associated with each card. If any of this is confusing after you read it over, send us a message and we’ll help!

- ‘leave kudos on a fic’

This is the easiest one! Just go out and find a fic you like and leave a kudos on it, if you haven’t already. It’s a small gesture but it makes an author know that someone actually read their story!

- ‘reblog/retweet an art post’

Find any art post you like and share it! Here’s the catch: you need to interact with it a little. When you reblog/retweet, please tell the creator what you thought about the piece – you can add some tags, or reply to the post, or quote-retweet or add a comment, or anything! A simple “I love this!” is nice but some details are even better (“your linework is so good!” or “that shade of blue is perfect”). One thing to think about: a lot of art on Tumblr is reposted (like when a user posts another artist’s work from Pixiv, say), so it’s nice if you make an effort to interact with posts that are actually from the creator if you can. That way the artist will see your comment!

- ‘reblog/retweet a fic post’

Same as the above, but for fic! Again, tags/replies/comments are needed, preferably with a little detail. You don’t need to be super eloquent or leave a detailed review (although if you have time/energy, that would be appreciated!); a tag as simple as “that was really cute” or “great characterization!” will do. Like with the art posts, it’s nice if you reblog directly from the writer (if you can) – some fics are posted by AO3 feed bots and the like, so the author may not even know a reblog has happened.

- ‘reblog/retweet an edit’

Same as the above, but for edits! Edits can include a gif set, or a set of screencaps, or even a fanvid. And, again, some simple tags/replies are needed. “I love that song choice!” for a vid or “great coloring!” on a gifset can let people know their work is being appreciated.

- ‘comment on a fic’

Find a fic, on any fic-hosting site you like, and leave a comment. That’s it! Again, no need to leave a novel-length comment (unless you’re inspired!) – a sentence or two is all we’re asking for this square to be considered complete. This is a great opportunity to let a writer know how their piece made you feel, or what section you particularly liked.

- ‘message a creator’

‘Creator’ here can mean anyone who makes *anything* to do with fandom: art, edits, fic, meta, knitted sweaters with character faces on them – if they’ve made anything, they’re a creator, and now’s your chance to let them know they’re appreciated. Send a message (anonymous or not!) letting them know that you enjoyed their work!

- ‘rec a curator’

You know that one blog that's just a joy to follow? They find and post all the stuff you love, whether that's art or fic or screencaps or really elaborate fan theories that just make you want to applaud. Maybe they write great tags that help you understand the fandom you're in a little better, or maybe they're in the know about what's happening in your fandom, or maybe they're just fun to see on your dashboard. This is your chance to rec a great fandom curator -- one of those people who put in the effort on tumblr to make your scroll a better place. Please make a little rec post, tag the blog and explain why they're a great follow, and show them that their work is appreciated, too!

- ‘promo a fan project’

Here's where you get to help boost the boosters. Fan projects are great: they encourage creators to get together and make more of the stuff that makes fandom fun to be in. Find any fan project you love -- this can be a brand new big bang, a kinkbingo that runs every year, an old art exchange that you loved and wish could happen again -- and then help people see it! Reblog their announcement post, their fic/art masterlist, make a little rec post for it and link to their blog/AO3 collection/Livejournal -- anything that lets people know that the project exists. Maybe you'll get more people to join in, or more people to admire the work, or maybe if it's an old or abandoned event you'll get people excited about running it again! Can't hurt to try.

And here’s the non-decorated version of the card, in case you feel like making it your own. Go hog wild! (Seriously, put hogs on it if you want.)