#folks i hate the new gif... post... thing

[anakinh]

endless ffvii → (32/∞)

[lady-phasma]

Idk if this is a insensitive question, but how do you deal with ageism in fandom space? I'm in my late twenties and people already make me feel so weird about still caring about certain things, calling us hags and such, it's really depressing

Hi nonnie!

Not insensitive at all! First, hugs. I am so sorry that you have had that experience.

Please don’t let it get you down too much. If you don't follow me or are a new follower, let me give you some background. I don't allow bigotry or hate of any kind on my blog. That has the effect of also dramatically decreasing rudeness in my sphere. I got the nickname auntie for a few reasons, but one is because I'm older than a lot of folks. I embraced it. Especially when I realized that people needed a safe space in some fandoms. (The nickname originated as "writing auntie" but auntie stuck.)

So how do I deal with ageism? BLOCK. If anyone makes you feel old (seriously late 20s is so young!), block them. How do I not take it personally? That might be the more accurate interpretation of your question. I look at my nerdy tattoos and smile. I watch my blorbos and favorite shows and write smut. I check my notifications for all the people who get joy from my posts, fics, and gifs.

Honestly, I think it gets easier to not give a fuck when you get older because, for myself at least, the march of time is inevitable, so we might as well enjoy the things we enjoy. I literally do not give a shit if someone has a problem with me being 41 and in fandoms on Tumblr. I have 30 years' experience writing fanfiction. I have a whole-ass life off this blog. And I need my fandoms because they make me happy and that's a precious thing in life.

So, if I had advice to give you it might be this: just hold on. When you hit 30 you will probably stop caring. Until then, block them, post even more, do nerdier shit, and make yourself happy. The best way to deter people who want to make others miserable is to show them that they can't do that to you.

[lotus-of-stardollop]

Personal opinion. I prefer the stylization of previous Animal Crossing games. I’ll use how the stars, rainbows, and aurora borealis looked as examples. This post will be a bit long.

New Horizons, when it comes to these things, opts for realism. The stars, rainbows, and aurora are all made to look more realistic than previous games. And while they all look great, I kinda prefer the stylized look in previous games. I’ll mostly use New Leaf as an example as that’s the only other one I’ve played.

The stars in New Leaf were very simple diamond star shapes, pretty cartoonish. And they’d change color, in a way where the colors would move across the shape, giving a twinkling look. The games before New Leaf didn’t have the color changing thing but the shapes of the stars were similar and they had their own ways to add that twinkling effect.

source

See how the colors move but the shapes stay the same? I loved that as a kid. It’s such a simple and cute way to get the twinkling look across.

Below are examples from Wild World and City Folk.

source and source

Their approaches to twinkling are different but still simple and stylized. Very cartoony looking stars, and I love it.

source

New Horizons has simple shapes as stars too. The twinkling effect is more like Wild World’s. But they’re a little too small for me to really notice that and the vast majority of them are tiny dots anyway. It gives a more realistic look in comparison to older games. And that’s not bad! I’m not saying any of the NH examples I show are bad, please keep that in mind going forward. I just personally prefer the stylization of previous games, especially New Leaf. New Leaf had a bunch of tiny dots for stars too but there were more bigger star shapes than in New Horizons, it was a good mix of dots and diamond shapes in NL.

Now on to rainbows. Look at how rainbows in New Leaf looked.

source and source

Compare that to New Horizons.

source

I just love how cartoonishly vivid the rainbows in New Leaf are. The ones in New Horizons are very faint in comparison. I believe they were actually pretty faint in City Folk as well? New Leaf’s just look like the cartoonish magical looking rainbows I like to think of. It’s more whimsical imo which, again, I prefer.

The aurora borealis is the biggest difference.

source

The aurora in New Horizons looks more realistic. And again, that’s great! It looks great. But I do prefer how it looked in previous games.

source and source

The aurora in City Folk and New Leaf feels actually magical. The gif for the New Leaf example is a bit choppy, I couldn’t find a smoother one but the colors moved across the shape more smoothly in the actual game. It uses the same technique it uses for the stars. An unmoving shape with colors moving across it. Something about this symmetrical wavy shape feels extravagant and mystical. I remember when I first saw the aurora in New Leaf I was in actual awe. My jaw dropped. I felt like I was witnessing something truly magical.

And I love that. I love the stylistic choices here; for the aurora, the rainbows, the stars. And I feel like these three things were the best examples for me to use for this topic of the previous games’ more stylistic approaches to things. Again - I want to reiterate - I do not hate how these look in New Horizons. I just prefer the previous games’ takes on the visuals of the world within Animal Crossing. And I just wanted to explain my thoughts on why I do.

I will add a few visual things I do love about New Horizons, tho I’ve hit the image limit so I can’t share any image examples but I’ll still provide links for examples. I love how wet everything looks when it rains in New Horizons. It adds a lot. I can almost smell the rain because of it. And I love how the leaves rustling in the wind look as well. Wind was introduced in New Horizons and it’s a great addition to the weather in the game. Same with fog and cloud patterns (sorry for the twitter link, I couldn’t find anywhere else that showed all the cloud types). Cloud patterns are always fun to see (tho I would love to see how they’d look if they were a bit more stylized too, there were cumulonimbus clouds in New Leaf but I like how they look in New Horizons more). I’ve never seen fog in my game cuz I never start playing the game early in the morning ;;. But it looks fantastic. I also absolutely love how the hardwood trees look in winter in NH. The frosty green color of the leaves just add to the, well, frosted-over look. And for meteor showers, it’s a tie between NH and NL for my favorite look lol. I just love how sparkly they are.

I just wanted to end this post with some visual things I do love about NH cuz I really didn’t want this post to come across as me hating on NH or even hating how these things look in NH. I have… admittedly a lot of criticisms on the game. But I don’t hate it. If I did I wouldn’t still be playing it lol

[kathaniii]

।। Aloukik।।

~ A folklore event ~

To all who are interested,

I'm hosting an event focusing on Indian folktales, fairytales, mythos and legend.

Aloukik is a month long event dedicated to highlighting stories from different cultures of India. There will be 10 prompts. It will run from 25th June to 24th July, with 3 days dedicated to each prompt.

Folklore has been an integral part of many cultures worldwide and India is no different. In our kaleidoscopic country, there exists a myriad of stories in different cultures, passed down from generation to generation. Storytelling has always been a fundamental part of human existence, stories become living, breathing things, transcending time and space as long there's someone to tell them.

So I'm inviting you to share your stories and your culture, folklore from any region, any state, any religion, any culture is welcome.

•To participate, you can post your writings, art, GIFs, Edits, Moodboards, anything you want.

•New content is appreciated but old content is also welcome.

•You can participate as much or as little as you'd like. You can post multiple entries for a given prompt or none at all.

•Late submissions are also welcome.

•Hateful content is not allowed. I have the right to ignore any content I see as hateful, but I will excercise this carefully. Furthermore, I will block you if it becomes a repeated offence throughout the event.

Be respectful of each other's cultures and religions.

To submit your entry, please follow the format given below:

@kathaniii | Aloukik 2023 | Day X

Please also use the event hashtag #Aloukik 2023.

The prompts are:

Day 1: (25th-27th June) Stories from your culture

Focus on and highlight stories from your state, religion or culture.

Day 2: (28th-30th June) Horror

Horror is a recurring theme in folklore. Horror stories are often the cornerstone of folktales. Highlight your favourite bhootnis, spirits, demons, and witches alike.

Day 3: (1st-3rd July) Women in Folklore

From witches to fairies, women have always played an integral role in many folktales and fairytales. Celebrate the inspiring women in folklore, their stories and their role in folk culture.

Day 4: (4th-6th July) Your Favourite Fairytales

Fairytales are, for most people, an important part of their childhood. Post about your favourite Princes and princesses, fairies and demons, kingdoms and magic.

Day 5: (7th-9th July) Unsung Stories

Post about folktales that you think are underrated and unsung. Tales that not many people know about, tales that you think deserve more love.

Day 6: (10th-12th July) Heroes and Heroines

Post about your favourite heroic characters, your favourite heroes and heroines, your favourite knights in shining armour.

Day 7: (13th-15th July) Villains

We all love a good villain and folktales have given us many iconic villains and antagonists. Post about your favourite evil queens, evil kings, dark witches and demon kings.

Day 8: (16th-18th July) Your favourite characters

Post about your favourite characters from fairytales and folktales. Tell us about any characters you fell in love with, hero or villain.

Day 9: (19th-21st July) Childhood stories

We all grew up hearing fairytales and folktales from our parents or grandparents. Tell us about your favourite childhood stories, stories you grew up with, stories you cherish.

Day 10: (22nd-24th July) Creator's Choice

This day is a free-for-all. Post about anything you want, any stories, any characters, anything your heart desires.

Feel free send any questions about the event to the event's blog @kathaniii. Thank you.

[affixjoy]

I ended 2023 with Star Trek III: The Search For Spock. New year new Spock? Is that anything?

Here are my thoughts:

Overall I liked it more than TMP but much less than WoK, which is obviously the best one of the bunch! The construction of the movie seemed pretty messy especially compared to WoK but there were a lot of interesting concepts that sort of made up for that for me!

Things I liked:

💫 Bones Bones Bones. That old cranky bastard is destined to be my favorite in every movie, isn’t he?

💫 I love him carrying around Spock’s katra, I love his confession that he’s missed him, I love that he looks old and tired. I love how bravely he goes to the katra transfer ritual. He’s just doing a lot in this movie!

💫 I said this in my WoK post and I’ll probably say it for every movie, I just adore seeing these characters get older. I love seeing how their bodies and faces change with time. I’m in my mid 30s (which I know isn’t that old!) and I’ve been spending a lot of time lately thinking about aging and friendship and family and death so this aspect of Trek is really resonating with me.

💫 It wouldn’t be a fight scene if Kirk didn’t launch himself at his enemies like some kind of deranged cat.

💫 More Sulu!!! One thing that surprised me in TOS was how little of characters like Uhura and Sulu there was. Thrilled to see them in the movies being their awesome selves.

💫 and speaking of, I loved Uhura here. Her scene where she forces that little brat into the closet is perfection.

💫 Folks, if you don’t like Spirk shipping this is the wrong place for you to be. I love how sad Kirk is about Spock for most of this movie, and how happy he is to get him back. Look at that smile 😭

💫 They’re in love and no one can tell me otherwise. A man doesn’t blow up his beloved ship and lose his son for a coworker.

💫 Uniforms were a mixed bag here, and how I felt about them went up and down quite a lot! Initially I hated the little purple blouse Kirk wears, but once he took the jacket off and I saw the sleeves + those pants? Hello, yes, great outfit. Man looks like he’s going to Halloween as a gay little pirate and I have no complaints. I can’t find a great picture of it so just extrapolate what you can from this gif.

💫 I loved the mind meld scene. It felt so full of grief for them both.

And honestly there isn’t really a good way to sum up what I didn’t like about it. It just wasn’t a great movie! It was fine, and as you can see I did enjoy a lot of it! But it didn’t flow well for me.

I’m looking forward to more Star Trek in 2024!

[tau1tvec]

What do you think of bluesky? Twitter never quite grabbed me and I basically abandoned it a little before fuckhead bought it, but I don't hate the idea of maintaining a second social media

Two words, no ads. 🌈🤩

Or I’ve never seen one since I’ve been on there anyway. They also added a lotta new post types ( you can post videos and GIFS now weee ) since the influx of Twitter folks, and the layout, on mobile anyway, is similar to Threads, so it’s easy to get the hang of it, and doesn’t absolutely ruin image quality.

The only downside is that it feels very young for an app, and the algo isn’t the best bc of this. Try and find your ppl through tags, and get a hefty following list so you don’t feel compelled to slip into the discover tab, bc it’s a mess rn with all the new ppl ( and bots ).

The best second option is still Instagram imo. I actually enjoy scrolling through it, bc the algo is tight and listens when I tell it I don’t like something, it’s also mostly Reels ( think Tik Toks ) so it holds my attention and keeps me entertained when I’m on break or whatever. Plus it’s been around a while so a lotta ppl I like are on it, and it’s full of gr8 options, like adding music. However it can feel crowded at times, and difficult to find your people, but when you do it’s a great way to make an ocean feel like more of an intimate pond of folks interested in the things you’re interested in too. 💖

[freckledjoes]

Hi queen!!!

Thank you for all these gifs you'vemade! Just wondering, have you ever thought of putting a watermark on your work? I worry you're not gonna get the credit you deserve!

oh my darling you must be (somewhat) new to my blog hahahh :') anyway, hi love!! you're so welcome, i'm happy you enjoy them! <3 now, for the long part that i'll spare my usuals on here cause i sound like a broken record at times:

i used to have a watermark on them! they got reposted into oblivion. i asked people not to, i got a lot of hate, been called a bully etc. people don't understand why 'i make gifs if i don't want people to use them' because they fail to understand gifs can be similar to art, rather than just plain reaction gifs to repost 'omg hot' above. i enjoy making things pretty, but apparently it's wrong to not want to have them reposted. with my art, no one has that issue though. funny how that goes :) had a short period where i would even add the whole 'freckledjoes do not repost' on a gif, and people still claimed to not see it. like you don't stare at a gif over and over when you take the time to steal it, lol. i've posted with and without, and the amount of reposts is the same. it's just extra work for me. like, i prefer people enjoy my gifs on my page, giving it the love it deserves on my posts, but instead they prefer to get likes with a gif they put zero effort in. often they don't even bother to interact with my content (especially not the twitter folks!) so yeah, i could get 'credit' if i put my name on there, but all it does is cause more reposts, which i generally did not want :) maybe at some point i'll put it on them again, if i ever consider it fun to see it blasted everywhere, but currently i prefer to pretend people did not know i don't appreciate reposts. fun fact: had a person follow me on twitter recently. i posted 1 gif there (cause due to the reposts instead of retweets, it didn't feel as fun to post a lot there anymore so i only RARELY do it). they didn't interact with it whatsoever, just reposted it (which is more effort than a retweet i would say). that's the fun of being a gifmaker. people will not repost fiction or art, but gifs? S U R E. it's only a filter, right? they say the same about edits (which i do watermark most of the time). it's funny how it's so hard to understand why people make gifs if they don't want them used by others (it's fun, it's a creative outlet, it's pretty) but have no problem understand why people make art (it's fun, it's a creative outlet, it's pretty), and understand that reposting of art isn't cool. i'm so sorry for the suuuuuuper long answer, but this is the story :D it has its ups and downs. sometimes i wanna watermark again, sometimes i don't. you're so sweet for saying i deserve the credit, sounds like you value this stuff and that means i appreciate you as a person :) much love to you! hope you have an awesome day.

[jinkieswouldyoulookatthis]

The whole DNI banner thing in general feels very new and sad to me. Just so emblematic of the culture of trying to force everyone else to cater to the online experience you want, instead of tailoring your experience for yourself. It's one thing to expect people not to be hateful or mean in your notes, and another entirely to restrict the people you're willing to interact with to the ones you don't think are "degenerate".

Depending on how you define "shipping", I've always "shipped" Destiel and never "shipped" Wincest, but I've always enjoyed reading Wincest and Daddycest content. Specifically the darker stuff (my first big favorite spn fic was "Sins of the Innocent" by reapertownusa). I'm just not sure what, exactly, the folks who don't want to interact with "Wincesties" are afraid of. We're all just, like, regular people, and the world out there kinda thinks that *all* shippers are freaks, anyway.

As far as I can tell, and I realize that the situation will not be the same for everyone, there's this need to shun people who are deemed to be degenerates (as you said). Liking Wincest is definitely taken as a sign of real life moral failing.

Once again, I do want to stress that while I don't ship it, I have nothing against Destiel as a ship. When I first got into this fandom I read a lot of of everything and that's how I learned what worked for me and what didn't. That was in 2015 and I remember being more embarrassed about liking a ship at all than I was about being more drawn to the idea of Sam and Dean together than I was towards Dean and Castiel. So it took me a long time before I just embraced it. During that time I've seen the shift in the shipping wars, the imposed battle for morality that some seem to think that they are fighting. And I've seen it mirror the outside world's steady slide into authoritarianism.

These DNIs are not really important in the grand scheme of things, I'm a respectful person (no matter what kind of shit I may spew when I get frustrated here) and I wouldn't ever knowingly push my ship, or anything else, onto someone who made it clear they didn't want it. I even double check blogs that I reblog from (or whose gifs I add to my own posts) before adding even a wincest tag to a post, to do my best to avoid upsetting anyone. I've been yelled at too many times and generally prefer to avoid unnecessary conflict.

And that's just it, if these blogs listed that Wincest squicked them, I would do all of this to avoid upsetting them, and still be able to share this space with them. But I don't think it's just about them not being exposed to Wincest, that's part of it for sure, but it's also about them not wanting to share this space with me. They don't want me in their space at all because they have made a personal judgement against me based on the flavor of fiction that I enjoy being an idiot about on this dumpster fire of a website.

It's that I see so many posts that have nothing to do with Destiel being tagged with it which feels like another way of setting up a fence between them and those of us they think need to stay away from them. These DNIs feel like giant no trespassing signs, the really over the top ones that tell you exactly what kind of gun they'll shoot you with if you don't obey the sign. And I guess that I just expect more from tumblrinas because I assumed that we better understand what it feels like to be judged and excluded. But really, people are people, and sometimes people are scared, reactionary, assholes, even here.

[kuwdora]

just grumbling about the tumblr posting experience.

I've been back on tumblr for a few years now and I'm still an annoyed and flailing mess when it comes to actually using the editor and making my vid or fic posts. there's always something that goes wrong and then I either have too many notes on it to want to make a new post or I can't figure out what the fuck I can do to make it look right and spend a stupid amount of time trying to edit to make sure everything is working. nevermind I hate figuring out how to format things here. for instance: I started drafting up my Fringilla vid, dropped my Youtube embed there and discovered it had a thumbnail of Francesca. So I made my Fringilla screencap and uploaded it to YouTube. the vidpost looks fine on desktop with Fringilla showing up on the preview image. but nooo on mobile it still shows Francesca in the preview. At least it does on my mobile. is it Francesca for everyone else on the mobile app? it's just a dumb thing to be annoyed about. but annoys me enough to actually make a post it. also I can't seem to remember to make proper titles on my tumblr posts before actually hitting post. run back to edit in but now all the reblogs say 'watching streaming on ao3' lmao, whyyyy. what a dumb thing to be irritated by. pfft. and I still have no idea if YouTube embeds fail to make posts show up in the tags. but I get the impression people might be more likely to watch an embed than clicking over to AO3 or wherever. I'm not a gif-maker and I don't think gifs of my vids have the same kind of impact without the music. so I dunno what to do to make things look prettier. I LOVE finishing things, I love people getting to see my fanworks. but my god I just hate posting and crossposting so goddamn much. Sometimes I have a streamlined process for my dreamwidth/twitter feeds but the bulk of my peeps there are not witcher folks anyway so that's not a crossposting priority for my witcher goodies. anyway. I made a Fringilla vid to escape my depressive woes. I love fringilla. you can check out my fringilla vid with alllllll my feelings for her right here.

[kirby-the-gorb]

reply roundup :)

I am so sleepy. also photo of my fancy phone case I was so excited about under the cut.

on [flap] @macro-microcosm​ said: HAPPY KIRBY FLAP HAPPY KIRBY FLAP HAPPY KIRBY FLAP- so glad I'm not the only one who thinks he does this. and I relate, things aren't great but at least there are cute things to be a comfort

he is my little projection orb, therefore he must flail his little nubs around in excitement as I do. (also I hope things have improved for you, I’ve still got another 2 1/2 weeks to wait but hopefully the news will be good -n- )

this is how the phone case turned out btw! it’s by CandyDulceDeco on [etsy] or at candydulcedeco.com, they were very patient with working out all the little details and everything :> (that little post in the top corner is for a little loop to put phone charms on, I repurposed a bracelet with rainbow gummy bears as a little phone strap sometime after taking this photo)

on [meds] @plushslug​ said: I have MCAS too. Sucks hard. Keep fighting the good fight out there and may your symptoms be manageable 🫡

same to you *salute emoji I can’t find rn* (love your icon btw)

on [milk] @graycoin​ said: Ah shit, that sounds rough. You can Get Through It, but I am sorry you gotta. :/

thanks, I appreciate both the vote of confidence and the sympathy -n- (and in your other comment as well. thank you in general to the folks leaving supportive comments even though I don’t post them all, I really do appreciate it.)

I also appreciate everyone who rushed to give baby his choccy milk or demanded he get it, with special mention to @justawanderingfan​ who went so far as to [add] the glass (and the resulting smile) themself :)

on [keyblade] @angeryspeedo​ said: look at him. he is just a little guy...

every time someone tags my kirb as “just a little guy” or “a bean” or something like this I become more powerful :) (I even made a post on my personal blog when I first saw this tag that it means I Win At Art. there are many ways to win at art and I win often. drawing something that makes me laugh, drawing something my wife thinks is pretty, drawing something, drawing something that makes a stranger add a funny tag, etc. these are all Art Victories of equal value. I think this is a good way to think of creative hobbies.)

also on [keyblade] @joekingv1 said: *wonders who was baby's favorite character*

I think of the playable characters in birth by sleep, ventus would be their favorite. (both because kirby probably relates to him most and because his combat is most amenable to just mashing regular attack and dodge the whole time (which is mostly what I did lol)) out of all of kingdom hearts I do think they’d vibe with sora. my dirtboys.

on [crochet] @duerme07​ said: this -feels- crochet in a way that few other images have conveyed

thanks! it’s because I hate making small gauge amigurumi and have bad eyesight so this is exactly what I looked like for approximately 3 hours immediately following this drawing :)

on [blanket] @ceylonsilvergirl​ said: life has its ups and downs, is never just one or the other. stick it out through the difficult times And I will find comfy blanket time again

comfy blanket time can be anytime. even or especially during the hard times. (I hope you’ve got a break coming down the line too.)

on [valentimes] @wishiwould​ said: I sent this to all my family and sent the creator money on ko-fi bc delightful

extremely sweet of you, thank you so much! I always love finding valentines like this to send to my wife so I’m so glad I could make something similar for someone else lol (yes I did send this drawing to my wife and my partner for valentines day :v )

on [vacant] @sagessmoke​ said: he's a static image right, when i scrolled onto him he blinked and i need to know if im okay

yep, he’s a static image. when you’re seeing stuff directly from me, I always tag any moving image with “gif” even if it’s a small amount of animation. (my eyes play tricks on me sometimes too.)

anonymous asked: Do you like META KNIGHTTTT METAKNIGHHHHHYYYTTT

yeah he’s pretty neat! significantly more Shapes required to draw him than a kirborb tho lol

[princemick]

i feel like you're a pretty good judge on this because of this current drama but i'm also a little scared to ask because you're arguably one of the biggest f1 content creators so this could majorly backfire in case of a block....

i know you're anti-max and you seem to have some experience with people that are like anti-lewis or i've seen a lot of anti-lando on my dash or anti-danny ric in the tags so i'm just wondering if you know what the opinion is on people that don't really care/reblog or post about all the drivers?

because i'm pretty new to the fandom so i've just been reblogging stuff from all drivers and feel neutral about them so far but if i want to interact with more people in the future i might need to stop that because what if i post something about lewis and get blocked by anti-lewis folks or i reblog a gif set of max and suddenly the anti-max people block me and then a large part of the fandom becomes inaccessible because i can no longer interact with gifs and stuff like that

f1blr seemed more relaxed than some other hardcore divided fandoms i've been in but now i don't know, in another fandom a creator that's almost the sole content creator for a specific character blocked me for posting about a different character so that just kind of ruined the whole fandom and i'd rather experience that on f1blr as well because it's really nice so far and i really enjoy the races

oh pls never worry abt asking stuff! I'm not gonna block you for being curious

and ofc I can only give my own opinion on this but I think most people will just be confused abt it. like this is a sport being neutral is...strange its just not something that really happens a lot.

but if you stay neutral and peace n love then people shud b fine, theres a problem when you post hate about a driver without making it clear in some way dislike the driver/team or dont tag it right.

like I only block people if they're assholes to me or my friends I follow and am mutuals w a good few max/carlos blogs.

idk tumblr is very much a curate ur own experience thing and people r more likely to unfollow u then block u i think

[thedestructionofgrace]

Hey y’all, I’ve been on tumblr the last few years now and usually just keep myself to myself, read fanfics and like gifs but I’ve started to try and be a bit more interactive on here now that I know reblogging and commenting is more affective (effective?) and more appreciated amongst users on this platform. Honestly I don’t have many people in my life who like movies/books/shows/games etc in the same ways I do but here on tumblr I’ve managed to find some comfort in joining fandoms and finding like minded folk. I feel more comfortable in voicing my thoughts and opinions here now that I’ve gotten used to seeing how other people use it. The next paragraph is one of my thoughts that I’d like to put out there.

I wanted to share that what I have noticed (as I’ve been sitting back in the dark all this time) is that when new episodes/movies/shows/books etc are released, people are so quick to hate, harshly judge and find ways to tear something apart because they aren’t happy about certain things so they make it seem like the entire thing is absolute dog shit and isn’t worth anybody’s time. In the past I have seen and believed some peoples opinions on here so much that I’ve told myself I’m not even going to give that show/movie a chance cos it seems so bad but often find that when I do (decide to give it a chance) it’s usually not terrible or at least not as bad as some stranger online has made it seem and I always end up finding plenty of things that I’ve enjoyed about it and loved things that others have maybe overlooked or under appreciated just because of their hate which can sometimes be over the most simplest of things. When you have a thought on something you have every right to voice and post about it but if someone believes something different than you then please don’t immediately dismiss and hate on them. just be open minded, try starting a conversation instead of an argument in the comments section. Trust me I know it’s easier said than done but at least you can say you’ve tried. I want to make it clear that when it comes to topics like gender, sexuality, race, disability or religion these should definitely be called out and obviously I understand why you would hate a show or movie because of the homophobia, racism etc. of characters or writing in it. Those topics aren’t what I’m referring to when I talk about the hate that people spread, I’m just talking about how there are people on here that refuse to let other people appreciate things and find ways to put them down and try to make their own opinion the only one that makes sense, you can have different thoughts about a storyline or a character and still be civil. Try and take that in mind when you come across posts on here. I’ve seen comments sections that are filled with people turning on eachother and fighting over things like head canons or ships or storylines etc. I’ve seen fandoms divided over those kind of things and honestly it just seems stupid to me🤷🏻‍♀️ End of rant lol, just be kind that’s all 😅💜

[alternative-morenita]

Black Love in Media

I know you see the title and if you're black, then you definitely know what this gif entails for this post.

Hello, everyone, I'm Alternative Morenita -- but you can call me Saturn. For my inaugural post, I decided to address my favorite things and that is: film, media, and romance.

Which leads me to ask... Why is it so difficult for Black couples in media to be depicted in love without struggling?

I mean, think about it. We have the honorable mentions of Love & Basketball, Love Jones, Poetic Justice, The Best Man series, Baby Boy, Just Wright, Empire, Every Tyler Perry Movie...

I don't have to list anything else do I? Okay, good. And before folks point out Indie films that have proper portrayal of black love, I'm not talking about the Indie scene. Indie films produce the material we as an audience have been begging for mainstream names to create for years.

The main concern is, why are only the most notable films built off of the characters hating one another -- with no character or romantic progression or continuously stringing each other along from opening to closing scenes? Is it really that difficult to give black people a movie of two people coming together and caring for one another?

It's bad enough that media literacy has depleted conspicuously, but this is the legacy that black writers and producers have left behind for the new generation. Thankfully, from what I've seen, a lot of black writers and film producers have dropped the likes of Tyler Perry from their repertoire of idols.

However, it's not just Mr. Perry who's terrorized the community with his writing. Instead, a lot of these follow the phrase -- "art imitates life." So most of the teams behind these projects have constructed a mirror for themselves and their audience. And by all means, tell your story if that's what you want to do; just don't try to make it everyone else's story.

Shocker, not every black person is searching for a toxic relationship or wants to solely depend on another person because they are emotionally and mentally weak. Instead, we're emotionally mature adults who are trying make sense of our lives while trying to find that "perfect match" when all of a suddenly we run into our happily ever after or whatever.

The point is... as a community that is constantly stereotyped to be constantly angry, toxic, unwilling to commit, etc from outsiders -- you'd think that folks who have the ability to represent us to the world and ourselves in a brighter light wouldn't echo that mentality.

And the same goes for paralleling one's relationship to that of a celebrity couple. Think, what is one black celebrity couple that is constantly being used when a non-famous couple tries to describe their dynamic?

Beyonce and Jay-Z. And even in some cases, Will and Jada Smith. Which, unsurprisingly, are two of the most successful black celebrity couples who are toxic not just to each other and in some cases to others. Even in films, it's written for the characters to parallel themselves to either couples.

It's never any mentions of Michelle and Barack, Dwayne and Gabriella, Denzel and Pauletta, Angela and Courtney, or even Ciara and Russell. These are successful black couples who aren't toxic and prioritize on giving into the community. Why aren't they used inspiration more often? They have the money and the influence... oh, wait, my bad.

Not, Gabriella and Dwayne because they'd rather support and care for their trans daughter rather than risk her mental health deplete at such a young age. Since they have personally experience parenting a trans daughter, they advocate for black children who are LGBTQ+.

Not Ciara and Russell because she realized that Future wasn't willing to be a grown man and take accountability for his son. Speed forward, she doesn't just get into a relationship with a successful and respectful man -- but he was also a fan of hers. Despite Future continuously avoiding his son, he berates both Ciara and Russell for being adults who actually understand what it means to be parents.

And yet, the community has continuously bashed them because they're willing to stand up for their children rather than assimilate with the same bigoted values that have tormented our community for generations. So then that erases them from the prospect of being positive examples of black people genuinely being in love with each other.

Even in terms of platonic black love, why is it so difficult for us to be portrayed with positive friends who actually have something better to do than ruin our lives with poor advice because they believe that always starting arguments over little things is healthy.

Why can't black women have friends who discovered success whether through academics or through their own ambitions without their entire personality being built off of being problematic and superficial?

Why can't black men have friends who aren't women haters because little Jacqueline rejected him in the third grade or because they have mommy issues that they've refused to receive therapy for? Or share a form of admiration and love for each other without brushing it off as some 'gay shit.'

As a writer, I want to see not just more black characters being written into storylines that were typically shut out of because of our race and this idea that we can't be in a certain environment or like things that are considered to be 'white people shit'. I want to us getting our own variant of films like Fault In Our Stars or a love story like Tiana and Prince Naveen's.

Hell, we can still be written in a hood love story -- just stop glorifying gangsters because, especially with the new age folks, they're the same ones who will put your life on the line for their fuck ups. They're the same ones who'd manipulate you into taking the fall for their criminal actions. Instead, use the story as an opportunity to highlight how tragic the gang life is for both the affiliate and their loved ones.

For example, Boyz in the Hood or even On My Block.

What are some black films do you guys think represent black love respectfully? What type of films do you want us to be included in?

[rey-jake-therapist]

Yep. I have been personally accused by a person I never interacted with, and who hates Haladriels with such a force that they already wrote at least three anti Haladriel 20 pages pamphlets where they put all the lies they could think of to make shippers look like awful people who bully, silence, accuse non shippers of being anti feminist and prudish, who mock hose who tell them that Haladriel remind them of their personal abuse, who send death and rape threats, and who harass the actors' and their partners, of:

making the fandom toxic

Bullying people who didn't agree with my theories

Dismissing the abuse of people who told me they didn't like Haladriel because it reminded them of their own abuse

Being mean and weaponizing the Elrond/Sauron theory against shippers

Claiming my meta and my headcanon are canon and silencing anyone who disagree with me

Apparently I and several other Haladriels are 'well known bullies in the fandom'. Never mind that I joined this fandom only this summer, that I'm not on any Discord server, that I don't post on Twitter nor Reddit (only here), and that I chat only with three people in private.

Meanwhile this person's greatest hobby is to write heinous anti Haladriel pamphlets the length of the Wall of China. They also bragged in their comments about having several accounts with which they stalk Haladriel accounts. But somehow, this behavior is considered 'okay', and this person is regularly thanked by their followers for "daring to say it", including some Haladriels who don't want to be associated with the crowd of awful Haladriel shippers who do all these horrible things, and make this fandom 'Hell' for anybody else.

So the message is clear: writing meta, theories and headcanon is 'bad' because it's bullying and silencing people who have other opinions (never mind that I always make clear that it's only my ideas about the show and that I'm probably delulu regarding the most shippy stuff), but being obsessed by a ship to the point of writing several treaties explaining how shippers are evil, stupid and should stick to write fanfiction and draw fan art is 'good' and should be 'encouraged'. It's fandom positivity for you, it's what makes the fandom a safe place apparently.

I have an ask box, you know. And I leave the possibility to people to send anon asks. Meaning that if I'm so rude and mean, if I'm such a bully that I make the fandom such an horrible place to be, why didn't I EVER receive an anon message asking me to tone down the agressivity of my posts? Why on the contrary, do I receive messages of people telling me that my blog is one of their favorite, one of them even calling my blog a 'a safe place', because they know I won't judge whatever theories they'll share with me? 🤔

Anyway, I first didn't want to give this person the satisfaction of an answer, but at the end it is not about them. If I just ignore it and step back from the fandom, which is clearly this person's goal, I'll prove them right and it's out of the question. Because I never bullied anyone, I always welcomed different opinions.

But if you agree with this person, if you think I am an awful bully, that I make the fandom a 'toxic place', this is the time. I'll gladly step aside if that's the case, because it is not my purpose to make fellow fans and shippers uncomfortable. For one thing, I'm done talking about the Elrond/Sauron theory: I think I proved enough that my insistence has nothing to do with the ship (what do I have to gain from Sauron deceiving Galadriel again for their first on screen kiss?? Nothing folks, it sucks), you don't want to hear it? Good news, I'm done explaining.

But yeah, this is now or never. My ask box is open, I welcome anon messages. I'm not saying I will answer, but if it's respectful, I'll take note and I will quietly slip away from the fandom. I'll settle down with posting gifs, jokes and my fanfiction. I spend too much time here anyway. So by all means, don't be shy, I don't bite.

haladriel meta writers are out there dissecting the show like it's our media studies assignment.

meanwhile some antis are throwing tantrums saying that the reason it can't be sauron disguised as elrond with galadriel is bc elrond apologizes to galadriel... and sauron would never apologize to her... and it's like. did u watch s1? he literally apologizes for finrod and for everything. it's not an interpretation.

there is repentant!sauron in the show and his repentance has everything to do with galadriel!

it's so funny to see "nooo! no feelings sauron can never apologize to pure galadriel" takes after writing a long meta trying to explain the subtext of sauron and galadriel's dynamic.

bc yeah, we can disagree on analysis or interpretations or theories but some "disagreements" are clearly coming from the place of apathy towards the show itself... and misogyny bc how dare we center a female character in our discussions!

[marictheirins]

i want your gif making lore. 7, 9, 17, 15, 20, 26, 40, 45, and 49!

dfkjaj LORE REQUEST RECEIVED

7. Who are your top 3 gif makers

ohmans thats hard khfdsa. i actually am big fans of a lot of gifmakers out there that i dont follow but i see their stuff all the time in the tags & rb from them etc etc. but like i do follow a lot of folks who’s stuff i rlly enjoy and are folks that tend to inspire me. its a bit unfair to list just three so fkjsdha uhh @aartyom  @eurodynamic @onewingedangels @preciousgyro @entreri @marogarreh @thequantumranger @trident

9. What/who inspired you to start making gifs

i dont fully remember, i think a mix of just fandom stuff w/ friends & rp blogs. i do remember it was a hellacious journey until i could figure it out and since then i just have tried to keep improving or learning new things etc etc.

17. 10 sets, 8 sets, 6 sets? How many gifs to you prefer in a set

this is VERY dependent on the set im making at the time. i try to avoid like sets with a lot of images bc i get very tired with the task. but some stuff like i try to do between 2-5 so it looks nice in a post.

15. Have you ever had gifs stolen and reposted

constantly. usually its my avan gifs or star trek gifs. which is like the major reason i dont do them anymore or do a lot of non-video game slash anime sets. i tend to confront the person or ask them to take it down & it goes as well as you expect half the time: not the best. the worst time was a rp blog stealing all my avan gifs, not aware i was in the same rp circles so like tons of mutuals( most shared between the two of us ) notified me & they blocked me on said blog so i had to message them from my personal + other blogs i had at the time as well as said mutuals spoke with them as well before they took them down. it was a very frustrating day.

20. Mac or PC

i have experience with both mac & pc, however my default is my pc which is built for gaming. i’ve had mac laptops in the past via my older sister who would give me her school handmedowns. as far as specifically creating art gifs what have you, i have no preference between the two.

26. How many un posted sets are in your drafts right now

sO I KNOW A LOT OF PPL DO THAT WHERE THEY MAKE STUFF AND SAVE IT IN DRAFTS BUT IM DKSJHA i just i dont have the like mental fortitude to make something and not post it soon after. back when i was doing rp stuff & writing i used my drafts very heavily for wips & i sorta do that w/ gifsets in a way. as i make them i have a opened draft to upload each one to see how they look on tumblr, if they upload correctly, & to check coloring between my main monitor secondary monitor & phone as well so i make sure colors are good theres no washes etc. so usually if there is something in the drafts im currently working on it or its about to be posted so there are zero things in my drafts other than this ask kfsha

40. Why do you make gifs

good question. no clue. fkjhdsa but its fun & i enjoy it. its also just fun to share my interests in a way that can be shared by other people in reblogs etc. reading the tags of my sets & seeing ppls reactions or just opinions or whatever is just it rlly makes it. I Make Gifs For The People.

45. Ever gotten hate over a set

i’ve had ppl disrespect me bc of a gifset but ive never gotten hate persay. i do get a lot of bitchy people upset about my “do not repost or remove caption.” that i add to my posts which like i tend to ignore. realistically i cant stop ppl from doing such but it has helped so i keep doing it. usually i get a comment on said set they reblogged that day or in the tag but ive gotten 1 ask once about it & it was p funny. but proper hate with a valid reason ? nah.

49. How much would you say you’ve improved since you first started giffing

oH SO MUCH LOL. from coloring, to timing of the frames, to composition, to typography, to quality. the more i make the better i get. && there are things i want to redo to see how much i’ve improved. im not using the best tools to make these, but i’ve seen my improvement i’ve seen how much better i am & it’s rlly nice to be able to visually see your growth.

                                     /  GIFMAKER ASKS

[bellamyblake]

makes me sad how little bellarke fics are being made/updated nowadays :( I know it’s natural for fandoms to slow down once the show ends but tbh I didn’t expect it to be this bad, as an author yourself do you think it might be due to the terrible show ending or is there also lack of engagement from the readers?

I think a lot of people pulled away after the finale, that's true but there's also some who did that and after some time came back upon realizing that this final isn't *their* final. Of course that does play some role into it and I understand that people aren't like me, at least not most, I can just ignore it and keep doing what I love, writing fanfic and making gifs. I just love doing that. But others can't because of this and I get it. I've always been able to pull myself away from the narrative, even when the show was still going on. Also over the years I see some stuff differently and come to consider points I haven't before but most people don't do that.

I think part of it is also the culture we live in nowadays. When I first came on Tumblr someone having a multifandom blog was like nah, I won't follow that, I want one specific fandom or two not a whole bunch of them. Now things are different-almost everyone's multifandom and people jump from one thing to another in matter of weeks if not months. It's just the new culture, mostly inspired by the Netflix-and-the-alike providing content. The competition is to post major show after major show or remake something or to make a continuation or a prequel of something that people loved. but the idea is that people loved that one specific OLD thing and they go there because they are nostalgic.

Overall I think the generation changed, and younger folks but not just prefer to jump from one thing to the other without sticking to something. I personally and I know there's also others like me even if they're not a majority, like old stuff, the way things used to be, one episode every week, one or two major fandoms and other stuff they liked. I know that I am like that, I prefer rewatching older shows than watching anything new that doesn't really speak to me and move on to the next a month or two after. I still find more sense in shows that come weekly like All American, SEAL team and others that I follow aka cable shows, than any dragon stuff or period drama things or witch stuff that cast one or two famous names to get the major viewing and hook people up enough to watch their stuff, drop two seasons and then stop it. ( I also have interesting observations on the handmaid's tale and i make them only because I know bruce miller, the executive was the one who was in the writer's room for the 100 and he was the reason why the show got better over time but I find flaws in him too and I find some interesting conclusions there when I watch for myself, anyway that's not important)

I think it just depends on what people like nowadays. I know not as many post fics or headcanons or gifs about the show but I still love writing my fic every day and getting something out there. I love those characters, I love the actors who played them and follow their careers. Most people don't do that. And I think that's one reason why. Then again sometimes after a bad ending some time needs to pass before people can start creating for it again. Just to shake things off. I think the core remains that there's no other couple like bellarke in any other show I've watched. There's similarities and people find them in couples I don't and didn't even back when the 100 was still on (say like Math/ias and N/na from what is it now Sh/adow and bone when I remember the bellarke fandom hated that couple back when the books were out but somehow ppl compare them to bellarke now?? which super weird). I've seen some authors get inspired and write for them again but yes not as many do anymore.

With fanfic there's also that people tell you how to write your fic now. It's not like before in FF.net when you posted and there were no tags, no warnings nothing like that and if people didn't like something they didn't read it.

Simple as that.

For example I'm now afraid to post new chapters of my ark!AU cause I know what I've written and I'm certain people will yell at me about it and that just makes me not want to post it. Other's comments are just *update* and that does little for your motivation.

There's also the fact that there's no fanfic blog to promote writers in this fandom nowadays, even if they're not as many, there's just nothing to bring them together. I know of ppl on twitter who write who I don't see here but they post chapters. There's also no fanfic awards or anything like it to help promote those who write. They're not as few as we think. I believe ppl post and they post good stuff but no many know of them.

Then there's also the issue of smut. A bellarke fic with 90% smut that is posted now gets 10k hits. One that is modern AU or something else gets say 500 hits. So there's the issue of that too on a deeper level.

Overall, I know the fandom is smaller now but frankly, I enjoy that. I don't have the rush to compete with something (I always did better on hiatuses than on showdays) and I know it's something that it's over but I am content creating for it even for 20 people here and 50 on twitter and 30 on Ao3. I'm in no interest of following big netflix productions. I watch them but they do little for me. I just don't feel the soul in them. Maybe i'm old but that's just me.