#my first gifset of 2025 lol

[hyunchans]

HYUNJIN :: STAY 5TH GEN WELCOME VIDEO

[ashortstoryaboutlove]

2024 Drama Year in Review

I completed 28 Cdramas and 37 Kdramas in 2024. A lot more Cdramas and a lot fewer Kdramas than last year.

So, what changed this year? First, I tried to watch more shows as they were airing this year, to keep my binging under control. I think that worked pretty well. It was also kind of fun to keep up with other viewers on the shows as they aired here on tumblr and sometimes on reddit (reddit tends to be more negative though, and I am not a huge fan of too much negativity—I’d rather just reblog pretty gifsets here lol).

Second, I had a long run of being really taken by Cdramas and the ways they can develop a story with the longer episode runs. I watched some fantastic Cdramas this year and I can see that continuing in 2025.

And third, I just didn't have as much free time as last year. The fall was stupid busy for me at work and I went weeks without watching anything at all. I also did a bit more book reading this year than last year.

My favorite Cdrama watches this year in no particular order:

Fake It Till You Make It - I felt like this was one of the most perfect modern Cdramas I've seen, with realistic development and not a million episodes. Great couple, fighting for their love and to stay true to themselves.

Lighter and Princess - Really good pacing for me and the least annoying Cdramas I've seen. I know it's not everyone's favorite, but I think the leads had amazing chemistry and believable character development.

Nirvana in Fire - This is at the top of my list as my favorite Cdrama now. It's perfect in pacing and character development. The only bummer was that the end was so quick and unexplained, but it's by far one of the best series out there.

Joy of Life 1 & 2 - WOW this is another favorite. Season 1 had a cliffhanger of an ending and there were so many twists in the last episode! Thankfully, I watched it right before the second season came out so I didn't have to wait years for it. Fan Xian is one of my favorite characters ever and although season 2 was a bit slower to start it was just as good at social commentary, politics, and FX's beliefs.

The Rebel Princess - This was epic! The storyline was strong throughout. The FL was kind of a pushover at times but ML was awesome and such a refreshing change from pretty boy idol dramas. The soundtrack was lovely and the visuals stunning. A memorable drama all around.

Go Ahead - Such a sweet slice of life family drama! I watched the Korean remake (Family by Choice) first, then this. This version develops the adult parts of their lives better than Family by Choice.

Blossom - I really enjoyed this second chance reincarnation drama. FL was truly a strong, ride-or-die partner to the ML. The political stuff at the end was concluded in a way that I hadn't expected. And they got a good, happy ending.

My favorite Kdrama watches this year:

Sh**ting Stars - Well paced for most of the series and good outcomes for all of the couples. It was my first Kdrama of the year and it really stuck with me. I think a lot of it is the humor and the awkward interactions between the ML and FL (that angry bathroom scene lives rent-free in my head).

Like Flowers in Sand - I think what made this stand out for me was how different it was from a lot of the other things I watched this year. I thought the pacing was perfect, the relationships mostly realistic, and the body types normal. The mystery meshed with the rest of the story just right and I came to care about a sport I had never heard of before. The 12 episode run meant there wasn't any extra filler and the romance got a brief showing, but I loved the small-town setting and people who lived there anyway.

Move to Heaven - Beautiful and sad. I cried 7 out of 10 episodes. It's really moving and I think one of the best Kdramas I've seen.

A Shop for Killers - Edge of your seat action. Lee Dong Wook is in his John Wick era. There's an emotional backstory weaved into it to go with the bloody violence. Looking forward to the next season.

Hospital Playlist - Best slice of life IMO. I had a little bit of a hard time following all of the different people and stories at first, but once I got dialed in, it was over for me. I love all of those people.

What Comes After Love - I watch Jdramas on occasion, and this was a nice little combination of Jdrama with Kdrama. It was calm and realistic and full of feelings. I wish it had been longer, but it was nice to have no stupid drama cliches shoehorned into it to add time to the drama. And it had a beautiful/happy ending.

Family by Choice - I liked parts of this more than the Chinese original. I know that's blasphemy, but the relationship between Hae Jun and his foster dad Jeong Jae was so much more emotional and it really pulled my heart strings. It's probably a bit more melodramatic than Go Ahead. I think my view of the two is also influenced by the fact that I watched this version first. But both are excellent, and I'd recommend either one. 🤷‍♀️

When the Phone Rings - Thank you I love a good makjang and this was definitely in that family. Edge of your seat suspense and hot chemistry between the leads!

The Midnight Romance in Hagwon - People didn't like this as much as I did. It's slower paced and has a lot of stuff in it about the politics of hagwons and that was hard to wade through at first, but it's necessary to help set the scene. I super enjoyed seeing the villains get what they deserved, the couples were goals, and I like that the ending wasn't really predictable but still satisfying.

Honorable Mention:

W: Two Worlds had a really cool premise, characters I cared about, and was very suspenseful. But I thought the FL became too much of a damsel at the end--she had more personality at the beginning IMO.

Lost You Forever 1 & 2 were an enjoyable watch, but I found FL too annoying/stupid at times and couldn't figure out why everyone loved Cang Xuan so much bc I wanted to punch him in the nose half of the time. Xiang Liu was the most tragically romantic figure, despite being a giant red flag lmao.

So, that's my year in Asian dramas. I only watched 3 Jdramas this year, and one of them was Shogun, which feels like cheating because it has so much American influence on it. But that was the best of the 3 for me, and Anna Sawai is a queen.

I'm looking forward to seeing what 2025 has to offer. I'm hoping for more memorable costume dramas and less tropey modern dramas with more realistic emotions. I think I'll try to dabble a bit more in Jdrama land too, because I do like how short the series are (the downside is I tend to think they're not as well developed as a result).

Happy New Year!

[chancheols]

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL GIFSET 💙💜❤️🩷 it’s honestly everything i could’ve asked for and more! i noticed the colours first but then i saw how you connected my biases and units with the friendships and moments i told you???? you’re amazing for doing that! thank you for taking the time of making that gorgeous set! it’s so so creative, i couldn’t have asked for something better bc you honestly exceeded my expectations. thank you again for being so lovely and for making me not only my day but my year!! closing 2024 with a bang for real 😭😭😭 😭 thank you!!!

Omg, Lou!!! Hi!!!!

The way this ask and your tags made me feel all bashful skskksksk 👉🏾👈🏾 You have no idea how much it means to me to see that you like the gifset <3333 I'm so, so glad that I could gift it to you and that this gift exchange allowed me to get to know you 💖

Also, ngl, I'm SO relieved and happy you noticed the colours and the flow of the members 😭😭😭 While I was making it I kept wondering, 'is this only going to make sense to me or will Lou see what I'm trying to go for here?' and I'm so glad you saw what I was going for 🥹 That was one of my biggest worries lol.

I'm so happy that I could help in ending off your year with bang and, hopefully your 2025 starts with the same energy!!! <3

[aceofwhump]

Hello my dear! I hope you're doing well, I saw your family's not having the best run of luck - I hope that gets better fast!!!

If you haven't seen it, you need to check out Roswell New Mexico (TV show). It's got everything: awful parenting trauma, bisexual aliens, gay pining, murder mysteries everywhere, trauma, and did I mention trauma? Lol, it's excellent (if you're looking for fucking fantastic gifs and a killer archive of them, check out @bisexualalienss )

Hello friend! Yeah this year has had a LOT of bumps and I'm tired. 2025 better be the best year ever I'm just saying. But we're hanging in there. Taking things as they come and just doing our best.

You know Roswell New Mexico has been on my to watch list for AGES! I remember watching the first few episodes and then I got distracted by other shows lol. But I see the whumpy gifsets all the time and it looks so good! I really do need to get into. I want to so badly. I'll go look at the gifs! Thanks!

[rexobibang]

Artists FAQs

Artists FAQs

What kind of art is accepted?

We accept any type of art, including (but not limited to): traditional art, digital art, manips, banners, icons, wallpaper, gif sets / picspam, vids, podfics, and fanmixes. If you want to do physical art (crochet/knitting, pottery, bookbinding, etc), that is TOTALLY OKAY and accepted too!! 

If you have a question about if what you do would be accepted as art for the Bang, please ask a mod!

What constitutes “finished art”?

For writers, we ask them to complete (bare minimum) 50% of their work. We ask the same of artists: sketches. IF you’d like to go beyond sketches and provide line art, or even full colored art? I’m sure your writer would be over the moon. 

WAIT! What about [me]? I’m a [fanworker]! What’s my bare minimum?!

Right, everyone has different art types and not everyone has a “sketch”. How about this for a breakdown of what could be considered a bare minimum? This should be all right for a 10k/Mini Bang fic. If you have feedback on this, please reach out to a mod and let us know. We are still adapting this rule (2025 is our first time enacting this).

Traditional Art: At least a sketch, black&white

Moodboard: Minimum, three images

Gifsets / Picspam: 2 gifs/4 icons

Poetry: A pair of haikus or 8 line minimum

Podfics: 5-20 minutes in length, depending on writer’s track

Fanmixes: 5 songs

Fanvids or Fanedits: 30 seconds minimum

For physical art, please speak to a mod and we will work with you on your bare minimum. I think concept sketches might be sufficient, but I believe we might need to work with you depending on your project and your writer.

I’m a [fanworker]. Why do you keep using the phrase “artist” or “fanworker”?

Because mod Karma is writing all these FAQs and documents and they are old school and bangs are typically writer and artist. Mod Karma is trying to be inclusive and capture all types of artists – podficcers, poets, fanmixers, etc – at once and yeah. Cut me some slack lol I’m sorry if you don’t like the term. You can provide feedback on any of the check-in forms.

Wait, writers don’t have to have a finished fic? What do they give us?

For 2025, Art Claims will happen the first weekend in May (May 2-4). Mods will match up fanworkers with writers that following week and emails will go out once we have made matches. So you can reasonably expect that by the second week in May that you will have your writer. 

If all goes accordingly, a writer should provide their draft to you within this timeframe (between the second and fourth week in May). The last week in May is when fanworkers have the ability to drop out without issue, 100%. If there are issues with your writer, that’s taken on a case-by-case basis.

By art claims, a writer should very hopefully have at least 40-50% written. That should give you enough to work with:

We will flag anyone who has not met the 40-50% threshold to let you know ahead of time. We will also request that those writers submit at least a document with a brief outline/blurb of what they expect the shape of their story to take so you have an idea of where the story is going. That could be bullet points, a paragraph, however the writer best plots. 

When you connect with the writer, they will hopefully be able to provide you with more details.

Okay, that’s a little weird. What can I expect from this bang?

Above all things, mod Karma believes in collaboration. A fanworker and a writer should be able to meet each other halfway and create something together. That’s not to say a writer should be able to dictate to the artist what they want to see. And the artist shouldn’t just take the story and ghost the writer and create in a silo. What should happen, ideally, is that an artist and writer come together and create something together. With input from both sides. Truly a collaboration. 

If that’s not your thing, then you can both (as a team) decide what works best for you. But communication is key. Please don’t ghost each other. That would make us cry. :(

How many stories can I sign up for?

Honestly, as many as you think you can handle. We won’t stop you. You can sign up for 10 Mini Bangs, or 3 Mega Bangs. Or just 1 Big Bang. But, please, for the love of all things soft and squishy, take care of you and your mental health and your body first. No one wants you to burn out for the sake of fandom. It’s just an event. It’s just fandom. You are more important. 

What’s the drop deadline for fanworkers (for 2025)?

May 23-25, 2025

How do claims work for the Bang?

So claims work by a Google Form. We send it out the first weekend in May (2025). We ask artists how many fics they would like to claim, how many pieces they believe they have time to create (1-5+) and if they mind being paired with another artist on a story. Last year, we had more artists than writers, so we did something called Bonus art (so a Mini Bang got 2 pieces of art, but the Bonus art wasn’t required if the artist couldn’t finish it). We also ask if there’s anything the mods should take into consideration when making matches.

Then, on a scale of 0 (Triggering AF) to 5 (GIMME THAT RIGHT TF NOW), we ask artists to rate at least x-amount of fics a 4 or 5 to match with their top pick. I say x-amount because I’m not sure how many we may get in 2025. In 2023, we said 2 fics. We provided the summaries via PDF and Google Slides ahead of matching. We provide the title, the track, and rating. We also state if the writer would prefer not to receive a certain type of art. 

How do I post my finished art?

This will be determined between you and your writer. Art can either be embedded in the story on AO3 or can be posted as a standalone piece on AO3 that the writer will link to. But it must be posted to AO3.

I don’t have an AO3 account.

We can hook you up with an invite.

Can I share my progress art?

Yes, but only during the promo period(s). Please see the timeline for those date(s).

Can I write as well as produce art?

Of course! We have a role for that!

Can I also sign up to pinch hit?

Absolutely! We’d actually really appreciate it, just in case.

Can I pull out if my writer doesn’t appropriately tag/warn?

If your writer fails to disclose all warnings on their fic and it makes you uncomfortable (including trigger or just flat out squicks), please reach out to a mod. We take tagging very seriously. 

Short answer – yes. You may drop that project. We can rematch you with another writer if you would like.

Is there a discord? (Do we have to join it?)

We have one! You can join it here.

And you are not obligated to join it. Our primary method of communication will be email. Please verify with your team, once teams are assigned, how they would prefer to communicate. Please also be aware that some artists (and writers!) may not have Discord.

[winnschottjrwrites]

so, i have 1500 followers now. which is kinda weird. most of those followers are dead blogs or spam but like ... a lot of people see the things i say and the things i do so i wrote a big, unnecessary thing lol this isn’t even that big of a milestone but too bad.

i started this thing to keep track of my rp shit. my first post was a reblog of ‘fifteen fluffy one-liners’ which said a lot about me three years ago. now im posting vaguely problematic shit, spewing out weirdly colored gifsets and crying about jeremy and ashley. when i made this account i didnt even know who jeremy was. and when i first found out i thought he was the world’s most unattractive man. nothing has changed really.

i also kind of hate you all for making my jughead gifset my most popular post like fucking serious ??  of all the shit i make ??

im not wasting my time doing a follow forever bc those died out in 2015 lol but this kinda a general thanks to my mutuals who have watched me turn from jesse st. james loving hetero bitch to a jeremy jordan loving gay bitch who still really loves jesse st. james.

some of you are gross as FUCK like it’s 2017 and we’re still doing the whole ‘all gay men are soft, sensitive, pastel flowers’? hm i think not but then there are some, hopefully y’all know who you are, that are just so .. good like wowza. thx for existing.

im really not a good person. i’ve done bad shit and i dont think before i speak and im an insanely compulsive liar and i become obsessed with people, public figures and irl people, so quickly it’s probs toxic and i daydream about being friends with people who i’ve never spoken too and i pretend to know celebs so well when i probably know nothing but ... i guess you guys are able to see the good stuff ?? which is weird you probably shouldn’t and when im famous this will all bite me in the ass and i’ll get a page on yourfaveisproblematic bc of it.  

idk what im saying but when im older and stop stanning jeremy after his big scandal in 2025 i like to think i’ve contributed something even though it was just weird text posts with my iconic format of;

‘ you: *something i dont like*

me: *drag race gif* ‘

that’s better that what i wouldve done if id never found theatre and supergirl and the ugliest man alive and his stunning blonde wife. really this is just a thank you to ashley spencer im not joking i’d delete this blog in a heartbeat if she asked.

so to summarise in the words of jeremy jordan himself;