#so I'm posting gifsets and hoping this gets it across

[heffrondriving]

❝ And KENDALL needs to stop talking back to me after everything I say! ❞

[galedekarios]

#this took so much work#but i really wanted to make this#sorry it got so long

Personally I thank you for your hard work and that gif set is just as long as it needs to be. I for one can't recall hearing the dialogue in the second gif before so I'm glad to see it now.

thank you so much, i really do appreciate the support and kind words a lot! 🖤

the line is from early access! i touched on it in this post.

if you want to see and listen to it, tim's performance of it, i included a short clip from early access:

the quote itself is from gale's early access romance scene in act i after the tiefling party. that scene was cut and most of it is completely gone. some lines were re-used in the full release version of the game: in act 1, for the reveal scene where gale lets the protag into his mind, and others for the beginning of the act 2 romance scene/last night alive scene.

the conversation started like this:

Gale: I know we have to get moving again soon, but before we part, I’d like to tell you something. I’d like to tell you a story. It is a story full of answers long overdue. It is a story of a man who fell in love with a goddess. Player - Option 2: It’s clear as day you are talking about yourself, you know. Gale: I know, but a bit of narrative distance will make it all so much easier in the telling. Indulge me.

if you then chose to indulge gale, letting him tell the story with "a bit of narrative distance" to make it "easier in the telling" for him, this was the story he would tell the player in early access:

Gale: Once upon a time, not quite that long ago, there lived a wizard in a tower. The wizard was what one might call a prodigy, who from an early age could not only control the Weave, but compose it, like a musician or a poet. Such was his skill that it earned him the attention of the mother of magic herself. The Lady Of Mysteries, Mystra.

from there, the conversation branched again:

Player - Option 1: What did Mystra’s attention feel like? Gale: Love.  Player - Option 2: He sounds like a very talented individual Gale: He was. Even though it was in Mystra’s affections that his true power lay. Player - Option 3: Teacher’s pet, was he? Gale: He fancied himself much more than that. He fancied himself favoured above all others. Perhaps it was not quite love, but you see, the wizard was but a very young man. It was most certainly love to him.

leading to the quote that i used for my gifset, highlighting gale's lines about the life of a chosen:

Gale: Mystra showed him the secrets behind the veils. The gossamer veils first, draped across the Weave. The delicate veils next, draped across her body. ‘Chosen One’ she whispered, as she slipped them off completely.

i'm thinking about dedicating a full post to the original ea romance scene in act 1 when i find the time to do so because it's an interesting scene.

anyhow, i hope that was helpful! 🖤

[lloydskywalkers]

Hi!

I just wanted to say I enjoy your writing and am beyond delighted you're back!

(I also hope I don't come across as too forward/pushy of me but was wondering if you are open to fic prompts in general, or if there's a chance you might take prompts in the future?)

Thank you so much for sharing your fics and gifsets and everything you bring to this fandom, it's a genuine joy to see your posts on my dash and I hope you have a wonder day!

Oh thank you so much i'm so happy to hear that!! I hope you have a wonderful day as well :D

And on prompts — they're always a little dicey for me because I would love to open them at some point! but I currently don't have official plans since I'm still trying to resurrect my writing habits, and I tend to write. a LOT when i write fics so answering every prompt might take five years T-T

That being said, tho — I am always open to people sending in suggestions! I'm not sure if I'll be able to get to them in a reasonable time, but I do love bouncing ideas when the inspiration strikes and I've had fun answering asks with fics before

[kakarorin]

Defending "The Road to El Dorado" from a couple racist claims, or how I, being so cheeky, like to call it: Covering myself in sugar in order to attract some nasty little bugs🐞

For some reason, 2024 seems to be the year when I can't tolerate "The Road to El Dorado is packed with racism" discourse anymore. A couple days ago, I stumbled across a very colourful gifset which encapsulated perfectly all the objectively wrong arguments (save for half... one... one and a half... It depends) I've ever seen people give out to explain why they don't like the movie (@/neechees: If by some unlikely chance you're reading this, I wish we could have talked about it calmly. I'm a very open-minded person, unlike you seem to be). I've seen them SO many times that I think I hit my limit. Long story short, I got defensive, which I regret, shame on me, told the op they were wrong, as they are, op responded, and I got blocked before I could respond back. I honestly don't know why they blocked me after responding. I don't know if they sensed I know much more about the Aztec Conquest than they do, but well... Occam's razor.

After I calmed down, tried to reach to them because I genuinely wanted to talk about it, and failed, I decided I was going to break their post down as minutely as I could, even if just to get it off my shoulders and toss it into the void, and polished what I told one of the people who reblogged op's post saying they were right into this lengthy post. Purely because I love debating about movies I love. And boy, do I LOVE this movie.

Before starting, I'm letting you know that, as far as I know, I'm 100% white. And I'm also from Spain (Europe. Clarifying this for the Americans), which understandably gives me the advantage of having lived (and living) through the subtle remnants of the wretched Spanish Black Legend. Yet none of these two things stopped me from looking up historical papers, podcasts and documentaries (further than YouTube's video essays, I mean) so I could understand that this sort of... slander was indeed, part of that concept. I don't see how being of a particular race or ethnicity gives you the right to speak about recorded history as objective facts without doing your research and applying your critical thinking to it, either. Does op think that just because they're Native-American, as they say (just in case, can't believe anything you read on the internet these days), a person who has spent hours, days, months educating themselves about Hernán Cortés, poor Malinche and the Aztec Conquest from serious sources can't have more knowledge than them? Smh, op, smh. It does give you right over feelings, and obviously, your own experiences, though. Hope you still understand that factual knowledge is an entirely different thing.

That being said, at the end of the day, save for the very easy-to-check historical facts (which I will provide sources for if asked, although I believe you can very easily research it yourself), this is my opinion about why "The Road to El Dorado" is regarded as much more racist than it actually is. If you want to give me yours or respond to it, please, by all means, do it. Respectfully and with clear and valid reasons, of course. Otherwise, I'll have to ignore you. Understand that what you read below is the limit of my thinking and reading. Enjoy, or hate. Call me a racist. Send a WHITE meme my way. Up to you.

I'd link you to the post, but I don't feel like it. They blocked me, after all. You can search my blog for it. It's tagged as "neechees". And be sure to read their tags on the post as well, for context. Anyway, here go their "objective truths". Debunking time starts... now:

(EDIT: This is filled with edits. See how my opinion can change and I can clarify or rectify? Anyway, stating the obvious, but I believe Spanish colonization is bad. In any part of the world. I won't give you a single good aspect of it, except for that at least it was based on a different mindset than British colonization. Maybe there are fairly good aspects. After all, they say Romans gave us Spaniards roads and sewage systems. We'd have to take a look at an alternative reality where it didn't happen to make an objective claim. But, believe me, if it had been for me, I'd have pushed Cortés off the ship a good bunch of nautical miles before he reached what is now known as Veracruz, whatever good things he ended up doing. Bear that in mind.)

1. The cultures are mashed up in one city, that is true. But there is no explicit racist (implying prejudice, discrimination or antagonism, as I understand racism, or as racism is actually defined) motive behind it. I don't think it's done out of unthoughtfulness, either. I'm pretty sure it's just done to leave the place ambiguous, because (tell you more later), with Cortés involved and what went down with him historically, that place is much more meant to be Tenochtitlán than the legendary city of El Dorado. They didn't want to make that so explicit because this is a retelling, after all (tell you more later). I honestly don't see how anyone could think that the resulting city and culture are portrayed in a negative way. Sometimes, I'm not even sure these people were paying attention when watching the movie (if they ever did). In fact, if it weren't for the title of their post, I wouldn't even understand the point in this.

2. Oh boy, this is exactly what triggered me to say something instead of just putting it on my blog silently. This is how I know the op has ZERO knowledge about the historical event behind it, because they wouldn't say this is right if they did. There is no such thing as a (EDIT:) sufficiently collective "Spanish lie that Native-American (NA) people believed they were gods" (NEVER listen to a Spaniard who claims this. EDIT: Like López de Gómara. They're delulu), this has never had any kind of historical relevance (in the outcome and influence of history, I mean), and the NA people in the movie are not worshipping the white guys because they're white. The whole plot, arriving in a city and being mistaken for a god because your arrival coincided with an ancient premonition in such a precise way that it is fascinating, is exactly what happened to Cortés when he reached the capital of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlán. He was believed to be the reincarnation of Quetzalcóatl, and that's why he could enter the city peacefully and live in it for a short amount of time. The concept of the movie seems to be "What if this, instead of happening to a conquistador (in which is implicit the catholic element) who quickly said he was no god when he realised what was happening (because of the sin of idolatry), happened instead to two atheist looters who are ultimately good-hearted (NOT colonizers, because they didn't try to claim the land or control it) who weren't stopped by the fear to sin and took advantage of the situation?" That's it. The premonition happened to fall on a white man hundreds of years ago (who also came from the east, same place Quetzalcóatl left to and said he'd return from) and so does in the movie story because it mirrors real history, and, again, I fail to see the negative portrayal in all of this because it's certainly NOT because they're white. I think the op also took it salty that I said they had zero knowledge about "the very people they're trying to defend", which I still believe, but this is complex and I'll only explain this if asked. What I meant by that, on the surface, is that NA people also enslaved NA people. I seriously hope op doesn't think NA slavery is more acceptable if it comes from other NA people than white people. Who knows, at this point.

3. This is essentially right. It's the only thing I think is mostly right, actually. It's no problem for me, though. I love Chel, she's beautiful and aesthetically pleasing to me. But I can understand why it may put someone off. All good. However, I still wanna say that the Aila test is just a way of assessing indigenous women representation as positive and negative, and not the work in itself as problematic if it doesn't pass it. The Lord of the Rings doesn't pass the Bechdel test and I have never seen anyone calling it problematic because of that, nor do I need positive representation (I'm a woman. Sort of. It fluctuates) on it to enjoy it. Although I figure I'd feel the same if I were NA, I can't and won't speak for one. So I still give you that.

4.1. This is wrong in three ways. First, Tzekel-kan is not "demonized as evil". He is evil. He's not evil because he's NA, he is evil because he killed, he lied, and he abused his power. There are NA people in the movie who are kind and good (everyone but him, I believe), and then there's him. In every race and ethnicity, there are good, neutral and bad people. And people who are sometimes good, and sometimes bad. If all the NA people were painted in a morally white and good way, that special treatment would come off as positive discrimination to me. Why can't he be a sociopathic genocider AND indigenous at the same time without being considered as racist? Does that mean all indigenous people have to be/are morally white? If all the other NA characters were demonized, I'd understand it, but it's the opposite. Also, Tzekel-kan is loosely based off Moctezuma, the (redundant) emperor of an Empire who enslaved other NA people. And, surprise, just like Cortés, I don't think the guy was evil. I think this is probably another reason why they didn't want to make clear the specific culture. I could see the racism if they had tried to directly compare Tzekel-kan with Moctezuma, I would perfectly be able to see the claim that Moctezuma was a sociopathic genocider, and I'd recognise that as racist. But in this case, it's just loose inspiration. Not a parody.

4.2. There was NO genocide in the Spanish NA colonies. There was NO legal slavery, save for a few unfortunate loopholes (tell you more later). (EDIT: careful, I'm NOT defending his monumental fuck-ups or justifying him in any way, just so you know. In my opinion, he was a fair lot more bad than good, but not 100% bad. If you get me) Hernán Cortés did a lot of undeniably wrong things, but he did good things too. I don't think you can say he was a good person, no person who'd say that would be a friend of mine, but I don't think he was a 100% evil person. Just a person, sometimes good and sometimes bad. Still, when he was bad, he was bad. And what op said about that they didn't care enough about him to write his name properly, BOY how that ticked me off. People, for all you hold dear, you have to CARE to know about such important historical figures in order to understand the history behind them and the outcomes of their actions. Especially within such a sensitive topic. It's when stories like this are ignored or forgotten, that history tends to repeat itself. The fact that I care to spell Hernán Cortés well has not the respectful positive connotation they think, either. And despite what you may believe, we Spaniards do NOT think he did everything right and much less that he was a hero. I think some Mexicans think we all do, but I don't know why. Only the most idiotic "fachas" (ultraright people) do.

4.3. One, he was not enslaved (tell you more later). Two, well, since he tried to mass-murder the inhabitants of the city, I... I do reckon putting him away was a good ending. Jesus, he tried to purge the city of citizens HE deemed unworthy in the name of a divine power (=on a religious basis) with the clear intention to wipe them out. It's clearly stated more than once throughout the movie. If you didn't know, by objective definition, the name of that starts with 'G' and ends with 'ENOCIDE'. And when that failed, he actively tried to drive the colonizers to them. Only because of that, he was technically much more of a genocider than the historical Cortés ever was. Are his actions really justified just because he's indigenous? Doesn't he deserve a punishment just because of it? I see "slavery" (if it were. Since enslaving NA in Spanish colonies was illegal at the time, I'd say he was kidnapped, in the strict sense of the word. Bit funny to word it like that) as a punishment more than fitting for his crimes. I think you all should drill this into your head: ANY abusive leader involved in (I can't believe I'm going to say this, but socially unacceptable) murder deserves to be punished in some way independently of his race, ethnicity or religion. This is something I believe firmly, so you have very little room to debate with me on this one. Do try, if you want.

By the way, I LOVE Tzekel-kan to death. Just the way he is. A charismatic, fanatical, sociopathic fictional high priest who tried to cleanse his city in the name of his gods through murder and human sacrifice, a practice that the other NA inhabitants very obviously did NOT enjoy (well, that definitely rings a historical bell). If you hadn't noticed, or perhaps thought it was impossible, let me tell you this: you can actually love evil characters without justifying their actions. It's legal. 100%. Unlike slavery in NA Spanish colonies at the time.

5. I don't see exactly how spirituality is portrayed as evil. More specifically, I don't see how the movie's actual magic is considered Aztec spirituality. Not a fan nor a hater of Hazbin Hotel, but I've seen one of the demon characters around Twitter using literal voodoo in a very unthoughtfully wrong way. That's a big no-no, in my opinion. And I see a clear difference with this because there is nothing in the stone jaguar magic that single-handedly resembles what Aztec religion actually was. I'm not saying this can't be done in a wrong way with indigenous NA spirituality, nor that they didn't take elements from it (they did), I just think that with all the context behind the movie, here it's just magic that serves a plot function. Aesthetic Aztec/Maya patterns appear here and there, arguably because those are the "places" where it's geographically based (and because Tzekel-kan is loosely based off Moctezuma, who was the religious spiritual leader who received the Quetzalcóatl premonition), but at the end of the day, I don't think it's much more than the fantasy you typically find in a kids' movie. No specific religion was portrayed as evil, no specific gods were portrayed as evil, the magic in itself wasn't portrayed as evil. In the movie, it was black magic because Tzekel-kan, who was evil, used it for evil. Who says that a giant stone cat can ONLY serve evil purposes? I'd use it for good, personally. Maybe transportation. Maybe architecture. Decoration. Festivities. (CW: 26-year-old making a boomer joke) Maybe to instill cordial fear among my neighbours.

EDIT: I've been thinking about this these days and I realised that in the specific stone jaguar "spell", Tzekel-kan needs to toss his poor aide into the mix for it to "activate". That is much more evil than neutral, so maybe I can kind of see this point now. And human sacrifice was part of some of these religions, after all, so maybe it does point towards Aztec spirituality. Still, as it didn't come off as evil to me until I've THOROUGHLY thought about it, I feel like questioning things. Does the "spell" need a human body, or an animal body would have served? The "recipe" doesn't state anything. It's Tzekel-kan who pushes him in. Do ALL the "spells" need a body to "activate"? Maybe not. I feel like maybe I can give you a part of this argument. But still... Hmm. I don't know. We were stuck with an evil religious high priest, but that doesn't necessarily mean ONLY he could use magic. Nor that ALL the magic was evil. But yeah, alright. I can sort of see this now... a bit.

6. I can give you this... for the most part. Knowing it mirrors history, and that historically, it was white men who rid the NA people enslaved by the Aztec Empire (which I believe is what the people of El Dorado ended up portraying, somehow oppressed by Tzekel-kan's sacrifices) of the Aztec Empire (even if woefully just to take their place), I'm not sure it's so simple. I still don't fully see it as plain white saviour narrative with that background info. In any case, I think my mind can be changed about this with the right argumentation. Surely not by a person who has no knowledge about history. Sorry, op.

7.1. For my next trick, I'll blow your mind: Cortés was no big bad evil genocider. He wasn't a golden-hearted saint or saviour either. Frankly, I believe most people think he was similar to Christopher Columbus (of whom I don't know as much, but sounds pretty 100% evil to me with what I have) by default. I'm also very certain they watched the movie and took that version of him as a faithful representation, but in reality he was very different. He was short, he was slender, he was way more charismatic, way less solemn and serious, and he had the reputation of a womanizer. He committed atrocities, like torturing and murdering the last Huey Tlatoani for rumours (Jesus, the Cholula massacre), but he also treated most indigenous people with respect (when he wasn't pathologically obsessed with gold), he talked with Moctezuma as if he were his kin, he always tried to negotiate before grabbing his arms, he listened to and followed the advice of an indigenous woman (Malinche). And once he had done the deed, his reputation was sunk, he was stripped of most of his titles and compensation for what he had done (karma? Possibly), and he had practically no say in the new territories. He went there for the gold above all, and all the crimes he committed were in its name. But unlike Miguel and Tulio (this is the reason why they're not colonizers, only looters), he ALSO wanted to seize control of the land for the Spanish Empire. As an anti-colonialist Spaniard, I can't help boiling up in anger every time I see someone call Miguel and Tulio colonizers. They are NOT coloziners, just like we are NOT colonizers. Our country was, hundreds of years ago. The people who claimed that land as theirs and believed that gave them the right to exploit it for centuries were. And believe me, if we're still here and have descended from humble families for more than 5 centuries, none of our ancestors saw a single piece of gold.

7.2. This is part of a broader topic but Cortés acted in the name of the Spanish Empire, who, thanks to Queen Isabella the Catholic and the laws she passed, considered NA people as citizens of the Crown and therefore could not be enslaved (legally), not to mention genocided. Physically genocided, I mean, because the cultural genocide is undeniable. And still, while so many parts of so many different cultures disappeared, some things like the Maya and Nahua languages were kept. Even if little, that means something. I find some comfort in that, especially when you take a look at what happened to indigenous people in British colonies. In relation to this, there's this something that's been haunting Spain since a thousand years ago that gains relevance when talking about this, called the Spanish Black Legend. Basically anti-Spain propaganda coming from other European countries demonizing everything the country had done/does. It started out of rivalry and envy. Nowadays, it's hard to say. This is why Hernán Cortés is always seen as an evil genocider, but not other colonizers like Julius Caesar from the Roman Empire. It also makes my blood curdle because it sticks with us in the most annoying ways possible. While American people tend to think Spain is part of Latin America, European people tend to think we're dumb, don't know other languages apart from Spanish and only like partying, and our collective international sentiment, especially facing other Europeans, is often shame. Ashamed to say you're from Spain, because there's only so many "España mucho fiesta and siesta" a sane person can take from people who only come to your country to raise the living costs, drink, sunbathe and throw themselves off balconies to jump in hotel pools. Look "balconing" up. God I HATE British people. In any case, to wrap this up, this Black Legend is also why everyone believes the Spanish colonization was the same as the British colonization. By norm, the British predated, but the Spanish generated (in America, because the Spanish DID enslave African people), despite all the horrible things it did. Because it did them.

Lastly, and just because it was also part of op's response, I want to say that I have no opinion about what negative impact this movie could have in terms of being a version of the Colombian legend of El Dorado. I don't know anything about that. I don't understand it, either. If someone wants to explain to me in which specific ways making a movie like this about it could be harmful to anyone (not the legend in itself, I think you can see I know as much), please tell me so I can think critically about it and contrast it. But please, specify the harm and consequences so I can understand them.

Jesus, I'm tired, but I want to say you CAN dislike the movie. I don't give two floating specks of dust whether you do or don't. What I do care about is that most arguments people use to say so are wrong, or rather, lack historical knowledge to support them. Or rather, there is historical knowledge which flat-out cancels them out. There IS negative portrayal on the basis of unthoughtfulness (like Chel and the Aila test), but NEVER in a mean way. On the whole, it's not the unsalvageable blatantly racist skeleton that has to be kept in the closet under lock and key that some people think it is. And, by the way, I'm very curious about why I have yet to see the same discourse about Inca portrayal in "The Emperor's New Groove". Feel free to toss it my way in case it exists and it's just I haven't seen it yet.

If you've reached this point, congratulations. Here's a disturbing little fact about me as a reward: this whole fixation that I have started because in 2020 I had a dream about this Hernán Cortés and Tzekel-kan having sex.

[maraschinomerry]

True to form I'm a day late but happy 10th anniversary to The Screaming Staircase! (And thank you Linnie for your post which reminded me this is a thing and inspired me to post my own)

Lockwood & Co as a show had been on my radar pretty much since it launched - it must have popped up on my Netflix at some point, and I already had a couple of mutuals posting about it. I saw and liked the gifsets with the spirit of "I don't even go here but this looks cool", finally in March I went "wait, why don't I watch this? There's literally no barrier beyond my own stubbornness" and thank goodness I did.

I still cannot get over how deeply I connected with the show, and the way it taps into everything I'd have loved at 13 or 18 alike and is equally enjoyable now at 25. The unabashed love shown between the Iron Trio is so refreshing and sincere, and it gives me hope for my own place within the group I've chosen as my second family. The world that Jonathan Stroud has constructed is amazing and I would love it wherever it was set, but like my other favourite shows/universe (Morseverse) being so intrinsically linked with Oxford that I can spend days there just wandering between locations I love that Lockwood & Co has a deliberate and well-established base in London. A few months ago I passed through St Pancras alone and was so ecstatic to be sharing in a little of Lucy's journey, and just last week I excitedly pointed out Sidcup on a station departure board when I was down there with my brother.

Of course, I couldn't talk about Lockwood & Co's impact without expressing my eternal gratitude to the show and the fandom for reigniting my creativity. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm further into The Screaming Staircase than I have been in a book for years. I'd been in the most intense artistic slump, having barely done anything creative in months, but then I was able to dedicate a good 10 hours to my Lockwood portrait and close to that on my unfinished George one, which in turn gave me the energy for other projects. In 2020-2022 I published just under 10,000 words of fic across 2 fandoms, plus about 2500 words earlier this year of one I'm still undecided on posting. In the 6 months since I started watching Lockwood & Co, I have written a whopping 46,610 words of published fic, with about 750 words towards some of the 12 requests I have yet to finish (side note: thank you so much to everyone who has been patient with all these unfinished requests, I know it's been months for some but I promise they'll all get finished eventually!) I cannot even begin to fathom that number - that's nearly 50,000 words, written entirely of my own accord, when by comparison my 3 years of essays for my degree probably amounted to a very forced 30,000 words. All that fic I owe to the beautifully characters created by Jonathan Stroud & brought to life by Ruby, Cameron and Ali, but I also couldn't have done it without the overwhelming support of everyone who has read, liked, commented, reblogged and requested. There aren't enough words to tell you all how grateful I am, and this post would be a mile long if I named everyone personally, but I wanted to take the time to thank some of the people who have made my experience so special.

@ettadear @givemea-dam-break @honey-with-tea @ikeasupremacy @marinalor @neewtmas @oblivious-idiot @personinthepalace @reckless-enough-serenade @tangledinlove @wellgoslowly @wordsarelife

If I've missed anyone important I'm so sorry, but I love you all and am so glad to have had this time with you! Happy 10th birthday to The Screaming Staircase and the wonderful fandom it's led to 🫶

Just reckless enough.

Love, Merry ❤️ xx

[sophsun1]

I saw your posts about not getting notes and all that stuff, so I wanted to say:

First, your gifs are gorgeous! Thank you for making them and sharing them with all of us!

Second, and I hope you don't mind me venting a little, but I totally understand you. I'm a small blog but I have a few mutuals. Whenever I post my gifs or something I wrote, most of those mutuals just like the posts and never reblog it, even though they reblog every post from other blogs. And the truth is that it hurts me whenever they do that. I'm always wondering why are you following me? do you not notice how it feels to see that you reblog every other gifset or every other fic from other blogs but you never do the same with my stuff? I'm all the time tempted to unfollow them and even block them. But I don't know I'm just being too sensitive about it.

Sorry about coming to your inbox with this.

Looking forward to seeing more of your posts and gifs!

Hey anon!

tysm for your kind words about my gifs, i appreciate it, and there's no need to apologise 💛

I'm sorry you feel that way and I don't think you're being unreasonable as I said yesterday there is such a dark, depressing vibe around creating content on here and the levels of engagement. I am feeling kinda sad about it myself and it's only natural when you put a lot of time and effort into something because you want to share it with others, but it seems like they aren't all that interested.

People aren't obligated to reblog everything they come across, god knows I don't. But in your case when it seems they support everyone else's content but yours, then no one can blame you for feeling like the odd one out especially if you're all mutuals. It is strange they follow you, which you would think means it's because they like your content but then to never reblog it even once in a while is odd.

There is a sort of mean girls vibe, where some gifmakers will simply refuse to reblog your content which is so wild to me, because they know what it's like to put gifs out. But I guess some of them buy into being a 'popular' blog and don't want to share the spotlight which is so stupid to me and kind of embarrassing. Newsflash we're all losers. I simply take note of who they are and I won't support you either, I'm not about making people feel bad over what is essentially a hobby, it's not that deep.

The other infuriating thing is how can you expect people like yourself who may a small blog or someone starting out to be inspired to carry on making content, if they aren't supported. People don't go outside of their dash or their mutuals, if you don't visit the tags once in a while then you will miss out on the newbies seeing as the only way to telegraph their work is via the tags before they get a following!

Just a little tip, a lot of gifmakers have tracking tags usually in their bios, so if you find a blog that has blorbo's in common with you, try tagging them in it. It will help get your gifsets out there to a wider audience and i'm sure there are fic writers who won't mind being tagged in any fics you write.

My advice is to just curate your blog & dash the way you see fit and if it keeps getting you down then there's nothing wrong with unfollowing them or even blocking if you feel that strongly. I have been unfollowed & blocked and have done the same, it's the nature of the beast, do what makes you happy.

I think ultimately there's not much we can do about it, creators have been screaming into the void about supporting content but it seems to fall on deaf ears. People simply stop making things as has happened already, and it's a shame.

[blue-da-ba-dee]

Am feeling particularly emotional today for whatever reason. In all honesty, I've felt pretty off these past several weeks. In the way where nothing's really wrong but something just doesn't feel right, ya know?

Anyways, I almost thought about deactivating a few times. I kept wrestling with the thought. And just when I thought I'd made up my mind, that yes, I want to leave I kept stopping, my finger hovering above the button. I just couldn't. I can't. I don't want to. I thought about how many of you I've come to know (no matter the capacity) because of this place and the thought of not interacting with whether by asks or dm's or liking/reblogging posts as a silent way of communication made me sad. It truly makes my day seeing your posts across my dash, whether they make me laugh or give information I didn't know before or the always wonderful gifsets. Some of us have been moots for so long now (which if you're still here with me after all this time, I'm so sorry my blog isn't what it used to be 😭). Others I'm still getting to know, but I care for each of you just the same. You're all so kind and sweet and honestly, much too cool for me. I appreciate you so much more than I can really say. I truly do wish you all the best that life has to offer💙

@andreethier @mortirolo @marie98989898 @an-ivy-covered-summer @justrandomshitsstuff @danhalen @callmemoonlight123 @most-metal-ever @lankinen @emietook @parmerjohn @thinkazul @caminozul @useyourcoco @pitchburgh @gasdrawlsss @enriquehndz @half--agony--half--hope @kershaws @himbeaux-on-ice @colonel-clucker @oopsabird @ur-bi-southern-queen @chuckduhdude @fangirlsuperhero

[antoniosvivaldi]

Hey! Hope you’re having a good day/night! I came across this gif post on my feed and I can’t get over how beautiful it is! Can you tell me how did you do it?

Hi! Thank you so much for the message - this means a lot to me 💖

This is one of the most resource intensive gifsets that I've made to date, but I've experimented with the following to create the special effects:

Neural Filters (Photoshop): The artistic effects seen in the small component gifs of the gifset make use of Neural Filters, namely the Landscape Mixer & Style Transfer filters. I happen to be working on a comprehensive tutorial on using Neural Filters with gifs, so stay tuned :D

Maxon One plugin (After Effects): The transition effects seen in the even numbered panels are few of the presets from Maxon's Universe Suite (used as a plugin on Adobe After Effects)

Cinema 4D: This is another app that's part of my Maxon One subscription under student discount. The moving 3D shapes (seen in panels 1, 3, 4, 8, 9) were made on this 3D rendering software. I'm still pretty new to Cinema 4D, but this tutorial is very helpful!

Rotoscoping (After Effects): I use the Rotoscoping tools on Adobe After Effects to make the cutout gifs as seen in panel 1 + even numbered panels. I have a detailed tutorial on Rotoscoping here!

I hope this helps and I hope you have a lovely holidays season 🎅

[lotrlorien]

Hello lovely! Hope you’re doing well. I came across this gif and it’s so beautiful in a poetic way! Can you please tell me how did you get that pretty purple colouring??? Thanks xx

Hello dear💜! Thank you for your feedback. For some reason your link sends me to diva legolas post, I guess you mean my Gandalf gifset?. But usually when I color my gifs I play with:

Hue/Saturation ➵ select e.g blue and then play with hue to add the color more purpleish

Selective color ➵ pick e.g. red and try to make the color more purpleish. I think this is a great tool for changing colors nicely.

Color balance ➵ add bit of magneta/blue to the overall look.

Sometimes color mixer

In the end I usually add a lot of Vibration

When I'm happy with colors, I'm going to save the settings as psd. and use it in every other gif of the gifset. I drag it to the next gif. Of course you have to fix and change lightning and colors depending on the base gif (some scenes are lighter, some more yellow..).

Honestly I'm kinda chaotic when making gifs.. I have multiple layers and no proper plan: try and error. Sorry this isn't probably helpful at all but thank you for message 💜

[linaxart]

hiii! re: ur poll about image descriptions,,

i write IDs a lot, and i use them whenever i'm in a low-signal area and the photos won't load. generally, my rule of thumb is that the longer an art piece took to make, the longer the id should be. it's all context. a doodle gets a sentence for an id, but a painting gets a paragraph. hyperlinked here is an absolutely fantastic post about image descriptions that i highly recommend :>

hope this helps at least a bit!

Hii! Thank you for reaching out! I actually do the same (there's little to describe of a doodle!), though I apparently have been misjudging what a "long" description entails haha my own rule of thumb is "how long would someone look at this?" and try to write an ID that reflects that.

I specifically asked about the context in art because it's what I do on this blog (I can't speak for IDs about gifsets for example, and the poll isn't intended for that either) and I like to write my own exactly like that post you shared says: I know what the highlight is and what details matter so doing it myself is that way I have to give people who use them the closest to its "intended" experience. My idea for the poll was that starting of a fully rendered piece, just how much detail the ID should carry, you know? But it seems that didn't get across perfectly.

The point of the poll was not for us writers of IDs to vote but for users to weigh in about what their preferences are to help us write them better. My wording was not the best apparently so we'll see how it goes 😅

[hopefullystillatheatrestudent]

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

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

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

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

number one: top cockles panel moment

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

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

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

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

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

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

number two: top cockles blooper moment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

number three: top cockles found footage moment

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

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

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

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

number four: top cockles autograph moment

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

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

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

and finally,

number five: top cockles social media moment

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

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

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

[number5theboy]

1, 7, 34 💛

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

Answered that here!

Who are your top 3 gif makers?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[somanywords]

Hellooooo there,

just wanted to say hi and also tell you: stop struggling against the tide, Cass! Let yourself be pulled under! Give into it, so that you too can fully enjoy these bearded gays rippling across the whole hellsite! 😂😘

(But seriously, if you want to know what all the fuss is about, but you don't feel like getting into a new show right now, or you simply don't care for post-apocalyptic fungal zombie stories, you can just watch it as a one-off. It's structured in a way that makes it really work as a stand-alone episode. And there is even a bit of an expositional framing at the beginning of it so you won't be totally lost.)

Anyway, hope you have a lovely day! Byeeee! 💛

oHO this is indeed helpful information, beloved J! I'm...very torn because all the gifsets flooding my dash look very intriguing and I love a good story as much as anyone could, but...yeah so far zombies really don't do it for me. So it's good to know the episode can stand alone! <3

If I ever get around to watching any of any of it, I will hit you up for Thoughts 😊💛

[lukaskyle]

hello! i absolutely adore your gifsets and you've honestly inspired me to start gifmaking. may i ask for any tips you may for gifmaking or what programs to use for a beginner gifmaker?

ty so much that’s so sweet 😭 but honestly i'm just winging it skjfnkj i open photoshop and simply hope for the best! there's a few good tutorials floating around tumblr (this one has some good basic information, including how to sharpen, etc)

(if you have no experience with photoshop at all i would highly recommend going to youtube and watching a couple of videos covering the basics/explaining what every tool in order to familiarize yourself! it can be overwhelming (or it was for me, at least) in the beginning, and until you find your rhythm, it will really help to have a reference.)

my personal process is using potplayer to get screencaps to make gifs. this is how i first learned and i started doing it again at the end of last year because my other method (cutting clips from videos then importing into photoshop that way) always felt a little dull/fuzzy and personally i think screencaps provide a clearer image! but! you can work with straight video if you're patient + good at ps. i am neither

my steps:

open potplayer (download here)

get to the part of the video you want to cap. pause it, then hit control + g on your keyboard to bring up the screencapture menu. i have a folder just called "potplayer" where my caps go. my settings:

("10,000" is just so i make sure i get all the caps i want. i hit stop once it's moved past what i want to gif on screen.)

open photoshop

file > scripts > load files into stack. this can take a while depending on how many frames you're loading in at once. when it's done, go to window > timeline > create frame animation. in the corner of the timeline box will be four horizontal bars; click on it, and use make frames from layers, then hit reverse.

this is where i start editing. first, i crop; make sure you're cropping to tumblr dimensions, i.e. 540px for a single column, 268px for two. (i never put three gifs side by side, and i can’t seem to find an up-to-date post that confirms the size for it, but i think it’s 178px, if you’re curious). my most common ratios are 540x540, 540x500, 540x338, 540x304. depends on the scene, what i'm giffing, if there's dialogue, etc. for a lot of my dialogue sets, like here, i use 540x338; for these john-117 gifs, i used 540x540. it’s all about what looks best to you, what you want to achieve, etc. i never use 540x540 for dialogue, i reserve it for movie sets or just “x as y” sets.

next comes coloring, which is the most painful part of the process. most of the time i really just spam color balance because i’m a mess, but it’s what works for me since i prefer vibrancy for gifs. it can help you change colors and create nice sets like these when used alongside selective color; you can either enhance what’s already there, or change the colors entirely. take, for example, this john set: there were some nice colors to work with already:

i didn’t have to add too many adjustment layers to make it vibrant!

the purple john set required a little more work (and the purple adjustment layer was gifted to me by @aldensutton because i suck at making purple in ps, it always turns pink)

it really just comes down to practice and finding what works for you/what you’re giffing. here and here are two tutorials you can use as starting places from people who seem to know a lot more than me. googling “giffing coloring tutorials for photoshop tumblr” will bring up more. you can also find premade psds across various photoshop blogs on tumblr; i make all of mine myself these days, but i used to use a lot from this creator as bases. searching any kind of “free psd” “gif psd” should yield some good results in the tumblr search - just remember you will need to manipulate them regardless for what you’re giffing. no two shows are alike. no two scenes from a single show are alike. this is where it can become really frustrating.

once you’re satisfied with your coloring, though, it’s time to sharpen. the first tutorial i linked goes a little bit into the basics of how to sharpen, but it’s not my method, which is inconsistent and different for every gif. i don’t know about other people, but i just sharpen the frames, not the adjustment layers, which is probably dumb but <3 to sharpen, you go to the same menu you used when creating frames from layers. choose “convert to video timeline”, then select all the frames of the gif, group them using ctrl+g, then convert to smart object, then go to filter > sharpen > smart sharpen. my base sharpening is always 500 for amount, 0.3 for radius, and 0 for reduce noise. sometimes i double up on 500, sometimes i sharpen again at just 200 or 150, depending on what looks best. there’s also this method that i like for certain gifs. sharpening is very important for giffing.

for some gifs i will add noise, but that depends on my personal preference and isn’t something i’ll get into since it’s not standard/is just a personal aesthetic i enjoy.

i suppose i should mention that for dialogue, you select text tool then click in the left-hand corner, then drag to create a box that your text will show up in. it’s the easiest way to center/ensure text aligns on all frames. all you have to do is lower it to the bottom half of the gif. my font preference is arial rounded mt bold; font size depends on the size of the gif. 

once everything is cropped, colored, and sharpen, you save by going to file > export > save for web. my export settings change somewhat from from gif to gif:

and that’s pretty much it! at least for what i can offer. i learned just by doing, trying things out, getting frustrated, etc... sknfkj i also get a LOT of help from @aldensutton as i mentioned before, she provides a lot of insight and opinions for me, and has really helped me to where i am now <3 it just takes a lot of trial and error to find what works best for you. it took me a while to get to where i am now; i feel like the gifs i was making just a year ago are so terrible, honestly. i can try to help further if you need it, there’s undoubtedly some things i missed, and there’s tons of blogs on tumblr that provide photoshop help, run by people far more knowledgeable than me! once again ty so much for the compliment <33 i hope you have fun gifmaking! it really is fun for me

[msgrumpygills]

Social Media Anon Here!

Firstly, never change Grumpy ;) you are probably the only person on Tumblr to LISTEN to another view and let it change a prejudice.

Secondly, the Padagram/Social Media change bus continues. Don't be fooled people will be looking at positive and negative reactions to that change on social media.

So here goes!

1. They are starting to market season 2 of Walker in Hiatus. That really doesn't happen. That means they know they need to target new viewers. They are acknowledging they have a problem. The main problem is Jared either didn't learn enough about production quality on SPN (Jensen/Misha were both more interested in behind the camera's) or that he thought he could stick a Stetson on and we all had such sh1t for brains we'd watch anything. So they need a viewer boost DESPARATELY and are going all out to (a) persuade Walkers remaining viewer(s) that it's worth sticking around and (b) get back old viewers or convert 1m+ viewers to season 2. So now we see all the cast (and Keegan has more followers than Jared and Lindsay has a VERY engaged following) trying to persuade their followers how fabulous Walker is. Expect this scrabbling to continue if they want their COVID paychecks.

2. Connected to 1, Jared has started trying to break out of the fandom bubble. I don't think he's trying for power couple (the clue in a power couple is that two FAMOUS people get together and create a super brand, here we have one niche C famous guy and a hanger on wife), I think we are in Jared profile raising and trying to raise his recognition score, which is probably a little low having half assed it in the last year and a half. He's doing it by scatter-gunning so I'm not sure it's going to stick.

3. Connected to 2,

(i) if I run my algorithm clean laptop with a "Jared Padalecki" news search, I get (a) a daily mail article on Jared "clarifying the rift" (b) a "hello" magazine saying he's been "inundated with support after death of "family member"" (c) the new york times article on Walker and Supernatural. It then goes into a variety of articles about Jared raising money for Holly's family (fucking atrocious in my view to use her death for publicity) and a series of derivative articles on his mantrum and later explanation. ONLY THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE MENTIONS WALKER other than as a throw away, all of the others link to Supernatural only. Walker isn't on the main radar of anyone as a show. It's not mainstream enough to mention. it has ZERO buzz.

(ii) if I run the same search on my compromised tablet, I get a SEA of fluff articles "jared padalecki goes to venice", "jared padalecki's wife wishes him a happy birthday" "jared padalecki goes to watch soccer" "jared padalecki goes to the wrestling". I'm expecting "Jared Padalecki defecates regularly" tomorrow.

At the end of that I get the same articles as in (i) but the majority of his publicity is still going through the fandom and the, not very viewed, endless zine type websites that update on every episode of every geek show every day.

So we are seeing, and I expect it to continue, a break out Padalecki, (who knows he and his forehead may wish to have a final crack at films), and a fluff Padalecki, trying to stay relevant a year after SPN relevance ended, because he hasn't got the same push for season 2 of Walker as he had for season 1 and Walker has zero presence. No one, not even the fans are talking about Walker.

Will it work? I don't think so. Keegan has 7m followers on Insta and that's because he's a photographer and writer and it's interesting. I would follow his account (I don't), but certainly it isn't a Walker instagram.

Jared is a clever guy, but he's boring on social media. He has a limited appeal. He does family snaps, hunk snaps, flogs orange pee and flogs his show. He says "family" and "mantra" a lot but that's really it. The clue is, if you didn't know who he was and came across his instagram you wouldn't follow him. Why would you? For a video of a guy running up steps? A smug picture of two middle aged men trying to flog you something?... (oh and lots of "brother" comments on Keegan's social media, which is irritating. It's like he thinks that is his repeatable formula and it isn't).

His media approach won't work because advertising and exposure pushes a product. In TV's case, it's not a one off product and there is a lot of competition. Product Jared needs to be more interesting (his mantrum's are the only exciting thing about him - and that is tragic) and his TV show just needs to be BETTER, well, a LOT BETTER.

Soooo, expect the Padapush to continue, but it's not about a couple, it's about individual marketing and for Jared breaking out of SPN bubble. For Gen, it's her tag along profile that she'll never break out of. She'll have to be satisfied with her superpower of being able to persuade people to buy toothbrush's and dog food (if she can).

Expect though the couple's bit to die off a little. Jared is getting over exposed. His engagement rating is plummeting (nearly 3% is a plummet) because of the repetitive photo content. He'll have to back off or people will switch off (I have already). What makes me laugh is.... from the dawn of time when cavemen took their wives 2 miles away for a new cave weekend.... NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN INTERESTED IN SOMEONE ELSE'S HOLIDAY SNAPS.... Gen and Jared apparently need to learn that lesson...

I might stop these posts now because, well, it's gotta be a bit boring for you and I write LONG. :)

Stay safe and wear your masks ;) xxx

I don’t want you to ever ever change, lovely! Also, I’m NEVER bored by your messages! You put so much effort into the research you do and the messages you send and it’s appreciated! <3 

I started following Lindsey on IG because she seems pretty genuine, and her cat is way too cute! Plus, I like her attitude. I haven’t followed her for the whole Walker season, but even she doesn’t post a lot about it. She posts interviews and then posts about that night’s episode, but other than that, nothing.  Can’t speak for Keegan, but how are fans and non-fans supposed to be excited about a show when the people STARRING in the show can’t be bothered? Maybe they’re all aware of how shitty it is or maybe they’re lazy, but it doesn’t make sense. 

I’m always interested to see the difference in an “algorithm-free” setting and one that has an algorithm. I always figured Google was the same for everyone, but seeing the difference in articles you’ve outlined is insane. It really just goes to show that Jared isn’t the star that his stans think he is. He’s not as important as they think he is, he’s just an actor.  It’s even more jarring to see just how little Walker is talked about at all. All of my devices probably have been “contaminated” when it comes to algorithm so I can’t really speak personally about the public and fans talking about Walker or not talking about it. I can say that on the posts about Walker from the Supernatural Facebook page, a good chunk of the comments are people saying they stopped watching, never got into it, or thought it was trash. There are only a handful of comments talking about how they enjoy the show. 

I think it was disgusting for him to use a fan’s passing for publicity. And no, I don’t think it was anything other than a PR stunt. Her family had a GFM going that was promoted by plenty of the case INCLUDING GEN, so you know he knew about it. But for him to make his own special one and then have articles posted everywhere about how charitable he is? That’s gross PR bullshit and I hope it backfires. 

I still follow a few Supernatural fans, Jared fans, Jensen fans, etc. on Tumblr and even they aren’t mentioning it. I think maybe the hardcore Jared stans post gifsets or whatever, but I don’t see much praise for the show itself, just Jared’s looks. Even the fans aren’t biting and that would make me reevaluate everything if I was Jared. 

I'm expecting "Jared Padalecki defecates regularly" tomorrow. This made me laugh way too hard!

who knows he and his forehead may wish to have a final crack at films You are on a ROLL!  Maybe I’ve become biased, but I can’t see Jared doing films. I mean, I could see him doing like a side character role or something small, but I can’t see him having a big part of a movie. Like I said, maybe that’s me being biased but I see him staying in TV. I could be proven wrong, but I don’t know. 

I agree about Jared being boring on SM. I used to get some giggles from his Twitter posts and even some of his early IG posts because they were goofy, clever, and candid. It showed his humor and was more personable. Now it’s just all fake and comes off as someone whose only motivation to engage with fans is money and that’s a big turn off. 

For me personally, I think that if instead of the “couple goals” bullshit that they try to push for their lavish trips, if they just posted cool pictures they took of different locations, activities, food or whatever, that would be more palatable than all the “Look at my hubster and I! We’re in Italy! Look at how in love we are!” But maybe that’s because I’ve become a bit of a photography nerd? 

I guess time will tell whether or not Jared will make positive changes and if Walker can be saved, but I’m not really optimistic about it. 

I AM optimistic about your takes on things so keep them coming! Long posts or not, I love them! <3

[thyla]

hey, i just came across one of your gifsets and i was just wondering how you get them so sharp? i'm absolutely shook. i swear to god I've looked at evert single gif tutorial and tried so. many. techniques. and mine still look dull and it's driving me crazy!!

Hi! sorry it took a while to get back to you! First of all thank you! I’ve only been getting really into making gifsets this past year. I’m gonna explain everything under the cut so this post wont’ be super long on people’s dashboard. :)

So, I try to get my hands on the highest quality of the content I’m gonna gif. I do think this is important.

this tutorial HERE is what helped me the most. It was really the best for me personally.

In the tutorial there’s this sharpening action. Which I use but I go and do one extra step after this. I use Surface Blur.

Now i’ve gone and played with the radius and threshold all the time with my earlier gifsets until i found something I like. I tend to change it more with older movies/shows and animated content. Otherwise 81 & 6 is my go to.

And when I go and save it this is my settings. Instead of saving it under optimized I save it under Original. And on the right size under preset I save it under Selection and Diffusion.

I hoped this helped! If you have any questions please feel free to message me.