#Also when I make gifsets of multiple seasons I try to have them all in order from earliest season to last or else it bothers me.

[breannastewart]

what are some of your favorite stewie and sue moments?

oh man I have so many it’s hard to pick just some so this may accidentally turn into a master post of stuff, sorry not sorry in advance 😭

but obviously you gotta start from the jump on how much sue looked out for her, and jewell as well. how she texted every day to check in, jewell talking about her helping buy groceries. there’s this clip from an interview where stewie says sue kept telling her she doesn’t get out enough so she was trying to expand her food horizons and sue just sheepishly shrugged and whispered "I do" about it 😭

sometimes stewie looks out for her too, like when sue asked for her to scratch her back because she couldn't reach but of course stewie had to be a mega dweeb about it 😭

here's the full gifset for that

we all famously know sue credits stewie for fixing her shot in that all time performance of hers in game 5 of the 2018 semis, how it was her who noticed something was off and told her to use her legs more and the rest was history on that, just good looking out by stewie

random silly moment but when stewie got a cut on her neck during a game back in 2018 they had to stop play for the blood and stewie is just aggressively swiping at her neck and sue comes over like stop it let me do it 😭

when sue broke her nose thanks to stewie's elbow hitting her in the face, the rest of the game stewie was so noticeably rattled even the commentators started speculating about it and then there's this moment on the bench when sue comes back, stewie's clearly got the red teary eyes before she has to check in and sue's the one trying to comfort her but also get her focused back on the game even though she's the one with gauze stuck up her nose 😭

they also just would talk A BUNCH on the bench during games I have multiple clips from games over the years of them just being obnoxious as hell or blabbering away on the bench omdfgh

ANYWAY OTHER MOMENTS. when stewie hurt her achilles she mentions in probably one of my fave interviews that sue was one of the first people that texted her, she said she told her "I knew on your face something was wrong, usually you fall and you get right up" + after her surgery when she still wasn't mobile enough, she mentioned in another that sue and megan would come over and cook dinner for her. got massages for her, too. below is from one of my fave articles (more from that article when you scroll down as well) and like... this girl 😭 she was devastated 😭

but sue ended up out for that year as well and it ended up producing this cute little exchange though 💀

when she injured her OTHER achilles in 2021, sue mentioned stewie looked at her and mouthed 'uh oh' and she kinda knew then, and stewie later talked about how she wanted to keep playing but sue was the one who kinda brought her down like you need to think about the long term, not right now. and I just think all of that really shows the deep connection and trust there and stewie even talked about how they ended up understanding each other in ways others can't. here are some of the other screencaps from the article I mentioned above back in 2020:

stewie has talked a lot about how she believes she wouldn't be where she is without sue. making players cry is kind of unfortunately holly rowes thing but stewie's interview back in 2018 before the finals, talking about sue and how much she deserved another championship and how she's done everything for her is very sweet. and here's that again from an interview before the start of this season:

and that isn't one sided, sue's 2018 player's tribune piece before the finals lives in my head rent free, it's better than any poems ever, just

and in a poscast post bubble/championship she mentions how she hadn't said it to her face yet that she saved her career, and then in an interview in late 2021 she talked about it again that she was weighing her options of retire or go play somewhere else with a chance to win, and then they got stewie, and

here's the gifset I made for that

going to throw in some random social media things to break up the sweet and sentimental stuff because these two are hilarious idiots (there's still some sweet things too)

these are from stewie's snapchat back in 2017 😭

again they're weird and silly and thanks for giving the sue gays a heart attack with this one stewie

THERE'S THE SWEET DOSE

and then there's these... 😭

that's where I'll wrap it up maybe because this has gotten long enough and there's just so many more I'd be happy to share if you like, and I'll leave you with some random cute pictures as well

#breanna stewart #sue bird #wnba #mytext.jpg #I'M SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG #they're just so special and important to me #and there's still somehow tons of other stuff #sue x stewie #answered #anonymous

[the-holy-ghosted]

how would you like to respond to this ask with absolutely as much as you can possibly say about the terror. it does not need to be comprehensible. just say things until you can no longer say things. let it all out. or let some of it out and let the rest of it spill over into the tags of reblogged gifsets, i have no qualms with either. this is entirely to give you another avenue with which to go as feral as you would like. have fun!!

hey anon quite frankly i would love to start talking incessently about the terror and also im gonna kiss you on the lips for asking me to

one thing ive been thinking about a lot after rewatching the whole season maybe. three or four times now (i am not mentally sound) is just how much the theme throughout the show is Being Something You Are Not. and its such a gradual realization cause you start with one character but the more you think about it you realize how that theme affects everybody and everything about the show.

i read something in an analysis post written by somebody MUCH more eloquent than me about Silna and Crozier and the parallel of them being thrust into a responsibility they didn't want. Silna was forced into a role that she knew she could not handle and it fails on her! multiple times! despite having NOTHING to do with everything going wrong shes been shoved into everyone's field of vision as The One Responsible INCLUDING by her own community. and by all means she does try to fill those shoes but even Tuunbaq has a say and it doesn't want her. and by the time she tries again its already too late.

and Crozier's situation wasn't identical but it's very similar in the sense that he did not want to be here and do this. being the only one not volunteered, but *asked* to go on this expedition, having already not been what Sophia wanted but doing as she asks anyways. good grief the man is in the middle of writing his resignation letter to sir john when he gets mauled. and now hes got no choice and that ALSO fails on him and gets people hurt and eventually its too late for him to make anything better.

but once you notice it with somebody else its like oh! that's right! EVERYBODY is doing this. sir john wasn't anybody's choice to lead the expedition and in fact he is actively detrimental to everybody's safety with his choices. Fitzjames is not half the man he says he is and has actively been lying To Everybody about about who he is an his accomplishments Forever. Goodsir is NOT a doctor and despite how happy it seems to make him to be considered as such he knows its not true and all of that scientific knowledge ends up killing SO many people. Hickey thinks hes hot shit and thinks he can gain control of everybody else AND Tuunbaq and yet he can hardly even do his own dirty work and gets other people's hands dirty before he does it himself.

i mean if you think about it too even the landscape isn't what it seems. they all think its a conquerable land and then they get there and realize its not. and because of this, they assume that must mean there's no way to survive out there. except there IS. there IS wonder. it IS beautiful. life CAN thrive out there and it HAS they are just so hazardous and invasive to the environment that they don't get to see it!!! they don't see the wonder and they are trekking to their deaths amongst a COMPLETE lie. this isn't, like, News to anybody else who's watched the show i just noticed how it all connects everybody and it blew my mind a little bit

#the heron heareth #the heron speaketh #the terror #funny tags huh #thank you for opening an avenue for me to start talking like an insane person my friends are SO sick of hearing it LMAO #i have so many thoughts and feelings about this show this was just something that caught my attention recently #god i wrote a fucking essay huh. oh well #im going back to drawing now i think but im VERY glad for this ask anon u are recieving one thousand million kissies from me

[badassbiburgerbob]

Okay, I keep seeing Chicago Fire stuff on my dash and I'm becoming increasingly intrigued despite myself... is it like the police procedural genre but for the fire department? or something completely different? That last gifset says it's from 2012 and I've never even heard of it??? I'd assumed it was a new show??? If you're at all inclined, I'd love to hear a rant about What This Show Is because I had no idea it existed until I started seeing stuff reblogged and now my curiosity is piqued

Oh my lord where do I begin?

Tldr: It's a drama about a firefighters. It started I think in 2012, I only started watching it last year but I've gotten all caught up. They're in the middle of season 11 now.

But it's so freaking good. Something is always going wrong (hence drama) and each season usually has one overarching problem and then a few small ones. They do cooperate with the pd sometimes though the first season not as much, as a dirty cop tries to kill one of the lieutenants. But they're usually helpful with the pd.

There's a few character deaths that suck which just sort of rip your heart out. It gives kinda a good insight to what firefighters do in a busy urban area tho. It's fiction obviously but they do work with actual firefighters to get things right and one of them ,Tony Ferris, is an actual firefighter with the Chicago fire department. He's not a main main character, but its still cool.

But it's a drama, so shit happens. Like all the time. And sometimes it absolutely sucks (like what the assholes have done to Cindy this season). At one point the chief gets framed for murder and arrested. Another lieutenant, severide, has had people try to kill him a few times, and had his ass kicked. Herrmann (my personal fave) is such a good guy but sparky as fuck and makes multiple bad decisions. He also has the best wife in the whole world, Cindy (I love them so much). He also sets a couch on fire in front of the company's CEO to get him to increase safety standards of his furniture, and it works!

But then it also touches on important issues, like the increased risk of cancer firefighters face, which promts new protocols of equipment and gear cleaning. Mental illness associated with the stuff they see and do, and the death of colleagues that they have to grieve and move on from. And how people in lower income areas struggle and get into trouble. There's a season where Dawson and Casey try to adopt a little boy and end up giving him back to the father and its breaks my heart. They touch briefly on how hard it is for women to get high up in the department because of politics. Although they don't focus at all really on politics, there is an episode where Herrmann screams at his sone for knealing during the anthem but then Herrmann defends his kid to the principal which is super cool. He's got 5 kids and is a pretty good dad, usually. There is one season or two when Casey, one of the fire lieutenants, becomes an alderman so there's some politics in that. There's also a few episodes on substance abuse, and how it affects the people around you.

One episode they get locked in a jail. Another episode they rescue people froma crashes helicopter stuck on a roof. They open a bar and name it Molly's and have to chase off a mob type guy who tries to burn it down at one point. Herrmann beats the crap out of guy who's Crack habit killed his kid. There's an episode where the paramedics get abducted. But everything turns out fine. And then there's episodes where they get married, there's three or four of those and its precious. They have a bbq where there's a surprise promotion. One paramedic Brett, starts a paramdicine van, that goes around helping g people with medicine and stuff, like a visiting nurse type thing kinda. Severide gets married in Vegas, which turns out ok although ots doesn't last. They also get a firehouse dog named pouch who they give away later, for very touching reasons. And then they get another one, a dalmation named Tuesday. Both of which are precious. Some of them have kids, which never fails to make a smile.

There's just so much. But it's such a good show.

It's about the hardships they face and how they deal with the shit that happens in life. And then the joy of what they do and the relationships they have and make. And how they touch snd change peoples lives.

And they absolutely drag eachother through the mud. Sometimes ruthlessly. It's hilarious and I love them for it. There so much sass. God so much sass. It's a really really good show. There's a lot of kinda dark stuff but it's broken up by some positivity and/or comedy and some poignant moments. It shows really good relationships or how to deal with really bad ones.

They're idiots in different ways but also all very lovely. I love them.

They have a few gay characters, too. Right now it's just the one, and he's not doing so good in the dating department. But he's fantastic.

I'm hoping this was at least somewhat coherent. It's kinda late and I'm a bit tired. But I love this show so very much. Easily one of my favorite shows ever. 1000/10 definitely would recommend to everyone. It's on NBC or their streaming platform: peacock (i don't have that one tbh). They usually have a chicago one (which is med fire and pd, three shows) Wednesday at 7pm EST. It's also on ion (I think?), which for anyone in the US with Verizon is channel 31, every Tuesday from like 12pm to about 2 or 3 am the next day, and usually in order. I think that channel is on season 3 rn.

Please ask if you need/want more details. I tried not to spoil anything. But I will rant in more detail if you'd like! I also have gifs but I didn't want to make this too long

#asks #chicago fire #chicago one #its such a great freakin show! #please watch it #its so good #christopher herrmann #wallace boden #cindy herrmann #kelly severide #matt casey

[gracieryder]

Ohhhhh, but @nymika-arts​. Your tags on this gifset though. Because you’re so right, but also it goes both ways. And they’re highlighting that this season.

#it's the way eddie always knows exactly what to say to get through to buck #always knows exactly what buck needs to hear #and not just because he knows buck so well #but because he's also just picked up an understanding of the whole situation from whatever people have been telling him #and he's thinking about it because he cares about buck and the others so much and he wants to help in any way he can #and because of this he's able to get buck to see it from a different perspective with just a few words #LIKE HES JUST #HES SO GOOD OKAY

Eddie does know how to get through to Buck, and we’ve seen it time and time again. But we also got to see Buck getting through to Eddie in a similar way when they were discussing Ana in the locker room. Eddie’s own reservations and hints from other people (such as Carla) didn’t manage to influence his decision. But his conversation with Buck did. Buck was able to get through to Eddie, and he was able to do it not just because he knows Eddie but because he understood Ana. Just like Eddie knows what will get through to Buck in the balcony scene not just because he knows Buck but because he understands the other people involved as well. 

They know each other, and I’m emotional about it.

But they’re also both just extremely empathetic people who are able to see and understand situations from multiple angles.

And that’s not new. Even when Eddie was hurting over Shannon, he still defended her and tried to get his parents to see her side of things. When Buck was hurting over Abby ghosting him, it wasn’t just denial. He knew what she was going through and that’s part of the reason he continued to try and give her the benefit of the doubt and continued to hold out hope.

Sometimes they get blinded by their own emotions as we all do, but they’re open to having their blinders removed by the people they love. They’re willing to step back and learn in those situations. And that too is only possible because of their empathy. Because those with less of it wouldn’t care or want to hear anything to make them think critically about a situation or about themselves. Their feelings would be all that mattered. And that’s never been the case with these two.

But anyway, lemme stop before I babble all day. I’m just saying, they’re both wells of empathy, and it’s a focus this season. And I’m living for it.

#blah blah blah shut up jess 😂 #buddie #911 spoilers #for the filters #mist speaks

[calliopecalling]

QOTS Rewatch - 2x10 - Que Manden los Payasos

It is probably no secret by now that I love this episode. The Jeresa prison parking lot fight is my banner. I wrote an episode 2x10ish Christmas AU fanfic. And I went nuts in all the tags on my gifset reblogs. If you’ve read those tags, you’ll know that my sympathies in the Jeresa tension laaaargely defer to Teresa, though I admit that after rewatching and analyzing their dynamic to death I’m pretty sympathetic to him, too. (And actually, dimez wrote a great meta on the parking lot fight here!) Both Teresa and James are in a tough spot this episode--a spot that Camila is squarely to blame for, so let’s put the responsibility where it actually lies--and both of them suffer. And it’s not going to get better for them until season 3 😭 (Although for us, at least those of us who love agony, the upcoming Jeresa scenes in 2x11 and 2x12 are pretty fantastic.)

So, basic events of the episode:

James is back from his injury recuperation only to find Camila in prison

He tries to line up protection for her but it fails and the back-up protection Teresa lines up saves Camila’s life (for the 4th time in three episodes)

Boaz makes a move against King George, stealing the shipment and killing a bunch of his men

So James orchestrates a truce with Boaz (which Camila frowns on) while Teresa makes it clear to Devon and George that despite Camila being in prison, business is handled (which Camila praises)

James and Teresa duke it out in the prison parking lot 

Kelly Anne finds paperwork in Cole’s files that frame Teresa and then she kills Cole and Teresa pays a final visit to Camila in prison 

Meanwhile Epifanio sells his business to Boaz because he realizes (duh?) that it’s taking a toll on his relationship with Isabela

And he epically tries to take out Cortez with some gasoline and a mariachi band lol but Cortez is a zombie and cannot be killed

Obviously the good stuff here is the Teresa/James/Camila stuff. And look, I’ve really said a LOT in my various reblog tags about my take on their dynamics. I don’t necessarily want to rehash it all in detail again here. Seriously go read my tags. I’ll wait lol.

Ok. Hi. Listen. I adore James. I adore the fact that he has a strong masculine presence but isn’t threatened by women. I adore his loyalty and integrity and vulnerability and competence. Like I love everything about the man. And I especially, in this episode, love his humanity. I love that the second half of season 2 shows the messy part of his journey from the amoral bad boy of season 1 to the soft and steady strength he has in season 3. It’s almost like this part of season 2 is where Teresa and James, in their respective journeys (his to redemption, hers to darkness), pass each other in the night. Just as he’s trying to come around to balancing his loyalty to Camila against the protectiveness he feels for Teresa, Teresa is on her own journey towards gaining her own strong foothold in the business. And he is, I think, both confused by this and super ambivalent about it.

Let me say more about this. Because yeah -- as my tags make abundantly clear -- I think a lot of his agitation this episode is related to the competitive dynamic Camila staged between them, and a lot is also linked to his resentment at her clearly having been about to run off with Guero. His pride is wounded, his ego is suffering, and his insults and putdowns of her are completely uncalled for (and upsetting to me, lol). But in addition to all that, I think his head is spinning. When he last saw Teresa in Chicago, she’d been trying to flee the business. And personal feelings about Guero aside, that’s the Teresa he’s known this whole time! The Teresa who wants out. But now, can’t be more than a few days later, he comes back to find a Teresa who appears to be all in. Guero’s gone and she’s all business now. The deal with Devon was made in his absence; Teresa saved Camila multiple times in his absence; Camila ended up in prison in his absence; and now there’s a new understanding between Teresa and Camila that he’s outside of. It’s disorienting and, yeah, I think it worries him. I think his worry is all mixed up in anger so the way it leaks out of him is jumbled and rude. But I’ve always thought of James’s character as in a way representing the way viewers see her, right? I’ve written about that before. And, though we do have more information than James does because we saw episode 2x09 and he didn’t, lol, I think we also are witnessing a different Teresa here and we’re left to kind of wonder whether we’re here for it or not.

Basically it comes down to her relationship with Camila. Like is that relationship actually reliable? Is it safe for Teresa? Is she putting too many of her eggs in one basket here? Obviously there are a lot of red flags about Camila that we see and that James is very familiar with, too. She’s slippery. She’s a power hoarder. She’s inconsistent and vengeful.

The difference between me and James, though, is that I think I give Teresa more credit than James does for being very aware of Camila’s untrustworthiness. James is maybe deafened a little by the sirens going off in his head and blinded by the protectiveness he feels over Teresa. But Teresa’s really been her own best protector since the moment that phone rang in Culiacan in the pilot episode. She, more than anyone, is aware of exactly how unreliable Camila is, and she’s just really good at finding footing wherever there’s even the tiniest little ledge to rest a toe on. I don’t think she actually trusts Camila (we saw how she reacted to Camila’s putdown in 2x09 about Devon; she knew that Camila snapping at her about how Devon just wanted her for sex was vindictive and petty, and she just tucked it all away for her mental files). She certainly doesn’t look up to Camila and I don’t even think she’s trying to prove herself to Camila. I think she’s just trying to do what she’s always trying to do: survive. And in this moment, she believes that her survival is linked to Camila. Whereas previously in the series, I think she might’ve felt a little bit more like her survival was linked to James--James, the only person who could help influence and shield her from Camila.

Anyway, all of that in mind, it hurts to think about how she no doubt looked forward to James’s return, to having an ally, someone she could lean into a little. And instead of finding that, she finds someone short and clipped and moody. So what does a traumatized person with trust issues do with that? She zips herself up and says, fine, I guess I’ll do this on my own. Meanwhile James returned trying not to find an ally in her, because he’d already been down that road and felt like he got slapped in the face by it. It’s as if, when she’s spurning the way he’s always tried to protect her from Camila, he has no idea how to relate with her anymore. (This will come up again in the first scene of 2x11 when his plea for her to “come back with me, I can fix this, I’ll protect you” sounds so misguided--but this has been his fallback with her since the beginning.) From their very first scene together in this episode, he’s snippy with her, and it only continues from there. The most painful part to me: when he says, without provocation and for no good reason, “there’s no we!” JAMES! WTF! If James hadn’t been away nursing his injuries, I think none of these misunderstandings would’ve happened. Or at least, they might have unfolded differently. (*Cough* maybe we could have had Teresa helping tend to his wounds *cough cough*.) But his absence made the rift between them that Camila set up as soon as they returned from Bolivia feel impossible for either of them to bridge.

By the way, them not talking to each other, not communicating with each other, sets Teresa up to make her run for it as soon as she finds out about the documents tying her to Colibri Trawlers. If she and James hadn’t been on the outs, she honestly might have enlisted his help. (Ughhhhh I want a version of the end of season 2 in which she does ask for his help and he has to come to this crisis of loyalty much more explicitly!) But honestly--I think part of the writers’ endgame with James in these late season 2 episodes (and they do it again in late season 3) is to keep the two of them just separated enough, keep James just enough on the outs, to be able to make that 5x09 cliffhanger work. Which, IMO, it definitely didn’t anyway, and I wish they hadn’t sacrificed so much character/relationship potential over the seasons for the sake of that plot element. OH WELL.

Ok let’s see. Anything else I want to cover? Well, I mentioned in my tags on this set that Cortez coming back from the dead basically is one of my least favorite plot moves in the series, lol. Yancey Arias makes an awesome villain, credit where credit’s due, but I just found the character and the time the show spent on him in season 3 to be way over the top and totally not in service of Teresa’s story.

And as for Camila--well, it was too bad that the loaded and tentative relationship between her and Teresa only got to last as long as it did. She makes a great complicated villain. I didn’t think her villification needed to be quite as obvious and explicit this early on and would’ve found a season 3 that showed a gradual deterioration of their relationship and exploration of their differences to be a lot more compelling. But again. OH WELL.

Oh, one more thing here before I wrap up. I know in season 1, I was tracking queenpin visions as well as how James pronounced Teresa’s name. Well, turns out he pronounced it pretty consistently in season 1 and through this point in season 2. It’s always the kind of hard-American-r, soft z, “Ter-ray-zuh.” (Though that changes next episode.) And queenpin has made fewer appearances this season than in season 1 so I haven’t been as consistent about noting those separately in these recaps. But we did see her in 2x06 in Bolivia, and in 2x09 as well. And she’ll make an appearance in 2x11 again too!

#queen of the south #qots #qots s2 #2x10 #2021 rewatch #txt post #qots reaction post #qots meta #just going to take these tags to reiterate one more time #how much I love that Teresa calls out the 'something else' btw her and James in this episode #I'm not going to let this recap go by without celebrating that again lmao #even though it was said in a fight #and you have to admit #it was bold of her to call that out #considering exactly how much that 'something else' has been *entirely* subtext #for their *entire* relationship #it's all in the actions #the running into gunfire for and running back to rescue each other actions #so that 'something else' gives me shivers 😋

[literateleah]

the paradox of emily prentiss’ audience perception and character design

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

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

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

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

part one: what cbs did

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

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

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

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

now *sigh* all the rest.

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

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

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

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

part two (sidebar): what paget did

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

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

part three: what fanon did

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

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

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

fanon: more emo/goth than canon basis

fanon: more introverted/anti social than canon basis

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

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

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

part 4: why it doesn’t work

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

part five: and why it does

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

#long post #emily prentiss #ITS HERE #and its a doozy #read if you'd like #leah writes #if there's typos i apologize #this was a fever dream

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

hi! random question that you’re not obligated to answer (i just love your ka metas): do you think that aang acted like he was entitled to katara’s affection? sorry for the bother if this is a question you’ve gotten before, i’m just curious about your thoughts

Hi anon! It’s always lovely to hear people like my metas 💛 And you’re in luck - I have not gotten this specific question before, though I have answered similar questions, and as such I will probably link those posts throughout.

Forewarning: I use the general you very liberally in this post, so like. It’s not directed at you, anon djhskdjsajs I don’t want you think my sarcasm is in response to your ask (your ask was very lovely!! 💕)

Okay. Let’s get started! The funniest thing about the (nonsensical) claim that Aang acted “entitled” to Katara’s affection is that there is no canon evidence to support it. Opponents more often than not can only bring up one (1) episode as an example of supposed “entitlement” because no other Kataang interactions in the series demonstrate entitlement from either end! Like, wow. Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel. And I’m sure we all know what episode opponents love to propagate, don’t we?

Yep, you guessed it: “The Ember Island Players.”

From the get-go, the fact that people who vigorously oppose Kataang essentially only appeal to the contents of one episode for Aang’s supposed “entitlement” is a major indicator that, in fact, the entitlement is not truly there, and that those opponents are actually misconstruing the entire episode. I mean, if you are trying to make an argument about something but you only have one piece of “evidence” to support your claim, then a) any half-decent teacher/professor would fail you, rip and b) that’s a sign that maybe your claim doesn’t hold water. If you can’t find evidence to support it, then you’re probably looking at your case from the wrong angle. Analysis 101.

As such, I find the “entitlement” claim particularly ridiculous because opponents repeat the same faulty rhetoric over and over! The only people that might be convinced are those with confirmation bias. I’m sure that’s their audience, of course, but it’s still hilarious dfjaksdasks.

Anyways. Here’s the excerpt from the EIP transcript that opponents l o v e to spotlight with their “entitlement” claims:

Aang: Katara, did you really mean what you said in there?

Katara: In where? What are you talking about?

Aang: On stage, when you said I was just like a… brother to you, and you didn’t have feelings for me.

Katara: I didn’t say that. An actor said that.

Aang: But it’s true, isn’t it? We kissed at the Invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we’re not.

Katara: Aang, I don’t know.

Aang: Why don’t you know?

Katara: Because, we’re in the middle of a war, and we have other things to worry about. This isn’t the right time.

Aang: Well, when is the right time?

Katara: Aang, I’m sorry, but right now I’m just a little confused.

Aang tries to kiss Katara.

Katara: I just said I was confused! I’m going inside. [Exits the balcony.]

Aang: Ugh, I’m such an idiot! [Puts down his head on the balcony railing.]

Opponents claim Aang’s behavior is “entitled” here for two reasons:

1) He asks Katara several questions about their relationship status.

2) He kisses her.

Before I get too far into this, we have to consider the context of the episode. Katara and Aang have this conversation after just watching 95% of “The Boy in the Iceberg,” aka Fire Nation propaganda. I have talked about the specifics of the play being imperialist propaganda here, but the gist of it is that this play is meant to demean the Gaang, to portray them as lesser and weaker than the Fire Nation. The fact that the play ends with Ozai’s victory is a stark reminder of this mentality. So: Katara and Aang have just watched this play that preys upon their insecurities and paints them as awful caricatures of their true selves. It is only natural that they would be more tense than usual. The reason I bring this up is solely to inform their conversation on the balcony, however; I don’t think their frustration solely defines what they say/do, but it’s worth keeping in mind, “Hey, they’re stressed and upset, of course this conversation might not go perfectly.”

Now, I have talked about the infamous EIP kiss before and approached all the rhetoric surrounding it like Snopes Fact Checker in this post, lmao. I did discuss in there why the kiss is wrong, which no one has ever argued against, but also why the kiss is simply a mistake: not sexual assault, not entitlement, not an unforgivable decision. I’ve copied and pasted specifically my notes on the “entitlement” claim below regarding the kiss, but if you have time, I definitely recommend the whole post jksdhjasdka (I’m quite proud of it). Anyways! Here’s the excerpt:

Claim: Aang acted entitled to Katara and her affection.

Status: False.

I’ve briefly addressed this already, but Aang backing off when Katara pushed him away is the exact opposite of entitlement. An impromptu kiss is not always indicative of entitlement. It can be, especially if the person being kissed has never expressed any interest in the person kissing them, but Katara and Aang were mutually interested in each other. They’d mutually kissed twice already by that point: in CoTL and during DoBS. The EIP kiss was inappropriate. NO ONE HAS EVER SUGGESTED OTHERWISE. But when you’re 12 and you’re already kind of in this semi-relationship with a girl you’ve been through hell and high water with (who has kissed you twice on the lips and on the cheek multiple times, not to mention it is only you she ever expresses such affection towards), it is not fucking “entitlement” to make a move on her, even when the timing is off. IT’S JUST A MISTAKE. A POOR DECISION. NOT ENTITLEMENT. NOT MANIPULATION. NOT SEXUAL ASSAULT. Full stop.

Also, these EIP people love to call Aang entitled for this kiss, but there isn’t a single peep heard from them about Zuko’s line in TSR where he demands to know what’s “wrong” with Katara, since she hasn’t forgiven him yet when everyone else has. And look. I think Zuko was just frustrated here, and that he, too, made a mistake and is obviously not irredeemable for it, but. If you’re going to argue that Aang was entitled in EIP, you’d better be ready to acknowledge the argument that Zuko was acting entitled in TSR, too. And hell, let’s take it a step further! Call Aang entitled for EIP. Call Zuko entitled for TSR. Call Sokka entitled for choosing to stay at Boiling Rock on the off chance his father would arrive, thus making Suki and Zuko feel obligated to stay behind with him, effectively putting all of them in danger. What an entitled decision, risking his friends’ lives on the 0.01% chance Hakoda would be one of the many, many possible war prisoners arriving at Boiling Rock!

Damn. That sounds ridiculous as fuck, doesn’t it?

And guess what. That’s exactly how the “Aang was entitled” arguments come across. Hate to break it to you. Trust me when I say to do yourself a favor and stop perpetuating that faulty rhetoric!

So that is what I have already assessed, lol.

To be frank, the most frustrating thing I see perpetuated is that the EIP kiss somehow ruined Aang and Katara’s relationship. But when it comes to assessing weighty issues like the notion of “entitlement” in a relationship, the fact of the matter is that you have to look at both the relationship as a whole and the context in which it is situated. Opponents never want to do that, because doing so debunks their entire (baseless) argument, lmao. Katara and Aang are best friends. And by EIP, they have both expressed romantic interest in each other multiple times. (Here is a post explaining the development of Katara’s feelings for Aang, just to put out that fire before anyone sets it lmao.)

So why, why do opponents think Katara would never find it in herself to forgive Aang for a mistaken kiss? Katara is shown over and over again throughout the series to have one of the biggest hearts. She wants to see the good in people. That’s why she gives Jet a second chance (even though a person could argue he did not “deserve” one); that’s why she helps the Fire Nation village in “The Painted Lady”; that’s why she forgives Pakku (once she sees he’s willing to change); that’s why she is the second person in the entire show (excluding Iroh) to offer Zuko a hand of kindness (in CoD)! That’s why she eventually forgives Zuko, even after all he has done to the Gaang (e.g. sending an assassin after them, being complicit in Aang’s death, attacking her and kidnapping Aang at the NWT, manipulating her with her mother’s necklace, to name a few, lmao. bless his heart, but like Jet, someone could easily argue Zuko doesn’t “deserve” another chance - and yet Katara still gave him [and Jet] one. in fact, she gave Zuko multiple).

In other words, Katara is almost always willing to extend friendship and compassion and forgiveness to others - why would she revoke that privilege from Aang after a single error that is comparatively lesser to all the other horrible things she’s experienced in the war? Again, I’m not downplaying how terrible of a decision Aang made. It’s inexcusable. But it’s not the end of the world, and considering the context of the show (e.g. Aang and Katara liked each other and they both knew it), it’s… not some heinous crime. Compared to, oh, how about attempted murder? lmaoo

Even beyond Katara’s innate kindness, Aang is Katara’s best friend. She loves him. The show portrays it as romantic through the seasons, but even if someone isn’t into shipping (which is super valid), Katara and Aang’s connection is one of the primary lynchpins of the show! (The other being Aang and Zuko, the greatest foils of all time.) Katara and Aang epitomize several of A:TLA’s thematics (and aesthetics) because they are complementary: yin and yang, push and pull, Tui and La, moon and ocean, blue and orange, water and air. This gifset and related commentary beautifully demonstrate how even when Katara and Aang disagree, they respect the other’s the decision. So after 60~ episodes depicting Aang and Katara as having mutual respect and love for each other in every form as well as emphasizing Katara’s natural inclination towards kindness/giving people the benefit of the doubt, opponents still think Katara wouldn’t forgive Aang because of one mistimed, inappropriate kiss? What?? Make it make sense, lmao.

In sum, the kiss was a mistake, not an act of entitlement, and it’s absurd to think Katara would hold that against Aang for the rest of his life.

To backtrack a bit, opponents also love to use the fact that Aang asked Katara several questions about their relationship status as examples of his “entitlement.” Just typing that out highlights the ridiculous nature of this assertion, lmao! Let me rephrase it for maximum hilarity:

“Aang was unsure about where their relationship stood? Well, how dare he ask numerous questions to resolve his confusion!”

Like, what was the alternative jskfajksdas if you are in relationship limbo with someone, it is far better to ask them ‘too many’ questions for clarification than to simply assume one way or the other! Kissing Katara was wrong, flat-out, but asking her questions to better understand where they were in their relationship was like. exactly the right decision, lmao. I genuinely don’t see how that could be indicative of entitlement? Especially because, once again, Aang and Katara both like each other and they both know that by this point in the show. That’s why Aang doesn’t ask if Katara likes him - he knows she does. That’s why Katara doesn’t negate her feelings - she knows she’s interested in him, and the blockade between them is not a lack of reciprocation, but the fact that they’re “in the middle of a war” and consequently it’s not “the right time” for them to begin a relationship. Katara has seen Aang die before! She knows he’s facing a near-impossible victory! I can’t blame her for not wanting to start a relationship with him at that point. It would hurt twice as much to lose him again if they were together in a romantic fashion (amatonormativity, am I right?). Again, Aang’s kiss was entirely inappropriate, but him asking her questions about their relationship is a) an example of fostering healthy communication and b) what any therapist would encourage, lol.

Oh, but I’m “forgetting” something, aren’t I? Right. This line:

Katara: Aang, I’m sorry, but right now I’m just a little confused.

If we want to talk about parallels, which I know the A:TLA fandom adores, this line sounds suspiciously like:

Yue: … but I like you [Sokka] too much and it’s too confusing to be around you.

Yue and Katara are actually in similar situations here. Outside forces are interfering with their relationships; for Yue, there is her arranged marriage, and for Katara, it’s the life-or-death nature of the war itself. They aren’t confused about their feelings, as Yue knows she likes Sokka and Katara knows she likes Aang, but they are confused about how to reconcile those feelings with their external circumstances. And can you blame them for that? They are facing impossible decisions (the fate of their nation and the fate of the world respectively). I would be confused, too! So Katara’s response isn’t a reaction to any so-called “entitlement” from Aang; she is experiencing genuine confusion about how to approach her own feelings for him in the midst of a war.

In sum, Aang asking questions about their relationship was a logical step to take resolving his confusion and is in no way related to “entitlement.” Katara’s confusion was not “letting Aang down easy” and interpreting it as such requires disregarding every preceding line of the conversation and its context.

As you can see, Aang’s actions in EIP are not at all “entitled.” His questions were understandable. While his kiss was inappropriate and inexcusable, it was also a mistake, and there is no canon evidence to support the conclusion Katara would never be able to forgive him (her literal best friend!) for it.

Before I end, I’ll touch briefly upon the DotBS kiss, because it is also occasionally used as an example of Aang’s “entitlement” towards Katara’s feelings. Whether you like the trope or not, this moment falls under what is called the “Now or Never Kiss.” TV Tropes actually lists Kataang/DotBS as an example under the Western Animation tab:

“Avatar: The Last Airbender: The fact that he’s finally going to face the dreaded Firelord, and possibility that he might not come back alive from that battle, gives Aang enough motivation to kiss Katara.”

Again, whether you like the trope or not, it involves reciprocation from both parties:

“The Not-A-Couple [i.e. both parties] don’t want to go out without revealing how they [i.e. both parties] really feel. It’s now or never. They kiss.”

Katara and Aang both like each other. When Aang initiates the DotBS kiss, Katara kisses him back. Her lips are still puckered when he pulls away. Furthermore, Katara had initiated a kiss with Aang prior to this incident, in CoTL. Katara was also the one to initiate every cheek kiss with Aang (who is the only character she ever demonstrated such affection towards). So Aang kissing Katara during DotBS follows an established precedent of Katara initiating different kisses, romantically inclined, with Aang. It’s not entitlement; it’s him knowing they mutually like each other and him realizing this might be the last time he ever sees her. Again, you can hate the trope, but don’t blatantly misconstrue its meaning. You’ll sound like Fire Nation propaganda, lmao. (For clarification, jic: the general you. not anon!)

Here is a fantastic post by @imreallyhereforkataang explaining the DotBS kiss in more detail as well as discussing why Kataang’s progression in the second half of Book 3 was, in fact, well-developed, and how Katara and Aang are best friends above all else and know that (which was the core of their relationship from the start).

And a bonus fun fact: in the original storyboard (link takes you to storyboarder Giancarlo Volpe’s DeviantArt with said storyboard), it is noted that Katara smiles after Aang kisses her. Why? Because she likes him as much as he likes her! It was changed by a “higher authority,” according to Volpe, probably to add more realism to the romance (i.e. Katara likes Aang, yes, but as she herself points out in EIP - there’s a war going on, and love is always terrifying to reconcile with war).

(Seriously, though, do read Volpe’s description on the storyboard. Takes you a second to scroll down and maybe a minute to read. Short yet informative, discussing how you can see on the storyboard itself that someone revised the image so Katara isn’t smiling after the kiss.)

Anyways! Opponents’ argument that Katara wasn’t interested in Aang therefore is and has always been entirely inapplicable.

To conclude: the entitlement assertion is laughable. There is no canon evidence to support it. As such, I encourage you to laugh whenever you see it! Pull an Azula, for that matter:

[ID: Gif from “The Beach” episode of A:TLA. Ty Lee, mimicking a guy, asks Azula, “Hey there sweet sugar cakes. How ya likin’ this party?” Azula proceeds to burst into exaggerated laughter, earning stares from everyone else at the party. End ID.]

Thank you for the great ask, anon! Hopefully my response was satisfactory 💛

#surprise friends!! a kataang analysis!! i probably will not write any others until may 💀 #kataang #kataangtag #aang #katara #atla #avatar the last airbender #atla meta #amy answers #anon #amy analyzes

[justlikeeddie]

hey so look okay here i am standing shamefaced outside your door asking you if you wouldn't mind sharing or re-linking if you've shared before the names/numbers of the handful of spn episodes you've watched so i can get a slightly more informed flavour of the show when i inevitably capitulate to reading fanfic without giving up too much of my finite time on this earth to watching multiple seasons of supernatural.

GOOD NEWS - here are All Ten Episodes of SPN I Have Watched So Far, In The (Correct) Order I Watched Them. They are also rated for gay angel content, which tbh is mainly what I’m watching for, for the benefit of anyone else who may be in a similar situation.

15x20 Carry On - I maintain that watching the finale of this show first is the funniest thing you could possibly do, if you’re happy for it to be a completely incomprehensible experience. Witness Dean getting nailed to death. Cas content: 0.5/10, for one line in which his memory is briefly invoked at some kind of pie festival the Winchesters are attending

1x02 Wendigo - I only watched this because I was coming off a Due South jag and I thought it was funny that Callum Keith Rennie was in a very early episode. This is probably only worth watching if you too want to check in on how Callum Keith Rennie was doing c.2005, and/or if you are interested to see what the two leads looked like before they became the exhausted 40-year-olds in most of the gifsets, though I imagine there are probably better S1 episodes to do that with, not that I know what they are. Cas content: 0/10

4x01 Lazarus Rising - this is the Castiel introduction episode, although he only shows up in the final scene, and most of the rest of it is prime Men Stand In Rooms Talking To Each Other. When he shows up it’s good though. Cas content: 5/10, and all 5 of the points are for making the line “I am the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition” somehow even more intense than it looks written down

10x05 Fan Fiction - I maintain that trying to understand the first 200 episodes of the show by skipping to the one in which a girls’ high school puts on a musical summarising everything that has happened so far is the funniest thing you can possibly do. This episode is stupid, but I do recommend it, if you can stand to hear the word “Destiel” come out of the mouths of the actors. Cas content: 2/10, in that he isn’t in it, but he’s being played in the musical by a teenage lesbian, which seems Right

4x16 On The Head of a Pin - watched this in an attempt to watch “a good Cas episode”, although the (interesting) conceit of Cas experiencing doubt for the first time was overshadowed by the discovery that this show thinks that the way angels fight is that they just punch each other. Sure. Cas content: 6/10, not enough interaction with Dean, but strong points awarded for the beginnings of a crisis of faith and also being forced to his knees with a bloodied face

3x11 Mystery Spot - @the-omnishambles (who watched the first few series of the show in the 00s) kept telling me this was the one good episode she could remember. This was literally the first episode I thought was great from start to finish, and the knowledge that this show is capable of an episode that is good all the way through makes almost every other episode so much more of a shame in comparison. Anyway, this is a Groundhog Day conceit and it’s genuinely very funny. Cas content: 0/10

4x02 Are You There God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester - I thought that since Cas didn’t do much in the first episode of S4, maybe he started doing more in the second episode. He doesn’t, and this episode is boring, apart from literally the final scene (again), when Cas shows up to tell Dean he should show him some respect, which - according to most of the fanfiction I’ve consulted - sends Dean sexually insane. Cas content: 4/10, and all 4 of the points are for nobody realising they should have cut this scene if they didn’t want billions of words of Dean being dommed by an angel to exist on the internet

4x06 Yellow Fever - this is another silly episode, because by this point I was getting the hang of the fact that the silly episodes seem to be the most watchable. Dean gets a ghost disease (?) that makes him scared of everything. It’s pretty funny. Bonus points for a scene where he is hit on by a (male) deputy sheriff for literally no reason. Cas content: 0/10

5x03 Free To Be You And Me - this is the “Bert and Ernie are gay” episode, in which Cas shows up in Dean’s bathroom because Dean is The Only Person Who Will Help Him, and Dean agrees to help him but also insists on being present for his first sexual experience. Seems a bananas decision to make Cas very awkward about sex - rather than just uninterested in or intellectually curious about it - if you don’t want to make it clear that angels can fuck, do fuck, and might want to fuck Dean. Also seems a bananas decision to have Dean appear to fail in his extremely solemn promise to get Cas laid, if you don’t want to make it clear that he presumably just had to sort Cas out himself in the car afterwards. Cas content: 8/10, two points removed for not showing whatever happened in the car afterwards

5x04 The End - this episode was the second one that I thought was good from start to finish, so honestly it’s great to know that the show managed this at least twice in the 320 chances it had. Anyway, in order to convince Dean to do what heaven wants him to, another angel projects Dean into a vision of a nightmarish, post-apocalyptic future in which Dean has become a ruthless killer, Sam has been possessed by Lucifer, and Cas has got into yoga, orgies, and weed. I thought at least some of this was a joke every time I saw it referenced in a shitpost, but it isn’t. Cas content: 9/10, point removed purely because he’s not in the whole episode, but he’s high, sad, and dressed in a big baggy shirt when he is. Bonus points for the canonical creation of a self-contained AU for people to write depressing but very explicit fanfiction about. Extra bonus points for the insanity of airing this episode directly after the Bert and Ernie one.

#focusfixated #replies #spn

[thelightofthingshopedfor]

1, 2, 3, 9, 16, 26 for the Loki meme~

already answered 1 and 2! and I...meant to answer this a long time ago and it kept getting buried in my drafts.

3. Did someone refer him to you or you found him on your own? A little of both, I guess. @erlkonigstochter watched the first Thor movie before I did and told me it had a quiet overlooked nerd vs. loud popular jock thing going on, so I was kind of predisposed to sympathize with Loki even before I watched it. and then of course I saw it and it turned out Loki was goddamn tragic and also fuck Odin because WHO FUCKING DOES THAT WHEN THEIR KID IS ABOUT TO COMMIT SUICIDE, HOLY SHIT (yeah overidentifying with Loki in multiple ways has always been part of why I love him). I can’t remember if I properly got into the fandom as such until after Avengers, but I definitely didn’t start trying to write my own fic before then, and fandom was very much a feedback loop--gifsets and meta made me notice things I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise (like...I don’t think it even occurred to me that Loki was probably tortured before being sent to Earth until I saw others discussing it and pointing out the onscreen evidence, and then of course it was obvious) and have feelings about those things, and fanart gave me more feelings, and so did fic, which also gave me various ideas. so in the absence of fandom, I think it’s safe to say I still would’ve liked Loki a lot, but it’s hard to say if I would’ve gotten in so deep.

9. Do you have a Loki song list? Answered before but answering again because I want to share a few! currently I have 68 songs on my general Loki playlist, which I rarely listen to because I’m a baby and some of them make me too sad. but! I also have a handful near the end that I’ve been meaning to post as a mini-fanmix, because it’s actually not terribly sad and it’s about a very specific topic: post-IW/Endgame Loki recovering in New Asgard because fuck canon actually, and it’s kind of bittersweet because trauma’s a bitch and he’s going to be dealing with all this shit for a long time but also he’s alive to deal with it and so is Thor and they’ll help each other heal because again, and I cannot stress this enough, fuck canon. so far it’s got: “No Monsters,” Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire “Tender Offerings,” First Aid Kit “Falling Slowly,” The Swell Season “Saturn,” Sleeping At Last “Never Quite Free,” The Mountain Goats, which really kinda sums up the whole concept and then some combination of “In Harmony,” “In the Silence,” “Going Home,” or the original Icelandic versions of them, all by Ásgeir. these are all extremely gorgeous songs by the way, the whole list, and most of them are even available on Freegal, if your library has that.

oh and the other super-specific mini-mix is about Loki’s time in the Void, and so far the only one on there that’s a sure thing is “Meet Me in the Woods” by Lord Huron (possibly also “The Yawning Grave” by same). other possibilities include “The Colour out of Space” by Matt Pond PA, “The Cold, the Dark & the Silence” by Sea Wolf, “The Void” by Metric, and “Was There Nothing?” (or its Icelandic version) by Ásgeir, but tbh most of those are based on the title more than the lyrics. also it’s sad.

16. How would rate yourself as a Loki fan from 1-10? (1- casual,  10-stan™)  I’m gonna be totally honest here and say that I probably have to admit to 10. I mean--I’ve written a bunch of fic. I’ve made multiple custom figures. I’ve cosplayed five different Loki outfits (all fairly straightforward, but still). and of course, I have an army, which doesn’t even include all the other Loki stuff I have like prints and t-shirts. all of that speaks to a certain level of fanatical dedication, you know?

26. What’s your dream team for Loki? JUST LIKE. A FRIEND. LITERALLY ANY FRIEND, AS LONG AS THE FRIEND IS GOOD FOR HIM I’M REALLY NOT FUSSY but also I always wanted him to team up with the Avengers, you know, the thing that would’ve happened in IW/Endgame if the Russos weren’t such fucking hacks? could’ve even led to working with Nebula! that would’ve been extremely cool but nooooo, we can’t have anything nice! but uh, for things that might actually happen still, teaming up with Wanda would be fun. teaming up with Dr. Strange could also be cool if they both learn to respect each other. so yeah, if all three team up in Dr. Strange 2, I will be just...beside myself.

#iamanartichoke #conversations #ask memes #loki #marvel cinematic universe #music #loki meta #my meta

[maggiecheungs]

2020 ~everything~ wrap

i finally have time to do all of the tag games that people have tagged me in over the past month or so! i cannot for the life of me remember who tagged me in which one, so i’m just putting ~everything~ in one huge post. if i tag you anywhere then consider it a standing invitation to do whichever of these you haven’t done :) in fact, this is me issuing a standing invite to any of my followers who wants to do it :) also, thank you all!

Creator Wrap: Favourite Works

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

this collection of philosophy quotes paired with thai bl series, (and its sequel) which is possibly my favourite thing i’ve ever made. for, uh, nerd reasons.

these gifted text post memes i made still make me laugh sometimes

this fic about green from 2gether, which i wrote in the notes app on my phone and published the same day. not my absolute best writing but i am very fond of it <3

i have a bunch fof friend zone dangerous area edits/shitposts which i like, but i’m particularly fond of my fzda as satire headlines (which now has a sequel!)

i also love my crisgood-walmart-lesbian post. i might send it in to gmmtv to try and convince them to do a crisgood-bffs spin-off

+ bonus: since i wrote this list i made this gifset (my first ever!) of jennie panhan in the shipper and i love her too much not to include her on here

+ extra nerdy bonus: this niche meme about Chinese philosophy, which still makes me crack up whenever I think about it

Favourite Creators/Follow Forever

i’ve completely lost track of who’s following who from which blog, so this is just going to be a haphazard, non-exhaustive list of people who i adore/admire/am vaguely intimidated by, mutuality be damned. maybe we talk all the time! maybe we’ve never interacted! maybe i am constantly there in ur tags... lurking... 👀... but if you’re on this list you have made me smile at least once this year and i love you for that alone <3

@wjmild kylie!! you make gifs of arm & tay & lee (separately or in various combinations) & the shipper & and kapook & random fluke pusit cameos & school rangers so i don’t have to <3 ilysm

@janeramida vianey, you have such impeccable taste in general, but your sizzy gifset in particular is so gorgeous it lives in my mind rent free

@applelapis bri, this post was a callout and i want you to know that it haunts me at night as i lie awake staring at the ceiling :((((( i hope you are happy

@gigiesarocha cata, i love it when you show up on my dash bc you have!! such taste!! also, every time you gif gigie i gain five years of life <3 pls continue doing the Good Work

@pvrrish​ eleni, i remeber legit thinking that this was an official poster when i first saw it, it’s so beautiful

@ahysopae​ juliette your khaithird fic is so good and it literally changed the way i think about khai (not an easy feat)

@kurosawadachi angel, whenever i think about grace’s speech i remember your gifset and get literal chills

@doctorbahnjit alexa, you have no right to be as funny as you are. your friend zone edits give me life

@khaotungthanawat sam, you’re probably sick of getting tagged in these lists by random strangers, but i just had to bc your gifsets are Pure Art

@tanwirapong roa, all your gifsets are so ✨iconic✨

faiza @asianmelodrama and rahul @petekaos! yours were the first two thai drama blogs i followed and for ages i lowkey thought of you as my fandom parents.

and some more blogs that make me happy: @curlykytta / @lee-thanat  / @fck-inspector-m / @pangwave / @tichawongtipkanon / @tawanv @kimmonv (violet istg i have spent more time this year trying to figure out how many blogs you have than i have spent admiring your gifsets. & i spend a lot of time admiring your gifsets) / @taytawan / @1akorn and @yihwas (and your radiant lovechild @lakornladies ofc) / @teh-ohaew / @vihokratanas (mel your gifsets are just so gorgeous) / @tootiredtoosadtooangry / @headcompletelyempty / @demiromanticmickey​ / and there are definitely more but my brain is a sieve so apologies if i’ve forgotten anyone!! i love you all!! 

2020 HIGHLIGHTS ✨

rules: list your top 10 shows (bl or not) you watched in 2020 (doesn’t necessarily have to be shows that came out in 2020 though!)

1. 2GETHER & STILL2GETHER

my first thai drama, and even after all the amazing shows i’ve watched this year, it still has a special place in my heart. watching 2gether was the first time i’d ever seen a queer romcom that just... was. for me, by the simple fact of its being, 2gether was revolutionary. and then still2gether came along and took all the best things about the first season and gave us something beautiful and quiet and lovely and just proved to me, once and for all, that queer happiness doesn’t need to justify its own existence. there can be gay cuddles on the beach for no other reason than that we want them. 

2. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

i don’t really have the words for this one but. it makes my heart so very soft.

3. FRIEND ZONE 2: DANGEROUS AREA

season one was mindless fun because everyone was an absolute trashfire and it was hella cathartic to watch, but season 2... wow. i love it for so many reasons: it has messy and authentic queer rep; the characterisation is excellent and i somehow care about all of the characters; amazing women taking centre stage(!); a wlw relationship with lesbian, ace and bipolar rep; multiple interesting plotlines; actual character development; arm weerayut as a chaos gremlin... absolutely one of my favourites of 2020.

4. CHERRY MAGIC

i don’t think i need to explain this one, which is fortunate, because i have no idea how exactly i’d describe the happy-warm-fuzzy-queer-seen-loving-affirmed-profound feeling that rises in my chest whenever i think about it. 

5. THE GIFTED: GRADUATION

confession: i liked season 2 more than season 1 (with the exception of the ending, which we don’t talk about). season 1 was enjoyable and interesting, but for me it was season 2 which made me love this series. it did some incredibly interesting and complicated things (even if it didn’t quite nail the landing): it pushed characters to the breaking point and wove so many layers into the story and questioned its own underlying themes. plus, watching it alongside everyone in the fandom made it 200% better. i love all of you and i love this show. egg girl 5eva.

6. THE SHIPPER

i 100% understand why so many people didn’t like this show, or found it problematic, but through some fluke it absolutely worked for me (even the ending). one day i will write an essay explaining my rationale, but for now i’ll just say that it’s one of my favourite shows about adolescence and queerness and identity and compassion and friendship and love that i’ve ever watched. 

7. YYY

this series is absolutely off its rocker, and it somehow managed to be one of the most affirming shows i’ve watched. it shouldn’t have worked by it did, and i love it so much.

8. 3 WILL BE FREE

absolutely iconic. amazing plot, stunning visuals, great characters, canon polyamory, jennie being incredible... what a series.

9. MANNER OF DEATH

i love the fact that this show exists; i love the mix of crime and romance; i love maxtul’s acting; i love the central relationship; i love bun. i know we’re not even halfway through yet, but this show is doing something special and i’m so grateful that i get to watch it unfold in real time. 

10. CHIHAYAFURU (SEASON 3)

odd one out on my list, but I had to include it. chihayafuru is my all-time favourite anime and it finally got a third season, which is somehow even better than the first two. mashima taichi is one of my favourite characters of all time and his storyline hits me on such a profound level. plus, in the years since i first say this show i’ve fallen in love with classical japanese literature (particularly heian poetry) so i had newfound appreciation for the karuta matches (aka i cried every time someone recited one of my favourite poems)

other favourites: together with me, he’s coming to me, sotus and sotus s, my dear loser: edge of 17, why r u, theory of love, wake up chanee!, gameboys, pearl next door, uta koi (anime), three kingdoms (2010), blood and water (netflix). (itsay would almost certainly be on my list if i’d had time to watch it. same with dark blue kiss, which i had to pause so i could do my assignments)

Final Thoughts

well, it’s been... a year (i don’t think anyone needs a reminder of the details) but writing this post has reminded me of all the amazing shows and people I discovered over the course of it.

thank you to everyone for being so lovely and creative and funny and quirky and kind and passionate. you’re all incredibly awesome people and i wish all of you the very best xx

#tag game #I think I was first tagged in one of these like three weeks ago? but I’ve been super busy #happy new year everyone #ellis talks #also I tried to keep this as short as possible bc otherwise I could have gushed for hours about you all #and this post is long enough already #but if any of you are in a low mood or want the unabridged version of my praise then message me & I’ll compliment you profusely to your face #:)

[fatoujallovv]

blog tag <3

tagged by @luxandobscurus @hidden-joy love u both SO much pls

1. why did you choose your url?

@isakeijzer was earthling-isa back in the day and i was like you know who makes alliteration with earthling and is also coincidentally the loml ..... and i’m straight up . not rlly in wtfock at all but like sander my beloved <3

2. any side blogs?

not yet!! but every day i have the itch to use this dodie lyric url i have saved to start a music sideblog ... but no not yet

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

i have been an active contributing blog since august last year but i’ve been lurking . since 2016 i think akdjfjjsj

4. do you have a queue tag?

i doooo 🤪 it’s “with love from me to queue” like the beatles song honestly y’all are seeing a lot of it recently bc i’m not that active 🤧🤧 but i think it’s kinda cute 🤪 i’m a lil sick of it but i have no other ideas lmao

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

idk why i started it bc i never used it i just made an account to like things back in the day but i started using it bc i was dying to make gifs and hang out with all the super cool skam peeps bc yall seemed so sweet and awesome and i was right on that 🥺💛

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

it’s my pan pride moment and i just love how fuckin happy and smiley eliott is and miss fifi deserved better skdjfjjs

7. why did you choose your header?

i just went thru my folder of saved headers n this one was pretty and so i recolored the rainbow colors to be pan colors to complete the pan theme 💗💛💙

8. what's your post with the most notes?

it’s my end of fatou’s season set which is rlly 🥺🥺 bc i put so much into that set and i’m so happy people liked it :’)

9. how many mutuals do you have?

i tried to count but i didn’t try that hard aksjfjs it’s somewhere around 100 i think

10. how many followers do you have?

503 and i was trying to keep it on the down low bc i need a minute to do my lil celebration things akdjfj but i’m like floored that that many people are hangin out with me wtf

11. how many people do you follow?

142 i feel bad i get so overwhelmed with my dash so i keep it mostly to mutuals

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

yes for sure . one after tiff season was announced actually got like five times the notes as the gifset i had posted the same day so that was fun 🤩🤩🤩

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

it varies sooooooo much anywhere from not at all to like five hours it depends on if i have time and if i have energy but hopefully i’ll be here more consistently over the summer!!!

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

that blog that stole multiple gifsets and then was gaslighting me for wanting them to delete the posts they called me their ✨good friend✨ when they posted another stolen gifset which was honestly just hilarious aksjdjsj and they tried to give me a very Incorrect lesson on copyright and the creative commons lmfao

15. how do you feel about "you need to reblog this" posts?

they are so stupid and i really wish people wouldn’t give people reasons to be anxious

16. do you like tag games?

they’re so funnnnn i love them 🥺

17. do you like ask games?

i’m lichrally obsessed with ask games like sometimes i want to reblog three at a time and just have a party

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

i mean i know @caroldanvr and @buckywilsn are rockin with multi thousands and lots of ael people have a good amount and that’s Cool and a lil Insane that y’all follow me omg but i feel like i don’t have any secretly mega famous mutuals aksjjfjfjsj

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

all of y’all 💛💛💛 but ofc forever crushing on my wife @hidden-joy

alrighty tagging @caroldanvr @buckywilsn @lucasotteli @sandersyasmina @genjasafin @clairdelalune if u wanna 🥺💛💛💛

#tag game #long post #caro 🌼💛 #liz 🌿🌸

[lonestarpost]

May 10, 2021~ Masterlist ~ Issue 14

The Edits Edit

Some of the best edits this week that deserve all the love.

I’M NOT LIVING WITH MY DAD, LIKE, PERMANENTLY, AM I? by @pendragonsandbuckleys is an amazing gifset that shows the best of TK and Owen’s relationship. It’s beautifully done!

You think they’re soulful? Shut up by @futures-tense is amazing fanart of Carlos “Cow Eyes” Reyes, and he really does have cow eyes, huh?

duality by @tarlosstrand really shows Tarlos being tended in a way that makes me heart flutter.

#appreciation post for carlos and this Look in 2.11 feat. Arms by @rafasilvas is a gifset of Carlos that I’m sure we’re all looking respectfully at.

2.01 x 2.11 → for anon by @strandtk shows Tarlos trying to deal with their forgetfulness and group gatherings!

CARLOS REYES and TK STRAND in 9-1-1: Lone Star l 2x11 by @bucktks shows competitive duo, TK and Carlos, so well. Also, check out this one featuring Carlos’ parents or this one with Marjan and Paul.

And to be an impartial witness in case this goes sideways. by @shoenaerts showcases a great Paul and Marjan moment that just feels so good, and the gifs are so wonderfully done. This Nancy one is also amazing.

Whatever you do, do not give her the Carlos cow eyes. The Carlos cow eyes? You know when you get all lovey and concerned. Soulful, big, brown eyes, it… absolutely wrecks people. You think they’re soulful? Shut up. by @devildrusje is one of the most breathtaking gifsets I’ve seen.

Marjan Marwani by @reyeslonestar is a gorgeous sketch of Marjan, and I love it dearly.

tk & carlos || temporary love [+2x08] by @parawhotai is a great Tarlos video!

Charles is thinking about putting it on the menu.Oh! Ok, you said menu, what menu? by @911dawnstar is a great moment from the dinner between the Ryders and Vegas. Also check out this one that showcases the family bond of the 126.

Oh, my God, they’re going to win again! by @audreyhrnes is a lovely Tarlos gifset that shows the romantic nuances of their relationship.

Nancy:  It’s all over anyways. Unless Marjan draws another knight card, and what are the odds of that?Marjan: *proceeds to draw another knight card* by @yusufsalkaysanis​ shows some of the things that make me love Marjan so much.

MARJAN MARWANI in 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 2 — SLOW BURN by @buckleys-diaz  shows  some important Marjan Marwani moments, and it is amazing.

Fic Recs

Some of the best fics of the week.

i’ve got you by @thatnerdemryn ( thatnerdemryn )

Word Count: 936

Chapters: 1/1

“Marj, what’s going on?” Nancy said softly as she finally reached Marjan. When she was close enough, she took the risk, grabbing for Marjan’s shaking hands and pulling them to her chest. Marjan opened her eyes at the contact and when she finally caught sight of Nancy, a choked sob escaped her perfectly painted lips.

guide me back (I’m lost without your light) by @rafasilvas ( boneswrites )

Word Count: 10128

Chapters: 1/1

“All available units respond to a 10-50 at the intersection of Sixth and North Lamar Boulevard. Multiple vehicle pile up.” “Dispatch, this is 363-H-20 responding. ETA three minutes.” When Carlos and Mitchell respond to the call, the last thing Carlos expects is to find TK in the middle of the wreck. He races against time to keep TK awake and stable until fire and medical arrive, while sending out prayer after prayer that his time with TK hasn’t been cut short. That they haven’t run out of time.

the gravity in between us by @lire-casander ( Lire_Casander )

Word Count: 1582

Chapters: 1/1

once captain strand leaves, they go back to unpacking, but an unexpected memory throws tk off kilter

if every breath is sacred by @morganaspendragonss ( hollyhobbit101 )

Word Count: 2104

Chapters: 1/1

When Carlos wakes up, flames and smoke are filling the room, but TK is nowhere to be seen. He knows the protocols for being in a fire: sit tight, stay low to the ground, wait for help to arrive. But, it’s TK. Protocols have always gone straight out of the window when it comes to TK. So, Carlos— Well, Carlos does probably the stupidest thing he’s ever done in his life. He grabs two t-shirts from a drawer, holds one over his mouth and nose, and plunges into the inferno.

Fandom News

Hosting events? Have important announcements? You’re welcome to bring them here to keep people in the know.

Events

911 & 911 Lone Star AU Weekend

From June 25-28, 2021 there will be an AU weekend for 911 and 911 Lone Star!

Prompts for Fic Writers:

June 25, 2021 - Day 1: “This is the job I was meant to do.” - Different career path

June 26, 2021 - Day 2: “I didn’t expect to see someone like you here.” - Different first meeting

June 27, 2021 - Day 3: It didn’t have to end up like this - change a situation in canon

June 28, 2021 Day 4:  Writer’s choice

Prompts for Artists:

June 25, 2021 - Day 1: First Meeting

June 26, 2021 - Day 2: Soulmate AU

June 27, 2021 - Day 3: Break a canon event

June 28, 2021 Day 4: Artists choice

#911 lone star #lone star post #issue 14

[fmasecretsanta2020]

Interest Check Questions Answered!

Mods Tas, Waddi, and Flour have reviewed your interest check responses, adjusted our rules and schedule, and are ready to respond to all your questions about the event.  To begin, we’ve pulled quite a few questions from your interest check responses and are publicly answering them below the cut.

Want to learn more about out the 2020 FMA Secret Santa?  Check out our FAQ, rules and schedule.

Have a questions about this event?  Don’t be shy!  We’d love to respond.  Send us a tumblr ask!

‘Tis almost the season!  Sign-ups open on Monday, October 19, 2020!

I’m new in all of this, so I’d like to know what’s the purpose of the check-in dates. What do we have to do in those?

The first check-in is just to make sure that you are still interested in participating and are ok with your assignment. We understand that real life can get in the way sometimes. We ask that people let us know as soon as possible if they think they need to pull out. The second check-in is to ask when the gift will be posted. The reason for this is that last year we had several dropouts who confirmed they were going to make a gift at check-ins but did not post a gift. The second check-in will allow us to assign to pinch-hitter sooner.

-Mod Waddi

Maybe the second check-in is too close to the posting time? If a pinch-hitter is needed.

Thanks for your thoughts, anon.  The second check-in is a little late, and we will adjust our schedule to give you five days between the second check-in and the posting period.  However, we are keeping it at a later date for a pretty good reason.

Unfortunately, we assigned most of our pinch-hitters at the end of the posting period last year.  We had several dropouts who confirmed with us at our midpoint check-ins but did not post a gift.  To avoid that this year, we’re having two check-ins, and at the second check-in, we will ask you when you plan to post.  We understand that some people need less time than others to complete a gift, but everyone should have started and have an ETA for completion five days before the posting period.  A late second check-in might help us make sure everyone receives a gift on time!

-Mod Flour

Could you perhapse have multiple days for assignments incase someone has a personal issue with someone they are supposed to make content for and can let you know?

We certainly understand where you’re coming from with this suggestion.  Unfortunately, since we give people 72 hours to respond to each moderator contact (and we will be asking our participants to confirm that they accept their assignment), separate assignment days would have to take place over (possibly) weeks—6 days at least for 2 assignments, 9 days for 3 assignments, 12 days for 4 assignments, etc.—if we waited for each wave of participants to accept before moving on to the next.  We feel that this approach would significantly cut into the creation period.  Additionally, the sign-up application will provide a space where you can list people that you do not want to receive a gift from or make a gift for.  We encourage everyone to be honest on their application, and if someone is uncomfortable with the person they are assigned, contact a moderator sooner rather than later.

-Mod Flour

what about art styles that don't really do clean lineart but do include colors/complexity/etc, or multiple sketchier drawings/comic strip type things?

Thank you for this feedback. As writers, we appreciate you pointing this out. We will do our best to take this into account.

-Mod Waddi

A minimum of 8 gifs could be a lot if it's an edited gifset. I can see it being okay for a slightly colour-changed gifset with a filter over it, but for more creative gifs it can be way too much.

Thank you for this helpful feedback!  This is exactly the kind of thing we want to hear.  Admittedly, all three moderators are writers.  We do our best to make good rules, but sometimes we don’t take all the variables into account.  We’ll lower the minimum from 8 to 4.

-Mod Flour

I tend to write a lot when I get excited; would it be a problem if I write more than 1k?

Not a problem at all! We totally understand this excitement and allow our Secret Santas to produce at or above the required minimum for their specific type of gift. When creating these gifts, please take into consideration your assigned person’s likes and dislikes.

Two things to keep in mind:

1) Please consider the number of days for creation (a maximum of 47 days). Assignments will go out on November 15, with two check-ins occurring on December 1 and December 15. All gifts must be 100% complete before posting between December 21, 2020 and January 1, 2021.

2) If you decide to produce your gift above the required minimum, please do not expect your Secret Santa to do the same. As long as they meet the minimum requirement, it is considered a complete gift.

-Mod Tas

I think they're mostly fine, although, would ships that have them meet when one is a minor and the other an adult, but they're currently both adults be allowed? I understand that this exchange is a way to build bridges in the fandom, but I'm not sure if that's going to work if one of the most popular ships is completely excluded.

Yes, as long as you portray both characters as adults when including romantic or sexual content in your gift, you are free to ship whoever you’d like to (besides incest) no matter when they met.  Our rules prohibit major/minor sexual or romantic relationships—minor meaning 17 years old and under and major meaning 18 years old or older.  As long as you’re not including sexual or romantic tones that take place when one character is a minor within your otherwise adult/adult ship gift, we’re good.  Keep it all non-sexual and non-romantic until both characters are adults.

(As an aside, some people may remember that this exchange had an additional exception for major/minor shipping for small age gap relationships last year; however, no one took advantage of that exception, and it complicated the rules quite a bit.  Therefore, we decided to draw a hard line and leave it at that.  There’s no judgment there; we’re just trying to craft rules that work for most people.)

Please also keep in mind that we also allow alternate universes and canon-divergent situations in this exchange.  A hallmark of fandom is being free to imagine!  We feel it would be almost impossible (and unfair to the differing, though equally valid points of view in the FMA fandom) to set ages for every character and then to enforce such a restrictive rule.

-Mod Flour

I think the exchange should allow M and E works, and to create/receive them you have to be 18+—but in order to not pressure minors to self-identity, have the question of whether they're over 18 be optional. (So it's basically, "If you're interested in NSFW and meet the age requirement, check this box.") And unless I misread the definition of pedophilia, it seems to exclude kid/kid relationships. Which I don't personally enjoy, but I know some people like kidfic or "through the years" fics, which are pretty harmless IMO as long as they're not physical/sexual.

We hear you anon.  My fellow moderators and I have had many conversations about the rating of this event.  We think it’s best to stick to a blanket PG-13 rating.  However, there is a footnote that you might be interested in:

This Fullmetal Alchemist Secret Santa Gift Exchange takes no stance regarding “Mature” or “Explicit” content added to the original Secret Santa offering. Please post additional content separately from the Secret Santa offering (separate reblog, post, or additional chapter). Such additions or continuations are at the discretion of the gift giver.

The second part of your comment requires a more in-depth analysis.  While there are some restrictions, kid/kid ships are not completely excluded.  We exclude sexual interest, sexual attraction, or sexual relationships between any character and another character who is 13 years old or younger.  We don’t have many shipping exclusions for characters who are 14-17 years old as long as they are shipped to other 14-17 year old characters.

Specifically, our rules prohibit pedophilia (which we define as a sexual interest, sexual attraction, or sexual relationship by any character to a character who is 13 years old or younger) and major/minor sexual or romantic relationships.  While we regret that the pedophilia definition is overbroad, in that it can define someone under 16 years old as a pedophile, subdividing the rules further would make them even more complicated.  To grasp the intent of both the pedophilia rule and the major/minor exclusion as it affects kidfics, look to our wording, particularly the part where we say sexual interest, sexual attraction, or sexual relationship.  

To wit, sexual can be defined as, “relating to the instincts, physiological processes, and activities connected with physical attraction or intimate physical contact between individuals.” For example, if an 8 year old and a 9 year old hold hands and walk down the street having thoughts about how special they are to each other, we would not consider this sexual.  If that same 8 year old and 9 year old hold hands and think about wanting to act intimately while jaunting down the street, we would consider that sexual.  Innocent physical contact alone wouldn’t break the rule; it’s a character’s intent that matters most here.

Therefore, a participant can make a through-the-years work with a prepubescent setting included so long as any kid/kid shipping is not sexual in nature.  To the extent that these rules may appear to allow romantic relationships between minors of all ages, all I have to say is that it wouldn’t be PG-13 to have a 9 year old with a romantic, albeit non-sexual, interest in a 16 year old (or vice versa).  I haven’t run across a a lot of media with older minors being romantically linked to younger minors in the fandom, so I’m hopeful that we don’t need to be too worried.

Oh my, that was long.  I hope that helps explain our rules a little better.

-Mod Flour

Just a question: out of curiosity, will this event be having a discord server or some other way for the members to talk to each other?

There will be no discord server for this event. Several reasons include:

1) Secret Santa identities should remain anonymous until posting dates. No participant should be able to figure out who their Secret Santa is,

2) we want to avoid conversations which may allude to a participant’s specific gift,

3) after a long consideration, the moderators have decided that this year’s event will be conducted via Tumblr platform only. All participants will need to have a Tumblr account in order to be contacted via the chat.

-Mod Tas

there are a lot of options for the type of gift that can be created-- can the person being gifted ask to have a specific gift (ex: art only)? thank you

Yes, the person being gifted can request for a specific gift. However, the sign up form will also ask for a backup gift type that the participant is willing to receive. The mods, to the best of our abilities, will match up a participant with a Secret Santa who will be able to produce said gift.

Assignments will go out on or after November 15, 2020. Should you have any concerns with the person assigned to you--their gift requests or otherwise, please contact one of the mods as soon as possible.

-Mod Tas

Will there be an option (if ships are allowed) to opt out of ships of adult/minor characters over the age of 13?

The sign up form will ask your likes and dislikes (i.e. favorite pairing or preferred genre), including what kind of gifts you are not and are willing to receive. If you prefer to opt out of a specific type of pairing, please note it during sign up.

Based on the rules of FMA Secret Santa 2020, “Media containing, suggesting, or portraying incest,* pedophilia**, or minor/major sexual or romantic relationships*** is prohibited.” The age of majority is defined as 18 years old.

Adult & minor relationships, which are non-sexual, non-romantic, and bear no indication that it would become such, are allowed. We are also allowing alternative universes, which may include characters depicted as younger or older than their canonical age. If a fanfic or a fanart depicts canonically minor characters as adults, they will need to explicitly state this.

-Mod Tas

If you are looking for other moderators to help facilitate, I'd be interested in filling out an application.

Oh, thank you!  This is a really kind offer. We decided earlier this year not to run formal moderator applications, and we are unsure if we need any other moderators at this time.  However, we may review this.  If you’re interested in helping out, just message @waddiwasiwitch or @flourchildwrites on tumblr, and we’ll go from there.

-Mod Flour

I haven't participated in this before so I don't know if tvis is already a thing, but I think that during sign ups you should have the chance to write a list of topics, characters, and ships that you would rather not do for the exchange, because there's a difference between respecting ships from a distance and having to draw your notp.

Yes, an option for specifying likes and dislikes will be available in the sign up form. This is the case for both what gift you will create and receive. We will be matching people whose interests align, and we will take likes and dislikes into account. The more information provided in the form, the easier our job will be.

-Mod Waddi

Manga edits/colorings okay?

Yes, that's a wonderful gift!  In fact, we're going to add manga edits/colorings to the category of gifts available by a recipient’s request or suggestion just to keep the idea at the forefront.  If a participant requests a manga edit/coloring or if they say they are flexible on their application and you indicate you'd like to make one on your application, we'll do our best to send you their way during matching!

-Mod Flour

Are sculptures ok with this?

That is a very interesting question. As this gift exchange is entirely digital and doesn't involve physical gifts, we are unsure what that would look like. Us mods were talking about it, and we were wondering if it would be possible to show us an example of what a gift like that would look like. Please get in touch with either myself @waddiwasiwitch or mod @flourchildwrites by Tumblr message. We would need to know more to answer your question. When a gift is unusual, it means we need participants who will be open to such a gift too.

-Mod Waddi

#fma #fullmetal alchemist #gift exchange #secret santa #fmasecretsanta2020

[bellamygateoldblog]

So, I read a lot of your personal posts and I'm just really curious about you. You seem very stressed out and tired all the time. Are you a college student? Are you just in a financial situation that necessitates that you work all the time? I just feel bad because It seems that you do not absorb joy very much. Like, I have seen that you recently started watching that show The 100. You seem very pissed off about it and yet keep watching it? You confuse and intrigue me. Explain?

"it seems that you do not absorb joy very much" has been playing on my mind ever since i read this. It hit something close to my heart.

I know i’m not obligated to explain anything and i don’t tend to put my life online (i don’t have any social media, so that should give you an idea of how secretive i usually am) but i literally stayed awake for 30 hours straight before sleeping for 15 hours straight and of course i don’t feel very well after that lol. I feel like i need to talk through some things that i’ve been keeping to myself for a long time. Get it out of my head, stop carrying it around, maybe gain some control over it.

I never intend to make anyone feel bad though, but i don’t have anyone to talk to so i guess i sometimes make those posts as a substitute for someone listening. Or for me being pissed about the 100, i think that’s my mood translating into what i end up posting in general.

Anyways this is A Lot. I obviously don’t mind if you read it. Advice would be nice, if anyone has any.

I’m a 2nd year university student. Due to severe mental illness (often making me physically sick and exhausted) these last 2 years have been extremely difficult so that's left me in a very intense situation essentially just trying to ensure i pass the year. That means handing in all the assignments i deferred basically all at the same time, after not attending the year at all. Like no lectures, no workshops, no lessons, nothing past the first month of semester 1. It's really not an ideal situation and my condition isn't improving the way i thought it would (you know when you think ‘this is the worst it can possibly get’ and then it gets worse?), and i can't focus. I’m resourceful and naturally decently smart, so i’m able to still pass a year of uni without...going. I’ve become less capable over time but because of other life experience i don’t place value on academic excellence anymore and because of covid there is a benchmark anyway, where my grade can’t drop below a 2:2, so basically i’m good as long as i don’t recieve a fail grade on anything. But that being said it’s still really hard to get things done anyway despite this? especially with depression and concentration issues, because uni in general just makes me really unhappy and disrupts my entire life, and i’d rather do literally anything else.

I can’t function whenever thinking about school in general. If im stressed about something i can’t think about anything else and it ends up seeping into other things im doing.

I have a really clear idea of what i want for the next step in my life and university is the only route available to get to so that’s why i’m still going through all of this when i could technically just ‘stop’. I’ve explored other ideas already and it appears even more stressful and complicated to make a huge change now. Even though i know 3rd year will be harder (which is also a source of stress, anxiety over what’s to come when im already struggling...).

I've been talking to my uni the whole time and while they've been understanding and accommodating (psychology department...like...they Know lol), there's only so much they can do to help me. Everyone i’ve spoken to is genuienly amazed i am where i am, but imo my resilience is bourne out of pure spite not to let my life fall apart along with myself LMAO. I have one assignment deadline left which is tomorrow. It’s the hardest one yet, i haven’t started and i’m filled with dread, and i’m so burned out i have no idea how i’m going to get it done.

To give some context about the whole ‘i can’t help myself when i’m under stress’ thing: I’m a really feminine girl. I have health and beauty routines that i like to stick to, but i can’t stick to them right now so i don’t feel like myself. There is nothing more to my life than stress and depression. I’m pretty sure i experienced dissociation for a few days last week. It was like i didn’t exist.

Just so happens that when i thought i could finally have a break from the extreme stress there are exams coming up on the 11th, which my uni has for some reason decided to make harder!?!? And i need to tell you that because it’s been bugging me ever since i recieved the email. They've completely changed the exams from being 1 hour long multiple choice tests (multiple choice is so easy smh) to basically a group of short answer questions we have 24 hours (each!) to write and submit and it’s seeming like i’ve got another 5 assignments to do after already writing 7 in the past month. It’s open book while the January exams were closed but it still seems to me like the students who didn’t defer (who did the exams back in January) got an unfair advantage over those of us taking them now due to our own circumstances. So I’m confused and upset about that, and about the thought that i probably won’t even get a break before 3rd year begins.

My living situation doesn’t make it better. It’s a really negative and emotionally draining space for me to be in. Just adding to my being drawn to negativity, and my own sensitivity. And covid has made everything that much more complicated, with everything changing and being closed etc. I’m completely alone btw, there is no one i can lean on.

As for the 100, that’s really tricky. I actually stopped “watching” it last year and now mostly consume it through fandom tumblr. I'm just not in the right headspace to sit alone and watch such a heavy show (clearly LMAO). But I’m so comfortable in this circle of fandom & love my mutuals, so i stay. I am actually liking a lot about the final season, like they’re delivering everything i wanted them to lol, but it’s so flawed and easy to complain about when you have a predisposition to be a Negative Nancy all the time so here we are.

I think i don’t really talk so extensively about shows I really love because i feel like i don’t have anything substancial to say about them besides ‘i love it’? Like i just sit there and happily watch and the farthest i go is commenting gibberish love confessions in the tags of a gifset i reblog. So most of my posts end up being me being petty or something. I do want to focus more on shows i love but like i said...it’s so hard for me sometimes to be all-positive and pretend i’m not completely crushed?

I really just want to not be so stressed and exhausted all the time. I want to do something besides worry about and/or do work. I’d love to clean my space & take a shower & read a book without a nagging anxiety in the back of my head. But i have to wait it out, and then wait it out, and continue waiting it out because it feels like things are going to be this way forever or get even worse.

I’ve had a lot of good luck lately though, and i don’t know what your beliefs are but i think someone is watching over me.

[allimariexf]

crisis on infinite earths

so I haven’t been able to face tumblr for months, for a lot of reasons including the fact that Arrow after 8x05 sucked SO HARD that even the idea of looking at gifsets from 8x06 and 8x07 was really painful to me. 

And then I refused to watch the first three episodes of Crisis until yesterday. Regarding those first 3 episodes, I have two lines of thought. 

The first one is what everyone already knows: I HATE IT ON PRINCIPLE because it RUINED Oliver's rightful conclusion, it RUINED Arrow's direction and rightful conclusion. 

I HATE that Crisis is the reason they made Elseworlds, and that preparing/justifying Elseworlds and Crisis basically took over and ruined season 7 and 8. 

I HATE that Crisis is the reason Oliver left his family, that they're giving us tragedy porn as Oliver's ending rather than the culmination of his humanity. 

I HATE that they repeatedly subverted and perverted Oliver's own show, his own story, to prop up the other shows, the Arrowverse, and the crossovers - to expand the franchise  and appeal to a fanbase that was never going to be happy unless they turned their back on everything that made Arrow what it was in the first place. 

So I HATE IT ON PRINCIPLE because it is the culmination of that subversion of Oliver's show and story, and the culmination of appealing to that audience. 

That being said, the second line of thought is that as a story it's somewhat entertaining, and so far the plot mostly makes sense. Which is WAY more than I could say for the shitfest that was Elseworlds.

And then here are my thoughts on the ending of Crisis:

(TL;DR: FUCK THAT SHIT)

1. Though the Arrow portion was the most interesting and I appreciated the “walk down memory lane��� (especially the Oliver/Ray scene about Felicity’s trust in Oliver, from 3x17), nothing can make up for the fact that the wrong people were there for Oliver's death. And nothing can make up for the fact that the wrong people were shown grieving for him. 

I appreciate that Sara, as the one main hero with a connection to Oliver, at least did the heavy grief lifting (way more than Barry and Kara), and it was truly meaningful. But it was unforgivable that Diggle and Mia (AND FELICITY) were not involved.

I appreciate that Lyla and Dig got to mourn, but again it was unforgivable that they didn't show OR EVEN MENTION Felicity. Like. THEY NEEDED TO MENTION FELICITY MOURNING. THEY NEEDED TO MENTION HER GRIEF. EVERYONE NEEDED TO MENTION HER. THEY ALL GRIEVED OLIVER SO SELFISHLY (with the exception of John); THEY BARELY KNEW HIM RELATIVE TO FELICITY. GODDAMMIT SO MAD. Also THEA!? GAHHHH. I NEEDED TO SEE A SHOT OF FELICITY AND THEA AND BABY MIA TOGETHER MOURNING among those shots of the randos mourning. I don’t care that it’s “impossible” because they’re not on the show; they should have made it possible.

2. While I appreciate the return of Sara Diggle, I HATE the "EARTH PRIME" solution.

the Arrowverse spent YEARS selling us on this multiverse idea, making us care for multiple versions of characters as entirely different people 

which ones of those people are "real" now, and which never existed (or are dead - depending on ... what actually happened)?? 

For example Harrison Wells, Harry Wells, H.R. Wells...which one is real? Also LAUREL!? Is she dead? Is she alive? Which one is she?

they spent YEARS building events in our heroes' lives based on the existence of multiple earths 

and so many of the events in "our" heroes' lives were shaped by the existence of the multiverse: 

for example, Oliver and Felicity's wedding happened at the end of Crisis on Earth-X; in this reality, when did they get married?

Similarly, I think the entire plot of all the seasons of the Flash depend on the existence of multiple earths?

they spent YEARS selling the idea that things turned out majorly different on different earths due to major and minor changes in each reality. Of everything, I think this is the most egregious issue with “Prime Earth”

if we bought into the idea that each earth, each doppelganger, was uniquely defined by the circumstances of their lives, then literally NONE of our characters survived. 

Because as we knew them, they were all heavily shaped by the existence of the multiverse (either firsthand or by proxy), and if suddenly there never was a multiverse, then it doesn't make sense that they'd turn out the same. 

Like, even if we say Earth-1 people are defaults (which there’s no reason to say that at all other than “because that’s how we want it to be,” but anyway) then maybe most of Arrow characters that originated in the first 3 seasons will be unchanged. But everyone else is basically fucked.

3. All things considered this isn’t even a big deal, but GOD the combat is just so fucking stupid, like it makes no fucking sense. 

wtf are "shadow demons"? they were never properly explained. 

why did the anti-monitor come back? 

why were they trying to fight him, like, in human form? (seriously, the comic book need to put problems into human shape so that they can be dealt with through one-on-one "combat" is so stupidly unforgivable. I get the appeal of one-on-one combat; it's why I liked Arrow to begin with. No fucking magic or metahumans, just mostly-realistic problems that manifested in realistic ways...and it made sense for humans to fight them when fighting was the appropriate solution).

Speaking of: wtf did the paragons actually *do*?? "Beam of pure love/hope/truth/courage" etc. (which itself is so cheeesy and ridiculous and I only allow it on Legends) but...okay, what?? Where? When? How? Like, I didn't need a carebear stare or laserbeams, but at least showing Oliver being affected in some way would have been nice.

4. And of course, the whole fucking utter terribleness that Oliver had to die.

Oliver Queen spent the majority of Arrow learning the lesson that SELF SACRIFICE IS THE EASY ANSWER. 

He spent years learning TO FIGHT TO LIVE. 

He spent years learning that he has a responsibility to the people who love him.

It was a betrayal of his character, his growth, his story for him to leave his family to go die.

ALSO narratively speaking, Oliver’s story began in tragedy and the narrative demanded that it end happily

Essentially, the Crossovers (and the last few seasons, since they completely revolved around the crossovers) UTTERLY BETRAYED Arrow and the character of Oliver Queen

Oliver Queen did not deserve to die

The “living as a hero is the hard part” is utter fucking BS

Arrow began as a “grounded” show, and began to slide into comic book nonsense (where rules of the universe are inconsistent, and consequences for actions lose their sense of meaning) in season 4; after that it just got worse with each crossover and each show added to the Arrowverse. Arrow became a workhorse, subservient to the expansion of a franchise. It was adding insult to injury that he died in support of such a fucking ridiculous, ungrounded story that would have been unrecognizable to the audience that first fell in love with Arrow.

So basically I’m devastated. But also not. Because though I did cry, I was also not nearly as moved as I should have been. The travesty of it all is what I grieve  the most. 

Those were just my jotted down thoughts. Probably will have more later. Love you all so much. 💗😘💗😘💗

#allimariexf meta #my thoughts #arrow spoilers #arrow meta #crisis on infinite earths #my meta

[itspitchmastime]

It’s Pitchmas Time!!

It’s a new year and with that comes a new blog. The old Pitchmas blog was incorrectly marked as explicit by tumblr just before Christmas last year and, after multiple emails, nothing has been resolved. So, I’ve had to make a new one! So everyone who is interested in participating, please follow @itspitchmastime​! And this year, the awesome @chloebeale​ has offered his assistance in running the blog!

Now...

For the fourth year in a row, Pitchmas is knocking!! And you know what that means. It’s time to put your creativity hat on and pull out the wrapping paper. It’s time for the

MERRY PITCHMAS GIFT EXCHANGE!!!!

How does this work?

Well, if you wish to take part in the gift exchange, please REPLY to this post. Reblog all you want, but you won’t be included unless you reply. That’s just the easiest way to keep track of people. I’ll let this post circulate until November 30th. After that, I’ll throw all the names into a hat and randomly assign Secret Santa's. Once you have your person, feel free to contact them (anonymously - this is supposed to be a secret) and ask any questions about what they might like in a gift. Which brings me to another biggie:

To anyone who wants to take part in this, please change your ask settings to allow anonymous questions.

Otherwise, this won’t work. Every year I have quite a few people come to me telling me they can’t ask their giftee questions because of this and that means I have to try and get a hold of them and it slows the process down for everyone.

Due date??

You can post your finished pieces on December 25th. Please don’t post before this. Once the 25th rolls around, you can reveal yourself as your person’s Secret Santa by posting your creation on your blog and @/tagging the person. Also, please tag your entry with #merry pitchmas 2019 so that I can find them all and combine them into a master post once everyone has posted.

But I don’t have any money!

You don’t need money for this! No, dear friends, all you need is some time and your imagination. You see, this exchange is all about getting creative. Your gifts can be fanfiction, fanart, gifsets, manips, and anything else that falls under the header of fanworks.

What pairings are accepted?

I’m not about to ostracise anyone. All pairings are welcome. However, please make a point of contacting your giftee if you aren’t sure which pairings they enjoy.

In closing!

If you change your blog name between now and December 25th PLEASE let me know. It’s really, really difficult hunting people down when this happens.

This is all about having fun. You know what isn’t fun? Putting time and effort into giving someone a gift, only to not receive one yourself. Every time I’ve done this previously, people who have said yes to doing this have gotten their gift and then not followed through giving theirs. Refused to reply to messages and left someone without anything. Luckily, there are some lovely people who offer to help out and dedicate even more of their time to coming up with something for those people.

PLEASE DO NOT SAY YES IF YOU AREN’T PLANNING ON HOLDING UP YOUR END OF THIS.

It’s not fair.

If you aren’t going to be able to finish your gift in time, or at all, please let me know. That way I can contact the person you have and let them know it’ll be late or arrange for something else to be done for that.

Which reminds me…

Once again, I’ll be looking for volunteers I can hit up in the event that some people get missed and need replacement gifts. If you’re interested, shoot me a message on this blog. I’ll love you forever.

Remember

This is all about having fun!! I started this so that everyone could have a good time in the fandom around the holiday season. So that people who may be headed towards a rough holiday season or who might not get gifts elsewhere will have something to look forward to and something to work on during what can either be a really great or really tough time of the year.

TL;DR:

Reply to this post to take part. Reblogs will not be included.

November 30th is the cut off date.

Posting date is December 25th - not a day before!

You don’t need money to take part - just a dash of creativity and the drive to want to do something.

Manips, videos, fanfic, and comics are just a few examples of the things you can do!

All pairings are welcome, but I strongly encourage all participants to ANONYMOUSLY message the person they have to ask questions about which they prefer.

If you change your name between now and December 25th, please just shoot me a message to let me know. It takes a lot of time trying to track people down otherwise.

Please don’t leave someone hanging. If you have no intention of doing anything and just want someone to do something for you, don’t reply. It’s not fair.

HAVE FUN.

#pitch perfect #bechloe #staubrey #bemily #jashley #etc