#It's such a Nice Thing that Tumblr allowed more than 10 images so I can write the entire quote of Valjean's last words into a single post! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

Mobile Tumblr US users spend an average of 4.04 minutes per session on the app.

#It's such a Nice Thing that Tumblr allowed more than 10 images so I can write the entire quote of Valjean's last words into a single post!

ultimate-submas-tournament · 1 year

Text

Do you like Submas? Do you like polls? Do you wish there was more polls to vote for train boys on?

Then boy do I have the tournament for you!

Introducing the

ULTIMATE SUBMAS TOURNAMENT

Where all the Ingos compete to find the best Ingo, and all the Emmets compete to find the best Emmet- and then they duke it out!!!!!

Come explore this melting pot of different AU creations from across the website- including your own!

That’s right! You too can compete in this for fun event! Get yourself out there!

Here’s the rules and how to sign up:

1) No bl///shipping AUs or bl///shipping blogs may enter. This is a platonic only submas tourney.

2) No NSFW 18+ AUs or NSFW 18+ blogs may enter. I want this to be welcoming to younger folks to so I’m gonna have to draw a line here.

3) You can only enter your own AU. You can share this post with other submas creators, but you can only personally enter AUs that you have made content for.

4) You can only enter AUs that have content made for it. It doesn’t matter if that content is a fic, a few drawings, or a series of interconnected tumblr asks- as long as there is content you can link me to, it qualifies.

5) You may enter up to two AUs (one for each brother). This may be lowered to one AU per user if the demand gets too high.

6) While non inc/st ships are not outright banned, AUs must be more than “canon compliant warden Ingo but he’s dating Melli”. Give us something fun to work with.

7) AUs can, and are encouraged to crossover with other content. Cretur AUs are also allowed because turning blorbos into cretur is fun.

8) Only Ingos and Emmets may be entered. We all love Elesa but this ain’t her tourney. (Fusions can be entered, but they will be placed in a fusion only bracket that will not affect the main tourney)

9) Lower your expectations. This is for fun, there is no prize, and statistically you will not win. Please do not whine and complain when you are inevitably knocked out.

10) BE NICE TO THE CONESTENTS. Holy heck don’t make me catch y'all harassing other people for ANY REASON. I will block you. Don’t make me do it.

How to enter:

Reblog this post with

1) The name of your AU

2) A link to your fic /tumblr tag /masterpost

3) An image that you want to represent your AU. (If you have no image, one of my associates or I will draw a simple one- but it won’t be very good and you shouldn’t expect much)

4) The name of the preferred brother you wish to enter (preferred brother may be overruled if the brackets get too uneven)

(If you plan on entering a second AU, you must do these steps again with a second reblog. The first AU you enter will be considered the priority if we get too many entries.)

(Entries may be denied for things like: side bl///shipping accounts, pedo//ilia, harassment or other things in that same vein. They may also be denied for more benign things like, “hey I love you lots but this is just canon Ingo”)

Entries must be submitted by the first of June!! Thank you for participating and ALL ABOARD!

#submas #submas au #subway master emmet #subway master ingo #subway bosses #subway boss emmet #subway boss ingo #bracket tournament #pokemon

834 notes · View notes

samufigueiredo · 11 months

Text

The dangers of longing for the picturesque - A Secret History Review

Just finished reading The Secret History and can’t help but be stuck thinking about the pursuit of aesthetic. It quite saddens me that the very obvious moral of this novel gets so easily lost at times, and the idea of finishing it and going back to my life of aesthetic pursuit sounds dreadful but expectable in this imagery fill age of quick dopamine.

I could make an extensive review solely complimenting the terrific writing of Donna Tartt and her plot construction, but I feel that to fall into the mistake of staying merely on the picturesque level and not drive into the base ideas entranced into it would be a massive disservice to the author. So instead, I will be exploring a bit of my personal relationship with this book and why I find it a valuable read.

“It has always been hard for me to talk about Julian without romanticizing him. In many ways, I loved him the most of all; and it is with him that I am most tempted to embroider, to flatter, to basically reinvent. I think that is because Julian himself was constantly in the process of reinventing the people and events around him, conferring kindness, or wisdom, or bravery, or charm, on actions which contained nothing of the sort. It was one of the reasons I loved him: for that flattering light in which he saw me, for the person I was when I was with him, for what it was he allowed me to be” (p. 576)

My entire life I feel like I have been constructing intricate characters of which the skin I can dress myself with, representing a capsule of ideas and values and how I desire to translate these to the exterior. My own name has been chosen on the basis of a character that could represent everything I wish I would be, as well as everything I wish I wasn’t nicely accompanied by people to love me for it anyways. As a queer person who grew up surrounded by social media and mental health issues, I often regard my life as an endless performance. Even my love for reading started as an attempt to be more like the people who read around me – I feel in love with the act of reading before I can remember falling in love with a book itself.

“Though Julian could be marvelously kind in difficult circumstances of all sorts, I sometimes got the feeling that he was less pleased by kindness itself than by the elegance of the gesture.” (p. 539)

If I search my memory well enough, I can find some vivid memories of playing dress up and makeover games in primary school. This was done with a notebook on the side, so I could make notes of everything I did to the animations and be able to do the same to myself later on. These lists of things I would do before the new year, new month, new week, were not just beauty centered. In my mind they translated into making friends, being positively perceived, having good grades and above else just having a clue of what I was doing and enjoying myself while doing it.

These lists become a ever present friend while I was growing up, and the act would be repeated in different media. The mannerisms of the beautiful and interesting character that was loved by everyone else, the Instagram account from which I saved pictures so I could inspire myself later, the Tumblr thread full off books that I must read no matter how much I lacked interest in some, the Pinterest albums that represented how I wished to be perceived in the coming year, and so on.

“I had spent dozens of hours studying the photographs as though if I stared at them long enough and longingly enough I would, by some sort of osmosis, be transported into their clear, pure silence. Even now I remember those pictures, like pictures in a storybook one loved as a child." (p.10)

I learned how to present myself and how to translate how I wanted to be perceived into aesthetic ideals before I could even quite grasp what those ideals meant, and until this day I have a hard time letting go of this desire for image base simplification.

“Viewed from a distance, his character projected an impression of solidity and wholeness which was in fact as insubstantial as a hologram; up close, he was all motes and light, you could pass your hand right through him. If you stepped back far enough, however, the illusion would click in again and there he would be, bigger than life, squinting at you from behind his little glasses and raking back a dank lock of hair with one hand. A character like his disintegrates under analysis. It can only be denned by the anecdote, the chance encounter or the sentence overheard.” (p. 438)

The morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs (p. 5) is culturally ingrained in us, and in the present, it can be interesting to consider what role does social media and image based websites have on this. We are all increasingly longing for outer beauty and constructing and shifting aesthetic ideals, so we can chase them and feel in control of how we are perceived and what our life is made of. But we often forgot that we also need to fill the shell itself. These aesthetics can be fun and even empowering at times, but on their own they will not make us fulfilled, they will fail in giving us a sense of community as well as one of individuality. And above all, they leave us with a sore taste in our mouths and a sense of disappointment, because the more we attempt to find fulfillment in them, the more we feel like the failure is in ourselves – the aesthetic is not the right one or we are not letting ourselves fall into it enough – and not in the chase itself.

“'After all, the appeal to stop being yourself, even for a little while, is very great,' he said. 'To escape the cognitive mode of experience, to transcend the accident of one's moment of being. (…) . But one mustn't underestimate the primal appeal – to lose one's self, lose it utterly. And in losing it be born to the principle of continuous life, outside the prison of mortality and time.” (p. 182)

And when does it stop? When does the disconnect become too striking to be ignored any longer? When does the romanization start to make the thing itself rotten and disappointing and how do we avoid that? When do we stop and recognize that just because we are deeply absorbed by this road it does not mean we should keep following it?

“There is nothing wrong with the love of Beauty. But Beauty – unless she is wed to something more meaningful – is always superficial. It is not that your Julian chooses solely to concentrate on certain, exalted things; it is that he chooses to ignore others equally as important.” (p. 577)

The imaginary world, the picturesque and its beauty, can be tremendous tools in driving through the madness of the real world. But on itself they are not enough, we need to find fulfillment in reality, and love in presence.

#the secret history #donna tartt #booklover #book review #dark academia #aestethic #academia aesthetic #secret history quotes #romantizing life #escapism

20 notes · View notes

phospadparadscha · 2 months

Text

a non exhaustive list of things i love about tumblr that have made it the only Usable Social Media(tm), as someone who follows the maximum amount (5000) of people and has seen it All:

-the tags. every othere sm requires tags to be uninterrupted, no spaces phrases and you can write full fucking novels in the tags on tumblr. this created a completely new ecosystem for how conversations and posts are structured on here. ppl post screenshots of tags, mention previous tags, encourage other people's writing and art in the tags, all while avoiding cluttering the original post's text with every reblog when you want to comment. you can make hushed commentary that sometimes gets noticed and adds a lot to posts when its picked up on!

-the ask system. we used to have fan mail on this site a few years ago but i don't know that it was as successful, so the ask and submissions system became the main way to go. its not as common to have themed ask blogs anymore (like "ask rainbow dash" where people draw responses, i've had a few of these kinds of blogs in the past) but it really allows people to acknowledge each other, get questions answered, and interact in a way i think is really missing from the internet in the late 2020s. its abused sometimes and anon hate still shows up on this site, but i think the culture has changed noticeably in that this kind of hate is brushed off more easily in most cases.

-the longevity of posts and how everything is archived. its so much easier to find old posts on tumblr than other places and you can sort archives of people's blogs based on a lot of different types, like photos only or text only, years posted, etc. really cool especially for looking back on your blog through the years and in the age of the New Posts Only its really refreshing to be able to revisit old posts. I see posts on here that show up from 2012 and its such a pleasant surprise since so much of the internet is being overwritten

- the absurdly customizeable color palettes and appearances of the site. its so customizeable and even though desktop blog sites aren't as common of a way to interact anymore (i miss them rip blogs with no desktop versions) you can literally edit the css and html and show your own personal aesthetics as much as you want to.

-the april fool's day rebrands

-the art is so good and photosets allow for longform posts which i never see ANYWHERE else on social media. you can post like up to 30 images in a photo set i think??? which was increased from i think max 10 and its all consecutive. also that we have a read more button to give people the option to choose to open long posts or not.

-the id system. i've seen a lot of people id posts and make posts more accessible. also people providing trigger warnings which you don't get other places tbh like i've never seen anywhere online where you could straight up choose what you didn't want to see so you don't have to encounter it in the wild! its really nice especially for someone like me who has several phobias lol

i could keep going but like.....i love you tumblr as someone who has been here for literally over a decade.

#tumblr #text #if tumblr dies i dies

3 notes · View notes

aceofwhump · 1 year

Note

Question is the legacy editor any good? I've never used it because I'm paranoid about it messing my posts up lmao but I'm curious

The short answer is yes. Legacy editor, the older way tumblr did posting, is in my opinion, the superior editor. I love the legacy editor. A lot. It is definitely superior and I'm sad staff has decided to slowly get rid of it.

However! With that said I've been pretty much exclusively using the beta post editor for the last like year when staff announced that they'd be eliminating the legacy editor eventually so I thought it'd be a good idea to get used to the beta editor. Which I suppose I did. I've gotten used to it and don't use legacy much at all anymore. I also wanted to use it because I got really tired of not being able to edit in mobile the posts I made on web using the legacy editor. With the beta editor you can edit across platforms which is soooo nice. (although it appears that in one of the apps many updates I can now edit a gifset I made today via legacy editor but not the posts I've made in the past using the legacy editor so who knows what's going with that).

But there's a lot of annoying things about the new beta editor that make it inferior to the legacy editor and I'm praying that staff will improve it. For starters, and probably my biggest complaint, is how awful it is to upload and rearrange images. It's so much easier in legacy editor to move images around. In beta the page moves when you start to move the image and it drives me CRAZY!!! I always end up putting the image in the wrong place because the page won't stop moving! Legacy is wonderful to arrange images. I do think the upload is slightly better in beta purely because it uploads multiple images in the order I select them where the legacy just puts them in whatever order it wants to and I have to remember what order I wanted my gifs in.

Legacy is also better because it actually differentiates between an image post and a text post. With the beta editor everything is technically a test post. So my gifsets are not considered an "image post". Some people have noted that the beta, since it's not an image post, it resizes the images a little and sometimes decreases the quality of the gif by doing that. I haven't really noticed that myself with my own gifs but doesn't mean it isnt happening.

The legacy editor also allows me to upload my gifs without stupid errors for no reason. Lately any time I upload more than 6 gifs at once I get an error message and have to upload them one by one. Its not because of size because they're always under 7mbs so I don't know why I can't upload them all at once. I hate it actually. And sometimes my gif will be under 10mbs (like 9.7mbs) and it'll tell me that the gif is too big. Excuse me tumblr but 9.7 is smaller than 10! I never had this problem in legacy.

The legacy editor is also better when it comes to using html, inserting links as text and not the stupid thing beta does where you paste the link and it becomes that stupid post preview thing that I hate, and oh my god is it awful for text blocks! When it first came out you couldnt select multiple texts blocks at all. You can now but it isn't the easiest. And it like expands when you do and makes it weird. Idk it's hard to describe. In legacy you can just...select all the text with no problems. Text blocks are treated like individual sections in the beta and make editing a major pain in the ass.

I also don't like thst apparently new xkit won't work in beta and you have to use xkit rewritten because fuck I don't want to learn how to use that one when I've been using new xkit for years but I guess I'm gonna have to now. I haven't been having any problems with xkit yet but who knows....

So yeah I think overall legacy is better. Beta Post Editor has some good things (I like the increased image upload limit, the editing tags is good) about it but there's so many problems. Unfortunately we're stuck with it so I've been sticking to using it exclusively to make the transition easier on myself. I do suggest becoming used to how it works and to just continue to provide feedback to staff about features we dislike or bugs we come across. Hopefully they'll listen and improve it.

#this got long #i'm so sorry #apparently i have thoughts about this whole legacy vs beta post editor thing going on right now #I've got to do a feedback write up to sent to tumblr #hopefully they can continue to edit and improve the beta post editor to make it more like the legacy editor #especially for us making gifsets #mod post #mod replies #ask #anon

6 notes · View notes

thesixthstar · 2 years

Text

I posted 11,267 times in 2022

That's 185 more posts than 2021!

126 posts created (1%)

11,141 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@andthentheywilleatthestars

@whitewolf1998

@windypenguin

@faintedincoils

@astriiformes

I tagged 3,064 of my posts in 2022

#dracula daily - 178 posts

#cr spoilers - 170 posts

#cr3 - 145 posts

#tag - 134 posts

#exuc - 91 posts

#cr - 91 posts

#tlovm spoilers - 85 posts

#exu calamity - 84 posts

#ofmd - 73 posts

#uspol - 59 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#it’s about love it’s about hubris it’s about commitment it’s about secrets it’s about result based thinking it’s about ignoring the warnings

My Top Posts in 2022:

so i asked my brother and his wife if they have any requests for the quilt i’m going to be making for Upcoming Baby, and they said maybe like an alphabet quilt or something along those lines and like.

I *do* like that idea especially since it’s very fabric-agnostic so i can most likely avoid buying fabric other than the backing maybe, but on the other hand, sewing curves sounds harrrrrd, and while I might learn machine applique, i’m certainly not going to be doing 26 letters by hand...

54 notes - Posted February 24, 2022

I would like to personally thank Brennan with my entire heart and soul for including those Runes of Recall bc I’m not sure I’d survive next Thursday if he hasn’t and might have just lived out my life as a sentient puddle of tears tbqh!

61 notes - Posted June 10, 2022

Ok so for CR folks who want a mental image for the Crossroads Dance from this Thursday’s episode but in a little more detail than just “fancy people hold hands and maybe theres a twirl?”, im currently reminiscing hard about the Before Times when dancing was allowed, so i’ve gone and found videos of the 2 things Matt’s descriptions immediately brought to mind.

The fact that people could talk to each other and there was twirling and reminded me of the Cross-Step Mixer (though with a few more measures with each partner than that):

youtube

Cross-step waltz is a very nice tempo for talking while dancing, and the steps to this mixer are simple enough to learn quickly, and easy enough to modify on the spot for fun improvisational variations (most commonly and easiest to find in this video is people just throwing in an extra twirl, like Matt describes some characters doing in this weeks episode)

Meanwhile, the rowdy-sounding music, and the lack of lead/follow structure that made it possible to transition partners by just grabbing whoever was in reach, resulting in some folks hopping in and out as they found or lost partners is pretty much spot on for the aptly named and incredibly fun Chaos Mixer:

youtube

Both of these are an absolute blast and god I wish there was a safe way to go dancing in corona-times so I could go to a room and touch as many people as possible in quick succession, but alas, watching old videos and listening to Matt describe a beautiful ball will have to suffice for now...

61 notes - Posted February 12, 2022

Oh Jonathan, we’re really in it now

76 notes - Posted May 19, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

ok i just realized - the next episode of Four Sided Dive is probably going to be a LOT about whatever character deaths might happen, and their inevitable aftermaths.

the next episode of Four Sided Dive is also a costume episode.

225 notes - Posted September 10, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #I consistently reach the character limit on tags so I really appreciate whatever method they used to get the longest tag bc im really vibin #g with that one (see I just reached the character limit ahjsdkflasd)#Youtube

1 note · View note

istanfluffycontent · 2 years

Note

Hii ^^ if it's okay, may I request "When you taking care of them when they're ill" with txt?

Thank you so much ^^

Of course! also thank you for the request <3 Masterlist/wip list/things i might do later

TW: a tiny bit of cursing FEATURING: txt being cuties and pouting

Txt when you taking care of them when they're ill

Soobin:

man he's happy as hell

since he's the leader, he kinda takes care of everything

and being an idol, it gets tiring

would want you by his side at ALL times

"hmm, it's so nice that you're stuck with me, right babe?"

"y/nahh were are you going?"

"i don't want water or food i just want you to stay here with me!"

HEAD PATS

you would poke his dimples and he would smile back at you

you're forcing him to take a medicine that he despises? he'll do it for you

"if i take this.. i'll get better faster so i can take you on a date soon, right?"

he's sweet as ever <333

but he refuses to sleep

"y/n, how does it feel to be taller than me right now?"

"i will only sleep if you sit next to me"

Yeonjun:

"Im fine im fine fine fine im fine"

denies that he needs or wants you to take care of him

but of course, you see through him

he's embarrassed, so he'll try to carry on with his life

and you have to drag his ass back to bed

you need to convince him that YOU need him to rest so he doesn't feel embarrassed

once he gives up though, he turns into a whiny asshole

complains NONSTOP

if you stay patient with him, though, his heart will EXPLODE

asks for stuff like food and water and rushes you

"Y/N COME BACKKKKK"

"wait were's my sliced apple with cheese?"

"jun I need more than just 10 seconds you know?

you tell him he's a pain in the ass once he recovers

Beomgyu:

DO NOT leave the medicine with him alone

because he wants to kiss you and cuddle with you again so bad, it's very likely that he'll just consume the whole bottle

when he tries to get out of bed, you call soobin

that pabo sends some crackers and milk for beomgyu and a bottle of wine for you with a note saying how sorry he is you have to deal with beomgyu

you don't understand, cause beomgyu's not that bad to deal with

until..

he starts getting dramatic about EVERYTHING

"Y/NNNN I WANT SOUP"

"gyu, baby, have some patience please."

"Y/NnNNnNN i'M GoiNg tO dIE i nEed sOUppPp"

lots of voice cracks on purpose

"sEE y/N? I'm DyINg! giVE meE mY SoUp!"

this boi getting his ass beaten after he recovers

Taehyun:

(nooo im sorry non of the links for taehyun's pouting images worked on tumblr)

he has a strong sense of duty so he feels bad for not getting things done

worried that you might catch the cold if you're too close to him

he'll just hold your hands and not say anything for sometime

you'll play his music to cheer him up

him and his precious smile

he keeps reassuring you that he's fine

says "i love you so much" and "thank you babe" A LOT

wants you in his presence even if he's napping

wants and WILL make it up to you for sitting next to him cause he knows it's no fun

tries to keep you entertained and happy

and you are! all you need is for him to feel okay

"once i get better, i promise i'll take you on fancy dates."

Kai:

this baby is torn cause he wants to cuddle with you but also doesn't want you to catch the cold

allows you to do whatever you want with him cause he trusts you

would make you get all his plushies and surround you guys with it

he'll whine if you attention's not on him

randomly annoy you by scratching your arm or pinching your hand softly

hair ruffles

but you don't mind and gives him soft smiles

he puts his head on your hand when he lies down on bed

he would only sleep if you're in his presence

he also gets bored, so you guys watch tv

then he gets random

“y/nahh, i think i’m pregnant, maybe that’s why I’m sick.”

"y/n, i like your nails. i think you should get cabbage patterns on them next time."

"y/n, did you know that turtles breath through their butthole?"

please drop a follow or like if you enjoyed and want more! i love you all <33

#txt #txt ot5 #txt reactions #txt imagines #tomorrow x together fluff #txt beomgyu #txt fluff #txt scenarios #txt soobin #txt taehyun #txt x reader #txt yeonjun #txt kai #beomgyu #txt huening kai

220 notes · View notes

sabugabr · 3 years

Text

"The Green Knight" is visually stunning, but it kinda missed the point — and that's a good thing (1/5)

So, you probaby heard about The Green Knight (2021). Maybe you haven't watched it yet, but it did make quite a fuss since it's first trailer debuted in May. It looked different. It looked fresh. It looked like the indiest movie ever made since The Fall (2006). It had Dev Patel in the major role. We fell in love instantly.

Look at this poster. Even the poster looks indie and cool and conceptual. PLEASE NOTICE that there's nothing actually green in the poster, did you notice that???? Poetic cinema

And it made me inchy to dissect it, SO I DID

(Also, I'll be dividing this one into 5 smaller parts, first because it might get easier rsrs and second because tumblr doen't allow more than 10 images per post, and I really wanted to use a lot of gifs and images because this movie is absolutely gorgeous)

If you have no idea what's about, the movie is based on a famous late 14th-century Middle English chivalric poem (whose author is unknown) titled (centuries later) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It tells a story of one of the knights of King Arthur's Round Table, Sir Gawain:

That nice-looking fellow in red chopping that head off. Curious fact, Sir Gawain was the most popular character in Arthurian legends at the time (even more than Lancelot, Lancelot only got to taste voluptuous fame later).

The story begins as one day, on Christmas Eve, a green knight came riding on a green horse into King Arthur's dining hall. The Green Knight asks who among them would indulge him in a Christmas game. He then chalenges any knight to strike him with his axe, and then meet him one year and a day later in the Green Chapel, where the Green Knight would give him the same blow in return. As Joseph Campbell tells it more graciously than I,

"The only knight in the hall who had the courage to accept this incongruous invitation was Gawain. He arose from the table, the Green Knight got off his horse, handed Gawain the axe, stuck out his neck, and Gawain with a single stroke chopped off his head. The Green Knight stood up, picked up his head, took back the axe, climbed onto his horse, and as he rode away called back to the astonished Gawain, "I'll see you in a year." (source)

And then, a year later, Gawain has to go and face his death. That's the basic synopsis, and that's the movie's plot as well.

The movie overall received good reviews, and people still talk about how cult it is. And if you watch it having read the original text (or at least knowing the story well), you can notice that they have adapted many details of the poem very faithfully. However, they made a few changes, and one of them was exactly it's ending, and consequently, it's moral. And it's beautiful.

So there's no need to say that there'll be A LOT of spoilers for this movie (and for the arturian legend as well, I guess), so if you want the full experience to be surprised and VERY confused by it, go watch it, my dove. So without further ado...

THE MOVIE

So, I loved this movie, and I swear, it was the most pretentious thing. Really, you can see it clearly that this movie thinks very highly of itself

LOOK AT THIS OPENING CREDITS AND TELL ME THIS ISN'T PRETENTIOUS AS HELL actually it may remind you of another pretentious opening credits

Basically twins (this is a joke please don't attack me)

But seriously, there are A LOT of scenes in this movie that feel like they're only there because they look beautiful and conceptual.

And honestly, I didn't mind it at all.

It was one of the things I loved most, actually, how blatantly beautiful it was, how plainly colorful. Because in this story, color matters. The whole movie can be seen to be about colors. In the extent that it can actually help understand what is going on in scene, and be a way of interpreting the story in general.

But before I get into that color stuff... (part 2 >)

#filmedit #cinematography #filmgifs #movie essay #movieedit #the green knight #dev patel #tgk spoilers #tgk #green knight #SPOILERS #LIKE A LOT OF THEM #king arthur #14th century #color theory

110 notes · View notes

uncloseted · 3 years

Text

EFFY’S CLOSET WATCHES SKINS: 306 "Naomi"

Surprise! After a 10 month break (sorry, everyone!) I'm back with a new Skins recap. This episode focuses on Naomi, and I know it's a favorite for a lot of you. Apologies in advance if the images disappear- Tumblr added a rule that you can only have 10 images in a text post that I’m trying to get around.

The episode opens on Naomi sleeping in her bedroom. She's still and at peace until... a foot finds its way to her mouth. Naomi sputters on it, and says "Jesus Christ!" Even in her bedroom, which is supposed to be her personal space, she isn't really allowed to just be. "Who the fuck are you?" she says, to which the man responds that he had nowhere to sleep and that Naomi's mum is nice, even if she doesn't believe he's the actual Messiah. Naomi starts complaining (rightly) about how nobody understands privacy anymore, until she realizes that she sleeps naked, and this man is staring at her naked body. She grabs her clothes and storms off in an attempt to find her mother. When she does, we discover that it's none other than Academy Award winner Olivia Coleman (!!!) who does such a great job in this part.

Naomi's mum (I'm pretty sure her name is Gina?) is sitting at the kitchen table, discussing how bananas have an aggressive shape and texture and are "positively patriarchal". Naomi, intent on starting a fight, asks her mother if "anyone has told [her] what a complete fucking cow [she] is", to which her mum replies, "plenty of people", and then asks Naomi if she thinks they should ban bananas from the group shopping list.

I love this scene, because it quickly tells us so many of the things we need to know to understand Naomi. Her mother is a fierce feminist who has a rotating cast of characters living with her at all times and who doesn't really respect her daughter's feelings. Naomi never has any privacy, even in her own house. It starts to make sense why she's so politically active but emotionally closed off. Naomi grabs the banana and takes a giant bite out of it. Olivia Coleman looks wonderfully disturbed by it.

The camera switches to focus on Emily, who is eagerly waiting for Naomi to arrive at school. She looks a little bit nervous and hesitant, but excited. I think in her mind, she and Naomi are at least sort of dating, given that they hooked up at the pajama party and went to the pub quiz night together. Whereas for Naomi, she feels like her whole life is chaotic, and if she lets Emily in, it will only become more chaotic. Like Effy, Naomi is incredibly afraid of getting hurt. She believes that Emily is the one person with the power to ruin her life, and so she’s constantly pushing Emily away.

Naomi appears in the crowd looking disgusted and upset, but Emily doesn't seem to see her, or maybe she's waiting for Naomi to approach her first. I think Emily knows that if she pushes too hard, she'll scare Naomi away, and so she's giving Naomi the opportunity to engage with her on her own terms. Maybe Emily is willing to take it slow, because she knows Naomi likes her as much as she likes Naomi.

Instead, the scene changes once again, this time to Naomi sitting on some bleachers and smoking a cigarette. Kieran, the politics teacher, sits down next to her and inquires as to whether he's late. Naomi assures him that he's not, and anyway, this is hardly an appointment. Naomi doesn't seem to have a dad, at least, not one we see in the show (at least, not yet), and I think she views Kieran as a father figure in her life. He notices her for who she is- someone who's unique and interesting and clever- in a way that I don't think the other adults in Naomi's life do. She's so surrounded by a revolving door of randoms that her mother takes in that Kieran is the only adult who pays attention to her. Kieran inquires about her mum, and Naomi says that "sometimes she's up, and sometimes she's down...fifteen people are living in my house, and none are paying rent." It seems that Naomi's mum is another source of inconsistency in Naomi's life, another person contributing to the chaos that she feels.

"Still, can't be all bad. She made you, didn't she?" Kieran replies, and it feels like the type of thing a dad should say. Naomi looks pleased with this assessment. Unlike her relationship with her mum or with Emily, her friendship with Kieran is easy and uncomplicated. He’s one of the only people who doesn’t add chaos to her life, who just makes her feel better about everything that’s going on. He’s one of the only people who she trusts to just want to be her friend, especially in a world where she views both Cook and Emily as just trying to get into her pants.

The episode continues with everyone gathered in the common area. We see that Thomas is now suddenly a student at Roundview instead of the janitor, which never really gets acknowledged as a plot point. Effy is gazing longingly at Freddie, in a kind of, “what the fuck am I going to do about this situation” way. Freddie’s giving her a look that’s still very much like, “you slept with my best friend after I told you you loved me, what the fuck?” Naomi asks “what’s going on there,” to which Effy quickly replies, “nothing” and then tells Pandora to shut up before she can spill the beans about the fact that Effy Stonem actually has feelings. This interaction is interesting to me, because it means that Effy told Pandora what happened with Freddie.

Effy turns around to look at Cook, in her customary manner of deflecting her feelings for Freddie by spending time with his best friend, but Cook is surrounded by a group of blonde girls and describing his penis. Effy leaves in somewhat of a huff, I think maybe because Cook isn’t available to help her pretend like she doesn’t have feelings.

Emily enters, having finally found an appropriate moment to talk to Naomi, totally unfazed by the fact that Naomi was maybe ignoring her earlier. Naomi rolls her eyes at Emily. She’s a little bit scared of what it means that Emily is sitting there, a little bit guilty about ignoring Emily earlier, but also secretly a bit pleased. They have a moment of awkward tension before the lights go out. Doug dramatically announces that they’re holding elections for a student president for Roundview, and Emily and Naomi share a look of “what the fuck?”. Emily looks over to Naomi and gives her a little tap on the leg, like, “you should do it,” to which Naomi shakes her head. Kieran is standing in the background, disaffectedly eating a banana.

Emily, not about to give up on the woman she loves, tries to convince Naomi to run for school president, saying that she doesn’t get why Naomi isn’t interested. “You really care about this stuff!…equality, environmentalism, feminism, I don’t ever want to shut my mouth-ism…”. I like how Emily feels she can poke fun at Naomi just a little bit in this moment, since she seems so aware of not pushing Naomi too far in their other interactions. Undeterred by Naomi’s protests, Emily continues to hype her up, “you know about politics, you’re always talking about it!” Naomi deflects with, “Emily. We’ve had about three conversations our entire lives. So the idea that you know I’m always talking about anything is ridiculous.” Emily’s relentless positivity disappears, and she walks away. Cook enters and tells Naomi that she should “see more cock” and that they should “go at it”.

I’ve said this in previous recaps, but I think that up until the end of this episode, Cook was romantically interested in Naomi, not Effy. I think this is his attempt to get Naomi to fall for him. We see him go back and forth between total seriousness and jokes in these interactions, trying to get Naomi to crack a smile. Naomi looks disgusted at the prospect of sleeping with Cook, but then unwittingly makes a bet with Cook that if he can win the student president, she’ll sleep with him. Cook immediately goes to register to run for the election, while Naomi peeks through the door to see if he’s actually doing it. She gets knocked over by Crispin (just Crispin), the other candidate, as he opens the door. Cook comes out after Crispin, and points out that he can “see [Naomi’s] knickers.” Cook reiterates his interest in Naomi, Naomi reiterates her total lack of interest in cock, and walks away, flipping Cook off. I think Cook thinks that Naomi is joking around, the same way he is, to deflect having to admit that she’s interested in him. She is doing that… but to Emily, not Cook.

Kieran offers to give Naomi a ride home, but his car is broken, so they end up walking. Naomi is wearing tights under her dress now, as if she knew she might feel insecure about how short her skirt was or that she might get negative attention, so she prepared for it. Naomi totally trusts Kieran. They have a sweet conversation where Kieran tells her about a time he ran for public office, and then tells her she should run for school president. Again, it’s a very dad thing to do. He believes in her- “you’re the best, we both know it,” to which she bashfully responds, “is that a compliment? Are you complimenting me?” Naomi is not someone who accepts compliments easily, so the fact that she’s willing to take it from Kieran says a lot. Naomi turns to go inside, walks off-screen, and then comes back to sheepishly grab the school president form from Kieran with the smallest little “thanks”. She clearly takes his opinion of her seriously.

Naomi walks into the chaos that’s her house. We get a hilarious interaction between a feminist and the guy who thinks he’s Jesus: “How many feminists does it take to change a light bulb? One. Me. Because I’m oppressed, yeah? You’re oppressing me!” “The Messiah does not oppress, ok? He enlightens.” “Yeah? I’ll fucking enlighten you, you patriarchal prick!” Naomi goes to talk to her Mum. Olivia Coleman tries for a nice, non-confrontational interaction with Naomi, but she’s determined to be upset. Naomi’s mum says that it’s “nice to see her with a guy, it’s a nice change,” to which Naomi looks down and smirks, because she knows that she’s gay and in love with Emily, even if she doesn’t want to believe it.

Naomi storms upstairs, saying, “Jesus, is there never any peace?”. That’s really what Naomi wants- an escape from the chaos in her life. The answer to this is no, because Emily is sitting primly on Naomi’s bed, and Emily is the most chaotic factor of all. Emily says that the guy who looks like Jesus let her in, and I’m curious how long she’s been sitting here waiting for Naomi to get home. Naomi is immediately on the defensive. She crosses her arms and asks, “what do you want?”, but Emily is determined not to take the bait. “I wanted to give you this,” she says, and she hands Naomi the school president form. Naomi calls Emily annoying, to which Emily calmly responds, “you seem to inspire it in me.” Emily offers to help with the form, but Naomi says she doesn’t need any help. I think Naomi feels like if she accepts help- from her mum, from the community of people living in her house, from Kieran, from Emily- then she’ll grow to rely on those people and run the risk of losing them later on. She can’t have that, so instead she puts walls up to keep people out from the start.

Emily’s feelings are clearly hurt at this point. She’s trying to hard to be mindful of Naomi’s feelings, to push just enough that Naomi will acknowledge that there’s something between them but not so much that she scares Naomi away, but this time she miscalculated and pushed too far. As much as Emily is trying not to take Naomi’s hesitance to spend any time with her personally, because she knows Naomi does like her, she just needs time, Emily can only be brave and accommodating for so long. She starts to leave, but her hurt feelings get the better of her. She turns around to tell Naomi, “Just so you know, when I see you, my first thought is not: I want to fuck that girl. We’ve kissed. Twice. And it was nice. But it’s also nice just being with you — when you’re not being a prick, that is…You should run for president because I think you’d be good at it. It’s that simple, OK?”

Naomi is a bit shocked, and scared of what this means. This is confirmation that Emily doesn’t just want her sexually, but emotionally, too. Emily wants to be her friend first and foremost. She wants to be someone Naomi can trust. Naomi tells Emily she should stay. Emily immediately takes her up on the offer, because Emily is nothing if not brave, and she flounces back into Naomi’s room. This is something Naomi has been waiting for-and resisting- since she was twelve, and now she’s finally letting it happen.

Emily and Naomi lie on the bedroom floor, head to foot, drinking and joking about different campaign slogans Naomi might adopt. Naomi’s guard is finally down. She’s being giggly and soft and a little bit lame. This is a side of Naomi that we haven’t seen until right now, a side that doesn’t feel like she has to be a sarcastic bitch. Someone who knows that Emily could ruin her life, but trusts that Emily won’t. Someone who knows that sometimes, we can find peace in other people when we can’t create it for ourselves.

“Do you think I can do it?” Naomi asks, and Emily responds, “I think you can do anything.” Emily wholeheartedly believes that Naomi can do anything, that she’s perfect the way that she is, that she’s smart enough and strong enough to make her dreams come true. She believes that it’s okay to try, even if you might fail. And indeed, that’s what Emily is doing in this scene. She doesn’t know how it will work out, but for Emily, it’s better to try being with Naomi than to always wonder what would have happened if she made a move. Naomi is scared of the way that Emily sees her, because she can’t see herself that way. I think she doesn’t want to start relying on Emily for that belief in herself, because what if Emily changes her mind? What if the person Naomi is underneath all that snark isn’t brave or smart or strong? What if Naomi is right about herself, and Emily finds out? Emily makes Naomi feel like a better person, and Naomi doesn’t want to lose that.

But Emily thinks that Naomi can do anything, and in this moment, that’s enough to give Naomi the courage to make the next move. "I’ve been wondering … what do lesbians do? I mean … in bed,” she asks Emily. Emily takes a drink of vodka straight from the bottle, not totally ready to have this conversation, and tells Naomi that she doesn’t know. “Of course” she’s never been with a girl, because Emily has been waiting for Naomi just as long as Naomi’s been waiting for her. Their first time together will be both of their first times. “We just do what we do to ourselves, only to each other, probably slightly more aggressively, and, you know, with …oilz and stuff,” Emily says, and note the pronoun switch. Emily says, “we” as in, her and Naomi. It’s what they’ll do to each other when Naomi is ready. Naomi is wearing a shirt that says, “innocence” here, which I think is telling. Even though she works hard to be a sarcastic bitch, someone who knows everything about everything, she’s innocent and unexperienced in this regard. Their laughing stops, and there’s a moment of tension. Naomi wants to initiate a kiss, but Emily’s not going to let that happen. She promised Naomi that she was there to be her friend, so that’s what she’s going to be.

Naomi wakes up the next morning with Emily in her bed. They’re sleeping back to back, as if they both made a conscious effort not to get too close. Instead of cuddling Emily, Naomi is cuddling the bottle of vodka. She reaches out to touch Emily’s hair, delicately, intimately, as if she can only be so vulnerable when Emily is asleep. She quickly pulls her hand away and mutters to herself, “fuck’s sake”, because she knows she’s let her guard down a little bit too far. Emily snuggles further into the blankets, while Naomi sneaks off to school.

At school, Cook has launched his campaign for school president in the form of a giant Che Guevara type banner with Cook’s face on it. “I think I lost him,” Freddie says. “JJ?” Naomi asks. “Yeah, him too,” Freddie replies. Freddie cares so deeply about Cook. No matter how many times Cook hurts him, Freddie can’t help caring, because Cook is like his brother. He always has been. And it’s hard for Freddie, because he’s angry at Cook about Effy, but mostly, I think he just wants Cook to be okay and it upsets him that he can’t do anything to make that happen. “It should make a difference when someone loves you. Shouldn’t it?” asks Freddie. It should make a difference to Effy that Freddie loves her. But it should also make a difference to Cook that Freddie loves him. And it should also make a difference to their relationship that Effy clearly loves Freddie, too. And it should make a difference for Naomi that Emily loves her. It should prevent her from abandoning this relationship before it starts.

(sorry for the tiny gif but look how cute Emily is!)

Emily catches up to Naomi. Emily’s skirt and bag match Naomi’s top. Emily confronts Naomi, gently but firmly, “you left pretty early.” Naomi deflects, saying that she had things to do, but Emily persists. “I met your mum, she’s nice.” Naomi calls her mum a cliche, but Emily says that she’s a nice cliche. Emily is determined to be positive about Naomi’s life, so that Naomi can see the things she should be positive about, too. Naomi isn’t having it- she’s too afraid that if she sees the positives, they’ll be taken away from her. That if other people see the positives in her life, it only creates a standard she won’t be able to live up to. Naomi starts talking, presumably to dump Emily, but Emily interjects. “I forgot to tell you. I made these in anticipation. Cool, huh? I got the message, Naomi. I’ll manage. But there’s one thing, though. Well, you can’t let him win now, can you?” Emily is being mature about this. She knows that this was big for Naomi, and that it’s okay to back off a little, to not scare Naomi away. She understands Naomi so deeply that she doesn’t feel like she needs to be worried. She’s brave enough to let Naomi go for the moment, because she knows that Naomi is hers, and that she’ll come back.

A campaign montage starts. At lunch, Naomi goes into the cafeteria, hands Emily her bag, and gets up on the table to talk about the issues facing Roundview College. Emily looks up at her proudly, because Naomi is taking charge and going after what she wants. Naomi fails to understand that nobody other than her cares about the issues. Cook interrupts to hand out apples and pears. Naomi calls him a joke, to which Cook responds, “I’m a joke? You’re fucking hilarious!… What’s so good about caring? No-one here cares. We just wanna party!” This is interesting to me, because Cook is fundamentally doing this to try and woo Naomi. But his competitive side takes over so fully that he says things that are ultimately against his end goal (sleeping with Naomi).

Emily steps in to ask Cook if he could “be a cunt over there, do you think?” And this is a step too far, but Emily just couldn’t help herself. The woman she loves was being mocked. Cook says, “Ah! That’s nice. Getting your girlfriend to hold your hand. Bit of moral support, yeah? Sweet, isn’t it?” And maybe that’s what this is about for him. Cook can tell that Naomi and Emily are getting closer, and he’s angry about it. He knows that he doesn’t have a chance with Naomi, not really, and he can see now that she’s been in love with Emily this whole time. But when Cook can’t have what he wants, he’s determined to make everyone around him miserable, too.

Naomi is clearly upset. This is what she was afraid of- she chased after what she wanted, but she got rejected because she’s not good enough, and the person she loves most get caught in the crossfire. Emily goes to apologize, worried that she’s ruined their fledgling relationship for real this time, but Naomi isn’t having any of Emily’s apologies. Instead, she goes to Kieran, her father figure, for comfort in this confusing situation. Despite her tough exterior, Naomi is vulnerable and sensitive. She just wants someone to make her feel better about everything. And it works for a second. Kieran makes her laugh, and says, “you look so much prettier when you smile.” Naomi says, “I don’t get it. Why are you so nice and all other men are such wankers?” I think she’s hoping he’ll say what a dad would say. He’s nice to her because he cares about her and wants to protect her and thinks she’s the best. Instead, he says, “now you’ve got me,” and tries to kiss her. This is the last thing Naomi wanted. She says, “ugh, you’re old enough to be my dad!”, and that’s the point. She’s upset because he was meant to be her dad but instead he did this. Then she says, “I wanted to trust you.” Naomi is so desperate for someone she can trust without having to worry about how it will impact her. She thought this was the one person who could be that for her, because what else could he be? And so her last safe place, the last person she felt peace with, is gone.

Naomi goes home and cries. For the first time, her bedroom is finally empty. It’s what she wanted at the beginning of the episode. To be alone with her feelings in her bedroom. But that’s not really what she wants anymore. She cries because she thought she had a father figure, but really he was trying to sleep with her the whole time, and because Cook made a joke of her in front of the school, and because her mum doesn’t care about her and there’s a houseful of strangers and because Emily got caught in the crossfire of Cook’s cruelty, and as much as she wants to, Naomi can’t stop wanting to be with Emily. She’s angry at herself for not having more self-control. Then she finds a note that Emily left- “Emily slept here”. This is too much for Naomi. Even in her bedroom, even when she’s totally alone, she can’t get rid of Emily. She crumples the note up, throws it across the room, and then immediately goes to retrieve it. She smooths it out, and falls asleep with it on her pillow. When she wakes up, Emily’s note is stuck to her cheek, and Emily’s name is printed on her face. Printed on her face the way it’s been printed on her heart for all these years. She tenderly touches Emily’s name, then rubs at her cheek, desperately trying to get the ink off, before accepting that no matter what she does, she’ll belong to Emily. She’s tried denying her feelings for Emily all these years, but it’s not working. The one person who she can actually trust, who wants to be her friend, who believes in her, is the person she’s been pushing away. So finally, she reaches out. For the first time, she goes to Emily instead of Emily finding her. She calls Emily and pleads, “can we go somewhere? Anywhere.”

The scene changes, and Naomi and Emily are biking down a dirt road. The song here is excellent, both as a song but also as a choice for this scene. It’s called “Jump In” by High Places, and the lyrics are “If you never take the first step/You cannot go too far/I’m sure you know that/You strike me as a smart kid/And you've got big plans/And big dreams/And big big goals/So get a move on/Jump in.” This suits Naomi perfectly. In everything in her life, she’s afraid to take the first step. She was afraid to run for school president. She was afraid to initiate things with Emily. But until she takes that first step, she’s not going to be able to achieve her goals of combating injustice or being with the woman that she loves. She has to jump in, and that’s what she’s been doing this whole episode. She ran for class president even though she was scared. She reached out to Emily. And she can jump in because she knows Emily will be by her side, reminding her that she’s a “smart kid with big plans and big dreams and big goals,” and that, as they say later in the song, Emily is “so impressed because you’ve done your best” and that together they can “get so much more done before the day is done.”

Emily is clearly not great at riding a bike. She keeps wobbling. But Emily Fitch is brave, and if Naomi needs to bike to feel better, then that’s what they’ll do. It makes sense to me why they switch to driving a moped next season. Naomi rides up in front and then looks back to make sure Emily is okay. They ride down to a lake which is beautifully green against Emily’s red hair. Naomi looks truly at peace here. They sit, quietly, calmly, serenely. Naomi says, “it’s lovely,” and clearly she means Emily is lovely, because she quickly covers it up with, “it’s a lovely place.” Beacon of bravery that she is, Emily begins to take off her clothes. Naomi protests that she didn’t bring a swimming costume, and Emily says that she didn’t either, but the sun won’t shine forever. Naomi continues protesting, saying that someone might be looking, and Emily responds, “honey, your body ain’t that special.” This is a lie, of course. But she’s here to be Naomi’s friend, so this is her attempt to put Naomi at ease. They don’t have to do anything if Naomi doesn’t want to. They can go at Naomi’s pace.

Naomi asks Emily not to look, but of course, Emily sneaks a peak, because Naomi’s body is that special to her. Naomi laughs and tells Emily that she wasn’t supposed to look, and they start play fighting until Naomi pushes Emily into the water. In turn, Emily coaxes Naomi into the water. She encourages Naomi to jump in, the way she has been all episode. Just like Effy in the previous episode, Naomi takes a leap of faith that this will all work out, and jumps into the water. For both Naomi and Effy, jumping into the water is a baptism. It’s a rebirth. They want to be made new again, to be people who believe in love and believe in themselves. This scene of them in the lake was actually meant to be longer, but Kathryn got hypothermia from how cold the water was, so they had to cut the rest. You can see her swimming to the edge and coughing.

Naomi and Emily sit by the fire, drinking vodka. Naomi says, “you all right, Em?” and it’s sweet that Naomi is using a nickname. When Emily doesn’t repsond, Naomi waves her hand in Emily’s face, “helloooooo?” In this moment, she needs to know that Emily is having fun, that Emily likes her, that Emily still thinks she’s good and smart and pretty, that everything is going to be okay. Emily says, “You know, that’s the first time you’ve asked me something.” (This is actually not true- we’ve seen Naomi ask Emily questions before). I think Emily knows that Naomi is anxious and wants confirmation that Emily likes her, because Emily understands Naomi. But she’s not going to give that comfort so easily. She needs Naomi to know, just a little bit, that Naomi needs to work too if this relationship is going to be successful. “No. I’m having the worst time of my life. Weather’s shit. Company’s even worse,” Emily says. But then, “it’s peaceful.” Emily knows that’s what Naomi wants- to be at peace- and she knows that it’s not just the scenery that’s peaceful. It’s the fact that they’re there together.

“Do you want to do blowbacks?” Emily asks, and I swear this has become a lesbian trope since Skins premiered. Naomi has her guard up again, saying that she’s all-seeing and she already knows that blowbacks are shit. Emily convinces her, once again, to jump in. To try something new. Naomi says, “ah, go ahead, disappoint me,” and we know that this is her fear. That Emily will disappoint her, or be disappointed in her, and leave. Disappoint her, the way her father has disappointed her, her mother has disappointed her, Kieran has disappointed her.

Naomi leans forward, fully initiating this time, and kisses Emily. Emily lets Naomi reach out, lets Naomi come to her this time. She promised Naomi she would be her friend, so she’s letting Naomi set the pace. Naomi jumps in all on her own this time, letting go of her fears, allowing herself to be at peace. Naomi says, “say something”. She needs to know that things are going to be okay, because this is the thing she’s wanted the most but also the thing she’s been the most scared of. Emily responds, “I’m all about experiments, me.” It’s a lie, one that’s meant to put Naomi at ease. It can be as much or as little as Naomi wants. They’re going at her pace. In this moment, I think Emily is afraid of breaking the spell, of pushing too hard now that she’s so close. They resume kissing, and discover what exactly it is that lesbians do in bed.

The song in the background here is also perfect- it’s “Believer” by Susanna and the Magical Orchestra. It goes, “Didn’t think you would trust me/Thought you would see what I see/This day has been good for me too/but I can’t stay/you know why/didn’t want to end like this/though I might could convert…you are a believer/I am not.” Naomi didn’t think Emily could ever trust her. She thought Emily would see her the way she sees herself. But Emily believes in her, more than Naomi believes in herself, and as much as she wants to believe in herself, too, she can’t convert. So she feels like she has to end what she has with Emily, because she can’t believe. Not in herself, not in the love they have, not that everything will be okay in the end.

The scene changes to the next morning, and Naomi is once again leaving Emily behind, afraid of her feelings. In this moment, Emily is done being gentle and understanding. She’s tired of patching Naomi back up. She thought they had finally gotten to the point where Naomi could own their relationship, and she can’t stand to see it backslide like this. “TWICE? You’re gonna do this to me twice. Naomi, no! You fucking….stop right now! Don’t you dare leave me in your bed again. I know you, Naomi. I know you’re lonely. I think you need someone to want you. Well, I do want you. So be brave — and want me back.” Naomi doesn’t have any cover to hide under this time. There’s no excuse that it was “just the MDMA” or that it’s just an experiment, or that she’s just hanging out with a friend and totally not gay. She’s running away from a reality now, the reality that actually, Emily does like her back, and she could have this relationship if she wanted. And up until now, Emily has been so steadfast and brave, willing to go as slowly as necessary to protect Naomi’s feelings, because she knew that eventually, she and Naomi would get their chance. But she can’t be strong like that anymore. This is finally too much rejection for Emily. She throws herself out in the open, saying everything she’s been wanting to say but holding back on account of Naomi’s feelings. “I do want you. So be brave and want me back.”

Naomi goes home without saying anything to Emily. She quietly cries in the shower. She gets dressed in a yellow plaid shirt that mirrors the blue and yellow plaid shirt that Emily wore earlier in the episode. She finds that Kieran is now in bed with her mum. He’s finally assumed the fatherly role she always wanted him to be, but not quite the way she wanted. I like this in general. I think it makes sense that Kieran does eventually become the father figure she wanted him to be. But I think it’s a bit too soon to introduce Kieran this way, seeing as less than twenty four hours ago he tried to kiss her, and I can’t imagine Naomi’s mum would just be okay with that. Naomi goes to school and contemplates calling Emily, but can’t bring herself to do it. Doug and Harriet arrive to count the votes, so Naomi dives underneath the desk to hide. Harriet decides that Cook “will not win” and stuffs the extra votes for him in her bra.

More than anything, Naomi hates injustice, and so when Harriet announces her as the winner, she says, “You should have more confidence. I mean, your tits are fine. Probably a bit flat, but no need to stuff your bra.” She then proceeds to pull the votes out of Harriet’s bra, and says, “Cook won. He’s our president.” Cook then declares a riot, and Naomi rings the fire alarm. Naomi sees Emily across the room, but she’s not ready to deal with that. Not yet. Kieran chases Naomi down in an attempt to apologize, and they eventually reach an agreement that Kieran should keep seeing Naomi’s mum, which… again, I’m all for this, but two days ago they hadn’t even met, and then when they did meet, it was because Kieran was coming to apologize to Naomi for kissing her. At what point did they get to know each other well enough that Kieran knows he likes Naomi’s mum, and why weren’t either of them worried about the whereabouts of Naomi? But in this moment, Naomi puts her resentment for her mum aside, puts her mum’s happiness first, and tells Kieran to go tell her mum how much he likes her.

Anyway, Naomi goes to leave when she sees Cook alone in a room. He says that he only entered the race to piss Naomi off, and this is a lie. He entered to impress Naomi, to see if he had a chance with her. But he rewrites the story, just a little bit, because he thinks he knows what we as the audience know- Naomi is gay, and she only has eyes for Emily. Naomi asks if Cook ever wishes things were simple, and he says, “Things are simple. I won. Now we get to willy waggle, yeah?” and this, too, is a lie. Things for Cook aren’t simple, and they never really have been. But if he can pretend they are, if he can rewrite his story as he sees fit, it’s easier to deal with. Naomi starts protesting that she never agreed to the deal, to which Cook responds, “Are you sure? Are you actually sure you never said because… Hang on. I think we should willy waggle.” Naomi starts to kiss him, in an attempt to be “normal”, in an attempt to “screw guys to make [her feelings for Emily] go away”. Cook says, “they all come to the Cookie Monster in the end.” In this moment, I think he feels that, against all odds, he’s won. Everything else might not be simple, but maybe this is, after all. He won, so he gets the prize. But Naomi stops- “Cook! This isn’t right…it just isn’t a goer.” Cook’s suspicions are confirmed now- Naomi isn’t interested in him, and she’s not going to be, because she’s in love with Emily. He says, You fancy me, I’m cool with it. So there’s obviously another reason why you won’t fuck me. And it’s probably a good one, because you’re, you know, clever.”

Finally, Naomi goes back home. Her mum enters the kitchen and tells Naomi that she kicked everyone out, and finally, Gina is being a good parent. She’s putting Naomi first. Then she sits down to tell Naomi the story of her pregnancy. She says, “your dad turned out to be a shitty little prick, and it was all a little bit rubbish. Until you made my life complete. And actually, rather fucking wonderful.” Naomi responds with a small, “I did that?” She’s finally getting the comfort that she wanted, this time from the person who was supposed to provide it all along. Gina continues, “I wasn’t expecting it. People who make us happy are never the people you expect. So, when you found someone, you’ve got to cherish it.” So Naomi realizes that she can make other people’s lives better just by being in them, and she goes to find the person that makes her happy, the person she didn’t expect, so that she can finally cherish her.

And this final scene is one of the most beautiful Skins has ever done. Naomi goes to Emily’s house, but Emily refuses to open the door because she’s been crying. Emily is totally honest in tis moment. She’s done lying for Naomi’s feelings. Naomi sits down next to the door, and finally admits how she feels. “I do want someone. Need someone. You were right.” “And?” Emily gently pushes, always so careful with Naomi, even when she doesn’t want to be. “and when I’m with you, I feel like I’m a better person. I feel happier. Less…alone. Less lonely.” Emily reaches her hand through the cat flap to hold Naomi’s, and Naomi, finally ready to say what she has to say, finally ready to be brave and love Emily back, continues, “But it’s not as simple as that, is it? Being with someone… mean, I don’t know. I mean, I don’t think so. I mean… Can’t we just sit like this… for a bit?” And Emily says, “yeah, we can. For a bit.” Emily still believes in Naomi, Naomi’s ability to overcome her fear and come to terms with her feelings. But she’s okay with waiting just a little bit longer, because she also believes that Naomi is still making baby steps, and that when Naomi is ready, she’ll be able to be with her.

56 notes · View notes

black-mesa-slut-voice · 4 years

Photo

Domesticated headcrab adopts!

More info, rules + availability below the cut + okay to rb!

Hello! If you’re here, you’re most likely interested in owning a pet headcrab of your own! While you can always find a specific one of your liking, it’s always a good idea to turn to adoption to help out headcrabs in need (and your local artist)!

If you’re serious about adoption, I recommend you glance over Your Beginner’s Guide to Headcrab Domestication first!

So what is this, really?

If you’re really not sure how adopts work, it’s simple. I have little premade, pre-designed characters that you can purchase, and then they become your characters! You can then use them however you’d like; they’re now your OCs!

Obviously, I don’t own the rights to headcrabs in general- they still belong to Valve- but I sort of have the rights to my domesticated headcrab headcanons, so these specific designs will belong to you!

Okay, I’ll bite. What’re the deets?

Each character is $15 USD as a base! For that, you’ll get all rights to the design. You can rename, redesign, gift, or alter the characters to your liking after you buy them. I’ll give you the large, transparent image of your crab as well! They’re all yours!

For $25 USD, I’ll make a nice, fancy little ref sheet with at least a few cleaned, colored sketches to go along with it! Not only that, but any designs that you’ve bought from me are always 10% off if you ever commission me to draw them again!

Are there any rules?

Yep! Here’s the rules: - Prices are listed in USD! I use paypal, and paypal only for the most part. - First come, first serve, unfortunately. - You MUST pay before you receive any of the rights/images included! - Once purchased, you are free to tweak the design as you please! This includes the name and lore- they’re just fun little suggestions, laid out in the format of an adoption center. You don’t have to follow them at all! - Trades and resells are allowed as long as you sell it for as much as you bought it or less - Please credit me for the design if asked!

Alright! Give me the crabs!

“PRIMROSE” || SOLD Fawned ash standard Primrose is a spoiled little crab who was owned by a sweet little old lady who has since passed away. With nobody in her family wanting to take her, she's now looking for a new home. She's used to being dressed and wearing fang caps! She's a bit spoiled and picky with her food, so looking for someone who doesn't mind giving this little lady a lot of love and attention!

“MILLIE” || SOLD Grey capped Volkov Millie is a shy, albeit feisty Volkov who was rescued from a house that was hosting illegal fighting rings in their backyard. Her left talon and leftmost mandible were infected and had to be amputated, which causes her a bit of difficulty moving around- but she's still fit and spry! Looking for a home who doesn't mind a somewhat skittish crab, after everything she's gone through- who can help bring her out of her shell!

“MEATLOAF” || SOLD Chocolate ticked standard Meatloaf is a large, chunky crab with an interesting orange spotted tint coloration. They're a bit... food motivated, to say the least. A lot of care has to be put into watching them, as they're surprisingly smart when they put their mind into getting into things- and will eat anything they can fit into their mouth. Looking for someone with childproofed cabinets who wants a very friendly and intelligent crab!

“MILK” || SOLD Black and white Saddlehorn Milk is a standard Saddlehorn who was brought in because the former owner was unable to keep up with vet costs. Milk has a lot of internal problems, and had to undergo some intense treatment, and to be kept on a very specific diet. Looking for someone to help Milk maintain this diet and strict regimen and checkups until they feel better!

“CHOCOLATE CHIP” || SOLD Chocolate Siamese nubbed Chocolate Chip is a sneaky little crab, surprisingly small for their age. They were found wandering the streets, and it's presumed they got out of their previous home- which is most likely true, considering their track record of weaseling out of their enclosure! Looking for someone who doesn't mind a very intelligent, active crab, and has lots of time and attention to give!

“PEACHY” || SOLD Snowshoe flaxen standard Peachy came from a well-off home who once again bought a young, fancy breed- and ended up de-beaking him and then neglecting to give him proper attention and care. They were passed on to a few homes because of their rather shy behavior from lack of attention, and are looking to finally get a forever home with someone who wants to bring out the sweet, caring side we know is in this crab! He's de-beaked, with no apparent health concerns visible.

“SHOOMI” || SOLD Fawned flaxen pancake Shoomi is easily one of the most well behaved crabs in our care! They’re extremely docile and good with kids as well! They don’t mind being dressed up or having stickers and such, hence the googly eyes. They’re the only one who didn't particularly hate things being stickied to them. Perfect for a home with kids!

“STACY Q” || SOLD False poison Stacy Q is a false poison, who is superbly friendly, albeit... extremely lazy, and more than a little bit hefty. She's perfectly healthy, however! She came from a home that thought they would be 'cool' and 'scary', and was dissapointed when she just sat around all day. She would be a wonderful match for someone who doesn’t mind a somewhat sedentary crab who doesn’t need a lot of attention!

“GUMPY” || SOLD Olive marbled hunchback Gumpy is a hunchback with a bit of an attitude problem. He was part of a nice lineage, but he didn't get along with other headcrabs at all and was given up on. With a little bit of time he might warm up to people, but is probably best left without any other crabs or pets in the house.

“MISS SASHA” || ON HOLD Golden Bata Miss Sasha is a very old Bata, who was a winning showcrab in several runs- but as she got older her beautiful golden color began to fade, and so they took her out of competitions, and want to rehome her. She’s still very playful for her age, and loves to give and receive lots of attention. Good for someone who doesn't mind a sweet old crab who isn't very active anymore, but still has lots of love to give- and preferably can give lots of attention in return, as she gets sad when left alone.

“NGUNI“ || SOLD Fancy Saddlehorn Nguni is a very very unique Saddlehorn with a beautiful, very rare pattern- most likely a showbreed of some sort. However, she was found hit by a car, which mangled her right claw and left her with some scarring. Even more interestingly, despite her unique coloration, her previous owner can't be found, and isn't coming forward to any messaging. Enough time has passed that she's looking to be rehomed to someone who doesn't mind giving her her daily meds and making sure she doesn’t overexert her injured side!

“MAPLE” || SOLD Sorrel smoke pancake Maple is a feisty young crab, who was bought as a present for someone's child, since pancakes are known for their docility- only to find out that Maple was surprisingly aggressive for a pancake. They ended up having to rehome him, out of their children's newfound fear for headcrabs. Looking for someone who doesn't mind a bit of a feistyness in their crab and is willing to work with it to help curb their temper!

If you’re interested, DM me here on tumblr! If you’d like, you can ask for my discord and we can discuss details there as well.

#half life #headcrab #headcrabs #adopts #adopatables #headcrabguide #my art #feel free to rb! it would actually help a lot :'''#i was worried this would be weird since valve like. owns them but #i just like drawing crabs and my friends said i should sell em for like 15 bucks each and so. here i am!#i love them so much im kinda excited for this lol #headcrab adopts

538 notes · View notes

itsclydebitches · 3 years

Note

Hi! I was just watching good omens and I came up with some questions, but I didn't know whom to ask, so I was digging around for go analysis blogs and found you. *takes a breath* So, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on why Heaven's camera angles are the way they are. I noticed that, in heaven, the camera tends to focus on the characters' heads specifically, so they fill most of the screen. Either it's a meta reason or a reference to something (like Newt with the Office) that I'm not getting. That's the main thing, but I've also wondered why exactly Aziraphale uses the verb "fraternize" in the 19th century. It seemed an odd pivot from caring about Crowley's safety to Heaven's rules. Thanks so much!

Hello! Omg yes, let's talk Good Omens cinematography.

First, the obligatory Analysis Disclaimer: I doubt there's a specific interpretation that you're just not getting, some singular, "correct" reading of the scene(s). Two years past release, I'm positive the fandom as a whole has come up with plenty of ideas (I mostly hang on the periphery. I'm far from up to date with GO meta), but any and all of it will, by nature, be subjective. Thus, all I can offer is my own, personal interpretation.

So for me? It's about intimacy.

Not intimacy in the sense of friendship, but rather the broad idea of closeness. Confidentiality. Emotion. Knowledge. Understanding by means of literally getting into the thick of these conversations. I love the camerawork in Heaven (and elsewhere) because the camera itself acts like a person — an additional party to these interactions. And, since we're the ones watching this show via the camera, it makes it feel as if we're peeking into scenes that are otherwise private. Obviously all cinematography does this to a certain extent, the camera is always watching someone or something without acknowledging that we're doing the watching (outside of documentary-esque filmmaking), but GO uses angles and closeups to mimic another person observing these scenes, someone other than the characters involved.

The easiest example I can give here is when Michael makes their call to Ligur. Here, the camera is positioned up on the next landing of the staircase, as if we're sneaking a look down at this otherwise secret call. There's even a moment when the camera pans to the right to look at them through the gap in the railing, briefly obscuring Michael from our view.

Here, a standard expectation of any scene — keep your character in focus — is done away with to instead mimic the movements of someone actually hiding in the stairwell, listening in on the conversation. It creates that feeling of intimacy, as if we're really there with Michael, not just watching Michael through a screen. The camerawork acts like a person overhearing an illicit conversation prior to falling back on mid/closeup shots. We're spying on them.

To give a non-Heaven example, the camera helps us connect with Aziraphale during Gabriel's jogging scene. It's hard to show through screenshots, but if you re-watch you'll see that the camera initially keeps them both in the frame with full body shots, allowing us to compare things like Gabriel's unadorned gray workout clothes with Aziraphale's more stylish outfit; one's good jogging form and the other's awkward shuffle. However, this distance also creates the sense that we're jogging with them, we're keeping pace.

That is, until Aziraphale begins to lag. Then the camera lags too, giving them both the chance to catch up, so to speak.

Until, finally, Aziraphale has to stop completely and the camera, of course, stops with him. We're emotionally attuned to Aziraphale, not Gabriel, and the camerawork reflects that. Even more-so when we cut to a low shot of Gabriel's annoyed huff at having to stop at all, making him appear larger and more imposing. Because to Aziraphale, he is.

This work carries over into Heaven's other scenes. The closeups are pretty much a given since, whether it's Gabriel realizing Aziraphale has been "fraternizing" with Crowley (more on that below!), or Aziraphale choosing to go back to Earth, the scenes in Heaven are incredibly important to the narrative. Closeups allow the viewer to get a good read on each character's emotional state — focusing on minute facial changes as opposed to overall body language — and that fly-on-the-wall feeling is increased as we literally get an up close and personal look at these pivotal moments.

Compare a shot like this one of Gabriel to the line of angels ready for battle. We don't get closeups on any of their faces because their emotions aren't important. Yes, that's in part because they're background characters, not main characters, but a lack of emotion — their willingness to enter this war without question — is also the point of their presence in this scene. So they remain a semi-identical, nearly faceless mass that runs off into infinity down that hallway, not any individual whose inner life we get a peek at via a closeup.

I particularly like Aziraphale's conversation with the angel... general? Idk what to call this guy. He's just gonna be Mustache Angel. But, getting back on track, his scene has a lot of over the shoulder shots which, admittedly, are pretty common. From a practical perspective they're used to help the audience situate both characters in the scene — you're here, you're there, this is how you're spaced during this conversation — but it can also help emphasize that closeness between them. Keeping both characters in the shot connects them and though Aziraphale and Mustache Angel definitely aren't on the same page here, those shots help cue us in to the unwanted intimacy of this moment. They're both angels... even though Aziraphale no longer aligns himself with them. They're both soldiers in a war... but Aziraphale will not fight. This angel has a list of Aziraphale's secrets, including that he once had a flaming sword and lost it... but Aziraphale doesn't want to admit those circumstances to him. This angel wouldn't understand, even if he did. Intimacy here, connection and closeness, is something discomforting because Aziraphale can no longer embrace those similarities. They put him (and us) out of sorts, so when we get them both in frame, that connection creates tension, not relief.

And many of those over the shoulder shots are given sharp angels, or the camera is placed too close to the "off screen" party. Compare a shot like Luke and Rey to Aziraphale and Mustache Angel. Here, Luke is a clean, solid line on the left side of the screen, just enough there to cue us in to where he is in relationship to Ray, In contrast, Mustache Angel's mustache is Too Close and proves rather distracting. Rey and Luke are connecting here over being Jedi with responsibilities to uphold (or at least, Luke will acknowledge that connection later lol); Mustache Angel is forcing a connection with Aziraphale that makes everyone uncomfortable.

We are too close to him here. He feels too close to Aziraphale too. This whole conversation is upsetting and discomforting, pushing Aziraphale to finally choose which side he's on (his own with Crowley). The shots aren't meant to subtly keep the audience from getting lost and then otherwise be unobtrusive, we're supposed to be Very Aware of this angel's body and how close he's getting to the character we've come to identify with — both literally (he's leaning in) and in terms of forcing Aziraphale to finally make his choice.

When Mustache Angel marches forward and gets all up in Aziraphale's face, the camera positions itself behind Aziraphale in a way that makes it feel like we're hiding behind him, with Aziraphale taking up far more of the screen than Luke does. Like the scene with Michael or running with Gabriel, the camera often likes to mimic a "realistic" response to these events. This angry, shouty angel is getting closer, best take a step back and stay out of sight behind Aziraphale, holding his ground.

These closeups also serve as a nice contrast to the wide and longshots we get of Heaven. It's an imposing place with skyscrapers in the distance, lots of steel, immaculate floors, and endless white. It's overwhelming and it's cold. But then we cut to those mid-shots of Gabriel and Michael, telling us that they're in control of it all.

Aziraphale? Aziraphale is not in control. Not now, anyway. When he appears in Heaven we get a longshot to show off this endless void and he's just another, tiny speck in it. If he weren't flailing around — an acting move that likewise helps sell how out of his depth he is — it's unlikely you'd even notice him. Aziraphale's clothing and hair blends in perfectly with the background. He's forgettable. Easily overlooked. Someone to underestimate. And when he moves, he has to come to the camera. We don't cut to Aziraphale to establish control like we do with Gabriel. He's left to awkwardly shuffle up to Mustache Angel until he's finally come into view.

Yet when Aziraphale makes his decision, he aligns himself with the brightest, most colorful, most interesting thing in the room: Earth. Earth, with all its messy individuality, is the antithesis to Heaven's controlled uniformity and a bright blue orb hanging in the midst of all this white helps remind us of that. Aziraphale rejects becoming one of the identical soldiers and instead literally reaches out for the one thing in Heaven that doesn't fit in.

When he leaves, we get an extreme closeup for the first time. Mustache Angel is pissed and as such we not only get a good look at his face in the aftermath of Aziraphale's choice, but that extreme closeup on his mouth as he's shouting too. It's like he's shouting directly at us, the viewer who is currently cheering on Aziraphale's decision. There's a war, dammit... but we don't care. Not in the way he cares, anyway.

So there's a lot! And I could probably go on, but apparently I'm only allowed to add 10 images per post now (tumblr what the actual fuck if anyone knows a way around this please share!) and I've already had to merge a bunch of images like an animal. So let's awkwardly finish up with the duck pond scene.

...without a GIF because they apparently count as images too 🙃

Simply put, I don't think Aziraphale bringing up fraternizing is a pivot from one to the other — from caring about Crowley to caring about Heaven's rules. I mean yes, Aziraphale is lagging behind Crowley in terms of rebellion and a part of him is, at this point, absolutely concerned with how he'll come across to the higherups, but that worry doesn't stem solely from a (now very shaky) desire to obey for the sake of obeying. The thing is, Aziraphale's disobedience is, by default, also Crowley's disobedience. If they're friends and they're ever found out, they'll both get in trouble. Which, we know from the end of Season One, basically means being wiped from existence. That's horrifying! And it's a horror that threatens them both. I don't think Aziraphale cares about rules for the sake of rules; after all, he started off by giving away his sword, lying to God, is currently meeting with Crowley anyway... this angel has always ignored/bent the rules — established and implied — that don't suit him. Rather, he cares about the rules if he thinks they have a chance of being enforced. If there will be consequences for breaking and bending them. This is still about caring for Crowley (as well as saving his own, angelic skin). If they're found out, Crowley dies. And, as we the viewer learn, Heaven was indeed observing them that whole time. There was always legitimate risk attached to this relationship. Aziraphale's fear, hesitance, and at times forceful pleas to stop this stem as much from Aziraphale worrying about Crowley's safety as they do a learned instinct to obey the rules without question. He pushes to end the relationship because the relationship threatens the only thing Aziraphale cares about more than that: Crowley himself.

As for the term "fraternizing," that's a loaded one! I won't go into a whole history lesson here, but suffice to say it has military roots: to sympathize as brothers with an opponent. That is literally what Crowley and Aziraphale are doing. They are an angel and a demon, supposedly innate enemies, supposedly poised for an inevitable war... yet they've formed an incredibly strong kinship. They've both learned to love their enemy, the thing every army fears because, well, then your army won't fight (just as Aziraphale won't). However, beyond the enemy implications, "to fraternize" eventually took on a sexual meaning: to not merely love as a brother, but to lay with the enemy too, usually women from enemy countries (because, you know, heteronormativity). Nowadays, "to fraternize" often implies a sexual component. I've been rewatching The Good Wife lately and in one subplot, the State's Attorney cracks down on fraternization in his office. He doesn't mean his employees are forming bonds with assumed enemies, he means his employees are having sex on his office couch. So Aziraphale's phrasing here carries a LOT of weight. He's both reminding Crowley of their stations in the world — you are a demon, I am an angel, us meeting like this can have formal, irrevocable consequences for us both — as well as, given the fact that this is a love story, drawing attention to the depth of this relationship. They love one another, as more than just friends. Though whether Crowley's scathing "Fraternizing?" is a response to Aziraphale falling back on the technicalities of their positions, or acknowledging a love he's yet to overtly admit and commit to — or both! — is definitely up for debate.

#Good Omens #Ineffable Husbands #Air Conditioning #mymetas #whew #long post!#with too few images imo #with this done I'm gonna steam #about tumblr's absurd limitations #how's a girl supposed to do meta on this website anyway

85 notes · View notes

giantpredatorymollusk · 2 years

Text

Let's talk about the .webp format.

Webp for animations

We will hereby examine the various ways to turn the above clip from Princess Tutu, which I'm uploading as a 600 pixels tall 967,000 byte mp4, into a GIF-style looping animation. The easiest way is obviously to turn each frame into an image and make people page through them. Let's do that, and, to keep things simple, we'll use the Microsoft Paint BMP format, which uses no image compression:

Job done 😌 we now have 187 BMP files that i should be able to share with all of my friends over the internet. Except, wait,

Our clip has gone from 967,000 bytes to 387,773,298 bytes. This is 400 times bigger. If I start a social network where people can share clips and they do it by sending hundreds of BMPs back and forth, I will use up a lot of storage space and bandwidth, and the user experience will probably be somewhat slow. Maybe a less simplistic approach is in order.

I have also created a nice GIF version of the scene. It is not pictured, because it is 3 times Tumblr's maximum GIF size limit:

This saves a lot of hard drive space over the "hundreds of BMPs" approach, but it still yields a fairly large file. The GIF format was created in 1987 and last updated in 1989; it was intended to display simple clip art on computers that looked like this:

One way this makes itself evident is through the limited color palette that each GIF uses. If you don't want to use weird tricks that explode the file size, a GIF can only use 256 distinct colors per file. Here some of them are, plainly visible in a detail shot of my new GIF:

Artful blending of these colors can hide the limited palette a lot of the time, but it seems like a dumb sacrifice to have to make when using such a large file. Anyway: if we want a Tumblrable GIF, we need to put more work in. Let's try shrinking the GIF to 300 pixels tall, cutting the frame rate to 15 per second, and reducing the quality using the gifsicle utility's "lossy" option:

It's here 🥺

It's 6,010,622 bytes (6mb), so it's about 6 times bigger than the original mp4, and looks much worse.

"What was wrong with the original mp4, anyway?" Nothing, except that browsers and image viewers know to play GIFs automatically and loop them, and Tumblr lets you arrange them into a grid. If everyone were to listen to me, I could simply say, "if you rename a .mp4 file to end with .mp4loop instead, it needs to be autoplayed and looped, and can't have sound" and we could just use those instead. But no one listens to me.

Let's continue to try to find technical solutions to this dumb standardization problem. Weren't we supposed to talk about Webp files?

A 6mb Webp file can store the clip at its original resolution and framerate. Evidence

If we reduce the Webp to 300 pixels tall and 15 frames per second like we did with the GIF, it's now 1,902,920 bytes, which is roughly a third of the size that the GIF was. Evidence

So it's obvious that using Webp files allows for much higher quality and/or much smaller files, which is extremely desirable if you're running a website, or if you're a website user that wants things to load quickly. Everyone should want this thing. You may have noticed, though, that I had to link to those Webp files instead of uploading them directly. This is because Tumblr doesn't support uploading them (probably because they don't think you'll have any Webps you'll want to upload from your computer.) Neither do browsers support them particularly well: Despite the fact that the format has been out for 10 years and growing in prominence the whole time, only recent versions of Safari on Apple computers and phones can display Webp files; the browser watchdog website CanIUse estimates that they're available to about 93% of devices. If you're running a social media site, you probably don't want to block 7% of people from seeing animated content. Also, if I try to download them, I soon find out that the Photos app on my Windows 10 laptop has no idea what these files are.

So, websites are strongly incentivized to use the Webp format instead of the GIF format and users are not necessarily going to like it when they do, probably because developers of software like browsers and image viewers don't realize how inefficient GIFs are from website creators' point of view and how they should be replaced. Great job, guys. Are there any other places where Webp images could be used?

Webp for still images

Although Google claims that Webp files are 30% smaller than JPGs, they are actually usually not smaller than JPGs that are created with an advanced encoder like Mozilla's MozJPEG. However, Webps are 26% smaller on average than equivalent PNGs no matter what, which means that they're the naturally preferred format for images with transparency, which means you might as well just use them for everything instead of having both PNGs and JPGs (which are smaller than PNGs but don't support transparency at all), assuming people upgrade their browsers.

The Conclusion

Websites use Webp files so they don't have to distribute larger, lower-quality GIF files (and just plain larger PNGs) to you. One alternate way people have tried to replace the GIF format is: those things labeled "GIF" on Twitter are actually just normal mp4 video files that they try to force browsers to autoplay and loop. Attentive readers will note that this is very similar to the ".mp4loop" replacement for the GIF format that I proposed. However, Twitter's solution only works on Twitter, because if you download one of these "GIFs" you'll get a non-looping video that looks like it should have sound and doesn't, which makes them harder and more confusing to play and share around. But people continue to not listen to me. If you're annoyed at Webp files now, wait until you start seeing the new AVIF, APNG, animated SVG, and HEIF formats. The fact that the term GIF at this point refers not just to a type of binary file but, effectively, to a genre of highly shareable media is fascinating to me; the goal people should have is to create a file type that removes the GIF format's technical limitations while preserving its social capabilities. A coordinated solution to this goal is only difficult because of the need for coordination.

7 notes · View notes

book-o-scams · 3 years

Text

Ed, Edd n Eddy Series Bible (1996) -Analysis-

You can all finally read/download Ed, Edd n Eddy's official Series Bible right here! Thanks again to Chuckletons for sharing this with me and to Joey/Kongiscool0518 for sharing it in the first place, the Holy Grail of lost Ed, Edd n Eddy trivia!

One of the first posts I made for this blog was the Series Bible page. It was a composite of every source we had ever seen reference the series bible so far-- storyboarders in interviews, CN's old character guides, and the biggest source, an old CN UK posting about the show. Well, I figure now that we have the official source, I better update the old page (so everyone knows it's out of date), and make this new Series Bible post using the official source! Not much new information, but I was intrigued to finally learn the true phrasings of some things we had only heard paraphrased, as well as at least one detail from the movie that I couldn't believe came up this early in conception...

Unfortunately, Tumblr has apparently updated its post system to only let me add 10 images? Gonna try and only use images for what I need since you can read the actual document above, I guess I'll transcribe it too for easier reference and so we don't ever lose some archive of this.

Quickly, let's review what a series bible is:

A series bible is how creators pitch shows to networks. They can be called “pitch bibles” as well. Bibles do not usually get posted publicly, because they are initially under a strict Non-Disclosure Agreement by the network; also the creator may simply not wish to share it because it reflects the earliest stages of development.

The pitch materials typically include early concepts for characters, locations and episodes. Sometimes it exposes secrets, in this case, Ed and Eddy’s home lives, and sometimes the stuff in it is completely abandoned because it’s so early in production, in this case, casual references to school and adults.

Alright, everybody, it's time to gather 'round and read the Ed, Edd n Eddy Bible!

THE YEAR IS 1996.

YOUR NAME IS LINDA SIMENSKY. YOU WORK AT CARTOON NETWORK. A FRIEND OF YOURS, DANNY ANTONUCCI, IS WRAPPING UP A SHOW ON MTV. YOU GET THIS FAX.

Linda Simensky immediately fell in love with this concept because as a child, she was best friends with 2 other Lindas for seemingly no reason other than the shared name.

I love how Danny decided last second to pencil in the correct names over each Ed, since they're arranged out of title-order.

"They're friends because they have the same name."

-the Logline for the series.

Fun fact: one storyboard artist for the movie observed that the movie is essentially all about challenging the series' original notion that the Eds are friends ONLY because of their name.

"A Danny Antonucci Cartuna"

-the label Danny used to use under announcements of new productions.

PAGE 1:

Ed, Edd n Eddy

They're best friends because they have the same name.

A gag laden, beat generated CARTOON bumper car ride of 3 misfit youths on a cul-de-sac in the suburbs of America.

Through summer vacation, part-time jobs, or just hang'n out at the corner mail box, they want to belong....but CAN'T.

From home chores, helping neighbors or eating jaw breakers, they want to fit in...but CAN'T.

Ed is into "B" monster movies, model kits and is quick to break out into rashes.

Lots of luck...

Edd is into chemistry, biology and prone to crushes.

Later...

Eddy is into pranks, is stylish and flaunts himself to the world.

Ya Right...

Ed, Edd n Eddy is a show about confusion and contradiction, that awkward part of youth, pimples, big feet, oily hair and... girls???.

Puberty is unforgiving.

I was fascinated by the lack of art on this page, it makes the pitch feel very focused. AKA logo in the corner, the title logo again up top, then the logline appears again below.

I really love the breakdown of Danny's vision of the show. "Gag-laden, beat-generated, CARTOON bumper ride." Very accurate, and I think "beat-generated" is the phrase that interests me the most. I typically think of "animation beats" as sort of a give-in-- technically all things fit a rhythm, so all stories are essentially just a montage of beats. But this does make me realize how important the strength of the beats and their rhythm are to the pacing of a cartoon and making you feel like "that was a good one." I feel like the "seasonal rot" viewers feel over the course of a show, and the way that perception differs from person to person, depends on the type of beats you want. Even though I am very into the experimental beats of a show in its later seasons, I can definitely see how season 1's beats are more typically appealing to a wide-audience, and how important a focus on that is to the longevity of a show.

I found it really interesting how the scams are initially conceived of here as "summer jobs." It adds to the sense that adults were originally meant to be present. Honestly a little surprised nobody with access to this bible had ever thought to mention that-- scams are not referenced ANYWHERE. Their image in the Series Bible is that they have summer jobs and help neighbors, which is certainly a much cleaner reputation than the Eds ended up with in the show. Makes me realize though, were some of the early scams, like Ed's Hive Bee Gone and their newspaper routes, supposed to be leaning into this early idea of them with almost legit jobs for unseen adults?

I was very amused by the repeated phrase that the Eds simply CAN'T fit in.

Loved to finally see the official phrasing for the confirmation that Peach Creek is in America. Not much different than I was led to believe, but still nice to have the true quote.

Also love Eddy being described as "stylish and flaunting himself to the world." The bold-print reactions to each micro-description is a cute idea too, I truly wonder who we were meant to picture saying those things in reaction. Each Ed? Kevin?

The "corner mail box" is an oddly specific phrase-- the Eds do hang around mailboxes throughout the series, especially seasons 1-3, and I believe the canon map does have a corner mailbox, but the idea that the Eds hang out at one specific mailbox went the way of Bro's supposed secret treehouses.

PAGE 2:

Ed, Edd n Eddy

Show Description

Gag laden. True cartoon style, inventive, non parody, fast paced, stretch and squash

Beat driven. (even when characters stop they hold with a bounce cycle. Adults never bounce. Music can play important part, not just fill.) But not a musical.

Cartoon surrealism. (viewers see the show as Ed, Edd n Eddy would, less important things tend to blend into the background, while objects of Ed, Edd n Eddy's desires are focused. Premise driven.)

The school year's over, (yeah!!!!) and the long HOT summer vacation begins (gulp). What to do?

Stuck on a cul-de-sac in the suburbs of America is the last place you want to spend summer break, especially when you find life confusing and contradicting.

Ed, Edd n Eddy is about friendship, and serves to remind us that they're no "good ole days," just smelly runners.

You can tackle anything, when your with your pals.

Their days are spent, for knowledge, acceptance and some cash for jaw breakers. Armed with pimples, big feet and oily hair the three amigos trek into the unknown.

Ed, Edd n Eddy are dying to be grown-ups, but they're kids, and attack adulthood as only kids would. Simple situations turn into a manic rollercoaster ride. (Don't forget your barf bag).

They just want to belong, and they're willing to pull off any insane stunt to prove it. First they need to figure out what it is they want to belong to.

Found it interesting that on this page, the show's logo is replaced with the title written in a jumbled font. Seems like the font from the show's end credits.

Hehe, the continued reactions to the descriptions. Allow me to be Double D for a moment and point out the increased use of parentheticals on this page, as well as one wrong "your".

I love Danny's insight that season 1 is framed by the context of how hyped everyone still is just to be out of school, but also the sense of pressure to make use of their break.

I really appreciate Danny getting further into the details of his summary of the show's style on the previous page. It only makes sense that he had this much of a vision that early.

A second confirmation of the cul-de-sac being in America! I'm also really into the repeated focus on the Eds finding the world "contradicting." I always loved how EEnE's inexplicable cartoon antics supported that sense that the Eds are highly aware of contradictions in both societal things and the actual characters.

WOW, so I'm fascinated by this dual reveal. Before the wiggling outlines, which Danny usually calls a "boiling line" and describes as a tribute to wiggling inking in early animation, the series bible instead refers to him wanting the characters to do the iconic Fleischer "bounce," which is a much more commonly recognized rubberhose animation technique. Very interesting that Danny decided not to stick to that. Did it feel too out of place? Or was the overseas team not willing to animate a weight-shifting for every single held pose? Haha, guess I can see why boiling was an easier compromise. I wonder if he had any other ideas for how to make it more of a 1930s cartoon.

The other reveal to me here is that the movie's choice, that adults don't always wiggle in the show, was an idea from the very beginning! I guess I can better understand now why it's just too difficult to communicate a stylistic choice like that overseas-- no point making Bro not wiggle, that'd just create confusion.

Also, really disappointed that my wish for a musical is officially squashed in the series bible itself. That's a tragedy. The show's over, ya couldn't let me dream, Danny!? Conversely, I love Danny's forethought to say "non parody," I definitely noticed and appreciated EEnE's avoidance of derivative parody humor.

My spouse had to point out to me that Danny probably means sneakers here, lol. Canadianisms!

The comments about the Eds wanting to grow up but needing to figure out what they want to belong to are so great and relate to the movie so well. I've heard those comments before, but the correct phrasing was cool to see.

PAGE 3:

Ed, Edd n Eddy (image of Ed in right corner)

Character Description

Attention deficiency syndrome.

He has trouble...

He can't....um...

OK, he draws all day in class.

When Eddy gets a bright idea...Ed's in.

Ed is easily talked into doing Eddy's "hard work". He has great physical strength.

Ed's happiest with his Model kits and B-monster movies. He draws his knowledge from his movies.

Ed smells. Flies are attracted to him.

Ed has sayings for all situations

ED: "you can change your shirt, and Bingo was his name..."

Ed's perpetually a slave to his younger sister's whims and whines.

Ed may have to baby-sit his sister, or let her watch whatever she wants on TV, or let her dress him up in mom's clothes.

Ed breaks out in Rashes. He's allergic to practically everything, especially Guinea Pigs.

Ed's Mom xerox's his sketches and doodles for her therapist.

Ed's Dad hopes to pass on to his son, his knowledge on "pre-owned" auto sales.

Very cute bit wasting the space at the top of the page. Danny seems very invested in Ed's personality already. The old sources we used to have definitely tried to condense these down to simpler blurbs.

Weird how Danny wants to essentially diagnose Ed with ADHD here (phrasing it very poorly, but it was the 90s and... Canada?). I don't know enough on the subject to debate it, but I still gotta point out Ed's canonical cracked skull!

Interested in the comment about Ed being most allergic to Guinea Pigs. I don't think that animal was ever even mentioned in the show. Eddy mentioned an old gerbil once....

Neat to finally have the real phrasing of the official word on Ed's parents! I saw someone comment earlier that this seems to be hinting Ed's Dad is selling stolen cars. I've never thought to question the legality of his apparent second-hand-car dealership (I imagined he works with Eddy's dad, who has received a legitimate award for his salesmanship), but those quotation marks are certainly making Mr. Ed's practices questionable! Best case scenario, Danny meant that more like italics or something, but maybe Ed's dad IS up to no good...

PAGES 4 & 5 (Ed's turn sheet and expression sheet)

PAGE 6:

Ed, Edd n Eddy (image of Edd in right corner)

Character Description

Edd

is really smart.

is really quiet.

Edd is unnaturally-- polite.

Edd hasn't been allowed to take gym ever since the Dodge ball incident. He's been excused to free study time in the library.

Edd doesn't like it when people touch his things.

EDD: "You may enter in my room, but don't touch my Lego robot. Thank you."

Edd's learning to play Peddle steel guitar. (his Mom makes him)

Edd's prone to "crushes". Girls in School, in his neighborhood, TV, anatomy books. He mails "true loves" his socks.

Edd is always ready for action, even though he can calculate the implications.

Edd constantly mumbles.

No one ever sees Edd's parents. They both work nights. They communicate to their son solely through Post-it notes. Edd's not allowed to touch anything in the house while they're gone. Anything.

Interesting how Danny slightly differentiates the barely-used space at the top here from Ed's description, to characterize Edd as more quiet and mumbly, adding an awkward "--" mid-sentence, perhaps to create the impression that Edd halts to choose words carefully.

Everything on this page feels familiar, from the character guides and other old sources. The most interesting thing to me here is that Edd's Mom forcing him to practice Pedal Steel Guitar is established this early, don't think I knew that, but I had noticed that it existed in his room from ep 1.

I love how the explanation in the beginning for why Edd goes along with their dumb schemes even though he's smart is basically just "he's always ready for action." ?!? I guess in a way???

That weirdly phrased Edd quote amuses me because it references Lego, just like the original concept background for his room before somebody nixed the copyright-namedrop.

Edd's prone to crushes thing has been reaffirmed over and over in character bios even though it really doesn't come up outside of the cupid magic in HPH and the pilot-episode heart eyes at Sarah that are barely canon. Still, I've always loved the truly disturbing statement that he mails "his true loves his socks" and how that managed to make it into canon with a comic book example, a cel animation example and a digital era example.

PAGES 7 & 8 (Edd's turn sheet and expression sheet)

PAGE 9:

Ed, Edd n Eddy (image of Eddy in right corner)

Character Description

Eddy

Exhibitionist.

Megalomaniac. (quote from his report card)

Eddy is the unofficial leader of the trio.

He's always got a plan, a stunt or a weird noise.

Eddy's the "class clown". He loves showing off. He loves being the centre of attention-- no matter how stupid the reason is.

Eddy is the only kid in his grade to have been expelled for aw hole week from school. It was his turn to set up the video for science class. He switched "Our Friend Yeast", for a video he "borrowed" from his parent's room.

Before Eddy's brother went....away, he enlightened Eddy with the "legends" of the neighbourhood. Eddy knows where all the abandoned tree houses are, which sewer pipers are safe to spelunk, and the secret recipe for the "El Mongo Stink Bomb" (it's been in the family for years).

He is the one who is most able to pretend that he knows it all... and doesn't care what anyone else thinks about him.

His genes are working the fastest.

Eddy's Dad is constantly concerned that Eddy may grow up to be a ...figure skater.

Eddy's Mom never believes his little darling was involved in such a heinous act.

Funny choice that Eddy's wasted-top-space is just two one-word descriptions, and allegedly lazily swiped from his negative report card.

Wow, we knew the report card quote and the "Our Friend Yeast" story from the UK show guide, but now we also know Ed's page says that Ed draws in class, and now I realize that Ed and Eddy have series bible school blurbs to match Edd's classic dodgeball incident blurb. Anyway, it's great that Eddy's showed his entire school some sort of sex video his parents have.

Very interested that the phrasing for the Bro/El Mongo Stink Bomb blurb even seems to suggest it's a family recipe. Eddy's Dad did have prankster stuff in his closet in JJJ... did Bro learn his prankster ways from Dad?? The neighborhood's secret tree houses have come up in other descriptions (at best, I'd say this could be related to that creepy shack the Eds found in the woods), but I think it's new info that Eddy personally learned the sewer routes from Bro. Interesting...

Thankfully, I had already heard about the Bible's awkward reference to Eddy being the most pubescent as "his genes are working the fastest," lmao.

Once again the Double D in me comes out to point out that the description of Eddy's Mom seems to switch to the Dad's pronouns.

PAGES 10 & 11 (Eddy's turn sheet and expression sheet)

PAGES 12-14 (Sarah, Jimmy, Rolf, Jonny, Nazz, and Kevin lineup of all 6, then 2 zoomed in lineups of the first 3 kids and last 3 kids)

(Funfact: the kids' designs were allegedly freelanced to an outside studio, hence why their refined later-season designs are so different from these lizardy starting places, lmao)

PAGE 15: (images of Sarah and Jimmy next to their blurbs)

SARAH

Ed's baby Sister.

It's her way or the Highway.

She has everything done for her, if NOT she'll "make" them do it.

She can be quick to judge.

Whinney.

A tatrum for every occasion.

More than a handful for Ed...or Edd and Eddy.

Thinks Edd is kinda cute.

Wants Eddy to MOVE...to another planet.

JIMMY

Sarah's best friend

He is always playing with girls, boys are just too tough.

He is accident prone, when ever we see him he has a different affliction, ie: band-aids, patches, casts, lumps...etc.

He is very clean.

The Ed's frighten him, "They're such brutes".

I'm surprised how much of the UK guide was accurate to what was really in the bible for them! Also surprised Danny misspelled "whiney" and "tantrum," one right after the other. Is this how Sarah spells them? ...Sorry, Danny, I yam what I yam.

PAGE 16: (images of Rolf and Jonny next to their blurbs)

ROLF

First generation of a landed immigrant family.

Nationality not important.

He's proud of his heritage.

He has peculiar traditions and/or customs.

He eats "weird" things.

He has hair on his back..... "yuck".

He confuses the Ed's to no end.

He confuses the other kids to no end.

JONNY 2x4

He is a wanderer and very inquisitive

From early morning to supper time, he is always outside playing, with his buddy, "Plank".

"Plank" is a wooden board that Jonny drew a face on with a crayon.

Jonny has wonderful conversations with Plank. ...Plank is a piece of wood.

Jonny makes himself very "accessible" to the Ed's.

Found it interesting that Rolf's bio is less clearly phrased than the UK bio set it up to be-- there they made it sound more like he mixes up who the Eds/kids are, here it's unclear whether it means that or (more likely) just means the obvious statement that everyone finds him confusing. If it's that, what a lame hollow bio Rolf got. This kid's based on you Danny, show some of that personal side!

Always loved Jonny's description, his life sounds so cute. Playing outside literally all day. Interesting to have it confirmed that Jonny drew Plank's face, I preferred to think the Eds drew him and sold him to Jonny, but whatever.

"Accessible" has always been an important vague description of Jonny to me. It really only applies to how chummy they could be with him in season 1, but it still sorta applies to his personality throughout the series as well.

PAGE 17: (images of Nazz and Kevin next to their blurbs)

NAZZ

She's cool, calm and assertive.

She is the most matured of the kids, or so she thinks.

She's into make-up and fashion magazines and Boys.

Sarah thinks she's awesome, wants to be just like her when she grows up.

When she enters a scene, all activity stops... boys freeze, they sweat, their hearts beat faster and faster. They lose their ability to talk. When she leaves, they recover and conclude it was something They ate.

She thinks the Ed's are funny.

KEVIN

He is cynical and sarcastic.

He thinks he knows the "routine". That's because he watches "60 Minutes".

It got a big laugh out of me that Kevin's description is only 2 sentences long. Nazz even has a more detailed character description from inception than Kevin. Love this for them.

Who's the Eds' rival? Well, he's cynical, sarcastic and he watches 60 Minutes, doesn't that tell you enough!?

I love the "mature... or so she thinks" remark about Nazz, a grounded flaw for her to have, being a little overcommitted to being mature like Eddy. It also perhaps suggests naiveté that makes it a little more reasonable that they didn't notice they were dumbing her down at the end of the series, but I do think the movie version of her better reflects the Bible's concept.

PAGE 18:

The Other Neighborhood Kids

Lineup of May, Lee and Marie.

The Kanker Sisters

These gals are tough. They bother, bully, provoke and bewilder everyone.

They live in a motor home park on the other side of the Cul-de-sac. The other kids have never been there.

They are proud of their Tammy Faye Baker memorabilia.

Their project "Cooking with Ketchup" closed down their school for a whole week.

No one likes them, especially the Eds.

They are determined to marry the Eds. They want them to do their dishes.

Amused that the Kankers are essentially being labeled backgrounds characters here, the role they mostly fell into in season 5. "Other" neighborhood kids...

I love that the Kankers have a school blurb to match each of the Eds', and that theirs has similar destructive-intentions to Eddy's video premiere story.

I believe all of this was all known from the UK guide as well, but still, neat stuff!

PAGES 19 & 20 (zoomed in Kanker lineup and their height chart with the Eds)

PAGES 21 & 22 (early promo art that used to be on CN's old Eds webpage, the art of the Eds eating jawbreakers at the end of ep 1 with the overhead text "Ed, Edd n Eddy love JAWBREAKERS!!!", and the art of the Eds all running with overhead text "Ed, Edd n Eddy see something shiny...."Jiggers." That weird "jiggers" statement at the end was normally edited out and I don't know what it means. Looked it up and it seems to be Chinook jargon (like when Ed said he was "skookum at X's and O's") usually said in the same sense as "CHEESE IT!")

PAGES 23+:

The rest of the pages in that bible download are from a 2004 storyboard test. The storyboard sample "It's Raining Eds," which we've seen some submitted samples of before, interpretations with Ed attempting to fly or chew gum and Edd making radioactive gum, I was surprised to find out the outline is just the original outline for the opening sequence to season 3's 'For Your Eds Only', seemingly Jonny was not written into the original outline (or was excised for easier testing purposes) but Kevin's brief cameo was. Now I wonder if they knew this would be used for a test when they wrote it, and if they would've come up with a less random way to include him if weren't forced to be a concise bit for testing's sake. (Your limit is typically 40 storyboard pages in my experience.)

I also noticed that in the included background references, the anonymous adult neighbor house next door to Ed's is officially just referred to as a "generic house."

My analysis ends here, but be sure to download that sometime and enjoy all the raw storyboard sketches at the end of the document!

#ed edd n eddy #series bible #aka cartoon inc #aka cartoon #discovery #eene news

102 notes · View notes

the-art-of-animated-gifs · 3 years

Photo

Interview with my friend A.L. Crego

I have not met A.L. Crego. I have not spoken with him on the phone, in fact I do not even know what he looks like. But I can confidently call him my friend. Three years ago when I started this blog he immediately disagreed with me in the comments about things I was writing and I loved it. As a person putting ideas out there, you treasure things like that....because you know someone cares. We have had many back and forth discussions over the years....if we had lived in Paris in 1911 we would be having arguments at La Rotonde (not to compare either of us to Picasso).

A.L. Crego is a motion artist who does a wide variety of things. He has now become a very visible and active figure in the NFT Movement. He recently completed a large and very successful project in which he animated the work of a number of well know street artists on the building themselves, something he has done for years. His Tumblr page is a good place to start to see his work, which is largely surrealist in nature -- another Spanish artist following in the footsteps of other great Spanish surrealist artists.

---------------------------------------------------------------

How long have you been creating gif art?

In a conscious and intentional way since 2014. Previously I haven't pay too much attention on one hand for its common use that was mostly ads and funny little videos, and on the other hand because it was a 'standard' format we accepted as something part of the web so I never stopped to analyze its potential. The key point for me was about 2010-2011 when the concept of 'Cinemagraph' was brought to life just giving it a name. It's format is .gif but its characteristics are different so I saw there the midpoint between photography and video, which gave born another format of art.

Art mutates when a new format appears. I was using and studying this format since then but it wasn't until 2014 that I decided to publish some of them.

What is your background?

In general terms, bachelor, 2 years of stone sculpting and two attempts of photography and audiovisual mediums. I say attempts because I gave up both of them as I was feeling that I was looking for something else more than studying all the previous history, style and isms, which is nice to understand where everything comes from and to be aware what are the key points on the history to use as reference, as a map. But in some way I felt limited as I was using digital tools since I had my first computer with 14 years, and I was being taught things I learnt by then. Even more in this times we are living where we are 21 century people, been taught by teachers from the 20 with 19 century methods.

A constant line that feeds my background is literature and music overall and later Street Art, next to more temporal interests as everything related with mythology, alchemy, history, psychology, neurology, biology, human condition in general... I don't have studies buy I'm a studying guy!

I always like to highlight that all these years that internet got strong and social networks appeared, I decided voluntary to be out of them. First reason was to keep my privacy safe in a growing world where it seemed that some "curtain" felt and everybody accepted that intimacy was now 'ex-timacy' and correct to show their private life, (this shocked me). Another reason was about the psychological effect that social networks were having on people I had around and everywhere in general. I started to notice patterns and "waves" about series, aesthetics, styles, and I was seeing clearly that if I go there, I will become permeable to all this "Amniotic Culture" I was trying to avoid.

This fact of being far (but study them closely) helped me a lot about researching and developing my own ideas and style, for the mere fact that I was using all this time and attention Social Networks require, on drinking from another sources. The B-side of this is that I was 'out of the radar' of mass people as this social networks are designed to live inside them. My idea of internet and spreading ideas is not in this way.

Where do you live and work?

In the north west of Spain, Galicia. Now due to Covid I travel less but before it, I was working and traveling many places as I only need a camera and a computer. This allows me move to work anywhere.

Do you think that animated gifs are a new art form?

I think so, despite the fact that the format existed since 1987. But as every new format of art it takes its time to be considered as art. The first photographs were not considered art until many years later. Same happened with film, same with CGI. Is nice to have in mind that gif format is the last strictly digital format of the three main ones on the web: picture, video and gif. Photography has about 200 years of history, video about 130, CGI about 60. Finally gif has 33, and used as art itself no more than 10-15. In the same way anybody takes a picture of anything does not convert it into art, is the same with gifs. One thing is the format, another is the 'art'. Everybody can take a picture, record a video or do a gif. The difference is on the how, the why, and from my point of view overall, the what.

Do you think that there is a difference between pure .gif files and the .mp4 files that people post on Instagram?

The first, big and obvious difference is the format. Is not the same a painting as a picture of a painting. Here happens the same. For example, if you treat a gif with Cinemagraph technique, you are converting in picture some parts of the image, so they still remain and with the texture and totally stillness of a picture. If you convert this gif into a mp4 this still parts, despite not having motion, will convert into a video texture (noise, subtle motion in pixels, etc) so the main characteristic, among the perfect loop, is lost. Another point is that you must play a video, a gif is always running. Waterfalls are always running and this characteristic is something that is inside our human nature, we react nice to "bucle" motions as waterfalls, fire, etc. We find pleasure on this. Of course if it's a video the perfect loop is lost and the visual mantra disappear. And another key point here is the soundtrack. In a video you can use sound to enhance or give another meaning to the piece that you can't with gifs. For me this is another characteristic that give meaning to gif. For me gif is silence, the sound is generated by the motion, the melody are the details and the beat the perfect loop. You can "hear" almost every gif.

The difference between a gif and a video is the same that between a waterfall and a hose (if this works).

What do you think are the characteristics of good gif art?

For me first and overall the perfect loop. Not using it is not using the only format that has this characteristics. Of course there can be gif art that is not perfect loop, but from my point of view and in my work is a must. It's a new way not only of creating but also of thinking. Imagine an still scene is easy, imagine an A-B point action is easy. For me the challenge is about thinking an idea that is perfect looped where all the elements interact and eventually come back to its initial point. Succeed doing this is where the perfect loop appears and you are not able to find where is the start point of the action. Like a visual mantra, that it's repetition leads you inside the piece. Gif art is nice to use the power of the hypnotic movements. Another point to have in mind for me is the flow of it, the frame rate I mean. Depending on the idea and the kind of animation this should vary; is not the same fps to achieve something with flow than if you want to achieve a more 'retro' old style. Another thing is about dithering and color palette. This second one is essential to understand as it affects the final file. When we work with photo and video we are using millions of colors but when rendered as gifs all the gradients, lights and even colors will change if there is a previous understood of this point.

As summary: If motion doesn't add, change of enhance the meaning of the piece, is expendable.

I'd would like to add that I'm not really supporter of this kind of gifs generated automatically that just move a still image itself. I understand that this 'technique' is used as a tool for certain motion (I use it) but not to move a whole image. I feel the same as if somebody hold a painting in front of me and moves it randomly. If the work was born still, it must remain still. A good example of 'inner motion', this means that the motion is implicit on the image despite not being in motion, are the photographs of Cartier Bresson for example. Giving motion to this pictures for example, will kill it because it will break the concept of 'perfect instant' .

'Instant' differs etymologically from 'moment' in the motion. So, still image (painting, photo, sculpture, etc) is an instant, videos are stories with a-b point, and gifs are moments, the mid point.

How would you describe your gif art?

I usually condense it as "Visual Mantras", as the technique and the aesthetic vary depending on the idea , but in all of them the perfect loop and the intention of hypnotizing is always present.

In another terms about aesthetics and themes I think ‘Industrial Nature’ can fit nice. I use a lot of industrial elements but I like to mix their mechanics with the biological natural ones.

How long have you been creating and selling NFTs?

I am selling NFTs since mid 2019, but it wasn't until October 2020 that I focused more on it and dug into the ecosystem to find new paths to focus my work.

Do you think that NFTs are a positive for gif artists?

For me, and the main reason I jumped into cryptoart and NFT, is that now I can certify my digital work as original. Even more to gif works as they were always understood as something banal and minor for the context of its born. Gif art was born prostituted, used mostly for ads and to claim our attention on the internet, next to the highest glamour of painting and traditional art, and 3d, photography and video these last decades. Even worst if we realize that gif format was the only visual format born by and for the internet.

NFTs are totally positive for gif artists because despite being a digital/online native format it never had its own ecosystem to live in. I feel that I was creating creatures for an ecosystem I was waiting to drop them there. Now with the blockchain, NFTs and cryptoart, I found the place where they can live, being watched by everybody and have the certify that is my work. Until some months ago my work was "free" on the web and I had no control over it at all. This was a huge problem I was suffering since my first month into gif art as people use it indiscriminately with no credit at all. It's ok, and I always defend that my work is to be seen, to be shared, but I was looking for the way to be able to have this link with my work without losing the option of being available for everybody. NFT totally changes this.

What do you think will happen in the future as NFTs get even more popular?

In general terms I think it will happen the same as when print got more popular. People will use it more, a lot of crazy and useless things will appear, tons more of different uses and useful purposes, (not only on art). This opens a new door a lot of people was waiting so the future is unpredictable but we can feel where things are going. NFT arrived to stay and the concept of decentralization is something that was always present on the internet since first days but born inside a centralized system. NFTs are being a way for people to understand the 'peer to peer' philosophy and this makes people think in different codes, so we can expect a lot of new horizons, in art, music, design...

What do you think of the environmental impact of NFTs?

This question can goes really deep but in general terms I think that is something that is being oversized due to the hype and the boiling point we are, and it's understandable because is not false that it has an environmental impact, as everything does. But on the other hand I have two main areas in mind. The first and the obvious from my point of view is that when something is new and developing is less efficient, in the way that it requires more effort to achieve the result. But at the same time, the more this technology is used the more is developed and all this issues are part of it. The first car was not electric.

The second point that usually reverberates in my mind and that it seems that 'hard critics' omit is that they are not having in mind that this NFTs we mint, give us a profit that can be used offline to do another things that can be useful to solve this problem, for example, investing part of this money on living on our own in a minimal and clean way (not working for huge multinational that their environmental impact is tons times more than NFTs and then being part of an ONG to feel clean) and on using part of this money on looking and researching new ways to mint and to keep this digital ecosystem more efficient and clean. Every development needs time.

-------------------------------------------------------

If you have found this content valuable considering getting me a cup of coffee

#gif aesthetic #street art #surrealism

97 notes · View notes

thevikingwoman · 3 years

Text

Tagged!

Tagged by @roguelioness and @a-shakespearean-in-paris thanks friends!

1: Why did you choose your url?

Because I’m Danish, so I tend to pick some variation of ‘viking’ as username, and I’m a woman and vikingwoman was taken ;P. I AM wondering if I should re-pick some days, sadly viking imagery sometimes get co-opted by white supremacists and they can get the fuck out of my blog, my culture, and the world.

2: Any side blogs? if you have them, name them and why you have them.

I have a couple. I created an ME sideblog that I given up on using, too complicated I try to tag any non-DA content I post here instead. I have a blog for explicit images, from when tumblr allowed them. It still have some items on it that has not yet been moderated. I have a blog I posted a few nature pictures on. And ofc I’m an admin at @dadrunkwriting, but it’s hardly my blog. Plently of opportunity for messing up when posting.

3: How long have you been on tumblr?

Since aug 2016

4: Do you have a queue tag?

I use #scheduled post

5: Why did you start your blog in the first place?

When I finished Trespasser I was in distress, I was shaken in a way I had no business being. (Thanks Solas). I was looking to find fics and used to previous fandoms on livejournal and so forth. I was looking where things were at, and it seemed to be here. Ao3 is nice, but I was looking for fic recs and events such as big bangs and awards (not that DA fandom does awards, so sad)

6: Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

My idon is me, drawn by @destinyapostasy. Hair is wrong color though ( I have 4 versions and none of them is the right hair color lol, it’s become a darkish blonde boring color)

7: Why did you choose your header?

My header is Solas, drawn by @destinyapostasy, it’s just a great drawing of him looking sad. That’s all this blog still is - sad Solas.

8: What’s your post with the most notes?

Apparently it is a post about some investigation of tumblr character limitation in posts ? I have a couple of posts that got a lot of notes, and I had to notification block them.

9: How many mutuals do you have?

I don’t know? and while I love my mutuals dearly, I don’t want to put too much stock in it. I understand people might not follow me for various reasons, but we can still be friends!

10: How many followers do you have?

Uh a bunch? It’s weird how the longer you have the blog sometimes you get these bursts of random follows? (not spam blogs either). anyway hi people, I am happy you’re here!! Please do know though that I don’t really keep track of my followers and if you don’t want to follow I’m not going to wonder about it. You do you!

11: How many people do you follow?

262 which is too many. I have a goal of 200. Some of these are very low activity blogs though.

12: Have you ever made a shitpost?

Probably

13: How often do you use tumblr each day?

I usually check quite often, but not always? It’s a habit.

14: Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog once? who won?

Somewhat? I counterargued some head canon that annoyed me, and the OP (and at one time very popular solavellan writer) argued back, missing my point entirely. It was shortlived though :P. I don’t think someone can be declared a winner hahaha.

Have I felt like starting a fight? yes

15: How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

I don’t reblog and if people post to many of those I unfollow. Nothing bugs me more than guilting into behavior, esp with a sprinkle of performative allyship.

16: Do you like tag games?

Yes please tag me!!! I might take a bit to reply but I do try to get around to it!

17: Do you like ask games?

Yes! both for me and my OCs. I try to send asks when I see people posting them too, though sometimes I miss it.

I also miss TMI tuesday when people would really TMI, but I guess the fandom group I hung out with is less active + we already covered the TMIs lmao. I

18.Do you have a crush on a mutual?

I have mutuals who I deeply love and respect, does that count?

tagging: @galadrieljones @destinyapostasy @ma-sulevin @wrenbee @luzial @ladylike-foxes @salexectria @allaganexarch @buttsonthebeach @scharoux @idrelle if you want!

#about me #tag game

12 notes · View notes

mogai-introjects · 3 years

Text

q: is this blog fake? are you a troll? is this satire? do you actually believe mogai is valid/real? a: no, no, no, and yes!

q: what do you use to make your edits? a: gimp on desktop!

q: how often does the queue post? a: i haven’t decided yet, but i’ll update this once i do start queueing things!

q: do you accept all system types? a: absolutely! i’m personally part of a traumagenic system, but i’m 100% accepting of non-traumagenic systems. you’re safe here!

q: is [member type] allowed in requests? a: yes! fictives, factives, fucktives, etc. - this blog’s main focus is introjects and all types of them from all sources are allowed! a2: i also allow requests for non-introject system members and for paras (basically for anyone who has a real identity as opposed to a headcanoned identity), i’ll just need art/a faceclaim/etc in order to do requests for non-introjects.

q: where can i send art/a faceclaim/etc for my request? does it have to be my own art? a: it would be easiest for me if you submitted it here, but you can also send me a message if you’d prefer! as for art, as long as an artist has expressed that they’re okay with their art being used with credit, you can send me a link to their piece and i can use it!

q: when will requests reopen? a: i can never really 100% guarantee a date for this question, sorry! i get a different amount of requests that take various amounts of effort every time i open requests, and of course my own schedule and energy have to be taken into account, so i can’t guess super accurately when requests will reopen unless i’m very close to emptying the inbox.

q: are you alright with requests from [insert source]? a: on this blog, this will always be a yes! i don’t judge anyone on their source.

q: are you alright with requests involving [insert identity]? a: if it’s not on this list, the answer is more than likely yes! you can also search the term on my blog to see if i’ve posted requests with it before.

q: how many people can i send in one request? how many terms? a: as many as you want! i’ve currently managed to fit 44 characters into one post and 117 flags into one icon, and i’d love the challenge of going even higher. as long as you don’t mind the icons looking like barcodes, go ham! a2: for characters, i can only fit 10 images into one image set, so requests with more than 5 characters will have the icons combined (here’s an example).

q: i forgot something for my request/can i add [insert extra details] to or change [insert detail] of a request i sent in? a: send me another ask and i’ll happily add it, no matter if i’ve already finished your request or not! and don’t worry, this doesn’t inconvenience me and it doesn’t make me upset, i’m happy knowing that you’ll be happy with your request!

q: did you receive [insert request]? a: try to wait at least a week or so before asking this! i’m cool with answering it, but i don’t always queue requests super quickly, so you may just not have seen it because i'm busier than usual. a2: if i say that i didn’t get your request, you can send it in again no matter if requests are open or not! i don’t want to make someone wait till the next time the inbox is open just because tumblr glitched and didn’t send their ask.

q: when will my request be posted? a: at some point! the queue isn’t set at a super high number so that if i hit a period where i’m very busy, i don’t have to feel anxious about the queue running out. that means that it could take a while to see your requests, but i promise, you will see them!

q: what does [insert term] mean? a: i’m happy to answer asks like this, and i’ll likely either copy over the definition or link you to a post with the definition in it!

q: [insert request] goes against [insert thing in your rules]! a: thank you for letting me know! i don’t know every source i get requests from, so i don’t know all the info about them and tend to assume people won’t go against my rules.

q: can you tag [insert thing]? a: yes! i’ll try my hardest to remember!

q: can i use one of your edits for [insert thing]? a: heck yeah!! i’d prefer if you credited me somewhere if you do though.

q: can you use [insert version of a flag] for [insert identity] in my request? a: yep, just make sure to either include it in the ask or send another ask afterwards specify which flag you’d like!

q: [insert nice thing] a: i love you dearly and your ask will sit in my inbox forever along with all the other incredibly sweet asks i’ve received over the course of this blog. i apologize for not answering kind asks, i just really like being able to scroll to the bottom of the inbox and see all the love there!

q: [insert argument against one of my opinions] a: i’ll more than likely block you, since a) this is not a discourse blog and b) i’ve heard your argument before and have said my piece and/or done my research on both sides, but if i’m in the right mood or you’re egregiously uneducated on the topic, i’ll answer it.

q: [insert rude/mocking thing about me, my blog, systems, and/or mogai] a: asks like this accomplish nothing and don’t bother me. again, you’re either getting blocked or i’ll just make fun of you/be rude to you back.

#dexter.txt #faq

23 notes · View notes

Last Seen Blogs

retiredangel404

vettel5ever

idk

vol-88

fatims37

قرآني حياتي

tenteacles

A dagger in the back is a plastic tomb