#echofades

That you could even consider that half of my favourites wouldn’t be your own creation is absurd and off-brand. In no particular order:

1. Charity/Vanessa per month gifset by echofades > I loved these so much because they’re mostly the softest ever, but also because they trained my brain with some ridiculous recall for the exact months their storylines happened in. I reference this series while editing when I get stumped on what shot to use. 

2. Every Vanity kiss (so far) by iwatchforher > Is it even a question? Every update makes my heart skip a beat. There’s so many kisses now that sometimes I forget about one, good job this post exists as a reference point because I’ve also used it while editing. Side note: I love, love, love the layout of this set because it’s so different from all the rest and I’m well aware of the time gone in to make it look so beautiful. You’re a genius. 

3. Vanity + tumblr text posts series by iwatchforher > Half my love for this series is knowing how much effort you put into it, half is how ridiculously funny and wonderful they are, third half is the utter joy of surprise each time you post another one. Yeah, you’ve got 150% of my love, come at me about it. 

4. Episode Recaps by ainokiseki > Ainokiseki is a mythical creature who enters the fandom to bless us with a perfect collection of gifs for an episode, before returning to the lagoon within which they live to replenish their magical energy. We are blessed.

If you are in this fandom and you don’t yet know that Kirsty is awesome I’m worried you’re beyond saving, but below I’m gonna try and help you out:

(1) Echofades was the very first blog I followed when I got into this fandom because you go into the tag and are assaulted by so many beautiful gif sets! It’s like, “This is the most important blog in this fandom that I obviously must follow.” (Tbh the fact that someone who was this untouchable fandom celebrity to me a year ago just asked me to do this meme is making me emo actually. 🥺) Aaaaanyway, the quality of her gifs is amazing, and she’s had so many iconic compilations - gifs of the month is something that I know everyone always looked forward to and perfectly distilled the best moments every time. *prayer circle for its return in the future* Being a gif maker in a fandom that has this much content is truly a labor of love, and we are deeply lucky to have such a dedicated and talented person showing up for us everyday! 

(2) Kirsty is soooooooooo smart about Emmerdale and Vanity and because she has actually been watching the show for a long time (her whole life? I don’t know, lol!), she brings a lot of important context to her comments. You get to see this brilliance even more on Twitter because it’s more amenable to real-time show commentary, so this is the part where I plug her Twitter and tell everyone to follow her. Even if Twitter scares you, it’s worth joining and just following her account (@flawedyou). You can ignore everyone else! (I’m not joking; it’s worth it just to see her tweets). Also, she’s super funny. 

(3) She is so measured and realistic and not reactionary in what she says and does in fandom spaces, and having that even-keeled energy both here and on Twitter is so helpful to me (and I’m certain many others). 

(4) She is incredibly kind and generous. She helped me deal with getting nasty anons for the first time and figuring out when/whether to respond to them. And she talked me through some Vanity/Emmerdale issues that were relevant to responding and generously let me use some of her much smarter ideas so I did not sound like an idiot in my reply. #hero

1. Do you make your bed? Sometimes I do not. Sometimes I get a rush of inspiration and I do. 

2. What’s your favorite number? 27 for the sheer comfort it’s supplied me since I was 17. 9 because it’s been my favourite number since I was a kid.

3. What’s your job? I am a Senior Staff Lead and Social Media Coordinator for a local Agricultural-Tourism Farm. I also work part time as a Sorter in the Ontario Distribution Center for a multi-billion dollar, multi-national warehouse chain - in their refrigerated section. When not at either of those places, I am driving deliveries for an Edible Arrangements location, teaching ballet, or being coerced into taking photos for money. I’m applying for college programs to get my Television Broadcasting degree. 

4. Can you parallel park? I absolutely can. For some odd reason, I am exceptionally good at it when driving rental vehicles and less so when driving my own. 

5. A job you’ve had which would surprise people? I delivered newspapers for more than 18 years, and also had a stint for several years as a professional clown. I can still balloon sculpt. 

6. Do you think aliens are real? Big universe, we’re probably aliens to something else out there. 

7. Can you drive a manual car? I wish. Manual cars are very uncommon here and I haven’t had access to one to learn. 

8. What’s your guilty pleasure? So, the dictionary definition of a guilty pleasure is literally: a movie, television program, or piece of music that one enjoys despite feeling that it is not held in high regard. APPARENTLY. In that case, there’s a lot of Kylie Minogue in my playlist and her sweet angel pop beats are what get me through long days in the warehouse. 

9. Tattoos? I have two, acquired at ages 18 and 27. No immediate plans for any more. 

10. Favorite color? Purple, orange, pink, blue. The sunset or sunrise, basically. 

11. Things people do that drive you crazy? Share propaganda news articles and posts on Facebook, and believe them without ever reading or researching any of the content. Choosing not to outright apologize, even when they’re admitting to having done something wrong (just say the words “I’m sorry”). 

12. Any phobias? I have emetophobia, which entails extreme fear surrounding the concept and act of vomiting, as well as seeing it. I struggled a lot with it for much of my life, but I was honest with people about it and got the support I needed to cope with it in my everyday life. 

13. Favorite childhood sport? I never excelled in anything athletic as a child, but my brother played baseball and so I went to a lot of games. I remember being good at European Handball the one gym class we got to play it, before the school decided it was unsafe. 

14. Do you talk to yourself? Not aloud, usually. I get pretty animated in the car when I’m alone, though. 

15. What movies do you adore? The animated Anastasia. Nottinghill. Nightmare Before Christmas. I’ve watched Café de Flore a few times. I don’t like watching movies alone, so I’ve not seen many in the last few years other than horror flicks. I like the films from the Ed & Lorraine Warren collection. 

16. Do you like puzzles? I did them constantly as a kid, but haven’t touched one in years. 

17. Favorite kind of music? Feel-good pop, indie, alternative, French pop. 

18. Tea or coffee? A decaf orange pekoe tea with two to three sugars and lactose free milk is how I begin most mornings. 

19. What’s the first thing you remember you wanted to be when you grew up? An archaeologist. My brother’s a giant nerd; we watched a lot of documentaries.

I definitely did not hear that on first watch but ah, she does ����

😭😭😭