diff --git a/src/cogs/auto_responder.py b/src/cogs/auto_responder.py
index 8162ad8..8ee50b3 100644
--- a/src/cogs/auto_responder.py
+++ b/src/cogs/auto_responder.py
@@ -50,6 +50,18 @@ class AutoResponder(commands.Cog):
         :param uri: The URI to transcode
         :return: A transcoded file
         """
+        last_reaction: str | None = None
+
+        def update_reaction(new: str | None = None) -> None:
+            nonlocal last_reaction
+            if not update:
+                return
+            if last_reaction is not None:
+                _ = asyncio.create_task(update.remove_reaction(last_reaction, self.bot.user))
+            if new:
+                _ = asyncio.create_task(update.add_reaction(new))
+                last_reaction = new
+
         self.log.info("Waiting for transcode lock to release")
         async with self.transcode_lock:
             cog: FFMeta = self.bot.get_cog("FFMeta")
@@ -68,7 +80,7 @@ class AutoResponder(commands.Cog):
                     uri,
                     float(info["format"].get("duration", 600.1)),
                 )
-                return
+                return update_reaction("\N{TIMER CLOCK}\U0000fe0f")
             streams = info.get("streams", [])
             for stream in streams:
                 self.log.info("Found stream: %s", stream.get("codec_name"))
@@ -77,10 +89,11 @@ class AutoResponder(commands.Cog):
                     break
             else:
                 self.log.info("No HEVC streams found in %s", uri)
-                return
+                return update_reaction()
             extension = pathlib.Path(uri).suffix
             with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(suffix=extension) as tmp_dl:
                 self.log.info("Downloading %r to %r", uri, tmp_dl.name)
+                update_reaction("\N{INBOX TRAY}")
                 async with aiohttp.ClientSession(
                     headers={
                         "Accept": "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,"
@@ -105,6 +118,7 @@ class AutoResponder(commands.Cog):
                 with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(suffix=".mp4", delete=False) as tmp:
                     tmp_path = pathlib.Path(tmp.name)
                     self.log.info("Transcoding %r to %r", uri, tmp_path)
+                    update_reaction("\N{HOURGLASS WITH FLOWING SAND}")
                     args = [
                         "-hide_banner",
                         "-hwaccel",
@@ -148,6 +162,7 @@ class AutoResponder(commands.Cog):
                     self.log.info("finished transcode with return code %d", process.returncode)
                     self.log.debug("stdout: %r", stdout.decode)
                     self.log.debug("stderr: %r", stderr.decode)
+                    update_reaction()
                     if process.returncode != 0:
                         raise subprocess.SubprocessError(
                             process.returncode,