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whencyclopedia · 5 months ago

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Interview: Medieval Christian Art in the Levant

Medievalists retain misconceptions and myths about Oriental Christians. Indeed, the fact that the Middle East is the birthplace of Christianity is an afterthought for many. During the Middle Ages, Christians from different creeds and confessions lived in present-day Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Palestine. Here, they constructed churches, monasteries, nunneries, and seminaries, which retain timeless artistic treasures and cultural riches.

James Blake Wiener speaks to Dr Mat Immerzee to clarify and contextualize the artistic and cultural heritage of medieval Christians who resided in what is now the Levant.

Dr Immerzee is a retired Assistant Professor at Universiteit Leiden and Director of the Paul van Moorsel Centre for Christian Art and Culture in the Middle East at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Saint Bacchus Fresco

James Gordon (CC BY)

JBW: The largest Christian community in what is present-day Lebanon is that of the Maronite Christians – they trace their origins to the 4th-century Syrian hermit, St. Maron (d. 410). The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic Syriac Church, using the Antiochian Rite, which has been in communion with Rome since 1182. Nonetheless, Maronites have kept their own unique traditions and practices.

What do you think differentiates medieval Maronite art and architecture from other Christian sects in the Levant? Due to a large degree of contact with traders and crusaders from Western Europe, I would suspect that we see “Western” influence reflected in Maronite edifices, mosaics, frescoes, and so forth.

MI: Especially in the 13th century, the oriental Christian communities enjoyed an impressive cultural flourishing which came to expression in the embellishment of churches with wall paintings, icons, sculpture, and woodwork and the production of illustrated manuscripts, but what remains today differs from on one community or region to another. In Lebanon, several dozens of decorated Maronite and Greek Orthodox churches are encountered in mountain villages and small towns in the vicinity of Jbeil (Byblos), Tripoli, the Qadisha Valley, and by exception in Beirut, but only a few still preserve substantial parts of their medieval decoration programs. Most churches fell into decay after the Christian cultural downfall in the early 14th century when the pressure to convert became stronger. While many church buildings were left in the state they were, others were renovated in the Ottoman period or more recently.

Christian Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, c. 1000

Simeon Netchev (CC BY-NC-ND)

Remarkably Oriental Christian art displays broad uniformity with some regional and denominational differences. Cut off from the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire after the Arab conquest, it also escaped from the Byzantine iconoclastic movement (726-843 CE), which allowed the Middle Eastern Christians to develop their artistic legacy in their own way. An appealing subject is the introduction of warrior saints on horseback such as George and Theodore from about the 8th century. The West and the Byzantine Empire had to wait until the Crusader era to pick up this oriental motif and make it a worldwide success. But the borrowing was mutual. Mounted saints painted in Maronite, Melkite (Greek Orthodox), and Syriac Orthodox churches would increasingly be equipped with a chain coat and rendered with their feet in a forward thrust position, a battle technique developed within Norman military circles. Moreover, the Syrian equestrian saints Sergius and Bacchus were rendered holding a crossed ‘crusader’ banner, an attribute usually associated with Saint George, as if they were Crusader knights. Apart from these examples, there is little evidence of Oriental susceptibility to typically Latin subjects. We find Saint Lawrence of Rome represented in the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Our Lady near Kaftun, but this is exceptional.

Normally, one cannot tell from wall paintings in Lebanon to which community the church in question belonged. They all represented the same subjects and saints whose names are written in Greek and/or Syriac and may have recruited painters from the same artistic circles. Regarding architecture, the last word has not been said on this matter, because the documentation of medieval Lebanese church architecture is still in progress. Nevertheless, the build of some churches undeniably displays Western architectural influences; for example, the Maronite Church of Saint Sabas in Eddé al-Batrun is even plainly Romanesque in style.

JBW: Following my last question, is it then correct to assume that the Crusader lands – Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, and Jerusalem – were quite receptive to Eastern Christian styles?

MI: That is difficult to tell because there is next to nothing left in the former County of Edessa and the Principality of Antioch. We do have some decorated churches in the former Kingdom of Jerusalem (Abu Gosh, Bethlehem), and here we see a strong focus on Byzantine craftsmanship and Latin usage. Apart from the preserved church embellishment in the Lebanese mountains, there are some fascinating, stylistically and thematically comparable instances across the border with Syria.

Saint Peter in Sinai

Wikipedia (Public Domain)

Although situated within Muslim territory, the Qalamun District between Damascus and Homs stands out for its well-established Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox populations; and from the 18th century onwards, also Greek Catholics and Syrian Catholics. Interestingly, stylistic characteristics confirm that indigenous Syrian painters were also involved in the decoration inside Crusader fortresses such as Crac des Chevaliers and Margat Castle in Syria. It was obviously easier to contract local manpower than to find specialists in Europe.

JBW: The Byzantine Empire exuded tremendous political, cultural, and religious sway across the Levant throughout the Middle Ages; a sizable chunk of the Christian population in both Syria and Lebanon still adheres to the rituals of the Greek Orthodox Church even today.

MI: Leaving aside the cultural foundations laid before the Arab conquest, the contemporary Byzantine influences can hardly be overlooked. In the 12th and 13th centuries, itinerating Byzantine-trained painters worked on behalf of any well-paying client within Frankish and Muslim territory, from Cairo to Tabriz, irrespective of their denominational background. This partly explains the introduction of some ‘fashionable’ Byzantine subjects and the Byzantine brushwork of several mural paintings and icons. Made in the 1160s, the Byzantine-style mosaics in the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem are believed to be the result of Latin-Byzantine cooperation at the highest levels; they exhale the propagandistic message of Christian unity. In 1204, however, the Crusaders would conquer Constantinople and substantial parts of the Byzantine Empire. The Venetians brought the bounty to Venice, and, surprisingly, also to Alexandria with the consent of the sultan in Cairo, intending to sell the objects in the Middle East. So much for Christian unity…

The Eastern Greek Orthodox Church has its roots in the Chalcedonian dispute about the human and divine nature of Christ in 451, which resulted in the dogmatic breakdown of the Byzantine Church into pro- and anti-Chalcedonian factions. Like the Maronites, the Melkites (‘royalists’) remained faithful to the former, official Byzantine standpoint, except for their oriental patriarchs in Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem were officially allowed autonomy without direct interference from Constantinople. On the other hand, the Syriac Orthodox became dogmatically affiliated with the identically ‘Miaphysite’ Coptic, Ethiopian, and Armenian Churches. To complicate matters even more, part of the Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox communities joined the Church of Rome in the 18th century. This resulted in the establishment of the Greek Catholic and Syriac Catholic Churches.

The Church of Nativity, Bethlehem

Konrad von Grünenberg (Public Domain)

JBW: Could you tell us a little bit more with regard to the Syriac Orthodox Church? If I’m not mistaken, there was a flourishing of the building of churches and monasteries by Syriac Orthodox communities once they fell under Muslim rule around 640.

MI: As a Miaphysite community, the Syriac Orthodox enjoyed the same protected status as other non-Muslim communities under Muslim rule. This allowed them to establish an independent Church hierarchy headed by their patriarch who nominally resided in Antioch, which covered large areas in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. Some of their oldest churches, with architectural sculpture and occasionally a mosaic, are situated in the Tur Abdin region in Southeast Turkey. Remarkably, around the year 800, a group of monks from the city of Takrit (present-day Tikrit in Iraq) migrated to Egypt to establish a Syriac ‘colony’ within the Coptic monastic community. Their ‘Monastery of the Syrians’ (Deir al-Surian) still exists and is one of Middle Eastern Christianity’s key monuments for its architecture, wall paintings, icons, wood- and plasterwork ranging in date from the 7th to the 13th centuries. The monastery also houses an extensive manuscript collection. Another decorated monastery is the Monastery of St Moses (Deir Mar Musa; presently Syriac Catholic) near Nebk to the north of Damascus, where paintings from the 11th and 13th-centuries can still be seen. The Monastery of St Behnam (Deir Mar Behnam; presently Syriac Catholic) near Mosul is reputed for its 13th-century architectural sculpture and unique stucco relief, but unfortunately, a lot has been destroyed by ISIS warriors.

The Syriac Orthodox presence in Lebanon remained limited to a church dedicated to Saint Behnam in Tripoli, and the temporary use of a Maronite church dedicated to St Theodore at the village of Bahdeidat by refugees from the East who were on the run from the Mongols during the 1250s. This church still displays its complete decoration program from this period. It is impossible to tell which community arranged the refurbishment, but the addition of a donor figure in Western dress testifies to support from a (probably) local Frankish lord. Finally, the Syriac Orthodox also excelled in manuscript illumination, examples of which can be found in Western collections and the patriarchal library near Damascus.

JBW: As the Lebanese and Syrian Greek Orthodox Churches had fewer dealings with Western Europeans than the Maronite Church, does medieval Christian Orthodox art in Lebanon and Syria reflect and maintain the designs and styles of medieval Byzantium? If so, in what ways, and where do we see deviation or innovation?

MI: As I said before, Byzantine-trained artists have been surprisingly active in the Frankish states and beyond, especially during the 13th century. I prefer to label them as “Byzantine-trained” instead of “Byzantine,” because it is not always clear where they came from. To mention an example, painters from Cyprus still worked in the Byzantine artistic tradition but no longer fell under the authority of the emperor after the Crusader conquest of the island in 1291. Culturally they were still fully Byzantine, but, speaking in modern terms, they would have had the Frankish-Cypriot nationality. The little we can say from the preserved paintings is that some Cypriot artists traveled to the Levant in the aftermath of the power change in search of new clientele. It is unknown if they stayed or returned after the accomplishment of their tasks, but around the mid-13th century we see the birth of a ‘Syrian-Cypriot’ style which combines Byzantine painting techniques with typically Syrian formal features and designs; for example, in the afore-mentioned Monastery at Kaftun in Lebanon. Typically, instances of this blended art are not only encountered in Lebanon and Syria but also in Cyprus.

The Virgin and Child Mosaic, Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia Research Team (CC BY-NC-SA)

Focusing on the shared elements in Oriental Christian and Byzantine art, the example of apse decorations illustrates the resemblances and often also subtle differences. From the Early Christian period, the common composition in the apse behind the altar consisted of the mystical appearance of Christ (Christ in Glory) between the Four Living Creatures in the conch and the Virgin between saints, such as the apostles and Church fathers, in the lower zone. However, an early variant encountered in Egypt renders the biblical Vision of Ezekiel: here, Christ in Glory is placed on the fiery chariot the prophet saw. Recent research has brought to light that this variant was also applied in Syriac Orthodox churches in Turkey and Iraq as late as the 13th century. Medieval oriental conch paintings often combine Christ in Glory with the Deesis, that is, the Virgin and St John the Baptist pleading in favour of mankind. Whereas the Byzantines kept these subjects separated, the ‘Deesis-Vision’ is encountered from Egypt to Armenia and Georgia in churches of all denominations

JBW: One cannot discuss medieval Christian art in the Near East without making some mention of Armenians and Georgians. The first recorded Armenian pilgrimage occurred in the early 4th century, and Armenian Cilicia (1080-1375) flourished at the time of the Crusades. During the reign of Queen Tamar (r. 1184-1213), Georgia assumed the traditional role of the Byzantine crown as a protector of the Christians of the Middle East. Armenians and Georgians intermarried not only with one another but also with Byzantines and Crusaders.

Where is the medieval Armenian and Georgian presence the strongest in the Levant? Is it discernible?

Tomb of Saint Hripsime in Armenia

James Blake Wiener (CC BY-NC-SA)

MI: Medieval Armenian and Georgian art can be found in their homelands, but there are also surviving works testifying to their presence in the Levant and Egypt. Starting with the Armenians, they have always lived in groups dispersed throughout the Middle East, whereas in Jerusalem they have their own quarter. A 13th-century wooden door with typically Armenian ornamentation and inscriptions in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem testify to the interest Armenians took in the Holy Land. Further to the south, a 12th-century mural painting with Armenian inscriptions in the White Monastery near Sohag reminds us of the strong Armenian presence in Egypt under Fatimid rule during the 11th to 12th centuries. They had arrived in the wake of the rise of power of the Muslim Armenian warlord and later Vizir Badr al-Jamali, who seized all power in the Fatimid realm during the 1070s. He not only brought his own army consisting of Christian and Muslim Armenians but also made Egypt a safe home for Armenians from more troubled areas.

The Christian Armenians had their own monastery and used a number of churches in Egypt. However, these were appropriated by the Copts at the downfall of Fatimid power and the subsequent expulsion of all Armenians during the 1160s. The Armenian catholicos or head of Egypt is known to have left for Jerusalem taking with him all the church treasures.

At the White Monastery, a mural was made by an artist named Theodore originating from a village in Southeastern Turkey on behalf of Armenian miners who were apparently allowed to use the monastery’s church. It is hard to believe that Theodore came all the way to accomplish just one task in this remote place. There can be no doubt that he decorated more Armenian churches during his stay in Egypt, but the Copts thoroughly wiped out all remaining traces of their previous owners.

The Georgian presence was limited to Jerusalem, where they owned the Monastery of the Holy Cross until it was taken over by the Greek Orthodox in the 17th century. In the monastery’s church, a series of 14th-century paintings with Georgian inscriptions are a reminder of this period. In addition, an icon representing St George and scenes of his life painted during the early 13th century, and kept in the Monastery of Saint Catherine in the Sinai, was a gift from a Georgian monk, who is himself depicted prostrating at the saint’s feet.

St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai

Marc!D (CC BY-NC-ND)

JBW: Because we touched upon the incorporation of outside artistic influences coming from Western Europe and Byzantium to the Levant, I wondered if you might offer a final comment or two on those architectural or artistic influences coming from the Arab World or even the wider Islamic world.

To what extent did Levantine Christians – who often lived near their Muslim neighbors – adopt or assimilate Islamic styles of art and architecture?

MI: The earliest examples of Islamic art from the Umayyad era display strong influences of Late Antiquity, which in turn had also been the source of inspiration to early Christian art. Over the course of time, these artistic relatives would gradually grow apart to meet again on specific occasions. The earliest example of Islamic-inspired Christian art is the purely ornamental stucco reliefs in the Monastery of the Syrians in Egypt. Constructed during the early 10th century by the Abbot Moses of Nisibis. Its plastered altar room exudes the same atmosphere as houses in the 9th-century Abbasid capital of Samarra and the similarly decorated Mosque of Ibn Tulun (an Abbasid prince who came to Egypt as its governor) in Cairo.

The Mosque of Ibn Tulun, Cairo Egypt

Berthold Werner (CC BY)

The decoration of Fatimid-era sanctuary screens in Coptic churches and woodwork from Egyptian Islamic, Jewish, and secular contexts are fully interchangeable; likewise, 13th-century architectural sculpture, manuscript illustrations, and metalwork from the Mosul area display the same shared stylistic and iconographic artistic language. Broadly speaking, we are obviously dealing with craftsmen working on behalf of different parties at the local level regardless of their religious backgrounds. Occasionally, one comes across ‘Islamic’ ornaments in wall paintings, but the overall impression is that Christian painting was subject to blatant conservatism when compared to more fashionable, ‘neutral’ items of interior decoration. The only Arabic inscriptions found in mural paintings concern texts commemorating building or refurbishment activities, or graffiti left by visitors. There obviously was a difference in status between the vernacular spoken language and the Church’s Greek and Syriac.

JBW: Dr. Mat Immerzeel, thanks so much for your time and consideration.

MI: You are welcome; it is my pleasure to contribute to your magazine.

Mat Immerzeel has been active in the Middle East since 1989, first in Egypt, then in Syria and Lebanon, and recently in Cyprus. His main field of study is the material culture of Oriental Christian communities from the 3rd century to the present. In particular, he studies wall paintings, icons, stone and plaster sculpture, woodwork, and manuscript illustrations. He has participated in research projects focusing on the formation of religious communal identity, the training of local collection curators, and restoration and documentation campaigns. He is the Director of the Paul van Moorsel Centre for Christian Art and Culture in the Middle East and editor-in-chief of the journal Eastern Christian Art (ECA) published by Peeters Publishers in Leuven, the Netherlands.

#History #Syria #Christianity #Art

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aesfocus · 7 months ago

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aes' video game gif making tutorial 2024 Part 1

Using your own footage. While everything regarding photoshop can be applied to nearly all media, apart from long form videos(5+mins) and videos not in mp4 format; I am still focusing on walking you through making your own footage look as nice as possible.

Needed:

A game and potentially mods for said game

Camera tools for various games (optional)

OBS

Photoshop

My gif making actions so you too can be fast

This tutorial simply opens your recorded footage in photoshop, no other screen cap software is required. Lets fucking go!

[Part 2]

INTRO: From Skyrim to Destiny, recording your own footage of various games is the best method of making your own gifs.

The reason for this is myriad;

+ less artifacting vs YT vids, as seen below

+ you’ll have more control over the content + you can have personal characters + you can alter the settings of the game to be better for gif making purposes

While this tutorial does walk you through most of the steps it is light on exactly/why I use various adjustment layers for coloring, mostly because tumblr began to block my images/links. Other folks have tutorials but I can make one if its something people want.

But the real purpose of this tutorial is to cut the time it take to make gifs down by just opening your file vs. screencaping and so on.

1. Select your game and edit game settings for gif making.

Because we are using OBS, and recording the screen and not the game itself(more on this later), what game you are playing matters little.

Other paid programs like FRAPS still work, as do some free programs like Afterburner/RivaTuner, but when it comes to multiplayer, some may be caught by various anti-cheats and shut down. (ESO will not launch if afterburn is already open, for example). OBS has simply been my go to for around seven years.

Settings.

Please feel free to play around with your game settings to find what works, you may even play a game on different settings from what you record footage under. I do not play with DOF settings on in games but do record with them on.

Dropping your screen-size from and being able to turn on ultra vs medium settings may make your gifs look much better as another example.

+ At least 30FPS, try to avoid stuttering, lower the settings if needed. + Avoid crushing of blacks or blown out whites, especially when giffing POC! Adjust brightness and gamma as needed, HDR isn't your friend here. + While dark nights maybe more realistic and challenging for you, it often produces a dark gif in which nothing can be seen. + Turn off motion blur and film grain, these both add needless file size and look off when scaled down in photoshop. If you want grain add some after. + 720p is about as low for footage as you want to go unless making gifs for very old games. Work with what you have with old games. + Using mods and things like reshade can make your game shine.

Example time; ENB only on top, heavily modded on bottom, no adjustments were made in photoshop.

Modding can really alter a game.

Skyrim is very famous for it, but everything from Mass Effect to Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous have visual mods! They can make your footage stand out immensely, they can make your FPS drop, or even make it better.

Please be respectful of mod authors. As someone who made them in the past, we are not content farms, we are just folks with a fun hobby like gif making!

I highly suggest any mod that removes screen blur, vignette and film grain!

2. Camera Tools (optional)

So you have your game, now it's time to learn what camera tools exist, if any, for your game. Many games like Rogue Trader and Dragon Age, have free camera mods. Some games like Bethesda games and some Mass Effects, have built in, or partially built in fly cams.

I used to back in the day before DA:O had camera tools back myself into a corner and swing the over-the-shoulder camera around to get gifs, so you have to work with what you have.

If you want to go the paid route there are plenty of camera mods available from assassin’s creed games to BG3. These are generally of better quality and work smoothly, but check around for reviews before you dish out your hard earned money!

Each of these tools will have different commands that you will have to learn.

3. Obtain OBS & set it up

Why OBS?

It's free, it uses very little of your computer's resources. OBS also allows you to switch between screen recording, what I always use, and recording a specific program. Many other recording programs will not record some very old games, some can't record specific games.

Add to that, some hardware recording software will not record shadows or can get light values wrong and you are fighting a battle game after game. So I just go for what's free and works consistently.

I've only known one person for whom OBS failed to work, and that I think was a version issue.

Install OBS, and then make a specific scene all the way on the left;

You can rename this or duplicate it if you also intend to stream(right clicking scene will bring up the menu to do so), I don't use OBS when streaming so I leave this as is.

Right click on the source and ensure it is set as Display Capture. Because some, especially older games, won't work with Game Capture you are going to record the screen. Double click Display Capture if you have multiple screens(I have 2) and select which you want to record!

Next we need to go into settings, over there on the right under Controls. Once in settings, go down to Video and keep the base and output values whatever your actual display size is. I have a 1440 display so it's set to 1440, if you are running 720 make sure it's 720 and so forth.

Ensure 30fps is chosen. Anything more is overkill, for both photoshop and your rig!

Next go to Hotkeys. This will be different if you are using OBS to stream as well, but because I am not, I cleared everything but the recording hotkeys and I assigned them to scroll lock. This is because I've yet to encounter any game or mod that uses the key for anything. Use what makes sense for you, however.

Finally make your way to Output, this is important. Ignore streaming, look at Recording.

+ Pick a folder you want to save in + pick indistinguishable quality, large file size. + Pick MP4+ which encoder you use is up to your system! This is the one that made sense for me and my system. There are tons of videos on YT that go over each encoder. Also here https://obsproject.com/kb/audio-video-formats-guide is the official guide. We need to be able to open the file in photoshop so I tend to lean toward H.264.

3. Test OBS and your game footage together!

Go into your game, record a menu!

If you see something weird here, like your game footage not actually recording, troubleshoot!

With your recording you shouldn't see any stretching.

Now go into game and for 3-5 seconds record you playing, if something isn't recording well, again, troubleshoot. OBS takes a small amount of resources but for older rigs you may need to adjust settings in either game or OBS to get better recordings.

Once you are comfortable, it's time to go wild!

4. Record your gif footage.

+ 5 second clips are best for scenery gifs, + anything from 2-10 seconds can be used for a character talking + anything more than 10 seconds? You'll hit tumblr's limits instantly and will need to make multiple gifs. Which isn't a big deal, but do make note of it as it is much harder for older rigs to open a 5 min 1440p recording than 10 seconds. Depending on the rig it may not even open, so try and make several recordings rather than one long one.

5. Photoshop set up if you pirated an older version

If your gifs look weirdly stretched, check pixel ratio! If your photoshop is legit, or you know that it isn't stretching your gifs wildly you can skip this step.

I don't care how you obtain photoshop, but photoshop has had the ability to open MP4 videos for nearly 15 years. You do not need to, and I do not encourage you to use any screencapping software. That's great for long-form videos, but my computer 12 years ago could open a 5min music video fine and it was a potato.

Often photoshop 'portable' aka pirated photoshop comes with some wild settings, namely, pixel ratio changes. Please check this first;

And look at what default is actually set at, if your gifs always look stretched oddly when uploaded to tumblr.

It should be 1:1.

Then look at,

Again set it to square! Newer photoshop, and non-pirated versions often will let you look at other aspect ratios but won't save weirdly. so 2:1 will still save to 1:1, this hasn’t always been the case with cracked photoshop, especially the version from around 2014.

6. Open

Either drag in all your videos, or just... file → open.

This is why you saved as 5 seconds and MP4, so you didn't need any extra steps!

++Please be aware that older/weaker rigs and laptops can struggle, and if you are seeing crazy hot temps and such its an issue. Seeing Photoshop pause to open/play an action is normal but not chugging. I tell you this so you remember to dust your case and give your hardware some love, fiddle with settings and if this straight up doesn't work with your version of photoshop it might not be for you.

7. Crop your videos

Once you have your video/s open, select the crop tool. (it should be right here in the default setup. or Simply press C on newer Photoshops)

Step 1- in the far left box you want to select Width by Height and then type what size you want to crop to. Height Matters little but Width does matter.

Here are tumblr’s current 2024 sizes again!

10mb is the max, anything more will have a new compression algorithm applied to make it under 10mb.

Please look at the sizes closely. I'll give you an example! Lets say you make your widest gif 1000 pixels, a common wrong size.

I could only fit 20 frames in this bad boy, and its squished, despite the saving compression used, tumblr eats the quality to make it pixelated/artifact-filled.

Compare that to this, 66frames

Slightly different cropping but you get the point.

Same thing with using 540px in the 268px spot.

Compare it to the gifs below which is a 4.83mb 133 frame image in the 268 spot. see how it's less pixelated?

Now back to that Image. Lets talk about... Step 2. Select a range from within the image, try to avoid going to the edges, otherwise you get a 1 pixel wide transparent line. It's hard to see on some blogs, and so obvious on others. Mobile users won't likely see it, but it does take a slight amount more file size as well.

This is what I mean.

Step 3. Time is money, friend. And by this I mean I am going to provide you with the means to skip a TON of steps in the gif making process and just use my action, I'm even going to help you figure out how to fix it when it fails. For the low price of free. If you want the how to, I can break down what all the action is doing, but I haven't even thought about these steps in about 8 years or so.

PART 2 THIS WAY

(because tumblr hates more than 30 images)

#mytut #my tutorials #gif tutorials #resources #utopianoverlord

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klavery · 13 days ago

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My 5 Year Old Forever World!

This is just a general infodump post about my bedrock world, posts going into more specific locations and builds will follow...

the top image is the center of my area & main base, its... a unique build. heres a sky view of the land + a (slightly outdated) map (orientation marked 4 convenience)

Bulleted info!

my singleplayer world was originally created on 4/20/20 in version 1.15 on my switch, the current file size is 801.1mb, and the seed is 285279141 (i dont actually remember if i entered a seed or not, it mightve been something dumb like dragonheartshipping4lyfe or iheartirisxbenga, bcuz i was obsessed w them at the time HDHDGD). i am currently at 10009 in-game days, and my account playtime is 135 days and 12 hours (3200+ hours). aside from my test world and a couple copies it is the only world i play on bedrock.

i play on survival + normal difficulty and have cheats enabled, so on bedrock that sadly means no achievements. cheats i play with/have played with are keepinventory, teleport, use of barrier blocks, wandering trader spawns off, fire tick off, and creative/spectator in place of free-cam. before spectator was added i used the program amulet to serve its purpose. i have yet to see credits, get elytra, shulker boxes, or a beacon. i have also used online tools like chunkbase for locating biomes/structures, and amulet to trim my world.

sometimes i plan builds in a creative test world and copies of my survival world. i know this kind of thing can seem pointless, but i just dont get the same sense of satisfaction just building in a creative world. heres what my test world looks like!

my "build style" is over-detailed and inconsistent! i understand not many people enjoy that, but i do, i think its really fun! building whatever i want where ever i want with no regard to the surrounding builds was a staple of my world from the very beginning. it takes a lot of the stress off of just simply playing a video game! this is also a good time to mention that half my base is located underground, so theres a lot not visible in the overhead view! also also, disclaimer that some builds in my world are not of my own design (they are directly copied) or take inspiration from others! i usually look to google images, hermitcraft, and fellow tumblr users for insp.

i save back ups frequently, to my internal hard drive, usb sticks, and my google accounts. ive lost a couple minecraft worlds over the years and do NOT plan on losing this one.

Some Background Info(Dump)!

so my world was originally started on my switch. i actually bought the game on a whim the day before i started it cuz i could (stimulus money). and having not played minecraft regularly at all for a few years, i was excited to get back into it, and being able to lay down while playing. that was a pretty big justification for getting bedrock while already owning java gdgffj.

but of course, that inevitable 2 week minecraft curse that seems to haunt the fandom came for me too. though, for me, the curse tends to crop up at the point im meant to enter the nether. this is the fate many of my old survival worlds had fallen victim to, being abandoned as soon as that portal gets lit, it was like, tradition for me. i could never stay dedicated to my worlds because the monsters, and dying in the game, scared me. that, and being overwhelmed by building. for some reason, i always thought building in the game was a lot harder than it really is. i think i just didnt have the practice, or confidence. these things are why ive had long minecraft droughts, despite really enjoying the game.

so i took a couple months break, believing this to be another case of a neglected world. but the thing that actually inspired to return was hermitcraft. i saw what they did, what they built and what they accomplished, and thought to myself, why couldnt i try harder to be like them? so eventually i returned to my most recent world, i didnt make a new one, and start over, as most people in this same situation do. i continued from where i left off, and, allowed myself to use keepinventory for the first time.

...that is until, after 9 months of owning bedrock, my switch decided to lock me out of the game. less than a year in, the data generated in my world, through natural intended gameplay (exploring WITHOUT the use of online biome and structure finding tools), had exceeded the switchs apparent limits. i know i had free space on AT LEAST the sd card, and yet it refused to let me keep playing, saying to, and i quote, "delete some stuff" so i could play again. aside from a test world that had to have been less than a megabyte in size, i didnt have any other "stuff" to delete to free up room. i thought this was the end of my beloved world until i did some research. buying a realm, copying my world to that realm, and then buying the windows version of bedrock on my laptop and saving the world to it from the realm was the one way to get my save off my switch without hacking it. so i ended up not only purchasing a useless realm, but an entirely new copy of the game just to continue playing on this one world. that probably gives you an idea of how dedicated i am and have been to it, lmao. i have played it pretty regularly ever since.

its so funny to me how what i thought at the time was just another "2 week" throw-away world became something so much more to me. ive never played this game for so long and so consistently, ive never gotten so much done in it, not even in old creative worlds. its really amusing how early builds like my starter house look exactly like all my other builds from my much older java worlds, "build style"-wise, compared to how i do it now.

so, as someone whos been so fiercely dedicated to the same world for half a decade, i just wanna express my love for the forever world trend thats going on right now. thats what inspired me to wanna post about my personal minecraft experience more. i rarely ever do, and thats because.. well, idk. ive become very passive with talking about myself or my interests lately. i guess im also afraid of being judged, because im gonna be real here, the minecraft community is deeply and obnoxiously obsessed with how people play the game, and what the "right" and "wrong" ways to do things in the game are. it really, really gets on my nerves. its one of those things where id prefer to just not get involved. so ive just kept stuff about my play-through to myself this whole time. but the mindset behind the forever world concept going around right now has given me some confidence!

so yeah!! i'll be trying to post more about my time with the game from now on! 🩷

#hollyposts #minecraft #mineblr #minecraft forever world #minecraft bedrock #mcposting

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omnishanked · 4 months ago

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David fucking dies, a gift for @paleo-vodka

It's early in the morning. David Keybird is awake, He has been awake for the past 3 days slaving away at his keyboard and screen.

His fingers hurt, his breath stinks, his back is shrimped and his brain feels fuzzy. The company he worked for, Alnast Outercommunications and Interconnecting Exisrazona Company (Alnast Communication Company, for short or just alnast for shorter.) Is restless even when their employees are on their day offs.

A knock, rhythmically identical to five night at freddies iconic 'hor hor hor hor hor'.

David sighs and turns his gamer chair around. “Come in, doors lock is broken anyways.”

“Hiiii daviiiddd, you look.. fucking awful. I have some empanadas for you they're only a little frozen.”

A beautiful plate of half frozen half molten empanadas probably from trader joes.. Oh and the guy was his roommate, we don't know his name yet.

“Okay.” David takes the plate and puts it ontop of his ‘programming for arizona residents’ book. “Did you get any mail, I haven't left this room since forever.”

“You got a letter from felix aaaaaalll from maryland! It's literally just money and some vials of his blood.”

“Who's felix”

“Mr. Reverdin? The guy who gave you that concussion that one time?”

“Oh yeah.. I'll take the blood and money, thanks.” David starts eating the delectable empanadas.

His roommate, currently unnamed, laid on David's untouched bed and stared up at the hung up gerard way poster above them.

“Hey David, are you gay?”

“No.”

They looked at the framed picture of mikey way.

“Okaayyy..”

David picks up the plate of empanadas and inhales it as he should, because he definitely should, it's only been liquids for days and the piss cans aren't enough.

“You ever yearned for something more? Like starting a family or like, marrying, or like.. something along those lines? I know you're kind of like super lonely but can you imagine that?”

David downs an arizona ice tea and crushes it.

“I stopped dreaming for things when I joined alnast.”

“I should've expected that, okay. Oh and by the way you should probably tighten the screws on your anime figure shelf because—”

A shelf falls ontop of davids head, cracking it and killing him. His roommate makes a clay copy of him and goes on with their life.

It also dies.

#Writing #Finished #A gift! For friend!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!#The Alnast Communications Company #scp #Ish

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gingerfan24 · 3 months ago

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Rogue Trader ask game: 5, 10 and 11 for you!

5.) One of Ana’s fondest memories is sneaking into her father’s study late at night and reading some of his books until either a servant or her mother likely caught her and sent her back to bed. Her family were all very wealthy merchants (think kinda like the Medici family where they gained enough notoriety to occasionally marry into nobility or even become rulers) so she managed to get a good education before her psychic powers manifested.

10.) As a former Primaris Battle Psyker she does have previous experience as a leader though running an entire Rogue Trader dynasty is very different beast from leading a squad of Wyrdvane psykers into battle so at first she finds it quite overwhelming. She’s also saddled with the additional guilt of her desperation and recklessness once causing a major catastrophe that caused her to spend some time in a penal legion so there’s times she experiences this internal struggle between “I’m a monster who doesn’t deserve to be here” and “The God-Emperor let me live and get this far so I might as well fuckin get with the program and do better by my people.” (She has major grumpy mom-friend vibes to me)

11.) Heinrix my beloved ❤️. Though in the beginning he sort of reminded her of the Interrogator who used to send her on suicide missions back in her penal legion days and well…..she had just recently gained power and influence she never had before so he kinda became a perfect target for her pestering and teasing, though as they got to know each other more she found she liked him more and more and the next thing she knew she was starting to get funny feelings every time she was around him. They eventually grow comfortable enough around each other to start talking about the aspects of their respective pasts they keep from others.

#tagging game #rogue trader crpg #oc: Anastasia Von Valancius

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blueiscoool · 2 years ago

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A Trove of 750 Looted Artifacts Returned to Italy

Some 750 looted archaeological treasures have been seized from the notorious British antiquities trader Robin Symes and returned to Italy after a decades-long fight for their return, the Carabinieri art police said on Wednesday.

The artifacts, which according to the Italian cultural ministry are worth more than €12 million ($12.9 million), will go on display in Rome’s Castel Sant’Angelo museum as part of a collection of stolen art that has found its way home.

The objects “offer a cross-section of the many productions of ancient Italy and the islands,” including “numerous and diversified archaeological contexts (funerary, cultural, residential and public) … concentrated in particular in Etruria and Magna Graecia,” according to a statement from the Ministry of Culture.

Among the recovered items from the Roman and Imperial eras is a bronze tripod table from an aristocratic Etruscan family, two parade headgear for horses, two funerary paintings, male busts in marble, various portions of statues and bronzes, and a wall painting with the depiction of a small temple, likely from a Vesuvian residence, according to the ministry statement.

There are also precious gems set in gold, silver, bronze, as well as bone and amber.

Other pieces include weapons, sarcophagi, funerary urns, ritual objects, furnishings in bronze and marble, mosaic and painted decorations.

The artifacts originate from “clandestine excavations on Italian territory” and were illegally obtained by Symes Ltd, the company owned by Symes, a major trafficker of cultural goods, according to the ministry statement.

“The company, which had always opposed the repeated recovery attempts by the Italian Judicial Authority, (and) subject to bankruptcy proceedings in the United Kingdom, was also sued in Italy, through the Attorney General of the State, for the return of the goods or civil compensation for damages,” Italian Attorney General Lorenzo d’Ascia said during the press conference.

There are also precious gems set in gold, silver, bronze, as well as bone and amber.

Other pieces include weapons, sarcophagi, funerary urns, ritual objects, furnishings in bronze and marble, mosaic and painted decorations.

A further 71 objects, currently in the United States, will be recovered in the next few days, Brigadier General Vincenzo Molinese, commander of the Carabinieri Art Squad, said.

The return of these 750 objects marks another success in Italy’s attempt to recover its stolen treasures. Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano said at the press conference: “The recovery of illicitly stolen cultural heritage is one of the priorities of my program; protecting it also means preventing our heritage from being plundered by unscrupulous traffickers.”

By Barbie Latza Nadeau.

#A Trove of 750 Looted Artifacts Returned to Italy #British antiquities trader Robin Symes #stolen #looted #antiques #ancient artifacts #archeology #archeolgst #history #history news #ancient history #ancient culture #ancient civilizations #roman history #roman empire #roman artifacts #roman art

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lydiachan · 1 year ago

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Dwarven Creation vs. Sotha Sil Creation

There are distinct similarities between the aesthetics of ancient Dwarven culture and Sotha Sil's Clockwork City. It is found that a big portion of Elder Scrolls players often have trouble identifying the differences between the two, and the idea that Sotha Sil's creations are Dwarven. This is not the case at all, but there is a reason why they are so similar. In Sotha Sil's lifetime, he was heavily inspired by the Dwarves as he came to power when they were in their peak in the First Era. (Sotha Sil died in the Third Era to the hands of Almalexia, as seen in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind). Dwarven science and architecture was at the base of all of Sotha Sil's research but he didn't completely steal all of their ideas. The architecture and automatons you see in Clockwork City are made out of a completely different material than what you would see in any Dwemer ruin. Sotha Sil used brass, the Dwemer used Dwarven metal that is completely unique to their kind. Another thing, Sotha Sil could take any Dwarven idea and make it better, turning it into an entirely new creation that is his own. For example, take a Dwarven sphere and a Factotum. A Dwarven sphere may be programmed to complete a task, but they have no intelligence and are rather weak. Factotums on the other hand are pretty much what people would consider to be a modern day robot. Factotums can complete several complex tasks, sense physical feeling such as weight being added or removed from their person, they detect and report crime, they can scan for resources, maintain a city, they can TALK, they can give the player tasks, and document important information such as citizenship and banking as seen in Elder Scrolls Online's Clockwork City DLC. Factotums are also usually in charge of the local guild traders, which is also an extremely important source of goods for any Elder Scrolls Online player. In greater and more powerful Dwarven automatons such as the centurion, they cannot function or "turn on" unless they are given a source of power, usually from a lever that is pulled. I remember the first time I played Skyrim, it took me so long to figure out that the centurions were not just decorations and that they could actually move and attack you. The Dwarven centurions Clockwork equivalent would be an Imperfect. Though imperfects are a lot larger in size, it is the same idea except that they can move and function on their own and the player doesn't need to manually power one on. Imperfects don't have as much dialogue as factotums, but they are a lot stronger than centurions. (Do not try to kill that one imperfect that is a world boss in Clockwork City alone, you will fail). Like the Dwarves, Clockwork City also has automaton spiders. Sotha Sil created two different kinds of automaton spiders: the Firepot Spider and the Dancing Spider. The Firepot one was created to be used as a barbecue for chefs, which is really weird but okay I guess. Could have just used a normal grill. There's not much to say about the Dancing Spider though, it's very similar to the Dwarven Spider except it's attacks and movements are a lot more dramatic hence the name "Dancing Spider". I will say though, both of the Clockwork spiders are incredibly strong in-game and are extremely annoying to encounter despite their small size. Sotha Sil also created an automaton dinosaur species but I'm not going to get into the details of that one because it can't be compared to anything Dwarven. Basically, the Dwemer didn't have dinosaurs. Another huge point that I should have brought up earlier before I started yapping about automatons is the fact that Dwemer cities were powered by steam and the Clockwork City is powered by Sotha Sil's magic alone. Well, it WAS powered by Sotha Sil but it is now powered by his artificial Heart of Lorkhan that he created to save the city during his death. If I see anybody else call Sotha Sil "Dwarven" I will redirect them to this post. Sotha Sil is NOT short, he's like seven feet tall. Nirn's tallest elf. Thank you.

#tesblr #elder scrolls #skyrim #the elder scrolls #morrowind #tes #sotha sil #oblivion #yap session

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uswnt5 · 6 months ago

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Hello y’all

The date went well. I made her a flower bouquet ( shoutout Trader Joe’s) and she loved it! I picked her up and we went out to brunch. We talked a bunch and then just strolled around the shops in the area we were in. The pottery class was an absolute hit and messy. We had a lot of fun and I highly recommend going to a class even alone. After the class it was still pretty early for dinner so I dropped her off at her house so she could get her car and an overnight bag because I told her I was making dinner at my place. I prepped the night before so the cinnamon rolls were rising in the fridge and all the fish taco stuff was prepped. She got to my place and we just cuddled on the couch and watched Holiday Baking Championship because she likes that show (it wasn’t as boring as I thought it would be). I got up to get the fish going and told her to chill on the couch. She obviously didn’t listen and was in the kitchen while I “worked my magic” as she said. I put the cinnamon rolls in the oven while we ate and she loved the food 🤙. She helped me clean up while the rolls cooled a bit and we had “fun” in the kitchen. Cinnamon rolls after “fun” is the move y’all! The time change made the evening feel long but short with her. She’s amazing and it feels really nice falling asleep next to someone now that it’s getting colder.

— I’m actually dying at the “24 year old SoCal ACFC sth” I appreciate it and if things don’t work out with her I’ll keep you in mind 🤣

- Gos it would be an honor to have you as an officiant but you have plenty of time to get that license 😆

- As for showing her this utter chaos that I love…ummm I’ll pass for now 🫶

-Age gap body issue french toast hookup

hahah

HEY, holiday baking championship is a masterpiece of a show! Get with the program, youngin'

Sounds like a great day/date all around! Nice job!! You already have the next one lined up?

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valdiis · 1 year ago

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Character Traits: Daephrin Astramente

— B A S I C S

Name: Daephrin Rosamar Astramente Nicknames: Dae, Lark, Samar, 'hey asshole!' Age: Somewhere around 32 Nameday: 15th sun of the 3rd Umbral Moon Race: Ishgardian Elezen Gender: Cisgender male Orientation: Bisexual and yes, please Profession: Sky pirate, treasure hunter, leather-worker, professional scoundrel

— P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

Hair: Warm black and windswept; straighter when it's very short or very long, wavy when it's a little shaggy. Eyes: Vivid emerald. Skin: Sun-tanned and lightly freckled. Tattoos/scars: No tattoos, a fading burn scar on his upper shoulders.

— F A M I L Y

Parents: Lucarian Astramente and Ilystra Rochenoire. Lucarian was a Temple Knight and Ilystra a noblewoman. When Lucarian married her, the official name of the noble house changed to his surname instead of hers. House Rochenoire was known for producing profound intellects and the Astramente line a knack for navigation. Ilystra died of pneumonia and several months later, Lucarian dropped dead of a heart attack. They say that couples in love rarely survive one another. Siblings: His older brother, Sarin, was a lancer and died in the Dragonsong War. His younger brother, Onaerion, is currently the head of House Astramente. Grandparents: Daephrin never knew them, but the Rochenoires were stiff, devout Ishgardians who had fallen on hard times and were very pleased to marry their daughter off to a relatively wealthy Temple Knight. The Astramente family was proud to count a Knight among their sons; they were mostly traders and trackers, barely a step above scoundrels but for their wealth. Wealth hides a multitude of sins. In-laws and Other: Though he is formally dating one man and unofficially entangled with another, Dae doesn't have any in-laws at this point. He has an Astramente uncle he's never met, but his mother was an only child. Pets: While he would like to have live pets one day, he fears he can't care for them at this time with his lifestyle. Instead, he has Sniffer, Spotter, and Sparrow - mammets made for him by his lover, Jaxon. Sniffer is a delightful little cat-dog mammet that sniffs out treasure. Spotter is a spider-like trap finder. And Sparrow is a bird-shaped recording device.

— S K I L L S

Abilities: Daephrin is quite a decent leather-worker, though he makes no fuss over it. More of a fuss is made over the fact that he's a crack shot with any ranged weapon of any kind (a manifestation of the Echo), including thrown knives. Just don't hand him a lance; he'll put someone's eye out. He knows Allagan programming language and technological construction. He can play piano pretty well. Hobbies: Aforementioned leather-work and Allagan treasure hunting. Airship maintenance for fun and profit.

— T R A I T S

Most Positive Trait: Dae is charming nearly to a fault. He can convince snakes to dance on their tails and Monetarists to part with their gil. He's got the perfect mix of a kind air, a clever mouth, and a fast mind; it makes him easy to trust, even when you probably shouldn't. Most Negative Trait: He is horribly, terribly self-centered. He struggles to put himself in other people's shoes or to think outside himself. He's working on it, but he's still pretty selfish.

— L I K E S

Colours: Black, gold, green. Smells: Well-oiled leather, bay rum, sun-warmed wood, his lovers' colognes (Jaxon and M'rath smell different, but equally amazing), fresh citrus. Textures: Silk, leather, black cat's fur, lacquered wood. Drinks: Whiskey, tea, hot chocolate, coffee, the occasional orange juice.

— O T H E R D E T A I L S

Smokes: Not anymore. Drinks: Sometimes. Drugs: Once in a great while, though he did more when he was younger. Mount Insurance: Uh... No? His usual mount is a motorbike, as he has not the facilities to care for an animal. (In practice, he rides a kamuy because I love them, but he wouldn't know what a kamuy is.) Been Arrested: He has so far escaped the law, but his luck may one day run out.

#ask meme #Daephrin Astramente

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sokowachi · 2 months ago

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STON.fi: Redefining DeFi on TON with Cross-Chain Power

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is transforming at an incredible pace, and STON.fi is right at the center of this revolution. Built on The Open Network (TON), this decentralized exchange (DEX) isn’t just keeping up—it’s setting the pace with unmatched trading efficiency, massive liquidity, and seamless cross-chain integrations.

While many DeFi projects struggle with scalability and interoperability, STON.fi has taken a bold step forward. Its integration with Symbiosis has unlocked cross-chain liquidity, allowing users to trade and transfer assets across multiple blockchains effortlessly. This is more than just an upgrade—it’s a major shift in how decentralized trading works.

Let’s dive into how STON.fi is reshaping DeFi and why it’s the go-to DEX for TON traders.

STON.fi’s Explosive Growth: The Numbers Speak

STON.fi isn’t just growing—it’s dominating. Here’s why:

Total Trading Volume: Over $5.2 billion, making it the leading DEX on TON.

User Base: 4 million+ unique wallets, representing 81% of all TON DEX users.

Active Traders: 25,800+ daily users, with 16,000+ multi-transaction users every day.

New User Growth: Over 8,000 new users joining daily.

Liquidity & Trading Pairs: 700+ transactions per day, ensuring deep liquidity and tight spreads.

STON.fi is 50-80 times ahead of its closest competitors in trading volume and liquidity growth. These numbers aren’t just stats—they highlight a DeFi platform that works, delivers, and scales.

What Makes STON.fi Different

Many DEXs offer trading, but STON.fi is designed to optimize every aspect of the DeFi experience.

Ultra-Fast Transactions

STON.fi eliminates network congestion and slow trade execution. Every transaction is processed instantly, ensuring users never miss an opportunity.

Near-Zero Trading Fees

High gas fees are a common barrier in DeFi. STON.fi keeps transaction costs at a minimum, ensuring traders get maximum value from their swaps.

Massive Liquidity & Market Depth

Deep liquidity is essential for smooth trading. STON.fi supports hundreds of trading pairs, maintaining tight spreads and minimal slippage. Whether you’re making a small swap or executing a high-volume trade, STON.fi provides stable market conditions.

Cross-Chain Swaps with Symbiosis Integration

STON.fi is no longer limited to TON. With Symbiosis, users can now seamlessly swap assets across multiple blockchains, opening up new opportunities for trading, liquidity provision, and asset utilization.

This integration bridges TON with 35+ other blockchains, removing barriers that previously kept networks isolated.

Now, users can:

✔ Move assets freely between TON and other networks

✔ Tap into deeper liquidity pools across chains

✔ Trade without limitations on blockchain compatibility

This cross-chain expansion puts STON.fi ahead of traditional DEXs that operate in isolated ecosystems.

STON.fi’s Next Steps: What’s Coming

STON.fi isn’t slowing down. The platform is constantly evolving and expanding to bring more value to its users.

🔹 More Cross-Chain Partnerships – Expanding beyond Symbiosis for even greater interoperability.

🔹 New Trading Features – Advanced tools for both new and experienced traders.

🔹 Incentive Programs – Rewards for liquidity providers and active traders.

🔹 Deeper Liquidity Pools – Strengthening market stability and reducing slippage.

With these upgrades, STON.fi is not just competing in DeFi—it’s leading the charge toward a more interconnected, efficient, and powerful trading experience.

Final Thoughts

The DeFi space is crowded with projects, but very few deliver on efficiency, scalability, and cross-chain interoperability the way STON.fi does.

From record-breaking trading volume to seamless cross-chain swaps, STON.fi is proving that a next-generation DEX is not just an idea—it’s already here.

If you’re in the TON ecosystem and looking for fast, low-cost, and high-liquidity trading, STON.fi is where the future of DeFi is happening.

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