#after me coloring picking from screenshots with the same lighting

[spacenintendogs]

the designated trios of two (2) blondes + their one (1) not blonde

the gang by themselves bc i am proud of how i drew them all tee hee (no lighting/shading/color layers bc i want u to see them Raw with proportional aesthetic image sizes & space lol)

very brady bunch-esque but alas.

[llumimoon]

Introducing a very important side character and the big bad villain in the EAH au!!!!

Nicky being a bunny rabbit is ABSOLUTELY a running gag in the story btw Lark is fucking fuming and beefing with what appears to be just a normal ass bnuuy and its so funny. its SO funny.

Willy does play the role of the previous Evil Queen before Scary so here he is imprisoned his Magic (Doodler) Mirror that he will totaaaallly stay trapped in. mhm. definitely will not trick someone into breaking him out. (I am lying he definitely gets out)

A small section of the Nicky Bunny Rabbit Saga btw:

Also new Wonderlandian development lead to this

(AU by @rindomness, @kaseyskat, & I!)

Image description under the cut !!

[ID: Image 1: Ever After High AU Nicky Close posed with one hand up holding a pocket watch and the other hand hesitantly raised by his waist. He is labeled with the text ‘The White Rabbit’ and there is a word bubble that says ‘can transform into a bunny!’ And an arrow pointing to a white bunny in the bottom left of the image. The bunny has a pink bow and two piercing on an ear that match the piercings on Nicky’s bunny ears on his humanoid form. His humanoid form is wearing a light blue striped tailcoat with a white shirt underneath with the sleeves rolled up and a pink bow. He has large white gloves with pink toe beans on them and dirty white pants with various white belts and buckles and pink and blue knee patches and a pink sash belt with a bow on the left side. The pants are tucked into blue and pink buckled boots with white rabbit feet sticking out at the ends. He has three extra pocket watches on a belt loop and the pocket watch in his hand is open to show the time and a locket picture on the other side of Sparrow Oak dressed as Snow White.

Image 2: An ornate mirror is in the center of the image. The frame of the mirror is made up of intricate black swirls reflecting purple, blue, and red light from around it. The mirror has four eye shaped gems, the biggest one being a red eye at the top and the other gems being smaller and about the same size on the left, right, and bottom of the mirror. The gems are emitting a glow corresponding to their color. The glass of the mirror is shattered and is giving off a purple glow. Willy Stampler dressed as the Evil Queen is smirking and is trapped inside the mirror with his eyes glowing purple. The mirror is surrounded by purple particles and sparkles.

Image 3: A discord screenshot of messages in a server between ‘rin (doodler gender)’, ‘hero enthusiast (cal)’, ‘sparrow enjoyer’, and ‘hermie apologist (silver)’. Rin says ‘POTENTIALLY WEEKS!’ And ‘lark at some point going is this actually nicky. Is this actually nicky or am I legitimately just beefing with a real rabbit this wonderland kid picked up. did i fool myself’ then Cal and Nyx (who is ‘sparrow enjoyer’) both send keysmashes and Cal says ‘is this nicky or is this some random bunny who hates me specifically’ then Rin sends 'EXACTLY' and Silver sends ‘LMAO’ and Rin sends ‘did i piss off some other bunny-related person. what is this. what is happening. The exact opposite of nicky forgetting he could go rabbit mode when he first started keeping an eye on the kids for sparrow is him staying bunny mode MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH LONGER THAN IS NECESSARY OR REALLY USEFUL’

Image 4: A doodle of EAH AU Taylor ‘s head with bunny ears and an excited smile in red next to EAH AU Hermie’s head with a mischievous sharp teeth grin and cat ears in pink. The top of the image says ‘Update:’ while under the sketches Taylor is labeled ‘half white rabbit’ and Hermie is labeled ‘half cheshire cat’. /end ID]

[jaidens]

pumpkin spice latte w/ extra whip and carmel w/ my baby rooster 😋😋 also completly disregard this plot if you want but seeing rooster after he’s been away yk at top gun for a while so r surprises him >:)))

And want you now, wanna need you forever In the heat of your electric touch, mm-mm

pairing [s] : bradley bradshaw x reader

warning [s] : mentions of : crying, making out, sex |

a/n [s] : my baby doll dal 🫶 requests are open!

It had been six continuous months without seeing your Bradley in real life. The scent of his cologne and musk had disappeared from your bed and his pillow, causing you to go after anything that has reminded you of him. Whenever you were invited to visit him in Top Gun after they were given a three-week break after a joyous win, you decided to immediately take it.

Deciding to not tell Bradley had killed you, as you watched him through the FaceTime call as he slept in a lonely house by himself. You told him your phone was getting repairs to cover up your five hour flight to where he was drafted, it worked surprisingly well. The flight was long, but your discount with it has given you First-Class seats with many helps from flight attendants to try and help your experiences.

When you landed in hot and humid, San Diego you were almost immediately dehydrated. You had called Penny and Maverick to pick you up from the airport, begging to keep everything a secret. Surprisingly, they kept it quiet and Pete told you he had told them he was taking Penny on a date tonight. The nerves were messing with your head as you mess with the hem of your (Bradley’s) Hawaiian shirt. It was a light and soft pink color, and you swore it looked better on him than it did you. Bradley would disagree, saying it was his favorite shirt you had worn.

“Hot as hell here, jeez.” You joke flapping a piece of paper against your face to try and cool yourself down. Even with the extreme cold air blasting on your face, sweat had still dripped from you. You couldn't tell if it was the nerves in your head about seeing Bradley, or the heat. If you had to assume it had probably been both electives. “I know. Bradley pretty much is shirtless half of the time. I’m tired of it.” Amy says next to you, tapping on her phone.

You laugh as you think of Bradley, who is extremely typical to get naked when it's over 95 degrees outside. You decided to call Jessica, Hangman's long-term girlfriend who had also decided to surprise her big hunk of man on the same day as you. She told you how the pilots were meeting at The Hard Deck and how most of the Navy wives were doing the same. You agreed with her and told Penny and Maverick to take you there for him.

Suddenly it all started to hit you: You would see Bradley in under three minutes after months of missing, crying, and taking screenshots of him on the phone. Maverick pulls into the sandy deck of the bar and parks the car. He looks in the mirror and looks at you. “You ready, kid?” He asks and you nod, opening the door and following after the older woman who had already been walking in. The bar wasn't that crowded, only having pilots and other people that had gotten off of work earlier. It was five o'clock when you landed, so now it was six.

The bar is playing some eighties hits loudly, some rowdy people dancing around with drinks in their hands. You touch yourself up in your phone camera, take a big breath in, and start walking into the back corner of the bar where the pilots stayed. That's whenever you saw Bradley, whooping and hollering about winning the 8-ball game with Phoenix and Bob. Jake and Jessica are rubbing up against each other, kissing and hugging on every second, looking like high school couples in the hallways.

You walk up behind Bradley and when he bends over to hit a ball, you slam up behind and put your hands in the front pockets of his 1980s Levi's jeans. “Wanna teach me how to play?” You tease and Bradley jumps up and wraps you in his arms. His hand goes to the back of your neck and he practically jumps while practically screaming your name in pure and utter excitement at your presence.

“You didn't tell me you were coming!” He pulls away for a second to look at your face, before pulling you back in and wrapping harder around your body. The feeling envelopes you tightly and you feel the need to melt in his arms. “It's a surprise, dummy. Are you surprised?” You ask and now he's nodding quickly before he drops you down and kisses you harshly. His lips are running across you as he pulls you into a bench in the other corner.

“Am I surprised? Of course!” He says sassily at you and brings you back into a deep kiss, his hand messing with the hem of your Hawaiian shirt and the other against your neck as he holds you up in the kiss with him. He's warm and touchy throughout the sweet moment and he takes like a Cranberry Vodka. “Love you, so much.”

“Awh, I love you too honey.” Your hand runs through his fluffy hair that's been lightened from hours of sun, and you stare at this tan skin with freckles littering against his cheeks and nose. His fingers mess with the rips on your shorts and he kisses against your cheek. “God, I missed you so much.” Jessica waves at you and giggles as Jake kisses her away from attention. You laugh at his antics before Bradley pulls your chin and kisses you once more, and you stare into his deep green eyes.

“Thank you for visiting, so much.” Bradley speaks softly in your ear. “Always, and forever when I can.”

[hykar]

🌷Was eating a shawarma when I thought of this so why not. Hehe.

💫🌷I miss you•°

[SCHNKXG sent you a message.]

Your phone vibrated with a notification, you put your pen down on the table and picked up your phone. A smile curved on your face as you read Sucheon's message.

"SCHNKXG: I miss you."

You sent him a reply before turning off you phone and continuing with your work. He sent another message, you picked up your phone again.

"SCHNKXG: I'm gonna call, I can't stand it anymore."

You chuckled reading his text before replying. "Okay :)."

Your phone rang and vibrated as soon as he called, you answered. "Hi Sucheon." You smiled. "Hi, I miss you- Wait... Sucheon? What happened to Suchy?" He asked, his brows slightly furrowed. "Oh my bad. Hi Suchy." "...Better."

You leaned your phone against your pencil holder and continued studying, and Sucheon silently watched you doing so.

"Suchy, I can hear the shutter sound of the screenshots you're taking."

"What screenshots?" He asked, clearly playing dumb and his ears are giving it away with how red they are.

You couldn't help but laugh with how he tried to deny it even if he knew that you already saw right through him. He loves how your laugh sounded, its such a sweet sound of happiness to his ears... And your smile? Call him delusional or in a hallucination but he swears he sees a light yellow aura radiating from you whenever a genuine smile curves on your face. Everything felt lighter and calmer whenever you're around, everything looked much more colorful and vibrant in his eyes, You're ethereal to him. His source of warmth. Who would've thought that you, a non-awakener would be someone deeply loved by him?

As deep as he loved you, the pain in his heart was just as deep as it too. The tears streaming down his face felt warm... But not the kind of warmth he liked, no. It's not your warmth. He's even unsure whether he'd view the feeling of warmth the same after this. He hated everything that's happening right now, he loathed it.

"What's taking so long, Sucheon? Don't tell me you've fallen hard for a pathetic non-awakener." Supil glared at his own son. "It's Baekdu, or them."

Sucheon's hand trembled, his breathing unstable and more tears streamed down his face. Choosing Baekdu means He'll lose you and betray himself. Choosing you, means He'll betray Baekdu and lose everything he worked for, Baekdu is dear to him. But not dearer than you. And he knew that, he knew he will always choose you.

But if Sucheon chose you, both of you would be killed. Afterall, the act of betrayal makes you a traitor. And what do people mostly do with traitors? Kill them. Be it physically or figuratively. What is Sucheon there for if he's no longer the heir? But what would people make of Baekdu if their heir left for a non-awakener? Who would take over Baekdu in the future if Sucheon is dead?

You raised your hand and pointed a makeshift gun at him with your fingers. "You're not the only one with a gun now, Suchy. Don't be afraid to shoot me." You softly smiled at him, knowing that either-way... It's you who'll wind up dead.

This is the first time Sucheon ever hated your smile and the warmth it brings him. How could you still smile at him when he's pointing a fucking gun at you? How could you smile at him when he's about to kill you? Stop smiling please... I don't want to remember your smile like this. Please. My dearest please. PLEASE STOP SMILING! LOOK AT ME WITH HATRED!

Baekdu or you...? Baekdu or...

Sucheon dropped the gun and for the first time in his life, he knelt down to the floor and begged. Begging to spare you, begging to let you live and he will ended things with you. Supil however, only looked at his son with a mixed expression. Is it disgust? Dissapointment? Dismay? It's not known. Yet it screams pity. Pity for his son that fell hopelessly in love with someone who isn't even an awakener like them. Pity that his son was this soft.

"I miss you." Sucheon softly sobbed, Looking at the photo of you in his phone. Regretting and wishing that you died in his hands instead of his fathers. Maybe your death wouldn't have been so painful. "I miss you." The tears streaming down his cheeks were warm... he hated it. He hated its warmth. He hated how it reminded him of you.

[gillianthecat]

thoughts on episode 5 of Big Dragon

God. So many thoughts. So much sweetness and sadness and sexiness in this episode. This show is getting more and more grounded in reality as it goes. I might have suspected it from the trailer, but never from episode 1. But I like it.

fair warning. I may not be entirely rational about this show. I am prepared to justify as logical things that may not actually make any sense, that in another show would might well annoy me. 🤷🏻‍♀️ what can I say, i've adopted them all.

this got long, the rest below the cut:

From the beginning.

Mangkorn, I will buy your explanation of how "this isn't what it looks like" for the sake of expediency, but just know that you telling her you're not interested anymore and have someone else still doesn't explain what you were doing leaning up against that wall with her in the first place. Couldn't you have just told her this in the lobby? Anyways, moving on. This sort of nonsense is the price of admission for trashy glamour/glamorous trash.

Just. All of Yai and Mangkorn's conversations this episode - angry, flirty, sweet, heartbreaking - all of them were so good. This fight. Rewatching it I can already see the dynamics that recur in the last fight - Yai angry and reactive and jumping to conclusions, Mangkorn's instinct to withhold information to try and control the situation, to just try to calm Yai down. The acting, the handheld camerawork which adds to the unstable feeling of it all, the tension between them that feels like real anger, but also makes sense that it's going to shortly turn into passionate sex. And Yai, still unable to admit that he likes Mangkorn, that his worry isn't over "that girl" that it's all about his jealousy, about wanting Mangkorn for himself and being so scared that he can't have him (again, the same issues of their fight at the end). And in this first fight, Mangkorn can control the situation without revealing to much, get Yai to admit he likes him (at least implicitly, I don't recall him ever actually saying it) turn them to sex. Which, honestly I think was wise on his part, even if he's only doing it because he's scared to be honest. But Yai isn't ready yet for an honest conversation about all of their entanglements, he'd probably just run off.

eek! it's already next saturday and i never finished writing this! i have had many thoughts about this show and little desire to actually type them out. but i do want to get it down before i watch episode 6.

The sex scene was hot. And I like that it kept the quick cut editing style as their sex scene in the first episode, as fits this passion filled hook up that emerged from fight, but already it's slower and smoother, showing that their sex is already more tender and connected as they're falling in love. And also that they're not drugged out of their minds this time.

Their morning after! Oh my goodness, the sweetness of it. I wrote a bunch about it in my captions to these and these screenshots, but I probably have more to say. At this point Yai has basically entirely surrendered to falling in love with Mangkorn. I love all the soft warm lighting of this house. It feels like a cozy safe bubble for them to just be together. I love that he's still prickly and pouting, but Mangkorn knows it's just for show, it's just part of their game. And that their dom/sub dynamic feels real and present in all their interactions.

The housecleaning. Look. I'm a terrible housekeeper. But these guys are even worse. You do not need a mop. You do not need assistance. you simply need to pick up the dozen or so objects you guys knocked off the desk while having wild sex and put them back. Possibly you could call for Park and Pong to bring some glue - it did seem like some things were broken. But otherwise that house was sparkling clean.

That being said, I forgive all the nonsense of it simply for the sight of Pong and Park in color coordinated gingham aprons and crocs (with towels in each other's color tucked into the waist!) and for those rainbow feather dusters. And for the sight of Park sitting elegantly on the floor, uselessly moving little broken off pieces of an architectural model around with a dish sponge.

(tangent - I love that Park and Pong have such designated colors that even their bedding is in pastel pink and blue. how did this happen? did they buy their own? Did they just decide one day they needed to be coordinated with each other? Did Yai's family housekeeper start it and they liked it so much they started buying all their clothes to fit the theme? it's adorable. I'm not always a fan of the slapstick humor in their storylines, but I love the characters themselves.)

And, more seriously, for the fact of spoiled rich boy Yai deciding that he wants to do something for Mangkorn, that he wants to reach out of his comfort zone and repair what he has broken. And that he decides to do it himself, rather than hire someone else to come in.

The scene with Hong and May/Nadear in the cafe. On the one hand I liked getting this glimpse into their lives, like we were just dropping in on them, but on the other it left me wanting to know more. I couldn't tell if they were long time girlfriends, or if they were good friends and part of their story is going to be them getting together. I enjoyed their dynamic either way - their teasing and relaxed comfort with each other, they way it felt they had nothing to prove to each other.

Their fight. This heartbreaking fight. It worked for me, it really did. Their was so much not understanding and not trusting each other, but it felt like it came from the characters and all their flaws and insecurities, not from false miscommunication just to generate artificial conflict. And it really felt like a continuation of their fight from the opening scene, with the one huge shift of Yai now admitting to himself and Mangkorn that he likes Mangkorn, that he's falling for him. But Mangkorn's reluctance to explain himself, his desire to solve his problems on his own and for Yai just to trust him about it, that's the same. And Yai being confused and scared by his own feelings, that's also the same. And I think those two things are at the root of their conflicts (the real ones, not the "conflicts" that are just sublimated sexual tension). Yai and Mangkorn are both brand new to real relationships, it seems, to trusting and relying on another person. And they both want to, but they don't know how to yet. What I liked about this fight is neither of them were wrong really. Yai is right that Mangkorn is keeping things from him. He's right to ask and when were you going to tell me this, because Mangkorn was hoping to never have to say anything. And while Yai was inconsistent about what he wanted from Mangkorn - first he wanted Mangkorn to share his troubles with him, and then when he did he got mad and scared - it fits this over-dramatic spoiled kid with abandonment issues. So Mangkorn's fears that Yai won't be able to handle his problems are also realistic, because right now he can't. His thinking brain has shut down and all he can see is that Mangkorn is being taken away from him. Of course if he managed to calm the fuck down for ten seconds and realize they could try to solve this problem together, they could face trouble as a team, then this fight could be easily resolved. But he wouldn't be our beloved messy Yai if he could manage that at this point in the story.

So what I love about this fight is that they are both right and they're both wrong. Both of their mistakes stem from their own issues, but they're also not wrong in their evaluations of each other's behaviors. And they don't leave it angry and set in their ways, they leave it both heartbroken. Yai is as honest as he can be. Mangkorn asks him if he will stand with him and he honestly says he doesn't know. It's such a contrast from their earlier fighting where Yai is digging his heels in about nonsense stuff for no reason. Here, where there is everything at stake, he is honest and real about his fears and vulnerabilities.

I think part of what's going on is that they're diving headfirst into falling in love with each other without ever figuring out how to be in a relationship. They've both skipped ahead several steps in their minds. So when this issue does come up they don't know how to handle it. Their both shocked by the conflict, that the other person doesn't already know what they need from them.

One thing I find fascinating about this show is it feels like their relationship is moving so quickly - just one day ago Yai was still sometimes refusing to admit he liked Mangkorn, and now he's fighting and heartbroken like he's assumed they'd have a life together - and yet somehow it works. It doesn't feel like it's rushed, it feels right for their characters. Let me see if I can figure out why. Perhaps it's just that I've fallen in love with them too, so emotionally it makes sense to me. But I suspect there is something in the story that also makes it feel right.

This scene at the bar. Something that struck me as really sad was the only people Yai felt he could turn to in his heartbreak are his employees. Yes, I love Park and Pong, and yes I am glad they are there for him. But, although the comedy and the story of the show often elides this, they are paid to take care of him. And something just felt sad about that in that moment. He does have friends - that trio of dumbasses from the first episode - but Yai didn't call them when he was heartbroken. He just seems like such a lonely person is some ways, I guess.

The singing. I liked it! I almost always like singing in my BLs, but I do often cringe when a drunk character runs up and steals the mic from a performer. But somehow it didn't bother me here. I guess because it fit Yai so well - arrogant and entitled and pathetic. The one thing I do wish was that the camera had stayed on Yai's and Mangkorn's faces the whole time, rather than going to flashbacks. I think that would have been a lot more emotionally resonant. But they did introduce non-diegetic instruments to the music, so I guess they couldn't. (We won't talk about how the guitar player knew to play Yai's song without even any conversation, we'll just accept it as part of Yai's magic.)

I did think that Mangkorn's response of backing off made sense. I mean, he's not backing off entirely; he did go to that rooftop bar and stare at Yai singing. He did follow him to the cafe. But he didn't rush to his side when he collapsed, he let Nine take over. And, despite him being so pushy with Yai earlier, I think it fits who he is right now. Their earlier push-pull was part of their flirting; this is real. Yai has said he can't handle Mangkorn's family entanglements and Mangkorn of course believes him, that was his fear all along, that's why he didn't want to tell him anything.

Nine. I will just plagiarize my own earlier post. Nine could very easily give me second lead syndrome, even with my Mangkorn❤Yai together4eva heart, but I feel like I need to wait til next episode to see if he turns out to be a creep about it or not. But so far, with what they've shown us, his crush and courting of Yai are very sweet.

Ok! That's a lot of words. Probably many of them are redundant but I just want to get this out of my drafts so I can stop trying writing. And I still have more thoughts on the show. One thing I want to bookmark for myself is a post by (i'm pretty sure it was) @chawarin-panich on the idea of Yai and Mangkorn love the monstrousness in each other, which I read the beginning of before remember I wanted to finish this post first and catch up on the latest episode before reading anything more about the show. But I do want to think about their monstrousness and my perceptions of it, and how I've been thinking of this show as have a distinction between their monstrosity in the first two episodes and their sweetness in episodes three, four and five, but perhaps it isn't that clear. I've no real thoughts about it yet, but i do want to read the rest of that post.

edit: oh yeah, i also wanted to bookmark that i wanted to think about Mangkorn and Kai in comparison to Da-woon and Si-won from Blueming - they're definitely not identical, but I saw many parallels, particularly in their fight. Si-won/Yai wanting Da-woon/Mangkorn to open up and share, Da-woon/Mangkorn feeling like they need to solve all their problems on their own. Si-won/Yai acting like an angry brat in the face of attraction, Da-woon/Mangkorn liking that about them. I don't mean to make everything about Blueming. But it's easy to.

Yay! I can finally watch episode six now.

[jackiietaylor]

잔 ── hello ੭ ask

ᰋ ː ՞ hello everything is fine? first I would like to say that: your tumblr is amazing and beautiful!

ᰋ ː ՞ second I would like to know if you could tell me how you make your gifs and the quality of them. please. 🪺

hi!! im doing good, hope you are as well. and thank you <3

sorry it took me a few days to get everything together. but here's a basic tutorial of how i make gifs:

to start, i explained here what programs i use and how i choose source videos to gif. that link is actually an old tutorial I put together about my gif making process, but ive changed a few things since then that i think improve quality so i figured i would explain everything instead of just the changes . for the things that have stayed the same ill just be copying and pasting

so there's a few parts that ill go over here:

importing frames

converting frames to layers

sharpening

coloring

saving

STEP ONE: IMPORTING FRAMES

to start, go to file>script>load files into stack

this is where you’re going to load in the screencaps you just took. go to browse, then select the first screencap and hold down shift until you select the last screencap, then hit ok

after that, i crop my gifs using the crop tool on the side of the screen. on the top of the screen i usually select square, but the exact size and shape depend on what exactly im making

next I go to image > image size. tumblrs standard width for single gifs is 540p, so thats almost always what you'll use for width

STEP TWO: CONVERTING FRAMES TO LAYERS

so here's where we actually start to make the picture move. to begin, click "create frame animation" at the bottom of the screen. this is what it looks like once you've done that

next, go to the three horizontal lines across from the word “timeline” at the bottom. once that menu opens, click “make frames from layers” at this point the gif is backwards, so you’ll want to go back to that same menu and click “reverse frames.” I forgot to take a screenshot of this point, but you should see more individual frames in the timeline now - however many you imported during the first step

now that your gif’s frames in the correct order, you can set frame delay. select all the frames in the timeline, then right click. i almost always set frame delay to .05, but if i have less than ~20 frames ill set it to 0.06    

next, click the symbol in the bottom left corner (you can see it in the photo above) to convert the frames to a video timeline. after this, on the bottom right side, select each layer of the gif under the “layers” tab. right click, then select “convert to smart object.” this is what your screen should look like before converting:

STEP THREE: SHARPENING

once you've converted your layers to a smart object, you can begin sharpening. this is the stage that can really improve the quality of your gif, especially if the source itself wasn't great.

for example, this is what my gif looks like before i begin:

i personally sharpen my gifs four times. to start, my settings are 500% at 0.4px:

next, i repeat the same steps, except my settings are 10% at 10px

i then repeat those two steps again, so my third sharpen is 500% at 0.4px and my fourth sharpen is 10% at 10px. here's what it looks like after the third:

STEP FOUR: COLORING

so theres really two parts to coloring. first is adjusting the lighting, and second is adjusting the color. the amount of adjusting you do will depend on what exactly you're working on. for example, for this, im not really adjusting the colors, just fixing the lighting.

to add adjustment layers, you can either  1. go to layer>add adjustment layer>select the layer type 2. pick a layer type from the icons on the right side (above the layer list)

i always start with a curves layer. the key to this is using the bottom dropper tool on the right side (see below image) to select the lightest layer in the gif. personally, i always zoom in on the characters eye, because theres usually a white speck from the reflected light. your other option is just clicking "auto" and photoshop will make the adjustment for you.

next is brightness. for this, i almost always just hit auto

next is layers, and i use the same technique mentioned under curves

once these are done, i add a selective color layer specifically to increase black. to do this, i create the layer, go to black, and then increase black to whatever i think looks best. this is another way to try to improve quality, as it can kinda make the gif look sharper

next i added a vibrance layer. for this, i increase both the vibrance and saturation to make the colors stand out more.

after i added the vibrance, i realized that her face looked a little too saturated compared to how i wanted it, so i corrected it with an additional selection color layer in which i went to red and decrease the magenta and yellow a little, and then did the same under yellow. when you gif people, a lot of times you'll have to play around and figure out how to correct skintone, because sometimes adjusting lighting can make it look a little unnatural. in my experience, the easiest way to do this is by adjusting the red and yellow tones either under hue/saturation or selective color.

next, i added an exposure layer to the gif to brighten it a little more. ill usually always add this at the end because so many shows are so dark that giving it that final additional brightness can make a difference

STEP FIVE: SAVING

once you’re done coloring, you can save your gif. to do this, go to file>export>save for web (legacy)

the save settings i use are perceptual, diffusion, colors: 256, dither: 100%, quality: bicubic sharper

also, the gif size limit for tumblr is 10M, so make sure your gifs are all under that size. if they’re too big, you can either adjust the image size on the save page (or while making the gif) or shorten the gif. i would recommend shortening the gif because adjusting the image will decrease the quality  

i hope this was helpful!! i tried to explain everything as much as i could, but let me know if theres anything you'd like me to explain more :)

and here's the first and last version of the gif, so you can see them side by side:

(also, i created the "tutorial" gif at the top way after i made the rest of the examples, so i dont have the full tutorial for it. but basically this is what i did:

selective color 3: green > +100% cyan +100% yellow -100% magenta, yellow > +100% cyan +100% yellow -100% magenta, then used the brush tool in black to paint over her face, getting as close to her surroundings as possible to remove the excess yellow

hue/saturation 2: green saturation +45

hue/saturation 3: green hue -60

the text effect i explain here

and the box is made by hitting "command" + clicking on the base layer of your gif > adding a new layer > "stroke" (edit > stroke) > choosing your settings, and then adjusting to the size you need)

[clarenecessities]

11/19/2022

i’m back on my ‘editing random shit into urls to see what sticks’ game trying to get the .org scans of justine dantzer’s bow concepts. like yeah i have screenshots from the presentation but the lighting is shit, it won’t do the colors justice. i could probably cheese a good one from the documentary if i fuck around with the edges but... eh. i’ll keep trying. not sure how many alternatives to  “bow” there are when that’s been his name since day fuckin one. but i’ve got glimmer & catra ready to go, just need to add the background info, & proto-she-ra’s already up with some internal mattel docs on the way....

i underestimated her, man. i was expecting more of the same shit i’ve been hearing from JVH, but this woman was out here processing her abuse by making kick ass toys. that panel i put up on my sideblog yesterday made me fuckin’ cry. ik i’m a baby and i’ll cry about most things but ‘toy history’ is a new one for me! wasn’t expecting that from a former Mattel employee, even after i saw some interviews & had already decided i liked her.

i can’t say i’m not fond of he-man at this point, i think it’s fun & cheesy & full of that convoluted lore i love to pick apart, but man. she-ra’s always gonna be It for me

[casualjacobwrites]

FFXIV Write 2023 Prompt #6 - Ring

Going back to some Urianger/WoL (Pasha Silverblade) for this. In game there is a necklace that looks like a chain of flowers. I'm too lazy to log in and find the name of it, but she always has this necklace glamoured to represent them. Mild spoilers for Shadowbringers here. Takes place during patch 5.3.

I think later I'm going to do a master post of all my characters with screenshots and short descriptions of each. I'm also going to work on making some RP contacts around here, Discord, and/or in game. Anyway, back to the challenge!

Word Count: 816

Rings were impractical, or so Pasha had said once upon a time. It came up in a conversation with Urianger who had noted that she kept her hands free of jewelry. She replied with a lengthy explanation of how easily a ring could catch on her lance or armor. There were some rather gruesome descriptions of lost digits, infections, and entire layers of skin and muscle being peeled like popotoes. At the end of their talk, Urianger wasn't sure if he had been enlightened, disgusted, or a bit of both. Nonetheless, he had learned something important about the woman who had won a place in his heart. As far as gifts were concerned, a ring wouldn't do.

After many years spent on The First, Urianger had learned more than his fair share of magic from the fae of Il Mheg. One spell in particular could preserve flowers for an indefinite period of time. The pixies tended to use it when weaving colorful crowns or other such artistic endeavors. While Pasha worked with the Crystal Exarch and Beq Lugg to secure passage back to The Source for the Scions, Urianger used his free time to put his knowledge to use. With the aid of some of the pixies—who, admittedly, hindered and helped in equal measure—he picked the finest blossoms to weave into a small necklace into which he poured a small amount of aether to keep them from ever wilting.

When he was done, one observant pixie exclaimed, “I recognize these flowers. They're the same ones we planted in your bed chambers!”

Amid much giggling from his fae friends, Urianger's cheeks grew warm. He did his best to maintain his customary stoicism. “Are they? Mayhap it is a happy coincidence.” It was a complete lie, but there was no force on either The First or Eorzea to get him to admit the source of the flowers was the exact reason he chose them. The memories of the Warrior of Light's first night in Il Mheg were never far from his mind. He only hoped she would recognize the flowers for what they were and would understand his intent.

When at long last Pasha came to his residence in Il Mheg to tell him it was time to return home, he took the opportunity to pull her aside to offer his gift. For a long moment she stared at the necklace in silence. Her lack of response worried him and he began to panic that he'd somehow erred.

“Is it not to thy liking? Or is it too much? I could—” His words were cut off as she threw herself at him with enough force to cause him to stumble backward. She clung to him in a fierce embrace while burying her face into his neck. Soon after he thought he could feel the dampness of her tears on his skin.

“It's perfect,” Pasha said, her voice wavering.

“Oh.” He ran his hands up and down her back to soothe her, confusion settling in. “Then why dost thou weep?”

Pasha pulled away enough to look at his face. Her expression showed she was as confused as him. “Because I could lose you. All of you. The auracite might not hold you, or what if something happens when I cross back into The Source? What if it shatters?”

Urianger smiled and tugged her towards him to kiss her forehead. “I have the utmost confidence in our comrades' designs. Furthermore, I know thou will move the heavens to ensure thy companions' safe return. For all thy past deeds, this trivial event will be least among them.”

Pasha's hands squeezed his shoulders. She tilted her head back to press her lips to his. “Will you help me put it on?”

With steady hands, he clasped the necklace to her neck. Afterward he couldn't resist the urge to slide his arms around her waist and kiss the nape of her neck. He held her for several long moments while she rested her hands atop his. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if this would be the last time he held her. Despite his gift for prophecy, he had no inkling as to what awaited them upon their return to The Source, assuming he and the other Scions' souls and memories survived the journey.

“Whatever occurs, thou wilt need only to see the flowers upon thy neck to remember my fondness for thee and the happy memories thou hast given me. Should I fall, know that I will wait for thee upon the shores of the Aetherial Sea.”

Sniffling, Pasha squeezed his hands in hers. “I will drag you back if I have to.” He smiled at the conviction on her words.

“Aye, I have no doubt my lady will alter the very course of the stars.”

In all of history Urianger felt that truer words had never been spoken.

[maii29]

Day 2: 1/18/23

It is 6 am in the morning and the lights in my room are on. As I opened my eyes, the first thing I grab is my phone. I opened up the Youtube app and play a video I'd already watched before. I head to the bathroom with my phone. I turned on the bathroom lights and all I could hear was the video playing in the background, consisting of people talking and laughing. When the lights in the bathroom were turned on, you could also hear the vents, but the sound of the video was loud enough to distract me from hearing the noise of the vent. I washed my face by using a daily cleanser. It was nothing special. I usually spend 15-20 minutes in the bathroom. I head to my room after and combed through my hair. I packed my belongings for a long day on campus. The order of things I packed didn't matter but there would be a series of what I packed first to remember that I had everything. I unplugged the charger that had been charging my laptop overnight. The chargers first, then my mouse, then my laptop, and then my earbuds. The chargers were packed first because they needed to be wrapped in order to fit into my backpack and the laptop could be put in at any time. The earbuds were last. After getting dressed, I head out into the kitchen where I refilled my water bottle. I put on my socks and shoes and head outside. It was dark. There was still snow and the cold chill had made the sidewalk slippery. The streetlights made the sky a visible dark grey color. The trees around my neighborhood were as dark as shadows. I head to the car and sat on the passenger side. I wait for my father. We head out at 6:40 am. At the beginning of the drive, My father would say things about the weather and have a short conversation about who would be picking me up today. Other than that, it was a 15-minute silent drive. I would look at the road we drove on. All I could hear was the sound of the car on the highway. As we get closer to the Coffman Union, the sky became lighter and I interpreted a tint of purple in the sky. We arrived a little earlier than 7. I used my Ucard to get inside since the doors didn't open until 7 am. I sat down at one of the square tables on the main floor and take some time to write down what I had done so far. It was then 7:30 am and I was feeling hungry, even before I arrived. I ordered a chocolate muffin at Einstein Bros Bagels in Coffman through a kiosk. It was easier to order through a kiosk since I wouldn't need to interact with anyone and could take my time. I sat down near the shop and ate my muffin. After eating the muffin, I head to Mcneal hall for my class by taking the 121 campus connector. During the bus rides, I listened to music on the Youtube music app on my phone. I would also use my phone to check which room the course would take place in by looking at a screenshot I took. I head to class and spent around 1 hour and 30 minutes in class. The class was enjoyable and also intimidating at the same time. I head back to Coffman for lunch. Coffman is a place where I feel comfortable and is a waypoint to get to places around campus. I ordered Chick-fil-a and sat at the dining area to eat. I put on a video on Youtube on my phone to watch while I eat. I spent some time reading for my other classes and then went to my last class. It felt overwhelming because it was on the subject of mathematics and that was not one of my strong suits. After class, I got picked up around half an hour later.

[spacenintendogs]

Hi! I love your art and I’m so curious to know what your art process is like!

i've been trying to figure out how to answer this & i've honestly realized that my process is a mess LOLOL i did record myself!!! drawing fishlegs bc he is the fave & easiest for me to draw! i hope everything i explain under the read more makes sense!!

it took me over 44 minutes to draw & the screen recording in the art program i use (autodesk sketchbook) brought it down to about 7 minutes and 25 seconds. i didn't wanna speed it up even more bc it'd be way too fast & jarring i think but!! i've uploaded the video to youtube (with some animal crossing music <3)!! i will still try to explain what i did here tho!!

my initial sketches are EXTREMELY loose! i start with the head by drawing a circle & extending past it for the chin of the character & proceed to do the nose, eyes, & mouth!! hair is next, but if there's a helmet i need to draw, i'll do that before the hair!! then i'll do the body starting from the shoulders & going down!! for the hands i just do circles/a general shape! no details!!

the sketch layer is a layer of black for the brush color with with lower opacity

i immediately do lines on top with the same brush but with black at full opacity on the kayer above!! this time i actually take my time to be more careful with details BUT i am still very sketchy & if smth isn't 100% accurate after i try a few times, i leave it be! hands however...

i almost always end up taking a photo of my hands using the front facing camera set to a 5 second timer on my phone! i also draw using my phone so it's literally having everything i need all in one place lol!! i do trace my own hands but obv i adjust based on what i'm drawing!! fish's hands are def gonna be wider than mine!!

NOW for color i color pick directly from screenshots!! however i use it mostly for flats & then pick my own for shading!! let's focus on the flats for now!! i start with the skin always!! the skin is going to have color layers above and below it, so it's easier for me to see where everything else will go if i've got the skin all settled. here you can see my color layers!! these are ALL flats!!

shading & lighting i don't rlly... focus on being accurate 100% but i try to do it based on where a shadow would absolutely be/to give the appearance of some type of depth (my art is very flat either way tho!) like where his lower hand is cupping i'll shade but leave the top of the upper hand unshaded for the most part! i lay out everything in a multiply layer first (can be any color u want based on the vibe u want!!) & then use a smudge tool to blend it out!! same goes for the lighting layer!!!

my art overall is a lot of scribbling big lines & curves then using the lineart to do the same but slowly make adjustments until it looks acceptable to me. it's SO much erasing & reshaping & i always have sketch lines everywhere but i like how it looks. it looks like i drew it, u know? plus the httyd books art style is a HUGE inspiration to me, at my core. i didn't even realize it was until ppl on here pointed it out :') i also enjoy drawing fast & moving on!! which is just smth i've trained myself to do since my star fox days (the reason i draw in the first place!!)

thank u!!!! i hope this made sense!!

[tonkifivestar]

Artrage tutorials beginners

#Artrage tutorials beginners tv

Tap both the light and dark side to create the rocks and constantly change the brush sizes as you need to. Create a new layer, use the same color as you used for the mountain, and select the brush (50% pressure, 0% thinner, 4% loading). Also, with the newly designed hollow roller of Deco 02, you can zoom in and zoom out very quickly to check out your work. Use the knife to blend the interaction between snow and shadow and erase the parts you don't want. Use the same setting and select the sky's light blue color. So I use the chalk tool to instead.Ĭreate a new layer and set the chalk tool to 20% pressure and 0% hardness. But in the ArtRage Lite, the knife doesn't work the same way one does in real life. In some of Bob's videos he uses a knife to tap a little Titanium White to come right down to draw the snow. Merge the layer down with the sky layer and use the knife (flat, 0% loading, and 15% pressure) to blend the colors. I simply use the brush to draw the mountain.Ĭreate a new layer and set the brush to 20% pressure, 20% thinner, and 10% loading. In ArtRage Lite, the knife can't be locked, so it is a little difficult to control. In Bob's video, he often used a knife to grab the mountain. Then use the knife to blend them together. Next, create a new layer and pick up a little Midnight Black, Prussian Blue, Alizarin Crimson, and Van Dyke Brown. Draw continuous circles with the P06 stylus its hexogonal design makes it easy to grip so you can make smooth movements and perfectly blend each color. Set the brush to 0% loading and 100% pressure and 100% thinner. From top to bottom, first draw the darkest blue clouds, then the midtone, and then the lightest ones last. Okay, now let's first select Prussian Blue and then pick three samples from dark to light in the panel.Ĭlick on the oil brush and set 100% pressure,100% loading, 0% thinners, auto clean, and square head. Since ArtRage Lite is for beginners, it doesn't have a real color blending function, so the color palette we just made is for reference. Name it "Bob Ross Color Palette", that way, if you want to draw a painting together with Bob, you don't need to pick the colors up again next time. After you finished picking up all 13 colors, click on the top icon on the palette and select "Add To Collections". Use Color Sampler (shift+c) to pick up the color in the reference and click the "Add Sample" button in the Samples palette. Click the Samples palette at the bottom-right corner and then clear the default samples. You can capture a screenshot of Thomas' blog page and then open it as a reference in ArtRage Lite. Based on Thomas' work, we can easily set up a color collection that can be used repeatedly. Ta da! You now have a "liquid white" canvas.Īs we know, Bob always used the same 13 colors for his paintings, and thanks to Thomas Park, we now have Bob's color palette in CSS. Roll a single stroke on the canvas and then use the Transform tool to expand the white mark to cover the canvas. Just pick the white color, select the paint roller, and set its options to use 0% pressure, 0% thinners, and 100% loading. In ArtRage Lite, you can get that effect using a paint roller. He often said that his canvas is "liquid white," so that means he put some white paint on it before drawing anything. But no hurry, this canvas is not Bob's canvas. Open the ArtRage Lite and set up a new canvas that is 9x12 inches. So today, we’re gonna use the XP-Pen Deco 02 and the ArtRage Lite to draw a very simple happy mountain inspired by the legendary Bob Ross. But I must admit that his videos do make me want to draw something. Because of his gentle teaching method, his The Joy of Painting is still a quiet place for happy trees and modern-day artists.įun fact: about only 10% of viewers actually paint along with Bob, most just watch his videos for the pleasure of watching him work.

#Artrage tutorials beginners tv

The master painting instructor and famous TV host Bob Ross would have turned 77 in 2019.Īlthough he passed away much too soon back in 1995, he still has a strong influence and there’s no sign of that changing anytime soon. Anything that you’re willing to practice, you can do." "There’s nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend."

[lamatisse]

not sure how to make an introduction for this tutorial. i might have gone too extra because it’s so long...but this is highly requested and i said i would do this as detailed as possible, so here we go!

adobe photoshop 2018 (ahoy, matey!)

topaz lens effects (just for grain)

srwe (sometimes, but not for this tutorial)

reshade (i dont use a specific preset)

drawing tablet (wacom intuos art)

macbook pro mid-2015 (but bootcamp)

//part one

grab a screenshot from your own lovely screenshot folder! mine is straight from my reshade screenie folder. then crop it how you like it! my original screenshot size is 2560 x 1600, and i almost always cut the background out. this is how i do it:

click color range, then click on the background of your sim. the little screen above will look like that. the background should be white. it’s easier when it’s a fully solid color. those are my settings above. click ok! the selected area will have those teeny tiny marching ants.

click quick selection tool, then select and mask...

i drew over these circled areas using the “add brush” i showed above. use “on black” viewing mode, then make sure that the sim is completely filled black (it’s the unselected area). use shift edge so there wouldn’t be any of the original bg left over. my settings are shown above. then click ok if you’re all done. press delete and then ctrl + D to unselect. the marching ants should be gone. go ahead and crop it!

after cropping, i resize the width of the photo to 1280px! always!

i create a new layer for my background, then add in the psd that i use for my edits. (i hide my psd layer while drawing)

sometimes i also use liquify to edit things like this:

//part two

i use a soft round brush to do everything! it’s literally from adobe, but i changed a few things like the flow jitter in transfer.

red areas are usually where i put the shadows, purple areas are usually where i put the highlights

i usually do the shadows before anything else! it’s pretty simple. using the brush i showed above, i create a new layer.

use the eyedropper tool on her skin, then pick a slightly darker shade. change the blending mode of the layer to multiply, then draw the shadows.

right click on the layer, then select “create clipping mask” to make your life a little bit easier. an arrow will appear beside your layer.

//part three

this is where i draw over the features. let’s look at her face. these are basically what i think it needs:

pay close attention to the imperfections and clean it up! that’s what makes it “sharper” in my opinion. small brushes will do the job! something like this:

define the edges!!! define!! zoom in and take a look!! even though these are tiny little details, it makes a whole lot of difference! the eyedropper tool is your best friend!

i start with a big brush and then i use smaller and smaller ones as i go, which creates the sharpness. go a little darker as well! im not very skillful with my graphic tablet, so i add stuff bit by bit since it tends to become too harsh when i just go for it! im not as talented as some of u here ;-; i just wing it and pray it doesnt look too bad. half of the time im just experimenting since i literally do not know where some shading goes

i wont be showing every single thing, but basically that’s the idea! i’ll add in the stuff i pointed out above and more shadows. sometimes i might turn down the opacity of some layers if they look a bit too much. here’s what we got so far:

i also like adding some face pores using this amazing “skin texture 1″ brush from this brush pack!

//part four

for the highlight layer, i change the blending mode to either overlay or soft light. use a slightly bigger brush for the bigger areas. use the eyedropper tool on her skin, and instead, pick a lighter shade.

let’s start adding highlight to the purple areas i marked above!

try to enhance the highlight on tiny details too such as the eye corners! if you want something more dramatic, create a new layer and do an overlay layer this time! don’t be afraid to add some on the hair, eyes, lips etc.

//part five

ok lets add some not decent looking hair strands. i almost always avoid this part because i literally have 0 idea on how to draw hair. i use the “hair base” brush from the same brush pack i linked to above and also have smoothing on to about 35%! the eyedropper tool is still your best friend! just follow the flow of the hair and i guess you’ll be fine ???

i’ll also fill in the annoying gaps beside her neck

unhide your psd layer and wooowweee

//part six

select all the layers, then click create a new group!

select the new group, then hit ctrl + J or right-click the new group, then click duplicate group

right-click the duplicated group, then click merge group!

i do this so i have a backup of the collapsed layers and can make changes anytime.

i use the sharpen brush on small details i circled below. i used to do stylize > oil paint or topaz clean before, but since the personal action that i use blur things a lot, i try to keep small details visible and sharp.

next is smart sharpen, my settings are below. sometimes i go for a smaller radius, but it looks like this most of the time.

my personal action set consists of this:

duplicate the layer that you just used smart sharpen on, then click lens blur!

below are my lens blur settings

turn the opacity of the layer (that you just put the lens blur on) to 40%

select both layers, right-click then merge layers!

duplicate the layer again (yes, again) then right-click, choose blending options.

uncheck the R located on the “channels” under “advance blending” then click ok.

an icon will appear on that layer!

make sure you have that layer selected, then click the Move tool

then hit your arrow left/right key once or twice! i do it once because i only want a subtle 3d effect! go ahead and merge those layers!

last step is the grain effect. i use topaz labs > topaz lens effects. if you don’t have this, you can also use filter > noise > add noise that photoshop has.

these are my settings:

//final look!

here’s a before and after gif! (here’s the finished edit) i hope everything’s clear! i’m really bad at explaining things (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ

feel free to tag me when you use this tutorial for an edit!! i would like to see it! i hope this helps! ♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡

[waitimcomingtoo]

Player

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Synopsis: Peter comforts you after Brad plays with your heart

Dedicated to all my baddies who got their hearts broken by someone who couldn’t realize what they were missing out on. No one determines your worth. NO ONE!

Masterlist

“U up?”

The routine late night text from Brad lit up your screen, causing your heart to race. You closed your laptop and picked up your phone, waiting a few seconds before responding to him.

“Heyy 🥰”

You quickly clicked out of the conversation after sending the text and went to your last conversation with MJ. You rolled over on your back and pulled your bottom lip between your teeth as you texted her.

“Girl brad just texted me” You sent with a giddy smile. It wasn’t long before you saw the three dots come up.

“At this hour? Thirsty” She sent back, making you roll your eyes. You could hear the message in her voice as you read it in your head.

“Stop. He probably can’t sleep”

“Cause he’s thinking about you 😉” She texted, followed by “🦗🦟🦗🦟🦗🦟🦗”

“Stop with the twerking bugs. I wish Ned never taught you that” You laughed slightly as you texted her back.

“Text your man and leave me and the bugs alone” She wrote back and you suddenly remembered Brad. You went back to your conversation with him and saw his newest text.

“watcha doing?”

Butterflies fluttered into your tummy as you typed out a response. It had become a part of your nightly routine to stay up and wait for Brad to text you. You never spoke in school, but you had been engaging in late night conversations for a little over a month now. You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t fallen for him in that time. It had been a while since you had a harmless crush on a boy and it was nice. You were so over consuming crushes that left you with nothing but confusion and heartbreak.

“Just laying in bed” You texted him, wishing you had something more exciting to tell him. The text bubble came on your screen and you held your breath.

“without me aha?”

The simple text made your breath hitch in your throat. You broke into a smile and held your phone against your heart before replying.

“Trust me lol you wouldn’t want to be in this bed. I’m drowning in pillows right now” You texted back, hoping to make him laugh. The read receipt appeared under your text and his bubble came up.

“haha. I’m hella bored”

“same lol”

“you looked mad hot in that shirt today. I like that color on you” He sent. You read the text over a few times before screenshotting it and sending it to MJ. You sent a simple “Aw thanks” and analyzed what he meant with MJ as you waited for his response. It was hu a dumb high school fling, but you really liked him. After dropping every hint imaginable that you liked Peter and him not reciprocating, you had decided to move on. Brad wasn’t exactly what you wanted but he still made your heart race. He was just what you needed to get over Peter. At least, that’s what you told yourself every night when you texted him.

~

The next day at lunch, you sat in a tired daze and picked at your food before letting out a yawn. A smile tugged at Peters lips as he watched you sleepily rub your eyes, wondering how you managed to look so pretty doing everyday things.

“Someone’s sleepy.” MJ nudged you as she stole one of your baby carrots. You snapped out of your daze and shot her a look.

“Quiet Michelle.” You used her full name to let her know you meant business.

“Up late?” She smirked as she jerked her body to imitate the twerking bugs. Ned’s face lit up and he did the same motion with his body. You and Peter shared a look and he let out a laugh.

“What were you doing last night?” He wondered, despite you looking like you didn’t want to talk about it.

“You should’ve just sat there and ate your food.” You shook your head at MJ, slightly annoyed she had brought up Brad. You didn’t want to talk about it just yet, especially not in front of the boy you were trying to get over. You not wanting to talk about it made Peter overtly curious. A plethora of scenarios as to why you were up late filled his head, none of them good, and he began to worry.

“What happened? I don’t really care but I would like to know. Just for context purposes.” Peter said quickly, lying through his teeth. In that moment, he cared about nothing more. Ned shot him a knowing look and took a sip from his milk carton.

“Sounds like you care.” Ned mumbled between sips.

“Just eat your hamburger and milk in silence.” Peter snapped, on edge now with the lack of information he was getting. He turned his attention back to you in desperate hope for an answer.

“Y/n was texting her man last night. Late last night.” MJ added as she wiggled her eyebrows. You playfully slapped her arm for spilling your private information and she gave you an apologetic shrug. Peter felt white hot jealously shot through his veins and he tried to keep his composure.

“Her man?” He forced a laugh. “Who?”

“Doesn’t matter. It was just a regular conversation.” You said to Peter but directed your words at MJ, with emphasis on “regular.” She made a face like she didn’t believe you and stole another carrot.

“A regular conversation with who though? Because I tried having a regular conversation with Becky from anatomy and she barked at me.” Ned spoke up. Peter let out a relived sigh that Ned was on his side. Ned knew all about Peters crush on you and panicked just as much as Peter did when he learned you had your head turned by somebody else.

“Maybe Becky from anatomy can teach MJ a little about keeping her mouth shut.” You grumbled and glared at MJ.

“Hey, my bad.” She shrugged. “I thought you’d be dying to talk about your little boyfriend.”

Her words hit Peter like a dagger as his face fell in defeat. Ned looked at his best friend with pity, wishing he could do more to help him through this difficult conversation.

“Y/n has a boyfriend? Haha.” He faked another laugh as his eyes darted between you and MJ. “And who might that be?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” You said pointedly. “We’re just talking.”

“At 3 am nearly every night for the past month.” MJ added, holding up her hands in defense when you shot her a stern look. Peter choked on his milk at the mention of the word “month” and was handed a napkin by Ned. He was growing frustrated as he felt his anger building towards a guy who hadn’t even been named yet.

“Notice how no one has responded to the “who” question.” He quipped, hoping to get a real response this time.

“It’s not big deal. I was just talking to Brad.” You shrugged and took a long sip from your water bottle. The words hung in the air as everyone reacted differently. MJ was proud, Ned was confused, and Peter was, well,

Peter was shook.

“Brad Davis? The yummy basketball player in our English class?” Ned asked as he looked over his shoulder at Brad’s table. Brad sat with his arms leaning on a basketball as he laughed loudly at something Gwen Stacy had said.

“That’s him.” MJ nodded.

“Ned! We talked about calling boys “yummy”.” Peter said through gritted teeth. He was also staring at Brad, feeling his heart break at the thought of another boy claiming your heart without him even knowing.

“Fine. Scrumptious.” Ned rolled his eyes. Peter turned back to you with a heavy heart. You had a dreamy smile on your face as you stared at Brad, the same look on your face as Peter had when he looked at you. He never would’ve guessed you had a thing going with Brad Davis. He had never once seen you speaking in school, or ever heard you mention him before now. He had no idea how he had let you slip away so easily, and he was silently berating himself for it.

“You talk to Brad Davis every night at 3 am?” Peter asked quietly, clearing his throat when his voice came out shaky.

“Yeah. It’s not a big deal.” You insisted, wanting to move on from the subject. “He just texts me when he’s bored.”

“What about when he’s not bored? Does he text you then too?” Peter tilted his head to the side. You opened your mouth to answer but closed it when you thought about Peters question. Brad did only text you when he was bored. You were sure it meant nothing, but it bothered you more than you thought it would.

“Not really. Most of our conversations happen pretty late at night.” You answered.

“Interesting.” Peter nodded, swallowing thickly. He wouldn’t say it, but he was definitely thinking it.

You deserved better.

“And that’s when he’s at his flirtiest.” MJ leaned forward on her elbows and bit her lip.

“What’s that?” Peter piped up. Even if it hurt him, he needed to know everything about you and Brad. How serious it was, how it started, and most importantly, where you hoped it would go.

“Stop it, Michelle.” You whispered harshly.

“What was he saying last night? That you’re the hottest girl in our solar system?” She teased you as she pretended to forget.

“Hottest girl in the galaxy.” You mumbled.

“Oh!” She said dramatically. “And what did he say about your eyes?”

“The way they light up reminds him of an XBOX controller.” You sighed as you repeated his message. You made a mental note not to send MJ any more screenshots of your conversations with Brad.

“Isn’t that romantic? They’re so in love.” MJ wrapped her arms around your shoulders and made kissy sounds in your ear. You laughed at her and pushed her off.

“That doesn’t sound like love.” Peter laughed shortly. “That sounds like a rejected ICarly joke.”

“He told Y/n any guy would be lucky to have her.” MJ spoke up. “He obviously wants to be that guy.”

“What did you say that he responded with that platonic, not romantic statement?” Peter wondered as he tried to down play what Brad had said.

“I said not having a boyfriend was kinda bumming me out.” You replied and bit into a baby carrot.

“You know what doesn’t bum you out? Brad Davis.” MJ insisted.

“Do me bum you out? I mean, do we? Do- do I bum you out?” Peter stumbled over her words.

“Are you kidding me Peter?” You laughed. “You’re my favorite person in the whole world.”

He sighed a little in relief knowing that he hadn’t totally lost you to Brad. After all, you’d been talking to Brad for a month and to Peter for years.

“How come I never see you guys talking in school?” He asked, hoping that meant it wasn’t that serious.

“Yeah, why hasn’t he invited you to sit at the jock table yet?” Ned wondered.

“It’s not like that, guys. I’m not his girlfriend or anything. We just text.” You shrugged like it didn’t matter to you, but it did. You didn’t understand why you were the person he went to every night when he was bored, but he didn’t give you the time of day in school. After all, it’d been a month. You’d has some pretty deep conversations at that point and considered him a friend. You talked every day over text, but he acted like he didn’t know you in school. It bothered you, but you didn’t say anything.

“But you wanna be his girlfriend, don’t you?” MJ teased as she messed up your hair.

“Ew, get off of me.” You laughed and messed her hair right back.

“Let her speak.” Peter faked a smile, desperate to hear your answer.

“I don’t know. I just like talking to him.“ You smiled sheepishly. ”I wish I knew how he felt about me.”

“It’s been a month and you don’t know how he feels? That’s kinda weird.” Peter grimaced in hopes that you’d agreed.

“I figured that’s just how guys like him are. They keep you guessing.”

“Then you should ask him out.” MJ suggested and Peters eyes widened. “Then you won’t be guessing.”

“I don’t know about that. That seems like a garbage idea. We don’t even know if he likes her. Or, maybe somebody else maybe possibly likes her. Who knows what the future holds?” Peter stammered.

“Peters right.” You agreed, making him sigh in relief. “I cant ask him out until I know how he feels. Besides, he just broke up with Gwen and they’re still close. I have to be respectful and wait.”

“Gwen and Brad broke up forever ago. Go for it already.” MJ urged you.

“Or, hear me out, do not go for it. Just an idea.” Peter offered his own suggestion.

“Don’t listen to Peter.” MJ shook her head. “The last girl he touched was the nurse when he passed out during the tampon discussion in health.”

“I didn’t know they went up there.” Peter said in defense.

“Leave Peter alone.” You scolded her and reached out to take Peters hand. “Look, he’s touching a girl right now.”

“Aw, how sweet. Baby’s first boner.” MJ cooed.

“You’re disgusting.” You scoffed as MJ and Ned laughed. “Don’t you have people in peril you should be drawing?”

“Yes I do. I will see you later.” MJ got out of her seat and kissed your forehead. “Ask out Brad.”

“I’m gonna head out too. My lab partner just texted me “BURNING” in all caps and I have to make sure he’s alive.” Ned read off his phone. as he got up. “Let me know how it goes with Brad though.”

You watched Ned and MJ walk away and let out a sigh.

“How are we friends with these people?” You asked Peter with a gentle laugh.

“I have no idea.” He shook his head. You sat in silence for a moment, both deep in thought about your Brad situation.

“Hey, Y/n?” Peter said after a minute.

“Yeah?” You asked.

“You deserve a boy who gives you all his hours. Not just 3 am.” Peter said sincerely. You cracked a smile and took Peters hand again.

“Thanks, Peter.” You squeezed his hand. “And you’re right. It’s weird that I don’t know how he feels.”

“Exactly.” Peter nodded.

“So I’m gonna find out.” You said confidently and Peters face fell.

“You’re gonna what?” Peter asked in a panic.

“I’m just gonna do it. I’m gonna ask him out.” You nodded as you psyched yourself up. “I mean, we talk everyday, he flirts with me all the time, and he’s single. That has to mean something, right?”

“Maybe.” Peter nodded stiffly. “Or it could potentially mean nothing because life is meaningless and time doesn’t exist and gender is a social construct and everything is relative. Time is relative. Beauty is relative. Family are relatives.” Peter shrugged as he tried to talk you out of asking Brad out.

“You’re funny.” You chuckled and got out of your seat. “I’m gonna go find Brad. And stop reading slam poetry.” You pointed at him before running out of the cafeteria. Peter gave you a fake smile, watching you leave with a heavy heart.

~

You caught up to Brad outside of the cafeteria and quickened your pace to get in front of him.

“Hey, Brad. Can we talk?” You smiled brightly at him, feeling nervous butterflies fill your tummy, the ones he always gave you. It was probably the first time you had ever spoken in person and it felt different, but a good different.

“Woah, whatcha doing?” He laughed awkwardly and nodded at his friends to let them know he was gonna stay back.

“Is something wrong?” You wondered as he sent his friends away. You got the feeling he wasn’t as excited to talk to you as you were to talk to him.

“I’m with my friends right now, Y/n. Can we talk later?” He asked, looking around for who else was looking. You looked over his shoulder and saw Gwen Stacy waiting for him by the lockers.

“Oh, sure.” You faked a smile. He smiled back tightly and walked away, catching up with his friends and Gwen down the hall. You stood there for a moment as the disappointment settled in. That hadn’t gone as planned, but you were not yet defeated. He was busy and you had just caught him at a and time. You kept your nerve up the rest of the day until it was time to go home. You barely paid attention to your homework, checking your phone every few minutes to see if Brad had texted you. Finally, at around 7, he did.

“what did you need before?”

You grabbed your phone and read his text a dozen times, feeling the excitement fill you once again. Your thumbs danced over the screen as you thought of what to write.

“I wanted to talk to you about something” You sent, biting your lip to contain your excitement.

“shoot” He wrote back. You took a deep breath and copy and pasted the text you had typed out in your notes so many hours a before. It was already MJ approved so you didn’t hesitate to send it.

“I’ve really liked talking to you this past month. Sorry if this ruins our friendship but I really like you. I just wanted to tell you”

You read your own text over and over again before shutting your phone off and rolling onto your back and letting out a breath. You heard the ding from your phone after a few minutes and excitedly picked it up.

“woah”

That was the first text he sent.

Okay.

Woah was good. You could work with woah.

“I’m with Gwen haha I thought you knew that”

Op.

You could in fact not work with that.

Tears of embarrassment and disappointment came to your eyes as you typed a response.

“no I didn’t lol you never mentioned that?”

You threw the “lol” in there to make it sound like you weren’t dying inside. Despite the fact he had just turned your heart into hamburger meat, you didn’t want him to feel guilty.

“Oh oops” Brad wrote.

Oh oops. A month of your time and all you were given was rejection and “oh oops”. You blinked a few times as tears slipped out, quickly wiping them away on the back of your hand.

“When did you guys get back together?” You asked for your own peace of mind. Maybe they had just gotten back together a few hours ago.

“we were kinda just on a break. Prolly been back together a few weeks now” He sent and you felt like he had just punched you in the vagina.

“So what were you doing flirting with me lol?” You seriously wondered. You knew you hadn’t imagined it. He was flirting with you, despite having a girlfriend for the past few weeks. You sat up in bed to give the conversation your full attention.

“Well you’re still hot haha and she goes to bed early so” Brad wrote. You let out a sad laugh in disbelief and put a hand over your mouth as the sad reality settled in.

You’d been played.

Like Beyonce at a bachelorette party, you’d been played.

“can you do me a favor and not tell her about this? or anyone else lol. I just don’t want her feelings to get hurt” Brads next text lit up your screen and you sucked in a sharp breath.

“What a gentleman” You sent back and wiped your face with your sleeve.

“Lmao yea I try”

He didn’t pick up your sarcasm, somehow making the situation worse.

“I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later” You sent and shut off you phone, not waiting for a response. You climbed off your bed and ran out of your apartment, climbing the four flights to get to Peters apartment.

Peter opened his door to find you with tears running down your face, a fresh stream of black mascara smeared under your eyes.

“Y/n, what-“

“He played me.” You croaked, feeling your eyes well up again.

“What?” Peter asked in shock and opened his arms. You immediately ran into them and buried your face in his chest. Peter wrapped his arms around you and rested his chin on your head.

“Brad. He played me.” You sniffled. “He’s still with Gwen.”

“But I thought you guys were talking?” Peter wondered. “MJ said he was flirting.”

“He was. God, I’m so stupid.” You cried and pulled away. Peter lead you into his apartment and set you down on his couch. He ran to get you a box of tissues and began to dab your face. “He’s texting me every night about how hot I am and how much he likes talking to me, meanwhile he has a whole girlfriend that he doesn’t tell me about. How could he not tell me he had a girlfriend?”

“Because he’s a jerk.” Peter insisted as he wiped your eyes with his thumb. “He probably didn’t know if he was gonna get back with her so he kept you on the line in case she decided to move on.”

“Oh my God.” You sat up straight upon hearing Peters words.

“I’m sorry. That was harsh.” He apologized and tucked your hair behind your ear. He was furious with Brad for hurting you, but you needed him to be there for you right now. His feelings for Brad could wait.

“No. That’s probably true.” You hung your head in defeat. “I was just his backup plan. He played me.”

“He played you.” Peter nodded as he rubbed your back. You blew your nose and took deep breath before looking up at Peter.

“I’m sorry I came here.” You told him. “I didn’t know how to tell MJ about this. She was so excited for me.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m always here for you.” Peter insisted and pulled you into another hug. You rested your head against his heartbeat and nuzzled into his hoodie.

“I wanted this to work. I knew deep down that he wasn’t right for me, but I still wanted him. Why did I still want him?” You wondered out loud.

“I have been asking myself the same question.” Peter chuckled.

“You…wanted Brad?” You asked as you pulled away a little.

“No. That’s not what I meant.” Peter shook his head. “Forget what I said. Here.” He handed you a pillow and you held it against your chest.

“How could I have been so blind? Of course he’s with Gwen. Of course he is! She’s pretty and skinny and blonde and a cheerleader and I’m-“

“-absolutely beautiful.” Peter cut you off. You stared at him for a moment as he looked at you, deadly serious. Peter reached forward and wiped a stray tear with his rough thumb, never breaking eye contact.

“Then why doesn’t he want me?” You whispered.

“Because he’s an idiot.” Peter said definitively. “The universe handed him something amazing and he threw it away.”

“I hear that all the time. But if I keep getting played, maybe it’s not the boys fault. Maybe I’m the idiot.”

“Y/n, you are the smartest girl I know. And on top of that, you’re funny and you’re creative and so damn beautiful. It’s actually annoying how beautiful you are.” Peter smiled and you chuckled. “I can’t listen to you talk bad about yourself because Brad freaking Davis doesn’t know basic communication skills. Y/n, you’re incredible. You were incredible before this boy played with your heart and you’re incredible after. No boy determines your self worth. And also, I saw Gwen Stacy peeling a banana from the bottom and I don’t think shes someone you should aspire to be like.”

You laughed heartily and leaned your head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around your shoulders and kissed the side of your head, settling comfortably into a silence.

“Thank you, Peter. I really didn’t think I was gonna laugh tonight.” You looked at him through your teary lashes.

“I got you.” Peter assured you.

“I know it’s stupid, but I take it personally when someone doesn’t like me back.” You shrugged. “I know I shouldn’t but I just do. It makes me feel like there’s something wrong with me.”

“A lot of people feel that way. Rejection can really hurt. Trust me, I know first hand how much it stings when the person you like doesn’t like you back.” Peter laughed sadly, thinking of you as he spoke.

“I know.” You sighed. “Usually I get over it pretty quick but it was different with Brad. He was the first guy I actually liked since…” You trailed off.

“Since what?” Peter pulled away so he could look at you. You chewed your bottom lip and stared at him, letting your eyes slowly trail down his face. You had already lost one friend today, you didn’t have much else to lose.

“Since I fell in love with my best friend.”

You could see Peter processing what you had said in real time. He went from surprised to confused to upset.

“You’re in love with MJ?” He asked, not knowing how he could possibly lose you to two people in one day. You squinted your eyes at him and looked to the side.

“You’re so close.” You told him.

“Ned?” He gasped and touched a hand to his chest.

“Getting colder.”

“I’m entirely out of options.” Peter nodded and you laughed. “You’d think me of all people would be better at this.”

“Why?” You cocked your head.

“Because, coincidently, I am also in love with my best friend.” Peter smiled shyly.

“I can’t believe we have to fight over Ned.” You leaned in and brushed your nose against his.

“I can’t believe we just admitted we liked each other without actually admitting we liked each other.” Peter’s laughter at his own joke was cut short by you kissing him, resting your hand on the back of his neck to pull him closer. He held your face between his hands, kissing away any heartbreak Brad had caused. When you pulled away, a gentle smile rested on his lips.

“I’m never gonna play you, Y/n. Know why?” He asked.

“Why?” You smiled warmly at him.

“Because I’m in this for the long game.”

Tag List 🏷

@maybemona @foreverxholland @damnyoudameron @lavender-writer @captainmandeestudent17 @whatareyouhidingpeter @takenbyheartstrings @ultrunning @imyourliquor-youremypoison @theolwebshooter @andreasworlsboring101 @guksmyfav @waiting-to-be-myself @letsloveimagines @peterparkoure @a-villain-vying-for-attention @justcallmehitgirl @averyfosterthoughts @jackiehollanderr @tiny-friggin-human @celestial-skylines @mara-twins @iamaunicorn4704 @spideygirl2003​ @the-crazy-fanfictionist @maryjanee23 @spacebitch2 @geeksareunique @emmamarshmellow @jillanaholland @unbelievableholland @rebekkah4766 @flixndchill @sovereignparker @wendaiii @thisisthebiplace @spideydobrik​ @every-marveler-ever @undiadeestos @caelestii-e @eridanuswave @itscaminow @fiantomartell @solarxmoonchild @where-art-thau-romeo @canyouevencauseicant @illwritetomorrow @thehappygrungelife @saysomethingspiderman @parkerboop @smilexcaptainx @hes-amarillo​ @quaksonhehe @kelieah @silteplaittais-toi @kickingn-ames @purefluff @seasidecrowbar @lovelessdagger @love-sick-blues @electraheart-3174 @lou-la-lou @unbelievableholland @yourtypicalhotmess @ohnothezombies @spideyanakin @horanxholland​ @thesuitelifeofafangirl @anapocalypseinmymind @gninwodacrie @quacksonfics @marshxx @heyheycharlatte @nooneinvitedfascistbarbie

[kylos]

Finding high quality film/tv rips, saving the large files, and screencapping them are half the battle for gifmakers when setting out to make a gifset. Here’s a little guide on this process, including my advice on

Where to download stuff

Where to store your movies/shows

Screencapping programs

Making gifs as HQ as possible, including tips for picking out what to download when you have multiple options (not all 1080p rips of the same movie or tv episode are the same quality and I explain why)

Why screencaps of 4k movies can look weird and washed out and how to fix that

and more

✨ You can find my gifmaking 101 tutorial here and the rest of my tutorials here.

Where can I download movies and shows?

First off, I prefer direct downloading rather than torrenting stuff because it’s faster and with torrenting, there’s more of a risk. Other people downloading the same torrent can see your IP address. This means movie studios can find out you’re downloading their content and can send you a warning letter. The download speed also varies depending on how many other people are seeding it. I would only do it if it’s your only option and you have a VPN or something.

This is THE best guide for pirating I’ve ever seen. I use it for finding sites for books, music, you name it. The part of the guide you’d want to look at is where it says Direct Downloads Link (DDL) sites. My favorite place is Snahp. These ddl sites will have links to their movie/tv rips that are typically hosted on one of these two sites: google drive or mega.nz. You can download stuff from both of those sites for free, but with mega, they have a 5GB file download limit unless you have a premium account. I personally pay the $5 a month membership for mega because it’s worth it imo. You can buy a subscription through the mega app found on the iphone app store (so you’re billed through apple and it’s less scary than giving a random site your credit card info lmao) and as for androids I think mega has an app on there too.

So basically, if you go to http://snahp.it, they’ll have rips for different movies and shows.

You click on the movie title and it’ll take you to a page where they have links for the video which they have uploaded on a variety of sites (including mega).

How do I make my gifs as HQ as possible?

It’s best to gif things that are 1080p. And usually the higher the file size, the better. A really important thing to note is that not all 1080p bluray rips are the same. The piracy groups that rip these files take uncompressed .mkv rips from discs that are anywhere from 10gb to like 50gb, and then run that through video converters to compress the file down so that they’re 2-8gb. Sometimes when that happens, the video quality goes down a LOT. The same goes for TV episodes. One rip could be 800mb, the other could be 3gb and both could claim to be “1080p” but the quality would be NOTICEABLY different. Your best bet is to always pick the rip with the highest file size.

I’ll show you an example with this scene from You’ve Got Mail.

I downloaded 2 different 1080p rip versions of the film. Both claim to be 1080p, but one is 2.41 GB and the other is 9.75 GB. After taking screencaps, it’s obvious that there’s a BIG difference in quality.

(these pictures are best viewed on desktop tumblr)

When it comes to Blu-ray rips, download remux versions of films and shows if possible. Remux means .mkv files that are uncompressed and straight from a Blu-Ray disc. Giffing remux rips cuts down on the possibility of seeing pixel-y effects a LOT in my experience. It’ll take a bit longer to download than typical 1080p rips but it’s worth it imo.

For TV episodes, if you can’t find a Blu-Ray rip, uploads with the word AMZN in it are usually the highest quality and your best bet (unless you see another upload that’s higher in file size - again: always try to pick the highest file size). 'AMZN’ means they’re from a person that ripped the episode from Amazon Prime Video.

Also, even better than 1080p is 4k (2160p). I only really recommend this though if you know you’re going to gif something up close and crop it a lot - like if it’s a big 540x540px close-up gif of a person. You’ll REALLY see the difference if it’s a 1080p vs 4k rip in that situation. I usually don’t bother with giffing 4k files unless it’s the case above because my laptop lags when taking 4k screencaps and it takes longer to load them into photoshop (4k screencaps are usually about 60mb each!)

⭐️ Another thing that’s important is making sure that when you actually make your gifs, you set them to the correct speed (.05 for movies and most shows, and .04 sometimes for reality tv and live broadcasts). Here’s my gif speed guide. Having the right gif speed is really important for making a gifset HQ. You don’t want it to look too slow or too fast.

What’s your favorite video player to take screenshots with?

MPV player, hands down. And I’ve tried a TON of programs over the years. I’ve tried KMPlayer and found that it added duplicate frames (and even missing frames) which is horrible, and I’ve tried GomPlayer which is.....I’m just gonna say it, I’m not the biggest fan of it. It’s a little overly complicated in my opinion and it has ads. If you like these programs, more power to you! Use whatever you’re comfortable using. I just like MPV the most because it doesn’t have ads, it’s simple, you can take sequential screencaps with a keyboard shortcut, and it can play 4k movies.

Screencaps I take of 4k 2160p movies look so dull and washed out, like the colors aren’t right. Why is that?

That’s because your computer can’t handle HDR 4k video files. It probably can handle SDR 4k video files, but unfortunately, 99% of 4k rips out there are HDR.

[picture source]

Now, HDR displays just fine on computers that have 4k-HDR capabilities, but most older computers don’t have this ability. Having said that, MPV - the video player I mentioned above can take a 4K-HDR video and fix the colors/lighting in real time so it displays correctly AND take screenshots of it with the fixed colors. If you have an older version of MPV, make sure you download the newest update for this. In my general gifmaking tutorial, there’s a portion on how to install this program on macs. I also just made a video tutorial on how to install it on pcs here!

High quality TV and Movie rips can take up a LOT of space on my computer. Where do you store your files?

I store them on external hard drives. External hard drives are like flash drives but they have a MUCH higher storage capacity. You just plug them into your computer via a usb cord when you need access to the files and it’s that easy. I have two of these Seagate 4TB hard drives in different colors so I can easily pick out whichever one I need. I have silver for my movies (because it makes me think of “silver screen” lmao and it’s easier for me to remember) and then I just have a blue for shows. Now, external hard drives of this size can be $$$$ but it’s worth it imo. Look out for when they’re on sale.

What’s the size limit for gifs now?

It’s 10mb! It used to be 3mb and then last year Tumblr upped it to 5mb. Some gifs initially had distortion because of Tumblr’s switch from the .gif to .gifv format, but they’ve fixed the problem AND increased the upload limit to 10mb.  Just make sure not to add any lossy to a gif.

Lossy is basically a grain you can add to a gif to lower the file size down. Gifmakers (including myself) used to use this as a trick to get the file size down under 3mb. However, since the .gifv update on Tumblr, any gifs with Lossy added will look distorted like it’s a gif made on a phone app or something.

_________________________________

That’s it for this guide! Again, feel free to check out my other tutorials on photoshop, how to center subtitles, download hq movie trailers, and more ✌️

UPDATE 6/23/20 ⚠️

I’ve gotten an ask about this problem 3 times since I’ve uploaded this tutorial, so I thought I’d add this in. If you are experiencing duplicate and/or missing frames in mpv, it is a glitch with the latest version of mpv. download an older version like 0.29.0. this happened to me on my mac and downloading an older version fixed the problem.

[cellard0ors]

Fic: Movement (4/5)

Still working on this for @peachworthy. Should wrap up sometime this week or next and then the full thing'll get posted to AO3. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 here for now!

They decide to do it on a Saturday night.

Link has the weekend off from work and no classes. Rhett’s schedule is also free. They discuss the matter in terse terms, both seeming nervous about the idea, but neither backing down.

As such, Saturday rolls around with little fanfare until late into the evening. An evening that finds Link sitting on the couch, one of his legs jiggling and bouncing about as he waits for Rhett.

Rhett comes out to the living room holding a pillow and he offers it to Link. Link looks at it with some confusion and his friend clears his throat, eyes darting away, “For your lap.”

“My-?” Link looks down and then to Rhett and then…oh. Link colors, realizing that the pillow is to be used in order to cover any potentially ‘arising’ situation on his part. Feel exposed yet stubborn, he remarks dryly, “Don’t think I’ll need that.”

Rhett lets out a loud laugh and pats him in the chest with it, “Trust me. If I’ve done my job right? You will.”

“…point taken,” Link says softly and he takes the pillow, settling it over his crotch. To be fair, he probably will pop wood. After all, he sometimes pops it when Rhett’s full clothed.

Nude?

Yeah.

Link presses down on the pillow harder, even the errant thought of a nude Rhett causing a stirring. Rhett walks to the television and fiddles with the remote.

An app that Link’s noticed before, but never bothered with, is clicked on. Erotes Plus. The screenshots for the videos that come up are…certainly something. Link looks away, almost overwhelmed by all the bare flesh before him. The titles of the videos are also a bit much. Rhett notices and Link can hear the smirk in his voice as he says, “Prude.”

Link scowls and glares back at him and the screen. He is nota prude. However, titles such as ‘Lonely Housewife Squirts for The First Time’ and ‘He Rides His Daddy Dry’ would take anybody aback. At least Link would like to think so – he supposes some people are more immune than others. After all, his own history with porn is on the small side.

During puberty he’d taken his healthy peeks at nude magazines and a few of his friends had snuck out adult VHS tapes to check out, but for the most part it hadn’t interested him. Granted, this was probably due to his eventual discovery that – while he appreciated the female form – it didn’t draw his interest quite like the male one did.

And finding gay porn? Where he grew up? Yeah, pretty much a completely impossibility. And then – when he’d finally managed to snag some – it had, once more, disappointed. It all just seemed so cold and callous. Like a business transaction with a boatload of grunting. Not at all to his tastes.

Rhett, scrolling through the videos, finally finds one titled simply ‘Movement’ and turns to Link with an apprehensive glance, “Still plenty of time to say ‘no’.”

Link’s throat is dry. Unlike some of the other screenshots, this one is vaguer. It’s two forms silhouetted in shadow. One of those forms is Rhett. Link feels numb as he speaks, “I’m good.”

Rhett clicks the video and it begins.

He moves over and sits near Link, lounging against the other side of the couch in an oh-so-casual way. As if an adult video starring him hasn’t just begun to play.

The film opens with a lithe redhead in a yoga outfit doing various poses. While this is being shown the title card appears followed by the starring and since Link highly doubts Rhett goes by ‘Jenessa Star’, he can’t help but chuckle at, “‘Donatello Velvet’?”

“What?” Rhett asks simply and Link gestures to the television, “That’s you, isn’t it?”

“Problem?”

“That’s the screen name you chose?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing’s wrong with it, I just don’t see you as a ‘Donatello’,” Link grins at him and Rhett laughs, rubbing one finger along his top lip thoughtfully, “What would you’d’ve gone with then?”

“If I was doing adult film?” Link asks and at Rhett’s nod, he crosses his arms and thinks, “I don’t know…Bevin, maybe?”

Rhett tosses his head back and laughs and Link feels a fissure of delight at that sound, just as he always does. He turns back and the redhead’s poses have become…much more complex. Almost painful looking as she contorts herself to degrees Link wouldn’t think possible and then she rises, stretching out and that’s when Rhett enters.

Or maybe it would be better to think of it as Donatello enters. Yes, it’s a little easier that way and Link does his best to cling to that, to try and stay nonchalant as he offers dryly, “Well, well – there’s a familiar lookin’ fella.”

Rhett just hums and they both watch as he walks up to the woman. He runs his hands along her shoulders and down her arms, whispering into her neck huskily, “Good form.”

Link can’t help but let out a snort. Rhett rolls his eyes, “Okay, okay – I know, I know. Dialogue’s a bit-?”

“Bad?”

“…it could use some improvement.”

“Uh huh,” Link just beams and hey, this isn’t so bad. Cheesy and kind of silly and maybe it will just stay like this. Light and fun. For all Link knows, they won’t even watch the whole thing. Maybe just some of it and then they can turn on something els-!

Rhett begins kissing Jenessa’s neck, white teeth visibly dragging along her skin and Link’s whole body tightens. A phantom sting starts along the same side of his neck that Rhett’s touching on Jenessa. Jenessa’s whole throat arches back, a pleasured moan leaving her and Rhett’s tongue is…very pink.

Link’s Adam’s apple bobs as he says (much huskier than he’d like) “N-Nice camera work…”

Rhett just hums, “Mac’s always had a good eye.”

“Mac?”

“Mackenzie, the director of this one.”

Link just lets out a sound of acknowledgement as he watches Rhett reach around Jenessa and tug at her tank top. Tug until her small, pointed breasts pop free. He cups them in his hands and he has…great hands.

They looks so tan against her skin, palms rough and big, and Jenessa lets out a full throttle moan. Rhett teases the pink tips, fingertips agile as they play along the sensitive flesh, as they circle around her areolas.

She whimpers and turns, kisses him fully, passionately, and it’s…messy. Wet. Link can feel his whole heart thump hard at the sight. Janessa’s hair is shorter than Rhett’s – cropped close to her scalp and Rhett’s hands have abandoned her chest to run through the short strands.

Link barely stops himself from reaching up and touching his own hair, instinctively wanting to mimic how that might feel. To imagine Rhett doing it to him.

He tries not to fidget and talking, talking will help, “Surprised this isn’t more, ah, instant.”

Rhett shrugs, “Foreplay’s a thing, man.”

“No, I know,” Link knows his voice pitches a little high at this, defensive, “Just…figured, mean...’s porn…”

“Some of the earlier videos on here are like that, but when EP got bought out, the new owners took the company in a different direction.”

“EP?”

“Erotes Plus. The platform these films are on,” Rhett explains and then he starts mentioning a few things about different production companies and distributors and the like, but Link is too distracted because Jenessa is now fully naked and Rhett is on his knees between her legs, feasting on her moist lower lips.

The silken tip of his tongue is parting her, dancing along the bundle of nerves that is her clit and her head is tossed back on a loud, wild whine.

Her pale body undulates and she’s gripping his long hair so hard. Link feels as if he’s having an out of body experience. This is his roommate. His friend. The man he’s secretly in love with.

And he’s pleasuring this woman with such…focus. With intensity and finesse and when he rises, his erection is clear, straining at the linen pants that are containing it. Link points to the screen weakly, “Hippie clothes.”

The comment is stupid and unhelpful, but Rhett just laughs, “Yeah – kinda the theme of this series. I’m like, a Yoga Instructor or something? Least that's the way it was explained to me, so – linen pants, cotton top – I mean, we’ve had better costumes, but for this shoot-!”

Rhett is talking some more but, again, Link is barely listening. His eyes are transfixed by what’s taking place on the screen. Janessa easily strips off Rhett’s shirt and then his pants and – No. Underwear.

Link is seeing Rhett’s dick. It’s there…thick, but not as big as his own, a visible vein running along one side. Dusky dark and with a blushing pink tip and gently curling hair hiding his full, taunt sack…

“Link? Buddy? You doin’ alright?”

“Fine.”

“Lookin’ like you seen a ghost," Rhett teases, but there’s a breathless quality to his words, “My body all that bad?”

Link just shakes his head and watches as Jenessa strokes Rhett, as his head falls back and he lets out a shuddering gasp that Link feels in his very bones.

Link is suddenly very, very thankful for the pillow that bobs some as it reacts to the situation taking place beneath it. That situation being Link’s own dick perking upwards, making his jeans tight and constrictive.

“You…?” Something Rhett said finally seems to click in Link’s head, “You said this is a series?”

“Yup,” Rhett murmurs and now the film shows him pressing Jenessa against one of the studio walls and she raises one leg high. Insanely high. It’s a very gymnastic level move and Rhett slots his cock up with her opening, sliding hard and deep into her body.

Jenessa lets out a wail of pleasure as he presses in and she holds that leg up – all strength and grace as he begins to move within her at a steady rhythm.

Her hips answer some, but it’s more about how…open she is. And how deep he’s getting. They’re eyes are locked as he picks up his pace, rocketing in and out of her, shaking her whole form with his thrusts, her tiny breasts jiggling with each movement and movement, they call this…

“Got an award for this one.”

Thank God. That one comment draws Link back to some semblance of sanity even as his body quickens with an unspeakable longing, a carnal hunger that aches, “Really?”

“Uh huh,” Rhett says with no small amount of pride, “Best Sex Scene.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I mean, I owe it to her to be honest,” he waves to the screen, “She’s the one turning herself into a pretzel throughout this thing. Same for the rest of ‘em. They kept finding co-stars for me to work with who had had extensive training in this sort of body contortion. It was just my job to, uh, well…”

Rhett waves again and the answer is obvious: to fuck them through it. Link is not at all limber. In fact, he’s kind of a klutz. Nothing to match up with someone like this.

For some reason, this realization leaves him hollow. Cold. His arousal dims some, “Where’d you get the award from?”

“XRCO.”

Link makes some sound that would imply he understands, but he doesn’t. Rhett sighs, “Got nominated for Most Popular Male Performer on Pornhub but lost to Johnny Rockwell. Guy deserved it though. Performance he did that year was nuts.”

Link’s lost in the vocal cacophony that is erupting from the television speakers. Moans, gasps, grunts, cries of sheer ecstasy as Rhett and Janessa really ramp it up.

They’re in a different position now, Jenessa’s body once more arched at a crazy angle and Rhett's just...really getting in there. His hips are pumping double time, like a jackhammer, and she is loving it.

Her blue eyes are flashing with adoration, her lips curled in that moue that speaks to an almost pleasurable pain and Link can’t help but ask, “Are the others with her?”

Rhett takes a moment to process the question and when he realizes Link is asking about the other films in the series, he shakes his head, “Nah, man. You don’t usually have repeating partners. Like I said, they found other people who could bend in weird ways. The sequel to this sees me with Julian St. Croix. Great guy. Really smart. He’s actually working on another doctorate. Plans on working in the tech field when he retires, which – money he’s making, should be pretty damned soon. You want me to dial that up?”

Link just shakes his head. The idea of watching Rhett doing something like this with yet another person and with a man no less…

He feels crappy for, well, feeling crappy. This is Rhett’s job. He shouldn’t take this personally.

Besides, it’s not like Rhett knows how Link feels about him. To him, they’re just friends and he should play the part of friend – be a friend, a good friend, “I can see why you won the award, Rhett. You’re doing a…a great job. Real good acting.”

The sound of the shocked (yet oddly sharp) laughter that leaves Rhett at that actually causes Link to finally look at him.

Rhett’s face is a ruddy red, like he’s embarrassed or something, and he’s looking at Link with a bit of a wildfire in his eyes, “‘Good acting? Are you serious?”

Link finally shifts about on the couch (which feels fantastic considering his body has been fighting off a plethora of sensations for a while now) as he fully turns to him, pillow still firmly in place, “Of course! I mean, it-it seems like you’re really into this girl,” he gestures to the screen, “when you’re doing this and I imagine that’d take some acting chops.”

He chews on his bottom lip and lowers his gaze, hands ghosting over the pillow as he talks to it more than Rhett, “Un-unless you really are into her.”

“Into her?” Rhett pokes one finger over to the television, “Into Janessa?”

“Yeah, I mean…if-if you two are a couple or-or were one or-?”

“Me and Janessa?” Rhett asks incredulously and some of the heat seems to leave him. Link gets the impression that Rhett had, for a moment, been mad or affronted by Link’s well intentioned compliment, but now is completely changing track. Now Rhett seems charmingly baffled, “You think I’m into Janessa?”

“I-I was just saying if you’re not into her in this,” Link waves to the screen where (seeing as the volume is dying down) it would seem the film is reaching its conclusion, “Then the acting is good and if you are-!”

“I’m not,” Rhett confirms firmly, “I am very much not, nor was I ever, into Janessa. We’re friendly, but we’d never work as a couple, man. She likes cats.”

Rhett says the last as if it’s a blasphemy and Link can’t help but giggle, suddenly feeling bright and light even though he knows better than to do so, “Problem?”

“Not a big fan of lil demons…”

“Noted, “Link sighs and he feels much, much better. The film is finally over, he’s seen some of Rhett’s work, and he can now say the following with sheer confidence, “I’m proud of you.”

And with that, Rhett freezes. He freezes solid, back going ram rod straight, and his eyes – they’re as round as dinner plates.

Big and green and looking at Link like’s a wild anomaly and Link worries that maybe he, somehow, inadvertently offended him with the remark so he’s quick to explain, “I-I mean it, bo. I’m proud of you. Going out there and-and doing something like this. Being so…so exposed and vulnerable and for anyone to see and yeah, sure, I mean, I guess it’s just for people to-to beat off to or whatever, but when you think about it, it’s something that brings people pleasure, which is a lot better than bringing something bad into people's lives and I know some would argue that porn is like, some gateway into violent dark tendencies or whatever, but for the average person it’s a good thing to explore and the fact you can so freely provide that to them and not be ashamed-!”

Link is blathering.

He’s a blathering idiot.

But he feels like if he stops talking, Rhett might snap at him. Or be mad. Or-!

But instead Rhett just shakes his head and whispers, “You’re unbelievable.”

Link’s diatribe cuts off. His blood stops in his veins. He feels completely seized.

“I’ve been trying so hard…fighting with everything in me,” Rhett breathes and he just…eases forward, eases closer. He’s in Link’s personal space and Link wonders if he should back up or something.

He can feel the heat coming off Rhett’s skin. His breath is bathing Link’s face as he rasps, “But I can’t anymore. You’ll have to forgive me, but…”

Rhett kisses him.

Rhett. Kisses. Him.

Rhett kisses Link.

Their lips meet in the smallest, quickest, sweetest little peck. The sound of it, the quick wet click of their lips…it’s earth shattering, sound-barrier breaking.

And Link feels his whole nervous system lurch at it. And Rhett is still looking at him, searching his eyes wildly. Link blinks and licks his lips and tries to speak, but there’s nothing to say.

Rhett just grins softly, “Bad for business…that’s what you are…”

Link’s gaze dips to Rhett’s mouth. To his lips. Lips that were on his seconds ago. His eyes feel heavy lidded as he gulps and Rhett just huffs as he kisses him again. Again.

Another kiss and this one is more than just a peck. This one? This one is the one Link’s been dreaming of, the one he’s been wishing for.

This kiss is perfect.

[bunsblr]

Allright, finally got around to writing another part of my tutorial. In this part I will go over how I paint shadows on the body and some other stuff. Let’s just get into it!

Open this in dashboard for best view of the screenshots.

Disclaimer: I have no formal training for any kind of graphics stuff, I work in an office as a receptionist - I serve coffee for a living. I am absolutely self taught and while I consider myself pretty comfortable with photoshop, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t about a gazillion of other things that can be done that I have no idea about. There are people far superior than me in the Sims community. This is just how I do it, with techniques I have picked up through the years. Some things I go over in these will be pretty basic, some things a little more unorthodox. Disclaimer 2: My edits take time. This is what I do to relax, one edit takes several hours for me. Sometimes days :))) Disclaimer 3: My photoshop is in Swedish, which is my first language. I tried my best to find the English translations for every step that I do.

Tools used: The Sims 4, Adobe Photoshop 2020, One by Wacom Pen Tablet (very basic and unfancy).

When we stopped the last time we had just painted some shadows on the face and chest area. Now I continue with all other parts that’s showing skin. The hand has some of that wrongly places highlight thing going on, so I use the pen tool to section the hand out.

On the Sim layer, I choose a color of the hand that suits my purpose and I go over the area I want to "correct". I also removed the shadow on the wrist because I wanted to add my own.

Going back to the shadow layer, I use my shadow color and go over the part of the hand that would be facing away from our imaginary light source, as well as the part just under the clothing line. Then I blend by going over with a low opacity eraser brush again.

Between and around the fingers I usually add some extra definition with a smaller soft brush, using the same shadow color. Any uneven parts gets blended with the smudge tool.

The other hand just needed some shadow.

She's got leeeegs… Anyone else old enough to remember ZZ Top? No? Just me? Ok. I section out one of the legs, yes, using pen tool again.

I "color correct" the highlighted part on the front of the leg that I feel is in the wrong place.

I add my shadows on the front of the legs and under the skirt. Then I reverse my selection by clicking the Marquee tool, and right clicking in my picture. The english option should be called "Inverse Selection" or something like that.

I paint my shadow on the other leg, building up a little more color closest to the other leg to add separation between the two. And now since my selection didn´t section off the leg from the dress we've got some bleeding because I can´t be bothered by being precise.

I deselect and use the eraser tool with a hard brush and 100% opacity and start erasing the shadow parts I don't want, I'm careful not to go over any skin parts on the leg and hand. So this is a perfectly good method to use if you don’t want to section off using the pen tool all the time. I switch between the two depending on the size of the area.

I blend the parts of the shadows that I feel are too harsh with a low opacity soft eraser brush.

The foot had a little of that mucky highlight thing going on as well, so I mark that part of (pen tool) and go to my Sim layer.

I go over with an eyedropped color, and go back to my Shadow layer to start adding shadow with my shadow color. I draw shadows along the shoe part and underneath the sole of the foot. This is just to add some dept. Since this was such a small area I opted to not section the skin parts off, I just painted over the whole damn thing and went back in with an eraser to remove any unwanted shadow from the shoe parts.

I make a new layer for my Clothing Shadow, and copies the Sim layer mask onto this one as well by holding Alt, grabbing the layer mask and dropping it onto my new layer.

I eyedrop a color from the darker part of her dress and choose a darker more saturated version of that color. Usually I go with black for the clothing shadow, but it depends on the original colors of the clothes. With bright colors like this dress I go for a darker version of that color.

I definitely did not do myself any favours when I decided to have the light come from the back of this sim. Straight from the front is always easiest but hey, challenges is how we grow. I use a big ass soft brush and go over the front of the dress.

Aaaaand the pen tool is back again. I section off the arm of the dress.

I chose a slightly smaller brush than before (still pretty big though) and go over the part of the arm that´s facing away from the light. Then I invert the selection and paint shadows on the body under the arm, I build up a little more color here.

I deselect and now we´ve got a pretty sharp line around the shoulder where there naturally would not be. I go in with the eraser brush (low opacity, soft brush) and blend it out. I also blend the shadow that was on the front of the body since it was to harsh.

Now I realized that the light would not hit the hip that directly since the lower part of the arm is in the way, so I section off a big of the hip.

Since I don't work with especially harsh shadows, and since the arm is not directly in touch with the hip, I draw sort of a cone shaped shadow here. Not letting the tip of the cone reach all the way to the edge of the back.

I clean up a little more using smudge and eraser tool. She´s starting to look pretty good eh?

Now I want to merge all my Sim layers, but since I suffer from anxiety and can´t committ fully I want to keep all the layers as well. So I mark the Sim layer group and duplicate it (ctrl+ J), and hide the original Sim layer group.

I select all the layers in my new Sim layer group and merge them by pressing ctrl + E.

Now they´re one layer, without any layer masks. For the purpose of this tutorial I rename this layer Sim (when merging the way I do the new layer will take the name of the top Layer). Now this is our new Sim base layer, the old one is hidden away and hopefully we don´t have to touch that again because that would mean I would have made a major mistake somewhere that I can´t correct on this new layer. It’s very unlikely, but it feels nice still having those other layers as backup.

Since Sims is a video game we have some parts that are pretty square in our picture even though they wouldn´t be in real life. Time to smooth things out.

I go to Filter -> Liquify. This is like the smudge tool on crack. There´s a lot of things that can be done in here but in this particular case I'm going pretty simple. I use the smudge and go over any pointy bits that are'nt supposed to be pointy. I change the brush sizes to fit the area I'm working on. Some places need smaller brushes, some benefit from bigger ones.

Here's a comparison before and after of some of the things I corrected in Liquify. It's not a huge difference but it does looks nicer.

And that concludes part 4 of this tutorial. Don’t hesitate to message me if you have any questions.