#edited out the screenshot so the post was less long

[ajcrowlor]

| i have questions, i have doubts

i was originally drawing something else *coughDeanbirthdayartistillhaven'tfinishedcough* and was looking for a ref for Cas but came across this screenshot and felt the immediate need to shove the colours, contrast and shapes into my mouth and. well. heavily referenced w some tracey-trace bc apparently now im trying to figure out how to draw more realistic? what is a consistent art style? ahhh!

(mr collins why is your nose so hard to draw help ???)

[piningpercussionist]

(ooc)

I want you all to know that if I had the energy for it. There are so many posts stored in my drafts I long to queue... but neglected to preemptively tag, despite knowing I am Like This....

Anyway, there is a slight chance the queue might run out tomorrow unless I can get more responses in there-- I am,, tired,,

[llama-head]

See I’ve been on an accidental hiatus and now I’m getting back into the sims and all that but I just realized I haven’t cc shopped since like….may….I’ve missed so much

[aeyumicore]

EXPOSING MY IMPERSONATOR/HARASSER: @/IZUWUS.

edit: final update to this situation here

edit 2 (9/22): her new blog is @/clitfilms with an alias of naya. be wary interacting with her.

I have decided to move forward with exposing the person I know to be behind the @/exposingaeyumicore + @/aeyumicores (these two are the same account, just renamed), @/aeyumiicore, and @/minimimies accounts.

That person is another large, probably larger than myself, writer in this space. That person is @/izuwus.

The reason I have decided to expose: Izuwus has still not left me alone, since she took down the impersonator blog last Thursday (evidence in doc confirming the blog was self-deleted and not deleted by Tumblr). Yesterday, she stalked my Twitter, saw a tweet I made with an idea I had for a Sylus fic, and proceeded to steal the idea as her own, posting it onto her main. That was my breaking point. (More details and screenshot evidence in the document below).

I have spoken to the Tumblr Abuse Support Staff and they have confirmed that I can post this, and it would not be considered harassment as I am defending myself from the harassment I endured for the last almost 2 weeks.

I do not feel safe on my platforms. I will always be paranoid that Izuwus is stalking me. She will never stop. I have given her MANY opportunities to leave me alone. I have given them opportunities to confess privately. You will see all of those in my document, as well as even on my blog I have warned them publicly to leave me alone.

CLICK FOR LINK: EVIDENCE THAT IZUWUS IS EXPOSINGAEYUMICORE, AEYUMICORES, AEYUMIICORE, AND MINIMIMIES.

Please be warned, this document is 55 pages (and counting should I need to add more evidence). It contains heavy mentions of cyber bullying, harassment, and impersonation. The document contains video screen recordings and lots of screenshot evidence. That is why it is so long. I will try not to edit the document, but should more evidence arise, I will be adding it.

Note, I am not asking you to harass Izuwus, to unfollow, or to spread the word. I could not care less if this person loses or gains followers from this. If you decide to continue following them, I honestly don't mind, I won't hold any animosity towards you. We can still be friends, mutuals, etc. I just want to get my truth out, before she continues to twist the narrative in her favor.

As a note, I have literally almost never spoken to this writer prior to the events of August 17, where @/exposingaeyumicore was released. I am aware Izuwus has told some people that she and I are close (again I have proof). This could not be further from the truth. She literally had me soft blocked prior to this happening on August 17, and then hard blocked me with no warning after I responded to her in our DMs that I did think her new layout was identical to mine.

I also have never had any issues with any readers, writers, anyone on Tumblr prior to this debacle. Not in my asks, not in my messages, not publicly. I absolutely did not start this. She started this, and brought it to Tumblr. So I am letting the people of Tumblr make their own decisions.

I will not be mass-messaging this post to anyone. I will not be commenting this post to any of her posts. I will not be going down her list of followers and sending it to them. I will post it here, and my Twitter, and that's it.

I am posting this on my main blog, and not making a burner, because I have nothing to hide. Should Izuwus refute this, or continue to make ANY claims about me, I will not be responding. It is very clear that nothing she says can be trusted, and I have provided ample legitimate proof (using HER OWN screenshots + taking screen recordings).

Especially after the @/exposingaeyumicore post, I have proven my innocence time and again. I have nothing to hide. No reason to lie.

If any other harassment targeting me happens (impersonation, vile claims, photoshopped screenshots), or any other creators in this space for that matter, I think we know who it is.

I apologize if I am not able to respond to all comments, messages, or asks. I am so exhausted.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and if you decide to read the entire document, thank you again. Please stay safe online everyone. You could mind your own business and still be targeted. Be careful what info you share about yourself. Just be a good person.

[patheticbatman]

I haven't seen any posts about this yet but l've seen some fan art that makes me feel this needs to be said:

Don't forget Leah Sava Jeffries has darker skin when making Annabeth Chase fan art!

She is much closer to Lupita Nyong'o than Zoe Kravitz when it comes to shading, reflection, and complementary color usage :).

Lighting for dark skin is different on light skin. Light skin gets changed by lighting, and dark skin reflects the lighting. Below is a lovely shot of Nyong'o's character from Wakanda Forever in mourning. The filmmakers emphasize the umber qualities of her skin in contrast to the funereal white and (arguably harsh) light across her shoulder below.

Try to pick spots that aren't directly in or near the light, and try mixing 3 or more! You can put it into a color mixer online, or even color pick, lower the opacity, and lay the shades over each other until you find one that fits. And of course, the more 'realistic' you want to go with shading and lighting, the more shades you're going to want to be able to explore vivaciously :D.

Let's take a look at the same 3 beautiful actresses I mentioned at the beginning, with a bad color picked area and a better-ish color picked area. (Please keep in mind, these are not perfect comparisons, as I was not able to find pictures of all 3 actresses under the same kind of lighting.)

Kravitz's has a clear difference between the two, but they aren't too far apart, in comparison to Nyong’o’s and Jeffries’s. Note the dullness in the poorly picked shades as opposed to the better ones. Also keep in mind that while Kravitz has a rosy undertone (at least in that picture - it’s from The Batman, which has stylized coloring) Nyong’o has a slight cool undertone (I can’t pin down quite what, but the picture is definitely not stylized like Kravitz’s).

Jeffries runs more ochre or russet, but neither of those are pink. They are more red than terracotta or umber, but to call Jeffries’s face rosy would be wrong. Err more towards the golden when drawing her.

^^saved an image from a writing tutorial long ago, but can’t seem to find it. If someone recognizes it, I’ll link it. EDIT: it’s from this post. Thanks @autumnrowancollector ! <3

And also, the darker skin gets, the less likely warm undertones are going to appear. Don't be afraid to use blue or purple or even green on occasion!

Additionally, cool lighting on dark skin is always a win imo.

(I was going to use that picture of Jeffries as Annabeth by the lightning bolt, but then I realized the lighting on her face doesn’t quite match up with where it should hit from that angle, and I realized they kind of just turned everything bluer, so screenshot time!)

(Also if you want another really great live action example, check out anything Aldis Hodge is in, like Leverage and Black Adam)(and of course there’s Spiderverse <3 but I want to post pictures of Hodge)

Now, to here’s a list of more experienced people’s advice:

Black facial features & hair

Shading digitally for a (somewhat) monotone Black character

Stylistic choices and places to start looking for inspiration (besides a search engine).

Coloring Black people’s lips

A better coloration tutorial

Also a nice tutorial for Indigenous skin tones, just in case yall want to draw Piper or use this information for other dark skinned characters :).

EDIT: Some actresses who are closer in skintone to use for Annabeth, provided by the lovely @blackfemmecharacterdependency ! If you can’t find a reference for Jeffries in a specific lighting, maybe check out these ladies’ pictures! It’s a reblog, so scroll down.

TLDR: Don’t make Annabeth pink and pale, make her dark and golden.

[shiki-jin]

YOUR CELESTIAL MAJESTY • SAGAU

(part 0 here)

was listening to TruE on loop while writing the last part of this, it's genuinely such a good song ugwvdya

also can you spot the contradiction ;D it's plot relevant i promise

not proofread, dont bully me ill write a thesis on why youre a meanie

—

you had long deleted genshin, since you had other things to do. you had wanted to go back to the game for a while now, now that you were less busy, but there was just one little problem.

it was now taking up nearly triple the amount of space that it was when you uninstalled it. around 300 whole gigabytes.

jesus christ, what phone can even handle this???

your phone, apparently. because as you opened the game to see if maybe a miracle would happen and that if maybe they would just, like, remove half of the things in the game, it just… kinda loaded?

no installing new files, no checking for anything, no nothing…. just an immediate pan to the gates of celestia.

you decided to check if it was the right genshin since this was just way too weird, but countering your judgement, every link you found led you to the same game, leading you to believe it not to be a bootleg or an illegal version.

guess i’ll trust it then.

you clicked on the gates which opened smoothly, and your screen turned white. then, the symbols of the seven elements appeared in gray.

and then the game just… opened. no loading time, once again. no getting stuck on the geo symbol, nothing. nada. just a smooth entrance into what you had to assume to be teyvat — but your surroundings didn't really support that claim.

the grass was brown and just looked off, the sky was gray. a darker shade than, say, mond’s walls, but it was like one of those game crashes.

well, except you could still move around.

you moved your current character around (the traveller? since when were they the only one in your team?) and decided to open the map after not figuring out where you could possibly be.

hold on, this is springvale? since when?

eveything looked dead, like it had been rotting for a century. you tried to ignore it though, and teleported to the inside of mondstadt. surely this was just some glitch, right? one that would fix itself if you teleported?

maybe the world loaded incorrectly, maybe the fact that nothing took time to load meant that it couldn't load, maybe this or that, maybe…

maybe this really was how the game looked normally. you hadn't done any quests though, so you wondered if it could be restored.

you took a screenshot of the your surroundings — the stone, worn down and dirty. the houses which looked to be in a horrible state, and… the npcs, all sickly and pale, like they were starving.

you went to reddit (yes, reddit), and posted the screenshot, asking if it was normal.

you closed the game and decided to take a nap, too tired to really deal with this shit any further.

while you slumbered, people replied to your post.

╰┈➤ lol me too anon, me too

╰┈➤ isn't the game closed or wtv? how'd you get this wtf

╰┈➤ they're trolling

╰┈➤ o makes sense oops

╰┈➤ So we’re all still mourning huh

╰┈➤ jokes aside that's a super impressive edit ngl

you remained unaware of the truth, but you'd find out soon enough.

actually, you'd find out now, apparently…

what the fuck?? why is my bed so hard now?

you groaned and forced your eyes open, seeing a dark, nearly black sky.

the only light was a single star, lingering right above you.

“since when was i outside...?"

a voice spoke to you, answering your question.

“you always have been, have you not? but would you like to head inside, my lord?”

... huh? i recognize that voice...

—

p.s. place your bets on who it is, i’m thinking of one specific character but if there's a fan fav i'll make it them instead since i haven't written anything beyond this point (⁠・⁠_⁠・⁠;⁠)

p.s.s. don't expect updates to this series too quickly, i wish i could write as quick as i think of ideas but sadly that's not the case orz

[commandermahariel]

actually i really don't fucking get the whole ''anders was better in awakening" circlejerk. "sealene you have posted about this several times already isn't it enough" NO IT IS NOT

anders in awakening is a cliche funnyman guy whose motivations aren't particularly interesting or compelling. oh he likes cats and doesn't like templars and wants a pretty girl. truly revolutionized writing. it doesn't help, of course, that awakening is only like 15 hours long if you do all the side content, and really none of the companions are that fleshed out.

idk man i don't have any screenshots or long professional essays about character analysis i'm not that kind of blogger. i'm just some guy who finds the da2 version of anders much, much more interesting and compelling as a character. "oh they ruined him in da2" it's called fucking character development?????????????

anders in dragon age II is far from being a flawless person. some might even say he is a bad person, and while i don't really agree to that, i do see where those people are coming from. but he is an interesting character, one that provokes heated discussion even 13 years after the game's release. how often is there any meaningful discussion regarding awakening anders that isn't just "hur dur he was better back then"?

i don't even dislike awakening anders he's a fun little guy wish he wasn't voiced by fucking greg ellis tho but come on man would this man really be an interesting companion in something longer than a 15 hours long dlc with very little companion interactions

edit: i have a feeling this post might breach containment so in case it does -- i wrote this while being kinda sleep deprived and without thinking too deep, i was just pissed at dragon age reddit being stuck in 2016. i could have articulated my point better and with less generalization towards daa anders but i won't bother rewriting the post now because most people likely won't see the new version anyway

[lixzey]

The Unknown Number

A/N: ignore the time stamps 😆 i know, i know, but it's literally 2am when i edited this and i can't edit the time 😔

warnings: none? just that reader is italian and a lil bit of peach dissing [if you know, you know]

You were bored.

You were sitting alone in your hotel room, plans foiled by a stormy day, waiting for some miracle to happen. You were supposed to enjoy a beautiful day in New York; you had just arrived last night from Italy for a three-week vacation in America. You have planned this trip for so long. Originally,  your best friend Hailey was supposed to come along, but her family needed to go to Germany to visit her sick grandmother. Hailey had urged you to go on with the trip, practically forcing you to go to the airport and live your dream—the American dream you've been dreaming of since you were a little girl—and just enjoy, even without her.

You agreed, of course. You've been dreaming of coming to New York ever since you were eight; you weren't going to pass off the opportunity to fly to the place where your mother came from. Your mother left when you were eight—she died of cancer. As a little girl, you'd listen excitedly when your mother told you stories about her hometown. She painted such a vivid picture of New York City that you felt like you knew it like the back of your hand, even though you'd never been there. And now, here you were, sitting in a hotel room with nothing to do.

As you stared out the rain-streaked window, you sighed, feeling sorry for yourself and wishing Hailey was there with you. This was not how you had envisioned starting your vacation in the big city. You had been looking forward to exploring Central Park, visiting museums, and trying out all the famous New York food with Hailey. It just wasn’t the same without her. 

You took a deep breath, grabbing your phone from the nightstand beside you and deciding to scroll on Instagram to ease your boredom. As you mindlessly scrolled through your feed, something caught your eye—an advertisement for Wonka.

“Oh, I almost forgot about this,” you muttered to yourself, tapping twice on the post.

You have been a fan of Timothée Chalamet for less than a year. Hailey had been the one who introduced you to the young actor, and to your surprise, you were the same age as him. The first movie of his you’ve ever watched was Little Women, and you've loved him ever since.

You've been obsessing over his films like Dune and The King, loving every shot of him and admiring his beauty and talent. When you watched the trailer for Wonka, it was surreal to see him in such an unserious manner. Singing and dreaming about chocolate in his infamous purple coat.  

Continuing to scroll down your feed, you began seeing more of him, fan interactions, the red carpet, and movie promos. God, he's beautiful, you thought, moving to screenshot every photo you scrolled by. Mindlessly switching to Tiktok, where you see numerous edits of Tim on his premieres looking absolutely stunning in his colorful suits, left you imagining what else would be peeking under his jacket.

 “Is there anything you won't do for fashion?”

“Oh man, yeah, do it for the fashion.”

I’d do anything for you, all for you. You thought as you kept on scrolling some more to see character edits, ship edits—which you hated—thrist edits, and so much more that you couldn’t save anymore because you were running low on storage.

You sighed, closing the app, tossing your phone to the side, and plopping on the bed. This isn’t the American dream. You were supposed to be out, exploring New York, getting a sense of nostalgia from all of the stories your mother had told you years ago. But no, you were stuck in a hotel, scrolling through all of your social media feeds. God knows how many times you’ve scrolled through instagram and tiktok. You should be walking down Fifth Avenue, shopping and taking in the sights, eating hotdogs and pizzas as you walk through Central Park—maybe even running into a celebrity, hopefully Timothée Chalamet—not just stuck inside your hotel room moping.

What I’d give to have a moment with Timmy. 

Personally, you’d give the whole world just one minute with him. But you can’t help but wonder: What would any of Timmy’s fans give to just have one moment with him? Probably the same as you, but every person is different.

You grabbed your phone again, opening Instagram. As soon as the app opened, Timothée’s newest post greeted you.

He looked so effortlessly handsome, and it made the butterflies in your stomach flutter like crazy. You wished to be in Kylie Jenner’s place, but you could never be her. You’re just this plain girl that he would never even take a second glance at. You didn’t have a famous family, you didn’t have tons of fans, you didn’t have a successful makeup brand, and it’s sure as hell that you didn’t have a model body and a perfect face. You’re just a normal Italian girl with flaws. You had a belly, stretch marks, dark bags under your eyes from staying up late, cellulite, big arms, and acne scars from your youth. You were far from the girls he’d ever want. But you still love him nonetheless, even if you could only love him from afar. 

Tapping on his profile, you clicked on the message button. It was the only thing you could do—message him every once in a while. You wondered how many girls would freak out if Timothée Chalamet messaged them. It was a long shot, but if it ever happened to you, it was sure as fuck that you’d be either crying of happiness or faint. There’s no in-between, honestly. 

Suddenly, an idea popped into your head. 

Text random numbers and pretend to be Timothée Chalamet. 

It was a bad idea, sure, but when have you ever thought before doing shit? It’s only some harmless fun, right? You knew if you asked Hailey, she’d support you; no questions asked. So, there isn’t anyone else who’d tell you it’s a bad idea.

You opened your IMessage app, deciding to go with your stupid idea. 

“Here goes nothing.” you muttered, typing in the number Hailey gave.

You laid on your stomach, typing in a random greeting message, stifling your laughter before tapping the send button. “Sent.”

You couldn't stop laughing, you were honestly enjoying this even though it was wrong to catfish people. You were bored, this was the only thing that gave you smiles as the storm outside raged on.

You tried to stop laughing so you could type in a message for your next prank victim, failing miserably. You tossed your phone to the side, clutching your stomach as you let all of your laughter out of your body. It was absolutely funny to see people’s reactions, knowing all too well that you aren’t the real Timothée, and just riding along with your shit.

After a few minutes of laughing, you finally regained your composure. “Alright, onto the next.”

@helens3amstuff @gatoenlaciudad @thebetawolfgirl @lovemelikecrazyiloveyoucrazy @tchalamss @ashlynnmalfoy @crazycat-ladys-blog @michakune @mxltifxnd0m @spencerr3idd @dangelnleif @sthkate @ferrjulie @imnotoverlyobsessive @mel-vaz @elsagreeer @lovely-maryj @meowmeowmau @bobthe-turmpetman29 @saintcosette @ashisabitgay @ladyladybuggg @nyrasunderwrld @remussbitch @jadahxx @starrystormwritings @ell0ra-br3kk3r @dreary-salem @drewsandsebastianswife @greenapplegrass @lilianelena39 @haybellewrites @cloudlst @si4a @ev3ningrain @ttulipwritezz @lilmaymayy @bullets-from-another-dimension @siriuslycaptainofthedawntreader @reg-arcturus-black @marina468 @3stelar @timhalamet @st4rf00k3r @idli-dosa @jimins15thhair @blacksgarden

[reikurusu]

Because apparently I can't let anything go... So a few days ago I made a post about Buddy Daddies' first anniversary coming up and I wasn't going to make something "official" but the brainrot is too strong so here we are... This Sunday, January 7th, it's exactly one year since the first episode of Buddy Daddies was released! And I think that calls for a celebration! I put everything under a cut because this got really long

I came up with a few things that the fandom could do to celebrate this adorable family! Of course these are not exclusive things! If you want to contribute anything that's not listed below, go for it! 1. A weekly rewatch of the episode that aired a year ago Starting Sunday January 7th, we rewatch the episode that aired on that date last year. Nothing is stopping you from binging the rest of the episodes that day, of course! It would just be fun that a lot of us watch the same episode on the same day (or through a watch party if anyone knows how to do that)! 2. Create!! This is literally what it says: create! Just anything related to the episode of that week! There are so many options, but I'm just giving a few things I could come up with - Fanfics surrounding that week's episode. Dive into a scene you wished had more details. Write a scene you feel should've happened in the episode but didn't. Write a scene for a headcanon that you have. Really anything you want (it would be fun if it had something to do with that week's episode, but no one's going to punish you if it isn't). - Make a gifset for that week's episode. Make a set about your favourite character from that episode, your favourite moment, favourite quotes, favourite outfits,... Anything goes really! - Make fanart! There are so many talented artists in this fandom who make amazing pieces of art! It would be fun to see you make something that links back to that week's episode. I'm thinking about redrawing your favourite screenshot in your style. Draw your favourite moment. Draw a scene that you wish happened in the episode. Redraw your favourite piece of Lily art in your style! (I know this last one is less linked to the episodes but who cares). You brilliant people can probably come up with other things still! - Write a theory/headcanon/character analysis/... I have seen so many people write insightful posts about things that weren't explicitly shown on screen. There are characters we get very little background info over. Characters that we know a few things about but it feels like there can be so much more written about them! Write about your headcanons, both for past and future versions of the characters. Write your theories about certain things. It feels like there's still so much to say about this anime and a lot of people out there who know how to put those things into words! - Make an edit! This can be a video edit, a literal photoshop edit. Make wallpapers, phone backgrounds, profile pictures, memes,... Anything you want really! 3. HAVE FUN!! I know it sounds like it, but there really aren't any rules to this! Just have fun! It would just be fun that whatever you decide to post is in some way linked to the episode, but that's not set in stone, obviously! Just enjoy! I think it would be fun to dedicate a week to each episode (so a 12/13 week event if we count the recap episode), starting on the day that episode first aired last year and ending the day before the new episode aired (ex. for episode 1: starting on Sunday, January 7th and ending on Saturday, January 13th). You can decide if you just want to post something about your rewatching the episode or if you want to create something. If you want to make something, you can do multiple things if you want. And again: no one is going to punish you if you posted something from episode 1 during episode 2's week! We're all busy and don't always manage to get something done in time, so don't stress about not being able to finish something "on time". Lastly, I think it would be fun to make this into a hashtag as well! I thought of using the tag #Buddy Daddies Anniversary (very on the nose, I know, so if someone knows something more fun, please share it with the group). And like I said before: HAVE FUN!!

[maximilliansblog]

How to build your first fursuit head for ~$100 USD (2023)

What’s good furries? I’m sure a lot of you have a fursona and want to make your first fursuit. I recommend starting with a partial just in case you mess up or fall out of the hobby. It’s also less expensive!

This tutorial will only cover the head. I haven’t made any of the other stuff and I’m probably going to buy it online premade because I’m lazy.

1.) Have a reference sheet for your fursona.

If you are an artist, draw (the best you can) a reference sheet of your fursona from the front, side, and back. I made a little turnaround animation for mine, but this is not necessary.

Not an artist? Don’t want to draw? Commission someone to do it for you. I recommend Etsy, but you can find furry artists with open commissions all over the internet.

No money for commissions? You might be out of luck. Ask a friend or draw it the best you can. Alternatively, you can edit someone else’s fursona reference sheet to make it look like your fursona. Yeah, it’s stealing. Just don’t post it and act like it’s yours 👍

You can also go into the Roblox game, Catalogue Avatar Creator, and assemble something that looks kind of like your fursona. Take a screenshot of it from the front, side, and back, then go into a photo editor (I recommend IbisPaint or MediBang Paint, they are both free) and add in your special details.

I recommend not making your first fursuit super complicated or some kind of rare species. But you do you. It will just be really hard.

Also determine what style of fursuit you want. Toony? Kemono? Realistic? (I don’t recommend realistic for your first fursuit but you do you). This will be important later.

2.) Find Shit to Build It With

Once again, I recommend Etsy. You’ll need:

+ all the fur colors you need (try 2-3)

+ eye mesh

+ 3D printed mask

+ hot glue gun and hot glue sticks (dollar store)

+ needle and thread (dollar store or Walmart)

+ balaclava

+ styrofoam head

+ fabric scissors

+ extra foam pieces for ears or horns

Assemble all of that. It should be around $80-120 USD.

Your 3D printed mask is the most important thing. Another reason to get a relatively common species. Mine was a dragon. Remember the fursuit style you picked earlier? Search on etsy “3d printed [style] [species] furry mask” and you should be able to find one. You can also get pre-made foam heads. I don’t recommend trying to make your own head base, because A) it’s hard and B) those materials cost more money.

This shit will take a while to come in so don’t get too excited about it. My mask took like a month because it came from Germany.

3.) Mark the Color Spots on your Head Base

Basically just take a sharpie and outline the different color regions on your headbase. You can also use a pencil if you’re a pussy /j

4.) Uhhhh Eyeball That Fabric Pattern and Hot Glue the Pieces to Your Headbase

Some people use duct tape to make a pattern. That did not work for me! So I eyeballed it. Made some mistakes. That’s okay.

5.) Trim Down the Fur Length

Most people use clippers for this but I didn’t want to buy any and I didn’t know how to use them so I did it VERY CAREFULLY with scissors.

6.) Fill in the Cracks Between Your Hot Glue Seams With Loose Fur

Look at all this damn fur on the floor! If only there was something to do with it!

Put hot glue between the super visible seams where you hotglued different pieces of fabric next to each other, then pack in some of that loose fur. Cut it down if it’s too long. The seams will be less visible.

7.) Hot Glue the Eye Mesh Behind the Eye Holes

VERY CAREFULLY hot glue this so your character isn’t cross-eyed. You can try follow-me eyes but I didn’t do that with mine.

8.) Add Your Extra Details

You know like whiskers or plastic teeth or a tongue or anything else you want to put on there.

Now you’re done with the mask part.

9.) CAREFULLY Hot Glue Your Balaclava to the Inside of the Mask

The eye hole should be where your eye mesh is so that you can see out. Also make sure some of the balaclava is glued to the top of the mask.

10.) Weigh Down Your Styrofoam Head With a Heavy Rock

Or put it on a stand. Or hot glue it to the table. Whatever works.

11.) Put the Balaclava that you Glued to the Mask on the Styrofoam Head

Pretty simple. The reason we weighed down the styrofoam head is because the front of your mask will be heavy and make it fall over while you’re trying to work.

12.) ????? Put Fur On the Balaclava

You’ll also need to like add some fur connecting the sides of the mask to the balaclava. Hard to explain. You’ll probably figure it out?

13.) Trim that Fur and Put the Trimmings in the Seams Like Before

14.) Take it off of the Styrofoam Head

You may need to cut a slit in the back of the neck of your fursuit head. Not only will it help get the styrofoam head out, now your head can get in and out too!

15.) Put it on

Edit it if something is wrong. It might feel crooked but it’s probably not.

16.) Enjoy!

Hopefully this was helpful! This is how made mine.

[thisisyourprincipalspeaking]

i do wonder what the air is like up there on the high horses that the lonely are sat upon. it must be thin, as it seems to be making them forget things. especially their own behavior.

for our new and returning students, the lonely have been around for quite some time, and they will let you know. they will also tell you how much they know and how important their thoughts are because of it. but it wasn’t the current proprietors who built this reputation. no no. the current cannot match up to the original. nor can they match the level of authenticity their page once held. now, they claim they need to respond to those who they view as tearing down a fandom they believe themselves to be the queens of. they need to stand up to these troublemakers and provide facts . to debunk the lies. they have made their blog’s personality all about pointing fingers and placing blame on other bad actors, while refusing to acknowledge what they have become. they are a shell of their former selves. a joke. long gone are the days of thousands of interactions with their posts, or of being seen as a pillar in their fandom, or even of being a source of actual information. they were once even a frequent target of those who they now call friends and openly post with. poor them. victims always.

in days past, they posted horribly offensive commentary on past girlfriends of the actor who they claim to be fans. namely, of her looks. ask them, and they never did that. now, they are friends with the mods who were creating edits of the actor’s now wife portraying her as a literal child. but that is just fine by them. they are all on the same side now. it’s in the name of cleaning up the fandom. however, you won’t find evidence on their blog of their vile behavior and former comments; no, that's because they deleted it all in order to hide the evidence. they’ll claim it never existed.

it does. i’m sure their new friends have the proof, too.

these two groups who have now merged, they do not only create burners, send anons, and send hate to others, but they send it to themselves too. please sympathize with these blog mods who are victims of this online meanness. if you don’t feel for the victim, for them, you are a monster and that’s your burden. you are also delulu and just want this actor to pick you. they had thousands of interactions in months and years past but now get less than a handful of likes. all of these current likes and notes come from the former enemies but now friends blogs. they post nothing about the actor they claim to be here for. they post no news, nothing about his projects other than the widely reported pap photos. they have sources but know nothing about upcoming projects. claiming you have a photo does not insider-info make. they just want to tear down the other side.

they claim to have sources such as pics of the couple’s house. other sources that want to talk about his private life. but they will not tell you or show you. their new friends have the floorplans of a house that is where the actor is from, so they do too. a new friend travels to the area and it is definitely not there for the actor, but to question it means you'll be made fun of relentlessly. that magazine article is definitely going to happen. this fall. maybe next spring. there is no way they would get false info. they are too experienced. they know all and are the voice of the fandom. don’t you dare question them.

do you want to know where your following went, lonely? you pushed them away. you insulted them. you are arrogant, rude and lost all credibility to have those nuanced conversations you so desire. you made your personality to be about prioritizing getting a rise out of the other team. you, and I mean both of you, have become a laughing stock, blocked by so many.

you have me blocked, but everyone knows blocks don’t mean anything when screenshots fly around within minutes. feel free to call me names. to send your burner accounts after me. you have become a joke. looking forward to your next post and its three likes from yourself and your “friends”. or your reasoning for now being friends with those who spoke so horribly of you.

how disappointed queen and mrs potts must be with you and what you have made their account become.

[katzkinder]

Okay so the dichotomy between your Sakuya Cherry Bomb idea and Yarra's Kuro vtuber is hilarious to me because like.

Sakuya: Fans only know him as Cherry Bomb and don't know anything about him outside of his music.

Vs

Kuro: Vtuber Lore is literally just his life but it should be fine because people dont know vampires are real.

I FUCKING FOUND IT. LINK TO THE CHERRY BOMB POST 🍒💣

Anyway one of the reasons for the difference is I headcanon Sakuya as being a 90s kid! as in, he died in the 90s--

This, naturally, makes him a lot more wary about the info he puts out there on the internet, but it also means his internet experience was molded by Ye Olden Days when creators were a lot less available to their fanbases and interacted with them very little, if at all.

He doesn't even have a fanart hub, and his icon is just a random street in tokyo he thought looked nice.

His classmates REALLY do not get why Sakuya is so paranoid, so Sakuya shows them how easy it would be for a super dedicated person to figure out exactly where Mahiru’s apartment is using his cooking tutorial videos (uploaded under the channel name "Sunny Mama" courtesy of Kuro) and basic realtor research

Things like Mahiru apologizing for any construction noise and using the time stamp to figure out which apartment complexes had construction in their vicinity during that time, floor plans, how even his living situation and the model of his appliances can all be used to narrow down the area he lives in.

“He lives with his uncle and the camera man, which means at least two rooms. We can see the stove top and the front of the oven, so I take a screenshot of that and… Ah, this is the brand. Now I research the model. Okay, I have two components. He mentions that he walks to school, so that’s a two bedroom apartment in Tokyo within walking distance of a high school with good quality appliances, which means I can rule out a lot of run down complexes. This grocery bag was in frame during this video, and a high school kid Mahiru’s age wouldn’t have a license, so now I add that name of the store to my list of things I know are around the complex because when you go grocery shopping, you don’t want to carry the bags a long distance home…”

The faces of his friends are full of horror.

"And that’s not even getting into the drinking with uncle segment that happens in their living room, with full view of the balcony because Mahiru hates the place getting musty so he leaves the curtains open a lot. Knowing what buildings are viewable from there can also tell someone where a place is, especially if you’re thorough enough to consider the angle you’re seeing everything at.” Sakuya glances up and closes his laptop. “So, yeah.”

Mahiru makes a Noise, fretting, "Wait, so what do I do now??"

Sakuya feels a little bad for scaring his friend, but it's for his own good! “Keep your curtains closed, make sure the screws in your door frame are the really long kind to prevent someone from just kicking the door off its hinges, don’t get electronic locks because it’s stupid easy to trick those into unlocking, and just… Be more careful? Wear a mask from now on and go back and edit footage to remove your face from the visible shot. Try and keep things focused on your hands instead, maybe…”

"Should I get rid of the drinking with uncle part? Since that always focuses on Uncle Tooru's reactions..."

"He’s a grown up and an old man. Nobody’s going to be interested in pulling him into a windowless white van unless it’s those creep show friends of his…”

"Wh--Why would anyone be interested in pulling me into a windowless white van?!"

"Sex trafficking."

"Eh?"

"Or stealing your organs."

"Eh?"

“Or even just some obsessive pervert who’s built up some kind of fantasy in their head that you’re fated for one another but you just don’t realize it yet.”

"What."

As you can tell. Yeah. Sakuya really internalized those 90s internet safety psas. He's also well acquainted with the idea of a very dedicated stalker for. Reasons.

Tsubaki voice: that boy just isn't right...

[thefayecoven]

Do people talk about Stevedrian (Steve x Adrian) on here? This is a crack ship I found on tiktok that caught my eye because of how absurd it was , and I ended up making a bunch of screenshot edits / art of them.

(I doubt it will but if this art catches your eye and you redistribute it remember to credit me-)

Tumblr has been lacking on content from me (sorry) so I’ll spill some details :3 In my extended owl house S3 AU, the Hexside students aren’t exactly without adult figures !

In the aftermath of the day of Unity, Steve manages to save Adrian and they end up traveling together upon not having many options + due to Steve’s general compassion and having related to Adrian’s sibling troubles, as he was having some of his own (Mattholomule heavily upset with him for knowing about the mission to put sigils on Hexside students and not putting a stop to it).

I’ll tap into Adrian’s backstory / his sibling and parents in another post, but long story short, Steve makes up with Matt and is permitted to stay to help with the efforts against the collector, and Adrian is permitted to stay solely because his sibling in Hexside hesitantly vouches for him under the guise of him being able to give them vital information only a coven head would know. And thus begins a Steve and Adrian rebellion partnership !

Even their acquaintanceship is rocky at first. This crack ship is definitely not an immediate thing, and romance isn’t even on the table until months after, so def not one of those stories if that’s what you’re looking for.

They don’t really have much of a choice other than to build a bond with one another given that they’re the only adults in the New Hexside boarding situation, but they do eventually. I’m lacking on details at the moment because I haven’t fully run through episodes (though I have lots of ideas!!) but Steve’s growing fondness of Adrian comes with Adrian’s development as a person.

Steve is civil to him in the beginning because that’s the kind of person he is, not because he liked Adrian or was fond of his personality. Adrian is a very selfish, vain individual after all.

It’s only after he begins to defend the students more, engage in teamwork, become less self absorbed and more of a caring individual (to a degree..) and focus more on those around him than himself and his needs that Steve is able to genuinely take a liking to him.

On the other hand, Steve doesn’t need to change as a person for Adrian to take a liking to him. Adrian just needed to get his head out of the gutter, aka unlearning asshole behavior that made him cold , uncompassionate and uncaring towards.. everyone 💀 it’s only when he slowly begins to unlearn this trait of his that he’s able to appreciate Steve more, and the two can equally care for one another.

As for any romance, I guarantee they had a smooch or two right when Belos was defeated, but completely forgot about it and/or avoided the topic for as long as possible until they finally got together or whatever. I’m more for dynamic over romantic tropes so if I ever write them as a couple it’s not gonna be spectacular. I can draw it though!

Speaking of which, timeskip Steve and Adrian incoming as my final screenshot edit lmaooo

[randomfoggytiger]

David Duchovny's Face: an Aesthetics Study

(Courtesy of: Deborah Feingold)

Wanting to learn more about fashion and knowing I retain information better by mapping it onto areas of previous interest, I've decided to craft a post analyzing David Duchovny's face-- specifically, its Masculine vs. Feminine dynamic.

In this incredible video by dear peachie (whose research is far superior to and more knowledgeably vast than most other beauty or fashion sources out there), the Masculine vs. Feminine attributes of the face are examined to highlight physical traits and others' perceptions; and how that balance shifts and changes with personal styling, colors, techniques, and ultimately age.

**Disclaimer**: I am a noob.

MASCULINE AND FEMININE AESTHETICS

dear peachie begins Part 1 by stating:

"Our face is inarguably the first thing people notice."

The video then explains the Japanese method of identifying one's overall "vibe" by Masculine or Feminine attributes to the face, and specifying up front that Masculine does not equate to a "manly" appearance (and leaving the audience to assume the same rule applies to Feminine and "womanly" respectively.)

The screenshots below illustrate the basics of this concept; but know that I'm just scratching the surface because of the "only 30 images per post" Tumblr mandate.

COMPARING MASCULINE AND FEMININE VISUAL AESTHETICS

Masculine Aesthetics have angular or prominent bone features to their cheekbones, jaw, or nose bridge while Feminine Aesthetics have fleshy or less prominent bone structures.

Masculine Aesthetics have eyes likely positioned higher on the midface ratio whereas Feminine Aesthetics have eyes likely positioned lower.

Masculine Aesthetics have a long lower face ratio with a longer chin compared to the Feminine Aesthetics short midface and shorter lower chin ratio.

Masculine Aesthetics sports sharper corners to their eyes, mouth, or nose; and usually accompanies this well-defined structure with closer set eyes. Feminine Aesthetics, meanwhile, have no particular structure to their rounded eyes, mouth, or nose; and usually have moderate or farther set eyes.

A simple and easy comparison of the two main (we'll get to that) Aesthetics:

Tzuyu on the left has a Feminine Aesthetic: eyes positioned lower on her facial ratio, a shorter lower face ratio, and softer, rounder, "fleshier" contouring to her cheekbones, eyes, and jaw.

Liu Wen on the right has a Masculine Aesthetic: eyes positioned higher on her facial ratio, a longer midface ratio, and sharper contouring to her cheekbones, eyes, and jaw.

OUR SUBJECT

If we divide David's face into thirds, four facts become swiftly clear:

His bone structure-- cheekbones, jaw-- is softer and less prominent overall, a Feminine aspect.

His eyes sit on the lower half of his midface ratio, a Feminine aspect.

His nose-to-chin ratio is small (shortening his midface ratio as well), a Feminine aspect.

His eyes, mouth, and nose have rounded or softened corners, a Feminine aspect.

(Curtesy of @scullyblues's edits here)

With these facts in mind, it makes perfect sense why David was able to use his softer features fluidly between Denise Bryson and Fox Mulder within a few, short years.

Changing with Age?

An interesting note: personal styling can temporarily disguise the dynamics of one's face aesthetic, but aging might do so more permanently-- the Masculine Aesthetic becomes more prominent with the loss of the natural, youthful facial fat; and shifts a potentially Feminine Aesthetic into a more Masculine one.

As you can see, David hasn't changed all that much as he's aged; but the youthful plumpness to his face has winnowed, exposing more of his cheeks and jaw and adding a touch more Masculine Aesthetic as the years ticked by.

HOW DAVID CAN SHIFT BETWEEN THE VISUAL AESTHETICS

It's possible for a person to shift their Masculine vs. Feminine contrast.

To enhance his Feminine Aesthetic, David (or his stylist) must pinpoint his most Feminine feature and build upon it: since makeup isn't DD's style, cutting and styling his hair into softer, rounded edges highlights the softness present in his facial features.

To shift his Feminine Aesthetic, David's most Feminine feature must be identified and shifted to a Masculine one. Makeup is the easiest way to do so-- applying eyeliner to "sharpen" a rounded eye shape, drawing straight brows into arches to "lengthen" the midface ratio, etc.-- but since that's not DD's style, cutting his hair into shorter or more jagged edges brings more sharpness to his appearance, tipping the balance a little more favorably in the Masculine Aesthetic direction.

High and Low Visual Weight

Technically, the Masculine vs. Feminine Aesthetic doesn't end there, breaking the classification further into four subcategories.

Visual weight is a popular point of discussion in Asian beauty and fashion, trickling over to the West via Tik Tok and promptly getting butchered by the well-intentioned but misinformed masses. Visual weight has nothing to do with a person's weight gain or loss nor an ability to tell their future or fortune based on those features-- it simply maps the regions of one's face where the most "weight" rests, i.e. the "sturdiest" or most prominent part of the facial region. Visual weight is how heavy or light and delicate the facial bones appear.

High Visual Weight has more prominent facial features: higher cheekbones, higher-positioned eyes, and a natural "lift" upward to the face as if the skin were being gently pulled back by a high ponytail. Low Visual Weight has less prominent facial features: lower cheekbones, with the widest point of the face settling down in the lower facial region near the lower cheeks, jaw, and mouth. Neither is more beautiful than the other, of course.

Besides personal styling aesthetics, High Visual Weight and Low Visual Weight affect how others perceive or judge a person's overall "personality": High Visual Weight exudes a charisma that easily attracts attention, seeming more magnetic or vibrant or alluring. Low Visual Weight exudes a lighter, calmer, and refreshing aura, seeming more down-to-earth, mellow, and welcoming or friendly to others.

We need only to look at David with longtime costar and friend Gillian Anderson to see the contrast between High Visual Weight (Gillian) and Low Visual Weight (David.) With age, Gillian's Visual Weight became more prominent-- revealing her sharper cheekbones and chin-- while David's Visual Weight stayed relatively the same (thanks @slayerbuffy for the original comparison here.)

How does this combine with Masculine and Feminine Aesthetics?

Well, Masculine and Feminine combines with High Visual Weight and Low Visual Weight to create four subtypes: Low Visual Weight, Feminine; Low Visual Weight, Masculine; High Visual Weight, Feminine; and Low Visual Weight, Masculine.

How to both High Visual Weight and Low Visual Weight types change back and forth from Masculine to Feminine Aesthetics?

Low Visual Weight types do not have prominent features to counterbalance, meaning their primary visual weight needs only to be enhanced by a personal touch here or there-- the "Maximize" method. Like a chameleon, one feature at a time can be is focused in and amplified to shift an Aesthetic.

However, maximizing High Visual Weight types prominent facial features would create an "overkill" or excessive appearance; therefore, these types need to introduce a contrast in their overall look-- the "Counterbalance" method. For example, if a High Visual Weight Feminine Aesthetic wants to achieve a more Masculine Aesthetic, dyeing their hair a darker color would be a quick way to add more "heaviness" to the visual weight, directly contrasting the lighter, more delicate features they naturally have.

How does this apply to David Duchovny? Because David has Feminine Low Visual Weight, it is easy for him to enhance his more feminine features to skillfully pull off the role of Denise Bryson.

Short but Fun Aside: Exploring David's "Personal Types"

I've heard or read (or both) here and there that David is attracted to women that look like himself; and, whether those conjectures were meant maliciously or affectionately, it piqued my curiosity.

So, in the name of science, I've pulled up his past girlfriends, ex-wife, and current girlfriend to compare and contrast.

An important note: these are respectful comparisons, and are not meant to shame, demean, or unfairly juxtapose these women against each other. Unfortunately, this world is such that I must put a preface up first.

The conclusion? Might surprise you.

While David does have an aesthetic type, he's actually drawn to women with predominantly Masculine Aesthetics, the opposite of his own Feminine Aesthetic.

Maggie Wheeler, Lisa Loeb, Perry Reeves, and Lucy Liu-- and more, but I'm not spamming this post with too many examples-- were his 80s and 90s love interests, respectively. Not only do they have prominent bone structures, higher-set eyes, and sharper corners to said eyes, mouths, and noses, but they also have longer midface and lower face ratios.

Tea Leoni and Monique Pendleberry also have all of these aspects, as well as the close-set eyes typified by the Masculine Aesthetic.

Fun Fact from dear peachie:

"Feminine Visuals are usually selected as the main girl in Asian drama series while the Masculine Visuals are frequently picked as the supporting character due to the unique charisma and individuality of their looks. They can give a strong impression on their audiences."

Conclusion

While none of this information is too surprising, it was a nice little walk down Fashion Lane. Hope you had fun as well!

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

[wienersmosh]

done with the smosh membership. :)

i cancelled my membership a couple of weeks ago and here's why.

i was a smosh royalty member. as some of you know it comes with access to the official smosh discord server. i was never very active on it. in the ~5 months that i used it i only checked it a handful of times. i had not even opened the discord app since december 2023.

last month, i decided to open the app. it said that i was not a member of any servers and with the help of a couple of friends who were still members, we figured out that i was banned. (and just today i also found out that i had been banned from the youtube livechat, which i couldn't have known sooner bc i missed the past few livestreams.) one of them reached out to a well-known mod -- a popular smosh fan artist here on tumblr, iykyk -- and asked on my behalf why i was banned. the mod refused to say why, but it didn't matter. it was either i said something inflammatory to someone (doubt it, bc i was barely on it), or because i had been leaking members-only content which, to be fair to them, i have. and i'm 99% sure it was the latter.

now... i don't know for sure who snitched or how they managed to trace it back to my discord profile and youtube account -- but i have a theory. the platform i'm most active on is smosh twitter, where i did occasionally post bts photos, screenshots of bts videos and livestreams, and little clips here and there and included those clips in edits. but even so, i highly doubt it was from my twitter account that they traced back my discord and youtube. i don't have my discord handle anywhere on my twitter and vice versa. any mention or hints of my youtube account have long been buried bc i tweet 50 million times a day.

i'm not saying no one has snitched on me for my twitter account, i'm sure at least a few people have bc my account had 1.3k followers and it was public. what i'm saying is that it couldn't have been my twitter that linked back to my discord and yt. i have a hunch that it's this tumblr post with this ianthony edit of mine, which includes multiple clips of bts videos, that got me into trouble. when i posted it, my tumblr url was different to the one i have now, and my old url was similar to my discord handle and youtube display name, and i'm positive that's how they traced it back to me.

i'm not going to make outright accusations and name them specifically bc i have no concrete proof. but i have a strong hunch that it's a specific smosh fan artist here on tumblr who happens to be a discord mod that did this sleuthing and banned me. and the only thing i have to go off of is that they weirdly have me blocked here on tumblr despite me never interacting with them in any way that could be construed as harassment. all i ever did was dm them and ask if i could see ian's halo fanfics from back in the day. that's it.

and you know what? i can't be too mad about being banned. again, i rarely used discord, so it's not like i lost something that i used regularly, and i did break a rule. it's not like they banned me for no reason. i get it.

but the part that upsets, or i guess, confuses me is that after i had been banned from the discord and the livechat, i was still technically a member. i was still being charged $20 AUD/month and i still had access to all their bts content. banning me from the discord and livechat wouldn't have even stopped me from leaking their content. so it's like... what was the point? it definitely wasn't loss prevention. i can't help but feel that this was more of a social punishment than a legal one. i think if they hit me with a copyright notice i'd be less offended, bc then i'd get the message that this is just business to them and they can't let people steal. but banning someone from the community, so to speak, but not from paying for and accessing your content, seems like such a petty, mean girl, "you can't sit with us" kind of punishment? does this make sense? especially bc it's up to the mods' discretion which people to ban AND not every single person who has leaked content is even being punished.

idk. i know i'm in the wrong in a technical sense, but cracking hard on stupid shit like leaking photos and clips -- not even full videos being uploaded somewhere else -- makes me feel like they're turning fans against each other. those who can pay vs those who can't pay. rule breakers vs snitches. no wonder there aren't a lot of ianthony stans nowadays -- most of the content we want to discuss is behind a paywall now.

i just think there should be a difference between major leaks, like uploading entire videos for everyone to see for free, and fans still being able to make fan content out of bts stuff. bc why is including one-second clips in a 30-second edit enough to get someone banned? no one is watching my edit in lieu of signing up for a membership. it's literally free marketing to entice people to sign up but i guess they don't want that.

so... here i am now. i still love smosh, i still love ian and anthony, but i don't have to further support them as a business anymore beyond just watching their videos. banning me from engaging with the community but not from paying for their content and doing free publicity and marketing for them made it clear to me they did not see a human being behind the fan account. i was just a source of revenue to them.

goodbye, smosh membership. i'm still a fan, but i guess i wasn't that important.

[bluebudgie]

Oh hi. I heard it's gifs tips'n'tricks time.

View this as a little addition to this post I made a while back.

This time I thought I'd take you through my gif making process. It'll be very specific to Photoshop CS6 but maybe some of you will find parts of it helpful regardless.

And since our biggest nemesis appears to be ~The Tumblr 10MB File Size Limit~ I decided to go for the absolute worst premise for a gif: Lots of stupid wobbly particles and gw2 bloom and transparency effects. Because huge gifs love these.

Aah, a horrifying amount of those in this single scene. Perfect!

Let's start with a little timelapse video, and I'll get into the details with screenshots below then.

So this actually went smoother than expected? Not super much fiddling needed in the end, but here's how it went in detail:

Load the raw footage into photoshop.

You can do this in two different ways: What I do is simply drag & drop the video file into the program and it'll open with a video timeline and some rudimentary video editing options.

What you can also do is File -> Import -> Videoframes to Layers and select your source video, which will give you a timeline of separate still image frames instead.

It comes down to preference, I used both methods in the past but nowadays I find the video timeline more intuitive.

Cut the footage to roughly the right length.

From experience I know that most of my gifs are around 3-4 seconds long. This can of course vary depending on different factors. Don't get too attached to the exact seconds you selected, you might have to shave off a bit depending on how evil the file size decides to act.

Optional: Change footage speed

Depending on the gif and its purpose, I slow the footage down. I usually do this for the visual effect (especially nice for showing off animation details) but it also has the practical side effect that it can help with file size. Say you want a gif that loops after 4 seconds. At 100% speed your gif will move at your original framerate (in my case 60 fps); if you slow it down but keep the same length in seconds it'll logically use less frames. That's less data to blow up the size! Yey.

Crop the image.

Now this is probably one of the most crucial parts when it comes to your final file size, and your gif looking nice on tumblr. Since the tumblr dashboard displays images at a width of 540px, you want this to be your absolute minimum image width to ensure a crisp image. If I can, I'll make the gifs larger (I like starting at a minimum of 600px and then reduce the image dimensions if needed).

With that in mind.... choose your image crop wisely.

A "widescreen" image like this will be the most merciful in terms of file size, but might not always be what you want in terms of composition.

Given tumblr's very vertical nature, this kind of approach will look great in posts (if it fits your image composition of course), but at 540px minimum width tends to be a file size monster.

For the gif I'm attempting to make here I opted for a more square approach. The subjects of the scene fill out the image's space nicely, and it's still a nice size for tumblr posts overall. Let's see what the file size will say about this.

Replay your footage after cropping to make sure you didn't accidentally cut off any motion you didn't mean to cut.

Next up: optional colour corrections

I tend to crank up the saturation for gifs way, way more than I ever would for regular screenshots since I find that often the limited web palette can make them look fairly dull. But like everything else so far, this greatly varies depending on the scene you're showing.

Note that colour correction can increase or decrease file size depending on what exactly you're doing. The more different colours you have, the larger your file size will be.

Reduce image dimensions

Since my original video footage was fairly zoomed out, the cropped area only left me 575px of width to begin with. In an earlier attempt (that I absolutely did not fail to capture and therefore had to record the whole thing a second time) I tried to leave it at these dimensions, but the 10MB size limit did not like that so now I knew better and immediately reduced the width to 560px.

Note: After you've changed the video's dimensions it won't let you edit the speed anymore (for some reason), so make sure you've got that settled.

After all the adjustments are done it's time for the moment of truth...

File > Save for Web...

This beautiful window will open and...

Aww almost.

But honestly? That's not bad at all. I've had completely different disasters to deal with in the past (starting somewhere in the mid 20MB, good luck trying to make use of every size-reducing trick you've got up your sleeve).

Before I do any adjustments to shave off the last few KB though, I preview the gif to make sure it loops correctly. I want the Chak to sway seemlessly. Turns out it didn't, so I back out of the window to remove a few frames from the footage. And when I open the "Save for Web" window again....

Well that's anticlimatic. Apparently those few frames were enough to get the file size where I need it. (Note: Sometimes Tumblr likes to be a little b* and pretends your file is too big when you're this close to the 10MB limit. It be like that.)

While my gif journey theoretically ends here, I want to at least show you a few more things that could have helped if I had needed to get the file even smaller.

So this dithering thing I keep making a big deal of...

It can make or break a gif. In my experience this is so, so crucial to the final file size and quality of the gif.

In my own very amateurish words, dithering is a way to emulate colours that aren't actually part of the images colour palette. This is especially needed for in-game transparency effects like fog, glowy stuff, or smooth gradients. And that is part of why I chose this hell scene of all the ley line glow and the typical gw2 bloom that's particularly bad in this area.

PS CS6 offers you three different kinds of dithering techniques: Diffusion, pattern and noise.

My go-to is diffusion dithering, which has adjustable quality levels.

In my opinion it's generally the type of dithering that's often the least noticeable and creates the smoothest looking images. Unfortunately, it's also the one that creates by far the largest file sizes. Another downside is that it doesn't work super well with heavy DoF/fog etc. effects and is prone to really ugly banding, especially visible the more you decrease the quality. It looks awful for this particular scene. (Look at the glow around my asura's headpiece if you don't know what I'm talking about. Or... just the entire background.)

Both noise and pattern dithering will get you smaller file sizes, luckily.

I've never used noise so far (it tends to look messy in my opinion), but pattern gets the job done! Especially for gradient heavy gifs it's a lifesaver. It's definitely more noticeable than the diffusion dithering on static parts of the gif, but it absolutely makes up for it by not having any ugly banding effects. This is also what gave me the neat little 9.99MB file size in comparison to the diffusion dithering's 15.31MB.

Last but not least, if fiddling with the dithering or image dimensions doesn't help you get below that magic 10MB mark...

Limit the colour palette

You can either manually colour edit your image to use less colours for a more artistic approach, or you can let Photoshop limit the palette to its best abilities.

Additionally you can double click each individual colour to replace it how you see fit. (I've done that in the past when Petthri's yellow eye colour got erased and I had to bring it back manually.)

In this gif's example, reducing the palette from 256 to 128 colours has brought the file size down from 9.9 MB to about 8 MB. It can have a big effect, but doesn't always in my experience.

SHOW US THE GODDAMN GIF ALREADY!!!

Not the best quality gif we've ever seen on tumblr, but given the extremely unfavourable source material I think it turned out alright. I have to admit I'm actually surprised it worked at all.

Oh well! This got long (once again). I hope this was at least a little bit helpful to someone out there. Happy gif making!