#i had to resize this gif too many times

[43sol]

worst besties best worsties

[its-avalon-08]

Can you write me something for Lando? Where his girlfriend is scared, he's going to leave her because everyone eventually does. (Like a bad home life and never had good relationships) And she's just waiting for Lando to dump her, but Lando resizes this and assures her that she is it for him and he would never abandon her.

i'm never giving up on you (ln4)

avaspeaks: at this point i'm just a lando norris fanclub, and i have no issue with it whatsoever

✦ pairing - lando norris x female!reader

✦ genre - angst, neglect, fears of abandonment, comfort

Y/N sat in the dimly lit living room of her small apartment, the shadows on the walls a stark contrast to the memories that haunted her. Her fingers traced the worn edges of a photo album she had found while cleaning earlier, each page a painful reminder of her past.

Growing up, Y/N's home life was far from stable. Her parents' relationship had been a volatile cocktail of arguments and broken promises, their voices often raised in anger rather than love. The air in their house had always felt thick with tension, a palpable force that suffocated any semblance of comfort or security.

Y/N flipped through the album, her eyes lingering on a picture of her younger self. She was smiling, but the smile didn't reach her eyes, even then. Her parents stood on either side of her, forced grins plastered on their faces for the camera. She remembered that day clearly—it had been one of the few times they had tried to act like a normal family, but the effort was short-lived.

As the years went by, the arguments escalated, and the once infrequent absences of her father turned into a permanent departure. Her mother, already struggling with her own demons, fell into a deep depression, leaving Y/N to fend for herself. She became a master of hiding her pain, putting on a brave face at school while silently dealing with the chaos at home.

Friendships came and went, most of them fleeting. Y/N had learned early on not to get too attached, as people seemed to drift away just when she started to rely on them. Her heart had been broken too many times, not by romantic relationships, but by the countless times she had opened up to someone, only for them to leave.

Closing the album with a sigh, Y/N glanced around her apartment. It was small but cozy, a space she had made her own. The walls were adorned with pictures of places she hoped to visit one day, a reminder of dreams she refused to let go of, despite everything. Yet, the emptiness of the apartment echoed the loneliness that had been her constant companion.

Meeting Lando had been a beacon of light in her otherwise dark world. His infectious energy and genuine kindness had drawn her in, and for the first time in a long time, she felt a glimmer of hope. But with that hope came fear—the fear that he, too, would eventually leave, just like everyone else.

The sound of the front door opening pulled Y/N from her thoughts. She quickly wiped away a tear that had escaped, not wanting Lando to see her like this. She loved him deeply, but the scars of her past were not easily forgotten.

Lando entered the room, his eyes immediately finding hers. He could sense something was wrong, the way she held herself, the distant look in her eyes. He walked over and sat beside her on the couch, his presence a comforting contrast to the turmoil in her mind.

"Hey," he said softly, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "Are you okay?"

Y/N took a deep breath, forcing a smile. "Yeah baby, I'm okay"

time skip

The tension in the apartment was palpable as Lando and Y/N stood facing each other in the living room. The argument had started innocuously enough—a simple conversation about their busy schedules—but it had quickly escalated into a heated exchange.

"I just don't understand why you can't make more time for us," Y/N said, her voice tinged with frustration. "You're always so busy with races, interviews, and events. I feel like we're barely together anymore."

Lando ran a hand through his hair, his patience wearing thin. "I have obligations, Y/N. This is my career we're talking about. I can't just drop everything whenever I want."

"I'm not asking you to drop everything," she retorted, her eyes flashing with anger. "I'm asking you to make an effort. I want to feel like a priority, not just another item on your to-do list."

"That's not fair," Lando shot back. "You know how demanding this job is. I can't control the schedule. And it's not like you don't have your own commitments."

Y/N crossed her arms, her voice rising. "But I still try to make time for us! You promised me that we'd find a balance, but it feels like I'm the only one trying."

Lando's frustration boiled over. "I’m doing the best I can! Why can't you see that?"

"Because it doesn't feel like it!" she shouted, tears of anger and hurt welling up in her eyes. "I'm tired of feeling like I'm the only one making an effort in this relationship."

A heavy silence fell between them, the weight of their words hanging in the air. Lando shook his head, his expression a mix of frustration and helplessness. "I'm driving around the bloody globe and this - Y/N I'm just- I need some air," he muttered, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door.

Y/N watched him leave, her heart sinking. She stood there for a moment, her mind racing with thoughts of abandonment. This was it, she thought. This was when he would realize it wasn't worth the effort and leave her like everyone else had.

Y/N sat on the balcony, the cool night air brushing against her skin. The city lights flickered in the distance, but her mind was far away, lost in the painful memories that had shaped her.

She was six years old, hiding under the kitchen table as her parents screamed at each other. Her father’s voice was a thunderstorm, her mother’s a desperate plea. "I can’t take it anymore, Marie! I’m done!" Her father stormed out, slamming the door so hard it rattled the windows. He never came back.

Years later, her mother’s addiction had taken hold. Y/N would find her passed out on the couch, empty bottles and needles scattered around. "Mom, please," she would whisper, shaking her gently. "Wake up." But her mother’s eyes remained closed, her body unresponsive. Social services came and went, but nothing ever changed. The house felt emptier with each passing day.

Her first boyfriend seemed kind at first, but the facade quickly crumbled. "You’re too clingy," he said, pushing her away. "I need space." He left her in tears, feeling like a burden. The next relationship was worse—manipulation, emotional abuse, constant belittling. "You’re worthless," he sneered. "No wonder your family abandoned you." She believed him, internalizing every cruel word.

Y/N hugged her knees tighter to her chest, the tears slipping down her cheeks. The patterns of her past replayed in her mind, a cruel reminder of the pain she had endured.

Her best friend in high school promised they would be friends forever. But as soon as things got tough, she disappeared without a word, leaving Y/N to navigate the tumultuous teenage years alone. "I thought we were friends," Y/N had said, voice breaking. But there was no answer, just an empty silence.

Her college roommate had been kind, at first. They shared secrets and late-night talks until one day, without warning, she moved out, leaving a note saying she couldn’t handle Y/N’s “drama.” Another abandonment, another confirmation that Y/N was too much for anyone to handle.

She wiped her eyes, the heaviness in her chest a familiar ache. Lando was different, she knew that. He was kind, loving, and patient. But the fear that he would eventually leave her, just like everyone else, was always there, lurking in the back of her mind.

The balcony door slid open, and Y/N didn’t turn around. She felt Lando’s presence as he stepped outside, the silence stretching between them.

"I'm sorry my love," Lando finally said, his voice soft and weary. "I didn't mean to storm out like that."

Y/N took a deep breath, her voice trembling. "I just… I don't want to feel like this anymore, Lando. I don't want to keep waiting for you to leave. It's not your fault, it really is not. I'm just- my past. It has been hurting me so much even when I try for it not to."

He moved closer, sitting beside her on the balcony floor. "Y/N, I'm not going to leave you. I didn't realize how much this was affecting you. I thought we were okay but I need you to speak to me, to voice your conerns."

She shook her head, tears slipping down her cheeks. "I was scared to tell you how I really felt. I didn't want to seem needy or make you feel guilty."

Lando reached out, gently taking her hand in his. "You have every right to tell me how you feel. I need to know if something's wrong so we can fix it together."

She looked at him, her eyes filled with vulnerability. "But what if you get tired of always having to reassure me? What if you decide it's too much?"

He squeezed her hand, his gaze steady and sincere. "I won't. I'm here because I love you, Y/N. I want to be with you, and that means working through the tough times, too. I know I haven't been perfect, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make this work."

Y/N's heart ached with both fear and hope. "I want to believe you, Lando. I really do."

"Then let me prove it to you," he said softly. "We'll figure this out together. I promise."

She nodded, a small smile breaking through her tears. "Okay. I trust you." He could see the pain in her eyes, the scars left by a lifetime of abandonment and disappointment. He knew this was the moment to make her understand how much she meant to him.

"Y/N, look at me," he said softly, lifting her chin so their eyes met. "You are perfect for me in every way. I don’t just love you because you’re beautiful or because we have fun together. I love you because of who you are, inside and out."

She tried to look away, but he gently held her face, making sure she was listening. "You are the strongest person I know. Everything you've been through, everything you've survived—it hasn't broken you. It's made you who you are, and that person is incredible."

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't say anything. Lando continued, his voice full of conviction. "You have this amazing heart, Y/N. You care so deeply about the people in your life, even when they don't deserve it. You give so much of yourself, and that’s something truly special."

He brushed a tear from her cheek. "You make me want to be a better person. Every day with you is a gift, and I don’t take that lightly. I see how you look after everyone, how you’re always there for others, even when you’re hurting. You inspire me."

Lando's voice grew more intense as he spoke. "You’re not a burden. You’re not too much. You are exactly what I need in my life. You’re my anchor, the one who keeps me grounded. Without you, none of this—racing, fame, everything—would matter. You’re my reason, Y/N."

She sniffled, her tears falling freely now, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "I know you’re scared, and I get it. But I’m here to stay. I’m not going anywhere. I promise you that. We’re in this together, and I will never, ever leave you."

He pulled back slightly to look into her eyes again. "Please believe me when I say that you are my everything. I love you more than words can say, and I will spend every day proving it to you. You are my future, Y/N, and I’m not going to let anything take that away from us."

She clung to him, her sobs quieting as his words sank in. "I love you too, Lando," she whispered, her voice shaky but filled with hope.

"And I love you," he replied, kissing her forehead gently. "Always."

For the first time in a long while, she felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, they could find a way to make it work. And for now, that hope was enough.

[gamerbearmira]

La Ballet Madrigal

Ok so I had this cute little idea that on Antonio’s birthday/ceremony he wanted to do a little something special for it and I decided to write it. 

-

It was hard to budge Alma into doing it but eventually she agreed. Ok it wasn’t that hard, Alma could only say no for so long until her ballet bebecitos made her crack. And technically it was his birthday and as the birthday boy he could do whatever he wanted with it. 

And that was doing a small show of what he had learned over the past year. It would be done on Mirabel’s stage, or technically the stage room. His abuela performed on a stage when she was eight, Mirabel performed when she was seven, and luisa performed when she was sixteen. Now at five years old it would be his turn. Kind of like a cute write-a-passage. 

His ceremony would still go on but everyone was invited to casita much earlier for his first performance. EVERYBODY had to come, that includes family so no one was in position for excuses. 

Antonio wore a navy blue button up shirt, baby blue vest with gold animal designs on it, and sky blue tights. He had asked Mirabel if he could wear the ballet shoes she wore for her ceremony and she gladly let him and casita made them smaller for him to wear. No resewing/resizing needed. 

He had also asked luisa if he could wear the feather headpiece she wore when she played the white swan and of course she said yes. Before he even asked Alma, she gave him a magenta beaded bracelet that was given to her by her mama. She had Mirabel wear it for her first performance, then Luisa, then of course, Antonio. 

It was so sweet that he wanted to wear little things from his primas and abuela’s, kind of like little tokens of luck. 

So now he was on the stage, doing the best he could of what he remembered. He was nervous of course, so many people had their eyes on him and expected him to do good, a lot of pressure for a five year old. 

But he stuck to his primas and abuela’s advice;

“Just focus on us and only us, and you’ll be ok”

Luisa’s second tip

“Just imagine everyone in silly costumes”

And he did just that, he only focused on his familia and that made him smile. Alma was right in center, looking as proud as any abuela could for her neito. On her left was his primas, who were silently cheering him on and giving him thumbs up as he went along. 

He tripped and stumbled once or twice but he got right back up and kept going like Mirabel and lulu told him. Apart from those times he kept up with the music and kept balance all the way through. He performed his first solo variation, Blue bird. 

The music had ended and the small boy huffed as he bowed.  The crowd and his familia cheered for him, as always Julieta pulled a bouquet of flowers out of thin air and threw it up to Antonio. The bouquet was an assortment of blue hydrangea and yellow begonias. He of course caught it and waved in the way Alma taught him too. The curtains closed and Antoio walked to the back of the stage and was immediately met with his family. 

Pepa and Felix were the first to give him a big hug, congratulating him, then Dolores and Camilo. After them was the blue family of course. Isabela congratulated him first with a hug and a sprinkle of orange flowers in his hair. Luisa picked him up in a tight hug, Mirabel and Alma following suit. 

“You were so amazing, tonito!” Luisa beamed as the boy giggled in her hug. 

“That was the best show I’ve ever seen, well, apart from Luisa’s” Mirabel chimed in, ruffling his hair and giving him a squeeze too.

“You did so well!” Julieta congratulated as well, but just as she did her daughters, she checked his body for injury too. After he and her daughter reassured her he’s fine she gave him a small peck on the forehead and an arepa.  

“Did I do good abuela?” Antonio looked at his grandmother expectantly as he held a big smile we all love so much. “I did all the turns and spins! And I did the right positions like you taught me!” 

“You did it perfectly just like your primas and me before you, and don’t you worry about your falls, you actually did better than I did for my first time.” Alma patted his head and gave him a forehead kiss. 

“Now, how about we get a picture, Casita!” Alma’s eyes glittered at the thought and Casita instantly brought the camera in for a picture. 

For Mira’s first variation she took a picture with Alma, Luisa did the same after her performance, now it was his turn and Antonio couldn’t be more happy. He always saw the two photos hanging up in the studio next to each other now he had the chance to be right next to them. 

The three four of them posed for a photo; Antonio in front, Alma behind him, Mirabel on her left, and Luisa on her right. 

“La Ballet Madrigal” Alma cheered

“La Ballet Madrigal!” all four of them posed and the picture was taken. 

Everything was perfect in that moment; it almost made you forget Antonio had a door to get to…but not too much. The ceremony went on as planned and the boy finally got his own room…time flies. But Antonio made sure to keep his abuela and Primas close to him all night until he slept…for emotional support. 

-

Also, I have a little question. I remember for a suggestion; you said Alma would indirectly pressure Mirabel into doing ballet more. and that had me thinking, would Alma pressure Luisa and Antonio into doing it more too or no?

Also, what would be Luisa and Antonio's favorite ballet shows? I have a little idea that maybe Casita has a way to show different plays such as;

The Nutcracker

Giselle

Swan Lake

Don Quixote

Romeo & Juliet

Little red riding hood

Beauty and the best

and probably many others

Maybe casita shows the plays through a projector of some sort?

SOBBING. CRYING SCREAMING. HE’S SO CUTE WHAT <3333

So funny that they. Literally have to go. Like Alma really got fed up huh 😭 ay but at least homeboy was ready. Just had stage fright but it’s cool. Gotta love Mirabel and Luisa for giving him tips to stay focused and not think about the crowd.

Also???? Loving the idea where for their first performance they wore the bracelet. I also find it funny that that bracelet is older than literally everyone in the family besides Alma. Like she kept it for so long, that it so sweet ‼️😮‍💨

I gave his vest a long tail and. And tried to make it look like feathers. You know so he’s look more like a bird. I think Mirabel would’ve made it. She makes hers, Luisa’s and Antonio’s outfits whenever they have shoes. (Especially Luisa because Mirabel is one of the few who can tailor outfits to fit Luisa).

So. For Luisa and Antonio, it’s not as much. But she is like “it’s a commitment, so you gotta keep it up”. She doesn’t pressure them, but she is like if you’re gonna do it, you gotta come and you gotta practice. For Mirabel, she likes doing it, loves it, but she does feel like she has to. Not on,y to make up for not having a gift, but also because it’s Alma lays her attention when she doesn’t. In the one year from her failed ceremony until she started ballet, Alma kinda avoided her.

So when Mirabel saw that ballet got her attention, she had another reason to continue. It got Abuela’s attention. She was noticed. She got praised. Luisa and Antonio, it’s more like a hobby. A side hustle. They love dancing, especially with Mirabel, so they, especially Luisa, will take time out of their day to go dance, but they doesn’t necessarily feel they have to.

As for favorites uhhhhh. Luisa likes the nutcracker. First time she saw it, she LOVED it, it was also one of Mirabel’s first major roles, she was young Clara. And when she started practicing, Luisa begged Alma to let her play the Sugar Plum Fairy. Of course Alma folded like a wet paper towel. Another Luisa likes is Coppélia. The thought of dressing up and dancing like that of a doll is just. So amazing to her, she loves it. She likes the music too.

Antonio likes Little Red Riding Hood. He unironically likes being the wolf. I’m so serious, he doesn’t care if he’s the youngest and shortest, he’ll still play the role, it never stopped him. His second favorite is Don Quixote.

[freensrcha]

GIF MAKING IN PS

i've never done anything like this before so hope it makes some kind of sense.

so before you get into making gifs first thing so will need is some sort of editing software (i use ps 2022) and some raws obviously. most of the shows i gif are on yt so its pretty easy to get them and you can use any kind of yt to mp4 converter.

so once you have all of this i guess we can get started!!! on a daily basis i do not follow all these steps because you can easily turn them into actions on ps, which means that it would take just seconds. so although it may look lengthy its pretty simple

the first step to making gifs is importing the raws. you first want to go to file>import>video frames to layer. this will open up your file explorer from where you can choose your desired file. you may want to make sure your file isn't an mkv one but an mp4 before you do this. also if your raws are large, perhaps a whole episode or longer than 30 minutes, it might help to trim it down beforehand to make it easier to work with.

once you select your file, this window will open up. here, you can move the sliders to select the exact part of the clip you want for your gifs. (when files are larger, it would be more difficult to capture smaller parts of the clip using the sliders) although optional, selecting the limit to every 'x' frames will help reduce the size of your gifs while not making it look too choppy. i do 'every 2 frames' for regular scenes and leave it unchecked for anything in slow-mo. more than 2 usually makes the entire thing look sped up and choppy so i wouldn't recommend it. although it depends on the raws ideally you want something around 80 frames for one gif.

once you press okay on the above step, your workspace will open up and from here we can start making the gif. the first step would be to set the time delay. this is two ensure that the gif doesn't look sped up. for this you want to first select all the frames as shown above.

next, you can click on the downward arrow on any frame to change the time delay. i usually prefer 0.07s which you can set in other...

once you've set the time delay, you have to convert the frames into timeline as shown above.

now that you have your timeline as seen on the left side, all you have to do is convert everything into a smart object. for that you have to first select all the layers using the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+A and then right-click on the layers followed by convert to smart object

now you can see that the many layers have been converted into one layer making it easier to work with. the next step is to resize the gif. the original dimensions would make the gifs too large to fit tumblr's size limit, this can be done by going to image>canvas size

to ensure that tumblr does unnecessarily crop your gifs you want to make sure width is always 540px if there's going to be only one gif in a row. the height can be anything depending how you want your gif to look.

you can adjust the gif onto the new canvas using Ctrl+T to transform the layer. always ensure the height and width are linked to make sure you don't squeeze the image weirdly.

after resizing the gif, i next sharpen the gif (which is my least favourite part). you can sharpen by going to filter>sharpen>smart sharpen while the noise filter is in filter>noise>add noise

although i don't always stick to the same sharpening, these are the settings i use the most.

once i'm done with the sharpening i like to soften the first smart sharpen filter. for this i change the blending option of the first filter to 80%. this is entirely optional.

once sharpening is done, you can colour and edit however you like using any of the adjustment layers. i mostly prefer curves and selective colour. these are the curves i used for this particular gif to remove the purple/redness it had going on. in RGB mode the white slider adds brightness and the grey one darkness/contrast. then you can individually use the red, green and blue modes to adjust the colours. i only used selective colour here to adjust the skin tones a bit so i haven't added that.

once done with colouring all you have to do is export the gif from file>export>save for web (legacy)

in the last window you have to make sure your looping is forever and that your gif is below 9.5MB. although tumblr says max gif size is 10MB, at least for me nothing over 9.5MB uploads.

and THAT'S IT (i say after a whole one page essay) your gif is ready!!! honestly i don't know if this is the easiest or most convenient method but this is just how i do it. also i use actions for everything other than colouring so it isn't as time consuming as it looks. you can also set shortcuts for importing and exporting to save time. this can be done from edit>keyboard shortcuts

since you made it to the end here is an extra bit on captioning

you want to start with a normal text layer and center it at the bottom of the gif. i use arial bold italic in size 16. next to make it look better we can add an outline and shadow to it through the layer style. and you can open up this window either by clicking the fx option at the bottom right or double-clicking the text layer.

these are the settings i use for the stroke as well as the shadow

now it is ACTUALLY the end!!!

[immortaldesiresproject]

Immortal Desires Project Update!! [Finally]

Hello my friends! I'm so sorry about the radio silence. There's been a lot going on in my personal life, so progress has been a little slow!

However, I have some big updates and more sneak peeks, including three new characters, since I've starved you all of updates.

To start: We're looking for more writers. One of our writers had to back away for personal reasons, so it's down to a two people team. If you're interested, pop into the message box so we can chat :) To be able to join the team, you must be 18+. No exceptions to this rule.

In way of programming... There's been a lot of progress. I've been working on this for weeks now, and for being literally brand-spanking-new to the world of coding, there's a lot of progress and it's coming out well. The custom character menu is done, animations for various objects are done... Just have to tighten some screws and we're probably good to start implementing the chapters!

... And chapter 1 is nearly complete! The base layout of the story is feeling pretty solid as well. I know this isn't the most comprehensive writing update, but there will be more soon.

There are many new characters being added to the game. It's taken a lot of time to make quite a few of them, minus the more side-esque characters (think of like Margot or Nicole). Speaking of, here are two of your new potential besties! Meet Solana and Julian!

Before we continue, yes, Julian is basically reskinned Donovan from MAH. In my defense, the sprite is just too beautiful to never be used again! He's also a mix with the green-haired bully man who pops up from time to time. At the moment, he's your run-of-the-mill half sprite; I'm hoping to give him an actual body soon. Then we have our non-binary god/dess, Solana! They're not entirely new, but they're heavily edited with hair that is 10/10 stolen from Morgan in HSS:CA; I've always loved Morgan's hair. You can possibly meet them when you first arrive in...

BOSTON! There'll be a slight change in scenery for some of IDFP, but Crimson Beech will still be joining along for the ride.

As for our third new character, one that took me days to work on... [TW: GORE but it's underneath the GIF of how it felt making her and wanting to bash my head into a wall for like a week]

Meet Priscilla! Literally nothing else is being revealed about her!

To close, all of the masc MC sprite sheets are done. However, despite being non-binary myself (as in Devlin), I know nothing about fashion, especially masc/cis-male. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm nothing but an edgy punk and don't explore much outside of that, outside of wearing slacks and button ups to work. Anywhoo, all of the original outfits in ID have been resized to the new body sizes! I also have a few new outfits for the masc MC!

And here's a couple more femme MC sprites I fiddled with!

Thank you all for the support, despite Pixelberry announcing an official ID2. I've definitely been feeling the love, and again, I do apologize for the lack of updates. Between school, personal bizz, work, and developing this project, it's been hard to squeeze in the time. Maybe I'll try my hand at doing text updates for the future; I just like being able to have substance for all of you.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO ASK US QUESTIONS. We like answering them (unless they don't have an answer, am sorry)! We want to know about ya'lls opinions and curiosities. Without all of you, this game would not be in development and it may have been dropped by now if we didn't have all of this support coming our way. Truly, thank you.

[thistaleisabloodyone]

Gif Making, the Broke Bitch Way

I've been considering making this tutorial for awhile, because not all of us can afford PhotoShop and doing it the way I do it does take some finagling.

For this tutorial, you will need:

A video you want to gif - I usually find them off of YouTube

Paint.net - the free version, I emphasize the free version. The paid for version doesn't play as nicely with plugins

midora's 'GIF Animations and Images' FileType Plugin (.GIF, .AGIF) plugin - have a tutorial on installing plugins for Paint.net)

ffmpeg - have a tutorial on installing ffmpeg because I struggled hardcore with that

VLC - for clipping larger videos down into smaller clips

Tutorial continues under the cut because it's fucking long and I ramble.

For this video, I will be breaking down SHOCK THE WORLD into frames.

Here, I already have it downloaded.

I have a special folder for breaking things down into frames and I've copied the file over into that folder.

Now, I'm gonna change the name of the file because that's motherfucking atrocious and I'm not fucking typing that out in ffmpeg.

Much better.

Now type in cmd in the address bar and hit enter. That'll bring up the command screen, where you type in

ffmpeg -i [nameoffile].mp4 %04d.png

Notably, I actually wrote ffmpeg -i shocktheworld.mp4 %05d.png because this video is 7 minutes long, so I wanted 5 digits in the file name instead of 4 just in case. You would be amazed at how many frames a video breaks down into when every second of footage is 23.99 frames.

And good thing I did. The text in the red box says 'frame=10707', which means it broke the video down into 10,707 frames.

You don't have to do this, but I go through and delete the frames that say RhythmZone at the beginning and the ones at the end, because I don't need them and these files are huge.

Now I move the images out of the Frames folder and into their new home.

Now that the frames are in their proper folder, it's time to find what we want to gif. I like this shot of Leiya, he looks pretty.

Now we have to decide how many frames we want our gif to be. Most of my gifs are between 25 and 35 frames - like the birthday gif sets are 28 frames, the Ray of Light second outfits are 37, and the MV gif sets are 30 frames of moving gif (45 frames w/promo pic).

In this case, I think we're gonna for for 30 frames. That's a decent amount. So first open up the first image - I just drag it into Paint.net from File Explorer because it's easier that way.

You can drag each frame you want in individually like that, too, just hit 'add as layer' every time. What I prefer to do is select all of the ones I want and drag them in at once. Just hit the 'Add as layer' button and magic happens.

Sometime when doing this, Paint.net drops the layers in in the wrong order, so it's always a good idea to go through and check that all of the numbers are in the right order. From this one, you can see that 2133 and 2134 ended up at the bottom, so I had to drag them back up to the top.

One way that I check that my frames are in the right order is I resize the file down to a much smaller size - 600x338 is what they tend to end up becoming when I do the previews - and then I go to Save As -> Save as AGIF format and preview the gif.

Technically, we could just call it quits here. You have the frames, you have them in the right order, you can truly just hit Save and move on with your life. This is the gif, saved just as it is, using the default settings for making a gif.

It's not as much a problem here, but sometimes the default settings move a little slower when you have all the frames. This is currently set at 1 frame per 100ms. I default to 1 frame per 80ms instead. The difference is slightly more obvious in these two gifs, I think, because there's more movement.

Gif on the left is 100ms per frame, gif on the right is 80ms per frame. It's a little faster and, in my opinion, truer to the actual music video.

But! Since I am a Picky Bitch, as well as a Broke Bitch, I don't usually leave my gifs at this point. I do two extra steps on every gif.

Step 1. Sharpen all the frames.

Unless it looks bad, I just take the default sharpening settings. Ctrl+F repeats the most recent effect you've applied. Considering each frame needs adjusted individually, I suggest you memorize that command. 😂

No sharpening left; sharpened right. The difference is subtle, but I prefer to sharpen my gifs to reduce chances of the gif looking blurry later.

Step 2. Brightness and contrast!

This step is a lot more finagling - I often do multiple tries and I'll compare the frame I've edited with the frame above it to see if I like the difference. The reason why I always do Brightness/Contrast - especially Contrast - is because I feel like it unifies the colors and takes off the sort - grey edge the gifs sometimes have if I don't do Brightness/Contrast.

Once you're happy with the Brightness/Contrast you have, you get to apply it to every single frame 😂 Ctrl+Sht+T is the shortcut.

So... Difference isn't as strong as I'd like it here. 😅 The one I modified is on the right.

I think the difference is more obvious with these two. On the left, is the one that hasn't been Sharpened or had the Brightness/Contrast affected. On the right is the finished version I actually posted. The left one just feels - greyer, to me, the colors aren't as vibrant or sharp.

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

Hey there Miyabi! How do you get such high-res, beautiful, and professional scan quality? What's your process?

Thank you! I certainly don't think I do anything that professional, so glad you have been decieved into thinking that about them! LOL I started doing this scan of the day stuff just to bring better quality to a lot of the older contributions of mine floating around the web. Looking at them on here, the Megaman wikia and other places, they just felt small and dirty. Especially as basic technology had gotten better over the decade or so since I first scanned them. I have 2 different scanners, one of which is a fancier Epson that I bought specifically to scan film slides a year or so ago. Still use it for basic scans from time to time. But honestly, for the settei, I'm still just using my general home HP Envy printer/scanner combo. I always scan at 600 DPI. After that part is done and the bitmap image is scanned to my computer, it's really just doing some heavy touchup. As I have alluded to in some recent posts, some of these sheets will take me an hour to an hour and a half just to clean up, because they have so many artifacts and dotty garbage on them. Settei at auction are mostly just scanned copies themselves after all, so there's a bit of residue to clean up. Ever wonder why sometimes I don't post these at a regular time of day? That's why, I'm still working on touchup before I post (and probably off from work, so I'm not prepping the night before, like when I post at a scheduled time).

Let's use this recent Gauss sheet as an example.

The original scan was pretty messy. Probably can't see it as well in tumblr resize scale, so here's the original scan. But it is dotted all over the place, there's like a smudge line which goes through the whole bottom of the sheet, where the "Final Draft" stamp, character/episode number marking is, and through some of Gauss' headshots as well. You can also probably see some black on the edges, where the sheet comes to an end within my scanner.

The first bit of touchup I usually do is within my image viewer. I use FastStone Image Viewer to help organize and view everything. In there, I will adjust the brightness, contrast, and sometimes the gamma, to get the sheet background a bit lighter and the lines darker.

I just like the number 14. Is it always 14? No. But that's usually my baseline starting point. After that's saved, into the photo editing program of choice we go. I match my brush color to the background white and just paint over all those ugly dots and wipe those black edges away.

Zoom in at 100% to try not to miss those artifacts you don't notice zoomed out. Look at Gauss' speckled fingers. Ugh, cleaning that stuff up is hell. But I do it, so you all can see clean-ish looking art. Do I get everything? No. But I try to at least get the major issues out of the way.

Some things I take liberties on. The shading on his jacket goes outside the lineart. Should I leave it as is for authenticity? Probably. But if I'm cleaning it, I'm gonna clean it all. So you'll see in the finished version I posted, those shading lines are all inside the lineart only.

Some people are jerks and could easily resell these settei just by printing scans and claiming them as original. Another way I try to have a way to differentiate my edits without slapping a watermark on is my editing of the text boxes. See the top left and bottom right of it above Netto? There's almost always some overhang on the originals. I have usually taken the liberty of editing that overlap line off, so that the text box is a clean rectangle where the line stops at each corner, as close as I can take it. It's a dumb, but simple way for me to tell if it's my edit.

Otherwise, that's really it. Just a lot of added effort in touchup, honestly.

Cel scans are a little different, because most of them are too big for either scanner. Especially cels with backgrounds. So many of those involve 2-4 scans and then stitching them all together. Much less touchup that I do to them, but otherwise it's mostly the same. 600 DPI, and some brightness/contrast or slight color saturation adjustments to them, if needed.

And now you know!

[ectonurites]

I love your Henry el art! do you have any digital painting tips? Do you physically brush stroke over and over the same spots like you would with traditional art? I can never wrap my head around digital painting but I want to get better at it! I just don’t know how to blend or get that nice painterly look where you see strokes and it’s not so flat :(

first of all thank you!!! and oh god okay. trying to explain this stuff is hard kjhgjkh

I do definitely like, work over the same areas in a way tht i think is vaguely reminiscent of traditional painting—wait wait ok here's like. a few different stages along the way tht i'd saved things at on a different piece (bc on the el & henry one i didn't save at too many points along the way):

[Also i usually do most of my painting-style stuff as a value study in black & white (or sometimes a fun different color & white. to spice things up) which i then color on top of with an assortment of blending layers, then do some little touch ups on after merging it all together. which is why this is in b&w but the final version i'd posted is not]

but so it's like. a lot of working and reworking the same areas and utilizing the fact that with a digital painting you CAN select certain pieces and move them around/resize them (within reason, if you do it too drastically with the resizing then the quality gets fucky. but normally even after i resize something i'll paint back over it at the new size to help compensate for that/refine it).

in terms of the strokes and how visible/not visible they are, i think that's something where just... you experiment with brushes & pen pressure to be able to achieve certain things? (I personally use the DAUB brush set, overall there's LOTS of fun stuff in here & i had bought it in the first place bc it's what comic artist Belén Ortega uses and i always love the texture of her linework. but if you don't want to buy brushes there's definitely LOTS of great free ones out there to play around with). The brush I specifically use for this kind of thing is like a 'watery acrylic' so it's got some texture to it and blends things a bit but still loads new paint onto each stroke.

I'm sorry if none of that is particularly helpful though, but like the main thing is just practicing and experimenting until you find things that work for you! it's something that like... can take a lot of time & effort to get the hang of!!

[kaitlynpcallmebeepme]

Two hearts beat as one

Two hearts beat as one

Spencer Reid x Fem!reader

Idea: Spencer x reader friends to lovers based the idea off of a blurb from @rintsuru where Reid shows the reader a magic trick where he writes something on a card and shows it to the rest of the team (they know he likes you) and shuffles the deck and pulls out not their cards and then says something like its behind your ear and then that's when the reader pulls the card out and reads will you go on a date with me. Reid frames that card in glass later.

Add a part where spencer just loves how she thinks of random things, after she gets shown the card and answers she says, you know the doctor had 2 hearts, how do you think cpr would work on him

Requested: Nope.  @halloween-is-my-nationality​ This was the Spencer idea I had that I said I would write.  

Author’s Note:  Ok, 12 hour night shifts aren’t terrible, for me at least.  It’s just bad when I either have not gotten sleep the night before or I have to do something the morning I get off.  I’m currently 7 hrs after getting off my night shift and I’m not tired enough to go to sleep, so I finished this (which I also started on my bored night shift last night).  I’m going to try to sleep after this.  I made the perspective Spencer’s in the first person for the most part.  I couldn’t resize the card picture.  Requests are still open.  Feedback is always appreciated.  Also, tell me if you want to be part of a Tag List and I’ll tag you when I upload something new.

Warning: Just some cuteness, card magic, Doctor Who references, and Morgan being the big brother that Spencer needs.

Word Count: 1,351 

“You can’t just keep staring at her forever pretty boy.”  There goes Morgan again teasing me about my very obvious, but still trying to hide it, crush on my co-worker and team member.  

“I’m not staring.  I’m silently observing and you were staring at her first, I just followed your line of sight.”

“But I haven’t kept staring at her for 3 minutes.”

“2 minutes 47 seconds. You’ve been staring at her for 23 seconds.”

“Just ask her out pretty boy. You got some game to you.”

“The last time you tried this with me it was really awkward, we were on a case, and in a loud bar.  My brain was distracted with too many things that time.”

“It’s definitely distracted now.”  I hate to admit when he’s right.  She’s the only person who can make me lose my train of thought if she’s speaking or just listening to me.    

“Ok well if this is so interesting to you instead of all of the other women throwing themselves on you, then at least try to be helpful.”  I couldn’t stand Morgan’s teasing much more.  Yes, we hung out every weekend and watched some nerdy show or movie.  So what.  Garcia has seen most of them already and Y/n’s the only other person in this building who will watch any of that genre in general, much less with me.  She’s just perfect, from the way she’ll read Harry Potter at her desk or has Supernatural and Sherlock stickers on her laptop and will trace them with her fingers every so often.   

“Hey, I'm trying to help my brother ask out his future wife.”

“And you’re jumping from step negative 10 to 8 of relationships.  I start on the scale at a negative 20.  Work with me.”

“If you are not going to ask her out, there has to be reasoning behind the hesitation.  You only ever do things when the odds are in your favor.”  That was one thing Morgan was right on.  There was a lot of hesitation.  No one’s ever liked me that way, liked or put up with my rambles, and wanted to stick around for the stressful and dangerous career I chose.

“I just don’t want her to not like me then leave like those who left before.”

“I guarantee you that won’t happen.  You guys hang out every break we get, she’s met your mom, always sits next to you on plane rides, plays with your hair when you don’t notice, knows to grab you lunch and take care of you when you won’t take care of yourself, and if we could, you two would be sleeping in the same room on cases.”  What a list Morgan.  You’ve been keeping tabs on us.

“Hotch would probably make us have ground rules to keep professionalism so the department doesn’t separate us off the team.”

“So you do want there to be an ‘us’?” Morgan’s teasing tone is so annoying.  But I have to admit he’s right.  I want to wake her up to breakfast in bed and read to her until she falls asleep next to me.  

“I just don’t want to lose her either way.”  

“I get that.  It’s the fear that’s holding you back.  Fear of if it’s worth it to not have that happiness but still have her in your life.  But, from what I can see, the way she look at you, always asks about how you’re doing when I get a call from her on a case, the way she's the first person you ask anything to case related or not.  You two were made for eachother.  You aren’t going to find that magic in just anyone.”

That phrase hit me.  I know now how to ask her out without saying anything and, if I’m honest with myself, it was one of the better ideas I’ve come up with.  

"You know what I'm going to ask her right now."  I opened my office desk drawer, grabbed two things, and marched off to her, avoiding the unnecessary stress from Morgan’s smirk.  Having already finished her paperwork, she was reading Goblet of Fire at her desk, but her attention turned to me as I went up to her desk.  

"What's with the cards Spence? You have another magic trick to show me?"

Ok Spencer, now or never. 

"Yes, and so you don't have to memorize the card number I'm going to write on this one and this will be your card." I took out the marker I had brought with me and wrote on one of the cards.

"Are you sure Spence? Wouldn't that be ruining a good deck of cards?"

"It's fine.  Now." I flipped the card with the note on it over so only the back showed and she didn’t see the message.  I could start to see the team at least gazing in our direction wondering what was going on.  I turned back to her because I wouldn’t be able to finish this if I was focusing on the team.  I placed the card in the middle of the deck.  "These are going to get shuffled by you." She grabbed the deck, split it in two, shuffled it three times, and handed it back.  Counting strategically I moved a couple more cards out of the deck that I knew weren't hers.  I placed one card in front of her.  "Flip that card over and see if that's it." She picked it up and, not surprisingly, it wasn't her card. I flicked through the backs of a couple more cards deleting some from the counting.  I handed her another card. "Is that your card?" 

She flips that card over. "No. Spencer are you sure you're doing this right?"

"Yes I am.  Ok, one more try."  I pay close attention to cards as their stiff corners flip through my fingers.  I pull out the last card, my nerves rising as I pushed it across the table to her.  "That's your card." I said with the most amount of confidence I could mustard up at the moment.

She picks it up, and her eyes widen.  

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes. I would love to go out with you Spencer Reid."

She smiled as she held the card.  I was just cherishing that this moment went so well for how little time I planned it. 

"Did you pick the two of hearts because of our two hearts or because the Doctor has two hearts and we both love Doctor Who?"

"Mainly for the two of us and that couple saying 'two hearts beat as one'."

"How do you think CPR would work on the Doctor since he has two hearts?"  That was a question I wasn’t expecting after this.  Back to our nerdy-selves.

"Well they showed that in the 2005 version Season 3 episode 1 where Martha performed CPR on the Doctor.  Although it was inaccurate CPR as she did 5 compressions per breath where as it's supposed to be 30 compressions then two breaths, and the doctor was suffering from blood loss as well as hypoxia, so compressions and breaths alone would have done little to help without a transfusion or a fluid bolus, but I think it would still work as long as the compressions are helping to pump both of his hearts. However, I sus- *kiss*."

I did not expect her to kiss me that quickly.  It was only a quick kiss as she also knows I’m not someone who shows big signs of PDA, especially in the work place, but I’d let her kiss me any time.  

"And that's why I love you Spencer Reid."

I could care less about the fact that the rest of the BAU could see us, or that Morgan was probably about to clap me on the back, or Penelope filming this whole interaction right now.  I found my other half.  She kissed me again, longer and deeper this time, and then took the playing card. "This is getting framed, so you'll be down one card babe."

"That's ok. I don't think Jack and Henry will mind."

[tatiana-love]

Fluffy Klaus Mikealson Headcanons

A/N: Bonjour! This is my first request (ahhhhhhh), and it’s so cute. Thanks so much, anon! I'm sorry for the wait, I was nervous because it's my first time writing for Klaus, so I hope you like it!

TW: none, I think

Pairing: Klaus Mikealson x gn!reader

Anyway, here are some romantic, soft, fluffy Klaus headcanons <3

Klaus was never shy about his feelings for you.

The gestures started off small…

For example, after you invited him into your house, he developed a habit of leaving things around for you find once you got home.

You began waking up with notes from him sitting on your nightstand.

"Good morning, love. I hope you’ve slept well. – Klaus"

If you told him that you had a long day, you’d come home to a warm bath and a big box of your favorite pastries waiting for you.

Sometimes he’d show up at your doorstep with a troublesome smirk plastered on his face. You knew he had no real reason for being there other than just wanting to be around you.

He loved doing these things, but as his feelings for you deepened, he wanted to do more.

You quickly learned that Klaus has very distinct ways of showing his love; physical affection, showering you with nice things, bringing your enemies to their demise acts of service.

So, when you finally agreed to go on a date with him, he was elated! He decided to go all out. Through compelling your acquaintances for information research and observation, he learned some things about you.

Klaus arrived on the evening of your date holding a bouquet of your favorite flowers. He looked perfect in his tailored suit, but you’re the one that left him breathless. When you opened the door wearing one of the outfits that he picked out, he let out a subtle, genuine gasp. He didn’t know what to say. His eyes looked you up and down as if it was the first time he ever saw you. After he gathered himself, he greeted you with a big smile and a kiss on your hand.

Klaus: “You look stunning, love!”

That night he brought you to your favorite restaurant and then to a museum that carried one of your favorite artist's exhibits. Impressing you was euphoric for him. On your date, he promised that someday he'd show you the world.

Klaus being extra would become a regular thing.

He routinely plans THE MOST extravagant dates.

Art galleries, the theater, live music shows, fancy restaurants and bakeries, he wanted you to experience all of it.

When you go out for dinner together, he always orders a dessert for both of you to share.

One time when you were at a French restaurant, he ordered crepes because you said that you never tried them before. You ended up loving them, and he took note of that...

He also LOVES taking you shopping. If you look into one of the store windows for longer than a second, he insists on going inside. You literally can’t go to the mall without him tagging along and buying you everything that you want, no matter how expensive those things are.   

Anytime you mention something that you want or need to buy, Klaus makes sure that it quickly comes into your possession.

He also loves watching you try on new clothes in the store. He'll help you get zipped into your clothes and then hype you up when you walk out of the dressing room.

The Mikealson siblings love you because you bring out a softer, sweeter side of Klaus. You know this because they help him spoil you sometimes.

Exhibit A: You and Rebekah were hanging out downtown together when you found a cute little antique store. Inside, you saw a gorgeous ring that you loved, but it wasn’t in your size. Klaus showed up on your doorstep a few days later holding a velvet jewelry box in his hands. “Rebekah told me you liked it, so I had it resized for you, love...” he smiled. 

Ahhh he just loves you so much!

He always knows what to say to make you melt, and he likes that he has that effect on you. Of course, you have that effect on him too.

He wants to be with you forever...

You’re his muse. He’s painted you so many times that he could probably do it with his eyes closed. There's a portrait of you in his room so that when you aren’t there, you’re still the first person that he sees when he wakes up (although he much prefers when it’s actually you that he gets to wake up to).

You both have extensive skincare routines that you do together. Yes, he's immortal and doesn't age, but he still likes to do it! The second that you run out of one of your favorite products he's gone off to replace it for you.

One night while you were staying at his house, he found you reading a book in the living room…

Klaus: “What’s this, love?”

y/n: “It’s my favorite book.”

Klaus: “Won’t you read it to me?”

That night you took turns reading to each other until you fell asleep in his arms during the last chapter. He was so gentle picking you up and carrying you to bed that you didn’t even wake up.

He likes to sleep while holding you because he’s super protective. In the mornings, if you awaken first and try to get up, he’ll always pull you back into his arms.

Around you he’s such an affectionate teddy bear. There’s lots of public displays of affection between you. In public, he’s usually holding your hand or has an arm around your waist to show everyone that you belong to him.

He’s the BEST kisser!! And he always greets you with kisses.

Klaus is literally incapable of keeping his hands to himself around you.

The passion of your relatioship never fades. You shamelessly flirt with each other as if you’re still in the honeymoon phase.

Whenever someone hurts your feelings or disrespects you, he makes sure that they'll be sorry for it!!!

He always goes above and beyond on special occasions too...

Remember when I said that he took note of the fact that you liked crepes? Well, for your first anniversary as a couple he presented you with two tickets to France because he wanted you to try authentic crepes with him in Paris.

It was the first of many vacations. He meant it when he said that he was going to show you the world. One of his favorite things to do is to introduce you to all that life has to offer.

Sometimes he surprises you with spontaneous plans, like short weekend trips to the beach or reservations that he made somewhere on a whim.

You’ll never get tired of the devilish expression that appears on his face when he presents you with something that he knows you'll like.

He's such a romantic...

“Klaus, are you trying to buy my love?” 

“Of course not, darling…”, he smirked, “I just think that someone as precious as you deserves everything that they desire.”

[ezamevolni]

Meet Cute Anniversary (Part 2)

... the June 4th saga continues.

I've only thought of these instances in fragments so I didn't know how much there could actually be related to their first meeting... apparently really a whole lot OTL Part 2 is going to be a lot longer than Part 1 because I ain't doing a Part 3. meh. I've also seen threads on twitter before, but trying to compile them from scratch based on memory is hard...

But thanks to this exercise and my desire to make things entertaining I learned how to screen capture, make gifs and resize shxt. this dinosaur is evolving hoho

Before going into Jin's version of events, the latest addition to Jk's chamber of lies: from the newly released Memories of 2021, Jk is shamelessly tricking his members with what June 4th means again. 'Oh you think that? Oh, ok.' 🌝

During the filming for their jacket photoshoot the members were discussing what each of their 6-digit serials meant, so Suga asked Jk "Is that when you came to Seoul?" "Yes! When I came to Seoul!" Then Jk 👀 > Jin (next to Tae)

See Part 1 when he says it's the day he moved into the dorm.

(This kid is so happy and cute whenever he gets away with mentioning his anniversary on camera 😭❤️)

Disclaimer: this one goes a little into shipper territory. Anyways, it's based on opinions and observations.

Because June 4th is Jinkook's anniversary of when they met, Jin is part of the equation. However with Jin, he never mentioned the 'date' itself but rather only the event.

That day, the new trainees were asked to observe their sunbaes, so Jin knew he had to gather at the practice studio with the others. While talking and laughing with friends, Jin walked through the door without much thought. He was ready to take a seat and turned his head slightly towards the crowd on the floor. As if the bright flash from a camera went off, he blinked and squinted from the sudden glare. There was no camera nor did the sun suddenly shine through the low ceiling of the studio, but Jin did suddenly meet the straight gaze of a 15-year-old boy. The round eyes were clear and bright, like a baby deer's caught in the headlights of an oncoming car- (added for dramatic effect) The two locked eyes and for a heartbeat, the universe stopped short. Blood rushed to Jungkook's head and made a whooshing sound, so loud he could barely hear the handsome older guy's question "Who are you?". Jk sat there for a beat, then being sensible, he quickly realized that it would be rude to have his elder come to him so the kid unfurled from his anime girl seated pose, stood up in a rush and walked towards the older boy. Jin smiled as the kid introduced himself all flustered "Ah! My name is Jeon Jungkook!" The two exchanged greetings properly and sat down side by side, hearts thumping oddly fast.

Reads like a fanfic because it's my romanticized version.

Ok I'm allowed a delusional pill once in a while. this whole space could come crumbling down at any second

Before getting into it, I'll make my excuses first - I won't be able to remember all the instances of Jin mentioning [the first time he saw Jungkook at 15yo with big doe eyes] because there's too many, it feels like a blur with their 613 million hrs of content... It's also because Jin tends to mention it in fragments, sometimes the whole thing, sometimes just the eyes, sometimes in a passing remark... I'm not confident about collecting ALL

BTW Jin too seems to have a case of misremembering things. Other than 'Jeon Jungkook', '15 years old', and 'doe eyes', details seem to be changing all over the place...

Not going chronological because it doesn't matter, this is one of my favorite instances:

170219 Jin's Face Photo preview via Vlive

When he stopped talking for a brief second to look at Jk's photo, and then started to tell the story of seeing Jk for the first time I could tell how fond he was of Jk.

Jin's retrieval cue for memory of first meeting: Jk's side profile. He talked about Jk for the longest , and ended the live because he thought of Jk, missed Jk, and wanted to go see Jk.

In this live, Jin said Jk was sitting on the sofa, which might be the only time he mentioned this.

Very recently, when the script called for them to reminisce their past selves, Jin seized the day to cue doe-eyed Jk:

210709 A Butterful Getaway with BTS

They were supposed to answer questions as their younger selves for the show segment and technically they all agreed on their ages at debut, which would make Jk 17yo but Jin called on Jk while saying 15yo instead. Some of them did discuss using other ages, like Jin's one was the most absurd ~2yo. But Jk wasn't shown asking to use a different age.

In Jin's mind, Jk must have remained 15 for a long time.

Look how happy he was when Jk tried to imitate his 15yo self. Jin's always one of the members laughing hard after Jk tries something funny.

Going back in time, this should be the earliest instance Jin talked about meeting Jk for the first time on camera:

151220 BTS Star Talk HK

Here, Jin sounded like he'd been waiting his turn and had rehearsed the whole thing before when he spoke. I don't really need to write out what's in the screenshot, it's the same story.

Here's the earliest instance ever of them bringing up their first meeting in a Japanese magazine:

141022 Haru*Hana vol. 22 (cr. yoogamin)

For a unit interview with Jin, Jk and V (the J reporters sure know what they're doing), he bought it up. And again, the case of ever changing details... is it the same day or a couple days apart? We'll never know.

No matter about that, the important part is them meeting, and during the meeting, Jk had big doe eyes and was 15yo. And it was June 4th.

You know how good students only memorize keywords to bring out the whole concept during exams? I feel like this was what they did. Boil it down to the essentials then someday, when time allows, they're going to tell us word for word, what they wore, what the weather was like, what they said, if their knees touched... they can save it for the wedding, honestly. I don't really care that much.

Moving on. Another excerpt from their Japanese content:

2018 JP Fancafe vol. 4 (cr. kocchi)

Jungkook...Bambi eyes...practice room...

Plus I'm laughing at how Suga, RM and Jhope were referred to as just 'the rappers' 😂. Out of all the things from that day, Jungkook was the most important. Jin did go on to say that RM left a strong impression on him with his dancing, but then I also recall during their BTS Begins VCR, Jin made sure to place Jk in the memory too by pointing at him and exclaiming "you were there too!" when talking about RM.

If anyone has read this far and is thinking wow, he really does talk about Jk and his doe eyes a lot, think about how often more the members have to listen to him. Just the amount of times he might have said it on camera but didn't make it to the final cut, or to friends and staff, or after one beer too many, "Did you know the first time I saw Jungkookie...his doe eyes-"

Because thanks to Jin, Jk is now permanently associated with deer eyes:

200524 RJRJ via Vlive

RM instinctively went "Jungkook..." after hearing Jin say 'deer eyes'. There's also a fox in the drawing but it's like he didn't even see the fox. Jin only picked it because of the deer. The bias.

At this point, I think it's safe to assume the members are primed to know Jin and Jungkook joined Bighit together, and how cute Jin thought Jk was when they first met.

210219 BE.T.S💜 via Vlive

A trivial coincidence: this live was exactly 4 years after Jin started reminiscing about Jk in the middle of promoting their merch aka the first instance mentioned.

RM automatically said 'eyes of a deer' to Jin saying 'Jungkook...15 years old'. A true leader listens, and therefore is more easily primed than the others.

Of first meetings, I know a few other pairs like Jihope, Namkook and Taejin are also famous for them but they don't mention it without prompting like Jinkook does. Tbh I think Namkook and Taejin's stories are way more interesting than Jinkook's like one has 'honey thighs' and the other has 'dirty dancing'. Jinkook only has, what, their eyes met from across the room? And??

But to Jin and Jungkook, it's clear that their meeting with each other has the most significance. The sheer amount of times they talked about it. I'm not even touching on anything else from their relationship, like the 11 years from that point onwards that they've spend together. I've just written some essay length compilation on just one day. I'm impressed and horrified.

And then let's circle back to Jk for a sec. Taking a deeper dive into shipper territory here

So did we all think Jk's obsession with June 4th 2011 ended with him talking about it any chance he gets?

No no no, he inked it.

The screenshot of Jk's new tattoo artist IG story. Behold, not edited:

Yeah no I didn't draw the numbers, the tattoo artist did and added that sticker.

For context, Jk used to just have the skeletal hand in the middle. The new tattoo artist added color and the surrounding extensions.

So. What do you know, 20110604 again. Before seeing this, I didn't even imagine this tattoo would have anything to do with Jinkook. Before the artist's hint, zero idea; after, omg it's so obvious.

And that emoji... that's the finishing touch. What, the artist is embarrassed because Jk joined BTS...?

The little ❤️ in the corner too. That's really sweet.

He deleted the story within an hour of posting. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Understandably, those who know that see this post will get it instantly.

And it took me a second to realize that boi had the date tattooed on him since the beginning.

First round, he got only BTS/Army related ones (Just a random thought does anyone else think the initial tattoo on his shoulder looked like a whale not an angel? Just me? Ok), the next round he got this hand sign and the tiger lily. (I'm saying 'rounds' tentatively because it looks like Jk got multiple tattoos during a few single sessions.)

(I'm also glossing over the fact that he tattooed the single letter 'J' on his ring finger during his touchup session right before vacation ended. You can tell it was recent from the 2019 airport photos because of how pink the flesh looked around the ink and how deep and shiny the black was. That's the look before the tattoo scabs and heals fully.)

I guess he decided the previous version was too subtle.

11 ~ 6 ~ 4

like holy

When I discovered I could spot the 11, 6 and 4 in the hand without the newest add-ons, I thought my shipper brain was in overdrive. I'm being delusional. Not everything is related to Jinkook I know that!!

If we didn't look for 'numbers' in the tattoo, one will never know about 11.6.4.

Because... maybe he is into hardcore heavy metal🤘🏽 That's why the skeletal 'sign of the horns' tattoo. Or he could have meant it just as 'rock on!' because he's a singer. So I dug a bit more to see if my observation stands.

Quick and easy, a simple search determined it's not some fluke that 11.6.4 can be found. Jk forced the '6' and '4' to both appear in his tattoo. I will explain.

Some examples of skeletal 'sign of the horns':

The drawings all somewhat follow human anatomy and this rule: either the thumb reaches the pinkie and forms the figure 6, or it doesn't and allows 4 bones to be shown across the palm. Jk's one has both.

Tattoos are usually made with consultations and depending on the artist, they take input from the client to varying degrees. Jk's tattoos are clearly all very personal to him and not from flash or ready-made originals. Especially his first round of tattoos in 2019, seems like he went in with self drawn designs or clear ideas of what he wanted.

So if he didn't ask for both the thumb to reach the pinkie to form a 6 and also have 4 bones show across the palm, the artist is highly unlikely going to suggest this weird combo in his drawing. Highly.

110604 is a really, really special date to him.

And wait, there is more.

Maybe the most significant and yet subtle way they've brought the date to our attention is through their songs. My two lovebirds are rockstars and like rockstars, they'll write about each other and romance.

During Festa 2019, Jin released Tonight on June 5th midnight KST. Then exactly one year later on the same day in 2020, Jk released Still With You.

Why June 5th? Can't know for sure. It could be caution, or something more nutty like 'it's still June 4th somewhere in the world' ... who knows. But it can't be ignored that the 2 songs are released right on the cusp of June 4th and 5th. It's the tipping point into the next day, displays as the 5th, but could still count as the day before. And if you place the two songs side by side and read the lyrics, it's a matching set. And if you read the lyrics, it might make sense why midnight, why nighttime, and how specific certain details in the song can't really reference fans or pets...

Noticeably, Jk's verbal mention of June 4th really started around the beginning of 2021, after both songs have been released and his tattoo has been on show for more than a year. Compiling things now might make it look 'obvious' but hindsight is 20/20, and he's tried to make the meaning of June 4th appear as ambiguous as possible.

On the other hand, Jin has been consistent. He used to talk about their first meeting almost every year, and shows signs that he remembers till now. Out of the two of them, I would say Jin is the better expert at hiding in plain sight. I shall have much to say on this topic someday.

So to sum it up the 2 of them had used the date to release songs, and had it tattooed, talks about it a lot...

And just to reiterate, Jk said:

"Kookjin Jin Jungkook" joined at the same time.

Another little thing pertaining to them joining BTS:

Both of them sang This Song by 2am for their auditions. Both didn't do very well with the song 😅 But nonetheless they came to meet eo.

*Tbh I don't know how popular this song was for auditions so it could just be a probability thing.

Lastly, June 4th happens every year during 🌈Pride Month🌈

It's hard to believe in fate or destiny these days but between them, there are really a lot of coincidences that doesn't seem like real life✨

[sandibullock]

I was wondering if you could do a tutorial on this gifset that you did i really like ittt

Thank you for sending this in, anon! I’m glad you liked it and wondered how it was made :) Fun fact: the day before you sent this, I had just started working on my next set in that “Select Filmography” series. I hope you like that one too when it’s ready!

I think I should start by saying I’m pretty new to giffing myself and there might be more efficient ways of getting to the same result. However, the point here is to show you the process I went through to make this gifset and hopefully help you understand how to make a similar one.

To follow this tutorial, you will need some version of Photoshop and some giffing knowledge. I know there are multiple ways of making gifs so I’m just letting you know I’m using the timeline and the “Convert for Smart Filters” option (I don’t really know how else to call it).

Now let’s get started!

STEP 1 - CHOOSE THE SCENES

It might sound obvious but, in my opinion, this is the most crucial step. It’s also the one that takes the longest (along with step 7, aka the coloring).

At this stage, you need to have a general idea on how you want your set to look like so you can choose the scenes accordingly. In my case, I knew I needed two types of shots for each movie: one close-up for the main gif and one mid shot for the shape. I also needed to take two other criteria into consideration: the movement (because of the shape) and the lighting (because darker scenes are such a pain to color). Last but not least, I didn’t want the characters to be talking (but that’s just a personal preference).

With all of that in mind, you can start saving a few screenshots of scenes that meet your criteria (or at least some of them). In the end, there won’t be that many to choose from so be prepared to make compromises.

STEP 2 - MAKE A DRAFT

Now that you’ve preselected a few scenes, you can make a first draft. This will help you turn your general idea into something more concrete.

Basically, this is your opportunity to organize your thoughts. What size do you want your gifs to be? What shape are you going to use? On which side do you want the close-ups to be? Do you want all of them to be on the same side or do you want to alternate from one gif to the other? Do the scenes you chose work together (gif-wise but also set-wise)? Are you happy with the way it looks, overall?

By answering all of the questions you might have now, you’ll save yourself a lot of time, trust me. Of course, you can totally skip this step if you already know exactly which scenes you’re going to use and how you’re going to present them together.

To give you an idea, this is what my draft looked like for Atomic Blonde.

STEP 3 - PREPARE YOUR GIFS

Once you have a clearer view on how you want your set to look like, you can finally start giffing like you usually would (i.e. importing, cropping, resizing, etc.).

It should then look something like this.

The important thing to mention here is that you want both of your gifs to be the same number of frames (32, in my case).

Ideally, you should also aim for the ~same~ coloring (especially for the skin tone, since both gifs will be so close to each other). This bit is particularly difficult when you chose scenes which have opposite lighting (see my two uncolored gifs below). Remember how I insisted on steps 1 and 2? It was to help you avoid this. So my advice would be not to choose these types of contrasted scenes, unless you can’t do otherwise and you’re ready to suffer!

STEP 4 - MAKE YOUR SHAPE

To make your shape, you can click right on the Shape Tool (U) and select the last one, Custom Shape Tool. From the Shape menu appearing on top, you will be able to choose the shape you want from the drop down list and start drawing on your gif.

To be more precise with the dimensions, you can manually adapt the length and height from the Shape menu itself. I decided to go with the same ones as my gif.

Once your shape is positioned like you want it to be, you can drag and drop the shape layer under your gif. Next, you will have to click right on the gif layer/smart filter and select Create Clipping Mask. The result is as below. Note that if the size of your shape was smaller than your gif, you would still be able to reposition your gif with the Move Tool (V).

You can now export your shape gif, reopen it in Photoshop and convert it again to the video timeline and to a smart filter. This is where I’m not sure it’s the most efficient way of doing things but it’s the only way I found to keep the coloring of each gif separate. I also find it easier to work with a smart filter.

STEP 5 - COMBINE YOUR GIFS

To add your shape gif to your main gif, you can simply click right on the shape gif you just reopened and select Duplicate Layer. You can then choose the project which contains your main gif to duplicate it in there. Now go to your main gif and reposition your shape gif where you want it to be (how many times did I say gif here?). Finally, you can draw a new shape, using the same dimensions as in step 4, reposition it and choose any color you want from the Shape menu.

Since you will be repeating this process with your following gifs, I suggest you add a few guides so you know exactly where you should place everything to make all of your final gifs look the same.

(In case you’re wondering, the “Base” folder contains my adjustment layers/basic coloring for the main gif.)

STEP 6 - ADD THE TITLE

This step is pretty simple: go on the web and type “[name of the movie] title”. Download the png you like most, open it in Photoshop and resize it to a length of about 150-200 pixels. Next, duplicate the layer to your main gif and reposition it. In case you need to resize it again, select the title layer and go to Edit > Free Transform (Ctrl+T).

This is optional but in case you want to change the way it looks, know you can always duplicate the title layer and play with the blending options (see below). The good thing with a png is that you can also add some effects by clicking on the “fx” button.

STEP 7 - ADD COLORING (OPTIONAL)

To be honest, I had not planned on coloring my gifs. But I had already spent so much time on them and I was still unhappy with the way they looked. I mean, see how grey-ish they are? Not great...

So the only thing left for me to do was to add some colors. Now, since coloring is worth a tutorial on its own and it already exists, I suggest you read through becca’s mega coloring tutorial (and especially steps 3 & 5). Seriously, shoutout to her for making this incredibly useful tutorial. She is so talented and I love everything she makes!

My Atomic Blonde gif barely even needed coloring so I’ll show you what I did for my Tully and The Old Guard gifs.

For the first one, once I had found which colors to use with which blending option and opacity level, I only had to remove the colors from the left side of the gif because there was barely any movement in that scene (phew!). For the second one, on the other hand, I decided to color frame by frame because there was way more movement, in comparison. This is quite a tedious process, which is why you want to limit yourself to a certain amount of frames.

I’ll conclude by saying there are so many things you can do with coloring and what works with one scene might not work with another. So experiment with it: try different colors, play with the blending options and opacity levels, add some gradients and/or gradient maps, etc. Just know it will take some time to get to a somewhat satisfying result!

And that’s it... I hope this tutorial made sense and was somehow helpful. Of course, don’t hesitate if you have any questions! Also, if you do end up making a similar edit, pleeease send me the link or tag me in the replies or something ‘cause I would definitely love to see it!!

[abusivelittlebunny]

The thing I really like about the idea of Stefan x John is that John, who's bigger, meaner, and has more power overall, pushing Stefan against the wall and telling him to keep quiet or he'll beat him to a pulp, is still the one craving to get dicked down, but he's too afraid to put such power into somebody's hands who could actually hold him down and use him as he wants, so he gets on his knees for Stefan, the scrawny, shorter guy that he does not find hot at all lmao but he knows the boy (he says the word as if Stefan wasn't older than him by 6-7 years) has had a massive crush on him since he first laid eyes on him, couldn't hide the tent in his trousers or the blush on his face as he stared so hungrily at John like a fill course meal; and John didn't know any other gay guys that would fit his narrow criteria.

I hold more power than him. I am more likely to win in a fight. They know their place but are still obsessed with me. They've got a big dick and won't snitch on me for sucking it or riding it. Stefan just fit well into this.

Stefan being John's labrat, testing out his sexuality on him should work in theory but in practice John finds himself blushing wildly on his knees with his lips wrapped around Stefan's cock because after the initial shock wore off on the guy, he started petting John's hair and face all over, dreamily sighing and moaning about how cute John looks, how pretty, how long his lashes are from this angle, how soft his hair was, how warm and nice his mouth feels around him and how thankful he was for John sucking him so sweetly- not even grazing Stefan with his teeth would shut him up and his fucking gushing just made John embarrassingly bashful like a little virgin girl; he couldn't even take Stefan more than halfway, he shouldn't be getting praised on such sloppy blowjob skills.

But then when he pulls off and tells Stefan to shut the fuck up and orders him to fuck his ass, Stefan opens him up with his tongue so eagerly that John almost screams as he cums from getting eaten out but Stefan doesn't give him time to relax because he fucks him so fast and hard, John is thankful to be kneeling on the floor otherwise his legs would have given out in a minute. Stefan kisses and bites at every inch of skin he can reach on John's neck and back, leaves a trail of hickeys down his spine and John doesn't understand how the fuck can such a scrawny dude fuck so hard and have a dick twice his size or why he has to lay his chest on the ground because he just can't keep himself up from the onslaught, and even after John came three times Stefan doesn't pull out, just keeps fucking him with the same rhythm like a machine, no matter how many loads he already spilled inside, kneading John's fat ass with his boney fingers and gasping about how he could only dream of this moment for so long.

John can't fucking walk after, he's so fucked out, and Stefan offering to let him sleep over is the last thing he needs, they can't find out he's been getting railed for the last four hours by the fucking mole servant to the point where his asshole has been permanently resized so he just slurs to Stefan to ask Arthur to take him home and say he's drunk out of his mind after pulling his pants up. His legs are useless and Stefan carrying him on one side is annoyingly chipper and not tired in the slightest while Arthur is laughing by his side that John boy had too much did he? Yeah definitely too fucking much, and if Tommy notices how Stefan's cum leaking from his ass stained the backseat and not just his trousers he doesn't say a thing. He still eyes John with a creepily knowing and curious gaze as John limps and can't sit for a week after, amusedly watching as John chokes on his tea when he mentions Stefan called and asked how he was doing. Tommy looks like an absolute menace when he offers John Stefan's telephone number, and even more so when John hastily accepts.

John isn't excited about seeing him again, of course not, he just needs to ask the fucker if he told Tommy anything he should not fucking have...and maybe to pick a location and a date to when Stefan could rearrange his guts again...

[murfeelee]

C2077 Voodoo Boys Collection

“No-one else in Night City is so closely intertwined with the depths of the Net than the Voodoo Boys. Rooted in Haitian culture and tradition, these elite netrunners use their mastery of the digital realm to hack data and information that would otherwise be untouchable. Operating out of Pacifica, they’re your go-to for access beyond Blackwall, but watch your back; they’re especially wary of strangers.“

-- Cyberpunk 2077

This collection is divided into 2 sets, for buy mode and CAS CC conversions.

The VB Buy Mode Set includes 30 items:

VB Veve as Wall Lights

VB INSP Wall Lights

VB Veve as Floor Lights

Colorful Masks as Wall Art

Wall Mask Decor D & E

Incense Vase (REQUIRES WORLD ADVENTURES EP)

Haitian Book Decor

Necklace Cross Stand Decor

Bowl Decor 1 & 2

Beads Decor

Monitor A as Table Light

Monitor A2 as Table Light (Animated)

Monitor A as Functional Wall Television (Animated)

6 Monitors as Table Light (C2077 INSP)

Keyboard as Functional Computer

Netrunner Chair (HIGH POLY) as Lounge Chair

Netrunner Chair (HIGH POLY) as UNIVERSITY EP Brain Machine (Pro & Cheap)

Netrunner Chair Cables (slideable, found under Wall Art)

Netrunner Cables Triple Cluster (high poly)

Netrunner Cables Quadruple Cluster (high poly)

Mikoshi Pattern (found under Abstract)

Cables Set (Left, Right & Center)

VR Floor Lines Rug

Ice for Tubs (found under Rugs)

3 Wrapped Cables as Decor

The VB CAS Set includes 11 accessories and 2 tattoos:

Placide Tubes as Armband (Trimmer & Bulkier) (REQUIRES SUPERNATURAL EP for fit/fat morphs) 

Placide Head Cybernetics ACC

Maman Brigitte Coat (basegame & SN EP versions)

Misty’s Necklace (Trim) FIXED! (REQUIRES SUPERNATURAL EP for fit/fat morphs)

Grizzly Necklace (REQUIRES SUPERNATURAL EP for fit/fat morphs)

Bone Ladder Necklace (REQUIRES SUPERNATURAL EP for fit/fat morphs)

Bone Belt (REQUIRES SUPERNATURAL EP for fit/fat morphs)

Strap Hoodie (basegame & SN EP versions)

VB INSP Body Tattoo (requires CmarNYC’s tattoo mod)

VB INSP Body Scarification Tattoo (requires CmarNYC’s tattoo mod)

Enjoy, chooms! And Happy Black History Month!

Download folders (package files): Mediafire | Simfileshare

Descriptions & preview pics under the cut:

Most of the buy mode CC is self explanatory. Everything’s recolorable, and a lot of it is found under Misc Decor, Rugs or Wall Art.

Netrunner Chairs & UNI EP Brain Machine

Netrunner Lounge Chair

I had to drastically resize & reshape this mesh in order for sims to be able to sit on it somewhat naturally -- in addition to shaving off some serious polys, and it’s still pushing 10k.

Netrunner Chair as UNI EP Brain Machines (Cheap & Pro)

I was too way lazy to frankenmesh the University EP’s consoles & machines with C2077′s netrunner chairs (too many geostates, I refuse), so instead I just made the chairs solo. So unfortunately, the glowy special effects like the static electricity float in the air for no reason, where the extra bits of the machine mesh would have been. Ah well. At least it’s functional, sue me.

Ice Rug for Tubs

Ah yes, nothing like a nice soak in a vat of ice to beat that sweltering tropical heat! (Or as a DIY way for the body to enter cryostasis so that traversing Cyberspace doesn’t fry your implants right out of their sockets & kill you.)

Clipping will occur with several bathtubs, especially all the round ones. Fully recolorable. High poly (pushing 10k), so don’t go crazy.

Veve Wall & Floor Lights

I already made a bunch of RL voodoo wall & floor veve markings as regular decor, but when I saw the ones in C2077 I was like I gotta do something extra this time. So I decided to make these as lights, so they could “glow in the dark.“ You can turn them on/off if you want, and they’re recolorable.

Veve Floor Lights

Veve Wall Lights

VB INSP Wall Lights

Monitor Table Lights & PC

Hands down my fave part of the whole collection -- AND the hardest effing CC I learned how to make this year so far. This is my first time experimenting with the Fullbright shader AND animated textures, and good lord I had to test these a bunch of times -- major shout out to @aisquaredchoco​​​ for helping me test! 👍

Monitor Table Light & Keyboard as Functional PC

Following the same premise as my other keyboard & monitor set here, the Keyboard is a functional computer, and the Monitor is a table light with different screen variations:

6 Monitors as Table Light

These are the same monitors I converted here, just retextured using some of C2077′s screens instead.

The themes I was going for were generic news, music, hacker, medic/ripperdoc, and generic travel & weather.

I also added the Fullbright shader, so that the monitor always glows, even when the lights are off.

Animated Monitor as Table Light & Wall TV

Last but certainly not least, the coup de gras: animated textures!

The Animated Monitor as Table Light is a bigger version of the non-animated monitor above, but with far less variations, to give a more hacker-type vibe.

The Animated Wall Monitor is a functional TV that sims can watch & interact with, but you won’t be able to actually SEE the shows on the screen, just listen. Sorryboutit. It has all the same recolorable hacker-inspired variations as the table light.

________________________________________________

VB CAS CC Set

The CAS CC should be self explanatory, made up of accessories and 2 body tattoos.

Placide Tubes as Armband (Trimmer & Bulkier) (REQUIRES SUPERNATURAL EP for fit/fat morphs). Y/A-AM, Everyday - Outerwear.

Placide Head Cybernetics ACC (Y/A-AM, Everyday - Outerwear. Found under Earrings)

Maman Brigitte Coat (basegame & SN EP versions). Y/A-AF, Everyday - Outerwear. Found under Garters (scroll all the way down past the Socks)

Misty’s Necklace (Trim) FIXED! (REQUIRES SUPERNATURAL EP for fit/fat morphs)

Grizzly Necklace, Bone Ladder Necklace, Bone Belt (all REQUIRE SUPERNATURAL EP for fit/fat morphs). Y/A-A Unisex, Everyday - Outerwear. (The Belt is found under Rings btw.)

Strap Hoodie (basegame & SN EP versions). Y/A-AM, Everyday - Outerwear. Found under Earrings.

VB INSP Body Tattoo (requires CmarNYC’s tattoo mod)

VB INSP Body Scarification Tattoo (requires CmarNYC’s tattoo mod)

If you want in-game pictures of the CAS CC, see my VB Post here.

FLAWS: I can pretty much guarantee that there will be clipping & imperfections, even with fit/fat morphs.

________________________________________________

That’s everything!

Enjoy, chooms! And Happy Black History Month!

Download folders (package files): Mediafire | Simfileshare

[inessencedevided]

(You can find the set that this gif belongs to here 💙)

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES: When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours

I was tagged by @aheartfullofjolllly. thank you so much Pat! it was really fun to reflect about my own process 💗 You can find her post here and @lan-xichens' post that started it all here :)

Also thank you @huigusu 🥰 (who tagged me for my nie brothers set) I'll get to that one in a few days!

Now Pat gave me two sets to chose from to show my process, so obviously I chose the more complicated one :P

I only work in Photoshop CC 2018. I know that there are programs out there for easier cutting and sharpening but I have only just figured out how to do that in PS and I am too lazy to figure out any other programs right now xD

1. Idea and Planning

This set, like most of my sets with lyrics started with me reading the poem, clutching my heart and going "oh shit this fits my favourite characters!!". The idea actually started with me thinking that the first stanza of the poem would go really well with wwx during the burial mounds arc. Then I realized that the last stanza fits lwj better than him and from there came the idea to contrast the both of them next to each other. This is when I realized I wanted to do a dark-light contrast set, though I did not know that I would go with red and blue at that time. My idea in the beginning was just to do a black and white set

I was really impressed by how Pat said that she plans her sets around exact timestamps. Because I don't do that at all ^^ I just get ideas for which scenes would fit (in this case the wwx burial mounds scenes and lwj's kneeling and punishments scene) and then I watch the scenes to narrow them down.

Back when I made this set, I still used a screenrecorder (AceThinker Screen Grabber Pro to be precise. They have a test version that allows you to record up to 3 minutes) and recorded the scenes I needed from Netflix. This worked well enough but now I have the entire show saved on an external drive and it makes a world of difference when it comes to gif sharpness

Now, in this case I had to repeat this step once because when I was almost finished, I realized that I wanted a gif for the lwj corner but let's pretend I didn't do that and that's the way this gif was always going to look because otherwise this post will be way too long ^^

2. Creation

Short disclaimer: The creation process for this gifset was anything but linear. Multiple effects I used here were things I had never tried before. I just had a vague idea and tried to realize it through trial and error. So whenever I say "then I did xyz", it is implied that I ultimately went back to that step several times and changed stuff ^^

I started with the Wei Wuxian part of the gif. I usually use a frame rate of 0,06 (with some variation depending on gif length and size). I work in timeline so I converted all the layers to a smart layer. Then I resized the gif into a square, leaving big chunks of the gif empty (as can be seen below.) I flipped the gif horizontally, so he is looking inwards. This was simple because I felt it fitted the composition better. Then I imported the Lan Wangji part of the gif, again with a frame rate of 0,06. (Image 2)

After that I created a layer for masking in a separate PS document by rotating a square until it was point down (is that a rhombus?). I sized it to match my gif (540x540 pxl) and copied it over. (Image 3) a bit of masking magic and ta da! There's the basic layout (Image 4)

I put a layer of solid black behind wwx to get rid of the transparent bits (Image 5) and then started adding more white and black to both sides by adding solid whit and black layers that i put masks on and changed the opacity as i needed (Image 6)

("reading" direction: from the upper left to the lower right corner)

Then I fiddled with the colours a bit. The first thing I always do is using the curves layer to get more contrast. Then I use the colour balance tool and the selective colouring tool to get rid of that cql-typical cyan tint after that it's just trying to have it look "natural" while the colours still fit the overall scheme. This was difficult here because wei Wuxian’s side of the gif was very dark and when i turned up the saturation to see which colour dominated it was a very weird mixture of multiple colours. That's when i decided that I'd just go with red on his side, since lwj's side was already so blue and those to look great as contrasts.

After that just came a lot of fiddling with selective colour layers and brightness and contrast unti I has happy. There really wasn't much to it ^^. (Image 1)

After that I added the text. I knew I wanted the two lines to for a square of some kind. So I tried different fonds until I arrived at the one below. The two lines are in seperate layers so I could move them around and change the spacing between the letters until I was happy with the layout. I also changed the layer mode for the text to "difference" (is that what it's called in english? my PS is set to german sorry ^^), keeping their colour white. (Image 2)

I originally hadn't planned adding anything else but I felt like the gifs (plural because I switched between the gifs of this set) was still kind of empty and lacking, so I added the tear down the middle (a tutorial for that is either coming up later or already posted. I recently got an ask for this :)) (Image 3)

It still felt empty after that, so I tried different overlays. Okay no, first I wasted a lot of time on different free image sides but then I tried out different ones until I chose the one you can see in the finished gif. I liked that one because a) I felt the round shape was a nice contrast to all the straight lines already there and b) because once I applied a black and white filter to it and switched the layer setting to "difference" (again, i hope this is the correct translation) it looked a bit like a moon. (Gif at the top)

("reading" direction: from left to right)

And that's it! :)

Although in general, these gifs took so much fiddling! I went back and forth between them a lot and sometimes almost redid the entire thing because I had no idea what I was doing in the beginning and by the time I noticed an error, the only way to fix it was ti redo everything. So yeah, this set definitely is the the one that took me the longest out of all the ones I've posted so far.

3. Posting

I save all my gifs to my drafts first to see what they look like put together and to check if they look any different on mobile. Usually i do this several times and change stuff until I'm happd enough with it to hit post. Once i am happy enough, i can't hold back. Doesn't matter if it's at a time when nobody is online, i hit post 😅

And that's it!

Tagging:

@lanwuxiann for this gifset (I adore it so much. I've looked at it and read it severat times since you posted it and the poem just kills me every time!)

@suibianjie for this gifset (The combination of static images and gifs in your gifs is always absolutely perfect! This one is only my favourite of yours because the light coming from behind wwx is just so pretty!!! ^^)

@sweetlittlevampire for this piece (It was soooo hard to pick a piece of yours because I have so many favourites! But this one is just so out if this world, I want to know how you worked that magic :D)

@wei-gege for this set (sparkling shijie! 😭 that set is so incredibly beautiful! I love how you matched the colour of the overlay with her dress!)

@purplexedhuman for this set (your gifs are always incredible! I chise this one because it showcases both your colouring skills and some really intricate effects)

If any of you have already been tagged or don't have the time or energy for this, obviously no pressure to do this at all! 🥰

(btw, I originally tried to place the actual text of this under a "read more" cut but somehow it always messed with the order of the images, so this ended up as a rather long post. sorry!)

[classic80sand90smovieloves2]

Meeting and Dating Sgt. Hartman

(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)

- You met Sgt. Hartman while stationed as a nurse at the boot camp. You supposed that working in basic training was better than on the battlefield; especially since this would be your first gig as an army nurse, but the comparison did little to ease your nerves. You were still going to be taking care of a bunch of untrained men floundering around with dangerous weapons and equipment. 

- Regardless of your worries, you arrived at the camp early in the morning with your bags all packed and your hands eager to do something. As you stepped outside of your car, you were met with the sight of the older man, hands behind his back and a straight, almost scowling expression on his face.

- His face softened upon seeing you; though it didn’t do much to make him any less intimidating. The man introduced himself, ushering you to follow behind him as he began to give you a tour of your “new home”. After he showed you around, you were taken into the barracks and introduced to everyone in typical Hartman fashion. 

“Private cowboy, where's the infirmary,” He’d bellowed out and the man; Private Cowboy, quickly answered the shouted question. “Precisely! Now, if one of you sacks of shit gets your dick blown off by your rifle, this is who you will go and see! Is that clear?”

“Sir yes sir.” You’d nearly shouted alongside them. 

- The man demanded obedience, oozed authority, and held enough power in his hands to make a persons knees buckle beneath them. He was old enough to be your father and yet, there was something about him that just drew you in. 

- Unbeknownst to you, the drill sergeant was equally attracted to you as you were to him. 

- Now Hartman hasn’t had to flirt for a while so he’s a bit rusty. His attempts to compliment you are stunted and awkward and he isn’t quite sure what to talk to you about. But over time he gets back into the swing of things.

- Believe it or not, he used to be quite the catch when he was younger; and while he’s a few years past what you’d probably consider his “prime”, deep down he’s still just as suave and …creative. 

- It’s going to take you a while to realize exactly what he’s trying to accomplish, mainly because; in the beginning, you can’t really spend a lot of time together. He’s a busy man and even if you were to see him a lot, you most likely wouldn’t assume your superior; who’s that much older than you, is trying to hit on you. It would seem like more of a “a girl can dream” moment. 

- As I mentioned before, when you’re first starting to actually get to know each other, you aren’t really able to spend a lot of time together. He decides to do something about that, requesting that you come with him and his recruits when they go to do field training or target practice; “so you can be right there if something happens to them”. 

- Most of the time, you’re just sitting and watching but when he’s able to, he’ll stand by your side and make conversation, throwing in some slightly suggestive and ambiguously flirtatious comments. He doesn’t want to lay it on too thick in front of the “maggots”. 

- It’s only when the two of you get some alone time together that you can have some genuine banter. You flirt light heartedly, in a way that many would perceive as joking though it’s not a joke to either of you. He teases you and you tease him right back, something he’s quite fond of. 

- Well, it all comes to a head on New Years. You’re sitting in your office, finishing up some paperwork and feeling just the slightest bit homesick when you hear a knock at your door. 

- It’s obviously him, and while you figured he might stop by, the champagne he’s holding is certainly a surprise. Regardless, you soon find yourself sitting on your desk with him standing beside you, the both of you a little tipsy; just enough to make you feel warm and loose. 

- The remarks you exchange are a blur. All you can remember is watching in a heated daze as he leans in closer and closer until finally he seizes your lips in his. Long, slow, and slightly clumsy, the two of you kiss for what seems like forever, your arms wrapping around his neck as his fingers dig into your hips. 

- It’s a few minutes past midnight when you finally break apart and you shyly wish him a happy new years, unsure of what to say besides those few words. He merely chuckles huskily and pulls you into another kiss. 

- And thus begins your relationship with the master of maggots. 

- Modest and reserved pda. He’s got a bit of a reputation to keep up so most of your affection is gonna happen behind closed doors.

- He may be a hard man but he’s soft with you; surprisingly so at times. If any of his cadets saw the two of you when you thought you were alone, they’d die of shock right then and there.

- Long, hard kisses.

- Swats to the butt in private. You stand before him with a beautiful bottom and expect him not to touch it? You ask too much of him. He’s only human.

- He likes to keep a hand on the small of your back. It’s sort of a show of ownership; for lack of a better word. He wants everyone to know that you’re off limits without outwardly telling them.

- He’s a fan of pet/nicknames if you couldn’t tell. You get called a lot of different things: sweetheart, honey, darling, sugartits, etc.

- He’s not a huge cuddler but he’ll sling an arm around you and let you lay your head on his arm even though it makes the appendage annoyingly fall asleep.

- He’s an old fashioned man; a Christian one at that, so a want for domesticity has been instilled in him from a young age. Let’s hope you’re willing to be a little homemaker because that’s what he’s expecting and hoping for.

- Making breakfast for him in the morning. He always gives you a “mornin sunshine” and a side hug when he walks into the kitchen.

- Straightening out his tie for him.

- Sitting on his desk and putting his hat on when he isn’t wearing it. It earns you a little smile every time you do so.

- Kisses on the temple.

- There’s going to be long stretches of time where you don’t see each other in person, it’s a part of the job and you’ll just have to accept it. It sure makes for some great reunions!

- He gets all proud whenever you praise him; especially for his medals and things of that nature. He puffs his chest out that slightest bit, straightening his shoulders as he tries to act modestly.

- Being there for all of his recruits ceremonies and congratulating him for making “another fine batch of soldiers”. 

- Watching his drills in your spare time. Even if you aren’t fond of some of his particular methods of earning respect and shaping his students, you can still admire him and the power he holds.

- Like I said, you may not like some of the ways he treats some of his cadets but you sure have to stifle a laugh when you pass by every now and again. You feel like a bad person but you can’t help it; he’s a funny, raunchy man.

- Late night meetings in your office. Try to remember to lock the door behind him.

- He’s got wonderfully rough hands and that’s all I’ll say about that.  

- He enjoys being able to make you laugh. He’ll tell you jokes, poke your sides, throw you over his shoulder; whatever it takes to make you giggle and squeal.

- You get away with a lot of things no one else could. You think anyone else could insult or talk back to this man without having their holes resized? No ma’am, not a chance.

- Few people are graced with his smile and you are one of those few people. It may be a small one but it still feels like an honor every time you see it.

- He’s been a drill instructor for quite a while so he’s certainly got a few stories to tell. They range from violent to embarrassing; for someone else, to just plain funny; you’ve got a tale for every mood.

- Hearing the stories behind his scars and tattoos. He likes the way you trace your fingers delicately across them while listening intently to what he has to say.

- He may or may not have gotten your name tattooed on him. 

- If you want to go out and do something, he’s one old man that can handle it. He enjoys being in the great outdoors so hiking and things of that nature are right up his alley.

- Barbecues. He will tease you if you’re vegetarian or vegan; all while grilling vegetables and veggie burgers.

- He prefers dates where the two of you can be alone together. It’s nice to get away from the stupidity of his cadets and from your hectic work.

- Sitting in his lap after a long day. He likes holding your hip in his hand and giving it a light squeeze every once and a while, usually after he makes some teasing remark.

- Nighttime brandy and bourbon. It’s a nice way to wind down before bed.

- Sneaking around the camp with each other. You’ve shared several kisses behind shut blinds and secluded corners.

- Hunting, fishing and camping trips. He’s a typical middle aged man who likes to kill and you’re his girl so you’re always invited to join him.

- Getting taught how to shoot and assemble guns. He thinks it’s a skill that everyone should know, even a pretty little things like you. 

- Trying to get him to ease up just a little bit; at least in some cases. He may be a professional drill instructor but you’re a professional human and you know when some people require something other than humiliation to learn.

- A jealous man. He feels a bit silly whenever he gets that burning feeling inside but he reasons that you’re his woman and he has the right; especially when it’s some young stud flirting with you. Usually, he’ll narrow his eyes at them and turn on his intimidation, asking them where they’re supposed to be and ordering them away as soon as whatever you needed to do with them is finished.

- He can always tell when you’re only trying to be nice and/or do your job so he never gets angry at you. He’ll just tell you not to be so sweet all the time and/or walk out without another word.

- A bit overprotective; he hears about anything and he makes sure to handle it. He doesn’t often use violence but his presence is enough to spook people. Rest assured, if it’s one of his cadets that’s causing problems, they’ll be running laps from sunrise to sunset.

- You get a whole lot of respect; at least to your face. No one is ever gonna start trouble with you, not when they know who you’re with. The most you’ll get is some young kid trying to push his luck but Hartman makes sure to squash that fast.

- He gets out most of his frustration at work so the two of you rarely fight; at least not aggressively. If there’s an issue then you’ll argue and resolve it within the hour, that’s just the way he is. The only time the two of you have a serious fight is when you’re adamant on trying to change the way he does things.

- If he’s upset you then he’ll apologize for that but trying to get an apology for anything else is like pulling teeth. He has a hard time admitting when he’s wrong though it isn’t too much of a problem since he rarely is in the wrong.

- He doesn’t tell you that he loves you very often but he does so on occasion, usually on your anniversary and during long goodbyes; things like that.

- As a god-fearing, old fashioned man, he intends to make an honest woman out of you as soon as he can. He’d be stupid not to.