#it’s a very good program btw I love it a lot!! it’s simple which I prefer in art programs :)

[neo404]

HockeyPlayer!Nick x FigureIceSkater!reader

• The two of you met by accident. He had a match in the ring next to yours, when he entered, he didn’t notice the whole place was empty until he heard a sharp blade hit against the ice, and when he looked up from his phone, in the ice were you jumping and spinning around. He was dumbfounded, never has he seen a guy look this graceful on ice, it was always pushes and shoves when he was on the ice.

• When you finish your program you pose on the middle of the ring, when you hear a ‘Wow…’. Nick who was still standing there admiring you got a bit shy of his natural reaction. Then, to make the situation more awkward he added. “So… this is not the jockey ring, right?” you laughed, and pointed the direction to him, and when he was about to leave, he complimented your performance and shyly asked if you trained there usually.

• From there, your relationship bloomed, you told him about your competition next weekend expecting nothing of it, but he actually went, and cheered and clapped harder than anyone. No shame at all.

• Your flirting consisted in mocking each other for their sports. What do you mean you can score a point but not do a double axel? Or, what do you mean you can spin on ice but can’t hit the puck?

• Lots of dates around skating. Him teaching you how to play hockey and you teaching him to do simple movements to do in pairs.

• You always go to his matches and wear his spare jersey (he loves that, he goes crazy when he sees his name on your back) to cheer him up. You become good friends with the rest of the team (specially his brothers).

• He always goes to your tournaments (no matter if they are on different states) and always arrives with a bouquet of flowers or a box of your favorite sweets (sometimes both).

• He loves to tie the laces of your skies.

• He loves to put his helmet on you because it fits a bit big and he thinks its cute.

• He will make you watch the matches of his favorite team and you eventually learn a few names and recognize a few faces.

• You make him watch the performances of your favorite figure skaters (mine if Yuzuru Hanyu btw, just wanted to say that lol) and he eventually learns the name of a few movements. He still doesn’t get how they (and you) spin so many times in the air.

• He loves to help you choose your outfits for the tournaments; he is very good at it.

• If he loses a match, he is very upset and needs lots of cuddles and kisses. Every time his coach is rude to him, he will bury his face in your neck and mumble about how they don’t appreciate him.

• He loves when you cheer for him and take photos of him. He won’t say it, but he melts when you show him off.

• When he gets injures, he is very stubborn but listens to you when you tell him he needs to rest. On the other hand, you still want to skate even when injured. So, he literally has to restrain you in bed so you can recover, he will lay on top of you (being careful to not squeeze the injured part of your body) so you can’t get up.

• Is very sassy and annoyed when the judges are biased or didn’t score to his liking (he think you should win every single competition you enter). Surprisingly is good friends with your coach (Nick bough them cookies and now they are besties).

• Once he bought two new pair of skates (one for him and one for you) and exchanged the laces from one of them, now you have a skate with white laces and he has one with black ones. He says that is to carry each other every time you step on the ice (which is when the both of you train and give your best). “It’s my lucky charm… and my mantra, when I see it, it reminds me that I can’t punch the other players in the face because you don’t like violence.”

Taglist: @freshloveforthefit @shywolfapricotfan @sturnphilia @matty-bear @thenickgirl @stvrniolvsp @paige05 @soursturniolo @miloisdone1 @teenagetrash00 @lovely-calypso @h3arts4harry @malirosee

[machiavellli]

I don't know why, but I never took you for liking men in beards ( personally I like them clean shaved, but to each their own <3<3<3)!

I wish you both the best!!! 💕

Could you please give us some cute anecdotes between you two ( we don't even know each other, but I really think you're both cute together, I remember reading the post in which you talk about him and it's so cute!) ?

I just wish to have a good caring loyal romantic boyfriend and find the one! 😭😭😭 I've been single all my life.

oh well, this was unexpected but at the same time really sweet, so thank you so much anon🫶

gonna write under the cut, ‘cause I don’t want to annoy everyone (that’s also the reason why I don’t talk about him too much here)

a lot to unpack, let’s go by the order of your ask

1. The beard thing

I have to say that I used to be of the same opinion, even because when we first got together he was a BABYYYYY (we were 16 jk) and he had no beard, no hair chest, no nothing lol. But as we grew up he obviously grow into his features and if at first I was not really intrigued by it, I have to say that it does looks so nice on him (I will never admit it tho, cause I complained about it at first). Also, even if he would shave it completely, I don’t think he would be able to reach again that level of smoothness again lol. He is quite hairy in general, so it is what is, but I don’t complain, since now I definitely prefer the beard.

2.

idk if you are referring to that post where I answered the question if I believed in true love (in that case, wow you know the LORE).

But anyway…some anecdotes mhh

he is like very smart. bro could learn literally anything and I’m glad that he sticks to the scientific/economic side of academia or he would also steal my thing lol. He is smart in an “academia term”, like, again, when it comes to learning, understanding complex concepts he is the best at it. but when it comes to the most simple stuff he becomes silly😭😭

he is so slow when he has to do certain tasks, like cooking, choosing clothes,… Or like one time, he studied computer engineering for a year before switching major btw, so he knows it all about computer, programming, software, whatever, but I discovered that he had no idea that you could select multiple pictures when deleting them in your camera roll. LIKE I KNOW IS NOT THAT SERIOUS, but it was so silly. bro could program a tracker from scratch in 30 minutes and it would take him more for deleting 50 pictures.

he is like very passionate about me. I’m his favourite person or thing to do in general and it’s not my impression, he tells me. when you ask him “what do you want to do?” he will always say “stay with you”.

brotha is clingy af. like I did know that his love language was physical touch, but he could pass an enter it’s hugging me and it would still no be enough.

he once told me that the goal of his life was to make me happy and to make me free from work, so that I can write and do the things I’m most passionate about, without having to worry about anything. THE GOAL OF HIS LIFE. apparently he also told this goal to his father.

actually very interested in philosophy, he knows more than me, he said that he would never peruse a career with it, but it’s an important hobby of his.

now. I’m not a bad person. But when I say that he has no red flag expect the fact that he is with me, I mean it. Like he gives so much and I don’t feel like I ever give enough in return, just because he is unmatchable (also mind you, this is from my pov, he would absolutely say that this isn’t true)

tells his friends how they should treat their gf and calls them out if they do bullshit.

Very kind soul.

Very silly man. Sometimes I hate how much I can’t. stop. laughing. when I am around him. Just because he doesn’t the most out of pockets jokes, but just when he is around me

Cat coded. He loves dogs, but if he was an animal he would be a cat. There has been not one time where he would lay down and ask me to scratch his back or hair.

Brotha got the most beautiful curls on this planet earth and no it’s not an exaggeration. His hair are curly, but it’s like this perfect “boccolo” form.

I said in the past and I’ll said it again, he looks like he belongs in ancient Rome. That nose. Beautiful.

He is definitely the one that suffer distance the most, when I am away on holiday he used to get so sad if I didn’t call him everyday.

He definitely would like to do me surprise, but has no clue on how to organise them. He is romantic but would like to do more, but he is like how????????? Again, struggle with simple things.

He hates his brown eyes, but to me they are the cutest, they look gold in the sunshine :,)

I am more of a nerd than him, I’m the one who drags him to anything that has to do with Star Trek, Star Wars, marvel,…and people are always a bit surprised by that

He lets me tap for hours!!!!!!!!! Because he loves to hear about my interests and he smiles while I do it😭

He is a shy dancer (not like I know how to dance too, but with a glass of wine I really start to not care)

But the only thing he is shy with me personally is speaking in English. Because my accent “scares him”. BROTHA. So if I start to talk in English he will answer “baguette”. I’m not kidding.

Very entrepreneurial type of person. He did a lot and does a lot.

Doesn’t really have a favourite artist, but his top artist on Spotify is Chopin. But he used to like a lot Elton John

He works on fixation, this month we have the ✨rubric cube✨ (he wasn’t to do it in less than a minute) and ✨biking✨

You will never know what to gift to him, because he will always answer he wants “you”🙄

He is loyal and so am I. One time a girl tried to approach him by talking about philosophy and i told him that she was flirting probably, he apologised (even if he did nothing wrong, brotha was only talking about Schopenhauer and had no idea of the girl’s intentions) and blocked her on the spot without me saying a word.

Very passionate about health in general, his and the people close to him. Fan of eating well and exercising.

my mom calls him “Saint” because he has to deal with me. I have to say, I don’t always behave so well (YALL IM TRYING), like when he was doing the major I previously mention, he would return from uni on Fridays at 22:00, so the first thing he would do was taking the car and coming to my house. A couple of time, I didn’t even reached the door to say hello, I was to tired, but he never got mad.

He never gets mad in general. He is just a little sad when I cancel plans, I’m the only one between the two that cancels (I swear I’m good too, BUT I DONT STAND A CHANCE IN COMPARISON)

Bought me many plushies, ‘cause he knows I love them.

Will say to me multiple times in a day “you are beautiful” just beacuse I smiled

Only person in the world that told me I look better without glasses. Usually people tell me I look like an alien-

Makes fun of me for not having a driver license, but he would take me anywhere with his car if I asked.

we write each other a letter every three months, beacuse I just love everything about this too much. He always says that he loves me, really, but on a letter we all get deeper.

we are from the same year, but I am 5 months older

he really would do anything for me and I don’t think it’s beacuse we are young, or because we have been together only for 4 years (even if I would say it’s a big number at my age), but because his family was the once to teach him how to love unconditionally (yall they are all so beautiful together😭).

he gives, gives and gives and would never ask back

My blanket man<33 even if during summer it’s insufferable

When we swim together I can just hang on him and he will drag us around LOL

We call each other other “amore” (love) or “tesoro” (treasure)

Never pressed me into doing anything, not once, at it should be, but I sometimes look at my friends relationships and it’s not always like this sadly.

My strength. If I am studying those days it’s just because he is giving me the strength to do it. I’ve been studying in his room and I can’t only really concentrate when someone is around, so he has been helping me endlessly lately. And I know it means so much to him, because I know how much he would rather talk or hold me instead of watching me studying.

We are both a tad old on the inside, we are very chill, not really social, the type of people that wouldn’t talk at a function.

Anyway, I feel like I’ve been over sharing tooooo much, but who doesn’t love a question about something they are passionate about? Hehehe

There are good men out here, I have the proof, you just gotta keep your standards high :))

I was lucky that I got introduced to him through a friend (@/indac0) and after a month we got together. I love the idea of growing with, many people, even adults (ew) told me that I should go out and “experience” instead of staying in my very healthy relationship. But I would rather have grown with someone kind and learned what love is, than trying situationships that I know what would take me to anything. And I believe that this road it’s actually the only one that makes you understand what you like and the only one that won’t make your time feel wasted, because you already know that you are going nowhere with flings and that you will have lost time anywhere. Why not try something serious? Why not try to become a unique piece of puzzle with someone?

This is personally how I view this.

I wish you all the luck with love anon and thanks again for your kind words💖🫶🌷✨

[spectraling]

Would you do a shading tutorial? How do you set the light and that wonderful white glow? What brushes are good and what program do you prefer? It would be nice if you could teach us how to do it so nicely 🥺 (btw Have a nice day!)

You too!

And sure! I love talking about art! Gonna put a keep reading on this one, though, it's gonna get a little long:

So, before I do any kind of shading or lighting I build up the illustration to this point, where I've settled on what the base shapes look like and what kind of colors I want to use as a base:

Once I have those local flat colors down, I do a pass of initial light and shadow before I start painting for real. This usually consists of multiple layers layered on top of each other, set to the multiply blending mode (that I totally always name and didn't do so after the fact for educational purposes). What multiply tends to do is darken and blend your colors with whatever color you put on the multiply layer. In this case it makes the color darker with a blueish tint.

Not sure how to explain this process if you've never used an editing software before, but I think it's fairly similar no matter what program you use. I lock the layers to the grouped flats so the shadows and light only appear on the figures and not on the whole canvas.

When painting it's usually a good idea to go from big shapes to small. I tend to flood the object(s) with whatever is my shadow color and then "carve out" the lights using a mask. You can just erase away if you want, but I recommend learning about how masks work because then you can more easily play around with the shapes.

I've noticed that doing it this way creates bigger and more consistent shapes rather than doing it the other way around. It also shortcuts you right into dramatic lighting territory lol, which was the goal here.

After that it's simply a matter of creating more layers with the same multiply setting to deepen shadows wherever it's needed. I also might add something like bounce light, subsurface scattering, ambient or secondary light sources to give some more life to the colors.

Final stage is render and clean-up, where I merge all of the shadow/lighting layers with the flats and lineart to have the entire object on one layer. I was terrified of doing this for the longest time, but it really makes the process so much easier. I always leave a copy of the original setup layers should I need to go back to it.

At this point most of your colors, shadows and lights have been sorted out so you can simply color pick from the source as you paint.

This is also where I add the rim light! Super effective way to make your object pop and add some drama! It's a fairly straight-forward process where you sort of outline the object with what is usually a pretty stark contrasting color. Don't forget that rim lights are *not* outlines, though! It's a light source, so it affects the object just like any other light. It doesn't only hug the outline of the object, but seeps into it at points where the light can reach:

You can play around with different blending modes for lighting, sometimes you get a really cool effect!

Lastly, that faint glow? Just a layer of using a soft airbrush in the same color as the light and paint it on top. Don't lock this layer to the object so that you can have the brush spill out a bit around the edges to create that soft glow effect.

And then you're pretty much done! There's a lot more to it, but I'd say that's a simple breakdown of how I usually approach paintings in the shading/lighting stage.

I don't make things out of thin air, though. One of the most important aspects of painting and drawing is reference! Go look at nature! Look at tons of paintings, drawings, photographs, illustrations and anything else that inspires you. For this particular piece I was very inspired by "The Garden of Hope" by James Gurney.

As for brushes and program it doesn't matter too much honestly, I'd say use whatever you're comfortable with. I still use Photoshop against my better judgement out of habit, but there's a bunch of alternatives out there like Procreate or Clip Studio Paint. You could also use something like Krita if you don't want to pay for it.

In my case I almost exclusively use the hard round brush (and airbrush as needed) that's default in Photoshop because it works fine for the kind of style I tend to go for, but there's....thousands of brushes out there. Just google it, you'll find free packs. Kyle T Webster has a pack that's pretty well-known, and that I also use occasionally. I'd say start with what's in the program of your choice by default, just to get a feel for it. It's easy to become overwhelmed by all the textures and shapes of custom brushes, but it can also be a lot of fun to play with so go ham if you want!

Hope that was somewhat helpful!

[ashiyn]

Hi! Hope it's all good, I wanted to ask you what software you use for your edits I've honestly no clue where to start but I've loads of little clips of yours saved :D

hiya!! im so sorry for the delayed answer, i swear tumblr doesnt give me notifs about my inbox im fuming. this is quite long so the answer and some editing tips are under the cut! please feel free to reach out if there's something that doesn't make sense or if you ever need any tips or help!

i personally use adobe after effect 2020 with some plugins! most people would probably use adobe premiere pro for compilations like the ones i do but im WAY WAY WAY more used to after effect due do making daily fancams/edits in the past (i do not recommend doing this btw- got burned out after doing it for about a year LMAO). so for example if you're interested in making edits like this or this i'd go for after effect but if you wanna make stuff like this or this, premiere pro is probably the way to go, even if i use AE for both 😭

adobe products are very expensive and you need quite the computer for it to run it without crashing all the time so if you dont have the resources or want to dedicate some time into researching turrenting + vpn and how to install it properly + the plugins on top of learning a pretty confusing (at first) program i'd recommend capcut! it's a free phone app and ive personally never used it, but ive had a lot of mutuals before use it and it looks great and pretty simple to use once you get the hang of it.

learning after affect is extremely frustrating i wont lie, but it's probably the best software if you want to do complicated stuff or simply just get smooth slow mo that you often use in edits! it's worth it in the end after you get the hang of it! there's a lot of youtube tutorials out there and i'd love to help with settings and keyframes if needed!

using AE can be a little bit of an overkill if you're only looking into trying editing to see if you think it's fun and worth the time it takes, so phone apps is honestly an amazing start to get into it. i just decided to go 120% out of nowhere due to getting a hyperfixiation on deciding to learn how to edit and doing it in a more "professional" way and potentially become an editor in the future -> which did not happen. or well. i did end up having a tiktok account with 45k followers when i posted a lot of my edits of shows that i liked but i was potentially thinking of becoming a yt editor or maybe work in media more. however im a burned out nurse student now LMAO

personal tips when it comes to editing;

i use while editing is to make a mindmap or simply just write down key elements you want in your edit to make it easier and prevents you from having to redo your edit (which is painful).

to make the edit "run more smoothly" make sure to fade the clip to be more dark at the end and start the next coming clip with a fade from dark to light. learning slow mo can be tricky in any app, but if possible i use the same thing with clips where it starts faster, is the slowest in the middle of the clip, and starts to get to normal speed at the end of the clip to make the transition over to another clip seem smoother and not like a raw cut.

this might be more of a editing style preference but i always add a slight zoom (either in or out depending on the transition) at every clip so that it's not as awkwardly still. i also always add a slight shake that you cant really see unless you focus on it for the same reason as the zoom. i found that even if the transitions are extremely simple or not even there at all, these small things make an edit look way more "professional" and less choppy.

next thing is "just" to learn what transitions you like after that and dont be afraid to mess with settings, even if you follow a tutorial. its all about finding your own editing style and what you like more!

i download youtube videos using loader.to but screen recording also works! i download mine to make the fps be correct to match when im slowing down a clip but that might be a bit overkill. youtube4kdownloader.com is a great website to cut clips from youtube videos to download too! just make sure to use adblockers when using the websites!

also: editing takes a lot of time and dont feel discouraged if it takes long to finish one! once you have more of an editing style it becomes more of a routine the more you edit!

these tips can be used on any editing app (with the slow mo being an exception in some apps) but then again, dont feel like you need any of it and just go ham on whatever ideas you have! id love to see any edit of yours :D

[catflowerqueen]

I’ve been playing Roots of Pacha a lot since it came out recently, and it’s really good! However, I do have some minor complaints about the romance system. And it’s a “problem” a lot of other games with romance components have, but it just felt especially egregious this time? It has to do with the way the romanceable characters act in regard to building friendships when you already happen to be in a relationship.

One thing unique about Roots of Pacha is that at a certain relationship threshold you unlock “hangouts” with the character in question—so long as they are romanceable—which are basically little dating cutscenes where they get to know you better and occasionally ask if you want to take the relationship to the next level. Thing is… even if you tell them the first time “I just want to be friends” (or the equivalent), they still treat subsequent hangouts like dates.

So you can imagine my whiplash when after I told a character I just wanted to be friends, they confessed their love a few hangouts later and then basically told me I was a horrible person for refusing them. Saying “I wish I had known that sooner”—after they were the equivalent of my maid of honor for my wedding, and it should have been obvious my character was in love with someone else. Not to mention the fact that, as I said, they were outright told very early on that I just wanted to be friends.

And I guess what made this particular instance particularly egregious to me was just that the nature of the game and the excellent characterization really puts an emphasis on a community working together to succeed and grow, so it makes a lot of sense to me that friendships would grow deeply and people would hang out together one-on-one or in small groups more than they would in other games—like Stardew Valley, for instance. Plus in that game you can very easily put a halt to other romanceable characters—who can also be wedding guests—trying to actually confess to you by simply not giving them bouquets.

So I guess I just wish that maybe my first “no” answer would have acted as a block for the romance aspect of the hangouts while still letting me actually hang out with the others and deepen their story arcs and such. Because as it stands, I feel like it means I’m going to miss some pretty cool content because I don’t want to be a jerk/cheater to the person my player is married to and has kids with.

(And what makes it worse is that their best friend, who was also their equivalent to a maid of honor at the wedding, also just confessed to a crush.)

I mean… it is possible that the particular character in question (Era, btw) is just bugged, since the game is pretty new and needs a few patches here and there and there was a weird glitch after their first hangout where the clock went back in time two hours and then I couldn’t talk to anyone else for the rest of the day or actually use the bed to fall asleep and had to resort to passing out to progress the day forward, but I’m thinking that’s not actually the case with this mechanic.

And, like—I get why some people would like the option to date everyone simultaneously, or who want to play the game by picking the most cruel options because some of the reactions are funny or whatever, and I know that part of it also comes down to programming and wanting to keep things as simple as possible since coding can be weird and result in unintended glitches or such… but at the same time, I’d kind of like there to be some options in mainstream games for people who want to be monogamous and not have to worry about picking the “wrong” option and upsetting someone or accidentally ruining a relationship because they genuinely thought this was just a platonic friendship excursion and that the other party was a reasonable person and not a homewrecker? Especially since other characters do comment on your effect on the world and the ramifications of some of the other friendship events?

To be fair, the character in question didn’t actually act cold toward me after the cutscene was over, and was pretty much just acting the same, friendly way as usual… but it still hurt, since I really liked her as a friend and actually felt pretty betrayed myself, and like I’d led her on even though I’d already told her I just wanted to be friends in the first hangout—and she’d even agreed back then that she liked being friends with me.

(And, yeah, these characters are fictional—but that’s just the mark of good writing that I still care about them so much.

Also, side note, but I really love how many found families/families of choice there are in this game. There are so many different relationship dynamics going on, and it’s really cool)

[transgenderfivepebbles]

Chasing Wind headcanons because I love them and not enough people do

They’re agender and use she/they pronouns

She’s the third youngest of the local group, after FP (second youngest) and UI (youngest)

The pearls in her chamber are white, grey, and emerald green. She likes sorting them by color and content, like a file system.

Her puppet is somewhat small, taller than Pebbles but a fair bit shorter than Moon

Their overseers are a pale silver grey, sort of like the Player 1 Arena overseer. Up to six can appear at once to observe multiple locations or simply stare down a little guy

The Ancients programmed them with a calm and polite personality; her dedication to them and the Great Problem was built to last, with little if any desire for her own ascension

The personality they were given was made as a contrast to both UI, who was much more intense and volatile, and FP, who was far less sympathetic to his makers and wished to ascend - a desperate plot by the Ancients to give the last few iterators a powerful reason to solve the Great Problem

Great friends with Moon! They got along very well, as Wind’s diligent nature was quite helpful to their senior, and they’re both pretty chill.

Was privately not the most fond of NSH’s sarcastic, informal personality, but was considerate to him nonetheless

Loved watching creatures wandering the areas surrounding her can, especially small lizards and rodents (slugcat relatives!)

They weren’t aware of Moon’s death for a while, only knowing she was unavailable, but were extremely distressed upon discovering what happened, which was shortly after they saw Pebbles’ rot

She did not take that well btw. An incredible amount of emotional repression was involved, and certainly a complete collapse later on, with their closest friend no longer there for them

The Ancients’ ascension was also a huge struggle to process, since her very systems were written for loyalty and service to them. Her name became particularly symbolic then, as the task of solving the Great Problem was now totally futile, like chasing the wind to try and catch it.

They have a lot of difficulty establishing and accepting a sense of identity for the aforementioned reason; it’s hard for them to see themself as much more than a simple computer, a (flawed) tool for the solving of their creators’ problems. Their unusual politeness and formality also stems from this - they feel obligated to “get a good grade in being an iterator, something both normal to want and possible to achieve,”

She’s trying her best and I love her

[archersartcorner]

GOT THIS DONE!! Missed drawing on Colors wndbjddb I NEED TO GET THAT SWITCH PORT SOON…

Also YES of course I kept God looking on in abject apathy ❤️

[handweavers]

hi !!!! i’m in my last year of high school and i’m about to apply to several fashion schools to study fashion design next year. i still have a lot of things to do, for example a portfolio >< so i have to make some projects that i can show in that portfolio and for that i’d like to make my own fabrics :) so i absolutely need a handloom, and that’s where i need your help ^^

do you think a rigid heddle loom is adequate to make fabrics for fashion ? for example denim or a sort of knitted fabric ? (i know knitted ≠ woven, but if i use fine yarns and not big ones i’m afraid knitting won’t be easy), what do you think ? love xx

hi!! so there's a few things to address - here's an article explaining the basics of woven structures in fabrics. I think understanding this is fundamental when even considering learning how to weave as well as necessary information for anyone who wants to study fashion or textiles in any capacity. denim, for instance, is not a plain woven fabric (one thread over, one thread under, repeat) it is usually a 3x1 twill (three threads over, one thread under, repeat) which means it's woven structure requires a bit more manipulation. for fabric production, typically twills are woven on looms with at least 4 shafts.

i think a rigid heddle loom is a great starter loom for people who want to get into weaving and learn the basics especially when it comes to learning how to warp a loom and the basic math involved in it (just very simple multiplication you can do using a calculator) and there's a lot you can do with a rigid heddle. there are endless tutorials and patterns for weaving with rigid heddle looms as they are by far the most accessible form of loom that uses heddles/shafts to create the woven structure. there's so much you can do with just a rigid heddle and never get bored of it.

however, it's good to keep in mind that if you want to weave any woven structure more complex than plain weave on a rigid heddle loom you will have to either hand manipulate the warp using pick up sticks, learn how to make heddle rods (you cut strings and wrap them around the warp threads and attach them to dowels, and lift these dowels to act as extra heddles), or buy extra rigid heddles of the same size. the first option is cheapest and most time consuming while the last is most expensive but least time consuming, and the other falls somewhere in the middle. regardless, a rigid heddle even with extra rigid heddles will likely still be cheaper than buying a 4 shaft loom. these are just things to be aware of and keep in mind.

something to keep in mind when considering buying/using extra rigid heddles is that it doesn't work in the same way as a 4 shaft loom. what i mean by this is that a single rigid heddle functions like having 2 shafts on a loom, but having a second rigid heddle only adds one more shaft, it doesn't turn the loom into a 4 shaft loom. this is because half the threads that go through each rigid heddle will be threaded through the open slot and not the eye. if you aren't familiar with how rigid heddle looms work this article explains how adding rigid heddles changes your weaving and i recommend checking out any rigid heddle articles on that website (handwoven.com) because it's an excellent resource when learning.

btw i would definitely consider your idea to knit using fine yarns. if you know how to cast on, knit and purl and cast off then using thin yarns is absolutely doable. to make things easier as well, something that can be really stunning is using fine yarns and larger needles to create really thin, open fabrics almost like lace or mesh. i love knitting with very thin mohair/brushed wool yarns and fat needles, they 'bloom' in a beautiful way and create a cool effect. experimentation with these things and seeing where you can take techniques and concepts and pushing these boundaries is important and textile profs/programs really like it when students get creative with these things, at least in my experience.

best of luck with applications and your portfolio!! it can be nerve-wracking but it's helpful to remember that you're applying for an undergraduate program/diploma/certificate/whatever fresh out of high school and your professors are not expecting you to know everything. the point of attending your program is to teach you these things :-) with these kinds of portfolios they care most about seeing your potential, that you have a willingness to learn and creativity, and with more knowledge and time and practice to develop that potential you can be capable of great work. you don't have to capable of making incredible masterpieces right now and they don't expect that of you, so be kind to yourself during this time and try to keep that mind <3 take care

[not-xpr-art]

Art Advice #4 - A Beginner’s Guide to Digital Art

Hi all!

This weeks entry into my Art Advice tag, where I offer various advice for artists of any skill level, is about digital art! Now, I am by no means an expert at digital (I’ve been doing it for nearly 8 years at this point and that is almost entirely self taught), but I have picked up a few pointers in that time which will hopefully help anyone just starting out!

(this blogpost is a little over 2000 words long btw)

A Beginner’s Guide to Digital Art 

I know that the world of digital art has changed drastically in the 8 odd years since I started, but I’d still say that some of the options I started out with will be just as good for anyone who’s starting out now! 

As always, I’ll be splitting this into sections to make it easier for you to navigate this post!

Part 1 - Equipment/Hardware 

There are a lot of drawing tablet options on the market at the moment, and I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about half of them lol. But I think for a beginner, don’t worry about going for the most expensive option, even if the reviews are really good or your favourite artist uses it, especially if it is way above your budget! 

An important thing to know is that there are two types of tablet. One is the plug-in kind. These are essentially a pad which you plug into your laptop or computer and draw on that whilst looking at the screen (they basically work the same way as a plug in mouse works). The other kind is the screen variety, which is a lot more like what most of us know as ‘tablets’ nowadays. And you draw directly onto the screen. 

(a plug-in vs on screen tablet, both from Wacom)

Now, as for choosing between these, it is honestly a personal choice. But I’d say if you’re just wanting to try digital and you’re on a budget, a plug-in tablet can be really useful since it gets you used to the mechanics of what digital is like, and they are often significantly cheaper than the screen alternatives. I would say that plug-in tablets are a big learning curve, especially if you’re used to doing traditional stuff, but I do know a lot of professional artists who still use this kind of tablet when doing their work, so if it’s something you can get used to I would definitely consider it! Also, they’re often a lot more portable than some screen tablets! The first one I had was a Huion (a model so old that I can’t even find a link to it now lol), and I also know that Wacom are a well known brand that do some decent plug-in tablet. I’d recommend you do your own research on other brands and options, though!

Screen tablets are often a lot more expensive, but if you’re used to traditional art, they are a lot easier to get a handle of! But I know if you already have something like an iPad, or other general use tablets, then they offer apps that you can use to draw on (as well as things like the Apple pen, or other stylus’). The big difference between using these general tablets and ones specifically designed for drawing is pretty much purely a personal choice. I personally prefer the bigger screen of my XP-Pen tablet, along with a special screen protector that removes the shininess of the tablet screen and makes it feel more like ‘paper’ over when I used a general use tablet it draw. But if you already have an iPad, or something similar, then it’s honestly a really great starting point!

I think it’s important for me to mention that you don’t need fancy equipment to be an artist. The incredible Elicia Donze has revealed countless times how she has very basic equipment but still manages to produce the most stunning artworks! All you really need is some kind of drawing apparatus and a lot of patience lol! Getting good at any kind of art takes a lot of time and effort, but I would definitely say it’s worth it when you’re able to look back at your progress!

Part 2 - Software/Drawing Programs 

Much like with the hardware discussion, choosing which program to use is entirely down to personal preference. I personally have never really liked Photoshop purely because it’s really complicated, but I know so many artists swear by it. 

I think the main aspect to consider when you’re starting out is whether you want to pay for a program. Software like Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint and Procreate are some of the popular ones I hear about a lot of people using, but all require you to purchase or subscribe to them. So if you’re young or on a very tight budget, I’d honestly recommend the free alternative versions of these, such as Krita (Krita is quite a large program, but it has a lot of really awesome features and is very similar to Photoshop!), Gimp (this one is similar to Krita, but has slightly less options, I’d honestly recommend Gimp for anyone who does photo editing though!) or FireAlpaca (this is the one I use, by the way and it’s a pretty simple program, but has a lot of fantastic features and is perfect for how I work!). These don’t have as many features as some of the paid alternatives, but I honestly think all you really need to start digital art is some kind of ‘canvas’ and set of brushes!

Another great free program for beginners I’d recommend is MyPaint, which is great for doodling and just getting used to how digital art feels in comparison to traditional! It also has a bunch of ‘traditional style’ brushes, to make it look like charcoal or watercolour (which I’m sure the paid alternatives have too, but it’s always better when it’s free, I find lol...)

(this is an example of a drawing I did on MyPaint using the ‘charcoal’ effect brush!)

Most of the sites are pretty self explanatory, with sections dedicated to different brushes (I’ll go into the types of brushes later on in this post btw!), adjusting brush size, shape and opacity, a colour wheel, etc. You also have a section dedicated to ‘layers’ (another thing I’ll go into more detail later), and various ‘filters’ and editing options and effects you can add to your work to make it more interesting!

I’d really just recommend playing around with programs until you find your one!

Part 3 - The Pros of Digital Art!

I realise this section should probably earlier in this blog post lol, but I kinda wanted to go into what digital art can achieve in comparison to traditional art, and how beginner artists can utilise this!

I definitely didn’t take advantage of certain aspects of digital art when I first got into it, and they’re things that would have definitely made my life a whole lot easier lol!

Digital art allows you to tweak drawings as you do them. So if you accidentally drew the eye too far to the right, then you can easily move it to the right place. (I usually do this by selecting whichever area is wrong, cutting it out and then pasting it into a new area... And yes, there is probably a better and quick way of doing this but...I haven’t found that way yet lol...). And I honestly think that this has allowed me to look a lot more at a reference image in order to figure out where I’ve gone wrong with a drawing! Whereas with traditional art, I usually spend so long trying to get an eye right, that even if it’s slightly in the wrong place, I don’t want to completely redo that section. Digital allows you to completely rub out sections without leaving indents, which is honestly such a saving grace!

Another pro of digital is the Undo/Ctrl Z function! This means you can easily go back to before you made a major mistake with just a click of Ctrl Z... Though I have to say that this function has honestly ruined traditional art for me... Oh what wouldn’t I give for a real life Ctrl Z... But yeah, this is a great part of digital art and definitely something you will grow to love lol!

Another great thing about digital is that it allows you to flip and turn a canvas as you’re drawing on it. I spent a lot of time trying to turn my tablet around in order to draw certain parts of a piece before I realised you can turn the canvas itself without having to move yourself or your tablet!

Layers are another part of digital that can be super useful, and I have to be honest but I don’t really use them a lot. I know a lot of artists create layers for every section of their artworks (so, one for the linework, one for colouring, a separate one for the background, etc etc...). And there’s something really great about being able to paint without worrying about smudging into a previous section of the painting. This works well for my work since I do a lot of bright backgrounds. I also often create a lot of ‘versions’ of my works, so it’s useful to be able to change the background without affecting the main figure of the piece! (I have to say that I often work in one big layer when I’m doing paintings, just because I like how it feels more like ‘traditional’ art that way, but layers are such a brilliant tool, and definitely something you should play around with!)

The eyedropper tool is another one that is really useful! Although I never colour pick from my reference photos, I know some artists find this useful when they were just starting out (especially if you’re not sure what colour to make shadows or how to mix skin tones, etc etc). The eyedropper basically means you don’t need to mix your colours every time

Part 4 - Just some other things I wish I had known about when I was starting out lol...

This last section is just dedicated to a few things that I would have liked to have known when I was just starting out all those years ago. 

First one is fluffy/textured brushes! 

I spent most of my art life from 2013 until 2016 using ‘round’ brushes which are notoriously hard to blend with, so I’d recommend either downloading some fluffy/textured brushes (DeviantArt was where I got mine from a few years back, but there are probably other places you can get them for free too!) to your program of choice, since most of the programs I’ve used haven’t had fluffy/textured brushes as pre-set. 

I may make another post about how I blend in my artworks if that’s something people would be interested in?

(this is an example of textured brush blending vs round brush blending... I usually opt for round brushes for rougher blending styles and the textured brushes for more smooth and ‘realistic’ blending... for a lot of pieces, though, I use both brushes (the round brushes are good for details!) in the same way that you use different sized brushes for real paintings!)

The next thing I wish I’d discovered earlier is the Brush Stabiliser option. Some programs may do this automatically, but the one I use (FireAlpaca) requires you to manually change the amount of stabilising you have on your brush. This is particularly useful if you want to draw neat lines or straight lines (the stabiliser essentially slows down the ‘ink’ as you’re drawing). I only recently started using the stabiliser, and although I still like having it mostly turned ‘off’ for doing sketchy work, it does make doing line work a lot easier, and also gives pieces a more polished look!  

Next advice is to explore all the options you can in whatever program you use! 

I feel like with certain programs, you can get overwhelmed by choice and you end up just using a few of the functions. But I’d really recommend just playing around with these programs, trying all the filters and editing options to get used to how the program works. You can often find interesting ways to adjust your artworks this way! In a way I’d recommend this way of working more than finding tutorials made by other people... Unless there’s a specific function you want to learn how to do, just having fun with digital art is a major part of it’s appeal to me! 

~

There are probably a lot of other options I could go into, but this is already over 2000 words long, so I’ll leave it here for now lol! (I may do a part 2 though so... keep a look out for that!)

As always, if you have any questions to things I’ve said here, or are just looking for more advice, don’t hesitate to message me!

And if you like my work on here (art & blog posts) feel free to support me on my Ko-Fi! <3

[sleepysheepytea]

hello! i hope you're doing well! i hope you don't mind me asking an art-related question (i love your art so freaking much btw)-

how do you learn to draw as fast as you do? i draw occasionally as well but i find most pieces take me several hours (probably around 5-6) spread out over several days,, and my style isn't complicated enough to warrant me spending that much time on a single piece in my opinion,, do you have any advice on speeding up the process? (other than just drawing more cause i know i don't do it enough ahsgjkdfg)

thank you so much and i hope you have a lovely evening/morning/afternoon!

ee thank youu!!

if i'm being completely honest, i don't put nearly as much detail in my tk drawings as i would for a fully rendered drawing to post on my normal social medias, since these are really just for fun

normally before i begin drawing, i really quickly scribble a very loose guide for the pose and such, then after i begin to go more into detail, erasing the guidelines along the way.

the program i use also helps a lot with coloring time-saving wise since there are good fill features which help coloring go a lot faster. so if you have a program with color fill features, they're very very helpful

so yeah i would say to pretty much start very loosely and scribbly and that will give you a nice guide on where to put the good lines. also again, a bit of a confession but, i don't really do lineart, i just clean up the sketch to make it look nice hehe

of course, yk practice does help a lot and i know everyone who draws says that but it is true hdksfds

also putting on fun music helps a lot too! i also like to listen to stories sometimes too fdhk

and you should never rush yourself! don't feel pressured to draw fast, there are a lot of days where it takes me several hours just to do a simple lil sketch and when that happens it's best to take a nice break and come back to it later!

oh woah this is getting long but yeah my serious non-tk art normally takes me a very long time but these only take me an hour or so since i just go really doodly and wheeeee for these drawings hehe

i'm sure you'll be able to draw super speedy really well soon and always take care of yourself!!

(also if there's anything in here that doesn't make any sense just let me know fhsjkdf im bad at explaining things)

have a lovely evening/morning/afternoon as well!!<3

[vrisrezis]

Dr favs w/ a crush part 4

- Sayaka I believe tends to fear anybody disliking her (she states this in game) so she would HATE the idea of you not liking her for whatever reason, so she constantly tries to make herself as likable as possible to you.

- she would blush around you a bit, she also is kinda hesitant to admit any feelings towards you, at least for awhile.

- she would probably like somebody really kind, it would make her feel she could get close to you because of your niceness. So maybe somebody like Makoto. But she would like somebody like chihiro too.

- she often strikes up conversations with you, likes spending lots of time with you of course! She is not afraid to compliment you either.

- she wants you to watch her preform with her girls! She also wants you to meet them because they mean sm to her and so do you!

- she isn’t against hugging you either, or venting to you, or anything! It’s very likely you’re friends to be honest.

- would get jealous if you spent too much time with other girls rather than her. She just hates the idea of you liking anyone else :(

- I can see her confessing and trying to act confident or even try to flirt a bit but she would be nervous deep down about it

- probably has sang about you before and probably wrote the song okay <3

- I imagine it’s pretty easy for mukuro to like anybody as she liked Makoto for simply smiling at her. I imagine she’d like anybody that showed any kind gesture (which shows how badly she was treated by junko for a VERY long time)

- I imagine her liking somebody very kind and caring or maybe somebody like Makoto in this regard. However somebody like Sayaka works too. Somebody hopeful, even if it annoys her sister it’s her type.

- she thinks about you a lot, thinks about if you guys were to date and things like that. Simple fantasies in her head. She would love them to come true..

- she blushes a lot around you... she will try to compliment you but they come off kinda awkward since she’s not used to giving them.

- she doesn’t get hugging or any of that, but if you’re physically affectionate with her she will probably become convinced she is in love with you

- talks about you a lot to junko, junko finds it annoying as hell. Especially since you’re probably overly hopeful and optimistic.

- stares at you for a long time, to the point it’s kinda creepy. She’s socially awkward okay.. and doesn’t always get social cues..

- it’s hard to decide who he’d be into but I think he’d be into somebody more able to defend themselves and their resolve not being diminished easily. (An example is being able to talk back to him no matter what during the killing game, even when he mocks you for spending time with everyone)

- would probably like you if you’re very useful to him, maybe somebody like Kyoko who was useful during class trials, but with more of a personality like Makotos.

- he is surprisingly enough not a dickhead to you, and actually seems to respect you a lot. You are an equal to him. Of course, you probably act a bit like Celeste in regards to being polite.

- I imagine you being polite and maybe more reserved, but never afraid to speak your mind and you’re pretty observant and smart. It’s also probably hard to catch you off guard much like Byakuya.

- one other thing would be that you have caught him off guard, maybe making him wary of you if he ever wanted to become a blackened in a class trial. However it of course would make him interested in you. Though it eventually becoming attraction.

- he likes the idea that it’s rare to catch you off guard like him though, so it makes it a goal for him to try and catch you off guard. Overall you make everything better and more interesting.

- since you’re so smart he thinks you’re great, even perfect, for the togami family. He convinces himself at first and maybe even you at a point it’s not because he likes you that he’s after you at a point, rather that you’re just good for the togami family.

- of course this isn’t the case. The boy has had to deal with the pressure of being the next togami to take over so he’s put his emotions behind, truth is he doesn’t want emotions to be in the way.. but he can’t help the way he feels... as much as he’d like to.

- the idea of liking anybody makes the poor man nervous as hell.. he’s liked people before, and has yelled at them out of nervousness.. of course he hates the idea of liking anybody now

- I can imagine him liking a variety of different people/personalities. Honestly somebody bold, emotional and passionate, somebody similar to taka or even himself he could potentially like but I can also see him liking somebody like chihiro. It’s unlikely for him to like somebody like Celeste, Kyoko, or togami. Or even aoi or Yasuhiro. He doesn’t wanna be with somebody he has to keep guessing about, or can’t tell what they’re feeling or is just emotionally not there. He also doesn’t wanna be with somebody completely clueless because he might get mad at them..

- mondo is naturally protective of his friends I’d like to think, but more so with you since he likes you.

- taka probably knows he likes you, and of course is supportive of that, probably tries to even set you two up together.. even if it hurts him a little for reasons he doesn’t understand..

- he probably likes to make jokes with you as he likes the idea of being chill and getting along with his crush.

- I can imagine him riding with his crush on his ride, insisting on it. It’s usually how you hang out, also probably just him tryna fight other gangs and protecting you.

- kinda clingy low key like tries to hang with you a lot, hes not really gonna bother to try to hide it but he will try to act tough and cool around you more than anyone else since he wanna impress you

- tries to impress you to the point he purposely seeks other gangs to fight so you’re impressed with his strength.

- Taka could like any personality I think to be honest. So I don’t think personality takes a huge part but I do think you should (even if it’s in your own weird way) make an effort to be his friend and show you want his friendship. He loves making friends (especially after finally making his first friend, mondo), so he will warm up to anyone that wants to be friends.

- though I do think he’s more likely to crush on people that try to challenge him and his limits.

- he loves making jokes and smiling with you, if you touch him physically though he may get a bit blushy. He is naturally pretty red but.. yeah he can get red very easily.

- honestly his whole face gets red when you’re even close to him so ...

- he can be socially awkward at times and not always get social cues but at least he means well.. it’s even more so around you though due to being nervous around you

- i imagine the more nervous he gets the more he talks to be honest so he probably talks up a storm whenever you’re around... it’s bad..

- he gets jealous often even when you’re not dating, he can’t help it. He’s ashamed of it but he’s just a very insecure boy and doesn’t know how to deal with jealousy ever.

- often invites you to hang out, even if it’s just reading or something.

- mom mode asf, if you ever forget a scarf or something he has it, and will demand you to put it on. He’s like this with mondo too but more with you.

Will be using they/them pronouns for chihiro

Spoilers for chapter 2 of thh

- lots of blushing from them tbh... they get embarassed easily in general but they will always get embarassed around you.

- they get happy around you, they feel all warm inside.. they always wanna talk to you to be honest.. they always try to find excuses to hang out since sometimes they are too shy to admit they wanna hang out

- during the killing game probably goes to you for protection, if you’re a male probably seeks you to get stronger.

- they will open up to you quickly as well, since they will trust you a lot and will confide in you.

- they will feel pretty guilty about their crush though since you don’t know the truth about them being amab

- they like to show you some of their programming as long as you’re interested, they probably have showed you alter ego

- they have told you they are amab since they felt so guilty about keeping it a secret from you given how they like you

- they probably told mondo about their crush on you to be honest and ask him how they should go about their feelings

- they sit next to you while eating and just try to be next to you a lot

- I can imagine them liking somebody more loud, maybe like mondo. However somebody like Sayaka or even aoi works good too.

- this lady loves to compliment her crush a lot, she can’t help it especially when she likes them so much! It’s constant compliments from this girl

- she loves to hug you and be physically affectionate as it’s her way of being friendly (she does this with toko too) but more often with you since she likes you

- blushes around you, especially if you ever hug or touch her unexpectedly or even compliment her..

- i imagine her liking people with different personalities so I can’t imagine personality going too deep but would like somebody strong to protect her

- often would go to you to keep her safe as well as going to you for guidance, though she may rely on you a bit too much to be honest

- she definitely told toko and Makoto about her crush on you and they think it’s really cute

- probably clings to you a lot, she isn’t against hugging and just touching you physically as she likes the feeling though it does make her feel all warm inside

- looks up to you a lot btw which results in her talking about how amazing she thinks you are

- she is such a mom omg <3

- insists on doing pretty much anything for you even things you need help with and sometimes acts like you’re helpless she knows you aren’t she just wants to be useful to you

- she loves talking to you about anything, she is pretty good at conversations but often won’t talk about herself too much unless you force her because she feels like she should listen to you

- she kinda values you over other people, which she feels guilty about. She feels guilty about liking you as well, since she comes to the assumption you don’t like her back.

- she doesn’t get the idea of hanging with people mainly because she feels her purpose is JUST to serve and not do anything else so like

- i imagine her liking somebody more friendly and making friends easily, maybe somebody like kaede, to show her you can make friends and have some other purpose to yourself as well.

- it’s rare but even kirumi gets flustered by her crush, thankfully she’s good at hiding it. She doesn’t like that you make her flustered though.

- kirumi would probably think her feelings are wrong at first but would eventually grow to accept them.

Chapter 1 and 6 spoilers for v3

- you are such a cutie wow! She thinks about you more than she should.. and she can’t believe somebody that’s technically fictional is soooo adorable.. she’s surprised by it too... it’s kinda embarassing

- would totally get somebody killed out of jealousy, in fact I can imagine her being jealous of kaede and that being the reason she ended up dead.

- she hangs out with you a lot, often cosplays in front of you and even tries to get you to cosplay! She talks about cosplay a lot with you and will reference a lot more animes when talking to you (especially if you like anime)

- she would love you so much more if you liked anime and got all or if not most of her references. Even if she made up a bit of her personality she still loves anime and cosplay so much! That is not a lie..

- would definitely mess with the killing game to make sure you don’t die though...

- definitely has some fantasies about you... some are kinda sexual to be honest and she has no shame in it... unless your ace then she’d feel really bad believe it or not

- hugs are a big yes, she will try and make it seem like a friendly hug though...

- often overplays how “plain” she really is so that you try and compliment her and say she isn’t at all

- lots of blushing from this litol funky robot tbh he gets so flustered around you it’s cute <33 miu and kokichi totally tease him about it

- he likes spending time with you, trying to make you laugh but his jokes come off awkward given he’s a robot.

- tries to think of many conversation ideas, he has a lot of topics since he’s searched up so many different things to talk about with people.

- he wants to seem entertaining so talks about a lot of different stuff to be honest

- probably thinks about holding your hand a lot and doing romantic things with you... he has always thought about romantic situations and dreamt about it.. it’s something he’s always wanted but felt he could never have as he’s a robot

- so needless to say when he starts liking you he thinks about this a lot

- shy around you a lot of the time and stares at you for quite some time

[ohnobjyx]

you answer about celebrities being prudent with dating got me curious as western boys in bands, especially in the rock/alternative/rap scene, seem to have a reputation for dating/sleeping around a lot, do asian idols just not date/sleep around a lot or are they just better at hiding it because they are expected to?

Hi, anon! I’m slowly working through all the asks, but I remembered yours when I was watching this week hotpot episode from SDoC S3 (I’m wondering if I should write a post compiling all the candies, but I have so many asks pending).

To start with the answer, let’s put the disclaimer first: I don’t know celebrities, I’m a simple fan just like all of us. Whatever they do in their private life it’s their own thing, and I just simply try to place an objective view of their situation here.

Just a clarification: when we talk about idol or celebrity, I’m talking about those that are pretty successful in the industry (with their number of fans ranking in the millions). These are the tip of the iceberg in the industry however. The bulk of them have less fans, but are also less subjected to scrutiny by the public.

1. First of all they are prudent because it isn’t widely accepted as “good” that people date/sleep around a lot, especially among the older generations. However, many young people also feel that it’s unacceptable, and their opinions may vary from “they must be very promiscuous or they flicker a lot” to “if they haven’t been able to keep a relationship for long, there must be a problem with this person”.

2. We’ve already talked about the fact that celebrities are expected to uphold a clear and good moral example for their fans. They’ll be heavily criticized if they do things that aren’t socially approved, and it’ll impact negatively on their work prospects. So, I suppose that in the case any celebrity did date/sleep around, they’d have to be masters at hiding their “affairs”.

Let’s just imagine how a male idol’s gf fans (the type of fans that fantasize being their idol’s gf) would react if their idol publicly dated around with many girls. I don’t think that would end well.

3. Like I said at the beginning, I’m going to talk about those idols and celebrities that have more success in the industry.

So, when we talk about dating/sleeping around, there’s something that we can’t ignore: time.

I don’t know about the workload of the boy bands (especially, as you said, in the rock/alternative/rap scene) but the workload of an Asian idol is terrifying.

Let me show you a few examples:

a. Even before he debuted in the boy band, dd spent almost everyday hours dancing, no free weekends and barely vacations, since he was 13 and entered the company. As a child, he got myocarditis when he was learning to dance. As soon as he got discharged, he went back to dancing, and spent his summer vacations (just a month in China, btw, August) dancing from 1 pm to 9 pm everyday, to recover the lost ground (this really was a test for his love for dancing, but just imagine it: he could do 8 hours a day just because he liked it, how many hours would he pull when pressed by the company?)

b. To anyone unfamiliar with Asian culture, the Lunar New Year’s Eve is the most important celebration in Asian culture, a night when family gathers together to celebrate the arrival of the new year. Asian idols usually are full of work, even that same night, so they almost never spend the New Year’s Eve with their families. A famed actress (in her fifties), once said in a program: “my father died last year... and one of the things I regret the most is that I haven’t spent a single New Year’s Eve with him in the last 20 years”.

c. In 2015, a year after his debut with Uniq, dd posted on w/ibo: “Just another year that I can’t be with my parents on New Year’s Eve... just a little sad” (and from what I know, he hadn’t spent a single New Year’s Eve at home since his debut).

d. I don’t know if any of you are familiar with Running Man, another c-variety show that’s very popular in China (I recommended it, btw). They did a night-life special last year, and when the director announced the theme (that they’d start filming by 4 pm and continue through the night), the host were like “just that?”:

“Then like our usual jobs”, “I can stay awake longer than an owl”, “I’m also good at spending all-nighters”.

One of them actually said: it seems that they don’t really get what an actor’s job is... everyone say how many days and nights have you gone by without sleeping in you busiest times? Angelababy (that’s her stage name, yes): “When I was a model... I really spent  three days and three nights   without a single moment of sleep.” Li Chen: “Before I came here to film yesterday, I spent 4 days filming night scenes for my drama, so 4 nights without sleep.”

Song Yuqi: “If we count sleeping an hour a day... I went a full week without a full night of sleep. Yesterday was the longest I’ve been sleeping in the last month”.

Their attitude is what surprises me the most, to be honest... It’s like, “of course we would spend a whole night awake, no problem!”

e. One of the previous hosts from this show once said that from his daughter’s birth to her first birthday the amount of time he spent with her totalled to three months.

4. I actually remembered your ask yesterday when I was watching the hotpot episode because of this:

The hosts mentioned getting back at their hotels after filming at 6 am (I think they had been filming the episode during the day and most of the night, and wanted to film a part of the dance using the first daylight). Actually, dd was talking about ZYX making noise in his room practicing dance moves at 6 am (wtf dude, you just pulled an all-nighter, please sleep).

There was a stalker photo of dd taken at 3 am when dd was coming out of the filming site for SDoC S3, one of the other day (just imagine it: you’re leaving the workplace, after a hard day of work, and instead of getting into the car peacefully you have to escape from these people). 

This kind of workload is insane. When they aren’t filming, they are travelling to filming sites, filming tv shows episodes, filming commercials, doing interviews, photoshoots, practicing whatever show is coming up next, reading scripts, and a long list of things they do. Almost without a single moment to rest.

I remember an interview of another actor, in which he said that if he had a free moment in his schedule or a free day, he spent it sleeping and talking with his family.

I’m not saying that with this kind of schedule keeping a relationship is absolutely impossible, but it resembles greatly a long distance relationship, no matter where your home actually is. So dating around a lot is quite of... difficult? (at least in my opinion). And about sleeping around... maybe it’s just me, but if I had a free night with their workload... I’d pass out as soon as I was in my room, and that’s all the sleeping I can envision.

(Btw, this kind of work pace is a trend in China. I've been told that it’s actually common to have surgeons doing 36-hour shifts... here I was thinking that 24h shifts were outrageous).

5. However, it’s not impossible. It wasn’t so long ago that a scandal got out about an actor who was married and with an adult son AND still had time to keep a mistress.

I hope I haven’t rambled too much, anon, and that you find my answer useful!

Edit (thanks to @gremlin-02!): “you're missing the part about propaganda. chinese idols have to hold up "chinese culture/good morals/examples of good citizens" they are not gonna be promoting a play boy idol since it "corrupts" the family values and state system.”

You are absolutely right, and it’s also a point that supports the second part of this post. We tend to forget about it, but the national propaganda has shaped the country from its core. Without it, the country would be very different today. Not better or worse, just... different, since propaganda, for all its bad reputation, has played a large part in their economic growth and their position in the world economy today.

[mysteryartisticwriter]

Reality (3) // Colin Ritman X Reader

A/N: Hey loves, I was busy with finals and everything is pain when I tried to edit the original for this and it fucking deleted itself on its own when I tried to edit it. I’m very upset and angry at tumblr for it but I guess I can’t do shit about it so I had to remake it entirely. Yay.

But this did give me a chance to remake this part into something better. It’s not as good as the original part, but it’s what I tried to make close to it. It was 1:00AM when it happened and I was too damn stressed, depressed and reading obsessed to even write it then so I’m writing it as finals are coming in soon. Anyone who loved the original, I am so sorry. You can blame tumblr for it.

REQUESTS ARE CLOSED BTW (FOR NOW)

Requested: Yes

Warnings: Drugs usage, cussing...oh and death

Not my gif!! (Please tell me if you, the owner, would like me to take the gif down!)

-

What seemed like forever, you and Colin made it to his flat building. It was big, definitely a place what someone as rich as Colin could afford. You wondered if he lived alone. Did he have someone living with him? Flat mate? Girlfriend? I hope not, you thought.

You were secretly hoping that he didn't have a girlfriend or wife. You never really heard about anything of Colin having a lover, but it wasn't like you had a chance with Colin. He focused on his video games and your main focus was your game.

The both of you took the lift up to his floor and you continued to follow him as the two of you walked through the halls. You looked down at the floor then over to the windows you passed by. You were on one of the top floors, making a large view of a lot of homes over the building. You weren't the biggest fans of heights, but continued to walk and said nothing anyway.

Upon reaching his flat, Colin grabbed his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. He tossed his keys onto a side table right by the front door and you trailed from behind him, fidgeting with your sleeves.

Walking fully into the developer's home, you got a good look of the living room of it. It was what you expected, a regular home with styled walls, carpet and long couches.

After taking in the whole place, you noticed a small balcony with a woman with short, frizzled and fiery red hair standing in the middle of it, cradling a small baby. You titled your head in confusion and frowned a bit in disappointment. I guess he does have a lover, you thought to yourself.

Colin walked up to the red haired woman and slowly grabbed the baby from her arms. He bounced her lightly up and down and you almost gushed at the sight. He was so gentle with her, making you adore him even more.

"(Y/n), this is my sister, Kitty." Colin introduced you, not taking his eyes off of his baby girl for a moment. The fiery red head waved at you with a tiny smile on her face.

A wave of relief washed through you. You were mostly glad he wasn't in a relationship, still, your mind continued to persuade you that you had no chance.

"(Y/n) is Stefan's twin sister." Colin informed his sibling. Kitty made a hum noise in response.

"And this is Pearl," his baby, Pearl, reached one of her hands toward Colin. "Daddy's little legacy." Colin slightly smiled at the baby's action.

"(Y/n)'s in the hole, Kit." The blond informed the red head. Kitty nodded understandingly.

"Poor girl. You gonna get her out?" Kitty asked, her arms crossed. You looked down at the ground in a bit of shame.

"Yup."

Colin let Kitty take back Pearl and started to walk into another room. You looked over to Kitty and gave a shy smile, to which she returned. You were about to go follow Colin into the room he went into before you were stopped by the red head herself.

"You like him, don't you?" Kitty asked, a smirk plastered on her face, while yours immediately flushed red.

"W-what? H-How did you..?" You stuttered.

"I won't go all 'protective sister' on you. But just be careful with him, (Y/n)." She told you. You responded with a simple nod and left the room.

You went into the room where Colin entered and found him sitting on a white chair. In the opposite position was a long, curved and black couch. You noticed on one of his computer desks that there was a mug of tea sitting there.

"Grab a pew, love."

You shot your gaze over to him when he called you the nickname, and all he did was smile back at you. You brushed it off and grabbed the mug and sat in the middle of the black couch opposite to him.

You took a few small sips of tea before setting it on the table between the two of you. While you were doing that, Colin took out another cigar roll-up and lit it with a lighter. He took a pew puffs before leaning over and reached it out to you.

"Here." He said.

"O-oh..I haven't really ever..." You stuttered out, embarrassed.

"Come on." Colin pressed a bit.

Hesitantly, you grabbed the cancer stick from his hand, brushing yours lightly against his a bit, causing you to blush slightly. You ignored your feelings and put the cigar between your lips, taking a puff of it. You struggled to keep yourself together and started to cough almost immediately after you took it away from your lips.

"That's alright, love. You'll get the hang of that." Colin says while reaching into a small black box. What was up with him and calling you that?

You finally managed to calm yourself down and looked up to find Colin with his right index finger out to you with a little thin tablet thing on it, something you've never seen before.

"You want it?" He asked you.

"What-what is it?" You questioned him.

"It lets you see the bigger picture." He nodded towards it.

"I-I...I don't know..." You didn't know if you wanted it or not. You wanted help but you didn't know if having a strange thing you've never taken before was the best way.

"It'll help you understand." Colin explained.

"Do you want it? It's your choice." He asked you, once more.

Yes // No

"Y-yes." Shaking a bit, you grabbed the tablet from his middle finger and stared at it.

"Just watch me, darling." Your gaze followed back up to Colin and you watched at he moved his fingers beside his head, one which held his own thin tablet on his index finger, then opened his mouth wide and stuck his tongue to put the tablet onto it.

He closed his mouth and took the tablet with ease. Anxiously, you looked at him before opening your mouth to take your own. The tablet left a....strange taste in your mouth but you sucked it up and took it anyway.

"Now what?" You asked. He smiled.

"We wait."

Colin them stood up and walking behind the couch you were sitting on. He went over to a turntable and inserted a record. Once the needle hit the disc, music started to play softly throughout the room.

He sat back down onto his white chair and the two of you stared at each other before the drugs started to finally take effect. The posters on the walls began to move and the light hitting Colin's face flowed brighter in different colors.

"I think...I think it's working." Your mouth started to form into a large grin and you began laughing randomly.

"Don't worry, love. It gets better." Colin's face transformed into a wide smile once he heard you laughing. It was strange how it attracted him, your laugh wasn't like a high pitched girly laugh but it sounded like the laughs that Colin would hear from Stefan.

A few minutes later, you were touching a painting on the wall that looked like it was mixing in with water. Every time you touched the painted or blew on it, the painting would move and the colors of the painting would combine.

To say you were having a blast was not even close to what you were feeling. The stress and anxiety weighing on your shoulders took off and you felt like you were having fun. Then again, you were high.

"People think there's one reality, but there's loads of them, all snaking off like roots. And what we do on one path affects the others." You turned over to Colin and saw his expression was serious, almost like he was positive about what he was saying.

You sat on the black couch and started to stare at your hands. Every time you moved them, trails of colorful lines followed them, making you giggle to yourself. You continued waving your hands as Colin sat on the couch with you and ranted.

"There's messages in every game. Like PAC Man! You know what PAC stands for?" Suddenly, Colin stood up and paced back and forth.

"P-A-C. Program and Control. He's program and control man." Colin ranted and told you all about the 'real' world of PAC Man.

"It's all code. If you listen carefully, you can hear the numbers." Colin said, his forehead rested against his balcony glass door. You were now standing up, looking around the door and wobbling a bit. He turned over to you and continued.

"There's a cosmic flowchart that dictates where you can and can't go." All of sudden, Colin took off his glasses and grabbed your face in his hands.

You laughed at him, still in your high state. You grabbed his face as well and stared into his blue eyes. You caressed his cheeks and fought the urge to kiss him right there. Even if you did kiss him, there would be no chance he remembered it, right?

"Your eyes are so pretty." You stated. Colin said nothing but you saw the corners of his mouth rise a bit.

"I've given you the knowledge. I've set you free. Do you understand?" The blond asked. His eyes began to grow in size to you, probably because of your state. It startled you for a moment before you answered him.

"Yes...maybe...I don't know." You giggled. Your mind was making everything seem so fuzzy to you that you barely comprehended his question.

"I'll show you what I mean. Come with me, love." He let go of your face and opened his glass balcony door. Colin walked out and you followed from behind.

He stood on the right side of the balcony while you stood on the left, looking over the ledge in a bit of fear.

Stay still // Grab Colin's wrist

You grabbed onto Colin's wrist, as if it was an instinct or impulse that caused you to. You gripped his wrist tightly in order to comfort yourself from the view.

"We're on one path right now, you and me. And how one path ends is immaterial. It's how our decisions along the path the whole that matters. Do you believe me?" Your gaze switched over to him.

"I-I don't know..." You responded, still smiling despite the situation.

"I'll prove it. One of us, is going over. Over there." The game developer pointed his arm over the ledge and your eyes widened, your smile dropping. With a sharp turn of your head, you gazed at him with searing fear in your eyes.

"No-no no no! Y-You'll die! You'll die!" You cried out.

"It wouldn't matter because there are other timelines, (Y/n)!" Colin said, as if it was a matter of fact. Your heart was doing flips and you began to feel sick to the stomach.

"Dammit Colin, when I asked for help I didn't mean this! I don't wanna do this." You practically begged him.

"Love, how many times have you watched PAC Man die? Doesn't bother him." He shrugged, as if it fixed the whole situation. "He just tries again."

"C-Colin..."

"One of us is jumping. So who's it gonna be?"

Your mind and mouth both contemplated your next words.

"It's a nice breeze up here." Colin said, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Come on, love. Which one of us is jumping?" He asked once more.

(Y/n) // Colin

"I'll do it." You decided.

"I like your style. Are you sure, love?" Colin smirked before checking with you.

"Y-Yes." You stuttered a bit. Finally realizing what choice you made, you forced yourself onto the ledge of the balcony, almost falling over in the process.

You gasped out in surprise but never the less, started to laugh incoherently. Colin watched as you pushed yourself up and his mind started to sober up, but not enough to make him realize what was going on.

"Colin." You turned towards him and grabbed onto the collar of his shirt.

"Yes, (Y/n)?" He stared into your (e/c) eyes.

Kiss him // Say goodbye

"Kiss me before I jump."

-x-x-x-

"Hello, Kitty."

"Hello, Stefan! Are you here for (Y/n)?" Kitty asked.

"No, actually. I'm here to ask something from Colin. But (Y/n) is here?" Stefan questioned, his brow furrowed.

"Yeah. He's getting her out of the hole." Stefan froze. He knew of Colin's ways of helping people out of the hole. They weren't exactly good ways.

"Where are they?"

-x-x-x-

"Kiss me before I jump." You asked of him, still hanging on the ledge but not bothering to look away from his eyes that glowed in the light.

"Sure thing."

You leaned down and pressed your lips against Colin's own and closed your eyes. You tilted your head for easier access for Colin and he found himself easing into the kiss as well, putting his right hand on your cheek to pull you closer to him. Your lips fit together almost perfectly, as if they were made for each other. Finally, you unwillingly pulled away from the sweet kiss and looked into his blue eyes.

"See you in the next reality." You grinned at him. He returned it.

"In the next reality."

You let go of the ledge and leaped over it to fall your way to your death. Colin watched as your body landed on top of a large crate, blood spilling out from your body. You killed yourself for the man who had taken your heart.

The sound of your body hitting the bottom sobered Colin up completely. He glanced at your body on top of the crate and stared at it. No other emotion shown on his face but sadness and regret.

Just then, the sound of slow footsteps from behind him caused him to look up, but not at the person.

"Colin. Where is my sister?"

...

...

"Colin what did you do?!

-

TAGGED:

@creativedogs​

@sugarfloss

[raventons]

Hello! I hope you’re safe and well! I am very new to Sims 4, CC, and creating CC. I downloaded S4S and photoshop today. I just don’t even know where to start. I’m seeing people also download blender, gimp, or use sims resource, etc. honestly anything would help me at this point and any advice is greatly appreciated. You’re creations are beautiful btw!

Hi there love. Once again, I am truly not the person to ask, since I am a noob, but I can explain the things I know. What kind of programs you need, and how you use them, depends a little bit on what kind of CC you want to make. 

Blender is a free 3D-modeling program, and it’s gonna be very hard to get around using it. It is a very good program, but quite often it’s overqualified for the tasks we are trying to make it perform, and therefor complicated. It takes a lot of time to become friends with Blender, but after you do, I am sure it’s an amazing ally. If you make objects, Blender is usually the place where you make your actual mesh. If you convert, or make CAS objects, you find or make your mesh elsewhere, but you still need blender to edit, texture and fix your mesh so that it’s compatible. Here is a good place to begin at when getting to know Blender a bit better: X.If you make CAS cc (which is the only part of cc-making I know decently well) you often make your mesh somewhere else than Blender. Marvelous designer is an insanely user-friendly program: So easy, so good, takes 10 minutes to learn and used by many of the big gaming studios of the world. Hence, it is expensive. However it has a free trial month, that is totally worth looking into. Here is the best tutorial for MD I’ve found X (it’s an hour long, but after watching it you know all the basics and can get started making your own clothes). Please know tho, that you are still gonna need blender, and this is where most of the hard work is gonna be done (to make your dress realize it’s a dress, etc). S4S is the best thing that has ever happened to us as a community. By using this you can make your mesh understand the sims, and become compatible with it. This is also where you will make swatches, thumbnails, descriptions etc (basically everything that has to do with the actual game). You don’t make meshes in S4S tho, you only import them. S4S is basically the final destination for your mesh, where it goes from just being a 3D mesh to being actual Sims 4 CC. When it comes to programs like Photoshop, Gimp, etc they are not a part of the actual meshing process. Instead, you use them to create the swatches, textures, colors etc. This is basically the 2D editors of your mesh. For simple meshes, you can use stuff like Paint, but I recommend a program with an overlay feature. My advice (please keep in mind that I have no idea what I am talking about) is to start with recolors. Recolor a painting. This way you’ll get to know S4S, and understand how 2D textures and swatches work. Here is a tutorial for that: X. For a recolor like this you can use Paint or any other basic program, since there is no dept. Next step will be to do more advanced recolors with shadows, baking or real textures (shout out to @sundays-sims). For this you will start using Blender and it’s basic features. When moving on to creating your own objects in Blender, I am lost. I have no clue how to do that, but I am sure there is plenty of great tutorials out there. Have patience, would be my only advice. If you have any questions about MD and CAS CC, I might be able to help, but I am still not great at it and I am learning every day with just trial and error. Please don’t hesitate to send me an ask or a message if you have any questions. I might not know how to help, but I feel like there is no wrong way of doing stuff, you just have to try and click and bang your head into the keyboard until it works. I am sure every CC-creator, from the beginners to the giants, have their own issues or small tips and tricks that they use to get around it. So, we have to help each other, haha. Main advice: Be patient. It will take time. It seems like so many steps at first, but once you get into it, it will go a lot faster. Also, don’t yell at Blender. It’s trying it’s best. It just doesn’t understand what the hell we want it to do.  

[yuthoe]

PENTAGON Yuto x Ballroom Dancing

Hello bebs! ‘Tis time again for another installment of PTG BALLROOM DANCERS. I would’ve posted this on the 30th because I needed to wind down after watching RtK (which, btw, our boys did so well in!). If you guys wanna scream with me about it, my asks are always open!

Making these HCs are my way of getting out of writer’s block, because to me it’s essentially writing a fic without the commitment of flowing prose. Helps me relax and find my way through the thicket. (Also I needed to weeb out somehow and Yuto is the perfect candidate. If you know where the song is from, you have a special place in my heart.)

---

Yuto is a Standard dancer with some Latin training. He’s the “silent but deadly” type, in the sense that he can probably do whatever you want him to do, no matter how hard it is. If it’s on a higher difficulty level, he’ll dance shadow (dancing in form without a partner) after hours until he finally gets it. He’s an extremely hard worker and you appreciate that about him a lot.

Can dance other styles if he puts his mind to it, and with enough hours of practice. He’s comfortable where he is, but he won’t say no to doing a cha-cha-cha or hip hop collab with his friends. He likes exploring the world outside of his box and applies the lessons he learned there into his repertoire.

Really loves conditioning days. He’s a gym buff himself, but he mostly focuses on his arms, so he’s always in pain after leg day. But eh, if that’s what it takes to have a good dancing body, then he’ll gladly take it. He takes conditioning days seriously because he knows it’s good for him.

Strong lead. Knows when to push you and when to pull back to give the best performance, but you know he gives every run his 100%. You’ve known each other since middle school, when you signed up for ballroom classes, and you’ve been partnered for a total of seven years now, so you know each other’s ticks.

Very affectionate. Hugs everyone that comes in to train if he knows them well, but bows a lot or shakes hands with people he’s only just met. At first glance Yuto seems scary because he’s tall and he’s not very talkative, but once people get closer to him, he loosens up and will laugh at almost everything. (Except during training, of course.) After every good run of choreography, no matter how sweaty you two are, he will try to hug you, and you end up playing tag and getting even sweatier.

Has the basic SNS accounts (IG, Twitter, FB), but rarely posts, like Hui. His followers suffer weeks and weeks of no updates until he decides to upload BTS shots of one of his magazine shoot outfits out of the blue, and then the actual magazine promotion in the next post.

Doesn’t really post many video clips; there’s like one NG take of a tango on his IG where he accidentally steps on your skirt and you guys tumble to the floor. But other than that one, he leaves the choreography videos to your SNS.

Needless to say, his YouTube is mostly empty as well. He has a SoundCloud, though, and he sometimes posts there. Not many people know about it because he doesn’t really advertise it. You do your best to hype up his songs, though.

Posts pictures of you and your friends mostly, and one or two couple selfies. Those always get the most interactions.

Gets invited to be in dance programs as a pro, but declines the offers; he knows he’s not ready for that type of pressure, and is comfortable with admitting it. In the meantime he hones his talent further by doing collaborations with friends and competing, or making choreography with you or for his friends for fun.

You’re a firm believer that he’s way better than he gives himself credit, and you tell him so all the time.

Has a side job as a model because he’s tall and has nice and sharp features. Yuto is pretty lowkey about it, though, and only really posts about them when he absolutely loved working on the shoot.

Really loves black. You rarely see him in any other color, but the inside of your closet is also monochrome, so you can’t really complain. Besides, he looks really good in black and it suits him very well. That said, his competition costumes are usually black on black, or a black suit with another cool/neutral tone shirt. Which is good because it’s easier to match your costume with his.

Lowkey loves the Viennese waltz. He can’t really pinpoint why, but it’s very calming to him; for him it’s like he’s flowing with the water, effortless but unstoppable. He’s just so happy and at peace when he dances it, and he always has such an angelic smile pointed at you, which makes you smile, too.

And it might seem on-brand, but he loves the tango, too. The strength and endurance it takes to dance so low and heavy, yet still so sharp and powerful is fun to him. The tango is like, another form of exercise, for legs, core, and arms. Most of the time you get whipped and steered everywhere from the sheer speed of his movements.

Is friends with Hongseok and Yeo One; they met at Blackpool one year and were pleasantly surprised to find they had mutual friends. They got each other’s contact numbers and planned a gym day when they got back to Korea. Yuto doesn’t include their faces (only his hand holding a dumbbell or a mirror selfie in a locker room) when he posts about gym day, but everyone who follows all three of them already knows they’re buddies.

Loves watching anime, mostly shounen type, but one of his friends from high school sent him this music clip and he instantly wanted to make choreography for it. (He also asked what anime it’s from, binged it in a day, and you both cried a lot when it finished.)

You both decided to use simple choreography for it and make it really fun. A couple hours and four aching arms later, and you were talking about costumes. You know Yuto has a white dress shirt and tie in his closet somewhere, so you spend the rest of the night looking for them.

The next day you go to the park with a friend and sacrifice your old dance shoes to the grass gods. It takes you the better part of the day to film the 1:30 track because you both kept slipping on the grass and sinking into the dirt, but you got a few good one-takes by the end to choose from.

The video is uploaded onto both your YouTube accounts, and it trends across the anime’s following. You two didn’t really notice the attention it got because you mute your notifications usually, and it was only when Wooseok messaged Yuto about it that he realized the video got a number of likes.

Watched Welcome to the Ballroom and has a lot of feelings about it, but complained how there isn’t much actual dancing in it, which he would have loved because he could have tried copying them with you. He downloaded the opening theme and added it to his workout playlist, though.

[wmhalliwell]

ashlee’s gif making tutorial

@amysperalta​ has requested a gif making tutorial from me and i’m happy to oblige! everyone has a different way to gif and some ways don’t work for some people, so this is just how i personally make them. i’ve also never made a tutorial before, so let’s hope this doesn’t end badly.

this is the gif i’ll be making for the purposes of this tutorial:

things you’ll need:

a version of photoshop

some way to get frames from a video file (i’ll give some options)

patience

step 1: getting your frames

there are many, many ways to do this. there are multiple different programs to do this with (kmplayer, uplayer, gom player) but i personally use mpv (via @kylos​ lovely tutorial here; which i also highly recommend as a gif tutorial since it gives a different way to create a gif file) because my mac doesn’t accept any other type of program. 

note: BE SURE THAT WITH ANY PROGRAM YOU USE, IT IS SET TO SAVE EVERY FRAME. some people may lie to you and say a program grabbing every other or every third frame is fine, but it’s 2019 and we don’t do that any more. the tumblr gif limit is 3mb, which means we can have smooth, non-choppy gifs by gathering every frame from a scene.

okay, so i gather my frames, and typically keep them in a folder, separating scenes cut-by-cut so it’s easier to handle. for example: 

from there, i import them into photoshop using: File --> Scripts --> Load Files into Stack; this screen pops up, in which you browse for your frames hit OK. this will automatically upload all the frames into the same file for you. be patient! depending on how many frames you choose, it can take a few minutes to upload all of the frames.

i always save my work after every step. so once frames are uploaded i save the file. be sure to have “timeline” (or “animation” on some versions of photoshop) opened in your view. my photoshop looks like this when i open the file:

now, i’m going to click “Create Frame Animation” at the bottom. This will give me a timeline to work with at the bottom. Next step, go to the three little lines on the right side of the thingy that says “Timeline” and go through these steps: 

and then

now, you have a working gif! you can hit the little play button at the bottom left of the screen and it should play for you.

step two: cropping and sharpening

there is plenty you can do for sizes on tumblr. the general widths are 540px (big), 268px (normal) and 177/178px (small). it’s all a matter of the type of set you’re making. also be aware that the gif limit is 3mb. the bigger the gif, the fewer frames you can have. most of my 540px gifs have between 20-35 frames, while some of my 268px frames can have 75-90 depending on the coloring of the scene.

but for the purpose of this tutorial, i’m making one 268x160. i go to the crop key at the left side, and set my ration up top to 268 and 160.

then i crop the gif! (note: sometimes, files will have a black line on one side of a video file; typically the bottom or on one side. the black line will be no more than 2px big and sometimes hard to see until you’ve cropped it. be sure to drag the cropped area away from the edge of the files that have this dark line, as it when appears on the final gif and looks bad. one of my more recent sanditon gifsets fell to this and i didn’t realize until i had posted it. 😖)

now we have to size it. you do do this by going to Image --> Image Size or using the keyboard shortcut. it should automatically keep the aspect ratio, thus when you change width to 268, the height should change to 160 automatically. 

hit OK and now you have your base gif!

next, we’ll be sharpening and setting the frame rate, two very important things. to sharpen a gif, there is no way you want to go do it frame by frame, so you can use an action! these are really helpful. i have one i use for most gifs, and one i use for lesser quality. the one i use for this gif is this one here. to use this, you’ll have your photoshop open, you can go to your actions in your barthingy on the right by color swatches which should look like this:

click that and find the three grey lines at the top right. click them and this will pop up. you’ll go to “load actions” and then browse for the action you downloaded. 

once loaded, it will show up like this and have a nifty play button! 

make sure you click on/highlight the “play me!” line and then hit the play button on the bottom of the box. it will go through the motions for you and sharpen your gif. once that’s done, you can hit the big action button to close this box to get it out of the way. now, to set a frame rate, you’ll go down to the timeline and highlight all of the frames and then click while holding shift and this will pop up.

you’ll select “other” and type in “.05″. this is the most commonly used frame rate. most movies and tv shows will look fine using this for scenes, especially ones with subtitles, etc. for more artistic scenes, sometimes i’ll use “.06″ to slow it down just a hair. also make sure that your gifs are set the loop “forever”.

and there you go! a gif fully sharpened and moving at the proper speed:

this is also the time you can choose your frames. meaning if you uploaded like 200 frames and only wanted to use 50 of them, you can go through and delete them in the timeline. there’s a little trashcan button there.

note: once you’ve sharpened and set your frame ratio, be sure to go into your levels box and click the top frame. it is also useful to have the first frame in the timeline always highlighted as you’re editing the rest of the gif. 

step three: coloring

there are endless ways to color. there’s loads of people offering psd colorings. (psd means an editable photoshop file btw) you can also make your own. i have a whole slew of psds i’ve made for certain scenes that i’ve kept and reuse, tweaking each time. this isn’t a coloring tutorial, but i’ll show you a quick way to make a simple coloring. (i purposely chose a well lit scene for this gif tutorial for this reason. making dark scenes look good, or scenes with bad color balance is a whole other tutorial lol)

first off, make a folder above your frames. you can name it whatever you want; it will automatically call itself “group 1″. this is where you’ll be putting all of your coloring layers so they stay together and you can also save it to use again.

from here on out, we’ll be adding layers, using the half black/half white circle down at the bottom; just click on it and it’ll pull up a list of things you can use. note that when you add coloring layers, you start at the bottom and add other layers on top of it.

always start with “levels”. i lighten up almost every scene i gif, since it gives me the chance to play with contrast on my own terms.

then we’ll do a “selective color”; this one is just to set some blacks while giving contrast. be sure to select “blacks” at the top and change just what’s below:

most gifs also need some “color correction” at this point. (this is a layer you’ll keep coming back to to tweak as you add more above it fyi.) for this one, i’ll make it a bit more green and red.

the gif right now looks like this....which isn’t perfect, but i can see where it will get to from here:

now we’ll add a layer of 100% “vibrance”

not every gif needs 100% vibrance, but i tend to like how colors look when i use it and we can fix any weird colored skin in later steps. and now some curves for contrast:

the gif now looks like this:

which is much too yellow certainly, but gifs always look worse before they look better when it comes to coloring! next, we’ll make another layer of “selective colors”. this is when you’ll play with each color within the same selective color layer. i’m guessing i’ll utilize more blues and less yellows under “yellow” and “red” but let’s see what happens:

now it looks like this!

which is a lot better. i’ll probably up the blacks +10 (using the same selective color layer) just a bit so crowley can be his angsty self entirely. i also want to up the greens because i love bright gifs.

the great thing about selective colors is that they’re easy to manipulate. and you can even have multiple of them over one another to really zero in on one color. and if you find that you can’t get the gif to look right at all, you can also return to your color balance layer and tweak it until it looks better and is easier to manage.

so now, my finished gif looks like this: 

(this is not the most exciting gif ever, but it works to show how to play with colors in a well lit scene).

there is a number of other things i do/can be done in making gifs, but these are the basics. 

be sure to go to File --> Export --> Save for Web and follow my settings to save your gif. (there are many ways to save a gif, and each gif tutorial will give you different settings. i recommend trying them out and see which works best for you.) pay attention to the “bicubic” quality at the bottom. and when your gif is small enough (under 3mb), be sure to click on the “original” tab at the top and save it while on that screen.

and, because i’m feeling nice, let’s have a quick subtitles moment:

bonus step 4: subtitles

i know there are easier ways to make subtitles but this is how i do mine. using the ruler around your photoshop space, drag one vertical line over your gif. the program should automatically “snap” them to the middle of the gif to create your perfect center.

then take the text tool and write something in it, no matter where or what size, just so you have something to manipulate. you’ll find that it too will snap to the center to match the ruler line, giving you a centered text box! you can have it whatever distance you want from the bottom (don’t go too close or tumblr will cut it off) and then you can edit the text color/font/etc. these are my settings.

and i also have an added stroke and drop shadow to it which you can get to from Layer --> Layer Style:

and so it looks like this: 

it is important to add your text layer ABOVE your coloring folder, otherwise the coloring will affect the text. and it’s good to have different colors for different people talking.

i hope that all made sense! feel free to send me any questions (i’m sure i must have made you confused or missed a step or something), or if you have any other tutorials you’d like to request.