#this colouring is ugly but the video filter is so weird

[avenirdelight]

Aston Villa — Tyrone Mings | Mings: I Love Playing for Aston Villa

[queenhawke]

hey, i'm sorry if this is a weird question, but i'm wondering how you personally make gifsets? i wanted to make some basic ones for a post and i love the ones you make. thank you!!

yeah sure! here's my method:

First things first, I use Photoshop CC (a tooooootally legal version of course. so legal. so not pirated), and idk how to make gifs in other programs so uhhhh find a copy of Photoshop, if you don't have it already. Also I'm assuming you already have the video you want to gif somewhere (also gotten through entirely legal means, of course).

Also it's entirely possible there are better ways to gif, this is just how I do it! Lots of people use actions to streamline their process for instance, but I don't. So. There's that.

Anyway:

Clip the part of the video you want to gif

I personally use Microsoft's in-built program Clipchamp, because it's there and it can handle mkv files and output as mp4, but you can obviously use whatever program you like.

2. Import the video in Photoshop

Use File > Import > Video frames to layers

Select your clip. You now get this screen:

Select the part of the clip you want to turn into a gif. Keep in mind Tumblr's 10mb limit, so don't make the selection too long. If you do want a longer clip, and don't mind the gif looking a little less smooth, you can tick "Limit to every 2 frames" to cut down on the number of frames.

Click OK, and PS will convert the clip into layers. Make sure to have the timeline on (Window > Timeline)

Your workplace should now look like this:

3. Adjust the frame delay

Adjust the time between the frames by selecting all the frames in the timeline and clicking the little arrow in the bottom right of one of the frames.

I tend to set my frame delay to 0,05 seconds, but do whatever you like most!

4. Convert to video timeline

Convert the frame animation to a video timeline by clicking on the hamburger menu in the top right of the timeline and clicking "Convert to video timeline"

5. Convert the layers to a smart object

Select all the layers, right-click and select "Convert to smart object"

Cool, all your layers have now been converted into one video layer. Easier to work with.

6. Cropping

Crop the video to whatever size you want it to be (keeping in mind that 540px is the widest the tumblr dashboard goes). I'll crop this one to 540x350px.

7. Apply adjustment layers

Now apply adjustment layers to colour the gif to your liking (Layer > New Adjustment Layer). You can do this any way you like, but the adjustment layers I tend to use most are Levels, Curves and Vibrance

Here's a before and after.

But again, you can just go ham on this in whatever way you like. Just fuck around with the layers until it looks good to you!

8. Sharpening

Now it's time to sharpen the gif, to make it look extra crisp. Select the video layer and go to Filter > Smart sharpen and just fiddle with the settings until you're happy with it.

9. Text

I'm just gonna assume you know how to add text lmao. But to make that text stand out, go to the layer style by double clicking the layer and selecting Stroke and Drop shadow.

10. Saving

To save your gif, go to File > Export > Save for web (legacy)

Select gif and set the looping options to Forever.

Now, make sure to check whether your gif falls under tumblr's image limit of 10mb. This one is 9mb, so I probably should've cut it down a bit, but I like big gifs, sue me. If you don't want to cut the length of your gif (which you can very easily do with the timeline), you can also cut down on the amount of colours. I wouldn't go below 128 though, that just makes it look ugly lmao. But hey, the option is there.

Anyway, save the gif and you're done! You have made a gif!!

Hope this helps!!

[jung-koook]

I'm calling the authorities!!!

[normvni]

normani + smiling

[givemethatgold]

Fix’er Upper -Pt 14

Paring: Frankie Morales x Fem!Reader Warnings: just a bunch of fluffy family fluff, some dude being a nosy creep, overbearing mothers Length: 1.1 k Notes: This one is slow, babes. Just needed to build a bit of this new world, introduce Annie a bit and show you how things are progressing. It’ll pick up again soon I promise, bear with me! (Or don’t, I mean I can’t force you to like where this is going, lolz) Also, just typed this up tonight while raging at the laziness of men, so there are going to be mistakes, I can’t be fucked to find them. Trying to post this with NO links, as I’ve heard that may be the reason for the tagging issues? LET ME KNOW IF YOU GET THE NOTIFICATION THIS TIME!

Turns out, two people with zero child-caring experience are not going to have an easy time suddenly becoming parents. There wasn't any one particular thing that you could pinpoint the difficulty one, either, it was just a complete one-eighty on how you had previously lived your lives.

Frankie immediately stopped working such late hours, effectively putting a bookmark in the cider's expansion. He didn't even have to think twice about it, it was a no-brainer to him. Didn't make the loss of potential income an easy pill to swallow, though. Date nights were officially off the schedule, so were sleepovers and all the fun things that accompanied them. There had been a few heated moments between the two of you, but Frankie felt weird about having sex anywhere near his daughter and you refused to let him fuck you in the barn. Again. Especially after the last two times resulted in unfortunate splinter placement. 

Annie took less time to adjust than the two of you did, she really was an amazing little girl. She loved her little nook in the loft, although the décor was not to her taste and she wouldn't stop dropping hints about it until you took her to pick out new everything. Frankie had tried to put his foot down by explaining she wasn't going to get everything she wanted in life, but all it took were widening eyes and a protruding bottom lip before he was handing you the truck keys before you could blink.

Annie's attachment to you had surprised everybody, including her. The conversations you and Frankie had had before her arrival usually skirted around the conversation of what your role would be. You knew she was mourning her mother and were wary of trying to replace her, so you had fully expected to take a step back from Frankie's life while he and Annie built their new one together. You had her at apple farm, however, and now the two of you were best buds.

Well, until the six-going-on-sixteen attitude reared its ugly head and suddenly sweet, angelic Annie was replaced by a stubborn, moody, unwilling child who decided that screaming was the best response to negotiations.

For the first couple of months, Frankie had allowed it, not knowing what was normal acting-out behaviour for a kid who had experienced parental loss. He also had a hard time being strict, as he still felt like it wasn't his place; some weird kind of imposter syndrome. However, after Jacquie and Mark had been witness to one such episode, they had gently pulled Frankie aside and encouraged him to find a therapist for Annie and that structure and rules would be beneficial for her.

New routines were set, some of which you were involved in and others were special between Frankie and his daughter. Saturday was movie night, she was asleep by 7:30 so it was more of a movie evening, with popcorn, Twizzlers, and coke floats. You were invited to these, as Annie insisted on educating both adults on which Disney princess was best.

Frankie drove Annie to school every day, he knew he could easily send her on the bus but he needed that extra assurance that she had gotten to school safely. There had been an odd incident, which no other adults seem to have witnessed, where a man had apparently approached Annie and started asking her questions about her parents. 

This had, understandably, upset the girl, and the two of you, but the busy body's identity was never revealed. Frankie had been irate. Initially, he interrogated Annie, asking her for every little detail. Then the bus driver, parking lot attendant, teachers, and other kids were subject to his questioning. He went so far as to request all security video footage from around town, but nothing showed up. Neither of you suspected Annie of lying but it was like the man was a ghost. 

Eventually, it was chalked up to a parent wanting to get the scoop on your and Frankie's lives, as you'd been very private considering your first action as a couple was to practically dry hump on a carnival ride. After that incident causing Frankie's panic attack, and now creeping out a kid, you were a lot less inclined to appreciate the meddling from bored townsfolk even if it did bring the two of you together.

Frankie was always thinking up new ideas to build trust and create new memories for Annie, his guilt at missing out on her toddler years was exasperated by having her now. They created a memory book for her, so she could write down, colour, or paste anything that reminded her of her mom or her life in California. You were secretly building a memory book for the two of them, to show Annie when she was older how hard her dad had worked to become the man she needed him to be.

Twice a week Annie got to pick the recipe and they made dinner together. This usually resulted in a massive mess and only semi-edible food, but the smiles on their faces were worth it.

On Wednesdays, you picked her up and had a girl's afternoon getting something from the bakery and perusing books at the library, making up stories about the people walking by the café windows, or driving over to Jacquie's so Annie could play with her kids.

It was after one such outing when you were dropping Annie off at the farm, that Frankie came out to greet you with a guilty look on his face.

"I'm sorry," he began, rubbing the back of his neck and readjusting his baseball cap. "I didn't look at the caller display before picking up, and then once I was on the phone I got nervous."

"Frankie," you said lowly, dread filling your stomach. "What did you do?"

"I couldn't help it, I panic talked and I don't even know how much I blurted out! She's like Oprah or Barbara Walters! She just knows how to get people talking!"

"I know, Frankie," you ground out, trying not to lose your shit in front of a very interested little girl who has no filter during Sharing Time at school. "That's why we don't answer her calls!"

"But, babe, she's your mom. We can't keep ignoring her-"

"Apparently not!" You didn't realize how frustrated you were before it was too late. Your voice had gone shrill and loud and, judging by the look at Annie's face, angry. Taking a deep, calming breath in you tried smiling at the two of them without it making you look demented, "I need to call her and do some damage control, make sure she doesn't do something rash like-"

"Ahhh..." Frankie was back to looking guilty and you could have sworn your heart stopped. "She knows about Annie. Called herself Grandma. Said that Mother's Day would be extra special this year..?"

"FUuuuuuudge.." you barely managed to withhold the swear, looking at Frankie with a slightly panicked yet amused look on your face.

"It's okay," a little voice piped up, "I know that word. Mom said ‘Fuck’ all the time while we were stuck in traffic."

Part Fifteen - coming soon!

TAGS: Let’s see if these bitches work...

@rebelliouscat @pedro4ever @speakerforthedead0 @yespolkadotkitty @ilikechocolatemilkh @weirdowithnobeardo @pedro-pastel @disgruntledspacedad @a-skov @trash-dino-5000 @reader-s-cantina @alberta-sunrise @pascal-rascal424 @bts17army @sarahjkl82-blog @grogusmum @radiowallet @vonschweetz @greeneyedblondie44 @diaryofkali @cassandras-nest @silverstarsandsuns @haapeaness @missstef23 @computeringturtle @julesorwhatever @keeper0fthestars @lackofhonor @metahigh @thirstworldproblemss @sergeantbannerbarnes @callsigncatfish @inaturenymph @agingerindenial @pedritobalmando @lord-of-restingbiface @marydjarin @sebbys-girl @apascalrascal @thisshipwillsail316 @bison-writes @absurdthirst @ubri812 @marydjarin @inaturenymph @hyperfixatingmenever @louderrthanthunderr @petersunderoos96 @dobbyjen @tobealostwanderer @studyofawearymind @jaime1110 @bison-writes @rosiefridayrogersunday @leias-rebelion  @captainjaspenor @prettypedros @gracie7209 @peterhollandkait

[chaeryybomb]

what i imagine stray kids personal instagram accounts would look like:

okay so my friend and I were talking about how skz personal accounts would look like so yeah I decided to write it out lol

bang chan

chan rarely posts on the main account what makes u think he'll post on a personal account 🤡

let’s be real, chan would probably never post—

I feel like chan's feed will be his selfies with that 🤙skz sign and ✌️ sign

like literally that's all he does

and it's just selfies

and berry

he definitely is gonna post a lot of Berry pictures

chan is also the kinda guy that'll take pic of the places they go to

like after every tour, he'll take a pic of that place and thank stays

I can really see him posting less than 100 posts??

he just doesn't seem the kinda guy to post

I feel like he'll post more on stories instead

like he'll probably put up that question box thing to ask how are stays are doing

and yk how he plays some snippets of the songs he made on vlive??

yea I feel like he'll tease songs on his stories

lee minho

HIS FEED IS A M E S S

Y'ALL CAN ALREADY TELL HOW MESSY IT'LL BE

he's gonna post more of his cats than his weird selfies

an actual normal selfie? never heard of her

he's gonna post any weird filter he comes across

his account is literally going to be like a finsta or a second account

minho doesn't give a FUCK about ur aesthetic shit

he's gonna post whatever the fuck he wants and stays will love it

his cats doing something weird? posted

his cats doing something cute? posted

his cats? POSTED

if he isn't spamming his feed with posts

he's spamming his stories

yk how many weird ass filters insta has

ur gonna see more of them on his story

I also feel like minho is the kinda of guy who'll film his members doing weird shit

then expose them on his story

I feel like minho is the kinda guy to have dirt on the members??

and he'll threaten to expose their ugly ass all the time lol

seo changbin

another one who'll have 100 posts and below

literally what is up with 3racha and not pOSTING

at least he posts more than chan

okay but half of his posts will have felix in it

or hyunjin bc he can't choose one

also I feel like his feed will be colourless??

like bitch likes to use dark filters

u be scrolling through his dark ass feed and only see a colourful post like twice-

I don't see him posting much on insta stories too

I feel like he'll be featured more on the other members insta more than his own

I see him posting more than using stories

he'd probably update stays on ig posts instead

BUT U WILL LITERALLY SEE THIS FUCKER EVERYWHERE EXCEPT ON HIS OWN ACCOUNT JDHSHD

actually wait

YOU'LL SEE 3RACHA EVERYWHERE BUT THEIR OWN ACCOUNTS

hwang hyunjin

ah yes finally a member who'll actually post regularly

and not use weird filters (●´∀｀●)

yk damn well this boy is gonna post a lot

like his posts will always have more than one picture

I feel like he'll spam post everything

yk like how jennie suddenly uploaded 49 pictures in the span of 15 minutes?

yeah

but I also see him taking pictures of his members and posting it on his account too

bc he likes taking pics

I feel like he'll take a lot of pics of the 00line/maknae line

like cough jisung cough

and post it on his account

hyunjin definitely would use the insta story and posts whatever catches his eye

he probably sees something nice and put it up on his story

I also see him as the kind of member who'll post dance covers on insta TV

overall hyunjin rlly be feeding stays unlike someone—

han jisung

he doesn't fucking pOSTS

BC HE'S IN 3RACHA DHSHD

another one who probably will have 100 posts or less

b u t

you'll literally see jisung on hyunjin or seungmin's account

more than on his OWN GODDAMN ACCOUNT

he'll probably post like once every months and be like "haha I'm not dead yet wassup"

and he'll have a new hair colour

one moment he's blond and suddenly he has black hair—

wait no that doesn't sound wrong

one minute he has brown hair and he's sUDDENLY BLOND AGAIN DHSHDJ

#save_skz_scalps2020

he'll post about cheesecakes

I said what I said

you'll see more cheesecakes than his fACE

definitely will post studio snippets on his story just to fuck with stays

I feel like he'll also always have minho on his story

he'll try out the weird filters with him couplegoals

lee felix

tbh he gives me yangyang insta vibes

like he'll post nice aesthetic pictures

but the captions suddenly takes u back to ur middle school years DHSHDHS

or his caption will be like a meme caption

like have y'all seen jamie's "meow meow" caption

y e a h

and since he's been getting better at cooking now

he'll definitely posts pictures of what he made

his stories are just gonna radiate chaotic energy okay

you see him post behind the scenes of him cooking

or behind the scenes of aNYTHING

exposing the members

he'll probably even post a tiktok but crop out his tiktok name dhsjdjs

rmbr that video of him showing stays snow???

yeah he's gonna post those kind of videos on his stories

he just wanna show stays everything okay

kim seungmin

the one with the most aesthetically pleasing feed that you'll ever see

hyunjin fights him for being the aesthetic one in skz

THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE !!!

and that's seungmin—

sorry not sorry hyunjin ┐(￣ー￣)┌

anyways, I definitely see him taking nice ass pictures of the members

and post it on his account

bc the members never tag him for credits

AND SEUNGMIN IS DONE WITH THEIR DISRESPECCヽ(ｏ`皿′ｏ)ﾉ

he'll probably post short covers on his stories

to bless™ stays ears with his heavenly vocals

idk why but I see him posting his weird noises on his stories

like u be swiping through ig stories and u suddenly hear a "GAH"

i would see him feature felix and jeongin on his feed a lot too

he probably forces jeongin to let him take pics of him

like how ur mom makes u pose in front of that xmas tree so she can take pic for ur relatives

yang jeongin

i see him posting daily

and with the captions alw asking how are stays days

bc he just loves stays so much okay

he'll post selfies

or some scenery

with a really cute ass caption saying:

"how are stays doing?"

or

"remember to stay healthy!!" (´∀｀)♡

WITH A BUNCH OF HEART EMOJIS

i also see him posting his vocals on his stories

to show off how much he improved

like yk that one video of him hitting high notes of a song

yeah that

he's gonna post like videos/short clips of him singing and then asking like

"how did I do??"

I also see him putting that instagram question box on his story

and ask whatever is on his mind

and then react to the answers lolol

if y'all made it till down here,,, should I write imagines/bulleted scenarios?? i swear I'm a decent writer 👉👈

[lsaltzmans]

hi! how do you color your legacies gifs without them looking grainy/lq?

a bit of luck, some occasional crying and this bad boy right here

a more serious and lengthy answer under the cut

i dl the eps in 1080p rather than 720p or god forbid 480p, so the higher quality original video helps, and it also depends on the scene you’re giffing. for example, a nice bright outdoors scene like this

is gonna be a lot easier to colour and there’s less chance of it being gross and grainy than a scene lit by a sole candle like this

when it comes to the actual colouring, i’m fairly habitual in the layers i use; curves, brightness/contrast, gradient map, colour balance, selective colour, and then sometimes an extra brightness layer or an extra selective colour layer depending on what i want to do with the gif.

for dark scenes like the one above, i do use a lot of colour balance. legacies in particular usually has a kind of yellow/green filter over the dark scenes, so play about with the shadows (increasing the red/magenta/blue helps get rid of the green/yellow, but it also makes your gif quite dark so you’ll need to up the brightness or curves or whatever) and the highlights (upping the blue/cyan helps make skin tones not so yellow/red).

let’s use this beautifully lit shot of lizzie flipping off that sphinx as an example

this is the original lighting. ugly af, isn’t it?

this is it brightened using curves, levels and a black/white gradient map set to soft light at 30%. still all weird and green unfortunately.

a sole colour balance saving lizzie from looking like an understudy for the grinch, using these adjustments

then add a bit of selective colour to adjust the remaining green, her skin and her shirt, brighten it up a bit more and this was the final colouring i was happy with

so to sum up: 1080p copies of the eps, heavily rely on colour balance (and selective colour to a lesser extent), and the acceptance that some scenes are just gonna be terribly grainy no matter how much you pray that they’ll look alright after adding your eleventh curves layer

[transrightsjimin]

ok i tried to post this hours ago but couldnt finish typing bc tv nd friend were too distracting nd i couldnt remember nor focus on anything bc tired

anyway i didnt rly enjoy the bts at MMA performances as much as i thought i would? maybe bc the audio nd video quality wasnt the best in the reuploads nd the CG kinda ugly nd somehow i rly enjoyed the dynamite stage a lot which was weird bc i thought i grew tired of those gssgsfsgbjgf like maybe it's just bc the styling and video quality werent great for the other performances in the video?? idk? the styling was jst a bit too eboy nd slicked back hair nd i was bothered half the time during ON bc of that same dancer w the 'dreads' being at the front again like in the Filter performances before like hhhhhhg get that guy out pls

the life goes on stage looked very static nd minimalistic nd cold looking so tht kinda was hard to focus on. uhh

i liked the Zero O Clock piano piece at the start and later on the the N.O. set throwback that transitioned into ON, though the way everything was filmed was still like. bad. like the whole thing was meant to look impactful but it looked like 60fps hell and lots of slow motion and CG that looked so laughable like?? i wasnt sure whether i had to laugh whenever it showed those random cfs or a CG earth swallowed them up like it was meant to look so serious but i just couldnt hjgdjfhk

ALSO I ONLY JUST FOUND OUT tht the ‘BIGHITTV‘ account which i thought was fake is in fact the real account, it just changed its name.

urgh idk maybe im just too critical but i got a bit spoiled abt the setlist nd jimin and jungkook dancing like modern ballet to black swan nd the pictures of that looked beautiful, but then the actual performances were super hard to see, like 720p and more muted colours (even on the official upload by bh) so it was harder to see / enjoy the movements nd the audio sounded flat / muffled and i guess thats why i only rly enjoyed the dynamite performance bc everything looked more clearly visible nd colourful? also it was very fun how the lights changed colour whenever the song switched to chorus, pre-chorus etc etc, that was fun!! nd im still surprised i liked the dynamite performance the most bc its been performed like dozes of times this year by them. also i dont remember in which song it was the most clear but it was very endearing to see the gap they left for yoongi so clearly nd them singing parts of his lines as support / harmonizing. that was rly cute. but yeah i think i had too high or unrealistic expectations for it

edit: also the shot of the vid of armys suddenly was rly fucking funny, my friend said ‘imagine being that first person they show‘ jhjghdjfhk

[liu-lang]

A really long post abt my curly hair & the changes my curls have been through. tagging @laskyjedneplavovlasky bc you asked to see results of my plait

Okay so I only ended up plaiting my hair for one night bc right after my boyfriend found bed bugs in his bedroom. I thought I’d finally take the opportunity to make a post about my hair tt I’ve kinda wanted to for awhile. 

I’ve always been confused when ppl describe my hair as wavy and I’d be quick to correct them, no it’s curly. Obviously I don’t see the back of my head often. And when taking selfies with a front-facing camera, my hair looks curly to me. But finally having someone take photos of my hair from behind made me realise why ppl think I have wavy hair. 

I’m gonna refer to these photos by the row number + left / centre / right. So in the top most row, the photo on the left (1L), tt’s my hair the morning after plaiting it. I think I put AG Recoil Curl Activator the night before after showering to detangle it. Sleeping with a plait was super uncomfortable ??? It felt weird to have all my hair tied up instead of how I usually sleep with my hair down (and consequently moving freely all over my pillow). It might have been uncomfortable bc it was my first time but also with these results, I’m not sure if plaiting my hair is the right way to go to encourage my curl pattern. My hair was also still damp when I took it out of the plait. But I’m really glad I tried it bc now I know. I wonder if I will achieve different results if my hair was healthier. 

Also just to point this out before I forget, in 4R, tt’s the back of my little sister’s head. She has slightly wavy hair. She wears it about shoulder length now so her hair just looks straight. And my twin sister has straight hair. I rmbr asking her what she does with her hair while we were just together for xmas and she said she just shampoos it and then dries it without any product. I remarked tt I wish my hair could be tt maintenance-free…… my life would be so much easier.

1R, 2L and 2R are all my hair with any of the following products in it and the way I usually style my hair. 2R is my hair this morning right after waking up. I can’t rmbr which photo has which product. They aren’t all too different photo-wise. But I will say I think using straight up coconut oil, although hydrating does the least for encouraging and holding curl pattern. I only use 1 product at a time and I use the product to both detangle and style after I’ve showered.

Trader Joe’s Organic Triple Filtered Coconut Oil (I started using this when I was btwn hair products & didn’t want to spend money on stuff tt might end up not working for my hair)

AG Recoil Curl Activator

AG Foam Weightless Voluminiser

Urban Hydration Coconut Oil Styling Cream w/ Avocado Oil & Argan Oil

I don’t have the financial means nor the time nor do I want to make a giant effort to get ~perfect curls~ so I know most of my complaints could be addressed if I had those things or wanted to put in the energy / have the patience to do extra stuff to my hair. It took me awhile to also realise tt I can have different curl patterns throughout my head of hair. It tends to be straighter underneath and the top layers have more curls. There are all these rules / suggestions on how to sleep w/ curly hair “properly”, how to wash it and style it, how to care for day 2 / day whatever hair, how to dry your hair etc …. obvs I don’t care enough to do all the things but I try and do what i can. I stopped using shampoo several years ago and have a co-washing routine. Long story short this is what I do now :

I shower everyday so tt means I wash my hair everyday … this is not recommended for curly hair … but I developed seborrhoeic dermatitis along my hairline near my neck and left ear in high school (there are small localised patches tt flare up due to who knows what… mostly likely weather or stress … they’ve never spread to other pairs of my scalp or my body #pleasedon’tspread). When I shampoo I use Neutrogena’s T/Gel. I apply it directly onto my shampoo brush and only use it on parts of my scalp w/ the seborrhoeic dermatitis patches & I try to keep it on my scalp and not down the length of my hair. Even so, the T/Gel shampoo leaves my hair feeling like dry hay / dead grass after bc the coal tar strips my hair. If I’m having a pretty intense flare up, I will add tea tree oil directly to my scalp in addition to the shampoo. (when I was still trying to get it under control in the early days of diagnosis, I was prescribed 2% ketaconazole shampoo)

For conditioning and detangling in the shower, I use SheaMoisture’s Manuka Honey and Mafura Oil Intensive Hydration Conditioner with a wide tooth comb. I actually start first w/ conditioner (so it has more time to sit in my hair) then once I’ve detangled, I will shampoo my scalp. This also prevents me from combing shampoo through my hair. 

After I’m out of the shower, I dry my hair with a cotton t-shirt & use my wide tooth comb again to detangle w/ one of the products I listed above. Then I scrunch my hair to encourage curls and dry my hair a bit more. It *never* occurred to me to put product in my hair when my hair is wet straight out of the shower. I think I saw it in a Youtube video and I suddenly became aware tt I would dry my hair first until it was damp then put in product then dry again while scrunching. It totally makes sense now to do it w/ wet hair since the goal is to retain as much moisture as possible. I know everyone always says detangling w/ fingers is the best / most gentle but like I alr spend so much time as is w/ the comb. And I don’t want to be sitting down w/ my head upside down and hair turned over my face any longer than I alr have to. Then I go to sleep on a satin pillow case and my hair air dries throughout the night.

Looking at photos of my hair now and from 10 - 12 years ago (all the photos in rows 3 & 4), I wish I had appreciated the hair I had more. It was so different and so unique but tt was precisely what was so difficult (I heard the word “unmanageable” used to describe it a lot) about it and why I was ashamed of it growing up, I didn’t hate my hair but I felt ashamed and I felt like it didn’t suit me bc it was so big and so curly and I never knew what to do with it. Ppl always asked if it was real & no one would believe me when I said yes. White ppl here thought it was dreadlocks blergh….they actually still do even w/ the hair texture I have now. I rmbr having really terrible ID photos / school photos etc esp. when still living in Asia bc the photographers always wanted to get my hair out of my eyes or magically make it straight by running a fine tooth comb through my alr dry hair. Even put up in a pony tail, it would just be a giant bush (3C). I went to Catholic school w/ a dress code where your hair had to be up if it was long and I carried tt w/ me even after moving here so I only let my hair down in public when I was 18 / 19. Looking East Asian plus being a Muslim while having this kind of hair was so challenging. Bc everyone on my Chinese side didn’t understand why I didn’t have straight hair and my nenek was always asking my mum when we would be ~good Muslims~ and wear a tudung. I get my curly hair from my mum and sometimes I wish she would wear her hair naturally curly so we could look similar in at least one way but I understand how she’s internalised certain standards of beauty so she chooses to style her hair to meet them. She grew up w/ ppl being particularly cruel to her abt her hair & calling her ugly bc of it too. In addition to tt she had to deal w/ colourism.

My hair drastically changed when I was around 16 I think. I rmbr getting my hair cut to my shoulders thinking tt my curls would come back if I just took some weight off tt came w/ long hair…. but it just started me down a downward spiral (lol puns) to where I am now w/ my loose curls / waves. I started having an eating disorder at 11 all the way until I was 22 and now I’m struggling w/ it / just living w/ the remnants of it. I know tt having proper nutrition will help w/ my hair but also my body’s endured so much damage for over a decade, esp. when I should have been growing during my adolescence, tt it’s just gonna be a really long and slow journey ahead. 

I’ve watched some hair transition videos of ppl reviving damaged hair and regaining their curls. This one by CurlyPenny comes to mind. I can’t believe it took her 5 years but her hair is fabulous and #goals now. I don’t know if I can get my original curl pattern back. Maybe this is just how my hair is post-puberty ? My hair is thin and not very dense (like if you look at my scalp, I don’t have a lot of hair strands growing out of one place per square inch) so it gets weighed down very easily by product. I know ideally I would use mists or foams instead of creams or gels. But I’ve found tt mists / foams don’t always provide my hair w/ the moisture it needs. And it’ll dry w/ a crunchy texture. Some ppl say oils aren’t the best bc they can build up if not properly washed out and I know I’m literally coating my hair w/ oils right now when I style it. 

I’ve been watching Naturally Curly’s videos and I especially love seeing Grace’s Watch & Go’s bc I think she has similar-ish hair to mine in terms of her hair being on the border of wavy / curly. Having a haircut could also help w/ the shape of my hair and curls but my haircuts never seem to go as planned. I have a lot anxiety abt haircuts bc growing up my mum would come in and speak for me and I never knew what to say abt what I wanted / how to have a conversation with the hair stylist while in the chair. (I think there’s a thing where women have deep conversations & develop friendly relationships w/ their hair stylists). Right now, I think I want to focus on 2 things 

Finding a clarifying conditioner tt is low or no lather bc I think properly removing product build-up once a month could really help w/ my hair feeling weighed down

Going back to deep conditioning my hair either by finding a hair mask / deep conditioning treatment or letting my regular conditioner I use now in the shower sit in my hair 30 min before I even take a shower

And maybe……a 3rd thing…. actually wrap my hair up when I sleep or put a cap on it to prevent breakage bc it’s so thin and to help w/ volume. Besides my curl pattern changing, the one other thing tt bothers me the most is how I’ve lost curls and volume at my roots. Idk if it grows out straight or what now but I’m not keen on how the roots are flat

I never really envisioned my #curlyhairpost to come out like this but I’m kinda relieved tt I’ve gotten it out of the way. Bc the longer it just sat in my brain, the longer and more complicated it grew. If you are naturally curly too, please share your journey ! I really love seeing the natural hair movement grow etc but ….. every time someone comes up to me to ask what I did to my hair to get my curls or they don’t believe my hair is naturally curly, I think about the stereotype of Asians only having straight, thick, black hair.

[dizzyon]

I was tagged by Sanne @justlookatthehearteyes , Vale @soulmatesandfate Leonie @lit--anon , Flore @florelikeaflower and Chiara @reinventlou (thank you all, ily <3) to answer 11 questions... but combined we’re at 55 now, right?? Sooo I’ll just pick my favourites or the ones I think I can answer best! I ended up with 14 and it got so long I AM SORRY

1. What’s your best friend like? She’s funny, sarcastic, dry as hell, a FUCKING MEME, she’s brave, kind and intelligent. She’s comforting, tolerant and SMALL and very - level-headed is the word, I think? Nuchter, is the Dutch word. She’s also an amazing artist and musician and she’s strong and I guess she’s pretty ok. @kuyozka 

2. When you were a little kid, what was your dream job and would you still want to do that job right now? I always wanted to be an author (thanks JKR) and I’d still love to be.

3. Do you have pets? Tell me about them, please/Can you tell me something quirky about them? I do, I have 2 dogs and a cat. Okay, my (well, they’re all our family’s) oldest dog is a labrador/golden retriever aka not a small dog and just once in a blue moon he fucking climbs on either of my parents laps if they’re in a chair. he does not fit. Tijn (Valentine) eats cucumber, but does it by nibbling on it, if you give him a slice. Sarit is my cat and when she’s on my bed and wants to get a more comfortable spot she’ll stand up and then literally flop herself down 2cm to the left (usually so she’s lying closer to me). 

4. Who was your first crush (of your own gender)?  I want to say Tara from Buffy when I was about 13/14? I think I watched this too many times. also. it’s a bit cringy probably. (also!! that won’t even be the video I watched then bc it’s been uploaded later THIS IS SO WEIRD) (also Faith was hot, holy shit)

5. Ocean or the Universe - what terrifies you more? Why? I want to say the universe because it’s SO VAST and BIG. but also both excite me a lot, especially the ocean and all the stuff we haven’t explored yet.

6. What’s your happy place? For physical places, I’d say at home in the sun in our backyard. For the figurative (?) one I think fics?? 1d music. fun youtube videos. 

7. What is your favourite place in the world? I mean. no place like home, or The Forest in Germany that is like my safe place. if I’m trying to be interesting, I’d say parts of the westcoast of the US.

8. What is the first thing you notice in a person? If they seem nice?? I think? Which is not something you can judge at first sight, but yeah. I always forget eye-colours and stuff tbh.  9. What is one thing you absolutely want to do/try in your life? I WISH I HAD ONE SOLID DREAM. I DON’T. Sooo, visiting each continent, writing and publishing a book (also a long fic), writing/directing or acting in a movie, writing a song, getting a uni degree, finding a job I like. We can take the uni degree thing as the one thing. 

10. Do you like taking pics? Yes! Ever since I was like 11 and got my cute first camera, I’ve been at the back of the group taking photos. I remember being super excited about my dad’s nokia phone because IT COULD EDIT PHOTOS BEFORE YOU TOOK THEM. Filters, man. Life changing.  11. What is the thing that always make you laugh? My friends, Harry fucking Styles/1d. actually my sister, too. she does whole shows sometimes.

12. If you could live in any TV show world for a month, which one would it be? I want to say Buffy, also because I’m blanking on any other tv show ever? Is there an HP spinoff? Hopping around killing vampires with a cool group sounds good, though.

13. If you could have personally witnessed anything, what would you want to have seen? I loved Leonie’s answer, but I don’t want to copy her, I just want to say I LOVE this question and I’m going to think about it some more. 

14.  Any advice you want to give the rest of us? STOP BEING SO DAMN HARD ON YOURSELF. when you want to be mad or unsatisfied with yourself, imagine telling a friend that, instead of yourself. Imagine telling your friend they’re ugly or unlovable or unworthy. Would you? Also, there’s strength in reaching out and we all need to. It’s okay. People often appreciate it when you do.

I will tag some people and come up with questions tomorrow!! <33