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minijenn · 4 months

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Jen Tortures Herself With Every Dreamworks Animated Movie Ever: Road to El Dorado

So to begin with, let me just say I fucking miss Dreamworks 2d animation. Like the way they animated and designed characters in 2d was just... wonderful and I long for them to return to it almost more than I long for Disney to go back to 2d animation. As for Road to El Dorado, its a major case for why they should. This movie is a fun, fantastic romp that is utterly enjoyable all the way through.

Staying on animation for a sec, the colors in this movie are insanely vibrant and the set designs, especially in El Dorado itself, are outstandingly gorgeous. The character designs are top notch (bless Chel oh my god fuck whoever designed her was so horny and I'm so thankful for them) and the animation is as smooth as butter. The facial expressions, much like in Prince of Egypt are so damn well done and convey exactly how the characters are feeling so perfectly.

As for the characters, the cast is great! Miguel and Tulio are a perfect dynamic duo of scheming conmen, though the difference between them are clear. Tulio is more along the lines of being selfish and greedy (and horny, incredibly horny, this whole movie is horny), but he's still so damn likable anyway. Miguel is the idealistic optimist who just wants adventure and excitement. And the way they play off each other is so fast and smooth and expertly written and acted, their bromance truly is one to behold.

Of course, that bromance is broken a bit when Chel comes into the picture. God DAMN this woman is just... (*whistles*) 2D Dreamworks women were just Built Different holy god she is beautiful. And hilarious imo she's a good source of comedy (and conflict) throughout.

The other characters are... ok. I like the chief, but the priest is just an... ok bloodthirsty unhinged villain, but nothing really special. Cortes is a nothing character, barely an antagonist force whatsoever, and outside of them... well there's not much focus anywhere else. Which is a good thing! The movie's plot is tightly focused, simple to understand and follow, and the characters motivations and development is very clear throughout.

As for said plot, I suppose there are a few problematic things about Two White Men showing up and claiming to be gods in a Native ancient civilization, but it never feels like they're exploiting the people of El Dorado for anything more than gold? Like they even stop the priest's attempts to sacrifice people in their name, so I guess that counts for something??? Really though, the main focus of the film is that dynamic between Miguel and Tulio and how two things come between them (for Miguel, its falling in love with the people and culture of El Dorado and for Tulio, its falling in love with, well, Chel). In the end though, they do come back together in a natural and believable way in the midst of a genuinely exciting climax.

The humor is also very sharp in this movie, leaning more on the adult side (like I said, this whole movie is so horny) but never in the gross or annoying way that Antz did before it. It relies more on physical comedy and witty banter, and both of them are carried strongly through the voice acting and the animation. It's no wonder why this movie produced so many famous memes imo

The music is Fantastic. It takes the Tarzan approach where most of the songs are non-diagetic (and mostly performed by Elton John), with the standout exception of Its Tough to be a God which just... completely fucking slaps. Seriously I was boppin along to it the entire time, it goes so hard ya'll.

Overall, Road to El Dorado is a simple movie with a simple plot and premise, but its carried by a really memorable main trio and a great soundtrack and top shelf animation. Give it a watch if ya haven't, its def worth it.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Verdict: Getting caught doing the Nitty Gritty with Chel

Previous Review (Prince of Egypt)

Next Review (Chicken Run)

#jen watches #dreamworks watch #road to el dorado #jen tortures herself with every dreamworks animated movie #dreamworks

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frunbuns · 7 months

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What are your thoughts on color grading for the second season of Heartstopper? Did you like that choice?

I've done very little colour grading in my life, so I don't really know everything that goes into it. I've always liked how bright and colourful Heartstopper looks. The softness of it is just very appealing to me personally bc I usually take bright and colourful photographs myself.

I did just read an article about the cinematography in season 1 where Diana Olifirova said that she adjusted the white balance (white balance is a setting that changes how colours are redered in an image, for those unaware. You usually adjust this to accomodate indoor or outdoor lighting. It's all just about colour temperature, really) and used pearlescent filters (Filters are something you can attatch to a lens to change what the image looks like, much like a filter you can add to a photo in your gallery on your phone) to make the episodes gradually softer up until the finale which is a really cool trick I hadn't caught before. It's only when I compare the first episode and the last episode that I really notice how much more vibrant and soft it is. Something about it feels so much more alive.

It's a fun detail that I feel really follows Charlie's emotional journey. By the end of the season he is a much happer person. It's more dreamlike, and idk how much of that was in-camera work vs post-production, but it does seem fitting. Ah, young love...

That being said, looking back on it now after seeing season 1 I do notice that it seems a lot warmer. A bit more orange/yellow as if it's golden hour and they're bathed in warm sunlight. It does look very lovely and cozy. It does tone down for other scenes into something more nautral - sometimes dipping its toes into cooler tones - but the sense of warmth is still very much there imo.

I do think it looks nice and fits the tone/vibe of the show, but it can sometimes wash out other colours in the scene. Makes it less colourful and more monochrome which can make a shot more cohesive looking, but you miss out on the vibrancy.

Overall I do feel like season 2 looks a little less flat maybe??? It's pretty. It's definitely warmer than season 1. I don't really know anything about the process behind it, but I do like it. It looks very lovely and romantic which certainly fits this season. Definitley adds warmth to the scenes, as I've mentioned many times in this post lol.

I haven't really thought all that much about it so i don't really have any strong opinions about it. Maybe I will at a later point. It doesn't look bad at all. It does make me wonder what season 3 will look like though. I'd love if they brought back the colourful vibrancy a bit more tbh.

#heartstopper #heartstopper netflix #heartstopper series #heartstopper show #heartstopper tv #heartstopper tv show #media analysis #osemanverse #analisys #heartstopper season 2 #heartstopper s2 #ask #sgrrush2 #mine

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ritzy-biscuit · 2 years

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Hi, I just wanted to ask you something if it's no problem to ask.

I really like the old comic feeling your arts have and I would like to know which brushes, textures and color palletes you use? Or any advices for that type of art and where I could possibly find sources that could help learn about.

Hiya!

I draw in procreate and use these products from Retro Supply

And recently I bought KraftTone by True Grit Texture Supply which has an identical halftone system to Colorlab, but I wanted to know the difference. That being KraftTone has their CMY values (slightly) darker to give a gritty feel compared to Colorlab who gives you brighter color.

Before either of these products were available I used Debaser by True Grit Texture Supply. Instead of mixing your own halftone colors, Debaser has them ready to go. Just import the color file and brush in where you want the color. I still use this when I’m lazy or don’t wanna put in the extra effort 😅 (it still looks great tho!).

All these products come included with textured paper, inkers, distress effects and color chart references all of which I use in my art. 👍 These are all available for photoshop, illustrator, and Affinity. And I think right now only KraftTone is available for Clip Studio Paint. I can go into more depth about these products if you want to in another post.

If you don’t know about the comic color process and print here’s a quick article that will help you understand better.

You can find comic references anywhere. I get mine from Pinterest! Searching “vintage/retro comics” will give you a plethora of images that you can click through and get more similar images or find neat websites like this one!

Details I take note of when starting a piece:

If the colors and blacks will be vibrant or faded

If the print will be clean or bleeding and shifted ( or if I’m using halftones at all or solid color)

If the comic will have an overall yellow tint from age

How will I ink the lineart

There isn’t really a guide that teaches you how to achieve every single iteration of comic style. You get your lineart and halftones down and from there you experiment with effects depending on what look you want to achieve, which is the fun part imo. But on the retro supply website under “resources” they offer tutorials how to achieve various effects and art styles.

If you plan on mixing your own halftones it’s easier color it like normal then translate that color to halftones. The products I use all offer a solid color palette to the corresponding halftones to make the process easier because it does get a tad confusing especially if you forget what color formula you were using ( it’s a pain to match the colors tbh b/c they’re not labeled), I should pre color my stuff, but I don’t and I end up fumbling over myself. Lol.

Hope that helped some! Cheers!

#resources #artist tools #vintage comics #retro comics #retro supply #true grit texture supply #supplies #links

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thatangrybitch · 1 year

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Overwatch 2

I don’t really like overwatch 2 scratch that I actually hate it enrages me lol

1. No More Loot Boxes

Some people say that the grind wasn’t worth it and you had to end up buying the loot boxes or in game points or whatever it was anyway but Overwatch was one of the last few games where you could actually earn and purchase things with in game money. Season pass bullshit is one of the worse things that have happened to modern gaming and nothing can change my mind it’s all bullshit. I used to have fun waiting for the special events and the new skins, emotes, voice lines, sprays and highlight intros that came with them now any new shit that comes out is just a cash grab and it’s not worth it to me.

2. Character Designs

Some of the character designs are kind of off. This one isn’t really important as for the most part I love most of the overwatch 2 designs but some aspects or some of the outfits in general are just weird.

Pharah - I feel like they made her look washed out, her hair looks weird and they just made her suit color more vibrant and added a few unnecessary cuts and creases.

Tracer - Her design is cute but I don’t like the hair it’s weird looking, it’s too realistic or something idk but it just bothers me I feel like it’s not Overwatch’s style tbh I feel like the texture or something about her outfit is off as well.

Moira - I hate Moira’s new eye it looks like someone carved a piece off of Jason Vorhees mask and shoved it in her eye although I do actually like Moira’s outfit it should’ve been black imo.

Widowmaker - I don’t know how other people feel about widows hair but I certainly don’t like it. I preferred her ponytail, I also feel she should’ve had more colors to her outfit I feel there was a bitch too much gray and they just shoved armor on her.

Mercy - I like Mercy’s outfit although I would prefer the oranges and yellows to be more vibrant though the outfit overall is cute. I do not like her short hair though I feel as though it just doesn’t match her character.

Reaper - I hate Reaper’s new design it’s stupid they cut off all the sharp edges and then gave the man sweatpants. The only thing I like about his newdesign is the armor on his arms.

3. 5v5

Quite possibly the worst thing that happened to overwatch in my opinion besides the battle pass bullshit is that 5v5 garbage. Like it was fine the way it was. It feels extremely unbalanced and now if one tank is bad at the game your whole team struggles. The whole point of 6v6 is that it was balanced. There is a severe lack of protection for the whole team especially the healers. Most of the tanks don’t even have shields to compensate for the lack of the other tank. It feels like most of the tanks are just super buff offense characters with little ability to actually defend the team and keep them safe.

4. Overwatch 2 Force Update

The fact that overwatch 1 no longer exist makes me so sad. I truly believe this would’ve flopped and maybe they did too that’s why they literally forced it on us. Overwatch 2 is literally just one terrible giant update

5. New Maps

This might just be my eyes but some of the new maps follow the same layout as the old ones. I don’t know the new maps well enough to say which ones they are and I have a hard time remembering the old map names too so I’m just making a general observation here.

Side note some characters feel super overpowered lol I’m not gonna name names bc I don’t know enough factually in that area to make that statement but I’m just gonna put it out there

Ending on a positive note (although it’s hard to find one lol ok I’m being salty) the new characters are pretty cool and feel like they at least took some time to design them and shit

Ofc this is all just my opinion, you don’t have to agree with me after all we each have our own views on things and we are entitled to that. I just wanted to share my thoughts with y’all lol have a great day 😙

#overwatch #overwatch 2 #gaming rant #gaming #ow2 #just ranting #hate this game #gamer #overwatch characters #battle pass #rant post

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coredrill · 2 years

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ok i lied i watched the first TWO eps of edgerunners LMAO

ep 1 thots:

VIOLENT MURDER IN THE FIRST MINUTE LMAO LOVE TO SEE IT

david experiencing sex in the first four minutes and immediately saying “cut the shit” YEAH HE WON ME OVER ALREADY LMFAOOOOO

i was taking notes in my phone and during david’s first convo with his mom i literally wrote “yoko’s gonna fucking die :(”

I LOVE COLORS

i want access to wakabayashi’s spotify account!!!!!

there is literally a man with gold-plated gloves they are NOT pulling their punches on this one huh! just like prmr w its hatred of ecofascism tbh

mom and david having different goals :(

i think david has adhd <3

good god. you can really tell this was written by not-trigger!!! for one the storytelling is very americanized imo, like i was able to predict everything that was about to happen and with nakashima (& other trigger writers) all i can predict is “some kind of alien reveal 60% of the way thru” LSDKJF. but like also iirc trigger has mentioned how they didn’t want to double down TOO hard on the whole bigotry/genocide aspects of prmr and wallow in that bc they wanted the movie to remain fun, but like, not a second of the first ep goes by when you’re not reminded of the situation david is in due to being poor (and also being born on the “wrong side of town” which i assume is a thing from the game but idk)

yukiko kakita. absolutely KILLLING the color design here, holy shit everything’s so bright and vibrant and there are so many colors. I LOVE COLORS!!!!!! but truly what else is to be expected from the color designer of prmr and bna and the twins!!!!! LIKE!!!!!!!! best in the business for real

ofc the first thing trigger animates is two sex scenes 😭

some of the slang is ROUGH lmao i assume it’s also from the game but still

WHERE ARE LUCY AND REBECCA I WANT INSANE WOMEN

also i still think david’s gonna die in ep 6-7 CALLING IT NOW

ok so overall this ep was fine but it felt pretty rote in its story (but like, it’s not trigger writing so obv) and also??? aside from the colors and designs i feel like it hasn’t REALLY played into imaishi’s strengths as a director yet but i’m hoping it’s cause it’s just starting out and there will be batshit occurrences later on

ep 2 thots:

me “i’m gonna watch one ep per day 😊” also me “i want to see the op and i also want insanity so two eps 😊”

I AM NOT IMMUNE TO GUY WALKING LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!

i do LOVE the shots from inside david’s dryer they are so niceeeeee

lucy being a few inches taller than david WE LOVE TO SEE IT

david using the ;) emoji I AM ENDEARED.

crimes hell yes

SO AT THIS POINT MY FRIEND FINISHED WATCHING EP1 AND TEXTED ME AND POINTED OUT THAT THE SEX MACHINES HAD MULTIPLE HANDS WHICH I DID NOT NOTICE 💀

the scene on the moon was so fun and cute :( like i know they’re gonna have david and lucy get together but i thought this was fun despite that :(

BRO THEY GOT ME. i was so focused on lucy carrying the visual motifs of nia and lio and being the ~love interest~ that I FUCKIN FORGOT ABOUT NOVA LMAO. anyway yes girlbetrayal equality ✊

also i really love the like (at least at this point) subverting of expectations trigger has done w the visual motifs and storytelling that they usually rely on? like idk i thought lucy was just gonna be “the love interest” (not to say that nia and lio obviously aren’t more than that but like, just w the way lucy had been set up to that point i figured 10eps they were gonna just have her and david be together LMAO) but then BETRAYAL and also how they have ANOTHER yoko expy who is not just the mom friend but AN ACTUAL MOM but unlike yoko and aina (edit i forgot the kizuna girl lmao but her too) she dies :( idk i’m having fun w it so far!!

THE TRANSITION BETWEEN DAVID GETTING THE SHIT SMACKED OUTTA HIM TO THE ROCKET LAUNCHING THAT WAS PERFECTION!!!!

the ending animation is lovelyyyyyy i love the design and the purble and i want to know EVERYTHING ABOUT LUCY. TELL ME ABOUT HER I WANT TO KNOW WHO SHE IS AND WHAT SHE’S BEEN THRU

i liked ep2 a LOT more than ep1 personally. excited to watch 3 (and prob 4 akjdsf) tomorrow!!!!

also side note my friend texted me images of kamina, sanageyama, galo, and david and said “the trigger male character cinematic universe prevails!” and first of all LMAO HE’S SO RIGHT BUT ALSO. he’s only seen the first 2 eps of ttgl and I CANNOT WAIIIIIIIT FOR HIM TO LEARN THAT KAMINA DIES >:) ONE DAY LMAO. i feel like it’s gonna knock his socks off >:)

#overall thoughts are it's so PRETTY I LOVE COLORS #a: cyberpunk edgerunners #edgerunners spoilers #also spoilers for like everything else imaishi's directed that i've seen fkdsjfbskjfdhb #t.txt #this is incomprehensible apologies to anyone who tries to read it #WAIT I FORGOT TO ADD. you could tell they had that netflix CASH for this i hope they run w it and make more gay firefighters💜

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lesbiancarat · 3 years

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Haha its fine! Im book anon for a reason so take all the time you need! Before I start, I wanna apologize for the possible asks you got about the merch and hybe in general. I didn't intend to cause stress and need to be careful bdjahdsj so slap me with a fish!

Onto the ask! But agreed, I mean before the big kpop boom we saw, this was very common. Build a decent fanbase and then move to Japan or China. (Of course sometimes you see INSTANT movement in other countries but that depends on the company and such but you know what I mean) but since we do have the more global kpop era, we may see more companies do America which isn't a bad thing. It makes sense buisness wise so they will jump on it after debut or something. Thus I don't see it a bad thing for kpop groups to promote in America because hey, if in Korea they do sell western artist music who also tour there, kpop groups can also do the same ya know?

Now onto the hybe comment, I will try not to speak too much on it so I will try to summarize. I think my theory is due with merch from their main artist, they think maybe it could work with svt which maybe could but svt has a different fanbase so throwing on random merch won't make fans really want to buy (not saying some won't which kudos to you! As a fan you are allowed to consume what you please except not be a bad apple about it) so thus like the infamous water bottles which was done for bts, they thought why not do it for svt because bts fans sold it out apparently for a 2nd wave of it being sold again. (Which to this day idk why someone in the hybe team thought this was smart. Like...this is just in bad taste imo) I do wanna agree that it appears that hybe doesn't seem to have a proper art team for svt because while sometimes wild, I do know for their main artist they do have thoughtful merch based around say an album concept I recall. Kf course they will make mistakes i.e. the water bottles. I do wish it can improve because even though it is capitalism, I think fans do want decent merch. We have seen interesting ideas like svt making their own magazine and selling it lol. Of course it is hard to please because some fans want subtle merch ideas while others don't mind the vibrant pastel colors we got or some want wild ideas like svt figurines or something. Overall I hope I didn't drag this too much as I just wanted to respond back to you, I agree with many points you said so yeah cx I say let's also wait as this is barely what, a year or even less of svt being under hybe properly. Especially when hybe had its rebranding and expanding so things are being changed, I know fans are worried about this which is valid but let's not panic just yet. Let's come back in a year to this and see what has improved and what hasn't. (OK but peldis sold the boys rings!? :o since when!? I haven't heard of this actually, when did this happen if I may ask?)

Oof yeah sadly with streaming, many view "oh you don't stream it means you aren't a fan" when isn't the case (which is why I personally don't like when certain companies also do "listening parties" which seems a bit ???) I do remember this popped up big in 2017 but many fans called it out so it quiet down a bit. Like we didn't see it so often where fans were causing problems over it so idk why this returned nor what the cause of it was.

But thank you!! It really was a nice closing chapter, I think when I have personal stuff settled I will try maybe get a new bunny? And oohh congrats on the album! (Note to hybe or pledis. Please make the us store a more common thing, it makes things so much easier! Am happy it was at your place quick so kudos to the us store. Oohh wonderful choices! I think for many fans anyone or heaven's cloud seems to be the popular picks? For me, I may have to say game boi or heaven's cloud as well! Those songs make me just so happy? Like game boy is just so creative with the way it was made. As a video game nerd, it is perfection. I could make an essay about this song lol and heaven's cloud is just...wow. I feel so at ease with the song, comfortable and soothed. Like you are on a cloud lol. Also that is totally fine! Rtl was a grower for me (I blame the mv, it didn't do the song jusitice) but it is a bop and can't stop humming the chorus at random moments. Overall a great summer album. Just imagine any of these songs performed live ndjansns

lol don't feel too bad about it! honestly they weren't that bad + i can always delete asks if i really don't want to answer them, i just always get a bit paranoid that things will get out of hand so i may end up getting more serious in those situations OTL

and yeah i agree! i don't think it's a bad thing for groups to promote in the US, as you said, it's similar to groups expanding their fanbase by promoting in china or Japan or other asian counties, it makes sense from a business standpoint and there's nothing wrong with promoting in different countries. i just wish that some kpop stans understood that western and/or global popularity is a bonus and not a requirement for success. while they do have a global appeal, at the end of the day kpop's main audience is korea, and groups that achieve popularity in Korea have already achieved what they set out to do. but there's unfortunately a decent chunk of international fans that prioritize western popularity over anything and can't fathom that a group can be successful without being popular in the US. or they just talk as if their groups western achievements are more valuable than their Korean ones and to me that starts to look like xenophobia... (sorry if I'm repeating anything i said before in regards to this, i feel like i am but I'm too lazy to go back and check OTL)

since you sent this ask hybe released the caratland merch which was actually really nice, and today they also announced that there will be birthday merch for cheol (and presumably all members from here on out). we don't know what the bday merch is yet but some carats are already a bit miffed that hybe is even thinking to capitalize off the boys' birthdays... i bring both of these up bc i feel like the caratland merch proves your point that hybe is capable of designing good and thoughtful merch, and honestly this does reassure me a bit. but on the other hand them trying to capitalize off the boys' birthdays also proves that they still don't fully understand carats wants and priorities as a fanbase. which, if the future of seventeens merch is gonna be quality merch with some shitty cash grabs in between, i can live with that. I'm not gonna like the shitty cash grabs and i think it would be in our best interest as a fandom to not go crazy buying those shitty cash grabs, because if we don't then hybe will hopefully stop wasting their time and put more effort into /quality/. but if we get quality merch for important events like concerts and fanmeetings, i can live with it. as you said too, it can take time for these things to change, and we should all recognize that. but at the same time merch specifically is market driven, so i don't think it's a bad thing if people like @ hybe on twt about any bad merch that comes out in order to drive that change dhfkfj

but also on a maybe more fun note in regards to the merch... with some carats being upset about the bday merch i was thinking about what hybe could do for merch instead that would fill the niche of being at intervals throughout the year that could still be limited time drops but that carats wouldn't be mad at them capitalizing on and then i was like duh! they could literally just make merch off of going seventeen! honestly I'm surprised they haven't yet. maybe not merch for every episode, but they could have a line of permanent gose merch w a basic logo or something and then release limited time merch themed around some of the more popular episodes at various points during the year. I'm actually kind of obsessed with this idea now and for once I'm like hybe/pledis please capitalize off of this!! dhfkgjg

they never actually sold them, but for seventeens 3rd anniversary, pledis planned to sell replicas of seventeens rings. after it was announced carats were understandably upset since the boys worked so hard for those. luckily pledis heard carats concerns and put out an apology and didn't manufacture them in the end. I'm glad that at least they listened to carats even though it would have been better if they had never considered the idea in the first place :(

oh yeah listening parties are definitely just another marketing technique to boost streams. i think like with a lot of marketing techniques, it just depends on the execution. imo if they're done well it can be a good way for fans to connect while listening to an artists music, which is mutually beneficial for the company, but i can totally see a situation where companies get greedy and push it too hard. i don't know anything about what happened with them back in the day, but if you're curious why SVT had listening parties leading up to your choice, they were set up by UMG, the American distributor that SVT worked with for this cb. in this case the listening parties weren't just for boosting streams, but also likely for UMG to gauge interest. SVT isn't officially signed to a US label yet, but UMG's data from the listening parties could be used to show US labels whether or not there's enough interest for them to be signed. which if that happens we'd almost definitely see a more permanent US shop!

ahh yes, once you're ready I'm sure it would be great to have another bunny companion 🥺

yes! heavens cloud and gam3 bo1 are both such feel good songs! my sister actually added heavens cloud to their Spotify after i made them listen to the album in the car dhfkf it's now one of 6 kpop songs they have saved (4 of which are SVT... my influence 💅 DHFJFH) I'm certain we'll see some of the songs from your choice at caratland this year, hopefully it's all of them but I'd especially like to see heavens cloud and wave 👀 I'm also still crossing my fingers for an i wish live performance bc i can't believe my favorite SVT b-side is one of the TWO tracks they haven't performed live not including the new album (the other one being network love, which i would also like to see live!)

#melia.ask #📖 anon #long post #it always takes me so long to answer these bc i am incapable of shutting up OTL

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harusha · 4 years

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What are your top pokemon games??

Official or fangame? I’ll just list both. I will say Pokemon Reborn is my top-rated overall if we combine both lists (with HGSS and Collesseum/XD following as 2 and 3 respectively.)

On Official, it’s

1. Heartgold/Soulsilver (My favorite region is Johto, and Ethan is my favorite Pokemon protagonist so…unsurprising. The games are still genuinely good though imo because of the massive amount of content and post-game and QoL stuff like following Pokemon, auto-run, etc.) I also love the nostalgic feeling of the region. Lance is also here, and I like him and his design a lot, not as much as Volkner though. Also Proton is here, and I love the dude so. Pedometer is included here.

2. Pokemon Colosseum/Pokemon XD; I include this together since they’re a duo set in terms of story. XD is the better one gameplay-wise because of the new additions of Shadow moves, more Pokemon choices, QoL changes like saving, etc. but Colosseum is the harder of the two games imo b/c of the sparsity of Pokemon–if you can play it on laptop, mod XD with Pokemon XG for massive QoL changes (Fairy Type, more shadow Pokemon, upped difficulty, etc.)

I like how this set tries new stuff and it honestly showcases how if you the Pokemon IP to a third-party, you end up with something that tries to be different and actually plays pretty well.

3. Pokemon BWBW2; included as a set because of joint story line. Honestly, I feel like BWBW2 are objectively the last great mainline series additions. Even if you didn’t care for the story, they at least tried with it and the rivals. You had the nice rival in Bianca and the “focused/ruder” rival in Cheren, and both encompassed the themes of the game (Truth with Bianca as she realizes her ineptness as a trainer and Ideals with Cheren who strives to overcome his boundaries and the player even if he never can). N is pretty awesome, and I think Ghetsis is a better Lusamine (sorry, idc for how Lusamine’s actions are brushed over and blamed on the space jellyfish). There’s a lot to enjoy in Unova imo.

Also massive post-game stuff like Join Avenue (which encourages one of the main tenets of Pokemon, interacting with others and trading; ex. “Magnemite Coil”), half the region opening up for Post-game (White Treehollow, Kyurem’s abode, etc.). The Legendaries also have home locations for the most part, and their items aren’t just given to you by random people. A lot of stuff to do that isn’t just breeding mindlessly for shinies (I mean I love doing that, but options ya know?) or online battle.

4. Pokemon Conquest; Fire Emblem (or more accurately, Nobunaga’s ambition) meets Pokemon. I like turn-based grid tactic games, and this one’s actually pretty fun. You’re encouraged to roam around and give people different Pokemon to see which ones they’re compatible with. Also another example of what can be done if Pokemon is given to a another developer.

5. Pokemon Explores of Sky (and to a lesser extent since it’s the base, Time/Darkness); you can swap this with Colloseum/XD, BWBW2 or Pokemon Conquest depending on if you prefer Pokemon’s style of play, tactics games, or dungeon crawlers. I like this one since the story’s actually pretty good, the difficulty’s nice, and especially the post-game dungeons and content.

6. Pokemon Platinum and Diamond+Pearl to a lesser extent– the region that actually has a reasonably difficult Elite Four and champion. I love the additions they have like distortion world, the melancholic feel you get at times in the Chateau area and snowfields, and the post-game Battle Frontier. However, the games run so slow without Drayano’s mods. In terms of husbandos, Volkner’s pretty nice as well, and he’s pretty high-tier for me. Cynthia’s here as well, so I guess she counts since she’s a feature every time she shows up.

7. Pokemon FRLG-The definite version of Kanto for me. Sevii Islands, callbacks (callforwards?) to the Johto games with the Rocket Admins, decent difficulty and ability to sequence break somewhat, etc. It gives new experiences for those who’ve played the OG versions, but doesn’t change them drastically. The “you can’t evolve anything outside of the OG 151 before post-game” is stupid though. Lance is here as well, but his half Dragonite/Dragonair team annoys me b/c of how repetitive it is, but product of the time as well and the HGSS first battle had that as well but at least they’re all evolved.

8. Pokemon Red/Blue Rescue Team-I like this one since the story’s still good and incorporates the idea of a human being transported to a Pokemon world, but I just feel like Sky’s gameplay improvements and portraits for everyone trumps this one. I like Gengar a lot and his team. I also think the difficulty on this one (depending on starter and partner) is fairly good at times (The Moltres fight is actually pretty difficult if you don’t have Pikachu or a water type partner).

9. Pokemon Emerald and to a lesser extent Ruby/Sapphire–Battle Frontier, Scott and Smeargle cave (ie. post-game content), beautiful promotional artwork (including ORAS’s), fairly difficult battles at time if you aren’t prepared/going in blind with no excessive grinding (2nd May battle, Flannery, etc.), hidden secrets like Regis and Secret Bases. However, the latter half is so boring with the excessive surfing and lackluster variety. Steven’s here, and he’s a dreamboat even with the sprite graphics.

10. Pokemon Channel and Hey you, Pikachu!-Weird I know. This would be higher if I didn’t think this was a niche pick. It’s just really relaxing, and I want another one, especially if you can get more Pokemon to raise. It’s a lot more fun once you play it. I like exploring with Pikachu and it offers a look into the world of Pokemon as a non-trainer. I really want another one tbh.

11. Pokemon Rangers series (Ranked from favorite to lowest; Shadows of Almia–>OG–>Guardian Signs; all are good but that’s my preference) The gameplay is actually pretty fun, and I wish we got another one. They could use Joycons as a styler. Spencer, Sven, and Lunick are also pretty cute

12. Pokken Tournament- What battles should feel like in mainline if they injected millions of dollars into the mainline, so unrealistic expectation. I think Pokken is a decent fighting game. The moves are nice, and the music is good. This can go lower if you don’t care for fighting games.

13. Pokemon Battle Revolution and Stadium games-They’re mostly battle simulators with some mini-games. The animations are actually pretty lively and fun compared to SWSH’s. I would like to rank this higher, but there is no story mode sadly. It’s great if you want to see what Pokemon would look like in-scale.

14. Pokemon X/Y-I think these are actually pretty nice if only for the fact there isn’t excessive handholding; it’s there but it doesn’t force me to put down the game out of boredom. The outfits are genuinely pretty cute. However, the rivals are ridiculously terrible, difficulty is either too low or unbalanced if you use/turn off exp. share. Let’s put ORAS here as well b/c I think the lack of Battle Frontier and mediocre post-game, getting Lati@s early, etc. drops it down from Emerald. The PSS system is amazing though.

15. Pokemon Trozei and Pokemon Pinball series-Yeah, I’ve played these. Trozei’s actually pretty cool as a match-3 game, and pinball is pinball. You also get slightly more lore into the Pokemon world with Lucy Fleetfoot. I like match-3 and pinball so very much a YMMV. Pop Gates to Infinity and Super Mystery Dungeon here as well. Idk, they just lack the magic of the first two entries.

16. Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Dash, all the other spin-offs I didn’t talk about-they all offer something fun, but I just wish it was either updated for modern times and not released again (like with Snap) or a bit more (in the case of Detective Pikachu and Pokepark series). Pop Puzzle League games here as well. I like them, but they aren’t much besides Tetris games. Same goes for the Pokemon Trading Card games; they’re nice, but not super great imo.

???. Pokemon Box/Ranch/all the other storage games and stuff like Dream Radar-Idk what you’d want me to say since they’re storage space or gimmick games to catch HA Pokemon. You do get Extremespeed Zigzagoon which I love since the little buggers are very adorable.

Bottom Tier. Pokemon SM and USUM. I hate these games. They’re cash grabs (more so than usual) with being $40 a piece and the updated versions being barely changed (and actually feeling like what should have been released first). Incredibly handholding, areas feel half-baked, lacks areas to explore for the most part, Lillie is kinda annoying for me tbh (which hurts because you’re supposed to feel for her and the game’s story hinges on that), and the player is an actual detriment to what they’re trying to achieve story-wise. A big shame b/c Alola is a pretty region and Team Skull is great in concept, but execution is awful. Stated as someone who has bought all 4 versions to keep, and 2 extras for gifting.

Absolute Bottom Tier- Pokemon Masters, incredibly terrible mobage game coming from someone who plays FGO, FEH, etc. lack of meaningful content, grinding but meaningless b/c of said lack of content (ex. FGO gates you with mats but it makes you feel like you’re growing with your servants and offers a story and events to compensate; basically, a sense of achievement). CO-OP is pretty bad when you can just hop over to GBF or something if you want guilds and group content. I’m still gonna wait for Ethan and Volkner to appear though.

Unrated-OG RBGY and OG GSC (the remakes are superior outside of nostalgia factor imo so I think it’d be unfair for them to take a spot), LGPE (didn’t buy them b/c pricing but the colors are vibrant and I love that), SWSH (didn’t buy them because I have opinions on the cuts and stuff and price point doesn’t look appealing for what’s offered), Pokemon Mini (these were included with Pokemon Channel), Magikarp Jump+Duel (Duel was a cash grab and Magikarp Jump is cute but no real opinion on it), Pokemon Go (weird spot where I like it, but I don’t live in an area with safe walking areas so very much area-dependent), Arcade games (I don’t live in Japan for that), Perdue Farm games (they’re flash games made to promote so…), Pokemon Rumble (enjoyable but not memorable for me imo) etc.

Fangames-

1. Pokemon Reborn-150+ hours of content, visible themes that permeate the story and characters, beautiful spritework for some of the areas, intuitive usage of TMs/HMs and some logic (ex. Field Effects that emulate anime battling in turn-based rpg such as Corrosive Field; using Rock Smash to break the glass in some areas to solve puzzles, etc.), actual difficulty that hinges on how much you understand Pokemon (ex. IVs, stats, EVs, etc.) that’s fair but still difficult, puzzles and rewards for exploring and coming back to areas, etc. Fantastic game that I wish Gamefreak had attempted to emulate (perhaps not the darker themes but the ambition basically). Has some kinks with the revolving door of characters and such but still fantastic. Also offers custom shiny sprites, custom egg sprites, and online play like Wonder Trade and battling.

2. Pokemon Rocket Edition-Not done but I think this is a fantastic hack so far story-wise and how it implements its mechanics. You’re a Rocket Grunt, but you aren’t OP. It deals with the politics behind Kanto and Team Rocket. Still being worked on.

3. Pokemon Viridian Version-Another “play as a Rocket” game. Funny yet still can be serious; it takes the tone of the anime and understands when to be serious and when to not be. It feels like it would fit into the canon tone-wise, and deconstructs the “it’s cool to be a Rocket!” thing.

4. Pokemon Gaia-Excellent and a huge callback to classic Pokemon in story. It’s an OG region and offers a lot to do.

5. Drayano hacks- QoL updates but his work actually adds a lot to the games+new events.

Anyways, that’s my list. There’s a lot of Pokemon content, but this is how I feel for the most part.

#long post #i will say Piers is high tier husbando though

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sheepiling · 6 years

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I DOWNLOADED MY FIRST MOD AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

So, I was getting really tired of how un-vibrant Sims 4 is. I didn’t really notice it/care at first, but once Sage was born I found myself constantly fighting the lighting in the game and setting up temporary lamps everywhere when I took screenshots just because of how un-flattering the Sims 4 lighting is for sims of color. (I mean I’ve had mixed race couples since gen 1 but the focus was always on the founder/heir so if their partner wasn’t as well lit up as they were I didn’t pay much attention to it, but Sage is the first heir to actually have darker skin genetics passed down to him ‘cuz apparently in sims world recessive and dominant genetic traits are reversed... or at least in this family they are rip)

But anyways, I don’t want to spend time editing my screenshots so I just got a lighting mod for the game. OwO;;

I just want to make a post now and tag it with wcif because I really don’t download much and if I ever do get cc in addition to this I’ll just post and wcif tag that too so anyone that’s curious can easily see what I’ve got quickly~

I also want to add that I’m going to go very in-depth about the installing process because I am not tech-savvy at all and it took me a whole evening to figure all of this out, so if anyone else is in the same boat as me I hope this helps! XD

Also before I start explaining things I just want to add that before you start changing things, ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR GAME!! Make a copy of The Sims 4 folder that’s in your documents, AND the one that’s in your Origin Games folder that’s on your C drive (or wherever you installed Sims 4).

First I downloaded NoBlu and NoGlo

The links to the page their downloads are located along with information from the creator are right there in that title~

Those two mods work together, so I suggest getting them both! The NoBlu removes the blue tint that shows up at night time and indoors too I think, and if I understand things correctly the NoGlo removes that blue tint from your sims themselves so they don’t look blue-ish in contrast to the rest of the world that’s now been stripped of that blue tint.

Like, the point of the blue tint that’s in the game is to make it so you can see things better in the dark, but from what I can tell it also makes day time seem darker too at certain times of the day. So getting rid of this will make night time darker if no lights are around, but I think it makes day time brighter and the lights at night time is brighter too and your sims just react more naturally to lighting~

When downloading NoBlu, just pick one of those three files that are there. I picked NoBluLightingReplacement.package

For NoGlo, there’s two files there, and I downloaded both of them. They’re the NoGloRemover and the EyeSpecularRemover

NoGlo and EyeSpecularRemover are applied to each sim in cas just like cc, so I’m not sure if I’ll bother using them. But I haven’t had this NoBlu lighting mod for very long so if I end up noticing my sims glowing in the dark with a blueish light then I’ll probably bother to put that on everyone. Maybe.

These two mods are really easy to download! It’s just like downloading CC, just get the file and put it in Documents -> Electronic Arts -> The Sims 4 -> Mods

Then I got ReShade

This mod took me quite a while to figure out... (I’m just sort of challenged when it comes to things like this which is why I don’t use much mods/cc in the first place) 😓

So this is a program that you can install into a lot of different games, it’s not made just for sims 4, but it works really well on sims 4! The website to download this is https://reshade.me/

Additionally, THIS VIDEO is the most helpful tutorial for installing it that I could find (imo). I also want to add to always read the README text files that come with mods when you download them... I’m sure you probably already do that but I’m an impatient derp that couldn’t figure out some things until I read the readme... >.>;;

Also, I had an issue when installing ReShade, and I’m just gonna explain everything I went through in case anyone else is having a hard time too, ‘cuz it took me quite a while to find the info. I needed. I also want to add that I use windows 8.1 (unfortunately that’s the only operating system that’s compatible with my laptop, so no windows 10 or 7 for me, I already tried, rip) so the issue I had could of been caused by 8.1′s wonkyness. But I don’t know for sure.

After it asked me if I want to download a collection of standard effects, and I clicked yes, it said it failed. The program was properly installed into Sims 4, but I had no effects or textures (which is the whole point of getting this...)

But! This can be fixed by downloading the effects manually and putting them into your bin folder yourself. THIS FORUM on ReShade’s website has this answer and a link to the download for the effects and textures. The very first answer under the OP’s question is the one with the download~ I’m very thankful to that helpful person. Also, I’m just linking the forum instead of the responder’s link itself b/c once you click on their link it downloads the file. It’s not a link to a file share or anything, it’s just the direct download. The ReShade website probably has these up for download on their website somewhere too... But I’m trash at navigating websites that I’m not used to so I have no idea where... But I would assume it’s there somewhere...

After you have that file, slap it into your sims 4′s bin folder (tutorial I linked before shows where that is). Now, this alone is not all that you need to do. Now that it’s in the file, you need to go into the game and open the ReShade interface. Then you go over to settings and you need to copy paste the path for the program to find the effects and textures. There’s two separate boxes, one for effects and one for textures.

To do this, go into the shaders folder that’s in your reshade shaders’ folder in your sims 4′s bin folder. Then in the bar at the top of your file’s window that shows all the files you’ve gone into, click on it and copy it. Then tab back to your sims 4 game and paste that info into ReShade’s effects box. Then go into your textures file and do the same things for the textures box in ReShade.

When you paste them into the ReShade interface they should look something like this:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4\Game\Bin\reshade-shaders\Shaders

C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4\Game\Bin\reshade-shaders\Textures

Of course, if you didn’t install this on your C drive it might be a bit different, but you need to find that from wherever you installed Sims 4.

Once you’ve done all that the issue should be fixed and it’ll now load up all 60 effects and textures that you’ve downloaded every time you start up Sims 4 or tab back into your game after alt tabbing out!!!!! .................

So, hooray for it working properly now, BUT GOODNESS DOES THIS ANNOY ME. So like. If you’re going to download a preset from someone else (youtube tutorial I linked already shows how to do that) then I suggest keeping all the files you’ve downloaded. Especially if you’re switching between multiple presets for different occasions. There’s lots of ReShade presets all over tumblr, btw. So have fun looking them up if that’s what you want to do!

But I’m not doing that. I don’t need all of this. It’s giving me a lag for no reason. SO I DELETED A WHOLE BUNCH OF EFFECTS ‘CUZ FUQ THIS LOADING TIME.

Be careful not to delete anything important, though. In the shaders folder is the only folder I deleted anything inside of. Anything that was installed in the reshade-shaders folder I left alone. But inside the shaders or textures folder that’s inside of that reshade-shaders folder should be fine to delete things. BUT DON’T DELETE FILES THAT IT NEEDS TO RUN~

Anything that is a .fhx file you need to keep. Anything that is a .fx file is simply the effect itself and is safe to delete. I didn’t delete anything in my textures folder because when I downloaded the whole thing from the forum the textures folder didn’t have much in it. This might be different if you were able to install correctly in the first place.

Anyways! The files I ended up keeping were all the .fhx files and the following effects: Colorfulness.fx, Vibrance.fx, and DPX.fx

Colorfulness and Vibrance increase the saturation and vibrancy of your game and DPX is one that overall birghtens everything (I think). There’s lots of other effects that do the same things as these but those three are my favorites. Well, I don’t use DPX, it makes it a bit too bright for my eyes, but I decided to keep that one because whenever I’m able to get Seasons, if rainy/snowy days make the game seem way too dark I might want to enable DPX just for those days.

But for normal sunny days, just checking Colorfulness and Vibrance is enough for me~ I didn’t even mess with the sliders on how much you want it to effect the game because I don’t want to deal with those kind of advanced settings. I just pushed the check mark box on those two and done!

Now that I only have 3 effects and then the few textures that I never use but aren’t hurting anything by being there, it doesn’t even have a loading time to get ReShade to run properly when starting up my Sims 4 or tabbing back into it. ReShade is just ready to go right away!

So if you’re wanting to brighten up your game, but have a slower computer and most lighting mods and/or ReShade being the way it normally is lags your game too much, you could consider doing what I did! :D

Also, with ReShade, you need to change the way you take screenshots now. Doing it with the C button just takes a picture of your naked game, not the ReShade effects.

So, ReShade’s default hotkey for taking screenshots is Prt Scrn, so you can use that button now or you can change which button you want to take screenshots in the settings tab of ReShade’s interface. But the point is just pushing C doesn’t capture the ReShade effects so you’ll need a different button!

Also! In ReShade’s settings tab, you need to change the screenshot format if you want to upload your ReShade screenies to tumblr! Its default is set to Bitmap, which tumblr doesn’t support, so change it so it saves as a PNG file instead!!!

You can also change the path for where it’s going to drop your screenshots off at. The default is set to Sims 4′s bin folder, so if you want it to drop off screenshots in a different folder that’s dedicated to just screenshots and doesn’t have your game’s other important things in it, you’ll need to change the path for that (it’s the same as when you changed the path for it to find the effects and textures, just copy paste where you want it to go).

Keep in mind that if you move the folder you told ReShade to dump its screenshots at then you’ll need to update the path in ReShade’s interface or it won’t be able to find the folder and you won’t get your screenies~

So yea! That’s all the info. I have!! I hope this helps someone that wants to use ReShade but has been confused about it like I was!! 😂

Also sorry if my explaining things is long and confusing. This is just how thoughts flow in my brain so.. um... yea. >.>;

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endlessarchite · 7 years

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An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway)

Once established, overwintering hydrangeas is incredibly easy — just remember these few important tips, and you’ll have beautiful blooms in the spring!

As most of you guys already know, I’ve been working pretty hard on upgrading my back yard this year. One of the first things I did back in the spring was convert a small corner of the yard into a beautiful new hydrangea garden (one of my favorite flowers) with the help of Endless Summer Hydrangeas. Since their growing season is going to end soon, I thought I’d revisit this area one more time with some tips on how to protect them over the winter. This is one of those gardening habits that if you do it right, they will come back really strong in the spring and produce more blooms (which is definitely what I want!). The tip I want you to burn in your brains? Remember August 1st.

(Can you tell one of my friends just got married?? Ha!)

First, let’s go back and look at where I left off on this area during the summer: the Bloomstruck variety is what I chose to grow in the corner. I have the Endless Summer Original variety in other areas of the house and LOVE how their plants bloom and re-bloom from spring to summer, so it’s why I chose to partner with them this year and try out a different variety that’s supposed to come in a bit moodier (the color difference should be fun for bouquets!). During the summer, I checked in to see how things were growing, but you also probably picked up on the fact that I was planning on adding edging stones and gravel right in front of the tea olive tree in the center (aka, the site for my future reading bench once the tea olive grows in a little bigger!).

It’s been a super wet growing season here in Atlanta, so even though I cut off the drip hose some time ago, the hydrangea leaves have recently developed spots (signs of a fungal disease that can be brought on when things get too wet). I was hoping that they’d grow like crazy in their first season (as they often do), but bloom production is impacted by things like disease, overwatering, etc. so I’m giving them some extra care this fall to set them up for a strong recovery (the spots can be treated with a spray/fungicide, but since we’re so close to when they’ll go dormant for the winter, I’m going to just rake up the diseased leaves when they fall off over the winter and treat in the spring if it still needs it… which may not be necessary since taking off the diseased leaves will lessen the spread).

Tip: for more care tips, Endless Summer has a list of overwintering care tips and a text program to provide timely care reminders (Text ENDLESSSUMMER to 73095 — note that this is not for marketing purposes, it just provides care instructions throughout the season).

Despite this unfortunate development from all of the rain, that’s specifically what I love about these plants: they can take a beating but still come back happy the next season and will bloom despite what nature (and coughcough, a bumbling, negligent gardener) has to throw at them.

They are still blooming and forming buds and will start to show off their fall colors soon (they bloom really vibrant purpley-blue in the summer but toward the fall will take on more greenish/red coloring).

Just to give you a sneak peek of that, here’s what the Original variety has looked in my garden in years past (the Bloomstruck kind will come in a little darker/deeper in color):

FYI, I’m still getting beautiful bouquets out of these flowers, so I’ll have another post about that (specifically the process of how I get great quality phone pictures of my garden bouquets like this one).

And remember how I said to note August 1st as an important date? It’s because these varieties are cultivated to grow on both new and old growth the following year — so to get the most blooms the next season, I avoid cutting them after August 1st (de-leafing the diseased parts is one thing, but I don’t cut back the stems). As you can see in the pic below, they’re headed for a strong comeback. Honestly, the fact that avoiding the extra work of pruning my plants actually makes them better off is one of the reasons I like these as much as I do!

Ok, back to the rest of the garden area updates: with my new discovery for inexpensive gravel material, I switched gears about halfway through filling in the gravel area right in front of the garden. I started with marble chips that came bag by bag ($$$) in favor of a larger quantity of crushed granite that is much easier on the wallet ($15 for a half ton!). When the material is wet, the color difference is much more apparent, but when dry, there really isn’t a noticeable change at all (and in time as I fill in each season it will all mix enough to where there’s no difference):

Wet gravel:

Dry(er) gravel:

I purchased some edging stones I like a lot better than the red scalloped edging that is so abundant with my yard (I’ve dug it up in so many places) and added a new thick layer of mulch to the garden to help with overwintering (in colder climates, you actually pile the mulch on even thicker, but since it’s still pretty warm here for the next few weeks, I’ve added about 2 more inches which has done well for the other garden areas in years past).

Between this and the landscaping fabric, there is a clear division between the gravel area and the garden behind it, and I’ll eventually add in a DIY bench to create a cute little nook (I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to build the whole thing or restore one of those old wrought iron benches). In my mind, I’m happily sitting in this area a few seasons from now with a favorite book (or at least typing on my laptop in an outdoor setting). In my experience, years 2 and 3 can lead to some massive growth as long as things are healthy, so I’m really looking forward to seeing everything explode with color next year (the tea olive will also eventually bloom with little white, fragrant flowers, so that will be a beautiful mix IMO).

I still plan to add fencing to one side to cover up the chain link (see here for how I’ve already started removing the chain link from other areas of the back yard), so that plan is in the works too and should have an update soon.

And now… time for another giveaway! My favorite sponsored posts are ones where I get to do a huge overhaul but also where you guys can score some free stuff too, so I’m very happy overall to have partnered with Endless Summer this year for not one, but three separate giveaways. Here’s this round’s set of prizes:

Endless Summer Hydrangeas – Life in Full Bloom giveaway

Prize: One (1) prepaid $50.00 Visa gift card and (1) pair of Endless Summer branded gardening gloves

Giveaway ends: September 20th at 11:59pm

To enter: leave a comment on this blog post answering the question below and mark the Rafflecopter widget that you’ve entered so I have your contact info!

Comment with your answer: What are you most looking forward to about fall?

Ready? Go! Good luck, friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Endless Summer Hydrangeas. The opinions and text are all mine.

var ts=document.getElementById('ti-pixel-tracker'); var axel = Math.random() + ""; var num = axel * 1000000000000000000; var ti=document.createElement("img"); ti.style.display="none"; ti.src="http://ift.tt/2f9zMNh" + String.fromCharCode(38) + "i=DYhnP" + String.fromCharCode(38) + "ord="+ num + String.fromCharCode(38) + "s=" + encodeURIComponent(document.referrer); ts.parentNode.replaceChild(ti,ts); JSON.stringify({"program_id":"c733316c-e891-11e6-92d8-22000a7d00a4","post_id":"67556754-1ee9-11e7-8d01-22000a7d00a4"});

The post An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway) appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway) published first on http://ift.tt/2qxZz2j

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primaryideasuk · 7 years

Text

An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway)

Once established, overwintering hydrangeas is incredibly easy — just remember these few important tips, and you’ll have beautiful blooms in the spring!

(Can you tell one of my friends just got married?? Ha!)

Just to give you a sneak peek of that, here’s what the Original variety has looked in my garden in years past (the Bloomstruck kind will come in a little darker/deeper in color):

Wet gravel:

Dry(er) gravel:

Endless Summer Hydrangeas – Life in Full Bloom giveaway

Prize: One (1) prepaid $50.00 Visa gift card and (1) pair of Endless Summer branded gardening gloves

Giveaway ends: September 20th at 11:59pm

To enter: leave a comment on this blog post answering the question below and mark the Rafflecopter widget that you’ve entered so I have your contact info!

Comment with your answer: What are you most looking forward to about fall?

Ready? Go! Good luck, friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Endless Summer Hydrangeas. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway) appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

via Primary Ideas http://ift.tt/2wt0Dq0

#IFTTT #Primary Ideas

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sherlocklexa · 7 years

Text

An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway)

Once established, overwintering hydrangeas is incredibly easy — just remember these few important tips, and you’ll have beautiful blooms in the spring!

(Can you tell one of my friends just got married?? Ha!)

Just to give you a sneak peek of that, here’s what the Original variety has looked in my garden in years past (the Bloomstruck kind will come in a little darker/deeper in color):

Wet gravel:

Dry(er) gravel:

Endless Summer Hydrangeas – Life in Full Bloom giveaway

Prize: One (1) prepaid $50.00 Visa gift card and (1) pair of Endless Summer branded gardening gloves

Giveaway ends: September 20th at 11:59pm

To enter: leave a comment on this blog post answering the question below and mark the Rafflecopter widget that you’ve entered so I have your contact info!

Comment with your answer: What are you most looking forward to about fall?

Ready? Go! Good luck, friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Endless Summer Hydrangeas. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway) appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

from car2 http://ift.tt/2wt0Dq0 via as shown a lot

#car2

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chocdono · 7 years

Text

An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway)

Once established, overwintering hydrangeas is incredibly easy — just remember these few important tips, and you’ll have beautiful blooms in the spring!

(Can you tell one of my friends just got married?? Ha!)

Just to give you a sneak peek of that, here’s what the Original variety has looked in my garden in years past (the Bloomstruck kind will come in a little darker/deeper in color):

Wet gravel:

Dry(er) gravel:

Endless Summer Hydrangeas – Life in Full Bloom giveaway

Prize: One (1) prepaid $50.00 Visa gift card and (1) pair of Endless Summer branded gardening gloves

Giveaway ends: September 20th at 11:59pm

To enter: leave a comment on this blog post answering the question below and mark the Rafflecopter widget that you’ve entered so I have your contact info!

Comment with your answer: What are you most looking forward to about fall?

Ready? Go! Good luck, friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Endless Summer Hydrangeas. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway) appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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darwinbigelow · 7 years

Text

An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway)

Once established, overwintering hydrangeas is incredibly easy — just remember these few important tips, and you’ll have beautiful blooms in the spring!

(Can you tell one of my friends just got married?? Ha!)

Just to give you a sneak peek of that, here’s what the Original variety has looked in my garden in years past (the Bloomstruck kind will come in a little darker/deeper in color):

Wet gravel:

Dry(er) gravel:

Endless Summer Hydrangeas – Life in Full Bloom giveaway

Prize: One (1) prepaid $50.00 Visa gift card and (1) pair of Endless Summer branded gardening gloves

Giveaway ends: September 20th at 11:59pm

To enter: leave a comment on this blog post answering the question below and mark the Rafflecopter widget that you’ve entered so I have your contact info!

Comment with your answer: What are you most looking forward to about fall?

Ready? Go! Good luck, friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Endless Summer Hydrangeas. The opinions and text are all mine.

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thoughtfuldreambarbarian · 7 years

Text

An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway)

Once established, overwintering hydrangeas is incredibly easy - just remember these few important tips, and you'll have beautiful blooms in the spring!

As most of you guys already know, I've been working pretty hard on upgrading my back yard this year. One of the first things I did back in the spring was convert a small corner of the yard into a beautiful new hydrangea garden (one of my favorite flowers) with the help of Endless Summer Hydrangeas. Since their growing season is going to end soon, I thought I'd revisit this area one more time with some tips on how to protect them over the winter. This is one of those gardening habits that if you do it right, they will come back really strong in the spring and produce more blooms (which is definitely what I want!). The tip I want you to burn in your brains? Remember August 1st.

(Can you tell one of my friends just got married?? Ha!)

First, let's go back and look at where I left off on this area during the summer: the Bloomstruck variety is what I chose to grow in the corner. I have the Endless Summer Original variety in other areas of the house and LOVE how their plants bloom and re-bloom from spring to summer, so it's why I chose to partner with them this year and try out a different variety that's supposed to come in a bit moodier (the color difference should be fun for bouquets!). During the summer, I checked in to see how things were growing, but you also probably picked up on the fact that I was planning on adding edging stones and gravel right in front of the tea olive tree in the center (aka, the site for my future reading bench once the tea olive grows in a little bigger!).

It's been a super wet growing season here in Atlanta, so even though I cut off the drip hose some time ago, the hydrangea leaves have recently developed spots (signs of a fungal disease that can be brought on when things get too wet). I was hoping that they'd grow like crazy in their first season (as they often do), but bloom production is impacted by things like disease, overwatering, etc. so I'm giving them some extra care this fall to set them up for a strong recovery (the spots can be treated with a spray/fungicide, but since we're so close to when they'll go dormant for the winter, I'm going to just rake up the diseased leaves when they fall off over the winter and treat in the spring if it still needs it which may not be necessary since taking off the diseased leaves will lessen the spread).

Tip: for more care tips, Endless Summer has a list of overwintering care tips and a text program to provide timely care reminders (Text ENDLESSSUMMER to 73095 - note that this is not for marketing purposes, it just provides care instructions throughout the season).

Despite this unfortunate development from all of the rain, that's specifically what I love about these plants: they can take a beating but still come back happy the next season and will bloom despite what nature (and coughcough, a bumbling, negligent gardener) has to throw at them.

Just to give you a sneak peek of that, here's what the Original variety has looked in my garden in years past(the Bloomstruck kind will come in a little darker/deeper in color):

FYI, I'm still getting beautiful bouquets out of these flowers, so I'll have another post about that (specifically the process of how I get great quality phone pictures of my garden bouquets like this one).

And remember how I said to note August 1st as an important date? It's because these varieties are cultivated to grow on both new and old growth the following year - so to get the most blooms the next season, I avoid cutting them after August 1st (de-leafing the diseased parts is one thing, but I don't cut back the stems). As you can see in the pic below, they're headed for a strong comeback. Honestly, the fact that avoiding the extra work of pruning my plants actually makes them better off is one of the reasons I like these as much as I do!

Ok, back to the rest of the garden area updates: with my new discovery for inexpensive gravel material, I switched gears about halfway through filling in the gravel area right in front of the garden. I started with marble chips that came bag by bag ($$$) in favor of a larger quantity of crushed granite that is much easier on the wallet ($15 for a half ton!). When the material is wet, the color difference is much more apparent, but when dry, there really isn't a noticeable change at all (and in time as I fill in each season it will all mix enough to where there's no difference):

Wet gravel:

Dry(er) gravel:

I purchased some edging stones I like a lot better than the red scalloped edging that is so abundant with my yard (I've dug it up in so many places) and added a new thick layer of mulch to the garden to help with overwintering (in colder climates, you actually pile the mulch on even thicker, but since it's still pretty warm here for the next few weeks, I've added about 2 more inches which has done well for the other garden areas in years past).

Between this and the landscaping fabric, there is a clear division between the gravel area and the garden behind it, and I'll eventually add in a DIY bench to create a cute little nook (I haven't yet decided if I'm going to build the whole thing or restore one of those old wrought iron benches). In my mind, I'm happily sitting in this area a few seasons from now with a favorite book (or at least typing on my laptop in an outdoor setting). In my experience, years 2 and 3 can lead to some massive growth as long as things are healthy, so I'm really looking forward to seeing everything explode with color next year (the tea olive will also eventually bloom with little white, fragrant flowers, so that will be a beautiful mix IMO).

I still plan to add fencing to one side to cover up the chain link (see herefor how I've already started removing the chain link from other areas of the back yard), so that plan is in the works too and should have an update soon.

And now time for another giveaway! My favorite sponsored posts are ones where I get to do a huge overhaul but also where you guys can score some free stuff too, so I'm very happy overall to have partnered with Endless Summer this year for not one, but three separate giveaways. Here's this round's set of prizes:

Endless Summer Hydrangeas Life in Full Bloom giveaway

Prize:One (1) prepaid $50.00 Visa gift card and(1) pair of Endless Summer branded gardening gloves

Giveaway ends: September 20th at 11:59pm

To enter: leave a comment on this blog post answering the question below and mark the Rafflecopter widget that you've entered so I have your contact info!

Comment with your answer: What are you most looking forward to about fall?

Ready? Go! Good luck, friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Endless Summer Hydrangeas. The opinions and text are all mine.

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The post An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway) appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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nchomeimprovement · 7 years

Text

An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway)

Once established, overwintering hydrangeas is incredibly easy — just remember these few important tips, and you’ll have beautiful blooms in the spring!

(Can you tell one of my friends just got married?? Ha!)

Just to give you a sneak peek of that, here’s what the Original variety has looked in my garden in years past (the Bloomstruck kind will come in a little darker/deeper in color):

Wet gravel:

Dry(er) gravel:

Endless Summer Hydrangeas – Life in Full Bloom giveaway

Prize: One (1) prepaid $50.00 Visa gift card and (1) pair of Endless Summer branded gardening gloves

Giveaway ends: September 20th at 11:59pm

To enter: leave a comment on this blog post answering the question below and mark the Rafflecopter widget that you’ve entered so I have your contact info!

Comment with your answer: What are you most looking forward to about fall?

Ready? Go! Good luck, friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Endless Summer Hydrangeas. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post An Important Date for Overwintering Hydrangeas (Corner Garden Update + Giveaway) appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

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