#once again tumblr has ruined the quality of the image

[yibo-wang]

Summary of what happened at the Hidden Blade Guangzhou RoadShow.

I have been away from my phone all day today so I only found out about what happened a few hours ago. I don't like bringing weibo/twitter drama to tumblr but everything that's been happening made me really angry.

It was expected that the antis would definitely try and ruin it as much as could cause they've done that every single time something important happened in yibo's career. But to think they would sink as low and involve big directors and actors for their petty and selfish acts is a new low even for them.

While yesterday was Hidden Blades first release in cinemas, it did exceedingly well for a film that's undoubtedly different from the usual spring festival movie genres. The GP and fans both had positive reviews about the movie and Yibo's acting.

As far as I know the hateful words and reviews against Yibo have been increasing. Antis who weren't even in China were sending reviews that they hated the movie etc when the movie hasn't even been released anywhere else? Give me a break. (Below antis leaving reviews but their location is from out of China)

They're trying to suppress the positive response from the public on weibo, saying hurtful things towards the movie, director and actors. It's really disgusting.

You see Cheng Er and the rest of the cast and crew and anyone Yibo has worked with before know how sincere and dedicated he is to his work. For Hidden Blade especially they've praised his acting, his professional behaviour and it's not just one person it's the director, it's Tony Leung himself, it's Wang Chuajun, Da Peng and so many others.

It's actually breaking my heart when I saw the videos from today because why do they forget he's also a human being? That's he's only 25 years old?

Idk what image everyone has of Yibo in their mind but to me he's really very innocent at heart. Never in my years of watching him have I seen him have malice or hatred against anyone.

At the Roadshow today, despite everything that was happening he was really very thankful towards everyone who came, especially to the audience who came to watch the movie more than once because they loved watching it the first time and enjoyed the details.

One encounter today that really moved me was between him and a fan who was sharing her experience of watching the movie.

Translation: I would like to add one more thing. I was asked to convey this message from our group. Though we are Yibo's fans, after watching Hidden Blade, we turned from his fans to his movie fans. Thank you for being a good actor. We wish hidden blade success.

Yibo was really holding back tears 🥺

Cheng Er talked about how he really appreciates the sincerity the audience who watched the movie showed towards the film and how much he appreciates Yibo as an actor.

You see this is probably the first time Cheng Er had to experience such disturbing behaviour towards his film. Yes he's a grown man with years of experience with him but this is not negative reviews because people didn't like the film. This is because of their hatred for Yibo. And Cheng Er knows all of this cause repeatedly he has spoken or either posted against whatever lies the antis have spewed against the film and Yibo.

Cheng er: As all of you are audiences who really watched Hidden Blade, I believe our efforts including yibo’s will live up to your expectations. He has worked really hard —his image & expression in his eyes. I'm very thankful to such an excellent actor. I only dare to say this because all of you have watched the movie. I don’t dare to praise him recently because… [Audience asking that he should praise Yibo more] so I hope people who really watched the movie can sincerely spread the true situation and quality of our movie (link to video)

Once again despite everything, Yibo isn't forcing anyone to like him. All he asks is to be sincere in their remarks about it cause the movie isn't just him. These blackened tags and reviews affect all the people who have worked day and night for Hidden Blade to come to life. He accepts the criticism if it's genuinely because of his acting but not if it's just because their hatred for him.

Yibo: Like what the director and that audience said, a movie can create a lot of thoughts but you still need to continue with your life. For Hidden Blade, I hope we can exchange sincerity with sincerity. We made this movie with our heart, so we sincerely hope that people will like the movie. I also hope that audiences can sincerely appreciate the movie. Of course, you can also not like like the movie after watching it, there’s no problem. [Fans: we like it!] Exchange sincerity with sincerity. Thank you.

I do want to say that despite the antis efforts for the smear campaign, the passerby comments and almost all of the general public had a good experience while watching the movie and relayed good reviews. (Some of them down below + Link to one of the film critics review)

The thing is I'm really happy with how the GP is talking about HB. Infact Yibo was very happy during the other times in the roadshow. He kept smiling, talked so animatedly and with enthusiasm it was delightful to see him that way. But what bothered me most about the whole thing is that this situation was big enough for Yibo (who doesn't let useless remarks affect him) and Cheng Er to be bothered by it.

#im off to bed now i really had to speak about this otherwise i wouldn't be able to sleep properly #wanb yibo #hidden blade #hoping antis never sleep peacefully at night

[shimmering-stims-archive]

Coping with the new Tumblr Mobile image layout (outdated)

Tumblr has once again made a bad decision. As you may know gifs in mobile now work different and many stimboards/moodboards have been ruined by it. Here are some tips to make your boards consistent on both mobile and web.

Why is this happening?

Tumblr mobile now show images as their real size. Before if you have a 600x600px image beside a 400x400 one the images would scale down perfectly since they had the same aspect ratio. Now if you have a 600x600px image beside a 400x400 one the images will be disproportionate to each other throwing off the whole board.

About moodboards

With moodboards I'd personally recommend just compiling them all in one big image then posting that image to Tumblr. This protects your board from current and future Tumblr tomfoolery. I personally use Photopea to make mine but other popular sites include: Canva, Picsart and Ibis Paint. Also you should export your big image as a png since they are higher quality and compress better.

Here is a template for a moodboard layout but you can make your own if you want special layouts or want to make it fancy.

About stimboards

Stimboards require a much more tedious process. You will now have to resize all your gifs and central image to be the exact same size being the same aspect ratio doesn't cut it anymore. I'd recommend going with 300x300px or 350x350px since 400px is where a good amount of gifs start to go over the file size limit (10MB).

For resizing I'd recommend using EZgif it is your best ally when it comes to editing gifs.

What about my old boards?

They're kinda messed up forever now. Unless Tumblr fixes their mistake or adds an option for different ways to display images in a post. If you want to redo them I would hold off for now since this is a relatively new update and it only affects mobile so there is a chance it will be undone.

#sharing my light : tutorials #stimboard #moodboard #stimboard making #moodboard making #stimboard tutorial #moodboard tutorial #tumblr image update #image size update #image update

[sho-cye]

a screenshot redraw

#ahsoka tano #tcw #the clone wars #star wars #once again tumblr has ruined the quality of the image #so click on the image for higher resolution #my art

[carlatsukinamistolemyhamsandwich]

Diabolik Lovers 2021 Survey Results

First of all a massive thank you to everyone who participated (and apologies for being so late with this post)! This year we got over 150 responses, which is more than any other year I’ve run this survey and I’m really happy to see that the fandom is still going strong after 10 years. 

I’ve changed the way I’ve formatted the results this year (partly as I think Tumblr have changed their image limit and also to make everything look at least semi-professional. If you cannot view the results on Tumblr (i.e. if the images won’t load or Tumblr has ruined the quality) then you can access them here. 

Commentary from me:

After winning this year and in 2018, Laito is now the only character to have won the popularity part of this survey twice (does this make him the most popular character overall in the Tumblr DL fandom?). In terms of other surprises, Yui did very well this year, while Subaru went from 1st to 10th place which I was definitely not expecting.

Carla is still easily the most popular Tsukinami brother (sorry Shin) while Kou and Kino once again came last out of the boys. Kino’s place doesn’t surprise me too much as he is the character people tend to know the least about but I’m still not sure why Kou is a lot less popular in these surveys than he is in the official polls. 

Dark Fate once again proved to be the fan favourite of the games, although More Blood did a lot better here than in previous years. I do find it interesting that a fairly large number of people said that, if we get another game, then they’d like it to be like VC or LP, considering that those games seem to be the least popular of the franchise.

In terms of drama CDs, the solo CDs always tend to be more popular than CDs with multiple characters (with the exception of the bonus CDs) and the Daylight series is no exception to that. As I haven’t listened to any myself (I preordered Shin’s over a year ago OTL), I’m not sure whether this is because they’re the latest release and are therefore fresh in people’s minds or whether they really do hold their own against fan favorites like the Bloody Bouquet, Para-Selene and Zero.

Even though the Daylight CDs did very well in the drama CD section, it doesn’t surprise me too much that Young Blood was easily the favourite release of 2021. People have always been fans of anything that provides nuggets of lore (even if it does conflict with information we already have) as well as content with information on the characters’ childhoods. I personally am still a little bitter that I have yet to get any mini-Shin content, but it’s been good to see fans enjoying Young Blood regardless.

It was really interesting to see everyone’s comments on why they like their favorite characters/games/DL as a whole. I’m sorry I couldn’t include all of the answers I got but you guys really exceeded my expectations with how many of you gave lovely detailed responses. I may make a separate post with every comment I got for the survey later on (and I’ll come back to this post and add a link if I do) but right now I’m going to take a break from looking at spreadsheets ^^;;

Thank you again for participating. I hope you’ve found the results as interesting as I have (and enjoyed the new format). Here’s to another year of fangirling over DL!

For comparison: 2018 results, 2019 results, 2020 results

#dl survey 2021 #diabolik lovers #Shu Sakamaki #ayato sakamaki #Kanato Sakamaki #laito sakamaki #reiji sakamaki #Subaru Sakamaki #Ruki Mukami #Yuma Mukami #Kou Mukami #Azusa Mukami #Carla Tsukinami #Shin Tsukinami #kino #Tumblr please do not ruin the image quality I beg you #long post

[gr-ogu]

Hello! As requested, here is a tutorial on how I make my gifs. I would like to preface this by saying there are many ways to make gifs, and there’s no right or wrong answer imo. This is just how I personally go about doing so!

I will be using PS CC 2017, but as long as you have the video timeline option, it shouldn’t matter too much; on any version of PS, you should be able to adapt anything I mention here! You will also need some kind of screen recording software. I’ll talk a little more about that under the cut.

To start, you need the source material you will be making the gifs from! I get mine from snahp(.)it (avoiding links so tumblr hopefully doesn’t banish this from the tags lmao) and I always opt for either 1080p or 2160p. Not all laptops will support 2160p as it’s 4K, but either works great! You just want your gifs to be the best quality possible.

Next is where the screen recording comes in. I don’t use the screencapping method to make my gifs (where you use a program to cap a clip and then load those caps into a stack in PS). This isn’t for any particular reason… it’s just how my friends, (who very kindly taught me to gif), had always done it, so it’s now how I do it too. Personally, I find the quality to be just as good as the screencapping method, and have never noticed a difference between the two.

As I have a PC, I use the software built into it for screen-recording. If you go here: theverge(.)com/2020/4/21/21222533/record-screen-pc-windows-laptop-xbox-game-bar-how-to – you can see how to use the XBOX screenrecorder to record from files you have d*wnloaded. This also works on some streaming sites, but I think it depends on what browser you use. Personally, I recommend Firefox, as that seems to bypass a lot of the blocking and ads that occur when trying to do this sort of thing.

For MAC users, I have been told handbrake works well, as it converts MKV files to MP4, which can then be used to make gifs. You only need to convert part of the file to MP4 depending on how much you want to gif, and this also bypasses the screenrecording stage, as you can edit MP4 clips on Quicktime. I am told you can split them into smaller clips by going to edit > trim and it saves the new clip!

I have also used anyvideoconverter for small clips, but I can’t say what it does to the quality of your video, or how big of a file it lets you put in! With the XBOX screenrecorder, it doesn’t matter what type of video files you get, as the recording will save to MP4 anyway.

LOADING YOUR FRAMES

Now, go ahead and record whatever clips you want to gif. Make sure you have the video timeline open, by going to window > timeline. Then, go to file > import > video frames to layers.

Next, select and open your clip from where it has saved (with the XBOX recorder, it saves in video > captures). You should see a little window pop up, where you can move the sliders back and forth to clip your recording to whichever part(s) you specifically want to gif. I recommend trying not to load a lot of frames into photoshop at once, but I would be a hypocrite to say that, since I do it a lot lmao. Just be patient if you do!

Once you have chosen the length, click okay. Never, EVER, I repeat NEVER click the button that says “limit to every __ frames”. This really ruins the flow and quality of your gif—it’s better to have shorter, but smoother gifs, I promise. And with tumblr’s new 10 MB limit, it shouldn’t be a problem anyway!

Then, your frames should open up. What we want to do is make them into a smart object, so we can edit all the layers at the same time. To do this, click the small button in the left-hand corner. ALWAYS click this first. If you don’t, it will only convert the first frame to a smart object and the gif won’t work.

Give it a second to sort itself out, then, on the right-hand side, select all your frames at once using the shift key.

Then, go to filter > convert for smart filters. This might take a minute. Don’t click anything else in case PS gets angry lmao, just leave it for a second and it’ll do its thing. The more frames you have, the longer it takes! Now we have our gif, but it needs to be cropped, sharpened and coloured!

CROPPING

You want to start by selecting the rectangular marquee tool on the left-hand side, then drag it across by clicking and highlighting the area you would like to crop your gif to, like so:

What I tend to do is select everything inside the black lines you sometimes get around your gif (this depends on what file you d*wnload), and also the tiniest bit inside the sides. This is because I’ve found if you crop it right up to the edge, you get a tiny bit of transparency on the sides of your gifs, which I’d rather avoid.

Once you have your desired selection, go to image > crop. Now, the dimensions for tumblr are 540px width, so all your gifs have to be that width. However, the length is up to you. I really like big gifs, so sometimes I even make a full square, or even longer. It’s entirely up to you, and what kind of set you want to make.

For the purposes of this gif, I will stick to what I usually go for, 540px by 350 px. This will mean you’ll have to crop some width off, but that’s okay, since Marisa isn’t central anyway. The cropping is always trial and error for me, as sometimes people move out of the frame within in the gif. The best thing to do is just try it, and then move the slider in the timeline window at the bottom to see if the person stays inside the gif, and if not, adjust accordingly.

Next, go to image > image size:

In this box, if I put the width as 540, the gif is a smaller height than I want, as it keeps to the dimensions of the gif when you load it into PS. That’s okay, just put the height you want instead, and we’ll crop off the excess.

Then click OK. Using the rectangular marquee tool again, we need to remove the excess width. Part of the reason I like this version of PS is that it tells you the width of your selection as you do it, but you can always use the ruler as a guide, and check the size of your image by going to image > image size again.

Again, use image > crop, and your gif should now be the correct size!

You can also use the crop tool in the timeline window to crop the length of your gif:

However, I tend to wait until later on to do this (which will be explained further down!)

SHARPENING

Next you want to go to filter > sharpen > smart sharpen.

These are my settings. However, 0.4px is very sharp, too much so, but that’s easily fixed.

Go to filter > blur > Gaussian blur and then set it to 1.0.

Now on the right-hand side, we need to reduce the blur, so double click the little adjustment button, and change the opacity of the blur. I usually go for 20-30%!

Then click OK, and that’s your sharpening done!

COLOURING

I picked this scene on purpose as it’s dark, so good for showing how to colour a gif. I have a base psd which consists of some very basic adjustments, but it mostly exists so I don’t forget what adjustment layers I like to use. I adjust them every time I make a gif, essentially colouring each gif from scratch.

In this case, the psd actually makes it darker. So, what I will do is turn each layer off, and adjust as I go. A lot of people say using lots of adjustment layers ruins the quality of your gif… I have never found this to be true, as long as you are gentle with them. If you whack the brightness right up to the top, it’s going to ruin your gif no matter if you use 1 adjustment layer or 100. I would just say use your common sense, and adjust a little at a time!

I start with a simple black to white gradient map set to soft light, because I think it helps you see depth once you add some brightness to it. I usually do this on about 10%, or more if needed. It’s probably unnecessary, I just like how it looks!

Then, I move onto using curves and levels. This is where things can diverge depending on who you’re colouring. If this person is white, it doesn’t matter too much. If they’re not white, you don’t want to white wash them. My best advice is to play around with it. By adding vibrance and other (usually the red) selective colour settings later, you can ensure you don’t change the person’s skin tone from what it originally was. You can also use layer masks at varying opacities (various shades of grey), on your curves and levels, to remove some brightening so that you’re not changing anyone’s skin colour. Just brighten slowly and check in with yourself honestly about how your gif looks.

Some people don’t like using levels, or curves. It’s completely up to you. I tend to use both because levels are good for bringing depth, even if not brightening (though I like to use them for that as well). 

One thing you can do is use the white point of the gif to make PS adjust the curves itself, however I like to drag the sliders myself and see what it looks like. Just make sure it’s not too bright, as we will be using further layers to brighten more, after.

Next is levels. The slider on the left controls the black point, the one in the middle controls the midtones, and the one on the right controls the white points. The black brings depth, the midtones adjust the overall brightness, and the white points produce stronger highlights. Again, you’ll get a feel for how this works as you practice. Just don’t use the white point excessively, especially if your characters are not white.

Then I add vibrance (+20!), because we’ve removed a lot of it when lightening the gif. Next is exposure, which I find brings out the highlight and shadow areas more effectively:

Then colour balance! This helps with scenes that might be a certain colour, i.e. too blue, too green, too red, etc. Moving the sliders in the opposite direction of the colour your gif is will counteract it. The best thing to do when accounting for different colours, is to make a new layer every time you change colour, so that you don’t get confused. I always add a new layer for colour balance and selective colour if I want to change more than one thing. So one for red, one for yellow, one for pink, etc. 

A layer of brightness just to make the gif pop, and because the scene is extra dark, I added a very gentle extra curves layer:

SAVING YOUR GIF

Time to save the gif. You can go ahead and file > export > save for web (legacy) now, but then you’ll have to reopen the gif to reset the frame rate from 0.07, to 0.05. Instead of doing that, I use a modified action. The original was made by the very talented @elenafisher! So I do not take credit for that at all. You can find the original here: elenafisher(.)tumblr(.)com/post/190817437374/gif-sharpening-action-2-preview-download and in my resources tag. Please reblog it if you’re going to use this!

To use an action, first make sure you have actions turned on in window > actions. To load in your action, go to the little lines circled, and then load the action from your downloads:

Obviously if you don’t want to sharpen your gifs yourself, you can use the action as it is, and it will give you a beautiful glowing effect. If you’d just like to use it to flatten your gif into frames like I do, make sure to take out all the items I have highlighted:

Until it looks like this!

Make sure you have the layer under the file name highlighted, and then click the play button at the bottom! (If you get a screen saying select all frames cannot be found, don’t worry, just click continue!) You can delete the layer that does that if you want, I just keep it in case I realise I’ve forgotten to do something, because you can click cancel and edit your gif before you flatten it. Of course you can undo the steps to get back to the smart object version of your gif, it just takes longer!

And now your gif is in frames and set to 0.05 already, so you don’t have to change the speed! All you need to do now before saving is change the gif cycle to “forever” in the bottom left-hand corner:

Then to save the gif go to file > export > save for web (legacy). Sometimes, the gif is bigger than the tumblr 10MB limit. You’ll be able to see this in the bottom left-hand corner of the gif save settings. If this is the case, I like to preview the gif, to see whether it would be best to cut frames off of the beginning or the end, or both. When you’ve decided, you can select the frames at the bottom, and in the right-hand side panel, and delete them both using the little bins/trash icons.

I keep checking and deleting frames until I get the gif under 10 MB! Just don’t delete frames from the middle, as then you’ll have the same issue as if you selected “every other frame” when making the gif: it won’t flow!

Lastly, these are my save settings:

So that’s it! That’s how I make all my gifs. Blending I do when the gifs are in the grouped, smart filter stage, whereas text I add on during the framing section above! Really hope this is helpful, please feel free to ask any questions you may have! 💖

#gif tutorial #tutorial* #completeresources #yeahps #chaoticresources #allresources #mikesmom #usergeo #userava #usertix #usersmile #usertom #if you'd like me to cover anything more advanced just shout #i wanted to show how i add text too but tumblr wouldn't let me add any more pics #but people can let me know if that's something you'd want!

[lisanamjoon]

hello everyone! ✨an anonymous user has requested that i do a gif tutorial! lol so here we are 😇 please do not hesitate to send me an ask if something still doesn’t make sense! i’m so bad at explaining things but i will try my best in this tutorial 😂 

ok here we go 😂 to begin, i open youtube on my phone, find the video i’m searching for, choose the highest quality available, and screen record the part(s) i want to make into gifs. (i use my phone bc some videos play at a higher quality on there but you can do this on your computer as well using quicktime player). once i have my screen recording, i send it to my laptop, open quicktime player and trim it down to about 5 or 6 seconds. then i go to file > save. (or you can trim it down on your phone; either is fine)

now that my video is saved, i open photoshop and go to file > import > video frames to layers.

select your video and this screen will pop up. make sure your settings look like this. you can use the two little arrow things under the video to trim it more if need be, but i personally prefer to just do that in the next step ~ 

click ok and your screen should look like this. now for trimming ~ we just want the frames of ryujin for this gif, so select the two frames at the beginning, as well as the corresponding layers to the right, and choose delete frames/delete layers. (to delete the frames, click on those little lines in the corner). repeat this step for the frames/layers at the end. 

now that we have deleted our unwanted frames and layers, it’s time to crop (if you want!) i like square gifs, so i made this one a square, but the crop is totally up to you and what you prefer.

when you’re finished cropping go to image > image size and this screen will pop up. in my experience, it’s best to keep gifs 500 or under. i just change the width and let the height auto resize. for square gifs, i usually make them 500. for any other gifs, i usually stick between 300-400. it varies with each set. 

after you’re satified with the size of your gif, click those little lines in the corner again and choose “select all frames”. once they’re selected, click on the arrow under the frame and choose “other”. it will ask you to set frame delay. 0.07 is my go to option, but sometimes i’ll use 0.06 if the gif looks like it’s moving too slow, or 0.08 if it looks like it’s moving too fast. again, it’s totally up to you and what you prefer. 

once you’re done with that, go over to the corner and select “convert to video timeline”. then select all your layers and choose “convert to smart object.”

your frames and layers should now look like this. (i forgot to screenshot an image without my coloring already added, i hope this isn’t too confusing but just let me know!!😭) okie dokie! now this is the part where you add your sharpening and coloring. i usually sharpen using the camera raw filter and smart sharpen. for coloring, as you can see below, i usually just stick to these few adjusments but of course it varies per gif. you can just play around with all the adjustments, highlighted in the top right corner, and/or use the camera raw filter until you’re satisfied! once you feel everything looks good, go to file > export > save for web. 

it may take a short while to load, depending on how large your gif is. when it completes, this screen should pop up. make sure you choose “original” at the top, not optimized. (optimized ruins the quality a little.) make sure the looping option is set to forever (i think it automatically is, but just be sure.) you can select the play button to preview your gif before saving. also, you want to make sure your gif is under 10MB. any larger and tumblr won’t upload it.

and you’re done!! here is my completed gif <333 i hope this helped you!! pls don’t hesitate to send me a message if anything is still confusing!! <333

#also i'd like to add i don't know anyone else who makes gifs the way i do 😂 #most ccs use a video downloader i think #but this method has been working out for me so hopefully it will work for some of u as well <333 #ps tutorial #ps help #gif tutorial #tutorial

[violetlunette]

All Might and Bakugou Rant Chapter 8-11

Okay, before I start this rant I want to say that I LOVE All Might; he is a sweet sunflower man and I love him! He is in my top 3 favorite BNHA/MHA characters. HOWEVER, just because I love and adore him doesn’t mean I’m not going to get upset when his actions, or in actions in this case, potentially cause serious harm!

As for Bakugou--I like him when I’m not forced to like him if that makes sense? He has a lot of good qualities and I love that he has a unique backstory for rivals. There’s no angsty reason for his assholeness he’s just a brat who got a big head from being praised all the time and for actually being talented. I really want to see him grow which is why I get super angry when the story ruins his potential growth moments.

The rest of my thoughts I’m saving for a future post.

For those who are confused, I started a post series where I’ve been collecting every image I can find to explore Izuku and Bakugou’s relationship because it’s a big thing in the BNHA/MHA community and I wanted to judge myself. This rant is about Chapters 8-11 and how All Might handles things. Spoilers ahead! I should also warn that this is also very, very Bakugou critical as we are dealing with early gremlin Bakugou who goes overboard with Boom-boom. Also this is a rant, so things might not be very coherent and may repeat.

Oh and this is a LONG rant so I wouldn’t open on tumblr search. New tab suggested.

And finally; no beta reader. We die like dumbasses. Enjoy if you like rants.

The set up;

So here’s the stage; Bakugou vs Izuku. All Might tells Bakugou to adapt a villain mindset, and BOY

DOES

HE

EVER

Because of Bakugou’s temper he unleashes an explosion that both he and All Might admit could kill Izuku. Not just injure or maim, but KILL. And this wasn’t a small attack ether;

Look at this;

A large chunk of the building was taken out and the structure on the rest was damaged and cracked. I don’t think the building will collapse, but I’m not an architect and this is still serious damage.

And in this test run the area is supposed to be a nuclear plant. I’m not going to say too much considering Japan’s history with nuclear stuff, but I will say that if this was a real run Japan would be in serious trouble all because “King Explosion Murder” is having a hissy fit!

But this is a test, so I’m just going to focus on the fact that Bakugou used a literal killing move on Izuku and All Might did nothing!

Remember this part? “I will stop you if you take things too far?”

How

is

THIS

NOT TOO FAR?!

Is it just me here? I get we’re dealing with some value dissonance /blue and orange mentality as this world isn’t like ours, but come on!

YES!! Listen to Kirishima, the only one in the whole class that seems to care about the potential death of a classmate!

Even if Bakugou wasn’t intending to kill, he was going in to severely injure and maim Izuku. And what if Izuku tried to dodge the wrong way and it was a direct hit? What then? The only reason Izuku’s blood isn’t everywhere is because in anime world people are durable as fuck.

Isn’t it their job to teach these kids not to use moves that could kill someone, or at least be responsible and not use said moves on classmates during a training course?

Yes! You should!

Okay, to be fair to All Might it’s clearly stated by everyone around him that while All Might is smart and knows how to hero he doesn’t know how to teach very well at this point, though he does improve later on. And I do understand his thinking; if Izuku told him about the bullying then this is Izuku’s chance to get back a little at Bakugou and show him what he’s made of. That’s what he’s thinking here;

Yeah, that’s one way to describe it.

It’s also shown very clearly that Izuku wants this fight, to finally be able to challenge Bakugou on equal ground for once in his life.

I also understand that the UA teachers are getting these kids ready to fight real villains, so they are pretty lax on things to help them. That’s why I give Aizawa a lot of slack with his teaching methods.

And All Might does warn Bakugou not to do it again;

Also calm? Petty? Really? THAT’S what you see? Yeah, he’s “calm” and thinking clearly (which makes everything worse, btw), but “petty?” The word is genocidal, All Might. Bakugou does use the attack again! RIGHT ON IZUKU’S FACE.

Even if this was a different attack, how is this not too far? Okay, I guess Izuku blocked it as we see below;

But Bakugou didn’t know he would block and look at Izuku’s eye; did that attack do eye damage?

And what really irritates me is that All Might wasn’t going to do shit until he saw that Izuku was going to use OFA.

So, explosion fist that took out part of a building was fine, but using OFA that’s just too far!

Kirishima has to plead with All Might to stop things before he starts to give in. (And seriously? WHY IS HE THE ONLY ONE?! Does no one else care??)

But I’m not even that mad that he allowed the fight to continue. I wanted Izuku to have a chance to prove himself and beat Bakugou’s ass (he deserves it here. FIGHT ME). I also like that with Izuku’s hard earned victory Bakugou is momentarily humbled.

I agree that for both Izuku and Bakugou this fight needed to happen (but only if Izuku won). Bakugou needed this moment for character development.

He really needed this.

No, what I’m mad about is that BAKUGOU WAS NEVER SCOLDED FOR HIS ACTIONS. Hell, All Might goes the opposite way and tries to comfort Bakugou as we see here;

which okay, maybe he needed a little. He needed to hear these words, but he also needed a major scolding! But he never got that.

Izuku was carried away on a stretcher and severely damage, but does he care? No! What does he care about? Bakugou’s fragile ego!

Yeah, I know Izuku’s body is broken, but poor Bakubabe’s not feeling very confident. SERIOUSLY ALL MIGHT?!!

Why is this a big deal? Why am I so mad? Same reason why I was mad at the other teachers. By not telling Bakugou what he did was wrong and making him listen he did what every. Single. Damn. Teacher. Has done so far; taught him there was nothing wrong with his actions; it was okay that he unleashed an attack that could KILL on someone, especially on Izuku. There wasn’t anything wrong with it. Because no one ever tries to correct Bakugou he keeps acting this way, losing his temper and hurting people, mostly Izuku. And it doesn’t just hurt Bakugou, the inaction of no one ever scolding Bakugou teaches Izuku that it’s okay for him to get hurt. It’s okay that others hurt him, no big deal. It’s no wonder Izuku is always breaking his bones! Why would he listen to others telling him to to take better care of himself when the world keeps saying that it’s okay for people like Bakugou to hurt him?

There’s also the fact that Izuku was severely hurt here;

These are not comical anime wounds, these are serious, oh shit wounds so bad he has to be carried away on a stretcher.

No. Don’t laugh it off! You are hurting Izuku and Bakugou for reasons I already stated.

Even Recovery Girl tells him that what he did was stupid!

See what a good scolding can do? All Might made a mistake and he’s being called out on it.

An ego trip does not make this okay. Just like All Might needed to be told that his actions were wrong, so does Bakugou. Hell, Bakugou needs it even more!

I love RG. If she was there I’m willing to bet Bakugou would have gotten at least a time out. She’s the best teacher. She knows when to be kind, when to bee strict, and when someone needs to be called out. LEARN FROM HER All Might!

Bakugou’s quirk is EXPLOSIONS. It’s just as dangerous as Thirteen’s Black hole, or Shigaraki’s dissolve quirk and just as deadly! He needs to be taught to understand that along with controlling his temper especially because he’s going to be a hero, but he’s not going to learn if his ego is always babied and never faces consequences. I’m not asking for All Might to turn Bakugou over his knee or anything, just to tell Bakugou that what he did was wrong. Especially since he’ll be dealing with civilians in the future.

But no, instead of focusing on the fact Bakugou needs to control his temper All Might decides he needs to nurse Bakugou’s ego. I highly disagree because in addition to everything I stated above. Bakugou’s case a little ego bruising might teach him some humility which he SORELY NEEDS. He needs love and care, but when he does something dangerous and deadly, he needs a kick in the pants or at LEAST a strong NO, DON’T DO THAT.

How is he going to learn otherwise? Seriously, does anyone ever scold Bakugou for his temper? His ego is always called out, but what about his temper?

Again, I adore All Might. He is a great hero and he gets better, but I wish he bought that teacher’s hand book before his first class.

Rant finally over, I swear I didn’t intend for it to be this long, but oh well.

#boku no hero academia #my hero academia #Rant #bakugou critical #All Might critical #baby I love you #but pls buy that book soon! #poor izuku btw #chapter 8 #chapter 9 #chapter 10 #chapter 11 #long rant btw #I was angrier than I thought

[mcrmadness]

Madness draws: Behind the Scenes of the “Alleine in der Nacht” die ärzte fan comic.

A few weeks ago I posted this comic:

This post is yet again just another drawing behind-the-scenes post but You can go and reblog the original post here.

And as always, all my ramblings are under the cut!

This one was relatively easy to do because I just woke up one morning and internally died from laughter because this idea just happened like a random pop up window in my brain. I wrote it down to my phone notes and later on also into my sketchbook:

I was laughing out loud when I was drawing those images, Bela’s face still is cracking me up :D And because I’m yet again trilingual with my comics, there’s only one word in my mother tongue and it’s: Bela laulaa = Bela sings.

And other fans might recognize the lyrics of the song, I needed to write them down in order to decide which ones would fit the comic the best.

This one is then again me trying to see how it will fit on a A4 paper. Originally I saw it in my head more like a short, regular comic strip with 3 panels but somehow I couldn’t get it to fit into 3 panels. And 4 panels was too many in a row so I decided to go for a full page then. That caused bits of trouble to me because I normally don’t draw the comic book faces THAT big and it’s surprisingly hard to draw them in bigger scale. (With pencil drawings it’s the opposite, the bigger the better. It’s much easier to draw an eye the size of a finger instead of a size of a tip of a needle.)

Here’s the first sketch! Just the shapes to see how and what I need to draw. Sorry for the awful photo quality again, my phone’s camera has really gotten really bad after these 3 years of use...

Anyhow, the third panel caused me some troubles because I knew how I wanted Bela’s arms and hands to be but I didn’t see them that good in my head so what I did next was to try different postures into my sketchbook:

I also tried this foreshortening technique I saw in a video of after a Tumblr post, even tho I don’t find that too hard to do myself anymore but it was still interesting and can really help making the eye and brain to see the image in 3D. So here I finally figured that I wanted Bela to have is arms like he was singing something very theatrically. I think it turned out pretty good.

Next I struggled with the bedsheets and I figured that I am a bit too good at blocking out information when I draw because I tried to draw unmade beds from reference photos and I’m able to follow a line but also able to completely not see any other lines around the line I’m following. Like I’d often follow a line to somewhere and suddenly notice that wtf there’s SO MUCH MORE lines all over the place in the photo but I just did not see them.

^Here’s two pages in my other sketchbook that I got for the comic stuff especially because the paper is actually white. The bigger sketchbook has light yellow tint to the paper so it can mess up with the colors when I need to try out and look for perfect colors from the colored pencils. (This sketchbook is also smaller aka A5 because Derwent sketchbooks are expensive but this was the only A5 one with a bit grainy paper in white. The A4 one is cheaper and from Mont Marte.)

After a while I was done with the besheet and the rest of the second sketch. I don’t have a photo of the comic with just the lineart, only a photo where the first panel is already colored and now I actually need to talk about the coloring.

That caused me lots of trouble because I really love playing with lights and shadows in everything (drawing, photographing... everything) and I do know how to do the night effect in black and white, but I have only once before done that with colors and it’s never that easy. Plus that one was my first comic when I started drawing again in 2018 and it was not that good to begin with.

I run some tests with the pencils, as well as some shading tests:

Käsi = hand, iho = skin. I use Derwent Flesh Pink (I have a 72 set of Derwent Watercolour pencils) for the skin color and was then trying out other colors to see which one would look the best for shading. It was actually really difficult to do and my sister suggested that I’d use only cold colors but like... how do you use cold colors on a skin without making the character look dead? :D

I imagined that there’s a moon shining in from a window that would be behind the “camera”. I almost ruined the first panel because I wasn’t exactly sure what was I even doing and what did I want from the colors:

Here’s the lineart and almost finished first panel in colors. I really liked the lineart and this would have looked so nice in black and white too, maybe even better. But I just saw that blue background so strongly in my mind that I just had to go for it.

The first panel was really difficult to do like I said and I almost ruined it at some point. But it also taught me something because with the rest of the panels I knew to start with the skincolors and end with the black (I started the first panel with black, I think... kids, never do that, always start with the light colors! :D) and I think the last panel is the best what comes to the colors in the final comic. I also added light blue here and there to make it look more like the colors of a moon at night:

I’m actually very happy with all of the other colors in this panel! It also reminds me of a book I had and used to read as a child. It was about this girl that went to an appendix surgery and all the images were drawn with either colored pencils, pastels or crayons and it looked grainy the exact same way as this one too. It also had lots of red and orange and brown colors in it. (I wonder if I still have the book here...)

Then there’s also the title and “Das Ende”. Originally I was going to do the late 80s logo they have e.g. on the 80s live vhs/dvd but then I just saw another post in my dä blog’s queue and I just needed to do this logo instead!

I had just a couple of weeks prior ordered a pack of white Sakura Gelly Roll pens and needed to test what would make the best compination and with which black!

I also had bought a white paint pen but it’s useless. As you see, it just looks grey after it dries and it just... doesn’t look nice. Plus it takes so much time to dry AND it’s extremely messy and I have paint more in my hands and a puddle on the paper but barely none where it should be. So my choice for the logo was to use either Pigma Microns or Promarkers (I think I chose the latter) and the thickest Gelly Roll aka 10. This was the result:

And I’m actually super happy about how it came out! Couldn’t do that good looking spots on the letters because can’t make splashes with a gel pen so I did a few bigger ones here and there and then just poked everywhere with the pen to make it look more random. You can actually see how it’s slightly whiter than the paper if you look closely, but it’s not too strongly whiter so it looks pretty nice like this.

So, this was less work than the “Widumihei” one but it was also an interesting piece to draw. And I think I have now this comic drawing more freshly in mind so that drawing the next ones (there’s three waiting for sketching already) will be much easier as well :)

#here take the last behind the scenes post then #I mean next ones are going to be actual new drawings because now I'm done with these I had in mind #mcrmadness draws #mcrmadness draws: behind the scenes #my comics #dä fanart #die ärzte

[chispas-and-broken-bindings]

I’m posting a preview of the next chapter of Know The Love - Part II. This chapter is taking me longer to write than I anticipated, and I have a crazy busy week coming up at work, so it is looking less and less likely that I’ll have the full thing posed to Ao3 as soon as I would like. 

So, I thought I’d share the WIP to anyone who follows me on Tumblr, below the cut: 

Sansa relaxed into the hot, spring-fed bath, settling back until only her lips and nose breached the steamy surface. She closed her eyes, remembering.

Jon, what are you trying to tell me? That there's another secret Targaryen, vying for the Iron Throne?

(Not a trueborn Targaryen…)

Stars danced behind her lids.

(And he has no interest in ruling the Seven Kingdoms, I promise you.) What are you saying?

Slipping completely below the water, she let the weight of his secret pull her down.

(I keep telling you…I'm not a Stark. I'm not your brother, Sansa. Trueborn or half.) Stop, Jon. You're the very image of father. (It is not uncommon for a nephew to resemble his uncle.)

Days had passed since Jon's revelation, but her blood still pounded in her ears, hot and heady, like he'd only just told her. It had taken her a foolishly long time to understand what Jon was trying to say as she stared at him across his solar, her eyes flitting helplessly to Lord Reed, who only gazed back, stoic as ever.

(Lord Eddard was my uncle.) But you're too young to be Uncle Brandon's, and Uncle Benjen was too young to be a father…

Jon looked pained as understanding reached her at last. Her chest strained, painfully.

You're Lyanna's...Winter's rose. (Yes.) Stolen by the Dragon Prince. …and Rheagar Targaryen's… (Bastard.)

When he said it, she had been too thrown, too off balance to hear the loathing Jon bit into the word. The ground had shifted beneath her feet, the sky slanting so she was sliding down once more, drowning, and all she had the sense to ask, in a keening breathless voice, was, Who else knows?

"Sansa!" Her name came, muffled, through the water, but when hands disturbed the warm void, grasping at her arms, she woke from her reverie and resurfaced with a gasp. "For heavens sakes, Sansa! Are you trying to scare me witless! I'm already frantic over Theon's trial." She blinked into Jeyne's concerned, fire agate eyes, as rivulets raced down her brow and into her heavy lashes.

"Sorry Jeyne, I was only daydreaming," she sighed.

"I implore you, dream with your head above the water, please." Jeyne stood, shaking her head and frowning at her now soaking sleeves. "You're as bad as Arya used to be when we'd swim in the godswood. She'd challenge the other girls to try and hold their breath as long as she. Once, long after the others had given up, she floated to the surface, face down. When I turned her over, with tears burning my eyes, mind you, Ayra sprang to life, spouting water in my face, cackling like the Crone."

"I was just wetting my hair, not attempting a lark." Sansa squeezed her heavy locks, before twisting them together over the tub's edge, to dry.

"Be that as it may, you are not a fish, Sansa. You won't sprout gills beneath the surface if you stay down too long. You'll drown."

"Duly noted." She closed her eyes again, trying to recall her train of thought, but Jeyne continued prodding.

"Are you feeling well, my lady? You're flushed."

"Of course I'm flushed. I'm poaching in a steaming bath." Irritation seeped into her voice, and she glanced at her friend, contrite. Jeyne did not deserve her sullen mood. Theon's trial was only a few hours away, and Jeyne had stayed awake half the night, fretting over him. Now, she was fretting over Sansa.

"It's only, you haven't seemed entirely yourself, the past few days. You've been-"  Spinning like a top into oblivion? "-distracted."

When Sansa rose, Jeyne and one of her maids came to either side, wrapping her in a robe and helping her step from the copper tub. She laced her fingers through Jeyne's, relaxing her face into an easy smile. "I suppose I'm just tired. In the songs, they always leave out the verses where Jonquil spends her days mediating the lords' petty disputes or counting sacks of grain." Jeyne squeezed back.

"Well, when your Florian returns, you must beseech the king to appoint someone else to those duties. You and your knight will need time to reacquaint yourselves." She winked, playfully, and Sansa's belly dropped. She had no Florian; only an over-eager, impatient heir with more ambition than advantage, and a trail of ruined women behind him…and ahead. He was due back to Winterfell any day, after a decisive victory at the Dreadfort. Her stomach roiled at the thought, but she mustered a smile, nonetheless.

"Alas, the king works harder than us all. He does not deserve a princess who eschews her duties for any knight, especially while she is still wed to another."

Jeyne pushed her to her vanity, where her maids began to dress her. "Where is the romance in that, princess? Think on it. This may be your only chance for a true love affair." Sansa gaped at her friend, scandalized. "And wouldn't it be sweet, to be lovers first, before you are man and wife?" It would not be sweet. She'd had a glimpse at what an affair with Harry would entail, and she saw no appeal, with him.

"I must stay a maid, to annul my marriage to Tyrion," she reminded her friend, who only pursed her lips a moment, before responding.

"There are ways to take a lover and still preserve your maidenhead." Jeyne whispered, and Sansa marveled at the young woman's coy suggestion. After all she had endured, Jeyne had a spirit as hardy and irrepressible as the yellow yarrow that spread across the North in the summer, sprouting wherever the sun kissed the earth, from barrow to marsh, ditch to crag, no matter the quality of the soil or the quantity of rain. It stirred something within Sansa, and her cheeks burned at Jeyne's bold words. She pressed her eyes shut, but it was not the Young Falcon she imagined, standing before her. Grey eyes caught her. A kiss, searing and too brief, whispered across her lips.  See? What consumes you, devastates me too.

I'm not your brother, Sansa.

Her eyes snapped open. She was being foolish, to conflate the Jon she knew before with the Jon she knew now. The Jon who chased her smiling lips with his own down a dark corridor, and burned through her restraint over darker waters, was wooing a different woman. The Jon she knew now had only meant to convey essential information to the only family left to him.

Who else knows? (That lives? Myself. Howland. Now…you. Your father was the only other, as far as we know. Sansa, this is a dangerous secret. The kind that starts wars and kills thousands.)

As if she didn't understand. Only minutes before, the northern lords had packed Jon's solar, railing against two unknown Targaryens, half a world away. She knew how the North viewed the disgraced house. Madmen. Rapists. Inbred Dragonspawn. If they learned that their own king, already holding together a fragile kingdom, was the son of the man who had kidnapped and raped the beloved Lyanna Stark, sparking the flames that led to Brandon and Lord Rickard's deaths and a rebellion that changed the face of Westoros…why, they would turn on Jon like rabid dogs.

Then, why are you telling me? She had asked him, eyes flying again to Howland in desperation.

(No more secrets, remember? We promised.) He had looked at her with such intensity that she was forced to look away once more, imploring Lord Reed for assistance.

If anyone else finds out, you'll lose the North! She turned to Jon. You must remain Ned Stark's son. The lords will never back a Targaryen. The look in Jon's eyes was positively mutinous as his advisor nodded back at her, and she continued to shake her head, in horror.

(You think I don't know that! That's why I'm telling you. You, of all people should know whose claim you are actually backing. There is still time-) No! You are still a Stark. This changes nothing.

But it changed everything. She had fled Jon's solar a short time later, her thoughts too jumbled to handle more than an awkward pledge to keep his secret safe and a hasty word of gratitude that he had entrusted her with his true identity. Only now, after days of strained interactions, and painfully polite run-ins with the king, did she begin to understand. She had asked the wrong questions and offered only the weakest absolution. You are still a Stark. This changes nothing.

-----

Later, she observed him, from a distance, in the Great Hall, as the lords and ladies filtered in for the upcoming trials. The king stood apart, head bowed in discussion with Val, who had returned with the Ironmen held in Torrhen's Square. Though Sansa had never seen a Targaryen in the flesh, Jon had none of their oft-recited characteristics. In the dim light, his dark brown hair and grey eyes appeared as black as the cloak resting on his shoulders, his face as long and drawn as the stone kings of winter standing sentinel deep beneath their feet. It would be easier to believe Ned Dayne was a secret Targaryen, for whatever Prince Rheagar had left Jon, it was buried deep inside.

Now, questions burned at her lips. What really happened to Lyanna? How did Jon come to be raised by Howland Reed? And how long had he known the truth of his birth? And how did he feel about it? How did her father feel about it? And why had he not shared the secret with her mother? Perhaps, these were the questions she should have asked when Jon first told her the truth. Perhaps she should have asked them at any point in the past few days, when the revelation was new and her curiosity would be expected. But, whenever there was a moment where they found themselves alone, her body would rebel with unknowable emotion and her heart would beat in her like a caged bird in her chest, her tongue heavy and thick in her mouth, and she would flee the room before whatever was growing within her, had an opportunity to bloom.

"Princess, are you well?" She startled at Baelish's words, too close, before tilting her eyes away from Jon to the lord beside her.

"Quite, my lord. And you?"

"Quite. They make a stunning pair, do they not?"

"Hm?" She asked, distractedly as Baelish's lips twisted in a knowing smirk.

"Why the king and the wilding princess, of course. Were you not just watching them?" His eyes narrowed, and she flashed Jon and Val another glance, before smiling faintly back at the lord.

"I hadn't noticed where my eyes has settled. I was lost in thought, my lord."

"Hm. Well, still, my questions stands. Would not the wilding princess make a fine wife for your half-beast brother?"

"Half-beast?" She raised an eyebrow. "Be careful with your words, Lord Baelish. There are those that would take offence to you speaking of your king so." Her voice was mild, though, and his green eyes glinted slyly back at her.

"I meant no harm, my Princess. The north will need a fierce, beastly leader to keep its hard-fought independence. Eyes in King's Landing may be turned inward for now, but that cannot last forever…And you still evade my question. What do you think of my match?"

"Val is no princess and Jon has already more or less gained the wildings support. He needs a wife with more to offer."

"Ah. In that case, here comes another enticing option." Sansa followed Baelish's eyes to Lady Wynyfryd Manderly, gliding into the Great Hall in a gown of deep blue, offset by a string of rose pearls gracing her slender neck. She stopped before the king, falling into a graceful curtsy and Sansa watched Jon's eyes sweep down her form with a sour taste in her mouth. "As I understand it, the king in the North has still not fully won over his wealthiest, most well-connected lord. There can be no argument against the advantages in him marrying the Manderly maid."

Satin caught Sansa's eye across the hall, gesturing for her to take her place. "Excuse me, my lord, it looks like the trial will soon commence."

Before she could extricate herself, however, Baelish leaned close, whispering, "Careful little bird. He is your brother. Unnatural relations have toppled kingdoms more stable than his." She pulled away, her heart racing and legs weak.

I am not your brother, Sansa.

He should never have told her.  

----

She barely registered the accusations against Asha Greyjoy, Theon's sister, and the leader of the Ironborn who invaded Deepwood Motte and were defeated by Alyssane Mormont. Beside her, the king sat, just as in the previous trial, but this time his hand did not bridge the distance between them, nor did she reach out for him. Instead, she sat, staring out at the accused, yet seeing nothing. She was frightened. Littlefinger already watched them with suspicious eyes, and now she suspected Jon's secret was writ across her face every time she looked at the king. He should never have told her. It was hard enough to see him as her brother when she believed it to be true. Now, she didn't know how to meet his eyes.

She was snapped to attention when Asha Greyjoy was given a chance to answer to the charges against her.

"I'll take the black." She called out, with a wry smirk.

Sansa felt Jon's eyes light on her, but she stared straight ahead, so he responded. "There are no women in the Night's Watch."

"Well then, I choose freedom." The crowd chittered, and once again Jon tried to catch Sansa's eye before Asha continued. "I heard you let the Frey men, men who aided in raping women and mutilating children, choose the black, yet I, who simply held a castle that had been abandoned by its lord, and kept my men from harming a single hair on an innocent's head, am not afforded the same opportunity? Because I don't have a cock between my legs?"  Gasps from the crowd. "Where is the honor in that?"

"And if we banish you from the North, you'll only return one day to raid our lands again. It's a tired tale. The Ironborn's broken promises." Jon called.

"Well then. I suppose you'll have to take me as a thrall…though again, I thought the North was too honorable for an arrangement so close to slavery." Her tone was mocking, and Sansa looked closer at the Ironborn woman. She was lean and long legged, in black breeches, her short black hair, tied loosely at her neck, revealing a thin face and a hawkish nose, tempered by a wickedly impertinent grin. "I suppose you have only two options left, Wolf King. Take off my head or take me to bed."

Again, the crowd chittered, and Sansa burned. The Greyjoy captive was making a mockery of their justice.

"As fascinating as your offer is," Jon answered, "the wolf is not tempted by the squid." The crowd truly laughed this time, but he rose, cutting them off. "Asha Greyjoy, you are hereby fined five thousand gold dragons. Until which time the debt is paid in full, you are forbidden from leaving our lands. You are free to live and to earn your repayment by any lawful means, though if you should break our laws again, I will be taking your head."

The Hall stood silent now, and Sansa hazarded a glance in the king's direction. His face was calm but stern, and there was no uncertainty to find on his face. After a moment he nodded to Maege, who prodded her men-at-arms to action, cutting away the Greyjoy's wrist binds.

"And what of my men?" Asha asked, before she could be fully dismissed from the Hall.

"I suggest they choose the black," was all Jon offered before holding a hand out to Sansa. "Bring the other Greyjoy. We'll resume shortly." Sansa stood, and let herself be led into the privacy of the gallery.

"Are you well, my Princess?" He asked, as soon as the door closed behind them.

"What…yes, of course. Why does everyone keep asking me that?" She couldn't meet his eye. He was standing too close. She could feel herself flushing. Everything was flushing. She tried to step away, but his hand was at her elbow.

"You lie." He murmured, low, and why was she so warm? "It upsets you. That I'm not a Stark."

"You are a Stark." She snapped, still trying to pull away subtly, but he only led her closer to the checkered windows.

"Sansa," His words came out in an anguished flood. "My grandfather murdered your uncle and grandfather. My father raped your aunt. You have every right to be upset. I'll give up the crown. Just say the words and I'll make you queen. I'll leave the north. Just tell me what you want me to do." He didn't understand anything, and he was standing too close.

"Jon!" She hissed. "You are not my enemy. Your grandfather murdered your uncle and grandfather as well! Your father…" Why must he be so obtuse? "Lyanna Stark was your mother. You are a Stark, regardless of who your father was. I've already told you, this changes nothing. You are King in the North! I want you to be king." It felt like her veins were lifting from her body.

"Then why can't you look at me? Why do you flinch every time I draw near? You hate that I'm a Targaryen. Admit it. It is I who should be standing before you in the Great Hall, to answer for the crimes of my family." A shiver ran down her spine and she pulled away once more, trying to think of anything that wouldn't reveal her true thoughts.

"You are mistaken." She blinked up at him, trying to disprove his point, and it would be so much easier if he weren't looking at her like he was; like her words mattered, like her opinions mattered. And it would also be easier too, if he didn't have so much power over her, she admitted weakly to herself; if she didn't notice the breadth of his shoulders as he leaned closer, or the way his lashes seemed impossibly long around his smoky grey eyes.

#know the love #part ii #wip excerpt #jonsa fic #jonsa fanfiction

[arrow-dodger]

still waiting on your onlyfans or "private tumblr" page, a guy could dream. i miss your nudes :(

I really do not know how I’m supposed to respond to these messages. If I make one then I make one. If I don’t then I don’t. No amount of whining and bitching is going to make me want to do it more promptly.

As I’ve already explained a thousand fucking times, my self-esteem and body image have been very bad the past nearly two years, regardless of tumblr allowing nudes or not. Since about May 2018, I’ve gone through a lot of tough shit in my personal life and I gained a lot of weight. My body dysmorphia has been crippling. I can barely stand to even look at myself in the mirror most days and have frequent breakdowns about it. I have even avoided going out in public or to events where people can see me several times because of this. You can ask my boyfriend to confirm as he is the only person I am around on a daily basis and he witnesses me struggle 24/7.

If you’ve been following me for a long time, you probably noticed I almost entirely stopped posting nudes/lewds probably at least six months before the tumblr made that rule. I do not feel comfortable and confident in myself daily, meaning I do not take nudes/lewds even NEARLY as frequently as I once did, REGARDLESS of how many random people online want me to. I am not a sex worker and do not make money off of images of myself, so there is even less of a need or desire to force myself into that position.

I cannot force myself to be in a good place mentally or physically just for some tumblr anons or creepy dudes on Instagram to get off. It doesn’t make sense for me and is not realistic for you. There are plenty of other girls online who post high quality nudes/lewds frequently and who are plenty more attractive than me. I am a human being, not a machine where you can insert generic compliments and receive free titty pictures. 

You all are absolutely ruining being online for me, frankly. What was once about confidence and self-expression now constantly feels like being backed into a corner to please other people, and I fucking HATE that. While it would be great if I felt good about my body again even 50% of the time, that’s just not where I am right now and I’m not apologizing for that.

[saizoswifey]

AKA our favorite thing in the world !!!!!!! jsjsjsjdfkjsfj I love you so much thank you for this ask @catchthespade !! I’m not replying to this directly because I wanted to add images and going right from the ask makes the layout stupid lmao. (and I fucking hate tumblr because you can’t add text between nicely bunched images and it downgrades the quality to fucking hell but here we are)…

This gets semi-N//SFW

______________________

Okay SO. Saizo is one of the most intensely jealous characters in the game. He even gets jealous of Yukimura:

I’ll put the rest under a cut for length purposes….this is LONG [seriously] and also mild spoilers for event stories to (hopefully) come…

AND LET’S NOT FORGET 

Obviously, he is pissed but not going to hurt Yukimura in any way. I think in a lot of ways he turns his jealous feelings into teasing/poking fun at the person he is jealous of. It’s his defense mechanism and he likes to push their buttons or make them look like a complete idiot in order to ease his anxieties and make himself feel better. 

We know his jealousy goes far enough that in canon he keeps MC from screaming during sex so Yukimura does not hear it, and he also has been known to keep Yukimura and Chibi Sasuke busy in order to not be interrupted with MC. 

Saizo literally gives ZERO FUCKS about what is going on around them when it comes to MC and his jealousy. He’ll ruin anything, he’ll stop anything, he’ll make the biggest fucking scene. We saw it in his route when he swiped her up from the faux wedding. There’s another event upcoming, in which MC is chosen for a lead part in a performance (in which she must kiss the male lead). At first, the male lead chosen is Yukimura, and Saizo seems to not care one bit, he doesn’t seem threatened. And I mean, Yukimura is his bestie and he trusts him so that makes sense, it’s a play kiss with no meaning. However, Yukimura gets sick and the part lands on Sasuke (BIG ninja Sasuke, not chibi). Saizo. Is. Pissed.  He literally jumps on the stage and ruins the whole fucking things by stealing MC and running away before they can kiss because he won’t allow it. 

Now, these are all “friendly” encounters with jealousy. However. I think Saizo has a very dark side to how possessive he can be when it comes to MC. 

We’ve seen in canon him mentioning several times that he will kill men if they try to see her intimately. In an upcoming ES we see just how pissy Saizo can get when he gets jealous of someone who ISN’T a friendly threat but a random stranger. MC volunteers to help at a nearby school but the teacher ends up being a real creepo. Saizo knows it right away but MC doesn’t listen or understand and continues to go there despite the fact that she is starting to receive letters from an unknown stalker. Saizo goes into freak-out mode and keeps watch of her from a distance 24/7. He shows up at the school purposefully to send a message to the guy, and the moment he DOES end up making a move, Saizo reveals himself AND HIS SWORD. 

Saizo may be the kind-hearted softie when it comes to MC and Yukkins, but the cold and calculating, unflinching Saizo is still very much a part of him. He has no qualms with murder and death, and since he holds all of like 3 people dear to him, he will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. 

SO, what sets his jealousy/possessiveness off the most? 

When someone has known MC longer than he has/someone who appears to be very close with MC. Saizo may have met MC long ago but he wasn’t able to be by her side and he’s pretty self-conscious about that fact. He doesn’t like it when someone tries to show they know her more intimately than he does. 

MC talking about other men, ESPECIALLY when they’re in bed together or have alone time. It’s few and far between they get quiet moments together so the last thing he wants to hear is about another guy no matter the context. 

MC not listening when he tries to warn her about someone or tell her not to do something. He’s got a sixth sense for trash people and he’s usually pretty easy going, so when he tells you to stay away from someone its for a good reason. Not to mention the fact that it’s hurtful to have your S/O ignore your advice in order to spend time with someone else. 

Anxiety after almost dying or losing MC. 

Of course, there are lots of other reasons, but I think these are the most prevalent, the ones that will actually get a huge rise out of Saizo. As far as other random jealousy/possessive HC’s, Dare I say……yandere???: 

Absolutely keeps tabs on you like at all times. If it’s not him himself(which it usually is) he sends Kiyohiro to watch and report back. If he even so much as WHIFFS someone is being creepy towards you he is ending that shit right away. 

How he takes care of them depends on the level of creep. And maybe how he’s feeling that day. If they can be scared off easily he could simply drop into their room in the dead of night, wake them up with a blade to the throat, “shhh, quiet now or I may just slip.” Perhaps he slips something into their evening tea and carries their unconscious body to the nearest cliff or into the woods. Maybe he writes a “love letter” in MC’s hand and lures them to a remote area, sword ready and Utsusemi ready to gobble some plucked eyes. Either way, MC will be none the wiser. 

“Hm? The grocer disappeared? That is strange…so what’s for dinner, little lady?” 

Has no qualms being vocal about his jealousy (most of the time). If it strikes his nerve just right he’ll come out and say he doesn’t like XYZ and wants you to stop. Other times, you have to pay attention to when he is being bitchy and distant. 

If he could, he’d keep you locked away all to himself. He has real issues with love/ownership/things because of his childhood. He’s never known how to have things, especially not precious things. So how does he control himself? He knows it’s not right to keep you locked away, so instead, he controls what he can keep to himself. Your ears showing, your skin showing, your dango, your blush/pleasured expressions, your moans. He doesn’t want anyone else experiencing this stuff of yours. 

That being said, he WOULD 100% lock you the fuck up if you were down for it. He’d get you a pretty little ribbon to tie around your neck and a comfortable room with things to keep you occupied, he’d bring you your meals and feed you, he’d bathe you, he’d tie you up sometimes when he was feeling extra anxious. 

On the off-chance someone actually did hurt you, its game over. It doesn’t matter if they had their hands on you, they left a small wound/mark, or something worse–they’re dead. Saizo will go into autopilot and obliterate the person. Bloodbath. 

In his efforts to keep you safe, he sometimes loses his sense of what is right and wrong with control. At his worst, he WILL refuse to allow you to leave his sight. By any means necessary. 

Blocking exits. Tieing you up (he knows the best and most efficient ways to immobilize you in seconds). Drugging you (such as putting you to sleep). 

When he’s feeling extra insecure he’ll claim you for himself. Tear your clothes off and tease you until you admit he’s the only one you love. He’ll make you say his name over and over again, and hearing it will ease his worries. He may even be inclined to break his own rules and let someone hear him fucking you so they know you belong to him. 

If you’re out in public and he starts to get jealous, he’ll pull you roughly into a dark secluded corner or onto a rooftop and tease you, pull at your collar and grip your face so you can’t look away from his intense expression

“Keep this up little lady, and I’m going to have to punish you.” He nips at your exposed clavicle. “Or…was that what you were hoping for all along?” 

Out of spite and pure jealousy he would 10/10 fuck you in a space such as a person’s bedroom or work, or with an item of that person’s. A way to get back at them and know he’s claimed you there or while you were wearing that (like fucking you on top of someone’s haori or with a hairpin they gave you in your hair before he gave it back to them) and they will never know. 

Has NO PROBLEMS talking about having sex with you. As long as they don’t see you its chill. He will let it out that he just had your legs spread 10 minutes ago and smile. He’ll go into detail. Especially when someone is trying to intimidate him over you. 

“Sorry, she won’t be able to meet you tomorrow like she promised. She’ll be quite sore…if you get what I mean. She looks quite sweet and docile but don’t let that fool you, she’s a different person when the lights are off. It’s no myth some women are wild in bed when you least expect it. Some night she asks for it so many times I have to wake up and check for bruises ^^ well, anyway, look at me going on when I’m sure with a face like that all of this is completely foreign to you. Don’t be discouraged, someone always has to be the late bloomer on the branch, hm?”

Definitely has a mental list of all of the people he’s threatened or killed over you 

Sometimes Kiyohiro has to step in and warn people to GTFO and leave before Saizo ends up murdering them 

Has had the urge to kill Inuchiyo more than once LOL 

Sometimes uses his Kotodama when he’s jealous. 

Maybe it’s during an interrogation of the person trying to steal you from him or harm you. If they deny, he’ll use his power to get them to confess the truth before torturing them. Maybe they lose an appendage for every time they lied or stalked MC. 

He’ll use it to keep you near him, keep you still, after your life was threatened. He needs time to look over your body, check for injuries, make sure you’re okay and tell you how much each finger and tear mean the world to him. 

HATES WHEN OTHER MEN TOUCH YOU. It disgusts him if they had ill intentions and he hates to think that you had to endure that. He’ll order you to strip and ask you where they touched you. He’ll wash the areas himself and caress you with his hands. He’ll whisper in your ear how you belong to him, and kiss over the areas until his anxieties disappear and he feels like he can no longer smell them or feel their energy. He’ll dispose of what you were wearing in an effort to rid you both of the memory completely. 

#slbp #samurai love ballad party #saizo kirigakure #slbp saizo #slbp headcanons #my writing #this has some n~sfw #yandere #murder #jealousy #little lady speaks #catchthespade

[keeping-up-with-the-olympians]

IF THE GODS HAD TUMBLR BLOGS

Aphrodite: You think you’ve seen a feminist blog? Think again. There are ~tasteful~ pictures of nipples left and right, quotes about body image and lots of empowered women. The title is: freethenip_keepthewhip Rupi Kaur would probably deem the blog too much, but somehow she manages to keep it to a sane level. Everyone follows her, even tho they all deny it. 10/10 inspirational as fuck

Hermes: He runs: yaboy-hermesss This blog is a mess. There is no such thing as a theme, or any kind of cohesion, the boy just reblogs what he likes. That’s it, that’s the only rule. It’s a shame he mostly only blogs when he’s high, so it’s a game of “will today be a motivational quotes over colorful sunsets OR Low-resolution pictures of literal houseplants in the dark” kinda day? 7.5/10 – if you’re high too, it’s the best thing you’ve seen all year

Dionysus: AKA: yourdaddywouldnever. The blog is pretty tame, it’s mostly just memes and an occasional photo of the latest shenanigans he’s gotten into. But he likes everything. EVERYTHING. From cat pics on Hephaestus’ blog to random selfies of Indian dudes, it seems like Dio uses the like button every time he takes a breath. 5.5/10 the blog itself is really mediocre

Hephaestus: Pictures. Of. Cats. Just so many cat pics. He recently began adding gifs to the mix. He names every kitten, and his tags are full of things like #fluff #meow #furryfriends. There is an occasional photo of him posing (but pretending to be natural) and some of those memes your aunt would post on facebook, tagged with three crying-laughing faces. The name is: hephaestus1 – “hephaestus was already taken” 9/10 gotta admit the kitties are cute as fuck

Hestia: Poetry blog. She uploads her own stuff and reblogs quotes from others, but the main purpose of tumblr for her is to get into debates about meaningless stuff in the comments. Her blog’s name is: lines­­­_of_revolution 6.5/10 the poems are not bad actually, but for the love of everything, don’t tag her

Ares: His blog is mainly black and white images. He tries to maintain an aesthetic but sometimes it is too much for ADHD boiTM, and he spirals into a pit of sad and miserable quotes only. But when he’s doing good, the pictures are a very decent way of telling what mood he is in, and actually tell a pretty good story of his week. The blog name is: ares-godofwar 8/10 when he’s fine

Artemis: This is The Aesthetic Blog TM. Everything matches with everything. She keeps up themes that change every month, and there is not a post that’s out of order. The blog is so aesthetically pleasing, legends say you can not look at it for more than 15 minutes at a time or your life will fall apart and nothing will ever seem worthy of looking at again. Her blog is: goddessofperfection

Apollo: There is no good way of putting it, Apollo’s blog is a good ol’ pornblog. He strongly argues and puts it as some kind of “artistic choice” or “naturalistic expression” but that’s no way of fooling anyone when there are more naked butts on his page than on Burning Man. His username is: harp­_me_up (he spent 3 weeks coming up with this name) 5/10 for the denial (just admit it bro)

Demeter: She runs: demeter-dontmakeatumblrplease. Now listen. I don’t have any explanation for this. But her blog is the funniest shit ever. In the history of time, it is the most hilarious thing to grace this blob of stone we call Earth. It is just straight up hysterical. It resonates with everyone. The things she reblogs and the things she posts herself. Quality content. This is what I’m here for. And by myself I mean everyone ever. 100000/10 would recommend

Athena: Song lyrics everywhere. She probably thinks the site is a knockoff karaoke bar. Her blog is the equivalent of every single time a song has gotten stuck into your head for two days. Besides that, it’s usually “intellectual” stuff such as quotes from famous thinkers, but just when you think there is more to that than annoying lyrics, a line from I Wanna Know What Love Is pops up and the illusion is ruined. Her blog is: itsa-kindof-magic 5/10 pretty boring (sorry)

Persephone: Pretty convinced that her site (queen­_of_the_dead) is just a cover for some serious satanic shit. It’s straight up scary. Can’t really give a rating, cuz I’ve only looked it up once and it still haunts be, but let’s go with a 10/10 not to piss her off.

Hera: It’s a pretty standard hipster blog with the trademark pics of cozy coffee shops and those backpacks (you know, the ones you see on the back of a dude with a beard longer than your last relationship) in every color imaginable. The blog is: mom­_friend101 It’s cute and sweet and reflects her personality very well. Lot’s of rolled up pants to reveal crazy patterned socks. All around great vibes. 9/10

Hades: Ah yes, the dog rating site. “how many TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT IT’S NOT A DOG RATING…!!” Ssssh, Hades, it’s okay. We all have a soft spot. A for effort for posting some other stuff once every month or so just to keep up the illusion. But it is what it is. His blog is: not-a-dog-rating-site JK, it’s actually: hatethis­_hades 10/10 because it’s the best thing to come out of the grumpy old man (the dude gives every dog a max score)

Poseidon: Doesn’t get the concept of it, regularly confuses tumblr with twitter and posts his opinions nobody asked for. His username is: better-than-zeus, and he begins every single one of his posts with “Now guess what…” a strong 8/10 because he is actually pretty funny but no one will admit it, so don’t bring it up

Zeus:

AKA: zeusofficial Only posts about twice a year and it is always a link to some other site or article you know you’ll never read. -100/10, this is not your granddad’s facebook page, get it together man

#aphrodie #hermes #dionysus #hephaestus #hestia #ares #artemis #apollo #demeter #athena #zeus #poseidon #persephone #hades #keeping-up-with-the-olympians #gods #greek #greek gods #mythology

[ajcrwl]

webp? hell yea!

oh god, imagine thinking that gifv or webp formats are bad and blaming it all on Googel.

it’s not the format that’s bad, tumblr just needs to tweak it’s conversion algorithm, perhaps. and let us upload our own webp files. hardly anything can compare to webp’s file size. 

as someone who makes animated files for nearly every page of my comic i had to constantly choose between making a gif with smaller dimensions or destroying the quality for the sake of smaller file size. and then i found out that webp exists and WHOO BOY. i can make animations with the same dimensions and at HALF THE FILE SIZE of what the gif would be???

it’s incredibly flexible when you can control the creation of your own files. there’s even a whole ass photoshop plugin which greatly simplifies the process of saving a file as webp. in fact, even though i’m someone who is tech savvy, i prefer to use it instead of the command line for simplicity (there’s a free libwebp library, and you can also convert files with ffmpeg in your console).

and then i hear some people scream that it’s only supported by chrome, which is a lie?? 

wait, did you mean old as fuck IE doesn’t support it? well it’s about time to GET A BETTER FUCKING BROWSER. as for Safari holding back on webp support - i can imagine why, but none of the reasons are “because webp sucks”. so while there is no webp in your precious Apple device.... GET A BETTER FUCKING BROWSER.

I wish I could attach my own webp files for comparison, but let me show you this instead:

These are the files I made for one of the pages of my comic. Take a look at the dimensions. GIF file at half the dimensions is twice the size. Webp is only slightly compressed and looks almost exactly like the original art, while GIF has lost background gradient smoothness and gained some artifacts. I can show you a bit of the background where this difference is the most evident:

Webp is on top, GIF at the bottom. Webp can have somewhat visible “blocks” but it largely depends on the compression level. Gif has too much noise and gradient smoothness is completely ruined.

SO

one of the things that matters to me and matters to Tumblr is server space. what also matters to me is that my animations look just as good as my original art, and considering how many effects I like to use and how many colors there are, it’s nearly damn impossible to preserve with GIFs even at the best quality settings.

OK BUT WHAT ABOUT PIXEL ART

good question. i think webp can still achieve this. i’ve done a quick test with this image:

(credit: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/9YPWa )

opened it in Photoshop and this is what the output shows:

left is source file, right is webp preview. they really look EXACTLY the same. and you know what the best part is?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

once again, the webp version is drastically smaller. okay, yeah, it says 1,5 KB in the preview and windows says 2KB, but that’s because the file is actually 1,58 so I guess it rounded up, here are the correct numbers (pardon the Russian language ui):

sooooo, stop demonising the entire file format? ask tumblr to let us upload webp files instead? if y’all are smart enough to bitch about it and find out how to turn it off in browser settings, you will learn how to make these files by yourselves too. it took me, like, one evening.

YEAH BUT TUMBLR FILES BIG, COMPRESSION HARD

i hear ya. and i already said: they need to tweak their conversion algorithm. what i noticed is that the gifv file your browser shows is always slightly bigger than the webp file it saves. i’m not sure what causes that, i’ll try to find out.

and again, as i said, we need to be able to upload our own webps. trust me, when you learn how to make them, it’s hard to look back.

#webp #gifv #gif #tumblr #mine #tests

[aion-rsa]

An Evolution of Dragon Stories: Dragonslayer by Duncan M. Hamilton

https://ift.tt/2YvaidS

We look at how Dragonslayer by Duncan M Hamilton fits into the long-running fantasy subgenre involving dragons.

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When Guillot is tasked with slaying the last of the dragons in Duncan M. Hamilton's Dragonslayer, the first in a planned fantasy trilogy, the character is way past his prime. All bets should be on the dragon, but a semblance of that knightly duty remains—even though Guillot struggles with alcoholism and is actively thwarted by someone high in power, there's tension in the narrative. Could Guillot actually win?

read more: Ruin of Kings is Must-Read Epic Fantasy

Knights and dragons -- it’s a tale as old as fiction and mythology. The traditional sort of dragon—winged, fire breathing—was popularized in the Middle Ages, the most famous story being St. George slaying the dragon. That story was immortalized in a Raphael painting, circa 1506, titled "Saint George and the Dragon," that now resides in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.

Dragons have been an enduring story and iconography throughout history. You’re hard pressed to find a culture without a dragon or dragon-like entity. Ancient China, Sumeria, Nepal, Tibet... even the Aztec had a dragon-like creature woven into their iconography. A fantastical creature possibly derived from a combination of imagination and seeing real creatures like crocodiles, or in some cases finding fossilized dinosaur bones, the dragon is something as universal as the act of telling stories.

Dragons were thought of as creatures to be overcome by the most gallant and saintly, and thus you can hardly see a story involving a knight without a scaly, fire-spouting foe. Even though the book The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, published in 1903, didn’t contain any dragons, the many variations on that tale since have often incorporated the creature as something for King Arthur’s knights to surmount. By the time we get to the BBC’s Merlin, the wise yet destructive dragon was such an important part of the narrative, he was voiced by none other than British acting icon John Hurt.

read more: Adventure Zone Returns With Murder on the Rockport Limited!

We’ve seen the image of the dragon take a decidedly friendlier turn. Perhaps the beginnings of this could be seen in Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series published in 1967. There, the series was science fiction instead of the usual fantasy, because the dragons were genetically engineered. It made McCaffrey the first women to win a Hugo Award, and spawned a rich fandom in which fans "play" Pern, creating original characters to inhabit the fictional world.

In movies, we’ve seen Pete the Dragon (1977 and 2016) and Dragonheart (1996), both unabashed family romps that basically give the character a magical best friend. The Inheritance Cycle, a book series by Christopher Paolini, also played on the dragon-riding fun, and was eventually made into a lackluster movie.

Not all dragons had to be series either. Ever read Myth Adventures by Robert Asprin, published from 1978 to 2002? Because you should. The main character has a pet dragon called Gleep who only says the word “gleep.”

History is cyclical. What’s old becomes new again. As you might have noticed, dragons have returned to popular fiction in recent years as their fearsome selves—most notably the Cumber-beast Smaug in The Hobbit, Daenerys’s besties in Game of Thrones (both adaptations of books published in 1937 and 1996, respectively.)

read more: The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm — Checking in on Christopher Paolini's Eragon

The kids get How to Train Your Dragon’s Toothless. The grown ups with an HBO Go password get what happens if you don’t train your dragon to be a big puppy. The shift from monster to friend to monster again—it’s paralleled in fiction's exploration of other fantastical creatures, like vampires, werewolves, etc. (I have yet to hear of any angsty sparkling dragons and, if there are some, feel free not to share them. Some things are meant to be slain.)

We’ve had fantastic stories told that resonate with an audience long after the last pages or last episodes have aired. You still hear shows like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad mentioned -- these shows broke down the usual expectations about gangsters and drug dealers and created quality entertainment. We’re seeing that in our fantasy and science fiction, too. A classic foe—the dragon—can return to fiction and represent an audience’s need for more than just a good guy fighting a bad monster.

Reinvention has kept old stories and concepts fresh. Take for example, the bold brash action in the Amazon Prime series The Boys. Gone are the usual tenets of a hero’s compulsion to seek justice. Instead we get a super violent, ugly view of a corporatized hero system designed to sell movies and stuff and pander to the American dream while sweeping accidental and wrongful deaths under the rug.

When speaking to Den of Geek about his creative process, author Duncan M. Hamilton explained: “For the dragons, I leaned toward real myths and legends as a starting point, then embellished to my own taste as I went.” That embellishment created more than just a monster of legend, but a being with a rich inner life that allowed the reader to take a peek inside his head for a few chapters.

read more: Contemporary Fantasy Meets Noir in Magic For Liars

In many ways, Dragonslayer represents a return to the classic story of a gallant knight riding into battle against a fire-breathing beast. What it does well is the fact that our hero is hardly suited for the task anymore, and that our dragon is even questioning his own motives. In Dragonslayer, chapters take turns seeing from Guillot the knight’s point of view, the sorceress he befriends, his human adversary, and the dragon himself. From each character’s perspective, we see their wants and needs, their motivations and the dangers they face. We empathize, even, when faced with the adversaries of the hero. Even when that adversary is a great scaly beast.

Hamilton told us: “I think being able to empathize with the dragon makes for a far more compelling story.” It does. Looking at the dragon in a new light also helps illuminate how special our protagonist is. Guillot is not a knight in shining armor. He was, once, but he’s let himself go. He’s almost reprehensible, wasting away his days as a drunkard and a nuisance to his town, languishing in his bad memories.

Guillot often bemoans his ineptitude in the beginning, even feeling guilty when the sorceress thanks him for rescuing her from certain death: “The praise made Gill feel uncomfortable. He was a drunk who had pissed his life away because things hadn’t gone his way. He thought about admitting that he had still been drunk when he’d rescued her, but couldn’t bring himself to say it.”

But when the call to action comes, he answers, even if he begrudges being out of shape and out of practice. In this way, Guillot is more like the reader than many heroes in classic fantasy stories. Once a skilled swordsman, he’s woefully out of practice, and rides forth believing full well that this could be his end.

read more: K.A. Doore on The Perfect Assassin

Add to this the search for a relic that may be even more important than anyone realizes. This relic ends up having a deep significance to Guillot, something that he and his allies won’t realize right away until the pieces start falling together with each new discovery. And who happens to have that relic in their claws? I think you might see how this all ties together... 

Alliances are made, promises broken, secret histories revealed—and it all revolves around the discovery of a dragon waking up from a long snooze. 

Taking something old and making it new again—it’s a way to show familiar ideas but make them fresh. It’s an opportunity to explore new territory. Hamilton certainly accomplishes this in Dragonslayer.

Bridget LaMonica is a contributor at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @BridgetLaMonica.

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature Bridget LaMonica

Jul 31, 2019

Tor Books

Fantasy Books

from Books https://ift.tt/2MtKGM8

#aion-rsa #Books

[wadey-wilson]

BASIC GIF TUTORIAL (detailed)

In this tutorial, I’ll try to show you the basics of making a gif. Of course, there are many ways for that, but this is how I’ve been making them for a couple of months now, and it’s never failed.

I use Photoshop CS5 Portable (you can get it here)

for taking caps, I’m using PotPlayer (you can get it here)

Please, like / reblog if you find this useful

Videos

To make good quality gifs, you need videos with good quality. Best one for you would be 1080p, so always check if the video you want to gif is available in such quality:

I use this website to convert videos from YouTube. Select the formats to MP4 and highest quality:

Then convert, and download.

You can use videos from YT or movies you have on your computer. The movies also should be in the best quality possible. For example, this is the movie I’m gonna use for this tutorial:

You can learn about torrents somewhere else, or contact me about that. I suggest visiting YT, though, they have good tutorials for torrenting movies.

PotPlayer

After you’ve installed PotPlayer, it’ll be for the best if you add it to your taskbar or wherever else you consider it easy to click and use.

1) Open the video

In this tutorial, I’ll be working with Spider-Man: Homecoming, so I open it in the program.

2) Settings

After pressing CTRL + G, this window should show up:

Make sure your settings look like that:

Storage is where your caps will be stored. It’ll be easier when you’ll create a folder on your desktop, and then set the storage setting to it:

3) Taking caps (image capture)

Play the movie on the scene you want to gif, and pause it.

Now, click Start on the CIC window

and play the movie. Click Stop after taking the caps you need.

Your caps should be in the folder you chose in the storage setting

You can also have your movie playing and click start/stop whenever you want (if you know the movie/clip enough to know when to take caps).

Turn off PP after you’ve taken caps you need.

You can take as many caps as you want to, and then sort them into folders:

Photoshop: making frames into a gif

After you’ve installed it (search for tutorials how to properly install it, it takes unpacking and simple installing to do so; I’m more of a self-taught person and I can’t remember how I did it). Again, it’ll be easier  for you to have PS in the task bar.

Open your PS,

then try to follow these steps:

[ window > animation - opens the animation window on the bottom ]

1) File > Scripts > Load multiple DICOM files > choose a file

You can give that command a keyboard shortcut.

This window shows up:

It’s important your folder with caps is on your desktop, so that the access to it is easier:

Click OK. The more caps you try to open at once, and the bigger they are (better quality), the longer it takes to open them. Don’t try to open more than 150 caps at once, it may work, but it’ll lag your PS and may even ruin a bit of your gif.

This is how it looks now:

As you can see, on my right I have specific tabs. I set them myself in the most comfortable for me way, but with time you should find your own way to set them to suit your liking. My tabs look like that:

I only use history, actions, and adjustments. Of course, there’s also a tab with layers and paragraphs (text):

2) Convert to frame animation

4) Make frames from layers

For that command, you can also set keyboard shortcuts. 

result:

5) Select all frames > set the time delay

(again, you can have a shortcut for this)

Make sure all the frames are selected, then:

For almost normal speed, choose 0,05. 0,04 can make your gif a bit too fast. The bigger the number (0,06 or 0,07), the slower the gif.

7) Convert to timeline

Make sure the frames are still selected.

8) Select > similar layers

(again, you can set a shortcut for this)

9) Convert to smart object

Right click on one of the selected layers:

Choose convert to smart object. Result:

Photoshop: editing a gif

There comes the fun part. The most important thing is dimensions. Be sure to stick to tumblr width dimensions: 540px / 268-268px / 177-178-177px, depending on how many gifs per row. That way you’ll definitely get the best result when your gif is posted. Visual:

1) cutting/cropping

To crop your gif, use the crop tool.

Now, it’s important your gif has the proper size. The bigger the dimansions, the bigger the gif’s size. The maximum size you can post is 3MB. Use this bar to set your crop tool:

5x2 (make sure it says ‘cm’, not ‘px’) is what I use for 540px gifs. For the 268 gifs I use 5x3, 9x5, 11x7 or any other sizing that I think looks good. We’re gonna use the 11x7 for a 268px gif.

advice: to check if the gif looks good, click on different places in the animation bar:

2) size

image > size or Ctrl+Alt+I:

We’re making a 268px gif (width), but I’m gonna make it 230px so it won’t stretch in the post.

Ctrl + + will enlarge your view:

Make sure the thingy says “100%” so that you have the 100% accurate view of your gif.

3) sharpening

You can either experiment yourself or use actions. Search for actions that you like here, and download the action (make sure to like/reblog the post of the action maker)

Opening downloaded actions: 

Choose the actions you want to load (it should be in the downloads folder). 

Using/playing an action (make sure your gif is selected):

before:

after:

4) editing

This is the fun part when all you can do is to experiment. I’ll show you in parts what I do with that gif, but the fun part is when you try it, yeah?

I use these adjustments: brightness, curves, vibrance, and selective color.

After all of these, the gif looks like that:

5) Saving 

Make sure the looping option says “forever”:

you can play your gif to check if it looks like you wanted:

And save the gif:

(wherever you want, preferably on your desktop)

so, before editing:

after editing:

P.S. To cut your gif after making it, you can move that thingy:

wherever you want.

P.S. 2. Clean up the mess after making gifs. Delete the caps and clean up the trash folder.

That’s basically it. Advanced gif making takes using layers, brush tools, and the eraser tool, playing with colors, and a lot of other stuff.

As you can see, it takes time, patience, energy, and having the movies you want to gif. It’s fun, but it’s a lot of work.

Have fun!

#completesources #gif making #gif tutorial #my tutorial #gifs #yeahps #photoshop #itsphotoshop #iamlouistomlinson #go through it and think another time you try to repost a gif #it takes TIME. #sorry for typos #and grammar #it's MORNING.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 015: Some Antics on a Boat

Previously on BnHA: Field trip from hell. Ride of the Valkyries played while about 200 villains appeared out of nowhere and tried to murder our beloved superpowered children and split them all up, thus setting the stage for lots of mayhem.

Today on BnHA: We meet the U.A. principal. Deku hangs out with Tsuyu and Mineta on a boat. Mineta gets a lot of focus, and I was prepared for it to be the worst thing ever, but it mostly isn’t, except for about once every four pages or so, when it kinda is.

(ETA: Yeah so he officially took it Too Far in chapter 17 and as of that chapter is now in fact dead to me. But I’m not gonna bother changing the recap, so you can all come along on that journey with me if you are so inclined.)

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 19 23 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

I really have to hunt down these color pages one of these days. I tried a brief google search the other day but it brought up too many pages I hadn’t seen yet, and I didn’t want to spoil myself by accident. guess I’ll have to be patient

son of a bitch All Might is in the break room all the way back at fucking U.A.??

here I thought there was a break room hidden somewhere in USJ. I mean, you’d think they would have one; rescue training has got to be tiring

he says he should be fine in another ten minutes. then he says he’s going now

but he immediately coughs up blood orz

HEY IT’S THIS PANDA WITH A SCAR!! I KNOW THIS GUY! well I don’t know him but I’ve seen him before!

holy fucking SHIT he’s the fucking principal??

what the fuck kind of I’ll-fuck-your-shit-up powers is he fucking hiding behind that cuddly face then

because I know it’s just an assumption, but surely the principal of U.A. has to be a stone-cold badass, right?

I can’t believe this fucking little gerbil knows Deku’s secret

now he’s fucking plugging the fucking superhero vitamin shoppe I can’t

and he’s holding up a tablet with a yahoo news article about All Might saving everyone and their fucking dog earlier that morning

that’s a nice little plug for you, tumblr. yahoo still owns this shit, right?

so this fucking rat praises All Might for being his good heroic self, but then gently tells him off and reminds him to take it easy

I’m glad he’s reminding All Might to take better care of himself, but...

you would fucking think so! and yet!!

oh my god now this guy is sitting down to have tea with him. he’s never going to make it to USJ at this rate

I have to assume the principal isn’t secretly evil, since if he was, he could take down All Might all too easily since he knows all of his fucking secrets. but he sure does have the worst fucking timing, jesus

though again, we still don’t know how much danger All Might would actually be in if he did go to USJ. those villains seemed pretty damn confident. maybe he should just stay here and enjoy some tea

he calls him “Sensei”... not sure if that’s just because the principal outranks him, or if he actually was his teacher at some point. it’s probably the former, but. hmm

and now we’re back at USJ! Thirteen and Iida are on the run along with Still Too Many Arms and The Bulky Guy with Slightly Racist Lips. (do you guys think they’re racist? idk I just think it’s 2018 and there are other ways to draw POC, Japan)

anyway, they’re fighting Dr. Neck who at this point really needs a new name because he’s still a shadowy blob and now he’s looking more like an octopus but Dr. Octopus is already taken, so

for now I’m just gonna call him Not Today, Satan. you know. cuz of all the Swirling Evil

Thirteen is sending Iida back to U.A. to let them know what’s going on since the communications and alarms are down! good thinking to send the guy with super speed. I just hope he has the stamina. they never really mentioned anything about that but I’ll assume he’s good to run however many miles back to the U.A. campus

that is, assuming he’s fast enough to dodge Not Today, Satan. but I have faith

Iida’s trying to argue that he should stay, but clearly this is the most useful thing he can do at the moment, especially considering that he’s the only one who can do it! just go, Iida.

THIS IS YOUR MOMENT, CLASS REPRESENTATIVE

lmao and I was actually thinking the same as NTS here:

oh, just, everyone. in shounen manga, ever, since the beginning of time. but I’m so fucking happy you pointed that out lmao

back on the boat, Mineta is still freaking out very unhelpfully. he thinks they should all just hide somewhere until the grown-up heroes come to save them

meanwhile, Deku is being smart and useful and brings up a very good point that hadn’t even occurred to me:

basically, he deduces that the bad guys don’t know what the kids’ quirks are. so they have the element of surprise on their side, AND the bonus advantage of the villains underestimating them

I’m super impressed with this kid’s leadership and planning skills right now. I know he’s already showed them off, but I’m still mad about him not utilizing Ochako’s powers properly the last time lol. but this time he seems to be off to a great start

also, what a contrast from his first time facing a group of intimidating “villains” back during the entrance exam! he’s come such a long way so quickly

Tsuyu starts listing all of her gross frog abilities (sorry, I love her, but “I can spit out my stomach” is not something I ever needed or wanted to know and now I kind of want to spit out my eyes from the mental image).

so gross

Mineta becomes derangedly fixated on her usage of the word “secrete” and just. why

I actually kind of wish they weren’t loudly explaining all of their strengths and weaknesses to each other within possible earshot of the baddies (some of whom could possess super-hearing for all they know), especially barely three pages after Not Today, Satan chewed out their friends for doing the same exact fucking thing. but whatever

now Mineta’s doing something. what’s your power then, Mineta. something to do with grapes I’m guessing??

how did this kid make it past the entrance exam

LMAO

THEY’RE SO MAD. EVEN DEKU. THAT’S THE MOST STERN I’VE EVER SEEN HIM. HE LOOKS LIKE LUFFY AFTER SOMEBODY HAS JUST TOLD HIM THERE’S NO FOOD

sob now Mineta is crying

this is quality fucking comedy

oh shit the villains are getting tired of waiting

um this unsettling man with a grasshopper face just fucking broke the boat in half

so Mineta shoots out a bunch of panic grapes for absolutely no reason

literally Lambo and his grenade trigger-response

I confess, I really think Mineta is cute and somewhat hilarious when he’s not being a perverted shithead

(ETA: I was young and naive and I didn’t expect him to actually go and start feeling people up holy shit)

Deku berates him at first but then realizes that the bad guys are avoiding the grapes out of an abundance of caution!

Mineta freaks out again, and I was this close to writing down a paragraph about how I really empathize with him, since he’s just a kid and only like four days into high school, and all of a sudden he’s just thrust into this situation where he might fucking die (and probably die horribly at that). this close. but then he has to ruin it with a line about how much he wishes he could have sexually assaulted Momo before he kicked it

so that’s... great

but Deku saves the moment by quoting All Might while simultaneously doing That Thing I Fucking Love where someone tries to be brave and determined even though they’re also clearly scared. look he is trembling

Deku my son you are a constant delight and a gift to the world

oh my god

sure, just casually mention Kacchan as your inspiration for whatever heroic and probably very stupid thing you’re about to do next. go ahead, do that. don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine

...that is very Kacchan-like. like, the face and everything. he knows his shit

also, what exactly is he planning to do?

so he’s thinking that he can’t take out all of them no matter how extreme he goes. and then he says something about not sacrificing his whole arm, so is he gonna pull another stunt like he did with the baseball and his index finger?

GASP HE’S THINKING ABOUT THE EGG IN THE MICROWAVE

IS HE GONNA DO IT? CLENCH LIGHTLY DEKU!!!! I BELIEVE IN YOU

HE’S PULLING BACK HIS MIDDLE FINGER OH MY GOD IS HE GONNA FLICK THE WATER AND CREATE SOME SORT OF TIDAL WAVE

AHHH

THE WORST FUCKING STATE, LITERALLY MY LEAST FAVORITE!! BUT!! ALSO ONE OF THE SMALLEST SO IT’S FITTING!!!

YESSSS

EVEN BETTER THAN A TIDAL WAVE OMG. DUDE CREATED A FUCKING VORTEX

OH FUCK ME I DIDN’T NEED TO SEE THE AFTERMATH. WE ALREADY GET IT, JESUS

lkshdgk it’s not supposed to do that fuckk

Mineta is inspired, somehow, but doesn’t know how the fuck to direct it so he just throws more grapes

but now the grapes are actually coming in handy!!

looks like team rocket’s blasting off againnnn... *ping*

yay! and Deku’s not crying even though his hand is mangled! such a brave strong boy.

and then shawarma after

BONUS:

interesting that he thinks this is somehow “the right balance”

(ETA: hey Horikoshi, psa, literally committing sexual battery is not “balance” in any way, shape, of form. jesus christ. I love Japan for the most part, but the rampant misogyny there is completely ridiculous and I really need them to get their shit together already. #metoo needs to get the fuck underway there like yesterday.)

one thing I DO like though is that Horikoshi actually gives a very thoughtful and detailed explanation for exactly how he passed the exam! thank you for that! now I can stop wondering. I still have no clue about the invisible girl though lol

#bnha #boku no hero academia #makeste reads bnha #all might #midoriya izuku #asui tsuyu #mineta minoru #it really is a shame because he could have been a perfectly serviceable character if it wasn't for this crap #that moment with him explaining his quirk on the boat and the other two just going 'jiiii' was legit one of the funniest things I've read #alas #this is why we can't have nice things