#I have downloaded it and I will probably explore it sometime later.

[890prodoctions]

Actually, I've done something really epic gamer right now. Turns out. The photos were available in high quality. Just not from that archive! Apparently These pictures are still on Tumblr, all you need is the link! So, copy and pasting the links from the archive post, allows us to view the files! But they're still kinda low quality... However, when you hover over the pictures in the archive you can see that they say: "tumblr_njuardbVUb1s6muneo(1-6,8)_1280.jpg"... and in these lower quality versions of the files they instead have 500 or 250 instead of 1280 So, If you change the numbers at the end to 1280...

YOU GET TO DOWNLOAD THEM IN THEIR ORIGINAL QUALITY. (Or at least... close to the originals. (The sonic is my boyfriend art is still slightly compressed... leading me to believe that there might still be a higher quality version than 1280... (Here's the link to the art if any of you wanna try and find it... (And here are the pictures on Tumblr: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8. (Also... Judging from the naming convention, I'm lead to believe that picture 7 is missing...))) Do with these and this information what you will, but I am incredibly delighted to have found these!!!

Whoever archived this post by GlicthCityLA on the Wayback Machine is an absolute legend!!!! Thank you so much!!! We have some official photos of the event now!

Unfortunately, the pictures are low quality but low quality is better than nothing! I'm gonna be downloading all of these just to keep them safe. Also bonus thing too:

[vaadazen-codes]

How To Get Started Making Visual Novels

Wanna make a visual novel? Or maybe you've seen games like Our Life, Blooming Panic, Doki Doki Literature Club, etc. and wanna make something like that? Good news, here's a very basic beginners guide on how to get started in renpy and what you need to know going in! Before you start, I highly recommend looking at my last post about writing a script for renpy just to make it easier on you!

LONG POST AHEAD

Obviously, our first step is downloading it from their website

thankfully, its right on the home page of their site. Follow basica program installation steps and run the program. I highly recommend pinning it to your task bar to make it easier to access.

From there, you're met with the renpy app, it's a little daunting at first but let's talk about what all these buttons are for.

Projects

This part is simple, it just lists the current projects in the chosen directory. You probably won't have any in there of your own. You should still see Tutorial and The Question!

Both of those default projects are super helpful in their own ways, i highly recommend testing out the tutorial and playing around with it just to get comfortable with some of the basics.

Create New Project

The first step to actually making your game into a game!

You'll be met with a prompt letting you know that the project is being made in English and that you can change it. You can click Continue.

From here, you'll be asked to input a project name! Put in your games title, or even a placeholder title since this Information can be changed later! (this is also the title the folder will be in your file browser, be sure to name it something you won't overlook)

Now we get to choose our resolution!

If you have no idea what to choose, go for 1920x1080! This is the standard size for most computer monitors and laptops, but it will still display with moderately decent quality on 4k monitors too!

You can choose 3840x2160 as well. This is 2x the measurements of the default, with the same ration. These dimensions are considered 4k. Keep in mind, your image files will be bigger and can cause the game to have a larger size to download.

Now we get to choose our color scheme!

Renpy has some simple default options with the 'light mode' colors being the bottom two rows, and the 'dark mode' colors being the toop two rows.

You can pick anything here, but I like to choose something that matches my projects vibes/colors better. Mostly because depending on how in depth you go with the ui, it minimizes the amount of changes I need to make later.

Click continue and give it a minute. Note: If it says "not responding" wait a moment without clicking anything. It can sometimes freeze briefly during the process.

Now we should be back at our home screen, with our new project showing. Let's talk about allll that stuff on the right now.

Open Directory

This just opens that particular folder in your local file explorer!

game - is all the game files, so your folders for images, audio, saves, and your game files like your script, screens, and more.

base - this is the folder that the game folder is inside of. You can also find the errors and log txt files in here.

images - takes you to your main images folder. This is where you wanna put all of your NON gui images, like your sprites, backgrounds, and CGs. You can create folders inside of this and still call them in the script later. EX: a folder for backgrounds , a folder for sprites for character a, a seperate folder for spirtes for character b, etc.

audio - Takes you to the default audio folder. This is empty, but you can put all your music and sound effects here!

gui - brings up the folder containing all of the default renpy gui. It's a good place to start/ reference for sizes if you want to hand draw your UI pieces like your text box!

Edit File

Simple enough, this is just where you can open your code files in whatever text/code editor you have installed.

Script.rpy - where all of your story and characters live. This is the file you'll spend most of your time in at first

Options.rpy - Contains mostly simple information, like project name and version. There aren't a ton of things in here you need to look at. There is also some lines of code that help 'archive' certain files by file type so that they can't be seen by players digging in code however. Fun if you want to hide some images in there for later or if you just dont want someone seeing how messy your files are. We've all been there

Gui.rpy - where all of the easy customization happens. Here you can change font colors, hover colors, fonts, font sizes, and then the alignment and placement of all of your text! Like your dialogue and names, the height of text buttons, etc. It more or less sets the defaults for a lot of these unless you choose to change them later.

Screens.rpy - undeniably my favorite, this is where all of the UI is laid out for the different screens in your game, like the main menu, game menu, quick menu, choice menu, etc. You can add custom screens too if you want, but I always make my own seperate file for these.

Open Project - this just opens all of those files at once in the code editor. Super handy if you make extra files like I do for certain things.

Actions

last but not least, our actions.

Navigate Script - This feature is underrated in my honest opinion, it's super handy for help debugging! In renpy you can comment with # before a line. However, if you do #TODO and type something after it, it saves it as a note! You can view these TODO's here as well as easily navigate to when certain screens are called, where different labels are (super great if your game is long, and more. It saves some scrolling.

Check Script (Lint) - also super duper handy for debugging some basic things. It also tells you your word count! But its handy for letting you know about some errors that might throw up. I like using it to look for sprites I may or may not have mispelled, because they show up in there too.

Change/Update GUI - Nifty, though once you start customizing GUI on your own, it isn't as useful. You can reset the project at any point and regenerate the image files here. This updates all those defaults we talked about earlier.

Delete Persistent - this just helps you delete any persistent data between play throughs on your end. I like to use it when making a lot of changes while testing the game, so that I can reboot the game fresh.

Force Recompile - Full disclosure, as many games as I've made and as long as I've been using Renpy, i have never used this feature. I searched to see what it does and this is the general consesus: Normally renpy tries to be smart about compiling code (creating .rpyc files) and only compiles .rpy files with changes. This is to speed up the process since compiling takes time. Sometimes you can make changes that renpy don't pick up on and therefore won't recompile. In these cases you can run force recompile to force it. Another solution (if you know what file is affected) is to delete that specific. rpyc file.

The rest of your options on this right hand side are how you make executable builds for your game that people can download to extract and play later!

Sorry gang! that was a whole lot of text obviously the last button "Launch Project" launches an uncompiled version of the project for you to play and test as you go! Hang in tight because my next post is about how to utilize github for renpy, so you can collaborate easier!

[accio-victuuri]

cpn o’clock: tea or coffee 🍵☕️

treat this as my clowning post for episode 2 of exploring the unknown. hahahahahaha! though i have mentioned the relation about tea in my previous post, let me explain more and include the thing about coffee.

so people were panic buying the tea yibo packed during his prep for the trip— which turns out to be calming tea that helps with sleep ( he said so himself ) . which now that i think about it, he shouldn’t have any problem sleeping cause he is beyond exhausted every damn day on this show.

and i don’t wanna act like i have him on speed-dial, like everyone, i observe his habits and personality via public means. i have never seen him talk about or act like he has problems sleeping or even needing that help. we all saw summer surf shop — he was out like a light. he mentioned sleeping in planes and taking short naps. you have photos of him sleeping or probably have his eyes closed but whatever — you get the point.

now who do we know has problems sleeping?

p1 is yibo in richora event where he mentions having no trouble sleeping and one time fell asleep in seconds + he goes on deep sleep.

p2 gege saying sleeping is now more stressful.

p3 mentioned that his sleep is not stable, sometimes good and sometimes bad.

p4 when you have insomnia, it’s good to download rain sounds to help with sleep. which lowkey is the same logic as yibo saying the sound of the jungle us good for sleep.

p5 is an article that says:

When he goes to different cities, Xiao Zhan will bring the same type of pillows and quilts. I will bring anything that can help me sleep well. "He also tried aromatheeapy lamps, lavender essential oil, various medicines that will make you fall asleep when applied on your body. Spray it on your pillow to make you fall asleep, melatonin, meditation music. Later I found out that the best way for him to sleep was eye mask, earplugs (….)

CPN is XZ probably asked him to bring the tea along so WYB can sleep better. thinking that he may have a hard time since he is in a different environment. They are just too sweet!!!!!

people have also pointed out how xz packed tea in his luggage before but this was 2019/20 and the type of tea is different. the examples above are much much recent. but i guess this is fans saying that “tea” is something XZ will pack with him too.

plus we are aware of the green tea connection during untamed filming which is one of the favorite cpns out there 🍵

… now let’s move on to Coffee ☕️😋

everyone’s favorite beverage! people picked this up in episode 2 when wyb was joking around having the coffee he brought soaked so now you can drink it directly. also how he shared that he drinks coffee in the morning. look, we’ve known for some time that he likes coffee especially when he goes camping. we also had another cpn of xz bringing some coffee home etc.

if we’re gonna start with CQL, xz was the one who drinks coffee and in interviews continues to say he does. sure, wyb is free to change his preference on his own and have a new found love for coffee but as a cpf, we cannot ignore the fact that this is an “xz thing” and one of a couple of “things” they have in common. from something as mundane as this to more specific ones.

thinking about them waking up together and having their morning coffee is making me happy 😌😌😌

source

[nobodyknowsanything]

okay so i have this world on minecraft where im just building a little cozy farm and thats it and my skin is andrew and it just made me think

we know andrew plays video games with aaron and nicky, right?

so one day, years later when andrew and neil live together and are both pro, one night after a challenging match (though andrew won’t admit it) he needs something to help his mind calm down and chill tf out, so he downloads minecraft on his laptop and starts to play.

neil notices him glued to his laptop more often after that, but doesn’t question it. he glances over andrews shoulder every so often out of curiosity but he probably doesn’t recognise the game because he’s not really bothered with that sort of stuff so he leaves him to it.

at first andrew goes through the expected motions of a new minecraft world, gathering materials, fighting monsters, and eventually working up to kill the ender dragon. he battles some of the other bosses too, as they get added to the game. but he starts to find the process monotonous and not enough. its all the same after a while and although he would rather cut his dominant hand off than admit it, fighting zombies and especially fucking skeletons stresses him out more than he’s comfortable with, let alone fighting the big bad bosses.

playing minecraft on peaceful mode always seems to get a bad rep, like why are you playing if you’re on peaceful, what’s the point if there’s no monsters?

but andrew thinks to himself, has he ever really cared what other people think of him? the answer is no, and so next time he loads up the game after his and neils team won a match barely by the skin of their teeth, he creates a new world and sets the mode to peaceful.

he sits there for hours. well into the night and early hours of the morning, definitely ruining his eyes but he just gets lost in the simple ease of gathering small things he would’ve previously considered insignificant, and starts with building a farm. he organises it by each different type of crop, builds pens for each animal as well as a farmhouse, windmill and huge wheat field. it brings him so much peace, it becomes part of his routine. every night, even if he’s had a relaxing day, he builds his little farm that soon develops into a small village and then a whole society. neil sometimes leaves him to it and sometimes sits next to him on the sofa, busying himself or unabashedly watching andrew play.

as the new updates get added, with new biomes and features, andrew keeps playing and exploring new parts of the world, building in the new places and connecting everything together. its where he lets the inside of his mind out on show, and if anyone else asked, it never even existed but he lets neil look, shows him round with a boredness in his voice that neil sees right through to the almost pride and calm. neil doesn’t think hes ever seen andrew so wholeheartedly focused on anything simply for the pleasure it brought him.

and maybe one day neil will buy the game for himself and andrew will let neil join this world he’s been creating for years and they’ll continue to build it together, their own little escape to a much more simple world where they get to be in control and nothing is out to get them.

[skhardwarevers1]

Okay I know I just went over this earlier and a did make a tutorial on TikTok but I feel like saying it here,

burning CDS is easy as FUCK

Or, a little explanation on how I make custom CDs

disclaimer: I use windows so if you use anything else I’m so sorry

I’ll add pictures to go along with this later!!!

things you absolutely NEED

a computer/laptop

(If said computer/laptop doesn’t have a built in disc drive) an external disc drive (there are pretty good ones for like 20-25 dollars!!)

CDs/DVDs obviously (either R or RW, the only difference is that you can rewrite RW CDs and DVDs)

also! DVDs obviously hold picture and video as well as audio, so do what you want with those

Technically step one

if you thrifted CDs like I did, or found really old ones in a box in your home somewhere, MAKE SURE THEY ARE EMPTY!!! If you want to keep the stuff on them, there’s an option to rip them in windows media player legacy (which is what I use to burn them as well)

then to erase it, open file explorer, click on the CD/DVD in your disc drive, click the three dots on the toolbar and select “Erase this disc” (this usually doesn’t take too long)

Actual Step One

if you want to make a mixtape, make a Spotify playlist of all the songs you want and copy the link to it (or any other platform, I just find it easier to make a Spotify playlist because I can download it), if you’re just doing an album then get the link of that album instead (make sure both of them can actually fit on the CD you have! Mine can hold like…74 minutes of music)

then use this handy little Spotify downloader to download a zip file of all the songs (sometimes it messes up and will exclude some, make sure to double check they’re all in there…if not you can download them individually too)

Step Two

in your files, open up the zip file of all the music, select them all, and copy them to music (there’s a whole section for it that media player uses, trust me you’ll see it)

then open windows media player legacy and double check it’s in there—usually it’s gathered by artist

step two and a half

Okay so most of the time I go to organize -> settings -> privacy -> and uncheck all the top boxes. You don’t have to, I just do that…idk why I just have.

Step Three (the easy part)

first make sure the CD is set as an audio CD (and also that it’s actually in the disc drive), and click the burn tab

drag all the songs you want on the CD into the burn list, and reorder them however you’d like! There are options to shuffle them and organize them specific ways if you’d like. Once you have everything all set you can click start burn and all you have to do is wait! It’ll eject once it’s done

Step 4 (optional)

If you have a jewel case, you can print or draw your own custom covers and backs!!!! You can also draw on CDs with a sharpie marker if you’d like. Just remember that slim cases have different sizing than standard cases. There’s also stickers for CDs that cover the fronts of them(? Or so I’ve been told…)

Step 5

make sure the CD actually works, try playing it on a different device if you can, and enjoy!!!

Step “what if I don’t have a CD player?”

well I’m gonna tell you you probably do and just don’t know it! do you have a DVD player laying around your house? That’s a CD player! do you have an old ass computer that would suck with burning the CDs itself but still has a disc drive an everything? That’s a CD Player!

do you have a shitty old karaoke machine? Chances are it has a spot for CDs! THATS A CD PLAYER!

Of course you can get a new one if none of these are functional devices for you or you just don’t have them, but I just wanted to point out that a lot of things can be used to play CDs

or you can help me bring back Walkmans and discmans….if you’re listening to music on the go…./silly

Also! Some cars have spots to play CDs in them!! Your CD doesn’t have to be limited to your home!!!

also also, I’m 70% sure that a lot of game consoles can play DVDs but not CDs. Saying thing incase the information is valuable for someone who wants to watch a good movie on DVD or something….

[pudding-parade]

Heh. I fell down a hole.

Namely, this one:

I downloaded this game a while back when it was on sale and finally decided to check it out a couple days ago when I had an hour to kill, which isn't enough time to fire up Sims and do anything in it. And....man, this thing is addictive. I've seen it called a steady drip of dopamine, and it really, truly is.

I'mma babble a non-spoilery mini-review, so I'll cut for your pleasure... There's also some gameplay pics back there, if y'all wanna see.

The game has a simple premise. You play as a person dropped on a barren, dead planet for Reasons™, and your mission is simply to turn the place into a complete environment livable for humans. Basically, you gather stuff, craft, survive, and build a base in a very Subnautica-y sort of way. As you increase certain (eventually) four different metrics, you unlock tech of all kinds, from backpacks with a bigger inventory to biodomes to rockets that you can launch into space that do various things. There are four different (but integrated) "tech trees," corresponding to the four metrics you work to increase -- atmospheric oxygen, temperature, atmospheric pressure, and later in the game biomass -- and each tree has different items to unlock. The thing is, the "oxygen tree" might unlock things that increase heat, and the "heat tree" unlocks items that increase atmospheric pressure, so it's all integrated such that you are encouraged to work on all the metrics at once. It's all very intricate and well-balanced, so the game is paced and flows really well and you always have a goal (or four) to strive for. And when you accomplish a goal? Dopamine hit!

But what's very cool about the game, IMO, is that as you go about your work, the planet slowly transforms visually, reflecting the work that you're doing, which gives you that steady drip of dopamine as you play. It is all very addictive. Entire days might pass while you're sucked in. LOL Because it's also very chill and relaxing because there's no combat/violence (and never will be, which I love). You just do your thing, accumulating dopamine. The only bit of stress you might feel is if you get lost while exploring and you're starting to run out of oxygen. And there's meteor showers which bring resources (sometimes rare ones) and that, for now, don't do any damage unless you're out in the open and get hit by one, but the roadmap from the devs says that structural damage from meteors will happen eventually.

That "eventually" is because the game is still in alpha, probably three updates away from V.1, and yet there's already tons of gameplay, all the way up to introducing insects and fish into the environment, plus automation. Because it's still alpha, the graphics are a little rough, but I don't care about that at all. Even if they don't change/improve, I'll be perfectly content. There are also large parts of the (open) world that aren't developed yet. But that's exciting because there's lots of space for the devs to add lots of new, cool stuff to do and explore! And speaking of the devs: It's an indie game. Developed by -- count 'em! -- TWO PEOPLE. Two. One married couple. It's a marvelous achievement.

And also? It's not an expensive game. 20USD. There's also a free demo you can try before buying. And it doesn't require a supercomputer to run. I'm pretty sure it'll run on a potato. Apparently, there are already mods for it but, frankly, I'm not feeling a need for any right now because I'm enjoying the game just as it is. Which says a lot about how the game is put together, IMO.

In short: I love this game. If you decide to try it out, I recommend that you go into it cold. Don't watch any YouTube gameplays or whatever. Half the fun, IMO, is not knowing what you're doing and having to explore and figure things out. The game sort of coaches you when you start, giving you a "to do" list. But it doesn't tell you how to do the things on the list. It's not a tutorial. And once you reach the first big goal -- turning the sky blue -- you're entirely on your own.

Anyway, I played this thing almost all day yesterday *cough* instead of catching up here *cough* just accumulating dopamine, so have some non-spoilery pics.

This is what you're looking at when you start. Orange sky, barren rocks, dust everywhere. You can't see very far into the distance because of the dust, which makes it harder to navigate, which makes it easier to lose your way when you venture farther out to explore, which you definitely need to do.

This time (this is my third save and my first "real" one; the other two were used to just figure out WTF I was doing), I spawned near one of the crashed ships. Which is good because before I saw that I had no idea where the hell I was. LOL There are a number of wrecked ships and underground bunkers (from previous failed terraforming efforts) to explore and gather resources from.

Meteor shower! These happen fairly regularly. Seems to be pretty random, though. Sometimes they'll happen one after another in short succession, but sometimes it'll be a while before you have one.

Is that a tinge of blue I'm seeing? I think it is...

Definitely getting bluer! And eventually:

Blue sky, clouds, and...RAIN! And with the rain, as the planet gets warmer...

Surface water! The water slowly rises on the planet as it warms and the surface ice melts...which can be problematic, depending on where you've built your settlement/base.

And now I've got nuclear power. What could possibly go wrong? LOL

Anyway, yeah, I love this game. Highly recommended. It deserves its "Overwhelmingly Positive" review status on Steam, even though it's still in alpha. It doesn't seem like it's going to be abandoned any time soon, and apparently it's already sold half a million copies. The roadmap for the game looks amazing, too, so I'll be looking forward to watching it develop.

[grex-statera]

Chapter 6: Heart to Heart - Spring, Year 1

One word to describe the descent into the mines: Maddening. But in an exciting and maybe positive kind of way. Only if you're as optimistic as Ellie, though.

The entirety of last Sunday was spent with Linus in the morning and Marlon in the afternoon. Ellie almost felt like an old man herself.

The first time she went down into the mines was with Marlon.

Marlon: Remember: be alert about your surroundings. If you feel faint or claustrophobic, tell me immediately. We can't have you losing consciousness in here. I can carry you, but I have a bad leg and I'll have to worry about the monsters that will attack us, so don't make it hard for me. Understood?

Marlon was quite scary, but Elliot understands. He's just being careful.

The trip went smoothly. They reached the 20th floor of the mines on the first day. There was an underground lake and a safe area to rest at. They even found an old steel sword for Ellie.

Marlon: Not bad. At least you can keep up. I think I'm quite confident letting you go on your own in here.

Ellie: Really? Thank you.

Marlon: Don't let it get to your head, though. I'm sure there'll be a time when you will pass out in here or be gravely injured. I'll have to be more diligent with my patrols from now own.

Ellie felt kind of bad.

Ellie: I promise I'll be careful.

Marlon: Yeah, that's basic exploration etiquette anyway. Don't sweat it. Even the best adventurers make mistakes sometimes.

Brrriiiiiiiinngggggggggggg!!!!

The loud timer brought Elliot back to the present. Her thoughts couldn't help but go back to that time whenever she was unoccupied.

Today was Wednesday, though or as Abigail like to call it: Wmovie Wednesday.

She got invited to join their little group. 'The ASS gang', as Abby affectionately called it.

Abby: Cus it's Abby, Sam and Seb. But if we're gonna add you, it'll still be the same but looks more classy. ASS with an E at the end. Pretty cute, right?

Ellie found herself getting roped more into Abby's group lately. She did try to hang out with Leah and Elliot just as much, though.

Abby's group was fun and wild, while Leah and Elliot were more tame and quiet. Two sides of the same coin.

Elliot got the mini blueberry tarts from the oven. The smell was heavenly. It was a recipe from Pierre so she figured she'd try her hand at making it and bringing some to Abby's.

Her phone lit up with a new message.

Abby: Heyyyy!! Starting in a bit, u coming??

Ellie: Yeah, just getting ready. I'll be there. Wait for me :((

Abby: Sure sure nw :)

Ellie packed the tarts in a Tupperware and headed out.

+++++

Ellie: Am outside. Door's locked :(

Abby: Okieeee coming out

Abby was there in a bit to unlock the store door.

Abby, in her best customer service voice: Welcome to Pierre's!

Ellie: Thank you, Pierre Jr. What seeds do you have in stock today?

The two girls laughed.

Ellie: Just kidding. Brought some tarts.

Abby: OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!! Can't wait to try! Come on, the guys are waiting in the studio.

Ellie thought it was quite awesome that Abby had a studio at her place. It's usually used as a function hall by her mom's aerobics club but only on Tuesdays.

Sam and Seb were on the floor, picking out movies to watch. There were bags of chips and soda cans beside them.

Abby: Behold! The baby has arrived.

Ellie: Baby?

Sam: Hahaha, cus you're the new guy in the group.

Ellie smirked. Then sat down beside Abby.

Ellie: Brought tarts. You guys want?

Sam: Oooooh, what kind of tart?

Ellie: Blueberry. Pierre's recipe. Thought I'd give it a try.

Abby: OMG that's cute.

Ellie set down the container and opened it. Abby and Sam took one each.

Ellie: Don't want one, Seb?

Sebastian was busy going thru the downloaded movies on his laptop.

Seb: Maybe later.

Ellie: 'mkay.

Abby: Ough, this tart's so good. I kinda miss mom now.

Ellie: Oh? Your parents aren't home?

Abby: Nah, probably went to the next town or the city. I don't really know. But they always go out on Wednesdays for a day off.

Ellie: I see. I brought one for each of them too, by the way. Maybe Pierre can give me a feedback on how well I did.

Abby: Aw, I'm sure he'll like this.

The group agreed to watch a couple of horror movies for the rest of the afternoon. The last one ended at around 3 pm.

Sam: Nice, still early. One more?

Ellie: Nah, I'm good. Think I'll head to the mines for the rest of the day.

Sam: Wow, you're really obsessing over that place, huh? Can't blame you, though. It's not everyday you become an official member of the Adventurer's Guild.

Abby: Ohhhhh. I wish I could be one too! But my parents are gonna kill me if they knew I've been going to the mines on my own. You know how dad can be.

Ellie: I can just teach you some sword techniques if you want. Get a taste of that adventurer spirit.

Seb: Nah, don't enable her. You'll just get her in trouble.

Abby: Hey! Killjoy.

Abby rolled her eyes. Sebastian ignored her, savoring his tart.

Ellie: Ugh. You ever had any fun in your life, Sebastian?

Seb: Sure.

Ellie just stared at him, frowning.

Ellie: Right, well, think I'll get going now. Thanks for the movies, guys.

Sam: Sure thing, Ells. Let's hang out again when you're not busy.

Ellie: Yeah, just text me. I'll just get my Tupperware maybe tomorrow, Abby.

Abby: Yeah, no worries. I'll tell mom.

Abby walked Ellie to the door then went back to the studio.

Abby: Dude, you're kinda annoying, y'know?

Seb, bewildered: Uh? And what did I do this time?

Abby: I dunno, but it's like... I dunno but that was kinda annoying. Like, you ignored Elliot the whole time and then sneered at her? Come on, man.

Seb: Hey, first of all: I didn't ignore her. Second: I didn't sneer at her. When did these things ever happen??

Sam: Ehhhh, let me think. Counterpoint to your first point: you kinda ignored her tart when she offered. Counterpoint to your second point: you didn't want her to spend time with Abby.

Seb: Hey, I DID get a tart - and it's good, by the way - and I just said that 'cause Abby had been in trouble with that sort of thing before! It's not a big deal.

Sam: Alright, alright. I guess so. But now she thinks you're no fun.

Seb: Well, you guys know that I AM fun. Who cares what she thinks?

Abby: Dude, she's our friend now. Can't you just be a little nicer?

Seb: Man. Sorry, guys, if I'm not immediately chummy with a stranger who literally JUST moved into town last week. Alright, I've had enough. I'm goin' home.

Sam: Sheesh. Having a breakdown now?

Seb: I am NOT having a breakdown. I need a nap.

Sebastian packed his things and headed home.

+++++

It was dark in his room when he woke up. He reached around his bed for his phone: 7 pm.

Seb: Ugh. God.

He got up and turned on the lights then got dressed in his usual hoodie. He didn't even bother to take his jeans off when he plopped down his bed earlier.

He took his pack of cigarettes and his lighter and went outside.

Sebastian walked over to his usual spot by the lake near his house, thankful that that wild man wasn't there this time. They didn't mind each other most of the time but sometimes, when old Linus was in the mood, he could be very chatty, which irritated Sebastian so much.

He lit up a cigarette and stared at the water. If there's one thing he'd appreciate in Pelican Town, it's the peaceful scenery, especially at nighttime. Whenever he'd take a night ride on his motorcycle into the city, it's always still busy at this hour. Still a lot of people walking about; noisy bars here and there. Too many lights, you can't even see the stars anymore.

He kept thinking about it: did he really want to move into the city? Or did he just wanted a place of his own? He looked up into the night sky. It was beautiful.

Sometimes he takes a peek in Maru's telescope, when she leaves it unattended outside. Space always looked beautiful in the countryside. Everything did. And most of all, it felt like home.

He took another hit on his cigarette and tried to think about it again, when he heard footsteps drawing near. "Damn, Linus at this hour?", He thought. He took a closer look - it was Elliot.

Somehow he felt compelled to talk to her. Maybe he should apologize.

Before Ellie could turn the corner she heard someone call up to her.

Seb: Hey.

Elliot turned around. Man...out of all people. For real?

Ellie: Hi.

Seb: You, uh, really went down the mines?

Sebastian asked, taking another hit at his cigarette.

Ellie: Yeah. Uh, sorry I can't really talk to you right now. Cigarette smoke and I don't mix well.

Seb: Oh! Sorry, sorry. I'll put it out.

Sebastian threw the remaining cigarette into the ground and put it out with his shoe.

Seb: You, uh, allergic?

Ellie: Not really.

Seb: Asthma?

Ellie: No, I just... Uh, I don't like the smell. Sorry, kinda stupid.

Seb: Nah, I get ya. Don't worry about it.

Ellie: Did you...need anything?

Seb: Yeah, nah, I just... Uh, wanted to apologize. Y'know for being...like, kind of a jerk. I dunno, I guess it just takes some time for me to warm up to strangers.

Ellie: That's fine. I understand.

Seb: Cool.

Ellie smiled at him. Sebastian just stared. Both were so awkward, it kind of hurt.

Seb: So, uh. Got far down in the mines?

Ellie: Um, yeah actually. I got to, I think around like floor 40 plus? I dunno, I forgot.

Seb: Cool.

Ellie: Oh, I picked up this pretty gem. Want it?

The gem glimmered faintly in the moonlight. It was a frozen tear.

Seb: Ohhhh. I love these things!

Sebastian rolled the gem around the palm of his hands, grinning.

Seb: Hey, thanks a lot.

Ellie: Sure thing! I'll, uh, get going now, alright?

Seb: Oh, yeah. Uh, take care, I guess. See ya around.

Ellie: Thanks. And uh, thanks for smiling at me, haha.

Elliot waved goodbye.

Sebastian stood there, kind of in a shock. Was he always so grumpy? Sheesh.

Seb: Man, I should loosen up a bit.

He looked at the gem in his hand.

Seb: Yeah. She's not so bad after all.

He pocketed the gem, then walked back home.

+++++

Author's Note:

Companion music to the Ellie and Seb talk sequence:

Bleached by Video Days

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi Steph!! I was wondering if you knew of any really long fics (like 25k or more) that are only one chapter, I travel a lot sometimes and some places don't really have good enough internet for multi chapter fics. So yeah, any really long one chapter fics about John and Sherlock would be appreciated. Thank you!

Hey Nonny!!

LOL OKAY FUNNY STORY. I almost replied to this with��“oof I’ll have to read EVERYTHING so I’m sorry.... and then... I remembered.......

I put chapter counts on everything 🙃😐 

I’m not the brightest crayon in the box. 🖍 

Anyway, so yes, I can definitely rec you some fics! BUT I should also offer you two suggestions you can totally do to read ANY fic!

On Ao3, you can click on the “Entire Work” button to load ALL chapters of a fic (it’s the very first button along the top) and in turn you can then just read it all there! 

And the very last button along the top, you can Download copies of the fic to your phone or computer with eBook file types (AZw3 for Kindle, ePub for iPhone’s Books app, and MOBI is for other mobile devices and e-readers), the HTML if you want to read it as-is in a web-browser, or the PDF format which is a universal file format that is supported by everything, even web browsers, so it’s a good one to download if you don’t know what format you need :) If you read on an eReader, though, I can’t recommend enough just downloading the format for your device. You get to keep a copy of the fic AND the eReader keeps it nicely formatted. It’s a BRILLIANT, BEAUTIFUL feature that Ao3 gave us, because I like downloading all my fics and read them later in iBooks. Once you start that, Nonny, you can’t do it any other way. AND at the VERY END of the fics, it links BACK to the original post so you can bookmark, kudos, and comment on it!! <3

So yeah, two options you can do to solve your poopy internet and still read long fics hee hee! <3

ANYWAY EXCUSE FOR A NEW LIST LOL. 

ALSO, side note, check out @silentauroriamthereal; a large chunk of her fics are both long AND one chapter, so it’s a good place to go and she’s a brilliant author so I don’t think you’ll be disappointed! <3 Plus a lot of her fics are on this list, so I am sorry hahah.

AND I wanted to make the list a bit longer than I had, so I picked fics over 20K, if that’s alright :) As always, if you wrote a 20k+ single chapter fic, let us know!

SINGLE CHAPTER FICS OVER 20K WORDS

A Life Well-Lived by Kate_Lear (E, 20,121 w., 1 Ch. || Original Male Character, Sherlock Woos John, Jealous Sherlock, Reluctant Bi-John, Past Abuse, Insecure John, Reassuring / Caring Sherlock, Protective Sherlock, Understanding Sherlock) – John got scared off men by an abusive past relationship. Sherlock has to try and woo him while not scaring him off with protective possessive rage.

The White Lotuses by SilentAuror (E, 20,340 w., 1 Ch. || Slow Burn, Domestic, Romance) – One day John realises that he just isn't where he belongs, which is back at Baker Street with Sherlock. So he goes back and Sherlock, in his own way, courts him. Romance.

Out of the Woods by SilentAuror (E, 20,471 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, Romance, Slow Burn, Flirting, Drunk Sex, Practical Jokes, POV Sherlock, Bottomlock, Possessive John, Pining Sherlock, Frustrated Wanking, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, First Kiss/Time, Virgin Sherlock, Love Confessions, Soft Sherlock, Dancing, Bum Appreciation, Hanging out with the Yard) – Sherlock is fairly certain that John has taken to flirting with him of late, but can't be entirely certain of it. At least, not until a case takes them into a forest, along with Lestrade's team and something happens that will change everything about their lives...

You're On the Air by prettysailorsoldier (M, 20,616 w., 1 Ch. || Unilock, Matchmaking, Radio, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Sherlock POV, Pining Sherlock, Flirting, Bisexual John) – The Consulting Detective and The Woman dominate the airwaves of their university radio station, doling out advice on everything from meeting the parents to sexual positions. When their ratings start to dip before the holidays, however, manager Mike thinks it's time for some fresh blood, and who better to fill in the gaps than rugby captain--and notorious flirt--John Watson? Part 1 of 25 Days of Johnlock

whiskies neat by Ellipsical (E, 20,660 w., 15 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting, POV Second Person Sherlock, Slow Burn, One Night Stand, Rimming, Blow Jobs, Anal, Soldier John, Crying, Emotional Lovemaking, Switchlock) – Home and hearth and whiskies neat, or, alternatively, Sherlock Holmes falls in love.

Achieving the Together-Coloured Instant by teahigh (E, 20,776 w., 1 Ch. || Est. Rel, PTSD, Codependency, Fluff & Angst, H/C, Smut, Demisexual Sherlock, Experiments) – John wonders if this is how it’s going to be: A life speaking in code, because they’re both too stupid to figure out how to say, “I love you.”

Winter's Delights by Kate_Lear (E, 21,173 w., 1 Ch. || Holmes Family, Christmas, Fake Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Bed Sharing, Domestics) – Sherlock takes John home for Christmas to meet the extended Holmes family. Part 1 of Winter's Delights

Love Is by SilentAuror (E, 21,508 w., 1 Ch. || Angst, UST / URT, Post HLV, Romance) – At Mrs Hudson’s urging, Sherlock finally decides to tell John how he feels about him. Part 1 of Love Is

echoes through time by chellefic (E, 21,619 w., 1 Ch. || First Time, Romance, ACD & BBC, Epistolary) – Mummy sends a trunk from the Holmes cottage in Sussex to 221B. Its contents alter the way John and Sherlock see themselves and one another.

Ghost Stories by SwissMiss (M, 22,256 w., 1 Ch. || Pining, Holmes Family, Christmas, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Bed Sharing, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, First Time) – Sherlock's parents think he and John are a couple. They might be onto something.

Sonatina in G Minor by SilentAuror (E, 22,574 w., 1 Ch. || Case Fic, POV Sherlock, Angst, UST, Sherlock’s Violin, Post-S3, Romance) – John has come back to Baker Street, but Sherlock doesn't understand the strange tension between them, even after he begins teaching John to play the violin at John's request.

The Kepler Problem by kinklock (E, 24,270 w., 1 Ch. || Sci-Fi AU, Alien Sherlock, Space Repairman John, Alien Biology, Horny John) – Working in uncharted space exploration was not as exciting as John had hoped, especially when it turned out to be mostly bot maintenance on uninhabited planets. However, the mystery of the repeated, unexplained malfunctions on planet BAK 2212 might turn out to be exactly the kind of adventure he'd been craving.

26 Pieces by Lanning (E, 28,236 w., 1 Ch. || H/C, Torture, First Time, Happy Ending, Schmoop, Past Abuse) – Mycroft gives Sherlock the apparently simple task of solving a puzzle box containing a stolen microchip. It isn't simple.

The Wisteria Tree by SilentAuror (E, 29,773 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S3, Emotional Love Making, Amnesia/Memory Loss, Sherlock Loves John So Much, Sherlock POV, Romance, Angst with Happy Ending, First Times, Hurt/Comfort, Est. Rel., Retirement) – Sherlock wakes up from a month-long coma only to discover that he has no memory of the previous six years to his own shock as well as John's...

Shallow Grave by SilentAuror (E, 31,672 w., 1 Ch. || Romance, Angst, HLV Fix It, Infidelity, Pining Sherlock, First Person POV Sherlock) – Starts as Sherlock's plane is taking off at the end of His Last Vow. When he finds out that Moriarty is alive and that he's being recalled from his mission, Sherlock decides that he should have told John how he felt before he left. So he walks off the plane and kisses him.

The Midas Touch by flawedamythyst (E, 32,231 w., 1 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Magical Realism || John has a Magical Cock, Dub Con, Healer John) – John Watson has a medical condition that means everyone he sleeps with is instantly healed of all illness and injury. This causes complications when Sherlock breaks his arm, and even more complications when Sherlock falls in love with him. Yes, this is a story where John has a literal magic healing cock. It's a lot less cracky than you're probably imagining. Warning: Contains complex issues of sexual consent, although not between Sherlock and John.

The Whore of Babylon Was a Perfectly Nice Girl by out_there (E, 32,897 w., 1 Ch. || Past Drug Use, Blowjobs, Toplock, Mentions of Switching, Rough Sex, Background Cases, Sherlock’s Past, Sherlock’s Sexual History, Experienced Sherlock, Past One Night Stands, Fingering, Cuddling, Possessive Sherlock, Paris Holiday, Bed Sharing, Naked Lie-Ins, Bathing Together, Confessions, Worried Sherlock, Laying in Bed All Day, Meddling Mycroft, Naked Lazy Day) – Sherlock walks into a room and takes all the space right out of it. He does the same inside John's head.

Our Enthusiasms Which Cannot Always Be Explained by withoutawish (M, 32,961 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas, Fluff and Angst, H/C, Post-TRF, Case Fic, Mild Gore, Sherlock Whump) – The list that is tacked haphazardly on the refrigerator of 221B reads, ‘Kidney(s), and/or a full cadaver (preferably male, late 30s, under six feet tall), bag of fresh toes, sixteen cow’s eyes (corneas retained), dual exhaust hand –held flame thrower, an unopened first edition copy of Joseph Conrad’s 'Heart of Darkness', and no less than ten abhorrently gruesome murders in the upcoming month.” The one neatly hanging next to it simply reads, “Sex.” One of these lists is not John Watson’s. If John Watson were to put what he really wanted in list form, to live in a land somewhere beyond ‘almosts' now that Sherlock Holmes has indeed returned to him, he would never be able to look his flatmate in the eye ever again.

Bedtime Stories by Liketheriver (M, 34,388 w., 1 Ch. || Emotional H/C, Romance, Angst & Humour, Bed Sharing, John First Person, TRF, John Whump) – John's POV during Season 2 and beyond when Sherlock takes up semi-permanent residence in his bed. A collection of codas and missing scenes wrapped up into one long fic and topped with a bow that takes the story beyond Reichenbach and into happy territory once more. Part 1 of Bedtime Universe

The Yellow Poppies by SilentAuror (E, 34,952 w., 1 Ch. || H/C, Nightmares, HLV Fix-It, PTSD, Trauma, POV Sherlock, Doctor John) – Sherlock is threatened and assaulted in the hospital immediately after having been shot in the heart, first by Mary, then by Magnussen. As he recovers at Baker Street with John and plans the attack on Appledore with Mycroft, he fights to work through the trauma caused by these two visits. Set during His Last Vow.

The Unfinished Letters by SilentAuror (E, 37,391 w., 1 Ch. || Post S3 / S3 / HLV Fix it, Angst with Happy Ending, Romance, Infidelity, Depression, Case Fic, POV Third Person Sherlock, Love Confessions, Pining Sherlock, Letters) – A fire at Baker Street leads John to read something he was never intended to see: a notebook of half-written, unfinished letters Sherlock wrote during his time away...

Set in Stone by SilentAuror (E, 39,309 w., 1 Ch. || Romance, Wedding, Therapy, Fluff and Angst) – Sherlock and John are back from Ravine Valley and planning their wedding. However, as they move past the trial of the human traffickers, Sherlock can't help but wonder if he's imagining that John is becoming a little distant. Surely he isn't getting cold feet about the wedding... Part 2 of The Ravine Valley series

Act IV by SilentAuror (E, 39,707 w., 1 Ch. || First Person POV Sherlock, HLV Fix-It, Infidelity, Angst, Drama) – After Sherlock is shot, John moves back into Baker Street. They spend the autumn together as John tries to make sense of his life and make some important decisions about both Mary and Sherlock. Canon-compliant, excerpts from His Last Vow.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by SilentAuror (E, 50,635 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S4/S4 Divergence, Case Fic, For a Case / Reverse Fake-Relationship, Conferences, Marriage Equality, Travelling / New York, Pride, Homophobia, Bottomlock, Marriage Proposal, John POV, Sexuality, Love Confessions, Emotional Love Making, Public Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Passionate Kissing, Needy/Clingy Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Touching / Hand Holding, Bed Sharing, Little Spoon Sherlock, Intense Orgasms) – John and Sherlock go to New York to attend a conference run by the National Defence of Traditional Marriage Coalition in order to investigate the potential bombing of the annual Manhattan Pride parade. As the conference unfolds, John finds himself repulsed by the toxic ideology being presented, which becomes relevent to his own unacknowledged issues and his friendship with Sherlock...

[magical-awesome-kid]

Thoughts I have for post season 2 Unsleeping City (now that I think I can spoil the ending)

So we know the Heroes of NYC have some kids in the mix and I LOVE that! They're tiny little babies and wonderful and if anything bad happens to them I will destroy one Brennan Lee Mulligan, everyone at College Humor, and then myself. But, anyway...

I think of the three Al will have the most time knowing of the Unsleeping City by the time that they all kind of get on the magical band wagon. I mean, all the parents want their kids to have as normal of lives as possible (Danny Shen still refuses to stand on the pavement and floats everywhere, and they REALLY want their kids to be, well, grounded). However, Al is a genius for her age. She is put in advanced classes since she started school (she didn't skip grades because her parents didn't want her to feel alienated amongst her peers). She reads just about everything she can grab and is a wiz with the computer.

I think she'll actually get her first spell book that way - she'll be at Grammercy on the non-magic side and JJ, who is still working there, accidentally gives her one of his tablets with spells downloaded on it instead of the ones with just normal kid books. Five minutes later when he realizes his mistake and rushes back, he finds that she's already cast her first cantrip - Mage Hand - to grab the cookies off the top shelf in the break room. It's over from there. I feel like Wizard would fit well but I'm also not opposed to multiclassing or Magical Initiate Feat. She has a familiar named Bean (he's a Dalmatian puppy). She's very smart and can be very mischievous, but she's kind down to her core. Invention Wizard fits her well, but maybe a little fighter, too.

You would think Langston would catch on that he's a dragon but honestly? He doesn't. He's a little dense like that but also Kingston and Liz are hard core "we will not screw up our kid he will have as normal of a childhood as he can." He's oft out in the city with anyone willing to chaperone him (later he can just go on his own) and explores all the historical sites. Like his dad, everyone seems to know him, and he knows a lot more people than he really should at his age. He only really catches on to the fact that he's magical when he ends up hitting puberty, and he starts coughing up icicles. His parents walk him through magic then.

He's super excited to find out about magic and hoards and all the cool things he can do as a dragon! But he's also still a baby. They talk to Smoczmatka (who they consider as family but not really mother-son because Dragons put a lot of weight in the bonds you make over the bonds you were born with) and the Shen family and both are like "yeah you're just coming into that but it may still be a few decades before you come to full power so enjoy being a kid." Langston as a teen could be classified as a Dragonborn. No one really knows his scale color - they think Steel for a while, given his temperament and weapon, but, when he comes into his full, he's a Platinum (the rarest and most powerful) Dragon. He's rather energetic but polite to no end. Loves history and hanging out with Aunt Esther and Cousin Al at the library (and especially when he gets into the magical history). He'd probably be a mix of Peace Cleric (he wants to help people) and Lore Mastery Wizard (because he loves his city and wants to know about it).

You'd think Cat, with two parents working in magical monk schools, would know about magic really young, but she's actually the last in on the family secret. Sure, she sometimes glows, but that's, like, just because she likes glitter! She eventually catches on that something is up and Langston, who has negative lying abilities especially to his family, spills the beans (Al is shaking her head in the background). Cat just looses her cool and, with the magic lifted from her eyes, goes full Protector Aasimar for the first time in her life. The screaming is a mix of shock, fear, and excitement from all parties until the nearest magical human shows up (probably Pete and Cody for their luck) and just go "oh shit."

Cat was always rough and tumbling growing up. She's very blunt and to the point, which does her as much good as it does bad. Still, she loves her family, her cat (who, once she can see past magic barrier, she realizes is a god), and friends to the ends of the earth. Also glitter. And combat boots. They work. She's not good with book work, as much as Dale tries to help her with her math, so she ends up learning a lot from Pete, Sophia, Ricky, and Rowan. A bard would be great for her because then she'd get her race's charisma boost, but so would sorcerer and paladin. Monk and Barbarian would also offer balance. Above all, I imagine her following Langston and Al to the library and pouring over books until she can cast Find Familiar (ie Magical Initiate Feat) and gets to bring La Gran Gata everywhere.

[choisans]

gifmaking tutorial

As requested, here's a tutorial on how I make my gifs. Everyone's process is a little different, and mine changes from time to time, so it'll take some experimenting to find the settings that you like best. I’ll also link this tutorial here by Em, who is way more thorough than I’ll probably be, so check that out! The tutorial will be found in the read more below (apologies if it doesn’t work on mobile - this is a screenshot heavy piece of text).

My process uses Vapoursynth and Photoshop CS5 (I’m ancient I know!!). Avisynth is also another popular option if you already have that, but it’s been a while since I’ve used it. After the frames have been loaded into Photoshop, I then sharpen and colour my gifs before exporting. Some people will also use Topaz to clean up their gifs, but unfortunately that does not work well on my laptop. I use a Windows computer, so things may look slightly different if you’re using a Mac. 

STEP ONE  ⤅ Downloading your video 

To start off, find the highest quality possible of the video that you want to gif from. If it’s a stage, I highly recommend using ts files, which are much better quality than the versions you’ll find on Youtube. Ts files can be found on a variety of website such as 4sashi, kpop24hours (requires membership) and on Twitter. Here is an additional resource for finding ts files and downloading videos. For non-stages, 1080p will work best, though 2k and 4k are absolutely lovely and I would highly recommend those if they’re available. 

STEP TWO ⤅ Run your video through Vapoursynth 

You can install Vapoursynth following this tutorial. Vapousynth is essentially a program that will crop and compress your video files without losing any quality. It also has built-in sharpen and denoise functions that can take over the functions of Topaz. 

To start the process, you’ll drag your video onto the vapourscript and see a pop-up from Command Prompt. It will prompt you to enter two numbers: the first is the timestamp on the video for the start time for your gif (mine was at 3 min, 27 seconds). After pressing enter, it will then prompt you to enter the duration of the moment you want to gif (mine is 3 seconds). If you’re using Avisynth, the second prompt will be the second time stop (when you want the moment to end). I find that sometimes adding an extra second will help me capture the entire moment, but it’s up to your own discretion. 

Once you press enter a third time, the command prompt will run and then a pop-up will appear on your browser. You can then adjust several settings, including gif size, preprocessor, denoise filters and sharpening. There’s a lot of freedom here to choose what you’d like to do. 

In terms of gif size, you can pick any height that you think looks good but the widths that are optimized on Tumblr go as follows: 

1 gif per row: 540px width

2 gifs per row: 268px width (I tend to use the default 350px for height when making these)

3 gifs per row: 178px width (it’s funky here because the middle gif is 178px while the two on the side are 177px each, so you have to crop off a pixel later)

For the purposes of this tutorial, I’ll be making 178px gifs. The next option is preprocessor. This option will alter how the video renders. There are two main options - 30 or 60 - and this will refer the number of frames per second you’ll obtain. For live performance gifs, qtgmc 60 slow is generally the option I choose as it gives better quality frames (especially with a lot of movement) but you may find that qtgmc 30 slow is sufficient. For non ts files, I typically do not use any preprocessor settings. 

Most of the time, I don’t use denoise or sharpening filters as I prefer to do my sharpening and denoise in Photoshop. When I do choose to use denoise and sharpening, these are the settings I use. I don’t have a particular reason, but just that I like the way the gifs look. You can experiment with the settings to see what you like, and it can also vary with the gif. 

The difference between having those sharpening/denoise settings vs. doing it in Photoshop vs. no sharpening/denoise can also be seen with the three gifs below (note that I've coloured them, which we’ll get into a bit later). As you can probably tell, there’s not a HUGE difference in quality between the three because ts files tend to be already be very high quality but I would always recommend sharpening as it can make a very big difference in the quality of your gifs! 

After choosing the settings you want, you’ll then paste them into the VapouSynth Editor (which should’ve automatically popped up at the same time as the browser setting adjuster). For the purposes of this tutorial, I have chosen not to sharpen and denoise. You will copy paste the code from the browser (found at the right side) into the editor. My code was 4 lines and goes in between the code from the 11th line and 22nd line (yours should as well, though the line numbers may not match up - just make sure they say the same thing!) 

You’ll then want to hover on the script on the top bar and click on “Encode video”.

Once you click encode video, another box will pop up. Here, you’ll want to make one adjustment (shown in purple), before pressing start. At the header bar, you’ll want to exchange the preset “No header” for the Y4M option. After you’ve done that, you can press start found below (also highlighted in purple).

Congrats! You’ve finally finished processing your video!

STEP THREE ⤅ Make the gif in Photoshop

To important the frames into Photoshop, you’ll click File (top bar) > import > video frames to layers. Your output file from vapousynth should be found in the VapourSynth64Portable folder (based on where you first saved it) > gifs > output. Finally, click on the output.mov file to select it. You will then get a pop-up that looks like the following. I always keep these settings, though sometimes people will use limit to every 2 frames, but I find that will make your gifs look choppy. 

Based on the way your Photoshop layout is set up, the following steps may be found in different places than they’re found on my screen. You’ll want to have animation turned on (can be turned on under the windows dropdown menu, and just click on animation to turn on the frame view). If your bar is on the bottom of the screen, in the bottom right corner, you should press on the button (convert to timeline animation). I’ve highlighted the button in blue. 

After converting to timeline, I select all the frames in the layers window (can also be turned on in the windows dropdown menu and selecting layers). Then, right click and and press convert to smart object. This will turn all your layers into a single object so you can edit all the layers at once rather than having to edit each layer separately. 

After your smart object is created, I like to sharpen. I have an action, but to recreate the same effect, you will need to (1) duplicate the smart object (right click on the smart object > duplicate layer) (2) smart sharpen both smart objects with the following settings and then (3) put a gaussian blur only on the top layer with 1.0px. Both smart sharpen and gaussian blur can be found under the filter dropdown menu (filter > sharpen > smart sharpen or filter > blur > gaussian blur). 

Depending on the quality of the video, if I find the sharpening too strong, I will sometimes change the radius to 0.3 or 0.2 (a higher number = more sharpening). Finally, set the top layer to 50% opacity (I go anywhere from 35% to 50% depending on how “soft” I want the sharpening to look. A higher opacity for the top layer will create a softer look). When I finish this step, my layers will usually look like this. And good news: your basic gif is done!

STEP FOUR ⤅ Colouring 

Before you save the gif, you may want to colour the gif to make the colours look the way you want. This step is super subjective and every CC will colour differently - it’s why it’s so fun to see multiple sets of the same moment giffed, because each CC will colour a little differently! 

I’m not a colouring expert at all, but I’ll put a basic skeleton of the way I colour below and show you the difference between no colouring, a basic colouring, and a more complex colouring. Another fun thing about colouring is that it can also make your gif look much sharper and higher quality depending on what you do. 

To access the possibilities for colouring, you’ll want to go the adjustments window (once again can be accessed in the window dropdown menu and selecting adjustments). As you can tell, there’s a ton of adjustment options, which may seem overwhelming. You should definitely experiment to find that looks best to you! I usually go in the following order: curves (red), colour balance (orange), hue/saturation (yellow), selective colour (green), levels (blue) and finally exposure (purple). I won’t attempt to explain what each one does (there’s tons of tutorials out there!), but note that sometimes you’ll want to use an adjustment more than once to get the effect you desire. Layering of multiple of these adjustment layers is what will create a more complex colouring that you will find you like more. I also haven’t mentioned some of the other options, but definitely explore them all to figure out what you like!

STEP FIVE⤅ Saving your gif!

We finally made it to the end! To save your gif, head into the file dropdown menu and select save for web and devices. There’s a lot settings you can fiddle around with here in order to save the best possible gif, but these are typically the settings I go with. The most important to note in the top right corner with selective and pattern selected (play around with those as you may find that the other settings will look better based on the gif!). Also make sure colors is at 256 (maximum) as having less than 256 colours can make your gif look patchy. At the bottom right, make sure you’ve selected looping options: forever to make sure the gif will loop. Finally, at the bottom left, you can see the size of the gif in megabytes. Note that Tumblr will allow gifs up to 10mb to be uploaded, but gifs will typically look best when under 3mb (though debatable).

Press save and you’re done! Note that sometimes after you’ve saved, the timing of the gif will be either too fast or slow. You may need to reopen the gif again and adjust the timing. I find that if you’re using 60fps, 0.02-0.03s generally looks best, while 0.04-0.05 will look best when using 30fps or with a preprocessor. Try them out and see what looks right to you.

Congrats on making it through this tutorial and taking the time to make gifs. Making gifs you find nice won’t always come easily or with the first try, but keep going and you’ll eventually find a way that works for you that you’ll be happy with. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to stop by and ask me and I’ll do my best to help. Almost every CC will be happy to share tips and advice as well, so don’t be afraid to reach out to the people whose gifs you love. 

[curechocolattymilk]

I am in a sorta rambling Skyrim mood again so if you want lists of my mods i have/want to keep for Skyrim Extended Cut’s release/want to get for a fresh save under S:EC uhh here you go??

MOD LIST IN GENERAL/AS A WHOLE (might be a long one)

Immersive Citizens - AI Overhaul

USSEP

Alternate Start

Cutting Room Floor

The Paarthurnax Dilemma

Khajiit Speak (disabled atm, only on for a Khajiit character I plan on remaking)

Wet & Cold SE

Static Mesh Improvement Mod (SMIM)

BarenziahQuestMarkers SSE

Immersive Patrols SE

Apocalypse

Ordinator

Horns Are Forever SE

Wildcat

Inigo

DigitigradeKhajiit_ArgonianRaptor

Falskaar (disabled & prob gonna be uninstalled. Wasn’t satisfied w the mod so i went back to a save before installing it that wasn’t too far back)

Run For Your Lives

Enhanced Lights & FX

True Storms SE (+Compatibility patch for W&C)

Civil War Aftermath

Hearthfire Multiple Adoptions & Custom Home Support SE

Derkeethus Dual

New Beginnings- AS Extension

No More Stupid Dog

D13 Faster Get Up SSE

Amazing Follower Tweaks SE

DWC Player Werewolf Replacer

Diverse Werewolves Collection

Dominions More Argonians

Immersive Good Boy

Skyrim Sewers

Convenient Horses

Fast Travel Ambushes & Consequences

Interesting NPCS/3DNPC (& with it, Cyb’s Overhaul) SE  Patches/Hotfixes

BAT- Bigger Argonian Tails SE

BS: Bruma SE (and patches)

Vigilant SE + Voiced English Addon SE

Cinematic Dragon Soul Absorption (disabled)

Shout - Immersive & Dynamic Overhaul

SkyUI SE + Flashing Savegames Fix

Destructible Display Cases

Dragon Stalking Fix

TK Dodge SE

Immersive Movement

Hun Lovaas & the mod authors other music replacer mods

Hoth

More Tavern Idles

Ultimate Combat SE

Library of Paarthurnax SSE

Dawnguard as vampire (didn’t want to lose part of my sould for the DG quest lol, turned right back into a werewolf)

Real Bosses (Light File)

Immersive World Encounters SE

Better Jumping SE

Kaidan 2

Race Menu

Miraak DB Follower + Dialogue Plus

Monster race crash fix (for the Play as a Dragon mod)

Lucien Flavius

Racial Body Morphs SE - Diverse body types & height

CWN - Civil War Neutrality SSE

Alt Conversation Camera

Guard Dialogue Overhaul SE

Deadly Dragons

Werewolf Feral Run

Bigger Tails for Werewolves

Predators - Werewolf & Vampire role playing tool (Lite version currently disable)

3DNPC Talkative Followers

Masque of Argonian Vile SSE

Talkative Dragons + Enigma Series

My Little Hatchling SSE + Adoptable Argonian Hatchling

Play As a Dragon

Growl - Werebeasts of Skyrim (I definitely recommend this for werewolf playthroughs! It doesn’t have Moonlight Tales’ features but its still balanced/fun & barely buggy in my experience)

Death is Highly Overrated redone 2020

SKSE64

MODS IM FOR SURE KEEPING/MAYBE KEEPING

To keep the bulletpoint list hopefully short: Patch/QoL mods that fix vanilla issues (i.e. USSEP, D13, SMIM, the like), follower mods (save for Miraak since S:EC seems to have something planned for him), mods done to tweak the Werewolf experience, combat & boss difficulty mods, Mods that overhaul NPCs dialogue/AI (guards, citizens in general), weather mods, music mods, & mods that make Argonians & Khajiit look a bit more fun are for sure staying! Any civil war mods I have might be trimmed off, debating on how S:EC approaches reworking the secondary story quest. That being said:

BarenziahQM - For the sole fact it makes that quest soo much better

Paarthunax Dilemma - a solid maybe? S:EC is also gonna do something bout this part of the Blades quest if I read their reddit post correctly, so I might just leave it disabled & see what happens first

Hearthfire Multiple Adoptions - yes pls let me make Tei a papa to every Skyrim also I need it to make Kaidan’s home available for the kiddos

Derkeethus - makes him a more decent follower but eeeh idk i rarely take him out often so it might be snipped itsa maybe

Destructible Display Cases- sometimes i’m too lazy to lockpick

No more Stupid Dog/Immersive Good Boy- Meeko is a good boy I should be able to tell him & also my kids + housecarls shouldn’t call him stupid >:(

More Argonians- I just like these funky reptiles (used to have More Khajiits too but it always would CTD at a certain inn w it installed. F)

Alternate Start- Makes things more spicy

CH- Sorta QoL for the skyrim horses, for sure staying

FTA&C- Again, makes things more spicy, but in the event of some group jumping you while traveling

Vigilant- Maybe?? It’s fun as hell but not really in character for Jeer-Tei. Perhaps re-enabled later as an end game thing alongside BS: Atmora whenever that comes out?

Shout- makes cooldowns more bearable so itsa keep

DSF- also a QoL mod

Immersive Movement + More Tavern Idles + Better Jumping + Immersive Encounters

AFT- big traveling groups are always fun/it makes it easier to horde keep all of Skyrim’s dogs

Race Menu + Racial BM SE- falls under “makes Argonians more fun” like some other argonian focused mods I guess? RBM plays around w everyones height and RM just lets you go buck wild (in a sfw way! unless...yknow you got nsf/w mods i guess) doesn’t hurt to specify tho lol

Alternate Convo Camera- Really fun!! Despite it pointing out how short my LDB is

Deadly Dragons- Makes fighting the Dovah much more fun w all the (honestly not as canon) diversity in looks & abilities! Can recommend, not too harsh on older devices either from what I know

Death is Highly Overrated

Play as a Dragon + Monster Race Fix- another hard maybe because well...you turn into a dragon which isn’t too immersive I guess?? Probably another “end game” mod for Tei

MODS IM EYEING/WANT TO GET (this post is so long so far I’m sorry)

Survival Mods!! (iNeed is one I’m looking at & maaaybe Frostfall?? idk i’ll have to see about that one i heard its not too fun for the Argonian gang) P much looking for something that’ll make exploring the wilds of Skyrim less of a bore

Camping + Hunting based mods! I’ve been eyeing Campfire & Hunterborn specifically, but open to any other suggestions. Same reasoning as survival mods, makes it more fun to travel! Plus, I’m going for an in character experience, it would fit Tei!

Khash & Auri follower mods. I’ve been eyeing these two for a bit, but from my experience w adding Kaidan & Lucien late game, I miss a lot of fun stuff D: So I’m planning on nabbing them for a fresh playthrough under S:EC (or at least, Khash! I uh...don’t know how to download mods manually/always mess it up & Auri doesn’t have the option to let Vortex do all the work unfortunately, but we’ll see!)

Maybe some nice armor mods?? Again nothing too heavy to handle but just to add some flavor(tm)

Saw a mod that made Animal AI a bit more realistic, might nab that

long shot but a mod that lets everyone refer to your LDB via they/them pronouns would be cool too but idk feel like it’d be a nightmare to attempt modder wise. Honestly i’d love the idea of having a mod or two that’ll let me confirm that Tei is trans themselves in game (3DNPC has a quest where you can say your character is, but that’s about it to my knowledge)! Buuut I’m unsure to search for any cause: 1) I don’t want to deal w transphobes ruining my searches & my day on Nexus & 2) Any curious google/bing searches keep bringing up Lovers lab & mmmm no thank you.

and uh...so far that’s the base of it? idk im still looking around & I might have to add/drop some things depending on like...how much my current computer can handle, Not grabbing any fancy graphics mods, that’s for sure lol

[kwanisms]

Jealousy - ick

anonymous said: can i ask for something smuty with changkyun where he’s your best friend or something like that, and doesnt admit hes jealous of you until he loses his mind? thank uuu love your work <3

⤑ genre: angst with a bit of smut, idol!Changkyun, best friend reader ⤑ pairing: idol!Changkyun x bff!Reader ⤑ warning: sexual content, foul language, slight daddy kink, choking, ⤑ summary: Changkyun is your best friend and you notice how distant he’s become since you befriended the rest of his members, especially his hyung, Kihyun. ⤑ word count: 5k

a/n: I hope this is okay, I wasn’t sure what you wanted Changkyun to be jealous about so I made up a reason. Thank you for requesting and I hope you like it! ~K♡

You pulled out your phone and felt a pang in your heart when you saw that Changkyun hadn’t opened your message. It had been two days since he last talked to you which was odd. Changkyun had been your best friend since you were kids.

When he became a trainee, the two of you lost contact but after he debuted with Monsta X, the two of you reconnected like you hadn’t spent a day apart.

It happened at a fan sign. You bought a ticket, luckily, and flew to Seoul to attend. You were halfway to the stage when you spotted Changkyun. He was smiling at and talking to a fan, signing their album while they told him a story.

After she finished, she moved on and Changkyun took the opportunity to look around, spotting you instantly and his eyes widened when he recognized you. The entire time you were working your way down the table, he threw glances at you until you finally reached him.

“Wow,” he breathed, dropping Korean for your language instead. “(Y/N),” he said smiling at you. “It’s been a long time,” he said, resting his chin in his palm and looking at you with a grin. “You look amazing,” he added looking down as you pushed your copy of their album at him.

He took it and started flipping through the pages of the photobook. Once he found what he was looking for, he started writing. “What have you been up to?” he asked.

You regaled him with the tale of your high school experience without him, navigating the halls you once roamed together until you graduated and went onto university. He listened with interest as you recounted the past few years without him.

He smiled up at you, capping his marker and taking care to close your album and put it back in its sleeve. “Let’s catch up, yeah?” he asked, giving you a wink and handing your album back to you. He took your hand in his and gave it a small squeeze.

“Make sure to look through the whole book,” he said nodding at the album. Before you could ask, you were ushered along to the next member while Changkyun turned his attention to his next fan.

After the fan meet ended and you returned to your hotel room, you pulled out the album and pulled out the photobook, flipping through it to find the members’ messages to you. It wasn’t until almost the end that something caught your eye. Changkyun had written a note at the very back of the book on a blank page.

“I have a new number, but my KKT is the same. Message me sometime,” it read. You hadn’t used the Korean texting app in years, losing it when you changed phones and never redownloading it.

You decided to give it a shot, downloading it and trying to sign in with your own credentials. It worked. You had all your old contacts back, including-- Changkyun.

You clicked on his user and pressed the freechat option. Your thumbs hovered over the keyboard, not sure what to type. You settled for something simple. “Hey, what’s up?”

His reply came quickly.

Kyun [21:42]: hey (: not much. Just got back to the dorms. Wbu? You [21:43]: just chilling in my hotel room. I check out in a couple days. Kyun [21:44]: you don’t leave for another day? You [21:44]: nope Kyun [21:45]: i’m free tomorrow after morning practice. Want to meet up?

You froze. Should you? Wouldn’t he get in trouble?

You must have taken too long to reply because Changkyun sent another text.

Kyun [21:47]: you okay? You [21:48]: won;t you get in trouble for hanging out with me? Kyun [21:49]: probably, but who cares? (; You [21:50]: … okay (:

The next day, the two of you met up around lunch time, grabbing a bite to eat before exploring the city. You wore a black dust mask and baseball cap at the request of Changkyun. “To protect your privacy,” he told you. The two of you spend a whole day out together, enjoying the mild weather.

You parted ways, promising to keep in touch until you moved to Seoul for work.

Months later, you made the move and Changkyun used bit of every free time he had to spend time with you. He called it making up for lost time. You were loving it. Everything was almost as if you never parted.

At first, Changkyun didn’t tell the members about you, wanting to keep it a secret for a while but eventually, they found out and started pressuring him for details. He couldn’t keep you a secret any longer. He told the guys about you and how he knew you.

To his surprise, they encouraged his friendship with you and even extended an invitation to you to come around and meet them and perhaps join them in a movie night, an offer you accepted the moment Changkyun told you about it.

So one Friday night, you got dressed in your comfiest clothes and made your way across town to their dorm. Changkyun met you downstairs and led you up to their dorm. Once inside, you were introduced to the rest of the members of Monsta X.

You had a great time hanging out with them and they enjoyed having you over so they continued to invite you over. Movie nights were a popular thing with your group. Changkyun always sat you between him and Kihyun whom you formed a very fast friendship with.

Little did you know how much your friendship with Kihyun would affect your relationship with Changkyun.

Before long, Kihyun started asking you to go out with him. You didn’t think much of it, since it was kind of the same when you went out with Changkyun. Just two friends hanging out.

After the first time was when you noticed Changkyun’s distantness. You asked him if he was okay and he confirmed he was. He asked you to spend a day out with him and you agreed, needing another day out after a rough week at work.

After going out with Changkyun, he seemed to return to his old self. Until you mentioned going out to get lunch and go shopping with Kihyun.

Changkyun refused to answer your texts and that was where you were at now. Dealing with him being unresponsive.

You were starting to worry so you did they only thing you could think of. You called Kihyun.

He answered on the fourth ring. “Hey, (Y/N),” he said in a cheerful voice. “Hey, Ki,” you replied. “Are you guys home?” you asked. “No, we’re out right now. Well,” he said. “Changkyun’s home.” he added. “He mentioned not wanting to go out,” he said.

You nodded to yourself. ‘He has to be ignoring me then.’

“I was thinking of popping by to see him. Is that okay?” you asked. “Of course!” Kihyun replied happily. “Try to cheer him up, if you can. He’s been acting like a kicked puppy for a couple days now.” You thanked Kihyun for giving you the code to get in and started getting ready to head over.

The commute over was long, giving you plenty of time to think about what you were going to say to Changkyun. Maybe figure out why he was being so distant.

When you reached the dorm, you made your way up, unlocking the door to get in. Once in the dorm, you looked around, noticing that there seemed to be no sign of Changkyun. You made your way back toward his room, the sounds of a computer game growing louder with each step.

You peered into the room through the cracked door and saw Changkyun sitting at his desk, playing some sort of online game. You pushed the door open quietly, watching him for a few minutes. He was cursing and muttering under his breath at his opponents.

It was kind of cute. You decided to get his attention and coughed, clearing your throat. Changkyun jumped, spinning around to look at you. The moment he looked away from his screen, his character died and he swore loudly, rounding on you angrily.

“How did you get in?” he asked, getting up from his seat and crossing the room to meet you at the door. “Kihyun gave me the code,” you said, letting out a yelp when Changkyun grabbed your arm and started to lead you down the hall and towards the door.

“Well, Kihyun isn’t here, so go home,” he snapped, shoving you toward the door, causing you to stumble. You stood up straight and rounded on him. “I didn’t come to see Kihyun. I asked him for the code so I could come see you,” you said, your eyes narrowed.

“But clearly I made a mistake coming here,” you added bending down to slip into your shoes. “(Y/N),” Changkyun started scratching the back of his neck. “Don’t worry,” you said, choking back sobs. “I’ll just go since you clearly don’t want me here,” you said reaching for the handle of the door and turning it.

You had only pulled the door opened a little before Changkyun pushed it shut. You turned to glare at him, finding only his soft expression instead. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. The two of you stared at one another before you sniffled. Changkyun pulled you into a hug, wrapping you in his warmth.

“You’re mean,” you murmured, your voice muffled by his shoulder. He shushed you, hugging you tightly. “I know,” he replied. “I suck. I’m sorry,” he repeated. The two of you parted and Changkyun led you back down the hall to his room, shutting the door behind you.

You turned to face him, watching as he sat down on the edge of his bed, running his fingers through his hair with a heavy sigh. You moved to stand in front of him, reaching a hand up to ruffle his hair. “What’s wrong?” you asked. He looked up at you and instead of answering, he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you closer, resting his head against your stomach just below your breast.

“I’m an asshole,” he said plainly. You smacked his shoulder lightly. “You’re not wrong, but don’t say that,” you said as you rubbed the spot you hit. The two of you said nothing until something hit you.

“Why did you think I was coming to see Kihyun?” you asked. He shrugged. ‘Nope. That’s not good enough.’ You took Changkyun’s face in between your hands and forced him to look up at you. “Answer me, Kyun. Why did you think I was coming to see Kihyun?” you asked again.

“Because you’re always spending time with him,” he murmured, not looking at you, instead looking off to the side. You narrowed your eyes at him. ‘Was he… jealous?’

“I spend time with you,” you countered and he shrugged. “Lately it feels like you’re all about Kihyun,” he said quietly. You poked his shoulder. “I can’t believe this,” you said and Changkyun looked up at you. “You’re jealous,” you said. The word struck a chord with Changkyun and he got defensive.

“No,” he said. “I’m not.” You smirked at him. “Oh my god, you totally are!” you said. Changkyun growled and grabbed you by the hips, pulling you down past him onto the mattress.

You let out a squeal as Changkyun tipped you backwards onto his bed. “Changkyun!” you said, propping yourself up on your elbows as your best friend hovered over you, his face dangerously close to yours. You gulped, feeling the heat rise in your cheeks as your heart thudded erratically in your chest.

You had never been this close to him before and it was affecting you more than you’d like to admit.

“W-what are you doing?” you stammered, noticing the way Changkyun’s eyes dipped to your lips and then back up. Neither one of you moved nor said a word. ‘What is his deal?’ you wondered. ‘What is he thinking?’ you asked yourself.

Sometimes Changkyun was an enigma to you, doing and saying things to make you think one thing and then turning around and acting the opposite. It was confusing but you got used to it. You were experienced with his weird mannerisms. His cool facade.

What you weren’t used to was this man before you. The one with a stoic face but eyes that burned with the fires of jealousy. Changkyun had never been the type before to express jealousy before. He had never gotten mad at you for spending time with other guys. That just wasn’t him.

The man before you now was exactly that. Someone driven to do things he wouldn’t normally do because he got jealous over you spending more time with another man. What happened to him?

The feeling of Changkyun’s breath fanning over your face brought you out of your own thoughts, reminding you of the situation you were in. You watched as his eyes dipped to your lips again and back up to meet your eyes, flashing a split second warning before he acted.

He closed the distance between you, pressing his lips against yours and taking your ability to breathe away just like that. Your head swam with thoughts but your subconscious pushed those thoughts aside, allowing you to focus instead on what you were doing. You were being kissed by your best friend. So you did the only thing that made sense. You kissed him back.

Changkyun was shocked at himself for crossing the line he said he would never cross but he was even more surprised when he felt you soften under him, your lips moving against his gently as one of your hands moved to grab onto his bicep, squeezing slightly, urging him to continue.

Changkyun slowly laid his weight on you, forcing you down on your back, his hips resting between your thighs. The kiss slowly progressed as Changkyun parted your lips with his, allowing his tongue to slip into your mouth and start exploring as your free hand moved to comb through his hair.

Feeling your nails against his scalp, Changkyun let out a soft moan, muffled against your lips. You tugged slightly, signaling him to pull back a little. The two of you didn’t move, instead stared at each other intensely as you both struggled to catch your breath.

“How long?” you finally asked. Changkyun took a couple of short breaths before responding. “Years,” he answered. You took his face in between your hands. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” you asked, studying his face. Changkyun shrugged. That answer wasn’t good enough for you.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” you asked again. Changkyun sighed. “Because I would rather have part of you than none of you at all,” he answered. It was sweet in a self sacrifice sort of way. 

You smiled, running your fingers through his hair, pulling him back down for another kiss. “You can have all of me,” you murmured before kissing him again. Changkyun pulled away, staring at you with wide eyes.

“Do you mean that?” he asked sitting back up. You sat up to meet him. After studying his face you nodded. “Yes,” you said. “I mean that.”

Changkyun reached out, taking one of your hands in his. “Like, right now?” he asked and you cocked your head to the side watching as his eyes trailed down to look at his lap and back up. Glancing down you could see what he meant. You could see his growing erection through his sweats.

A sly grin pulled over your lips as you looked back up, meeting his gaze. You nodded your consent before grabbing the front of his hoodie and pulling him toward you, locking him in yet another kiss. Changkyun wasted no time in taking control, pushing you back on the bed, his lips still on yours.

He broke the kiss momentarily to remove his hoodie, revealing his white tee shirt. His lips attached to your neck, kissing along the sensitive skin under your jaw while his hands were free to wander, feeling their way down your sides to your hips and down the outsides of your thighs.

His hands gripped the underside of your thighs, pulling your hips closer against his as he pressed his hard on against your core, earning a gasp from you. You felt him nip at the skin on the side of your neck, running his tongue over the same spot before biting down a little hard, allowing a moan to escape your lips.

Changkyun, incited by your sounds of pleasure, grinded against you again, letting out a satisfactory moan at the friction. You could feel your arousal starting to pool in your panties and if he kept doing what he was doing, you would be soaking in minutes.

Despite never being intimate with him, Changkyun seemed to know your body better than you thought. Or perhaps he was just a quick learner. Whatever the case was, it was clear he knew what he was doing. Changkyun bucked his hips again, pressing his hard member against you and this time, you moaned out his name.

He pulled his head back to look at you, his pupils dilated as he looked into your eyes. “(Y/N)?” he whispered. Your hand moved to the back of his neck, preventing him from pulling away. “I need you,” you said breathlessly. Changkyun couldn’t believe this was happening.

He had fantasized about this for a few weeks now. Ever since he’d realized his feelings and desire for you were real, he’d wanted this exact moment to come but now that it was here, he didn’t know what to do. He froze, staring at you with wide eyes. ‘Shit.’

You sat up, taking his hand. “Changkyun?” you asked. At the sound of your voice, he seemed to come back to reality. His eyes met yours. “Are you okay?” you asked. He nodded vigorously. ‘A lie. He was terrified.’ “Yeah,” he said. “I’m fine.”

You could tell he was not fine. You could hear it in his voice. Instead of pressing him further, you scooted closer to him, almost straddling him. “Do you want to stop?” you asked softly, watching as he considered it. After a moment, he shook his head. “No,” he breathed.

He pulled you in for another kiss, his hands moving to your hips, guiding them against his own. You moaned, breaking the kiss to throw your head back while Changkyun’s lips kissed down your neck. “Lie back,” he said softly and you did, lowering yourself back onto the mattress. Changkyun grabbed the sides of your shorts and slowly pulled them down, pulling your panties with them.

He maintained eye contact as he discarded your shorts, tossing them to the side. His hands rested calmly on your knees before pushing them apart gently, eyes trailing down your body until he stopped at the place where you thighs met. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

Your cheeks burned as he looked at you and you wanted to move; close your legs, cover yourself, something. Changkyun brought one hand down to trace your lips coated in your arousal and you shuddered at the contact, your eyes fluttering shut as he slipped a finger past your folds to find your clit.

He watched your face as he slowly massaged in circles, enjoying the way your hips twitched and you bucked involuntarily. It wasn’t long before he had you trembling, slowly building up your orgasm. He smiled as you tossed your head side to side, whimpers and moans leaving your mouth.

“Does that feel good?” he asked in a low tone, amusement laced in his voice. ‘Was he mocking you?’

You nodded, biting into the plush skin of your bottom lip. “Mhm,” you moaned, your hips slowly rising and falling to match his ministrations. Changkyun watched in awe as you started to ride his hand, your breath coming in shallowly, uttering soft whines occasionally. He couldn’t have you coming undone so easily.

He slid his finger into your entrance, enjoying the warmth that enveloped the digit. He could only imagine how amazing you would feel around his cock. The thought of sinking his hardened length inside you had him twitching in his sweatpants. He pushed those thoughts aside for later.

Right now, he was focused on your pleasure and making you feel good. Changkyun added a second finger, slowly pumping them in and out of you. One of your hands traveled from above your head down to cup your own breast and Changkyun’s mind filled with ideas.

He slowed his hand, causing you to look up at him. “Don’t stop,” you moaned. Changkyun chuckled, enjoying the amount of control he had over you. ‘Did he ever feel like this?’ he wondered but pushed that from his mind. Even if he did, it didn’t matter. You wanted Changkyun now, not Kihyun.

“Take your shirt off,” Changkyun said, nodding at the offending article. You obliged, taking it off you easily and tossing it aside. Changkyun had to stop and appreciate the sight before him now. You lying on your back, legs spread for him in nothing but a black lace bra. You were stunning.

Changkyun resumed his earlier speed, his fingers moving in and out of you quickly, stopping inside to curl against a spot that seemed to draw out the deepest moans he’d heard yet come from you.

“Fuck,” he swore, enjoying the way you sounded, knowing it was all because of him. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, watching the rise and fall of your chest from your labored breathing as he coaxed a climax out of you.

“Please, Changkyun,” you whimpered. “I need you.”

Changkyun smiled, moving to lie on the bed, his head between your thighs. “Soon, baby, okay?” he said softly. “I promise,” he added. You opened your mouth to respond but any words were taken and replaced with a moan when you felt the tip of his tongue against your clit.

He flattened his tongue, running it up and down, over your clit repeatedly before kissing it, sucking softly. You let out a cry, your walls clenching around his fingers. He tried not to smirk as he continued, flicking his tongue against the sensitive bundle of nerves while simultaneously pumping his fingers in and out of you, coated in your juices.

You couldn’t bear it anymore. Your body shook from the build up, unshed tears in the outer corners of your eyes. You just wanted to come already. You voiced your wants to Changkyun who merely chuckled.

“You want to come that bad, baby?” he asked, watching as you nodded frantically. He curled his fingers inside you again, rubbing against the rigid spot inside your walls that had your body trembling. “Do you want to come on my fingers or tongue?” he asked. Now he was getting cocky.

You shook your head quickly. “I don’t care, just please let me come!” you whined. Changkyun chuckled again. “Okay,” he said. He didn’t speak again, instead putting his mouth to better use as he brought you to the brink of orgasm with both his mouth and fingers.

Your body reacted to the overload of sensations by shuddering before you whimpered that you were about to come. Changkyun pulled back momentarily to encourage you. “Do it,” he whispered. “Come for me.” He curled his fingers inside you, his tongue working wonders on your swollen clit, pushing you over the edge and you came with a cry of his name, your body shivering as he helped you ride out your high.

After a few moments, you felt Changkyun pull his fingers out, leaving you empty. He was only gone for a few moments before you felt the bed dip. He settled between your legs, moving them to make space. You felt the tip of his cock graze your entrance and you tried to sit up. “Wait,” you said and he paused, looking up at you with concern. “What is it? Did I do something wrong?” he asked.

You shook your head. “I should return the favor,” you said only to be met with a chuckle. “Maybe some other time,” he said. “I’d rather just be inside you right now,” he said, rubbing the tip of his dick against your slick folds. “Let me know if I hurt you,” he said, giving you a serious look. You nodded to show you understood. Changkyun slowly pushed past your lips, gliding into your wet pussy rather easily.

Or so you thought.

Once the head of his dick was inside you, he started to push further, a slight sting greeting your senses and you hissed. Changkyun stopped immediately, searching your face. “(Y/N)?” he asked. You nodded. “I’m okay,” you reassured him. “Please keep going,” you added.

Changkyun nodded and returned his attention to his length, slowly disappearing inside you. Little by little he slid in until he was fully buried inside. The throb of his member inside you made up for the feeling of emptiness earlier. Changkyun waited as your body adjust to him, feeling your walls contract around him occasionally. Finally you gave him the go ahead to move.

He held your hips in place as he slowly slid out of you until just the tip was inside before slowly pushing back in, drawing out his thrusts in an agonizing pace. “Stop teasing me,” you said after a few moments of this, causing Changkyun to laugh softly.

His grip tightened as he picked up the pace, thrusting into you at a faster speed. You moaned at the feeling of being filled, the earlier sting now replaced with a dull ache. You couldn’t be happier.

Changkyun, on the other hand was elated. He reveled in the feeling of your warm walls tightening around him as he thrust into you, a soft moan, falling past his lips as his eyes fluttered shut. It was undeniably the best feeling he’d ever experienced and being that it was you made it all the more special for him.

Your moans grew in pitch as he continued thrusting into you, the head of his cock hitting at rigid spot he’d felt earlier while fingering you. It seemed like that was your sweet spot and now that he found it, Changkyun was taking full advantage of it. He aimed for it, slamming into you harder, faster, and deeper in an effort to hit that spot, repeatedly. He wanted you to scream his name.

He wanted the whole building to know that he was the one fucking you so good. Not him.

Feeling his own orgasm drawing nearer, he focused on making you come again, his hand slid up your stomach, ghosting over your breast until it reached your neck. He softly wrapped his fingers around your throat, enjoying the way you clenched around him.

He remembered what he’d read about choking, taking care not to press against the front of your throat, only squeezing the sides, restricting the blood flow to your brain. You were still able to breathe but you head started to swim from the lack of blood to your brain, You let out a deep moan, your walls clenching around Changkyun tightly as he thrust into you, deeper than you thought possible.

He loosened his grip, allowing blood to flow once more.That didn’t stop his hips from snapping against yours though. Your entire body was hot, as if you had a fever but you knew you didn’t. You were close now. “I’m close,” you whispered. Changkyun moved his hand from your throat, sliding down your body until he pressed his thumb against your clit, massaging in time with his thrusts.

“Are you going to be a good girl,” he started, watching your face as your body started to shake, particularly your legs. “And come for me?” he added. You nodded, whimpering out a “yes.” Changkyun took this opportunity to push you just a bit further. “Yes, what?” he asked in a husky voice, his own orgasm within his reach.

You looked up at him, your face flushed, looking fucked out. You were a sight to behold. “Yes, daddy,” you breathed and that was all Changkyun needed to send you over the edge. Your second orgasm hit you like a wave, washing over you as you came on his dick with a cry of his name. Changkyun helped you ride out your high by chasing his own. He pounded into you, holding your hips against the mattress.

Not long after your second orgasm, you had your third as Changkyun was going for his. You came a third time with a whimper, begging him to stop. “It’s too much,” you panted, your body shuddering from the sensitivity of being overstimulated. 

“I’m almost there,” Changkyun whispered in your ear. 

He made good on his promise, and after a few more thrusts, he came with a groan, releasing into the condom he’d put on earlier. After a few shallow thrusts, he stilled, buried inside you as he panted to catch his breath.

After a few more minutes, he pulled out of you and rolled onto his back beside you, removing the condom and tying it off to toss in the trash can.

The two of you lay in silence for a few moments before he spoke. “That was incredible,” he said and you giggled, a blush forming on your face. You looked over to find him staring up at the ceiling. “Yeah,” you agreed. “It was.”

Changkyun turned his head to look at you. “I guess this means that you and Kihyun are--” he started.

“We were never a thing, Kyun. Honestly. We flirted a little but that was the extent of it. We never even kissed or held hands. He’s literally just a friend,” you said sitting up and looking at your best friend.

“I never wanted him, Kyun,” you added. “I wanted you. From the beginning, I always wanted you.”

Changkyun sat up, studying you with excited eyes. “I guess you can have me,” he said with a lopsided grin.

[transcendence-au]

Okay, sorry for sending so many asks, posts, reblogs, submissions and stuff lately.  I have been more active on tumblr lately, esp. for Gravity Falls, TAU, and Transcendence stuff lately.  Which I like in general, but with the TAUathon and the Transcendence zine stuff going on, both of which I have been busy with, and have been going on more lately  But yeah, I have fics I have been working on for both and they are almost done. 

They have a lot of references to other fics and head canons I have read.  Im also trying to research and make sure the lore and TAU is as correct and good as possible, so besides them being long, and me trying to make them as good as possible, the research is taking me awhile and stuff.  Anyways, for one of the fics, I want to clarify something, I want to make sure Im sticking to the canon or at lease the Squish as much possible, at least with these 2 fics.  Anyways, for the TAUathon fic Im almost done with, I want to ask this question, before I finish it, in case, however you answer makes me need to change things in the fic. 

I dont need to ask much questions for the TAU zine fic Im working on (which I hope they are still taking.  I did said I would be submitting something, but they didnt say any kind of due date, at least the last time I work.  I havent checked tumblr a lot until recently since I have been busy working on that TAU zine fic and the TAUathon fic, so yeah I have been busy) since Im pretty sure everything is right in it, and because Im pretty sure I cant tell and show much have a zine thing/fic (Im not completely sure on that, since this my 1st time entering a zine, or doing much zine things, though Im pretty sure, so yeah). 

Anyways, my question for the TAUathon fic I am working and I think is just an interesting question in general is how would Alcor’s (near) Omniscience would work with Gods?  I know in the TAU verse, Gods are more like Guardians of their Domain usually, and are usually less powerful than Angels and Demons, probably esp. the higher rank demons and angels.  Though, I bet there is probably some expectations with that too, esp. with more old/ancient, wise, and experienced Gods, but usually Gods are in TAU.  Gods remind a bit of Genius Loci (which I love too, I love Genius Loci stuff, I would love to read more on that.  I esp. love the Hank, Alcor Genius Loci stuff esp. in Portland, Gravity Falls, and some I have seen with LA, because those places are just great settings, esp. for mundane and prenatural stuff and coexisting. 

Gods remind me a bit of Genius Loci both protectors/guardians of their domain in a lot of ways (with Gods usually have having some stuff that shows who and what they are a God of and Genius Loci being basically literal personifications of the place), but probably a lot stronger and in most cases older, maybe not always though.  Anyways, back more on topic, how do you think Alcor’s (near) Omniscience, and probably others’ omniscience as well would work on Gods. 

I know Demons with other Demons its possible they might find out stuff about, or around the other demons, or the omniscience and the user might do works arounds to find out stuff, basically it can be very on the fritz, staticy, or/& barely working to not working at really.  I know demons usually cant read the others’ minds.  And Im basically do the same things with Gods, but both a lesser and more extent.  While Alcor’s omniscience is definitely on the fritz and kinda disjointed with the flow of words and information, it is probably giving him more information than he would be able to find out about demons right away, though sometimes if he pushes himself to find out more it causes bad physical stuff too, though the human form Alcor is right now, is not helping that, but basically pushing yourself can be bad with how Im writing that fic. 

And another more thing when it comes to trying to get read on Gods, esp. this particular Old God with his omniscience is that it is even harder to read their minds and get into their mindscapes maybe then even other demons (would omniscience with Angels work a bit similar to demons and Gods, or just completely differently now that I think about it?), and you would have to read and use aura and logical deductions a lot more maybe.  The reason why I think that, is because of the God Eye item helping against omniscient beings, though maybe whatever they do to turn an actual God Eye (I think its an actual God’s Eye) into an item/talisman maybe makes that stronger, I can see that.  Again, I know other people maybe different interpretations on how well or not well Omniscience and Alcor’s Omniscience will work against others.  Like I think I know pretty well on how well it works against (other) demons, but Im less sure about Angels and Gods. 

So if maybe you can tell your opinion and what you think that would be cool, esp. on the Gods stuff, because that is fic Im writing for TAU now.  And if think my ideas that I have been using in my TAU Gods fic makes sense when it comes to Omniscience and Alcor’s omniscience with them and also their own omniscience against other beings like gods, demons, angels, etc.  I think what Im doing in my fic with those ideas and stuff makes enough sense, but I would love to hear some of your thoughts if possible. 

If you dont know everything (yet) thats fine, Im just curious.  And Im also sure other people might come with really good TAU Gods (and even more Angels) lore, head canons, and stuff.  If you cant answer soon that is fine.  If I finish the fic before you answer, I might make another (updated) version with any information you tell me someday, till then I hope my fic is good enough representation of the kind stuff im asking about and accurate enough.  Ever seeing that Mother Gaia Prompt, been wanting more Gods and Old Gods in TAU, so Im making one (and maybe even more later) myself.  Also, sorry about long this was, I ended talking more than just the omniscience thing, haha.

----

Glad to see your enthusiasm! Sorry this took a little bit to answer; we’re aware that you’ve posted your TAU fic already. No worries, though; you’re pretty much spot on with the long and short of it, which is this: Alcor’s Omniscience may not be 100% reliable at all times.

In many works and headcanons in TAU, this ability of his seems to work a little more like a cosmic google search than anything. He often has to know what he wants to know about in the first place, and then be able to give it a moment of thought. Now, once he does so, any and all information that may be available to him is instantly downloaded and understood, as it were. That being said, sometimes the sources - or the subjects - of that information have enough power to put up blocks of some sort (for the most powerful, most exclusive example in this AU, consider True Names - no being, however omniscient, can simply reach into this well of knowledge and draw out the True Name of another being). Of creatures and beings with this amount of power, other demons would be some, and it’s very reasonable to assume that angels and even gods would be others. In theory, perhaps one with enough power could overwhelm the blocks around one with very little, but I’m not sure if that’s been explored as a concept.

So in short, I’m pretty sure you’ve got it! Have fun writing those Old Gods and Conceptual Deities!

[it-begins-with-rain]

Animal Crossing Tips & Tricks! (Part 4)

Part 4: Resident Services Gets Sexy, Kicking Out Villagers, and The Able Sisters

Resident Services Upgrade:

Once your 5th villager moves in, Tom Nook will let you know that the tent is closing down. For the entire next day you will be unable to access the ATM and the plaza will feature construction scaffolding.

The day AFTER that though, you’ll finally reach the end of what I call the “Tutorial Phase” of the game.

You’ll have a large brick plaza, and morning announcements will now be the domain of the perky and fun-loving poodle Isabelle!

You also get a host of new things you can do!

Tom Nook:

Tom handles all things housing.

For 5,000 bells, you can customize your home. There are multiple house expansions you buy from Tom Nook as you pay off the previous loan. Each expansion adds something you can customize or adds onto the existing catalogue of options. Mailboxes, doors, roof, and siding are customizable at different stages of expansion.

For 10,000 bells, he will give you a plot marker so you can invite new villagers to your island. They will move in with their SPECIAL CUSTOM HOME, no more defaults.

For 50,000 bells, you can move any villagers home, Nooks Cranny, or the Museum. The next morning they will appear where you place the marker.

For 50,000 bells you can move YOUR home anywhere you want. It’s alright if your current loan isn’t paid off, you can move it all the same.

You can also order the construction of one incline or bridge at a time. You choose from a small catalogue of styles (they will NOT match most of the permanent paths you can later build, just FYI), and place the bridge or incline marker kit where you’d like it to go.

A small orange creature appears with the scaffolding. The bridge or incline will be built the DAY AFTER you pay off the entire project.

You can go to Tom Nook to erase a bridge or incline- EVEN IF IT HASN’T BEEN BUILT YET.

Isabelle

Isabelle handles all things non-construction.

You can now submit one of the designs in your Designer App to replace the current flag (look online for patterns to recreate or wait until you unlock the clothing store and can download other user-created patterns).

You can create a custom tune for the town song. This is the little whistle pattern you hear every time you enter a building or initiate a conversation.

Isabelle also mediates disputes you have with other villagers. What this means is if you talk to her about a villager and say you’re having problems, she will say she will “speak with them”.

All this does is re-sets their personality marker. Nothing more.

Isabelle CANNOT help you get rid of villagers (more on that later).

Island Rating

Tom Nook informs you that he needs to speak with you about the next phase of the plan! He wants you to make the island nicer.

Once your island reaches a 3-star rating (Talk to Isabelle for your current rating and hints on how to improve it), musician KK Slider will visit. Consider this somewhat “Winning the game”. But not really.

Your island rating will probably be around 1-2 stars at this point.

Raise the rating by building fences, planting multiple species of fruit and flower, placing objects around your island (such as making little cafe areas), picking up weeds, not leaving dropped items (such as crafting materials or items in the little leaf icon form), crafting DIY recipes and placing them around the island, and building bridges and inclines.

You also need at least 7 villagers to reach 3 stars.

Up to now vacant plots have been “if you build it, he will come”, meaning they are sold by the next morning.

Now, however, your island rating matters. Plots might sit vacant for multiple days if your island rating is low.

The Campsite for Passive Aggressive Magicians

At this point, Tom Nook will give you a kit to build a campsite.

Once it is built, Isabelle will tell you in the daily announcement if there is a visitor at the campsite.

You can chat with visitors to the campsite and hopefully convince them to move to your island.

They will reject staying, then give you a challenge. You have to guess either the color of a playing card or the suite (heart, diamond, spade, club). 

They’ll also give you this challenge in exchange for clothes or other items.

If they reject moving to your island, just keep asking them. They’ll say they admire how you don’t listen to them or respect their opinion, then give you another attempt to guess the card right.

If you don’t have a plot of land available, just go set one up and they’ll offer to check with Tom again.

The first campsite visitor is special though. Your first villager is one you *have* to invite to live on the island.

They will move in with their special custom house design.

If you’re lucky it’s a cool villager and not a douche (fucking Julian).

Villagers (and how to get rid of the old ones)!

The rule from before holds- if you have an available plot of land (no matter your star rating), you will find random villagers on Mystery Islands. If you have enough miles to buy a bunch of Nook Miles Tickets (or *cough* buy a pack of nook miles on Amazon), you can be picky and shop around as much as you’d like.

Getting rid of the old ones is a game of luck. 

Each day you talk to a villager they get a point, giving them gifts that align with their style or favorite colors also gives points (you can find online guides to help you in this or download the ACNH.Guide phone app).

NOT talking to a villager removes a point.

Ignore a villager- sometimes it takes a couple weeks- until you see them pacing the island deep in thought with a little thought bubble above their head.

Talk to them and they will say they were thinking about exploring other islands. Encourage them to leave.

The next day Isabelle will announce they are leaving. Their house will be “in boxes”, so everything in moving boxes.

There is an opportunity at this point:: If someone else wants that villager, they can visit your island and chat with them while their house is in boxes. They will be able to invite the villager to move to THEIR island instead.

Likewise, if you have a free plot you can visit a villager on a friend’s island who is “in boxes” and invite them to live with you.

There are online forums devoted to letting people grab in-boxes villagers from one another.

The day after a villager is in-boxes their house will return to the scaffolding form and you can hunt down new villagers on Mystery Islands.

The Able Sisters

Each day you will have a different visitor to the island, and some of them will appear in your plaza.

The most important visitor at this point in the game is Mable- a blue hedgehog.

Every time you see her, buy as much of her wares as you can afford, even if you don’t like it.

Once you’ve bought 5,000 bells worth of items, she’ll say she and her sister were thinking of moving to the island and setting up a shop.

She will give you the  building kit for the Able Sisters shop.

When the shop opens, every single day there will be new clothing items available. Don’t rely on the mannequins and displays in the shop- go into the fitting room to try on things in many different colors!

At the back of the shop is a kiosk. Players who design their own clothes upload them to the Nintendo servers. Using the kiosk and typing in those codes (or now there is a keyword search) will give you outfits that others have designed! Save the outfits to your DesignPro phone app (on your in-game phone).

Open your phone app (in game phone) to select the outfit to wear!

At the back of the store is Sable- a red hedgehog.

She is unfriendly when you first visit.

Talk to her every single day and she will slowly- over a week or two- become friendlier.

Once Able is fully unlocked as a friend, she will give you patterns to customize the fabrics of your DIY projects.

Visit her daily still to get more patterns at random.

[craftloading57]

Camtasia Loop Video

I’m in the process of creating DVD videos from Camtasia Videos. I ran into a pretty hefty obstacle, though. My converted DVD’s looked blurry and low-quality. Using the software and settings below, I was able to create a sharp and well-focused DVD that played perfectly in my DVD player and allowed me to read rather fine text on my LCD TV.

The Software I Used

Zoom your video Select Animations in the tools panel and switch to the Animations tab. Click and drag the Scale Up animation to the clip you want to zoom. This adds an animation to the clip, with a default zoom already applied. To preview the animation, click and drag the playhead. I have a Camtasia project named aaa.camrec and want to capture an image in the middle of the video. How can I do it with highest possible original recording resolution? In Camtasia 2020, there is a new icon that looks like a camera in the timeline tools. The Loop: Our Community & Public Platform Roadmap for Q2 2021.

The video cutter in Camtasia allows you to trim the video and audio files separately. Cropping, zooming, and splitting are great techniques to have in your video editing tool belt! What is scaling? Scaling an image will change the overall size of that image. It is always best to display media at 100% scale in Camtasia.

Camtasia Studio 6 (for capturing the video and creating easy pan and zooms)

Sony Vegas Pro 8.0c (critical for getting a crisp AVI file)

Sony DVD Architect 4.5 (critical for creating the crisp, DVD ready folder structure)

Believe it or not, I’m using all the above on Windows 7 (64 bit) successfully.

Export Settings for Camtasia Studio

In my case, I’m using an AVI video that was already created. It’s 640×480 in size. If you’re recording your own Camtasia videos, shoot the originals in 1280 x 720 for 16:9 video according to John’s instructions. This will allow you the maximum potential for leveraging your video in various mediums (YouTube, DVD, BluRay, etc).

Go ahead and edit your video in Camtasia to your liking. You’ll need to use Pan ‘n Zoom quite a bit to show detail on the DVD. Once you’re done editing and saving your project, it’s time to export the video.

In Camtasia Studio, go to File > Produce Video As…

Select DVD Ready, then click the drop-down again and select Add/Edit Preset.

Make sure DVD-Ready is selected on the top drop-down and click Edit right below it.

Give the Preset a New Name. I used DVD-Ready AVI (NTSC). In hindsight, I should have named it “Sony DVD Architect Ready“.

Below are the settings I used.

Go ahead and export the file. This could take a while depending on the size of your video. Once it’s done, it’s time to load up Sony Vegas Pro.

How to Create a Crisp, DVD-Ready Video File in Sony Vegas Pro

Ok, we have the AVI file exported out of Camtasia Studio. You’re probably asking, “why don’t I just burn that file”? Firstly, we need to convert the AVI file into a DVD compliant structure.Secondly, most software the converts AVI’s to DVD structures compress the video into blurry, unreadable messes. AVS4You Video Editor, for example, did a terrible job rendering sharp files.

I got the best results using Sony Vegas Pro 8.0c and Sony DVD Architect 4.5. Basically, I’m using Sony Vegas Pro to create a crisp, new AVI file with minor tweaks that will make a huge difference on a DVD. Then I’m creating the DVD folder with Sony DVD Architect.

Here are the steps to Export the Detailed DVD AVI from Sony Vegas Pro:

Open Sony Vegas Pro. Go to File > Import > Media… and locate the AVI that Camtasia exported.

Right click the video in the Project Media window and select Properties.

Change the Pixel Aspect Ratio to 0.9091 (NTSC DV). Click OK.

Drag it into the Main timeline on the bottom.

Go to File > Render As… and use the settings below:

Then click “Custom…”

You’ll notice there are Tabs on the bottom of this window. Use the following settings on the tabs indicated below:

On the Project Tab, select “Best”.

On the Audio Tab, check “Include Audio Stream”.

Optionally, type in a new name for the template and press the “Save” icon. This makes it easy to select later.

Click OK.

Click Save to Render the MP2 (.mpg) file.

How to Create the DVD File in Sony Architect 4.5

Now you have a DVD Architect Compliant MP2 file that’s ready for DVD folder creation. If you didn’t do the step above, DVD Architect would insist on re-compressing the video file again to make it DVD compliant. By using the settings above, DVD architect will simply create the necessary DVD folders and “package everything up” for a Burning program like Nero, AVS Disc Creator, etc.

Camtasia Loop Video Editor

Open Sony DVD Architect.

On the bottom left panel there’s a tab called Explorer. Click it and find the previously created AVI file.

Once you find the file, it will appear in the right window. Right click it and select Insert Media.

It will be added to your DVD Menu.

Now go to File > Make DVD.

Click Prepare and in the next window, find a folder to save the DVD folder to. Click Next.

You should only see 1 Warning message about Audio being compressed. If you see a warning about video being compressed, you messed up somewhere.

Click Next. There should be “No Messages to Display” again.

Click Finish to create the DVD Folder. Warning: this will create an UGLY DVD disc menu. Creating pretty menus is outside the scope of this article.

Burn Your DVD

For the last step, you simply need to burn your DVD folder to a DVD. You can use Nero, AVS4You Disc Creator, CDBurnerXP or whatever else you wish. However, make sure you burn it as slow as possible to be sure it will play on all DVD players. Car DVD’s are especially sensitive and need to be burned at a max of 4x.

That’s it, enjoy your new, crisp DVD on your TV.

P.S. There’s also a really good course on converting Camtasia to DVD by John Rofrano. It goes into much greater detail.

Need to change the focus of your video clip but you don’t want to re-shoot your footage? The crop tool can help!

Cropping is the process of moving or adjusting the edges of an image or video clip.

Often used for photo editing, it is also helpful when editing video. With cropping, you can remove unnecessary or distracting portions of a video clip or change its dimensions to fit within a certain area.

Whether you’re working with footage from a camera or screen video, you will likely run into times when you need to crop these clips. Camera footage is often cropped to change the emphasis of a shot or remove unwanted and distracting portions.

Whether you’re working with footage from a camera or screen video, you will likely run into times when you need to crop these clips. Camera footage is often cropped to change the emphasis of a shot or remove unwanted and distracting portions.

Camtasia Video Editor

How to crop a video

Here are step-by-step instructions to crop a video using Camtasia.

Start cropping your own videos with Camtasia!

Download a free trial and get started today!

Step 1:

With a video clip or image selected on the canvas, you can select the crop tool button.

Step 2:

With the crop button selected, select the video clip or image that you want to crop.

Step 3:

A thin blue line and handles will appear on your media, signifying that crop mode is enabled.

Click and hold the handles to drag the edges of the clip or image until the desired shot is achieved.

Step 4:

When you’re finished, toggle back to the cursor by clicking the pointer option above the canvas.

After a clip is cropped, you can move it wherever you need on the canvas.

How to un-crop a clip

Using Camtasia to crop a clip is particularly convenient because it’s “non-destructive.” This means that when a clip is cropped, the original clip remains intact.

Camtasia Free Download Windows 10

So, if you’re working later on and realize you need to change how the clip has been cropped, you can!

Simply use the steps earlier in this post to toggle crop mode and make the necessary changes by adjusting the edges.

How is cropping different from zooming and trimming?

As we discussed above, cropping is the process of moving or adjusting the edges of an image. Of course, there are other ways to edit your video that don’t involve cropping images or parts of your video. Splitting and trimming are two common techniques.

Zooming is perfect for software tutorials and demonstrations when you need to display a detailed view of a user interface. Camtasia lets you zoom in or out in your videos by changing the size or scale of clips and images.

Trimming usually refers to removing part of the beginning or end of a video clip. Sometimes, this is referred to as trimming the top or tail (beginning or end). Trimming is critical to making sure that your video starts quickly and you don’t lose your audience’s attention. The video cutter in Camtasia allows you to trim the video and audio files separately.

Cropping, zooming, and splitting are great techniques to have in your video editing tool belt!

What is scaling?

Scaling an image will change the overall size of that image. It is always best to display media at 100% scale in Camtasia. Camera footage can sometimes be scaled down without losing as much clarity.

In either case, stretching a video or image larger than its natural size can cause pixelation. The scale of a clip or image in Camtasia can be viewed and edited in the Properties panel.

When you should crop a video

Here are a few ways that cropping can be a helpful technique to have in your toolbox:

Fitting footage in a specific space or frame – like a device frame

Patching a mistake or irregularity in a screen recording

Removing black bars from mobile video

Showing simultaneous actions happening in separate areas of your screen

Displaying multiple clips on screen simultaneously

Isolating part of a user interface

Camtasia Video Editor Download Free

Now that you have learned how to crop a video in Camtasia, get out there and work some video magic!

Related Posts:

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Translation Plans

Well... my break was pretty good. was finally able to download the clean fresh live version of the cxm secret mission that i had my eye on since i ranked up, saw the 1984 wonder woman movie (it was okay and I could write an essay on what didn’t sit well with me as a fan of the comics [im kinda of a comic book purist when it comes to the way characters think and their behaviour] but I really liked Lynda Carter’s cameo).... made a lot of progress on one of the hakumyu piano arrangements i’m working on (have now probably listened to certain parts of that song over a hundred times now), watched a bunch of the original hakuoki musicals in hd.... and I finally got my dad to play Batman: Arkham Asylum. My bro and I have been trying to get that to happen for years lol... especially since it has Conroy and Hamill doing the Batman and Joker voices (the animated series is the best!). super steep learning curve tho since it’s being played on the ps3 and the last console he used was the Nintendo Gamecube.    

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stock up on translations as much as I would have liked to during this time on account of my hardware seriously acting up... to the point that I needed to send my laptop in for repairs and get a new one. Aside from how unresponsive my keyboard was and how hot it got, the laptop itself had become quite slow... though that might have been because my passport [external storage drive] took a bad fall which made a lot of my files harder to access since it was barely able to handle files being accessed/copied/moved off of it (this is after diagnosing it and repairing it via command prompt chkdsk x: / r), with the latter being what I spent most of my break waiting for as i avoided using my laptop since the majority of my drama rips and game capture videos were on it... To give you an idea of how long this took (and how long it is still taking), I went from being able to transfer my 50mb of files in a few seconds... to sometimes taking more than a day (tho other times i’d be able to get 4gb moved in >24 hours, making the timing super inconsistent. also i don’t have access to a cd drive now so i can’t just re-rip things)... which is why I haven’t been able to work on any videos since my last post (I have more than 1.3TB of stuff to move, so my new laptop isn’t exactly at its best right now and won’t be for a long while since I’m not going to be using a recovery service as waiting out the transfers for everything out will definitely be cheaper... the ballpark estimate I got was being anywhere from $500-2000, which is money that i am not exactly eager to part from just for the sake of saving time)... meaning I also probably won’t get to videos for a while since subtitling requires accurate timing and im not fond of things freezing on me while working on videos... ugh. i still have to do an insane amount of grinding later in warframe once my current batch of files finishes transferring... 

Anyway, below is a list of what I’ve mostly managed to schedule (anything with a “?” is something that I haven’t committed to) and a list of what I’d like to get done this year (can’t make any guarantees... however, im probably going to try and translate some things with souma this year cuz of hakumyu), while the stuff in bold text is on my shortlist of things I intend to prioritize (Saito’s Ginsei no Shou chapters and Shinsengumi Oni-tan are still being worked on though not as actively since they’re a lot longer...). 

Also, aside from December, the month that CNY falls on (February this year) and March (bday) will be the only foreseeable times when I put out less translations tho I’ll probably be playing video catch-up during that time this year since i’m not sure what i’ll be able to get done as i wait for my files to get moved.

oh well. I’m still aiming towards posting stuff on a weekly basis for the rest of the year... here’s hoping that it’s less volatile.... tho i unfortunately have non-existent expectations given what made the news yesterday. just glad i don’t live there.

YAISA!

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January

Yuugiroku 3 Saito Fall story today!

Chapter 7 of Saito’s route from Ginsei no Shou + 4-koma

Hakuoki Kyoka-Roku Kazama CG Character Perspective [no vid. havent beaten this game and im not sure when i’ll feel like speed running through it]

Hakuo Gakuen Q & A

February 

Stellaworth Hana no Shou After Story - Harada

Chapter 1 of Saito’s route from Ginsei no Shou

Web drama 8

March

Yuugiroku 3 - Short Episode #8 (Kazama/Amagiri/Shiranui) [still need to get video and screenshots] 

Yuugiroku Drama CD Thumb Sized Samurai Track 1-4 (4 is WIP)?

Char monologue?

April

2017 Otomate Hakuoki SSL April Fool’s Day

薄桜鬼 遊戯録 隊士達の大宴会 店铺特典「教えてください山崎さん！」 (completed yesterday)

Yuugiroku 3 - Short Episode #6 “Yukimura the page’s secret”?

char perspective?

Other

Hijikata Biyori (cuz these are short) 

Yuugiroku 3 Short Episodes (these are longer than the ssl cross and daily stories)

Kyoka Roku Conversation in the Rain - Okita/Toudou/Kazama

Kyoka-Roku CG perspectives

2013 Otomate Party Hakuoki drama “Ideal place for a disagreement”

Saito Ginsei no Shou Chapters

Shinsengumi Oni-tan

Stellaworth Hana no Shou After Stories - Souji, Heisuke (THIS YEAR FOR SURE DAMMIT!)

2011 Hakuoki Reimeiroku Otomate Party drama

Stellaworth Nightshade Kuroyuki CD

薄桜鬼 遊戯録弐 祭囃子と隊士達 A店特典「あなた好みの想いの形」

薄桜鬼 真改 ~風華大全~ 特典「稽古の痛み」

2016 Otomate Party Code:Realize drama* (this is almost 30 min so i will probably translate less that month if i get to it)

2019 ????????????? Halloween SS?*

????????????? Stellaworth Vocal CD (8 tracks)*

*have to check these 3 since I don’t actively follow these fandoms/tags tho im pretty sure no one has translated anything from the fandom for the last 2 items.

also, re:patreon goal - i am currently not able to access the files for the drama i am looking to get a translation commissioned for as it is in the process of being moved off of my damaged passport. 29gb  remains as part of that transfer, which is the result of me trying to move all 865 files from where i keep the majority of the hakuoki dramas i’ve saved all at once... ended up doing that because every time I access that hard drive, each time i open up a folder, and every time I highlight a file to move, the file explorer goes “not responding” for an uncertain amount of time, and have instead opted in doing something that would hopefully reduce the likelihood of something crashing.