#best worst hobby

[skloomdumpster]

Youtuber voice: make a gifset with me :)

alright folks, welcome to another episode of Jo talking to the void. Gonna try and do a "follow my process" thing.

It's very- VERY long and image heavy. Under the cut and feel free to send me an ask if you have any questions/want me to elaborate on anything.

Part 1: Grab at any idea that sparks joy. Anything. Today mine is the word "horror", so we'll try and do a horror set.

Part 2: Scene analysis and reference hunting. I'll open a new folder on my pc named "Horror gifset" and dump there all the FTWS scenes I already have and that I think could be fun. Open pinterest and behance and type "horror", see if anything sparks an idea.

This takes me roughly 20 mins, here's what I have:

I try to take a step back and see what is it about these designs that attracted me. Clearly the red & black contrast, Bloom and I actually just like the "police line" because of the amount of storytelling it brings by doing basically nothing. (Don't be fooled, I saved many many pics before narrowing it down)

Part 3: To me this is the hardest one. I want to have a small storyline in my gifset, so time to think of it. I open a notes document and just start typing whatever comes to mind, trying to keep the mood of the previous images.

Here's what I landed on. It's not much, but I can now start the fun part of structuring the gifset.

Part 4: I've really been into layout lately, so now's the time to do math.

The first panel I knew I wanted to have the text centered in the middle and surrounded by the mini-gifs. Here are the two layouts I thought of. I decided to go with the second one because it's more interesting, but I already knew I'd tweak a lot, to resemble an actual police line, etc.

I separated all of the scenes from 2x06. Both when Bloom is arrested and when she's released, considering I could use them in reverse.

When making layouts the only things to keep in mind is that the dashboard optimal width is 540 px and that the space in between every piece of "frame" you put within a gif is 2px. So let's say I was going with the square layout 1. It's 540 px width, BUT I can't just divide 540/3 and make that the size of my layout, because I need to account for the space in between the squares too. So the math is actually 540 - 4 (because I have three columns - two gaps)/3 = 178 px. All the squares in that image are 178 x 178.

On Scene grabbing: I do everything I can to use footage that's high quality. This is the easiest way for your gifs to come out pretty, avoid anything lower than 1080. Especially if you're grabbing a scene that'll need loads of adjustments like a night scene or a period piece with too much yellow, grab even higher quality than 1080.

When I work with Redeeming Love's footage, I work with 4k quality, because I know I'm about to destroy the quality by adjusting it.

I mean look at the amount of yellow.

I t*rrent all my scenes in MKV, then use Avidmux to chop the entire movie/show into smaller sized scenes and convert it into mp4.

Part 5: Back to the set. Once I have the basic layout, I pull in my scenes and check if they make sense. One big tip is to stop thinking of scenes as what you watched, but as what you're seeing.

Scenes meaning are very easily altered by whatever context they're put in. Look for scenes in unexpected places (the romantic scene can absolutely be horror footage) and reverse the order or add in effects to alter their meaning.

Each one of these gifs had it's own peculiarities. So to break it down:

Gif 1: I colored it to bring out the black and added the blue because I knew I wanted to use overwhelming red later and this would pop-out. Shaded the white streaks so they'd appear more like police lines and colored them using a gradient just so it'd be more interesting. I didn't like how Bloom's upper part lined up with the cuffs, so I inverted it and brought out the red

Gif 2: First off, I scavenged my memory to try and find a scene where a character appears with white eyes like Bloom's. This poor fella is from The Covenant (2005). I color matched both Bloom's and his scenes so the green was neutralized and we had more blue and red. Then finally I added the phone where the actual storyline I wrote back up starts to unfold.

Gif 3.1: First off, this gif is 540 width, but not 540 px tall. It's actually 400 px tall, which is a good tip: You don't have to stick to one format when giffing. Sometimes a layout or scene simply won't work in a tall format and that's fine.

For this first part all I did was color Bloom, slap the all red color map and the text. Then I realized I didn't like her swimsuit under blending, so I went back and specifically desaturated the red in the starting layer and made it dark, so it'd show up black. The "20 years" are subtle, but in my head it'd be what the characters are hearing in their nightmare, so it's just a faint whisper in the corner.

Gif 3.2: I colored all scenes to match each other. Sky's was the darkest one, so I knew I'd try and match to his because then I wouldn't have to destroy the quality of his footage to match the others. Musa's scenes was tricky because in the actual scene she's waking up slowly and happy. I chose to speed it up and start the gif already in her movement, so you don't realize she's actually very relaxed in the scene.

Gif 4: I started by coloring Bloom and Riven's footage, reducing the yellow and bringing out the blue and red in both. As you can see there's still a candle behind Riven, that makes it hard to see his face, so what I did was add a black shape under (or you could paint a layer in PS) with black and just blur the edges, so his footage would actually show. Finally there was that big empty spot in the upper left, so I added a note and used it to wrap up the story of the set.

There are two layers of text, both set to multiply: one is the actual text, the second one is in a brighter red and blurred in one direction, so it looks like the text got smeared in a rush. Added the blood and ta-da! We're done.

Exporting:

If you're exporting from After Effects, I've found exporting in MOV works better than trying to export in mp4, since it doesn't compress the file. You'll notice I'm using the format "apple ProRes 444", that's simply because this format keeps the alpha channel (transparent). While I didn't need it in this set, it's an habit.

Once I export from after effects, we're importing in Photoshop.

I import by going File > Import > Video Frame to Layers. Then you select your file and you should have this:

Hit OK.

If you don't have the timeline here, simply go in "Window > Timeline"

You'll end up with something like this. Now here's the most boring part of giffing, but don't give up now!

Go on the 3 lines on the bottom right of the timeline (=) and click on "select all frames". Once they're all selected, click the little down arrow under the little thumbnails to change the timing. I change mine from 0.04 to 0.05

Then I select all my LAYERS (not frames), put them inside a group. And click:

On this little piled up icon to transform into the video timeline. This is so we can sharpen our gifs.

Right Click on top of the group on the layers panel and select "convert to smart object". Then in the upper bar, click Filter > Sharpen> Smart Sharpen and use these settings:

This is what makes gifs look clear and crispy.

FINALLY we're saving. You can do it manually, like a peasant, by going on file > export > save for web (legacy). Or you can play keyboard piano and hit alt+shift+ctrl+s.

These are my export settings.

Things to keep in mind:

"Diffusion" is just one of the types of exporting you can do. TWEAK THIS for every gif. Sometimes very detailed gifs will look better with Pattern. Very colorful ones with Diffusion. It varies a lot.

"Adaptive" is just another way the pixels are laid out. I don't actually see much difference here, but I always tweak on all settings, just to make sure I'm getting the best quality by the smaller size.

On the bottom left you'll see your size. Mine is currently 6.82M. All you have to know is that Tumblr won't allow any gif bigger than 9.8M.

Looping Options: make sure it's in forever, otherwise your gifs won't play.

And then... finally, hit save.

....

Now rinse repeat and do this for 200 other gifsets, because it's a totally fun hobby to have!

[cienie-isengardu]

Mortal Kombat 1 Behind the Scenes AU: Since when you two are friends?!

[Cage’s Mansion] [Waiting for Liu Kang] [Special Bonus] [Grandmaster’s commentary] [Climbing scene] [Madam Bo’s Inn] [Cage’s Mansion 2 (fire extinguisher)] [Medic] [Shang Tsung’s sad face] [Smoke’s Fall] [Scenography (1)] [Scenography (2)] [Show off!] [Favorite brother] [Climbing on the wall (nonsense)] [Tomas’ commentary] [Perfectly fine] [Sexy, sexy man~♪] [Brothers between filming - Scenography(3)] [Wrong team!]

[redbelles]

It’s been three years since the wedding, and he’s run out of excuses not to visit. They’re expecting him today. Marge said as much in her last letter, the lovely slant of her cursive telling him she’d have supper waiting for him. The faintest whiff of her perfume clung to the paper, something soft and floral.

Five o’clock on the dot. Italian, she promised. Your favorite.

the chimneys hardly ever fall down a john/gale/marge fic by @redbelles

[sunlightfeeling]

tbh if i could to a SMAP concert that was regarded as a “public rehearsal” i would be just as, if not more, ecstatic about seeing them…

Music Station: 2005.7.29

[azumasoroshi]

the shizu-chan song

just discovered the shizu-chan song by none other than johnny yong bosch. help me

id transcribe if i didnt have a final in 10 hours. maybe when i get back

oh nvm someone already wrote them out

this has similar energy as the bro duet song but like. in reverse bgskjdghjkgsd the no homo is for real

plus an animatic version and amv version because holy hell this is old

[junemermaid]

writer interview

I was tagged by @vaynglories, @lynne-monstr and @la-muerta all at one point or another. Thank you all kindly, sorry it took me so long! 💗

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

120 unique works. I have two double entries from when the old Yuletide archive was imported to AO3, so the total on my author page is 122. It's missing any fic I wrote before 2005 but honestly I'm fine with those being lost in the mists of the internet. If you know, you know.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,004,161.

I didn't actually wait to do this meme until I passed the one million words mark, but I also kinda did.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

bodies full of untold stories (malec, E, Shadowhunters) / 1,343

an act of faith against the night (malec, T, Shadowhunters) / 1,037

House of Ash and Salt (dorian x bull, M, DA:I) / 995

Walkers of the Winding Path (malec, E, Shadowhunters) / 933

Talking With Strangers (malec, E, Shadowhunters) / 930

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I used to and it's my one continuing regret that I haven't been able to catch up with my inbox! The greatest reason why I currently seldom reply to comments is that I have such a backlog. The other reason is that I will either answer comments or write more fic, and I'm sure everyone rather that I do the latter. Still, I miss the conversation around fic that replying to comments often generated.

I mean: I need more writing friends and goddamn, please talk to me because I feel detached from fandom and it's the worst thing.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Probably to make the saints attend them long (malec, T, SH) which ends with extremely heavily implied MCD.

I tend to write hopeful to bittersweet endings, so this was a rarity for me.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Define happy ending? I do have one, all souls sheltered, (dorian x bull, T, DA:I) which IS the soft epilogue I wanted those two characters to have after all their toils and troubles.

These two questions mostly tell me that most of my endings don't fit well on the happy to sad scale. I tend to leave characters at points where they can look forward to the future and any acute crises are over, but I really wish "happy for now" or "a happy middle" would stick as ending descriptions because that's where I live.

7. Do you write crossovers?

I write fusions? Not traditional crossovers but I have a very niche fic thing where I take Alec and Magnus and stick them into the worlds of videogames I love. To wit, the Witcher (Walkers of the Winding Path) and Final Fantasy X (Servant of the Spiral).

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yep. Didn't much care for it.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! I've written my share of PWP but more typically the process goes something like this:

I find a kink/trope/sex situation I want to try writing

the fic grows copious amounts of plot/worldbuilding/interpersonal drama (exhibit A: the tentacle porn that came with 3,000 words of, uh, creature logistics so I could have tentacles)

I spend two years working on bullet point two before the characters ever get naked in each other's company

My smut fic tends to the tender/longing/emotional, though. I use sex mostly as a vehicle for character exploration or to drive the drama of a story, so most of my sex scenes pull double duty to also move the overall story forward.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. I'm a pretty niche writer in most of my fandoms, I don't think you would make either much fandom fame or big bucks with my writing.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! to make the saints attend them long is translated into Italian.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. I'm a slow writer and I have to hew out writing time from the bedrock of my RL, so it wouldn't be very conducive to sharing a creative project, even though the basic idea appeals to me.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I was gonna make a joke about being asked to rate my children, but tbh I would rather not refer to fictional characters by any family term. However! I have changing obsessions and there's always some ship or canon that is eating up my brain at any given time, but I don't really get over ships. The details of canons fade with time but characters live forever in my heart.

Back in the mists of time, Ichigo and Rukia changed who I was as a person. (Then I added in Renji and It Got Better.) I adore Alec and Magnus but the fandom was categorically A Lot. Same with Dorian and Bull. Josephine and Cassandra were a total crack ship in the sense that there's no canon but I still love the idea of an f/f lady/champion pairing.

And right now I have two competing wuxia ot3s vying from my attention so. This is not a question I can answer.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

My general fic writing philosophy is "whatever you can, whenever you can". I've made my peace with the fact that sometimes I'll start a thing and post a bit and then it simply won't get finished. Fic is free and no one has to click on a WIP (much as I love those people who will!)

So, unfortunately there's a few old WIPs on my ao3 that I don't think will ever get wrapped. The older the fic, the less likely it is. I keep them up as testament to the process, I suppose, or in case anyone likes the idea enough to read whatever I managed of it.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Putting canon under a lens until I have a mental Wall of Crazy with ten thousand interconnecting red strings and obscure notes, and then wringing story out of elements in the text that might not seem to connect on the surface.

I know sometimes you have to just wholesale go "this makes zero sense" and drop a bit of canon, but what I enjoy is taking bits and pieces and adapting them to fic. My current project is writing all the Mu Nihuang POV she really kind of doesn't get in Nirvana in Fire itself, and I am having a blast.

Also: character voice, action scenes, evocative description, setting up an emotional punch and taking you out with it 2,000 words later

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm slow, picky, and obsessive. I have to be In A Mood before I can put words to paper (I'm trying to combat this by becoming more of a garbage goblin about my first drafts. All words are good words! Hissss!) I'm bad at humour unless I'm accidentally funny.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

It can be used to good effect but it's best used sparingly. I would generally always prefer that plot-relevant or important dialogue were simply, "This is the murder weapon," she said in French. Don't withhold information or emotional impact for the sake of showing off.

And oh god, never, ever put dialogue through MTL and expect it to come out right. If you absolutely need dialogue in a foreign language, consult an actual person that speaks it.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Very technically, ElfQuest. For actual published fic, Rurouni Kenshin.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

Mysterious Lotus Casebook tickles my brain but I don't yet quite know what I want to write about! I have enough trouble herding the rowdy cats that are my NiF ideas right now.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Always the one I'm working on. So much of the joy of fic is bound up in the good creative rush of making it happen. Just as so much of the woe of fic is in the fucking toil of making it happen.

Anyway! Flowers in Dreamland Weather (jingsuhuang, E, Nirvana in Fire) got me out of a slump and gave me new characters and relationships to rotate in my head, and I love it for that.

Talking With Strangers (malec, E, Shadowhunters) actually got finished in a satisfying way, and I love it for that.

Maybe those are my current answers.

-

I will no-pressure tag — @theotherjax, @electricshoebox, @faejilly, @sinni-ok-sessi, @ladymatt, and anyone that still wants to do this! I've seen this doing the rounds, so if you haven't yet, please feel free to blame me for enabling you!

[pedros-immaculate-vibes]

When you wish the chapter was done so you could sit down and read it and squee over the things that you made happen

because now they’re happening and you don’t have to worry about explaining how they happened poorly or making dumb things happen. it’s done. They happened. And now you’re in that brief little sliver of a post-chapter high where all is right with the world bc you FINALLY MADE THE THING YOU LOVE

Right before you reach the precipice of But What Happens Next.

[keptthepieces]

tumblr friends u will never believe it but i started writing again

[miagkoi]

mommy issues monday: somehow the minute my mother gets home any notion of any kind of productivity just disappears from my body. the same when we are in different cities and after even the shortest phonecall I feel like dropping whatever plans I had bcs there's no energy or motivation left in me. I've been beyond needing praise from her for years now I just need her not to shit all over it and call it worthless and useless. I've been hiding whatever I'm doing from when I can so I have a chance at getting it done.

I'm so glad we are both insane in our own unique ways ❤

[parasafterdark]

Queer MaDD culture is daydreaming about your deathgame participants figuring out a clue while you're literally, physically, in this very moment, are dancing behind a Pride Parade float

Normal adult human play!

[shallowseeker]

Thank you for writing about a Sam who's kinda aware of Destiel, but also not aware of Destiel, and who's a know-it-all but knows nothing at the same time. I love it so much! Not that I'm knocking Sam's intelligence, but I get so tried of how he gets portrayed in fics, like he knows Caveman Dean's thoughts and emotions better than Dean knows them himself. Also kudos on how you wrote Cas and Sam annoying each other. I lulzed several times. -gem

Thx! It was inspired by all the dean-positive/pro-complex sam meta writers I follow. Very fun to play with!

[fourohfourlifenotfound]

Hey other people with chronic pain that flares up with activity

How do you overcome the pavlovian conditioning to associate activities that you need/want to do with pain?

[redbelles]

i DO have to ask about chimneys 😈

i am under ATTACK so you know what? FINE. using my powers (in-flight wifi) for evil (rude snippets):

a little preview of john’s next chapter for u 😇

ask me about my wips

[rivalkieran]

curtis is actually so funny what do you mean his favorite hobby outside of idol work is FISHING

[musical-chick-13]

Okay, I figured it out. It's not "They would not fucking say that" that's the problem. It's "The overall trends in ways HOW people rewrite characters in fanworks in accordance with preexisting biases never ceases to be incredibly frustrating" that drives me up the wall.

It doesn't matter if a given person doesn't write the women "in-character" because everything's made up and the points don't matter. But when there's an overall trend of making her into the One-Dimensional Bitch character just so a main ship has An Obstacle, I think that deserves examination.

When the characters in a fandom who are allowed redemption aus are overwhelmingly white and the characterizations of the poc are overwhelmingly "Violent in ways they aren't in canon," yeah, I think that deserves examination.

When white (conventionally attractive) male villainous behavior gets subsumed under the umbrella of "He's just mentally ill" and no such grace or nuance is extended to literally any other type of character (including ones who explicitly CANONICALLY suffer from mental illness), I think that deserves examination.

No, fandom is not activism, no, people don't owe you a nuanced portrayal of social issues in their meta or fanfic. No, not all examples of interpreting characters through various lenses are malicious or speak to pRoBLeMaTiC (GOD I am rolling my eyes so hard at my use of this word) behavior. I just think that, if we really care about dismantling structural inequality, we have to examine how we reflect and perpetuate it in ALL aspects of our lives; which, yes, is going to have to include our hobbies sometimes.

[junemermaid]

things I wanted from this fic:

emotionally cathartic ot3 porn

some therapeutic yelling to lead into said porn

to fill in the canon-poor side of the triangle a little bit

things this fic has given me:

an obsessive deep dive into Mu Nihuang

too many opinions on her parents

a side plot with pirates

Xiao Jingyan's heartbreaking abandonment issues

a love for Lin Shu being a terrible gremlin too clever for his own good

Mei Changsu featuring in maybe two (three?) chapters out of five

a headache over how to crack the beloved bastard man (affectionate) without breaking him—there is a difference

Jingyan going undercover

Nihuang with an axe (yes this is very important)

a clandestine co-dependent not-quite-romance I thought was gonna be two scenes and is now a chapter-long flashback

by god some drinking under the moon because it is a crime this show has not a single scene of that

This was gonna be a PWP. I swear to god.