#click for higher resolution as usual

[binah-beloved]

i have an infestation

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

one day we'll get another physical DPS... one day...

[dicegrimorium]

Greetings!

The leaves are turning orange, fall is here. That fact would usually go unnoticed because the changing of seasons is an inevitability of life. Yet this time something seems off.

A road has appeared, as if calling our dear adventurers. Was it always there? They're not sure. The carved pumpkins are looking with that hypnotic gaze at the heroes. They feel compelled to follow their instructions. To venture deeper into the forest and find out what's at the end of the road.

But the journey won't be easy. The seemingly inert pumpkins have a life of their own! And they go straight to the adventurers' throat.

Now they're more determined than ever to find out what is causing this madness. Will they be able to reach the end and find out?

You can see a preview of this map’s Patreon content by clicking here.

If you liked the map I’d be extremely thankful if you considered supporting me on my Patreon, rewards include higher resolution files, gridless versions, alternate versions, line versions, PSDs and more. Thank you!

[bastila-s]

Baldurs Gate 3 High Quality Screenshot Tutorial 2.0

Hi everyone, I decided I wanted to make a more specific and slightly more in-depth tutorial on how I take screenshots in Baldur's Gate 3. For this tutorial, you will need ReShade and Otis_INF'S Photomode Mod. If you do not want to download these for whatever reason, my older tutorial covers alternative ways to get some nice screenshots.

1. ReShade (skip if you already have ReShade downloaded)

For this step, you're going to want to download ReShade. ReShade is important to this tutorial as it's going to allow you to take screenshots of your game in higher resolutions. To do this, find a ReShade preset you like on the Nexus. (You can find lots of them by just typing in "reshade" in the search bar). From there, most mod authors will explain how to download ReShade in their mod description and get it working for your game.

Once you successfully have Reshade installed, a bar of text will appear at the top of your screen, prompting you to press 'home.' This will put you through a mini-tutorial if just installed it.

2. Photomode Mod

For this mod, you'll need to subscribe to a patreon to get access. Installing it is really simple, just unzip the zip file and put its contents in a folder, then run the tool once you have BG3 running.

Personally, I choose to re-map all the controls to different keys on my keyboard as I find it makes it much, much easier for me to use. Specifically, I re-map the movement, camera tilt, and starting the photomode controls. FOV is also really important to pay attention to, so make sure you like the controls for that as well.

Make sure to test the camera mod to make sure it's working before moving on to the next step.

3. High Resolution Screenshots (Hotsampling)

Hotsampling simply means that we're going to briefly make our game run in a resolution much higher than what we usually would, which often times means your game window will end up looking huge and run off your screen.

To do this, we need to make sure a few things are in place before trying to hotsample, or the screenshot won't be captured properly.

Go through this checklist to ensure hotsampling will work:

• If you have more than one monitor, you have to make sure your monitor is set to show only on one screen. (This setting is found in Displays on Windows)

• Make sure BG3 is set to borderless windowed mode

• In ReShade, go to the settings tab. Ensure you have a key set up for taking screenshots, and that you know the folder your screenshots will be saved to. It's essential to use ReShade to take screenshots, nothing else will work. Use ReShade's screenshot key.

Once you make sure you have the above done, go to the photomode mod, and click on the hotsampling tab. From here, you can change the resolution of your game. Typically, I take my screenshots in 3,840x2,160 or 5,760x3,240 if I want a very clear image. Those are just 2x and 3x my monitor's resolution (1920x1080), so you can adjust if your monitor is different. Once your chosen resolution is set, your BG3 window will likely run way off your screen and potentially make your computer lag. (This means it's working). Make sure your BG3 window is active, then hit the screenshot key you set earlier in ReShade. This screenshot should now appear in the folder that's set for screenshots in ReShade. (It typically defaults to the folder where your game is installed).

4. Extra fine-tuning

There are a couple of ways to enhance screenshots in BG3 even further.

The first way is through using ICGS Depth of field. This tool will allow your sceenshots to minic depth of field the same way cameras IRL can do it it—it makes for some beautiful screenshots, and I'm seriously impressed by how well it replicates that look. The author gives a tutorial on how to get it working—I know it seems complicated, but follow it step-by-step and play around, it'll come to you very soon!

The other tool that I just found recently is Relight for ReShade. This tool allows you to add some lighting on a character, which I thought was so cool. Here's a tutorial for this, too.

5. Post-Processing

This step is entirely up to your own creativity, but I just thought I'd share Photopea as a good, free software (that you don't even need to download) to help you edit your photos. It basically works exactly like photoshop!

Ok that's it for all but I think I will continue to update this post and add to it whenever I find anything helpful :)

& Thank you to all the wonderful mod authors out there for creating all this software and allowing us to take beautiful images, it makes me so happy !!

[naughtynoodle056]

I had a vision but huuuuurrghhhhhhh I dont think I'mma finish this anytime soon so here's a buncha blorbos as teachers and around 8-10 years older than they usually are (Millennial Timeline my dearly beloved..)

[click for higher resolution]

Also here's the pencil sketches under the cut cuz I think some may enjoy that? Personally I prefer the way the sketches look LMFAO

[delectablydeafeningvoid]

Please enjoy a House of Hades family portrait.

As usual please click for higher resolution.

This is how if felt drawing the other 3 and then Macaria lol

[zeta-neubourn]

Scarf Swap

Comet and Aieri are "scarf buddies" and will absolutley steal each other's scarves sometimes… this usually has some interesting effects on the rest of their outfit. ---------- Thanks for looking! Hope you like it! :D For higher resolution images of this art, click here! https://zngallery.carrd.co/

For Commission Info, check here! HTtps://zncommissions.carrd.co/

For Lore stuff, check here! https:/thestrangeandunusualexstellarverse.vercel.app/

[desklamper]

do you have any advice or tips on how to make object assets? love ur work btw!!

Thank you very much! I take a bit of pride in my craft and I'm gonna show all of you kiddos at home how to make assets like me!

Lets start with this Example Object!

the humble dry-erase marker!

First, I break it down to it's simplest shapes in INKSCAPE.

Don't worry if your object looks too complex, just getting a general shape with points where they need to be is good enough! In this example, the basic shapes are simple and geometrical, with some slight curving on the marker body itself!

(tip, dragging lines using the node tool curves them)

Now that i have my parts, I'll assemble them and organize their layers.

Now, we select the colors we want, for this example, I want this marker to be Blue, so I'mma make some of these outlines reflect this. I'm also going to make the marking tip thing a solid color, taken by that one cap-less marker asset,

Now, I'll make basic fills, I usually duplicate the outlines (Command+D/ Ctrl+D) Remove the outlines, and set the fill.

It's okay to re-adjust some stuff too! Don't be afraid to do so!

Here comes shading! Some general tips!

When shading, stay consistent! keep shadows aligned based on your light source! In this example, my light source is on the Right.

For highlights, never make sure they fit with the colors ur using, like using a light blue for the highlight on this cap.

If u really wanna be fancy, You can also use gradients to shade, just don't overdo it!

Lemme just shade the base off screen!

Pro tip! COLOR CHOICE IS kinG!!! Take this logo for example

I personally would not give it this color because it takes too much attention away from the face In my opinion, It works, but, Its honestly up to personal preference

with this kind of color, you are still acknowledging the existence of the logo, but, it's not taking too much attention from the face, Either works!!! It just based on taste! (I also manually added an outline for the logo)

I then duplicate the asset layer and take the cap off in case i want just the cap or the marker without the cap.

then, i open the document properties tab (File>Document Properties) and click on "Resize to Content". I also tick off the "Checkerboard" Setting for the background

I finally export as a PNG in case i need to use it as a PNG! I set the size to about 2.5 times the size for higher resolution and quality!

And there we have it!

A Dry-Erase Marker!

Hope my tutorial was understandable and easily digestable!

[cartoon-brainrot]

Hi! I stumbled onto your page (love your art!) and was wondering if you could draw my OC Casey with Della who are a couple.

Here's what he looks like.

Now, let’s be clear, OC art is usually reserved for commissions, especially for pairings- BUT! But, since this was sent in before I closed my requests AND I had a fun idea in mind, I decided to draw this!

I hope you like it!

Click for higher resolution, as usual! :)

I have a couple more asks that we’re sent in before I closed the drawing requests, and after that I’ll probably start working on a commission page!

[kikueatgoo]

apologies if you've already answered a similar question on here, but what software + brushes do you use? your lineart is so beautiful <3

hi hi !! i'll try to do a rundown of everything, but let me know if i miss something. ☆૮꒰•༝ •。꒱ა

I pretty much only use these two brushes: 'Marker' : sketching, 'lineart', occasionally rendering. 'Render' : rendering only.

Now, in terms of software and the more technical stuff. Software : Sai2, I've used Sai and FireAlpaca before though. Tablet : Huion Tablet, Inspiroy H1060P ( pretty sure ).

I use a DPI, sometimes called 'printing resolution', of 300. And I start with a canvas size of 4000x5500, though I usually crop it when working on the sketch and composition. Canvas settings specifically, cause I never learned about these, I recommend using higher DPI and size in general. -- If you're intending to make something physical out of art ( prints, charms, stickers, etc. ) you should look up sizes for recommendations for what you're doing specific.

I also use 'layer effect' afterwards, specifically setting the 'paper' as well... paper. Whether you pick paper, paper A, or paper B ; it really doesn't change that much since they're pretty similar. You could also use any of the 'pastel_texture' ones if you want something more noticeable. If you want to check how one looks, turn up its settings and use it on a plain, light to mid-tone color and click through them. It should make it easier for you to look at how it'll look.

Like I said, if I missed anything, or you got any more questions, let me know !! I know some stuff in my ask box disappeared ( like ... 1-3 at least ), so if I don't answer an ask, feel free to spam my inbox or DM me till I see it. Between that and weeding through scams is just blegh.

[theroseceleste]

Mafia Miguel - Part 2

The SECOND instalment to Mafia Miguel.

Buy me a coffee! (And gain access to my discord)

You can find part 1 here > Part 1

Contains : Female reader, brief mention of gore, kidnap attempt.

Word count - 3024

Hope you enjoy chapter 2!

----------

The June temperatures rise even higher over the coming days. Mornings and early afternoons usually have brilliant sunshine but an hour or two later, thunderstorms roll in, lighting up the skyline in its own spectacular fashion.

Just after midday, a rather large man in a suit, sits in his heavily air conditioned office. A meaty hand taps the end of his cigar, ash drops into an expensive looking glass ashtray. A column of smoke dances into the air after he raises it to his mouth to puff on it again.

His office is at the top of a high rise building called Fisk Tower. Wilson Fisk is his name.

He looks at the pictures you took of the street where O’Hara’s base entrance was. Word got to him that there was an opposing gang hidden in the depths of Nueva York. A victorious grin forms on his face, creasing his cheeks and chin. You have done a good job gathering intel on where the man’s “Web” resides.

A high pitched ding rings out inside his office at the far end. Someone has just arrived in the lift. Wilson looks up at the visitor, puffing on his cigar still.

A smartly dressed man enters carrying a box and places it on Mr. Fisk’s desk. It is addressed to him.

“Open it,” the large man demands sharply, as if he is too important to open his own mail.

A small blade swiftly clicks out of the other man’s pocket knife and drags along the top, breaking open the copious amount of tape used to seal it.

The flaps of the box opens and with it comes a foul stench, causing the unsuspecting man to gag before he even saw what was inside. Seizing the box, Fisk opens the flaps to see what has caused such a reaction. Holding a handkerchief against his nose and mouth, he peers inside. Three bloody, severed fingers are pinned down. Accompanying them are three name badges belonging to nearly all of the missing men from Alchemax.

“Sir…” the man who delivered the box says sheepishly as he points at the opening.

The large man’s attention moves away from the gruesome sight to the underside of the top flaps. Two words written in blood, reading; “You’re next.”

Slamming the flaps of the box shut, Fisk wrenches the receiver from his desk phone and demands his PA to fetch the man who does his dirty work.

***

Gabriella sits in her class, nibbling on the end of her pencil considering her next answer on her math pop quiz. The room is silent apart from the scribbles from other students.

The quiet in the class is disturbed the moment someone knocks on the door. Gabriella’s teacher, Miss Jones, gets up from her desk and goes to see who’s knocking. She steps out briefly and hushed voices are heard momentarily. Eventually, Miss Jones returns and speaks out.

“Gabriella, please get your bag. Your father has requested for you to come to the reception of the school with your escort immediately.” Miss Jones’ voice is calm but she sounds irritated that her student’s learning time is being interrupted by what seems like a demanding self-important parent.

The girl grabs her things and packs them away quickly in her bag. She silently waves at her teacher before leaving her classroom. Closing the door behind her, she stops in her tracks. Before her stood a different escort, someone she is unfamiliar with. Peter is her only armed escort.

“What happened to Peter?” she asks, eying the suited man suspiciously.

“Sick,” the stranger replies stiffly. “Come with me-“

“Peter was fine this morning,” Gabriella retorts, her heart pounding as she considers going back into her classroom.

“Well, he isn’t fine now. Come with me Miss,” the stranger insists.

Miss? Everyone from her father’s work knows her name.

“Come on, call me by my nickname. Everyone else does.” She remains pressed resolutely against her classroom’s door, refusing to move.

The strange man huffs impatiently. “I’ve forgotten it, okay? Now, come on you little brat- AHH SHIT!” As he spoke, he took Gabriella’s hand and yanked her away. His sentence is cut off as she bites his hand hard. He lets go immediately, stopping to check the damage. The smart girl runs off down the corridor, her fingers fumbling for her necklace under her dress.

Out came a gold spider pendant which has a hinged cap on the top. With a pounding heart, she flips open the lid and presses a button nestled within the body of the spider. She continues to run as her GPS location is sent immediately to her father’s, Lyla’s and Peter’s phone.

After bursting out of a side exit of the school Gabriella makes her way out of the grounds, getting away as quickly as possible.

***

You live nearby the school and are enjoying walking out in the glorious sunshine. Out of nowhere runs a young girl, frantically trying to get away from something or someone. Looking ahead you see she’s about to run out into the road in front of an oncoming truck. At the last second you grab the girl and pull her back onto the sidewalk. The sound of the truck’s horn blasts at you two as it speeds past.

The girl struggles in your arms but begins to calm down when you instinctively wrap your arms around her and rub your thumb against her shoulder.

Pulling away, you try to look in the girl's tear filled eyes, she sobs as she shakes.

“Hey sweetie, what’s wrong?” you ask as softly as possible, your hands holding her shoulders firmly.

She drags a hand across her cheek wiping tears away.

“A stranger tried taking me from my school. I ran away but…” she hesitates.

“What is it?” you encourage her to tell you tilting your head to try and look into her eyes.

“I have to hide and wait for someone I know to come and find me.” She sobs again. “I’m scared!”

Your heart breaks. Wrapping her up in your arms you hold her close.

“It’s alright sweetie. You’re with me now. I won’t let anything happen to you - I promise.”

Looking around, you spot a cafe across the road for the both of you to take refuge in. It was a busy, public place. If anyone is dumb enough to try and kidnap a child in a bustling cafe, many people will bear witness to it.

***

The girl sits quietly at a table inside the cafe, sipping on a chocolate milkshake you bought her. Her feet idly swing as she stares blankly out of the front window, waiting for a familiar face to show up. Sitting next to her, you place a gentle hand on her shoulder, making her look at you.

“I’m sure someone will turn up soon sweetheart,” you whisper to her.

Sure enough, a car screeches to a halt outside the cafe and two men come rushing out, both looking at their phones intently. You watch in shock as the towering mafia man you spied on the other day storms into the cafe wide eyed. His intense gaze lands on you with your hand resting on his daughter’s shoulder. She looks just like him, except with a rounder, more feminine face. You take your hand away as you stare back at the intense man who is now swiftly approaching.

“Gabi!” He gasps in relief, stepping past you and picking up his daughter.

“Papa…” His daughter sobs again as he holds her head close to his chest.

Serious but handsome brown eyes stare down at you, then they look at the half drunk milkshake on the table. Weighing up whether you might be a threat or not.

The other man who came with the girl’s dad, stood next to the doorway outside, watching out for anyone suspicious. He has slightly scruffy light brown hair and his nose looks as though it might have been broken a couple of times at least.

You watch as the clearly concerned father strokes his daughter’s hair soothingly and whispers to her to calm her down.

“It’s okay mija, papa’s here… papa’s here…”

Nervousness washes over you as you realise you’re working for Kingpin and you’re sitting amongst another mafia gang who would rip you to shreds if they knew who your employer is. You simply rescued a young girl and got her to safety. You had no idea of who her father was. 

Uneasiness follows your nerves. Suspicion of Kingpin being behind the abduction attempt rises within you. Most of your job doesn’t bother you, but you never thought an innocent child could get caught up in this. You think about how she shook and cried in your arms, how your heart broke for her. You don’t want to be a part of this.

Standing up slowly, you turn to subtly make your way out of the cafe.

“Wait…” You hear the father say.

Your heart stops as you freeze and turn back to face the man. The little girl comes out more from the protective shell of her father and looks at you.

“This lady saved me and kept me safe, papa. She bought me a milkshake too, she’s okay.” the girl mutters as her sobs ease.

Her father looks at you with a stern expression before picking up his phone from his trouser pocket and calls someone. Slowly he lowers his daughter to the floor but keeps a protective hand hovering behind her, ready to grab her if anyone dares to try to take her. His eyes land on you again as the call connects, nonverbally demanding you to stay.

“Lyla, get me CCTV of the school and the street outside. I want it in an hour.” He hangs up, not even waiting for a response and stuffing the phone back in his pocket.

“You saved my daughter?” he asks, his voice carrying a serious tone.

You nod. “Yes-“

“Did you see anything? Anything suspicious? Anything at all?” he interrupts you.

Now you shake your head, you didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“No, sir. I was just walking along and then your daughter came dashing out of the school grounds looking scared.” You hope your answer will suffice.

The man’s gaze falls back down to his daughter who is now finishing her chocolate milk, looking much happier now she is reunited with her father. His face softens slightly, before looking back at you.

“Thank you,” he says as he extends his hand to you, waiting for you to take it.

You reach forward trying not to show a shaking hand before taking his. He feels hot as his large hand wraps around yours. His grip is firm but gentle as his eyes lock onto yours. It seems his thanks is genuine.

“You’re welcome.” Is your quiet, nervous response.

His gaze is intense, causing your heart to thump and a dangerous feeling hangs over you. The man’s daughter looks up from her milkshake, her eyes locking on your hands joined together as you officially greet each other. She begins to smile.

A small hand tugs gently on the man’s rolled up dark blue sleeves, taking his attention from you. Looking down at his daughter, he notices her gesture to listen to her whisper. His eyes widen as he hears what his darling daughter has to say. Looking back up at you shortly after, you spy a very slight hint of pink across his face, but he shakes his head to steel himself.

“My daughter, Gabriella, suggests I should thank you properly. How does dinner sound?”

Your face blanches as his suggestion echoes in your mind. If you weren’t holding onto his hand, you could well have fallen over in shock. The leader of the opposing mafia gang has just asked you out on a… date? Oh shit…

“Oh… that’s not necessary.” You try to play down the situation, wishing to get away before you get too deep in lies and with him… Stepping back slightly, you tug your hand in his grip but he holds it slightly tighter.

“I must insist, Miss?” The man raises his eyebrow, expecting to learn your name.

The feeling similar to a cave crumbling within you, giving in to his intense gaze, you surrender your name to him. You didn’t dare lie. Your hand feels a firm squeeze as he tells you his name.

“I’m Miguel,” he begins as his grip loosens slightly. “Give your address to the man outside, he’ll tell my regular chauffeur. My limo will be outside yours tonight at seven. Alright?”

All you can do is nod at this point. Words seem to fail you as you feel his hand finally release yours. The cold, conditioned air inside the cafe swarms your hand as his overwhelming heat leaves you.

“O- Okay…” you stutter in shock as your hand falls to your side.

Gabriella beams brightly as you agree. A cheerful gleam shines in her eye.

***

Emerging from the lift in the Web, Miguel taps a message to a new contact in his phone as he walks to his office.

“(Y/N), table reserved at the Frevo, 7:30pm. Wear something nice. M.”

Stuffing the phone back in his pocket, he sits down at his desk. Lyla walks in after him carrying a folder, her heeled boots clicking against the tiled floor.

“The CCTV footage is on your personal drive, Miguel. I’ve already taken a look through it and printed out some pictures of interest.” The PA pulls up a chair and sits down next to her boss while he searches for the footage he requested.

The first video shows a man dressed in a black suit entering the school. He asks the receptionist for directions and then leaves. The footage cuts to the next frame where the stranger knocks on Gabriella’s classroom door. The teacher answers and they talk. Shortly after, he sees Gabriella realise something was wrong the moment she saw the man. A proud smile grew across his face when he saw Gabi bite the stranger’s hand and run off.

“Good girl…” he mumbles as the next frame appears.

Now he’s watching the road in front of the school. The mafia boss spies you in the camera shot and also the truck on the road. His heart almost leaps out of his mouth when he witnesses his daughter run out into the road.

“Mierda!” he yells suddenly forgetting momentarily that he’s only watching a recording.

Then he sees you, his daughter’s hero wrapping your arms around his child. Soothing her, calming her, protecting her. His heart pounds momentarily. That sight is something he hasn’t seen for five years. Gabi being held by someone resembling a mother figure. It seems he owes you big time.

“Lyla; contact the school. There should only be one person other than myself who can get Gabriella out of class. That man shouldn’t have been cleared to go through. I want a meeting with the headmaster tomorrow to give him a piece of my damn mind.”

The PA taps away dutifully on her tablet.

“Sure thing boss,” she chirps in response.

Picking up the folder that Lyla left on his desk, he looks at its contents. Closeups of certain screenshots from the CCTV footage, including the man who attempted to kidnap his daughter. Tapping his index finger on the culprit’s face, he turns to his personal assistant.

“I want this man’s head on a platter.” His voice is a low growl with a clenched jaw.

“Of course you do,” she pauses before looking up at her boss. “Shall I assign someone to find him?”

“Mhmm - please,” he hums in delight; just the thought of revenge soothed his vexed mind.

Looking at his watch, he realises it’s time to get ready for his evening outing with you. He wants to go home, shower and grab a change of clothes.

***

Rain pours down through the humid air over Nueva York in the evening. Droplets pitter patter and roll down your window panes.Your clock displays 6:58 pm. With a pounding heart you wait nervously for the limo to arrive. You feel sick with anticipation. On one hand, you feel excited to spend the evening with a handsome man. On the other hand, you’re fearful that the very same handsome man could easily kill you if he knew who you’re working for. You hope this will be for only one evening and then you can continue with your life.

On top of this problematic situation that you’re in, you worry that you’re underdressed. When Miguel mentioned the restaurant in his text to you, your legs turned to jelly. Frevo is an expensive place to eat. A place you could never afford to even lick the plates clean. You hope your faithful little black dress will suffice…

A knock on your door jolts you out of your train of thought and you’re pretty sure your heart just stopped for a second. You look at your clock - 7:00 pm. Talk about punctuality... Opening the front door, a creak fills the air. You find Miguel standing there waiting patiently. He holds a folded umbrella which is dripping on the wooden floor outside your apartment. His eyes wander up and down your body, taking in your choice of clothing; a sleeveless short dress, black tights and high heels to match.

“Buenas noches,” he mutters softly, his cold expression softens as he holds out his arm for you. “You ready?”

You attempt to smile as you nod, it seems your throat has suddenly gone dry and you are unable to speak. Taking his arm, your fingers glide over the material of his shirt, his warm skin heating up his clothing from underneath. For a split second you both look at each other when you make physical contact, just the two of you, alone. A spark jumps between you and him. You draw in a sharp intake of breath as your eyes connect with his.

“Come - I hope you’re hungry~” he coos with a slightly playful smirk threatening to break across his face.

----------

Part 3

Buy me a coffee! (And gain access to my discord)

I'm currently open for commissions. If you have a scenario you'd like to be written about your OC and our lovely Miguel, please check out my carrd.co or get in touch via email (also on the website)

If you wish to support me on Twitter you can find me here.

[binah-beloved]

one of these things is not like the others

[anamazingangie]

House of the Dragon : Stills / Screen-cap Resources

Making this mostly for my discord as per usual, but some people have asked me where I get my files for edits. not tagging this with anything since the more people who know about these, the more they will be targeted for takedown...but i'd like other fans to enjoy them as much as i have, too.

Stills: [these are photographs taken during production rather than images pulled from footage, so they tend to be higher quality and have better lighting without the various filters]

Section of Randomess is amazing - free, no ads, great quality, easy to download, but does not update frequently.

Warner Brothers Media very well organized, search by episode, date, etc. all very official as they literally make the show. however these are intended for use in press releases, and you need to have a press account to download the files. still, you can look at all the previews.

MovieStillsDB updates very frequently, has the largest collection of images released by official sources spanning all the various international hbo media accounts. you do need an account to download, and credits, but the most "expensive" credit packages still come out to less than 10c per a photo.

Kinorium this kind of has everything in one place which is nice, but the quality is lower. i usually use it to find an image i like, then right click and 'search image in google' to find a higher resolution version. stills gallery [kinorium]

poster gallery [kinorium]

promo gallery [out of costume] [kinorium]

they have tabs for BTS photos and screenshots too, but they are very incomplete.

Stock photo websites i am CHEAP and these are EXPENSIVE so i don't have a lot to say about them, but the big ones like shutterstock and almay usually have a selection of high resolution images too.

Posters: [branded promotional material to build hype]

Cinematerial i think this is the sister site to moviestills, similarly you can browse everything but need credits to download, and they have the same pricing system. still it's pretty great because they have every variant of each poster including international ones, and they offer very high resolution copies.

also, see above for poster gallery [kinorium]

Screencaps: images pulled ['captured'] from the episodes

there are probably dozens or even hundreds of sites with screencaps, but my favorites have been these two

Cap-That very thorough caps from every episode that can be viewed and downloaded individually in 4K, or downloaded in zips for each episode in standard HD.

and i do mean very thorough. each episode has on average four thousand images.

comparatively the zips from another site [lostintimegraphics] have about one thousand images per an episode.

what makes them "special" in addition to few ads (comparatively) is that they brighten the thumbnails on each page, a MUST to see wtf is going on in some parts, given how dark the show is.

when you click on the thumbnail and download the file, it is unfiltered/as appears in show, it just makes it easier to find the file you want instead of wading through a sea of black thumbnails.

So-Obsessed i think this is managed by a single person and i give them MAJOR props for that. they not only have 4k screencaps of HotD, but also every episode of Game of Thrones.

they are sorted by episode, there is no download a zip option, only individual files. they also have a stills gallery. there are no ads, which is wonderful.

the only reason i prefer cap-that is because they have 3x times the number of images for each page. despite both sites being comparably thorough, on so-obsessed there are 120 pages for episode two, and on cap-that there are 40.

you also can't right click/open in new tab/download images, you have to use their toolbar. it's well designed, just slower for me who is accustomed to the other method.

ok, am done. if you're wondering why the fuck anyone would want screencaps or stills, personally *i* like using them for edits to entertain me in the offseason, see here.

what other people do with them...that's between them and god.

[ptgigi]

Pokemon Type Swap Generator v1.3

Pokemon Type Swap Generator – What is this? This generator returns prompts for Type-Swapped Pokemon, a fun (usually art) challenge where you re-imagine existing Pokemon with new type(s)! It can return a single Pokemon, a whole family, or all the Pokemon, if you want!

Updates:

Added Iron Leaves and Walking Wake.

Updated images to be of higher resolution. You can also click on them to view a larger reference image.

Added Groups. You can now generate just a related group of Pokemon, like the Johto Starters or Ultra Beasts.

Added a fav icon.

Other minor UI updates.

Bug Fixes:

Fixed a bug where trying to generate all Pokemon with the “Match All” setting would stop the list at Alolan Geodude.

Thanks for reading! If you make any Pokemon using the generator be sure to let me know, I’d love to see them!

[alicentive]

hi ☺️👋 love chu💕 ❤️ I'm really new to gif making too for my favorite shows so I hoped to ask how you make the backgrounds look so smooth in your gifs?I'd appreciate any advice, it's just for practice. thank you if you answer in advance ❤️💕

Hello hello, and big love right back at ya! 💕😊

How exciting that you’re new to gifmaking – it’s so much fun to get to experiment with that and try all sorts of things. I learned a lot from following tutorials or talking with other gifmakers back when I first started out, and I’m definitely still learning new things now.

I think it’s a combination of factors that makes the background in my gifs so smooth? So I’m going to talk about some of those factors and show you a few things and hopefully that’ll help! I use Photoshop CS6 for gifmaking, but I think the majority of this advice also holds up in other versions haha.

First off, I always try to use video files of the 1080p variety. You can gif with videos that have 720p, too, but 1080p will provide a smoother and clearer image because there are more pixels in 1080p. (There’s also 2160p, which is even higher resolution, but I’ve personally found that unwieldy to screencap and 1080p looks very good already!) This is the technical reason why the gifs look smooth: work with a high resolution video and get better results, that’s just how it is.

Another technical thing is the type of scene you pick to gif. When the scene is very busy with a lot of people and objects coming into focus at once (group shots, shots in heavily decorated rooms, etc), there’s very little in the scene that actually fades into the background focus-wise. With close-ups of a single face, the focus is entirely on the face and the background will fade to some degree. This really has to do with how the show’s made, like how the director and camera people and everyone else chose to portray/film the scenes. As a gifmaker, you can always choose to crop some things out of the scene when you want the focus to be on a specific thing – you’re essentially choosing a new focus for the viewer in that case. But yeah, overall, the way it’s filmed affects everything else about the gif.

Now, onward to the actual Photoshop things…

When I gif, I also sharpen the gif itself. This will make some details pop more and help move the focus to where I want it to be most, which is usually either a face or something important happening in the scene. I do think it might affect how you see the background as well – when everything in the foreground is sharpened, the background will naturally have a bit of blurriness to it. I have a sharpening action I use for every gif, but I believe its settings are as follows.

This is Filter -> Smart Sharpen by the way.

First Smart Sharpen:

And the second Smart Sharpen (yes we do it twice!):

Most importantly, I think the way you choose to brighten and color the gif will affect how the background will look. A show like House of the Dragon unfortunately can be very dark, so the urge to brighten it and fix the filters they put on these scenes is immense. 😂 But it’s also really easy to brighten it too much with that urge to see what’s going on, lol, and that’s when the background’s going to look grainy or pixelated! So it’s always a fine balancing act and a lot of trial and error (seriously, the undo-button is my best friend) when working with scenes like these.

There are a few ways you can brighten a gif. My preferred method is with the Curves layer, but I also use Exposure and Gradient Map as additions to that sometimes. Mostly when a scene is so dark that I have to take care not to render it too pixelated by adjusting the Curves, really. When a gif gets too tricky, I use all three. 😂 Below are some basics of each layer, but it’s really about trying and clicking and trying and clicking and trying and… you get the picture, lol.

Curves

The little eye dropper tools I marked with white – grey – black in the picture below are the most important. Select the white eye dropper and click on the section of the gif that’s closest to white (but not fully white). Then, select the grey eye dropper and click on the gif section that’s either beige or grey or at least in that neutral color zone. Finally, select the black eye dropper tool and click on the darkest part of your gif. You should see immediate results, but it tends to take me a few tries to get the best version! It’s not uncommon for me to zoom in on an image to, like, 600% just to see which pixels I should be clicking. This takes patience, haha!

Exposure

Use it sparingly, cos it’s going to be an asshole about how bright it makes some things. My settings typically are:

Exposure: between 0,13 and 0,22 (this brightens certain areas)

Offset: -0,0009 or -0,0019 (please don't forget to add the - to the numbers, this will deepen the black areas a bit)

Gamma Correction: 1,04 (I’ve found it ‘marries’ the light and dark parts a tad more and makes it look more natural)

Gradient Map

Gradient map my beloveddd. It doesn’t always do the thing, but sometimes it really helps me add a bit of color correction or helps me lighten a certain part of a scene a bit more. Be careful with it, though, as using it too much might make the gif a bit grainy/pixelated (and we don’t want that). There are a few different ways you can use it, but my favorite way is the only good thing TikTok ever taught me (I’m old as dirt, y’all) and that’s this in a nutshell…

Add the layer and click on the gradient itself.

Now, this is going to make the gif look scary as heck but bear with me? Select Noise, uncheck Restrict Colors. Click OK. Don’t cry.

Go to the Opacity of your Gradient Map layer and set it to a percentage between 2% and 5%. Dry your tears.

If it’s not to your taste, go back into the gradient map itself by clicking on it again and selecting the nifty Randomize button you see on the screencap. Click and click and click until you find something that makes the gif sing.

Soooo. Very long story short, all of the above is going to contribute to how a gif looks and to how smooth the background is. I hope some of it is helpful to you! 💕 (And if anything’s unclear, please ask!! I know I get a little wordy and technical about some of the giffing sometimes, haha.)

[and-then-there-were-n0ne]

Scholars have long known that youthful marriage is a strong predictor of divorce. For instance, someone who marries at 25 is over 50 percent less likely to get divorced than is someone who weds at age 20. Most youthful couples simply do not have the maturity, coping skills, and social support it takes to make marriage work. In the face of routine marital problems, teens and young twenty-somethings lack the wherewithal necessary for happy resolutions.

What about age at marriage past the twenties? Delaying marriage from the teens until the early twenties produces the largest declines in divorce risk, for totally understandable reasons: we’re all changing a lot more from year to year as teenagers than when we’re in our twenties or thirties. [...] Still, earlier scholarship found that the risk of divorce continued to decline past that point, albeit at a milder rate (as the figure using 1995 data shows below). And why wouldn’t it? Couples in their thirties are more mature and usually have a sounder economic foundation. Conversely, youthful marriage is correlated with lower educational attainment, which compounds divorce risk no matter how old you are.

But what was true for decades no longer seems to be the case. I analyzed data collected between 2006 and 2010 from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). The trick is to use statistical methods that permit nonlinear relationships to emerge (click here for more information on these methods). My data analysis shows that prior to age 32 or so, each additional year of age at marriage reduces the odds of divorce by 11 percent. However, after that the odds of divorce increase by 5 percent per year. The change in slopes is statistically significant. The graph below shows what the relationship between age at marriage and divorce looks like now.

This is a big change. To the best of my knowledge, it’s only recently that thirty-something marriage started to incur a higher divorce risk. It appears to be a trend that’s gradually developed over the past twenty years: a study based on 2002 data observed that the divorce risk for people who married in their thirties was flattening out, rather than continuing to decline through that decade of life as it previously had.

How can this change be explained? The first step to answering this question is to see if the pattern persists after adjusting for a variety of social and demographic differences between survey respondents. Indeed it does: thirty-something marriage continues to yield a higher divorce rate even after controlling for respondents’ sex, race, family structure of origin, age at the time of the survey, education, religious tradition, religious attendance, and sexual history, as well as the size of the metropolitan area that they live in. Note that the NSFG is a cross-sectional survey, which means that all respondent information was collected at a single point in time. Consequently the effects of education, religious attendance, and other impermanent demographic attributes on marital stability may not be causal. Results involving these variables should therefore be treated as provisional.

None of these variables seem to have much of an effect on the relationship between age at marriage and divorce risk. Additional tests revealed that the relation seems to function more or less the same for everyone: male or female, less or more educated, religious or irreligious, intact or nonintact family of origin, and limited versus extensive sexual history prior to marriage. For almost everyone, the late twenties seems to be the best time to tie the knot. [...]

My money is on a selection effect: the kinds of people who wait till their thirties to get married may be the kinds of people who aren’t predisposed toward doing well in their marriages. [...] More generally, perhaps people who marry later face a pool of potential spouses that has been winnowed down to exclude the individuals most predisposed to succeed at matrimony.

There are obvious strengths and weaknesses to this sort of explanation. [...] But we do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that people who marry in their thirties are now at greater risk of divorce than are people who wed in their late twenties. This is a new development. This finding changes the demographic landscape of divorce, and lends credence to scholars and pundits making the case for earlier marriage.

Note: Unadjusted estimates of divorce in NSFG in 1995 and 2006-2010.