#keeping the second image because it's kind of iconic

[onepiecebdays]

august 15th - bentham

debut chapter: 129

recent chapter: 666 (cover story)

epithet: bentham of the wild

current age: 32

affiliation: impel down level 5.5

former bounty: 32,000,000

[diekleinesuesse]

Being best friends with Bang Chan:

Being best friends with Bang Chan would be an experience like no other. He’s known for being one of the most caring, hardworking, and reliable people in the industry, and as his best friend, you’d get to see all the different sides of him the serious producer, the fun-loving goofball, and the deeply thoughtful and protective friend.

Late-Night Studio Hangouts

Bang Chan basically lives in the studio, so if you’re his best friend, expect to spend a lot of time there with him. He’d invite you over at odd hours, just to keep him company while he works on music. You’d sit on the couch, wrapped in a hoodie he lent you (probably one of his signature oversized ones), watching him get completely lost in his production. He’d play you snippets of unfinished songs, asking, “What do you think?” and actually valuing your opinion.

Sometimes, when he’s been working too hard and starts getting frustrated, you’d be the one to force him to take a break. “Chan, step away from the computer before I physically remove you,” you’d threaten, and he’d laugh but eventually listen. You’d end up walking around JYP’s practice rooms or grabbing late-night snacks from a convenience store, just talking about everything and nothing.

Endless Encouragement and Support

Bang Chan is known for how much he takes care of the people around him, and as his best friend, you’d get the full force of that. If you were struggling with something—whether it was work, school, or just life he’d be the first to notice. He’d check in on you constantly, sending texts like:

Chan: “Hey, just wanted to make sure you’re eating properly today.”

Chan: “You can do this. I believe in you.”

Chan: “If you need anything, I’m here, okay?”

He’d hype you up all the time, even over the smallest things. Got a new outfit? He’d be like, “LOOK AT YOU!! Fashion icon, let’s gooo!!�� Did something even remotely impressive? “I knew you were talented, but wow. WOW.” And if you ever doubted yourself, he’d be there to remind you of your worth.

But it wouldn’t just be one-sided. He’s always giving to others, sometimes to the point of exhaustion, so you’d make sure to remind him to take care of himself too. “Chan, you need sleep, not just caffeine,” you’d say, physically dragging him away from his computer.

Deep Conversations at 3 AM

Bang Chan is the kind of person who can go from joking around to having deep, heartfelt conversations in an instant. As his best friend, you’d have so many of these moments sitting on the dorm’s rooftop, or in his studio, or even just walking around the city late at night.

You’d talk about dreams, fears, childhood memories, and everything in between. He’d open up to you about the pressures of being a leader, how much he worries about Stray Kids, and how sometimes he forgets to take care of himself because he’s so focused on everyone else.

And you’d be there to reassure him. “You don’t have to carry everything alone, you know,” you’d tell him, and he’d smile, grateful to have someone who truly understands.

Goofy Energy & Inside Jokes

Despite his responsible leader image, Bang Chan is actually a huge goofball, and as his best friend, you’d see that side of him all the time. He’d constantly tease you, throwing out random nicknames, making funny faces, and imitating your voice in the most exaggerated way possible.

You’d develop the weirdest inside jokes that no one else would understand. Just one look from him across the room, and you’d both burst into laughter while everyone else is confused.

And the TikToks? Oh, he’d 100% drag you into making dumb videos with him. One second, he’d be filming a dance challenge, and the next, he’d be dramatically lip-syncing to an emotional song while you record him, struggling not to laugh.

Protective Older Brother Energy

Even if you’re older than him, Bang Chan would absolutely take on the role of a protective older brother. If you ever went out together, he’d always walk on the side closest to the road, making sure you were safe. If someone made you uncomfortable, he’d be right there, standing between you and them, making it clear that he wouldn’t let anything happen to you.

And if you ever cried? Oh, he’d be devastated. He’d pull you into a tight hug (you know how he always goes “Big Hug” ? It’s exactly that), rubbing your back and whispering, “Hey, it’s okay. I got you.” He’d stay with you for as long as you needed, playing soft music and making dumb jokes just to get you to smile again.

Being Part of the Stray Kids Family

As Bang Chan’s best friend, you’d automatically become close with the rest of Stray Kids. They’d welcome you in like family, and you’d find yourself being included in everything from their chaotic group chats to their movie nights.

Felix would bake brownies for you. Han would try to steal you as his best friend (which would start fake dramatic arguments with Chan). Lee Know would pretend to be indifferent but secretly look out for you. Hyunjin would use you as a model for his art. Seungmin and I.N would roast you constantly, and Changbin would hype you up as much as Chan does.

The members would tease Chan whenever you were around. “Ohhh, it’s Chan’s best friend!” “Are you sure you’re not secretly dating?” “Do you like Chan more than us?” And Chan would just shake his head, exasperated.

Traveling & Adventures Together

Since Stray Kids tour all over the world, Bang Chan would always be inviting you along. If you ever traveled with them, he’d make sure you were taken care of constantly checking if you had enough water, reminding you to rest, and making sure you weren’t overwhelmed.

If you ever went on vacation together, it’d be pure chaos. He’d be the type to plan everything in detail but still end up getting lost. “I swear, the map said it was this way,” he’d say, while you just laugh and lead the way instead.

Unbreakable Friendship

At the end of the day, being best friends with Bang Chan would mean having someone who is always there for you someone who supports you, believes in you, and cares about you more than words can express. He’d be the friend who listens when you need to talk, makes you laugh when you’re feeling down, and reminds you every day that you’re not alone.

And no matter how busy life gets, no matter how far apart you are, he’d always find a way to check in. Even if it’s just a simple “Miss ya, bestie” text or a late-night call, you’d know that your friendship with Bang Chan is forever.

[dalishious]

Gaming GIF Tutorial (2025)

Here is my current GIF making process from video game captures!

PART 1: Capturing Video

The best tip I can give you when it comes to capturing video from your games, is to invest in an injectable photomode tools - I personally use Otis_Inf's cameras because they are easy to use and run smoothly. With these tools, you can not only toggle the UI, but also pause cutscenes and manually change the camera. They are great for both screenshots and video recording!

As for the recording part, I personally prefer NVIDIA's built-in recording tools, but OBS also works well in my experience when NVIDIA is being fussy.

PART 2: Image Conversion

Do yourself a huge favour and download PotPlayer. It is superior to VLC in more ways than one in my opinion, but is especially helpful for its Consecutive Image Capturer tool.

Open the video recording in PotPlayer, and use CTRL + G to open the tool. If this is your first time, be sure to set up a folder for your image captures before anything else! Here are the settings I use, albeit the "Every # frame" I change from time to time:

When you're ready, hit the "Start" button, then play the part of the video you want to turn into a GIF. When you're done, pause the video, and hit the "Stop" button. You can then check the images captured in your specified storage folder.

(TIP: Start the video a few seconds a head and stop a few seconds after the part you want to make into a GIF, then manually delete the extra images if necessary. This will reduce the chance of any unwanted cut-offs if there is any lagging.)

PART 3: Image Setup

Now, this part I personally always do in GIMP, because I find its "Open as Layers" and image resizing options 100% better and easier to use than Photoshop. But you don't have to use GIMP, you can do this part in Photoshop as well if you prefer.

Open the images each as an individual layer. Then, crop and/or scale to no more than 540px wide if you're uploading to Tumblr.

(TIP: This might just be a picky thing on my end, but I like to also make sure the height is a multiple of 10. I get clean results this way, so I stick to it.)

If you use GIMP for this part, export the file as .psd when done.

PART 4: Sharpening

If you use GIMP first, now it's time to open the file in Photoshop.

The very first thing I always do is sharpen the image using the "Smart Sharpen" filter. Because we downsized the image, the Smart Sharpen will help it look more crisp and naturally sized. These are the settings I mostly use, though sometimes I change the Amount to 200 if it's a little too crunchy:

Here's a comparison between before and after sharpening:

Repeat the Smart Sharpen filter for ALL the layers!

PART 5: Timeline

First, if your timeline isn't visible, turn it on by click on Windows > Timeline. Then, change the mode from video to frame:

Click "Create Frame Animation" with the very bottom layer selected. Then, click on the menu icon on the far-right of the Timeline, and click "Make Frames from Layers" to add the rest of the frames.

Make sure the delay should be 0 seconds between frames for the smoothest animation, and make sure that the looping is set to forever so that the GIF doesn't stop.

Part 5: Editing

Now that the GIF is set up, this is the part where you can add make edits to the colours, brightness/contrast, add text, etc. as overlays that will affect all the layers below it.

Click on the very top layer so that it is the one highlighted. (Not in the timeline, in the layers box; keep Frame 1 highlighted in the timeline!)

For this example, I'm just going to adjust the levels a bit, but you can experiment with all kinds of fun effects with time and patience. Try a gradient mask, for example!

To test your GIF with the applied effects, hit the Play button in the Timeline. Just remember to always stop at Frame 1 again before you make changes, because otherwise you may run into trouble where the changes are only applied to certain frames. This is also why it's important to always place your adjustment layers at the very top!

Part 6: Exporting

When exporting your GIF with plans to post to Tumblr, I strongly recommend doing all you can to keep the image size below 5mb. Otherwise, it will be compressed to hell and back. If it's over 5mb, try deleting some frames, increasing the black parts, or you can reduce to number of colours in the settings we're about to cover below. Or, you can use EZGIF's optimization tools afterwards to reduce it while keeping better quality than what Tumblr will do to it.

Click on File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy). Here are the settings I always use:

This GIF example is under 5mb, yay! So we don't need to fiddle with anything, we can just save it as is.

I hope this tutorial has offered you some insight and encouragement into making your own GIFs! If you found it helpful, please reblog!

[yangqism]

eternal sunshine | a wayv series

– six men. one iconic drama. the world is captivated by their stellar performance in eternal sunshine that they cannot wait to see what the future holds for these superstars. but behind the fame, they are just like everyone else–desperate to feel what it’s like to love and to be loved, without judgment from others. torn between longing for normalcy and fear of losing everything they’ve worked for, they live in the shadows of their own desires, trapped in a cycle of longing, loneliness, and regrets. in a world where love is their greatest vulnerability, how far will they go to risk it all?

a/n. reader is afab. you can read them in no particular order, the storyline is not connected with each other. this is heavily inspired by ariana grande's eternal sunshine!!! such a fantastic album

don't wanna break up again ₊˚ෆ actor!dong sicheng x singer!reader

SYNOPSIS. love and sicheng don't complement each other. despite being aware of that fact, it doesn’t stop you from coming back again and again, even if your set-up consumes you. or, you and sicheng are in an on and off situationship because he’s afraid of commitment.

READ HERE.

we can't be friends ₊˚ෆ actor!liu yangyang x actress!reader

SYNOPSIS. yangyang is born to be a star, the kind of talent that lights up the screen. you, on the other hand, is a nepo baby who everyone believed got the lead role because of your family’s influence. he fought all these years to be the man that he is while you are still busy proving yourself to the populace. you believe you’re more than just your parents. he believes he’s less than without his fans. when your lives become intertwined, things get messy–one has never tasted consequences while the other lies awake at night, haunted by the thought of it.

READ HERE.

eternal sunshine ₊˚ෆ photojournalist!ten lee x makeup artist!reader

SYNOPSIS. everyone knows that ten is a passionate photojournalist, capturing the world’s genuine moments with his incomparable artistry that leaves viewers speechless. you, on the other hand, are sicheng’s makeup artist, who happened to be ten’s past lover. that one photograph of ten who won a prestigious award recently? that’s you. that’s you when you were still his muse, frozen in time while doing sicheng’s makeup. once inseparable, now estranged, the image reopened wounds of your messy breakup. while other people admired your radiant smile, you never had the guts to check it because it reminded you of the good times. the times when you thought he’s your eternity.

COMING SOON!

imperfect for you ₊˚ෆ golden boy!kun x director!reader

SYNOPSIS. seasoned actor, known as THE golden boy, qian kun, finds himself enchanted by the director of the series he’s starring in. now, they are on the second season and days feel daunting as his feelings start to get deeper and you keep on avoiding him, afraid to commit to someone as perfect as him

COMING SOON!

boy, bye! ₊˚ෆ actor!wong kunhang x intern!reader

SYNOPSIS. everyone on set knows that hendery is a walking red flag. from his sharp tongue to his nasty attitude, oh, everyone hates being around him. but things are a little different with you, the intern nurse the director requested from your university. while the rest of the crew fear him, you find yourself entangled with him every night, teaching you anatomy far beyond the books–making you confused as to what you guys really are.

COMING SOON!

supernatural ₊˚ෆ vampire!xiao dejun x researcher!reader

SYNOPSIS. why is dejun always nowhere to be found? because he’s afraid of human contact that is! being born a vampire, dejun has found it weird that he became famous. you know those jokes on twitter where they say dejun is, hypothetically, an alien but became famous so now he can’t go back? that’s true. but he’s not an alien, HE'S A VAMPIRE! your quiet, dungeon life is upended when the director of the series, and your friend, drags you out of your laboratory to visit her on the filming site of her on-going series. you think it’s a waste of time – until dejun appears before your eyes, and suddenly, you’re not so sure which one of you is really hiding from this world.

COMING SOON!

yangqism, 2024.

[mooshlovely]

Nein Again Episode 9

"Wessek the Trim" Nott: "We have the same middle name" iconic (20:31)

I love that Caleb is constantly looking for ways to scam people (26) Also Fjord sitting back and just watching it happen

Yeah Fjord really is the voice of reason. Telling Molly that they won't be going to go rob random people (32)

Molly: "We're also always big fans of underbellies, especially if there's an underbelly with a heart of gold" Jester: "Especially one if it's furry and you can pet it" (47)

I loved the Gentleman plot line on my first watch. Especially because everyone who warns them away just makes them want to investigate even more (49)

Fjord coaching Beau on compliments and smiles "You're really attractive" with an absolute grimace. One of my favorite reoccurring jokes (54)

They're so fucking nosey. Is this secret meeting at all relevant to what they're doing? Probably not. Are they immediately consumed with investigating? 100% (57)

Also wow this meeting does such a good job of setting up the conflict in the empire. The disconnect between the people and the government, the pervasive level of discontent and distrust for the Cerberus assembly. Matt knew what he was doing

Beau's absolute disbelief in Jester's mom makes so much sense in hindsight. (1:19)

"Families missing in Nogvurot! Crick kidnappers steal them away in the night" God the foreshadowing is so fucking good. That would be the anamnesis (1:28)

This is the moment when Caleb starts thinking about running again. He's so concerned with staying under the radar and remaining hidden and just when he was starting to settle into this group, the rug is suddenly pulled out from under him. I didn't realize the first time through how much of an impact this interaction likely had. (1:32) Also Fjord again keeping the peace

Nott really does have a cut and dry sense of morality lol. Absolutely no gray area. I don't like them, therefore they are evil (1:57)

Caleb "I don't want to stick my neck out, but anything that is a thumb in the eye of empire, I am all for" Beau clocks this so hard

Actually Beau has a good point, it is kind of funny that both Nott and Caleb have an element they aren't a fan of. They just need two people with air and stone trauma to complete the set (2:34)

Wow you can see how this interaction kind of enforces the image that Nott is child-like. Teaching her how to swim like a baby, joking about giving her a sticker (2:40) Really helps her hide her real backstory cause its so far off what they expect

You know I think Molly's insistence on truth was one of the things that bothered me the first time round. Even before it's clear how much he's lying, it feels hypocritical. Also the insistence on truth when it's clear that the others have good reasons for not sharing. You can't just demand honesty before you've earned it (2:43)

It's actually pretty funny how the rest of the Nein treat Yasha's reticence to share her past in comparison to the way they interrogate everyone else. Turns out the trick to keeping your secrets is to give one word answers and look super uncomfortable about sharing them (2:44)

What towns can Molly not enter??? (3:01) It's like he wants the vibes of Ashton but doesn't have the backstory to make it work. Also again, he pretends to be an open book while lying out his ass. Unless the circus really fucked up some shit, there's no way he's been around long enough to have fucked up that much shit

Jester being remarkably clever and manipulative again while looking innocent (3:04)

Actually kind of wild in hindsight that gated communities have dispel fields. On one hand, good for them, but also I feel like there's a lot of rich people who want to keep their secrets.

I got so much second hand embarrassment watching this scene the first time. I thought Jester was deluding herself thinking that her mom would just send her money after she wasted all of her own (3:17)

The continued insistence that Caleb just clean up and get a nice coat. I also was confused about why Caleb refused to dress nice but the poor man just absolutely does not want to be recognized. (3:29)

[kitconnor]

recently, a lot of people have been losing their gifs to reposters, whether that be a whole set stolen or just one gif taken for a textpost. which leads to a lot of us turning towards watermarks to not lose our work. it's not everyone's first choice, particularly because of aesthetics, but it's the best way to keep what you own.

of course, it might seem silly to do a whole "tutorial" on watermarks, but there's a lot of different ways to watermark in a subtle way that still protects your work. i've also seen a lot of people incredibly hesitant to move to watermarks because they believe it marrs their work, which may be true, but there are definitely ways around that. anyway, let's begin !

WATERMARK 1: URL/TRACKED TAG

the most common watermark for people is usually 'thisismyurl.tumblr.com', 'thisismyurl | tumblr', 'thisismyurl' - at least, this is assumed for most people as the best way to watermark.

but if you're like me and constantly want to change your url, you know that there's a good chance a watermark on a gif 3 months ago could be completely different to one now. this is why people are turning to tracking tags.

tracked tags change less frequently, if at all. it's smaller, which makes it more subtle. if you want to go the extra mile like me, you can create a blog under your tracked tag (eg. i track tuserlucie) which means you can reblog anything with your watermark to the blog, showing that it is yours.

placement is key though ! here's 3 different ways you can place it.

NOTE: opacity has not been altered on any of these. depending on how it looks with your gif, opacity looks best at 10-30%.

Font settings: Momcake, thin, 10pt, #ededed.

each of these placements have different advantages.

the first placement (top left) is the one i personally use. it's centered right on the middle but not too high up.

the second placement (top right) is probably the most popular. corners mean people can kind of tuck the watermark away where it doesn't seem obvious. the fourth (bottom right) effectively does the same.

the third placement (bottom left) is 100% the most effective. it sits in a point exactly where it's noticeable, making it less desirable for reposters. on the right opacity too, you hardly notice it.

WATERMARK 2: ICONS/SIGILS

this is an idea that i've seen used mostly by nik @cal-kestis , but is a great and creative way to do it !

an icon or sigil makes your gif totally unique to you. and it's something cute on there which is different to having to put text on there.

(i've put it in orange for the purpose of seeing it)

but you can see here, it doesn't need to be anything special. i've just used an oval shape plus the initials of my url and that's it !

but a sigil can be anything. it doesn't need to have text; it could just be an image. it could just be your icon. either way, it's a cute little alternative to using text.

here's the different options that i preference in action.

SIGIL - bottom right corner

URL - bottom middle

TRACKED TAG - face/body

RESOURCES

here's some resources to use if you want to start watermarking !

FONTS:

Momcake (this one was used throughout all the text watermarks !) Cocogoose Lemon milk Bebas Quicksand PSD

you can access a psd of editable watermarks here.

[ofmdrecaps]

07/25-26/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; David Jenkins; Rhys Darby; Taika Waititi; Vico Ortiz: Classes; OFMD BTS; Galaxy Con Raleigh: Con, Nathan, Vico, Kristian; Gypsy Taylor; Andrew Deyoung; Boris McGiver; Adopt Our Crew Highlights: Articles; Prompts; Gold Derby/TellTale TV Voting Reminders; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Today's Taika;

== David Jenkins ==

Chaos Dad, David Jenkins has been really active on Twitter and even poking his head into Instagram! I didn't share all of the ones he re-blogged today because I ran out of image space, but he's definitely keeping us all in mind. (I sure wish Kamala had really said that!)

Source: Djenkins Twitter

David also shared our lovely @cosmosart-s' recent Ed+Butterflies sketch on Instagram <3

Source: David Jenkins' Instagram

He also acknowledged what we've all been thinking and discussing in meta for a while now-- the differences in memory for the S1 "You Wear Fine Things Well" scene.

Source: David Jenkins' Instagram

== Rhys Darby ==

There's a new podcast available, this time with Rhys Darby visiting! Check out: Saving Sheep From a UFO w/ Rhys Darby!

Source: Looking Up Podcast

== Taika Waititi ==

Taika was out at the Louis Vuitton Foundation Party 2024 in Paris recently and boy is he looking suave.

Source: Rafhits Instagram / Icon France / VogueSpain / Anthonyghnassia /EmiliaPiaLuisaWickstead / VasJMorgan / etalkctv

More Time Bandits Interviews! Did you happen to watch Time Bandits yet on Apple TV?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Consequence Daily (@consequencedaily)

Source: ConsquenceDaily

== Vico Ortiz ==

Vico has another acting class coming up September 1! Classes are Sundays 11a-4p September 1, 8, 22 & 29 * 9/8 will be taught by a SUBSTITUTE TBA You can enroll here!

Source: Vico Ortiz' Instagram

Vic has also been keeping up with our BTS needs by posting more on their Patreon! Here's some sneak peaks-- if you don't subscribe already and would like to see all the OFMD BTS as well as other works they do, you can visit Patreon.

Source: Vico Ortiz Patreon

== Galaxy Con Raleigh (Con, Nathan, Vico, Kristian) ==

Con, Nathan, Vico, and Kristian are all at Galaxy Con Raleigh this weekend! I'm combining their sections to make it a bit easier to keep track! They've all been kind enough to send us pre-convention photos!

Source: Nathan Foad's Instagram Stories / BigSamTompson's Instagram (Nathan's Tagged Photos)

Source: Kristian Nairn's Instagram

Source: Con O'Neill's Instagram

Source: Vico's Instagram

== Gypsy Taylor ==

Gypsy Taylor is working on a new show -- "All Her Fault" and it's going to be premiering on Peacock once it's ready! Keep an eye out for it!

Source: Gypsy Taylor's Instagram

== Andrew DeYoung ==

You may remember one of our lovely writers-- Andrew DeYoung, well he's written and directed a new movie, "FRIENDSHIP" a comedy that will premier in September at the Toronto International Film Festival!

Source: Andrew DeYoung's Instagram

== Boris Mcgiver ==

Our friend Boris Mcgiver, aka Father Bonnet has a new show "Teacup", a sci-fi horror thriller premiering on October 10th, on Peacock!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ashley Edner - Tancharoen (@ashleyedner)

Source: BorisMcGiver's Instagram Stories

== Adopt Our Crew Highlights ==

Our friends over at @adoptourcrew have been king everyone up to date with the latest articles on OFMD.

Source: Decider.com

They've also been keeping twitter engaged with some wonderful prompts! What's your favourite piece of OFMD Art? (Your own or someone else's!) @adoptourcrew would love to hear from you!

Source: AdoptOurCrew's Twitter

== Gold Derby Reminders ==

Thank you @adoptourcrew for the reminder! July 30 is the last day to vote! Please get your votes in if you haven't and you plan to! https://www.goldderby.com/leagues/

Source: Adopt Our Crew's Tumblr

== Tell Tale TV Poll ==

We're neck and neck yall! The poll is open through the end of July and you can vote every day!

Source: OFMD-Ann's Tumblr

== Love Notes ==

Miss you lovelies, sending so many good vibes your way.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SWATHY SIVRAM (@theartytales)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SWATHY SIVRAM (@theartytales)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SWATHY SIVRAM (@theartytales)

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

It's been a minute since I've been blessed with this gif, so you too shall get to see Ed's heart eyes. Gif courtesy of the brilliant @captain-flint <3

[nightcolorz]

I know you are not home (home being the internet) but you can answer when you are back

(hey! if you are reading this, welcome back!)

Anyway I've been thinking lately about Marius's handling of Daniel when he was "sick" (crazy) and what it says about him and his core values

Specifically:

Not informing Armand that Daniel was unwell and with him

And

Not tolerating Daniel's choice of creative outlet fully, namely not letting him use recycling and assorted objects to build his little cities and making him use only mass produced packs

I think both things are very telling of who Marius is as a person, he doesn't see Daniel and Armand's relationship as something valuable, he is blindsided when they get back together (which happens basically the second they are allowed the privacy to have a full conversation) and he doesn't think what Daniel is doing with his models as real art

I can't help but think he made sure Armand and Daniel didn't have contact those years because he knew if they did they would both abandon him, but he told himself (and maybe even believed that he was doing it to protect them both out of love)

He thinks love equals control and that love can not exist without hierarchy and subservience

Thoughts?

It took me so long to answer this bcus I have massive thoughts!

I think the way that Marius treats Daniel and Armand when it comes to their creative outlets is rlly interesting and telling and I’m so happy u brought that up. I’ve always gotten the impression that Marius is kind of pretentious about art. He has the whole “control = love” mentality and I think that’s plays into what he thinks art is/means. The way that Marius creates is by making exact replicas of real life or pre existing paintings with his vampire mimicking skills. So his art always comes off as very detailed and fascinating but also impersonal and in some way artificial. When he ends up accidentally inserting parts of himself into his work (like painting pandora into his piece when he’s thinking of her) he considers it in error and erases it. I get the impression that Marius considers art more the act of possessing smth preexisting and making it in his own image, taking control over it by immortalizing it, rather then expressing a part of himself or reflecting on some meaning.

he sort of pushes that perspective onto Daniel when hes under his care by making him use store bought items to create his models instead of letting him delve into his mind to sort through some creativity and make smth of his own. Marius likely thinks that by allowing Daniel to only build things in this specific correct way he is both teaching Daniel how to correctly make art and he is also controlling daniel and any kind of narrative that may be happening by restricting Daniel by exploring any of his self or emotions that Marius doesn’t have a say over. Daniel can’t delve into his “crazy” mind to create if Marius controls what he is creating, and I think Marius sees this as a good thing. The less access Daniel has to his sense of self the less likely he’ll go “mad” (and the less likely Marius won’t be able to keep him docile anymore)

when it comes to Armand, when Armand was a child he was very artistically skilled and inclined. He was so religious and faith meant sm to him that he only drew religious icons, which caused him to be taken advantage of and exploited by figures in his community. When he is sexually assaulted and sold into slavery he represses his childhood memories and his ability to paint. painting becomes traumatically triggering for Armand, and reminds him of how he feels like he’s lost his faith and connection to god bcus of what’s happened to him, and he refuses to do it. Instead of trying to encourage Armand to recontextualize his relationship with art and to use it as an outlet to regain his identity Marius instead takes advantage of the opportunity he sees of Armand being a blank slate and pushes his own views of religion and art onto him as to replace to old ones. I know Marius had good intentions there, and was probably like “by giving Armand a more positive view of this he will be less terrified”, but what he ends up doing is further depriving a slave child from his cultural identity and religious values by teaching him that his faith is the wrong type of faith and he should consume art the way marius does. Marius is once again asserting his control over someone in his care’s capacity for creativity by making sure his perspective is the one that is dominating the creation.

The way I see it, as an artist Marius understands the power of art and creation and knows that to keep his “love = control so these dudes I love need to be under my control” mentality he needs to limit how his loved ones r able to engage with their own creativity so that they aren’t tapping into a level of independence that is beyond Marius’s power.

I think this is also exactly why he limits Armand’s ability to interact with Daniel while he’s “sick”. Armand and daniels relationship is such a hurricane and Marius definitely knows that if he puts those two in the same room they r a force that he can’t push around to his will. But I think Marius is definitely telling himself that he’s separating Armand and Daniel bcus Armand is a mentally ill unstable lunatic who will ruin daniels brain and Daniel is too fragile to deal with that. I also think that since Armand and daniels relationship doesn’t follow this master and apprentice dynamic and is instead this emotional colorful hot mess crazy kid combo who can’t keep there hands off each other and r addicted to each others blood that it’s therefore Bad and Irresponsible (it is but it’s better then whatever Marius thinks is correct 💀) so he needs to be the big parent and protect them from themselves (keep them reliant on him so that they don’t leave him)

thnak u for the ask this is all so interesting !!

[dumplingsfordays]

sighs of sleep

pairing - gepard x gn!reader (they/them)

genre - fluff

summary - a hallucination of your sleep-deprived brain keeps you awake late at night, so you visit your roommate across the hall to ask to sleep in his room.

cw! - fluff, mentions of stalking (not by gepard or reader), comfort, overly kind/doormat!reader, pining (mostly from gepard), shy!gepard, overthinking!gepard, hugging while sleeping in the same bed, swearing, gepard has a lil crush on reader <3, gepard and reader are roommates

i wrote this entire thing at like 1 in the morning so apologies for any mistakes...

kinda based on a dream of mine where I saw this white face in my window and it freaked be out so ig this is self-indulgence (again lmao)

i love this art so much 😭😭 geppie's so sweet. art credit!!

playlist : after dark (mr kitty), neglect (mr kitty), the beach (instrumental, slowed, and reverb) (the neighbourhood)

As always, thank you for reading :)

++++

It was dark in your room.

Nightfall had come several hours before, but when you leaned back in your chair and looked over at the small icon at the bottom-right of the laptop in front of you, you were surprised to read '2:26 AM' in white lettering. You didn't think that you've been working for so long, and yet, somehow, time passed much quicker than you anticipated.

You didn't plan on pulling an all-nighter - in fact, you initially wanted to watch a movie in your pajamas, maybe with a snack or something to drink, and then go to sleep at what would be considered a reasonable hour for Fridays. And then, after you slept, you would awake feeling perfectly rested, and maybe sleep in for a change. But noooo, apparently that was asking too much, because some annoying coworkers decided to call you last-minute at 1 in the morning to ask you to fill out some documents.

You were kind and helpful, and not wanting to disappoint, you did what they asked of you. Voila! Here you were - finished, emails sent, eyes riddled with exhaustion, hands aching, brain desperately wanting to sleep.

You stood up from your seat with a sigh, and languidly lumbered over to your bed. You didn't bother to put on pajamas when you undressed - you were way too tired for that. As you looked over to the window opposite your bed, however-

You saw something, peeking underneath the half-closed blinds.

In your now-fleeting memory of it, it seemed to be a ghostly, white, featureless face that briefly appeared and disappeared when you looked over to the window, and you were still naked.

Was this a stalker? Some creepy person that magically climbed up to the second-story window to look at your bare form?

Your shivered at the thought, and immediately grabbed the shirt that your were wearing. You shoved it on, pulling down slightly on its hem to help cover your body, and ran towards the blinds to lower them, just in case this face was an actual person and not just a hallucination provided by your sleepless brain.

Even when you lowered the blinds, however, you couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. You didn't have any cameras in your room, and your roommate wasn't the type of person to install them without your request to do so.

You finally decided that you wanted to sleep, and trying your utmost best to forget this event, you crawled into your bed and turned off the lights.

But your stubborn, sleep-deprived brain was a cruel mistress, and to your anguish, kept conjuring up the blank face's image in the darkness. You adjusted your sleeping position over and over, praying to whatever god that would listen to finally grant you rest... to no avail. You remained awake and restless, and when you finally had enough of your brain's shenanigans, you turned on the lights. You hastily tossed on a pair of sleep shorts, and with a sort of fright mixed with vigor, opened the door to the hallway of your shared dorm.

You could still see a faint yellow light underneath the door across from you, and thanking nobody in particular that he was still awake and that you didn't have to wake him, you knocked three times on his door.

Frantic shuffling from inside the room ensued, and you could hear a couple books falling to the floor before your roommate opened the door.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" he asked with obvious concern in his voice. His pale blue tank top stretched a little as he put his hands on his hips. "You scared me."

"I was about to go to bed, and then, when I was changing, I saw a white face in the window, and I tried to ignore it and go to sleep, but then I couldn't because I felt like it was still watching me, and..." you trailed off, and tilted your head downwards. "I'm sorry for ranting, Gepard."

"Oh, no, don't worry about it," he smiled gently, eyes half-lidded from a similar lack of sleep. "I think it's just your head making stuff up. If that doesn't reassure you enough to make you fall asleep, well, I don't really know what to say. Sorry."

You looked up at him, meeting his deep blue eyes. "Can I sleep with you tonight, then?"

A pause ensued as Gepard processed what you just said.

"...what?" he squeaked. His cheeks turned a bright red as he gaped at you.

"Wait! No! That's not what I meant, I promise!" you corrected, also turning red. "I meant sleep in the same room. You know, like a sleepover or something, but without the "staying up late" part, because we're already... up late... You know what? Nevermind. I'm sorry for interrupting whatever you were doing, and I'll just sleep on the couch downstairs. I'll bring some blankets and I should be just fine-"

"You can stay if you want to."

You looked over at Gepard (who was still as red as a cherry, and avoiding eye contact), wide-eyed as you took in what he said. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, the couch isn't that comfortable. You'll probably regret sleeping at all if you doze off there, and I don't mind you staying in my room anyways," he reassured. "Can you go grab blankets and stuff from your room? I'll clean up the place because I knocked over some books earlier, so..."

"Oh, um, sure," you blinked. "Thank you." You were sure that he would send you back after what you said.

You ran to your room and grabbed a pillow and blanket, but when you ransacked your drawers and closet for any sort of thick blankets or mat as possible padding between you and the floor, you came out empty-handed. You were nervous to ask Gepard if he had any usable padding material - he had done so much for you already, and you were sure that he was done putting up with your antics...

Rushing back to his room to not make him wait any longer, you stood by the doorframe as you watched him put the last of his toppled books into its place on the bookshelf.

From what you could see, his room was a tad minimalistic. Paintings of snowy sunsets and mountains decorated the white walls, and a multitude of potted plants (some of which were almost withered) were spread throughout his room, peeking from the top of his bookshelf, standing in front of his window, and some larger ones sitting on the floor. His bed was rather large, and it lay at the top right corner of the room, if you assumed that the door was in the middle of the bottom wall. His desk was across from his bed, to the right of the door, and his bookshelf, which stood in the middle of the left wall, housed an array of multicolored spines of books. His window, thankfully, was closed.

"You can come in, you know," he called as he turned his head to you.

"Thank you," you muttered, stepping inside his room. "Where should I put my stuff?"

He walked over to the center of the room, where you were standing awkwardly. He looked over the items in your hands.

"You don't have anything as padding? We have wooden floors."

"Yeah, I know," you said with a sigh. "I don't have anything."

"Neither do I... I mean, I can always sleep on the floor without padding, and-"

"You're not sleeping on the floor. It's your room."

"Yeah, but you can sleep on my bed and actually have a chance of falling asleep," he said.

"But you said that you couldn't fall asleep too," you remarked. "And you're putting up with my bullshit, so you get the bed."

"How about this? We split the bed in half with pillows, and we each get half. Does that work?"

"Oh- sure."

The two of you got to work. Luckily, you both had several pillows at hand, and Gepard's bed was big enough to perform the task, so you had it done in a couple minutes. You covered yourself with your blanket as he turned off the lights, and when you settled in among the darkness, you felt him shifting in his place.

"Goodnight," you heard him whisper.

"'Night," you replied, pulling your blanket further up to your neck.

But a little while later, your blanket stopped helping against the cold of his room. You didn't notice it before, but now, it was getting pretty chilly, and you couldn't help but lean closer to the row of pillows separating you two, subconsciously seeking warmth. Your thoughts were hazy, laced with sleep that was finally washing over you, but that little itch of cold was getting annoying. So you did the only thing that would have the smallest chance of waking him up and still receiving the warmth you needed - you came closer and closer to the pillow wall, until your hands finally felt his broad back through one of the thinner pillows.

To a very-much-still-awake Gepard's surprise, he felt your fingertips press against his back through a pillow. He thought that you were dreaming, that your brain was perceiving the pillows as a stuffed animal that you were "petting", but when your hands snaked around his torso, he realized that he was probably the stuffed animal (at least in your dreams). You were now hugging him.

If he was being honest with himself, he would probably describe his current feelings in one word: conflicting.

On one hand, he wanted to push your arms away. You were dreaming, that's it, and you needed something to hug. You needed to hug a pillow, not him - he wasn't at all like a pillow, he wasn't soft or light, he was, in his mind, a walking stone, hard and cold. He could give no comfort to you.

On another hand (the hand that Gepard deemed more selfish), he was rather comfortable like this. This felt right, for really no particular reason. A voice in the back of his head told him to do the same, to wrap his arms around you and protect you from anything and everything that ailed you. It whispered sweetness into his ear, vowing that you won't remember it when you wake up anyways, that this was his chance to face his feelings and act on them.

Sure, he's had a crush on you ever since you moved in together, but that doesn't excuse hugging you back when you were this close, right? But what would happen if he hugged you back, and you somehow remembered? What if you weren't sleeping at all and this was your way of flirting?

Y/N wasn't flirting, he thought. Definitely not with me. They wouldn't. They probably don't like me anyway.

Oh, but how he wanted to not overthink the situation and just do it already. This was his chance! What if you did like him back? What if you were flirting with him? A hug couldn't really ruin a 6-month-old friendship, could it?

He sighed as quietly as possible. He was going to do it. He was going to hug you, and he was going to roll the dice of Fate. Either you won't care, or you would lean into his arms, or you would push him away when you wake up. You were kind, merciful - would you really kick him out of the apartment because of a hug?

He stiffly turned around to face you, and got a full view of your serene, closed eyes. You were so pretty like this, he almost couldn't bear it.

Steeling himself, he screwed his eyes shut and reached his arms out to your form, wrapping them around your waist, supporting your back with his large hands. To his relief, you didn't show any signs of resistance - instead, you tilted your head closer to his, resting it against his collarbone as you let out a short, low hum.

Holy shit. Holy shit.

You were so warm, so soft, so fucking beautiful to him. He felt an overwhelming sense of immense joy and relief flood his system at your actions and couldn't help but brush away a stray lock of hair from your perfect, ethereal countenance, taking care to not disturb your sleep in any way. Small breaths escaped your oh-so-kissable lips like fleeting whispers of song, tickling his neck and shoulder lightly, and his heart beat faster and faster until it almost hurt from how close you were to him.

He couldn't believe that this was actually happening.

Your own heartbeat slowed as you fully fell asleep, content in his warm embrace, but Gepard's was still racing. He wanted to stay awake for as long as possible, to savor this moment of closeness for what could very well be the last time, but his eyes betrayed him - they were closing all on their own, and the last thing that he remembered before he fell asleep was the way that your chest rose and fell in time with your quiet sighs of sleep.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Hiii, do you have any tips for drafting out embroidery patterns? I've got one in mind, but drafting it out and color picking is so nerve-wracking!!

[Hi!!!! this got kinda really long so I'm gonna crop it under a read more. And I honestly don't have any real training/instruction in fiber arts so this is just how I do things, and probably others do them very differently!]

Haha so my fandom embroideries are VERY different from my non-fandom personal pieces in this respect. For non-fandom things i just kind of throw myself in like WAHOO FREEFORM LETS GO and go for a kind of messy colorful approach that ends up as things like this:

Versus my fandom stuff is way more structured and designed to fill space, be very precise, etc. So for those I do go in with a digital mock up of the design I make in photoshop, that I then color in, and then as my last step translate to thread colors.

For my Dragon Age series. this has been because I'm specifically trying to mimic the stained-glass style of art you see in parts of the game like the dialogue wheels, some icons, windows, etc. The icons in particular were really easy to copy into embroidery because they already come in handy circles:

This is mostly because I have desperately wanted to pick up stained glass work as a hobby for like 6 years now. As in once every 3-6 months I put everything I'd need to start doing it into an online shopping cart and look at the price total and then sadly close the window because I just don't actually have any space I could do it in (I live in a 2bed apartment so i have no garage or yard or anywhere it wouldn't make everything else a mess or be a hazard). The day after one of those events I impulse bought and completed a floral embroidery kit from the craft store and kinda was like... ok, well, I did this once how hard can it be to use this medium to mimic the hobby I wish I could be doing? Plus, it's only like 60 cents per color! I can afford that! So I took the first design I wanted to do, the romance icon, and basically redrew it sloppily in photoshop, then freehand-copied the design onto fabric and stitched it the next day:

I learned a lot from this piece and changed my approach a little. Here you can see I tried shading in the parallel direction to my thread, which looked messy and added texture, so now I shade horizontally to my thread direction instead.

But it gave me a basic approach for turning the Tarot cards or DA Keep tiles (or any other art!) into embroidery patterns, which I couldn't copy as directly into this really smooth stained-glass style. There's a basic process I follow when doing these conversions that generally follows the same order, which I'll go through below.

STEP 1: SHAPES

The first thing I do is pick the shape of my display frame which is usually a circle, but could be an oval or rectangle too, since I hang the finished pieces on my wall to have nice way to show them off. I like to fill the whole space so knowing the size and shape of what I want the finished project to look like is a good goal for me. Since I am doing fandom pieces I want to be recognizable, I do stick pretty close to the "original" character design/art, but you can absolutely change as much as you want and freehand draw your own interpretation instead. If you're doing original art just substitute the below composition notes with "sketch out roughly what you want it to look like". I personally do my pattern drafting digitally as I find it easier, but you can do this part by hand too.

First, I keep the reference image I'm working off of open next to me while I work, and draw in the shape of my frame (here, a circle). If I'm adding in the little border to be fancy, I add a second inner circle. I keep these as their own top layer so I always know I'm working within the final "frame" and don't spend time designing any section that will fall outside it. Then I will take copies of the reference image and knock the layers down to 25-50% opacity, and start moving them around underneath the 'frame' layer until I like the way their positioning looks as a composition. Sometimes elements of a card I want to include don't all fit in, so I'll chop the section out and add an additional layer to throw in (like the background circle things in the Hermit design below). Or I'll just freehand things like adding much bigger diamonds behind Solas in my Hierophant design because I did NOT want to do 1000 tiny ones. Then once I'm satisfied with the general composition, I'll use the plain ol circular brush tool to trace out the major shapes of each element. I try to keep in mind that I can't go too small, and curvy lines are more difficult to fill in than straight ones. I usually do a rough messy version first, make it mostly transparent, and then a cleaner and more precise one over that.

(you can see parts of the rough one on the left and the fully 'cleaned up' on the right for the Hierophant design)

Now: depending on what you are doing next with the pattern, this might be where you stop and start coloring. If you are planning to freehand your design or just trace it onto fabric (or even print it onto fabric here), there's no need to do more than this kind of lineart! However, if you are working digitally and want to create a scalable vector so you can print it at different sizes, you can use the pen tool in photoshop to trace your design and make a "work path" of the lineart. However, another note: THIS PART IS VERY FRUSTRATING AND TEDIOUS BECAUSE THE PEN TOOL WAS CREATED BY THE DEVIL TO TORMENT US. It is so so so easy to accidentally delete a line or even the whole path and not notice later on. Ask me how I know 😭 Anyway I'm not going to include a pen tool tutorial because I don't even know how to use it well and have to google or watch videos every other time I try to use it. But if you can muddle through it gets you some really clean lines that eventually look like this:

With the work path selected, you can select the brush tool/size/color and use the "stroke path" option to create lineart of the vector. Then you can save this as a transparent png file for use at different sizes and for printing and it looks so nice and clean! one of the big benefits to this is that you get really fine lines that are easier to be precise with stitching on. This is extra perfect if you are printing the design directly onto your fabric (which you can do with an at-home inkjet printer for designs under 8inches wide, as long as you stick a piece of stabilizer on the back of your fabric and cut it down to printer sheet size--this is what I do and can make another post about that process if people want haha), or if you are printing onto transfer paper like you can buy at craft stores.

This is where I end the lineart for my designs. After I have this, I move on to the next phase, which is...

STEP 2: COLOR

For interpreting my designs into thread, I start by thinking of it as flat colors first. You can't "shade" as easily with threads as you can with things like paint or brushes in digital art (though you can A Little, which I will get into), so to start color planning I pick the "main" color each section will be in the piece.

For the existing icons this was simple--I kept the same sections as the original designs, so for each I just color picked or eyeballed the color in photoshop and colored it in (but you could do this on paper with pencils, markers, whatever as well--they don't need to match your threads exactly and usually won't, it's just to give you an easy reference to follow as you go). For the tarot cards which were more complicated in coloration, I just did my best and went with what looked good next to each other, even if it was a little off the original art. It will be off more later anyway when you have to pick threads so don't stress it too much honestly. I will often make layers with different color options and turn them on/off for direct comparison to try to determine what I think looks best as well, like below where I was debating between more blue/desaturated for the background or brighter colors.

I do wanna note I have regrets about the color selection, shapes, or shading in EVERY SINGLE ONE of my finished pieces. But no one else ever comments or probably even notices! One aspect of this hobby is just learning to be satisfied with what you've made and using what you learned to get closer to your preferences next time. I'm only going back and redoing some of my designs' colors because I want to make it easier for others to choose on the patterns I sell, more than I care for just for myself. Also since I'm doing this lineart/stained glass looking approach where I go over the distinct shapes with black thread at the end, it means I get these clear delineations between sections you might not necessarily have in your own pieces, and that's ok.

Ok right. Now while shading/coloring in detail is hard with thread, you CAN make whats essentially dithered gradients. "Dithering" in the concept of art means using 2 (or more) colors to give the impression of a third color, or to gently scale between the existing binary rather than a hard line. Think of it like blocky pixel art or gameboy game images. If you're doing needlepainting, you use really small stitches close together to get this effect, which translates to "smaller pixes"--if you look at the jellyfish in my first photos that's a very messy casual version of that. If you want a better example, I recommend looking at @ammocharis 's pieces like these in her pinned post, which are truly amazing! I simply do not have the patience myself 😂 For my stained glass style, I work only in very long straight stitches, so I can only shade in one direction and have to be a little more precise with it.

So for shading, I think about in each section which direction my threads might go. Then perpendicular to that direction I pick which side will be the light one and which the darker one. Sometimes I color this in on my pattern mockup, but sometimes I don't! Or I'll only do it for certain sections to make sure I don't forget. Like for my Tower design I only colored it as flats, and waited until I selected threads to decide how the shading would go. I am currently working on a smaller, simplified version of my Hierophant design and I did add shading digitally for that one just for fun. But it's not as important as having the flat color version you can use to quick-reference how you want your design to go while you're stitching. You might also notice I don't actually color my gold--I just throw in a stock image of gold foil for that layer so I can't confuse it with any of my yellow thread sections.

Here's a close up where you can kind of see what I mean by the "dithered" effect between colors--some are more obvious (like the red on the far left or middle orange) and others pretty subtle (dark grey to dark red on the wolf face):

Now, while I use single layers of satin stitches for this, and just alternate thread colors increasing/decreasing as I go, you can accomplish the same thing with short overlapping stitches like with needlepainting, or with clusters of french knots, or whatever else. But in GENERAL you are going to be able to trick people into seeing gradients out of dithering best when you are using the same type of stitch for that whole area. So if I was using multiple stitch types like having french knots, daisy chains, ladder stitching or whatever else for some sections, I would keep those to contrasting areas/colors. A fantastic example of using different layered types of stitching to create more intricate color/texture in an embroidery would be these incredible tarot card depictions by @hattedhedgehog, which I like even better than my own embroideries. Here's his take on the Tower card as well for comparison to mine (I'm so in love with it!!!).

But anyway, at this phase, your design is actually still digital--the above is just to explain how it translates later in the process. The next step is...

STEP 3: THREAD SELECTION

I will admit here I am not great at this part. I am constantly second guessing my thread colors, and can spend over an entire hour in the thread aisle at the craft store agonizing over choices. Really, I think this is just one of those things that takes practice and you get better at it over time. What I have had the best luck with is actually printing out a reference photo of my design/the original artwork and taking it with me. If you already have threads you can do this part at home too, but DMC alone has over 500 colors and I definitely don't even own half that so I like to torture myself by looking at them all together on the thread racks. Plus Anchor and Artiste and whatever other brands there are out there. One approach is to just sit there and pick out what you want for each section and line it all up together on top of your printout. Or in the case of my Tower I laid a bunch of options out on top of my template in the hoop to guess how they'd look in the frame.

For me since I am also doing this dither shading thing, I also need 2-3 colors per sections depending on its size. Sometimes it's easy and the threads have a color just a little darker or lighter right next to them in the numerical lineup! Other times, there is no good match, or it looks too far away to shade nicely, or I want one to be a warmer or cooler tone than the other... which means a lot of standing and fretting to myself over it. I actually take a lot of photos at this stage because it can be easier to see how they will look in the end from a photo than in person to me? Idk why. Plus then after they get scrambled in my bag I remember wtf order I meant for them to go in later. But as long as you're not preventing other customers from shopping themselves, you can spend as long as you want staring at thread in the embroidery aisle and they won't kick you out unless it's closing time, so take your time.

Now, IN THEORY, you can sort of combine steps 2 and 3 by color-selecting from your threads and using that to color in the design. However I have tried this and it led to mixed success because the photoshop eyedropper brush simply isn't actually that exact (in my experience, it desaturates compared to what we actually see). And because then you have to have the threads on hand while you're coloring... which means you might buy ones you don't end up using if you don't like them. So I prefer to just use this as a refinement step where I pick threads based on the design colors, then will re-color the design a second time to match those threads more closely to be sure I like the effect.

I've even used this as a tool when I needed to adjust my color choices mid-project, by digitally coloring over over my WIP:

Or here's a design (but I haven't posted the finished piece yet bc it's a gift so shhh) I made with certain color tones initially, but after buying thread I re-did the color mockup to be more vibrant, because I liked those threads better in the store:

Once you have your thread, you can make yourself a little reference chart with the colors you intend noted on the sections you want them, like below:

(note: i didn't end up sticking to these colors because I ended up dying my own thread for several sections. And then forgot I made this entirely and picked new ones because I put the project down for a year between design and stitching. Sigh).

Or for my Solas pattern I did this in a really detailed way, which i am sorry but i have redacted because... i have it for sale now and don't wanna just give that away haha. But if you buy the pattern from my shop this is one of the files you'd get with it, for ease of reference. I do also include a text-only list of them as well.

Now I don't go to this much trouble for all my designs, just the ones I put up for sale (or plan to). You can also just make a text list of your color plans if you want. Though for fun I also have been using my scrap thread to make these little "color palette" keyrings for my finished pieces, so if I ever remake them or update their patterns I will know what the original colors were, plus I can compare what i used to other threads if I wanna change part of the design up. This step is absolutely not necessary and I'm just doing it because I'm selling the patterns now, but they are kinda fun to look at.

And don't forget.. if you start a section in a certain color and decide you don't like it, you can just cut the threads and pull them out! I did that with my original hierophant piece actually. I had an entirely different color for one row of diamonds i thought just clashed way too much with the others, so I used photoshop to paint over it with some alternate options until I found one I liked better. Then I cut away all the old threads and put in the new color. It can be a little harder to fill a piece the second time since the fabric will have stretched out a little, but as long as you're using a good stabilizer it usually doesn't move too much.

You can also just make test swatches on spare fabric to test before you add them to your real piece. I wish I'd done this for some color transitions that didn't end up looking the way I wanted, but I am simply too lazy most of the time. My exception is usually for metallic, satin, or sparkly threads, because I want to know how they feel while embroidering. But if you're really worried about a certain color or shade it's a good thing to remember you can just do.

SO yep, that's my general process for drafting patterns. I start with the shapes/design, then do my flat color version, then I pick my threads. Makes it sound easy and short when phrased like that :) But I can honestly spend 8-10 hours just on making the lineart and coloring it in. If I was better at art, probably this would be less, but I'm working with what I've got (not much) 😂 I think all aspects of this are also something that gets easier over time, but it will probably never look as bad as you worry when you start out. I think all my pieces look awkward and rough right up until I do the finishing steps and move them to the display frame sometimes.

I hope this was helpful and answered your questions!! Feel free to post/share your WIPs to ask for feedback or advice ever too :) I've only ever had people in the embroidery community on tumblr be encouraging and helpful to me, and I'm happy to answer any questions myself when I can or if parts of this were confusing

[bestworstcase]

Hi, I've been enjoying your essays on Salem immensely and your theories about Summer have got me hoping we will get to see her again. A thought popped into my head recently: do you think it might be possible for Ruby to choose a new emblem at some point? Her emblem is the same as Summer's except for color. She's starting to learn that she doesn't know as much about her mother as she thought and that maybe she shouldn't aspire to become the hero she thought that Summer was. So what if part of Ruby discovering herself came in the form of an emblem change? I guess it's a long shot, since the show hasn't touched directly on the emblems very much, but this particular one carries explicit narrative significance...

i think she might modify the brooch in some way—maybe take a leaf out of yang’s book and paint it?—to really make it hers.

this is smth i talked about while v9 was airing but the core problem ruby had to face in the ever after is that because she lost her mom at just the right age to have indistinct, amorphous memories of summer and grew up hearing about summer as this fairytale hero (who was just! like! ruby!), ruby is alienated from herself—her "memory" of summer is really more of a projected idealized form of herself.

we glimpse this in v6/v7 with ruby visualizing her own feelings personified in summer rose (+ the character model being a barely tweaked clone of ruby, which is not, as v9 reveals, what summer rose actually looked like—the low effort v6/v7 model may have just been a budget/time consideration but even if it was they leveraged it narratively to great effect) and ruby asking qrow what he thinks summer would have done in her shoes when she’s doubting herself. but the ever after pulls it to the surface and confronts her with it.

(this is also sort of what’s going on with penny’s sword, incidentally… it wasn’t literally penny’s sword that fell into the ever after somehow, it was an outward physical manifestation of her grief in the form of a sword because ruby’s the "weapons are extensions of ourselves" girl)

ANYWAY the point being, ruby sacrificing the brooch is what precipitates her katabasis in the last arc of v9 because she is, at the same time, letting go of summer but also rejecting herself, because her idea of summer is really her own reflection disguised as what she wants to be (<- STILL CANT BELIEVE THIS.) and then crescent rose shocks her and ruby just unravels. take the image, the icon of summer from her and she has no idea who she is.

that separation from the burning rose was necessary but (as surmised in the linked post) it’s equally crucial that ruby took it back in the end, first because it’s the one real thing she has from her mother and that’s important to her and second because it is also very much ruby’s symbol now—summer left it behind fourteen years ago and it’s belonged to ruby ever since.

the key is that she needs to detangle her own identity from the idea of summer rose—smooth out the funhouse mirror so she can see herself (and her mother) as she truly is. which is a different kind of challenge than stepping out from her mother’s shadow; ruby isn’t struggling to assert that she isn’t like summer; she needs to realize summer wasn’t (isn’t) her, that when she imagines summer she’s really picturing herself without all the qualities she doesn’t like about herself.

it’s the reversal of the standard trope, which would generally end with the child discarding their parent’s identity and symbols to forge their own. i think for ruby it’s going to be similar to what jaune does with his shield after the fall of beacon, having it reforged with the image of her diadem worked into it as a way of both honoring her memory and claiming the family shield as his own. keeping the brooch but modifying it with her own touches, like by painting it or maybe casting a copy, allows for that same sort of balance between memorial and new beginning. which is also in keeping with what the burning rose itself symbolizes narratively, so it works on that level as well.

[des2dream]

Appreciation For MLP Generation 5🦄💗

By the time My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic ended, I pretty much expected there to be another generation by the next decade and it mainly helped with there being leaks of concept art from 2018. Originally, it was going to be a reboot of G4 with The Mane Six meeting each other all over again (and Twilight being an Earth Pony, Fluttershy being a Unicorn, Pinkie Pie being a Pegasus) similar to the second generation of Monster High and I'm so glad they didn't go that route. After 10 years, I didn't need to see these ponies become friends again after seeing them grow for NINE seasons! In 2021, I saw leaked images of the upcoming G5 movie (the one with Sunny, Izzy, and the iconic tennis ball) and I was immediately taken in by the art style. I was even more intrigued when I found out that an MLP fan artist (Imalou) was working on the movie too! As soon as My Little Pony: A New Generation arrived at Netflix, I had such a good time with it. It was a great introduction to G5's main characters, I enjoyed the story, and I loved all the songs. The animation was great too considering it was the first time MLP went fully CGI (unless if we count animation for commercials, the Hello, Pinkie Pie! mini series, or any other 2-3 minute animated shorts).

Nearly a year later, we had two series for G5 air around the same time. Make Your Mark aired on Netflix as 22-minute episodes taking place after the recent movie in the same CGI style. Tell Your Tale premiered on YouTube as 5-minute shorts that also take place after the events of the recent film and mixes with the timeline of the Netflix series in a unique 2D animated art syle. With these shows we were given new characters like Misty, Sparky the Dragon, Posey, and Opaline who is not only the series' antagonist, but an ALICORN as well! Yes, Miss Opaline Arcana is a menacing fire alicorn who aims to control Equestria's magic while Misty is working under her wings for the first half of the series until she joins the new Mane 5 as the sixth member to help take her down. We even get a handful of characters from the 2021 film to reappear in both series. As for our new Mane 6, I enjoyed them. Sunny Starscout now having restored Equestria's magic is encouraging to keep ponies together while also learning to control her new alicorn powers. Izzy Moonbow continues to be joyful, positive, and creative as she's so happy to have new friends by her side. Hitch Trailblazer still manages his job at being Maretime Bay's sheriff, but now he has new responsibilities to Sparky and his new Earth Pony magic that also gives him the ability to talk to animals. Princess Zipp Storm and Princess Pipp Petals have moved out of their palace in Zephyr Heights into Maretime Bay where Pipp has opened a new singing salon and Zipp is taking the role of a detective where she wants to know more about Equestria's new magic. As for Misty Brightdawn, she was such a delight through and through as she went from a villain's sidekick to a hero with such good character development.

Unfortunately, things weren't always peaceful in a G5 world. Fans weren't too kind with both series (and even the movie a little bit) especially since it took place in the same timeline/universe as G4. They weren't happy with the stories, they weren't happy with the recast (despite that being very expected), they weren't happy with the characters, and they weren't happy with the overall vibe G5 was going for. There weren't even that many toys being sold compared to G4's run. I do understand where they're coming from because there were some problems with G5 that I couldn't ignore. Some of those problems include the magic system, how Equestria fell after Twilight's reign, the return of Spike and the dragons, and Opaline's backstory. There's a recent villain named, Allura (a winged snow leopard) who was introduced near the end of G5's run and it's a shame because audiences were just given some of her backstory before the generation's cancellation. While Generation 5 had it's ups and downs, I found it pretty disrespectful that it got so much hate for "not living up to G4's standards" or people just not wanting to accept change and still cling onto G4. I know G5 wasn't perfect, but it's not fair that it got hit with so much distaste when MLP has had WORSE media back in the day (My Little Pony: Newborn Cuties says hi). Even though this generation lasted for a few years, I'm grateful that we had ANY media with these ponies and I wish they were given a proper sendoff rather than being cancelled. Thank you for everything, My Little Pony Generation 5! Hoof to heart!❤🦄❤

Artists: PONE177 (Rivin Octaver Brush), briannacherrygarcia, Amy Mebberson, Ink Key Studios, Imalou, & abbytabbys

[snipeheart]

This is me asking about Piers’ sexuality :)

Piers Nivans' Sexual Orientation, or: A Long Talk

Piers' sexuality is a topic I intend to focus on a lot on this blog, at least where I'm able. Resident Evil 6 came out when I was fifteen, and "formative" doesn't begin to describe it. I'm so very glad I got into Resident Evil early, it's a very rewarding series for us rainbow people.

My main point of attention is that it was 2012 when Resident Evil 6 came out and 2013 when it takes place. Yeah, the Korrasami kiss is around the corner, gay marriage is only two years away, and Moonlight will be winning an Oscar before you know it--but we didn't know it, at that point, no one knows it. We were only just emerging in post-Iraq America, Don't Ask Don't Tell had only just been repealed, and the gay male flag? That Crest Toothpaste ass set of colors I picked specifically for this post? That wasn't a thing for another five years. There weren't a lot of gay icons to pick from and most of them were being punished by their various industries for it.

The point being that I play Piers as both gay and deeply, deeply in the closet about it.

Piers grew up into a military family and holds a very high rank for a soldier as young as he is. Masculinity and by extension heteronormativity have been pressed in on him constantly from a very young age, and he has been given a lot of reasons to want to keep quiet about liking men and not women. His job is to train, support, and give commands to men both younger and older than he is and many of whom have wives--and military culture being barely indistinguishable from frat bro culture as it quite often is, Piers is expected by everyone to be quite successful with women and to eventually be shacking up with one.

Piers passes pretty successfully, at least while deployed. His main approach to guarding himself and staying hidden is to just not talk about it. He is constantly, skillfully dodging questions about girlfriends and what kind of p*ssy he likes, etc., mostly by adopting a very serious and objective-driven on-duty persona, effectively making him the hardass to a lot of his juniors. It works better than you think (certainly better than it ever did for me), because Piers is a Special Operatives Unit member and people assume he's stoic and serious by nature, when in reality he can shoot his mouth off quite freely if he wants given his position allows for it (see also: all of his loud dissent towards Chris).

This is not to say Piers is at ease with where he is. He doesn't see himself ever being able to fake having a girlfriend nor able to successfully wrangle a boyfriend, and he gets very in his head about being 'stuck' and basically unable to breathe for all the straightness he has to project. He gets very deep in thinkholes and can mildly obsess over men he's attracted to, and he is very long-suffering when it comes to quietly enduring crushes or infatuation.

It affects everything. It affects his ability to socialize with other people, it affects how he's able to interact with other men, it affects his self-image. Piers often thinks of himself as a virgin, even though he's actually not, and he doesn't consciously think of himself as attractive, even though he definitely is conventionally good-looking. He has to second guess so, so many interactions and navigate them differently than if he was straight.

Exposing Piers to homophobia will (as with myself) make him very stressed out. He doesn't risk his closet for anything, and this means he has let many a homophobic remark pass without back talk and this does leave him very ashamed of himself as well, though he has his limits. He broke the nose of a recruit who he caught calling another soldier a f*ggot once.

This isn't a good position or a healthy way to live for someone who wears his heart on his sleeve the way Piers does, but he doesn't see other alternatives. He used to have fantasies of moving to cities like New York to live more freely, and of course the classic "coming out in college" idea that never actually panned out. He's accepted by now that he's going to spend the better part of his life as a soldier, and that if he lives long enough he can decide to come out later in life.

I have thought about whether I want to factor his relationship with Chris into my portrayal, and whether to write Piers as attracted to him by default, independent of whether I'm in talks to ship with another roleplayer, as to me a huge part of Piers' characterization in RE6 is how he bounces off of Chris and serves as his voice of reason and ultimate final loss. When you're young and gay and under a lot of pressure like Piers is, you're gonna develop some mancrushes on badass heroic men. But I do want any prospective partners to know that I don't have any intention of forcing the ship on them; I just feel like weighing that into my portrayal of Piers.

If I do end up shipping with someone, regardless of who it's with, forgive Piers if he gets a little sentimental. He's very much internalized the idea that he's not supposed to have relationships, boyfriends, sex, intimacy, etc. He'll get in his feelings just a little and you gotta let him have that.

That's all for now. Undoubtedly more later.

[nightingale2004]

Harry Potter next gen: Draco x Astoria vers.

Sidra Narcissa Malfoy

Faceclaim: Lily Rose Depp

(First off, thank you, @kind-hufflepuff. You inspired me to make this character)

Sidra is the oldest child and first daughter of Draco Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass. She is also the older sister to Scorpius.

Sidra is 3 years older than Scorpius and is SUPER overprotective of him

When Sidra first went to Hogwarts, she was sorted into Ravenclaw

Loves her parents and is a total daddy's girl

Has a Cleo DeNile and Regina George vibe

MASSIVE diva

She knows what people say about her family, but she doesn't care.

Often teases Scorpius out of love

Helps her father keep Scorpius's innocence intact

Her patronus is a peacock

✨️fashion icon✨️

Has a hard stare that will make you fear for your life, and if her looks could kill you would already be dead

She does not speak peasant

Despite what half of Hogwarts may think, she does not mind getting her hands dirty as long as she looks good doing it

Is incredibly intelligent and has a very curious mind

Knows wizard law by heart and will not hesitate to unleash her inner lawyer

Did not like Albus Potter anywhere near her brother, but she learned to tolerate him because he makes Scorpius happy

Constantly threatens Albus that if he breaks her little brother's heart, then she will break him

She knows Legilimence and Occlumency

Feels like she is surrounded by idiots

Her favorite classes are astronomy, ancient runes, arithmancy, charms, and history of magic

She has a sketchbook where she draws clothing designs and ideas (gift from her grandmother)

After her mother died, she put on a mask of perfection. The only people she takes that mask off for are her father, grandparents, and brother

Knows ballet and how to play the violin, flute, harp, and piano

Does not like the Potters but tolerates them

Surpringly for everyone, she is on the Ravenclaw quidditch team and plays as seeker, chaser, and keeper (she is also Ravenclaw's best player

When someone hurts her family, she will not hesitate to hurt them back (public image be damned)

Likes painting and sketching (helps her relax)

She and Scorpius are attached to the hip, and she can easily read her whole family and what they're thinking

Visits her mother's grave occasionally and talks to her about anything and everything that's happened to her and her family

She is pretty much Draco when he attended Hogwarts

If you bully her brother and she stares at you without saying anything, she is planning your death

The Black family madness runs deeply through her veins

Their are moments where she reminds her grandparents of Sidra's aunt Bellatrix Lestrange

Sidra keeps her father updated about Scorpius

After her mother died, Sidra and Draco's relationship was awkward, but they still loved each other and expressed it in their own way

Is completely weak for her brother

Knows her own self worth

☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy

Faceclaim: Percy Hynes White

The first son and second child of Astoria Greengrass and Draco Malfoy

Autistic af

The kindest and most sensitive person you'll ever meet

Slytherin boy

Loves his family with all his heart

Hates it when other people talk bad about his family

He can read a person's body language

Has a great interest in dinosaurs to this day

Would play doctor/healer when he was younger

When he was a kid, he would sneak into his parents or Sidra's room and sleep with them. Now, he mostly sleeps next to his sister whenever he doesn't want to be alone

Tries to keep his sister from killing anyone

Loves seeing Albus and Sidra getting along

Calls his sister Sid or Siddy

Loves herbology, potions, care for magical creatures, and history of magic

Will go to his sister's games and cheer for her the loudest

He doesn't like crowds or social events. (It easily overwhelms him and triggers panic attacks)

He is jealous of Sidra and Albus but they always encourage him and love him despite being sensitive

Doesn't like to be touched without consent except if it's with someone he trusts

His patronus is dog

Whenever he needs to vent to his sister, she immediately drops everything to listen to him

Incredibly shy and bashful. He also does not have a great grasp of social cues

Sometimes, he visits his mother's grave with his father and sister. He likes to talk with her too

He is an incredible fan of Severus Snape along with Sidra, and they both often converse with his portrait

People have commented on how Scorpius and Sidra should've switched houses and how the hat got them mixed up

Draco loves how close Sidra and Scorpius are

He is the tall bf in the relationship

[s-che]

Procedurally Generated Hobbit nonsense

The Dream Library played Under Hill, by Water this month, which means that I ran Under Hill, by Water this month, which means I had to figure out how to run an OSR game this month, which is hard, because I don’t know shit about running games in the OSR.

If a year and a half of running games extremely quickly has taught me anything, it’s to try and meet things where they are and play them exactly as they’re asking you to play them. That’s part of why we slowed things down to just one game a month, giving ourselves the sessions necessary to fool around, make some mistakes, and then figure out what a game was actually asking for and hit extremely hard on our second punch. This isn’t just an OSR thing, either — Bluebeard’s Bride, and the excellent work Molly did to get us where we got for the final session of that game, is a great example of what I mean.

But I do struggle with OSR, though. Sometimes, with the wealth of writing which I know is out there — with the density of conversation which I know is occurring... I feel a little bit like I’m peeking in the window at a subculture that’s totally inaccessible to me. I know doesn’t have to stay inaccessible (everybody has to go to their first house show sometime), but at the first pass, piecing together what is being said and why they’re saying it feels a little bit like trying to read Linear B. 

I think this is a feeling that’s worth seeking out sometimes, especially if you’re dealing with a medium that you’ve got an expertise in. It’s humbling, of course, but beyond that getting those ideas to cross-pollinate, looking at why it is that someone did what they did in a certain way and trying to figure out what they’re responding to that you aren’t is worth more than an ego check. It’s a pathway to making better art, whatever your genre, medium, or form. Go read the shit you don’t know anything about.

You know what I do know something about, though?

Hobbits.

The itch page for Under Hill, by Water tells us that “The OSR is pretty metal. And metal rules. But it’s fairly far away from the source material of Tolkien and the eclectic, rustic, anachronistic little British gentry that were the center of his stories.” There’s an obvious joy for the Hobbitish — and not just “the Hobbitish,” in an iconic, commercial nerd culture way but The Hobbit, the 1937 fairy-tale — which runs through basically the whole book. This is maybe unsurprising if you’re familiar with Joshy McCroo’s Whole Deal, but it really was the selling point on this game for me, and a huge part of why I wanted to play it so badly (and want to keep playing it — having finally figured out how to do it well and, more importantly, no longer needing to be the host).

There’s a reason The Hobbit sticks around, even as Tolkien himself worked to supercede it with Rings, and it’s that charm — summoned up to great effect in Under Hill, by Water, especially in the systems of village- and gossip-generation — which kept the book club ticking this month. Hobbits have a kind of fairy-tale vague specificity — a Hans Christian Andersen effect, where even if you can see all the marks of 19th century Denmark (or 20th England), the stories still carry a kind of archetypical familiarity. Does hobbitishness map best today on rural England, or New Zealand, or the American Midwest? Is Bilbo more like Frodo or like Sam? Do hobbits heat water in the microwave? These are the sorts of questions that, as it turns out, people in the Dream Library have a real investment in. 

And as much as this might seem like a troupe of storygamers avoiding talking about an OSR game, I don’t think that’s true. In our sessions, Under Hill, by Water worked as a platform through which people could bring together their competing images of hobbits to do collective, transformative work on a piece of media that matters to a lot of people. Which is, I think, the highest compliment I could pay to an adaption of Tolkien: it produced new and interesting stories. 

It also had some absolutely sick fucking tables. I cannot express how much fun it is to spend fifteen minutes pulling hobbit names and social clubs out of a hat and then spinning up some gossip to link things to each other. By the end of the first session, I was genuinely invested in the extremely stupid world we’d made and all the little freaks who lived in it. Shout out to Drungo forever, and to his efforts to That is, I think, as close as I’ve ever made it to getting the itch which seems to drive the OSR.

Hobbits do microwave their tea, by the way.

[cleolinda]

Weekend links, June 2, 2024

My posts

My mom was in a car wreck this past week, but she’s okay and it looks like insurance will pay for the massive damage to the back third of her whole-ass car, and it won’t be totaled. Panic-inducing, and my mom’s a little spooked about getting back out on the road, but it’s going to be okay, I think. 

I was going back through my #pride posts to find things to seasonally reblog, and I remembered I’d written this post about Donna Summer and Disco Demolition Night.

Reblogs of interest

Politics: Felonies Georg is the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime! in court! a lot!

Speaking of birdsrightsactivist, who is featured in that post, it turns out that she is a delightful evolutionary biologist who coined the word “birb.”

Hot Vintage Lady Poll finals: It’s Eartha Kitt vs. Hedy Lamarr. Be advised that it’s a 24-hour flash poll, as the men’s was. Bring it home, Eartha Nation. 

Kick off Pride Month with this massive To Wong Foo post that gets better and better every time someone adds to it.

Hozier Watch 2024: A ethereal white butterfly crashed the Noblesville show, presumably with an urgent message from the Faerie Queen (Florence Welch). 

More from hellenhighwater’s minotaur sculpture trilogy.

An extra hour in the brick pit: yet another scam event in Britain. Although I’m halfway to believing that’s just the Official DashCon Ball Pit LEGO Kit.®

I am truly truly sorry to inflict this on you, but you need to know about Ogtha, an important Reddit saga. Think Snapewives, but Kafka. And then telling your parents about it in the language of her people. 

Rooster Goncharov

How a budgie tells someone to get the fuck out

“Unbelievably huge dragon d[ISCOUNT]”

Calculus Made Easy

Wake up, babe, new cat color dropped

The Velocipastor is so much

Darth Maul, second worst nightmare

I cannot impress upon you enough what a cultural icon Winona Ryder was in the late ’80s.

That said, I now want you to read this in her deadpan Lydia Deetz voice.

“No one’s really buying AI”: I am filled with a very specific kind of joy to hear that teenagers are already calling AI-generated images “boomer art.”

Contemplating this Eurasian red squirrel and his delicious apple for a while is self care. I mean, I sure felt better. 

Video

If you have ever wanted to get in a time machine and go directly back to 1994, IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE TIME DRIFTS SLOWLY

Elephants love making music, and we don’t deserve them

Pallas cats in pumpkins, because Halloween is everyday

The sacred texts

The “Backrooms” image/location from the original 4chan thread has been found. Side note, I keep meaning to post something about Kane Parsons’ new video series, because it’s very different from Backrooms and yet the absolute terror of the liminal is still there. 

While we’re here, would you care for an heirloom dancing Spider-Man?

Personal tag of the week

#pride, since I enjoy posting things for Pride Month, although at the rate we’re going, I and/or my family might be struck by lightning any moment. Here’s hoping my tag flourishes.