#I added tiny tiny animations they're gifs!!

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

This shot is going to haunt me for at LEAST the next couple months. Like. It's driving me insane. And it's all because of one stupid, tiny detail.

The blood drips on Vox's mouth

Now, there are 3 reasons this is bothering me so much. 1 is obviously the fact that THEY ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HIS MOUTH, 2 is that there's no real reason the blood drips would be appearing in this moment, and 3 is that this is part of a sequence where VAL AND ANGEL ALSO BOTH HAVE PINK LIQUID DRIPPING FROM THEIR MOUTHS.

Now, there are possible, very reasonable explanations for the blood drips(which I feel the need to clarify have been CONSISTENTLY on the left side of his mouth in every shot except for like one other): it could be an animation error, simple as that. It could also be that they just switched the sides so the blood drips would be more noticeable, but I'm not really sure why they would do that? Because A, I edited the screenshot so that the blood drips are in their normal position and it literally looks fine

And B, why would it be extra important for us to know the drips are THERE unless they have some kind of significance in the context of Poison? Every detail in an animated show is deliberate because each panel literally has to be drawn out. If they flipped Vox's blood drips to the other side in this scene in order to draw attention to it, then there's a REASON behind it, there is something important going on here.

I think it's also important to acknowledge the only OTHER time Vox's blood drips have been on the right, this shot in the finale:

Though in this shot there's also an extra drip on the left, and the two on the right are both different sizes, which. Isn't how they normally look. The drips in this frame just overall look a lot more natural then the usual ones? Which I haven't added a picture of yet but they look like this

Two, same sized red stripes on the left side of his mouth. Anyways those are the only two times they look different, and the two moments have literally nothing in common so I can't figure out why they would be different THERE. The best explanation I can think of for the one from the finale is that a story board artist made an artistic choice(hence the drips looking significantly more natural, mor like Alastor's at the end of Stayed Gone), and then it never got changed or corrected or whatever because the frame where his face is right up in the camera last for like a split second. But Idk. That explanation doesn't really apply to the Poison shot because they look EXACTLY the same aside from being on the wrong side and the Poison shot lasts a lot longer than the close up in the finale does.

I would also like to point out that the drips switching sides is NOT a Val make out session exclusive, because when they're making out in the finale, the drips are still on the left. Like you can see the right side of his mouth in this shot and it's completely drip free.

That was a LOT of text for just one section but ONTO REASON NUMBER 2!!!!!! There is no reason Vox would be doing the fucking mouth bleeding thing in that scene.

Those blood drips only appear on Vox's mouth when he's really, REALLY worked up. The times we see them he's typically REALLY angry or REALLY excited. Like, emotions that would typically cause an adrenaline rush. And there's no real reason he would be having an adrenaline rush in this scene? Like unless wanting to make out with someone real real bad gives you an adrenaline rush I wouldn't know I'm ace. But even if that IS the case, shouldn't the drips disappear after Angel interupts them?

There's no energy in his expression when he looks at Angel, no real evidence that he's feeling anything beyond "ugh this guy again". No reason he would still have the drips. And it's not even really an animation thing, because there was plenty of time to get the drips to subtly go away in this shot. But no. They stay for the whole time. Also, while looking through GIFs to find one of this scene, I noticed that Vox literally NEVER has the blood drips when he's frowning. There a couple shots where it would make sense for the drips to appear(like when he calls Adam a pussy for not killing Al), but they don't, and in all of those shots he's frowning. So for this to be the ONLY TIME the blood drips don't dissappear when he stops smiling? Idk seems kinda sus.

Now. The final, and possibly most concerning reason this scene won't leave me the fuck alone: Angel and Val are drooling to.

(IM SO SORRY FOR THE HORRIBLE QUALITY I HAD TO GET THE SCREENSHOT FROM A LOW QUALITY REPOST OF THE MUSIC VIDEO OFF OF YOUTUBE-)

It's really, really subtle, like to the point where I didn't actually notice it until I saw somebody else point it out, but in the scene where Angel is breaking down after all the SHIT Val put him through over the course of the Poison music video, he has a little bit of neon pink coming out of his mouth. He then wipes it away, looks at his hand, and turns to look at Vox & Val.

And Val has it to. All three of them have the same bright pink dripping from their mouths. And granted, Vox & Val are in a very limited color pallette, and the red in Vox's design got swapped for that same bright pink, and his drips are usually the same red as his eyes, but the fact that it's the same color as the spit(?) coming out of Angel & Val's mouths should at least be a little noteworthy, right?

ALSO!!!!!!! I literally just now put this together- the pink substance is coming off of the right side of Vox and Angel's mouths, but the left side of Val's. It's a small detail, but given that the main reason this scene is driving me up the goddamn walls is that Vox's drips are ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HIS MOUTH, there's gotta be something to it.

Anyways, these points have all been driven into the ground already. Everybody and their mother have been taking this scene and analyzing it, saying the same shit I just did in a bunch of different ways. I'm rehashing all of this because it's relevant to the conversation, but at this point it's kinda like just pointing out the obvious. BUT! I do want to try bringing something new to the table, something that might ALSO explain why Vox's drips are on the wrong side(again, same side as Angel's), so bear with me here:

I've pointed this out before, but Poison is a pseudo dream sequence. It's constantly cutting back and forth between Angel living it up vs him suffering extensively. This is the most obvious during the dance sequence with the giant blue screens(which I cannot provide a GIF of bcuz I have already reached the image limit for this post-). The very obvious dichotomy is meant to show us how Angel uses his mask to cope with the constant abuse, he literally says he's dissociating in the song, but it ALSO means that a lot of the stuff we're seeing in this sequence isn't literal. The scene with Vox and Val might be part of that.

Vox and Val are in a very different color pallette from everything surrounding them. They're both colored in dark blues and neon pink, purple & blue. The demon beside them, however, is not. That demon is colored more naturally. And while, from a technical stand point, I think it's mostly just to make sure Vox & Val pop and are the center of our attention, it could ALSO mean that this is specifically a part of Angel's dream sequence. It's how Angel sees them. And Vox's drips are on the wrong side.

Now, I don't wanna say that this means Angel feels that Vox is in a similar situation to him, because it feels. Weird. But then again, this shot is the only thing we have on Angel's view of Vox! We know plenty about how Vox views Angel, it's not like. Specific. It's just pretty obvious that Vox Does Not Like Him. But we have nothing concrete on Angel's view of Vox(or Velvette for that matter but that's not relevant rn). Which is interesting, because Angel DEFINITELY has oppinions on him. Vox is dating Valentino, Angel's abuser, and never does anything to stop the abuse. That's gotta lead to some built up resentment, y'know? But all we have right now to show us Angel's view of Vox is something that, if you look deep enough, seems to imply he feels more empathetic towards the guy then anything else? Again, Vox and Angel's pink drips are on the right. Valentino's pink drips are on the left. Vox's blood drips are almost always on the left. But they aren't here. They're on the same side as Angel's. You see what I'm getting at here? Wether Angel is RIGHT about Vox being "on the same side" as he is remains to be determined, but still.

Anyways, I could just be over thinking this. I have a long, storied history of taking small details that are probably just mistakes and blowing them completely out of proportion. Ask literally any of my friends abour Bird Teeth and they will confirm. Plus, I'm probably gonna end up over thinking this shit for all of May and completely change my mind on what the reversed blood drips mean, I have a tendency to do that. But for now this is my theory; the reason Vox's blood drips are on the wrong side of his mouth in Poison is because Angel views Vox as being in a similar situation with Valentino to the one he himself is in. Not the exact same, but similar enough to warrant sympathy at the very least.

#can you tell that I just randomly came to that conclusion like half way through writing this? #hazbin hotel #hazbin vox #hazbin hotel vox #vox hazbin hotel #hazbin valentino #hazbin hotel valentino #valentino hazbin hotel #angel dust #hazbin angel dust #hazbin hotel angel dust #angel dust hazbin hotel #theory #hazbin hotel theory #gal overanalyzes random shit

[mndvx]

Sorry if you’ve answered this question before, but how do you make your gifs?

With an outdated version of photoshop and a lot of patience 😤 my messy process under the cut

let's say i have this movie downloaded in .mp4 i open it in windows movie maker - or any other software that lets you do quick and easy edits and whatnot but me i use wmm even tho it's obsolete i knoooow leave me alone - cut the scene i want to gif out and save it into this tiny little file

then i open photoshop and go into import > video frames into layers (i may be a little bit off in how things are called on PS in english, but they should be in the same places anyway)

this little popup will open

since my file is exclusively the thing i want to gif i don't need to bother with the little arrow-ish things underneath the video player, they're there if you need to shorten your thing or like cut into it.

this bit here needs to be checked like this, it'll set up the gif animation or whatever. so yeah then click Ok

bim bam boom photoshop will open like this

big scary image with many tiny scary images, so first of all what i do is get on the cropping tool

this will show up in the toolbar up top

and in there you set the dimensions of the gif, 1 gif in a gifset that takes up the whole post has to be 540px wide for 2 gif next to each other it's 268px wide and i can't remember 3 by 3 but i never do that so whatever who cares.

once you've set up the dimensions you want, you got this grid thing to move around and set however you want it to be

and then you wait as it painstakingly takes its time to do it

boom! it's done!

so that's your gif raw and unprepared without any filters or whatever, no length, no speed, nothing!

down there you've got the frames of the gif, depending how long is it'll be either a lot or very very short, in this case it's 277 frames, so already you know it's not gonna be just one gif but probably two or three - which i knew btw that's on purpose!!

first thing i do when all the cropping and setting up is done is scroll all the way through the frames to see if there's a bit that won't make it into the gif, and here, there is

these last four frames show a different bit of the scene because i cut shit very messily and don't check before opening photoshop but you know! trust the process! so make sure to select the unwanted bunch and delete them

so now hurray the gif is 273 frames and it's only the one scene i want

and now the fun not fun starts!

to the right you got these, the layers

so you gotta scroll all the way up and NOT forget to click on the very last layer before you start playing around with filters and all that

this little guy right here is my bestien he's the only one i use when editing gifs, fuck everybody else on that row. when making gifs i mostly just use a combination of those three things, brightness/contrast, vibrancy and photo filters

so anyway, let's fool around with those little things and make a gif (i realize now the scene is very dark and it will look very ugly but never mind! we carry on) so there a bunch of random settings added - you gotta make sure they are all the way on top of everything or else they just won't appear on every single frame

what i do then is probably very stupid and there's probably a better way to do it, but MY PROCESS, so i divide the amount of frames i've got by the number of gifs i want to make in a set, so 273/3 that's 91 (thank you google), so we look back down at the frames

and then scroll aaaaaalllll the way back to frame 91 (if you hold shift and use the wheel it'll be much faster) and while still holding shift pressed down click on frame 92

that will select every frame from the last to that and we delete that shit

so now we only have 91 frames and that's one gif. so let's save it! but wait, no you forgot to do something! see the 0.03s? that's the gif speed or whatever, idk how it works but 0.03s is too fast, me i usually use 0.05s so what you do next is select every one of those frames you've got left and click the little pointing down arrow, that'll open that

click Other... and then set it as the speed you want

ok so your gif is at the correct speed NOW you can save it so it's file > export > save for web

this new popup will appear

currently as of 2024 gifs can't be bigger than 10Mb/Mo, this one is 4mo

so we're good we're fine. so then you just click save, name the file whatever you want and VOILAAAA, a djeef!

(and then undo the delete and repeat everything for the other two gifs you'd want to make in that set)

[bisexualbaker]

Dreamwidth Alternatives to Talking in the Tags

(Originally posted on Dreamwidth so I would have less editing to do when cross-posting.)

There's a number of technological and cultural shifts Tumblr users would have to make when switching to Dreamwidth; image hosting (and the lack thereof) is probably the biggest technological switch, but the one I anticipate giving people the most trouble is tagging.

On Tumblr, you can add pretty much whatever you want to the tags, in any order you want; there is no limit to them, and they're essentially used as a secondary comment system.

Not so for Dreamwidth! Dreamwidth has a hard limit on the number of tags any journal or community can register; it's 1,000 for free users, 1,500 for basic paid accounts, and 2,000 for premium paid accounts, and they're basically entirely for organizational purposes. One of the ways that Dreamwidth's code reflects this is that it lists tags alphabetically in posts, not in the order that they were written or added. If you want to include a stream of consciousness in your tags and have them make sense, your best bet is to find a way to make them alphabetical. There's also a hard limit of 40 characters per tag for everyone, regardless of account type (paid or free).

There are other organizational options, Memories chief among them, but it's not really possible to opt out of tags being organizational and switch them to being communication. So what, if anything, can you do instead?

(Here's where the post gets long.)

The first option, and most popular all the way back to Dreamwidth's predecessor, is icons! Free accounts get 15 icon slots for images of up to 100x100 pixels, and up to (IIRC) 60kb in size. Supported file types are .jpg, .png, and .gif—so yes, this means your icons can be animated! If you have the perfect reaction gif to go with a post or comment you want to make, as long as it's the right size, you can include a tiny version of it with your post or comment!

Icons also come with an extra nifty feature: Keywords. While this is, in part, to help you select which icon you want to use from your drop-down menu, the keywords are also visible as alt text, and you can have multiple keyword options for the same icon. So if you want to add a little bit of subtext to what you're saying, you can have some additional interesting content for those who go looking.

For example, you can replicate the very popular Supernatural Current Events meme via icon form: Make a gif where the first part is Castiel confessing his love, and the second part is Dean looking constipated and saying, for example, "Today's top headlines are..." Then for keywords you can use "Supernatural", "Queerbaiting", and "Current Events". You can then choose whichever keywords you want to use for the post or comment that you're making. Just talking about Supernatural stuff? "Supernatural" is a fine keyword. Complaining about media dangling representation in front of fans only to yank it away and go No Homo (etc)? "Queerbaiting" is a fantastic choice. Want to announce some breaking news? "Current Events" is your contender. And all three of those keywords will show the same icon.

Each of these options add a little bit more nuance and subtext to the icon you're using, and, in my opinion, increase the fun factor accordingly.

.

Another fun thing to do is play with titles. While titles can be used straightforwardly, as they are in this post, they can also be used to add a little bit of off-the-wall commentary. Want to include a note that is relevant to the post but doesn't quite fit in the body? Is it something you might put in the tags on Tumblr? Consider putting it in the title!

This works both for posts and for comments. Doubly for comments in fact, aside from contexts where the field is used for organizational purposes, such as fic memes and the like; mostly because the title field is so rarely used otherwise in comments. People do use it on Dreamwidth, and some people do so often, but the majority of Dreamwidth users leave the title field blank most of the time. If you've got something to say that is really more on the margins of the rest of the comment, the subject line is somewhere you can consider putting it.

One final option that I can't say I've seen people using, but is certainly possible: The edit field. When you edit a comment, you can type in the reason you're editing it in a field that shows up at the bottom. Mostly it's reasons like "I forgot to close a tag" or "I thought of something else to add to the comment" or "I found that link I was talking about", but you could use it to add Tumblr-tag-like commentary to your own comments. Caveats that this is only an option for comments (editing posts doesn't have that same field) and that you can't edit a comment that someone has replied to. The latter portion is to try and keep communication honest and clear, though there might also be technological reasons for it.

.

The final option is post-specific (can't be done with comments) and are what Dreamwidth refers to as "Currents": Your Current Mood, Music, and Location.

Mood has a drop-down list of pre-selected mood options, some of which make more sense than others (how is "recumbent" a mood?). If you pick one of those moods, you may also get an associated image from one of Dreamwidth's provided/server supported Mood Themes; these are small and simple, and can be animated, but frequently aren't. You can check the available ones out here. If you have a paid account, you can also upload a custom mood theme, which you can make yourself or may be able to find made by someone else. Making them can take a while, but it can also be very rewarding to find or create just the right image for every mood in the menu.

That's not all, though! An important thing about Mood is that you can also input a custom mood. Not to be confused with a custom mood theme, a custom mood is an area where you can ignore the pre-selected drop-down menu of moods and fill in your own, such as "over the moon", "sick of this shit", or "what the actual fuck". (Like Tumblr tags, moods are typically not capitalized.) Just using the Custom Mood field will not give you an extra image to use for your mood, but it can be combined with the Mood drop-down menu to display alternate text for the selected mood. For example, you can select "ecstatic" as your mood and input "over the moon" as your custom mood text, and the "ecstatic" image will show up with fresh text.

The Custom Mood field only allows up to 30 characters, but there's still a lot of potential for fun combinations.

The second "Currents" field is Music, but honestly it can just be whatever you're listening to. Your teeth grinding as the government makes yet another ill-informed decision? Your cat purring and taking away your worries? Your heartbeat going a mile a minute in the middle of a horror movie? The rain outside? You can even go abstract and claim to hear the sound of silence, and not in a Simon and Garfunkel way. Or the whooshing of a point as it sails past the heads of people who willfully misunderstand.

You don't even have to limit yourself to sounds, real or imaginary, you can just put text; same way with Mood and Location (next). Whatever you put in that field will be listed as Music in your post, but that doesn't mean it is.

The Music field has room for 74 characters.

Last is the Location field. There's some pretty important stuff to know about this one, so I'll just copy-paste from Dreamwidth's FAQ about Currents:

The location text area is linked to Google Maps. Whatever you fill in here will appear as a link to a map of that location when viewed on the entry. The field does not auto-detect your location: you must make a deliberate choice to type it in. If you add a ZIP code or street address the map link may pinpoint your location to others, so think carefully about your privacy and comfort level before specifying a physical location. You can also choose a non-specific location such as a city or country, or a descriptive phrase like "at home" or "in the library".

So yes, you can put your literal GPS location in the Location section! I don't personally recommend it for safety reasons, but it's an option.

You can also lie about your location and input the coordinates for anywhere in the world. You can go fantastical and claim to be in Narnia or in a galaxy far, far away, or you can say that you're surfing the waves of your own imagination. You can say that you're lost in grief or drowning in cookies. Or you can just continue whatever train of thought you were going with from Mood and Music. Just know that it can and will attempt to connect with an actual real-world location if you input one.

As with the other two fields in "Currents", it's up to you what you put there, but the Location field allows you a whole 80 characters to do is.

Also, despite the order they're listed in the post window, they show up in the order of Mood, Location, Music in your actual post, so keep that in mind as well!

So there you have it. Dreamwidth may not have "talking in the tags" the way Tumblr does, but it does have some other forms of communication that you can still have fun with.

(Side note: You might also be able to do fun stuff similar to the "Currents" options with the Age Restriction section, but I haven't tried that one, and honestly it might be heavily dependent on the registered age of who's viewing it. If you're making a fun joke that you don't want people to miss out on, maybe stick to the other options.)

#let me tell you about #dreamwidth #let me tell you about dreamwidth #dreamwidth help #dreamwidth 101 #how to dreamwidth #dreamwidth culture #long post #tumblr alternatives

[late-to-the-magnus-archives]

part three of the Vast!Jon AU that is taking over my life

Have some Martin.

Danny Stoker is part of this, now?

Yes, EVERYBODY HAS TO CRY. Shut up.

---------------------

Martin’s frilly, pink apron is almost too saturated on camera, but he knows that’s how the viewers love it. He’s even added a pop of lip gloss today, a shade between the apron and the hearts it bears.

“Now, you’ll know it’s done in two ways,” he says, donning his thick oven mitts - wildly orange, but the hearts on them match his apron exactly. “First, the smell. You’ll recognize it after you’ve baked this recipe about six times. There’s nothing quite as good as these orange-cranberry muffins when they reach this stage, and if you’re in a place where you can smell it, it’s incredible. Fortunately, there’s a more reliable, less woo-woo way, too.” He waggles his eyebrows and gives a brilliant smile.

It’s his on-camera smile.

And his applying-for-jobs smile.

And his meeting-new-people smile.

It is sweet, and hopeful, and his eyes aren’t quite closed, and his chin is raised, and it comes across as open and kind and not quite vulnerable enough to invite hurt.

Sure, some people try, but they're trolls, and he just blocks them.

“Behold: your secret weapon!” And he brandishes a toothpick.

Tim laughs off-camera.

Danny mutters something like, “Yeah, they’ve never seen that before.”

“Yeah, well, maybe they haven’t,” says Martin, turning to them for the briefest moment before smiling back at his livestream. “The toothpick is your greatest weapon - well. After learning how to fold instead of stir, anyway. Look, this little guy can tell you if it’s ready, better than a thermometer, or knocking on it, or whatever else you've been told. Let me show you. Now, I know from the smell that the muffins aren’t ready, so I get to show you what it looks like when they’re not.”

He does.

The muffins need a few more minutes, and that is perfect, because he shows the camera how batter clings to the toothpick.

“Time for an awkward cut,” he says, and then there is an awkward cut.

Because there’s nothing to do until the damn muffins are done.

Fortunately, everybody loves the wait for it animation: a tiny version of him with anime eyes, huge, red curly hair, a chef’s hat, and his ubiquitous apron, prancing back and forth from the counter to the stove in an unending loop.

“You’re nearly there,” says Tim, who gets it, who understands why Martin is fucking distracted today.

No one who didn’t personally know Martin would know.

Anyone who does know him could clearly see he is a mess.

“I,” says Martin, and doesn’t finish his sentence.

Jon’s plane went down. That is all anyone knows. That is all anybody can tell him.

Neither tears nor manipulation will bring more info, and so Martin must wait.

He is not okay.

“Ready?” says Danny, keeping them - as always - on schedule. “Three, two….”

“Look at this!” says Martin a moment later, drawing a clean toothpick from the middle muffin. “Now, we’re talking. Oh… everyone, I wish you could smell this.” 

And he does one of his little moans.

Those moans are what made his channel.

Someone tried to make #BlackwoodMoan work for a while (like that movie with Samuel L. Jackson), but the fan base rose up and declared Martin too good, too pure to be associated in such a way.

#MartinMoan is the hashtag.

There are gifs.

It’s a high sound, sweet, freakily innocent, and it somehow brushes against every illicit desire any human has ever had for anything. He’s seen compilations of it, clipped together in a tapestry of embarrassment.

He doesn’t mind, exactly? 

He did make the sound on purpose. He knew it was effective because it actually got Jon flushed and stammering, and damn near nothing else did.

Martin had merely underestimated just how effective it would be out in the great, wide world.

“They’re perfect,” he says, and takes the time to show the camera the light golden muffins, speckled with red - a perfect batch of orange cranberry baked good from scratch. 

The stream ends with him opening one up, peeling the cap off with indescribable satisfaction, adding a tiny pat of butter, and indulging.

The eye-roll is a thing too, like a hungry shark, but that one doesn’t have a hashtag.

“Recipe in the description,” he mumbles, sounding like he’s been fucked within an inch of his life. “My team will answer any questions. You have got to make this. We’ve also included dairy and gluten free options. Bake well, my lovelies, and enjoy your life.”

Bake well, my lovelies, and enjoy your life. He’s ended every single video with that since day one.

Since before Tim and Danny joined him.

Since before he had the courage to tell anyone he was doing this, even Jon.

As always, he means every word.

This time, however, when the camera light blinks off, he bursts into tears.

#

“He’s got to be okay,” says Tim, who knows Jon, thinks he’s funny, and appreciates how much Martin loves him. “We haven’t gotten a list of deaths, or anything, and they have to release that, as far as I know.”

“They do have to,” says Danny, who barely knows Jon, and doesn’t really like him, but certainly wants Martin to be happy.

“Only to next of kin,” Martin points out, and sniffles.

Tim and Danny both pause.

“He doesn’t have you listed?” says Tim.

“I’m his friend. We’re not anything. Of course he doesn’t,” Martin snaps, and feels bad for it immediately after.

Tim and Danny give one another that look.

“Right,” says Tim. “Not anything.”

Martin rubs his face.

Danny gives Martin a side-hug - too strong, like a mountain man, but well meant. “He’s going to be okay. Have faith.”

“The plane went down.” Martin’s voice is… cold. Almost mechanical. A tone he’d never use with anyone who didn’t know him well. “It hit a gods-damned mountain. What am I supposed to have faith in?”

“Love?” says Tim.

“Actually, yeah. Love,” says Danny.

Martin gives them a look.

They look back. Two brothers, good friends, who’ve been part of his show and part of his life and helped him navigate the mess with his mother and helped him work out his feelings for his childhood friend and now want to help him work through potential grief.

Or his potential… faith, maybe?

Martin can’t seem to fall either way - acceptance of Jon’s death, or hope for his survival. He’s left at a lurching, ugly crossroad with no name, the sign worn beyond legibility.

He sniffles.

“Gonna be late,” says Tim.

“Yeah,” Martin sighs, because somehow after everything, he still has to go to work.

Patreon helps. The baking show definitely makes things easier. But it’s not enough to support his mother. Full-time care facilities aren’t cheap.

Martin tries to smile. “Good thing I’m in the kitchen, right? Don’t think I’d do so well facing customers today.”

“You would, though,” says Tim, and pats him on the shoulder. “Never seen anybody fake it as well as you.”

“Gee, thanks?” Martin says, dry.

Tim ruffles his hair. “Come on. Let’s get the lead out, or… I dunno, something punny.”

Danny never tries to pun. He also has no sense of timing. “I’ve been thinking of taking another job,” he says out of nowhere.

“What, now?” says Tim with fond exasperation.

Martin latches onto the subject change like a leech as he hangs up his apron. “What? I thought you were getting promoted.”

“Yeah, but kayaks just aren’t doing it for me anymore,” Danny says, and ignores when Martin rolls his eyes, reaches into his wallet, and hands Tim a fiver. “I’ve been thinking a lot about supernatural stuff lately, you know? All the things we can’t explain, but every culture and every society has them, all the way through history. And you know, the chances of that are pretty slim, because it’s not like there were fax machines in the stone age, and - ”

“So what’s her name?” says Tim.

Danny looks constipated. “What do you mean, what’s her name?”

“It’s always some date who gets you into a new interest. Come on, Danny, it’s been like that since secondary.”

Danny shrugs. “Caught me. How about I let her explain? We can do dinner tonight.”

“I don’t…” Martin starts.

They both look at him.

“You are not backing out,” says Tim.

“I’m supposed to see my mum,” Martin mutters.

“And it’ll be done in about fifteen minutes when she can’t stand you anymore and throws you out,” says Danny, who really has never had Tim’s charm.

Tim smacks him.

“Hey!”

“No, he’s right,” says Martin. “I’ll come.”

“Good. You’d better, or I’m taking some of this one’s leftover mountaineering gear and hogtying you to the back of my bike,” says Tim.

That image actually gets Martin laughing, which he didn’t think he could do today.

The brothers leave first.

Martin’s flat is tiny. Uncomfortable. Distinctly not sound-proofed. He has one window, room for his lovely kitchen setup, and three folding chairs or a Murphy bed, but not at the same time.

Somehow, when the Stokers are there, it never feels crowded.

It doesn’t with Jon, either, but that’s different.

All kinds of different.

Martin locks up, sighs heavily. Somehow, he has to get his brain in gear to handle four-star sous-chef work tonight, and he’s really not sure he can do it. Antoine can be such an ass, even on the best of days, and he always seems to know -

“Excuse me,” comes a voice.

Martin yips and drips his satchel.

“Sorry about that,” says the man, sounding not remotely sorry. Sounding, in fact, deeply amused. “You are Martin Blackwood, aren’t you? Little different without all the getup,” he says, absolutely cheerfully.

He’s some sort of sea captain?

Outside his flat, which is scary as fuck. “Hi?” says Martin, attempting to pick up his bag without taking his eyes off the guy. “Um. Can I help you?”

“Actually, I can help you,” says the man.

Maybe a fan?

Maybe a sicko.

Martin is very still. “Right,” he says, noncommittal.

The man laughs.

It’s… it’s a really good laugh. The voice is good all around, honestly; so is the expression, and body language. This man isn’t aggressive; taller than Martin (which is unusual), he keeps his hands in his pockets, leaning slightly away, as though determined not to violate his space. “I can tell I’ve spooked you, which isn’t what I was trying to do.” 

Martin can see no reason to be unnerved by this man.

Martin cannot escape the feeling that he should be, though. “Then why’d you track down where I live?” he says.

“I didn’t. I saw you by accident.” The man points. “Heading over there, to the Tube. But it works out, because I actually do want to talk to you.”

“Right,” says Martin.

The sea captain smiles. “Nice and cautious. Good! Let’s not drag this out, eh? You won’t have heard of me because I like it that way, but what I do is help out independent talent. People like you, in other words. Here.” He holds out a business card.

There’s a QR code on it.

Martin takes it, carefully avoiding contact. “Right,” he says.

“That’ll tell you all about it,” says the man. “I won’t scare you any longer - really am sorry about that.” He’s absolutely not sorry, and it shows.

Martin is damned good at reading people. It’s how he’s survived. The fact that he can’t get a bead on this guy is scaring him even more than the sudden appearance. “Sure.”

“Have a good day, Martin,” says the man. “I look forward to your email.” And off he walks.

Martin looks at the card. It says, Lukas Entertainment. That’s all.

It’s thick cardstock. Raised lettering. Definitely expensive. 

Martin looks back up, but the man is gone.

Martin’s gut says there is no way he made it to the Tube that quickly.

Martin’s head says he’s being absurd, and just misjudged how long he stared at the card.So that was freaky, he thinks to himself, and is already texting Tim about it before he gets to work.

#tma #tma fic #fic in proress #martin blackwood #lonely!martin #vast!jon #wip #amwriting #tma au

[youichi-kuramochi]

matching icons & headers for u and ur world 🥺 (click for full size) please reblog if using!

#hq!!edit #dailyhaikyuu #fysportsanime #sportsanimedaily #fyhaikyuu #haikyuu!! #bokuaka #bokuto koutarou #akaashi keiji #* #hq!!* #edit* #500+ #1k+ #ch 401 #afdlkgjldf there was so much redrawing involved in this #never wanna do that again lmao #but anyway click on the headers!!! #I added tiny tiny animations they're gifs!!

[moonstrider9904]

What the members of Clone Force 99 give you on your birthday

Happy birthday, my dearest @eyecandyeoz!! I feel blessed to be able to call you my friend. Hope you continue having a lovely day!! I'm adding this lil gif of Tech because I know you love him!

Tech: This man knows that science and romance don't have to be separated all the time, so for your birthday, Tech gives you a lovely, framed star map of the night sky on your home planet the day you were born. He labels some constellations, planets, moons, and on the bottom right corner is a tiny note in his handwriting wishing you a happy birthday and thanking you for existing.

Crosshair: He's cocky and a real prick but he cares about you deeply and, believe it or not, your birthday is probably more special to him than to yourself. It is the anniversary of the day you came into existence, and he's so grateful to have met you. He will never admit having taken carving lessons from Hunter, because he needed them for your present: a small steel piece of his very own rifle on which he carved your name, and on the back, your birth date. He put that little piece on a chain and gave it to you as a necklace so you'll have a little piece of him with you.

Wrecker: He bakes you a cake! Wrecker's saved the date of your birthday waaay ahead of time and he's learned your tastes and preferences. Unbeknownst to you, Wrecker has practiced your favorite flavor until he's gotten it perfect, and he brings it to you with lit candles to your bed when you wake up on your birthday. You spend the rest of the day binge-watching all of your favorite films and tv-series, and unsurprisingly, Wrecker has also loaded up on all your favorite snacks to make sure you have a lovely day.

Echo: He's a very classic romantic and knows he can rely on good old, traditional gifts. He's printed out a picture of you and him, one you both had taken on the most romantic date you've had with him yet. Echo loves how happy you look in the picture, how your eyes look like they're sparkling and your smile is so genuine. He picks out the nicest frame, one with your favorite colors, and to accompany the photograph, he gives you your favorite plant potted so you can keep in your home. He can't wait to see your face when you see your gift.

Hunter: For a week or so, you notice that Hunter has some bandages on his fingers, which he always tells you are nothing whenever you ask. On the night of your birthday, you realize he got them while carving out your favourite animal on a small piece of wood--the detail in his work amazes you. You know he worked his very soul into that small piece of wood, and you make sure to find a special spot on your shelf for it. You know Hunter isn't one to focus that much on material things beside the carving he gave you, and for the rest of that night, you slow-dance with him in your living room to romantic music before he cooks you your favorite dinner.

#tbb headcanons #tbb x reader #clone force 99 #the bad batch x reader #bad batch x reader #the bad batch headcanons #tbb tech #tbb crosshair #tbb hunter #tbb echo #tbb wrecker #the bad batch #moonstrider writes

[mar64ds]

I don't exactly have much faith in the upcoming Mario movie, but what would be your ideal film?

-A regular Mario adventure of saving the world from Bowser but adding character arcs to it, especially to the brothers since I hope they're both the protagonists and not just Mario

-I want the movie to be silly and cute, for the love of god I don't want cynical and sarcastic jokes, that doesn't fit this franchise, and please god no pop culture references, and if there are I hope it's only two of them and they will probably show up in the trailer but the rest of the movie doesn't have any lol

-This movie has to feel like a Mario movie, like when I play Luigi's Mansion 3, that actually feels a lot like how a Mario 3d movie would be like, it has a really good tone and presentation. I want something like that, I don't want a regular Illumination movie that just happens to have Mario characters in it

-Daisy should show up I'm super dissapointed that she isn't here

-Luigi needs to be important, I know it's because he's my favorite, but he needs to be

-Obviously, Bowser should call Kamek 'dad' at least once

And okay I will be honest, Illumination doesn't make great movies, I hate Chris Pratt, Charles Martinet should have voiced Mario and Luigi, those choices they made are awful and I will continue to criticize the movie for it (not really the Illumination one, that one is not really a criticism is more that this studio doesn't make great movies lol). However... I honestly still have a tiny bit of hope that the movie can be okay. The animation can still be good, the characterizations can still be good, even the story can still be good. They might not be, they might make more bad choices, but I still have some faith in it. And if it isn't good then I just hope the animation is fun so I can make gifs of it lol

[everyhowlmarksthedead]

❛ A BABY IS COMING ❜

Headcanon

with Neron ‘Creeper’ Vargas.

Request: I LOVE THE BABY ON BOARD WITH GILLY SO MUCH I WAS WONDERING IF I CAN REUQEST THE SAME HEADCANNON BUT WITH CREEPER??!!

BY @imanerdychubbyqueen

Warnings: appearance of a LGTBI character (I don't think that this needs a warning, but if you think that I need to warn it because bothers you the appearance of a LGTBI character, please, unfollow me, thank you). 🏳️‍🌈❤✨

Word count: about 1.4k

Aurora says: this writing hasn't been edited, you may find some grammar mistakes, I'm sorry about that!

Gif credits: to the author, I found it on google.

Masterlist.

Whilst Bishop, Tranq, Taza and Riz were extremely Happy knowing that Creeper and you were expecting a baby, the guys just made jokes.

“Man, you are a fuckin child, how is supposed that you're gonna take care of a baby?”

“Did she really let you get her pregnant? Or was it a ball to the goal?”

“'Am sure cops are gonna stop you, if they see you with a baby, carnal. They will think you stole it or somethen'”.

Creeper didn't care about their opinion, but about yours.

“What do you think, ah?”

You were three months pregnant, and you were pretty excited and stressed at the same time, choosing some names, even if you didn't know yet if it was going to be a girl or a boy.

“Sorre, mama, I wasn't listening”.

“Something bothering you, papi?”

“Nah, you know… just the guys being fucking assholes”.

“Neron, you're gonna be the best dad ever and I don' need to tell you why. I just know it. You trust me, rai'?”

The gender reveal was simply amazing.

All the charters came. Your husband was erratic placing his motorbike in front of all, because the answer was inside the exhaust pipe. It was enough to start the engine and hit the gas. And he did. A blue smoke flooded the yard, between loud cheerings, hugs and kisses. Leaving away his motorcycle, Creeper ran to you, lifting you up between his arms screaming how happy he was. Actually, he didn't care about the gender, he would be this excited knowing it was a girl too.

He used to spend his free time assembling all the bedroom furniture, finding him sleeping a lot of time on the floor with the instructions on his chest.

Every night, he lied down over your belly, carefully to not hurt you, to sing him his favorite songs because the doctor said that it was good to talk to him.

He didn't care about what time it was whenever you had a craving. If he was in bed, he just jumped out of it. And if he was with the club, Chuckie was in charge of it. Everyone was delighted with the idea of having a new member.

In childbirth, he was the most supportive man on earth, holding your hand and filling your face with a bunch of gentle kisses.

And you have never seen him cry, but when the doctor gave him his baby, he was crying more than your son.

“Mama, look”. He said fascinated, sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling down a little the Mayans' towel Vicki wove for him.

You were exhausted, feeling pain all over your body and about to fall asleep, doing a last effort to hold your newborn.

“He has your nose”. Creeper chuckled, leaning towards you to kiss your forehead.

The first day of Kid Garden, your husband insisted on bringing the whole crew.

“Okay, Manu, listen”. Neron squatted to his son, placing both hands on his tiny shoulder to put on well his bag. “The mission is to make more than ten friends. If you do it, papa is gonna give you a surprise tonight, deal?”

“Yeah, papa”. He nodded excitedly, before jumping into his father to hug him as strongly as he could.

“Hey, buddy”. Bishop called him, leaning next to your husband. “Don' be a casanova like your dad, ah?”

“What's tha'?”

“Obispo!” You laughed rolling your eyes, lifting up your son between your arms. “Have a good day, mi amorcito”.

“You too, mama. Are you gonna miss me?”

“Of course yes, baby. All the time. But we will pick you up in a couple hours, okay? You just… have fun, make friends and don't forget to eat your lunch”.

“Okay, mama. I love you”.

“I love you too, Manuel”.

“Bye, tíos”. Moving his tiny hand, once he was back to the floor, he ran to his new teacher to come into the school.

“Man… you two do an amazing job, I couldn't”.

“Yeah, Angel. But don't be jealous. You're our baby too”.

But the worst and, at the same time, best day of his life was when he found Manu crying for the first time.

You were standing up close to the door of his room, waiting for Creeper. You had been stalking him for almost thirty minutes, not knowing what to do, but knowing that your husband would know it.

“Hey, mama, what's up?”

“Dunno… He's just… there. Crying”.

“Okay, let's see”. Neron knocked on the door, before coming in, followed by you more worried than ever. It was breaking your heart. “Hey, buddy”.

Your son quickly sat up on his bed, cleaning his tears with the back of his hands and shaking his head. His father dragged the chair over the floor, to sit on and put you on his lap, surrounding your waist with both arms.

“Cariño, you know you can… talk with us about anything, right?” You said carefully, while Creeper placed his chin on your shoulder.

“You will not understand”.

That. That was the sentence that made you understand. Turning to your husband, you smirked at him, before getting up to sit next to your son. And you hug him like never before, kissing his cheek a lot of times until he stopped crying.

“Hey, Manu, listen. We're your parents, and your friends. We will never, ever, judge you. Unless you're gonna tell me you did something bad to an animal”. Creeper's speeches were the best. “Cause you didn't, rai'?”

He shook his head, almost smiling.

“I just… I…” Manu looked at you with his lips trembling, licking them and trying to comfort himself. “I am gay”.

Creeper traveled his gaze from his son towards you, shrugging a little, before sitting by his other side.

“So, what? Anyone told you shit about it?”

“No, no, no… I just… was scared of your reaction”. Bowing his head down, he seems too ashamed.

“I love you more now, than one minute ago. Because you're deciding to live your life as you want. And we're very proud to be your parents, buddy”. Creeper said, pointing his chest, claiming for his attention.

“Yes, baby. And never let anyone tell you what you have to do, or how you have to live your life, you hear me?” You added, while he was raising his head.

“We will always love you, exactly as you are, Manuel. Never forget it, okay?”

Everything has changed since this day. Manu left away all the pain he was feeling because of believing that you wouldn't accept him, to be the most happy boy on earth. He also told it to his tíos, and they had the same reaction. Everyone was proud of him, and supportive to the extreme.

The day that your son told you that he was going to bring his boyfriend for dinner, Creeper was more nervous than you.

“Yo! Mama! Do I look good?” He said turning around so you could see the whole outfit.

“Neron, everyth—”.

Before you could continue talking, you heard the door getting opened and closed, followed by some nervous whispers.

“Oh, shit, they're already here. Okay, mama, keep calm”.

“I'm pretty calmed, papi”. You laughed palming his chest, before going downstairs.

“Hey, mama! This is… Dani”. Your son wasn't expecting you this soon.

“Hi, Dani, welcome home”. You said with a huge and dearly smile on your lips, giving him a warmth hug. “Manu told us a lot about you. It's like if we already meet you”.

“Really? Oh, ah… Thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you too”.

“Where's papa…?” He asked somewhat nervously, making you laugh.

“Your father is more edgy than you”. Whispering, you leaned towards them.

“That's not true!” He tried to say, with his voice breaking a little. “What's up, buddy?”

Neron hugged your son tightly, noticing that he seemed as if he was about to cry, before turning to Manu's boyfriend.

“I am… Daniel… Dani”.

“Finally, mate!” Creeper hugged him, palming his back pretty excited. “Yo! Yeah, I'm fuckin' nervous, sorry”.

When you were already sleeping between his arms, after the dinner and a long talk about your family and Dani's family, your husband decided to wake you up at four am.

“Hey, baby… Mama”.

“Fuck, Neron… What the hell do you want?”

“Do you think that Dani likes us?”

“Oh, fuck off, Neron! I was sleeping”.

“Yeah, yeah. But, now that you're not, what do you think?”

“I'm gonna make him don't like you, if you don't let me sleep”.

“Yo! Mama! Why would you do that?” He asked, starting to feel tense and insecure.

“Jesus Christ, papi… He likes us, a lot actually. Dani told me you're pretty cool”.

“Really? Does he think tha'? Damn…”

✨ Tag list:

@starrynite7114 ​ @chibsytelford ​ @dazzledamazon ​ @mara-mpou ​ @sammskellington ​ @gemini0410 ​ @1-800-imagines ​ @briana-mishell24 ​@sassymox @aquamento @sadeyesgf @viviansafizada @samcrobae @jade770 @witchy-wish @rebel-without-cause-x @xx--day-dreamer--xx @spiced-reads @tita127 @ifoundmyhappythought @enamouravecleslivresetlechocolat @angelxshiba @destynelseclipsa @sheeshgivemeabreak @abbiesthings @knowles-morgan @lady-pswrld @minnicelli @marquelapage @bigcreatorwombatdreamer @jadesamhart @mycupoffanfiction @claytoncardenasbabymama @thesandbeneathmytoes @phoenixhalliwell @thewarriorprincessxo @sugary-x-sweet @multiyfandomgirl40 @imanerdychubbyqueen @iambabyharry @firebenderwolf @itsanofrommesir @noz4a2 @peaches007 @edonaspanca @irenne-stans @skyofficialxx

#mayans mc x reader #mayans mc #mayans mc imagine #mayans x reader #neron creeper vargas x reader #creeper vargas x reader #creeper vargas #creeper

[bluezey]

This is probably one of the weirdest things I've ever written, and if you know me, that's saying something.

I'm fascinated and praising the animation in Onward. They make these characters that look so real that you can believe a blue elf naturally exists, but reel it in with a few subtle choices to remind you that's it's a cartoon but not suck you out of the movie, and one or two details that are so detailed you wonder why they went that extra mile. Like, you gave these models veins, tendons and pores but they still don't have nostrils?

But there's one detail that I always found odd, because it seems like a mix of both. It's awkward to say what it is, so I'm just gonna go out and say it: it's their lips.

While they go detailed on one aspect or subtle on another, the lips seem to do both. They have them, and they have texture so they look like lips. But they usually "exist" on the girl characters. The quotations is because you can always see them on the female characters, no matter if they're talking or emoting. On the male characters, they're there and textured, but they don't always appear. You usually see them when their mouth is open, but when they close, the lips sink in and become simple lines like you'd see on a simple cartoon.

Best example of this is in this gif of Ian smiling. Watch as his mouth hangs open, then as it slowly builds into a closed smile.

I mean great detail on this face, even the random extra miles one like you can see the faintness of body hair on his cheeks (or is that his stubble? I mean he is that old of a teenager). But his lips, the seem to go both ways in detail and simplicity. In the beginning he has them, but then they roll inward as he closes his mouth and in the end they're basically gone. What also makes this bizarre is his lips are the same color as his skin tone. I mean that's not strange, some people have lip color that's basically the same color as their skin. But the fact that it's so specifically the same on Ian aids in how subtle they are that I'm sure some of you may be noticing by now that he has lips. But, they're not subtle either, those lips are not what I would consider thin. And someone spent time putting detail on something that some of us probably didn't notice. Again, it's like adding pores and body hair and veins, we didn't need that much detail, but when we notice it it's impressive. But with the lips, once you notice it, you're more fascinated at how much care was put into them to not be seen. And, unlike the absence of nostrils or eyelashes, this doesn't help the character look real or remain cartoony. In fact, this may be the one part of the characters I would put in the uncanny valley. Don't get me wrong, that's a sweet smile, I'm getting cavities with a side of diabetes. But when you see the lips disappear, something seems a bit off.

And, yeah, making a post about Ian's lips is strange, I'm getting flashbacks to that one fan who blocked me. But, let's make this clear, this is strange, but not sexual. Actually, if going into detail about the lips is that disturbing to you, then you should block the Pixar animators, cause that's what they literally did when making these models. And maybe the ones who decided to place those tiny clear body hairs all over the bodies, that seems creepier than focusing on the lips.

#pixar onward #sir iandore of lightfoot #ian lightfoot #pixar #animation

[nighttimepixels]

Heyhey Night! I have a buncha questions after seeing all your animations and they're just so cool so! I hope this is ok!! Can u animate normally too, or only pixel? Not that that's bad, just wondering! What's ur preferred kinda animation? Do u prefer lipflaps or lipsyncs? What's the hardest part of the animation process?? What's ur favorite?? Any part u don't like? What's a thing people don't see that u put a lotta time into? Do u have a fave animation u've done? Thank u btw for all ur art!!

Oh stars, okay, yeah- I’m happy to answer all these!! I’ll break them up so it’s easier to read X) And awww geez thank you so much for your support, sweet anon! It really makes my day when people say they like anything I’ve made, and stars knows it’s all the more true with the sweet sweet time sink that is animation   (´•̥̥̥\\ヮ\\•̥̥̥` )

I’ll also put this under a cut since it gets a bit long :)

Can u animate normally too, or only pixel?

This one cracks me up a little, don’t worry about it XD I totally can! In fact I enjoy it a lot - and... gods, animation software is a nightmare and a half, to be honest. That’s the biggest hurdle.

I do just straight up love pixel art and the aesthetic I can achieve with it, but I do at times miss ‘normal’ (non pixel?) animation, heh. Especially sound-syncing! I do all my pixel art in Asesprite which imo is the best pixel art program, not to mention made by an actual pixel artist - buuuut it doesn’t have a sound file option. Which makes sense! Er, frankly, most pixel artists wouldn’t... use it to animate like I do? More for games, or for looping gifs? So I can’t complain much, it makes a lot of sense that it’s a low dev priority.

Now, when it comes to other animation programs... I’ve tried a lot. Unfortunately, the ones that are preferable for the feel I like are either way out of budget (stares at TVPaint in the distance) or... well, have too high a learning curve for my single-person workflow, really. (OpenToonz, sigh...) And a lot of the free programs are good for getting a start in animation, but once you get to a certain point you really feel the limitations (whether it’s workflow, sound import, exports, trying to make something more finished than a rough...).

Then... there’s animation programs I just don’t like, and a lot of those are angled towards bone-style animations (nothing wrong with those, they just don’t fit my style? and are too much time investment for a single artist to output more quickly...), or are, well, freakin’ Adobe Animate.

I... gods, I do not like Animate (formerly Flash). And I made a whole 2 minute+ animation in it a couple years ago! (It’s very rough and bad and doesn’t make sense, pfff, not gonna link it XD) It’s... clunky, and vector oriented, and freaking lines don’t go where I want them too, and it tries to predict too much?? It’s hard to put to words, gah. For me, my animation style would be much more... raster oriented. Flow, hand drawn inbetweens, yaddayadda. Animate’s great for... plenty of things, but not for that kind of animation. There are far better animators than I who make it work with freakin’ aplomb though! So really, it’s just my taste, haha.

.... Er, that got long! I’ll cut off more rambling about animation software and tl;dr boil it down to “I love animating period, but turnaround is something I have to keep in mind as a freelancer, as well as budget, and my current focus is pixel animations for a number of reasons.” X)

What's ur preferred kinda animation?

I’m not exactly sure what this one means! Between pixel and non-pixel? Er, they both have their pros and cons, so I couldn’t say! But if I have to break down my current animations into categories, I’d say I have cutscenes, loop environments, and the broad game-like animations...

The first would be something like this animation feat. teasing Edge, the second would be something like this one with skesgo’s Starlan and Cinnamon, and the third is... everything else! From headsprite loops to ‘small’ characters running and so on.

Honestly, they’re all a lot of fun for different reasons! Cutscenes are generally the most challenging, but they give me the chance to push my limits and try and pull off something cool, whether I’m having to conserve frames (to keep the cost of a commission down) or whether I’m going more all out (which is a pricey commission, or a fun personal project, lol).

Loop environments are their own challenge - it may not look like it, but I put a lot of thought into how to make them look as natural as possible! From timing of talking characters, to where to place a blink, to exactly how many frames it’ll take to ‘soften’ a motion (so people aren’t just snapping between major poses) and so on - it takes... a lot of time to animate even simple scenes well, so I do a lot of mental math on how I can keep things affordable when someone approaches me for a commission. And frankly, I totally undercharge;; but I do my best!

Game-like animations are just fun. They range, they’re silly, to intense (I’ve animated fight animations before for game concepts), to indulgent, and beyond! Headsprites are always a delight, especially if I get to push the expression X) and I love tiny things (I mean... I am a pixel artist...) so getting to make lil tiny babs even just walking can be fun - and also, a lot more time consuming than you might thing, esp if you wanna make it smooth, like this lil Frisk I did last month or so:

Do u prefer lipflaps or lipsyncs?

oTL

B... both??

Okay, lipsyncing basically is very time consuming. AND, I freakin’ love it. I love puzzles, and when it boils down to it, that’s what super fun & expressive lip syncing is (some Ghibli animations are the heckin’ best for this)...

and, I’m a pixel artist, without sound-syncing capabilities in her main art program oTL Yeah, I can export frames and line them up and check but... gods, it’s so time consuming. I’ve tried it out of desperation - but for even five seconds of sound (sayyyyy a lil Vine...) that’s hours upon hours of transferring back and forth just to check.

So even though I love lipsyncs, they’re too time-consuming (and ergo, if I’m being commissioned, often too expensive) to do often! Someday I’d like to get back to doing them more often, but for now, practically I stick to/’prefer’, in the loosest terms, to do lipflaps. For the layman, this is that ‘two frame’ (maybe three) open-closed style of animating mouths- however, I’m working on ways to keep that style, but make it more expressive! It depends on the project - and in commissions, I’ll pretty much always prioritize giving the client a little more body animation than mouth animation, unless it’d really fit what they’ve requested.

What's the hardest part of the animation process??

.... damn, this is a tough one! Sometimes I’d say it’s the initial concept work - but it depends on what I have to work with. Sometimes that parts a breeze - and honestly freeing, bc I can take the time to try and push what I’ll do with it!

Roughing is one of my favorite parts, tbh. It can be tricky, sure, but getting to go from keyframes to in-betweens & smears to adding the flairs of secondary motion (think hair swishing, or coats flaring, etc) is so exciting and satisfying.

From there it’s all refining, and tweaking...

Hm. Honestly, the hardest is probably the initial cleanup and lining. It’s cool to see it come together, but it feels so much slower, and it can drag - and then you find bits that actually don’t translate well from the rough stage, so you have to go back and rework, and oof it can just drag in this phase, heh. Plus, I’m always tempted to add more frames, but it’s not always realistic - I’m a perfectionist, to say the least, so I’m constantly having to leash myself back so I don’t turn a project into a half-a-year undertaking, pff.

What's ur favorite??

Probably gave myself away talking about the roughing stage X) It’s just loose and fun and free! But seeing it all come together is also damn satisfying too, so that’s not to say I don’t like the refining portions either...

Outside of that, I also really like the beginning of the color stage! .... Before having to translate shadows/highlights to each and every frame *shudders*. That gets tedious, but it’s so critical! Anyways, though, I heckin’ love colors. I always have a rough palette in mind at the start of the process, but I go ham and play with it as a little break and a true test when I get to actual slap together a full frame with full color, highlights/shadows included! It’s exciting, like a preview of the finished product, basically :D

Any part u don't like?

Heh, by the time I get to shadows/highlights, I tend to be getting impatient, I suppose. It’s not that I don’t like it - I definitely highly value it, and if it was the only thing I was working on in an animation that’d be different, but as a one-woman team I’m just raring to be done at that point; it’s very nearly the last thing I do, after all, so it’s a struggle to focus. X)

I suppose one that always gets me is more complicated backgrounds. It’s a work in progress, as I’m getting better and finding the fun in them for sure! But I’m still not where I want to be in translating ‘background concept’ to ‘finished background’ - it feels more stiff than my animations, I guess. So it’s a frustrating part... but hey, it’s part of it! And learning to embrace the challenge is a big help.

... I just always have to make sure I have a big cup of coffee and a good jam playlist going when I sit down to do ‘em, in the meantime.(=▿= ||||)

What's a thing people don't see that u put a lotta time into?

Definitely the coloring. This goes for both backgrounds and the animated characters themselves. It’s... never as simple as it looks? It’s time consuming, and while some parts of frames can be copy-pasted, I also put subtle work into the animations that mean that some pixels are off so it ends up being marginally faster to just recolor, but then there’s shadows, and working in pixels means that if I miss one then there’s a flickering pixel mid-animation, and sometimes there’s an unconnected line and then you bucket fill the whole damn thing, and gods know I’ve got colored lines so I have to be exacting with keeping the same ratios highlighted vs darker in shifting frames...

*deep breath*

... Yeah, basically the coloring is super time consuming. And balancing bg coloring with animated elements in the image itself is a whole extra challenge on top of that. For 99% of my animations, I can damn near guarantee I’ve spent at least twice as much time coloring it as I have animating it.

Do u have a fave animation u've done?

*looks at my goblin hoard of animations in horror like I’ve been asked to choose a favorite child*

... Stars above, I can’t choose! I love them all, and at this point a good portion of them are commissions- it wouldn’t feel right to choose!

*...carefully covers the hoard’s metaphorical ears*

... also, that said, I can admit a soft spot for any of them that involve humor. I tend to get to do extremely expressive faces and action there, even if I have to ration the frames, so it turns out really fun X)

And though rough and I’ve definitely done stuff I’m more proud of, I still crack up at this one I did a while back of the nonsense ‘ass’ joke between Red & Stretch... their faces were too much fun XD I’ve gotten waybetter since then though, Big Oof, I see so many things I can fix; might go back and redo it someday.

Honestly, though, I just freakin’ love animating! They all have their ups and downs andI always put a lot of love into them and find a way to have fun with it and try to push any emotion/theme (when applicable). I like to think it shows, but idk, that’s something I have to leave up to you guys X)

#night answers #about animating #phew there were a lot-! #thanks so much for your interest #hope these answers made sense! :D #Anonymous