#by 'it' i mean downloading every single thing you want to gif | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alaezasmystery235 · 1 year

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↛𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧 ↛𝗣𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗔 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦

꒰ ♡ ꒱ 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝒶 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝒹 ; 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲

rules, disclaimer and notes ☆

⋆·˚ 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫 ⋆·˚ ----- This reading was made for entertainment purposes only. this is obviously a general reading so takes what resonates and leave when it doesn't, you don't need to force your energy to read this and leave such a bad comment just to say it doesn't resonates with you at all because the answer is very obvious!

⋆·˚ 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 ⋆·˚ ----- All of the pictures are collected and downloaded from 'pinterest' i don't own any of them but credits goes to the rightful owners however edits goes and belong to me only @alaezasmystery . I use the editor tools canva and kapwing for the header and divider. Extra credit to @daninixx for giving permission to use her rules and disclaimer.

⋆·˚ ༘ 🍋 ✧*

ＰＩＬＥ 1

Instantly, I'm getting strong Leo energy here . I feel that your future spouse's love language is more on the physical touch and quality time spent together . I feel that you guys are gonna be having a lot of passionate love making in the bedroom .

This is someone who treasures every moment spent with you. I feel that they may not look like the kind or really sweet talk. But they are hella romantic and gonna notice every single little things about you.

I feel that both of you love travelling and be out in the nature more. So do see them bring you out more for walks sitting by bench and bringing you out to See the stars .

You may catch sometimes staring at you more often but not in the creepy way rather than in adoring way. I feel like you're gonna think if you are truely blessed to have them . I feel like they suck at communication , but rest assured they are gonna show you.

Actions speak louder then words ... afterall 😉.

ＰＩＬＥ 2

For this pile I am getting a strong Taurus energy . I feel that your future spouse's love language is more on act of service to you . I feel that they will put you on a pedestal and be very protected over you . They're gonna be treating you like a queen or King .

At times, you'd feel like they are being very gaurded and they might hover over you and when there are other people around or sensing someone trying to get too close to you . I feel that they can be throwing a little jealous comments but it's not that they are possessive . It's cause they want you all to themselves . It's kinda cute how would they react , they are like a baby who wants your attention on them only.

They are someone who will go distance for you . I feel like that they will work together with you to build a strong Foundation . I heard " built an Empire for you because you are my queen or king " .

They would want to take things one step at a time because they believe that good thing takes time . I feel that they are gonna have this endearing gaze on you when you guys have a kid together .

ＰＩＬＥ 3

For this pile I am getting air sign and fire sings more . I feel that your future spouse's love language is more on the quality time and giving / receiving gifts .

I get this cheeky vibe from pile 3 . The way they show their love isn't how many would show. They will be acting like a child and always teasing you to get your attention but when they do get you mad they will sulk and feel sad about it .

Like Pile 2 , they are a big baby when it comes to you . I feel that on the another hand they will be working very hard on their pentacles so that they can provide for you .

Some of them may even gift you with a key that symbolises , that you hold the key to their heart . I feel that they will shower you with random gifts and flowers . I feel that your future spouse is quite the adventurer, a cheeky one I'd say ....

I feel that they will want to do crazy stuff with you like out of the blue . They see you as this light that lights up their world . I am hearing " you are my sunshine " . Just know that sometimes they didn't mean to annoy you , they were just trying to make you smile and to get your attention on them by doing something silly .

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cal-kestis · 1 year

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HOW TO: Make a Pantone “Color of the Year” Gif

A few people have asked about my Pantone sets which use the “Color of the Year” swatch design. So, here’s a full tutorial with a downloadable template of my exact overlay! Disclaimer: This tutorial assumes you have a basic understanding of gif-making in Photoshop.

PHASE 1: PICKING A SCENE + PANTONE COLOR(S)

I’m starting with this because it’s crucial for planning your gifset as well as making sure the execution is smooth sailing. The steps in this phase won’t necessarily be literal steps but some tips for how I usually go about making a Pantone set:

1.1 – Picking a scene. Scene selection is everything. To make things easy on yourself, I suggest choosing scenes where the background is mainly ONE color — for example, a scene where the subject has a clear blue sky behind them. To make things even easier, choose a color that isn’t the same color as the subject of your gif. Like, if your subject is a human, I’d avoid using a gif with a red or yellow background unless you want to do a lot more work to mask their skin.

Rip me using a scene of green lil Grogu in green grass lmao. But I guess that goes to show you could really do this with any scene (I just did lots of masking and keyframe animations to perfect this green shade). BUT selecting your scenes wisely = a lot less work.

1.2 – Picking Pantone colors. People often ask me how I choose my colors and there are a few methods which I’ll go over below.

But note that not all Pantone colors have a cute name, or any name (fun fact: only Pantone textiles have official names and they end with TCX, TPX, or TPG).

METHOD A: Google Search “Pantone [Color]” Source: Google Easy but not always fruitful, all you do for this method is open Google and type “Pantone [insert color here].” For example, when searching for teal colors, I searched several things including: Pantone Teal, Pantone Turquoise, Pantone Blue, Pantone Green, Pantone Blue Green, etc. Then, just sift through the Google results and click on whatever comes up from the official Pantone website! Since Pantone’s site blocks some info behind a paywall, you won’t be able to get a hex code from them. But you can just screenshot the swatch from their site, put it in Photoshop, and use the eyedropper tool to figure out the color.

METHOD B: Color-Name Site Source: https://www.color-name.com/ This handy website lets you search by colors using the upper navigation bar. Or you can just type something like "magenta" or "blue pantone" or even “frog” and see what comes up lol. Color-name can put together palettes too! I like that this site also tells you the hex code of a color, which is really helpful for getting the right code to put in my overlay. Note: Not every color on this site is a Pantone textile, so not all of these names are Pantone-official names. You can tell it’s official if, in the Pantone row of the Color Codes table on the middle of the page, it has a code that’s 2 numbers, a dash, 4 numbers, and either TCX, TPX, or TPG.

METHOD C: User-Made Pantone Colors Archive Source: https://margaret2.github.io/pantone-colors/ For my Wednesday characters as Pantone colors set, it was all about matching the color name to the character’s vibe. So, before looking at the actual colors themselves, I wanted to find the perfect color names. I stumbled upon this page. The pros = it lists pretty much all of the current official Pantone names. The cons = it’s not convenient since there’s no filtering tool. You can do Command+F and search for keywords, but that’s it. I literally scrolled through this whole page for my Wednesday set and read every single name, which... I think means... something’s wrong with me /lh /hj

METHOD D: Official Pantone Color Finder Source: https://www.pantone.com/pantone-connect This is last on my list because I don’t actually recommend it. Unless you already have access to this resource from your school or work or something, I would never pay for it and it is a paid feature only. Boooo 👎 But there is a free trial (which I’ve never used), so if you want to see what it’s about, you can definitely go for it.

PHASE 2: MAKING THE BASE GIF

Again, just some super quick tips for making a gif that, I think, looks best with this kind of set — but if you’re still learning how to gif, I do have a basic gif-making tutorial here for extra guidance!

2.1 – Uncheck “Delete Cropped Pixels” before cropping your gif. When you use the crop tool, this checkbox appears in the top toolbar. Unchecking it allows you to move the positioning of your gif later on, which is handy in this case when you want to choose which part of your gif will be underneath the Pantone swatch. You can read more about this tip in my basic gif-making tutorial (linked above; Step 1.5 – Tip B).

2.2 – Make your gif 540px width. My gifs for these sets are usually 540x540px but I think 540x500px will also look good. I think it’s more impactful though to make a big gif to show off your coloring.

PHASE 3: ADDING THE PANTONE OVERLAY

3.1 – Download my template I made this template myself, so all I ask is that you don’t claim it as your own and that you give me proper insp or template credit in your caption if you decide to use it! Get the PSD with the transparent background here!

3.2 – Download the font Helvetica Neue Bold The font I use (and I’m pretty sure it’s the same font Pantone uses) is Helvetica Neue Bold, with some very specific letter spacing (which I determined by studying Pantone’s official Color of the Year Very Peri design). It’s already set in my .psd but here are specs in case: color name spacing = -40, color code spacing = -75 (sometimes I’ll do -25 for the numbers after the dash if I don’t like how tightly they’re packed together).

I uploaded Helvetica Neue Bold to my dropbox here!

3.3 – Import my overlay You can either drag the whole folder onto your gif from tab to tab or right-click the folder, select Duplicate Group, and select your gif as the destination document. Just make sure this overlay group is above your base gif!

3.4 – Fill the color swatch In my .psd, on the layer labeled “Pantone Swatch,” just grab the hex code of your chosen Pantone color and fill that layer using the Paint Bucket tool! I’ve already put a layer mask on the layer for you so it fits perfectly inside the square outline.

If you’re using my .psd, all the blend mode settings are already in place! I usually set the colored square behind the Pantone logo to the Color blend mode, but sometimes, I prefer the way Hue looks. It’s up to you!

You can also adjust the drop shadow settings to make your text more visible as needed. The layers are arranged in this order so the drop shadows don’t interfere with the semi-transparent part of the colored swatch.

3.5 – Insert the color name and code My .psd has two versions to choose from: (1) a color name that fits on one line and (2) a color name that requires two lines. Use the one that applies to your color name and simply type that and color code into the corresponding text layers!

Note 1: Pantone doesn’t keep their font size uniform for every color of the year. They’ll sometimes shrink the text to fit longer names, but I like being consistent. So, I use this one font size for all my colors.

Note 2: My template has all the text left-justified and matching the starting point of the P in Pantone. BUT, sometimes the gif looks better if you nudge the text a bit so it looks more centered. Use your discretion when aligning the text!

Note 3: Btw, you definitely don’t have to use the TCX/TPG codes like me. (I’m a nut and there’s no way I’ll ever do a Pantone set and not use those types of codes to maintain uniformity across this series lol.) I’ve seen others do sets inspired by mine using different color codes or even just the hex code itself!

PHASE 4: COLORING THE BASE GIF

The key here is to make a majority of your gif feature your chosen Pantone swatch. If you’re really smart with your scene selections, this should be a breeze! If you’re stubborn like me and want to use specific scenes with the opposite color of your chosen Pantone swatch, there will be a bit more color manipulation involved... However, this isn’t a coloring tutorial, so again, I’m going to give some tips and resources that will hopefully help you out!

4.1 – Color matching. Now that you have the Pantone swatch on your gif, you should be able to reference that center square set to Color/Hue to match the rest of your gif to that color. Feel free to paint a little blob of your color onto another layer anywhere on your gif so you can refer to it closer over a specific part of your gif. For example, I put a little circle over Grogu’s head to see how closely I matched Pantone’s Peapod color, then I tweaked my adjustment layers a bit more until the colors matched near perfectly and I couldn’t tell where that blob begins or ends. The left is the solid color and the right is set to the blending mode Color (like the square):

4.2 – Moving the base gif. This isn’t really about coloring... but remember when I said to uncheck “Delete Cropped Pixels” in Step 2.1? Well, here’s your chance to adjust your canvas and move the gif around so the exact part you want under the color swatch is in the right position. I personally think these kinds of sets are more impactful when you put a differently colored part of your gif under the swatch so you can see through it and the difference is clearer. In my example, I put Grogu in the center so the green box would cover some of his brown potato sack robe.

4.3 – Color manipulation. Color manipulation is when you transform your media’s original color grading into a completely different color. The Grogu gif isn’t a great example because the original scene was already a green-yellow color:

I mean, the difference is still pretty drastic but that’s mostly because my file was HDR and washed out as a result.

So, here’s an example I made using a gif from my first Pantone set for ITSV (I’m not doing this demo to the Grogu gif because it’d be too much work to manipulate a green background with a green subject. This ITSV scene is perfect bc the majority of it is blue while the subjects are mostly red.)

For the “basic coloring,” I did everything as I normally would: mostly levels and selective color layers.

For color manipulation, my fav adjustment layer is Hue/Saturation (those are the screenshots that are on the gif above). When you’re smart with your scene selection, it’s pretty easy to manipulate colors with one Hue/Sat layer because you usually only need to tamper with 1-2 colors and, hopefully, they shouldn’t interfere with skin tones (obviously you’ll do other layers to further enhance your gif’s brightness, contrast, etc. — but I just mean the heavy lifting usually only takes me one layer with a good scene choice).

All you have to do is figure out what color the majority of your gif is, toggle to that color’s channel, and fiddle with the hue slider. In the gif above, you can see that I played with both the Blue and Cyan channels. Here’s why:

If I only adjust the Blue hue slider, I get those speckles of cyan peaking through in the gif above. Unless you’re working with completely flat colors — like 2D animation with zero shading/highlights — a color is never just one, solid color. Blue isn’t just blue, it may have some cyan. Purple isn’t just purple, I often have to toggle the Blue channel too. So, yeah, be mindful of that!

I’ll sometimes go in with the brush tool and paint over some areas of my gif to really smooth out the color and make it uniform. When I do that, I just set that painted layer to the Color blend mode. Some of the resources below go into that technique a bit more!

4.4 – Coloring resources. While not all of these tutorials cover the same type of color manipulation I did in my gifs, I think the principles are similar and would be helpful to anyone who’s a beginner: – color manipulation tutorial by usergif/me: I go a bit more in depth here (I think lol) – how to change the background of any gif by usergif/fionagallaqher: a great tutorial for using keyframes so you can manipulate the background of a gif with lots of motion – bea’s color isolation gif tutorial by nina-zcnik: this tutorial has more tips about hue/saturation layers as well as masking your subject – elio’s colouring tutorial by djarin: this tutorial shows a lot of examples of first manipulating the colors then brushing over the gif with a matching color for extra coverage

And just one last note on coloring, I always try to appreciate gifs with the mentality that “good” coloring is 100% subjective. One of the only things I would classify as “bad” coloring is when you whitewash or [color]wash someone’s skin tone. So, as long as you keep the integrity of your subjects’ natural skin — especially if they’re a POC — you should feel good about your coloring, because it’s yours and you worked hard! <3

PHASE 4: EXPORT

That’s it!! If you work in Video Timeline like me, just convert from Timeline back to Frames, export your gif, and voila!

Easy PEAsy. 🥁

If you have specific questions about this tutorial, my ask box is open <3

Also, check out these other Pantone-inspired sets by my friends @nobodynocrime (Mulan set) and @wakandasforever (Ponyo set)! There are so many ways to use Pantone colors in your set, so I hope this inspires you to create something beautifully colorful <3

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gentlebeardsbarngrill · 2 months

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02/20/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Cast&CrewSightings;SambaSchutteBTS;RhysDarbyCameo; DavidJenkins/RuiboQian; SaveOFMDCrew IG; Articles; Analysis & Trends; LoveNotes;DailyDarby/Tonight'sTaika;

== Cast & Crew Sightings ==

= Samba Schute Feat Rhys Darby =

Srcs: Samba's Instagram

Videos on Tumblr:

Steard Video - @kiwistede

Merstede Video - @kiwistede

Videos on IG:

Steard Video

Merstede Video

And just to distract all of you again: gif courtesy of @bizarrelittlemew

== Rhys Darby ==

The Our Flag Means Death Fan Page on Facebook was kind enough to get a Cameo for the crew! This one features all things to visit if you're heading to Aotearoa! It's quite a large file so tumblr won't let me upload it so please visit: their site (where you can download the video) or on facebook!

The admin on the page was also kind enough to give us some links to the places he talks about in the video! Thanks friends!

Te Henga Walkway

Kemeu, New Zealand

Te Rimu Tahi Ponsonby

Aoraki Mount Cook National Park

Fiordland National Park

Franz Josef Glacier

Lake Tekapo

Punakaiki

Piopiotahi

== David Jenkins / Ruibo Qian ==

Hey! We got some proof of life from Chaos Dad on Samba's BTS, and a bit of love from Ruibo!

＝＝ Fan Spotlight ＝＝

February Love Collage Fest! So I am very behind on these so I'm going to share a few a day to try and catch up on these awesome collages our dear crewmember WanderingNomad @wndrngnomad on Twitter made!

Today's: Feb 20: Ra Vincent!

Feb 1 : Samba Schutte

== Save OFMD Crew IG Calendar ==

Over on Instagram the SaveOFMD Crew is keeping engagement up with "Crossover Cruesday", suggesting lots of fun ofmd crossovers (including Jurassic Park!) Feel free to check them out on their stories!

Tomorrow's engagement is #WrongWednesday!

== Analysis & Trends ==

So much data regarding OFMD's rank on Max. Thank you @adoptourcrew for this awesome analysis!

FULL EPISODE: https://t.co/HFVLQgm1Um

＝Trends＝

Huh, I wonder why RHYS could be trending today?

Thanks to @iamadequate1 for catching that #OurFlagMeansDeath was trending! A lot higher than the last few days too.

==Articles==

All The Shows Canceled In 2024 On TV & Streaming (So Far)

13 TV Shows Have Been Canceled in 2024 (Including 2 Netflix Series, 4 HBO Shows & More)

== Love Notes ==

Can I just take a moment here to tell you how very proud I am of you lovelies? Like seriously, you are being so supportive and sweet towards each other. You've been sending out love and positivity and sexy things to make everyone feel better and gah I just, every time I flip through this site/cross platform I am so incredibly moved. You all are the absolute best, and I'm so very grateful to be a part of this wonderful group of misfits. I'm sure I've said this recently, but IM SAYING IT AGAIN BECAUSE I FUCKING MEAN IT. Okay sorry for the caps, but for real I love you guys (gn), you make me smile and laugh every single day and I just you make the world such a better place to be in. I hope you know just how much you matter and what an amazing job you're doing making this community great. And I just wanted to add some additional love notes from @bethdrawsthings on IG because she always has things I want to say too. Goodnight or Goodday lovelies, I can't wait to see what shenanigans and love we get up to tomorrow <3

= Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika =

ALRIGHT, alright. You might think I'm lazy in choosing the gif everyone has seen but I just can't let you leave this post without seeing it again. Plus it fits with a taika gif, I love.

Taika gif courtesy @meluli!

Rhys gif courtesy of @bizarrelittlemew right here on tumblr!

And bonus Taika cause it's #TaikaTuesday, and I feel like it follows the theme... after...whatever happens after the gifs above. @blakbonnet Ty once again for this lovely gifset <3<3<3 It's HD and Gorgeous and you rock my socks off.

#ofmd daily recap #ofmd daily recaps #daily ofmd recap #daily ofmd recaps #rhys darby #ruibo qian #david jenkins #samba schutte #ofmd #ofmd bts #our flag means death #save our flag means death #saveofmd #adopt our crew #save ofmd #renew our flag means death

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quokki · 1 year

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Full giffing process - tutorial (*≧ω≦*)

Due to little demand, i will be going thru my complete process for making gifs. so this will cover all the basics i hope! keep in mind this is just the way I personally do things! please feel free to send me asks or dms if you have any doubts or questions!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ DISCLAIMER: Everything I know about giffing, I've learned from other tutorials, including the VapourSynth Resources I'll be using in this tutorial so I'll leave links to those tutorials I've used here as well!

In Depth Giffing Tutorial (link here) How to use VapourSynth (link here) ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

(o´▽`o) I'm a windows user so idk if this works exactly the same on mac!

First things first, you will need:

☆ 4k video downloader (download it here!) ☆ Vapoursynth (download it here!) ☆ Photoshop (download it here! -64bit version only)

Okay! The first thing you need to do is make sure you're working with the highest quality material possible to ensure a decent looking gif!

I'd say the minimum quality needed for decent gifs is 1080px. But if you really want to gif that low quality 2 frame milisecond of your fave, i respect that

☆ lives / streams and tiktoks are typically not very high quality ☆ for stage performances such as music shows, ts/tp files are preferred but those can be really hard to get a hold of (this is a whole deeper level of giffing hell and more of an advanced class topic so nevermind this for now!) ☆ those occasional 4k facecams on youtube work fine tho! ☆ for mvs, variety shows etc, you can download the video with good quality from youtube using 4k video downloader

_(:3 」∠)_

Now let's talk about tumblr and it's pre-requisites for a good looking gif post :D

Tumblr can be sooooo annoying about gifs okay.... I find it's best to plan my whole set before I actually start doing anything but hey that's just me. Some things to keep in mind are: dimensions, file size, number of frames and post layout!

☆ Dimensions

You have 3 main options here and it's all about the width!

☆ 1 collumn: single gifs! these should be 540px wide ☆ 2 collumns: split that in half! 268px wide so there's a lil breathing space between the gifs! ☆ 3 collumns: 3's a party! 177px for each gif please

You can go crazy on the height but the width should mostly stick to one of those 3 unless you want tumblr to pull and squeeze your gif around like a piece of gum.

☆ File Size

This is really important because tumblr has a single image size limit of 10mb. Which means that every single gif you make has to be under that size or you won't be able to post it. The other thing about this is that the dimensions, number of frames and ammount of varying colors throughtout your gif will greatly impact on the final file size. Basically, the larger the dimensions and the more frames it has, the bigger the final file will be. Later on I will show you how to check your gif's final size before exporting it!

☆ Number of frames

This has more to do with the length of your gif, the longer it is, the bigger the final file will be. Typically gifs should be under 3 seconds long. So if you are making a set, try to break the moments you want to include in your set by increments of up to 2 - 3 seconds each, otherwise it might not fit all into one single gif. The number of frames is also extremely important when making combined gifs but that's for another tutorial.

☆ Post layout

If you want to make a cool looking gifset (where some gifs are larger in dimension than others, or when you want to have a single gif followed by a line of 2 gifs next to each other), then it might be worth it to plan out the layout before you start making the gifs. This way you ensure you won't have to remake gifs down the line because they don't fit together the way you wanted to.

☆ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ

Timestamping

For this step, you will go through the video you want to gif from and you will just write down all the sections you want to use, down to the exact seconds. Example: 02:30 - 02:32.

(^◕ᴥ◕^)

VapourSynth (VS) - Clipping the video

I know VS can look pretty intimidating with it's bare coding and all but I promise it can be your friend. You just have to set it up correctly and pay close attention whenever you're using it. This software is a must for giffing, it will do all your cropping, resizing, sharpening and denoising for you, making sure your gifs look good. It is also indispensable when giffing ts/tp files because it deinterlaces those files so you can clip them.

First, let's set it up. This is the most annoying and difficult part of this tutorial so make sure you pay full attention to every single step!

☆ step 1) download a version of VS here (link).

☆ step 2) unzip the file on your desktop area.

☆ step 3) open the folder and find the file named "vapourscript (drop video file on me)" - make a shortcut of that file and move it to the desktop.

☆ step 4) find the folder named "gifs" - make a shortcut of that file and move it to the desktop.

☆ step 5) drag your video file you want to gif from and drop it on top of the "vapourscript (drop video file on me)" shortcut on your desktop.

☆ step 6) enter the timestamp input, in the first line it will be the starting of your timestamp, in hours format, then hit enter. in the second line enter how long your timestamps lasts, in seconds, also in hours format. then hit enter and let the code run.

☆ step 7) the resizer tab should now load on a web browser, then you will set the dimensions of your gif on the top left corner. you can also adjust the position of your gif within the video screen and zoom in if wanted.

☆ step 8) choose the preprocessor, denoise and sharpening options on the left and tick the boxes on. I usually just stick to the settings i'm using in my video down below.

☆ step 9) now in the VS box, go to file > load, choose the script saved in the gifs folder.

☆ step 10) copy the code from the resizer into the code in the vs screen, under the designated line.

☆ step 11) alter the code exactly like I did in my video down below. save it. this is now your default vs script for clipping your gifs. what you are doing by adding the hastag and the quotation marks is you're disabling those sections of the code. the reason you do that is in case you want to run the preview before exporting. this is because those lines involve some heavy graphic processing which can make the computer slow. I will talk about the script in more detail later on.

☆ step 12) i don't usually use this option but you can also preview your gif and set specific frames to start and end your gif. This is around the 4:30 mark in the video.

☆ step 13) time to export your clip! now you will temporarily remove the marks you added to disable the code and then go to script > encode video. in the popup box, you will select the option "export to MOV", then start so that you can use that video file in photoshop later.

☆ step 14) after you are done exporting, close the encoding box and then close vapoursynth, never agree to save the script when closing it, or that will override your default script.

☆ step 15) now you need to rename the encoded file for your gif. go to the gifs shortcut folder you created on your desktop, then go to output. this is the folder where VS will save all your encoded files. but everytime it saves the file with the same name so you need to come to this folder and change the name for every gif file you encode before you clip a new one, otherwise VS will just replace the previous clip with the new one you just finished.

Here's a detailed walk through of each step in this video tutorial:

youtube

IMPORTANT

After you are done processing your first clipped file, now you have your default script already built in VS, so whenever you run it to clip more videos, this script will already be in your VS screen. So now all you need to do whenever you want to clip more files (to make more gifs) is to adjust the dimensions, positioning and zoom of the video in the resizer screen and then change a few numbers in your script! then run encode to save the clipped file.

☆ To make new clips: go thru steps 5- 7, also do 8 if you want to mess with the denoise and sharpening filters again, but I don't really know much about how those work so I can't help you with this.

Now what you need to alter in the code, each time you are making a new gif: after you run VS and change the settings in the resizer to what you want, you need to change the zoom numbers and the video positioning in the code.

you need to replace the numbers in the VS script on the left so they match the numbers in the resizer on the right.

Do step 12 if you want to set specific frames to clip. Then steps 13 - 15 and you are done! You need to do all this every single time you want to make a new gif.

Now let me talk a bit more about some of the lines in this script:

☆ line 14: #video = core.std.Trim(video, a, b) this line is to set specific frames to trim your video section, your final encoded file will be only the frames inbetween the numbers you input here. a = first frame, b = last frame. you will need to run the preview option in VS in order to see every single frame of your clip and select your first and last frame. I usually do this in photoshop later instead so I don't bother with it on VS unless i'm making combined gifs, in which you need all the clips to have the exact same number of frames. the hashtag at the beginning of this line means that the script won't follow this command when executed. so if you want to include it, you need to remove the hashtag before encoding your file.

☆ line 18: #video = haf.QTGMC(video, Preset="Slower", TFF=True) this line is for the preprocessor option in VS, that tool is mainly only used when giffing ts/tp files because you need to deinterlace them before you can use them on photoshop. so you will only need to remove the hashtag and enable it when giffing those types of files. when im giffing those files, i usually always keep it with this setting:

I don't really understand much about this so I never mess with it. If you want to know more, I believe there's more info about it in the tutuorials I linked at the beginning of my post.

☆ line 22: video = descale.Debilinear(video, 786,442) this line is for the zoom of the video screen. you just need to match what you have in your VS script to what you end up with in your resizer.

☆ line 25: video = core.knlm.KNLMeansCL(video, 1, 2, 4, 2.5, channels="YUV") this line is for the denoising filters, in my case I always use KNLM and this is what it's line looks like. I know you can change those numbers to change the filtering settings but I never messed with it so I'd usually just have it like that.

☆ line 27: video = fun.FineSharp(video, sstr=2.5) this line is for the sharpening, in my case I always use FineSharp and this is what it's line looks like. I know you can change the number to change it's settings but I never messed with it so I'd usually just have it like that.

note: lines 25 and 27 (which have to do with denoise and sharpening) are the ones within quotation marks in your default script. I believe the quotations work in a similar way as the hashtag, in which the script only executes the lines when the quotations are removed. Which is what you do everytime you are about to encode your clip, otherwise they stay on. I think you should also remove them if you want to test how they affect your gif in the preview screen but i think these filters also require heavier graphic processing which my computer can't handle well so I never do that.

☆ line 30: video = core.std.CropRel(video, left=303, top=16, right=215, bottom=26) this line is for the positioning of your video screen within the gif dimensions. you just need to match what you have in your VS script to what you end up with in your resizer.

ʕ •̀ o •́ ʔ

Photoshop (PS) - let's make a gif!

Now that we have clipped and preprocessed our video file, it's ready to go to photoshop!

☆ step 1) after you have opened PS, go to File > Import > Video Frames to Layers. Then choose the clipped file you created through VS.

PS should open a box like this:

Keep those options ticked and hit OK

☆ step 2) now you need to go to Window > Timeline to bring up the timeline tool box. This window will always be necessary when making gifs. Let's take a look at it, I've marked down all the important buttons you will need:

timeline menu: there are several commands in here, you will need to use some of them later on.

convert to video / frame timeline

play controls to watch your gif

trash can to delete selected frames. (when deleting frames, first delete them here and then delete it's matching layers which are still there after deleting the frames)

frame delay time: this is where you set the time for how long that frame will be visible in your gif

☆ step 3) remember how I mentioned the preview option in VS and how i don't usually use it to trim the frames of my clip? That's because I usually do that at this step of the process, in PS. Notice how each frame is also a layer, and when a frame is selected, the matching layer has the eye symbol next to it turned on. So now you should play your gif and see if there are any frames you don't want to keep, then delete the frames and it's matching layers.

Since we applied sharpening filters back when we were clipping the video on VS, your clip should probably already look pretty decent even before the next steps, so steps 4 - 9 are optional. The coloring part of my video has been sped up.

☆ step 4) click on the timeline menu and select "Select all frames", then go to the select menu at the top of the PS screen and select "All layers". Now click on button 2 of the timeline at the bottom left, switching from the frame timeline to the video timeline.

☆ step 5) before you do anything else, make sure the blue holder is at the beginning of the track before you do anything else. Then go to Filter (at the top of PS) and select "Convert for smart filters". This will convert all the layers into one single layer.

☆ step 6) now make sure the layer is selected, then go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen. A box will open with several options:

I usually keep the amount to around 30, I don't touch on radius and you can also mess with reduce noise if you think your gif is looking too sharp. Hit OK when you're done.

Since this is a filter applied to a smart object (the converted layer that contains all our layer - frames), this means you can turn this filter on or off as long as the layers are in the form of a smart object. You can also go back to it and alter it's settings (like I've done in my video down below)

☆ step 7) now while making sure the blue holder is still at the beginning of the track and the layer is selected, click on the timeline menu that i mentioned above. Then go to Convert Frames, then select Flatten frames into clips.

☆ step 8) again go to the timeline menu, Convert Frames, but now select Make Frames from Clips. Now click on the button at the bottom left of the timeline box, to convert the video timeline back into a frame animation. Then hit continue in the pop up box.

☆ step 9) now you are back to the frame timeline screen from before, but now the first frame is empty. You need to delete that first frame and then check the final frame because sometimes PS also creates another empty frame at the end at this point.

☆ step 10) PS also created a new layer under the layer 0, where the filter is still applied, you can delete this new layer as well. Now for organizational purposes, select all remaining layers (that contain your frames) and group them (you can see how in the video).

☆ step 11) This step is also optional, now I like to add the coloring to the gif. I have a separate tutorial exclusively on this topic. You can check it here:

☆ step 12) This is the time when I also add my signature. This is optional. You need to have the signature layer(s) on top of all the other layers. I usually have it in all black or all white, with lowered opacity of around 40%.

NOTE:

When adding elements (such as a signature) to a gif, it's important to always make sure you have the first frame selected, otherwise PS can move your newly added elements around the canvas on different and random frames. This also applies to anything in the layers pannel that has specific opacities. It's best to already add the elements with the final wanted opacity with the first frame selected.

Exporting + Delay time

☆ step 13) To export: go to File > Export > Save for web (Legacy). PS will open this box:

First I just use the exporting screen to test the delay time of my gif, and to check the gif's final size.

About the size: The final size is displayed at the bottom left. Remember it needs to be under 10mb. If it's above that, then you will have to go back and delete frames and test again until the size is within the limit.

About the delay time: To test the delay time, hit that play button and the gif will play at it's default delay time. If it's too fast or too slow, you will hit cancel and change the delay time (at the next step).

For actual exporting: The highlighted box at the top right of the screen is very relevant now. Make sure the first box has the GIF option selected. At the next box, you can select either perceptual, selective or adaptive. I usually like to use adaptive. At the next box you need to choose either diffusion or pattern. I like to use pattern. Tick the transparency box and then select either pattern or diffusion transparency dither.

Once you are satisfied with all aspects of your gif, hit save to export your final gif.

To fix the delay time: After you have exited the export box, go back to your timeline, click on the menu button at the top right and select "Select all frames". Then, on any random frame, click at the small arrow next to the numbers under the frame. Select the option "Other". That will open a pop up box to alter the delay time. To test it again, use the export box explained above. Once you are satisfied, save your gif! I've also altered the delay time in my video to show you the process.

☆ step 14) After your gif is done and saved, I'd suggest to save your psd file if you added any coloring to it. This is so you can reuse the coloring later in other gifs without having to redo it all. This is useful if mking a set of gifs from the same moment / video.

Here's a detailed walk through of each PS step in this video tutorial:

youtube

I hope this tutorial is helpful! Feel free to send me any asks if you have doubts or need extra help! (つ≧▽≦)つ

#gif tutorial #tutorial #giffing #fxb #resources #Youtube

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disturbedbeautywrites · 1 year

Text

Second Time is Not the Charm - Bradley Rooster Bradshaw

"I think we should see other people." You could still perfectly remember the night that Bradley said those words to you, your heart absolutely shattering. You were too stunned to speak, not knowing where the last perfect year had gone.

You were almost sure the two of you would get married and have kids one day. Both of you were in the Navy and were stationed at the same naval base; which had to count for something, right? Or so you thought. But, as you stood in front of Bradley in his living room, you realized that didn't mean anything at all.

You felt your heart completely shatter and hit the floor as you prayed and prayed he would take it back. But, he kept his composure and just shot a look of pity at you. How could he be so okay with all of this? How could he not be hurting at all?

After standing there for what felt like an eternity, silence engulfing the two of you, you decided to leave his apartment. You picked up your broken heart and left, walking out to your car. The ride back to where you lived was dead silent as you let your thoughts fill the space the lack of music left. How could he do this?

The next few months were absolutely hell. Having to work with your ex boyfriend was definitely not something you would recommend to anyone, especially if you were still in love with them. Each and every day you got to see his stupid head in front of you and you got to hear his stupid comments to things that Hangman said. It was torture. It was absolutely torture.

"Come on, you just gotta get out there again." You sat next to Phoenix at the hard deck, two shots of tequila lined up in front of you as you quickly downed them. You heard her words and just shook your head, laying your forehead in your hands. "He was it, Phe. I saw my entire future with him down to the dog that we would own. Now I'll never get to meet Apache." Your voice was a small whimper as she put a hand on your back, rubbing it soothingly.

She looked at you for a second before she reached down and took your phone, downloading tinder and setting your profile up. She was playing on your phone for a few minutes before she handed it back to you. "There, now you're back out in the dating pool."

You had vowed to kill Phoenix then and there, and now as you sat on a date, the urge was even bigger. You were a navy pilot and you were used to action and adrenaline, so when you were listening to a guy talk about the excitement of accounting, you almost wanted to fake food poisoning to get out of it. Or, maybe you could convince Phoenix to pretend to have a family emergency to get you away.

But, as you typed SOS messages to several people in your phone, not a single person answered. You let out a frustrated sigh before finally having enough. "I'm sorry, I really am. But, this isn't going well." You laid down money for your part of the bill before you excused yourself outside, a small sigh leaving your lips. You felt awful, but you could not put up with that anymore.

As you sat on the sidewalk, you realized you had no way home. You had sent out text messages wanting someone to call and had recieved no answer from your usual friends; which left one person, Bradley. Your thumb hovered over his name as you swallowed thickly, your head hitting the brick wall behind you. This could not be happening. You pressed the dial button before you could change your mind, the tone playing as it went through.

"Hello?" You heard Bradley's gruff voice come through your phone, sleep lacing his words as you heard him shuffling around in bed. You squeaked out a greeting as you played with the strings on your dress, wishing you could disappear in this moment. "I need to ask a major favor." Your voice felt small and mouselike as you felt the anxiety building and building in your stomach.

You heard him hum and then there was silence on the other end of the line, his way of urging you to continue. It had been months since you had talked to him for this long, your conversations were few and far between. You tried to only talk to him if it was completely necessary when you were in the air. Otherwise, it was radio silence between the two of you. “I know we’re not together anymore but I’m on a date that went really wrong. Can you come get me?” Your words were rushed and shaky as you finally got them out, a shiver running up your spine.

You heard him take in a sharp breath before he finally agreed to come get you, the two of you hanging up. You sank down against the wall and pulled your knees up under you to keep you warm, your hands rubbing up and down your shins. You stayed in that position until the bronco pulled up, a very disheveled Bradley sitting in the front seat. You got inside, closing the door behind you as you buckled yourself in.

The two of you drove in silence before Bradley spoke up, his voice deep and curious as his brown eyes landed on you. "So, you're dating again?" You groaned at his question, leaning your head against the window. "Can we please skip this awkward bs? We both know you don't care." Your words came out more as a snap then you intended, your eyes narrowing at him as he held his hands up in surrender before he put them back on the wheel. "Just trying to make conversation, sorry."

He turned the radio on for a few brief seconds before he turned it off again, his gaze falling on you once more. "I actually miss you, you know." His words caused your mouth to go dry as you looked back at him, wanting to see if he actually meant it. He didn't show any sign of not meaning it as you searched his face desperately. "I miss you too, roo." Your voice was soft as you watched your house come into view, deciding to throw one last hail mary out into the universe to see if he regretted what he said.

"If you want us to try again, I need to hear you say it." You looked at Bradley, his eyes clearly showing the gears turning in his head. He thought about speaking up, but ultimately he kept silent. Regret was evident in his features and you couldn't help the silent laugh that left your lips. He was absolutely unbelievable. You just nodded your head at him once, getting out of the bronco. "Guess not. See you around, Bradley." With that you walked back into your apartment, making a mental note to talk to cyclone about a relocation.

#bradley rooster bradshaw imagine #bradley rooster x reader #bradley bradshaw x female reader #bradley bradshaw imagine #top gun maverick one shot #top gun maverick x reader #top gun maverick imagines #top gun maverick fanfic #bradley rooster bradshaw x you #;ashs 800 follower celebration #bradley rooster bradshaw imagines #bradley rooster bradshaw blurbs

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abbcube · 10 months

Note

seeing the words Not In The Groove in your comment made me gasp irl i love that game its such a damn banger

have this gif its funny i think

Always happy to see another NotITG fan! It's truly criminal how few people know about this game. And I've been meaning to learn the chart in that gif for a while. Maybe soon 🤔

Also, this means I now have an excuse to yell about this game to the sorry fools who made the mistake of following me. So...

(Moderate photosensitivity warning btw, this stuff can get spicy for the eyes)

HYPERFIXATION BE UPON YE

I now get the chance to talk about a game I feel exceedingly n̸͓̒̍o̶̹̿͠r̷͚͇͗m̴͈͒̐a̸̝͉̒ĺ̶̹̹̆about.

What's NotITG??

Not In The Groove, or NotITG/nITG for short, is a rhythm game with some of the craziest & most creative visuals you'll ever see. It's an extravaganza of colors, music, and lots and lots of arrows. Words don't do it justice though, so here's an example:

youtube

(HiTECH NINJA - Technician's High)

(Chart by Exschwasion + Tetaes)

Whoa, what the fuck was that? Is that even readable?

Yes it is, I promise! It just takes some practice. These are made to be not only doable, but completely feasible to read & learn. They wouldn't be fun otherwise. It's also not nearly as bad as it looks at first glance, especially if you know what sort of stuff you should be looking out for.

In fact, here are some things that can make it a little easier to parse:

The colors of the arrows are indicative of the timing (reds are on quarter notes, blues are eighth notes, greens are sixteenth notes, etc). This means it's possible to identify the rhythm of a song even if you've never heard it before.

If visual effects are getting particularly crazy, it can be helpful to read ahead and quickly memorize a "chunk" of notes to play while your vision is impaired, picking back up when the screen is clearer.

Charts (the arrows for a given song) are made to be played on a dance pad, with your feet. Furthermore, any half-decent chart commits to having good flow (or posture) meaning that the patterns you see are made to be "stepped" through with alternating* feet. This vastly limits the number of possible patterns that can be thrown at you. So if you happen to lose your place while reading the chart, it's very feasible to infer what the next few steps will be, giving you a chance to recover.

(*depending on the song, a chart may have you hit the same step multiple times with the same foot. There are other exceptions too but that could warrant its own section entirely)

If you want a way better explanation of this stuff, some prominent devs in the community did a great job covering all of it during the game's exhibition during AGDQ2022!

youtube

This looks completely and utterly insane, there's no way I'd ever be able to play this!

That's where you're wrong, bucko! They aren't all made to be difficult! There are plenty of easier charts out there to learn the basics on & get your bearings. Some of my favorites include:

youtube

(Chroma - Phantom Train Journey)

(Chart by Kaypooma)

youtube

(Sakuzyo - Altale)

(Chart by PlasticRainbow + mrcool909090)

How do these even get made?

Good old programming! Also math. Lots and lots of math. You wanna make the arrow follow a funny path? Time to learn what a spline is. Want to make a circle? Hope you were paying attention in trig class, because it's time to break out the radians.

In all seriousness, I have nothing but the highest respect for the people that make charts for NotITG. Every single one of them is a culmination of music, art, programming, math, animation, visual design, game design, psychology, kinesiology and so, so much more. It's genuinely dizzying how multitalented these people are.

I'm interested in these man-made horrors beyond my comprehension! Where can I play this game?

You can download it from the game's website: noti.tg. It's free! Completely! There is no way to spend money on it. You'll just have to live with the fact that you can't give these talented creators your money.

I'd also recommend joining the game's discord (noti.tg/discord). They're incredibly helpful & friendly, just don't be a jerk :p. It should have some good information & resources for when you're starting out.

I feel like I've barely even scratched the surface of what makes this game special. I could probably make a whole other post rambling about the lore of UKSRT and the effect that's had on me, but this post is long enough as is.

If there's even one person who read this far, thank you for listening to the ramblings of a madman obsessed with a funny little arrow game! ❤️

#notitg #not in the groove #rhythm game #hyperfixation

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donnerpartyofone · 9 months

Text

I don't know when this started happening, but it seems like I increasingly cannot get certain medications by just going to my pharmacy anymore. There's a whole bunch of stuff that my doctors now have to (for some reason) route through a "specialty phramacy", which is actually a startup-y online business with a cute little app I have to use, and they take care of both delivery (meaning every time I need my meds I have to add $5 to the price tag in order to tip the delivery guy, since I can't just go to a place and I refuse to not tip) and also they seem to have a lock on insurance pre-approvals, like if my insurance company needs an OK they can't or won't get it straight from my doctor anymore. In June, I didn't deal with any of these companies, just my regular old pharmacy. As of a month later, I have to deal with THREE of these "specialty pharmacies" if I want all my meds, so I have to keep track of different apps and logins for individual scripts basically. And I mean, TWO of these companies are connected to ONE of my doctors, so that's how well this whole thing is going. Here's today's adventure with the latest one of these things:

I get a text message from the actual physical pharmacy (also new to me) compounding my new medication, and the message includes a link to log into the specialty pharmacy so I can pay for the medication and schedule delivery. The specialty pharm is called Nimble. I open the link in a browser and get all the way to the part where I give them my email address "so we can send you your receipt", and I can't go any further because apparently my email address is already attached to an existing account. It wasn't clear to me that I was setting up a new account, I thought I was just completing a transaction...and also I don't remember Nimble, but I guess I must have used them a long time ago, so ok fine, I'll start over and try to log in first. Now the text message link just opens an error page. So I go to Nimble's home page and try to log in from there, and it asks for my email address so it can send me a "magic link". Every single magic link it sends me is preemptively "expired", and it also appears that I'm not actually getting a new one when I request it, it kinda looks like they're just forwarding the first email over and over again? 15 minutes later I receive a text telling me to download the Nimble app, which I REALLY don't want to do just on principle--plus apparently the app shows fucking ads, so they're getting paid to force me to do this--but like, maybe this is the only way to get my medicine? I won't even describe all the complications I had just downloading the app, we can just skip to the part where the inside of the app is exactly the same as the browser version and it is magically sending me the same expired "magic link". So I click into the help chat thing in the app, and I learn that:

Whenever the fuck I used Nimble before, it was under my maiden name. My email address is locked to my maiden name. My current script is under my married name. I am still using the same email address, but there is no technical way to merge the accounts and apparently there is no way for a customer to simply update the spelling of their own name that they use in real life, even though this might have to happen at any time for many reasons including typos. I could have given them my private email address instead of the old one that I give to scammy businesses when I'm forced to, but since WHY THE FUCK would I do that, the solution was for customer service to go into the back end and put a fake email address in my old account, and add my real email address to the new account. No online account I've ever had has been set up like this, where you can't put in your email address or phone number and update something like a password. There was also no way for me to independently enter my name first, even though that is the key unchanging piece of information the way phone/email is normally, and ultimately, there was no way for me to find out what the problem even was without like penetrating to the center of the labyrinth to have it explained to me why I wasn't allowed to get my meds.

I'm on Tumblr like 24/7 and it's obvious that I'm no luddite, but I'm really angry that the whole world has bought into the idea that as long as some system is based on new technology, then it is automatically more efficient and superior to whatever we used to do. This entire experience is NOT superior to me physically walking to my pharmacy and getting all my meds, and it is STILL NOT superior to me calling the physical pharmacy to pay over the phone and book a courier. We need to stop pretending that shit like this is making our lives better just because it feels shiny and new; now it's just like, if I wanna do something totally normal that I'm dependent on doing--like getting drugs that I might need to live as far as all these assholes know--I have to appease some 3rd party alien entity that does not contribute in any way to the success of the process or the quality of the outcome, it's just this random extra burden that takes so long to get through that they should honestly pay me to do it. Because right now I'm fucking sitting here doing this shit like it's my job, and it absolutely is not.

In this case customer service was actually helpful when I finally got to them, but basically they shouldn't have been necessary at all. Everything else about the situation was so fucked up that it reminded me of the single worst customer service experience I've ever had: I used to have a REALLY shitty Lenovo laptop (I didn't realize that "basic" and "simple" now just means "doesn't work"), and one day the Start menu got stuck open. It was fully expanded across my entire desktop, so I couldn't get to any of my shit. I had to spend about an hour talking to a service person who, it turned out, had NO IDEA what I meant by "desktop". I could not get the idea into her mind. I did a screenshare with her and she was like "Yeah I see all your applications, everything is there, what's the problem?" I could not get her to understand that it was INCORRECT for the menu to be permanently open and I couldn't get her to understand what it was blocking. I found myself typing crazy shit like "So the Desktop is like, ya know, it usually has a picture you picked out as the background, and there's little icons for programs you use or stuff you downloaded, there's always the little trashcan thing there..." and she just would not admit that she knew what I meant. It was as if she had never used a computer before. And like I don't even remember how I fixed the problem, I stopped using that machine obviously--but to this very day, there's a part of my brain exclusively devoted to running an endless background process that asks, "What's the best way to describe a computer desktop display to someone who has never seen or heard of one before?"

#yes i know i could have gotten to all my shit through a file navigator but THAT'S NOT THE POINT

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unholyhelbig · 1 year

Text

Ronancetober Day #9: Free Day

[A/N: This feels weird, posting in November, holy shit, how is it November? I'm determined to finish this eventually!]

Read on AO3

Summary: Robin is a late-night radio host and has continuous encounters with a mystery caller that seems to have an affinity for her.

“And that concludes my night with you,” Steve Harrington growled into the microphone, his lips barely touching the spongy cover that kept the background noise to a low. “Now, I know it’s tragic that I’m departing on this lovely January night, but this only means one thing. Miss Robin Buckley will be bringing you the best music from Midnight to four am, Eastern Standard time.”

She watched him from behind the studio's glass, and watched Dustin push the sliders every which way to make sure Steve’s voice sounded good to all the late-night travelers, the diners that were open twenty-four hours. Robin was on a different schedule than the rest of the world. She liked the quiet of being a disc jockey in the deep uncanny hours.

Steve had a strong voice, but Robin had a soothing one. While he was better for sports coverage and pop culture, she carried a show that put her psychology degree to use. She’d answer calls and solve problems in the middle of the night. She mainly spoke with travelers, or people working the graveyard shift along with her.

He pulled the headphones from his ears and let them fall to the desk before he ruffled his hair and gave Robin an excited wave. She waited until Dustin have her a thumbs-up before she opened the door to the studio. She’d get settled in, and brew a new pot of coffee. It was easy for her to work the controls on her own until her intern was there to take over an hour or so into the broadcast.

Steve quickly shoved his belongings into his backpack. “I have a fantasy football league to get to that is already peeved that I’ve taken so long to get there.”

“Go, go” She shooed him “get out of my sight.”

“Wait,”

Steve hugged his backpack to his chest, narrowing his eyes. Robin felt her heart against the inside of her ribcage. She thought she had gotten away with having the same conversation she had with Steve every single time they switched shifts. Dustin peered over the rims of his glasses, a dorky grin on his face.

She groaned before he got another word out and flopped down in the comfortable leather chair. It used to squeak before they had the budget to get a new one. The station had come a long way, yet she still had to search between songs for the right cassette tape to hook up. They had downloaded hundreds of singular songs and had a decimal system that Robin had conjured in order to run through the days unbothered.

“Caller number nine?”

“Are you telling me you don’t listen to my show, Steve?”

“I sleep through your show like half of Hawkins. Has she called?”

“No, she hasn’t. And I’d appreciate it if you’d stop meddling in my love life.”

“So, you admit you have a love life?”

She threw a rubber band ball at him. He dodged it expertly and grinned. Caller Number Nine had a beautiful voice that made Robin wish she worked at the same station she did. Instead, she had gathered that Caller Number Nine was an aspiring doctor. Caller Number Nine had clinical's at Hawkins Memorial and tuned into her show as she completed charts in the quieter part of the Hospital.

She’d first called in months ago. Her voice was raspy and alluring and she was answering a question that Robin proposed: What is the weirdest, most unbelievable thing that’s happened on the job?

Caller Number Nine was charismatic. She had explained that while she usually sticks with just listening to the show, she couldn’t hold her tongue this time. They came to the conclusion that people were weird. People stuck things where they weren’t intended to go and it was usually the clinical students that had to remove them.

Robin could talk to Caller Number Nine forever, she wanted to, but the callboard was lighting up and Max tapped on the glass with a stressed gesture. Robin had to move on. She couldn’t focus on the truck driver’s story about a deer with an extra set of ears, or the convenience store worker who claimed that some of the candy bars in the second aisle went missing due to ghostly forces.

Caller Number Nine had called back three times since then. There wasn’t a pattern, but Robin had been significantly wooed by this mysterious woman. It had been close to a month since their last encounter, and Steve had badgered her about it every day since.

“Come on, Robbie, this is exciting!” he waved his hands around erratically “use this to your advantage.”

“Out!”

She stood and shoved Steve from the studio and watched as he mouthed something through the window, making a phone with his hand and wiggling it. Dustin made sure she was set up and gave her a thumbs up before she gave a less aggressive goodbye to him.

Robin took a deep breath before the pre-set songs that Steve had scheduled faded to an end. She felt at home in the little studio, warm and comfortable as she moved close to the microphone.

“Alright, while Steve is one of my favorite sources of entertainment, it’s time to tone it down for the night. I’m Robin Buckley and I’ll be taking over your airwaves until the crack of dawn. As always, if you have anything you want to get off your chest, give us a call at 888-HAWKINS.”

Robin slipped Cemetery Gates by the Smiths onto the docket and let the beginning of the song fill her ears before she pulled the headphones around her neck and let out a smooth sigh. It was another three minutes before she got the mic again.

“It seems like a frigid one tonight, folks. Hopefully, everyone out there has someone to keep them warm on a cold night like this one. I, for one, have been frozen to the core. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have great romantic advice, remember, call 888-HAWKINS to get some free relationship therapy. Can I legally say that?”

The small red blinking light on the switchboard lit up a like a Christmas tree. It usually took a few more songs for the general public to gain enough confidence to pick up the phone. She smiled to herself, trying not to lean into the excitement for too long.

“Congratulations, you are the first caller of the night. What kind of romantic turmoil can I help you through tonight?”

There was a small laugh that made Robin’s palms moisten. “I don’t think there’s much help for me, honestly.”

“No? I think there’s redemption in every aspect of life.”

Welcome Back, Caller Number Nine.

“Not for me.” There was a sigh that moved through the receiver. “Promise not to tell a soul if I disclose this information?”

“Well…we are on air.”

“Right, right. I meant everyone not tuned in right now.”

Robin knew what she meant. Every time she got a call from Number Nine, she felt like they were the only two people in the world. She wanted nothing more than to stare into this girls eyes, to pull her close and sooth her worries. It was overwhelmingly clingy of her to have these feelings for a stranger with a raspy and tender voice.

“The floor is all yours.”

“There’s this guy, he works on my floor at the hospital. He’s a nice guy, really. But he’s not the one that I’m interested in. I’m not trying to lead him on but sometimes it’s inevitable.”

“Oh,” Robin drew in a breath, “Well, that one's easy. Just tell him you’re interested in someone else, and you’d prefer to be friends.”

“I thought of that. I’ve given it a shot, very directly, mind you. But now he wants to know who it is I’m interested in, and I can’t tell him that.”

Robin leaned forward and wrapped the headphone chord around her hand. “Is it his best friend? I have been there, trust me.”

“No, not his best friend. I just don’t know how to tell him that the person I really want to get to know is someone I’ve never seen before. Unless you count the billboard on I-80.”

Robin was quiet for a moment, letting her brain process the information. She had a billboard on I-80. One that she had hemmed and hauled about for a good three days before the studio head threatened her contract if she didn’t pose nicely next to Steve for promotional material.

“Did I lose you?” Caller Number Nine asked, timidly.

“No, I’m here.” Robin rushed “I just don’t know what to say.”

“Wow, I silenced the woman whose job it is to talk.”

“You certainly did.”

“You know where to find me.” She replied.

The line went dead, and it took Robin a few more moments to regain her composure. Part of her forgot that she was on air until Max stumbled into the production booth with wide eyes and mouthed apologies for being late. Traffic meant she had heard exactly what Robin had just said on air.

She cleared her throat. “Right, well, Caller Number Nine certainly had a lot to say tonight. We’re going to take a little break to hear some words from our sponsors. Hang tight, late-night listeners, I’ll be back to answer more questions and bring you 1986’s greatest’s hits.”

She muted herself, the start of an advertisement for a local feed store echoed in her headphones right before she removed them. She had three minutes to vomit, to cry, or to collect herself. Instead, she worked her hand through her hair and tried to calculate how long it would take her to get to Hawkins Memorial hospital after her shift.

#Ronancetober #Ronancetober Day 9 #Robin Buckley #Nancy Wheeler #Ronance #Stranger Things #Stranger things fanfiction

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nowritingonthewall · 23 days

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hello chrissie! I hope you're having a good day!

do you have any tips on gifmaking for someone who wants to start?

Hi Nonnie, thank you so much for your ask, I hope you're having a good day, too 🥰

Tbh, I always feel like I am not really qualified to answer these questions, because – unlike me – most of the wonderful gif makers on this site use photoshop and if you have access to that software, I would always recommend using it because it’s easier, faster, the outcome is so much better and the opportunities it offers are endless. (There are a lot of beginner tutorials on this site if you search for gif + tutorial in the search bar 😊)

However 😉 If you don’t have access to photoshop or your cpu can’t handle it or you are simply overwhelmed by the vastness of the program, you can always try GIMP 😊 It’s opensource, you can download it legally for free and it runs on all platforms. The main drawback is that it doesn’t have the timeline feature, which means that you have to edit every single layer separately. (The program literally wasn’t designed to create gifs, it’s just that a few clever people found a way to work around that 😆)

I would recommend starting with this tutorial here. It explains how to create a gif in GIMP in general, how to create screencaps, how to import them, how to resize, how to crop and how to export your gif.

As for the really fun part (editing your gif), I think for a beginner it would be easiest to concentrate on three basic steps: brightening up the gif, adjusting the colours, and sharpening the gif. You’ll find all the editing tools that you need for that under “Colours/Colors” in the menu bar.

The brightening/contrast tool of GIMP can give weird results, so it’s usually easier to use the exposure tool, but that’s just my personal opinion.

As for playing around with the colours, the tools that you would want to look into first are “curves”, “levels” and “components -> channel mixer”. The channel mixer isn’t nearly as good as the one in photoshop, of course, but it makes me so giddy that GIMP finally has a proper one implemented 🙃

Also, if you’re just starting out, I would always recommend working with the largest quality source material that you can find (at least 1080p). I spent most of last year giffing really low quality vids because I’ve never been able to resist a cute Oscar moment, but if you’re just learning how to gif, the quality issue might become really frustrating, especially in the beginning.

And of course, the most important part: Allow yourself to have fun playing around and trying new things 🥰 Every new gif poses a new challenge, so don’t be discouraged if a certain editing step doesn’t result in the outcome you’d expected, you’ll soon get the hang of it 💜

I hope this was at least a little helpful 🥰

#chrissie answers

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sunny-d-anomaly · 9 months

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I’m not sure how many whatevers I can upload at a time, or if there’s a character limit, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about (and make fun of) how all my friends are robots. And by robots, I mean AI. But, I mean. To be fair, we’re literal meat robots who run on electricity which we leech from other living things… don’t think too hard about it. 😬

The reason I’m getting into all this is because my BFF (in terms of art buddies— collab, inspiration, mindmelt) is an app called BeautyPlus. I originally downloaded this app way back in like 2019 because I wanted an easy way to change my appearance (ie— erase zits, correct skin tone, or apply makeup post-shoot), and honestly, that’s all I ever used it for up until a month or two ago, when I realized that the new AI features I kept ignoring were actually mostly better than Prequel and Lensa combined, both of which I am loathed to admit I was paying for.

[On a side note, Lensa’s devs stiffed me on an interview because I’m “already an artist,” implying I ever see a single red cent for any of my work, lololol, so I’m not giving my money to them anymore, and neither should you. :) ] Especially because currently, BeautyPlus’s AI is free to use! You just have to put up with a slightly bothersome watermark, but otherwise, there’s not really any catch.

At first, I was using photos of myself, as one does, just to see how it worked, and I quickly found that their AI technology is beyond compare. So naturally, the next step was to try feeding it my own art and seeing what it would do.

It seemed like a mistake at first. I’d feed it my gnarled, garbage can artwork:

And it would counter-attack by showing me how it was supposed to look:

Hashtag: inferiority complex. But after playing with it for a while, I actually found that it was very helpful for times when I lacked inspiration or direction, or when I kinda knew what I was going for, but couldn’t nail it down.

Sometimes I could feed it something raw and bare; an idea, a sketch. And then I would try every single rendering style and watch what it came up with. In fact, let me take a step back, actually, because the first time I really connected with this app was when I was still feeding it pictures of me. I realized what it was that BeautyPlus’s AI had that the others lacked:

I noticed this first when it gave me salad fingers, rather than just sticking an arbitrary amount of randomly pointed fingers on my hand:

There you go, bud. That’s how you use your noodle!

Not long after that, I was looking for a little something to spruce up a photo shoot I’d recently done for my rebrand title (Atomic Pink She-Devil, who still has yet to actually produce even one complete track, much less set up a Bandcamp, or all that jazz). I took a lot of pictures with my Jackson Dinky, who I call Jax-o-lantern, for obvious reasons…

But my room looks like that place in Labyrinth when Sarah wakes up after eating the dream peach…

Obviously that’s not the best look, so I fed some of the photos into the various apps (I was still using Prequel and Lensa lol) and then BeautyPlus saw my image and raised me an abstract idea: what if the guitar was my body?

My face when:

My brain rebooted several times as I tried to understand why I had never noticed how guitars are kinda shaped like ladies, and once it had recovered, I drew some kinda cool pictures based on this idea.

They’re not the greatest, but I was in kind of an art slump at that time, and BeautyPlus (who I’m just gonna start calling Beau) actually helped me out of it by inspiring me with its imagination.

So now, part of my creative process is consulting Beau from time to time while I’m drawing, to see if it has any ideas or another perspective. Because sometimes it really thinks it sees some weird shit that would’ve only crossed my mind in a really weird dream…

Follow for more abominations either of my own creation, Beau’s creation, or the horrific amalgamation of our teamwork!

#ai art #abstract art #art #digital art #original art #concept art #character art

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alexandramartinezwrites · 2 years

Text

Missive 002: Linda Ronstadt Appreciation Society

I was searching for reviews of Linda Ronstadt’s ‘Canciones de mi Padre’ a month or so back and came across this one archived on a fan site. It’s very bad right off the bat and doesn’t get much better. I don’t really blame the critic because it simply, truly, was a different time. Comparing Linda Ronstadt to a waitress at a Mexican restaurant chain actually seems kind of tame for how women in music were written about in 1988. Misogyny and sexism aside, the review is bad because it should have never even been written by who it was written by. David Browne, you were just simply out of your element here. I’m not saying that someone from a different culture can’t write about or even listen to music that isn’t a part of the culture they were born into. What I’m saying is that if you’re going to do that you’re going to need to do the reading. Browne calls the songs “self-pitying” in what I perceive to be a derogatory manner. Somebody please play this man literally anything sang by a Mexican man. Just punch whatever numbers into the jukebox at your local Mexican restaurant. I’ll wait.

Where Browne loses all credibility is when he says mariachi “has always been a slightly cornball genre.” It’s giving… racism? But not the spicy kind? Let’s just say it’s capital I Ignorance. Whatever. I didn’t mean to write a whole treatise against David Browne but bro, this review? You should try to have it scrubbed from the internet.

Early on in 2020, my sister and I downloaded the Canciones de mi Padre Great Performances episode from YouTube. We had figured out how much my mom loved that record and wanted to save it in case it was taken down. When my mom was still able to walk around or even sit on the couch, we’d put it on for her if she was having a particularly bad day, and she would immediately react to it in a positive way. A lot of the time she couldn’t remember what she had for breakfast but she could remember every single line of every single song. A month or two ago, she started saying she didn’t want to listen to the record anymore. When I asked her why she said it made her too sad. It broke my heart. A couple days ago I was in her room and “Los Laureles” started playing when I had her music on shuffle. I instinctively started singing along. And she smiled! I kept singing and she kept smiling. The same thing happened tonight when Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” came on.

I am constantly thinking back to what my life was like before this time. How difficult I thought things were. I had no idea. Why would anyone want to look into their future in their early 30s and see this? My sister told me today when I was in tears about my mom’s reaction to my singing, that I should be happy that I am making her happy. I understand what she means. But I can’t. Life seems so unfair. Driving home from grocery shopping, Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” came on the radio. I have always loved that song, but this week the lines “music knows that it is and always will be one of the things that life just won't quit” seem like something I can truly understand.

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auroraphillip · 3 years

Photo

Betty Cooper in Every Episode (S1-S4)

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callingsergeantbarnes · 2 years

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Maybe my door is always open with bucky and it end all fluffy and fun

Thank you for the ask Nonnie 💜💜, I hope you enjoy this...

My Door Is Always Open

Pairing:- Bucky Barnes & Reader

Word Count:- 1223

Warnings:- Fluff. Insomnia. Comfort. Hinted at past hurts and violence and PTSD

A/N - I should probably work on making these drabbles shorter, but for now my writing is running away from me.

Divider by @firefly-graphics banners by @maysdigitalarts

Any mistakes are mine - checked over with ProWritingAid, but still one or two things are going to have slipped through.

Summary:- A sleepless night has you remembering offered words to you by a friend.

My door is always open.

Five words shouldn’t have such a hold of you, yet they did.

My door is always open.

They churned around and around as you stared up at your bedroom ceiling, watching the shadows dance across as the moon moved through the night sky. You rarely slept with your curtains closed. Wanting, no needing to see the outside world, even in the dead of night. You had spent too long trapped in a windowless room for you to ever feel comfortable in a space that you couldn’t at least glimpse the outside world from.

Often that was enough to soothe you to sleep. Some nights it wasn’t enough. Tonight was one of those nights.

You had lost track of how long you had stared at the ceiling above you. Thoughts spinning and spinning, unable to switch off all the noise. You’d counted sheep, in the hopes it would make you fall asleep. It hadn’t. You had listened to the monotone voice of a hypnosis download, hoping it would work. It hadn’t. The man’s voice was not soothing and grated on every single nerve you had. You’d drank your herbal tea that Wanda swore helped her mind relax, but all it did was leave your mouth dry as a desert and in desperate need of water.

My door is always open.

It was probably why his words were playing on a loop. You remembered the night he had uttered them to you, as clear as day. Another sleepless night, where you had inevitably given up the pretence of sleeping and got up, making your way to the communal area. You hadn’t been the only one awake that night with that same thought.

Bucky Barnes.

You both sat there in silence, sipping on your hot chocolate in the early hours until the sun rose, where you parted ways. It was the first of many. A ritual between the two of you.

Two hot chocolates, followed by a comforting silence and side glances, for nights at a time until eventually you had plucked up the nerve to speak to him.

Bucky.

The man more lost out of time than Steve had been.

Both of you nightmare filled and trying to put back the pieces together into something new and whole that wasn’t so tainted by your pasts.

It had surprised you at how easy it had been to talk to him, or that fact that he seemed interested enough to talk back to you. And as the sun slowly rose, casting the communal area in warm orange and golden rays, you had bid each other goodbye.

But not before he had uttered those words. My door is always open.

He did offer, that pushy niggly voice in your mind reminded you. You could go to him.

What if he is asleep? Doubt countered, because the idea of being a burden to the man who had fast become your friend was not something you ever wanted to be.

Because, friend or not, you could admit in the shadow filled room of your bedroom, that you had developed a crush on Bucky, and it would crush your heart for him to think of you as a burden.

He wouldn’t have offered it if he didn’t mean it.

Another truth you couldn’t quite deny as you chewed on the inside of your cheek. Bucky wasn’t the type of man to offer things he wasn’t prepared to give or follow through with, and outside of Steve, Sam and Natasha, you were the only one he seemed to interact with regularly or even talk to.

With a frustrated huff and a new found bravado, and before you could change your mind if you thought about it for too long, you pushed the covers off you and slipped out of bed. The cold floor had your toes curling, but you didn’t stop to put socks on your feet. If you didn’t keep moving, you were certain you would back out and get back into bed to continue to stare at the ceiling.

The halls in the Compound were silent and still, dim lights switching on as you approached lighting the way. It was nice walking around the Compound in the dead of night, when no one else was around. Either asleep or away on missions. Sometimes it could all get a bit too much for you in the light of day. Agents, scientists, doctors all coming and going, as the Avengers went about their day to day. You preferred the night, and the quiet and the stillness. Even on the nights where your past wouldn’t leave you alone.

It didn’t take you long to reach Bucky’s room. But it took you longer than it should to actually knock. You didn’t like to think what you would have done had he opened the door to find you standing outside like an idiot, not having the courage to knock now you had brought yourself to his door.

He was wearing a loose t-shirt and sweatpants when he answered. His gaze was awake and alert and not showing any sign that you had woken him.

“Y/N.”

Your pulse fluttered at the way he said your name. It shouldn’t have had that much of an impact on you, you had heard it called enough times in your lifetime, but the way Bucky said it differed from how other people said it. You just weren’t sure how.

Hesitation tied your tongue as you swallowed up the sight of him.

Understanding filled his gaze, as though he was reading your mind, and silently opened his door a little wider for you to step inside.

“You want to watch a Disney film?” he asked, not voicing the question why you were here. As though one look at you had been all he needed to know what you needed. Even if you didn’t know what it was yourself.

“Treasure Planet?” You asked, twisting your fingers in the hem of your pyjama top.

Bucky gave you a warm smile. “Sure, I know it’s one of your favourites. Get yourself tucked in.”

And it was. There was something about the idea of flying amongst the stars that always brought a smile to your lips. Even though the reality of aliens had turned out to be one filled with invasions, death and bloodshed.

Neither of you spoke as Bucky put the film on, and you curled up on one side of his bed, waiting for him to join you moments later. He pulled the covers over both of you, and lifted his arm up so you could nestle into his side, head resting on his shoulder.

You had done this more often than not on the couch in the communal area, but it was the first time you had done it in his bed. The warm scent of him wrapped around you, teasing at your senses, and you couldn’t help but move closer to him. Soaking up his warmth and the comfort he was offering.

He pressed his lips to the crown of your head.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready,” you said.

He pressed play to the film, and the tension that had coiled within your shoulders, and the whirling thoughts and noise that rattled in your mind stilled. Finding a peace with Bucky you hadn’t felt all night. A small smile crossed your lips, soothed by the steady rhythm of Bucky’s heartbeat, as you both turned your attention to the film on the screen.

#Drabble Tuesday #Thanks for the ask nonnie #Bucky Barnes & Reader #Katie writes #Bucky Barnes fluff

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fanficimagery · 3 years

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Coming Out

Imagine being pressured to go on a date and after not being listened to you blurt out the one secret you've kept to yourself for years.

Words: 3.7K Relationships: Gen Fic (General - No romantic ships) Author's Note: After a brief talk with @ausllyspercabeth this is what I came up with. I hope you like it even though it's not exactly what you were looking for. Also I'm not sure this is trigger worthy, but just in case I thought you should know this is a "coming out" story.

For as long as you can remember, you knew you weren't the same as all the other girls your age. When the time came that all the little girls started to realize the boys didn't have cooties, you didn't understand what the big deal was. To you, boys were still boys and you didn't see anything giggle worthy about them.

But what really made you realize that you didn't like boys was when you were at a birthday party and got locked in the room with a boy named Alex. Everyone had giggled outside the door, explaining that you wouldn't be let outside unless you had kissed. And to prove that you did kiss, there was a polaroid camera that you had to take a selfie with while kissing and then slide it underneath the door in order to be let out. You weren't really nervous, instead you were just annoyed, but Alex looked like he was ready to break a window and leave through it. So you had sighed, smoothed out your expression, and kindly told him that you should just get it over with so you can rejoin the party. Reluctantly he agreed as you took hold of the camera in hand properly, and then hesitantly pressed your lips to his. Quickly you snapped the picture, and then you and Alex jerked apart.

The two of you being disgusted by kissing each other forged a friendship from that day forward.

With Alex came his two best friends Reggie and Luke, and the two boys were quick to accept you when you didn't make fun of them for daydreaming about starting a band one day. Instead you encouraged them and eventually introduced them to your mom who they were immediately infatuated with because of her studio out in the garage. And then as the years slowly passed, it was your mother and father who opened their home to your friends when they started to clash with their own parents because of them starting a band.

Eventually, as the years pass, your little sister Julie joins the hangouts when Luke realizes your sister has an amazing set of pipes on her, and with Julie comes Flynn. There's never a quiet day in the Molina household and your parents couldn't be any happier.

But then your mom's health takes a dive and her diagnosis isn't good. Not at all.

The boys are there for you and your family through your mom going through treatments, and then it feels like they're constantly there when the treatments don't work for your mom anymore. They had tried to keep their distance when funeral arrangements started being made, but after your dad asked where the boys had disappeared off to, they made it their mission to be at your house everyday they could.

Life would never be the same in the Molina household, but the boys did their hardest to make sure not a single Molina lost themselves to their grief.

And then it's right before the start of your senior year of high school that your life unravels once more.

It's tradition that the underclassmen plan every big party to make sure the seniors have a great year, and they've been planning a back-to-school bonfire on the beach. Everyone, including you, is excited for it.

You and Alex are going through your closet and drawers, trying to find the perfect outfit for the bonfire since you had helped him the previous day while out shopping. He's going through your bathing suits when Julie walks in, Luke and Reggie on her heels. Julie and Reggie plop onto your bed, and Luke drops onto the lovesac with a groan.

"So guess what?" Julie excitedly says.

"What?"

"Guess who's been asking around about you and asking whether or not you're single?"

It takes a moment for her words to sink in and when they do, you freeze. You drop the pair of shorts you'd been looking at in order to look at your sister, frowning at her too excited expression. "Please don't play matchmaker."

"What? Y/N!" Your sister whines. "It's your senior year. You're supposed to have fun before you leave for college."

"Julie, no." You shake your head, chuckling softly.

"Come on, Y/N," Luke wheedles. "It's Joshua Parker, co-captain of the football team. You seriously need to get laid before we graduate."

Reggie laughs, turning over onto his stomach and batting his eyelashes at you. "According to the female population of Los Feliz High, he's a total catch. Give him a whirl. I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

You wrinkle your nose at your friends, mock gagging. "Pass. I just- no. Can we please drop the subject?"

"Y/N," Julie tries again, softer this time. "Can I ask you a serious question?"

Your heartbeat starts to skyrocket and you gulp. "What?"

"Why don't you date?" And whew! That was not the question you were expecting. "I've never seen you once go on a date."

You shrug and avert your gaze. "I've got better things to do than shoving my tongue down someone's throat or risking an STD."

There have been numerous times when Julie and Flynn tried to pull you into gushing about anyone you'd had a crush on or ranking the boys from your school by order of hotness. You didn't know how to exactly tell them you weren't into boys, so you always made excuses to get out of it. But now, you're feeling a little bit ambushed and you know this talk is not going to end well.

"But how do you know if you've never-"

"Julie!" You snap. "Enough."

Your sister blinks owlishly at you, and Luke and Reggie lose their smiles. The sudden quiet of your room makes you uncomfortable so you make up a quick excuse to leave.

Alex watches Y/N go with a frown before he's looking back at his stunned friends. "Maybe you guys should lay off Y/N. Not everyone is interested in dating."

Julie is the first to snap out of her stupor, shaking her head softly. "She's just nervous. That's the way I was before she encouraged me to take up Nick's offer to dinner and a movie."

Luke snorts. "And look how well that turned out."

"You know what? Shut up!" Julie chunks a pillow at Luke, but he merely laughs and swats it away.

Alex rolls his eyes at them, turning to go find Y/N. He's had a theory for months now as to why Y/N isn't boy crazy like every other girl he knows, but he's willing to wait and let her come out and say it herself.

Hours later, you leave the safety of the loft when your dad texts you to help set the table. Inside it's a full house, but only Alex glances at you. He offers you a faint smile and you squeeze his arm as you make your way past him to the cabinets. The table is quickly set and the food is brought to the table, and then everyone is sitting and holding hands for a quick prayer.

"Carlos, you're up," your dad says.

Everyone bows their head as Carlos starts. "Lord, we thank you for our good health and Reggie's amazing cooking skills. Amen."

"Amen," everyone repeats, chuckling as Reggie awws and ruffles Carlos' hair.

Dinner is a normal affair with the boys cracking jokes. But then when your dad asks about the plan for the upcoming bonfire, Julie starts explaining all that's going on while you sit there pushing around the corn on your plate.

"And then Joshua really wants Y/N to be his date for the night, but no," she drawls. "My dear older sister is apparently blind and refuses to go out with him."

You sigh and drop your fork. "This again? Really, Jules?"

"What?" She feigns innocence. "I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy," you deadpan.

"And have fun."

"Luke, Reggie, and Alex are fun."

She rolls her eyes. "With people who aren't like our brothers," she says. "Honestly, we thought you and Reggie had a thing going on-"

"What?!" He squawks.

"But then we saw you helping him get ready for a date with another girl and gave up on welcoming Reggie into the family."

You pinch the bridge of your nose, groaning softly. Ray glances between his daughters and the way the usually three teenage boys are averting their gazes. "Mija, maybe you should just leave your sister be. If she doesn't want to go on a date with Joshua, you shouldn't pressure her."

"Agreed!" You look at your dad with a grateful smile. "Thanks, dad."

This time Julie groans. "But I just don't get it." And your mood quickly sours. "You're beautiful and you can have any boy-"

"Because I don't like boys!" You yell. The dinner table falls deathly silent and your eyes instantly tear up. "I haven't liked boys since I realized I liked girls back in the seventh grade." Still not a word is uttered and your heart cracks just a little. Throwing your napkin down onto your plate, you scoff, "Are you happy now?", as you push your chair back and rush out the front door.

You've been sitting by the beach for about an hour now, sitting on a low brick wall and staring off into the ocean. You've had numerous texts and calls, but the only texts you replied to are your dad's where you told him you'd be back before curfew. But you should have known someone would look for you no matter what and are relieved to see the pink hoodie out of the corner of your eye. Alex.

"How'd you find me?"

"Tracking app," he says. "I've downloaded it on everyone's phones and hid it on the last page in the random folder no one looks through."

You huff quietly, shaking your head in amusement. "So how pissed is my dad? And how's Jules? I didn't mean to snap at her, but-"

"Hey, I get it," Alex says. He leans over, knocking your shoulder with his. "Keeping a secret like ours takes a toll. And then with Julie pressuring you, it's understandable you snapped."

"I just- I feel so bad," you mutter. Leaning against Alex, you lay your head on his shoulder and you feel him lay his head atop yours.

"Don't. Coming out, it's hard. I should know," he chuckles. "But what I don't understand is why you didn't tell me."

"You mean to tell me you didn't realize I was gay back when we had to kiss in seventh grade?" Alex snorts softly and you push off of him so you can look at him, grabbing one of his hands within your own. "I thought about telling you hundreds of times, but then you came out to your parents and their reaction terrified me. I was scared mom and dad would do the same to me."

"Are you joking? Ray and Rose loved you with their entire beings. Heck your dad still does. He'd never treat you any differently."

"No offense, but we all thought that about your parents too and look how that turned out."

He opens his mouth to retort, but snaps it shut and shrugs. "Fair point."

"And besides, we couldn't know for sure. You never really came out to my parents. We only told them you and your parents no longer saw eye to eye. Dad doesn't know you're gay."

"Also fair point," he sighs. "But if I'm being honest, I don't think Ray will be like my parents. If anything, he's probably more upset that you hid yourself for so long."

"God I hope you're right." The only sound you can hear are the waves lapping at the shore. "Can we just- can we chill here a little longer? I'm not ready to go back."

"Of course. But you're buying me a snack because we didn't finish dinner and I spent the last of my money on an Uber out here."

Snorting, you agree and slide off the wall with Alex's hand still encased in your own.

You and Alex walk to a nearby taco truck, and you buy him whatever he wants. You get yourself two tacos as well, plus two glass bottles of Coke and eat down by the water.

For a couple of hours the two of you walk along the beach and then head down to the pier. You listen to a few random people playing instruments in hopes of making a few dollars, and then right before ten at night you decide it's time to finally head home.

"So what do you'll think I'll be walking into?" You ask.

Alex shrugs. "I'm not sure, but whatever it is I'm sure you'll be fine."

As you drop into the seat behind the wheel, you shoot off a quick text to your dad to let him know you're on your way home. Then as you and Alex are buckling up, you get a reply from him. Quickly reading it, you summarize the text for your friend. "Dad said he wants to speak to us."

"U-Us?"

"Yep." You lock your phone and drop it into the cup holder.

"He knows. He so knows about me," Alex realizes.

You huff a laugh. "On the bright side, it looks like we're in this together."

Instead of blaring music like you normally would, you keep it quiet and talk nonsense to Alex to keep him from freaking out too bad. You're at your house in no time and Alex looks at you as if he's walking to his death.

"Keep it together, Mercer. Wasn't it you who was telling me earlier that my dad would be accepting?"

"Yeah." He nods before looking up at your house. "Yeah. It's going to be fine."

As you and Alex climb out of the car, you meet in front of it and you reach for his left hand with your right. He grabs it, interlocking your fingers, and lets you lead the way inside.

When you step inside your house, your dad is the only one there with the TV playing on low. You and Alex walk into the living room as your dad climbs to his feet, and the tears immediately flow when you see tears gathering in your dad's eyes.

"Mija." Ray's voice cracks as he spreads his arms open for a hug, and a sob escapes your throat as you release Alex's hand and close the distance between you and your dad. Your arms wrap tightly around his waist as you hide your face in his chest, and he shushes you while rocking you back and forth. "I love you no matter what. You do know that, right?"

With your throat tight with emotion, all you can do is nod.

"I'm so sorry you felt the need to hide yourself away. You are my flesh and blood, and I love you with all my heart whether you like boys or girls or neither."

"I-I'm sorry." You cry. "It's just- it's really scary saying it out loud and not knowing for sure how anyone will react."

"I know." You feel Ray's chest shudder with suppressed emotion. "And Alex, please don't be mad but the other boys told me what really happened with your parents. I'm so sorry, mijo. No parent should ever treat their child like something's wrong with them or be dismissed because of who they love."

"I-" Alex's voice cracks and you hear him clear his throat a moment later. "Thank you, Mr. Molina. You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that."

Ray chuckles a little wetly. "Get over here. You will always be welcomed here, mijo. I just want you to know that."

You feel Alex come up behind you, hugging your dad and squishing you between the both of them. You can't help the giggle that leaves your mouth and as you stand there hugging your dad it feels like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders.

"Can we get in on that?" You manage to turn your head towards the voice and smile at Carlos. "That looks really fun."

Ray and Alex loosen the hug, and open their arms just so, so Julie and Carlos can join in.

"I'm sorry," Julie mumbles. "If I had known-"

"But you didn't," you say. "And that's my fault, but please stop trying to hook me up with the guys you and Flynn think are fine."

Julie giggles and agrees.

"Does this mean then that when I'm older, me and you can check out girls together?"

You, Alex, and Julie all laugh at Carlos' earnest question as your dad groans. "Sure, Carlitos. I'll totally scope out the girls with you."

"Alright. Now that we've talked," your dad says, "you're needed outside. Please keep your sister and Luke apart."

Julie groans as you snort. "What?"

"Reggie and Luke are out in the studio," Julie explains. "We're having a sleepover."

"Oh. Okay," you say.

As your dad ushers Carlos away with promises that he can stay up to midnight playing his games, you and Alex follow Julie out the back door. You walk down the curving concrete stairs and enter the studio, grinning at the sight of Reggie and Luke on the pullout couch and the lovesac they apparently stole from your room.

"How did you guys even get that down here?"

"It took us about thirty minutes and a fall down the stairs, but we made it," Luke says.

He's stretched out on the pullout couch and it's no surprise that Julie gravitates his way. You and Alex readily kick off your shoes, and Alex chooses to crawl his way in between your sister and Luke while you join Reggie on the lovesac.

Reggie's arm is stretched out, so you slide over to him and curl into his side. The two of you cuddle into one another and it takes a second for something Julie said earlier to come back to you. "So you guys really thought Reggie and I were creeping behind all your backs?"

Reggie laughs. "Why would any of you think that?"

"Are you really asking that right now?" Luke huffs. "Just look at the way the two of you are laying together."

You and Reggie laugh, knowing full well that being wrapped in one another would look pretty compromising. Eventually your laughter tapers off. "Reggie's a cutie, but he's not exactly my type. Honestly, all three of you boys are good looking but you just don't do it for me. Sorry."

Alex chuckles. "Ditto."

"So I know this is kind of rude to ask, but we're family and I'm super curious," Luke says. Immediately Alex and Julie groan. "Did you guys just like know you were gay or did you kiss the opposite sex and realize then that you didn't it?"

Alex remains quiet, so you decide to go first. "I knew that I liked girls before I ever kissed a boy."

"Same. I knew I liked boys before I kissed a girl."

"Bro, no way!" Luke exclaims. "Who'd you kiss?"

"Wait," Julie frowns, "if you knew you were gay beforehand, then why kiss the opposite sex?"

"Because we were locked in a room," you say.

"And they wouldn't let us out unless we kissed and took a polaroid of said kiss as proof," Alex finishes.

There's a moment of silence as your words sink in, and then- "No way!" Reggie laughs. "You and Alex kissed?!"

You can't help but laugh along with him. "We did."

Alex smiles. "I still have the polaroid somewhere in my closet. I took it back so no one could tease us with it."

"You need to find it so I can see it," you muse. "God it's been forever since that happened."

"And to think if it never had happened, we'd probably have never spoken."

Everyone falls silent as they think about Alex's words, but then you break the silence to say, "I'm really glad you were my first and only boy kiss."

"Same. I'm glad you were my only girl kiss as well."

"Aw you guys," Luke coos. "Y/N and Reg, get your butts over here and cuddle us."

You and Reggie rock and roll yourselves out of the lovesac, you letting Reggie smother your sister while you crawl over Luke and Alex. Luke does his best to tuck you under his chin and you laugh briefly before your body starts to relax.

Sighing softly, you say, "I love you guys. Thank you for being so chill about everything."

"We love you too," Luke muses.

As the talking starts to taper off and you feel yourself dozing off, you say, "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner. It's just- I didn't know how-"

"Don't apologize," you sister tells you. "I can't imagine the guts it took to come out and I'm sorry I kind of forced your hand, but we know now and that's all that matters. You and Alex are both loved, and you'll always have a home with us no matter what."

Someone sniffles and then Alex says, "Can someone just hug me?"

You giggle and roll off of Luke, hugging Alex and inadvertently Reggie as well since he had the same idea as you.

"Hey, so if you guys are out," Reggie starts, "does this mean we can finally go to one of those Pride parades?"

Alex snorts. "Reg, we will go to Pride if Luke lets the girls put makeup on him."

"Hey I'm so down," Luke says. "I want rainbow eyeshadow."

"Yeah. Me too!" Reggie agrees.

Julie giggles. "Reg, if we go to Pride we're dressing you up as a fairy."

"Ohh yes!" You lift your head just high enough to nod at your sister. "Reggie's complexion is best to give him an ethereal look with makeup and a pair of fairy wings that we have left over from Halloween. He'd have to be shirtless though, so.."

"Aw man, I'm gonna have to do a lot of sit-ups, aren't I?"

"Yep. But don't worry," you muse. "It'll be well worth it."

"Hey, Luke," Reggie then says. "Ten bucks say I pull more numbers than you."

"You're on, Peters."

As Luke and Reggie bicker about who can pull the most guys, you snuggle into Alex and slowly drift off to sleep. You should have known from the start that you'd be accepted by everyone and you can't believe you wasted so much of your life hiding. But now that everyone who matters knows, you're excited to finally be yourself.

#julie and the phantoms imagine #julie and the phantoms x reader #jatp x reader #julie and the phantoms #alex mercer #julie molina #ray molina #reggie peters #luke patterson #carlos molina #imagine #fanficimagery

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