It’s Been Long Enough I’m Making An Executive Decision That We All Need To Go Reread The Tgi Fridays

AHHHH I'm late!!!

Usually I don't like Long posts but damn this is good

...that your audience won't hate.

This is a method I started using when NFTs were on the rise - thieves would have to put actual work into getting rid of the mark - and one that I am now grateful for with the arrival of AI. Why? Because anyone who tries to train an AI on my work will end up with random, disruptive color blobs.

I can't say for sure it'll stop theft entirely, but it WILL make your images annoying for databases to incorporate, and add an extra layer of inconvenience for thieves. So as far as I'm concerned, that's a win/win.

I'll be showing the steps in CSP, but it should all be pretty easy to replicate in Photoshop.

Now: let's use the above image as our new signature file. I set mine to be 2500 x 1000 pixels when I'm just starting out.

Note that your text should not have a lot of anti-aliasing, so using a paint brush to start isn't going to work well with this method. Just use the standard G-Pen if you're doing this by hand, or, just use the text tool and whichever font you prefer.

Once that's done, take your magic wand tool, and select all the black. Here are the magic wand settings I'm using to make the selections:

All selected?

Good.

Now, find a brush with a scattering/tone scraping effect. I use one like this.

You can theoretically use any colors you want for this next part, but I'd recommend pastels as they tend to blend better.

Either way, let's add some color to the text.

Once that's finished,

You're going to want to go to Layer Property, and Border Effect

You'll be given an option of choosing color and thickness. Choose black, and go for at least a 5 in thickness. Adjust per your own preferences.

Now create a layer beneath your sig layer, and merge the sig down onto the blank layer.

This effectively 'locks in' the border effect, which is exactly what we want.

Hooray, you've finished your watermark!

Now let's place that bad boy into your finished piece.

You'll get the best mileage out of a mark if you can place it over a spot that isn't black of white, since you'll get better blending options that way. My preference is for Overlay.

From here, I'll adjust the opacity to around 20-25, depending on the image.

If you don't have a spot to use overlay, however, there's a couple other options. For white, there's Linear Burn, which imho doesn't look as good, but it still works in a pinch.

And for lots of black, you have Linear Light

Either way, you're in business!

EDIT since this has escaped my usual circles, and folks aren't as familiar with my personal usage:

An example of one of my own finished pieces, with watermark, so you can see what I mean about 'relatively unobtrusive'-- I try to at least use them as framing devices, or let them work with the image somehow (or, at the very least, not actively against it).

I know it's a bummer for some people to "ruin" their work with watermarks, which is part of the reason I developed this mark in particular. Its disruption is about as minimal as I can make it while still letting it serve its intended purpose.

There's other methods, too, of course! But this is the one I use, and the one I can speak on. Hope it helps some of you!

fifteen my braincells

Farewell

So I've got this httyd au idea that I've been sitting on for awhile now, I guess it could be considered as a rewrite or something but I don't see it that way. Anyway here's some ideas for my Colourful Nights AU, I'm still working out the factors so it's not the best.

There's going to be more of my thoughts under the cut (aka the usual Hauntley rambling)

First and foremost, the idea to give Grimmel a night fury comes from this post on reddit

Before seeing this I had 100% planned to just... Not have Grimmel exist in the Colourful Nights au? I kind of hate his whole- thing?

I had the idea of Grimmel seeing what Drago did and deciding that where the man failed was not in trying to control dragons, but instead that he didn't try to control powerful dragons specifically. I know that Toothless is supposed to be an endling, but I think the idea of Grimmel slowly building his own dragon army but with dragons he considers powerful and having a few night furies is cool so. Maybe he kept a couple of night furies back during the mass fury hunts, because having them bend to his will makes him feel powerful? Or maybe he only had one. I'm not sure if I'll even keep it but I like the idea.

For my light fury design (I call her Clearscales), I liked the idea of her being a night fury with some sort of genetic mutation, and I'm not sure if I want to keep the disappearing act or not? I like it but I don't know if it would still work if I gave her darker scales, but also! Would I be able to call her Clearscales still? :( That's a very important part, because I've gotten attached to the name.

I also had an idea that relates back to a fact about the Dramillion titan in rtte, it has the ability to camouflage itself like a changewing because they're distantly related, implying that titans have access to traits the normal members of their species don't have.

So what if Toothless' lightning isn't an inherent night fury skill, but instead a trait of night fury titans? Maybe it's due to a possible distant relation with skrills? I always liked the idea that the "lightning" part of "Offspring of lightning and death" was because their blasts look somewhat like a the result of a lightning strike (at least in the 1st movie), but maybe it's also because a titan was witnessed doing this, and because the second and third movies imply that after the first transformation, the titans don't look any different from the normal members, people just assumed that it was something they could all do, and ontop of everything else, it led to a mass panic and hunt?

I'm all over the place and am in no way coherent, but that's my dumb little idea, if you're reading this I can't believe you actually read what I wrote, or scrolled down through it at least. Thank you :)

Okay, darlings. This fandom has managed to drive an author from it and they went out with a nuke. All of their work, gone. So it's time to have a talk. I'd love to think none of you were involved in it, so hopefully this is more a reminder to reblog than to have to apply, but it's time to have a talk.

First off, I'm not going to name the author. Their story is theirs. I'm just going to talk generally.

You DO NOT tell an author to kill themselves (kys) or threaten to harm them or that you'll find them or that they're writing their story wrong. YOU JUST DON'T.

"Well that's how I joke with my friends--" Stop. Authors are not your friends. They are at best acquaintances and more likely strangers. They might be friendly with you. I'm friendly with many of you because I see you often in comments/replies and such. And some of you have become friends. But the average author is not your friend, they are a stranger. And if you're the type of person who would tell a stranger to kill themselves, you need professional help in dealing with something deep inside you and I hope you find it.

Authors are out here writing entertainment and sharing it for free. You respect that and be kind. If you can't be kind, you leave. The back button is right there.

This is not an airport, you do not need to announce your departure. If a fic goes a way that you do not like, you unsubscribe and hit that back button. If it turns too angsty or sappy or violent, back button. If their characterization bothers you, back button. You do not need to tell as stranger providing free effort that you hate what they are producing. This fandom is so damn prolific, there's something out there for you, it doesn't have to be that fic.

Please just be kind. The world is horrible enough right now. And if you can't be kind, back button.

bring back tumblr ask culture let me. bother you with questions and statements

I don't have it T^T

I can't boop people!! :d

Everyone rn: