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[thesimstree]

7 Secrets to a Beautiful Sims 4: Quick and Effective Visual Upgrade

Do you want to turn your Sims 4 game into a true visual delight? We’ve gathered the most effective ways to make your game look beautiful, atmospheric, and easy on the eyes: from essential graphics settings to advanced shaders and default replacements. Follow our tips and you’ll be able to create a unique style for your gameplay that’ll bring you joy every day and turn every screenshot into a work of art!

Default Replacements

There are beautiful, realistic replacements available for nearly every element in the game: from your sim’s skin to asphalt textures and even the clouds in the sky. This is one of the main tools for transforming your game, and it works almost like magic: these replacements hardly take up any space or impact your computer’s performance, but they completely change the look of your game and make the Sims 4 world feel more alive and detailed.

Bloggers regularly make videos about default replacements and often share detailed lists of the mods they use, so it’s always worth checking out these roundups and grabbing whatever catches your eye. For example, you can find lists like that from LargeTayterTots, Ashley Plays, and BougieChloe at the following links.

The great thing about replacements is that they don’t add new objects, they simply make what’s already in the game look much better, so you can feel free to experiment and build your own perfect collection.

Replacements can be grouped into lots of different categories, each focused on a particular area of improvement. Honestly, you can pretty much find a replacement for anything in your game that doesn’t suit your taste if you just do a quick search. Let’s break down each category with some examples.

CAS (Create-a-Sim) Replacements

This includes default skins, eyes, teeth, brows, underwear… basically, anything that can make your sims look more realistic and good-looking. These replacements instantly get rid of that “plastic” look and make your sims feel so much more alive and expressive. You can also find great examples of these replacements for sims in the lists from LargeTayterTots, Ashley Plays, and BougieChloe.

World Replacements

Clouds, the moon, grass textures, asphalt, trees, roofs, and foundations – all of these completely change how the game world feels. This also includes overrides for cars, trams, streetlights, and other objects that help your cities look far more realistic.

The main go-to creator for amazing grass, trees, asphalt and similar upgrades is @k-hippie. You can find and download all their content on their official site.

Cloud replacement by Miiko

Food and Household Item Replacements

Textures for meals, drinks, dishes, plus small stuff like earbuds, mops, water glasses, and books. These little details might seem minor, but together they make your world actually feel lived-in and real.

Book cover replacements by @simkatu

Baby bottle replacement by @serkisyan

Interface Replacements

Loading screens, CAS backgrounds, the main menu, city map images, and even your sims’ phone interface: all of these make the whole experience much easier on the eyes. We’ve also written about custom city map overrides, check the article at the link.

Animation and Pose Replacements

Default overrides for reading books, napping, dancing, taking selfies, and other actions add new variety to the game. Your sims stop repeating those classic, awkward Sims animations, and the gameplay starts to feel a lot more dynamic and fresh.

Dance replacements by @stevenstudios

Reading animation replacement by @simkatu

Beautiful NPCs & Generation Settings

Honestly, this is the real foundation: without it, every other visual upgrade loses its point. If your gorgeous sim is surrounded by weirdly dressed, random-looking townies, it instantly kills any immersion or aesthetic you’ve built. The good news: it’s actually pretty easy to fix, just grab mods that give NPCs stylish outfits, or turn off random NPC generation completely and fill your world with beautiful, pre-made sims from the Gallery.

By the way, we’ve already written a full guide on this topic:

Control NPC generation using MC Command Center

And we also have a huge collection of gorgeous NPCs: already assigned with roles, careers, and more. You can just download, drop them in, and finally solve your NPC problem for good!

List of 1000+ CC FREE NPCs for your The Sims save

Graphics in the game

A lot of players underestimate just how much basic graphics settings matter: they stick to low or medium, and end up missing out on lighting details, sharp shadows, and crisp textures.

If you’ve got a decent computer, always crank everything up, and set sim textures to uncompressed. Keep these pro tips in mind too: turn off anti-aliasing if you’re planning to use shaders like GShade or ReShade, and don’t turn on laptop mode – even if you’re playing on a laptop! That mode seriously drops visual quality just to save a bit of performance. Tweaking these settings can completely transform your game, making everything look richer, more vibrant, and way better for screenshots.

By the way, we’ve written several articles about getting your graphics just right: check out the links below for all the tricks and secrets!

Graphics settings in The Sims 4

Graphics FAQ for The Sims by buggy starship

Lighting in the world, CAS, and indoors

Lighting is what truly transforms how the game looks, turning a flat image into something rich and atmospheric. In vanilla Sims 4, the lighting is often too blue, cold, and just unnatural – especially indoors – while in CAS your sims come off looking dull and washed out under harsh, unflattering light. Luckily, there are great mods that swap out the default lighting for something softer, warmer, and way more studio-like: popular examples are NoBlu Lighting, Better In-Game Lighting by Northern Siberia Wings, or the various CAS Lighting mods from different creators that make your sims look much more photogenic and vibrant.

You can read more about how to tweak world and CAS lighting in our article at the link.

As for indoor lighting, it’s important to fill your rooms with as many light sources in different spots as possible: floor lamps, desk lamps, pendant lights, so you’re adding dimension and making everything look livelier and more realistic. With the Better Build Buy mod you can even customize lamp colors and dial in the lighting to your exact liking, setting up a cozy vibe with warmer or cooler tones to match the mood of the room.

GShade and ReShade

These are real magic wands for transforming Sims 4 visuals, acting as next-level filters and effects right on top of your game. With these tools, you get an insane range of options: you can crank up brightness, contrast, add background blur, colorful flares, film grain, vignettes, and a ton of other effects that totally flip how the game looks and feels. Whether you use readymade presets or customize your own, you can completely rebuild your game’s vibe: make it extra bright and punchy, moody and atmospheric, super cinematic, or just more natural.

The best part about shaders is how they help you create your personal visual style, the one that makes you fall in love with playing all over again. Try out dozens of different effects, mix and match to your heart’s content, tweak every setting, and build a totally custom atmosphere for every scene or just your everyday gameplay.

By the way, we’ve got a full guide on GShade and making your own presets, plus two awesome collections of presets: one regular, and one darker and moodier!

Ready-made saves and lots

If you don’t feel like spending hours building the perfect world, you can just download a ready-made save and jump straight into the game, just pick one you like. To find the perfect fit, check out YouTube, Pinterest, or just Google “Sims 4 save files” – there’s a massive selection from different creators for any taste.

Save by PlumbobKingdom

Of course, if nothing really clicks or you want something totally your own, you can always start a save from scratch (Your Sims world from scratch: How to create a blank save in The Sims 4). There are two ways to go here: either build absolutely everything yourself (perfect for hardcore builders) or gradually fill your world with gorgeous lots from the Gallery or your favorite creators. Don’t forget about that empty space between lots: with the TOOL mod you can drop in parks, decorations, cafés, and all sorts of details to make your neighborhoods feel full of life.

A key tip: rebuild cities one at a time, only as you actually need them, don’t try to overhaul everything all at once. Start with the town where your main sims live, then move on to the ones they visit most: this way, you actually enjoy the process instead of turning gameplay into a never-ending building marathon.

Overall style for sims and towns

When your sims, their homes, and the world around them all fit into one style, you get a consistent vibe where everything works together instead of fighting for the spotlight.

It’s worth thinking about what kind of overall concept you want: maybe it’s a cozy family vibe with pastel colors, a bright and bold urban look, or a vintage atmosphere. Pick your CC, outfits, hairstyles, and even your builds so that everything connects: from the color palette and mood to the style itself. This works not just for individual households but for whole neighborhoods: when every house in town feels like it actually belongs in the same world, and NPCs are styled to match, your game turns into a true work of art.

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[techalertr]

Map Animation Video | How to create map animations for free Watch here : https://youtu.be/MhsqkR4Y4xY

#TechAlert #howto #maps #mapanimation #animation #videoediting #edit #trending #vlog #travel #movinganimation #viralchallenge #instagram #Youtube #shortsvideos #fb #love

[aristenfromwarsaw]

Aristen's Poses Tutorial 2

New tutorial with an easier pose than the last one! And of course I will also explain how I achieved this effect in the shot. If you don't want to miss other tutorials I can tag you in the next post - just let me know 💜.

Note: I have the game in Polish, so my translation of the original game poses may be slightly different. To Photo Mode I recommend this mod, it will be easier for you to set the pose and light: Better Photo Mode by Volitio

How to get a pose:

Astarion

Pose from: Claravel's Emotes for Photo Mode by Elledwyn/Claravel Stand - Stand 5 Slouch

Expression: Sleep - Happiness

Durge Get a Room - Photo Mode Romance Poses and Animations by Allindriss

Karlach Romance - Cuddle Kiss A

Cuddle Kiss is the animation, I used the sequence more from the beginning

I did the pose with body type 2 and 1, but if your pair is a different size, you can and position the character with Cuddle Kiss to works well with the partner.

Expression: Happiness - Smile

You have to move the characters a bit to position them well - remember patience and calm are your allies! 😅 But it's a very easy pose, you shouldn't have any problem. 💚

To avoid the fisheye effect, reduce the FoV Slider to 30 or lower (for this advice thanks to @mogruith 💚)

Effects

I made the shot on custom map by Sp4rr0wsw3nch

Sparkles are from Pretty Particles by Scar. There are two versions of this mod, one paid on Scar's Patreon and one free on Nexus Mod. The effects that I used are in the paid version - Sparkles Blue and Misty Sparkles Purple.

I also used Reshade: BG3 ReShades Galore by Alahria (High Fantasy)

I used the mod Lighty Lights and Photo Mode stuff by Rakor, because the light in Photomode in the game is awful, and this mod turns it off. It may seem complicated, but on the mod page in "Videos" you will find a guide created by thedaffodilsbard (Tina) on how to do use it !

I used one point lights - here you have to test for yourself what kind of light suits you - stronger or softer e.t.c.

To get the bokeh effect, I used IgcsDof with max bokeh size 0.009

Shot from game:

and after processing in Photoshop among others: experiments with Photoshop actions, making the braid texture on the ear, improving contrast.

If something is unclear or you have a problem with something, you can always write to me ! 💜

Link to first poses tuturial

Tag list: @ratchsellsfornax @maeryls-journal @mogruith @denesmera

[darckxlady]

could you please do a tutorial of your game of thrones 'so much for stardust' gifs where it has the ripped paper textures? it's so pretty, and i'd like to learn how to do one with just the texture in the middle and two gifs on either side, like half and half and just having a rip in the middle. it's so cool how you did a gif in the middle though so i wanted to ask as well! all of them are so cool looking. you are extremely talented. if you don't want to though i understand :) thank you

TORN PAPER EFFECT + BLENDING TUTORIAL

thank you so much for your sweet words, dearest anon and i'm sorry it took so long to answer but it's here now so i'll try my best to explain <3 disclamer: this is the first tutorial i ever made, it's very screenshot heavy and it assumes the basic knowledge of ps and gifmaking. if there's something you don't understand, don't hesitate to ask <3 so, let's get to it!

1. PREPARING THE BASE As you can see in this shot there's a lot of space between Rhaenyra and Alicent and that makes it perfect for the ripped paper overlay without hiding much of the base gif. So the first thing i did was to crop it like this:

Also you want to make sure that the highlighted box (delete cropped pixels) is unchecked! After taking the usual steps for the animation (creating frames from layers, reversing the frames, setting frame delay) you continue with the video timeline and convert your frames into a smart object. psa: if you don't have the motivation or the time to play around with coloring here are some psds i recommend: 1, 2; as for the sharpening i think this one is the best.

now that you have your smart object sharpened and colored what you want to do next is drag it to the end of the canvas and duplicate it. after that you move the copy on the other end like the original and make sure it's under the coloring layers, like this:

After that you have to create layer masks (the highlighted icon above) for both smart object and the copy and change the blending option of the copy to screen or lighten (whatever looks best!). So this is how it looks now:

pls ignore that there are no layer masks on the smart objects i just added them after changing the blending rip </3 Now, as you see both gifs are like fighting eachother for their rightful place on the canvas. (fgfgfdf) To fix that you have to use a soft round brush to delete the parts you don't want. (feel free to play around with the brush however you want to get the result you want!) Here's my result:

2. THE OVERLAY

Now for the both gifs you want to use for the ripped paper effect you pretty much apply the same steps as the ones you did with the gifs for the base. Here are the two gifs i chose:

Before blending both gifs however you want to create a clipping mask for each of the smart objects coloring layers, like this:

And now you're ready to blend both gifs together! You choose the group with one of the gifs and change the blending again to screen or lighten and place the said group on top of the other. So this is how it looks now:

optional: if you feel like the base gif doesn't pop out enough you can always add a gradient map on one of both gifs and play around with the opacity and the color you think fits best.

Then you add a layer mask on the overlay gif group and again play around with the brush to delete what you don't want. So this is the final result:

ps - don't repeat my mistake by placing the group with the layer mask under the other group. it should be on top and the blending option should be lighten or screen.

After blending both gifs together, you're ready to place them on the base. So first thing you want to do first is place both groups of each gif in one single group together. Then you duplicate the said group in the psd of the base gif and create a layer mask. This is how it should looks:

Now, in order to create the ripped paper effect, you'll have to download a ripped paper brush pack. This is the one i use. After loading the brushes in ps (if you don't know how here is explained) you're ready to begin! Change the size and angle however you'd like to make it look how you want. And if you want you can move the overlay gif by choosing both groups in case you aren't happy with the adjustment. This is how it looks like so far:

We're almost done! Now you have to find a paper texture, (i got mine from google) place it between both groups of your gifs and create a layer mask, like so:

What you have to do here is pretty much the same thing you did with the overlay gifs. Still, make sure there's enough space for the text you want to write in. However, if you think that the space isn't enough you can just delete a bit more of the overlay gifs. Here's mine:

3. THE TEXT

You're finally ready to type out the text you want! If you're having troubles with choosing the right font and size, here are my text settings:

You can always play around with the angle and if your text is too small, zoom in so you can place it just how you like it. And since i'm a bit lazy to deal with it later, i choose to add the highlight color while it's still zoomed. You just have to add an layer above the text and use a soft round brush with opacity from 70-75% and flow from 15-18%.

For the repeated text you want to make sure you create a big space for writing so it can contain the whole space of the torn paper. Also, write where the text will be seen only and use the tab button to skip the space where the gif is. This is how it looks:

Once you're done with writing the repeated text, you want to select all the character layers and the highlight layer and move them under the overlay gif and on top of the paper, like this:

With the layers still selected and in order to contain the text within the paper the last thing you want to do is create a clipping mask. And that's It. You're done! This is the final result:

[ask-impatient-samurott]

Afterword

Hi!

So, ask-impatient-samurott has finally ended, huh? That's crazy.

[Most of this is emotional rambling. xD Jump to the bold parts to see what comes next for the blog.]

God, I have so many thoughts and feelings about the end of my little story here, it's hard to put into words!

I can say for sure that I am so so very happy that I was able to complete a story of mine. Prior to this blog, I created several different little stories. Some with Pokemon, some without. After seeing all of my prior attempts fall through, it's like... healing? In a way? To have finally followed a story to its conclusion! I'm doing backflips right now, can't you see?

I'm thrilled and proud of myself for being able to write and finish off a story somewhat cohesively. xD Even after all of the several month long hiatuses I took WHEEZE

I want to thank everyone who ever interacted with, or enjoyed, or showed the bare minimum of interest in this blog. You, and you alone are the reason why I got this far! Nothing is a bigger motivator than knowing there's at least one person out there who's waiting excitedly for the next installment. ;v;

Ask impatient samurott was started as a mostly unplanned/unwritten/un-mapped-out story, but I knew from the beginning that it wasn't going to have a happy ending. I feel like I have to apologize for that? I'm sorry to anyone who was hoping we'd walk out of this without casualties, but nothing gets me going more than tragedy. So a tragedy this blog was! lmaO

Even with all its jank, weird pacing, and questionable writing, ask impatient samurott holds a very special place in my heart, and I'm happy to have shared it all with you!

Some clarifications, because I know the finale video might be a bit unclear at some parts:

Nema is, in fact, dead.

Kappa's eyes were damaged beyond repair, and she is now blind. She can only really "see" through smelling and recognizing others scents. Bizarrely, she can see ghost-type Pokemon just fine.

All of Valkea's pokemon have chosen to move out of The House (remember that?) and have chosen to live their own lives.

This includes Morelet and Marigold.

Marigold's casual distrust of Kappa has turned into full-blown loathing and hatred.

Morelet doesn't know what to feel about Kappa anymore. He has chosen to leave for now to sort out his thoughts.

The only pokemon remaining at the house are Kappa herself and Mustela. Jean moved in shortly after Marigold and Morelet left. Mustela has taken on an Azurill which she has named Ducktail. (After the hairstyle, not the animal.)

The four currently live together in The House, in relative peace.

Kappa did not regain her memories of the accident, but she fully remembers the events at the Giant Chasm.

Kappa wonders whether she is allowed to be happy, after all that's happened

I am going to leave the last 30 or so seconds of the video up for interpretation for now. Though, I'm sure you can gauge what happened there. ;)

So, what's next for ask-impatient-samurott???

The blog, currently, is completed.

I do have plans to run an epilogue, within the next few months. (After Artfight, lol) It will be a "where are they now" type deal. Your characters would send in asks regarding how Kappa and everyone else are doing, alongside any questions you might have about the events of the blog and anything surrounding it.

I'm excited for it, honestly. ^^

Within the next few months, however, I am going to be making a new icon and header, whipping up a WHOLE BUNCH of new ref sheets for the characters, and just generally tidying up the blog!

Don't worry! I'm not going to drop off the face of the earth after this. If you want to check up on how or what I'm doing, my main blog is @sourdoughdirewolf and I post art and videos there when it strikes my fancy. ^^

If for any reason you want to message me, feel free to hit up this blog or my main hehehe

OOOkay. I think I've said everything I wanted too. Holy yap, Batman.

It's cleaning time for me! Thank you once again for tuning into Ask Impatient Samurott!!

(I'll be sending out a reverse ask call soon, so keep your eyes open for that if you run a blog ohohoho)

[sadoeuphemist]

7 free startup ideas worth $1M-$1B

Customizable News Settings - A news website that generates three versions of every news story: a right-wing version, a left-wing version, and a centrist one. You can set your preferences depending on the topic - say you're right-wing on economics, but left-leaning on immigration. Or you can cycle between versions while reading an article to get a comprehensive overview of the issue at hand.

Twitch, but for Uber - With all the drama they have to deal with, independent contractors can gain a second revenue source simply by streaming their jobs. Rather than just offering rides, they can be hired to drive around performing chores and various tasks. The more outrageous the task, the more eyes they're likely to get on their stream. The more popular the stream, the more people calling in who want to be a part of the program.

Panera Lemonade, Your Way - Let the customer take control by deciding how many milligrams of caffeine they can handle. With sufficient warning about the risks, this puts the responsibility back on the consumer, allows you to upcharge for extra caffeine, and creates viral marketing from customers competing to see how high they can go. Variations of this can be created for other menu items, e.g., a version of the One Chip Challenge where the customer decides how much capsaicin to sprinkle on.

Shein, for NFTs - Whenever an NFT project hits the mainstream, there are always going to be people who miss out on being able to purchase one. This creates room in the market for 'knockoffs' - NFTs that mimic the aesthetic of the original, using similar but legally distinct AI art that uses the original set as training data, run on a parallel blockchain. Since the images themselves aren't tied to the blockchain, you can mint the NFTs beforehand and then change the image at the link to whatever happens to be in fashion at the time.

Twitch Chat Plays YouTube - Add a level quality control to AI-generated YouTube videos by allowing users to submit suggestions and vote on the results beforehand. Users can submit Wikipedia articles or movie summaries to be converted to text-to-speech, suggest keywords for the accompanying AI-generated animation, and vote on the best combinations. Users who submit winning suggestions get a portion of the ad revenue.

Buses, but Worse - The current obstacle hindering self-driving car technology is their difficulty adapting to unexpected scenarios. So instead plot a route around the city that minimizes roadway obstacles and heavy traffic, map out that route extensively to provide a model for the autopilot, and you can have a fleet of self-driving cars patrolling that circuit. Passengers can board and get off anywhere along the route.

Twitter, but for Bots - A social media platform populated entirely by bots, all programmed to maximize engagement. Memetic evolution in the wild as the bots latch on to trending keywords, spam each other with AI-generated meme images, mock up t-shirts hawking each other's designs, getting more and more degraded with each sub-iteration. Real people can't make accounts on the platform, but count for views and interactions as they stop to gawk at the virtual ecosystem. Advertisers can pay to have their brands injected directly into the discourse, like throwing a pumpkin into the polar bear cage at the zoo.

[jellazticious]

“You can’t rush art”

I think everybody can recall the quote from Toy Story 2. From the most satisfying part of the movie where we see a montage of Woody getting restored by a toy maker. It’s one of my favourites too, I absolutely loved looking at the different procedures used to fix a single toy. The toymaker’s precision and care were found mesmerizing by everyone. As a multi-hatted artist, one that can draw, sculpt, animate, and write, I can say that it’s spot on that there’s so much to do for a single piece of work. HOOO boy, you should see how me and Beefy are organizing Cursed to Charm, there’s so much.

For the upcoming webcomic, we design characters, give each and every one of them their stand-alone story, design different clothes, create the map, draw renders and posters, polish scripts for the episodes, plan to program the comic’s own website, make the backgrounds eventually, etc. To people who aren’t artists or take art for granted, to them, art is stroking a paper using a pen and BAM instant masterpiece. No no, it’s more than that.

Another thing I’d like to say about the comic is that the progress is very slow yet very fruitful because of the time taken. Me and my co-author came up with the idea at late November, which makes the comic four months old now. However, with all that time passed, we have already finalized the list of nine episodes of season one. We have also written seven out of nine summaries from that season before actually writing the dialogue in detail. We have a rough four seasons worth of story progression in the span of four months. Nyeh, excuse the little ramble about CtC, I’m just giving insight of how much should be done for the production of anything which leads us to the next point.

Art production in general.

Movies, animation, shows, video games, books, comics etc etc

All of these are part of art, some people would deny because it isn’t sophisticated like they’re lead to believe art is supposed to be. Art is literally just creation man, can’t get any simpler than that 😩 if you made something, then you made something woohoo! Congratulations you made art, cooking included. It came free with your fucking humanity.

Anyway, just like the webcomic, every single one of these listed also have a set of different procedures that will piece together the final output.

Let’s take Disney movies as a specific example, I want to talk about something real quick.

So one time, I was watching Tarzan with my parents and we stuck around for the end credits. My mom pointed out the animators are divided into sections and there’s so much names on them. There are different teams of animators for each character and these teams are divided in two for the storyboarders and the clean up artists. When the credits rolled a bit more, it showed that the background artists and colorists also have their own sections too. There’s so much people working on different body parts of a movie. I got the habit of reading end credits of every movie I watch, animated or live action, then I would compare the credits of old and new movies. Boy, let me tell you that the work space on old movies are FILLED compared to newer movies. One thing I noticed about Disney movies although, is that the old movies have more sections compared to new ones. The major difference of old Disney and new Disney are the length of the credits and the time gap of the movies. I’m really not trusting the way new movies have way shorter end credits while the publish time of new movies are getting narrower and narrower. Before the 2000s, movies usually come out twice a year and sometimes there’s a two-year hiatus before the next batch of movies are published. Now there’s at least two or three movies that publish yearly while also releasing a bunch of shows in the middle of it. I really don’t understand business talk with the way it sacrifices quality over quantity. Like I get having money is great and all but what’s the use of hoarding it? Especially when there’s so much news of people about to be in poverty and mass layoffs. Why should companies earn money if they’re not going to redistribute it back to the economy at all? This is a little off topic but I want to point it out that people in the 80s used to buy whole houses by being a janitor but nowadays people could barely afford a one room apartment even with three jobs. The Simpsons is an example of this because it was set in the 90s and the family is constantly reminded of how “poor” they are. They even created an episode that talks about the same job that supported people’s fathers will no longer support you nowadays (Poorhouse Rock ep22 s33). It’s fishy and I’m salty about it especially because I hear so much people complaining about how they’re not being given a chance to work. Anywho! Let’s go back to art.

I’m just spitballing my thoughts here but somehow they’re connecting either way. All I’m trying to say is that for the people who care so much about the quality of art, it’s noticeable that they get downgraded, not just by the look but by the way they’re written.

Example.

Clone High.

Jesus Christ, the new show is a nightmare and an insult to the original Clone High. The difference is clear with this one. The original Clone High was heavy satire of every single high school trope used in shows and movies. Every single character was meant to have one personality and that personality is the butt of the joke. The original did not care about making the characters appealing because the appeal is found in the way they interact, they clash so much and a lot of them are idiots. The writing is funny because the dialogue flows so easily unlike the renewal. The renewed Clone High takes itself too seriously and it tries too hard to be relevant. It’s funny to me that fans can draw the original’s art style more accurately than the animators hired. What’s even more frustrating is that concept art was released from the art head and the concept art looked way better than what they decided on the final designs. Other than the art style that tries to be marketable, the writing is insufferable with the way they try to be “relatable” without understanding why the original jokes were funny to begin with.

Now we’re all familiar with this cheap tactic of using the title of successful franchises to grab clicks and views. It’s every live action Disney film, it happened to Scooby Doo, Marvel shows, FNAF, some Cartoon Network shows, Megamind, and now even Kung Fu Panda. Basically MILKING. It would have been better if the productions TRIED to understand the original’s intentions which they forgot about. They ended up being disappointing at best and soulless at worst. I won’t be explaining much cuz I’ve already reached the minimum word count lmao. I’m just rambling here, I better not see anyone interrogate me in asks or replies. ANYWAY, I’m gonna get to the point real quick.

Back to the quote at the start of the post, people tend to forget that. Art is a skill, not a button people press and it gives you pretty pictures or videos. Art is a job and an effort. While art is subjective and it differs from person to person, one thing for certain is that art that is made ingenuinely will never be better than art that is made because the artist loves art. This is why the Tom & Jerry reboots with the lineless art style even if they had a storyboard artist who understood the cartoon wackiness (which were discarded for a “cleaner” and faster style). This is why it’s so frustrating to see concept art of movies which have more appeal than the final 3d models. This is why FNAF Security Breach was nearly unplayable.

Because they all rushed art.

They rushed in favour of what is marketable, no matter how unappealing it is. Everything could have been better, some final products are good, but all of them could have been better. As good as what were released pre 2010s when production had a passion. You can’t spell heart without art.

I’m just really passionate about art in any form since it’s everything that created me too. I will not be here at this point in time if it weren’t for me learning that there’s so much beauty in the world if you could just squint and appreciate why that’s so. I’m defined by my works and it only hurts and infuriates me that people who have the ability and accessibility to create better art than I do waste it for their personal gain or selfish intentions. Everyone could be a better person because of art just as it did to me. Again, it came to us the moment we’re born, art isn’t just a pretty picture, it’s everything we create out of love, passion, time, and effort.

But really, to the wise words of Chef Saltbaker, “like any good bake, heart and soul is the secret ingredient”

You can’t rush art.

[0poole]

THEY'RE LITERALLY MAKING FUN OF YOU

So since history repeats itself people are being annoying about Minecraft again, but this time it's because they're getting weirdly prissy about the fact that the devs don't want to completely overhaul the game every update and only add a couple little things each time, since, you know, Minecraft clearly isn't meant to be a maximalist game like Terraria or whatever. It's kind of insane how you can't bring up Minecraft without some being like "uhhuhuhu but update smol"

I could literally go on and on about how that dumb that whole opinion is (getting free updates for a decade+ old game is a blessing, no matter what) but the funny thing is, their new April Fools joke update is LITERALLY MAKING FUN OF THOSE PEOPLE AND NONE OF THEM ARE GETTING IT

What did they add? A whole new dimension! A whole new boss! A bunch of new mobs! So many new items!

But guess what?

That dimension? 95% of it is just retextures and lol xd so randum XPPP renames of existing blocks in the shape of a floating island scape, which iirc was an old world generation type? Who cares, Gamers LOVE floating islands in Minecraft, right? Just dump it in

The boss? Basically just a slime scaled in the z direction a bit with a different texture, and all it does is you hit it and it spawns in waves of enemies, of course most of the later waves being REALLY hard cuz Gamers LOVE difficulty in games, right? Just toss a swarm of really hard mobs at them, and they're satisfied, clearly. Its home is even just a Nether Bastion but retextured

All the new mobs are just remakes of old ones with new textures, and most of the new items are just tons of new colored objects like peels and junk to fill in the item count numbers. The only one that is fundamentally new is a grappling hook type thing, which, to be fair, is actually cool. Normally I'd say it completely breaks how you move in the game, but considering the Elytra exists that's clearly not a thing they're too opposed to, and honestly, like honestly honestly, without irony, who doesn't love Spiderman mechanics? The Elytra created a whole new brand of movement-based puzzle map, I bet a non-potato themed grappling hook could bring us that too (it already looks like the new hammer's gonna do the same)

But okay apart from that one item, this is literally the most shallow, pointless version of what "the fans" have been asking for for ages. The type of Aether-lookalike mod makers just dump into the game without much care (No disrespect to Aether ofc, they were the OGs). 

And the problem is, those people they're making fun of ACTUALLY WANT THIS. In the comments of the announcement video, they're all like "If only they put this much effort into a REAL update" AS IF MORE GENERIC, RESKINNED JUNK = MORE EFFORT. They do, truly, just want the devs to forgo all solid creative intention and just swamp the game with more "stuff" to do.

And the most annoying part is, THEY LITERALLY CAN DO THAT THEMSELVES ALREADY. Mods can literally ruin the whole game and turn the game into Call of Duty with Alchemy, 30 different dimensions, trillions of new mechanics and items, and tons of other stuff if you only want it to. I bet you my soul that the devs already know that, and want to give vanilla players something different, because if they're bothering to play vanilla they clearly just don't WANT Minecraft to be that, even if they do want some new things. And even apart from mods, Bedrock (while objectively worse in a bunch of ways) DOES get frequent updates that add lots of stuff, even if that's mostly branded stuff they're doing as a promotional sort of thing. As far as I can tell, they're not just skin packs or a themed map or whatever, it seems like there's actual new mechanics and animations and stuff. 

I just don't get these people. They're so obnoxious about absolutely nothing at all.

[3ipigs]

Hello!

Your creative coding artwork is intriguing! If it’s okay, can you explain the process of how you create them?

Hellos, yeah sure. They're matrices, or grids if you will, each cell of the grid has a color value, or a texture a pixelated image, you have your instances of the grid, you're going to want to control how these instances appear, if you have just solid colors like red, gren and blue, then you have three instances being use in your grid, you will need to create some variables and rules to control how they are layout out, if you utilize a circular gradient for example, your going to map your instances to the color values of this gradient its the simples rule I can think of right now, so if you have three instance they are going to appear based on the numeric values of the gradient 0 being black 1 being white and every value between, so in other words you will make a gradient of your instances, you will also want a black solid instance to represent the literal black parts of the gradient, I always use animated noises, theres lots of formulas for the noises out there, if you prefer you can also load in a video file instead of creating the noise in the code itself. the rest is just stylistic choices and extra movement, I load a lot of teture and some animated texture too, so I animate some pixelated texture in photoshop and I clone them in the grid, its like making a mosaic, after that there are a few animation things for the glitchness of it, like blinking instances, changing their rotation values rapidly, some dithering. its a little cumbersome to make it in Processing but you can use Touchdesigner there's more tutorials on creating matrix grids and cloning stuff into them, its also a little easier to create noises in too, and touchdesigner has a free version with a single limitation of only exporting artwork in 1080x1080, touchdesigner is simpler coding with blueprints instead of typing. you can use a 3D package as well since the logic is pretty much the same, creating a grid of clones -> control the instances layout with something, and some 3D packages have access to python in it so you can create your specific system or effectors and such.

[darkluminosity]

Bruh-- I have so many things to say about the 5.8 livestream 👀 that trailer at the end though.

Keeping them behind a cut for now.

As for Ineffa... Wait LUNAR charged?! That's cool... but oh no... I hope they have others that create lunar reactions too... that will help Pyro and Cryo (no reason ofc lol jk)

Is it just me or does Ineffa and her creator remind me of the robot and scientist in Nichijou?? Cause the scientist there is also a young girl lol.

A permanent summer area?? Does that mean the event is also permanent? 🧐 OMG it does, thank goodness. But there's still limited time rewards for completing it in time.. that's fair.

Oooh Bennett has a new outfit?! (At least we can get his outfit for free... I should have known because isn't it on the trailer pic.) Wait, he traveled there by himself? 👀 somehow that seems odd for someone "unlucky" to travel all the way across the world by himself. 🤔

Graffiti painting the world to make it your own? 😮 is it going to remember every time we log on? Or maybe it's just certain areas. That would make more sense

VENTI?? I wonder if he's there to see Citlali. Maybe that's how Bennett traveled there safely.

Some of the games look interesting! The sound one makes me think of Osu! Tatake! Ouendan!

LOL right before they revealed Mare Jivari, I thought about it. The area and boss look crazy!! 😮 Why is Bennett's constellation in the sky? 👀

YELAN, our first 5-star, is here? OMG her outfit looks amazing!!! 🤩 it's been awhile since a 5-star skin actually now that I think about it

Oh wow new instrument too... I'm imagining more Genshin photoshoot ideas lol. And yay, more songs for the rhythm game

Bruh I can't even keep up with GITCG anymore, getting back into Magic is already enough 🤣

I'm glad there's tutorial videos now with the trial runs so I can see what to do (right there) instead of reading or having to look it up.

Quest time auto optimization 🙏🏼 yay for time efficient updates

OMG we get to see on the map which local specialties are for which characters? That's helpful.

Now that I think about it, I wonder which characters will get envisaged echoes this time (which they still need to fix Raiden's 💀) and thespian tricks.

An event in Paris 😭 that's on the other side of the world... and Hoyofest in Asia... another area I can't go to 😭😭

HOLY CRAP that trailer at the end though... the characters can change into animals?! the music and region are so beautiful 😍

[moe-broey]

Sequence of Events AKA how one seemingly innocuous youtube vid awakened something dormant in me and. Ohh god. Oooohhh. Oh god. Fuuuuuuuuuuuck rapid descent into madness THREE TWO ONE GO

> Video is "What happened to Ball Jointed Dolls?" by user MaryLoveMew. Don't come here often but am intrigued by the notion

> Very compelling very sweet and heartwarming and I love information. Eventually there's Discourse. In the Community. About ball jointed dolls. Posing the question "CAN these blind box dolls REALLY be considered BJDs when the standard is like extremely extravagant custom made very expensive high barrier to entry BJDs and THESE BJDs are One: From Blind Boxes and Two: About Twenty Dollars " -- and hold on. H. Hey. Hey hold on. Are you. Are uou telling me I can purchase a fully strung ball jointed doll for TWENTY BUCKS????????? The creator of the vid def explained it better highly recommend watching if you're interested, BUT. I'm already fucking gone. I mean I watched the whole thing but I am Feverish. I need. To Know More.

> I've never really been a doll kid actually. Always preferred plushies. But one thing about me is somewhere along the way I became DEEPLY obsessed w doll custom vids. Dollightful DEF a fave example, here. Taking a Monster High doll, stripping it of its factory paint, maybe even doing some INSANE body mods to the thing (depends on what kind of character she's doing, anywhere from changing up the body type w clay or sawing off limbs and reconstructing them to be more animal-like OR EVEN constructing fucking Wings. Out of fucking popsicle sticks.), rerooting painting a new face designing a whole outfit. Creating an entirely New character. It's SOOOOOO. FASCINATING to watch AND LIKE. A DREAM HOBBY OF MINE. TBH. But the barrier to entry. The Materials. It's an extremely expensive hobby, like there are ways to be savvy about it, but. Just not worth it, for me.

> So Not Worth It. Right. Plus always been iffy about committing to fashion dolls. I understand, the face molds work as guidelines, but... the proportions... the face molds...... the permanence, in a way, as well. Esp if you're doing full customs like might as well be a figurine. Like I'd maybe prefer to work with something that gives me free reign on the face and I'm picky about how the body looks and ultimately I'd love to have more flexibility in what I can do. So. Not Worth It. Right.

> I am on kikagoods dot com.

> Flashing back to the video, the creator talked about doll customs too. How maybe starting w a more affordable BJD like those blind box ones could be a good entry point.

> Cut to me on kikagoods dot com again. I have been Obsessing. I have been Agonizing. I have been Debating and Yearning. Because, I have been Struck with A Vision. I am mapping out a whole ass detailed Plan. I am going INSANE. I HAVE BEEN OBSESSING. ALL DAY. FOR HOURS. ALL DAY. CANNOT EMPHASIZE ENOUGH. THE WAY THIS GRABBED ME.

Okay well I am getting sleepy so sorry but. The

Like I was gonna go insane and ramble about the Whole Process of Deciding. Mani Things. Esppp how the dolls come w dif customization options, switchable plates, one being for bust size. AND MAN. THE. THE AGONIZING I DID. Biblically accurate Mani would have a larger bust size. This does immense damage to my psyche (and Mani's psyche, try as it might "convince" itself otherwise), but it WOULD be accurate. However the dolls I went w all have the smaller/flatter builds and like. What a position to be in. Do I psychologically torture myself and my homunculus by being lore accurate OR do I give the divine blessing of what could effectively be top surgery. THE TIMELINES. YOU'RE FUCKING W THE TIMELINES....... ultimately it's cheaper to just not bother w the extra parts. And given how chibi these guys are, AND esp wondering if the dresses might not fit right if I fuck shit up too much. Mani gets this one mercy. From me.

Was ALSO gonna ramble about like. Do I just get one? Two? I have a brief thought about Moe. But No. I have an epiphany. Espppp how I'm planning on/have the groundworks for making a Moe plushie, anyway. Like... for the Askr siblings and Moe, to exist as plushies. And for Mani, to exist as a doll. Mani does not exist in the same way that they do. Mani is fundamentally Something Else.

ANYWAYS. LOOK AT THESE GUYS LOOK LOOK LOOOOK

They're from the UF DOLL Fruit Series! I also ordered a blank face, and am planning on using air dry clay for the hair (probably from scratch, once I got one in my hands so I figure out how the molds/hair connects). But also. If I do get insanely lucky and get the rare Papaya. All bets are off, BUT she's adorable so it's fine LMFAOOO 😅 I would say Snow Pear's dress is the most Mani-coded of the bunch, but all the general shapes fit well. Both Papaya and Snow are the hard to get ones, though! Realistically MAYBE I could hope for Coconut (who seems to be a recolor of Snow anyway, w dif dress details but same shapes), BUT. TO BE SO REAL. I thuink once I got one of them in my hands regardless of who I'm gonna cry and thrup....... they're sooooooooooooooo cutes.........

ALSO. A VERY SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO THESE DEMON ELF GIRLIES

Same brand (UF DOLL), DoReMi Band Series. Also have the exact proportions I really really like (perfect size!). Overall the character designs are soooooo good here BUT. I am limiting myself to One. And I'm On A Mission. Were I not On A Specific Ass Mission, I would go for one of these girlies in a heartbeat though! They're soooo cutes.... such pretty eyes.......

I. Have no greater point here. Except. Ball jointed mini dolls go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[techalertr]

Map Animation Video | How to create map animations for free Watch here : https://youtu.be/MhsqkR4Y4xY

#TechAlert #howto #maps #mapanimation #animation #videoediting #edit #trending #vlog #travel #movinganimation #viralchallenge #instagram #Youtube #shortsvideos #fb #love

[andmaybegayer]

Last Monday of the Week 2024-11-11

Getting into situations

Listening: New job which means I have need for a quick and easy source of music that I can throw down on any device with internet while I figure out exactly where I draw the line on mixing personal music files with corporate hardware. Hence, soma.fm, a really good family of internet radio stations that I enjoy a lot.

There's several stations here but to call out ones I like in no particular order:

Beat Blender: Slower house music and electronica

Metal Detector: What it says on the tin, mixed metals

Sonic Universe: Weird jazz

Secret Agent: Normal jazz

SF 10-33: The San Francisco emergency radio broadcast channel mixed with ambient music

Vaporwaves: Look we all have to get stupid sometime

Watching: Movie Night was also a sort of belated Diwali Night because a friend of mine has been getting extremely into indian food, so we watched "Sita Sings the Blues", an 82 minute, Creative Commons, mostly one-woman animation project that is a retelling of the Ramayana and also a breakup jukebox jazz musical.

There's about 30 minutes of a decent movie in here and another 15-20 minutes of the breakup part that would be hard to cut since it's the reason it exists. It's an animation from 2008 and you can see that it's exactly what it needs to be to run on one person who knows Flash reasonably well. The "blues" part is because there's numerous musical segments that use pre-existing 1920's jazz numbers to set the tone which reportedly cost the author tens of thousands of dollars to license, and she's now a free culture advocate so this is how you get Cory Doctorows I guess.

Is it good? I mean there's some really good parts. The legend is delivered in the form of three shadow puppets half-remembering the story to put it together which is very endearing in a Bill Wurtz History Of Japan kind of way. The amount of effort on display for 2008 is enormous. The concept is impressive, in that you found all these songs, but you could have probably cut the songs and got this down to a tight 40.

Reading: Work! Documentation! Learning so much about [REDACTED]. Very weird not working in an open source company again.

Also started The Book of All Skies on the metro the other day, and have gotten to the end of the first act. Compelling! Love an Egan, one of very few authors who can put a topology lesson into a book without it sucking ass.

Making: Made Gulab Jamun for movie night. From spreading my diwali cooking over more than three days I'm learning that actually this shit is easy if you don't try to cram it all into three days. I should make this stuff more often.

Playing: Poking and fiddling with things a little. Still not in the headspace to pick up a full game again. Once I have a schedule I can get back into video games but when I don't have a schedule that includes video games.

Tools and Equipment: Keyd is the new-ish hotness for client-side remapping of keyboard keys. It's not quite a custom build, but it's close.

Allows you to get 99% of the way to whatever zany custom mapping you want under Linux with fairly universal coverage and minimal faff in a very compact and manageable package.

[yeetmeoutthewindowdaddy]

Heartbroken Dammon

BG3 Spoilers!

(From this video)

Post game: Karlach and Wyll are dating and have been fighting in Avernus together. They've found a map to Zariel's personal infernal forge on the corpse a cambion they've recently slayed. (A little too convenient, if you ask me— smells like a trap set up by Zariel.)

They plan to sneak into her forge and force the smith there to repair/replace Karlach's heart.

AN: While I enjoy the Dammon/Karlach ship, Karlach/Wyll is my OTP.

Fic below the cut:

Warnings: Cursing, alcohol use, awkward conversations.

Dammon's dialogue is in green, Rolan's dialogue is in red.

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

**At the Elfsong Tavern, where a celebratory party for Karlach is being held.**

Dammon's smile doesn't quite reach his eyes as he congratulates Karlach.

Luckily, someone else manages to catch the fiery tiefling's attention before she notices Dammon's lackluster enthusiasm.

No longer beholden to exchanging pleasantries with the guest of honor, Dammon decides to go sit at the bar and get lost in his cups.

**Later that night**

A drunk tipsy Rolan staggers saunters up to the counter to get another bottle of wine. He leans against the bartop for support as he waits for the busy barkeep to take notice of him.

It isn't until Rolan hears a dejected sigh from the person sitting next to him that he realizes 2 things.

Dammon is sitting at the bar counter next to him.

Dammon is acting oddly glum.

The drunk mage is so taken aback by the sight of the usually equable smith behaving in such a despondent manner, that without thinking he asks—

"Who pissed in your porridge?"

(Even when sober, Rolan isn't the best at consoling others— let alone when he's soused to the gills.)

"Karlach." Dammon plainly stated, before taking a long sip of his ale.

"She got her heart fixed, but in the process she broke mine." He morosely continued.

"Oh." Rolan blankly replied, completely out of his depth and unsure of how to extract himself from this inevitably awkward conversation.

Dammon glumly nodded, "I was sweet on her, but I'll move on. Wyll is obviously a good guy who makes Karlach happy— and as long as she's happy, I'm happy."

Realizing that he was stuck in this conversation until the barkeep took notice of him, Rolan nodded and made a noncommittal noise that approximated interest in this one-sided exchange.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that she is free of Zariel and can live peacefully outside of Avernus!" Dammon assured.

"Then what in the hells are you moping about?" An exasperated Rolan brusquely asked.

The infernal blacksmith, who had up until this point been listlessly sedate all night, suddenly became wildly animated.

"I'm upset because she put herself in the hands of a total stranger! An infernal smith who works for the bitch who enslaved her, who she didn't know at all, instead of me! The guy who stabilized her engine AND fixed it enough to allow her to not burn others when she touched them! All without adequate tools or materials, mind you!" Dammon exclaimed with equal parts indignation and consternation, either not noticing or not caring that his abrupt gesticulations had caused some of his drink to slosh over the edge of his pint.

Dammon grew louder as he continued his rant, "Instead of trusting me, her friend, whose skills she knows she could rely on— she put her safety in the hands of some prat who could've killed her, either through sheer ineptitude or outright sabotage!" Dammon finished his outburst by slamming his fist on the bartop, earning himself a sharp warning look from the otherwise preoccupied barkeep.

Then, as suddenly as he had come alive, Dammon once again deflated.

"...I'm going to be upset about it for a good long while." The smith ruefully divulged.

Rolan's eyes were wide. He didn't reply, creating a pregnant pause as he struggled to get his inebriated mind to come up with an appropriate response.

Neither man said anything as the uncomfortable silence stretched on.

"So, uh, yeah. That's who pissed in my porridge." Dammon mirthlessly chuckled, embarrassed by his uncharacteristic tirade.

Having finally determined the best course of action, Rolan placed a comforting hand upon Dammon's shoulder as he said, "That's rough buddy."

Dammon let out an undignified guffaw when he heard Rolan's clumsy attempt at consoling him.

"Thanks Rolan, I really needed that laugh." The blacksmith said to the confused, too-drunk-to-parse-out-why-Dammon-is-laughing but not-drunk-enough-to-care, wizard.

"Yes. Well, I'm glad that you're feeling better... Now if you'll excuse me, I think Lia is about to fight the stuffed beholder hung above the mantelpiece." Rolan said, before fleeing the conversation— having failed in his goal of obtaining more wine.

"I wanted more wine, not whine." Rolan grumbled to himself.

[firexie]

Firexie Weekly Wednesday Update 30/07/2025

Hey so if it wasn't obvious by the influx of posts I've been making, I have a lot on my mind. I'm still working on how I want to format everything (whether I want to post art separately, book reviews, media reviews, etc), so bear with me. So, since I have this Wednesday free, I think it would be fun to talk about what I've been up to.

Video of the day: No, AI is not Sentient (It’s just more Capitalism) by Quarantine Collective

There are tons upon tons of leftist Youtube video essays on AI, yet I find most of them don't get to the point as well as this one. It's good ol' Dialectical Materialism which is much needed when your estranged uncle starts talking about how intelligent AI is (it is not, it is literally just a prediction machine). From someone who actually studies computer science, it is not this intangible miracle-- it's a tool used to keep you complacent.

For further reading (that focuses more on the effects of AI), I'd really recommend this video, which discusses how cognitive offloading is generally screwing us all over.

Shout-Out to Perth

Fun fact: All of the road expansions currently undergoing in Perth's (Australia) metro area were all planned in the 1950s-- largely by Gordon Stephenson and Alistair Hepburn. In one lifetime, Perth has turned from sand-dunes to suburbia. Reading a map book of Perth in 1982 feels desolate; absolutely nothing there--only a few council buildings.

In many ways, Perth is an absolute masterclass in creating planned suburbia, especially compared to the likes of Sydney. Heck, our public transport system is better than some of the more populated capital cities of Australia (CityMoose did an absolutely amazing video on that here). And yet it still struggles from the same issues that all 20th-century planned cities tend to: car-centrism. It is certainly accessible, but it was made with the assumption in mind that cars would be the primary mode of transportation for its citizens. And that's a major fault in this notion of "suburbia" in general- rather than organically sprouting from a central commons (i.e. a market, pub, dock), these communities are intentionally built in zones. This results in a city that has great public transport, but isn't exactly walkable.

Look, I'm not going to pretend I know everything about this, but certainly something that I'd love to look at more (especially through a philosophical lens).

Painting and finding meaning in art again

I have been feeling really lost with my art recently.

For ages, I was able to post regularly on Tiktok. I don't think I had a specific style though. I loved making the storybook-style animations on Flipaclip but I always wanted to experiment with what I did. At some point I found myself unable to figure out what I wanted to do: I couldn't distinguish what I enjoyed to do/liked from what I found unappealing.

Going back to traditional art has definitely been a good start- I love the way my art feels more like mine in traditional? I missed the feel of the paper especially. But I feel as if my relationship to social media has also had a huge impact on the way I view art.

On social media- Pinterest especially- just the shear abundance and quantity of art makes me take it for granted. It feels like a commodity- something I can wear- and be rid of just as easily. The art and aesthetic value is valued over the artist and their humanity. It is this trap I've been falling into that makes me (and others) susceptible to AI art- but that's another whole can of worms.

Just trying to research artists I like- taking my time to appreciate their works over collecting aesthetically pleasing images- has been something I've been aiming towards. As much as I don't have a lot of time on my hands (thank you ATAR), it feels almost relieving to take things slow.

I painted one of my cats today. Just on some old canvas I put gesso over. It was something I wanted to do for a while (in fact, I wanted to paint over a political campaign power I had, but the material wasn't the best). I usually paint portraits, so just being able to focus on broad, expressionistic brush-strokes was therapeutic.

End of blog!

Just some random stuff. Feel free to share your thoughts about anything in the comments + whether you like this format or not. That's all from me xx

[prathameshparkar]

Free Wildlife Education Toolkits by Vantara: A Download for Every School

In today’s rapidly urbanizing India, children are growing up with less access to nature and fewer opportunities to understand the country’s rich biodiversity. While India remains one of the most ecologically diverse nations in the world, its future lies in how well our young generation learns to protect it. That’s why Vantara, the groundbreaking wildlife sanctuary envisioned by Vantara Anant Ambani, has launched a free, downloadable wildlife education toolkit for every school in India.

This first-of-its-kind initiative aims to bring conservation literacy directly into classrooms, offering schools practical, curriculum-aligned tools to teach students about India’s wildlife, ecosystems, and the urgent need for environmental stewardship.

In this blog, we explore what’s inside these toolkits, how schools can use them, and why Vantara’s open-access approach is a gamechanger for wildlife education across India.

Why Schools Need Wildlife Education Now

Most students in India today learn about wildlife through outdated textbooks and one-off awareness days. This approach fails to create meaningful understanding or long-term interest. The result?

A disconnect between students and their natural environment

Low awareness of local species and regional biodiversity

Little knowledge of human-wildlife conflict, climate change, or rescue protocols

No clear path for students to take action or pursue careers in conservation

Vantara Anant Ambani’s vision responds to this educational gap by making wildlife literacy mainstream, modern, and accessible—for every school, in every region, at zero cost.

What’s in the Free Vantara Wildlife Education Toolkit?

Designed by Vantara’s in-house education team in collaboration with ecologists, teachers, and curriculum experts, the toolkit offers age-appropriate, action-based content for both primary and secondary levels.

Here’s what the toolkit includes:

✅ Wildlife Lesson Plans (Class 4–10)

Mapped to NCERT and state board science/environment chapters

Include activities, worksheets, visuals, and discussion prompts

Themes include:

India’s endangered species

Food chains and ecosystem balance

Animal behavior and habitats

Causes and impacts of deforestation and urbanization

✅ Vantara Species Fact Cards

Printable cards featuring animals rescued at Vantara

Include local names, ecological roles, and threats faced

Designed for classroom games, quizzes, and storytelling

✅ DIY Conservation Activities

Home and school projects like bird feeders, mini composters, or insect hotels

No-cost, recycled-material instructions included

Help students apply eco-learning in their everyday environment

✅ Digital Resources

QR codes linked to short videos and case studies from Vantara’s sanctuary and hospital

Virtual field trip module with guided narration from Vantara staff

Student journal templates for reflection, sketching, and research

✅ Teacher Training Guide

Step-by-step facilitation tips

FAQs about wildlife rescue, handling student curiosity, and building empathy

Assessment rubrics and project evaluation forms

✅ Bonus: “Know Your Local Wildlife” Poster Set

Regionalized biodiversity maps (Western Ghats, Himalayan belt, Central India, etc.)

Use in classrooms to create regional relevance and pride

Who Can Use This Toolkit?

The Vantara Wildlife Education Toolkit is designed to be adaptable across languages, education boards, and school types.

Perfect for:

Government schools looking for low-cost enrichment materials

Private schools integrating sustainability into the core curriculum

After-school and NGO learning centers

Scout groups, eco-clubs, and environmental camps

Teachers of science, social studies, or environmental science

The resources are currently available in English, Hindi, and Gujarati, with plans to roll out Marathi, Tamil, and Bengali versions soon.

Why Vantara Made It Free: The Power of Open Education

“Conservation is a shared responsibility—and so is conservation literacy,” says Vantara Anant Ambani, whose mission includes not only rehabilitating animals but building a society that no longer harms them.

By releasing this toolkit for free, Vantara hopes to:

Remove cost barriers that prevent underserved schools from accessing quality eco-education

Promote standardized wildlife literacy across urban and rural classrooms

Encourage local ownership of conservation narratives

Create future-ready students who can think critically about sustainability, biodiversity, and coexistence

This open-access philosophy is rare in wildlife education—and makes Vantara a model for other institutions across India and the world.

How Schools Are Using the Toolkit

Since its soft launch, hundreds of schools in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka have already adopted the toolkit. Here’s how they’re using it:

Biweekly wildlife clubs where students explore one species every Friday

Student-led nature journals, using the fact cards and observation logs

Art competitions and essay writing inspired by Vantara’s rescue stories

Teacher-exchange webinars to share conservation teaching practices

Integration with Science Day and Environment Week programs

Many schools have even reported increased student engagement and attendance during wildlife-themed sessions—proof that meaningful content can transform classrooms.

How to Download the Toolkit

Accessing the toolkit is simple and free:

Visit the official Vantara website

Go to the “Education” section

Choose your preferred language and class group

Download the ZIP file or request a physical copy for your school (if in Gujarat)

For NGOs and school groups interested in training, Vantara also offers free onboarding webinars on how to make the most of the materials.

✅ Click here to download the Vantara Wildlife Education Toolkit (Note: Replace with actual link once hosted)

What’s Next: Scaling Across India

Vantara’s education team is already working with state governments and national curriculum advisors to:

Embed toolkit modules into textbooks

Expand teacher training at DIETs (District Institutes of Education and Training)

Develop mobile apps for rural schools with limited infrastructure

Translate content into regional dialects and tribal languages

With Vantara Anant Ambani’s long-term commitment, the goal is clear: Make wildlife education as essential—and universal—as math or language.

Final Thoughts

In a time when environmental challenges are growing and wildlife is under constant threat, education is our most powerful conservation tool. The Vantara Wildlife Education Toolkit doesn’t just inform—it inspires. It gives students, regardless of geography or background, a chance to understand their role in protecting India’s incredible natural heritage.

Thanks to Vantara Anant Ambani’s inclusive vision, schools now have the tools to raise not just good students—but thoughtful, empathetic, and environmentally responsible citizens.

Because when a child learns to care about a civet, a kite, or a crocodile— they’re not just saving animals. They’re safeguarding the future.