#I am still happy I installed the mod though

[paluding]

The Sims 2: 20th anniversary - Gigantic Baby Costume Updated

This thing is cursed, you say? How dare you.

Since I learned how to add face morphs to meshes, I thought to myself “what better way to celebrate this anniversary than updating this classic, this piece of Sims 2 history, this iconic masterpiece by bootsbrisket?” Of course all credits go to them!

Download here: SFS / GD

Please read all the details under the cut if you want to download this!

Here’s all the changes for my version of this costume, which basically makes it so it’s actually, in fact, a real giant baby, not a costume anymore lol:

-I split this into two pieces: the body, found in fullbody outfits, and the head, found in the custom hairs section. This makes it so you’ll see the baby head on the pie menu, instead of the Sim’s head that’s wearing it underneath.

-Both pieces are available for all categories, unisex and ages range from young adult to elder.

-Added all face morphs using the original toddler face as a reference.

-Replaced the bones assignments on the body, this time using the toddler diaper outfit as a reference. Now they’ll look smoother.

-The body outfit replaces the original cc by bootsbrisket, so delete the original one if you have it. The head is a new piece of cc hair. You’ll probably find the head at the top of your custom unnatural hairs catalog, and the body buried (no pun intended) all the way at the bottom of the outfits catalog, right before the maxis clothing, due to how old the original one is.

If you want to see this thing in motion, here’s this video capture I took of them rapping while testing 🔥

Known issues:

-Due to how the Blender plugin works for the Sims 2, I haven’t been able to avoid making the head look bright in CAS. This is a sorta common issue that’s easily fixable using Milkshape3D, but again, I could only use Blender for the head mesh. Luckily, there’s Lazyduchess Overly Bright CAS fix, which I totally recommend you use to avoid this minor annoyance.

-While the eyes are fully animated and open and close as they should, the direction they look at won’t be animated. Haven’t figured out a way to implement that into a custom mesh yet.

-When the baby head opens their mouth, the nose’s Sim underneath might clip a little bit inside the mouth. Not very noticeable, but if you want to avoid this, you can make the Sim with an invisible skin like this one by MDP.

-This is something the original mesh had too: due to the size of the giant baby, there might be some clipping with itself in certain animations. Nothing too bad though I think.

And last but not least, some small tips to set up this Giant Baby character:

When the Sim wearing this goes to the shower, they’ll change into their naked adult bodies, which might look pretty creepy. Fortunately, there’s a way to make this outfit showerproof: the Never Nude trait and mod by Hexagonal Bypiramid! Change all the Sim’s outfits to the baby body, most importantly their swimwear, and place the Never Nude trait on their inventory.

Same goes for job outfits. If you want this Giant Baby to follow their dreams and pursue their professional career, they might change into something else when they go to work. For this I recommend the Job Outfit Stopinator by episims. Same as the other one, install the mod and place the object in the Sim’s inventory to prevent them from changing into job outfits.

And voila! You now have a fully functional Giant Baby Sim!

Want more screenshots of this majestic baby? Here ya go:

… Why am I taking this weird thing so seriously, you ask? Well, why wouldn’t I? I may be a little too perfectionist, even for stuff like this 🤓

Anyway, happy birthday Sims 2! 20 years and still going like a champ 🎉

God I love this game.

If you find any issues, please let me know! I have absolute Splatoon brainrot right now playing the Grand Festival 😬

[channel4sims-cc]

TS4: Theater Building Override - Jungkook's Movie (BTS) + JK & SUGA (ver)

Sul sul ^^

A few months ago when BTS SUGA's movie was released, I created an override of the movie theater building, adding its posters and also sounds.

So now now that Jungkook's movie "I AM STILL" will be released, I also made an override of it :)

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

ABOUT THIS MOD:

*The poster were replaced with JK's movie poster. I also added its name on the marquee.

*I had to remove the animated effect of the building, since it would play in front the poster and wouldn't let us see it.

*I replaced some of the building's audio effects. If you come close to the building you can hear audios from Jungkook's videos playing, as if they were audios from the movie :)

*You need "Growing Together" expansion for it to work.

*If/when you want the building to go back to normal, just remove this mod from your Mods folder. It will not affect your game :)

*It doesn't add any gameplay, sorry :( But I have plans to do it in the future though :)

*You can take your ARMY sims there to take a few pictures ^^

*It's in the "Anchorpoint Wharf" district in San Sequoia :)

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

INSTALLING:

*Download and extract it to your Mods folder.

*DO NOT put it more than 1 folder deep, or it may not work.

Example 1: Mods/Replacements/(your file here) - OK 👍

Example 2: Mods/Replacements/BTS/(your file here) - Won't work 👎

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

IMPORTANT/DOWNLOAD:

There are two versions:

Ver 1: - ''channel4sims - growing together override - jungkook movie theater mod":

 This one only adds Jungkook's posters, name and audios.

Ver 2: - ''channel4sims - growing together override - jungkook & suga movie theater mod":

 This one has both Jungkook's and SUGA's movie posters, names and audios. In case you want to keep both.

💙 PLEASE DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL JUST ONE VERSION.

💙 If by any chance you have SUGA's old override, PLEASE DELETE IT from your Mods folder before using the new version.

💙 If you want to use/keep using SUGA's version only, it still works.

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

I hope you enjoy it :)

There's more cc coming soon :)

Happy Simming ^^

*-* DOWNLOAD (free/no adfly) *-*

[anamoon63]

Your TS3 gameplay really does inspire me to give that game another shot. Are there specific mods you use to make sure the game runs smoothly/is stable? What mods/cc are the best to use so the sims look good?

Hi, Marci! 😊

First of all, thank you very much for your ask. Knowing that my sims and/or my gameplay can inspire other simmers to play means a lot to me cause The Sims 3 is my favorite game in the whole Sims series. Plus, I love my sims, so this makes me twice as happy. 🤗💖

That said, it is my duty to warn you that The Sims 3 is not an easy game to maintain, it requires a lot of care and patience, even from the moment of its installation. You ask me what it takes to make it run smoothly and make it stable, well I'm no expert, but what helped me with that is all contained in this Steam post. I believe these tips you can follow even if you don't have your game on Steam. I followed all these steps when I reinstalled my game back in 2017-18, and I have never had a problem like lag or crashes since then.

It's thanks to the amazing person who wrote that post and to talented modders like @lazyduchess and Twallan (Nraas Mods), whose mods I consider indispensable, that I have been able to play The Sims 3 without problems for years now. I may have had a couple of crashes due to some wrong or corrupt cc, but that's on me because I download a lot of stuff. In those cases, it's a matter of locating the bad cc, taking it out, and that's it. The game runs great, even with a ton of mods installed. (I have a 9 GB mods folder, and I've had more than that at times, lol, but I try to keep in less than 10 GB always).

As for what mods and cc's to use to make the sims look good, well, that would depend on your taste, or as they say now, on the aesthetics of your game or your sims.

For what it's worth, I have always used Ephemera's E-WEAK skin as default. I also use some other Ephemera's like E-Skin Natural MIX, Asia and Fresh. I use some by Kurasoberina too.

I think Ephemera's site doesn't exist anymore, but the E-WEAK skins I use can be downloaded on MTS here. Kurasoberina TS3 skins you can find them here along with more of their fabulous content.

I'm sure there are other skins much newer, and super nice too, but these are the ones I use, cause they give my sims the look they are known for. 😊

Also I use Tifa N38 default eyes, as well as Buhudain's You Are Real body and face maps replacements to give some realism to my sims' skins/bodies. Neither Tifa's nor Buhudain's sites exist anymore, unfortunately, but you can still find Buhudain's archives on this SFS page. And those of Tifa in this other one in Mega. (I hope I am not doing wrong by sharing them, otherwise I will remove them).

There's also this stunning version of Buhudain's You are Real by @nectar-cellar named You are Hyperreal. :)

As for the rest, if I start listing all the other content I use such as hair, clothes and makeup I would never finish, I'd gladly share my whole mods folder, but I don't want to piss off the creators, or blow-up other players' computers, lol. I'm WCIF friendly, though, so feel free to ask for any specific content, of any type, CAS or Buy/Build, I got my custom content well documented, so I'll provide you with links to any of them.

For the time being, here is this link to my custom Content List on my Blogger. I have kept this list for many years, and I still use most of that content; it may be a little outdated of course, cause I have a lot of new stuff now, so my intention is to update the page soon when/if I have the time. Also, some of the links may not work anymore, if so just let me know and I'll fix them for you if I'm able.

I hope this answer has helped you. Sorry for taking so long to reply, but I wanted to make this post as detailed as possible. If you have any other questions about The Sims 3, I'll be here whenever you need me. Good luck and happy simming! 😉💗

[elvenbeard]

Then and now - shippy edition! 💜

Enabled and inspired by @pinkyjulien @humberg @arcandoria @breezypunk @kharonion and everyone else who's done something similar XD My little VP and modding journey featuring Vince and Kerry over the last few months!

So, I figure, most of you can relate to my disappointment when I realized at the end of my first playthrough that there's so little interaction possible with the main NPCs outside of their respective questlines. The text messages your LI sends you are adorable, yes. Being able to sleep in their bed and then waking up next to them? A+ game design, 100/100, every game with romances needs this. But where is my option to hug, kiss, spend time with Kerry? Rude!!

Still though, I was undeterred to create some shots for my new favourite blorbos with my vanilla game (I had never heard of AMM then (or at least was too chickenshit still to install it)).

2023/Feb/06

Behold, my first attempts at creating something shippy (and I do still like these a lot) - title: Kerry meets Nibbles.

The idea behind this is probably kinda self-explainatory XD I had these as desktop background for so long, it feels so nostalgic to look back at them now. I think I have some slightly edited versions somewhere but cannot find them for the life of me, but there's no big difference really, just some slight colour/contrast editing.

I was always a bit bummed out by the fact that Kerry's default outfit for idling at the villa is the one with sunglasses on (while over the progression of his questline he wears it less and less as he gets to know V better, as if he is letting his guard down). But oh well! Also yes, that was and still is my favourite photomode pose for V really, because it is very versatile:

But that's... really it when it comes to opportunities for shippy moments outside of the quests.

2023/Feb/09

I was yearning for more!! As you can see, these are only 3 days apart. I had done some research and learned about the "[NPC] Interactions Enhanced" mods that I highly recommend for the options to kiss and hug your LIs alone :3 And! More shippy shot opportunities, because Kerry will finally be somewhere else in his huge-ass villa besides the sofa or the bed, and take off those beloathed sunglasses:

Hhhh.... I can't tell you how happy I was about this shot. I remember yelling to my friends on Discord about it half in tears (none of them really knowing much about the game yet apart from my occasional screaming about all the angst and plot twists). I think I described it as "Vince finally feeling some actual, real happiness, daring to imagine a future", just content and relaxed, having a late night talk with Kerry. I still like it a lot, and because of the mod enabling me to take this pic I still low-key wanna look into quest-modding some day and see if I can make something in a "romance-enhanced" direction. The "Kerry calls V and wants help with cleaning up the villa" quest we all deserve xD

2023/Feb/12

Another couple of days later, and with one toe dipped into modding now, I finally installed AMM (I think, since this was around Valentine's Day, this must've been when I saw a tutorial by @pinkyjulien on how to pose your blorbos for kissing poses with AMM, and my mind was blown XD). My first attempt to even get anything accomplished was kinda frustrating though (because I wanted to do too much too quickly). In a couple of the other "then and now" posts I saw earlier that the more common approach for getting into AMM used to be "swap your characters with NPCs around the city" and I was like.... "oh, yeah, that would've made things a lot easier" 🤡 Nope, I went right in with spawning them in and trying to squish them together with poses that somewhat matched XD

The following were my first AMM-posed screenshots that worked how I wanted them to, and aösdhfdsaf I am somewhat self-conscious about them still. What is a "look at" feature? What are expressions?

I never shared these publically before but hhhhh... this is it, this is the moment where the brainrot started. They're at Dark Matter, talking about V's childhood in Charter Hill, musing about how it's insane how they both occupied almost the same spaces for such long periods of their lives and only never ran into each other due to their age difference. I'm actually still (slooooowly) working on a little comic with this scene/story as topic, cause it is so essential and important to me (based on a random spontaneous decision I made about V's past before even knowing the Dark Matter existed... right across from V's childhood home asdöasdhfjds. Setting the whole "we were destined for each other" trope I have going on with them so much in stone ;A;). This is one of the shoots I'd also really like to redo with my current VP skills... maybe when I've finished my hand-holding poses, cause yeah... hand holding ;__;

Speaking of which:

2023/Jul/13

Five months later, still stupidly in love with each other, still regularly back at the Dark Matter because the place is so gorgeous and important to them. Kerry's getting some more outfits slowly but surely (even with sunglasses!), I have a much better understanding of AMM and the VP possibilities in general now. These two unlocked completely new ways of creative expression for me that I wouldn't even have dreamed of possessing or wanting to follow. VP has become such an amazing creative outlet, for creating all those little scenes I wish I existed in the base game, or which I'd love for them to have in their future.

Am I crying about fictional pixel men too much? Maybe. But over a short period of time they've become so important to me, and I got to meet so many cool and inspiring people in this community after not really feeling part of or even drawn to creating for a fandom for a long time anymore. Can't wait to update this post some time in the future to see where my and their journey will lead to!

I feel like my progress is kinda slow, and I wish I had more time to dedicate to them and all my creative endeavours, cause they'd deserve it for all the joy they bring me xD But alas... Fingers crossed for more spare time and better time management in my future! Thanks for reading this far and coming to my blorbo talk 💜

[just-a-random-person24]

Stark's Mind notes episodes 7-12 :)

Episode 7

• wishes he'd have a grappling hook but thinks he'd fall into the water below if he did have one

• acrophobic!

• still uncomfortable with being in vents. Vent sharks and the possibility of the facility collapsing on him

• doesn't know how the grating held his weight

• would rather be dehydrated than drink Black Mesa's water

• thinks of the aliens of a hindrance

• doesn't know why he's the only one trying to get help. Thinks the resonance cascade couldn't have killed *that* many people. He complains like a parent who doesn't get any help around the house

• would rather be the one to end the resonance cascade cause he caused it

• thinks about jumping down the edge for a moment

• seems very happy about having to jump across boxes

• lots of pep-talk for himself <3

• “Up is right! But then left would be down…” taking that phrase very literally ~~cough ♾️ cough~~

• wonders if the Houndeyes are actually dangerous and if they just want to play

• actually I lied in ep 5. He seems happy to finally be getting to the office complex :)

---

Episode 8

• tries to get the other scientist in the room to open the door, fails

• why can't the HEV suit go through the electrical hazard? it's a *hazard* the *hazard* suit should be designed for

• thinks him being alive even though he's gone through shit that should've killed him is convenient

• says the Barnacle he just killed is repulsive

• he talks a lot for a series that's a *mind* series /loving

• “That should stop the leak.” that’s… a power switch

• EAS broadcasting the disaster at Black Mesa, telling people within the affected area to get out

• tries to come up with a scientific name for the headcrab zombies

• apologizes to the guard for his dead friend

• “I never meant to bring you to this word, but I can assure you, I will dedicate every single breath in my body to taking you out.” Okay, you can be cool *once*

• he gets a Colt Python here instead of the regular Spas-12. Probably cause it's an earlier version of the game or maybe modded?

• calls the guard a friend :)

• attributes his knowledge of reloading the magnum to watching enough Clint Eastwood movies

• “Now we can safely traverse.” Sir you are alone, who's ‘we’?

• guard shot the houndeye watching TV :,(

• willing to believe Black Mesa installed ceiling turrets just to be evil

---

Episode 9

• needs a helmet :(. Also no vents

• asks a guard if he wants to experience a near-death experience with him

• thinks the guard doesn't believe him about the turret gun

• “Fuck- that was too close!” There is blood on the wall behind him

• thinks the turrets guns were Black Mesa's way of dealing with the recession

• wants to try to save as many people as he can

• FELIX MENTION! STUPID ASS SECRETARY /loving

• tries to help the scientists getting dragged into a vent by a vent shark. fails :(

• gets to the other living scientists! Very offended when the male scientist told him they would die out there

• “step side to side to dodge their attacks!” npc moments

• more turrets! he is *not* getting the achievement :(

• Tells the last remaining survivor with him to stay down

• definitely not doing well after seeing people die right in front of him. Blames himself for their deaths

• apologizes to the hurt scientist

• “Just don't let up, Stark. Don't give in.” Someone *besides* himself should give him a pep talk

• notices the amount of corpses in the room :(

• thinks the guards and scientist are ignoring the amount of stress the whole situation has put on him

• “Why am I shaking? I can do this. See? I can do it, I can deal with this. Well, it doesn't matter if I *can* deal with it. It's that I *have* to. Because people… people like Dr. Vance, or Dr. Kleiner, people like them are counting on me. And I swear… I will get through this, I will. I *have* to. ‘Cause it's my responsibility.”

---

Episode 10

• contemplates getting snacks from the cafeteria. Doesn't because it'd be too awkward

• tells the scientist in the freezer that they're a headache to work with. Still tries to get her to leave the freezer

• takes some bullets from a dead guard despite it being in a pool of blood

• “The only thing this place could give me is a cold because of how cold it is in here.”

• can do a pull-up :(

• lots of meat in the freezer

• MR WHISKERS <3. says the name makes any animal objectively cute

• very confused why the scientist is still in the freezer

• stacking things to avoid things!

• doesn't like being in the vents. Unhygienic and vent sharks and spiders :(

• doesn't like spiders. Doesn't like insects in general

• corrects himself insects *and* arachnids

• that explosion and fire got WAY to close to his face

• thinks this is now the 20th time he's almost died

• lists off all the ways you could die. Very normal things

• “I concur.” I need you to shut up /aff

• the guard left with the other living scientist is gone :(

• checks the stairway for any turrets before going forward

• g-man spotted!

• again thinks the survivors with him are ignoring how he obviously feels about the whole situation

• first death he doesn't blame himself for! Good for him

• thinks it's good the scientist just fell to his death instead of any of the horrible ways you *could* die in Black Mesa

• “it's only a matter of time before the soldiers get to us.” moments taken right before disaster

---

Episode11

• has a lot to deal with when he gets out :(

• “Charming physicist saves entire facility.” Okay Mr. Ego

• realizing that the actual headline would be ‘Rouge physicist commits corporate sabotage’ he instead focuses on not dying

• once again has the opportunity to eat and doesn't

• worries he's stuck after the fire doors closed before realizing there's a button

• easily recognizes a laser tripwire

• Fails multiple times at using the grenades to blow up the turret. Doesn't understand he should save those

• gets shot somewhere he could feel (ear?)

• mentioned before, he usually resorts to his magnum before pistol

• says the fire doors closing is worse than his fire alarm

• questions how vortigaunts teleporting can shatter the glass

• doesn't use the first aid station despite being shot

• no more magnum ammo :(

• feels like Indiana Jones

• jokes about the scientist staying in the freezer

• tries to make small talk with the two scientists

• g-man spotted!

• when hearing the announcement system is under military command says it's a good thing

• “The military is here and we can go home safe and sound.” Oh buddy

• not sure if Breen is aware he was the whistleblower

• the military is not here to help :(

---

Episode 12

• absolutely doesn't want to confront the soldier. Thinks he's overthinking

• just wants to get out and help others escape

• goes around the body to avoid getting blood on his suit

• thinks the rescue team wouldn't believe he killed the soldier in self defense

• MP5!

• going to assume the best and that the rest of the rescue team doesn't know, says that's a bad thing to do

• “My other ear!” your ear got shot before??

• reaffirms that him killing the military is self-defense

• he's a felon/domestic terrorist now because he's killing soldiers

• not closing the fire door because he thinks others should see how incompetent the military is

• tries to climb up boxes to see through the fence. Still can't see much

• falls off the boxes and says that doing that was stupid :(

• prefers the aliens over marines. They don't know what headshots are do he has a 70% chance of living

• still upset about no helmet

• 2 bleeding ears! ouchie!

• runs straight into a bunch of soldiers to try and protect the scientists. Fails

• blood on his suit? Or maybe just a bunch of bullets hitting his suit??

• tries shooting a marine far away with the magnum *without* looking through the iron sight

• his ears are bleeding again :(

• certain he can't negotiate with the military anymore

• has no clue how he's able to even kill the military for being a no-body

• “I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. And yet somehow… heh, I really shouldn't dwell on that kind of thinking too much. Usually that kind of thinking actually leads you to your death.”

• again doesn't acknowledge the first aid when he really needs it

[chevvy-yates]

Why I'm so … away lately:

Spending my freet time with my Info PDFs on Vijay and Ryder.

This project is somewhat insane and ate already a lot of free time (doing all the casual outfit shots alone). I know I do not need to present it in this way, but as the graphic designer who I am, I enjoy doing this way too much! I just love to create layouts and in this way I also make use of my own VP pics as well in a secondary usage. It is something I cannot life out in my daily job. I've always wanted to create some sort of a guideline. And my ocs are just perfect for that. I wanna do Thyjs and Jaysen as well ofc but I won't start with them for a while. Ry and V need to be done first, then I 'll look into other priorities (e.g. roleplay story -> + turn it into fanfic, get more creative in VP, help some modders maybe) for a while and then I go back to getting this done for Thyjs and Jaysen as well. <3

So what about these documents?

of all they provide some huge help for me to have the best overview possible on their main mods and clothes I use for them. Once this is done, I can just open the PDFs and click onto the links that bring me to the mod page of a specific mod. I've been asked a few times what I used so this will help me find it within no time. Searching on nexus is sometimes a whole pain for me when you do not know the title of the mods. And I don't want to keep everything in "tracked mods" either except for the core mods such as CET, archive XL etc. needed for the game.

it hopefully does a good service to the lovely @gloryride who's going to turn both, Vijay and Ryder, into NPVs soon <3 I want her to have it as easy as I can make it (hopefully it works how I imagined it). So she's got everything neately sorted to look up in lists — especially for the outfits I want to include — even though I'm going to send over all the needed stuff. But if there's need to look it up you can just simply klick on the link that brings you to the nexus page that has the usual additional info, original mods (since my are renamed with prefixes) and who it belongs to.

it also will serve for everyone who wants to take pics of my boys in the future. Because I do love to share them and I wanna see how they look through other VPer's eyes! Therefore I added a short backstory, character dates and inspiration, likes and dislikes so you can imagine them better plus every up to this date outfit I've got for them so far. A bunch of outfits will be included to their NPVs but not all since both have already something between 15-20 outfits and some mods require permission for NPV (it takes ags for me to ask permission). I assume people love more to take pics with NPV rather than having to install all their mods (tho Ry's and V's are okayish; Thyjs on the contrary has like approx. 50 main mods alone lol) but I'll still provide both once I'm done. Dunno how often I'll update these docs since there will always be new outfits for them.

If you read all through to the bottom: please feel free to send me a dm or write me on discord if you think about wanting to VP my boys some day! <3 Once I'm done and NPVs are there I'm more than happy to share.

Once this massive main project of mine is done for the time being, I may reach out to some of you in the future asking if I can VP your ocs as well and I'm always happy to see my ocs making new friends too! I'm just very bad at doing all at once, so I never came around asking – I need to finish one thing first, before I can take on antoher or I'll get completely lost, :,D I've already got a list of stuff I have to/wanna do. So everything I've promised some time back will be still done at some point!

Thanks for reading <3

[pbandjesse]

I realized early today that this is my last Monday off until the end of the summer. I think I did a pretty good job enjoying it.

I slept pretty well last night. Getting up was a little hard but I would wake up around 9 and slowly got myself out of bed.

I could smell that James was making crepes downstairs. I was very excited about that. I got dressed in my new linen house dress that I love. And went downstairs to spend the day with my husband.

I was correct about the crepes. They were so nice. Sadly the jam did not set up correctly. So instead we have some lovely strawberry syrup. But it's still very good and was great for the crepes.

James would try bruleeing their crepes. And they smelled very nice. We would hang out on the couch and I would knit a little and I was really happy.

I would be in a silly mood today. It felt so nice to just not feel burdened. We decided we would go out to take James's bike to the bike store. Just to get out of the house for a bit. So I put my flip flops on and off we went.

But as soon as we went outside I saw that the man delivering our new trashcan was outside!!! No one has ever been so excited to see this man. He had excellent gold grills and was laughing at me when I was going "oh my gawd. Is it the day??? Is it here?? The greatest day!!" And then he had to take a picture of me with the van to prove we got it. I made James also take my picture because I thought it was very funny. Jess says I should use that as my professional headshot for my resume.

We drove over to fells point to go drop off James's bike. And after they checked that in we would walk over to the goodwill.

I was riffing and telling jokes about all of the things we saw. My favorite joke though was when we say a "del fest" (Delaware festival) sweatshirt and I said James should wear that when Del works at the museum and when they come in they rip off their shirt and are wearing the del fest sweatshirt under it and I think that would be hilarious.

I would get one shirt I think will be so cute for the renfair. And then two shelves. I had $4 in coupons so that was exciting.

We passed a subway and they have sides now. That are a foot long. A pretzel, a cookie, and a churro. Which I think they should sell as a pack call a "yard stick". I am hilarious.

We went home and I spent a lot of time just chilling in the couch being sleepy. I was also feeling really dehydrated today. I am trying very hard to be more hydrated in general. I think I did a good job today but I will continue to make that a goal.

James would install two of our new hardware lamps. One of them sadly would not work but that's okay. We will keep trying. I was very proud of James for doing a hard thing! Electrical is scary!

I would rest for a lot of the day. I would move to our bedroom and take a long rest. James came and laid with me. But eventually I would take a daytime bath. I laid in the cool bathtub for a long time. I washed my hair. I scrubbed my legs. It was nice.

I laid in bed while my hair dried. But then I got an email that our garden beds were delivered!! Amazing. We would gather ourselves and went to pick those up.

There was a weird amount of traffic but we got out to Glen Burnie and it was all good. There was some confusion in the pickup area but we got our things with only a little waiting. James went to get a cart to carry the boxes and we loaded up the car.

We drove over to mod pizza. We got there right before it got very busy so that was good. I got a salad but I didn't like the dressing. So me and James split that. And I got cheesey garlic bread and James got a pizza with tomatoes and basil. It was nice just being together.

I got very tired again. We are going to stop at the grocery store. But James said if I wasn't feeling right we should go home, that it wasn't a waste of a drive like I was worrying. They were being very sweet.

When we got home I got cozy on the couch. And was out. I spelt for such a long time. I was having very strong belly pain and the sleep helps but when I woke up at 730 I was feeling very unwell. Drinking water helped. But I was feeling weird.

Eventually James would get me a Popsicle and came upstairs with me to chill. We are hanging out in the AC now. I put some outfits together for the week. And I'm feeling. Tired. Ready to sleep again. Hopefully in the morning I will feel all normal again. I felt so good this morning so it is a little frustrating that I fell apart on the second half. I needed the rest apparently.

I hope you all sleep well tonight. Take care of eachother. Until tomorrow!

[simcatcher-ts2]

In a nutshell:

i forgot to turn jaloosy off (oops, my bad!) so ACR let Timu flirt with Vhra right in front of Iva. let's say she made it right right away, and Timu's cheek will keep an everlasting memory of that moment.

-also i checked if Vhra was interested in woohooing him, given the circumstances, turns out she's not, proof top right of the screen. lmao basically he's all yours Iva you can keep him!-

Poor kids (Iva ans Timu's twins from legit 8 years ago) couldn't bear the sight of their parents fighting. Jealousy's off now though.

That's some hard, unprocessed feelings over there.

'Oh hey there, pretty. don't mind my woman over there yeah? Hello.'

i just had to make it right and cheat, because... technically they're not married and that's where i usually draw the line. makes you think, the sims making it legit to throw a tantrum (and a pair of slaps) at your crush for cheating on you.

Iva still had to go hunting to clear her head though.

She left as Rhan came back, empty-handed but in a good mood from that body point she gained. Yay girl!

Iva gone, Timu gave in to temptation, giving way to a -very glitchy- woohoo session.

That's how you do it!... Or is it?...

at least one of them has a big smile plastered on their face.

uh oh!

conveniently enough, Iva arrived a minute after the deed was done- and because silly me only turned jealousy down a fair while later, i can proudly say she's just the same amount of mad as she was when she left! Also she came back empty-handed too.

i have to learn what to do with kids when they're home all day cause... i'm not used to having them around at all times. The painter's Hapu, btw, and the other's Kiya. I like to emphasize that they both were born in game 8 years ago, which makes them 8 irl, which is not too far from their ingame age. Pardon my ramble i should go to bed.

All my - and their- energy was then directed on: fixing their feelingsTM. And!... tadaa!

friends!

aaand she didn't turn that hug down. good thing, i thought!

Why am i so shallow. The whole household was starving out, think i'm in need for a priority check. Once these two made peace i realized removing the social worker was an excellent idea. All needs in red and all, kids and grownups alike.

i, humble simgod, had to take action.

So i took Vhra to the Gatherer's Garden -or whatever i named this lot- so she could fill her pockets with berries and/or vegetables and legit save her clan from starvation, thanks to the great mods at the PlumbobKeep! Bestest of plan.

ô genuine, demure me. Of course nothing was yet harvestable, but because i am indeed resourceful, i had her fish the night away.

She caught 3, fell a couple times and all of a sudden, it was 5am.

When she's back home it'll be 9PM of the previous day, thanks to game logic >:) I sure would make a good use of these few hours. Feeding my starving family, for starters.

Que nenni. Totally forgot i had this mod installed, so the sims would get back home at the exact time they left the community lot.

I had a popup telling me sth along the lines of, 'Vhra is due at home in 9h' and i was like qué? she preggers??! did i miss more than just a cheek caress? (that'd tote justify Iva's burst in my book)

Turns out she was not (that i know of at last), and there would be no sight of Vhra for the next 9h. SO the household was basically left to starve, to death. To think Vhra had not less than 3 fishes in her pockets... sigh.

To kill time, i bought a fruit each (cheaaaatttt i knowwww well i'm just getting used to playing again ok? what if they were all dead, would that make you happy? Me, NO) and saved the day.

So, to kill time... >;)

Well she REJECTED him! after all the cheating and resetting i put them through to save their relationship- well actually THAT'S ON YOU TIMU! You unfaithful piece of pixel.

So that's when the game crashed.

See you next ;)

[arcplaysgames]

P4G Post-Mortem

deep breath. this is a LONG post.

it's still not as good as P3P but it's pretty good

What I Liked:

The characters in P4 are pretty fucking good, I'm not gonna even try to lie. They are all much rougher and messier than SEES. I noticed right from the start that the maturity level of this cast was a huge step down from P3P, and that actually bore out through the entire game. For this game and for this tone, it worked. Just due to P3P's solemnity and its obsession with death, I don't think anyone in P4 would fit into the P3 cast. They each suit their environments well. .

The voice acting in this game is tremendous and frankly saves the game from its dodgiest moments of writing. If Yosuke was not performed with so much depth, he'd be nothing more than The Teammate Everyone Secretly Hates. All of Chie's flaws and the times her personality chafes are smoothed by how fucking consistent and empathetic her performance is. And I feel like both Rise and Teddie are character I would have straight up not liked if they were not performed so fucking well. Also Troy Baker turns in another stellar role, what the fuck else is new. .

The villain was just better in P4G. Strega was a fucking joke that I could never take serious because who the fuck could with trashy coachella jesus? Adachi though? My god. What a fucking great villain. The unfurling of his character was tremendous and I loved almost every minute of it (except for the shoe-horned sexism that the game itself basically dropped the second it could lmao). .

I went into P4G braced for impact re: a lot of ambient discourse over the years, and I wound up flinching much less than expected. I think it's a very flawed game in how it tackles sexuality and gender, but I think personally it has a bad rap that is maybe undeserved. Kanji is truly a bisexual king and while I totally get the disappointment around Yukiko deciding to stay in Inaba, I think the nuances of her arc get glossed over a lot because it's fairly complex. And while I wish Naoto got the actual exploration he deserved, there was a lot fewer microaggressions than expected. Which, low bar, but the bar was there nonetheless. .

Yosuke is such a fucking complicated nugget of a character. I found I really enjoyed the rollercoaster of our resident closet case, because I really did genuinely grapple with what I felt about him for the entire game. And I think my favorite moment of the game is still Yosuke's quiet moment with Reverie after the talk with Adachi. That was great. If anyone could have survived in SEES, it's Yosuke honestly. .

Until the Izanami thing, I did really like the plot of the game a lot. Like with P3P, I think the ending is....... Fine. Honestly, its interesting that they seem to have opposite problems. I found Reverie dying at the end of P3P kind of unnecessary and disappointing. The sheer sunshine happiness of P4G was a little too neat for me. But the way the plot got SO fucking crunchy when you finally meet Namatame, that was tremendous. .

The writing is just better overall on a technical level, I have to admit. I like the plot and themes and twists of P3P more, but the writing was much rougher and we all know it. The writing in P4G is better, more naturalistic, and is so frequently genuinely funny, I'm a big fan. .

I am going to have some Stuff to say about the protag in a bit but one thing I did like about P4G: You can play this game gay. Oh my fucking god you can play a huge flaming homosexual in this game. At almost every single turn when the game asks you to be het, there is a Get Out Of Het option available, and they are often really fun picks. Does it fucking suck that Yosuke is transparently in love with the MC but is not romanceable? YES. I THINK EVERYONE WHO CAN SHOULD INSTALL THE MOD TO RE-IMPLEMENT THE YOSUKE ROMANCE. But I cannot deny that Reverie Vantas was fucking gay as hell and I was a big fan of that aspect of the game. .

This game has Kanji Tatsumi in it. Like. What else can even be fucking said?

What I Didn't Like So Much:

yeah yeah blah blah arc is a nerd no one cares but some of the arcana associations here just weren't stellar. Some were good, so I forgive it, but Yosuke was not a fucking Magician, Yukiko was not a High Priestess at ALL, Dojima as the Hierophant frankly baffles me, and why the fuck is Nanako Justice? Are all Persona children obligated to be Justice? .

The music sucked. I'm sorry. I played all of P3P and all of P4G and even though P4G had more variety of tracks, I found myself actively annoyed by the music fairly often. I think the battle themes are either mediocre or Actively Bad (god i hate Reach Out To The Truth). I'm literally going to go put on FeMC's battle theme to detox right now. .

Naoto. Naoto was a huge disappointment once they joined the party. Oh, in main scenario scenes I loved Naoto and he got a few of the funniest lines in the game. But the way the game went in so hard on the gender thing in Naoto's recruitment only to just whistle and non-nonchalantly nudge all that under the rug after-- I have thought about it a lot and I think I would have preferred they tried ANYTHING with Naoto rather than just wussing out on the entire thing. It's so palpable that Atlus didn't know wtf to do with what they set up with Naoto, and I literally would rather they have tried and landed on something offensive and bad than the completely anemic SLink Fortune turned out to be. how the fuck did you make FORTUNE boring? Goddamn. .

Unfortunately I think the ending might just be really mediocre. The final reveal felt like a joke, the last boss was so blah after Adachi-cum-Ameno-Sagiri. It feels like the game peaked with Adachi and the rest of the story coasted with a slow miasma of diminishing returns all the way to the final ending. Izanami just is so boring as True Villain. LIKE HERE IS THE THING I KEEP COMING BACK TO. Nyx, right. Nyx is technically revealed as the final villain very late in P3P. But with the themes of P3P and its foreshadowing, it feels like you were always fighting Nyx. P3P is truly and deeply about what it means to be alive, and that to live is opposition against an inevitable outcome. You will someday fail, but there is beauty in struggling each and every day until your eyes finally close. Even if it is not named Nyx until the end of the game, you have been fighting Nyx the entire game. Izanami just.... sucks because Adachi has already covered the ground she does and better. Adachi is the actual confrontation against falsehoods and complacency. He's already given the player the question (and frankly at least he HAS some arguments, unlike Izanami). And then another 20 to 30 hours later, Izanami is all "wait do humans NOT want to live in a fog of lies? fucking wild." It's just a very meh ending. .

Which is not helped by the pacing. Holy shit I got impatient when P3P made me wait a month to give Ryoji an answer, but P4G is so badly paced it drives me kind of batshit. .

I've talked about this a lot but I really miss characters having their own stories together. Yosuke and Teddie eventually get this, but literally every single time this game HINTED that the characters were off hanging out together instead of with Reverie, I was thrilled, and it just didn't happen enough. There is no equivalent of Yukari and Mitsuru's promise, there's nothing like Ken, Akihiko, and Shinjiro's shared history, there isn't a wrench in the plot like Junpei and Chidori. P4G is afraid of that friction, of letting the characters exist outside your influence, and it's a fucking shame because it makes everything more shallow.

And the biggest problem I have with P4G...

actually i'm gonna put that in its own post, this is already long

[theviridianbunny]

self-love time! talk about which ones of YOUR creations (edits, artworks, fanfics) you like the most then send to other creators to do the same <333

AAHH SPIN HELLO ANGEL!! OK- i will be talking about my beloved blorbo Viridian !! I want to talk about how she has grown over the past year- seeing as she is one of my creations!! ♡⸜(˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝ heads up this might be a long read because i have a lot to say (and lots of screenshots aaah)

So- I've had Viridian as an OC since July last year. She has gone through a new small chnages- but every version of her I love with all my heart- she is so special to me (an explination to one of the reasons why can be found here)

OK LETS START WITH VANILLA VIRIDIAN (from my blind run of cp2077 which lasted from July to septmber 2022) - vanilla viridian looks very similar to my 2071 viridian (minus the arasaka cyberarm)- this version of her had No mods (because I didnt know how to mod). At this time I Couldn’t really make out her vibe- all i knew was she loved jackie and had hair kinda like mine &lt;3 - the vanilla run was more- more for me to just sit and play cyberpunk- and cry because i went in blind not knowing what would happen (ugh uhm komepki plaza I AM LOOKING AT YOU) - this version of viridian was played / used before transmog was a thing in cp2077- so i was always like "GOS HOW DO I DRESS HER?!?!?" and she looked... interesting at times XD

After my vanilla run- I though "oh hey... what If i gave modding a go? 2022 is all about trying now and scary things after all!!".. so I shopped around for a basic mod and ended up trying out this pride eyeshadow mod - took me... god a few hours and lots of screaming at my pc to get it working (because i had no idea the main file had to be unzipped- hey @genocidalfetus - i am forver greatful for your help with that!!) after getting that one (1) mod installed- i felt like i could fight god and went ham installing mods (then the gamer gods humbled me when i deleted a main game file by mistake and it took 8 hours for my game to re install) BUT WE MOVE- I started to play around with more mods- realised I wanted Viridian to have her arasaka cyberarm so I managed to get that- then started to play around with hairstyles- viridian had a really shirt haircut for like-- ages!! --- and and i found a mod for jackie's leather bomber which made me SO HAPPY AAAHH

This was around october/november 2022- kinda around the time i was shyly approaching tumblr and posting blorbo stuff. But then the 1.61 patch dropped and i yelled because all my mods had to be re installed - but again we move - we learn and grow!

In the december of 2022 I came up with my first ever AU- the devil canon (which is an AU where Viridian gose back to arasaka near the end of her life- a very angsty AU)

At the start of 2023 I played around with more outfits and hairstyles (finally figured out what shair i'd like viridian to have canonically) - learnt about model swapping too! also started to actually flesh out her alter ego "arasaka's red rabbit" a brutal netrunner !! As my confidence with modding has grown- I've tried many fun outfits for her !! some of my fave looks can be found here, here , here and here (others are below!)

And now we are at the present- May 2023!! Viridian now has a solid design- I'm still having fun making new outfits for her- trying out new things- new poses- new ways to light my work!! Viridian also now exists in a few other universes / games such as The sims 4 or dragon age inquisition! (was inspired by my dear friend @halsin !!)

Recently- like as in- yesterday I made a very fun shoot where I dressed Viridian in summery clothes/swimwear and photoed her at a pool with Jackie!! One of my fave sets i've made so far this year- very fun to work on!!

well ok- if you've gotten to this point you're a champ!! I know i do rammble a lot about my ocs- but Viridian means a lot to me- It was very fun traulling through my tumblr and old chat feeds with friends to find stuff!! I am forver growing and learning when it comes to creating- I have fun and- yknow dont mind if stuff looks a bit janky or off at times!!

Thank you for coming to my TED talk <3 thank you for being such lovely humans - for all the hype and support- i love you all a lot and can't wait to see where I go next on my little modding and photography adventure !!

[simlicious]

Status update

All your messages of support mean so much to me, thank you! I definitely feel better, I cleaned out my dash a bit and am a bit more relaxed. I see more clearly now that I still have an important role to play and a place in this community! 🥰

I am still not quite ready to go back into creating Sims stuff though, as Anno 1800 has sucked me in a bit at the moment. That game is a serious commitment time-wise, and I am also making my own mods and tweaking the mods of others to create the perfect experience for me personally. In case you are interested to learn more about my Anno experience, you can read more under the cut!

I play a multiplayer map with my boyfriend, or let's say I show him what I have built and he dabbles for a couple of hours too every now and then 😆 I enjoy the optimization/logic aspect of the game. At the moment, I really like games that pick my brain/give me a challenge in that regard, and I think that is also why I like modding. It requires abstract/logical thinking and creativity at the same time. Anno 1800 is a city builder/production strategy game and is mainly about fostering a happy population in a flourishing city. There are different population tiers, such as farmes, workers, artisans, etc. that have different needs that you need to fulfill in order to get to the next one, and they also want luxury goods that improve their happiness. You have to produce these goods and build farms, factories, and public buildings to provide the population with these items. You start out with a small settlement and end up with a huge metropolis. I am about 100 hours into the save and have never advanced this far in Anno 1800 before. Things get more complex the further you go, and you have to establish settlements in different regions and create trading routes to ship goods around to make sure all production lines run flawlessly and your population receives the goods they need.

I also enjoy beauty-building (to some degree at least) and try to make my cities look interesting instead of just boringly uniform. Because I play with a lot of mods, this is easier to accomplish than in a vanilla game, where beauty building and maintaining a good economy at the same time is more challenging. I play Anno 1800 to relax and have fun, not to try to reach record numbers of inhabitants (which is impressive in its own right, but I'm more the casual play type).

Here are a few screenshots of my City Bergblick (Mountain View). These are best viewed at full scale because you can't really see details on the small tumblr dashboard-sized pics.

My farmers are having a festival because they feel so happy!

The artisan village

Amusement park that I built near my skyscrapers and scholar's houses.

View from the harbor. This is the hugest island in the game! In case you are wondering, the reason why do not make (tuning) mods for Sims 3 is that I lack the gameplay experience/knowledge of intricate game mechanics. Only while playing do you notice things that you wish were different, and you get an idea of how they could be. I am a bit out of the loop with Sims 3 gameplay, I'm a bit ashamed to say it has been years since I properly played the game, aside from set building, styling my Sim models, and testing CC. In most games I play, I spend more time modding them/installing/tweaking other people's mods/making my own than actually playing. I am truly a tinkerer at heart! I hope I can bring myself to start learning Python one day (and C# would also be good to know as a modder), as I mainly tweak XML files for now, but many games require proper coding knowledge in order to mod them. I tried a few times to learn but I have a hard time understanding some concepts. I feel like it's just a different mode of thinking and to get into that mode and see how everything fits together is the hardest part. I kinda hope I can get my brain ready for it by doing more logical thinking/tinkering with mods! Other games that I am interested in/would love to be able to do more with mod-wise are Subnautica and The Long Dark. Subnautica is probably my all-time favorite game. It is beautiful, and makes you want to explore and find out about that alien planet, but also creates that feeling of terror of the unknown. It touches on emotions in a way that I never experienced in another game. That said, the Sims games are still the best option for expressing creativity! I am also keeping an eye out for Life by You, the modding possibilities seem very enticing. I'm not sure about the graphical style, but I bet they will polish the game a lot before the final release. Also, Custom Content makes such a huge difference, so I'm not too worried about that at this point.

[changingplumbob]

Knightstone Household: Chapter 6, Part 2

Adam struggles with his feelings over a possible second child, Suzanna and Silas have a park trip.

Adam also finds time to play with Silas

Adam: Remember our old friend the ring. Is it my hat or your hat?

Silas: *giggles*

He then gives Silas another bottle for dinner. Luckily Silas only burps up gas bubbles. Then he places him in his crib and turns on a lullaby

Suzanna: How was work today

Adam: You know work, there's always stuff to critique

Suzanna: I still don't get how you are comfortable putting your opinions out there like that

Adam: It took time to be comfy with it for sure

Suzanna: And now you're respected

Adam: Exactly

Suzanna: Are you sure you're okay with trying for another kid?

Adam: I have to be honest. Through the pregnancy I am going to be nervous and tense and scared

Suzanna: You don't like change

Adam: I don't, especially when I think we are part of a great trio

Suzanna: So we can't try?

Adam: Let me finish starlight. I will be a wreck but I want to have another child with you

Suzanna: Truly?

Adam: I love you, I love Silas, I'll love whatever kid we have, no matter if they're blue or pink

Suzanna: Wait, blue or pink?

Adam: Right, didn't hear the bird story

Suzanna: I did not

Adam: So basically this bird family had a baby chick. When it hatched it was pink, without any of their lovely blue feathers

Suzanna: Many birds hatch without feathers

Adam: The parents initially panicked because how could they look after this pink thing

Suzanna: Right

Adam: But they realised they loved the chick so much that even without feathers they would do what they could to raise it

Suzanna: Did the bird survive

Adam: It was an infant book, you bet it survived. Point is it'll take me some time to adjust but I will

Suzanna: I don't remember books being so metaphoric when we were young

Adam: Right! Maybe they were and we just missed it?

Suzanna: Probably. But you needn't worry about pregnancy, the watcher hasn't installed any mods that could cause death

Adam: How can you be sure?

Suzanna: I told you, all paranoid sims know what the watcher does

Adam: If he even exists

Suzanna: SHE does and she has our back, don't worry, I won't die from pregnancy

Adam: Promise?

Suzanna: Cross my heart and hope to die

Adam: Not funny

Suzanna: Hope to live then

The next morning Silas wakes up before anyone else so has some solo tummy time. It's still emotional for him, despite having met several key movement milestones. When Adam gets up he has to use a dirty sink, and in doing so discovers he is actually squeamish!

Suzanna gets Silas up and ready while Adam makes some food. I'm amused by the things sims pull out of the dirty diapers. Cars confirmed??? I jest, the routing in Sims 4 clearly doesn't allow for driving places and lots don't line up with roads, I don't think it'll happen. Happy to be proved wrong though sims team...

Suzanna takes Silas to the table and gets him settled down. They try some Oaty O's and Silas does not approve. Suzanna gets them cleared away while Adam gives Silas his favourite finger food, peanut butter puffs

Adam: Any plans for today?

Silas: *pats*

Suzanna: Technically it's Spring Cleaning day so I'll check what needs tidying

Adam: I would help, but I don't want to

Suzanna: *laughs* Save your strength for diaper duty?

Adam: More like build up my strength for diaper duty

Suzanna: Try keep an eye out for the flower bunny

Adam: That's today?

Suzanna: Should be but things can always get bugged

Silas: *giggles*

Suzanna: What will you do?

Adam: I need to publish my next column and work on writing before work today

Suzanna: I was thinking...

Suzanna: Fossils hardly ever spawn at work so I might take Silas to the park with me

Adam: Will he be getting a tiny hammer?

Suzanna: No, but that would be adorable

Adam: Back carrier?

Suzanna: He should be able to nap in there while I walk around

Adam: In disguise though right? We don't want him having the wrong kind of attention.

Suzanna: Of course. I'll make sure he's disguised before we even leave the lot

Silas: Mummy plants? Fun me

Suzanna: No starshine, you stay there and finish your breakfast

Silas: Pop pop

Adam: I'm here my dude, come on, two more mouthfuls then you can play

Silas blew a raspberry! Alas I was too slow to capture the moment but it was cute. He plays with his toys in the lounge while Adam works away at his writing. Suzanna uses the time Adam is home to fit in her workout so she doesn't need to leave Silas alone, the AI care is glitchy...

When Suzanna gets back from her run she has some tummy time with Silas, he seems to be trying to regularly balance on all fours at the moment. Before heading to the park Suzanna makes sure Silas is full and as content as he can be, tiredness not included obviously.

Silas: *spits out milk*

Suzanna: Oh dear starshine, is your tummy bad today

Silas: Bad

Suzanna: Okay let's check your disguise, can you disguise for mummy

Silas: Dis side

Suzanna: Dis-gu-ise

Silas: *giggles*

Suzanna: We are look human, we'll work on the word later

The pair arrive at the park and Suzanna sorts Silas into his back carrier for a nap. He tries to nap and eventually falls asleep while Suzanna digs up every rock pile and searches the pond for frogs. No new frogs unfortunately but we get new fossils!

Back home Suzanna tries to use her simray on a duplicate fossil in the hopes of finding a new one. The ray powers up, the light beam strikes, the object glows and... not a fossil. But it's incredibly cute so we're gonna keep it for when Silas has his own kids room.

Adam arrives home and immediately springs into pops mode, comforting Silas who is not happy at being awake so soon. Sorry buddy but you need a diaper change and feeding before you properly fall asleep. Adam helps him try some mashed carrots and they're a hit!

Suzanna got a scam call so takes her frustration out on the dust bunnies upstairs.

Adam: Okay my dude, night night time

Silas: nit nit time

Adam: That's right buddy, let's put on a lullaby for you

Silas: Star! Star!

Adam: Twinkle twinkle little star it is

Silas: nit pops

Silas is asleep early so Adam and Suzanna try for a baby before dinner.

Suzanna: Thanks for cooking

Adam: Just catering for your insatiable appetite. Thanks for... you know

Suzanna: *giggles* We do have fun

Adam: You're amazing, you know that right?

Suzanna: You have mentioned it

Silas: *cries*

Suzanna: What time is it?

Adam: 1am, go back to sleep

Suzanna: You sure?

Adam: I have tomorrow, I mean today, off work so I'll go check him. You just sleep starlight, you got him the last time

Suzanna: Thank you, tell him I love him, and I love you

Really not sure why Silas woke up when he's been sleeping through the night but the answer is probably "Infants will infant". Adam makes sure to get him as clean as possible, and as full as possible, and as comforted as possible before giving him a bed time story.

Previous Part ... Next Part

[b3balancedsims]

I love The SIMS

During my search for sims 2 trait conversions. I found a gold mine for the Sims 2. I went back and forth for years about the sims 3 because I love the sims 2 and this made my day.

I struggled with making the move to the sims 3 because I love Open for Business. This Traits mod pack is going to keep me playing this game forever. Origin makes me sick. The current issues I am seeing with the EA app make me happy to buy the discs off ebay. Be prepared if you are thinking the same thing. The prices are sure to go up.

I still want the Sims 3 open world though and Sims State Mod is the only option for open for business in the sims 3 Luckily I can also buy the discs online. and let me tell you A private server is the answer with steam link. MAN I LOVE LINUX. I know there are alot of people that don't know how to navigate linux but if you love the sims it might be time to learn. I will try to give help on the issues as I get a new computer. setup a private home server and install both the sims 2 and 3 with play through videos. I am more excited than ever to help the community thrive as EA craps the bed.

[prose-mortem]

Taken: Alien Commander's Captive Review

Rating: 5/5 Stars

This is one of the better sci-fi alien romances I have read-- and I have read many of them. Taken: Alien Commander's Captive follows Jayne and Rexitor as they navigate Jayne's abduction from the earth, Rexitor's reclamation of his rightful place in the empire, and all the cultural/political drama that ensues.

I love the fact that the FMC is 38 years old and not an 18 or 19-year-old child... I hate it when romances have teens as the MCs in adult romances, but it's hard to find FMCs over 30 no matter what the genre is. All ages deserve to be represented in literature, but to people over the age of 25, an 18-year-old looks and acts like a kid, so it's weird to always have them as hyper-sexual MCs. The FMC also does not struggle with her fertility (an annoying trope that seems to affect anyone over 35 in books) and there is no big deal made about her age or childbearing ability. The fact is that a 38-year-old is not a child, but they are also not old yet either. It's a relief that this author understands that and gives actual adults a chance to shine, be smutty, and find happiness. (I'm only 30, but I love seeing all ages represented.)

Next, I really appreciated the fact that one of the prominent species in the book, which is much more ancient than humans, has not evolved all that much beyond human silliness. For example, there is still a clear gender role expectation (The women are expected to breed, but otherwise can do what they want), and political strife and manipulation are at play. I think the author delved into a deep truth that some people don't like to face: We may have mostly tapped out on our potential to evolve in a positive sense, and almost everything runs in cycles. Evolution, contrary to mainstream understanding, is not synonymous with improvement, and Hattie Jacks hit the nail on the head as she acknowledges that. It is not cynical to suggest that a species will never be perfect or that it takes millennia to move just a fraction of an inch forward. Our collective narcissism as humans makes us believe that we're the best things in the universe and that we've come a long way mentally when we're actually experiencing many of the same social issues that occurred 8,000+ years ago (SA, cheating, jealousy, political power plays, etc.). And in fact, we are not that different cognitively from the Neanderthals! I love that the author has enough human social experience and sci-fi knowledge to recognize that perfection isn't possible, even for fictional cultures. (And neither I or the author are saying that improvement ISN'T possible. I think we would both just agree that development is painfully slow and messy. It takes millions of years just for small genetic things to adapt... It makes sense that social refinement would take its time as well. And Jacks makes it clear that the true-born leader of the old Haalux line WILL bring healing to the empire, so we still get our HEA!)

The author also busts up the DNA modification trope by explaining that meddling with genetics actually held an entire culture back in this story! I am not for the demonization of cutting-edge science or genetic mods, but it's nice to see that scientific progress does not correlate with benefits all the time.

This book is a great balance of smut and plot! The character development is good, though I wish I could learn even more about Jayne's earth life! =) This is only the first installment in the Haalux Empire series, and I am definitely a fan! The deeper social commentary combined with all the *steam* was just what the doctor ordered for me!

[taylastudio2022]

WEEK 10 CRITIQUE:

‘Teabag & Dress’ , knitted found materials, petroleum jelly, PVA, foundation, Mod Podge. Varying in size, WK 10 critique, 2022. 

Reflection on crit:

The best word I can use to describe how I feel about this work for crit, would be ‘fine’. It doesn’t excite me as much as I would have hoped, but I am content with it, in terms of a critique and opportunity for feedback. It doesn’t feel like a step backwards, but I would make consider it a step to the side rather than forward. I am hoping to gain some helpful feedback this crit, and am looking forward to progressing the work & or testing something out still....

I enjoy the space between the two works, and the conversation they have between them - and think that I will continue to work with more than one piece moving forward. I think having these engaging more with each other, and moving back off the wall, is what I have in mind already moving forward from crit...

I was really happy with, and grateful for the feedback I received, and am feeling more motivated and clear headed now :) 

Feedback Notes from Critique:

Prefaced with what has happened since formative, how I am struggling to figure out what to focus on between now and summative hand in. 

interesting development, new shape “spider web like” 

looks delicate + “can touch them” = “I am hesitant to touch them” 

Lots of tension 

“The weight of the patriarchy” 

Bodily , Organs, preserved organs 

different relationship to accompanying work on the wall 

on a basic level sculptural things on the wall read as a relief, what language you want 

Drawing vs installation… 

respond more to the one hanging in the space - bodily space, more engaging

works in a different way on the wall - the one that is bigger - part of something larger, expansion

seems as though you have been careful in selecting your objects and materials 

less noisey than formative, liked that noise 

don’t want to see those chaotic moments disappear (maybe use more outlandish objects/materials)

can walk around a lot of it - on wall is drawing, more flat and 2D 

off the wall - more movement, more dynamic 

wonder how it would change again if the work wrapped around the pillar, intruding the space even more, depending on what conversation you are wanting to have… 

like seeing them both, close and far one, details the fine intricate, and then the more clumpy, less fine, all hand made - enjoy the more “handmade” works more, 

the makeup clumps, dirty, usually portrayed as clean, but this is gross, don’t want to touch it but I am also drawn to it. 

On one plain as it is now. 

interesting, 3D - branched off, at the same time, 3D could become too busy and clumpy

consider aesthetic decisions and what kind of “affect” you want to have with the viewer 

attraction / repulsion - dial up, the tension is subtle

turn things up

pieces don’t have to work in the same way 

notion that the concept/feeling will help you decide

“gothic” quality - but also really light, fantastical 

push and pull successful. 

one on the wall kind of reads like a dress

I like the idea that all the materials come from feminine, human life - but are treated like carcass- decaying organisms and objects. 

drawn from, and echo of the body, when using ‘clothing’ in work, there is this “bodily presence” - surrogate, “i become the body in the work - we are allowed to pretend that we are a part of the work” 

[curriebelle]

I hate it when I play a game and then I Essay instead of doing real work.

I beat BG2 and Throne of Bhaal with the Edwin romance mod installed because heck if I’m not gonna romance the snarky wizard, given the option. The whole way through I’m waffling on whether the mod is good or not, because it’s got some problems, but it’s also genuinely funny and I like both the secondary characters it introduces. And then the epilogues are just. A culmination of everything wrong and I must drag my hands down my face and write a post about how I could fix it.

1) Dear god, especially when it comes to written, selectable dialogue, brevity is the soul of wit. In the unmodded game, Edwin has an excellent vocabulary and a flair for the dramatic, but he’s actually not too verbose. He’s all pithiness over prattle. Step one: Remove about 60% of his adjectives.

2) Incidentally, that Thayan (read: Russian) accent actually inclines a listener to expect certain speech patterns and sentence structures. This isn’t a jab at people who speak with accents, by the way - far from it. But if English is your second language, you may build sentences and choose words differently. And if we hear a Russian accent, even if it’s in a fake fantasy setting, we subconsciously expect those structures. Take the canonical re-invitation dialogue in ToB:

“You have regained your senses and recognized my indispensability! This is good, this is very good.”

“This is good, this is very good” is very different from a phrase with similar meaning but a different structure, such as “Excellent! You’ve regained your senses...” etc.

The point is that if you read Edwin’s dialogue you should be able to hear it flowing in the accent his actor has chosen. This doesn’t always happen in the mod. Obviously, the easiest editing method here is to read everything aloud in a Russian accent. I’m serious. Oh and also I think it’s Thayan and not Thayvian?

3) He’s got that added-comments-in-brackets dialogue quirk, which is a wonderful tool to see inside Edwin’s head, but it does need to be used with care. It’s best for contrast, when he’s internally seething but externally trying to keep his composure. The mod takes the opposite tack and uses it for when he’s internally swooning, which I kind of love because it’s hilarious, but it could still make better use of the contrast at times. Not-as-smooth-as-he-thinks-he-is on the outside, internally hyperventilating - that’d be something to see.

4) Back on the topic of brevity - the Bhaalspawn’s responses need to be toned down about eight notches. The player needs more space to project himself or herself onto the PC. More than once, the lengthy, detailed responses made me cringe, and I didn’t want to choose any of them, because I thought “My bard would say this, but not that...she agrees with this, but wouldn’t say it in that way...” etc, etc. (I distinctly remember the “supply of emergency chocolate” line because I started wondering if chocolate had been invented yet, and that destroyed the suspension of disbelief. It can get too silly.) When writing for customized PCs, you have to stay away from detail that would be necessary in the dialogue of an NPC (i.e., Edwin’s). The simpler the sentence is, the easier it is for more people to imagine their Bhaalspawn saying it. This is clearly written for the modder’s Bhaalspawn, not every Bhaalspawn - because even the highly evil responses carry the same over-the-top sarcasm as the good or neutral-chaotic-ish responses.  DA:O’s Alistair romance is a good example of how to pull this off properly while keeping the comedy intact. Everybody remembers the “lamppost in winter” conversation, but Alistair gives you all the bizarre prompts, and the PC chooses how to play off it - sincerely or teasingly. That’s an awesome tactic.

5) I read one review of the mod that was like “Edwin is too sweet by the end” and...that’s kind of it, but also kind of not. If you shift him to True Neutral (I did) the sweetness does kind of make sense (plus, it’s alluded to canonically. “Eddie” /snort). The problem is that the last four conversations or so flatten him out a lot. Being “sweet” is easy, but being selfless is not. Edwin is pretty much an ignoble, selfish brat, and I think it makes way more sense for him to struggle with the Bhaalspawn’s fate than instantly accept that she will transcend beyond him. Who the heck is above Edwin Odesseiron, huh? Psh. Nobody. He claims he’s ready to beat up Elminster (and by the time you level him up in ToB I bet he could do it I mean holy shit he can summon like 6 planetars a day fuck off everybody). In canon when you drag him to hell he’s like “Eh, I was already headed here. Maybe I’ll stick around and see if there’s some profit in this”. He’s a schemer, not a martyr. He’s ambitious. At least, he is naturally. Seeing him struggle with accepting the Bhaalspawn’s destiny and learning that there are powers and fates beyond his, and then preparing to let her go, would be way, way more powerful than him being like “ah yes farewell my deva I have always Predicted this. Even though I lack such foresight that I’m completely unable to learn divination spells.”

6) (On the other hand, A+ for the “my deva” conceit. That is perfect. Edwin’s a conjurer, so of course his pet name of choice would be one of the most powerful pets you can summon. I love it. That’s the creepysweet I’m looking for in a Lawful Evil romance. Plus it sounds good in his voice in my head. It’s perfect. GAH.)

So yeah. I’ve been thinking a lot about writing Evil romance since working on Devils - I might try and break this one down too, and see how I would do it. Writing exerciiiiiiise \o/