#My opinions will do a full 360

[gladiator-gladiolus]

My prejudgement of the engage cast: Firene edition

This is as of before I venture into chapter 3, so obviously I don’t actually know ANYTHING about anyone except what I’ve accidentally absorbed through fanart. This is all purely based on their appearance and the vibe. I’ll reblog with what I actually think of them after I’ve finished the game, or have sufficient enough exposure to them (*☻-☻*)

(These are probably really harsh, I have unleashed my full prejudice)

Alfred

Probably going to be my blorbo

Husjshsja pretty little noodle, very scrunckle

A wet lettuce

Dimitri but make him cottagecore

Major pathetic Alear simp

Too kind for his own good

classic Lord

i want to put him in my washing machine

gay coded but all the ladies want him

allergic to mud

Boucheron

I already know I’m not gonna like him

Friendly neighbourhood patriotic buff man

Probably obsessed with healthy eating

popular with the gorls

looking at him makes me a bit angry

no personality other than to serve a trope

looks like a carpenter

donates food to the orphans then tried to “hide” it

Etie

Likes MLP unironically

A bit of a snobbish pretty Princess that’s going to complain

But we like her for that

Will have a crit line something like “yOu ruinEd mY bOw”

im going to end up liking her a lot

Cold hearted and apathetic until you get to know her

Ed sheeran’s sister

very intelligent when you give her the chance

will commit war crimes

Celine

Cliche waifu sweetheart

popular with straight people

She’s going to annoy me

the worse version of Etie

Nice for no reason

Sings all the time and won’t shut up

Is a Dead mother but has no children and is also alive

Has a slow, soothing voice but to the point that it’s dull

Has no personality beyond being upper class and naive

Louis

Is always late

wish version of Linhardt

loving the bed head

just a happy little guy awwww

I will love him and I will squeeze him

trying his best and it’s good enough

doesnt want a lot from life

has a tragic back story that makes him want to help people like his sister was tragically stabbed to death on the ides of march

Not that clever but has all the brawn

Chloe

Looks like Erika

is Erika

the comic relief

surrogate older sister

Very considerate and compassionate

likes Hatsune Miku

The one with all the brain cells

given responsibility over the children

Murder is okay

Jean

Reminds me of Rune Factory

pretends he can see but actually cant for shit

Has some sort of debt to the royal family

Is overworked

curious but doesn’t want to overstep

Has an anxiety disorder

good with handiwork

quiet and reserved

looks up to either Chloe or Alfred

Probably an orphan

[drluvsick]

hello!!! I read lots of your work and must I say it is very delicious omnomnomnom, is it okay if I request an either sanemi x reader or tengen x reader bcs I'm down bad for both sjshshs where the reader looooveeeessss physical touch and kind of likes pda and how would you think sanemi/tengen would handle that? thank youuu have a nice day!!! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐒/𝐎 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐏𝐇𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐃𝐀 — 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐳𝐮𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐰𝐚

headcannons of tengen & sanemi with a s/o who loves physical touch and pda. 📝 gn! reader. loooved this!! oh, and i didn’t know if you wanted the wives included with tengen, so i just left them out— but send an ask if you want ‘em in! i hope you have a nice day as well! :]

word count : 450+

𝙉𝙊𝙒 𝙋𝙇𝘼𝙔𝙄𝙉𝙂 . . . 𝘚𝘏𝘖𝘞 𝘔𝘌 𝘏𝘖𝘞 — 𝘔𝘌𝘕 𝘐 𝘛𝘙𝘜𝘚𝘛

𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐍 𝐔𝐙𝐔𝐈

— he’s so on board. physical touch? he’ll be clingy asf upon hearing that. hugs, random kisses, letting you feel his muscles— major ego boost for him.

— and just setting aside him being suggestive in some of these touches, he’s definitely holding your hand or keeping a firm grip on your hip in public to let others know that you’re already called for. not only that, but he’ll sometimes have you sit on his lap (if you’re comfortable with it) and just hug you in that position.

— when you both are mad at each other, distancing yourselves is the worst punishment for the both of you. it never lasts more than a day, because how are you two going to sleep without each other’s arms and “i love you”s?

— does every type of kiss on you. eskimo kisses, french kissing, you name it. will do his research and come home to try them out.

— calls you nicknames in public from intimate ones to outright silly ones (honey bunchkins, just to embarrass you a bit <3).

— cannot keep his hands off of you in public i swear, everyone has to know that you’re his or else someone’s going to come up to you and try to sweep you off your feet before he can do anything about it!

— physical touch ✔️, pda ✔️, this man is one to love those as well!

𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐌𝐈 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐙𝐔𝐆𝐀𝐖𝐀

— he has a rough & tough exterior to keep up! you can’t just go up to him and hug him from behind to watch his face turn red— it ruins everything!

— that being said, the first time you wrapped your arms around him from the front (despite his gruff talk about hating these kinds of “cringey couple actions”) his opinions turned a full 360 without him noticing it.

— he’d grown to love your unexpected kisses, even though he’d tsk at you anytime you’d do it.

— and after getting back from a long, bothersome mission? he’d be the one to initiate the hugging and cuddles because he’s too tired to care about your teasing of him being needy.

— not too big on pda, he’d rather let himself indulge in you at home where you’re both safe from prying eyes. but if someone’s looking at you like they want you for themselves? hooo boy… sanemi will absolutely show that you’re taken. whether it be by hugging, kissing, simple gestures/nicknames— that person looking at you has no chance.

— when you tease him for it he either denies it and sticks with that or just flatly admits that yeah, maybe he was a little jealous.

— this guy will be your stuffed animal if you want him to be

overluvsick | please do not repost, translate, and/or claim my works as yours !!

[audreyscribes]

(Super long bc I kinda Info dumped sorry)

If you didn’t mind could you maybe talk about what demigods look like/cryptid demigod hcs

I’m probably wording this wrong but I saw a tiktok saying that kids of gods would have cryptid features for example children of hades or underworld gods in general having vampire features, children of sea gods having scales or webbed fingers, maybe children of Zeus or wind gods get feathers,children of Athena can do 360 head turns like owls, Hecate kids having a visible functioning third eye on their forehead that shows them spirits(and probably vampire features Hecate does do necromancy stuff), Hermes kids getting winged feet, children of Apollo having glowing eyes (I think this is somewhat canon) tbh the list goes on

It’s reasonable to think that demigods look somewhat uncanny they are literally half god and it would probably be covered by the mist to mortals anyways

Even if you don’t wanna do a full series on this I’m just curious to ur opinion on it and ideas you have for other gods

Alright, here’s my own take if we’re going off the Greek demigods having uncanny features:

Zeus: The children could have feathers but also considering them being like the air and clouds. Like their presence can be loud and forceful like high winds or practically invisible like the air around us, or how they seem to float as they walk, their feet never really touching the ground. However, when they get angry, their form shifts and they become this angry grey, stormy cloud, crackling lightning and thunder, their voice distorting like booming thunder as their presence whips around you and threatens to tear you apart. Their hands when they touch you spark and electrocute you, and you can smell and taste the ozone around them. They look down at you with eyes like an eagle.

Poseidon: I would wager they have a sleek appearance to them and everything seems okay. So maybe when they smile, you see some unnervingly sharp teeth like a shark. However, when they enter the water, your eyes can't tell if the water is distorting their shape, but you swear you see something else that makes you remember that we know more about space, then our own ocean; making you both amazed and afraid at what the abyss contain…or don't allow you to see because they won't let you resurface at all.

Hecate: While a third eye is cool, that’s more of an Asian mythological feature (I.e. Hindu, Buddhism, Taoism), however, I can see them having three faces that they can change according to that face’s personality, or true to Hecate’s mythos, where Hecate changes forms from a young girl to an oldy lady according to the time of day, their children faces/personality changes according to the time of day. In a moment of peak battle or power, all three faces appear all at once. The Vampiric features also work as well in this case, but you could also go with something ghoulish or ghostly. From the distance, their appearance to you is half invisible like a rolling mist. Another trait that a child of Hecate could have is serpentine qualities, relating them to Lamia, who has a connection with the goddess. So imagine a child of Hecate with skins with the scales of a snake, a forked tongue, and limbs that move too fluidly in a way that makes you think they don’t have normal human bones. 

Hades: we already see references to it with Nico, but the ghostly, pale appearance would be made more true. Representing the domain of death, they would have cold skin, their eyes are dark like shadows, Or part of the Riches of his domain, you'll see how their eyes twinkle like jewels gold or their teeth, nails shimmer like diamonds. They seem alive to you but if you watch them carefully, you notice their skins shimmer as if their see-through or  made out of precious gems, but then you realise, you really haven't seen them breath. Not in the way of the living. Their chests don't move unconscious and almost seem forced, like they have to remember to move their chests up and down. In fact you've seen them stand way too still, with chests freezing yet they're still moving.

Athena: I think her kids not only can turn their necks pretty much around like an owl, but have you considered they really have good hearing, and moving practically invisible? There's a reason why owls are considered the silent hunters/death. Their grey eyes looking wide and bright at you, but as you move, you notice their eyes following you as if you're a mouse moving among a field. Their heads and neck tilting just so that makes your own neck feel severed.

Demeter: Ever heard the metaphor “Hair like corn”? Each child of demeter has qualities that reflect nature, crops, or anything to do with plant life. When they laugh, it either sounds like branches brushing against each other from the wind or the sound of wood creaking and cracking as the bark and flesh of the wood breaking. Or when you see a child of Demeter fight during the wars and you see their blood or flesh fly. When it lands on the ground, you watch as it sprouts into another version of themselves like fungi; you realise if the child of Demeter you've been talking to is the original or just another body of them with the same mind and soul?

Aphrodite: We know Aphrodite's appearance will reflect what the person's ideal version of beauty or who they love is reflected off her. Now imagine her kids having the same thing, their faces resembling everyone's love, preference, their ideal features (button nose, thin lips), but when you come to actually describing their entire face, you suddenly can't. You have an idea of their features but they're in fragments. You try to piece them together and form their face but you can't. You can't remember their faces at all. You start to think you don't know their face at all, you never have, and they're just a mirage in your mind. You don't remember their faces because you can't. You've never seen them, have you?

Ares: Out of them all, they seem the most human-like. War and violence is a part of human nature and it's reflected in them. They hold qualities that make you sweat and stiffen, the way they look at you makes you want to either fight or flight. A side of humanity you don't want to admit that is in our nature and life.   

Dionysus: There's a quality to them that seems a bit off to you, but you can't help getting drawn in. Their eyes are maniacal and don't stare in the eyes too long or you find your mind drifting off. Or how they move like a jaguar, their appearance alluring but very deadly as they stalk towards you. Nonetheless, your eyes will deceive you as you try to look at them, their forms not exactly what they seem to be and if you try to dissect what they look like, you’re not going to like what you see.

Hermes: Their feet may have wings that allow them to fly and go about speeds. However, much like the Aphrodite children, you see the faces of a traveller. They've been to places and seen things you haven't seen before, but when you try to think of their faces, you can't remember. They made an impression on you yes, but when you try to remember their features, you can't really remember and they are only a figment in your memory.  Yet you can’t forget them or their sweet, honey layered and silver tongued words, even if you know its a lie, you find yourself believing in them and take their words as the truth.

Hephaestus: The children of Hephaestus’ eyes burn and glow with hot coals, flaming hot. Their features are almost sculpted like marble statues, both soft yet rigid. Their veins underneath their skin have a thin glow of heat like the veins of a volcano as they bend the physical shape of something in something else. A limb of theirs moves rather rigidly, like it was a limp but as it moves, you are reminded of the joint of a machine, moving in a certain way that isn’t like a muscle. When their skin is reflecting the heat of the forge, you are reminded that their skin looks like stone or metal.

Apollo: We already know about the glowing eyes part, but I wanna say there’s a bit more to that. How light follows them, how they embody it. You can see them but you can’t stare directly at them for too long before your eyes start to burn like staring directly into a lightbulb. Their form seems to shimmer and bend with the light, before you realise you may not be able to touch them more than you can touch the sunlight. Then you also start to realise the shadows around them seem more darker, more of a void then you thought it could be, moving, swirling beneath their feet. As you take notice of the shadows behind them, how it seems to wrap around them like a second skin, the shadow then moves on its own, differently from it’s host, as it raises its finger over where the mouth should be, before you see it actually smile. You may not be able to touch the light and shadows, but it can certainly touch you, prying your darkest truths and secrets from your own shadow betraying you. You learn that the children of Apollo don’t naturally have shadows because they’re made out of light, so where is their darkness?

Going off a bit more of the whole concept though: It’s not the first time nor the last time someone who has those kinds of ideas as humans do. The only reason the Greek and Roman demigods have ‘human’ features is because of how the gods are perceived, where in Ancient Greek people believed the Gods looked like regular mortals, but were absolutely perfect in their appearance as they were above mortals and their features reflect peak perfection of our human appearance, and we cannot perceive their true form because it is outside of our mortal realm. I believe that’s why the gods turning into their true form is deadly to mortals for that reason. 

So the greek/roman demigods would have the godly qualities to them, that are still mortal but just a little bit different, a little out of this world. We actually see Rick Riodan reference these features in the book like Percy’s Sea Green eyes or Thalia and Jason’s Electric Blue eyes. Those weren’t metaphors or similes. They just lean more towards beyond human then cryptid realm. 

However, it wouldn’t be unusual to attach some non-human features to the gods as we constantly attach their symbols to them. Specifically the animal parts relating to the gods, it’s one of the reasons Egyptian gods are depicted with animal features; as the animal parts to represent their personalities or specific traits that were important to their purpose. For example, Anubis the God of Death is depicted with the head of a jackal as the animal was associated with death in ancient Egypt. So if these Egyptians gods had demigods, we can only assume they would have these features too. 

I believe in the Riordan verse, there are the Mayan gods and the Mayan demigods, Godborns, are the opposite of their Greek/Roman counterparts where the Godborns have a sort of physical handicap, disability, or some medical or mental issue. This is   because people believed the blood of humans and the supernaturals were never meant to be mixed.

So go have one with your ideas! Be wild! Test the realm between mortals and the supernatural.

[cultofmars]

Sims 2 Default List

There are many default lists out there but most of them haven’t been updated in years. Many new mods have come out and older mods have been lost. With this default mod guide I hope to provide a solid aesthetic for your Sims 2 game while also being optimized. Feel free to pick and choose what you wish and skip around in the sections.

Some house cleaning needs to be done before any default mods can be installed, use this guide by Captain Nikki to get your game up and running and also to install ReShade if you wish to use it. 

Something Nikki didn’t mention but is very useful is the userstartup.cheat. PleasantSims has a guide on how to use it and also has her’s available for download. With this you can extend the view distance and a bunch of other very useful things. 

Lighting Mod: 

Maxist Match Lighting Mod by DeadPirate

Kind of a pain to install as you need to replace the corresponding files for the expansions and stuff packs but it makes the game look so much nicer.

ReShade(see Captain Nikki’s guide for help installing) 

ReShade Preset We Fell in Love in October by DeadPirate

This is the main preset that I use, it’s made to go with the Maxist Match Lighting Mod.

Clouds, Sky, and Water:

Lowedeus’ Maxis BaseGame Clouds Made Global by Lazy Duchess/Lowedeus

Be Sure to read the whole post as you need to grab a file from this page, I chose the Dust version.

Pond and Sea Water Overhaul by Voeille

For the ponds to work you need to go into each lot with one and add a small square, if you don’t the pond will just be a black void. 

Better Nightlife by Criquette

If you plan on using Criquette’s Rual Charm or any of their neighborhood decorations then you’ll want to grab this mod. It’s being listed here because if you use the Pond and Sea Water Overhaul you’ll need to replace the file for the sea water with this one, the pond file can be left alone.  

Blurry Skies by Nopke

One of the best mods in my opinion, it replaces the sky without you having to do anything. I use the version with all of the skies. This mod combined with Lowedus’ Maxis Clouds makes the sky look beautiful. Do not install SkyFix. If you load into the game at this point you’ll notice that it’s not working, it’s because Skyfix isn’t installed but don’t worry as we’ll be using a different version of it that came with Rural Charm.

360 and Seasons Ready Skylines by GreatCheeseCakePersona

A skybox object that’s found in neighborhood decorations that adds a backdrop to the world. Be sure to read the post for placement instructions. 

City and Rural Skyline by GreatCheeseCakePersona

An add on for the mod listed above by the same creator. I use these two skylines more than any other. 

Pond Bottom Defaults by Simsantonic

Now that the water has been replaced it’s time to make the bottom of the ponds cute. Read the full page as this mod isn’t installed in your downloads. I use the River Rock option. 

TS2 Sink and Basin Water Revised by Pineapple Forest

Cleans up the textures of sink and basin water.

Effects and Misc. 

Flutterby by Poppet-Sims

A default for the butterflies.  

Default Snowflake(s) by Ivy-Sims

Changes the snowflakes to those found in the Sims 3, a small mod but helps a lot to make your lots cute.

Brighter and Less Square Fallen Leaves by Frustrated Yeti

Changes the fallen leaves to be cuter.

Prettier Bubble Bath by Pineapple Forest

Makes the bubble bath textures less blurry. 

TS2 Infallibly Good Witch Aura - Smooth Default by Pineapple Forest 

Changes the Good Witch Aura, I use the star option. 

Evil Aura Effect Default + Magical Stars + Cleaning Glint by Pineapple Forest 

I use the star option to match with the above mod. 

Food:

There’s quite a few defaults for food, I suggest using this spreadsheet to pick and choose what you want. I personally don’t use any defaults for the food items themselves or for the cooking appliances.

Items:

Lighten Up! by NixNivis

Makes the computer screens brighter.

Custom Computer Screens by Eddysims

A default for the computer screens.

Better Bubbles by Eddysims

Replaces the blurry speech bubbles with higher quality ones. 

Buyable Potions and Bottle Defaults by Pineapple Forest

Changes the appearance of the potion bottles. On the mod page are a few more options such as being able to buy gypsy potions from the catalog, I just use the defaults. There’s two options for the plantsim cure, I chose vintage.

Date Rewards Roses Default Replacement by Tvickiesims

Changes the appearance of the rose date rewards. There’s two versions, one that’s just a default and the other that puts the date rewards in the catalog. I use just the default.

Vehicles:

School Bus Default Replacement by Poppet-Sims 

You’ll have to scroll down the page a little to find it, I use turquoise. 

Busy Roads NH Traffic Default Replacement by Criquette

You need to install some packages from their other mod. Some of the cars have more than one option so make you only pick one default.  I chose to use only the cars needed, you can find that information at the bottom of the mod page. I also chose not to use any branded cars. 

Lot Trees and Plants

Perfect Plants by Simbology

Not a default but useful for keeping your lots pretty. This is a hack that makes it so that plants on lots do not die. This doesn’t affect garden crops or trees.  

-House Plants Replaced With Nynaeve Design Plants (+ Custom Versions) by Tvickiesims

Changes some of the existing house plants and adds some extra ones as well.

Flora Default Replacement - Sims 4 Style by Tvickiesims

Replaces the trees, shrubs, flowers, orchard trees, and crops. Look through the files because for the Papaya tree there’s two options, I use version one.

DR Plants by Lordcrumps

Changes the decoration plants to a plant from the Sims 4. Each file is included with a picture so it’s very easy to pick what you want and don’t.

Neighborhood Trees and Deco:

Criquette/Lowedeus’ Linen Trees DFR by Peppermint & Ginger

A more optimized version of  this mod. Be sure to read the description and grab the files needed from the original mod. I use the 512x1024px version. 

CS: Seasonal Pines by Lowedeus

A replacement for the neighborhood pine trees. Download the Pines Pack.

Sims 2 Neighbourhood Pine Forest Defaults! by TeaAdicctYT

A replacement to match the above mod but for the large groups of pine trees.

Beautiful Birches by SixFootSim

Changes the neighborhood birches. 

Seasonal AL Pond by Lowedeus

Makes the pond neighborhood decoration seasonal, I use the Lush-Blue version. 

Neighbourhood Trees Default Replacements - Gingko, Walnut, Redbud by PixelDolly

A default to match with the rest of the above trees. 

Rock and Sand Peninsula Tree Defaults by KinderGoth

Changes the palm trees that came with BV.

Hi-Res Lot View-Friendly Farm Fields by PixelDolly

In the vanilla game the farm fields can’t be seen from lots, ruining the aesthetic of farmhouses. This mod isn’t a default replacement but it’s basically a new farm field deco object that looks similar to the vanilla games. You need to install this mod to get them to work. I like to go in and delete each vanilla farm field and replace them with these ones.  

No Rocks Deco Mod by Chemic’s Simblr

Removes the rocks that show when you place an effect in the neighborhood view.

Working Street Lights Hood Deco Set by Criquette 

This isn’t a default replacement, but it’s nice to have. Requires their Better Nightlife mod mentioned before in the Clouds, Sky, and Water section. 

Seasonal Fields by GreatCheescakePersona

Not a default but a very pretty neighborhood decoration item that matches well with this set-up.

Terrain and Road:

Rural Charm Terrain & Road Default Replacement by Criquette

Replaces the roads and terrain. I use the files for the Lush (Temperate) Road DR, Neighborhood Road Transparency Fix, Lot Mode Road Overlays, Unified Bridges, Terrain Paints (I use a different mod for the terrain with it’s own terrain paints so I deleted the files for the three grasses as well as the file for the pebble beach), Floor Tiles, Neighborhood Decals Default Replacement, Winter Textures DR for Lush (Temperate) ‘Hood Terrain, Season Lot Skirt Road Fix + SimNopke SkyFix, Neighborhood Winter Beach DR, Neighborhood mode Cliff DR selection (I use the white option), and Maxis Neighborhood Bridge Road Deck DR.

Criquette’s RC roads on CuriousB/Icad’s terrains (DEFAULT) by Charming-Plumbob

Makes Criquette’s Rural Charm Roads work with other terrain. Use all the files except for the lush one. 

Terrain Default Replacements by Peppermint & Ginger

Changes all terrain types. Delete the lush file from this mod and see below for the updated version. I like using this terrain over the one with Rural Charm because it’s a set for every terrain type so it keeps the appearance consistent.

Lush Default Replacement V2 by Peppermint & Ginger 

Includes an update to the above mod as well as matching terrain paints. 

No More Blurriness by Voeille

There’s quite a few files for this mod, the ones we want are for the beach and snow. There is also a matching beach terrain paint if you want it, just be sure to delete the terrain paints for the cliffs. This mod is a default replacement for the lot view of the beach and the lot light snow. 

Neighbourhood Snow Default Replacement by xSparrow

Download the HoodSnowSeparate file and delete the one for the grass terrain. Rural Charm already has a fix for the snow for the grass terrain. This mod makes the neighborhood snow look nicer. 

4 Maxist Base Game Terrain Paints Default Replacement by iCad

Replaces a few of the base game terrain paints, I use the 512x512 set.

Ceiling and Trim

White Roof Trim Defaults by Phaenoh

Changes the trim around lot roofs.

Replacement Floor Tile Border by Feenwald  

Changes the trim around floor tiles, I use the White Wood option (Weisses Holz).

Away you Ugly Thing! by Maranatah

Changes the wall top, I use the white option. 

Ceiling Default Replacement by Honeywell

Changes the ceiling texture. 

UI:

Clean UI by GreatCheeseCakePersona

The page is very easy to follow for installing so I won’t list too much here, but just be sure to read through everything. Not everything goes into the downloads folder and for some stuff you’ll have to pick only one option.

No Pause Frame by Nopke

Gets rid of the red lines that show up when you pause the game. Very useful for taking screenshots.

Level Numbers Added to Job Titles by Phaenoh

A mod that lets you see what level of a career your sim is at.

Smaller Plumbob Default by Pineapple Forest

Makes the plumbob smaller and less opaque, I use the smaller and softer plumbob option and the neighborhood file. If you'd rather there’s a mod that removes plumbobs here, but I like having them so when it comes to taking screenshots I use the plumbbobtoggle cheat. 

Clean TS2 Skill Meters Default by Pineapple Forest

Matches with the above mod, there’s also a version that’s compatible with the remove plumbob mod. I use the SimSkillMeterDefault and the Invisible Leaves files.

Clean OFB “BuyBar” Default by Pineapple Forest

Completes the two mods above. I use the transparent option.

Camera Mod Compilation by Lowedeus 

Not a UI mod but I wanted to include it as it makes playing the game so much better. These need to be installed in the camera folders. 

This completes my default guide for the environment. All of the screenshots shown are not edited and use the mods listed. With this set-up I haven’t had my game crash or stutter even though I play on a generic laptop not meant necessary for gaming. There isn’t much to say about default for the actual sims themselves as there are so many options for skins, hairs, eyes, etc. I suggest using the default database and picking for yourself. If you rather download a huge folder instead I suggest this post from Peppermint & Ginger, but keep in mind the hairs are high poly and might lag your game. For my game I use this skin default and for the eyes I use these. 

Some tips for making your neighborhoods look nicer, delete any trees that were not replaced and instead use ones that are or look for neighborhood deco trees. Same goes for the farm fields, but the trees especially can look bad if they can be seen from your lots. Try to keep a consistent theme and use similar colors. 

Use whatever you want from this guide or nothing at all. Lesyasun has a guide here and another list here. On r/Sims2Help there’s this guide.     

[sauleline2]

Maths, Gender, And a Number Bigger than the distance to Kepler 22-B

heads up this is loooong

so i was thinking about xenopronouns (pronouns which are impossible for humans to pronounce, mostly used by therians and otherkin. eg. a pronoun that is a lion's roar, bird chirp, or alien language, etc.) while trying to fall asleep. well, i thought, couldn't an example of a xenopronoun be a normal pronoun set, like she/her, but with a different coloured font? well. i got to thinking. how many colours are there? well it depends on what format you use. an RGB colour has 255 ✕ 255 ✕ 255 colours. that comes out to 16,581,375 different colours. HSV on the other hand, has 3,600,000 different colours (360 ✕ 100 ✕ 100). but why stop there? underlines! bold! italics! the possibilities are (almost) endless! (btw im gonna stick with the rgb colour list, because it's a bigger number and i, an idle game player, find that cool) well. im just going to stick with the stock word formatting options (bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, subscript, and superscript). all of these options can be toggled all together, with the exception of superscript and subscript. now. how do we calculate that? well we take how many options there are (8, not counting the subscript and superscript (we'll get to that)) and multiply that by our number of colours. this gives us 132,651,000. we quickly multiply that by 3, to get our full total formats. 397,953,000. now i could say something sappy about how there are infinite combinations of letters, to make infinite pronouns, but that's boring in my opinion. so. there are 149,186 unicode characters (in the current version). sure, not all of them can be made into bold, or some don't have italics. who cares? they still have the italics information. or the bold information. you get the point. well. we take our amount of format options, and multiply that by the amount of unicode characters. 59,369,016,258,000. fifty nine trillion, three hundred and sixty nine billion, sixteen million, two hundred and fifty eight thousand different combinations. now. to make these into pronoun sets. to make this easier for myself, im gonna cap the maximum length of one of these at 7 characters, and the minimum at 1 (invisible characters are cool, like U+2064 or U+2063, for example). each set will be in the format of "she/her/hers", so that means each of the sets will be between 3 and 21 characters long (forward slashes are excluded). i wasn't sure how to do this with a calculator, so i did it by hand. or at least, i was going to. then i realized "wait the way im doing this is shit, and i could very easily have calculated this like the way you calculate how many different states a combo lock has. 343 different combinations of characters. we multiply that by the amount of characters we have, and boom. the total amount of robot pronouns. 20,363,572,576,494,000. twenty quadrillion, three hundred and sixty three trillion, five hundred and seventy two billion, five hundred and seventy six million, four hundred and ninety four thousand. now. most of these will be unintelligible messes of characters in different colours.

i may as well repeat the final number that i got. 20,363,572,576,494,000. think about that. if you want to put that into perspective, there are approximately 100,000,000,000 stars in the milky way galaxy (at a lowball. it goes up to around 400,000,000,000). or, 3,154,000,000 seconds in a century. (im gonna put these numbers up next to each other at the end of this, under the cut, just to help you look at them.

(up to date (as of writing)) (most of these are approximates btw) (distances are in kilometres)

"Pronouns": 20,363,572,576,494,000 Kepler 22-B's Distance: 6,055,000,000,000,000 Distance of All Human Veins: 772,485,120,000,000 Cells in the Body: 30,000,000,000,000 Elon Musk's Net Worth: 205,200,000,000 Stars in the Milky Way: 100,000,000,000 Baby Shark's Views: 14,118,385,910 Earth's Population: 8,100,000,000 Seconds in a Century: 3,154,000,000 Listens my Friend has to Sum 41: 18,306

if this looks like shit... lmao? i guess. it was formatted for web view. idk how it looks on mobile, don't care to check. (Yes i did put elon musk there because i hate him and want to point out how fucking rich he is and i think that we should kill him) (yes i did put my friend's Sum 41 scrobbles there to make fun of him)

[marleykay]

Hey 👋🏻

I sense you have a soft spot for his FS but now I'm truly feeling that his Fs will be saved from a ton of heartache if she doesn't end up with him.

I don't know if and how the universe might compensate her for this loss but I'm certain that she will be saved from a lot of pain if HC misses his shot this time. He doesn't look loyal enough for any woman tbh

I don't have that much of a soft spot. I only relay messages and feelings I receive when I channel. Her energy is lovely. That's a fact. Just like the energy around Henry currently is poisonous, that is also a fact. It has nothing to do with my feelings or having a soft spot. It's just the energy.

You are allowed your opinions. But remember, they are opinions. If you feel FS would be better off without him, those are your feelings and opinions. But it's not up to you or I what Source says or orchestrates. We can have our thoughts, opinions, and perceptions, but neither of us has a full 360 view.

You can think his FS will be saved heartache without him, but then that just means you're not very trustful of the universes divine plan. If the universe dictates that its worth it for both of them, who are we to judge? That's between Henry and his soulmate.

You all have to remember, none of you actually know Henry. Everyone has their perceptions built off of staging. The general public only sees perhaps a small fraction of famous people's true self. Some I have noticed forget that and build these big opinions off that.

I admit I am not as familiar with the concept of Henry Cavill since I had only been made aware of him by request and have kept my searching at a minimum. I try to keep my biases to a minimum. But I will say it's somewhat concerning when I receive multiple messages from different people all personally angry at this man's choices and how he has lived his life. So many have spoke as if they know him and he personally slighted them. It is why I try to keep my distance.

I just read the energy I'm allowed at the request of others, but I just want to remind people to maybe build better boundaries. And maybe remove yourself a bit so some persons life doesn't impact yours as much as you're allowing it. You can be supportive or even disapproving. I'm not saying you can't. Just maybe don't invest as much.

Again, if source says they're still a good match and there's still potential for something better and beautiful, who are we to question? I'm not that arrogant. I just trust there's more behind the scenes and deeper going on.

[talenlee]

Outlaws of Thunder Junction Draft In Retrospect

Outlaws of Thunder Junction is stepping out the door in a few days as the ‘newest’ standard set, and with it goes the default focus of premier drafting on Magic The Gathering Arena. As the newest and most current set, any time Magic: The Gathering Arena gives me a pack for showing up or having fun or being nice or having a cute smile (like it’d know), it gives me a Outlaws of Thunder Junction pack.

This has been a deliberate part of my focus playing on Arena. See, I really like playing constructed magic, and because of that, I’ve been drafting Outlaws of Thunder Junction regularly.

These things seem at odds, I know.

Here’s my thinking:

Building decks need cards.

The game gives you a bunch of preconstructed decks to start with, but they are explicitly weak and designed to get you started in the game. They’re not about the kinds of things I want to be doing with my cards.

If I want to acquire cards, I can either spend money on buying product or I can do things in the free game that get me more rewards

These rewards can be spent on buying packs in the store, which is how they encourage me to keep engaged with the store, or I can draft.

If I just buy boosters, at maximum payout, it’s 90k gold for 90 boosters, 45k for 45 boosters that give 8 cards, so 360 cards.

If I draft, assuming I do badly, I will spend 10k gold, and open 3 boosters (with no chance for wildcards) that total 45 cards, and get another booster (+8 cards). That’s a much lower rate of return, with 4 boosters being 4k gold.

But the draft sees 53 cards and 4 boosters would see 32.

If I do okay at a draft, I’m spending 10k gold for 3 15-card boosters (45 cards) + 2 boosters (16 cards) and 1,000 gems.

If I draft cards I already have 4 of (which will happen if I draft a lot), they contribute to the vault very quickly and if I draft rares I already have 4 of (which turns out also happens) I get wildcards for those.

Here’s the other thing: Saving up for 90k gold takes more than two months during which there are good days and bad days and sometimes nothing happening. Drafting every week or so is a lot of fun.

Not that I would have necessarily said that at particular points. I mean, there were points in the Thunder Junction season where I had the extremely firm opinion that actually, draft sucks, why am I doing it. One night, I did a draft, got a 1-3 loss, and was so mad about it I immediately spent my gems to queue up again, eating a 0-3 loss. In that moment, I did genuinely storm around the house and think ‘why do I bother, this sucks, why am I doing this.’

It’s very important to face that feeling, because I know full well I was fuming and upset about losing and not handling it well. I talked about it on kind.social, I fumed, I had a little tattle and a little vent about it, but also, it was very important to recognise, I was talking about my feelings. I was venting about feeling bad. I didn’t need to talk about the objective failings, or about the balance of the game, I was talking about the things I felt bad about, and it’s okay to feel bad and it’s okay to express that feeling bad.

Anyway, what did I learn in general?

You Don’t Have To Worry About Getting Enough Playables

Time was when I learned how to play draft, it was a genuinely challenging experience because boosters had cards in it you wouldn’t want to play. That’s because it was the set Scourge, and Onslaught-Scourge-Legions draft was a midnight hellscape. Do you know what commons were like back then? Half of them were non-creatures, and in Onslaught specifically, there were some absolute donkeys.

Have you ever seen Treespring Lorian? It’s a 5/4 for 6. What about Daru Lancer? Six mana, 3 power first striker, bam!

Removal was better, creatures were worse, and you would be shocked at what constituted good evasion. Screaming Seahawk was a ‘good card’, and Severed Legion was one of the most powerful cards in its class.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction has far fewer cards I wouldn’t run and when I cut them it’s because I have better cards, not because the cards are too bad to put in a deck. Even cards that are a bit awkward still have a place – particularly, sometimes you’ll have an uncommon or rare that transform how good another card is. Check out Boneyard Desecrator. I’ve won a few games with it as just a 3/4 menace for 4, which is unexciting but fine, but that’s a little desperate compared to when I got one alongside a Baron Bertram Graywater – which meant I started this creature getting bigger and bigger, slowly bleeding an opponent as I made treasures and vampires, and held off bigeger and bigger threats. Very fun engine, and it leads to the next point…

Sometimes an Uncommon Pulls Something Together

Treasure Dredger isn’t an amazing card, I don’t think. It’s a 2/2 for 2. It can block some things in combat but on its own it’s not really doing a lot. It doesn’t trigger crimes on its own, and you don’t usually need regular treasure production, unless you have something for it to work with. Like, again Baron Bertram Graywater.

Know what else works great with it? A huge expensive card like Cruel Ultimatum, or a huge expensive card like Overwhelming Forces or a card like Gold Rush. If I have one of those cards, suddenly, the Dredger is a lot more interesting. Quilled Charger isn’t a really exciting card, but menace is really good if you also have a Ferocification.

When I found I had a deck hanging around a card like that, I would play as if I was trying to get that card. Cyclers, searches, digging and rummaging all become differently valuable if you have a cool uncommon or rare that makes the whole deck work in a particular way, and that means that cards that keep the game going until you get them have a value for that point too. Gotta keep my head on a swivel and notice when my deck’s priorities are different.

Oh, know another good example? Spring Splasher. It’s not that good a card, but when I drafted two alongside a Lazav, Familiar Stranger, being able to drop Lazav and immediately crime on a creature that was safe and also promised to make the next crime on the next turn was really good. It didn’t matter if they weren’t a great card per se, because if Lazav is a 3/6 the first time they attack, they’re really hard to get rid of!

I remember these stories. I remember winning this way. I remember having fun with these interactions.

Sometimes You Get Dumpstered

In my first OTJ draft, my third game and loss was where my opponent cast, in order:

Thunder Salvo

Sandstorm Salvager

Hellspur Posse Boss

Gitrog Monster

Back For More

Savage Smash

That was kinda impossible to beat. And that happens. In best-of-one free-to-play drafting, there are going to be situations where an opponent gets a handful of heaters and I don’t have anything I can do about it but that’s not most games, it’s not all games, and even when a statistical outlier like this happens, the thing to do is take it, dust myself off, vent about the feelings and be okay with trying again.

I can’t remember when I won like that. I’m sure I have had wins where my opponent just – oh! Oh wait no! No I remember now. The last draft I did, I played a green-black deck where I had two treasure dredgers and a Kaervek, the Punisher. My opponents were convinced getting rid of Kaervak was a big deal, and left my Treasure Dredgers alone.

Then when I had five treasures, I untapped and cast the Goldvein Hydra in my hand, resulting in a 12/12 trampling vigilance haste. And I gotta say if you’re the opponent and you just spent time brawling through blockers and trying to box me into a position to get Kaervak off the table, because you could have no idea that my deck couldn’t do anything with him, only to have the Hydra that had been sitting in my hand vomit itself onto the battlefield and crash over 8 power of blockers for lethal –

That probably felt bad.

I mean, I take the W, but I gotta remember that I’m someone’s bad match too, sometimes. Point is, I’m playing a high variance card game for a reason and I’m not owed a victory, even if I think I am.

Don’t Spend All Your Removal At Once

The target is 20 of my opponent’s life total. Just because I can neatly kill a thing when my opponent plays out a creature and I have the mana up doesn’t mean it’s worth my time to do it. Creatures are going to bash into each other and live and die, and there’s nothing good about keeping the board clear in limited unless I’m already ahead, and ahead in a way that won’t be easily disrupted (so, like, 2-3 good sized creatures), then killing their creature with one of my small supply of removal spells might be a waste of that card. I don’t have a lot! I don’t have tons of removal! I need to hang onto it for the best targets. Killing something to get in for 2 is not a good use of a whole card.

Late Game Gas Is Really Important

I used to play limited in a world where you wanted to be able to engage on the battlefield on turn three, and just go for it. Creature combat was about mediocre creatures hitting one another and killing your opponents’ stuff and broadly speaking if you could draft a bunch of bears you were going to win just because you went 2 drop, 2 drop, two 2 drops against opponents who were still casting more expensive stuff.

That’s not the case any more. Evasion isn’t as available, it’s not as pure. People want to get around things and want to get through things. Menace has an amazing effect. Vigilance is incredible. But just having any big creature that I can draw to in the late game or hold onto in the mid game is important. Without that, even when the end game is stalled I’m drawing cards that aren’t good and don’t matter even if I am drawing a lot of them.

Conclusion

I am fond of  OTJ. I have memories of playing it and it has made me a little less scared of drafting going forwards and I’m really happy with how Magic Arena made drafting it part of my life.

Oh and Bonny Pall is a mess.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[lia-land]

Queen of Shadows

4/5 stars

*Spoilers for Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas.

I had fun reading this. As awful as Arobynn was, I was sad that he died. He was such an interesting character and I would have liked to see more of him. His death felt underwhelming. To be honest, I was so excited about him putting the ring on Aelin because it felt like a really good plot twist and I was so ready to read about how he’d control her without the others knowing somehow. But no, another one of Aelin’s convenient secret plans saved the day. Again. It’s getting old at this point.

Aelin is easily the most annoying main character I have ever read about. I just can’t bring myself to care about her, Rowan, or Chaol. I felt like there were too many POV’s at first, but now I’m really enjoying it because I don’t think I’d be able to get through this series if it was all from Aelin’s POV. I’m far more invested in Manon, Dorian, Elide, and Lorcan. At this point, I care more about Asterin and Abraxos than I do about Aelin. The chapters from Dorian’s POV were very well-written and I genuinely felt sad for him while reading them. Looking forward to seeing the stories connect.

I truly cannot tell if Aelin is written to be annoying on purpose, or if she is supposed to be portrayed as badass, but that’s just not how it has come across. I’ve been waiting for her to improve and she’s just gotten worse, in my opinion. In saying this, I do also think it’s refreshing and necessary to read about a main character in fantasy who isn’t the shy stereotype who’s never fought a day in her life, etc. I don’t like or care about her, but I enjoy reading about a different character to what we normally see in YA. 

I wasn’t expecting the friendship with Lysandra. I think her personality change from Assassin’s Blade is a full 360 in this and I don’t love it’s execution, but she is an interesting character to read about and I like her and Aelin’s friendship.

Chaol is just an ick of a character. I don’t know what it is, but everything he does annoys me. That's all I have to say about him in this book.

This is my favourties book in this series so far. It was fast paced, had a strong plot, and good twists.

[egg-emperor]

Rapid fire questions:

Fav eggman fight?

Least fav eggman fight?

Fav fangame interpretation of eggman?

Best and worst eggman theme?

Fav eggman level?

Depends on what we're going by with what makes his bosses my favorites. In terms of design it'd be Death Egg Robot, Egg Emperor, and Egg Dragoon. But my favorite for the actual fight gameplay would have to be the Unleashed PS3/360 version of the Egg Dragoon fight.

I love the Werehog and it's even better with Eggman involved, I love the intensity of the fight of climbing up onto him, swinging around and brawling, Eggman breaking the ground apart and trying to shoot you as you both fall deeper into the earth full of lava, Eggman yelling for Sonic to die and other threats that are some of my favorites and most well performed in the series adding to the excitement. It's always thrilling 💜

I'm not sure I have a least favorite though! I definitely don't dislike any of them, I like the challenge that every single one brings and I have a lot of patience for them when they involve Eggman lol. I like and will defend a lot of the ones that people say are bad because I genuinely find them fun or at least cool looking. I haven't really ordered all of them to know which one I just like the least as I don't dislike any of them because there are so many

-

I haven't played any fan games or looked into any that much on YouTube really to have a favorite one unfortunately! I've seen him in some that I thought were pretty good but not enough to recall and have one I like the most. I'd love some recommendations though, if y'all know of any that I might like ^^

-

My favorite theme is a tie of his SA2 theme and Unleashed Eggmanland entrance version of the 06 one, though the Egg Wyvern version and remix for the Colors cutscene sound cool too. I don't have a least favorite again though, all his themes, level, and boss music are beautiful 💜

-

My favorite Eggman levels where I can play as him are a tie between Weapons Bed and Cosmic Wall! They're a blast and it shows how badass and diabolical Eggman is with so much action and destruction and it's the BEST. 🥰 My favorite levels where you can't be him but he created/owns them are Final Fortress, Eggmanland, Cryptic Castle, Circus Park, and Tropical Resort and Asteroid Coaster (act 1 for both)

Realized I haven't given a single least favorite and gave multiple favorite answers instead ahfjfnsgksnfksfg sorry for cheating hehe. I find it impossible to dislike literally anything about classic/modern Eggman and I rarely even have just least favorites for him in any area! Only when it comes to portrayals do I really get more opinionated but even then I still love them all, just some more than others XD

[forter-from-meteos]

What is this silly meteos stuff

oh! ohohoho

I took a quick peek at your blog because of the thirnova icon, and love the theming you've got, but i didn't see any meteos posts (which is fine) so I'm gonna give the full rundown 👍

lemme just start by dropping a few links: Miraheze Meteos Wiki - Meteos Wikipedia Page - if you want comprehensive, objective stuff

Alright! Now time for the Cliffnotes version of that stuff, plus my own subjective info

Meteos is a game series consisting of Meteos (2005) for the DS, Meteos Wars (2008) for the Xbox Live Arcade (Xbox 360 online store), and some other titles that I'm not knowledgeable on, like the now defunct Meteos Online and Meteos: Disney Magic (which is just funny to me)

The very basic plot is: The planet Meteo is sending out streams of destructive matter called meteos, which is threatening to destroy all the planets in the universe. The various alien civilizations discovered that when the meteos group in a certain way, they change direction, and launch the meteos falling from the sky back out into space. Now they're fighting back against the meteos, and one of the civilizations has created the Metamo Ark, a spaceship made of meteo ore, to sail to Meteo and defeat it. There's some details I'm leaving out, but this isn't an award-winningly deep plot we've got here.

Actual gameplay is essentially just a match-3 game, but with a twist: meteos (matchable blocks) fall from above, and by moving them through the columns, you match them, and they launch upwards. The real kicker is the many different planets with different mechanics. For example, Forte (the home of my namesake) has a playfield 9 columns wide, has relatively low gravity (stacks fall back down slower) low-ish horizontal launch power (matches where the blocks are next to each other instead of above/below) but very high vertical launch power. And now that I'm typing this, I realize that I'm just saying words, so, uh, I'm just gonna drop another link to this playlist of gameplay samples for every planet in the original Meteos DS. The uploader is playing pretty fast, but it should give a basic idea.

Anyways, subjective opinion time. First of all, the gameplay is simple, but it's really good. Second of all, the art and general visual design is just, also really good. This post is already on the bulkier side, so look through the miraheze wiki if you want some images. I just, I just like it a lot, especially the aliens. They're all just color, no shading, just flat shapes, and the lore is bare-bones, but what's there is so nice and creative! It's beauty in simplicity, and it's a perfect little base to build off of!

Ok, but how could I play it? Well, the roms for both Meteos DS and Meteos Wars are easy to find, and the emulators DesMuMe and xenia are too! The company that made Meteos is defunct now (sad), so I don't think supporting the devs is something you can really do here, but if you really wanna play legit (or if your computer can't handle Xbox 360 emulation, like mine) and you have the consoles, then Meteos Wars is still available for purchase from the XBLA, and there's copies of Meteos DS still floating around on online marketplaces.

In summary, Meteos is a simple but good game (series) with very nice visual design, with easily available roms. If you're thinking about playing it, do. Please. /lh

[ilyrhyme]

chicken girls s10 opinions! (since the final episode came out today)

this season was honestly ROUGH with many different details that made it better and worse in some ways?

season 10a (episodes 1-10):

• the beginning of season 10a was such a slow beginning! getting through the first few episodes was such a bore and i would often skip weeks of watching😭

• i love brat for trying out the parallel between the second gen (s7-9) and third gen (s10) plot lines but i hated it! I’m sorry!!! it was kind of messy and pointless to say the least

• ivy is a boring protagonist and that’s that. after having iconic characters like rhyme and harmony as our leads, ivy didn’t have the spark that they did? she got severely better in 10b (will go in depth later) but she was such a bitch all of 10a!

• kara and ivys beef was honestly funny to watch. im somewhat of a kara stan so to see their beef that was REASONABLE was entertaining and one of the saving graces of 10

• you could tell the writers were bored out of their minds making this season! half of the plot points were either dropped mid season or not even fully developed!!

• bailey and her brother were kind of annoying im sorry. she felt like a sport version of leyla that was whiny literally the WHOLE season. this isn’t the actors fault at all, it’s simply THE WRITERS FAULT

• jj was a chill character. i liked her and she made sense. her home plot line was really sad and bailey had her best moment in the whole season by helping jj which i enjoyed. jj and bailey are one of my fav ships this season btw, they were cute and i enjoyed watching them! (sorry reading this back, this sentence made no sense😭)

• the gen 2 chicken girls were so boring in 10a. i feel like the writers just wanted to keep them in so ppl would still watch for one reason or another. in result of this, they got the dumbest plot lines in the show. I MEAN WHAT WAS THE TEST PLOTLINE W SIMONE AND PETRA?! my girl simone went through sm in 10b tho which ill go in depth on later obvi

• why did poppy do a full personality 360 from forever team? made no sense whatsoever!

• LOVE LOVE LOVE that we brought the dance team back!? it was random but i loved the og plot w the dance team and all that

• petra was a bitch in 10a and i loved her sm😆 she was a better written character than the 4 lead girls and idk why the writers did that but slay!

• kara x bailey, i was waiting the whole god damn season for and we didn’t get it😭

• the best character award goes to finn! he wasn’t annoying and remained my favorite character the whole season. some of y’all bout to hate but he was the best male character chicken girls has SEEN. he was such a better love interest that both walker and tk

• ivy and finn were cute ig? idk they got a build up which i liked but it was also out of nowhere

• i hate theo sm what😭 he was attractive but like he as a total bitch to BOTH petra and ivy! he wasn’t a one dimensional character but wasn’t two dimensional either? (iykyk)

• 10a was messy and i didn’t like most of it sorry😭 BUT 10B WAS SO MUCH BETTER I PROMISE

10b (episodes 11-20)

• UGH WHAT AN UPGRADE THIS WAS!! the second half of the season took like 3 months to come out BUT THE WRITERS NEEDED IT!

• finn, kara and jj were such a trio this second half and i LIVED for it! they were so supportive towards each other

• bailey tempering with more stuff she shouldn’t be dealing with YET AGAIN!! she didn’t need to do that whole thing for ben and set him up w a girl that was literally sapphic and liked her😭

• ivy tryna kiss petras man? kinda bitchy but it was fun to watch more in 10b than 10a? ivy and theo were also kinda cute ngl and they had chemistry

• SIMONE AND CLAIRE WERE AT EACH OTHERS THROATS.

• bailey got better FINALLY. getting her OWN plot line without having to temper with other peoples? YES YES YES. and it was abt trust issues too. ugh so real girl

• petra was so real all of 10b and also deserved SO MUCH BETTER OMG. i felt so bad for her the whole second half

• the whole football, dance crossover bailey thing was kind of a smart move on the directors part? idk it was kinda boring but also gave bailey MORE DEPTH WHICH SHE NEEDED!

• kara for more screen time!!

• kara and ivy had that really cute moment where they forgave each other and ended the rivalry. absolutely loved that

• ivys eating disorder was so important and a great plot point. i love that she was able to open up to the team! my only criticism was that (again, like most of the season) came out of nowhere!

• i feel like they could’ve afforded a better set. you could even tell regionals wasn’t even real bc they didn’t even have a stage

• bailey and sage! i liked them ngl and i hope sage comes back

• why did ivy go back to finn? like she wanted theo the whole season and then went back to him?…I LOVED IT! again, gave the season a bit of spice towards the end which came back to me wanting more!

• the last two episodes were REMARKABLE! 10B WAS GOOD AS IT STARTED OUT BUT UGH GOT SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING AND I WAS SO EXCITED TO SEE THE NEW EP TODAY

• petra needs to come back. i miss her already :(

• i lowkey thought jj and finn were gonna happen but I GUESS NOT. no but i also feel like jj was hinted at as being sapphic. she said smth like "the upsides of being a lesbian are.." and idk if that was referring to bailey or not but i found that interesting

• the group dynamic wasnt there until the last three episodes which was like again, the writers fault but them getting the bracelets out of nowhere was so confusing

• THE LGBTQ SHIPS THIS SEASON (canon and non canon) WERE SO GOOD BYE- BAILEY WAS DEF A SHIPPABLE CHARACTER AND UGH I JUST LOVED IT. FINN MY TRANS BABY!!

• now finally, the gen 2 chicken girls and they're PLOTLINE THIS SEASON. 10a was pointless but 10b. wtf was going on! nothing was working out and simone deserved sm better. claire and bel were SUCH trashy friends. poppy wasn't even given a bracelet so idk why she thought she was a chicken girl?! the existence of leyla was also 100% wiped and it felt like everyone forgot her?? claire also got so mad at simone for giving the bracelets away when she and bel didn't even care about the group the whole season💀

final thoughts:

sorry this was like a 85% bashing on the new season but chicken girls has gotten such a downgrade over time. the fans honestly deserve better if any of them are even still watching lmao. i think we are getting a season 11 bc of the cliffhanger as well as corrine joy (simone) posting a tiktok of them filming. if we do get a season 11, ill probably tune in and give my opinions but that's all for now. i would say to the chicken girls fans and anyone else to give this season a watch in your free time. it isn't terrible but it isn't the best we've ever seen from chicken girls *ahem seasons 3 and 7*. anyways, yeah it is worth somewhat of a watch. the start of the season compared to the ending is astronomical on how much of a change it was. ok bye now haha

[pile-of-bugs]

Dragonflies!!

Dragonflies are some of Earth's most efficient and fastest predators. When it comes to aerial maneuverability, nothing matches the dragonfly - not even flies, which are known for their reaction times! What makes dragonflies such agile hunters?

For one, their eyesight is among the best in the insect world. Nearly full 360 degree vision with dense compound eyes that show the world in high detail. The eyes are connected directly to the central nerve cluster allowing for near-instant reaction times and flight adjustment.

Their broad and aerodynamic wings can each move independently of one another, allowing for complete control over their movements. And more importantly, their signature ability to hover - which actually inspired modern helicopter designs.

While the fastest insect ever recorded was a tiny fly capable of briefly reaching 99mph during takeoff, dragonflies are the fastest insects on average, being able to maintain speeds of over 20mph consistently. The fastest dragonflies can reach 35mph when pursuing prey!

They can maintain these speeds while turning or changing altitude as well. In the wild, it's impressive if a predator has a 40% or higher catch rate of prey. Dragonflies, on the other hand, have a rate around 90%, the highest of any predator on Earth.

Once prey is caught, their powerful mandibles tear them to shreds mid-air. These pictures here are of a green darner (or an emperor dragonfly, not sure), one of the larger species of dragonfly. Their bite is painful even to humans and can easily draw blood.

Don't worry though - dragonflies have no interest in attacking humans. Their prey is just about anything smaller than them - fish, reptiles, flies, beetles... it doesn't matter, as long as the dragonfly can catch and lift it.

One of the coolest traits about dragonflies, in my opinion however, is their life cycle. Dragonflies start out as "nymphs," which look like freakish alien predators. They live underwater, where they feed on tiny insects - namely mosquito larvae!

That's right - if you've heard that dragonflies help kill mosquitos, it's actually the nymphs doing most of the heavy lifting.

Here's some photos of a dragonfly nymph that was walking across a sandy outcrop on its way to become an adult. When they're ready and grown, they leave the water and find a good spot to shed. This is NOT metamorphosis like what butterflies do (called 'holometaboly'), but instead just it's final shed or molt, or "hemimetaboly."

Dragonflies spend the majority of their lives in this state. Only for a brief month or two of their lives are they the flying, hunting adults you see flickering over pond surfaces.

Dragonflies live for about a year, and commonly have 2 or 3 generations per year. During the Winter, the adults all die out, entrusting their survival to the remaining nymphs trapped under the ice.

(all pictures by me)

[jackiedaytona]

For the other au idea

aight so boom

henry is back home from wherever (lets just say college for now) but at the moment he’s getting ready to leave for a concert. mr. sinclair is having some coworkers over (idk maybe some type of team building thing but ofc that’s why steve is at there home).

for the concert im thinking the Beyoncé’s Renaissance kind of gig so go big or stay home kind of deal. henry is in full gear; mirror rhinestoned halter crop top, black pants with silver shine to it, full face with a glittery lipgloss, body glitter. henry is coming downstairs in a panic bc he cant find his shoes or his mirrored cowboy hat AND WHATS THE POINT OF A BEYONCE CONCERT IF HE CANT FIND HIS COWBOY HAT.

once he gets himself together he catches mr sinclair and steve together and is like “what do we think too much?? not enough?? omg i dont have enough its tacky. is it tacky??? im going for camp is it not camp enough omg…” the entire time he’s giving them a 360 mr. sinclair is trying to reassure him that he looks great and jokes that he definitely will leave a last impression everywhere (which henry does not find funny in these dire times)

and then the fated “and what about you, do you think i look good mr. harrington” and steve being stunned from the moment he came down the steps stutters and chokes on his tongue trying to say literallyanythjng

Henry is like “ugh neither of you are any help” and goes back to his preparation

ANOOOONNNNNN

i LOVE it. my immediate reaction to the prompt was henry playing coy, i loooove how you took it to genuine. he’s curious!!! he needs opinions!!!! his mom is out right now and without her input he feels uncertain!!!!!!! he doesn’t even have it in him to think about how handsome his dad’s coworker is, he’s too stressed!!!!! what do you think mr. harrington????

meanwhile. poor poor steve. he’s already had his attention caught by his coworker’s son, he’s already given himself a stern talking to about it. decided he’s absolutely over it because he has to be. it’s fine to go over to the sinclair house because there’s nothing there! but now??? now he’s storming around the house looking like THAT?????? WHAT IS HE SUPPOSED TO DO????? THIS IS BASICALLY ENTRAPMENT. and he can’t tell him he looks good, charles will hear it in his voice, he can’t say he doesn’t look good, because he couldn’t tell such an absurd lie, and all that really comes out is some muttering that makes henry roll his eyes and run off—unaware of the lasting impression he’s already left

(i also really love mr. sinclair being casually supportive of his son’s outfit choices, if a little amused by his disposition)

[scarfacemarston]

I love Rdr2 with all my heart but when i play it i don’t have that “wild west” feeling because of the setting. With Rdr you really get that western vibe because the whole game is set around New Austin, West Elizabeth and Mexico which really give off that western feel to the game. It sucks because when you finally unlock that region of the map in Rdr2 there’s practically no content there so it just feels empty. If the rumours about the remaster/remake are true i will be so excited because Rdr was my entire childhood 😭❤️ I still remember spending my entire days in the house in the living room and playing Rdr on my brothers Xbox 360 😂

LONG post ahead because I'm obsessed with Rdr 1. You described my feelings perfectly! People don't realize that Red Dead 1 is a true Western. It (as you probably already know) is based on the Spaghetti Westerns. For those who don't know, those are the films with Sam Elliot, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, etc. You all may have heard of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. If not, I guarantee a lot of you have heard the theme and not known it. Here it is. It's also where the third pointed guns come from. (I think) Yeah, people don't realize that the game is lonely on purpose. This game takes place when ALL the outlaws are dead except for a few - and that John (Who retired), Javier (Who seems to not really be doing too many outlaw things at the time.), Bill (who is being a full-on evil bastard of an outlaw.) and of course, Dutch. Spaghetti Westerns are meant to show men with gruff exteriors, but good hearts. It's a shame that people won't try it out and, in my opinion - complain too much it's not like RDR 2 and not anything Arthur related, or the graphics suck. Like, really, people? I love rdr 1, and I actually like the game better than rdr 2. I love the missions, and the soundtrack is amazing. (Rdr 2 has an AWESOME soundtrack, too, but it's just different.) The side characters are just hilarious, and there are some truly heartbreaking moments to balance it out. I cried so much when John was finally able to return home and then the end, of course. It was brutal. It was the first time I ever cried over a character in a video game. I truly like Arthur, but I really like John better, and I wish Rdr 2 didn't do him so dirty. I understand he is younger and was an ass- but they really didn't do much with him. : / It's caused the fandom to think of him as the laughing stock when lots of magazines at the time voted him as one of the best-written video game characters of all time. (This was before rdr 2, of course.) John's voice then was just...excuse me while I thirst. It was different than it was in rdr 2 as you know. So yeah, you really know how to make me blab. lol

[zet-sway]

Before I ever touched mass effect, I played Resident Evil 4 on GameCube, PS2, 360, and PC. I wrote a fuckton of fanfiction about it as well but we're not here to talk about that lol.

The remake is, in my opinion, actually better than the original. There are a lot of liberties taken with some of the level design, but I think they are well considered and executed while staying intensely true to the flavor of the original work, AND improving on the clarity of events taking place. The controls are still distinctly familiar, but very much improved.

This game feels like it was lovingly recreated by fans who understood and cherished not only the first iteration, but other, sometimes lesser known entries in the franchise.

Its also WAY MORE gory and horrifying.

My only complaint is that some of the voice acting just isn't doing it for me. I didn't expect the full original voice cast to be on this game, but one character in particular is so changed from what I remember that they feel like a totally different person. However, the game vastly outshines this one single complaint.

I was going to complain about merchant, but to be honest he's kind of grown on me. The OG merchant is and always will be a fucking icon, but the new one has earned my respect.

Anyway, that's my review. Good job, Capcom. Thank you.

[ssprayberrythings]

Hi! Hope you are having a good day 🥰

For the ask game, I'd love to know some of your unpopular opinions! Do you have any about Top Gun? Or life in general if you just want to vent 😂

Hope your homework isn't too awful!

Hey hey! Yeah I’m having an alright day except for the fact that my class today ended being moved to online and I only found out until I was already on campus 🥲🥲 & no homework isn’t too bad, just readings I don’t wanna do !

Do I have any unpopular opinions ? Hmm! I definitely know I do but for some reason I’m blanking at the moment…

- I know this isn’t really unpopular but pineapple DOES NOT belong on pizza. Lol !

- Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries is overrated and does not deserves all the love he receives…oops

- Don’t know if anyone on here has watched One Tree Hill but maturing is realizing that Lucas was the problem in the Brooke/Peyton/Lucas love triangle. Brooke & Peyton are badasses who don’t deserve any hate !

- I know in the TG/TGM fandom, a lot of people say Ice = Jake but personally I think Mav = Jake…not sure if that’s unpopular or not…

- JAKE SERESIN IS AN ADULT VERSION OF JJ MAYBANK AND I REFUSE TO BELIEVE OTHERWISE…im not just saying this cause they’re both my best boys but seriously their personalities are so alike and i can genuinely see Jake being kind of irresponsible as a teen with a terrible father figure & believing there wasn’t anything better for him until one day, probably at the start of senior year someone asked him if he’d ever consider the Navy and that set off like a spark and he did a full 360…resulting in the Jake we see…that’s more of a H/C then it is an unpopular opinion but still..

I’m trying to think of any others…anyways yeah, there’s def more im just blanking! I hope you enjoy these though and feel free to share your own and/or whether you agree or disagree with anything I said !