#i'll try to load up the queue sunday

[quick-drawn-a]

cassidy invites you over for a movie night — you look in the netflix queue and it’s got every season of walker, texas ranger in it...and that’s it: what do you do —

[manonamora-if]

Last one of the month!

So this one was an unexpected surprise... Essentially, woke up in the middle of the night with an insane idea, could not go back to sleep, wrote/coded for 4h (and spent 4h-ish the next day to translate), and BAM! this happened.

You can find the game here! I've shoved it into 3 ranked jam (well, two, but one of them for 2 diff languages), if you want to vote for it too...

small note: essentially half the plan was scrapped because of time constrains. I might do an extended version in the future?

Current wordcount : 9.327 (FR) + 920 3.898 (EN) new Coding update : 20% change

Oh boy, did we manage to do some things this week for this one!! I wasn't able to add much in the French version (it is still incomplete), so I focused on the translation, filling the gap for the former when needed. This meant I could clear out the first beat of the game, and part of the second one (currently working on it). I am about 1/3rd fully complete. I also worked a bit on the UI, fixing the sizing (essentially copy/pasting the template again) and adding themes.

Will it be ready for EctoComp? I have two more days to try!

After reviewing 40 IFComp entries, I am tapping out for now. There are still 3 more weeks left, so I might play but not review them. It is a bit more than half of the entries, and more than last year… So many long entries. I'm tired.

~

I did an AMA last Friday, and answered all your burning questions until there were no more (about 2h). It was loads of fun! Thanks again for sending questions :)

~

What's happening in the IF sphere:

Speaking of the IFComp: 3 more weeks to play and vote for 5 games! If you have about 2h to spare... there are a handful of 15min entries :)

The voting for the inkJam is underway (wink, wink, scroll above): there is a 5-game voting queue before you can vote for any other entries.

The entries of the EctoComps are about the be released. This is ALSO a ranked jam, so consider voting for a few. La Petite Mort category are games created under 4hs, so they are usually fairly short.

Last chance to enter the Bare-Bones Jam!

Missed a jam deadline or you have a concept you're not sure you can finish? Throw it to the @seedcomp-if.

~

Now, there's a lot I've been wanting to reorganise with the way I've been sharing progress/communicate and where, especially since working on revamping @crimsonroseandwhitelily.

This is pretty long, so I stuffed it all under the break.

First order of business: Monthly check-ins A shortened version of the monthly check-in will be publish on itch from next month on, on the first of each month (unless IRL gets in the way). It will recap what I did the previous month and the plan for the next one, as well as other news of what I am organising/doing aside from game-making. The longer versions going into more details and wishy-washy feelings, also including fun events to participate in and recaps. You know, the usual. Those too, will be posted on the 1st of every month. I'll also have separate posts for jam announcement.

Second: Weekly check-ins These will continue to be published every Sundays (usually mornings EST), even if Sunday is the 1st of the month (will be up before the monthly check-in). The format won't change: recap of progress on projects, other stuff to mention, maybe some events to participate in.

Third: AMA I've been doing AMAs at hella random times, and on a whim, but I'd like to do those more often, because they are fun, and with a more set date/time, so more of you can participate/not miss it (like I did last Friday). Maybe once a month type of thing, around the start or end of the month probably. I'll at least do one more before Christmas.

Fourth: Where else to get updates I've tried out a bunch of places, and while Tumblr feels the most easy/comfortable right now, I don't want to rely on one place only to share releases and big updates (who knows what will happen to Tumblr). I want peeps to be able to have options about where they can get news/updates (esp if you don't want to create an account on a specific website). I'll need to update the nav post about this (maybe have a carrd? or mailing list?), and be more consistent about updating all these places. I need to find some log-ins again... For now, Tumblr will be the most comprehensive one. And I'm not updating Twitter, btw.

Fifth: Update calendar So this year has been so far pretty different from what I hoped to do (mainly because I've participated in so/too many jams), good progress has been done in some places, none in others. That's on me, obviously, I get distracted by new ideas. I can't promise that next year will be much different and that I will stick to a rigorous calendar of updates. Time management and hobbies are like oil and water... But I want to be more careful with how I map my year and where I put effort. Working on remasters and participating in jams has shown me I can do quite a bit in short spurs. And I think I could manage to close more small WiPs if I put my eggs in order (participating in jams/comps usually stops quite a bit of that progress). I think coming to term with leaving some projects be would help a ton. Not everything needs a remaster/update.

Sixth: Itch Pages Update + Trailers? With each remasters, I've tried to be more consistent with the formatting of the itch game page, with screenshots and links to relevant pages. While this should be something to do from the start (with the OG release), with the way I've been release things, I can at least try to make it happen after release. I've struggled a bit for some entries in what to include, ngl. Text-based game seems much duller than non-IF. Also, and somewhat related, I'd like to make trailers for some of the games, mainly the longer completed ones. Also because they look neat and I've never done that before. I have no idea where to start, how to do them, or what to include, but I'm excited to learn! But realistically, this won't be something I'll start this year...

Seventh: Stop with this jam nonsense. So this is more something that's been requested by anons relentlessly in my inbox (esp CRWL's inbox, which I've been deleting every time), than me actually stopping participating in jams. First of all, lol at those request. I participate in/organise them because it's fun and it makes me want to create more not before I personally want to make you suffer by making you wait for months for an update (legit got this as a message). Should I calm down with participating in jams? Maybe. I've made 9 new games this year alone (not counting promps and templates), with varying length and completion (1 is incomplete, 2 needs fixing, at least 1 should be longer), which 50% more than last year. It's not sustainable for me to do the same next year, especially if I want to finish more of my WIPs (I can't just add more to the pile). We will see what next year brings in terms of jams... I will probably submit an entry to multiple jams. Jam FOMO is real...

Eighth: Blog(s) regorganising I've started with CRWL already (it's back up with limited posts), and it will take a bit of time to have everything back in tip top shape. Aside from purging/re-writing posts, I'll also be updating the interface (I'm thinking or re-wroking it from scratch) to make it more mobile friendly. The same will happen at some point with this blog. I want to clear out unnecessary posts/reblogs, and have a better tagging system (the more projects I have, the worse it becomes...).

!~

And finally, I think I'm gonna need a few weeks of a proper break. IRL has been weird and I'm mentally exhausted. I don't know whether I need a break from everything or just the internet... but I might be away for a bit for sure. doomscrolling has not been helping either...

[biigscene-a]

so tomorrow i'm gonna be going down to my mom's house to hang out with her cause i haven't seen her in a while and on sunday i'm gonna go with my best friend wedding dress shopping then i'll be coming home on monday. i'm gonna try to queue up drafts a little bit before work today and then after work , but can't promise how much i'll get done because i haven't done laundry or packed anything yet. but i'll do my best ! i'm probably not gonna bring my laptop so i'll mostly be quiet or lurking on mobile. my ims are always open if anyone wants to talk , or i'm slowly getting back on my discord i'm just a really bad texter if anyone wants that as well. okay , i'm gonna put on a load of laundry now and see if i can't get to writing something before work.

[pixelnrd]

Hello my dear, hope you're having a lovely day! I was curious how long it normally takes you to finish a post (taking pictures, editing, writing, etc.)? I'm amazed that you are able to post twice a day!

Ooo I'll put this under a cut 🍄

I'm not really sure how long it takes for me to finish a single post, per se, because I usually organise several posts at once and set up a queue.

Taking pictures depends on how complex the shot is. Usually, I will take a lot of pictures in one 'session' of play, which will then become several posts - or just one big post, if it's complex (e.g. building and decorating a lot, posing lots of sims etc). I usually play the game/take photos for a couple hours on weeknights while I netflix n chill. But I can easily play 8 hours straight on a quiet Sunday and get like 2 weeks worth of posts out of it😅

Editing doesn't take much time because I have my preferred presets saved as an action, so that takes like 10-20 mins depending on how many images.

I hate writing, so that can take a bit of time because I put it off - but I know it has to be done so I usually do it last and base the prose on the images.

I think the thing that takes up the most time is outfitting my sims appropriately for the context - the main Langston family, but also the other people who appear in their lives, and I try to make them all look different. Setting up appropriate lots outside of the main house can be time-consuming too, because I am very particular with decorating. Some days when I am in-game all I will do is play in cas for 2 hours and then go to bed - I won't play the game or take any images.

My posting frequency really depends on where I'm at with gameplay. Right now, I am about to have Desmond age into an adult, so I've been pushing out my last 1950s posts over the past few weeks so that I can move into the 1960s in my gameplay - which is why I'm posting twice a day! But my queue is always loaded with several posts - sometimes up to 2 weeks. It means I don't actually play the sims or do anything with my legacy on an everyday basis, so I have some life balance.

[swanimagines]

I'm starting my log off session/a battery loading session thing today and will be completely away from Tumblr for 2 weeks (as in I'm not logged in and only see my blog as others see it), there are 10 (SaB) pieces in queue and they will start posting on Thursday, last one will post on 3rd of July. (All of them are posting 2am EEST because that seems to be the best time, thank you for the tip @maybanksslut)

I most likely will not start writing & posting new stuff when I'm back, but I need to catch my breath and think things through. By logging off I mean that I won't be answering to asks, messages or replies during these 2 weeks and likely won't even see any of them before I'm back. But I'm sure I'd be smiling ear to ear if I received any asks, messages or nice comments on any of my fics and read them all when I log back in Tumblr, just a 😉

If you don't know why I need to step back for a bit, read this post. (Trigger warning: a parent's death)

I'll see you either on Sunday 4th of July or Monday 5th of July if anything doesn't happen before that. Or if something happens, I'll make sure to inform you as soon as I can.

If someone wants to see what's up with me during me being logged out and see if I'm fine, I try to update stuff from my days to my Instagram stories and rarely my feed to keep my mind off from bad stuff: joutsentytto, feel free to follow if you want, I'll follow you back if we're friends.

These are the requests which are coming during my absence, in order of publishing:

@imabirrrb: 2/5 B73 + A50 for Kaz Brekker?

Anon: May I please request a song prompt for Genya Safin + Reflection by Christina Aguilera? thank you!!!

Anon: Hey love! I was wondering if you could do an Alina Starkov imagine where the reader and her sneak around the Little Palace together at night? Maybe they sneak some food and sit on a roof?

Anon: Hi Jenni! Could you write headcanons about being a Grisha and a member of the crows, coming with them across the fold in their job to kidnap Alina? Thank you so much if you do! 💜

Anon: hiiii!! can you do A40. “You really need a haircut.” with Kaz please??

@thereagles: Hi Jenni, hope you're doing good! I've really been loving your S+B content so was hoping I could request B24 with Jesper if you feel you could write it. As always, love your work and have a lovely day 💕

@dancingwith-sunflowers: Hi Jenni! I was wondering if you could do a Matthias Helvar x female reader with the prompts #D12 + #D17, please? 😘 Thanks so much!!! 💕

Anon: Hello can I request a songfic for Aleksander morozova pretty please? Favourite crime by Olivia Rodrigo

@imabirrrb: 4/5 D18 + D17 for Kaz Brekker?

Anon: Hi! Could you possibly write some headcanons for dating Kaz (I think he'd be the type of guy to tease the reader for their height, also very protective & secretly a softie). I'd love to hear your ideas :D

[weebsinstash]

How would Present Mic react if the darling had actually said something nice about him or his show on the air instead of trying to rat him out? How would Shota react? Would it bring them closer to trusting you?

--Anyone tuning in can hear Present Mic get choked up after a certain shy caller with a quiet voice phones in to say that they've been listening to his station a lot lately, hope he's doing ok, and before making their own request, softly suggests that he should play more music for himself that he likes, since he tends to play suggestions from the audience so much. Hizashi can't exactly say what he wants since this is all a big secret, so he has to play it off as "getting sentimental" about how much he likes doing his show and getting calls from everyone.

--He can't even wait until he gets home. Once the song you asked for begins, he steps out for some privacy and calls you back right away, near incoherent with joy. He's rambling a mile a minute the second you answer the phone and you can only barely keep up.

"Baby! You finally called in! I can't even tell ya how long I've been waiting for my favorite listener to come on the air! You know my favorite song is your voice, baby! It's on loop in my head all day, everyday yo! D'ya hear the song I put on for ya?! D'ya like it?! ... Oh, yer still tryna listen to it? ...oh right, duh...... Well, is there anything ya want me to bring home?! I get off in a few hours, I can grab ya somethin'! Anything ya want! It'll be total hell waiting to see ya, but--"

He loaded up the queue with music before calling and essentially runs his mouth until the songs are over and he's forced to get back on air, and everyone listening in might be able to spot the extra pep in his voice, just as excited as ever before

--Even if you're in bed sleeping, you get practically tackled when he comes home to get Shouta for work (since in Japan the only day off from most schools is Sunday so I imagine UA is the same). He's always been affectionate but it's been kicked up to 200, all but bruising your cheeks with his rapid-fire kisses.

--he went straight to you when he got home and can hardly leave your side when you tiredly mumble "don't you have to go teach today...?"

Of course, even after his very pouty departure, he quickly returns with Shouta, and now you're getting affection from both of them. Aizawa will kiss your temple and affectionately tease "Just look at what you've gone and done. Now I'll be dealing with his motormouth all day. Do you have any idea how hard it is to calm this man down?"

--Their students notice that both of their teachers seem extra happy today, and how could they not be? This was a sign that you're finally settling in, getting adjusted, and you're happy with them. They'll be walking on air all week because of this