#in a cheaty sort of way

[illuminatedferret]

ascensions lian

one of my favorite things about rereading tgcf is finding little bits of info where MXTX showcases how crazy strong xie lian is. like in the PROLOGUE we learn that if people trying to ascend fail their Heavenly Tribulations they either die or are (socially? physically?) ruined. like, nevermind the rigors of cultivating to ascension, the act of ascension itself is lethally dangerous.

and XIE LIAN

this motherfucker ascended for the first time IN HIS SLEEP. the second time he was so busy pummeling bai wuxiang that he didn't even notice it!!! what the hell!!! what the hell is this guy on and how do i get some

[magicalmanhattanproject]

for those who missed what tubbo is building the giant hole for, it's a perimeter. they're a staple of technical minecraft.

basically, when you build a mob farm, to get the best drop rates possible, you don't want mobs to spawn in areas that aren't your farm. there are generally two ways

on the one hand, you can spend enormous amounts of time and effort tracking down and lighting up every single cave in the area around your farm. this is super tedious and labor intensive and hard to be thorough with unless you use spectator mode, which a lot of players feel is cheaty for this sort of thing.

on the other hand, you can build a perimeter. you don't have to light up your caves if there aren't any caves left for you to light up. they are absolutely gargantuan projects. the smallest that a perimeter can be for it to be effective is 16x16 chunks or 256x256 blocks, which i think is the size tubbo is building it at. they take a lot of work on the front end, but once they're done, they're done. you're left with an area where no mobs can spawn anywhere you don't want them to, which is incredibly useful for farming

tubbo has also mentioned possibly using them as a mob switch, which is when you spawn so many mobs in one area of a server that you use up the entire mob cap and no mobs can spawn anywhere else. pierre mentioned that's unlikely to work on qsmp due to the mods, but it would sure be interesting if it could work

either way, i've seen some people upset about tubbo making a big ugly hole for no reason so i thought i would just explain some of the reasons behind it. also, there's no reason it can't be decorated. in fact, covering the floor with pretty patterns in nonspawnable blocks like carpets or colored glass is a common technique to just make it nicer to look at along with making sure it's fully spawnproofed.

[greenyvertekins]

Maybe I'll try Sonic Shuffle next. I have a sort of funny history with that game in a way. I initially got it as a gift back in 2002 but the disc didn't work so I took it back, got refunded and had an extra tenner on top to buy a new copy of the DC version of SA2 :3 Its unique art such as in events and the credits was always pretty cool. Apparently though, the AI is cheaty?

[awingedllama]

would u perhaps think about making a fuctional wall phone I want one SO desperately in ts4

i would love to be able to do this properly with an animated phone

like i know all the steps to add bones and replace animations and make an animated functional object, but i simply cannot… do it. i get into blender and start trying to edit the animation and my prefrontal cortex shuts down

i could do it a sneaky “shortcut” way though. a wall phone (with the chat with, ask on date, invite to etc. interactions) where the handset disappears when the phone is in use. i could use the original smartphone animations and just replace the cell phone prop to match the handset

it’s sort of cheaty and low effort but then that fits with ts4 lol. will put it on my list if you’re interested in that workaround!

[majormeilani]

tips for not dying in Minecraft that i have learned from playing many upon many hardcore Minecraft worlds that will save you almost every time

ALWAYS keep your health and hunger as high as you can in dangerous places in the game. one fall or a step into lava could be the end for you if not

ALWAYS keep a look out of your surroundings when exploring. look up, down, left and right, especially when navigating caves and new areas. place torches every couple of blocks as you run through them as well. this tip is especially important because it keeps mobs from sneaking up on you and is helpful for finding resources too!

ALWAYS have wood with you OR bring an oak/birch/azalea sapling and a dirt block with you when exploring underground. you can also bring moss too. when you kill skeletons, you can use the bone meal from their bones to grow the sapling and replenish your wood supply with at least enough to make torches or a crafting table

you can eat and row your boat at the same if you start eating food and then start rowing immediately after

if a fight seems too hard for you to win, running away is your best course of action

or sometimes if there's a creeper in the mob group, you can lure them to the middle and block with a shield and the creeper will damage or kill the mobs around you

ALWAYS crouch at high ledges when walking past them. one time i fell off a ledge but somehow managed to land on the hitbox of the block in such a way that i was able to jump back up all because i was crouching

protection four armor on all armor pieces will protect you from A LOT OF DAMAGE in some cases you can literally stand right next to a creeper or tnt and you won't take fatal damage, even on hard difficulty

a mending bow is better than an infinity bow for long term use as arrows can be bought in bulk from a fletcher villager for 1 emerald

use villagers to farm xp for enchanting and emeralds. the best way to start a village is with a farmer villager, fletcher and a shepard. the fletcher you can trade sticks to for emeralds to buy bread from the farmer and beds from the shepard (3 tier trade)

the best villagers to farm emeralds and xp is between librarians and cartographers or fletchers and librarians. farmers and clerics are also a decent choice for getting xp but may require gathering surplus resources. fisherman and butchers kinda suck but can be a substantial food source

bring shears and night vision potions to ancient cities. use the accessibility function to toggle crouching for navigation of the city to avoid summoning a warden. you can use shears to quickly break and pick up wool from the hallways of the ancient city. to avoid triggering the shriekers, surround any chests, sensors or shriekers on all four sides (or the top/bottom for shriekers and sensors for extra safety)

when you go to the end for the fight, bring at least 3 stacks of wood with you. you can also bring at least a stack of wool with you if you plan on using beds but the wooden planks are helpful for crafting or pillaring, otherwise

do not be afraid to use blocks to make navigation easier. this can be used especially if you are familiar with the layout of a structure but are too afraid to fight enemies head on, like looting bastions or woodland mansions.

don't be afraid to build farms! they may seem cheaty but they can be helpful in the short or long term

you can capture mobs in boats to prevent despawning (java edition), which is especially good when zombie villagers show up before you have the resources to cure them

save most of your gold bars for golden apples as they will save you in a pinch

ALWAYS have some sort of building block in your hotbar. this can be useful in blocking off mobs or pillaring to escape.

having something to break your fall in your hotbar is also recommended but not required. hay bales, beds, water buckets, snow buckets and slime or honey cubes can break your fall

in java edition you can also use boats and sometimes mobs to drop down from high places and mitigate fall damage. boats you can actually row off edges and fall from high heights without taking damage at all!

having a boat on hand is also always a good idea for navigating the world and also acting as a barrier for catching dangerous mobs in

you can put carpet on top of fences to hop over them!

in my experience, having 1 smite 5 sword and 1 sharpness 5 sword on hand is very helpful for fighting everything in the game. the smite 5 sword will kill anything undead in a couple hits, which most mobs you will encounter will be

jumping before hitting always deals more damage, esp with an axe which is a good early game weapon! most mobs die in 1-3 hits from an iron axe

there's more but i am too tired to remember them

[ellissims3lepacy]

Sims 3 Lepacy Gen 1 : Chapter 1 - Just getting started

Eileen purchased a beautiful lot in the same area where Gobias Koffi and the Wolfs live. I built her just a very small starter house, which we will expand on once Eileens starts saving up some money, and perchance has someone to live with ;) Eileen also got wants to plant seeds and learn gardening. She's in fact rolling a lot of wants to learn skills like athletic, handiness, fishing, cooking etc. I find the best way to learn lots of skills is to get the Sims Store tablet and have the sim listen to a tabcast while they do other activities, so Eileen's definitely going to get that once she gets a bit of cash. Maybe it's slightly cheaty but she's not going to have as much time if and when she has kids!

Eileen got a job in the Military career as she wished and her boss is Erin Miller who will hopefully become a friend in the future. Eileen prowled the town and met some new people; namely new friends Ayesha Ansari and Nancy Landgraab. I wanted her new friends to also be sims that I haven't played around with before. I did sort of cheat and have Ayesha also join the Military and ditch her job in the Criminal career bc a) she has similari traits to Eileen and the Military would suit her better and b) I wanted Eileen to have another coworker and the Military always has so few workers. They just didn't derserve Ayesha!

In addition to making friends with Ayesha and Nancy, Eileen also met Hank Goddard who she had the hots for! She thought he was a 10/10 and didn't meet any other guys who interested her. Now I play wants based even though I might have some ideas for what I wish my sims to do. But ultimately my sims get to date who they want to even if I know they aren't well suited. Hank for example is enganged to Pauline Wan at the start of a new save but they will usually break up pretty quickly due to story progression, and they did split this time around as well. This happened on day two or so and Hank moved into the Mosquito Cove lol. I don't use the EA attraction system but a new attraction mod which I'm testing out with this save. It seems so far to be pretty similar to the EasyVarietyAttraction mod I was using previously.

Eileen rolled the wants to make friends with Hank, go on a date with him and kiss him for the first time so that's what we will pursue in the next chapter! Hank probably won't be her partner for life since he has the commitment issues trait. And on top of that he wants to be the boyfriend of 10 different sims. 10! Which means Eileen would only be number two which is unfourtunate. But hey not everyone meets their soulmate immediately at age 21! Right!?!

ps. I don't have that many photos of these first chapters bc I didn't decide to document this Lepacy until much later in my save. So it will hopefully get a bit better later on.

[tidaltow]

@kindofuneven || sort of planned, sort of unplanned starter (you know what you did, dumblr (¬､¬))

“You should see the other guy.”

Of course, the funniest part of that statement was that Percy couldn’t even see himself to compare, but he felt fine. Maybe by the fault of adrenaline. Maybe just because, Wow, it’s not like I’m not used to getting roughed around a little bit here and there; this is nothing. Or maybe, just maybe, he was equally as distracted examining his friend’s face: any nicks that wouldn’t already heal all on their own in that cheaty werewolf way, any sign of pain that wasn’t just . . . Man, Scott was concerned again. When was Scott not concerned, honestly—?

“Get me a bottle of water or something; I’ll be good,” Percy said with the shrug of a kid who’d just scraped his knee and was being fussed over by a concerned mom. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll go jump in the nearest body of water. I dunno— Frankly, I’ve got a bigger bone to pick, McCall.” He leaned back, but his attention didn’t once flicker from Scott’s face: eye contact secured and basically screaming, You know what you did, young man. “Didn’t I specifically tell you to hang back? What happened?”

[unwhoretunately-a-fangirl]

Genie granted you three NSFW wishes. What are you wishing for?

Look around yourself. You are EXTREMELY horny. What unusual object are you using to get off?

What’s your biggest sexual pet peeve?

Three for one ask my breast friend 🫡

my psionic warrior...

It pains me I can't fight plato and lose with one wish but alas... mmm idk the cheaty first answer is probably Razmagurk's Girlfriend with a Testing Device Testing Device (which you can read now on deviant art and literotica, its good i like it its about weird swaps and stuff), it has a lot of metaphysical implications that arouse me and I also desperately need to push that thing to its limits. shapeshifting, both because my tastes are not fixed and to try and make a definitive statement one way would restrain me differently in the future, so being able to accommodate multiple things over time is probably the best of all "i wanna look like X" answers. Anyway read lemonfont's shapeshifter series. then realizing the djinn was not actually being magnanimous and the karma causing me to explode sexual style before i answer the third (i started quoting radiohead to it) alternate ending the genie is so enamored by me we marry in Vegas and drive into Lake Mead. Alternately: control, a perfect body, a perfect soul, (smth smth creep weirdo strange hat)

soldering mat, i know its probably some silicon thing and it can be curled up so, i think you could make do with that, the lead poisoning is just an added bonus

Ambiguity or asking me to improvise a character with no direction. I had been erping a thing for this guy for yea a month when suddenly he started wanting to do this sort of force-femme slice of life anthro farm thing. It was minimally sexual in spite of how it sounds and he often would just ask for the farm thing then give no direction on what he wanted me to guide him through. Part of it, I think is that he just wanted to have someone engaging in this idea with him, but it was just so frustrating to try and handle this with him essentially going "hey can i do the thing", like what "thing"?

[redwinterroses]

I don't think I've ever thought about void Zedaph a lot, but I think the other day you mentioned how the episode of Create where he was the only one not taking damage on his various contraptions could add to that, I guess being that his form was less physical than the others'? And idk, I sort of had a vague headcanon/au/idea when the series started (during the time that the other 4 hermits involved were stuck on Empires) that Create was a Hermatrix kind of situation with Zed being key somehow...

Ooooh I definitely like the lessened damage idea. XD

Tango's smashing his face into the walls and Zed just tilts his head to the side like "What are you doing, man?"

An Tango winces as the machine jolts again and his elbow smacks the corner. "Your -- ooof -- your contraption is -- ouch -- dangerous, Zed!" It finally stops and he tumbles out of the seat. "Ow ow ow ow ow. Ow."

Zed nudges the corner of the contraption with a curious toe. "Huh. That's weird. Never bothered me, for sure."

"How has it never bothered you??" Tango's voice spikes with incredulity and his hair stands on end. He points at the flippervator. "Get on this thing! I want to see you get your bits all smashificated all the way to the ceiling and back."

So Zed does, and he just kinda... phases through whenever the flippervator glitches into walls and corners and when he gets back down to the bottom, Tango's got his arms crossed over his chest and his face curled in half-faked disgust.

"Cheater," he declares. "Cheaty cheater who cheats at the universe."

Zed phases out of the seatbelt and stands up, mischief and purple void sparks dancing in his eyes. "You shoulda seen your face," he says, a laugh barely hiding in his voice. "Oof, ouch, oof, owie--" he mimed getting smacked into things. Then--

"Hey, ow!"

"Phase through this, ya jerk!"

And Tango chases him out of the room with a wooden sword, both of them laughing semi-hysterically.

[amazing-spiderling]

fic writer asks: 1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?

25. What other websites or resources do you use most often when you write?

I'm going to be a little cheaty- since there's two fandoms I've written a chunk for, I'd leave it up to the reader as to which they'd prefer, but they both have a lot in common.

If someone was of the Metal Gear persuasion, I'd tell them to read "Rat in a Foxhole", which is a story that consumed my brain and I think I was smashing out a chapter a day or something, because I was SO INSPIRED by a piece of artwork (itself, an album redraw) that my brain was on fire and the only way to get it out was to put the words on the screen. The fic has a bit to do with some information we get from MGS 5, specifically that Huey had intended for his son Hal to be a child mech pilot (the pilots needed to be small because of the limitations of the size of the cockpit). My brain immediately got to wondering about what would happen to such a child pilot once they grew and "aged out" of the program (or the program shut down because wtf). Then I saw @polmcarts artwork of a version of Hal and Dave meeting in some kind of bootcamp and the plot was born.

It's a sort of... meditative fic? I often imagine my stories as screenplays, and if it was viewed in that way, there would be a lot of long silences, detail shots, vast open landscapes etc. It does, of course, include a drawn out winter arc because I'm that bitch, and it's got a few twists and turns before (of course) ultimately ending on a hopeful note.

Likewise "The Man in the Mask" is a Spideypool AU that envisions an alternate meeting, and one of the characters not being forthcoming with who they are and why they're there. This one was another story that was really burning a hole in my brain, although it took me a lot longer to get it out. Having a little Marvel familiarity (with mutants and the legacy virus in particular) helps, but I've had people tell me that I did a good enough of a job explaining the concept in the fic that they weren't too lost. This one reads a bit like a "bottle episode" with the two characters more or less trapped in a single apartment and making the best of it. (I guess you could say Dave and Hal were trapped in the boot camp in the first one, so there's that.) For a story about Wade and Peter, this one also has a lot of introspection and quiet moments before a few things bubble over.

Just like the first story, this one had people screaming at me before they finished off the last chapter, which I think is a bit of a feather in my cap as a writer, it means I sold the drama and brought things to a satisfying conclusion. I call both of these some of my "weird ones" because they're extremely niche AUs that I wrote for myself, so it really makes me happy when they ping with people. I wish I had ideas like these more often.

17. I kind of have a bug in my brain about doing a fantasy adjacent Earth-65 AU featuring "The Merry Janes" and I guess AUs of AUs counts as niche... Oh, god and I really want to write a 616 or NMCU (or combo) one about Matt and Foggy being academic rivals and complaining about each other online anonymously and becoming friends (and more) without realizing. I was watching a compilation of 90's/2000's anime intros and the beginning of "His and Her Circumstances" started spooling little ideas in my head. And now that I'm on a roll, my brain is like "Lol what if Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne AU" where Matt is a "holy thief" stealing/exorcising relics and Foggy is on the side of the law trying to bring him in sfdkdsjflj And of course there's the Madoka E-65 AU I want to flesh out at some point, but that might be a better comic than story. Moral of the story is, Anime: Not Even Once.

25. thesaurus.com LOL I don't actually do a lot of looking at resources when I'm actually writing and I don't have a lot of "go to" pages for things, it's kind of random. I will do searches for things like "what year was this thing invented", but I don't have a bookmarked tab of "popular weapons in ancient china and how to use them" or anything like that. I guess I use Youtube a lot to listen to vapor/chillwave mixes while I write, is that anything? I guess a resource I use is the sprintbot in discord (and my fellow server members) to help get my brain to focus. I keep meaning to try that website that has little doodads on it to help adhd brains focus on writing but i keep forgetting.

[luesmainblog]

I’m always sort of... bothered, by the discussion around minecraft Villagers in a way I can’t quite put my finger on, but i’d like to try and articulate it. to begin with, the antisemetism is not hard to look for, in either the villagers themselves or the community. they’re these weird-lookin, monobrow’d, big-nosed people living in small, distant communities who have a trading system that many feel is cheaty, and they literally spawn Golems. the image of the greedy money-obsessed big-nosed jew who wants all your shit and gives little in return is not hard to compare to them. add in the wandering trader, the witches, and the way the community tends to commit pretty fiercely to human trafficing(as the mechanics unfortunately encourage anyone looking to make their own village), and the fact that the original creator Notch went nazi mode pretty fucking easilly, and it all looks very, very bad. and yet, i can’t help but feel that isn’t the whole story. because i love my blocky jewish neighbors. i don’t mind that i can’t understand them; they help me out, and i like to help them out in turn. i see people wanting to remove their monobrows and their big ol’ noses, and i understand why, but i can’t help but noticing it’s making them look more like the player character. questioning their humanity until they look like steve and alex. but why? people do have big noses, or monobrows, or funny-shaped heads, or languages we don’t speak. i’ve never felt cheated by their trades, i find it incredibly useful to have so many things available to me that otherwise wouldn’t be. the man who sold me a bottle o’ enchanting has never done me any sort of wrong. i just can’t help but feel there’s something to say about us where we require these obviously human npcs to resemble us before we recognize them as such. and ascribe ill intent to peaceful, happy neighbors who don’t give us any trouble. is it not telling that you gain no experience from killing them? that mojang’s mechanics are built, albiet misguidedly, to encourage players to move in and become a part of their existing community? to defend them? to help them grow? to see them as your friends? are we so willing to believe in antisemetic propoganda that we cannot stand to leave people with their charming unusual features? that a bit of hair between your eyebrows and a larger nose inherently makes you a bad image? i don’t mean to tell the jewish community how to feel about their block game, and i do my best to shut my mouth when they talk about how it hurts them to see. because it’s completely reasonable to feel hurt by it! but i love my blocky neighbors, and i can’t help but think of how everyone insisted speedy gonzales was a racist characiture too, even though he was a hero and a good man. and i’m aware the difference there is that the mexican community actually liked speedy. i just wonder why our reaction to seeing some obvious stereotypes is to immediately hate them, when they’ve never bothered or wronged the player beyond a very small annoyance of standing in the wrong spot.

[fountainpenguin]

"It's not that difficult to get your head around; you'll never meet another me..." (x)

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New Pixels Imperfect stuff today! || One-Shot

“There Are Many Benefits to Being Corporeal”

Read on AO3

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I am back on my “LazyBeans26 and PiglinMyNose are the same person on NameMC” propaganda… Sniff and Pig have infected my brain, so here’s a silly sickfic about a tired camera boy and his weird new friend who's just contracted "experiencing the horrors of being sentient" disease.

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

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When Jimmy and Scar asked if they could take turns possessing his vessel, LazyBeans26 didn't even hesitate. "Sounds like fun! I'm in." Why not? He's always down for a good time and he's not a square.

They tracked him to his studio apartment, 4th floor of the Raisin Tower. It's the Sun Ray Tower; nobody ever calls it that. Yeah, he's earned it; he's been around New Star Station a long time. It's a tiny place, but that just feels right, y'know? Must be his slime hybrid genes. Something about small, square spaces just feels right. And it's really not bad for a guy who's lived his whole life alone. He's not a builder; he hates doing interiors. This spot works just fine for him, even though Jimmy and Scar are bumping into each other in the kitchen space and they're so close to the bed, Scar could jab it with his cane.

"Are you sure?" Jimmy asks, tilting his head. Lazy's in front of his mirror in the skin change room, two bobby pins in his teeth as he ties back his hair. He clamps the pins to one side with his tongue.

"What d'you mean? Of course I'm sure. I've been thinking of changing my name, actually… It's about time I haul my butt across the station and hit up Etho for that anyway. He'll be much happier if we make it a two-fer. He'll get all huffy if it's just the name."

"Oh, really?" That's Scar. "What- What are you changing your name to?"

"Pig. Pig something… I haven't figured out the rest. I'm just kind of tired of going by 'Lazy.' It's kind of run its course for me. And '26' never really clicked as a name." Hair pinned back, he rinses his hands and splashes at his face. "I'll settle it on the way over. Shall we go?"

"Gods, you're so cool," Scar breathes, staring back at him. His mouth quirks up in a smile at one end in a very GoodTimesWithScar sort of way. "I told Jimmy you'd say no."

"How long have you known me, Scar?"

Scar giggles, waving a dismissive hand. "L-let's not get into it… You're very cool, Pig. And handsome!"

"I appreciate that, yeah."

They give him the rundown on the way downstairs. Jimmy and Scar are looking to team up, taking turns with a single vessel, in a painful attempt to defeat the ender dragon and free the End before the chaotic duo of Grian and Joel. "And every time we die," Jimmy explains, looping his arm around Lazy's neck, "then Scar and I switch off who's in control."

"So are we all in my vessel at once?" he asks, pushing open the apartment door. They step onto the street together. The road's all bedrock, accented in a sidewalk of deepslate half-slabs as far as the eye can see. As always, Lazy glances down the left-hand street. The slime soul spawner sits in a place of honor in the town center, wrapped in the roots of an enormous dark oak tree. It's custom made, entirely decorative… but it's fun to admire nonetheless. Should I say hi to Mum? I should swing by and say hi to Mum.

"No, no… We're taking turns." Jimmy pats Lazy on the shoulder as though in reassurance. He's not the most reassuring fella that there's ever been, but Lazy lets him anyway. "The thing is, we log off every time we die. You're the only one who'll know everything that's happening for the both of us. You're collecting all the footage and as a third party, you'll be there to hold us responsible so we can't do any cheaty cheating. We're in a race, after all. We're Minecraft professionals. Does that all sound good?"

"You want to know what I think?" Lazy peels away from Jimmy and starts walking backwards, thrusting his hands in his hoodie pockets. He sticks his tongue at Scar. "I think Mr. Good Times With Fey here is hoping to wheedle out another password for his collection!"

"Oh, no, no, no," Scar protests, eyes like innocent emerald blobs. He lifts his cane, shaking both hands back and forth. "I don't take those anymore… I'm an honest man, Mr. Pig!" He bops Lazy on the head with his cane, then scampers down the road with a hum. He catches the copper rod of a lamppost with the cane hook and swings around, over and over, just waiting for Lazy and Jimmy to catch up. Lazy rolls his eyes.

"You're getting a substitute password if we do this. And you can keep it."

Scar makes a face, but doesn't protest. One-times do nothing for me, goes unsaid. His cane clicks and scrapes as he twirls around the pole again. Then Scar drops back to the road and pauses to massage his foot.

Grian and Joel, apparently, will be inviting someone new to the station to play this little game. Lazy asks about that as he and Jimmy wait for Scar. Jimmy shrugs. "Some endermite soul showed up near the fox spawner and got tangled in their soul-catcher. They never found his vessel, so Mama Fox let Etho bring him to the station."

Lazy lifts one eyebrow.

"All right," Jimmy amends, scratching behind his neck. He flashes a guilty smile. His canary-yellow wings, small and positioned low against his back, give the softest flutter. "He may have smuggled the guy out to bring him here, yeah. You know Mama Fox. She's gotta have one of everything in her collection…"

"I do believe I made her acquaintance once, yes. I wasn't gonna mention it, but I did wonder how he could've swayed an entire soul out of her if there wasn't a bit of deception involved. It's been a hot minute since we've had a new endermite hybrid running around, yeah? Good for him. Hey Scar, I'm gonna say hi to Mum real fast."

"That's fine! I'll be up in a minute. Just gotta rest my foot. My glitch did a weird jolt when I hopped down; oooh boy… I'm gonna be feeling that."

[Cnt'd on AO3 - Link at top]

[romilly-jay]

Never Work With Animals (Or - Do? If You Want To? /// Still Trying To Let People Like What They Like... Why So Difficult?)

*** spoilers ***

Sorry, but this one needs to be a spoiler blog because it's a trying-to-figure-out-why blog. I know there's something I'm reaching towards but not quite sure whether I'll be able to express it - yet.

I've just seen 2023's Puppy Love on Amazon and - I really liked it. Not all of it. But tone - YES. Trying to figure out WHY. Like, specifically, what choices did they make that just fell DEAD RIGHT for me?

NB for the title image, I've chosen the cheaty Seattle skyline shot - chosen because I think Seattle is my favourite US city and cheaty bcz a glance at IMDB told me that of course they filmed in Canada. Obvs.

Here's a lil montage of stills from the trailer. Thank you trailer because once again you have more or less all the best bits. Not all. But many.

In no particular order, I liked:

Gender reversing of the main character traits - he's super nervous, she's commitment-shy, he's obsessively house-proud, she's a slob.

They are flawed but not obnoxious. They are both kind to animals. He complains because she stuck him with the vet's bill, but no, next time they meet, she pays him for half of it. She goes out hurt because she thinks he's rejected him and yes, she has too much to drink but she absolutely doesn't make out with the (terrible) rich guy to lose herself or to get back at him. And when she brings Terrible Guy home, it's NOT because she's planning to heedlessly or vengefully make out with him but because she wanted to keep her promise about taking the dogs for a walk. I really dislike the // let's lie / let's be terrible people // "romance" tropes and appreciate that these people were sweet but just a bit broken in sort of opposite ways.

The stakes are not huge but not ridiculous. He's in a spiral after Covid and struggling to make himself go back to the office. He needs to get past social phobia to cope with his ordinary job-life. She is doing the archetypical romcom job (she stages luxury homes) but that job almost never appears on screen - it's given about the right amount of relevance - and what matters more is the path she didn't take (art school) and the reason she didn't take it (bereavement).

After the showdown. They. Talked. To. Each. Other. OMG. Thank you.

[There was a little bit of slightly weirdo editing in the after-they-reconciled section which suggested to me that maybe the order of how things played out was switched around and they didn't have QUITE enough of the right footage in the can to make it 100% smooth. I might be making that up - just a little hint of failing to remember that they'd done the bust-up/move-out/reconcile/back cycle a mere matter of moments earlier (for viewers, that is). ]

I appreciate the carefully chosen in-unison use of the F-word at the climactic moment. They're nice people but they're not pushovers. This felt earned and it showed them being connected and aligned. Worked for me. Lots about this movie worked for me.

Things that didn't work (for me). The male MC's Black BF/boss was IMO written to be trite and unfunny, stereotypical and presumably thankless to play. Gives terrible dating advice but later, this paradoxically seems to work for him. Is constantly warning the male MC that he's about to be fired - but that never pays off. Supposedly he's the guy's manager but the status tells never ring true.

The female MC also has a POC best friend (two, but the second one is really only allowed to be there to fill out the table in the bar scenes). She's under-used but at least better written than her story counterpart and I think there's at least one scene where she's not simply there to talk about men (but, counterpoint, she absolutely never gets to talk about her own life - only her friend's issues...).

Bridgerton - which I stalk from the side-lines as opposed to actually watching - does 1000% better at giving Real Roles to non-white cast (even if the cast world of Bridgerton is still far from fully blended).

Back on the topic of things that work or don't work according to one's own framing / tastes / preferences - personally, I felt an instant, unforced, heart-lift of happiness at the reveal that they've gender-swapped Michael Stirling for Michaela in Francesca's story.

It makes sense to me, it sits well with me, it's a way forward into the story that I actually feel *more* happy with than the original. I'm in no doubt that not everyone feels that way and okay, some people think it's a bad solution. Possibly it's a purist thing rather than a bigotry thing (??) and of course I've never really been able to connect with the pitchforks brigade - like, not just on this specifically, but in general - the Not My [conception of the source character] gang.

Okay, you have a different vision for the story or you'd made up in your head that it would be told in a particular way or - sigh. I'm tired. That's great that you like it to be that way. Let the rest of us enjoy exploring this way of telling the story and if you don't like it - that's really okay. I don't need to insist that you like it. Go, read the book?

Finally, little shoutout to The Guardian for their coverage of B3 pt2. No, they didn't wade into the debate / mudslinging around the hottie topic of Can We Accept The Francesca Storyline Being Queered.

They went for a different hottie topic - length of ahem intimacy scenes. Again haven't watched it, but understand that everyone who follows Bridgerton is aware by now that there's a LONG scene in episode 5-of-8 (i.e. the first of Part Two). Apparently Billie Piper has a longer - of this type - scene in the excellent Everybody Hates Suzie (which I've also - not seen) - although it's, as the cancelled Woody Allen once put it, "sex with someone I love", and the scene lasts as long as it does because it's the framing for a series of flashbacks.

I enjoyed the journo making jokes about their internet search history being trashed forever and the gossipy lil anecdotes about commuters finding out the up close and personal way that this viewing is NSFT (not suitable for travel). More to the point - on the topic I've been *trying* to explore, above - the article defends the Polin sex as being appropriate and necessary to the story. Moves the relationship along. Builds the storyline. Shows C and P learning something relevant about what they mean to each other, who they can be together.

Hmmm, okay, so, retrofitting that idea - I think I have round-about-ed my way into understanding what frustrates me about these sweet lil stories when they DON'T work for me...

The whole point of romcom is two lonely hearts finding solace and satisfaction in each other - I find that for me (personal thing) I sort of need to want those hearts to be happy. I thought I was anti the "chaos girl" trope. I'm not. I'm anti the "this is a terrible person but I'm supposed to hope that they end up happy even if they are obnoxious and psychopathic for 80% of the story" trope.

Unfortunately for my ability to suspend disbelief for 98% of Hallmark-type romances - I can't take the "problem" seriously. Yes, I understand that you are highly motivated to get a promotion. No, I can't really get on board with the idea that throwing a great party is going to be the decider. I think it's more likely to be, you know, meeting your targets consistently. Hitting those project KPIs. Booking the client business (no, not this one book launch - the entire runway). The stakes are too trivial/small but treated as large. Rightsizing the reactions to the amount of action the plot and budget has room for - totally different matter. We want to throw a great party because we're leaving town and it would be nice to leave on a good note. I want to get into college but other options are out there if I don't make it. Am I doing this wrong? I thought Puppy Love got the stakes pretty much bang on. I extra loved that her big work success was almost irrelevant in the overall story arc.

And now we're at the biggest pet peeve - the makes-no-sense misunderstanding that keeps the couple apart for one extra act. Nobody could possible misunderstand the other person in that egregious way (at least, not if they are in fact supposed to be perfect for each other). He's talking to his ex. Perhaps it's innocent or there's a reasonable explanation? She looks sad, so she can't be into me. OMG. Talk. To. Each. Other. Or. Die. Single. My God.

And breathe. Cool, okay. Thanks. Good chat. I learned something.

[indefinitelyjaded]

Not So Empty Nest (Super Sim Update)

With the revelation that the 3-level part-time careers don't count as "careers" for the children/grandchildren requirement of Stella's Successful Lineage aspiration, I figured the only way I'm getting one of the kids to the top of their career is if they move back in with the parents. Originally, I said I was going to do this with Cade, but when I loaded into the Bailey-Moon household to have Kinsley quit her job (because, c'mon, how embarrassing would it be for the wife of a B-lister to (a) work (b) as a barista?), I realized it made more sense - from a story prospective - for her to be the one to move home:

Kinsley and Orange had a very high romance bar, but their friendship bar really wasn't that high - I'm guessing it was probably at whatever the minimum is to propose/get married. Kinsley was also only 8 days into being a Young Adult, and already has an infant; I don't remember Orange's exact number of days, but I think he was pretty close to half-way through already. So I imagine: Kinsley, as a teen, is infatuated with the celebrity teen who happens to be friends with her older brother; they get together on a whim, because Kinsley is from a good (wealthy), drama-free family and would be a good mom... they get married like the second she becomes an adult, and immediately have the next generation of Bailey-Moon nepo baby. But Orange, at this point, has probably outgrown the fascination with impressing a young girl, who he doesn't even really know (low friendship bar), and who is having her own struggle with not really knowing how to be a mom, especially in a family like the Bailey-Moons. The perfect recipe for disaster and divorce, leading to Kinsley moving back home, without Preston (because (a) I'm not doing that and (b) you know the Bailey-Moons would go to whatever lengths to protect/control their heir. That doesn't mean we won't see him in the future, though).

She's gonna miss that view, though.

I like to think that her poor experience isn't going to waste, though -- I put her in the Public Relations branch of the Social Media career (because she has no desire for fame or celebrity herself as an Internet Personality, after what she's been through - plus, you know the Bailey-Moons probably made her sign a nondisclosure agreement). She was able to start at level 3, and I think she's up to level 5 already. So she should max it out in no time.

Ever heard the (actually terrible) advice, "the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else"? Well, Kinsley has:

Yes, yes, I did some cheaty stuff with aging - look, I had hoped Stella might get with Kyle at some point looong ago, but I never saw him or got a stayover pop-up from him. I actually thought maybe the game didn't populate him in this save or something... but he just appeared at the spa that Stella has been frequenting! So I cheated his age down to match Kinsley's, and had Stella introduce them. Is this a healthy relationship? Not likely, although Kyle did autonomously propose (sort of - it was a "found a ring in Kyle's bag" pop-up, which is super weird considering Kinsley lives in my household too), so I guess he's all in... or he sees this as a way to secure a really good (lucrative) future for himself. Poor Kinsley - her dad set an impossible standard for her to find a good man. (Although, we can't forget that Dexter was married to Jane when he met/started dating/proposed to Stella, so he's not so perfect.)

Now, an update on the actual Super Sim - grandchild #4 has arrived, and Stella has completed the Big Happy Family aspiration!

Meet Matthew Townsend, son of Cade and Luna and brother to Sawyer. You might be asking yourself, why are they being introduced on the beach in Windenburg? Good question. An even better question is, why does the game drop infants waaaaaaay far away from the home lot when you load in?

Anyway, I haven't accomplished much else with Stella. The Spa Day aspirations are hard! I did finish the Zen Guru one, but the other two are going to take forever... earning 5,000 simoleons when half the time the yoga/meditation class glitches and I can't even get her tend a massage table/chair. Ugh. I have a feeling I might end up cheating them done, just to be done with them because it's going to be so repetitive.

[take-everything-you-can]

I didn't mean 6 in any kind of ick way but I read something similar in someone's fic once but a whole different sort of setting and circumstance and it was funny af the way it was done. Sorry to have icked you (and anyone else) out with that.

And no worries on the Stancy thing. I get it. They're one of my many ships, but there are plenty I'm not on board with like Jancy and Mileven. Each to their own within certain very reasonable boundaries (no under-18 explicitness or under-18s being involved with over-18s besides... like... a 17 yr old and an 18/19 yr old type thing but even that's borderline and depends on circumstances, no 'cest, no cheaties or cheaties adjacent, and no r-word/sa).

No babe I completely understand that! It's just my own personal hangup but I will always appreciate anything y'all send me my love 😘🖤

But I love Eddie and r sneaking off at a wedding it's a litteral dream !!

[masschase]

S T & Z for the ask meme

Fanfic ask meme

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

Ooh... I'm not entirely sure what this means by fandom tropes? As an overthinker/overanalyser (I know; I apologise for not telling you to sit down, please pick up your jaws off the floor, clear up your spat-out drink etc. etc.) I'm a huge fan of any sort of trope in media and as such I have a really wide definition of what a trope is that a lot of people don't share 🙃. And fandom tropes could mean ones that are popular in the fandom I write in, ones that I like in fandoms, ones that are specific to fandom in general? There are a few interpretations but I'm going with my original assumption which was tropes I like to read/write?

Obviously I guess I like friends to lovers, even in the ff I wrote years ago it was mostly friends to lovers, though I feel like there always has to be some degree of reason for... if these two people are attracted to each other or in love... why aren't they a thing yet?

I read recently that people don't like stories where the whole thing could be resolved with one conversation and I think unfortunately my fic has some shades of that. But I also think the fact that one half of the pairing is determined never to fall for someone/get into a relationship and has even set a clear boundary to that effect, and that the other is aware of that, socially awkward/anxious and seems to have a pretty low opinion of himself in this regard is in itself a reason.

But also it's extremely true to my real life experience, especially as someone who is, once again, socially awkward/anxious and has a very low opinion of themself. I will chew off my own arm rather than confess my feelings. I've sat and made a spreadsheet of how many kisses someone was leaving on their texts and how it increased over time rather than saying anything so yeah. 😅

OK I may have spent too long on that one trope. I'm also heavily into things that pay off over time, like brick jokes, arc words, callbacks, foreshadowing and chekov's gun (one of my favourites btw is the literal one of casey's tiny pistol and the less literal one of shaundi's giant purse which are mentioned in ch1 and their significance is revealed in ch30) which is why writing out of order was extremely useful. Good god, one day I'll write about all the foreshadowing in my fic. I'd love to know if people notice it.

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?

'Die for our ship': when fan creators kill off or malign characters that get in the way of their ships. I've always tried to be sensitive about how I write characters like that. Asha is the most obvious example in my fic so I've tried to keep her sufficiently badass and also at times surprisingly sensitive. The Boss luckily has no one canon love interest but I was mindful of the way I wrote Johnny and Shaundi in this regard too.

I don't like to see non-con and underage stuff. I have no idea if that counts as tropes, but I will swerve a story with that in the tags immediately.

Z: Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate?

I write reversible character deaths I suppose. Cheaty as hell but my story literally starts with one so I guess if people don't like that they'll switch off straight away. I've not saved any canon characters who were already going to die, and I've not really killed off anyone new apart from OCs killed in the Earth's destruction. After the whole thing I wrote in ch29/30 I can't really complain if people kill characters off for real, but essentially... I may write a lot of angst but I do like a happy ending in some capacity.