#remove duplicate items

[damienns]

My GIF Making process: Screen capturing using MPV player, Organizing files, 3 Sharpening settings, Basic Coloring PSD + Actions set

This is a very long post so heads up.

I’ll try to be as thorough and true as much as possible to the way I make my gifs (I already use Photoshop Actions which I’ve long since set up but now for this tutorial I’m reviewing them to show you the exact steps I’ve learned to create my gifs 😃) and present them to you in a semi-coherent way. Also, please bear with me since English is my second language.

First things first. Below are the things and tools we need to do this:

Downloaded 4K or 1080p quality videos (let’s all assume we know where to get these—especially for high definition movies and tv series—so this post doesn’t get removed, okay? 😛)

Adobe Photoshop CC or the CS versions can work as well, but full disclosure I haven’t created gifs using the CS versions since 2020. I’m currently using Adobe Photoshop 2024.

mpv player. Use mpv player to get those frames/screenshots or any other video player that has a screen grabber feature. I’ve used adapter for the longest time but I’ve switched to mpv because the press to screenshot feature while the video is playing has been a game changer not to mention ultimate time saver for me. For adapter you need to play it in another video player (like VLC player), to get the start and end timestamps of the scene you want to gif which takes me ages before I can even open Photoshop.

Anyway! Please stop reading this post for a moment and head over to this amazing tutorial by kylos. She perfectly tells you how to install and use mpv player, both for Mac and Windows users.

One thing I have to share though, I had a tough time when I updated my MacOS to Sonoma since MPV is suddenly either duplicating frames or when I delete the duplicates the player seems to be skipping frames :/ I searched and found a solution here, though it didn’t work for me lol. My workaround for this in the meantime is decreasing the speed down to 0.70 then start screenshotting—it’s not the same pre Sonoma update but it works so I’ll have to accept it rather than have jumpy looking gifs.

Now, after this part of kylos’ tutorial:

you can continue reading the following sections of my gif tutorial below.

I want to share this little tip (sorry, this will only cater to Mac users) that I hope will be helpful for organizing the screenshots that MPV saved to the folder you have selected. Because believe me you don’t want to go through 1k+ of screenshots to select just 42-50 frames for your gif.

The Control + Command + N shortcut

This shortcut allows you to create a new folder from files you have pre-selected. As you can see below I have already created a couple of folders, and inside each folder I have selected screenshots that I want to include in one single gif. It's up to you how you want to divide yours, assuming you intend to create and post a Tumblr gifset rather than just one gif.

Another tip is making use of tags. Most of, if not all the time, I make supercorp gifs so I tag blue for Kara and red (or green) for Lena—just being ridiculously on brand and all that.

Before we finally open Photoshop, there's one more thing I want to say—I know, please bear with me for the third? fourth? time 😅

It's helpful to organize everything into their respective folders so you know the total number of items/frames you have. This way, you can add or delete excess or unnecessary shots before uploading them in Photoshop.

For example below there are 80 screenshots of Kara inside this folder and for a 1:1 (540 x 540 px) Tumblr gif, Photoshop can just work around with 42-50 max number of frames with color adjustments applied before it exceeds the 10 MB file size limit of Tumblr.

Sometimes I skip this step because it can be exhausting (haha) and include everything so I can decide visually which frames to keep later on. You'll understand what I mean later on. But it's important to keep the Tumblr 10 MB file size limit in mind. Fewer frames, or just the right amount of frames, is better.

So, with the screenshot organization out of the way, let's finally head over to Photoshop.

Giffing in Photoshop, yay!

Let’s begin by navigating to File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack…

The Load Layers window will appear. Click the Browse button next.

Find your chosen screenshots folder, press Command + A to select all files from that folder then click Open. Then click OK.

After importing and stacking your files, Photoshop should display the following view:

By the way, I'll be providing the clip I've used in this tutorial so if want to use them to follow along be my guest :)

If you haven't already opened your Timeline panel, navigate to Windows > Timeline.

Now, let's focus on the Timeline panel for the next couple of steps.

Click Create Video Timeline, then you’ll have this:

Now click the menu icon on the top right corner then go to Convert Frames > Make Frames from Clips

Still working on the Timeline panel, click the bottom left icon this time—the icon with the three tiny boxes—to Convert to Frame Animation

Select Make Frames From Layers from the top right corner menu button.

So now you have this:

Go and click the top right menu icon again to Select All Frames

Then click the small dropdown icon to set another value for Frame Delay. Select Other…

The best for me and for most is 0.05 but you can always play around and see what you think works for you.

Click the top right menu icon again to Reverse Frames.

I think Photoshop has long since fixed this issue but usually the first animation frame is empty so I just delete it but now going through all these steps there seems to be none of that but anyways, the delete icon is the last one among the line of feature buttons at the bottom part of the Timeline panel.

Yay, now we can have our first proper GIF preview of a thirsty Lena 😜

Press spacebar to watch your gif play for the very first time! After an hour and half of selecting and cutting off screenshots! 😛 Play it some more. No really, I’m serious. I do this so even as early (lol) as this part in the gif making process, I can see which frames I can/should delete to be within the 10 MB file size limit. You can also do it at the end of course 🙂

Now, let’s go to the next important steps of this tutorial post which I’ve numbered below.

Crop and resize to meet Tumblr's required dimensions. The width value should be either 540px, 268px, or 177px.

Convert the gif to a Smart Object for sharpening.

Apply lighting and basic color adjustments before the heavy coloring. I will be sharing the base adjustments layers I use for my gifs 😃.

1. Crop and Resize

Click on the Crop tool (shortcut: the C key)

I like my GIFs big so I always set this to 1:1 ratio if the scene allows it. Press the Enter key after selecting the area of the frame that you want to keep.

Side note: If you find that after cropping, you want to adjust the image to the left or another direction, simply unselect the Delete Cropped Pixels option. This way, you will still have the whole frame area available to crop again as needed and as you prefer.

Now we need to resize our gif and the shortcut for that is Command + Opt + I. Type in 540 as the width measurement, then the height will automatically change to follow the ratio you’ve set while cropping.

540 x 540 px for 1:1

540 x 405 px for 4:3

540 x 304 px for 16:9

For the Resample value I prefer Bilinear—but you can always select the other options to see what you like best.

Click OK. Then Command + 0 and Command + - to properly view the those 540 pixels.

Now we get to the exciting part :) the sharpen settings!

2. Sharpen

First we need to have all these layers “compressed” intro a single smart object from which we can apply filters to.

Select this little button on the the bottom left corner of the Timeline panel.

Select > All Layers

Then go to Filter > Convert for Smart Filters

Just click OK when a pop-up shows up.

Now you should have this view on the Layers panel:

Now I have 3 sharpen settings to share but I’ll have download links to the Action packs at the end of this long ass tutorial so if you want to skip ahead, feel free to do so.

Sharpen v1

Go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen…

Below are my settings. I don’t adjust anything under Shadows/Highlights.

Amount: 500

Radius: 0.4

Click OK then do another Smart Sharpen but this time with the below adjustments.

Amount: 12

Radius: 10.0

As you can see Lena’s beautiful eyes are “popping out” now with these filters applied. Click OK.

Now we need to Convert to Frame Animation. Follow the steps below.

Click on the menu icon at the top right corner of the Timeline panel, then click Convert Frames > Flatten Frames into Clips

Then Convert Frames > Convert to Frame Animation

One more click to Make Frames From Layers

Delete the first frame then Select All then Set Frame Delay to 0.05

and there you have it! Play your GIF and make sure it’s just around 42-50 frames. This is the time to select and delete.

To preview and save your GIF go to File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy)…

Below are my Export settings. Make sure to have the file size around 9.2 MB to 9.4 MB max and not exactly 10 MB.

This time I got away with 55 frames but this is because I haven’t applied lighting and color adjustments yet and not to mention the smart sharpen settings aren't to heavy so let’s take that into consideration.

Sharpen v1 preview:

Sharpen v2

Go back to this part of the tutorial and apply the v2 settings.

Smart Sharpen 1:

Amount: 500

Radius: 0.3

Smart Sharpen 2:

Amount: 20

Radius: 0.5

We’re adding a new type of Filter which is Reduce Noise (Filter > Noise > Reduce Noise...) with the below settings.

Then one last Smart Sharpen:

Amount: 500

Radius: 0.3

Your Layers panel should look like this:

Then do the Convert to Frames Animation section again and see below preview.

Sharpen v2 preview:

Sharpen v3:

Smart Sharpen 1:

Amount: 500

Radius: 0.4

Smart Sharpen 2:

Amount: 12

Radius: 10.0

Reduce Noise:

Strength: 5

Preserve Details: 50%

Reduce Color Noise: 0%

Sharpen Details: 50%

Sharpen v3 preview:

And here they are next to each other with coloring applied:

v1

v2

v3

Congratulations, you've made it to the end of the post 😂

As promised, here is the download link to all the files I used in this tutorial which include:

supercorp 2.05 Crossfire clip

3 PSD files with sharpen settings and basic coloring PSD

Actions set

As always, if you're feeling generous here's my Ko-fi link :) Thank you guys and I hope this tutorial will help you and make you love gif making.

P.S. In the next post I'll be sharing more references I found helpful especially with coloring. I just have to search and gather them all.

-Jill

[simmers-against-curseforge]

About Sims 4 Mod Manager

It came to my attention a few days ago that a popular program used for sorting custom content, Sims 4 Mod Manager, is based on Overwolf software. The issue with this is that ad placements on Overwolf programs give a 20-30% cut to Overwolf directly. As stated on their website. I know it is an Overwolf program because you can find Overwolf files within it:

Personally, I do not mind un-obstructive ads on free programs as long as they are vetted by the developer, but I do not want to give Overwolf any money. So I will be kindly contacting the developer via the contacts on his website and ask he divest and use a different avenue with the ads. Maybe moving to github instead. He is also recently released a curseforge integrated app.

If you are to request the divestment, please please do so with respect as to invite people INTO the conversation and not put them in a defensive position. No one likes to listen when they are being threatened or harassed. 🤷‍♀️

I know many will be disappointed with this news as it is a great, one of a kind program, so I wanted to offer some alternative methods besides manually sorting custom content:

Sims 4 Mod Assistant: A small app used to find duplicates and mod conflicts. Also supports filtering and moving files to other folders. Available on Mod the Sims and Github.

S4Pavir: It's not that pretty, but it can be used to view, remove, and sort cc. Available on Github.

You can also use sims tray importer to sort through cc. Dress your sims in all the cc you want to remove or place build/buy items on a lot. Save the sim/lot to your library and use Sims 4 tray importer to view the list of cc used, and open its file location to delete. Available on Luniversims (.fr)

Sims 4 Studio can also be used to view, edit, and delete cc. Available here.

Let me know of any other methods you know or notify me if there are any issues with these two programs.

Hopefully there is a positive outcome with reaching out to the creator. Please be respectful and you can use my pinned post as a reference for why curseforge is a problem. 🙏

Edit:

Update on Sims 4 Mod Manager

After going through the older versions of Sims 4 mod manager I have found out that Version 1.0.9 Beta (Windows 10, 11 for me) does not have Curseforge ads. I think this is suitable option to use the mod manager without giving direct ad revenue to Overwolf/Curseforge.

When you go to the Sims 4 Mod Manager site, click other versions and scroll until you find this version. It does not have all the current features, but it works. You can uninstall your current version by searching the app in your start menu (Windows), right click and select 'uninstall', and click 'uninstall' again once you find it in the list that comes up.

(I do not have Mac, so I do not know if the later version 1.1.3 Beta, will also not have ads. If you download it please let me know.) I will update my original S4MM post with this info and also put it in a reblog so hopefully everyone can see this.)

It doesn't have the sort to subfolders option, but my way around that is to sort cc into a "moving folder" and then open your regular file explorer and cut and paste those items to your sub-folder manually. Easy peasy!

[jaypilledsquared]

ur not gonna believe this

was trying 2 get a mod that lets u take npcs clothes off in oblivion becuz i wanna strip martin but alas my pervertedness has been thwarted and my game crashed. this is the price i pay 4 trying 2 do this to her

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Infected x reader angst, where the two of them were dating before the virus, and Infected doesn’t remember the reader? He feels drawn to them, though he can’t quite remember them. There’s flashes here and there- bits and pieces, the occasional snippet. Someone’s laugh, a pretty smile, late nights playing Mario kart or whatever. But he can’t ever quite seem to remember them

I apologize if this is TOO specific lmao . Angst moment

In light of the floppy disc update--my Regretevator interest has come back (and it got me out of my writer's block yippee) I finally got the "noise complaint" one so that gave me a lot of inspiration for this

........

You and Kasper once made a promise.

To be there for each other.

For better or for worse.

In sickness and in health.

But...

What do you do when that sickness made him forget that exact promise?

Although you've come to accept his new identity as "Infected", sometimes you think he's just playing a huge prank on you. And that the next time you swung by his apartment, he'll be resting and actually taking his illness seriously, and you'd have your old boyfriend back.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case tonight, as you invited yourself inside with a duplicate of his key that he gave you long ago. As you closed the door, he didn't immediately run out to greet you like he used to. Instead, all you heard were the rapid taps of his keyboard and mouse.

Entering the living room space, you saw him sitting at his usual spot in front of the PC, intensely focused on some game. He had his headphones on, his face mere inches away from the bright screen, scowling--totally unaware of your presence.

You could've been an armed intruder for all he knew.

"Dud3s!! DUD3S!! Y0U SUCK!! WHY AM I TH3 0NLY 0NE C4RRYING TH3 TEAM?!!" He shouted into the tiny mic. "EITH3R GET G00D OR G3T 0FF THE G4ME!!!"

With a sigh, you made yourself known to him by stepping into the room, just within his peripheral vision and leaning against the wall

The moment his eyes flickered to you, he got startled, especially as his character made the dying sound. The other team was taunting him in the chat, but for once he ignored it, his cheeks flushed pink at your unexpected arrival.

"0h, h-hey, [y/n]! Wh4t brings y0u here, bab3?" He quickly removed his headphones.

"I sent you a message an hour ago. You said you wanted to play Mario Kart tonight, right?"

"I did....? 0hhhh, right! Right...s0rry. I'll be re4dy in a sec0nd. I just..." For a moment he paused, looking down at his lap and realizing he just had his pink shirt and a pair of boxers on. "G0tta put on s0me pants-"

"I've seen you in those nyan cat boxers before." You chuckled, shaking your head.

He blinked owlishly. "Y0u have?"

"Yeah. You don't have to change if you don't wanna."

"...g00d, 'cuz I was t00 lazy t0 do that anyways." After standing up, he stared at you. "Wait, h0w did you g3t into my r00m?"

"You gave me a spare key when you first moved in here." Holding up the item in question, your smile faded a little as you saw his eyebrows furrow, struggling to recall when he did that. "I don't expect you to remember, but-"

"Don't w0rry, babe. I'll take ur w0rd for it! I w0uldn't give a sp4re key to a str4nger." With a grin, Infected walked over to hug you and kiss you on the cheek. "I'll g3t the snacks. Sh0uld I make popcorn or hot p0ckets?"

"Surprise me."

"0kay!" While he dashed off to the snack pantry, you headed to the couch to get the gaming console set up for Mario Kart. You made sure to bring the wheel-shaped controllers for a fully immersive experience.

You had little hope that tonight he'll be able to remember something--or anything about his relationship with you as Kasper...so you don't know why you've kept them so high.

After the virus took ahold of his brain, you couldn't comprehend how it could make him forget ever dating you. In fact, you scared him a bit when you mentioned being his partner and got extremely upset at his confusion. He even called you "creepy" once.

Yet despite that...he still felt drawn to you, wanting to always hang out with you in the elevator or go to a skate park or bowling. He couldn't stand to be separate from you and didn't fully understand why.

That made him question whether he's known you before...

You're sweet, you like the same things he does, you've tried helping him find Poptart, and you never made a big deal about his sickness unlike most people.

Eventually, he asked you out (again, from your perspective), and you couldn't say no.

It was both flattering and sad that he fell in love with you twice, as you now had two cheesy confession letters hanging up at home. One signed with a K, the other with an I.

You'd look at them from time to time, seeing how differently he wrote between his life then and his life now.

He can't remember ever writing the first one, no matter how hard he tried...

From the first signs of this sickness, you've kept Dr. Retro on speed dial. She once visited the apartment to inspect the virus scripted into the couch while Infected wasn't home, hoping to collect even a tiny pixel-sized sample to study.

But there was nothing. It completely attached itself to your boyfriend and infiltrated the valve system, making the entire complex hazardous to live in--so much so his next door neighbors had to leave.

By some miracle, you haven't caught it yet, and you hope to god it'll never come to that. He's gotten better about his hygiene since dating you (again), so maybe that's why you've been so lucky.

Everyone else says you should've stayed away from him, and even Lampert urged you to abandon all hope that he'll remember who he was and the relationship you two had.

But you refused to.

The fact that Infected was willing to let you back into his life showed that deep down...he knew you meant something to him. You used to be someone special in his life.

Someone he couldn't let go of, no matter how hard the virus tried.

.............

"Sec0nd place again?? Bummer.."

"I told you, babe. You gotta expand your horizons beyond Roblox PVP games." Laughing in triumph, you set down the controller, brushing your hands against your pants. "Whew..I'll admit that got me sweating." You looked to your sulking boyfriend. "C'mon. Nobody likes a sore loser."

"I'm n0t a l0ser," he huffed, putting down his own controller. "N0t g0nna lie, that was fun." His smile turned right side up as he looked back at you. "S0 what d0 we wanna pl4y next? It's 0nly midnight."

"........."

"[Y/n]?" Infected blinked at your sudden change of expression, worried. "What's wr0ng? W4s...it s0mething I s4id?"

"No, it's just..." You hesitated, unsure if you wanted to bring it up so late in the night.

But after what you found taped to his door, you knew you two needed to have a serious talk.

"Wh4t?"

"They gave you another citation." Taking a paper out of your pocket, you skimmed it over and sighed. "For noise. This is your twelfth one. Why do you keep throwing them out? I thought you said you were gonna take care of these complaints."

"Ugh, I k33p telling them it's n0t me.." He groaned, deciding to lay his head on your lap. "Th3y're all addressed t0 Kasp3r...must be the guy from bef0re."

"Baby, nobody rented this space before you did. It's specifically talking about this apartment here. 007. Maybe they just couldn't put "Infected" as a valid name into their system."

"....yet th3y chose that n4me. Why?"

"Look, can you please just...read this over? And maybe take it seriously this time? They're close to evicting you."

His eye suddenly went wide. "Huh?? N0 way..."

"Yes way."

After some hesitance, Infected took the paper from you and read it, a frown crossing his features as he saw that the first words were "Dear Mr. Kasper".

Why couldn't they get his name right?

Why couldn't anyone?

What was wrong with "Infected"?

For a minute or so he was quiet. While he did admit to raging during late night gaming sessions and calling for Poptart since the day she went missing...it was the note that people next door could hear him "wailing in his sleep" that left a pit in his stomach.

He forgot how thin the walls were, but did they seriously hear him during all those nights where you weren't here, and he was alone, crying in his sleep over bizarre dreams and-

"I know they got your name wrong, but you gotta stop ignoring their letters." You lightly ran your fingers through his hair. It was a little greasy, but he did tell you he took a shower today, so it didn't bother you at all.

"Ye4h, alright. I'll em4il them b4ck, and t3ll them to go [CONTENT DELETED]---"

A bit startled by the sudden static garble that spilled from his mouth, you briefly took your hand away from his head. And he noticed, frowning up at you now. "Did I sc4re y0u??"

"I think you missed the part where I said "take it seriously"." You mirrored his expression, annoyed at his lack of maturity. "If you get evicted, I'm not sure where we're gonna put all your gaming stuff. So you need to figure something out, and fast."

"Why d0n't y0u tell them t0 get my nam3 right....and then I'll be willing to m4ke changes?"

"Excuse me? The lease isn't under my name. I'm not the one renting here and making my neighbors feel unsafe. You need to take responsibility for yourself."

"Why are y0u lecturing me?? Th4t's n0t cool.." Infected sat up from your lap, no longer feeling comfortable as he felt like you were being mean to him for no reason. "M4ybe moving out of here w0n't be so b4d. I'll be away fr0m that gradient fre4k, and-"

"God, that's NOT the point, Kasper--!!"

Suddenly, you realized your slip up and immediately silenced yourself. But it was too late, as you saw the dejected look in his eyes and the way his shoulders slumped. "Infected..I'm sorry-"

"Even y0u can't get my n4me right...." He scratched at his arm, feeling the virus' glitches pricking his skin like thin needles as he shuffled to the other end of the couch. "Y0u keep acting like h3's still here."

You remained silent, knowing you couldn't really say "because he is". He just wouldn't believe that. He couldn't.

"Was Kasp3r really...better than me? Was he he4lthier? M0re mature? N0t burden y0u with all this cr4p?" He looked down at his lap now, sniffling. "I'm s0rry I can't be him, [y/n]. I'm s0rry that I can't rememb3r anything. But..w-why can't y0u just acc3pt me? Am I n0t g00d enough?"

For the longest time, you stayed quiet, and he was afraid to look into your eyes, unsure of what you were going to say next.

Then you spoke.

"You're right about him being more mature."

His shoulders tensed.

"But..." You paused as he perked up. And you just gazed at the guy you fell in love with, wishing you could go back ten minutes ago--when you two were sharing laughs, hot pockets, and a round of Mario Kart--and not now, with you being the reason for those tears in his eyes.

Maybe...

You had to just forget about trying to bring back Kasper. There wasn't any cure yet, and Dr. Retro isn't even close to finding one.

It wasn't worth all this effort and arguing.

"..maybe I'm hanging onto the past too much, and not seeing what's right in front of me." Shifting closer to him, you sighed as you placed a hand over his, relieved that he didn't pull away. "Kasper and I had some good memories together. But you and I made some pretty awesome ones. When you begged me to rescue that cat in the minefield, I did and nearly got my legs blown off. But seeing your smile was worth it."

"......."

"When we visited Crem with Lampert and Melanie, you remembered my favorite flavor. Like any good boyfriend would." You added with a small chuckle, noticing his subtle nod.

Yet he stayed quiet, his eyes downcast once more so you kept talking.

"The point is..I love you, and you're good enough for me, Infected. I'm not angry at you for forgetting things. That's not your fault. I just..don't wanna see you get kicked out over some lousy complaints. That's all, okay?"

For a few long moments, there wasn't a response from him, although he sniffled a few more times. You worried he was about to sneeze, but when his gaze met yours again, you saw tears and pink snot dribbling down his face, his eyes red and puffy.

"Infected?"

"I-I still d0n't kn0w what's wr0ng with me, [y/n].." He mumbled, trying to bite back the sobs that wanted to escape. "Deep d0wn, s0mething tells me that...th-that I've always known y0u. It tells m3 th4t we've d0ne all this fun stuff bef0re. I want t0 remember, but..I-I d0n't know how. And...and..."

"And what?" You gently coaxed, squeezing his hand.

"And th4t's what keeps m3 up at night. N0t just the gam3s. It m4kes me feel like a [CONTENT DELETED] B0yfriend, and...I...owww--" Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his head, and he brought his other hand to it. "My h3ad's killing me.." Chills ran through his body, and he felt himself growing feverish.

"Again? Oh jeez.."

"Wh-What d0 y0u mean "again"?" He coughed.

"You keep having these flareups. I guess your sickness doesn't like our deep convos that much." You frowned a little. "Come here."

Once more, he laid down in your lap again, only this time curling up and shuddering with small sobs. You could see the virus attacking his body and senses again as he groaned in pain, trying to shelter his face from the suddenly harsh light.

In the early stages of his infection, he used to get these bad flare ups every other day, sometimes even calling you in the dead of night crying and whining. But they never became this bad while you were present.

'Is it..hurting him so he stops remembering?' You wondered, deciding to make a mental note to ask Dr. Retro about that. But for now, you just grabbed the blanket that was hanging over the couch and set it down on him, hoping it would help him rest.

For the first time, he was willing to accept that something is in fact wrong with him.

He wanted to remember all the things that you did together.

So maybe...Kasper wasn't really gone just yet.

Maybe there's hope after all.

[raccoonium]

((((And I've changed the files names to remove the brackets))))

Bulk download with all my shit. There's lots of items. I think it's +600 idk there's so much shit. I think there's a couple unreleased items idk anymore.

IMPORTANT!

If you download a file with the name between brackets you're downloading an older file. This might cause duplicates. I'll be updating the old links bit by bit, but it'll take me a whole ass time.

Huge thanks to @vanilsao for helping me test it <3

Download under the cut

Download (Google Drive, it's heavy)

[anachronisims]

(yet another SITS mashup)

Default Replacement Terrain + Roads

More pics + Info + DL link under the cut

Fig. 1 - Lot View During Normal Gameplay

Fig. 2 - Hood View During Normal Gameplay

Fig. 3 - Tiling of bare terrain; weird map coding leading to hard seams on mountains in "Lush" version

Fig. 4 - Mountains in "Dirt" Version

Fig. 5 - Lot View - Lot Edge Seam

Fig. 6 - Extreme Closeup of Lot Edge Seam; somewhat pixelated road texture original to Rural Charm road overlays.

"Charming Oblivion" Neighborhood Terrain + Neighborhood Road Default Replacement

brought to you by sufficeittosay aka anachronisims.tumblr.com

What It Is:

A mashup (all I do tbh) of Criquette's Rural Charm roads and the grass texture extracted from Oblivion as a terrain paint by MedinaQuirin, applied to neighborhood terrain as a default replacement

What's Included in the .rar:

A complete folder of full-size screenshots of the mod in action so you can decide whether it suits your aesthetic or not.

A LUSH (temperate) version of the mod. This one has "more" textures included because of the way temperate terrain is, but is not actually "richer" in appearance in any way because of it. See the brightly colored heat-map or cliff view seams in the preview files - the game randomly decides which of the "wet" textures to apply to given squares and often does not correctly blend them. For this reason the included textures are DUPLICATES to minimize the hard seaming that would come from using two different shades of green. I tried, it didn't work, on any of several maps. It just wasn't worth it.

!! RECOMMENDED !! - A DIRT version of the mod. This has fewer textures and is therefore RECOMMENDED. Additionally, the cliff textures have been reduced to 512x512 with no terrible loss of quality. The grass is still green. It just uses the "Dirt" labeled template to achieve the texture savings. Plus… are you really using the Dirt terrain anyway?

BONUS: the rainbow version from my heat map experiment, by request of SadoAlice. The rainbow affects hood view only. Lot view is regular green oblivion grass. You may alter the lot view grass texture images as you desire to the single color of your choice. If you ask very nicely I might do it for you.

For your convenience, the matching terrain paint for Oblivion grass is included, but I don't know why you'd need it. Don't paint over other terrain paint; use control+click to get rid of it same as any other damn thing in build mode.

Again, for your convenience, Criquette's Rural Charm Recolors of CuriousB's lot-view road pieces, which if you've used road DRs before you know is just a thing we have to deal with. (If someone has cracked this piece of the puzzle while I've been out of the game, please let me know!!)

My optional DR cliff textures which are used in an allegedly-but-effectively-not-different way by the game than the "dry" textures that also are cliffy on the map. These also default your neighborhood boulders. If you use my Cliffs of Insanity, you may already have these.

How to install:

1. Locate your existing road and/or terrain default replacements, if any, and remove them from your downloads folder. Depending on which mod you use, they may be a single or separate file.

2. Both the dirt and the lush versions of Charming Oblivion include separate files for the terrain and roads, and BOTH files within the folder are required. Put BOTH files from a single folder into your downloads folder or subfolder of your choosing.

2b. Choose amongst the optional folder items as you please; these also go to your downloads folder

3. If you want to use the Dirt terrain for the reduced texture benefits but are currently playing a Lush hood, never fear! Open the cheat window in hood view. Type "terraintype dirt" and press enter. NOTE: to change back to lush, you actually would type "terraintype temperate" because of course you do. Reference: https://modthesims.info/t/217506

Credits: Criquette Rural Charm - https://criquette-was-here.tumblr.com/ruralcharm Extracted Oblivion Grass - https://medinaquirin.tumblr.com/post/20433784575/a-little-gift-for-the-tumbling-folks-as-it-says Everyone who ever made a hood terrain DR because I probably checked it out before doing this and deciding the shade of green or the shape of the grass just wasn't QUITE what I was looking for.

Download at SFS

[yourheart-inmyhands]

What's your opinion on Yan! Pantalone (this man has been rotting my brain since the trailer came out😩), with a darling who just outright refuses his gifts (necklaces, dresses...) or maybe even breaks them?

Also could I be 🍂 anon? :D

Of course you can be 🍂 anon :D i love having new anons! welcome to my blog :3c

Warning: this post contains mentions of yandere-themes, including implied being held against will, mentions of being forced to wear things, and other potential topics. Please read at your own risk!

It frustrates him to no end, to him money is everything and it was something he worked all his life to achieve. Seeing you break things that cost a fortune, one-of-a-kind items worth more than your own life, it takes every ounce of strength in his body to not strike you. It’s even worse to see you just refuse them, not even caring enough to destroy them, simply turning your head and crossing your arms. 

Pantalone will try alternative methods, instead of simply presenting you with the gifts, he just sneaks them in with the rest of your things. Sometimes he even asks the other Harbingers to gift them to you just to see how you’ll react. It’s subtle at first, a ring or pair of earrings tucked in with all your other jewelry, it’s a perfect fit amongst everything else, looking like it belonged there.

It only escalates from there, with more obvious things like shoes and clothing items making their way into your wardrobe, a new decorative piece for your bedroom, large ornate jewelry that you know for certain wasn’t there the day prior, and much more. It’s almost suffocating the way he slips things into place as if they had been there all along.

Pantalone stares at you with a blank face, all emotion voiding his gorgeous features the second you raised your arm, launching the new necklace he had bought you at the pristine floor below. He had been expecting this, hence why the first he had given you was a fake, once intended for you to take your anger out on. He’d already visited your bedroom before coming to greet you, tucking the real one in amongst all your other jewelry. He knew you were likely to smash that one as well, but at least this way he got the small satisfaction of knowing it made it to your bedroom and sat in with all your other decorative pieces.

Your best bet to avoid further punishment is to just let him place these items in with all your other belongings. Even if you never acknowledge them, just letting Pantalone put them in your room is enough to satiate him. If you should continue to refuse, you can expect things to escalate. 

Pantalone will take to more permanent measures, buying jewelry with locks or latches that you can’t undo without a key so that you cannot remove it. Try as you might to get out of it, but Pantalone will leave you walking around in broken jewelry for a week just to prove a point. That or he’ll buy exact duplicates to replace the first one with until you grow tired of breaking them.

[changes]

Tuesday, October 17th, 2023

🌟 New

We’ve got some spooky new blog badges in TumblrMart! Check ’em out. 👻 ☠️

We’re rolling out some updates to how post information is displayed in feeds, mostly consolidating interface elements into the header of each post. These changes include removing the “floating” avatar on web and moving it into the post header, moving post info like “Pinned” and “Based on your likes” into the main header instead of an additional header, removing duplication of blog names and Follow buttons, and other small visual design refreshes.

We’re also rolling out a change to the iOS and Android apps that lets you use the hardware volume buttons on your device to mute/unmute videos.

🛠 Fixed

On web, we’ve made some updates to how direct messaging works to improve the real-time connection on flakey networks. Previously, direct messages could sporadically stop arriving unless you closed and reopened the conversation window if your connection to Tumblr faltered for a few seconds.

🚧 Ongoing

We’re still working to fix an issue in the iOS app that’s been causing the messaging/activity nav bar item to not be updated properly with a count of how many unread activity items you have. Sometimes it gets stuck and loses count, even though you’re receiving activity.

🌱 Upcoming

We’re working on setting up some logic to limit push notifications when a post of yours blows up, and we’re interested in getting volunteers to help figure out what the best thresholds are. If you want to help, reach out in the replies!

Experiencing an issue? File a Support Request and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

Want to share your feedback about something? Check out our Work in Progress blog and start a discussion with the community.

Wanna support Tumblr directly with some money? Check out the new Supporter badge in TumblrMart!

[carversims]

CAS OVERHAUL - SHOWTIME

recategorized || clothing edited || hair shine & accessories removed || maternity added || 6 bonus accessories

♡ REQUIRES SHOWTIME EXPANSION PACK FOR THE DEFAULTS ♡

let me know if there are any issues ♡  

|| SIMFILESHARE || PATREON || SIMBLR.CC ||

♡ REMEMBER TO CLEAR YOUR CACHE BEFORE INSTALLING OVERHAULS! ♡

a note on items with added channels and duplicate meshes -

premade sims and others already wearing items that have been given additional channels will initially display incorrectly. you can fix this by taking them to CAS, selecting one of the new presets, and then using CAst to change the colours/patterns back. you will also need to do this if you are using NRAAS's compact CAS.

THIS PACK HAS DUPLICATE MESHES.

this means that this pack has items that share a mesh from another pack or store item, in the download rar you will find a folder titled [DUPLICATE MESHES].

inside that folder will be one or more subfolders for each item, CHOOSE ONLY ONE package file from each of these subfolders.

you do not require both packs/items that are written in the filenames, only one of them (in this case, Showtime!) and the item will have all presets from both packs merged into one.

[sleepythegh0st]

Hello, Persona 3 Fans!

Have you ever wondered what Persona 3 would look like if both protagonists were, well, the protagonist? How easy it would actually be for two different people to act as the Leader of SEES at the same time? Or are you just looking for a new, kinda scuffed way to experience the game?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then I have just the challenge for you! Allow me to introduce...

Persona 3: Twin-Sync!

A multiplayer challenge run conceptualized by myself and my sister that allows you and a companion to experience the story of Persona 3 together!

Rules

One player must play Portable in order to control FeMC, but Roger may play any version of Persona 3 they like!*

Both players must be playing the same day*, and are not allowed to progress until all evening activities for both players have been completed.

All Social Links shared between both players that remain mostly unchanged (Such as Bebe or Odagiri, but not the party members) MUST be progressed on the same day, and both players must choose the same dialogue options, or their closest equivalent. Non rank ups may be done separately.

When Roger is able to begin his party member Social Links, he and FeMC may not hang out with them at the same time

Specific Velvet requests must be completed by both players at the same time. This mostly applies to bringing the attendants items that can only be obtained by party members (and Ikutsuki that one time.)

If both players are in Tartarus on the same night, they both must leave at the same time

Obviously, both players must complete the same ending

*causes a de-sync for FES and Reload players, but I have a solution

That's pretty much it for the rules! From here, you may add or alter rules in whatever way you'd like in order to make things easier or harder for yourself and the other player, or just for your personal preference. I do have a few suggestions for you, though! Feel free to pick and choose!

Bonus Rules!!

Both players must do the exact same activities at all times, or their closest equivalent

Both players must have the same Personas (bonus bonus rule: the Personas must have an identical move set to the best of your ability)

Aside from Orpheus, both players CANNOT use the same Personas

Both players must have the same Social Stat levels. If one levels up for one player, the other must catch up ASAP.

Both players must use the same weapons for their teammates

If one player wants to go to Tartarus, the other must go as well

If one player wants to go to Tartarus, the other is free to stay home, but characters currently in the first player's party may not be hung out with by the other (your choice whether or not this includes Fuuka, due to her inability to be removed from the party)

Both players must be on the same floor of Tartarus at all times

Both players must spend time with their Social Links of the same Arcana at the same time, even if they aren't the same character

Party composition must be the same across both players

When possible, party composition must have no duplicate characters between both players

All identical Velvet requests must be completed at the same time

The FES and Reload Time De-Sync (and how to fix it)

In FES and Reload, after awakening to Orpheus, Roger falls unconscious and doesn't wake up until April 17th. For some reason, Portable changes this date to the 19th instead, for both protagonists. Most story events that follow are the same, just on different days, such as the first trip to Tartarus and the Social Link tutorial.

The way my sister and I fixed this problem during our run was continuing to play all of these major events normally as best we can, and then having FeMC stop what she's doing on the 25th and wait for Roger to catch up. Across all 3 versions of the game, the bookstore you meet the old couple in opens on this day, and all major events that follow will be properly synced up again (To my knowledge. My sister and I haven't completed our run yet, but I'll come back to this if something comes up.)

Closing Thoughts

Aaaand that's a wrap! If you have any questions about this run, feel free to ask! And if you choose to try it out yourself, I wanna hear about it! How did you change it? Why? What names did you use for your characters? What version is Roger using? I wanna hear it all!

I hope you have fun with this! And, on the off chance you make a Youtube video of this challenge or something, credit me and let me know, if you wouldn't mind! I'd love to give it a watch.

Good luck!!

[kiwira-art]

Ahhh I'm so happy! Some time ago I made a fandragon of Spyro, one of my favorite dragon character from my childhood. Once fr allowed us to make skins for perma babies I know this was my opportunity to complete his outfit.

And here I am! With my first ever made custom accent :D Fr accepted it the first time I sent my order.

I was wondering if anyone would like to get a copy of this accent to make their own Spyro or just because it looks cool enough to have one? Well I'm willing to make a copy for averyone who'd be interested, so you can reach out to me here or on my fr account :)

I can't really say how much would it cost rn, it depends on how many people would want to purchase it :>

There are links directly to the accent: https://www1.flightrising.com/game-database/item/58511

and to my dragon: https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/92694530

EDIT:

Flight rising decided to remove this accent due to duplicating copyrighted material, so it won't be possible to get new copies of it :/

[qingyingpocketlirary]

Snapshot 43; Unfamiliar Tales

“I’m a little shocked that so many relics didn’t already have a place in Ao Bing or Auntie’s vaults.” MK said as he helped the Monkey King tidy away the hoard of relics and treasures Yin and Jin had used to cause mischief in the city that morning.

“These are all active relics, so it's just a case of sending them back to whomever they belong to.” Wukong admitted, already sorting some items into a crate while the little monkeys put in ripe fruits and soft hay to pack the box neatly. “Most of this is Nezha’s stuff.”

“How’d the twins get it?” MK asked as he neatly folded up a clock with a sun shaped fastening. “I doubt they stole it from Nezha himself.”

“Nah, they got it the same way anyone finds relics most likely. They went treasure hunting. Most Demons do that as a hobby to pass time when they get bored in the City.” Wukong said. “Peaceful living is fun and all, but some Demons enjoy the thrill of the unknown, so they go out and find the old palaces and temples just to test their skills in trap avoidance and treasure hunting.” 

“Do you go treasure hunting?” MK asked.

“Nah. I have a kingdom to protect and little ones to watch over, plus now I have you to train, so any free time I use to spend napping and meditating is spent teaching you.” The Monkey King explained, sealing the crate and setting it into a circle platform and with a small burst of chi, the crate vanished in a bright flash of white. “And honestly, I’m kinda amazed you’ve taken so quickly to all my lessons, even with how bad of a teacher I am.”

“You’re not that bad! It's just different methods working for different people.” MK asserted. “Mei just has to see someone do something once and she can do it perfectly, but I learn by doing things on my own, with someone to tell me what I'm doing wrong or need to improve on.”

“Honestly, you’re doing a lot better at the hero stuff then I did.” Wukong smiled.

MK slumped into himself a little. “I don’t feel like I am.” He admitted.

“Why not?” Wukong asked, “You’ve saved the City three times now, four if you count the mini rampage.”

“After I caused all of them to begin with.” MK said, “I removed your staff from the Mountain that kept Demon Bull King trapped. Then I let Red Son take the Bone Key that led to the release of the Lady Bone Demon and caused the second Demon Bull King rampage. It was my hair that gave the Spider Queen the power to duplicate her drones and take over the city, and then Lady Bone Demon came back using Bai He as her host to attack the city again! All of it was because of me.”

“Hey, none of that.” Wukong said, poking MK’s forehead between his eyes. “All those foes you faced were people I wronged in the first place. They came at you because they wanted to get at me, a fact you wouldn’t have known before you tried to bring Ruyi Jingu Bang back to me.”

“But it was-”

“Young Xiaotain,” A new voice called out as the steady tap, tap, tap of a walking stick echoed into the room. Old Beng, walking slowly as the little monkeys rushed to his feet and gently took his hand, tenderly tugging and guiding the old monkey along.

“Old Beng.” MK greeted with a respectful bow to the senior Stone Monkey. Wukong smiled and tugged a hair free of his head, forming it into a floor pillow that the old monkey seated himself on. 

“Thank you little Wukong. Now, you young one, you listen to this old one’s words carefully.” He said, one withered finger gently pointed at MK. “Even if you hadn’t been there, I have no doubt Red Son would have lifted Ruyi Jingu Bang himself with that fancy glove of his. That boy has spent his entire life thus far trying to find a way to do the impossible and eventually it would have worked, do you know why?”

“Um… no, not really.” MK admitted.

“Because Ruyi Jingu Bang would have felt the dedication, the love and desire from the son to free his father and allowed themself to be lifted. And that is all they would allow. The reunion of son and father. With or without your, the Demon Bull King would have been freed and the Demon Bull Family made whole once more.” Old Beng explained, tapping his staff firmly as if to finalise the statement. “Now, on the matter of the Spider Queen. She was planning to rise up again, even before Demon Bull King rampaged, you saw her dedication to that plot when you were a witness to the court, so even if she hadn’t taken your hair and used it as she did, she would have eventually risen up and taken the city hostage for her plan.”

“But my hair made it possible sooner.” MK pointed out, remembering how Syntax had explained it was thanks to his hair and the magic of duplication the Spider Queen had managed to mass produce the Spider drone army she’d used to take over the city at New Years.

“Only because you have the powers of the Monkey King,” Old Beng reminded, “I have no doubt that even if she had not gotten her hands on your hairs, she’d have taken over the city. It would have taken longer to achieve her goal, but eventually, it would have happened. And on the final matter of the Bone Demon. That was, with all due respect to the Tang Monk, a mistake of judgement on his part.”

“Old Beng-”

“A being such as her would never change. The Great Monk ought to have known that after what was taught to him by the Merciful Guanyin.” Old Beng asserted and Wukong looked at the floor, knowing better than to argue.

“Um… am I missing something important again?” MK asked, sensing the slight unease.

“You will learn in your own time that there are some people who can be changed, MK, make no mistake about that. There are people who get lost and who stray, but can still be brought back. But for each one who can be saved, there are a dozen more who have only ever seen the twisted and broken parts of the world, who have allowed themselves to be blind to all but the worst and terrible things they witness. Those are the people who can not be saved, MK. People like the Lady Bone Demon, her puppet, and sadly, many others too.”

“Even though you say it isn’t, it still feels like it was my fault.” MK insisted, sinking to the floor and looking at his reflection in a golden plate that had Wukong’s face engraved into the middle. “Because I was involved, everything happened in a way that made their attacks possible. I feel like I have to take some of the blame.”

“Oh Child,” Old Beng sighed softly, “You carry it needlessly.”

“Xiaotain.” Wukong said softly, sitting beside the boy and putting his arm around his shoulders. “Neither of us can say anything that will convince you none of what happened was your fault, but please, believe me when I say no one, not me, Old Beng, Mei, Red Son, or anyone else, blames you for what happened. Everyone knows that the blame lies with me for making those people angry to begin with.”

“But you were doing what you had to do back then.” The boy said.

“I was, but the way I handled things wasn’t the best… I should have ended the Lady Bone Demon, instead of letting my Master seal her away. I should have kept better track of where the Spider Queen was after the ruination of her home and paid closer attention to her activity. And Demon Bull King… That was just one big mess of a screwup from the start. No one blames you for what happened MK.” Wukong assured his successor. “Mistakes happen, but as long as you leave this world in a better state then you found it, then you can look back and say, you did good, alright?”

MK sighed heavily. “I like the world as it is right now, so if it could stay that way forever, that would be awesome.”

“Forever is a long time, young Xiaotain.” Old Beng remarked, slowly standing up again. “Now, enough of this gloomy talk. Come, both of you can help me gather some fresh fruits for the children’s supper time.” He offered with a smile.

That made MK perk up again, and with a nod from Wukong, the two followed the old Monkey out of the storage room, each with a little monkey on their shoulders or clinging to their backs.

His kingdom lay in ruin, broken walls and homes lost in rockslides and buried in the unforgiving sands as nature reclaimed the ruins of what had once been a grand place where humans and demons would have thrived under his authority and care. The halls of the palace, once pristine and polished to perfection, were now cracked and crumbling from neglect, cobwebs and nests from seasonal birds littered the high ceilings and corners while insect burrows adorned the floors and walls.

Everything he had worked to create was abandoned and left to decay.

“We have been forgotten…?” He asked of the being who had brought him here, a being who hovered off the ground at all times, and hid himself in a dark robe. “Peng and Yellow Tusk?”

“Your brothers remain prisoners to the Memory Scroll still. And will remain that way until you are able to free them, a task that you are not yet strong enough to attempt, much less succeed at.” The being stated, “your body is still adjusting and acclimatising to the flow of the three realms after so long under the spell of the Scroll. You must recover fully, Axure Lion, or you will ruin yourself before you even begin your next steps.”

“And you, stranger, you seek to help me?” The celestial lion questioned.

“I and those like me seek our own ends, but to reach them, we require aid from those who can be trusted. We have nothing to lose, but much to gain in helping you in your efforts.” The stranger admitted. “But, you are known for your less than perfect loyalties, as such, I and those like me are reluctant to give you more than this humble shell of mine as a point of contact.”

“My loyalty?” The lion repeated. “What have I done that would bring anyone to question my loyalty?”

“You would deny your trespass, even now?” The stranger asked with a tilt of his hooded head. There is enough light to show the stranger’s lips part to show an impressive collection of unnaturally sharp teeth. “Was it not your impatience and anger that led you to lie to the father and sons about their task? You who crafted them the garbs of Heaven and set them to hunt the precious Monkeys of Flower and Fruit Mountain? You who then killed them and stood side by side with the grieving and angered Sun Wukong to storm Heaven and challenge the Jade Emperor?”

“That is-” It was known… Did Wukong know?

“It was not something told to the general public, nor is it mentioned within the now famous book dear Chang’e wrote to immortalize the famous Journey To The West. But those who look deep enough and those who watched the events as they happened closely enough, they know the truth.” The stranger expressed, hovering a few feet away and gently sweeping away the gathered dust from a frame that hung on one of the walls, an old picture, faded with time and but still with enough detail to make out the scene.

Azure, Peng and Yellow Tusk, the first day they’d started work on building their home here at the ridge. A gift from one of the artisans who lived in the ridge before their arrival, a small thanks after their efforts had brought some comfort and safety to the land.

“You allowed yourself to be foolish, Azure Lion, and that foolishness cost you any chance at what was never yours to begin with. But there may yet be other ways to gain what you wanted.” 

Azure blinked. “What?”

“You wish to see the power of the Jade Emperor used to better the world, do you not?” The stranger questioned. “It is possible to achieve that dream of yours. If, that is, you are willing to listen and follow the path I and mine offer to you.”

“How am I to trust that you and yours can be trusted if you will not even give me a name or a face?” Azure questioned.

“Fair enough.” The stranger smiled another sharp toothed smile, and with a flick of his wrist, a teleportation ring formed beneath them. “Brace yourself.” He warned and Azure had just enough time to inhale deeply and set his feet before the familiar pull of the magic took over him.

He heard the voices of others around him, their voices laced with concern, dread, some anger and a weary resignation.

“Is there nothing you can do to lessen his pain?” His wife questioned, close to him, perhaps at his bedside? Had he slipped into slumber upon his throne again and caused her to have to bring him to bed?

“Nothing more than we have already done, your Highness. Anything more than this would numb him and render all our efforts worthless.” That was the voice of the old Black Tortoise, also close by but somehow lower than him…? How, if he were not on a bed then- 

Ah, yes, he recalled now, he was meditating before bed, and had settled himself in his meditation chamber to try and ease the pains that had tormented his body for the last few days. Faintly, the sensations were returning to him again, his body was still seated, his arms still relaxed and his hands cradling the warmth of his own chi, forming into a collection of marble sized balls. Some of them must have been cracked and fragmented in his palms, leading his wife to worry about his health when she’d found him here and called upon the Black Tortoise to check upon him.

He would be sure to soothe his wife when he awoke truly.

“This would not be happening if things had been left well enough alone.” And there was the Vermillion Bird, anger as familiar in her tone as the very fire she represented. In all the eons he’d known them, the two women had never gone far from each other.

“We can’t change it now. Whatever comes is beyond even Her control this time, and good or bad, it will not be stopped any longer.” The Black Tortoise remarked, her voice heavy with shame she could do nothing more for him.

It would not do. They had enough to worry about without carrying his needs as well.

“Such talk is not appropriate at this time.” He said as he peeled his eyes open, taking a moment to steady himself as his senses returned to him, bringing the familiar aches and pains of his aged body and the faint sting of minute tears and rips along his skin, the signs of just how overwhelming the power within him had become. It was thankfully less than it had been before he settled to meditate.

“Emperor.” Both the Black Tortoise and Vermillion Bird greeted him as the Queen Mother often West helped him to stand once again. He was not as steady as he would like to be, but for the sake of the Realms, he would bear it.

“Let it be enough for now, my friends. I know my fate, and I embrace it. Let it not weigh you both down.” He bid them, with a kind wave of his hand to dismiss them. “The pattern is set now, we can only endure it to its end.”

“Are you sure?” The Vermillion Bird questioned, a promise in her tone. She would stand with him, she would fight for him, they all would, to grant him time enough to regain his stability and make a stand.

He could not ask it of them, not when they all knew it would be meaningless should She chose to take matters into her own hands yet again.

So instead he nodded. “Go now, both of you, enjoy the time you have while it lasts. We need not fret over this matter any longer than we already have.” He assured and with a final nod, the two left his meditation chamber.

“My husband.” His wife’s voice was filled with questions he could not yet answer, and so instead he shook his head slowly.

“I am at peace, my dear.” He assured her, tenderly brushing a loose strand of hair from her face. “Let it not sadden you.”

“You are changed.” She said and he could not help the smile that graced his lips, “The pain is worsening, and so I must ask, what is your plan?”

He sighed heavily, but as they walked side by side to their shared chamber, he explained.

“It will be Erlang who rules until the danger passes, but the power is not to go to him. It would ruin him. Instead, you must see to it, with the help of the Black Tortoise, the Vermillion Bird, the Teal Dragon and the White Tiger, that the power of the Yellow Stone is contained for as long as possible. That will allow the child time to prepare and when he is ready, the power of the stone will call to him. The rest is in the hands of the young and the brave.”

It was not a full proof plan, the power was unstable, even within him, but if the need for a hero come about, should it be that the world needed someone to step up and fight alongside the Azure Dragon, the Two Monkeys, the Gods of all Realms and those who were willing and determined to try…

He could at least try and make it just a little easier for them, even if he would not witness the aftermath.

“They had sealed themselves in?” Chi Yue questioned as she poured tea for herself and Ao Bing.

“They discovered a theft from their Palace of Judgement. They wish to investigate it from within first before they accuse anyone outside the Underworld.” Ao Bing explained, offering her the letter he’d been sent. 

“The Celestial Realm is also bolstering their armies.” The third member of their meeting explained as she sipped from her cup. “Something is happening, and whatever it is, it will be big.”

“Then we better prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” Chi Yue said.

“Are you sure you do not wish me to put more charms and protections around your home?” the other female of their party asked, “You know it is no trouble for me.”

“I am sure, please don’t fret over me.” Chi Yue nodded and smiled. “I am not a helpless maiden, and if anything does try, I am not without a means to defend myself.”

“It would ease my mind.” Ao Bing admitted, “All this stress and mystery, it reminds me too much of my Father’s ways.”

“Then if it eases you,” Chi Yue offered, “I will relocate to Wukong’s mountain for a time, spend some days with the children and enjoy the company of Old Bing.”

“It would put both our minds at ease.” Their third nodded. “You are not helpless, but still, you are not as strong as you once were, now that your river is dried and gone. Knowing you are safe helps ease many minds.”

“Very well.” Chi Yue nodded. “I will speak with Wukong tomorrow and arrange it. Now please, drink and eat my friends, we so rarely get to enjoy time together, and should not spoil the time with heavy topics.”

“Now that you know who we are and what we want, are you willing to listen and follow our guidance for the path ahead of you, Azure Lion?” One of his benefactors’ asked.

“I am.” He agreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am setting up for A Very Broken World. Buckle in everybody!

[lover-of-skellies]

Sans Fight Night - Round 5

Fight location: an empty AU. Think classic undertale, but completely empty. There's no one around, and our contestants can go ham without any consequences

Contestant 1: Fresh

Strengths: Has no emotions (therefore he can't possibly lose control of them), speed and teleportation, potentially makes portals, can sort of conjure up physical items to fight with, great at being a distraction, can still use skeleton magic, even if his body is destroyed, he'll survive (provided he finds a new host fast), highly unpredictable and hard to read, can fight from pretty much any distance

Weaknesses: Doesn't appear to take many things seriously, is vulnerable as soon as he (the parasite) is removed from the host body

Contestant 2: Epic

Strengths: Magic/teleportation, more intelligent than he appears at times, speed, can appear as clones/duplicates/copies, and I saw someone say that he functions like a Looney Tunes character. Normal logic simply Does Not Apply to him

Weaknesses: N/A

Note: My knowledge here is very limited. I've seen maybe a few pages of the Epictale comic and that was AGES ago, so I don't really remember it. Aside from that, the only other depiction of him I've seen was in Underverse, and even then, I don't remember much of what he did there

As always, propaganda is welcome and encouraged! If you have some information that you think could help one of these guys win (or lose), feel free to reblog this post and include it!

*EPIC PROPAGANDA HERE

[creatively-cosmic]

so another thing thats had me taking it easier with missing numbers is doing some... research for Memento Mori, you could say.

basically: ive been doing a nuzlocke with some custom rules (ive dubbed it morilocke) through Pokemon X to create/stimulate the playthrough that the player will be experiencing! and Boy the story beats sure do write themselves.

this pic has some of our early game Highlights. as of right now only three pokemon in this image have survived (DUMPLING I MISS YOU)

if anyone wants to put themself through this painful run built for hyper specific story purposes, my ruleset is under the cut!

Pokemon die when fainting. There is no saving them. Memento Mori. (Unless...)

Only catch the first Pokemon encountered on a route (duplicates must be bypassed until a new pokemon appears, though). Rock Smash, Surfing, and Fishing encounters are their own thing, and all gift pokemon are acceptable.

However, on the chance you encounter a shiny, not only can you catch it, but it must join your party.

All Pokemon must be nicknamed.

Sell/Discard all manual HP healing items. In Memento Mori, they don't work. Pokemon can only heal at a Pokemon center. There is no limit on Pokemon center usage. (This only applies to manual use items like Potions. Passive items like Leftovers, and any healing move, are allowed. Status condition cures are allowed ONLY outside of battle.)

this hurts my heart, but no Pokemon Amie. this would make the nuzlocke so much harder for me emotionally and easier battle-wise. i value my sanity. Super training is allowed.

i. do not want to start an entire pokemon game from scratch if i lose fully. so i simply will not. The team will still be "dead" - they must be replaced by either boxed Pokemon, or, if that's not an option, revisit the nearest previous route and add the first encounter upon return (duplicate clause not applying. if you get another pidgey you get a pidgey bitch). in the story, whiteouts are a death of the player character- while not effecting gameplay, if i experience one, i will note the Pokemon I lost to for........ design purposes.

Upon the death of a Pokemon, the Pokemon replacing it in your party (or most recently caught if party is not full) can be leveled up to match the level of the lowest level member of your party. because i hate grinding.

Ghosts don't die. They rest. If a ghost-type party member faints, it bypasses the death rule- technically. However, it cannot be removed from the Graveyard until another Pokemon of equal value to you dies and takes its place. (No worming around this by sacraficing an early game pokemon you don't use. Give up something you love if you want it back so badly.)

Xerneas is a permanent member of the team upon capture. If it faints, it stays in the party but is unusuable. Memento Mori.

bonus for getting all the way down here: the attempt to make the stranger's outfit in-game, and our team as of writing this post

( ... an optional 11th rule as a small mercy that ive utilized. a pokemon can be brought back for a price, only if the fallen pokemon has Maxed friendship. if you're willing to commit, revive the pokemon and return it to the front of your party. then, go on to where you'd get your next catch. regardless of what the pokemon you encounter is, that will be your sacrifice. kill it, or capture it and send it to the Graveyard. this action replaces the allowed catch for the area you encountered it in. the pokemon you revive will come back Wrong; Quiet nature, illegally shiny, sick, and Perish Song will be one of its moves Permanently. )

[the-griffons-saddlebag]

💎 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺! Arkano Elite Visor
Wondrous item, very rare ___ This visor is a strange device from a far-flung age and can sometimes be found in the lairs of sphinxes that have traveled through time. The visor is made of pitch-dark glass that can be seen through from only one side. While wearing the visor, you have darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. If you already have darkvision, wearing the visor increases its range by 60 feet. Glowing, eye-like illusions appear on the front of the visor while you wear it, duplicating the expression you make with your actual eyes. The visor runs on a power source that's fueled by magic. The visor can be used for up to 8 hours before the power source is empty. Deduct the time you use it in increments of 10 minutes from the power source's total time. You know how much remaining time the source has while holding the visor. Any creature can use an action to expend a spell slot level of 1st level or higher into the power source, adding to its total remaining time, by touching the visor as the spell slot is expended. The power source regains a number of hours of power equal to the spell slot level that was expended into it. When found, the visor has 1d6 + 2 hours of power remaining, and it can't have more than 8 hours at a time. 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝘽𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙨. While wearing the visor, you can press one of the buttons on its side using a bonus action to grant you a unique effect. Each effect lasts for 10 minutes, ending early if you remove the visor. Each effect deducts a number of hours from the visor's remaining time, as described below. If you press 𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝟭, you can use an action for the duration of the effect to fire a beam of energy from the visor's eyes. Each time you do, 1 hour is deducted from the visor. Make a ranged spell attack for the beam, which has a range of 60 feet, using a spell attack bonus of +8. On a hit, the target takes 4d8 lightning damage. If you press 𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝟮, 3 hours of power are deducted, and you gain blindsight out to a range of 60 feet. If you press 𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝟯, 5 hours of power are deducted, and you gain truesight out to a range of 60 feet. ___ ✨ Patrons get huge perks! Access this and hundreds of other item cards, art files, and compendium entries when you support The Griffon's Saddlebag on Patreon for less than $10 a month!

[diana-fortyseven]

Yuletide Reading Bingo

The 2024 Yuletide collection is about to be revealed, and many of us love to read more than just our own gifts and treats.

If gamification is your thing, why not enhance your Yuletide reading experience with a fun challenge?

Yuletide Reading Bingo Yuletide Reading Bingo 2024 (permanent link to the 2024 version) Yuletide Reading Bingo 2023 (permanent link to the 2023 version)

With this bingo card generator, you can generate your own Yuletide Reading Bingo Card and try to finish it over a timespan of your choice. If you like, you can challenge yourself to not only reading the fics, but also commenting on them. Last year, I saw people making reclists based on their bingo cards, which is such a cool idea to keep track of the fics they read for each square.

There are no fanfic/fandom/Yuletide-negative or bashing items in the lists. This bingo card is meant to be a positive experience and celebrate fanfiction and fanworks in general and Yuletide in specific.

Details and screenshot of the mobile version under the cut!

Have a lovely Yuletide and a happy Hanukkah or merry Christmas if you celebrate. <3

How to Play

Generate a new bingo card until you're (mostly) happy with the results. If some fields are duplicates or contain items you don't want to have in your card, you can then re-roll every single bingo field separately by clicking/tapping on it. Once you have a card that fits your reading habits (or that takes you out of your comfort zone, if you want to challenge yourself), take a screenshot of the card to keep it.

Closing the page and reloading it will reset the card.

Cross off the bingo fields on your screenshot as you read (or read and comment on) fics that you think count for a field.

Items like "Fandom with over 500 works" mean works in the fandom tag, not in the collection. There are specific versions for the number of works in the collection. Items like "Fandom with over 1,000 works" doesn't mean qualifying works. There are specific versions for the number of qualifying works. Items like "Highest number of hits in fandom" or similar however mean in this collection, not in the fandom tag.

If a work you read has a tag that's similar but not identical to a tag on your card, let it count. There were some almost-duplicates that I trimmed.

The Lists

Canon (options like canon released this year, book fandom, etc)

Category (the AO3 categories and their platonic versions: F/F, F & F Gen, etc)

Challenge (the unofficial mini-challenges like Yuleporn, Crueltide, Wrapping Paper, etc)

Creator (only if you checked the "After Reveals" box; options like favourite author, mutuals, etc)

Discovery (various ways you could've found a fic)

Fandom (options like previously ineligible fandom, uncategorised fandom)

Length (wordcounts from drabble to 30k)

Meta (a fic's front-end and stats, also "citrus scale for rating" xD)

Reader (your relationship with the fic; is it your comfort fic, or your first fic in a fandom?)

Style (chatfic, iambic pentameter, custom workskin, stuff like that)

Tag (roughly 1,800 tags from the 2024 main collection; Madness tags to be added)

Trope (roughly 100 tropes)

What do the Checkboxes Mean?

NSFW is basically what it says on the tin. If you tick this box, the NSFW tropes will be added to the mix. If you also ticked the Tags box, NSFW tags will be added.

Tags is also what it says on the tin. It's a list with currently roughly 1,800 tags from the Yuletide 2024 main collection. Around 270 of them are currently marked NSFW and can only be generated if you ticked both the NSFW box and the Tags box.

After Reveals includes items that only make sense after creator reveals, such as "work by last year's recipient" or "creator is your Tumblr mutual".

Leaving the NSFW checkbox unchecked should remove all NSFW tags and tropes, but you could still come across content you find objectionable. Leaving the Tags checkbox unchecked removes all tags, but you could still come across tropes you find objectionable.

This bingo generator can be used to generate totally safe-for-work or family-friendly bingo cards, but it was created by an adult with an adult audience in mind.

If you run into any issues or come across any bugs, please let me know.

If you find something that should be in the NSFW category, but isn't, please also let me know. It's possible that I missed a few tags when I worked through the list of over 2,000 tags in the 2024 main collection. Please don't ask me to remove content you find objectionable.

If there's anything unclear, feel free to ask! I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible, but please understand if it takes a while; it's a busy time for all of us. :D

Just FYI, the platform I'm using, Perchance, added AI options for their generators last year. This is a regrettable decision that I don't condone, and I'd like to emphasise that this generator is 100% handcrafted chaos.

This generator is based on my Fanfiction Reading Bingo I made as a little practice piece last year. It's responsive, which means it should work on desktop and mobile. The mobile layout isn't ideal yet; I'm trying my best to make it better (but I'd also still consider myself a newbie and I'm learning by doing).

The background image is an edited version of this photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash.

I hope you'll find as much fun in using this generator as I found in making it! Happy Yuletide!