#those uv maps got hands!!!!!

[starstruck-critter]

he is like a spore creature to me

[van-yangyin]

Bennett's Outfit and Hairstyle (Genshin Impact) [Male frame]

没有传说中那么夸张啦，不过就是走路经常会掉进猎人打猎用的坑里，或者被突然倒下的树干砸到脑袋，都很平常嘛，对吧？ ～ It's not as bad as the legends say, but it's normal to fall into a hunter's trap on a walk, or to be suddenly hit in the head by a falling tree, right?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENNETT! 🥳🎂🎁

Sul sul, today is his birthday and to celebrate it with all of you, here you can download his outfit and hairstyle to do him in The Sims 4!

【Everything shared below, has been tested by @lea-heartscxiv and me in Ultra quality (non HQ) following our needs, if you find any problem let me or him know. ⚠️Also we don't have the game updated, Lea and me are on version 1.102.190.1030 (October 31th, 2023), so I can't assure that it works correctly in higher versions. Use it at your own risk. Thank you⚠️】

I'm back from the darkness! Since Simblreen I got burned too much with so much CC I did for that same event and it made me stay away for a while together with a pain I have in my arm where is my skilled hand. Now I'm more recovered and also I know how to control the pain in my arm (literally when it hurts too much I stop doing everything I was doing), so without further ado I leave you with CC I've been preparing for today.

Download under keep reading ↓ 

If you download my CC it means your agree with my T.O.U (English/Español/日本語).

General Info:

one piece outfit (clothes)

gloves (2 versions, HQ and non-HQ)⁽*¹⁾

boots with socks

arm bandana (upper right bracelet)

body scars drawn on sim by me from scratch (two types, real scar and painted scar on scars or tattos) [Painted scars is for those who want a more drawn style, like original color of Bennett's model]

band-aids on face and left forearm

hairstyle with glasses (24 EA Swatches + Bennet swatch) [Male and Female Frame]

hairstyle without glasses [⚠️ Not avaliable yet. Coming in a week or so due to time constraints. I'll reblog this post with update if you follow me here and/or you download from SFS. In case you're following me on Patreon, my Patreon will notify you that is update⚠️]

Bennett eyes recolor

all LOD's

normal, specular and emission maps included

custom thumbnail

HQ compatible (only gloves have non-HQ version)⁽*¹⁾

~⭐️~

~Bennett's outfit~

Outfit Info:

one piece outfit (clothes)

boots with socks

gloves (Painted and adapted on hands with Blender. Left bracelet is disabled since a part of gloves uses that texture location)⁽*¹⁾

arm bandana (upper right bracelet)

all LOD's

normal, specular and emission maps included

custom thumbnail

HQ compatible

All is opposite frame compatible tho there are deformity on Female Frame

Compatible with higher and lower game sliders

There are small bugs with some parts of clothes

⁽*¹⁾ Only download HQ version of gloves if you have "HQ mod" if this isn't the case, download non-HQ version. Gloves in non-HQ version have less pixelation than when use HQ version without "HQ mod" that I don't know how to avoid (if someone know, feel free to tell me)

LODs Info: Complete Clothing: LOD0: 11229 poly LOD1: 5827 poly LOD2: 3003 poly LOD3: 1457 poly Gloves: LOD0: 930 poly Boots with socks: LOD0: 2136 poly LOD1: 1214 k LOD2: 733 poly LOD3: 470 poly Arm bandana (Upper right bracelet): LOD0: 264 poly LOD1: 210 poly LOD2: 168 poly LOD3: 83 poly

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (Patreon ~ Always free, no adfly)

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (SFS ~ Always free, no adfly)

Lower and higher game sliders:

~⭐️~

~Bennett's body scars and band-aids~

General Info:

body scars drawn on sim by me from scratch (two types, real scar and painted scar on scars or tattos) [Painted scars is for those who want a more drawn style, like original color of Bennett's model]

nose face band-aid (placed on Left Nose Piercing) and left forearm band-aid (placed on Socks) with mesh made by me from scratch and texture used from Bennet's model [Original + 84 swatches from Crystallum Palette]

custom thumbnail

HQ compatible

Opposite frame compatible ※except for left arm scar which I've disabled as it's misaligned with UVs female frame, if you want me to do it also for female frame don't hesitate to send me an ask on my Tumblr, I mainly don't need this scar specifically for any of my female frame OCs for that reason I've put it aside.※

LODs Info: Left arm band-aid: LOD0: 152 poly Nose band-aid: LOD0-1: 236 poly LOD2-3: 118 poly

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (Patreon ~ Always free, no adfly)

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (SFS ~ Always free, no adfly)

~⭐️~

~Bennett's Hairstyle with Head glasses~

Hairstyle with Head Glasses Info:

24 EA Swatches + Bennett swatch

Texture located on Head accessory, so hat cuts are disabled for this hairstyle

Base game compatible

Hat not compatible

All genders and agender

Teen to elders (Child, Toddler and Infant version eventually)

Texture hair and hair mesh made by me from scratch

normal and specular maps on glasses included

Split hair compatible (Patreon/SFS) [Extra info: I'm currently making changes in this option and expanding considerably the offer of colors and palettes (besides placing it in other places so that it doesn't cause problems as it happens with version located in piercings, although this time it won't only be for split hair color, but it will have many more options available. I will also make a special palette with all Genshin Impact hair colors of characters that I made and will make (as I'm doing with eyes) so that all my hairstyles can use those colors too.]

Custom Thumbnails

LODs Information: Hairstyle with glasses: LOD0: 10108 poly LOD1: 5053 poly LOD2: 2525 poly LOD3: 1261 poly

※Choose download only one version of each frame or choose download between "M-F_Merged" where two frames files are together.※

!!UPDATE!! ⚠️Fixed a bug in CAS swatch 25 for Female Frame Hairstyle that made it impossible to change color because it had the same swatch value as number 16, if you have this version or the Merged version, please re-download it so you can use the last swatch of Female Frame.⚠️

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (Patreon ~ Always free, no adfly)

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (SFS ~ Always free, no adfly)

Preview in CAS:

Split hair color:

~Bennett's Hairstyle without head glasses~

24 EA Swatches + Bennett swatch

Base game compatible

Hat compatible

All genders and agender

Teen to Elder

Child, Toddler and Infant version eventually, this post will notify you that is update if you're following me

Texture hair and hair mesh made by me from scratch

Split hair color compatible [Extra info: I'm currently making changes in this option and expanding considerably the offer of colors and palettes (besides placing it in other places so that it doesn't cause problems as it happens with version located in piercings, although this time it won't only be for split hair color, but it will have many more options available. I will also make a special palette with all Genshin Impact hair colors of characters that I made and will make (as I'm doing with eyes) so that all my hairstyles can use those colors too.]

Custom Thumbnails

LODs Information: Hairstyle without glasses: LOD0: 10848 poly LOD1: 5372 poly LOD2: 2684 poly LOD3: 1341 poly

※Choose download only one version of each frame or choose download between "M-F_Merged" where two frames files are together.※

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (Patreon ~ Always free, no adfly)

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (SFS ~ Always free, no adfly)

Preview in CAS:

Split hair color:

~⭐️~

~Genshin Impact Eyes~

color eyes of characters as non-default

color eyes of characters as make-up face

!!NEW CATEGORY!! color eyes of characters as occult eye lid [YOU NEED THIS MOD TO UNLOCK THIS CATEGORY CAS]

⚠️ Important: At the moment both only have swatch of Razor and Bennett's eyes, but I'll add more as make other characters, which in that case will be notified in corresponding post so that if you wish you can download or re-download it with new swatch (if you downloadi it from SFS), for those on Patreon I'll simply modify the file and make it notify the update of that post

※Choose the one that best suits your needs or choose the three of them with MERGED file.※

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (Patreon ~ Always free, no adfly)

✨DOWNLOAD LINK✨ (SFS ~ Always free, no adfly)

~⭐️~

Let me know if you find any problem. 🙏❣️

IF YOU LIKE MY WORK PLEASE CONSIDER BECOME A PATREON OR TIP ON KO-FI. ANY HELP IS ALWAYS WELCOMED BUT ALWAYS OPTIONAL. YOU CAN ALSO COMMISSION ME HERE OR FROM TUMBLR, IF YOU WANT ME TO DO SOMETHING SPECIFIC FOR YOU.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

👀👉MORE DOWNLOADS

Next Genshin Impact character will be 珊瑚宫心海 (Sangonomiya Kokomi), soon I will share a WIP. As general information, from now on I will upload content at least once a month, but without a fixed date. So that way at least once a month you will have content, and in this way I will also have a regular schedule, because before I used to publish everything I finished at the same time and left you with months without content due to I get burned.

Happy simming! 🍀

💛

🛹 You can find me also on Patreon | Pinterest | Ko-Fi | Blogger (Shared with Lea) | Instagram | X (Twitter) | My F.A.Q. | My T.O.U. | MORE DOWNLOADS 🛹

[space-mermaid-writing]

"Send me any prompt"

VAMPIRE STEPHEN 🦇

i see a prompt request and i trip and choke and die in my haste to ask for vampire stephen. prepare for paragraphs of inane vampire rambling over discord.

I expected nothing less from you :D Have this 5+1 sequel of 'The Vamp and the Were'. Beta by KJ <3 Everyone listen to 'Secretly A Vampire'. It's very vampire Stephen coded.

Summary: 5 times the team didn’t know Stephen was a vampire and 1 time he didn’t realize they knew

Tags: Vampire!Stephen Strange, Werewolf!Tony Stark, IronStrange, established Relationship, 5+1, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Fluff, all the good stuff, revealed secret, whump Stephen, protective Tony

Ko-fi | Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Word count: 4.8k

Secretly a vampire

1

Stephen stepped through his portal and into the Avenger’s tower. More specifically into a conference room.

“Thank you for joining us today, doctor,” Rogers greeted him.

Stephen answered with a nod and sat down on one of the many free chairs. At least he wasn’t the last one to this meeting. It was the first one he attended. So far he had always refused to go; not because the Avengers were publicly known for hunting vampires – and Stephen was a Vamp.

It was problematic on several levels.

Stephen himself hunted vampires as well but only those who posed a danger to society. Those Vamps who had lost their minds and succumbed to their blood lust.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of those. And they were – rightfully – feared by the public eye.

But there were other vampires as well, living a normal life. At least as normal as life could be if sunlight killed you and your species was hunted down.

Stephen was the best example of those kinds of Vamps.

Well, Stephen was a mediocre example because he was a Master of the Mystic Arts and thus did not represent the norm.

But in his work he distinguished between dangerous and harmless vampires. Just as the Avengers should do it.

Albeit they were a long way from it.

Stark entered the conference room, carrying a mug that held probably an unhealthy ratio of coffee to liquid. He dropped into the chair right next to Stephen.

Tony was the only other person in the room who knew Stephen's secret. He had found out by accident; a mission gone bad. Although it had probably been inevitable, considering how they had circled around each other.

Tony threw a wink at him and Stephen scoffed affectionately. Tony knew Stephen wasn’t a fan of pda – at least outside of what he considered family – and thankfully the werewolf kept his hands to himself.

Clint was the last one to arrive; also with a coffee in his hands. He slid into a seat in the back and Rogers started the meeting.

Stephen listened only with one ear. If he was honest, he was just here to show some Sorcerer-Avengers alliance. And because he got tired of the Avengers asking him to join.

Bored, his eyes wandered to the big panorama window. They were on the east side of the tower and since it was late afternoon there was no direct sunlight coming in. Tony had installed UV filtering windows in the whole tower anyway, so that Stephen could move freely within it at any time of day or night, without worrying about getting burned.

“… they reported traces of vampires in Middlesex, New Jersey.” The map of a neighborhood near the sea could be seen on the large screen on the wall. "So far it's been narrowed down to this area. We'll look into it. Get ready to strike soon."

Stephen's jaw tightened when Rogers circled a specific block in South Amboy. He had meant to stay in the background and not attract attention. But if they keep following that specific lead, innocent people might get hurt.

Given two choices, Stephen always chose the one that protected others; instead of himself. That was why he spoke up.

“Actually, the Vamps in that area aren’t dangerous. Quite the opposite: they proved to be useful in providing valuable information on illegal cargo several times.”

All heads turned to him, surprised – even Tony, although for a different reason.

“Vampires are always dangerous,” Natasha chimed in. Her eyes were as sharp as her facial features. Stephen was pretty sure there was some fae somewhere in her blood line. It would explain so much about her.

The sorcerer gritted his teeth. They didn’t know this was a sensitive topic to him. A very personal one. He refused to back down.

“Not all vampires are mindless beasts. I’ve talked to several individuals who are actually very pleasant to be around. And they don’t kill humans for blood.”

“It’s true,” Tony added and Stephen's eyes shot over to him. Of course Tony backed his partner up.

His support seemed to help Stephen's case, because Rogers gave in. “Alright. But we will keep an eye on it.”

Stephen just nodded.

In a subtle gesture Tony put his hand on Stephen's leg, calming him. It wasn’t really necessary, but it was the thought that counted.

Self-preservation hindered Stephen from revealing more in front of the team. He decided to warn his contacts in New Jersey anyway.

The rest of the meeting he leaned back, listening in silence.

Tony didn’t move his hand away the whole time.

2

The wooden stake to his chest was a surprise. It had come out of nowhere. An improvised weapon, pulled from the rubble of the construction site where they were fighting.

White-hot searing shards of pain erupted from the wound.

Stephen hissed in agony. He managed to whirl a spell at the attacker, but the damage was done. He staggered sideways.

“Doctor Strange!” Peter rushed to his aid.

It had been movie night and he, Tony and Peter had been comfortable on the couch when Jarvis had informed them about the attack. Some other Avengers – who had also got the call – had joined the fight.

Stephen was bent over kneeling, trying to regain control over the pain, when the boy crowded his personal space.

“Are you okay?” Peter, who had no problem facing scary monsters, was overwhelmed by the situation. He had no idea what he could do to help Strange - and the fact that the vampire didn't respond only increased his panic.

“Are you going to die?” Peter’s worried face was hidden under his mask but his voice was breaking. A wooden stake to the heart was one of the big myths about killing a vampire.

Fortunately, a wrong one.

“No,” Stephen pressed between his teeth. And then a not very convincing, “It’s going to be alright.”

Sam landed beside them. His wings retreated into the pack on his back as soon as his feet touched the ground. “Shit, doc. Paramedics are on their way.”

Stephen wouldn’t wait for them.

“I need you to pull it out.” The sorcerer gestured to the stake. He didn’t want to burden Peter with the task. And he couldn't do it on his own; he needed all his strength to hold back his teeth from kicking out. It was a shock reaction of his body to defend itself.

“Are you sure?” Sam asked. “That looks nasty.”

It probably did. More so because the Avengers thought he was a regular human being. He was probably wondering how Stephen was still standing on his feet.

“I’m a doctor. And I have magic. I will heal in no time.” Stephen’s voice was pressed. Just because he was a vampire didn’t mean he wasn’t suffering. He was indeed in a lot of pain.

Finally, Sam stopped protesting. Instead, he put his hand around the stake; and pulled.

Stephen's lips tightened, wrinkles forming where none existed before. His breath seized – even though a vampire didn’t have to breathe at all. But it helped with the pain. At least that was what he told himself.

Stephen managed to cast a spell that mended his robes, concealing the wound from sight. His vampire powers would take care of that one. He just needed some rest and a blood bag from his refrigerator.

As soon as Sam got the wooden stake out completely, he threw it away in disgust. It was drenched in blood and other liquids the Avenger didn’t want to think about too closely.

There was an angry growl approaching them fast.

Oh yeah, now Sam had to calm down a concerned and very feral lover, who had probably smelled the sorcerer’s blood on the other side of the battlefield, as well as heard his cry of pain.

3

Stephen avoided going outside during the day. Understandably, since it would literally kill him – if he didn’t take precautions. Usually, there was no reason for him to hit the streets in broad daylight anyway.

Usually.

But this was a magic-related emergency right in the middle of bustling central New York, and Wong wasn’t currently available. Which was why Stephen was here, wearing several protection spells so the sun wouldn't burn him to a crisp immediately. The cloak rested on his shoulders, expanding his collar to a full hood to provide extra protection.

The glowing box that hovered six feet in the air in Central Park better be worth this.

Tony didn’t leave his side. Ever since the incident in Australia, this was a sensitive topic between them and the werewolf acted overly protective. Stephen didn’t argue with him. He had learned his lesson. He did accept Tony’s sunglasses though.

“For your eyes,” the Were muttered.

Stephen wasn’t sure if it was meant to protect them, or if they currently betrayed his true nature by turning into a bright shade of red. So he hid them behind the tinted glasses.

It was late in the morning, not yet noon, and the day not too warm. He could work with that; as long as his time outside was kept short. Despite all precautions, he felt a headache approaching.

“Thank you for coming by,” Natasha greeted them, approaching from the side. She and Clint had been the first ones to the scene. But as soon as they had seen that flying box, they had called the sorcerer.

Stephen turned his head to her, shielding his face from the sun with his hand. Even with the sunglasses it felt too bright. And maybe he imagined it, but his skin felt itchy.

Natasha took in the unfamiliar style of the Cloak of Levitation, and the accessory that obviously belonged to Tony. As well as his defensive posture. “Are you alright, doctor?”

Stephen wasn’t surprised she noticed something. She was very observant.

Before Stephen could open his mouth, Tony chimed in, chuckling. “You see, our wizard here has a bit of a hangover. It got late yesterday and we may have opened one bottle of wine too many.” He looked at Stephen with mischief dancing in his eyes, “Next time you should stick to grape juice.”

The vampire didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to; it was written on his face that he was not impressed by those words – even with half of it hidden.

When Stephen didn’t object – and really, why should he? This was the perfect excuse – Tony grinned broadly and bumped his shoulder with Natasha. “We should avoid loud noises and bright light,” he stage-whispered, prompting her to follow him towards the weird magic object – and away from Stephen.

4

Bruce opened the door to the supply room – and stopped right in his tracks. “Oh… eh, I’m… I’m sorry, guys…”

He had clearly caught Tony and Stephen in flagranti. Stephen had pushed Tony against the shelf in the back, and was currently working on the soft skin of his neck, right between his ear and his shoulder. His back was to the door and he stills as soon as he heard it open. But he didn’t turn around nor did he make any kind of move.

Tony had his head tilted sideways to give him more room. His hands were on Stephen's shoulders, grasping the fabric of his shirt, while his legs were wrapped around the sorcerer’s hips.

He clearly enjoyed what they were doing very much. His pupils were blown wide and his eyes dark, when he locked them with Bruce.

Tony was slow to react. “Oh… hi, Brucie…” He smiled lazily.

There was a low growl in the room; surprisingly it didn’t come from the werewolf.

“You should leave,” Tony still hazily smiled. “Room’s occupied”

“Yes..sorry…” Bruce shuffled away, his head red by embarrassment.

The haze on his brain lifted enough to ask Jarvis, “What was that about, J?”

“I apologize, Sir. This room has no form of locking mechanism.”

That was something Tony should change. He made a mental note to add a lock to every single door in the compound.

The thought was forgotten in an instant when Stephen started to lick over where he had just bitten Tony. It was to close the wound; and to get Tony’s attention back.

The engineer shifted his focus back on the vampire. He rocked his hips against Stephen’s and elicited another growl from him, this time more needy.

5

Stephen was tired. Not ‘I need to go to sleep because he was a regular living being’-tired. No, vampires were physically and mentally not able to sleep; even if they wanted to. They were undead. And while the dead slept permanently, the undead never did.

This could be exhausting in its own way.

When he joined the Mystic Arts, Stephen learned to meditate, which was an effective way to shut off his mind; at least for a while.

Stephen had been gone from this dimension for a few days and now he craved a drink, a quiet and dark room, and the scent of Tony. Preferably a combination of all three things together.

He opened a portal straight into Tony’s bedroom.

Of course he didn’t find Tony there. The Were was barely in his own bed when Stephen was present. Without him, he probably barely walked in here at all. Plus, the sun had already risen.

Stephen went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Tony always had fresh blood for him available - packed into innocent looking, unlabeled boxes. It made sense; this was Tony’s private penthouse, but he often had guests over; Avengers coming upstairs. Stephen wouldn't want them to ask unwelcome questions.

He took a box and a glass – he refused to stick a straw into it. It would look too much like a juice box and Stephen just knew Tony would make a joke about that.

Instead he poured the red liquid into a wine glass. It was easier for him to hold it with the stem placed between his digits to prevent it from falling.

“Jarvis, where’s Tony?”

“In his laboratory, Doctor Strange.”

The Vamp opened another portal with the intention to at least steal a kiss from his partner, before he retired for the day. He changed his robes into something comfortable while walking through.

“… can you make one that ticks like a bomb, but instead of exploding there will be a small banner popping out that says ‘boom’. And then it will explode… oh, hey doc.”

Stephen realized too late that Tony wasn’t alone. Clint was standing next to his desk, both men leaning over schematics for what seemed to be trick arrows.

Walking up to his partner, Stephen took a sip from his drink.

Clint’s eyes followed the movement of his glass. “Is that red wine?”

Stephen paused, looking down at the red liquid. He was lucky Clint was human and couldn't smell blood over that distance.

He licked over his lips and noticed Tony was watching their interaction rather amused.

“Is that a problem?” he answered with a counter question.

Clint just shrugged. He certainly didn’t judge him, even though it was barely 10 a.m. in the morning.

+1

Stephen was in Kamar-Taj when he got the call from Tony.

“Poison Ivy is attacking Washington DC. We could use some backup.”

Stephen frowned and glanced at his phone. It was early in the morning, which meant it was pretty late on the East Coast.

“Really?” he asked. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“I would also rather work in the lab right now. You coming?”

"Shields are at fifty-seven percent," Jarvis interjects. There was an explosion somewhere in the distance on their side.

"No pressure," Tony reassured either Stephen or himself, the Vamp wasn’t sure.

“Yes, just send me a-”, his phone chimed when he got a message, “…photo.”

“See you on the other side.”

Tony hung up and Stephen opened the photo. It showed a street lamp that was overgrown with vines – just like the sidewalk in the background. Everything was a bit blurry but good enough for Stephen’s magic to work. He opened a portal and with one step he was standing on the other side of the world.

There was chaos in the streets. In the dead of night, they were filled with a sense of urgent as people ran frantically in all directions. The sound of sirens wailed in the distance, adding to the cacophony of fear and confusion.

Stephen detected the general scent of panic in the air; it smelled sour and sharp with a hint of uncertainness.

Suddenly the asphalt cracked open and spiky vines shot high into the air. They chased Peter, who was swinging between the tall buildings.

Stephen summoned sharp and glowing discs and cut the stem. The heavy upper part fell – as the cloak of levitation pulled Stephen into safety – and hit the ground with a loud thud. The lower half of the tendrils, however, continued to move; like cut tentacles, but more angry now. Stephen cut them again, this time right above the ground.

The Iron Man suit stopped next to him midair, opening the face plate. “Thanks for joining. We’re currently dealing with Rose and Thorn, but her plant pets have a mind of their own and they cover a lot of ground here; destroying streets and buildings.”

“They’re Solanaceae.” At Tony's quizzical look, Stephen added, “Nightshades. They probably get stronger during the night.”

“A cousin of yours?”

“Funny,” the Vamp dead-panned. “I’ll do what I can, but our best bet is probably a giant flamethrower.” Fire killed almost everything efficiently, plants as well as vampires.

“Since when do you have a doctorate in botany? I’ll see if I can get propane from somewhere. Might take a while though.”

“Great. In the meantime, I'll take care of the weeds.”

They parted ways. Tony flew off while Stephen moved right next to where more plants breached through the street. He cut them as low as he could reach with his magic even though he knew it would be more effective to get rid of the roots.

At the same time that was more difficult, especially since he didn’t know how deep they went, or in what way they were connected to each other.

The more he attacked them, the more ferocious they got. The plants seemed almost sentient, sensing where he was, even though he remained mostly in the air and didn’t so much as touch the ground with his feet.

It made Stephen hesitate, wondering what exactly he was facing. It wasn’t magic; not really. Maybe – and that was a big maybe – he could find a way to communicate with them and make them leave.

The asphalt cracked in several places right below Stephen. The Cloak of Levitation pulled him back, but the plants seemed to focus solely on the sorcerer. They hit him before he could throw up a defense spell.

Three big branches pierced his torso and Stephen let out a cry, low and anguished that carried through the streets.

The cloak billowed, trying to pull him free. The movement only made it worse.

Another vine yanked the cloak off him. Someone called out for Stephen, but the noise was muffled in his ears.

The vines hurled him around and then threw him through the air. His loyal cloak zipped after him but wasn’t fast enough to catch him before he hit the pavement and tumbled over several times.

Ironically, the plants softened his fall – albeit only insignificantly.

Stephen gasped for air; and immediately choked on liquid. His lung must have been pierced and blood was pooling in it. He stopped breathing to avoid choking.

He propped himself up on his elbows – his hands were shaking badly – before he rolled onto his side. Deep in his stomach, a dark purple orb of anguish seemed to throb with his pulse. His vision was hazy and tinted red. The feeling of bleeding out was all-consuming.

“Stephen!”

The plants around him were burned away by a modified blast as Tony landed at his side. The werewolf crouched down to examine his partner. The suit retreated from his hands and his head. He wanted nothing more than to cradle the man in his arms, but the presence of the enemy was too close.

“Shit, Stephen, talk to me.”

“’m fine,” was what Stephen wanted to say. All that got out was a gurgling noise. Blood ran down his chin. The vampire turned his head and spat it out, even though it sent vile warnings throughout his innards.

He heard the voice of Jarvis, running a diagnostic scan of him: “…as well as his lung and abdomen. He is experiencing heavy blood loss. Immediate intervention is advised.”

That sounded about right.

“You need blood,” Tony observed what Stephen had already concluded as well. He was losing the vital liquid too fast. His throat felt dry, even though he was still choking. And he didn’t have the strength to check but he knew his fingers were sharp claws and his teeth on display. It was his body urging him to hunt.

For now he was still in control of his mind, yet he had to act fast. Or he would turn into a wild beast that would prioritize to ensure his survival.

Tony helped Stephen sit up. He groaned in displeasure as the pain intensified. Then he grunted with horror as Tony took off one arm part of his armor.

“What…you doin’?” he muttered, barely intelligible.

“I told you: you need blood. Don’t argue about it. Not now.” Not while they were in the midst of an emergency. Not again.

Stephen looked at him, shaking his head. He had already drunk from Tony twice this week. It had only been small amounts, but the body of the werewolf needed time to replenish its blood. With all his injuries, Stephen would need more than Tony had to give. Stephen might feel better, but Tony would die of blood loss.

The vampire didn’t have breath left to articulate that; except he was sure that the engineer must have come to the same conclusion.

Tony was also very aware of Stephen's stubbornness regarding Tony’s health.

“..home…” Stephen managed to get out.

There were plenty of blood bags in the fridge. His hand moved to his belt, where his Slingring was normally stored – and he touched right into a deep wound.

The Vamp hissed in pain and Tony saw the blood running down shaking fingers. Stephen knew he barely had the strength to move, much less to open a portal.

His senses grew stronger as he became more aware of possible food sources around them. Surprisingly, he also got calmer. Or maybe his body just got ready to attack at the earliest convenience.

Suddenly he was glad he was too weak to move a lot.

Tony was kneeling behind him, to support his back and stop him from toppling over; his mind running a million thoughts and calculating all options.

If not from him, Stephen could drink blood from someone else. Tony surely could find someone in this city, even though the area was evacuated. He would knock them out personally if necessary.

Stephen would never drink without consent. And animal blood wasn’t sufficient for this situation; it had to be human blood. Or at least humanoid.

A hospital!

They had blood bags in stock. Even though marching in and demanding them would raise questions. Tony would have to be careful not to reveal Stephen's nature.

On the other hand, if he waited too long, Stephen's nature would reveal on its own; when he went feral to get what his body needed.

Suddenly his trail of thoughts was interrupted by another voice.

“What’s your status?”

Rogers was jogging over to them. Maybe he had smelled the lots of blood Stephen was losing. Or he got called on the scene because Tony had ignored his comm for the past however many minutes – right after he had screamed for Stephen.

The sorcerer was trying to make his bleeding, lanky body smaller and shielded away from the Avenger. Showing his vampire features to Captain America – a very famous vampire hunter – would start a whole other kind of mess.

Tony helped him by subtly moving his armored body between them. “The wizard is out,” he explained dismissively. “I have to get him home immediately.”

This wasn’t really his plan; they were too far from New York and Stephen too weak. It was a good enough excuse though. And it gave Tony an idea: if Stephen wore the armor it would – hopefully – protect him; and those around him. It would leave Tony vulnerable in the still ongoing fight, but he would manage.

He glanced to the side where Rogers was still standing, analyzing Stephen's condition. Tony opened his mouth to throw a quip at him, but Steve beat him to it.

“What if he takes my blood?”

“What?” Tony stared at him. He was sure he misheard. Even Stephen stilled in his arms.

Rogers tilted his head. “If your werewolf blood is fine, mine should be as well.” At Tony's distrustful look, he adds, “You forget I’ve got super hearing. And the tells were rather obvious. Now,” he took the last steps towards them slowly, as if he was approaching a wild animal. “I believe we don’t have much time. I give him my permission to take the blood I can spare.”

Tony’s posture became defensive. It was subconscious, his mind still screaming: protect mate!

“Why?” he asked.

“We are a team, Tony”, Rogers said as if that were a very obvious reason. It probably was – under normal circumstances. Then Rogers spoke to Stephen directly. “And you are still Doctor Stephen Strange, even if you’re a vampire.”

Tony was still hesitant, and that said a lot about his experience with people he had trusted and who had then stabbed him in the back. Some even literally.

But then he felt Stephen weakly nudging him and he turned his attention back to the sorcerer. Stephen needed blood now; they would do the talking later. He weakly beckoned Steve to come closer.

The ground shook again, however, nothing broke through it - for now.

Rogers put his finger to his ear and spoke over the comm to the team. “We need some brief cover. South side.”

Stephen didn’t see who else moved in their direction; his focus was on the Avenger in front of him. Tony stayed with him and Stephen trusted him – as well as Rogers – to stop him should he take too much.

Rogers crouched down as well and looked at them, unsure. “So, how do we do this?”

“Your wrist.” Tony nodded towards it.

Rogers pulled the tight sleeve of his suit up and held it out to the vampire. If he had any second thoughts, he masked them well.

Stephen’s trembling hands wrapped around the warm skin. He felt life pulsing in the veins, a lot of it. Water pooled in his mouth; or perhaps it was blood. He wasn’t sure.

Instead of feasting on his meal immediately, he looked up at Rogers, his red eyes asking for permission. Steve granted it – again; this time with a simple nod.

Stephen bared his teeth and pierced the skin with them. On impact, a sound escaped Rogers, rather surprised than in pain – in fact it didn’t hurt more than a needle prick. And then the pain was completely gone. Everything was fine. Maybe he even was a bit too calm about the situation; the vampire drinking from him and the fight around them.

He had heard about a vampire’s thrall – but he still felt in control. A bit light-headed, sure. But not alarmingly so.

Roger’s eyes met Tony’s, who watched him with alert eyes.

After a while, Stephen let go of him and leaned back. He looked instantly better. He was still bleeding but he no longer made that gurgling sound with every breath. His wounds also seemed to be slowly closing. Or at least the bleeding had stopped.

He moved to stand up, but Tony held him back, gently.

“Take it easy.”

And Rogers added, “We got you, doctor.”

Bonus:

“What did he taste like?” Tony asked way too casual and out of context.

Stephen didn't have to ask who he meant. There weren't many people he had drunk directly from recently. "Artificial. Like a snack with a weird combination of flavors.” Looking at the Were he found him way too smug about his answer. “Are you jealous?”

Tony shrugged, ducking his head. It was a tell; he couldn't fool Stephen. “It was just weird seeing you drinking from someone else. It’s an intimate thing. At least it always feels this way for me.”

Because every time Stephen drank from the Were it almost exclusively led to sex.

Stephen pulled him into his arms. “Only because we make it intimate.” He kissed his temples. “What you and I have is special, Tony.”

Tony left it at that, but the scent of a very happy Were invaded Stephen's nose.

[resin-popia]

Hello!! Your Copia doll is coming along beautifully! The paint is so realistic. Like his bottom lip has texture I have no idea how you do it! Your project got me really curious about doll work myself!! 🫣 but I have no idea where to begin. I have a few questions to start out with-

1. Could you summarize the overall process? What are the general steps from start to finish?

2. What general materials do you need?

3. What paint do you use? What brushes/applicators do you use? How did you achieve those softer/blended contour lines, like in skin tone? If that makes sense. I see some others’ projects that you can clearly see paint lines or the texture of the paint they used, but your Copia almost looks airbrushed!! :0

4. How does putting in the hair work?

5. Where do you buy your base doll? And as far as the reveal in the ~bonus picture~, did he come anatomically correct or was that something you had to add? 👀

6. Where do you recommend buying supplies?

Thank you in advance! 🙏 and happy customizing!

Long Post Incoming💀💀💀💀💀

Thanks for all the fantastic questions! Whether you work on playline vinyl dolls like Monster High or Resin Ball Jointed Dolls, the process is the same. The only difference between them is that with the vinyl dolls you are painting the eyes on yourself. Resin Popia has inset glass and resin eyes.

My tag #Resin Popia BTS has all my Behind the Scenes stuff and progress photos.

All the questions answered below the cut!

1. Could you summarize the overall process? What are the general steps from start to finish?

I will be uploading some vids soon. Try this one first tho.

When you do a faceup, it is a collaboration between you and the sculptor. The sculpture does most of the work. You are bringing the deep parts of the sculpture deeper and the forward parts more forward.

Basically this:

photograph and disassemble doll

wash doll pieces with dawn dish soap and warm water. dry all parts I want to paint.

three coats of Mister Super Clear UV Cut (MSC) sealant on each piece, with a 20 min dry time between coats.

deep freckle/blood vessel texture (optional) with red, blue,brown waterey gouache, spray MSC

dark reddish pink chalk pastel pigments in the deep creases/crevices, areas of blood flow. Correct work with kneaded eraser.

after every layer of pigment that I like, I do another spray of MSC.

lighter pinks or tans (based on skin tone references) on things I want to bring forward (brows, nose tip, cheekbones), another pass in the deep areas, new color on the lips. spray seal

Detail with fine lines under eyes, line texture on lips, wrinkles, lower eyelashes. Check references and experiment. A touch of green in the deepest part of the skull on either side of the nose. You know, where you get sinus headaches.

Pray to Satan and cry as I add eyebrows and hair details with gouache. I start by mapping the brows out with dark chalk pastel then do hairstroke lines with gouache. Personally I am super heavy -handed with my brushes, I need to work on that.

When happy, 2 final coats of MSC

Add Vallejo gloss varnish to water lines of eyes and lips.

2. What general materials do you need?

FYI I have been in this hobby for about 7 years. I have only had to replace Mister Super Clear cans and respirator cartidges in that time. Everything else I have used for nearly a decade. And also used them for other projects!

#1 item you need: a proper serious respirator. You will be at risk of inhaling toxic chemicals when you work with sealants or do any sort of dry sanding. Please please please invest in this item.

Mr. Super Clear UV Cut sealant spray. This gives the resin or vinyl a toothy surface to apply pastel pigments, watercolor pencil, and gouache paint on. The techniques will not work without this surface.

The sealant also behaves like skin, which is made up of several layers of matte cells So the pigment you apply to the resin is suspended in layers just like real skin.

Chalk Pastels I like the mungyo hand-rolled chalk pastel just because when you use a razor to scrape off some pigment it crushes up and mixes better. But any chalk pastel will do. The Xanthi video I will link later has a great idea of just buying a few chalks at a time, because to be honest I don't use all of my chalk.

Small nylon brushes.

A fan brush

A tooth brush (for skin texturing/freckles)

Crappy dollar store makeup brushes (for pigment powders)

Kneaded Erasers

White cloth gloves

ceramic dish for a palette

Some people use watercolor pencils, but I never got the hang of them. I prefer just using brushes. Everyone has their own thing they do.

Paint recs in Next Question

3. What paint do you use? What brushes/applicators do you use? How did you achieve those softer/blended contour lines, like in skin tone?

Goache paint dries flat and matte. It's basically opaque watercolor. I use a damp q-tip to remove it if I make a mistake.

Winsor-Newton is great. I am pleasantly surprised by Arteza's gouache. I have used the same gouache tubes for seven years. You put like a raindrop sized bit on a ceramic dish, that's it. And you can reconstitute gouache endlessly with just a little water.

The trick is to never EVER EVER use true black. nothing is true black unless it's makeup. I use gouache paint on Resin Popia's eye makeup but then soften it with black pastel powder to make it richer.

If you use true black it looks like mud or holes. Dark purples, browns, and greens.

Also don't be afraid to be a bit louder with the colors, the sealant mutes them a lot. Just work slowly and take breaks.

4. How does putting in the hair work?

For resin dolls, you need to make a wig. They are a PITA to make, but it's possible! Check out Mozekyto for how to make wigs. (I'll have more recommended videos further down this post.) Vinyl playline dolls you can reroot, but some people prefer wigs.

5. Where do you buy your base doll? And as far as the reveal in the ~bonus picture~, did he come anatomically correct or was that something you had to add? 👀

The same techniques can use used on vinyl dolls like Rainbow High, Monster High etc. You can get them at goodwill, big box stores, and on ebay. Lots of people sell old toy dolls.

Resin Ball Jointed Dolls are a lot more expensive, so I have spent several years slowly building up my collection. I love vinyl and resin dolls equally.

I bought my base doll from Alice Collections acbjd.com they are a vendor of many resin dolls. I absolutely love Resinsoul.

My favorite doll companies (find them on Alice Collections!) are IslandDoll, Resinsoul, Dollmore, MyouDoll, DollLeaves, 5StarDoll.

Resin Popia is MSD "Mini Super Dollfie" size aka 40cm-52cm. He's 52 cm. SD (Super Dollfie) is around 60-65cm.

I have owned dolls that were considered "prestige artist dolls" in the past, but I always end up selling them because they are so precious I'm afraid to ruin them so they just become dollar signs to me instead of something I love. I'd say $300 would get you a gorgeous resin doll and some clothes for them. Saving up for a doll you really really love is worth it in the end. People also sell used dolls on Instagram. Just please make sure to check the COAs.....

Important Note: I am a Pro-Artist legit BJD collector. AliExpress, Etsy, and Ebay have bootleg dolls that yes, are significantly cheaper, but that is because they steal from the artists that did 99% of the work (and spent tons of their own money) to develop the doll's appearance and engineering. If one cares about supporting artists they should consider the ramifications of purchasing these recasts and propagating the bootleggers. (Especially since a large part of the artist BJD community is from Russia and Ukraine, who have been lately hard hit by war and YET are still making beautiful art for the world to enjoy) I am not pro-bullying though, I am Pro-Education so if anyone wants to have a private, frank conversation about recasts in the BJD hobby feel free to message me.

One silly thing that happened once was I purchased a legit IslandDoll Bru (IslandDoll is always on sale TBH) that was actually cheaper than its recast on ebay. There are a lot of sales during Chinese holidays (11/11, Lunar New Year, Fall Festival) and you usually get a lot of extras like free eyes, beautiful carrying cases, incredible boxes, etc. Resinsoul, the "cheap" BJD company often gives you a gorgeous carrying case for your doll.

Ok enough with the disclaimers now onto doll d!cks haha

Resin dolls are usually realistic when it comes to parts. Realistic in the fact that they add something there...something simple but it's there. Resin Popia has option parts made of silicone that are actually from an action figure company called TB League. Look up "TB League Option Parts" on Ebay. The figures are 1/6 scale making the parts scary and massive at 1/6 scale but funnily enough they make sense at 1/4 scale.

IDK why i got em, I just wanted to have some fun with this doll.

6. Where do you recommend buying supplies?

If you can get to a local hobbyshop that sells models (like miniatures and wargaming figures) please support them first! As vital spaces for geek culture they need all of our support. You can get tiny brushes, Model Paints and sometimes even the sealant from them. Just call ahead they can work something out for you!

Chalk Pastels, Gouache paints I get from art supply stores and as a last resort, Amazon. I use these supplies in other art projects and you will quickly get addicted to gouache painting, i'm sure of it!

Great Videos/Resources

Xanthi's Minimalist Supply List

Xanthi's Male Realistic Faceup (I watch this one so much)

Youtube Channels I like: Enchanterium, Dollymotion, Dollightful, Lomi's Playground, Xanthi

This Book is Great: How to Rock at BJD Faceups

I am answering your additional questions in the comments if you have any! I am @anamelessfool

[peardian]

Here is some behind-the-scenes commentary for my new animation, "Raymond's New (Cat) Groove"! I want to get out all my thoughts here before I forget anything. I'll be covering the entire video, so if you want to avoid spoilers, go watch it first!

First up is The Zoom! Ever since I started planning this animation 2+ years ago, I knew that this would be the first shot. Since zooming in on his eye would produce a mirrored view of the video, a double-zoom-out was necessary.

My original plan was to have the zoom be done purely in 3D. However, when it came time to implement it, I realized the shot did not look good when done realistically. The images distorted due to the curvature of the reflection, and Raymond's glasses got in the way due to how big and round his head is.

Also, even his iris was edited in. I made an HD version of his face texture, which you can see in how smooth the edge of his eye is, but because of the model's texture mapping (UVs), the iris was all distorted. I'm glad I edited in the new iris, though, because I got to make it even higher-resolution.

I already covered all the details on the laptop screen in a separate post, which you can find here.

The first good view of Raymond's room. For the most part, it is a recreation of his default room layout in New Horizons, with a few differences, such as his fax machine being removed. I didn't have all of the furniture models, so all the stuff that isn't shown directly (e.g. safe, water cooler, second desk) are super-low-poly recreations.

The laptop is from Splatoon 2. It is Marina's laptop, with all the stickers removed. If you look closely during the zoom out, you can see that the keys still have the Splatoon language keys.

Also, fun fact, his chair was a Froggy Chair as a placeholder until I got the office chair model. I was planning to keep it, too, if I couldn't get the office chair.

The animation's events really kick off once Raymond begins dreaming. The way his idea lightbulb lights up the room, and how the light persists afterward, is the first sign that things are not normal.

When I first started planning this, I had the New Leaf version of the office wallpaper in mind. While New Horizons has the windows completely obscured by blinds, the New Leaf version has a cityscape visible through the gaps in the blinds. I was originally planning to have the sky change, going from a fake sky to a vibrant real night sky.

Raymond reaches into his desk for the Ocarina of Time, giving the first style shift. This is another scene that I had in mind for years. Originally, I wanted this scene to be super-realistic. Instead of those cartoony leaves from the game, I wanted just a big pile of real-life dried up leaves, with labels written on them. They'd rustle and slide around when the drawer is pulled open just as you'd expect from leaves. I love the idea that, from an outsider's perspective, the villagers are just a bunch of adorably dumb animal children, gathering leaves and pretending they are furniture.

Here are all the leaf types in Raymond's desk. There are two "???" leaves, for a total of 10. Sadly, my favorite ones are completely hidden due to how the physics simulation worked out.

Speaking of physics, I meant to have Raymond pull the Ocarina out. However, every time I ran the simulation, everything freaked out the moment the Ocarina tried to move to his hand, causing the contents to fly out everywhere. Maybe later I'll render out that part for fun.

The Majora's Mask time travel scene. I had the scene ripped from when I was mapping the game, so recreating it was easy. I referenced footage from the game for the animation timing, which is why this and the Ocarina-playing scene are some of the only parts of the video that aren't overly fast-paced. If I had more time, I would have added in the light-blue sparkles that come off the items, just like in the game.

For the anime-esque sequence, the original idea was just to have the hair be flowing smoothly. At some point, I realized that drawing hair on the 3D model would look weird, so I decided to draw the whole thing. I've never really animated like this before, so it was a fun experiment. I posted the raw drawings in another post, here.

For the background, I wanted to reference the time travel scene in the cartoon Samurai Jack. However, the effect there is very intense and hard to look at, so I greatly toned down the flashing effect to the point of being unrecognizable.

Raymond crash-lands in the city from Animal Crossing for the Wii. All the trash that pop up are items from the game, of course. I chose an alleyway so that I didn't have to bother with assembling the city itself. While most of the scene is made from assets from the city, the brick texture is just one of the home wallpaper options.

Did you notice? Before Raymond puts his glasses on, the world is only in 480p, but when he puts them on (stylishly), the screen transitions to full 1080p. The Wii's resolution isn't 480p, but the original Cat Groove's is.

Also, this scene gives a clear example of one of the dream-like effects I used throughout the latter half of the animation. Take a close look at the placement of the bricks relative to the poster. Every time the camera changes, things subtly shift around! It's hard to notice because these are details you normally don't pay much attention to. My favorite use of this effect is in Yoshi's Island, where terrain details are randomized every time you enter a room.

It's not easy to make Raymond look happy when his expressions are normally so serious. Also, did you notice? The floor is entirely different in some shots. It has the same color palette and general design, so it feels the same, but the details and patterns are entirely different.

When the camera points up, you get a brief view of the highly-saturated night sky. Even though it's night, everything is brightly lit, another dream sign. By the way, there's supposed to be a chimney up there, but I guess I didn't put it close enough to the edge to be seen. I completely forgot about it until later.

Here is a closer look at one of the blimps flying in the sky. It's an edit of the Luigi blimp from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, with Rosie's face added on. This is actually an homage to an anime movie, something I rarely talk about. Specifically, the Madoka Magica movie. Rebellion.

Raymond meets a younger Dr. Shrunk at the club entrance, leading to another style shift. This is another scene I imagined for years. Those hands are actually Pikachu's from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/Ultimate, with some clothes added on. Also, again, different floor.

While the art style here looks like late-'90s/early 2000s CGI, this wasn't intentional. I didn't realize the resemblance until after I had rendered it. I guess it's just a natural result of using smooth models with super-basic lighting and solid-color materials.

One idea that I'm sad I didn't have time to implement was that the text on the checklist was going to subtly change as Shrunk's hand passed over it. Just like a dream, the text would change every time you read it.

At the bottom there is the rule against allowing OCs in, the explanation for why Raymond can't get in. It continues out of frame, but you can see more of it when he puts the clipboard away. I even included doodles of some YouTuber OCs! Just for clarification, I have nothing against OCs, it just seemed like the funniest option.

The orb appears!

I am not great at special effects, so this was my best attempt at a reality-warping entrance effect. Sure, it's not very dynamic, but I like how it came out. The sound it makes is a distorted, reversed version of one of the Animal Crossing jingles.

I originally had a different ending in mind. Rather than dashing into the door, Raymond would have climbed up on top of the building to look for another way in. There, he would have seen the orb sinking into the roof.

Raymond achieves his dream! For this scene, I originally imagined it ending with that Undertale sound that plays when going through the dramatic exit door to the ruins. You know the one.

Also, darn walk cycles! This was the fifth one I had to animate in a row, using nothing but pure IK. If I wasn't so exhausted by that point, I might have thought to have the camera zoom in or something.

Raymond sleeps soundly while Cat Spin auto-plays. The snoring you hear is a recording of a real cat snoring, which I found on a free sound effect website. The main reason I included it was so that nobody thought Raymond was dead. His tiny arms don't really lend themselves well to a good sleeping pose.

So, why is Rosie there?? Well, originally, my plan was for the camera to look over at the whiteboard, where something like "Happy Anniversary Cat Groove" would be written on it. This is why the whiteboard is at an angle instead of parallel to the wall like normal. However, when I animated the scene, I didn't have the whiteboard yet.

When I finally got the whiteboard model, I realized I had overestimated its size, and sizing it up didn't look good. So, I had to find a way to fill the empty space above the board. I considered a banner or Rosie-shaped balloons, but I eventually settled on the most ridiculous option: having Rosie herself.

The End!

For the credits music, I chose the Smash remix of Bubblegum K.K., not just because of how many people associate it with Raymond (because of those singing videos people made), but because I just really like it. Other songs I considered were K.K. Disco and the Jimmy T. stage intro from WarioWare: Smooth Moves.

You may have noticed that I used very little of the song Catgroove in the video. Back when I made the original Cat Groove video, the video got a copyright claim, blocking it from being viewed by my European friends. I don't know if the company making the claim was legitimate or not, but I appealed and they removed the block.

Fast-forward a number of years, and Cat Groove was at hundrends of thousands of views, eclipsing everything else I've ever made. I decided that, as much as I enjoy his music, I didn't want to be mooching off of Parov Stelar's work. That's part of why I made Cat Spin, using only Nintendo music, to show the direction I wanted to go. Besides, if the video gets claimed, then I can't show it to all my friends. Otherwise, I might have chosen something like Jimmy's Gang for the credits music.

~

Anyway, that's all I had to say! The end result may be a bit rough, but I'm glad I finally got to bring this idea to life and share it with the world after years of tossing it around in my mind.

A big "Thank you!" to everyone who watched the video from start to finish! I don't know if/when I'll make another big animation like this, but I hope you'll look forward to whatever I make next.

[yokomation-blog]

ALRIGHT THEN! let´s start to block them out today

starting off with Doily here, then to Nat then we prepare thier eyes and Dallas and Kitube done tomorrow then thier eyes and then we can sculpt them

also here are the Steps as a good breakdown, doing this so i don´t forget thee quality im going for

Blockout

Blockout is the first half of my 3D modeling process where i set up a basic shape for my models for later sculpting, tho i do get the Teeth and claws done here too so i can save sometime doing the Retopo with those been retopo´d during the next part, i always prefer to get these done in one day and i like to do more then one

Sculpt

the Sculpting is the well 3D organic sculpting of the models of my models and will often be used as a base for the next half of the 3D process so i gotta do a damn fucking good job. this is also the most fun part of the 3D modeling process

Tho it depends on the character or creature Basic sculpting workflow for a Human(Like say Doily) is as fellow

Head And Neck:

- basic Head/SkullShape

- Eyes

- Nose

- Mouth

- Ears

- Eyes (Details)

- Nose (Details)

- Mouth (Details)

- Ears (Deatils)

- Neck

- Hair base ref(for later grooming)

Body and Limbs:

- basic muscles for the Body and Tail(if they do have a Tail)

- Basic Body sculpt

- Detailed Body Sculpt

- more detailed Body sculpt with Head and Neck attached

- Basic muscles for front limbs

- Basic front limb Sculpt

- Detailed front limb sculpt

- Basic muscles for Back limbs

- Basic Back limb Sculpt

- Detailed Back limb sculpt

Hands:

Starts out maybe with doing some Retopo on the Nails before I get to work, same story on the feet OF the character got feet for that

- Finger(it kinda depends really but mostly this is a copy and paste)

- Thumbs

- whole Hand

- Whole hand details

- Whole arm

And then I will attach the arm to the body

Feet

Same as for the hands, nails get a Retopo then I sculpt them

- basic Sculpt for the foot

- Big Toe

- Other toes

- Big Toe (Details and attaching to the foot)

- other Toes (Details and attaching to the foot)

- Foot Details

- Foot to the legs

And then I attach the leg to the body and refine the body

Retopo/UVs

Retopo is short for retopology and is basicly getting my models into a place where i can use them for Animation and textureing later on, gotta make sure the models are not too high or too low poly as i do use a subdivision modifier to smooth them out and mainly at level 1 for everything, i use UVPacker for the UV maps tho i might wanna also do a few fix´s myself too, it´s also here i get the Textures ready,

these are the numbers i use for texture size´s

1024x1024 - for teeth, nails and tounges 2048X2048 - for clothing, claws and other things 4096X4096 - mainly for skin

for anything with wings i might use a UDIM for a 2048X2048 + 2048X2048 texture size

Multires/Textureing

another fun part tho i would like to improve alot more here especially after someone told my T-Rex looked a bit too smooth, what i will oftn do here is to first get a multires sculpt done then fellowed by a good texture pianting and shader editing, getting the blender materials to look as real as i can while also keep it looking good, on the Subject of textureing pianting i found it´s easier to use a Mask and 2nd layer for the mouth and other things like head crests

i did try out a few things to make the textureing better and i hope to use these not just for these upcomming models but also in the future after haveing made this whole thread

Bakeing/Shadeing

i wasn´t always a big fan of bakeing but by setting it to 8 in the viewport and 10 in the rendering in cycles i think things have been made a whole lot easier for me when it comes to the subject of bakeing, trying my best to avoid useing a cage in blender lately as im not the biggest fan of it tho i do feel like useing a cage for the clothing might help a bit

getting the shaders to look right in eevee is always a fun challange tho with the eyes been fixed aroundthe time time before i do the textureing or after

Grooming

Grooming is the part where i add in the fur, hair and feathers to my fuzzy or fluffy critters or people, still trying to improve here i think tho im getting kinda better, the hair shaders are the hardest part to get right in eevee but i might get them to work

Basic Rigging/Weight painting

after all of that work the 3 final steps are to make the models useable for animation like giveing them an amature inside of them first step is pretty straight forwards, a basic deformation rig and wheight pianting, once all that´s done it´s over to adding in weight pianting for the corrective smooth as well as getting the clothing weight pianted useing a data tranfer, once it´s all ready i´ll get the TGT bones ready and then we do the next half

Complex Rigging/bone custom shapes

the Complex rigging stage is also where i add in custom bone shapes, it´s mainly about here adding in controls for animation and make them easy as butter to animate, things like FK/IK switchs and better controls for the mouth and arm fellow and so on,

Shape keys/animation constraints

finally i´ll add in shape keys to the arms and legs tho it´s not 100% needed eveyrwhere as i think i have gotten better with the weight pianting over this last few years

End reslut

a great model i can use for animation and poseing so i don´t have to draw my OC´s all the time whice is always nice

to keep track of my models i always have a google doc to keep everything in check

and to make sure i do a damn good job i always watch some videos on the topics of the areas, YouTube or bought ccourses

alright with that said, i´ll get to watch a video on the topic of blockout and then we can begin on Nat and Doily´s blockouts today.

[m39]

Decade of DOOMstruction(2000s): 1 map WADs (source port)

If you thought that there weren’t enough WADs to talk about previously, don’t worry. We have 4 times more of these today. And, oh boy… We are off with a bang.

2000 – CHORD 3

As in, the difficult type of a bang, the conclusion to the Chord series has a high chance to kick your ass. Unfortunately, by the end of 2000s standards, it’s closer to the cheap difficulty, with traps surrounding you with enemies, BEING surrounded by enemies at the start (at least there are no hitscanners at the start), the environment usually being against you, starving amounts of ammo until the end of the map, and the less we talk about the bullshit galore of the ending, the better.

I think I might have been more masochistic in the past since I found this map easier with my first review; probably because I found cheap stuff more acceptable and now I got more rusty.

Nonetheless, it’s still a fine map. I still recommend giving it a shot, even though the cheapness of this map might sour your experience with it. Don’t try it on UV when playing blind.

2001 – VRACK 2

This map, on the other hand, felt easier than the last time I played it. Sure, there are over 550 enemies on HMP, but on the other hand, you get a lot of rockets to use, and it doesn’t feel as cheap as the previous map; I’m not even mentioning how some of the secrets trivialize some of the harder moments of the map.

It still looks kind of impressive for a space station from a 2001 WAD. And it was less confusing than during my review of it (probably because I had a secrets guide I made for myself).

It might be an over-two decades-old fossil of a map, but it’s still a good map worth checking out.

2002 – RUMA

While Espi is still fondly remembered by the Doom community even to this day, and even after being dead for 15 years, I’m not really that fond of the decisions he made with his WADs.

Starting with this map, for instance, where the hardest thing to survive is not the small barrage of barons and revenants near the end, but the new sound effects. The pea shooter now sounding like an actual pea shooter, the profanation that is the super slapgun, and the horribly bitcrushed explosion from another game I don’t recognize which, makes me want to play this map muted.

Other than that, it’s still a good map in other parts of it. Sure, the army of zombiemen going down the hallway near the starting area is a bit much, but it’s not a hard map, and by the early 2000s, it looks neat. I think I might appreciate this map slightly more than the last time I played it since it doesn’t try to make unwanted gimmicks over the cost of fun.

If you think you can survive the new sound effects, go ahead and play this map. I don’t think it will disappoint you.

2003 – SPACE STATION OMEGA

It’s kind of hilarious how the author of this map would made the foundation for the Doom+2 port released this year.

As for this map, though? It’s basically one of those tech demos to see what ZDoom can do. My opinion on it doesn’t really change. Annoying? Sure. But it’s less annoying than some of the other tech demos of its time. You can give it a pass.

2004 – GROVE

Trees that block your every move. Darker than a baboon’s arsehole. Irritatingly cryptic in some places. Forces you to do things in a certain way to not rip your remaining hairs out. These are some of the elements that plague this map. A map that should fall apart, and yet it fits in many places.

It’s a marvel for eyes and ears, the atmosphere might be one of its kind, and despite ammo-starving you, you will still have enough ammo to kill all enemies if you know where to look.

This is a map only a madman with the mind of B.P.R.D. could understand 100%. Even though I still like it to some degree, it’s without a doubt one of the most polarizing maps in the WAD community. And yet, I still recommend you play it, if only for the sheer curiosity.

Check the bookcases in the house near the start.

2005 – ALTAR OF EVIL

This might be the best map in this category’s roster by far.

Not overly cryptic. Challenging but not going too far. Atmospheric. Good use of Doom 64’s sound effects. No hitscanners whatsoever.

It’s a really solid map worth trying out. It might have some sound glitches, and the starting area kind of reeks of bullshit, but hey, nothing is perfect. You won’t be disappointed with this one.

2006 – ONIRIA

Another great and fun map to play.

I don’t know how, but I think I enjoyed this map more than the last time I played it. Like Grove, it is one of the more unique experiences of playing Doom WADs, but at the same time, it is much, MUCH less polarizing than that map. Somehow trying to wake up from a monochromatic dream full of skulls to collect became one of the best 2000s WADs to play. And it’s a crime that it isn’t as remembered as the other maps from the roster.

Go ahead and play it. I 100% recommend checking this map.

2007 – SONGS OF THE DAMNED

Three great maps to play in a row, people. And the second one without hitscanners.

It slightly spices up the gameplay by nerfing cacos and lost souls… and plasma gun as well (SHIT), but aside from that, it’s a rather standard, but fun map to play. It might be cheap in some places, but aside from one secret that forces straferunning and the trial-and-error guessing game with the yellow key, this map wasn’t that cheap. It’s not that hard either. And it’s pretty fun to look at when it comes to its architecture and scale.

This map will not disappoint you either.

2008 – ESCAPE FROM CASTLE CHEZCREA

We end today’s roster with a little bit of a letdown (when compared to the previous three maps).

On its own, it is still a fun map to play; it has some interesting things to do, like picking up a pickaxe to unlock one of the secrets (and that pickaxe is not a sprite), but aside from that, it’s rather standard. Nothing else really sticks out aside from some cool locations.

Still, worth checking out.

WINNER

I believe the maps from 2005 to 2007 deserve the title of the best WAD of the decade. It’s like every element of each map snapped in the right place. Only one of them will get this title, though. And I believe that Oniria deserves the second One Man Army award for the best one-map WAD of the decade. The reason for its win is basically the same one why it was named one of the best WADs of 2006 – it stands out from both AoE and SotD.

That doesn’t mean that Altar of Evil and Songs of the Damned are left with nothing. I’m naming both of them runners-up in this category… along with Grove. I might be biased with the latter one, but look, despite its polarizing ideas, it should be at least recognized.

And that’s all for the one-map WADs. Stay tuned in the future folks. The time between each part will only get longer… probably.

[fictionfixations]

ghost/demon game idea (escape room)

I've seen Insym ranting about how a lot of ghost games now are kinda just. not too unique or something like that. So. Idea. You're trapped in an escape room, and you have a time limit because the ghost/demon is trying to possess you, going so far as to prevent you from doing puzzles and so on. Except-- There are things the demon can't see/read (the demon/ghost will probably have a voice, and its like 'what are you looking at? there's nothing there', or maybe the demon's voice dialogue could be in red while our dialogue for when we interact with stuff would be like white). Whether it's in flashbacks, cutscenes, audio cues, visual cues, etc etc (maybe a light flashes, maybe screen go brr and theres like writing in. yknow those invisible pens that you can see with like.. i think its called a uv light? that effect possibly that makes it glow, but the demon makes it clear that its very confused on wtf youre doing or staring at), there'll be messages left laying around from the survivor, your predecessor. They've left clues scattered around the map that'll give you clues on where to go, hidden areas that the demon isn't aware of that gives you items that can do things like stun the demon and stuff, etc etc.

And as we look around, we might notice things that give away what we're doing there and why. That perhaps the escape room is actually some sort of lockdown thing, a quarantine of sorts, and that while the thing possessing you can physically stop your hands from doing shit or something, they can't solve the puzzle unless you do it. And to do the puzzle probably like. purifies them or something. (Perhaps if you do some really hard thing, you can discover the survivor's secret room or something, that gives you a weapon that lets you kill the demon. It catches on though-- and it sounds afraid of the survivor. who are they? They could be evil, with horrible intentions that lead to ruin. Or they could be good intentioned. It all probably depends on a choice.. And maybe, who knows which ending is true) Multiple Endings: 1. No longer human. The room is scattered in what look like animal scratch marks, and everything has been knocked down. Your hands are bloodied, giving evidence of your scratching. You raise your clawed hands to your face. You are dead.

2. Freedom. You escape, met with a bright light, and maybe the outline of people who are your friends waiting for you and embracing you in hugs. 3. So close, yet so far. You escape, but it was last minute. The demon got you, and no one will ever know. At least not until your friends die at your hands (or maybe your eyes are red to tease that you're possessed but otherwise open ended) 3. Not today suckas. Where you get the survivor's secret weapon, and kill the demon yourself. (true?) 4. A mistake? Where the survivor is possibly an evil dick, worse then the lowly demon who has possessed you. Open ending. (true?)

[crispsandkerosene]

Mesh Optimization Info

(I am posting this by itself at the request of the tutorial database gang. This post contains information and links about optimizing 3d models, retopology, and texture baking.)

-

What I was taught in my video game art dregree is that for modern GPUs, handling a lot of geometry isn’t a big deal. However, it’s still best to optimize your models for ease of use. A model with a reasonable poly count and good topology is easier to skin (assign bone weights to) and will deform better during animations. It’s less to load for the game engine or 3d modeling software. More on good topology here.

(Modern game characters usually have very high polycounts because of detailed outfits and hair (including brows, beards and eyelashes) and the desire for curved surfaces to look smooth. These models are not plopped directly into the game from Marvelous Designer or ZBrush. Nathan Drake’s face geometry may be heavy, but it’s intentful. See the circular ‘flow’ around the eyes and mouth.)

Something that is costlier on the GPU is complex shaders, such as alpha blending of overlapping elements as seen with hair and foliage. (Here is a screenshot from Unreal Engine showing the rendering cost of foliage vs the rest of a scene.) This means that in certain cases, using more polygons to avoid their overlap is the better alternative. Here is an example I drew.

Texture size is alsosomething to keep in mind with tS2. The game isn’t great with texture memory: just look at how quickly you’ll get pink flashing in a forested neighborhood. The standard I was taught is that texture resolution should roughly correspond to the space the object will take up on the screen. The UV map should take up as much of the texture space as possible. Since tS4 uses one big texture for all of a sim’s component meshes, it’s better to rescale their UVs and crop their textures when converting.

-

Now onto some actionable advice :p

I’d highly recommend using Blender rather than Milkshape, at least when dealing with big meshes. It’s got a learning curve, but the software is very powerful and the internet is full of tutorials. Here are the plugins to use for GMDC meshes in Blender 2.8+, and Blender 2.79.

The first step to making an extremely high poly mesh game-ready is retopology: creating a version of the model with simpler geometry.

- It can be done using tools, such as Blender’s Poly Build Tool. This is quick, but good results are not guaranteed for every mesh.

- My preference is to do it by hand. This video by FlippedNormals explains in detail how to do manual retopology in Blender.

- I’ve also seen multiple tutorials from Sims 4 creators, but I can’t vouch for whether they are good or accessible: mauvemorn, SM&Kleos, jwofles.

- If the original mesh already has good topology (eg. it looks like a grid and not a bunch of uneven little ‘flowers’), you should be able to simplify it by simply deleting rendundant edge loops.

The second step is texture baking: translating shape and shading details from the high poly model into the texture(s) used by the low(er) poly model. In a modern game, most of this information would be ‘baked’ into a normal map. Since the Sims 2 is old, its capacity to render those is pretty basic. Most everything has to go into the baseline diffuse texture.

- This great tutorial by Lyralei explains how to create and bake texture details in Blender into the ‘multiplier’ texture of a tS3 outfit. (I highly recommend creating a multiplier style base to all textures, even when you’re not working from a high poly model.)

- The add-on TexTools (old website with more info) has powerful baking tools which greatly simplify the process. Its ‘Paint Base’ preset does a decent job at producing multipliers.

- I personally do my texture baking and creation in Substance Painter, which sadly is paid. I use Luis Armstrong’s smart material as a base for most my textures. The set up is shown in case you want to recreate it yourself - which should be doable in any software as long as you can bake the relevant texture maps. I can share more about my process if there’s interest.

(Texture baking is also very useful in ‘adapting’ the multiple texture maps of modern PBR rendering into a diffuse that will look good in the Sims 2. For example, here is the original diffuse of this object, and here is my final texture.)

[ettawritesnstudies]

Space dragons!!!! I'm curious, how do you think they'd navigate? I'm thinking about birds and magnetic fields, or sailors and stars, but both those things have complications when you're in literal space (aaaahh I'm so excited by this idea! Congrats on the very cool concept)

thank you!!!! I am very excited about it too. I have been yelling at @siarven about it nonstop for a week I'm sure they're sick of me by now (thank you quinn <3).

quickly googles magnetic fields because I got a B minus in E&M a year ago during quarantine and don't remember any of it

ok disclaimer all of the ahead is magic-technobabble and only somewhat-plausable theorizing on the part of a chemical engineering junior who should really be doing their mass separations homework.

The earth's magnetosphere is caused by the dynamo effect because the inside our our planet's outer core is made of molten iron and nickel alloy that's spinning really heckin fast and creating an electromagnetic field that encases the planet. It functions as a shield to keep our planet from getting blasted with UV rays and solar winds, which is quite useful for enabling survival and makes pretty auroras whenever they hit near the poles.

The catch is that asteroids don't have cores, much less molten ones. They're too small for gravity to make that happen. But what I am wondering is if the movement of the asteroids themselves (if enough of them were made of metal instead of rock) would generate a magnetic field in kind of a donut shape around the entire asteroid belt following the right hand rule, where the "current flow" isn't electrical flow but the movement of asteroids... If the magnetic field plausibly existed, I could then handwave that the dragons could have the ability to sense it and follow it home. Let me go bug one of my physics friends and get back to you on that.

“Real science” aside, my magic system is already loosely based off electromagnetism. There are 6 main kinds of magic that fall under two groups. External magic means you can effect the world around you but don’t hold any energy/power inside yourself, and includes manipulation, amplification, and nullification. Internal magic means you struggle to control what the magic does once it leaves your body, but you always carry a store of power, and includes generation, storage, and release. Everything has a magical “fingerprint” - most people have one favored type but can dabble in the others in their group with effort and training, while plants, animals, rocks, ect. all default to a “natural state.”

I could also say that each world has it’s own magical fingerprint that’s an average/accumulation of everything living on it’s surface + the makeup of the rock/metal in the asteroid itself. (and oh hey that gives me an idea for my universe as a whole...and names in runaways... maybe this could fix my connection issue)... Memorizing a planet’s magical signal would be kind of like like memorizing a song based only on the frequency waves without hearing it ever. But things that are born on that world share a part of that waveform in their own magical DNA. A dragon could find their way home by finding which planet resonates with their magic!

And of course constellations would be a way to navigate - just because you leave the planet doesn’t mean the whole sky changes so long as you stay in your same solar system. Yes the perspective would move, but bouncing around the asteroid ring would be the equivalent of our sky changing from summer to winter or the northern to southern hemispheres. It would be a lot to keep track of, but anyone who can can memorize/bring along a star map and a good sense of direction and they’d probably be ok.

[swaps55]

Freckles

It’s been three years since Kaidan has touched Shepard’s skin like this, alone in his cabin, no one watching, free to map every inch of him with kisses, the only sound his soft sighs mingled with the steady hum of the fish tank.

It’s so familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time. The hard edge of the clamps holding his spine together is certainly a new sensation under his fingers. The old scar from Volkov and the batarian sawblade is missing, the skin unbroken and whole where before there had been a fine, jagged line.

But it’s still him. So clearly, breathtakingly, definitively him.

Kaidan lays his head in the crook of Shepard’s shoulder, fingers drawing idle patterns along the planes of his chest, relishing at the sensation of Shepard’s fingers in his hair.

“I missed you,” Shepard says, a soft look in his eye and a hint of longing in his voice that looses butterflies in Kaidan’s chest.

“Missed you, too.” He props himself up on an elbow, trading wandering fingers for slow, feather kisses along the new scars, the ghosts of the old ones, and the ones neither of them can see. When he reaches Shepard’s shoulder he pauses, smile curving his lips, and traces what he finds on his forearm with the tip of a finger.  

“What is it?” Shepard asks.

Kaidan’s smile deepens. “Your freckles are different.”

Shepard raises an eyebrow, turning his head to try and look at his own shoulder. “I don’t have freckles.”

“You do. You have a little clump of them here.” He presses a kiss to the crown of Shepard’s shoulder, then stretches to place another one on the side of his nose. “And right here.”

Shepard laughs, light and soft. It’s like music.

“But now? There’s a string of them right here.” He kisses each one he finds just along his bicep. “These are new.”  

“Freckles are from sun exposure,” Shepard informs him. “I’m pretty sure this iteration of my body hasn’t hung out in the sun any more than the last one did, unless you want to call Miranda Lawson’s work with UV treatments sloppy.”

“Don’t know what to tell you, Sam. I’m looking at your freckles right now.”

More kisses. Shepard doesn’t exactly complain. In fact, a smile shapes his lips when he presses them to Kaidan’s forehead.

“So you just…memorized my nonexistent freckles. And remembered them well enough for three years to find the imposters.”

Kaidan props his chin in his hand, amused look on his face. “First, they aren’t imposters. And second, are you going to lay there and pretend you don’t know exactly where the birthmark is on my left leg?”

“It’s your right leg.”

Kaidan’s turn to raise an eyebrow. Shepard squirms beneath him and wrinkles his nose.

“Okay, fine. You know me as well as I know you.” His expression softens. “Still. No matter how much they changed me. After all this time you still just see…me.”

Kaidan traces the web of scars that canvas Shepard’s left cheek. If only that were true. If only it were as simple and beautiful as he makes it sound. If only he really had seen who was in front of him on Horizon.

But that was then, and this is now. All they’ve got is now. All they’ve ever had is now, and he doesn’t want to waste any more of it.

“We’ve both changed,” Kaidan tells him with a tender brush of his thumb. “Whether or not it’s something you can see doesn’t make it any less true. But this?” He folds their fingers together. “This…hasn’t. This I know. You’re made from the same stars, Sam. Just a few new constellations mixed in with the old ones.”

Shepard gazes at him. No…not Shepard. Sam.

“You’re such a romantic,” he murmurs.

“Just really like those freckles,” Kaidan huffs.

“They’re yours, you know. All of it. All of me. Whatever me is.”

Kaidan kisses the freckles once more. Then the missing scar. Then a new one on his sternum, one he doesn’t have context for yet.

Yet. But he will.  

“You,” he whispers between kisses, “are everything.”    

[fallenrepublick]

Hi Miss Republick, I don’t know if you wanted more info on the human stripes thing, but here’s a link that explains them in a little more detail:

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/65092/our-skin-covered-invisible-stripes

Basically, they’re called Blaschko’s Lines, and they represent the cellular growth of a person in utero. They can really only be seen under UV lights, and of course by cats :)

Okay so first of all, those diagrams look like the lines on those maps that are designed to show the land's elevation, which is fucking rad

And second of all, I just imagine having this conversation with your zabrak love, likely Feral or Sunder, your fingers running along the paths drawn by his markings and tattoos, while his own hands trace what you think is nothing in particular.

"Your markings are so beautiful," you tell him softly, marveling at the intricasies.

"So are yours," he says in return.

And for a moment, you laugh. "I don't have markings like this."

"But... you do." He looks at you quizzically. "See? They're so elegant... and they swirl all the way up, just like this." Yet... he points to nothing. And in your silence, his face falls. "Can you not see them...?"

You shake your head, feeling almost as if you're missing something, as if you're being barred from some important piece of your existence. "I guess humans can't see them."

"Then..." he begins, gently guiding you to lay down fully across his lap, "May I describe them to you?"

And he starts pointing to places on your skin, or moving his finger pads up your back or your stomach, smiling and admiring each unique mark. "And you've got a heart shape right here, so now you have two hearts altogether! Or... maybe this is just the one I gave you."

[murfeelee]

Hi there, just a question for you if you have the time ♡ I know that you allow people to convert your Cyberpunk items from TS3 to TS4 freely (you are amazing, you know that?). However since I have the game, do you have or know of a tutorial for exporting from my files? The one I found was very general, very not 'beginner friendly'. Else I will just bring some of your stuff over if it's not been done yet, miss having them in my game (and base game TS4 only is limited). Love you ♡

Hi! Yeah, feel free to convert whatever; I think CC TOU/policies are ridiculous, and perversely counterproductive to uploading content publicly on the internet anyway.

Just be warned that a lot of my CC's not that great, cuz C2077 uniquely does not use or include typical diffuse textures, so I had to make many of the textures myself (and that's never a good idea, LOL). Not to mention, I had to shave off 1/2 - 3/4 of the polys on most of the meshes, cuz they're just excessively high. Even after decimating the polys they're still too dang high. It's been a pain in the neck to do anything with this effing game, even when not actually playing it! (－‸ლ)

☽✶•.¸(✶•.¸★¸.•✶´)¸.•✶´☾ ☆«´¨`•°°•´¨`»☆    ☽.¸.•✶(¸.•✶´★`✶•.¸)`✶•.☾

Welcome to Murf’s School of Crap and Crap-Making!

School Motto: Prepare to be tortured! For Science!

Lesson #6B: MORE ON GAME EXTRACTING (PT2)

���✶•.¸(✶•.¸★¸.•✶´)¸.•✶´☾ ☆«´¨`•°°•´¨`»☆    ☽.¸.•✶(¸.•✶´★`✶•.¸)`✶•.☾

Trust me: extracting from C2077 in general is not very beginner friendly--this is the hardest game I've ever converted from, next to all the Koei Warriors games. Because not only did I have to use EFFING COMMAND LINES again, but the way CDPR arranged the game files (particularly the textures--or lack thereof)--were just saturated in demonic energy.

Mind you, I extracted C2077 back in the EARLY days, within the first weeks of the game's release, way before the Toolkit updated and got a GUI and CDPR released its dev toolkits for modders, so it’s possible I’m giving you outdated information, as the process nowadays might be pretty different from how it was back when I did it.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I used the CP2077 Toolkit here, and followed the steps here.

To be fair, the steps themselves are actually very straightforward. I'm just a lazy, spoiled little ingrate who likes nice clean and simple GUI tools so i can click a button and see all the meshes & textures and go about my frikkin day. But no, instead i have to sit here with EFFING COMMAND LINES and try to figure out WTF these lines of code & text frikkin mean, with zero mesh preview tool to speak of. So I literally have no frikkin idea what anything looks like until I import it into Milkshape/Blender/3DS Max. GRAND. 🤬

(My horoscope told me I needed to get more sleep, and boy they weren't kidding, cuz I'm ornery AF today. 😩 )

But yeah, basically all you have to do is open the CP2077 toolkit .exe, and use the format the steps provide you with whatever the directory is where you installed the game.

As I've explained before in Pt1, all games bundle their files differently, so the trick with extracting is just to figure out what kind of bundle it is, what's in it, how to open it, and how to convert the mesh files into .obj format and the textures into .dds format.

For C2077, most of the files are in typical .bin files, with the meshes (.mesh files) & textures (.xbm files) in content\basegame_4_gamedata.archive | content\basegame_3_nightcity.archive |

So all you have to do is follow the steps and the formats they give you: copy/paste their extraction format code, and the "path to archive" is your installation directory: (e.g.: "archive -e -p "F:\Games\Cyberpunk2077\archive\pc\content\basegame_4_gamedata.archive" -w *.bin" to extract the .mesh files; or "archive -u --uext dds -p F:\Games\Cyberpunk2077\archive\pc\content\basegame_4_gamedata.archive -w *.bin" to extract the .dds files from the Gamedata bin archive).

Then just wait several HOURS (no exaggeration) for each archive to extract. I let mine run overnight for a a day or two--it took bloody frikkin forever.

Once you have all the meshes extracted, the good news is that converting them to .obj files The Sims can read is very easy, cuz all you have to do is use good ole NOESIS, THANK GOD~! ^0^ (Noesis can also open the .xbm texture files, BTW--it’s that clutch; I keep telling y’all.)

The issue with the textures is that C2077 just legit doesn't have many. 💀 It's a feature, not a bug--instead of using diffuse textures (like The Sims' overlay/multiplier diffuse), games like C2077 and Call of Duty instead use materials--kind of like the sample fabric swatches in a textiles shop or tailor, with dozens upon dozens of simple materials & microblends & patterns (a leather print, a metallic sheen, a paisley pattern, etc) shared between all meshes. It’s awful.

So you the extractor/porter/converter are now left with the sad task of patching all these materials together to make a lick of sense on a mesh that might very well use 100 different material files (no joke!) rather than 1 or 2 diffuse textures. And WOE BE UPON YOU if you’re trying to convert it for The Sims 3, where meshes can only use textures on ONE UV Map. The saving grace of TS3′s UV Mapping is that we have CASt, so often we can get away with having plain multipliers, so long as the RGBY Mask allows us to have recolorable channels that do a lot of that heavy lifting for us with patterns & color wheels. For TS2/TS4, however, I imagine more work would need to be done providing swatches, as nothing’s recolorable in those games.

So REJOICE at the pithy handful of actual diffuse textures (mostly decals & posters, etc) that CDPR bothered to grace us with in C2077--they're acts of mercy, I promise you. 🙏

And speaking of UV Maps--C2077′s are upside down. Which is absolutely frikkin lovely; who doesn’t love extra work, seriously. 😒

But yeah, that’s it for extracting, really.

Again, the method I used might be outdated by now, since I did all of mine in December 2020/January 2021, and I haven’t needed to stay up to date with the tools or anything since i already got what I needed out of them. :\

[creativerogues]

Using In-Game Props in your D&D Game...

Potions & Brews

This is probably the easiest and cheapest D&D Prop you can make yourself!

All you need is some glass jars or test tubes and vials, which you can get all from your local craft store, and fill them with different soft drinks and different coloured sodas to represent various D&D potions:

A Cherry Red Potion for a Healing Potion is the first thing that springs into my mind: And it’s an actual healing potion you can drink!

Now if you’re not into that thing, you can always take a look at “Healing Potion Kits”, which are essentially fancy glass vials filled with colourful resins with a number of dice equal to the rarity of the potion.

Either way, it’s relatively cheap to make, and pretty cheap to buy pre-made.

I have my own Healing Potion Set: Four little glass jars with a red resin inside and d4′s for each rarity of healing potion, and it only cost me about ~$26 USD, and that’s including all the Shipping and Handling stuff.

Whenever the Party finds or buys Healing Potions, I hand one of these bad boys to that Player, and they just keep it with their Character until they use it, roll the dice, and hand it back when they’re done...

Bonus: And because I like to brag sometimes, I like to use the skills of my many friends to build some awesome D&D Props.

And with one Friend being a Graphic Designer and another being trained to use a bunch of Glass Engraving Gear, I can proudly say I have a bottle of actual “Dragon’s Breath” Brand Whiskey (a Famous Brand in my D&D World), with a Custom Designed Logo that’s been engraved onto the fanciest whiskey bottle I could find...

Did I need this? Probably not... Is it cool? Heck yeah!

Wands, Daggers & Weapons

Now, obviously you probably don’t want to give your Players actual knives and daggers, so take a look at LARP Weapons!

You can get Daggers, Swords, Axes, Wands, Staffs and more, with most of them being a little expensive, but often times worth it...

I bought an “Assassin’s Sword” as a Prop for my game, since the Player’s are currently on the hunt for a forgotten forge from ages past, and are trying to forge a Silver Sword in a desperate attempt to stop a War with the Githyanki of the Astral Sea.

To buy this Prop ‘Silver Sword’, and the stuff I need to maintain it (just to make sure the sword doesn’t break), it cost about ~$100 USD, which ain’t cheap, but since it’s a Prop sword, it’s gonna get a lot of use...

But if you’re a DM on a Budget, you can buy some very fancy wooden wands and daggers from places like Dog Might Games, who do Custom Wooden Weapons like Daggers, Wands and even Big Ass Hammers from prices of $39 USD upwards.

And as someone who owns two Custom Wooden Wands, it’s fantastic!

I have a Flame Birch Imperial Wand to represent a “Wand of Fireballs”, and an Ebony Necromancer’s Wand to represent a “Wand of Fear”.

Both are really well done, and the faces you get when you hand your Wizard or Sorcerer an actual Wand of Fireballs... priceless...

Maps

Maps are a good thing to hand your Players, because they read “Big Bad Forest up North” and think “We should go there sometime...”

Now, you can draw a map yourself with various pieces of software, or you could even Commission an Artist to draw one for you, with the Prices being anywhere from $40 to well over $200+.

Now, obviously that depends on the detail of the map, and the map’s size, but if you just so happen to know a bunch of Artists and Cartographers, you could easily get a map done for pretty cheap...

I luckily have a bunch of Artists for friends, so I just send them my VERY rough details of a Map, and they draw it out, and with one of my friends being an actual geography student, she really does know where rivers, mountains and forests should be, resulting in a beautifully accurate map of the local area for the Players to explore...

And yes, I pay everyone for their time and their art, because you should, that’s what decent people do...

Wanted Posters

Similar to maps, but a bit more exclusive. If you have an artsy friends, or you’re artsy yourself, it’s pretty easy to create an old western style wanted poster for one of your Player’s Characters, or even the whole darn Party!

Luckily none of my Players have been that naughty lately, but I was in a Game recently were our Party had just escaped from an assassination attempt on the Queen’s life and had to leave town, only to sneak through the City Gates a couple of sessions later to find our faces plastered over every wall...

That was when the DM handed us her Custom-Made Wanted Posters, with each Players face right above the words ‘WANTED’.

Scrolls

Spell Scrolls, Scrolls of Protection, whatever you want to call them; you can find a bunch of spell scrolls online from some absolutely fantastic artists...

My personal favourite at the moment are the Scrolls from Arcane Scrollworks and SkeletonKeyGames, who produce some absolutely freakin’ fantastic looking spell scrolls for prices as little as $11.99 USD.

They do scrolls for the Arcane, Divine, Natural and you can get entire bundles of scrolls for less than $60 USD, which is great for a DM, or a Wizard wanting to expand their Spellbook...

Actually, speaking of Spellbooks...

Spellbooks

You can get some beautifully made, leather-bound spellbook-looking notepads and journals for your Wizard Player, or even for yourself.

It can make a great Journal to take notes on the session’s events, or as an actual prop with real runes, glyphs and arcane symbols drawn inside for the Wizard Player to decode with their 20 Intelligence...

Coins

Copper, Silver, Electrum, Gold, Platinum: There’s a lot of different Coins in D&D, and handing your Players a couple of real coppers definitely increases the immersion, and makes shopping for potions and magic items a little more tolerable...

You can buy a whole bunch of them online, I got 50 Coins (10 of each type) for less than $20 USD, and there are companies out there that specifically make coins for D&D, from elven coins to dwarvish coins, to freshly minted coins for adventures like Waterdeep: Dragon Heist...

Bonus: Invisible Ink!

Ever wanted to make the Rogue Player feel extra special? Or maybe the Wizard Player finally got the chance to cast Detect Magic on that magic scroll they found earlier.

Well Invisible Ink Pens and UV Lights can make the experience all the more badass.

Say you draw an arcane symbol on a piece of paper and hand it to the Wizard Player, when they cast Identify or Detect Magic on it, just hand them a UV Light and watch their faces light up (get it?) when they uncover the hidden writings beneath...

Or maybe you want the Rogue to decipher a hidden message, or maybe a secret riddle is hidden on the Dungeon Wall and can only be found by casting See Invisibility or Detect Magic...

Invisible Ink is is one of those things that I could find 10,000 uses for if given the time...

[yokomation-blog]

WHY THE FUCK IM I STRUGGLEING SOO MUCH WITH THE RETOPO OF THINGS!!!

THIS WILL BE MY 3RD TRY AT THIS SHIT HERE!!!!

ok wanna tell myself this,

look i know it´s hard to get it right but it dosen´t mean i haven´t done it good enough already this year like

and also this

i know it´s Hard but i know i can FUCKING DO THIS!!!!

ok just know i wanna make sure these models are the best they can ever be and i do not wanna fuck it up here,

maybe i should just wait a bit, but you know what they say, 3rd times´the charm, i just wanna make sure i got a plan and i do have a Good Plan here, been through this eariler with Alex Johanna agian and i just don´t wanna be stuck here forever so here is my plan

day1 - Face, Head and Neck, alongside eyebrrows and eyelashes

day2 - hair, mouth, Body, Limbs Hands

Day3 - clothing and boots as well as the UV´s

same for Conner, the T-Rex and Stego, in fact all my models will have this workflow and everyone needs to be able to work at 1 subdev level, ok look i know Retopology is hard BUUUUUUT! if im going to be a Great 3D artist this year and get Jurassica Safari Park out, i feel like i need to get it done and NOT be doing it badly, not feel unsure around it, feeling more Safe around Retopology and just make everything i do like mucles memeory, i never EVER wanna be stuck here agian like today and like with the last Time with Alex Johanna, let US FUCKING GET IT DONE!

for that i´ll get the face, head and neck loops done today and record every step of the way, i got the reference i need from last few models so, might be useful to drag them in here and use them to help me.

ALRIGHT THEN! so here´s the plan for today, getting her Face Loops done as well as her face too, eyelashes and eyebrrows, then i´ll save her mouth, teeth, tounge and hair for tomorrow then map out her body loops, i was planning out to blockout the B Models today but, with this takeing too much time for me, i might wanna save those for when i do Retopo on the Stego and T-Rex then.

or you know stick to my orignal plans and get those done after all the Retopo is done or split it between the people and then the two dinosaurs.

[lostinfic]

Christmas Eve (stuck) in the Lab

Chapter 12/12 *complete*

Summary: Dr. John Smith and Rose Tyler both work at the Natural History Museum in London, he’s a scientist and she works in the gift shop. They are only friends, but the upcoming staff Christmas party promises developments they’ve both been longing for. However, John and Rose end up stuck with Martha, Donna and Jack in the laboratory, and shenanigans ensue: decontamination showers, cocktails in beakers, a game of truth-or-dare and a Secret Santa rigged by meddling friends.

Tags: mutual pining, friends to lovers, fluff with light angst, found family

Rating: Teen (for now)   |   Words:11556

@doctorroseprompts​

Ao3

The click of doors unlocking interrupted their celebration and made everyone run to the railing to watch the entrance below. Kate Stewart entered the laboratory. She wasn’t wearing a hazmat suit, which must mean….

“You’re safe,” she declared.

Palpable relief washed over the group.

Rose’s stomach untangled. She covered her mouth with her hand, laughing shakily. She had to call her mum.

She turned to John, he was all loud cheers and big grin. He grabbed Rose around the waist in a hug that lifted her off the floor.

When he put her back down, his hands lingered at her waist, and hers on his shoulders.

Kate joined them up in the gallery.

She gave some scientific information they all seemed to understand except Rose. She gathered the substance was not harmful to humans.

Kate handed them an information sheet. “Just in case, be on the lookout for symptoms on this list. Call the number at the bottom if you have any concerns.”

Jack was out the door before she’d even finished talking. Martha, Donna and John left in different directions, to call relatives or pick up their coats and keys.

Rose should have hurried outside too, but she dawdled, feeling oddly nostalgic. She shut down the monitor and covered the leftover food with plastic wrap.

She was aware of John’s spearhead left on the corner of the table, but couldn’t look at it.

She felt bad for disliking it. She appreciated its monetary value, if not its sentimental one. She wished he hadn’t just picked something off his shelf; her gift dealt with in an efficient manner, then dismissed. 

Donna carried Rose’s backpack from her office and up the stairs. She had something else in her hand, too.

“I thought you should know, this is what John was going to give you.”

Donna unrolled a poster with a beautiful map of the world in neon colours. She explained how he’d made it using UV light and special proteins.

It was perfect, bright and creative and just so special. Yet it only added to Rose’s frustration.

“I don’t know why he changed his mind. He really likes you, Rose.”

“But not enough to tell me himself.”

“Or so much it scares him.”

“Well, he knows where to find me if he needs help with that too.” She sighed, regretting her snark. She was tired. “I suppose it’s because of what happened to his parents.”

“What about them?”

He hadn’t confided in Donna, but he had in her. Maybe that meant something. And yet, Rose couldn’t help but remember once again how she’d fooled herself into believing Jimmy’s behaviour meant more than it did.

From the gallery, Rose could see across the lab, down into John’s office. He was still there, talking on the phone.

Her heart softened for him, as it always did.

Perhaps, for once, she should be the one going to him. In her determination to not misread any signals, she’d forgotten to send out her own.

---

As she approached the Doctor’s office, she overheard his conversation with the airline.

“Were you able to book another flight?” she asked after he’d hung up.

“Yes. Later tonight.” He hesitated. “The Mendoza team is counting on me. I can’t let them down.”

“Hey, you don’t need to explain yourself to me. I go out of my way to avoid the street where my dad was killed.”

He nodded and offered a sympathetic smile.

“It’s important work I’m doing every year. I’m helping out labs with less means to preserve their own history.”

“I believe you. I’ll see you in three weeks, then. Drop by the shop as soon as you can. I fully expect you to use those vouchers.”

“I don’t know,” he joked, “maybe if you sweeten the deal with your employee discount.”

“I think that could be arranged.”

“Good. Looking forward to it.”

“Me too.”

Rose shuffled her feet and wrung her hands. John rearranged random items on his messy desk.

“I think I need your help,” she stammered.

“Yes, of course! What do you need? What can I do?”

“I’m not quite sure how to get money out of this.” She held out the spearhead.

John sprang to action. He sent her links to trusted auction sites, wrote a description of the item for her and hunted down the original authenticity certificate.

She had to stop him when he got trapped, elbow-deep in a filing cabinet.

“It’s okay. It can wait.”

“But if you get the money now, you might be able to enroll in time for the winter semester.”

Rose narrowed her eyes at him.

“Did you listen to my conversation with Martha?”

“Er, well, I wasn’t listening so much as voices accidentally reached my ears.”

“Right.”

He sat on the edge of his desk, his long legs stretched in front of him and crossed at the ankle.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to,” he added.

“S’alright. Explains a lot actually.”

“Listen, I know some professors and uni administrators and how to get financial aid.”

“You would help me?”

“Absolutely.”

“And if university isn’t what I want? I mean, I haven’t even got my A-levels.”

He shrugged. “You deserve all your dreams to come true, whatever they are. You’re brilliant, Rose.”

No one had ever said that to her. Not this earnestly.

A lump rose in her throat.

Before she’d found something to say, he offered to walk her home.

“I live in Peckham. That’d be quite a walk.”

“Don’t care.”

---

Fresh air welcomed them outside the Museum. It felt like they’d been trapped inside for years. Early dusk painted the sky a soft lavender, and fluffy snowflakes drifted down over them.

After a few steps, John took Rose’s gloved hand. She smiled and tightened her fingers over his. They laughed shyly for no other reason than the sheer pleasure of having their affection reciprocated.

In front of the Museum’s ice rink, John babbled on about bronze-age skates made from animal shins and references to skiing found in writings of the Han dynasty, in China. Joined hands swinging between them, they laughed more than the fun facts warranted. Their hearts felt as light as the snowflakes floating down from the sky. Simply put, they were utterly giddy. 

They strolled down a quiet street. Decorations twinkled in windows and relatives greeted each other at the door. 

John’s pace slowed down, his gaze turned inward and unfocused.

“I think I might call my former foster family,” he said at last, glancing at Rose for approval.

“Sounds like a great idea. You were close to them?”

He nodded. “The last ones I lived with, they really encouraged me to study. I even had a sister, of sort, Sarah Jane.” He smiled at the memory. “She was a Smith too. We used to pretend we were real siblings… I should’ve kept in touch.”

“Never too late for that.”

They passed by a tube station without stopping. Street lights switched on one after the other, as if only for them. They would have to part ways soon. It was a long ride to cousin Mo’s house, and he had a flight to catch.

At the gate of a quiet garden square, Rose stopped walking. They still held hands, and she fiddled with the cuff of his jacket.

“You remembered Jack’s dare, didn’t you?” she asked him.

“Uh, vaguely. Well, most of it. Where was he keeping that mistletoe?”

Rose waited a beat, but he didn’t say anything else.

“John, you know what you were saying about helping make my dreams come true?”

“Yeah?”

He stepped closer. Her breath quickened. She licked her lips, and his gaze flicked to her mouth.

“Well, maybe there’s a dream you, uh, you could…”

“What?” His face split into a grin. He clicked his jaw. He knew full well what she was trying to say.

“You could kiss me. Shut up.”

She looked away, but John’s hand on her cheek brought her eyes back to him. He opened his mouth, probably to say something smart-arse again. Instead, Rose grabbed his scarf and pulled him down to her. Cold nose tips met pink cheeks. He laughed against her lips. Their arms wrapped around each other, bringing their bodies together, as close as their winter coats allowed.

Rose forgot the cold and the passersby, she forgot it was Christmas Eve. Her hand in his hair knocked off his beanie. A tiny whimper came from the back of his throat, and she found herself with her back to the garden gate being thoroughly kissed. It was probably a good thing they were wearing so many layers.

When they broke the kiss, he rested his forehead on hers. The clouds on their breath mingled.

“Now I regret booking another flight,” John whispered.

“You’d better not forget me whilst you’re gone, mister.” She poked him in the chest playfully.

“Haven’t stopped thinking about you since the day we met— I doubt I will after that kiss.”

“Let’s give you plenty to think about, then.” 

She rose to her tiptoes and kissed him again. An unforgettable kiss.