#waterside reflections

[rabrookfield]

Finding Peace in Nature: A Spring Awakening

[gina025]

Golden lake

[prettyvintagehouse]

[herve-ramboz-photographie]

[aisphotostuff]

On Autumn Pond the 2 Coots Sussex by Adam Swaine Via Flickr: Lovely tranquil scenic view early at Sheffield park with stunning reflections of autumn colours..

[doorixcz]

[cityof2morrow]

(Re)organizing Your CAS/Bodyshop Folders

Published: 2-16-2025 | Updated: N/A SUMMARY One of the challenges of themed worldbuilding in Sims 2 is finding the custom content (CC) to bring your world(s) to life. Between October and December 2024, I reorganized my CAS/Bodyshop folders, purging ~4-5 gigs of CC. I wanted to share the strategies I use - Plan, Shop, Sort & Delete!

PHASE ONE: PRE-PLAN WITH A BASIC BACKSTORY Having a backstory for your world is not required  – simming is supposed to be flexible and open-ended after all – but it will make organizing CC easier if you do. The backstory is your rationale for why your sims look the way they do…the basis for whatever CAS/Bodyshop-related CC you decide to use. This should evolve as you start shopping/sorting CC. Skip to PHASE TWO below if you want to skip the “backstory” phase and jump straight into (re)organizing files. First, figure out the WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY details of your world. You don’t have to figure out everything now. If anything, try to come up with the most basic details. (1) WHAT kind of society do your sims live in (utopian, dystopian, mixed, fantasy, etc.)? Example: Pleasantview is pseudo-utopian, midcentury-style, pedestrian, mostly middle-class neighborhood. Strangetown is an eccentric, comically dystopian town nearby. (2) WHEN do played events in your world take place (recent or distant past, modern-day present, near or distant future, timeless, etc.) Example: Pleasantview and Strangetown are set in the early 2000s, after an alien abduction. Veronaville is 2000s-era take on the English/Italian elements of Shakespeare's universe, inspired by 13th century political factions.

Pictured: My game takes place in a retro-afro-futuristic setting...it's not uncommon to see A.I's, drones, and other non-human sims through the world. (3) WHERE do your sims live in this world? There should be some climate/seasonal clues here. People tend to dress for the weather – your sims should too! Example: Pleasantview is a lush, mostly temperate, hilly/mountainous, waterside, suburb outside of SimCity. Nearby Strangetown is a rural, militarized spot along a desert highway, not far from an alien crash site.

Pictured: My sims live on an arid planet that they terraformed and altered with advanced tech. Their clothing reflects the climate. (4) WHO are the sims in your world? Whether you focus on social groups or individual families and sims, make sure your ideas hint at the kind of lifestyle those sims have (jobs, hobbies, abilities, income, social roles, etc.). Example: Take the social groups from the Apartment Life EP for example. Gearhead townies often have darker, torn, utilitarian clothing. Meanwhile, socialites have more expensive looking outfits appropriate for leisure and high-status career paths. Lilith and Angela Pleasant are sisters with highly conflicting personalities – so they must have drastically different looks.

Pictured: My simlish society includes plantsims and hybrid plantsims (half plant, half human). These sims are more likely to be a part of my eco-friendly faction. (5) WHY do they appear the way they do? Dress them appropriately for the climate and time but make sure they actually look like members of their given social groups. You don’t have to make things historically accurate or logical unless you want to – have fun. Example: The utilitarian/punk-style look of the gearheads reflects their lower income and “toughness.” As nonconformists, bohemians dress in loose, artsy and colorful pieces. Lillith’s darker/gothic style reflects her grouchy/rebel personality in opposition to her more suburban/agreeable sister Angela.

Pictured: I'm using lots of trait and occult mods to reorganize my supernaturals into elemental classes. Here is a waterborne conjurer (left) and a grimborne necromancer (right). PHASE TWO: GO CC SHOPPING (AGAIN) This is the fun part. Now that you have a general backstory, go CC shopping! Grab everything that might fit – don’t overthink it! If you like it and think the sims in your world might rock it, download it. However, I recommend coming up with some ground rules, such as (1) A maximum poly count range (“faces” in simPE) for hairs, accessories, and/or clothes. Example: I have 32GB of RAM and decent hardware, but I still avoid hairs above 10K poly. If I really want it, I might go as high as 12-13K – no more than that. This is admittedly a conservative limit compared to lots of contemporary simmers. (2) A maximum file size (in gigabytes/GB) for all CAS/Bodyshop CC you’re willing to put in-game at one time. For windows players, SIZE is the actual size of your files/folders. SIZE ON DISK is the amount of storage they take up via system processes such as (de)compression, duplication, etc. Example: A maximum of ~6GB (actual size) of CAS/Bodyshop CC is my self-imposed limit. This keeps loading times and performance ideal since I also use several gigs of build/buy CC and mods. (3) Choose custom body shapes sooner rather than later. More than 50 (!) custom body shapes have been made for Sims 2 over the past two decades. Make sure you can find enough clothing for whatever shape(s) you choose…including career/work clothing. Example: Currently, I use 8 custom shapes - 3 for male/masculine sims (Bodybuilder, Fat, Bear Bodybuilder) and 5 for female/femme sims (Bodybuilder, Classic Pin-up, Dummy Thicc (not pictured directly below; pictured at the end of this post), Momma Lisa, Rio). I eliminated others to stay below my maximum file limit.

Pictured: When choosing body shapes, I spent a lot of time comparing options. If you really like a shape but it lacks clothing, try using it alongside a similar shape. For example, I used clothing for the 'heavy male' and 'chubby guy' shapes on the same sims for a while. (4) Choose REPO’D versions whenever possible. Reposited/texture-linked skins, hairs, clothing, and accessories share image resources across multiple files. In contrast, standalone versions contain a copy of all necessary texture images in each file. Repo’d files are typically smaller in size/quantity and easier on game performance. PHASE THREE: SORT & DELETE This is the annoying part – but the payoff is worth it. I sort my CAS/Bodyshop CC in phases. If the CC doesn’t fit the backstory for my hood or exceeds my limit for poly counts – I remove it right away! I sort what’s left using the following criteria: - weakest fit for my backstory compared to other CC - poly count is too high - broken/bad CC (missing mesh, warped/distorted, excessive clipping, causes lag) - duplicate files and repetitive looks (too many items that look about the same) - repetitive colors (12 colors of each outfit, in 3 different shades/textures each, is too much for me!) I repeat this process anytime I add more CC to my game. During steps 4 and 5, I start recategorizing/townie-fying CC as well (see recommended programs below). I usually save the color/texture-sorting round for last. I just might be able to keep more color/texture options if I’m still below my max file limits (repo’d CC really comes in handy here!). …ENJOY! Organizing CAS/Bodyshop CC is often tedious and frustrating, but smooth, performance-friendly gameplay is worth it! The recommended mods/programs below allow more random diversity in my simlish population, and the sims truly look like they come from my world – not one dreamed up for me by maxis. I don’t play with pre-made sims, so seeing townies and NPCs with “maxis face” in my hood is considered an act of violence! Repo’d items, separates, and recategorized CC makes the same items available to more sims. I end up needed less CC overall…..then again, they also make it easier to justify more CC shopping. 😊 See how I organize my individual mods/cc folders for Sims 2 HERE (2024).

Pictured: Rough drafts...recreations of Urbz sims. RECOMMENDED CAS/BODYSHOP-RELATED MODS -Shared Maxis Outfits for YAs, Adults & Elders (Sim-Wolf, 2009; or Motoki, 2005) - young adults, adults, and elders will share the same default outfits. -Buyable Maxis Work, NPC, and Maternity Clothes (Motoki, 2005) – outfits are buyable when creating sims in CAS or shopping on community lots; clothing racks by Gayars (2019) HERE. -Separates For All (LazyDuchess, 2021) – dress sims in separate tops/bottoms in all clothing categories (you still need to download CC separates or recategorize default separates). Outside of the everyday category, you can only view/pick separates in-game via CAS (not Bodyshop). -Sim BIN NPCs (Test Version) (Free via Patreon - LazyDuchess, 2022) – townies/NPCs will generate using the genetics of custom sims saved in Bodyshop instead of default genetics. You need to download and/or save a larger-than-usual number of sims to your SavedSims folder for best results. Requires RPC Launcher (LazyDuchess, 2020).

-TS2 CAS Makeup Lag Fix (Test Version) (Free via patreon – LazyDuchess, 2024) – minimizes the infamous lag players experience when using the CAS makeup tabs in-game. -Townie Body Diversity (Nysha, 2017) – townies/non-playables will generate in different sizes (i.e. thin/fat/fit). RECOMMENDED CAS/BODYSHOP PROGRAMS -Sims2Pack Clean Installer (Mootilda, 2014; 2010) – use it to safely install custom sims (as well as lots, store content, etc.) or select CC used to make them; scan/sort duplicates and specific file types as well. -Bodyshop Organization Kit (BSOK Editor) (WHoward/PickNMix, 2024) - sort clothing/accessories according to default/custom body shapes. FYI: Sometimes, hairs may show up as “clothing.” -Outfit Organiser (WHoward/PickNMix, 2024) - sort and recategorize items across the CAS/Bodyshop catalog. -Delphy’s Download Organiser (Delphy/Tashiketh, 2020; 2007) – organize and investigate package files; compare poly counts at a glance. NOTE: Reported counts are global (total count for all versions contained in the package file) rather than the actual/original count (the count for the object in its normal/static state). If you’re unsure, double-check the count in simPE.

[fellowshipofthefics]

Happy Summer, Fellowship! ☀️

We hope you’re enjoying the season, and with that, we bring to you Summer Stories!

For four weeks in July, we have assigned various summer themed prompts for you to do with however you please! You could smash them all together into one project, do all of them separately, or you can call out to your followers to send you prompts they want to see!

Don’t limit yourself to the suggestions above, we want to see your creativity, which comes in a variety of forms! Whether you write 100 words, or 1000+ words, we want to see it, so be sure to tag #fotfics and drop your stories into our queue via → this form!

Week 1

reflections

splash

camping

heatwave

unexpected

Week 2

storms

exploration

ice

waterside

dreams

Week 3

fields

lost

starlight

gathering

feast

Week 4

music

garden

sweets

critters

love

[shuilongyinleo]

Chinese blogger review of Shui Long Yin / The Dragon Chant

1. A new fresh and unique genre of Chinese historical drama:

The Dragon Chant is the first-ever fantasy wuxia drama, bringing something new to the screen. This year, there will be several male-led dramas featuring political intrigue, cultivation, and martial arts. But among these similar genres, The Dragon Chant stands out with its originality.

Many wuxia fans are eagerly anticipating this series because it introduces the groundbreaking concept of Xuanxia, a fusion of traditional wuxia with grand fantasy elements. With an S+ level budget and top-tier special effects 3D AIGC, the visuals are set to be spectacular.

Throughout the series, you'll experience the breathtaking beauty of China, from the ancient, rugged landscapes of Yan and Zhao, to the rich cultural heritage of the Central Plains, the mystical charm of Sichuan, and the poetic elegance of Jiangnan’s waterside towns.

2. A captivating character & an intense plot

From a distant realm, the enigmatic and formidable Tang LiCi arrives, a master of both light and shadow. Roaming the martial world and the vast lands of Shenzhou, he walks alone, observing all with a cold, piercing gaze. Wielding the secretive Wangsheng Pu technique, he infiltrates the elusive Thirteenth floor tower, outsmarts the Sword King City, forms an alliance with Biluo Palace, claims dominance at the Central Plains Sword Conference, and faces off against the cunning minds of Fengliu Dian. Along the way, he forges bonds with figures like Chi Yun and Shen Langhun, is deeply moved by the unwavering spirit of the heroes who risk everything to protect the world. Through countless trials and shifting tides, this is a journey of redemption and an unwavering vow to safeguard the land…

3. Top-tier costumes & set design

Drawing inspiration from the unique history, culture, and customs of various martial arts sects, the costume and styling in The Dragon Chant are meticulously crafted with the essence of Chinese civilization in mind. By blending traditional heritage with Eastern aesthetics, the production brings to life the elegance of ancient China. From the grandeur of the Shang Dynasty to the majestic spirit of the Han, the refined simplicity of the Song, and the intricate brilliance of Ming-era Feiyu robes, every detail reflects the beauty of a civilization forged over millennia.

4. A Star-studded cast with stunning visuals

This tv series boasts a luxurious lineup, led by Luo Yunxi, with a cast featuring Xiao Shunyao, Ao Ziyi, Fang Yilun, Lin Yun, Chen Yao, Bao Shang’en, Xu Zhengxi, Yang Shize, Chang Huasen, Xia Zhiguang, Jiang Zhenyu, Xiu Qing, Wang Yilun, Xie Binbin, Bai Shu, Li Fei, Zhang Zhixi, Qiu Xinzhi, Zhang Junning, Liu Yuhan, Wang Zirui, Li Jiahao, Chen Bohao, Deng Xiaoci, and more. With a full cast of gorgeous faces, get ready to feast your eyes!

5. And more, like the world-building, OST, and everything in between.

What are you most excited for?

----

Tv drama: THE DRAGON CHANT

Shui Long Yin & Leo™

©超市没有好吃的

All music and image are copyrighted and belong to the respective owners, included the official film crew SHUILONGYIN.

[dansnaturepictures]

Trip to north west England to visit WWT Martin Mere for my birthday 7th-9th January 2025

The photos from this trip in this set are of; views at Southport beach near where we stayed with the Pier and distantly Blackpool tower visible in the first shot, one of the main birds we went to Martin Mere to see Whooper Swans with Greylag Geese, Mallards, Shelducks and Coots, Black-tailed Godwit, Pochard, Reed Bunting, white deadnettle, Lapwing and a captive Ferruginous Duck in the collection at Martin Mere and a stunning Snow Bunting we felt so lucky to see on Southport Beach.

Other standout species seen on an amazing trip away included Pink-footed Geese and Marsh Harrier at Southport Beach and Martin Mere and Treecreeper a star of my young year, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Fieldfare, Ruff, Water Rail, Cetti's Warbler heard and seen which is my 100th bird of the year, red campion and cuckoo-pint leaves at Martin Mere. It was such a brilliant trip exploring Martin Mere a famous location I'd always wanted to visit (the sixth of the ten WWT reserves I've now visited) seeing wonderful wildlife and exploring an area I rarely had for wildlife watching before which is a very nice and wild area.

I wanted to reflect a bit more deeply on the captivating experience of observing the Whooper Swans and other birds at Martin Mere, especially when they feed the wild birds. Splendid swans, large and elegant, the sight of hundreds of Whooper Swans swimming around at feeding time was one to behold. It was addictive to watch these yellow and black billed wonders that barring the odd rare one dropping in we don’t get at home in the south as they charged through the water and powerful tussles broke out between birds. The Shelducks came to feed in numbers too, a sea of them at the water’s edge creating an exquisite continuous colourful scene, the wealth of Pink-footed Geese doing similar further back. Wigeons and Pochards of exotic organey colour, distinctive and intricately marked Pintails and Mallards delightful ducks to observe close by, with many Greylag Geese. On the waterside bank I relished pure and precious chances to see three handsome wading birds up close; Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff and Lapwing. The embracing sights and sounds of nature surrounded us to warm us in the cold on a fulfilling quintessential winter day in nature. 

[clovercrafted]

CLOVERCRAFTED'S BUILDTOBER 2023

[image i.d: a dark greenish-blue spooky forest with white text overlayed on top, the contents of the text is described after the rules]

hello and welcome once again to clovercrafted's buildtober 2023 edition! an event created to challenge and inspire some spooky and seasonal builds! coming to you mildly belated!

How does this work?

Simple! Above there is a prompt listed for each day (I'll also write them below as well so there's both text and image available). There's 31 themes for the 31 days of October! For each theme you build something related to it in Minecraft! It's up to you how to complete each theme!

Can I use Mods, texture packs, shaders, other things that aren't vanilla?

Yeah! Go wild! Have fun! Use whatever you have at your disposial!

Do I have to do these in order?

Well, yes but also no! If you want to go in order you can do, but I also don't mind if you skip a day to come back to it later or do them out of order if you get stumped.

What if October decides that I can't do this for reasons?

No prob bob! If you miss a day you can do it whenever, if you forget same thing do it when you want to. If you end up missing all of the month don't worry, I won't be throwing the list away so you can pick it up when you please. Heck even make it buildcember or something!

Sweet I think I know what I'm doing now! But what if I have more questions?

Drop me an ask for any extra info! You can start uploading your builds on October 1st your timezone! Feel free to tag me @clovercrafted in your builds if you'd like and don't forget to use the tag #clovers buildtober 2023 so I can lurk on the tag!

Here's the list of prompts in the image!

Witch's Brew

Trick or Treat

Pumpkin Patch

Black Cat

Reflection

Jumpscare

Circus

Rotten

Tomb

Gates of Hell

Vampire

Deep and Dark

After Midnight

Experiment

Seasonal Change

Apple Pie

Zombies

Magic Spell

Flooded

Sunken

Catacomb

Crystal Ball

Scarecrow

Haunted House

Twisted Forest

Altar

Lanterns

Unearthed

Full Moon

Warmth

As Above, So Below

Tag List Below Cut

@waterside-wanderer @cupidgrimoire @xxfallen-hopexx @huskyluvr @notafrogblog @jbry @priskeys @rolethelaglord @vell-in-a-pot @evilest-opossum @viyellasdream @redstarsun @raeofthelight @slugsketches @

[swede1952]

Waterside Watcher

I love finding great blue herons (Ardea herodias) hunting in the Louisiana lakes. Herons and egrets are not a rare sight, but I still feel privileged every time I see one. In this photo, I like the way the camera captured the heron's reflection in the water.

I don't post all of the photos that I post here to my Pixels gallery, but I post the photos I like best. Some don't make the cut. I most likely will post this one to the gallery even though I I think that have a similar photo, framed differently, posted there already. I usually wait a couple of days to see how I feel about it then.

You can check out my gallery at: swede1952-photographs.pixels.com

[bittersweetresilience]

more soulmate au meta for i always have a soulmate au brain

watership down

the reason i wanted to do a nonlinear narrative was threefold. first, it reflects the tangle of amélie's psychology and the memories that have shaped her over the years. second, it allows for more parallels and foreshadowing, and for tension to rise and fall across scenes without being constrained by the timeline. third, it rules.

from the first chapter, i headcanon félix as left handed, so when he uses his right hand to enact violence on himself, it's really his father's.

amélie and félix are both victims. of abuse, of lack of knowledge, of lack of agency. but i'm just getting started with the relationships in this complicated family tree.

i named the fic after watership down, the book about rabbits, because this is a story about rabbits, and running, and family. amélie reads this book in chapter two. she's on chapter six, where dandelion tells a story.

All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed.

félix will remember this story.

onto the family reunion! félix calls émilie tante because she married into france. adrien calls amélie tante because it doesn't occur to him that he should speak english. all four of them were raised multilingual, so it doesn't matter anyway.

émilie prefers nicknames like love and darling while amélie goes for sweetie because émilie focuses on what the target of her affections means to her and amélie focuses on what they are like.

the books amélie references in chapter three are wuthering heights, don quixote, and to the lighthouse. unlike félix and adrien, she and émilie are used to speaking aloud.

No secrets between soulmates, right? That’s what Maman always said.

adrien says this in dead air.

We’re soulmates. No secrets between us.

and émilie says it here. of course, we know how that turns out for both pairs of twins. except félix and adrien's communication fails because they are kids in bad situations, and for amélie and émilie, well. they're different people, and the mistakes add up over the years.

now for the heavy-handed foreshadowing! we can see the seeds of the future from the beginning, with émilie's interest in dolls and archaeology. and amélie being an aromantic queen. amélie is willing to go with émilie, even if she doesn't know where they're going. and émilie is more concerned with her desire for freedom than with the consequences for other people, well practiced in getting away.

but of course the discussion of birds and eggs has everything to do with what we know is going to happen. émilie loves her sister, and ultimately she is a person who does messy, reckless things in the name of love. even if the bird will die, she gives the egg to amélie as a gift because it's pretty.

You’re a gift, Félix.

from orbital departure. speaks for itself, i think.

in the last chapter, amélie mentioned émilie's smile used to comfort her. here we see it happening. did i mention i love nonlinear narratives? for now they are just kids, and amélie is enough to keep émilie from her choices.

She turns back toward Amélie, and the featherlike shadows on her face recede.

but the future will come, and the worst of its consequences we've already seen.

finally, the entire waterside scene was a reference to félix's story in garden of dreams. perhaps amélie told him about this day, and let it become part of his weave.

[herve-ramboz-photographie]

[aisphotostuff]

An Autumnal View @ Sheffield Park NT by Adam Swaine Via Flickr: Dazzling autumn colours at Sheffield Park and Garden, East Sussex..Autumn, that wonderful season when the British landscape turns gorgeous shades of red, orange and brown.

[eikonoklast]

Day 6 (Halcyon): A Toothless Beast

   The elderly hoarhound watched from the creek as the little men played nearby, his head resting on his paws. It was a beautiful spring day on the mountain tundra: flowers of varying pinks, yellows, and purples dotted the grass, their blue-green leaves waving in the light, cool breeze. The sun shone down from a clear and cloudless sky, hedged in by snowy mountain peaks and lush pine forests below.

   Oyugun, they called him. An old, mighty beast the Kha once feared - his skin rippling with taut muscle, his coat the color of ice and moonlight. His fangs were as long as daggers; sharp and gleaming in his bright red maw; and his claws were large enough to crush any man's neck between them. On this day however, his mighty paws were crossed in placid comfort. His teeth were concealed behind feather-soft jowls - not dripping with viscous saliva but…being played with by an inquisitive kit. 

   The small creature shoved a hand into the dread beast's maw, running its fingers over Oyugun's massive teeth. It made some unintelligible noises and tripped over his crossed leg, tumbling into the grass with a surprised yelp and landing in the mud on the edge of the chilly creek. Oyugun licked his teeth to wet them again as the little beast started crying. It wailed and carried on - its wet tail plastered to its side, its hair and tiny ears caked in mud. And it simply lay there by the waterside, wailing. The little men playing in the meadow didn't seem to hear its pleas. 

   The wolf stretched, his mighty tail swishing and knocking petals cartwheeling into the air. His claws marred the dirt as he dug in, resentful of the little thing for being so annoying. He yawned. The cries continued. The hoarhound stood, taking a step towards the little thing. It did not look quite like the little men, nor the big men. It had soft ears and its wet little snippet of a tail was just as plush. Still, it was furred much the same as the men. It must be one of theirs. Or maybe it was some infant beast?

   Oyugun approached the crying creature, sniffing it. At this, the little thing stopped crying, its face red from the tears and cold. It shivered in the midday sun, sniffling and watching the predator with huge, curious eyes; reaching for the hound's grizzled muzzle. The tiny naked paws touched Oyugun's nose, the skin chilly. Why was it over here bothering him? Why wasn't it with the other little men? This tiny scrap of fur had snuck up on him, concealed within the tall meadowgrass as Oyugun had been napping. It smelled of berries and cloves and sunlight. And it did not understand what it was dealing with.

   Oyugun encircled the little creature, wrapping his mighty, massive form around it. The thing did not struggle. It made a pleased noise as it pawed around inside his fur, snuggling. Soon it was asleep. 

   The silvery wolf took to gently licking off the dirt and mud from the little beast. He had been feared once. That time had long since passed. The big men would come if they wanted this kit, this he knew. They would come and take what was theirs and the hoarhound would let them. But until then, this little beast would be safe with him.

Author's Note: Chiteni doesn't have a very happy past honestly, and a lot of that is because I reflect a lot of myself onto him. Halcyon as a prompt is forcing me to really dig deep though - and it'd be a shame if I didn't occasionally get reminded that not ALL of the memories are bad. Though I doubt he remembers this one! 

Oyugun is his faithful Fenrir - a friend to their tribe in the mountains who travels with him on his journeys. His name means ‘wise one.’ I wanted to be able to do something short and sweet, so I thought introducing his longest and most faithful friend would be a nice little treat! Sorry for the short post, long day ahead.