#/ i just think they're neat y'know

[kirider]

[02/09/2023]

Screenshot redraw bc I've been thinking about them all day

[sin-grumps]

bienvenue power bottoms i am not immune to cute old men

[catboyolli]

clingy boys 🥺🥺

hi dear anon! 💖 i'm gonna take a wild guess and assume that this ask is about this recent aleksi and olli reblog (original post here!!! go reblog it from OP), to what i have to say: yes so clingy 🥺😭🤲💘💗💖💕💞💘💖

both aleksi and olli are cuddly and clingy with the other boys too, so it's only natural that together they become clingycuddly²

please accept a gif from this ESC interview with a very extra cuddly olli as a gift, i couldn't find it anywhere on tumblr so here you go!

(no, this is not the same as The Moment from the (other) drunk interview, this is another "mmm... must cuddle" moment)

if anyone has giffed this one before, please let me know and send me the link so i can replace it and give proper credit! 💖

[highlifeboat]

T-Rex hands Sarah Sanderson my beloved

[sapsolais]

!

[arolesbianism]

Thinking abt Him again (Wendy Carter)

[mrsoharaa]

I love the fact that I have "siren eyes" 🥺🧜🏻‍♀️💖

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

Hey so you've posted a bit about replaying DA and I wanted to know if you have a canon run through

I do! I'm currently replaying through my canon run right now [with a few deviations here and there] because every time I finish a run, some time passes before I'm like, ".........I miss them." It makes doing an alternate run harder, too.

For DAO, I play as a rogue lady Tabris named Rosalie, or Rose. Dual-wielding ranger and dualist. Her most used party dynamic is Alistair/Morrigan/Zevran. She named the mabari Griffon after the tales of Grey Wardens and their griffons. Rose romanced Alistair, kept him a warden and made Anora queen. She considers Morrigan one of her closest friends until Morrigan reveals her true intentions for coming with them. I've written about that whole thing before. Honestly, as far as companions go, Rose becomes close friends with most of them... except Wynne, they tend to butt heads in a lot of ways.

Rose didn't want to become a warden and thinks most of their rules and secrets are bullshit. Duncan's excuse for not coming to help her and the other elven women Vaughan took is a driving force for her to defy that "we can't get involved" rule as much as she can during and post-blight. She sided with the mages in Kinloch and with their help saved Connor, made Bhelen king of Orzammar, and settled things between the Dalish and the werewolves peacefully by convincing Zathrian to end the curse. She executed Loghain at the Landsmeet since, y'know... he sold city elves, nearly including her father, to Tevinter slavers to fund his war so... in her eyes, he doesn't get to live after that.

This playthrough I did make a save to reject Morrigan's dark ritual to see what happens when the warden makes the ultimate sacrifice and it's the most unsatisfying ending. It's such a, "No no noooo we didn't deserve this! After everything we went through! Just for it to end like that??" hopeless feeling... which was then fixed when I went back and made my canon choice of begrudgingly accepting the deal [even though it mostly goes against Rose's character but I'm weak and selfish and want her and Alistair to live].

In DA2, I play as a male mage Hawke named Edgar, or Ed. Force mage and blood mage. His most used party dynamic is Carver/Merrill/Anders until Carver goes to the Grey Wardens, then it's Isabela/Merrill/Anders. He's mostly purple in personality, but occasionally dips into blue, and I can count the number of times he's gone red on one hand. He named his mabari Fleabag after Malcolm bought the pup from a traveling merchant who failed to mention he was flea ridden. Several baths later, the mabari was finally flea free but Ed decided he should never live it down and named him Fleabag.

Ed maxes out the friendships with everyone [yes, including Carver, Ed tries so damn hard with him] except Aveline, he maxes out her rivalry. They all side with him and the mages in the end. He romanced Anders. I once did a run where I romanced Fenris with Ed and even though I liked it, the whole playthrough felt wrong because romancing Anders is, like... a fundamental part of Ed's story now... Even though they break up in the end.

I've done all three options across different playthroughs when it comes to Anders; I've spared him, I've killed him, and I've told him to leave. My canon choice is to tell him to leave, and then let him join my party later after we've sided with the mages. It's hard to explain without writing a full essay, but Ed and Anders are pretty much life partners at this point. Even if it's no longer romantic because a huge amount of trust was broken, even if they never get back together in that regard, even if Anders will now be on the run for the rest of his life, whether or not Ed agrees with him [he does and he doesn't, it's complicated] like... Ed loves him and he'll always love him, y'know? He won't abandon him even when everyone tells him he should.....but then DAI happened uhhh

Finally for DAI, I play a lady mage Lavellan named Ashalle, or Ashlaen, or just Ash. She's a knight-enchanter who mostly does storm magic. I'd say DAI is the game where I have a pretty even party use that I rotate between; Cassandra/Varric/Vivienne, Solas/Sera/Blackwall, The Iron Bull/Dorian/Cole. She sides with the mages in Redcliffe and left Hawke in the fade [sorry Ed, and sorry Anders... and sorry Carver... and Varric]. When it came to picking a ruler for Orlais, she figured all options sucked but went with Celene and Briala. Ash drank from the well, and then disbanded the inquisition in Trespasser.

I dislike how DAI just kinda plops your inquisitor into existence with only a small paragraph explaining why they were at the conclave; I wish it had a DAO approach so that's what I did for my inquisitor. Before I start the DAI playthrough, I boot up DAO. Before she was Ashalle Lavellan, she was a circle mage named Ashlaen Surana who escaped with Jowan after he lied to her about being a blood mage. In the ten years pre-DAI, she lost Jowan. In her grief, joined the Dalish, changed her name, and eventually ended up at the conclave. It just adds a lot more meat and spice to the choices and interactions with companions and advisors since she keeps that part of her backstory a secret. After all, she helped a blood mage and then was accused of being one herself before fleeing; she doesn't want the inquisition to know that. All of her crafted staves are named after Jowan while her crafted robes are usually named after her conflicting identities and pieces of her past, too..... Oh, speaking of past, she romanced Cullen. Because of course.

With the context of all this, it becomes them reuniting after they may or may not have had a thing going on in the circle, but then she escaped and he believed she was actually a blood mage for ten years. Cullen sees her like "Ah. Yes. You. Whom I haven't met. Hope they're right about you. We've lost a lot of people to get you here. Glad you survived." when internally he's screaming "I know who you are, those tattoos fool me not! Why are you here?? To torment ME specifically??" Then there's Ash who takes a little longer to recognize him, and when she does, it solidifies that she needs to run after this because he knows who she is and why she fled, that's not good, she's not going back to the circle after all this is done.

But y'know... they work it out. Eventually.

That's my canon run through of all three games. I keep trying to talk myself into doing a full alternate canon run, but the only game I've successfully done a different route in is DAI with my male rogue Tristan Trevelyan whose backstory was that he's a pro-mage ex-templar. That was fun to see how different things play out, but I haven't managed it for the other two.

I'd like to play DAO as a more cutthroat warden who, unlike Rose, won't go out of their way to do kind things; they'll do what they deem necessary. I'd like to do a lady warrior Hawke run with Bethany as the surviving sibling, and I've tried before but every time I hit a point where I'm like ".....I miss Carver so much" and abandon the run. Like there's always something that makes me abandon the run. I almost abandoned Tristan's run, too, but somehow I pushed through and got invested. I dunno. One day I'll put on my big girl pants and just do it.

[ben-drabbles]

The Ones

A rare and egotistical race of massive psychic beings that float amongst the stars. It is believed that there are fewer than a dozen of their number in the known galaxy. They value self-sufficiency as a primary virtue, perhaps owing to their immense size and corresponding resource needs, but also perhaps due to their perceived insignificance of "lesser races". They appear most often in a dormant state, but can draw upon their energy reserves and potent psychic potential when threatened or spurred to act.

Little is known about the homeworld of The Ones, but a popular hypothesis states that it was wholly devoured before the creatures adapted to space travel. The Ones do not reproduce, at least not in any known way - instead, they "adapt" as the circumstances demand, shedding and changing their forms over time. As such, while they share a common ancestry, The Ones are often more distinct than similar. For example, one known as Mythrax lives close to a star, basking in the heat and adapting plant-like qualities to absorb its energy, while another named Plutarch frequents deep space and subsists mostly on passing comets or asteroid debris - though rumor has it that it stayed in orbit around a certain sun long enough to be classified as a planet by primitive astronomers. However, they can die, and this seeming lack of reproduction spells their inevitable demise. Though, don't we all fade away, in the end?

[the-black-bulls]

another reminder to consider the outcasts!

[madrone33]

Number 1 Rule of adapting the Odyssey into EPIC is: if it can be more dramatic, it will be more dramatic.

The Greeks decide to throw the infant Trojan prince from the walls because they're scared he'll try to avenge his family? No, Zeus comes down to personally give Odysseus a vision of being killed and says his family WILL die. Kill the baby that reminds you of your son right now, it's the gods will.

Odysseus goes to greet the inhabitants of an island and gets trapped in a cave for two days by the cyclops that's eating his men one by one? Nope, we got BOSS BATTLE 30v1 in the Ithacans' favour until BAM fourteen pancakes are made by Polyphemus' club and oh shit Polites is DEAD-

Athena is just vaugely absent for the whole journey until the end? We got emotionally charged platonic breakups instead, with yelling and insults and "well I'm breaking up with you FIRST!"

Smooth sailing to Ithaca? STOOOORM-

Odysseus' great-great-great-grandfather giving him a speed boost to help him on his way home? Get ready for trickster wind gods, mischievous winions, and a game that was rigged from the start.

Random-ass suspicious and greedy crew mates open the bag? It's Eurylochus, his second in command, his brother-in-law, the man he trusted, Eurylochus WHYYY

Parking in the wrong harbour and getting boulders thrown at the fleet by angry man-eating giants while Odysseus backs away veeery slowly? Nah Poseidon himself pulls up to dunk on them, and Odysseus has to make a last minute getaway using the power of STOOORM to avoid being curbstomped like his fleet.

Odysseus gets some stronger drugs from a god to make him immune to the other drugs of a goddess? Well these drugs actually give him magic powers which he uses to engage in a Pokémon/Yu-Gi-Oh style BOSS BATTLE!

Get some closure with dead loved ones and acquaintances, and be the first interviewer of the fallen heroes of past ages? Nope, we just got TRAUMA and a whole boatload of guilt!

A neat outline of what the rest of the journey will look like, a warning against an island of cows that will slow him down, and the way to appease Poseidon? This Tiresias just says "Y'know there used to be a world where you made it home, BUT I DON'T SEE IT NO MORE. IT'S GONE. IT'S OVER. Also, your palace is fucked."

Sailing past the sirens while getting to be the first mortal to hear their song and live? M U R D E R

Sailing past Scylla to avoid Charybdis and accidentally getting six men eaten because he thought he could totally take Scylla, even though Circe said he couldn't, and then he realised he, in fact, cannot take Scylla? ... Eurylochus, light up six torches.

Eurylochus waits till Odysseus is out hunting and then goes behind his back to mutinously rally the crew and feast on some sacred cattle? Betrayal on both sides, stabby stab, K.O., and then Odysseus helplessly watches them make the greatest mistake of their lives as they ignore his pleas.

Quick clean and easy lightning-strike to the ship, leaving Odysseus to cling to some driftwood and paddle away? Zeus himself appears to the mortals, monologues, makes Odysseus be the one to choose, and then smites the whole ship leaving Odysseus to nearly drown anyway.

Telemachus gets advice from a disguised Athena to yell at the suitors and then sail away to look for news of his missing father? Telemachus gets into a full on beatdown with the suitors and gets FIGHT CLUB TRAINING from Athena!

Athena goes "dad I want my favourite mortal back? Did you forget about him? I think you forgot about him" and Zeus instantly replies "nonsense. How could I have forgotten that funny little mortal? Of course you can have him back my sweet favoured child <3" and then Athena skips off to Ithaca? "Father please-" "LIGHTNING BOLT! ANOTHER LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT TO THE FACE HOW DARE YOU ASK ME OF SUCH A THING!"

Poseidon does a double take "wait they let him go?? Oh hell nah!" and then sends a giant fuck off storm for Odysseus to swim through until he reaches the Phaeacians? No, Poseidon's just been there on Ithaca's shores, waiting for eight years, now get in the water BITCH- except Odysseus is just like "oh yeah? Fucking FIGHT ME"

You thought the suitors in the Odyssey were bad? Jorge really just said "dial that shit up to ELEVEN"

[rose-tinted-kalopsia]

gen ; 871 words of pure complete caleb fluff for my personal comfort because i can't get this man out of my head (wow roxie posting fluff? girl what happened to you)

to be loved is to be seen.

a long day passed; he's there at the door. you can smell something simmering from the kitchen, the scent of comfort filling the room and maybe getting to your head a little... it's your favorite dish. you'd know that smell anywhere. and you've always liked it best when he cooks it...

he knows that.

to be loved is to be seen.

and he's pulling you in by the waist, not quite a hug, but rather a little bit of a once-over as he leans back to take a good look at you.

there's a pause.

the look in his eyes is gentle; fond. his head tilts, and there's something unsaid, unspoken, in the air between you...

you know the words on his lips before he says them.

"look at you, all pretty like that."

it's quiet, with a little bit of a chuckle.

"welcome back, pipsqueak."

typical caleb.

and this time there's a kiss on the tip of your nose, before he reaches a hand up to fix your hair— there's a piece of snow settled into it, and he knows that you don't like that. he'd brush it out for you, leave your hair neatly.

just the way you prefer it to be.

to be loved is to be seen.

and he knows more than you think.

you're an open book to him; maybe it's scary, and maybe it's a little unnerving, but—

maybe it's nice.

no words need to be shared.

he's happy to keep his arm around you, happy to wrap you up in blankets as you snuggle together on the couch and your favorite movie is playing softly on the screen in front of you. it's snowing outside, but you barely notice it; barely care. he keeps you warm from the cold. it's cozy. your head rests on his shoulder, and he hums quietly into your hair—and it's nice.

"it's been a long day," you murmur.

you blow your hair out from your face, and he fixes it right then for you. neat; the way you like it to be.

"oh, yeah? i could tell," he says. he chuckles—a little bit of a nudge in the form of a joke.

but he smiles.

"tell me about it, pipsqueak. i wanna listen."

to be loved is to be seen.

and maybe you scoff at him, but maybe you speak as he inclines. and maybe the movie's drowned out in the background, maybe all that you care about is the soft rumble of his chest when he laughs at the stupidest joke you've ever made in your life...

because deflect with humor, right? you've always done that. and he laughs, because you want him to laugh. and he reaches up to flick at your forehead. because he knows.

"you can be serious about it if you wanna, y'know," he shakes his head. "don't always gotta put on a strong front, 'specially not with me. so hit me. i'll take you seriously."

i'll take you seriously.

a safe space.

and they're simple words, because maybe you're not used to expressing yourself—

but he knows that.

he's used to it.

and he'll push you, a little, and you trust him to.

he knows that, too.

to be loved is to be seen.

and caleb knows a lot of things��what gets you angry, what gets you sad... the things you do to distract yourself, the things you like to eat. what makes you happy. when you're happy. your favorite show, your favorite song... that one article of clothing you'd always wear if you could, that book you keep on your shelf because the cover looks nice, but you haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

and he knows when you're tired.

he knows when all you need is for him to be there beside you, he knows when you've got something to say but you don't know how to say it.

he knows when you're pretending, too. when you want someone to breakthrough that little shell of yours, and say the words you want desperately to hear...

he knows.

because he sees you.

he sees you more than anyone else has, more than anyone else does. and not just with his eyes—with his heart. he knows you. he's engraved every little thing about you into the depths of his soul and he wouldn't have it any other way, not when he can hold you like this.

not when he knows how to.

not when he knows you want it to be this way.

and it's why he has his fingers running gently through your hair, peppering soft, tiny little kisses all over your face and relishing in the giggles that fall from your lips...

to be loved is to be seen.

"i love you, pipsqueak."

a soft murmur, a kiss into your hair.

"i love you a whole lot."

he knows you needed to hear that today, too.

and he means it.

because maybe there's no one else who could love you the way that he does; so whole, so loving, so pure, so... real.

you know that, too.

to be loved is to be seen.

and he sees you, and you see him.

to you, there's no greater love than that.

an : you know, real talk......... i really am truly sorry that the nuance of the caleb/mc relationship can't be translated into more western cultures that aren't used to this, i do believe it's kind of a shame 😭 because you have to understand that it's such a beautiful thing to be seen.... and i really feel that caleb encapsulates that especially given the nature of their relationship :( just. there's something so beautiful and comforting and warm about it and i had to get this out of my system before i go to bed 😭 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE 😭

taglist : @darlingdummycassandra @milkandstarlight @thoupenguinman @valyvinny @rafayelsheart @jellyroom2 @chemiru @ywnzn @pepprrmint @angel-jupiter @cordidy @raiyuxa @xai-mery @radiantbrilliance @pikachuzhc @interstellar-inn @pixelcafe-network @hunters-association ++ also obligatorily tagging @unluckywisher (love u)

© rose-tinted-kalopsia. all rights reserved. do not: steal, copy, repost, reupload, modify, or claim any of my works as your own, regardless of credit given. absolutely do not use my works for AI training and other related purposes.

[squinch-depraved]

jschlatt or Ted nsfw alphabet please? 🙏

aight here's schlatt i'm having a lot of fun doing these so i hope y'all are enjoying

A (aftercare- what they're like after sex): i think he's super, super attentive. like he will not leave you alone until he's sure you're all taken care of and cleaned up

B (body part- their favorite on themself and their partner): he likes his chops because you always say they feel good when you sit on his face, and on you he likes your tits

C (cum- anything to do with cum): he loves cumming in you for sure but also down your throat

D (dirty secret of theirs): steals your underwear after sex quite often (see this post for more)

E (experience- how experienced are they): he's had a few partners and knows what he's doing but will still make sure to listen to you and your reactions so he knows what works with you and what doesn't

F (favorite position): riding him with you, like, burying your face in his neck. it feels so intimate and he loves it

G (goofy- are they serious? humorous? etc.): occasionally goofy but tries to keep things either romantic and sensual or rough and carnal. like he'll joke every now and then but doesn't make a point to be funny sometimes it just happens

H (hair- how well groomed/does the carpet match the drapes?): will trim occasionally to keep things neat but like doesn't care too much about it

I (intimacy- how romantic are they?): i feel like he can be very romantic when he's not being super intense like i feel like he really enjoys soft and sweet sex with his partner

J (jorkin' it- how often?): have u heard how much he talks ab gooning like it has to be at LEAST once a day

K (kink/s?): breeding, lactation, feederism (slightly), mommy kink

L (location- favorite place/s to have sex): he's a simple man- bed, couch, or over a counter

M (motivation- what gets them going): arguing with you/seeing you argue with someone else, rlly domestic moments with you like seeing you take care of the cats or watching you cook

N (no- turn offs, dealbreakers): anything in public or at his desk/in his streaming area, recording him is also a no go

O (oral- prefers giving, receiving? skill level?): y'know, i was gonna say giving but i really feel like he would prefer receiving (he's still amazing at giving head don't get me wrong)

P (pace- fast & rough? slow & loving?): if he's being romantic, it's gentle and so, so full of love, but if he's in a different mood it's fast and hard

Q (quickies- their opinion on them): does them for you whenever you need them but like he said in that one sleep deprived clip it takes him forever to cum so like. it's all for you. i can totally see him making a game out of it and trying to get you to finish faster each time

S (stamina- how many rounds? how long do they last?): literally as long as you need him to. if you really tried, you could prob make him cum in, like, an hour? but it takes a lot of work

R (risk- are they down to experiment?): i mean, he will for you, but nothing in public, no recording anything, and don't even think about telling anyone the kind of things you get him to do for you because he'd be so embarrassed

T (toys- do they own toys?): owns a wand for you, a bluetooth vibrator, and a few plugs. (whether they're his or yours i'm not saying)

U (unfair- do they like to tease?): extremely unfair if provoked!! if you behave yourself, you'll be fine. but if you're a brat he's gonna absolutely break you

V (volume- how loud they are): usually soft moans and grunts if he's in charge but get him in sub mode and he'll whimper and whine for you nonstop

W (wild card): not surprising at all but he loves subbing and being pegged

X (x-ray- under their clothes): approximately 8 inches, uncut, has a vein running along it that drives him crazy when you run your tongue along the length of it

Y (yearning- how high is their sex drive?): a bit above average, can go whenever you need him but requests it himself at least every other day

Z (zzz- how quickly do they fall asleep afterwards?): once you're all clean and taken care of he is out like a light dude he passes tf out and you gotta deal with his snoring

[in-cis-and-het-collector]

This doesn't even feel like a cishet AU anymore it's just the douchebag timeline

kinda? unsure about this one, so sorry in advance. putting it under spoiler because

ICAH as far as I can tell has always been based around "what if the complex and fleshed out characters of ISAT were replaced with stereotypes?" with everyone getting turned into cishet stereotypes version of themselves except for Bonnie, who was left off to the side because they're Bonnie.

Then the Bonnie versions were released, and shortly after it became "Bonnie ISAT is stuck in ICAH" with Loop having been killed off screen for being too gay. This turned the stereotypes into more of an invasion of the bodysnatchers thing, and painted their reductive goofy existence with the curse of existing as creatures.

Most peoples instinctive reaction to this was "oh dear god I'm going to puke bleargh" which. y'know. fair. But some people started making art n short blurbs in universe, and it became "crabbed-up evil wishcraft has destroyed the world, leaving Bonnie and Loop(?) to try and fix it".

Around this point Siffrins general need for a mask and self loathing started to get mixed into Cisfrins caricature, making it more toxic and bringing a new layer to the general "man would this be fucked up or what?" or it all. So now we have a family who wants to "fix" Bonnie if they find out, wishcraft enforced hetero normative values, and a few different versions out there.

At some point Isabeau became a gymbro, Odile turned into a "loving wife" who would post minion memes, Mirabelle is some flavor of christian priest and probably has been her whole life, and Siffrin is somewhere around frat bro and redneck (i think? unsure) so they all suck in their own special way with Bonnie who needs to try and fix this, Loop who needs to keep Bonnie safe, the ISAT crew watching in despair (with loop remembrance?) and the King is having an aneurysm about being right, which gives him and Bonnie their own special version of the "remember a country that no longer exists that you both want to save but cant" thing that Siffrin usually has.

We're now generally dealing with the question of "what if they are all eggs too afraid of rejection to hatch and they need to all admit their insecurities for ????? to happen" and few other things going on. I really like this bit because you can work in stuff like the ISAT party trying to help, or alternate familyquests, or the Cisabeau x Cisfrin angle, or both Mirabelle and Miracis learning to adapt their view of their religion to accept themselves. very fun, very neat.

They have kinda been douchebags for most of it, so I don't understand that bit and for that I'm sorry, but the fact they suck is part of the fun!

sorry about the ramble, have a good one!

[supersecretmetalocalypseblog]

I'm not sure there's any deliberate meaning behind this, I'm sure it was just an aesthetic choice. But I always thought it was super neat that whenever The Tribunal/The Revengencers are shown like... scheming and stuff, they're shown in cool colors (y'know, green, teal, blue, purple)

And, in contrast, when the "good guys" are scheming, it's always in red. Again, I'm sure it's just cause like... red is more metal or brutal or whatever, and so they just made the bad guys the opposite. I just thought the color theming was neat.

(...i'm sorry it's mostly charles, that's .... all I have. But I think it's mostly him what does the planning anyhow. ALSO edgar's glasses are cracked, you're telling me you can't get him another pair, charles? be for real with me)

But yeah, I just think it's super cool visually, i love that sort of consistency, even if there isn't like some secret breaking bad/better call saul level of color meanings and stuff.

[rebouks]

Do you have any recommendations for starting a story? Yours is so good and it really inspires me to try and make one of my own but idk where to start

Hmmm a tough question! I think we all just kinda start and learn as we go? It's the best way tbh.. if you look back at the beginning of most simblr stories they've usually come a long way! Here's a couple tips that I think might be handy tho...

Maybe we could start a thread and everyone could reblog this with their own tips?! 🤩

Decide if you want to build your own lots/sets or not. If you do you'll probs wanna start off with the main places you'll use that're full of personality, like a main characters house or place of work etc. you can always download some neat lots and edit them to your liking if you're not a builder, or maybe even download a whole save file!

Start a character page (or make an intro post for em if you can't be arsed with the technicalities) - not essential but useful for you and the readers to keep track of who's who and maybe state a few facts about them etc.

Start collecting some poses and ideally rename them so they're easy to find! I personally like to add smth like [PETS] or [KISSING] etc to mine (in s4s) in conjunction with twistedmexi's pose finder to make things easier to grab.

If you use reshade/gshade, taking the time to find or create a nice preset will save you a bunch of time editing.

For the love of god if you're gonna make a bunch of extras, try and dress them in maxis clothes/hair.. I'm so SICK of having to redress everyone every time I clear out a bunch of cc skjdksj 🙈 you can always give em an extra, fancy cc outfit for specific scenes on the day but yeah, do yourself a solid where possible to save time/pain in the future. Same goes for lots you don't use often, try and limit the cc you use!

Figure out if you're a planner or not! If you can't manage without a plan it's okay to take some time before starting to figure everything out and get a detailed outline going. If you're more of a pantser (like me!) you can always just get going with a rough idea in mind and see what happens!

If you're gonna go with the flow I'd still recommend creating at least a rough outline, you don't have to stick to it like glue but it'll probs help you stay on track and I wish I'd have done this in the beginning, esp if you're gonna have a plot heavy story.

Characters > plot.. (imo!) like.. you could have a super interesting plot in mind but if no one really knows or cares about your characters it's gonna have a limited impact/amount of interest. They don't even have to be likable lmao

Give your characters some flaws! It's fun and it makes them more relatable.

Start with a small cast - not a complete must but it'll be probably be easier for people to get to know your pixels if they're aren't a million of them right off the bat. You can always add more later.

Try not to shoehorn your characters into situations they wouldn't end up in just to further the plot.. a hard one to explain and mostly based on intuition but if a scene feels boring, out of place or forced, it probably is! aka.. be willing to kill your darlings. Maybe you've already established that your character is poor or smth but have this fun idea of a road trip montage or whatever.. like you can't just give them a car and the money to drive a million miles just cos you HAVE to see that scene y'know? Maybe they're gonna have to hitch hike, get the bus, or take out a loan? Probs a bad example but hopefully you get the idea! It can sometimes be more fun to force your characters into a different situation than you imagined anyway, like maybe they meet someone really neat on the bus and they join the trip, or maybe whoever they borrowed money from gets all pissy when they can't pay em back quick enough etc etc.

Let your characters guide you - sometimes characters talk to us! You could've had a whole storyline planned for them, or a romance of whatever, but when it comes down to it, it just doesn't feel right and that's okay! Let them lead you in a different direction now n' then.

Write for you! (ugh becca stfu with this shit) I know, I know but really.. if you're not having fun, what's the point? Don't write what you think other people want and learn to be okay with cutting ideas/scenes/characters/whatever! that you aren't excited about anymore. It should never feel like a chore to create, and if it starts to feel that way, take a break or change it up!

I feel like this is super rambly and I've missed a million obvious things but my brain is mashed potato rn lmao.. pls feel free to add your own tips in a reblog or a comment - everyone has a different take on things! I think it's really important just to start and see what feels natural tho 🤸‍♀️🧡