#It looks like something was there and has been photoshopped out TBH

[statementlou]

is it just me or does this picture look like it needs various silly things to be photoshopped into his hands

[celticcrossanon]

The family photo used in the Harkle Christmas card has me convinced that Meghan is not Lili's biological mother. How is Lili basically the same height as Archie when she's two years younger? Of course siblings can end up being different heights once they're older but Lily looks like a 5-6 year old. Plus boys usually end up taller not always but that tends to be the case.

There are children who are either smaller or bigger than expected for their ages but that generally applies to all siblings, either they're all taller or all shorter than average.

It's unlikely that Archie is small for his age and Lili is big for her age especially if they have the same biological parents. I'm generalizing but it just seems odd to me. I could understand if there is a medical condition but I doubt there is.

Archie's stature mirrors Meghan's but I guess she didn't want that for her daughter. I wouldn't be surprised if they got a donor egg from a white, tall, blue eyed woman.

The obsession with the children looking like the Spencers and Diana especially also makes me think Meghan didn't want to use her own eggs (if they were even viable).

Your reading on Harry's paternity is interesting as if he knows or suspects Charles isn't his biological father but it was ignored/covered up so Harry is treated as a prince and received all the privileges then he might not think of it as a problem if his children aren't either his or his wife's biological children.

It would be something if it turns out that Harry isn't the biological father of either child and Meghan is only the biological mother of Archie and that's not even considering that they most likely used surrogates for both.

Whatever the case is Harry and Meghan do things in a way for people to speculate about the children and it will be the children who grow up hearing rumours just like Harry did. He really took the "genetic pain" thing and decided to carry it on!

Hi Nonny,

Exactly. The children do not make sense in that photo and it looks fake/photoshopped (how long has it been since Harry did not have a beard?). As for the paternity of the children, who knows? I'm still not convinced that either of them exist tbh, as for all we see of them they could be borrowing kids from someone else to 'stand in' for the alleged children (Yes, I know that sounds like a far out conspiracy theory).

Whether the children are rent a kids, from a surrogate, or something else is going on, the one thing I am sure of is that there is something very dodgy about them. As you said, Harry has spoken about his own pain and anxiety over his parentage, and yet he has willingly passed that on to both his alleged kids. Some father he is.

[beffalumps]

hi there! recent art school grad here and i was wondering if u have any tips on learning color + approaching backgrounds? even though i learned a lot, i still find myself struggling with these focuses, especially colors as i never had a class that really taught me that. thanks so much 💗 your work is so lovely

First off, congrats on graduating!! Backgrounds and colors have always been the hardest for me lol tbh I still struggle a lot with colors especially, so please take everything I say with a grain of salt!

Using adjustment layers helps me a lot (especially color balance to make things more unified or complementary).

Another thing that I think has REALLY helped me with color overall is actually switching between color and grayscale.

In photoshop I set up a custom proof profile and then am able to switch back and forth by using the hotkey Ctrl + Y. This helps me check my values which, I've found if you have solid values, colors tend to work so much better even if you don't know much about what you're doing lol. Another way to do this is making a solid black layer on top of all your color layers and setting the blending mode to "Color". Then you can toggle that on and off to look at the values.

One last thing I've played with re: colors is finding a reference that has the colors I like and "crystalizing" it and color picking a palette from that.

This can be super helpful if you're having a hard time visualizing or coming up with a color palette!

As for backgrounds, they became a lot easier for me when I started looking at them like their own character. Thinking about the story I'm trying to tell, adding little details that I think would add to that or be fun and fun ways for the character to interact with it.

That and doing value sketches/just a bunch of really quick and sloppy experiments. 9 times out of 10, they don't work out, but sometimes they spark something that turns into something fun and workable!

This has gotten really long for someone that really just bs's their way through every piece, but I will say one thing that was a big game changer for me (in my personal opinion, who knows if other people think so lmao) and it's just incorporating aerial perspective. Making things a bit more blue tinted (or whatever the sky color is) and lighter as they recede into the background. Has made a huge difference for me when it comes to creating depth!

I really don't know if any of this is helpful because to be 100% honest, most of my illustrations are just product of trial and error lol. But practicing and making a lot of really bad scribbles have (I think) helped me the most, so yeah my biggest advice with anything is just look at lots of art, just draw and don't worry if it looks bad because tbh, it probably will at first. But you'll get better!

@tamberella Has a ton of amazing free resources and brushes, so if you haven't checked out their stuff, definitely do so!

@iniro also has some really nice tutorials on color (and other topics) available so I'd also recommend looking at those too!

But yeah, sorry for going on about my hair-brained process, I hope at least some of this was helpful!

[dejasenti99]

well hi :3 welcome to deja’s skinblending guide. this is my first full written tutorial so excuse me if its not very good LAWL before we get started, here's the tools i'll be using

sims4studio

tray importer

photoshop 2022 (theres cracked version everywhere on tumblr)

blender 4.1

sims 4 ripper

blender + the ripper aren't required to make skins, plenty of people don't go that extra step, but i love using it for placement help

okay lets fuckin go gamers heres my very in depth process for making my ocs skins

miss dolly is gonna be our model today. she already has a skin but im gonna add some little details for the sake of example + some tats cause ive been meaning to anyway.

so when i first get started on making someone a skin, ill find a good base to use and then add details from other categories like nosemasks, eyebags, contours, etc.

my fav skin creators are @sims3melancholic and @thisisthem. my bases are usually thisisthem, and then i'll pick through a couple s3m skins and make notes on my phone about what parts i wanna take off of them (like, say, i like how a certain s3m skin's nose looks. i'll use that instead of a nosemask)

my goal when im gathering things i wanna add is to free up as many slots as i can. id rather add cheshire's freckles onto her skin than use up the freckle slot in skin details that i could use for something else, yknow?

ill repeat this process for makeup next. obviously im not giving my ocs permanent full glam, but some lipsticks can add better texture, you can get highlights/blush from........the blush section LOL and i love using this obscurus eyeliner at a low-ish opacity

just adds an extra level of detail i love. i think what keeps my sims looking consistent next to each other is that i tend to use some of the same details all across the board

make sure for all makeup/skin detail/tattoo category swatches you use, you make note of what swatch it exactly is. when you go into s4s to export the file, you're gonna have to manually select it and if u cant remember what skintone u chose out it can be annoying :/

note that she is completely nakey aside from her piercings while i pick what im gonna use for her skin! no clothing but u can keep on their hair. this is so we have a clear view of everything (and i mean EVERYTHING) for blender.

after you make sure u save the sim/household to ur gallery, you can close out of cas and save ur game! i forgot to do this bc im a fucking idiot but its okay bc you will not. its not REALLY necessary to do this as long as you know exactly what packages you need to locate for texture exporting

step one is done!!!! close out ur game

i have a million fucking characters so i made a deja senti skinblending folder to keep it all organized :-)

this is what it looks like inside. gives u a pretty good overview of what ur gonna be doing tbh. the 't' folder is all the textures we're about to export

thankfully i do have a version of dahlia saved in my gallery so even tho i didnt go it before i closed my game i can still show u what to do in tray importer lol. i have multiple sims in one household, so i narrowed it down by going up top and selecting dahlia / human / and her everyday outfit.

since im gonna give her this blush, i right click and hit open w package viewer so itll find it and open s4s for me

anime wow sound. im gonna change the color manually in photoshop so it doesnt matter to me what swatch i export. hit that green export button under the list of diffuse/shadow/etc (u dont need to worry about all those options, just diffuse) and save it to ur folder!

once ur done gathering ur textures ur good to close out of tray importer and s4s(we'll come back to s4s later tho)

thats step two! the quickest step lawl

this is where i start being a little extra. u dont have to rip ur sim and use blender if u dont want to, but i think it can rly help bc the default sim in s4s doesn't have ur sims facial features and can make ur skins look wonky/wont give an accurate representation of how itll look in game. this cuts out having to go in game/out of game over and over to check

so in simripper once u load up ur sim, the important part is to make sure u have it set to export the dae with separate meshes. once thats done u can import it into blender and there's plenty of other tutorials out there how to use simripper n all that.

so once u get the dae loaded into blender im gonna send u on a little side quest over to this ask i answered where i explain how i separate eyes from the head mesh. next thing ur gonna open is photoshop! or whatever u have thats similar

say hi to flat dahlia. u should have ur own guy but flat open now too :-) along with everything else ur gonna combine. in my case its blush and a titty mask. im gonna start w the blush so i zoomed into her face in blender. i went into the blush file and copied, then back into my base skin file and pasted into place with crtl+shift+v

please do not be like me. make sure u rename ur layers as you copy and paste them into the main skin file. do this because it DOES matter what order ur layers are in. u dont want to put ur highlight under ur nose mask cause the nose mask will just cover the highlight etc etc. i already lost what layer the new blush i added is. what is wrong w me

so when u have ur first detail pasted on and in place, ur gonna save the base skin file as a psd. then go into blender, and in the little textures window ur gonna replace the diffuse file ur dae came loaded with with ur new psd file

u should see the change u made but mine was super subtle so im gonna show it to u when i put on the cleavage overlay

when it comes to stuff like this, ur obviously gonna want to pick the closest to ur skintone swatch as u can. i did not do this, because again, im an idiot

mine is way too pale LAWL whoops. we can fix this tho

i add a hue/saturation adjustment and make it a clipping mask using that square w the arrow so the adjustment will ONLY affect the mask

from there i just make little adjustments until the color match up is as perfect as i can make it. for example for this, ik that it needs to be a little warmer and a little more saturated, so im gonna bump the hue and saturation sliders to the right and it was pretty much perfect

tiddies with no mask > with mask no adjustments > with mask and adjustments

and ur gonna go ahead and repeat that process with every single thing u wanna add to ur skin.

so as for tattoos! this is another thing ur gonna wanna rename the layers for because depending on how heavily ur sims can be tatted it can get A LOT

here's psyche's neat little tattoo folder. its separated into where the tattoo is and then

what it is

i find all my tattoo inspo on pinterest using flash sheets/keywords in the search. my ocs usually have sub-boards that i hoard inspo in for them specifically. dahlia doesnt have one bc ive never seen her as the most tattooed person, but i think she'd have some at least

this process is pretty much the same as putting on skin details! its all about adjusting to what u like. for example, i like when my sims tattoos are a little faded and a bit blurred at the edges cause it looks a little more real

when it comes to images i find on pinterest, ill save the image and first try to make it as clean as i can

for example, this lil guy

a curve mask made the whites brighter and the blacks darker as u can see. then ill go into filter > reduce noise to soften the harsh edges

then i flatten it, copy and paste to the skin file, n place it wherever i want it to go :-)

louder anime wow!!!

okay so now ur gonna want to make sure u .psd file is saved (it should be bc we've been checking our progress w blender) and then merge the visible layers (NOT flatten, merge visible. we need the transparency around the skin to be in tact)

ur done in photoshop and blender!!! good job :-)

step whatever number we're on. back into s4s!

ur focus is over here. make sure the option filled is the top one, and then hit the cas button

this menu will open, ur gonna go up to part type and find the option skin details, forehead. pick the first forehead wrinkle option that appears and hit 'next.' itll prompt you to save ur new file n give it a name, i usually just make it my sim's name cause i have a folder in my mods folder for specifically my cc

remember wayyyy back when we were exporting the skin details? ur gonna go back to that same section and hit 'import' instead of export. select ur skin's .png file, and poof !

ur skin :DD it looks great man good job

this part is EXTREMELY important. go up to the warehouse tab

in the 'data' section ur gonna see a box at the top labeled 'filter.' thats where i typed in 'compos' just so it would show me JUST the compositionmethod section since theres a lot of shit in there lawl. yours is initially gonna say '3,' but we're gonna change it to '0' mind you, this is because MY skins are all alpha. maxis match overlays do not show up on my skins because my comp method is set to 0, meaning it has top priority essentially.

after you do that, you can hit save and place that .package file you created into your mods folder!!! and GUESS WHAT BESTIE UR DONE!!!!! U DID IT :DDDD

of course, as always, you can always dm me if youre stuck on anything or need any more clarification. i am always open to help as much as i can. i rly hope this helped :-)

[watercolorsam-arts]

Why the Minecraft Movie looks so bad

Okay, let’s see if I can make this work

Hi, I’m Watercolor, currently a student learning animation and visual effects. I’ve got some more technical explanations for why exactly the trailer looks god awful

I’m gonna do my best to explain this in simple terms, but if I don’t explain something very good, let me know and I’ll explain more. Alright, this is gonna be a long post

Starting off with the obsession with backlighting. See how it doesn’t really match the environmental lighting? That’s one of the major things that makes it look so weird to a lot of people. It could have been done to better distinguish the actors from the background, but it does that a little too well and makes them look way too out of place. The environment has a very nice constant (most likely singular) light source, which is most likely an HDRI.

An HDRI (or high dynamic range image) informs the animation software on how the scene should be lit, and is often a weird panoramic image of whatever physical area you want to replicate.

In a reverse case, adding a CG character into a real set, you could take an HDRI of the physical set, and use it to apply similar lighting. Adjustment will most likely have to be hand adjusted by the lighting team (and tbh they add a lot of extra lights in anyway. It just needs to look right) but it’s a fantastic starting point for the compositing and lighting teams.

However, the McM’s live set has way different lights set up then what is seen in the environment.

Here, for example, the live set is most likely being lit by standard 3 point lighting, which are not only the wrong color (the lighting on the environment is much more yellow) but also washes out any shadows that would help define the actors. If this movie wasn’t obsessed with backlighting, you could fix that by lighting the actors and environment from the front, but because the sun is in the back, they have to make the front of the actors unnaturally brighter to see them more properly. I have a slight idea on why the kid in red looks especially “photoshopped” in, and it’s mostly because his hoodie doesn’t have a similar reflectiveness to everyone else’s outfit, and his hair is a more neutral color, causing the highlight to be even more washed out. Also, while we’re here, the cube is a physical prop, but it was not lit up during filming, and all the light output was tossed on after. And it’s really inconsistent and honestly, lazy. For the most part they just hit it with a blue blur effect in post, it doesn’t actually cast any light.

Another major issue is the color difference between the actors and the environment. The color balancing on the actors is particularly garbage, they’re somehow desaturated while also being too saturated, I don’t know how they managed that. But the technical issue on why it looks odd, is because the physical camera cannot physically pick up the same vibrancy as the “camera” in the CG world. You might have seen an example of this when trying to take a photo with your phone, especially of a very colorful event like the sunset. It’s also why “ugly sonic” looked particularly out of place, he was 10x more saturated than anything else around him.

Having the actors on a very low effort green screen stage also completely ruins any chance of getting the proper ambient light or ambient occlusion.

Ambient occlusion is basically the bounce light from other objects in your scene, gamers might know this as a form of ray tracing (ray tracing is live changes in ambient occlusion, games without ray tracing bake in ambient occlusion to get a similar result)

When everything is CG, (again art style aside) looks pretty darn good actually!

I attempted some edits to see if anything could make it look better (left is original, right is mine), and I don’t think proper lighting or anything could actually fix what this movie has wrong with it. They should have made the whole thing animated, I don’t think any amount of bullying would fix this, the studio basically has to scrap the actors, and make new CG characters from scratch in the same style as the rest of the world.

All of this is not the fault f the animators, or any of the vfx team, they did their absolute best with what they had, this is 100% the fault of the higher ups on this project. I have no idea how this good this far into production without ANYONE saying that it was a bad idea (Either that, or a lot of people got fired, which is unfortunately a likely possibility)

[cinamun]

When making your story do you have a script that you lay out and try to play it out or do you let your Sims play it out and add in words later if that makes sense. I've been wanting to start my own same story but I'm so confused on where to start either just play a regular game play and take screenshots from there or have it planned out.

A script would drive away the 7.5 braincells left in my head nonny. Deadasss. LOL! This is my hobby and I try to keep it where it doesn't feel like a job (because then I wouldn't have fun anymore and that would suck). So it started as gameplay based on my OCs traits; hot-headed romantic and materialistic. Made for GREAT gameplay just fulfilling her wants (which was to fuck and get paid basically, T for Teen my ass).

Anyway, it kind of morphed into a story as my imagination grew darker and darker. I write with an idea in mind and don't add the dialogue until the end. Sometimes I have a phrase I'll write down so I don't forget or something dope I want someone to say so I scribble it down so I don't forget it in photoshop. For me, all the writing occurs at the end.

The visuals are a big fucking deal. I know what I want you to feel, I know what mood I want you in, I know what angles I want, I know what the set should be based on the situation I'm about to put my OCs in. So if I lay anything out, its that part.

I'm just winging this as I go tbh friend. No script, no plans. Just ideas that the game helps me flesh out and that build upon what has already happed in the story. If you're looking for ways to start, a story could naturally come from just playing your OC. Give them some interesting traits and create a world around them and what they want. Or, write kind of an outline of what you'd like to see with your OC and refer to it when you're playing them. It can be as simple or as detailed as you'd like, my only advice is to keep it fun for YOU.

[heygerald]

Scooby doo mode activated! I was studying, and while using some sticky notes I though of Tom’s apartment and how it’s all covered up by them. And then I realized, that even though he has a lot of sticky notes on the walls, he doesn’t have any pictures of himself there? As in, not even movie posters from the films he’s starred in 🤔 On the other hand, he has a lot of stuff he used in films (which also would include Jean Claude tbh, as he did a movie with him) and I was wondering what that means about him and his opinion on himself - cuz like, Gail has her trailer FULL of pictures of Tom and the movies he’s been in (even some repeated I believe, only to have his face plastered literally everywhere) and it’s obvious because he’s her biggest star and she makes a shit ton of money with/out of him, but Tom hasn’t got really any posters of himself? I believe there are maybe some (one in the bedroom wall that gets broken by Colt maybe? I’d have to watch it again to be sure) but you can’t compare it to Gail’s trailer

My opinion: he sees his value in the things he collects from movie, as little prizes he’s collected along the way to adorn his shelves and apartment in general; and if he happens to have that poster in the bedroom, for me that seems like a motivational move on himself for when he’s getting ready to remind himself who he’s protraying to be: Tom Ryder, the biggest movie star on the planet, far away from being Tom the boy who left his home to become someone on his own (this is canon here now lol)

Your honor, I have nothing else to say

—and every time he puts a new item stolen from a movie set he can't help but stare at it on the wall because it's his and it's verifiable proof that, even if his popularity fades in twenty years, he'll always have the roles people DID love and it's all a reminder that he has fans/nerds/geeks who love him for his roles. It's something physical, almost like a comforting hug, that he is successful, real, and famous.

Gail sees his posters and smiles because that's her star, getting all the attention for his good looks, and making her tons of money and all it takes is a little editing to get him as the face of Gucci or whoever else she can sell him to.

But Tom keeps mementos because if all else fails he has proof that people thought he we was good without needing photoshop.

[whompthatsucker1981]

hallooo im a freshman in fine arts and in really interested in understanding discourses surrounding art right now. Your takes on ai are really interesting and what ive been looking for in terms of self reflection. Im pretty sure you mentioned it already, but i wanna hear it elaborated more. Whats your ideal scenario on how we as artists move forward with the existence of ai? How should our perspectives of art grow into from here?

heehee i'm glad you appreciate, but i think that's above my pay grade as i'm not studied enough on the subject to be able to tell with better accuracy. but as my two cents, i think it's gonna be a tool like many others. ai is already part of many digital art programs, and has been for a very long time. if you ever used a magic wand tool, that's machine learning, for an example. adobe (spits. ptooey. hate adobe) incorporating ai generation into photoshop isn't a surprise development for one. tbh i think that once the novelty of ai generation wears off it's gonna be something considered from the range of a tool to a toy.

however what i can't tell is how the legislation on ai and copyright is gonna end up, especially with mass media enterprises and giants of the art market as adobe lobbying for control. we don't want the same that happens to the music industry to happen to visual arts. but with how the wga turned out in regards to ai, and knocking down the monopoly corporations wanted to have with ai tools, i think there's room to be hopeful here

in the end ai art is relatively harmless. the big ethical concerns with neural networks lie in other places such as surveillance, policing, marketing, warfare, the questions of digital labor, etc, and whoever was the dipshit that decided to market neural nets as ai in the first place. also good luck with your studies!

[simlicious]

Use of AI in my patterns

I've got a comment on my latest post that I want to address properly:

"Please dont use image generators. They use a lot of water and power and just. Its disrespectful to us artists who had our works scraped and thrown into the sludge maker."

Thank you @cats-n-witchcraft for voicing your concerns in a friendly and respectful way.

I've thought about this a lot and also had a long talk with a friend to dive into the topic a bit more and mull everything over. Since it is a long answer, it's under the cut! There is also a poll at the end of the text.

The use of AI-generated images is a very divisive topic with extreme opinions on both ends, some pleading against and some for the use of AI. I do not have an extreme opinion but I am somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Maybe it has to do something with my age or my personality type in that I always try to see things from different perspectives and like to find a middle ground in a lot of things. I understand both sides and think that both sides have some valid arguments pro and contra AI.

I definitely think AI use should be regulated and artist's work should be protected. But I also see merit in AI as a tool and in a way to enable creativity in people who aren't artists in the traditional sense with talent, years of practice, or formal training.

What I find horrible is people abusing AI to make fast money, image resource sites getting flooded with the stuff, people not disclosing the use of AI and just showing general scammy behavior. That's just not acceptable. I also think that AI companies have a huge responsibility to reinvest money in environmental projects to make up for the large use of resources. If this is not viable, then the whole business model should definitely be thought over.

Governments should step in and make clear rules regarding AI.

I will happily lend my signature to any ongoing petitions regarding this (feel free to link some in the comments if you have some).

I have always been a curious person and I like to try out new technologies. But I will now stop more often and think "do I need to use AI for this?" I might occasionally use it but I am by no means a power user. AI images are bad quality-wise and it takes work to make them usable or presentable and it does clash with my sense of perfectionism anyway. I only use two different AI image generators, the free Chatgpt with Dall-E 3 that comes integrated into Bing Copilot, and Photoshop's Firefly AI which Adobe claims was not trained on copyrighted materials (hopefully it's true). So far there are only a few occasions I've used them for. They include generating an avatar for a website, a few plumbob images, and a few bizarre Sims 4 caricatures because I was surprised that the AI knew the concept of Sims. I also thought that experiencing that and knowing how such images tend to look helps to spot them "in the wild" so you know what's AI and what isn't.

When I first tried AI, I was enticed by the novelty of making these unique images that I had not seen before anywhere else and was enveloped by the "wonder" of it (that has since worn off).

TBH it is super frustrating to have ideas but not to be able to execute them. I love making patterns for the Sims 3 but I really suck at making them from scratch, I tried a lot but I dislike the outcome of the majority of them and I do not seem to have the skills nor the patience to get to the level of surface pattern design skill required that would be acceptable quality for my perfectionistic brain. So figuring out this way of creating patterns without having to fear copyright strikes because I modified some assets (which is a really big thing in Germany where I live and people get made to pay a shitton of money for copyright infringement) was like a drug for my brain. It is hard to resist its satisfying pull.

I will try harder to find other ways that do not involve AI before considering AI as an option.

I'm sure lots of people try out something they are curious about and that is not really good for you, and we do not make good choices in our lives all the time. Maybe your personal questionable choice is in another department, but there are and will always be people who have different opinions and condemn our way of life in favor of another. I try to make choices that benefit the planet and environment and do not hurt people, but I am not 100% consistent, just like 99,9% of people on this planet, but I try and I care. Generally, I feel sad that we tend to accuse individuals of their behavior instead of accusing the big corporations and governments that are the real cause of the problems.

It can lower our self-esteem and make us feel inadequate because We can see so many areas in which we are not living up to someone else's standard. We have to choose our battles. Generally, I think we should not shame others for picking different battles or having different opinions. We never know the whole picture or reasons for other's opinions and behavior, especially of people we interact with online. We can engage in dialogue to foster understanding though and this is the way to go, and it is why I wrote this long wall of text. Thank you for reading my wall of text!

I want to close with a poll about what you think about the use of AI-generated images in my patterns.

Whenever I may use AI-generated assets/images in my patterns or other CCI will disclose this in the pattern download (if I know they are made by AI). In any case, I would only sporadically make use of AI!

[nexility-sims]

I was wondering what the lore is behind the cultural tattoos that I see the reyes family have?

ah, i'm so glad i finally got this question !!!!! i am, however, woefully unprepared to actually answer it skdfsd long, so see below for more & for reference images and such:

i decided at some point to lean more heavily into actually representing the world the way i imagined it—after i went on the hiatus with part iii, i suppose? part of that was reconsidering the aesthetics, which includes tattooing. i'm familiar with the traditional tattoo revitalization movement going on in the u.s. and canada right now (and elsewhere in the world), and i wanted to incorporate it ! i had already sort of included tattoos, but it was in the background (literally, see alfonso's aide). i'd done some sketches in the past with coastal carolina tattoos, so it was pretty easy to draw on those as inspiration (see blanca below or zuriñe's foremothers).

obviously, however, this is not the region that i've chosen as the inspiration base for the story's worldbuilding. for that, i've taken inspiration from designs and depictions of either body paint or actual tattoos. (one source is this comic, which is super well-researched and interesting!) the actual process has been really slow-going because i don't want to ?? misrepresent anything i'm borrowing inspiration from ?? even if it's being put in a fictional space, you never want someone to be like "that looks familiar, but it's wrong and offensive." the body paint, for example, is from a set that is, i believe, brazilian, but i haven't been able to figure out to what indigenous communities it belongs or what the meanings may be. feels a little weird, tbh, but the content for this whole entire hemisphere is SO limited. so, i have been hesitant in part because i don't want to lift designs without trying to understand what they might have meant historically or may currently mean to descendants.

i also would, ideally, like to have meaning ascribed to the details in my own mind? like, if there's a style of tattoo that people are getting across generations within the context of the story, then the elements have to have meaning. probably. the other limitation is that i can't spend all of my time figuring this stuff out or, worse, in photoshop trying to master the line art and fight the way sims destroys image quality sdjksdg

for example: the tattoos depicted below on alfonso and rui are comprised of stepped frets. my understanding is that they're called xicalcoliuhqui in nahuatl, and they're at least a couple thousand years old, with connotations related to the feathered serpent and mountains—a primordial motif with deep roots in the worldview(s) of the region's religious complex(es). the bird on their shoulders is a fantasy bird, apparently, that is frequently (mis?)identified as an eagle ... for my purposes, it's probably an eagle sdjsg i've decided these are military tattoos, but i'm still in the process of figuring out what the military orders are and how these tattoos fit into that ... this is the problem with creating details then having to retroactively refit them into something you create later on down the line !!!!!!

the body paint on arnaut (below) is also a military design, in my mind. he doesn't have the tattoos because he's not in the same order that alfonso and rui were/are/will be. safya's body paint (below) is funerary since she's a corpse in that picture. there are distinctions based on occupation, gender, life stage or accomplishments, whether one is considered nobility/royalty or a commoner, and so forth. same with the tattoos ! i imagine the clans also have their own specific designs (halima has a face tattoo from the aforementioned set; blanca's are based on zuriñe's family's, so i guess they'd be an armendariz design rather than a reyes one, which ... fascinating choice, blanca ????). the body paint is ceremonial, so it's most likely to be seen at an event like a funeral, a coronation, etc. i've been thinking a lot about royal orders lately, and i think they're more likely to be represented with tattoos (or body paint) than a little thing you pin on yourself.

okay, i'm going to stop now because i'm rambling and have nothing left to say of substance skgsjg if you have follow-ups, feel free to ask :^)

[potential-fate]

Get to know you- Sims Style

I was tagged by @simbury

What’s your favorite Sims death? -- I find it incredibly entertaining that sims can spontaneously combust if they get too warm.

Alpha CC or Maxis Match? -- mix, but ig it leans towards realism nowadays.

Do you cheat your sims weight? -- not that I can think of. sometimes if I am shooting a specific scene and they weren't that shape at the time. but not during gameplay.

Do you move objects? -- absolutely. I'm incapable of decorating without moveobjects on honestly.

Favorite Mod? -- uhm... I guess the 3t2 traits project or ACR/Romantic Standards.

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack? -- I have been playing ts2 since it literally came out, so my first ep was whichever one came out first. I think that was Uni? but in spirit of the question, for sims 4 I only bothered downloading the game when they came out with cottage living lol.

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing? -- aLIVE. my brain always said essentially like a movie set "and we're live!" so.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? -- Evren Thorne (who you're more likely to see in @luverofralts or @nappe-plays-the-sims game than mine) because he's not story relevant yet, or (much to everyone's chagrin) Callum

Have you made a simself? -- at some point far in the past, yes. I do not have that sim anymore, and I probably wouldn't do it again, but yk. I was also 11 when I started playing this game, so of course I made a digital barbie of myself. (not to say it's childish to do in and of itself, but that it's definitely something that every child tends to do)

Which is your favorite EA hair color? -- since ts2 only has 4, I'm going to assume this was more ts4 centric. in which case I like the neutral blonde/light blonde colors (the two that are less yellow)

Favorite EA hair? -- eh. for ts2 I wouldn't use any of them. for ts4... the mullet thing from werewolves? ig.

Favorite life stage? -- teens or young adults. (I think I may be the only person I know how actively likes Uni for ts2 the most lmao)

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? -- oh. both. depends on my mood.

Are you a CC creator? -- yeeeup. recreationally though. (read: with no real consistency.)

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad? -- I feel like I do lmao. I at least hope they feel the same LOL.

Do you have any sims merch? -- I now have a gameplay guide for the original Sims game lol. but I think that's all I own.

Do you have a YouTube for sims? -- nope. I uh... don't like watching gameplay videos, and sims machinema is way too time consuming to make so I do not.

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing? -- oh gosh. I was one of those edgy emo kids so it was a lot of grunge and dyed hair and bright makeup. I've honestly been leaning a bit more towards that style again though so....

Who’s your favorite CC creator? -- depends on what I'm looking for. tbh a LOT of the CC I have now is older stuff that I just still like. but anyone who isn't exclusively making 4t2 stuff is probably someone I've downloaded from.

How long have you had Simblr? -- technically this blog since January 1st 2020. that being said, I moved from LJ to simblr in like.... idk, 2012? whenever that great migration happened.

How do you edit your pictures? -- a lot of photoshop. color correction, a slight film grain at the very least. most times I also do aesthetic edits to hide clipping, and add painted hair strands nowadays. if I can't get an emotion right for a screenshot, I edit those too.

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite? -- for ts2 I really don't think I could pick one. the problem is I use like 90% of them for SOMETHING gameplay wise, even if I don't use the main function. ie: I love the chemistry/attraction from nightlife, even though the whole downtown thing is frankly annoying sometimes (do YOU WANT TO GO DOWNTOWN? no, random townie I do not. ) But, seeing as I listed it earlier, I guess university.

Tagging uhm.... @rebouks, @pralinesims, @luverofralts, and @nappe-plays-the-sims

[weebsinstash]

"If you're so successful and happy why do you feel the need to do this"

I'll throw you a bone bestie

Because it's genuinely hilarious and cathartic

I don't feel the "need" to do it, I just think it's funny to dunk on people who suck in various ways. Like yourself. Like ngl when I stumbled across your blog at first, seeing how horrible and loserish of a person you were simultaneously disgusted me so much and made me laugh so much. If someone is a loser but a good person, you feel bad for them and want to leave them alone or even help them. If someone is a bad person but isn't a loser, you have nothing to cringe at or look down on them for since they're doing better than you. But being a loser AND a bad person is like, you're the funniest person ever to get a rise out of and also you set off a disgust response that makes people want to give you shit. People don't pity you for your loserish life because you're an asshole, so we view you as undeserving of pity. That's why people like you, i.e. loser + a bad person, get shit online. Look at boogie2988, Chris Chan, Yandere Dev etc. for other examples of people like you. You'd get along with Yandere dev btw he's also a creep who likes rape porn :)

You've given me SO many laughs over the past year after I was stressed from studying for a tough exam, a busy week at work or other things in my life. This whole experience has been nothing but positive for me tbh. Sounds weird but my life and mental health have actually gotten a lot better. I can be resilient now for people who need me to be strong for them without getting stressed myself and people appreciate that. I've helped people through tough times because my stress level is lower and I can be zen about things I normally wouldn't be

All of this is literally just entertaining. I'm not trying to do anything or fight for a cause. It's just funny and cathartic to me. Seeing everyone in your degenerate rape porn community get bent out of shape over ridiculous and hilarious spam like "bitch lasagna" and shitty photoshopped porn. Maybe I have a weird sense of humor or something but whoever told you people only troll others if they have miserable unsuccessful lonely lives lied to you to make you feel better. It's genuinely just fun especially for people like you who give big dramatic reactions to things most of the time. Like this whole calling the police thing over me "going to your house" and being so goddamned confident I'm about to get arrested 😂 this type of shit is why I continue and you constantly insulting me makes me want to do it more and also not feel bad about it because you deserve it. I can troll people who suck and it's guilt-free fun. Like trolling a child predator, you don't feel bad about it yknow, it's just funny. It's just for kicks.

You know whats actually so embarrassing

When I initially said the whole karma works in reverse for you, I was talking about being ditched by your family, and your hysterical ass thought I was talking about your assault. You misinterpreted what I even said and used it as your excuse to act like a histrionic freak for almost a full year

You have literally done nothing but prove my point that you are an objectively shit person, and anyone who would be friends with you is probably a subhuman enabler and also a compulsive liar much like yourself. You use your alleged assault to cry victim and use it to harass other people. You cry victim blaming but then spout blatant ableism, misogyny, transphobia, and racism more than once. You have typical White Woman Feminism, screaming and whining that you aren't a slut but calling everyone else whores for having kinks you don't like

You're sitting here further incriminating yourself, writing so many paragraphs I'm not even reading them all, spending hours and hours and hours. I'm at work making a living supporting my family and you're at home, on your phone, for hours. When do you even sleep lmao. Homie you literally lied pretending to be a teenager, you could lie about anything. Does writing fanfiction about having a partner help heal the wounds from knowing you did something stupid and got thrown away like a used tissue

It was something with a dog, wasn't it? I know your types. You need attention from literally wherever you can get it. That's why you don't even care if everyone is screaming at you, you just need acknowledgment. This is such stereotypical neglected child behavior and you're so bitter and angry you're barely even coherent

Go dye your hair blue and attend a republican rally since you share their politics. I'll at least have the peace knowing I've never been so obsessed with a complete stranger I have to obsessively keep checking if they've replied to me. That's shit MIDDLE SCHOOLERS DO, but oh no, you're allegedly so successful and intelligent 😂 so successful and intelligent you're acting like a QAnon 4channer for entertainment on Christmas. Hey guys the person who spent literally hours and hours on both Chrisrmas Eve and Christmas wants us to believe they have a partner. Who wants to call cap?

[raisinchallah]

I felt that book post so much as someone who doesnt really like reading classics or mainstream contemporary stuff its so hard to find other people who share my taste in books or who will have like any idea what I’m talking abt when I bring up the stuff I like reading :( I also always find it funny when people argue about classics vs. YA as if those are the only two types of book in existence

yeah i mean i do mean classics in like an extremely broad sense like more in the sense u will see say the same 5 books recommended within certain genres or subgenres like this book is a classic of sad haunted house fiction or pretentious sci fi read by specific types of nerds or whatever like the fact that even when u find really niche communities each little group has their 5-10 always recommended books that can often be quite good you know important interesting books for really specific genres or whatever but its like surely people know about more than those and then like of the moment contemporary releases which tbh are often things that get forgotten about once people sit around with it for a bit like ive always been the type of person to simply wait and see what sounds good after the hype dies down rather than jump to read or watch something when everyones talking about it i like to let stuff sit see if its good or not... yeah those conversations are sooo funny like literally there are things other than classics and ya there are literally endless amounts of books nobody is even talking about... it also really sucks cuz books that get kinda forgotten that are say 20+ years old also can often be out of print and simply not even in the consciousness idk i feel like im simply sitting around wondering about all the books out there people have simply forgotten like i went to this lgbt library with my bestie when i visited them and literally the kinds of books they had like stuff put out by niche gay presses that had very little circulation people writing like lesbian james bond parody romance novels in the 90s and insanely long self published gay vampire novels with weird photoshopped covers that their friends wrote blurbs about how it might be the next great american novel and like complex gay elf wizard relationship drama in a 5 book fantasy epic involving gay music festivals or whatever im like damn we have literally only scratched the surface of books u think exist... wait anon tell me an interesting book u have read recently or idk whats ur book taste :3 oh idk if u are interested in sci fi or not but i think this got a bit into my head also from reading a really cool passage from this book on someones blog they just posted it and then beign like damn whats this book i have to read it hmm my library doesnt have it oh hmm its been out of print for years but this looks super cool anyways the books the fortunate fall by raphael carter idk if i will like it or not but idk its really interesting so many people acting like idk they are inventing writing weird gay and trans sci fi now but people have been doing this for years its just often out of print or forgotten about and idk i feel like its cool discovering weird books like that anyways its on the internet archive apologies if u hate it or anything but idk ok anyways <3

[shnowbilicat]

While I had my emotional breakdown, a friend of mine suggested to go out to a park or something. Since I wasn't sure if the weather would be nice or rainy, like it has been all week, I decided to go to the library yesterday and experiment around with my newest art style or creepy, uncanny shit.

In all honesty, I adore that art style. Not only because I love drawing creepy and uncanny stuff, but also because I just need to turn off my brain for once and just draw whatever I want without any rules. Or heck, even break some rules in the process snrrk

I had this weird, creepy realistic smile in my head that I wanted to draw and Rick seemed to be the perfect candidate cuz of his ghost form. Soooo combining my current love for drawing uncanny creepy stuff, plus some inspiration from the Corpse piece I did earlier and some calligraphy (I admit, I used photoshop to reference the font cuz my handwritting SUCKS) and BAM! Creepy af Rick that I actually really love X'D

And while I drew creepy Rick I also had the idea of making a creepy Keith! He needed the love and tbh I had the idea of him sowing his mouth shut and cutting the string with scissors for AGES. Like, it's his thing okay? And he also got the cool creepy, forgotten and abandoned look and it fits him so well :'33

Also wanted to draw hollow eyes and Keith's cut open throat because again, he didn't get enough creepy factor and love since his creation, and FNAF is all about creepy uncanny and scary ewe

Tbh this has been such a blast to do and I swear I will visit my library more often for this X'D

(Mostly cuz it was just open for 2 hours and then I had to draw the rest of Rick n all of Keith at home :33)

Anyways, have fun sleeping tonight owo

[chill-that-ur-inmyhead]

When someone sneezes, do you say “Bless you,” or “God Bless you?”

Bless you

Do you ever look at someone cute, and automatically make a move?

Wow no! I assume they have someone already so I should not be making a move

How many times have you been to Wal-Mart/K-Mart in the past week?

Never

What are two things you are excited to do in the near future?

My exams will be over in over a month

Have you ever seen the movie A Walk to Remember? Cliche’ or worth watching?

I haven't but I'll add it to my list

Do you ever put condoms in old people’s buggies at the store?

NO!

Name one reason you go to a pharmacy regularly for?

I don't

What radio station could you not resist turning it to in the vehicle?

Spotify and it is non-stop taylor

Do you live in a house, apartment, or another type of arrangement?

House

Do you wear sweaters in the Winter or hoodies, more often?

Sweaters

Are you kind of a loner? Do you like being alone?

I do from time to time.

Are you one of those people who like to spell out numbers?

Not necessarily

Is there an animal in the room with you right now? What kind?

None

Did you or do you still have a Furby? Was/is it annoying?

Nope

Whats one event your town has that you don’t like to participate in?

My town doesn't have town events

Are any of your siblings married? What are their spouse’s names?

Nope

Do you hate nosy people who ask too many personal questions?

I probably am one tbh... whoops

Name one lyric from the song you’re listening to/the last one you listened?

Cuttin' in, cuttin' up, cuttin' back, cuttin' out Frontside, backside, goofy footed, wipe out

Do you have a fax machine? Do you ever use it anyways?

Nope

Does your kitchen table have placemats? If so, what colors are on them?

They are light brown

Do you know how to sew? Whats your favorite thing to sew?

I do. I really like embroidery.

Have you ever owned a turtle? Did it ever bite you when you owned it?

I have not.

Does your father have any creepy or scary friends you dont like?

Thankfully no.

Who was the last person (if anyone) you said Happy Birthday to?

One of my friends just last week!

Do you have Photoshop? If so, how often a day do you use it?

I don't and never use it

What color are the walls in the room you’re in right now?

Warm yellow

Has your school ever had a lockdown? If so, for what reason exactly?

Nope

Do you enjoy it when your school has drills? (ex/fire or tornado drill?)

Bit of a drag especially if I feel like I am learning something

Do you watch any shows that you know your parents wouldn’t approve of?

Nope

Do you have any siblings who still believe in Santa, and are over age ten?

Nope

What color were the last pair of headphones/earphones you bought?

White

Do people call you a big mouth sometimes? Or more than sometimes?

Rarely - more cheeky than big

Has anyone ever stolen your survey questions before, if you make surveys?

Nope and nope

Leggings with denim shorts; yes or no?:

OH WOW, blast from the past I used to wear them but now I would never. I hardly wear shorts tbh

Do you like to burn candles?:

Yes

Are Yankee Candles really all that?:

No idea

Do you think any bands/artists are trashy?:

Nope

What makes you tick when taking surveys?

Questions that are too meta

Have you ever started typing something and then someone spoke and you ended up typing what they said?

Yes!

What type of white-out do you use: bottled liquid, tape or pen?

Tape

What would you put on your perfect sub?

Meatball

Do you have anything that’s limited edition?

Yep. Waited in line for 4 hours for Taylor Swift's folklore long pond studio vinyl on Record Store Day. So worth it.

[surrealsunday]

I LOVED MOOD TATTOO!!

I have an exam this weekend so I'm saving the last two chapters for after that but I could not help it and made another playlist for Mood Tattoo (watch me make a playlist for all of your fics lmaooo)

Check it out should you be interested! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0hf8FBvYKpKoVkd7QKioUw?si=3886adaf8ba04d2e

(if you have a suggestion for a better cover that would be great just because it's a placeholder rn)

This fic was everything. The tension was EXCELLENTLY written, superb superb love scenes, and just loved how everyone around them was just so supportive and knew it was going to happen because they'd been eye-fucking since day one lmao

Also the social media edits were extremely high quality?? Like part of me hopes you are earning something from this because it's just so so so good. Part of me was like is that really an edit or has Axel just been hiding that tattoo this whole time

(my favorite one was the clip of him barking at the dog like? a lot of it sounded like an actual dog like wtf axel)

Idriss and Manon being together is also just so cute like this is the first time I shipped a non-canon straight ship this hard lmao also his friendship with Eliott is just so adorable I love how supportive they are of each other it's just everything to me ahh

I am definitely giving this a re-read after I re-read 10 things; you are just one of the most talented fic writers I've encountered, the flow is just so fun to read, and it keeps me at the edge of my seat

Stay fabulous!

AHHHHHH YAYYYYY!!!!! I was so excited to hear about your reaction! I haven't had a chance to catch up with ao3 so I'm super happy you messaged here!

And another playlist??!!! YOU ARE SPOILING ME AND I LOVE IT!

Mood Tattoo Playlist

I'm going to listen to that tomorrow when I finally have a day off! Mood Tattoo has so much social media and it's all saved in different files so I can't even begin to think about what might make the best cover image aldkfjadf. But this is the pic that was used for every chapter banner:

Also seeing that ^ pic just made me so nostalgic for that story 🥹.

The tension in Mood Tattoo was truly the thing I had to get right. Doing a hate-love kind of story just requires sizzling tension or the rest doesn't work. So glad it came across!

And yesssss the social media was my fave. Particularly tattooed Lucas!!! I'm not amazing at photoshop tbh but I have improved through the fics I've written and in the tackling of the social media. So I would definitely say there are a couple of the tattoo edits of Lucas that remain my absolute crowning achievements in fic social media edits. (Also if Axel got a tattoo sleeve RIP me... he would look so damn good).

Idriss and Manon!!! I seriously have written them so much now they have become canon in my head (and honestly it would have made a better story if they had been). Their story started in my Hollow Edge story and then I made myself so attached to them that I have to include them in each story, even if it's just a hint of them 😂. Like, beyond the fact that I enjoy writing their characters together, just the idea of the aesthetics of them together???? Yes. Yes, that would work well. And Idriss and Eliott's friendship is much the same. I legit forget that we were ROBBED of that in the show because I've written their friendship so extensively in so many stories. But I just adore them and I adore writing their friendship. I put Idriss through it in some ridiculous ways in my stories (poor guy 😂) but it's only because I love him so much!

Your comments are just so kind and the most satisfying thing to read as a writer. I really did squeal reading this so THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! It's so fun to get to chat with someone new to the fandom and new to my fics because (as insane as it sounds to me) I've been writing them for years now. So it's like reliving the experience of writing and posting when I originally did and it's so much fun! In conclusion, you are the best 😌😂❤️. I'm really glad to connect and I hope you enjoyed the final two chapters (also... I don't know if the exam is this weekend or it was last weekend but I hope it goes/ went really well!!!).