#Sims of Desert Rot

[tosimornottosim]

i forgot how big this boat was wow. ts2 rules

[ludwig-dieter]

TMA SPOILERS (and maybe implied wtnv ones)

I’m on ep 133 of tma and 53 of wtnv and I find the protagonist differences so fascinating like

With each passing day Jon’s life increasingly falls apart. Like S4 started and bro just woke out of a coma, most of his friends are dead, the ones that ARE alive absolutely despise him (for being in a coma apparently??), his work crush/bf is purposefully avoiding him, and he just had to rip out his literal fucking rib to save some murderous, bloodthirsty and dirt-traumatized cop.

Meanwhile in Night Vale my boy Cecil has been in the sweetest relationship imaginable, his obsessive behavior has been steadily growing more sane, he just beat the corporate bad guys™ and everything has been seemingly falling into place.

The duality of (gay) man

[trappolia]

JONATHAN SIMS ── i have loved you for the last time

Sleep does not come easy to Jon anymore.

There is so much for the Archivist to consume and so little of what is actually him that is left. The hunger is a plague that takes on a non-linear narrative in the miserable plot of his life. It eats at the crevices of his mind from the inside out so he can think of nothing but everything and the absence in the space between all at once; then at his tongue, the flat of it dry and coarse (When was the last time he had drunk something to hydrate himself? Does he even still need it?), and his throat, so when he tries to speak, all that comes out is a weak croak. He thinks the hunger has taken root deep in his marrow as well── he feels it creeping in his bones, the rot spreading to his bloodstream slowly but surely.

You stir beside him, and Jon thinks: Alas, at least his heart is safe.

It had been a long time since his dreary heart was nestled in the weak cage of his ribs, beating feebly to sustain a body that, in truth, lives for very little. Jon does not know when or how, but somewhere along the lines since you'd slipped into his narrative through the margins of his hasty notes, he'd found that you had come into possession of his heart. The wicked thing was cradled in your hands like the most precious of treasures even as you slept by his side, squeezed into the little twin bed.

You inhabit the side closest to the wall, a fact which contents Jon── for all the horrors you have subjected yourself to by staying at his side, he will be there as the first line of defence. In a more mundane sense, you've crafted your home in a home within this little nook, curled up beside Jon's thin frame. He sees you now, illuminated by the painful white of his screen, and Jon feels sorry for potentially ruining your quality of sleep, but there is so much work── always work and no play for the Archivist son, damned as he is by whatever is going on in his institute. At the very least, he comforts himself, you will sleep better than he ever will.

Jon takes a deep breath, steeling himself; as if with a mere lift of his shoulders, he can resemble a man who, at the very least, seemed to have some idea of how he could get himself out of this hole he has found himself in, but if you had been awake, you could have easily seen the truth behind the facade, that of his discomfort and, and most damningly, the unsureness he held within himself, of himself. Despite this, he brushes his fingers over the curve of your cheekbone and leans close to press his dry lips against your temple, before going back to work── reminding himself every now and then of who he is doing this all for.

In spite of it all, his unsureness and his fondness for you, Jon does leave you in the end ── not for the lack of love, no; that love remains even when he changed, twisted into more than a simple avatar of the Eye instead of the man who had left you cold in your bed with his goodbyes written in ink on a parchment nearby. He understands, even in the end of all things, that he was selfish to have left you before things truly took a turn for the worst (though one could argue that it had already been set in motion the moment he picked up A Guest For Mister Spider)── there is selfishness even in the thought that he left while still human, that your final memory of him before he took an exit from your life was not the him that saved the world this version of you lived in, alone and betrayed and confused.

And when Jon begins to Know, he Knows that you never get rid of the belongings he'd left deserted about in your home, as though he has just recently left and is to certainly return any day now. He Knows that you never do stop waiting for him ── whether it is in the Fearscape you were trapped in or in the world thereafter, the world without your Jonathan Sims.

Life hereafter moves along, but for you, it feels as though it has paused in that singular moment that always passes, in another space and time, as though the clock in your living room will tick once again, and Jon will walk through your door as he always has. He Knows this, and he wishes he could tell you, but the last thing left of him in that world is the heart you don't realise you still possess, that you've never lost── Jon sits there and waits with you in that moment that will never come to pass, and you will never truly come to terms with the fact that the rest of him will never be able to come home to you again.

© trappolia 2024

[kevsimblr]

Introducing the Mayor Sutton Vaughn and his family.

After a less than reputable job as a politician in Sim City, the governors decided that Sutton would be a good fit for a Mayor in Sunblight (meaning he was corrupt and they wanted him gone)..

He bought his wife with him.. Introducing Valentina Vaughn..

Once one of the best models in alll of Sim City. When she met Sutton she knew his reputation would further her career, his manipulative tactics and general charm did get her more work but now that Sutton got this new job, it means that she's now left to rot in this new town.. How will she manage to find herself in this desert town?#

They also bought their son August with them.. Let's see what Sim he turns out to be...

Again.. in case anyone missed my last post, building shell is by @antisocialbunnysims :))

[moonbiscuitsims]

Werewolf community on the Sims 2

If you like these characters check out my YouTube Video introducing them; I'll be doing some let's play soon. <3 CC List with some of the content is here. Any support for my posts and stories is appreciated :3

My little werewolf community in the middle of Deadmoon Lakes

The twins Nora and Fenris are the founders. Their condition for joining is that you had to have been unfortunately savaged and turned into a werewolf and have no where to go. How kind of them?

Poor Berry did not think there would actually be werewolves in the old abandoned farmhouse that his friends dared him to enter...

At least Fenris and Nora are friendly and soon he actually started to adjust to life at the community. He is a knowledge sim so he feels like he's learning a lot about occult matters he didn't know about, especially once he found out here that there are also such thing as vampires...and apparently they're terrible and smelly!!

A few weeks later, Calendula arrived and Berry became quite fond of her. They also seem to both be messing around with others, but they feel a connection.

...a deep connection x)

Sometimes they all take little trips to the coast for a change of scenery. Berry tried learning break dancing but didn't really get anywhere with it. So he went inside the beach bar an played a little bit of poker instead.

There was this creepy guy with scary eyebrows who kept going on about... finding a test subject, saying his old one had... escaped and asking Berry if he was interested. Berry politely declined... he got a bad feeling. There was also this greyish lady who absolutely stunk, like her skin was rotting away or something, maybe she had a disease? it was almost like she was a zombie. Good thing the game crashed and Berry was able to get out of there!

Nora also is starting to get a crush on a strange alien lady she met out on the day trip to the beach, she'd never seen anyone like her! then again, she is a human wolf so there's that...her name's Chloe Curious. She hopes Chloe feels the same way...Chloe even decided to come up to the mountains from her coastal getaway to see Nora again but is this just a one time thing?

Apparently she lives super far away, all the way out in the desert, a small town called "Strangetown". Berry mentioned he met someone creepy from there...Nora has her number so hopefully they'll keep in touch and maybe she can go down and visit her.

Meanwhile she and her brother have a community to help run. She can't just leave her friends, her job and all the dogs for a girl she just met.

I mean look at him <3 pups are Nora's real true love.

[zootplayz]

How Did we Get Here?

Once upon a time there was a simmer named Zoot. This simmer found a wonderful community called Sims Amino. Whom without their input and fabulous creators would of never heard of the Not so Berry challenge or the one we are about to undertake. When her one year anniversary was approaching she decided to host a little collaborative competition. In this competition a sim was born and given a backstory by a wonderful member of this community. There were only a few entries but Zoot enjoyed them all and hopes those that did enter are enjoying whatever pack they requested. In any competition there can only be one winner and that was: Dumblekitty With the lovely sim: Natalie Morales Something about this sim truly spoke to me. And it's not just because she's totally adorable. Her sad tragic story got my creative juices flowing and I knew just what I wanted to do with her and how I wanted to play with her. So without further ado here's what Dumbles sim and story got Zoot thinking. Warning it's alot of reading! ********** We've been living in these forgotten woods in Newcrest a long time.

It's been hard. But, we finally have a roof over our heads. There's a little hut back there we managed to put together. But it wasn't always there.

Peanut and I would still be sleeping on the ground under the trees if we hadn't been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Tattooine is deserted at night so Peanut and I would head there and use their facilities to clean up and scrounge what we could before morning. Yes it's trespassing but we had little options. It was trespass and steal and survive or stick to the woods and slowly rot away. That's no choice if you ask me, so there we were, as usual, going through the same routine. We were headed to the kitchens after getting cleaned up to see what we could find when I heard shouting in the bar across the way.

Something about 'never liking Pancakes'. 'Who doesn't like Pancakes?' I thought as I quickly disappeared into the restaurant so they didn't see me. "Let's see what we can throw together Peanut."

As I prepared a quick fruit salad and Peanut gnawed on a leftover chicken leg I heard someone approach.

"I don't like pancakes!" It was the first thing that popped in my head. I knew I wasn't supposed to be there and I just panicked. When I finally worked up the courage to turn around I saw how upset he was. He clearly wasn't there to get me in trouble.

I apologized and tried to comfort him the best I could. 'Im sorry. Pancakes for breakfast everyday would be, by definition: paradise.' He chuckled. We split the fruit salad and we listened to each others troubles. I told him about my past and living in the woods and sneaking in here to survive. He told me about his marriage troubles, the divorce his wife is so keen on and of course pancakes. For hours we spoke. As the sun started to rise we wished each other the best and headed our separate ways. It was nice to talk to someone about everything but I never thought I'd see him again.

I couldn't of been more wrong. A little over a month later me and Peanut were relaxing by the pool when suddenly he appeared.

'I signed the papers,' he said. Looking thoroughly broken and dejected.

'What am I supposed to do now? It's been so long I don't even know what makes me happy anymore.' 'How do you manage to still smile after everything you've been through and continue to go through?' So, for the next few hours I told him. My dog Peanut, jumping in puddles, the sound of crackling leaves under my feet as I walk in my little patch of woods. The world may be rough and cold and dark at times but there's beauty and light all around if you're just willing to see it and let it in. He left that morning still upset but there was now hope in those sad eyes and I thought to myself 'He's going to be okay.' Again the thought of seeing him again, never crossed my mind.

But of course, once again I was very wrong. It was another eight months before I saw him again and I almost didn't recognize him. I'd been lazing in the sauna when he came in.

He'd lost alot of weight and initially I was frightened a perfect stranger had just barged in on me. 'Bob?' Apparently he took my advice, he'd started taking better care of himself. If he was going to get over this rough patch he needed to be happy with himself first, he realized. He'd moved to a glitzy apartment in San Myshuno, adopted a dog from the local shelter and started a new job at a great restaurant that specialized in gourmet pancakes. Things were looking up for Mr. Pancakes and there was more to the story. In the divorce settlement everything in the bank went to Eliza and he got the house. '.. in the end she got the short end of the stick', he laughed. 'She could never resist cold hard cash even if the house was worth 10x what was in the bank.' Apparently, she's now living with a Don Caliente. Which by the smirk on Bob's face doesn't bode well for the former Mrs. Pancakes. But her predicament is not why Bob came back to Tattooine looking for me. He'd remembered my plight and since I was there for him when he needed me most he hoped to do the same. '... it's not much... But I hope it's enough to at least get you out of the cold.' I gaped in shock. 22,000 simoleons!!! I'd never seen so much money. It was more than enough to build me and Peanut a little shelter in the woods I'd come to think of as home.

And that brings us to today. 2 years later "We've made it Peanut. Things can only get better from here."

I've started to go after my dream of becoming a children's author and write everyday.

I've earned enough to actually put the notebook down and start writing on a computer.

But I haven't forgotten the man who made this all possible and due to the magic of social media I found him again. With that one click I discovered he hadn't forgotten about me either and we met up for a meal.

Not pancakes.

He was looking better than ever but there's still such sadness in his face.

Could he ever come to think of me as more than just 'that poor homeless girl with the ever-cheerful personality'?

Or is my bubbliness too much for such a gloomy disposition? At this point it's hard to tell. For now, I have Peanut.

And for the first time since I was a child...

A future. Part 02 Read the full article

[firelightwilltell]

Welcome the Ultraviolet Grasslands; Session 2

Here is my write up of the second session of the Ultraviolet Grasslands, a heavy metal steppe-crawl to the end of the World, by Luka Rejec. I’m am running the Patreon Edition with Lamentations of the Flame Princess, including a few tweaks to fit the UVG.

Heroes

Chloe; 3rd level Halfling (Half-ling in the UVG)

Delian; 3rd level Elf (Half-elf in the UVG)

Guest Heroes

Vigo Brastec; 3rd level Cleric

Sid Cadmium; 3rd level Specialist

Migo the Dark & her pet Jor leu-Gro; 3rd level Magic User

Zika; 3rd level Fighter

Obritish Krat; 3rd level Dwarf

Hirelings

Menrek Zero Running; 1st level Specialist

The session started off with some Bluelander pilgrims who had heard Chloe’s death cult pitch, and decided to abandoned their quest for the Dead God Rot to follow the party. As she was making her pitch, a slow comet burned across the sky towards the West. Although the comet was likely just coincidence, they gained 8 new followers and a group of 5 mercenaries who were travelling with them. As they joined, they saw Gertie the Corpse Wrangler coming across the grasslands with 6 zombie thugs for the CAT construction company and a robed character the disappeared into the grass. Gertie was there to confront the party, who had ran away from their debt in the Violet City. The fight broke out and ended with all of assailant’s dead and Chloe bleeding out. A bit of healing in the name of Rot by Vigo Brastec the Bluelander Cleric had the Chloe back up. After a week more of rest and trading supplies their now larger caravan departed towards Potsherd Crater. They saw some ceramic centipedes who seemed to eye their mules, but kept their distance. Sim Cadmium the dog-headed Specialist did the scouting when they arrived at Potsherd Crater, and caught word of the Waterlogged Quarry and the Mad Autofarm, but not before the caravan spent a day lost in slightly poisonous flower patches. Needing to restock up on supplies and trade the caravan pressed on towards the Porcelain Citadel. Unfortunately, their extra days caught up with them and they ran out of food. They cooked a mule, ate some wild garlic, and only had 2 deserters: one Bluelander pilgrim and Menrek Zero Running, who wasn’t keen on finding her former parent sentience as an escaped polybody.

They were greeted by Porcelain Prince Leopard Lithophane 4-dyad** **as they arrived at the Black House at the Porcelain Citadel. The party split up, some of them trying to meet potential trade partners in the Porcelain Princes who frequented the Black House. A few stayed at the House of the Unavowed Cardinal for some grey antelope BBQ. The group at the Black House became friendly enough with Lithophane 4-Dyad for the group to get let in past the Laser Defense Columns to trade their Whiskers at Two Serais, and to scope out the High Houses where they hoped to find some extra polybodies for Yansa, their financier. Porcelain Prince Bone Kaolin 2 Body had offered to sell the party some illicit trade goods (Karma Dust), behind the House of the Unavowed Cardinal, but it was too expensive for the party’s funds. Sim went to party in up and Your Life Burns Faster in This House, where he me the Syruss Sensible and found a secret passage in the “dungeon” where Syruss and Bone Kaolin 2 Body would trade elicit goods. The party decided that they could use the tunnel, whose entrance was in the field next the Houses of Many Colors, to escape if needed.

Migo and Chloe departed from Two Serais, slinking along the Houses of Many Colors before they tried to get into the High Houses. Migo had left her human in one of the human-sized dog cages in the “dungeon” at Your Life Burns Faster in This House and was able to sneak into a window, while a failed stealth check Chole got caught outside the door by Porcelain Prince Sherd 7 Extension. Migo continued deeper and found one of the polybody storage labs. Chloe failed to escape Sherd 7-Exstention and was led to the same storage lab to be turned to a poldybody drone. Migo was able to use Charm to grab one of the polybodies of Many Cracks 5 Body who was passing by. The polybody of Many Cracks 5 Body convinced Sherd 7 Extension that they could handle putting Chloe into the vat. After Sherd 7 Extension left Migo had Many Cracks 5 Body depart to catch up with the rest of his polybodies. With all the Porcelain Princes gone, Chole and Migo mind-linked with a pair poly-bodies and headed out of the lab. Migo left with her new polybody back to the Two Serais. Chole failed another stealth check and barely dodged the laser beam of the Column Defense Golem, escaping into the tunnel that Sid Cadmium found that leads to the “dungeon” of Your Life Burns Faster in This House.

 //

Session Reflections

This session had some guest players from my other game group. I pregenerated the characters based off the Hireling chart in UVG. Running a game for 7 players was a bit outside of my comfort zone but it worked decently. This session was still pretty role-play heavy due to the location, which wasn’t the best for a group that large but it was where the session was headed. Next session is when I will invoke my baseball rule: Try the campaign for 3 sessions and if it sucks, move on (to a different one). Because of the actions of the party, there is a lot of fun things/terrible consequences set in motion for next session. They haven’t gone many places for treasure, so they are far away from leveling up of paying back their financier but there are still several stops before then. They will encounter and Avatar of the End next session, so that should help to flesh out their Save the World Plot. Onward to the Black City!

[tosimornottosim]

[lasersheith]

Hi! For your fic request: Sheith and "It is always not the right time for us, isn't it?"

I finally finished this! Sorry it took so long

also on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13326456

Shiro slumped down onto his bed, dropping the damp towel he’d just used to dry his hair over the edge. Shirogane, we want you to teach Advanced Flight Mechanics for the year 3 fighter pilot class while Dr. Singh is out on maternity leave after midterms. Iverson’s voice echoed in his head. He’d accepted the position immediately, with enthusiasm. It was a big honor to be entrusted with a teaching a class, even if it was only temporarily.

There was one big problem though, a problem with a capital K.

Giving up on sleep for the time being, he pulled out his phone and opened the camera roll. Nearly all of his recent pictures were either Keith or the two of them together. He paused at one in particular: Keith smiling warmly at the camera from a blanket laid out across the sand. That had been just a week ago.

He’d planned on telling Keith about his feelings during their picnic on the cliffs, but he’d lost his nerve. Now he was a little grateful for the uncharacteristic bout of cowardice, he was going to be Keith’s instructor for half a semester and didn’t want to put either of them in a compromising situation.

It just wasn’t the right time is all, he’d wait until the end of the semester, tell Iverson teaching wasn’t for him and that would be that.

…

Keith had been less than thrilled to have Shiro as an instructor, even if he was a very gifted teacher. It had caused a strange rift in their long time friendship because Shiro was so worried about anything looking inappropriate. He had a point, Keith supposed, they could both get in a lot of trouble if anyone thought Shiro was giving him an unfair advantage. Luckily, the semester was almost over and things could go back to the way they were.

The door squealed open behind him and Keith hastily tossed his contraband cigarette over the edge of the roof. Whoever it was would be able to smell it for sure, so Keith went for nonchalance as he continued leaning against the railing without turning around.

Shrio knocked their shoulders together as he joined Keith on the railing. “Smoking’s 4 demerits, cadet.” He said playfully. Keith rolled his eyes and pulled another out of his jacket. He offered the pack to Shiro, who hesitated a moment before grabbing one himself. “What gives? You never smoke.” Keith asked, holding his lighter out for Shiro.

“Yeah. I uh…” Shiro took a drag and looked up at the night sky. “Anders didn’t get the Kerberos mission. I did.” He turned back to Keith, giant grins breaking out on both of their faces. Keith threw his arms around Shiro’s neck in a tight hug.

“That’s amazing, Shiro! I’m so happy for you!” Shiro held him close for just a beat too long before stepping back. “Thanks, I’m so excited. This is… the whole reason I joined the Garrison in the first place.” They both leaned against the railing again for a few moments, tossing their spent cigarettes over the edge as they finished. “It’s a long mission, though.” Shiro said, staring at the ground several stories below. His voice was barely above a whisper.

Keith nodded. “How long?” Shiro’s boots scuffed against the dirty tile. “9 months, maybe a year.” A year. Keith crossed his arms. That was a long time. Shiro had been on several 6 and 8 week long missions since they’d been friends, but he’d been allowed to send emails every few days and the time had gone by before they knew it. A year would be… fine. It had to be. It was Shiro’s dream.

“Well, when you get back you’re gonna have to throw me a graduation party.” Keith knocked his elbow into Shiro’s. “And I’m gonna take advantage of you being gone so I can crush your sim scores and you won’t have a chance to fight back.” Shiro laughed and playfully shoved his arm. “Well we aren’t leaving for 3 months, so I’m not going to make it easy for you. I’m breaking at least 4 of my old records before I go.” It was Keith’s turn to laugh at that. “Yeah, we’ll see.” He teased.

They stood in companionable silence for a while, both staring up at the stars. Shiro risked a glance in Keith’s direction and tried to will his fluttering heart to even out. Keith had no idea how breathtaking he was, especially bathed in starlight with the wind softly blowing his increasingly non-regulation hair. He must have felt Shiro’s eyes on him, because he turned and offered Shiro a small, private smile he couldn’t help but return.

It was probably one of the most romantic spots Shiro could think of for a love confession, but with him leaving for so long, so soon… it just wasn’t the right time. They’d have all the time in the world when he got back.

..

Shiro’s bleary eyes had struggled open slowly at first, and then he’d shot up, hands in a defensive position. The room around him was dim and dusty, but it clearly wasn’t a cell or a lab. Under the smell of dust, there was the faint aroma of evergreen and something… familiar. None of the rot or blood or decay of the places he’d been for the last year. Nor was it the stagnant smell of recycled air on a ship. He lowered his hands and stood up from the bed, taking everything in.

A stirring in the corner caught his attention and he wheeled around, ready to fight if the need arose. Keith had been sleeping on a chair next to the bed and approached him cautiously. “Shiro? Are you ok?” He whispered. Shiro stopped and blinked at him for a moment. “Keith?”

Keith had slowly walked into arm’s reach and placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s me. You’re ok. You’re back.” Tears welled in his eyes and he pulled Keith into his chest almost without thinking. He buried his nose in Keith’s hair and inhaled deeply, the familiar scent of his shampoo soothing in a tangible way that the sight of him alone hadn’t been. He might have been embarrassed about the bone-crushing hug if Keith hadn’t been holding on to him just as tightly. They sat in silence for a moment, just holding on, listening to the sound of each other’s breath- whether to prove that it was really happening or to savor it neither of them could say.

Shiro finally stepped back and held Keith by the shoulders, eyes roving over every part of him. “I’m so glad you’re ok.” He said, the words coming out raw and breathless. “Me? You’re the one that disappeared in space for a year.” Keith’s smile could have outshined the sun, but his words had Shiro’s head reeling. A year… he’d been gone a year? Somewhere… bad. He took a step back and shook his head. Keith’s smile faded into a frown as he watched Shiro war with his own mind.

“What’s going on, Shiro? Talk to me.” Keith’s concern was palpable but there was so much Shiro needed to say he was quickly becoming overwhelmed. The small room might once have felt cozy, but now it was stifling. Thoughts were swarming around his mind too quickly to articulate, the only thing clear in all of the haze was, “I just need some air, I think.” Keith nodded and opened the door to the stairway for him.

Taking the stairs two at a time, Shiro walked as quickly as he could without running directly out of the small house, ignoring the three sleeping strangers in the living room. The sun was just beginning to rise over the hills, painting the surrounding desert in soft pinks and oranges. It should have been beautiful, but his mind was racing too much to appreciate it.

He stared down at his right arm. He couldn’t even remember how he’d lost the original, or how he’d come to get this replacement. The servos whirred as he turned it over to inspect it. The soft footsteps trailing behind him brought another thought to the front of his mind. He’d been planning on telling Keith how he felt as soon as he’d gotten back, but he couldn’t now. Too much had happened, he needed time to unpack it all before he burdened Keith with anything. Soon, though, he decided. Now just wasn’t the right time. He clenched his arm and brought it up to his chest just as a soft hand landed on his shoulder.

“It’s good to have you back.” The smile that outshone the sun had returned and Shiro couldn’t help but answer in kind. “It’s good to be back.”

..

It was a good plan, Zarkon wouldn’t know what hit him, Voltron would strike him down and the war would be over. There would be plenty of time after they were done for all of the million things he wanted to tell Keith. The way his rare smiles lit up Shiro’s heart. The way his stomach did backflips every time Keith put a hand on his shoulder. The way his heart soared every time he got to hold Keith in arms. There were so many things Shiro wanted to tell him.

If Keith wanted to scour the universe looking for his mother, Shiro would be right there beside him. If he wanted to go home and live a quiet life in the desert when they were done, Shiro was fine with that, too. No matter what the future held, Shiro made one more resolution: When this fight with Zarkon was over, he’d tell Keith how he felt. It had been too long, he’d put it off too many times. He owed this to Keith. He couldn’t back out again.

Going into a fight with Shiro’s feelings hanging over his head would only hurt Keith’s focus, so he knew he had to be patient, just a little longer. He squeezed Keith’s shoulder as they finished putting their paladin armor on. “When this is over, I have something important I need to talk to you about, ok?” He said with a smile. Keith would surely remind him, so there wouldn’t be a way for him to back out afterwards. Keith raised an eyebrow but returned the smile. “If it’s so important, why not just tell me now?”

Shiro chuckled a little. “It’s just… not the right time right now, is all. Once we kick Zarkon’s ass, then we’ll talk, ok?” Keith gave him a knowing smile and nodded in response. “Ok, I’m gonna hold you to that.” Shiro nodded back. They both headed for the hangars, preparing for the fight of their lives.

..

Shiro looked like a wounded, feral animal every time Keith saw him lately. It had been days since he’d been rescued and healed in the cryopod and he still couldn’t manage to get out of bed. He’d been through a lot, Keith knew, more than he deserved for certain, so the team was more than happy to let him rest and collect himself.

Keith spent as much time as he could spare at Shiro’s bedside. They had talked through everything more times than either of them could count and still had no answers. It was difficult and more than a little confusing, but at least Shiro was here. He was back. Keith finally felt like he could breathe again.

It probably wasn’t the best timing, Shiro still recovering and all, but Keith had to know. He sat down on the bed next to him and put his right hand gently on top of Shiro’s left. “Shiro… before we fought Zarkon, you said there was something important you were going to tell me.” Keith said quietly. Shiro looked up at him, his eyes were glassy and unfocused. He shook his head and blinked a few times.

“What did I say?” He answered, looked down at the bed instead of meeting Keith’s eyes. Keith frowned. “Just that before the fight wasn’t the right time, but it was important.” Shiro clenched his jaw and squeezed his right hand into a fist. “I’m sorry, Keith. I don’t remember.” Keith smiled sadly.

He pulled Shiro into a sideways hug and rested his cheek on top of Shiro’s head. “It’s ok. You’re back now. You’re here and you’re safe and that’s what matters. That’s enough.” Shiro exhaled a shaky breath at Keith’s candid words. Tears slid down his cheeks unbidden, only to be soaked up by Keith’s soft t-shirt. “Thanks,” Shiro’s reply came out more a whisper than a statement, but Keith gently squeezed his shoulder in acknowledgment so Shiro was sure he heard.

“You seem really tired, do you want me to get out of here so you can get some sleep?” Keith murmured into Shiro’s too-long hair. “Yeah, if you don’t mind. I could use the rest.” Came Shiro’s quiet reply. Keith extracted himself from the bed carefully, jostling Shiro as little as possible as he made his way to the door. He looked back as he passed through and Shiro already looked fast asleep.

With a soft click, the door slid into place and Keith rested his forehead on it. He wanted to cry, or scream, or break something. They had been so close to finally naming this thing that had been there between them all this time. But he couldn’t expect anything from Shiro right now, not with how he was hurting, he needed to focus on getting better. Maybe his memory would return in bits and pieces like last time. Keith just had to hope that memory was one of them.

Keith sighed. He stood back from the door and placed his hand in the middle of it, wishing it was Shiro instead of cold, Altean metal. When he’s not my instructor, when he’s back from Kerberos, once we defeat Zarkon, once he’s back on his feet again… I wonder what it’ll be next. It’s always not the right time for us, isn’t it?

[sassysimmuffins]

Sims 4 Survivor Challenge - The Hunger Games Edition

I have modified and added some additional rules to the Living Off The Land Challenge by kiwi84 to add some more gameplay aspects that I felt would work with this challenge and to make it a little more interesting and a LOT more chaotic, so I came up with the Survivor Challenge - The Hunger Games Edition.  There are so many good challenge ideas that I wanted to pull inspiration from a few of them and come up with something that hopefully everyone can do with the packs they have in their game. Feedback and other ideas are always welcome. 

BASIC RULES

You must pick one world for your Sim to live in except for a destination world.  

Your founding Sim can never move, because you are stranded on an island.  

You can not use any cheats including Debug objects.  The only cheat you can use is MOO. (move objects on)

Your founding Sim can never work or do small jobs, they are in the middle of nowhere.

You are not allowed to have any computers, tablets or TVs in your home.  If you have the lot trait Off The Grid, you may use that to add some more difficulty and to make your Sims' overall comfortability end up in the crapper.

If for some reason your sim ends up preggers, your kids can NOT go to school. Also children can not compete in the Survival Challenges, what do you take me for a monster? lol  But of course when they are young adults..let the “hunger” games begin..*Que villainous laugh*

You can change and add holidays as you like, but you MUST have one event each week in which your Sims will compete to see who gets to go to the survival Island. HOORAY!

You can have a pet starting out, if you do choose to have a pet you can NOT take them to the vet if they get sick.  We are on an island, it’s survival of the fittest here people.  If you do get a pet you can train them up to hunt for you.

Each Wednesday a new Sim must wash up on your island and be added to your family.  You can NOT control the other Sims, only your original Sim.  If for some reason your original Sim dies in a challenge, you can pick another Sim to play, but the same rules will apply you can only control your new Sim.

CREATING YOUR FOUNDER

Your founding Sim can be a male or female, but they must start out with the Freelance Botanist aspiration or the Angling Ace aspiration.  You can pick whatever traits you like, but they will be stranded on an island and their clothes may not be in the best of shape.

Once your sim completes the botanist aspiration, you can pick another one from the following choices:

Angling Ace

Outdoor Enthusiast

Lord/Lady of the knits

Soulmate (this might be a hard one since you can never leave your world lol)

FOUNDER  RULES:

You can choose any world for your Sim to live in except for a destination world.  (I love Sulani for this if you have the option, for a castaway theme) When you pick your world you must delete all the other builds on the other lots and remove all the other Sims.  You must then choose a lot in that world and your current Sim can never move.  You can travel within your world.  I used Sulani so I made a rule where my Sim had to have a high enough fitness level to “Scuba” to the other islands.  But this part is up to you.  

You start out with ZERO money.  Since you can do a tiny lot trait you can use a single 4 tile platform, I did that and made it look like a washed up wooden pallet.  Your first “shack” must be made out of that original piece and can never be larger than 32 tiles because you are stranded and won’t have access to much building materials.

You can only have objects that your sim could have “made” to use, like a cooking pit for food, a place to “store” food, if you get your logic level up to 5 you can buy a generator to use to power things and if you get your handiness level to 5 you can buy appliances. But you can’t have appliances until you unlock and purchase a generator.  If you don’t have eco living you can just buy the appliances once you have both your handiness and logic level to 5 but you can not buy fancy stuff, it has to be the old stuff that breaks all the time.

You may fish and forage for food, and you can plant what you forage, but you can not purchase any seeds, you can only plant what you find.  If you choose to do the athletics feature of this challenge, once you max your athletic skill you can then travel to other worlds but any world you travel to HAS to be empty, you are just in another part of your current world so it will be deserted as well.  Remember this is a place where you are stranded.  Other sims can be walking around, but they can be the native tribe to that island, so if you want to, you can change the clothes for all the sims to reflect that if you like.  I took out some Sims in my game and limited the amount of people that can populate.  I also changed their clothes so they looked the part for a little added realism.

SURVIVOR EVENTS:

Well that pretty much just sums up the idea behind this whole Let’s Play, your Sims are competing for their very lives.  Each Sim must compete in a weekly Survivor Event.  Each even lasts for 24 hours.  The idea is to see if your Sim is smart enough to make it out alive.  This step will require a little imagination on your part because we are going to come up with clever challenges for your Sims to endure for 24 hours.  Survivor Events can be set up on the lot itself or you can dedicate one lot in your world to the toruture … err, that is the Survival FESTIVAL.. Yeah we’ll go with that.  Festival sounds so much nicer.  You can free build or use money cheats to make your “festival” area but your Sims are not allowed to access it other than when a “festival” is taking place.  I suggest enclosing it behind a fence and locking the gate if you decide to keep it on the lot your sim is living on, or you can just put in on another lot and not worry about the mental anguish your Sims will no doubtedly go through having to stare at their tortur.. err festival grounds while not in use.  Be creative with your builds and the crazier the better!  If you want to see how I set mine up or what my thoughts were for the events, you can check out the first episode of this challenge on my YouTube channel <3   Below are some ideas I thought of, but you can have whatever challenges you like, but they must be done every Friday, and you can only start your challenges when you have two or more Sims.  Also you will need regular players, so every Wednesday you will have a new Sim wash ashore.  There are a lot of good castaway sims on the gallery, or you can create your own.  The only cheat allowed here is to add them to your family.  If they have money you can’t keep it.  Sims that lose must leave the island, but since it is in the middle of nowhere the only way to leave is by death.  Since I used Sulani we will be sacrificing them to the Volcano Gods of the island to appease them… lol don’t judge me.  Or you can sacrifice them to the Cow Plant Gods.. really it’s only limited to your own imagination on this. 

CHALLENGE ROOMS:

Sleep, Swim or Eat: In this room it should be one bench, one plate of food, and only 4 tiles in which the Sim can freely move around.  The rest has to be a pool.  You can place the pool in the middle and then put the various objects around the pool so the Sims have to swim to use the bench to sleep or get the plate of food to eat.  The food will probably go bad before your Sims eat it… but hey no one told them to swim while their food rots now did they?  I’m looking at you Bob Pancakes..

Cow Plant, It’s What’s For Dinner:  This room will obviously have a Cow Plant, if you need one I have a maxed out garden on my Origin Gallery SassySimMuffins You will not need any other objects in this room, but it must be large enough for the Cow Plant and for your Sim to interact with it.  You will have to play around with the MOO cheat (move objects on - pun intended) for this one. The idea is to leave your Sim alone with the Cow Plants and see which one if any get eaten. This challenge is best done when your Cow Plants and Sims are a little on the hungry side.  The winner is the one that didn’t eat the cake. In the event of a tie, you can make them race to a destination and the first one that gets there wins.

BEES..WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE BEES:  You probably guessed it already, but yeah this room has beehives in it.  You will need 3 boxes full of the little angry balls of death in each room, nothing more, just that.  If you want to make your bees not suffer you can give them a flower plant.  I mean we love bees right? #SaveTheMurderBalls.  The idea is that your Sim has to interact with each beehive 3 times every Sim hour.  There is no room for sleep here.  The winner will have the highest positive alignment with the bees.  Oh and you can totally send bees to attack the others if your sim wants a little edge up on the competition. This room is best built using a fence so the bees can interact with other Sims if you want so you should try and do this outside if you can.

Love to see what you guys do with this challenge, and if you do decide to try it, please tag me so I can go watch your video, or you can post your photos on my Twitter, I love to see what crazy ideas you guys come up with!  Remember to be good to each other and to love yourself, ✌️💜🧁

My Socials: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MuffinsSim

YouTube: Sassy Sim Muffins

Origin ID: SassySimMuffins

[ruinouss-archived]

basstardz​:

Tak observes her through a squint, smile in place as it cocks its head to watch her make her decision. Its can toi circling in the sky, Tak casts a brief glance skywards. It gestures surreptitiously “no”. They’ll be fed later, in the town. Its eyes still as the tumbleweed snags itself on her shoe. The only way things can go accidentally. For miles around, Tak is the only law. The desert bows to it, with all its flies and rotting carcasses, all its riches, the voice of ini forever vibrating through it. Back in town, the can toi are leaving the premises of the police station. They can be effective, these trembling, swarming, howling creatures. Welcome to the house of wolf.

“My pleasure, ma’am,” it jerks back into motion, like a jumpstarted engine, stretching its arm to accept the bag. Depositing it onto the back seat, it slams the door shut with a deafening bang. The combined strength is sometimes hard to wield. Walking around the car, it opens the passenger door for Faye. They all like a butler around, especially if it’s a cop grovelling before them, because we serve the people, do we not?

“You just call me Collie, ma’am. Collie Entragyan. What about you?”

It shuts the door and does an awkward half-skip to the driver’s seat – eager to please a civilian. The fully pushed back seat groans under Entragyan’s weight as the man’s body drops heavily onto it. The lumbering idiot of a cop starts the cruiser, pulling smoothly onto the grey ribbon of highway 50. Several miles ahead lies Faye Rivera’s grave. Before that, she’ll face the judgement of Desperation.

A flock of tumbleweeds crossing the road crunch under the wheels as Entragyan runs them over at full speed. Her target is feeding vultures at this point, and maybe she should be grateful someone’s done her work for her.

“Ya haven’t been this far in the Nevada desert, I suppose. Gosh, what a place! Seems like nothin’ can live there, and yet we manage.”

Tak chatters absentmindedly, looking out at the sky where lazy clouds promise no rain for days. Sunglasses back in place, from her place she will be only able to see its profile, the transparent half-spheres covering ice gray. There is laughter in those eyes, and good-natured southern spirit. Collie Entragyan might have come from a different place, but sprouted roots here, firmly implemented in Desperation community.

“Ya have to see our mines, they’re impressive. Ya say ya comin’ to see a friend, right?”

     Even in the South where hospitality was bred into individuals it was odd to see such chivalry still survived. A smile graced her features even as more sand was whipped up by the hot desert wind to bombard her small form. Her eyes watched as the car shifted slightly with how hard the car door had been slammed. Not an easy thing to do but considering there wasn’t any real weight in it it wasn’t too hard to do. 

     As she got in the door is shut far gentler before he walked around the front of the car with minimal strides. It was mesmerizing to watch considering how quickly he could move at his size. Yes, choosing not to book it into the scorched land had been a wise decision on her part. She leaned back in the seat, listening to how his groaned beneath the weight of his size. Springs were compressed and as she glanced to the back she could see how a normal person’s legs might’ve been crushed had they been seated behind him. 

     She was lucky though. He’d allowed her shotgun; she turned her head to look out the window. The scenery blurred into a haze of yellows and browns as the sky remained neutral. Off in the distance she could see black dots circling an area, buzzards no doubt. It should’ve been taken as an omen of death.

          “Not since I was a child,” she admitted. Back when she first escaped her father she’d lived this far west. It was almost as if he knew bringing it up would cause something in her to stir. She hadn’t thought about her childhood in some time and with a simple mention it felt as if a rattlesnake had awoken, tail vibrating loudly in warning as it took a striking position. Venom glands were full, ready to inject eternal pain deep into her very soul. Closing her eyes for a moment, she pushed old memories down, drowning them in a series of mantras to keep focused at the task at hand. No time for a pity party. 

          “Mines? Are they still active?” She asked, thankful for his next question. Her attention shifted from the blurred environment. They fell on him, slowly following the folds of his clothes, noting how they fit a bit too snuck in some places. Flexed muscles might even rip the fabric if he did it just right. The thought sent a small wave of arousal through her.

          “And yes....I have a flyer in my bag in the back. He’s been missin’,” she explained, looking back up to his face. “For about a week now. I was in the town just back there and someone mentioned he’d gone this way.” 

     It was all a lie but he didn’t have to know any of that. As long as this good, kind hearted cop stayed out of her way she could go about her business. There’d be no need to get him more involved than giving her a ride. Perhaps a nice distraction would keep him busy or at least relaxed enough to allow her to go at it alone.

[fabtiffsim]

Friends! There is mention of suicide and violence and supernatural and silliness! Don’t read stuff you don’t want to!

The little community made their way out further into the desert by train, and truck and walking, leaving behind Creek Corner Cove.

They settled in these new lands, building a safe new home. The Bree’Hart Compound was a beautiful location and well protected from the sick. But life was not easy, it was still very dangerous leaving the compound, and they didn’t have much interaction outside from the few people in the compound. It was common for people to feel so hopeless that they were taking their own lives, Red Eye Charlie was one of these people, it was such a devastating situation. It was a hard place to raise a child but creating more healthy sims was a priority.

There were other dangers than the hopelessness of the raging infection, there was the sims that were raging with infection. There were infected walking around with their entire bodies engulfed in flames, there were colorful spirits, flashing lights, loud explosions. There were injuries, bites, deaths… even Luvlis had her own close encounters but they were a very strong people.

  The weather was growing even hotter. Some sims in the community were falling and perishing from the heat alone, Luvlis’s daughter – Rahsida “Ri Ri” Bree’Hart – was one of them.

Luvlis felt her heart that was once filled with love and pride, explode with the heat of the very sun that took her daughter’s life. But the community was still lucky – Luvlis was pregnant with her second child.

All they needed was a new heir, she knew it. She needed to have a baby girl.

Luvlis didn’t have a baby girl, she had twin baby boys. She loved them, but this was a disappointment. They could never carry the bloodline of the Divine Feminine, but she could raise them to be strong, respectful men who could make strong, respectful fathers, and hopefully they would have baby girls.

They would spend much of their time in the woods, in The Bunker. It was quiet and safe, even though the infection seemed to have spread everywhere the community went. Luvlis had built a safe little space to meet and discuss strategy to fight the infectious.

But Luvlis was growing old and frail. They didn’t have a cure for the infection, and her only daughter had fallen victim to the desert sun. She spoke openly of her fears – that her time was coming fast and her boys wouldn’t be prepared well enough to lead the community. Not like a daughter would have been.

Luvlis Bree’Hart died an old woman. She had no daughters. The infected sims swarmed into every place there ever was. All of the sims in All of the Lands were eventually consumed by the disease that brought the dead back to life. The Divine Bloodline had failed twice! All was lost. All of The Lands were devoured and entire cities collapsed into themselves with disrepair. With nothing to eat, and no more wounds to infect, the infected became a sea of disgusting rotted flesh that moved like waves, or the wind on a field of tall grass. It stayed this way, for the infected could not die twice.

The planet would continue to spin and revolve around it’s star, and time would continue to move, the infected would continue to roam, but the entire planet was overwhelmed. It stayed that way for the rest of eternity.

  Yo my friggin’ bloodline died twice in this attempt hahahaha so I thought in all fairness, I had failed to reach modern society but I did not lose! It was a wonderful time that I dedicated many days and much research into, it was a part of my #PrehistoryParty build competition, and it taught me how to blog! I plan on starting a whole new legacy story with some new ideas, and I am super stoked that ANYONE even read this!!! What a fun treat for me! I hope someone will read some of my next story!

-FabTiffSim

  I failed haha!! I didn't really fail, but my legacy is DEAD!! Thanks to anyone who snuck a peak or liked a tweet or read some of the blog! But it's time to plan the next one! #Wee #showusyourbuilds @SimsCreatorsCom #simlit Friends! There is mention of suicide and violence and supernatural and silliness! Don't read stuff you don't want to!

[samssimsarchive]

“Drastic measures?”

“She’s female. You’re our planets most attractive male, after myself of course. Use that to your advantage. Lay on moves. Flirt, as the sims says.”

“I cannot take advantage of her. She will give up the information willingly with time.”

“Time we do not have, Little Brother! I would not want you to be misguided during our mission. Should you fail, you will be left behind to rot in this desert prison and I will be the favored one.”

“I never fail, MutZu. You know this.”

[jlaclassified]

Spawn #16- 18 “Reflections” by Grant Morrison, Greg Capullo, Dan Panosian. Image Comics, 1993

I always wanted to like Todd MacFarlane’s Spawn. The comic looks great, it’s about a war between Heaven and Hell which normally is a can’t-miss premise, but the story just never grabbed me.  Our boy Grant Morrison did an arc on Spawn back in the day, and like previous issues by Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, and Dave Sim, Morrison attempts to flesh out Todd McFarlane’s world of cool poses and heavy metal demon shit into something resembling an actual story.  Was he successful?  Let’s find out.

Summary:  Some army guys in the desert find a town composed entirely of “psychoplasm,” a substance from Hell that conforms to people’s desires (Think a Green Lantern ring made out of the pink sludge from Ghostbusters 2).  This town, which emerged from an A-bomb test site, is called Simmonsville, and it was shaped from the memories of our own Al Simmons, aka Spawn. This psychoplasmic town is actually a gateway to Hell, and the army foolishly makes a deal with the Devil: deliver the Hellspawn and the army can have all the psychoplasm it wants.

Meanwhile, Spawn mopes in an alley and stops some bad guys from torching a homeless man (a depressingly regular occurrence in this comic).  Spawn goes to his gravesite and digs up the coffin, only to find his own rotting corpse.  The Violator laughs at his pain and informs us, the readers, that Spawn’s body is now pure psychoplasm as his flesh rots away.

The angel CEO Gabrielle decides that this new Hellspawn is going to be a problem (he defeated Angela during the Gaiman issue) so she and the other angels take drastic measures.  Army guy Jason Wynne is selected to become “Anti-Spawn.”  Spawn and Anti-Spawn have a big Image Comics fight scene.  The homeless guys in the alley pitch in to help (like in the Roosevelt Island scene in Spider-Man). Spawn temporarily defeats the Anti-Spawn, then goes to shoot up Simmonsville

The story ends with Simmonsville destroyed and Heaven plotting their next move.

Thoughts:  Ehhhhhh.  It’s Spawn.  There are some cool ideas (psychoplasm, Simmonsville, ANTI-SPAWN), and some great art by a young Greg Capullo, but it adds up to less than the sum of its parts.  The Spawn mythology puts me to sleep (even the Neil Gaiman stuff) and prevents me from ever caring what happens to the main character.  If you’re a fan the Jason Wynne stuff probably means something, but all I got out of it was “Army bad, Hell bad, Spawn good.”

If I were in charge of Image Comics I would order a total reboot- get rid of Violator, Malebolgia, Cagliostro, Angela, all of it, and start over.  If you lifted ideas from like Dante’s Inferno, Paradise Lost, Biblical apocrypha, etc and built a superhero book around it then you’d be onto something, but the world MacFarlane has created just doesn’t do it for me, I’m afraid.  Pass, unless you really like Spawn, in which case you’ve already read this.

[throwingideasatthewall]

Clone Wars     Bounty

                A Bane episode?

                I don’t hold it as much as a grudge as I used to though they haven’t exactly reach-ed favorite level for me              Fun      Quite-     Yet

     A-ight         [Foretold by life]

     OK but this could be fun Ven-tress going on a galaxy en- compass-ing mission to discover her self

Interesting       clothe     change,

   (Also wait yeah how did you even get out at planet when there was a ship of a ,fleet of ships, surrounding the damn thing?

   I mean I guess she could’ve

   But I’d like to see that

  Especially considering we’re dealing with          excessive(s) now

       Co-     -ol-

    Wh-el       p-

  Sa-

   ?

  Goo     -d         for           her,          -         [also are places like this air-conditioned?

      I know it’s a random thought

   But it has a door that locks         automatically behind you,]

   Just        a thought,

     You technically shouldn’t do drugs outside of            medicinal purposes,

     [Like is fun so-ber]

       ?

      I didn’t like that         look-

       [Let her enjoy her poor       decis           ions,           ]

       ?

[i’m not sure that’s a good idea drugs are generally used for      medicinal purposes used on the wrong injury or no      injury at all they can give you a serious drowsy feeling       akin    - akin to being        drunk-   

    As your biology is over     whelm  ed-

Usually resulting in a sleeping affect can that can make you  more      easily moved,

 After the stuff,       ,

  “what is someone like you doing in a place like this,”         [Not       Actual]

   I swear that line has never been said romantically

    And I don’t think you can

    It is kind of under assuming

   “What is someone like you,”

     I guess, that could come off as romantic it if they’re like in a really dreamy state

   [but then you’re still comparing them to other people]

   [But poly]

   It really relies on you being heavy in the    vibes,

   Otherwise you’re undermining their decision and putting down the place them-self,

“babe,”

 Assuming a lot there      ,buddy

  Normally I would assume vibes but I’m not really sure this    guy is good at read       -ing vibes

   (Or more accurately        trying,)

    Because you can’t force        vibes 

Ye-ah

Wow, this got super        frickin           tox

Like dude,     not only     did you        not        read the         vibes,

     You tried to force the vibes

     Then she gave you a warning           (Should’ve been a reflection)

        And you still kept going               despite clear dislike,

     [Like obviously she should’ve reflected               But that,               Doesn’t          give you the             Call      to grab someone who basically            growled at you]

         Like dude vibes    read      them,

  Cool but not really helping the situation         [Said       sar               don-            ic           ally-]

     Like now there was one less        person in the universe

      [-yeah he was a dick           still a person,]

Yeah so that wouldn’t be too noticeable    like all of you carry guns and the dude was clearly sleazy and I’m pretty sure there’s like one bounty hunter or several killers or several murderers         among           you,

 Ok that was kind of funny though it did need        a bit more of  an upbeat tone      a little more confidence,             to sell it,

   I don’t really believe     those guys would be laughing,

 At that

  [Might’ve wanted to stick with the non-sent      ience that makes it a lot easier to do the whole humor thing]

   And even      the non-tech guy     ,will get a laugh about the robot,

 [Cause robots are       neat]

  Honestly I was kind of expecting for Ventress to become this sort of        villain-who-fights-other- villains character,

   But I guess she has.      to get money from somewhere

   Though where is she got any of that  

   Did Dooku pay her?

   Mother Tensin (town-s-in)   didn’t seem to do anything-

                                       Capitalism

  Is weird

 [also that was kind of a missed opportunity     to have her bond with some people

   Like; she          screws with something,

    Like two people look over because that is an accurate thing not the          entire club

     That’s more like tox

     [Or I guess in a         tox environment             accountable             statements]

        She cracks              a joke

        They either bond            [maybe forming             a little group]                       Or they don’t and she      sorta just waves them off,

             Hum-anize

[In general    that whole bit was kind of weird for me]

   Didn’t seem to        establish much        or anything at all,

     Didn’t really establish that Ventress was actually extraordinarily beautiful or the place is actually pretty sleazy,

     Or much of anything      other than that the residents get easily distracted by shiny blades,

   [No further         elaboration on that         either,]

       ?

      Also       yeah still establish-ing nothing          You really didn’t establish the Ventress as particularly humorous or intimidating

    [you need to watch      your tone,]

    Also how does the girl with him feel?

     [Is she vibin’

     Is she your friend

        [Poly?]

       These small humanization’s really make the place

      And unfortunately right now         it’s looking as dry as a desert,

       Oh   

   [I had to      rewind]

   That was        a c’mere           ges-            ture-

           The animation a little bit                .off     Em-          ot         Ion-

    Again the emotion is feeling pretty        dry here,

     Like your cartoons are acting kind of p-uppet        like,

      Let me give it to some air;

  [Un-named          lizard:         ] Cheers to the          best humor           in this waste!                *Jo                   -viously,*

         “Hm,                  You’re a bit              hil-               arious yourself,”               *sitting down and loos-                       ening up*

              (If                   vib i-     ng)

               [Obviously a rough draft you might want to have Ventress act     stiffer)]

 ]

-     What’s her person-       ality?

    Oh,

    Good,      she talks

      (Non-talking ch-       aracters are fine they just don’t generally add a lot to the setting)      -        Also story you are really rush        -ing into the plot without establishing anything else

   Like if you want to get to the plot just focus on that and have your      character assume a very focused mindset

     [Ventress on a mission to find some bountyhunters,            Some guy gets in her         way,          She cuts them         open,           Said bounty-hunters               take her side              -                  Before she could get into              any serious trouble                    -                      or start a brawl fight                         -                   [Scene progresses as     normal]

     Remember the joy of these scenes;

      Is not making your character            a special snowflake;

      As in she’s not basic level decent and the setting isn’t made out of cardboard characters that does noth        -ing but revolve around her without any motivation, initiative           Or input-

        And the vibin’ should be        clear-         - -           -      Whoa!

   [Also, yeah so isn’t she supposed to be filling         in,          I don’t know murder a pretty     se-vere      crime-

     (Would’ve worked better           with a robot)

    And Ventress’s         indignation of being asked to          re-place a robot,

      Possibly a nice little contrast-         and in a chance for emotional moments as up to this point she kinda was       a robot

    Groomed,  following orders,                 Living mission to        mission-

      On program-ming        to kill-

     And how the world isn’t that       cruel a     place-       -]

  That’s not        saying you can’t have       fun moments,

    Just,        Make them          Count-         ,

   [Ok I’m going to go back to a previous         criticism;

     Where’s the emotion?

  You know the defining feature of enter-tainment

                  [as contrasted with observation,    which         Is not constrained to this requirement and can stick with a deadpanned emotionless tone]

   Over things       ,just happening

  Because so far it’s out of the running for fun

   [like I know she supposed to be an ‘emotionless              killer but that’s just a saying’

      In reality if any of your characters are emotionless      it’s a flaw in writing, at least an enter         -tainment

            * this isn’t a Reflection

                  * Aka observation for sim-      plicity-

     Seriously,

    [Tumblr]

   The story is becoming as dry as the desert sand and as 

       entertaining as someone covering it    

                  What would the kid?

       Clone?                    Nope

       I’m sorry but regardless of rule of five I’m not sitting through            22 minutes of that shit

         I’m giving it a loose tox and not entertaining

     [Owes a better           episode]

      (Loose)            (Non       committal)

      (Non   

     entitled)

           [Which is a shame that such a promising concept ended up so damn    rot         -ten

[halfwayanywhere]

Australia’s Outback doesn’t have clearly defined boundaries, but it can typically be described as anywhere outside major city centers – particularly as you move towards the center of the country.

If you’re unfamiliar with the landscape, it’s essentially a giant desert in the middle of Australia.

It may seem like a sparsely populated and largely desolate place (it is), but that doesn’t mean there’s not plenty to be explored. The freedom offered by Outback travel is an extraordinarily different experience than the one found on crowded Sydney beaches or in hipster Melbourne alleyways.

QUICK OUTBACK FACTS

Location: Australia

Largest city: Alice Springs (25,186)

Language: English

Area: ~2,078,935mi² / 5,384,417 km² (6th)

Currency: Australian dollar (AUD)

Population: ~690,000

Time Zone: UTC+8 to +11.5

Calling Code: +61

Drives On: Left

Drinking Age: 18

Drinking In Public: Illegal

Drinking Tap Water: Okay

Flushing Toilet Paper: Okay

Vaccinations Required: CDC

Credit Cards: Widely accepted

Tipping: Not expected

Emergency Number: 000

Outlets: Plug Type I

Visa Requirements: External Link!

OUTBACK BASICS

LANGUAGE | Although English is the official language in Australia, the Outback is home to many Aboriginal Australians who collectively speak around 150 Aboriginal languages. But don’t worry, you won’t have any problems communicating (in English) – that is, once you get past all of the Australian jargon (hint: arvo = afternoon).  

GETTING AROUND | Chances are that if you’re traveling the outback you’re doing it in a vehicle (although bicycling and walking are also options). If you’re a Grey Nomad, that vehicle is probably a caravan, but if you’re on this website, then your budget is probably limited. There are plenty of rental car companies that provide livable vehicles (Wicked Campers are awful), but carrying a tent in your car can be just as useful. If you’re going to be heading off the beaten path at all, I would seriously consider a 4WD vehicle. Besides the Greyhound (awful), there are not many transportation options for getting around.  

THINGS TO DO | Do you like seeing roadkill, being mobbed by swarms of flies, or sweating uncontrollably when just standing outdoors? Then the Outback is the place for you! But actually, there is quite a bit to see in the Outback (spoiler alert: most of these things are rocks). The Outback is home to Lake Eyre, the lowest place in Australia and (when it fills is) the country’s largest lake. There are national parks, hot springs, 4WD tracks, and even camel races.  

WEATHER | Temperatures in the Outback can reach 120°F (50°C) during summer days and can drop to around -15°F (10°C) during winter nights. And as I found out firsthand, despite the Outback being an enormous and largely arid landscape, rainfall is not uncommon (especially during the summer) and most parts of the outback receive around 250 mm of precipitation per year. Come to the Outback prepared for anything (especially alien abduction).

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Red

Australia-Outback-Empty-Road

Flatness

Snake

Green?

DESTINATIONS

ULURU | Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is literally the centerpiece of the Outback. Situated in what’s basically the middle of Australia, it’s one of the most recognizable sights in the country. The small nearby community of Yulara is about 10 mi / 16 km north of the rock and serves as a base for visitors (camping/overnighting in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is prohibited). There’s even Ayers Rock Airport (AYQ) where you can find inexpensive flights to from all around Australia. More on Uluru here.  

ALICE SPRINGS | Alice Springs is the largest town in the Outback, and due to its centralized location it’s become a hub for those wishing to explore the vast emptiness. It’s a day’s drive to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Kings Canyon, the Devils Marbles, and dozens of other Outback attractions. Alice Springs is located on the Stuart Highway and can be reached via car, bus, or plane (it has an airport, ASP). More on Alice Springs here.  

COOBER PEDY | In the middle of the state of South Australia, you will find the small mining town of Coober Pedy. It’s famous for its opal mines and underground dwellings. Why underground? Because it’s too hot above ground during the long summer days. The town still provides much of the world’s gem-quality opal and has become a hotspot for tourists wanting to buy or stare at overvalued rocks. More on Coober Pedy here.  

THE DEVILS MARBLES | The Devils Marbles (Karlu Karlu) are a collection of huge granite boulders in the Northern Territory north of Alice Springs. Honestly, they’re not much to look at unless you happen to be particularly interested in their geological origins or you happen to be driving passed them on the Stuart Highway. I told you there are a lot of rocks to look at out here. There’s a huge car camping area behind the reserve (no pets) that costs something like $3 into an honesty box to stay at. More on the Devils Marbles here.  

NATURE AREAS | In the Outback you can also find Kings Canyon, the Kimberly, Kakadu National Park, Litchfield National Park, Katherine Gorge, and a number of other national parks and nature reserves. Some of these places are easily accessible (Kakadu and Litchfield aren’t far outside Darwin) – others are more of a trek (Wolfe Creek Crater – a meteorite crater 880 meters in diameter). There’s a lot to be explored so make sure you’ve got ample time (and provisions) before heading out into the bush.

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Road train

Explorer Highway

Uluru

Animal warning

OUTBACK TIPS & TRICKS

FLIES | Holy hell. Nobody warned me about these things before I set off into the Outback and I cannot understand why. The flies in the Outback (and Australia in general) are horrendous. The stop at nothing as they try to make their way into your every facial orifice. Shaking them off does not work and when you try to slap them, they’re back within seconds. Good luck doing anything outside at any point during the day (they disappear at night). More on the flies here.  

WATER | So what’s the deal with water in this enormous desert? Many of the roadside rest areas have rainwater tanks (that may or may not be filled) you can fill from, but other than these, your options are limited. Unfortunately, most of the taps you will find at caravan parks and gas stations will deliver to you not-so-great-tasting bore water (and purchasing water at stores can be expensive). My recommendation? If you’re in a vehicle, bring as much water as you can as to avoid needing to buy or source water somewhere in the outback. More on Outback water here.  

ANIMALS | A lot of people have an irrational fear of snakes and spiders in the Outback. Yes, there are venomous snakes and spiders in the Outback, but you’re lucky to spot any of them in the wild. The chances that you will be bitten or killed by one? Incredibly low (you have a better chance of hitting a kangaroo and killing yourself in a car accident). What’s more bothersome than the snakes and spiders are rotting kangaroo, sheep, and cow carcasses lining the roads. You can also hope to see (hopefully live) camels, emu, dingos, echidna, wallabies, bats, foxes, cockatoo, wedge-tailed eagles, and more. More on animals here.  

INTERNET | Cellular reception in the Outback are quite scarce, and if you’re going to have any shot at somewhat consistent and reliable service, then you want a Telstra SIM. Wifi in the Outback (particularly at the roadhouses) is jokingly expensive (we’re talking $5 for 10MB), but you can find reliable networks in the larger towns. It’s best to just accept that you’re going to be out of touch at times and know that it’s going to be okay.  

WIKICAMPS | If you’re going to be traveling in the Outback – whether you’re going by vehicle, bicycle, or foot – then you’re going to want the WikiCamps app (iOS/Android). This crowdsourced app provides users with a map of all the campsites, campgrounds, caravan parks, points of interest, and hostels for each Australian state. There’s a comments section for posting and reading about each place, there are filters that allow you to easily sort results (including a “no crocodiles” filter), and you can download the data for offline use. Definitely worth the couple of dollars it costs (after your month-long free trial).  

A Beginner’s Guide To The Outback Australia's Outback doesn't have clearly defined boundaries, but it can typically be described as anywhere outside major city centers - particularly as you move towards the center of the country.