#This is my first time modding a game and I'm honestly having quite a bit of fun :]

[computerhugs]

Hello and hi! I made a post about a month ago discussing the idea of making a mod for Pizza Tower which gives Peppino a crop top and I'm happy to say that that mod is a quarter finished! I've edited a bit over 800 sprites so far and as my schedule has recently freed up progress will be speeding up by a TON. I'm feeling optimistic and energized, so expect a finished mod in a little over a month perhaps. Here's a little look at what's been finished so far.

I probably won't be making a lot of progress update posts after this point, but if you want to know how much of the mod is complete then I'll be updating my blog theme's HP bar to show how much is done.

Thanks for reading :], I hope once this is finished you'll get to enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed working on it hehe

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not paying for my fiancee's trip?

(Sorry mod, sending this again as I forgot to add an important context detail)

This is going to be long, I'm so sorry!

Okay, so I (23M) am engaged to a very wonderful fiancee (27NB). She's fantastic, and I want to make it very clear that our relationship is great - we have good communication, we never argue, we're always on call without getting tired of each other, etc etc. There is just one issue we have - her financial habits.

For context, I am disabled and can't work due to both mental and physical health issues, so I'm on disability benefits. She can and does work.

We're long-distance (she's in America and I'm in the UK), and we've been dealing with it pretty well so far. At the beginning of our relationship, we agreed that before we got to the point of talking about moving in with each other etc. we would need to have her visit me here at least once to meet my family and get used to how things work here (as she wants to move here), and I would need to visit her at least once to do the same there re: meeting her parents etcetera.

The agreement was that I'd pay for her to come here, and then when it was my turn she'd pay for my visit there so it was fair.

She first visited me about a year and a half ago and came over here for two weeks. I paid for her plane tickets, our transport everywhere (we don't have cars), the AirBNB we stayed in, etc. This ran me about £2k, which was all I had at the time, and I didn't have enough left over to pay for her food on top of that, so I asked if she could cover her own food costs while she was here. This caused a bit of an issue at the time as she was very clearly frustrated at having to do it, and would make comments like "Ugh I wanted a new computer but now I have to save for this trip", "I'm having to sacrifice so much to pay for this" and it made me feel incredibly invalidated, like I was covering everything else and also sacrificing a lot to pay for everything else for us but the one thing I'd asked her to help with was too much. We had a conversation about it at the time and she apologised and said she'd work on it, so we moved on.

Plans changed a bit very early this year, as I was due to get surgery and the friend who was supposed to accompany me there dropped out last minute. I had no one else nearby to turn to and I couldn't go alone (it was the kind of surgery where I would need someone around for at least 1-2 weeks afterwards to help me move around and do daily tasks). As a last ditch effort I asked my fiancee to fly over again and help me out, and I paid for this again which I was completely fine with doing as the trip was a favour for me and it was unplanned from her end. This was another ~£2k.

So cut to summer this year. This was when I was supposed to have my visit over to America. She, at this point, was making pretty good money at a school job. However, when I asked her if we could finalise the plans and buy tickets, she told me that she had no money.

This is where I explain that she's really, REALLY bad with money. She impulse-buys clothes and things for her room etc., she plays gacha games like Genshin Impact and spends quite a lot of money on 'pulls' and the gambling mechanic, things like that. It turned out that through the whole time of having this job she'd been basically spending money as soon as she got it and she now had nothing for the trip. I was admittedly frustrated with her (especially as she initially lied to me and told me she hadn't spent money on games etc. and then later confessed that it IS where the money had gone), but we agreed we could push back the trip to winter/Christmas-time to give her more time to save, and honestly I didn't really mind because I've never spent Christmas/New Year with anyone before, so shifting the visit to over those days would be a nice experience.

However, soon after this she was fired from her job for too many call-outs/absences. For the next few months, she didn't get another job - she said she was doing all she could and was applying for, but I often got the impression that she wasn't and was sort of throwing out an application every few weeks and then writing it off as 'done', which I could be completely misinterpreting so take that with a grain of salt. I kept pushing her to get a job so we could get the trip sorted out and I know she got kind of frustrated with me a few times for it.

I ended up giving up the closer we got to the time and offered to just cover it again if she could pay me back when she did get a job, and she agreed.

Unfortunately, after this I was rendered homeless due to my abusive home situation. I was fortunate enough to be offered government housing and I now have an apartment in town, but it's completely unfurnished (literally all that's in it is a single bed and a cooker, there's no flooring or anything yet). I now have to put all the money I have saved (about £3k) towards getting flooring (which is a little over £1k by itself), furnishings, getting the walls painted, sorting out gas and electricity, etc. I'm also now paying the bills for this apartment. As a result, there's no possible way I could afford to cover the trip anymore myself.

It looked like things were getting sorted because my fiancee got another job recently. It's pretty well-paying, she seems to enjoy it so she's not calling out, and she kept prompting me to talk details of the trip with her so it felt like it was all getting figured out and she was ready to finalise it.

Then today I asked her how much money she had ready for it and she said... $15. I'm genuinely lost on how she still hasn't saved any money, she claims she used it all on "bills" but she doesn't pay rent or cover any housing costs as she still lives with her parents, so I don't understand at all where it's all going. We have less than a month before the trip is supposed to happen, nothing is sorted, we still have no clue where we'd be staying, no plane tickets have been purchased, and now it's looking a lot like it's going to have to be pushed back AGAIN to next year.

I thought about trying to pay for it again, because I DO really want that Christmas and New Year with her. Delaying it again would also mess up our future plans, as the plan was to get this trip to America and meeting her family done this year, then spending the first half of next year on the Visa process and then the latter half getting her actually moved over. It also means I would have to delay my college education, as I was going to start my course early next year, which I wouldn't be able to do if the trip is next year instead as it would require me to take weeks off.

If I tried, I probably could cover it - I need to spend the ~£1k on flooring as that's already arranged, but I could technically use the remaining £2k to fund the trip. However, this would mean my house would remain unfurnished and barely habitable for months longer. It's not so bad if I know she'd be able to pay me back quickly, but the reality is that I don't know how long it would take for me to see the money back.

Part of me also feels like she's kind of expecting me to give in and pay for it last minute in order to not delay it, because I offered before and I was willing to pay for the last two trips. But it's just so depressing and frustrating, because it feels like I keep giving things up and putting things into these trips and getting her over here, and trying to get it back from her is just like running into a wall.

We've talked about it before, but she insists there's nothing more she can do, she's trying as hard as she can, and that she's upset about it too. I just don't know what to do about it anymore.

So I guess my question is, AITA for complaining about the trip, missing Christmas/New Year and pushing her on money and nagging her about what she does with hers instead of just taking the L and covering the trip again until she can pay me back?

What are these acronyms?

[fereldanwench]

I didn't want to completely sit out a year-in-review, but for reasons I'll explain at the end of this post and under a cut, doing the traditional pick-one-pic-from-each-month approach just wasn't going to work for me. So instead, here are 20 of my favorite shots (in no particular order) of Valerie from 2023!

(I'll share solo Goro shots and shippy/story shots in two other posts before the year ends.)

Some thoughts about this year (cw for anxiety and depression mentions):

So yeah. I actually hadn't planned on joining in on the virtual photography year-in-review fun in part because... Well, frankly, I wasn't sure if it would actually be fun for me.

Although I do have pictures for every month, the first third, maybe even half, of the year was a struggle on almost every conceivable level. A lot of it was shit that carried over from the end of 2022, which was also an incredibly difficult year for me. I don't really want to delve too deeply into why--Some of it was personal, some of it was professional, some of it was fandom, and if you know, you know.

The main obstacle I had here is that looking at a lot of the shots I took from about January to May (give or take a few weeks on either end) honestly reminded me of Bad Times™️. I've worked really hard to pull myself out of that depression/anxiety cycle and return to a healthier approach to fandom and online socialization in general, but I just didn't want to spend a lot of time in that mental space. There are a few shots from those months that made it to my favorites, and I hope one day I can look back on that stuff and just feel the good from it again. Alas, that day is still not here.

But I am happy to report that the other reason I wanted to approach the review differently is a lot more positive! It's also two-fold: 1) I spent the earlier part of this year exploring more of a technical side of virtual photography and 2) I was really prolific the last third or so of this year so trying to narrow faves from about August until now was just not possible.

One of the few good things about the end of 2022 was being able to upgrade my graphics card, which meant I then had a rig that could support ray-tracing and hot sampling. As a result, I started putting a lot more focus on lighting and getting acquainted with new tools. I also was trying to work with the new AMM posing system, which is very convenient in some ways (100s of poses without reloading the game!) and a complete pain in the ass in others (can't move characters without their poses breaking!). Custom photomode poses + Nibbles Replacer has been the game changer I've been waiting for.

Or to put it more succinctly, December 2022 through about April 2023 felt like a relearning/return to basics kind of creative period, which is essential, but also means I just don't really like a lot of what I did, lmao.

Then, shockingly (I'm not shocked at all), starting treatment for my anxiety and depression in the second half of this year suddenly made creating a lot easier and fun again! Crazy how that works.

Even bumping this little review up to 20 shots instead of 12, there are still pictures from the past few months that I had to cut as favorites. There was just no way I could condense the amount of fave shots I took from August to now in just 5 options.

I also owe quite a bit of this revival to modders for asking me if I wanted to take shots for them--Exploring more of a fashion photography approach to my shots I think did a lot to build on what I had learned earlier in the year and encouraged me to try something new. I don't want to tag anyone in this long-ass glorified diary entry, but if you invited me to take mod shots for you, just know that it really meant a lot. ♡

And that's where my head has been with a yearly review! Is filling out a little template with 12 pictures this serious? No, it definitely is not, lmao. But hey, overthinking shit is still something I'm working on. ✌️

[hamsterbellbelle]

Hello🐹Now that is near the end of the year, it's time for the personal top-5 list of my builds and CCs that I’m most proud of😤also a little bit of self-promotion…_(:з」∠)_  

This year I did 22 builds (a little bit more than last year...xD) Last year I said I'd hope to build Mass Effect Normandy, Shepard’s apartment, a high school fit for the Cyberpunk 2077 world...but none of that happened..._(:з」∠)_ Well I'd hope again I'll be able to build those this year xD

Anyway…to the list! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

5. Komorebi Thrift and Bubble Tea Store��|| This year I tried to create a No-CC build every month, and honestly I'm quite surprised how much stuff sims 4 have (of course debug items included...xD). Interestingly, the thing I love most with this build is the vending machine at the entrance..._(:з」∠)_

4. Nomad Campsite🎦|| I had a lot a lot of fun building this. This turns out better than I imagined ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ Only thing I wished I could've done is make those tent a "real room" so electronics inside won't break..._(:з」∠)_

3. Waterfront Nightclub🎦|| I really really love those catwalks above the dance floor, it added so many potential to storytelling ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ This is also one of the very few builds that I'm not using in my game-play save...instead it's for you guys hehe🧡

2. Lestat’s Apartment🎦|| I love vampires and I love cyberpunk, this is one of my dream apartments xD The way the showcase video is made is also one of my favorites ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

1. Abandoned Subway Strip Club🎦|| I've build like 4~5 strip clubs now and honestly this is my favorite one ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ I just wish I had more space to really build the subway parts with more abandoned tunnels...

To the CC List! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

I know I didn't make much CCs this year...but somehow it's still kinda hard to pick a favorite...I like them all xD

5. Heart Shape Animated Neon Sign || Seriously huge thanks to Syboulette for her patience and guidance🧡🧡I never thought I'd be able to make animated stuffs like this \(≧∇≦)/ And also, check out this 🔞18+ animated neon hehe Animated Phallus Sign

4. Miniature Space Hamster Set || When the poll results came out, I was kinda disappointed...but then I thought:😤I'll do it myself! And OMG I'm really not good at making build-mode items xD I'm also so glad that Sims 4 Studio added the function to mod stairs and fences just in time for the project ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

3. City Living Cyberpunk Food Stall || I need to make more of these ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ xD

2. Ashtray with Animated Smoke || My first ts4.script object...I feel so proud of myself xD...Python is weird..._(:з」∠)_

1. Secret Passage - Science Portrait || I love secret passages...bookcase doors, hidden door behind a shelf, etc...I really gotta make more of these...xD

[rebouks]

hi! do you have any tips for making good quality screenshots in ts4?

Hi! Let's see what I can come up with..

LIGHTING/GRAPHICS MODS Easy to use/install, lighting mods can change the look of your game drastically with little effort! I use a few:

no-glo

no-blu

graphicsrules override

I use this camera mod too, much less drifty...

Softerhaze makes some bomb ass lighting mods too.. I just switched from twinkle toes to sunblind and I am in LOVE - gamechanger lemme tell you.. so pretty! LOOKIT!!

RESHADE I'm still using g-shade at the moment but after recent events, I'll probably end up switching back again when I can be arsed. The effects you can achieve with reshade presets are amazing tbh.. and it's real fun to mess around with and create your own! Tho lots of people have made awesome ones if that's a bit much for you. If your PC can't handle it all too well you can always just switch it off until it's time to take screenies as well.

COMPOSITION Kinda hard to explain but basically, composition is what's in your frame and how you line it all up. I'd recommend reading some photography guides to get the gist of the concept.. but honestly, the more you mess around the more you'll get the hang of it. I've always loved photography and sims screenies really aren't so different. If you use reshade there's even some templates for thirds/the golden ratio etc you can slap on top for practice. Personally I don't use 'em cos I prefer my own judgement (that sounds rlly obnoxious but we're rolling with it). I found a template to show you what I mean! (ngl I was stoked that the first screenie I thought of for being a good eg. almost perfectly fit into this golden ratio shit LOL) but let's keep in mind how long I scooted around to get a good shot of this.. pretty sure I deleted about 10 other failed shots of this but shhhh, it's trial and error!

ANGLES/FOCUS The way you take a shot and how you angle it can change the whole feel of the image. For example.. in this image I tilted down and bit and filled over two thirds of the shot with the man, he's a big character and quite an intimidating guy so I think it helps get the idea across without pointing it out (at least I think so but idk I could also be talking outta my ass)

Similarly in these two shots below.. the first with the guy on the left gives the feel that he's in control here. The "camera" is tilted above him slightly and he's all up in your face, making the woman look much smaller in comparison. BUT! If you flip around to the second image, tilt down a bit and switch the focus to her, it makes him look more insignificant and less in control. I hope this makes sense??

EDITING/PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS ETC Personally I don't use photoshop actions but there's plenty out there to do the work for you! I think Intramoon? maybe.. has made a few but idk, you guys feel free to jump in with any suggestions! You can also smooth, fix stuff, change the mood/lighting, all sorts.. my advice on this is patchy at best tbh cos I just faff around until I see what I like lmao.. which leads me on tooooooo...

FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT Lol.. but seriously! I don't know what I'm doing. I've never taken any classes or read up on much, I always just jump in and see what happens. Fuck around with reshade, fuck around with camera mods, fuck around with composition/focus, fuck around with photoshop or gimp or w/e.. just mess about for a while and have fun! I promise you'll get better.

[phightinghottakes]

been a while since i made a hot take so i might as well make some take dump (i don't wanna spam hot takes that i don't have much to cover on)

- the recent phestival was quite fun! there were lots of new maps, skins, and also a new phighter and gamemode. i wasn't aware of the bad sportsmanship between the two teams mentioned here and there since i kind of avoid bogcom and the general phighting fans like a plague. genuinely hope those in team mermaids still had a nice time regardless of the possible toxicity faced during the phest :[ (if there's anyone that can explain the whole sportsmanship thing either in a different hot take or the mod themselves i'd appreciate it)

- escort feels like a hit or miss gamemode. sometimes it's fun as hell, but at other times you can literally predict which team is going to win by viewing the scores within the first minute of the match. it genuinely feels like a "walk just to be 1v5d' on" simulator for like half of the match, and the long ass overtime doesn't help with that either.

- i'm sorry but captain rocket looks like a colonizer for some reason in terms of appearance??

- i am NOT a fan of some people calling coil 2.0 "the banic skin". sure it may resemble him but you don't see anyone else calling catshot "the soda skin" or eggbox as "the key after key skin" regularly. it's something harmless but it's just a pet peeve of mine

- the annihilate change has got to be one of the worst changes made in my opinion. is either team effective with killing? sucks for you! 1 minute left on a match and you don't even get to hear pandemonium coda or have any high tension against each other because some team already reached 20 kills and most matches just..... don't last very long anymore!! are both teams slow with the killing? sucks for you! have fun spending 10 more minutes on overtime to get the required kill amount while no one is practically dying due to a team comp issue or a skill issue (in eliminating people)! the match ending early would help with extremely one-sided matches, but most of the time it's fairly balanced and a close game for both teams. every time i get an annihilate round now i just lose the will to do my best since the matches would end early either way.

- the dutchman scythe skin is really cool imo. a bit confused with the glowing hat, but a friend of mine speculated that it could represent a jellyfish? either way, for a simple design it's really appealing to me.

- ngl i feel like the phighting hot takes have become more hostile, pessimistic and downright aggressive based on my observations

Honestly, I think the main reason Phighting Hot Takes may feel that way is simply because I don’t really care about Phighting anymore. I just keep the blog running because people like it.

[annakie]

Never Fade Away

THIS IS A VERY LONG POST with big spoilers in both words and pictures for Cyberpunk 2077!

But it's also all my feels about a playthrough that's taken me many months and almost 300 hours to complete.

----

I played Cyberpunk 2077 on release. As I said in this "Games I played in 2021" post, which is a thing I wish I'd remembered to do every year, I loved it. That said, it probably wouldn't have cracked my top 10 or maybe even 20 favorite games ever, but I thought it was amazing, right out of the box. I ran into a couple of bugs, like couldn't complete the Delamain questline, and definitely agreed with some popular opinions about the game that parts of it didn't seem quite done, I had a couple of crashes and times I had to reload from something weird happening, but playing on PC I didn't have a lot of the problems console players did apparently.

It very much felt to me like another Andromeda situation -- another game that needed another couple of months to finish ironing a couple of bugs out but was mostly a victim of its own over-anticipaiton and overhyped-edness by the fanboys (and girls.)

That said, when I finished it I set it aside to wait for major updates before I'd pick it up again.

So last fall when it's one and only DLC, Phantom Liberty finally released, it was right around when the BG3 hype was happening so BG3 came first. But I kept having to wait for mods to update after patches dropped, so during one of these breaks I went and started playthrough #2 of Cyberpunk 2077.

My first time through I was a Nomad, so to mix it up this time I went Corpo. I really enjoyed Corpo a lot more and thought it had some much cooler interactions than Nomad ever gave me. Although, I thought the introduction and subsequent friendship with Jackie felt more natural with Nomad.

There were several goals I had going in to this playthrough.

Different origin - check.

Send Jackie's body to Mama Welles -- with no spoilers from my first run, I thought sending the body to Vik to work on first would be the most logical choice and either he could help Jackie or at least get him interred properly so Jackie's mom WOULDN'T HAVE TO BE TRAUMATIZED by her son's body just showing up. Guess that was the wrong choice and it was way too late to change once I found that out. So yeah, start things off right with Mama.

Complete the Delamain quest now that the showstopper bug a LOT of people ran into was fixed. (Didn't mention it later, but check!)

Find all the Hidden Gems

Pick a different ending.

Install cool mods to enhance things without breaking the game.

Generally, just do everything. Except maybe the Sinnerman questline. (I aborted halfway through and didn't regret it.)

Understand the main storyline in ways that had confused the hell out of me the first time around.

High quality Screenshots screenshots screenshots screenshots screenshots.

So with 1 checked off, I decided before advancing the main storyline much, I'd try to raise my fame level a bit and also just let Jackie live for awhile.

I did some research and landed on installing the Welcome to Night City mod collection. It's well researched, well maintained, the creator is really responsive, and has a Discord with a well supported community. Importantly for me, it also didn't have any "sexy" mods, just great gameplay tweaks, fixes, customizable on how much harder/easier it made the game, and added a lot of flavor and experience but felt like everything just worked in the background. Also since I have a Premium Nexus Mods experience, the install and upgrades were very, very easy. I didn't do the upgraded CyberpunkTHING experience, since it makes the game harder. I was here for a good time.

(And yes, I endorsed every mod in the collection!)

Honestly it added so many things that I'm sure there was a ton of stuff I just experienced thinking that that's just how the game was now, but it was a part of a seamlessly integrated mod collection.

I'll definitely use this mod pack again the next time I play. But also I didn't install ANY other mods really for a very long time, and I now really wish that I had. But we'll get to that.

I also installed several other graphics mods on my own, like a high-res skin for River (and the... shall we say... anti-Kendoll mod for him lol) and like, this mod (and several others from that author) that tones down the hypersexuality of the ads in the game. I realized early on that they don't bother me in-game -- it totally fits the aesthetic and tone of the game! But also I didn't want all that in screenshots that I will have rotating on my desktop for years (shoutout to DisplayFusion) and would have the possibility of like, my AC guy or my neighbors kids having to see as my Office is my living room (and my living room is the smallest bedroom of my house).

I did a lot of the gigs in Watson before advancing the main storyline so I'd have an OK character for storming stuff this time. I recently found a list of places Johnny talks in early Watson jobs to avoid doing early next time:

Side Job: Losing My Religion (where you have to free the monk from Maelstrom)

Fixer Gig: Backs Against the Wall (recover stolen medicine from veteran)

Fixer Gig: Scrolls before Swine (get the CCTV footage for the cop, only if you watch before downloading)

So you can do all NCPD hustles, the first 10 Fixer gigs and and all side jobs except Losing My Religion without losing out on any of the Johnny experience.

Leaving that there for next time. Anyway, it feels like it makes more sense to get this chance at the big gig when you have some experience, and can pretend you and Jackie were living life together a little while longer. Next playthrough -- use AMM to take some hanging out with Jackie screenshots early on.

---

Eventually I advanced the main storyline enough and finished the Heist, and was able to check #2 off my list. Loved not getting yelled at by Mama Welles this time. And felt with the added time that I had a right to be doing this -- still extremely stupid in retrospect -- gig. But it was more fun have tools to deal with the hotel guards this time.

Knowing who Takemora was and meeting Johnny again were really enhanced by knowing what the fuck was going on the second time around. Keanu really knocks it out of the park when you finally really understand the character.

Though I hate the early adversarial feeling between him and V, I get it a lot more now. Watching the relationship grow is really worth it.

---

I wasn't invited to Jackie's memorial the first time. So getting to go the second time and help repair Misty and Mama Wells' relationship was great, and I really loved getting to know Jackie better by picking out something for the funeral at his garage, and the added time with Misty.

---

I told myself I'd do a different spec than stealth-hacker. I was wrong. I still did that. I love using Contagion and Overheat to take enemies out non-lethally while crouched behind something nearby. The ones that really deserve it get a shot from Skippy later.

Yeah, as soon as lockdown was over I hightailed it down to Valentino's territory and then headed back to Watson / Japantown. I gave Skippy up as late as possible, when he was outliving his usefulness. I got him back as fast as I could, but I miss his voice. I miss his quips.

After that when I needed a weapon I mostly used the Arasaka experimental smart SMG. IDK, I just liked the feeling of stealing shit from Arasaka and using it to fuck up their own people whenever possible. But again, I didn't shoot weapons much anyway.

---

I spent so, so much time just driving around taking pictures of my cars and the amazing ways the light looked while driving through the city. I absolutely fell in love with the aesthetics of the city, every part of it, over and over again. I posted a few photosets. There are more in the queue. There are so many screenshots I didn't use.

Like, honestly out of everything I love about this game just... looking at it is maybe my favorite thing. There's so much to see, all of the time, everywhere. Your eyes can never take it all in. I'll be in a place I've been a dozen times and still find new awesome things to look at. I just can't describe how much I enjoy just... looking at this game.

I never fast travel anywhere -- except out of the Megabuilding 10 apartment. I took the metro a few times just to sit back and relax watching the scenery go by but normally I just drive everywhere.

Jackie's Arch and the Porche 911 (and its variant in the bottom screenshot) are my favorite vehicles. Bikes for maneuverability, but also likewise the Porche has better handling than a bike while still being really easy to weave through traffic in.

Night City is one of the few locations in any video game I've ever played that TRULY feels like it could be a real place. Every neighborhood is distinct. Though there are some familiar things, one Captain Caliente doesn't look like every other one. You'll see a few of the same signs around, there are some generic small building structures but where it makes sense. Yeah there's a few monolithic Arasaka buildings but of course they would be. How efficient. The megabuildings are similar, but different enough. It feels like every detail of the world was crafted so carefully. There's so much beauty even in the ugly bits.

I never want to stop looking at it, or screenshotting it. I just love the city so much.

I'm going to run out of screenshot space on this post.

---

I romanced River again. Look, I'm a basic primarily het romancer in video games. I love Judy, she's amazing, but River ticks my boxes -- the Paladin archetype who gives it all up to do the right thing even when it costs him.

I hate that he's the most undercooked of all the companions plot and time-wise. But there were some huge improvements this time. All the companions had gotten extra text message interactions. A fun little quest that added a bit more content in PL. They Really Want To Stay at Your House! And along with that, amazing mods are now available to make those things even better. (River Romanced Enhanced, the Really Want To Stay At Your House and Romance Interactions Enhanced mods)

Around the mid-point in game after seeing some amazing photosets on my desktop, I got brave and installed Appearance Mod Menu and a bunch of other pose and photomode mods that go along with it. Also some outfit mods for River. And then things really got cooking screenshot wise.

Even though it took a lot of effort to set this stuff up and to get poses to work right sometimes, I got to feel like River and my V went out and had real dates on the town.

Also sometimes... we just uh... stayed in.

There's so many photos that won't ever make it to tumblr. And so many more sets I want to take.

Well, that's what reloading old saves is for.

You'll see some of these screenshots again, or have before. I have a lot of things queued that will pop up... sometime. I like to surprise myself with my own photosets. :D

---

I finally installed the Virtual Atleir and started modding in outfits a little while after doing AMM, was trying to install things in waves as to not break too much. I got a few crashes here and there, but not as many as I was worried about, after installing stuff on top of Welcome to Night City.

I kind of regret waiting so long to do Virtual Atlier and clothing mods but also not. I think I manually collected like 95% or more of all the ingame clothing. I still stop by clothing stores but they usually have nothing new for me, or just things like... masks that I never use. There's such a huge variety of clothes already in the game that I didn't get to build a lot of outfits around pieces that I love. I made a whole post of ingame-outfits I made and love!

And there's one in the queue somewhere of modded-in outfits, too. Not even all of them.

Cyberpunk 2077 is the ultimate Dress-up my dolls and make them kiss game, and I may never stop playing that aspect of it.

---

Hey speaking of Kerry Eurodyne, I love him. And Panam. And Judy. And Vik. and Claire. And Misty. And Rogue. And the rest of Samurai (Well, I chose Denny and always will.) The only thing I don't love is how it feels like you still don't get enough time with any of them, except MAYBE Panam.

I would love to be able to space out all of their missions even more. I try to put as much space in between the companion missions as possible, but this time it backfired on me a little because i crammed Judy's stuff in way later in the game than I should have, around when I was doing Kerry's stuff. When all of the main quest and most of the side quest stuff was done. And we all know that we don't get Kerry until way too late anyway. But doing Panam's stuff happened so long ago that sometimes I'd just drive out to see the Aldecados and hang out for a day because I missed them. (And, as you can see in the River screenshot above, I "brought him along" to introduce him tot he family once or twice.)

I have a great photoset in the queue of all the main characters hanging out at the Corpo apartment together I can't wait to come up someday. Not posting a preview screenshot here.

Except I forgot Claire. It took me like an hour to set that scene up and now I'm thinking about doing it all again to include Claire.

Anyway, mostly I just want to say that aside from just loving River, I love them all and don't want to leave them behind either.

Or the Fixers. Or Reed. But we'll get to Phantom Liberty.

---

Just one more quick stop here to talk about the music.

I installed the Improved Radio Continued mod and wow it really enhanced the music experience for me.

I am a 98.7 Body Heat gal, with a flip to Pacific Dreams when Ponpon Shit or History would play, but loved about half the new music on Growl FM. It took some finagling, but Improved Radio let me make my own custom radio station with JUST the songs I wanted. So it's a mash of those three stations, without the songs I disliked. (There's one on Pacific Dreams, the REALLY long one that has the interlude of someone saying the same word over and over really slowly? That one... ughghgh) and that was amazing. There's a handful of songs from other stations I liked too, that got added in. And, I'm sorry, no Us Cracks allowed. I love them as characters, still hate their music.

What I didn't expect was to really fall in love with the music of Samurai this time around. Like, I knew I should have the first time but I didn't put effort into listening to them since metal isn't my usual vibe. But it IS my brother's, at least when we were in High School and College, so I listened to it a lot back then and there are still metal songs I do like.

So this time I put all the Samaurai songs in my playlist and holy shit I fell in love with them.

A couple of weeks ago I was driving to visit my parents IRL and the entire way up there I just listened to the Samurai songs on repeat. I'm a big fan now, thanks second playthrough.

----

So, Phantom Liberty was the big reason for the new playthrough. Let's talk about it.

I absolutely LOVE Dogtown. oh, Pacifica, but worse? Amazing. So much new stuff to see, and do. I loved exploring every nook and cranny.

It added SO MUCH to the game, I can't imagine playing the game without it. I didn't even go to there until I was like 2/3rds of the way through the rest of the content and I wish I'd spread it out EVEN MORE.

I will say that I thought some of the main quests were a bit long. I felt myself itching to get out and go do something else throughout some of the long sessions like basically having to do most of the stuff with the President in one big long chain, though it made sense. I loved those quests, though! And I think I'll like them even more on a subsequent playthrough some day.

The only part I really did not like at all in Phantom Liberty was -- ok look I made the choice to side with Reed the entire way. It's Idris fucking Elba okay, I have loved him since The Wire. And I absolutely understand why Songbird did what she did, and what she would have done if I'd have sided with her. And maybe I will next time. But this time, I was all in on Reed -- though I didn't become an Agent for the NUSA, fuck that. And I gave Songbird her final wish. Because again, fuck the NUSA.

But oh man, that last quest? With that FUCKING ROBOT following you around the base at the end, that is an instakill if it finds you? FUUUUUUCK that. It was so frustrating that I stopped playing for over a month because every time I thought about going back into the game to finish that my head wanted to explode.

Eventually I watched a couple of Youtube videos and read a couple of articles about exactly where to go and how to hide from it.

Look, I love exploring, I love taking my time, I love making sure I explore everything and miss nothing. That fucking robot harshed my gaming style so much. No regrets about cheating my way through that part. Zero. I made it through with only dying to it one more time and got the fuck out of there. I was also glad to see in the comments of the video I watched and articles I read that I was very much not alone in that opinion. I might side with Songbird at least most of the way to the end in future playthroughs JUST to never have to do that base again.

Otherwise, though, Phantom Liberty was a triumph. I want a mod that makes the Dogtown apartment not shit but also not luxury, and then I want to just stay there a long time.

----

So, I'm almost done with the game.

I installed two Hidden Gems mods that turn the easy-to-miss stuff into Fixer (and Ronald in Dogtown) quests and LOVED THEM. I wanted to see and do it all. And I did. I'm done with that. It took me many more hours of gameplay to get through all of that. Worth it.

In my playthrogh, River is waiting for me at my Megabuilding apartment to spend one more night together.

And then I'm calling Panam and having the Aldecados come help me storm Arasaka.

Last time I had Rogue help, and to be honest, I feel like that's still the right choice. Rogue helped start this. She should help end it.

But one of my goals was to do more things different. And to be honest, I hate the endings, so much.

It's not that I necessarily think there should be a happy ending for V. But I think that the game should let us help make sure other people have happier endings.

So here's the thing. V is richer than like 95% of Night City by the end of the game. She's got like six apartments, at least a dozen cars even if you don't buy many at the car store, My V still has like 8 million eddies.

I don't care what the game says.

In my game, V went to a financial lawyer.

V set up trusts with each of the Fixers, or maybe one for all of them, where they can access funds to hire mercs to help people who couldn't afford a Fixer but needs one. I'd trust most of them to use this wisely, or maybe Regina, or Rogue, or Dakota or Padre would help oversee it. At least a million eddies out there, to help those who get fucked by the system most.

V sets up a trust for Judy, so she's always got enough to get by. She sends her the best tech she's gotten her hands on to ply her trade with. Maybe a new van. Set aside some to help the Dolls.

V sends her heavy duty vehicles and Scorpion's bike to the Aldecados, along with a huge stash of weaponry and half a million or so eddies to help them stay solvent.

Misty's and Vik's rents paid up for at least a year. A vehicle each. Another 250k or so for each of them. They have room to breathe. Whatever Cyberware is laying around goes to Vik -- but if River wants a couple of pieces installed, he gets them (within reason. No cyberpsychosis for my man.)

Same for Claire. Set her up with her shop's rent paid up, and a trust, give her The Beast back, and another car of her choosing.

Kerry doesn't need much, but she gives him Johnny's outfit to remember him by. Or maybe to Rogue. What do these two giants want? Whatever it is, they can have. Split the memorabilia.

And then River.

First of all, a trust for Joss and the kids. 250k each, the kids get theirs in small chunks as they age. If there's a note on either of the trailers, it's paid off. If Joss wants to move into the city, done. Set the kids up with scholarships to the best schools they want to go to. A decent, reliable car for each of the four of them. Maybe Randy wants the Megabuilding apartment for when he's ready to live on his own again.

River gets most of what's left after all that. The Glen apartment specifically, that's where they made their best memories. There's still going to be like 4 million and a bunch of cars and property left. If V dies, it's his.

This is the closest thing to happily ever after that they can get, and in my mind it absolutely happens, at some point.

Honestly, if it were me, if I didn't know the "two years later" of it, then V would have taken the President's offer and gotten Johnny out of her head surgically and lived. The will probably would have triggered. Or knowing that the surgery could be risky she'd at least have put in a provision that a percent of it triggered so Joss, the kids, River, Judy, Claire and Panam would be taken care of.

She'd never have left River destitute and desperate to take care of the family. I can't accept it.

V would wake up maybe with less money, but her assets protected enough that even without being a Merc she'd be OK. The people she loved would be OK. River would have taken care of things, and would love her without her implants.

It'll never be happily ever after in Night City, but the people that matter most will be OK.

---

But I'm going to finish today, maybe tomorrow. I planned on it today but then I spent 4 hours writing this post and have a PF2E game tonight to DM that I need to prep for.

I installed the River's Epilogue Enhanced - Nomad Star Ending mod and.... so I'm bringing the Aldecados to Arasaka, and am going to have the happiest ending possible modded into the game. With my headcanon that a trust is waiting for him and the family. They'll be fine.

I love this game. I loved it before, I love it so much more now.

I can't wait to play it again someday.

[fayesdiary]

Congrats on beating 3H !! So what are your thoughts of the complete Fodlan experience ?

Jokes aside, honestly I'm not sure I can give a straight answer.

Overall I'd say it's been one of if not my least favourite Fire Emblem, but that really doesn't sum it up.

A more accurate description would be that it had a good chunk of things I loved (above all the Nabatean fam, Dimitri and his story and Claude as a character)... But it's buried beneath a mountain of boredom to slog through, decisions I just don't vibe with and The Bullshit™. Sooo much tedium and Bullshit in this game, and the fact I was kinda done halfway through VW and only persevered through the end out of sheer spite doesn't help.

And it's such a shame because when I liked the game I REALLY liked it and think it has some of the best/most interesting ideas of the entire series... But was it really worth slogging through hundreds of hours playing the same mediocre at best maps and story beats over and over and having to constantly bear that. Fucking. Monastery? Right now I'm inclined to say no. As much as I love those things, it was not.

Playing all the routes one after another really lays some of the biggest issues of this game, like the repetition. SOOO much of this game is recycled between routes and also in a single route to honestly insulting levels, and it doesn't get that much better in Part 2. The fact the devs somehow didn't think people would want to play more than one route is just. Baffling.

Something I realized in the final playthrough is that they also recycle maps for what are supposed to be completely different locations. So you get shit like Brigid somehow looking the exact same as a forest in the Alliance filled with Demonic Beasts, or Rhodos Coast and a beach in the Sreng Peninsula perfect copies of each other. Complete with the monuments for Cichol and Cethleann. Also like damn, Seteth's wife was so dead they had to bury her twice. In two different locations.

The writing is all over the place as a result of the chaotic development where not even the devs could agree on what the story was, and the whole game could be used as a test study on the sheer damage scope creep can do as well as the obsession with lore and worldbuilding that they contradict as soon as it's convenient over making an actually coherent narrative. And also why you don't throw literally any idea you can come up with to the wall hoping something sticks.

Because of the overreliance on telling over showing, what with the bland recycled maps and all, that Garreg Mach almost feels like the only real location in Fódlan, and that's something no amount of in-game libraries or novels worth of lore if those ten thousand years of lore are even real and didn't just make it up

Speaking of Garreg Mach, dear Sothis I hate that place now.

The monastery was fun the first time around, but then it became a chore to something I actively dreaded doing. It's monotone, you do the same shit every time, it lasts FOREVER compared to, you know, the ACTUAL Fire Emblem gameplay I'm playing for. And while you can technically skip it, you're losing on so much stuff to progress your units if you use it, so it feels like the option is just there to mock you. Getting into Persona and realizing how well the calendar system can work if done properly did nothing but sour me even more on the monastery.

The characters having new dialogue every chapter is really neat and something I wish got properly carried over to Engage, this game manages to turn even that into a chore.

And like - I really want to like this game, and in a sense I do, there's quite a bit of it I love. But so much of it makes me actively groan that I don't think I'm gonna replay it for at least a year. And if I do it will be with the No Monastery mod.

[thatskynews]

Hullo! I was looking at your pinned post, and as it's a fan blog may I ask how you get your news, out of curiosity? What sort of things do you talk about on here?? Is it purely official news? How does running it work as multiple people?

I'm very grateful for the patch/issue updates and the like, I often get it quite diluted through the grapevine haha ^^. I swear, for everything they fix two new bugs crop up! Very entertaining but I do feel bad for the devs XD.

First Question: We get our news from Sky's Official Discord Server news channel. And if you ask, why not the other Sky social media? It's easier to copy and paste stuff from there lol.

Well, that and Skycord announces things the quickest in my opinion and that their other social media often misses such as minor bug reports and their updates - Anxy

Honestly a lot of this blog is simply reposting ThatGameCompany's announcements into a format for Skyblr as Anxy has stated above.

I've never used any other sky announcements for the same reason why we're using the official Discord's: It covers more typically for things that we find important to still spread around just in case -Ymir

Second Question: We mainly post official news and an occasional Skyblr news. The latter, say, for example, got an issue, and we, as mods and long-time Skyblr members, might have to say something about it, either to inform or even ease everyone. But it's not all news. We also like to share some thatskygame experience in the tag "(sky history with the mods)" - Anxy

Third Question: We are only two of us here, for now, so it's easy to run together. The only issue we sometimes get is a sudden ask "disappearing" (because the other answered/deleted it before the other one can even open it) or a post having a double (because one didn't realize that the other has already posted it before) but other than that, we're doing alright - Anxy

It's usually really easy, given neither Anxy or I really have any issues than simply two common things to be expected to happen within this type of blog as stated above. We do talk about any issues or bits of confusion if if does pop up for either of us, but we've never really had any major issues with it given it's (rn) just the two of us -Ymir

As for the neverending bugs... it's because of coding. Don't know anything about it, but I know it can be crazy. - Anxy

Sadly, I do have experience in coding, enough to state: bugs are honestly happening like that constantly. In-game dev? Oh, it is extremely common as the more complicated it becomes. Given that the sky is multiplayer, as it has happened many times before: some bugs happen due to the servers also having errors. It's nothing too complex of why these happen than simple human error or issues with tools and engine they use for sky most times -Ymir

[potential-fate]

Sims Tag

Tagged by @andrevasims ~~

Tagging: uhm... idk this was quite long, so I don't wanna tag anyone, so I'm not going to.

anyways, my answers under a readmore, cause they're 26 questions.

1.What’s your favourite sims death?

there's so many funny deaths in ts2, but I rarely see them (I can't help it I like keeping my sims alive lmao....) I have seen the satellite death only twice in.... almost 20 years? Also think murphy bed death is pretty entertaining. oh, and that sims can spontaneously combust if too warm.

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match?

funny I was just talking about this with @nappe-plays-the-sims on discord. My style is definitely maxis mix/semi-realistic. I think it'd probably be fully alpha in ts4 though, if my computer could handle it. but for ts2, I don't like how a lot of alpha cc looks, so it stays squarely in the mix category.

3.Do you cheat when your sims gain weight?

hm. mostly not? there are certain sims that don't fit personality wise and I've cheated (in both directions both fat loss and gain) sheerly because their fitness just barely dipped and it didn't make sense. also as a storytelling simblr, I need consistency, so sometimes I'll cheat it for the moment, but then return them to their new fit/fat state once I have a bit of a time lapse.

4. Do you use move objects?

literally constantly. I mean, I have to to pose scenes, but also decoration in my game is ridiculously off grid so 🤷‍♀️

5. Favorite mod?

I legitimately don't think I can pick one. I have like 200 'curated' mods that I have mostly been using for literally a decade. Even in my "cc free" game I still have my mods folder and my defaults in. That being said, if forced to, I wouldn't be able to live without ACR/Romantic Standards, and the Traits Project.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got?

Glamour Life Stuff, but I pretty much followed the release date for ts2. for TS4, the entire reason I redownloaded the game was Cottage Living so... that one.

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing?

Live as in 'we are Live 🎬" (because literally that's how I always pictured it. the game is in action now, it's live.)

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

uhm.... probably Evren, though no one has seen much of him yet. I just think he's pretty.

9. Have you made a simself?

I have.... about 12 years ago. and that sim can stay back there LMAO.

10. What sim traits do you give yourself?

hm. I suppose Gloomy, Maker, Socially Awkward. it took me a while to decide though.

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color?

in ts2, I guess the red is okay? idk there's a reason all my hair is defaulted.

in ts4, I specifically like the light blonde and the dirty blonde, but would like to set the one labeled "blonde" (the yellow one) on fire.

12. Favorite EA hair?

see above answer. I'm just... not a fan of ts2 hairs. When I was a baby, I used to use exclusively this hair on men (like they literally all had that hair it was kinda funny), before I discovered cc. but now I think I'd probably pic Caesar if I had to.

13. Favorite life stage?

Teen through Adult. I like them all probably equally, but I spend a LOT of time at Uni 😂 I don't understand why everyone wants shorter UNI mods lmaooo.

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

can I say neither? what you guys are playing the game???? jk jk. uhm... I guess I'll say builder, but honestly a good portion of my time is literally posing. though said scenes are normally based off gameplay. but I don't get to play that often. like ie: the story posts I'm posting now are literally based off gameplay from 6 months ago so....

15. Are you a CC creator?

Yup!~ though it's not consistent, in posting schedule or what I tend to make so 🤷‍♀️ (that being said, I do have hair retextures I'm literally planning on posting this week.)

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad?

I feel like I do, but I don't wanna post favorites and hurt someone's feelings. 😂 that being said, there's like 3-5 people I talk to almost daily.

17. What’s your favorite game? (1, 2, 3, or 4)

in case it's not obvious, it's ts2. I do like ts4 now with all the dlc now though. but ts2 will always be my ride or die tbh.

18. Do you have any sims merch?

I... don't think so.... I'm pretty sure I don't. I would be willing though probably. I mean, I sorta want a sims tattoo, and that's a lot more permanent than merch so.

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims?

I do not. I don't really.... like youtube that much. or letsplays.... or filming myself.

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing?

oh god. idk man, I was heavy into the whole scene kid 2008 type stuff back when I first started creating cc and stuff, let alone playing, so like.... "a lot" is really all I have. I'd like to say that it's improved? I definitely think my photo/editing skills are better.

21. What’s your Origin ID?

I want to say it's potential-x-fate but i am not 100% sure on that... I don't think I've ever shared anything for ts4 anyways though.

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator?

that depends heavily on what you're looking for. @deedee-sims, @mdpthatsme, and @serabiet for clothing come to mind.

Makeup by far is probably @lilith-sims. and JesstheEx (LJ).

Hair I do a lot of my own retextures, but @antoninko also does a lot of sunshine retextures.

For b/b I couldn't even begin to decide. I don't have as much and it's all over the place.

for TS4, like, literally 85% of my CAS is @pralinesims and I have 0 B/B so.... it's pretty much just Praline LMAO.

23. How long have you had a simblr?

technically? since 2008. I migrated here from LJ around then. but this account is newer than that, cause I used to have it as a side blog and that was not very convenient. the old account I deleted after I moved everything I wanted over. I also took a 3 year break from 2016-2019.

24. How do you edit your pictures?

Carefully. lmao. jk jk. uh.... lets see. I crop them (via my own action), apply actions (mostly other people's) depending on the scene, edit any clipping by hand painting, add in hair strands a lot of the time, and uh, then I add a 1% monochromatic noise filter, and the white border frame.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next?

since I play ts2 this isn't really applicable. but in the magical world of Allie Gets What They Want, I'd want a fix for ts2 to allow more customizability via CAS. by that I mean, I want more slots for skin details/tattoos/etc and accessories and such like they have in ts4, but in ts2. Obviously this is theoretical. but it's the thing I miss most in ts2.

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far?

ahhh.... for ts2, I probably play with Uni the most, but ts2 was better at integrating gameplay elements into their EPs so I'd be hard pressed to drop any of them, even ones I "don't use" that often. (ie: nightlife came with chemistry and I'd die without it, even though I don't use any of the downtown functions often.)

[shivasdarknight]

top 5 glams (for any of ur lil guys)

I'm logged into Surkie rn, so that's all I'm posting lmAO

u h.

1.

This outfit's fun because in in-game terms, it was originally supposed to be a dragoon glam that I didn't really vibe with but it wound up being an AMAZING paladin glam and just casual tanking thing that became part of Surkie's canon wardrobe. Basically it was her first dark knight look, it became her main look during stb and for anything that didn't involve heavy combat in post stb-post shb (that's where the behemoth king set comes in), and it remains her traveling and often casual clothes. I just really like how the Holy Rainbow shirts look <3

2.

THE ZONURESKIN LOOK okay so technically i made this in post shadowbringers, but it kind of backdated itself and became her Look through post-stormblood and shadowbringers if she dared to do stuff with dragoon, and tbh even into endwalker and now dawntrail. Obviously given the look's inspiration since it's a reprint of the Ala Mhigan set (fending but swapped to maiming), it's definitely something she got in Ala Mhigo and honestly probably something Lyse helped her get to better reinforce her side after the numerous injuries that threatened her ability to be a dragoon. Weapon for this is Dreizack Recollection, which was restored by her sister, Altan, and given to her and she Will Not abandon that spear because of that sentimentality. It continues the trend of maiming being white for her since it started as dragoon so it was just better for muddying up her silhouette when in the air (but also white to her is more the Death Color than black is because of her upbringing) but it's just become her Thing as the "Azure Dragoon Cloaked in Ivory".

3.

The Troian set >:3c This is Surkie's new heavy combat look as of post-endwalker when UT completely destroyed her old armor (not pictured at all). Admittedly, this has been in rotation the shortest but I got super attached to it. It's still on my WAR glam, but it just feels more in place with "active excursion in the void" versus "low stakes jaunt around Tural", hence the swap to the Edenmorn gear (also not pictured). I'm pvp pilled, so ofc the archfiend gauntlets are actually on the glamour plate. Love Cylva, so ofc we have the Deepshadow axe (modded somewhat), and it's just...a really fun look that I'm obsessed with since I could never wear something like this in other MMOs as a fem player. Lots of gender euphoria, you see.

4.

Ala Mhigan Striking my beloved. YEAH I love the Ala Mhigan/Zonure/Ovim set A LOT and I've used it quite a bit, and frankly the Ala Mhigan striking is SUCH a good piece for this. Also really love the Crystarium knuckles for this (the sam side is fine, just not as good without the knuckles but at least you can see the gloves), and the Moonward boots. Sorry, Edge, Surkie just wears your boots better 🤷 Also love how her arm and scars appear through the one sleeve, just TASTY. (yes the sword is modded, leave me be). Another thing Surkie likely got in Ala Mhigo that I'm probably gonna canonize, this time through W'khittri. It also continues maiming's trend of white relating to death, but it's got that balance of white And black (which she's always seen as more noble and benevolent due to Nhaaman influence)

5.

Deepshadow and Troian just the other way around now. Hat's modded, leave me alone, but yeah so uh. This is a modified form of one of Lillith's glams, it just wound up working better for Surkie. You could argue it's still the black = Nhaama stuff, but this honestly leans more into the conscious edginess she picked up from Eorzean influence around the colors. Also the most brown I use in any glam. IDC if the Shiva gun conflicts, it took me Way Too Fucking Long to get the damn thing (before enw came out and the coffers eased that process Considerably). Also she summons it, so it's not like she has it visible at all times. ...Yeah, anyways it's like an Amano cowboy and I'm here for it.

Also a sprout called the vanilla form of the outfit (which isn't too different) cool so I Win.

[papermint-airplane]

Get to Know Me - Sims Edition

If you saw me accidentally post this before I filled it out and had to private it really quick, no you didn't. 😚

Thank you for the tag, @simsdastra! ❤️

What’s your favorite Sims death?

In Sims 2, the satellite death and death by flies. I used those constantly.

In Sims 3, the meteor death (obviously) and the time sickness death. The meteor one because of how devastating it is while still making your surviving Sims a shit load of money and the time sickness one for how existentially horrifying it is. You just get Marty McFly'd right out of reality! 😱 I haven't had a Sim die that way when it wasn't on purpose and I'm willing to bet not many other Simmers have either. It's a pretty rare death.

In Sims 4, it's the pufferfish death and the Rabid Rodent Fever death. So visceral and mildly disturbing! When Sims 4 gets it right, it gets it right!

Alpha CC or MaxisMatch?

Alpha hair in Sims 3 because it's an absolute necessity, but I don't mind most of the EA clothes so I guess that's Maxis Mix?

When I played Sims 4, I was Maxis Match all the way except when it came to makeup and skin details.

Do you cheat your sims weight?

Not as much as I cheat their muscle slider. I find it preposterous that a Sim with no muscle definiton can go for one jog and come back shredded. I am constantly cheating their muscle mass back down to a more realistic level.

Do you move objects?

Of course, how do you live without that? In fact, I even have a button on my gaming mouse programmed to it.

Favorite Mod?

The transmogfrifer mod by icarus_allsorts and the stencil remover by velocity grass. I use these so much, I forget they're not naturally in the game.

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

Like, the first one ever? Sims 2 University. I played Sims 1 back in the day but I never had a single expansion pack for it. I didn't even know what expansion packs were until Sims 2.

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing

Both. 🫣 I don't know which way is the "official" way, so I just alternate my pronunciation depending on what feels right at the time.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

Aiden. 👽

Have you made a simself?

Many times! I've had Simselves in Sims 2, Sims 3, and Sims 4.

Which is your favorite EA hair color?

In Sims 3, you don't have to use swatches for hair so I almost never use the premade ones. However, there is a nice deep reddish brown that I quite like. I use it as a base frequently.

Favorite EA hair?

Most of the Sims 3 EA hairs are horrible even with retextures, so...none lol.

Favorite life stage?

I'm gonna be boring and say YA. 🤷‍♀️

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

Gameplay. I can't build to save my life.

Are you a CC creator?

No, I want to make CC but I have no artistic talent and I wouldn't even know where to start.

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

I do not know what a Sim Squad is but I do have Simblr friends! And Sims Reddit friends.

Do you have any sims merch?

No but I did once make a bunch of tiny resin plumbobs.

Do you have a YouTube for sims?

Haha no, I do not have the time or face for YouTube.

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing?

It hasn't changed that much, honestly. I am a bit more story-focused and a lot less murder-y, but that's about it. For the most part, I still have attention span issues and tend to start a lot of new saves lmao.

What’s your origin id?

Rabbitmancer. You can add me if you want but I almost never turn the online features on in game so it doesn't really do anything.

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

@aroundthesims, no question about it. ATS has literally everything and I have downloaded all of it. 😱

How long have you had simblr?

About...a year? I don't actually know. I've been on Tumblr in the past, though I left around 2015-2016, but I never dove into the Simblr community. @happy-lemon talked me into starting a Simblr and I'm so glad she did!

How do you edit your pictures?

I don't edit my pictures all that often because I do not know what I'm doing. I use ReShade and if I need to make minor edits, I'll do so in Paint.NET like a pleb.

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite?

Sims 2: Open For Business. In fact, it's my favorite expansion of all time.

Sims 3: It changes often but it's Ambitions right now. There's so much in Sims 3 to love!

Sims 4: Uh... I plead the fifth. 😑

I am tagging @happy-lemon, @oasislandingresident, @spaceapples98, @bool-prop, @hazely-sims (lol if I'm the millionth person to tag you again, disregard), @camisulsul, @sim-songs, @ninjaofthepurplethings, @neillesimstories, and @autonomousllama, as well as anyone else who wants to do it and hasn't yet.

[elvenbeard]

Too Many Drawing Ideas!!!

Istg every time I sit down and open Procreate with the intention to start refining one of my endless wips, I add a new one instead. Sketched out another 10-page comic now I'm... someone has to stop me, or tell me to sit down and work on one of the many other ideas first XD

Currently, what I've lined up, are some illustrations, some a bit more elaborate than others (almost all are V & Kerry, who would have guessed it):

"Morning Routine", V & Kerry basically just getting ready together in the morning xD

One with the working title "bed pizza", set quite a while after the Sun Ending - a little bit more angsty, but overall hopeful, basically just a small headcanon idea I had

"Phillipines Vacation" - maybe self-explainatory XD

Another small headcanon thing with just V, regarding how the subtitles and instant translator in-game work; basically just an "I would actually like this technology in the real world for reasons xyz" idea

Then a few that are currently just sketches for illustrations, but which I'm tempted to turn into comics:

The only one without Kerry, but instead V and Jackie, a little intermediate scene set right after the ending of the Corpo lifepath intro and before V moves in with Jackie, just adding some personal flavour to it all

Working title "You should have brought bigger towels", set right after Boat Drinks xD would honestly like this just as a single drawing with a little ficlet added, too, but would also love to do it as a short comic bc aaahhh

Aaaand a bunch of longer and shorter comics:

"Charter Hill" - about how V grew up in view of the Dark Matter rooftop lounge and how Kerry reacts when he learns this

"Bandana" - V and Kerry clean out some old stuff and Kerry finds something interesting

"Earring exchange" - a short and simple one that I'd probably do in gif format even, but also a beloved headcanon XD

And another short untitled one that I'm still thinking of changing up a bit in which V deals with some unexpected dysphoria

This is far from all the ideas on my mind atm, but the ones I have sketches for at least... Not sure why I'm posting this, maybe in the hopes that one of these will strike a nerve with someone and you'll help me make a decision on what to get started with XD before I sketch out even more stuff... (for example, a design for V's top surgery "scars" - in quotation marks, bc I have something extremely specific in mind and sth I'd love to make as a mod for him some day xD and so much more stuff it's aaargh öakdöfsdfkdkff)

[tay13897]

My oc name: Colette

Gender:female

Personality:Kind/smart/sassy

Hobbies:writing/piano/art /games

Age 15

Author:now on the story

Colette pov

It was a Sunday it was about 8:00 pm in my room l was on the phone at the time l had heard about the doki doki literature club game and watched it on YouTube l honestly didn't like horror infact if l was in a horror game l would be hiding the whole entire time and would be way to scared to

Even think about come out of my hiding spot and l just stuck with the wholesome mods and trust l wouldn't get Jumpscared or it being scary like the original doki doki literature club game l was going to watch the male mod the next night after my first day of highschool

And l actually like the male mod as well Minus the scary parts l avoid l even simp for some of the characters but im now gonna have a different life and tomorrow is the day l go to highschool make some friends find

A best friend maybe even fall in love with someone who is sweet trustable and loyal maybe like in those fluff stories l like or like the ore monogatari anime l put my phone on my desk then lay down on my bed and fall asleep

Wait a minute isn't this the mc's room the one us players play as no no it can't be l looked down at my Clothes l was in my night clothes relieved l wasn't in a male body but l still felt panicked because I'm stuck in a game my family which is my brother and my parents by the way are gone and my

Entire life is just poof flushed down the toilet l was gonna go to high school and finally after my seven months of hard work trying get my education level up to highschool and yes I agree that it will be very useful in this world but thats besides the point

And finally going to make some friends to besides my family and not be lonely for once and also there are no background characters in the doki doki literature club game literally none like in that one mod where we went to places but didn't hear or see a single background character

And the only friends ill be making besides the everyone in the literature club is nonexistent background characters! I cried in my pillow

Which means even if l try to go to another club that is not the literature club ill just get dragged there by sayori for the sake of the plot and the only friends ill be having in this game is Yuri natsuki sayori and Monika

I grabbed my phone next to me and saw a notification that says if you complete the entire game you will go back to your world it says and it was from an anonymous person

Then l got another message saying but be warned if Moniko deletes even one character from the game its game over

Allright I'm gonna have to form a plan to make sure that doesn't happen and wait! Moniko so this is the male version of the game

And knowing that its going to be scary just makes me shiver and feel really uneasy l check what time it is and its 8:00 am and l don't know what time school starts so l looked online

What time highschool starts and it starts about 8:30 l got myself ready for school brushed took a shower and put on my uniform that was in my drawer im still not quite used to this room

Or wearing an anime girl skirt l don't want to be caught up in a weird anime situation so l wear shorts under and my school bag and took a moment to look around the house

Wow this house looks really nice l wonder how he can even afford to live here let alone be able to pay the bills here oh l forgot anime logic l said as l opened the door

Then l went to the front of his house and I called sayori to see if he was awake he answered yes and told me he was almost finished getting ready for school then he came out of his house

And man l will admit he did look cute but l also felt alittle bit nervous seeing him for the first time upfront because l wasn't used to meeting an anime character let alone talking to one l also felt oddly close to him like he really was my childhood friend

As we were walking to school with sayori he was talking about how l should join a club speaking of club he asked me to join the literature club l told he yes because not only try to win the game but also to figure out a plan to win the game and plus l secretly liked making poems and I have never read manga before which is also a plus ill need to some alone time to form a plan

[dcwnthercbbithcle]

♧ for leshy

Mun's Interpretation Meme || ACCEPTING

♧ Any part of their canon portrayal you dislike?

Okay, this one is really tricky, because, quite honestly??? I adore how canon handled and depicted Leshy! Though he was a far cry away from the Leshy we first met in Sacrifices Must Be Made, there's such a heart and theatrical charm behind his character! Which is to say in some ways I do prefer the original version of Leshy over the newer version from the extended game. BUT I DIGRESS

My biggest gripe though is how little we really get to see of HIM. But Bun, you say, he had an entire act DEDICATED to him. But hear me out: we did, technically, but what did we learn about Leshy? What did we see of him, or hell, even with his storytelling! How much were we able to witness? Not enough, I feel.

Leshy is... well, he's elusive, and I know its by design. When he glimpsed the old code, he kind of WOKE UP, he realized that who he is, or rather, who he THOUGHT he was, didn't matter. He couldn't derive any purpose from it, or even pleasure. He couldn't go back to how he had been, to look at his world in the same light once it became clear it was just a game built for another's entertainment.

So, instead of trying to go back to pretending and desperately hoping to close what was opened, he went a little off the handle and decided that instead of fighting the new knowledge, he would embrace it. He would rip down the charades of this false world and create a game of his own, a story he could tell and present. For connection, and purpose, and to memorialize and help him grieve with the life he once knew. While in the process, shedding himself of his old identity.

I hope I'm describing it in a way that makes sense, but throughout Act I, while we see Leshy, it's not really... him. Through the grief, fear, isolation and emotional distancing himself, he's become more of a character I'd like to call the Narrator. And it's just, ugh, I wish we could see more of Leshy as he was in Kaycee's mod!

Joking around and having a bit of fun with his game, being a hardass and intimidating with that wise-ass wit to him. I wish we could have glimpsed more of the buildup between him and the other Scrybes and understood a bit more about their history prior to Leshy McFreaking Losing It. I just want more forest peepaw time!

[quanonthecob]

osu! diary, 3rd december 2022

so i've been grinding osu! quite a lot during the past week, when i definitely should have studied more, especially when mid-terms are coming up, in fact, i have one tomorrow morning, but i'm here writing this lol

also i titled this "diary", but this is probably a one-time thing, like yeah yeah, diary in vnese is nhật ký, and nhật (meaning "day") implies the daily aspect of it, but hey, i can't be bothered to write sth daily, not like i have enough ability or linguistic skills to write so much ._.

so yeah, like i've said before, i've been grinding a lot recently. specifically, this is the graph showing the number of plays in the past year

November: 175 plays

December: 59 plays (keep in mind we're only 3 days in)

so yep, the future's not looking so bright LOL

the main reason why im playing so much is because i've got a new laptop, so i'm kinda abusing the storage and specs upgrade from my last laptop

and... on the topic of storage, here we have the amount of storage i've spent for storing the beatmaps

i feel fortunate because i'm currently only into play osu!standard, and not other game modes as well, because god knows how much more storage it's gonna take up

but yeah the first few days when i first installed the game, i mass downloaded the beatmaps. i just looked up some popular artists and download all the beatmaps of the songs that i know. to the point that osu literally temporarily blocked me from downloading any more beatmaps 💀💀💀 they quite literally shouted at my face that i need to stop downloading maps and play more...

of course, after playing for a bit and waited until the next day, i could download more beatmaps again 😈 so as of now, we end up with

...

i have no idea if i'm gonna be able to play all of them. obviously there are also beatmaps from other game modes, and there are 6-star, 7-star beatmaps which i don't think i'm gonna ever have enough skills to play them. i might need to filter them out sometime, for now i can't be bothered to do that, especially when they don't take up that much space in my hard disk.

there's kinda one problem tho, it's when i try to press the Z and X keys on this laptop, but it's a membrane keyboard, and this laptop also happens to be really slim too, so pressing the keys down feels very shallow. i find it really annoying at first typing on this keyboard, still does now, but im more used to the feels. but yeah, it feels kinda weird having to spam these two buttons playing osu!, and since the laptop in general is so fragile, i always feel like i'm damaging the keys somehow. so i might get specialised keycaps just for this game idk (if i do, that would be extremely concerning actually)

~~~~~

and so the grinding starts, i played some maps that i used to love playing on my old laptop, also tried out some new maps, most of them are songs that i'm already familiar with, so i tend to not have a lot of problem with the rhythms

one of the really good songs that i've downloaded and have played recently is lily allen's fuck you. honestly, the song itself is amazing. the beatmap, well, it's a little bit slow, so i had to do put some mods in, specifically HR - hard rock, making the circles smaller and faster and DT - double time, increase the speed of the song and the beatmap by 1.5 times i think (yeah i know it says double but that's how the mod works ig)

honestly that was pretty challenging to me already, especially when the tempo of the song is 1.5 times faster. but it also pays off with a good amount of pp (let me stop you horny mfs right there, it's performance points) and rank, and ofc had quite a bit of fun playing it, and a bunch of adrenaline as well.

another beatmap is sesame street's cookie butter choco cookie, it's basically ppap, but for kids

honestly i'm still wondering how is this a thing, like, look at this

セサミストリート：ピコ太郎、エルモとクッキーモンスターの CBCC （Cookie-Butter-Choco-Cookie) - YouTube

the beatmap was just the first minute when elmo and cookie monster was singing. there are also quite a lot of difficulties to choose from, so i just played a lot of that song, not to mention because i'm also kinda grinding for stats, and i tried a difficulty that's a bit harder for me, so yeah just imagine having elmo and cookie monster "awh" harmoniously in your ear three times each time the song plays and have that repeat for about 15-20 minutes...

truly traumatised

it kinda pays off tho, i got a 2nd highest on my PB leaderboard, and im now in the 600k (ofc, not a lot, but still sth)

i enjoyed it a lot, i've always loved rhythm games, and osu! is an awesome game, despite it's clearly contributing to my highly likely, upcoming dramatic academic downfall, but hey, circle clicking game is fun, you can't blame me alright?