#actual picture of me not being able to remember what memes I've already posted here

[widebruh]

[samflir]

What makes a good boot sequence?

A while ago, I had my first truly viral post on Mastodon. It was this:

You might've seen it. It got almost four hundred boosts and reached beyond Mastodon to reddit and even 4chan. I even saw an edit with a spinning frog on the left screen. I knew the post would go down well with tech.lgbt but I never expected it to blow up the way it did.

I tried my best to express succinctly exactly what it is I miss about BIOS motherboards in the age of UEFI in this picture. I think looking at a logo and spinner/loading bar is boring compared to seeing a bunch of status messages scroll up the screen indicating hardware being activated, services being started up and tasks being run. It takes the soul out of a computer when it hides its computeriness.

I think a lot of people misunderstood my post as expressing a practical preference over an aesthetic one, and there was at least a few thinking this was a Linux fanboy post, which it certainly is not. So here's the long version of a meme I made lol.

Stages

I remember using two family desktop computers before moving over a family laptop. One ran Windows XP and the other ran Windows 7. Both were of the BIOS era, which meant that when booting, they displayed some status information in white on black with a blinking cursor before loading the operating system. On the XP machine, I spent longer in this liminal space because it dual-booted. I needed to select Windows XP from a list of Linux distros when booting it.

I've always liked this. Even as a very little kid I had some sense that what I was seeing was a look back into the history of computing. It felt like a look "behind the scenes" of the main GUI-based operating system into something more primitive. This made computers even more interesting than they already were, to me.

Sequences

The way old computers booted was appealing to my love of all kinds of fixed, repeating sequences. I never skip the intros to TV shows and I get annoyed when my local cinema forgets to show the BBFC ratings card immediately before the film, even though doing so is totally pointless and it's kinda strange that they do that in the first place. Can you tell I'm autistic?

Booting the windows 7 computer would involve this sequence of distinct stages: BIOS white text -> Windows 7 logo with "starting windows" below in the wrong aspect ratio -> switch to correct resolution with loading spinner on the screen -> login screen.

Skipping any would feel wrong to me because it's missing a step in one of those fixed sequences I love so much. And every computer that doesn't start with BIOS diagnostic messages is sadly missing that step to my brain, and feels off.

Low-level magic

I am extremely curious about how things work and always have been, so little reminders when using a computer that it has all sorts of complex inner workings and background processes going on are very interesting to me, so I prefer boot sequences that expose the low-level magic going on and build up to the GUI. Starting in the GUI immediately presents it as fundamental, as if it's not just a pile of abstractions on top of one another. It feels deceptive.

There may actually be some educational and practical value in computers booting in verbose mode by default. Kids using computers for the first time get to see that there's a lot more to their computer than the parts they interact with (sparking curiosity!), and if a boot fails, technicians are better able to diagnose the problem over a phone call with a non-technical person.

Absolute boot sequence perfection

There's still one last thing missing from my family computer's boot sequence, and that's a brief flicker of garbage on screen as VRAM is cleared out. Can't have everything I guess. Slo-mo example from The 8-Bit Guy here:

[zombeebunnie]

Trembling Essence:💙Choice exploration + finished scenes💙

Hello and welcome new followers, here's an update on how things are going with the game! Firstly a big thank you to the sudden influx of support I got this week, I'm happy knowing people liked the little meme video I did! :,]

This post might be a little long since I had to rewrite a few things, I was trying to upload a picture of one of the new areas you can go in but I got an error and couldn't save what I wrote. :,S

Anywho, I mainly focused on quality of life changes and continued working with the one of the endings you can get at the start of the game.

I don't really know where to start but this ending took a lot longer than expected to really hit what I've been trying to go for. At first, it was going to have two different endings. I took out one of them because I didn't have much of a connection with it and I liked the idea of it being straightforward instead. When I went back over it, everything happened too quickly for my liking. To fix this I went back and added a few choices to at least give you an idea of what the area is like and how it effects the player(Y/N) while making sure the dialog transitioned correctly with what you see on the screen. It's nothing too wordy but I do like it a lot more than I did before. Even though this is still considered one ending there is a alternate version you can get depending on a certain choice. Towards the end I fixed up all the spelling errors I could find and happily enough, there wasn't many. For right now I'd say this ending is finished! Yay! x]

Here's one of my favorite CG's I drew for it:

I love how it turned out because I really want to do different angles and perspective through the terrain, I think this one is my favorite so far! :,,]

Here's a evening time version of it:

It's suppose to be raining in this image but I still need to practice getting the angle correct. :,,]

I'm also fixing/brainstorming up the second/third ending. This one will have two different areas you can navigate through to get an idea of where you are and a few hints of lore that will be referenced later on in the game. Those that have played the [Extended Demo] you probably know which ones I'm talking about. >;]

I already like the idea of them but for one of the paths, I didn't have enough time to branch it out and make backgrounds for it in the [Extended Demo] so here's a peek of a placeholder since I'm still sketching stuff out, nothing is finalized yet. :[]

Super close to the cabin section, yay! I actually miss writing/drawing out the segments in the cabin a whole bunch so I really can't wait to fix up that part once I'm done with the swamplands. :,,]

I said last week I'd post some of the new backgrounds/areas so here you go:

Kofi update:

I also had a small talk with my play testers and one of the things they brought up is that I should be promoting my ko-fi better so from now on I'll have little mini doodles doing so at the end of every game development post as a way to promote it! :] All donations and tips help tremendously while I work on the game. If you like what I create, please consider supporting what I do here! I was able to use previous tips to get a new wrist support brace when I'm drawing so a very big thank you to everyone who gave a tip! :,,]

Q&A / Ask box is open:

If you have any questions about Trembling Essence/Noah feel free to ask here or on itch.io please. This makes it easier for me to see and answer accordingly! I would really like to hear from you guys!

I enjoyed answering the asks I got recently this week! I'm trying to finish the rest when I can including the ones I remember that got deleted. There were some I genuinely couldn't answer because it would require me to mention major spoilers/the questions have spoilers in them. :,]

This post is getting really long now so that's all I have to discuss, thank you guys very much for all of the encouraging support this past week, I appreciate it a whole bunch! :,,]

[gracy-simsie]

Tagging game

I was tagged by @queenofvraquin ♥ Thank you !

Why did you choose your URL?

Well, my name is Grace and I wanted something similar to my name, so here you go! But I've felt like changing it back to one of my old names from my old blogs!

How long have you been on Tumblr?

Poe I've had this blog since 2021, but... I've been on here for a while, I looked it up and it since 2013! I was so smoll when I started here, I was a little shocked when I found out haha. My previous names were @ambrosiay @lagraziasims @lagraziana maybe someone knows me when I went by those blogs haha! The reason I changed blogs was mostly due to me being sad a lot of the blogs I followed were inactive (because I was gone for a year for example), so started fresh and new felt like the right thing to do! No worries, I am not gonna change anymore :P.

Do you have a queue tag?

No, I do queue my posts, but no tag for it ;).

Why did you start your blog in the first place?

I don't remember so well - cuz wel 2013 haha - I believe it was because I used to post ingame pictures on the sims 3 website and then somebody on there said something about a simblr and tada I found my place!

Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Because Ruby is my currrent obsession ♥

Why did you choose your header?

"

What's your post with the most notes?

I really didn't know so I used an online counter >.<! It was a post I made about looking for story telling simblrs, and ofcourse people love to find new stories and share their own!

How many mutuals do you have?

I am ... I am really not sure, so I counted them 63! :)

How many followers do you have?

268! Thank you for being interested in my stories and gameplay guys! ♥

Have you ever made a shitpost?

Oh Yes, when I see something I posted a long time ago, I am like fhghjjgfgh did I really think it was good? But well, on the positive side I like to keep those shit posts, because they remind me I grew a lot! Also nostalgic !!

How often do you use tumblr every day?

A lot haha, I have it on my phone. I use it more than my instagram or any other social media, because they just don't interest me as much :P.

Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? Who won?

You won't believe this, but no. When I was younger I ignored hate anons, because I thought why would I take the time to answer some petty ask when I could interact about nicer and more important things ;). TBH I don't know if it's because I notice different things now I am older, but I do like that people stand behind certain opinions or facts as of late. It is really interesting to read and I feel like I learn more, you know? I am not gonna interfere with it myself though, I am not certain I would be able to fully explain things in English. Sometimes I just need my passionate and harsh dutch words and phrase haha!

How do you feel about 'you need to reblog this' posts?

I see it more as a nudge than as a real obligations. It's still your own blog and I think people should post what they feel like. But I do confess I always read them, because most of the time those are very interesting real cultural, political etc. topics.

Do you like tag games?

Yes I do!

Do you like ask memes?

Haha, yes. As I said in other posts I like to talk. I have no filter in the amount I comment to people. I hope you are all okay with that, because that's not gonna change anytime soon! ;)

Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

I need a picture of a meme I saw rolling on my dash as of late...

Do you have a crush on a mutual?

No! I need to actually get to know someone before I can crush on someone! But I do sometimes crush on some of their sims for example @buglaur Theo , @gothoffspring Jet & @simgerale Sheridan 🥺🥺

I tag @simgerale , @buglaur, @alicesimblr & @gerbitfizz ! No worries of you don't want to or have already done it !

[zhoras-bitch]

I've been asked by the user of the account prettybitchywitchy to explain to some of their followers that her account has been canceled without warning and its completely gone. She thinks is because of the spoilers again though this time she was respecting the only 5 pictures rule in most of her posts, but also we think that maybe the ironic ,sassy, sarcastic comments about "discouraging people by playing" were too somehow as harassment but its only a theory. The only thing sure is that someone in lovestruck was responsible since the account was exclusively for commenting spoilers.

I hope it’s okay that I’m posting your ask (message me if it’s not) but I think people in the fandom should be aware of the potential danger they’re in. It sounds kind of dramatic but I mean it. On tumblr, if you receive 3 strikes within 18 months, your account will be terminated. All of your likes and subscriptions, your messages and all of the content you’ve ever posted, including your side blogs. All of your hard work, time, emotional investment, gone without a trace.

Most of you already know Lovestruck has been sending strikes left and right. But not going to lie, in the back of my mind I still thought that it was just some sort of a scare tactic. Like, they’re not actually going to go all the way, right? If you’re under the same misconception, I just want to emphasize: they absolutely are.

Ever since Lovestruck announced their new policy (5 screenshots, no full CGs etc.), I was doing everything to comply with their rules. And today I got a strike anyway. No warnings, no messages. On a post I made months ago, before the Lovestruck started enforcing these rules. The post is deleted now but luckily I was able to restore a cached copy (the images were screenshots from season 1 of Ezra's route).

Firstly, the purpose of this post is clearly comment/criticism. Secondly, although it does use over 5 screenshots, all of them come from different scenes and are only used to illustrate the points that I make. Thirdly, it's completely positive, encouraging people to read the route.

I started this blog one and a half years ago, and since then I've made over 500 posts. Even if most of them are screenshots with small captions, it's also memes, aesthetics, fanfiction, reviews. It's something I loved and put hours of my time in. What do they want from me? Go through all of it, destroying my own work to comply with their new whim? Or sit here in constant fear that my blog can be taken down at any time? Being targeted like this, I feel hurt. Confused. Betrayed.

The actions that Lovestruck is taking seem to make no sense. They are attacking content makers, the most devoted part of the fanbase. They are losing old fans and getting less new players by discouraging engagement on social media. At this point it's hard not to assume that there's some malicious intent on Lovestruck's side, like it's their weird evil scheme to purge their fanbase of all old players who remember their mishaps, leaving only the blissfully unaware newcomers. But the truth is, I believe, that they actually, really, truly don't get it. And I don't even know which one is worse.

All of this has been said before. This post is not a call to action. I don't know what to do. Sometimes I feel like just giving up.

Don't let it get to you. Take a break if you need it. Save your content. Be kind to each other and stay together. Maybe that way we can shout loud enough to get through to them.