#also the monthly things still bc i love those.

[frogndtoad]

just finished downloading aaaaall my music from bandcamp to my hard drive >:3

[moons-of-dewclan]

No need to reply to this publicly or at all.

Ko-fi is another option for monetization. It offers the monthly subscription type that Patreon does, but with the bonus of allowing people to pay manually instead of subscribing and seeing the stuff for 30 days.

You can also be directly donated to (and Ko-fi by default does not take a cut from donations). There's a shop, and that could be used for adoptables for example. If you have physical products you'd have to handle sending those yourself, though.

Ko-fi does have Discord integration if that's something you'd want to do.

They're actively developing, polls being added somewhere in the relatively near future.

PLS IGNORE IF YOU'RE NOT INTO BUSINESS AND WORK TALK, below the cut

THANK YOU FOR THE INSIGHT TYSM. i have a ko.fi page set up! at first i was just using it for small commissions and mini adopts BUT YEAH IT'S.. LOVELY i'll be using it alongside patreon more or less as a tip jar (ofc i'll still be working on commissions and ychs and adopts and stuff as primary income. we on that disabled adult GRIND!!!!) where i'll offer early access and some behind the scenes things! just optional if people wanna tip and enjoy some discounts, extra art/get things early! i'm surprised how many people have a large preference for patreon tho! i guess i kind of get it bc a lot of artists are on it and they can just follow whoever they like, BUT AAAH.. ko.fi's a lot cozier and less.. Sterile in terms of discord, i've always wanted to open one for good vibes, art things, helping other artists out and stUFF AND THINGS but it's been really hard to justify- OR EVEN FIND THE TIME TO- moderate and dedicate actual honest attention to it while i'm scrambling to do other.. workish things and social burnout. THAT SAID, if i ever get enough members/patrons that show interest or even want that, i'll probably open up a discord where i offer redlines/help/space for people to share, etcetc. and i won't feel like i'm dicking around at that point bc it's a community thing! OVERALL THO, i've come to find ko.fi is a better place for selling anything and offering discounts on said items. IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY INTUITIVE FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO OPEN A LITTLE ADOPT OR COMMISSION SHOP, seriously consider Ko.fi. it also just has a rly nice friendly, warmer vibe!

[userparamore]

I get that you don’t like Taylor but can you not see paramores growth as band because of the eras tour they seem so happy to be on that stage every night be grateful for that

first of all i don't really understand why you're coming for me over post that isn't even mine. second of all i'm allowed to be a fan of a band and be critical of them at the same time, and i've expressed my disappointment over this since the tour was announced. i'm not gonna beat a dead horse and bring up why i'm critical of this tour again in this answer, but the act of them being on this tour really says a lot about them for me in a negative way, and i think it's hypocritical of them after preaching about sustainability and equal rights for all.

paramore is also not some small indie band no one has heard of. they've been doing this for 20 years, they've sold out big venues, played madison square garden multiple times, they played their biggest show ever on the this is why aus&nz tour with 26,283 tickets sold in sydney. multiple of their biggest songs on spotify is close to a billion streams and they have 21 million monthly listeners. all this growth they've done, they've done on their own- sure it's nice that more people discover them, but they didn't need this tour to be successful. they already were.

also for me personally, this tour leaves a bad taste in my mouth. i come from a country where if i'm lucky they tour once every album cycle. i've been lucky to see them 2 times and the last time was in 2017. they played a festival so i didn't get to see a full set. they've been to my country four times total and 1 concert wasn't a festival. the eras tour didn't have a show in my country, and i wasn't about to fight swifties for tickets that are extremely expensive. in the end my friend ended up having a spare ticket to one of the vienna shows bc the person they were originally gonna go with ended up not being able to go, and i was asked if i wanted to go. me and this friend first became friends bc we both liked paramore, and they've never been able to see them live. travelling to vienna to have that experience together, i would sit through 3h of taylor swift for. i spent close to 2000 dollars on the whole trip including the ticket, for it to end up being cancelled. very happy we didn't die, but it still sucked to have spent all that money and the not be able to go. especially since this would've been my friend's first paramore live experience.

i'm happy they're having fun playing their greatest hits for 3 months. i'm happy for my mutuals who's been able to go and have had a good time. the money they earn will probably go to their new label, and hopefully we won't have to wait 5 years for new music. but don't tell me to be grateful.

i try my best to make this community a welcoming space. i try my best to contribute with gifs and edits, and post news when there are news. i've hosted countdown events, i've hosted/made zines, i've hosted gif challenges. i want to do all these things bc it's fun to be part of this community and i love the friends i've made here. but i can still do all those things, and not have to kiss paramore's ass. i can still express myself and speak on the things i don't agree with bc it's my blog. we've had "debates" in my inbox before, people have expressed their opinions on paramore before, and it's always respectful which i appreciate. we as a community can disagree on things and still be a community.

[t-lostinworlds]

hello! gosh, i honestly have no idea what else to do anymore. i've been such a huge ball of anxiety these pass few days and i feel like i've got no other choice ://

so, enrollment for the next semester is this Monday (in 4 days), and idk why my school decided to do it during this time when most ppl don't get paid until the last day of the month/next month. as if that isn't enough, enrollments are also on a time limit and now that we get to decide our own schedules, it's also a race on who gets the subjects first. and if you can't pay for a percentage of the tuition fee upfront, you're going to get delisted so you have to pick your subjects again. the later you enroll, the fewer timeslots. so i could end up having a 6-9pm which isn't safe for me in this city especially when i commute alone. even worse, our tuition for this semester is much higher for some reason and we weren't warned about it.

i can't ask for financial aid from my school yet bc it's required to have at least finished 1 year before you're able to. i'm still trying to look for student/personal loan options bc most i've seen so far require a monthly that i just can't afford rn and it only covers 1 term instead of a whole year so it's not really that sustainable :(( (i don't live in the US btw so it's not a "start paying when you graduate" thing. taking out a loan means i still need to pay monthly while in school on top of other expenses, which as you can imagine, feels more like a burden than it is helpful.) i've also tried looking for scholarships but most only support stem/business courses bc this country isn't nice to artists so that sucks.

i honestly have very little money saved and with the sudden increase in tuition, it's hard to cover half of it even with my parents' help. and again, nobody is getting paid until next month so money is already tight as is with it being the end of th month.

so long story short, i need some help. the first installment for the fee (converted from my currency) is about $600. BUT. NO PRESSURE. i'm only asking those who have extra to spare. and any and all amounts are welcome. it's already going to be such a huge help. hell, even just a simple reblog to boost this already helps a ton.

but also, my commissions are open! so if u want to have a lil story in exchange for just a tiny bit of help, that'd be great too <3

here's my kofi and my pypl

again, no pressure! even a smallest amount already helps a lot. and also, pls do reblog to boost. i really appreciate you! i hope you're having a wonderful day <3 don't forget to take care of yourself too. sending you wonderful people love always ❤️

tagging some mutuals under the cut for a boost bc sometimes this doesn't show up in the tags anymore (but also you don't have too!! you can ignore this if u want alskalks)

@selfcarecap @hollandsmoose @shellshocklove @tanaka-drew @agaritas @userholland @thecodyexpress @annab-nana @hollandweather @annathesillyfriend @cumholland @jasntodds @quethekillerqueen @worldoftom (ily guys, i hope you're all safe and well ❤️)

[wildpeachfarm]

See the thing is with streaming its going to die regardless, yes companies handing out less contracts is killing it further but its already dying at a fast rate? I'm not a stream hater either btw I really enjoy them but like. For example. 2020, 2021? When school was remote and I only ever worked mornings because of covid hours? I was clocked into that Philza 8hr stream DAILY. I was scheduling my classes around those streams so I could do homework while listening/watching. Went as far as to use my monthly speaking privilge to ask Phil what date British Daylight Savings began so I could keep my schedule clear. The second everything was no longer remote, and store hours went back to normal, I maybe caught 2, 3, maybe 4 streams in that year before I decided enough was enough about QSMP and I LOVE hardcore content.

From a company standpoint I can see why YT may not be interested in handing out streamer contracts anymore. Like Dreamie and a few others they're recognizing the Covid Number Boom is over- but unlike Dreamie, because theyre a corporation, they can't just "stick it out" and "recelebrate milestones". They have a "bottom line" to protect and they're not getting that same sweet sweet ad revenue from streams because of decreased viewer counts. Esp bc people don't just go back and watch vods unless there's a REAAAALLY good reason to. So no ad viewership there either. They're going to go back to relying on videos (and unfortunately probably shorts as well, I hate the tiktok-ification of every socmed site) to keep their ad revenue up, especially with the battle of ad blockers. I see more ad and monitization deals being handed out.

With streams (bc vod watching is lowkey practically nonexistant) not being in high demand bc of time constraints (happening while busy, timezones issues) the demands for videos will be higher as videos are ALWAYS readily available. Someone uploads at midnight your timezone? I mean it'll be there when you wake up, you won't have "missed" anything like you would have a livestream. Get a video schedule set out and you're GOLDEN- the first thing I do when I get home from work is check if a handful of youtubers have uploaded to put on to watch. If not, I rewatch some of my fav vids.

Also psychologically I actually think this is for the better of all CCs as a whole. Streaming, esp for some of the hourly requirements some of these ppl either HAVE to hit to get paid or WILLINGLY put themselves through (Tubbo) you have to wear your persona the ENTIRE time. You have to make sure you don't slip up that ENTIRE time. You have to be entertaining the ENTIRE time. You have to filter yourself because it's all live. To me this just sounds like what I do on a daily basis masking my audHD and that shit is so tiring and it's why I could NEVER be a streamer. If you're recording videos you can control what goes out. You don't have to wear whatever persona you decide to put on for 8hrs for a stream, you can record 3 hours of footage and then be done for the day, and that can either be one video or multiple depending on a lot of factors. Accidentally say your mom's name? Cut the clip. Bit isn't funny? Cut the clip. They will still have to actively filter themselves yes but for a much less amount of time. In the end CCs will have a lot more mind power that they're not using up to take care of themselves. I genuinely think it's psychologically better for them all.

It's unfortunate that the streaming industry is going to collapse this way. But also seeing how the communities heavily affected by streaming are more drama filled than communities w/o streaming, I'm lowkey hoping it's for the best. Pulling the plug like this imo is a mercy kill.

And now I'm gonna wash my mouth out for all that corporate speak I just used. Sorry for the manifesto. And if someone wants to put this manifesto on reddit idc just crop/block any usernames IG

I appreciate the essay-andy-ing these are interesting thoughts! I don't think the streaming scene will collapse entirely but I do think that it will become more advantageous to be a youtuber because people have found that to be the most consistent for many years as a CC rather than streams which require a lot of additional things (like you mentioned)

And I feel like we are seeing quite a few people say they're going to prioritize youtube more in the future which seems to be the beginning of that transition

I am curious if twitch will ever try to keep certain big-viewer streamers on the platform with 'kick-style' ($$$$) contracts.

[self-indulgent-paw-patrol]

hey lary!! since you run so many askblogs for paw patrol, what are your opinons of humanized AU’s of the pups? in your opinion, are they cool or too out of character for you?

and if you do think they’re cool, do you have any headcanons on what the pups would look like?

Hooooo man ahsuahshahsha okay let me see

PERSONALLY I am not a big fan of this kind of AU, but that's probably because I prefer animals to people (I'm not a people hater). Besides I always liked more the way how animals can be so expressive, use a lot of body language and you don't need to guess if they're in a good mood or if they'll try to bite or kick you - they make it evident. I'm absolutely AWFUL to understand human body language or social cues, it got me in so much deep trouble several times I literally avoid staying around a bunch of my relatives because of that - and that's because I love them, imagine how it would go if I disliked or hated them???

Also I tend to gravitate towards animals the most because they're sincere and won't lie to you on how they feel. And about cartoons/movies/etc, animals usually represent fantasy, a fantastic different world, another point of view I live for and love to explore. They're an escape for my mind to take a break from our chaotic real world and just... Go back to our roots, y'know? All those jokes like "When I was a child my only worries were my school grades, what we would have for dessert and to finish homework in time for watching my favorite cartoons on TV, I was happy and I didn't know it", like now I have too many "adult worries" such as monthly bills expiring, being unemployed, spending hours at the supermarket doing maths to buy the most I can with little money... Being a freelancer artist is hard as hell, I can barely make a living for my parents and little brother and my pets (I've gone hungry to bed several times before bc I spent my last savings on cat food instead of dinner for myself, also my cat and dog share the cat food bc dog food is more expensive and thank God they eat the cheapest kibble just fine). Right now it's been three weeks I'm staying at my friend Pablo's home to recover from a crisis of malnutrition. I am literally here to be properly fed and regain weight and strength. I think I can go back home next week.

So, sometimes I just... Don't want to worry. And then I go for animals. Their only worries are when I'll feed them, if we can play together now or in five minutes, and if I'll sleep next to them in the living room that night or not (they can't sleep in the bedroom XD). Their life is so much more simple and I like that kind of simplicity.

Also I draw animals better than humans too LOL (even if my mom will disagree with me on that, she says my humans are just as good nowadays)

With all that being said, I also find humanized AUs interesting in their own way when they're well written. Sometimes it's hard to adapt things, a lot of stuff that works with animals won't work with humans just as well or will be viewed as weird. I like to come up with furry AUs sometimes, they're sort of humanized, but still retaining their animal traits. But when people do their research, pour their love and soul in it, work on the little things to make it all click together, a nice carefully written human AU will appeal to me almost as much as the original source any day.

As for appearance headcanons? Oh well XD I'm not sure I can answer that so quickly - I like to take my time and do a lot of research, try sketching stuff to see if it works well or not... I'll owe you the answer for now, alright? I'll show up someday with another post listing my headcanons for a human AU on the pups.

After I do the same for a furry AU, as a warm up XD

[xf-cases-solved]

S1E17: E.B.E.

Case: Bro, I watched and (mostly) paid attention to this episode, took notes on this episode, and read the Wikipedia page about this episode, and I'm still not 100% sure I know what happened in this episode. TL;DR, there might have been a UFO spotted, carrying an E.B.E. (extraterrestrial biological entity), and the shadow government might be trying to hide it. Or maybe the shadow government is trying to make them THINK that they're trying to hide it to distract them from ??? Deep Throat is telling the truth. Unless he's lying. Maybe he's telling half-truths. He lies to protect himself. Or maybe he lies to mislead Mulder. Maybe he's physically incapable of lying. Maybe he has never once been able to tell the truth. Maybe there are two Deep Throats and one only ever lies and the other only ever tells the truth and you have to solve his riddle. Whatever. That's for Mulder and Scully to deal with. The actual main purpose of this episode is—LONE GUNMEN INTRODUCTION!!! 

God, I love those sluts.

(Oh, also, at the beginning of the episode, some government officials are trying to get rid of Mulder and Scully, bc that's usually what happens, and instead of trying to be circuitous and Political™️, the guy just sighs, sounding super over it, and says, "Just go away." That's not relevant to the case or anything, I just thought it was really funny.)  

Does someone die in the cold open: Unclear. It's possible an alien was kerploded, but really, who's to say?

Does Mulder present a slideshow: No

Does the evidence survive the investigation: Homie, idek if there was evidence to begin with. I don't even know if there was an actual CASE, or if this was just Mulder dragging Scully along for a fun extracurricular activity. 

Whodunit: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Convictions: lol

Did they solve it: No. They don't even get experience points. Fuck you.

[how do i determine if a case is solved? check the scale here: x]

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY: The Lone Gunmen periodical—your monthly top news source for all things conspiracy. Who killed JFK? What's the government REALLY doing with all those AI devices? Have you checked your twenty dollar bills for any tracking devices lately?

Subscribe today to find out!

***

General Total Stats:

(green means stat has changed since last ep; red means new stat added to list)

Total Cases *Definitively* Solved So Far: 8 (streak ended)

Total Number of "Mulder/Scully, It's Me" phone calls: 1

Total Number of Times Scully Has Conveniently Not Seen Something Crucial: 5 (i'll say that her not running after Mulder and ergo missing the entire scene with Deep Throat counts)

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Been in Mortal Danger: 5

Total Number of Times Scully Has Been in Mortal Danger: 6 

Total Number of Sexually Charged, Uncomfortably Intimate, and/or Flirty Moments Between Friendly Coworkers: 10 ("i think it's remotely plausible someone might think you're hot." excuse me, sir?? 😳😏 also, "you're the only one that i trust." like damn, use your inside voice. every time these two talk about trust, i feel like i'm watching their amateur porn)

Total Number of Autopsies Scully Has Performed On Screen: 1

Total Number of Times Scully Plays Doctor: 2

Total Number of Times Mulder Talks to an Informant: 10 (there was a lot of deep throating in this episode, and no i will never be mature about that name so don't even ask)

Total Number of Times People Making Out in a Car Are Hurt or Killed: 2

Total Number of Nosebleeds: 4

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Tasted/Sniffed/Touched Something Questionable Without Following Proper Safety Procedures: 2 

Total Number of Times Someone Says "Trust No One": 1 

Total Number of Times Someone Says "I Want to Believe": 2

Total Number of Times Someone Says "The Truth is Out There": 1 (i might have missed some before this, bc i thought i was tracking this stat already, but apparently i wasn't. we're just gonna pretend otherwise tho, mk?)

Total Number of Cigarettes Cigarette Smoking Man Has Smoked: 2

Total Number of Maggie Scully Sightings: 1 

Total Number of Lone Gunmen Sightings: 1!!!

Total Number of Alex Krycek Sightings: 0 :(

Total Number of Times I Had to Look Up What State the Episode Takes Place in Even Though I Literally Just Watched It: 5½ (whatever. i know part of it took place in i think mb iraq? and then they were at the lone gunmen's house and the hoover building so they had to have been in DC too. so leave me alone 😔)

Total Number of Times I Had to Look at an Episode's Wikipedia Page to Fill This Out Because It Was Fucking Confusing and/or Too Boring for Me to Pay Attention: 4 (at the end of my notes on this episode, i literally wrote down "i have no idea what happened in that episode." and it was tru 😌)

[stayevildarling]

ask game for billie dean

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

ty🫶🏼

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I love her vibes allover, her badassness, the way she smokes, that she can dress both milf but also granny and still looks gorgeous. I just love the sugar mommy vibes all over.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

I hate how much dangers her job brings along bc I just want billie bean to be safe🥺

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

„Fade into you“ by Mazzy Star

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

I love how we collectively agreed on the petnames „babydoll“ and „kitten“

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

I mean back then when the fandom was filled with writers I didn‘t like that Billie was always made out to be a cheater. I hated reading those fics.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

-she can‘t cook

-orders food and when in company of people she orders fancy foods/catering

-has a bookclub with her friends

-has subscriptions for her favorite things like monthly perfume, skincare and makeup

-will get her assistant to queue early in the morning for a designer bag, if not possible she will pay the first person in line a considerable amount.

[ooops-i-arted]

renewing my "anti ahsoka" club membership on a monthly basis now because i'm beyond done with her stans getting pandered to especially at the expense of other jedi. and i'm one of those people that didn't mind her much in tcw even though i really think she maybe should have been the apprentice of plo koon or literally anyone else instead of anakin. but it's apparent to many people that she's outlived her narrative purpose and is there just so filoni can make live action fanfic.

like i was watching the disney gallery episodes for Both bobf and mando and everytime filoni feels the need to go into his "isn't ahsoka so amazing and powerful, she trained under anakin" spiel i fast forward through that shit, like we Get It filoni you want to worship your precious darling! he even describes working on her show as a "religious experience" and wants her to be this enlightened force goddess, aka the Daughter reincarnated. if he's already like this when she's a mostly redundant cameo, can you imagine how insufferable he is going to be in the behind the scenes episodes for her own show?

just scenes of badly recreated togruta cosplay with mediocre acting, parodying better made samurai films. maybe a trapper wolf cameo thrown in somewhere. who wants to sit through episodes of that shit? not me.

I am so glad you pointed out the TCW thing because I've often thought the show would be MUCH stronger with a tighter focus on Ahsoka as another Jedi's apprentice and just occasional cameos or episodes featuring the Main Characters like Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padme, Mace, Yoda, etc. More like Rebels. It could've been really cool to see the Clone Wars through a young apprentice's perspective since the main films we usually see it through the eyes of the higher ups. (That's what I liked about Rebels the most - it's not just Leia and Luke and Han who deal with the big picture, but we got a tighter focus on fighters on the front line, and new characters to fall in love with.) (Also one of the biggest reasons I hate TCW is how they warped Anakin especially but also Obi-Wan ooc, those are NOT my boys, and a focus on Ahsoka would've mitigated that and kept Filoni away from them.)

I don't begrudge any fan their love for a character, and Ahsoka has undeniably widened the playing field for female characters in Star Wars, but Filoni, please: variety!! She doesn't have to be in everything!! I'm tired of watching a show for something else and then suddenly it's TCW 2.0 Featuring The Super Specialist Jedi-But-Not-A-Jedi-Because-She's-BETTER Ahsoka. Mandalorian S2 E5 spent more time on her than Din and Grogu!! She completely took over the Rebels season 2 finale!! Filoni invented time travel in the Star Wars universe to save her from Vader and had Ezra save her over his father figure. What the fuck??? I mean, I can write endless fanfic about Cara Dune bc no one is paying me for it and I owe no one anything. He's helping lead an entire franchise and for god's sake can we PLEASE have something besides Ahsoka, Order 66, and Man Adopts Child? (And stop acting like Ahsoka is the third member of the prequel trio. IT'S PADME.)

I'm not gonna lie, I hope the show flops hard. I'm not proud of that, I'm still torn because don't want that to affect Rebels characters, and I do hope the Ahsoka fans like it, but I wish Filoni would get a reality check as vengeance for ripping apart Zahn's Trilogy for pieces and rebuilding it around Ahsoka and for handing Din's set up arc in The Mandalorian to Yet Another Fucking TCW Character. Or at least that Lucasfilm stops licking his butthole and lets him greenlight what's basically his own fanfiction.

Don't even get me fucking started on the Daughter and the Mortis arc. That was when I quit TCW when I tried to watch it all. THAT'S NOT HOW THE FORCE WORKS. (Also doesn't Anakin like resurrect her with the Force or something? The power he was trying to get in RotS when it's pretty explicit it isn't a thing and Palpatine was lying to him to mainpulate him? Filoni broke canon just so precious widdle Ahsoka won't die? Are you shitting me???)

[redhotchilisimblr]

rant about the sims 4

new roadmap unpopular opinion :

i’m quite satisfied with this roadmap. i mean, we got so many EPs in 2023 that I can barely catch up (I haven’t fully explored growing together, not finished my ranch and still setting residential lots..) there are so many things to do and a lot of simmers want “content for having content”, and are not actually playing the game. i know that we don’t play at the same speed (I'm very slow, I don’t age my Sims, haven’t finished Willow Creek.. so it says a lot), but how can you complain that EA releases too many packs, but at the same time request for more and more expensive packs? lmao it doesn’t make any sense. 

also, I don’t consider kits as packs. they are add-ons for people who want to expand some collections, but are not really essential to get (let alone the fact that some cc creators made some kits available as base game items). despite being a GC, I have purchased some of them with my own money and I regret some kits lmao. now, they are better quality content (for the price I mean) but at a time it was like.. yeah, I don’t want this but I still want all the DLCs. 

I live in France and here we have a powerful currency with the euros. But a lot of simmers tend to forget that many players are living with minimum wage or in a country where even 5$ USD means a lot on their salary/earnings. Now, imagine how players from “weaker currency” (let them called like that bc I don’t want to be biased, or let people think that everyone is poor in some countries when its totally not the case) are dealing with 40$ USD EP coming back to back ??? I mean, in some countries, 40$ USD is a monthly salary or not far away. Which means, getting 3 EPs is out of pocket - literally. 

The Sims 4 is now a luxury to play - because of EA’s greed, for sure, but also bc some players are pushing this agenda of “we need more packs, now!” and bc there’s a high demand, they do not care if the product is exactly want people want. I’m not trying to blame anyone in particular. Tbh, I used to be this kind of player (mostly bc at the launch, the game feeled empty and like a let down compare to previous edition). But now, I fully understand that we are responsible for this never ending issue. As a Game Changers, I know that some people might not believe me, or think it’s not genuine but, clearly, I’m not paid by EA for doing anything. I just playtest most of the time in very short period. I have a great job, I also have some passive income. I don’t need to be influencer to earn money and its a blessing.   

don’t forget that we are all waiting for updates to fix For Rent. it will be mad to launch a new EP if the previous one is still broken for so many players. there’s a lot of things changing for the influencers also and this “slow” time could be used to discover new gameplay, new players, new cc for those who used them and explore all the things we missed in the packs we already have. i still discover new options to this day and I play quite a lot so, you know, we are going to chill together and it will be good. 

as for my suspicion, I really do think as simmers we shouldn’t be worried about upcoming contents. with new competitors launching their game in 2024, EA will be more cautious about the kind of content they release, and they might release more in a shorter time period. I BET we will be flooded with DLCs by the end of the year... 

Now, I really do hope that more Game Changers will be more vocal about the issues (its starting but with caution). we really have nothing to lose. Not bc TS4 is going to be fixed (it won’t, as the BG have so many structural/coding issue) but for Project Rene. We need collectively to point out all the things we do love about TS4 (bc it’s a really beautiful game with a lot of potential) and also the things we don’t like. Loving something or someone is always about honesty : if you friend smells bad, please, tell him. if your friends is in the wrong, tell him! So if you care that much about the Sims, please, tell politely whats is wrong with the game without harassing the creators/workers. 

someone should just open a public file with all the complains compile and give it to the Project Rene team bc we do not want to miss this one for sure.

with all my love always, 

Red

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

Just some writing musings

Around the end of last year, I made the choice to stop posting most of my WIPs. I was starting to get more and more of the "When are you going to update" type of comments. and that was really cancelling out the joy i'd get from other comments.

It's been good in some ways...

I no longer feel like a content vending machine.

I'm not as stressed about whether or not readers will like where im going with a story.

I no longer feel guilty about irl getting in the way

For the WIPs I am still posting on ( the huge Sailor Moon series sequel and the SM / HP crossover... theyre so niche that I feel like people have been reading it so long that theres not as many update requests. the folks reading that have been with me through grad school. they know i'll finish it... and they do get mammoth sized chapters so I guess that balances out...)

But I have noticed that for the wips im not posting... Out of Reach, Unbroken, Universe to Bend, the rest of the Voyager rewrites... not posting as I go hasnt changed my excitement for them but dear god, It has tanked my writing pace.

Doing monthly writeathons with other writing folks has helped me fill in that motivation gap.

So do betas when i have them, to an extent (but betaing for me is a lot of work. i hate asking that of people).

Collabs have gone really really well - it's easy to get inspired when someone else is there going back and forth feeding your creativity.

But I seriously miss the inspiration / motivation boost that came from meaty comments. fangirling-comments, analysis-comments, questioning-what-would-happen-next comments, things-that-surprised-people comments, how-emotional-a-scene-made-them-in-public comments. I loved those discussions. and they really helped spark my inspiration for whatever the next scene had to be.

I didn't receive those comments very often though. so i do have to acknowledge that when they did help me write when life was busy, it was also not something i could rely on.

Writing is fun. Finishing long stories is hard. theyre a project. theyre work. theyre time and brain power intensive. Is feels ridiculous to say my hobby is hard and i still love the hobby, but it is true.

So back to the connundrum i've been at for a while. When I am low on time/energy to be creative: how do i make writing logistically easier, lacking outside inspiration or motivation boost? (will a physical journal help? phone reminders? scheduling writing blocks has been hit or miss) Or if i cant make writing logistically easier - how do i gain that motivator / inspiration to make it worthwhile? (writeathons help. betas when i dont feel guilty for how much effort that is. do i just make a private ao3 collection for WIPs and only invite readers who like to give meaty comments. that seems silly but thats a bit where im at with this)

For other writers (fanfic or otherwise) who struggle to write when theyre busy with irl. im curious what kind of solutions you have. bc i dont see life getting less busy or brain-power-consuming...

[crehador]

How do you budget for gatchas? I ended up pulling for both Arknights Zuo Le and ARBs Nemu but failed both after 120 and 75 pulls respectively. Arknights was kind enough to give me the Shu and a Ling dupe, but ARB I got nothing and I have nothing left lol

I actually semi ragequit ARB after my Nemu incident , bc I was trying to save for Samatokis ultimate card. Now that the card is out with this timing, I'm taking it as a sign to take a long break lol. So I respect your grind for the back to back smic cards!

unfortunately it's either swipe swipe swipe or be very diligent about saving free currency + get lucky as well

the advice i have is for the diligent + lucky f2p approach because i don't recommend the swipe swipe swipe route like. at all lmao

for me, in arknights specifically, saving is often about making some extremely less than optimal resource/sanity choices lol

like i'm at 250 pulls on the current arknights banner (AND STILL NO ZUO LE SOMEHOW) and i'm going for 300 to spark nian (originally was going to spark chongyue but he just... came home like a good boy lol, so now out of the sui siblings i'm only missing nian)

so even though technically the best use of sanity is to farm the event stages (there's even rocks... delicious rocks......) i'm using my sanity to clear stages i haven't cleared before (in side story/record restoration) for more originite prime and therefore more pulls

i switched my factories and trading posts over to produce orundum instead of lmd too, which is definitely not smart because i always need lmd lol, and i e2'd some units i never use just to do their paradox simulations (also not smart because... again, i don't have the lmd to be messing around like this lmao)

also, personally i think the smartest use of gold certs is to save 180 for an operator of your choice, but i... have literally never done that orz i have no self-restraint and always buy the pulls with gold certs, so that helps too (and is why even after many years of playing I STILL DON'T HAVE SCHWARZ)

i happened to have a lot saved up when this shu banner started, so that helped too. i wasn't planning to go all in like this (logos... i need logos...) but zuo le is being such a fucking problem that i guess i may as well go all the way for nian now

as for arb, it's a lot of self-restraint

tl;dr i have to skip a lot of banners even if there's a card i really want

if you do all dailies and don't get super unlucky, as in going to full pity every time, i think it's possible to get every* event** card of at least 2 characters without spending at all. and it's definitely possible if you're only targeting every event card of 1 character

but tragically that does mean skipping a lot of things you want. like i would love to get nemu's ultimate card. i did actually throw some pulls into her banner when she first released, but alas. she did not want to come home

i knew samatoki was coming eventually (brutal that they put him right after nemu though) so after pulling ichiro's ultimate card, i didn't do any ultimate pulls whatsoever. i had about 50 pulls stocked up, plus some leftover gems from ichiro's bday savings

basically events with ichiro and/or samatoki plus their birthday banners are the only things i ever pull on, unless i have a lot of gems stocked up (then i try to go for anniversary events)

*more specifically, i should say every event card except one per year. i always pick one samatoki or ichiro event card to skip per year, and then grab it from the revival banner during anniversary events. being able to skip even one banner per year helps a ton with saving free resources

**and when i say every event card, i specifically mean the event cards attached to story-type events. i usually skip the monthly banner series (such as waftage) since there are other opportunities to get those cards throughout the year (now more than ever, with the new battle pass, i recommend skipping these since you can just outright buy them with the battle pass rewards, even from the free tier of the battle pass)

okay sorry this got very long and rambly lol but the real tl;dr is just

do all dailies, buy all free pulls, and skip a ton of banners

[dgdraws]

My art year in review!

I learned so much this year and made a ton of cool stuff! These are my favorites from each month, but it was so hard to choose. A lot of stuff didn't even get posted--I'll be sure to at least post the ones that made it to this list!

It's amazing to see how much I've changed and learned over this year, and to see the things that are emerging as part of "my style."

Here's to another year of delight, creation, connection and fun!

Some monthly reflections beneath the cut, but here's the highlights:

I participated in 3 art challenges, Artfight, OC-tober and Huevember.

I made fanart for the first time!

I created a piece I conceived of before I started drawing

Made some big breakthroughs in techniques and skills in April, July and November

January: My first branch into full character design, Rodd is the culmination of training on Hero Forge renders to make dnd portraits! I was doing this cool thing with neon rim lighting, I should bring that back!

February: I saw a piece on here with this amazing glowing effect, so I color picked it and experimented to figure out what relationship between the colors was making it do that! The answer was saturation. This rose is meant to be glowing from within, and I think I did a good job for my knowledge level at the time! As Chuck Tingle would tell us, it's beautiful because only I could have made it in that moment on the timeline.

March: I spent a million years on every detail of this one, it has at least 5 clipping overlay/saturation layers for lighting, multiple line work groups and I want to rework that background but! I never felt more accomplished than I did when I finished this one. I learned a lot, especially about things I could skip or simplify. And the symbolism really pops off ngl

April: I read Gideon the Ninth for the first time this month and I immediately needed to draw Jeannemary Chatur, Cavalier of the Fourth House, the worst teen to do it. She's the first fanart I ever made and posted! I also discovered a new pen tool with this one, which CHANGED THE GAME.

May: This one is an idea I had written down before I ever picked up the tablet and stylus. I thought I might commission someone to make it, the image of it came to me so clearly during our VTM session I just had to make it real somehow. Well I did it! This is one I will come back to redraw in like 5 years bc I love the concept so much. Also rife with symbolism and inside nods to the Low Kings.

June: I made a bunch of ref sheets in the run-up to Artfight in July. Caleb hadn't even been in my plans to upload, but I had time and inspiration! I will be uploading this and a few more of him <3

July: This is one of my faves from Artfight! This character is Blueberry, by way of OrchidEatsBread on artfight. I have still never played... rainworld? But I love me a slug cat. In July I drew a TON of people, it really drilled anatomy basics into me and how to get clothes looking like actual clothes a bit more. Also solidified some things I would consider "my style" at the moment, like no irises, and my approach to noses and mouths and fingers!

August: Another fanart for the Locked Tomb series, I never posted this!!! Will be rectifying that soon.

September: I got really into javascript and css this month, and I made this to be a landing page image on my neocities website XD I'll get back around to that eventually...

October: At the last minute, I discovered OC-tober and the prompts from @/bweirdart, a worthy follow up to the rush of Artfight two months previous. I developed so much stuff for the Low Kings, including this drawing/character, Amayah/Girl-Z, who has been a figment of my pintrest board for 2+ years.

Huevember: Chasing that OC-tober high, I found Huevember! I did not expect to actually do every day, but it proved to be an amazing exercise! I learned so, so much about color, discovered amazing new brushes and techniques and found I really enjoy working in those one day capsules! I loved a lot of the stuff that came out of this month, including my highest note post ever!!!, but this one is still my phone background and I'm maybe developing an OC world around it. We'll see what happens in 2024.

December: I got hit HARD with the writing bug this month, so this was my only choice for this month but I WOULDA CHOSEN IT ANYWAY. I unlocked something here that I'm really excited to visit again, in fact I'm working on a companion piece rn! This is also fanart btw, prepare for me to get even weirder about this guy in the coming months.

If you've read this far, thank you so much! I have so much fun writing these little reflections and making my posts on here.

xoxo, wren

[hellhoundlair]

Happy DFF! Would the dynamic between Sam and Dean Jr be similar to the one between John and Dean or is it something entirely different?

hiiii happy friday! thank you for the ask!

this is a really good question. i think they both have the same heart to it (of course with dean conflating dean with mary and sam conflating dean jr with dean) i think they would be set apart slightly because of course the backdrop and circumstances of their relationships are different but at their core they follow the same rhythm. also im going to mostly go into this in a non-sexual abuse way because i want to go into the more broad dynamics these relationships have and that goes so much further than sexual aspects. so im sorry for the lack of dadfucking. instead u get psychoanalysis. fun.

i feel like john and deans relationship has a lot to do with how john parentified dean, relied on him emotionally, relied on him as a hunter, to take care of their his kid, to mediate, to be his right hand man, all that shit. dean filled so many different roles for john and dean did it all because dean was isolated and john was all he knew. i dont think john intended to fuck dean up like that but he sure made all the decisions that lead to the environment that dean grew up in.

things with sam and dean jr are much different. i feel like the two schools of dad sam thought are either sam very consciously telling himself "im not going to be like my father" while making decisions involving his son OR sam unintentionally spiraling into john like behavior. i personally -- despite loving angst and bad endings or whatever -- am a fan of the first one mostly for the sake of mixing up dynamics (but also sam can still slip into classic john treating his son like his dean partner every now and then before realizing to his horror what hes doing. as a treat.)

which would really set sam and deanjrs relationship apart from dean and johns. there is no isolation to the level of sam and deans upbringing, or treating dean jr like an equal when he should be treating him like his 13 year old son. but i do think sam falls into obsession with dean jr.

like dean jr is a normal kid with a normal life but when his friends ask if he can have come over for a sleepover on friday dean jrs like sorry i cant my dad doesnt like me being out of his sight for more than 12 hours at a time otherwise he has a breakdown and also he and i are going on our monthly trips where we drive around aimlessly while he talks about his glory days and about my uncle dean and how perfect and wonderful and great he was and he'll eventually slip into talking to me like im not his son and it's a little weird but i like it because he treats me like an adult and it feels good to have that sort of respect even if its not because he respects me its just because he projects his brother onto me because he physically cannot grieve properly from a loss that big though it does kinda suck because now i feel like i have to live up to the infallible legend of this man ive never met and i feel like i have to do everything right because i dont want to disappoint him but id do anything to make him love me the way he loved his brother.

so sam - even in all his attempts to give his son a normal life - has basically achieved a "normal life" version of john and deans dynamic. i will say i do think sam is a good parent outside of this. like he tries, but its just not going to be possible for him to be normal and just move on after losing dean. its always going to haunt him and his relationships no matter what.

u probably asked this in regards to sexual abuse bc of the tags i left on a post abt that. im fine with talking abt that. i dont usually tend to because i dont want to be indelicate on the topic because. its fucked up! but this is ur warning if ur sensitive to those topics bc im going to touch on it.

again, i think the core of john and deans abuse - as well as sam and dean jrs abuse - is the conflation of their child with their lover. and this can also manifest sexually too. i wouldnt think sam and dean jr would have anything frequent going on. not like johndeans relationship which i tend to imagine as being more similar to them being lovers, almost like fucked up husband and wife type shit where they are lovey dovey behind closed doors and dean embraces being johns wife. i think with sam and dean jr it would be something more. casual? not the right word, but i mean stuff like casual nudity, or physical contact that seems atypical for a father and son that r mostly are explained away by a lack of physical boundaries set between them, until you remember that sams brother lover and how sam gets into these mindsets where he treats dean jr more like a brother than a son and thats what causes alarm bells to go off.

i dont know if dean jr would know that his father was in love with and fucking the brother that dean jr lives in the shadow of. i dont think he'd find out about that until he was older. but i think things would all start to line up and make all too much horrifying sense after he realised it.

[agaypanic]

who is your favorite character from each show you write about? and why?

ooo this is fun

Derry Girls - i honestly can't choose between james and clare, i love them both so much!! james seems so awkward bc he doesn't know what's going on and clare is so funny when she gets panicky, i love the english fella and the wee lesbian lmao

I Am Not Okay With This - stan!! he's just so unapologetically himself, plus i love his style. his fits go hard. (also i love bloodwitch, i'm so glad that netflix made an album for a fake band lmao)

My Babysitter's A Vampire - obvi benny, that man's the love of my life (atticus mitchell is so dreamy). he's like one of those guys that immediately comes to mind when someone brings up stereotypical disney 2010s boys. but rory is so close up there, i love dumb blonde men

Malcolm In The Middle - malcolm!!! despite being an only child, i relate to him a lot. he's the whole reason i started writing for mitm in the first place

The Maze Runner - gally, mainly bc he's the only tmr character i write for (although ive only written one thing for him and it was over a year ago). i absolutely love will poulter, plus gally's so real for being like "fuck this greenie we can't trust him" bc imagine being stuck somewhere for 3 years and this newbie comes along and breaks all the rules and figures out how to get out in like less than a week (love thomas tho)

That 70's Show - eric!!! i love nerdy beanpole men. he has his moments but for the most part i think he's def one of the best members of the friend group (the writers did him and topher so dirty at the end tho, making him have like no direction in life and then making him move to africa and break up with donna, that felt so out of character imo) (topher grace <333) (i still have to see that 90s show, if youve seen it lmk if its good!! no spoilers tho pls lmao)

iZombie - even if i wrote for more than just him, i love ravi. again, i love nerdy men. there's just something about him and his sweaters that has me kicking my feet and giggling. also, when he ate that brain the first time we see him getting his monthlies RAHHHH made me feel stuff

obvi i love all the characters i write for but for some fandoms, i def have favorites lol

[kithtaehyung]

Ryen hi! Remember when you posted some time ago about being offered a job? Well I've got something to share if you don't mind hehe

I wanted to text you immediately to congrats you, but I wasn't mentally in the right place because I was actually stressed out about finding a job and I... wasn't exactly sure if I *want* to find a job here or if I want to go home and work there. And as I was looking at your post, it makes me realize just how important it is to put yourself and your creation out there for people to see. I never do that, bc I'm.. too shy, too unconfident, I don't believe in myself enough. So even if I know I'm good at something... I can never put it out there.

Anyway, long story short, my visa expires on September 1 and if I don't find a job right away it's pretty much obvious that I'm going home bc I need to extend my visa, find a new place, and find a job. None of those are easy tasks. I was basically resigning myself into whatever's gonna happen without doing anything about it bc I do not even know what I want.

But. well. I did a part time job with this company before (like 6 months ago??) as a tour guide and last week they suddenly called me after so long and I got offered (!!! 😭) a job and the company wants to sponsor my visa and even pay for the deposit of the new place (that they're going to help look for me also!!!!!! wtf😭😭😭) which they'd just cut off from my salary monthly instead. They're busier than I am looking to find ways to get a working visa for me 😭😭

I've always been the kinda person who believes that whatever's meant for me, it will happen. if i was meant to work here instead of back home, then the way will come to me somehow. and it did?? so now basically it's just about my visa while everything else is practically decided.

ANyway, this is getting long and I just wanna say that I got reminded of you when I got offered the job and I wanted to share hehehhe

🌌🌌

STARRYYYY the way I was about to shout your actual name LOL just imagine me screaming it out loud and congratulating you in person😭 if I was there I most def would’ve gotten you a gift and brought it to you🥹🥹 or we would’ve gone back to that cute af coffee shop for a date! and then found a nice rooftop or balcony to chill on.

Truly, I’m so so happy for you. And I’m honored you wanted to share this with me🥳💕💕 this is the type of stuff I love to hear about no matter how I’m feeling because it’s just like, an instant shot of happiness or good vibes. Absolutely love hearing updates or victories or good things like this!! So thank you for telling me.

Life just has a way of working out, even if the path is strange. This is something I’m still learning myself tbh, even if I kinda already know it to be true? Prepare, yes. But timing and things pull through in the end🫂

AHHHHH I’m just so🥹 for you.