#and the before is a sim in basic lighting where the shadows are even looking

[stinkrascal]

how do you guys add shadows and stuff to your edits i dont understand :(

[greenplumbboblover]

Not-a-tutorial - Lighting (Basics)

I really loved @nocturnalazure Storytelling tips, and figured I'd add one more chapter that I, personally, feel can be helpful to add the mood or maybe a bit more 🌶 to your pictures! (with or without reshade ;))

But first, go check out these tips by Nocturnalazure!

Camera Shots

Dialogues Part I

Dialogues Part II

Things to note before beginning:

This technique can be used with and without reshade/gshade/sweetfx or even editing images. (but I would recommend it!)

Make sure you're playing with at least "Lighting and Shadows" to highest settings. Otherwise this won't work.

All of the images in this post have been taken without being edited/haven't used reshade/gshade for them. (So, just the good ol' C button 😉)

A lighting mod can already go a long way! So, if you haven't yet, go find one before reading!

All Base Game compatible! No EPs/SPs needed

I'm in no way a colourist! But it may be cool to check the science behind it if you want to go more advanced on this :)

And with that said... let's get to it!

What do we need?

1. "Wall Area Light 1x1", (since it's simpler for sims)

You can find it under BuyDebug on (But first make sure you have Testingcheatsenabled true on!).

Pssst! I would recommend adding it to a catalogue! I made a "story" catalogue and added it so it's much easier to find it!

How to use lighting, the very basics:

Here we have Lolita Goth, outside with no lighting except for the world's.

Not to bad, eh? Well. there are a few reasons why we want to add lights to this scene.

Lolita's face is quite dark.

The reader will be very focused on the background AND the sim. (I personally keep looking at the bench, and less at Lolita right now.)

It's interesting, partially because of the lighting mod installed, but we can make it even more appealing.

NOTE: These techniques will work no matter if your sim is facing the sun or facing away from the sun! The results will always be the same with the lights.

Setup:

The basic setup is simple! You'll need 3 lights. One behind your sim(s), one sideways and one in front.

Back light = used for darker colours (blue, red, green, purple, orange)

Sub light = Used as helper colour for Back light. Can remove if not necessary. (helper in the sense of: Backlight is blue, adding purple can help being more interesting).

Front light = always white, flame, orange.

An example with the 3 lights used.

Setup:

Backlight = Red

Sub-light = Orange

Front Light = White

Why can't I just use the front light?

While it's not a bad approach in certain scenes, often the result is a bit too... tense:

(Left is with backlighting, right is with only front-light).

Personally I find the left image much more appealing, and more interesting to look at. But if trhe right picture is more your cup of tea, the feel free to use it!

Here's an example with the same principle but at night:

(Left is with backlighting, right is with only front-light).

Here, I think it shows it even more, how nice backlights can make something more captivating!

Now that we know about the basics of setting up our scenes... Let's get into the details a bit more!

How to use lighting for nighttime (Outdoors):

Here we got a scene with Lolita and Gunther Goth in a dark spooky graveyard, having a gothic-y picnick. In-game, this is the lighting setup as of right now:

It's lit up enough, right? While in regular gameplay this is definetly true, in a story setup we can actually make this much more interesting! But before that, here's our scene image:

The thing though is... while there is light, currently the eyes aren't drawn to Lolita's face at all:

So... how do we fix this?

There are a few ways. But all require our Wall Area Light!

Setup 1:

One light can go a long way! In this instance, I added only one light, and used "Dimmed" so it still shows as if they're in the dark. (To select different light settings, use Shift + Click to see them ;))

There are scenes where this would be enough (though, having 2 facing from different directions would work better), it dosn't really in this instance.

The problem, however, is that it almost feels like there's a spotlight that is facing them. The scene may have got a bit more interesting (as we are more focused on Lolita's face), but just isn't there yet.

Setup 2:

By adding in a blue colour, facing the back and a little bit the front of our subject(s) we get a much more "fake" nightlight representation.

Though, a few thoughts here:

While in this scene I personally liked making the back colours blue, we can always experiment a little and change one of the blue into purple!

Now, the part of Lolita's face that isn't blue, we do want a non-blue colour. For this, I like to cycle through the following colours:

White

Flame

Orange

(Rarely! But sometimes red).

See result here:

This all depends on your preference, and if you want a deeper colour. Or maybe, to even set a certain dramatic effect! (this is where red may be nicer).

Make sure to also play around with the intensity settings of each light! This can really change things up!

Currently, I've set up the intensities like so:

Blue 1 = Bright

Blue 2 = Bright

Orange/white/flame/red = Dim

Though, if Blue 2 is purple for you, I'd recommend setting this one to normal or even dim.

How to use lighting for Daylight (Outdoors):

This one is much easier, and more straightforward! While backlighting is important here as well, it's less of a necessity in this setting.

Okay! So you've posed all the characters, set up objects, etc... and now we're ready for the lighting! Here's what I currently have:

Not bad, not bad at all without any lights... but what if we add them!

Here I added a White-dimmed light.

Better! In fact, if this is the kind of lighting you want in your scene, then feel free to leave it here!

What about a little more complicated lighting... sort of what we did with our night scene?

Here the left light is a white-dimmed light, and on the right we got a orange dimmed light.

it's not much, but it definitely added a nice shade to the scene! :)

Let's get to how we do this same thing, but indoors!

[kimmiessimmies]

Just a ramble about aesthetics and things

Like most of us, I also saw that aesthetics question going round and since reading it and the responses to it, I've been thinking about it more than I should, which in turn got me thinking about other things Simblr and community related and I decided to share my two cents about it as well.

The question stated in the poll was "How important do you think 'aesthetic quality' is in the simblr community?" and the answers varied immensely. Doing a quick Tumblr/Simblr scroll, the answer would have to be 'very important', because most images showing up are very gorgeous: beautiful colours, great compositions, perfect lighting. However, when I check the tab that shows which posts I have liked, the pattern changes: it's the storytellers who get most of my Tumblr hearts. And then it doesn't matter whether it's part of an elaborate story that's been going on for years with several plot twists, or just a family having breakfast. I like both equally, because both tell a story. Sure, I like a nice Sim picture as much as the next person, but for me, it will always be about the story it tells much more than the aesthetics of it.

The same is true for my own posts: I just want to tell my stories, share my Sims, my town. Yes, I sometimes post picture posts of lots I've built. At first glance, you could say that's about aesthetics more than storytelling. But it's not. Because of the way I play, everything is connected: the story is Honeycomb Valley and everything from the lots to the Sims to the seemingly random things that happen to them are all part of it. Sure, I love creating beautiful lots, but that's mostly because I like realism in my game. I like to see my sims in places that look true to life. And because this is a self-created world, it can look like the best version of that life. 😉

In taking pictures, I try to get the best angle and before posting I run my pictures through Picmonkey to do a bit of basic editing, which is mostly just an auto adjust of brightness and shadows. Literally two clicks and I'm done. I hadn't even heard of Reshade and all those other -shades until a month or two ago. 😄

I read another reply saying how everyone who has a Simblr does so for the notes, because if you're not in it for the notes, why have a Simblr in the first place? This made me laugh. I get the point, but if I was in it for the notes, I might as well leave today. I averaged around 20 notes per post during my glory days and only around 9 since returning after my hiatus. I can think of many reasons why this is:

My posts can seem very incoherent: I can be posting about James Wyler one day and about Luke Bennett the next. These two have never even crossed paths and their stories have no apparent connection whatsoever. I can imagine how this makes my stories and my Sims hard to follow for most.

I don’t post my full stories on here. Reading them requires a visit to my WordPress blog. I understand how most people just want to do a quick scroll, read, like, and move on.

I am and will forever be TS3 player. And we're simply a smaller crowd in the Simblr universe currently.

I was gone for five years.

Now, I could change all of this (except for that last one) and possibly get more followers and more notes. But I don't want to. Yes, of course, I love getting a notification saying someone liked my post. I appreciate the support and the love and it makes me very happy to see there are people out there who like the stories I write, the lots I build and feel connected to my Sims to some degree. So in that sense, I get why someone would say we're all in it for the notes. But I don't care about the quantity. I love those 9 just as much as I love the 195 I once received on my much-reblogged post of The Greenery.

So, I'm not changing a thing. I'm keeping my WordPress blog as my main Sims home because that's where everything connects. Where it does make sense that I'm posting about James on day 1 and about Luke on day 2. Where the story is Honeycomb Valley. Where you can click from a story to a Sim profile and vice versa. And my Simblr will remain a place to just post bits and pieces (and rambles like this) and to stay connected to the ones who are interested in me, my stories and my Sims. I love my 9 notes and I love the 3 people who click on to visit my WordPress blog and read my full stories a little bit extra. 😉❤️

One last thing I would like to add to this already much too-long rant is how much I miss the old Sim community. The days of the forums and the tight-knit online group us Sims veterans were. Discovering and becoming a part of the Sim community back then has meant a lot to me. I miss that. I realise I sound like a grandmother now, reminiscing about the good old days, so maybe it's time to end this post. 😄

Anyway, that's my ramble of thoughts on aesthetics, Simblrs and community. Thanks for reading. 😊

[animefreak1145]

The Brilliance of Break On Through

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Mission Break on Through—An Analysis

I have replayed the campaign of COD:BOCW numerous times—too many times truly. Did a whole playthrough where it was Hardened and soon I’m sure I shall do Veteran(something I have never done for any COD game. Not even Hardened.).

All missions have their own unique qualities—parts where the player gets a little rush of adrenaline depending on the kind of mission and how they choose to play it (Nowhere Left to Run just a plain shooting match while Brick in the Wall you can choose to remain stealthy like the good spy you are or go crazy like an eager homicidal maniac).

Even within the safehouse, there are plenty of little details to discover if you take the time to look around and observe everyone. Or, everything. (The radio if turned to a Russian station/correspondence, Adler changes it back immediately before Da Nang mission. Watching Park’s body language, as you talk to Adler and she periodically looks over to you two. Adler suspicious when you go to the Red Room or the locked room with the arcade. The T.V. being turned on in the Red Room)

But the amount of details, details, in the mission Break on Through is outstanding. I have played this mission more than any other due to me wishing to look at all the details. There’s so many, I think I may miss some. And I can’t show them off all to you cause I suck at creating gifs and don’t know how to transfer that from Xbox to my phone.

To lighten it up a bit, I won’t focus on the four different scenarios you go through—at least not each one. That would take too long and I do not have gifs/pics to show it off since Tumblr limits it to ten anyways.

I will, however, try to guide to what parts of the game you all can explore if you choose to do so. As well just how detailed they did this mission.

I am going to start with the different statements Adler says to you throughout all the Scenarios(17, 6, 11, 1). We only go through four in the actual game—but the fact it goes up to 17 or possibly more shows just how far they went in and messed with Bell’s mind.

Now, Adler seems to be a bit bipolar on how he talks to you whether or not you listen to him and all his directions. Either totally blasé and cold to giving you and pumping you up with more MK or meds, or actually a tad concerned and patient as he guides you through.

If You/Bell Stands Still/Does Nothing:

Example 1

“So you did nothing? What were you, in shock?”

He throws the words callously, mocking. As if Bell isn’t confused and lost at what is going on. He even sounds irritated that you might actually be in shock due to these memories that are just fake—not even real. Not like what he has.

Example 2

“What’s wrong with Bell?” -Adler

“I’m not sure. . .” -Park

“I guess we’ll just wait on you to proceed, Bell.”

The contrast is dizzying. He sounds concerned when he asks Park on what could be wrong with you. If he pushed you too far and now you’re just frozen. And, instead of rushing you due to how the fate of half of Europe is at stake, he decides to give you space. Just wait for you and you’ll come out of it soon enough.

He does these sort of reactions numerous times. Jumping from intimidating to the Adler we knew as the player, as Bell—kind and always in your corner that believes in you. He switches tactics based on what he believes will work really—or he just felt really on edge at times and threw the farce that you two were friends out the window.

Other examples include:

Scenario 11–Napalm Strike-in the lab in the room where you were brainwashed

“Christ, what’s happening with them?”-Adler

“A mild seizure. Sims, past me a benzodiazepine.” -Park

Again, concerned. Worried. Almost…at unease?

In the lab—tripped up on drugs. If you run through the tight shrinking hallway back and forth like so(I suck at making gifs, I’m sorry):

“Why is Bell repeating themselves?”

Or

“Bell, stop speaking in circles.”

Now, as others may have suspected, Bell is talking to everyone as they’re stuck in this horrible loop of mental torture. Most likely muttering, hands clenching and arms pulling against the straps of the gurney, moving their head back and forth depending on what they’re seeing. I always saw Bell as muttering quickly in Russian as they go through all of this—their mother tongue where it may comfort them as they’re panicking and speaking to Adler.

It’s just a nice detail showcasing how exactly Adler knows that Bell is on script—Bell saying what they’re seeing and doing and what’s going on. It shows also just how hard they put Bell through the ringer(badum tss. I’ll leave now).

All the details too when the game shows how the drugs they put in Bell affects you. Like so. The hallways appearing long. The lights looking yellow. You feel so fast—look how quick you can run. Run towards the Red Door that Adler so desperately wants and maybe this can stop. Ah, why is it running away from you? What’s going on?

I don’t know about you, but I was so lost and confused at what was going on my first playthrough. For the majority of this mission, the possibility of me being brainwashed didn’t reach the BACK of my mind till probably I actually saw the flashes of scenes about Vietnam and calling Bell a subject. So like right here.

I personally thought that I had a repressed memory or something due to me going through the Vietnam War. That whatever I saw with Perseus, I—or rather Bell—repressed it from our mind due to how violent or horrible what we saw or experienced was. And that Adler suspected and just really wanted to know about it.

I didn’t expect for the man to actually brainwash my character—us—Bell! The game made Adler your mentor, who always defended you from Hudson and believed in your skills very highly. How he and Bell were basically perfect partners when the two of you were together.

It’s amazing—cause I think that’s what the developers were going for. The absolute trust. The loyalty. The denial that ‘maybe Adler is being a little harsh but hey, this is to help Perseus so it’s okay?’ It’s perfect. Because I’m sure that is what Bell actually felt in real time.

Yet, if you go through the total rebellious choice of not listening to Adler, some thing’s make sense. The Rebellious Side shows you way more than if you just listen to Adler like a Dutiful Soldier.

You go through this room if you choose the rebellious route, the T.V.’s automatically turning on the closer you get. Of Vietnam. And now, all those T.V.‘s that turned on by themselves(the Red Room, Lubyanka, Cuba) make sense. You were actually being brainwashed. Poor Bell probably can’t ever have a turned off/broken T.V. again. The trauma.

Said trauma being shown multiple times too. Not just the T.V.‘s. But the absolute terror that Bell felt, before they became Bell, with Adler.

Like do you see this? This terrified me when I saw it at the end of the hallway. I just saw a red shadow in the distance and I legit thought I was about to be chased. Call of Duty became a horror game(I also went through the door to the ground too my first playthrough, so before this I went through zombies and I think my heart was going to jump out my chest) I thought. I didn’t want to get closer. I had to, with each step I see that it’s not a shadow but a body. And than I see the familiar jacket, the sound of whirring in my ears and see it’s Adler’s head being twisted back and forth, side to side, up and down, in a speed that in inhumanely possible.

Makes one wonder if Bell themselves sees Adler as inhumane. Not human. Adler seeming to just be a god in their head. All the Adler shaped rocks/boulders you go through and see. Even one point the V.C. becoming Adler and you killing him over and over and dead bodies of Adler being everywhere.

The man has entered Bell’s head and won’t leave. Just like Adler won’t leave Bell alone.

Heck, there’s one point in my playthroughs of this mission I was by the bridge yet there were parts of the lab by it. I jumped towards it, noticing down below there were different floors of the lab that eventually reach the ground. I jumped to reach the next floor and missed and I died.

And Adler mocked Bell committing suicide.

That was the kicker really that Adler truly is indifferent towards Bell. Like complete disregard. I know it’s fake. We know it’s fake. Adler knows it’s fake—but to Bell, it felt real. That’s the crazy part. All of this—this whole sequence feels real to Bell so each time they die they actually feel it. It’s insane. It’s cruel.

But we all know that Adler isn’t known for his kindness. Still like his character though, he’s layered.

I don’t have the exact quote he said, didn’t wrote it down like the others. I was shook he said it at all.

Moving on to the final details I’m going to talk about.

When you go through the room, I believe this comes out for both rebellious and dutiful, really depends. You see it filled with post it notes, articles, plans, and newspapers. And you see once more just how Bell has been scarred.

I don’t know Russian or German, but I imagine the notes are similar to what the English one’s say. If I’m wrong, please point it out.

There’s also post it notes which I believe is in code as well due to all the numbers—I’m not sure what those could mean since I am no decoding expert.

Poor poor Bell. And with all these pictures and plans—of Adler included—it begs the question that Bell may have been warned about the famous America’s Monster beforehand. Had to have—since Adler is basically Perseus’s adversary due to how stubborn the American man could be. It just adds more to the story, despite Cold War having quite a short campaign, they made it up somewhat with all these details everywhere.

When you finally and actually reach the room.

As you grow closer to the table, to your chair in the conference room while everyone else seems to have their own spots, there’s something I noticed.

There’s glasses. As well as a hat. And it’s Bell’s. Or at least, it used to be. Why else is it on their side of the table? By their chair? I believe it might be reading glasses due to all the decryptions Bell does, whether on paper or through a computer, it’s hard on the eyes. (I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed this. For look at @second-vtoroy ‘s Bell)

I believe through the brainwashing, Bell might not need glasses anymore. After all, apparently they were a smoker like Adler before too but they took that out of you. What else they changed of Bell? It makes one wonder how far they truly went into molding a person.

Which just adds onto how mind boggling this mission is—this game is. This is my favorite COD game, despite how short it is. The details and choices and interactions with everyone and able to create your own character(albeit it’s very standard and not specific but it’s good enough for me) is AMAZING. I’ve always been a sucker for RPG’s and able to get that even a little in a COD game? Truly wonderful.

I couldn’t touch on everything because it would’ve gotten long, but the fun of the Break on Through mission never gets old. It’s genius multiple ways you can do it. All the details. The feelings you feel as a player as you go through it.

They truly did a unique job with this and I hope they continue with this type of game storytelling. Hopefully longer as well.

Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this rant basically!

Gifs made by me and used the video down below to help.

https://youtu.be/t6QkmkGGHSQ

[lamatisse]

not sure how to make an introduction for this tutorial. i might have gone too extra because it’s so long...but this is highly requested and i said i would do this as detailed as possible, so here we go!

adobe photoshop 2018 (ahoy, matey!)

topaz lens effects (just for grain)

srwe (sometimes, but not for this tutorial)

reshade (i dont use a specific preset)

drawing tablet (wacom intuos art)

macbook pro mid-2015 (but bootcamp)

//part one

grab a screenshot from your own lovely screenshot folder! mine is straight from my reshade screenie folder. then crop it how you like it! my original screenshot size is 2560 x 1600, and i almost always cut the background out. this is how i do it:

click color range, then click on the background of your sim. the little screen above will look like that. the background should be white. it’s easier when it’s a fully solid color. those are my settings above. click ok! the selected area will have those teeny tiny marching ants.

click quick selection tool, then select and mask...

i drew over these circled areas using the “add brush” i showed above. use “on black” viewing mode, then make sure that the sim is completely filled black (it’s the unselected area). use shift edge so there wouldn’t be any of the original bg left over. my settings are shown above. then click ok if you’re all done. press delete and then ctrl + D to unselect. the marching ants should be gone. go ahead and crop it!

after cropping, i resize the width of the photo to 1280px! always!

i create a new layer for my background, then add in the psd that i use for my edits. (i hide my psd layer while drawing)

sometimes i also use liquify to edit things like this:

//part two

i use a soft round brush to do everything! it’s literally from adobe, but i changed a few things like the flow jitter in transfer.

red areas are usually where i put the shadows, purple areas are usually where i put the highlights

i usually do the shadows before anything else! it’s pretty simple. using the brush i showed above, i create a new layer.

use the eyedropper tool on her skin, then pick a slightly darker shade. change the blending mode of the layer to multiply, then draw the shadows.

right click on the layer, then select “create clipping mask” to make your life a little bit easier. an arrow will appear beside your layer.

//part three

this is where i draw over the features. let’s look at her face. these are basically what i think it needs:

pay close attention to the imperfections and clean it up! that’s what makes it “sharper” in my opinion. small brushes will do the job! something like this:

define the edges!!! define!! zoom in and take a look!! even though these are tiny little details, it makes a whole lot of difference! the eyedropper tool is your best friend!

i start with a big brush and then i use smaller and smaller ones as i go, which creates the sharpness. go a little darker as well! im not very skillful with my graphic tablet, so i add stuff bit by bit since it tends to become too harsh when i just go for it! im not as talented as some of u here ;-; i just wing it and pray it doesnt look too bad. half of the time im just experimenting since i literally do not know where some shading goes

i wont be showing every single thing, but basically that’s the idea! i’ll add in the stuff i pointed out above and more shadows. sometimes i might turn down the opacity of some layers if they look a bit too much. here’s what we got so far:

i also like adding some face pores using this amazing “skin texture 1″ brush from this brush pack!

//part four

for the highlight layer, i change the blending mode to either overlay or soft light. use a slightly bigger brush for the bigger areas. use the eyedropper tool on her skin, and instead, pick a lighter shade.

let’s start adding highlight to the purple areas i marked above!

try to enhance the highlight on tiny details too such as the eye corners! if you want something more dramatic, create a new layer and do an overlay layer this time! don’t be afraid to add some on the hair, eyes, lips etc.

//part five

ok lets add some not decent looking hair strands. i almost always avoid this part because i literally have 0 idea on how to draw hair. i use the “hair base” brush from the same brush pack i linked to above and also have smoothing on to about 35%! the eyedropper tool is still your best friend! just follow the flow of the hair and i guess you’ll be fine ???

i’ll also fill in the annoying gaps beside her neck

unhide your psd layer and wooowweee

//part six

select all the layers, then click create a new group!

select the new group, then hit ctrl + J or right-click the new group, then click duplicate group

right-click the duplicated group, then click merge group!

i do this so i have a backup of the collapsed layers and can make changes anytime.

i use the sharpen brush on small details i circled below. i used to do stylize > oil paint or topaz clean before, but since the personal action that i use blur things a lot, i try to keep small details visible and sharp.

next is smart sharpen, my settings are below. sometimes i go for a smaller radius, but it looks like this most of the time.

my personal action set consists of this:

duplicate the layer that you just used smart sharpen on, then click lens blur!

below are my lens blur settings

turn the opacity of the layer (that you just put the lens blur on) to 40%

select both layers, right-click then merge layers!

duplicate the layer again (yes, again) then right-click, choose blending options.

uncheck the R located on the “channels” under “advance blending” then click ok.

an icon will appear on that layer!

make sure you have that layer selected, then click the Move tool

then hit your arrow left/right key once or twice! i do it once because i only want a subtle 3d effect! go ahead and merge those layers!

last step is the grain effect. i use topaz labs > topaz lens effects. if you don’t have this, you can also use filter > noise > add noise that photoshop has.

these are my settings:

//final look!

here’s a before and after gif! (here’s the finished edit) i hope everything’s clear! i’m really bad at explaining things (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ

feel free to tag me when you use this tutorial for an edit!! i would like to see it! i hope this helps! ♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡

[simtanico]

Hi! I don't know if this is an annoying/difficult question, sorry if it is, but do you have any advice at all for modelling sims based off real people? Your sims are SO crazy good. When I try to make them they end up looking... eh... Vaguely like the person? But there's a huge gap between that and some kind of 'spark' some simmers seem to manage to capture.

Hello! Definitely not annoying. Difficult, as in how difficult it is to answer? Maybe. I'm gonna go off on a couple of tangents. But I'm gonna try my best to explain the process. Which isn't really much of one sorry.

There's a handful of tutorials and tips out there regarding reference photos and like... proportions and all that so I won't cover that.

I use that as a general guide of course, but mostly I just save some photos of the person at various angles and focus on one feature or two at a time. Literally going back and forth between reference photo and my game. I think if you try to get everything at the same time, it really makes it easy to get frustrated with whatever your sim looks like at the moment. Making sims in general is a combination of a LOT of things depending on your style.

I can point out ALL the flaws with my sims based on real people. In my experience, it’s about getting the defining features of a person close enough to the real thing so that it resembles them. I don't think you need a complete copy to get the point across, however i do think some people and features are harder to emulate than others. I've been working on some sims for YEARS, and they still don't work out lol

and take a look at this progression on my sim based on Z4ne H0ltz starting back in 2015!

that first screenshot:

Personally, I get a little lost if I work on a sim too much all at once. I find some time away makes me less tired and frustrated. Just pace yourself :)

Also if you need any help, shoot me a message here or on discord. I promise I don't judge or anything.. it's sims who cares lol

TO START...

I suggest starting with the head and its shape. Starting off with a game-generated sim, the first slider I get to is head width. It's usually too dang wide for my tastes. And then adjusting the general position of the the features. You can always change things later, so you don't have to know exactly what you're going to do, but as I've mentioned before, sculpting sims up in CAS is just practice with sliders! Also in the long run, you may want to use Pu+Chi House's Smooth Face Normals slider! I attempt to explain and show what it does here. I've uploaded the slider here: https://simfileshare.net/download/984204/

This is gonna be a doozy sorry in advance if the read more doesn't work

SLIDERS SLIDERS SLIDERS

Big sliders like Pu+Chi House’s face shape sliders dramatically change the face shape, and it could save you a lot of time! I highly suggest using these to get rid of the weird large jaw sims can get.

Play with different sliders and how they interact with one another! Example: jaw width and Cheek Fullness affect the same area. if you need a wide jaw and don’t want cheek distortion, you can use cheek fullness, lower the jaw width slider and then edit the cheekbones from there

 Knowing what sliders move what and how it can work to your advantage is key! I cover this in my reply post about noses.

For visual reference:

I start out with my nose but I want the nostrils to sit further on the outside

so i go in and use the nose width slider and raise it to widen the lower nose:

Then lower the nostril scale slider

Comparison:

as you can see, i kind of achieved what I wanted, but also widened the nose tip too! Welp, that takes another slider I have, Tip Width. And I'll adjust that accordingly! It's really just a matter of what you're going for and what you're going to have to compensate for as a result!

That said, our community has made some awesome sliders that open up so many possibilities and even eliminate the need to do that multi-slider tango. I wouldn't even know where to begin (wish I wanted to make videos because I could talk for an hour about sliders)

For example @pitheinfinite made sliders that can make sims look better and more realistic, I'm jealous at what they've achieved!

They have their Inner Corner to Nose slider that moves an area of the sim's face hat make eyebags and the shadows and lines appear farther out from the inner eye. It saves you from having to use cheek sliders to mimic the effect and thus ruining the face shape you have going

It's truly an INDISPENSABLE slider. One of many!

Since I make sliders, I usually just make some to specifically fix whatever issue I'm having. Granted they're made with general function in mind, which makes my cheater-y way of making things happen more useful in the future. I have about 50 experimental unfinished sliders in my game and can tell you that all my current sims use them for some reason or other. So I'm not working with nothing, I guess?

EYE SPY 👁

The best way to really get nice accurate looking sims is the eyes.

Pay attention to the slant of the eye, the shape and position of the upper and lower eyelids. you can use the game’s Eyelid Height slider, and AWT’s Eyelid width and height sliders (and many more)

and especially where the iris (green) sits relative to the eyelid. getting that shape and eyeball positioned correctly really makes a HUGE difference

I do suggest Bloom’s Eye slider (left and right) that rotate the eyes left and right. That along with their Lazy eye sliders can give your sims a less symmetric face and position the eyes to be FAR more accurate and realistic than the default.

I also recommend their vertical sliders (Eye lift or drop) to help with eye positioning.

I can't stress the importance of the right contacts or eyes for your sims. Of course it all depends on how you make your sims's eyes and all that. Take the last sim i posted about. It took forever and a half to find the right contacts that didn't need severe or intense editing to capture the same vibe the person he's based on. The problem is pretty persistent for me, and I am just speaking for myself when I say this is necessary. Iris size, shading, recolorability, detail, catch lights, and pupil position are things to consider for your play style and preferences.

In addition to seeing what eyes will do the trick, I do edit the catch lights in the screenshots to give the eyes a different emotion or look. (I use defaults that get rid of the game-generated catch lights, and supernatural eye glow.) It's nice when that's all it is and I don't have to go in and photoshop things in and out to make them look human lmao

Perfect, schmerfect

And just know that as long as you have the same vibe or look going on it doesn't need to be perfect! Things will evolve over time, and you can change and perfect things as you go along, but close is better than trying to achieve an exact replica. We are working with the limitations of sliders and the optimized meshes they work on! So yeah there might be jagged bits or the profile might not exactly match and some things might not be accurate, but that's okay! Considering what sims look like at their default, you should be proud! I use the same mf eyebrows on all my sims basically and I tell myself they're just placeholders (yeah, right), but I manage to make them work with what I have!

Sliders, Makeup, and Skins, oh my!

a good base skin is critical, but not the end of the world if you pick the wrong one. They determine kind of definition and types of features highlighted on a sim 100000% and you might lose a feature you like or dislike when you change them! Feel free to switch up between skins you have to find the best fit.

Makeup can be a game-changer though!!! Any details you can add and help make your sim look the most like the person you're basing them off can go MILES.

In some cases, I've actually gotten really interesting results trying to get my sculpt as close as possible to real life references so the makeup makes a difference but don't define the features by themselves. Still, though, I utilize makeup up a LOT. [remember that if you use Nraas, you can layer makeup. Right-clicking makeup will also remove it if it's applied :)]

Here's the last sim i posted about when removing makeup:

no nosemasks really replicates the face-claim's nose (too shiny at the lower part) but it'll do 🤷‍♀️

Freckles, eyebags, highlighters, face shadows, pores, nosemasks, etc are all great!!

The way you move your sliders WILL effect how these look, so don't rely on makeup that adds super-specific detail or goes over an area you know is a jumbled mess because of sliders!

I do have a mess of recommendations and wcifs for skins and makeup. replies tag | wcif tag

[also I love compiling wcif cc lists for my sims it's great]

Finally, I appreciate your comment about my sims, mainly because I know they're not ever really exact copies or as close as I want to be to their real life counterparts, so thanks!! I've seen fellow simmers get really good results without messing as much as I do and I love when people can make really good maxis match likenesses because it's just so damn cool! It's truly a talent. I'm not one of those lucky few, but I like to try my way at it anyway. After what feels like some good progress I'll post a pic here. Even after doing this forever I don't feel like I'm an expert or can get good results in a shorter amount of time, but it's just fun to see the progression (or regression) of how my sims look.

[bunsblr]

Allright, finally got around to writing another part of my tutorial. In this part I will go over how I paint shadows on the body and some other stuff. Let’s just get into it!

Open this in dashboard for best view of the screenshots.

Disclaimer: I have no formal training for any kind of graphics stuff, I work in an office as a receptionist - I serve coffee for a living. I am absolutely self taught and while I consider myself pretty comfortable with photoshop, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t about a gazillion of other things that can be done that I have no idea about. There are people far superior than me in the Sims community. This is just how I do it, with techniques I have picked up through the years. Some things I go over in these will be pretty basic, some things a little more unorthodox. Disclaimer 2: My edits take time. This is what I do to relax, one edit takes several hours for me. Sometimes days :))) Disclaimer 3: My photoshop is in Swedish, which is my first language. I tried my best to find the English translations for every step that I do.

Tools used: The Sims 4, Adobe Photoshop 2020, One by Wacom Pen Tablet (very basic and unfancy).

When we stopped the last time we had just painted some shadows on the face and chest area. Now I continue with all other parts that’s showing skin. The hand has some of that wrongly places highlight thing going on, so I use the pen tool to section the hand out.

On the Sim layer, I choose a color of the hand that suits my purpose and I go over the area I want to "correct". I also removed the shadow on the wrist because I wanted to add my own.

Going back to the shadow layer, I use my shadow color and go over the part of the hand that would be facing away from our imaginary light source, as well as the part just under the clothing line. Then I blend by going over with a low opacity eraser brush again.

Between and around the fingers I usually add some extra definition with a smaller soft brush, using the same shadow color. Any uneven parts gets blended with the smudge tool.

The other hand just needed some shadow.

She's got leeeegs… Anyone else old enough to remember ZZ Top? No? Just me? Ok. I section out one of the legs, yes, using pen tool again.

I "color correct" the highlighted part on the front of the leg that I feel is in the wrong place.

I add my shadows on the front of the legs and under the skirt. Then I reverse my selection by clicking the Marquee tool, and right clicking in my picture. The english option should be called "Inverse Selection" or something like that.

I paint my shadow on the other leg, building up a little more color closest to the other leg to add separation between the two. And now since my selection didn´t section off the leg from the dress we've got some bleeding because I can´t be bothered by being precise.

I deselect and use the eraser tool with a hard brush and 100% opacity and start erasing the shadow parts I don't want, I'm careful not to go over any skin parts on the leg and hand. So this is a perfectly good method to use if you don’t want to section off using the pen tool all the time. I switch between the two depending on the size of the area.

I blend the parts of the shadows that I feel are too harsh with a low opacity soft eraser brush.

The foot had a little of that mucky highlight thing going on as well, so I mark that part of (pen tool) and go to my Sim layer.

I go over with an eyedropped color, and go back to my Shadow layer to start adding shadow with my shadow color. I draw shadows along the shoe part and underneath the sole of the foot. This is just to add some dept. Since this was such a small area I opted to not section the skin parts off, I just painted over the whole damn thing and went back in with an eraser to remove any unwanted shadow from the shoe parts.

I make a new layer for my Clothing Shadow, and copies the Sim layer mask onto this one as well by holding Alt, grabbing the layer mask and dropping it onto my new layer.

I eyedrop a color from the darker part of her dress and choose a darker more saturated version of that color. Usually I go with black for the clothing shadow, but it depends on the original colors of the clothes. With bright colors like this dress I go for a darker version of that color.

I definitely did not do myself any favours when I decided to have the light come from the back of this sim. Straight from the front is always easiest but hey, challenges is how we grow. I use a big ass soft brush and go over the front of the dress.

Aaaaand the pen tool is back again. I section off the arm of the dress.

I chose a slightly smaller brush than before (still pretty big though) and go over the part of the arm that´s facing away from the light. Then I invert the selection and paint shadows on the body under the arm, I build up a little more color here.

I deselect and now we´ve got a pretty sharp line around the shoulder where there naturally would not be. I go in with the eraser brush (low opacity, soft brush) and blend it out. I also blend the shadow that was on the front of the body since it was to harsh.

Now I realized that the light would not hit the hip that directly since the lower part of the arm is in the way, so I section off a big of the hip.

Since I don't work with especially harsh shadows, and since the arm is not directly in touch with the hip, I draw sort of a cone shaped shadow here. Not letting the tip of the cone reach all the way to the edge of the back.

I clean up a little more using smudge and eraser tool. She´s starting to look pretty good eh?

Now I want to merge all my Sim layers, but since I suffer from anxiety and can´t committ fully I want to keep all the layers as well. So I mark the Sim layer group and duplicate it (ctrl+ J), and hide the original Sim layer group.

I select all the layers in my new Sim layer group and merge them by pressing ctrl + E.

Now they´re one layer, without any layer masks. For the purpose of this tutorial I rename this layer Sim (when merging the way I do the new layer will take the name of the top Layer). Now this is our new Sim base layer, the old one is hidden away and hopefully we don´t have to touch that again because that would mean I would have made a major mistake somewhere that I can´t correct on this new layer. It’s very unlikely, but it feels nice still having those other layers as backup.

Since Sims is a video game we have some parts that are pretty square in our picture even though they wouldn´t be in real life. Time to smooth things out.

I go to Filter -> Liquify. This is like the smudge tool on crack. There´s a lot of things that can be done in here but in this particular case I'm going pretty simple. I use the smudge and go over any pointy bits that are'nt supposed to be pointy. I change the brush sizes to fit the area I'm working on. Some places need smaller brushes, some benefit from bigger ones.

Here's a comparison before and after of some of the things I corrected in Liquify. It's not a huge difference but it does looks nicer.

And that concludes part 4 of this tutorial. Don’t hesitate to message me if you have any questions.

[deadlymodern]

Thank you for tagging me, @herpixels​​! 🌼

I'm not going to tag anyone specific because I literally wanna see everyone's take on this. So, please, if you want to, do it! 

I went a bit overboard, sorry 😗If you actually read it all, I will love you forever.

YOUR WRITING PROCESS 

Show us a part of your script or explain how you write your scenes. Do you write in screenplay format or novel format? Etc, etc.

I love writing in novel format but, for sims storytelling, I feel the need to write a screenplay.

I start by writing all the dialogue along with the action cues and setting descriptions. This helps me visualize how much space I will need for the characters, which and how many props will be necessary etc.

From the simple screenplay, I make a shooting script and a checklist. 

The shooting script is super helpful because it allows me to break my screenplay down into shots so I go in game already knowing exactly what I want from it. 

This will all sound like I think I'm some big shit but honestly... I just get brain farts WAY too often. So having everything kind of ready helps me remember little things like ADDING THE DAMN POSES INTO THE S4S for examples lmao.

SCENE BUILDING 

Show us you in the middle of scene building through pictures, gifs, or a video. Explain what is the best thing about scene building and what is the worst!

Scene/world building is 100% my favourite part of the whole process! 

I use a lot of references from the real world. The small coastal village of Brindleton is based on many places in England, mostly villages/towns in Cornwall and Devon. 

I enjoy looking for inspiration pictures on Pinterest and going on Google Earth tours, really LMAO.

Of course, there is only so much I can do with Sims to make it look realistic, but if you squint your eyes and shift your head, maybe? fjhgdfhjkg

I do the same for my residential lots and interiors. But interiors are a bit more fun for me because, besides not needing to worry about background extras, I can personalize the environment to my characters. 

CC/POSE MAKING 

Do you make your own cc/poses for your scene? If so, what is your process like to create? Do you just go off the top of your head? Do you use reference photos?

Nowadays, I make 98% of my poses. The remaining 2% is just me making some adjustments on pre-existing ones. I can't help it. I absolutely love seeing my visions come to life like this. 

I also enjoy making poses because I like giving my characters some distinguished body language. 

For example, Beth is the only character who slightly puckers her lips to the left. Usually, when she's thinking or when she's upset. It's basically the main part of her face - other than her eyebrows - that will give her true feelings away.

And Mary, on the other hand, is way less emotionally repressed. Any minor inconvenience will make her upper lips twitch upwards. She also pouts a lot more and has more eyebrow movements. 

Yes, I am a loser for paying attention to these things shhhhhhh.

Usually, I don't need anything other than an accessory or two. But lately, I've been LOVING to make recolours and convert objects into pose accessories. Whenever I have my script ready, I take note of what I will need for the scene in my checklist.

You probably don't even notice or care as much as I do, but still! They add much to the narrative imo and I feel like I'm giving depth to the characters by tailoring their accessories and the world around them. It's really fun for me!

GETTING IN THE ZONE

What do you do to get in the zone to work on a scene? Examples include: show us your playlist you use when working on a scene, what’s your go-to scene snack/drink, etc.

I have playlists on my Spotify for the main characters as well as one for the story. Beth and Mary's individual playlists are the ones I listen to the most and they are called Countryside Teacup and European Train Ride respectively because these are the vibes I get from the songs in there dslkfjsklfsd.

I also LOVE listening to instrumental playlists on youtube like this Cottagecore and this Royaltycore ✨massive points to you if you can find my comment on the royalty core video 🌚

I don't really snack while working on my story posts but I drink mate tea like CRAZY or, sometimes, I'll just have a beer to get my creative juices flowing ehe.

SCREENSHOTS FOLDER

Give us a look into your screenshot folder to show us just how much goes into ONE scene for your story. (Scrapped pictures encouraged!!!)

I never take too many screenshots with different angles because of my pre-planning! 

However, I do have, like, 10 to 15 repeated shots because I take some with DOF, some without, some with shadows, some without etc. And I'm always terrified of the screenshot not working, so I press the my hot keys like 5x jddjlkgd.

Here are some scrapped pictures from previous story posts:

CAPTIONS

Are you a caption on the picture kind of storyteller or captions in text box type of storyteller? Why? Do you do both?

I love doing the graphic novel format, with "speech bubbles" sort of. I personally find it immersive. But I also love and crave for the novel format, so I'll write a little "after scene" sometimes in the text box for extra depth ☺️

EDITING

Explain and show us your process editing a scene through a video, gif, or picture. A Before and after will suffice if you aren’t in the middle of editing a scene as you answer this.

Since I've done a few posts telling a bit about my editing - and, truthfully, not much goes into it - here is a before and after!

THROWBACK

Show us an ANCIENT story scene you done in the past and explain how you would do the scene differently today!

Okay, ANYTHING from my early simblr days is cringe worthy. The dialogue isn't good, the lighting is extremely yellow - due to my crappy laptop -, the outfits and the settings are all over the place, I--

I chose this one image because it was one of the first times I was doing a story post instead of just a gameplay update. I don't even have much else to add, just look at it jkljdfklgjdf. 

But I'm going to have plenty of scenes set in the past where I will get the chance to remake the school and dress my teen girls properly and I'm so excited. Like, making slate pose accessory excited fjdigjfido oh, boy.

[mikiib]

The Magnus Archives: ALIEN AU (Part 1)

     So in short I had come up with an AU where the cast of TMA characters are set in the universe of ALIEN. They’re both my FAVORITE pieces of horror media I’ve consumed and so my brain figured- WHY NOT? So I have 13 pages and scenes in my brain that would take place in this AU. If this or the following posts that I’ll make inspire anyone I would LOVE to see what you come up with! In short this story has a mostly good ending.    

 Here’s a list of the things that ARE and AREN’T in this universe. 

- 14 Fears aren’t in this world. It’s fully immersed in the universe of the movie ALIEN/ALIENS. - The xenomorphs however have more powers- they can shape shift into anyone they ‘kill’. So if the alien hatches from the host but somehow the host survives then that creature can pretend to be that person. If they kill someone they can pretend to be them.  They still however take the main biological forms of the hosts they came from in regular form. - Queens are born when there is no other queen in near vicinity detected by the unhatched egg.  - The hatching of an egg takes a lot longer after implantation rather than a few hours like the original movie.  - The aliens acidic blood is still STRONG but not nearly as much. I nerfed that to a slower burn- if left on the surface for more than a few minutes it can still be JUST AS BAD as the movies version. - Cyborgs are a thing in this world- who is and isn’t a cyborg is up in the air- however you’ll find out if you follow the posts. - The aliens are weak to extreme heat and extreme cold. The younger they are the more vulnerable to both. Fire extinguishers and flamethrowers will be a big weapon in both firepower and as a melee weapons. - The technology is slightly more up to date compared to ALIEN’s 80′s tech, as there are in short video calls that can be held. -Mother (MU-TH-UR 4900) is the ships computer mainframe, and can connect directly to Elias with his acceptance of the transmission. Mother also monitors the crew and their vitals when they are under cyosleep. - They can quit. No bindings to ‘The Eye’ here. 

ARTIFACT RETRIEVAL VEHICLE: THE COEUS CREW: SEVEN

Captain and Scrivener (Archivist): Jonathan Sims (Age: 31)

  Executive Officer: Sasha James (Age: 35)

  Warrant Officer: Georgie Barker  (Age: 29)

  Navigator: Melanie King (Age: 27)

  Engineers: Tim Stocker (Age 33) & Martin Blackwood (Age: 27)

  Science Officer: Nikola Orsinov (Age: 30)

CARGO: OTHER WORLDLY ARTIFACTS UNDER STUDY COURSE: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MOON BASE: THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES 

-Everyone shares the role of being a Scribal (Archival) Assistants to Jon- no exceptions.  -The Magnus Archives is a space station on the Moon orbiting Earth.  -The cargo they carry is found from the ships that collect samples from uninhabited planets as well as statements from those who report to them their findings to investigate.  -The Admiral is the ships designated therapy cat to help the crew cope with isolation brought on by Georgie. -Elias Bouchard is the head of The Magnus Archives.

STORYLINE: 

     The story starts after they’ve collected the last of the artifacts required on the list to retrieve. They’ve been in cryosleep for over 6 months and only need 3 more months of it till they’d arrive to their destination. Everyone wakes up on their own time, Georgie first, along with Melanie and Martin. Followed by Tim, Sasha, Jon, and Nikola, they gather at the dining table of the living quarters. Martin makes everyone their preferred meals, seemingly the most nervous. This has been Martins first time aboard THE COEUS, and his banter with Sasha and Tim prove while not the best at his job there, he makes a mean meal out of the ‘rubbish space food’ provided. Melanie comes back after taking a look at their current location frowning, letting the others know they aren’t even close to Earth yet- not even in their solar system anymore. In surprise they turn to Jon, who himself has only been Captain on ship for only just before this crew was assigned to him. He gets up to check out whats going on, many of the others follow him, much to his disgruntlement as they basically fill the small room. Mother has intercepted a transmission of unknown origins and under contract of their jobs they must check it out. Curious to know more about their new course Jon calls Elias, who informs them it will be a 2 week set back on their schedules course. Jons not exactly excited about this but Tim’s quite happy to be informed it does give them quite a large bonus since it does seem confirmed of unknown (non-human) origins. 

     Once they arrive to their destination, Melanie sets the ship into motion for landing. She reads off all planet signs to the crew on. It’s a nearly isolated dwarf planet of 600 kilometers in diameter (372.823 miles). The surface on landing will be 23 degrees celsius- much warmer than expected but it does seem to be orbiting a sun fairly closely. They prepare for landing and Martin and Tim are set to get the ship in position. Martin and Tim talk together as they prep and make sure the landing legs will be fine against the surface of the planet. While they do so Sasha pops in announcing she gets to go with Jon and Melanie to investigate the source of the spooky transmission on foot. Meaning also she gets a bigger cut in the bonus than them. Tim and Sasha razz at each other but stop when sparks are spat in Martins face for wiring something wrong. He curses and Sasha comes over to help see what's wrong, pulling on gloves. She laughs a bit and gently teases him to choose a different degree to lie about next time he wants a new job as she fixes the wiring for him. Martin shushes her, claiming he didn’t expect them not to do background checks, nor did he expect to be given a position on one of the biggest damned cargo retrieval ships known. While he worked originally as a simple warehouse organizer at The Magnus Archives sister base on earth he had needed cash to help support himself after his Mother had moved out. Tim wraps an arm around Martin, claiming he’ll shield Martin from Jons prying eyes if anything goes wrong on this detour. They laugh a bit before the radio goes off from Jons office room. He’s complaining about the lights not turning on in there and would be thrilled if someone did their job correctly when fixing it before he gets back on the ship. Tim radios him that they’re on it before they tease Martin more on his obvious crush on Jon before Sasha is then called up to suit up. 

     Georgie is helping the 3 suit up properly, making sure their heart monitors are secure and attached to their neck to get an accurate pulse. Jon seems to be struggling most with the suit up, this unlike the other two, being his first time in a suit outside of the initial training. Sasha after having her camera feed double checked helps Jon out. And while Jon doesn’t say anything about it, it’s obvious Sasha should’ve gotten the job as Captain. Melanie the entire time rattling on about how excited she is to document her findings of a foreign transmission. 

     They land with ease, nothing going wrong as the planet, while rocky with a constant rain, is also somewhat flat. They make their way to the source of the transmission. Tim and the others are now watching from the ship- cameras live feed and audio coming to them as Georgie talks with Melanie about all the kind of things they could find on the ship to study. Nikola reminds everyone that without the items and everyone following the procedures for quarantine, no one is touching the items that may be brought back. The conversation dies out into aww when they see the space ship the signal is coming from appear on camera. Melanie is excited as Sasha and Jon start to look for a way in. Jon reminds them to stay close to him at all times as they enter the ship- its obvious he’d rather none of them go in here due to how degraded the place looks. Everything seems to have been heavily melted in random patches, but the ship itself seems to be made of a biological element of some sort- comparing it to a ribcage almost as they walk through it.

     As they traverse the ship they stumble across multiple dead alien bodies. They aren’t fresh but they also don’t look years old. Melanie goes to take a closer look at them but Jon quickly pulls her back from them, yelling about how obviously unsafe it is as well as the fact that she just broke formation rushing off into a different room. They both get into an argument about what should be done with the bodies, and how far their investigations should go. At this point the feed is hardly coming through via camera, but the audio makes it back to the the ship roughly. Sasha goes on without them as she’s getting closer to decode the transmission. it’s a warning of sorts is what she can gather. Looking at the bodies it may have been an illness of some type, each of them dead from some type of acid but she finds one with an open chest- like an explosion. she gets closer to one, that seems to shift out of the corner of her eye. She tries to let the others know but she realizes that they can’t hear her over their arguing, and she’s almost certain she’s lost on the foreign ship. So instead she brings herself closer to the alien body before something crashes behind her and she stumbles back, tripping over something, and screams as she bashes her head on the back of her helmet. She gets up and looks around and sees the shadow of the creature run off and she chases after it.

     That got the attention of the others as not only with the scream but Tim tells them her heart rate is spiking drastically. Jon and Melanie cry out for Sasha and she stops after meeting a dead end. She sighs and tells them she’s fine, she just fell and admittedly was just chasing after shadows. She turns around however and suddenly her heart monitor on the ship starts to read dead.  PART 2 

[hallucinosims]

hello gorgeous <3 if u dont mind telling us, how did u actually make it look like reagan's hair was blowing and i know u dont take wcifs, but i gotta know where i can find your talent + brilliance ily

Ah, thank you lovely! Talent and brilliance is found by spite scrolling pinterest and looking at cinematic framed shots and thinking "...I can do that... in the sims"

BUT the how to of the hair blowing is complicated. Because I just did it by hand. So if i had to give you a basic hair tutorial it would be to look up references how you would like the hair to flow. Understand the perspective and where the wind is coming from for the hair to be moving in that way. Draw a basic flat coloring with a base color close to the hair not too dark as the shadows and not light enough to be highlights. Then you do a LOT of shading with the hair brushes that I mentioned before as well as the pressure soft brush that comes with photoshop to blend things out. Mixer tool to smooth things out even more. Then add more highlights in white and layer them with soft light to make them blend with the color a little more. And look at little drawing tutorials like this to get a general grasp on hair physics in the most basic way

But if I were to give you a shortcut (a shortcut i have done here as well as with other art things i have done before not sims related)

I'd say find a stock image of flowing hair in the direction that you would like. One that's free to use (or not let's be honest it's pretty easy to get a water mark out but it's more principle of the thing)

Select only the hair of the stock image and make a new layer then puppet warp (this is a link to a photoshop 2017 tutorial but it's still about the same) it to fit the general shape of the characters head. At that point color grade it with either layers, hue/saturation, brightness and contrast, whatever you see fit to get the colors to match as much as possible. Then You do the same thing with the mixer tool and the hair brushes to blend things smoothly together!

Hope this helped! I would have done a whole tutorial with photo references as well but photoshop was LAGGING

[dangermousie]

Oh God, their naïve, inexhaustible hope is doubly heartbreaking in light of what we saw later on in the episode. Because we get a brief glimpse of the end of their story in Trumpet Creeper and it’s horrifying - he kills her, clearly on Kyung’s orders, even as he tries to fight the narrative so hard, grabbing that sword by the hand (which is why he has that scar! And I bet the scar begins to ache more and more the story changes because it’s a reminder of what happened last time he tried to change story; equivalent of Dan Oh’s heart alarm - you are getting to the danger zone and to the things repeating.)

I bet it’s because while he has a unique (or is it, Kyung’s terrifying musings at the end indicate it may not be, it’s just no extra had motivation before) ability to fight the narrative, the narrative makes it hard. Remember this?

Here, he had the latitude to fight the programming - he just managed to scotch the plot a little later than otherwise. But there is no such time margin when the narrative makes him kill someone!

And as the stories meld more and more, the stakes get higher and higher - a high school manga doesn’t have the terrifying stakes of a sageuk. (The writer has Nam Joo and his half brother fight for their corporate empire just as Squid and Kyung fought over the throne in the past, but you know that would be a quiet ouster and a cushy life, not blood in the streets.) But the fact that present day Kyung figured a way to change things in the story is so scary and is about to make things potentially crazy not in a good way (if, as @kuronekonerochan​​ posited, past Kyung, who was a violent psycho figured that out back then, I wonder if that is why he had Haru kill Dan Oh and the rest of that story clearly ended up in slaughter.)

The problem with Kyung is that ultimately, even at his best, he is all about himself. He is all about what Dan Oh makes him feel, what she can do for him emotionally. He couldn’t care less what she actually feels and that she doesn’t want him. Compare him to Haru who basically abnegates himself for Dan Oh (or even Do Hwa vis-à-vis Juda.) It’s selfish v selfless.

Oh GOD. YESSSS.

And then this. It reminds me of a moment in Fushigi Yugi anime when Tamahome, our male lead, is confronted with the fact that he is not a “real” person but a book character and deals with the insane metaphysics of this by declaring that the reason he exists is for Miaka. (Or my favorite character in Simon R Green’s epic space opera series, Deathstalker, Finlay - a complete mess of a person, a foppish aristo by day, a feral masked gladiator by night. He tries to figure out which one he actually is, hopelessly tangled, and resolves it by declaring: “I am the man who loves Evangeline” (his OTP). Never thought I’d see this in a kdrama!

But you know, Kyung is not wrong when he asks Haru this:

Because who knows! Writer = God here, and who can really know the true plans of God? This echoes in the fact that lines seem to repeat from stage in Trumpet Creeper to shadow in present day. For example, Dan Oh calls Kyung her beginning in Trumpet Creeper when on stage, something she and Haru say about the other in shadow in the present day. Is the writer still controlling them in shadows or are they just influenced by the past the way normal people are? I pretty much love that the two mains have decided fuck metaphysics, they just want to be together. 

If the author lets them, that is. He remembered the end of the story in the past and she saw forward to dying during surgery. When they cling to each other for dear life, my heart!!! (though I did grin to see she had to be on a literal box.)

I conclude this already epically long post with this scene I love. I think Haru’s “we will fight fate no matter what and never give up” attitude, even before he remembered anything, is a reaction to the past, when he tried to negate his love until much later because of societal class rules and the fact that he was basically brainwashed to be Kyung’s dog.  But is seems it is all doomed doomed doomed either way, unless you literally follow the exact story the writer intended, like one of those Japanese dating sim games where you have to pick exactly the right choices to get a happy ending and even then the only way the ending is happy is nobody dies; Haru and Dan Oh are still stuck in the hell of self-awareness, loving each other but not able to be together (ironically, self awareness is wrecking a possible as happy as it gets ending - look at Kyung’s brother telling him he would be happy if he just stopped meddling. Though what person can stop trying to change their fate for the better? And in any event, even if Kyung remained unaware, the jig was up once Dan Oh and Haru started trying to change things.)

This is such a manga panel btw:

In conclusion, I need need need them to be happy.

I would watch the hell out of this sageuk, btw!

[gimmeyoon]

Slayer: Call It Magic

   ✰ pairing: warlock!Jimin x Slayer!reader

   ✰ setting: Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU (part 4)

   ✰ word count: 5.6 k

   ✰ warnings: explicit language, mentions of death, violence, heavy angst, smut (oral (f), bondage, choking, degradation,  )

   ✰ summary: ❝Yoongi has been missing for months and the Slayer has lost focus because of it. Jimin offers to brew her a potion that should mend her broken heart.❞

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    It's strange the way the world keeps turning even when you're certain it won't. It's almost unsettling how unchanged things are. The demons keep maiming, killing, or bringing about the apocalypse, and you still head to the front lines to defend the world and all the good that is in it. Even when it feels like there is no good in it.

    You haven't seen Yoongi in a month now, the pain of it all only slightly better. Namjoon's seen him. He checked in with your watcher a week ago when he heard a demon had plans to kill you.

    Jungkook said after the demon was long dead that he could smell Yoongi the whole fight.

    He had still be watching, ensuring your safety.

    You wish he had stepped out of the shadows long enough for you to stake him. Or maybe to hold him. You weren't sure.

    He was staying in the city nearby. Jimin had scried for him just to make sure he wasn't dead. He found him ten miles away. Close enough that you could track him down and kill him if you really wanted to.

    Maybe that's why you knew if he did come out of the shadows you would welcome him back with open arms.

    You felt weak for even thinking that.

    "All of the demon's victim's are young people who have given into one of the seven deadly sins," Namjoon said, pulling your attention back to the meeting.

   Your watcher had called the Scooby gang together after he got a tip that the police reports on the most recent murders all had some unexplainable elements. Namjoon, of course, could explain them. The supernatural was afoot.

    "Wait," Jimin said, sitting up straighter. "You're telling me all of the things my grandma tried to tell me about sin was real?"

    "Well," Namjoon said, looking a bit uncomfortable at the question. "That depends, do I know if you will be ultimately judged by one specific higher power? No, I don't know. Do I know that there is a demon that specifically targets people based on what also happens to be the seven deadly sins? Yes. Yes there is."

   "Maybe he'll come for me," you said, looking down at your hands and sighing.

   "Way to keep the mood up, kid," Jimin said, patting you on the shoulder.

   "I've got a lot of wrath," you said turning to look at him.

    "Yes, and I'm the king of lust, so let's not bring any 'maybe he'll come for me' energy into this room," Jimin replied.

    "_____ has a point," Namjoon said, pushing his glasses further up his nose bridge. "We should always be vigilant."

    "How does he feel about cursed humans?" Jungkook asked, earning a punch in the arm from Jimin.

    "Oh, so you're cool if you're safe? What about the rest of us?"

    "What about former demons turned human?"

    "Hey!"Jimin said turning to Taehyung. "Since when is it every man for himself?"

    "I just want to know how vigilant I should be?" Jungkook grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and sinking further down in his chair.

    "At least you have magic," Jin said. "I'm a sitting duck, waiting for this demon to get me."

    "What's your vice?" Jimin asked.

    Jin shrugged. "Depends on the day."

    "It might be easier if we all die," you said, not thinking much before letting that thought out.

    "Yes, but then we'd miss the annual Kappa Alpha Tau roast and toast, miss doom and gloom," Jimin said turning in his seat to look at you. "And I for one want to get drunk and eat pork in the middle of the day for no reason one more time before I die."

    "You have to be invited,” Jin said, earning a scoff from Jimin.

    “As if I haven’t had my date with the one gay guy in the fraternity lined up since Fall.”

    “Maybe Yoongi’s gay,” you said. “Maybe he realized that and that’s why he left town.”

    “For some homoerotic self-discovery?” Taehyung said.

    “Well, Vampires are usually described as being bisexual in the literature on them,” Namjoon said, drawing everyone’s attention across the table to him. “The act of drinking blood can be very erotic and as they don’t discriminate against victims based on gender.”

    “So, he is gay?” Jin asked.

    “I don’t mean to presume someone’s sexuality,” Namjoon quickly added, shutting the book in front of him. “I just meant to present the facts for a fuller understanding of vampire sexuality.”

    “We’re all a little gay,” Jimin said with a shrug. “Jin said he’d suck my dick once for a cup of coffee.”

    “That was hyperbolic,” Jin said, eyes wide.

    “Is dick sucking an acceptable form of currency among humans?” Taehyung asked.

    “Depends who you ask,” Jimin said just as Jungkook and Namjoon replied in the negative. “Oh, so I’m the only one?”

    “It’s prostitution,” Namjoon said, shaking his head. “That’s what you’re looking for, Taehyung.”

    Jimin frowned. “Respect sex workers.”

    “I might as well have prostituted myself,” you said, earning a sigh from Jimin.

    “No, you slept with a guy and he didn’t call you back. Welcome to the very real world of human problems.”

     “At least I would have gotten something out of it if I had prostituted myself.”

     “Very true,” Jimin said, earning another dismissive look from Namjoon. “The moral of the story is never sleep with anyone without securing the bag first. Love is dead.”

    “My heart is dead,” you agreed.

    The room went silent as your friends all looked back at you an uneasy look on all of their faces. This was becoming a very familiar look.

    “So, a demon is murdering people,” Jin said breaking the silence.

    “Yes,” Namjoon said, nodding his head slowly. “We should patrol.”

    “Okay,” you said, standing from your seat and grabbing your stake off of the table.

    “We,” Namjoon said, standing as well. “Plural.”

    “Nosotros,” Taehyung said, causing everyone to look at him. “What? I speak seven demon languages, but you draw the line at Spanish? That’s racist.”

    The Scooby gang minus Jin and any vampires that may or may not want to be a part of the group, all go patrolling through campus. It's odd, having so many people with you. Occasionally Namjoon would join you, especially when had his suspicions that you might skip it for a party or other various social event, but having Jimin and Jungkook, basically undertrained humans, with you. That was weird.

     You accidentally bumped into Jimin when both of you rounded the same mausoleum and a you were inches away from piercing his throat with a stake. He looked back at you with wide eyes that seemed to wake you up from whatever haze you were in, but only for a moment.

    Sometimes you find yourself looking at your own life like a spectator. Like you know you're no fun to be around right now. You can hear yourself whining, feel yourself losing focus, but you can't stop yourself. You can't make your heart hurt less and its infuriating sometimes.

    It feels like Yoongi stole something from you.

    Like right now, you know your lack of focus is why Jungkook and Jimin are risking their lives. Namjoon, this was his job. He had killed plenty of demons without your help. But Jungkook and Jimin? This was not easy for them.

    Jungkook was basically a human who got a little hormonal three nights a month. Jimin was a novice witch with little to no fighting skills. Yet they stood beside you as your rocks. As the one's here to ensure you didn't die tonight. It was unfair of you.

    Still you couldn't get your head on straight.

    It was like watching someone else live your life. Like you were controlling yourself in a game of Sims but couldn't get your character to respond for some reason. Probably needed to restart the whole game.

    What was the real life equivalent of restarting the game? Cutting all of your hair off, moving to a new city, and adopting a new name and accent?

    But you liked your hair and didn't have enough money to move to a new city.

    So you seemed to be stuck like this.

    The demon has bright red eyes. You stare into them, seemingly unable to move. You're not sure why, it's like he has a power over you, but he doesn't. Not in actuality. Yet you stand frozen right in front of him.

    He roars in anger, one of his large clawed hands coming up to slap your face, sending you tumbling to the ground.

    Jimin shouts something that you can't make out as your ears ring from the blow.

    Jungkook reaches you first, pulling you away from the demon and behind a tombstone, one next to where Jimin is chanting something, holding a crystal in his hand. You try to identify it, but Jungkook blocks your view as he crouches down in front of you to see if you're okay.

    You don't respond immediately to his inquiry, causing his eyes to widen in fear.

    "I'm fine," you said, shaking your head slowly to try and wake yourself up. "Namjoon?"

    "Right," Jungkook said, standing up and running back towards the demon.

    You're able to stand up slowly, and as you turn back to the demon, you watch as Namjoon swings a scythe, taking the demons head off with one blow.

    "That was close," Jimin said, taking your hand in his and giving it a light squeeze. "You good?" You nodded your head in response as you dropped his hand. "I'm okay but I'm not okay."

    "Yeah, I know," he said, following behind you as you walked to join Namjoon. "It's going to get better though."

    You spend more days as a ghost, your physical body being present but your mind being far away.

    You feel yourself just existing, though at the same time the days seem to blur together. Each one seemingly as insufferable as the next. You have never been happy, you are sure of it. Life has always been darkness.

    "_____ will agree with me," Jungkook said, calling you attention back to the group.

    You've actually left your apartment today to get lunch with Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook after Jimin promised to buy you a cake pop for your sorrows. It hadn't been as effective as you had hoped.

    "Hm?" you mused, as you picked at your lunch.

    "Should Jimin sign Taehyung up for Tinder?"

    "All dating is suffering," you said with a shrug.

    Jungkook seemed to hesitate for a moment before turning towards Jimin. "I think that counts as a no, so I was right she sides with me."

    "There is something seriously wrong with you," Taehyung side, causing both Jungkook and Jimin to turn quickly towards the former demon.

    "Tae, we try not to tell people they have something wrong with them when they are going through emotional trauma," Jungkook said, earning only a noncommittal head nod from Taehyung.

    "I mean he's not wrong," Jimin said, offering you a small smile. "I've been looking into potions."

    "To fix me?" you said, looking around the table, a bit embarrassed. You knew you weren't at the top of your game, but it was never nice to hear your friends were actively looking for ways to improve you.

    "There's nothing wrong with you," Jimin said, shaking his head. "I just want to make it hurt less."

    "So you've found a potion that'll rip out my heart and any emotions I have ever had and/or ever will have?"

    Jungkook's eyes went wide at your remark before he turned to Jimin to wait for his answer.

    "No, it's a potion to mend a broken heart," he said. "We're not turning you into a robot."

    "Not even if I ask nicely?"

    "Can you do that?" Taehyung asked, leaning forward on the table.

    "No," Jimin said. "Well, I mean, I don't think so."

    "Lame," you said, earning a scoff from Jimin.

    "At least you still have your sense of humor," he deadpanned.

    So that's how you end up at Jimin's apartment three days later, on the new moon.

    You like his apartment, it's changed a lot since he discovered Wicca. It's usually dark, his preferred method of illumination being vintage lamps and candles. Velvet curtains stop any outside light from entering, and his opulence is accented with a velvet couch he got from his grandmother and the velvet throw blanket and velvet pillows on the floor next to it. It's a sea of darkness and velvet.

    He's in the kitchen when you invite yourself into his home. He never locks it, even after learning that all of the horror stories he was told as a child are real. Or at least most of them. Still no word on Bloody Mary.

    His argument is that vampires need permission to enter your home. You almost thank God you never invited Yoongi over. Your apartment will always be free of him.

    "I'm making it now," he said as he acknowledged your presence.

    He's placed a small piece of rose quartz in a glass jar, surrounded by a nearly clear liquidly you can't identify, and rose oil which you ascertain by the bottle on the counter. he throws in Chamomile leaves almost as soon as you stop beside him.

    "You need to inhale this," he said, motioning towards the rose oil on the counter. "Relax your mind."

    "Easier said than done."

    "All I'm asking for is a good old college try from my favorite co-ed."

    You picture yourself floating in nothingness, clearing your mind until everything around you goes silent. Rose petals float around you as the scent fills your sense. For the first time in what feels like forever your brain actually stops yelling, even if for just a moment.

    "And now we let it charge," he said, drawing his line through the salt circle surrounding the jar and taking it to the balcony where he left it in the moonlight.

    "May I interest you in bad reality television?" he asked as he reentered his apartment.

    "Sure," you said, following him towards his couch. "I want to hate other people more than myself for a moment."

   "Don't hate yourself," he said, earning a glare from you. "I know, easier said than done."

    "Do you ever tell your brain to stop doing what it's doing, but it doesn't?"

    "Yeah, I get it," he said, pulling you into his side. "It's going to listen to you one day. Hopefully soon, if I'm actually a warlock."

    "Best warlock I know," You said, as you let yourself relax in his embrace.

    "Only warlock you know."

    You fall into comfortable silence as Jimin's terrible reality show of choice numbs your brain just enough to keep you content. He rubs small, slow circles into your arm as his head comes to rest on top of yours. Jimin is nothing if not comfortable to be around. He has the kind of presence that makes you feel at home no matter how well you know him.

    You've always liked that about him.

    "It's going to be okay, friend," Jimin said as the first episode came to an end. "I know it's not right now, but one day, one day you'll feel whole again."

    "How can you be so sure?" you asked, looking up at him.

    "Because you save the world. You can save yourself."

    That night, you don't rub the potion over your heart as Jimin instructed you to do before you left his place. Three times he told you exactly what to do, but you don't. You're not sure why, but as you hold the jar, something in you says to set it down on the table and go to sleep.

    You suppose in some ways Jimin becomes the potion. You find yourself at Jimin's almost every day that week, him always coming up with a new way to distract you. Your favorite was when the two of you went shopping for clothes that reminded you that you were in fact "that bitch." Your least favorite was when you, Jimin, and Jungkook went mini-golfing, as Jungkook insisted Jimin cheated using magic, and ended up breaking the club in half in his rage. That's how you all discovered the wolf was latent. Always ready to emerge. It wasn't how you had expected your night to go, though in the course of the last month or so it certainly wasn't the worst.

    Jimin manages to convince the whole gang to go see a movie together, even Hoseok shows up, which is perhaps the oddest experience you've had in recent memory. It's a horror movie, per your request. Namjoon and Jin scream like babies, Taehyung looks the happiest you've seen him perhaps ever.

    At some point you start to feel better. You're not sure exactly, when but one night as Jimin and you do homework together on his bedroom floor, you realize you're not waiting for Yoongi to walk in the door so you can stake him or hold him, the jury is still out on that one.

It's not life changing, you're not your old self again, but you feel slightly more at peace.

    You laugh easily for the first time in many moons. Jimin is telling you stories about his child hood, and the animated way he recounts them has you nearly rolling on the floor with laughter.

    "Can I say something and you promise to hear me out?" Jimin said, his bright smile causing you to mirror it.

    "Of course."

    "Of course," he laughed. "Like you ever listen to me."

    "I do," you defended, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "You're my best friend."

    "You don't listen to anyone," he said. "Especially not me. Maybe Namjoon, but I have several nights out with you to prove that you don't listen to him."

    "Get to it, or you'll piss me off so much I won't let you."

    "Okay," he laughed. "I think you should sleep with someone."

    "Oh, so you're a comedian now?" you said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Do I need to recount to you my past two sexual encounters?"

    "Please do, with detail," he said, earning another punch in the arm.

    "Seriously, I slept with a demon that tried to kill all of my friends and a vampire that hit it and quit it."

    "So sleep with a human," he said, to which you rolled your eyes. "Have you ever considered that both of those sucked because you slept with creatures of the underworld."

    "Are you kink shaming me?"

    "Never," he said, with a wink. "Seriously, find a nice, normal, safe guy and fuck him."

    "No," you said.

    "See, you don't listen to me."

    You laughed at this as Jimin's wide, accusing eyes stared you down. "Sorry, I can't be the hoe friend you always wanted."

    "I guess I'll forgive you."

    "Only if you can find it in your heart," you said, batting your eyelashes dramatically.

   Jimin and you laughed together as the two of you laid back on the floor, the melody of your friendship filling the room.

    "Seriously," Jimin said looking over at you as you lay side by side. "It helps me. Stressed? Fuck. Heart broken? Sex. Feeling the existential dread of life? Do the do."

    "You just think sex is the answer to everything."

    "That's because it is."

    "I just can't keep hooking up with people I barely know," you said, shaking your head. "I've put my trust blindly in two people and it was horrible."

   "What about me?" he asked.

    You shoved his shoulder, pushing him away from you. "What is this, an elaborate ploy to get into my pants?"

    "Fuck off," he laughed. "Someone explain to me why two friends can't fuck and still be friends after. I mean, your friends offer emotional support, so why can't they offer physical support when necessary. I'm not about to confess my love to you, no offense-"

    "None taken."

    "I just don't understand why two friends can't blow off some steam together."

    You lay there in silence for a moment, letting his words fully sink in. "Why is that a solid argument?"

    "I've been thinking about it for a while."

    "Okay," you said.

    "Okay, what?"

    "Okay, I'll do it."

    "Seriously?" Jimin asked, sitting up quickly. "I'm going to join the fucking debate team, I can't believe I convinced you."

    "But only when it feels right," you said, sitting up as well. "Right now it feels like a mediation. I want to be in the moment, feel sexy, want dick."

    "Fair," he said, giggling as he laid back down on the floor, looking up at the ceiling with mirth in his eyes.

    You're in the moment a week later at a party that Jimin dragged you too. It's at a frat you he   usually frequents and the two of you are easily pulled into the party atmosphere by his friends. You want to feel miserable but Jimin's making sure that it isn't, pulling you into his friends room to play drinking games.

    It's about 3 shots of tequila later that Jimin pulls you to the dance floor. It's innocent at first, him jokingly dancing to try and make you life, which is highly successful due to the aforementioned tequila shots. At some point the two of you start dancing normally but facing each other with enough room for Jesus and at least one if not two disciples to dance between the two of you.

   It's when a stranger unceremoniously starts grinding against you, that Jimin pulls you towards him, spinning you so that your back is flush to his body. You don't hesitate to continue moving your hips, grinding into him as his strong arms keep you against him.

    The hit and run grinder gets the message and leaves with his tail between his legs, and even though that is enough of a reason for you to return to your safe distance away from Jimin, you don't. The two of you stay body to body, moving to the rhythm together.

    And while you want to say this is what did it for you, that feeling him grow hard against you was what convinced you tonight was the night, you knew you would end up there before he'd even lead you to the main room to dance. It was earlier, when he pulled you into his side and laughed at a funny story his friend was telling that you knew. You wanted him, if only for the night.

    You're absolutely sure hours later as the two of you sit on his couch, greasy gas station food between the two of you as you watch the Kardashians. Jimin's saying something about how Scott is the only valid member of the family when your hand casually rests on his thigh and begins to move upwards.

    He just looks at you as if this is something that happens all of the time between the two of you. It almost makes you rip your hand away and return your attention back to the show. But there's the other part of you that takes it as a challenge.

    That part of you wins as you move so that you're straddling him, his hands almost instantly coming up to rest on your hips.

    "Can I help you?" he asks, a smirk slowly growing on his face.

    "I think we can help each other," you replied, your hands moving across the expanse of his chest.

    "I think you're right," he said, smiling as he pulled you as close as possible to his body.

    You're not sure who leans in first, maybe it's you, maybe it's him, but it doesn't matter as your mouths connect in a rushed kiss. It feels better than you expected, no trace of awkwardness as the two of you move together, your hips rotating against his crotch as your tongues dance together.

    When your hands move to his belt, Jimin stops you, his hands grabbing your wrists. "Bed," he said, moving his head in the direction of his room.

    You almost try to make a joke about him being bossy, but there's something in the way he looks at you that has your brain disconnecting from your mouth and leaving you at a loss for words, so you do what he says.

    "Strip," he said, as the two of you stood before his bed.

    You blush at how quickly you oblige, your skirt falling to the floor almost instantly. Jimin smiles in a way that lets you know he noticed, but he doesn't tease you. Instead, he closes the space between you and lightly caresses your face as he looks at you with fierce eyes.

    "Lie down for me, _____," he said, lightly pressing on your shoulder until you sat down on the edge of his bed.

    You feel safe and loved among the velvet and silk of his bed. Even as Jimin moves around the bed, looking at you with predatory eyes, you know there's no one else you trust more in this moment than him.

    "Are you sure?" he asked, coming to sit on the bed beside you and giving you a softer look than before.

    "I thought you were going to fuck me?" you said, smiling at him. "What are you? Afraid of the Slayer?"

    Jimin's gaze grows predatory again as he stands to his feet. "Snap," he said. "Do it."

    You did as he instructed, though not without a raise eyebrow and look of confusion.

    "I would have suggested a safe word," he said, smirking as he leaned down to kiss your forehead. "But I'm afraid you might not be able to say anything with that pretty mouth of yours.

    "So this is what you're like," you mused, looking him up and down.

    "You've thought about me?" he asked, humor in his eyes.

    "You talk about sex all of the time, it's kind of hard not to."

    He laughed kissing you on the lips this time. "I've thought about you too, baby."

    "And how do you want me?" you asked, more confident than you perhaps should be considering his earlier warning.

    Instead of answering you, Jimin only smiles as he move to stand at the food of the bed. “Irretite.”

    You only notice the plants placed at the four corners of the bed as they stir at his words, the vines quickly growing to ensnare your limbs. You instinctively fight against them, but Jimin's magic ensures your bond and unable to move on his bed.

    "Now," he said, getting on the bed and resting between your legs. "Do you trust me to make you feel good?"

    "You and no one else," you said, your breathing already slightly erratic just at the sight of him.

    "That's what I like to hear," he said, kissing the inside of your thigh.

    He licks slowly up your cunt, pressing a light kiss to your clit, before looking up at you with those same predatory eyes. He sucks your clit into his mouth, causing your head to fall back into his pillows, his comforting scent filling your senses.

    He laps at your clit as he fingers your cunt, his movements precise and motivated by your sounds as they fill the room.

    You long to entangle your fingers in his hair, but despite your pulling at the vines, they don't let up. If anything you swear the tighten, but you don't mind as Jimin's attention to your body has your mind completely focused on him.

    “I always knew you were just a dirty little slut,” he said lookin up at you with dark eyes.

    There’s something in you that feels a stranger to this Jimin. His foreign words have you clenching around his fingers and yearning to pull your arms free and get your hands on him.

    You can feel your high approaching as two of his fingers fill you and another works circles into your clit, but just as you go to tell him to keep doing what he's doing, he pulls his hands away from you.

    "What?" he asked innocently, though the look on his face said differently. "I thought you trusted me?"

    "I do," you said breathily, panting as you felt your high disappear.

    "Good," he said, kissing your hip as he moved up your body. "I like it when you do as you’re told."

    "Please Jimin," you said, pulling against the vines. "Fuck me."

    "Only because you said please," he said, before leaning back on his heels and pulling his shirt over his head. It feels like torture as you long to run your hands over his defined abs, and it feels practically like murder as he slowly removes his pants. You want nothing more than to reach out and quickly rid him of them, but all you can do is whine as the vines tighten back around you.

    "None of that," he said, throwing his clothes into a corner of his room. "Behave, baby, and you'll get what you want."

    You don't shy away from staring at his hardened cock, the tip red and dripping with pre-cum. You almost moan at the size of it and the thought of it filling you up. "Give me what I want, and I'll behave."

    Jimin raised an eyebrow as his hands gripped tightly at your hips. "You might regret that."

    You go to respond, just as Jimin aligns himself with your core and immediately rams into you, not giving you any time to prepare. He gives you the small mercy of catching your breath before he starts setting his pace and rhythm.

    He grunts above you as he works to angle your hips so that he has better access to your g-spot, his face breaking into a proud grin as you let out a loud moan once he finds it.

    "I get it," you said, panting as one of Jimin's hands moved to play with your nipple. "I get why everyone wants to fuck you."

    "You gonna fall in love with me and my cock? Want to be my cock slut forever?" he teased, bending down to kiss your chest directly between your boobs, before slapping your ass. What ever happened to sour then sweet?

    "In your dreams, Park," you said, though the bite of the remark was cut short by the load moan that followed it as he spanked you again.

    "Oh, that most certainly will be," he said, picking up his pace.

    "Creep," you said, laughing a little, though regretting it as soon as Jimin didn’t follow suit.

    "If you don't have anything nice to say," Jimin said, giving you a dark look and yet another spank, the burn of your skin hard to ignore at this point. "Don't say anything at all."

    You considered his words for a moment, a thought hanging on the tip of your tongue. "Make me," you said, a thrill running through your chest and to your core at the thought of what he would do.

    Jimin raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Irretite," he said, causing another vine to stretch from the plant on his right bedside table and entangle itself around your neck.

    Your head feels light as the vine pulls tight around you, but you're not sure if it's the thrill of the danger or the actual lack of oxygen that does it.

    "Oh look at that," he said, a smirk on his face. "Looks like the Slayer's not so big and bad after all. You're weak for my cock. You couldn't fight it even if you wanted to, which you don't. Because you're just a cock slut pretending to be the chosen one, right?"

    A mumbled yes dies on your lips as the veins tighten around you, causing your eyes to roll back in pleasure.

    Jimin's thrusts seem more intent to be your undoing as he watches the vines on your throat with the sort of proud confidence you loved to see from him.

    His moans increase as he thrusts become sloppier, and as you cry out in ecstasy, Jimin drops the vines hold on you. He helps you ride out your orgasm, your hands reach for his arms on instinct, and when you finally reopen your eyes and look at him, you watch him pull out and stroke himself to his own completion. He cums in long ribbons across your stomach, panting himself as he finishes and pressing a quick kiss to your thigh again.

   He looks at the cum for a moment, before swiping some of it up with two of his fingers, and pressing it to your lips. You take his fingers into your mouth and suck them clean, Jimin muttering a curse as he watches you.

   "Please," you said as he pulled his fingers from your mouth. "Not all of it."

   Jimin laughed at this, a bright melody filling the room. "Okay," he said. "But only because you asked so nicely."

    The next time you see Jimin it's normal. The two of you go your separate ways the next day after cuddling each other to sleep, and when you finally see him at lunch two days later, he's the same way he always was. You don't expect it.

    He doesn't tell anyone either, which perhaps is what surprises you the most. Jimin was absolutely the type to kiss and tell. When Taehyung asked what had gotten into you as you laughed easily with them at that lunch, you nearly choked on your coffee, already anticipating Jimin to say his cock. But he doesn't.

    "It's nice to see you happy again," he said instead. "Whatever it is, I'm glad it helped."

    "Me too," Taehyung agreed with a nod as he returned his attention to his sandwich.

     You feel lighter. You smile more. It's all you could really ask for. You're not cured; the only magic was that of friendship.

    You want to choke just thinking that.

    You can already hear Jimin offering you his vines in the back of your mind.

© gimmeyoon — all rights reserved. reposting, modifying, or translation onto other sites even with proper credit given is not permitted.

[murasaki-murasame]

I honestly wasn’t planning to summon for Gala Thor at first, since I want to focus on saving for stuff like the end of year holiday banners, but he ended up looking really strong and also I want to make Tartarus less of a miserable slog to get through with my light units in any way possible, without resorting to ‘haha dark characters go brr :)’, so here we are, lol.

Results under the cut [plus some of my thoughts about the new Tartarus fight]

I started with about 260 summons saved up [which is part of why I wanted to skip it, since I prefer to have at least 300 summons before pulling on a banner], but in just 60 summons I got:

-Ramona dupe [one day I’ll get Gala Elly . . . ]

-Dupe Liger [now at either 1UB or 2UB, I can’t remember which]

-Dupe Pazuzu and Simurgh [they’re both now MUB so that’s nice, even though I don’t use them, lol]

-Ramiel x2 [I don’t really care much about him one way or another since I have other good shadow dragons but it’s nice to have him]

-Gala Thor

At first I was a bit disappointed by Gala Thor, since he gives a base 50% strength and an additional 45% bonus strength based on your energy stacks, which seemed kinda lame compared to Mars, but it turns out that having just one energy stack gives you a bonus 25% strength, with the other stacks giving an extra 5% each, so basically you almost always have 75% strength, which is really nice, and I think at least puts him at par with Daikokuten.

Also apparently his damage mods when shapeshifted, including his dragon skill, are super high, so he works really nicely with someone like Gala Euden, who I’ve basically ended up maining against Tartarus. 

It’ll be a while before the DPS sim updates, but I think Thor’s probably gonna have a pretty big impact on how strong the light roster is, so that’s neat.

Though tbh I think a lot of people are still gonna end up just using shadow units against Tartarus, even if Thor helps bridge the gap between light and shadow units a bit. Which is it’s own whole problem with the game’s balance, lol. I think if they just gave Tartarus poison immunity, that’d probably be enough to actually make everyone use light units in the fight, but I still feel like they need to give endgame bosses way higher off-element damage resistance.

I haven’t managed to get many clears of Tartarus yet, but I have a lot of mixed feelings about the fight. I’m happy to finally have a relevant piece of content to use my light units in, and I like most of the mechanics in the fight, but a lot of it doesn’t really work well in practice, and there’s some really annoying parts of the fight too. Mainly the fact that they decided to keep the enervation mechanic from Void Nidhogg, lol. I quit doing that fight as soon as the shadow Chimera came out specifically because it makes that fight such a goddamn slog, and it continues to be just as awful in Tartarus. And they somehow made it even worse by deciding to give it to you unavoidably at least once in the fight. At least in Void Nidhogg you could dodge everything and never get enervated, but you have to deal with it at least once in this fight.

Also, the whole portal mechanic is extremely cool, and I hope they experiment with more stuff like this in the future, but I feel like every time I go back to the main arena, I have like I have to immediately try and figure out which part of the fight I walked back in on, and usually I have like two seconds to react before one of the screen-wide attacks happens and kills me. It’s really disorienting, lol.

The prison mechanic in general is also kinda hard to wrap my head around, and I feel like it requires maybe a bit more team coordination than is reasonable to expect from a game like this, but really I think it’s just my punishment for never doing High Zodiark, since I think it’s one of the many parts of this fight that are really similar to that fight, and I have absolutely no experience with any of them.

Anyway, now that Tartarus is out it’s making me think back on the Agito bosses as a whole, before we move into the 2nd anniversary where we’ll probably at least get a hint at the next phase of endgame content, and in spite of the various issues I have with them, I think the Agito fights are a huge improvement over the High Dragon fights. You can really tell how Cygames [for better or worse] was trying to shake things up and figure out how to make engaging endgame fights, and for the most part I think it worked out.

The difficulty balance between all the fights [especially counting the Master fights] is kinda all of the place, like how eKai is extremely easy while eAO and eTart are kinda obnoxiously long and difficult if you do them in the intended ways, but I think that at least shows how they kept trying new things. mKai’s also apparently a lot harder than eKai [though I haven’t tried it], so they clearly learnt from the feedback they got from that.

I think Volk and Ciella are probably my favourite of the Agito fights at the moment, for different reasons. Volk feels really well-balanced for the current state of the flame roster, and has mechanics that require a degree of cooperation and coordination without being overly punishing like Tartarus kinda feels at the moment. And on the other hand, I really like Ciella’s fight because it feels like it’s just at the right level of difficulty for me to be able to reliably do by myself. At least on manual. I’ve never really managed to get auto solo to work, but I enjoy doing it manually. Either way, it’s nice to have endgame fights like this that can be comfortably soloed if you have a strong enough team, and I really like how for Ciella you have to build a really tanky, defense-oriented team in order to be able to solo it. I feel like 90% of the game basically punishes you for trying to do anything other than raw damage-dealing, so I really appreciate that Ciella is designed in a way that rewards you for making tanky team comps. It also lets Sylas be genuinely meta for something, which I’m grateful for, and it gave Templar Hope some redemption after he was initially deemed as being kinda worthless after he came out.

I also like how status effects are integrated into the fight mechanics, and [for the most part] both status resistances for each element feel like they have a purpose in their Agito fight. Compared to HDTs where it feels like every element roster is split between ‘units that are good for the fight’ and ‘units that are immediately handicapped’. This is actually one part where I think Tartarus works really well as a boss fight, since unless you can kill him before the poison portals happen, you really need a poison-res character to deal with them.

We still have three more of the Master fights to come out, but either way I really like the Agito fights, and I’m optimistic for whatever the next set of endgame content will be. Personally, I’m still hoping for them to build upon the Imperial Onslaught mode, since that feels like an almost obsolete part of the game, but that sort of wave-based content would be nice to have for endgame co-op.

Also, I still really hope that the Agito bosses end up being DL’s version of the Eternals/Evokers from GBF, where we can eventually get the ability to recruit them as playable characters by doing lots of grinding. They might just get released as gala units instead, but I’d prefer it if they were obtainable through grinding.

On the one hand they’re basically all villains, but on the other hand the recent story chapter made it pretty obvious that they’re probably all being warped and twisted by the masks Nedrick gave them, so it’d be pretty easy to explain how they could eventually be recruited. Also GBF has it’s own share of characters who probably shouldn’t be recruitable for moral reasons but they still are, lol.

Also when you fight them in-game it already looks like they have the same sorts of character model rigs as normal adventurers, and their attack animations all seem at least roughly based on regular weapon types [Volk being a lance unit, Kai Yan being an axe unit, Ciella being a bow unit, Ayaha/Otoha being dagger units, and Tartarus being a blade unit], so I feel like it wouldn’t be hard to make them playable. Ayaha/Otoha would probably be the hardest one to make work unless they get released as two separate characters, but it’s possible that they’d be a unique case where you use them both in combat at the same time, and switch between which one you’re actively controlling. 

It’s probably a bit too early for any of this to happen since the Agito have basically only just gotten introduced in the main story, so it probably won’t be touched upon for the 2nd anniversary, but I still think it’ll happen eventually.

Anyway, all that aside, at the moment I’m basically just gonna keep saving my summons for either a rerun of Gala Elly/Alex, or the holiday banners. In particular I really want to do lots of summons on the New Years banner. I know we’re gonna have Gala Zena or something next month for the anniversary, but if it’s anything like last year we’ll get lots of free summons during her banner, so I’ll at least wait and see how that works out before I spend any resources chasing her.

I also don’t really care much for Nevin and Pinon so even though I didn’t get them, I’m just gonna quit on this banner while I’m ahead, lol

[themenof--marvel]

For Those We’ve Lost (Chapter 12)

Summary: It’s been more than a decade since Tony Stark and his daughter have made eye contact, or any contact for that matter. With the ever-looming threat of disaster and loss haunting Tony, and with the new Avengers Headquarters completed, maybe there was a chance for him to find a sliver of happiness in his lost family. After living in the shadows for so long, will his estranged daughter be willing to reunite? Will she even have a choice when she’s thrown into the chaotic world of the Avengers? Perhaps they both stand to gain more from this overdue reunion.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x  Stark!Daughter Reader

Warnings: none  

**Non-canon storyline**

Taglist:  sims-4-cc0707 @camu-winchester@xapham@just4muggles@aekr@sweetcarolinestudies@callie-bear15 @avengemepercy@phoenix-whiskey-tears@editsbyjennyifyousayyouloveme@scarletmeii@hailqueenconquer@spaghettirogers@colie87@strangemaximoff@onceuponagleepottermindlock@casuallydarktiger @therapitized1 @mj-liana@multifandomphenomena  @sleepylunarwolf@dragonrosegardens  @witheringblooddemon  @gigiljoshler  @ihopeyousteponarosepetal  @loki-ang-batang-heneral

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

--

Another day passed and Y/N hadn’t seen Tony since the forest incident. Contrastingly, she bumped into Bucky more often than ever.

Every time she went to get coffee in the lounge area, she’d see him strolling around making meaningless conversation with whomever else was nearby. She felt his eyes on her, but she never looked his way to confirm her suspicions.  

It was only as Y/N decided one afternoon to clear her head by taking a strut around the grounds that Bucky approached her directly. She passed right past the archery portion of the training grounds and Bucky abandoned his task and jogged over to her.

“Hey, Y/N!” he hollered, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn to him.

Once she was facing him, his pace slowed.

“You ever gonna experiment on me, or what?” he asked, a slight smirk playing at his mouth.

Y/N quietly cleared her throat before responding. “Sure. Come by the lab on the third floor later and we can discuss the idea.”

Seeming content, Bucky smiled and nodded. “Later, then.”

“Alright,” she replied, offering a nod in return.  

Bucky stood in place for a moment more, not ready to leave just yet. It was only when Steve yelled out to him that his attention snapped back to the training and he turned away from the young Stark.

-

Before she knew it, there was a knock at the lab’s door. She snapped her head from the screens in front of her to face the entrance of the room. Meeting her eyes, Bucky pushed open the door, flashing a welcoming smile.  

“Hey,” he said simply.

Y/N took a step closer and offered a polite wave.  

When Bucky reached within arm’s reach, he spoke again. “So, what’s going on here?” His eyes glanced between hers and the diagrams on the screen behind her.  

Y/N returned to the screens, wondering where to start. Although she understood the screens, she figured that a holographic image of her idea would be better understood by the soldier.

Ever so casually, Y/N mentally instructed Skye to project the blue-prints onto the display at the center of the room. The two turned towards the display and Y/N took a subtle breath to steady herself.

Bucky leaned towards the image, letting his eyes roam and trying to make sense of it all. Sensing his utter confusion, Y/N hurried to explain.  

As her hands touched the holographic image, Skye worked with her to follow her explanation. Slowly but surely, Y/N worked her way through explaining how she would begin with getting into the basic foundation of the arm and then moved on to discuss the steps to alter the arm with Tony’s technology.

Just as she ended her monologue, Bucky finally spoke. He blinked intensely before asking, “So, basically, you’re going to rip into the arm and rebuild it from the start?”

Y/N’s eyebrows rose in surprise; that was the general idea, yes. She nodded, confirming his summary.

Bucky clasped his hands together and announced, “Great, so when do we start?”

Taking a cautious step towards him, Y/N muttered, “I should warn you; this could be quite painful for you. I tried to find the best way to make the alterations and this seemed like the one.”

Bucky closed the gap between them and placed his hands on her shoulders. Matching her gaze, he said with unblinking eyes, “There is no one here I trust more than you to do this. No matter how much it hurts, I won’t run away. The only way I'm backing out of this is if you’re no longer in charge. The only person I want messing around with this arm is you.”

She wasn’t sure what raised her confidence more: his words or his eyes. His aura alone was more than enough to convince her that she was about to undergo something great and his eagerness and support made her feel secure.

--

There was no doubt in her mind; this was by far one of the most challenging processes she’d ever undergone. From the get-go, Bucky was calm and collected. She caught him twitched every now and again when she began clearing the path to begin the installation. Nevertheless, he remained silent and patient throughout the entire experience.  

She wasn’t sure how long they’d been in the lab for, but the darkened sky that welcomed her outside was enough to give her a rough estimate.  

When she was satisfied with the result and Skye confirmed that the arm was fully upgraded and successfully stable, Y/N finally let out a sigh of relief. She had her doubts of her own abilities, but once Skye gave those assurances, she was confident that she’d done her best.  

By the end of everything, with Bucky’s arm closed up and settling in, he’d fallen asleep. With a reassuring snore, Y/N smiled at her patient and quietly exited the lab.  

Just as the door shut behind her, Tony bustled over.

“So, how’d it go?” he asked, letting his excitement known.

Y/N turned to her father and replied, “It took a while, but I got through it. Skye also helped and made sure that everything was properly taken care of.”

Tony nodded. “And the result?”

“I implemented your Iron Man tech into his arm along with a transmitter as an energy source. It all looks solid, but we’ll have to wait until he wakes up to see how he adapts.”

Without words, Tony stepped towards his daughter and embraced her. Over her head, he muttered, “I am so incredibly proud of you, kid.”

Maybe it was because she was exhausted from the operation, or pleasantly relieved at what she’d just accomplished, but her eyes began watering. A few tears escaped but she maintained herself. When Tony pulled away, their eyes met and she sought comfort in seeing her father’s own emotional eyes.

Rounding the corner, Steve appeared with Lang close behind. Steve’s gaze only focused on Y/N as he approached.

“So, how was it?” Steve asked hurriedly.

“Everything went smoothly; we’ll see how he reacts when he wakes up.”

The soldier nodded and furrowed his brows, deep in his own thought. Tony clasped his hands together and announced that it was getting late and that they should leave Y/N to get her rest. They all complied, but once they were gone, Y/N returned to the lab, taking a seat next to Bucky’s recovering form.  

She watched as his breath remained steady. As she was on his side with the iron arm, she admired the intricacies of the new design, glad to be rid of the previous dent-riddled covering. She gently passed her fingertips over the smooth protective surface, all the way down to the grips of the fingers.  

Everything looked as she planned, she just needed him to wake up to confirm if it all operates as she planned.  

She removed her hand and settled into her seat. As Skye dimmed the lights overhead, Y/N laid her head on the remaining space of the operating bed and closed her eyes, eagerly welcoming a deep slumber.

[bunsblr]

Tu... torial? Pt. 3

Welcome back to part 3 of my tutorial for anon. In this I will go over perhaps my favourite part - the face. Did you used doodle eyes in your notebook when you were in school? This has the same energy.

This is where things get a little harder to explain because it involves a lot of drawing. I hope you get the general idea though.

Open this in dashboard for best view of the screenshots.

Disclaimer: I have no formal training for any kind of graphics stuff, I work in an office as a receptionist - I serve coffee for a living. I am absolutely self taught and while I consider myself pretty comfortable with photoshop, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t about a gazillion of other things that can be done that I have no idea about. There are people far superior than me in the Sims community. This is just how I do it, with techniques I have picked up through the years. Some things I go over in these will be pretty basic, some things a little more unorthodox. Disclaimer 2: My edits take time. This is what I do to relax, one edit takes several hours for me. Sometimes days :))) Disclaimer 3: My photoshop is in Swedish, which is my first language. I tried my best to find the English translations for every step that I do.

Tools used: The Sims 4, Adobe Photoshop 2020, One by Wacom Pen Tablet (very basic and unfancy).

I start by adding a new empty layer in my Sim layer group, above my base Sim layer.

I use the smudge tool (I always keep my smudge tool on Strength around 30%) on the Sim layer to smudge and soften the eye whites a bit. I only redraw my sim's eyes if I'm changing the direction that they´re lookin, otherwise I just refine the existing eyes. In this case I didn't want her eyes quite as far left as they were. On my Details layer, I use the brush tool, hard small brush with opacity around 70-80%, and start drawing the eyes a little bit further to the right.

I realized I wanted the eye whites to be even whiter, so I added a new layer inbetween the Sim layer and the Details layer. Using a soft brush with lower opacity (29%) I go over the eye whites. The lower opacity allows me to build up the color by going over multiple times, creating a better blend. I then merge this new layer with the Details layer because there’s no reason for having these on separate layers going forward.

I turn the opacity of the brush tool back up and continue to draw the eyes. At this point they're looking rather creepy...

But looking much better after some added dots of “shine” with a white color (not full on white, slightly muddier)

I turn down the opacity of the brush again, take a soft brush and a dark grey color and go around the whole eye to add some shadow.

Turn up the opacity of the brush again (I know it’s a lot of back and forth with this, it’s just how I work) and work around the eyes. I clean up the make up and add some lashes. I also add some dept to the eyebrows using a slightly darker color than the existing strands and draw in some new ones here and there.

Time to clean up the nose (eeeew). I start with the Smudge tool on the sim layer, strength around 15-20%, and smudge the pixels a little.

On the details layer, I clean up the nose further by drawing in the nostrils a bit, and even out the colors around and on the nose, picking up color with the eyedrop tool and going over with a low opacity brush wherever I think the color is a little uneven.

With the lips I sharpen the shape, add some highlights on the top of the lipline, clean up the corners of the mouth, redraw the teeth and add those squiggly circles on the top and bottom lip. They look a bit weird up close but zoomed out it will look glosssssy :) I pick up existing colors on the lip with the eyedrop tool and work with both lower opacity soft brushes and higher opacity hard brushes here.

Now I feel happy with the face details. Here is a comparison of the face before and after. A little bit cleaner and smoother now!

Time to throw some shade. I always start under the chin (because for some reason that's the most fun). I create a new layer in the Sim group, name it shadows, and I use the pen tool again and make a path along the jawline, sectioning off the neck from the face. I went over the basics of using the pen tool in pt 1. This is.…may be an unortodox way to do it. I'm sure a lot of people would see this as an unecessary tricky step. It is however my favorite way of doing it.

I made two paths for this first work area. Meaning I first made a full path on the neck above the necklace, closed that path and then started a new one below the necklace to include the chest area where the skin is showing (separating it from the clothes). When both my paths were closed I pressed ctrl + Enter to turn them both into selections at the same time. As you can see I didn’t bother following the “edge” of the sim, you will see why later.

I eyedrop a color from a darker area of her skin, then I choose a darker, more saturated color in the palette that comes up.

I use a big soft brush with opacity around 30%. I start to build up the shadow under the chin, with more color right under the jawline and less further out. This is where my pen tool selection comes to good use, it keeps the jawline nice and sharp even though I'm using a soft brush to get the fading effect on other parts of the shadow. As we already decided, the light comes from the left in this picture, thus the chin shadow ends up to the right. I use a smaller brush to go around the clothing line, and under the necklace. The tighter the clothes, the smaller the shadow.

 I noticed the neck was lighter on the very side of the neck, and that interferes with my shadow. Now of course I could go over with the shadow color a couple of more times in that spot, but I prefer to correct the color on the base Sim layer instead for a more even result. So I hide the shadow layer, eyedrop the slightly darker area on the neck (and keep it this time).

It's important to keep the selection while I do this, so I don't paint over something else. You could put this on another layer and just erase if you accidentally go over something you're not supposed to, but since I already have the selection I can just put it on the base Sim layer. I brush over the area a couple of times until the color is how I want it.

While I am at it I also thought the chest area is a little too white and colorless. This often happens on my sim pictures if I’m using a sim with lighter skin. Again I eyedrop a darker color of the skin, but this time I choose a more vibrant version of the color to avoid muckyness when I go over the white.

I set the opacity of the brush to super low and then very carefully go over the whiter areas of the chest a couple of times, avoiding the areas where there are details such as collarbones or cleavage.

I make the Shadow layer visible again and deselect. Now you see how I have painted a little outside the skin area on the neck, because I didn’t follow the edge of the sim with my selection? I quickly fix that by holding Alt and grabbing the layer mask from the base Sim layer, and dropping it onto the Shadow layer.

Now these two layers have the same layer mask! And it's time to bring out the pen tool again, and make a path around the face.

With the face selected I start painting my face shadows. I put shadow on the side of the face that´s away from our imaginary light source.

I paint shadows under any hair that covers the face, and add a shadow on the side of the nose that´s facing away from the light. This usually takes me a couple of tries to get right, like this here wasn’t it...

I use a 30something % opacity on my brush and then 30something % opacity on a soft eraser brush and go back and forth with these until I get a nice blend.

Got the nose shadow looking decent, and add a little shadow in the eye… socket?… closest to the nose. I make sure that this doesn´t go over the eye itself and interferes with any colors there. I want to keep the eyes clear.

I deselect. Now we´ve got some little flaws here and there because my selection didn’t line up perfectly. I blend these with the smudge tool.

Better!

Looking fine gurl!

As I mentioned it’s a little hard to explain some steps, like the eyes and the lips, because it is just drawing until I like the result. I hope you find this useful though, and please send me an ask if you’re wondering about anything!

[domidextrus]

Here’s the list of games I was so happy to find in this bundle (in alphabetical order):

Airships: Conquer the Skies

Anodyne (A Zelda-like that takes quite some plot and gameplay inspiration from Link's Awakening of all things.)

Arcade Spirits (A romantic visual novel that takes place in an alternate present-day where the video game crash of 1983 didn't happen and arcades still stuck around.)

ART SQOOL (As weird as this game may look, it will make you fall in love with drawing again.)

Astrologaster (An amusing Shakespearean narrative game where you're a self-proclaimed "medical doctor" trying to diagnose patients through astrological readings. It’s also from the creators of Tengami.)

Cats Are Liquid: A Light in the Shadows

Cats Are Liquid: A Better Place

Celeste

Chook & Sosig: Walk The Plank

Circa Infinity (A trippy and challenging platformer with a very unique aesthetic for the genre.)

Code 7 (An episodic cyberpunk-horror text adventure with full voice-acting. As of writing, its final episode is still being worked on.)

Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!

Death and Taxes (A dark-comedy casual job sim where you’re a grim reaper tasked with sending specific people to their death in order to maintain balance in the world.)

Dujanah (A trippy, claymation-y game with a Muslim protagonist and a plot best described by PCGamer as "a story of loss under military occupation that defies easy categorization". Also, it's from the creator of Sluggish Morss.)

Glittermitten Grove (This game may look kinda bland on the outside but, trust me, it's only a fraction of the experience. *nudge nudge wink wink*)

Gunhouse (basically “arcade puzzler meets tower defense”)

Halloween Forever

The Hex (A multi-genre narrative game from the creator of Pony Island.)

Hidden Folks

Jumpgrid

Lenna's Inception (A procedurally-generated Zelda-like that takes place in a glitched world.)

Little Bug

Long Gone Days (A military JRPG that incorporates language barriers in its dialogue system and encourages you to make allies in order to overcome these barriers.)

Minit (Think Majora's Mask extra-lite. It's a top-down action-adventure game where the player-character is cursed to have only one minute of time to do stuff in the world before suddenly passing out and waking up at home the next day.)

A Normal Lost Phone

Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story

Night in the Woods

Old Man's Journey

OneShot

Overland (A story-driven tactical survival game where you try to survive a road trip in a post-apocalyptic USA.)

Pyre

Quadrilateral Cowboy

RUNNER3 (The third entry in the BIT.TRIP RUNNER series.)

Seduce Me: The Complete Story

Semblance (A puzzle-platformer where you mold parts of the level like play-dough.)

A Short Hike (A relaxing game where you do exactly what the title describes, but you can also choose to veer off the path and discover new things.)

They Bleed Pixels

Tiny Dangerous Dungeons

Tonight We Riot (Even if games with an unsubtle and unapologetic political message aren’t your cup of tea, it’s a cathartic beat-em-up where you recruit multiple units who’ll fight for you as you progress.)

Plus, these are the games I already owned/played before this bundle but I feel people should try out too (also in alphabetical order):

Choice Chamber (If you stream on Twitch and have a sizable audience, this one’s worth checking out.)

Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, And The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist (Fans of The Stanley Parable will get a kick out of this one.)

GNOG (A charming toybox-style puzzle game.)

Golem Creation Kit (A visual novel with puzzle elements where you use your magic cauldron to create golems out of the best material you can find in order to scare away the villagers that want to burn you at the stake.)

Luna's Wandering Stars (A physics-based puzzle game where you slingshot the moon into just the right orbital path to collect as many meteors as possible.)

Mable & The Wood (A dark fantasy metroidvania with pretty unique movement and combat mechanics.)

A Mortician's Tale (A short narrative game about working at a funeral home.)

Octodad: Dadliest Catch

Pikuniku (A cutesy puzzle-platforming adventure game.)

Rising Dusk (Another cutesy platformer, but with a setting based in Japanese folklore and gameplay involving strategically avoiding collectibles to keep certain platforms from disappearing.)

Secrets of Raetikon (An atmospheric, open-world exploration game where you’re a bird trying to unlock the titular secrets of the titular overgrown lands.)

Super Win The Game (A Zelda-2-esque retro platformer. It’s the sequel to You Have To Win The Game.)

Windosill (A short, charming point-and-click puzzle game.)