#cc mags

[rootin-tootin-cum-shootin]

Me OMW to give my Wife/Husband my undying love and affection

[coupsim]

2000'S HOODIES ☆

finally back with some cc took me long enough LOL. even tho its arguably the hottest time of the year for where i am who says u can't wear hoodies ?? bg recolor so no mesh required :3

download here !! [simfileshare]

[madeofcc]

URBZ MAG SUMMER 2024 : Aïssa in Tartosa ♥

Look 1 : Hair / Eyeshadow (66)/ Lips (Constellation) / Dress

Look 2 : Hair / Glasses / Lips (lucid dream)/ Top & Bottom

Look 3 : Hair / Dress / (make up is the same as look 1)

Poses by @sciophobis @mel-bennett @xiuminuwu

Cc credits : @daylifesims @pralinesims @caio-cc @someone-elsa @sentate

[im-out-of-it]

season 1, episode 9 continued

24. Magnus: don’t fucking touch me (aka jace thinking he can lay hands on magnus) BRO IF YOU DONT STOP LMAO

25. “you’ll both owe me. 14th century gold”- yes Magnus because you’re about to steal your future husband/baby daddy’s stele

26. “Oh, silly me. I forgot… you two are such great friends.”-Raphael

27. “or has that changed?” this whole decision reminds me of TVD when Stefan tries persuading Damon to turn into a vampire with him, like Stefan did it so he wouldn’t be alone while clary made this decision to have Simon by her side.

28. Clary is literally like wait we aren’t besties anymore??????

29. but Simon finally caves in and drinks

30. “maybe what I did was wrong or selfish”- clary. it’s literally both. I can sympathize with her wanting her best friend back, I do get that but clary never once thought about simon going through this change and how he would process it

31. and she’s still making it about herself 🙄 “I thought this” and “I thought that” but never how Simon feels smh

32. “you’re a shadowhunter, he’s a vamp, you two will never be equals” at least Raphael is coming with the truth

33. shadowhunters do think they’re better. and this isn’t all but most of them. Alec and Izzy are rare exceptions. when jace killed downworlders in season two, I didn’t see much punishment but when a fairie kills shadowhunters, suddenly it’s a huge problem and they all need to be tracked without their consent. I’m just saying that shadowhunters do all kinds of shit that they would condemn downworlders for

34. not Magnus name dropping Freud 😭

35. Alec: thanks for your advice Magnus. I’m marrying Lydia

Magnus: fucking hell, that’s not what I meant ☹️

36. I feel for Magnus here because he never wanted to push alec too much but he’s also starting to fall for Alec and doesn’t want him getting married to someone Alec doesn’t even love

37. he’s just so sad and confused. “marriage is a wonderful institution, not that I would know”- just you wait magnus

38. it’s sad because Magnus understands Alec but isn’t going to push alec if that isn’t what he wants so now I’m crying 😭 “goodbye Alexander”

39. CAN WE PLEASE NOT SAY GOODBYE?????

40. ah Alec is having second thoughts. not on the marriage but meliorn

41. if Lydia takes anything serious, it’s being a shadowhunter and we can all agree on that

42. now an alliance is being made and everyone is praising clary for it when Izzy’s the one who is wanting to rescue meliorn

part 3 coming in a bit

[highsocietygifs]

𝕮𝖍𝖎

[cozyyani]

Summer Time Special ✨

[nonbinary-androids]

Whyyyyy is it so hard to come up with a cool item or reference for Copper Year. This title is never gonna happen

[cascutiess]

cute bedroom deco cc + links - TS4 𖦹ׂ 𓈒 🐇

chair 𓋼𓍊 skin care 𓋼𓍊 tv + cord posters 𓋼𓍊 tray 𓋼𓍊 bed + pillows 𓋼𓍊 chocolates 𓋼𓍊 mags 𓋼𓍊 laptop + extra deco ⊹ ࣪ ˖⊹ ࣪ tysmmm to the cc creators!! ˙ᵕ˙ @hydrangeachainsaw ໒꒱ @soloriya ໒꒱ @awingedllama ໒꒱ @siomisimsvault ໒꒱ @mechtasims ໒꒱ @myxdollyt ໒

[koreessentials]

KORE IPSC Shooting Competition Belt Review | The Best USPSA Competition

KORE Essentials Competition Shooting Belts is the Best-Fitting, Most Comfortable Speed Belt you'll ever wear! Kore IPSC & USPSA shooting belts feature 20+ micro size positions, so you get a perfect fit - every time. Our 2 belt systems (inner & outer belt) use our proprietary Power-Core™ center that’s Super-Supportive and Totally Stable. Kore speed belts (1.5” wide) fit any waist from 24" up to 48”). One Year Warranty & 30 Day MBG. Thanks to THE WARRIOR SOLUTION for the awesome review.  Visit - http://www.KoreEssentials.com  ...

[lovphobic]

the roadhog rework..................... gagging

[templeofsim]

This is such an awesome idea!! Can’t wait to see what else you find!! 

HARPERS' ESSENTIALS - 1st Edition | July 2023

A SIMBLR MAGAZINE DESIGNED TO PROMOTE FREE, LOST AND OLD SIMS 4 CUSTOM CONTENT; WITH IN-MAGAZINE DIRECT LINKS TO DOWNLOAD THE CC PRESENTED.

READ IT BY CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW (flipbook)

disclaimers:

Old CC considered here as all Sims 4 Custom Content previous to 2020. But newer CC will also be presented, as long as it's freely available.

Only direct links to tumblr pages which share no ad/paywall download links in sites/platforms like SimFileShare, Patreon (free), CurseForge, Dropbox, Onedrive, Google Drive, Mega and Mediafire.

next edition is going to be published sometime in august 😉 you can send/share cc suggestions, wcif or even your own sims to be models. i'd really love having your feedback about the magazine to improve it in the next edition. many thanks to all. also, if you find something amiss in the magazine, please let me know.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

what do you think is the line between friends and moirails for trolls? I was never sure how to feel about it, it seems so nebulous. also any idea what's with feferi trying to invite kanaya and karkat into the horn pile with her and sollux? like based on the description of moirallegiance that sounds like... infidelity. but it didn't seem like the trolls reacted that way.

What it ultimately comes down to is the fact that Homestuck is a story, and furthermore, one pervaded by things like fate and destiny, which are real and exist within its universe, and therefore, the moirails for each of our trolls has already been decided by destiny (the author).

But also, in a less meta way, the confusion you're feeling likely stems from the fandom misconception that a moirallegiance is just an extra best-friendship, which it is NOT. The stated function of a moirallegiance is to calm each other the fuck down, in order to prevent them from hurting themselves or others. It's this pacifying effect, and not whether or not they hop into piles and talk about feelings, that defines a moirallegiance.

Trolls are a very angry and violent race. Some are more hot-tempered and dangerous than others, to the extent that if left to their own devices, they would present a serious threat to society, or even to themselves. Such trolls will have an instinctive pale attraction to a more even-tempered troll, who may become their MOIRAIL. The moirail is obliged to pacify the other, to function as the better half. The two partners in a strong pale relationship will serve to balance and complement each other's emotional profiles, and thus allow their other relationships to be more successful.

Piles of stuff and feelings jams in them are associated with moirallegiance, but are not "something you only do with your moirail" - like getting coffee or holding hands are associated with dating your matesprit/human romance partner, but not exclusive to them, and, in many cases, not a form of infidelity (although they can be). For what it's worth, Eridan does call Gamzee's horn pile in the middle of the room a "vvulgar display," like Gamzee's chucked porno mags everywhere:

ERIDAN: wwhat a fuckin vvulgar display this is ERIDAN: airin out all his dirty laundry like that puttin a big fuckin pile a horns in the middle of the room ERIDAN: at least i got the upright basic decency to hide my shitty wand pile somewwhere in the lab you wwont find it dont evven bother lookin KARKAT: WHY DO YOU ASSHOLES HAVE PILES OF THINGS, JUST STOP.

So what Feferi's doing with Sollux is less "hey, come cheat with me on Sollux," and more "hey, wanna third wheel our date?"

Moirallegiance is about the "instinctive pull" and the pacification of both partners. Also, moirallegiance is very much romantic. The comic uses the word "platonic," but I think what it means is "chaste" - moirallegiance is not involved in reproduction, so there is no requirement or social expectation for physical intimacy; however, if it weren't a form of romance, it wouldn't exactly be a type of troll romance, would it?

Failed moirallegiances do not have this calming effect: Kanaya doesn't stop (or even really attempt to stop) Vriska from doing her Vriska bullshit at all, and in fact Vriska gets MORE agitated when talking to her:

AG: Ok, so you're spying on me. Kind of creepy! Man, m8y8e you should get a l8fe. AG: Or you know, if you're so h8gh 8nd might8 an8 th8nk you're so gr8at, m8y88 you c8uld oh I d8n't kn8w........ AG: TRY AND ST8P ME FROM DO8NG B8D THINGS????????

The same can be seen with Feferi and Eridan:

CC: Is t)(ere a lucky lady you are waxing scarlet for? CC: OR LUCKY F-ELLOW??? 38O CA: uh CC: Tell me! CC: Don't pretend you're all -EMBARRASS-ED SUDD-ENLY!!! CA: ok fef CA: this is NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS

And with Karkat and Gamzee:

KARKAT: DON'T YOU START WITH ME KARKAT: DO. NOT. START WITH ME. KARKAT: I WILL GET YOU IN A HEADLOCK SO TIGHT IT WILL BE A MIRACLE IF PEOPLE DON'T MISTAKE OUR TUSSLE FOR AN ILL CONCEIVED VENTRILOQUIST ACT. KARKAT: I WILL SHOOSH YOU AGAIN, SO HELP ME GOD. I WILL SHOOSH YOUR CLOWN ASS TO SHANGRI-BULLSHIT-LA AND BACK, AND FILL YOUR EAR WITH MY WHITE HOT PALEBRO SPITTLE. KARKAT: I AM FULL AND FUCKING WELL PREPARED TO GET CONCILIATORY WITH YOU AGAIN IF YOU SO MUCH AS PASS GAS MURDEROUSLY, DO YOU UNDERSTAND? KARKAT: IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT??? DO I NEED TO CALM YOUR FAYGO-STICKY TENTSQUATTING SHIT DOWN AGAIN???? GAMZEE: naw brother, i was just about to all say for you to try and get your settle down on, maybe. GAMZEE: :o(

And what makes Equius and Nepeta so successful is that Nepeta keeps Equius's tendency towards fury in check, while Equius keeps Nepeta out of harmful situations (although he's maybe doing a bit too much of that and could afford to step back):

EQUIUS: D --> As such, he is prone to being more violent and unpredictable than any of us EQUIUS: D --> Not everyone has been as lucky as I in the domain of moirallegiance

AT: iT'S PROBABLY FOR THE BEST, AT: tHAT YOU LISTEN TO HIM, AC: :33 < i dont know AC: :33 < you think so? AT: wELL, AT: iF YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO HIM BEFORE, AT: yOU MIGHT HAVE PLAYED GAMES WITH US BEFORE, AT: aND SOMETHING BAD MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU,

And Feferi and Sollux work because Sollux is prone to excessive self-loathing, which, mixed with his mage powers of prophesying/invoking the future, make for a cocktail of potential harm to himself and others. Talking with her keeps his head above the water (heh) and forcibly prevents him from wallowing in self-loathing:

SOLLUX: anyway, yeah, now that aa ii2 gone forever ii feel more depre22ed and u2ele22 than u2ual, and ii wa2 already pretty cod damn u2ele22 two begiin wiith, let'2 face iit. FEFERI: But I )(ave it on good aut)(ority t)(at s)(e is fine! FEFERI: Everyt)(ing is going to go swimmingly, YOU'LL S-E-E. 38) SOLLUX: you are 2o riidiiculou2ly optiimii2tiic iit'2 kiind of 2iickeniing, why do you even put up wiith me? SOLLUX: iif you weren't 2o great ii would thiink you were a fuckiing iidiiot for liikiing me. SOLLUX: 2o, ii gue22 thank2 for liikiing me?

But even though these moirallegiances are ultimately doomed, there is some amount of pacification going on, making it difficult for the trolls to tell in the moment whether or not their pale relationship is true (Karkat does manage to stop Gamzee from murdering people, for example, but fails to address his religious beliefs and underlying trauma, whereas Gamzee can't calm Karkat down at all, so they end up drifting apart after the initial Major Problem has been settled).

The fact that it's a blurry line even for trolls is explicitly stated:

It's often ambiguous especially among young trolls whether a bond formed between an acquaintance is true moirallegence, or the usual variety of platonic involvement. Furthermore, romantic intentions of a more flushed nature can often be mistaken for paler leanings, much to the frustration of the suitor.

So this is kind of by design - part of adolescence, keeping in line with Homestuck's coming-of-age themes, is the messy romance. If it were easy to piece together, it wouldn't be true to life.

HOWEVER, that all being said, special notice does have to be taken of the way moirallegiance - moreso than even the other three quadrants - has an air of DESTINY about it. Trolls believe that every troll has one destined partner for every quadrant:

But if there was one theme to be hammered through his thick skull, it would be the trolls' cultural preoccupation with romantic destiny. Yes, the romantic landscape is rife with false starts and miscues and infidelities, red and black. But every troll believes strongly that each quadrant holds one and only one true pairing for them, and it is just a matter of time before the grid is filled with auspicious matchups through the mysterious channels of TROLL SERENDIPITY. In short, their belief is that for each quadrant there exists a pair or triad of trolls somewhere in the cosmos that were…

MADE FOR EACH OTHER.

So there's already a setup in this comic, which is so rife with prophecy and foreshadowing, that every troll is eventually going to end up with their true love/true hate - but even out of the four quadrants, moirallegiance is given special weight: first of all, it is the only quadrant that is literally translated as "soul mates":

This quadrant presides over MOIRALLEGIENCE, the other conciliatory relationship. A reasonable human translation would be the concept of a soul mate, but in a more platonic sense, and with a more specific social purpose.

And second, it's called "mysterious" or "magical," even in direct comparison to black/red:

CG: AND ALL THE NUANCES OF PITY MANIFEST AS VARIOUS OTHER KINDS OF FEELINGS LIKE WHATEVER CHEMICAL REACTIONS TRIGGER MATING FONDESS OR THE MYSTERIOUS FORCES THAT ARE BEHIND MOIRALLEGIANCE.

You then proceed to have the rest of this conversation we already read, bugging and fussing and meddling through the special and magical union one can only describe as being in moirallegiance with another. At least, you guess that's how you would describe it. Maybe. Troll romance sure is confusing!

And we can't forget:

Such trolls will have an instinctive pale attraction to a more even-tempered troll

Which lends to the idea that there's a biological compulsion towards needing a moirail, same as how there's a biological draw towards finding reproductive partner(s).

But this is why I always tend to use "destined for" when discussing moirail pairs, and also why I focus specifically on which individuals calm other individuals the fuck down - like how Gamzee says he "feel[s] so at chill with" Tavros, or how Karkat goes from completely losing his shit to "yeah, so that's it i guess" after talking to Eridan.

[annabelle--cane]

it's fascinating to me the way that different social media platforms result in different types of fandom behavior. while s5 of tma was airing, I spent a good amount of time on tma tiktok (I log back in about once every two months now, going back to in-person school after a year a half of lockdown seem to re-blanace my brain and made me once again not really enjoy the format) while still using tumblr as my main socmed, and while there was a lot of overlap in the fan culture, some things were notably different.

tumblr tma fans had near-encyclopedic knowledge of the source material, but it was kind of an ongoing joke for tiktok tma fans that everyone binged the whole show in a week-long fugue state and lost memory of about 35% of it. tumblr has virtually no character limit and allows posts to be passed around by users indefinitely, which lends itself to fairly in-depth meta analysis being made and shared until most any fan could say "the time and space discrepancies at hill top road? psh yeah, I know all about them, I've read seven scrupulously cited posts that lay out all the details." for the entire time that s5 was airing, tiktok videos could still only be a minute long, and I know from a lot of personal effort that there's only so much you can fit into a one minute script that you also have to memorize and record (and cc manually with tiktok text stickers, as they didn't add the caption feature until april 2021) if you want the process to take less than four hours of your one mortal human life. and then you only see the video if your following or fyp algorithm shows it to you. there were a few tma meta-ish videos that got popular because other people would make their own videos referencing them and tag the account so their followers could see what they were talking about, but it's much harder to circulate content you like there. several times I saw people post videos saying "I got into cosplay to film some [agnes or annabelle or gerry or another secondary character] and I just realized I have no idea what their deal actually is 💀".

a thing that tiktok tma fandom was definitely better at than tumblr tma fandom was accurately remembering certain pieces of characterization and the flow of certain scenes. I've seen a bunch of posts on here where someone is trying to argue a point with excerpts from the text ("x character is nicer than you all give them credit for" "x character is so mean to y character in this scene" "z theory can't be true because y character said a line that disproves it") where the argument only holds up because the poster has gotten these excerpts from a transcript dive and hasn't listened to the episodes they're from recently, because while the text alone can be construed to mean one thing, the way it's delivered on-podcast clearly intends another. tiktok, being an audio and video based medium, allows audio clips to be shared around a lot, and cosplayers would often all make videos acting along to the same show clips of juicy interpersonal drama, and so tiktok fans, though they may have had less overall memory of what characters said, always had a better grasp on how they said it. an average tiktok tma fan might not have remembered melanie's subplot about war ghosts, but they would know the nuances of how the way she talks to jon changes between mag 28 and mag 155.

[frutibob]

No rizz room

idk how to describe it but it's a room for a dorky but sweet sim with an overbearing mother that checks his room every week :\

cc below the cut!! :)

room is on my gallery page @ frutibob (remember to turn on "include custom content")

CC LIST:

walls: by softerhaze (original mesh), this old couch

awingedllama: nostalgia living braaandie: imac brainstrip: my corner set (desk and clutter, highly recommend this bc i use it a lot and very good for making teen rooms) charlypancakes: slouch set ( for rug), modish set (for books)

flirtyghoul: otaku set (for manga) honeymoonsimmer: lived in bed recolor KKB: heimish hall max20: southern bedroom, closet collection marso: alamat set, mechtasims: y2k set (spilled cereal) mintyjinx: ps1 + controllers, video cassetes nocturne: university life pack (backpack)

pierism: MCM curtains, woodland ranch light, du main du clos laundry basket pixelfolk: horror posters simkoos: everyday clutter, slovenly (for storage + office/supplies items)

simmersed: teen grunge decor (for circle mirror and posters) simmila: record store 1 + 2, manga set simsplex: smoking clutter sixamcc (alt dl to their website in case the links don't work, takes you back to curse forge tho): teen room pack, home basics, school supplies clutter, breakfast nook (for bananas) surely sims: office set (coffee cup and file holder) syboulette: life bathroom, dorm territory (link to patreon that then links to download on their website, but you can also find them on the sims resource) taurusdesigns: judith living room (for books) zwhsims: 90s teen bedroom (part of a 3 kit set)

playboy mags by keloshe x foundaurora (nsfw, +18 adults only)

basmental mod for the jar (keep in mind this mod is a gameplay mod)

think i got everything but lmk if anything is missing. everything else (like some small clutter items, flooring and the wardrobe) are all in-game items! enjoy!

[im-out-of-it]

season 2, episode 4, part 3 “day of wrath” continued (long because I went on a bitchfest so sue me)

66. I always love watching Magnus’s expression when they’re about to summon Camille. this is not something that is easy for Magnus to do but he’s doing it because it needs to be done (I don’t know how to flip it but whatever) (I don’t have a degree or common sense in IT but I tried) (so be nice to me )

67. Magnus looks so devastated knowing he will have to betray Camille

68. ah shit, my poor alec

69. now Alec looks so devastated. okay but Alec couldn’t have known. anyone would have done what he did. Valentine may be a hypocritical bad villain but he is good about making sneak attacks and using his resources. you can bet your ass that anyone would’ve done the same especially jace and clary. they would be too busy ogling each other. (how they are in charge in the books always baffles me) how was Alec supposed to know that a demon sneakily got into the institute? he doesn’t have eyes and ears all over the place

70. Simon, some people get excited about dirt (I couldn’t resist- also don’t like small gifs so I used them both AND I CANT BELIEVE HE IMPROVISED THIS SHIT)

71. yes clary, the institute loves to gossip. it’s boring waiting around for demons to show up

72. Izzy: be fucking grateful for once bitch

73. Izzy is way toooooooo nice to clary. Clary is one of those people that just suck the energy right out of ya

74. Izzy: not everyone can be Isabelle Lightwood

75. too be fair, she makes it look easy 🥰

76. “so maybe you should be glad you have one who wants to try and make things right.” MY GIRL IZZY LEFT NO DUST!!!!!! no because clary is one of thee most ungrateful people around. she’s allowed to be upset at her mother for lying, but Jocelyn does anything she can to protect clary while Maryse has been a cold hearted cunt to Alec and Izzy so just be appreciative for once clary

77. Lydia, I would suggest being nice

78. YEAH THATS MY MAN ALEC

79. meant to post these before (Alec investigates and jace has dreams of ugh clary)

80. Lydia gave it her all so maybe raj will watch his mouth next time lmaooo

81. I don’t see why they didn’t have Alec shoot the smoke but I guess they need Alec to keep suffering and enduring for no reason

82. I also want to point out from a recent discussion I had that Alec did not need to endure all of this. he’s gone through hell from season one and now. he’s almost died twice, sorted through complex feelings, almost got married, and is having my boyfriend is immortal crisis and I’m not. like did Alec really need to go through this? I feel like they wanted it to be almost payback for Alec not wanting clary around and all of the stuff he’s said

83. I’m on board for Jocelyn dying but let’s remember, alec didn’t choose to kill her. the demon finds anger and hurt and it chooses its victim. Alec didn’t go on a plan to kill Jocelyn no matter how tempting it is. and remember, Jocelyn would have been fine if Alec died all for finding clary. she didn’t seem to mind giving him that stone. so I’m just saying, at least Alec wasn’t being intentional about this. and Jocelyn knew what could happen with that stone but she didn’t care as long as clary was protected 🙄

84. I can’t stand this episode for many reasons but it felt like a smear Alec campaign. has this man not been through enough? Maryse practically disowned him, he had all his shit in season one, almost lost Izzy, was constantly betrayed by someone who is supposed to be his brother and bestie, and almost died twice. and I’m no way trying to play the gay card but Alec is in the top five people who go through the most shit but also why is the gay man going through some of the worst possible shit???

85. Magnus izzy Maia Simon also Raphael are included but Alec is constantly getting judged for other peoples decisions, the blame goes on him, he almost dies thrice for someone who wouldn’t save him given the time of day, and he’s got so much hurt and anger inside him. I’m honestly upset they never let Alec process anything. literally he doesn’t marry Lydia and dates Magnus but there’s no time to process because jace leaves so let’s make it all about jace!!!!!!! I love the show for putting Alec first but I’m hurt that he hardly gets to process anything. it’s an upgrade for sure from the books but no one really talks about all he endures

86. and clary does say she’s not upset at Alec but she still blames him in a way. Alec didn’t seek Jocelyn out but she did seek alec out with the stone in episode 2. they never processed Alec’s dark side and I think that’s a shame because Matt is a very gifted and talented actor and I think he would have excelled at that. y’all can fucking quote me- Matt would have killed a more dark serious role. and after all the shit Alec goes through, his villain arc would’ve been warranted and justified at this point. he’s very good at the comedic timing, being serious, changing his character up but having alec go dark alec would have been very fun to watch. I have full confidence that Matt would’ve pulled it off EASY

87. speaking of Matt, I always love his interviews so let’s take a breaky break

88. HE JUST GETS ALEC

89. I’m done gushing for now BUT I CANT HELP IT!!!!!! Matt talking about Alec’s arc because he is summing up how a lot happens in season one and it’s not the books and basically how Alec doesn’t matter in the books. he just really fucking gets Alec more than CC understands Alec. after all, she wanted to kill him off first book and the way she treats the lightwoods shows how much she can’t stand any of them. Matt is a hardcore Malec and Alec and Magnus shipper and I love him for that. he gave Alec the potential he so needed!!!!!!!!!!

90. where the fuck was I?????? oh that’s right, alec just saved Lydia AGAIN but she saved him too

91. trial by mortal sword ⚔️ 🗡️ ah shit

92. I’m going to post the video of Magnus talking about Camille in the next one 🫶🏼

93. poor Magnus having to make one of the hardest choices in his life. Camille saved him and has been an old friend of his. it’s going to be very painful for Magnus to do this. he’s not someone who willingly betrays an old friend and lover but Camille has gotten out of hand. I wish they didn’t get rid of her

94. I mean Magnus is still a human being with thoughts and emotions and who goes through challenges and hardships but valid Simon

95. well last time you’ll see your mother clary, say bye (also forgot this one, slay Izzy)

96. I wonder if Jocelyn knew that clary was desiring jace romantically before she had her heart yanked out (THANK YOU ALEXANDER)

97. because it’s very obvious to us

98. I’m still mad we were robbed of more Alec

99. like imagine a dark Alec arc. instead of seeing jace be saved or clary like a dark Alec or Magnus would have been ten times more fun to see plus Matt and Harry would have killed it but what do I know I’m totally fucking biased

going to stop at 100 and will start part four tomorrow and it should probably be the last one since there’s about 13 ish minutes left

[mostlysignssomeportents]

A year in illustration (2024), Part four

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/12/07/great-kepplers-ghost/art-adjacent

Part one

Part two

Part three

The US Copyright Office frees the McFlurry

Figuring out how to illustrate the problems of DRM in McFlurry machines took some doing, but I'm super happy with how the HAL 9000-eyed poop emoji inside a spattered McFlurry cup (fair use of a McDonald's promo image) worked out.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/28/mcbroken/#my-milkshake-brings-all-the-lawyers-to-the-yard

(Image: Cryteria, CC BY 3.0, modified)

Keeping a suspense file gives you superpowers

Another Keppler classic: originally, this was FDR being offered a helping hand to cut through his paperwork. I added in one of the elephant heads I'd cropped out for election illustrations, and used it to represent "not forgetting."

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/26/one-weird-trick/#todo

The housing crisis considered as an income crisis

The underlying image is another Keppler, showing death flamboyantly dicing with a millionaire. I added in an official (hence public domain) Reagan portrait, some monopoly houses, and a vintage aerial photo of Levittown, halftoned to disguise scaling artifacts.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/24/i-dream-of-gini/#mean-ole-mr-median

Retiring the US debt would retire the US dollar

More of Keppler's outstanding Uncle Sams! Add in a super-rezzed-up US $100 (all that intanglio looks great at high mag) and you've got an instantly arresting image.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/21/we-can-have-nice-things/#public-funds-not-taxpayer-dollars

Penguin Random House, AI, and writers' rights

The impatient guy makes another appearance in this WPA image of an adult literacy class; he's joined by another "business man" type, this one from a midcentury ad for a multi-level marketing scheme selling…business suits! The pupils' heads are all HAL 9000 eyes, natch, but don't miss all the little Easter Eggs, like the reeve and peasants in the frames on the walls.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/19/gander-sauce/#just-because-youre-on-their-side-it-doesnt-mean-theyre-on-your-side

(Image: Cryteria, CC BY 3.0, modified)

You should be using an RSS reader

The guerrilla fighter is back, this time standing atop some mainframe equipment ganked from a Univac ad. The halftoned RSS logo in the background really works, especially with a partially blended GIMP "supernova" effect behind the rebel.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#read-receipts-are-you-kidding-me-seriously-fuck-that-noise

Dirty words are politically potent

I spent a bunch of time experimenting with different ways of making emphatic speech bubbles and it paid off here; that poop emoji's gawlix is in a good home. Halftoning the foreground element (the poop) works surprising well here. I should do more of that.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/14/pearl-clutching/#this-toilet-has-no-central-nervous-system

Lina Khan's future is the future of the Democratic Party – and America

Keppler's Uncle Sam Cop is back, along with another Keppler – a carpetbagger flying through the air after getting a kick in the pants. I got good use out of one of my Democratic Party donkeys here. The background is a half-tones WPA travel poster for Montana.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/11/democracys-antitrust-paradox/#there-will-be-an-out-and-out-brawl

Cars bricked by bankrupt EV company will stay bricked

I actually made this brick by hand: first I rescaled a box image until it had the right proportions, then I found a public domain texture that was the right kind of brick and used the perspective tool to put it over each face of the box. I told you public domain bricks are hard to find.

It was very satisfying overlaying all the elements of the Fisker car I cropped out onto the brick.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/10/software-based-car/#based

Prime's enshittified advertising

Nothing exceeds like excess! The flayed face with eyeballs comes from a 19th century book of French anatomical drawings. The calipers' handles just didn't look right (I referred to stills from Clockwork Orange to try and get 'em to work), but then I hit on the idea of using the "As Seen on TV" logo, which worked perfectly. The halftoned K-Tel ad-card background doesn't quite work, I think.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/03/mother-may-i/#minmax

"That Makes Me Smart"

This is actually two Kepplers; the original guy in the leg-hold trap is some lost-to-history politician embroiled in a lost-to-history scandal. But once I added (yet another!) of Keppler's Uncle Sam heads to his body (recoloring his coat and converting his trousers to red stripes), it became a perfect visual representation of America, trapped. The halftoned US flag is my favorite background yet.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/12/04/its-not-a-lie/#its-a-premature-truth

The far right grows through "disaster fantasies"

When it came to finding heavily armored and armed weirdos, I was spoilt for choice; same goes for grainy photos of vintage malls that look good after halftoning. Add in the goofy, grinning newsie's head and overlay his hat in camou, and it's perfect.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/24/mall-ninja-prophecy/#mano-a-mano

Boss politics antitrust

Finally, I got a chance to use Keppler's "Capital Controls the Senate!" I agonized over which corporate logos to use. Boss Tweed is back, with a Trump wig and MAGA hat.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/12/the-enemy-of-your-enemy/#is-your-enemy

Antiusurpation and the road to disenshittification

A diptych! Both sides' backgrounds come from Bosch's "Garden of Earthly Delights" – hell on the left, heaven on the right. The happy gas-jockey's old-fashioned ethyl pump divides the scene. The head-devouring dragon (with HAL 9000's eye) is a delightfully gory detail from Goltzius's 1183 painting of a couple guys having a hard time indeed.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/07/usurpers-helpmeets/#disreintermediation

(Image: Cryteria, CC BY 3.0, modified)

Bluesky and enshittification

I know, canonically the sirens who tempted Ulysses were merfolk, not half-woman/half-birds, but all the merwoman versions have a ton of naked breasts in them, and frankly, Waterhouses's 1891 "Ulysses and the Sirens" just rips. It took a lot of fiddling with the perspective tool and the clone brush to swap their bodies for the Bluesky butterfly wings, but it still looked weird until I mapped in a kind of scaly, butterfly wing texture.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/02/ulysses-pact/#tie-yourself-to-a-federated-mast

Shifting $677m from the banks to the people, every year, forever

I replaced Moses parting the Red Sea with Keppler's Uncle Sam Cop, but something still wasn't right. Then I figured out how to turn the Red Sea into a giant, aquatic US $100 bill (loooove that intaglio!) and it was awesome.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/01/bankshot/#personal-financial-data-rights