#i don't think it should be patched. if it is a bug. for ME for ME specifically that is for MY validation purposes

[ratcandy]

i've been keeping Sozo away from the brewery because I do not believe with his history of addictive substances that would be a good idea but also I am seeing people say that sometimes drunken Sozo will eat a mushroomo again even after being unshroomed .and I'm just staring with the biggest widest eyes possible at that. Every day I am learning more things that make me breathe deeply over my The Parasite Is Still There headcanon because .because. come on..........................

[torgawl]

"argenti is pretty diluc" "diluc if he was done right" take my man's name out of your mouth. is this the guy you're talking about??? he looks like he could be the sparkly dude from mha's brother

[sims3fiend]

Sims 3 Settings Setter

Proper release notes and beta edition

I've added support for setting any Config or Option setting, plus live editing of many many others, so it's now release time. Full feature explanation below, but essentially this lets you edit lots of settings ingame directly instead of having to make .package mods, and provides a "better" and more shareable way of editing GraphicsRules.sgr settings (IMO). Sorry if a new post is annoying idk what I'm doing

THIS IS A BETA, I haven't tested a lot of the settings, there are bugs, etc.

DOES NOT CURRENTLY WORK WITH THE EA VERSION

Downloads: Sims File Share Sims File Share - Less stutter config GitHub

More info about what it is (I yap a bunch) under :)

Installation and use

Please note, some settings wont appear until you load into a world.

Download the ASI file and wack it in to your Sims 3 base directory, where the ts3w.exe is located. If you're using one of the presets, make a folder called s3ss_presets and pop them in there (you'll need to activate them in the presets menu ingame).

Make sure you have an ASI loader, these are either from Smooth Patch's ASI portion or dxwrapper. I recommend dxwrapper, just make sure you set the LoadPlugins value to 1 (should be default)

Start the game, you might experience a little more of an initial "freeze" when starting the game than usual, this is from the script logging a bunch of config calls during initialization, there's like 800 or something nuts. It should not have any negative impact on regular loading or gameplay, and I plan to turn the logging off… eventually.

Press Insert to open up the menu. Go crazy and change everything, make the sun huge, crank bloom up, live.

Check the box next to a live setting to have it save for next time you launch, same thing for config but you also have to press save down the bottom because I forgot

Help I crashed/the game doesn't start with the mod!

Please send me your hooks_log.txt if you're experiencing any crashing issues. If the crash is because you set some value to like 7 billion, that's on you, you can just delete the line out of script_settings.ini or go to Settings -> Clear all settings

If you can't get the game to run with the mod, lmk also, please tell me if you're using a launcher, if you're using any other .asi mods, using dxvk, etc. as well as what operating system you're on.

Features

Live Edit

This is the new™ and now main part of the mod. I've mapped out several/most of the exes main "settings" (anything that interacts w/ 0x005a00a0 and some that don't) areas, which allows you to now, in game, change these values whereas before it was a whole arduous process of making .package mods. I mapped these all statically so some of the offsets/addresses might be wrong.

I was gunna list the settings but there's 260~ of them so maybe not?

I plan to add missing specific individual settings from Config eventually. If you think a setting is missing, or if you think I've mapped a value wrong (i.e. you know it has an effect but it's not working with my mod or is crashing you, or one value is changing multiple things), please let me know. Render/er is definitely missing some, that's because the function is scary and I don't like it.

Values (sometimes) have sliders with the min and max value I found in the exe set, if you want to go higher, you can double click to type in your own number.

Some interesting things you can do with the settings:

Set max lots higher than 8 AND increase the radius so it actually shows (will crash if set too high ~35+, need to investigate) by changing values in Streaming

Play in a game where the sun never sets or rises by editing Sky Common -> Sunset/Sunrise Time

Change shadow settings (includes the same thing as LD's shadow extender mod under), extending shadows (they will still look hideous, writing a post about why currently)

Change various light settings to get the perfect look for your game. Some popular mods edit these values for their looks (presets soon?)

Do whatever… this is…?

Game Config

The function we're hooking (0x0058c380) only seems to effect Config (GraphicsRules.sgr in the .exe directory) and Options (Options.ini in the documents/Sims3 directory), but logs a whole bunch of other thing. Feel free to toggle the option in the settings tab and try changing a bunch, it should in theory work because the function is reading and writing but somewhere it gets overridden or something idk 🤷

It lets you set any that fall under those two categories/headings, which means there's some like ForceHighLODObjects that aren't in the actual file and are settable. You might notice some show different values than what they're set as in your config, this could either be that I'm hooking it too early (I don't think I am), or the value is getting overwritten or changed somewhere in the exe. If there's a setting that's in the file but not in the list that you think does something, lmk, but it should capture everything.

I haven't mapped all of the Config/Option settings to Live Edit as they're all split up in the exe, if there's one you want in particular, lmk.

Presets

I've prepared a preset with just the essentials from my GraphicsRules file post with the idea that you can then use this with a stock GraphicsRules file instead of having to manage different versions, giving you the ability to toggle certain things back to default. I might make some visual "enhancement" presets or something later, either based off popular mods or my own insanity, we'll see.

Presets go into the s3ss_presets folder, and currently they stack rather than replace (not intentional but I might keep it)

Known issues:

Rendering toggles need to be re-toggled each load - Easy fix I'm just lazy

Options settings overwrite the actual Options.ini file (idk why??)

Occasionally D3D9 wont hook, I can't replicate this reliably to test so lmk if you can lmao

I mapped all the settings pretty hastily, so some are bound to be wrong

Was flagged as a virus briefly??? Praying this never happens again because I have no idea what to do to fix that dshjakfhhsdaj

Presets stack, if you apply a preset and you have existing values, they stack together… I kind of like that though as a concept so I just added a clear all option to settings, I might rework it later.

Some Live Edit value locations might change during gameplay, resulting in the menu displaying them incorrectly and crashing the game if edited in a broken state. I've checked most off them and they don't seem to, but Render ones did. Let me know if you experience it as I can probably find a static pointer like I did for Render.

Planned things:

Searching. God that'd be good…

Go over existing maps again, some I did early on before I supported static values, 4 float arrays, etc. so I've probably messed some up

Adding every single GraphicsRule.sgr setting to Live

Maybe adding some of my performance mods to it? Or should I keep them as their own individual thing? Mmmm I dunno

I still haven't looked at the way everyone else has been editing the "live" settings, so I should probably do that, there's probably a lot of info out there but at this point I'm too invested in my weird approach djsakfsksaffsa

Updates:

18.10.24 - Hopefully fixed an issue effect people using launchers, as well as a fix for the process hanging after quitting (would look closed but the process is still there in the bg). Also fixed presets applying. 17.10.24 - Hopefully fix a D3D issue that might've resulted in the game freezing/looking frozen. Handles D3D device resets. Will expand in the future to cover other areas maybe.

[losergames]

Chop Shop is strictly 18+ for language, themes, and potential explicit content. 

🔗 - Game Intro | Bug Report | Ko-Fi

Episode Three is now available! (+ 86,000) - PLAY HERE

Get your first taste of the underground car scene.

Meet some other players in the game.

Be made an offer.

5 achievements up for grabs!

And more!

AN: thank you so much for the patience - i've been dying to put this update out. lots of new characters and lots of variation!! there are 3 major paths to choose between in this ep, i recommend trying them all out! and thank you to my betas for keeping me sane lmao

This update comes with a patch and UI refresh (Version 1.1.2) Notes are under the cut. If preferred, you can access them in game in the start menu.

STORY

EPISODE 01:

MC should now be able to smoke! Buying cigarettes at the shop was not triggering correctly. If playing with an old save, you DO NOT have to restart as code at the beginning of EP 03 has resolved the error. Player will need to restart if they wish to read smoking related scenes in previous episodes.

Updated MC Name selection. Player can now choose from a list of names instead of having to input one to proceed.

Player can now give Taha their chocolate bar if it's in their inventory.

When asking Maz about their scars, the second choice 'You want to ask about it but you're going to keep your mouth shut.' should now take you to the correct response.

Extended and updated 'End Game' scenes.

EPISODE 02:

If MC is faint after exiting the car, but also drunk, they should now get the fainting scene, followed by Dilani helping the MC in the bathroom.

UI + TECHNICAL

SETTINGS:

Autoname Save is now defaulted to ON. This is to add ease and flow to gameplay, especially for mobile, tablet, and app users, instead of calling for an inputted saved name. If player wants to input save names, toggle Autoname Saves to OFF.

Autoname Save previously only used the forename of the MC but now includes the surname as well.

Removed the Fullscreen toggle as it is only intended for desktop use. Player can still toggle fullscreen function via the UI bar on the desktop interface.

Added a choice indicator toggle. (This probably won't come into effect until EP 04 or 05)

Changed serif font from Vollkron to EB Garamond.

OTHER:

Changing the MC's pronouns via the Dashboard has been updated. Additionally, after confirmation will take player back to the Dashboard and not close the dialog boxes entirely.

Hovering over 'Personality', 'Motives', and 'Skills' titles in the Dashboard will now display an information box with a definition. Mobile and tablet users will need to tap on the title.

'Resume Game' now only appears on the main menu when there is an autosave in the saves log.

Choices styling changes.

General UI and button style changes.

Fixed errors with the text message styling.

Added styling for reading text off of a page in game.

Darkened blue in light theme 'Skyline' to reduce eye strain.

CREATE A SAVE

Introducing Create a Save! This feature allows players to quickly manufacture a save file and start at a later point in the game.

Set your identity, appearance, history, and statistics; including personality, motives, and skills. Continue to set key decisions made in previous episodes.

Randomise options available for creating a PC and key decisions.

OTHER

Fixed gaps and spacing issues.

Minor phrasing and sentence structure changes.

Grammar and typo fixes.

whew -- that's a lot of patch notes! apologies for so much that needed to be fixed.

this update shouldn't break/ mess with saves but as a disclaimer i will say, if you spot anything funky, broken, or you don't think things are triggering correctly, try starting a new save. the new create a save feature is incredibly code heavy, and it's been tested relentlessly, but i wouldn't be surprised if something crops up.

if starting a new save doesn't resolve your issue - please submit to bug report or just send me an ask/message.

some things have been meaning to get fixed for Some Time - thank you to everyone that is using the bug report form!

apologies if there are typos and/or bugs - this was a long one to edit and my lovely betas did an OUTSTANDING job reading so much for ep 3 - thank you so much again!!! this time i am going to give it a bit more time before i put together a patch so i can grab more error responses haha.

create a save has also added a wee chunk to the word count, somewhere around 6k, but i'm not including it in the episode 03 word count as it's purely code. so, if you think the total wc is off, that's why!

if you've read this far, happy reading and thank you so much for the continued support!! :) - becky <3

[whatusername00]

Which Baldur's Gate Characters Know How To Lace Up Their Clothing - Others

Other people I've run into that lace some part of their outfit. This might be the last part, it might not, it just depends on if I find more as I replay the game. On we go.

Starting with the man who put this in my brain, Lord Enver Gortash. Couldn't even be bothered to lace his shirt properly at his ceremony to become Archduke. Did he lace it while wearing his gloves? That's fun to imagine. This man is just straight up skipping eyelets while doing up his shirt. There's also a bit of lacing missing that should come from the third eyelet from the bottom right, and some lacing that should come from the bottom of the eyelet above that. I can't believe I didn't notice this monstrosity until my 7th playthrough. 0/10 get your shit together.

Nine-Fingers has the same lacing on her arm that Lakrissa and Zorru have, so my gripes are the same. One side laces over while the under laces under, when they should match. Why did she use two separate lacing strings? At least there are visible knots. 7/10.

I really hate this man, so it irks me that Lorroakan's lacing is really good. I feel like it would fit his character if it was just a little off. But really, the only thing off I can say is that there's no knot. I will begrudgingly give him a 9/10.

Barcus wears the same outfit that Cal wears. He's perfect, everything is beautiful, 10/10. Oh, 10/10 on the lacing too.

The shoulder lacing still bugs me because the ends aren't even, so 8/10. And honestly, the more I think about it, the more I feel like I would constantly feel the weird gap even over whatever he's wearing underneath. Maybe that's just me.

Omeluum and Blurg both wear the same undershirt that Asharak, Danis, and Kanon wear. And this lacing just isn't possible without tacking it into place, which would defeat the purpose of lacing at the neckline. It's not possible because threading into and then out of the same eyelet just pulls the lacing back out. So I love these two, but 0/10.

And finally we have Helsik. I almost didn't include her because her gauntlets don't lace through eyelets, they lace through these little loops, but look. The rare, elusive knot. And the lacing is physically possible. Also, I didn't notice the lack of eyelets until I put the picture on this post. But listen. Maybe I'm sick of eyelets after putting 120 into a pair of pants earlier this year. And putting some into two corsets on top of that. Maybe I need a break. 10/10.

Like I said earlier, this is probably it for now unless I notice lacing on someone else. I'll be starting a new playthrough when the next patch drops, so we'll see. Bye for now!

Camp Companions

Tieflings

[perfectlovevn]

Hello!! I just finished playing Perfect Love and OMGGG, I LOVED ITT. The entire plot-line and game concept was extremely unique!! And ouuhhh I loved Milo the most <33. Best boy, really.

Is there anything else you can mention about Milo? Like some sweet fun facts about him that were not mentioned in the game? I'd really like to know him full on out! Otherwise, that's all. Have a good day, afternoon, or night!! :D

Wooo! I'm glad you liked it! It always makes me happy to hear!

I did have a list of things here about Milo, but here are some more.

Pre Milo:

In theory, Milo can have multiple forms, not just Violence and Manipulation. He can be motherly, competitive, preppy, vain, anything so as long as Eris is able to influence them in that way.

In the same vein, Milo is actually a really fast learner, as you can see in the game. He doesn't think he is but under the pressure of wanting to make sure that his love doesn't leave him, he learns and understands remarkably fast.

Milo is deathly afraid of bugs, as seen in the manipulation route. I guess that's what happens when you're forced to eat insects as child. Thanks bullies.

I think I should probably make him shorter but I headcannoned him to be about 6ft. It's literally because I'm really bad with heights so I wanted a good round number.

He really likes rabbits/bunnies as it's his favorite animal. He still has his first bunny stuffed animal that he had as a child and has repaired it several times. He likes large lop bunnies the most but his parents wouldn't let him keep it when he was smaller.

His major is school is kinesiology for the sole reason that I think it would be funny that he's kind of buff under all those clothes. He probably does work out on occasion, but considering how sad he is I don't think he always maintains it.

The backpack he is wearing actually handmade by him. He actually is pretty good at handmade crafts and makes a lot of stuff, however, he usually ends up not finishing them or throwing them away because he ultimately thinks its useless.

If you make anything handmade for him, no matter how bad you think it is, he will keep it. He also would probably add something onto it because he can't help himself.

If given clothing, handmade or bought, he will try to sew something onto it unless you tell him not to.

He is pretty good basic first aid because he always had to patch himself up when he was growing up.

If you access the scene in the code, you'll find that he likes more relaxing games like Stardew Valley, Spiritfarers, Animal Crossing, etc.

When holding hands, he will usually hold Eris by the fingers, not the palms for some reason.

Manipulation Milo:

He's learned he's like rubbing his face on things he likes (not at all influenced by my habit of doing that). Because of that, he likes to rub against Eris's hair a lot.

Pre Milo can actually hold his alcohol pretty well because of his size, but doesn't drink much and gets sleepy pretty fast after drinking. Manipulation Milo has embraced this and now basically can drink a ton without getting wasted. Tends to be a lot more clingy towards Eris the more he drinks.

Manipulation Milo practices speaking like Eris by recording them when he thinks they're not noticing. Practices a lot in the mirror to be as close to them as possible when talking.

Has learned to have a strong appreciation of cats and they come flock to him when nearby. Also has learned how to purr.

When holding Eris's hands, he tends to sweat a lot. Eris, I imagine can't hold his hand for very long without it getting soaked.

He never wears the first earrings that Eris gave him and keeps them preserved somewhere in his room. Always wears copies of it in case it ever gets lost or stolen.

Changed his eating habits to appear more thinner and dainty, to match his new personality and appearance.

Has gotten really good with social games, so much so that in some groups they can't play it anymore because he always wins. Also is surprisingly good at Co-op, especially with Eris.

Violence Milo:

Probably won't admit it, but likes being headpatted. Will come towards Eris and slightly nudge his head towards their hand to indicate they want to be headpatted, but will never ask them.

Eats a lot more now than he did previously. Pre Milo ate more like a bird, but Violence Milo devours his food. Seeing him eat meat is like watching a dog tear apart steak.

Because of this, he's also learned how to cook more meals. Before Milo just cooked to survive, but now Violence Milo makes pretty good meals. Will cook anything Eris asks.

Has gotten more into shooters and fighting games. He actually seems to have really good reaction timing now compared to what he was like before.

When holding Eris's hands, tends to squeeze too hard before loosening it because he gets shy. He's working on not doing that but Eris's hands have been crushed multiple times before.

Really into wolves and big dogs. Really likes german shepards and watching him play with dogs is like night and day because he's so mushy around them .

Probably has a punching bag with Ryan's face on it somewhere in his room. That picture has been replaced over and over again and that punching bag looks like it's on the brink of breaking.

Growls and whimpers in his sleep sometimes. When his back or head is stroked, it turns into a more comfortable and happy growl and he tries to hug whatever is closest to him. If it's mentioned to him by Eris, he'll probably get embarrassed. Being big spooned will also cause his leg to shake for a bit before he ends up sleeping soundly.

I hope I remember a lot of these facts later because I feel like some of this stuff I just made up on the spot.

[hwa-stars]

Skirt lifter (Chapter 17)

Genre: High school au, slow burning love, fluff, mention of mature language (+14)

Pairing: Non idol Park Seonghwa x Fem named reader.

Summary: In which Park Seonghwa is accused of being a pervert.

Word account: 1.4k

Taglist: @babigriin @hecateslittlewitchling @dinossaurz @chngbnwf (if anyone want to be added to the taglist, please let me know)

Suddenly the door burst open and his roommates entered.

"We're home!" Yeosang exclaimed taking off his shoes.

"Baby, I bought you some chicken soup!" Wooyoung shout entering taking off his shoes too. "It's soup leftovers, but anyway... We bought some medicine but if it doesn't work, I'll just kiss your fever goodbye baby."

"Well that's my cue." I stoop up ready to leave this place.

Neither of the 2 boys noticed me until I speak, causing Wooyoung to tripped woth his shoes and falling on the floor and Yeosang almost get tripped by Wooyoung on the floor.

Booth of them looking at me with wide-eyed from their spots and I only waved at them.

"Aren't does Seonghwa’s clothes?" Yeosang asked confused.

"Oh, yes. My clothes are kind of wet." I explained awkwardly and Wooyoung gasped standing up from the floor.

"Did you..." Wooyoung looked at us smiling wide.

"Oh god no, look I just..."

"What you mean by 'Oh god no'?" Seonghwa asked offended putting a hand on his chest.

"I mean..."

"OMG, so you did it?" Wooyoung gasped and Yeosang covered his mouth.

"Shut up Wooyoung, by the way you're on cleaning duty for 2 months." Seonghwa pointed at the red hair guy and Yeosang laughed.

"Why me?" He whined and Yeosang was making fun of him.

"Well, I’m leaving." I took my clothes from the couch and make my way to the door.

"Wait, I'll come with you" Seonghwa pleaded. "Just wait one minute, please." He returned to his room.

"You know, he never says please to any of us." Wooyoung mentioned offended. "Minseo, do me a favor and leave."

He didn’t need to tell me twice, I make my way to the door and get out of the apartment really embarrassed.

I pressed my back on the wall in the hallway think about all that just happen this day, but I heard footsteps and hear voices.

Fuck, I left the helmet.

"Hey, who are you?" Someone said behind me and I didn't want to turn.

The door swung oped and then I feel a strong hug.

I stood there frozed, processing that Park Seonghwa was hugging me. I could see Wooyoung and Yeosang cringing looking at us.

"You really should start listening to me." Seonghwa whispered iny ear.

"Don't tell me what to do." I muttered and he chuckled and put me the helmet over my head.

"Hey Soobin, what's up?" Seonghwa greeted the boy who was behind me.

"Hey, who's that?" Soobin greeted Seonghwa.

"Wooyoung."

"Did he grow shorter?" He asked curious and I feel offended, Seonghwa just laughed about it. "Why is he wearing a helmet?"

"He has a pimple, he's been very insecure lately with it." Soobin nodded.

"I understand man." Soobin reached for my hand to do a man handshake?)

Suddenly, Seonghwa slapped his hand away which surprised both of us.

"Oh, I thought there was a bug." He apologize before tugging me away. "Anyway, we're going to buy some pimple patches for him. See you Soobin."

He didn't wait for Soobin's response and we started walking away from the hallway.

"Was that all really necessary?" I asked as I saw that there was nobody around.

"Yes it was Pororo."

☆☆☆☆☆☆

It was lunch time and all my classmates were in the cafeteria, I scan the hallways and there were few students there.

I have done a good job avoiding Seonghwa since that day in his dorm.

My phone buzzed and it was a text from Mingi.

From: Mingi

I'll pick you up after school okey? We're going shopping! 😎💵

I couldn't help the smile after reading his text, I had always wanted a sibling since I was a kid and having Mingi as my stepbrother now it's really good.

He look really intimidating, which turns out he's a softie boy and very funny to be around, eventough we have meet for a really short period.

It turns out that our parents will be getting married in two months, and we had to get clothes for the event.

"Who are you texting?" Someone said behind me and I jump a little.

"Stop doing that!" I exclaimed rolling my eyes.

"Why so jumpy Pororo?" Seonghwa smirked.

"What do you want now, Seonghwa?"

"You." He replied simply and I feel my cheeks heat up. "Maybe you haven't recovered form your cold, you're burning Pororo." He cupped my cheeks with a teasing smirk.

"I'm fine thanks." I replied and started walking to my classroom.

"I waited for you by the gates today. But took you so long that my legs started to ache."

Why did the walking to the classroom feel like an eternity?

"I'm thinking of picking you up form your house instead, so we can arrive together." I froze and turn to face him.

"Don't even think about it."

We arrived to the classroom and I sit on my desk and he took a seat next to me, thank God there was nobody here.

Suddenly, Seonghwa laid in front of me three types of pastries with a strawberry milk.

"What's these?" I mumbled and he only chuckled taking one pastry and placing it in my hand.

"You've got to stop avoiding me Pororo." He said and opened his strawberry milk. "It's pointless, you know I'm always gonna come looking for you." He rested his head on his fist looking at me with a smile.

I didn't respond and just eat my pastry in silence, Seonghwa drink his strawberry milk and eat a pastry too.

"Have dinner with me." He said after a long silence.

I litteraly chocked, I started coughing and Seonghwa patted my back and hand me a bottle of water and I drink it while coughing.

"I asked you for a dinner Pororo, not for marriage." He tilted his head. "Not for the moment, al least." He hummed smirking.

"Very nice." I said sarcastically.

"Knock, knock." He knocked the desk and I raised a brow.

"Who's there?"

"What, when."

"What, when who?"

"Dinner, tonight, you and me." Seonghwa answered victorious proud of himself.

"Very original." I said and he bushed a strand of his hair.

"Thanks, so I picked you up at 8 p.m?"

"I actually can't tonight." He frowned.

"Really?."

"I have to go somewhere after school."

"Then I'll come with you." He smile wide.

"I actually have someone to go with." I replied awkwardly.

"Who?" He tilted his head confused.

"Mingi."

I could see Seonghwa's shoulders lowered and his expression was blank, looking at me with his not anymore shinning eyes and only nodded.

"Actually, Mingi is gonna be my..." I tried to explain but get interrupted.

The bell ring signaling the end of lunch time.

Seonghwa stood up from the seat next to me and lightly ruffled my hair.

"See you later." He said in low voice, disappearing into the hallways.

☆☆☆☆

Authors note: I'm sorry for the delaying updates. For a moment, I forgot that I was writing lol. Btw, I'm in love that Seonghwa is blonde/silver hair again. I think it fits again the vibe with the ff 🤩 so I'll use pics from his posts ☝🏻

[calware]

animated tumblr icon masterpost

(EDIT (7/10): it is no longer possible to have an animated icon if you did not have one previously. staff has admitted that this "feature" was added accidentally and that it's already been patched. i'll be removing any now-irrelevant segments from the intro and the FAQ. check the notes if you want to see earlier versions of this post)

two days ago, tumblr added the ability to have an animated icon by using an animated webp without giving out any official information on it (from what i can tell). i'm making this post to reduce the amount of questions i get about this. i'll be updating it with any new information i come across. if you have any questions after reading this post, feel free to ask

before i start, as of now, the web version of tumblr plays animated icons automatically which means icons with flashing lights/colors are a danger to people with photosensitivity. do not abuse this feature! remember to keep your icon safe for others by avoiding using any animated images with flashing lights/colors

also, please note that i do not use the tumblr app and i don't know how it works or how it differs from the web version. i use the desktop website as well as the website on my phone's browser (safari)

with that out of the way, here are some frequently asked questions:

7) if a blog has an animated icon, the animation only plays if i click on the icon. otherwise it's stuck on the first frame. why is this?

it's probably because of the platform you're using tumblr on. i use the web version and this doesn't happen to me, it just automatically plays on its own continuously. from what i can tell, this bug(?) only occurs on the tumblr app (depending on which device you use)

8) i use the app and i can't see anyone's animated icons, it's stuck on the first frame no matter what i do. how do i fix this?

check to see if you need to update the app

9) all the animated icons on the page suddenly froze up, what do i do?

try scrolling a little bit, that should unfreeze them. i don't know why this happens or why doing that fixes it 🫥

10) i had an animated icon and now it won't move. why did this happen and how do i fix this?

unfortunately i don't know why this happens, sorry. i could be wrong but from what i've seen i don't think you can fix it ☹️

11) i currently have an animated icon, if i upload a different animated webp image will it still work?

from what i've seen, no. if you want to keep your animated icon as it is, i'd suggest not changing it

12) i have an animated icon, if i edit my blog appearance (without changing the icon) will it mess up my icon?

if you edit your blog appearance via the desktop theme editor (https://www.tumblr.com/customize/yoururl), it should be fine

[artemis-moonsilver]

Opinions No One Asked For™️: Palia NPC Edition

Auni: I love this kid. I want him to think of me as a cool older sister or cool aunt. I bring him bugs every chance I get

Ashura: I want him to be my dad. Genuinely love him. Serious contender to be my Shepp

Badruu: He really turned the puns up to 11. I love him. Also want him to be my dad. And possibly my Shepp

Caleri: I wasn't too sure about her, but after getting to know her, I feel like we have quite a few similarities. Definitely want to be her friend. Could she be my Shepp? 👀

Chayne: I find him so calming. He also feels dad-like to me. 100% want him as a support figure/father figure regardless of who I choose as my Shepp

Delaila: Love talking to her. Really want to get to know her better at this point (but 100% want her to win all the prizes at farmers markets/festivals)

Einar: Absolutely adorable and I love him. Only platonically tho. I will give him as many Gils and shiny rocks as he wants

Elouisa: I wasn't sure at first, but I LOVE her unhinged theories. I want to be her best friend. I will investigate all the paranormal things with her. Contender for my Shepp. Girl let's go ghost hunting

Eshe: So snobby. So bougie. So bitchy. I wish she could be my Shepp 😫 (if only because it would be entertaining)

Hassian: First impressions? What an asshole. After some time, I am...intrigued. I want to figure him out. I want to know why he is the way he is. Also fucking love Tau, the gooodest boi

Hekla: Honestly... she freaked me out a little for a long time. I'm slowly coming around though

Hodari: Listen, I get it. I see where you all are coming from. But man's just not my type 🤷🏻‍♀️

Jel: Oh Jel, my beloved. I'm not exactly subtle about it. This man is my husband. Sad, skinny, pathetic, dramatic, goth guys are My Type™️. Would marry him like, yesterday 🥀😫🪡🖤😍

Jina: At first I wasn't sure, but the more I talk to her, I'm like, "Jina, my bestie." I'm a PhD student. I feel you. Also, WOMEN IN STEM, HELL YEAH!!!! I have a feeling we're gonna be great friends

Kenji: Not a fan of your extremely privileged life ("Have you tried inheriting property?" 😐😐😐) or the invasive chapaa situation... but I also don't dislike him as much as I thought. I feel like he's playing a role he doesn't really want to, but still enjoying/expecting the high life for little to no effort

Kenyatta: She should be my best friend. I was put off at first, but she is the coolest. I see quite a few aspects of myself in her

Nai'O: I feel like he's the sweetest boi ever. I'm both like, "He deserves better than Kenyatta" and "Kenyatta is good for him." Perhaps the most wholesome NPC

Najuma: I also want to be the cool older sister and/or cool aunt that she never had. This kid is a badass and smart as hell. I wish my friendship with her was better already

Reth: This man. I love him. I'm not sure if it's platonic or romantic yet. All I know is he's one of my favourite NPCs to talk to. He's funny, he's flirty, he's got a Tragic Backstory™️. I'm here for this soup boi whether he wants it or not

Sifuu: Two words: Bad. Ass. It's a crime that we can't romance her. I really want to ask her to be my Shepp, but I'm not sure it's a good fit

Tamala: I'm sorry, Tamala besties, but I just don't like her 😭 I really wanted to like her so bad, but her aggressive flirting paired with her unwillingness to consider me a friend/equal just rubs me the wrong way

Tish: Absolutely beautiful person. I want to be her bffl. That is all

Zeki: Crime Cat, my beloved. He is the most entertaining Shepp option (imo). He's got an eye patch, a gold tooth, and shady practices. I find him amusing. I want him to like me. Share his (dubiously acquired) riches with me. Please accept me into the black market. I won't tell, but I can't promise I'll participate (I probably will 👀)

[blazehedgehog]

It's interesting that you've run into more Sonic '06 defenders as of late, because I think I've noticed the same thing. I've been thinking about why that is for a hot minute, and I wonder if it has to do with just how awful the video game industry is at the moment.

Games come out polished sometimes nowadays, but normally they're catastrophically broken on release and take months of post-launch patches to become somewhat playable, if they get those patches at all. Perhaps younger fans of the Sonic series, having grown up in this environment, go back to play Sonic 06', see all of its bugs and bad game design decisions, and think "Wait, that's it? That's not even the worst game I've played this week."

That is, it's less that Sonic '06 is suddenly good now, it absolutely is not, but more that the bar has sunken so deep into hell that even a blatantly broken game like Sonic '06 doesn't look particularly bad in comparison to what comes out now, so they miss the context of why it was so controversial on release.

This is an old ask that got buried, but I think it's still relevant, and to me it's just...

Liking something ironically is the path to liking it unironically. Maybe that means you're being honest with yourself, or maybe it's just familiarity. That happens with music -- so much so that there's an article from the National Library of Medicine about it. The more familiar you are with music, even if it's a song you hate, the more you eventually begin to enjoy it. It's a scientific fact.

And Sonic 06 became something of a rite of passage. Everyone knows about it, either because they've played it for themselves or they've watched someone else play some (or all) of it. Everyone has their favorite moments. Whether it's

The Winder of a Shoemaker typo (it should be "Wonder")

The inevitable realization you have to save manually after getting your first game over in Wave Ocean

Having to reload the entire world every time the state of anything changes

Sonic's boss fight with Silver, and "It's no use!"

Followers reappearing in the town stages only to instantly fall over dead.

Meeting Sonic Man

Meeting the Soleanna Boys

Meeting Pele the Dog

Sonic flicking the card at Knuckles who fumbles the catch

Riding the metal crate into space

Seeing Eggman's Real Human Eyes behind his sunglasses

Eggman's keyboard mashing "typing" animation

Realizing Sonic's head is 3/4ths the size of Princess Else's entire body

The constant back and forth of rescuing Elise only to have her get kidnapped again only to rescue her again only to have her get kidnapped again

The Windows XP background FMV

Elise's attempted suicide

Luppy Luppy

Which one is the Captain?

That tornado is carrying a car!

Elise's Train is... Uh oh, gotta speed up!

Don't be late.

Long time no see.

Amy and Elise's girltalk moment

The Test of Love

Anna, the Lady in Waiting

Eggman comically going "bonk" off the shrapnel after beating the last boss of Sonic's story

The Iblis Trigger™

The Scepter of Darkness vs. The Book of Darkness

Shadow the Hedgehog using Chaos Control to roundhouse kick Silver in the back of the head

Showing a crucified Shadow the Hedgehog in the future

The "Head to Wave Ocean" line flub still existing in the game

Mephiles is literally Shadow's shadow

THEN I'LL FIGHT... LIKE I ALWAYS HAVE

Having the ability to time travel to literally any point in history and never just going back to before Eggman arrived

The blue chaos emerald paradox loop

Watching someone's soul leave their body when they have to do Silver's billiard ball puzzle

Using the cyan gem to turn collision detection into a suggestion

Using the purple gem to go out of bounds

Spamming Omega's hover to fly anywhere

The death and return of Sonic the Hedgehog

etc. etc. etc.

I'll say it again and again and again, but it's the Rocky Horror Picture Show effect. When that movie came out, it was not beloved by the mainstream! But it became notorious as a midnight movie where the rowdy graveyard shift audience would heckle the picture, transforming it into something that was fun to watch (and participate in).

And the more they watched it, the more they heckled it, the more people realized that maybe they actually love the movie. And now it's this big, important cultural touchstone.

That's Sonic 06. Let's do the time warp again.

[dystopianam]

A small list of drama gameplay mods [Higher Death %, Deadly Diseases, Functional Weapons & Social Classes]

This is not a master post, also because I don't think I have enough mods to be able to make one properly, but more of a small list where I recommend some mods that could be useful if you are the kind of person who loves to put some juicy drama into your game ✨

Explanations and download links under the cut 👇🏻

I'll be fast but as concise as I can. (It's a lie)

DEATH MODS

When you think of a mod to create a bit of drama in the game, you immediately think of ACR. Yes, ACR is now a must have for everyone... but can drama only revolve around love affairs and surprises pregnacies? Oh no!

One of the main elements that Maxis has focused on to create drama is the killing of many sims. Many have died mysteriously, others have clearly been "murdered" by others, but we all know that the only way to kill a sim is to be directly responsible for their death.

It's very hard and rare for a sim to die randomly these days. I remember years ago killing a sim was really easy, but with the latest patches it seems like it's gotten a lot harder.

And one thing that's always bugged me is...there's no way to actually have a serial killer sim.

Yes, you can lock a sim in a room with no doors, have him go into the pool and remove the ladder, or have them cook, cancel the action and hope everything catches on fire (including them) but...Isn't boring that you always have to be the one to cause these deaths? That nothing ever happens unexpectedly or that your sim can never actually be the real cause of another sim death? It's nice to play with fantasy... but if we have mods, why limit yourself? I could link you many mods that increase the chance of dying in the various ways that the game allows, but I want to link only the most realistic ones that I personally use (for example, I will avoid mods that increase the chance of dying crushed by a satellite or Murphy's bed.)

User-indirect deaths

More Dangerous Fires - As the name itself explains, this mod increases the danger of fires by spreading the flames much faster.

Fatal diseases - Theoretically, there should be a small percentage for sims for die from diseases if that is not treated properly. Some premade ancestor sims have died of disease, but have you ever seen one of your sims die of It? This mod allows your sims to get sick in very dangerous ways. Sims can die from uncured illnesses or IN SOME CASES from the choking bug. This mod has several variants, some of them should have the bug fixed, others still have it. Mine unfortunately has it, but if you have a fixed variant please let me know! (I recommend using this mod together with this mod. Increasing the risk of fatal disease puts ALL your sims at risk, so it's best to cure the ones you want to keep alive.)

Death by childbirth (Honestly I've never used it because I've seen that those who use it have a very high percentage of seeing all their sims die for childbirth, but if you want extra drama...)

Mod to kill sims...with your own sims

Functional guns (Self explanatory)

Functional sword 1 (Yes, you can kill sims with a sword!)

Functional sword(s) 2 (As above but with a better animation and you can choose the type of sword!)

Poison making station (Yes, you can poison sims!)

(Feel free to recommend other mods if you know of any!) BUT not occult ones (I want to make a separate list for those)

SOCIAL CLASSES MODS

Another thing that has always bothered me about The Sims 2 is that there is no real social class system and/or a fame system.

There are social classes in AL, but what's the point if they're just NPC sims that spawn in apartments? And they have nothing different from other sims except the way they greet?

Yes, the reputation system is also nice...it works well, but it's not what I'm looking for.

Morally it is very nice that at least in The Sims 2 there is no distinction between rich and poor, maxis itself has often struggled to represent the two social classes. For a poor sim it was always easier, you just had to throw him in the poorest house that exists and give him little money (even if I often noticed that poor sims have more money than a rich sim, but let's pretend we didn't see it, eh Maxis?) but for rich sims...mhh, Maxis has never managed to represent them properly. Yeah, jacket and tie, a slightly bigger house and slightly more money than a normal sim, but it's not enough.

Something is missing. Something that makes me see the difference between "the plebs and the nobility."

It's always bothered me that even families that aren't just rich, but noble and royal, interact with other sims as if nothing is wrong.

If you, as a normal person, were to meet a royal, I don't think at all that you would be indifferent and would address this person as if he were your next door neighbor.

Let's leave aside the Goths and Landgraabs who are simply rich (even if the Landgraabs have noble roots) but the Capp? The Monty? The Summerdream? They are MORE than rich.

I always had this impression of them that these sims were "unreachable" by common sims. That everything and scandal about them had to be on everyone's lips. That if you meet one of them at work or at school you do not remain indifferent.

Normal adult sims would like to befriend wealthy noble adults, attracted by their status and wealth.

Normal teenagers sims would look at the noble/royal teenagers in some sense surprised, literally make them the "cool kids" and fangirl over them.

"Look!! It's [noble sim name] you know that he is from a noble family??"

*LE GASP IN SIMLISH*

Unfortunately I haven't found any mods that allow this type of reaction, but I have found some that could simulate it.

The first mod that comes to my mind is simslice's fanzone cone. I've never used it because I think it's very uncomfortable due to how it's set up, but it's perfect if you want other sims to cheer on your sim as if they were celebrities. How it works: The fanzone cone is an object, literally a cone, that you place on a lot and by clicking on it you select which sim you want to be the celebrity. Sims that spawn in that lot will start cheering your sim. (The inconvenience of this mod is that you have to put a cone on any lot your sim is in, because without the cone your sim reverts to a normal sim.)

The second and third mod that I want to recommend are the ones I use and recommend the most. They are a bit "medieval themed", but if a person is noble/royal by family, they doesn't stop being so just because we are in 2024, right?)

These mods might seem a bit "old fashioned" to you, but I personally think they give the right importance to these social classes.

For both mods you need to download the trait system mod, but you don't have to use all the traits if you don't want, just the trait_MAIN is enough since the mods I'm about to link don't work without it.

While you can already simulate something using the "proper, snob and diva" traits with the trait system, I think these mods are more specific:

• Medieval Traits 1, 2, 3 & 4 (Royal, Noble, Knight, Servant etch)

Mods that work with medieval traits:

Royals & Nobles don't cook and clean (With this mod, sims with this social rank do not cook or clean. Let the servants do that!)

Social status based greet (Sims will greet other sims based on their social rank, for example, they will always bow to a noble or royal.)

Unfortunately that's all I could find. I couldn't find anything that would identify a sim as someone important like celebrities are in Get Famous in The Sims 4, where you can't even talk to them unless you're famous enough or you manage to get them to like you.

If you know of any other mods, whether related to death or social classes, please let me know and I'll add them to the list!

[eelslippers]

My review of the new Seekers of the Storm DLC.

When the new DLC dropped, I was shocked to look online and see that everyone actually had negative reviews of the dlc. Most of the reviews seem to be regarding bugs, which I can kind of forgive as I've also encountered some gamebreaking bugs, such as loaders grapple now doesn't grapple as it should, or a bug I encountered where enemies stop taking damage after stage 35, but my overall opinion of the dlc has actually been pretty strong.

Like, in terms of lore, I was actually pretty happy to see the dlc add onto the story of risk of rain, something I was really hoping to see more of. The details in the environmental storytelling of the new maps and how they reference the lore logs, how the new character False son feels like a continuation of the story of providence, etc.

I was even surprised to see people call the new survivors weak, though I wonder how much of that is just because people don't know how to play the characters yet. I've learned how to play every character except heretic and unlocked all abilities except 3, and my first impression was that Seeker, Chef, and False son are actually all really quite strong. They are all surprisingly fast and tanky as a baseline, even chef who is a bit more frail, and all three characters come with abilities that can heal them, much like rex. I actually would argue that the new survivors kind of feel too strong compared to base game characters (though i love them anyways).

The new items that were added I can argue are situational for most of them, but also again, I haven't had enough time to really test them out so I am a bit skeptical when people say the items seem bad as a default, as it hasn't really been enough time to really see how they stack or synergize with different characters. For me personally, I actually really like that they added items that add benefits for characters when they take damage or at low health, because it really synergizes with rex who is going to be taking damage constantly and frequently at low health. It incentives more risk seeking playstyles where it actually benefits to be at lower health rather than always playing an iron wall playstyle. They might not benefit every survivor, but I am happy to see it added into the meta of ror2. (Though I will say some of the red items feel underwhelming.)

The new stages in general seem pretty nice in terms of aesthetic, though the Helminth hatchery feels like it might be a bit annoying to play on for some characters even though aesthetically it is really cool.

All in all, I think the dlc is pretty strong but had a poor launch due to bugs, which I'm hoping get patched out soon. Perhaps I'll have more criticisms over time, but I felt like giving my opinion of the new dlc as I really liked it and was really saddened to see how it was recieved.

[chingyu1023vick]

Patch 1.98 & Updates

UPDATE: Age Up add Preferences V9

Updated chingyu_AgeUpPreferences for patch 1.98

🌞All my other mods and traits should be unaffected by patch 1.98.

WIP: Some Custom Traits Feature Update Testing (Patron)

I posted a WIP of the trait feature if you would like to try out the new Trait Customization system with ten updated traits that I've already play-tested and run safely in-game.  (This is not required for the patch)

💘 Trait Customization Feature (Only affecting the traits come here):

The trait buffs now come with three levels of intensities and durations depending on if you don't pick any of the trait customization (Original level +2)/ Likes "Social Perception" (High level +3)/ Dislikes "Social Perception" (Low level +1). I would like to extend this feature to all my custom traits.

The buffs are now either added through meeting the requirements stated on the traits' descriptions or from the trait socials. This should lower the extreme buff frequency of the older version of the traits.

This system is optional to install but I think it is a fun addition to give more distinction to Sims even when they share the same traits.

💘 Other Updates to the Traits:

Addon for Maxis-Match style trait icons (Optional)

Buff intensity levels by giving Likes and Dislikes in Trait Customization (Optional)

Cheats to turn off buffs (Action ---> Trait Cheat) for each Sim. Turn OFF Reactions is to disable the buffs RECEIVED FROM other Sims and turn OFF Broadcaster is to disable buffs SENT TOWARDS other Sims. (Optional)

There are now social interactions to add the buffs (with a buff time limit) if you prefer to turn OFF the broadcaster (constant buff with no time limit), making the buffs appear less frequently

Buff is now maxis-match style with EA blue icons

Better trait and buff descriptions to tell what they do

Better social autonomy & Minor updates to avoid generating conflicting traits and traits being on animals

Wants are now added back to the traits

Reward version is now available in the reward store (costing 1220).

This WIP follows the naming format of V1 (no separation of CAS version and Reward version) to avoid confusion when replacing the old version of the traits.

🔆 READ INFO & CHANGELOG IN MAY 2023 HERE

🔹 Links to ALL My Traits, Game Mods, and CCs

🔹List of IDs for creators who want to refer my traits to their own mods 

🔹 List of Chingyu’s CC Traits Name and Descriptions for mod users

🔹 Check Mod Status after a patch & Compatibilities

👁‍🗨 Learn how to install a mod & FAQs

👁‍🗨 Terms of Use

👁‍🗨 Ask Questions/ Suggestions/ Bug Reports on Discord

▶ I need to see a screenshot or LE report to help you figure out what’s wrong!

👁‍🗨 Download on my Patreon

👁‍🗨 Follow me on Twitter

[interlockingpatches]

for the next set of patches- flowers, astrological signs, or astronomical features?

Aha! Each of these is a terrific idea and a challenge in its own right!

I'm happy to put flowers near the top of the queue. The only floral motifs I've done so far have been Wilting Tulip and this very silly, unpublished sunflower. We're under an extreme cold warning where I live, so what better time to think ahead to spring? Groundbreaking!

Radial symmetries are tricky in interlocking filet (which is grid-based), but you can do a lot with long diagonals and compound stitches — as drawn, the heart of that iris is a (7)tog with another 7 sts worked into the same place later! (I would almost certainly thin those out). If I end up doing a "flowers in general" collection, I'll aim for a mix of smaller/simpler and larger/more complex motifs

Thank you for mentioning astrology! (How strange to use those five words in sequence! I have grown very crabby about astrology) "Astrology" is a sensible idea (again!) … for a collection.

Because a no-fuss set of zodiacal symbols is something that some number of people would almost certainly enjoy, and if I don't get precious it should only take a few days to work up. I could also stand to remind myself that showing someone how to crochet a little "Virgo" patch does not, in and of itself, amount to stoking the fires of anti-intellectualism and/or vaccine hesitancy. (of course my straw-person astrology nitwit is a virgo…)

It does bug me that those motifs are different sizes, but unless one plans to make a zodiacal blanket that's not really an issue, and at this scale it may be unavoidable. (I had similar issues when I took a stab at norse runes awhile back:

As for the observable universe, that's another frontier, isn't it!

I just spent an unreasonable amount of time seeing how I would start to represent the planets and Pluto to scale (dodecagons are as close as you can get to circles with the stitches I use), and I'm sure my calculations are wrong, but it looks like this configuration Jupiter would be just over a meter across using medium-weight yarn, which you can almost imagine someone doing. (most interlocking crochet patterns are for blankets, so it's actually not unreasonable at all, just not the kind of thing I've been doing here)

I don't feel like figuring out how big the sun would be. Too big!

It might be fun to use exceedingly long diagonal stitches to "connect the dots" of familiar constellations…

…or maybe that would be an endless slog of black fill areas punctuated by irregularly-spaced and very stressful compound stitches? For instance, I would probably notate the stitch where the pot meets the handle something like "pp11(3A,1)Bnnv(k)," which is a (3)tog that begins by yarning over 11 times and ends in a picot.

so now there's that to look forward to!

[kohubohu]

About Minthara's break up dialogue

(TLDR at the end)

My biggest fantasy would be Larian bringing it back reworked in patch 7 because it actively gave her the best reaction to rejecting Bhaal out of the entire party and it's such a good moment to give her more character development.

Tbh, I was never really mad at the dialogue existing in itself. It's just that it felt poorly executed and very incomplete, and it's annoying to think that they just removed it (it was bugged anyway, but you know), when there are multiple ways in which it could have been fixed, depending on if you consider the break up out of character or not.

Take 1: Her reason for breaking up is not OOC.

It's less that I'm mad about the dialogue itself, and more that I'm mad that you, as the player, are forced to stay kinda silent and powerless about it.

You know, I personally see rejecting Bhaal as a matter of regaining agency over your own person and your destiny rather than choosing the "good" path. My durge personally isn't good, and she'd still reject Bhaal to get her freedom back. When you think about it, it should resonate with Minthara due to her backstory with Lolth and the Absolute, but you know, we're all at risk of being hypocritical sometimes, especially in high pressure situation like these, so I don't necessarily see her reaction as being automatically OOC.

But if Larian were/are 100% set on going down that path for her, please at least give the player choices other than downplaying her anger or begging her to stay with you.

Downplaying her anger just feels shitty to me. She's absolutely right about being angry over the situation (for multiple reasons I'll explain in the alternative take). I've seen a few people commenting on my video about the break up on how she should be relieved instead of angry, and like... it's not a Karlach situation, you got resuscitated in front of her eyes by Withers. She would at least be fucking mad at you for doing that whole stunt lol.

Alternatively, begging her to stay with you just doesn't sit right with me. Like, idk, if my SO got mad and broke up with me for wanting to be free from a parent's toxic influence and control over the vague promise of maybe earning something from them but probably not, I'd 100% not want to be with them anymore lol.

Let's not even take her hypocrisy into account, it's not as if something bad would have happened to her if you rejected Bhaal (whereas accepting Bhaal just makes her a convenient breeding machine in his plan, and just sets her up into another abusive relationship where she's always at risk of being discarded anyway) (and you really don't want my opinion on that)

Her anger, when laid out and explained that way, just gives me the impression Durge is getting used to gain status and power, which is even worse considering you get her alurlssrin dialogue 10-15 minutes before the break up, which in turn kinda goes against the fact that her devotion/tenderness/love is a good chunk of her character development and cheapens literally everything surrounding her romance. It basically goes back to "minthara is a drow and therefore evil" and just goes back to unidimensional evil woman concept.

But you know, if they really wanted to punish you for rejecting Bhaal, the least they could do is to let the player call her out on that, or give them the opportunity to say the break up is mutual because what she just said is pretty fucking shitty, especially coming from her. Like, I personally wouldn't want to be with someone who want me to stay stuck in a toxic relationship, and being forced to make that choice is infuriating.

Take 2: Her reason for breaking up is OOC.

Or more accurately, there is more to the dialogue/situation than meets the eyes but Larian just kinda started something without finishing it.

Lots of people consider the dialogue as being OOC because she keeps touting Durge as being the heir of such a powerful god and is mad over the fact that they gave up the power Bhaal promised them, when she is vocally critical about gods and cults many times over the course of the game.

She clearly hates Lolth and the Absolute, calls Lolth's and Bhaal's followers victims. She disapproves of you praying to any god in act 3 (especially Lolth, which gives you -5 approval instead of -1) and will criticize you/your worship if you're a cleric. She encourages Gale to free himself of Mystra (or go against her orders) and assures him he doesn't need her, that gods need you to think you need them, just like the absolute. She says that Shadowheart freeing herself of Shar's influence is at least a bit of comfort after killing her parents, and encourages Shadowheart to get vengeance from Shar when she learns the truth from Aylin. She's outright ectastic when defeating Gortash, because they're "defying divinity" by killing the gods' chosen, and seems kinda, idk, smug? over the fact that so many gods seek the one thing they are in possession of.

However, there are a few moments (other than rejecting Bhaal) where she'll be pissed at you for going against the gods. She chastises Lae'zel if she rejects Vlaakith and calls it a "childish rebellion", and approves of her if she kills Voss instead, because she should know better than to anger a god. She criticize the player/the party (if you play as Shadowheart) for holding Shadowheart back from her destiny directly after sparing Aylin, and will tell Shadowheart that Shar was right for punishing her for it. That's basically the closest equivalent we have to Durge rejecting Bhaal. So like.... It could be because of power after all...?

But when you look into it: Minthara doesn't even hold it that hard against you when Shadowheart gives up power, hell, in every case she never even holds it against Shadowheart at all, going as far as blaming herself for holding Shadowheart back, when playing as her origin. And she just let go of the matter after Shadowheart learns the truth from Aylin, and switches to advising her to seek vengeance.

With the exception of Durge's and Shart's situation, it really boils down to really not wanting to be on some god's bad side. Why would Lae'zel want to screw up their plan when she could just.... shut up and follow the rules? Better tip-toeing around all powerful beings than pissing them off because you heard a *maybe* very real rumor about them.

And that's the thing about Minthara: we're talking about a character who just started their religious deconversion, after spending their whole life, not only as a member, but as a high ranking figure of the cult. And considering Lolth is very real in the setting and is very proactive when it comes to testing and punishing her followers, it's only natural for Minthara to still default to trying not piss off a god. She literally spent 200+ years with no choice BUT to hold herself to Lolth's standard, dedicating her whole being to her, while having to witness other people being punished for crossing Lolth more than a few times. Deconverting is already a hard thing to do, taking years, if not decades, but when you live in a world were divine retribution is a very real thing, I assume it's an even harder thing to do.

You can even add more layers to the situation, or like, go for different interpretations, cause you didn't just piss off a god and gave up the power and status that he promised (even if the bargain is shit and won't end well and will doom everyone, like Minthara isn't planning that far ahead, and she's still convinced it's just something you can just... take control of if you make the effort lol). Add to that the stress of facing Orin and dealing against a big ass cult. The fact that you're romancing her, like, girly already had to kill her first girlfriend against her will, this time she's not even the cause of it but she still can't even do anything against it, and that death looks real fucking painful and she can't even try to make Durge feel better by whispering words of comfort or anything, and she's surrounded by other people, and idk, due to how things are in Menzoberranzan, I don't think she'd let herself be sad in the moment anyway, no matter how deep it cuts. Also, you know, she seems to be pretty preoccupied about her death and mortality in general (due to the fact that her soul will either go back to Lolth, or end up wandering in the fugue plane, I assume), so seeing you not only escape death that easily, but being resuscitated by a fucking god, when she's pretty sure no gods would extend the same grace to her, would probably be pretty upsetting. I know I'd be seething lol

So, to me, having her blowing a fuse because of any of those things would make the whole scolding feel a lot less hard to swallow without dumbing her character down? Hell, even in that case she would still yell at you about how you turned down power. Girly wouldn't let herself be that vulnerable in front of the whole party, so of course she'd blow up over the shallowest reason. You could literally have a follow up dialogue, explaining her reaction and resolving the whole situation. Larian gets to keep the first dialogue, Minthara gets to have character development, and you get more Minthara content and balm for the scolding you got as the player.

TLDR

It's less that it's OOC, and more that the dialogue feels like the start of an unfinished idea.

Minthara is the representation of an emotionally constipated boomer dad who just randomly drops traumatizing lore about themselves while trying to make a joke without even realizing what they went through was trauma. Of course it's gonna sound like angry hot garbage when she's trying to explain herself the first time. Let her think about it for a while and she'll get back to you.

Literally, due to her personal backstory and ongoing deconversion, it wouldn't be that far fetched to say that you telling Bhaal (a god) to go fuck himself (which makes him real angry) because you (his child) don't want to become his chosen (with the powers that comes with it), even if he's the only reason you've been born and becoming his chosen was basically the plan from the start (so it's basically your life's duty), which results in you (Minthara's only person of trust and SO) dying a pretty painful death (it's not the first time she's had to see a lover dying in front of her) just after having killed orin (the whole ordeal being very stressful to Minthara), before being resuscitated (look at you, you're putting her on the worst emotional rollercoaster of her life right now) by Withers (a god, basically) like it was nothing (when no gods would come to her help), would get her at least a little bit angry.

But since there's no follow up on it, it just... sours an event that could lead to great character development if it had been completed and fully implemented.

[fortunesque]

WIP Wednesday- Vector

So, here's a brief bit of the first chapter of Vector. I don't know when I'm going to finish it because the end is just... ugh. I feel like I have to microdose writing this one lol. When I do post it, I think I'll post all 3 parts at once.

I think this will give folks a general idea of what's happening and if they will want to read it when I post it. I totally understand if some folks give this one a skip.

Content warning: violence and animal death

I'll put the snippet under a cut, just in case.

Raditz finally grabbed his attacker and yanked it off of his neck. He held furry creature at arm's length and watched as it snarled and did its damnedest to shred his arms to pieces.

"You are one crazy-ass little dude," he laughed. "Absolutely foaming at the mouth to get at me. Well, you picked on the wrong guy."

Without preamble, he put his hand on the creature's head, earning a few more bites to his hand in the process. He quickly snapped the poor bastard's neck before it had the chance to make him want to be cruel to it. Raditz then examined it more closely.

It was a cute, chubby little thing with a thick pelt of mostly gray fur. There were some black patches around its eyes, on its paws, and a few rings around its bushy tail.

Raditz frowned and looked at the animal's mouth. It was absolutely dripping with saliva. Venom, perhaps?

He gave the mouth a little sniff and shrugged. Seemed like normal spit to him. He dipped his finger in it and gave it a taste, for extra measure. Raditz had his anti-venom auto-injector in his left flank guard pocket, so it wasn't like it was a huge risk. He just needed to know if he should use it immediately.

Yep. Regular spit, at least, around the taste of his own blood. Sonofabitch really went for him.

Well, he was hungry, and lunch basically dropped out of a tree right onto his face. It bit the shit out of the back of his neck and scratched up his jaw, but Raditz was a Saiyan and made of tough stuff.

It was just a flesh wound.

He finished his goddamn piss, then pressed the comm button on his scouter and went about skinning the ornery critter.

"This crazy little animal just went at me," he chuckled. "The size of my boot, maybe. Cute little mammal; maybe a feral pet. Dropped off a tree right onto my head while I was pissing and scratched and bit me up real good, for a little guy. All over my neck, a little at the jaw. Thankfully, he missed my most beautiful face."

A snort of laughter came through the scouter.

"Sounds like lunch just dropped in on ya," Nappa chuckled.

"Damn right it did," Raditz laughed. "I'll honor his sacrifice and use him to feed this war machine."

"Let me know if it tastes good," Vegeta spat. "These bugs are disgusting."

"Absolutely, Your Highness."

With that, Raditz politely muted his comm to keep the munching noises out of their ears.

He ate the animal raw, as nature intended for a Saiyan to do. He ate all of it but the fur, pretty tail, lungs, paws, and digestive tract. The spine had a nice crunch. The brain was— eh. It was as brains tended to be.

When he was finished, he licked the blood and saliva off of his fingers, then stripped to rinse himself in a nearby creek. The scouter stayed on, though; always did.

Raditz unmuted his comm.

"Just finished," he said. "Was basically a snack. But it tasted fine. Better than a bug. Seemed like it was an omnivore of some sort— had claws and sharp teeth, but its front paws were hand-like. With how green it is around here, I'm shocked that it thought it was a good idea to go for me."

"Probably had pups nearby," Vegeta intoned.

"Good point," Raditz said. "I'll look for those and pop 'em in my mouth real quick."

It would be a mercy killing, really. In all his years destroying planets, he never saw a young mammal pup that wasn't defenseless.

He wandered around the clearing and sniffed everywhere he could think; in the brush, underneath piles of leaves and sticks, in the hollows of trees, and even up in the tree where the thing got the drop on him.

There was not a thing around.

He commed back in.

"Ain't found shit," he said. "Hah! Wouldn't it be funny if the little thing was sent to kill me? Imagine, a planet full of biting, spitty little furballs."

Nappa and Vegeta both laughed on the other end.

"Don't go native, now," Nappa cackled. "Don't need you running around, chasing tail and biting more than you already do."