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s-k-y-w-a-l-k-e-r · 5 years ago

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My GIF making process!

I’ve been asked many times for a tutorial, but because I get really detailed, I always get overwhelmed by the idea. But I finally decided to buckle down!

Just so you know: I don’t use PSDs in this, and I don’t import layers to frames or anything like that. I like the hard way—at least in gif making, I believe you get higher quality gifs. Join me as I show you how to make gifs by loading videos directly into the Photoshop timeline and my coloring and sharpening techniques.

Tools used:

Mac OS X (only necessary for the first step, and there are other ways around it with a PC)

Adobe Photoshop

YouTube Purchases (any streaming service will work)

Topics covered:

Obtaining the Source Material

Loading the video file into Photoshop

Prepping, Cropping, and Resizing the Media

Adjustment Layers

Sharpening

Exporting

Obtaining the Source Material

There are a few different methods for obtaining video to work with. Proper YouTube videos are nice, but finding any major motion picture in that format is difficult, if not illegal.

Once I realized I could get really great quality video by doing screen recordings from streaming services, I stopped worrying about finding (and pirating) high resolution video files. So now, I just go to whichever streaming service I need to, pick out the movie or show, find the spot, and record small snippets.

Mac screen recording instructions:

On a Mac, Command+Shift+5 will bring up the screen recording dialogue.

Resize the frame of what you want to record within the browser.

Go to a second or two before, press the “record” button, and then begin playing the video, remembering to keep your cursor out of the recording box.

Use the Space bar to pause your video when you’ve gotten the snippet you need. Stop the screen recording by clicking the ⏹ button that is in your menu bar at the top of the screen.

Important: when the recording appears in the bottom right of your screen, click on it, and then trim the video on either end. This will help your computer convert the video file to the type that can be opened by Photoshop.

Click “done” and it will appear on your desktop, ready to be used!

PC Users: ??? Here’s a Google search I did for you

Loading the video file into Photoshop

Lots of people use this process for making gifs (a great tutorial!). I didn’t even know it existed until last summer, when I’d already been giffing for years. I wish I could still do something like that with these screen recordings, but the files are absolutely HUGE, especially on Macs with double retina displays, which actually increase the dpi by a lot. Making screencaps of them fills up my hard drive, almost immediately—even when I’ve got 20 gigs of free space to work with. So what do we do? We just. Open the file. In Photoshop. Et voila!

You can do this with any type of video, not just screen recordings.

Prepping, Cropping, and Resizing the Media

When Photoshop loads your videos up, it makes the video hilariously fast (something about frame conversion). You must slow it down for it to look natural. THIS MUST BE DONE BEFORE YOU RESZE. Your Photoshop timeline window should be at the bottom of the screen. See that little triangle in the top right of the video?

Click on it, and a menu will appear to change speed and duration.

Change the speed first- usually between 80-85% will seem realistic. (I actually went a little faster than I usually would on this at almost 86%—I don’t recommend this)

Press the button next to duration and pull the toggle all the way to the far right (if you don’t do this, full length of the video will be cut off).

Now you’ll want to crop it. Ever since Tumblr upped its GIF size limit, I have been playing around with 7:5 ratios, but let’s go with 3:2 for now. Use the Crop tool, pick out 3:2 in the top left (it may say 2:3, but you can switch that) and then find the most suitable spot in your gif for that. Hit enter on your keyboard.

Some things to keep in mind when cropping:

Most videos come in 16:9 ratio (BoRhap is even wider). If it’s a wide shot, you’ll need to do the full 16:9 to not lose anything. Of course, experiment and find what’s right for you!

As you can see above, I moved forward in the timeline and made the crop to a point in the video when the broadest movement was happening.

Certain videos WILL have a black or red bar that may be imperceptible until you’ve already exported the gif. Just crop in a little tighter on top and bottom to avoid them.

Now you’ll need to resize your gif to be the correct size for Tumblr. If you don’t use Tumblr’s exact dimensions, your gifs (as uploaded) will appear blurry or pixellated. We’re doing a full-width gif here, which is 540px. On a Mac, I use Command+Option+I (for “Image Size) to open the resize dialogue. You can also find it under Image->Image size...

Make sure to also have “Resample” checked. Lately I’ve been playing around to see if different options are better. Most GIF makers use “Bicubic Sharper (Reduction)” and they are not wrong to do so. I’ve just been unhappy with it lately, so I have been trying this other setting out, “Bicubic (smooth gradients)”.

Click OK. A dialogue may come up that asks if you want to convert to a Smart Object. The answer is yes, okay, do it. The only major caveat is that you can’t go back and change the timeline speed. That’s why we did it first. But you can preview the speed now that it’s smaller, and if you don’t like it, use Command+Z (or “Undo”) and go back a couple steps to get the speed you like.

You may find, especially on a Mac screen (and possibly other displays), that at 100% your gif looks too small to be 540px. That is the curse and blessing of working with super-high resolution hardware. Zoom in to 200% and proceed about your business. This is what it will look like on Tumblr.

You may find it helpful at this point to begin by defining the beginning and end of your gif by moving around these bumpers. It’s safe to keep gifs under 02:00f in length. Under half of 01:00f will be way too short. (I tend to overshoot in length and then trim the beginning and the end once I see how big the gifs are upon exporting.)

��Adjustment Layers

Now the creativity and fun begin!

There are a LOT of ways to get creative here. I’m going to keep it simple, very simple, but I strongly recommend opening up a new adjustment layer of each type and trying to figure out what each does!

You’ll find the adjustment layer menu at the bottom of the Layers window.

Curves

There are a lot of ways to make Curves work for you! It can do the job of Brightness/Contrast, it can do Levels, it can do Color Balance! We’re going to use it mainly to help with brightness here, but also to level out some of the tones. One of the quick tricks you can do is use the droppers on the left side of the Properties window. There are three- one with a white tip, one gray, one black. These can help define what your white tones are (and whether they need to be more of one color or another), and so on with your blacks. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t; in this case, I think it doesn’t:

That looks totally blown out and somehow also too dark!

So instead, we’re going to use that little hand with the finger pointing out and some arrows pointing up and down. This lets you define which sections you want to get brighter or darker, and how much. It doesn’t do color correction. In the example below, you can see I dragged up on a white spot and down on a dark spot. Then, I moved points around on the curve itself to refine (which the gif here doesn’t show...).

Vibrance/Saturation x2

Next, I’ve been using @gwil-lee‘s Vibrance/Saturation trick (I know you said you learned it from someone else, but I learned it from you!).

Create a Vibrance Adjustment layer, bump the values up a bunch, and then change its Fill to somewhere between 2-9%. Change the Blend Mode to Color Burn. Then make a copy of that layer keeping everything the same, but make it Color Dodge. I can’t quite define what these do, but it makes it punchier!

Color Balance

Most people are familiar with this. For this gif, I’m going to make the shadows more Cyan/Blue and the highlights more Red/Yellow. Just a few points each.

Exposure

I brought the Exposure up a bit, but not enough for you to need to read about, haha.

Selective Color

Here’s where you make fine adjustments to colors. This particular scene is extremely simple, color-wise, so keep it simple. I’m going to bump up the cyans/blues, take up the black by just a point or two, and maybe bump up the yellows and reds a tiny bit. (And as always, remember, the “opposite” of cyan is red, the opposite of magenta is green, and the opposite of yellow is blue. CMY/RGB!)

I think at this point I’m going to call it with the adjustment layers. You can go absolutely hogwild with more of them! But at this point, I’m ready to start sharpening!

Sharpening

I do three sharpening filters these days. These are all under Filter->Sharpen. Make sure your media layer (default called Layer 1) is selected as we go through this! (Also, this can really take a toll on your processor, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

Sharpen- This layer does the basic job

Smart Sharpen (Amount: 10%, Radius: 10, Reduce Noise: 4% Gaussian Blur)- This layer gives texture

Smart Sharpen (Amount: 500, Radius: 0.3, Reduce Noise: 12% Gaussian Blur)- This layer gives refined sharpening and smoothing

Fiddle with these as needed! Let your gif play all the way through- this may go slowly as your processor works on it. Make sure the beginning and end points make sense.

Exporting

After You’re going to have to use File->Export->Save For Web (Legacy)... or use the shortcut of Shift+Option+Command+S. This could take some time for the dialogue to pop up! Be patient.

In my opinion, these are the best gif export settings for crisp edges and no noise:

Now you see how big the file is in the bottom left. Tumblr won’t let you upload anything bigger than 10MB and it’s safer to stay under 9MB, in my experience. When your gif is too big, you have a couple options. You can close the dialogue and change the length of your gif.

OR, you can uncheck “Interlaced” and bump up the lossy to 1 or or more. This will create noise. Sometimes, that’s a good thing!

Here’s without lossy:

Here’s WITH lossy: (Honestly in a fast moving gif like this, it’s almost imperceptible, but I can see it!)

And now that I’ve exported, I can see what there’s a little black line on the bottom! So I’m going to trim that off and call it good! You can see the full gifset here.

Hope you enjoyed! Reblog if you try this out or learned anything. Feel free to reach out with questions any time!

#gif tutorial #tutorial #creator tag #my gifs #rami malek

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reilly310 · 5 years ago

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The “eyes” have it

Did you know?

A study, conducted at the University of Glasgow in 2013, found that Eye Reflections in Photos Can Reliably Identify Who's Behind the Lens.

To test how effective a mirror the cornea was, researchers took passport-style photos of college students in a lab setting. Bystanders were placed a few feet away, facing the subjects, while the photos were being taken. When the researchers zoomed in on the subjects' eyes in the photos, they were able to see pixelated versions of the bystanders' faces.

“...the scientists found that study participants could correctly identify most of those tiny faces. When the bystanders were strangers, participants could correctly match a pixelated photo with a higher-quality headshot 71 percent of the time. When the reflected faces were people the participants knew, the rate of successful identification jumped to 84 percent. “

In this study, the researchers used a high resolution camera (39 megapixels). As a result, their reflections were clearer than what the average cellphone camera would produce under the same conditions (The 2016 IPhone 7, for example, has a resolution of 12 megapixels). The study concluded, though, that, if the viewer knew the person reflected, they could identify them even when the picture was blurry.

“Previous psychological research has established that humans can identify faces from extremely poor quality images, when they are familiar with the faces concerned. For example, [the researchers] found that viewers could identify blurred photographs of familiar faces with equivalent image resolutions as low as 7×10 pixels.”

Identifiable Images of Bystanders Extracted from Corneal Reflections

The researchers used a pixelated image of Barack Obama as their example.

For our fandom, the equivalent would be a pixelated image of this guy.

Subjects in the study were reflected in a human’s eye. If a human eye, with a cornea measuring approx 11.5 mm in diameter, can capture reflections, imagine what a cat’s cornea, measuring 16.5 mm in diameter, might reveal.

Maybe we don’t have to just imagine, though.....

Say a cat (we’ll call her Eddie) received a jaunty Christmas bell collar in December 2016 that she felt was beneath her dignity to wear.

She may have felt compelled to glare at the person (or people) responsible for said gift as they were taking her picture.

Let’s take a look and see if we can identify, with at least reasonable certainty, who she might have been plotting revenge against looking at.

Original picture posted by Cait on 12/25/2016

The picture has been cropped and enlarged below with the most prominent reflection (person #1) on Eddie’s left eye, circled.

Below, the image has been further cropped and enlarged, again with the reflection circled. Tilt your head just a bit to the left. Do you see it yet?

If not, no worries. In the following gif, I’ve tinted the reflection with sepia and enhanced the image using contrast and lighting tools (from a free, online site..nothing fancy). At the end of the gif, I’ve removed the background to show only the reflected face.

Now that we have an enhanced face of person #1, is there a reflection of person #2? Though it’s harder to see, I happen to think so.

Below I’ve gifed the progression of highlighting person #2. I used the same photo enhancement tools as with person #1 (sepia tint, contrast and lighting) but also added color tints for the phone (white) and sleeves (red). ( Note: I can’t say for sure that she’s wearing a shirt with long sleeves, but I wanted to break up the monotony of the sepia tones, in part to make it easier for you to distinguish the hand that’s covering part of her face from her face itself.)

As the image emerges below, you will first see her arms/hands and phone and then her face/hair.

Next, similar to what the University of Glasgow researchers did in their study, let’s compare the reflections to an actual picture of the likely subject.

Person #1 appears to have a beard, or at least several days worth of facial hair, and he’s wearing glasses. (Though appearing dark-tinted in the reflection, these would be regular glasses.) His hair is light in color and looks longish on top with some curl there and over his ear. His overall appearance seems casual/scruffy, like he’s a man on hiatus from work, hanging out at home “sort of personally” with his cat and...well...his Cait.

Here is the reflection side-by-side with a picture of scruffy Sam from a more recent hiatus.

And here, I overlay the two images.

Moving on to person #2, here’s a side-by-side of her reflection with a recent picture of Cait. (I flipped the 2019 picture so that her head was tilted in the same direction as the one in the 2016 reflection.) I didn’t overlay these images, but Cait being there is a pretty safe bet. After all, she took/posted the picture.

Like Sam, Cait appears to be wearing glasses in the reflected image with one lens visible and the other blending in with her dark hair color.

In summary:

The picture of Eddie was taken in a less ideal setting, in terms of lighting, and with a lower resolution camera (likely an Iphone with 12 megapixels) than those taken in the University study.

Despite this, images of two faces can be seen reflected in Eddie’s eye.

As in the study, the “bystanders” (Sam and Cait in this case) were close to the “subject” of the photo (Eddie). How can I deduce this? Because pictures of the “pancake kitchen”, where this picture was taken, were posted on a public realty site when the flat was for sale, so the layout of the kitchen is known. ( *See “re-enactment” photo ...term used loosely here...below.)

Because I am very familiar with their faces, I am able to recognize that the images reflected in Eddie’s eye bear a strong resemblance to Sam and Cait and, therefore, conclude with reasonable certainty that it is them.

Reflections aside, the cat collar always screamed “picked out by Sam” to me.

* “Re-enactment” picture

It probably won’t come as a surprise that the idea to do this “re-enactment” came to me in the early morning hours on a night I had insomnia. I combined both the reflected faces and Cait’s reflected hands/arms with stick figure art, found online, for their bodies. The result is...well...not art .. but a cute, if a bit silly, rendition of the scene showing you approximately where SC would have been in relation to Eddie.

It’s not perfectly accurate, of course. In reality...

SC were likely sitting at Eddie’s level or at least crouched down to it.

Eddie was sitting on that location of the table but turned toward SC.

Based on the size of his reflection vs Cait’s, Sam’s face was probably a bit closer to Eddie than Cait’s was when the picture was snapped.

Sam was probably not wearing a necktie and was (probably?) wearing pants. ☺ (Cait would so wear that dress, though.)

As an aside, even though there’s no proof of where Sam’s arms are from the reflection, I like that his stick figure arm just couldn’t help but go around Cait’s shoulder. Art imitating life.

So there you have it. Do you see what I see? Don’t see it? See it, but don’t want to believe it? I respect all opinions, but this is meant to be something fun to speculate about (Remember fun? I know it’s rare in our fandom these days.), so maybe give that a try or, if not, scroll on by.

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thewritewolf · 5 years ago

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Kitten Love

Hello! This fic was written for @anotherblog1234, who you’ll find more on instagram or deviantart than on tumblr! Psyclopathe, I hope you enjoy this fluffy one shot! :D

@mlsecretsanta

Marinette isn't complaining when Adrien suddenly asked her out, although she *is* very worried about their first date... Meanwhile, Adrien - who hadn't thought this through - is struggling to come up with a good first date idea.

Enjoy!

Read on

Ao3

Adrien paced back and forth in front of the windows in his rooms. His face was a mask of determination and his hands were folded behind his back as he put all his focus into the task at hand. He suddenly stopped and stood straight, turning on his heels to face Plagg as he put his fist in his hand. Naturally, the cat kwami was simply watching him, bored out of his mind.

“Okay, I’ve got it - Imagine this,” Adrien began, “A candlelit dinner at the most prestigious restaurant in all of Paris. I hire a violinist to accompany us. The perfect, classic romantic date.” Adrien put his hands on his hips and grinned.

To his annoyance, Plagg just yawned and scratched behind his ears. After a few moments he looked back at Adrien. “Oh? Was that all? I assumed there was something more than that.”

Crossing his arms, Adrien pouted and asked, “What’s wrong with a classic candlelit dinner?”

“‘Classic’, huh? Unoriginal, overdone, cliche.” Plagg shrugged. “I mean, I don’t care either way, but if you’re gonna bother me about this, at least make it something new.”

“Yeah, okay, fine.” Adrien rolled his eyes and got back to pacing, ignoring the gross eating noises Plagg was making. If two years wasn’t enough to help him tune it out, nothing would be. His eyes widened and he snapped his fingers. “What about a theater production? Or maybe an opera!” A grin spread across his face. “She’s gone to plays before, so I’m sure she’d love this one!”

Frustratingly, Plagg remained unmoved. In a deadpan voice, he said, “Right, staying quiet for hours at a time in the dark, surrounded by strangers. Ideal stuff for talking and getting to know each other.”

“We know plenty about each other!”

“Kid, look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want to spend the whole date learning about her.”

Adrien struggled to meet his kwami’s face and folded immediately, his shoulders hunching forward in a sad slouch.

“Besides,” Plagg continued, ignoring his chosen’s distress, “I know you and you’d probably take her somewhere way too high class.”

“It is what she deserves,” Adrien said, glaring at Plagg.

“But isn’t not what she’s used to. For someone like Marinette, it would all be too overwhelming. Think something simpler, more down to earth.” Plagg pulled out his second cheese wheel. Adrien was running out of time with Plagg being even moderately invested in helping plan this date.

“Down to earth… What about a trip to our cabin at the Alps? That’s pretty earthy, right? And it’d be just the two of us for a weekend. Well,” Adrien conceded, “and maybe the Gorilla stopping by to check up on us.”

Plagg stared at him. “This is a first date, young man. Not a honeymoon. You’ll give her a heart attack if you do something like that.”

“Plagg!” Adrien whined. “What should I do! You’ve shot down all of my ideas.”

“Jeez, kid, just go somewhere that you’re both together and having fun.” The kwami gulped down the last of his cheese and zoomed into the air. “Now leave me out of this!”

The last thing Adrien saw of Plagg as he vanished under the bedsheets was his ears and long tail. He put a hand to his chin.

“Together… having fun…”

Adrien’s face brightened. This idea was bound to be a winner!

--------------

“Marinette, you look fine. You can stop that now.”

She paused in the middle of another brush stroke and shot her kwami a desperate look. “I can’t just look ‘fine’, Tikki! I have to look perfect!”

“Somehow, I don’t think Adrien will be able to tell the difference between your tenth and your fiftieth time brushing your hair.” Tikki glanced toward the pile of clothes on her bed. “Or, for that matter, your second or tenth outfit.”

“But I need to-”

Tikki zoomed in front of her face. “Relax, Marinette. He already cares about you. The fact that he asked you out is already proof of that. And besides,” she added, landing on her shoulder, “didn’t he say to dress casually? Surely you won’t need to worry too much about your hair if that’s the case.”

“I… guess,” Marinette said, biting her lower lip. She stood up and started pacing her room. “But this could be my one and only chance to make sure he falls for me. I have to really nail it. Otherwise, I might lose him for good.”

“Marinette… I know for sure that he thinks the world of you. There isn’t anything you can do to scare him off now.”

“You can’t know that! I don’t even know what I’m going to say when he gets here!”

Tikki seemed like she was about to respond when her antennae twitched and she glanced toward the trapdoor. She smiled and said, “You’d better figure it out fast,” before phasing into Marinette’s purse.

There wasn’t any time to puzzle out what she meant before there was a knock on her door.

“Hello?” Came a very familiar voice. “Your parents said you were up here. Can I come in?”

A surge of panic filled her as she glanced around her room at the many Adrien posters and she dove for the door, blocking it with her body. Her drastic measures weren’t necessary as Adrien didn’t even try to open it.

“Are you okay? I thought I heard something fall.”

“Y-yes! I’m fine! Just, um, just finishing getting ready. I- I’ll meet you in the living room?”

There was a pause from just below her. “Okay. Take your time!”

She listened to him trudge downstairs before letting out a sigh of relief. Tikki emerged from her purse and crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at her chosen.

“What? I can’t have him see all this!” She gestured to the pictures of Adrien modeling and the pile of discarded clothes. “Now I just… sit here for a minute and go into the living room.”

“You know,” Tikki replied while looking at one of the larger posters, “you probably can take them down soon.” A smile warmed her tiny face as she turned her attention to Marinette. “Then you can start replacing them with pictures you take on your future dates.”

Her heart raced and her head felt light as she stood up. “Future… dates…?”

“Mhm. The ones I know you two will have.” Tikki returned to her purse, poking her head out as she added, “Now go get that boy!”

Marinette nodded resolutely and marched down the stairs. She could do this! All this time, she’d been getting better talking to Adrien. Getting to understand him as a friend. They knew each other, they had a great foundation to build a relationship off of. Adrien wasn’t anyone to be scared of.

That’s what she was telling herself as she turned the corner and entered the room. Adrien was seated on the couch facing away from her, but he must have heard her enter since his head whirled around to look at her. When she saw how his face lit up when his eyes landed on her, saw the bouquet of tulips (her favorites!) that he’d brought her, she realized she was right, even as her heart jumped to her throat.

Adrien wasn’t scary.

He was just very, very painfully cute.

...Marinette wasn’t sure if this was any better.

--------------------

The walk to their destination was meandering and filled with light conversation. Questions about her latest designs, his photoshoots, classwork, everything to pass the time. Once she got into the groove of it, past her own nerves, it was almost like talking with an old friend. Which, she realized with a start, he was. Two years of friendship and now it was turning into something more. She couldn’t be happier.

...At least, that was what she thought until they finally arrived. She glanced at Adrien in confusion.

“...An animal shelter?”

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I know it’s not the usual first date, but… they’re having a special meet and greet with kittens today,” he cleared this throat and added, “among other things.” He looked back at her bashfully. “...Is that okay?”

She clapped excitedly and hugged him. “I love it!” Her eyes flew open and she was gripped with panic for a moment. Was this too much too quickly? Was she invading his space? But those doubts melted away when he returned the hug.

“I’m glad,” he whispered. “Now come on! We’ve got baby kitties to pet!”

As he grabbed her hand and pulled her along, Marinette felt herself loosen up. Adrien spoke with the receptionist and was given directions to a room in the back. When they entered the room, they were immediately greeted by the sounds of over a dozen tiny kittens meowing at everything they could find. Including each other. The door opening attracted the attention of some of them, who immediately began trying to climb their way up the smooth waist-high wall blocking them from the only exit.

Marinette glanced over at Adrien, who almost looked on the verge of tears from happiness. She could understand the feeling as she stepped over the barrier and was immediately mobbed by kittens trying to climb their way up her dress. The kitten who had climbed the furthest found itself snatched up by Marinette and given kisses to the top of its head. It mewed in protest as she sat down.

After a few moments she noticed the one she was holding was the only one that was still near her. She looked up and immediately covered her mouth with her hand when she saw where they had all gone.

Just like her, Adrien had sat down and immediately began drowning in baby kitties. Almost all the kittens in the pen were drawn to him, clambering awkwardly over her date. A few were sitting in front of him, mewing as if to attract his attention. Others were making good use of his Agreste-brand jacket to get a good foothold as they climbed. Four sat all in a heap in his lap, purring contently as his hands briefly darted between them. One particularly intrepid kitten sat on top of his head and meowed in triumph… at least until Adrien picked him up and set him back on the ground.

Remembering what Tikki had said, she pulled out her phone and took a few pictures of the ridiculously adorable scene. Her giggling drew his attention and her breath caught when she saw just how happy he was. She was well acquainted with his model smile - it stared down at her everyday - but this was one that she had only seen drawn from him a few times before. She reflexively took another photo before setting down her phone.

His eyes trailed downward and his head tilted curiously when he saw what was in her lap.

There was amusement in his voice as he asked, “Is that the only black cat you like?”

She glanced down at the same time that the kitten looked up at her with big, green eyes. With her index finger she scratched it between the ears, coaxing a purr from the little guy.

“Well, at least this one doesn’t tell cat puns all the time.”

Adrien smirked. “Furreal? But cat puns are clawesome!”

“Sometimes, but there are other kinds of puns out there.”

“Hm…” Adrien tapped his chin. “So you’re saying Chat Noir should expand his act.” The black kitten meowed loudly, making Adrien laugh. “Not you, kitten noir.”

Marinette giggled despite herself. The time passed by quickly after that and eventually Adrien emerged from the pile of kittens, stretching his legs as he did so. They still tried to cling onto him and Marinette had to check him to make sure no determined stragglers were still hitching a ride.

“Are you sure we can’t play with the kittens some more?”

“We can come back later if you really want,” Adrien replied as they reached another door. “I just thought you’d want to see what’s in here.”

Curious, Marinette gently pushed open the door… only to see a glass maze filled with-

“Hamsters?” Suspicion bloomed in her gut.

“Yeah! I heard you wanted one when- um…”

“Adrien… When what?”

“When we… have a family together?”

A pit of dread opened up in her gut. In a small voice she said, “...What? How did you-”

Adrien was rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “So you know like two weeks ago when you left behind your sketchbook and Alya found it and gave it back to you?”

Her jaw dropped. “No…”

“I was the one who found it.” He wrung his hands in front of himself, unable to meet her eyes.

“Did you-”

“Read it? Yeah.” He looked as embarrassed as she felt and she buried her face in her hands. How was she ever going to look him in the eye again? “I didn’t mean to! But it was already open and I immediately got dragged off to a photoshoot and the designs were so good…” He looked at her apologetically. “I couldn’t help myself. I’m sorry.”

“But…” The word was said with such sly confidence that it made Marinette look up at him again. “For what it’s worth, I think Marinette Agreste doesn’t sound half as nice as Adrien Dupain-Cheng.”

#Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrienette #Plagg #Tikki #ml fanfiction #fluff #such fluff #ml sugar #my writing #Kitten Love #ml secret santa exchange #mlsecretsanta2019 #anotherblog1234

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nickburn · 4 years ago

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Things I Enjoyed in 2020 Despite Everything

Seasons Greetings! This year has felt like an eternity for so many reasons, and before it’s over, I’d like to take a look back on the distractions that got me through it. Along the way, I’ll occasionally point out where I was emotionally at the time and whether I got into a particular thing before or after the pandemic hit in mid March. I hope you enjoy this little retrospective of some of my experience during one of the worst years of human history!

Games & Mods

Might & Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven

When I was making my 2020 resolutions list late last year, one of my goals was to play more old games in my backlog and not buy many new games this year. That goal largely went on hold, because, well, I sought out enjoyment wherever I could find it instead of forcing myself to play one thing or another. But before Covid, I was really enjoying my new playthrough of M&M6. I’d made attempts at it before, but it was really GrayFace’s mod that made the game click for me. Modern features like quick saves and mouselook make the game much more accessible, and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to try an old-school RPG. It’s a great stepping stone into a mostly-dead genre. I’m hoping to get back to it soon. I just jumped ship to simpler ventures like Doom Eternal after the pandemic hit and haven’t looked back since.

Pathologic 2

I learned about the Pathologic series late last year and have since become a little obsessed with it. Hbomberguy’s lengthy video essay on the original game really intrigued me and lead me to trying the sequel/remake in April via Xbox Game Pass. In a weird way, it was cathartic to be a doctor in an even more dire situation than our current one and still see signs of the townsfolk trying to help each other deal with a supernatural plague and little help from their local government. The game helped me express a lot of what I was feeling at the time, when I was still getting used to working from home and wondering just how long this could go on for. I’ve gone back to it recently, and I’m hoping to finish it someday, if I can find a way to stop dying. Above all, Pathologic 2 teaches you how to make choices in no-win scenarios with little information or resources and still persevere, despite the world going to Hell around you. And that’s maybe the most important thing to practice at the moment.

Overwatch

I’ve continued to look forward to weekly Overwatch nights with my friends every Thursday, and it’s really important to have something like that right now. Even if it’s just a new episode of a show airing, a new video from a favorite YouTuber, or a regular Zoom call with coworkers, it helps so much to have something to anticipate from week to week and month to month. Otherwise, it’s really easy to feel like nothing’s going on besides the entropic deterioration of the universe. Overwatch itself helps with this, because it’s such a positive, bright, and optimistic game, as only Blizzard can create. And it’s improved a ton in the past couple of years, in a lot of ways. If you haven’t played in a while, hop in and check out all the new content with your friends; I think you’ll have a great time. It’s looking more and more like Overwatch 2 is right around the corner, and I’m very much looking forward to it.

I learned how to play Go after watching a documentary released this year about AlphaGo, the computer that beat the Go world champion, and I have a huge appreciation for the game now. I think it’s even more beautiful than chess, though even more insidious to learn. If you haven’t played before, start with a 9x9 board, teach yourself the basics, and try playing with another beginner friend. I guarantee you’ll be amazed at the amount of strategy and imagination that a game ostensibly about placing black and white stones on a grid can inspire. Go’s one of several new hobbies I’ve picked up this year, and those new hobbies have really helped me pass the time in a way that feels productive as well as take my mind off whatever depressing news just got blasted across Twitter.

Doom 64

Doom Eternal was fine, but Doom 64′s where my heart lies. The PC port on Steam is great, allowing everyone to easily play the game with mouse and keyboard. Its levels are tight and colorful, often asking the player to backtrack multiple times through the same areas to unlock new ones and take on whatever new twists await down each darkened corridor. It’s a surprisingly fresh experience. Unlike many modern Doom mods that strive to be sprawling marathons, 64′s levels are short but memorable, and the game is a great entry point to the series for newcomers because of that. Retro FPS’s continue to inspire and entertain me, and Doom 64 is one of my new favorites.

Golf With Your Friends

I’m not usually that into party games, but Golf With Your Friends strikes the right balance between casual tone and skill-based gameplay. The maps are vibrant and devious, the different modes are creative and often hilarious, and the pacing is near-perfect. If you’ve got a squad itching to play something together for a few nights, I guarantee you’ll have a lot of laughs trying to knock an opponent off the course or turning them into an acorn just as they’re about to attempt a nasty jump.

Quake 1 Mods

I probably sound like a broken record by now to a lot of you, but I won’t rest until I get more people into retro FPS’s. The outdated graphics and simple gameplay can be off-putting at first, but it doesn’t take long at all to get hooked after you’ve played the likes of excellent mods like Ancient Aliens for Doom 2 or Arcane Dimensions for Quake 1. And it’s only getting better, with this year marking probably the best year for Quake releases ever. The industry even seems to be taking notice again, with many talented mappers getting picked up for highly-anticipated, professional indie projects like Graven and Prodeus. And while the marketing around the retro FPS renaissance as the second coming of “boomer shooters” should be much maligned, the actual craft involved in making mods and brand new games in the genre has never been stronger. I even contributed four levels to the cause this year, but you’ll have to play them yourself to decide if they’re any good: https://www.quaddicted.com/reviews/?filtered=burnham.

Streets of Rage 4

I had not tried Steam Remote Play before this year, but it works surprisingly well if you have a decent internet connection. Because of Remote Play, I was able to complete Streets of Rage 4 with my friends, and it was very close to the experiences I had as a kid playing brawlers like Turtles in Time on the Super Nintendo. The game is just hard enough to make you sweat during the boss fights but just easy enough that the average group of gamers can complete it in a night or two, which is ideal for adults with not a lot of free time.

Hard Lads

Hard Lads is a pure delight of a game by Robert Yang about the beauty of a viral video from 2015 called “British lads hit each other with chair,” which is even more ridiculous than it sounds. It made me smile and laugh for a good half hour, and I think it’ll do the same for you.

Commander MtG

The Commander format for Magic: the Gathering is one of my favorite things, and in 2020, I dug into it more than any other year. More so even than playing or watching it being played, I created decklists for hours and hours, dreaming up new, creative strategies for winning games or just surprising my imaginary opponents. I sincerely believe this little ritual of finding a new legendary creature to build around and spending a few days crafting a brew for it got me through the majority of this summer. I didn’t have a lot of creative energy this year, but I was able to channel the little I did have into this hobby. Especially during the longer, more frustrating or depressing days at work when I had nothing else to do or just needed a break, I could often dive back into card databases and lose myself in the process of picking exactly the cards that best expressed what I wanted to do for any given deck. And it’s nice to know I can always fall back on that.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

I played a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh! growing up but never had the cards or the skill to be particularly good at it. I just knew I enjoyed the game and the 4Kids show, but I quickly them behind when I got to high school. Fast forward to 2020, and the game and franchise have evolved substantially, not always for the better. But I do find it so intriguing, with a skeptical kind of adoration. It’s not nearly as well-supported as Magic, but what it does have are gigantic anime monsters on tiny cards with enough lines of text to make your head spin. And it’s so interesting to me that a franchise like that can continue to thrive alongside more elegant games like the Pokemon TCG and Hearthstone. And the further I’ve delved into how the game has changed since I stopped playing, the more invested I’ve become, going so far as to start buying cards again and looking into possible decks I might enjoy playing. An unequivocal win for Yu-Gi-Oh! is Speed Duel, which seeks to bring old players back to the game with a watered-down, nostalgia-laden format with fewer mechanics and a much smaller card pool. So if all you want to do is pit a Blue Eyes White Dragon against a Dark Magician, that’s 100% still there for you, but the competitive scene is still alive, well, and astoundingly complicated. And I think that’s kind of beautiful.

Black Mesa

I wasn’t expecting to have the tech to play Half Life: Alyx this year, so Black Mesa seemed like the next best thing. And it really is a love letter to the first game, even if it’s far from perfect. I even prefer the original, but I did very much enjoy my time with this modern reimagining. If you’ve never played a Half Life game before, I think it’s a great place to start.

VR via the Oculus Quest

Around halfway through this year, I started to get really stir crazy and yeah, pretty depressed. It seemed like I’d be stuck in the same boring cycle forever, and I know for a lot of people, it still feels like that. So VR seemed like the perfect escape from this dubious reality where you can’t even take a safe vacation trip anymore. And you know, I think it works really well for that purpose. The Oculus Quest is especially effective, doing away with cords or cables so you have as much freedom as you have free real estate in your home. I don’t have a lot of space in my studio apartment, but I have enough to see the potential of the medium, which is completely worth it. Next gen consoles are neat and all, but I’ve got my heart set on picking up the Quest 2 as soon as possible.

* Beat Saber

I was most looking forward to trying Beat Saber on the Quest, and I was not disappointed. You’d think rhythm games had reached their peak with Rock Band and DDR, but the genre keeps on giving with gems like this. It’s hard to convey if you’ve never tried it, but the game succeeds so well in getting your entire body into the rhythm of whatever song you’re slashing through.

* Half Life: Alyx

Again, I really did not expect to be able to experience this game as intended this year, and I still don’t think I really have. The Oculus Link for the Quest is admittedly a little janky, and my PC barely meets the minimum specs to even run the game. And yet, despite that, Alyx is one of my top three games of 2020 and maybe one of my all-time favorites. Even as I was losing frames and feeling the game struggle to keep up with all the AI Combine soldiers running around, I was still having a blast. For me, it is one of the best reasons to seek out and own VR and a pinnacle of game design in its own right.

Hades

For me, Hades has mostly been similar to every other Supergiant Game that I’ve played: fun and well-polished but ultimately not engaging enough to play for very long. And there’s always this sheen of trying to be too clever with their dialogue, narration, and music that rubs me the wrong way. But Hades is certainly their best game, and I can’t deny the effect it’s had on people, much like Bastion’s reception back in 2011. And I’m really hoping Hades gets more people into roguelikes, as a more accessible and story-driven approach to the genre. Timing-wise, I wish it hadn’t come out around the same time as Spelunky, because I think it did make some people choose one over the other, when the best choice is to play both and realize they’re going for very different experiences. The precise, unforgiving, arcade-like style of Spelunky isn’t fun for everyone, though, and Hades is thankfully there to fill in that gap. I’m really glad I found more time to play it this year at least to succeed on one escape attempt; it’s a fun game to think about in a game design context. And I do think the game has a lot of merit and is doing some clever things with difficulty that the studio likely could not have honed nearly so well without the help of Early Access. The most impressive part of the game to me is not the story or the music or the combat but the massive amount of contextual dialogue they somehow found time to program, write, and record at a consistently high level. All of this is just to say, Hades is obviously one of the best games of the year, and you should play it if you have any interest in it at all.

Spelunky 2

I’ve spoken a lot about this game on Twitter, so I’m not going to rehash much of that here. For me, it’s been a journey of over 1,000 attempts to learn the intricacies and secrets of a deep and demanding game that’s been as frustrating as it’s been rewarding. But it remains a constant source of learning and discovery as well as mastery and pride for me, and I still have hopes of reaching the Cosmic Ocean and getting all the trophies someday. It’s been a joy to watch other Spelunky players too, even as some fair worse than me and others fair far better. And the Daily challenge keeps me coming back, because seeing my name high up on the leaderboard just makes me feel so damn good (or at least I’ll get a good laugh out of a hilarious death). At its heart, Spelunky is a community endeavor, and I think it succeeds at that better than almost any other game this side of Dark Souls. I think it is my Game of the Year or at least tied with Alyx, I really can’t decide. If you don’t think you’d enjoy it, all I’ll say is, the frustration and difficulty are integral to the experience of discovery and surprise, and your brain is better at video games than you think.

Chess

Okay, yes, I watched and enjoyed The Queen’s Gambit, but I think 2020 had already primed people to get into chess this year regardless. Like Yu-Gi-Oh!, chess was a childhood pastime of mine that I really enjoyed and then quickly left behind as I discovered things like music and the internet. If I had to assign a theme to my 2020, it would be rediscovering old hobbies to remind myself how good life actually is. And now I’m more committed to chess than I ever was before. I’m watching international masters and grand masters on YouTube (as well as the incomparable Northernlion), I’m playing regularly on Chess.com, and I’m even paying for lessons and probably my own theory books soon. Like most fighting games, chess is a complicated form of dueling a single opponent with zero randomness, so mistakes are always on you. And modern chess platforms offer extremely good analysis tools, showing you exactly how, when, and why you screwed up so you can do better next time. Like Hearthstone, it’s a quick, addicting, tense, and rewarding way to train your brain and have fun. And it seems more popular now than ever, in part due to a certain Netflix original TV show...

The Queen’s Gambit

I think a lot of people want to be Beth Harmon, even if they know they shouldn’t. It must feel so good to be the best at something and know you’re the best, even while under the influence of certain substances. It’s what makes characters like Dr. Gregory House so fun to watch, though you’d never want to work with the guy. For me, anyway, I always wanted to be a prodigy at something, and what little success I’ve had made The Queen’s Gambit very relatable to me. More so, it’s easy to relate to growing up in a conservative environment with few real friends and fewer outlets of expression, only to realize you’ve finally found your thing, and that no one can take it from you. That’s mostly what I’m going to take from The Queen’s Gambit anyway, more than chess or the Cold War commentary or the problematic relationships Beth has with her cadre of rivals/boyfriends. The show gets a strong recommendation from me for fans of chess as well as lovers of optimistic coming-of-age stories.

March Comes in Like a Lion

Similarly, March Comes in Like a Lion features a protagonist who is scarily close to a version of myself from like eight years ago. My best friend has been urging me to watch this show for years, and I’m still only a few episodes in. But I love how it portrays a young person who’s moved to a big city away from home for the first time, with nothing more than some meager possessions and the hopes of becoming the best in the world at something. And Rei is not confident in himself or outgoing at all, he’s extremely depressed despite pursuing his dreams and trying to distance himself from his somewhat toxic family. It’s a great reminder that the smallest kindnesses can often change our entire perspective on the world, and that even the people that seem the most well-equipped to handle life often still need help. I’ve been very fortunate to have people like that despite mistakes I’ve made, and I hope to be that person for others too.

Umbrella Academy

I’m pretty burnt out on superheroes, but UA put a good enough spin on them that they felt brand new. The show is rough in places, but it’s surprising in some really clever ways. And the comics are some of the wildest stories I’ve ever read, like Hitchhiker’s Guide meets Watchmen.

HunterXHunter

I binged about 100 of the 148 episodes of HxH this year, which I recognize is not a significant number in the wider world of long-running shounen anime, but it’s quite an undertaking for me to finish a show of this length. The series goes places I never expected and made me care so strongly for characters I thought I’d hate at first. It’s the smartest and most endearing show about a band of misfits going on crazy adventures and punching people for the good of the world that you’re likely to find.

Hannibal

This is the rare show that’s simultaneously comforting and nightmare-inducing if watched for extended periods. I can remember nights after binging a few episodes where I couldn’t get many of the disturbing images out of my head. Fair to say, Hannibal is not for the faint of heart, nor is it without some low points. But for those who enjoy gory thrillers or gritty detective dramas, it’s a must-watch.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Original Series, English Sub

You can probably imagine my surprise as I discovered this year that the Japanese version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime is not only much better than the 4Kids version we got in the States, but it’s actually a decent show. The plot makes much more sense, it’s more interesting, the stakes are higher, the voices are better, and overall it’s just more enjoyable to watch. I don’t know if I’ll stick with it long enough to finish it this time, but this is definitely the way I’d do it and would recommend to others.

Fargo Season 4

It’s a miracle we even got another season of Fargo this year, let alone on time and of the same high quality as the first two seasons. It has a great setting, cast, and conflict. I love Chris Rock, and it was so cool to see him act so well in such a serious role. There’s a Wizard of Oz homage episode that is nearly flawless. And the post-credits scene at the end of the season is just the cherry on top. If you haven’t checked out Fargo by now, you are really missing out on some of the most interesting stuff happening in TV. I can’t wait to see what Noah Hawley does with the Alien franchise.

Movies

Cats

I had to include this one because it was the last full movie I saw in theaters before the pandemic hit. I technically went to Sonic too, but my friends and I walked out after about 30 minutes. The less said about that movie, the better. Cats, though, is a strange and curious beast (pun intended), adapting an already unruly animal (pun intended) to the big screen and yowling to be recognized (pun intended). But for every awkward or embarrassing scene, there’s one of pure joy and magic, like the extended ballet sequence or Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat. The film knows exactly what it is and leans into it hard, like a familiar yet slightly insane feline begging to be stroked, which I imagine is exactly what fans of the musical wanted.

Children of Men

There’s not much I can say about this film that probably hasn’t been said better elsewhere. I was intrigued to watch it when I learned it was one of my friend’s favorite movies. And I have to say, it’s really profound in a prescient way. Clive Owen gives one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. You should watch it, but only when you feel like taking a severe hit to the feels.

Basic Instinct

Vertigo is probably still my favorite film, so when I learned this year that Paul Verhoeven made a bloody, sex romp homage film to it in the 90s with Michael Douglas starring, I simply had to watch it. And you know, it’s not bad. It’s nowhere near as good as Vertigo, and you can see the ending coming a mile away. But what it does have is the immaculate Sharon Stone, who you cannot take your eyes off for the entire movie. And the movie knows it, making her look as alluring and suggestive as her character is to the detective investigating her. You could do worse than to watch it, just don’t expect any of Hitchcock’s subtlety or looming dread to seep into the final product.

Books

Dune

I finally finished Dune this year, and I can genuinely say it lives up to the hype. It’s not the easiest book to get through, but it’s by no means one of the most difficult either. I’m still bummed that the new film was delayed, but it might give me time to read the rest of the original book series.

The Fifth Season

Another fantastic piece of fiction, I cannot recommend this book enough. N.K. Jemisin is one of the best living authors of our time. If you want an original setting with a brilliant magic system and complex, compelling characters, look no further.

Video Content

Northernlion

I’ve been a fan of NL for years, though I’ve never been that into The Binding of Isaac. He just has a charismatic intelligence to him that sets him apart from most “Let’s Play” YouTubers to me, and he’s very funny to boot. I guess I’d say he seems a lot like me or the person I could picture myself being if I were a professional video content creator. So I was really excited for NL’s series of Spelunky 2 videos, and I still watch them every day, months later. And now he’s teaching me how to get better at chess, being a good 600 ELO higher than myself at the moment. His sarcastic and improv-laden banter have withstood the test of years and gave me some much-needed comfort and laughter in 2020. Somehow, the man even found a way to keep up his prolific output this year while raising his firstborn child. There are those who said it couldn’t be done...

The Command Zone - Game Knights

Josh Lee Kwai and the rest of the crew at The Command Zone continue to put out some of the most well-produced tabletop gameplay videos on the internet. It’s perhaps no surprise, seeing as how Lee Kwai created trailers for such blockbuster films as Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and Jimmy Wong had a supporting role in the live action remake of Disney’s Mulan. But the crew around the two hosts are just as important and talented, and it’s clear that they all share the same singular vision for the channel’s future. They’ve carefully crafted a team of expert editors, animators, cosplayers, and voice actors to deliver one delightful video after the next at a consistently high level. If you’re into Magic: the Gathering at all, you simply need to watch Game Knights.

Cimoooooooo

I found Alex Cimo’s channel shortly after the algorithm learned I was interested in Yu-Gi-Oh! again, and at first, I was less than impressed with him. But it’s clear to me now that he not only loves what he does, he’s an expert Yu-Gi-Oh! player and analyst. Plus, he’s very good at explaining some of the more complex concepts in the game in a way that newcomers can understand. I’ve watched every new episode of The Progression Series and The History of Yu-Gi-Oh! so far, and they’re the best way I’ve found to learn how the game developed and changed over the last 20 years.

Team APS

This is another great Yu-Gi-Oh! channel, focusing more on skits, gimmick videos, and casual games rather than analytical or theoretical content. Mostly, they seem like a really great group of friends that just have a blast playing Yu-Gi-Oh! together, and their love for the game makes me want to play more too.

Tolarian Community College

Somehow, a community college English professor’s channel went from a quirky little deckbox review platform to the most popular Magic: the Gathering channel on YouTube in only a few years. But it’s easy to see why when Brian clearly loves what he’s doing more than most people ever will. He’s not only a fantastic reviewer and MtG scholar, he’s one of the most outspoken voices for positive change in the community and the game. Is he too hard on the Magic team at Wizards of the Coast? Perhaps, but without his measured and well-reasoned takes on all things Magic, I think we’d be much worse off.

IRL

Cooking

Even I get tired of eating the same things every day, so I’ve taken it upon myself to learn how to make more dishes, mostly out of sheer boredom. And I know I’m not alone in that, but I have to say it’s been a rewarding and fun adventure. It’s really surprising what you can throw together with a decent recipe and a little creativity in a modest kitchen when you decide to break away from the microwave for once.

Chinchillin’

Like many people, I felt that I needed a pet to survive this year, and I’ve always wanted a chinchilla. So I took a risk and bought one from a seller on KSL a few months ago, and my life has definitely changed for the better. No longer simply alone with my thoughts all day, I have a furry little companion to commune and bond with. And it’s more difficult to find time to feel sorry for myself when a basically helpless tiny creature depends on me for almost everything. Not to say it’s been a perfect experience however, people don’t say chins are difficult to care for for nothing. And I have learned more about them than perhaps I ever cared to know before, but that’s only made them more interesting to me as a result. Overall, I would recommend them as pets, just be prepared to give them a lot more time and attention than you would to say, a fish or a hamster. I’ve seen the commitment compared to that of a large dog, and I think that’s fair, though chins seem far more difficult to train and are far less cuddly. Basically, imagine a fluffy, super fast squirrel that can jump half your height, shed its fur at will if grabbed too tightly, that sleeps all day and bathes in dust, and that cannot get wet or too hot or eat 99% of human foods without serious complications. And they get lonely, and they all have their own surprisingly distinct personalities, some shy and mischievous, others bright and social, and everything in between. But I’m glad to be part of my little buddy’s life and hope to make it a long and enjoyable one for him. Part of why I wanted a chinchilla so badly is they typically live between 10-20 years, much longer than the average rodent or even many cats and dogs. And they’re sadly endangered in the wild, poached for their incredibly soft fur, which is why I believe it’s critical that we care for and learn more about them now. And above all, I adore my chinchilla’s antics, even when he continually tries to dig up and eat the paper bedding below his cage when I’ve provided perfectly edible hay and pellets for him in much easier to reach locations.

And that’s all, folks...

If you’ve read this far, know that I really appreciate it and hope you learned something new about yourself, art, or the world. And please do let me know what’s kept you going the most this year too, as I suspect I’ll still be searching for new distractions next year, even after I’m able to get a Covid vaccine injection. As Red Green would say, we’re all in this together, and I’m pullin’ for ya. <3

#2020 #hobbies #art #youtube #reviews #entertainment #games #books #film #tv #netflix

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maxismatchccworld · 5 years ago

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Patch Notes

Update 12/12/2019 PC: 1.59.73.1020 / Mac: 1.59.73.1220

Hello Simmers!

It’s been quite the year for The Sims 4! We blew past the game’s 5th anniversary with no signs of slowing down. One of the community’s most highly requested expansion packs just launched recently, and we hope you’re all enjoying getting educated in Discover University. In case you haven’t heard, we’ve also launched another community Stuff Pack project, where your collective votes will decide the path of yet another pack coming to The Sims 4. And of course, The Sims’ franchise 20th anniversary is just over the horizon, which we’re looking forward to celebrating with you.

Today’s update has been influenced by you as well... We set aside time to specifically address issues that you’ve let us know are important to your in-game experience, and we hope the long list of fixes and improvements you’ll find below will lead to many hours of fun playing The Sims 4. In addition, we’ve squeezed in a few un-planned extras we hope you’ll enjoy. Not only have we added some new music tracks to the game, but we’ve also converted a number of hairstyles to now also be available for children and toddlers. While the adult versions of these styles will remain exclusive to whichever pack they originally came from, we hope you’ll all enjoy these additional options for your Sim’s little ones.

While Maxis will soon be taking a short break to enjoy the holidays (merry Winterfest, and a Happy New Year!), we’ll be back for another packed year for The Sims 4 in 2020. See you then!

-SimGuruGraham, ft. SimGuruGnome

The Music

The following music has been added to the alternative station:

“Nicknames”

Performed by Dayglow

Written by Sloan Struble

Recording courtesy of AWAL Digital Ltd.

“4am”

Performed by girl in red

Written by Marie Ulven

Recording courtesy of AWAL Recordings

“prom dress”

Performed by mxmtoon

Produced by Robin Skinner & mxmtoon

Written by Maia M-T

Published by Songtrust Music Publishing

Recording courtesy of mxmtoon LLC under exclusive license to House Arrest/The Orchard

By Arrangement with Bank Robber Music

“Win You Over”

Performed by Whethan & Bearson feat. SOAK

Written by Ethan Snoreck, Jakob Bjørn Hansen, Birdie Monds-Watson, Anthony Whiting and Emily Phillips

Published by Whethan Publishing/These Are Pulse Songs (BMI) c/o Pulse Publishing Administration, Next Wave Music Publishing, Universal - PolyGram Int. Tunes, Inc. on behalf of Universal Music Publishing Ltd., Universal Music Corp. on behalf of itself and PW Arrangements, and Domino Publishing Company USA (ASCAP)

Whethan appears courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.

SOAK appears courtesy of Rough Trade Records

Recording courtesy of Ultra Records LLC

FIXES & UPDATES

The Sims 4

Fixed an issue where macOS Simmers could crash when accessing The Gallery.

Fixed an issue where Nice or High Quality harvestables would disappear from Sims’ inventories after Travel or Save/Load.

Fixed an issue where Freelancer Career tasks would not complete after Sims would Travel.

Sims that were seated at a 6 seat round table can now Clean up the dishes.

Child Sims will be now able to enjoy Quick Meals again!

Fixed an issue where Sims didn’t write a genre book when “Write Genre Book” was selected.

Multiple duplicate interactions should no longer appear in pie menus when you have certain objects in your inventory.

The Jet Set Luxury Bath (bathtubJetsGEN_01) was listed as being Unbreakable when that wasn't true.

Speaking of Unbreakable, we fixed an issue with Hot Tubs and Stereos where unbreakable upgrades would not work if these objects were in use when upgrading them.

Fixed an issue in which some Sims could stand on, or walk through solid objects.

Adding a Sim to an existing household via the Create a Sim Stories feature will no longer subtract Simoleons from the household.

You can now extinguish a fire, even if the fire is within another object.

Fixed an issue that would cause Error code 510:5bd7fa0b to occur when attempting to save.

Sims can now Scrap the unfinished paintings of visiting Sims.

Light intensity will no longer reset when setting Auto Lights options.

Fixed an issue which made the item Tiny Globe & Sycee of the Prosperous Moon appear twice in Build Mode.

Half Walls toppers can now be applied to half walls on all levels of your lot.

Fixed an issue that caused Lots downloaded from The Gallery to be placed backwards and not being able to rotate them to an appropriate view.

Households downloaded from The Gallery should now have their starting funds set to the correct amount, and not just the base 20,000 Simoleons.

Child Sims will no longer receive Whims related to workouts.

Fixed an issue that did not allow Nordic keyboards for macOS to use the Size Down Cheat.

Fixed an issue where Error code 102:70c7f9a6 would occur when loading into Lots after loading a saved game.

Walls no longer will disappear when Taking a Photo in a Basement level room that does not have a staircase.

Bookshelves will no longer have the option to purchase University books if you do not own Discover University.

Sims will no longer flicker on and off the landing pad, when in the Rocket Ship using the WooHoo or Try for Baby interactions.

Sims in the Supreme Villain career working on the mischief interaction task can now use the Slablet to Troll teh Forums to complete the task.

Addressed some UI issues in Create a Sim that occurred after modifying the scaling option in the Accessibility options.

Lots and rooms with modded paintings will now be flagged as Custom Content when uploading to The Gallery

Small rugs can no longer be placed over the cutouts created by stairs.

Using Ctrl + U to reset your UI Scaling while you have the UI Scaling window open, will now properly reset the scale bar.

Caterer Sims will now be able to make a Cake and complete their Party event goals.

We attempted to track down the lost harvestables that are currently lost, but found they were lost and unfindable. It’s findings like this that we find we are at a loss of words for, however any future loss should not be found.

Sadly, all the children who had thought they had found the magic loophole, stay seated at the table, are no longer…

...right… like any kid ever stays seated at the table.

Who doesn’t enjoy a good bowl of cereal?

Some example interactions that were reported: “Play Fetch”, ”Give Potion”, “Blackmail”, “Scan Here”. The LastException related to this issue should also be fixed.

It's now truly Unbreakable!

David was also supposed to be Unbreakable… but… spoilers… he broke.

Obviously there was an issue with the hot tub… water is the weakness.

Specifically Baby Bassinets… babies were becoming quite paranoid they weren’t actually Sims...

This could occur if a large object caught fire. You would have to wait until the fire spread outside the bounds of the large object in order to extinguish it.

“Your house is on fire?!”

“Yep… it’s under the bed. Gotta wait it out. But I’m ready.”

Topper… it’s a technical term that means the piece that goes on top of a half wall.

Ok, the issue summary said topper, I couldn’t remember what it was called, so I left it as topper.

Of course I have the game up and running. Yes I could go look…

Ah, you crazy supreme villains and your trolling ways. So eeeeevil.

Get To Work

Aliens should now appear as expected in the Photo thumbnails, and no longer display their disguised forms when they are not in disguise.

Aliens will now display accurate selected options for Eyebrows and Beards in Create A Sim.

Fixed an issue where Scientist Sims would record their findings in Notebooks twice.

We addressed an issue that could prevent Sims from not being able to ring up customers who attempt to purchase from the warming rack.

Some boots, along with the Sims feet, were disappearing when the camera was zoomed all the way out. This should no longer occur.

The "Refer for Surgical Treatment" interaction is now available on surgery tables that have had their color altered with the bb.enablefreebuild cheat.

There are better ways to take tidy and efficient notes.

City Living

There were a number of confusing situations that arose as a result of Invites your Sims would receive. In some cases these would appear as two invites for the same event, one that was the “hey, I just wanted you to know” invite, and the other would be the real invite. They should behave more accordingly to expectations.

Sims with the Shrewd reward trait weren’t as shrewd as they thought they were. We have restored their shrewd’ness and they should now actually receive the money they so rightfully shrewded away at the end of each week.

Fixed an issue in which some shirts in Create A Sim would not tuck in appropriately into skinny jeans.

We blame it on bad investments, the cd market apparently didn’t mean compact discs.

yfTop_EP03Mesh_OmbreBlue now looks as intended when paired with skinny jeans.

Seasons

Sims can now complete New Year resolutions on any lot, and not just their home lots.

The Lottery Holiday is back in your calendars! It should not be a surprise disappearing act any longer.

We spoke to the Holiday Gnomes and they have agreed to stop dropping seed packets if your Sims are not on Lot when the Holiday ends.

Fixed an issue where Weather would affect items inside buildings.

Flower Bunny’s contract has been renewed for them to appear on any Holiday or Tradition that they are scheduled to.

Mandrake and Valerian Root plants are now able to be planted indoors when it is Too Cold if Simmers have Realm of Magic installed.

Holiday Gnomes will no longer break Unbreakable objects when having a negative relationship with them.

The pedestal gnome (pedestal_EF18GENgnome) will no longer spawn as part of the Harvestfest gnomes tradition.

They wanted to spread holiday cheer… or they were attempting to bring about the end of Simanity, and usher in a new world order. Tomayto, tomahto.

Bunny contractual negotiations are ridiculous… they just keep multiplying their demands.

Dad joke quota met.

We don’t know what was done to make them angry, but even as magical as they are, they should not be breaking the Unbreakable.

He’s a table, he knows he’s a table, he doesn’t have any illusions to the contrary.

Get Famous

Married Celebrity Sim Couples will no longer React in Disgust with each other then they enter the same room.

Household members will no longer react to members with Pristine Reputation every time they travel together.

Fixed an issue that caused Recording a Product Review to fail if the Sim had previously interrupted a review by traveling to another Lot.

The Well Suited and G.R.A.N. talent agencies are back in business! Gigs from these agencies will now display appropriately.

Super Speed 3 should now work when Sims sleep in their Sleeping Pods and have a pet.

They are just a B-list celebrity though, can you blame them?

Like... we get it, they are perfect… no need to rub it in.

Island Living

Fixed an issue where Odd Jobs tasks were not able to be completed.

Fixed an issue where Conch Shells were not able to be put in Sims’ Inventories.

Sims can now see their recorded findings in the Notification Wall when performing “Examine Water Thoughtfully” on the Fishing Board.

Released Fish will actually be released back into the water and not be stored in Sims’ Inventory.

Players using low graphics settings will be surprised to find that Dolphins do actually exist in the waters of Sulani.

Discover University

Sims will no longer be accused of cheating on their coursework or homework if they don’t actually cheat.

Term Presentations should not have missing interactions any longer.

Fixed an issue that caused Error code 104:5ee05594 to occur when loading into a Dorm where an NPC had a Baby.

We addressed some feedback that getting As was too easy. Please be aware that your Sim will have to complete the coursework in order to consistently get good grades.

Students will no longer autonomously taunt each other about University Superiority unless they're at the Game Day organization event or have one of these traits: Childish, Evil, Hot-Headed, and Bro.

Please be aware that a Sim’s hunger, energy, and bladder motives will no longer refill on their own just before class.

Fixed an issue in which Enhancing Utility Bots would get cancelled inappropriately.

Roommates should no longer Bring Food home every time they return.

Sims can now Turn Off Computer Glasses when moving to other neighborhoods.

Sims that complete the debate showdown, will once again be able to change into their other outfits.

Term Papers will now always count toward the course’s final grades.

Fixed an issue where the following Build Mode items were not able to be placed on the LearnWell Desk (desk2x1_EP08DORM_set1):

Fixed an issue where “The Secret Society Masks” were not being unlocked in Create A Sim.

The showerWall_EP08Gen_set1 shower will no longer turn on when a Sim attempts to repair it.

Fixed an issue with a swatch color for the yfBody_EP08DressOveralls_BlackSolidWhite

Active Sims should no longer get the “Not Enough Exercise” tense buff if they have enrolled in the Soccer Fútbol after school activity, or choose to juggle a soccer fútbol ball.

Sims now must meet all of the promotion requirements in order to be promoted in the Education Career.

Attempting to interact with a bike rider should no longer cause your Sim to route fail when performing the interaction.

The Make Offering to Sprites interaction should no longer be unavailable if you only have harvestables in your inventory.

Reaching level 5 of the Law Career now correctly unlocks the lawyer suits for your Sim in Create a Sim.

Bots enhanced to level 3 will no longer automatically enhance to level 4 upon activation.

Interacting with a Sim riding a bike will no longer cause the Sim, your Sim, the bike, parts of the world, or any other potential object or thing to disappear.

Inviting your professor to hangout will now actually have the professor arrive to hangout.

Servo can now complete the StrangerVille story.

Servo Fun and Social motive descriptions no longer incorrectly refer to Servo as a Sim.

Bicycles can now be searched for in Build Mode by using the term “bike”.

ExoMech suit can be worn by teen Sims, and is visible too.

Sims already wearing a helmet, will no longer change into another helmet to ride a bike.

Sims in the same household will now automatically know the others degree program.

Sims will no longer receive multiple signing bonuses from degree relevant careers. Only one signing bonus is awarded in any seven day period.

Woohoo in Shower will no longer give fame.

“Chat About Scandalous Lawsuit” now provides fun.

Choosing to cancel the Practice Presentation interaction will now cancel the interaction.

Servos can no longer get sick.

Servos can no longer purchase the Seldom Sleepy reward trait.

Sims on probation can now be asked to study with.

Sims should no longer route fail when attempting to take a Pregnancy test in a bathroom stall.

Asking the Repo Person to not take your stuff will now provide you a Text Notification as to whether or not you had an impact on the Repo Person’s decision.

Sprites no longer appear around the Sim after the buff expires after leaving the Secret Society.

Starving students… yes, it’s a trope, but let’s not lean into it so heavily.

It was getting a bit awkward in special occasions and when meeting neighbors. Not to mention it is a fashion… choice, yes… let’s just say that.

Dang it.

Lex Light By Dex Pix - lightTableLarge_EP08GENarm_set1, Q-Bik Tabletop Mood Light - lightTableLarge_EP08GENcage, and Great Gramps’ Light - lightTableLarge_EP08GEN_set1 can now be placed properly.

yuAcc_GlassesEP08SecretSocietyMask and yuAcc_GlassesEP08MasqueradeMask are now unlocking as intended.

Outdoor Retreat

Sims can now roast at a campfire without needing a seating object nearby.

Spa Day

Fixed an issue where Sims did not have the option to “Take Bath with Soaks” and “Take Mud Bath” on Showertubs.

Sims can now again get massages autonomously at Spas.

Mud bath… showertub, at home? Hmm. Goooood plumbing.

Pamper Mode: On!

Dine Out

NPC Sims will now eat more at Restaurants.

Photos taken of Experimental Foods will now display correctly when put into frames.

Fixed a swatch color error with the ymTop_GP03Blazer_SolidWhiteBlack

Profit!

Vampires

“Influence Emotions” interaction will no longer be available to Vampires that have not yet unlocked this perk.

Jungle Adventure

Several objects were not properly being found when using color filters. These should be filterable now.

StrangerVille

StrangerVille music has been added to the Lin-Z Smart Speaker.

Realm of Magic

Fixed an issue where Occult eyes would not properly apply to Spellcasters.

Unplayed NPCs not living in Glimmerbrook will no longer appear in Glimmerbrook performing Magic.

“Challenge to Magic Duel at Dueling Grounds” performed by a broom and non-broom using duelist will now take place at the dueling grounds.

Spellcasters with the “Knowledge is Magic” Perk will now be able to complete the “Finish Reading 3 Books” aspiration goal.

Fixed an issue where some Spellcasters would not complete the “Learn a Spell” goal, even though they would learn a Spell.

Spellcasters will now be able to Do Laundry while having “Always Transportalate” enabled.

Fixed an issue in which Pet Familiars would not stop foraging, never bringing back their findings.

Sages now can be chosen to Play With for a game of Chess.

Random non Spellcaster Sims no longer will show up as being Sages.

Fixed an issue in which Cauldron made food was not able to be eaten as leftovers when looking at the refrigerator.

Sims on cursed lots will no longer always catch fire in all attempts while using the Fireplace or the Stove.

Fixed an issue in which sounds from The Magic Realm could be heard in Del Sol Valley if you had Get Famous installed.

Fixed an issue in which some shirts in Create A Sim would not tuck in appropriately.

Spellcaster Sims can now clean potty messes, child messes, and kitty litter messes by casting Scruberoo.

Spellcasters will no longer have duplicate makeup options in CAS.

Spellcasters should no longer land in unroutable locations when using the “Always Use Brooms” spell.

Fixed an issue with asset yfAcc_WristRightGP08Gems in Create A Sim that made it display incorrectly when Sims were styled with long sleeve shirts.

Spellcasters that cast Mischief Spells will now get awarded Mischief Skill when doing so.

Male spellcasters will no longer have a chance of going bald after performing Rite of Dissolution.

yfHair_GP08Braids now properly appears within the Afro-Textured texture filter.

Mischief spells are now counted towards the Criminal Career daily task Mischief Interaction.

Spellcasters with the Spellcraft and Sorcery aspiration will no longer reset or cause a LastException after writing songs.

What’s next Bob Pancakes is a vampire?

He is? I knew it!

They are now all good Familiars and bring everything they find back.

We also fixed an issue where they would only bring Brooms back after foraging, they are still all good familiars.

They cheat… I can’t be that bad.

Impostors have been dealt with. Thank you for your cooperation.

That’s probably who I was playing chess against.

Thankfully so! Not sure what we were going to do with all that food.

Try the Mac and Cheese, 10/10 totally recommend.

Looks at SimGuruMorgan with an Evil Grin.

yfTop_GP08ShirtLace, yfTop_GP08BlouseSeeThrough, and yfTop_GP08BodysuitVinyl now look as intended when paired with skinny jeans.

Magic… it’s magic.

I understand buying duplicates of favourite make up items, but this was excessive.

Excellent… Evil Laugh

Perfect Patio

We fixed an issue where hired Maids would often change into Swimwear and use the Hot Tub instead of completing their tasks.

I hired them to clean… honest!

Romantic Garden

Sims in the Freelance careers, including freelance photography, will no longer be able to Wish for Promotion using the Wishing Well.

Sims in Conservationist, Educator, Actor, Style Influencer, Military, Critic, Social Media, or Politician careers will now be able to Wish for a Promotion using the Wishing Well.

Sims are their own boss, so it didn’t make sense for them to do that.

Backyard

Fixed an issue in which some shirts in Create A Sim would not tuck in appropriately into skinny jeans.

yfTop_SP08BodysuitLace now looks as intended when paired with skinny jeans.

Vintage Glamour

Addressed several issues that caused the butler to fail to perform their assigned tasks.

Fixed an issue that prevented Butlers to help put Toddler Sims to Bed.

The Butler should no longer make food for themselves when they are not hungry.

Moschino

Emotional auras in photographs can now be toggled on/off.

Fixed an issue where some photos taken were a bit blurry when placed in frames in Live Mode.

Tripods placed on floors other than 1, 2, or 3, should no longer cause the camera to change floors when attempting to take a photo.

Ask to Pose interaction should no longer fail if the Sim attempts to run the interaction from the Open Street.

Sent all of our cameras to maintenance for repairs, enjoy!

#s4cc #s4mm #ts4cc #ts4mm #maxis match #thesims4 #s4 patch notes

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jettries · 4 years ago

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Jet Tries: Physical Therapy

Section 102: Your Sacral Chakra

Theme: I Feel

Acknowledging our need for connections

Chapter 2: Sexuality & Your Hips

When we have difficulty expressing or admitting our feelings, or can’t attain the pleasure we think we want, we end up holding on to unprocessed anger. We clench our legs together so no one will see our vulnerability. We feel stifled and resentful that our ideas aren’t materializing in the world the way we think they should. A lot of these feelings can be subconscious and just randomly burst out in fits of crying or destruction. Like a baby who hasn’t figured out how to get the spoon of food into their own mouth, or the square block to fit in the round hole. What you want and what is happening doesn’t match, but we’re so obsessed with the hyper-focused view of our dilemma that we can’t see the bigger picture. As we get bigger and our dilemmas become bigger than ‘why doesn’t my brand new chubby hand with tiny fingers hold this baby spoon’ or ‘why doesn’t this square peg fit in this round hole’ and they become things like ‘why doesn’t my relationship now match what my uncommunicated subconscious expectations were in the beginning’, or ‘why does my personal idea of sexuality not match what I assume other people’s expectations are of me’, etc...

These disconnected expectations leave us with unresolved shame that we don’t know how to fix, and often materialize by trying to control something else, like an obsession with possessions or money; never having what you feel is enough, and lashing out at other people that look like they have more or look like they are happy with what they have. Or feeling shame in having more than other people, but it still doesn’t make you feel like you achieved what you wanted, and it’s not making you feel happy and secure like you thought it would. These obsessions swing one of two ways: we place an overemphasis on obtaining material goods (like hoarding, followed by regret, but still not being able to let go because you don’t feel “done”), or not being able to own your own abundance (shame, self-deprecation, and sometimes intense purging or consuming yourself in caring for others to take your own focus off of yourself).

Then what am I supposed to do?

Baby steps. Think of someone or somewhere safe you can tell a tiny need. Or write it down first. Let it leave your body. Then try telling someone you know and trust a little secret you’re holding in. Odds are someone that your secret doesn’t affect won’t be surprised or care one way or the other. Which is kind of freeing. Ever noticed how it’s easier to spill your guts to a stranger, or not look people in the eye while you confess things (like at night or around a campfire or on a long walk). Find a way to let some of your secrets leave your body. Odds are someone out there feels the same way you do (hello, the internet). But just admitting that you want or need something can be really scary if you’ve been holding something in for a long time. Some people write confessions or desires on a tag inside a balloon or on a paper boat if the fear of seeing someone receive your secret is too much. Not all our secret desires are bad or evil or uncouth. But also, not all of our secret needs can or will be met. The square peg will never go in the round hole, but if you step back you can see that the world is filled with unlimited shapes and sizes of everything.

So you don’t have to tell me, or anyone, your secrets. But admitting them to yourself, allowing your body to process and release them outside yourself at least gives you the option to move to the next step and decide “Is each of these secrets something I want to hide and cling to and hold on to forever? Is this thing something I still want, or was it something I used to want and don’t care about anymore? Is it just something I think I was supposed to want? Is my desire based in reality, or just a fun story I tell myself? Is it hurting anyone or myself?” Wants, needs, desires, and sexuality are incredibly complex and interwoven and we’ll probably never untangle them all. Give yourself some room and time to mentally step back and process them without shaming yourself, and resolution will come to you. Maybe it’s time to stop hyper-focusing on one peg, let it go, and look around to see all the other options around you. Zoom out. Try something new.

Stretchy time. It’s pretty much impossible to do hip socket stretches without feeling a little ridiculous and vulnerable, but this week is all about slowly practicing becoming more comfortable with being vulnerable. So you don’t have to start out doing high-kicks in your sparkly Richard Simmons outfit down main street, but with a little practice, maybe we’ll all get there some day and not take ourselves so seriously.

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thesims4blogger · 5 years ago

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The Sims 4: New Game Patch (December 12th, 2019)

There’s a new Sims 4 PC update available via Origin.

Remove all MODS and Custom Content before updating your game

Update 12/12/2019 PC: 1.59.73.1020 / Mac: 1.59.73.1220

Hello Simmers!

Today’s update has been influenced by you as well… We set aside time to specifically address issues that you’ve let us know are important to your in-game experience, and we hope the long list of fixes and improvements you’ll find below will lead to many hours of fun playing The Sims 4. In addition, we’ve squeezed in a few un-planned extras we hope you’ll enjoy. Not only have we added some new music tracks to the game, but we’ve also converted a number of hairstyles to now also be available for children and toddlers. While the adult versions of these styles will remain exclusive to whichever pack they originally came from, we hope you’ll all enjoy these additional options for your Sim’s little ones.

While Maxis will soon be taking a short break to enjoy the holidays (merry Winterfest, and a Happy New Year!), we’ll be back for another packed year for The Sims 4 in 2020. See you then!

-SimGuruGraham, ft. SimGuruGnome

The Music The following music has been added to the alternative station:

“Nicknames” Performed by Dayglow Written by Sloan Struble Copyright Control Recording courtesy of AWAL Digital Ltd.

“4am” Performed by girl in red Written by Marie Ulven Copyright Control Recording courtesy of AWAL Recordings

“prom dress” Performed by mxmtoon Produced by Robin Skinner & mxmtoon Written by Maia M-T Published by Songtrust Music Publishing Recording courtesy of mxmtoon LLC under exclusive license to House Arrest/The Orchard By Arrangement with Bank Robber Music

“Win You Over” Performed by Whethan & Bearson feat. SOAK Written by Ethan Snoreck, Jakob Bjørn Hansen, Birdie Monds-Watson, Anthony Whiting and Emily Phillips Published by Whethan Publishing/These Are Pulse Songs (BMI) c/o Pulse Publishing Administration, Next Wave Music Publishing, Universal – PolyGram Int. Tunes, Inc. on behalf of Universal Music Publishing Ltd., Universal Music Corp. on behalf of itself and PW Arrangements, and Domino Publishing Company USA (ASCAP) Whethan appears courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp. SOAK appears courtesy of Rough Trade Records Recording courtesy of Ultra Records LLC

FIXES & UPDATES

The Sims 4

Fixed an issue where macOS Simmers could crash when accessing The Gallery.

Fixed an issue where Nice or High Quality harvestables would disappear from Sims’ inventories after Travel or Save/Load.

Fixed an issue where Freelancer Career tasks would not complete after Sims would Travel.

Sims that were seated at a 6 seat round table can now Clean up the dishes.

Child Sims will be now able to enjoy Quick Meals again!

Fixed an issue where Sims didn’t write a genre book when “Write Genre Book” was selected.

Multiple duplicate interactions should no longer appear in pie menus when you have certain objects in your inventory.

The Jet Set Luxury Bath (bathtubJetsGEN_01) was listed as being Unbreakable when that wasn’t true.