#i usually make sims instead of using real people

[sinsofsinister]

Neverwinter MMO ocs - Kal & Bel 🏹☀️     ↪  [template] by @siilverfoxs

[gwynndolin]

Screenshotting and posting myself to avoid having to subject miss punkitt to any potential resulting discourse

I think the “blame” has come down to Mojang, being a Microsoft property, and always needing to make money, must always be updating the game. And it creates a weird scenario where they must continue to add content, but have not really decided on an actual direction; the updates have become vapid and fluffy.

Vapid and fluffy would NOT usually be an issue, Minecraft has ultimately become a “pointless” game, in the same way that Animal Crossing is a “pointless" game. So content gets added with no real gameplay value, but since Minecraft has become a "pointless game", the valueless content must be defended as "Not everything needs to have a use!", which is true! But...

Minecraft's original gameplay is to exploit all of the resources around you and to use them to do Minecraft colonizing. Minecraft has contradicted its core gameplay by adding things that are not able to be exploited (no use value), or only have a promise of becoming exploitable, but ultimately get dropped when the next major update starts being worked on. No one is logging on to play Minecraft to see a sniffer, people want to do the Minecraft colonization. So the question then becomes "Why does Mojang bother with these updates that aren't with any clear intention to add onto the gameplay? Players clearly don't want this, so why continue?"

I think ultimately, the banal, directionless nature of the recent Minecraft updates is less indicative of a desire to add interesting spectacle and more of a loss of drive. I think Minecraft needs to be put to rest. Mojang needs to put a pin in it and say "We're done, this isn't what we're interested in working on any longer (ostensibly), and we feel stifled by how limiting the framework of Minecraft has become and desire to move on to different projects".

So, when you consider that survival games (or at least variations in the genre are, simulation, colony builders, farming sims, etc.) are still one of the most popular genres on Steam, I think saying "Minecraft is itself, conceptually, to blame for getting stale" is a much smaller portion of the picture; Mojang has the opportunity to keep the game interesting, they simply have not, be it poor priorities, low resources, lack of desire, lack of confidence, a limiting engine.

All that said, I know the recent snapshots have been working on reworking the NBT data system for all items in the game into something more accessible, allowing for ease of use in data packs and probably mods too. And maybe this is a hot take, but I think that this is all they should be focusing on at this point. I think if Mojang is interested at all in maintaining their (dwindling) playerbase, they should be going all in on optimizing for external player creation and allow for players to revitalize the game themselves, instead of wasting resources on trying to come up with a new flower to put in, or something.

[banamine-bananime]

just listing some of my headcanons (mostly appearance/demographics) because i like listing things and i’m procrastinating hard

caboose - 18-19 in 2552. went straight from hs graduation to basic to sim training to blood gulch. he was gonna do a program where the UNSC provides a hefty scholarship for completion of an engineering degree with a few years of service upon graduation, but got enlisted instead through a combination of paperwork being confusing for bureaucratic nonsense reasons, paperwork being confusing for deliberate predatory we-need-as-many-people-for-cannon-fodder-as-possible reasons, and him being confused by any paperwork. 6'7”, ~250 lb, very muscular and not thin but not quite chubby either, very mixed but mostly latino and arabic ethnicities, thick fluffy 3A chin-length dark brown hair that's always in his eyes, round face with cute fuzzy eyebrows and aquiline nose. him and tucker (and kinda donut and perhaps sarge) are the only motherfuckers here with a stable happy childhood. uses-no-specific-label queer cis dude.

church - we know church is 5 in blood gulch lol but it think he thought he was like 23-ish/jimmy was around that age. in jimmy's body, 5'10, ~230 lb, chubby and "normal" level of muscularity for someone who has a somewhat active job but doesn't work out much, untidy thick straight black hair that's like 2" grown-out from a buzz, face passably similar to the director if you squint but not really (e.g. shorter/squarer face, eyes hazel instead of stupidly light green). epsilon projects a similar bodytype but would probably default to a young-director-ish face if he had to make one. i think he would at some point consciously change it around if he were doing a face with any regularity. bisexual and nonbinary and will probably never fully acknowledge it but she can have some pronouns as a treat (from tex or in her own internal monologue) sometimes.

tucker - 18-19 in 2552. went straight from hs graduation to basic to sim training to blood gulch. enlisted because he was a “fuck around without any motivation or particular goals in life” kind of teenage dirtbag who was like “oh hey predatory recruiters absolutely dominating every career fair in Covenant-war-era earth. i’ve heard being in the military is very sexy and exciting and makes you a chick magnet so sure sign me up”. 5’4”, ~110 lb scrawny guy in blood gulch -> ~135 still pretty skinny but more muscular later. 4C hair with a grown-out buzz from basic in blood gulch becoming locs when it's long enough. *takes you by the shoulders very seriously* repeat after me, his eyes are BROWN. and the only acceptable other option is when they’re turning gray as in a body horror way, gray as in your body becoming something uncanny to you, gray as in the horribly blinding cold light of unfathomably vast stars lightyears away from anything you’ve ever known (read lazarus left the tomb btw. treat yourself). very handsome face in a boy-next-door-looks-very-sweet-until-he-opens-his-mouth kinda way. an only child or had like one older sibling he wasn’t very close to by the time he enlisted. i think of him as a bi cis guy but i enjoy trans hcs.

kai - 20 in 2552. 5’2”, ~200 lb, fat and top-heavy hourglass and broadset. a little muscular (it’s not immediately obvious) as she was always athletic and basic training helped, but she’s made more for endurance (body by “dancing 7 hours and walking home across town drunk and sleep-deprived”) than strength. thick upper-back-length black 2C hair that she sometimes dyes streaks in or ombre (usually brown highlights but she mixes it up). broad face and nose, big adorable eyebrows, life-endingly cute eyes and smile. alternates between no-makeup all-leg-hair realness, and full femme glam for funsies with 5 sets of fake eyelashes trying to take flight (at least three of them are inevitably going to be Just Fucking Gone by some point in the party). pansexual ipsogender intersex gal (tbh the original reason i headcanoned her having mosaic turner’s is the colorblindess [x-linked recessive traits are rarely gonna show up if you have 2 X chromsomes vs having one, so i was like, “hey her retinas could be some of her XO tissues, and with mosaicism, fertility isn’t uncommon, so it doesn’t contradict her having had abortions”] and then years later i thought about it harder and was like wait she has achromatopsia and that’s autosomal. biology nerd fail moment. but anyways she’s intersex.)

tex - her body is modelled after allison aged 33 (when she died), but bigger stronger faster idealized-by-memory-and-wanting-her-to-be-invincible-to-the-point-of-looking-more-like-she’s-on-gear-and-photoshop-than-a-natural-body. 6’2”, body looks like ~220 lb of muscle and low-body-fat (but not like, cut for bodybuilding competition level of low-body-fat), but being made largely metal, she is heavier. whereas allison was like 5’9”, 170 lb, serious-crossfit-competitor kind of build but nowhere near as built as tex. face looks very similar to allison but just… weirdly airbrushed look and looks… sharper. harsher features. more intimidating. but she’s got this crooked smile that looks kinda like a smug smirk but also like she’s not laughing at you exactly, she’s just vibing with you and the inherent comedy of the absurdity of life. but when she’s Not Smiling it's the kind of expression you start backing away from expeditiously. i think of her having shoulder-length hair she wears in a ponytail but i do love short-hair tex dearly. gnc butch gay/bi (mostly attracted to women, uses both labels) cis woman who uses any pronouns.

wash - around 31? in 2552 (would put him being recruited to pfl at about 26 which feels right for being able to slide into the Goofy Innocent Rookie role but also plausibly have achieved a pretty high non-commissioned officer rank). 5’6” -155 lb, functional muscle with a build in-between lean and stocky (“otter” as a label keeps coming to mind). i don’t have a super settled facecanon but picture him as either white or mixed white and east asian. he has not changed his bleach-blonde crewcut since he was 17 and the shock of allowing himself to change it now might kill him. gay ace trans man.

carolina - 29 in 2552 (actually the youngest among the high-ranking freelancers. she would kill (jk) to protect this secret). she did the whole 4 year military academy to commissioned officer training thing and had a couple years of normal UNSC service before unfortunately getting wrapped up in her dad’s mad science pet project. 5’8”, ~150 lb, leanly muscular. i think of her having natural red hair she dyes bright red but i love a black-haired carolina too. we’ve seen her face. straight trans woman (transitioned as a preteen). i know, i wanted her to be in the wlw club, too. unfortunately every time i try shipping her with a woman she’s like “meh. thinking about my weird khaki man.” and i’m like oh. sorry about that affliction.

sarge - 62 (?) in 2552. 5’6”, ~200 lb, stocky and solidly muscular barrel-chested slight-beer-gut old dude. chinese-american. if you somehow catch him without his helmet he’s got wraparound reflective shades so good luck ever seeing his face (he’ll tell you it’s classified). another eternal crewcut guy but his is shorter than wash’s. bi and definitely a robofucker tbh. he is cis or trans depending on what’s funnier in any given circumstance.

grif - 24 in 2552. worked in honolulu a couple years after hs graduation until kai was old enough (17) he felt he could leave. did a year at university before realizing he’s smart enough to be admitted to cornell but not to get the scholarship he realistically needs to not be in crushing debt on graduation and also there’s not nearly enough regimentation to college life to prevent him from rotting in bed paralyzed by Problems. went through basic and stationed on the doomed outpost. that Whole Thing happened and he was reassigned to sim troopers. 5’8”, ~300 lb, fat and a little bit strong against his will from an involuntarily active job (he has valiantly resisted picking up cardiovascular conditioning. he works very hard on unfitness). he’s kinda cute in a “hasn’t washed his face in 5 days and his peachfuzz/stubble patches combo is very uneven but you caught him smiling for 2 seconds and oh no it was VERY charming” way. thick 2C dark-brown hair that’s a few inches long, wears it longer later. gay trans guy (because his little sister is named “younger sibling of the same gender” so like… also lmfao how unfortunate for kai that her name, which she did not choose, misgenders her big brother. like 😭 god it is very on the grif siblings brand of “hello so the circumstances we have been put in mean that my existence [kai]/how i have to leave you here to protect my own sanity [grif] is actively making your life much harder. i am ashamed of this, let us never communicate about it ever. i love you so much.”)

simmons - 23 in 2552. tried to do university several times and had to drop out for mental health reasons (a very polite way of putting “rapid spiral into absolute disaster every time”. it leaves room for giving him the benefit of the doubt that this was a proactive “ah i should take care of myself and this is not working for me :) #selfcare #therapy” decision. this is not benefit of the doubt that anyone who knows him would extend.). I go back and forth on whether to roll with the “suspiciously specific denial of being in a unit that was stranded and had to eat their dog to survive” thing or just say he was assigned straight to sim troopers. 5’11”, ~160 lb, wirey build and has to be standing at attention or else he holds himself so awkwardly. i pretty much go with the Standard Ginger Simmons Fanon Face but light brown hair also feels right and i think his hair should be very short. i really like when people draw his prosthetics very industrial/bare mechanical frame not trying to imitate biological form, just whatever’s functional. Red circle eye, hell yeah. bi and i used to firmly believe “this guy has to be cis because there is NO WAY he would have the hutzpah and willingness to put self-authenticity over doing what he’s Supposed To Do. we’ve seen how he deals with anxiety. he would just be white-knuckling his way through dysphoria to this day” HOWEVER i have really come around to trans simmons

donut - 19-20 in 2552. i see him taking a gap year or two to work on the farm and think about what he wants to do with his life (not productively introspecting on his deeper desires in life and what would allow him to fulfill them, god no, of course not. daydreaming unrealistically. obviously.) before enlisting. i think his upbringing was fairly happy but kinda weird and a bit insular within a small community of some Beliefs and possibly homeschooled. not like exactly Fundie Christian America as you might assume with that background; american subcultures have changed enough over 500 years that this is one of many totally unrecognizable to us. like it has some roots in Fundie Christianity and homesteading-from-a-weird-reactionary-tradfamily-can’t-trust-the-gubernment-place and some in Hippie-dippiness Spirituality, not-actually-a-cult-but-sometimes-you’ll-hear-him-say-things-he-thinks-are-normal-and-you’re-like-ummmmmmmm. (Idek how that headcanon started. i think i was just like so how DO you build a guy like donut). he’s 5’10”, ~185 lb, sturdy build, i don’t think people would consider him chubby but definitely not thin. his face and hair looks like he should be on a 1960s white america boyscouts poster but like, goofy about it. i think of him being mostly white but some latino heritage he’s curious about but was not raised connected to (hence wanting to learn spanish). acearospec and gay (he’s like…. mostly asexual and aromantic but it’s complicated. he is barely aware of being gay let alone ace or aro. he just fully makes up what he thinks sexual attraction and romance are and assigns it to random feelings/experiences). cis dude or nonbinary.

[yuu-mao]

Slaps Lyney: this boy can fit so many issues

I feel like the fandom has already started the Lyney flanderization, and that's ok and all, it's just the way fandom works, but I'm obsessed with this guy and about to make it everyone else problem

(Disclaimer it has been not long since Lyney has come out I'm connecting the points yet. I will probably look at this in a year and want to strange myself. I just wanna talk about the boy)

The first and biggest misscharacterization I keep seeing is people believing he is so flirty and charming around Traveler because he has a crush. And I mean probably this is Genshin "date sim" Impact we are talking about, but that's not all of it

Lyney is a extremely guarded and fake person. He projects a version of himself that doesn't actually exists, because he feels like he has to be charming, he needs to be. If people don't like him, if he doesn't make himself a part of their lives, then they will leave him, ignore him, and he can't take that

(From his character stories)

He also seems to hate being an inconvenient with a passion. Instead of asking for help or just talking about his feelings, he masks. He acts like his flirty, confident self and acts very hard

And this goes back to the flirting and the spectacle. I think he genuinely enjoys it, and it's something that he does by choice. But. I think it's also like 75% part of his facade

It's mentioned multiple times, by his sister or by himself, that he is actually not that outgoing of a person. He actually seems to almost completely drop it when he is serious. I genuinely believe he is a pretty insecure person. He just can't let that show, because that's against what people expect from him, so he lies. Or just avoids saying anything. Not even his siblings are safe from that, or at least from him trying to

So, to put it into perspective, Traveler is someone who Lyney wanted to be friends with. He went there, and everything was going amazingly. He probably was acting even less guarded than usual!And then someone dies.

Now, all this trust he cares about so much he had been building with the traveler is gone. Now, his little white lies have been discovered. His tower of lies have been struck by the God of Justice like the Babel tower, and now he has to live the consequences of almost reaching heaven

You have to understand, if there's something Lyney seems to care about, its loyalty. He cares so, so much for his "family", and for as little as he knew the Traveler, you were his friend. So he feels guilty, and desperate, and he just wants you to understand him and not leave him. To not look at his real self and find it lacking

So he tells you a truth. He starts waxing poetry about his (honestly disturbing) backstory, and how he came to be the person he is now, how no matter how much he lies and how much he acts in behalf of the House, he is honest to his own ideals. He wants you to understand

And after the Traveler (understandable reaction I love Lyney a lot but this was honestly just in character for they considering he has outed himself as a lying liar) cold and ambiguous reaction, the story quest comes

Honestly its difficult to understand where exactly they stand to each other during it thanks to the Traveler usual silence, but it seems like it's still kinda awkward. Actually, Lyney starts the story quest just lying to our face about the Weasel Thief. But he seems like he wants us to follow him in this deeply personal quest for revenge

He wants us, in a way, to see through his deflections and see his truth

So, when the final act comes, and is time to pay the debt, he wants us as his witnesses. He wants us to see something deeply personal, a side of himself he just doesn't show. This isn't charismatic and flirty Lyney, this is the Lyney that will go to unimaginable lengths for the people he cares about, the Lyney that lies and is cold at times and say things like "Your freedom will cost you dearly. From now on, you'll be all alone in a world full of lies and falsehoods. I do hope you'll be able to bear it — you've still got a long life ahead of you, after all.". A part of him that's also part of his whole

But that's also not all. He is also capable of good things, of miracles, of giving people joy. And that's what he does right after. He cherished the people he cared about, and made people happy on their behalf, and that's as much part of his truth. He may be a liar, but he can use that to entertain, to help, to protect. And that's what we see right after

In the cementery, right after explaining everything to you, he has to be incredibly raw and vulnerable. So the last side of him shows. Might be a lie, a mask, but that mask is the one he wears and therefore as important

Honestly this started as an attempt to a character study and ended as a absolute mess of a too long ramble. So without any last words or flair, I will have to end here

[sunspire-knight]

INFODUMPING TIME I GUESS

yes, i'm collecting headcanons about the character who has been my special interest for 4 dumb years now, dojt judge–

Marcurio my beloved, but it's real world AU, I'M GONNA START

First of all, I think that Norway can be an analogue of Skyrim, there is no some strong logical reason for this, I just like the idea and also I headcanon my own Dragonborn as Norwegian in this AU (actually any Nordic country can be used) (Zendar is half Norwegian half Spanish actually because in game he's half Nord half Redguard so it's how it is)

Secondly, I prefer to always keep the characters' canonical names, so I suppose Marcurio is his full name, but he usually goes by 'Marc' (he would say, 'cause people are too dumb to remember my full name, so they can call me Marc, but God forbid they write or type my name as 'Mark' with the K instead of C')

I think he could have had a historical education; he could have worked in a library, archives (yes, i'm comparing him with Jon Sims in my mind, you got me, I love charismatic black haired man who are mess and gay), museum (by anyone except a tour guide, because "yew, talking to people"), at a university, etc

Meeting the Dragonborn in the bar while drinking wine and smoking a cigarette sounds hot

No magic in real AUs, so his power is autism /srs, I mean I've already written a whole post dedicated to my headcanon that Marcurio is neurodivergent, I still believe it and I'll fight for this opinion /hj

HE HAS A CAT!! a tortie cat!!!

His relationship with the Dragonborn is the black cat boyfriend + golden retriever boyfriend kind of relationship (Marc is the black cat bf lmao)

I believe he could've enjoyed wearing dresses or long skirts– I dunno it's like magic robes kinda look like a dress or a skirt, so yeah– also it's actually really comfortable for him, because I got the impression from the game that he is quite a sensitive person to everything–

Continuing the previous point, his appearance is still quite masculine, but rather still more androgynous

I run out of my own memory about headcanons of him so I'll finish this post later I guess (maybe I will, maybe I won't)

he's a baby boy I'm not the one who makes rules

[nursesimblr]

Sul Sul!

ATTENTION: This is part two, if you would like to know a little more about general rules, which include how to set up the game before starting the challenge, holidays celebrated in SimNation, Sims lifespan, naming convention, rotations, marriage, aging and how to adopt a child, please click here and enjoy!

WHIMS-BASED SYSTEM

In this part, we're going to talk a little bit about the "whims-based gameplay" system I'm using. I noticed that after a while on the same save, it tends to be quite tedious, and maybe, just maybe, that was why I didn't continue the challenge when I tried it a few times. The thing is:

In real life, some people are not ambitious. Some people never become rich. Some people never get promoted, and some people even get fired from their jobs for poor performance. As The Sims is a life simulator, I want it to mirror real life in this way too. That's how I found out (thanks to @pleasantsims) playing whims-based adds an extra challenge that makes the game more fun and dramatic. But what is this system?

HOW TO PLAY WITH WHIMS-BASED SYSTEM

Instead of making my Sims do things, I let them choose their own paths in life. So basically, I'll fulfill whims for my Sims as I can, allowing them to pursue their interests, have fun, buy new things, have children, etc.

If Sims need to have fun, for example, I look at their whims and see if they want to do anything that would give them fun. If they need to talk, I look at their whims and see if they want to do something with a specific person. If they're currently just sitting around the house, I'll look at their whims and see if they want to go any specific place (like a park, museum or tavern).

CAREER WHIMS

Since the challenge won't survive without a Mayor/King, and this is the only career unlocked from the start, I need to make tough decisions early on. I usually play for a few days with all the sims (on my current save, all winter) in hopes that someone will get the whims to have a job. In that case, that sim automatically becomes my mayor/king. If not, I choose one. I have my Sims join a career in four instances:

1- They roll the whim to start a certain career (thanks to The Personality Mod).

2 - They roll the whim to start a new job.

In case two, when Sims don’t roll the whim for a specific career, I use their aspirations as a guide. If they don’t have an aspiration that corresponds to a certain career, I look at their traits. A creative Sim may go into the artist career, a foodie into the culinary career, etc. If their traits are no help, I roll to randomly choose. If a Sim gets a whim for a promotion at work, I lock in that whim and have them work on whatever they need to get the promotion. 

DATES AND GOALED EVENTS

When you play whims-based, you can make them more challenging by only completing a task if your Sim has a whim for it. I find it really fun, especially on dates, if your Sim has a whim to flirt – direct them to flirt. If they don't, then don't. This way, the date may not work out.

This gives more autonomy to your Sims when they're on dates. If they aren't really into the other Sim, maybe they won't want to continually flirt with them. Or maybe they just want to take it slow. So yeah, I allow my Sims to fail – at relationships, at their career, at college, and just at life. I don't like all my Sims to reach the top of their careers and get super rich. That's just not fun to me.

By following their whims, you let them make the decision to progress in their careers or work on skills. Some Sims will have NO interest in learning new things or improving their skills. Instead, they'll stay at the bottom of their career ladder and remain poor.

See you in PART THREE 

[nocturnalazure]

Yet again an explanatory note

Thank you everyone for your engagement in the latest posts!

I thought I'd make a sort of group reply instead of responding to each comment individually. Apologies for that, last week was a rough week on the personal level and I'm still physically and mentally exhausted.

Tagging all the kind commenters: @dandylion240, @solori, @nornities, @bool-prop, @anamoon63, @hazely-sims, @wannabecatwriter, @danjaley

I'm very glad that the latest update has set off so many reactions from you, that's the best I could wish for as an author! That being said, I realize that there is room for improvement in my writing and thanks to you and your thoughtful and inspiring feedback, I can aspire to gradually get better.

It is fully my intention to dive deeper into Laurie's psyche as the story unfolds, and I have scenes coming up that I hope will make his perspective slightly clearer to you readers. I understand that he may come across as a tad too "mysterious" or detached, and therefore, it can be difficult to know what he's thinking. I may have considered some things as obvious and self-explanatory, but no one is in my head and if I had been a little bit more to the point, that could have made a real difference for my readers' experience.

My point is as follows: Laurie is a (very) young mob boss, in a lonely position and with heavy responsibilities to carry out by himself. And although I make him act like an adult most of the time, he's still a kid at heart. He doesn't know his own mind and he's scared. Not only for him, but also for Erik, who has always been the only person he knew he could trust. Even if he made sure to surround himself with people who make up a sort of protective cover between him and the world (like Romeo and Omar), he never fully trusts any of them. In other words, sending Erik away means sending away the only person he knows would never betray him, and it leaves him exposed to danger and even more loneliness. But he also does it to protect Erik: with Erik's usual recklessness and commitment to him, and a potential full-on war with the Hei clan coming their way, Laurie tries to keep Erik away from the fire. The moment things got intimate between them, the aftermath was bound to be awkward. This is here my own opinion, but I do believe that physical distance between them is the right choice for their specific situation. Laurie pushes Erik into another relationship, because he believes, rightly or wrongly, that theirs is a dead-end. Yes, that is manipulative, but that's the thing with power: you have it so you use it. Why does he think it wouldn't work out with Erik? Because Laurie is an overthinker. He immediately sees all the possible implications and consequences, and because his personal life is something he can control, he intends to keep it as controlled as possible. As dry and loveless as possible, I should say, because as Romeo so justly pointed out, Laurie punishes himself: he believes his right to happiness is a very secondary priority since his whole family is gone and he has the burden of their legacy to carry. To be honest, fear also plays a big part (like when he panicked and repeatedly asked Erik for clarifications when what Erik meant was painfully obvious) but then again... he's just a boy who got scared and rushed into making a decision, all the while convincing himself he was being rational.

No, Erik will not turn away from Laurie. That would be terribly out-of-character for him. Of course he will remain loyal and faithful, and he will obey his boss' orders because that is their roles and that is the code that rules their life. But he is obviously very unhappy and anxious because he knows fully well that Laurie is vulnerable without him. However, I would also like to remind you that Erik accepted Laurie's terms that night and the morning after, saying that one night would be enough for him. But Erik being Erik... he had a hard time hiding his feelings. His defensiveness and general behavior didn't make things easier.

Kissing Erik one more time was a selfish move, Laurie said it himself, but knowing what he had to do, he couldn't help himself. I hope you will forgive Laurie for straying from logic with that kiss and for the decision he felt he had to make, because believe me: he will have a lot on his plate in the next updates.

I would also like to add that Erik's departure is not with immediate effect: I have planned more scenes in which Laurie and Erik will have to interact again. Just like Gloria won't be gone overnight either...

I'm sorry, I should have made all of this clearer from the start. I would really like to avoid Laurie becoming a character that annoys you or disgusts you. Morally grey characters fascinate me but when I have to actually write them, I find it really hard to strike the right balance. I admire authors who manage making their readers cheer for flawed characters who do bad things and yet are likable. I will strive to achieve that and improve my writing, so please keep on helping me become a better writer!

I will take a break for now, I have not managed to shoot new scenes and I probably won't have time to do so until after Christmas.

Wishing you a merry Christmas in advance,

With love,

Noctie

[the-missann]

Honestly, I was talking to my brother and got another idea for a game. Especially after Princess Peach Showtime.

I'll preface this by saying PPS is the perfect game for girls and women imo. Female main character, outfit changes, aesthetic color scheme--everything about the game gave me nostalgia and it isn't even out! I'll be looking forward to playing it (if I have the money 😷) because it makes me actually feel like a female without the color pink as the only color or horrible gameplay attached to it.

But it's sad as hell that it takes so long for something like this to come out. I got Super Princess Peach a few years after it came out and as a little girl, that was the most enjoyment I got out of a game that didn't have hot male characters keeping my attention.

Obviously, the main issue is men game developers. I'm not gonna be all "video games are men's fantasies and bla bla" I don't care because all I want is for some games to be a woman's fantasy ☺

If I knew a female game developer, I would help her in a heartbeat to make a game that actually caters to what women look for in games. Men can keep Cammy being literally butt naked if I also can get Lee Chalon in more swimwear 😌.

I understand the sentiment of girl gamers and that if games didn't have "heterosexual man juice" sprayed all over it, things would be better for us; but it's not gonna change and I wouldn't want it to because I grew up with games that had big breasted women and useless damsels I had to save, and I love some of those games *cough*DMC*cough*. I just want there to be more on both ends of the spectrum.

So, honestly, that's my TED talk, but I at least wanted to show the kinds of ideas we could be getting alongside our usual games.

~Read on if your interested~

Speaking of usual, where is the Huniepop with male characters 😤

Like, do people not realize that a game full of hot dudes with the main point being to engage sexually with them would be the first thing I'll throw $20 at?

Anyways 😀

My first real idea is a collectathon for house items, clothes/outfits, and other accesories.

Imagine Mario Oddessy, but just with the clothes. Instead of collecting the moons, you'd collect various items of clothing you could dress your character up in. A sofa for the house you live in or an accessory to style an outfit with.

I think, just maybe, there's a correlation with Animal Crossing and The Sims being popular with a female audience.

Personally, I don't like the current climate of ignoring a woman's natural interest in fashion and things that look good. I get that it's a stereotype, but all stereotypes are based in reality.

It's bad that girls are being shunned away from wearing a pretty outfit just because that's seen as "girly", but guys are "cool" when they have a good fit and even get praised if they "break gender roles" [insert sigh here]. I even think about how much this would help trans girls to discovery themselves more.

And it doesn't have to be something stereotypically female either. I'd never wear a skirt or dress, but you best believe if a flowy jacket or cute sweater came my way, I'm wearing that shit and I'd love to play games that allowed it, if they weren't unplayable and unbearable.

I usually hate platformers, but I'd love one if my objective was to get clothes and other designing items for a house or my character.

Next Idea

Obviously, VNs are usually the games associated with women, but I'd enjoy one that had gameplay on the side. You know, scratch the itch that Obey me! just doesn't.

Obey Me! Is perfect having guys who are likable without forcing random female hate as "conflicts". However, there's nothing to the gameplay so I'm usually pretty bored after a while.

And even if there is some kind of gameplay, you usually are forced to be romantic and there's no platonic options. Like, I was reading a post by Hamilton Hour and a review said exactly how I feel, they said this:

A lot of the time, I feel like romance games often push you into pursuing a relationship with someone, and when you don’t, the character will get sad and then you feel awful about it.

Original Post here

And no truer words have been spoken!

Seriously, what is with games doing that? Why not give us more content in the game and make all three if you want. Like Stardew Valley, there's options to be an asshole, to be platonic and options to be weird/overtly romantic. It makes it interesting to replay the game and see different choices.

I got off track though, back to the VNs with no gameplay. I really mean for there to be more romance oriented VNs with male characters that have gameplay. Like, Phoenix Wright, Danganropa, or Professor Layton but with romance lol.

I say this because there's tons of dating sims where the primary objective is to date women and they're always super good. Again, if anyone needs help I'd be willing to work on creating a story. Just ask.

Next idea

This isn't really an idea, but just something I wanted to say.

I super want more fighting games with male options that don't look like they were made for no one to love. I just think it's so convenient that female characters who are made to be "unattractive" are still the prettiest things on the planet.

Also, has anyone ever noticed that male characters in fighting games that are attractive are always married or devoted to another? However, most women aren't. Like Mortal Kombat for example. Now, I don't play this franchise so I could be wrong, but I have seen it and try and keep with the latest releases.

And I just happened to notice that the human characters who are male are usually married or dating someone.

On the opposite end, females in Mortal Kombat are either widowed, single with someone who has just a crush on them, or so butch they don't care for romantic relationships.

You can't be more blatant than that.

Street Fighter takes the design approach to turn away women. Seriously, name one male character from SF who's traditionally attractive then name a female, I guarantee you, you'll run out of men.

Then there's Tekken, my favorite.

Tekken is my fav for that very reason. There's a wide range of characters who have no romantic involvement, but they look human and *gasp* they're attractive?? What kind of sorcery...

Lee Chaolan

Hwoarang

Jin

Leo (ik they're essentially non-binary, but all that means is both get a victory)

Shaheen

Miguel

Hell even Paula and Law fit this imo.

And my personal fav, ❤ Dragunov ❤

I know he doesn't (sometimes) fit the traditionally attractive group, but bro have you seen some of his renders?

Idk I just find him pretty

Bite me any day sir *rawr xD*

Yeah he's 27, and looks about 40, but someone likes that irl (aka me) and I ain't special. So I know others would probably appreciate the older looking gentlemen type and not just the baby faced hottie (dilf come on).

Any-fucking-way

Next Idea

The last thing is more related to writing than an actual game idea.

You know how in Zelda you're saving... Zelda?

Well, why the hell isn't there a game where I'm saving Link (and no, the CDi games DO NOT count).

I mean in general, I'd love a game where you play as a heroine and you're saving a male character. Don't even get me started on the many ways that could work.

A god is wounded and it's up to her to save him

A prince is captured while on enemy lines, no one else is capable of infiltrating but her.

Needing a vessel, your childhood friend's body is snatched

Afflicted by a curse, she knows where to find the remedy

Like come on, is it that hard to make a male in need? No it's not, dudes are human too and sometimes they need help. Enough with this solo shit, if men could be alone than why the hell do they all want girlfriends or need wives make it make sense

All this is to say, female coders, developers, writers, we need ya'll 🗣🔊

And as I've said throughout this, I would not be opposed to helping someone create the story of a game they're developing.

Thanks for reading, if you got to this point, be sure to take care of your self, drink some water if you haven't or get some sleep if it's late 🍂

~Buh-bye now~

[fairy-made]

I was wondering how people get back into the sims 2 because I can’t really do that without having all the mods I had as a kid. I re-tried modding it again as an adult but lost all that progress when my other pc went kaput.

but I just happened to get on the sims 2 reddit (r/sims2) and people are... just playing the existing families in the neighborhoods????? in a vanilla game?? queue wonder and amazement.

I literally have not done that since I initially started playing ts2. I used to have favorite sims like kaylynn langerak, brandi broke, bella goth (obviously), julia capp, olive spectre and ophelia nigmos (which, what the fuck was up with that last name?????) . I miss knowing they are thriving :’)

so I can also start playing with sims I didnt play with as much. like the beaker family in strangetown. they scared tf outta me, bc of nervous subject. like was he just there to be tortured?? was it against his will? idk but as a kid I moved him out immediately, never played that family, and gave him a real name. at least now if I feel like theyre evil I can make them suffer from some sort of karmic retribution lmao

anyway Ive been playing the sims so long that I forgot you usually play some of the existing families instead of just jumping in headfirst with custom ones lol

[alexplayssimsnstuff]

Questions, thoughts on a lot of Sims' backstories or character traits in 4 being changed? Like Nina & Dina Caliente's personalities having been swapped? Or their new mom? Or the fact that none of the character's pre-set relationships match their household bios? And have you seen/thoughts on MatPat's recent (2 month old now) Bella theory?

All good questions, and you deserve a response.

I don't know who Katrina Caliente think she is but like--I have a headcanon that in that AU, she's like, Flamenco's second wife or something and not supposed to be Nighat Caliente. Fun fact, you can't name a sim Nighat and put it on the gallery. I understand the flag that may result from that name--but Nighat is A REAL NAME. I hate it. If I have a save file where I focus on the pre-mades, I delete her every time. If not, she usually marries Marcus Flex and that's that. As far as the relationships go--just plain laziness on the devs' ends. In 2, you could tell that people actually played around a little bit before they shipped the final product out and spent some time in game. In 4, they literally just built them, put them in houses, made up some crap, and shipped it out. Three's the same way, but at least it has a slightly played with feeling to it instead of dropping them flat on the lot and never playing with it. I think the Dina/Nina personality situation is equal parts lazy devs/difference of interpretation on who the characters are. I've been playing a lot of 2 lately, and Dina actually makes for a great mother and friend when she needs to, but she's still a heartless golddigging betty (I love that for her) and Nina has her mean streak, but has a heart of gold.

As far as MatPat goes--I've seen it. Boy, I've seen it. And I wanted to make a post about it, but honestly? I didn't because I was just more annoyed than anything and I didn't want to come off as--I guess off my rocker is the best phrase for it? I was really upset. Back in my late teens, I used to watch his minecraft theory videos almost religiously, and still use those theories in my gameplay today. But the fact that I spent a whole entire six months on something during a highly stressful, dangerous period of my life and then published it in a point in my life where I didn't know where tomorrow would take me so YEAH, it's gonna have issues, and then Mattyboy comes along two years later, shits on it, and then spits out some half-baked crap that you can tell, he has very little, if any experience with the Sims and absolutely no love for it? The Bella Goth thing was something I've been personally invested in since I was six years old and then he comes in and corporate memes on it in a rush job. It's frustrating to say the least, and uhhhh I hadn't watched his videos in a long time but I actually unsubscribed from him because of it lol.

That's okay, I'm actually trying to teach myself how to use Premiere Pro so I can take this all to Youtube and brush up on some things that need brushing up.

[wildcards1407]

Travel Documents 125: Real Sugar Is Hard To Find

by Sim Kern

Genre:  sci-fi, fantasy, near-future, social change, cultural change, anthology

The Dust Cover Copy

Real Sugar is Hard to Find is a collection of stories for reluctant witches, sugar smugglers, and soil thieves exploring the intersections of deep-rooted and timely issues such as climate change, reproductive justice, queer identities, and family trauma. Whether fantasy, science fiction, or terrifyingly close-to-home, the worlds of these stories are inhabited by flawed characters whose lives are profoundly impacted by climate change and environmental degradation. Arranged in a progression from dystopian to utopian worlds, the stories chart a path from climate despair towards resilience and revolutionary optimism. Even in the bleakest of futures, however, Kern offers reasons to hope, connect, and keep fighting for a better world. Like Kelly Link’s Magic for Beginners or Karen Russell’s Vampires in the Lemon Grove, Kern's stories are unflinching, intimate explorations of trauma and our deepest fears, rendered irresistible through the infusion of fantastic speculative elements and a dark sense of humor.

The Scene

Worldbuilding

Wow. I have to say it once in this review. Just…wow. Talk about world building? In eleven short stories—none more than a handful of pages—this slim volume takes readers through eleven weird, wonderful, gut-wrenching, heart-breaking and truth-telling worlds. Some stories make your soul soar. Some make your blood boil. Every one of them tells you something you need to know. Even the simplest story, the lessons we learn about what is a good home and what is not by watching nature, tells us something profound about love, perseverance, and personal dignity. When to say ‘I can keep going’, and when to say ‘no, you don’t treat me like this. Enough.’

As usual, my rule on anthologies is to touch lightly, focusing on the overall ability instead of diving deep into specific story setups. I’m not going to make you read a treatise, and I’ll write one if I get started. But the world building here is stellar. Some stories warn us about where we’re headed if we don’t think this through, like The Propagator. That one sent shivers all over me and made me grind my teeth. Others show us that even when things suck, there’s the possibility of incredible things, as in The Lost Roads. And in between are all kinds of stories of getting weird, getting hurt, getting better, and just plain getting through. Though there’s a lot of snark, gallows humor and side-eyeing of the status quo on the surface of these tales, through them all runs an incredible thread of—dare I say it—triumph. These tales tell the reader ‘yeah, you know what? It does suck. And maybe it’ll still suck tomorrow. But the day after? Who knows. Maybe it’ll even be good. You ready to work for that?”

Trigger warning: there is a lot in this work that can bring up old pain if you’ve had it rough. The book will give you that warning up front. But heads up: it’s worth the trip.

The Crowd

Characterization

These characters have really stuck with me, so much so that I’ve done a second read of this little work. Some, as in the cast of What Can’t Be Undone, partake of the parable and folklore tradition of storytelling and aren’t meant to be fleshed out people as much as symbols. Some have all the depths of the ocean written into their personalities. Whether it’s the teen exasperation and raw yearning for a less embarrassing parent and a more fulfilling life showcased in Peter of the titular short, the still and quiet anger flaming in Mary of The Propagator, or the wonderful exploration of angst and empathy in Dr. Goldstein of The End Of The Nuclear Era, each character is worth meeting.

Writing Style

My only niggle with Kern’s work is that, at times, the narrative concepts and their imagery get loose and take off running. They’re gorgeous, but the reader gets left in the bewildering dust. This is particularly true in the more experimental stories like Unwhole. But as complaints go, it’s minor. As a reader, I was most entranced when the author delved deep into the human experience and drew out things that are so real they hurt, then showed them to you in a voice like the kid on the bus telling you how they got the bruise. And when we’re told, in the same matter of fact voice, what a different kind of future could look like, we can really believe in it.

The Moves

Plot

Each story runs like a good punk rock album. It starts strong, hits its middle loud, and leaves you with something to think about later.

Overall Rating

Read every story. Don’t flinch. Don’t look away. Do that, and you’ll be glad you did.

[little-pisces-dreaming]

Ashley Manor

Ashley Manor welcomes into its hallowed halls thrill seekers and connoisseurs of the occult. Enjoy our historical and ghost tours, or, perhaps, dare you test your wits against the dead wandering our grounds? Stay with us awhile, or forever.

So this is my first go at dungeon master-ing. A fun little idea that I had - a historic haunted house attraction that's actually a historic haunted house. I've been drawn to campaigns and one shots with darker or horror elements and so wanted to try my hand at those. I think that's partly because I've so enjoyed the role playing element of the game and I feel like those elements are really suited to encouraging role play. But I also wanted a little bit of that Call of Cthulhu vibe. And unfortunately the horror has been leaking out of it since then. I don't mind though. There's an edge of mystery which is something new for me and I do have a one shot that's pretty firmly adventure/horror on the backburner.

My players will be arriving at Ashley Manor for either the historical tour or the halloween attraction ghost tour through the manor, replete with tacky smoke machines and fake cobwebs, and actors. An attraction is a good place for luring people who live farther afield and no one much notices if the person driving a car out of the parking lot is the same who drove it in. Which is exactly what a petty, spurned cellar vampire with delusions of grandeur is counting on.

I respect that our usual DM doesn't want to deal with the headache of a split party but I am big on bad ideas. There's the house proper which I really hope someone chooses to go into because I have all sorts of fun things in there, like a rug of smothering, and trap doors down to the cellar lair. And up in the attic is where a hollow one has secretly taken residence. But I do also hope someone wants to go on the historical tour where some of the vampire effects are more obvious. There's a big ass lake and a forest with a tunnel to the cellar where some unfortunate out-of-towners will be dumped at some point in the night. Maybe also a player.

I thought I'd try and make the manor in the Sims but that went so tits up. I grabbed a blueprint for a shopping mall instead. Since the session was postponed, mostly I'm just tinkering about with what spells and which monsters to use where now. There should be a little hint or object in every room to help piece the mystery together or defend against the baddies which has also been real fun. I loved the insanity rolls, I think they were called. I've got myself some tokens to hand out and I'm really, really looking forward to using them.

[gaia-mix-nicolosi]

I call myself in the Doctor Who fandom but...

I don't really watch it either!

I just vibe with certain characters

Mostly the Fivey era!

…well really mostly Nyssa and Luvic. I ship them, although it's a bit of a crackship. They used to live together (not just the two of them, but alongside older people), but plot happened.

Last episode I watches was "Cold War", 10 days ago! Sometimes I try to watch Doctor Who more often, but usually I just can't be half-kupod watching them.

It's just… I joined the Doctor Who fandom accidentally, even before actually watching the show. I only ended up watching the show because I was already doing stuff that related to it.

So basically I had this version of Fivey era Who that I vibed with in my head, and I still prefer it a lot to the actual show. Those characters, have a whole different life in my head.

…basically they're OCs with the same look, name, and basic personality\vibes to the actual characters, but they do reference the actual characters and seem to have the same backstory. But, when I make proper OCs, I almost never seem to keep them. I need a base. And in the case of my version of the Fivey era, the usual Fivey fandom and vibes is my base.

Also, usually when I just… know a whole lot about something, I stop getting interested in them, so I propably soon will have a completely different fandom, like completely different characters from a completely different genre, bc I need new stuff and can't stay in the same fandom.

And usually I'm just… not interested in real life stuff, just wacky fandoms. My only fandom that was something real life was, the Caucasus region. I have no IRL connection to the Caucasus, and it mostly consisted in giving my OCs vaguely Caucasus-themed names, I was just very curious about it, and I thought I needed to run from thoughts about a specific sims 3 sim.

It turned out it was'nt about said sims 3 sim at all, it was just my primary needs and that I need to ask for help, so I did. And I need to understand more what I actually want to do in life, I can't just click on stuff and get curious.

And it was'nt even me bringing said sims 3 sim into the flay, but instead it was my former angersitter Ari, who needed a sort of villain for one of my OCverses.

But it is not actually a thing of what I want to do in life, It's more of, I need to figure out a job to help people. Not a specific fandom.

In fact, even my newest OCs have no lore and their story name is more of their friend group name!

[josie69am]

About to be a bit of an advanced hater but here goes

I wish they'd just release the sonic dating sim normally instead of as a joke. Is the joke the fact that it is a dating sim/vn?

April fool's in the US is always a little off to me cause I don't write stuff off as a category like all vn stupid or puzzle game stupid (also hmm I wonder why the entire game categories that are associated with femme player bases are usually socially written off as not real games) It's especially annoying with food sometimes cause people are so adverse to anything slightly out of the USA white norm of food that like sometimes the joke item is just.. a food that exists somewhere else and people are like only willing to entertain something slightly different as a joke. Isn't it exhausting to only let oneself enjoy something different or experimental in this context

But it's also seemingly the one time a lot of white Americans are allowed to give themselves and others space. often times I stg people are just being perfomative about how something is bad or gross and then everyone else being perfomative about it reinforces to everyone doing that that it is without trying it. But it's like seemingly only under these circumstances people are open to trying something slightly out of their comfort zone without writing it off as having no value or stupid inherently because of the category of product it falls under and distance from white American "normal"

Let yourself like stuff aren't you exhausted by feigning outrage every time and only allowing this time of year to be the only time to try things outside of the norm... This is a prison of one's own making

Also if this doesn't apply to you cool, but there are people who are like this and I think they'd be happier because they would have more things they enjoy at the end of the day if they didn't write off entire categories of things. Those categories of "thing that is bad" are often incredibly different from each other like back to games for example I would t just recommend any vn id need to know what kinda shit youre into before doing that.

[mariolandavid]

Seoul pt 1

Incheon Airport was mega. There's a Mag Lev train for Christ's sake. Even having a doctor shove 10cm of covid test straight into my brain didn't dim my childish amazement at the FLYING MAGNET TRAIN as you clear security and check in. Picking up our sims we got... the boring train instead (it was faster). I delved into CU later's INCREDIBLE weird snack selection and off we went to the L7 in Myeongdong.

A small note, having a Korean number is SUPER important for things like taxis, maps, tickets, covid results etc... just get one.

The L7 is a pretty trendy place. It's inexplicably yellow. Like wandering into a beehive. This seems a deliberate choice, but there's room for doubt that maybe someone just liked yellow a lot but there's no real theme to the chaos energy. There is one elevator servicing the laundry room, which is thus, the busiest elevator in the building, but also the one nearest the entryway and therefore the one that every staff member puts all guests into as they arrive. This lift therefore poses an enormous fire risk, logistical blockade on the building and could be replaced by a climbing wall and most guests would reach their destination faster.

The hotel staff soon fell for our charming recent engagement story (suckers) and upgraded us to a better room complete with.... a window! As modern city hotels in vibey districts go. This place was a bit of us and had laundry, comfy beds, good toiletries and an awesome location. It comes recommend unless you don't like the colour yellow in which case I would not wish the PTSD on you of staying here.

South Korea has a unique sound. The hustle and bustle of Tokyo rush-hour, melifluous friendly music celebrating every succesful train journey, a happy anime yelp as some cute cartoon character makes a quite serious announcement on a public address. Much like it's Japanese neighbour you can see a vibrant modern metropolis littered with historic pockets of an ancient people. Buddhist temples, Joseon village buildings. Ancient palaces. They all accent this futuristic place in a unique and special way with a grounding in a deep ocean of cultural character.

Of course they've got their own unique quirks. Your usual go to tour guide, Google Maps, isn't gonna be of help here. South Korea refuse to share information with the global tech giant due to the threat posed by North Korea. Open it up and it's pretty useless (Kakao maps is the local alternative), which is a small price to pay really for reduced anxiety of North Korean tunnel armies or nukes.

Look around, you'll see photobooths on every corner, a clear venerating respect for the elderly and an odd taboo about having your shoulders on display. Korea looms large on the cultural global stage. K-Pop and K-Drama are surging everywhere; their stars' shining made up and perfectly dentured faces on every billboard, mainly unrecognisable to the majority of westeners, even if their popularity is growing. Male cosmetics are much more normal here. Son Heung Min sponsors nearly everything. It's unique and rich and it's not imitating another culture; it truly wears its own face. Seoul is at the vanguard of South Korean culture and that's a special place to be right now.

We arrived on the weekend of Choseuk. A time when Koreans go to their home villages, celebrate the harvest festival & visit the graves of their ancestors. Think US Thanksgiving without the parades. It meant for us, that we were treated to a huge influx of Koreans wandering the streets in traditional old Hanbok garb staging the best photos they can on ancient street houses - it felt like stepping back in time to the 16th century, but with more selfie sticks.

Wandering around this old but vibrant piece of Seoul, we stopped into Twosome place (Starbucks impersonator) for some egg sandos, before taking the walk down Cheonggyechon, an amazing project reclaiming an old highway and turning it into a stream. There's now a walking and jogging paths, fountains and korean mosaic imagery decorating its banks as it runs down the heart of the city. Instead of a disused road track, it's a wonderful regeneration project for the city allowing exercise and a piece of relaxing nature to perk up your city stroll.

We took our first trip to a Korean photobooth. When I say photobooth, please don't picture the sorry cabin you put £6 into in the trains tation to renew your passport. These places are meccas to vanity and creativity in equal measure. Chests of props, mirrors, straighteners, adjustable lighting, filters, seats, they have EVERYTHING to make professional photos in these buildings. And there are LOADS of them. If you're in a student area, or an area with a lot of young professionals, you will see a photo booth every 2nd or 3rd street. The demand for these is astonishing. We took a few snaps which formed the bedrock of our plan to announce our engagement in the most weaabbo (or Korean equivalent) manner possible. Eventually we'd go to these photobooths every day to do this... We are who we are.

You can't go to Korea and think of food without at some point coming across K-BBQ. It's a phenomenon. Come together with a family, sear some delicious fatty pork, nibble on a never ending array of pickles, eggs, chillis and vegetables from your Bonchon. Shout and cheers the night away with family, friends and Soju. Whats not to love? We went to 853, the kind of place where you put your name down on a piece of paper and waited for that sweet porky hit.

One of the first things you notice, is that K-BBQ is not a solo dining experience. One poor misguided Yank made his way into the establishment, blundered his way through the menu and turned quizzically to his server: "what do you guys have for one person?", the answer, was a shrug. These places are made for feasting with a group. Exquisite pork, veg and sides that you cook at your table, the experience and the taste stick with you in a smoky delilcious gochujang enhanced haze. Pork cheek melts in the mouth, steamed egg wobbles delicately like a sesame infused jelly. Pickled Radish cleans your palate and gets you ready to do it all again. It's a experience bordering on the religious. But you would need a couple stomachs to go it alone

Sated (for days) we found our way back to the hotel orientating ourselves via a sinister looking building in the centre of town that cannot have been built for any other reasons than for the final battle with the Incredibles. We had another big food day at Gwangjang market to look forward to and needed to digest

You'll notice a theme in Korea. The food is central to what's going on. There's always a hip new place, a cool new dish, a new take on a classic. You won't struggle to east. Gwangjang market was a short walk from Myeongdong and had the city's most traditional foods on show rather than anything crazily avant garde. I was PUMPED. We made a necessary stop CU, the 7-11 rival for some of Korea's now intensely Tik Tok famous iced drinks. Buy a cup of ice, a plastic pouch, pour and enjoy an ice coffee. So simple, I cannot understand why every hot country in the world doesn't have these.

Strolling up to Gwangjang you see a huge corridor of stalls. People milling back and forth to sample their favourites, lots sitting down at each stall taking little bites or big whole plates, again, almost always in groups. The biggest new wave international stuff tends to hang around the outside of the market. The centre is primed for the old favourites. Tteok-bokki (rice dumplings), Bindaetteok (mung bean pancakes), Japchae (sweet potato noodles) and, in this place, Ssamjang. Or. Still living Octopus salad.

Eating the Octopus was an experience. It's unlikely, unless you are feral, that you've ever had a meal try to climb out of your mouth again. The peculiar stick and unstick of the little sucker tentacles on your mouth gives this a textural level you won't find in Pret. Drenched with salty sesame and fishy goodness, the salad is genuinely enjoyable, if not for the squeamish though like most meals, its a lot for one person.

GwangJang is a food mecca. We gorged ourselves on everything to the point that Mariola proposed something called a MukBang to me. Being concerned this was an off menu McDonalds item and being appropriately appalled at having Mcdonalds suggested right now, she hastily explained the Korean phenomenon of girls eating astonishing and disgusting volumes of messy food on their own late at night and then filming the results on YouTube. Like I said, Korea wears its own face, even if that face is engorged by some sort of Frankenstein Lasagne.

We waddled across town to the Royal Tombs of the Joseun dynasty, the royal family of Korea from 1392 up until the beginnings of the 20th Century, where you see the roots of Korea's veneration of the elderly. Not only did Koreans used to engage in a 3 year national mourning period on the death of a monarch (and you thought the Queue was bad), death didn't even stop it. There's a whole stone pathway in the tombs that is built exclusively for the use of ghosts. The Joseon dynasty is effectively the family responsible for Korea's language and much of their societal norms and traditions. They were a big deal.

Not as big a deal to some of us however as Psy. Because a short tube hop over from the Joseun burial temple was the Gangnam district. Gang (river) and Nam (south) just telling you where to go to get here, the whole place is a hilly, mega rich, mega trendy suburb that supplies a disproportionate number of the super rich, super educated of South Korean society. There's plenty of chat in the local news about how Seoul's biggest university, the best schools, top finance jobs and everything inbetween seen as 'elite' is dominated by people from Gangnam. It's cultural impact is huge too. You know about it from Gangam style (even if Psy is just taking the piss out of people from there) and if you want to see 'modern Korea' at its best, it really is around here to see it. Hundreds of cool restaurants and awesome shops punctuate the place and everyone oozes a kind of style that's cool and stinks of a lot of money to boot.

It's home to a monument to the popular song (4.5 billion views and counting) and the stunning Starfield complex. What looks like a library, book shop hybrid built into a (surprise surprise) monolithic shopping mall. As you walk down its halls, towering bookshelves on either side, you'll spot another curious phenomenon of Korea. Napping.

Students bring their full kit out for the day including pillows and maybe a spare 50k won to rent out a nap pod. Sleeping in public is really quite normal in South Korea and you'll probably just see someone having a kip in any district if you look hard enough. Some cafes specialise, some bookshops do, the ubiquitious Ryan and his Kakao friends sell a lot of nap paraphenalia as well as being intensely Korean (read, small and cute) in everthing they sell, they really encourage you getting your 8 hours.

A hard long day done, we wanted to try out Korea's other famous food export. KFC (not the Kentucky one) and found one of the local most famous spots, a less than simple job given the lack of Google map reviews in Korea.. but I love fried chicken. I have standing catch up dates with at least 3 old friends that are based around us seeing each other periodically and having fried chicken. I was not missing this.

We ended up at a cool basic joint. Two two chicken, unfortunately given that it was the holidays, this place was mainly empty. We couldn''t look out for the usual "grading signs" of a fried chicken spot (is it filled with fat old men? It's a good fried chicken joint). We here began our first, but not last, serious battle with the language barrier. In Korea, Google translate is a real saviour, because English is not widely spoken. At this particular restaurant, as well as not speaking English, we think the waitress may well have been teetering dangerously close to being legally blind. We pointed and gesticulated as well as repeating the order over Google Translate several times. Her response was pointing to a page which we had not even looked at on the menu, let alone thought we had stumbled across the Korean words to order. Her cheerful smile never disappated as we pointed to what we had ordered and tried to correct the situation, watching the words wash over her like a wam bath we sat back into our chairs and waited for our fried chicken to arrive.

As she returned with a pair of kitchen scissors and a plate of sausages, we realised something had gone wrong. At this point we grabbed the other guy in the restaurant, who, while no more fluent in English, was at least blessed with working eyesight. Through a combination of translate and pointing the mistake was fixed, the waitress was unfortunately berated by the other man for wasting sausages, and our correct order. The most garlic laden chicken wings I have ever been in the presence of, arrived. This wasn't garlic sauce, this was a full 40 cloves of garlic macerated to a pulp and poured over chicken. This would have looked like Nuclear waste to a vampire. And it was glorious.

We had however ordered, perhaps a bit too much, as each portion of chicken was probably enough to share, but we had ordered effectively enough for 4 people along with "assorted potato" as a side and dropped the equivalent of £40 on a fried chicken dinner, which was some going. I could barely move by the end, but I went to bed a happy man.

That's it for Seoul Pt 1... more to come 

[sims-4-gameplay-mods-down3f]

sims 4 gameplay mods download new MLE0&

💾 ►►► DOWNLOAD FILE 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Game Mods (2, found). Advertisement: Advertisement: Updated Downloads See more Updated Popular Downloads - last 30 days See more Popular. The Sims community is full of talented players who've made some awesome realistic mods for The Sims 4. These are the best of The 20 Best Sims 4 Gameplay Mods (November ) · Switch Streaming Mod · Height Slider · Pregnancy Overhaul · Realistic Reactions Mod · Meaningful. After School Activities · 2. Automatic Beards · 3. Better Romance · 5. Explore Mod · 6. Extreme Violence · 7. Faster Eating and Drinking · 8. 9 The list of possible Sims 4 mods is basically endless. You can spend hours and hours looking through various websites, trying to find out whether a given mod is useful or just a waste of time. Sul sul! Thank you. Personally when I play The Sims , I love adding other means of income other than your average nine-to-five jobs offered in the base games and expansion packs. When you are starting out as a Switcher, it can be a bit difficult and frustrating. New streamers are more easily banned making it harder to gain recognition on the Switch platform. But if your Sim has some clout fame prior to joining, then gaining donations comes easy and the platform is more lenient. I simply cannot begin to express how much this means for my tall ass. All of us who play the Sims know that physical representation is what makes T he Sims a special game. So it completely boggles my mind when developers finally allow adjustments to weight, but not to height. Pregnancy can be underwhelming in The Sims 4. I get it this is a game, but no one pregnant in the real world walks at a 40 degree angle because of a massive belly. The mod also eases up on the first and second trimester. The default game sets limitations across the entire pregnancy, keeping sims from jogging, swimming, and all kinds of strenuous activity. Since these things are obviously fine when the sim is early on in the process, this mod allows some things the game otherwise bans. In addition, there are four different types of belly packs you can download into your game make sure you only download one and not all of them and allows for 46 different types of movements usually restricted for expecting sims. She is an amazing modder who works with other folks to bring us well-rounded downloaded content and gameplay. Make sure to check out her tumblr where you can access her google drive to different mods! This is yet another realistic mod you definitely need in your game. In the current game, when sims cheat on spouses the only one to get mad is the one who caught them cheating, getting a negative buff, like jealousy, for 24 hours. This mod however, overhauls that system. For starters, both people involved in the cheating receive a negative buff. Children are unaffected unless they also witness the cheating. As it is, sims react to their parents fighting with each other as if they would to seeing anyone else fight. This means they receive the regular buffs or debuffs like happy or embarrassed to see their friend win or lose a fight. There is so much in-depth explanation of the two modules. Meaningful Stories redesigns the moods and emotions systems. Sims in a funk may take hours or days, and may ultimately need some help and love from friends to come out of their rut. This makes playing a bit more strategic and interesting. Again, this is a subtle change to gameplay, but one that brings a realistic characterization to your sims. More realistic gameplay again? Environments such as artwork and objects no longer affect your mood immediately. Instead, a gradual build up or falling of emotions will occur. Additionally, your sims will no longer be in a default state of happiness. You have to work for it now, meaning that your sims will only feel truly happy if something worthy happens to them or if they feel as if their life is improving for the better. This has made the game tenfold more fun for me. Sims emotions are much less predictable and you have to work that much harder to figure out how to make them happy. The mod includes an in-game tutorial as well as an in-game setting menu that lets you pick and choose the features you want in your game. Only one. And so, LittleMsSam has once again provided an updated tuning mod originally developed by ReubenHood for the Sims community. It is simply an XML tuning mod. All it does is override the check for an existing best friend, ultimately allowing you to have multiple best friends. In total the download includes ten mods rolled into one, all made by her. Some of the mods include menstrual cycles, getting drunk from drinking alcoholic beverages, wearing makeup or perfumes, and even allowing sims to have realistic sickness! In a continued effort to flesh out the pregnancy system you can now go visit the Gynecologist and have an ultrasound examination done! If you want more control over the outcome you can even determine the number and gender of your babies. What can I say? Both base game and expansion pack occupations are super easy to complete. This mod cuts all career salaries in half including the bonus money you receive in promotions. Keep in mind this only applies to base game and expansion pack careers. It will not change modded jobs like the Switch career. If you want to take cooking to the next level, this is the mod you want. You can buy things like chicken nuggets, cooking oil, canned goods, and butter. You can even stack your groceries on display in your kitchen, which is a great blend between clutter and functionality. Imagine that, usable Sims decorations. Who would have ever thought this day would come? But please, open the packages! This cookbook contains many comfort food recipes which you unlock as you level up your cooking skill. The very first recipe you get is collard greens and cornbread and let me tell you I have never wanted to eat cornbread more in my life than when my Sim made it. You end up with more dessert recipes than meals, but they do not disappoint. This mod thankfully does not contradict the Custom Food or Drink Menu, so tack on all the new recipes you can! This is by far the number one mod for romance. For many players, falling in love is too easy of a process in the Sims 4. With the road to romance mod, you have to work, and I mean work , to level up your relationship with another character. The mod provides you with a huge amount of new interactions. You also have the option of going on Online Dates, which pairs nicely with the Sim DaDating App mod that you can download separately. What really took me by surprise was how intricate the leveling up of the romance skill was. Each level unlocks new interactions and makes everyday gameplay even more fun. There are three different versions of downloads for this mod but do not download all three. Version A is the original, Version B comes with restrictions and Version C comes with no restrictions. Restrictions mean exactly how easy or hard you want your sims to work for love. On the modthesims site, it goes more in-depth on the restrictions but if you still have no idea which one to get, I recommend sticking to Version A. In the base game, only young adults or adults can get pregnant and you can have a child with practically anyone, again, so long as you are in the specific age range. With WooHoo Wellness you can also have realistic risky woohoos that is basically like rolling the dice of pregnancies. By default, I believe teens can become pregnant also, just a warning. There is a range of emotions your Sims can go through with their partner during an unwanted pregnancy. You have the options of getting an abortion, going to couples counseling for the unwanted pregnancy, and even going to a parenthood class. This mod pairs well with the Personality Please mod. The interactions between your sims and their partner is significantly increased as well as self-interactions. You can also plan for pregnancy with your partner. Personally, I feel like playing with children in your Sims household is mundane. You typically have to focus and make sure their needs are fulfilled while leveling up skills and having good grades so that they are ready for college. It makes the interaction between you and your child a bit more realistic. You can set the number as high and low as you would like or not set it at all. If you complete chores, you can reward your sims with an allowance. This is the holy grail with toddlers and the educational system in general. Before this, you had to hire a nanny for your toddlers if your Sims had to work, but now, you can just as easily ship them off to daycare or preschool. By selecting this option, your Sims toddler also has the ability to learn various skills. Now, this mod takes me back to the Sims 2 with its ability to put your Sims kids into private school. If you remember anything from that time, the schematics are similar to inviting the headmaster over and impressing him so that your child can enter a private school. You pay tuition and can remove your child from private school as well. Live your best Breaking Bad life in the Sims 4. The basemental download incorporates all the paraphernalia you can think of as well as new traits like addiction. The pack also comes with content for you to apply to your Sims such as dark circles and powdered noses. You can even grow your own weed supply. Mix this with the Extreme Violence mod for an even added extra fun. The name speaks for itself. There are some pretty gruesome ways of killing Sims. You can send an NPC to their very untimely death and the animations are delicious. This download makes woohooing in the Sims 4 possibly as risky as woohooing in the real world. You can ask other Sims about their health, take fertility tests to see if a risky woohoo can lead to a pregnancy, as well have periods! I was most excited to see this, you can order pads and tampons, pills for period symptoms, even birth control! You get various moods dependent on symptoms like premenstrual and going through your period cycle. Again, some pretty realistic gameplay. As many in the Sims community know, this mod enables nudity, removing the blurry pixelated effect. Twitter Facebook. Height Slider Requires: Base Game I simply cannot begin to express how much this means for my tall ass. Ultrasound Scan Requires: Base Game In a continued effort to flesh out the pregnancy system you can now go visit the Gynecologist and have an ultrasound examination done! Grannies Cookbook This cookbook contains many comfort food recipes which you unlock as you level up your cooking skill. Romance Mods Road to Romance This is by far the number one mod for romance. WooHoo Wellness PT. Mods for Parents Allowance Personally, I feel like playing with children in your Sims household is mundane. Education Overhaul This is the holy grail with toddlers and the educational system in general. Private School Now, this mod takes me back to the Sims 2 with its ability to put your Sims kids into private school. The Sims 4. Nerium Oct 3, Jenny Zheng Sep 26,