#i wish they had added presets

[dynamos-games]

back on the time trial grind!

this might just be an excuse for me to show off my kart customizations but we don't talk about that-

[northernsiberiawinds]

BIG CC UPDATE *DEC 2023

✅ PRESETS CHANGELOG

fixed broken presets after the "rent" patch (from child to elders);

I fixed the broken presets only for the child-elders ages. But, as you know, all the presets for the toddlers were broken too because EA added eyelashes to them. I don't have presets specially made for toddlers, but some presets made for other ages used to be displayed in this age category, I removed them from this category because they don't fit this age category anyway. I left only the ears in this category. I will fix these ears for the category of toddlers as soon as it possible (and if possible).

added compatibility with some type of custom clothes cc to FEMALE HEAD SHAPE PRESETS N1-8 (the problem of holes in the neck);

3 new files have been added (CHILD EYES PRESETS N1-2 FOR FEMALES TEEN-ELDERS, NOSE PRESET F N28-33 FOR FOR CHILDREN and NOSE PRESETS F N18-27 FOR CHILDREN).

✅ SKINS and FACE MASKS CHANGELOG

added new additional cleaner and smoother texture options to some old skins and face mask overlays:

- SKIN N4, SKIN N7, SKIN N8, SKIN N9, SKIN N10 (A and B), SKIN N11, SKIN N12, CHILD SKIN N1, SKIN FOR TODDLERS AND INFANTS N1-2 OVERLAYS;

- MICHAEL, NOAH and JAESUNG face mask overlays;

I see that many of you are still using my old skins, so I decided to update them a bit.

I changed mostly the faces. Some overlay skins have undergone very strong changes and now, I think, they look much better. Don't worry, the old options are still there and they won't be reset from your sims.

the old skins are now available for the "opposite frame", this is necessary if you want to make a gender transition for your character ;

SWEET СARTOONNY SKINBLEND A and B was fixed for a new patch (for the correct display of the added EA eyelashes);

added a non-hq version for old skins;

added compatibility of old skins and face masks with my new cc;

added new thumbnails to all skins just because I wanted everything to look the same style and I'm tired of these black and white pictures of old overlays.

✅ SKIN TONES CHANGELOG

Fixed an issue with completely black newborns with SOFT ROSE SKIN TONES;

Unfortunately, to solve this problem, I had to recreate the file for SOFT ROSE SKIN TONES. So when you download the updated version, this cc will be reset from your sims. This applies only to SOFT ROSE SKIN TONES and HETEROCHROMIA EYES. The rest of the files listed in this post will not be reset from your sims.

Added a tanning and burn functions to all my skin tones.

✅ HETEROCHROMIA EYES

fixed after the patch (the problem with the hand).

Unfortunately, to solve this problem, I had to recreate the file for HETEROCHROMIA EYES. So when you download the updated version, this cc will be reset from your sims. This applies only to SOFT ROSE SKIN TONES and HETEROCHROMIA EYES. The rest of the files listed in this post will not be reset from your sims.

All the files in all the posts have also been updated. There are really a lot of updates this time. I hope you all are not tired of this, ha-ha.

By the way, I'm going to start working on BETTER IN-GAME LIGHTING MOD v2. So you can write your wishes and suggestions!

MORE INFO AND DOWNLOAD

Any likes and reblogs is honestly appreciated! 💘

Thank you for supporting the development process!

[bunsandstuff]

Thank you for all of the love on my recent Gpose omg ; w ; I really wish I could reply directly to tabs aaaa. But thank you for your comments, they made me so happy to read, I love them. I wanted to share how I did it all and explain my process if anyone is interested ♡

More below the cut!

I got started by actually making the backdrop. I wanted to emulate the scene where the Phantom was taking Christine through the candlelit walkway, so I made a long tunnel to get it as close as I could to the shot.

And here is the result in game :3 I knew with the back I was going to have to rely on an optical illusion to sell that this was a long dark hallway, so I dyed the back wall soot black and turned my interior lighting to 0.

And here the setup is pre pre shaders. I cloned a few actors in using brio and had them draw the archeo kingdom WHM staff and placed them in the wall. I was really lucky that I had a long enough lookalike for the candelabras in the movie. Also, you can see that the illusion isn't being quite sold in the back at the moment, I fixed it using camera angling and having the primary source of light a little further back from the two subjects. And to create an even 3 point lighting I placed a greenish blue light to the back left of Alsene which is the blue you can see on their clothes further down. It is best to try and give yourself 3 point lighting when you gpose, you can even achieve this using the character lighting toggle built into the game itself. :3

Here it is with that light placed like I mentioned before and my shaders turned on. I'm using Candle presets on this one in particular with cinematic DOF turned on and focused in between Alsene and Artoirel. It also helps blend that black wall in the back into the scenery so it isn't as obvious. Also I would like to mention that when I do large shots like this, I take MANY screens in multiple angles to pick from the best shot. In this one in particular I have 30 screens in various angles that I chose from. This ensures that you aren't leaving the pose with a product you aren't happy with. It saves you time in having to pose it again.

I ended up choosing these two shots, and I edited them in clip studio. My process for that was making the arms look more metallic to match the rod by adding highlights to them. And the second thing I did was add a retro bloom to the image to mimic the vibe in the video. And as you know the final result was this :3

In all it was a very time consuming but fun gpose to do! If anyone has any questions about it I will be happy to answer them ♡ Thank you for appreciating what I do ; w ; it was lovely to wake up to.

[milkcoffeesims]

Hi! o(ﾟ▽ﾟ)o

I haven't posted in a while again, but I wanted to take some time to work on a bigger project. I've been working on a townie remake with all the outfits! (/^▽^)/

I present to you, Angela and Lilith Pleasant! The Pleasants were my favourite family to play in the vanilla TS2 - I loved all the drama between the two sisters and guiding them through life! I just had to give them a makeover because what they've done with them in TS4 looks-wise is honestly unforgivable (;﹏;)

I hope you enjoy my interpretation :) I thought their faces were very nice (wow a rarity in TS4), so I didn't feel the need to tweak them. They just needed a bit more style! I also hope you don't mind I changed Angela's og mint colour scheme to pink - it looked so nice and soft on her I just had to go with it!

The screenshots were taken with my GShade preset enabled! Comparison between the game's unmodified lighting vs with GShade in last four images - original on the left and with GShade on the right. Link to the preset at the end of the post.

The download includes custom content. I did not make any of the CC used with this sim! Many thanks to all the wonderful CC creators for their hard work! Links to original posts with CC listed below. Please visit their sites and support them if you like anything you see! If you are a CC creator and do not wish for your CC to be included in the package, please do contact me and I will remove it!

MediaFire (no ads)

Link (too long for tumblr's character limit ;3)

My GShade preset How to install pre-made sims

[dyoreos]

*click for HQ*

I tried to make myself. It was a bit hard, ngl. Like, I wish they had various presets for the shapes of the nose, lips, eyes, and ears. Hopefully, it'll be added in the official release.

[hefnerama]

When I started Veilguard, I had so little confidence about enjoying the game at all that I did the unthinkable: I made my Rook a dude. A human dude. I never do that if I have any other options. I still don’t understand people who played as Cousland in Origins given the other available options. And though I am confident in my masculinity, I just prefer playing as hot bisexual butches.

Well the joke’s on me because I ended up loving my Rook. It’s to the point that I wish my artistic skills weren’t so rusty that I could draw him. His design doesn’t entirely make sense, with the tweaks I added to the preset I disliked the least, but damn I think he’s hot.

I romanced Taash, which even the game didn’t seem to expect many cis male players/Rooks to do, and it was fucking great. I wish I could get screenshots or gifs of my hot dopey male Rook getting lifted up in Taash’s arms and wrapping his legs around them to kiss.

Veilguard is a terrible Dragon Age game that annoyed me throughout, but I really loved it as a gaming experience and best friend simulator. I finished it a week ago and I still miss my friends and my stupid sexy Rook.

[hillbillyoracle]

Radio Recommendations

I occassionally get asked about radio recommendations so I thought I'd share.

For plug in/stationary radio; my favorite is definitely this Midland WR-400. I got mine through Ryan Hall Y'all's store who is not only one of YouTubes finest weathermen, he's also a fellow Appalachian.

I recommend the WR-400 over the WR-120 because the 400 has AM/FM radio and 4 station presets so you can enjoy local radio AND program it to be a weather alarm. Ours is set to alert for Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Tornado Warnings only at the moment. I've had it for 6 months now and love it.

The sound quality is great once you get it dialed in. I've really been enjoying turning it on during the day when I'm cleaning or working and the evening when I'm playing cards or reading. In the deluge of streaming options, it's nice to just turn on the radio and let someone else curate something fun.

I don't really have a portable favorite yet; my Sangean DT-400 is great but it runs on batteries which is kind of a pain. I'm begging radio companies to please make some genuinely good USB-C rechargeable options. If you don't mind batteries though, I do recommend it because it's also weather alert programable (though def helps to have the manual for it) and gets pretty good battery life compared to others I've tried. I've had it for 3 years now and enjoy it.

I wish I had some cheaper options to recommend. I'll keep on the lookout.

If you're not sure where to start with radio stations, the first three I find whenever I move to a new place are the local NPR affiliate, the local college station, and the nearest hyper local/low power FM station if I'm in a city. I like these because they tend to have fewer ads and a lot of variety. From there you have a whole world of commerical radio to try.

So go out and get listening!

[azem-ghale]

Wish Larian didnt do the whole preset head thing, you get like 6 heads to choose from 4 look around middle-aged white people (which would be fine if we had more options) 2 of them are the same face except one has freckles you get 1 face if you want black features and 1 face if you want Asian features.

The whole head preset thing is dumb and made even worse by the face npcs share these presets so whenever i see someones unmodded Tavs im just sad theres nothing much unique about them they look like a huge chunk of npcs.

What if my tav had muscles, what if they were a bit fat, what i wanted my tav to not look like they have several identical siblings, what if i want my female tav to have muscles or even big titties, i cant because every female tav is skinny, small boobs (it looks dangerously close to how they did elves in DAI) rightbup to the janky walk/run animations

Whilst I have zero interest in romancing anybody (I think it feels rushed with how quickly things rush by , and hate how Astarion getsnover his aversion to sex pretty quickly id of kept his aversion all the way through the end) why is it the only black companion gets almost zero content even been sidelined in his own damn quest and his abuser gets fans too meanwhile the racist Vampire spawn keeps getting content added.

(also there is no way Astarion died as a 39 year old elf, if he was human sure but an elf nah that mf lied about his age as an elf that man would still look 18/20

Unfortunately this game attracted the type of people who can't handle anybody saying anything bad about thier super favourite game even if its valid criticism

Another also ehy are the choices ruen into mindflayer or work with the shithead emperor we have a flayer friend and no excuses are going to make me believe he couldn't help

[tarmac-rat]

Then and Now

I saw a few people in the fandom doing this and I was a bit hesitant to put this together because I started screenshotting comparably late through my timeline-- I didn't have the confidence to attempt it until 1.5, and in some cases I still am a bit resistant to sharing-- but I thought "meh, I haven't talked about Riley and I still have all my old files, let's go back in time". So here's a bit more of an in-depth look into my V's evolution from launch until now:

Click images for better quality.

Version 1-- V1.0 - 1.2

This is probably the most radically different version of Riley I've made. I used different scarring, different facial cyberware, and different eye makeup, though I believe her body, eye, freckle, and earring presets have always been the same. Her chin is squarer and her face is a bit more angled, but back in the day I really enjoyed what I had come up with even if I never took her out for photographing.

The blue hair was darker than I really wanted it to be, but back in 1.0 it was pretty much the only option for light blue so I stuck with it lol. I ended up using the bob solely because I didn't really like 95% of the hairstyles and this was one of the only ones I could tolerate, but I honestly grew to dislike it for her after a while. I hated that it covered up her ears and I never found it really photographed that well because it hung in her eyes.

I actually still really like this facial build-- it doesn't suit Riley but I like how mean it looks, like a built in RBF-- and honestly I would probably try to reuse it for a different OC if I ever made one.

Version 2-- V1.2 - 1.4

This was the new version I built for another run-through on 1.2 and serves as the bridge between the original Riley and the current Riley. I switched the scars and the facial cyberware out to what I would eventually end up sticking with, but I still stubbornly stuck with the bob and somehow I made her face....softer? That wasn't my intention but her whole face has lost the bite it originally had-- I always refer to this version as my "Valley Girl" preset because idk I just always imagine that drawl coming out of this face.

Looking back on it I hate her lip preset on this face. IDK why they look so pink bc I don't have lip makeup on (I literally checked when taking the photos) but UGH they're just not a good fit for her they make her look too...is it mean of me to say "too happy"?

Yeah this one in hindsight is my least favorite it just doesn't look good on her based on what was I going for. Feel like I missed the mark big time.

I don't know why I added that neck tattoo lol it was spur of the moment.

Version 3-- V1.5 - 1.6

Current Riley! Remade during 1.5 when 1) I wanted to finally make a V I could screenshot and 2) we got the new cosmetics and finally got light electric-blue hair I always envisioned her having.

Finally buckled down and spent more than 15 minutes in the character creator. oven so I could properly sculpt her face. Got rid of the softness, gave her a bit more angles and a bigger nose, lightened her freckles a bit, gave her thicker eyebrows. AND I DITCHED THE BOB. BYE BOB GET OUTTA HERE.

Also finally got the chance to show off her ears-- bronze was another new preset added into 1.5 so that's what I chose, but I believe before that update all her piercings had been silver.

The one thing I wished I had done was give her a bit of a broader nose, but overall I'm pretty happy with this design and I've used it for over a year now.

I've always claimed that my V is about 55-60% accurate to how I imagined her because there's just so much I can't add in vanilla basegame, but this is probably as close as we can get with what I've been given haha.

Bonus: Below are first ever photos I took when I finally mustered the confidence to use my XBone screenshotter around the 1.5 drop. Vanilla definitely has it's limits, but I can at least say I've improved from my starting point-- definitely enough to know what decent lighting is:

[brianamorganbooks]

Title: "Eleven"

Short Stories | Novels | Novellas | Plays | Other

Queer Horror

How far would you go to see a dead loved one again?

Kayla discovers a chilling Internet game that might let her see her dead girlfriend and give her one last kiss... as long as she follows the rules.

TW: Grief, death of a loved one, drug and suicide mentions, overdose mention, blood, vomit mention, religion mentions

Kayla opened her car door to the reek of gas fumes and the sounds of people arguing. For a moment, she hesitated right outside the car. As far as she could tell, no one was yelling at her. She hunched as she approached the gas pump, shoulders rising around her ears as she kept her head down.

The gas pump clicked as Kayla filled her Toyota Corolla up with gas. Her pulse raced as the numbers climbed, and her hand went to the wallet in her front pocket.

Annoyance pricked the back of Kayla’s neck. She shrugged it off. She would’ve had to get more gas; the game had just pushed her to do it now. Besides, she was better safe than sorry. That was a philosophy she wholeheartedly believed in.

It had taken her so long to go through with this. An entire season had passed since Alexis’s death, and she was only now facing it. Her mental block had lifted enough for Kayla to remember the empty pill bottles, Alexis lying facedown on the bed, a pool of vomit on the pillow—

The click of the gas pump jolted Kayla. The Corolla’s tank was full.

The commotion she’d heard when she arrived died down as the couple returned to their vehicle. Someone blasted Lynyrd Skynyrd as they turned out of the station and peeled off down the road. Kayla’s shoulders rolled back. She sighed.

As she hung the nozzle back up, her stomach growled. Her gaze turned to the convenience store, with its bright fluorescent lights and flashing OPEN sign, glass doors and windows plastered with cigarette ads and information about the lottery. Maybe she should get a snack. Maybe that would help her make it through the night.

But the rules had said nothing about eating.

Kayla swallowed and got in the car. She fastened her seatbelt and sat behind the wheel, staring straight ahead. Every muscle in her body tensed. Her eyes fell shut. Breathe, she thought. She could do this. She had to.

Keep your eyes on the road and drive, Kayla thought. That’s all I have to do. Keep my eyes on the road and remember Alexis.

Before she could second-guess herself any further, Kayla started the car and pulled out of the gas station. She turned onto the road and kept going, trusting her gut or whatever higher power hated her to tell her where to go. According to the rules, she had to look for a road leading into the forest. Also, the road leading in had to go through the forest too. For all Kayla knew, it also had to be at least eleven miles long, but the game would handle that one for her.

Kayla picked at the skin on her cracked lips. Without even music to distract her, the silence only heightened her anxiety. Fear sat in the pit of her stomach like a feral cat, clawing its way into her throat.

Maybe a little music wouldn’t hurt. The game hadn’t started yet.

Her hand leapt to the first radio preset button. “Uptown Girl” sprang from the Corolla’s speakers. Kayla’s mom loved eighties music, and Kayla turned to it whenever she felt lost. She didn’t think she’d ever been more lost than she felt right then. Maybe Billy Joel could soothe her.

Alexis had hated eighties music. Kayla had never learned why. Her favorite decade had been the nineties, which, as far as Kayla thought, sounded the same, albeit darker, grittier, grungier. Maybe that was what had drawn Alexis to it.

If only I’d noticed the signs, Kayla thought, but hadn’t she? Hadn’t she watched the light leave Alexis’s eyes and the spark drop from her body? Hadn’t she felt the fresh scars in places no one else got to see and wondered what more might appear?

And hadn’t she refused to acknowledge the truth for fear her life would unravel?

The wish, she reminded herself. Think about the wish. Hold it in your mind. Keep your eyes on the road and drive now. Don’t stop.

Trees rose on either side of the road. A side street beckoned her. She turned onto it, the turn signal clicking and blinking as she did. The road into the woods wound deep into the trees, which meant it would be perfect for the evening.

She could start the game now.

Instead, she parked and turned the car off. Kayla’s heart thudded against her ribcage. It wasn’t too late to turn back. The game hadn’t started. She still could go home.

But home was where her pillow still had blonde hairs on it, where Alexis’s jacket hung in her closet, still smelling like vanilla and soap. Home was where she could never escape the memory of Alexis, no matter how hard she tried. If she couldn’t go through with this, she couldn’t go home. She’d never be able to forgive herself for letting this opportunity pass.

One chance. One moment. One last kiss. That was what she wanted. She would go through hell or whatever horror lay ahead for the chance to see her girlfriend again.

Her gaze fell on the beaded necklace hanging from her rearview mirror. Alexis had made it for her. She’d done all she could to make Kayla feel special.

Kayla inhaled. She pulled up the mile counter app on her phone, set it to notify her at each mile, and hit “start.” She turned the car on. She exhaled.

Now or never.

The indicator ticked as she turned onto the road. From here on out, she had to keep driving, no matter what happened.

Mile one. She had to keep going for eleven miles, and she couldn’t turn the engine off or leave the car. Those were the rules. All the sources Kayla had considered before coming out here said so, even if they didn’t agree on much else.

The beaded pendant hanging from her rearview mirror swung as she drove. Kayla tried not to watch it.

Truth be told, she wasn't looking forward to what lay ahead. All the firsthand accounts she'd read online and all the speculation had made her more than a little nervous, and for good reason. Some people talked about how good it felt to get their wish, but on most of the forums, all she found was account after account of people who had failed to do the game the right way, or people whom the game had traumatized. 

What did they say about mile one? she asked herself. It’s the easiest mile, but something is off. Something should be off as proof that I’ve started the game.

She wanted to check her phone and review the rules again. The last webpage she’d visited had a thorough breakdown of each mile, advising the reader what to expect from the journey ahead. She needed it now.

But she couldn’t turn the engine off, couldn’t get out of the car, couldn’t park it. Not until mile eleven.

The first mile was the easiest. According to the rules, all she had to do was turn her heater on. Since it was November, it was already running. She didn’t have to do anything. Her heart fluttered, and she kept driving. The mile counter pinged.

Mile two. Harder than the first, but Kayla couldn’t see why. She already had her heater on, and as far as she could tell, nothing else was happening. Was something else supposed to happen? She wanted to look at the rules, but she couldn’t stop driving. She had to keep going.

The mile counter pinged again. Kayla took a deep breath and tightened her hold on the steering wheel. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed movement in the trees. Shadows that looked like people. She ignored them.

Kayla took another deep breath. Her pulse steadied, and she relaxed her hands on the steering wheel. Maybe this game was going to be even easier than she thought.

The first four miles seemed like a walk in the park. Kayla felt some of her uneasiness ebb, replaced by fiery determination. She kept thinking about Alexis and how good it would feel to see her again, to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her. Her thoughts consumed her as she drove, and when her phone chimed to announce the end of another mile, she barely heard it.

Mile five. Although she tried not to look around too much, the trees had gone missing. The entire forest had vanished. Somehow, it had all gone without her noticing. Was that supposed to happen, or was it unique to her journey? Not for the first time, she wished she could check her phone, scan the resources she’d collected, but she couldn’t.

She’d read about what could happen if you didn’t follow the rules of the game, but she couldn’t remember the specifics. Anyway, the possibilities her mind dredged up were probably a thousand times worse than what the Internet proclaimed. She pictured herself stopping to check her phone, only for her car to burst into flames. Or maybe she’d slow down, spend too much time looking around, make eye contact with a shadow person. God only knew what could happen to her then. She didn’t want to dwell on it.

Kayla gripped the steering wheel tighter. She checked her surroundings. Light sparkled on the surface of a lake on the right, one that hadn’t been there before. A glance at the moon confirmed it too now glowed brighter. What did any of it mean?

“Kayla.”

The voice sliced through the silence of the car and jolted Kayla from her musings. Maybe she was hearing things.

“Kayla. We are here.”

The voice came again, low and gravelly, followed by a chuckle that raised goosebumps on her skin. She’d forgotten about the voices. How did they know her name?

“We know, we know, we know.”

“We know everything, Kayla,” a high-pitched voice chimed in. “We see you and we hear you. We even know your thoughts.”

A muscle jerked in Kayla’s jaw. She had to keep her hands on the wheel, had to keep driving, had to keep the car moving no matter what. She’d have to ignore the voices, along with whatever else the road threw at her.

“Kayla.”

“Kayla Kayla Kayla.”

“Alexis is here, Kayla. She wants to talk to you.”

“Foolish girl. You can’t win this game.”

“You can’t beat us, Kayla.”

More voices joined, saying crueler things she couldn’t block out. The volume rose to a fever pitch. Slurs, epithets, and curses drowned out everything, even her own thoughts. More than anything, she yearned to stop the car and stop the screaming, but she couldn’t do that. Instead, she gritted her teeth and kept driving.

Mile six. The chime of the phone sent the voices away. Relief washed through Kayla’s body. She’d never been so grateful to sit in silence before.

Out of the corner of her eye, the trees reappeared. She recognized the shapes of the pines and shadowed firs. Their branches dipped and lifted with the wind—a sight she only saw because she’d switched to fully looking at the forest once again. Her hands gripped the wheel, and the car kept moving, but her gaze riveted to the trees.

Kayla…

The gravelly voice returned, but it was just inside her head. She brushed it off like she’d walked through a spiderweb.

Outside the car loomed an impossible darkness, like all the stars had gone out. Maybe they had. Kayla didn’t risk looking up at the sky. If the moon was still there, its glow had diminished.

Headlights flashed and flickered, glaring off the dark asphalt and bright-white lines along the sides. Kayla reached up to adjust the headlights, but no matter how far she twisted or how much she pulled, nothing affected them. They acted like sentient creatures capable of setting their own destinies. The lights continued to go haywire as she drove what she hoped was the last part of the mile.

“… as the end of the world is closer than ever! Hell, damnation, fire for all eternity!”

The radio roared to life, spewing some evangelist’s fire-and-brimstone sermon. Shit, that was the last thing she needed right now. She ran her fingers over the dial and hesitated. Should she turn the radio off? Her gut told her no, so maybe she’d just have to grin and bear the onslaught. 

“The LAKE OF FIRE! I SAID, LAKE OF FIRE!”

Like the voices and the headlights, the radio was proof that the game was toying with her, doing all it could to make her break the rules and lose.

Kayla had never been a good loser. She refused to lose this time. So she kept driving.

She couldn’t stop the car. She couldn’t turn off the radio. She couldn’t forget Alexis.

No matter how terrified she was, she couldn’t forget Alexis.

Kayla swallowed her fear and the lump in her throat. Her hand fell from the volume dial and settled back on the wheel. She pushed down on the gas pedal a little and readjusted her posture. Mile seven waited.

“Let’s go,” she murmured.

Kayla dissociated. Mile seven didn’t differ from the others, so she let herself dwell on her wish again. Alexis. The heat of her mouth as it slanted over hers. The tug of her hand tangled in Kayla’s hair.

Her phone pinged. Mile eight. She let off the gas and let the car roll almost to a stop, tapping the pedal just to keep the car moving. She couldn’t stop. Ahead, her headlights flickered. They cast eerie shadows over the trees. She tried not to look at the shadows.

Cold crept into the car. It brushed the back of Kayla’s neck and draped itself over her shoulders. If she hadn’t turned on the heater before, she bet it wouldn’t have worked now. Somehow, that logic fit the game.

The chill stiffened her joints and burned her lungs. Her breath fogged up the windows. She used her sleeve to wipe off enough of the windshield to see. If she couldn’t see, she couldn’t keep going. She had to keep going no matter what happened.

Her teeth chattered. She shivered. Still, she kept driving.

Alexis appeared on the road.

Kayla kept herself from braking. She couldn’t stop the car. Still, she couldn’t fathom hitting Alexis or the image of Alexis, even though she was dead. Even though she’d hurt herself worse than Kayla ever could.

Right before she hit Alexis, Kayla squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, Alexis had vanished.

Her phone pinged again. She’d begun mile nine. Two more until she’d see Alexis for real.

The Corolla’s engine sputtered, and the vehicle stalled. Kayla swore.

Alexis appeared again. This time, blood dripped from her mouth and eyes. Kayla hesitated. She had to do something… was she supposed to close her eyes? If she closed her eyes, how would she know where she was going?

Maybe the game would get her car moving and guide it along the road again. Maybe she should close her eyes and trust the process.

Kayla closed her eyes. She let out a shuddering breath. It was still so damn cold in the car. She knew without opening her eyes her fingertips were blue.

Kayla latched onto her car keys. With all the strength she could muster, she turned the key in the ignition. The car grumbled and sputtered in protest. 

Shit. She tried again, this time muttering a prayer to whatever god was listening. The engine sprang to life, along with Alexis’s vocal cords.

“Don’t you want to see me, Kayla?”

The voice was just as she’d remembered, and pain knifed Kayla’s heart. Her eyes were still closed. She knew beyond a doubt that she couldn’t open them. Now that the car had started, it was time to hit the gas.

“Kayla,” said Alexis.

Kayla hit the gas. She kept her eyes squeezed shut as the car surged forward and the mile counter sounded off.

She’d survived mile nine. Only one more to go.

Her eyes burned as she opened them. Unshed tears threatened to spill. After Alexis died, she thought she’d used up all her tears. Maybe it was fitting she shed some for her again.

Something flashed in the rearview mirror. Teeth, or maybe scales? Kayla ignored it.

The counter went off. Mile eleven. The end was in sight. She swore she could do this.

The car whirred as it powered down again. Kayla remembered that was supposed to happen. Even if the engine stopped, the car would still move forward, propelled by unseen forces.

Kayla relaxed and tried to fix her eyes on the road again. A traffic light sprang into view, wrought iron, with a stoplight hanging from it. The stoplight glowed an eerie red.

Kayla closed her eyes and covered her ears. Flashing lights and colors shone through her closed eyelids, and terrifying screams and threats slipped between her fingers and into her ears. The radio started up again, blaring more of the preacher’s sermon. Alexis’s voice floated about the din, whispering Kayla’s name before dissolving into tears.

The dam holding back Kayla’s own tears finally broke. She kept her eyes shut and her hands over her ears. What if this never ended? What if she’d lost the game somehow, and this was her punishment?

Her heartbeat faltered. Her breathing went shallow, erratic, and quick. Panic rattled her nerves. She wanted to scream, but somehow, adding to the chaos felt like it might make it worse.

Then, she remembered: Mile eleven, she could stop. Kayla put her foot on the brake and pressed until she couldn’t press down anymore. The voices and the lights died down. She sat for a moment and breathed.

Success was so close she could taste it. It was the cherry-scented lip gloss Alexis had always worn. Kayla didn’t think she’d ever forget the sticky sweetness of Alexis’s mouth as they kissed, her vanilla perfume swirling around both of them, the snake tattoo that curled up the side of her neck—

The road ended abruptly. Kayla didn’t notice the yellow DEAD END sign until it was almost too late to stop the car. According to the rules, once she reached the dead end, she could stop the car and make her wish.

Kayla let out a shaky laugh in relief. She’d made it this far. Her journey was over. All she needed to do now was ask for what she wanted.

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. She closed her eyes. She thought again about kissing Alexis and telling her how much she meant to her.

Let me see her, she thought. Let me kiss her, please. One last time. That’s all I need.

In the quiet of the idling car, with her eyes still closed, Kayla could almost pretend she wasn’t taking part in a terrifying game in the middle of the night. She could almost pretend she’d done something logical, something to give her closure without risking her life.

Almost.

“Kayla.”

Kayla’s eyes flew open. There, standing in front of the sign, was Alexis. No longer dripping blood, she looked as she had the last time Kayla saw her alive, blonde pixie cut and bright brown eyes, snake tattoo, and a smile. Kayla’s heart leapt.

What was she supposed to do next? This was the end of the road. She’d won.

Kayla beamed and wrenched the driver’s side door open. It screamed in protest. Kayla climbed out of the car and stepped into the glow of the headlights. The air chilled her skin, still somehow warmer than inside the car, even with the heater on. Alexis was there. She was really there.

And Kayla was going to kiss her.

Her heart fluttered in a bittersweet way she recognized as she crept closer to Alexis, who was still smiling. Recognition flashed in her eyes. Kayla wiped tears from her eyes. Damn it, she wouldn’t ruin her wish by crying.

“You look beautiful,” Kayla said.

“Mile eleven,” Alexis replied. “What did you wish for?”

“You.”

“Was it worth it?”

“Of course.”

Kayla took another step closer to Alexis. She pulled her girlfriend into an embrace, marveling at how warm and solid she felt. Alexis leaned into the contact. As Kayla’s eyelids drooped, Alexis flashed seven rows of suddenly serrated teeth at her. Kayla screamed and looked into Alexis’s eyes. They were blood red and slitted and nothing she knew.

Right before the monster lunged, Kayla remembered the last rule:

Don’t get out of the car until you’re back home.

[alltimefail-sims]

OKAY SO LITTLE UPDATE AND SCATTERED THOUGHTS ON THE NEW EP

It turns out that removing 95% of your mods will improve the game's overall ability to run. Not shocking, but it's definitely a thing lol. I've also learned that some mods, while amazing conceptually, will probably not be added back into my game. This isn't on the modders: some mods are just so complex that I honestly can't keep up with them and therefore can't enjoy their features to the full extent. I do miss my custom recipes, wonderful whims, and a few lumpinou mods though (but that's really it so far).

I also removed all my custom sliders because I have no idea what is broken and what isn't at this point. Shocked to say I don't miss most of them, so I think it might be time I clean that folder out. I did, however, miss my presets!!! Especially body and mouth presets! Likely gonna tidy up those folders and then add those back in.

Kijiko eyelash remover seems to be working perfectly fine in my game, so if you use that one you are probably good to go.

The new pack's CAS items are good! I don't think I'm going to use a lot of it outside of sims in Tomarang, but that's okay. As of right now I am not planning to do an in-depth review of the CAS items because I pretty much just feel "fine" about all of it across the board: I don't hate anything but I'm not absolutely in love with anything either. Idk if I'm just feeling this way or if others are as well, but it seems like a lot of the items (especially the hairs) aren't really new and they're just modifications of things we already have... but that could be just me. I will say the cute dress with the slit up the side... chef's kiss. Needed more swatches though!

One unexpected item that I did love was the tea kettle!! I'm never buying a tea magic brewer or tea pot ever again. I never realized how badly I needed the ability to only make one cup of a tea/hot chocolate/coffee at time but it has been a game changer. I don't have much to say about the build/buy... it's all really nice. 🤷‍♀️ Wish there were more items that really stood out, but for the most part it's all just good, simple pieces with a few beautiful wall hangings (nice posters, a few good plants, love the baskets, standing toilet is a nice addition, adore the plastic garden chairs, etc.). Functional radiators, water tanks, etc. were fantastic additions with this pack and I would have been happy if they were just decor tbh (and was expecting them to be) but the fact that they aren't makes me very happy. Compatibility across packs is done far too rarely, so I'll let the sims team have this one crumb of a win.

I'm still testing this pack out so gameplay features are being dicovered bit by bit. Haven't ran into some of the big bugs people have been having, but I'm still early in the save and playing as a tenant (I stand by the fact that I have 0 interest being a property owner). The tester sim I made (Riley, she/they) vibed so hard with Vanesha Cahyaputri. Like the two of them have "amazing compatibility" and had full bar friendship almost instantly and I did not make Riley with any partner in mind... I didn't even know Vanesha was a canon lesbian! But they haven't had a single negative interaction soooo brb I'm on my way to make her over ASAP because I loooooovee a good sapphic friends to lovers arc. 😂

Lastly: I have some asks in my inbox. I swear I'm not ignoring you if you've messaged me, it's just been a chaotic few days as December is always so busy. I will answer them as soon as I can! Until the holidays are over I'll probably be posting sporadically! I'm still going to be here, but I'm enjoying just playing the game without any pressure to post about it.

Also, with updates breaking cc and sliders like crazy, it's unlikely I'll be sharing any sims outside of sim requests for a while. I'll still crank out builds, happily chat about my OCs, and reblog other people's content on here. For now I plan to just enjoy my time with my family and play the game stress free! ❤

Okay bye now!

[chilipowder9]

I'M LOW ENERGY, SAD I CAN'T SEW YET, AND TERRIFIED OF MY DEPRESSION CAVE

I'm going to ignore EVERYTHING and be creative in a lazy way that still makes me feel good!!

I'm going to give a preset sim a makeover!

I respect real people's style choices...

...BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN I HAVE TO RESPECT SIMS' STYLE CHOICES THIS IS HIDEOUS!!!!

Context: I have a sims world were my sim has a industrial diy shack that's a repurposed warehouse with a bunch of cheap or upcycled things, and I allow friends and other sims I make to be friends to move in, often just adding yet another bunk, or even a tree house

so let's start with the first sim who asked to join our little punk found family (even though I've been working on making my best friend in the sims, I would show y'all my current sim but she is literally me built into the sims - my name included - and I do not wish to show that around the internet, the little portrait in the corner is too much to me anyway but I'm too lazy to do anything about it

I'm not messing with her outfit one bit yet, I'm changing her first, I love what they tried to do, but they failed to do it, so I'm going to try and make Lilith Vatore still Lilith Vatore, but more to my liking... oh yeah, the eyebrows are gone

okay maybe I like them just a bit toned down

now remember guys: I don't want a model, just someone I don't mind seeing every in game night (vampire sim)

her lips don't need to go but they do need adjusting

basically just make them wider, she's already almost model in my opinion

while I understand some people may be in love with her hairstyle, I am not

this is a similar hairstyle that doesn't throw me off for the perfectly square bangs (seriously, if you have perfectly square bangs good job idk how y'all do it)

and literally with that her physical existence is done! Now I'm gonna mess with her makeup!!

I already can't remember what she had so I'm gonna wing it!

I'd say I did good since I never do makeup

now....the outfit...

got an upgrade!

I'm antsy to get this posted so I'll just update when I do Business

[maxbrodbeckfilmblog]

Lola’s Room: Colour Grade

I was the colorist on Lola’s Room.

I didn’t design a LUT for Lola’s Room, as we did test shoots the day before the shoot, and I didn’t have time to use it to build a look for the film. This is something I regret and really helped on The Man who Fell in Love with the Sky, and I wish I’d spent time on for Lola’s Room in pre-production.

I spent 2 & 1/2 12 hour days on the grade for Lola’s Room. The grade was a good opportunity for me to compensate for any problems I had with the images I shot, and I am significantly happier with my cinematography post-grade. A lot of the work was spent on directing the eye, and balancing the levels of exposure and saturation across the scenes, which used quite different lighting setups.

The node tree I used was the same for Lola’s Room as The Man who Fell in Love with the Sky. I was colour grading them at the same time, so using the same workflow avoided any confusion and sped up the process significantly.

The first row of nodes balances the images in exposure, contrast, temperature, saturation and skin-tone, allowing for controlled and easy manipulation of the colour. In the parallel nodes I highlighted areas of each shot, and used them for more specific changes to individual elements of the image.

The opening scene was the most consistent, and fits the soft but saturated intentions I had with the cinematography. It was relatively easy to grade. I made use of tracked masks on faces, with inverted versions to lower the exposure of anything that wasn’t the faces, directing the eye to the action and making the lighting feel more placed and deliberate. I am not entirely happy with the bathroom scene and the following scene, which stand out from the rest of the film due to different lighting, a none of the pink hue which dominates the rest of the film. The final results don’t feel out of place, but aren’t consistent with the visual style.

I added the Kodak 65 film look Davinci LUT preset at 20% intensity across the film, as it separates the luminosity scale towards a filmic look, as well as altering the hues into gently complementary positions. I added varying amounts of noise reduction to deal with some of the grain of the corrupted cards, as well as the colour noise of the grade itself.

I worked through various drafts of the grade. Paula met me at screen academy to work through the grade and give feedback on the consistency of the images. A second opinion really helps, as my eyes adjust to the current conditions of the grade, leading to the picture getting more and more contrasting and saturated.

Log Footage -> Final Image

[riddlerosehearts]

more bg3 thoughts with my half-elf bard elenion. first i want to mention that i actually changed his face/head a bit because it had started bugging me that his ears looked longer and pointier than a half-elf's should really be--they were too much like a full elf's. so i took a closer look at what options were available in the head presets mod i have installed, and i found one that's really similar to what i already had with the biggest differences i can notice just being the ears, and also it has freckles built into it which i was thinking of adding to him anyway. he looks like this now:

i may or may not have cool dyes really early because of mods lol. also, i get really sad about gale in this post!

first thing i came across in the mountain pass was some lady who wanted us to steal a githyanki egg for her so i said no because that just sounds like bad news and i don't think my character would do it. yes i'm locking myself out of quests for the sake of roleplay LOL (i also said no to helping the zhentarim with whatever the fuck they were doing) but it is technically still open if i change my mind, and if not, then it's something i'll get to explore on another playthrough.

HEY IT'S ELMINSTER. I KNOW HIM. and elenion does too because bards get a whole class-specific conversation for this!

i don't usually reload just to try different options but i figure if there's class-specific stuff then i might as well, so i tried all 3 of these and saved elminster's responses. this is what he says about each option:

i actually liked the sound of the last one's title, but elenion hates anything written by volo on principle because of exactly what elminster is describing and therefore that is not going to be their actual response. i think they probably like the first one best.

???? and now elminster is telling us that mystra will only grant "forgiveness" to gale if he stops the absolute by killing himself. and gale is just not objecting to this at all. that is NOT one of the many things i was spoiled about. what the fuck.

well yeah, and elenion is a half-elf who's falling in love with a human and is already keenly aware of the difference in their lifespans and how little time they might have with him (they're not thinking about gale being a powerful wizard who could magically extend his lifespan because they'd never assume that someone would want to do that for them. and more importantly he kind of has a bomb in his chest). there is no way they'd let that time be cut even shorter by allowing gale to kill himself for mystra, and neither will i 😭😭

seriously. it is insane how chill gale is acting about this and how little self-worth he has. part of elenion's story is that they feel responsible for the death of their father so they are not going to let someone else they love die if they can stop it. also i hate mystra right now because literally what the fuck?! what kind of goddess asks that of someone?! before i started playing this game i saw people hate on gale and complain about how "he never stops talking about his ex" but they left out the fact that his ex is the actual goddess of magic who is abusing him!! of course he's going to talk about her!! i'm so sad wtf.

this is actually so completely insane that i'm considering having elenion eat some of the mindflayer parasite specimens and using this as a justification for them feeling desperate enough to do it, because what's the point of any of this if they once again aren't strong enough to save their loved ones? but i'm also still torn because on the one hand the power the guardian is promising could still just be a trick and i'm sure there will be some sort of story consequences down the line for putting more tadpoles in your brain. on the other hand whatever consequences there are might make things more narratively interesting. why am i so indecisive about this omg.

anyway:

this entire conversation is incredible LMAO. i love karlach. i now desperately wish we could see gale's live reaction to karlach telling him that.

you know... maybe lae'zel's words here would help convince elenion that he doesn't need to use the illithid powers to be strong enough to protect gale, when he's got such a powerful group of allies backing him up. this also definitely makes him like and respect lae'zel more, when he's spent most of the game so far finding her abrasive and frustrating to deal with but unfortunately necessary to have around.

THIS on the other hand is not going to make him dislike astarion any less. i think you could look at this dialogue as astarion trying to express in his own fucked up way that he cares, but elenion would definitely interpret it more as "caring more about controlling the cult than about gale being ordered to kill himself" and think it was crazy insensitive of him. so it is probably going to take a long time for them to be able to be friends.

YESS THANK YOU WYLL. wyll is so sweet and good and is basically saying the exact same thing as lae'zel. and elenion puts a lot of stock in his opinion because i've got 97 approval with wyll so they're definitely besties lol. so you know what. i'm going to continue ignoring the tadpoles and i'll roleplay my own indecisiveness as elenion himself having felt really torn up and afraid after talking to elminster and gale, and very strongly considering listening to the dream guardian before speaking to everyone and feeling reassured that there must be another way that doesn't require giving himself more brain worms.

and speaking of wyll and elenion being besties--when i crossed over to rosymorn monastery i got a bit of banter between shadowheart and wyll where he named off a couple of dramatic-sounding titles and was like "i'm trying to decide on a title for this chapter of the blade's adventures!". so they are definitely bonding over wyll being kind of an overdramatic dork who loves talking about his heroic adventures.

after wandering through the monastery area a lot, i found my way to the creche. i checked out a portrait of vlaakith and had a dexterity check option to draw a new face onto it. elenion would not vandalize artwork like that but i couldn't resist so i did it and then reloaded to do the history check instead LMAO. i'm obsessed with the fact that not only is this possible to do but your tav gets this ridiculous grin on their face while lae'zel gets mad:

exploring the creche and seeing the cruel and unforgiving environment that lae'zel has been shaped by is fascinating. in the classrooms they force children to fight to the death, and i had to pass a very high persuasion check to convince the teacher to leave a student who didn't want to kill someone alone. in the infirmary, lae'zel says that if certain protocols are broken then kids are hit with barbed whips. in the hatchery, only one egg has yet to hatch and there's a letter to its caretaker that says that if it can't hatch on its own it should be destroyed--and according to lae'zel, most caretakers would do so. it really is no wonder she's the way she is, and i can't wait to see how she develops.

but also if you tell the caretaker you want to take the egg to another creche that's more forgiving lae'zel approves and then says she feels drawn to its warmth omg 🥺 i just know she has a soft spot for kids.

i keep going back and forth on how i think elenion should feel about the dream guardian. i guess i can roleplay that as them being conflicted, like they were about consuming the tadpoles. i think they definitely want to trust the guardian and believe that she's not just protecting them as a way to use them for her own motives, and generally they do choose to trust her, but they've also been afraid of what could happen if they use the tadpoles and something goes wrong. however, i also think that after getting to meet the dream guardian face-to-face and learn all of these insane things about the githyanki and vlaakith which were then backed up by kith'rak voss, they've become more inclined to believe her.

anyway i am really glad i went to the mountain pass!! and now i definitely don't want to pass up on whatever cool story beats are waiting in the underdark. so, roleplay reasoning for this is that we were already planning to double back anyway after going to check out the creche since it was seemingly the most reasonable lead on a cure, but that uhhhh did not work out and now continuing to travel through the mountain pass feels especially dangerous.

[milkcoffeesims]

Hi! |˶˙ᵕ˙ )ﾉﾞ

I'm so sorry for disappearing for over a month!!! (シ_ _)シ I have a lot of work and have been constantly tired over the last month :c

I actually made this sim quite a while ago! I enjoyed making the last sporty sim so much I had to make another one! I aimed for a more spicy style this time (⸝⸝•̀ ,<)

I'm sure she'd be happy to be your gym buddy 🏐🏐🏐

The only outfit included is the everyday outfit! The outfit is copied over to every other category.

The screenshots were taken with my GShade preset enabled! Comparison between the game's unmodified lighting vs with GShade in last four images - original on the left and with GShade on the right. Link to the preset at the end of the post.

The download includes custom content. I did not make any of the CC used with this sim! Many thanks to all the wonderful CC creators for their hard work! Links to original posts with CC listed below. Please visit their sites and support them if you like anything you see! If you are a CC creator and do not wish for your CC to be included in the package, please do contact me and I will remove it!

SFS (no ads) / MediaFire (no ads)

Obscurus' nosemask - nosebridge/nosetip/nostrils Kijiko's 3D Lashes Version2 Merci's Eyebrows N14 lamatisse's Butterfish skinblend RemusSirion's Cytosine Eyes Merci's Eyeshadow N16 Grafity-cc's Ash Garter moon-craters's thigh high socks recolours SIMANDY's nose shadow Jius-sims' Platform Sneakers 02 Pralinesims' Matte Almond Nails N06 sugar owl's Kelsey earrings nitropanic's Ripped Set (Bottom) simandy's Fiery hair RemusSirion's Pathogen Lipstick Pralinesims' Cheria Rings SayaSims' Freckles N1 Elliesimple's Knit Cropped Sweater Merci's Lilith Eyeliner MAGIC BOT's maxis teeth (default version in dl!)

My GShade preset How to install pre-made sims

[godsnameisjoy]

EFFORTLESSLY PEACEFUL

Date: 18 February 2023

Duration: 68 minutes at 11:01 PM

Depth:

There have been many nights in the past when I have wished for effortless obtaining of a decent meditation duration. Last night’s meditation seems like a first to me. Since I haven’t experienced such a degree of effortlessness at meditation in a while, it feels like a first.

Usually, I enter my deepest best concentration of mind the moment I begin meditating. Usually, my attention takes about half an hour to change directions. My attention can go inwards and remain at its best depth of mind without distractions for about half an hour. Thereafter, my attention will come around, without me wanting it to.

My attention will take a breather from deep meditation without my permission. In the past, there have been months at a stretch when I have attempted returning my attention to the deep in a given meditation, but I have been unsuccessful. During such phases, I have accepted my shortcomings as a meditator and ended the session. Back then, I had figured that the way around the short durations was adding more sessions daily.

Last night is different from all the nights before it simply because of the effortlessly achieved goal of one hour of meditation. Life energies flowing in the head give the perception of Peace. Peace makes much possible. The feeling of Peace is powerful enough to hold one’s attention to it. One can be with Peace while one’s head is being shaken involuntarily by the very energy that is being perceived as Peace.

I want to be able to remember in as much detail as possible the last 34 minutes of last night’s meditation. Those are the minutes when I expect to lose concentration. I know that beyond the surface level consciousness of memory, I don’t have any conscious control over my attention. I also know that my attention behaves fine only for about 30 minutes without me interfering with it.

The second half of last night’s meditation went by in a breeze just like the first half. When I came around, the timer app asked me to add 6 minutes to a preset 61 minutes. It felt good to have exceeded the one hour mark without making a conscious effort. I spent 2 minutes affirming for harmony and then stopped meditating.