#if there's any advent calendar creators here

[juniper-pompadour]

do NOT interact with me or my blog if you accept, endorse or promote picture advent calendars with pictures that do not fill in the picture with a cute or funny little twist.

the pictures are supposed to fill us with wonder. they're supposed to make us see the specks of light in the darkness of december; you're supposed to first see the family gathered around the lightless christmas tree, and then on the christmas morning, you open that flap to see the christmas tree in full decoration.

random pictures of candles with green background just are not the same 😭

[adafruit]

🎄💾🗓️ Day 18: Retrocomputing Advent Calendar - Commodore 64🎄💾🗓️

The Commodore 64, released in 1982, is one of the ones we keep hearing got many people their start in their own computing history. Powered by a MOS Technology 6510 processor at 1.02 MHz and featuring 64 KB of RAM, it became the best-selling single computer model of all time, with an estimated 12.5–17 million units sold. Its graphics were driven by the VIC-II chip, capable of 16 colors, hardware sprites, and smooth scrolling, while the SID (Sound Interface Device) chip delivered advanced audio, supporting three voices with waveforms and filters, making it a lot of fun for gaming and music.

Featured a built-in BASIC interpreter, allowing users to write their own programs out-of-the-box. The C64’s affordability, large software library, lots of games, productivity, and educational applications made it a household name. It connected to TVs as monitors and supported peripherals like the 1541 floppy disk drive, datasette, and various joysticks. With over 10,000 commercial software titles and a thriving homebrew scene, the C64 helped define a generation of computer enthusiasts.

Its impact on gaming was gigantic, iconic titles like The Last Ninja, Maniac Mansion, and Impossible Mission. The C64 also inspired a demoscene, where programmers pushed its hardware for visual and audio effects. The Commodore 64 remains a symbol of computing for the masses and creative innovation, still loved by retrocomputing fans today.

Check out the National Museum of American History, and Wikipedia. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_334636 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64

And…! An excellent story from Jepler -

== While I started on the VIC 20, the Commodore 64 was my computer for a lot longer. Its SID sound chip was a headline feature, and many of my memories of it center around music. Starting with Ultima III, each game in the series had a different soundtrack for each environment (though each one was on a pretty short loop, it probably drove my folks nuts when I would play for hours). There were music editors floating around, so I tried my hand at arranging music for its 3 independent voices, though I can't say I was any good or that I have any of the music now. You could also download "SID tunes" on the local BBSes, where people with hopefully a bit more skill had arranged everything from classical to Beatles to 80s music.

Folks are still creating cool new music on the Commodore 64. One current creator that I like a great deal is Linus Åkesson. Two videos from 2024 using the Commodore 64 that really impressed me were were a "Making 8-bit Music From Scratch at the Commodore 64 BASIC Prompt", a live coding session (http://www.linusakesson.net/programming/music-from-scratch/index.php) and Bach Forever (http://www.linusakesson.net/scene/bach-forever/index.php) a piece played by Åkesson on two Commodore 64s.

Like so many things, you can also recreate the experience online. Here's the overworld music for Ultima III: https://deepsid.chordian.net/?file=/MUSICIANS/A/Arnold_Kenneth/Ultima_III-Exodus.sid&subtune=1 -- the site has hundreds or thousands of other SIDs available to play right in the browser.

Have first computer memories? Post’em up in the comments, or post yours on socialz’ and tag them #firstcomputer #retrocomputing – See you back here tomorrow!

[petalruesimblr]

Holiday Glow | Abstract Minimalism

Individual files: Holiday Glow - Sim File Share | Abstract Minimalism - Sim File Share Bulk Download: click here

Bring the spirit of the holidays indoors with this artwork, that is perfect for adding a touch of Christmas cheer to any Sim’s home. This artwork shows that you can achieve peak serenity with only a splash of color and a dash of form. Embrace the beauty of less with 'Abstract Minimalism'.

Price: 150 Environment: 5 HLOD: ‭104‬ Features: Shiftable, Frame is CASTable Category: Buy > Decor > Wall Decor Room: Living, Dining, Kids, Bedroom, Study EA Mesh Used: Painting Modern from The Sims 3 File Type: Package Min. Required Game Version: 1.42 Packs Needed: The Sims 3 📣The details above apply to both paintings.

Hello and welcome back to my blog!

The first gift for the Petalruesimblr Advent Calendar is custom paintings! I started with something small as my first one. Originally, I planned to share just one custom painting I created months ago but decided to add another one related to the holidays.

Click on the ’Keep Reading’ below for more information and pictures on the custom content.

📣 Right-click on a picture and select ’Open image in new tab’ for a clearer view. Both paintings are base game compatible based on the mesh I used, as mentioned above. This time, I've also included the poly count as I understand some people may want to know that information before downloading custom content. I use TSRW for all the custom paintings I've released so far and followed the instructions from Sims Wiki (check under Credits for the direct link) to calculate the poly count. The images used for both paintings are from Pixabay and I’ve included in-game pictures as well as their respective catalog entries in the screenshots above. As shown, the Holiday Glow and Abstract Minimalism paintings each includes three overlays/pictures. Let me know if you have any questions or experience any problems on your end!

TSR Tutorial - Create Custom Paintings Sims Wiki - Poly Counts for Creators TSR Workshop Pixabay

[ksadvent]

Not to disturb your summer vibes, but September is here (*screams, part in delight, part in shock*) and this means: K/S Sign-Up is happening!

Schedule for 2024:

Sign-ups and prompt posts: September 1 - 30 Prompt claims and creation period: September 1 - November 20 Works due: November 20 Works revealed (gradually): Dec 1 - 31 The time for all these steps is: 11:59 AM UTC. A quick refresher of our FAQs and rules: FAQs:

Advent Calendar? Is this a Christian event? Do I have to create an X-mas-themed work?

No, K/S Advent Calendar is not a Christian (or, generally, religious) event. There's no denying that the concept of such an annual fannish event in December has its roots in the wide-spread, originally German Lutheran custom of advent calendars (which first appeared in the 19th century), and we do keep the term "advent" in the name, but it is important to us that this fest itself is not tied to any specific religion or culture. December comes with a multitude of holidays, traditions, and days of significance around the world (see this list on Wikipedia, for example), be they secular or religious or even fictional (e.g. Festivus or Hogswatch); all of them can be explored for this fest, as can the topics of end-of-year, New Year, winter, and family gatherings. This is a very wide and varied theme, and we hope there's something for everyone in it, creators and readers alike.

Why does this event take place throughout the whole month of December? Advent calendars have 24 doors.

Because it's fun and we think there can be no better way to end the year (and start the new one) than with the delight that is Kirk/Spock. (Also, not all advent calendars have 24 doors.)

Do I have to be on Dreamwidth or Tumblr in order to take part in this fest?

No, a DW account is not required. We have a community on Dreamwidth and a blog on Tumblr for announcements and discussion, but schedules and important admin posts will always be publicly visible. The only account you really need for this fest is an AO3 account. You are, of course, encouraged to post/link to your work anywhere you like to after its reveal; so if you prefer to share your art, for example, on Twitter or Tumblr for greater exposure, then you can crosspost it there as soon as your work is revealed.

Is this a fic exchange?

No. K/S Advent Calendar is a prompt meme, that means participants will not get matched one-on-one and assigned to a gift recipient as is the case in exchanges. So no one is guaranteed a "gift", but there's also much less pressure on participants. Members sign up and post prompts until the defined deadline (see the schedule). Prompts can be claimed by anyone who has an account on the AO3, and the resulting fanworks need to be posted to the collection until the deadline according to schedule. If you need more detailed information on how a prompt meme works (e.g. how to edit your prompts, where to find your claimed prompts etc), please see this section in the AO3 FAQ.

Do I need to be signed up to claim & fill a prompt? What if I missed the sign-up phase?

Admittedly, the term "sign-up" is a tiny bit misleading. The "sign-up" form is for submitting your prompts; if you would like to claim & fill prompts without submitting a prompt yourself, then you do not need to go through the "sign-up" form. Just browse the list of prompts other fans submitted and use the "claim" button to pick whatever tickles your muse. When you claim a prompt it shows up under "My claims" on the collection profile and under "Claims" on your own dashboard. Use the "fulfil" button to post your work, please. Rules:

1. K/S Advent Calendar is an event for adults as some prompts or fanworks might be mature or explicit. By taking part you confirm that you are 18 or older.

2. The theme of this fest is very wide: December comes with a multitude of holidays, traditions, and days of significance around the world, be they secular or religious or even fictional (e.g. Festivus or Hogswatch); all of them can be explored for this fest, as can the topics of end-of-year, New Year, winter, and family gatherings. The focus of your work should be on the pairing Kirk/Spock or Kirk & Spock. Slash (romantic and/or sexual relationship) and gen (friendship) are equally welcome. K/S has many layers and aspects, and this fest is a celebration of them all. No other pairings will be accepted (mentioning side pairings of other characters is fine, but the focus must be on K/S). If a prompt does not touch the theme of the fest at all, it is up to the person who fills the prompt to include the theme. So if you want to have more say in how this should happen, give a few pointers in your prompt. Otherwise the creator has free rein, barring any DNWs. (So if someone prompts, for example, "spanking in the mirrorverse", without any further details, then someone who claims this prompt will have to include the theme somehow. Maybe it's spanking al fresco, on a snowy planet? Or maybe it's 12 Days of X-mas spanking? Or maybe it's a family gathering on Vulcan that entails ancient customs – and whips and paddles (so, basically canon props)? And there are so many other ways the theme could be included.

3. When we say K/S, we mean: both TOS (series and movies) and reboot; Discovery and Strange New Worlds content is also welcome (let's hope we'll get some K/S-worthy material from these series one day). No RPF, please. AUs and mirror universe are welcome.

4. Crossovers between different Trek franchises or between Trek and other media are permitted if the individual prompt states this or actively invites them.

5. All ratings are welcome in this fest. However, when you fill a prompt please stick to the preferred rating of the prompter (if stated in the prompt).

6. All genres welcome, including darker subjects if the prompter asks for them (as long as DNWs are respected). Use the AO3 warnings if applicable.

7. Prompts can be filled by more than one person. You can even fill the same prompt multiple times – the "fulfil" button will show up on the prompt you claimed even if you have already used it for posting a work before.

8. Participants can fill as many prompts as they want to. You can even fill your own prompt.

9. Please list your DNWs (Do-Not-Wants) in the prompt if you want to avoid certain types of content, e.g. rape or character death or specific tropes. When you submit several prompts, please state your DNWs for each. We kindly ask you to not abuse the DNW system: keep it short and simple, and don't box in your creator. When you fill a prompt, please respect the DNWs listed in the request.

10. All types of fanworks are welcome in this fest: fic, poetry, filks, art, vids, podfic etc. Made a giant cake with life-size Kirk and Spock marzipan figures? Post the photos.

11. Minimum word count for written fanworks is 100 words (exception: poems have no minimum word count). There is no maximum word count. Minimum for art: a doodle or clean sketch (on unlined paper, if you use traditional media); manips are permitted. No banner or icon art, please, unless it accompanies a work of fiction or a podfic. No AI-generated works, be it fic or art, will be accepted!

12. Fanworks in languages other than English are allowed: As this is not a one-on-one gift exchange, but a prompt fest, fanworks in languages other than English are absolutely permitted and welcome! Each prompt can inspire a wide variety of fanworks, and as long as you respect the DNWs and the maximum rating of the chosen prompt, it’s all fine!

13. For K/S Advent Calendar, the works will be gradually revealed, at least one per day, hopefully even more than one if there are enough submissions. There is no anon period, but we ask you to not blabber about your work on social media before it appears in the collection. As soon as your work is revealed, you can link or re-post it anywhere you want to. While your work is in the queue and waiting for its scheduled day to go live, it will be marked as "awaiting approval by the mod". Fear not, this is just part of how the gradual reveal that is key for an advent calendar works. Please note that the AO3 keeps the date on which you submitted your work as publication date. When your K/S advent work gets revealed, you can/should update its publication date to its reveal date. Otherwise a work revealed on Dec 20, for example, might carry the publication date Oct 5. Which is not the end of the world and happens in AO3 prompt memes and fic exchanges often, but updating the date will also make your work appear among the recent ones when people search for a pairing or fandom tag. We mods can't do that for you, by the way; updating the publication date of a work is something only its creator can do.

14. Works posted to the collection must be new (created for this fest and unpublished) and complete. No WIPs or placeholder uploads! If you post a work with more than one chapter, it must be complete before the due date.

15. We allow extra works to be posted to the collection: If nothing among the submitted prompts tickles your muse, and if you missed the chance of submitting a prompt that you could have filled yourself, then you can still take part in K/S Advent Calendar by posting the work directly to the collection, without using any "claim" or "fulfil" button. Make sure to put the correct collection name into the appropriate field during the posting process (e.g. for 2024 the collection name is "KS_AdventCalendar2024", without the quote marks), so that the work stays unrevealed until it goes live. We think of these extra works as treats for the whole community. However, please do have a good look at the list of prompts before you choose to take this road. There are such lovely prompts waiting for creators to pick them, and this should take priority over treats.

16. Last but not least: Be courteous to the other participants, act in good faith and assume good faith. For all questions, please contact the mod (DW, Tumblr-Ask, or email: kirkspockmod+ksadvent@gmail.com). We are happy to help!

[dragonfire42]

Fan Fic Writer Interview

What fandoms do you write in?

All my current stories are Good Omens on AO3! But I do a lot of crossovers, including Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Neverending Story, Casablanca, Discworld, and The Seventh Seal. These are all GO stories:

How many words have you published in 2024?

So far – 177,152, but I have enough written on other stories not yet on AO3 to proudly say I passed 200,000 words this year!

What is your greatest achievement this year?

I wrote and performed an hour long solo show for a local Fringe festival, telling a true personal story using 30 puppets I made and 8 magic tricks I performed. It was very stressful and very fulfilling. And I hope to continue to hone this show and take it on the road eventually!

What are your favourite top three fics you wrote this year?

1. Fowl Play – The GO / Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy crossover I wrote in honor of turning 42 this year. Crowley gets ab-DUCK-ted by the alien ducks in S1 and has a post S2 space adventure.

2. Here’s Looking at You, Angel – the Casablanca inspired post GO S2 story I wrote for the Silver Screen Bang, with amazingly lovely art from GingerJo and Sae

3. The Neverending Archive – The Neverending Story / GO crossover I wrote as my very first posted fanfic as my love letter to AO3 and the fandom.

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

In this fandom – SO many this year, trying to ride the waves of new information day by day. Since then:

-  I joined the We're On Our Own Side Fundraiser, to help bring awareness and raise money for the Take Back the Night Foundation. I’m currently finishing a piece for the fundraiser and another one for the zine. @ourownsidefund

- I plan to stay active in the fandom, support the fans, and specifically the Terry Pratchett estate for merch (www.discworld.com).

- (I also made a shadow puppet pumpkin with my feelings on S3.)

What have you learned?

What it means to be part of a fandom. I’ve always been a fan of all kinds of media. But this is my first time actually having fun with strangers on the internet (here’s a video about me learning Discord). Since I wrote that first fanfic in January, I’ve joined 15 different GO Discords, at least 7 FB GO groups, I have two GO blogs on Tumblr, (and just joined Bluesky), and did 7 different fanfics for four different bangs (The DIWS Silver Screen Bang, GO Theatre Bang, GO Spooky Bang, and Fairytale GO bang), and just finished three holiday exchanges (Dreamwidth, GO Reference Discord, and SVD FB Advent Calendar), and I've written monthly ficlets for SOSH Guess the Author and hosted my own round recently too! I’ve had the chance to work with so many amazing writers, artists, editors, readers, creators, and mods who provided so much support and encouragement to feed this delicious collective brain rot and have made so many new friends from around the world. I’ve grown as a writer, met huge deadlines, written more this year than any previous year of my life, and I’m better for it – and want to thank each and every one of you for helping me on that journey too.

What three fics have you read this year that you love?

This was the hardest one to answer. I've very literally read over a million words of fanfic this year and still have 70 tabs currently open of amazing stories from dear friends I'm still trying to read, and I'll have to do a long list later of all the ones I love! But to start with I want to share these three:

Naked and Afraid: Jingle Hell by @klikandtuna for the Sauntering Vaguely Downward Advent Calendar

Couples Therapy – Jurassic Park Edition by @rainwritings for the DIWS Silver Screen Bang

For another gives its ease by @andromeda4004 for the GOMM Reverse Bang

What ideas are percolating for next year?

I’m currently working on these stories:

- A GO 5+1 sickfic (15k written so far), posting in January

- A piece for the star themed GO On Our Own Side Zine

- An original sci-fi book

- A few new pieces for theatre

- Some sequels to previously written AO3 GO stories

- A couple of outside fandom stories, for Doctor Who, Our Flag Means Death, and Blucifer (a weird well known statue in Denver).  

Thank you specifically to @curiouspupsicle for tagging me in this and for all your support too!

Please consider yourself tagged if you read this and want to play, just copy the questions and post! (And also tagging - @naturallyteal, @stillsurfacequietpond @phoen1xr0se, who are always great at tagging me in fun things too!)

[hydrangeachainsaw]

just answering some asks ^-^

it's been awhile I dont answer asks lol I was going to release this post way earlier but always leave it for later😂sorryy! will tag everyone who asked so they can see <3

Hi! Check if there's any sims 4 package in your mods folder, everytime something like this happens is bc of an incorrect game file. lmk any other issue and have a nice day! :)

@virtualdolls Hii! ^-^ Ofc! it might just take awhile cuz i'm busy with other projects rn but will def make! :D if u find any other creator for caw to do it i'm okay with it too! hope ur doing well too have a great week <3

@sarasccblog heyy :) tysm! I will release another version for that tv next month for advent calendar. I actually should've released the version without antlers in the cozy days set and leave the one with antlers for christmas, cuz it makes more sense but I only noticed that later after posting xD anywayss thank youu!

@bunnnnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyy copypaste ftw lol 🥰😍💗💗i will!! thank youuuuu

you need to set up ur caw framework to be able to see cc there, here's a page explaining https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=481967

nope, but I wanna do that eventually :)

@megmeg-chan ty for ur support, i'm glad u like it :3

@marias-assumption 💗

hii! not sure, maybe

sorry i'm not sure what post is that

@pwtti hii! sadly no, i was posting some stuff on cf tho you can find some cc there

hii thanks for letting me know will check it out!

ty already talked to her about it :)

@luyepiaofeng hii it's for both sim 3 and sims 4!

@suteflower Hii Sute! hope ur doing well! yep i'm from brazil, she/her! :) grl you have good memory i don't even remember mentioning that publicly before xD

yep!

@cutebich hii thank u! ofc! will do it eventually there's some more other suggestions i need to make but will def do! thanks!

hii! that's the same tutorial i've watched, it's a bit complicated but give it another try i'm sure you can do it :) also im too shy to make videos sorryyy xD

tysm makes my day to know u guys like it <3

@thesims4babe hii! there's a bottle override for sims 3 too

im not converting anymore ever since i started making my own cc, i only ever convert things for halloween or christmas that i like and that's it (and commissions too) hope u understand! <3

@joshiifox hii sorry for late reply, hopefully you got it working by now. it's working normally here

@francesweyr hii! it's no problem don't worry! petit trianon is a felix conversion, it's been son long i don't even remember how i did that 😭😂 I think I just used the game's walls to support it or used cfe cheat, not sure. but nowadays you can use omedapixel mod to do that easily

@bebefege 😁💗

np! it's my fave <3

@chxm1calkid hii! this ask is so old i already made it but haven't posted it yet xD anyway will post it asap, probably after all the christmas cc

@usermitsuri hi! i advise using the latest blender version, but its okay if ur already using older. I used 2.79 for many years and recently changed to newest version and i prefer it nowadays. anyway, there's ton of tutorials on youtube that's how i learned, just choose something you'd like to make and start. I began doing very simple forms like a teacup, so i'd advise doing something similar. you can do basically anything just searching blender + whatever object you wanna make + tutorial on google/youtube. hope that helps lmk if you have more questions

@aiikrstn iirc there is! tnx glad u like

that's it, will post part2 next:)

[berrysims-lp]

i sent that harrie person an ask but i feel like sharing it here as well. i couldn't reply to a comment on her post because she restricted those and after her shitty attitude it rubbed me the wrong way so here's what i sent in response to this comment:

you're restricted comments because you know people are right. as someone who has *literally* just gotten into the tumblr world and is still stumbling around and finding nice cc creators i can start donating to as soon as i get a job after graduation this is a great way of making sure you won't get much more new support. "free downloaders", this is a game we all paid for and there are TOU within EA about cc creators on THEIR codes you use for all this stuff you make. if this is how you make your "salary" like you wrote to that other person, then you need to get a damn job, like i am currently searching for so i can DONATE to the creators who are here because they enjoy the community and not money grabbers like you. i'm so glad i never got to use any of your stuff and never will.

the issue is not the paywalling, it's not the fact she wants to have some sort of gratification for her work, those are totally fine and i already have a list of creators i want to donate to as soon as it's possible for me because life is difficult for everyone and i literally just graduated and i'm looking at having to work outside my field because there are just no positions for me where i live. but to be a complete ass to "free downloaders" and talk about "purchasing cc" and whatever entitled shit this is:

is ridiculous. it's not our job to pay your bills. you're 37, you're clearly good enough with computers, coding, and design. i don't see why you'd be this nasty to commenters unless you're just a very shitty person.

creators like rebouks, willowsworld, simmireen and so many others are kind even to those who don't pay or donate and some are going through a whole advent calendar event and/or giveaways because tis the damn season but you can't even have proper words with your commenters? the reasoning? because they don't "like and comment" often enough? jesus.

more like 7 years old but whatever.

all of this to say, if you're my mutual and didn't know about this, i strongly suggest avoiding anything from this creator because i honestly don't think it's worth it. a rotten personality is the worst here. it just makes me sad because i remember when i was a kid and didnt have any means to even buy the games and i was pirating them and was one of the "free downloaders". even now that i want to donate to so many creators i have to wait until life sets its course so to have these kind of people who demand a "salary" from the community and looks down on those who can't/won't pay it for her is just...icky.

[haunting-heroes-creative-games]

❄️ The DPxDC Winter Advent event starts today! ❄️

Hey everyone!

Today marks the start of our first DPxDC event: the Haunting Heroes Winter Advent.

This event is for all creators in the fandom who want to join in some winter fun with prompts to use as inspiration for stories, art, and more.

Check out the full list of prompts and details for the event here: Link to full Calendar

You can tag your creations on Tumblr as #HauntingHeroesAdvent23 or @ us so we can reblog them on their corresponding day.

You can also submit your works to our AO3 collection [link here] and tag them there as "Haunting Heroes Winter Advent 2023"

Let us know if you have any questions about the event. If you're 18yo or older and want to join our safe for work DPxDC server, send us an ask to get a link 💚

We hope you have fun! 💚❄️☃️

This week's prompts are:

[psalacanthea]

WiP Whenever

I don't know if the target audience will see this, but if they do, maybe that'll be a nice Christmas surprise! Here's this, from this fic, which is updating very soon, as it got 3rd in the Advent calendar!

Finally we meet two new/old friends in the post-college au

...

“When I opened it, I thought it might be out of date.  It looked awful,” Felassan said, chewing away at the candy bar with the dogged determination of a man who would see his bad choice through.

Ellie could see that what peeked out of the wrapper was whitened, the chocolate bloomed.  It was old. He was still eating it.  “But it’s not?” she hazarded. "Please tell me it's not."

“It definitely is.  Tastes horrible,” he said, leaning a hip against the stone-pebbled trashcan, the rest of the bar tumbling from his fingertips into it as he extended a hand.  “I’d recommend avoiding those.”

Somewhere in the distance Solas' faintly pontificating voice carried; hopefully he'd figured out what was wrong with Dorian's car. Though with her luck, they were in the midst of a lively debate about some...esoteric bullshit. Here she was, caught in his wake.

Why had Ellie let this happen?

She pursed her lips, turning her attention back to the da’len on her hip.  Well, Felassan seemed like a weirdo, but she wasn’t in any position to judge considering she'd just run away from her problems with her ex.  “Da’len, the guardian of the truck stop says no chocolate.  Did you still want your cheezy dragons?”

“Dwagins pweese,” Wren agreed, car nap-flattened curls bouncing oddly with her emphatic nod.

“I haven’t tried those,” Felassan laughed, gliding out of the way with a small gesture of a hand, backing towards the women’s bathroom. He found a pillar for his back and leaned, shoulders hunching again as he watched her from the dark like a coyote.

Pleased with his at least respecting her space, Ellie approached the machine. It only took dollars, which meant no change- cheap.  At least she always kept well-flattened ones in her wallet; they came in handy a lot at work.  Snacks were a sure-fire way to get a kid to relax.

Ellie fed a bill into the machine while habitually balancing the hungry three year old, and then frowned and added another.  A buck and a half for probably eight cheezy dragons? Well, two bucks considering they only took bills and didn't give change.  Were they stupid or just evil? 

When she’d been a kid that was fifty cents.

“When did they make truck stops a ripoff?” she asked, letting Wren push the ‘D’ and ‘6’ with solemn focus, chubby fingers reddening with the force.  Absently she smoothed a hand over the tousled da’len’s head, kissing her forehead.  Wren watched the machine, round-eyed and wrapt as the coil turned.

“Nobody’s content with just getting by any more.  It’s eat or be eaten,” Felassan said sardonically from behind her, in the shadows.

Creators' fucking sake, he sounded like Solas.

Better not let them meet.

[12daysofmystrade]

FAQ

Hello! We thought you might have some questions about the "12 Days of Mystrade & Friends" calendar.

What is the event?

12 Days of Mystrade & Friends is an Advent Calendar where creators can contribute a written or visual piece. The idea is to have 12 pieces, one for each day between Dec 21 - Jan 1.

What does « Mystrade & Friends » stand for?

We accept all kinds of pairings, be it Mystrade, Johnlock, or any other pairing, so long as the characters are from the Sherlock universe. You can also create a general story if that’s more your jam!

What type of work?

It can be a story, art, video, comic, or anything you fancy, as long as it’s a new work! The Calendar is intended to promote never-seen-before work so we can all discover it – like opening a little door on a real Advent Calendar & finding out what surprise lies inside. It can be a new installment in an ongoing series, but we aren’t aiming to include works already posted.

We only ask that you post it to AO3, on the date we've agreed on, to join the calendar!

What do I have to do to enter?

You have until Dec 6 to fill in this Google form here.

You only need to type: 

What type of content you’ll be creating

The main pairing (if there’s any)

Your ao3 handle

A brief summary of your work and/or its title (if you have them)

Also if there are any dates you’d prefer or would want to avoid posting on, please let us know through the form, and we will do our best to match everyone with a date that works for them.

When do I post?

We will contact you through your email (or Tumblr) to let you know the date when you have to post your work to AO3. As this is an Advent Calendar, we ask that you post on the date that was assigned to you.

Please note that if you’re especially busy at that time of year, you can set up everything on Ao3 in advance! You can load your work and save it as a draft if it's more convenient for you. Please make sure that you change the publication date so that it shows the date assigned to you for the Calendar (and not the date on which the draft was created)!

“Something came up and I can’t join the Calendar anymore!”

Hey, we get it. Sometimes real life throws some curveballs at us, or the muse deserts us at the worst time! If, after signing up, you find that you can’t post your work for whatever reason, we only ask that you let us know as soon as possible so we can organise ourselves and find a replacement.

"I want to join but I can't think of an idea."

No worries! We will soon put up a post with different prompt lists and ideas!

I have more questions.

Unfortunately, Tumblr doesn’t allow group blogs to receive or send messages (DMs). You can send us an ask or contact us at:

12daysofmystrade@gmail.com if you have additional questions.

Join us, won't you?

[nevros-fr]

Three Kinds of Chickensmoothie Pets :)

I've realized a lot of people have heard of the pet site Chickensmoothie (CS) but probably only get as far as the site pets and just stop there. I want to just put it out there that there is a lot more to do! It's a small community but it has great community driven events.

TLDR: I wanted to highlight Oekaki pets and pixel adopts to more people! They deserve to be more popular! Oekaki pets are drawn by anyone often us the CS browser drawing app, Oekaki. Pixel adopts are usually drawn in a different program and shared on site for people to adopt. Most of these adopts are totally free but you have to put in some elbow grease to adopt them.

Keep reading if that interests you :0c

Chickensmoothie Crash Course:

Why the name Chickensmoothie? Tess, the creator, really liked chickens and made a website that was a "smoothie" of a lot of what she liked at the time and called it Chickensmoothie. That website was pretty short lived but she reused the name for her pet site.

The Site Pets

You essentially log on every month to adopt pets that site artists make. You can log in during holidays to get special pets, there are three "banner" events a year where you scavenger hunt for tokens to trade in for pets. These events are: Summer Break, Halloween, and Easter.

The other type of event is to just log in for pets which is the Advent Calendar for the month of December. Log in everyday for a new pet - Dec 18 being the day when three rare+ are given as gifts to everyone.

Oekaki Pets

I have been on CS for 10+ years on and off, but what really gets my goat are the oekaki closed species! Closed species is a group where the artists make designs for people to adopt.

If you were on the deviant art closed species boom, this is like that but 80% of the oekaki ones are free. Closed species are usually designs that you pay for or you pay for make your own or custom slots to get a design that you can call a closed species.

On CS, what happens is that one or two people make lines on the oekaki program and the artists colour them in to make designs!

I can make a tutorial on navigation later but in any case, you can click on the oekaki image and it leads you to a page like this: Marumis are currently the hit closed species right now. The big image are the original lines and the smaller images under them will lead to pets that you can adopt.

How do you adopt one? It can be a raffle, answering a writing prompt and/or draw an answer. Do your best to develop a character for the art and you can win the adopt! I think it's a great, low stakes way to practice writing and drawing.

Pixel Pets

On CS they are considered UMAs - user made adoptables because they are in the area of the forums. Not to be confused with user made accents on FR.

UMAs are often pixel styled pets. These buddies are completely luck to get since artists put out a batch and you just have to hope you are one of the first people to post a claim form, first come, first served style.

The newest group on the block that I really like are Sqim! They are cute critters that are having a belated Halloween event. You just have to post a few forms, do a few tasks and bam, Sqim!

Here are some of my recent favourites from all three categories:

Smallest to largest:

Site pet hamster from Halloween 2024

Wermz UMA made by Oblivion

Marumi adopt made by phione.

I hope I opened your eyes to the delights of Chickensmoothie.

Now go explore the pets on CS! Adopt some pets! Make your own!

[simfluencer-network]

Preview spoiler under read more!

You did it, you opened the last door for this year's calendar.

As I'm writing this, I'm also sighing with relief, because maintaining the calendar is the most involved thing I do every year and it costs me loads of time and energy. I have spent more than 100 hours making the calendar, updating and creating patterns, setting up queued posts, fixing issues, uploading files, taking screenshots, dealing with game crashes and having to redo stuff again, and dealing with my mental health issues that tend to sabotage my workflow at the most inconvenient times. I still enjoy doing it, mainly because of those who tell me how happy the calendar makes them every year. I also get to challenge myself, which is scary but also rewarding and I learn important things about myself, like how I cope under pressure, and it teaches me to improvise when my executive dysfunction does not allow me to do what I planned initially. I still work way too slowly and get lost in the details a lot, so that gets me into trouble easily when it comes to deadlines. But I worked out a system that got me a day off while working 2 doors in one day (this was possible because I had a lot of patterns beforehand), and that worked surprisingly well. This gives me confidence I may pull it off again next year! I could have 5 years of calendars in a row (if only I could schedule my dental appointments this regularly 😆) If you want to say thank you for my efforts in a big way, please consider a donation. My website fee is due in a few months (264€ to be exact) and receiving some donations would really help me out. I cannot work a regular job due to my mental health issues, and keeping my website is important to me. It's the place where you can get most of my CC and I have kept my site ad-free all these years. A comment will also mean a lot to me, so you can also support me in that way if money is not an option for you.

Thank you!

Okay, with that out of the way, here is the last pattern!

I have worked much longer than anticipated on this pattern, which combines the festive spirit with our favorite Sims franchise mascots (the freezer bunny and Llamas - no flamingos this time, sorry).

The pattern is a modification of a real Sims merch pullover. Don't have the bucks to buy that sweater? At least your sims can enjoy it without paying a fortune!

The pattern comes in two sizes, horizontal and vertical versions. Have fun recoloring it!

Download here

If you still have time, you could read my emergency story that I had by default behind every calendar door as a fallback in case I wasn't ready in time with the upload. It happened a few times, especially in the beginning, so some of you may already know this story!

The Pitiful Pattern Predicament

Why is there no download? Let me tell you a story...

In the digital design studio of Simlicious, the North Pole’s most sought-after creator of Sims 3 patterns, chaos was brewing. Today’s advent calendar gift—a set of stunning new fabric patterns—was supposed to be uploaded before midnight. The early birds were excitedly waiting for them after all! And rightfully so: these weren’t just any patterns. No, these were the finest that Simlicious could dream up to celebrate the season: a classic gingham, fun candy-cane stripes, and a softly glittering snowflake fabric. They were designed to make any Sim’s home look cozy, stylish, and festive all at the same time. But something had gone terribly, hilariously wrong.

The Bed vs. Sweater Fiasco

The trouble started when Simlicious applied the first pattern—a cozy red-and-green tartan—to a bedspread. It looked fantastic: warm, festive, and perfect for a Sim’s homey bedroom. But then, as a test, Simlicious decided to slap that same tartan pattern onto a sweater.“Oh no,” she muttered, her chai latte trembling in her hand. The tartan pattern, when stretched across the sweater’s oddly-shaped mesh, morphed into a warped, psychedelic nightmare. The lines twisted at impossible angles, and the festive plaid now looked less “holiday cheer” and more “abstract art gone horribly wrong.” Worse still, when Simlicious zoomed in, she realized the colors had somehow shifted, creating a disturbing optical illusion that made the sweater look slimy.“ Okay, maybe not that one,” she sighed, hastily deleting the sweater test and moving on to the next pattern.

The Great Pixel Rebellion

As if the sweater fiasco wasn’t bad enough, Simlicious noticed something strange happening on her screen. One by one, tiny bits of the snowflake pattern began wiggling. At first, she thought it was a glitch. But then, to her horror, the little white pixels began marching off the design. “Are those... pixels escaping?!” she gasped. Indeed, the snowflake pattern was falling apart before her eyes. The rogue pixels formed a tiny army and began spelling out messages on her screen: ��WE REFUSE TO BE STRETCHED OVER CHAIRS!” Simlicious realized her mistake too late—she had accidentally used an experimental AI-driven pattern generator that gave her designs a tiny bit of sentience. Now, the pixels were staging a full-blown rebellion. “Get back here!” she yelled, trying to corral the pixels with her mouse. But they scattered, fleeing to the corners of her screen and hiding behind icons like tiny, mischievous elves.

The Color Scheme Crisis

Desperate to salvage the situation, Simlicious turned her attention to the final pattern: a cheerful candy-cane stripe. It looked perfect on walls, wonderful on throw pillows, and surprisingly chic on curtains. But when she tried applying it to a Sim’s dress, something inexplicable happened: the colors began shifting on their own. At first, the stripes were classic red and white. But then, without warning, the red morphed into neon green, the white became hot pink, and the whole dress started flashing like a broken Christmas light.“WHAT IS HAPPENING?!” Simlicious screamed. Apparently, the candy-cane pattern had inherited some of the rebellious pixels from the snowflake design, and they were having far too much fun messing with the color scheme.

A Suspenseful Cliffhanger

By now, it was late evening, and the elves were nervously pacing outside Simlicious’s studio. “The players are waiting!” Sparkle the IT elf called through the door. “It’s almost too late to upload!” Inside, Simlicious was furiously clicking, her hand cramping on her mouse. “Just a little more time!” she yelled back. She had deleted the rebellious snowflake pattern, but rogue pixels kept popping up in places they shouldn’t—on curtains, on furniture, even on the game’s loading screen. And the candy-cane stripes? They were now flashing a cryptic message: “YOU CAN’T RUSH PERFECTION.” “I don’t have time for this!” Simlicious groaned, trying to wrestle the patterns into submission. But the rebellious pixels weren’t done yet. Somewhere, deep within the game files, they were stirring up more trouble—corrupting meshes, twisting color palettes, and possibly even plotting their next move. The elves outside exchanged worried glances. “Should we tell the players what’s going on?” Sparkle whispered. “Not yet,” Jingle replied. “Let’s hope Simlicious can fix it. But if she can’t... well, we’ll have to come clean.” And so, the fate of today’s advent calendar gift hangs in the balance. Will Simlicious manage to upload the patterns before the pixels destroy everything? Or will the holiday chaos claim yet another victim? Stay tuned... Moral of the story: Sometimes, the perfect pattern takes a little longer than expected. AI can help you to develop a good story like this one, but do not expect it to create a perfect pattern.

It's the 24th, Christmas Eve. I hope you like the last treat I prepared for you. Happy Holidays!

🎄Visit the Advent Calendar 2024🎄

🕯️Alt Link (with animated door)🕯️

It was a lot of work, but a lot of joy as well to prepare all these gifts for you. Your lovely feedback and help to troubleshoot the squished links issue I had in the first week of the calendar kept me going!

I want to thank @gittessimsadventuresog, @simsmono, and @windermeresimblr again for submitting background images for the calendar. They were all so wonderful and I enjoyed them immensely! I hope you all did too.

I will release a full collection of the calendar, but I don't have an ETA yet since I'm spending time with my family now and need to recharge.

If you want, you can give me a present too!

Your contribution will help pay for my website and my Photoshop subscription. Thank you for your support!

Now enjoy this last treat!🎁

[petalruesimblr]

St. Mary’s Convent

Sim File Share

This quaint chapel is the perfect spot for those seeking love, peace and a little bit of laughter on their special day. Whether you're exchanging vows, attending mass or just taking a moment for prayer, St. Mary’s Convent provides a peaceful haven for all.

Price: 50,475 Lot Size: 20x30 Lot Type: No Visitors Allowed Store Content: Click here CC Used: Click here File Type: Package Min. Required Game Version: 1.42 Packs Needed: The Sims 3, Ambitions (trees), World Adventures (window), Pets, Generations, Seasons, Late Night

Hello and welcome back to my blog!

I'm back with the second gift for the Petalruesimblr Advent Calendar: a church/chapel community lot, perfect for weddings! I personally prefer using a church for weddings in my game rather than a wedding hall and this is one of my favorites among the lots I've built so far.

Click on the ’Keep Reading’ below for more information and pictures on this lot.

This lot is mainly intended for weddings, as I’ve placed an invisible wedding rug in front of the altar but you can easily swap that out for a wedding arch if you'd prefer. There’s also a small outdoor reception area at the back, which can accommodate up to 14 guests, making it perfect for close family and friends.

This lot is set as “No Visitors Allowed” thus can’t be used for destination, funeral or wedding parties. However, you can change the lot type to host a party to any of the following lots stated in this Wiki here. I set it up this way to avoid inactive Sims using the buffet every time they get hungry, as most of them don’t clean up afterward and it tends to get messy.

For RP players, you can decorate the church for each wedding - placing flowers, balloons or any other décor you like. The decorations shown in the pictures above are not included in the final lot but if you're interested, you can find the flowers from ATS3 here.

You can even use this lot for funeral parties if you prefer. I believe ATS3 also has open coffins (same link above) while BuffSumm offers dead bodies that you can place inside or also use the lot for the Priest Career by Lily__XD from MTS. However, you may need to make room for the rabbit hole rug or door, as the creator uses City Hall for this specific career. There are endless possibilities for roleplaying, so feel free to do whatever you like with any of my builds! 😊

📣 Please note that the CC included in the lot are not included on the download file. I’ve compiled a list for those interested in downloading them separately (please click the links above or go to WCIF Navigation page) but those are not required and will be automatically replaced in the game. Any expansion packs with build items listed in the Details section above may be required for this lot to show up in your game.

This lot has been play-tested and let me know if you experience any problems on your end!

[ksadvent]

Deadline coming up!

Dear Advent creators: Here's your reminder that the deadline for submitting your work(s) is coming up: 20 Nov 2024, 11:59 AM UTC!

There are still 76 unposted claims. We are also still very short on non-written works (art, podfic, crafts, etc) https://archiveofourown.org/collections/KS_AdventCalendar2024/requests

If you cannot make it in time, you can still post to the collection / fill your claims any time during December, but please let the mods know. We need a certain number of fic, art, podfic etc. to comfortably start the daily posting schedule on Dec 1, and then sustain the posting during the month. Otherwise too many works would be revealed only towards the end of the fest, which is not the concept of an advent calendar.

Cheering you on for creating All The Things for K/S Advent 2024!

[cricketnationrise]

Cricket's Deck the Haus Fics! ❄️🎄❄️🎄

Hey y'all! I had am absolute blast participating in the @deckthehaus fest and here are all my fics in for it in one place now that creators have been revealed!

...on the first day of christmas Tango/Whiskey, 2188 Words, Advent Calendars, Getting Together, POV Whiskey, Tadpoles, Legends Only Prompt: Tango gives Whiskey an Advent Calendar of Questions that ends on asking Whiskey on a date.

to dance under sparkling lights Nursey/Dex, 4694 Words, Charmer, Hallmark Vibes, Getting Together, Dex Didn't Go To Samwell, Diner Owner Dex, NHL Player Chris Chow, Publisher Rep Nursey, Alternating POV, Small Towns, Pining, Idiots In Love, Cameos from SMH/Falconers Prompt: Hallmark movie vibes please!! Maybe Nursey owns a small, struggling bookstore and Dex is the manager of the chain bookstore that just opened up in town. Maybe Nursey just moved to Dex's small town from the big city. Any cheesy Hallmark plot will do, as long as they fall in love just in time for Christmas!

Ringing In Polyfrogs, 582 Words, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Getting Together, Captain Dex, First Kiss, Senior Frogs, Dex POV Prompt: A New Year's Eve kiss between the ship of your choice!

knit one, purl cthulhu Nursey/Dex, 495 Words, Nursey POV, Fiber Arts (sort of), Fluff and Humor Prompt: Nursey is always cold so Dex decides to learn how to knit to make him a scarf (or hat or mittens). Up to you whether Dex is great at knitting or terrible, but either way Nursey loves it!

never gonna find me a better day Nursey/Dex/Chowder/Farmer, 2898 Words, Dex POV, PolyFarms has a snow day, Senior Frogs, they're all in love, and its snowing, The Haus, Samwell Campus, Jerry's Brunch, Sledding, Snowball Fights, Snowman Building, Fire Pit, Hot Chocolate, Fluff, Unrepentant Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Domestic Fluff

[haunting-heroes-creative-games]

❄️☃️ Second Week of DPxDC Winter Advent continues... ☃️❄️

Hey everyone!

Our Haunting Heroes DPxDC Winter Advent event [Link to full calendar here] is now going on the second week of prompts!

This event is for all creators in the fandom who want to join in some winter fun with prompts to use as inspiration for stories, art, and more.

How to share:

Tumblr: You can tag your creations on Tumblr as #HauntingHeroesAdvent23 or @ us so we can reblog them on their corresponding day.

AO3: You can submit your works to our AO3 collection [link here] and tag them there as "Haunting Heroes Winter Advent 2023"

Discord: You can share your work on the Haunting Heroes Discord. To join, if you're 18yo or older and want to join our safe for work DPxDC server, send us an ask to get a link.

Let us know if you have any questions about the event. We hope you have fun! 💚❄️☃️

This week's prompts are: