#picked via my library's suggestions

[zentriii]

are we sure that there aren't actually only 20 books out there. like has anyone actually checked

[writingquestionsanswered]

hiya! for writers who are complete beginners, kinda sorta maybe write at a high school level, can't describe to save their lives, have overall bad flow (as in they can't decide what little moments scenes to think up and even write, if they do, they're no good), have been told countless times to write daily and just read more but that doesn't cover the basics or foundations of creative writing, not like they can learn from a book bc they're a hands on learner anyway and p.s they're super broke so can't afford writing classes and no library near them offers free ones ---- aka me :( --- do you have any advice? lol i feel kinda doomed and that maybe writing isn't for me, but I don't wanna get my hopes down!! with the right tools, it's possible.

Free Resources for Learning How to Write

I want to start with addressing why you've been told so often "to write daily and read more" as a way to learn how to write. It's very difficult to learn and excel at a craft if you have no experience with said craft. You can read all the information in the world about how to forge a sword, but that doesn't mean you'll be able to pick up a hunk of metal and be able to forge a beautiful sword. You need to spend a lot of time watching other people forge swords, and spend a lot of time actually practicing each step yourself if you want to get good at it. Writing works the same way. Reading lets you experience what fiction should be, writing lets you practice each step for yourself.

Fortunately, there are lots of ways to read fiction for free. You can borrow books from friends, family members, and members of your community. You can check out books and e-books from your local library if you have one. You can look for Little Free Libraries in your neighborhood. There's also a lot of legally free fiction available online. Project Gutenberg, Planet E-Book, Bartleby, Literature.org, Classic Literature, Classic Short Stories, Wattpad, Archive of Our Own, Library of Short Stories, Levar Burton Reads, and sites like Kobo, Amazon, and Audible often offer freebies of both e-books and audio books.

Other free ways to learn how to write:

1 - Follow bloggers and vloggers and authors on social media who talk about the craft of writing. Some of my favorites are: Joanna Penn/The Creative Penn, K.M. Weiland, Liselle Sambury, Abbie Emmons, Hannah Lee Kidder, Brittany Wang, Alyssa Matesic, Bethany Atazadah, Lindsay Puckett, Alexa Donne, Shaelin Writes, Ellen Brock, The Writing Gals, and Sincerely, Vee.

2 - Follow writing craft blogs here on tumblr: (some suggestions) @writingwithcolor, @howtofightwrite, @heywriters, @cripplecharacters, @lgbtqwriting, @fixyourwritinghabits, @wordsnstuff, @yourbookcouldbegayer, @lizard-is-writing

3 - Watch writing craft videos on YouTube: If there's something specific you want to learn about, say, "how to structure a scene," type it into YouTube and many different videos will pop up that walk you through how to structure a scene. Just look for one that strikes you as appealing!

4 - Look for free writing resources online: many authors (especially indie authors and writing gurus/coaches like Joanna Penn, K.M. Weiland, Bethany Atazadeh, Brittany Wang, and Abbie Emmons) offer free writing resources on their web sites or by signing up for their newsletters. Often you'll see writers participating in free online writing summits/workshops which you can sign up for and either watch the videos live or via video playback that is offered for a short period of time (like 24 hours.)

5 - Do a Google Search: believe it or not, there's not a single thing you could want to learn about writing that you can't find for free on Google. If you want to learn how to improve your grammar, go to Google, type in "tips for improving grammar" and you will get a million articles that will tell you how to do just that. Want to learn how to improve your story's flow? Google "how to improve story flow" and you'll have your answer. You can even search for free worksheets, guides, and workbooks on just about anything you want. "Free character development worksheet" brought back a ton of nice looking free worksheets. "Free worldbuilding workbook" brought up several free workbooks and worksheets to help you with worldbuilding. Everything you could want to know is out there.

And, bonus: you can always read through the posts in my WQA master list to get help with a wide variety of craft and writer-related issues.

Happy learning! ♥

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[spearmintsmut]

MY OWN MUDBLOOD 5

The tensionnn thank you for the suggestions for this fic, I’m so glad I kept writing it. I hope this smut heals the broken heart last chapter gave you x

Draco hadn’t returned since he left via floo and you were left alone with your reeling mind. Not only was he already difficult to live with on a good day, he was unpredictable too and it was giving you whiplash. You had him in your mouth and a moment after he was done, he was angry again for thoughts that were beyond your control. It isn’t fair, you thought, that he could hear your thoughts AND hold that against you as if you could help it. You decided to open up one of the books your father had picked up for you when you moved to the manor and brush up on some spells to distract yourself. Flipping through the pages, you weren’t sure where to start. You would ask your father for help but since moving in with Narcissa, he paid even less attention to you and asking him for help would feel like talking to a brick wall. You decided to start light with some less intimidating spells and charms, landing on lumos. You pick your wand up reading carefully as you flick your wand, light instantly gleaming from it. Though it seemed like an easy enough spell, you were still pleased with yourself. You turned it off with a spell just as simple and moved on to the next. Accio, a summoning spell. Also seemed simple enough, you thought, reading the small paragraph on it. You set your book down and picked your wand back up. You lifted your hand up nervously as you summoned the book, still unsure of if you were saying it correctly, but it flew to your hand so quickly you almost dropped it. You couldn’t stop the smile that spread across your face, having taught yourself two new spells without any help or experience. You already had a good momentum and kept reading. The next chapter was on levitation. You looked around your room for something to levitate but all there was on the floor of your new room was a small pile of clothes. You read the spells closely before you pointed your wand at it with a swish and flick.

“Wingardium Leviosa,” You spoke awkwardly, hoping you said it right - and sure enough, a pair of your lace panties lifted up slowly into the air above the pile. You held your wand up, keeping the panties in the air as you cast your eyes back down to the book to confirm the spell to drop them back down. You read the spell aloud, but as you looked back up at your work, the panties fell into a large pale hand. You almost fell back in shock as your eyes adjusted to the tall blonde in your room.

“Another gift for me huh mudblood? I’ll take it,” he said with a straight face but painfully smug tone. He shoved the panties in the pocket of his perfectly ironed pants.

You didn’t know if you wanted to apologise for the thoughts he heard earlier in the library, or yell at him for listening in the first place. You almost couldn’t enjoy what you’d done in that library. Almost didn’t think about it all afternoon. Almost weren’t hearing his moans in your mind right now. Your mind snapped back to reality like a rubber band as he spoke your name. Your eyes refocused and looked at him, though you couldn’t find your words.

“These piss-easy spells aren’t going to help you if…when..,” he stumbled on his words then stopped. He drew in a slow breath through his teeth, clenching his jaw before he started again. “These spells are useless. Come and get another book off me after Tea. I want you studying spells that will actually protect you in the case of…what ever” he trailed off and you noticed him hold his hand over his covered forearm. You remembered seeing the dark mark on his arm and felt a pang of sympathy at the thought of what he must have had to endure during that time. You quickly pulled yourself out of that thought, worried that he was listening to your thoughts again. You nodded at him in agreement.

“I’m glad you’re learning…something at least,” he offered and his compliment surprised you, though it was still rather patronising. You gave him half a smile but didn’t respond.

You both took a quick step back from each other as you heard the sound of high heels clicking against the marble staircase, but before Draco had the time to leave your room, you saw Narcissa reach your door.

“Oh how nice, you two are finally getting along,” she cheered looking at the two of you. You offered a polite smile and Draco just rolled his eyes.

“How were my favoured slytherin boys, son?” She asked warmly and you wondered who they were. Was they who he was with the last couple of days? Draco having friends, or keeping them, was hard to imagine if he acted the same with anyone else. “Fine,” he shrugged.

“Do bring them to visit again, Draco. You know I haven’t seen them since before…well, you know,” she trailed off, clearly not wanting to finish her thought. “Anyway, Tea will be ready in 5,” she tried to finish cheerfully.

“Sure. If you promise not to fawn over them” he raised a brow at her. She promised him she wouldn’t, though whoever they were, it seemed as though she might anyway.

She turned and descended the stairs gracefully, flowing down in her gold trim dress.

The Malfoy two made you feel underdressed no matter what you wore, you looked down at your white blouse and pleated skirt. You knew you would have to find a new wardrobe soon to at least try and fit in with your new family. The word still tugged at your chest..”family”. You barely knew your step mother, and your step brother had been between your legs barely three days ago. Family was hardly the word for it, though you longed for it nonetheless.

When you swam out of your thoughts and looked up, Draco was studying your face. He didn’t ask any questions, but he stared intently like he were reading a book. You figured he was intruding in your thoughts again and scoffed, pushing past him and down the stairs. Though he hadn’t meant to that time, he had heard what he needed to, as if your thoughts of him flashed in his mind like a snippet of a movie. Though he would never admit to it being unintentional, he enjoyed almost every minute of it. Snape had taught him the art of legilimency in 6th year, and though he became skilled at it quickly, there were still things he didn’t understand, like why he heard or saw thoughts that others had of him without intending to. It had happened when you fantasised about him, which he delighted in listening in to. But it had also happened when he arrived home and found you in the library that morning, leaving him an uncomfortable mixture of rage, and something else. He couldn’t place what it was, but it made him feel warm. He never felt warm. Though he didn’t allow himself to feel regret for the way he reacted that morning, he knew he might, had he been raised differently.

You walked into the luxurious dining hall and sat across from your father and Narcissa, who were already seated next to each other. You were half glad they had taken those seats so you didn’t have to sit front on toward Draco again. That was until he sat beside you and your senses filled with his expensive cologne, and you could just about feel the electricity between your bodies. You were still angry that he had likely read your mind again moments before, but now sharing the room with both of your parents, you faked a smile as you began to eat.

You felt uncomfortable with the silence and decided to fill it yourself.

“I taught myself some spells today,” though you hadn’t meant to brag, you couldn’t help the smile that crept on your face.

“That’s great darling! Did Draco help you?” Your father asked and immediately, your smile dropped. You drew a deep breath in, fighting every fibre of your being not to scream. You tried to open your mouth to correct him, but tears began to prick your eyes first. You took in another shaky breath, embarrassed at how easily he dampened your pride, and tried again to correct him, but you heard Draco’s voice beside you first.

“She said she taught herself.” Your head snapped to him, and he was leaned forward, his lip crinkled into a snarl. You couldn’t quite believe what was happening and though you didn’t want to be spoken for, far less toward your father, you were grateful he did. Had you cried, attempting to stand up for yourself, you didn’t think you could face any of them again. He didn’t look at you, but you mentally thanked him, hoping he would hear you.

Your fathers face was stiff and you were worried his polite facade would slip, but he curtly congratulated you instead.

“That’s great Darling. What did you learn?” Narcissa tried to break the tension with her warm voice.

“I..I” you stuttered, still recovering from the emotion your dad had such a talent for bringing out of you. You felt a warm hand on your knee under the table and it instantly pulled you out of your near tears. Draco’s thumb rubbed over your skin calmingly and though distracting, you were able to continue with a sniff.

“I learned lumos, accio, and levitation,” you smiled.

“She definitely did well with levitation,” Draco said and you could hear the smirk in his tone. Though you knew it was a private dig at you, it did cheer you up some.

His hand lifted off your knee and you felt his finger lightly glide up your naked thigh, drawing soft circles just under the hem of your skirt. It tickled in the best way imaginable, dissipating the hurt and embarrassment you had just felt, taking up that space in your mind with something very different. You felt the cold of his rings on your sensitive inner thigh and were reminded of the same feeling nights before in your bed. He gripped your thigh as you tried to continue speaking, though his hands on you clouded your mind with memories of him kissing them. You felt yourself start to get wet and hoped your panties were enough to keep from leaving a wet patch on the expensive seat. You stole a look at your step-brother sitting beside you and saw his heavenly smirk playing on his lips. Though your parents didn’t seem to notice, you shot him a warning look anyway. He licked his pink lips and they glistened, leaving you near breathless. He spoke to your father about his plans for going back to complete his schooling at Hogwarts after the break as if his hand wasn’t sliding further up your thigh. Your cheeks reddened and you could barely sit still, but you couldn’t find the strength to stop him either. His fingers played with your thigh and you felt him trace a heart right below your panties.

You tried to listen to the conversation at hand but your mind was racing with memories and fantasies, both of him. You involuntarily spread your thighs slightly under the table, giving him the room to trace along the inside of your upper thigh. You were already wrestless, and if he didn’t stop soon, you knew you would lose control. Suddenly, you felt his long finger drag up the crotch of your panties to your clothed clit. He rubbed a slow circle on your clit and the breath caught in your chest. Your eyes almost rolled back from the sudden and direct pleasure to your core.

“I’m done!” you choked out, standing up abruptly. Your legs were shaky and you could feel your soaked panties wetting your inner thighs as you stood. Narcissa looked at you surprised and your father shot you an angry look at your lack of manners, but you knew you couldn’t sit there any longer.

“Th.thank you for dinner,” you corrected before rushing out and up the stairs. You heard Draco excuse himself and follow up the stairs behind you. When you got to the top, you rushed into your room, desperate to relieve yourself, or at least try- but Draco caught the door before it closed.

“What the fuck Draco you prat!” You tried to keep your voice down. He chuckled, a low rumble in his chest. “You, you can’t do that,” you almost whined.

“I think you liked it just fine, little one,” he purred in your ear. He was right. But god, was it more than a tease. “I did, but,” your voice was breathier than you meant, a slave to the pleasure his voice alone gave you.

“But nothing,” he leaned inches from your face and as his breath fanned over your face you instinctively closed your eyes. His lips crashed against yours and you returned the pressure. His tongue swiped your lip and you parted them without hesitation, fighting each other for dominance before giving in to him. He pressed his body against yours, grinding himself against you before his thigh pushed between your legs, parting them. One of his hands held the wall beside you and the other pushed between your bodies against your chest. He kneaded your breast, flicking your nipple with his thumb. His hand trailed down your torso and you wined your hip, desperate for him to give your clit attention again, now that you were alone.

“What do you want hmm? Use your words like a big girl,” he toyed with you, barely brushing against your stomach.

“Please,” you breathed. “Please touch me,” you begged. “Please Draco,” you couldn’t wait any longer and grabbed his hand, placing it between your legs.

“There you go,” he whispered against your neck before kissing and licking at it. He lifted your skirt and rubbed soft fast circles over your swollen clit.

You felt his hard cock rub against you and he moaned against the sensitive skin below your ear. He pulled your soaked panties to the side and sunk his middle finger into you and you fought not to cry out in pleasure.

“Fuck, tsk tsk, getting this wet at the dinner table,” you blushed at his words. “Who are you this wet for hmm?” He added another finger and pumped in and out.

“Mmm you, Draco. You,” you moaned.

“This wet for your step brother, you are a depraved little thing aren’t you,” he mocked and your eyes rolled back as he curled his fingers inside. He rubbed your clit with his thumb at the same time and you let out a loud moan. He held his other hand over your mouth to muffle your moans.

“That’s it, mudblood. I know you want to cum for me,” he quickened his pace and you looked up at him, breath quickening to pants.

“I’m so close Draco please!” You moaned against his hand.

“Cum for me mudblood,” he leaned down to your level and whispered in your ear and felt yourself come undone, clenching and spasming around his long fingers. You moans fell from you and he covered your mouth again. Your legs shook and twitched and just as they collapsed below you, he caught you and picked you up like you weighed nothing. He carried you to your bed and laid you down. You looked up at him in a daze. He walked out without a word, and came back moments later with a large book in hand. He set it on the desk next to you and stood tall over you. Looking up at him, you wondered if he would make you suck his cock again, but instead, he leaned down and brushed a strand of your hand behind your ear with his pinkie.

“Rest up, mudblood. And in the morning, I want you to study this book. Don’t bother wasting your time with anything else until you’ve learned enough for duelling practice,” he ordered. Duelling practice? The idea worried you. You’d only just learned your first few spells, all of which being small, inconsequential ones for every day. Now he wants you learning defensive magic already? As if he read your mind, and maybe he did, he smiled at you.

“It’s okay, I’ll go easy on you. You need to learn okay?“ his voice was oddly reassuring. Warm? Not quite. But reassuring.

@lail1010

[midwestbramble]

Walnut Folklore

Juglan nigra

Ruled by ☉

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Contents:

Overview

Folklore

Uses in Witchcraft

Safety Notes

Conclusion

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Overview

The Black Walnut tree stands anywhere from 80-150 ft. tall with the trunks reaching 2-3 feet in diameter. You can find these magnificent trees in full sun, on the edge of forests. The bark is deeply furrowed and gray-black in color. The leaves are compound with 23 stemless oval and smooth leaflets. It flowers in spring, giving way to globular fruit that fully ripens in late summer (the nut).

The Black Walnut uses a process called allelopathy, which is a way in which a plant may protect itself. It releases sesquiterpenes to keep other plants away so it has none to compete with for growing space and resources.

You can gather the green unripe hulls and allow them to ripen in a bucket. Sometimes you will see maggots between the hull and the hard shell of the nut, these do not affect the nut meat. Once the hulls have blackened, they are easier to hull. Use a hammer to smash it open and a stiff brush to scrub away any extra. Wait for it to completely dry. Then smash open the shell with a hammer, and pick out the meat.

Europe has a different species of walnut to North America.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Folklore

-The Witches of Benevento-

In Benevento, Italy, it is thought that witches from all over Europe celebrate their sabbats (getting there through spirit flight) under a walnut tree that was on the Sabato River bank. It is speculated that these legends stem from the Longobards who were said to hang goat or snake skins from the tree and then eat them to gain their powers.

-Appalachia-

According to Jake Richards' books, the walnut's "leaves are scattered about the house at sunset and left until morning, when they're swept out, to get rid of troublesome spirits" (Richards, pg. 170). He mentions that the hulls are also used to dye clothes, as I have found out on accident they work very well for.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Uses in Witchcraft

Harvest some leaves or bark to use as a focus when hedge riding (another term for spirit flight) to the witches' meeting and asking for it to watch over you, or ask your local walnut tree for it's protection while you perform your own rites. If you have a spirit that just won't leave, gather some leaves and make them get out with a floor wash or carpet powder. The brave might use it in a smoke cleanse, however I do worry about nasal irritation.

If you're handy with clothing, you could use the hulls to dye your ritual clothes, or any other clothing you may have, for protection from wayward spirits. This is a wonderful book on natural dying.

If you're inclined to kitchen witchery, the nut meat itself is incredibly fragrant and I suggest making Nocino, walnut bread, or a walnut cake for protective purposes or an honorary food.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Safety Notes

Not indicated for long-term use. The compound juglone, found in the juice of fresh walnut hulls, is considered a strong skin irritant and may cause itching or burning sensations (don't be like me, and wear gloves).

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Conclusion

The walnut is an overlooked tree, I swear it’s everywhere. It is marvelous and awe-inspiring when allowed to reach it's full potential. You can find my blog about talking with my local walnut guardian here. It works protection against spirits, chasing them, while also protecting your own spirit while out roaming the otherworld.

References:

Midwest Medicinal Plants by Lisa M Rose

The Herbal Academy's Intermediate Herbal Course Monograph

The Witches of Benevento, World Heritage Journeys

Backwoods Witchcraft by Jake Richards

Images:

Title image made on Canva with black walnut image provided by the Boston Public Library via Unsplash

The Walnut of Benevento, by Giuseppe Pietro Bagetti (1764-1831)

Perfect Appalachian Sunset, by Sean Foster on Unsplash

[the-technicolor-whiscash]

Hello mr whiscash. I read your tags on a post about how non fiction books slap and I'd like to ask *where* exactly you started reading? Cause there's some topics I'm interested in but I don't know how to find books about them. Like, did you follow a recommendation from someone else? Did you go to a library and ask? Did you google "cool book about space" and click on the first bookstore link you found? Thank you.

(Sorry if this response is a few days late I didn't know the question came in lmao)

So, I can only speak to my experience, but I started looking for astronaut nonfiction because I reached a point in watching documentaries where I was getting a lot of repeat information. I knew the only way I was going to learn more about the subject, and to the level of detail I was looking for, by going to books.

To start with, what I did was find a web page from NASA that listed all of their known biographies, memoirs, and autobiographies written by/about astronauts. I also looked for books that had been used as sources for documentaries or movies. This provided me with a pretty thorough list of reading material. Obviously I'm not going to read all of them because there's like a hundred, so instead I pick the ones that interest me the most via subject matter, either based on what astronauts are involved or what the mission entailed.

What I also did was found different books on the same subject so I could see different points of view. A lot of these guys had strong personalities and differing opinions on events that happened. I wanted to learn about the drama in Apollo 7, so I wanted a couple different books to formulate my own opinion on events from different sources.

I also went to a number of museums and found books that interested me but I was unwilling to pay full price for in their gift shops. The Smithsonain air and space museum had a fantastic collection of books and it was there I learned about Fred Haise's memoir, which I will absolutely be buying after my next paycheck.

From there, once I had a list, I went to Libby and looked to see where I could find audiobooks of the ones I was the most interested in. It's a fairly niche interest subject so my local library had literally none, but my friend lets me use her Boston public library card so there's more options there but still not everything. It did have a lot of the big ticket ones like First Man and Moon Shot, both of which I listened to. If you attend a college, there's a chance they may have a greater selection of nonfiction than a regular library since students use them as sources, and some college libraries do let the public browse books so you might luck out there.

For the ones that weren't on Libby, I turned to thriftbooks. My coworker who leads a book club swears by thriftbooks so I knew it was bound to have a lot going on and indeed it has had nearly every astronaut book I've looked for, including ones that have been out of print for years. I have gotten everything from there, ranging from a brand new signed copy of Gene Kranz's memoir (I know he's not an astronaut but he was heavily involved in the space program) to a former library copy of Wally Schirra's book to a 1963 copy of We Seven. Nearly everything is pretty cheap except for certain extremely niche finds - I love you Gus Grissom but I'm not spending $40 on your out of print book from 1968. Someday, maybe. But not today.

There's a few I've chosen to get from other sources too, like Charlie Duke's book Moon Walker which I bought directly from Duke himself. I've been eyeing a copy of Alan Bean's book Apollo: An Eyewitness Account on ebay for a while but i want a verified signed copy and theyre expensive lmao. But for the most part literally everything I have I got off thriftbooks.

I would also suggest if you have something you're interested in to find websites or blogs or reddit communities that may have discussions about books about it. I got Deke Slayton's memoir because I saw someone talking about it on reddit and it was one of my favorite astronaut books I've read so far. I found out about We Seven and Schirra's Space from some guy's fan website about Wally Schirra. And obviously not everything is going to have a webpage like NASA does, so communities are going to be a good bet to start out with. That and seeing what books are recommended under listings on thriftbooks since they're usually at least semi relevant to the subject.

One thing you can also try and do is on Wikipedia looking at the sources it takes and seeing if any books are referenced. It's not always gonna work, but it might get you started.

Nonfiction books are absolutely slept on. They're like the best way to learn about a subject especially once you've run out of documentaries. I wish you good luck on your pursuit of knowledge.

[northwindow]

where do you find the readings that you put in your syllabi? i've been relying on reading compilations that other ppl post to find new work but i wonder where the ppl who make those compilations find that work (esp essays that only exist online, things you can't find in a library, etc). thanks!!

good question, i'm also interested in how other people do this! i usually pick a topic because i already know a couple of texts about it that interest me, so i'll start by reading those. i expand by noting anything the authors reference that looks related, looking up those texts, reading them, and looking for more linked texts there... and so on, rinse and repeat. after a bit of that, i have a sense of the types of things i'd like to find but haven't yet (e.g. i want to have something neuroscientific in the reading syllabus, or something archaeological in the collecting syllabus, or i want to have a different format like a video etc). that's when i will try to fill the gaps through search engines. i frequently use my local library catalog, jstor (which i get limited access to via my library), archive.org, are.na (quirky user-built database, full of wild cards), and honestly just google all depending on what i'm looking for exactly... like i think i've used the poets.org search lol. i also get a lot of suggestions from friends and tumblr mutuals!

i'm obviously not an expert in any of the topics i'm looking up, so it does take a lot of trial and error-- i constantly find things that look promising at first and then reveal themselves to be redundant or problematic or boring so i've learned to be very cool about "wasting time" in the pursuit of a few gems. super open to research suggestions that other people have found helpful!

[glapplebloom]

The Season 8 Finale and Cozy Glow’s true self shows.

The episode begins with Cozy Glow really showing just how much she integrated among the school. She helps Muffins getting the mail, a new student find her first class, Silverstream with a crossword puzzle and Twilight when she goes Twilynanas. But on a field trip to Cloudsdale, half the school decides to drop out of it. And by that I mean the spell that keeps them on the clouds stops working.

I’m going to save my Cozy Glow rants for later, but keep in mind the following: Five Ponies, Yona, Starlight, Sandbar and two other students, are falling to their deaths because the Spell Starlight cast suddenly stopped working. There are currently six winged creatures who have not fallen down. Each one catches another, with Gallus and Ocellus working together to get Yona. Imagine if there was one or more Non-Pegasi among them.

Back at the school, Dash and Starlight told Twilight but she dismissed it thinking it was a mistake in the spell she cast. That is until Twilight herself failed to pick up a book. With Rarity being another pony who lost her magic, they wonder how this could be happening. Cozy Glow suggests Tirek is behind this. And just in time as Celestia calls them to Canterlot to talk about this.

Pretty much there has been multiple reports of this all over Equestria, even they are having trouble moving the Sun and Moon. And Starswirl, via letter, figured out the problem. In three days, all magic will be gone. Starting with Unicorn Magic and Spells. Then creatures in general. And finally artifacts. So when the Sun Sets on the Third day (let’s ignore that for now), all Magic will be gone forever. 

Twilight and Friends volunteered to go to Tartarus to see if Tirek is behind this. But as she leaves the School, she entrusts Starlight to run the school when she’s gone. Cozy Glow thought she was going to, but got super excited to help her. The next time we see her, apparently Starlight Glimmer decided to go with Twilight while Cozy Glow runs the school now. I’m pretty sure even new watchers are seeing this and thinking the same thing Smolder is.

After seeing our heroes move on, Cozy Glow seemed to have been winning over the majority of the students. The Student Six are doing a group study in the Library as they discuss the current situation. The Anti-Cozy group gets the leg up when they see her exiting the catacombs that we established had the Tree of Harmony in. They follow her to see Chancellor Neighsay in Twilight’s office. 

After seeing Twilight and friends again entering Tartarus with no way out, we establish that the two are not working together. Neighsay is having a hostile takeover and his first action is to lock up the Student Six so they can be sent back to their homes. Sandbar lies saying he sees the truth but instead looking for help. He finds the Crusaders and they think Cozy Glow can help them save the school from Neighsay.

The first part ends and the second part begins with us discovering Cozy Glow is the pony behind the Magical Disappearance. She wants to rule Equestria as the Empress of Friendship. And thanks to Cozy Glow’s plan, Twilight and Crew are stuck in Tartarus with possibly a day remaining. So Twilight came up with a plan: convince Tirek to absorb the Magic that remains in the fusion creatures to open the door. Spoiler, it works but basically where they are it would have been too late.

Back with Sandbar and the Crusaders, they try but find out stepping on the Magic Symbol sucks anyone close up. So the plan is Sandbar gets their friends while the Crusaders try to distract Cozy Glow. This was their backup plan because their original plan of “convince Neighsay the truth” was already taken out when Cozy Glow manipulated the rest of the School to take him out. 

The Students free him after this and he goes to the Princesses. After all, he saw first hoof that she was evil. And after finding out she was responsible, easy to believe. So while they wait and hopefully the Crusaders doing their job, they would go down to the catacombs to try to stop the spell. Sadly, Cozy Glow saw through this and got the School on her side. The Student Six gets sucked up and basically, Cozy Glow would have won.

The Main Six are too far away to stop her. The Princesses and the Guards are far away. And Cozy pretty much has the School eating out of her hoof. And with no magic, pretty much no more flying pegasi. No more controlled weather. No more proper food storages since they mostly use magic to maintain it. Maybe Eternal Night considering nobody is controlling the Sun and Moon.

Luckily Friendship is Magic and the Tree of Harmony decided to save them. They released the artifacts and luckily the school didn’t blow up. All the magic is back and Cozy Glow gets her comeuppance. Pretty much every Student, the Princesses, Chancellor Neighsay and the Royal Guard stop her. After some time, most likely the next day, Neighsay apologizes for pretty much everything as the Student Six try to graduate but don’t because it's only been a year. 

Sometime after, we see Luna escorting Cozy Glow to Tartarus, who immediately plots to try to take over Equestria again. Overall, it is a very enjoyable episode with possibly the smartest villain to ever be on the show. She integrated with the entire school so she could earn their trust and set it up so pretty much she was in total control. She just didn’t take into account the Tree of Harmony, the Ultimate Uno Reverse Card.

My big issue is with people thinking Cozy Glow didn’t deserve her punishment. They question why she doesn’t get the Redemption Attempt when Discord and Starlight do. A future Research Bin is basically going to be me trying to convince you that she straight up deserved what she got. From Headcanons about her not being a child to actual facts that showed why Discord and Starlight got turned to good while others didn’t. 

Click here for the original review and how it fits in GLAB canon.

[sleepixgstars]

(unique-ish) Cheap/Easy Date Ideas

as your local broke-ass bitch, i thought i'd present y'all with my personal list of go-to dates when you're low on time, money, energy, or whatever. feel free to add on your own ideas/suggestions!!!

-

Photography date; go to a park/downtown/place you haven’t been before/somewhere you’ve been a date before to and take pictures of the scenery, each other, yourself, etc. Afterwards, turn the photos into collages/wallpapers/etc. and trade them.

Painting date; get cheap painting supplies from Dollar Tree and paint portraits of each other/the same bob ross tutorial/scenery/etc. and trade pictures at the end.

Spa date; get (cheap) face masks/hair masks/etc. and spend the evening pampering each other/watching movies/chilling.

Hair date; spend a few hours cutting/dying your hair together. That’s it.

Bookstore date; go to a bookstore/library, pick out a book you think they might like and trade. read the books there or take them home, up to you!

Skill-Trade date; teach each other the basics of a skill/trade you know (sewing, baking, jewelry-making, sculpting, tinkering, coding, whittling, etc.)

Donation date; go through your things together and create a pile of give-away stuff to take to a donation shop/thrift store nearby

Thrifting date; go to a thrift store and try and build the most outrageous/cutest/silliest/etc. Outfits you can for each other and then do a mini fashion show in the changing rooms.

Chores date; pick a chore/task that needs to get done and work together to complete it; if you’re more of a competitive couple, pick two similarly difficult/time-consuming tasks and challenge each other to finish first.

Petstore date; go to a pet store, if possible, try and go to one that lets you pet the animals! Spend some time indulging in pet therapy <3

Dream Travel date; sit down and plan your wildest fantasy trip to anywhere in the world; look up flights, places to go see, etc. Set a budget or don’t, it’s up to you!

Writing date; Take turns writing a story, one sentence at a time! paper and pencil or via something like google docs, it doesn't matter - chaos will naturally ensue.

Picnic date; Simple but effective; grab some snacks and some water, a blanket or tablecloth, and some art supplies/books/etc. and find a park or rooftop to spend a few hours at!

Grocery date; go to the grocery store together; challenge each other to stay on a specific budget or find specific items, or just shop as usual and enjoy each others’ company!

Presentation date; make powerpoints about your interests/hot takes/each other/etc. and present them!

Learning date; pick a subject/topic/person/event/etc. and challenge each other to become the Expert on that topic; set a time limit and quiz each other afterwards!

Sewing date; pick a simple sewing project (pillow, pincushion, etc.) and either work together to make one item, or each of you make your own and you trade them!

Language date; pick a language to start learning together and start learning some basic phrases in that language to use with each other

[paulinedorchester]

London, 50 years ago today: another trip to the theater, another brush with the Troubles

On Boxing Day 1973, my parents and I went to see a revue, Carry On London, at the Victoria Palace Theatre.

You read that correctly: at just 12 years of age, I was taken to see a Carry On show. I was exposed to a lot as a child. The following autumn we saw the national tour of A Little Night Music, which is pretty racy stuff when you get right down to it. A couple of years later it was Design for Living, which is arguably racier.

I don't think that it did me any harm. A great deal went over my head. Here, for example, is a speech from Design for Living: "I love you. You love me. You love Otto. I love Otto. Otto loves you. Otto loves me. There now! Start to unravel from there." That left me utterly mystified at the time: everyone loves everyone else, so what's the problem? Not until I was most of the way through college and had had certain unfortunate real-world experiences did it dawn on me that sex was somehow involved in this.

The main thing that I remember from Carry On London was the topless dancers. They actually weren't completely topless, as they wore gold lamé coverings over the tips of their breasts. I had begun to get a sense of what a human female breast was supposed expected to look like, and I knew that these weren't it: they were conical rather than hemispherical, and they drooped.

At any rate: it was a fairly brief show, and there were two performances each night. We went to the early one and then tried to hail a cab. There were none to be had. Someone advised us that we'd do better at the end of the second show.

There was some discussion about going into the neighboring pub, the Stage Door. My parents weren't too sure about that: was it legal for me to be in a pub? Besides which, people smoked in pubs — forget it! There were still no cabs, so after half an hour or so we set out on foot.

I'm not sure where we were staying: during the first part of our visit we were in a borrowed apartment in Marylebone High Street, the home of a family friend (Nina Froud, if that name means anything to anyone); when she returned and needed her space back, we moved to a hotel in Montague Street. (I remember it as a wonderful place; then known as the the White Hall, it's still a going concern.) Either way, the walk took about an hour.

On arrival, we learned that during the late performance of Carry On London a bomb had gone off in the Stage Door pub! (My memory is that we knew this as soon as we walked in the door, which suggests to me that we were at the hotel.) It was one of two bombs that went off in London that night, as The Times reported on the following day:

Unsurprisingly, Fleet Street covered this story extensively, although there wasn't complete agreement about the details: whether anyone was injured, whether there was any advance warning, and — some things never change, apparently — whether or not to use the word "terrorism" in describing these incidents. Proceeding roughly from right to left, here's a sample:

From the Daily Telegraph:

The Daily Mail:

The Guardian:

The Daily Mirror (Image ©The British Library Board. All Rights Reserved):

Even the Financial Times carried the news:

More than two dozen American newspapers (and the Jerusalem Post) picked up the story, via United Press International. Here's the fullest version I found, in the Houston (Texas) Chronicle:

"I was a war baby, you know." My father was much taken with that remark. It became a catchphrase of his for years afterwards.

[stewardofningishzida]

Chapter 9: Back to School

Early post!~ Here you guys go! Also, be prepared for spooky times in the next chapter! Special guests are back too!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*The next morning, I walk Stephen to the university’s library on my way to my position at the biology lab.*

Me:  Text me and/or the others if you need anything, okay?

Stephen:  Got it.

*I nod and leave for the day.  Meanwhile, Stephen logs into the library computer system and starts looking around.  He also peruses the library’s various collections of occult books from the mythology and religion sections.  Whenever he finds a promising piece, he takes a picture of the passage on his phone to try later when we get back to the house.  Out of curiosity and thanks to having been a superhero for years, Stephen also signs his phone up for on-campus safety alerts to get notifications in case anything dangerous happens.  After a few hours, he’s getting frustrated about lack of progress again.  So, he decides to message the group to ask if anyone has found anything else that might be useful.*

Stephen (text to the group):  Hi, it’s Doctor Strange.  Research progress has been slow.  Has anyone found anything else?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trix: (via text) Hiiii! I haven’t found anything specific in particular but I’ve been trying to think of it from a different angle.

Stephen (via text):  How so?  Would you care to elaborate?

Trix (text): Just to clarify, your magic is powered by you siphoning dimensional energy, correct?

Stephen:  Correct.  Though I strongly suspect that the dimensions I siphon energy from need to have magical energy present.

Trix: Yeah, that’s why I’m trying to think of it from another angle. I think it’s kinda like trying to use a US electrical plug in a UK outlet. The electricity is there, you just can’t access it like you could at home. We just gotta find you a power converter.

Stephen:  …An interesting approach.  This may be plausible.  The question is how to find it and use it properly.

Trix: True. I’m trying to wrack my brain for ideas. Other idea is (loathe as I am to use even a version of one) is trying to create a magic ouija board but only to gather enough energy. I don’t know about how using magic feels but you’re familiar with how things feel at home. Being able to feel out energies could be a starting point.

Stephen:  I attempted some detection spells earlier in this universe and didn’t pick up any magical signatures.  Though perhaps there’s a type of magic here that differs from my usual fare and it eludes detection from those in my universe.  However, it seems unlikely.  I’ll have to think about what you’ve said.  You do present some interesting ideas.

Trix: Glad to help! :) I probably have the least amount of technical knowledge on what your universe is like based on our media in this universe (since I only watch the movies) but my whole schtick is trying to bend the rules a bit and poke at things to make them tick. Hopefully this comes in handy!

Stephen:  An adaptable style of thinking.  Promising.  Thank you, Trix.

Trix: Glad to help in whatever way I can! :D Also lemme know if you need anything non-magical as well!

Stephen:  I appreciate the offer.

Trix: Alrighty! I’m off to procrastinate actually cleaning my place by reading! Good luck!

Stephen:  I’m off to continue my research, then.  Bye for now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tear (text): Oh, neat! You got a new phone. This should make things easier. Is there anything in specific you’ve been researching?

Stephen (text):  I’ve been examining your universe’s occult practices.  There is a rich mythology, but anything potentially functional has been few and far between.  I’ve not detected any magical energies here, but Trix suggests that I approach from a different angle and attempt to discern an alternative dimensional siphoning method to channel mystical energy.  Have you any additional suggestions?

Tear (text): Hmm, that sounds like a promising idea, actually. I’m not much of a believer in anything, but most myths, folklore, and belief systems must originate from something real–right? It’s how we get stories about dragons and ghosts from all across the world and at different time periods. Maybe some people learned to tap into those energies through time…or what did you call it? Siphoning? Look at Chichen Itzá or Rapa Nui. Heck, the city of York is said to have over 400 ghosts. If you physically visited such a place, would you be able to decipher the energies that linger there? It might not be magic, but…you might find your alternative method that way?

*Stephen realizes that he Dm’ed people and quickly makes a group chat.*

Stephen (text):  Hold that thought…

*Everyone gets a group text with the conversation.*

Stephen:  My apologies.  Everyone here?

Trix: :D

Me:  Hi.

Tear: Hello there~

Stephen:  Continuing on with Tear’s answer, perhaps there may be something to it.  I shall endeavor to use Trix’s “adapter” idea and apply it to some anomalous locations here.  Does anyone know of a place?

Me:  We’ll talk after work.  Need to finish tissue dissection.

Stephen:  Ok.

Trix: For some reason one of the first places that jumps out at me is the Winchester House. There’s enough weirdness there that might help

Tear: Old graveyards almost never fail in this sort of spook factor. Bonus points if it’s got a church Grim.

Stephen:  Those are more typical to Western Europe.  However, I would have to look to see how far some of the US-based locations may be here.

Trix: New England, Virginia, and Pennsylvania are haunted af.

Me:  Look up “Whaley House”.

Trix: I’m nominating going to Salem, Mass because if anyone has creepy graveyards it’s going to be them. They’re proud of it.

Stephen:  I’ll look and see what the closest location is.  Thank you for the suggestions.

Tear: Of course. Just…don’t end up getting attacked by any ghosts…or demons…or deities… Hey! Are deities magic? Is there any way we can tell if Asgard exists in our dimension? Earth is always Midgard or at least that’s what I understand. Thor has never made an appearance here, but people in Norway say there’s been sightings of Odin before. Would praying to them for help work?

Stephen:  Some deities inherently are.  Most of them use some form of magic, at the very least.  Others use alien or advanced technology beyond our knowledge.  As for detecting a version of Asgard, I have not done this, but I HAVE tracked beings from there.  I would need a sample of something of theirs to do it.  Prayers…Depending on the entity or deity, they could work.  Provided the gods here actually get involved with their subjects.  I know that in some dimensions, the gods prefer to keep their distance.

Tear: Great. Fun times for me to be an atheist, ugh. I guess we can’t really know if the Asgardians would be willing to help even if they do exist in our universe. We don’t have the Avengers and we haven’t fought any wars together, so I doubt they would care much about our problems now…

Stephen:  This is not encouraging news…

*A few minutes later*

Me:  …Okay.  A couple of hours away, there’s an abandoned ghost town with a large silver mining complex.  There was a collapse back in the 1870’s that buried 30 Chinese miners alive.  Their bodies were never recovered.  To top it off, the murder rate in the town was 1 per week at its peak.  It was all left empty in the 1950’s.  The mine itself is an underground labyrinth with a depth of at least 1000 feet.  So, this place is fairly close and promising in terms of potential hauntings.  Plenty of tragedy there.  Think there might be some usable energy?

Stephen:  It’s worth investigating.

Me:  I’ll ask my friend Hank to take us there.  He knows the caretaker and we need multiple people to help operate the main lift to get inside.  Who’s coming with?

Trix: Well that sounds terrifying. I guess I’m in.

Tear: I’ll need to make sure the bakery is stocked with ingredients and up-to-date with everything before we leave, but I should be able to spare some time to make sure you don’t get yourselves killed.

Stephen:  Be sure to bring safety equipment if you’re going.  Hard hats, flashlights, back-up batteries, work boots, dust masks, gas detectors, etc.  Are all of you updated on your tetanus shots?  

Me:  I have climbing ropes rated strong enough to carry multiple people from back when I did rock climbing.  Plus, a couple of spare hard hats.  Also got a couple of headlamps and a camelbak that holds 2 liters of water.  I’ll bring that, batteries, my steel-toed boots, and some dust masks.  Tetanus shot’s up to date.

Tear: I’d say I’m safe with my shots too. Google says booster shots are every 10 years, and Google never lies... I can bring food! Everyone knows it is impossible to go on adventures on an empty stomach. I have a few spare batteries too, and some electric lanterns. Oh! I’ll bring spare clothes and a blanket in case the mines run too deep underground and we get too cold or wet. Can’t help with the gas detectors though, unless you want me to stuff a canary in a cage and hope for the best.

Trix: O____o Yes on the shot but I have my phone with a flashlight.

Me:  I’ll bring my spares so you have proper gear.  Also, will do a quick hardware store run after work for a gas detector.  Oh!  Does anyone have glow sticks?  Otherwise, I’ll buy some.  They’ll light our way back out.  FYI, in case someone else has to go down after us, I’m putting them on our left hand side going down.  That way, when we go up, they’ll be on our right hand side.

Tear: Please do buy more glow sticks! I have very few left over from the last garden party my family had. We’ll pitch in later to help you pay for the equipment. -sends gif of two saluting soldiers-

Trix: -inserts gif of sinking with the ship-

Me:  Will do!  I’ll buy extra so all of us has a small bag full.  That way, no mistakes and no fumbling in the dark.

Stephen:  All right.  Everyone agreed on this?  Nobody’s forcing you and we want to proceed with caution.  Mines are dangerous.  So, this is optional and I don’t want anybody down there unnecessarily.

Me:  Hank knows the caretaker.  So, he’s our way in.  I’m familiar with the town and mine’s history.  Trix can either go down with us or help Hank operate the lift.  Tear’s bringing food/supplies and will help us with the safety equipment.  Sound fair?

Tear: Sounds as good as it’s gonna get, I guess. Mission parameters: Meet some ghosts, do not join them.

Trix: I volunteer as tribute to stay topside because I would absolutely be a hindrance down there .

Stephen:  Okay.  You and Hank will get us down the shaft and back out when we need it.

Me:  Got it.  Unless there’s a closer/safer location, this is the plan.  We’ll be enacting it tomorrow.

Stephen:  I’ll make sure my magic still works enough to help us if we need it.

Me:  Roger.  I’m going to finish up my shift, then.  Meet you guys in my driveway tomorrow at 8 am so we can get an early start.  We don’t want to get trapped up the dirt mountain road to the ghost town at night when we drive back home.

Tear: We really don’t. Also, let us know if there’s anything specific we need to do if we do encounter any odd beings down there, Stephen. I really don’t want to be carrying any ghosts back with us to our houses.

Stephen:  I’ll deal with any of that.  The important thing is that anything malevolent feeds off of negative energy, including emotions and traumatic memories.  If we encounter anything like that, you need to clear your mind and focus on counting your breaths instead of whatever it’s doing.  Don’t feed it.  Beyond that, they’re usually bound to a place or being with the right kind of energy.  I haven’t detected anything around here.  So, there’s nothing for them.  Understand?

Me:  Got it.

Tear: Alright, I can bring my portable speakers too and just blast them with some Disney tunes if it comes down to it. All negative energies will poof away if we hakuna matata their sheeps. …Dang it, autocorrect.

Me:  HA!  Nice!

*After our shifts end, I head to the hardware store and pick up the gas detector and 6 bulk packs of 30 glowsticks each.  Thankfully, I got the ones that last 12 hours each once cracked.  So, each of us will have 60 glowsticks per person to be safe.  I also make sure my climbing harnesses, ropes, boots, cleats, bolts, and other safety gear is in good shape.  This includes some chalk, helmets, some emergency whistles, my multitools, and a first-aid kit.  The night passes without incident.*

***To be continued***

[maximuswolf]

Looking to create a Melee action combat list of games

Looking to create a Melee action combat list of games I recently noticed that I have a very good list of shooters to pick from, sim, arcade, in between, and any setup, coop multiplayer, single player but I don't have the same flexibility when it comes to melee combat focused games and I want to create a list to have ready to play I am looking for action combat similar to let's say the star wars Jedi series, or say assassin's creed odyssey The arkham knight series alongside middle earth have an action system but I want something outside that freeflow combat system where you score combos and jump from one opponent to another I want it more grounded like witcher where you dodge attack block move etc With that being said I will post what I have and any games that you can add to the list that'll be great as I can revisit later and get as many of those games so I can to finally have in my library multiple options for melee combat The game world and setup is not important, also any sub genre is fine as long as it has that melee combat meaningful in the game, I don't want a mainly shooter game with an afterthought melee combat it's usually not that impactfulList of games so far that hit it: The assassin's creed series Star wars Jedi Series Witcher 3 List of games I tried, they're good but not entirely the free action combat am looking for: Souls games in generalDragon age inquisition (Although I can switch it to action combat but at heart still feels the tab target it is)The arkham seriesI tried Godfall it's not bad but if feels lacky in some places but it's a valid gameMarvel's avengers, it's very nice but it lacks a bit the factor of knocking opponents, the animation reaction to some attacks is off and u feel like ur'e just not hitting themI tried way more games I don't remember all of them but it's fine recommend anything List of games I want to try but not sure where they fall under: Nier automata and replicant Mad max Mount and blade 2 Monster Hunter World Greedfall Horizon Zero Dawn Ghost of Tsushima Atlas Fallen Banishers: Ghost of New Eden I know that the devil may cry series and metal gear revengence game are praised for their action combat but it's very flashy, although they are on my radar I want something that feels a bit more real but also not very real as kingdom come deliverance if that makes sense. I don't mind those suggestions tho I would like a change of scenery so feel free to recommend any melee combat game you like but let me know under which type of gameplay it falls so I have an idea cause the mood shifts and it's good to visit multiple types but as of now I want that something similar to star wars jedi or the assassin's creed odyssey Submitted September 20, 2024 at 04:16PM by 44JAX44 https://ift.tt/FcgWX3D via /r/gaming

[tyrell-kray]

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[karaliannesims]

The Clevengers

I used the Life Manager mod from Sacrificial Mods to create a family tree for the patriarch in this new save. This gets us parents in-game who show up periodically. It also gets us grandparents, some of whom are usually DOA; we get their gravestones in our inventory and can set them wherever. So two of his grandparents have been bound to their gravestones, which are set up next to the house. You will note that there is only one parent here; that's because the family tree was created for the adult sim--you can't do it for infants. I'll let you know what stage it starts working. In the meantime, if you have any ideas about where the babygirl's mama is, I'm open to suggestions. If you think she died, include how and if she gets generated when I can make a family tree for the little girl, I'll take care of it.

The Family and Their Home

Meet Brantley. He's a single dad. The first image here is the random Sim the game generated for me; the other two show you how I changed him. Once I started the game, I used KawaiiStacie's Life Decider to get him skills, a job, some more traits, and a few new acquaintances/friends/enemies.

Traits from CAS: Materialistic, Oblivious, Neat

Traits from mod: Left-Handed, Drinkoholic, The Supervisor--ESTJ, Prefers Exclusive Romantic Relationships, Domestic, Weak Bladder, Sinister

Aspiration: Super Parent

Career: Culinary

This is Rosemary, Brantley's daughter, when she was an infant. First image is how she came up via genetics and randomization; second is after I went in and picked some clothes and a new hairstyle etc. As an infant, Rosemary was Wiggly.

I bought Daisy Hovel, couldn't find a build I liked in my library or my gallery, so I bulldozed it and built something for my small family that fit their budget and the family. Money was tight, so we were missing a few things at first, but don't worry--as Brantley earned money we were able to purchase some new items to fill in the blanks.

Except curtains. I always forget to put up curtains.

Gameplay

Brantley's a good dad. He does his best to take care of Rosemary. I'm hoping they'll have a great relationship as she grows up.

I do not have Growing Together, so my infants can crawl and everything. I appreciate that because it makes it easier to get their fun up!

The BFFs came over for Welcome Wagon. We stood in the entry and talked. I think Brantley mostly befriended Summer? I'll have to check.

Brantley doesn't like fruitcake. I threw it out.

Gotta take care of that baby, even if your own needs are low. That's parenting, folks.

And then Rosemary aged up!

She is SO CUTE. Her toddler trait is Charmer; the extra trait is that she's Right-Handed.

Naturally, I had to get a bunch of toddler stuff for the house.

A lot of my todd stuff is CC. LMK if you want to know who made some of it, but in general you're gonna want Ravasheen, Pandasama, Syboulette/SyBouBou, and Sixamcc.

Naturally, I had to check Rosemary out in CAS and fix up her look.

First image is her game-generated everyday look. second is after I cleaned her up. And last you see her in her new bunny pyjamas. Brantley is sleeping, he was exhausted.

I don't know where this is going to go, I tend not to think that far ahead. So far Brantley has been working and taking care of his baby girl. Now she's a toddler, she won't need as much help so hopefully he'll be able to engage in his hobbies more--he likes to play guitar and violin, and he likes making toys. I don't think he'd start dating until she's old enough to be left at home by herself. At that point, he might go for a blind date via the SimDa Dating App mod from LittleMsSam and see what happens.

What do you think of my new save? Any thoughts on where this might go?

[playstoreonline]

Top Features Of Google Play Store

As the world is becoming more digital, mobile apps have become an essential element of our life. The google play store apk is among the most popular platforms to download and install mobile apps. It is the official app store for Android devices, and offers a range of features that improve the user experience. We will be exploring the many features offered by the Google Play Store, and how you can utilize these features to enhance the mobile app experience.

The Google Play Store is a digital distribution platform created by Google. It's the official store for apps on Android devices, and it has a huge selection of applications, games, movies, TV shows as well as music, books and magazines. The Play Store is pre-installed on most Android devices and can be accessed via a dedicated icon in the app, or via the web browser. It's available in more than 190 countries , and it supports more than 40 languages.

User Interface

The Google Play Store has a user-friendly interface that allows users to browse or search for and download apps quickly. It is possible to divide your home screen into categories like games and apps, movies, TV series and books, music and films. Each section features top picks, recommendations, and the latest releases. You can browse through each section move left or right to get additional content, then tap an article to open the article's page of details.

App Management

The Google Play Store allows users to manage their installed applications easily. Users can browse every app they have installed in the "My games and apps" page that lists apps alphabetically. Users can sort their apps based on different criteria, such as recently updated, size, or storage utilized. The page also shows any pending updates for applications that are required to be upgraded.

App Reviews and Ratings

The Google play store apk allows users to review and rate apps they have downloaded. Users can rate applications on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, and write reviews. Reviews can be seen by others and aid them in deciding whether or not to download an app. It is also possible to find the average rating of an app, based on the totality of reviews.

App Permissions

Users are asked to grant permissions whenever they download an app from Google Play Store. Permissions permit users to access certain data or features on their device including the camera, microphone, and contacts. Before downloading an application users are able to check their permissions and can revoke them at any time.

App Developer Console

The Google Play Developer Console is an online application that allows app developers to publish and manage their apps on the Google Play Store. Developers have the ability to make and edit app listings and track performance of apps, view feedback, and upload updates to their apps. The console also provides data and analytics on the app's usage, revenues and engagement.

App Recommendations

Google Play Store uses machine-learning algorithms to suggest apps based on users' search history, app usage, interests, and search history. The home screen's "Recommended for You” section displays the recommended apps that Google believes the user will enjoy. The recommendations are personalized and improve with time as algorithms gain more information about the user's preferences.

Payment Options

Google Play Store lets users buy paid games, apps, and movies. You can add debit and credit cards, PayPal, carrier billing, and more to your Google Play account. Carrier billing allows users charge their phone bills using purchases. It's only available in certain countries.

Family Library

The Google Play Family Library allows up six family members to share downloaded apps, games films, TV shows, movies and books. The family account is able to share the library across multiple devices. Members of the family can use each other's library content for free.

[sweaterkittensahoy]

YOOOOOOOOOOOO

I moved from Missouri to Oregon years ago, but I still think I can help. If you read anything here and go "that's fucking stupid," then I highly recommend you do not do that. I don't have a great timeline for any of this, just some tips on how to think about the move.

Anyway, here is a not-organized list of shit that may help:

Things to look up:

Go to the website for your new state's DMV. Search for "out of state license" or something similar, and if the website is worth a fuck, it should spit out results with a timeline of replacing your license/registration. If the website is terrible, get on a search engine and search "STATE out of state license" and hit enter. That should bring up something. I think most if not all states give you a grace period where you can go in and get stuff switched around with minimal fuss in the first few months.

If you have a sense of where you need to live in your new state due to work/school shit, pop open Google Maps. Put in the address of your work/school, then zoom out and prowl around for housing options. If you work for a large employer or are going to a good-sized school, there will be at least one large apartment complex within easy range. Don't think of these options as a long-term answer. It takes time to learn a new place. Being close to work/school is the one thing you know you need. Explore the neighborhood via Maps and see where grocery stores and transit are. See what parking options you have. Find out how close or far you are from entertainment (libraries, movies, bookstores, etc.).

If you have a neighborhood name, get on craigslist and plug it in. It'll give you a sense of price range of living options and also just what the apartment options are. Can you get something the same size as you have now, or will you need to downsize more than you think?

Doctors. This one is a bigger deal if you have any medical issues that need regular maintenance like physical therapy or meds. If you know what insurance you'll have when you get there, plug that into a search function on your insurance website and figure out where your in-network doctors are. This is also something to consider when hunting for a place to live. If you need bi-weekly doctor visits or weekly PT, finding a place midway between work/school and providers may be the best option.

More housing details to consider:

Can you afford to drive to your soon-to-be new location and spend a couple of days looking at apartments/housing yourself? This will give you a sense of the area that you can't always get without being there. I know 10 hours is a big drive, but if you can do it, I would recommend it.

If getting there ahead of time is a no-go, consider large apartment complexes first. They'll likely be used to dealing with people moving from other places and be able to work with you the most efficiently. Remember to balance that against the possible negatives of going through a large complex: In my experience, there isn't a single large apartment complex that doesn't have regular noise complaints, copious amounts of un-picked up dog shit on the grass, and at least one stupid rule about how to get packages delivered. I said above that you shouldn't consider any first rental a long-term situation, but it's important also to consider the cumulative stress of staying in a place for a couple of years when it might not be a great fit to start with.

Call the local library. See what housing info they have up their sleeve. Librarians know all sorts of shit.

Call any local colleges. Even if you aren't going to one, call student services and say you're looking for housing near the university, and can anyone give you any tips on good or bad management companies?

If you're moving for work, ask HR. Even if they don't regularly deal with people moving in from out of state, they're local to the area and can likely give you good information about safe vs. unsafe neighborhoods or suggest places they trust because they or their friends live there.

Moving all your shit:

Do you want to move all your shit? That's the first question to answer. 10 hours means you're renting a truck or hiring movers. Take a good, hard look at everything heavy in your space and really think about if you want to move that fucker around a space until you find the exact spot it feels right.

Have you been considering a new couch or bed or something else for awhile and have the funds but haven't gone for it? Don't take along anything you've been meaning to replace with an exemption for your bed. Most mattress places will take your old one away as part of their services, and the last thing you need when moving is the possibility of sleeping on the floor when you at least know how your bed is supposed to feel.

For fuck's sake, be serious about your books in this situation. Books are heavy. They suck to move. Are there books you read once but don't really see yourself reading again? Don't take them. Same for craft supplies. While generally lighter, if you haven't ever figured out what you're gonna do with those two skeins of wool you've had for five years, the answer will not magically come when you move. Get rid of it.

Take every dry good you can. It's less shopping when you get there. Hell, stock up on easy foods (granola bars, trail mix, etc) before you leave town just to make it even easier.

If the stuff you're getting rid of is in good condition, donate it. Otherwise, just toss it. Don't let yourself feel bad for this. Shit wears out. It's okay.

Look at all your shit and look at all the information you can get on possible new housing situations. Do you have a similar square footage to stick your shit into? Are you actually sort of crammed into the square footage you have and should look for more? Do the closets at a new place look about the same size as the closets you have now?

There is shit you just don't use. Don't take it with you.

Do you have people at your new location who can help you move shit? This could be the difference between just getting a truck you handle or hiring movers. This could also be the difference between taking a heavy piece of furniture and deciding you don't want to.

Some of my own personal preferences that may be helpful:

Unpack enough shit to have breakfast the next morning. Order in the first night if you can. You're gonna be doing 500 things on moving day. Organizing your kitchen isn't one of them.

If you would prefer to cook for yourself, party on. But keep it simple. Try to plan for something that takes one pan and minimal efforts. Eggs are good for this.

Unpack all your meds/toiletries first. You don't want to have to dig out the towels when all you want to do is take a shower and go the fuck to sleep.

Give yourself time to be confused in your new place. I didn't do this and had a hard time getting around for awhile because if I turned the wrong way, it stressed me way out. Do what you can to minimize that kind of stress. You're in a new place. Turning the wrong way is just part of it. Turn back around. It'll be okay.

Hope this helps a little!

If anyone has a step by step guide for moving states (like, a few states over. 10 hour drive) my autistic ass would love that. Like everything laid out from apartment hunting to changing your license and registration once you're there + timelines on when all that has to happen. I can do all the individual steps but breaking it down is what's a bitch.

[simplifiedmodding]

Mod - Library Improvements

Alright, so this one is a combination of several small mods that can be used together or separately to make libraries a little more functional. Here’s what’s in it:

Quieter Patrons - Makes librarian and other library visitors stop socializing so much. Also prevents librarian from hogging the computers.

Note: if you have Get Famous, fans and celebrities will not be affected by this. There are several mods to prevent celebrities and their entourages from showing up randomly in places; I suggest using one of those.

Better Librarians - Gives librarians the “Mentor” trait, and 10 in Logic, Writing, and Research/Debate skills. Comes in 4 flavors (BG or DU, and 2 different options for NPC randomization/repurposing).

Add Books to Library Bookcase - Enables a debug/cheat option on all bookcases on library lots that allows you to stock the library with borrowable books. [Requires XML Injector]

No Default Books on Library Shelf - The special semi-stocked library bookcases in the Willow Creek Archive will start out empty; you can use the above mod to fill them. Will not clear starting books from existing saves, but will work for new ones and new libraries.

Better “Read...” Menu - Since now there are so many books available at the libraries, it can be difficult to sort through them in the “Open” menu. So, I added a dropdown filter with various genre categories.

Rename “Open” to “Borrow Library Books” - For library bookshelves only. Your home library will remain normal.

Okay, so now that we’ve got the general overview out of the way we can go a little deeper into the experience. The bread and butter of the mod pack is the ability to read or “borrow” a huge selection of skill books, emotional books, and genre books from any library via the Add Books to Library Bookcase mod.

So that the interaction doesn’t clutter the interface (and since you’ll only need to use it once per library), I made it a debug cheat. You’ll have to open the cheat console with “ctrl + shift + c” and enter “testingcheats on”. Then, when you “shift + click” on any book case, you’ll get the option to “Stock Library.” It might lag for a second as all of the books are loaded.

From here, you can use the “Read...” interaction on the bookcase to select a title to read inside of the library. This is where the Better “Read...” Menu comes in. Again, there are a ton of books to sift through, so that mod aims to make it easier to do so:

This also applies to interactions on your home bookcases, so if your sims are bookworms and have a large collection at their residence, it’ll help them too. And it covers the interactions for both adults and children. (Note: selection is slightly more limited for children, but is not limited only to children’s books; precocious little ones can benefit from skill books and emotional books, too.)

Ok, so back to the brand new library books we just added. The books that are added from my debug interaction are unique from the default library books in a few ways. For one, these books are fully borrowable.

You can use the “Open” menu to see the full inventory of books inside of the library, and from there, drop them into your sim’s inventory. This is why I added a file that renames the “Open” interaction on bookshelves to say “Borrow Library Book” instead. It’s just for flavor, but it’s nice.

Bella has some work to do around the house, so she’s picking up a handiness skill book, and a children’s book for Alexander.

But obviously, you can’t sell these from your inventory... the local library would be quite inconvenienced. (Note: You can still sell them from build/buy mode... but you wouldn’t do that, would you?)

If you don’t use my No Default Books on Library Shelves mod, some of the default library books will get mixed in with these and be stuck in the bookcase. So I recommend using that for the library in Willow Creek, and then using Brazen Lotus’ empty bookcases for any other bookcases used in libraries in other worlds.

Anyway, now that you’ve “checked out” a couple of books, you can bring them home and enjoy them for however long you want before taking them back to the library. SimNation has a nationwide policy of no late fees, ever! So, really, keep them as long as you need. Alexander and Bella are off to the races.

When they’re done, Bella heads back to the library. You can drop the book on the front desk and the librarian will put it away. Or, you can just use the inventory interaction on the bookcase and plop it back in where you found it.

While Bella’s at the library, she’s hoping to get some work done, since it’s such a quiet and conducive work/study environment (thanks to my Quieter Patrons mod). She’s been struggling while writing her intelligence reports for work, so decides to Practice Writing before going home. She asks the librarian to mentor her in writing, and he gives her some great tips! 

If Cassandra were here, the librarian could also mentor her in logic while she practices her chess moves. Or if Alexander were here, he could get some help with his homework, too. And that’s it! A pretty simple set of mods that together make for a more realistic and functional library experience. And if this isn’t your cup of tea, check out the Better Libraries mod by Plzsaysike or the Borrow Books from Library mod by Ilkavelle. Those are two mods that inspired me heavily while working on this, but each had their own small things I wanted to try to address differently.

Compatibility Notes

The Add Books to Library Bookcase should not conflict with anything, and will add the debug interaction to all bookcases (even CC).

No Default Books on Library Shelf will conflict with mods that adjust the object tuning for the library bookshelf ONLY. Note: this is not the one that shows up in build/buy by default.

Quieter Patrons will conflict with anything that adjusts the role states for library visitors.

Better Read Menu will conflict with mods that change the bookshelf_read_picker and bookshelf_read_picker_child files.

Better Librarians will conflict with mods that adjust the sim filter for librarians, but in some cases this can be resolved by placing this mod in overrides folder (see below).

Rename “Open” to “Borrow Library Books” will conflict with anything that changes the open_inventory_ui file.

Requirements

Quieter Patrons, No Default Books on Library Shelf, Better “Read” Menu, and Rename “Open” to “Borrow Library Books” should all be base game compatible. Add Books to Library Bookcase should also be base game compatible, but it requires the XML Injector. Download that here. And finally, Better Librarians comes in several different flavors with different requirements and compatibility notes:

BG_EAStandard - Base Game Compatible; will spawn new townies

BG_ZeroNoRandoms - Base Game Compatible; will repurpose existing townies into librarians

DU_EAStandard - Requires Discover University; will spawn new townies

DU_ZeroNoRandoms - Requires Discover University; will repurpose existing townies into librarians

Note that if you’re getting the Zero versions of these and want to use them alongside Zero’s No-Randoms mod, you’ll need to create an overrides folder and drop my file in it. It includes Zero’s changes to librarian spawning; hence the filename.

Downloads

Download the whole Library Venue Improvements pack here at SimFileShare.