#this post got longer than i meant for it to

[melonelle]

just chiming in with my experience as someone who got a lot of notes like three years ago and now it's a dead simblr.

we used to be a proper community; from 2015 to 2019. i think people nowadays don't know how exciting it was to just log on to see people sharing cc just because it was a passion project; that was the norm.

i'm so thankful that there's still people doing the same thing now in this artificial wasteland that simblr has become.

now i think that our decline as a community started with the monetization of cc, now cc isn't a passion project that you can appreciate and be thankful that the creator decided to share it in the first place. it's a product that you buy, and you better like it because you're paying for it.

also, as someone who used to support a lot of creators on patreon back in the day, i don't think that i did it because i actually wanted to support them; instead, their cc had become an exclusive item, and i just couldn't wait to get it.

it's gotten to the point where i think that of the 15 creators i used to be a patreon of, now if i could i'd only support 2, and one of the is not longer active, so let's get that number back to 1.

now the popular cc creators only come here to post their links to patreon, because they are making bank and they no longer need to build a community for it to happen.

or they give the collections to popular simblrs to post with a similar model to a sponsored post, and that's when you get content fatigue because i have seen like five different simblr posting the same damned collection, and even if it has not been released to the public i'm already tired of seeing it.

and i carry some of the fault too, back in 2018 i had no problem with reblogging cc that i liked or other people's posts, but somewhere along the way i got into the mindset that i needed to build my own brand (which i think is what's currently happening on a major scale now) and that meant i only had to post my own stuff. during the time, i was getting a lot of notes; it was getting to the point where i stressed myself with getting posts out just to keep the roll going, and then it came the burnout that made me leave the community for a couple years.

now for me, simblr feels so artificial on a large scale. i think that's probably because a lot more people realized you can make an easy and big buck creating cc for this game, and ea won't care or put rules in place to prevent this happening because they want a piece of the cake too, so they'll never go against big name creators.

but that has left us with a community that feels more individualist and artificial than never before.

dude, it's unreal because i have around 2.5k followers here, and i actually prefer to spend my time here on tumblr in my fandom-specific sideblog, where i have less than 150 followers, but whenever i post i get a real sense of a community responding to my posts.

hell, i have even posted some of my sims there, because if i were to do it here in simblr my post feels like a drop in the bucket.

I've been seeing alot of people felling discouraged from simblr and feeling like they don't belong

Especially when there is alot of posts going around telling you not to focus on popularity etc

But im here to tell you ITS NOT YOU

You did nothing worng you do infact belong here its not your fault people in this community are not interactive (and yes its just this community im in two other fandom spaces and they work just fine people here are the outlier)

And my proof that its not your fault?

I have 3200 follower (all real people i removed the bots myself)

So you would think i would get alot of notes and feel included right?

WRONG

3k+ followers and this year the most notes i got on any non cc post i made was 15 and on cc posts it was 56

The only post that got alot of notes all year was my simblreen treats post and you would think with 3k people watching it would be 1000 notes or something but no last time i checked it was barely over 100

There are like 3 people that occasionally talk to me sometimes on my posts lol (very thankful i know no one owes me anything)

And i have had this blog for 6+ years

My point is

You belong just fine and i personally am happy you are here

Its not your fault people are being stubborn and refusing to reblog on the reblog website

(imma be real with you if i owened this website im removing the like option this is the reblog website you don't need to only like stuff but i dont own it so 🤷‍♂️)

[cyberapid]

Earthspark Bumblebee x Cybertronian Reader

Work Jitters

No gendered terms are used for the reader. There’s gonna be another part as soon as I stop fucking around.

I’ve also got two more chapters for my Mom 2 that I’ll post when I stop fucking around again

:•)

•-•-•

The laughter of the human Malto’s children rings through your audials as the tallest twin slips over the mud that Mo had unexpectedly thrown under them— just as you had instructed her.

Much to Thrash’s annoyance and Twitch’s delight as she quickly jumps over the mudslide taking the lead in their relay race.

It's common for larger bots to have slower and clunker reactions, especially one so young and inexperienced. Nothing of concerning note, not yet at least, you think to yourself but noting it down doesn't hurt for later.

“That's not fair! I thought they weren’t a part of the race,” Thrash’s complaints bring you from any thoughts that knock around your processor. He's now at least five feet behind his sister who leaps over a stray log left in their path then flips over completely before landing on her pedes and continuing on.

Looking down at the screen attached to your arm plate, wirelessly connected to the bots allowing you to monitor their function. You see that the cables in her pedes and struts strain and her vents are struggling to keep up with her, so she’s quickly overheating.

Though amused by their antics, you reprimand the bot, “Slow down, Twitch. Remember this is a race in name only, I just needed data on your physical state…..” Your warning is waved off as she continues her rate.

Thrash is quick on her tail, also pushing himself to an unnecessary degree.

Pulling yourself up to your peds allows you to see them run further down the open plains of the enclosed farm, spooking any poor animal in their way, trekking towards the makeshift ending ribbon that's being held by a fence post and Robby. Who looks nervous by his sibling’s quick approach. Agitation creeps its way through your processor as you finally shout towards the terrans, “Twitch, Thrash that's enough!”

Twitch is the first to skid to a stop at your serious tone and look back towards you but her brother takes her pause as his chance to continue and overtake with a triumphant yell, but his excitement is short lived before he’s stumbling over his sisters stuck out pede and falling flat onto his face plate with an audible clattering.

“Sorry!” Twitch is fluttering towards you with her servos cupped, held over her chest plate, and pedes no longer touching the ground. Leaving her brother reeling, dramatically checking over his enstril, dermas, and dentas to see if everything is still placed where it should be. “We were just-”

“Pushing yourself too far. You're young and haven't been training long, give yourself time.” You place your servo on her slumped arm and crouch down to be face to face with the young Terran.

Your intake halts at the sudden voice of a familiar mech, “Actually, ‘haven’t been training at all' is more accurate.” Bumblebees vents sound with a familiar annoyance, something he's been expressing far more than often recently. Twitch sighs loud and far too dramatic at Bumblebee’s approach, she then turns to you with pleading optics.

“We are training! You’ve got us running and dodging things, training! See,” she turns to a less than impressed Bumblebee who turns to you, equally pleading optics making you roll your optics at their antics.

“I'm not here to train you, nor am I qualified. I'm a medic and only meant to keep you healthy and to learn more of your biology,” you motion towards Bumblebee with your free servo while the other stays placed on the young Terrans shoulder plating, “He’s here to train you. Bumblebee has experience that far surpasses mine. He’s one of the best scouts I’ve had the pleasure of meeting,” a flush blue covers his faceplating at your compliment which goes unnoticed by you but the human children catch it, stifling their laughs as a glare from the yellow scout is shot towards them.

The twins groan loudly and the tallest of them flops onto his back, impact causing mud to splatter over the whole group. Any laughter the humans might still have had quickly dies as their clothing and hair is abruptly covered in mud. Mo being the first to react, eye wide and mouth agape, “Thrash!! Moms gonna kill us,” she turns to her older brother who looks more exasperated than shocked.

“She’s gonna kill Thrash,”

“Kill?” The Terran comes to his pedes quicker than any bot or human has seen so far, terror fills his face and spark at the notion

“A metaphor, not literal. You will live Thrash,” a servo is placed on his shoulder, in the hopes of calming the mech down.

He vents loudly, leaning his helm on your shoulder and slumps, “I thought I was a goner, Teach,” you can’t help the smile that creeps over your facial plating at his theatrics, looking down you transform your arm into a scanner before the blue light goes over both Terrans registering current physical data into your data.

“Thankfully you live another day, thank primus. Meaning you get to have an even better day tomorrow, with Bee, training” the groans coming from the twins swiftly kills the smile that was creeping up Bumblebees dermas.

[lav3nder-bees]

happy february to them and absolutely nobody else

[nenoname]

stan twins the canon cptsd brothers i will always think about all your unaddressed issues that would make perfect plot fuel for your spinoff

and also the whole 'stan getting that poem by bill via a website which contrasts with bill getting one from the axolotl via a website' foreshadowing thing

like idk i would love something like su future but like more optimistic, aka not an accumulated breakdown that has to be mostly resolved off screen at the end :/// but something thats being kinda addressed throughout? (although would love to see one of them turn into a monster thats always fun lol)

stan having severe issues from his dad and those years of being homeless that we keep on getting more info on but never really getting confronted on (the drifter catalogue and tijuana incident...), him being completely alone for like twenty years when running the shack before soos comes along to the point that 1998 is noted as his low point, and him not really learning about bill+what he did to ford until ages after he killed him if he ever did get the full context

while i think amnesia and everyone seeing him as a hero actually helped with stan's 'i'm a worse version of my brother' thing its still a lingering issue too and we now got him being insecure over his own hands

ford being immediately thrown from 'being tortured by bill' to 'being stuck in the multiverse and being chased by bounty hunters constantly', him fully expecting himself to die when destroying bill, and him only now being safe for the first time in 30 years ....relatively safe, he's still in constant danger because of course he is

idk in the end the series wants them to be happy and they deserve it, its why i wasn't too worried about the book being like 'ooh bill is back!! and the book is haunting ford' thing cos i knew they'll be ok

[fortnites]

fortnite festival brainrot :)

[bloodydeanwinchester]

fuckkk okay so this is the first time in a while that i've watched all of the episodes leading up to faith before watching it and man the series of events leading up to him finding out that he's dying is just so brutal.

like first he has to work a case involving the house where he saw his mother burning on the ceiling AND it turns out to involve her ghost no less. and he calls his dad for help and he's crying because he just really needs him. but his dad can't even be bothered to call him back.

and then, once that case is over and he and sammy are fighting about their dad and their dad is sending them a case via a text with nothing but coordinates in it and he and sammy are still fighting about it and about how dean always follows his fathers orders without questioning them (but what sammy doesn't know is that dean DOES know what happens when he questions his orders and even at 26 he's still avoiding that at all costs) and then they're in the asylum and sammy is saying awful things to him that he knows are at least partly true and he's pointing a gun he thinks is loaded right at dean's face and pulling the trigger. and when it's over sammy is trying to apologize and blame it on the ghost but dean knows that's not the full truth, that sammy does believe the things he said to him

then FINALLY their dad calls them and it's the first absolute confirmation they've had in six months that he's alive but he just calling to tell them to stop looking for him and to give them a case and dean's following his orders and sammy's pissed again and he's taking it out on dean and they're fighting and then sammy's leaving and it's just like stanford all over again except this time their dad isn't even there so really it's just dean that he's leaving isn't it?? and sure sammy ends up coming back and saving him in the end but dean knows deep down that he'll never be able to please both sammy and their dad and he doesn't know what to do about that

and at some point during these events, dean turns 27 and then they're on another routine hunt but it doesn't quite go the way it's supposed to and this intense pain just lights dean up and then he's floating away and the next time he wakes up he's hearing that his heart is ruined (but it's always felt a little bit ruined to him anyway) and he's going to die very soon but he's always expected to die young so he's just accepting it and he knows he'll never see his dad again and he'll never truly know what it's like to be loved by someone who really knows him and of course, he thinks sammy is just gonna leave him there to die alone

like how could anyone watch this series of events and then see dean in his little hoodie just wanting to die in peace and not love him more than anything else in the world???????

[sigsfigs]

sorry for no art was too busy MEETING BRENNAN ZAC AND ERIKA????????

[the-wizard-dipper]

Dipper's got a little more... bite in some of the early drafts of the AU, I've been seriously tempted to lean that way again as I've grown to better understand what kind of story I want to tell with him.

Thoughts bellow the cut...

He skipped a grade, he's got the best grades in his class, he's "the gifted kid who's going places". Finding out that magic is real is the ultimate wish fulfillment of this nerdy little kid and the proof for that little inside voice of his that he's not just smart, he's special.

He's a good kid, but one who's been told how smart and mature he is one too many times. Unlike Norman, he hasn't spent his entire life being told that he's wrong for being different; Dipper's got the confidence to demand answers when with faced with something he doesn't understand.

There's probably not a world where Dipper starts bullying Norman, Norman's too good at keeping his head down and would never confront Dipper. But Norman has something Dipper needs and there are the ingredients for a very unhealthy friendship, if Dipper doesn't lean to see Norman as an equal and Norman doesn't learn to stand up for himself.

Of course, that's what the rest of the story is for.

Enough of the heavy character stuff, since you read this far you've earned yourself some of that sweet sweet Parapines content that I know you're all here for.

Art by @flipsidered

[recallback-art]

You know that joke, about how dogs can't recognize themselves in the mirror, and see a different dog entirely when it's really been them the whole time?

[aru-art]

been on an oc redesign kick. this is incomprehensible to anyone but me and like 2 other people probably. hi tim if ur reading this

[ilikedetectives]

I'm all ears about bottom Minthara.

I keep thinking how nice it would be if there was a second scene for her romance when you reach act 3 and get together with her. And for it to be softer and more tender in comparison to the scene at the goblin party. I desperately need it and to have Tav take care of her please

I'm so normal about bottom Minthara, not because of the smut, but it shows her ultimate trust in Tav as their relationship evolves from Act 1 to Act 3. Given what she's been through, it's understandable for her to want to be in control, because let's be honest throughout the centuries under Lolth and then the Absolute, when was the last time her mind was her own for her to make a choice, for herself? (hint: "Tonight, I wanted this - for myself.") So for her to willingly trust Tav to let that go, even just for a few moments. Alurlssrin is unselfish, deep, unbreakable love, but do you know what Tav is? Tav is her tri âm tri kỷ (know the sound, know the self) in both romantic and platonic ways, do you understand?!?!?!? Her scars are invisible and Tav is the only one who sees through them, that is why she only cares for how Tav sees her through their eyes *go outside and scream*

Between "Tonight there will be no voices, no orders, no gods... I belong only to you." (Act 2/3) and "Minthara is my home." in the epilogue, I'd say there's nothing but soft between them as time goes on and it gets softer as each night passes.

The dream is a very soft romance scene after "I belong only to you." which is a total contrast to Act 1 (bonus is including the alurlssrin dialogue during aftercare). I wish Tav could also comfort her after saving her from Orin because that level of trauma coming back, ooof.

[marshmellowtea]

like don't get me wrong i am not immune to feelings of smug "oh i never liked them, i totally called that they were terrible", because frankly it's a very human thing to feel validated when someone you dislike is outed as sucking for what are perceived as more valid reasons. the problem with that line of thinking though, and the reason i try to tamp down on the urge to be smug about these things coming to light, is that it's frankly really fucking disrespectful to the people who did enjoy these creators, who admired and respected them, and more importantly, it's disrespectful as fuck to the victims of these people.

i feel like especially in cases of creators being revealed to be abusers it treads WAY too close to celebrating the fact that someone was abused--like, yeah, it feels good to be validated that you were right about someone's bad vibes, but when that involves someone being fucking hurt (especially when the someones in question are children) it just feels really fucking wrong to be happy about that. i just hate that this victim blamey attitude is so common in online spaces, especially ones that are otherwise claiming to be progressive.

[strangewiggles]

been thinking about octo expansion lately..

if youre a friend of mine (or follow me here lol) you probably know ive been trying lots of style exploration and trying to move from my pixely simple style. this one was a big experiment, i think i learned a lot! mainly with shading and texturing, but a lot of the experimenting here was the colors. here are some progress shots.

[mizukagami-takamagahara]

Jin was obtainable as a 5⭐ unit in BBDW.

A NOL Uniform costume was released for his unit during the ending campaign of the game.  A costume based on his appearance in Spiral Shift was created, but never released.

During BBDW’s run, costumes were typically released during special events, for characters integral to the event’s story.

I’d assume the Spiral Shift costume had been saved for an eventual Spiral Shift event.  Events had been typically releasing with a new 5⭐ and 4⭐ character; had we gotten that event, I imagine we would have seen 5⭐ Grimwood and 4⭐ Karenjina.

Though I wonder what the NOL uniform would have been for.  It seems to be the same uniform we see him in during one of the CGs in Central Fiction.  Kagura got a similar uniform during his launch, obtainable as a reward for rolling multiples of him.  I wonder if that’s how we would have gotten that costume, or if there would have been another event with him as a focus.

[shoulderholsterfreak]

So, I keep seeing people expressing how disappointed they are that Filoni is "going with legends!Thrawn," but to me this sentiment makes it clear that they've probably never read past the original three books, or even the Thrawn Trilogy itself.

Let me explain.

The Thrawn Trilogy is only three novels. There was also the duology (Visions of the Future and Specter of the Past); the stand-alone novels Survivor's Quest, Outbound Flight, and Choices of One; the short stories Crisis of Faith, Side Trip, and Command Decision; and a few other non-Zahn novels and a couple video games wherein Thrawn is present if not in a starring role.

In all Zahn publications after the Thrawn Trilogy, we see a character that, aside from the random political/social debuff introduced in 2017, has a personality and morality system that is nearly identical to the one in canon.

It's in legends where you get Thrawn saying "we do not make war on civilians" and "as civilized beings, it is our duty to minimize suffering" (from the short story Crisis of Faith which takes place weeks before Thrawn began his campaign against the New Republic, so any excuse of "oh he got worse as Palpatine's influence deepened" doesn't really hold water).

And just look at the Empire of the Hand. If you want to know what kind of man Thrawn is, look at the organization he himself founded. To summarize, this is what an alien refugee taken in by the Hand had to say about it:

“The Empire that Senior Captain Thrawn is carving into the evil that pervades our worlds is not the Empire you chose to leave. His is an Empire of justice and dignity for all beings. His Empire is one we gladly serve. One we are willing to die for.”

Basically think the group of aliens and Chiss brought together at the end of Lesser Evil, add Imperials, and multiply it by 1,000.

This was in legends. That’s the vision legends!Thrawn had for a more ideal society. Rebels!Thrawn isn’t even true to what was available to Filoni prior to the canon books’ publications.

Now we can argue if Thrawn was as morally bad in the Thrawn Trilogy as he was in Rebels or not (I say short answer: T3!Thrawn’s greatest sin—for which he was killed—was apathy toward suffering in favor of results, Rebels!Thrawn simply enjoys hurting people because he’s a Bad Guy), but even if they DID hold the same fundamental values, they don’t have the same personality. Thrawn in the 90’s trilogy was expressive, he was having fun, he smiled and shrugged and fiddled with things and pet his ysalamiri. He was sassy and sarcastic and dry-humored and irritable. He was charismatic and, dare I say sometimes relatable. Sure he wasn’t a good person but that’s not the issue here. Thrawn had life to him in the Thrawn Trilogy.

In contrast, Thrawn in Rebel’s personality could be summarized as “creepy evil smart guy who likes art.” He’s really nothing more special than every Saturday mastermind cartoon villain out there. He’s bland and dry and lifeless and he’s scary not because of his intellect or his willpower or ability to read people but because he’s tall and skinny and lurks in the shadows and he’s got cheesy pipe organ theme music.

TL;DR: (as something a friend of mine mentioned) Filoni’s the kind of guy who goes with the very first idea that pops into his head. He goes with his first impression and runs with it. He’s not basing this guy on legends!Thrawn—he’s basing the entirety of it on the very first paragraph of the very first book the character shows up in.

[just-mebs]

Thank you for asking @hanktalkin (og post)

So, I generally head canon that Engineer is about 10 or so years older than Scout is, which is fine because in canon that would make Engineer 37 when Scout is 27. However, thinking about them when they are a bit younger I think introduces some goofiness especially when adding a Soulmate AU to the mix.

I was thinking about the particular set up where when you turn 16, you are able to write on your arm and whatever you write shows up on your soulmate's arm. So you have Scout; a 16 year old sophomore/junior in high school, and Engineer; a 26 year old Engineering major most likely working on his first (of many) PhD.

Engineer, who hasn't gotten any response from his soulmate in a decade, being shocked when one day writing starts showing up on his arm. Or maybe, because he hasn't gotten a response in a decade, he just assumed he didn't have a soulmate so he'd been writing Engineering notes on his own arm one day to Scout's own surprise.

What I'm saying is that Scout finds out that his soulmate is really smart like really fast, so he of course uses this to his advantage. I'm just imagining Scout writing Engie notes during exams. Asking him how to solve radicals, or how to find x, or what the the quadratic formula is and??? Engineer in the middle of a high level physics lecture having to show his work on how to multiply "4 x 25" because Scout is clueless and doesn't know how and is failing his math class for the 3rd time.

Just imagining Engie's classmates, who he probably told years before that he did not have a soulmate, looking at his arm seeing basic level math and not believing him when he swears it's for his soulmate. Scout who is suddenly passing all his math tests having to scrub his arm clean every morning because Engineer decided to stay up all night working on an invention so he just has foreign equations scrawled over him (Engineer not being able to break the habit of using his skin for notes even though he now has a soulmate who can see them).

Also for a bit of angst: I can see a situation where Engineer maybe messes something up due to Scout writing something in a poor place at a poor time. Engineer deciding his life was better before Scout/having a soulmate is too much of a distraction so he cuts off his arm and attaches the gunslinger - sufficiently severing his connection to Scout. Him quickly regretting it once its done (not realizing that Scout had grown so much on him), but not being able to undo it just being sad over the fact that he will never meet his soulmate now (+ Scout now having a faint scar on his arm/seeing how Engineer stops responding/this boy got more abandonment issues now than he did before).

Then fast forward a decade when they both just happen to work for Mann Co. and one of them (or someone else entirely) piecing it together (cue more angst especially if they were getting close before they realized it and then Scout getting mad at him for abandoning him a decade before.

Anyway yeah that was the idea