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greenglowsgold · 11 months

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The List.

Based on the Cass Apocalyptic Series.

The first part of this has been rumbling around in my brain ever since that Super Sad Scene a month ago, but yesterday’s update gave me the other side of the coin, so to speak, and finally pulled it all together.

@somerandomdudelmao thanks for the fuel, friend

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Donatello’s days have become a series of checklists, as of late.

No, that’s not exactly true. His days have always been about lists: what he’s done, what he can delegate to someone else, what still needs doing. But these days he’s been doing less and listing more, piling tasks from the first category onto the second as fast as he can manage, hoping he has enough time to empty the queue.

The full catalog is written out in a series of files, reorganized for accessibility to the layperson and meticulously up-to-date as of yesterday. He meant to run through it again this morning, ensure all the relevant instruction manuals were attached to each item and double check his protocols, but he wasn’t… he couldn’t…

He’s going to die tonight.

It irritates him, his own miscalculation of the timing more than the stark presence of his oncoming demise. The latter has been inevitable for quite some time, long enough that he’s gotten used to the idea. But he thought he had another week or two, and he doesn’t like being proven wrong. He wonders if his brothers know.

Probably not. They know it’s bad now, obviously, because they’ve piled him with pillows and blankets and surrounded him on all sides, and Leo has finally gone quiet. But they trust him, they’ve always trusted him, even when they shouldn’t, so if he swears he’ll last a few more days, they’ll believe him. He thinks. He’s pretty sure. If they knew it was tonight, he doubts they would choose to sleep through it. Donnie thinks about waking them up, but only for a moment. He’d like to say it’s a noble act, to leave them in peace a little bit longer, but the truth is he’s just too fucking tired to move.

There’s something settled bone-deep in his chest, a heaviness that sits on him like a stone, a peine forte et dure pressing him down and down, stopping his voice and his breath and his heart. He wonders if this is what dying usually feels like, or if it’s unique to the Kraang. Raph would know.

He cranes his neck to the right, to catch Raph’s face out of the corner of his eye. Raph’s working eye is half-open, staring down at the floor. Donnie could ask him. (He won’t. Let him fall asleep.) The movement of his head is so slight it doesn’t even catch Raph’s attention. He’s too tired for anything more. He’s so goddamn tired.

His lists are out of reach at the moment, with his physical interfaces back in the lab and his ninpo locked behind a wall of oh-god-it-sounds-too-exhausting-to-even-try, but he memorized them all long ago.

Raphael: Maintenance (delegated to Casey, who has it well in hand). Plans (tucked away in a dedicated folder, long term, but someday they’ll have the materials, and Raph will have a proper body again, someday). Honey (yes, he passed that along last week).

Raph has access to the tracking programs, so he can keep an eye on everyone himself, even when Donnie can’t pull up locations or vitals for him anymore. He has his own space in the base once more, somewhere to close a door when he needs to (he insists he doesn’t, but Donnie isn’t a fool). He has more excuses to spend time with Casey, who’s taking over his upkeep. Donnie hopes it fills in some gaps for both of them.

He runs through the list, double checks each item. It’s his last chance to make sure he hasn’t forgotten anything important.

He looks down, finds Mikey.

There’s a stockpile of the anti-aging serum in his safe, the formula in his database, plans for the permanent solution clearly labeled. As long as they have his lab, his systems, Mikey will be as young as his years. He’s walked him through the greenhouse, even if most of it is controlled by the computer system. Mikey misses the world being green; it’ll do him good to spend more time around the plants. He has his tea, his candles. He has Draxum, who by now should have received a — mildly — threatening message warning him not to pull any disappearing acts anytime soon. He has their ancestors, just a short call away.

Donnie’s sure Mikey will call on him soon. He doesn’t plan to stray far.

Up a bit. To the left. Leo.

The arm — Leo knows how to take care of it, as does Casey.

The passwords — reset, something even Leo will be able to remember without resorting to blackmail.

The schedule — reshuffled for the next few days, he’ll have a hard enough time sleeping as it is.

The photos — everything they have, even the embarrassing ones. He even managed a couple of prints, and one precious shot from their pre-apocalypse days, something for Leo to tuck into a pouch and carry with him, when they’re not around.

Raph, Mikey, Leo. He doesn’t think he’s missed anything. Donnie lets his head fall back, too exhausted to hold it up any longer.

Is it enough?

His mind stretches further out. He’s unraveling.

What about April? Her prescription is up to date, they just checked a month ago. She has the latest in his combat tech, which has kept her safe in the field this long, so he has no reason to think it will falter now. He’s leaving her a few extra pieces, since he won’t be able to use them anymore. Leo will find the time for a movie night once in a while, he’s certain, even if his taste in Jupiter Jim movies is horrendous. They still have coffee; he’d die before he let that particular supply run out. He will, actually.

Casey. Fuck, Donnie’s gonna miss his birthday. But he did plan for this, his protocols will kick in. The mask is finished, everything is in place. He’s reconfigured his workstations, fit them for a tiny human instead of a seven-foot turtle. Casey has a better head for mechanics than any of his brothers ever did. Kid likes to be useful, so Donnie’s left him as much use as he can. He’s taught him everything Casey can learn and left instructions for more, when he’s a little older and wiser. His family will take care of him, they’ll make sure he gets there.

The base. It has to hold, to give them somewhere safe. The infrastructure is sound, and they have people to manage repair work. Supplies are decent, the most critical items in stock, everything that can be made renewable is. Their allies — Leo handles interpersonal issues and leadership, but Donnie’s checked the list with a pragmatist’s eye, left notes and rankings for priority. Security is the largest concern, but he’s spent nearly half his time with his assistants since his self-diagnosis (he could have spent it with his family), running them through the programs and adjustments, trying to bring them up to somewhere in the realm of his own expertise (a fool’s errand, but still). They’ve been rigorously instructed, they understand that the little things like sleep are secondary concerns. It has to hold.

Is it enough? For them to be okay?

He’s done everything he can. He can’t do any more. So it has to be enough.

Donnie blinks, and for a moment isn’t certain his eyes will open again at the end of it. But they do. At least one more time, they obey him.

Raph. Mikey. Leo. April. Casey. Home. He rolls back through the list. It’s his last chance. He can’t miss anything.

Mikey’s hand tightens unconsciously around his wrist, fingers meeting easily on either side. Donnie feels only the echo of the pressure.

Raph. Mikey. Leo. April. Casey. Home.

Something bright sparks at the edges of his vision before it fades. The last gasps of a dying brain, he supposes. Synapses firing one last time before they’re snuffed out.

Raph.

Mikey.

Leo.

April.

Casey.

Home.

Light.

There’s light.

It hurts.

He thought dying would stop the pain, but it’s risen to a fever pitch instead. His brother’s arms are gone, but the disease wraps around him in their place, consumes him. It rages like a wildfire, burning through his center until pieces start to flake away like ash.

Oh, this is what it does, what it was built for. The Kraang could have killed him in a lot of different ways. He’d wondered why they chose this one.

He hasn’t planned for it. This is something he didn’t even know to fear.

It’s bright and it hurts but it’s quiet as he crumbles, folds in on himself like a black hole in the utter silence of outer space. It’s quiet enough that the voice that breaks through does so clear as a bell.

His head turns to follow the sound, instinct. He’s lost half his field of vision, but what’s left is enough. He looks, and finds Casey.

Casey looks at him, at him, not the body. Donnie opens his mouth to ask a question — What are you doing here? How? Why? — but something else sloughs out instead. Not blood. He doesn’t have that anymore.

Casey calls his name once more and starts running.

Donnie’s questions fold back into his mind. His mouth clicks shut, he swallows back the putrid rot and pushes himself up. His arms are shattered but they’ll have to hold him. They have to. Because Casey is here and he needs something, which means Donnie missed something, which means he isn’t done.

His spirit disagrees with him, doesn’t see the logic. His arms don’t hold.

Casey reaches to catch him as he falls, and the touch ruptures him instead. He scatters. Into the air and the ground and Casey. For a moment, he’s just pieces, fumbling around and latching onto anything that welcomes them, and Casey does that. They flow into him. They’re him. They’re…

He’s…

Casey, he’s…

Donatello pulls himself back together. Most of himself, anyway. The infection hasn’t followed him but the damage persists. He’s run through with cracks and crevices, shaking bits away into infinity with every movement. But there’s more of him here than not.

Unexpectedly, Donnie is not gone. He’s still dead, but that’s fine, he planned for that one.

Casey has him now. He wraps himself around Donnie in layers, helps hold him together with a kind of sheer will that makes up for any lack of mystic knowledge in spades. Casey asks him to stay, and Donnie takes up the task like Sisyphus sizing up the hill. This time, this time I’ll do it right.

Even better, Casey has taken him to another time, one where all of Donnie’s long-term plans are now completely-fucking-reasonable plans. Casey’s going to fix it, so Donnie can fix everything else. Whatever else needs it. He hasn’t really asked. And he knows he’s missed something, but he doesn’t think too hard about what, not yet.

First thing’s first: he needs a body.

It’s so simple to accomplish that it seems like the universe is mocking him. Just a quick 1-2-3, ticking off the list. It feels almost stupid, like running back through the early levels of a video game after unlocking all the ultimate weapons and burning through enemies and obstacles, laughing, shit, did I used to think this was hard?

In no time at all, his own face has formed in front of him.

In no time at all, he’s gasping.

It’s only been a few hours since he last breathed air, but he’s missed it.

Another thing he’s missed? Functional musculature. Casey slams into him and Donnie is startled to find that it doesn’t knock him over. His arms and legs look like actual limbs again, not fragile little sticks disguising themselves as such. He stands, dragging Casey along without a second thought. The weight barely registers. It’s amazing.

The power trip is heady, but it only lasts a few minutes before reality kicks it in the ass and pulls him back down to earth.

We lost, Casey says.

They’re dead, Casey says.

It wasn’t enough, Casey does not say, but Donnie hears it just as clearly.

All those plans, the preparations, the precautions and protocols, they only borrowed a year or two before they fell apart. He sees the timeline spiral out before him, tighter and tighter until it collapses in on itself, rendered all the more insignificant from his own point of perception. He was alive yesterday. His family is dead today.

Everything he did, it wasn’t enough. Of course it wasn’t. He was stupid to think otherwise.

(Raph. Mikey. Leo. April. Casey. Casey’s still here. It was enough for him, at least.)

It cuts at him a little, to have been so wrong. But he’s strong again, now. He can take the wound. More importantly, he has another chance to get it right.

Donnie breathes. His chest expands smoothly, easily. The air doesn’t rattle in his lungs. He’s alive, he’s a genius, he can fix anything.

He pulls up a list.

#rottmnt #cass apocalyptic series #Rise of the TMNT #fic I write #*looks at the word count* haha. anyway. i'm normal.#Donnie's expressions when he looks at his family one last time are so fuckin good they're so clear #I looked at him and I was like 'oh cool I can literally read his mind'#which may or may not be true (you tell me) but holy shit was it effective #(please @god let the formatting of this post hold)

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episims · 9 months

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Vampires Show Signs Of Hunger (mod + new overlay)

With this mod, vampires appear different when they get hungry. The change in look is delivered by a brand new overlay that's used over your vampire defaults (or the eaxis vampire skin).

The overlay this mod is shipped with adds visible veins on hungry vampires. Here's how it looks over my semi-transparent default:

There are also veins on the hands and behind the arm and knee joints. This overlay doesn't have eyes or teeth so they'll be whatever your vampire default has.

Technical info follows:

The mod's functionality is done with a custom controller, similar to the global controller that plantsim overlays are handled with.

When the hungry overlay gets added/removed, you may briefly see an interaction for it to appear in the sim's queue. If you happen to cancel it, no harm done – if your vampire's hunger doesn't change, it'll reappear after a while. You might not even notice the interaction as it disappears as soon as the overlay is updated.

The hunger threshold the overlay gets added on is BCON tunable. It's set as -30 as default. If you change it, pick a number between -100 and 100 (with 0 being the center of the hunger bar).

The overlay itself is stored in a separate package which is required for the mod to work. If you want to make new overlays to use this mod with, just replace the textures inside the overlay package.

Download (SFS) (alternate)

Files are compressed. This mod shows a conflict with creaturefixes but they're fine to use together as long as my mod loads after it. Requires Nightlife, Seasons, and OFB.

This mod is likely compatible with most other vampire mods out there. If you have toddler and child vampires, children will get the hungry overlay but toddlers won't (is intended).

Finally: if you use the supernatural transformer by @midgethetree together with this mod, I recommend replacing it with this edited version. It has the option to add/remove the hungry vampire overlay and makes curing vampires with it work properly even when the hungry overlay is on.

Update (5.11.2023): Fixed a mistake with the TM face texture from the overlay package.

Credit to @microscotch for the great mod idea and thank you @platinumaspiration and @deedee-sims for providing me with the 4t2 vampire skin details!

#ts2 #ts2cc #sims 2 #s2cc #the sims 2 #the sims 2 download #dl mods #dl skintone

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skyeslittlecorner · 4 months

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On the other side - Andrealphus

I have no idea who proposed it because sadly I can't find it (found you! Thanks for inspiration @\rae-pss!), but someone came up with an idea of what would happen if the characters from WHB started to realize that the MC was not us. That there is someone on the other side of the screen who takes care of them. I created a little silly fic loosely interpreting it.

Word count: 1284

Other parts: On the other side | Promised Land | Point to point | Love is blind (18+)

꧁:･ ✡ ･:꧂

Life is so repeatable. Work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, only with some little pleasures in between. You took off jacket, threw it away and plopped down at the chair. Old phone landed on a table as you were struggling with thoughts whether to eat instant noodles today or heat up yesterday's dinner.

"Come on, boys." You turn on game and tapped loading screen just from boredroom. "I don't have all evening."

You wanted to have a pet, you've considered it a lot. But with these earnings, the closest thing to an animal in this house were fish sticks. So all that had left to do was talk to fictional hot guys. At least they don't need to be feed.

When Andrea appeared on the display, you tapped on him with a smile.

"Hi, babygirl."

"Who’s there…?"

You've never seen this speech bubble before. Update? But nothing downloaded, and any additional files were in a queue. Well, maybe it was one of those little tweaks nobody notice. You tapped the screen about three hundred more times to see if there were any new voice lines, but this time everything was the same. Maybe it was just a combination of overactive imagination and tiredness. Yes. Instant noodles will be a better option, you will make them faster and go to bed faster.

꧁:･ ✡ ･:꧂

"…and then this stupid bitch said it was all my fault."

Lying half on the chair, half on the desk, and half somewhere in between, you were chatting with a friend on Discord and doing tasks for nightmare pass.

"That sucks. What are you going to do about it?"

"No idea. But if they take my bonus because of her, I'll kill her, I swear."

"I hope everything will be fine, but I have to go. Sorry."

"Yeah… Have fun on a date."

"Thanks!"

Hearing the disconnection sound, you sighed. Obviously, you couldn't blame them, keeping fingers crossed that they had found their other half of orange, but now they didn't even have time to meet for coffee, and you lived three minutes' walk from each other. Talking together, joking together, everything faded into the background. In addition, work was getting worse...

"I also hope everything will work out"

The voice sounded different. Familiar. But they definitely weren't your friend. You quickly checked the screen to see if anyone had joined the voice chat, but the screen was blank.

"What… Who? How?" Of course, there was no one around the room. Is this the beginning of hallucinations?

"I'd like to ask this too."

The voice that came from the speakers. From the telephone. From...?

The phone screen showed only a familiar sprite turning its head from side to side. You forgot about the strange update from a few days ago. Was that it again? Andrea's red braid was beautifully animated, and facial expressions changed, delicate movements of the eyebrows and lips showed new emotions. It really looked stunningly real.

"Gorgeous." You complimented in a whisper godly work of the animator. "I can't wait until you get L, since you already look so sexy as S..."

"What are S and L...?"

He answered without tapping. Moreover, he tilted his head as if listening. There's been a lot of talk about AI lately, but you didn't agree to use the microphone in game… Unless it's some stinky term of services. This needs to be turned off, it will probably be in the settings. But after checking options, there was nothing like that there.

"Strange…"

"Trust me, I find it unnatural too." Andrea replied with an uncertain smile. "I hear you, but I don't feel anyone around me. But your voice… It’s nice. Can you keep talking? It feels good to be less... alone."

He sounded so much in character. Whoever programmed this, put a lot of work into it. It was a little weird... but you were so tired and done that chatting with the AI seemed like a nice change.

"Sure. It's weird talking to the screen, but well, I do it all the time anyway. Good thing it’s only an AI, because if anyone heard half the nonsense I moan, they'd probably send me to solitary confinement."

"You're calling grown man babygirl."

"Because you are!"

He chuckled, and it felt almost like a talking to an actual human. Muttering such nonsense, you felt ashamed for a moment. If the government suddenly started eavesdropping, the agent who was in charge was such a poor man.

"Tell me something else." He asked. "I've been hearing your voice for several days. I'd like to finally know who I'm having the pleasure of talking with."

He didn't have to ask twice. Of course, without providing any personal details, but you could give him your name. And told about that stupid bitch at work...

꧁:･ ✡ ･:꧂

You checked tumblr, checked X, and checked the official website of the game. There was no word about an update anywhere, and after writing that this new option with talking to devils was great, all mutuals started to worry if everything was okay or asked how to unlock it. What were you supposed to tell them? That it just appeared?

What's worse, you started to treat Andrea like an ordinary person. A human being. Turning on the game during cleaning, cooking or making bed, talking to that little devil on the screen, and... listening to his stories. He spoke so beautifully. Talked about how he likes to spend his time (if not murdering angels), or what everyday life in Nilfheim is like. Sometimes he worried about the war, sometimes was happy when you stayed with him longer being off work.

"My blindness is truly a gift." He said one day with a dreamy smile.

"Why so?"

"In this daily hustle, if my eyes were still working properly, I certainly wouldn't be able to hear you, a small voice in my consciousness. I thought there was something wrong with me. But when I finally focused, you heard me too."

What he said was so similar to what you remembered about own feelings. Longing tightened your chest, longing for someone who didn't exist in this world, and that feeling turned into pain.

"I'm also glad we can hear from each other." Your voice changed noticeably.

Andrea sensed it.

"Now that we've been able to talk, maybe one day we'll be able to touch each other?" He held his hand out in front of him, but you knew he couldn't pass through the screen. Still, you placed a finger where his hand was. Stupid mind was tricking you that you could feel his warmth. Tears came to your eyes.

"One day." You whispered with a trembling voice. "I don't know how, but one day we will."

"Do not cry, please. I don't want you to ever cry because of me.”

You tried to keep calm, but it was no use. Maybe one day, in another time, in another reality. Maybe it will work. No, it has to work. No matter how crazy others might think you were, this wasn't the world you were supposed to stay in. Your intended one waited patiently on the other side of the screen. You just didn't know how to do it. Not yet.

#whb #what in hell is bad #whb andrealphus

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maplebellsmods · 1 year

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More Kisses Mod #3 + Bonus Sad Hug

More Kisses Pack 3 is finally ready! This new pack adds 2 new kissing animations. This time I've also included a sad hug animation. This is not romantic and can be used by any sim. This set of animations was also made in collaboration with Utoypa CC who worked on the animations. They make a lot of fun different animations. Check out their work because it is truly incredible!

Searing Kiss

👇

Frenzied Kiss

👇

If you are familiar with More Kisses then you know that there are moodlets that happen after the kiss, I have now added a bunch of new moodlets over 30 and there can also be negative moodlets. I have also fixed the problem where every time after a kiss sims would get the first kiss moodlet.

Finally, the soothing snuggle interaction has been something I have wanted in the game for so long. This interaction will be available to a sim who is close to another sim with, at least an 80+ friendship score and if the targetsim is sad.

The sim will comfort the other sim by hugging them. Let me know what you guys think about having interaction for different situations.

Soothing Snuggle

👇

Possible outcomes after the interaction

Known Bugs

The only thing I have noticed so far is if you want to run this animation, try to run it alone without anything else in the queue, that is how it will work best.

I would appreciate reports on any bugs that may arise.

Credits

Thank you to the pancake1 for their s4animtools this was so life-changing when it came to making animations available in-game!

Big thanks to Utoypa CC who always makes the best animations!

Requirements?

You need:

XML Injector

The Mood Pack (If your UI disappears or there are UI issues after you play an animation with a mod it is because the mood pack isn't properly installed or installed at all. Please make sure you make note of this.)

More Kisses Mod #1 (Not necessary if you download the All-In-One version)

BG Compatible

Future Plans and Updates

More interactions. Once I create more animations I will make the selectable interactions option.

How to install the mod?

Choose the All-in-One Download or download More Kisses #1 Mod for this pack to work. Be sure to also redownload #2 if you want it in your game. I have updated More Kisses #1 and #2 for the latest patch so redownload it, to get the latest version.

Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods <--- Place the package file here.

If your UI disappears or there are UI issues after you play an animation with a mod it is because the mood pack isn't properly installed or installed at all. Please make sure you make note of this.

Public April 7th

Download: Here

#the sims 4 #thesims4 #sims 4 mods #the sims cc #ts4 #sims 4 edit #ts4cc #sims 4 cc #ts4 mod #ts4 mods #mycc #ts4 download #sims 4 romance #sims 4 kisses #sims 4 storytelling #sims 4 story #sims 4 growing together

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zarla-s · 6 months

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TEMMIE UPDATE!! To update her, you can choose “check for updates” from the right click menu, select it from her Functions double-click menu, or hit Ctrl+U when she’s the focus. She should check and download the files herself. If you don’t have her, you can pick her up from here or this post. If she stalls or freezes while checking for updates, make sure you’ve done any Windows or SSP updates you might have in your queue, or restart your computer and try again.

HOI-lloween! HOOIIII

Temmie has a new costume! You can select it by right clicking her and going to "giev temmie clobes", or open her on Halloween to have her put it on herself. You can take it off by going to the clothes menu and selecting it again as well! @quonit did all the sheet images, hehe.

Added a thing to tell you which file didn't work if an update fails.

Added a name check for Kris.

Don't forget! Gaster and Hunter and Smoker also have fun Halloween surprises, hehe...

[patreon]

#undertale #temmie #ukagaka #getting this in under the wire here #there's a 50/50 chance for hunter and smoker to boot in creepy mode if i remember right #so if you don't get it at first try again

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belladovah · 2 months

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Sims 2 Mod Creators: Is there any particular reason you don't upload to Nexus Mods?

Nexus Mods is one of the largest gaming modification websites and it has a cool feature that allows creators to earn redeemable reward points when their mods are downloaded at no cost to the users doing the downloading.

It is the main site for Skyrim mods, which is one of, if not the most, modded games. Because I love Skyrim, I browse the mods on Nexus a lot and I really like it. It currently has just 58 downloads available for Sims 2 which I think is a real shame, I really wish more creators used it. I am planning on making that the alternate source for my mods besides my WIP website, but I will still announce my mods on here.

Update addressing some concerns:

Nexus mods is far far less restrictive than Mod The Sims. Mods go live immediately and are not put into an approval queue. They would only get taken down in very rare circumstances if they were deemed inappropriate. You also get more options and flexibility in regards to style and formatting.

Update 2:

I'm not suggesting that I would MOVE there or that anyone else should. I'm considering it as an alternate source for my mods, especially since its somewhere reliable where the downloadable file will always be found alongside the description rather than separate. But, I'd still post here all the same, my download links would just be different.

Please comment with your thoughts!

#sims 2 #the sims 2 #ts2 #nexus mods #sims 2 mods

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derinthescarletpescatarian · 6 months

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any particular reason youre not using GDocs? I didnt use to, but since getting my shit stolen ive chosen the lesser evils of CLOUD

I just generally try to use google as little as possible. (Which reminds me, I need to find a new email provider). I generally avoid cloud services just for grumpy old person reasons; they're fiddly and keep changing the rules and I'm not a fan of the sorts of "conveniences" such things tend to offer.

I'm not sure how the cloud makes it harder to have your work stolen. I don't think there's any particular danger to storing stories on the cloud unless you're particularly overzealous about protecting your work from the potential of future AI scraping (google absolutely are capable of using cloud-stored documents for this if they choose to do so, they already scan your emails for keywords to know what to sell you, any 'privacy' they offer applies to outsiders getting your data, not them using or selling it themselves), but just technically speaking it's far easier to get your work stolen if you store your drafts on the internet. I mean, that's where people are stealing it from. If they're stealing your devices to steal your work, the cloud doesn't help because pretty much everyone has their devices set to auto-login for things they use every day (like accessing your drafts). I just can't see a situation in which using the cloud makes your data safer than storing it at home.

I don't use gdocs because I don't like google, have a personal dislike of cloud services (just for Old Man Yells At Cloud stupid reasons), and it just... doesn't offer me anything I'd need. I can't see any advantage to using gdocs, I already have libreoffice. Why would I put myself in a situation where I need internet access to write? It doesn't offer me anything useful that my own computer doesn't already have.

I work between two computers (my desktop and my laptop, depending on if I'm writing in bed or not) and transfer files between them on a flash drive, so I have three reasonably up-to-date copies of my draft at all times. I also queue updates onto my site frequently so if there's a housefire or something almost all my work is uploaded to both Wordpress and Patreon, waiting to be released to the public, and easily retrievable. So losing my work isn't a concern.

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moyokeansimblr · 4 months

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Update

Not feeling so hot and I'm not going to do anything impulsive at 8PM on a Friday evening but

here is a link to a sfs folder with ALL of my content that's currently only hosted on patreon.

I want to add individual sfs links to the tumblr posts but that's a lot and I'm now regretting never adding alt dl links this whole time... and sorry I don't think the downloads in the sfs folder are in order... it also might be some other things, like fixed meshes or stuff. tbh I just added everything I've made after April 3rd 2023 since that was the last time I uploaded anything to sfs.

I guess while I'm here... I was going to wait until after I finish up the last of my active requests (probably by Monday, I'm almost done) but I desperately need a break from CC. I sent a group message on the 17th to my $4 and $6 patrons encouraging them to cancel, but I know not everybody knows patreon even has dms so maybe you'll see this post and I'll reach out again in the coming days so nobody is wasting their money. I am so immensely burnt out and I need to not create for a while. This is completely my own fault, nobody made me work on CC for 8-10 hours 5 days a week for the last several months and I fully knew it wasn't sustainable ages ago but I kept doing it because it made me feel good, until it didn't. Quite honestly, even before I sent the group message the instant wave of relief I felt just having made the decision to take a break... that caught me off guard but just confirmed I need this. I do feel really awful about it because I feel like I'm letting people down but at the same time I don't want to hate creating which was already happening. That being said, I don't know how long the lull in CC is going to be, and if you're only following me strictly for CC I apologize. As said I am still finishing up one request I still had, I'm about 75% done with that as of this post. But that's gonna be it for a while.

There is a part of me that wants to stop using patreon completely and unpublish my creator page (which is what I'm not going to impulsively do tonight without properly thinking it through...since there are positives like how easy it is to download files and whatnot) but I'd again encourage not only those who joined the $4 and $6 tiers but also the $2 tier to cancel so that you aren't wasting your money. If I did do this I would definitely do the individual sfs links on everything first. I'd not just leave you guys unable to download my stuff.

So, what does that mean for this blog? I'll spare ye, impatient readers, who have already read a lot because I ramble⬇️

Well, as of posting this I still have THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FOUR Strangetown posts in my queue. And I'm not tired of playing that.

I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to do all of the things I've been neglecting. I'm finally going to go through the subfolder within my downloads of everything I'm downloaded the last few months and decide if I wanna keep it in my game or not. And finish default replacing everything. And all my other various little projects I haven't been doing.

Also, I want to start playing Veronaville 😮I've already started downloading lots from kattaty to replace the in-game ones, and I found a cool replacement for the neighborhood map. I am leaning towards making a new sub-blog for this so that you don't have to try and follow Strangetown/LFT posts and Veronaville/ALT posts at the same time. I've only ever played the Veronaville sims for like one day as part of a super failed megahood years ago so I'd like to get to know them.

So basically, I guess I'm a gameplay blog for now? Until I want to create anything again anyways, but I don't know when that will be.

I don't know how to end this post... I'm sorry for the disappointment, but thank you so much for enjoying my stuff 💛💛

#moyokean #sims 2 #ts2 #the sims 2 #thesims2

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azuhrasims · 1 year

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Let's Talk About Posing

A Sims 4 posing tutorial

Providing a written tutorial with images to help you learn basic posing in The Sims 4 and also various mods and tricks you can use to help your posing experience. I know there are more tricks on this out in the wild, so I don't dare call it a complete tutorial. It will, however, get you started.

Updated: November 2023

Mods I'm going to talk about:

Andrew's Pose Player and Scumbumbos Teleport Any Sim

MC Command Center

TwistedMexi's T.O.O.L.

Lot 51's Fashion Authority

Wicked Whims or Wonderful Whims

This is a long tutorial, but it should help you with using all of the above mentioned mods to have a better posing experience in The Sims 4.

Read More--

Where to start:

Download the above mentioned mods. Place them in your mods folder. Need a tutorial? Here you go.

Download some poses! There are several resources out there. On Tumblr, I use @ts4-poses often.

Open your game

Congratulations! You're on the way to posing sims. The basics are very easy using Andrew's Pose Player. You can pose your sim at anytime by clicking on the sim pie menu and finding the options of “Pose by Pack” or “Pose by Name.” Personally, I don't have the brain space to remember pose names, so I always pose by pack. This will bring up an options list of poses. If you have a lot of poses, this will be a long list. If you don't have a lot of poses, obviously it will be a shorter list. Click the pose set you want and then click the pose or poses you want to have your sim complete. Yes, you can queue multiple!

*For this tutorial, I am using poses created by @honeyssims4.

Now, how do you stop posing? If its the sim you are controlling, just cancel the task in their queue. You can also pose sims that you can't control and are not in your household – which is pretty neat! To have them stop using the current pose in their action queue, click on the sim and from their menu, select “Stop Posing.” If you have more than one pose queued, both of these options will cause the sims to take up the next pose. If there are no other poses selected, they will stop posing all together. Sims have NO AUTONOMY while posed. They will be stuck there until you stop them.

Posing is great, but how about posing sims in a specific spot, or seated on furniture, or WITH other sims? Now you want to use the Teleport Any Sim statue. You will find this handy tool in build/buy mode located under decorations. My trick here is that if you type “teleport” into the search bar and click, it will bring up the teleporter as your first option. Save yourself some time searching the catalog, I say. Once the Teleport Any Sim statue is placed, you can click on it to have a menu with two options: Teleport Sim or Summon Sim. Teleport Sim brings up a menu of sims ON THE LOT. Summon Sim brings up a menu of sim IN THE SAVE FILE. The list size is a big difference.

Many poses will have some instructions when you download them on how to place the Teleport Any Sim statue. If you are posing two or more sims using a pose designed for multiple sims, you want to place multiple statues on top of each other in the same location. If you are posing a sim on furniture – like a couch, place the statue in the center of the furniture (unless otherwise instructed.) When the pose creators created the pose, they designed it with other sims and/or furniture in mind and planned on you having that statue in that location for the expected results.

I recommend having your game paused when teleporting or summoning sims to your statues, as live mode sims not paused will walk away in moments. Once the sim has taken the place of the statue, click on the sim and bring up the posing menu just as you did before to select the pose you want. If multiple sims are involved, you need to go to each sim and select the pose from the menu for each of them. No, the pose menu using the statue does not remember what pose group you were using. Yes, you need to scroll for it every time. Once the sim or sims are posed, then you can take your game off of pause and let your sims enter the selected poses.

Things to know while using the poses with Andrew's Pose Player; if you enter Create-a-Sim (CAS) while posed, your sims snap out of their pose. If you enter Build Buy mode, your sim will snap out of their pose. If you placed your statue in the wrong location and you need to place it somewhere else to pose, you'll have to enter build buy mode to do it and your sim will, again, snap out of their pose. Finally, some poses require accessories be used – usually located under rings, bracelets, or hats that you can add to your sim in CAS. You need to remember to add these things BEFORE you pose your sim.

This is where we start talking about other mods, to help you with the above concerns. Andrew's Pose Player and Teleport Any Sim Statue are amazing devices, but we can improve on the posing game with a little help.

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If you posed a sim and they were in the wrong outfit, how can you fix that without leaving the pose?

A very simple solution is to use MC Command Center. Click on MC Command center from your sim menu, scroll down to “Dresser.” From there click on “Change Outfit.” You can select any of the outfits your sim all ready has made and they will instantly change into that outfit without leaving the pose. If they are summoned in their swimwear and you wanted everyday, this is the easy way to fix the problem.

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If you've posed a sim in the wrong spot or you want to combine poses with multiple sims and move them to the right spot, how do you do that?

This trick specifically works if you have teleported or summoned a sim using the Teleport Any Sim Statue. The statue is important as for the briefest of moments it makes your game register a sim as an object. Why is that important? Because I'm about to tell you that TwistedMexi's T.O.O.L. Mod can be used to move sims that have been summoned/teleported/posed using the Teleport Any Sim statue. *Sometimes you can use TOOL on a posed sim who hasn’t used the statue, sometimes you can’t. The statue is your safe bet.

I know T.O.O.L. can be a very intimidating mod, but I promise its easier than it looks with practice. TwistedMexi has made a few very good tutorials on the full use, Fantasims has made a great tutorial too. I'm going to try and give you a quick one just for moving your posed sims.

In this case, I have a sim posed, but I didn't line her up with the chair she's supposed to be sitting on. Lets fix that. Have the T.O.O.L. Mod installed, of course. Have testing cheats on. Now, press the shift button and then click on your sims menu. Click through the options until you find “T.O.O.L.” Click on that. The TOOL menu will give you five options. All of them can be super useful for moving posed sims, but I'm going for simple here. Click on “Toggle Active Object.” Did your sim turn green? Good, that's what we want, that shows that TOOL has her marked as the thing we want to move.

To move the sim once they are the active object, hold down the Alt key and click on the floor in whichever direction you need to move your sim. In this case, she needed to go to her left, so I clicked on the floor and gently pulled her into the desired position. Once she is in position, click the sim again to make her no longer green and no longer the active object.

Things to know about using TOOL. Once your sim (the object) is active, you can click the floor anywhere and instantly move them. Holding down the Alt key drags them with precision. If you accidentally clicked the floor somewhere without holding Alt, your sim jumped further than you intended. Or maybe that's exactly what you wanted to do. If you click another object while your sim is green and active, TOOL will think you wanted that object to be active instead and turn it green. Be careful not to click other objects while dragging your sim around, just the floor or the ground. You can make multiple objects active by holding down the Alt key and clicking on them (or other sims) and you can then drag those objects or sims together as a unit. This is how you can take them off the lot to pose next to a waterfall in Sulani if you wanted to. You can use TOOL to rotate sims and move them up or down if you want. I really recommend watching tutorials on TOOL, its a game changing mod.

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I've posed a sim and I forgot to add the pose accessory! Can you add the accessory after being posed?

With the help of Lot 51's Fashion Authority mod, you can. Sort of. This mod is so much bigger than an accessory adder, but we'll stick to that part in this tutorial.

@surely-sims has made an excellent video tutorial on this very trick. I learned this from her and I'm only able to share this knowledge because she did first.

The first thing I need to tell you is that, unfortunately, you still need to plan ahead. You can use the Fashion Authority mod to make an “outfit” that is just the pose accessory you need that does NOT override any other part of what your sim is currently wearing. You still need to make this outfit before posing the sim as you do still need to go into CAS – which yes, still pops your sim out of the pose. However, you can create and save MANY outfits, one for each accessory if you need, that you can then apply to any sims you have posed in the future – even if they are not in your household.

The accessory will not be a permanent part of the sims' outfit either. Once you change out of that outfit and back into it, you will not have the accessory attached. This part is brilliant!

Before you plan to use accessories on your sims with Fashion Authority, you need to go to Fashion Authority → Settings → Enable Outfit Merge Mode (For Advanced Users). This will allow you to use your accessory without having your sims' outfit change while being used. Please note, you need to enable this with each game play session.

You will need to create an accessory thread BEFORE you pose your sim. Click on the sim menu and click on the Fashion Authority tab. Then click “Create a Thread.” The next menus will ask you if it is masc or fem, age group. For pose accessories, I make them Generic Uniforms. You then get a whole menu dedicated to this new thread. I start by naming it so I know what it is when I have to scroll for it later. This one will be for a shark accessory. I then change the Outfit Merging Rules – anything highlighted in green will be forced to change when you select this outfit using Fashion Authority. In this case, my shark accessory is a bracelet, so I'm only highlighting bracelets green. I want the rest of the outfit to stay the same, we're just forcing the shark in there. Now you modify in CAS. Add the accessory and only the accessory to the mannequin that shows up in the CAS prompt. Click the check mark. You've made your accessory thread/outfit.

Now you can pose your sim. Or you can add the thread first – its up to you. Once posed, click your sim menu, click Fashion Authority. From the Fashion Authority menu, click “Manage All Threads.” Choose the thread you just made with your accessory. There you are, one posed sim with a shark in hand!

I have several threads pre-made with pose accessories and labeled so I know what they are. I can pose on the fly with whichever sims I want this way and not worry about how I'm going to get that accessory on them. The easy way to remove the pose accessory is to go through MC Command Center → Dresser → Change Outfit and select the outfit you want, even if its the on your sim is currently wearing. Click this, and the accessory will be gone – no CAS time required. Changing outfit via an in game dresser will do the same thing.

Things to know: Fashion Authority allows you to create threads for toddlers, children, and Teen-Elders.

Fashion Authority Threads are created by SAVE GAME. You can, however, now import them into your other saves so you don't need to make your accessory threads over and over again in each save. Import threads to new saves by Going through Options → Import Threads

If you enter your save game without the pose accessories installed in your mods folder, all of your Threads will be blank if you save that game – even if you load your accessories back in later. Be careful!

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Are there other options to pose sims, or is it just Andrew's pose player?

Well, there is another option, though it comes form an unexpected source. It comes in WW. Either one. Both Wicked Whims (The R rated mod) and it's counterpart, Wonderful Whims, have a built in posing functionality that is both easy and intuitive. You will still need to have Pose Player installed – children, toddlers, infants, and pets cannot be posed using the WW posing ability. You need both.

In either of the WW mods, you are absolutely able to go through and disable every function in them if all you want is the pose player. Please keep that in mind if you don't want the additional modded game play those mods are both designed for!

There is a video tutorial up now on using Wicked Whims Pose player made by GiaXoXo2405 that is very helpful. KatVerse has a great video tutorial for posing in Wonderful Whims.

How to use WW as a posing tool. Click on your sim pie menu, click on Wonderful or Wicked. The Wonderful and Wicked menus have a tab called “pose.” Click it and select the pose you want from the poses you have installed. This posing method makes your sim vanish for a moment, don't worry, she's still there! Once the sim phases back into existence, she's posed.

Now, you wanted her moved somewhere else? Maybe a little left or right? You can fix that right in Wicked Whims. Click on your sim, click Wicked, and then in the Wicked menu, click “Actions.” In Actions, click “Enable Positioning.” This will bring up a very intuitive positioning system that lets you move your sim, rotate your sim, even elevate your sim if you need to. Its super cool. When you sim is positioned as you'd like, Click the purple dot menu and then click “Disable Positioning.”

An extra bonus form posing sims in WW is that if you go into Build Buy mode, they will remain posed as you left them when you go back into live mode. CAS mode will still make them leave their pose though.

Wicked Whims Specific Notes:

If you would like to use Wicked Whims and still have access to Fashion Authority or MCCC while posed, you need to click the following: Wicked → Settings → Sex Settings → Other Settings → Vanilla Interactions Switch.

Wicked Whims also has a built in functionality that can act like the MCCC Dresser trick I mentioned above. This is called “Instant Undress.” To enable this outside of sexual acts, you need to click the following: Wicked → Settings → Sex Settings → Cheats → Global Instant Undressing Switch. After activating this, you can click Actions under the Wicked Menu, Instant Undress, and have the option to remove accessories, change outfits and so on.

If you have access to and are using the PATREON release of Wicked Whims, there is a camera mode you can use to take candid images of sims with full control of the camera location and no camera needed. This comes with the SimHub functionality that appears to be only for Patrons at this time. You can have a sim take posed photos of themselves by clicking “Naked Photo (Posed)” – these will be the in game poses that you can sort through. If you would like to take photos of your sim in custom poses, you need to click “Naked Photo.”

To unlock the ability to take photos of sims who are dressed (not just nudes), you need to click the following: Wicked → Nudity Settings → SimHub Settings → Non-Naked Pictures Switch AND Unlock Camera Movement (Experimental) .

Many thanks to @surely-sims for telling me about these neat Wicked Whims features!

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Any Other Useful Tips?

Organizing Poses. Poses always seem to show up in the most random order in the posing list. Did you know you can organize them? Using Sims 4 Studio, you can open each pose package and change the name of the pose – that name section inside the package? The poses in your game show up alphabetically based on that. This only works for in-game poses, not CAS poses! This player has made an awesome tutorial on how to organize your poses.

Clickable Worlds. If you enjoy using the T.O.O.L. Mod to move sims into wild photo opportunity places, awingedllama has created a mod that allows you to click anywhere in the environment around you. You could combine this with T.O.O.L. mod tricks to move your sims to all kinds of places for photo shoots. Clickable Worlds

Special Effects. This one is a silly note, but maybe not well known. If you own Get Famous, there is a fun special effects machine that allows you to have everything from confetti, fall leaves, money, all the way to meatballs falling from the ceiling. Its a fun addition you can use for your own sims photo shoots. To do this, you need the ceiling part called “Plumbob Pictures Home Special Effects Machine.” The controller is called, “Effectively Effective Stage Effects Control Desk.”

The ISO Love Photos Camera. You DO NOT NEED a sim to be a photographer to use this camera. Meaning, the sim you have posed? They can take the picture of themselves. I set this camera up on a tripod and use it all the time. It does not need to be on a tripod, but keep in mind it will take photos at whatever height its is sitting. If its on the floor, you get floor shots. If its on the coffee table, you get coffee table height pictures.

The Photographic Memory Photo Spawner Mod. You can make those nice in game photos you just took into pictures you can hang with tape or tacks, calendars, paintings, even cross stitch images! This mod is super fun for game play images and having you sim family spread all over the walls of your house.

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That covers everything I know at the moment. I would love to read if you guys have additional tips and tricks. Please feel free to reblog this if you think others could benefit from this tutorial. I hope YOU benefit from this tutorial!

#ts4 #sims 4 #sims 4 posing #ts4 posing #posing tutorial #Wicked Whims #Fashion Auhtority #T.O.O.L.#MC Command Center #Andrew's Pose Player #Ravasheen #posing resources #Azuhra's Big List

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the-wip-project · 2 months

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Bad Brain Days

Today I’m having a bad brain day.

It’s not that my brain is misbehaving. It’s just having a rough time functioning.

You might call it something else, and it has numerous causes, a bad night’s sleep, a flare up of a chronic health condition, medication issues, a short term illness, or simply being overwhelmed with responsibilities.

Whatever the cause, we all have days when our brain doesn’t want to do what it’s supposed to, ie: think.

Which is bad for life in general, and particularly bad for the thinky work of writing.

So what does a committed writer do when faced with a bad brain day?

The first and simplest thing is yield. If your body is telling you to rest, it’s a good idea to heed it.

I don’t advocate for pushing yourself to write every single day. (unless streaks really work well for you, in that case streak on!) It’s especially important if your bad brain days are often caused by feeling overwhelmed.

No doubt you have things you must get done: work, classes, child or elder care, household responsibilities. Things you can’t skip just because you’re not feeling up to it. So do yourself a favor and skip the non-vital tasks, like writing. Just for today.

But perhaps that writing habit thing is starting to catch hold and you’re looking forward to your writing session as something you do for yourself, but sadly your brain just won’t go in the words and ideas direction. What then?

The best thing is to make a list of what you can do. If you have low brain usefulness days frequently, on a good day try coming up with a list of things you can do on slow brain days.

Here’s some ideas to get you started.

1. Read. Skip the social media doom scroll, turn off your devices, and read something on paper. It could be an old favorite that feels comforting, it could be something new and exciting, but either way, focus on what makes the book or story good. We hear a lot about reading critically, and finding fault seems to dominate that. But try reading to admire. Pay attention to what you enjoy, what makes you smile, what makes you feel immersed. Read with the intention of enjoyment.

2. Do something story adjacent. If you like posting about your WIP on socials, find a few good pull quotes and queue them up. Or create a synopsis or pitch to keep on file for whenever someone asks what you’re writing. If you like making visual stuff like mood boards, make one for a scene or character.

3. Feeling up to diving into the work itself? How about updating your outline? Read over what you have written and add whatever changes you’ve made to the outline. It doesn’t have to be complex. Just try making one sentence summaries of each scene. You can do this if you didn’t have an outline to begin with too.

4. Talk to a friend about your writing. Writers need social interaction and if your writing has been consuming a lot of your spare time, just connecting with a friend might be what you need. (and don’t make it all about your writing! Be a good friend!)

5. Make starting tomorrow easier. Do non writing stuff that smooths the way, like tidying up the formatting or layout, creating blank chapters or scenes, or even sketching out a scene without making an attempt to fill in all the blanks.

Finally, don’t make any major decisions about your WIP on a bad brain day. You might do something your regret. Instead make notes on any major cuts or changes that feel needed, and look at them again on a day when you feel good.

And don’t make your writing another burden that makes everything too hard to carry. Tomorrow, when your head is (hopefully) clearer, take the time to assess if your writing is too much. To consider if the goals you’ve set yourself are workable with your current life situation. There’s no shame in dialing things back. If writing 250 words a day is too much, consider reducing it to 200. Or adding in more days off. Or considering a lower pressure project. Writing short fiction instead of tackling The Novel.

Most of all, remember that a solid writing practice is first of all a healthy one. So take care of yourself.

—Maree

Subscribe to my substack to make sure you don't miss a post, chat with me on the WIP Project discord, and tag any posts you make about the challenge with #slomowrino if you want me to see them!

#slowmowrino #bad brain days #writing advice

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