Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.

( Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. )

-- Groucho Marx

Wanna help me feed my cats?

In case you feel like dropping me a buck or two, should you have a buck or two to spare. Donors get two things at the moment: a) a link to the Super Secret Cat Gallery, full of pictures of the cats you'll be feeding, updated sporadically when the cats do something photogenic and I'm fast enough on the trigger to catch it, and b) a link to the list of content I have done-but-not-screencapped, nearly done, partly done, or in the planning stages, and the option to suggest what ought to be in the next batch of things I focus on.

Just a Little Growth (A Plantsim Default) (Also, Image Heavy)

This one took me a while.

So I LOVE plantsims. Like, a lot. But I've never really, really liked any of the plantsim SKINS that have been available-- they don't look like plant-people to me, usually. Too green, too even, too deliberately decorated-looking, not natural enough. Not like something that changes you and seeps out over your skin and makes you into something else.

However, there's one skin that has ALWAYS looked like plant-people to me, and I wish I had more occasion to use it-- and that's the I Am A Tree skintone by Chibi Sylph right here, at Parsimonious. It looks wonderfully dryad-like, with details that look like they could actually have GROWN there. I love it to pieces.

I could've done the smart thing and just slapped the Tree textures into a Plantsim default and called it good. But I? Am more ambitious than I am smart. I said to myself, I said, "How hard could it be to erase everything that wasn't bark and leaves, so a Sim's original skintone shows through?"

How hard indeed. Photoshop kicked my ass on this one. Let this be a lesson to you-- ALWAYS find a UV map. Even if you don't think you need one. It's probably not the limb you think is screwing you up that's actually screwing you up.

I've rambled enough!


( It's just a little growth. )

Wanna help me feed my cats?

In case you feel like dropping me a buck or two, should you have a buck or two to spare. Donors get two things at the moment: a) a link to the Super Secret Cat Gallery, full of pictures of the cats you'll be feeding, updated sporadically when the cats do something photogenic and I'm fast enough on the trigger to catch it, and b) a link to the list of content I have done-but-not-screencapped, nearly done, partly done, or in the planning stages, and the option to suggest what ought to be in the next batch of things I focus on.

Invisible Lunch (Exnem's Customizable Buffet Recolors)

Are you tired of the same old turkey, salad, and gelatin on your buffet tables? Not super-pleased with the other options available to download-- maybe you prefer your own custom food but can't ever seem to use it at your Medieval feasts, steampunk weddings, or science-fiction pot luck dinners.

Well, then you probably ought to check this out, because it completely obliterates the problem. (You download it here, but it's not like they tell you how it works.) Yeah those links are dead-- one broken, one moved. What a difference six years makes! Go here to grab the mesh, goddammit go HERE for the mesh and stay tuned for basic instructions on how to use it. (I mean I found the original on the Wayback Machine but the instructions have gone missing.)

"But Hat," you say, "That only solves half my problem! The concept is great, but that thing won't work for my Medieval feasts, Steampunk weddings, or sci-fi potlucks! It's so... commercial!"

Well, that's where I come in.


( Sometimes, the names are clever. Sometimes they're just whatever occurs to me first. )

Wanna help me feed my cats?

In case you feel like dropping me a buck or two, should you have a buck or two to spare. Donors get two things at the moment: a) a link to the Super Secret Cat Gallery, full of pictures of the cats you'll be feeding, updated sporadically when the cats do something photogenic and I'm fast enough on the trigger to catch it, and b) a link to the list of content I have done-but-not-screencapped, nearly done, partly done, or in the planning stages, and the option to suggest what ought to be in the next batch of things I focus on.

Good Witch, Bad Witch, Princess, Queen

Once upon a time, I sat down to fiddle with Photoshop. I had it in my head that I wanted to brighten up this dress by Sherahbim, because I LOVE it but I wouldn't want to put everyone in dark, dark green.

Hours later, I had twenty-four recolors of the damn thing, and wrote to Sherahbim for permission to share them, which she generously gave. And then I promptly forgot about the whole 'sharing' thing until a couple of days ago, when I discovered the psd file lurking in one of my folders, made three more recolors, and said, "I have to share this before I work my way up to a hundred."


( What does a woman want? Usually, to have her own way. )

Wanna help me feed my cats?

In case you feel like dropping me a buck or two, should you have a buck or two to spare. Donors get two things at the moment: a) a link to the Super Secret Cat Gallery, full of pictures of the cats you'll be feeding, updated sporadically when the cats do something photogenic and I'm fast enough on the trigger to catch it, and b) a link to the list of content I have done-but-not-screencapped, nearly done, partly done, or in the planning stages, and the option to suggest what ought to be in the next batch of things I focus on.

Automatons, Golems, and Puppets (Polished Oak Servos)

This was one of the first things I ever seriously worked on; as soon as I found out that it was possible to default-replace Servos, I said to myself "Hm. I wonder how hard it would be to make Servos look like they were carved wood?"


( Simulated life, genuine service! )

Wanna help me feed my cats?

In case you feel like dropping me a buck or two, should you have a buck or two to spare. Donors get two things at the moment: a) a link to the Super Secret Cat Gallery, full of pictures of the cats you'll be feeding, updated sporadically when the cats do something photogenic and I'm fast enough on the trigger to catch it, and b) a link to the list of content I have done-but-not-screencapped, nearly done, partly done, or in the planning stages, and the option to suggest what ought to be in the next batch of things I focus on.

Stolen by Fairies (A Multi-PT and Memory Text mod... Also, image heavy)

Since I currently tend toward Medieval Sims, I've discovered I really like taking some of the high-tech crap Sims 2 provides us with-- like Servos-- and making them work in more period neighborhoods. Alien abduction is no exception, but it's also an easy one to 'fix'-- Sims who are abducted by aliens in a Medieval game can simply have been... well. Stolen by the Fairies. (Fairies can have flying saucers, apparently. Why not?)

I WAS using the Ivory Tattoo skin by Chakaru as my alien default with Rensim's Retooled Aqua eyes, and Pirate McSkittles as my PT. However, while Pirate puts out cute kids, I was not pleased with the fact that they were all related. There's no way to create a thriving hybrid community in your neighborhood. That, and remembering an interesting detail from Lords and Ladies, a Discworld novel...

Well.

I've always been more ambitious than I am smart.


( Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen; we dare not go a-hunting for fear of little men... )

Wanna help me feed my cats?

In case you feel like dropping me a buck or two, should you have a buck or two to spare. Donors get two things at the moment: a) a link to the Super Secret Cat Gallery, full of pictures of the cats you'll be feeding, updated sporadically when the cats do something photogenic and I'm fast enough on the trigger to catch it, and b) a link to the list of content I have done-but-not-screencapped, nearly done, partly done, or in the planning stages, and the option to suggest what ought to be in the next batch of things I focus on.