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I've been nervous about Skyrim upgrades since December 2023. I'm sure I'm not the only person who tried to play Skyrim after that dreaded unexpected patch day, only to find out every DLL was reporting as out of date or having issues. I remember deleting my game and re-installing it from scratch, then making a 1.6.640 version backup just in case Skyrim attempted to upgrade again. And it did, but I escaped that. I've seen a lot of talk recently about the different versions and which ones users prefer, only because I've stumbled through it while trying to work out if I should upgrade. I only asked myself this after SexLab Aroused Creatures updated, saying it only supports SexLab P+2.5.0 (currently offsite version at the time of writing), and version 2.5.0 has support for Skyirm 1.5.97 and 1.6.1130 versions (though it is said that the latter should work with 1.6.640, at least that's to my understanding). Trying to decide, though, has been like trying to escape the stocks in the sun to find the cool shade―do I take the risk or stay and avoid further trouble? I'm not writing this as a debate as to which version is better, but more just writing down my thoughts as something to return to later. I've seen the debates on which one is better, and I'm not about to enter that. I prefer to be on the version with the most up-to-date development, and if new versions of Skyrim come out, I don't want to fall behind or be on a version that isn't actively supported with enhancements. So moving to 1.6.1130 seems the way forward. The reason I have decided to move just to 1.6.1130 is because this is where the major improvement in the game was made by Bethesda. While there is 1170, and a majority of mods support it, there is a handful I want to use that is currently only supporting 1130, such as SexLab P+ (the only other version it supports is the last 1.5.x version). 1170 also only fixes issues in the Creations Market, an area I do not use on PC, but still supplies the forms and records enhancements, ESLify options, and an updated Creation Kit. None of this is enhanced by 1170. If anyone is interested, here are the patch notes I used to come to my conclusion. NE DLL OVER ANOTHER I started the tedious task of filtering my mod list, going through all my SKSE plugin mods, and finding out which ones had multi-support (one-file-fits-all) or needed to upgrade to a specific version, including SKSE files. I've kept those archived versions and made clear notes in the organizer on the mods that need updating to a particular version. I know that from past experiences in the panic of upgrading, everything had gone to shit, which is also when I learned about various patching or downgrade tools at that point. That was nearly four months ago, and since then, I've come a long way in my modding journey, not letting myself get overwhelmed and tackling things in a logical order. Now it's time to take that experience and move to a newer version, but not before checking everything I care about can be supported (this could be an excellent time to drop off any mods I'm not utilizing). My personal mods don't count on SKSE plugins (yet), so I'm confident those won't have any issues. The only mod I've yet to figure out is Schlongs of Skyrim. I am currently, and successfully, using the non-DLL version on 640, and currently, I feel that would be the best for 1130. While the DLL version is available, I've yet to find an explanation for why the DLL version would be better to use over the non-DLL version. I've seen the question asked, but unless I've missed it, yet to find any clear comparison or argument on why to use one or the other. I would suspect the DLL version may be better in the future based on what I've read in the patch notes and over on the Steam Community, but for now, I'm happy with the version I have, STARTING AFRESH The easiest way I found to do this was to set up an entirely new download of the game, renaming my existing 1.6.640 to something else. I got the files from Steam, got the rollback through the Steam Console commands, and set myself a fresh instance in Mod Organizer—a whole 150GB copy, but what can I say—I don't want to damage this setup in any way. Then, filtering out all the SKSE plugins, I set myself to go through and update them all first. One thing that I forgot about when I originally tried to use 1.6.1130 back in December 2023 was the issue around the engine turning off all plugins. There was an issue with a patch variable inside Engine Fixes that you had to turn off. It had been close to midnight when I asked the Citadel discord for help, trying to figure out when Acheron was throwing me an error, but some discussion and a bit of searching with the right keywords resulted in the link to the fix for Engine Fixes. Now, as simple as that, I'm on a 1.6.1130 setup. A little less stressful than I expected, but tedious enough for me to hope not to move to 1170 any time soon. I've decided for the time being to keep the 640 version as my main for modding and Creation Kit (I'm not ready to take that mind field yet) and 1130 for testing out new mods that require this version. At some point, I'll likely leave 640 behind, maybe shove it into a zip file and store it on a portal drive out the road for a while until I'm comfortable to delete, but I'll keep it for at least 6 months side by side (or at least until I get a working Creation Kit next to it) then get rid to save the disk space. Since that's done, I'm going to end this journal post here (as mentioned, they are more for my own thoughts to look back on). I might update it in the future if there is anything worth writing about from experience between both versions, but until then, I seem to be working, so it's time to get a fresh save and play with some new creations.

So I tried not to leave it six months for a new update, but I've made some progress since the last time I wrote so I figured I should get some notes down. Also, I think there will need to become a point when I rename this little blog series since I've cemented myself on having fun with modding. Maybe after the next one. I've mostly been digging through mods and support documents for SKSE/SkyUI to start really trying to get my head around the Papyrus language more. I'm pleased to say that it's sinking in, but I'm not at the level to write scripts fully from scratch yet. I'm still picking up what I need from a mod that does it, and adjusting it, as well as using tools to help me understand the coding structure and what's being actioned. But I'm pleased with the progress. GitHub's CoPilot has also been pretty useful in explaining things when I get lost. GIVING THE DRAUGR A NEW SHOUT I was looking around on the Nexus one day and stumbled open a simple mod called SexLab Quick Scene Shout (SLSQS) that added a shout to start a sex scene. I then found another on LoversLab called Combat Sex Shout (CSS) that did the same but gave a chance role to make it interesting. In my play-through, my male character is usually the victim, so I thought about how I could give this shout back to those who are masters of the Dragon tongue—the Draugr. Both mods have very simple scripts, though CSS offers more variety and chance than the first one. So I've torn this one apart to learn its inner workings, reversed it so it's given to the Draugr to use on the player rather than one the player has to use, and added some lore and customization to turn it into a new shout for Draugr to use. This has been a really useful exercise for me as I learn a lot from breaking, fixing, or adjusting mods in this manner. My scripts are filled with notes to myself, but it helps me keep on track to what I've been doing. The name was made with actual words from dragon tongue. I'm very much someone who enjoys trying to make things as lore-fitting as possible. I remembered the dictionary website, so I decided to look it up, and try and find some words that fit how the Draugr fit into the realm. Dominate The Weak seemed fitting. I'd like to maybe release it someday, but right now I've kept it as just a side project for me, and I'll update the blog post to keep track and see how things go. I'm conscious that my free time is limited, and I code and mod more out of a personal hobby, but I could offer limited support with the knowledge that I have. That's my main concern, as I don't want to release something that doesn't fully function, or that I cannot offer even the simplest of support to it. It's a struggle to balance my time, so I need to really make a plan on how I'd do it if I did release it publicly. MARA CALLING I remember when the Isle of Mara came out, and I was extremely impressed with this entire quest that utilized so many different elements in one cell. Animal Mansion had been the same prior, but it didn't release its source scripts at the time so I couldn't really go digging. In Isle of Mara, there is a wealth of information in there, but at the time, I was too overwhelmed to make sense of it. Now, I'm tearing it apart and looking at how things are done so I can implement these into my own mods/quests. I feel it's one of the best ways to learn, breaking down how another mod does it, seeing what parts you need, and then trying to create something similar in my mod, with hit-or-miss success. I get so much from the mistakes, and the triumphs feel rewarding. This has also allowed me to look at fixing one or two issues within Mara that I spotted, things that no longer trigger or work. It's not perfect, but doing this debugging also helps me with my own. It's been fun to delve deep into how scenes are set and what script is triggered by player presence. PERSONAL TWEAKS Over the years, I've touched different mods, from adding fully scripted events to skimpy or revealing armor. In doing so, I've made some personal tweaks, such as taking a revealing armor replacer and making it a standalone or fixing up mods where elements aren't complete. Years ago, I turned SOS - Revealing Armors for Schlongs of Skyrim from a replacer to a standalone armor for personal use, and now, I'm going back in to fix up things such as creating proper ground meshes (the original used the standard outfit, not a thinned version of the revealing ones so hard to tell which was which) and updating keywords and descriptors, as well as the ability to craft. I have plans to consider making it a random piece of equipment that can be worn instead of the default, or putting it in chests, and also looking at doing it for the other pieces of equipment since I only did it for Bandit/Fur and the Iron armor as those were my favorite back in 2015. Image of Spriggan Gauntlets made into a ground object (menu description to be added). Credit to Nalim for original model and Ghuarok for the male port. I also updated Spriggan Armor by Nalim - For SOS Males, just for fun, as the ground meshes weren't completed, and they had lost their collision so they wouldn't drop to the ground. I actually managed to fiddle my way through NifScope and add the collision just by breaking down what I saw and making some logical guessing (I couldn't find any clear guide online, but if there is one, drop a comment with the link if you can). I don't use the armor very much. I just thought it was cool that it was available for makes and was impressed with the work that went to make it, but it will be useful if I ever want to make revealing SOS armor in the future to look at how it was done as well. I might reach out to the mod authors (Nalim and Ghuarok) and see if I can post the updated SE version with the additional elements. These may seem small, but I need to remind myself that progress is progress, or I'll get swallowed by my swirling thoughts that enough isn't enough. I remind myself of the progress I've made, and as I work on bigger mods and ideas, these little things will really come to shine when I need them. I think that's it for now. I've downloaded OSTIM Standalone to play with, got some suggestions on how to enhance the male underwear additions in RUMP, and a script for a quests line to become a beastmaster. I have lots of ideas; just need to find more time. Until the next update, happy gaming!

Rydin Underwear for Men Pack View File ABOUT There are a lot of underwear designs out there, more for female than for males. So when a mod named UnderPants came along, I noticed that there were a handful of lore-friendly options for females, not not really any for males (unless the payer is happy with lore-breaking jock straps). So this mod was made mostly as a lore-friendly way to add a variety of underwear for males to the came as well as giving more options for this UnderPants mod to use for male characters. I have made this as integrated as possible. You can get the underwear by crafting them any tanning rack. I have not given them to an NPC to sell but if this is desired I can look into doing that. I will continue to work on the textures as I learn and grow from playing around in design programs. REQUIREMENTS You will need Schlongs of Skyrim for compatibility. I am considering removing the link between the two mods but that will be tested in the future. Take note that this will not work with any of the bodybuilder/muscle build types, just the regular for now. If the demand is there, I'll adapt an alternative set of files for the bodybuilder shape. FEEDBACK This little mod is small and simple, but I am happy to hear any suggestions or feedback. As I improve on texturing and learning how to make more design I will implement them. INSTALLATION Either drag and drop or use a mod installer of your choice. COMPATIBILITY To use this mod with UnderPants as it was originally designed for, follow the instructions on the download page. I have tested adding them and you have to add them one by one. Should it be required, I'll consider a screenshot guide. PERMISSION You are allowed to use the mod to benefit other mods as a plugin. Credit for the work where appropriate would be nice. FAQ Here are some frequently asked questions: SCREENSHOTS Here are some screenshots of the included underwear thus far: Warning: The previews under the spoiler tag are of in-game male wearing underwear. If it upsets you that much to see them then don't look. Bear Fur Briefs Leather Briefs (these are just the SOS briefs with a new name to make them fit in the mod) Waist-Tie Clothed Briefs Waistband Clothed Briefs Wolf Fur Briefs CREDIT Schlongs Of Skyrim team (VectorPlexus, Smurf, and B3lisario) for the functionality and underpants mesh. Imperator3 for the cloth texture. CHANGE LOG Submitter rydin Submitted 02/11/2016 Category Armor & Clothing Requires Schlongs Of Skyrim 2.x + Special Edition Compatible No

Rydin Underwear for Men Pack SE View File This is the SE version. For the LE version, go here. ABOUT Adds various lore-fitting underwear for males which can be crafted at a tanning rack. It's a port of my LE mod, so there aren't any new additions or changes at this time. REQUIREMENTS None, though Schlongs of Skyrim is the recommended body mod to use. FEEDBACK I have just ported this to SE, so feedback is welcomed. I don't have much planned for this apart from cleaning up some internal files and perhaps some texture enhancements INSTALLATION Either drag and drop or use a mod installer of your choice. COMPATIBILITY Likely not compatible with Shape Atlas for Men (SAM) but has not been tested. It may not be compatible with other body types, but it can be considered in the future. PERMISSION You are allowed to use the mod to benefit other mods as a plugin. Credit for the work where appropriate is appreciated. Make sure to credit those listed below aswell. FAQ Here are some frequently asked questions: SCREENSHOTS Here are some screenshots of the included underwear thus far: CREDIT Schlongs Of Skyrim team (VectorPlexus, Smurf, and B3lisario) for the functionality and underpants mesh. Imperator3 for the cloth texture. CHANGE LOG Submitter rydin Submitted 03/22/2024 Category Adult Mods Requires Regular Edition Compatible No

LAST UPDATED: 28 February 2024 - updated a couple of links for SE/AE and added Practical Defeat. There are posts that appear in the forum commonly asking for gay mods or mods with male/male content for Skyrim. These requests are normally due to the lack of research or understanding of the vast amount of content that LoversLab and other modding sites have to offer for players who are looking for male/male-themed content. So today, I bring you a guide on the content available and how to get started. FIRST THINGS FIRST! Before you get started, there are a few important things you must remember when reading this guide: THIS IS ONLY A REFERENCE GUIDE - I will list a number of different mods and types of content that you can use and how they can be added to a male/male play-through. It is ultimately your decision on what content you wish to use in your loadout. THESE ARE NOT MY RECOMMENDATIONS - My play style will be different from yours. I am not into giving recommendations. I highly encourage you to make your own decisions by utilizing the list below and trying the mods out yourself. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS OF EVERY MOD - You will need to read through the download and support pages of each mod to use them. I cannot stress how important this is. Failure to read them may break your game or mods not working correctly. I learned the hard way, and I encourage you, if you want to be serious about this, to make the time to read and learn. It's not complicated but it requires attention. THE BASICS OF MODDING Before you start your journey into adding mods to your games you need to understand some of the basics. This will help you as you venture forth. THERE IS A LIMIT - There is a general limit of 255 different plugins (ESP and ESM files). It is said that going over this can cause Skyrim to show more glitches and bugs. USE A MOD ORGANISER - The best way to add and remove mods is with a mod organizer. Modding manually can become problematic when files depend on each other. LEGACY OR SPECIAL EDITION - Be aware of mods that are compatible with Legacy Edition (32-bit) or Special/Anniversary Edition (64-bit) versions of Skyrim and know which version you have. For more reading, here are some good guides on the internet that will give you the basics: BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO MODDING SKYRIM - a visual video guide by Gopher that covers a lot of modding topics, including ModOrganizer (recommended organizer) and FNIS (required for animations). They might look like long videos, but they show you step-by-step what to do and what to look out for to help you understand how modding programs and tools work. r/SKYRIMMODS BEGINNER'S GUIDE - A text guide from Reddit that covers both Legacy and SSE editions of Skyrim. r/SKYRIMMODS ABSOLUTE BEGINNER'S GUIDE - An alternative guide written by conspiringdawg which breaks down the workings of mods. There are more guides out there if you need something more specific. Simply use your search engine for more results. Now before I start to list some mods, I want to take a moment once again to remind you that it is really imperative that you read the instructions for installing these mods. Installing them in the incorrect order or without other required mods can result in them not working and will get frustrating. I will also admit that following the steps can also sometimes result in things not working and this is equally as disappointing. Every person's load order is different and modding is not perfect. You might need to install one mod before another or change the order you have your mods in. ModOrganizer and LOOT will help with this so do take some time to read and understand more about them. Each mod will also have its benefits and limitations. Understanding what these are will help you with your choices in what to install/activate and what not to do. Pay attention to these benefits and limitations to enhance your experience. Now, onto the mods! MOD CATALOGUE Below is the catalog of mods that can be used for male/male content. I have not listed every mod as I am either still working on this extensive list or I have never played or used them. I have listed their pros ( + ) and cons ( - ), but understand these are my own personal opinions on them, and it will be down to your own choices and decisions as to what works for you. They are not all from Loverslab and will be from other sources. I have included links where possible and also if the links are to Legacy Edition or Special Edition/Anniversary Edition (SE/AE). I have also listed a couple of Next Generation (NG) mods where applicable, but make sure you read up on your options before you decide which one to go with. Again, these are not my recommendations. This is an alphabetical list for ease and my own opinions are only my own. Each and every mod author has worked hard on the content they create and we each should remember that it's their choice on what they wish to create and respect their work. ESTRUS FOR SKYRIM < LE: [link] SE/AE: [link] > ISLE OF MARA < LE: [link] SE/AE: N/A > PRACTICAL DEFEAT < LE: N/A SE/AE: [link] > REVEALING ARMOR < LE & SE: see individual links > SCHLONGS OF SKYRIM < LE: [link] SE/AE: [link] > SEXLAB ANIMATION LOADER < LE: [link] SE/AE: [link] > SEXLAB AROUSED < LE: [link] SE/AE: [link] NG: [link]> SEXLAB DEFEAT < LE: [link] SE/AE: [link] > SEXLAB FRAMEWORK < LE: [link] SE/AE: [link] > SEXLAB RANDOM SEX < LE: [link] SE/AE: [link] >

It's been a while since I last updated. I wanted to post this back around August 2023, but I've been busy, so it's rather delayed. Since then, Skyrim has updated–twice–and I have upgraded my system. It was a good time to upgrade as I made a fresh install on SSE and downgrade to 1.6.640 to get everything to work. I got frustrated as DLLs were at different versions, Creation Kit was crashing, and over all the game I had made stopped working. But I've learned a lot from this experience and now, back up and running, I'm ready to move on. It's surprising how much I've learned from just playing about, making mistakes, and reviewing the outputs of modding. Some of the mistakes I recall making in my younger years but having done them again, I've been able to rectify them quicker so as not to clog up the mod files with errors. I've learned a bit from searching Google and watching YouTube videos, and I've found some new things to enhance and manage the various forms and options inside my mods, as well as playing about with xEdit5. I've also taken up learning Javascript, so understanding strings and operators has helped me analyze and understand the code in Papyrus better, which has been a massive help! So, with that, let's get into this entry's update! GIVING A VOICE TO THE VOICELESS As mentioned in my previous entry, I've made a mod to add more dialogue to some of the male enemy factions throughout Skyrim. I started playing with ElevenLabs back in August 2023 and really liked the prospect of adding new lines of dialogue, voicing my custom-made follower as well as my player through Dragonborn Voice Over (DBVO). New lines and voice lines have been generated for some of the factions, controlled by a voice list so I can make sure those without a voice aren't trying to speak them and forcing up subtitles (I once had a wolf someone through lines of speech at me in a fight and that was amusing for 2 seconds). I couldn't think of a name, so I just went with Rowdy Faction Comments. Most comments are sexual in nature, but I plan to add some more to extend the lore and the amount of lines actors can have, splitting more into different factions. I probably won't cover every faction or voice type, but most of the ones I hear and like. These comments will range over various stances, such as attacking, blocking, idle, alert, etc. An example would be "Damn... I wish I could get my cock sucked..." It would be spoken as a casual comment on an idle state where there is no threat. I am looking into how I can potentially use SexLab Aroused to enhance this, so they only say it once they reach or over a certain arousal level rather than saying it repetitively by default. I have the code to check, I just need to do some tests to implement it successfully. Another line is "Can't wait to get a piece of that Bosmer ass!" This is said to a wood elf during an attack in an angry tone, which works quite well with the conditions set up. Other lines like this have been added, and while it will take a while to think up other good ones that fit the lore (both sexual and non-sexual), it's fun to add this spice to my gameplay. The best way to describe it is a lighter version of Horrible Harassment. I've become really attached to the term "elf" or "little elf", which is already featured within the game itself, and sometimes feels a little domineering or even disrespectful. I've thrown some extra lines like this to a couple of specific NPCs or to a voice type, that will play throughout my gameplay. It helps build immersion for me. I don't think I'll play as any other character race than a Woodelf, but conditions help stop my follower from potentially triggering anything too! It's also good practice if I build a public mod one day to get used to the conditions, what they do, and the various options that can be used to define triggers for specific events. For my PC character, DBVO, along with mods like Improved Alternate Conversation Camera, make conversation in the game more engaging. Using it to add vanilla lines to base content, then adding it to modded content, such as my custom follower, really adds flavor and allows me to build a unique, personal experience. Player Voice Set has done this, too, so I can trigger more varied PC dialogue on level-ups or trigger when finding a unique location. I'd love to be able to find a way to make it so it's set on conditions where I can make the player recognize things (such as saying, "I hope this dungeon doesn't have one of these mimic-tentacle creatures in it" using EnterLocation threads). I have a guess that mini-quests can do this using the condition to check if a quest is complete, but a more immersive way for it to happen in the background would be ideal. MORNING WOOD GOT STIFFER Sticking to voices, just for fun, I added a whole dialogue to Bjorn LongSowrd of the Morning Wood shop (if you didn't know, this comes from Schlongs of Skyrim mod). I made a custom dialogue branch where he actually explains his potions and what they do in a lore-friendly way. You can get an example below: rydin-sosshopenhancement.mp4 Credit to VectorPlexus, Smurf and b3lisario for the Schlongs of Skyrim mod, and its features, including Bjorn Longsword. I have him giving some comments only in the Morning Wood, and some only in the Sleeping Giant Inn. One condition has him comment "Come sit in my lap, little elf..." but only in the inn and only if he's sitting. Again, conditions are really powerful to ensure you don't just hear the same line anywhere, any time, and can help keep things unique and tidy. I added a couple more when he's outside, or in the presence of another actor, all just to really see how far I could go. It's been fun to give more to this custom NPC. I have been planning a quest where he will give a discount to the player on the elixirs if the ingredients have been brought back as a way to help me learn quest-building. I have no intention of releasing these as they are mostly just for personal enjoyment as I continue to learn inside Creation Kit, but you can imagine if I did make a mod, the type of lengths my silly little self would go. I don't see the mod getting an update anytime soon, but if it does, I'll consider having my own add-on mod. But for now, happy to just edit directly and save. Keeping on the topic of voices, I was able to break down SexLab Extra Voices to learn how to add more voices to the SexLab registry, which allowed me to add a unique one with my custom follower. This means that now, when he moans during sex, he uses the Brute voice, and this helps to continue building that immersion. It was a great exercise to do, and it showed me that I could see the logic in the scripts and put them together with edits. Hopefully, I can use this to continue to build my experience. THE LORE IS IN THE QUEST I've been looking at building quests and had the desire to do it for a while now. In fact, I think it was the Isle of Mara that really piqued my interest. I'm starting out simply right now by doing one for my Rydin Follower mod. I've created the basics to start a force greet and discussion with the player when they are in Riverwood, triggered after the Whiterun quests are completed and you have slain the first dragon. Using this as a lore base, I've built in about word traveling and Rydin needing help, asking you to meet him around the back of the inn. I managed to figure this out, so the next step is actually making the location of the bandit den. I know this will be a lot with building a cave with navmesh and placement of items, but where is the fun if you don't try? I did consider just using another one that was premade, but that wouldn't be challenging—time to learn something new! LEARNING FROM DEBUGGING Speaking of Isle of Mara, I know this mod doesn't currently have an SE port done to it, and I know from reading that people have tried, but I think they've had some issues. The mod can be a bit hit or miss for me, mostly in triggering or alignment, but it is full of a wealth of opportunities to learn from its scripts and mechanics. One thing that stopped triggering for me was the tentacles in the Wizard Crondor's hut, assaulting the three male slaves in the center. But after some playing around, The tentacles obey their master once again! I've managed to make them work again. I'm not sure yet what stopped them from working as everything looks correct, but I assume it may be a slight change in the Estrus mod itself, which I'll have to delve into at another date (not gonna lie, but I wanna make tentacle animations someday). But doing this deep dive into a mod like this yields a lot of learning for me. I learn from seeing it in action and breaking down the code. I learned HTML and CSS that way, so this has been a good experience (and I get to fix up one of the longest male/male-focused mods out there for my own playthrough) REWRITING THE GUIDES I was working on rewriting the SLAL guide as promised, mostly because I need to understand the new options so that I can upgrade and build my own packs, but I've put that on hold while I go back and do some actual animating myself first. There are also so many great animations to choose from and to hook them into my personal mods, so I want to make sure I have them tagged appropriately and save some space by taking out animations that don't appeal or work in a male/male setting. Since I'm going to stick with SE/AE, most of my modding and guides will be upgraded eventually for this, so watch this space! When I get it redone, I'll post it to the original download page. SOMEONE'S IN TROUBLE You may have noticed I picked up my spanking mod again, changing the name to Discipline Born. It's still in very early stages, but all the breakdown and examining of mods I have done has given me that extra insight and allowed me to really start to pick up the coding language and see what's going on. I'm still very much a beginner, but I'm not as overwhelmed as I was in my earlier years, and I have started to really work on enhancing this mod. I have thought about whether I'll release a mod (any mod) I make in the future, simply as I may not have the free time or knowledge to adequately help those with conflict or installation issues (modding is just a hobby I do in my free time) and I'm not sure at this point, but I'll still work on them for fun and update the page with progress. Okay, I think that's it for now. I've likely missed a lot of other things I've done in the last six months, such as editing meshes and textures, but I'll keep those for another update once I have something more substantive. For now, I have an idea for a mod that utilizes the shouts, but I'll keep that under wraps until I have something that works. Thanks for reading!

I can tell that I'm back into modding full-time. I spent two hours one night trying to enhance Player Voice Sets for myself and add more dialogue lines and discovered that the MaleEvenToned voice I use for my Woodelf, his voice lines for this mod actually go onto the mods folder for MaleElfHaughty. I spent a lot of time delving through scripts (and making a couple of personal tweaks) to get the ability to add more lines in this using conditions. So with that, here's an update on my modding journey! THE FILTHIEST COMPANION My personal follower mod is coming along. I have renamed and vamped up my scripts, cleaned up the naming conventions, added more notes, and basically trying to help myself more in my journey. Notes have become imperative to my learning, and while I may look at different scripts on different mods, these notes help me pick up where I left up and quickly identify what part of the code does what. Bit risky having so much skin showing! I've also been playing around with conditions, setting up voice lines where my follower might warn there's a Draugr crypt nearby, or make comments on my character's armor they have equipped (particularly if it's revealing and the follower is just looking at my Bosmer's ass all day). I've built a few options in, some neutral, some sexual (we are on LoversLab!) with timers so I don't see them constantly, but all in good fun. This has really allowed me to customize the follower beyond the "I need to trade with you" options. I'm exploring the possibility of adding branches that lead to options for sexual encounters, but I'll wait to see how that goes. I have the ideas, so I'll just need to see if the theory works. One of my struggles was to get keywords that were unique to play on certain armors that were revealing without requiring them to be masters. There are a lot of options when it comes to revealing armor, and I wanted Rydin to make a quip or two when seeing my character in such gear, particularly when sneaking (I may add an arousal check to it to enhance it further). I reached out to the forum and I got some awesome responses (again, thank you) and I opted to use Keyword Item Distributor (KID) which suited my needs the most. It took a couple of tinkering to get the code right, but now, I can add the keyword to gears in these other mods without making them masters, which allows me to be a little more creative and specific in targeting when using conditions. Feels like a bit of a level-up! GIVING THE HERO A VOICE As mentioned, I have made some personal edits to Player Voice Sets to give my player character more voice lines. This came on the back learning conditions and detection lines, which I thought would work with this mod too. After a few hours of dissecting the code and the mod on Creation Kit, I managed to crack it and started to add more lines and triggers. My personal goal for this is to add more battle lines, lines for being close to defeat, and lines where you have been defeated and before a defeat mod would take over. This will help to enhance immersion and give more flavor to these mods I play, something that I have yearned for since I first started learning how to mod. I am excited to see what I come up with! SHAMEFUL BANDITS EVERYWHERE With all of this in mind, I did consider a public mod, one where perhaps enemy factions like bandits in camp may threaten or harass the player more, maybe even making sexual threats. I also considered that perhaps they could entice the player for "fun" and potentially reward them with some gold at the end for their "time". It's an idea, and I think it could be done, but I need to learn a little more about scripting events before this could happen. Right now, all I have is some personal detection calls, making some of the threats more sexual in nature, and see how this pans out as I play. LEGACY EDITION FAVORITES If you played LE before moving to SE/AE, then you will like to have some favorite mods that you want to bring over. For me, that was Dangerous Nights and Random Sex. While luckily, I found both have ports for SE/AE, it seems that Dangerous Sex is the only one working. I haven't been able to get Random Sex to trigger (using the NG version) so I've put that on hold for now. Dangerous Nights works mostly as is (I tried it once and my follower was stuck in the laying down position with I was assaulted by bandits and didn't even get up when they were done), so I took a dive into its files to take a look and see if I could clean up the MCM menu and if I could add voices to the voice lines through adding the files in my own mod data folder. It looks doable for a part, but for some dialogues, there seems to be a missing path linked to the custom QuestAliases. I'll need to take a better look. Abducted at the start of the Isle of Mara I also installed Isle of Mara (even though it has no up-to-date SE/AE port) to look at the source scripts and see what it's doing in the game. Isle of Mara was a bit cheesy in my opinion, but I liked what it could do, and it was a great inspiration back in my early days. I remember the source scripts weren't supplied in earlier versions, and I couldn't figure out what was done and how, but now that they are and I have a better knowledge of the code, I might be able to dissect it and make a question script for my follower, and any of the other silly quest ideas I've had in the past. Taking a look through the source scripts, I've made a couple of notes on some of the elements that interest me into making a quest in my follower mod to help me dissect and learn. It doesn't look complicated at first glance, but this mod is very script heavy and well-made, so I'll need to dive into every aspect of it. I did think there was a lot going on in one cell, which could cause problems, so if I did make something, one of the things I've noted is to keep it light and make sure that scripts have a clear endpoint if a player leaves the area. Its implementation of animations to run on their own accord was what interested me, as well as the forced control of the player and its use of conditionals to really add flavor. I also noticed it had SEQ files, and I'll need to learn about these to up my quest design. BACK TO ROOTS To leave the post with some good news, I have been able to get my tools for animating back to work again. I have all my files from when I stopped in 2016 still saved, but the knowledge is gone, so I'll need to go back through all sources and relearn the process. I'd like to make some new animations and update old ones, but I'll need some time before I can do that. Just watch this space! Thanks all for now. If you got this far, thanks for reading!

It's been a long time since I last modded for Skyrim. I've mostly been playing elsewhere in other games, modding them here and there, fumbling my way through a minefield of letters and numbers that fit together to make cool things happen. But a recent delve into coding brought me back here, to a game that I love (and truthfully, have never finished), Skyrim. I started modding it around 2014 and quit in 2016 after I lost access to being able to animate. I could never figure out scripting and while I had ideas, I had no way to write them. I learned to mod mostly through breaking down PSC files and looking at logic and a big bunch of it was trial and error, and I think I managed to make do, considering I stumbled through making a mod that hooked animations into the SexLab Framework before it the main Framework was updated. But stress and poor mental health really hit hard around that time, and it became a struggle to keep up with. For the last year, I've played about with the idea of getting back into modding and building my perfect setup. I still have my LE set up for Skyrim, as messy and unstable as it is, and I liked throwing it open every now and then. But I decided to finally dip my toe into SSE and AE editions of the game and thus, set up a new mod build from scratch. Somehow, I always made it out in my head that it would be too complex to start again and shunned the idea. Though now, I've learned that's not true. As some of you may have guessed from my blog and past mods, I have a male character and I am male/male orientated in my setup, so I do gravitate mostly to mods and animations that have catered towards gender-neutral or LGBTQ+ friendly. So I thought, what about keeping a journal of my progress? If anything, it would be good for me to look back over my own journey of how much I've done and how far I've come. It might not really serve to help anyone except myself and no one might care to read it, but it's a space for me to reflect, make notes, and maybe if things get messed up, something for me to look back on and figure out solutions. So here I go. Off back into the world of modding for Skyrim! MY FAVORITE WOOD ELF I will not lie. I'm not the biggest fan of the elf looks (I was gutted when I played ESO on console and couldn't make the hottest Bosmer). So the first thing I set out is to make sure I get my favorite preset back from the Nexus along with the Ethereal Elven Overhaul. It changes the aesthetics slightly but remains lore-adherent. I've used Race-Based Textures (though I am interested in looking at Every Bodies Different in the future) and mixed my textures between BNP Male Skin and AW Mosaic Skin. I know in my LE edition, I played about with textures to get the type of body hair I wanted, and I made adjustments to make nipples appear in the right place on skeletons, but I was still very fresh-faced. I had mismatched feet that were broken and I could never resolve or be happy with them as I wanted the particular skin for the chest—thank god for the Strip Options in SexLab! But these new options have such vivid detail that is visually appealing so I'm good to go. Showing off the cute elf! I've geared him in some revealing fur armor taken from the Revealing Armors for Schlongs of Skyrim mod. This mod is more a replacer and replaces all actors wearing the gear into the revealing version, but I made a personal mod to add them as single standalone gear sets to wear for my character only, porting it to AE for my game (which I'm happy to finally learn that it's dead simple to do). I need to work on some ground objects for them, make stronger versions (since I wanna keep wearing them), and learn more about armor leveling/scaling (if any) so it's a good little piece to play about with. A WORLD OF STUNNING VISION In LE, I opted for the Grim and Somber ENB. I particularly liked this for its dark and moody tones it brought to the game, particularly in dungeons. But this time, I've gone to look at something different and opted for Ruby ENB. It's preset to complement Natural and Atmospheric Tamriel and LUX to give a very fantasy but realistic in its visuals. My LE save was on a weaker system that couldn't handle the graphical power brought by upgraded textures, but this system has got me pushing the boat out a bit more. I haven't upgraded many textures apart from the ones required and recommended with the ENB, such as adding Embers and LUX, and the skin textures. The game looks pretty stunning as is in the AE edition (as seen from the screenshot above) but I'll be looking around to see if anything needs enhancing further. I did spot a missing texture in a dungeon, so will need to figure out if it's a mod doing it, or just good old game devs missing a spot. NEW GAME, NEW MODS, NEW SCENARIOS If there is one thing I have come to love about the modding community, it's the ability to play through various different scenarios with different mods and load-outs. I have a couple of characters that I've saved the models from LE so I can look at making them in AE, and the growth of the modding community bringing new and creative stories through adult gameplay is something I really enjoy. I mean, this is a roleplaying game after all! I've played the hero in trouble to the bandit leader being turned upon, and I'm always thinking about what's next on the horizon. Good old Bleak Falls Barrow. I think I've done this first quest a hundred times. When I was setting my game up, I spotted Practical Defeat as a newly uploaded mod in the forum homepage so I decided to take a look into this one. Immediately I was grateful to read that it was written with a player/character of any gender in mind. Acheron also looks to be a good death-alternative mod, having personally played about with these types of mods in my LE setup. While still in its early stages, I've given it a play though and, while I've run into a few bumps with it failing to create a scene, it may be the hard requirement on an older mod causing conflicts or I haven't quite figured out how to set the scenes up. But I look forward to exploring its features as it grows. That's just one new mod I've tried. I've loaded in a bunch of old faves and upgraded one or two to be AE-compliant but I don't want to just bore you with my full mod list, ahha. RETURNING TO ROOTS The last thing that I was working on was a personal follower mod, one with dialogue trees linked to SexLab Aroused to trigger different responses depending on the follower's arousal. It was very basic and even now, as I look over it, I cringe at my writing. I have grown so much in eight years. But this is going to form part of my own person modding project to learn to script and is included in my plan to build my perfect list. Making a personal SLAL pack (or coding it directly to SexLab's registry) along with tags that will help me code it into this follower, this project is surely going to take a while, but I know I will learn a lot from it with the right animations and the right alignments. I#ve just been able to successfully voice one line for him, so my weekend will be filled making some more lines! Setting up the facility to compile scripts though was probably a little more painful than I'd like. I mostly use Mod Organizer 2 (MO2), so gathering the scripts to place them in the game directory was a little tedious, considering one or two were on GitHub (SkyUI and a script from Precision) and I had to hunt around for another. But I ran it, tested it, and it's all up and running. I felt a little giddy that I'm excited to get back into this! That's really it for now. In the last few days, I've mostly set myself up ready to both play a new game as well as enhance it through tweaks and updates. It's been fun trying out a new mod and breaking down some older mods to get a look at their raw coding. Hopefully, I'll make some progress and share some more updates with everyone soon. If read this far, thanks for sticking around.