equinoxts2

[equinoxts2]

Senaverse Lorepost (sort of): Back to the Drawing Board

So, I got half of the KS cast made, built the bare bones of one lot, started playing... and I am very very very dissatisfied. Not just because I'm a lazy-yet-perfectionist buildophobe. Also because the way it looks is a bit too dreary and samey, even after switching out the bear tunics for medieval-esque outfits. Which I'm still not thrilled with.

I'm just sat here now, thinking that this kind of laziness on my part - refusing to re-cut my downloads when I could play with the one I have now, even though I'm bored of it - has done in more iterations of KS than corruption has ever come close to. The answer: brand new download cut, one that uses the content I love most, paying no mind to what "makes sense" by earth-history standards that I'm not trying to emulate anyway.

It's my sim world. I want to have lots more natural and unnatural hair colours, with mostly long hair on all genders. I want to use the quirky, patterny modern clothing that's been hiding in my download hoard for years, along with rustic-but-colourful cabin-style dwellings that are a riot of colour and mismatched decor on the inside. I want to avoid plastic and electronics, though magical equivalents are fine, and I can always headcanon that what looks like a lightbulb on a cute lamp is actually a crystal. I also want to retain the tribal-fantasy aspects of Nuidya life, having more facepaints than conventional makeup, and have lots of untamed nature all about, and gods and ancestors wandering around (though I am rethinking the nature of the five pantheons in canon) and aether beacons at the heart of every village.

So I'm going to. Deal with it. 😉

[equinoxts2]

Senaverse Rotations Go Out of Sync

Happy (slightly belated) New Year to all my simblr friends! I've been focusing on my solo RPG over the holidays, since I refuse to build over Christmas, but I'm ready to get back to working on Kulo Sena now!

As part of my attempt to be more true to my own playstyle, I've managed to zap a lot of the stuff I'm not using, but keep including, from my Downloads folder (3t2 traits, and complex Sun&Moon crafting chains, looking at you) so my load times will hopefully be less like sload times. I'm also examining elements of my gameplay that I'm dissatisfied with. One of those aspects is the rotation system, which I've been very strict about keeping in sync since before Kulo Sena was a thing - even though my naturally chaotic, cluttered mind can't handle schedules! It's much too full of roleplaying and worldbuilding stuff to remember anything as trivial as when I have to go to the dentist. (I know where things are, mum. They're in one of those piles on the floor over there.)

So, how can I change my timekeeping style to better suit my preferences? Well... (Quin Standard Ramble incoming!)

As I already mentioned in previous posts, I've been replacing text strings to make certain game terms make more sense to me. I've decided that, instead of having a rotation system, Kulo Sena's story will flow more like... well, a story, which is where my strengths have always been. I am just naturally a rambly narrator.

The replacement term will be arc, and I plan to focus each arc on whatever grabs my attention most in the moment, rather than on whoever happens to be next on the list. I'm going to stop fussing about keeping ages and seasons exactly matched between households, letting there be a few days' variation, and letting some households where nothing much is going on sit out of a few play sessions. As a storyteller first and foremost, nothing's more frustrating than having to break off from an exciting storyline and go play a bunch of nobodies because a week is up!

I'll be tagging my posts by arc name and scene number, rather than by household or rotation or even by sim names. I also plan to make a habit of taking notes at the end of every play session, recapping major events for my scatterbrained self to review later. Another thing I get frustrated with myself for: I can barely remember what happened last rotation when I'm playing, never mind last iteration or anything! (The same applies to what I have for breakfast, and I only ever have one thing for breakfast... ahem. Resident Simblr Scatterbrain signing out now.)

Rotations are out of my game, as of 2025. Arcs are in.

[equinoxts2]

A bit of TS2 Holiday Love

OK, guess the Sims community Holiday Love Meme is not going ahead this year (@strangetomato and family, I am sending you love and festive good wishes - if you want or need to move on from Simming, you will be missed, but I totally respect your decision) so I'll say this publicly.

Thank you so much to everyone who follows not just my very niche li'l simblr, but all of you who keep the Sims 2 community going strong. Everyone who posts their CC and gameplay, everyone who likes and comments on those posts, everyone who simply prefers to lurk. It warms my heart to see that TS2 is still a living, vibrant, creative community, that constantly grows more amazing with the achievements of its modders and players, who are still discovering new and exciting ways to adapt it. The support and kindness that every TS2 simmer I know shows is truly inspiring, and I can think of no other gaming community I'd rather be a part of. Some of my absolute best friends have been simmers past and present, and I am thankful to have known and interacted with them all.

Simblr friends, I hope that, whatever the holiday season means to you, it brings you joy and fulfilment that will last through the new year - and that this old, wonderful game and its dedicated players will comfort and support you through many more years. I know it has done exactly that for me.

Thank you, all of you.

With love and gratitude for every moment of the last seventeen and two-thirds years I've been part of this community, From Quin

[equinoxts2]

Senaverse Lorepost: Redefining That ACR Business

As I'm sure my longtime followers know, I've struggled with the romantic aspects of Sims 2 social interactions for the longest time. Over the past couple of months, I've been replacing text strings like there's no tomorrow, changing terminology to better suit my squeamish aroace mindset, and now I feel like it almost makes sense to me... the moment of truth will be when I play, but here's a lorepost about how it's viewed in the Senaverse.

On Juvash, these kinds of interactions are more ritualised and carry a deeper meaning - even the "casual" ACR socials. (ACR now stands for Autonomous Companionship Rituals in my game.) Instead of thinking of it as "romance," the people of Juvash would be more likely to use "courtship" to describe it, or other, similar terms.

Terms that have been replaced by my edits:

Kiss = Share Breath

Flirt = Compliment

Marriage = Pathbonding

Spouse = Pathmate

Engagement = Harvest Bond (long story)

Steady = Allied

Woohoo = Sensory Union or Rite of Seclusion (terms used interchangeably)

Public Woohoo = Aetherbond

Make Out = Share Spirits

Date = Companion Journey

Crush = Affection

Love = Devotion

I'm sure there are others that I've missed off this list. I'm still trying to figure out what to rename the Romance aspiration itself as. Either way, I'm very tired, still have a lot of sims to make, and CAS is sloading as I type, so I'm going to sign off here :)

[equinoxts2]

Sorry for going quiet this past week! I've had rather a lot of setbacks and facepalm moments in my attempt to set up Kulo Sena again. However, I'm not letting it get me down - and I'm also working on that Senaverse RPG campaign I was asked about a while ago!

The idea: the solo RPG will be posted as a series of interludes in the KS story (or the other way round, depending on which I feel more like doing at any given time) and will follow the younger generations (between Emerging and Blossoming phases) as they find themselves somewhere very unlike the Kulo Sena they know. This also means I don't have to make them as sims in KS proper. Less setup? Sounds good to me!

As for rulesets, I'll be using Mythic Game Master Emulator 2nd Edition and The Adventure Crafter, both published by Word Mill Games, to craft the stories and answer my questions; Victoriana 3rd Edition by Cubicle 7 (with heavily modified magic rules to fit the Senaverse lore) will be my system for character crafting and other dice-rolling situations. It's less of a combat-focused system than some others I found, and also the first RPG I tried playing with my mum. The mechanics will not feature in the actual posts - just the story itself - though I may add a few footnotes about awesome dice rolls and what I was expecting to happen.

I'm character crafting right now, trying to decide which of my young Nuidya the story will focus on. Really looking forward to sharing it with my simblr friends - and also having a Kulo Sena spinoff where the mechanics of the game don't limit the possibilities!

[equinoxts2]

Three households in one to introduce, all linked to Etan: her cousin Kira, her adopted children Lydia and Demetrius, and her two pathmates London and Abraxius. Intros to each sim below the cut.

Kira (black hair, red tunic, in the middle of the back row) is Etan's younger cousin, the only living child of former headwoman Abina - who is now a member of the Court of Belyala, the Nuidya ancestor pantheon. Unlike her mother, Kira has been an entitled diva so far, expecting her mi-Avira blood to let her get away with slacking off; however, now that her daughter has been named as Etan's heir, she's beginning to see the potential in this parenthood thing. Only took her thirteen starbands.

Tamivadila (black hair, wolf ears, blue tunic) is one of Kira's voidling alpha twins. Despite their strong magical heritage, Kira herself showed very little interest in being there for them. Tami responded by becoming loud, assertive and stubborn, but she is also something of a philosopher, and is working with Etan to build a fairer system for all Nuidya, not just mi-Aviras.

Rarovokis (black hair, wolf ears, green tunic) is Tami's twin brother, and shares her high intelligence. Unlike her, he is quiet and tries to stay out of the spotlight; he is very close to Tami, though, and she's always backed him up. As a son of the line of Avira, he knows he'll probably never have children of his own (can you be de-spiritbound?) but he still longs to start a more loving family than he had.

Abraxius (grey hair, brown tunic) is one of Etan's two pathmates, and out of the two, he's the bigger schemer. An archmage of the Pink tradition, he has no qualms about using his magic to get his way. Many Nuidya still don't trust him, since his arrival in Kulo Sena was marked by an attempt at cursing the burial grounds - luckily for him, Etan is a sucker for flattery.

London (blond hair, yellow tunic) is Etan's other pathmate, and has been with her significantly longer. He's a former boxer, unusually strong for a male of Juvash. He did once get kicked out for starting a drunken brawl with Etan herself, but they made up later... another reason why Etan is stepping down.

Lydia (red hair, red tunic) is one of a pair of twins adopted by Etan and London in the coastal city where they once lived. She's the elder of the two, and there's been some debate over whether she counts as "a descendant of the line of Avira" for succession purposes. Lydia herself isn't interested in leading the tribe regardless, preferring to just get on with her art projects.

Demetrius (red hair, brown tunic) is Lydia's brother. At one point, he was named as Etan's heir, but refused to accept the position - which his pathmate Tetali has mixed feelings about. He is also an artistic type, and enjoys crafting things.

Miak (black hair, black tunic) is Lydia's son with her pathmate Keru. He vanished into the Spirit World for a while as a child, returning days later at the age of nineteen starbands. He claims he can't remember what happened while he was away, but he has noticed that he gets a lot more admirers now than he expected - so he's more than willing o play up the spirit mystique to get attention.

[equinoxts2]

OK, household two! If you remember me saying something about "familiar faces" in a previous post from ages ago - here are two of them: Lazlo Curious and Erin Beaker, who are the two elders in the back.

In my game, when I was testing my mod cut and new genetics system in Strangetown not too long ago (and this is why I decided NOT to use Triplets & Quads in the end) Pascal's voidling baby turned out to be quads: the four black-haired sims in the grey gowns. From left to right, they are Kite, Alice, Varris and Tallia. The two blond guys are Vidcund's twins, Aaron and Hastain.

Both Pascal and Vidcund died in childbirth (another mod I then decided I was going to stick to my original plan of not using) and I wanted to take that storyline and run with it, writing it into the family's backstory as a lab accident. Lazlo - along with his pathmate Erin and close family friend Nicodemus Muenda - had to step up to raise the six kids.

Thirty-seven starbands (three full seasonal years) later, they're here in the Lake Lulla region. No, I haven't figured out why yet, and the voidlings haven't developed individual backstories/traits at the moment. I will be letting that develop through play. Either way, the younger generation are working as acquisitions, as indicated by the grey outfits; elders who arrived after the Starband of Fate have been granted honorary citizenship, so Erin and Lazlo get brighter outfits.

They're not the only premades who've found homes in my game, and there will also be a number of sims from other people's games appearing in later posts. For now, though, I'm sick of CAS and it's bedtime, so night night. :)

[equinoxts2]

Let's kick off the intro posts with the household of Etan, headwoman of Kulo Sena (though I am planning on future leaders adopting a more gender-neutral title.) Individual sim intros below the cut:

Etan is the one in the middle with the red tunic, holding the toddler. As I said, she's the current leader of the Nuidya; however, she is planning to step down in favour of her cousin's daughter, having lost the favour of her people due to her own consistently bad relationship choices. She is also, according to the late shaman Pel, the fifth and last incarnation of Sena Yuleng, founder of the tribe and a fragment of the Earth Dragon - this has left some Nuidya doubting whether their revered ancestor was that great.

Yulica (red-haired woman at the back, in the blue-grey tunic) is Etan's younger half-sister, the only daughter of the line of Avira to be born without a twin. This, due to Nuidya law, means she was not eligible to become headwoman herself - which has led her to become resentful of her sibling, even (at one point) attempting to steal the essence of the Earth Dragon from Etan, with the help of her pathmate Kuvato.

Hudana (brown-haired man in the green tunic, on the other side of Etan) is Etan and Yulica's brother. Although he's unaware of this, he is a dhampir - his vampire father was out of the picture before he or Yulica could go through the transformation, but Hudana inherited several vampiric traits. One of these is a hunger, not for plasma, but for pure male thoughts; this has got him into quite a bit of trouble for attempting to fight the nicer young men of the tribe.

Luyisula (far left, in the white tunic) is the eldest of Etan's children. They are also one of Shaman Mari's three apprentices, and the one who coined the term namavinta ("carrying a nation within") to describe their own gender identity. They're not sure how well they're suited to the role of shaman, but they're too dang stubborn to admit it, even though their main interests are treeball and hunting.

Tabiltamyuli (far right, brown plaited hair, green and white tunic) is Luyisula's twin sister. She's apprenticed to the village lorekeepers, and she may have a bit of a crush on her mentors, which she's kept to herself. As a child, she wasn't expected to make it to adulthood; her apprenticeship gave her new purpose, and she's pretty sure that's what helped her recover from her poor health. She's not interested in becoming a tribal leader - she's one of the few Nuidya who can read, and that's exactly what she spends most of her time doing.

Kuona (between Yulica and Tabiltamyuli, wavy black hair, brown tunic) is the only surviving child of Etan and her ex-husband Melchol, who died three bands ago, not long after breaking a law he helped Etan write by divorcing her. Around that time, Kuona somehow managed to age ten bands in a few days - she is still getting used to being expected to Adult, though she does prefer to goof off with her friends.

Molsya (kid in front of Etan, with the wavy brown hair) and Ototiade (black-haired toddler in Etan's arms) are the youngest two of the family, children of Etan and her newest pathmate Abraxius. Like Etan herself, Molsya lost her twin brother in infancy, which (according to Nuidya superstition) means she has inherited powerful magic; Ototiade has no twin, and single-born children of the line of Avira have traditionally been considered cursed. Their stories are still being written... what will they end up getting into?

[equinoxts2]

It's baaack... clothing selection is sorted and I actually feel motivated to make the sims! My strategy this time, since I have A LOT of households, is to make multiple families in the same household in CAS - each of the 39(!) batches of sims I have to make overall is as close to eight as I could get.

I'll be posting intros to the sims as I make them - watch this space!

[equinoxts2]

Picking clothing is my arch-nemesis. I'm moving away from the uniform-like Parsimonious bear tunics, which means I have to find something else for my sims to wear... and it's near-impossible to find stuff that meets all my needs, including:

Very obviously not-modern, preferably not overtly Some Other Earth-History Era inspired

Available for Maxis and Androgyny bodyshapes, TU-EU

Maxis elder shapes

Not overly revealing

A nice degree of variety, preferably more colours and patterns than the several shades of green, brown and grey I currently have with the tunics

Blockfeet meshes for under/swim/sleepwear

Consistent with everything else about Kulo Sena, such as the hide tents

Properly made fat morphs (no need for pregmorphs, since my sims attune to eggs)

Female clothing is as practical for Doing Stuff as male clothing, if not more so

I can't mesh or texture to save my life - I try, and I get terrible headaches every single time. I'm so so stuck, and this from a simmer with over 7,000 subfolders under "Clothes" in vir download hoard. Very few of them work for me, the ones that do are either AF only or have, like, three textures max or both, and I seriously can't take slogging through any more folders. It's so frustrating... sorry for the complainy post, but I had to vent. (Done now.)

[equinoxts2]

Hiya. I vaguely remember you mentioning the possibility of turning Senaverse into a TTRPG setting / solo TTRPG (?), is that still something you are working on / planning to post about?

Oh hi Anon! Yes, it has been on my mind, and I'm not sure how posting about it would go but I am still interested in doing it! I would mostly be doing it for myself but I'm happy to share if you and/or anyone else would want to read it ^^

Have a lovely day and take care!

[equinoxts2]

One More Personal Ramble

First announcement: All future posts on this blog will relate to Sims 2, the ongoing story of the Senaverse, and/or the mods I occasionally edit for it. I am not going to post or reblog anything from this world that could trigger or hit too close to home for any of my readers, or myself, however strongly I might feel about those things; this is a SIMBLR and will remain (I hope) a safe place for all. I oppose hate and I donate to good causes, but from now on I'll keep this blog specifically as a place for Sims 2 only.

Second announcement: I've had yet another lightbulb moment regarding my identity confusion. I know I don't experience romantic or physical attraction, and I don't have or want a gender, but terms like agender and aroace never felt right... and now I know why. It's because they define me by what I'm not. What I am is a gentle, spiritual entity of warm light, stuck in a humanoid body for this lifetime, committed to manifesting love (that's love, not romance) and making peace with my traumatic past and physical form. Some might say that makes me "crazy" but if being a dull sheep bound by narrow ideas of logic and science is sanity, that's another thing I'll opt out of, thank you.

If you do think I've lost it, the unfollow button is right over there. I don't need negativity and will not respond to it. From now on, Quin does Quin - this is a worldbuilding simblr and I will not be making any more personal or otherwise simless posts here.

[equinoxts2]

Senaverse Lorepost: Generations of the Gods

Kulo Sena is most definitely coming back! I just couldn't leave it - I think we all knew that. But I do intend to retcon the setting somewhat, so I can fit in some of the ideas I had for my new WIP. Here's a lorepost showcasing this idea fusion!

This lorepost focuses on the four generations of divine entities on Juvash. The gods of their world are a team, don't compete for followers or influence, and have a role more like counsellors than overlords when dealing with mortals. They are there to guide and comfort, not to dictate how mortals live.

The first generation, the overall power that guides Juvash (although it doesn't consider itself a "higher power" as that implies hierarchy, a concept the gods sort-of understand but view as a mortal quirk) is the Eternal Continuum of Omnipresent Love. Usually just called Love or the Aether, it is a force that flows through all of creation, powers the aether beacons at the heart of each community and generally connects all things. A person's conscience is said to be their "voice of Love."

The second generation is the Binding Principles, the eldest of the five sibling pantheons that walk the lands today. These five gods were the first to emerge from the Aether, and their overall role is to balance the core essences of the Senaverse. They are the ones who brought change and chaos to a formerly static Spirit World (this is my twist on the classic "order from chaos" creation myth) and allowed life to flourish. This does not make them greater than the other four pantheons, just older. They are: Essence, representing what simply is on an innermost level (the core of a thing's nature and identity), and Potential, representing what could be. These two were the first to encounter each other, and are the only couple in the pantheons. The Storm, god of intense emotion, passion and enthusiasm, and the Stillness, god of inner peace, mindfulness and calm. And Harmony, the only god who takes the form of a construct, and who keeps the balance in all things.

The third generation consists of the other four pantheons: the Electria Dragons, gods of the eight elements (or nine, depending on who you ask); the Seven Sages, representing various aspects of knowledge and wisdom; the Skyborn, gods of the mind and celestial things; and the River Fortunes, who guide the flow of time. Team sheets look something like this:

Electria Dragons: Freshwater, Air, Fire, Earth, Stone, Metal, Saltwater, Wood. All of these are pretty much what they say on the tin, as well as covering certain concepts associated with their elements: innovation and breaking new ground for Metal, family bonds for Wood, creativity for Air, and so on.

Seven Sages: The Seeker, god of the pursuit of enlightenment and self-awareness. The Transmuter, god of the cycles of life, death and rebirth, and transformations in general. The Wayfarer, god of travel, new experiences and love of adventure. The Observer, god of mental discipline, endurance and knowing the right time to act. The Holder, god of the comfort of ritual and familiarity. The Shuffler, god of games and strategy, who is particularly fond of showing up the arrogant. The Beguiler, the outcast of the pantheon, said to have betrayed its siblings for forbidden knowledge and power.

Skyborn: Sola, god of the suns, celibacy and asexuality, and victory. Luna, god of the moons, romance and pleasure, and supernaturals - particularly shapechangers. Astral, god of the stars and prophecy. Tempest, god of weather and protection, said to be the parent of voidbeasts. Aethera, god of dreams, love, innocence and childbirth.

River Fortunes: Fate, god of events that are meant to happen, and the one who mostly ensures that the River of Time keeps flowing toward enlightenment. Chance, god of luck and chaos. Choice, god of free will, decisions and the wisdom to choose rightly. Destiny, god of heroes and legendary figures. Eternity, the god who acts as an intermediary between the three worlds: the Spirit World, the Void, and the physical world of Juvash.

Last but not least, there's the fourth generation: the local pantheons. These are ascended heroes and ancestors, who stick around to guide their communities instead of passing to the Spirit World. They understand what it's like to be mortal, so are often turned to for help solving problems of the sort that living people grapple with. Kulo Sena has a local pantheon of fourteen and a half (who are a ramble for another day) known as the Court of Belyala.

And... whew, that was a lot of rambling! Back to CAS I go - see you around!

[equinoxts2]

Quin rambles about eggs

@coriel-muroz asked in response to my last post: Can I ask how you do the eggs? Is it a mod or a decorative object or what? Well, the answer's a bit rambly to put in a tumblr comment, so here's how it works for coriel-muroz and everyone else who's curious.

In the centre of every community, there's an aether beacon - a little floating glow that is the literal and figurative heart of the village. It's the place where, in my headcanon, these eggs "manifest". In other words, when I roll "egg manifests" as an ROS or just decide I want someone to have a kid, I'll place one or more decorative dragon eggs in the deco dragon nest that sits beneath the beacon. Story-wise, anyone who wants to adopt one can go there and see if an egg resonates with them; if it does, they get to take the egg home and set up a nest of their own.

The next thing I do is use Sim Blender to impregnate the sim who will be the "blood parent" - the one who cares for the egg through a period of bonding, and performs the ritual at the end (me speeding up the rest of the pregnancy) to awaken it. The pregnancy is frozen in the first trimester until the awakening ritual, and there's a very low chance (represented by Alt Pregnancy Controller Lite's miscarriage chance) that the egg will change its mind about who it wants to be its parent. This doesn't prevent it hatching, just means that someone else takes the egg and starts a new bonding period. I have replaced the miscarriage memory text to say "Rejected Resonance."

The second parent - the breath parent - is, effectively, completely random. I roll between all the potential "fathers" in the hood to decide who it is, but their identity is seen as something you don't really need to know. This is where Name the Father comes in, to set the second parent as "no character" or one of the partners of the blood parent.

If there's anything else anyone wants to know more about, please let me know! I love rambling about my worldbuilding. :)

[equinoxts2]

New Project Incoming

I have finally decided to put Kulo Sena on the back burners, since I've been rebuilding the same birding thing for nearly eighteen years. That said, I need my TS2 fix... so there's a new project in the works!

Laelorra is a fantasy world that's meant to make sense to me now, not to the angry teenager I was when Sena Yuleng (founding mother of KS) first emerged from CAS. It will hold true to the principles of my worldbuilding: no hate between groups/species, diversity and free will as divine gifts, a hopeful tone, small close-knit communities, and me just worldbuilding for love of doing it.

Some of the lore I came up with for KS will be ported over to Laelorra because I just love the ideas so much. They include: the season names from my calendar post, the life phase lore, eggs manifesting in place of pregnancies. I am also going to create new lore specifically for this setting, for example: while the thirty gods of Juvash walk around as townies, the overarching power of Laelorra is an Eternal Continuum of Omnipresent Love (more commonly known as the Aether, so I can keep aether beacons at the heart of each community) which has no physical form and therefore is not a townie.

I've decided to avoid using human genetics here. I'm still in the process of deciding which species will populate this world, but I have the idea that overall, there is no spoken or written language. The people of Laelorra tend to think in images and emotions, the way I do, for the most part. They communicate through telepathy or pheromones (haven't decided yet) and their names are usually descriptive of their features or notable deeds - and rarely used, except when discussing someone who's not present.

I am so excited for this project and I hope I can share more of it with you soon!

[equinoxts2]

Building epiphany aside, I want to ramble about my sim world's calendar while my game is loading. This is the main reason I started replacing text strings in the first place!

In the world of Juvash, sims count their ages not in years, but in starbands - the equivalent of months, and also the length of a rotation. A starband is usually about 120 days long, and it takes twelve of them (a twelveband) for a full cycle of seasons to complete. Every third twelveband is actually a thirband - a thirteen-starband year, with the leap band (Tidesband) occuring at the beginning of the seasonal cycle. To do this, I add an extra rotation's worth of days to the first season using simnopke's Seasons and Weather controller.

In order, the twelve bands of a standard year are: Birdsband, Blueband, Dreamband (spring); Wandsband, Goldband, Makersband (summer); Stormband, Pinkband, Trailband (autumn); Ghostband, Silverband, Boneband (winter). Blue, Gold, Pink and Silver are the four traditions of mages on Juvash, and each type is empowered during the band named for it.

The starbands are not actually based on moon phases - Juvash is a plane of existence, but it's not a planet, and its suns and moons literally rise and set from the oceans rather than orbiting it. An obvious follow-on from this: the moons don't have phases! One of my many recent forays into changing text strings involved adapting smonaff's Period Hack to say "Dragon Tide" instead of period or moon cycle. (The Electria Dragons, in my sim world, are gods of the eight elements. There's a myth that claims there was once a ninth Dragon, whose element was blood, and who was the only god to adopt a gender identity. She, supposedly, was shattered in the first age of Juvash, and every woman now carries part of her essence. Hence, dragon tides.)

Anyway. Days of the week. Again, Seasons and Weather Controller comes into play here, because any band that is not named for a magical tradition only has six days per week. Seven-day weeks occur in Blueband, Goldband, Pinkband and Silverband, with the added day again being named for the tides of chaos Juvash was born from: Tidesday. The days of the week are, in order from the Monday-equivalent: Risingday, Brightday, Tradesday, Tidesday, Hearthday, Starday, Fallingday.

Rather than having a weekend, Juvash has a midweek for the same purpose. Tradesday and Hearthday are the days everyone gets off work and school (thanks to a couple of BCON edits I made) - in seven-day weeks, Tidesday is also part of the midweek. Tradesday is usually a market day, where communities gather to exchange the goods they've produced. Hearthday is a family day, usually observed at home.

Seasons are renamed like this: Spring = First Turning; Summer = Suns' Gaze; Autumn = Shadows' Harvest; Winter = Moons' Tears. The last one, Moons' Tears, is effectively the mating season for most species of Juvash, and the only season ACR autonomy is enabled.

Finally, the zodiac signs (star tribes) have nothing to do with time of birth on Juvash - they're actually based on twelve mythical archetypes that appear in the legends of many cultures, and rites of adulthood tend to involve deciding which of these archetypes you choose to emulate. It is entirely possible to change paths later! They are: Joker, Nurturer, Guide, Scholar, Mystic, Companion, Defender, Innocent, Teacher, Maker, Artist and Wanderer.

And... that's about it. Have a sticker if you read all this rambling! My game has loaded; time to build.

[equinoxts2]

Redefining Building

Kulo Sena is well on its way to being something resembling an uberhood, with four subhoods, two "downtowns" as regions of the Spirit World, one university (also representing the Spirit World, and there are at least three more in the pipelines) and way too many lots to build. And you know me and building.

Here's the thing, though: I've been on a major text-string replacing kick in my TS2 game. I've replaced strings for the names of the seasons, the days of the week, all the romantic interactions, the zodiac signs, you name it. All to give my game more of a fantasy flavour, reflecting the worldbuilding I've already done for it, and also to help me feel more at ease with romance as a gameplay element.

So I was chatting with my mum this evening, and we were talking about doing the same sort of thing for my own view of building - reframing it as something other than a tedious chore that I have to keep doing because no downloaded lots ever meet my sims' needs. Here's what we've come up with...

If you play TS2 as a life simulator (as opposed to a building simulator or a shooter) then you are probably the kind of player who loves your sims. Like I am. Therefore, building is an act of kindness. It's what you do to ensure that your sims don't starve or freeze on an empty lot, and that's what makes the actual playing bit possible. And if, like me, you loathe the task, even if you're only building for pixels... that makes it closer to a truly selfless or charitable act.

With that worked out, I'm actually motivated to get the first few households somewhere to live... yay! It just goes to show that the language we use to describe things and the stories we tell ourselves about what those things signify are immensely powerful. And on that note, I'm off to nurture my sims by giving them a roof over their heads. :)