#As with the influx of new sims

[rurpleplayssims]

[knightwhoisni]

seeing a new influx of players coming to warframe because of the addition of Hot People You Can Kiss only for the only way to get to them to be like a bajillion different quests and mission types and systems you gotta figure out is kinda funny tbh. not for the fact they're here because of that (godspeed to those baby tenno!) but because we're basically giving dating sim players guns and sending them out to save the solar system like twenty times over before they can even think about that.

like yeah, you gotta learn about the horrors of war n' exploitation and the struggles that come with discovering one's own identity but also the power of love, understanding, and community first. also you gotta figure out what a mod is and shoot this guy's weakpoint a kajillion times if you want a chance at that last frame part you're missing. sorry.

[wildfairies]

well, it finally happened, a big cc creator told me not to put their cc in my sim dumps... it's a creator i couldn't find tou for at the time (and still can't now, just tried for research purposes) so i went with common sense rules like "don't include cc that's in early access" and "don't paywall other ppl's cc" which i obviously would never do. i did change the dl to appease them, but...

i'm feeling torn between wanting to be considerate/understanding and absolute irritation at what this community has become, especially in light of the absurd influx of brand new cc creators who aren't part of the community paywalling their very first posts. i'm thinking about the text post that was going around recently that said something like "imagine if the simblr community was actually collaborative and we shared creations openly" instead of this for-profit entity it's become.

this creator's been nothing but polite so i don't want to seem like i'm after them but they're also making so much money monthly off cc that you'd think it'd be ok to use that cc. bc literally what else is a sim dump. i use a bunch of cc and it's included in the download for convenience, then people put the cc in their own game and everything is exactly the same from there-- your name on the file, your name on the cas preview.

except, of course, the downloader didn't visit your page in the first place, so you missed out on another potential patron/click (never mind the fact that the creators i use for sim dumps are intentionally bigger so people are more likely to already have the cc/know who the creator is, so you probably didn't miss out anyway).

the other thing is that anyone who won't let their cc be used in sim dumps must understand that if everyone else followed that rule, sharing sims with each other would pretty quickly become way too tedious and that entire way of engaging with the community would fall apart. how can you justify a rule that would unquestionably harm the community if every creator followed it? it's both unsustainable and ungenerous.

the bottom line is we need to reconsider how we approach creations made for this game. if you're a creator and your goal is not for your creation to be used, shared, and enjoyed, why are you even making cc? (& money is not a good answer 😀)

[vettelsdarling]

Pleaseeeeee do a Lando x normal!reader ig au I really need this🧡

𝐈 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬

Lissie note… I’m honestly surprised that nobody has requested this until you did! Sorry for the delay, by the way!!! I go in order of who requested first, so it took a little while to get to yours. I love this idea though, thank youuu xx

Few things to note:

Reader is a senior college student.

Lando and reader have been dating for almost a year (since 2020) and are soft launching

There will be time skips from post to post

Time spans from late 2021 to late 2022 (meaning they’ve been dating for 2 yrs over the span of the fic)

Pairing: Lando Norris x Normal!Fem!Reader

Warnings: Slight cursing(?), bunch of fluff

landonorris

Liked by maxverstappen1, carlossainz55, danielricciardo and 863,921 others

landonorris Took a picture of me, so I took a picture of you… sorta.

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maxverstappen1 So this is why you didn’t have time for some sim…

Liked by landonorris

user1 WHAT IS THAT CAPTION

user2 The two shadows😭😭😭

user3 Have you guys ever wondered that he might have friends?

user2 There’s no way that’s a case of “oh this is my best friend”

user4 Tbh I agree💀 It looks like he’s soft launching

user5 Not Lando soft launching rn😭

user6 Is this the first mention of her?

user5 Yeah it is

user7 wdym “her” it might not be his girlfriend…

user8 um it definitely is.

landonorris

Liked by maxverstappen1, danielricciardo, mclaren and 648,221 others

landonorris On my way back to you✈️

view all comments

danielricciardo She’s going to love it when the flowers are all withered from the trip

landonorris She’ll appreciate the sentiment

user1 The roses…

user2 the caption…

user3 I know who it is. If anyone wants the proof dm me

user4 Can you drop it plsss

user5 Oh my goooosh whoever she is, she’s so lucky😭😭😭

user6 I love Danny in the comments💀

wagsf1

3,729 likes

wagsf1 News!!! Lando’s girlfriend is on Instagram! Sadly private though…

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user1 But there’s no @???

user2 you can just search her name and her account appears but she’s private so she probably won’t accept it if you request

user3 omg new wag alert!!!

user4 I can’t wait to see her paddock outfitssss

user5 I’ve never seen her on the paddock before though? Either they JUST started dating or she doesn’t go…

user6 Yeah, agreed. Based off her acc, I think she’s too busy with college anyway..?

user5 Oh yeah that too

yourusername

Liked by landonorris, francisca.cgomes, charlottesiine and 1,389 others

yourusername Never expected the huge influx of follow requests after being outed, but the fan base is appreciated xx

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yourusername Okay, wow, I did not expect so many likes… am I famous now or something?

landonorris Yes

yourusername Oh wow! I’m so famous that THE Lando Norris commented?

francisca.cgomes Finally public gorgeoussss❤️

yourusername ❤️❤️❤️

user1 That sarcasm? I love her already😭

user2 Agreed😭😭

user3 Wtaf she’s actually so pretty

user4 Honestly would LOVE to see her at the races

user5 Based off her wit, I’d say Lando is pretty lucky

user6 WHAT !! You’re literally SO gorgeous?!

user7 What kind of voodoo did Lando perform to find her😭

user8 idk but he has to teach me

landonorris

Liked by yourusername, maxverstappen1, carlossainz55 and 836,228 others

landonorris Had the audacity to still be asleep when I arrived at her dorm. Made it up to me with cinnamon rolls though. She loves late night walks… kind of like a cat?

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yourusername Did you just call me… a cat?

landonorris How else would I describe you

yourusername A very hard working college student

landonorris I think I’ll stick to “little kid who loves running into the road”

yourusername In my defense, those roads are empty at night.

user1 I love the banter between them😭😭😭

user2 They really remind me of an old married couple💀😭

user3 Okay but she actually seems so sweet

user4 I go to nyu and can confirm that she’s an angel

user3 ???

user4 She takes part in a lot of volunteer projects to help animals and stuff

user3 omgggg Lando got himself a literal saint😭

user5 If she doesn’t appear in the paddock soon, I don’t want it

user6 I second thissss

user7 Honestly I don’t care about all the young tweens screaming and crying over a parasocial relationship. These two were literally MADE FOR EACH OTHER

user8 Lando pls invite her to the paddock

yourusername

Liked by landonorris, maxverstappen1, mclaren and 34,893 others

Tagged: landonorris

yourusername In the third picture, I asked him to pose and this is what came out. Thoroughly disappointed with this model. 2/10 would not book again.

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landonorris You put me on the spot.

yourusername Untrue

maxverstappen1 He should delete his jpg account and leave the photography to you

yourusername right?

user1 I love her wtf😭😭

user2 Hey girlie when are you leaving him for me🙏

user3 Relatable

user4 The caption💀

user5 If this isn’t my future relationship, I don’t want it

user6 so real

user7 The second pic??? So she was at the race?

user8 It was probably on a weekday and not the actual weekend

user7 but why would she go during the week and not on the weekend?

user8 She was probably too busy otherwise?

user9 I love their dynamic so much ughhh

user10 They literally have so much chemistry

landonorris

Liked by yourusername, maxverstappen1, danielricciardo and 836,227 others

Tagged: yourusername

landonorris She finally graduated🎉 Had to celebrate accordingly. Congratulations, babe❤️

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yourusername Why thank you very much, good sir

landonorris Anything for you, my fair lady

maxverstappen1 This means we’ll see you in the paddock @ yourusername

yourusername You bet

user1 AHHHH THIS MEANS WE CAN SEE HER PADDOCK FITSSSS

user2 I can’t wait for the pics of her with the other wags

user3 She’ll look amazing in papaya colours🧡

user4 NYU GRAD?? Lando really got someone smart AND gorgeous

user5 I can’t wait for her to join the weekendsss

yourusername

Liked by landonorris, lilymhe, mclaren and 187,378 others

Tagged: landonorris, lilymhe

yourusername Finally got the opportunity to stay for the actual races. These last few ones have been amazing. Also got to be with my favourite person more often❤️

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landonorris I’m happy I get to be with you more often too❤️

yourusername ???

landonorris ?

lilymhe @ landonorris By favourite person, she meant me

yourusername Exactly

landonorris can’t believe this

Liked by yourusername

user1 GORGEOUS

user2 She’s an actual goddess wtaf

user3 Why do I love her paddock fits so much?!

user4 Well, I know who my new fav wag is!!!

user5 I’m actually still kinda curious how long they’ve been dating for

user6 Probably a couple of months before the first soft launch?

user7 Lily and her against Lando in the comments😭😭😭

user8 Pleaseee😭

landonorris

Liked by yourusername, maxverstappen1, danielricciardo and 736,923 others

Tagged: yourusername

landonorris For two years, I have had the incredible pleasure of being yours. You’ve shown me how to enjoy all the simple things in life, and I couldn’t be more grateful. You’ve truly captured my heart and I will be yours so long as I breathe. Happy 2 years. I love you.

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yourusername I love you too❤️

Liked by landonorris

mclaren Our favourite paddock couple!

maxverstappen1 congrats guys!

danielricciardo Congrats!!!

lewishamilton You guys are great together, congrats on the 2 years

francisca.cgomes AMAZING❤️ Congrats you two💕💕

yourusername ���️❤️

lilymhe You guys are so incredibly cute together, congratulationsssss🫶

yourusername 🫶🫶

user1 wait… TWO WHOLE YEARS?!

user2 This was so unexpected😭

user3 Aww this is so sweet🥹

user4 Istg if they don’t get married😭😭😭

user5 Literally. They better.

user6 fav couple on the grid🧡

user7 The fact that they can be best friends and be in love? I want it so bad😭❤️

user8 Never would’ve thought they managed to date for a whole year without anyone noticing, but that just makes this so much sweeter❤️

𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁!

𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲, 𝘀𝗼 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲!

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀: 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗰. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲!

𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘀𝗸. 𝗜'𝗺 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂! :)

𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻...

𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖���𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚!

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

©vettelsdarling

𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺— 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻.

[esotheria-sims]

Despite having her own pillow, the couch, the bed, and basically every available surface in the house at her disposal, Cassiopeia still chooses to sleep on the floor next to the central steam boiler. Don't ask me, I don't know either. It's a cat thing, all right? Let's say she likes the heat from the boiler.

Meanwhile outside, an influx of visitors was beginning to pour in. As Dominick was at work, Cass decided it was her duty to keep tabs on everyone. Some were able to slip her attention (like Prince Feanor), but then she planted her butt on the edge of the lot so she'd have a clear view of any new arrivals.

And when someone new did inevitably come by, she'd greet them by pouncing and then demanding attention. The unsuspecting sims found themselves baffled, yet unable to resist the charms of the odd, hairless critter.

Who could say no to a face like that?? 🐱

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 58 (Adopted by Another Stray!)

On a rainy autumn night, Mayor Whiskers started scratching feverishly at the front door. Heather got up to let him out, but a small, soaked black cat raced through the opening and into the bedroom at the end of the hall.

This black cat was nervous and aloof, and it took several attempts to lure her from under the bed with treats. But she liked Buttercups as much as any pet, and Heather slowly earned her trust.

"She's cute," acknowledged Conrad. "But we've already got two cats and Gord!"

Heather smiled at the untrained stray. "She needs a good home, and she seems comfortable here," she said. "I know our life is always busy and our upstairs hallway looks like a cheap greenhouse right now, but one more cat won't hurt!"

Conrad wasn't going to seriously argue against adding another pet to their household, and Heather took their new black cat to her clinic next door for a check up. One x-ray made clear why she suddenly wanted a warm roof - she was expecting kittens. There was no way Heather would turn her out again in her condition.

"What we name her?" Ash wondered as he watched the cats play together outside.

"What do you think we should name her?"

"Cupcake!" he shouted. "I love cupcakes!"

Heather smiled. "Just Cupcake?"

Ash shook his head, grinning. "No, mommy. Queen Cupcake! Like King Tut!"

With that, Queen Cupcake had her name, and their new pet started to make herself at home. To celebrate, she picked a fight with Mayor Whiskers(!), but it wasn't long before Whiskers and Cupcake were nuzzling, as enamored with each other as Heather and Conrad! Heather was relieved the cat was already pregnant, but she made a note to have her spayed as soon as the kittens were born.

She was far more aggressive than any of her other pets, but Heather hoped this was a side-effect of her maternal instinct, hoping it might fade once she'd safely delivered.

"Training bad habits out of you might not be easy, huh?"

Queen Cupcake's responsive meow sounded distinctively like a 'yeah,' but cat-loving Heather was ready for the challenge.

Before long, Queen Cupcake delivered two small black kittens, the spitting image of their mother, named Duchess and Lady. Their house was overflowing with pets!

Heather's son was almost as friendly with cats as his mother, and loved spending time with Queen Cupcake's tiny new kittens.

"These kitties small like me, mommy." Ash could pick up Duchess and Lady, who fit in the crook of his small arm, to pet their fuzzy black fur. "They soft."

They bought a self-cleaning litter box to try to handle the influx of felines, but all five cats still preferred to use the old one that needed manual cleaning, much to their dismay.

"What if we just got rid of it?" suggested Conrad. "Then they'd have to use the new one, right?"

"I know we should," said Heather. "I have a feeling the Watcher keeps meaning to do that, but you and I are both neat so we just keep cleaning it and she forgets."

"Are we talking about the Watcher Watcher making changes while we sleep, or are you saying the Watcher made you forget to throw out the old one?"

"Maybe both?" She laughed as their conversation bordered on ridiculous. No one got her sense of humour as much as he did. "What if the cats are just attached to the old one?"

Conrad considered this. "The old one does have a certain smell... Should we be worried about a Watcher who's so disorganized?"

Heather shrugged. "She helped the doctors save my son, so I won't begrudge her one smelly litter box."

"Fair point," agreed Conrad with a smile. "I'll go get the scoop."

Active full-time jobs, five cats, a dog, and a toddler kept Heather and Conrad busy, but they still carved out every moment they could together - which usually meant crashing on the couch to watch their favourite shows until they fell asleep.

They worked hard, but their life together was a perfect fit. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 1 Summary | Gen 1 Start

NOTE: Me, writing about how stressed and busy they are as a slightly meta dig at my own gameplay this gen, proceeding to add 3 cats. Honestly it's for Heather because more cats don't stress her out at all. She also always needs to have 2 cats per the challenge rules and Boomer is getting up there, so I'm game. I might not keep all five forever but Queen Cupcake is here to stay.

WCIF Sofa Pose? Cozy Couple by @toofcc. I really love it, and it's exactly what I was looking for! Thank you for sharing!

[simdertalia]

Hello everybody! I've seen some people saying they don't know how to edit their page, and as a result a lot of blogs that are blank are being blocked & reported as bot pages, or labeled as adult pages (because people are reporting them incorrectly. Actual spam/bot pages should be reported as spam, not adult content, even though some of them contain adult content). After so many reports, I think that a blog will automatically be labeled as such and the user has to contact Tumblr support to change it back.

I've taken some screenshots on my own page with some notes/edits, posted above, to help anyone who wants a quick tutorial on personalizing your page. When you make the edits to your page, remember to click on the blue save button in the top left editing area.

It's quite easy, you go to your main blog page and click on the painting palette symbol. The next thing that comes up is a page with an editing area, I've added notes to the sections that should be edited, the header is a good idea to edit also, but it is mainly ✨your description and avatar,✨ as both helps others separate your account from bot accounts that also have an avatar (often blank, or images of women models) and something in the description (sometimes this is empty, sometimes it is"their name" sometimes a ton of emojis, it varies). Some bot accounts even have the word "sim" in their handle, so the community can't totally rely on a username for indication with that word in it, either (unless it specifically says "simblr" or "ts4" in the handle).

Anyway, the influx of bots has caused some annoying problems for us all here, I made another post about that here, with links to more information. The best way to avoid these issues is to make sure your blog is personalized.

Here is a tag on my page for some free icons if you'd like to grab something cute & quick, or if there is something specific you would like, I'm more than happy to make one for you, so just send me a DM or Ask 💗

If I have blocked your blog by mistake, you can send an Ask to my CC finds sideblog linked at the top of my page, and I am also available on Ko-Fi and Instagram where you can send me a message, I will be glad to fix it right away.

And if you've got a blog that you are painstakingly sifting through your new follows due to all the blank ones, feel free to reblog for your followers 💗

*this original post has been edited for correct wording and more information

[moyokeansimblr]

I already can hear all of you being like oh it's okay moyo you don't need to apologize! But I still wanted to say something. Apologies for lack of gameplay the last few days and for a while probably.

Our sweet lil old man Zook is pretty sick and has been to the vet everyday this week. We're waiting still for definitive results but he's on a boat load of medications and getting lots of love and lots of treats. That being said, he requires constant supervision while at home with us. So I've not been able to play at all as actually playing the game (whether it's sims 2 or sims 3) uses a lot of focus that I just don't have right now.

But instead I've been working on more CC to share because that uses less focus and is a lot easier to do while watching a snoozing cat over the corner of my laptop.

He's doing pretty good tonight, he's eaten more than he has all week and keeping it all down so his medications are doing their jobs. His sister definitely does not mind the influx of new treats 😹

[grilledcheese-aspiration]

pink soup on my game/computer:

note: i am on win10 w/ UC with good ol' "george" - I do not have TS2 Legacy.

anyway! for my game/computer, i get pink soup after I've updated a sims' appearance be it just their head or a whole wardrobe and I've gone through a few pages of content in the pop-up window. it does not matter the method (mirror, dresser, sim manip, gussy up etc etc) if I am flipping through pages of content, I will eventually get pink soup for that sim. more on this under the cut - the post got long, sorry!

an observation with this: it really only affects just the sim(s) I've been working on and nothing else so I save after I'm done with the sim I am working on and go on about my game; its usually not a huge issue since its typically one sim I was working on and the soup is quite intermittent so its not something I have to hurry, save, go to nhood or even quit the game. also worth noting: if I do NOT go thru a bunch of pages of content and select something on the 1st or 2nd page, I do NOT get any pink soup - doesn't matter if CC is present.

also, i do NOT get pink soup if I am just working in CAS and CAS alone BUT! i do not spend a ton of time in just CAS anyway so that may just be moot and that's fine.

the ONLY other way it WILL happen if ive been playing too long which is honestly fine bc that means its time to save and GET UP and go do something else. this usually happens around the 2-2.5hr mark. usually when that happens, Im not even mad bc yea I need to get up and go do other shit anyway. so its not a huge loss when it happens or starts to. just means I need to save and quit, do my backups and hoodchecker - and get a move on!

i can safely and smoothly play my game and get lots done well before the 2hr mark is even close so I'm not really worried about it. i don't usually play my game for more than 1-1.5hrs at a time anyway.

im grateful mine is down to a minimum. i have 5gb of CC loaded and not much else running in the background while the game is up. my game is typically nice'n'smooth, I launch w/ RPC and have all things on high EXCEPT view distance and junk bc waverly has many many trees and hood deco in all the subhoods - its smartest for me to play with that on low. ill crank it for nhood shots but for gameplay, that shit is on LOW. i am not willing to reduce the trees and hood deco lmao.

why am i posting this now? well: ive been seeing people here and on discord saying "ea is listening!" and to "report shit bc they may fix it". from my POV, they KNOW pink soup exists - they HAVE to, its been 20 years! now, idk if THEY have the know-how to fix it (doubtful) but yes, I do agree: while sims 2 is getting an influx of new players: not only should they be reporting issues but US TOO!

they may listen and it could be worth a shot but I don't believe they'll actually address and fix it permanently.

IF YOURE IN FOR A FIX, PLEASE SEE COMMENTS FOR POTENTIAL HELP!

[aheathen-conceivably]

Hello darlings! 🏜️

Now that we are well and truly into the 1930s I wanted to give y’all some context about the Darlingtons’ new location. Ultimately, Strangerville is a figment of my imagination, a sims world superimposed into the real world. I did this because I wanted the freedom to draw from different elements of this region’s history and landscape without having to worry about the visual transformation of the actual in-game world.

However, it is very much intended to in a real region of the United States. Specifically, the north west corner of New Mexico, between Albuquerque and Gallup along the newly built Route 66. We’ll see key elements of this in the story time and time again, so if anyone would like more information I’ll leave some maps and context for y’all below the cut:

Previous / Next

Commissioned in 1926, Route 66 was actually not the first cross country highway system in the U.S.; however it was designed to traverse the flattest and mildest climates so that it could be the most easily traveled. It also followed popular tourist routes from the railroad days and was marketed as an “All American” experience, drawing travelers and families from across the country and leading to its iconic status even today. The first map shows its path as it would have been in 1930, from its start in Chicago to its end in L.A. and the second map is a cutaway of the specific section of the road between Albuquerque and Gallup where Strangerville is meant to be located.

While the cultural significance of Route 66 now perhaps outweighs its era of utility, the Darlingtons are living along the route as it rises to prominence throughout the 1930s into the 1950s. While it was used for utility and leisure travel from its opening, Route 66, particularly between the Dust Bowl states and California, is iconic for its role as “the Mother Route. Perhaps best typified in John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, this road became one of if not the primary route for people fleeing the plains states during the Dust Bowl. Through their passage it became an American symbol of desperation, poverty, and for some, the hope of a better life.

Strangerville is meant to be located at the edge of the Dust Bowl (specifically at the meeting of the brown and yellow zones in the first map toward the leftmost mid-top area of the state of New Mexico). This region would not have suffered the worst conditions (and would have been spared intense dust storms) but it is still close enough to be heavily effected. This is especially true in the early part of the decade, as fear of dust tornados and mass unemployment spreads like wildfire, and explains the intense volatility amongst Strangerville residents who have no way to know just how bad their own situation could get.

For larger context, the Dust Bowl was caused by extenuating weather conditions and poor farming practices. It was an agricultural catastrophe throughout the 1930s that displaced millions of people, and coupled with larger economic factors such as the plummet of crop prices, led to mass homelessness, unemployment, and starvation.

Beginning in 1930 but reaching its zenith in the years 1934 and 1936, vast swaths of the United States experienced record drought and heat. In the second map we can see how widespread drought conditions were. They are of course at their worst in the central Dust Bowl area; however we also see that Strangerville is located in a moderate drought, and in 1936 twelve states recorded their highest temperatures to date.

However, these weather conditions only highlighted underlying farming negligence. After decades of manifest destiny and an influx of settlers with little to no farming knowledge (of which Giorgio falls in line), the land had been woefully over plowed and deprived of nutrients. After the rising farm prices of the 1910s and 1920s met with the crash of 1929, settlers pushed this to an extreme, removing vast swathes of native grasslands and leaving the soil vulnerable to record breaking weather conditions. Without rain or prairie grass, winds ravaged the region, creating dust storms that ravaged the region and ultimately led to hundreds of thousands of abandoned farmland. This collection of photographs shows the scale of dust and desolation better than words can express.

Scholars estimate that somewhere between 2.5 to 3 million people left their homes in the Dust Bowl states. Their stories are notorious, and live in the consciousness of what we now conceptualize as 1930s America. These maps superimpose the path of Route 66 with the Dust Bowl states, highlighting how the two formed a symbiotic relationship and became linked in the American consciousness. Of the millions who fled their homes, approximately 300,000-400,000 eventually settled in California. The number who traversed the mother route looking for work with the hope of a better life is perhaps incalculable.

However, they did not initially receive a warm welcome. As much of the country was also gripped in fear and poverty, migrants, or Okies as they were derogatorily called, were viewed as pariahs, threats, and even harbingers of worse times to come. This, as we now know, is far from the truth. The economy of many small towns along Route 66 fared better than other areas of the Dust Bowl. They became hubs for migrants and businesses alike as gas stations, roadside accommodations, food stalls, and other amenities opened. It provided an alternate means of business for areas that has previously been very rural, and who’s own farms had been gouged by the plummeting crop prices of 1929 as well as the gradual disappearance of herding economies.

As the decade went on and much of the nation began to heal in the New Deal Era, the migrants who passed this stretch of road only made it more legendary. Where they eventually settled they brought stories of Route 66, of a symbolic idea of the American West, of an ocean at the end of the line, of different people and travelers they had met on the way. This coupled with a growing fascination of the “Okie” figure at the end of the decade, perhaps best seen in the celebrated 1940 Hollywood remake of The Grapes of Wrath, as an emblem of American hardship and drive.

Together they fused an iconic idea of an authentic “Americanness” that existed along Route 66, one that was infused with even older ideas of manifest destiny and the “American” cowboy. This is the landscape that the Darlingtons now inhabit, one that they are watching unfold along with us all at the very start of the 1930s.

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

Mjolnir Syndrome: A Helping Hand

My half of an art trade with @fablepatron - find the whole thing here on ao3.

The first chapter is too explicit, but here's the second chapter Roland POV.

-

Another night watching his crew recover. Another night of patrolling the circuits of the ship, checking and rechecking, herding dumb AI back into their functions, herding dumb humans back to their responsibilities like sleeping. Most of Roland is divided into the monotonous tasks required to run a starship of this size and to care for a crew of this many talents. However, there was a negligibly sized portion of his focus on the single operating War Games sim and one Spartan Miller.

He didn’t play favorites. (Statement: untrue.) He had a handful, maybe. (Also untrue.) But that came with the territory of being a shipboard AI. Lots of handshakes and handholding. It made sense to keep an eye on a specific few in Command. Really. Just as a way to get a read on the rest of the crew and understand the social systems in place. That was the real reason Roland was watching Miller beat himself up in the wee hours of the morning, and why his subroutines flagged more processing power to monitor the Spartan as his vitals peaked.

There’s a spark of brain activity and a rapid release of cortisol in Miller’s system. His temperature raises even further and Roland considers getting help. Nothing had changed other than the slowly ramping feedback of the Mjolnir systems. The closed system was prone to feedback loops when worn for longer periods of time without a release of charge or not maintaining proper levels with an AI syncing the NI and the various layers of the armor.

Miller hadn’t wanted his help so he was keeping his distance. Mostly.

It was strange to see the usually quick-thinking Spartan brute force his way through what was bound to be unpleasant and quite distracting sensations. Unless… he wasn’t expecting it. Did Miller not know about Mjolnir Syndrome? A fun nickname given by more season Spartans and crew in the know of the…symptoms. Is that why the sudden spike in vitals?

His favorite Spartan was easy to fluster. He’d need help soon, Roland could tell. The constant influx of sensation only built and then plateaued as Miller froze. He’d never reach overload by himself, especially if he just became aware of why h-everything was so hard.

Luckily, and with no outside input from Roland, help was on the way.

The Master Chief had noticed Miller, not for the times Miller wants to space himself over, but because like Roland, Chief found Miller interesting. Maybe it was akin to studying something and finding yourself attached, like those scientists over in xenobiology who named the new flatworms they found on Requiem. Miller was Roland’s flatworm, and he was willing to share, if it meant helping the poor Spartan out.

Chief observes Miller with a tilt of his helmet. Roland was still learning the IIs body language but he thought he was picking up amusement. The specific head tilt and slight shake of the helmet for outsider observers was one he had seen Chief use with Blue Team. But they weren’t here, it was just him and Miller and R-.

Oh. Chief was including him again. It was so strange when humans did that. Only a handful seemed to remember his presence, unless he made them. Always running in the background, ready at a moment’s notice. Well, this was interesting.

“Hello, Master Chief, fancy meeting you here.” Roland says after his ping for channel access is accepted.

“Hello, Roland. I’m assuming he’s not hurt?”

“Do you think I’d let my crew get hurt and simply let them lay there.”

“No, but I wasn’t sure if I was intruding on anything.”

That gets a pause from the AI. He’s still debating on which snarky or too-honest reply to go with when Chief checks on Miller.

"I believe Spartan Miller is experiencing some technical issues with his armor." Roland supplies. He’s helping whatever this is along. Chief’s got him thinking now, which is always a dangerous thing when you’re as fast and clever as Roland. He’d been a passive party for so long. An observer or helper, and it’s not like Miller was chomping at the bit for Roland’s help, even when his plans had been so helpful in the past.

“He’s lying to you. Not that you didn’t pick that up. He’s been active for over 24 hours. He won’t let me help.” Chief doesn’t need to know how honest Roland’s words were, or that Roland’s been watching Miller push himself for 36.3 hours now.

“Have you tried asking nicely?” Chief asks and Roland wishes he had a plinth nearby to deploy his avatar on for the sole purpose of squinting at the Master Chief. He stays silent.

Chief asks and Miller says yes.

Roland wasn’t jealous. No, he was something else. Some higher AI experience rather than some silly, illogical, human emotion. Miller would let Master Chief touch his armor and help him, but not Roland who’s always there and who knows the specs forwards and back and is so familiar with piggybacking off Gen 2 Mjolnir systems.

Miller’s fine being all sweaty and nervous and frustrated around Chief. Chief who is so frustrating and calm and never rises to Roland’s bait. Chief who’s asking for Roland’s help overriding the safety features on Miller’s armor?

The great thing about being a vast machine intelligence with unfortunate connections to human emotions is the ability to experience time differently and to save threads of oneself being petty to feel petty later. He’d put this behind him for now to help them out - help Miller out.

What’s a little power reallocation between friends?

[stupidlittlespirit]

Who’s Veusin and do you know why they deleted their Ford pet play blog?

Oh, anon, gather around the fire and let Elder Fox teach you about the glory days of the Gravity Falls fandom.......

Veusin was the nsfw blog of sovonight, who back in the day when GF was new and airing, was making a lot of self ship content for Ford. They had/have one of the most beautiful (and my favourite) designs of fanon!Ford ever. To this day, it's the image I hold in my head for Ford whenever I think/write about him. I even have their recent zine and it's a treasured item that I look through several times a week lmao

They had similar takes to me on Ford's character and were great at examining his character in a multi-dimensional, fair way that really showed him in an honest light, and they adored/adore him. I was inspired to first start self-shipping and writing self-ship through their work and it means a lot to me.

Sovo, as everyone does, moved on to other interests over time and I would ask that if you want to reblog or engage with their Ford-specific content, please do so mindfully. Don't send them asks about it or bother them because they received a big influx of people being inconsiderate assholes to them when TBoB came out and their choice to move on should be respected. They have several posts about it on their blog that I encourage you to read before you dive in.

I don't know why veusin was deactivated but you can still find the bits from the blog via reblogs from other people.

Sovo also did some of the art for the original Swooning dating sim, too!

They're very cool to me and I hold them as one of my biggest inspirations for wanting to create in general and for feeling okay with selfship stuff. Being ace but wanting to connect with that side of myself in fantasy was actualised with their work and it made me feel more normal, and for that, I owe them a lot :)

[m4xgirlie]

bit of a shorter bite read this time around, been so busy and stressed out lately. deepest genuine apologies this took so long you guys!!!! wordcount: 1,258 masterlist

A Surprising Invite: 6

The holidays had been so hectic for Raela that she’d barely had a chance to slow down. After the Christmas party, there had been a rapid influx of case documents and evidence files for her to process, go through, and organize into their respective case discoveries. This however was usual for the holidays as more people faced struggles and hardships this time of year, unfortunately often leading people to commit crimes in attempts to survive.

Raela found the speed and chaos of the holiday season exhilarating usually, a chance to sift through the simply unfortunate versus the true criminals so her firm could only represent those truly needing it, but this would be the first one since her horrendous breakup with Jackson. She had to wonder where exactly the man had gone, having upended her world so suddenly with his rude and abrupt disappearance.

There was something deeply different this season though, a new feature within her home per say. Aside from the occasional offseason FIA obligation, Max had offered (asked as he put it, she heard it more as an offer) to stay throughout the holidays. Raela had been stunned at his suddenness, having only been friends with the man for a month and a half now.

However, she felt a strange comfort in allowing him to. Having Max in her apartment playing with her daughter when she came home felt… right. Max got along well with Fable, often seen chasing her goofily or causing her to giggle loudly as Raela came home. Shortly after he would notice her, the man would rush over to her and grin as he took her stack of documents and placed it on the coffee table for her before quickly rushing back to playing with the woman’s daughter. It all felt so- comfortable? Raela scoffed at herself, being nowhere near ready to approach those thoughts yet.

On one of her recently rare off days, Raela had been laying on the floor of her living room, her arm over her shoulder as both Justine and Max had essentially sentenced her to a full 48 hours of no work after she’d fainted the day prior. Max was laying on her couch parallel to her, face down in the pillow. Raela giggled at the sight, a thought beginning to whir through her mind as she realized he must be bored out of his mind.

Fable had gone to her grandmother’s for some cookie baking they’d agreed to at New Year’s, so the two were alone right then. As she continued to think on it, she remembered she had made it a resolution to show Max her sim rig before he left, and with the knowledge of how much the man enjoyed his home rig, she hoped hers would be up to par as she made the snap decision.

“I wanna show you something.” Raela suddenly voiced, causing the dutchman to slightly jump as his head shot up from the pillow. Raela couldn’t help but start to laugh at his jerk reaction, Max glaring at her as she rolled on the floor.

“Wow, jumpscare me with an offer to shock me for your amusement, why don’t you.” Max grumbled, regrettably unable to hide the slow smirk blooming as he watched Raela laugh.

“I’m so sorry, the way your head jerked back was so funny to me and I don’t even know why!” She giggled out, trying to breathe and calm herself down. Max couldn’t help but chuckle at her as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

“What is it you wanna show me?” He asked, curiosity rooting itself in his features. Raela looked over at him as her laughter settled, smiling gently at him.

“You have to promise to not judge me.” She spoke firmly as she stood up, dusting off any carpet fluff or crumbs may have attached themselves to her during her time on the floor. Max nodded, humming in agreement as he stood off the couch, following her path as she made her way to her room. Raela pointed to her bed, gesturing for him to sit down as she walked over to her closet.

As Max walked in, he studied her room carefully, and he couldn’t help but be in awe at the unfiltered look into Raela’s most comfortable space, the one place she decorated however she pleased, and decorate she did.

The garlands of faux ivy that strung across her ceiling were artfully twisted and strung amongst strands of softly glowing fairy lights. As Max’s eyes wandered from the ceiling to the walls, it seemed not even a centimeter of actual wall could be seen amongst the various paintings, records, photographs, achievement documents, and other memorabilia that had been somehow very carefully placed all side by side like a beautiful puzzle of one’s soul.

Raela had paintings depicting nature and psychological stresses, records from varying bands like Fleetwood Mac to Post Malone, photographs of friends and Fable’s growth. There were shelves with books ranging from Rupi Kaur and John Greene to Stephen King and James Patterson, as well as funko pops of movie and show characters like Storm from X-Men or 3 from Doctor Who.

Raela watched him from her closet as he slowly examined her room, already wondering if she’d made a mistake as a crawling discomfort slithers up her spine. Before she can talk herself out of it and push him back out of her comfort zone however, a grin breaks across his face.

“This is all artfully put together. It’s a lot! That is for sure. But it’s all put together so well that it flows and seems like it was all meant to be together just this way. Your room is very comfortable. Why not decorate the rest of the apartment this way?” Max asks, looking at where she sat in front of her closet, having already opened the door. Before she can answer, his eyes land on the seat of her rig. He looks at her in astonishment and wonder, pointing to himself in silent question.

At his actions, Raela giggled and began to pull the pieces out one by one, setting them up for him so he had something to do. Max couldn’t help but grin, humming and ever so slightly bouncing on his toes where he stood, excitement clear in his features.

“We’ve been friends near two months now and you only just now tell me you’re this kind of awesome?!” He sort of squawks as soon as she’s finished setting it all up. Raela can’t help but laugh again as Max immediately plants into the seat, creating a new profile on her console so he didn’t mess with any of the settings on her races. Raela could appreciate that he was so thoughtful, wondering just how much their settings would differ.

“I was intimidated to tell you if I’m being honest. I mean, I’m a paralegal, I’m a single mom, and I also play Formula 1 racing simulations when I just cannot get myself to sleep.” She explains as she sets herself on the edge of her bed, leaning back as she crossed her calves under her. “To answer your earlier question, cause out there is where I host and bring in guests, out there I can appear sane.” Max began to laugh at that last bit, knowing full and well she intended for him to by her tone of voice. Raela giggled with him, comfortable in the atmosphere as she settled herself in to watch him race on her rig.

taglist: @chaoswithus @colereads

[damnfandomproblems]

IRT 4978 and all ensuing drama:

I want to start off by saying, I would never directly accuse anybody of faking, even if I have doubts, I'd rather err on the side of caution.

However, you can't pretend that there isn't a HUGE influx of people who are just play-acting for attention to jump on a trendy bandwagon.

That's not to say I think 100% of them are lying intentionally, I think a good portion are just being mislead as to what DID even is, and are too eager for community, connection (and yes, attention too) to second guess anyone. Loads of tiktoks provide instructions for "discovering" or "programming" new alters, and what they're describing is basically just the process of. Coming up with OCs? Like, if you're just thinking real hard about your blorbos that is NOT the same as having dissociative identity disorder.

I could see how it could be fun and interesting as a creative exercise, and a method of self-exploration, to associate certain facets of yourself with different characters. BUT!! THAT IS NOT! WHAT DID IS!! And it is NOT the same as living with a debilitating mental disorder as a result of trauma! You can play with your OCs in your head, but by god you have to come up with a different term for it, instead of using an actual medical descriptor. And it doesn't give you permission to throw tantrums when people won't give you special treatment for a disorder you don't have.

I am normally the FIRST person to say "hey, just let people have fun!" But this is NOT "harmless fun!" You lot talk so much about respecting self diagnosis, but what about someone who may actually have the condition, trying to do more research, but all they can find are thousands of teenage rpers who just want to show you their cool new OCs, Alastor the Radio Demon With Vitiligo and Eric Cartman But Like A Different Version Where He's Nicer.

If you want to play dolls inside your mind just install the Sims.

Posting as a response to a previous problem.

[lovesick-level-up]

Editblr Community Survey ~ Results (Part 1)

hello, everyone! we made this little survey for fun a couple weeks ago and oh boy, we were not expecting 102 results! thank you all for participating. we're going to split these posts into parts based on the sections of the survey, so keep an eye for the rest of them. we'll link them all here:

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4

we've got a bunch of data to share, so we'll put it all under the cut.

the first question we asked (after name/url lol) was what age everyone is! we were pretty curious what the distribution of age was in the community. we originally didn't include a "prefer not to say" option, so sorry about that, but we did redo the percentages to include the custom answers of that. the most common age for the community is 15, at 13.9% of the participants. the least common is 20, at 4%! funnily enough, we're 20 lmao. shout out to the other 20 year old editors. the distribution of minors:adults in the community is about 2:1, with 60.5% of editors being under 18 and 30.7% over 18.

distribution:

13 (3%), 14 (10.9%), 15 (13.9%), 16 (12.9%)

17 (10.9%), 18 (9.9%), 19 (6.9%), 20 (4%)

21+ (5.9%), prefer not to say (6%)

prefer not to say, but an adult (4%)

prefer not to say, but a minor (11.9%)

the next one we asked, was when everyone start editing! personally, we started editing in 2021, though we had previous experience making moodboards and sims edits. the most common year people started editing, is 2024 (at 24.8%)! there's been a major influx of people recently, which has been super fun to see. the least common year people started editing is 2019 (at 5.9%).

in hindsight, we should have just put the continents rather than specific countries, but hey, it was fun learning where everyone is from! we're from the boring uk. to the surprise of no one, the most common place editors are from is the united states (at 54%). the least common of the ones we listed are india and germany (both at 1%). other custom countries that only make up 1% are poland, new zealand, panama, and france! the most common custom result were the philippines (at 3%), and mexico and new zealand (both at 2%). shout out to everyone from countries we didn't include! fun fact, we completely forgot oceania existed lmao. we are far from perfect.

country distribution:

united states (54%), united kingdom (5%), germany (1%)

canada (4%), australia (4%), india (1%)

the philippines (3%), mexico (2%), new zealand (2%)

switzerland, poland, the caribbean, indonesia, panama, france (1%)

continent distribution:

europe (14%)

north america (61%)

south america (5%)

asia (12%)

oceania (7%)

→ part 2

[pinewaterbacc]

So that night, with his family and their new neighbours cheering for him, Alan stood in front of his cake in the lounge ready to blow out his candles.

"Ooh, just pause there, son. I'm going to get the camera!" said Alan.

"Be quick, David! He wants to blow out his candles!"

Soon enough, Alan the 12 year old became Alan the 13 year old! Happy birthday Alan!

He rolled as a straight Knowledge Sim who's attracted to uncreative athletic women with black hair. I don't think there's anyone fitting that description right now - pretty much everyone in this neighbourhood has brown hair at the moment - so there may have to be an influx of new townies soon!