#I hope at least six people will submit sims

[changingplumbob]

How will the Yorks react to my plan to host a bachelorette challenge?

Deanna - Potential bachelorette Joey - Deanna's aromantic yet allosexual older brother Artemisia - Deanna's younger sister, has the evil trait Devin - 2 time Starlight Accolade winner for her acting career and Deanna's older sister Luna - Devin's wife, Deanna's sister in law Aaron - Deanna's pa (father) Calista - Deanna's ma (mother) Alfred & Rilian Villareal - Deanna's nephews

Joey: I assume you all know why I have gathered you here this evening

Artemisia: You contracted a WTD

Joey: What? No, we don't have the mods

Aaron: Look if you got someone pregnant we don't need all these theatrics

Devin: Excuse me pa? We always need theatrics

Joey: I didn't get anyone pregnant. This isn't about me, it's about Deanna

Deanna: Very funny

Joey: The watcher and I have decided you should star in a bachelorette challenge

Luna: Oh I love watching those! They're so romantic

Devin: Oh can I host? Please let me host!

Aaron: Cara your sister hasn't said yes to it

Joey: Let me give you my pitch. Tartosa is a perfect background for love. We invite a dozen or so ladies to come and get to know you Deanna, really know you. I think it could be a happily ever after for you

Deanna: I have university Joey

Devin: You have time between terms right? Oh please say yes De, my friend Norah would love to come help direct

Deanna: Aren't these things normally rather straight coded

Joey: In some dimensions, yes. But we live in a great world where homophobia is next to non existent

Devin: Except for Luna's dad, but he's not here now so its fine

Alfred & Rilian: RIP Jacques

Luna: *laughing* Wait- When did they learn to do that?

Artemisia: Ahhhh, Joey was talking

Joey: The point is we, the watcher and I, are bound to be able to find some women or non binary individuals who fit your tastes De. And we can get some family based challenges for them to compete in for extra time with you. Or get other celebrities or local businesses to feature

Calista: Oh we should ask the owners of Postres de Alegría! Maybe then I'll actually be able to get some of their pastries when I show up

Aaron: Tesoro you know if you want the raspberry tart you have to get there before midday. They can't not sell just because you might feel like a treat after your shift

Joey: If not Bob could help out, or he might know some people in Brindleton Bay who have niche interests we could use for a challenge or two

Aaron: I don't know that I like the idea of one of my bambina's pixel parts being on TV

Deanna: Yeah I second that opinion

Joey: We won't actually show any nudity, relax. Now Devin you can be host but I will obviously need to talk to any other watchers. Our watcher thinks it would be fun if they had some input about what skills their contestants would work on. If they don't she'll still need to know like orientations and official stuff

Luna: *sighs* Now you believe in multiple watchers?

Aaron: Joey has just always been rather devout

Deanna: I guess I am single...

Joey: You are

Deanna: And I'm definitely over Paris

Joey: Yes

Deanna: Reece will have to be allowed to do something or he'll pout

Joey: I can sort something. So, will you do it?

Deanna: Sure. I mean who doesn't want true love right?

I'm going to do it *internal screaming*! I'm going to start working on an intro post and some graphics so people know what the submissions need. Submissions will be open until Christmas but I'll push it out a week if needed. Ideally I would love to have households of six at a time, so I'll put slots up in groups of six as people show interest. I don't want to start off with 12 or 18 etc slots if I'll only get four sims. I'm realising a lot of my planning will need to know how many sims there are so I'll be opening up soon to help my brain.

Introductions, hosted by Devin, won't begin until mid January when most people are back from New Years holidays. So yeah, I was actually so nervous writing this all out, I need to calm down. Here's some basic Deanna info I'll put elsewhere to get the cogs in brains turning. This third child of an Italian family is studying physics with hopes of being an engineer but her main aspiration in life is Mansion Baron. She's a lesbian but I checked in game and sims with that orientation are able to flirt/form romantic attachments to non-binary people as well as cis or trans females.

[morrigan-sims]

Happy 6 Months RTQ!!

It’s officially been 6 months since I posted the first post of RTQ, and I knew I had to do something special.  Six months isn’t that long to some people, but it’s longer than I’ve ever stuck with anything else, at least this seriously. 

Some Fun Facts, Extras and thank yous under the cut!

Stats: - I’ve taken 1,231 screenshots related to this story. - 695 of those were for story posts. - I’ve edited and posted 295 panels of story content across 31 posts. - We’re on Chapter 2 out of ~35 chapters. - At this rate it will take me over 5 years to finish the story. - I’ve made at least 189 clips of poses. - There are five “acts” in the story, each with ~7 chapters.

Fun Facts: - This is my first real sims story. - I originally made Fallon just to test random cc, and fell in love. - There is a planned “sequel” (kind of) to RTQ, which is titled ATQH. - The first scene I ever wrote for this story doesn’t happen until the end of Act III. - That scene has been written ~4 times. - My Scrivener file for RTQ is over 21,000 words long. - I fully plan on sharing some long-form writing for some of the future scenes, since I’ve written some of them so many times. - I am going to have to make almost every single pose for the rest of the story, because I’m a perfectionist with overly specific ideas.

Thank Yous:

@simgerale for making me two amazing sims, and listening to me scream about this silly little story.  And for partially inspiring this post.

@hauntedplasma for making me the lovely Nina, and for being about as excited as I am.

@grenouillage for making me Lavinia and giving me so much inspiration.

@thesim-tea for making me Hermes and filling my aching desire for a thief character that I didn’t know I needed.

@regalllove for making Moira, and putting so much effort into her intro pic.  (that edit still amazes me.)

@wastelandwhisperer for making Nora and giving me an awesome pirate.

@autismtrait for reblogging my posts and being awesome.

@vatorelilith for all your amazing thoughts when reading and for giving me a chance to share my lore.

@rebouks for inspiring me to get my ass in gear and make poses, and offering advice.  Also, for partially inspiring this post.

@foxsimthings for all your fantasy inspo!

@indigoelfinspirit for listening to my rants.

The anon who told me that my story “lives rent free” in their mind.  That ask made my life. Everyone who’s ever left a comment or sent an ask about RTQ.

And also, every single person who has ever read RTQ, liked or reblogged a post, or submitted a sim I didn’t take.  You’re a big part of the reason I keep sharing this story.  I hope you continue to enjoy it as things get (hopefully) more interesting.

[hidge-resource]

submitted by remadra!

Hidge and Stardew Valley (1 of 2)

She had glanced up and down the hall before shutting herself away in her room. No one had seen her. There was no one there. It was clear.

Pidge pulled out her laptop, curling up on her bed and sliding on the headphones to hear a jaunty tune. Finally, she had finished modding the game to have… well… her friends, albeit in a quieter, digital form.

Stardew Valley offered her to pick her new farm. She picked the forest, ready to relax with easy foraging. Pidge happily picked out hair and glasses to match her own, going for overalls and a green shirt with a smile. Cat person. She wanted to name it Green, just like her lion. Bebe was already in the game anyways. Green gave a soft purr of endearment, and her heart swelled. Even with Green in the hangar and Pidge all the way in her room, the girl often talked out loud to her lion when she was alone.

"Green, did you think I'd forget about you? I thought you were the smartest lion."

She skipped the intro, getting right to greeting the townsfolk. to see if her mod was working as well as she hoped.

One of the first people to greet her was in-game Keith, with a stiff 'hey' in front of Pierre's shop. Unknowingly, her friends had provided the information she needed to assess, place, and type responses for her game. The more she got to know Keith, the friendlier and more open he became. His counterpart would start a little rude, pushing others away, but he was set to come out of his shell by autumn if she kept talking to him.

Next was Shiro, who was always a few steps behind his brother when Keith was making friends. A normal big brother would probably embarrass his little sibling, but then again, Shiro and Matt were two very different squares on the alignment chart.

Speaking of Matt, she found her brother in the Stardrop Saloon, greeting her "cousin" and being invited over to his house to meet his dog. She found Lance at the arcade games, complaining about Keith beating his high score again, and spun through the rest of the greeting spiels of the game's base NPCs. Finally, she turned home to rest before little Pidge sprite passed out.

Green rumbled.

“No, I’m not going to see him yet. This game isn’t just about the progress. There’s things to do besides quests. It’s like a little ideal simple life sim. There’s a storyline and everything.”

*

After the scheduled earthquake, Pidge had her sprite run to the bathhouse and greet Allura and Coran. The in-game Alteans told her all about their friend just outside of town, who didn't come out often but was really a great cook.

His favorites were mostly artisan goods like coffee and the home cooked meals Pidge could make. The only downside to her mod was that it took longer to build up hearts with the characters she programmed in, and therefore it would take longer to become his friend. Allura handed her a package with the request to please deliver it to her friend, and Pidge felt her heart skip.

Ugh.

It's just a game.

Nevertheless, she sped back to her farm, skipping through to the lake, where she had added a little house in her mod. Finally, a message popped up, different than the previous 'nobody seems to be home'.

"Hello?"

Pidge jumped as the door slid open, slamming her laptop shut and spinning around.

"Hey, Hunk! What's up? I thought you were making cookies?"

He laughed, deep and full and relaxed.

"They've been done for hours. You missed dinner, so I thought I'd bring you something."

Even though her stomach grumbled, Pidge pulled a face. "Yay, food goo. Always a good meal to be had. Tasteless but nutritious."

That laugh again.

"No, it's actually a sandwich. I figured you'd had enough of the goo, with all the missed meal times and late nights in the lab. Are you getting enough sleep, Pidge? You look kind of tired." Hunk tilted his head, brows drawing together.

Her breath caught. He noticed? That meant that he might force her to go to bed now, but she was so close to her first real milestone in the game.

"Thanks, Hunk. You don't need to worry, I'm fine. I'll take a nap after I eat, okay?"

"Okay. See you later, Pidge."

He set the food down and stepped out with a wave.

That was close.

Shut up, Green.

*

Pidge was playing Stardew Valley. Hunk could recognize that melody anywhere. As soon as she left for the lab to check on her equipment after her nap, he guiltily snuck in to peek at her laptop, bringing his own. There had to be a reason she wasn't sleeping, and lately it had to do with the mods she made.

Yes, he could ask Pidge for the game, but the last time he did that, he spent three days debugging and optimizing both her Subnautica and Minecraft mods.

All because she gave him the puppy eyes.

An adapter, a cable, a few clicks, and Hunk copied the game over to his laptop.

Mission accomplished.

He'd solve this, and Pidge could get some real sleep.

*

Something was definitely off about the game. Maybe it was meeting his real life friends in a 32 bit world. Maybe it was the confusion on why Pidge didn't add him. He couldn't think of anything he did to upset her and be excluded. Was it a bug? Was this what she had been working on all night? He could fix that for her. Computers might be her forte, but a fresh set of eyes could help.

Hunk opened the game files, beginning to take notes on her crazy ideas and perfect scripting.

*

Hunk stared at his notepad.

He checked it at least three times.

The mod indeed had a character named Hunk.

He could only meet his in-game self, Allura, and Coran after the earthquake opened the bathhouse path.

All of Team Voltron was in the mod, even Pidge's brother. Keith and Lance had an on-going feud about the arcade games. Shiro always volunteered to help at events. Matt had his own farm with a dog. Coran and Allura owned the bathhouse. Pidge was obviously meant to be the new farmer who moved into town.

Hunk lived by the lake south of the player farm, running a small bakery where the player could buy all sorts of dishes.

He was romanceable.

No other added character had the option.

Maybe it was to keep the game steady. Maybe she tried to add him as a regular character, but she ran into a bug and this was the best fix for now. Maybe he read it wrong again. Maybe he read it wrong for the fifth time.

Nope.

It was completely intentional. There wasn't even a residual REM statement from where she might have backtracked. He was written as romanceable for Pidge.

That was... new.

*

Pidge dropped in front of her laptop, leg bouncing. She made it to year three with steady progress, Keith was her gamesprite's best friend, and Hunk was at 8 out of 10 hearts.

Stardew Valley loaded up happily and-

The screen turned black.

She froze, panicking.

It had been working so well, what could have-

The Hunk sprite walked on screen. The text box opened up once he reached the middle.

'Hi Pidge!'

She didn't program this.

'I know you mod games for fun. But you've been staying up really late and looked frustrated. I wanted to see if I could help you if you had a problem with the code. You don't. It's perfect, as always. I noticed you were frustrated because you couldn't find any topaz. You lowered the spawn rate of cave drops to keep the game running efficiently. I raised it and made cuts elsewhere that won't mess with your experience.'

Pidge squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that this was just a nightmare. Hunk read her coding. He knew what this mod was for. This was him letting her down gently.

The computer chimed and she automatically looked to read.

'I have a problem. Maybe you can help me. There's someone I really like, but it's hard to tell how she feels about me. I've been really confused. I found out last night while I was working on her code that she might like me too. I really hope I'm not wrong, or this is going to be awkward.'

Someone knocked on her door and it slid open.

Pidge turned around, eyes wide.

Hunk stood, a tray of six cookies with frosting decorating each one, cheeks ruddy with a blush and not quite meeting her eyes.

Will

You

Be

My

Girl

Friend?

She got up quickly, stepping over to the other paladin, picking up a cookie and smearing frosting with a grin, turning it around to face him.

Yes.

"Oh thank god! I thought you might turn me down? I'm not sure why, I mean, I like you and I'm pretty sure you like me after seeing the script and I guess it's just anxiety really but there was a chance you really like me back and I'm pretty sure I shouldn't waste my chance and at least try to-"

Pidge pulled his collar to make him lean down, planting a kiss on his cheek. Hunk's mouth snapped shut and his ears turned red to match his cheeks. Cookies fell to the floor as frosting turned crumbs to a thick paste. The pan clanged as it met the ground soon after.

"Hey, Hunk?"

"Yeah, Pidge?"

"I think your confession with cookies was really sweet, but there's frosting in my socks and I want to get them off before I kiss you for real."