#I just build and dress up sims that I can't even play with

[alltimefail-sims]

All I want is a computer that doesn't lag on community lots

[inkandapex]

in the slopes

Lando Norris x Reader

Chapter Summary: Lando and Y/N have always been inseparable, but during a snowy getaway with friends, their usual dynamic starts to shift. Unspoken feelings begin to resurface.

Word count: 6.1k

Warnings: some swearing angst & fluff

Winter isn’t exactly Y/N’s favourite season; she’d much rather be lounging under the warm sun, with her feet in the water and sand tangled in her hair. But alas, Quadrant's annual team-building getaway was set in the snowy slopes of Whistler.

"What could you possibly need this for?" Lando pauses his game and turns in his seat as he hears Max hysterically laughing at the whistle he found in Y/N's luggage.

"Give me that! Why are you two even here? Don't you have to pack your own stuff or something" Y/N whines and snatches the whistle from Max, tossing it across her bedroom.

"Max, be nice. It took a lot of grovelling to get her to agree to be in the video, let alone come with us," Lando laughs, turning back around to focus on his game.

"You better not be messing with my sims Lando, I spent hours building that house from scratch" Y/N sighs as she sits on the floor with a pile of clothes in her arms

"I don't know what you're so worried about Y/N, I'm not the best at skiing either. You'll pick it up quick" Max says as he sits on the floor helping her fold the clothes

"Yeah, remember you did so well when we did that karting video. You even ended up liking it more than you thought you would"

"Alright enough pep talk, i'm not used to you muppets acting so nice. Pizza's here. Norris get your ass off my computer and help me fit all of these into my bag" Y/N stands up as she receives a notification on her phone

Lando sits across from Max as Y/N leaves the room. Max watches his friend attempt to tidily fold a shirt before he lets off a scoff.

"What?"

"Please tell me you're finally telling her this week, I can't keep a secret any longer. P is starting to notice"

"Keep you voice down! And what do you mean P's starting to notice" Lando hisses, leaning back to peek out the door checking if Y/n was anywhere within earshot

"Mate, I get so nervous when she asks about you two! The other day, she asked if you two were together, and I just got all weird and defensive, trying to explain why you'd be hanging out together, when she was clearly just asking cause you both played padel that morning and she needed to ask Y/n about a dress" Max explains, almost out of breath, running his hand across his hair

"You're acting like it's so easy for me. Oh, thanks for being such a great friend for the decade I’ve known you, Y/N. By the way, I have feelings for you—no, scratch that—I’m in love with you." Lando chucks the shirt at Max, rolling his eyes as he lies back on the floor.

"That works"

"Shut up.... I just— its y/n, you know? I fuck this up, everything changes. Its not just about me and her"

"Look, I don’t want to get in your head, but I honestly think she might feel the same way. She shows up to races, she’s there for you whenever you need her, shit your family loves her. You're overthinking this, tell her how you feel. That's a good start"

Lando sits up, propping himself on his elbows, a defeated look crossing his face. "Exactly, she might feel the same way... if she doesn’t, it’s gonna get weird. I can't ruin our friendship like that"

"I can meddle"

"No! No meddling! This ski trip is for the team. When I find the courage to tell her, i will"

"More like when you find your balls..."

"Foods here! Come out here, no eating in my bedroom!" Lando kicks Max's leg just in time for Y/N to announce her return, pizza boxes in hand.

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After a long day of skiing and filming, the group made their way back to the cabin just before sunset, just enough time to unwind before dinner. Y/N sank into the plush sofa by the crackling fireplace, the warmth from the flames making her sigh in relief. Wrapped up in a thick, soft blanket, she leaned back, absentmindedly scrolling through her phone.

"Wanna grab a little snack before dinner? I saw this cute cafe near by" Pietra plops down beside her, laying her head on her lap

Y/N lets out a groan, putting her phone away "P, please i'm so sore. I honestly think you'd have to drag me by my feet for dinner tonight"

"Oh but you did great today. You should've seen Max his first time on the slopes, it was almost sad." P sits up to give y/n some relief

"Where is he anyways? Go ask him to go to the cafe with you- bring me back a muffin while you're at it"

"He’s with his boyfriend, going over clips from today…" Pietra pauses, crossing her legs and narrowing her eyes at Y/N, a mischievous smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Speaking of my boyfriend’s boyfriend—what’s going on between you and Lando?" She leans forward slightly, her gaze sharp and accusing, as if she’s piecing something together.

This makes y/n frown, confusion spreading across her face "Me and Lando? What do you mean?"

"Come on, Y/N," Pietra says with a playful grin, leaning in as she pokes Y/N’s arm. "Ever since the season ended, you two have been hanging out way more. And didn’t you spend Christmas with his family? Oh, and let’s not forget today! On the slopes, he was literally stuck by your side the entire time—he’s usually off showing off or racing with the guys." She wiggles her eyebrows, clearly enjoying the tease, her gaze never leaving Y/N as if waiting for some kind of confession.

Y/N laughs, giving Pietra a gentle shove. "Did you hit your head out there?" she teases.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Lando and I hang out all the time, it’s just that we’ve had more time recently. Plus, it’s not the first time I’ve spent Christmas with the Norris family." She shrugs casually, then continues, her tone softening slightly as she recalls the day. "And as for today, well, it was my first time skiing, and Lando insisted I join the trip to begin with. I guess he just wanted to make sure someone was there to keep me from falling on my face the whole time." She laughs again, shaking her head, clearly not fazed by the teasing, but her explanation still carries a hint of warmth.

"Huh... I could've sworn you were hiding something. I mean even Max acts all weird whenever I bring the two of you up"

"Max? What? About Lando and I?"

"Yeah, he gets all defensive whenever I bring up the two of you," Pietra says with a shrug, her eyes narrowing playfully. "I thought you two finally sucked it up and acted on whatever’s going on between you."

"Whatever's going on?"

"Come on y/n. You clearly have feelings for Lando. You may lie to everyone else but I see through you" Pietra laughs

"I’m— no. Me? Feelings for Lando?" Y/N stutters, her voice faltering as she shifts uncomfortably in her seat, suddenly feeling a knot tighten in her stomach. She tugs at the edge of her blanket, avoiding Pietra's gaze.

She forces a nervous laugh, but it sounds hollow, the tension in the room thickening. "Yeah, right. No— no, that’s not…" Her sentence fizzles out, her mind racing, but she can’t quite find the right words.

Pietra's jaw drops, her eyes widening in surprise before a sly grin slowly spreads across her face. "Oh my gosh..." she murmurs, her voice rising with the realization. "I was just messing with you, but—" She leans in closer, her smile growing wider as she watches Y/N squirm. "You do have feelings for him!"

Y/N's heart skips a beat, the words hitting her harder than expected. Was it that obvious? Did everyone see it? The weight of it all settles heavily on her, her stomach flipping in a way that both unsettles and excites her. "No, I—" she starts, but her voice is barely a whisper, unsure of what to say next.

"Y/N!" Pietra exclaims, her voice filled with a mix of disbelief and excitement. "He obviously feels the same way. Why else would Max be acting like that whenever I ask about you two?"

Y/N's stomach tightens, a wave of nervous energy making her insides churn. Could it be? Was it really possible that Lando felt the same way about her? Her heart skips at the thought, but then the doubts creep in, drowning out any sense of hope. No, he couldn’t possibly... Lando was Lando, the guy who was always surrounded by people, always the center of attention, effortlessly charming everyone around him. And she... she was just Y/N. Just a friend.

He only sees me as a friend. The words loop in her mind. Nothing more than that. They’d always been friends, nothing had ever suggested anything different, right? She feels a strange tightness in her throat, as if even acknowledging the possibility of something more would shatter the delicate balance they’d always had.

"Oh, honey, I’m sorry," Pietra says softly, her tone shifting as she notices the distant look in Y/N's eyes.

"I didn’t mean to make it weird," she adds, her voice softening. "But you know, everyone’s been kind of... wondering." Her eyes meet Y/N’s, a mix of empathy and understanding in them, as if offering a lifeline in the middle of the uncertainty.

Y/N lets out a laugh, shaking her head as she looks at Pietra. "You're just saying that to make the voices go away," she teases, trying to deflect, though her tone carries an edge of nervousness.

Pietra grins, unfazed. "No, seriously! A few of the newer people on the team genuinely thought you two were a thing when they first joined Quadrant." She leans back, raising an eyebrow as she watches Y/N's reaction, knowing full well that the thought might have crossed her mind too. The comment lingers, like an unspoken truth that makes the room feel a little smaller.

The sound of footsteps coming from the stairs behind them makes both Y/N and Pietra turn their heads in sync.

"You're not getting ready yet?" Max says, his voice teasing but with a hint of impatience. "Our reservation's in an hour, and we're starving. We can't be late."

He walks down the stairs with Lando trailing just behind him, moving toward the two on the sofa. Max leans down, planting a gentle kiss on Pietra's head as he passes, a small smile tugging at his lips. Lando follows closely, his gaze briefly flickering to Y/N before he glances away, his expression unreadable. The atmosphere shifts again, subtle but charged, as everyone feels the undercurrent of what’s unspoken.

"We might have to drag Y/N by her feet to the restaurant—her words, not mine," Pietra laughs softly, her voice playful as Max sits beside her, pulling her closer for a quick cuddle.

This catches Lando’s attention, and he pushes away from the counter in the kitchen, his footsteps quick and purposeful as he strides across the room toward the couch. He stops just short of them, his eyes narrowing slightly with concern. "Why? What’s wrong? You feeling okay?" he asks, his tone laced with genuine care, though his usual confident swagger seems a little softer.

"No—yeah, I’m okay, just sore, really," Y/N says, her voice a little shaky as she forces a smile at Lando. "I’ll be fine. P, we should get ready."

She stands up quickly, giving Lando a brief but reassuring smile before turning towards the stairs. As Y/N begins to head up, Pietra stands too, shooting Max a knowing look that doesn’t go unnoticed. Max raises an eyebrow, but Pietra simply follows Y/N up the stairs.

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Dinner went by smoothly, the lively chatter and laughter around the table giving Y/N the perfect distraction from the lingering thoughts she’d been trying to push away. Lando’s presence felt comforting, like a steady anchor, though she couldn’t help but notice the occasional glance he threw her way—just enough to keep the butterflies fluttering in her stomach, but not enough to make her feel overwhelmed. For now, she was content to enjoy the evening, letting the connection with her friends fill the space that her doubts had briefly occupied.

Y/N lies on her bed, the soft glow from her phone casts a faint light across the room, but her mind is still tangled in the conversation earlier. She barely notices the time passing until a soft knock at her door pulls her attention away.

She sits up quickly, smoothing her hair back, and calls out, "Come in."

Lando slips into her room quietly, a bottle of water in his hands. He stands at the foot of the bed "Hey, sorry, were you about to sleep?" he asks, his voice gentle but with an undercurrent of concern.

"No, you're good," Y/N replies with a small laugh "Just on my phone... struggling to sleep, honestly." She smiles up at him, her eyes warm as she pats the space beside her. "What's up?"

Lando hesitates for just a moment, he crosses the room and sits down, the familiar weight of his presence settling next to her. He reaches into his hoodie pocket and pulls out a small pill bottle, offering it to her along with the water bottle.

"Painkillers," he says, his tone casual but with an underlying kindness. "Thought you could use some if you want to be able to hit the slopes again tomorrow. We’re doing the sled race, remember?"

Y/N lets out a relieved sigh, her shoulders relaxing as she takes the pill from him, followed by a sip of water. "Thank you," she says, her voice soft. "I can’t believe I forgot to pack some."

Lando waves it off with a small grin. "All good," he says, his eyes meeting hers briefly. "Take one tomorrow before we head out too if you're still hurting."

She nods, feeling the knot in her shoulders start to loosen. The warmth of his presence is more comforting than she expected, and for a moment, the weight of everything else melts away.

"Do you fancy an ice cream?" Lando asks, a mischievous smirk creeping across his face as he nudges Y/N gently with his elbow.

Y/N raises an eyebrow at him, laughter bubbling up in her chest. "Ice cream? It’s almost midnight— and, uhmm... oh right, it's freezing outside," she says, her voice light with amusement. She shakes her head, grinning at his antics, but the playful glint in his eyes makes it clear he’s not giving up on the idea so easily.

Lando shrugs dramatically, the smirk never leaving his face. "Who says you can’t have ice cream in the middle of the night?" he teases, nudging her again as if trying to convince her to join his impromptu late-night mission.

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The two walk back to the cabin, their laughter echoing in the crisp night air as they reminisce about the day’s adventures. Every so often, their arms gently brush against each other, the shared warmth a quiet comfort between them.

"Aren’t you glad I made you come up here?" Lando says, a playful gleam in his eye. "Next year, you could even try snowboarding" He wiggles his brows at Y/N, his voice teasing as if he’s already picturing her falling all over again.

Y/N groans dramatically, her breath visible in the cold night. "Can't we just go to the beach or somewhere warm that doesn’t require me to fight for my life and fall on my ass every couple of meters?" She stops walking, planting her feet firmly in protest, her face scrunched in exaggerated annoyance.

Lando laughs, his eyes twinkling as he glances at her. "Come on, you big baby," he teases, reaching for her hand and pulling her gently toward the cabin. "Let’s get inside. Your nose is so red."

Y/N huffs but lets him pull her along, the warmth of his hand in hers making her forget the cold. She can’t help but smile, even if she’d never admit how much she enjoyed their little banter.

They stand just outside Y/N's door, Y/N looks up at him with a playful smirk, her arms crossed loosely in front of her. "Thank you for tonight," she says with a hint of warmth in her voice. "Though if I wake up with a cold tomorrow, I’m blaming you and your ice cream escapade."

Lando chuckles, his eyes softening as he leans against the doorframe, his smile lazy but genuine. "I’ll be sure to nurse you back to health," he says, his voice low and easy, but with an undertone of sincerity. "I’ll be across the hall if you need me."

For a moment, neither of them speaks. Silence hangs in the air, a tension growing, subtle but undeniable. Their eyes meet and linger, flicking back and forth between each other's lips, the space between them feeling smaller with every passing second.

Lando’s breath catches slightly as he notices the way her lips part just a fraction, and Y/N, almost without realizing, shifts a little closer, the energy between them thickening.

Y/N takes a deep breath, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her jacket as she glances at Lando. “Lando... I— I’ve been thinking about us—” Her voice is quieter than she meant it to be.

Lando’s eyes widen in a split-second of panic, and he quickly cuts her off, almost too quickly. “Us? About us?” His tone is a little too sharp, his expression tight, as if he’s bracing himself for something.

Y/N freezes, but then gathers her thoughts, forcing herself to look him in the eye. “Yes, our relationship—” She bites her lip, her heart pounding in her chest as she takes a step forward.

Lando blinks rapidly, trying to process her words. “—our relationship?” His voice cracks slightly, and his gaze shifts to the floor before quickly snapping back to hers.

Y/N nods, her hands trembling slightly at her sides. “Yes, well, no, I mean, our relationship as friends, of course!” She laughs nervously, her voice trailing off, trying to downplay the growing knot in her stomach.

Lando lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, his shoulders relaxing slightly. “Yeah, of course... uhmm, what about it?”

Y/N’s heart sinks a little, but she tries to push through the discomfort. “I just… I don’t know, Lando. I’ve been wondering if maybe we’re both feeling the same thing, you know? About... more than just friendship?” Her voice falters at the end, uncertainty creeping in.

Lando’s face flushes slightly, and he takes a step back, a defensive edge to his tone. “Oh well I mean, yeah we’re good friends, right? Best friends even, you and Max.” He says it quickly, almost too quickly, his words stumbling over themselves as if he's trying to convince himself just as much as her.

The silence that follows feels like an eternity. Y/N looks away, her stomach sinking, the words she was about to say hanging heavy in the air between them. She clears her throat, trying to force a smile, but it feels like it’s made of glass, fragile and thin. “Right,” she says softly, her voice almost too quiet. “I get it.”

Lando stands there for a moment, his expression caught somewhere between relief and regret. He can feel the weight of the situation, but he’s not sure what to say next. He couldn't bring himself to tell her how he really felt. "You... feel that way right? I mean you see me as your best friend?" he says quickly, reaching out as if to comfort her, but stopping short when he realizes how awkward it feels. "Maybe even your bestest friend, even over Max or P" Lando lets out a nervous chuckle in the attempt to ease the uneasiness filling the air.

Y/N nods, her eyes not meeting his. “Yeah, of course. Max isn't even top 3. Hey, I’m gonna head in and get some rest.” y/n attempts to return the banter as she turns slightly, her hand already on the doorknob, her pulse still racing from the conversation.

She pauses at the door, giving him a quick glance over her shoulder, the faintest trace of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, though it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Goodnight, Lando," she says softly before stepping inside and closing the door behind her.

Lando stands there for a moment, his hand still lingering in the air, unsure of whether he should follow her or just walk away. After a few moments, he sighs, shaking his head as he walks back toward his own room, the unspoken tension lingering in the silence of the hallway.

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Lando laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours, the thoughts of the conversation with Y/N replaying over and over in his mind. He couldn’t shake the feeling of regret, the missed opportunity to tell her how he really felt. Every time he closed his eyes, her face kept coming back to him, the look in her eyes that made him realize he might have just ruined everything by not saying what he’d wanted to say.

The sun was barely up when Lando found himself standing in the hallway, his heart racing as he made his way to Max and P's room.

"Max, you've got to get up, mate," Lando whispered urgently, his voice low but insistent, shaking Max awake.

Max let out a groan, his eyes barely open as he tried to make out his friend’s figure in the dim light of the room, the sun just starting to peek through the closed curtains. "What? Lando. What time is it?" His voice was thick with sleep.

"It’s... it’s early, I know. But I need to talk. I can’t stop thinking about it, mate. I messed up."

Max rubbed his eyes, finally managing to sit up, his confusion turning into concern. "Wait, what happened?" He yawned and stretched, still groggy but fully aware that Lando was rarely this urgent unless something serious was going on.

Lando ran a hand through his hair, pacing a little as he tried to find the words. "I didn’t tell her how I really feel, Max. And now I’m just stuck. I can’t stop thinking about it. I— I think I might’ve blown it." His voice was strained, frustration seeping through every word.

Max sat up straighter now, fully awake as he processed his friend's words. “Wait you’re talking about Y/N, right?” He rubbed his face, trying to make sense of Lando’s sudden shift in mood.

Lando paused, looking at Max, his face tight with the weight of everything. “She brought it up, she asked about us- our friendship and I just froze. I panicked, Max. I said I think she's my best friend, my closest friend and if you could've seen the look on her face... now I don’t know what to do. It’s messing with me."

"You idiot" a sharp toned voice makes the two look to the other side of the bed, a once sleeping P has now pulled her eye mask off, a dissatisfied look on her face. "She obviously likes you too Lando. You two are just too scared of actually facing how you truly feel. I literally had her confess to me last night before dinner"

Lando blinked in surprise, the realization hitting him harder than he expected. He opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. Max, on the other hand, sat back with an amused expression, taking in the scene unfolding before him.

"Wait—what?" Lando managed after a beat, completely caught off guard.

Max let out a heavy sigh, his tone softening. "Lando, you’ve been dodging it for how long now? What did you expect? That she’d just magically figure it out? You’ve got to be honest with her, mate. If you really feel something for her, you can’t just pretend it’s nothing. You owe her the truth".

Lando nodded, taking in his friend’s words. "Yeah, you're right. I just... don’t want to mess things up more than I already have."

Max shook his head, a knowing look on his face. “You’ve got to take the chance, mate. Just... talk to her. Don’t wait any longer. I can't even begin to think about whats going on in her head right now- you pretty much shut her down”

Lando sat back down on the edge of the bed, rubbing his face in frustration. “I don’t know what to say. What if she doesn't believe me— I don't want her to think i'm playing with her feelings on purpose, it was a genuine lapse of judgement I panicked.”

"Well, that’s the risk, isn’t it?" Max replied, his voice matter-of-fact. "But at least you’ll know for sure. The worst thing you can do is keep holding back. You’re already in deep, mate. Just go for it."

Lando sat silently for a moment, taking in Max’s advice, feeling a mix of relief and anxiety swirling inside him. He knew Max was right, but it didn’t make it any easier. With a long sigh, he stood up from the bed, a new sense of determination in his steps.

“Alright,” Lando said, giving Max a look of appreciation.

Max gave him a reassuring nod. "Just don’t overthink it."

Lando nodded, heading for the door. Before he left, he turned back to P speaking up as she put her eye mask back on. “You know, if it goes horribly wrong, I’m gonna kick your ass for hurting her.”

Max chuckled, leaning back into the pillows. “Yeah, i'd take that as motivation to fix this. Go get her, Lando.”

As Lando walked down the hallway, his mind was set. He couldn’t let another day go by without telling Y/N how he felt. It was now or never.

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Lando had been pacing around the kitchen for what felt like hours, trying to gather his thoughts. Max and P walk towards him, the nervous energy was starting to crawl back under his skin.

"Have you guys seen—" he started, but P immediately cut him off, her tone firm yet surprisingly quiet.

"What did you do?" she asked, a knowing look in her eyes as she crossed her arms. "I thought you left our room this morning ready to fix things between the two of you."

Lando's mouth went dry, his words caught in his throat. He shifted from foot to foot, suddenly feeling like he was fifteen again and in trouble with his parents. "I tried, I peeked in her room and she was sleeping and I felt bad i didn't want to wake her. I came back a few hours later she wasn't in her room" His voice was a little shaky, and his hands fumbled with the sleeve of his jacket as he tried to avoid their eyes.

P raised an eyebrow, her expression a mix of frustration and disbelief. "So you didn’t do it? That's why she won't leave her room" crossing her arms even tighter, clearly not buying his half-hearted excuse. "You’re seriously going to stand there and tell me you didn’t even try again?"

Lando swallowed hard, the weight of the situation settling in. "I... I didn't know she was back. I don't even know where she went this morning— wait she won't leave her room?"

"She said she's feeling sick and that she caught a cold but she's clearly been crying. Lando she won't even tell me about what happened last night, she's hurting"

Max, who had been listening quietly. "Mate, you’re a mess," he said, sitting down on the counter with his arms crossed, his tone matter-of-fact. "You’ve been overthinking this for months now. It’s honestly exhausting. Now you've managed to drag her into this mess."

Lando exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair, his frustration clear.

Max gave a short laugh, shaking his head. "Mate, you’re already screwing it up by not talking to her. Go up there and fix it"

P stepped forward, her voice a little gentler now, but still firm. "Just go talk to her. Tell her exactly how you feel. You’ll either get your answer, or you won’t. But you can’t keep pretending like nothing’s going on."

With a deep breath, he nodded. "I’ll go talk to her. Try to occupy the rest of the team while we're gone" He straightened up, trying to shake off the nervousness that had settled in his stomach like a knot.

Max smiled, though there was a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Don't worry, we'll figure something out. And Lando?" he called as he started to head for the door.

"Yeah?" he turned back, his mind already racing with what to say to her.

"Don’t come back until you’ve told her. And if you screw it up, you’re buying us dinner for a week" Max said with a wink.

Lando shot him a look, but couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at his lips. "I’ll keep that in mind," he muttered, and with one final deep breath, he turned to head toward Y/N’s room.

This time, there was no turning back.

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Another knock echoes through the room, causing Y/N to stir in her blanket cocoon. She sniffles and clears her throat, trying to hide the evidence of a long night’s worth of tears.

"P, I told you I’ll be fine. I don’t want anyone catching my cold. You guys go have fun," she calls out, her voice thick with exhaustion.

"It’s me," Lando’s voice filters through the door, catching Y/N off guard. She sits up quickly, her heart racing—what on earth could he want now?

Y/N hurriedly wipes at her face, but the mirror doesn’t lie. Her eyes are swollen, her cheeks streaked with dried tears, and her nose is a fiery red. She exhales in defeat.

With a soft groan, she cracks the door open "I already told Max and P I won’t be joining you guys," she says quietly, her voice heavy with guilt. "I’m really sorry, Lando. You should go... Everyone else is probably waiting."

Lando’s gaze softens, his brow furrowing as he steps closer, his tone gentle but knowing. "You’re upset about last night."

"I don’t know why I said what I said, but that’s not how I really feel," Lando insists, his voice laced with frustration, but the sight of the frown etched on Y/N’s face only deepens his anxiety.

Y/N’s gaze drops to the floor, her voice barely above a whisper, soft and tinged with hurt. "She told you, didn’t she?" The words feel like a weight she can’t shake off. She never imagined P would share something so personal, and now, she feels more exposed than ever.

Lando hesitates, shifting uncomfortably. "Yes, well… technically, she overheard me talking to Max about last night and—"

"You told Max about last night?" Y/N interrupts. She lifts her gaze, her eyes wide with disbelief. "What, me trying to confess my feelings for you and you immediately dismissing it wasn’t embarrassing enough? You had to go tell Max?"

“Y/N, no! That’s not what I—" Lando stammers. He takes a breath, gathering his courage. "I like you. I’ve liked you for months now. Max was the only person I’ve told.” The confession spills out before he can stop it, and for the first time, a sense of relief washes over him.

Y/N’s expression falters, a deep frown settling on her face as she tries to process his words. "Don't do that... please," she says softly, almost pleading. Her voice cracks slightly as she shakes her head. "You don’t have to lie to make me feel better about this." She struggles to fully comprehend what he’s just said.

"But I'm not lying!" Lando insists, his voice filled with urgency. His hands shake as he tries to convey the truth, the weight of his feelings finally spilling out. "For months, I’ve been debating whether or not to act on it. I didn’t know if you felt the same way... I didn’t know what I’d do if you didn’t." He reaches out, his hand trembling as he gently tries to take hers, hoping for a sign that she might believe him.

Y/N is still caught in the confusion of it all, but as his hand brushes against hers, something settles in her chest. The warmth of his touch brings a surprising sense of comfort, and she swallows back the confusion that’s been choking her. "But... last night?" she asks quietly, her voice shaky.

Lando’s eyes soften, and he looks down, clearly conflicted. "I panicked," he admits, his words coming out in a rush. "You bringing up how we might feel about each other was the last thing on my mind. Fuck, I didn’t even think it was possible. All the scenarios I made in my head were about how I’d finally tell you... how much I wanted to be with you." He looks up at her then, vulnerable and raw, his expression filled with regret. "I was just so scared you wouldn’t feel the same."

Y/N takes a deep breath, her chest tight with emotion. She finally meets Lando's gaze, and the moment their eyes lock, it’s as if time slows. The words that have been tangled in her mind for so long finally slip free, and she whispers, "I do... feel the same way."

A small, almost hesitant smile begins to form on Lando’s face. It’s the kind of smile that tells her he’s been holding his breath, waiting for this moment, unsure if he’d ever hear the words he desperately needed to hear. His eyes soften as he takes a step closer, and for a moment, everything feels like it’s falling into place.

Lando’s hands gently cup her face, his touch tender and careful, as if she’s something precious he’s afraid of breaking. His thumbs lightly brush against her cheeks before he reaches up to tuck a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. He lets his fingers linger there for a moment, feeling the warmth of her skin under his touch, before his hand gently rests on the side of her neck.

There’s a quiet intensity in the air now, a shared understanding that neither of them wants to break.

Lando’s smile widens ever so slightly, his thumb brushing along her cheekbone in a way that sends a warm shiver down her spine. "You have no idea how much I needed to hear that," he says softly, his voice still tinged with disbelief, as though he can’t quite believe this is happening.

Lando leans in, his forehead gently resting against hers, as if allowing the moment to sink in. There’s no rush, no need to fill the space with words anymore. All that’s left is the feeling between them—a feeling that says more than words ever could.

Lando’s breath catches as he hovers just inches from her face, his gaze flickering between her eyes and her lips. In a voice barely above a whisper, he murmurs, “I’m going to kiss you now.” his breath warm against her skin.

Y/N’s lips curl into a soft smirk, her eyes glinting with a mix of playfulness and something deeper. “About time,” she teases, her voice light, but there's a knowing edge to it. “For an F1 driver, you're quite slow.”

Lando’s eyes flash with amusement, a soft laugh escaping him as he shakes his head. “You’re lucky I really like you,” he responds, his voice warm with affection and the lingering hint of a smile. Before she can say another word, he closes the gap between them, his lips brushing gently against hers.

The kiss is slow at first, a gentle exploration, as if both of them are savouring the moment that’s been so long in the making. Lando’s hand moves to the back of her neck, pulling her a little closer as the kiss deepens, a surge of relief and longing finally being released between them. For all the uncertainty, the teasing, the games—they’re here now, and everything else fades away.

[simspaghetti]

Hello! I love your simblr and your stardew valley project. I have an idea for building up a town but I can't seem to find any empty large worlds. Do you have any reccomendations? Thanks!

Empty Worlds for Builders / Custom Save File Creation!

Hey lovely! Thank you so much 🥰🥰 I actually do have a few suggestions of some worlds that I've tried out & really adored

My best advice for building up your own world is to figure out the vibe of the town you want to build & plan out a few key characters / families and then go with one that best suits it - I tried building my SDV world about 5 times before I settled on my final save lol so don't be afraid to scrap it and start over if it's not feeling right, you can always save the lots / families to your library and plop them somewhere else!

Brightwater Bay by SimsOnTheRope

This one was so nearly the one I used as my basis for Stardew Valley because of the big river running down the middle, but I wound up thinking it was too big to work for my purposes, regardless it's a really beautiful world with a lot of nice set dressing and is worth looking at if you're wanting something similar!

Halley by NovaPark

The colour palette for this world is gorgeous! It's so lush and full of greenery and I also really like the road design - if I was gonna build a town in this world I'd probably use the big spring / waterfall in the middle as a big lore plot point (eg: maybe it has magical or special scientific use & its use employs a lot of the townsfolk?) so many opportunities for storytelling here!

Covington by Jackob

This one is a bit on the smaller side, but you have lots of room to place more lots if you do need more space - the scenery is lovely as well - there's a clear area for the town centre & city hall which is something I always like in empty world because it gives you some guidelines to go off of rather than starting totally from scratch planning-wise

Deery Meadows by MySimRealty

This one is a super nice standard residential world, it would be great for a costal / fishing town vibe because there is a lot of big lakes and abandoned boats scattered around, I also really like the road style in this world (something I'm pretty sure no one cares about other than me LOL they're just very aesthetically pleasing & look super clean)

Igginima by Cink's Sims

This one is one of my favourites for scenery but I haven't found quite the right use for it for my personal saves yet - it reminds me of a remote scottish island, and you get the impression there's a lot of lore here you can play with, there are a few pre-built community lots but they're mostly just for decoration and you can just delete them if you'd rather start from total scratch!

Southbridge by Sims3Time

This one has a really nice desert vibe if you're looking for something less green! (the other ones on this list are all quite similar so I wanted to give another more unique option)

Oakshore by Pleyita

This one is small as well but it has quite a few lots packed into the space which is why I thought I'd give it a mention! Would be great for a small-town suburban kinda vibe if that's what you're going for, it kinda reminds me of Sunset Valley

Storybrook County Lite by MySimRealty

This world is massive if that's what you're looking for! It's got an area for farmland and adjoins to a more industrial city part as well, a really great all-rounder if you're looking for a big project, I also love that it's got so much attention to detail with the different road types in the more rural areas and barns / hay bales scattered around the farming bits

Vintage Champs Les Sims by Franglish et Chocolat

This is the world I used for my SDV project so I'm sure you've checked it out already, but I have to give it a mention because the scenery & set dressing is some of the best I've ever seen, it's stunning, and I'm constantly discovering new details & little things for my sims to explore even after working in it for months

For more suggestions...

Shout out to this repository which is a fantastic resource for cataloguing old worlds, the blog isn't active anymore but there's a lot of worlds reblogged on there and it's well-organised into different categories, also mysimreality has quite a few empty worlds & this creator on MTS has emptied a few of the EA worlds if that takes your fancy!

I'd also thoroughly recommend checking out Mercury101's world scenery pictures, their blog is always a go-to for me when I'm looking for new world options as they have loads documented on there :)

Hope that's helpful! If anyone else has any other recommendations pls pop them in the comments - these are just the ones I've personally tested :D

[rafeandonlyrafe]

gamers

words: 800

warnings: vague descriptions of video game violence and gore, established relationship

“is it scary? i don't wanna play if it's scary.” you pout as rafe places the controller into your hand.

“ill protect you, promise.” rafe says, reaching over to flick the lamp on the side table on, that way more than just the light from the tv is illuminating the room.

“fine, but you can't get mad at me if i get your character killed.” you watch as rafe navigates the game easily, opening it up to the character customization screen, just doing default settings for himself.

“oh my god, im gonna make my girl look so cute!” you gush, taking your time to carefully choose her hair and outfit, even though none of the options are stylish, you create the best look you can out of the post apocalyptic clothing choices.

rafe doesn't care that he has to sit and wait for you to perfect your character, not when he finally got you to agree to play with him.

“okay, done.” you nod as you choose a pair of pink sneakers, practical but still cute. “so what's this game all about? just running from zombies?”

“basically.” rafe says with a light chuckle. “we gotta get to the safe house for this round. just follow me, gonna pick up some weapons.”

you pick up the hang of the controls easily, concentrating on the tv as rafe drops a knife and gun for character to use to protect yourself just in case.

“this isn't so bad.” you hum, pausing to admire the scenery in the background of the game, mountain peaks poking up into the sky. “where are all the zombies?”

“they give you a few minutes to get weapons before the storms start.” rafe says, eyes scanning the screen as you head into a building, rafe knows there's med packs in there that he will need when he sustains damage keeping your character safe.

“storms? that sounds scary rafe.” you scooch so you’re closer to your boyfriend. “and it's getting dark.”

it's already dark outside your actual window, but you can tell that it's getting darker in the game as well, the sun setting as you follow rafe down the desolate street, crashed cars and trash strewn about just like if it was a real apocalypse.

“here they come!” rafe warns, clicking the buttons quickly as his character shoots at the zombies moving slowly towards you. your eyes widen upon seeing the gore, cringing and turning to hide your face in rafes shoulder once your character is hidden behind a stopped car.

“i don't like this rafey!” you whine once the gunfire stops, peeking up to see a literal pile of dead zombies. “it's scary.”

“i know, but i kept you safe, didn't i? we are almost done with the first level, just gotta get to the safe house then we can take a break, okay?” rafe offers, keeping his eyes on the screen but turning his head to press a kiss to your cheek.

“fine.” you groan. you like playing games with rafe, but your preference is him watching you dress your sims or decorate their houses after using a cheat to get them more money, only wanting your sims to have the best furniture.

you navigate your character to follow him down the sidewalk, occasionally stopping to kill the zombies. you even manage to shoot a couple.

“wait, baby, be careful.” rafe warns. “dont go that way.”

but his warning comes too late as a zombie jumps out of a dumpster that you’re standing directly next to, making you scream as it takes up your entire screen, not just attacking your character but also jumpscaring you.

“i got you, hold on.” rafe is pressing the sprint button as hard as he can, as if that can somehow make his character get to you faster. rafe manages to kill the zombie before it has the chance to bite you.

your chest is heaving up and down like you were the one to get attacked. “come on, the safe house is just around the corner.” rafe wraps an arm around your shoulder, using one hand on the controller until you’re both behind the barbed wire fence, the game switching to a cutscene. 

“i hate this.” you look to rafe with a pout on your face. “can we play stardew valley instead? please?”

rafe sighs. he should have known better than having you play with him. you are extremely adverse to any sort of shooting game. “yeah, sure.” rafe saves his progress, just in case he can convince you to play with him again before switching to stardew valley and handing you the main controller.

“yesss, thank you.” you smile, pressing a kiss to rafes cheek as your character wakes up. “you’re the best boyfriend ever.”

“you just say that because you need me to go into the mines for you.” rafe says with a laugh.

“well, its scary!”

taglist: @winterrrnight @bejeweledreverie @drewstarkeyslut @forstarkey @f4ll-for-you @dilvcv @drudyslut @jjmaybankswifes-blog @rafescokenostril @jjsmarijuana @seeingstarks @angelofcigs @cece45450 @babygorewhore @vanessa-rafesgirl @michelleisheres-blog @outerbankspov @drewstarkeyswifehoe @cutielando @kamninaries @buckyswhxre @rafeinterlude @bellbottombaby @deeaardiary @rubixgsworld @wearemadeofstardust0 @leighbronk @starkeysheart @pradabambie @tobesolovelysstuff @alexiskirkland @rafestar @brioffthegrid @juniebugg @magicalyoura @die4niyahhh

[expirisims]

A New Outlook on Life

Oh, Boy! Another new baby and some more stalking followed up by some rebound canoodling! Andrew, get it together dude!

With town drama out of the way, it's back to our actual household!

Just a little skill building to start the new day.

And a whole new lighting mod! I know I hinted at this weeks ago, and here we finally are! I started testing out different lighting mods for the remainder of my time in St. Bernie. I've been using Fresh Cut Day by @brntwaffles with @gelinagelina's Lighting Tweaks, but had been toying with the idea of using different lighting for different world play throughs.

Up first is the BEAUTIFUL Sims 3 Beta Lighting Mod by @boringbones. Seriously! It looks like I have some Reshade or HD mod going on, it is so clear and bright and the shadows are absolutely gorgeous!

Along with testing new lighting mods, I installed Tree and Plant Replacements (also by boringbones); Reworked And Improved EA Lights by simsi45; More Light Coming Through Windows by Blyss; the Electrical Storm Mod by @mathmodder; and TS3 HD Texture Series-Terrain Pack by @greenplumbboblover.

And here we are! It's a sunny spring day, perfect for a trip to the town plaza to meet up with Gerald!

I can't get over how crisp everything looks!

Hey! We're outside in the sun and you can ACTUALLY see Simili's face! She's not all washed out or too dark to distinguish! I haven't gone for Reshade or Gshade yet, because my main focus is gameplay and I've always been a little afraid that keeping either of those programs going in the background would cause my usually smooth gameplay to stutter or crash so for me and my screenshots, this lighting mod is seriously game changing. I couldn't stop zooming around looking at everything!

Simili has been waiting for a while here...where is Gerald?

Of course it did...Well, this doesn't exactly bode well for their relationship, now does it?

Guess it's back home for Simili...I wonder what was so important for Gerald anyway?

Oh look...protesting healthcare in the ocean...seems a logical place for that! Facepalm...

At least he's got principles I guess, maybe he's concerned about how much the medical bills will be for the birth of that baby...Still doesn't explain the location, but you know...Sims...

I went to see what was going on at the City Park. How adorable! Pablo is teaching little Stevie to talk! In his pajamas, that I discovered from this point on he was always wearing LOL! And who's that? Guy Summersville and one of his dogs playing drums dressed as a robot? Again with the Sims logic! Bahahaha!!

Oh wait! I hear some commotion!

Who is that!!?? Never a dull moment in St. Bernie!

O...M...G!! Bahahahaha! A burglar and a mime!!?? Why is this so funny to me?!

Nothing like a couple of random townies brawling in the park! This, right here, is the beauty of an open world with story progression! I don't even know who these two are and neither Simili, nor Barky was even here today! This is just what was randomly going on in the park while my sims are doing whatever they're doing! Same with the protest Gerald was attending! This is the best part of TS3, there is ALWAYS something going on somewhere in town!

[steviewashere]

here's some modern au/no upside down au/no supernatural elements au head canons of mine that are kind of stupid Stobin Edition (this is all to get in the minds of their characters in my text fics lol) a list:

Steve and Robin are sending each other selfies while on the toilet. They are having in-depth conversations about their bathroom breaks. They are having a phone, speaker on, conversation while using the toilet. One of them's already in the bathroom? The other is barging into that unlocked bathroom to continue a conversation. "Hey, Steve, hand me that new roll of tp?" Steve tosses it with a quick shout of, "Alley-oop!"

They are watching Chopped while eating dinner (a frozen meal they added garlic seasoning to). They are criticizing every last little detail.

Robin helps Steve with his frosted highlights. He touches up her roots. They are gossiping about their neighbors and their on-again, off-again marriage.

Robin is constantly criticizing Steve for using an Elf bar. They will, however, throw back enough shots to consider themselves hazards.

They are karaoke partners. Even when they're in relationships with their respective partners (Eddie and Chrissy in this AU), they always perform with each other. Robin makes Steve sing some Chappell Roan, he knows none of the lyrics, he ends up just being her hype-man.

Steve is a big Stardew Valley and The Sims 4 fan. Robin indulges in Animal Crossing. Eventually, Steve forces Robin to play Stardew with him and Robin does the same with Animal Crossing. (They both enjoy their games).

They have matching build-a-bear stuffies that they dressed up to look like each other. Each with a sound button that plays out an "I love you" from the other + them breaking down into giggles in the background (they were there with each other when they recorded the voice boxes, they simply couldn't stop snickering each time they tried to get the messages recorded).

When they're drunk at home, they are curling up on the couch to watch reruns of Friends and to eat straight out of a tub of butterscotch ice cream. They fall asleep curled into each other and their respective partners (Eddie and Chrissy again) take care of them; Chrissy covers them with a blanket and Eddie takes a photo that will eventually be printed and go up on the wall (to sit with the other ones already pristinely framed).

Steve sometimes goes into Robin's room and just face plants into her bedding and screams. Robin comforts him by petting his hair and prompting, "Another stupid customer?" And Steve just goes off. Robin does the same to him from time to time, but she does it significantly less so.

They go to the zoo/aquarium and point at all the paired animals and say, "That's us." Their favorite pairing is a platonic set of sea otters that are constantly holding hands or helping the other retrieve food. (Sometimes they leave crying).

They go on plenty of 3am drives when the other can't sleep. Blasting music and laughing the entire time. Stopping at a gas station to get slurpees. Going home when the sun is up and then falling asleep in one of their beds.

Constantly giving each other the weirdest nicknames possible. At one point, Robin was just Bobby Flay for two weeks straight.

They buy a whole cheesecake from Wal-Mart and then go drive around town, while eating slices the entire time. (Totally not based on experience lol)

Robin always throws Steve a little birthday party because it's the one thing he never really got with his parents and he never knows what he actually wants to do on his birthday.

Steve takes Robin out for birthday pancakes and fro-yo. And then always finds an antique mall to let her loose in (she spends an hour inside just the first three booths).

On that last note, Robin is an antique mall girly, always looking for mugs, sweaters, vinyls, and horror novellas. Steve likes going into collector's shops for three things: baseball cards, Funko Pops, and Amazing Spider-Man comics.

Robin drags Steve to the local soccer/football team's games. Steve takes her to hockey games.

They paint each other's nails and gossip. Steve picks out a pale orange and Robin goes for a dark purple.

Matching costumes on Halloween (even if they've got their partners). Ketchup and mustard. Scarecrow and Tin Man. Batman and Robin (you know who's who). Their best ones were Peter Pan and Tinerbell (guess who was Tinkerbell)

Instead of how they met in the show, they met in high school. In detention of all places. Robin was tardy for the third time that week to her third period class. And Steve was caught trying to leave campus to get lunch. They still have that very emotional bathroom scene, just in a public high school men's bathroom (disgusting, I know).

Steve doesn't come out to Robin until he's like twenty-one/twenty-two. It takes him being on his own for three/four years at that point to finally feel safe enough to come out. His parents are very conservative. (Also, for extra angst on this one, his family eventually finds out at Thanksgiving—where he is then told to leave and then he's shunned. He becomes a Buckley that same day when he goes to Robin's parents' house to seek her out. It's the first Thanksgiving where he's allowed to be himself.) Also...Steve is gay. Comphet Steve Harrington...yeah. Yeah.

Brunch at a Mexican restaurant: margarita pitcher, sizzling fajitas, and people watching. The perfect best friend date to them.

Still work at Scoops Ahoy! just after they meet in school.

Instead of Family Video, they end up working at a local music shop. That's where Steve meets Eddie, browsing through the Metallica tapes for his refurbished Walkman. Chrissy is hanging out with Eddie the next time he comes in. Robin then meets Chrissy, who is searching for a girl in red vinyl (she gets so excited to lead Chrissy over there. and to then recommend her a bunch of artists. she nearly faints when she gets Chrissy's number)

Okay. That's all I've got for now. Maybe more later.

[eljeebee]

As storytellers, there are so many pieces of our craft and I'm curious how you would rank each step of the process. Rank each of the following on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 lowest, 5 highest): Setting up the scene (building sets, decorating, etc), Posing the sims (creating / find poses, and setting up the sims), Styling the sims (cc hunting, time spent in cas), Writing the dialogue/story, Editing the photos.

Was tagged by @changingplumbob

Thank you Kirsty!

Writing the Story: 1

This is the lowest as this is always the easiest. The words come easily and I could just type it away. Since my format has changed, I focus on dialogues now instead of narration, which means the work has been cut down, as the only thing I'll worry about is how to place each dialogue to which panel/picture. Unfortunately, this means more work for posing 😔

Unfortunately I cannot share some drafts to you, as my old drafts has been deleted on my phone LMAO

Editing the Photos: 2

With my new style, there's new steps in editing now. Before, I tend to rely on my reshade when it comes to photos, but now, I sharpen them with the preset I made in gimp (with some presets for flashbacks). Not only that, I also now edit in the dialogues on-screen, since I stopped narrating it through paragraphs. It may be tedious but this is still easy for me because I'm done with all the stuff and I just have to edit them.

*second lenora pic uses the flashback filter

Styling the Sims: 3

This is my favorite part when writing characters! When I'm done looking for irl references for their features and likeness, I love scrolling through my CC and make them unique by styling them.

I have a restriction on some clothes and hairs: when it's used on active characters, I can't use it again, but if for example the character passes away (e.g. Old Age) and a generation had passed, the restrictions will be lifted.

Sometimes, before starting up the game, I make sure I've done some CC shopping already, especially when the character has specific dressing style (such as olden ages and stuff).

Posing the Sims: 4

I have a lot of poses, and it can be overwhelming to get through them and look for the right ones to fit the scene (thank god for TMEX's searchable pose player). This is its rank because this is what takes up most of my play time! You thought my 8 hours of game time was me dilly dallying? No, that's just me repositioning them for the 10th time 😔

Setting the Scene: 5

This is the HARDEST part for me because I would spend DAYS or even weeks setting up the scene, especially if the build is my own work! And if I'm building from scratch, I'd have to take days to finish it because it could get overwhelming (and boring), so sis this the most hardest and tedious part of my process.

When I'm lazy, I try to look from the gallery, like shell builds, and just do the interior (which cuts down half of the work). The only time I result to building to scratch is when I need something SPECIFIC, like the monastery (which I actually enjoyed doing).

Now that you know how lazy I could get...it's 🫵 your turn! Tagging: @sirianasims @marcishaun @living-undead @damseljamsel (but feel free to pass!) If you see this, consider yourself tagged as well if you want to do it!

[razielim]

lots of people talk about how unfair it is that ACPC gets the cool furniture, but what people who don't play it (or haven't played it in years) might not realize is the best thing about ACPC is actually the fact that villagers interact with the furniture.

when you're placing furniture, you often get a preview of how and where the animal will stand to interact with it, unless it's a purely decorative set piece (like a house or tree) or the animal is placed into the furniture (like a seat or a shop stall)

so for example, i love christmas markets. so i made one for myself in ACNH. there's no dedicated furniture for it, but i made it work with furniture from the ornament set, string lights, a lot of counters, stuff that kind of looks like glühwein and eggnog, a generous collection of pitchers and pretzels, some clothes shopping and pies. you know, close enough.

but it was a ghost town. it was a large sprawling area and the only person that ever entered it was me. really uh... kills the vibe.

straight up depressing even, and i stopped even pausing to look at it when i ran by because it gave me no joy.

now, in ACPC, yes you get dedicated furniture for this theme, which is a huge difference. but the hot cocoa stalls? the gift stalls? are staffed by villagers and have villagers standing in front of them. the villagers won't just sit on a chair, they'll doze off or drink coffee and then talk about the specific thing they were doing. they'll go ice skating on ice skating rinks. they'll stand in front of a fire and watch it. they'll stand in front of a table full of books and emote. they'll all sit together on the cute benches+cushions+firepit set piece, eating or chatting. all clothing you give them can be previewed first and adjusted at any time so no one is wearing beachwear in the middle of winter. you can give them shopping bags, stacks of wrapped presents, and seasonal food to hold. and some will hold furniture-specific items when interacting with it. some will just stand around eating or talking like in ACNH and not all furniture will always be in use, but so much of it is. most of it is if you have enough villagers.

the limitations of ACPC are that none of them walk around and only move somewhere new when you refresh the location, and sometimes you can't interact with furniture that they can interact with, but no matter what sort of set you build, they will interact with it and look like you caught them in media res. the market is a market, not a ghost town.

when it's time to run around looking for them to talk to them, it's fun to see who is doing what at that time. it's fun to build myself a new maze of interactive furniture and then try to navigate it.

you can even bring in NPCs! there's a holiday market coffee stall you can place and brewster will stand in it and you can talk to him to get a cup of coffee. there's a table full of books with a cup of coffee that celeste will sit at and either sleep during the day or read at night, dressed for autumn/winter weather. i hid jingle's hot air balloon in a corner so i could talk to him too. label sits at a small table under a frozen tree decoration, drinking from a mug of coffee. only three of them show up sometimes, but it's exciting to see which three. even if i had zero villagers invited, the place would still not be devoid of life.

i didn't realize this difference before because i stopped playing ACPC when ACNH came out, and by the time i started noticing that ACNH had glaring flaws, there were plenty of other problems with the game that seemed more important, but listen. if neither of these games have enough life-sim elements or a huge depth of dialogue to keep them compelling without a wealth of decoration options, if it's all about the crafting, collecting, and decorating, then even if you gave ACNH all of ACPC's furniture, it would still lose out on how the final result would look.

one would be dead and empty. and one would be inhabited and lively.

[misc-obeyme]

I loveloveLOVE the idea of a FarmSim! AU! Like yourself, I assume a lot of us weren’t raised as farmer’s children, and more or less grew up on Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon. (Altho I do know a bit about living in Indiana, land of the Corn and home of the Indy500, if that counts towards anything lmao). In any case, I hope you like mytake on the Sides!

In terms of Farm Sim tropes, I’d be willing to say that The Royals (Dia, Barb, and ‘Phisto) are a part of some sort of local govt. bc I cannot see them as knees-in-the-mud farmer types lol. Maybe the farm is the “ROYAL FARM OF DIAVOLO” or something to try and convince Dia’s (not-in-a-self-induced-slumber) Mega-Corp father that farms are important, and corpo factories are bad. Diavolo has no idea how farming works but he likes to watch and play with the baby animals. Barb does not appreciate the farm visits bc Dia gets super excited and cannot be told “NO” if he wants to walk across a muddy field and up to a bull like “You are a fine specimen! A complete winner!” Luckily he is blessed with “Animals Love Me” kind of luck. Barb makes sure to get the Young Master dressed appropriately for next time. You need to talk to Barbatos about ordering tools, supplies, and contractors to build/repair things like stables, wells, and greenhouses. Mephistopheles takes care of the buying and selling of animals, and you gotta “prove to him” that you can be responsible enough to handle a horse (he does inspections of the farm and makes EVERYONE take riding/horse care tests).

The angels run the local cafe/store where you can get food and seeds, among other things. They buy your products and sometimes make presents (like sweaters made from your sheep's wool). Simeon and Luke run the Cafe side of things, while Raphael runs the store. Since Luke is a bit young to be running a business, he’s more like an assistant baker and he runs the morning collection at your farm. When he has time, he’ll sing to some of the animals.

Thirteen would probably the the Farm Sim Mine Spelunking Monster Trapper or smth like that? She’ll toss some coin your way if you bring her monster parts or rare ore, and maybe she’ll give you some “recipes” to make mining tools/weapons/traps.

And like... How funny would it be if Solomon just... didn’t change? Like at all? He already fits the “supernatural element” of other farming sims. An interesting and mysterious figure that lives just on the edge of the village. If you come to him with the monster parts/ore instead of Thirteen, he could help artifice some of your farming equipment with special traits, or craft potions that help you talk to animals or w/e.

IDK what do you think?

PLEASE I AM LOVING IT.

Okay okay so I totally agree about Diavolo, everything about that is spot on. He's fascinated by farm life, but knows nothing about it just like he is with humans in the game. Totally gets himself dirty because he just wants to experience things! Come on, Barbatos it'll be fun!!

And the corporation dad, that is perfection, too. Of course Dia's trying to convince his dad that farms are good!

Barb is forever suffering lol. While he does have a garden, I can't see Barbatos doing any kind of hard farm work either. He's definitely more suited to getting permits and such, but I could see him frequenting the angels' bakery because he likes to cook. They swap recipes a lot. Maybe he hosts the cooking competition, mostly because I think that'd be so funny.

Mephisto as the animal guy is perfect, you better believe he's gonna make sure your horse area is up to par before he'll even consider letting you have one.

Love the angels running a cafe and store, that's something I could easily see them doing. And oh my heart Luke singing to the animals!! My precious baby son. I kinda see him also being partial to flowers in general, since that's the only thing he's grown in the actual game lol. Maybe he starts making bouquets or perfumes...

Oh man Thirteen as the miner/monster hunter type! She's got a forge and spends untold amounts of time wandering the woods.

Solomon is such a menace and honestly I can't see him doing anything other than being the supernatural being. I keep thinking of Witchie from Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon. Like it'd be funny if he was more like Dessie and lived in a pond, but let's be real, he's definitely the one making weird potions and magic tools and such.

And of course all the characters are also marriage candidates, so if you marry Solomon, he's gonna come live with you on your farm. Spends all day in his wizard tower on the edge of town, but at night he comes home to his lil farmer spouse lsadlkjdfjkfdkjl.

Wow my worlds are colliding so hard right now I can't even deal with it. What I wouldn't give to have all these characters in a game where I could deliberately pursue and marry one of them!

Anyway, I totally love this and your ideas! I'm pretty sure I would do some unspeakable acts to have an Obey Me farm sim game like this.

[mouseratz]

my hands have been okayish enough for computer games so I've been doing that. for a while I was playing the Sims 4 and while the character creation & house building are fine enough, especially with mods & custom content, the game itself has so much shaved off to become dlc that it's like. so shallow and barren.

meanwhile Sims 3, while much clunkier/you really feel its age in some of the menus and the like, and the graphics are of the era, and it still has dlcs....the base game still feels very playable with some depth outside of the character customization screens (and even that honestly seems to have more to offer in the base game). it's much more fun and what I wanted out of the experience. i thought people were exaggerating but no like the game is just way better unless you're looking at it purely graphically. AND it still has a breadth of mods and custom content out there (some of which are still being made or updated, because for the reasons listed, many players did not see Sims 4 as an upgrade).

oh and said dlcs? even without sales are miles cheaper- let's say, like me, you are interested in werewolves and vampires and anything "spooky".

in the Sims 4, this is sectioned off into a minimum of 3 DLCs- one for werewolves, one for vampires, and at least one for "haunted" plots of land/homes. this is, at minimum, 45usd. this also does not include spellcasters (witches/wizards), that's another twenty bucks.

in the Sims 3, this is just one 20usd (without sales, which occur semi frequently due to the age of the game) dlc, and ALSO includes a zombie mechanic (which, as far as I'm aware, the Sims 4 doesn't have at all.)

you like sci-fi? 40usd in the Sims 4 just for the ability for a Scientist career & the possibility of encountering aliens. that is, at least, one dlc package, but the Sims 3 equivalent's base price is 20usd, and has some of the careers in that package in the fucking base game already (such as scientist. and there's already a hospital in the base town.) And that's right, you can build a rocketship in Sims 4 and still not meet a goddamn alien! oh, and a few of the inhuman physical appearance traits are also just in default Sims 3 (like many fantasy skin tones, pointy ears, etc).

literally the Sims 4 is possibly the most egregious example of "shaving off as many possible game mechanics to sell back to players" and then, on top of that, splits those mechanics into tiny little crumbs of dlc and jacks up the price, in the hopes likely to nickel and dime you, except it's not " nickel and dime-ing" when it costs this much. i knew it was bad just from like, ea's everything, but seeing it firsthand... they are fucked lol. you have to have a good base game to sell dlc. once you shave off enough of the core game, you're left with very little other than the dress up game part.

you can complain about Sims 3 but at least there's a game in there to begin with right. so many features didn't even make it into 4 as dlc.....they're just....gone.

oh yeah. and the Sims 4 is free now. but do you remember when it wasn't? when it cost full price to even play the stripped down version? because it did on release. so you can't even say it was due to ea needing to profit off the game somehow because it was free to play....the plan was always just to get as much money as possible for as little game as possible, damn anything else.

idk. I love this kind of game but it's wild how jacked up the current iteration is due to just like. current gaming industry practices (not even saying Sims 3's dlc was great or super affordable. it was just like....somewhat acceptable? because you can still play the base game as it's own game and still have a pretty good time. would it have been better without, with some of those things in the base game? of course it would have. are they still kind of expensive? yeah. but my god Sims 4 outdoes it on all levels there.)

[emeritus-fuckers]

Match-up event - Jez

(Nyx and I decided to match each other up for lols)

Let's go. I'm twenty, agender (afab), somewhere between bi and pansexual, poly and somewhere under the aromantic umbrella. Don't mind any pronouns in particular. I want one match-up with a human and one with a ghoul (let's see how you handle it babes). I study writing, might pick up a second major in journalism, dunno yet. Theistic satanist. Monsterfucker. Mask kink af.

I'm 164 centimeters tall (I'm not looking it up in feet). I've got a soft tummy and pretty good ass (lmao). You know how I look like, though I am planning to dye my hair blue.

They're not done yet, but I wanna include this anyway: tattoos. I'm not including any that could guide you to a potential result :p

Little cartoon seal on my right arm (for my sister)

Little cartoon panda on my right arm (for my brother)

Spider-Punk emblem on my left shoulder

666 under my left collar bone

A little plague doctor on my right arm

Also planning to get a shit ton of piercings all over my body. (Not just face and ears if you know what i mean), but that's for later. I like getting my nails done, usually to colors are symbolic or just a reference to something.

I usually wear skinny jeans and hoodies with some weird print. I love oversized hoodies, they are like my main source of comfort. I have chains attached to my pants, and I love wearing too many necklaces. I usually have ghearrings (the ghost crosses) in my ears and another one on a chain around my neck. Also wearing a Baphomet (like the goat head in a pentagram) necklace, a pride heart one, a matching besties necklace with Vic and occasionally a choker. I do occasionally do all out, wearing a white dress shirt, black skinny jeans, a leather jacket and the listed jewelry with my favorite rainbow sneakers and round sunglasses. With lots of rings, mostly something skull/plant/occult themed. Always silverish color, never gold. I don't like gold.

Outside from Ghost, I mostly listen to rock and different kinds of metal. And FNaF songs.

I was a Creepypasta kid. Aside from Polish and English I speak some German and bits of Italian, but very little. I can read most arabic letters (as in I know what sounds they make).

I have lots of different posters on my walls and I have stickers on my furniture because I grew up too fast and I'm catching up on my childhood now. I've got mental issues, including but not limited to autism, ADHD, depression, anxiety, mommy issues and daddy issues. I like calling them my pokemon.

I like writing (though I barely have time for that) and re-watching Total Drama (watched it 8 times just this year) since it manages to keep my attention, something most movies fail to do, which is why I barely watch anything. I get bored very easily. I play the Sims 4 a lot, but I can't build in it for the life of me. I'm amazing at building in the Sims 3. Big fan of Assassin's Creed (I don't like the new ones, though, since it doesn't feel like AC anymore to me). I own many true crime and paranormal activity books, though I can barely read at this point. I like manga, though. Currently collecting the Soul Eater series. I love plushies. I got a new one today. Their name is Pyza. (Yes, they're enby, I even got them a pin)

I know way more about butterflies than I should. I know lots of useless trivia in general. Most of it disturbing. I'm tired 24/7, but my body either wakes up before 7AM or after 6 hours exactly and it's impossible for me to fall asleep again. My room is usually a mess, but that's okay, so am I.

I'm a total introvert, but I'm also so tired with life I forced myself to become the extrovert of the group. I'm really loud if I like people, although my affection is usually random touches on someone's arms and shoulders with a strange noise. I make noises. A lot.

For some reason, babies love me. Even though I personally dislike children. I love pets, though. All sorts of pets. Cats, dogs, snakes, spiders... Anything. If I can pet it, I want to pet it. I love moths from the attacus family, I mean just look at this gorgeous girl!

As for my personality, aside from daily mental breakdowns, I'm relatively chill, just... Very unhinged. I talked about Secondo's dick piercings in McDonald's. Compared to the shit I say, Terzo's an angel.

I think that's all. Have fun babes <3 - Jez

[alltimefail-sims]

Hi friends, and happy Friday!

Yesterday the sims team released its first stuff pack since Paranormal Stuff, so I wanted to give my thoughts and pseudo-review it for you all. I'm not sure if these little reviews are helpful in any way, but I've found that forcing myself to take the time and really isolate the new features, CAS items, and objects has made me appreciate, incorporate, and analyze them among the existent content a little better.

So, with that being said, here's my long and unbiased review of the CAS items from the Home Chef Hustle Stuff Pack! ↓

Let's begin with the outfits shown above. This pack provided items that I absolutely love and have been asking for whilst also giving items that are just...meh at best. (By "meh" I mean that after this review, they'll be forgotten in the catalogue.)

There are multiple variants of apron outfits for both frames and I liked all of them. I'm serious, I even liked the apron dress: it's a little frumpy, but it feels like a perfect cuddly grandma or elderly sim outfit. Also that shirt with the little towel over the shoulder in male frame? Love love love that. Crazy about it, in fact! But beyond the outfits themselves, I really like the color swatches in this pack and the fact that they have clean and dirty swatches. I say it every time, but I love the lived-in, imperfect CAS and Build/Buy items that the sims team has been rolling out lately and I hope they keep up with that style.

I also really love the turtleneck jumpsuit and honestly, it may be one of my favorite CAS pieces to date. I love all the swatches and the way it fits on sims of all sizes. They have been giving us a lot of jumpsuits lately, but this one stands out from the others in a positive way.

As for the clothing items I didn't care for and/or could do without: the one pair of pants that came with this SP. It's not that they're bad or anything; the swatches are fine, they just don't stand out as a staple item to me. Same with the chef coat - it's a nice piece, it has a variety of color and style options, but I'm not sure how often I'll use it as it's so specific/niche. Both perfectly adequate for what they are though!

However, the hoodie, t-shirt with the little ascot, and graphic tee did nothing for me. Some of the swatches on the t-shirt were good (the fire chicken for example) while some felt weird and wildly out of place with the existing animation style/graphics in the game. The shirt with the ascot is just okay, I like how it fit my sims but some of the designs are a bit on the nose and corny. I can't emphasize enough that some of the designs on the shirts were just decent while the other half were really, really bad.

The single pair of shoes in this pack aren't great either. I just thought they looked a little underwhelming, I had higher expectations I guess. I have clog/croc cc that looks much better than what came with this pack if I'm being honest, so I could leave these out all together. Plus, they warp the male ankles significantly, so I couldn't even use them on my male sim as demonstrated in the picture below.

I've seen a few people confused about the gloves that came with this pack, but I actually like them. I especially like the latex/rubber gloves: I would have a home chef wear these at their pop-up-shop for the play pretend impression of food prep safety (like in real life). It's silly, it doesn't impact gameplay, but it helps my imagination and storytelling so that's a fun touch to me. Any touch of realism is a win in my book, and they're also nice to have if you have Dine Out as well! Come to think of it, a lot of the CAS items from this pack would incorporate quite seamlessly with that pack if not for the fact that Dine Out is virtually unplayable. Anyway!

The earrings and necklace are cute, even though the knife is a little chunky. I love silly jewelry though, so I will definitely use all three of them. The tattoo, I'm sorry to say, is kind of goofy as fuck lmao. Just not my personal taste. "A" for effort though? I feel like they could have kept with the chef/foodie tattoo concept and been less on the nose, but it's fine. If nothing else, it's silly and it is in a good location at least? At least they've been trying to add tattoos in the last few packs after going a long while completely ignoring that category all together?

As for the hats...

Need we talk about the hats? They're bulky, chunky, they don't lay on any sim's head properly and it only gets worse as they get younger. We all joke about it, but I don't know that the Sims team has ever seen an actual human wearing a hat before. You'd think after we complain and make jokes about it every pack, they would get the message.

Regardless, the hats themselves would have been, objectively, super adorable if they fit correctly... but they don't. The swatches are pretty fun, the texture is actually nice. So annoying! I hope someone comes out with a default replacement fix because I would use these for my younger sims a lot.

Now...the hairs!

The first scarf hairdo in fem frame looks SO GOOD. Why it did not come in male frame, I will never know. It's one of my favorite hairs to date. Also the curly hairdo for male frames is so cute and like nothing else we have in the game, so that was nice too (and it also should have came in fem frame, but again I digress). I want to give them props as well for the short cut with shaved sides - that is one of the more fashionable, practical, reusable male hairs that have come with a pack. They always somehow manage to mess "staple" pieces up by doing something funky (looking at you Cats and Dogs hair with a fucking pawprint shaved on the side lmaoooo) but this hair is simple and good. Love that. I do feel like there are similar cuts to this already in game, but they don't look as good... so congrats to them for finally doing this haircut right on try 4 or 5 lmao.

I so so so wish they would do what CC creators do and create a headband overlay in the hats category so you could change the hairband color because I actually love the different swatches... I just hate that they're limited to certain hair colors! It's not like anyone is pairing a hat with a hairdo that has a scarf or headband, so whyyyyyy aren't they giving us that option yet? Hopefully cc creators pull through on this one as well.

Otherwise I genuinely have no complaints about any of the hairs. I think they're all quite nice!

Now onto the least exciting part of this review...the littles.

Not much to say about any of this: it's all the same stuff from the adult CAS items, with a lot left out. I would have liked to see an item made specifically for these life stages in mind, but that didn't happen, unfortunately. Everything they converted felt kind of random, and there were things they didn't convert that I thought were a missed opportunity.

For instance: I don't know why the hoodie didn't get converted, or the pants? They didn't make anything original for children, so I don't think it would have been much trouble to convert one or both of these items. In my opinion, the swatches on the hoodie would have probably suited kids better than the adults, and I feel like hoodies are a staple item in every child's closet so you can never really have too many? But yeah, big miss.

The random onesie for infants was weird and I felt like it had fewer swatches than it should have. Maybe they're trying to throw infants in as they're a new life stage and we have so little for them? I don't know. I thought it was weird toddlers got nothing but one singular hairstyle and the giant hat (all life stages got that). They could have at least given toddlers the onesie, too...or even the t-shirt. Regardless, this pack wasn't for kids/toddlers/infants, that much is clear, but they could have been incorporated better with a little more effort, and that's what frustrates me the most!

I'll be talking about gameplay in the next post. If you read all of this, I love you very much. You could have googled "Home Chef Hustle CAS items," but you didn't!! You read my rambles instead and for that I am so thankful. Big smooch on the forehead from me to you. <3

That's a wrap for now. See you in the next one, friends!

[oraclekleo]

Kleo's Wisdom 01

You're gonna hear to grow up, mature and be an adult often, usually from your parents. What they actually mean is 'Do as I say and stop complaining, complaining is childish' and that's a bullshit. That's not being grown up, mature or adult.

Being grown up, mature and act like an adult means you have found your path, you feel confident in your own skin, you build your life the way you want it to be, you fight for what matters to you and you are able to recognize the pointless battles and avoid them to protect your energy. It also means to complain much much more. I don't remember raising so many complaints as I do now when I was a child. As an adult, you complain about things that matter to you because you have grown up and have the idea of how things should and shouldn't be. As an adult, you don't need to follow other people's orders because you are perfectly capable of navigating through your life on your own.

Immature people follow what their parents say and don't complain because they know no better.

So next time somebody tells you to grow up, mature and act like and adult... Do just that! Be yourself! Have your opinions. Walk your path. I'm not saying you should be disrespectful or violent but try to actually think about what it means to be an adult. Adulting is in no way easy but it's a stage we all should reach at certain point and everyone matures in a different way and speed. Respect that.

Being an adult means you CAN have a Barbie doll and stuffed animals collection. You CAN spend evening playing board games instead of going clubing. You CAN eat ice cream sundae for breakfast on Tuesday because nobody can stop you. You're an adult. And you will pay for not eating healthy balanced diet anyway. 😂You CAN play with rubber duck while enjoying bubble bath and sing songs from Seasame Street while doing so. You CAN watch Bob the Builder in the morning while dressing up smartly for the day in the office. That's the thing about adulthood - You CAN do things you like because you're an adult! You know you have to go to work to earn some living but nobody says you can't take a one day vacation without telling your friends and family and just spend the day on your own by PC playing The Sims. If that's what makes you happy, then you CAN do it. Adulthood is not ONLY about being responsible and smart and serious and dedicated and hardworking. It's good if you are all that but you can also have fun, be yourself, disregard other people's opinions (as long as you don't hurt anyone and don't break the law).

Adulthood is the scariest hood but it's worth it! I know that this will sound like an utopia to many of my teenage followers but life actually gets better once you're an adult. Suddenly you are in charge of your life and while it might be tough in the beginning and you might feel like everything is slipping out of your hands and you have no idea what to do... You'll figure it out. Some things pretty soon, some will remain a challenge for longer but you will get to the point where you will be able to live your life your way. 😊 I'm not saying it's gonna be easy - You're going to be responsible for yourself as your relatives will grow old, you probably will be responsible for them as well, you will have to deal with difficult coworkers or customers or neighbours, you will start to be afraid of light because of paying electricity bills, your guts will suffer for days if you eat unhealthy food, you will get genuinelly furious when you want to cook something but your favourite spatula is in a running dishwasher at the moment and you will consider ibuprofen girl's best friend instead of diamonds because those shiny gems are useless for period cramps while you have to maintain smiley face on a company meeting where you do presentation. So yes, being an adult, doesn't mean you always do what you are told and it certainly doesn't mean stopping complaining and whining.

I'm sorry if this came out of the blue but I felt a sudden urge to share.

These are purely my opinions and experiences, please don't come to bash me in my inbox. Being an adult means respecting other people's opinions. 😉

If you have read this far, you're truly... BORED! 🤣

Have a great time!

What is your experience with growing up?

Kleo 🦄

[namuneulbo]

week one hundred and seventy eight

went to myeongdong twice this week. me and a went for the first time on wednesday to try vegan kitchen. it was super good so we came back on saturday for chimaek. on wednesday they accidentally charged us for someone elses order so we went back to get that fixed and they gave us both keyrings as an apology (along with the money, of course). someone who's worked in a restaurant, it happens!!! it really wasn't that big of a deal. they didn't need to do all that :') we roamed around k-pop stores both times we were there. there are so many there but it makes sense since it's a touristy area. i got both versions of xdinary heroes' overload albums. best album but i am obviously biased as fuck considering edward scissorhands is my favorite movie so the concept being fully inspired of it gives it A LOT of points in my book. i was hoping to pull jooyeon so i'd get the photocard of him dressed as edward but i pulled gaon, jungsu and double junhan instead. all veryvery cute (but junhans hair that era was rough). so naturally i go back on saturday and go to the photocard store and buy the fucking piece of cardboard with jooyeons face on it for 8000 won :) i'm picking it up on monday!!! on wednesday we got gong cha as well... which i've had four days in a row now so... the black sugar milk tea's just too good and it's so cheap here. let me have an obsession for once.

myeongdong's so pretty. although parts of it is just big modern buildings, lots of it is also skinny streets with lots of murals. but even the big modern ones are cool. i've never really seen skyscrapers before. not that big and not so many in one place. i was fascinated by that as well when i first got to seoul. stockholm does have skyscrapers but it's usually like one and then regular high density buildings next to it. i feel like a tiny speck of dust walking around here.

i've been treating myself iced lattes almost every weekday now. they're tasty and i like the little ritual of getting one before class. it makes me excited about going and keeps me going throughout the lesson too because it's like a little sweet treat. it's cheap as well so it's not too big of a investment either. aw man, i want coffee now.

on saturday i woke up way earlier than usual. around 8 am. i got everything i needed to get done for the day by 12 so i had lots of freetime. i mainly played sims, hehe. in the evening me and a went out for chicken and beer, or well, she had coke and i had beer!! she picked up gong cha while i was getting ready which was lit. did my makeup without a tasty treat but got to do my hair with a tasty treat as moral support.

i've honestly been missing sweden a lot lately. not because i don't like it here, i really do but just something somewhere is making me miss stockholm a lot. this past month has gone by so fast that i'm sure i'll be sad about going home in june anyways.

i like the aesthetics here, it feels like there's a filter on my surroundings whenever i'm outside. it's weird. i'm probably just romantacizing but genuinely, it feels edited with filters but it all natural. i like how late places are open. i like that everyone has cute keyrings on their bags, even guys. i like seeing cute characters on the most mundane items. i like how clean most people dress, it's monotone but it's monotone in a way more fashionable way than in stockholm. i like flavored milk and cheap prices too.

my main problem here is the lack of protein i get from my food TT there's a severe lack of vegetarian options, even when you'd think something couldn't possibly have meat in it, it still does. vegan restaurangs are my savior. we recently discovered a mexican restaurant near the dorm too so there i can switch out the meat to beans!

living in a dorm limits a lot of the food options too. we only have a microwave and hot water so we can't cook stuff from scratch either. it would honestly have been a lifesaver if i could've just gotten away with pasta pesto every once in a while TT i've heard the carbonara fire noodles are vegetarian and i have those a lot in sweden too but here it says it's chicken in them? but everyone says they're vegetarian and have artificial chicken? i'm so unsure so i've just kind of decided to be a little blind for it. i guess the export version could be different but why?

sotw: thaiboy digital & bladee - 3 star reunite

[r0sa4077]

Absolutely no one has asked for this but these are my top 10 favorite video games. I sort of ranked these based on the emotional impact they had on me, how many times I've replayed them, how many hours I have in the games, and how well I think they were made, etc.

10. Life is Strange: Before the Storm

I liked Chloe as a protagonist more than Max. I also really enjoyed Rachel and how you couldn't rewind this time, and you were stuck with your choices. And the emotional impact of the story has stuck with me after all these years.

9. Elden Ring

Elden Ring introduced me to souls-like games and showed me that they were not as hard as I originally thought. I love the gameplay, and the lore is ✨️chefs kiss✨️.

8. A Way Out

I can't describe how heartbroken I was at the end of this game. It takes you through so much laughter and heartache. And you get to experience it all with another person since it's made to be co-op. It's such a fun and emotionally impactful story.

7. Shadow of Mordor

I am a huge LoTR fun, but more than that, I am a huge lore and Silmarillion fan. Even the minor inclusion of Middle Earth lore in this game had me geeking out. I also really enjoy the story and gameplay.

6. Dragon Age 2

The main character, Hawke, has my entire heart. And so do all the other characters. The gameplay might not be as good as others on this list, but to me, the story and the side characters have left such an impact on my brain.

5. Halo: Reach

The Halo series as a whole has a special place in my heart anyway, but something about Reach has stuck with me after all these years. I love the whole cast of characters. I love the level design and the combat. I love the story. I have probably played this game about 6 times. I have another friend who loves Halo, and when we just want to talk or need to vent, we'll play Reach, and we can play it while on autopilot and just talk to each other.

4. Red Dead Redemption 2

I love so much about this game. The story, the open world, all the characters, Arthur Morgan. Unfortunately, I was spoiled for the ending before I got to play it, but the impact of it hit just as hard. I don't think I've ever cried so much about a video game besides this one and number two on this list.

3. Assassin's Creed: Blackflag

Assassin's Creed was one of the series that really got me into gaming, and Blackflag is by far my favorite. Edward Kenway is such a good and interesting protagonist, and I really enjoyed playing as him in one of my favorite series. To this day, it is the only game I've ever completed to 100% in quests, collectibles, and achievements because I just couldn't stop playing it

2. Mass Effect 3

When I tell you that I am obsessed with the Mass Effect universe, I mean it. There is just something about Bioware's world building, character work, and storytelling that I just love so much. Commander Shepard has got to be one of my favorite protagonists of all time. And like I said, this game and RDR2 the two games that I have actually sat there and sobbed over. When I finished ME3, I immediately wanted to replay from the beginning of the trilogy, but I had to stop myself and go finish other games I had already started. I think about this trilogy and the characters from it so much that I actually read Mass Effect fanfiction, and I'm not a big fanfic reader.

1: The Sims 4

This one might seem really out of place with the rest of the bangers on this list, but listen ... this game is like a guilty pleasure. I have so many hours in it that it's kind of embarrassing. I've spent way too much money on TS4, and I love all kinds of aspects about it. Dressing up sims, building houses and other stuff, playing out storylines, I love it all. And most of the characters from the rest of the games on this list, I have remade them in TS4 and given them happy endings.

[impprtante]

Eira's Children (the squad :0)

Okay, new day new me, I'm actually in my right mind and not impulsively writing things down after being awake for more than 24 hours lmao. So here's what's up.

So, right now the first gen children have moved out of Eira's house into their own households. They've kinda solidified baseline personalities and interactions (and family dynamics from parenthood) so i let them loose in the world. (To live as if they're Stanley Humphry.) Eira isn't the richest mom tho, so I staggered it out so I could give them like, 5k-10k to start off. So they all started by living in tiny barely furnished shacks. I normally get money in the sims by grinding, and in the actual legacy challenge they're super rich, but I wanted to try building up their wealth through odd jobs and work. Get them different incomes and all that. I also want to build them unique housing / decorate their areas according to them so that's also on the books. (because i didn't bother with them before :p)

And to give me a more thought out clothing design. To get into the mindset of teens i had all the kiddos wearing school uniforms (from snowy escape lol) and since I haven't really been them too much, i haven't gotten around to doing all their fashion since. BUT THE POINT IS technically i haven't played as most of these. Just a little bit, I've mostly committed to Lamia (by accident;;)

Okayyyyyy, so this is how it's going:

GUYS I LITERALLY CANNOT CHANGE HIS HAIRSTYLE. I was like, this is a very distinct sims hairstyle. BUT I CYCLED THROUGH EVERYTHING AND I CAN'T, IT FRAMES HIS FACE BETTER AND SEEING HIS HAIRLINE NOW SCARES ME.

What started has his emo, dye-ing my hair now mom, has gone too fair ;; __ ;;

But yeah, Phoenix is the same physically. I've just dressed him up as a more of a starving artist since he's out here painting in a tiny shack. I'm pretty sure that's going to change soon tho, since painting does actually give good money (probably unrealistic but :p). He's gotten the gloomy, dog lover, and family oriented. In the last save he had his house "open to dogs", so thats a nod to that. family oriented is kinda more because of his older sibling status, and he has a good relationship with his whole most of his family (and he loves them all very much, even the brats). Im still figuring out where he lands on the love things, because i've had him be a player in some saves but also he's more a reserved person so i can't image him being that out there in this version. I'm figuring it out <3

He's living in a tiny home (because i say so) and has a nice backyard pool area. He's under the recycle challenge, mostly as a nod to his upbringing out in the middle of nowhere, conservation is important.

Lamia is the most overall different from them all. I didn't really have anything going on with her character at all, besides what i later realized was a comedy aspiration, not a party one (oops). Her character is really shaped by the manners her mom instilled into her now, so she's in more conservative dressings because of that. I kept her hat as a nod to her previous version.

The vision is that she goes through her era of struggling artist (playing gigs and teaching lessons) and works as a normal salary worker (manners: she's trying to live up to the "has a normal job and will do fine for herself mom i promise i can pay bills"). Her piano-ing is more of a side gig but she really loves it so she doesn't want to stop doing it. Most of her parties at this point is so that she can break up the monotony of life. She ends up catches eyes of someone famous and is catapulted into doing more high end jobs. It makes her parties have a more exclusive guest list (not super famous but still really well known) and her high pay grade allows her to quit her job. She's pretty famous now (by the general public as a socialite, by more music-centric crowd as a pianist) and lives pretty comfortably.

Basilisk is the point where i start saying i got nothing. He's got the slob and kinda jock personality, but truly im looking for something else to flesh him out with. But he's the buff one of the bunch. Traits of slob, bro, and foodie, i haven't gotten around to updating his wardrobe. He's closest with Lamia, though the eldest three make a bit of a trio since they grew up the closest in age. He was team captain of the sims football team tho since the sports in the sims is so limited im debating changing the sports (but football would be fitting because he's a tank). He has piss-poor manners, but he's really in touch with emotions, having strong empathy for people. He's also the reason most of his siblings are fitness freaks; he convinced his mom to makeshift a basketball hoop that they used a lot in childhood. The biggest offenders were Sphinx, Phoenix, and Lamia. He challenged Phoenix in football and Lamia in basketball, but Sphinx just liked sneaking into his fitness gear the scrawny bastard.

Griffin and Sphinx still out here twinning hard. Eira must've had a blonde gene from her parents because three blond children can't be a coincidence wow. Freckles were also unexpected. I don't have anything to say about clothing preferences here either. Griffin was on the chess team? and Sphinx as a lazy person was not in any afterschool things, preferring to tinker. Both of them work on the handiness side of things, but i like to think Griffin is into woodworking and Sphinx is into metalworking (his type of jewelry he makes for his family is lacking in the gem department). I have Griffin working as a civil planner ingame, and Sphinx is unemployed selling jewelry at home (its.... its going. I only played like 3 days though to start off).

Griffin is more applied in general (was valedictorian), being clumsy, overachiever, and a bro. Sphinx is lazy, perfectionist, dance machine. Sphinx was one more for sneaking out (mostly out into the forest), once and a while teaming up with Lamia to go to some party (school mate get together) after curfew. They're both little shits, still living up to the mischievousness, but Griffin hated Lamia with a burning passion, and Sphinx really got annoyed with Phoenix's dramatics (neither dared anger basilisk too hard). And, yes, they teased their little sisters as well but they didn't despise them as much as their elder siblings got on their nerves for daring trying to have superiority over them. Eira had a time with them. Got stuck doing many chores as punishment. Griffin is pretty insensitive, but he's gotten really good at *dealing* with his own emotions. He's chill like that. Sphinx meanwhile gets into way more trouble being irresponsible, but he's great at resolving his conflicts.

Nephele has changed as much as phoenix. Aka, she's just had a skin changed, mostly because i didn't want to mess with her too much considering her genes are he one's carried onto the next gen. Gen 03's heir does happen to take over her father more though, but she has her mom's blond hair, so we kept that. She looks like she has such a baby face, but you can see she has Eira's eyes (WHICH IS A TREND, THEY ALL HAVE HER EYES).

I've been trying to make her seem more polished, mostly because I had her be a secret agent in the past (i don't even know how to integrate that into anything ;; __ ;;), and i haven't changed her wardrobe yet either. She also is well mannered so that's a part of it. Personality wise, she's neat, foodie, and socially awkward. She's used to picking up after her family as mostly trying to help out her mom with the hecticness of an 8 person household, and when she was old enough she did the cooking as well. But, her mom being an excellent cook, made her standards for food really high (it's why basilisk is a foodie too). Retreating into working like this was also kinda coping for being terrible conversationalist. (With the neat trait she autonomously cleans things too which is really funny. It's like she can't help but clean even things that other people think are already clean.) She tag-teamed with Griffin on fixing anything throughout the house though. She has a strong personality however, being the type of person who has people she likes, people she doesn't, and they don't change. She doesn't like to apologize (it's like pulling teeth) and likes to be seen as correct.

Arachne I've played a little more of too. Mostly because she was left alone in the household with Eira once all her siblings moved out. But she became an accomplished writer at a young age (so, a really well receiving book that will forever be remembered and a lot of other pretty big hits). I had her go through a redemption, mellowing in her original version, but I really liked the punk thing she had going on before that i decided to keep the kind of rebellious aesthetic.

She was supposed to be a spoiled brat but in a big household its too much to be doing that kind of thing me thinks. She gets more irrationally angry, but she's a perfectionist in her craft, and grows up to be a wee self absorbed. She grows up to fame because of her books (it was pretty out of nowhere fame) so i gave her slightly more daring clothes than her siblings. She's super argumentative though, she feels all her emotions super strongly. She has the healthy outlet of writing however so she is able to regulate, even if it takes a bit.

oke im falling asleep again so i will randomly blog whenever i feel like it again peace