#anyways enjoy this post with my original sim style :]

[worriedrat]

this hair reminded me of coraline so.

[herecirmsims]

Questions For Storytellers

I have (I think) finally caught up on my list of poses to make, so I wanted to do something a little fun (for me, not for anyone else LMAO) and entirely self-indulgent. I read stories and tell my own over on Instagram, but of course it's harder to post long-form text like this over there.

Special thanks to @freezerbnuuy as I'm copying their post. ❤️

What’s the last screenshot you’ve taken for your story?

This is from the middle of my last post, but it's the last screenshot I took because I went back and added this scene in after finally caving and making my own stupid poses for it hahah.

2. Describe your story in three words or less: Needlessly long tbh

3. Describe (insert character here) in three words or less: Uhhh I'll pick Saxen since he's my MC... wet cat energy (which I think is something @nefaricussims said actually??). Or "90s cocaine chic" as @southernsimmin so beautifully described him. 🤣

4. How did you choose the name of your story? It's called The Cottage because it's... based in and around a cottage. 🥲 I have a very imaginative mind!! 🤣 But also, the cottage plays an important role throughout the whole story and especially in the upcoming finale.

5. How do you choose your characters’ names? My Sim story is based on a novel I never had the confidence to finish - in that version, Sax is an ælf based on Anglo-Saxon belief. I made him a vampire in Sims because that was the only pack I owned at the time, besides base game, and for gameplay purposes I thought vamp put him close to how I imagined him. I now realise I could have easily used CC and my own damn imagination to make him an ælf but I didn't know much about CC at the time, either. 🤣 Because of this, the original story leant into fae lore and the stuff about never revealing your true name. Saxen isn't his real name anyway, but for an added layer it also isn't spelt how you might imagine if you heard it spoken. The same for Thom and Jac who are also characters who came over from the 'original'.

6. How long have you been working on your story for? A little over three years! I have learned soooo much in that time.

7. Whats the biggest risk you’ve taken with your story? Did it pay off? I dunno that I've taken any risks, other than putting it out there in the first place.

8. What about your story are you proud of? I think the fact it exists at all. I've been writing stories since I was a kid, but at some point I lost confidence in myself and have never finished anything/wanted to share it with people because I end up overthinking and deleting it. So I am proud of myself for having maintained a continuous story for three years, and for having other people read it. I think because there was no pressure with a Sims story - with a novel I kept thinking, this has to be perfect and polished so that I can publish it someday. With a Sims story, I'm free to just write the silly tropes I enjoy and allow myself to suck and learn and get better at it.

9. What about your story are you looking to improve on? I read a fantastic article about ma - including pauses in your visual storytelling, space for the characters to sit and breath and reflect. It's ma that makes Ghibli movies so wonderfully distinctive. Being able to make my own poses means that I can show a character's expression or body language in response to a situation, without the need for overlaying text. I'm trying really hard to move away from the "talking heads" style that reads more like a script, and letting the visuals tell the story for me instead. I'm not very good at it because I enjoy my blah blah, but it's fun to try!!

10. Is your story fully planned or are you still working things out? Is there a definitive end? I'm approaching the end of it now, which has been planned for the last three years, so yes - I know pretty much everything that's going to happen. Sometimes the characters still throw a little surprise for me though.

11. Why have you decided to tell this story? Are there any messages or meanings within it? When I got the Sims almost 4 years ago, I had absolutely no idea that there was a) a whole community around it or b) that people used it for storytelling. I'd already made Sax, Thom, and Jac in the game, because I'd wanted to see them come to life during gameplay. Then I discovered poses and started sharing random staged screenshots on Instagram, and became friends with the exceptionally talented TheSimmerKay (now making machinimas!) who showed interest in my silly little characters and suggested that I try telling a story too. I owe her a lot!! As for messages and meaning... I'm very interested in what makes people do the things they do, and how the hero of a story often depends on whose POV we're hearing the story from. There's a fine line between hero and villain sometimes, and a hero acting out of love can cross from protectiveness into control.

12. Do you actually play the game or do you just use it as a storytelling medium? Yep - I have a designated story save, which is the one I take all my screenshots in and which never has gameplay. Then I have a Happy Ever After save for Sax and Fen and another save for for my Globetrotter Challenge Sim, both of which are gameplay only. I think it's important to have that outlet; I can work on my story, make poses, or just play the game, depending on what I fancy.

13. From basic planning to a finished post, how long does that take you? 2-3 evenings. I tend to get everything laid out and text added, then let it sit for a day because I inevitably think of a way to do something better if I give it chance to breath. 🤣

14. Do you have any regrets about your story so far? If you could go back in time, how would you fix these? Not regrets, really, but there are some threads that I put in - fully intending to complete them later in the story - but never did, due to them just not fitting with the story or wanting to try and bring things to an end sooner. But similarly, there are times when I was going to put in a little hint or foreshadowing in and didn't, and then later in my story have wished I had! The tricky part of serialised storytelling is you have to just live with what you have (or don't have), you can't go back and remove or add scenes like you would with a drafted novel.

15. What have been the highlights of creating your story? I've met so many incredible people due to it, oh my goodness. Truly extraordinary Simmers who've shared their time and knowledge with me. We have a little mutual reading group on Insta where we all read and geek out over each other's stories and it's just wonderful. I was honestly shocked when i went to other platforms and realised how much drama there can be in the Sims community. 🤣

16. What about the process do you enjoy? Not that I don't enjoy the process... but I mostly love it when it's finished and I can share it, hahaha.

17. What about the process do you hate? I don't hate any of it... it's a hobby and I do it because I enjoy it. That being said, it does fuck me off when I have multiple Sims in a scene, everyone is in place and has poses queued, and then MCCC Dresser FREEZES MY GAME NOOOOOOOO WHY

18. Choose a song that reminds you of your story:

This is the unofficial theme... specifically this version in Old English, which is Saxen's first language. "It's our destiny then to find love again / Where we failed once before now we'll win"

19. Choose a song that reminds you of (insert character here):

Another one for Sax I guess because he's special. 😌🤣 "But you, a cinder of the fire that's yet to come / Will you just sit and mourn this fragile thing that you've become / Or instead will you consume the very things you can't outrun / Until you finally see all of the strength that you draw from?"

20. Choose your favourite shot from your story so far: Hmmm I think this one, which was me being lazy and reusing a screenshot from an older scene during a flashback-style narration. 🤣 I was trying to achieve something else with the editing but did this by accident and liked it.

21. Choose your least favourite shot so far: Too many to pick from LMAO

22. Choose a favourite character from your story so far: Sax, obviously, he's my lil chew toy/punching bag. But then there's also Idris, for whom I only wish the best. She's going through some trouble right now and I don't enjoy it. It's much more fun to bully Sax.

23. Choose your least favourite character so far: I don't have one! Although Vlad makes me deeply uncomfortable tbh. I find him to be a really creepy villain, and unlike any of my other villains, he's not in any way misrepresented or redeemable. I'm using a makeover version of him by WistfulCastle (I would link, but I don't think he's available anymore?)!

24. Are there any characters who remind you of yourself? No... well. Whenever baby El randomly info-dumps on a niche subject, that's mostly me taking advantage of a captive audience to tell them about karkadanns or medieval torture items or dead bodies on Everest. 🥲

25. What inspirations have you drawn on for your story? I honestly don't know - I can't name anything that I've consciously drawn on, though I know for sure I must have. Funnily enough people have told me things like "oh that's like in Vampire Diaries" or "that's like that part in the Harry Potter films" and I haven't watched either of those, so I think what's happening is we're all drawing from the same well of folklore and mythology and trope. There is occasional story drama about being copied and the thing is... unpopular opinion alert... many of us aren't as unique as we think we are. 😅 What we are unique at is taking a trope and telling it in our own distinctive way. No one else can tell your story quite like you can.

26. Have other sim stories inspired you? I have soooo many talented friends who inspire me to do better when it comes to visuals and storytelling!! @callmedomino is the queen of silent storytelling and a huge inspiration on my journey to discover ma. I really love how well she can tell a story with no words.

27. What genres would you describe your story as? I call it rural fantasy lmao

28. If you could reproduce your story in another medium (movie, novel, comic, etc.) what would you choose and why? I mean obviously I'd say movie because HOW COOL would that be?! Especially an animated one!

29. What would your story’s rating be? (G, PG, M etc.) Ummm probably M because there is the occasional spicy scene. Sometimes three a year LMAO.

30. If you were leaving simblr Simsta and had to choose another creator to continue the story for you, who would you ask? Well tbh I've given Sax and Fen to several good friends already; some of them have them in ongoing cameos in their own stories. I wouldn't ask anyone to continue mine, but I like to think that Sax and Fen could live on in my friend's stories and games if anything were to ever happen to me.

31. Drop some random trivia about your story: When I started I only meant to do short, random vignettes about daily life at the cottage. Somehow it snowballed into a three year epic. 🤣

32. Give a light spoiler: "This is who I am. If I was any other way, I would not be myself."

[moonfromearth]

On Repeat - an oc tag by @elderwisp

"rules are pretty simple, pick as many (or as little) oc's as you'd like and find a song that you relate to them the most! feel free to mention why too! o and tag some more ppl too! that would be cool!"

I may have gone a little overboard 😅 To be honest this tag came around at just the right time! I'd just gotten a new song association and have been working on schoolwork so much that I really needed to do something creative 😆

Originally these were all going to be in similar editing styles (more like Corey's) but somewhere along the way that stopped because I had different ideas that I really wanted to do. Also I cheated a little and a few got more than one song... 🤫

I'm really proud with all of these in the end, and if you want to read more about the stories behind them you can check below the cut! ❤️

I know I'm pretty late to the party now buuut I'll tag: @igglemouse @swiftviolets @stargazer-sims @auspexsims and @seniorpollinationtechnician. Feel free to ignore though if you've already done it/don't want to! 😁

[deep dive under cut!]

COREY ALTMAN

"Holiday" - Green Day:

This song being here is random song association at its finest. The trail pretty much goes "Holiday" by Green Day > Surf's Up > Beach Vibes > Sulani > Globetrotter Challenge > Corey Song. If that makes sense... 😂 Pretty much, you can blame the Sulani round of the Globetrotter Challenge for it, plus the fact that I feel like it's the type of song/genre Corey would use in his own music.

"Catch Me If You Can" - Set It Off:

Now, it would be a crime to talk about songs and Corey without a song by Set It Off. Corey was created when I was listening to their songs a lot, and it definitely rubbed off on him. From his aesthetic to the songs I imagine him playing, a lot of it came from Set It Off. Even his name was derived from the band's lead singer (although changed from Cody to Corey because that's the route my mind took with it idk). So, this song in particular specifically reminds me of Corey for... Honestly probably obvious reasons 😆 "Catch Me If You Can" was pretty much the theme of his Globetrotter Challenge, where he was constantly moving on the run from the law. A line I really like though for him is the part that says, "I only feel at home when I'm on the run," because I feel like that leads into the deeper aspects of Corey. He really isn't at home anywhere, he's always on the move, even when he's not evading capture anymore. There's a certain non-permanence to everything he does. Something funny about the image itself is that it originally wasn't going to be edited to look like the back cover of a CD. When I took the picture of Corey with the guitar I kind of thought "this looks like the back cover of a CD" and when editing I just needed a way to fill the space at the bottom and it turned into a CD back cover edit 🤣 It actually kind of fits though since both of these songs are the sound I associate with Corey's own music so it worked out in the end.

LIZZY ALTMAN

"Unopened Windows" - Set It Off:

So this one is the context behind this post lol. It's been like two years since I started working on this plotline I have to finish it eventually 😆 Anyway, Lizzy's been teased in many tag games so far, but without a name or much information (note: and this name's not final I'm not sure yet). Here you can probably guess based on the song choice how her story goes 😅 Going back to the epilogue of the Globetrotter Challenge, we see that something is going on, and it leads to Lizzy and her dad being separated. So, the entire song lyrically I really felt spoke to them and their situation (more in a future gameplay 😉). Bonus points for it being a Set It Off song, who I associate with Corey, and thought music could have been something that they bonded over and enjoyed together. I have a few things to say about the image itself because it was a struggle but I looooove how it turned out! It turned out essentially how I imagined it with Lizzy playing guitar in the foreground with a sort of memory of her time with her dad in the background. I probably had about five or six different poses that I put in the background because I couldn't decide which one I liked the best 😆 This was the last image I had to work on out of the four, and I was having trouble with how I wanted the song title to look. While I was browsing for overlays and stuff I came across a lot of cutout style poems and ended up adding in some of the lyrics because I thought it would help explain the concept behind the image. In the end this one is one of my favorites which is unbelievable considering how much I thought it was not going to turn out like I imagined 🥰

*UNNAMED*

(Sorry I don't have a name for her yet and don't want to commit to a temporary one 😭)

"Little Chaos" - Orla Gartland:

In a wonderfully serendipitous coincidence, this was the song association I was very into when getting tagged, and was already planning what became this edit! I rarely have song associations for sims/sims stories (despite how many ended up coming together here) so that's why I'll never get over how well timed this all was (thanks again elderwisp!!) On to the song, it has to do with my upcoming gameplay story centered around the For Rent game pack, and starring the pictured sim (who doesn't have a name yet sorry! 😅). She's going through a bit of a tough time where she's very lost and I thought the lines, "And it's a good day for a meltdown. All my thoughts getting too loud," fit really where she's at, especially at the start. Plus, the vibes are perfect. The image itself was inspired by the song's MV and one part in particular, but it looks a lot different now (I was limited by the poses I could find because I refuse to sit down and learn to make my own yet). I liked this idea of the torn pages framing the image, especially because it plays into the plot, which sees the main character do a lot of journaling throughout the story. So, the lined paper had to do with that, and it doubled as being good for making the letters stand out, which I wanted to be big and misaligned to be more "chaotic," though I think that could have been done more/better. Aaaaand the background is a picture of Tomarang, where the story takes place. To be honest this will probably be the cover image once I finalize a name and get started on playing it 😉

GHOST COWBOY

(no he also doesn't have a name yet same as above 😆)

"Ferryman" - Schafer James and Will Wood:

I've actually been having a lot of fun with this character since initially creating him back before the Horse Ranch pack came out (more on him coming out in a few days for the outlaw challenge 😉). So this song.... The entire concept of our ghost cowboy is that he, being somewhat half dead and half alive, winds up being a good source of convincing "unwilling souls" to cross over, and works with the character Death to do so in exchange for finding out why he's not entirely dead. I'll explain it better another time, but I also really love this song and just thought that the concept of the ferryman and the ghost cowboy as ferriers of the dead.

"Toss A Coin To Your Witcher (Epic Version)" - Samuel Kim and Black Gryph0n:

Liiiiisten... My family made me watch three seasons of The Witcher I had to get something out of it 😆 I joke a lot that this character gives off Geralt vibes but honestly they are definitely super similar just based on their overall aesthetic and horse companions. I wanted to be special though and chose this epic cover instead of the original... Just for fun 😁 There were some cool piano covers too that almost made the cut. This is probably a good place to talk about the actual image (yay!). I hope the visibility on it isn't too bad because it ended up waaaay more cluttered than I originally intended, plus the mist effect definitely makes it harder to see the characters. I made his (also unnamed) horse a little more transparent to try and give off this ghostly see through effect so I hope that comes through. The font isn't the kind of "wild west wanted sign" font that I wanted, but I think it's close enough lol.

Credits:

Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik

[adelarsims]

No more k-pop boys? I thought they looked nice, but if if you don't feel comfortable showing them, it's understandable you removed them, I hope I'm not bothering you with this message

But yeah, I really enjoy looking at the sims you've made, old ones and new ones alike. I feel like you have this unique touch, where your sims look like *yours* (if i'm making sense?) and I just love it

Anyway, have a nice day!

thank you for liking my imaginary guys 🤗

oh, i deleted them because i went to edit household notes and noticed that i in fact made the last (white-haired) guy on the base of someone else's sim instead of mine 😔 found him in an old household with my own guys, so i thought the whole family was mine... then i saw tags, went to check this person's gallery and found the original

i edited him to match my current style ofc, but he might still be recognizable for his original creator - would be very uncool if this person stumbled across this post and saw someone claiming their sim, so i decided to just delete the post

the black-haired guy right before him didn't have this problem, he was made from scratch, i just fell out of love and kinda don't want him anymore

[imomisoplays]

Brunch Plate

Sul sul, tombler!

I’m back with the last household in my gameplay rotation – the Ito-Landgraab family featuring Nanami Ito. My Nanami used to live with Kiyoshi and Aria, and grew up together with their daughters Stella and Vienna. She went to Foxbury University to study Computer Science, and later entered the tech guru career. Nanami was still living with Kiyoshi and Aria even after the twins graduated and moved out; matter fact it was a few years back when she met Malcolm Landgraab and agreed to be in a so-called traditional marriage and have kids. The twins, Kieran and Sean are born the following year.

Fast forward a few years later, the twins are well into their tenacious toddler phase, yet Nanami and Malcolm’s marriage is distant. Just when they both consider to come off clean to Malcolm’s parents, they are hit with two consecutively horrible news: when taking a respective vacation on Mt. Komorebi and Henford-on-Bagley, Geoffrey had died after falling off a cliff while climbing, while Nancy perished after a fierce attack by a rabid rabbit (pun intended). Just like that, the only people who forced Malcolm to “marry a nice girl and bear a heir for the family” is gone. Which brings us to today: Malcolm and Nanami is still married by the papers, but he spent half of his week with them and the other half in his other properties. Don’t get him wrong – Malcolm is a good father, it's just that he (and Nanami) is not a good spouse.

I did warn you Nanami’s family drama would be juicy, didn’t I? 🍵

Anyway, let’s just start with the cooking process. Life in the desert is good, and since the twins have their own nanny, Nanami’s mornings started off later than for other people. Hence, today’s menu brunch plate fits perfectly for Nanami’s lifestyle. Additional point for it being easy enough for the twins to feed themselves with. The cc recipe is made by @oni28 (click here to download it). Please be aware that you would need to install Oni’s Recipe Pack Mod which is updated regularly on their Patreon page.

Brunch is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch, and is usually eaten during late mornings. It originated in England in the late 1800s, but gained popularity in the United States in the 1930s. Although the menu features a wide range of foods, some common brunch items include: eggs, either fried eggs, eggs Benedict, or omelets; bread, most popular being French toast or pancakes; fruit or vegetables for vibrancy; a sweet touch of pastry for sweetness; and alcohol… for emotional support, I guess.

I feel like I need to take 1,000 screenshots from this angle just because of how much I struggled to place all those items on the shelf. I don't know about you but placing clutters in Sims 4 will forever be my Achilles' heels 😔

Cutting the store-brought bread into slices. Another chance, we will make bread from scratch with Nanami, I promise!

Chopping the tomatoes, because girl have to stay healthy and eat enough fiber.

EGGS! It’s always sunny-side-up in Philadelphia Oasis Springs!

Really love how chonky everything looks. Might be biased but one could never go wrong with a plate of toast and egg.

Also, another close-up of my Nanami. She is always so fun to makeover in CAS! Growing up, she was very punk with her red and black attire (Wei WuXian incarnate -- toast of Emperor's Smile if you get that reference!) – dark eyeshadows, fishnets, and piercings! So much piercings. As she grew older she took most of them off, but keep one in her right brows for sentimental purposes. Nowadays she enjoys her comfy boho style.

I have yet to find the perfect photoshoot place for this house, but this will do for now!

And one more picture – a sneak-peek of the next member of the Ito-Landgraab household, if I may. This is Kieran! He just woke up from his morning nap, just in time for some brunch plate. Better leave some for your twin brother too! Until then, dag dag!

P.S. I realized later that I had ReShade off for this post, hence the colors look less dreamy and more... desert-y. You'll see what I mean when you compare this post with my other posts. P.S.S. Definition and detailed information of brunch is taken from this article, this article, and this Wiki page.

Imomiso's note: This post is originally posted on the now deleted blog.

[asmoteeth]

Hey there dude, how are you doing? I hope that you been doing fine and that school (?) been treating well...

Any new ideas for the wedgeshot ship? I mean, you are the main dealer at this point,and you always have excellent content 😂

Just asking... anyway, wish you the best, see ya!

Haiii! School is going well, Having some exams but that's that <33

Somehow you always make it in time when I feel down to lift me up by asking me about Wedgeshot, te quiero mucho loco /p Anyways this time I do have been thinking about them a little more so let's get into it -puts on a silly hat and fixes my convience store nametag that says "Wedgeshot provider"-

I really wanna see people explore their rivarly stage like in Battle of Bots so bad, they can be pushing eachother into mud just for the fun of it but if the other actually feels bad the other no longer finds teasing them funny (ex Hotshot on that same episode)

↑ This also goes for a third making fun of either of them and the other jumping in to defend them (bonus if it's Hotshot bc I need to see him snap at someone chihuahua style, cmon guys he's HEATWAVE'S mentee)

We also need to exploit Wedge's being an introvert while dating Hotshot that's A FAMOUS JUNIOR CUBE PLAYER, Imagine him playing for the Cyberblazers from time to time as a last-resort-replacement (Scorch still kinda needs him in his team but he accepts he has a new vocation a little better) and him going "Imma going to dedicate this catching to the love of my life Wedge who's better be watching me right now" specially being a little mushy about it because he knows Wedge doesn’t even like getting his picture taken (it doesn’t go further since Wedge is on earth, meanwhile on Cybertron Hotshot’s old fans are scurrying to find who this mech is because the last news they had on their idol was from like two years ago before he decided to change careers forever lol

↑ bonus of Hotshot ends up actually dedicating a catch to Wedge and failing miserably, he swears he can hear Wedge laugh at him all the way from Earth

I think I already said I hc them to playfight a lot, however I didn't say that at some point, specially if we take Wedge as the one falling first, Wedge let's Hotshot win these playfights to make him feel strong and encourage him to keep on playing with him (funfact male dog puppies do this and that's where I got the inspo for this)

THEM ENJOYING A DAY IN HOLOFORMS that's it that's the idea (otherwise just them playing The Sims and having to make human versions of them)

Scorch being an asshole again (intentional or unintentionally it's up to you) except this time Hotshot has learned to set boundaries and shuts him down firm (let him get a little mean,,, as a treat) and Wedge just being #proud

Both of them are embarrased about the shows they watch in secret, but once one of them discovers the other watching it they actually end up becoming a fan too (they hoped they could make fun of them at first but now they're both being cringe together)

Wedge has code-overrides to change the color of his optics (or even hide some certain feature he found unfitting for a rescue bot in the past) to his common aquamarine ones, best assured that if he disables the code overrides to show Hotshot his original optics he's gonna get moonstruck, heart eyes dude.

Those are all I can think for this post! Hope you tell me what you think of them! I hope school is treating u well too <33

[lindyloosims]

I've decided I'm going to post my story, Love Drunk, on here. It was the first story in The Sims 3 where I started to gain lots of viewers/followers over on Blogger and it was a very popular story. Bearing in mind I wrote it back in 2013 so it might be a little dated, but Dexter and Lainie (Laixter) are my OG OCs and they hold a special place in my heart. Since I'm going to go back to remaking their story (I have already in TS4 but it started to get very dark so I stopped) because I miss them, I thought I would get reacquainted with the original incarnations just for nostalgic purposes.

If no one reads it, that's fine, this is for me anyway to see how far I've come (or not) with my writing. So I will post a chapter a day in two parts as they are long AF! If people do read it, like I said bear in mind that it is 11 years old and an innocent piece of writing with characters that lived (albeit inside a pixel world) during the 2010s which, although it was just a few years ago, was a very different world and I was different too both in writing style and in my everyday life. I was just beginning to share my writing and entering a new phase where people read it. I don't know what today's readers will make of it, but I hope they will enjoy it.

Anyway, that's what I plan to do, so...

Happy Saturday everyone!

[cinamun]

TAGGED by @simmerstellar ! Thanks friend!

Come get to know me y'all!

1. What’s your favorite sims death? I haven't had a sim die from anything other than old age in a HOT minute but I saw a LP and the murphy bed death seems so unecessarily violent lmfao.

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? BOTH! I consider my style Maxis Mix. We love a nice combo of both.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? Not anymore but at one point I had to. Let me explain: I don't know if it was a glitch but like after every meal with grannie's cookbook, Indya would gain weight instantly. Didn't happen with anyone else (although everyone else are athletes of some sort). She's always and forever thick but something was definitely up with the food mods I was using. Anyway, we're good now since I'm not playing her HH exclusively anymore.

4. Do you use move objects? Absolutely. Its too restrictive! Gotta play test when I do though because routing errors make me irrationally angry.

5. Favorite mod? Wickedwhims. I don't care! If I want my sims to get freak-nasty I have a blog for that and WW never fumbles. If I want them to do cute little intimate things, WW is there. If you don't like the smut, I feel bad for you son.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? I've gotten pretty much ever iteration of this game except for almost all of the kits and the star wars pack.

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? ALIVE. I don't understand the other one honestly lol. We're going LIVE as soon as I press play so....

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? Obvs Indya Drake!

9. Have you made a simself? Yes! But she needs help lol I'm not good at that at all so there's a resemblance but she doesn't really look like me. When I do gameplay with her I say she's my "sorta-kinda self sim" lol

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? gloomy, neat, loner, romantic

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? Black but like BLACK Black, not the BLUE Black lol.

12. Favorite EA hair? All of the afro textured ones.

13. Favorite life stage? Young adults.

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? Gameplay mostly stories but I love to decorate!

15. Are you a CC creator? I will recolor the shit out of something! That's about it lol

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? All my mutuals and anyone who reads my story! #Squad

17. What’s your favorite game? The Sims 4 is the only game I play. Don't @ me.

18. Do you have any sims merch? Nope.

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? Nope, but I have been asked to make a channel and got that far at least. No videos lol.

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? If anything, less alpha and more maxis match.

21. What’s your Origin ID? [redacted]

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? All of the ones that do it for FREE and for the love of the game. I donate too because I understand its not easy, but also not worth a month long paywall or conveniently forgetting to publicly release something.

23. How long have you had a simblr? 2015 are my earliest posts I think.

24. How do you edit your pictures? Gshade and Photoshop Elements 2020

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? Cottage Living is the goat IMO even though I don't play it much anymore. I do very much enjoy Island Living and Growing Together will round out a nice top 3.

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? I haven't really thought about it. I just figure the sims 4 is nearing the end of its era and we're gonna start hearing about project rene more and more.

oh! tagging @shesthespinstersimmer @bridgeportbritt @iplaysims4 @beebeesiims @thegloomiestwhim @hazelminesims @therichantsim @omgkayplays @softerhaze @crsentfairy

please ignore if you don't do these or already did this!

[windslar]

i'm thinking of starting to tell sim stories on tumblr. what are some things you wish you'd known before starting that would have made your life easier as a creator? ps i am absolutely obsessed with you.

That's so sweet! Thank you, anon. Sorry if this got really long and out of hand, but apparently I'm quite passionate about this topic. Oop.

To be honest, I didn't think of myself as much of a sim storyteller. There are definitely simblrs out there telling elaborate stories with developed characters. Personally, my style is more gameplay-focused and then adding context. 95% of the time, I take random screenshots and build a story based on that. The only real planning involved is that I try to follow the rules of the legacy challenge I'm playing. That being said, I use it more as a guide for storytelling rather than a checklist of tasks I have to complete.

I've attempted focusing more on storytelling with Lightflower. I have a google doc plotting the scenes and dialogue, and linking to pose packs I want to use, but I've been on a slump with that particular save. Don't get me wrong, I love those sims but the idea of opening that save and posing them and coming up with dialogue is like pulling teeth for me (at this point, anyway). Motivation to play a save is huge. This is a hobby, and the last thing I want is for this to feel like work.

All that to say I wish I'd known NOT to put too much pressure on myself. I think, in the beginning, we all get inspired by other simblrs and we want to create great stories and original edits that get a ton of likes and reblogs. So we consciously or subconsciously emulate what's popular. It's one thing to be inspired and motivated by others, but it's another thing to feel like you have to measure up to popular simblrs with an established audience. With anything in life, if you compare yourself to others, it's not going to be an enjoyable experience.

So my advice is to just do what you like, post what you enjoy, and share your excitement about your sims. Some days, I like to post slice of life screenshots of sims just living their lives on live mode. Other days, I like to pose my sims and add some more story elements to my gameplay. I don't limit myself to one thing or one style because I know I'd get bored with my save. This approach works for me, and it might be different for you. There's no one way to play this game.

I also don't limit myself to the game's narrow "personality" system. I like to explore why my sims have certain traits and how it motivates them to do certain things; it's stuff like that that makes sims more fleshed out and more memorable for people following your story or gameplay. If you sprinkle in some context or elaborate a little on your sims' personalities beyond "so-and-so has these three traits", it allows you to be more attached to your sims and less likely to burn out.

Oh, and maybe this is just me being a chronic queue-er who posts 99% of the screenshots I take, but stop second-guessing yourself because you think your post isn't good enough. I see it occasionally on the dash -- people being overly self-critical about their creations and choosing not to post or deciding to delete it because it didn't get the numbers they wanted. We all start from somewhere and we're all learning new things as we go. SHARE your stories and edits and WIPs. If you show you're enthused about something, it carries through in your work and you'll find that others will start caring about the stuff that you post.

[masonhawthorne]

What I read in October

Hoo boy, I sure did forget to post this earlier, didn't I!

Honestly I've been so busy so far this month that I just didn't even think of it. Also, this month is sort of evaporating. Before you ask, no I have written nothing at all for the not-NaNo that I was planning to attempt. But I did come up with another great idea for something that I'll probably start and not finish, so you can't say I've done nothing!

Anyway, on to the list:

Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy, Hailey Piper ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ghost Bird, Lisa Fuller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Forest of Stolen Girls, June Hur ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Liar's Dice, Jeannie Lin ⭐️

Straya, Anthony O'Connor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Toxic, Dan Kaszeta (nf) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Illuminae, Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Penhallow, Georgette Heyer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Myth of the Self Made Man, Ruben Reyes Jr (ss) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Call, Christian White & Summer De Roche ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Death of the Necromancer, Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cretins, Thomas Ha (ss) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kill Your Brother, Jack Heath ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley (nf) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Valley of Terror, Zhou Haohui, tr. Bonnie Huie ⭐️⭐️

The Curse of the Burdens, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️

Amazons, Adrienne Mayor (nf) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Kraken Wakes, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dead Mountain, Donnie Eichar (nf) ⭐️⭐️

Family Business, Jonathan Sims ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In the House of Aryaman A Lonely Signal Burns, Elizabeth Bear ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Blessing of Unicorns, Elizabeth Bear ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

METAtropolis Anthology ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plan for Chaos, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Fatal Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum, Emma Southon (nf) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Outward Urge, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️

King Solomon's Mines, H. Rider Haggard DNF

The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle tr. David Ross (nf) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a bit of a mixed bunch!

At the end of September I went to a writer's conference, where Lisa Fuller and Amie Kaufman were guests of honour. I was a bit annoyed at myself because I had bought Ghost Bird the week before, not realising that she was on the program, so I had the book the whole time but hadn't yet read it! Oh well, better late than never.

Ghost Bird was a solid spooky read, dealing with family history and tensions, small town disturbances, and the violent inheritances of colonialism and racism in Australia. I originally bought it because it was on a list of books to read if you enjoyed Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina, which I did.

Illuminae was one that I had heard @slushrottweiler mention several times, but I'd never gotten around to it (YA, not my most favourite! Epistolary, not my most favourite!). But after the conference I figured I'd check it out, and I'm glad I did. While I wouldn't say that it's my favourite thing ever, it was a solid scifi story, with an interesting form and style, and I'll probably check out the sequels eventually.

Straya by Anthony O'Connor was the other book on this list that I picked up after the conference. Kind of a goofy action romp through post-apocalyptic Sydney, I was expecting to be a kind of brain-off funtime read (and it is! Don't get me wrong!) but it also had a lot of very clever little twists and turns that kept it really engaging. Also a refreshing take on the 'love interest' character, being that she's asexual, and when the protagonist confesses his feelings for her she says well... that's sweet and all, but I don't do that. Can we still be friends? And then they are still friends! A lot of the goofyness of this book is held up by a backbone of sincerity which is really nice, too. In all, a fun read.

Also revisited some faves this month, re-read Penhallow for my book club, and I have to say, it is one of those books which just gets more complex with each rereading. It's up there with Rebecca as some of my most books of all time.

There's one big fat DNF on the list this month, King Solomon's Mine, which through a combination of Victorian era racism, and very poor audio quality was pretty much unlistenable, and I don't think I'll be bothered trying to find a better recording.

And that's that!

nf= non fiction

ss= short story

stars awarded at my whim

[panicsimss]

I was tagged by @duusheen !! tysm! :)

1. What’s your favourite sims death? I'm gonna go extreme and say death by flies. on a related note, in sims 2, I cheated and killed the college mascot with the fly death because they were pissing me off so bad. and then I placed the urn in front of my sim's dorm room as a warning lmao

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? maxis mix!

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? ehh no. I guess it depends on the sim but most of the time no, I don't.

4. Do you use move objects? y e s.

5. Favorite mod? MCCC and wonderfulwhims

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? Get to work and Get together!

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? I've always said it like LIVe mode, like living

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? unsurpisingly, Poppy

9. Have you made a simself? yeah, tried to anyways. my simself is my current pfp :0

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? lazy, geek, and creative.

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? I love the green swatch but I never use it

12. Favorite EA hair? uhhhhhh I think that one braided/pony tail hair form eco lifestyle is pretty neat

13. Favorite life stage? young adult!

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? I enjoy building, but I wouldn't consider myself much of a builder. I used to build shit for hours and never actually play the damn game so here's the artistic representation of that:

overall though? starting a legacy on simblr is what made me enjoy gameplay again.

15. Are you a CC creator? definintely not lol

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? I love my simblr mutuals <3 <3 if ur reading this, mwah

17. What’s your favorite game? (1, 2, 3, or 4) 2 and 3 for the absolute chaos and depth of gameplay, 4 for mods and build mode. it's hard to choose just one when they're all fun in their own ways!

18. Do you have any sims merch? nah

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? I have posted 1 single speed CAS video. my youtube is just for dumb stuff I make

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? it was super maxis match and lacked any real detail that could have made each sim unique, but nowadays I think I gravitate toward adding so many skin details and going for more of a maxis mix type of look. I love the subtle realism

21. What’s your Origin ID? it's a secret

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? softerhaze, awingedllama, simstrouble, clumsyalienn, and sforzcc to name a few

23. How long have you had a simblr? my goldfish brain can't remember. uhh since around 2020-2021??? i'm not sure

24. How do you edit your pictures? take screenshots with gshade and edit them in canva

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? bands, more apartments, more hobbies in general. NO HORSES.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? seasons, get together, vampires

i'll tag everyone reading this (jk)

[cidthesquid]

Today is the Day - Style Savvy : Styling Star #01

[TrendSetters]              [First Post]              [Next Post] We've finally reached the last game of the series:

If this is your first time reading my blog, Welcome! I'm playing through this entry for the first time, and will be talking about my experiences, while sharing some related person stories (if relevant) If you've already played them all, maybe I can give you a different perspective on your favorite entry! My format can get a little word-y, so if you're mainly just here for the screenshots, that's 100% okay too! Enjoy this blog however you'd like

Here is a brief summary of my thoughts on the other entire thus far:

Style Savvy DS: I have yet to finish this entry, so I won't speak a ton about it, Fun to pick up and play, really nice art style, really amazing for it's time.

Style Savvy: Trendsetters: Feels like a much more refined version of Style Savvy DS Has a laser like focus of on Dress-up and shop management. But sadly other elements, even the really fun fashion contests, can feel a little repetitive, due to lack of feedback/felt progression.

Style Savvy: Fashion Forward: (My Fav!) Significantly more variety than 'Trendsetters' But at the cost of focus. It feels like a borderline 'life-sim' game, with the exploration and socializing. Mens fashion and fashion contests are gone, and cosmetics are harder to unlock. But with the options to design (recolor/pattern) your own original outfits, as well as act as a hair stylist and makeup artist, You can really give customers a full makeover, and there's always more to do!

My Hopes for Styling Star: In short, I'd really like this to be a mix of the other two 3ds games. The easy to measure linear progression of trendsetters, with the variety and customization of Fashion Forward. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -Day 01-

All three games have wildly different intros This time, we're having our uncle help us move in into our new town, he owns the local boutique, subtlety labeled as 'My Shop', and invites us to visit. (hmm, I wonder if this will be ours someday.)

ok, so it's actually called 'Timorrow', not much better, and it looks like we'll be living in the room above it. After a brief introduction, you're able to design your character:

Once again, Style Savvy proves to have one of the best character designers I've seen, with tons of options! (and unlike even some other more modern Japanese fashion game, darker skin tones!)

The art style this time around, kinda favors pastels, so skin tones will look different, But overall, I still like the new art style! Anyways,Here's my final look:

(sorry, recorded that gif at only 5fps D: other gifs should be smoother)

While live blogging this all out, I do notice that this 'Styling Star' version of my characters looks quite a bit different, maybe it was my choice of eyes, the new skin shader or something else. I think I'll stick with design, though, and see if it grows on me, There is a program you can use to backup, edit and transfer character appearances for both 'Styling Star' and 'Fashion Forward', so worst case, I could just import my previous avatar. ------- Anyways, after completing the single tutorial customer, we're told that our uncle is leaving the shop to us so he can follow is dreams. And next we're given the chance to choose one of six shop assistants:

We had these back in 'Trendsetters', But I don't remember them doing much, they did not make sales for you, or handle checkout, So maybe their role will be expanded in this game.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- And with that, We're all ready to start the game:

It seems like they've split the tutorial in half, only teaching us the essentials before allowing us to save, tryout makeup, and explore bit. Oh, and it also looks like this game ads.. Nails Customization?

(I wish there was a way to preview your whole character with the nails, it can be a little trick to coordinate only being able to see your hands, and not the outfit or face. 'My Debut! - MODEL Debut 3 #nicola' found a way around this, having the character simply hold their Hands in front of their face, (but maybe that came out later. The 'Look Book' is also expanded, as now it includes the option to fully preview and name your outfit:

(The icon will still only show one piece.) Once I leave the apartment, I can explore a selection of the city, with a few key points of interest:

I stopped by the baker first, and got some decorative baguettes, Then, even though it was not marked, with an '!' I stopped by the shop.

You get a brief introduction to your assistant, as both of you check out the shop for the first time, They actually comment on the state of the shop, and you can ask them how they met your uncle, It's pretty cool to actually have an assistant who feels like their part of the narrative this time around, they even have dialogue. After our chat, we get our first customer, (part 2 of the tutorial) and we're treated to more fun Style Savvy dialogue:

It looks like the 'Multi-search' thing from 'fashion forward' is back, where you can specifically search for a color, image, brand and more (with new options), to help really narrow down your choices,

And a new 'Search by order' function is added too! The apartment remodeling From 'Trendsetters' returns, merged with 'Fashion Forward's decoration options.

You can now even stack smaller items on surfaces such as dressers and desks. And while both games let you remodel your shop, there were only a few fixed designs you could pick. Fashion forward added a few placeable items spots, But Styling Star, allows you to fully design your shop, just like you would your apartment!

And you'll also have a scrapbook for this, so you can save your favorite layouts! I've been really enjoying this free-form prologue, but since we can't by close yet, let's progress the plot. So next stop...Nin10 Productions!

(Nin-ten Pro? I see what you did there) So we learn a little more about the town, and we're told to track down the president of the company. So after I leave, I walked around a bit, visited the park, and talked to more characters, before deciding to return to the shop. After helping a few more customers, my assistant explains the 'try it on' mechanic, where you can recommend an outfit/item more strongly.

As with previous games, it's a gamble where if you're wrong the customer leaves the store, But it makes them more likely to give the item a shot, and if they like you get a flashy response and bonus funds:

And it looks like another new feature has been added,

"I'll just restock" is a new option that puts the customer on hold until you can get the item they requested, and when combined with the new 'Check Stock', you'll always know if you have what they're looking for, before you agree to help! It's such a simple and effective solution, it's kind of hard to believe that in previous games, you just had to turn them away, and wait for them to show up again later:

The shopping experience is streamlined too:

The layout is better, it's faster and easier to add items to your cart, and you can even have the brand rep recommend items! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Alright, I think that's a good stopping point for today! So far my opinions of this game are very positive! It seems to offer the variety I liked from 'Fashion Forward', with the structure from 'Trendsetters', and still manages to find ways to improve the positives of both! I can't wait to play more!

See you all next time!

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-Thanks for reading! I had a lot of fun making this, so I hope you had fun reading it as well. (Click here For bonus Post 1.5) (Click here for Part 2)

As always, all comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome! (I'm also looking for feedback on this new style, how's the formatting, too many Gifs?)

You literally can't bother me, (unless you go out of your way to be a jerk), so post whatever you need to say!

[nat-20s]

me looking at my own post: you could fanfic out of this!

Anyway here’s how I think a typical “Martin’s Poetry Corner” would go!

~*~

Martin: And for my second thing, we’re going back to the poetry corner!

Jon: Again? Didn’t you have a poetry corner last week?

Martin: It’s been well over two months since the last poetry corner, my dear. And just for that comment I’m going to up the amount of the poetry corner. From now on this podcast is me reading poetry interjected with some guy talking nonsense.

Jon: You say that like the majority of our audience wouldn’t prefer that. Also, some guy? I’m wounded! Earlier you were calling me ‘beloved husband’ and ‘cherished one’ and now I’m ‘some guy’? What did I do to deserve that level of downgrade?

Martin: You decried the poetry corner!

Jon: I decried nothing! It was a purely non-judgmental comment on the frequency of it. If you want to do poem every week, I have nothing against that.

Martin: Hmm. I might test you on that. I know the whole point of this thing is to share things we think are lovely, and I do find all the poems I read lovely, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t have an ulterior motive.

Jon: Oh? And what might your nefarious hidden agenda be?

Martin: I’m certain you’re the only one that would find it nefarious, but I can, must, shall, and will find a poem that affects you. Now, I’m sure the listeners at home would decry that goal. After all Mary Oliver, Maya Angelou, Wendy Cope, and Langston Hughes all did nothing. He didn’t even blink at “The Two-Headed Calf”, surely there can’t possibly-

Jon, laughing, which severely limits how much he’s able to sell his faux offense: I’ve been affected by poetry before!

Martin: Name one poem you had an actual strong reaction to.

Jon, smugly: It’s almost certainly not one you know. It’s called “Streets” and it’s by this really obscure author. God, what was his name? K was his middle initial I believe?

Martin, laughing: Piss off!

Jon: Well it’s true! I felt something at all of your poetry.

Martin: Liar! I very distinctly remember you calling it ‘almost affecting’! And you declared I was enamored with Keats, which doesn’t even make sense, we have wildly different composition styles.

Jon: You’re working from incomplete information. That tape was from my first read through. It was the reread where they got me.

Martin: Reread? I thought you hated rereading things?

Jon: Typically, yes. But. Ah. It was during the year you were gone.

Martin: Oh. Oh, love.

Jon: It’s been half a decade since then, Martin, I can assure you I’m fine. Though, I suppose reflecting on it, the affecting quality was more to do with who had written the poetry itself. Even now, you could write a grocery list for fun and I’d be hopelessly endeared by it.

Martin: Shut up.

Jon: I shall not! It’s been a hell of a road to get here, I think it’s more than acceptable to flaunt how much I like my husband, especially when he’s doing something he enjoys. In fact, I think it’d be more than appropriate if I did one of your poems for one of my wonderful things next week.

Martin: Absolutely not! Jon, there is a certain level of ‘embarrassing old men in love’ we’re allowed to be in the public sphere, and that would exceed it by, fuck, tenfold? Our quota would be wiped out for the year. For the next five years. No. Besides, my poems aren’t meant for anyone’s eyes and ears but my own, and occasionally you when you’re being nosy.

Jon, with audible shit eating grin: So you’re saying you wouldn’t like to hear your poetry in my voice?

Martin, having a gay panic despite being married to this man for years: I..uh..

Jon: Yes?

Martin: I would..I would like that very much. Privately. Er, please.

Jon: Well, since you asked so nicely. I suppose the poetry corner shall remain yours, for now.

Martin: Thank you for your grand generosity and understanding. Speaking of, should I get to the actual poem? I think I might have a winner with this one.

Jon: Please do.

Martin: So this week I’m bringing a poem written by an, as far as I can tell, unnamed ninth century Irish Monk-

Jon: -ninth century? Decided to abandon the contemporary route then?

Martin: Somewhat? The poem was written in the ninth century, but no one wants to hear me butcher the original, so I’m going to read the English translation by Seamus Heaney, which was done in 2006, so sort of contemporary? Depending how you look at it? Anyway, this is Pangur Bán:

Pangur Bán and I at work,

Adepts, equals, cat and clerk:

His whole instinct is to hunt,

Mine to free the meaning pent.

More than loud acclaim, I love

Books, silence, thought, my alcove.

Happy for me, Pangur Bán

Child-plays round some mouse’s den.

Truth to tell, just being here,

Housed alone, housed together,

Adds up to its own reward:

Concentration, stealthy art.

Next thing an unwary mouse

Bares his flank: Pangur pounces.

Next thing lines that held and held

Meaning back begin to yield.

All the while, his round bright eye

Fixes on the wall, while I

Focus my less piercing gaze

On the challenge of the page.

With his unsheathed, perfect nails

Pangur springs, exults and kills.

When the longed-for, difficult

Answers come, I too exult.

So it goes. To each his own.

No vying. No vexation.

Taking pleasure, taking pains,

Kindred spirits, veterans.

Day and night, soft purr, soft pad,

Pangur Bán has learned his trade.

Day and night, my own hard work

Solves the cruxes, makes a mark.

Isn’t that just delightful? Jon what did you-holy shit!

Jon, voice tight: What?

Martin: You teared up! You’re affected! Fuckin’ gottem!! I should’ve known. I should’ve fucking known that the way to Jonathan Sims’ soul was through a poem about a man feeling kinship with his cat. Incredible.

Jon, slightly sniffling: It’s a very nice poem! You read it because it’s a very nice poem!

Martin: Yes it is! That doesn’t discount the fact that I have read poems about love and hardships and finding joy in being alive and it’s the one about the cat that gets to you. Of course. I love you.

Jon: I love you too. Even if you are a bit too victorious over this. I think that will wrap it up for this week?

Martin: Think so! And as we say at the end of every episode, uh, the way to a man’s heart is not through his stomach, but through cat poems from a thousand years ago.

[katatty]

Do you have any advice on renovating lots? I'd like to give some premade places my own personal touch, but I just can't really find a decent foothold to get started with.

Hm, this is a tough one, because I don’t really have that much super-specific advice, just general tips? I have posted some decorating tips before, HERE & HERE, although they’re mainly geared at interiors. For for actually renovating lots themselves... hm.

When renovating a lot, I find it really useful to have a “vision” in mind, I guess? I find reading about different archtectural styles and trying to mimic them in the sims really useful! Concept art is really helpful for this I find, stuff like this I just found by googling “architecture styles”:

So When I take a Maxis lot, I will often try and think about what Maxis were “going for” with their build and try to take it furthur - the Goth House is a good example, a lot of people I have seen renovate it into a second empire style and I think it works really well! The houses in Veronaville are ones where I tried to emphasize the original style when renovating them, too, they always maintain that English Tudor or Mediterranean look.

Of course there’s also times where renovating a lot I try to transform it into something totally different to the original, the Desiderata Valley houses are a good example of this! Mainly because I’m not even sure what Maxis were really going for with those houses, haha. I’ll usually look at the general shape of the lot, google a style I think would work for it, then just... kinda try to copy it? An example - 189 West Pleasure Path uploaded yesterday is loosely based on this house. Since it was completely square I thought going for something “town house-y” would work well.

It’s nothing like an exact replica of course, not everything in real life can be accurately reproduced in ts2, but the yellow siding walls with the terracotta roof, as well as the overall look of the porch/balcony is directly copied from here! Then the green shutters and front flowerbeds/stairs are copied from that “American Townhouse” picture furthur up. I really can’t oversate the importance of using references when building and decorating, it always helps me make more interesting decisions rather than just doing the same things over and over!

This is slightly unrelated, but I also often decide on a certain aspect of the original lot I want to keep the same when renovating - often this will be something like “I won’t change the floorplan”, but sometimes it also means I keep the colour choices similar, keep certain pieces of furniture, stuff like this makes it more like a “renovation” and less like tearing it down and starting over (although for some houses I do end up doing the latter, haha). When starting out with makeovers, I think less can be more? Sometimes a lot just needs a few small details updating, not all makeovers have to be big epic transformations!

One thing I’ll openly admit I do when making over a lot is see what other people have done with the same lot - usually by googling the lot name or checking out users I know have done similar stuff before. I don’t think there’s any harm in this, it’s no different to using references as an artist. It’s nice to credit your inspirations though, I try to always do this.

Of course, I realise I’m just giving a lot of tips of inspiration/copying and not so much on how to actually replicte those styles in your own game and use them in an original way... that stuff is trickier to explain without getting into hyper-specific examples and I think is mainly something that just comes with practice. You will find the more you build and decorate, the more you get to know the catalog and know what kinda combinations look good. You’ll probably even find you have a couple of go-to tricks you gravitate towards - mine is probably using mismatched furniture, and that one black and white checkered tile I use in all my “fancy” kitchens xD

Anyway, hopefully this was at least a little helpful, let me know if there’s anything specific you would like me to talk about in more depth, I always enjoy rambling about stuff like this :)

[mayocc]

Not So Not So Berry Challenge

AKA Not So Berry Challenge 2

General Info:

If you play this challenge it’d be great to hear some feedback on what’s good and what’s not, especially as this is my first (and probably only) time making a challenge.

Feel free to either start this challenge off with Emerald, or continue the original NSB with this one.

I’ve heard that the freelancer career often doesn’t work. If this is the case for you, feel free to simply ignore that part of the black generation. Or any other stuff that don’t work right.

Packs that can be realistically replaced are in italics.

Expansion Packs Needed: Get Together, Eco Lifestyle, Get Famous, Island Living, Cats and Dogs, Discover University, Get to Work

Game Packs Needed: Spa Day, Strangerville, Jungle Adventure, Outdoor Retreat

Stuff Packs Needed: Nifty Knitting

Rules: 

1. Same basic rules as the original NSB.

2. You can do mild cheats if you want to, just don't cheat the actual challenges like careers, collections, relationships, ect.

3. If you fail to complete minor parts of the generation (only make food with ingredients you have, living near water, ect), you don't have to end the challenge. As long as you do the main stuff of the generation (careers, collections, aspirations), you're a-OK!

4. Tag your post #not so not so berry / #nsnsb if you do this challenge, or @ me! I’m @mayooinajar /  @mayosims This isn’t necessary but I’d really love it if you did :)

Generation One: Emerald

You’re a sim with a passion for the world! You spend your life working to improve the future for others.

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Green Fiend, Insider

Aspiration: Leader of the Pack

Career: Civil Designer

Master Civic Planner branch of the Civil Designer career and complete Leader of the Pack aspiration

Master Gardening, Logic, and Charisma skills

Build a Greenhouse/Sunroom

Only make meals you have the ingredients for

Generation Two: Cream

Ever since you were a child, you dreamed of being in the spotlight. Time to make your dream a reality. 

Traits: Bro, Erratic, Outgoing

Aspiration: Master Actor/Actress

Career: Actor/Actress

Master Actor career and complete Master Actor/Actress aspiration

Master Acting and Charisma skills

Divorce your spouse and never remarry

Complete MySims collection

Generation Three: Black

Spending your childhood in the spotlight, you decide to change your appearance, leave home, and try to make it as an artist. You struggle at first, but eventually settle into your new life, all by your own merits! (okay, maybe with the help of some ‘borrowed’ objects)

Traits: Geek, Kleptomaniac, Freegan

Aspiration: Master Maker

Career: Freelance Artist

Complete Master Maker aspiration

Master Fabrication and Painting skills

Leave home once Young Adult, drastically change your appearance

Steal items for money

Generation Four: Teal

You’ve loved the ocean ever since you were a child. Eventually you decide to take this dream to the next level and become a mermaid, which you find is surprisingly easy to do! You use your new swimming skills to excel at your job as a diver, and play the piano on the side.

Traits: Child of the Ocean, Loves Outdoors, Cheerful

Aspiration: Musical Genius

Career: Diver

Master Diver career and complete Musical Genius aspiration

Master Piano and Fitness skills

Live by the water (Sulani, Windenburg, Brindleton Bay)

Become a mermaid

Generation Five: Lavender

Who says performing surgery and paranoia don’t mix? Not you! You brush your fear aside and start up your own vet clinic, and if you sleep in a vaulted basement, nobody has to know.

Traits: Genius, Paranoid, Cat/Dog Lover

Aspiration: Lady/Lord of the Knits

Career: Veterinarian

Own a Vet Clinic and complete Lady/Lord of the Knits aspiration

Master Veterinarian and Knitting skills

Have 3 pets at once (including My First Pet pets)

Sleep in the basement underneath your Clinic

Generation Six: Honey

You’ve obsessed over fashion since you were young. You decide to combine your amazing taste and extreme likeableness into a job! Who wouldn’t want to hear your opinion anyway?

Traits: Self Absorbed, Cheerful, Foodie

Aspiration: Mansion Baron

Career: Style Influencer

Master Style Influencer career and complete Mansion Baron aspiration

Master Writing, Photography and Gourmet Cooking skills

Always hire a Nanny instead of daycare

Go to the spa at least twice

Generation Seven: Coral

In spite of your sheltered childhood, you decide to spend your adult life exploring the jungle! And maybe meeting someone along the way?

Traits: Childish, Art Lover, Glutton

Aspiration: Jungle Explorer

Career: None

Complete Jungle Explorer aspiration

Master Selvadoradian Culture and Juice Fizzing skills

Propose at the waterfall in Selvadorada

Try for a baby while adventuring

Make money by selling artifacts

Generation Eight: Sky

Parent by day, Secret Agent by night, you do it all! You keep your job a secret from your children. It’s for their own good.

Traits: Good, Neat, Perfectionist

Aspiration: Big Happy Family

Career: Secret Agent

Master Diamond Agent branch of the Secret Agent career and complete Big Happy Family aspiration

Master Cooking, Charisma and Logic skills

Have twins or triplets

Lie about career to your children

Generation Nine: Burgundy

You’re determined to be the best doctor around, and nothing can stand in your way! Besides, having kids is overrated anyways… Oops.

Traits: Goofball, Self-Assured, Hates Children

Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy

Career: Doctor

Master Doctor career and complete Fabulously Wealthy aspiration

Complete Logic and Handiness skills

Never get higher than level 5 parenting skill

Stay late every time you go to work with your sim

Generation Ten: Lime

Growing up with a parent who didn’t like you, you decide to go into a career where you can improve the lives of young people! 

Traits: Squeamish, Romantic, Bookworm

Aspiration: Bestselling Author

Career: Education

Master Education career and complete Bestselling Author aspiration

Master Research and Debate, Charisma and Writing skills

Have a sim in your household die, then be resurrected via a Book of Life

Adopt all of your children

Alright! That’s it, I hope you enjoy. I’d like to thank myself for actually following through and writing this whole thing! 

Edits (M/D/Y): 

9/21/20 / Fixed a missing aspiration

9/22/20 / Changed generations from eleven-twenty to one-ten

11/30/20 / Fixed some messed up phrasing

@lilsimsie @alwaysimming just in case they care lol

[ajduckie]

Lingerie Recolor Dump // 1,000 Follower Milestone Gift (pt. 1) 🌻

ajkldjfaklsdf you guys idk what to say! i have no idea how/why i've been blessed with a thousand amazing followers but i’m so happy that you guys seem to like the things i share and that you’ve been so supportive and loving to me 💛 this world can be a really cruel place, and tumblr is no exception, so i'm just very grateful that i've been lucky enough to have such a positive experience so far. all I can do is pray that it continues and thank you all for being so kind!

anyways, i’d been wanting to get some basic undies recolored for a loooong while now, and i finally put together a palette that i think fits my needs. so i’ve recolored 16 different bras, bralettes, undies, etc. so that they can all be mixed and matched together! there are 8 top styles and 8 bottom styles that come a variety of amazing creators: a massive thank you to @nolan-sims, @chiefwhiskers, @trillyke, @simgguk, @lilbanana-sims, and @citrontart​ for the beautiful pieces they created!

make sure to check out all of the details under the cut before you download! sorry in advance for the long post owo

details and random rambling // 16 individual CAS items • 35 swatches each • custom thumbnails • all styles enabled for sleep and swim categories

some of the styles are full standalones, while a couple of them require the original meshes to function in-game >>

original mesh required:

{stella bralette + undies} {latata undies} by trillyke

{rozovaya bralette} {venus bralette} by citrontart

original mesh optional:

{convergence bralette} by nolan-sims

{fruit of the bloom lace bralette + undies} {fruit of the bloom mesh bralette + undies} by nolan-sims and chief-whiskers

{beehive undies} by lilbanana-sims

{jamais vu bra + undies} {breathe in bra + undies} {stigma boyshorts} by simgguk

**the original fruit of the bloom sets are a little complicated, so if you want to download the originals, i thought this info might help! there is the original set by @nolan-sims that has a more strappy bralette style. you can get that one here! then there are some recolors/edits by @chiefwhiskers​ without the extra straps and with some lace designs. those are the ones i linked above, since i used the less-strappy style and the lace textures for my versions. again, none of these are required for you to download, but they’re all very cute so i do recommend them especially if you want even more colors!**

download // via SFS (no ad-fly ever)

there is 1 zip file containing all 16 packages and their corresponding thumbnails (sorry but no i'm not going to individually compress 16 different folders for pick n’ choose - just unzip the .zip folder, and delete any .package files you don’t want 🙃)

let’s have tea? ☕️

terms of use // don’t be a butthead  •  do not re-upload  •  do not claim as your own  •  do not use my graphics  •  always give appropriate credit  •  enjoy 💛

📣 // @maxismatchccworld  @mmfinds  @mmoutfitters  @s4library  @simblrcollective