#grimbox

[grimbunnies]

Your narrative gameplay posts are a genuine delight to read :) I really like how you give the characters so much personality in the dialogue!

Thank you! I'm pretty proud of my dialogue (which is why most of the writing in my posts is dialogue) and glad that the personalities come across in how I write the sims.

[grimbunnies]

I love your Sims stories and especially how you're portraying Dina. 💖

Thank you! I'm really enjoying writing Dina. I have a strong vision this time around, and it's a lot of fun for me to play it out.

[grimbunnies]

HI! I'm sorry if I bother you, I wanted to ask if you use someone dealfut for hair or change them manually (with the mod)? I apologize again for disturbing you.

Hi! No bother at all! And sorry this is such a late answer...

I use a handful of default hairs in my game, but most of my hair is custom hair that doesn't overwrite/replace the game files, and I just search through the different custom styles to find a hair that fits a given sim. I'm blessed with a PC that can handle an absurd downloads folder, but I definitely recommend defaults for those that need to converse their computer's resources (and honestly if you have the patience to keep track, it's undeniably better than my mess).

[grimbunnies]

I went to copy the link to your round robin page and noticed that you added a banner for my generation. Kudos for your choice, I don't think there's any option more appropriate than Olivia getting left at the altar!

Thank you! There have been a lot of interesting love lives in this legacy, but Olivia's troubles (and ultimate happiness) were truly iconic and defined the generation, in my opinion.

[grimbunnies]

I'm certain this is on your blog somewhere but I don't know where to look. Did you abandon strangertown? I was just reading through it and saw the last post was in January and you were playing a different strangetown now. Understandable if so, tho I'm sad not to know what the collusion is.

I actually haven't addressed it, but I'm happy to answer your question.

It's not abandoned, necessarily. I still have the save file and all backups. I've just set it aside, for the moment.

Strangertown is big and (slight spoiler) will be getting bigger at the end of the current round. The way I typically play a neighborhood, I go through each family and play them for 2-3 days at a time, but Strangertown works different, in part because of the size, and in part because of the focus on more outlandish and interwoven stories. There's a lot of planning that goes into how to play a round of Strangertown. There's more posed scenes. All of this together makes it difficult for Strangertown to hold my attention at this current moment in time.

I'm having a lot more fun with the game currently hopping around between a bunch of different neighborhoods and just playing, for the most part (I can't entirely help myself when it comes to creating a story with posed scenes, but it's nowhere near the same scale). I've got a lot of stress in my life, so I'm just trying to do what is most enjoyable for the time being when I have a brief moment to play. I had a leave of absence from work last month due to health issues, which allowed me to play a lot more, but I'm back at work now and just moved to a new apartment. Money's a bit tight because of the leave (disability payments used the quarter where I wasn't working full-time, so I did not get a lot of financial assistance), the holidays, and moving. There's still so much to do to get settled in the new place. I've been trying to play through 3 days of the Chao-Townsend family for the past couple weeks and I'm only through 2 days XD None of this is meant to imply that I feel you were pressuring me in any way. I'm not making an excuse, because none was called for, I'm just musing about where I'm at with life and the game. I suppose I'm venting, really. I feel quite scattered in real life, and it impacts my attention span in the Sims.

I should say that things have improved in the last week or so because I've been getting more serious about finding a good balance for myself and I'm planning on doing a lot with stress management in 2023. If any of you have tips or resources you can point me to, I'd welcome them.

Returning to the original point, I want to see Strangertown's story continue and maybe even come to a conclusion (though what that would look like, I'm unsure), so I do believe it will return one day! I'm very glad to hear people are still entertained by it!

[grimbunnies]

B, C and G please!

B: Preferred Neighbourhood.

C: Favourite Pre-Made

Both answered here 😄

G: Favourite Expansion Pack

Eternally Open for Business. I will always love being able to have an economy run by playable sims.

[grimbunnies]

O - R - S for the tag!

O: Do You Prefer Your Sims to Have Skills or Popularity?

Answered here 😄

R: Cartoony or Realistic Sims?

Somewhere in between, I suppose.

Assuming this question is referring to appearance, I like the way the Sims 2 Maxis match feels like a middle ground between the ways Sims 3 and Sims 4 sims look. I'm not a big fan of most of the clay hair, but I'm also not a fan of the more "realistic" look that Sims 3 sims have. I prefer the realistic touches of the Sims 2, like hair physics. But I also think that too realistic robs the sims of some of their charm.

Now, if this question is about storylines, my answer is actually similar. I like a mix. I want the cartoonish escapades and the realistic emotions. For instance, I don't want the cartoonish reaction of Sims 4 sims. I want there to be a sense of ground life simulation that then I through ridiculous cartoon scenarios and character archetypes into.

S: Pit a TS2 EP vs a TS3 EP

I'll pit University against University Life. For a long time I was unable to really get into university in the Sims 2. There's a charm to it now that I appreciate, and I'm looking forward to sending more Sims to university, but I've always struggled with how it messes with relative ages of sims who go to college or don't. I really dislike that in the Sims 2 you can only go to college as a young adult and its a separate stage of life that other sims don't experience. In this regard, I really loved and took an instant shine to how Sims 3 allowed you to send any sim at any age...

But it was annoying for that fucking llama mascot to stroll on up to every household.

Sims 2 University has a lot to love. I enjoy the influence system. I enjoy the pranks and the objects that were added. As with any Sims 2 expansion pack, there's a lot of heart in what's created. So many little details that go unappreciated.

University Life adds a lot of things I really enjoy: Herbs, "Heat of the Moment Kiss" (I used this so fucking much), and protesting, to name only three.

I don't like how limited the degree options are in University Life. University does it better by having more. Also, the names of the classes in the Sims 2 are S tier.

Anyway, there's no conclusion. They're both great.

This exercise reminded me that most of the expansion packs for the Sims 3 were actually pretty good? I have fond memories of most of them, even Showtime and Island Paradise. I think the Sims 3 had a lot of good ideas, and I've been recently looking at the lore in the game and realizing that I didn't give it enough credit. There's a lot to like.

In regards to these expansion packs, I think the Sims 3 took a lot of what worked from the Sims 2 University and added improvements or utilized the changes they made between games to make the university experience flow more with gameplay.

If Sims 3 could function long-term, I'd play it pretty often, maybe even as often as the Sims 2.

[grimbunnies]

For the Simblr Ask Meme. J, W & O. -Simstralia

J: The One Piece of CC You Couldn’t Play Without

Such a tricky question... There's so many answers that are obvious to me, any number of game saving mods or utilities that allow me to keep my sims in line, or mods that add to the character of the sims so that they can create stories I never imagined.

In the spirit I think the question was intended, I'll say overlay boxes. I never wanted to install custom skins because of the genetics, but always wanted to have skin details to further express the personalities of my sims and to differentiate them. The explosion of overlay boxes is excellent! I'm super grateful to the talented simmers that create them!

O: Do You Prefer Your Sims to Have Skills or Popularity?

I prefer my sims to have interesting relationships, so I suppose popularity. Just not in the sense that they get along with everyone. I want relationship dynamics and dynamic relationships!

W: Favourite Sim-Title (Medieval, Castaway, PSP etc.)

I never had the opportunity to play the PSP version of the Sims 2. I think this would be my favorite if I did get the chance, but until that time, Medieval is a lot of fun.

[grimbunnies]

B and C !

B: Preferred Neighbourhood.

Strangetown remains my favorite premade neighborhood, and I'm particularly fond of connecting it to all of @aondaneedles's desert neighborhoods or playing the versions by @chrisnewbie incorporating the stories from other versions of Strangetown.

That said, I've grown increasingly fond of Pleasantview in recent times, and I have a lot of new ideas for how I'd play it and the stories I'd tell. So currently I'd almost consider that my preferred neighborhood, though I have yet to finish with the neighborhood setup.

C: Favourite Pre-Made

The interesting thing about this question is I feel there are different answers depending on if we're talking about the character concept or who is my favorite to play in the game. Olive Specter is my favorite in concept, because she's creepy and mysterious and I'm just a big fan of the vibe and my headcanons. However, my favorite premade to play is either Tank or Ripp Grunt. In general, the teen premades are my favorites to play in any premade neighborhood.

[grimbunnies]

💜💜🦈 Go send this to ten of the people who make you happy or to someone you think needs cheering up. If you get some back, even better! And have a lovely day 🦈💜💜

@aondaneedles @mdpthatsme Thank you both!

[grimbunnies]

It keeps tripping me up, seeing Sedona on your dash!! I started playing it back in September, and so much has happened that looking at them as blank states is crazy! The Vandermorgan house burned to a crisp (with Audrey's mother inside of it), Audrey and Galatea got married and have kids, Mike married Christine, Karma died years ago and Phil inherited the house (and recently married one of the Atkins twins), Linda has been a widow for years, Alexis married Tanner, Scott married Nicole, and I'm sure others I'm forgetting! Love seeing your posts, thank you for what you do!!

Poor Audrey, but at least Galatea and her went on to be, I assume, happy. Mike and Christine have three bolts in my game, so I can definetly see how that happened XD I still find them an odd match tbh, but the sims have chemsitry with who they have chemistry with! It's also almost guaranteed Linda will be a widow for quiet a bit... Carl is older. Sad that Karma is also gone, but I'm sure Linda must have made other friends (I hope). Scott in my game is gay, and I'm crossing my fingers that he and Tank will hit it off. I think they'd be cute and their family situations are similar, so I think they'd be able to understand one another... but they don't have much chemistry, I've learned, so they'll probably both find other sims in college or from the downtownie pool. Oh well! They'll be friends, in that case.

I'm glad you enjoy my posts! I'm so happy to share my gameplay, and thank you for sharing some of what's happened in your own!

[grimbunnies]

Hiya! For the story asks, 8, 12, 26, and 31 - I know you have several stories and I'm not sure which one you'd like to answer about, so feel free to choose that yourself!

8. What about your story are you proud of?

I’m proud of the reactions that my stories cause. The example that comes to mind is the scene between Circe and Vidcund. That scene had a lot of people worried and/or facepalming, and I’m proud that I can entertain people that way. I hope my stories are often that entertaining for my followers.

12. Do you actually play the game or do you just use it as a storytelling medium?

I actually play the game, and my gameplay becomes part of the storytelling. It does vary based on the neighborhood, though. Strangertown has a heavier emphasis on pure storytelling, whereas Nekojima is closer to gameplay that's dressed up as storytelling. Beyond just what I post, I also play neighborhoods that are mine. There's still quite a bit of intervention to push certain narratives on my sims, however. I can't help it! I want to tell stories with the game, and sometimes gameplay needs to be supplemented with my own chaos energy.

26. Have other sim stories inspired you?

Yes, absolutely! Stories (and headcanons) by @holleyberry, @nappe-plays-the-sims, @strangetomato, @yakumtsaki, @pixeldolly, @simstralia, @katatty, @arielovessims, and @mdpthatsme have all inspired me (and that's barely brushing the surface of my inspirations).

31. Drop some random trivia about your story.

There have been several times where my plans for couples were ruined because I use the mod that makes acceptance of proposals more random (based on various factors). The most notable example is Romeo and Juliette, but I also believed that Tanner in Sedona would end up with one of the girls, since they were both all over him, but rejections all over the place! I love having this mod in. It shakes things up.

[grimbunnies]

I just wanted to tell you what I really enjoy to seeeing you play Rodeburg to Europa. I love to see how the Sims of the different Neighorhoods interact. I am also playing Veronaville with rodeburg as a subood. Althrough Its a bit strange for me to see Albert Legrand being bros with Romeo Monty, because my Veronaville is roughly a Generation ahead. In my game Albert's Girlfrend is Sophronia Capp, she is the next Capp heiress and I plan to let them get a double-barrelled name if they marry.

Thank you! I'm glad people seem to be enjoying my posts, even though I'm bouncing around neighborhoods at the moment.

Also, that's funny! It's definitely interesting when different interpretations of the sims interact with one another with differences in their ages from one game to the next. I think Veronaville and Rodeburg fit together very well.

Thank you for sharing what's happening in your own neighborhood. Combining the name seems like a good idea. I'm thinking if Albert does marry Hermia, there may be a negotiation where sons get the Legrand name and daughters get the Capp name ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but that's a long way off for my sims.

[grimbunnies]

Hello Grim!!, I wanted to tell you that you make very nice blogs!, never stop being yourself!, You are super cool!!😄❤

Thank you so much, @simsy2klover! Real life has been kind of sucky recently, so I appreciate the kind words and knowing that others enjoy my posts as much as I enjoy playing this game and writing my weird little stories 😊

[grimbunnies]

Which PSP character is your fav? And why? ❣️✨

My favorite PSP character is Mambo Loa.

I like elder sims that feel like they have their fingers in a lot of pies, and I like morally ambiguous witches. Plus, I'm shipping Mambo Loa/Olive Specter/Grim Reaper. New (additional) Strangetown OT3! It'll be Strangertown canon at some point, I promise (or threaten if you're not into it lmao).

[grimbunnies]

You like to play elders in ts2?❣️ Why so many players hate them? 💭

I do enjoy playing elders! I like playing any sim with story potential, and a lot of times elders have a whole life full of drama to dredge up (implied or experienced in game), or they're in the perfect place to change things up because they're retired (and sometimes single/widowed).

I confess, I used to be one of those players that didn't enjoy playing them. Elders were retired, they'd finished their LTWs (and couldn't complete whatever new one they rolled), and I didn't know how to add my own spice to the game. I was just a youngster overwhelmed by the needs of my sims, and elders were always at home! I was also a youngster with culturally learned ageism, which I probably transplanted onto pixelated elders. "Old people are boring," I can hear an ignorant 13-year-old me whine from over a decade in the past.

Honestly, I don't see a lot of dislike for elders in the Simblr community. I'd like to think we all grew up a little and realized that it's not a sim's age that makes them boring. Some sims are just born boring, live boring lives, and die a boring death.