#rando legacy

[fallstaticexit]

[measlyscrapofseafood]

rinzler w a sword be upon yee

[strangecowplant]

i made some of my friends (@raredrop) console gijinka ocs to playtest my game with the other day, say hello to my favourite himbo: xbox series x

[orbitsuns]

[meowmeowmessi]

there is a thing called retiring with grace. saudi league ain't it. i know he won the wc but that doesn't mean he can just shamelessly dick around now. have some standards for your fave damn?

[cookies-sims]

pepita is tired of doing life alone and thinks it's time to shack up!

[possqueen]

RATING THE SAW ANTAGONISTS

John Kramer: he got pretty insufferable after he died and his worldview was incredibly spotty. what the fuck was his motive? was it the cancer? was it the dead baby? was it the car crash? who knows. 5/10

Amanda Young: what the fuck is your problem you get put into a death trap that didnt even inflict any physical pain on YOU to escape and that makes you want to put even more people in death traps? you're not jigsaw bitch 4/10

Mark Hoffman: dude just can't stop stabbing cops in the chin. 8/10

Dr. Gordon: i dont like the weak "he was there The Whole Time" shit but at least we actually like. knew him and his involvement explains a lot of the weird medical stuff that happens in the sequels. 6/10

What's his fuck: what was the dude from jigsaw even named? i dont remember. all i remember about this man is they pulled the "he was there THE WHOLE TIME" weak ass shit. 1/10

Detective Schenk: pretty cool that he wanted to get rid of shitty cops but im docking points because it was done from a "not all cops" perspective rather than from an acab perspective. 6/10

[phoenixcatch7]

Gosh, YES, this has bugged me a lot. Secret magic heritages always feel to me like the inverse of a shock factor character death - super cool and fun and shocking initially, but it quickly fades as you realise just how much of the original story and themes it undermines.

Bleach, the other one you mentioned, frustrated me so much when the reveal(s) came I actually stopped watching for a bit to process. The entire first half of the story was about underdogs, about a completely normal teenager (for a given value lol) and his friends uncovering a whole 'nother world and solving supernatural mysteries and saving the unknowing people before escalating to opposing The Institution and fighting injustice, etc etc. Lots of cool anime fights.

But a huge theme point was fighting against overwhelming odds and the youth being alright, actually, about railing against 'the way it's always been done' and Ichigo being a wild card. There was such a big deal made, repeatedly, that his immense strength and adaptability was due to his still living, HUMAN, soul. And that that wasn't something that had been seen before.

I'm not being eloquent enough, I'm too tired lol, but yeah Ichigo's role as protagonist was indeed the wildcard underdog with stupid amounts of endurance powered by friendship and justice like the full concentrated power of the sun. Anything that might have hinted to something more just read as standard shonen protagonist being implausably good at surviving.

But yeah, I really would have loved to see Ichigo remain the lone human in a world of death and monsters, underestimated and yet threatening, with his theoretically infinite capacity for growth and change. It would have been awesome to see his originally one note power set grow and evolve into something more, watch him adapt with his hollow and zanpakuto like actually. Engage the brain we know he has, that can process things so fast. And it's not like he did anything about all that heritage, which frustrated me no end. It's funny, but there are multiple video essays and essay posts about trying to untangle just what the deal is with his spiritual genetics, it just got so tangled and contradictory by the end.

Again, barely anything would really change, he'd 100% remain a special war power, but I'd love to imagine how that would affect his relationship/dynamic with aizen, with isshin, with the memory of his mother, with ishida. Aizens antithesis and isshin would never understand and their relationship really needs repairing. He'd remain the outsider, special for what he could do and the choices he made rather than what he was, and that's always more compelling. And!! He wouldn't have to leave his human friends behind so much as it progressed they got kinda sidelined in favour of the heavier hitters with drama (valid but eh).

Like I am way too tired to story properly but Ichigo had such potential as he was and ironically the reveals kind of detracted from that and I'd love to see something that kept to the free willed unapologetic interloper he originally was, who's mere presence wrecked the narrative of the ones in charge, whose very essence was change and progress, or just some more stuff like the horror/supernatural urban mystery solving the first arc was, because I've never met a Bleach fan who didn't agree that the early story absolutely ruled and it's a shame kubo dropped it completely.

Thinking about "You know what? Fuck you. *un-ennobles your family background*" AUs, due to the "Naruto" I've been reading and "Bleach" I've been watching. Like, taking the main character of any given story and removing their secret and powerful family backgrounds.

I like Minato and Kushina fine as characters, but I also think "Naruto" could have been just as if not more interesting if Naruto had just been some nobody kid, as the story initially presents Naruto to be. What if the Fourth Hokage had sealed the Kyuubi into some random orphan? Honestly, I think Naruto's shitty upbringing makes way less sense if he's the previous Hokage's kid, because Minato and Kushina both have all of these personal connections who really should have done something more and I've never been fully persuaded by the excuses the story gives for why not.

Naruto meeting an undead Minato can still be compelling if they're not related! Naruto could have grown up directly idealizing Minato as his hero only to find out that the Fourth Hokage kind of ruined his life. Kakashi and Naruto can still have an interesting personal connection by Naruto being the random orphan that Kakashi's beloved "nice" sensei fucked over to save the village.

And Naruto being some nobody kid would work really well contrasted against Sasuke's fancy Uchiha pedigree trying to choke the life out of Sasuke at every turn. Itachi and Obito both got fucked over by being Uchiha. Their ancestor Madara is straight-up the one ruining lives and trying to destroy the village. Naruto and Sasuke could be a great example of how the shinobi system screws over both orphan nobodies and the shinobi equivalent of nobility.

Now, there's a lot of directions that you could go in with an AU like this, because honestly, it could barely change the story at all. You only need a few tweaks here and there to make Naruto some orphan nobody again as he seemed to be at the start of the story. But you could also pull a wild Canon Divergence to really delve into the themes and plot threads of being demonized and discarded that the main story kind of dropped in favor of making Naruto the son of the Fourth Hokage and also the last son of the super special Uzumaki Clan.

(You can also make really interesting plots by properly delving into Naruto being the son of the Fourth Hokage and destroyed Uzumaki Clan, yet being demonized and nearly discarded as a child by the Leaf Village anyway, of course, because I don't know if I'd say the story fully delivered on the potential of those canon backstories either. But I personally think it's more fun to delve into Naruto potentially having no fancy pedigree whatsoever.)

[buttclench-ryugazaki]

i think the english localization making phoenix american actually really works, ie breaks the narrative less when taking ryunosuke into consideration. as we know, phoenix was written as Just Some Fucking Guy who becomes a renowned lawyer, but then retroactively making his great grandpa a legal legend who toppled the british judiciary somewhat lessens phoenix's charm as a complete rando. it can inadvertently support the vague idea that lawyering is in the naruhodo clan's blood, y'know what i mean? because ancestor veneration is valued in east asia, it's likely that ryuichi's parents would have put emphasis on ryunosuke being an admirable and aspirational figure. the naruhodos would have their in-house altar and be able to visit his grave and read about his exploits in whatever japanese public archives, on top of recounting their own personal memories of ryunosuke. retroactively, this makes it peculiar that ryuichi or any other lawyer never acknowledges his pioneer great grandfather

but the east asian diaspora tends to have a different relationship to its ancestors because our parents had no choice but to leave everything behind. we don't have access to those things anymore. some of us can't even speak the language, which is obviously a huge barrier. phoenix as a descendant of japanese immigrants would be far enough removed (temporally, geographically, and culturally) from ryunosuke and his legacy that i find it totally plausible that phoenix would never mention him. it would make sense if phoenix were mostly ignorant about who his ancestor even is because that's just realistic to the second-onward generation immigrant experience

[vivace-formulala]

𝐎𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭: 𝑨 𝑪𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 (𝑱𝑫𝟕 𝒙 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓)

🫵: “AFAB; same-aged ; youngest Schumacher ; nc-17 for suggestive themes ; you are apparently the darling angel of F1 due to your father’s legacy ; romeo and juliet trope ”

⌛️: late 2025

masterlist

a/n: heavily inspired by that scene from RWRB! I kept Zahra in just because 🫶

Jack Doohan was usually fast—just not this morning.

The knock on the door hit like the five lights going out.

“Jack Doohan, it's almost seven!” Zahra’s voice was sharp, clipped—the kind that meant she was three seconds from storming in. “You have interviews. Let’s get going.”

Zahra. His PR manager, the best his dad could recommend in the autosport industry.

Jack shot upright in bed, hair sticking out in confused angles, heartbeat slamming into his ribcage.

“Shit, shit, shit.”

He turned to you, tangled beside him in the hotel bed, golden light creeping through the blinds and painting your bare shoulders like a scandal. He gave you a frantic shake.

You stirred, blinking slowly in the haze of early sunlight. The duvet slipped just low enough for the situation to become critical.

“What’s going on?” you asked groggily, clutching the covers to your chest.

Another knock—this time louder, less patient.

“Jack, come on,” Zahra again. “Press conference at nine, photos at ten, you’re already running late.”

Your eyes widened. “Oh, shit.”

Panic ensued. Muted cursing. The soft thud of limbs scrambling for clothes. Jack tripped over his pants. You tripped over Jack. Neither of you ever thought this day would come.

"What if we just tell her, come on she'll love me." You reason as you rapidly shuffled through your clothes to cover yourself up, before settling on your lover's hoodie.

Jack jumps to get his pants on, struggling with the button. "Yes, she would love you, she's a fan— but then she'd also kill me."

"Okay, fair."

Slotting your head into Alpine merchandise, you scanned the room for anything resembling a decent hiding spot.

“Under the bed?” he whispered.

“There’s nowhere to breathe under there.”

“Bathroom?”

“There’s literally one door and it's facing her!”

“Closet?”

You locked eyes. Silence passed between you like a loaded gun.

Knock. Turn of the door handle.

“I’m coming in,” Zahra declared, voice full of fire.

Jack, eyes wide, shoved you toward the closet. “Go!”

“Hey!” you hissed as he fumbled to get the door closed, your bare legs vanishing just as the hotel room door swung open.

Zahra stormed in like a commander in battle, eyes immediately locking on Jack, who stood there shirtless, the bed tousled behind him like a scene from a very unwise movie— something she had warned him numerous times about.

She narrowed her eyes at him, and then narrowed them even more at a pair of women’s shoes peeking out from beneath the chair.

“Where is she.”

"Who?” Jack asked, faux-bewildered.

Zahra scoffed and started prowling the room. “Don’t even try, Jack.”

He followed her like a man trying to keep a wild animal from finding his lunch. “Zahra, seriously. No one is here.”

“Oh, really?” she snapped, then held up a familiar object. “Then who left this?”

Your phone. Bright pink case. Stupid charm a fan gave you, still attached.

Jack blanched. “Okay, so she left her phone.”

Zahra’s eyes lit with the glee of a woman unraveling a mystery. “Where is she? Hmm? Hello, hello?”

Jack tried to pull her away from the room gently. “Zahra, please. I'll meet you downstairs—It’s all chill.”

“Chill?” She rounded on him. “You hook up with some rando the days before the biggest race of your life—with your entire family in attendance, might I add—and you let her keep her phone in here? You don’t have an NDA for sure! What if she was filming? What if she posts? Jack Doohan, Alpine's comeback kid, in bed with God knows who!”

“She’s not gonna do any of that,” he muttered.

“Oh really? And how would you know that?”

Thump.

All three of you froze.

In the closet, you decided that hiding a relationship was much easier in the movies... and that these hotels needed sturdier closet fixtures.

Zahra’s eyes narrowed like a hawk spotting prey. She lunged before Jack could stop her and flung open the closet.

You tumbled out with all the grace of a baby deer on ice, clutching your dignity and Jack’s Alpine hoodie like a shield.

“Ow. Shit.”

Silence. Then:

“Good morning,” you offered, sheepishly.

Zahra stared at you. The darling of Formula One media. The epitome of grace. The world’s most cherished legacy child. The youngest Schumacher, goddammit. And covered—covered—in Jack Doohan’s teeth marks.

Her breath hitched.

Jack winced. “Zahra, breathe.”

“Don’t you tell me what to do,” she snapped, taking several quick steps backward as if proximity to the scandal might physically infect her. “Are you kidding me right now?”

“You wanna sit?” Jack tried.

Zahra sat.

He fanned her gently. “Here okay?”

“Stop it,” she snapped, swatting him away. “God. You make me feel a hundred.”

Jack straightened, awkwardly. “Okay.”

“How long?” Zahra finally asked.

He mumbled, “Since Australia.”

She looked like she’d just done math in her head and hated the result. “Race one? Who knows?”

“Literally no one but you,” Jack said, and the tension disappeared from Zahra's shoulders.

“And Ronald,” he added. Jack’s security detail. Okay, the shoulder tension was back.

Your voice perked up from the floor. “And Johnny, my bodyguard. And Nora, my best friend…”

“Oh,” Jack added. “I told my sister.” He looked at you with a big grin.

You cooed. “Aw, really? She’s so sweet.”

"Yeah, she was really happy for us," Jack said, beaming.

“I can’t wait to see her again. She’s really—”

“Alright, shut up,” Zahra barked. “Both of you. I need to think.”

Jack lowered his voice, almost boyish. “Please don’t tell my dad.”

Her eye twitched. “We’re in a hotel crawling with journalists, a day away from the deciding race of the season, in the city with the highest paparazzi-per-capita, all eyes on Formula 1, and you’re asking me not to tell your daddy?”

Jack blinked. “Well… I haven’t told him yet.”

She snapped. “Sorry to burst your coming of age, but you decided to put your dick in the darling daughter of Michael Schumacher? The walking halo of the F1 world? Do you understand what you’ve done?”

You raised a hand. “Well, technically, my brother’s more famous now... with the ROC with Sebastian and...”

Zahra whirled. “Not talking to you, Missy.”

You raised both your hands in surrender.

She stopped. Closed her eyes. Exhaled. Slowly.

“Would it make any difference,” she asked tiredly, “if I told you not to see her again?”

Jack’s voice was calm now. Firm. “No.”

You smiled at him, heart swelling despite the chaos.

Zahra rubbed her temples like she was thirty years older than she was. “Every time I see you, I lose a year of my life.���

She stood.

“I’m going downstairs. You better be dressed and in the lobby in five minutes. You better pray you make that press conference.”

Jack nodded solemnly.

Zahra turned to you. “And you, little Miss Angel Eyes, get your ass back to Monaco right now. I want you chewing on a croissant on your private boat by sunset. If anyone sees you leave this hotel, I will bitch-slap you into next year. Got it?”

You nodded quickly. “Loud and clear.”

Then she paused, softened. Hand on your shoulder.

“I’m a big fan of your dad. I really hope he gets better.”

Your expression melted. You nodded, gently patting her hand.

Zahra took a deep breath, stepped back, and slammed the door behind her.

Through it, you heard her mutter, “Unbelievable. They don’t pay me enough for this shit.”

When the tension also made its exit, you laughed in relief. “Zahra’s even cooler in person, Jackie.”

Jack looked at you like you’d hung the stars in his sky.

You grinned. “Now go get dressed. I’ll get changed too.”

You peeled off his hoodie, lifting it over your head with a slow smirk. Jack let out a low whistle. You tossed the hoodie at him, hitting him square in the face.

“Eyes on the prize, Jack.”

©ｖｉｖａｃｅ－ｆｏｒｍｕｌａｌａ

𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐏𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐑 𝐈 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐔𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 🔪

[serra-says]

also a little meta to think about but I can't get the entire scene of Fabian and the Bad Kids on Leviathan out of my head.

Fabian's down in the dumps. he narrowly escaped death by illithid pirate captain, then death by dumped-in-the-ocean-by-Kalina, and is ill with two levels of exhaustion, actually admits that he's scared and is hurt.

it's not a joke. Brennan gives him Ragh to talk to and to keep him company, gives him Cathilda to try and soothe him (even if that brings him up to two exhaustion levels instead of just the one he previously had) and shows him kindness.

then the Bad Kids show up, the Intrepid Heroes, and they tear into him, kick him while he's already down. they make jokes about Chungledown Bim while Fabian's obviously distressed and terrified. he tells them that Whitclaw killed numerous of his siblings and nearly killed him, and Adaine's first concern is whether Alistair is dead. no one else responds to that.

Fabian admits insecurity about his legacy and not being his own person, and Kristen slaps him. she tells him that the Bad Kids need him, and compares his behaviour to Gilear's, telling him it's a mistake to bring Gilear along and implying that bringing Fabian is a mistake too unless he manages to make himself useful to them again. Fig and Kristen joke about casting a spell on Fabian to stop him from feeling this way so he goes back to being useful.

Brennan steps in with Tracker ("You see Tracker looks at you and goes, "Jesus.""), and lets the others do a bit, before stepping in again with Tracker and having her try to defuse the situation. has her say that Fabian might be struggling and that they shouldn't yell at him.

Adaine immediately cuts in and says Fabian can't be depressed, it's just one vaguely mediocre day. Riz adds that Fabian's life "rules 95% of the time." Fabian says he watched 14 men die on his orders, and Kristen reiterates it's just one bad day.

Brennan has Tracker step in again, and say "We might be catching this at the beginning of this process." Adaine resumes to make a joke about calling Chungledown Bim. Gorgug says they're going to fix the situation with or without Fabian. Riz says Fabian got hurt because he went off without his friends, and instead with a "bunch of randos". The kids move on in the conversation.

Then Brennan steps in again, with Cathilda, who is besides Tracker the only one in this circle to offer a kind word. To attempt to help or support him. To make him feel better.

Five co-players. Five other people in the circle, watching their sixth friend play a distressed character and yes, he makes it funny, and yes there's silly names and Lou is an incredible storyteller, but I think there was definitely a mistake made in that the only person to see the situation for what it is and step in with support, is the DM.

Cathilda vows to protect Fabian, makes him feel better and helps him, and immediately Kristen tries to hold Cathilda's hand and says she's hot. It's back to being a joke.

This is a common trend in how Fabian's issues are treated throughout the series, but I think it's the first time we see it so blatantly and it's set the tone for the remainder of the season and especially for Junior Year.

Fabian's issues are jokes to laugh about. Lou makes it funny, and thus we joke around the fact that there's a teenager abandoned by his caregivers, unable to maintain his house, incredibly lonely and pressured and torn by expectations, and only ever laughed at. punished for showing vulnerability. hell, his friends even team up against him and cast spells on him in support of someone they just met simply because they decided he was rude.

I think the cast are great at what they do, and I like their characters, but I think this situation specifically in Leviathan was not handled gracefully, and the fact that Brennan as the DM felt the need to step in three times to provide what five other people at the table missed... that's something I keep coming back to, too. there's such a disregard for Fabian as anything but a bit, and I have many thoughts about it.

[dreadwulf]

Moreover Jaime personally would have dreamed his whole life of having a sword like that. From childhood on to adulthood.

I'm sure the irony of finally getting that sword when he's lost a hand to use it with was painful. But even having lost a hand, he didn't have to give it up. He didn't give up on sword-fighting, after all, even if he's doing it in secret. He could have used it to give himself a leg up fighting left-handed, since one of these swords could easily break most other blades. If he were as egotistical or delusional as people believe, he would have kept it for himself and worn it as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and that's what Tywin expected him to do with it.

Not to mention, Jaime could have kept it in the family. Families treasure their Valyrian steel swords and pass them down through the generations. Giving these things as gifts outside the family is basically unheard of. Giving it to another Kingsguard would track, maybe, as someone who's foresworn his own inheritance to join that order. It would have made a lot more sense to give it to, say, Loras, if he just wanted a fellow knight to have it, and it could have stayed with the Kingsguard. But no. He gave it to Brienne. An object laden with meaning both personally and socially, a gift from his father, that embodies all the dreams he's ever had for himself. He gave it to Brienne.

Valyrian steel is so invaluable in the world of asoiaf that it’s super hard for even rich lords and ladies get it and then when they do it’s like the pride of their house and the fact that Jaime just casually gifted it to Brienne like how is she not on her knees thanking him rn (didn’t mean that sexually but you know what…)

[simmeradventures]

Boba Legacy Challenge (TS3)

I have taken a break from sims 3 and while I am still working on my lepacy, I sometimes need a break and so look for more challenges. @tomatosoupcat posted a Boba challenge and didn't see a TS3 version so decided to covert it. THIS IS NOT MY IDEA AND I MIGHT NOT BE THE ONLY ONE. I kept within the theme and didn't write a massive story to them but did try add a creative spin.

GOOGLE DOC!!!

Gen 1: Brown Sugar

Leaving home is tough, but you will always have mum's cooking to keep you safe.

Traits: Couch Potato, Natural Chef, Green Thumb (Randomise The Rest)

LTW: Bottomless Wine Cellar OR Master Chef

Career: Nectar Maker OR Culinary

Skills: Cooking, Gardening and Nectar making

Colours: Brown, White

Master LTW

Marry a sim with 2 matching traits.

Max out skills

Gen 2: Blueberry

The farm life was nice, but there's a great big world waiting for you.

Traits: Non-Committal, Loves The Outdoors (Randomise The Rest)

LTW: Seasoned traveller OR Grand Explorer

Career: Part-Time Jobs Or Skill Based Profession (after quitting business job)

Skills: Fitness or Martial Arts (or both if your fancy), Scuba diving

Colours: Blue. Purple

Reach level 3 of the business career before quitting to travel

have a one night stand on your travels

never marry

Travel until child is a young adult

Max skills

Gen 3: Matcha

You've seen the world, but now all you want is a career and a forever home...or mansion.

Traits: Ambitious, Snob, workaholic (Randomise The Rest)

Careers: Any (based on degree)

Skills: logic (plus whatever is related to the degree.)

Colours: Light green

Go to university and graduate

Befriend and date co-worker (either break up once you reach level 10 of career or get married.)

Go to the spa every weekend

Complete LTW

Max Career

Max Skills

Gen 4: Passionfruit Mango

All work and no play so pick up a guitar and play anything you want.

Traits: Socially Awkward, Family Oriented, virtuoso (Randomise The Rest)

LTW: One sim band OR Rockstar

Career: Music

Skills: Guitar, Bass, Drum, Piano

Colours: Yellow, Orange

Play instruments throughout childhood

Date and marry someone with the Avant Garde or artistic trait

Go on art dates (museums or a cute art café)

Complete Career

Max Skills

Gen 5: Sakura

You are a party girl, but also a lover girl.

Traits: Flirty, Family Oriented, Hopeless Romantic (Randomise The Rest)

LTW: Master Romancer OR Master Mixology OR Surrounded By Family

Career: FREE PASS

Skills: Mixology, Charisma

Colour: Pink

Have a high school BFF

Sign up for online dating and date 5 sims (and fail)

Marry BFF

Complete LTW

Gen 6: Dragon fruit

Who needs love when you could rule the world?!

Traits: Evil, Childish, Irresistible (Randomise The Rest.)

LTW: Heartbreaker OR Gold Digger OR Emperor of Evil

Career: Criminal

Skills: Charisma, Athletic

Colours: Dark Red, Purple

Marry a wealthy sim and have them get into a "tragic accident."

Have a negative relationship with children

Max career

Max Skills

Gen 7: Taro

Never give up on your dreams even if life throws a baby at you.

Traits: Genius, Cat person (Randomise The Rest.)

LTW: Scientific Specialist OR Become A Creature Robot Cross Breeder

Career: Based on LTW

Skills: Science, Handiness, Logic

Colours: Light Purple

Join after school club (idk if its a mod but there's a chess club, can add other ones through Nraas)

Go to university and drop out when pregnant (if not using mods or using mod that allows you to go to university in hometown then drop out and then get pregnant 

Work part-time till the baby is a toddler

Go back to university and graduate

Adopt a cat. 

Gen 8 Lychee

“You're always on that damn phone!” and “I hate normal people.” made a baby 

Traits: Unflirty, Loner (Randomise The Rest.)

LTW:  Blog Artist OR Forensic Specialist

Career: Based on LTW/ Free pass

Skills: Social Networking, Science

Colours: Pink, White

Have a plant sim

Max Skills

Max Career

Gen 9: Thai Tea

Sometimes it's good to look back. Spread the founder’s love of food! 

Traits: Adventurous, Perceptive (Randomise The Rest)

LTW: Star News Anchor OR Professional Author 

Career: Journalism OR Writer Profession

Skills: Writing, Photography, Cooking

Colours: Orange

Visit France, China and Egypt to collect recipes 

Throw dinner parties (once a season.)

Max Career

Max Skills

Gen 10: Sunset

Humans have been fun, but everyone knows the supernatural have the most fun.

Traits: Hopeless Romantic, Good  (Randomise The Rest)

LTW: Master Mysticism OR Resort Empire

Career: Based on LTW

Skills: Scuba Diving, Alchemy, Painting

Colours: Purple, Red, Orange

Fall in love and marry a supernatural (if you choose resort empire LTW then you have to marry a mermaid.)

Decorate home with your art.

[regulusrules]

Yo, I saw your post about orientalism in relation to the "hollywood middle-east" tiktok!

How can a rando and university dropout get into and learn more about? Any literature or other content to recommend?

Hi!! Wow, you have no idea how you just pressed a button. I'll unleash 5+ years on you. And I'll even add for you open-sourced works that you can access as much as I can!

1. Videos

I often find this is the best medium nowadays to learn anything! I'll share with you some of the best that deal with the topic in different frames

• This is a video of Edward Said talking about his book, Orientalism. Said is the Palestinian- American critic who first introduced the term Orientalism, and is the father of postcolonial studies as a critical literary theory. In this book, you’ll find an in-depth analysis of the concept and a deconstruction of western stereotypes. It’s very simple and he explains everything in a very easy manner.

• How Islam Saved Western Civilization. A more than brilliant lecture by Professor Roy Casagranda. This, in my opinion, is one of the best lectures that gives credit to this great civilization, and takes you on a journey to understand where did it all start from.

• What’s better than a well-researched, general overview Crash Course about Islam by John Green? This is not necessarily on orientalism but for people to know more about the fundamental basis of Islam and its pillars. I love the whole playlist that they have done about the religion, so definitely refer to it if you're looking to understand more about the historical background! Also, I can’t possibly mention this Crash Course series without mentioning ... ↓

• The Medieval Islamicate World. Arguably my favourite CC video of all times. Hank Green gives you a great thorough depiction of the Islamic civilization when it rose. He also discusses the scientific and literary advancements that happened in that age, which most people have no clue about! And honestly, just his excitement while explaining the astrolabe. These two truly enlightened so many people with the videos they've made. Thanks, @sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog

2. Documentaries

• This is an AMAZING documentary called Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Villifies A People by the genius American media critic Jack Shaheen. He literally analysed more than 1000 movies and handpicked some to showcase the terribly false stereotypes in western depiction of Arab/Muslim cultures. It's the best way to go into the subject, because you'll find him analysing works you're familiar with like Aladdin and all sorts.

• Spain’s Islamic Legacy. I cannot let this opportunity go to waste since one of my main scopes is studying feminist Andalusian history. There are literal gems to be known about this period of time, when religious coexistence is documented to have actually existed. This documentary offers a needed break from eurocentric perspectives, a great bird-view of the Islamic civilization in Europe and its remaining legacy (that western history tries so hard to erase).

• When the Moors Ruled in Europe. This is one of the richest documentaries that covers most of the veiled history of Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain). Bettany Hughes discusses some of the prominent rulers, the brilliance of architecture in the Arab Muslim world, their originality and contributions to poetry and music, their innovative inventions and scientific development, and lastly, La Reconquista; the eventual fall and erasure of this grand civilization by western rulers.

3. Books

• Rethinking Orientalism by Reina Lewis. Lewis brilliantly breaks the prevailing stereotype of the “Harem”, yk, this stupid thought westerns projected about arab women being shut inside one room, not allowed to go anywhere from it, enslaved and without liberty, just left there for the sexual desires of the male figures, subjugated and silenced. It's a great read because it also takes the account of five different women living in the middle east.

• Nocturnal Poetics by Ferial Ghazoul. A great comparative text to understand the influence and outreach of The Thousand and One Nights. She applies a modern critical methodology to explore this classic literary masterpiece.

• The Question of Palestine by Edward Said. Since it's absolutely relevant, this is a great book if you're looking to understand more about the Palestinian situation and a great way to actually see the perspective of Palestinians themselves, not what we think they think.

• Arab-American Women's Writing and Performance by S.S. Sabry. One of my favourite feminist dealings with the idea of the orient and how western depictions demeaned arab women by objectifying them and degrading them to objects of sexual desire, like Scheherazade's characterization: how she was made into a sensual seducer, but not the literate, brilliantly smart woman of wisdom she was in the eastern retellings. The book also discusses the idea of identity and people who live on the hyphen (between two cultures), which is a very crucial aspect to understand arabs who are born/living in western countries.

• The Story of the Moors in Spain by Stanley Lane-Poole. This is a great book if you're trying to understand the influence of Islamic culture on Europe. It debunks this idea that Muslims are senseless, barbaric people who needed "civilizing" and instead showcases their brilliant civilization that was much advanced than any of Europe in the time Europe was labelled by the Dark Ages. (btw, did you know that arabic was the language of knowledge at that time? Because anyone who was looking to study advanced sciences, maths, philosophy, astronomy etc, had to know arabic because arabic-speaking countries were the center of knowledge and scientific advancements. Insane, right!)

• Convivencia and Medieval Spain. This is a collection of essays that delve further into the idea of “Convivencia”, which is what we call for religious coexistence. There's one essay in particular that's great called Were Women Part of Convivencia? which debunks all false western stereotypical images of women being less in Islamic belief. It also highlights how arab women have always been extremely cultured and literate. (They practiced medicine, studied their desired subjects, were writers of poetry and prose when women in Europe couldn't even keep their surnames when they married.)

4. Novels / Epistolaries

• Granada by Radwa Ashour. This is one of my favourite novels of all time, because Ashour brilliantly showcases Andalusian history and documents the injustices and massacres that happened to Muslims then. It covers the cultural erasure of Granada, and is also a story of human connection and beautiful family dynamics that utterly touches your soul.

• Dreams of Trespass by Fatma Mernissi. This is wonderful short read written in autobiographical form. It deconstructs the idea of the Harem in a postcolonial feminist lens of the French colonization of Morocco.

• Scheherazade Goes West by Fatma Mernissi. Mernissi brilliantly showcases the sexualisation of female figures by western depictions. It's very telling, really, and a very important reference to understand how the west often depicts middle-eastern women by boxing them into either the erotic, sensual beings or the oppressed, black-veiled beings. It helps you understand the actual real image of arab women out there (who are not just muslims btw; christian, jew, atheist, etc women do exist, and they do count).

• Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. This is a feminist travel epistolary of a British woman which covers the misconceptions that western people, specifically male travelers, had recorded and transmitted about the religion, traditions and treatment of women in Constantinople, Turkey. It is also a very insightful sapphic text that explores her own engagement with women there, which debunks the idea that there are no queer people in the middle east.

---------------------

With all of these, you'll get an insight about the real arab / islamic world. Not the one of fanaticism and barbarity that is often mediated, but the actual one that is based on the fundamental essences of peace, love, and acceptance.

[dreamyyesenia]

Just a little rant:

After January started pretty rough (lots of pain, eyesight problems so ofc I couldn’t read which sucks bcs it’s the only thing keeping me sane lol), I think the worst is over. I know I’m not the only one that had a rough start to the year. I hope it’s only going to get better from here. I can read again, thankfully, but in small doses.

Anyways to feel productive I reworked my mods and cc because since the last patch my saves have been so laggy. Especially AKS. And I think I’ll have to switch to a new save at some point because sims 4 save files just aren’t made for legacy gameplay. Anyways turns out that my mods overhauling careers and sims spawning behavior caused the issues because they kept generating hundreds (!!) of NPCs. I deleted the randos and know the lag is gone 😻 So yeah, something to keep in mind! I guess I’m just going to embrace the chaos of random townies walking around in the ROM lol

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Re: the previous anon asking about ramshackle, my personal hc is that it used to be the staff's dorm (I could be completely wrong, I haven't read the early books in a while). Then, when Crowley took over from the previous headmaster, he didn't hire any new staff and instead let the non-teaching current staff retire/quit/otherwise leave their positions and then employed ghosts (since they don't really need a place to "live" (ba dum tss)), and left Ramshackle to fall into disrepair. Whether or not these ghosts were the old staff or were just looking for jobs is up in the air (and also opens a whole can of worms about ghost economics, but I'm not willing to get into that here) For some reason he still hires living teachers and Sam, but I'm not sure if we ever get any details on where they live during the school year.

[Referencing this post!]

I went back into the prologue to check! The dialogue seems to suggest that Ramshackle used to house students. The Ramshackle Ghosts mention that people used to live there, then Crowley tells us "the ghosts scared away all the students." (Note that Crowley does not say “the ghosts scared away all the students AND staff.”) Thinking about it, staff lived at Ramshackle, well... it might be a little strange to have students visit them at their living quarters instead of in the classroom or their offices if they need academic assistance. Most likely Ramshackle served a similar function as the other dorms: student housing.

As for where staff stay… There was one line dropped by Crowley in the second Halloween event which implies the (current) staff may live off campus. I talked about it in this post!

We’re not sure exactly how long Crowley has been headmaster for or when Ramshackle exactly fell into ruin 🤔 I wonder if the main story (or extra materials/content) will cover that… We don’t even know if there was even a previous headmaster or if Crowley was just always the headmaster. From how he speaks (ie being salty at the 99 lose streak to RSA and honoring Lilia’s invite to NRC despite being hundreds of years later), it feels like Crowley has been in charge for a long ass time. It could be that he’s honoring his predecessor’s legacy or wishes, but he seems to personally be making the shots or reacting in a way that’s quite emotionally invested for someone who is newly taking up the mantle.

Mmmm, I wonder if it’s really as simple as Crowley letting the current staff go…? I’d imagine most can’t afford to quit their job or retire on the spot (unless he incentivized them to leave with a generous severance package). I do think employing ghosts in the place of living people to do odd jobs may be more cost effective though, seeing as ghosts have far fewer living expenses than the living. (No need for housing, food, most material possessions, etc.). Crowley could thus justify paying them less/j Although… This is also most likely an efficient way for the devs to reuse assets and not have to design unique characters or more mobs to fulfill the roles of odd job NPCs.

There is lore which states that ghosts are attracted to areas that are concentrated with magical energy, which may explain why NRC has so many ghosts lurking around. I wonder if Crowley just happened to notice all the ghosts lurking on campus (rather than actively seeking them out) and wanted to give them something fulfilling to do with their time, hence the jobs. (Do ghosts even have a need for employment or money when they don’t really have physical demands??? What would they even buy with their earnings, if they’re being compensated at all?) Some ghosts, like the ones that work in the cafeteria, seem to be brought in from the outside to serve more specific roles (ie as Master Chef/Culinary Crucibles instructors and cafeteria staff). The Ramshackle Ghosts though… I’m not sure about their origins?

So the Ramshackle Ghosts have taken up residence in the dormitory, but we don’t have much in the way of their history. It could be that they were random ghosts that migrated to NRC due to its magical draw?? Other unrelated ghosts seem to have been drawn to Ramshackle in the past (such as Eliza and her ghostly entourage in Ghost Marriage). Some have theorized the Ramshackle Ghosts are dead students, but the closest thing we get to proof of that is a line from book 2. One of the Ramshackle Ghosts says that he was a star magift/spelldrive player when he was alive—but this does not inherently imply he was a student, since the sport is very popular and widely played by mages, student or not.

There’s still so many mysteries wrapped up in Ramshackle… 🔍