#thank you sim settlements

[totally-not-deacon]

ough this man

[vals-sims-world]

Hey guys! Thank you so much for all the love you've given to my Sims versions of Merlin and the knights!

Since there's interest in my Merlin save I will be sharing some stories about what's been happening in that world. However, before I do I feel I need to explain the way I play this save since it's not your standard Sims 3 fashion. I typically play rotationally, spending a week with each family before moving on and using nraas story progression mod to keep everyone from aging while I'm not there. My nraas setup also keeps sims from changing their relationship status or progressing in their careers when I'm not playing them but they can meet new sims, make friends, declare enemies, and start up a bit of a flirtation on their own. I like coming back to a household and seeing what dynamics have formed when I leave them to their own devices, though I get the final say on what romantic interests they end up pursuing.

Now that's just my standard setup for most of my games. For my Merlin save I decided to add some interest by using Merlin characters for my own version of The Medieval Charter Challenge! For those unfamiliar The Medieval Charter Challenge is basically a sims 2 build-a-kingdom challenge where you start with a small settlement and slowly build your world up until you have a medieval city. There are a lot of rules including a tax system and class structures that I'm not going to go over but if you're interested you can check out the original rules here For those of you who are familiar with the challenge just know that I've tweaked some of the rules to fit better with the sims 3 and I don't always follow them strictly. I treat them more like guidelines than actual rules, especially since I'm using pre-established characters, some of which have magic which opens up excuses for all sorts of shenanigans. So if you see me doing something that doesn't follow the rules don't worry about it.

Mainly what you need to know is that I started with an empty world, 3 households who are not part of my rotation but are there to help populate the town (druid camp, knights barracks, and the Ladies' manor), 5 peasant families (du Lac, Smith, Hopper, Emrys, and Ealdor), 2 Yeomen families (Macken and De Grance), and the royal Pendragon family. As my save is currently I have 9 community lots, 3 peasant families (Hopper, Ealdor, Oliver), 1 yeoman family (Emrys), 1 Merchant family (du Lac), 1 Gentry family (Macken), 1 Noble family (De Grance), and the royal Pendragon family that have all dramatically changed as they intermarried, had kids, built up their businesses, and rose in the ranks.

My plan is to make a post on each of these families explaining their story. This will take time though as I plan to give you guys family portraits, before and after tours of their homes, any screenshots I happened to have taken while playing, as well as writing out the twists and turns of their tales. So please bear with me while I sort that out.

In the meantime here's some screenshots of some shippy poses I did with my sims that aren't part of the save

Tagging those who expressed interest in knowing more about my save (let me know if you want me to tag you in future posts about this): @tansyuduri @building-camelot @chairwiththreelegs

[sterina-sims]

Sul sul! I'm living for your medieval charter posts. Could you please explain how the challenge works? And possibly how to set up such a flawless medieval style neighborhood? Thank you 😃

Sul sul! 😊 Thank you so much! I'm thrilled that you're enjoying my medieval charter posts. Ok, this is a daunting question, but I'll do my best to explain how the challenge works!

How the Challenge Works

First off, here's the MTS thread from the original creator of the challenge. I've also re-uploaded the document here for convenience/easy reading.

The Medieval Charter Challenge is all about building a medieval-style community from the ground up. You start with a small group of sims and gradually expand your neighborhood, adding different types of lots and families as you meet specific goals. Here's a quick rundown:

Create Your Founders: In CAS, create a Royal Steward (single Sim; they won't be played until a monarch is crowned), 4 peasant families, 2 yeoman families, and 1 gentry family (the head of this household will be the Squire). Move any secondary adult males into their own homes within the same social station, and assign farming and artisan trades accordingly. Create 1 group of 4-8 adult males (military barracks) and another of 4-8 adult females (almshouse), as a pool of eligible sims for marriage.

Seasonal Play and Taxes: Play each family for one season, stopping at the first Quarter Day (this is the first day of a season) to assess and pay taxes, tithes, rent, fees, and fines to the Royal Steward using Christianlov’s Wallet Controller.

Growing Your Settlement: Track the Treasury Funds. When the total reaches $5000, add a communal well, village green, and hedge tavern. At $8000, add a church with a cemetery and a weekly market.

Leveling Up: The levels are as follows: settlement (starting point) -> hamlet -> village -> town -> charter city. Each level has fiscal and infrastructural requirements, as seen above. As you continue through the challenge, you collect enough taxes to build the necessary lots and add more families, thereby growing the settlement. The challenge is completed once you reach the level of charter city and crown a monarch.

Setting up Your Medieval Hood

Use the Lot Bin: With regards to building, create 1 peasant hovel, 1 yeoman house/farm, 1 gentry manor, and so on. Save these residential lots to the Lot Bin for future instances when you'll need the required type of home. There is A LOT of building that goes with the challenge, so save yourself the trouble by doing this. The lots can be personalized for each household afterwards.

Communal Spaces (pro tip!): This is my nth time doing this challenge, and so, I suggest staring off with a village green or communal well (or both). It goes against the original MCC rules, but I say this because it gives your sims can have a place to meet and mingle with other settlers, and a break from monotony of staring at the same four walls.

Hood Decor: Hood decor is truly fabulous and can completely change the look of your neighborhood. I would suggest deco grass, deco rocks and cliffs, deco fields and/or flower fields, especially if excessive tree use slows down your game.

Custom Content: Invest in some good medieval custom content, including clothing, furniture, and architecture. Sites like Plumb Bob Keep, Mod The Sims, and Tumblr creators have lots of medieval-themed downloads. I have listed the majority of the mods, hacks, and custom content on my side blog's resource page.

I hope this helps you get started! Feel free to ask if you have more questions, and I'd love to see your progress if you decide to give it a try. Happy simming! 😃

[pleasantonshire]

Let the challenge begin!

Pleasantview... Pleasantonshire, in its humble beginnings as a simple settlement!

My hood is pretty much ready to play, with the exception of one home's interior which needs some decorating. But I am burnt out from all building and re-decorating, and itching to play!

I've made a character page, so you can see all the settlers of my neighborhood! I opted for the genetically correct version of some of the premades (thank you to @marvelann, @plumbtales, and @simgigglegirl). Other have remain unchanged, while some sims (mostly 2nd gen, like Angela/Dustin/Dirk) are born in-game versions of the original sims.

[mllemaenad]

I think I need a break from Fallout 76. I swore I was going to get through it, and Tessa and I have been making good progress. My biggest complaint up until now is that they won't let you have Sofia and Beckett active at camp at the same time. I'm sure this is a resourcing issue, but Fallout 76 is such a lonely game. I get that you're supposed to play with friends, but unless you have a dedicated role playing group (and while I am sure such things exist, I do not get the impression that they are the majority) that's companionship for the player, not the character. I think Tessa, who did a lot of her growing up in a vault, would love a tiny community of her own.

But I have just slogged through Steel Dawn, trying to justify to myself why Tessa, who loves books and writes poetry and runs down the road to help out Lane and his Responders with food runs or package deliveries every day, would even be there. That's immediately followed by Steel Reign and ... I just can't. Not right now. There is no option to tell the Brotherhood to go the fuck back to California and leave us alone.

The entire first part of the quest line was "these idiots mislaid a bunch of dangerous weapons and are now complaining about other people in the region having the dangerous weapons". You know who I don't think is qualified to have dangerous weapons? The Brotherhood of Steel.

While I appreciate that "dangerous super mutant attacks", which seem to be part two and presumably have something to do with the dodgy scientist guy who showed up earlier, constitute a serious problem ... I am struggling to believe that Tessa would work with them on it. They would also kill Grahm! And Gail! Those are her friends. There are so many other people who could help deal with this, but that's not how the story goes.

So I'm going to give Fallout: London a try. It seems to be the hot new thing at the moment, and I am curious. Mods can be something of a mixed bag, and I'm hesitant to be very critical even when I don't like them, because the labour involved in some of these things ... I can just about do some simple patching in xEdit. So, you know, not really my place to criticise. But I've been trying to mod Bethesda games since Morrowind, and the worst you can say is "Why the hell did I install this? Was I drunk?" and scour it from your game.

But I have (so far) enjoyed Sim Settlements 2 and Tales from the Commonwealth. I did not take to Depravity and Outcasts and Remnants, for several reasons although the ... thing ... with Preston was the last straw (Except that they allowed you to pause your search after going through Kellogg's flat. I do not want to install that mod again ... but I sometimes think ... just for that one feature ... Emily could have a bath and a nap before tearing off again.).

Thank heavens for Mod Organiser 2. I can swap this thing in and leave Emily's load order intact.

I have named my girl Hannah, and since the premise is that you wake up in a lab with no memory of who you are or how you got there, I am going to learn about her as I go.

Initial impressions:

Wait. Is that Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy performing unethical experiments? That's ... something. Tortured by no less than two Doctor Whos.

Radshrews are terrifying. Little mice creatures should not be this hard to deal with. Admittedly with Hannah's fists since the game seems to be allergic to starter weapons.

This is not quite fair, as some guy kindly handed her a pocket knife once she crawled out of the train crash. But we are now fighting raiders with a pocket knife, and it is only slightly easier to deal with.

While Churchill is adorable, and we are keeping him, I do question his previous human's judgement. Hannah is a lost amnesiac wearing the rags she picked off the last raider she killed and wielding a pocket knife she does not know how to use. What on earth made him think she could care for a dog?

Now we need to go talk to some people called "the Thamesfolk" so Hannah can stop taking 30% more damage (Why? Just why? She can be one-shot killed by a bloatfly looking at her funny). We are about to find out how London feels about mutants, I think!

[twistedsimmer]

Without further ado...

One fine day, Mayor GilsCarbo was busy at work in his office when his receptionist called. A prominent businessman was here with a proposal, she said, one that he claimed the Mayor wouldn't be able to resist. Finding this more intriguing than the city planner's reports that he was reviewing, he replied, "Send him in, Sheila."

It turned out to be none other than Richard Morris, the founder of EveryTech Technologies, and one of the city's top business tycoons. Instead of building seaports or buying trucks, he had a better idea: to send a team into the unexplored fringes of SimNation, establishing a new settlement and scouting the area for valuable resources.

"Sounds good so far. What kind of people are you going to send?" the Mayor asked. Richard grinned, handing over a thick folder. "I'm glad you asked.."

"We've assembled a group of volunteers, each selected for genetic compatibility and expertise in their respective fields. We hope that they'll not only be able to serve the short term goal of taming the land, but also growing a brand new population of tax-paying individuals."

"Very interesting! So, who are these people?"

"First we have my son, Jake Morris, leading the expedition. He'll be the liaison between the new settlement and SimCity. If provided a job in your office, of course."

"That I can arrange. Who else?"

"Mona Lott will be in charge of entertainment and morale, due to her work as an actress."

"Her name sounds very familiar, what was she in?"

"Minor independent productions of a mature nature, as she claimed on her application. Probably some avant-garde, artsy films, but many of my men on the selection committee vouched for her skill."

"Ah yes, I hear she's been praised for her..flexibility."

"Next we have Solomon Utes, a freelance writer of some renown. He regularly contributes to the SimCity Times, and will be authoring all of the status reports."

"I still remember that scathing article he wrote on Landgraab's nightclub, Malcolm sold the business a month later after that went public. Then he sued Utes, and lost."

"Brigette LeRoux here is an experienced midwife, and purportedly good with animals. Her skills as a Douser should also come in handy."

"From these satellite photos, it looks like there's a decently large lake in the area. Surely you don't need a psychic to find that."

"Next we have Amayata Nairi, the civil engineer of the team. She's quite young, she's proven to be quite competent as well. We're confident she'll be able to set up the infrastructure in the settlement, and help connect it to SimCity."

"I'll do what I can to help on my end, if the area proves to be worth the effort."

"Marf Foobar is a volunteer from my own company. He's quite the convincing salesman, which is why he'll be in charge of public relations and tourism."

"Hmm, I'm sure he'll sell it better than a used Smord."

"And finally we have Emi Uzuki. She immigrated from Takemizu to attend Sim State University, where she became the youngest Sim to hold a biology degree."

"A prodigy, I see! I'm sure she'll make a fine doctor."

"So, what do you think?"

"You have a pretty solid team, albeit an odd combination of people. The region you chose looks quite promising, and your requests are very reasonable for a project of this scale. I approve."

"Thank you, Mr. Mayor."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Later that day..

"Citizens of SimCity, it is my pleasure to introduce the Littlesprings Project.."

-> Next Chapter..

[royaltysimblr]

List 5 facts about a favorite sim of yours, and send this to 10 simblrs whose sims you adore ♥♥♥

thank you so much for the ask! <3 it's no secret that lorelei is prob one of my fave characters (here's a pic of her from an upcoming?ish post)

Lorelei is named after her great-grandmother on her mother's side of the family, Lorelei Annabeth Livingston. She was a wealthy Simerican heiress who married the 2nd Marquess of Polarston (cecelia's grandad). Her great-grandmother passed away when she was 16, and thus she was nicknamed "lorelei ii" by her mom's side of the family for a long time.

Lorelei almost eloped with her high school sweetheart, Edward Anderson, however, her parents intervened. It nearly became a constitutional crisis, but Lorelei would never truly give up her title or position for anyone.

Lorelei isn't that close with her siblings, in fact, she had a bitter rivalry with her sister Victoria (which will be explored), and was like 12 years older than Adelaide so they didn't have much of a relationship. Lorelei and Louis (George IV) have a closer relationship, but it's still not great.

Lorelei is very close with her children, especially her son William. Despite going through a LOT, and being a vain and self-obsessed person who clung to status, she really loved her children. William, Margaret, and Rory were her life, especially after her divorce and fall from grace.

Lorelei actually graduated from business school and manages her ex-husband's estates!! something she's actually really good at! She currently lives at their San Myshuno townhouse, Thurlby House, which she won in their divorce settlement

[sephirajo]

I spent so much time and energy trying to fix Emil and Todd's shit in FO4 with Sim Settlements 2's writing and ya know what, thanks to the TV series I'm done. I'm fucking done. You guys fucking ruined it. When you both die I will piss on your graves.

[amaiguri]

The North

The North is cold, harsh, and human settlements are often isolated from each other. Perpetually dim save for dawn and dusk thanks to the Upper Continent, sharp mountains, harsh winters, and richly colored plants mark the environment. Rumateurs — llama-like beasts with big noses — graze across the moors, seals lay on the ice cold beaches and turn to humans, and beasts that crawl from the Abyss eat human minds. In the East, Demons — shunned by all other races — live in their blood-soaked, feral hivemind. Across the North, it is generally accepted that you look after your own, as there is little room for generosity. Even if there was, it would do neither of you very good; one must learn to survive on one’s own.

The North has officially surrendered in the face of the Philosopher King's power. The Noble Houses are soon to be stripped off their titles and a new government is set to rise—but who will truly hold power in this new world?

Nouveau Thuille

Nouveau Thuille is an isolated city-state with a mafia-like government of oligarchs who claim to reign in the stead of their Once and Future Emperor. Their Gothic architecture fends off year-round snows and industrialization fills the air with Ysse and smoke. While corruption and murder is just the status quo, Nouveau Thuilleans will set it all aside if anyone else tries to tell them otherwise.

"Fitte Thuille, abso'uen." "For Thuille, the World."

The Saegen Folk

The Saegen Folk make up the rest of the North -- a diverse group of sailors and warlord families. Their culture is filled with song, from cooking and cleaning folk tunes to Sage-sung ballads at religion ceremonies. But even shieldsiblings drill to the rhythm of drums. Loyalty to family is matched by few other cultures in Yssaia.

Amai's Thoughts

Since Arlasaire is from Nouveau Thuille and ALSO since it's the setting of my Assassin Life Sim about Murder and Self-Care, it's a lot more developed on an individual level than some of the other cultures.

Like, I can tell you the details of their music and the history of their theatre and their frozen foods and that their coffee isn't actually coffee from coffee beans but ground from dried mushrooms...

I can tell you which families have power and what they control and produce and what their signature art forms are. I can tell you their family drama from the last ten years -- like how Giluniques was courting Lucienne, even though his father called off the marriage because HER father tried to murder everyone.

I can tell you about how Claudia d'Magnia started hallucinating and no one new how to help her and died tragically.

I can tell you about how Einharde d'Magnia picked up a bunch of disabled orphans and turned them into his personal assassins.

I can tell you what the crests and family words of every house is...

...or was, before the Aftokratoria dismantled them lol #EatTheRich but AMA

[dataltruismtho]

February Project: "Running that Long Road Home"

Acknowledging the Community

As the public is aware, Bethesda loves its community so much it shares the responsibility for developing engaging content with everyone! We're all unpaid interns in the hellfanscape, and I would just like to give a thanks to the nexus modding community for creating and sustaining incredible tools for managing, teaching and authoring amazing mods that have inspired me so much.

A special mention for the team behind Sims Settlements 2 and the rich storied content, voice-acting and overhaul to the settlement mechanics they have delivered. If it were not for RJ Maccready, I would be writing a fanfic based on Jake Evans. But that's an idea for another time. If you like to play modded fallout 4, check out their mod!

Finally, I would also like to thank youtubers Tonka joey and ColeyDoesThings for introducing me to the entertainment AND etiquettes of fanfiction.

The Good Stuff

What's a product without a demonstration? So far I have been using the Wattpad platform to host and distribute my works. In fact, you can read part of it already here! I will be also hosting my work on Archive of Our Own. I am and will be open to feedback and welcome your comments on my work on their sites going forward.

"How long is this fanfiction going to be?"

Three arcs are drafted for the main story of the fallout canon with all DLC, sims settlements 2. I do not read much, but I am hoping to publish 6+ hours of content for reading.

"When am I going to get updates?"

I make no promises, but considering the plot has been mapped, drafting and editing should take less than 2 months for each 'arc'.

"Your story has given me ideas and I'm afraid to share them because of the CC licence"

Then I am glad to have inspired you! It's the fandom content cycle that drives so much amazing work. You're more than welcome to have head canons of my head canon, but so long as you respect that this story is being for my own enjoyment out of my own passion, spread that joy in whatever form the muses bless you with.

[kanonbreakerz]

Imps from the Burnt Earths

Sentient humanoid creatures with a strong connection to the magic of darkness.

Not particularly friendly, easily angered but capable of sympathy and extremely mischievous. Because of their bad reputation, they try to avoid them, they say that if you meet an Imp in a settlement, then this is a bad sign.

They have a fairly large color variety.

veins | claws | tail | eyes | teeth | mouth | horns

feet - Mythos Tracks (LoversLab)

Any pointy ears can be used.

CC by @anlamveg, @simandy, @lady-moriel, @sewersims, @natalia-auditore, @shandir, @simomo-cc, @redearcat, @reibies-sims

Poses by @natalia-auditore, @nell-le, @helgatisha

Many thanks to all creators ❤

as requested by @treacherousautumn

[agena87]

📩 Simblr question of the day: You can answer one or both parts of this question! 1️⃣ Part one: If you make Story posts, what do you do for scenes? Do you build them yourself, do you download lots from the gallery or do you download them from someone online? 2️⃣ Part two: If you make Gameplay/Legacy posts, what do you do for a house? Do you build it yourself, download a home from the gallery or do you download them from someone online? Additionally, do you build onto that home or demolish it and rebuild the house when needed? (E.G When another child enters the picture or someone moves in) ❎ If you do none of those for either half, what do you do? Do you use someone else's save file? (WIndbrook by Folking, Willow Creek + Magnolia Promenade by Theneighborhoodsave, Silent Pines by Silentpinessave... etc)

( freely share this SQOTD around, anon or not, and use the hashtag " SQOTD " ~ 💛 )

Hi Squatty! Thanks for the ask (and sorry I'm only answering now)!

I do neither 1 nor 2 (I do try, but I always fail 'cause of boredom). And I don't really play either. I mainly (atm, at least) stay in CAS and imagine stories about some premade families and OC's.

BUT! I do love building and even more, I adore decorating. I can spend hours working on one tiny room, just picking the right clutter (I'm an over-clutterer) and putting it in the right place. For me, a house or flat has to reflect the personalities & hobbies of the sims living there. Even when I build just for the sake of building, I end up having a sim or family in mind that could live on the lot I'm creating. Either it's a tiny home no bigger than 24 tiles, a manor with 8 bedrooms (that one is a bit under-decorated for me, though; but that worked with the family I made it for), an abandoned asylum with nearly 30 cells (plus other rooms), or a whole-ass post-apo settlement, it still has to tell a story, even without any sims around, you know?

I recently started a save using "RatSave 1.2" by @ratboysims though 'cause I didn't feel like building a whole world for the soap-operaesque 'verse I'm creating.

[atombonniebaby]

WIP Weekend

Thanks to @theartofblossoming for the tag!

Tagging fellow creatives (no obligations here either!): @druidgroves @fallout-new-mudkip @galaxycunt @just-another-wasteland-merc @maccreadysbaby @perfectlypreservedpie @sassenashsworld @sirmanmister @willinglyghoulified

As for me? My Dudes, she's been writing! (and procrastinating said writing by playing fo4 and making screenshots!)

So here's an update on MacBeth!

Been smoothing out the timeline! Trying to take my time to get the pacing right! [I'm excited because it's getting meaty and falling into place...it's getting chonky!!]

Coming up:

Enter Mayor MacCready (Sim Settlements 2 makes this a reality, btw!)

Mac's past as a Gunner comes back to bite him. (Featuring Quincy and Sunglasses)

A wee bit o romance to fix up (and bewilder) a lonesome merc

Mac steps up big-time (MM stuff, SS2 cast come in, and I love 'em!)

Some more angst (okay, most of it is probably angst.)

Winter is Coming...and it bringeth the Feral Hordes (I apologize in advance, Mac!)

Thar be an imposter among us...

Responsibility weighs heavily...Guilt be crippling!

(Oh look, this is roughly where I originally started this fic like a rookie!)

To follow: A bunch of other stuff I've been cooking up over the year (Expect Reunions, Lamplighters all grown up, more bad jokes, heartache, and (I hope) big reveals.)

For Now:

Here's a scene from an upcoming 3 chapter story arc.

Since Duncan was featured in my posts this week, I found myself revisiting the flashback that leads to the moment Mac makes the promise to his son. The full rewrite will now reveal the identity of 'The Stanger.'

The Promise

Awakening to Duncan’s demands for attention, he’s alone, and RJ bristles, the faint smell of newborn mingling with the antiseptic of the surgery overwhelming. After a minute of psyching himself up, he bundled the screeching infant into his arms and moved for the door, hoping to find some bleeding heart to ease his headache—he didn't get that far. 

Goddammit, the little shit had to stop crying, didn’t he? Trying to ignore the feel of Duncan's small fingers curling around his, he shrugs off the comforting pull of the bundle of warmth in his shaking arms and cradles his son close, sinking back into the chair, the fingers on his free hand clinging to Lucy’s. It's the first moment of peace in days, a fleeting respite, and it’s too much. His steely exterior cracks, and the quiet, simmering tears spill over.

RJ cleared his throat as the airlock opened, and a nurse walked in—about dang time!  She’s young and smiley. Her brown hair was neatly braided underneath a funny hat with a green cross. He wondered if Lucy would wear one if she became a nurse. "You okay, love?" She looked him over, sweetly, caring like—handing him a rag.

Oh, fuck off! He was not crying! "Yeah—Just the damn dust!" his nose wrinkled, and MacCready hoped his smile was convincing.

"You want to have a go, or shall I take him?" She held up a bottle.

"I can do it!" he said a little too enthusiastically. “I don't want him to start crying again. My head is already splitting." 

He took the bottle she handed him—that stuff gets expensive. There was no point in letting it get cold, sitting and arguing about it.

"Need me to show you?" the nurse said with a hand on her hip and a smug glint in her eye. 

She probably thought he'd need help because he's a guy or something—he was feeding his son to spite her! "I can manage...thanks," he grumbled. "Not my first time feeding a Little.”  

He hated himself for smiling at how Duncan enthusiastically gripped that bottle. He was supposed to be angry at him, but as he suckled the bottle, RJ looked—really looked at him, those warm browns blinking back—the little bastard, that was all it took.

"Kid has her eyes," RJ sputtered, wiping his nose. "Damn, dust—don't you guys have cleaning robots around here?" 

He accepted the rag this time, laughing through the tears seeping through. The nurse gave his shoulder a light squeeze and a knowing look, and she grinned all toothy at him before disappearing back through the airlock.

"You see how she looked at us, kid?" he scoffed, brows pinching as he wiped the tears from his face. 

"You know, I bet your mumma is gonna freak the fu–agh—" MacCready furrowed his brows as he looked over the innocent bundle in his arms. "Freak the frick out when she meets you." The stranger's voice was a dull drone, a gnawing Rad Rat in the back of his mind. 

"I didn't mean to yell at you, a'right?" his head shook, smiling. “She is the one that keeps me level-headed. She'd kick my ass—for fuck…nope....uh-uh—"

MacCready cleared his throat, steeling himself before continuing. "She'd beat my butt if she heard me talk to you like that. So, how about we don't tell her, huh? Do you promise to keep this between us, two MacCready boys?

Duncan fidgeted through his swaddle. Big eyes focused on him. "Yeah?" MacCready chuckled, playing with his son's feet beneath the blanket. "Then, I promise to get my shit–oh, for fuck sake!" he took another deep breath that exhaled as a laugh.

"Maybe I should start with a swear jar..."

[pixeldolly]

SWAT - Round 1 - Smith

PT9 could feel Death’s cold fingers reaching for his throat. When he’d first crash-landed into town he’d been young and full of vitality, but his kind could not withstand long-term exposure to this planet’s sun without consequences.

It had aged him prematurely, and only his secret regeneration device had kept his organs from failing and his immune system from going haywire.

Of course, PT9 had known this would happen; Sixamese scientists had studied Sim Earth’s atmosphere in order to modify the pollination technique to compensate for their incompatible physiology. 

Full-blooded Sixamese could not live on Sim Earth, but their hybrid descendants would. Despite the prohibitions against permanent settlement, PT9 had an idea for how it might be done, allowing him to escape planet-side, beyond the reach of his people.

He’d made a life for himself in Strangetown, with a human wife and hybrid children born from their union, not created in a laboratory. That was something else the scientists said could not be done.

And now, another child was on the way. PT9 had plenty left to live for.

Death would just have to keep on waiting.

Brenda: “Hey, Mr Smith! I left your newspaper over there on the porch.”

PT9: “Thank you, Brenda. Is this your last round?”

Brenda: “Yup! Just the Curiouses left and then I’m done for the day.”

PT9: “You must be freezing!”

Brenda: “Yeah, the post office doesn’t actually have any winter uniforms, so... They promised they’d order us some, but that hasn’t happened yet.”

PT9: “Listen - why don’t you come in and have some pancakes and hot tea to warm you up? I’m sure Pascal, Lazlo and Vidcund can wait a little longer for their paper.”

Brenda hesitated; technically, she wasn’t allowed to take breaks in the middle of her rounds, but who was going to tell? She quickly texted Tiffany to tell her she’d be running late, then followed Mr Smith inside.

[makkuromurasaki]

Last Lines Tag

Tagged by the awesome and crazy talented @badastronaut277

Rules: Write the latest line from each of your wips (or post where you last left off in your art) and tag as many people as there are wips you are working on.

First of all, I'm not a writer. Second of all, I, unlike many other artists, have the bad habit of starting a piece and then keeping in purgatory for years until I decide I need to finish it or else.

Here's my WIPs gallery:

I. Sketched my current Fallout 4 character, new OC named Valerie! I'm playing Sim Settlements 2 with her and ignoring most main quests from the game :D this is one is very recent - from the last week

II. Still working on this Hancock piece 84 years later, I think we're finally getting somehwere ??? Spent ages doing the couch lol

III. Another Hancock piece I started ages ago and hated, I don't hate it anymore but it's still stuck in purgatory

IV. Started doing this for my fallout OC Bedelia and her journey from pre-war lawyer, to fresh out of the vault, to General of the Minutemen, and there will be a 4th one of her post-main quest. This piece started from how her hair changes colors, from black during pre-war, to white with black roots thanks to being in cryo when emerging from the vault, to dying it dark blue as the General and the final one would be kind of a dark purple hair dye. This is also stuck in purgatory

V. This is re-draw of a scene from a movie that I really liked (Bright Star) but with Bedelia and Hancock. Stuck in purgatory cause there's something bugging me off about it but I can't figure out what, also all my tries to color this destroyed me

VI. Unfinished sketches of my ghoul OC Mauve (these are basically redrawings of scenes from the movie The Dressmaker - she's just ghoulified Kate Winslet from the movie at this point lol)

VII. Unifinished drawing of a group of femme fatale ghoulettes called The Vixens, this idea is a collaboration with one of my best friends irl, stuck in purgatory weee

VIII. This was a piece I started for Yeehawgust for the Meowdy prompt, never got to finish it

IX. Unfinished drawing of a burned car I saw where I live + mashed with Fallout 76 scenery, stuck in purgatory too

sheesh that's a whole bunch of WIPs :( most of them were started last year or 2 years ago and I never had time to finish them

I'll tag @fuzzyizmit, @atomitron, @pumpkinov, @boarix, @khazrablood, @digonshaikha, @purkinje-effect, @fanthings

as usual, don't feel obligated to do this! if you don't wanna be tagged send me a DM and I'll remove it

[simlicious]

Status update

All your messages of support mean so much to me, thank you! I definitely feel better, I cleaned out my dash a bit and am a bit more relaxed. I see more clearly now that I still have an important role to play and a place in this community! 🥰

I am still not quite ready to go back into creating Sims stuff though, as Anno 1800 has sucked me in a bit at the moment. That game is a serious commitment time-wise, and I am also making my own mods and tweaking the mods of others to create the perfect experience for me personally. In case you are interested to learn more about my Anno experience, you can read more under the cut!

I play a multiplayer map with my boyfriend, or let's say I show him what I have built and he dabbles for a couple of hours too every now and then 😆 I enjoy the optimization/logic aspect of the game. At the moment, I really like games that pick my brain/give me a challenge in that regard, and I think that is also why I like modding. It requires abstract/logical thinking and creativity at the same time. Anno 1800 is a city builder/production strategy game and is mainly about fostering a happy population in a flourishing city. There are different population tiers, such as farmes, workers, artisans, etc. that have different needs that you need to fulfill in order to get to the next one, and they also want luxury goods that improve their happiness. You have to produce these goods and build farms, factories, and public buildings to provide the population with these items. You start out with a small settlement and end up with a huge metropolis. I am about 100 hours into the save and have never advanced this far in Anno 1800 before. Things get more complex the further you go, and you have to establish settlements in different regions and create trading routes to ship goods around to make sure all production lines run flawlessly and your population receives the goods they need.

I also enjoy beauty-building (to some degree at least) and try to make my cities look interesting instead of just boringly uniform. Because I play with a lot of mods, this is easier to accomplish than in a vanilla game, where beauty building and maintaining a good economy at the same time is more challenging. I play Anno 1800 to relax and have fun, not to try to reach record numbers of inhabitants (which is impressive in its own right, but I'm more the casual play type).

Here are a few screenshots of my City Bergblick (Mountain View). These are best viewed at full scale because you can't really see details on the small tumblr dashboard-sized pics.

My farmers are having a festival because they feel so happy!

The artisan village

Amusement park that I built near my skyscrapers and scholar's houses.

View from the harbor. This is the hugest island in the game! In case you are wondering, the reason why do not make (tuning) mods for Sims 3 is that I lack the gameplay experience/knowledge of intricate game mechanics. Only while playing do you notice things that you wish were different, and you get an idea of how they could be. I am a bit out of the loop with Sims 3 gameplay, I'm a bit ashamed to say it has been years since I properly played the game, aside from set building, styling my Sim models, and testing CC. In most games I play, I spend more time modding them/installing/tweaking other people's mods/making my own than actually playing. I am truly a tinkerer at heart! I hope I can bring myself to start learning Python one day (and C# would also be good to know as a modder), as I mainly tweak XML files for now, but many games require proper coding knowledge in order to mod them. I tried a few times to learn but I have a hard time understanding some concepts. I feel like it's just a different mode of thinking and to get into that mode and see how everything fits together is the hardest part. I kinda hope I can get my brain ready for it by doing more logical thinking/tinkering with mods! Other games that I am interested in/would love to be able to do more with mod-wise are Subnautica and The Long Dark. Subnautica is probably my all-time favorite game. It is beautiful, and makes you want to explore and find out about that alien planet, but also creates that feeling of terror of the unknown. It touches on emotions in a way that I never experienced in another game. That said, the Sims games are still the best option for expressing creativity! I am also keeping an eye out for Life by You, the modding possibilities seem very enticing. I'm not sure about the graphical style, but I bet they will polish the game a lot before the final release. Also, Custom Content makes such a huge difference, so I'm not too worried about that at this point.