#the only thing sims 4 has going for it in the trans genderism

[cerealxperimentslain]

god the sims 4 really is ten years old now huh. 2 september 2014. i used to play it on my school laptop in high school.

there are still no plans for a sims 5

[dystxpiansims]

Hello! I don't like to do this, but I think it needs to be done.

If you heard about Equiliberty, you probably heard about Jocelyn Flores, or Moe, or 2thedoe, or whatever her names are. I really didn't want to make this post, but seeing how she made a whole blog just to talk trash about other servers and people who are "harassing" her after her other blogs got taken down, I feel I need to say something and let others know what they would be joining into.

First I'd like to make a pointer here; Natalia does not take their time to dedicate "talking shit" about Jocelyn or whatever she goes by now. She only posted what felt was necessary to let others know what is going on behind closed doors that Jocelyn wants to keep pushing away as nothing and act the victim. Yes, maybe some of us said some things in the past, but what Jocelyn is doing is not cool.

What's really sad is I thought Jocelyn was an amazing person, but after all the things I've seen, I take it back. Sure she can be cool when she's not showing her true colors, but she can't own up to what she's done and take responsibility, and instead says she apologizes and then makes an entire tumblr blog dedicated to shit talking others and calling any other sims 4 equine communities/servers "competition". Your server isn't the only one, ma'am. Which shows one of the posts she's made on it below:

Secondly; what you're doing IS making a drama post by keeping it going. If it truly bothered you, just ignore it and keep going on with your life than wasting your energy on making an entire blog to be nasty towards others? You made your point, you block them, you go on, not have your 'friends' stalk them to keep you up to date with what's happening and keep stirring the pot by adding to your hate blog. And you're not transphobic??

Uh, I hate to break it to you but this:

This is the definition of transphobic. How can you say you want to respect them, but you don't want to even call them by their pronouns? You OBVIOUSLY don't respect them enough if you refuse to call them what they go by. Calling them by their desired name is the bare minimum, but it don't mean you respect them.

This may be an opinion, but this is a HARMFUL one. There are no "two genders". If you believe in science, then obviously you're not studying it hard enough. Sex? There is at least six:

X – Roughly 1 in 2,000 to 1 in 5,000 people (Turner’s )

XX – Most common form of female

XXY – Roughly 1 in 500 to 1 in 1,000 people (Klinefelter)

XY – Most common form of male

XYY – Roughly 1 out of 1,000 people

XXXY – Roughly 1 in 18,000 to 1 in 50,000 births

"Sex refers to biological attributes that distinguish organisms as male, female, intersex and hermaphrodite. Gender is a social construct, encompassing various psychological and social characteristics that collectively define individuals as men, women, non-binary or trans, etc." So obviously you don't believe in science enough to actually do your research, I presume? Don't make an "opinion" if you've never done any research on this type of a topic.

Yes, this is how we will run our community by making sure the person that has hurt multiple people don't join back and cause more problems. If someone causes you trauma in your childhood and you finally get away, would you want them to just come back in your life? I don't think so. Somethings CAN be forgiven, but obviously this is a big thing that hurts a big community, and you can't even take responsibility and give a lame apology to actually apologize for hurting others, but instead just to cover your tracks and protect yourself, along with "clearing out people who don't feel serves the server any purpose anymore" and in the midst of your breakdown, you ban this person who didn't do ANYTHING except check their balance because you weren't happy at the time.

Oh, by the way, here's the thing that I was referring to with the competition and once again dragging another server down in this "quote unquote" not a drama post. No one is poaching members from the server, they're doing that on their own. They're not going to stay in a server with someone they don't feel comfortable with. But AI generated logos? I was there during the time and I don't remember any AI generated logos? I remember a conversation about AI generated images and Jocelyn not agreeing with banning them or not seeing anything wrong with it and not seeing the point in getting angry over it.

No one attacked the server, Jocelyn. Everything that's been said was towards you who has ruined the server for everyone, even to the point removing general because you couldn't handle being called out and instead was lashing out at the others and acting the victim in the chat, deleting anything that even mentioned it or asked a question. OH! And kicking someone out of the server for simply asking a question for you to clarify what you said.

Only server I've ever had to walk on eggshells and scared to interact on was in Equiliberty - but that was because of you, and that's why I left. I was scared to interact after your little meltdown because if someone said anything there was a possibility of getting banned for no reason. But these servers? They feel truly like home and not once has there been any problems, and they actually listen to the members when there's a suggestion made.

Anywho, onto yet another post she had made!

No one has made accounts just to harass you - it's more like you who has done that, huh? And useless tumblr posts? It's pretty useful to me to avoid someone like you who can't seem to let things go and keep it going and not even take responsibility of your actions.

Quite sad you won't even take in other peoples words when trying to tell you there isn't just "two genders". No one is making the LGBTQ+ more important than the "other factors" but we're tired of not being taken serious and being brushed aside as if we're nothing but garbage. Yes, we all matter equally, but to go out of your own way to downsize the importance of this is quite astonishing. To be going around saying "it's just my opinion" and very clearly saying you won't be calling someone by their pronouns because what YOU see isn't what they identify or feel like or even "pass" as but yet you still "respect" them really shows the type of person you are and to lie to cover your own ass too on top of it. Uh huh. I sure as all hell don't feel respected, you've lost all my respect for you.

Many people have posted straight from the source of where things were said and done, so you're right! Never assume! People know who you truly are now, ma'am.

And here she is with her saying her other accounts have been deleted and ofc this being her first post! Totally not drama posts, right?? RIGHT?? So, there's my proof of her verifying this whole blog is dedicated to harassing others and talking shit and trying to turn it around on the ones who tell and show the truth. Have a good life Jocelyn, but sooner or later, others who are sticking around you and protecting you will realize who you truly are.

[echoweaver]

15 Questions from Mutuals

@oasislandingresident, @hazely-sims, @danjaley, @anamoon63, and @olomayasims tagged me in this meme. This is the first time I’ve been able to actually do it! Thanks. I feel loved. It feels good to be included.

​ Are you named after anyone? My great-grandmother, father’s father’s mother. She and my great-grandfather were immigrants from Hungary. I have have a picture of her holding me as an infant. I’m sorry I didn’t get to know her.

When was the last time you cried? I cry all the dang time. I find it more notable when I haven’t cried recently -- when putting our cats down, despite me being the one person in the family who was tracking their health in detail and really worrying about their quality of life. I’m also the one who made the call and coordinated the final vet visit. There’s stuff in there about my personality that I’m pondering.

I guess the last time I really cried it out was over gender politics, if you would believe it. My wife is trans. The horrible state of conservative oppression toward trans people right now is terrifying. OTOH, I think that enemy has led trans advocacy to be less nuanced rather than more. The complex landscape of gender, sex, and safety is often trivialized, and people get hurt. When I can’t jump on the bandwagon, I feel like a traitor to my wife. I wish there could be more thoughtfulness and compassion and nuance, but with the wave of vicious anti-trans laws and rhetoric, I appreciate why it doesn’t feel like there’s space for it.

Do you have kids? One bio-daughter, age 12. We wanted to have another and couldn’t. Then we tried to adopt from foster care, which ended up being a miserable 5-year rabbithole that led nowhere. OTOH, we have a found-daughter who entered our life through the side door as our girl’s babysitter when she was young. It’s an odd family, and we’re still figuring it out, but it’s ours.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? I think of myself as fairly snarky, but actually sarcasm not that much.

What sports do you play/have you played? I got into really physical stuff late-ish, close to 30. I got into weight-lifting and cardio rhythm games. No team stuff. Later, I took up figure skating when my kid was 4 and taking lessons. I love it. I think I could have been really good if I’d found it when I was younger, but I’m very YOLO about this stuff. If I’m going to be a figure skater in middle age, so be it. Convenient classes for adults were canceled during the pandemic, though, and I haven’t built up the momentum to return. I’m settling for a lower-hanging fruit at the moment and taking up Tai Chi.

What’s the first thing you notice about other people? I don’t know exactly what it is, but I get a sense of how easy it is to relax around someone.

Scary movies or happy endings? Those aren’t mutually exclusive. I like being scared, but not so much the jump-scare, blood-and-gore way. Definitely happy endings though. I’m only much into dark endings when my life is stress-free, and I don’t remember when that last happened.

Any special talents? I’m good at looking at a problem from all angles. I think this is objectively a good thing, but it’s also a pain in the butt because I can’t turn it off.

Where were you born? New Jersey, USA. Grew up in Indiana, just north of Indianapolis.

What are your hobbies? Dur. I knit, edit movies, mod video games, write fiction (sims and other), scuba dive, play board games, downhill ski, do amateur carpentry. I did some glassblowing in my 20s, and I’m finally getting a chance to take lessons! I do not specialize well. I also played the viola as a serious amateur. I bought a guitar and am going to try to learn to play so that I can sing and accompany myself.

Do you have any pets? One cat, down from 3 cats. Also one corn snake.

How tall are you? 5′4″ or 162 cm.

Fave subject in school? History, I think?

Dream job? I’m not sure all the stuff I’d want to do in a career can be digested down to 1 job. I’m pretty close to it at the moment, though. I write educational software on a small very family-like team at a university. Sometimes I fantasize about quitting and doing something with game modding that could somehow be profitable, but I’m sure if that were actually possible, I’d end up hating it because my hobby would then be my job.

Eye color? I have the exact eye color @zosa95 described in her reply to this meme.

It feels good to be tagged, but I still have this weirdo anxiety about tagging people. Plus this has mostly made the rounds. I’ll try @withlovefromayre, @declaration-of-dramas

[poisoned-peppermint]

Part 4 of incorrect quotes because i feel obligated to make more due to the sheer number of people who liked it

Dream: My dearest beloved fuckos, is a fun, gender-neutral way to begin a speech

George: See also, esteemed bastards

Bad: Gentlefolk, Ferals, and Domesticated cryptids. 

Sapnap: My fellow yees and haws

~~~~~~~

Techno:Hey I know skyrim is revered as a classic but are we just going to ignore the fact that the entire game only had like 3 voice actors

Wilbur:Stop right there criminal cum

Techno:My ancestors are smiling at me, bastard, can you say the same

~~~~~~~

Foolish:When's your bedtime :)

Purpled: Whenever I next collapse in purely up to the gods

~~~~~~

Ranboo:Human skin is a fursuit for skeletons 

Tubbo: i’m going to debone you like a fucking trout

~~~~~~

Bad:You’re enough

Bad: love yourself!!!!!!! or suffer my wrath!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dream:And by wrath I mean love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bad:no I mean wrath!!!!! You reading this, if you don't love yourself I’ll beat you with a stick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~~~~~~

Bad:I hope everyone is today well! And tomorrow!!!! After that you’re on your own.

~~~~~~

Bad:what am I supposed to do all day while you’re at work

Skeppy:I don’t know, what do you normally do while I’m gone

Bad: wait for you to get back

~~~~~~

Velvet:For my next stunt, I’ll wake up at 5am on the day I can sleep in

Ant:Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

Velvet:Early to bed and early to rise makes me a massive bitch

~~~~~~

Tubbo: 3:23 AM make a wish

Ranboo: I wish that you would go to sleep

Tuddo: Yeah well I wish I grew an inch taller every day as you get an inch shorter until you’re as flat as as a piece of paper and I’m 11 feet tall

Ranboo: You’re going to die of a mixture of skeletal instability and heart disease.

Tubbo: Yeah but I’ll look good while doing it.

~~~~~~

Bad:Disrespect me again and I’ll determine your bodies resonant frequency and play a jaunty horn solo that boils your miserable organs inside out 

~~~~~~

Quackity: If I were dating you?  Well, heh. Let’s just say horses wouldn't be called horses anymore

Karl: hey what the honk does this mean…..I’m shaking what does this mean!

~~~~~~

Skeppy: Are you ok?

Bad wrapped in a burrito blanket drinking his 6th cup of coffee: Yes, this is exactly what mental stability looks like

~~~~~~

Sam: My hands are cold

Ponk: *holds their hands*

Ponk: better?

Sam: My lips are cold too

~~~~~~

George at dream’s funeral: can I have a moment alone with them?

Sapnap: of course *leaves*

George leaning over dream’s casket: Now listen, I know you’re not dead.

Dream: yeah no shit

~~~~~~

Skeppy, jokingly: I should have Bad kill you for that.

Bad, peering around the corner: Who do I need to kill?

Skeppy: Wh- no, I was just kidding around.

Bad, pulling out a switchblade: No, who’s bothering you

~~~~~~

Bad *watching the news*: Some idiot tried to fight a squid at the aquarium.

Skeppy *covered in ink*: Maybe the squirt was being a dick.

~~~~~~

Peacock: *spreads feathers at Bad*

Skeppy: It’s trying to attract a mate

Bad, extremely confused: *shyly lifts top*

Skeppy: No!

~~~~~~

Sapnap: Karl, do you eat olives? My dad wants to know

Karl: No, I hate olives. Olives are the spawn of satan. I hate olives so much my mom forced me to live in Mount olive for the rest of my childhood as a curse from the olive gods. Do you understand how much olives have ruined my life? I'm so offended that you asked me that have some consideration for people who have been abused by olives please!

Sapnap: K A R L ……….they’re just olives!!?

Karl: JUST OLIVES EXCUSE!

~~~~~~

Tommy: If you’re bored you can simply close your eyes and rotate a cow in your mind. It’s free and the cops can’t stop you

~~~~~~

Wilbur: is there anyone even named sheldon irl?

Tubbo: my class turtle from 6th grade :)

Wilbur: that’s a turtle

Tubbo: When god sings with his creations, will a turtle not be part of the choir?

~~~~~~

Ranboo: No bcuz why do ppl like salad?? What’s so good about it

Tubbo: chew leaf like god intended

Ranboo: No

Tubbo: Abandon god and see what he does next time you lift your hands in prayer

~~~~~~~

Tommy: Guys, there’s a monster under my bed and it’s really ugly.

Wilbur, on the bottom bunk: Honestly, fuck you.

~~~~~~

Quackity: So according to the cease and desist order I got, apparently you can’t ‘legally’ be a lawyer if your license is ‘cut out of a cereal box’.

~~~~~~

Puffy: If you had too, what would you give up food or sex?

Bad: Sex.

Skeppy: Seriously, answer faster.

Bad: I’m sorry honey, when they said sex I wasn’t thinking about sex with you.

Skeppy: It’s like a giant hug.

Puffy: Ant, what about you? What would you give up sex or food?

Ant: Food.

Puffy: Okay, how about sex or dinosaurs?

Ant: ……...Oh my God it’s like the movie Sophie’s Choice.

Gumi: What about you Velvet? What would you give up sex or food?

Velvet: Oh… um… I don’t know, it’s too hard.

Gumi: No, you gotta pick one.

Velvet: Um, food… no, sex… no, food…sex… food. Ugh! I don’t know! I want both! I- I want Antfrost on bread!

~~~~~~~

Tommy, holding a gun: If the conspiracies about life being a simulation are true WHOEVERS CONTROLLING MY SIM I JUST WANNA TALK.

~~~~~~~

Bad: Why are you guys acting like this?

Boomer: Oh, we’re not acting. We really are like this.

~~~~~~

Techno: Dream has only knocked me out three times this week. Our friendship is really developing.

~~~~~~

Tommy: You’re pathetic!

Wilbur: You’re pathetic-er!

Techno: You’re both losers.

~~~~~~

Bad: I wish I could help you, but I shorn’t.

Skeppy: Bad, please!

Bad: What part of shorn’t don’t you understand?

~~~~~~

Tubbo: Why did you leave Wrestlemania on for Michal?

Ranboo: They need to learn how to protect us.

~~~~~~

Antfrost: I regret getting dragged into your heterosexual tomfoolery.

~~~~~~

Bad: Strawberry milk doesn’t taste like strawberry OR milk.

Skeppy: Go the fuck to sleep Bad!

Bad: LANGUAGE!!

~~~~~~

Ranboo: Tubbo, please calm down.

Tubbo: I asked for two large fries!

Tubbo: *dumps fries onto table*

Tubbo: But all they did was give me a MILLION FUCKING LITTLE ONES!

~~~~~~

Bad: That was the worst throw ever. Of all time.

Skeppy: Not my fault. Somebody put a wall in the way.

~~~~~~

Wilbur: When you’ve been on the internet for as long as I have, you develop thick skin.

Tommy: Navy blue isn’t your color.

Wilbur: Navy blue brings out my eyes you prick! *Chases after Tommy*

~~~~~~

Bad: *Pulls a glass a water from out of nowhere*

Puffy: Where did you get that?.

Bad: My pocket.

Puffy: How do you keep a glass of water in your pocket?

Bad: Skills.

~~~~~~

Tubbo: I will come to your house after work and knock on your window at 11 AM. You will not open the curtains, knowing full well what awaits you, but the knocking only grows louder, more demanding. Finally it stops, your ears ringing. You nervously let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. You're safe now. Minutes pass by and you start to relax. And then you hear a knock at the front door. Like before, you stay still and clutch the blankets around you. You try to tell your self that it's just your imagination. Maybe the milk man? But why would he come so late? Everyone else was asleep, save for Naomi who was playing video games down stairs. To your relief, the knocking stops after a few. Minutes and you breath easy once more. Until you hear a knock on your bedroom door. You don't move. It's just your imagination. She isn't here. She can't be here. You tell yourself, shutting your eyes and willing yourself to sleep. The knock comes again, but with horror you realize that it came from the closet inside your room. You know that you have no choice. You get up, climbing out of bed with shaking limbs. You walk to the closest, trembling, and holding back the tears threatening to spill over your porcelain cheeks. You hesitate with your hand over the closet handle. Maybe it's just your imagination? She's not really there. You can go to sleep and laugh it off in the morning. Your naive thoughts are cut off by another, more demanding knock on the closet door, inches from your face. You know what you have to do. You open the closet door, and there she stands. Chuck e cheese, the mouse looms over you in the dim light. It's soulless eyes boor into you. It raises its arms, and you flinch as it begins to floss at lightning speed. Tears spill over your cheeks. This is the last thing you'll ever see.

Ranboo: Wait, Chuck e cheese’s pronouns are she/her? Trans Chuck e cheese? Good for her.

~~~~~~~~

Bad: Would you like something to drink? *They opened the fridge* We have water, milk, juice, spiders, Dr. Pepper-

Quackity: Spiders?

Bad: Spiders it is then.

Quackity: No, that wasn’t-

*But they were already pouring him a brimming glass of spiders…

~~~~~~

Puffy : Make her pussy wet not her eyes.

Velvet : Make his dick hard not his life.

Punz : Break her bed not her heart.

Skeppy : Play with his boobs not his feelings. 

Ant : Get on his dick not his nerves.

Bad : Always salt your pasta while boiling it.

~~~~~~~

Wilbur: Bet you can’t eat 15 crayons!

Tommy: Bet you I can!

Phil: *sips coffee, checks to make sure 911 is still on speed dial, and goes back to reading the paper*

~~~~~~~

Ant: We need a way to lure in new customers?

Ponk: Maybe we could have some fun, interactive events!

Skeppy: Badboyhalo bath water.

Bad: ABSOLUTELY NOT!

~~~~~~~~

Fundy: GET BACK HERE YOU DUMB FUCK!

Wilbur: LET ME RUN FROM THE CONSEQUENCES OF MY ACTIONS!

~~~~~~~~

Bad: Mint is just cold spicy.

Pummel party Squad: …

Gumi: What the actual fuck is wrong with you.

~~~~~~~~

Quackity: Isn’t it amazing how I can feel so bad and still look so good?

~~~~~~~

Tommy: Why does my arm shake and turn bright red when I’m eating dirt?

Phil:

Phil: Why are you eating dirt?

Tommy: Did I ask you if I should eat dirt? No, so answer my question.

~~~~~~~

Tubbo: I wish I could control wasps and bees to sting my enemies.

Quackity: You’re too young to have enemies.

Tubbo: You don’t even know.

~~~~~~~~

Skeppy: Is there a cactus where your heart should be?

Puffy: What’s up your ass this morning!

Bad: *walks in* …Hi!!

Puffy: Hmm… nevermind.

Skeppy: WAIT NO!

~~~~~~~~

Skeppy: Ha! Don’t you know the trappers trap can trap the trapper?

Skeppy: I must be losing it, I’m quoting Bad.

~~~~~~~

Skeppy: Bad, I sense hostility.

Bad: Good, because I hate you

~~~~~~~

Bad: Are you a painting?

Skeppy: What-?

Bad: Because I want to pin you to a wall.

Skeppy: OH GOD I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO SAY YOU WANTED TO HANG ME OR SOMETHING-

~~~~~~

Tommy: You’re giving me a sticker?

Phil: Not just a sticker. That is a sticker of a kitty saying “me-wow!”

Tommy: I’m not a preschooler.

Phil: Fine, I’ll take it back-

Tommy: I earned this, back off!

~~~~~~

Dream, sweating: George, there’s something I need to ask you-

George: Finally! You’re proposing!

Dream: How’d you know?

George: Dream, you’ve dropped the ring five times during dinner.

George: I even picked it up once

~~~~~~~~

*Bad and Skeppy looking at a locked gate into a park*

Bad: Aw. :(

Skeppy: You know what they say.

Bad: Please don’t-

Skeppy: BE GAY DO CRIME! *hops gate*

Bad: Frick-

~~~~~~~~

let me know if ya’ll want more <3

[the-eldritch-it-gay]

hi!!! just wanted to ask what were your favorite sims 4 expansion packs or game packs!!

Ooooh, thats a toughie... I have all the packs so I tend to use them all, but I'll go over some of my favourites/most used and why!

Game Packs:

Spa Day

This is actually the first pack I got. I'm a big fan of the wellness skill (does wonders when trying to manage sims emotions) and the spa stuff (massages, saunas, yoga, etc). The aspirations as well can offer some good perks, I remember one of my sims completed a wellness aspiration and got the Calming Aura perk where they can calm everyone's emotions around them. Which is nice, so overall I like both the opportunity for my sims to relax and get pampered, as well as the benefit of wellness that helps with controlling and reducing negative emotions.

Realm of Magic

I'm quite biased to occult packs, since I really enjoy playing as occult sims and have historically had a preference for playing magic sims. Spells in the sims have some great abilities, and I've enjoyed having sims who can repair and clean with a simple spell, or summon food instantly. I think its a good fun pack, and I also like the nonbinary sage Morgyn Ember (I know technically he's not directly stated to be nonbinary or trans, but he has custom gender settings, masculine frame, feminine clothing preference, can't get pregnant or impregnate, can't use toilet standing).

Parenthood

I think this pack is great because it adds great features for parents and kids. New parenting skill, introduction of character values for toddlers-children-teens which can lead to bonus traits, school projects for sims to work on, parenting moments to influence character values, some nice objects for kids bedrooms. If you like having sims families and raising kids, then this pack is great.

Jungle Adventure*

The astrisk on this one is because mainly what I enjoy about this pack is the objects. Since I'm indulgent and like having Mexican or latin American sims, I often use a lot of the build mode objects for builds. The gameplay the pack introduces I'm not too fond of honestly, Selvadorada is a vacation world introduced in the pack, where your sims can go on Jungle Adventures and find relics and treasure in the temple ruins, and you can uncover and identify and sell or keep the artifacts you find. And that personally just feels. You know, more like a colonialist fantasy. And your sim can master the Selvadoradian Culture skill and be Just Like a Local and idk not the vibes I enjoy personally.

Werewolves

I just like werewolves :) It can be annoying managing it though. Werewolf sims have a Fury meter and if it maxes out they rampage uncontrollably, and werewolf sims also have temperaments which pick things that can increase their fury (such as my first werewolf sims first temperament was sensitive hearing, so basically any time a TV or radio was on for more than a few minutes he would get enraged and his Fury would spike). Personally I find the temperaments annoying, but with cheats its pretty easy to add/remove tempermants and fury. The difficultly with gameplay though is worth it because I really like the werewolf sims in the game (Kristopher Volkov, Lily Zhu, Wolfgang Wilder, Rory Oaklow)

Expansion packs:

Get to Work

While I only really ever play the Doctor and Scientist career (because I'm sure as fuck not gonna play a cop), I do enjoy the ability to follow sims to work and do tasks and such. It makes things more interesting to play. A solid way to spice up gameplay. The pack is still buggy, despite being released in like, what 2015? But overall I like the option of playing as a dr or scientist in a way that isn't just a rabbithole career.

City Living

I really enjoy City Living because of the apartments and because of the food. Its fun playing a sim living in the city, there's things that go on in the neighborhood, there are various festivals held that your sim can attend. If you like having realism or putting ur sims through difficult situations, dealing with loud neighbors or pushy neighbors or an apartment that needs TLC or an apartment that's haunted. Plus cheats can help with some apartment issues if you aren't a fan. The one thing I wish existed more was ability to like, edit an apartment building itself (you can change or edit or move exterior windows/doors at all). The other part I mentioned was food, and that's because there's like, 47? recipes introduced that your sim can only learn by eating at food stalls in the city. This includes things like curry, pho, ramen, taquitos, bahn mi, etc. It also introduces a special reward trait, spice hound (which means your sim wont get negative buffs from eating spicy food) and chopstick savvy (your sim wont struggle or be embarrassed when eating dishes that require chopsticks).

Island Living

Sulani, the world introduced in this pack, is really a beautiful place and the only place your sim can have a lot on the ocean. It also introduces mermaids as an occult sim you can play. Mermaids don't really have the same level of perks to other occult sims IMO, but they can be fun. Currently I'm playing through some generations of family in Sulani, so I've had some time enjoying the features of this pack. One feature I realized recently, is that one of the islands begins being rather polluted, with litter and algae and sad looking trees. And your sims can help conservation efforts and restore ecosystem of Mua Pel'am. It takes a lot of work but I rather enjoyed it seeing how the Island changes as you help local conservation efforts.

Discover University**

The astrisks here come from basically, I very frequently put my sims through university (which builds skill and gives you a jump start into careers). I don't utilize a lot of this pack, but I do use the university feature quite a lot! Sims can also live on campus and enjoy clubs and events on the campus, along with rabbithole things like attending classes, sitting in on guest lectures, tutoring students, visiting professor office hours. Largely I enjoy this pack for the story aspect of having my sims go to university, and I like how it builds skills (your sim can take an elective every term which you can select a class unrelated to the sims major where you can perhaps just build a skill you want ur sim to build). There's apparently a secret society somewhere you can join, but I only found that out through an accidental thing involving a mod.

Cottage Living

I might be biased because I'm someone who grew up around farms and graduated from an agriculture high school and I was a member of the FFA, but I really do enjoy this pack. One thing I enjoy is you can have a lot trait of "simple living" which your sim can only make food that they have ingredients for, but then each meal they make cost $0. Having a little farm or garden and ordering groceries every so often can lead to eliminating a lot of the costs of food and I also like the concept of my sims making all their food with ingredients. I also like having farm animals (cow, alpaca, chicken). Its just fun, very homey pack.

High School Living*

The astrsk here again comes from how I mainly like items and clothing from the game and don't care as much for the gameplay aspects. It introduces a lot of fun clothes and furniture and such, and the Social Bunny feature while annoying does give a way to easily increase and maintain relationships with sims without having to have your sim constantly going out and seeing their friends. The gameplay itself is fine, I suppose, following ur sims to highschool gets a bit boring at some point and really only is worth it when I feel like having my teen sim make friends or get a couple % points in a skill. The crushes feature (in which your sim can get a crush) is fine but can be a little annoying. The most annoying and the worst part is that like, sims will now barge into your house and ask to be best friends. Or love interests will barge in and ask to be your boyfriend/girlfriend. Or boyfriends/girlfriends will barge in and ask to marry you. And there's a known bug of adults asking child sims to be best friends and/or date them (it happened to a literal toddler sim I had). So, you know. Not great. Sometimes rather upsetting.

As a final note, I also really enjoy most of the packs but specifically: Courtyard Oasis, Fashion Street, Industrial Loft, Blooming Rooms, and Decor to the Max.

[butchbarbieagainstterfs]

I... The reason the Last of Us 2 was divisive was (spoilers if you care about the game) because they killed Joel so early on in the game and so brutally along with the fact that Ellie was completely blinded by revenge even to the point that she left her wife and child to pursue Abby again despite Abby letting Ellie live after her first attempt at revenge.

And there was a trans character, a trans boy, Lev, it's made very clear that he left his community because they wanted him to be a wife and child bearer because they had a very heavy gender role enforced society.

Here's Lev on the right, next to Abby the 2nd player character.

And going on to Dragon Age, in the latest game, Dragon Age Inquisition, the story revolves around you being at the center of a giant magical breach which threatens to destroy the world and its up to you and your followers to close the breach and beat the big bad who opened the breach in the first place, and there's also a trans character, Krem, who is extremely well written and isn't even a main character or a companion, but instead part of a group of mercenaries one of your companions commands.

The tags refer to a disclaimer at the beginning of every Assassins Creed game and one of the reasons they did it is because they're displaying multiple beliefs and treatment of demographics throughout different eras. It's only in the 2 recent mainline assassin creed games where you can choose to be a female protagonist and with both male or female characters you can be straight or gay. And as far as I know there's no mention of any trans character to any extent

The only other game that has a trans character besides Life is Strange is Cyberpunk 2077, and she is also a side character who is decently written.

And yes you can create a "trans" character for yourself by choosing your genitals but choosing your voice tone basically dictates whether the world refers to you as a he or she

Like it's a very bare bones thing and IT'S COMPLETELY OPTIONAL

So basically, FITs are full of shit, as a Game Designer and an avid gamer, they need to shut the fuck up with these blatant lies, this is literally no different from conservatives losing their shit over any game that allows for you to have a gay relationship

Sjjdjdjd wow they never stop talking out of their bums, do they? 🤦🏻 Sims 4 has the option of making trans characters (you unfortunately can’t really make nb characters tho) and a lot of people enjoy that game! They’re so threatened and obsessed by any kind of trans rep, it’s quite scary tbh

[tallblondasian]

Super Long Ranking of HifL Kids that No One Asked For

I don’t like it when dating sims include an epilogue or seasons where the MC and love interest have kids because usually those kids are annoying and I don’t really want to have kids irl. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to go through the Lovestruck routes where the MC does have spawn to rank said spawn from worst to best (according to my correct opinion). Starting with the Havenfall is for Lovers kids because I’ve finished all those routes.

The nice thing about Havenfall is that in most of the routes you don’t have kids. This helps keep the story more open-ended for readers to imagine their own ending and doesn’t alienate players that don’t like kids. Only Razi and Mackenzie fall into the trap of making the player reproduce and in Mackenzie’s case it’s just absolutely insane bananas how you’re even able to have biological children. Werewolves for some reason have an ancient moon ritual that allows lesbians to get pregnant with each other? Like why? What’s wrong with fostering kids or adopting them? Or just using a sperm donor?

 The whole werewolf lesbian pregnancy thing felt way too dumb even for a story like this. Also the fact that the main character keeps the same outfit from the main story while she’s pregnant was hilarious to me. I know that they did that to save money and it’s cartoon logic where they’re not actually supposed to be wearing the same clothes every day but I like to believe that nobody bought MC maternity clothes and she actually just kept wearing this one shirt every day.

5. Twyla is worst child of Havenfall. I’m sorry if you disagree. But a 13 year old werewolf (who also finds out she’s an alpha because of course MC and Mackenzie can’t just have an average or non-werewolf child, oh no, they’ve got to have TRIPLETS and all of them are able to shift and one is a super-rare alpha like Mackenzie because everything just has to be perfect and whoop dee doo).

Twyla is annoying. She’s vegan, but not a cool vegan. She’s one of those that tries to guilt other people for not also being vegan. She’s also just so perfect and effortlessly gifted and that’s annoying. Everybody babies her because she’s a new wolf and she’s so young and blah blah I don’t care. See? This is why I’m not a parent in real life. If I was Twyla’s moms I would tell her to stop being a brat to her siblings and go eat some asparagus until she calms down. Also the second half of Mackenzie’s season 10 is just going after Twyla because she runs away from home because she’s all pissy about her cool new werewolf superpowers. Some of us got acne, periods, and ugly in middle school but Twyla gets to be an alpha werewolf and throws a fit about it. Cry me a river, kid.

4. WADE. So you know how I mentioned how it’s super ridiculous that the werewolves have a magical lesbian pregnancy ritual? Well it’s even more ridiculous that said ritual was able to produce a child with a Y chromosome when neither of the parents has a Y chromosome. Now, you could assume that maybe Wade is trans or intersex or something, but during Mackenzie’s extra story that features the birth of the triplets MC gives the baby a boy name right out of the gate, and Lovestruck is usually open with a character’s gender identity/sexual orientation if they’re not cisgender or straight, so we’re just left to believe that the werewolf lesbian pregnancy sex magic can also create cisgender males out of thin air apparently.

Aside from that, Wade is just kind of there. He’s boring. He likes comic books like Mackenzie which is cute, and he has glasses like the MC, but aside from that he’s totally overshadowed by his sisters and seems like a pointless addition to the story. It seems like the only reason they didn’t just let Mac and the MC have twin girls is because another Lovestruck story (Medusa from Astoria: Fate’s Kiss) already featured twin daughters, so they wanted to make this story different.

Also Wade’s werewolf form looks wonky. I think it’s the fact that his lack of human ears is so noticeable with his short hair. It just looks dumb.

3. ISSA is the least annoying Hunt child. She’s energetic and kind of a loose canon compared to her stuffy sister but that makes her more fun. She’s excited to be a werewolf which would also totally be my reaction to being a werewolf so I’m kind of biased towards her. Plus she’s always telling her sister off (like when Twyla almost kills a rabbit while in werewolf form and she freaks out but Issa is like “bitch, calm down” I was like “yes, Issa, tell her off.” I wish we got to see more of Issa but of course season 10 becomes the Twyla show when she runs away from home so Issa also gets overshadowed like Wade. 

2. Roxie/Rokshana is the best child of Havenfall. She’s laid-back and fun and the story of Razi’s season 8 revolving around her makes more sense story-wise because in the previous season the villain (Baba Yaga) basically dropped a fairy tale curse on MC and Razi by saying that she’s going to come take their first-born child when that child is 16. She’s also a teen but in a less annoying way than Twyla is, like Roxie gets in trouble by staying out of the house and not telling her parents but she doesn’t act as whiny or throw as big of a fit like Twyla does when she’s called out. It’s probably because she’s older but I just found Roxie less annoying than the Hunt kids in general. Maybe due to the way she was written, maybe because she has a cool nose-piercing and is just better designed, idk.

1. AND THE BEST CHILD OF THE HAVENFALL ROUTES IS: the Hellhound puppies from Diego’s season 10. That’s right. I’m counting them, I believe dog parents are just as valid as parents of human/werewolf or human/djinn kids. DEAL WITH IT. Diego’s route is kind of off to me because the pacing and story just felt dragged out throughout the seasons, and I’m personally not a huge Diego fan in general (Antonio >>>>> Diego and I will die on this hill). Part of that is because most of Diego’s seasons just felt very meandering and like the story just kept pulling things out of its ass to keep going. 

So when season 10 just decided to abandon any pretense of being important or having stakes and instead decided to focus on dog shenanigans I was like “this is GREAT”. I would almost count Spike as a Havenfall child but Spike is already an adult and he is his own dog, The citizens of Havenfall actually have to raise the puppies and we get THE GREATEST CG OF ALL TIME because of them. 

RUNNERS UP:

5.5: the unborn Hunt twins. As if having teenage triplets was not enough, in Mackenzie’s route the writer decided to kick me while I was down and make the MC pregnant AGAIN through some more werewolf magic BS (they didn’t even do the lesbian werewolf pregnancy ritual again but somehow MC gets pregnant because of some asspull reason because Mackenzie’s season 10 decided to try to become my idea of a nightmare existence). Thankfully we don’t get to see the results of this pregnancy plotline because the season ends before these two are born.

Mackenzie’s route in general is my second favorite Havenfall route after Antonio’s but her season 10 really went off the rails for me and in my mind I like to pretend her route ends at season 9 after the wedding to MC, because the idea of just reproducing litters of annoying werewolf children forever is the worst thing in the world. I would rather die, man.

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: January 28th, 2021 (Part 2)

Here we’ve got asks that aren’t to ask a question but are just really nice messages. Thank you all for sending us such kind comments ;v;. It’s seriously heartwarming to see so many people having good experiences with the game. I don’t even know what to say to such sweet responses.

We’ll keep doing our best and thank you again to each and every one of you for giving Our Life a chance ❤!

Hello! I've been following this account and have been following the development of 'Our Life' for a few months now, and I just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work and dedication you have put into the game. It astonishes me how much choice you have during the sequence of Our Life and am excited to play the full version now, I am downloading it as I write this message. I've had a great time seeing the demo transition into to the full game and just wanted to write two words. Thank you.

Anhhhhffbgdfbhujk!!! Congratulations on the release, I’m playing the game right now! Thank you all for your hard work and I can’t wait for the Step 3 DLC to come out, I’ll probably wait for the Step 3 DLC to come out to experience everything, but until then, I still have a lot to play. Thank you once again!

finished my first playthrough just now. it just felt so wholesome ??? 100/10 would do it again. i laughed. i cried. i got angry. i felt second-hand embrassment— i got so into it i was left in literal tears after getting my first ending. the art, the storyline, the music, and COVE HOLDEN– UGH IT WAS LITERAL PERFECTION ❤ THE WAIT WAS WORTH IT. THANK YOU FOR MAKING SUCH AN AMAZING GAME 🥺😭 this made my 2020 better, i can't wait for step 4 in 2021 ❤❤

So I was following you guys on itchio for years and uhh did I stay up til 6 am on a school night to finish the game? Yes. Did I sob my eyes out during step 3 as a 20 year old having doubts about life and adulthood? Absolutely. I can't form proper sentences right now due to lack of sleep but just wanted to say thank you for making it. I honestly feel lighter and I feel like it changed my views on future to be more optimistic... I can't wait to replay it! Thanks again!

I love how Our Life turned out!! I keep replaying it and can't stop squeaking and giggling!! Thank You for creating it ♥

okay i have actually fallen in love with cove and cannot WAIT to marry him 😭

Hi! I played through 'Our Life' yesterday and  I just wanna say how refreshing it was to be able to have Cove be 'high initiative' and also have so many opportunities to initiate affection from the player character! As a pretty flirtatious/affectionate person myself, I notice that a lot of VNs don't give players that agency, and affection can be kinda 'carrot on a stick' if that makes sense. You guys did an awesome job! I look forward to seeing if there are more of those moments in Step 3 & 4 :)

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the option to choose Cove's level of initiative in step 3! As much I love the option to choose I personally enjoy have the romanced character take the lead without my input so when I got to step 3 and had to option to make it so that Cove initiated affection without as much input from me I was really happy! You guys seriously added so much freedom in terms of choices, it's almost baffling that the only thing you have to pay for is optional DLC!

I absolutely loved everything about the game and I really want congratulate the team for making the game such a satisfying experience.

I look forward to step 4

❤️❤️❤️❤️

* and sorry for my bad English

Just finished my first play through and I loved it! I've been looking forward to the game and it definitely was worth the wait. Thank you all for your hard work and can't wait for the extra dlc!

Till then, hope you guys gets some well deserved rest🤗

Love you guys, thank you so much for your hard work. :)

Ok, so I just finished Our Life and, wow. I have never cried at a video game before, ever. Thank you so, so much! Its one of my favorites.

this isn't a question, but i just wanted to say how much i enjoyed our life 🥺 i've been patiently looking forward to the full game for a few months now, and i couldn't be happier with it! i've only played through it once so far but the outcomes of the choices i made were all so soft and wholesome 💗 i can tell that everyone who was involved really worked hard and you all did an incredible job! i can't wait to see what else is in store 👍

i’d just like to say how addictive our life is!!! i constantly played it during quarantine and now playing the full release is so amazing to me!! i love that i’m still discovering dialogue bits with different personalities and actions!!! i have to admit that i’ve been wishing the day to pass faster all day during school so i could go home and play again. mentally i’m not the healthiest and our life being released has boosted it up so much, thank you for creating such an amazing game!!!!!

Hey, I just wanna say I played our life two times and it still give me the same feelings. I was really looking forward to this game before it came out and I kept on replaying the demo. This game is such an amazing experience and I feel so happy playing it. I am not really a person good with words unfortunately but I do honestly love this more than anything in the world. Thank you for making it and I hope that you will continue to make more games like our life. This game really makes me happy and I can't thank you enough

Just wanted to say that Our Life really made me feel seen as an 18 year old trans man who's been struggling with change as of late and I can't thank you guys enough for it. I just finished the main story and currently released DLC's and gosh, I can really only say... woah. Just, woah. The messages are somehow exactly what I needed to hear right now, and they brought me a lot of comfort in this really weird and confusing time in my life. Can't wait to see what comes next in this lovely story <3

I am honestly in love with Our Life. The graphics, the soundtrack its just *chef's kiss* It was so worth the wait for it. I can't wait for step 4. Keep up the good work GB Patch!

good people i have just finished Our Life and let me say, it was beautiful. rarely have such non-fantastical moments (and even some fantastical moments) brought me to tears like this game has, and i don't even have the dlc (yet). i don't know how you did it but it felt like i was playing a slice of life anime. i had waited with baited breath to play this since i played the demo and my expectations were not just met but surpassed. from the bottom of my heart thank you for this game

I found the game by chance and I am so so glad I did. It’s so inclusive and made me feel so incredibly seen. Seeing that my gender identity and sexuality were possible just meant the absolute world to me. I’ve never seen something like this and it just made me so incredibly happy. Thank you for the absolutely amazing game and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Hello! I downloaded Our life earlier this week and I'm only now getting the chance to play it (Very busy and stressful week) I'm so excited to play and I wanna say thank you for making this adorable game!

I just finished my first playthrough of Our Life and I can't even express how much I love it. Cove is absolutely precious and has killed me several times, and the art and soundtrack is beautiful. I love all the small different choices. I'm very interested in the Derek and Baxter DLCs and the rest, can't wait!!!!!!

thank you for "Our Life Beginnings & Always" it has to be one of the best visual novels i ever have played and i just dont want it to end (i know it will, but damn it! i want to have a wedding night, have children and die of old age with cole! XD) when i play it it always makes me tear up (in a good way) and i am most definetly going to buy all the dlc that you make! thank you for this lovely game and all the work that went into it! (ps: i also loved "lake of voices" )

You guys are incredibly talented and im very proud of you all! You've really outdone yourselves w/ OL and i cant wait to see whats next to come for you all :)

i really love that you can be trans in Our Life! not a lot of games do that so i just wanted to say thank you!

Guuyyss!! I just wanna say! Thank you sm for the headscarf option in the MC creator! I especially loved that little detail where MC quickly slips the headscarf on before greeting Cove, I've never felt so immersed :'D Not that the rest of the game wasn't immersive btw, but since I wear my hijab most of the time that little addition really felt like something I would do! So thank you for that <3

I've been watching "Our Life: Beginnings & Always" development for quite some time, and I gotta say its wild to see it finally release. Its so unique in the way relationships work- even character creation. I've cried multiple times over this game while playing. I can't thank y'all enough for a game with these kind of mechanics, and representation. its rare I get to feel im really playing as myself in games like these. Everyones outdone themselves. this'll certainly be one I keep coming back to.

I've been following the development of Our Life from way back when the first demo dropped and it still blows my mind how many choices and customizations there are (love that update for the MC's bedroom btw!) and the fact that the game remembers them - it really feels like your very own coming of age story! I was so immersed I cried at the end :') Can't believe I experienced this game for free lol. I can't wait for future DLCs and Step 4! Good luck with all your upcoming projects dev team!!

Just wanted to say I love Our Life and I'm thankful it exists. Thank you so much! I love the little world you created and all the people in it. Especially Cove! This game makes me so happy!

Just poping in to say hi and that ilu guys ^^, remember to take care of yourselves!

Hi!! I just wanna thank you for creating such an amazing game. Our Life is one of the few dating sims I’ve found that let’s me be a male mc, it’s really hard to find dating sims that let me be gay. Our Life is my new favorite dating sim to just sit down and playthrough whenever I’m having a bad day so I just wanted to let y’all know how much I appreciate all you’ve done. 🤍

Fan from australia here

Just wanted to reach out and let you know how important this game has been to me. I came across it at a really rough time ( that I’m still going through ) and it’s been one of the things that’s driven me to get up and out of bed sometimes.

This game and cove both hold a very special place in my heart and I can’t wait to see more of him in the DLC and Step 4

Much love ♥️

I know this isnt exactly the main focus of the game, but i really love how we can customise the mc personality wise! This is the first time i've played a game like this where the mc actually does and says exactly what I would do and say in certain situations and its such a breath of fresh air!! It's also so cool how the other characters can pick up on it!!

Cove Holden saved 2020 (my 2020 anyways) I would die for him

Sorry for this being out of the blue, but after playing through Our Life I wanted to thank you for the experience. I don’t know if I’ve ever played a game that has made me cry happy tears TWICE lol. It’s beautiful, scenic, inclusive, and absolutely amazing..have a great rest of 2020 and I honestly cannot wait for the rest of it :,) (ps. The ending song is stuck in my head)

I think you guys might've ruined visual novels for me forever. I'm not sure I'll be able to play another without comparing it to Our Life and I know if I do that I'll be disappointed every time because of how amazing it is. I bought the DLCs before playing the base game it's one of the best impulsive purchases I've ever made

Thank you so much for making our life! It's my favorite visual novel ever and I just can't articulate how much being able to just be honest with my responses instead of going for whatever would make the love interest happy means to me? I reccomended it to evry friend I have that plays visual novels because this is the best one I've ever played!

Just wanted to say that I absolutely adore this game! The childhood friends tropes is my favorite thing and this game delivers! Cove is the sweetest thing, infact all the boys are good boys. Super excited for all upcoming dlcs!

Hi, I just want to thank you for making such an amazing game like Our Life. Tbh, I was following the game’s development for a while, but me and my family moved away from my childhood town just a few days before release, so I really connected to this game. You all did amazing!

hey just wanted to know that i completely loved ol: b&a and it was so good and love cove more than i’ve liked any fictional character, it’s now my comfort media. thank you so much

hi i just wanna say i really enjoyed all of the representation in our life b&a! there were characters with a lot of different body shapes, pic characters, lgbtq+ characters, and you get to choose your own pronouns and sexuality!!! so tysm!!

This isn't a question, I just wanted to say that Our Life is incredible. Ever since I finished it, I've been looking for other visual novels to play so I don't play OL so often that I start memorizing the lines before all the DLC comes out, but I keep coming back to it. It's really one of a kind, I think you all ruined other visual novels for me because I haven't enjoyed another VN like I have this one since I read it ❤.

i think our life b&a is the first game where i felt like cove loved me, not the character i play as which is really nice for someone with kinda low self esteem so THANK YOU

I’ve been playing Our Life practically nonstop since yesterday. I just want everyone who worked on it to know how much the LGBTQ inclusivity means to me. As a closeted trans ace guy in an unsupportive household, I can’t emphasize how much of a comfort this game has been to me. Everything about it is so wholesome and heartfelt. I’m excited to see what other games you make in the future 💙

- A demibiromantic ace transgender man who may or may not have cried over the option to be myself in a game for the first time ever

Csn i just say i really appreciate how you handled MC deciding to use they/them at different stages. Mainly because alot of games don't pay much attention to the body the mc was assigned at birth if they player chooses nonbinary like it does with male/female. And it was just nice to be able to play an mc who just thought gender was kinda 'meh' for them but still felt good about the body they were born with (like myself). I guesd it boils down I'm really appreciative of the hard work it must've taken for you to make all those options possible & still have them matter.

I just wanted to thank you all for Our Life. My mental health hasn't been in a good place recently and it has become my favorite form of escapism/way to cheer up. It's idyllic setting and fantastic characters are such a good way to wind down, I love it. Also, I've been dreading 2021 due to classes starting and general stress, but the DLC and your next project have given me something to actually look forward to :). I'm so excited for them and now I actually have a reason to be happy that it's 2021. Sorry if this message is a bit weird, I just wanted to thank the team for their hard work and for creating something so incredible <3

I've gotta say this is one of the most repayable games I've ever played, if not the most. Usually after i do a playthrough or two of a game i have to wait awhile before playing again otherwise it feels stale. But i haven't had that problem with our life because of the sheer ammount of player agency. Everyone who works on tbe game should feel incredibly proud of themselves because you've created something amazing.

I just wanted to say thank you for Our Life. I'm sure you get this a lot, but it really pulled me out of a mentally tough spot in my life. So thank you.

who needs therapy when you have our life: beginnings and always? haha no but seriously this game is my comfort game, and even though i can’t join your patreon at the moment please know i am always supporting you and i am so excited to see everything you have in store! everyone who works on the games is so so talented

All DLCs have nice content. 😡😡

And I love them all!!💗💗💗💖💖💖💕💕💕

[promptsausandshit]

Picture this; #411

A Month of LGBT+ Prompts;

(Note; While the goal is to do one a day, please go at your own pace, this is for fun after all!)

1.  She had not been keen to go bowling with some strangers but now she couldn’t take her eyes of the girl in the 80′s get up and couldn’t care less if she missed every time.

2.  Coming out to via interior decoration wasn’t the first option they would have gone with but their best friend had at least made it tasteful.

3.  Unknown to most, the lead singers of supposedly rival bands are all members of the same polycule, several of their biggest hits are about each other.

4.  “Have you seen my partner? About so high, questionable fashion sense, likely holding a dog and laughing maniacally.”

5.  A shoal of trans mers have decided to take in this lost werewolf as one of their own.

6.  Engineer was excited to reveal the upgraded prosthetic he had designed for his boyfriend.

7.  Adoption was thrilling as it was nerve-wracking, even more so when several of your kids weren’t human with varying levels of understanding of gender.

8.  “Be warned, the first time I talked to him I realised I wasn’t straight, so if you’re not ready to potentially be hit with sudden realisation you might want to take a minute.”

9.  They freaking loved the fashion of this planet, their fabric shifted shape, style and colour according to the wearers mood and preference, meaning their days of fussing in front of a mirror were over.

10.  Bi lovers bemoan how oblivious their collection of friends and former crushes are to their charming nature.

11.  They loved their team mates, they really did, but not enough to deal with all of them being so nosy and doing poor job of hiding to spy on their first date. Luckily their date had a plan.

12.  A prince sent on a mission to save a princess from an evil king ends up in an unlikely alliance with said kings son, soon enough their partnership becomes a lot closer than either expected.

13.  “The only binary I follow is that of 01010011 01010100 01000110 01010101.”

14.  Social awkward lesbian just really wants to be able to give the lead actress a bouquet and ask her out like a normal person.

15.  A battered ragdoll becomes enamoured with a cracked porcelain doll.

16.  Single mother regularly buys new books for their child from a particular book store so she can talk a little longer with the writer that often hangs around the cooking section.

17.  Just the daily lives of an aromantic god of love, the asexual god of lust and the pansexual god of death as they observe their favourite mortals.

18.  It had been three years since they had completed the transition, and now he was was going to ask the best woman in the world to be his wife.

19.  “Thankyou for trusting me and know my love for you is unchanged, but don’t think that suddenly coming out is enough to distract me from that portal in the kitchen.”

20.  Old painter loves to give out free face painting sessions during Pride, individualising each design to give each costumer a little special encouragement.

21.  They had been peacefully driving their ship around the solar system when suddenly their was a star skinned person stuck to their window and staring at them.

22.  Of all the universes they could have been transported to it was that of a dating sim, well, time to set up this assortment of strange characters with people that were actually interested in that sort of thing.

23.  The princess has become infatuated with the local bog witch, at least they’re not evil this time.

24. Labels never really suited them, each day their feelings and preferences shifted around making it impossible to simplify it to one category, so they stuck to collecting clothes that had suitable quotes to define their self for the day.

25. Superhero is delighted to find out that their boyfriend got the staring role for the latest superhero movie.

26.  Music shop owner can tell when confused and questioning kids need a little motivation and suggests particular musicians and albums they think will make them feel less alone.

27.  Genderfluid skeleton ends up working as a model for a photographer, allowing for them both to express themselves through art.

28.  “Oh right, I have a daughter now, turns out she was the one whose been swiping my hair pins. We’re going shopping this weekend.”

29.  Getting lost in the woods isn’t all that bad when a cute hiker finds you and lets you hold their hand so you won’t get lost again.

30.  Dragons love drag queens, they’re always so shiny and colourful.

31.  How do two characters fitting the con artist and the wise fool archetypes fall in love in an office setting?

Completion Bonus!;

Do a one shot or a sketch for something you love that you haven’t had the chance to do for a while! Or read one chapter of an unfinished story! Or watch one episode or movie of that thing you like! Satisfy whatever urge you have right now, you have all the time in the world for this so relax and treat yourself, you did great!

[beholdme]

All the Many Shades of Gerry - Chapter 7

Chapters: 7/19

Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Gerard Keay/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood/Gerard Keay, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Gerard Keay/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist

Characters: Martin Blackwood, Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Gerard Keay, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Sasha James, Gertrude Robinson, Elias Bouchard

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Library AU, Librarian Jon, Artist Gerry, Trans Male Character, Trans Martin Blackwood, Canon Asexual Character, Asexual Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Ace Subtype - Sex Positive, Polyamory, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Romantic Fluff, Falling In Love, Boys in Skirts, Kissing, Demisexual Gerard Keay, Minor Character Death, Past Character Death, Canon-Typical Child Neglect, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Flirting, Minor Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist/Tim Stoker, Adventures in Hair Dying, Happy Ending, Banter, Gerry has a lot of sass, Gerard Keay is Morticia Adams, Jon is a very grumpy Librarian, Martin adores them anyway.

Summary: In which Gerry is a kaleidoscope and Jon and Martin can’t help falling in love with him.

He happens to love them back.

Find it on Ao3

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

They are absolutely trashing Martin's bathroom, but he can't bring himself to mind. Not even if it costs him the security deposit on his ridiculous, tiny flat.

Gerry is sitting in the empty bathtub, stripped to his briefs, laughing so hard that tears roll down his checks, tracking black eyeliner with them, and Jon is sitting on the edge of the tub and trying to keep track of which pieces of hair have been dyed while Gerry refuses to keep his head still. Martin is sitting on the floor next to them and holding the bowls of varying shades of purple dye.

The dye itself is flying everywhere, between four hands attempting to apply it and Gerry's apparent inability to keep stationary and stop laughing for even one second.

"Gerry! Keep still," Jon yells in his best teacher voice. His imperious tone is demanding, but the grin on his face rather undercuts it.

"Can't," Gerry insists, pulling his head down (with dye covered hands) to press their lips together. The kiss is sweet, but Jon doesn't appreciate all the new places it covers him in hair dye.

"Gerry, it might all go more smoothly if you just let Jon and I do it for you." Martin advises him.

Gerry pouts, "Letting the men in my life just do things without my participation wouldn't be a very 'strong independent woman' move on my part."

"You're not a woman," Jon points out drolly, "Besides, what does that say about me, with the way you two are always arranging to pay for everything we do and everywhere we go?"

"It says you have two incredibly attractive men who like to do nice things for you." Martin tells him firmly, as he always does when the topic arises. They all hear Jon's eyes roll.

"Gerry," Martin starts in the voice he knows gets just the right response from him. "Stop being a brat and. Sit. Still."

Gerry sits still. Martin kisses him to inspire continued good behavior, and Gerry's teal eyes practically glow in a way that fills Martin with supreme satisfaction.

With their target stationary, Martin and Jon make quick work of Gerry's remaining hair.

He is ordered to stay put in the bathtub while it sits, and Martin starts cleaning up the bathroom. Jon heads into the shower to avoid being dyed in a plethora of bizarre places.

Martin goes to return the dye to Gerry's hair product box, and pauses with his hand in it.

Gerry, sensing Martin's distraction, jumps up to go over and stand behind him. Martin settles back into the warmth of his chest, and Gerry's arms snake around him.

"You would look very fetching in that colour," Gerry whispers enticingly in Martin's ear.

"You think?" Martin murmurs back, eyebrows rising in consideration.

"Yes," he replies, leaning forward to bite Martin's ear lightly. "Please."

"Whatever might you two be consorting about over there," Jon demands cheerily, emerging from the shower wrapped in his towel.

"Martin was just about to agree to become the next hair dying victim." Gerry informs him confidently, snaking an arm around Jon's shoulders and bringing him in close so he too can see the bottle sitting in Martin's hand.

"Oh." Jon says in a reverent sort of voice. "Yes, I think that's a very good idea indeed."

***

Martin sits still much better than Gerry did, and Gerry does his hair himself, Jon having already rid himself of persistent stains and wandered off to make something for lunch.

Gerry pushes Martin in front of a mirror (not Martin’s favourite pastime, but for Gerry, he suffers it) and they both look at him. Gerry grins. “It’ll look better in the end obviously, but what do you think, love?”

“I like it, actually.” Martin whispers, like a confession.

“Actually? I expect more self-confidence than that from my masterpieces, babe.” They laugh and sway together in front of the mirror.

“I love it, thank you.” Martin turns in Gerry’s arms and they kiss slowly and thoroughly.

Martin presses his hands along Gerry’s bare sides and up along his spine, where he knows a line of eyes is inked along each vertebrae.

Gerry keeps his hands on Martin’s chest, in an effort to keep their respective hair dye where it belongs, although his hands cling to Martin's shoulders and push and pull in response to their movements.

“Really you two? I leave you alone for 5 minutes and you’re both half naked and making out?” Jon interrupts them from the doorway, his words soft and appreciative.

“We could be even more naked, if you're interested in that?” Gerry offers, winking at him.

“Could we?” Martin asks, apparently just wondering out loud.

Gerry raises a suggestive eyebrow at him. “We definitely could be.” Gerry smirks, "You are familiar with how nudity works, yes?" He illustrates his point by pulling at the waistband of Martin's briefs and letting them snap back into his hip.

"Yes, I am familiar." Martin growls into his mouth, biting his lip for good measure. "Care to join, Jon?"

"Maybe when there's less hair dye on the table, so to speak. Ger, your timer went off, you'd better jump into the shower and wash off."

"Yes, sir." Gerry pecks Martin one last time, salutes Jon and strips off to hop into the shower.

Martin flushes at his casual nudity, and a heavy look passes between him and Jon.

Taken with Martin's pink laden head, Jon can't resist going over and pressing just one kiss to Martin's soft lips.

**

Later, when the bathroom is clean and everyone has washed, dry hair, they all pile around Martin's sitting room, a documentary playing softly in the background. Martin's new soft pink hair looks even better dry and Jon had whispered to Gerry conspiratorially that it reminded him of Martin's sweet early morning blush.

Martin is braiding Gerry's now wildly purple hair, and Gerry has convinced a reluctant Jon to let him paint his nails.

"We really shouldn't." Jon protests, even as Gerry paints on the base coat. His own nails are painted black, of course. His artist's eye appreciates Jon's neat, smooth nails, and he considers what kind of tiny designs he might be able to sneak onto them at some point.

"Why not? I used to paint your nails all the time when we were younger. That's where I got most of my early practice."

"I'm not a teenager anymore, Gerard. I have a professional job!" Jon complains, but Gerry knows these are only nerves, not lack of desire.

"Oooh, Gerard!" Martin coos, before tumbling into a laugh. "There's nothing in the dress code that says you can't have painted nails, Jon. And we all know you like having them done."

"That's meant for women, and you know it, Martin." Jon protests.

Gerry and Martin both stop their tasks abruptly to stare at him. "Jon, babe," Gerry can barely contain himself. "You are wearing a skirt. Martin has pink hair. I'm getting my absurdly long hair braided - into pigtails. I don't think any of us are exactly paragons of toxic masculine stereotypes."

"Besides," Martin adds, when he can speak calmly without tumbling into hysterical laughter, "there's no gender specific dress code at the library. All it says is 'If nails are painted, they must be neat and unchipped.'"

Jon looks askance at both of them, crossing his skirt clad legs primly.

"Come on," Gerry encourages gently, "It's just this one time. If you don't like it, we can take it off before you go to work on Monday morning. Or while you're at work on Monday. Or in an hour. Or anytime at all. It's just one small adventure."

"I know it's been a while, love." Martin pitches in, "But, don't worry, Gerry will be gentle."

Jon ends up with green nails, which he likes very much. Gerry is enamored with his braids, and begs Martin to teach him to do it himself. Martin is simply delighted to have a house full of laughter and colour for the first time in his life.

[fuckwritersblock]

I’ve seen a few posts asking for recommendations for romance interactive/visual novels and finally I decided it would be better to just post about it rather than replying. Note that I have been playing this genre for years but I also am picky. There are some games that I have played which I would not necessarily rec*.

Interactive Novels (Purely text based)

The Wayhaven Chronicles (Mobile, Steam)

Creme de la Creme (Mobile, Steam)

Tally Ho (Mobile, Steam)

**Fallen Hero: Rebirth (Mobile, Steam)

Visual Novels

Arcade Spirits (PS 4, Switch, Xbox One, Steam, itch.io)

Choices (Mobile)

Dream Daddy (PS 4, Switch, Steam, Humble, Mobile)

A Rose in Winter (Steam, Itch.io)

You should also watch out for “Best Friend Forever” (Switch/Steam/Itch.io) and download the demo. I also personally have not yet played “Butterfly Soup” but I hear great things about it.

If you want to know more about the games along with the pros and cons are for each game (in my opinion) check under the cut. but it is. Long.

Interactive Novels

The Wayhaven Chronicles - Fantasy/romance. You play as a detective who has been tasked to solve a murder in your small town of Wayhaven. You have been tasked with agents from a mysterious agency, Unit Bravo, to help you. But are they all that they seem? 

Pros:

Sexy vampires. (This is not a spoiler it’s literally in the description of the game.)

The writing is incredible. Mishka Jenkins knows the tropes and uses them expertly.

The romances are all very good in their own unique way.

All of the characters are well developed and interesting.

There are two books of this series out!

Cons:

ACAB. And you play a detective at a station where there’s literally a state where you either are “by the book” or “bend the rules” so like. Not great.

There are two books out of seven for the series so know you will be left wanting more.

You can play as non-binary and there are a couple of background non-binary characters in the story but there are no non-binary romances.

Creme de la Creme - Adventure/romance (if you’re into dark academia, this is for you). You play as a student sent to a finishing school and are expected to bring prestige back to the family name.

Pros:

This plot takes some turns y’all.

You can play as non-binary and there also can be non-binary romance options!

There is aro/ace representation!!

Hannah Powell-Smith is married to a woman so like nice.

Cons:

There is some commentary that sometimes works well and sometimes falls flat. Mainly the critique on power and the upper class works well until the endings where many still benefit from this without characters putting much more thought in it.

Tally Ho - Comedy/Romance. Inspired by Wooster and Jeeves. You play a servant living in London during 1930′s. You work for Rory Wintermint, and must accompany them to their Aunt Primrose’s estate. Hijinks ensue.

Pros:

Light and fun and adorable.

Romances 

There are some really funny moments in this.

Cons:

This was one of my first interactive novels and I have spent hours and hours on this game and there are still achievements that I have absolutely no idea how to achieve.

It’s a light and airy game so know that if romance is your thing, it doesn’t delve as deep into those relationships as other games on here.

You can play with they/them pronouns but there is no other non-binary characters.

Fallen Hero: Rebirth - Action/Superhero. You play a former hero that has started acting on your plan to become a supervllian. You must work against your original crew and that gets. Complicated.

(**Heads up, this is a very good game it’s not romance-focused. I also have not replayed it in some time. and other people could describe it better than I have. So if this short description sounds interesting, I recommend looking it up on tumblr + other areas.)

 Pros:

Immersive and thoughtful small details.

The romances are complex and certainly not easy, but that’s certainly a strength of the writing.

Malin Rydén self-describes as “unapologetically queer”

Cons:

Not so much of a con but something yall should know! This game handles heavy topics as your character descends into villainy. Your character experiences depression and a variety of Rough Stuff. Keep that in mind if you are also in a rough place mentally rn.

I’m gonna be real with ya fam and I think this could just be me. There were multiple parts of this game that I felt lost in. I could not fully understand what was going on. BUT I also feel like in many places that is the intention for the character to feel disorientated so take that what you will.

Visual Novels

Arcade Spirits - Dating Sim/Comedy. You play as a depressed person who was just fired. You are convinced you are suffering from a generational long curse. Your phone matches you with a job at the Funplex arcade with various characters. Will you ensure the arcade survives? Will you find love along the way?

Pros:

this is GOD-TIER visual novel content y’all!!

The system that they use for stats are unlike anything I’ve ever seen but it’s leagues ahead. You do not have to be constantly monitoring your stats as you would typically for other games.

Made with so much love for the content and attention to detail. 

Diverse cast that are all so fun and lovable in their own way.

You get to create your MC’s hair/skin/clothes color and then you’ll see them throughout the game?? WILD.

Cons:

BECAUSE this game was made with love and and attention to detail, if you have absolutely no interest in the world of video games you may feel detached.

The character creator is very limited. Which I do get to a certain extent with all of the different shots they draw the MC in. But I hope you want your character to be thin with a lot of angular facial features 

Choices - An app where there is a series of stories you can play “chapters” of using keys, which replenish every couple of hours.

Pros:

It’s a very focused on modern romance stories, but there are also such a variety of different genres of books! Fantasy (Blades of Light & Shadow), Historical fiction/romance (Desire & Decorum), Thriller/Horror (It Lives in the Woods). I have PLENTY of recs if you hmu.

There are...Many a good romances in these tho like I have blushed and sighed and daydreamed about these stories.

Cons:

You need patience for this game. It’s a free app and therefore has a system where you need to understand the key system and be patient to collect “diamonds” to purchase premium choices.

Many of the books are gender-locked where you can only play as a woman.

Choices has been criticized that they need better treatment/more screentime for their characters of Color. They have said they are committing to do better, but we will see.

Same has been said about their wlw romances.

Just as there are good stories, there are also stories that have something to be desire. I have varying issues with some books that have plot holes, unengaging writing, etc. These are good for you to play to earn more diamonds though.

Dream Daddy - Dating Sim/Comedy. (This game was the talk of the town when it came out in 2017 but in case you weren’t in the genre at the time!!) You are a single dad who is moving with your daughter Amanda to Maple Bay. You meet other single dads and date them while also trying to be a good father to your daughter.

Pros:

This writing is sharp as a tack. The comedy is on point and this game does a great job transitioning into serious moments.

There are awesome little mini-games that you’ll find in these!

The characters of each datable dad first seem like caricatures, but their backstories are complex and have depth.

The character creator is chef’s kiss v good. AND you can play as a trans dad like how neat.

Cons:

There have been plenty of conversation about cons for this game but frankly I don’t truly believe it has a con for what it is.

If you’re not a pun person this game will be. Difficult.

A Rose in Winter - Romance. You are playing as Rose, a girl who determined to prove herself as a knight. She has found herself at an inn and must choose between a series of Princes to help on their journey.

Pros:

Cute stories!

Except for the green prince which is heart-fluttering. (and if you play, I recommend playing last)

Adorable art.

Cons:

This reads more like an ACTUAL visual novel. Your choice (besides the initial choice you make on which prince you pursue) means little, if there is choice at all.

It’s definitely simpler than other games on this list but that’s not a bad thing as much as you should know!

*Please know that I did not include The Arc*n* on purpose! I used to really love that app but the way certain things were handled (both IRL and in the plot) I would not recommend it now.

[echoweaver]

Thanks to @mosneakers​ for the tag! I like these shorter memes. I’d love to be able to do some of these huge character breakdowns, but the one time I did, it took me HOURS. I just can’t handle it :).

Nickname: Echo

Zodiac: Leo

Height: 5'4″

Last movie I saw: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel -- on the flight home from vacation, using subtitles because they didn’t provide a headset. I liked it. :)

Last thing I googled: "northern snakehead fish" or.... “sims 3 eye color presets”

Favorite Musician(s): Huge RUSH fan going way back. Don’t know how to handle Neil Peart’s death.

Song stuck in my head: There’s almost always at least one song stuck in my head, and somehow now there isn’t. Bah.

Other blogs: I have blogs for all of my Sims 3 challenges. Only the Sample one is currently active, and I’m not sure anyone is reading the original WordPress site a the moment. Most Sims activity seems to be here. Samples, Pinstar Legacy: http://sims3sample.illation.net/ Wonderlands, ISBI: http://sims3wonderland.illation.net/ Waypoint, a neighborhood-building challenge of my own creation: http://sims3waypoint.illation.net/ They’re all in different prose styles. I have all my saves an do plan to return to the other two challenges.

Blogs following: I like Sims story or gameplay blogs. I follow a couple of reblog/cc simblrs, but I keep it very limited. I have discovered how to use XKit to drastically cut down on reblogs, which has made it possible for me to enjoy hanging out on Tumblr. The amount of cruft on this platform is insane.

I don’t care about which version of Sims you play. I just want to see your stories. I only play Sims 3 because I’m determined to finish at least the Samples, and at this point, Sims 5 will probably be out before I’m willing to try a new version :-D.

Amount of sleep: STILL SOOOO JETLAGGED.

Lucky Number: 4

What am I wearing: Navy blue bike shorts and an abstract tunic top in greens, yellows, and purples.

Dream Job: I’m a software engineer. I love writing software. I currently have close to my dream job, writing educational software for MIT. Now that I’m doing a lot of Sims modding on the side, I have a running fantasy of quitting my lovely job and putting up a Patreon to mod games for a living. I’m trying to keep myself practical :). I’m sure that if I actually did that, in addition to not making money, I probably would love modding less because it would be my job. I’m hard to satisfy.

Dream Trip: Just got back from a two-week blowout in Hawaii -- basically the sum of almost three years of cancelled vacations due to pandemic and, before that, my spouse smashing her knee in a bike accident and being unable to walk for most of a year. It was wonderful.

I honestly don’t know where I’d go next. Someplace with a chance to do adventurous things, which is sort of everywhere :-D

Oceanside or mountainside? I have to choose? Ocean for diving/snorkeling. Mountain for skiing. I’ve actually lived both places. Currently living close to the sea, but too far north for much swimming.

Describe yourself as (an) aesthetic thing(s): Bright colors! In gray times like these, color cheer me up.

Random fact: I am married to a late-transitioning trans woman. We’ve been married for 18 years. She’s been out as a woman for three. I identify as bisexual, and we figured out her gender identity together. We have mind-blowingly good communication. I thought that the biggest problem we would face was social acceptance. I was wrong -- I have been completely flattened by just how difficult it has been to adjust to her gender. We’re still trading off with some male presentation time just to keep me and our daughter balanced.

With this experience, though I’m a big supporter of trans rights, I consider my role to be support and advocacy for the loved ones of transitioning trans folks. Going through this experience has undone a lot of what I thought I knew about gender and relationships. A lot of flippant memes and adversarial advocacy does real harm to us. A lot of us need to hear that we’re not alone and we’re not transphobic.

I hope that in another generation, when we have stripped away the danger that comes from living as one’s true gender, we’ll be able to have a deeper conversation as a society about gender, bodies, and how they affect us.

[rnbwrv]

“The Sims 4″ Gamer Review 6/10

Hello everyone! This is Rainbow Raven Jezell (he/him) with the initial major post of this tumblr, the intro & 1st gamer review. I hope you enjoy!

Welcome to the Rainbow Rave, home of the Rainbow Raven streaming community based from my twitch, twitch.tv/rnbwrvnjezell. Here I will be doing amateur game reviews. I am by no means an expert or even an experienced gamer. All of these are my own opinions. I am writing with the primary audience of new or non-gamers in mind, those who are interested in getting started gaming in-general or in different game genres / platforms than they are used to. Ultimately my goal is to get you thinking about what you enjoy about games and whether the games I review are worth your time and money.  

“The Sims 4” - 7 years after release, is the simmer dream still alive? …Eh yeah, if you believe in it enough- 6 out of 10 stars  

[Disclaimer: I play and stream on the PS4. I have multiple packs and kits of different varieties, but I do not own them all. I have owned “The Sims 4” since 2018, and it is the primary sims game that I have played as well as my primary game overall. I stream Sims 4 on Twitch through console 2-3 times a week.]

Gameplay- I’ll be putting my reviews into 3 categories that mean the most to me. The 1st of which is “gameplay,” and I say “gameplay” for lack of a better word. What I mean is the overall experience of the game, such as the main activities, side quests, actions, and diversity of things to do in the game. Is it complex or simple? But most importantly, does its content engage with the player to pull them in? “The Sims 4” is a “sandbox game.” There are aspirations, worlds, careers, and families to engage with / build up. However, there is no “story mode.” And it might be controversial to say, but I give “The Sims 4” 3 out of 3 stars for gameplay. I never lack for activities or things to do in this game. You are only limited by your imagination. There are so many player-created challenges that can keep one occupied for years. I don’t see this as lack of gameplay in the sims. I see the open nature of the sims as it’s strongest point. For me, it is a storytelling device, and I keep coming back to the sims to create unique sims and narratives. I return to many other simmers / content creators on twitch + youtube to watch their stories / series as well.    

Aesthetics- As all of these are subjective, aesthetics really are a personal preference. For me, I give “The Sims 4” 1.5 out of 3 stars for aesthetics. I like more realistic looking games personally. Overall, “The Sims 4” has a good look; the quirky nature and styles of the sims are realistic enough but campy in the right ways. However, it was knocked down in points due to the visuals not working often because of glitches and crashing. Top simmer news sites, other content creators, and myself can name multiple visual glitches that happen every time the game is played, breaking the emersion too much to avoid deceasing the quality of the game. Also, players with strong PCs can get custom content to make their sims look more realistic or more cartoon-like. Build and buy objects can also be downloaded, often for free or much less than EA sells “The Sims 4” DLCs. Custom content allows the game to become more personalized in gameplay and aesthetics. Sadly, a lot of PC high quality tech is needed to use this content plus console players, like myself, cannot get custom content at all. With a franchise as old and well-supported by a huge fan-base as the sims, the game should be fully playable and customizable for players of all ages (teen and up) on all platforms to enjoy the whole experience, running relatively-well.    

Enjoyment- This is the hardest one to rate for me. “The Sims 4” offers a sandbox experience like no other out right out. I constantly play the sims and, for the most part, enjoy the experience. However, the experience is by no means smooth. I give “The Sims 4” 1.5 out of 3 for enjoyment. “The Sims 4” has a huge fanbase with tons of content creators + storytellers + modders that are constantly inventing new ways to play and improve the game. The blank slate of no story mode with the backdrop of the sims worlds allows a wonderful individual playground on your platform while connecting you to a community of lovely simmers. If you love the idea of creating your own sims and growing their grandkids up for generations, “The Sims 4” is for you. If you like the idea of being left alone to provide care or inflict chaos on your sims while also having a huge base of fan ideas for gameplay, give this game a shot! However, to the other side, if the past two sentences don’t intrigue you, there might not be much for you in the sims. There is no direction for how to play from the game itself and sims can feel generic on console without a lot of imagination. From a larger view, the enjoyment of the game is largely knocked down by the constant crashing and game-breaking bugs that frequently prevent the storytelling that players are tying to portray. The lack of response from the sims team is concerning. Some apologies and explanations have been posted, but it’s unrealistic to expect the average player to constantly be turning in save files for bug inspection when everyday gameplay is prevented due to those issues. Larger social justice issues like bad skin tones and hair textures for sims of color still linger while pronouns have finally made the “laundry list” too little too late in 2021. With DLC such as “The Sims 4: Knifty Knitting” less than a year old (July 2020) excluding non-binary sims + they/them pronouns, featuring “Lord and/or Lady of the Knits,” I fail to see the sims team living up to their proclamation of being super progressive in their support of the LGBTQIA+ community. Supporting a few LGBTQIA+ content creators and adding a trans flag to new trailers (Dream Home Decorator Game Pack, 2021) does not de-construct the gender binary in the game (language such as “boyfriend/girlfriend, male/female bodies, he/she” only pronouns). The sims team listens to some of the sims community, but whether it is EA or Maxis or something else that is blocking a deeper social justice dialogue is still unclear. Only time will tell if “The Sims 4” addresses the issues with an overhaul, but with leaders discussing 10-15 years of sims 4 while sims 5 is in process, I am not hopeful.        

Overall -  6 out of 10 stars. “The Sims 4” is worth buying, especially if you’re new to the game and if the game is on sale. With 3 points for each above category (9 total), I leave a single point for myself to award games if I definitely recommend them. However, I stand by 6/10 for “The Sims 4.” The game offers an experience like no other main simulation title out there right now, but the lack of forward planning and game-improvement focus leaves many with unfulfilled dreams 7 years after release. Some of the packs are worth the time and money, but sims content for the sake of content is becoming unplayable due to bugs. I recommend buying the packs that intrigue if they go on sale while leaving out the rest. Spend your money on other games to experience, “The Sims 4” will likely be here for you to come back to with us simmers trekking along (hopefully not) decades later.  

[belaphabet]

With everything going on right now I’ve been trying to find a balance between staying engaged/educating myself and others and also taking time for my mental health. This of course means I’ve been playing lots and lots of Sims 4.

The Sims has always meant a lot for me as a queer and trans person. To be able to romance anyone regardless of gender, with no hint of in-game homophobia, is so incredibly important and makes me feel safer than any other game I’ve ever played. And then the ability to customize your gender??? Oh my gosh I can’t even express how happy that makes me feel. The Sims is the only mainstream game, that I can think of, that allows me to make characters that are like me and my friends. To be able to create an explicitly trans character (in whatever amalgamation of physical, biological, and presentation traits you want!) is almost unheard of in games. Plus the Sims team’s affirmation of the queer community through things like pride CAS items and the virtual pride parade they are planning this year, is enough to keep me coming back to the game over any other option (not to mention how fun it is!).

The one thing I’ve been wishing for a while would be added to the game is the option to make non-binary sims. I am non-binary and I love making simselves but its really frustrating to have to choose one of the two binary genders. It seemed like it wouldn’t be too difficult to add a third option in so I made a little mock up of what it could look like! Please excuse the quality, I was just making a quick draft of one way it could look (and I don’t have access to the sims fonts).

I liked the idea of having a custom pronoun box where you could use any sort of pronouns (in any combination) you want. Non-binary is a huge umbrella (not a third gender like some people seem to think) and I know so many people that use neo-pronouns or unconventional combinations of pronouns. In the images I made it so when you clicked the setting it would pop up they/them/their as a suggestion (that’s why it’s a lighter grey) so that people could tell what each box was for and then you could either use they/them/their or type something else.

I’m pretty sure that the gender of your sim really only come up in the notifications (not including biological traits like if your sim can get pregnant, that’s what the custom gender settings are for) so it seems like it would be fairly simple to code a reference to a new set of pronouns. I’m hoping EA sees this and it could be a simple little patch for Pride month that would make a lot of people very happy :)

[parad0xm0th]

Jon, Martin and Basira for character asks??

MARTIN YOU’RE ENABLING ME

Whoops this got long

Jonathan Sims

Sexuality Headcanon: acesexual(ofc) and kinda sex-repulsed in the “please let’s not talk about this unless you are very specifically my partner at a very specific time anything else is a no-no” (can you tell I’m projecting yet) and I also hc him as pan-romantic (I bet you can tell now) also because the experience of being ace and pan go hand in hand more than you might think!

Gender Headcanon: Trans non-binary/agender! I like to think during Uni he really got to thinking about gender? But when he started at the institute he got self conscious and started presenting heavily as male but as Shit Went Down he started going back to being less gender conforming and seriously went like guy???? Girl???? No. (I personally like to use they/them pronouns for Jon farther into like season 4 in my brain where everything is OK)

A ship I have with said character:EVERYONE JK BUT SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE IT, if you’ve heard me rant on discord u know I’ve got a soft spot for poly archives so really my favorite pairings with him are Martin(this one is fueled by the power of CANON) Tim(bc past friendship Hurts and I want them to make up) sasha (deserved better mostly fueled by hc) Gerry(thank tumblr user @/gerrydelano) Oliver(mostly for shits and giggles)

A BROTP I have with said character: Georgie and Jon COULD HAVE BEEN GREAT BUT NOOOO(they’re great in every AU) and Daisy (thanks season 4)

A NOTP I have with said character: *claps hands* I 👏 see 👏 the nasty 👏 pedo 👏 fics on AO3 👏 where y’all 👏 literally 👏 make Jon a teen 👏 then pair him 👏 with a grown ass👏 Elias also don’t like Jon////Elias////Peter in general they are old creepy men and Jon can do better

A random headcanon: as the drama club President I say Jon was a theatre kid and that is final (HOWEVER I will also say he did not do theatre until Georgie pressured him to do it in uni)

General Opinion over said character: y’all know I’m kinnie for this guy, he got me out of my year long writing funk And I’m actually Talking to people again

Martin K.(issable, ickass) Blackwood

Sexuality Headcanon: Martin is what is know as a Home-o-sexual, but more specifically I hc him as grey-ace homoromantic

Gender Headcanon: Martin’s trans he told me himself! Look he’s got the trans flag tied like a cape around his neck look at him go!

A ship I have with said character: JON but also I like him in JonMarTim and JonGerryMartin (why is Jon at the front of all the ship names???)

A BROTP I have with said character: I’m once again wishing for Sasha to have gotten better but he and Sasha were bros! Let them have this

A NOTP I have with said character: *repeates what I said for Jon but I don’t wanna type all the clapping again* Bitchard and Lufuck were straight up terrible to him he can do better also Fairchild litterally looks like a 100 year old man

A random headcanon: scritches for the archivist said Martin can sew and that’s something I just take as cannon now, he’s polish and can sew

General Opinion over said character: I love his arc it really hurt! He’s such a warm character and for him to be aligned with the lonely just struck such a cord for me

Basira Hussain

Sexuality Headcanon: she’s a Lesbian but she’s also aromantic she hasn’t “dated” anyone in years but she’s fine with that, she has “better things to do”

Gender Headcanon: she’s cis, and she identifies as a woman but doesn’t have any strong feelings about it

A ship I have with said character: there was a thing in the past with Daisy, but life got very complicated

A BROTP I have with said character: *shakes ur shoulders* JON AND BASIRA WERE FRIENDS IN SEASON 2 IT WAS NEW AND UNSTABLE BUT THEY GENUINELY LIKE EACHOTHER

A NOTP I have with said character: 👏she👏wouldn’t 👏date👏a dude(jk this is just a hc do what u want)

A random headcanon: read every single warriors cats book, all the way up to present, however no one has found out yet bc the moment she finishes (within 2 hours) she burns the book so there’s no evidence

General Opinion over said character: she didn’t get enough attention in the show! It might be my lack of a memory (cough cough binged 160 ep in 5 days cough cough) but I felt like we didn’t hear enough from her! She’s not perfect but she is kick ass as hell and was the only “survivor” of the unknowing bc she REASONED HERSELF OUT

[wildlyminiaturesandwich]

hey there! i don’t wanna sound like a nitpicky or an asshole or anything like that but i just wanna point out that morgyn is a trans man - stated by one of the authors of the sims community site (here: simscommunity. info/2019/09/09/ the-sims-4-realm-of-magic-meet-the-residents/).

Hello! You don’t sound nitpicky or like an arsehole at all, there’s a lot of confusion on this topic right now and I really wish the Sims Team would just hurry up and release backstories for the premades so we can clear it all up.

But here’s the thing though, The Sims Community is not an official Sims/EA website. I don’t even think the author of that post is a Game Changer so they probably wrote that post without seeing Morgyn in game. The owner of the site, Jovan, is a Game Changer but unless he received information that none of the rest of us did… there has still been no official word on what exactly Morgyn’s gender identity. As I mentioned in this post, the closest I’ve see to anything actually official is SimGuruNinja saying to me in a private DM “I would definitely think Morgyn would identify as nonbinary or gender fluid.”and while transgender is just one of the many identities that make up the spectrum of nonbinary genders, I personally don’t think Morgyn is a trans man.

Of course if we do get official word that Morgyn is in fact trans, then of course I’ll be the first to raise my hand and admit I was wrong, and adjust my head canon accordingly. But until that happens, until either SimGuruLyndsay or Frost or one of the other Gurus makes an actual official statement about it… I stick by my head canon that Morgyn is gender fluid.

I will say though — and I’m by no means an expert on the subject so I could be dead wrong — but if Morgyn were a trans man, wouldn’t their outfits all be masculine? Their outfits are both masculine and feminine presenting, which generally means they don’t identify as just one gender but multiple. Most trans people (or the ones I’ve spoken to anyway) identify as one specific gender and generally dress according to that gender to help them with any gender dysphoria issues they might be experiencing if their body does not match the gender they identify with; so a trans man would dress masculine and avoid anything feminine completely, like dresses.

Gender fluid people on the other hand identify with two or more genders and adjust their outfits accordingly depending on how they feel they identify at the time. So in Morgyn’s case, their formalwear is an extremely feminine long dress, their activewear is more masculine, and their party outfit is a mix of both with a suit and makeup. So it would seem like when they go to formal events they feel more feminine, when they work out they feel more masculine, and when they go out to clubs or parties they feel androgynous.

I wanna state again though, that I am not at all an “expert” on the subject and that this is just my own personal opinions and assumptions based on what I’ve seen of Morgyn in game during early access. And again, there has been no official word from the Sims Team as to Morgyn’s gender identity 😊

EDIT:

Apparently I need to be a bit more clear about the fact that I did NOT say trans men, or men in general, can’t wear feminine clothing. I did not say anything about clothing defining gender AT ALL. I said trans men who have issues with body dysphoria might avoid feminine clothing to avoid being triggered, which again I’M NOT AN EXPERT on the subject and I can only go by what I’ve been told by trans male friends and acquaintances.

Anyone can wear whatever they want regardless of gender identity, there are no hard and fast rules and if anyone felt like that’s what I was saying, please know it wasn’t meant to come across that way at all and I sincerely apologise.

All I’m trying to say is that TO ME PERSONALLY Morgyn feels more gender fluid than anything else. Other people feel differently and there is nothing wrong with that. So until EA make an official statement; there is no right or wrong version of Morgyn.

All Morgyns are valid.