#who am i without clothing mods honestly

[swordmaid]

anyway look at the favs act 3 fits hehe

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not paying for my fiancee's trip?

(Sorry mod, sending this again as I forgot to add an important context detail)

This is going to be long, I'm so sorry!

Okay, so I (23M) am engaged to a very wonderful fiancee (27NB). She's fantastic, and I want to make it very clear that our relationship is great - we have good communication, we never argue, we're always on call without getting tired of each other, etc etc. There is just one issue we have - her financial habits.

For context, I am disabled and can't work due to both mental and physical health issues, so I'm on disability benefits. She can and does work.

We're long-distance (she's in America and I'm in the UK), and we've been dealing with it pretty well so far. At the beginning of our relationship, we agreed that before we got to the point of talking about moving in with each other etc. we would need to have her visit me here at least once to meet my family and get used to how things work here (as she wants to move here), and I would need to visit her at least once to do the same there re: meeting her parents etcetera.

The agreement was that I'd pay for her to come here, and then when it was my turn she'd pay for my visit there so it was fair.

She first visited me about a year and a half ago and came over here for two weeks. I paid for her plane tickets, our transport everywhere (we don't have cars), the AirBNB we stayed in, etc. This ran me about £2k, which was all I had at the time, and I didn't have enough left over to pay for her food on top of that, so I asked if she could cover her own food costs while she was here. This caused a bit of an issue at the time as she was very clearly frustrated at having to do it, and would make comments like "Ugh I wanted a new computer but now I have to save for this trip", "I'm having to sacrifice so much to pay for this" and it made me feel incredibly invalidated, like I was covering everything else and also sacrificing a lot to pay for everything else for us but the one thing I'd asked her to help with was too much. We had a conversation about it at the time and she apologised and said she'd work on it, so we moved on.

Plans changed a bit very early this year, as I was due to get surgery and the friend who was supposed to accompany me there dropped out last minute. I had no one else nearby to turn to and I couldn't go alone (it was the kind of surgery where I would need someone around for at least 1-2 weeks afterwards to help me move around and do daily tasks). As a last ditch effort I asked my fiancee to fly over again and help me out, and I paid for this again which I was completely fine with doing as the trip was a favour for me and it was unplanned from her end. This was another ~£2k.

So cut to summer this year. This was when I was supposed to have my visit over to America. She, at this point, was making pretty good money at a school job. However, when I asked her if we could finalise the plans and buy tickets, she told me that she had no money.

This is where I explain that she's really, REALLY bad with money. She impulse-buys clothes and things for her room etc., she plays gacha games like Genshin Impact and spends quite a lot of money on 'pulls' and the gambling mechanic, things like that. It turned out that through the whole time of having this job she'd been basically spending money as soon as she got it and she now had nothing for the trip. I was admittedly frustrated with her (especially as she initially lied to me and told me she hadn't spent money on games etc. and then later confessed that it IS where the money had gone), but we agreed we could push back the trip to winter/Christmas-time to give her more time to save, and honestly I didn't really mind because I've never spent Christmas/New Year with anyone before, so shifting the visit to over those days would be a nice experience.

However, soon after this she was fired from her job for too many call-outs/absences. For the next few months, she didn't get another job - she said she was doing all she could and was applying for, but I often got the impression that she wasn't and was sort of throwing out an application every few weeks and then writing it off as 'done', which I could be completely misinterpreting so take that with a grain of salt. I kept pushing her to get a job so we could get the trip sorted out and I know she got kind of frustrated with me a few times for it.

I ended up giving up the closer we got to the time and offered to just cover it again if she could pay me back when she did get a job, and she agreed.

Unfortunately, after this I was rendered homeless due to my abusive home situation. I was fortunate enough to be offered government housing and I now have an apartment in town, but it's completely unfurnished (literally all that's in it is a single bed and a cooker, there's no flooring or anything yet). I now have to put all the money I have saved (about £3k) towards getting flooring (which is a little over £1k by itself), furnishings, getting the walls painted, sorting out gas and electricity, etc. I'm also now paying the bills for this apartment. As a result, there's no possible way I could afford to cover the trip anymore myself.

It looked like things were getting sorted because my fiancee got another job recently. It's pretty well-paying, she seems to enjoy it so she's not calling out, and she kept prompting me to talk details of the trip with her so it felt like it was all getting figured out and she was ready to finalise it.

Then today I asked her how much money she had ready for it and she said... $15. I'm genuinely lost on how she still hasn't saved any money, she claims she used it all on "bills" but she doesn't pay rent or cover any housing costs as she still lives with her parents, so I don't understand at all where it's all going. We have less than a month before the trip is supposed to happen, nothing is sorted, we still have no clue where we'd be staying, no plane tickets have been purchased, and now it's looking a lot like it's going to have to be pushed back AGAIN to next year.

I thought about trying to pay for it again, because I DO really want that Christmas and New Year with her. Delaying it again would also mess up our future plans, as the plan was to get this trip to America and meeting her family done this year, then spending the first half of next year on the Visa process and then the latter half getting her actually moved over. It also means I would have to delay my college education, as I was going to start my course early next year, which I wouldn't be able to do if the trip is next year instead as it would require me to take weeks off.

If I tried, I probably could cover it - I need to spend the ~£1k on flooring as that's already arranged, but I could technically use the remaining £2k to fund the trip. However, this would mean my house would remain unfurnished and barely habitable for months longer. It's not so bad if I know she'd be able to pay me back quickly, but the reality is that I don't know how long it would take for me to see the money back.

Part of me also feels like she's kind of expecting me to give in and pay for it last minute in order to not delay it, because I offered before and I was willing to pay for the last two trips. But it's just so depressing and frustrating, because it feels like I keep giving things up and putting things into these trips and getting her over here, and trying to get it back from her is just like running into a wall.

We've talked about it before, but she insists there's nothing more she can do, she's trying as hard as she can, and that she's upset about it too. I just don't know what to do about it anymore.

So I guess my question is, AITA for complaining about the trip, missing Christmas/New Year and pushing her on money and nagging her about what she does with hers instead of just taking the L and covering the trip again until she can pay me back?

What are these acronyms?

[alpaca-clouds]

Why Does Everyone Struggle With Solarpunk Stories?

Fun Fact: My own introduction to Solarpunk happened in Germany on a German convention. I met a friend, who I had not seen in quite a few years in the creator alley, and they and their partner had just brought out an indie comic, which they introduced as a Solarpunk comic.

I do however wonder whether it really could be considered Solarpunk now, as it was mostly fantasy (which in itself is not a criterium), but the main overlap with Solarpunk generally was this idea of using the Art Noveau aesthetic for everything. From what I remember, it was not really very concerned with any of the Solarpunk themes - nor with anything considered Solarpunk technology - though I do remember some flying machines that were powered by sun energy.

But it makes me think about one thing: There are still barely any explicit Solarpunk novels out there. Like, there are a few, yes, but barely any. Most of what is considered Solarpunk works is stuff that folks among the Solarpunk community have looked at and gone: "Oh, yeah, this kinda feels Solarpunk, doesn't it?"

Most of the Solarpunk books out there are in fact anthologies. (And yes, I plan to continue reviewing those, I right now just struggle with reading because of health-related issues.) And even among those anthologies I will look at half the stories and think to myself: "Well, but are they really Solarpunk?"

In some cases that is because the stories in question are really build around too much of a dystopia. In other cases it is, because even the technology/ecology part is not really there.

And sure, I am talking a lot about how it is fairly easy to tell a Solarpunk story if you just let go of the idea that a Solarpunk story has to be one certain thing - rather than any kind of story that is set in a Solarpunk setting and deals with Solarpunk themes. But on the other hand it is not like I am writing a whole lot in the genre either, is it?

Admittedly the reason for me might be a bit of another one than for other writers. For me it is simply that I find it currently hard to motivate myself to write anything in terms of original fiction, because... Well, writing fanfics is just a whole lot more fun, and also will get me a lot more feedback and such.

And of course, on the side of the publishing industry I just don't know if anyone but Android Press and World Weaver Press even do much in publishing of Solarpunk stories? I am honestly not entirely certain.

But there definitely is some sort of struggle here right now. And that is without me going into the fact that half of what is published in Germany with the lable of "Solarpunk" is actually Cyberpunk but with some mild ecological themes in there.

And yeah, all in all it really makes me wonder, where the issue lies.

Is it a thing of a missing community for Solarpunk creatives, especially writers? Because I know that most online Solarpunk communities focus a ton on guerilla gardening, second hand clothes, and right to repair - but just don't have a ton of striving creative groups among them. The one Discord Server for Solarpunk writers I was on got deleted by the mod for being inactive.

So, yeah. I don't know.

Would someone be interested in another sort of community for Solarpunk creatives? And if so, what kind of community?

[amuhav]

Get to Know Me - Sims Style

tagged by @dandylion240 (if anyone else did too I’m sorry, I’m not seeming to get notifs for tags rn???)

tagging @keibea​ because we need more TS3 rep in tag games like this tbh.

What’s your favorite Sims death?

Old age. Because it means my sim actually made it that far and I just love seeing their life play out. Some of the more quirky, simsy ones are great though. Death by Jellybean or Cowplant come to mind lol.

Alpha CC or MaxisMatch?

I... really don’t like the TS4 MM aesthetic 😅 I really don’t like the clay hair look for my own sims, though think some people do wonderful things with it, and I do like certain Maxis Mix styles, good skin details with clay hair, certain stylised MM styles etc. but the default TS4 clay look is literally why I never moved over to TS4 in the first place, and it took too long for the Alpha scene to really take off in the beginning, so by the time there was enough CC for me to feel I would ever want to jump in, it felt too overwhelming to even try moving to essentially a new medium.

For TS3... I also am not a huge fan of the straight “MM” look either, though I think the distinction is less prominent as it is in TS4. You can easily make most “MM” stuff fit in an “alpha” game simply because they aren’t usually full-on clay the way TS4 MM is, they’re just not quite as detailed as full “alpha” CC. Whereas the other way around isn’t quite as true, intricately detailed alpha stuff might look out of place if most of your other content is vanilla or MM. So I think as well as preferring the aesthetic, I like the flexibility a more “alpha” leaning style can bring.

Do you cheat your sims weight?

Storywise, characters are obviously whatever size I make them lol. 

Uh. I don’t know about weight, because I don’t think any of my sims have put on a lot of weight during gameplay. I have definitely cheated muscle levels though. Traumatic flashbacks to Loch suddenly getting BULKED whilst I was letting him run free during Riv’s BC. Absolutely not you little twink.

Do you move objects?

For gameplay, I used to try to minimise doing so just cos it breaks so much routing and stuff. Now I don’t play so I go nuts with MOO. Who needs working doors or stairs or beds anyway?

Favourite Mod?

So many mods for TS3 are kinda essential to even be able to run the game lol, like almost the entire NRAAS suite. I think I’ll have to go with the Remove Stencil mod though, cos being able to undo EA’s weird obsession with shiny clothes by removing the specular is honestly so lifechanging LOL. no more shiny wool jumpers or oil slick jeans 🥰

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

My first TS3 expansion was Ambitions, because I skipped World Adventures, in fact, I think it was one of the last expansions I bought lol. 

Believe it or not, I do actually own one EP, one GP, and one SP for TS4 lmao, back when I thought maybe, just MAYBE. the game might get better, and I was still trying so damn fuckin hard to force myself to enjoy the actual gameplay. So I have Get to Work, but don’t even ask me what the other two are because I haven’t a fuckin’ clueeeee. 

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing?

...It just occurred to me maybe it is meant to be “LIV” mode because it’s... like. Living mode. Like, Alive Mode doesn’t make sense. But my brain won’t accept it. doesn’t sound right. Always been “LIVE” mod to me lol.

Who’s your favourite sim that you’ve made?

Oh, jeez. Uhhh, I can’t *really* claim most of my current legacy sims because I didn’t make them, they were born in-game, even if I have tweaked the hell out of them in recent years. So if we’re going for physical appearance, I wanna say actually maybe Sylvie for my TS3 sims? She took so long to get just right, especially because TS3 doesn’t really do curvier sims quite as well as TS4, especially not without a fuck ton of sliders, and I had a really specific look to her face in mind that took forever to get right, had to blend her a custom skin etc. But I am finally super happy with her cute lil sassy round face 🥰 Close runners up are probably Qu or Edge.

God, I’m gonna get so fucking shot for this but here goes. Physically, my fave TS4 sims I’ve made are actually both of Tay’s brothers, Ethryon and Ailos, and also probably father, Qariel. I think because I had a little more experience with using TS4 CAS by the time I got to them, more sliders, more skin details, just generally a fuck ton more CAS CC by then, and more time to tweak them etc. As much as Tay will always be my favourite sim OVERALL... yeah. plznoonekillmebye

Have you made a simself?

Ye. I used to update her like. all the timeee too, whenever I got a new haircut etc. And, ofc, Havoc was my alter ego so she’s like. simself adjacent lol.

Which is your favorite EA hair color?

God I hate EA’s hair colours in TS3. their blondes are so yellow, the highlights don’t blend well etc. always make my own. TS4 hair colours make me want to actually die, but then again, I hate the clay hair and cartoony colours of vanilla TS4 anyway, so.

Favourite EA hair?

Favourite life stage?

Young Adult, with Teens a close second. You can do the most with the YA age, but the chaos of teenage years are real fun too lol.

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

I literally can’t play lmao. I have too much CC in TS3 for it to run well enough to play, and TS4... is it even possible to play TS4? joking joking... mostly. I’m in it for the story.

Are you a CC creator?

No. Never. I do not have a CC page I abandoned whatsoever no idea what you’re talking about goodbye. 💀

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

RBSB represent. 

No I hate everyone equally.

@lazysunjade and @thesimperiuscurse have no choice but to be talked at by me every day. I’m inescapable. 

Do you have any sims merch?

I actually had the TS3 Collectors edition that came with the Plumbob USB and I was devastated when it got broken. Like legitimately heart broken lol. 

Miss her so much I just want her back

Do you have a YouTube for sims?

Ew.

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing?

I used to try so hard to stick to whatever gameplay threw at me, following the actual legacy rules, not editing sims etc, all to the detriment of my actual enjoyment of storytelling. Now I care maybe a little too much about how posts look that I get into a rut of not posting oops bye 💀

What’s your origin id?

Probably the same as my username here lol, but I avoid origin at all costs so couldn’t tell you for sure tbh.

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

Oh, way too many to choose. For sims 3 CAS stuff, the still active converters like @rollo-rolls, @vmsims23, @simtanico etc. for build and clutter stuff @kerriganhouse, and @martassimsbookcc for conversions. Honestly, I’m kinda out of the loop atm, but there’s just way too many good creators.

How long have you had simblr?

uh. since 2015, I think? let’s not dwell on it 💀

How do you edit your pictures?

Dunno how to answer this? Photoshop, I guess lol? 

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite?

It used to be pets, cos I loved having animals in the game. Now I always forget they exist oop lol. Probably Supernatural. 

[hazely-sims]

Get to Know Me - Sims Edition

I was tagged by @papermint-airplane and @petrolstationflowers! Thank youuuu 🧡

What’s your favorite Sims death?

I generally don't allow my sims to die of anything but old age, but I would like to try out all the different deaths and ghosts at some point. The haunting curse ghost looks especially cool.

Alpha CC or MaxisMatch?

A mix of both? I tend to use Maxis-type clothes and furniture with textured patterns. I like most of my stuff to be fairly gameplay-friendly as well and it bothers me when there's clipping with sims animations so I don't use too many alpha clothes.

Do you cheat your sims weight?

Not generally, but I find that most EA sims are just very skinny? I had the pregnancy weight-gain mod installed, but the results were so extreme that I removed it and cheated the weight myself.

Do you move objects?

I mainly use it for storytelling, but is it even possible to play this game without using move objects sometimes?

Favorite Mod?

What an impossible question! If I had to choose one mod I can't live without, it'd be NRaas MasterController, but in terms of gameplay mods, I'm really enjoying adding new recipes and harvestables to my game these days. That's a lot of different mods together, so maybe I'm cheating a bit with that answer, haha.

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

The first sims game I was ever able to successfully install was Sims 2 and I think it was a "Deluxe" package that came with Nightlife? I don't remember what my first pack was for Sims 3. Maybe Late Night as well?

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing

It's an adjective, isn't it? Like 'alive.' Listen, I get that it's probably supposed to be the other one, since they have some weird theme of using verbs as adjectives. But 'live' is already an adjective, so no-one is going to say it that way.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

How can I choose just one?? I do obviously love Rose a lot. She's adorable.

Have you made a simself?

Oh yes. Honestly I'm shocked so many of you don't. I automatically insert myself into every fantasy hahaha I am very self-absorbed.

Which is your favorite EA hair color?

I don't even really remember which ones there are as defaults in Sims 3? I don't particularly love any of them.

Favorite EA hair?

Hmmm I enjoy the long male hair from Supernatural, especially on beardy men. And I also really like the 'modern braids' female hair from the store.

Favorite life stage?

Like most people, it's YA, sorry.

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

Definitely gameplay. I am trying to be a bit better at building, but it's such a slog.

Are you a CC creator?

I have dabbled, so I suppose, technically yes.

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

I don't know about a 'squad' but I'm pretty sure I have friends. I don't discord or anything, so if we're commenting on each other's posts, then I consider us friends? Hopefully that's okay lol

Do you have any sims merch?

No, is that like a thing?

Do you have a YouTube for sims?

No, I have no interest in trying to play the game in a way that's entertaining for other people. I do that the rest of the day; sims time is just for me.

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing?

I've put a lot more effort into aesthetics recently. Setting things up takes more time but I get a lot more enjoyment out of the game once it's done.

What’s your origin id?

I guess I probably have made one at some point but I have no idea what it is and I don't think I've ever used it. It's also just as likely that I actually don't have one.

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

So many impossible questions 😭 There's no way I can choose only one, but these days I'm always eagerly anticipating posts from @nightospheresims, @sim-songs, and @nectar-cellar.

How long have you had simblr?

It's complicated, haha! I had a simblr way back in... 2011-2012-ish? It was a messy time on simblr and in my life so I was never really able to develop a healthy relationship with it and I eventually deleted my blog after being inactive for a long time. Then after continuing my legacy story just for myself at a snail's pace for about a decade, I decided it was time to share with y'all again, and I opened this blog in October 2021.

How do you edit your pictures?

Reshade is first, and if a shot is taken outdoors and it's for a gameplay post, then sometimes that's it. If it's a bit darker than I'd like, I might apply all or part of this action using Photopea. Sometimes even more than once if it's really dark.

If it's a storytelling shot, I'll then also do manual debanding by selecting an area, copying it to a new layer, applying a gaussian blur, and then erasing around the edges to clean it up. It's tedious but also relaxing? And very satisfying in the end.

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite?

Sims 3 has so many bangers but I love Ambitions a lot even though it's a glitchy mess sometimes. It's just so much fun.

I am never totally sure who's done this but I'll tag @pudding-parade, @echoweaver, @oasislandingresident and @frostedshore. No pressure of course! 🧡

[kedreeva]

Same anon who asked about the max for an enclosure here - To answer where I heard it: Uh... Reddit. Sometimes they seem to have good advice but I've heard some other advice that I know sucks so That said, I'm not an owner yet but I'm making plans to become one, and I was actually hoping to get mice from you when I am because I'm in the state. I ordered a 90 gallon tank and it hasn't arrived yet, but I'm also spending over 400$ on hides, toys, and other stuff. (Honestly I might end up spending even more, but I'm waiting until it gets here to see what kinds of things I want to prioritize to fill up more space.) Would you say a big enclosure is inherently bad if the space is utilized properly? I absolutely agree that a big enclosure without enough hides/cover would be far more stressful than a small one with more cover, but I fully intend on going the extra mile and Making It Cluttered Enough even if I have to spend an obscene amount of money on it. (Not to say I haven't already bc. I imagine a lot of people don't spend that much on toys/hides/etc)

I can't fathom the amount of mice that would have to go into a 90g aquarium to make it not stress the mice out. 50+ at least. And the biggest problem is that you would need to literally stack hides upon hides upon hides, and that inherently means that you would lose all airflow, and that's bad. The stink will be tremendous because it can't dry out properly, not to mention the ammonia buildup in the lower levels and the possibility of mold where air isn't moving enough (and when you start blowing air the mice Do Not Like That, at work a lot of the mice would shove things into the air vents to try to stop it). And that's not even really touching on the idea that it's very difficult for you to make sure you're health checking every mouse routinely; can you tell all 50 apart at a glance? Can you check them for health issues well enough? Will you have to disassemble the entire setup to do so appropriately? How do you know if one is sick at the bottom or just didn't come out today because they were asleep?

Honestly, aquariums aren't ideal past the small like 10g or a 20 longs, really. The ONLY reason I'm using a 30g is because it was already in the room and I have a single-morph colony project that's all on the same F generation.

It's also not really about the money spent, the mice 100% prefer garbage cardboard they can chew up to any store bought hide I've ever put in with them. If you give them a choice between plastic, ceramic, wooden, and cardboard, you will almost certainly find them all crammed into the cardboard, MAYBE the wooden, but the problem with wooden equipment is that it's really difficult to sanitize and it can hold stink and bacteria and parasites even through being washed. Think like... You wouldn't use a wooden cutting board for meat, because you can't really clean it properly to ensure food safety? Same thing with wooden hides and gear for mice. It's also about the health of the mice due to airflow and ammonia. It's about the stress of having that much open space unless there's a lot, a LOT, of mice and tight spaces built into it. Even with aquarium fans to help move air, I'm not sure you'd be able to keep it dry enough.

There are a lot of animals where bigger enclosures are better... Mice are not on that list. Ideal caging is a 20g long or a storage tote that's been modded with hardware cloth on the sides to provide airflow. Lab bins are actually really comfortable for them because they're usually small and opaque and feel like a secure place. Wire cages can be 'okay' but again, those kind of have too much airflow such that even though it's enclosed to YOUR perception, it still FEELS like an open space to them because they have terrible eyesight and just feel a bunch of moving air and Sounds.

Reddit... Is a bad place for animal advice usually. I don't go there, but I get sent stuff from there. I see horror stories. I see I'll advised attempts at "bioactive" setups for mice (please... never do this to them, they create too much waste,eat the cleaning crew and all the plants, and can pick up parasites). I see people saying you need a 40g minimum for a single male (please... I'm ill just thinking about anyone doing this to Him). I don't know who is giving them these ideas but I would like to arrange a meeting behind the Denny's. I just want to talk.

I'm very very very sorry that someone convinced you a 90g for mice would be a good idea. I absolutely cannot recommend it no matter how much stuff you put in it. You might be able to figure out a way to make it safe and healthy, with airflow and no chance of mold etc, but I just... there are so many better and easier ways to have a bunch of happy mice. Even if you want 50+ mice, having a shelving unit with bins or something is still going to be healthier for them than 1 huge enclosure; not because they don't love a big colony group, but because human limitations on maintenance of that kind of setup. Like if you maybe got a 50g Lowboy with a custom lid setup, you could have a workable 50g setup like I did for my rats, because you'd have airflow and for space easily. Idk man. You can always try it but up front I don't expect you will like it in practice, and it would be really difficult to maintain it safely enough for them.

[markantonys]

it’s been a few months since my last sims binge, which means it’s time for another sims binge which means it’s time for WOT polycule babies!

but first: i was having a wedding for different sims and they invited the WOT sims as guests. everyone sat down nicely in chairs in the ceremony area...................except for rand, lan, and perrin, who decide to sit crosslegged on the ground, in their fancy clothes, on the other side of a hedge too tall to see over.

why does this look like an album cover

but honestly, this checks out. if any 3 WOT characters were to be like “i’ve had enough of this fancy party, just gonna go sit over here behind this hedge with my bros” it WOULD be them. introvert gang!

and now, polycule babies!

it will only be elayne’s twins, because aviendha’s quadruplets a) are an absurd decision on rj’s part and not something i accept as canon and b) wouldn’t fit in the household anyway since the max is 8 sims and the twins bring the fam up to 6.

i determined that rand would be the (biological) babydaddy because i tested out in create-a-sim to see whether he or mat would have better-looking kids with elayne. eugenics.

and then, rand knocked elayne up with TRIPLETS on the FIRST TRY DJKFJGHKJHJKSHFKGH hjkhdjhlkjsfg jkdjfl jlskjfg jhLJKHDFLJGHLJH HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAA

oh my god i’m crying i can’t BELIEVE how accurate that is to canon wherein he knocks elayne up with twins after 1 time having sex and aviendha with quadruplets after 2 times. i have rarely if ever gotten triplets in the sims naturally, without using cheats. instead i had to use a cheat to LOWER the number of babies down to twins. what the fuck, sim rand!

it’s been days (in real world time) and i’m still losing my shit over this. i was fully expecting to have to cheat to get twins, but i Foolishly assumed that it would be cheating up from one baby rather than down from three. i cannot emphasize enough how hard i laughed when i used my cheat to see how many babies were in there and saw that there were 3. christ on a cracker. sim rand is just as much of a baby-making machine as canon rand!

when a pregnant sim shares the news with their partner, the partner gets a happy moodlet about learning about a new member of the family. i wasn’t sure whether only the babydaddy rand would get that moodlet, but mat and aviendha got it too awwwwwww!!! they are all excited to be parents!

elayne already has a big first trimester baby bump by sims standards (often a sim won’t show at all on the first day, or only a tiny bit - it actually does vary sim to sim which is neat). pray for her.

mat carved a dragon sculpture for the babies 😭😭 why am i crying as if i didn’t specifically command him to do so

second day aka second trimester!

pause in the fluff to show this glorious screenshot i snagged of mat scaring gawyn as a prank jkjfg gawyn got mad and then went and hugged egwene to calm down. then later the whole polycule was talking together and having a Pleasant Conversation and as soon as gawyn came over to join the convo it became an Awkward Encounter. i love you king.

sims lets you live out your wildest fantasies, such as making rand and elayne take a nap:

why does rand have the option to ask mat if he’s single. rand that’s your husband. i clicked it and:

i think my poly mods are confusing the game jdkjfg file this under “things that made me laugh way harder than they should’ve.” i can just picture a scenario of drunk rand crying when he learns that mat is married to another man named rand.

while they are all marked as each other’s spouses (except mat and avi who are instead BFFs) in some areas of the game, overall in terms of actual game mechanics it only fully recognizes rand/mat and elayne/avi as married. so when elayne hit third trimester, she got the option to take family leave at work, and rand got the option as her babydaddy and aviendha got the option as her wife, but mat didn’t get the option! workplace discrimination!

NYNAEVE!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!! [squirts with water bottle]

sim mat is too powerful! everyone wants him! we’ve unlocked the secret reason why nynaeve was acting so Weird about him in ACOS.

i chose “let’s just be friends......” and she said “oh. sure, no worries. let’s just pretend this never happened, okay?” gladly djkfg

elayne just had a wish to try for a baby with mat. girl you are already nine months pregnant.

and she is huge! pictured here with 3 dragons (including the one mat carved <3)

one last date night before the babies are born. now i’m thinking of that passage in TOM when mat reunites with elayne and waxes poetic about how beautiful she looks with her baby bump and red dress, glowing in the firelight 😭

elayne fucked rand and then went into labor immediately after they were done. but it still counted as “spectacular woohoo” for both of them, god bless.

another installment in my quest to see who will get registered for what parental things by the game: rand, avi, and mat all got the Pre-Parental Panic moodlet when they saw elayne go into labor, awwww!

the problem with rand having 3 partners and the family-oriented trait is that he is CONSTANTLY having a wish to have a baby with somebody. a few sim days ago he was wishing to have a baby with mat, now elayne is in labor and he’s wishing to have a baby with aviendha. why don’t you focus on the 2 that are about to pop out of your other wife. (i lied, this isn’t a problem, it’s adorable and in character. give rand all the babies he wants 2k23!)

and they have been born! elayne, rand, and avi all got the new baby happy moodlet but mat didn’t!!!! 😭😭 and elayne and rand are automatically friends with the babies, but mat and avi are only acquaintances! this is heartbreaking! also, sims 4 doesn’t register step relationships anywhere but the family tree, so in the family tree mat and avi are marked as their stepparents, but everywhere else in the game they are not considered to be the twins’ parents in any way 😭😭

thankfully, i think i will be able to make mat and avi their parents with a mod, but i won’t be able to do it until the twins are toddlers because in terms of game mechanics babies are more like objects than people lmao

(in retrospect, the above bullet point now reads like “pictures taken seconds before disaster” oh boy, just you wait)

breaking news i’m soft my heart was found full of love!!

yes mat is wearing eggplant emoji underwear don’t worry about it. as soon as i laid eyes on those i was like “i would never have any sim wear those, except for mat cauthon, whom they were made for.”

the twins became toddlers and i used the mod to make mat and avi their parents. HUGE mistake. it confused the game too much and now all the household relationships are fucked up beyond repair. it made mat their dad and avi their mom, but in exchange, rand became nothing to them and elayne became their aunt??? elayne and aviendha are still wives, yet the game is acting like they’re sisters because every time i set one of them as a kid’s mom, the other automatically becomes the kid’s aunt and it gets locked like that so that if one is the mom the other HAS to be the aunt, rather than one being the mom and the other nothing, as it was originally before i tried to cheat the system. even when i deleted the kids and made brand new ones in create-a-sim, it still forces whoever isn’t the mom to be the aunt. what kind of sister-wife shit 😭 (this did not happen with rand and mat, they’re still normal husbands not brother-husbands.)

and tragically, i had saved the game immediately before i realized the relationships had gotten fucked up, so i couldn’t quit without saving and thereby undo my foolhardy act of hubris. elayne and aviendha are stuck as sister-wives Forever.

i solved it by deleting aviendha and replacing her with the blank slate fresh-out-of-CAS version of her i had saved, then cheating all her relationships and skills back up to where they were before. i set her and elayne as wives in CAS but my multiple marriages mod doesn’t let you set multiple spouses in CAS, it only lets you have multiple wedding ceremonies in-game, so rand and new!aviendha quickly had their first kiss, became bf/gf, got engaged, and eloped all in the bathroom in the span of 1 sim hour. as god intended the game to be played!

current state of things: elayne and rand are the twins’ official parents and mat and avi are nothing to them in CAS, however, in the family tree they are the twins’ stepparents, and in the relationship panel they are their caregivers <3 having a sim add a child as their care dependent is something you can do in the game with no cheats or mods, and i should have just settled for that in the first place rather than trying too hard to play god and ultimately having to replace aviendha with a clone. lesson learned!

to close, look at the lil babies! the fox pajamas!!!! 😭😭

[papermint-airplane]

Get to Know Me - Sims Edition

If you saw me accidentally post this before I filled it out and had to private it really quick, no you didn't. 😚

Thank you for the tag, @simsdastra! ❤️

What’s your favorite Sims death?

In Sims 2, the satellite death and death by flies. I used those constantly.

In Sims 3, the meteor death (obviously) and the time sickness death. The meteor one because of how devastating it is while still making your surviving Sims a shit load of money and the time sickness one for how existentially horrifying it is. You just get Marty McFly'd right out of reality! 😱 I haven't had a Sim die that way when it wasn't on purpose and I'm willing to bet not many other Simmers have either. It's a pretty rare death.

In Sims 4, it's the pufferfish death and the Rabid Rodent Fever death. So visceral and mildly disturbing! When Sims 4 gets it right, it gets it right!

Alpha CC or MaxisMatch?

Alpha hair in Sims 3 because it's an absolute necessity, but I don't mind most of the EA clothes so I guess that's Maxis Mix?

When I played Sims 4, I was Maxis Match all the way except when it came to makeup and skin details.

Do you cheat your sims weight?

Not as much as I cheat their muscle slider. I find it preposterous that a Sim with no muscle definiton can go for one jog and come back shredded. I am constantly cheating their muscle mass back down to a more realistic level.

Do you move objects?

Of course, how do you live without that? In fact, I even have a button on my gaming mouse programmed to it.

Favorite Mod?

The transmogfrifer mod by icarus_allsorts and the stencil remover by velocity grass. I use these so much, I forget they're not naturally in the game.

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

Like, the first one ever? Sims 2 University. I played Sims 1 back in the day but I never had a single expansion pack for it. I didn't even know what expansion packs were until Sims 2.

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing

Both. 🫣 I don't know which way is the "official" way, so I just alternate my pronunciation depending on what feels right at the time.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

Aiden. 👽

Have you made a simself?

Many times! I've had Simselves in Sims 2, Sims 3, and Sims 4.

Which is your favorite EA hair color?

In Sims 3, you don't have to use swatches for hair so I almost never use the premade ones. However, there is a nice deep reddish brown that I quite like. I use it as a base frequently.

Favorite EA hair?

Most of the Sims 3 EA hairs are horrible even with retextures, so...none lol.

Favorite life stage?

I'm gonna be boring and say YA. 🤷‍♀️

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

Gameplay. I can't build to save my life.

Are you a CC creator?

No, I want to make CC but I have no artistic talent and I wouldn't even know where to start.

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

I do not know what a Sim Squad is but I do have Simblr friends! And Sims Reddit friends.

Do you have any sims merch?

No but I did once make a bunch of tiny resin plumbobs.

Do you have a YouTube for sims?

Haha no, I do not have the time or face for YouTube.

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing?

It hasn't changed that much, honestly. I am a bit more story-focused and a lot less murder-y, but that's about it. For the most part, I still have attention span issues and tend to start a lot of new saves lmao.

What’s your origin id?

Rabbitmancer. You can add me if you want but I almost never turn the online features on in game so it doesn't really do anything.

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

@aroundthesims, no question about it. ATS has literally everything and I have downloaded all of it. 😱

How long have you had simblr?

About...a year? I don't actually know. I've been on Tumblr in the past, though I left around 2015-2016, but I never dove into the Simblr community. @happy-lemon talked me into starting a Simblr and I'm so glad she did!

How do you edit your pictures?

I don't edit my pictures all that often because I do not know what I'm doing. I use ReShade and if I need to make minor edits, I'll do so in Paint.NET like a pleb.

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite?

Sims 2: Open For Business. In fact, it's my favorite expansion of all time.

Sims 3: It changes often but it's Ambitions right now. There's so much in Sims 3 to love!

Sims 4: Uh... I plead the fifth. 😑

I am tagging @happy-lemon, @oasislandingresident, @spaceapples98, @bool-prop, @hazely-sims (lol if I'm the millionth person to tag you again, disregard), @camisulsul, @sim-songs, @ninjaofthepurplethings, @neillesimstories, and @autonomousllama, as well as anyone else who wants to do it and hasn't yet.

[ariel-simslover]

Get to Know Me: Sims Style

So I saw @moyokeansimblr do this tag and it made me really want to do it so here I am lol!! Anyway, let's get started!!

_______________________________________________

What's your Favorite Sims death?

Probably Starvation...I have many memories of locking sims in rooms...umm WE ALL KILLED SIMS OK!

Alpha CC or Maxis Match?

I'm a bit of a mix, It used to depend on the game but now I'm just a Mix of Alpha Cc and Maxis Match. For hair, I'm Alpha ish, and for clothes, I'm 4t2 and alpha.

Do You Cheat Your Sims Weight?

Nope! I really don't care honestly, as long as my Sims are living their best lives lol.

Do You Move Objects?

Yes, I do! Can't live without Moving Objects at least once a play sesh! I also move Sims too...

Favorite Mod?

Ugh, I can't just pick one I have several. The ones I can't live without Are ACR, Monique's hacked computer, Honey Honey Skin defaults, the new 3D lashes mod lol, and Reshade. I'm a modding addict so... I can't pick just one I could go on forever lol.

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

I started playing the Sims 2 when I was 6, so I honestly can't remember what my first pack was. I just remember being excited about a lamp, my love of decorating started that day lol. My first memory of getting a pack that I can recall was Sims 3 Supernatural.

Do Pronounce Live Mode like aLIVE or LIVing mode?

I say LIV mode always have and always will! I always forget there's other ways to even say it.

Whos Your Favorite Sim that you've Made?

I love this one sim I made in the Sim4 I think she's so cute imma try to remake her in the Sims 2 one of these days. (Posing with a Permmade in this photo)

_______________________________________________

Have You Made a Simself?

I have in the Sims 4 but not since I switched back to Sims 2.

Which is Your Favorite Ea Hair Color?

Red! I always loved the red hair it's so cute! (Only pick I could find)

_______________________________________________

Favorite Ea Hair?

Always loved this one!

_______________________________________________

Are You a Builder or Are You in it for the Gamplay?

I do both actually! Depends on what I'm in the mood for. Lately, it's been mostly gameplay.

Are You a CC Creator?

Unforentaly no. I don't even have the skills to recolor things lol.

Do You Have Any Simbler Freinds or a Sim Squad?

Nope, I am relatively new to the SImbler world but I have interacted with a few members.

Do You Have any Sims Merch?

Sadly no unless the Sims 3 disc counts lol, I used to have Sims 2 discs..but an indent happened that I won't let my mom live down lol (Nothing bad lol)

How Has Your "Sims Style" Changed Through the Years?

It has changed a lot. I like many would roughly play one family causing as much drama and chaos as possible, ruining their lives and any passing townie....Just me? Now I play very wants-based and let the game guide me on what to do next. I find it fun when my sims pick what path they go down, I've gotten so many fun storylines like this.. I also play rotationally so I always have several families I play.

Who's Your Favorite CC Creator?

Ooo this is hard! Hmm if I had to pick one probably be @lilith-sims I love everything I have from them!

What Expansion/Game Pack is Your Favorite?

University is my favorite in every Sims game. But I also love Sims3 Generations!

_______________________________________________

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this post because I had so much fun making it! I have no one to tag so if you'd like to do this tag as well let me know I'd love to see it! With that said have a wonderful week and I'll see you all soon!!

[historysims4]

Dress broken

Hi guys, many of you have contacted me privately and via reblogs and comments about my broken dress. I checked everything and it looks fine to me! I removed mods, put mods back, checked on blender and on sims4studio and everything is fine ...

I double checked in game and either with or without gshade it works! I subjected the dress to movements of any kind and it didn't give me any problems. The dress is made up of modified meshes of other pieces of clothing from various expansion packs and dlc in general and processed and converted into base games. I honestly don't know how to help anyone who has encountered problems.

The outfit was created with the latest game update. I am sorry if unfortunately I have not found the solution to your problem. If any creator wants to take a look they can do so freely. Thanks in advance for anyone who wants to help me! With love, Vivì.

[uglycowplant]

sims tag

tagged by: stole from the dash lol

1. What’s your favourite sims death? cowplant for sure! i also love the vending machine one lol

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? maxis mix! i use only maxis match hairs but i sort of mix alpha clothes,,, but not like suuuuper alpha clothes??? yknow,,, lol

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? no. why would i

4. Do you use move objects? all the fucking time. i cant not use it

5. Favorite mod? i love custom recipes! and also mccc, ui cheats, and more cas columns. cant play without em. i also used to play with some slice of life and wonderful whims features, but stopped after the infant update... idk if ill get back to them anytime soon tho

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? i got city living, vampires, and cool kitchen at the same time! i actually wanted outdoor retreat but i was 12 and mt dad bought them for me and somehow i mixed the links lmao (we used the sims website to buy them)... i still to this day dont own outdoor retreat and idk if ill get it anytime soon

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? like living!

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? probably bree wisteria. i think a lot about how i didn't end up using them as the heir...

9. Have you made a simself? yes! i have a whole post of dressing my and my friends simselves in different universes!

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? bookworm, clumsy, and socially awkward. i dont own highschool years so i actually used loner instead tho

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? the new browns!

12. Favorite EA hair? i love the cottage living ones! except agnes' one. it has a weird texture

13. Favorite life stage? children! idk why, i just like playing with them and decorating their rooms

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? definitely a player. i actually am renovating the entire game rn for when im done with my current legacy so ill have a cool looking save to play not so berry in, and im enjoying building a lot more than i anticipated!

15. Are you a CC creator? not at all. i cant even make recolors

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? nope. but id love to get to know ppl on here more!!

17. What’s your favorite game? (1, 2, 3, or 4) only ever played the sims 4 (and a little of my cousin's sims 3 when i was 7 but i dont remember much) so i cant really say lol

18. Do you have any sims merch? nope. i do want a cowplant sculpture tho. something resembling a funko pop. if they'd ever make a collab with funko id get them!!

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? nope. i do watch a lot of sims youtubers tho

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? i used to make sims from shows and play as them with aging off (i actually have an entire arrowverse save that im considering making into a full on dc save). now im more of a legacy player, especially with challenges and stuff

21. What’s your Origin ID? romychet. follow me! i upload all the renovations im making lol

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? i dont have a fav atm but it used to be @miikocc and @casteru for a loooong time!

23. How long have you had a simblr? like a year and a half maybe? idk

24. How do you edit your pictures? literally just add a psd as a filter and thats it lol

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? honestly all we got lately (book nook kit, green house kit, growing together) are all what i really wanted... i dont own any of them yet (i do however have the greenhouse kit as cc) so i don't have anything im that interested in! maybe a more in depth elder pack? tho i barley play with them atm

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? cottage living! it's soooo cozy and cute and i love it for my family gameplay! and speaking of family gameplay, i think that once ill buy growing together itll become my fav! i also looooove parenthood!

[spikeinthepunch]

okay... i am starting to see some issues more with sheezy's pretty consistent tagging that feels like a Bit Much. like on one hand its very straightforward and literal in definition but. it still has me concerned on potential policing either from user side (users getting too comfy with being saved from seeing any content they dont want to see) or potential bad actors on the moderator team (and this isnt to accuse anyone on the team, its just a 'what if' that could come to fruition bc of these circumstances). this drawing was marked by a mod for nudity. is the character nude? yeah. their rule for General category nudity includes barbie-doll characters with skin. their nudity tag also includes barbie-doll skinned characters that have on pants or only a shirt.

issue is its not to say this description is invalid, the character is technically naked, despite no nipples of genitals. but i cant be the only who finds this a bit much. because they allow furry characters without nipples to not be tagged as nudity. (if they have defined nipples they need a nipple tag. if they have not nipple-esque belly spots its fine). now this is where it starts to get specific in a way that almost contradicts things. skin vs fur doesnt make a lot of sense when technically theyre both naked. the furry has no clothes and is anthropomorphic. if they say feral animals/non-anthro creatures are obvious animalistic and not need to be tagged as nude, then what kind of abomination could i create that muddies these rules?

im gonna keep going under the cut actually to point out some issues i have with the visuals for the rules. which you can find their rules here

i already mentioned the nudity stuff enough so im not gonna pull those up now. but then other one has to do with gore/blood. this one is waaaay to subjective on what can be considered too much or too little.

this is for the General category blood/gore rules:

this is for the Mature category

there is no visual for Explicit, its honestly described very much like Mature but additions to 'cannibalism'. they also say candy gore should be judged by the artist for severity (more being too vague or subjective here! contradicts the strictness of other rules).

so like, the biggest issue i have with the above is the shopped lim thing. "undetailed limb cross sections" look nearly the same. what if there is shading on a limb that makes it look like the mature category? what if their wacky colo style makes it look like that? what if the amount of dripping blood is just too much? etc etc.for the body-- if you allow open/chopped limbs in the General Category AND the Mature one... what is the difference? and again, how much blood is too much???? is putting a darker shade of red in the center of a chopped limb too much?? how and why? this is just far too subjective. artists have to judge what they deem fitting to these rules, and mods do too. and there will undoubtedly be loads of instances where this manual tagging from mods will happen.

there is also the rules regarding "substance abuse", not being allowed in General but can be in Mature-Explicit. now i didnt get manually tagged for substances abuse BUT i mentioned this the other day-- a mod manually tagged a drawing of mine with "alcohol". but the drawing had zero indication the bottle being held was alcohol in the first place.

now, the mod happened to be correct, i knew what it was in my head. but thats the thing. i knew it, only i did. what if it was a soda? and if they truly assumed it was alcohol and was wrong, and i disputed it, what would stop them from just saying "well i think its alcohol". i cant really prove it, and id just have to hope the mod is kind enough to let it be changed instead of just deciding for themself that i was right and they made a mistake/assumption.

i only really ramble about this bc i think its important to consider.... i have no ill will for sheezy either, but its a young site and its being run by young people (some even younger than me), and i think myself and others have seen some not great trends from this generation and younger regarding puritanism and censorship-- which i am not accusing these people of. but as i said in my last post, some times this "over tagging" can make a situation where the users expect the website to be safe and curate the space for them. the website/mods should not be become the parent figure hiding the gross things you dont want to see. you curate your internet experiences. the more specific they get with tags the more likely people would get upset if they pulled back from it, made changes, missed tagging something, or mistagged/misused the system.

[adair-kiba]

I want to think about Adair's body and gender identity today.

Adair is a chimera, he has intersex chimerism. it shows most prominently in his eyes and the tendency of his scales to be lighter than usual except when he's close to shedding, when they darken to the standard sandy beige. He's also the shortest man in his family, and shorter than expected for the tall Auri body type.

I've been mulling over how having two sets of DNA would affect him being a shard of Azem, but am still working on that idea.

His version of intersex is a little different than how it is in the real world, but I try to listen and learn from people who really do have conditions like this, and I hope to keep how I characterize him as respectful as possible since this is something that does happen to real people and may cause them troubles.

Like a lot of Au Ra havers, I like to think that despite the extreme sexual dimorphism Au Ra actually have very ambiguous and open views on gender and sex. It's not uncommon for petite ones to have traditionally male body parts, or for tall ones to have traditionally female body parts, and having a body that falls somewhere between the two is relatively common. Parents are supportive of their children and encourage them to use whichever pronouns, or lack of pronouns, they are comfortable with, and they educate them about health in a holistic manner, covering all potential body types.

Adair has always considered himself male, using he/him pronouns. He does have a uterus and ovaries, but rarely ever had any reason to believe that they might be functional (he doesn't have a monthly cycle, only rarely a light hint of it). His penis stays inside himself most of the time (dragon within mod). He is not capable of impregnating another, and he spent most of his life assuming that he was totally infertile. That he was able to conceive with Haurchefant was a one in a million stroke of luck.

Because he had never thought it possible, Adair was wholly unprepared for childbearing. It was never something he believed would happen to him and honestly it wasn't something he had ever had any desire to go through, at least not as the one carrying the pregnancy. He felt terribly dysphoric throughout the experience. But, he chose to keep the child and carry them to term despite the unexpectedness and bad timing because it was the last little piece of Haurchefant he had left. Auri babies are small because it's usually the petite Au Ra who bear children, so the bump on his tummy was easy for him to hide with the right clothes until nearing the 5th month despite it being half Elezen.

Regarding Adair's gender expression through his appearance, he usually opts for gender neutral or masculine clothes, occasionally enjoying wearing skirts of varying lengths and sometimes dresses, but never anything super frilly. He learned to use makeup from an ex-girlfriend, and has found that taking the time to do his eyes and lips every day and style his hair gives him a boost of confidence, he rarely is seen without it.

[bluecoolr]

I dug up Darrell's character sheet! I revamped it a bit. I wanted to make a companion art piece to this but I am way too excited so I'm just gonna go ahead post it.

Slasher OC

Name: Darrell Todd

Alias: The 8 Ball Killer (nobody actually calls him that, just me lol)

Age: late 20's to early 30's

Pronouns: He/they

Birthplace: Texas

Current location: the completely fictional "Devil's Prick" (Mount Horn), Louisiana, where he lives in a trailer

Occupation: gas station attendant/cashier, serial killer

Relationship Status: Single??? For now?? 👀 (note: this guy swings both ways violently with an axe) Honestly this guy should start off making friends. He hasn't got any.

Strengths: adaptable, agile, analytic

Weaknesses: obsessed with routines, leaves his murderous compulsions up to a magic 8 ball

How the 8 ball works: Whenever he encounters someone particularly rude, mean or abusive (i.e. to their companion/s when they pull up to the station he works at) or anyone who gets on his nerves, he asks if he should intervene. His 8 ball keychain would provide answers like "yes", "without a doubt", "don't count on it" etc. If it answers anything remotely gravitating toward "no", he isn't killing anyone, which makes him a pseudo-vigilante of sorts. But make no mistake he sometimes shakes the ball again to get a satisfying answer.

Appearance

Height: 6 feet 3 inches

Build: between fit and ripped. A bit of chub here and there?

Hair: dark blond - dyed ash blue

Eye color: dark brown

Skin: pale, freckled and scarred

Body Mods: lip piercing

Style: practical/laidback, he's somewhere between a metalhead and a punk so his clothing choices fall between

Favorites

Color: dark red

Animal: razorback (feral hog) -> doesn't particularly like to encounter em, because he doesn't own guns, but he likes the way they look. Respects the fight anything feral puts up.

Book: Killing Jesus (I made this book up btw)

Discusses cultist behavior of religious sects and exposes the abuse of power committed by the clergy

Underlines parts he agrees with

Angrily writes similar opinions in the margins

Food:

karaage teriyaki from the frozen section

If he feels like going on a splurge he'll go to the nearest town and get overstuffed po-boys and cajun fries

Anything deep fried is his go-to. (His strict religious, "organic" upbringing robbed him of fried and processed junk all the other kids got to enjoy so he indulges himself)

Wouldn't mind soup now and then

Soft spot for cornbread. Reminds him of his childhood. Makes his own, sometimes bakes the batter into muffins

Movie: Signs (2002) - theme music fills him with dread, alien scared the ever living shit outta him, some scenes make him laugh, enjoyed the faith theme

Artist: Rob Zombie, Korn, Black Flag, etc. (honestly as long as it's got loud guitars and screaming he'll probaby like it)

Hobbies: dirt biking, trekking in the early morning, watching TV, reading, listening to music

That's all I've got for now on mah boi, Darrell. Hope you like him so far. I think I might start drawing him again 🖤🔪

[writingwithcolor]

What Does Our "Motivations” PSA Mean?

@luminalalumini said:

I've been on your blog a lot and it has a lot of really insightful information, but I notice a theme with some of your answers where you ask the writer reaching out what their 'motivation for making a character a certain [race/religion/ethnicity/nationality] is' and it's discouraging to see, because it seems like you're automatically assigning the writer some sort of ulterior motive that must be sniffed out and identified before the writer can get any tips or guidance for their question. Can't the 'motive' simply be having/wanting to have diversity in one's work? Must there be an 'ulterior motive'? I can understand that there's a lot of stigma and stereotypes and bad influence that might lead to someone trynna add marginalized groups into their stories for wrong reasons, but people that have those bad intentions certainly won't be asking for advice on how to write good representation in the first place. Idk its just been something that seemed really discouraging to me to reach out myself, knowing i'll automatically be assigned ulterior motives that i don't have and will probably have to justify why i want to add diversity to my story as if i'm comitting some sort of crime. I don't expect you guys to change your blog or respond to this or even care all that much, I'm probably just ranting into a void. I'm just curious if theres any reason to this that I haven't realized exists I suppose. I don't want y'all to take this the wrong way because I do actually love and enjoy your blog's advice in spite of my dumb griping. Cheers :))

We assume this is in reference to the following PSA:

PSA to all of our users - Motivation Matters: This lack of clarity w/r to intent has been a general issue with many recent questions. Please remember that if you don’t explain your motivations and what you intend to communicate to your audience with your plot choices, character attributes, world-building etc., we cannot effectively advise you beyond the information you provide. We Are Not Mind Readers. If, when drafting these questions, you realize you can’t explain your motivations, that is likely a hint that you need to think more on the rationales for your narrative decisions. My recommendation is to read our archives and articles on similar topics for inspiration while you think. I will be attaching this PSA to all asks with similar issues until the volume of such questions declines. 

We have answered this in three parts.

1. Of Paved Roads and Good Intentions

Allow me to give you a personal story, in solidarity towards your feelings:

When I began writing in South Asia as an outsider, specifically in the Kashmir and Lahore areas, I was doing it out of respect for the cultures I had grown up around. I did kathak dance, I grew up on immigrant-cooked North Indian food, my babysitters were Indian. I loved Mughal society, and every detail of learning about it just made me want more. The minute you told me fantasy could be outside of Europe, I hopped into the Mughal world with two feet. I was 13. I am now 28.

And had you asked me, as a teenager, what my motives were in giving my characters’ love interests blue or green eyes, one of them blond hair, my MC having red-tinted brown hair that was very emphasized, and a whole bunch of paler skinned people, I would have told you my motives were “to represent the diversity of the region.” 

I’m sure readers of the blog will spot the really, really toxic and colourist tropes present in my choices. If you’re new here, then the summary is: giving brown people “unique” coloured eyes and hair that lines up with Eurocentric beauty standards is an orientalist trope that needs to be interrogated in your writing. And favouring pale skinned people is colourist, full stop.

Did that make me a bad person with super sneaky ulterior motives who wanted to write bad representation? No.

It made me an ignorant kid from the mostly-white suburbs who grew up with media that said brown people had to “look unique” (read: look as European as possible) to be considered valuable.

And this is where it is important to remember that motives can be pure as you want, but you were still taught all of the terrible stuff that is present in society. Which means you’re going to perpetuate it unless you stop and actually question what is under your conscious motive, and work to unlearn it. Work that will never be complete.

I know it sounds scary and judgemental (and it’s one of the reasons we allow people to ask to be anonymous, for people who are afraid). Honestly, I would’ve reacted much the same as a younger writer, had you told me I was perpetuating bad things. I was trying to do good and my motives were pure, after all! But after a few years, I realized that I had fallen short, and I had a lot more to learn in order for my motives to match my impact. Part of our job at WWC is to attempt to close that gap.

We aren’t giving judgement, when we ask questions about why you want to do certain things. We are asking you to look at the structural underpinnings of your mind and question why those traits felt natural together, and, more specifically, why those traits felt natural to give to a protagonist or other major character.

I still have blond, blue-eyed characters with sandy coloured skin. I still have green-eyed characters. Because teenage me was right, that is part of the region. But by interrogating my motive, I was able to devalue those traits within the narrative, and I stopped making those traits shorthand for “this is the person you should root for.” 

It opened up room for me to be messier with my characters of colour, even the ones who my teenage self would have deemed “extra special.” Because the European-associated traits (pale hair, not-brown-eyes) stopped being special. After years of questioning, they started lining up with my motive of just being part of the diversity of the region.

Motive is important, both in the conscious and the subconscious. It’s not a judgement and it’s not assumed to be evil. It’s simply assumed to be unquestioned, so we ask that you question it and really examine your own biases.

~Mod Lesya

2. Motivations Aren't Always "Ulterior"

You can have a positive motivation or a neutral one or a negative one. Just wanting to have diversity only means your characters aren't all white and straight and cis and able-bodied -- it doesn't explain why you decided to make this specific character specifically bi and specifically Jewish (it me). Yes, sometimes it might be completely random! But it also might be "well, my crush is Costa Rican, so I gave the love interest the same background", or "I set it in X City where the predominant marginalized ethnicity is Y, so they are Y". Neither of these count as ulterior motives. But let's say for a second that you did accidentally catch yourself doing an "ulterior." Isn't that the point of the blog, to help you find those spots and clean them up?

Try thinking of it as “finding things that need adjusting” rather than “things that are bad” and it might get less scary to realize that we all do them, subconsciously. Representation that could use some work is often the product of subconscious bias, not deliberate misrepresentation, so there's every possibility that someone who wants to improve and do better didn't do it perfectly the first time. 

--Shira

3. Dress-Making as a Metaphor

I want to echo Lesya’s sentiments here but also provide a more logistical perspective. If you check the rubber stamp guide here and the “Motivation matters” PSA above, you’ll notice that concerns with respect to asker motivation are for the purposes of providing the most relevant answer possible.

It is a lot like if someone walks into a dressmaker’s shop and asks for a blue dress/ suit (Back when getting custom-made clothes was more of a thing) . The seamstress/ tailor is likely to ask a wide variety of questions:

What material do you want the outfit to be made of?

Where do you plan to wear it?

What do you want to highlight?

How do you want to feel when you wear it?

Let’s say our theoretical customer is in England during the 1920s. A tartan walking dress/ flannel suit for the winter is not the same as a periwinkle, beaded, organza ensemble/ navy pinstripe for formal dress in the summer. When we ask for motivations, we are often asking for exactly that: the specific reasons for your inquiry so we may pinpoint the most pertinent information.

The consistent problem for many of the askers who receive the PSA is they haven’t even done the level of research necessary to know what they want to ask of us. It would be like if our English customer in the 1920s responded, “IDK, some kind of blue thing.” Even worse,  WWC doesn’t have the luxury of the back-and-forth between a dressmaker and their clientele. If our asker doesn’t communicate all the information they need in mind at the time of submission, we can only say, “Well, I’m not sure if this is right, but here’s something. I hope it works, but if you had told us more, we could have done a more thorough job.”

Answering questions without context is hard, and asking for motivations, by which I mean the narratives, themes, character arcs and other literary devices that you are looking to incorporate, is the best way for us to help you, while also helping you to determine if your understanding of the problem will benefit from outside input. Because these asks are published with the goal of helping individuals with similar questions, the PSA also serves to prompt other users.

I note that asking questions is a skill, and we all start by asking the most basic questions (Not stupid questions, because to quote a dear professor, “There are no stupid questions.”). Unfortunately, WWC is not suited for the most basic questions. To this effect, we have a very helpful FAQ and archive as a starting point. Once you have used our website to answer the more basic questions, you are more ready to approach writing with diversity and decide when we can actually be of service. This is why we are so adamant that people read the FAQ. Yes, it helps us, but it also is there to save you time and spare you the ambiguity of not even knowing where to start.

The anxiety in your ask conveys to me a fear of being judged for asking questions. That fear is not something we can help you with, other than to wholeheartedly reassure you that we do not spend our unpaid, free time answering these questions in order to assume motives we can’t confirm or sit in judgment of our users who, as you say, are just trying to do better.

Yes, I am often frustrated when an asker’s question makes it clear they haven’t read the FAQ or archives. I’ve also been upset when uncivil commenters have indicated that my efforts and contributions are not worth their consideration. However, even the most tactless question has never made me think, “Ooh this person is such a naughty racist. Let me laugh at them for being a naughty racist. Let me shame them for being a naughty racist. Mwahaha.”

What kind of sad person has time for that?*

Racism is structural. It takes time to unlearn, especially if you’re in an environment that doesn’t facilitate that process to begin with. Our first priority is to help while also preserving our own boundaries and well-being. Though I am well aware of the levels of toxic gas-lighting and virtue signaling that can be found in various corners of online writing communities in the name of “progressivism*”, WWC is not that kind of space. This space is for discussions held in good faith: for us to understand each other better, rather than for one of us to “win” and another to “lose.”

Just as we have good faith that you are doing your best, we ask that you have faith that we are trying to do our best by you and the BIPOC communities we represent.

- Marika.

*If you are in any writing or social media circles that feed these anxieties or demonstrate these behaviors, I advise you to curtail your time with them and focus on your own growth. You will find, over time, that it is easier to think clearly when you are worrying less about trying to appease people who set the bar of approval so high just for the enjoyment of watching you jump. “Internet hygiene”, as I like to call it, begins with you and the boundaries you set with those you interact with online.

[ibuki-loves-you]

Trigger Happy Havoc Girls with an S/O who is like Mikan

Warnings: Mikan's personality/actions

Mod Ibuki: Hey hey hey!! Sorry for the long wait on this :/ I hope it was worth it, though!

Kyoko:

Kyoko was immediately worried for your safety

She had a lot of questions

Why were you so shy? Had you been through something?

She kept those questions to herself though

If someone ever made fun of you, she’d glare

Literally just walk up to you, wrap on arm around your waist and the other on your arm

And glare

If you ever took a fall in front of her she’d carefully lean down and help you up, suggestive or not

Although she might blush a bit if it was a suggestive position

“There, you’re alright. It was just a small trip, thankfully.”

If you ever offered to take your clothes off for her, she would be appalled

“Love, I don’t want you to take your clothes off because I’m not in a particularly good mood. Bad moods are normal, that doesn’t mean you take your clothes off every time it happens. Don’t offer that to me unless you personally want to do it.”

Kyoko is not someone you can look at and feel as if she’s mad at you, because she makes it clear if she is

But if you did think she was, she’d be pretty upset

“No, love. I’m not mad. You did absolutely nothing wrong. Nothing at all. I honestly don’t think I can be mad at you. You just seem to make everything better.”

Kyoko’s heart skips a beat whenever you’re around <3

Hina:

Hina LOVED YOU

The minute you two met she did not let you out of her sight for long periods of time

She was just worried someone would hurt you or take advantage of you

If someone ever made fun of you, she’d be so mad

No one wants to deal with mad swimmy baby

“That is so rude, you know!? That was completely uncalled for! There was absolutely no reason to say that! Now apologize!”

If you ever took a fall in front of her, she would honestly fall too just to make you feel less embarrassed

She’d cover you if need be, though

Either with clothing or with herself when she “falls”

If you ever offered to take your clothes off for her, she’d be in shock

Mainly because you offered it to her because you thought she was upset

“What!? Please, S/O, no! Don’t say that! Taking your clothes off won’t make me feel better, cuddles will! Get over here! Because of that statement, I demand you let me cuddle you!”

If you ever thought Hina was mad, which is rare, she’d he so upset

“Baby! No! Not at all! I could never be mad at you! I swear! Your face is just too adorable to be mad at!”

Swimmer baby just wants your happiness above all

Celestia:

Celeste would never admit it if anyone asked

But she loved you the minute she laid eyes on you

Your personality only made her want to be with you more

Not many people dared to bother you, but if an unlucky soul did try to do such a thing…

Celeste would give them a run for their money

“Are you fucking kidding me!? How dare you!? Why don’t you crawl back into whatever ditch you crawled out of and leave my significant other alone! Do I make myself clear!?” She’d turn to you and give you a soft smile. “Come on, dear. Let’s go get some tea to cheer you up, yes?”

If you fell in front of her, she wouldn’t be able to catch you without falling herself, but she’d immediately take your hands and help you up

“Come now, darling. Don’t cry, it was an accident. Everything is alright.”

If you ever offered to take your clothes off for her, it would take a second to click

But once it did her reaction was similar to Kyoko’s

“Darling, I don’t wish for you to take off your clothes merely because Yamada put me in a foul mood. I would much rather you keep said clothes on and have a cup of tea with me, maybe some conversation as well. Please don’t offer yourself to me out of pity.”

If you ever thought she was made at you, she honestly thought she was gonna cry

“W-What? Dear, no. Not one bit. Not one ounce of me is angered by you. I love you far too much to be mad at you. Now, come here and let me hug you.”

Celeste truly does care about you, more than she has cared for anyone before <3

Sakura:

Protective

That’s it

Sakura wants your safety above all, because she knows how shy people can be taken advantage of easily

If anyone dared to make fun of you, oh boy

Sakura is fucking terrifying

“I suggest you run before I snap you in half.”

That’s all it takes to send them on their way

If you fell in front of her, she would definitely be able to catch you

And she would!

But if you did manage to miss her arms, she’d pick you right back up and hold you

“See? I got you. Everything is okay.”

If you offered to take your clothes off for her, she’d be calmer, but nonetheless upset

“Hey, don’t do that. I don’t want you because of your body. I want you because of your personality. That’s what I fell in love with. Don’t offer yourself to me, or anyone else. Ever. It’s your body, you can most certainly choose what to do with it.”

If you thought she was angry with you, she’d be so quick to tell you otherwise

“No, not at all. I am not mad in the slightest. Even if I was, I’d never take my anger out on you. That’s wrong, and I love you too much to even think about doing that.”

With Sakura as your girlfriend, you will always be protected. And that’s a promise

Mukuro:

Mukuro is shy, but definitely not as shy as you

Like Sakura, she wanted your safety above all

Let it be from others or her cruel sister

If someone ever made fun of you, she’d be pretty angry

Hell, she may put those skills of hers to good use

“Hey. Don’t let me hear you say something like that again. Ever. That’s just plain disgusting.”

If you ever took a fall in front of her, her reflexes are extremely fast, so she’d try her absolute best to catch you

More often she does, but on the off chance she’s unsuccessful, she’d apologize with a bright blush

“I-I’m sorry, love. I tried to catch you, uh, I’m sorry. Here, grab my hands.”

If you offered to take your clothes off for her, she’d immediately say no

“S-S/O! No! No, I-I don’t want you to do that! I-I’m not in a bad mood, and even if I was I wouldn’t want you to take your clothes off just to try to improve my mood! Please don’t offer that to me, that’s practically violating you! And I don’t want to do that!”

If you ever thought she was mad at you, poor girl might cry

“L-Love, I’m not mad at all. I-I promise. Even if I was mad, I don’t think it could be caused by you in all honesty. I love you, okay?”

Soldier baby’s heart go brrr

Sayaka:

Shy or not, Sayaka’s a cute blushy mess around you

She still teases you in a friendly manner, but always makes sure you know she’s only playing

If anyone over bothered you, she’d be incredibly salty

Like, pettiness and all

“Oh, so that’s how you’re gonna be? Well, I’ll have you know that my significant other is NOT gonna do that. You’re a rude person and I hope karma hits you hard.”

If you took a fall in front of her, she’d screech so sound and try to catch you, but would most likely fail

When she saw that you were embarrassed, like Hina she would trip to make you feel better

“See, S/O? It’s fine! Now we both tripped, hehe! Isn’t that funny!”

If you ever offered to take your clothes off for her, she’d hug you immediately and try to make you happy

“Nope! I don’t want that, okay? I want to kiss your cute face! Not rub up on you because you want to make me happy! Now c’mere, so I can kiss your cute face!”

If you ever thought she was mad at you, though, she’d be really sad

“What? No, I’m not mad at all! Let alone at you! I promise, S/O. Even if I was mad, I’d have a peaceful conversation. Not a screaming match about it! Now, give me a hug!”

Sayaka will hug you as much as you please, as long as it makes you happy <3

Toko:

Toko thought you were annoying at first

But then she realized how similar you two were

Not long after, she fell in love with you

Just like in those cheesy novels she writes

If someone ever bothered you, she’d get pretty mad

Lowkey considers letting Syo out

“H-Hey, asshole! T-That’s a r-real d-dick t-thing to say! S-So w-why d-don’t you just g-go back to w-whatever ditch y-you crawled o-out of a-and d-die!”

If Syo was around when someone bothered you, well I think we know how that'll go

They aren't around anymore, especially if they were a pretty boy

If you ever fell in front of her, she’d lowkey get second-hand embarrassment, but would help you up anyways

“Hey, l-look, you’re fine. N-Not a scrape or anything. Y-You’re okay.”

Syo would leap into action immediately and pull you to your feet

"See!? It's like you never even fell! You're okay! No tears, I hate seeing you cry!"

If you ever offered to take your clothes off for her, she’d freak the fuck out

“W-What!? N-No! D-Don’t do t-that! K-Keep your clothes o-on! I-I’m n-not mad! E-Even if I w-was, I w-wouldn’t w-want you to s-strip! Y-You’re t-too p-pretty for t-that!”

If Syo was around, she would as well

"What!? Oh no no no, this just won't do! You're body is far to marvelous to be shown so willingly, y'know that? Don't let others see it so easy! Even if it is just me! Doesn't matter!"

If you thought she was mad at you, she’d scoff at first, but then realize you were being serious

“What? I’m not m-mad at you. W-Why would I b-be mad at y-you? I-I have no reason to b-be. D-Don’t say that, I-I’d tell you if I-I was mad at you...S-Speaking as if I-I c-could g-get mad at y-you.”

Syo would latch onto you and hug you, giving you a little spin

"No, dollface! I'm not angry at all! See? I'm happy! So happy! Especially because my baby-cakes is here! Now, c'mon! Gimme a smooch!"

Even though she’d deny it at first, Toko really does love you