expirisims

[expirisims]

Heartbreak House

Yay! Another actual Sims post on my Simblr! First off, I want to thank everyone who gave my short story a read and I hope you enjoyed it! It actually got picked as one of the Top Stories on Vocal!!! My first accolade on that site!

Now on to my gameplay pics! :)

I love how everyone is settling in now that we're in round two! Jorge and Darrell were off to work first thing in the morning, Kasey (who works as a fortune teller) and Logan (Who is a cook) both work nights. As you can see, Kasey and Garrick are still going strong, LOL! Which is unfortunate for Logan...yep...he's got a big ol' crush on Kasey! Sorry, Logan, I definitely don't think it's going to happen, Dude.

Meanwhile, as you can see, poor Jorge is still enraged at Tina. You weren't even going steady Jorge! Poor guy, he has all the luck with the ladies, hasn't he? All the BAD luck that is!

Kasey got a questionable makeover from her beau, LOL!

Jorge honed his gardening skills now that it's spring.

And Toby gussied himself up before another date with Brianne! I know, I know, that second picture has nothing to do with him OR Brianne...but I happened to see Antoinette out for a walk with her pup and couldn't resist! X)

With Toby occupied and both Logan and Kasey at work, Darrell ran across town to read. Gena! What are you doing!? You look like such a creeper!

Jorge on the other hand decided to distract himself from his romantic sorrows with a little gambling.

Winning some of his money back gave him the confidence to ask a random stranger for a dance, LOL! Just look at those moves!

Uh oh! Looks like Sal may have lost Tina for good!

Aaaand she's moved into his backup's household! Well, this should be interesting...facepalm.

[expirisims]

I was going to fill my queue last night, but I decided to fall asleep on the couch about 5 minutes into some crime show I was watching...so...no Sims post today. In the meantime, I leave you with one of the recent short stories I posted to Vocal.

Full disclosure, vocal does "pay" (if you can call it that) per read at no cost to you and to leave a comment or like on the actual site requires a free membership.

You might like it, you might think it stinks, or you may not read it at all 🤣

Any way, I hope you enjoy it and I will REALLY try to stay awake long enough to fill my queue with gameplay tonight!!!

And TW, the subject matter is a little dark-- nothing too direct or gorey-- if that sort of thing bothers you.

[expirisims]

Serving up Some Fresh Looks

The Otero household was just finishing up a house party when I switched households and I set straight to work giving them their customary second round makeovers!

Tina! You're the one who came over and slept in Jorge's bed after flirting with him and subsequently getting caught woohooing with Sal in the park! Now you're yelling at him! In other news, apparently Sal and Shasta were momentarily going steady, but he just wasn't feelin an actual relationship. That won't stop him from keeping her as another regular hook up...ugh this guy! Grrr...

The sun finally came up and there was a HUGE lightening strike right outside the house. Do you see that little white rod looking thing in the second and third pictures? Yeaaah not sure what that is, but it was blown to smithereens!

After work, Toby showed off his new sleek hairstyle to Brianne. These two are so stinkin cute!

Darrell caught a scary movie before meeting up with Tiffany for a date.

Good going Kasey!

Both Toby and Darrell look to be winding down on their dates.

Aww...Not gonna lie, it's been so long since I played this that I don't know who exactly got this notification, but both dates went swimmingly so either way I'd say it is true!

I know it's hard to see because of my awesome picture taking skills, but Jorge also went for a date once again going after Sal's girls. He's officially given up on Tina, but met up with Shasta for a date.

Unfortunately, not even his new makeover can make a good impression on her...facepalm...trust me Shasta, I don't care if you think Sal is hot, Jorge is the better person!

Off to spill his sorrows to the unsuspecting bar tender.

Boy, this poor guy! Still feeling crummy after discovering Tina just wasn't that into him and now ditched by Shasta. Maybe if you didn't keep going after the girls Sal's hooking up with...of course...that could be a challenge in this small town!

[expirisims]

I'll be back to posting a bit soon, but I wanted to reiterate the importance of external copies of ANYTHING you hold dear and hopefully save someone the near heart attack I just had.

I have been working on my writing again and popped into my Scrivener to check something in my "completed" manuscript only to have the program tell me the file doesn't exist!!!

Now, I have backups of the actual 100,000 word manuscript -- external backups, actual printed copies, in fact I'm doing my post beta tweaks in a different word processing program all together, but Scrivener houses all the previous drafts, character sheets, research etc. and to boot I'm so stupidly paranoid about my projects somehow getting stolen or something that I'm still shaking even after finding it. 🥴

Moral of the story, back up EVERYTHING you want to keep!

[expirisims]

Hey, just a quick update!

I have been on a family vacation for the last week so I do plan to queue up some posts in the next couple of days!

That being said, the school year is going to be starting again so I will be super busy getting everything organized for that, and I am also going to be going back to work. On top of that, I REALLY need to overcome whatever has been keeping me from getting the first draft of my second book out of my head and onto actual paper...err...my computer! And I am also trying to finish up edits after my first book went through beta reading LAST year! I'm really just scared to start the query process because it is so foreign to me, but I'm determined to get to that point and actually try to get it out there, instead of just let it rot after a handful of people read it.

So...the bad news is I'm going to have VERY little time for Tumblr, at least for several months, the good news is that I've already played through the rest of Pleasant Isle, Northeney and about half of round 4 in Redwood Harbor so the content is there... just waiting on me to get it all organized and queued up!

[expirisims]

Will you be able to share any of your sims? Also, have a good day!

Why thank you anon!

I have thought about sharing Sims in the past and am considering it as a possibility for when I finally get around to finishing up Pickerling Cove as there is a VERY small amount of lore I have planned with that world and with Windows no longer supporting any form of Origin, I'll likely have to release it as a save file.

As far as my current populations, that is a little more difficult because I use so many skins, sliders,etc. However, if there are any in particular you are wanting me to share let me know and I can see if I can upload them along with links to cc used. Also, several of my Redwood Harbor Sims are actually from the EA bin!

[expirisims]

Gearing Up for Spring

Winter is winding down and all the drama is finally settling. Maybe that's why Will was out of the house so much! Anyway, it's the last day of winter and with everyone sort of on speaking terms again, I decided to send them all to the park together.

The melty snow was perfect for building last minute snowmen and igloos.

Oh yay! Another possible pairing! Sorry Sal, looks like another of your girlfriends has decided to move on to greener pastures.

While everyone else continued to play in the snow, Sal took advantage of the thawed pond. His favorite thing to do for some alone time is fishing...what?? Why is there a heart above his head like he's on a date??

Oh no...don't tell me...

Literally CAN'T stay away from each other!

Aaaand apparently, they inspired Garland and Gena, because as soon as Sal and Tina stepped out, Garland and Gena went inside...these sims! Facepalm...

More igloos and Jorge fighting with Tina because apparently, he still thought they were romantic even though he's been casually seeing Shasta and he and Tina haven't talked at least for the entire season after one random flirtation...

I honestly don't know who's in that igloo at this point...It just became a thing...everyone was going to the igloos to woohoo LOL! It must have been a LOOONG winter for everyone. I use risky woohoo so this may just set off a babysplosion...geeze you sims!

Meanwhile, having secured Tina's friendship and affection yet again, Sal met up for Shasta to eh'hem...give the photo booth a whirl again. Freaking jerk! Also...eeew, dude!

And there you have it folks...pretty much back where we started. Tina can't stay away from Sal despite her better judgement. And Sal woohooing with every willing sim in the community. Will and Melonie are still going strong both in their relationship and careers. And Gena and Garland have gotten engaged! Phew! I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted after that whirlwind!

[expirisims]

About Time

What do you know!? It's Will! He is still employed in the Military Career and doing well, but he really wants to be a writer, so over the rotations I think I'm going to have him retire and officially become a writer.

Sal whatcha all dressed up for??

Promotions!! Promotions galore!

After watering the plants, it's time for some dancing to celebrate.

And some more skill leveling.

Sal decided to try again with Shasta now that the zombification has worn off. While she's still receptive to his flirting, roommate Tiffany was having none of it! She knows what a jerk he is!

[expirisims]

I can't sign this so I thought I'd reblog it for those who can!

If you live in the European Union please take literally three minutes out of your day to sign this initiative.

Further instructions here

[expirisims]

A New Day has Dawned

The sun on Snowflake day rose in the fresh cold air above freshly fallen snow. Tina watched a pair of wild horses outside and contemplated her relationships.

Tina broke the news to Sal, who was of course upset. Sadly, I think he actually cares most for Tina, at least they have had a strong friendship in the past, but he can't stop his womanizing, and it's cost him.

Gena is used to the drama surrounding these two by now and just quietly studied a book for work while Tina and Sal had their spat.

Sal being Sal, handled the heartache the only way he knows how...calling up the only girl still talking to him to distract him from his feelings or any possibility it could have been his fault.

Aaaand she immediately turned into a zombie. Sal, I think someone is trying to tell you something!

Further down the road, Garland and Gena have made up and he decided to show her just how serious he is about this relationship! Yay!

Tina spent a quiet night studying for work and after his disaster of a date, Sal went home to read too. Maybe the quiet will give him a chance to do some self reflection...but it is Sal after all, so I doubt it.

[expirisims]

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

Sal's work uniform I presume! He has the want to get an inventing table and being in the Science field, the inventing skill could definitely prove handy and he did just earn a promotion, so I went ahead and bought one!

He set straight to work.

And was immediately smitten by the sim gods for his bad behavior! Bahahaha!!! Seriously, though, thank goodness Garland was right there to put him out!

Haha! Not lookin so hot now, huh buddy? Or maybe you are...too hot! LOL!

In other news, Shasta is still keeping her options open thank goodness for her. Yeah, I think Jorge may be a better choice than Sal too, Shasta!

Everyone else is getting home from work and Gena is stirring up fights with Tina again. That was until Garland started flirting with Melonie right in front of her! Yikes! Maybe it's time for these couples to start looking for their own places.

Somehow apparently Sal was also upset and is now longer friends with Garland...the sim that just literally saved his life!

Oh...oh no...I don't think it was Sal upset with Garland...I think the rumors about Sal sowing his oats around town finally got back to the entire household! Pretty sure Sal just lost his friendship with about the entire household, worst of all Tina has found out! Oh boy! Hopefully she can move on from him this time.

With relationships at home damaged and the truth finally out Sal headed downtown to meet up with Shasta, currently the only girl he's been seeing that's talking to him.

Meanwhile Melonie was politely kicked out of the Harrell apartment, LOL! Hmm...for being in a committed relationship with Will, she certainly hasn't been hanging out with him much! Actually, where has Will been these last two days? I guess with all of the Sal/Tina drama unfolding I've left him mostly to his own devices. Don't worry, he's around and has been working hard on his budding writing career!

[expirisims]

Daytime Drama

We're back with the Kessler household for round two and fresh off of the standard round two makeovers I decided to check in on Sal's continuously unfolding drama. Somehow the three girls he's currently juggling haven't caught on yet, but Venus has apparently learned her lesson and strongly dislikes him after they broke it off.

Ahh...off to make a drunken inappropriate forum post before going back to bed for a few more hours...charming...

His reputation may say naughty now, but just wait until all those girls start to get wise to what's going on. Antoinette and Shasta are roommates for simsake!

Gena and Garland caught the early morning news and Melonie earned a promotion!

Then it was off to complete a job at the Warden household, which Shasta HATED! Maybe it had something to do with Garland deciding to help himself to a bowl of cereal after he was done. Facepalm.

Sal, Gena and Tina all had anniversary parties at work...again...a full year with my settings is 20 days and round one was 25 (meaning it's currently day 35 in the playthrough) so not sure why I'm getting these notifications, but oh well!

After the celebrations Tina and Sal wasted no time making use of the only double bed in the house...Will and Melonie's bed that is!

LOL! Sal wore himself out and went to sleep in his own bed. Will and Melonie may just want to burn their bed though, with Sal's erm appetite there's no telling what kind of germs they infected that bed with!

Back to making the rounds with his lady friends...ugh this guy!

Meanwhile, determined to cover herself in even more germs, Tina was off to dumpster dive. Still completely unaware that Sal was still meeting up with other women despite whatever he's told her. Girl, I know you want to be exclusive with him, but I don't know that I'd waste my time!

[expirisims]

Drawing to a Close

Here it is. My last day with the Harrell household until I get back to Pleasant Isle. Now I know, I'll see them around and get notifications while I cycle through the rest of round two, but this is my last chance to tie up some loose ends and get them on track towards fulfilling wants and lifetime aspirations.

First order of business...stylist makeover number two! Okay, so he's still a clone, but at least he has a different hairstyle now. Besides, doesn't everyone in the real world have a rando stranger twin?

Vaughn called up Eliza for a date, which she declined...maybe she's not as serious about him as he is about her. Garrick, however, got a rather random proposal! No Tiffany! Garrick has the want to get engaged to Kasey, and you are in a committed relationship with Darrell! I'm surprised at you! Not really, it is the sims after all.

On a side note, a couple of townies made the local paper for their wedding. I've never seen this with townies before! I have no clue who you two are, but congrats!

Oh boy. I don't see this lasting very long. Of course I don't see Tina staying away from Sal for long...he must have something going for him those ladies can't resist.

Maybe this is why Eliza couldn't go on a date! She was busy earning yet another promotion! Way to go Eliza!

Correction...TWO...within minutes of each other! Wow! She is really taking off!

Pochi and Sean settled in for a nice dinner.

And with a few more simoleons in their coffers thanks to Vaughn's spirits, it's time to say goodbye to the Harrell household for now. There are still four more households to cycle through, and both Garrick and Vaughn are in serious relationships. Who knows if they'll all three still be in the apartment by the time I return for round three...

[expirisims]

That One Must Have Been a Rager

Bahahaha! Sean ran off to the gym again first thing the next morning and I found this. That party must have raged all night for some X)

Then I saw this...What is going on here??? I mean Pochi had run across town last night and was a little lonely by the time he got home, but he seems fine now and is eating breakfast...

What in the actual Sim Hades??? It's not my fault and certainly not the guys fault that Pochi ran all the way across town on his own yesterday! He was hunting collectables!

So yeah...I'm going to cheat him back into the household and note to self, when the pets motives are in the red at all, I'm just going to reset them so they get back home and not unfairly taken away! Grrr...

What the heck Lady!? I had you dressed normal and now you show up to work like this!?

He's back!

Everyone was excited to see Pochi home where he belongs!

All settled back in!

[expirisims]

To Play or Not to Play on Spooky Day

Our guys are really settling into life! Vaughn has earned yet another medal after all his hard work around town last night. And he's getting more serious with Eliza earning a reputation for being eternally faithful! And Sean, while still trying to level up his photography skill has become very committed himself. To earning a promotion at work. He's up early and off to the gym to work out some more.

I swear! This guy is in EVERY save! Literally, just a copy of Blaine of the bookstore and Zombie Roommate from Redwood Harbor! Ugh! The pudding is real, unfortunately. Time to send Garrick to work his magic. With any luck both townie stylists will have a new look before the annual Spooky Day Party I have planned for tonight!

Uhh...Garrick...Not bad, but let me just nudge my way in there...yeah...sorry, excuse me...

There we go! One makeover down. One to go. Now maybe if you guys didn't spend all your time just dancing in the salon...facepalm...

Uh oh...Did Sean take his camera to the gym again!?

Salvatore Grover!! Sir!! Why am I NOT surprised...eyeroll...Shasta's roommate!

Well on the plus side, I found Sean. He wasn't creeping on the ladies at the gym this time...just unsuspecting tourists at the park. Facepalm. I swear, sometimes this guy gives off major serial killer vibes. Stay away from the van ladies! And just say no to the rando "photographers" that offer to whisk you away for modeling pictures...I watch too much ID Network.

He was off to join the already congregating sims for the costume party! I'm going to have to keep an eye on that photobooth this year though, LOL!

Uh-huh! Sal is already there and thinking about Tina...The memories...LOL!

LOL! What a motley bunch of Sims!

Found Tina! Thinking about Sal...while they both stand in front of that photobooth...dear simsgods is this going to become a tradition for these two??

Ahhh...Another successful Spooky Day party under the belt!

[expirisims]

Around the Breakfast Table

LOL! I guess the guys are discussing Vaughn's new award. And I always love when my simmies and their pets are super close!

In other news...Sal is up to his old tricks again, this time hooking up with Shasta...I wonder how long this will last?

The boys must have been tired from the night before and took their time getting around. Sean relaxed his sore muscles in a nice bath.

And Garrick spent more quality time with sweet Pochi.

Kasey has come over for a visit on this rainy fall day.

Vaughn's no dingus...he knows what's up. And Pochi just howled along!! Bahahahaha!!

Oh yay! Though, I know for a fact it has been over a year since this playthrough began, but I still love getting these random notifications for my sims. It adds so much to the feeling that the world is alive.

Haha! Seems like that party wore him completely out! I love that he's dreaming about a promotion though :)

Just another cute slice of life picture before Pochi ran outside to do some hunting of collectables.

It's a perfect night for some more ghost hunting for Vaughn!

And a medal this time!

Honestly, I know a lot of people hate the full moon lighting, but it really sets off the scenery on an already creepy fall evening. There seem to be several sims out and about braving the zombies...and a wild horse napping in the middle of the street!

[expirisims]

A Fresh Start for Round Two

Garrick is first up to start out round two in Pleasant Isle! I was thinking he'd have more luck with his makeovers this round...wah wah wah.

With his latest client canceled, Garick headed to the salon to work on skill building while Vaughn and Sean got around.

Seriously! How is this lady the more popular choice for stylist!? I think Garrick will have to give HER a makeover in the near future!

Meanwhile, Vaughn has learned his lesson about ambivalence with Eliza. He called her up for a romantic date at the private beach.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before he was called to bust some ghosts, but at least his relationship with Eliza is on more solid ground than it was last round.

Having no clients booking appointments, Garrick finally gave up and settled in for an afternoon nap.

Sean decided to work on his fitness skill and jogged to the gym. No camera in site this time thank goodness!

And Vaughn set to work ridding his neighbor's homes of spirits. Yay! He's earned an award! I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, he is the only ghost hunter in town.

OMG!! Nice Face Venus! Bahahaha!

Just one more quick stop to pick up his trophy and it's back home for the end of day one!