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ts2 supremacy 🏡

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Cathy Baines trying to infect my brainwaves again while Tumblr may be crashing and burning is poetic, really

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✨ Please reblog to make it reach out to as many people as possible, but KEEP IT SPOILER-FREE to make people listen to the music with an open mind 💖 Artists and titles will be revealed after the poll's conclusion, check the original post for an update! ✨

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Struck by nostalgia and going through my blog today, but tell me why Tumblr must've done some sort of update bc I manually have to change the URLs now to not have dashes. Like c'mon man

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Popping into say I mentioned this blog indirectly during a work training the other day. It was one of those "what's a fact no one knows about you?" in the context of this icebreaker so I dropped "yeah back in college (undergrad)/high school I used to blog about the sims."

To which my big boss (my boss's boss) was like "oh, you were like a celebrity then!" which inflated my ego just a bit

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Poking through my files this afternoon (since I needed to save my transcripts), and I don't know why but I came back to my TS2 folder to unearth some old screenshots.

This was a legacy circa 2020. Anne Francisco (the red head) was its founder, and borrowing a name from when I was younger and my friend and I would start with a sim of the same name.

However, unlike back in the day, this definitely took a queer turn. Also legacy rules be damned and Anne went for The Diva who brought in a sizable amount of cash. They did have one child before I stopped playing... a son I think? Sonboy allowed? I can't quite recall.

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Okay dunking on EA aside a quick personal post to check in saying hi, and:

Gender got more complicated since last time, nothing new. Came with a new name tho which is pretty swanky (if I do say so myself)

I feel like my mental state shattered into a thousand pieces on November 6th, 2024 after the results were final of the U.S. Event the day before

I've got a new job I start soon!

Also I've been playing the sims casually here and there.

OH and I've got a library card again and have been diving back into reading. Mostly manga, but I'm trying to mix some novels in, too.

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It's simply so on-brand for EA to bungle even a re-release of an old franchise from everything I've read. (Also, theft from the community? For shame, sir. For shame!)

Anyway, I'll stick to the Sims 2: Ultimate Collection I've had in working order since 2014 I got for free (no take backs, EA!) thank you~

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As a Sims 2 player one of the most eerie things about playing the original game isn't necessarily the creepy/more liminal aesthetic or the repetitively endless gameplay, but the fact that almost all the pre-made Sims from the original game are inexorably doomed by the narrative.

There's something odd about Pleasantview specifically, where the majority of the returning Sim families live (save for Tara Kat, who seems... relatively fine). Like, the concept of the game is that twenty-five years have passed, and all of the returning characters are pre-baked into character arcs that communicate an unavoidable truth: You, the player, failed.

Bella Goth will disappear. Her brother (though in the original Sims we aren't aware that Michael Bachelor is her brother) will die, possibly murdered. Mortimer will be lost and alone. Cassandra will be stuck in an unloving engagement. The Newbie's daughter will be impoverished, a single mother whose husband died young, with two boys and another on the way. Daniel Pleasant will grow up to be a cheater. Jennifer Pleasant will never be an athlete like she wanted (her brother will). And though poor Johnny Burb never mentions Tucker anymore, you know that old dog died years ago. The Roomies, the Mashugas, the Hicks, the Charmings - all leave town... or worse, die out.

I think about Jeff Pleasant's bio in the first game: "Jeff and his family are new to the neighborhood. Can you help Jeff provide for his family and fulfill his lifelong goal of being the first man to walk on Mars?" And how it contrasts to Daniel's in the second: "Since his father Jeff died without achieving his dream of going to Mars, Daniel has felt an overwhelming guilt."

And sure, you can save the families of Pleasantview. You can choose for Mary-Sue to not go to work that day, or maybe Daniel never pursues Kaylynn Langerak again. You can give Cassandra a happy marriage, tame Don Lothario's womanizer ways. You can financially save Brandi Broke. You can get John Burb another dog. You can get Jennifer the career she always wanted. You can defy the scripted in-game prompts and say "No. I don't want to play like this." You can break the cycle, every time you play.

And yet, at the end of the day, no matter what you do... uninstalling the game and reinstalling it, maybe just deleting that Neighborhood folder, they are reset back to exactly where they were again. They're doomed to repeat it forever.

The game makes it clear that there are some things you aren't meant to change. A genie lamp or a Resurrect-O-Nomitron can bring back sims like Michael Bachelor, but you will pay for it in your neighborhood deteriorating to corruption. And no matter what you do, no force in the universe can bring Bella Goth back. The one in Strangetown isn't even really her, after all. And maybe she isn't. They say they deleted her in development, replaced her with a clone. Maybe that's what Bella Goth in Strangetown is. A clone. Maybe we were wrong, after all. Maybe she was never abducted by aliens. Maybe Don Lothario killed her. Maybe Dina Caliente killed her. Maybe Mortimer did. But you can't bring her back, no matter what you do. Recreate the original Bella, pixel by pixel, extract her data, make your zombie Bella. Build your own monster. Create a sim. But she will never recognize her family. Never see them as her own.

And she was never meant to.

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Also this summer, I revisited an old family of mine: The Sykes Family! A quick recap is that Parker and Mitchell were old BC sims of mine who were eliminated in their respective challenges. I remade them in TS2 for a brief legacy that didn't go far. They had two kids, Nina and Julian. Nina I had already made in TS3, but Julian was new this past summer.

For this save, I went for a casual slice of life. Mitchell and Parker are Adults, Nina is a Young Adult, and Julian is a Teen to match their ages from TS2 in my head. Aging is off, and I'm playing things out as I want them to. I've also placed them in a Store world I bought forever ago, Aurora Skies, to explore the town and what it has on offer.

*Also, unless something got added after this, assume the end of the queue!*

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As promised, actual sims! Queued though since it's a touch late.

Anyway, to continue on with Crystal Valley, I ended up adding a new sim! Her name is Alana Verde. After playing the 'hood for a few rounds, there's been a rash of break-ins for whatever reason. Although Annabelle Thompson is on the force (see the third picture) and there's an SCIA agent in town (Tanesha Rouge, not pictured), some assistance was needed as determined by the Chief of Police. Enter Alana, a detective for the force. Although highly skilled at solving some of the toughest crimes in downtown, she's feeling a little out of place in a more suburban setting tracking down (to her) small time petty thieves.

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Oh god color me old I was like "where'd the post go?" not realizing I was in the "For you" tab. Can we please bring the old Internet back I beg of you

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It's Me, Hi, Making a Life Post it's Me

Manifesting once again for my infrequent life update to this blog ft. occasional sims posting! (The sims posting will come shortly I gotta shuffle through some screenshots first.)

Man, this blog really feels like an Up North cottage that I don't get around to as much these days, but can't quite let it go - the active posting era I was in prior to the pandemic definitely lead to a creative burnout I still am recovering from, but I suppose that it's still the hardest with the sims given that it was such a mainstay. I know it's a touch odd to continue to reflect on that point when I do pop in, but in a way it's cathartic? Especially as I'm slowly but surely rediscovering the game again for the fun it brought me prior to joining simblr, and I want to recapture that feeling when I play. (Of course I've got elaborate storylines still, but it's much easier to keep them contained to just myself without drafting or creating dialogue for a queue.)

On a personal note, for those keeping score at home, I finished my masters this summer! That's part of the reason why after getting the Crystal Valley queue going I dropped of the face of the earth again. I was in the trenches writing my 52 page thesis. Tack on having our Dean of Students, who was previously a lawyer mind you, as my professor meant I needed to constantly proofread and add research. However, after completing it with an A- (thank the Lord and everything holy for that) not having homework for the past two months for the first time in seemingly my entire life has been freeing. I've also been on the job hunt to move into a similar position at a new institution making more money... but unfortunately I'm stuck in the first round of interviews I've gotten. (Silver lining is I'm actually getting interviews instead of being completely ghosted.)

Also, I've deleted my Twitter accounts across the board and that was such a freeing move. I hate that how Muskrat has gotten it into the state it's in, but unless someone were to take over and have a conscience that's one major dumpster fire I needed to get out of.

Toss on the rollercoaster the 2024 election has been things have been crazy. (I guess the craziest part to me outside of the presidential race is that my lifelong Republican parents voted a straight ticket for the Democratic Party for the first time in this election and that still has me shook, but I'm incredibly thankful they never bought into the crazy and are sticking up for the country over party loyalty.)

Anyway, long time no see! I hope you're all doing well to the best of your ability.

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If you can believe it, we're at the final post from the forums! Here's the last family of Crystal Valley to showcase, the Thompson Family!

Family Description:

The Thompson's claim that they're the image of "perfection," but does that claim really hold up? The façade is crumbling, but Crystal Valley is going to be the catalyst for the end.

Tyler Thompson (left) •Aspiration: Romance •Secondary: N/A •LTW: Become Hall of Famer •Personality: Aquarius (4/4/4/7/6) •Turn Ons and Turn Offs: Blonde Hair, Creativity; Fatness •Job: Slacker (Gas Station Attendant) •Skills: 2/2/3/3/2/4/2 •Bio: Tyler could care less about Crystal Valley. He's mostly here because Annabelle told him to be.

Annabelle Thompson (middle) •Aspiration: Family •Secondary: N/A •LTW: Become Captain Hero •Personality: Cancer (6/3/6/4/6) •Turn Ons and Turn Offs: Fitness, Brown Hair; Fatness •Job: Law Enforcement (Cadet) •Skills: 4/2/2/2/3/2/5 •Bio: Annabelle just KNOWS that Crystal Valley is going to be perfect for her and her family. But is that really true?

Samantha Thompson • Aspiration: Grow-Up • Secondary: N/A • LTW: N/A • Personality: • Job: N/A (Toddler) • Skills: 0/0/0/0/0/0/0 • Bio: (To be added!)

Creation Notes:

This family is also one that changed since the 2011 version! They were more of an ordinary, "picture perfect" type of family. I decided for the remake that I should have it be a bit ~different~ in that two completely opposite people got together and had a family. Better as friends, not so great as lovers perhaps?

Their house is unmodified, save for two slight changes I didn't feel the need to photograph: I added curtains on the windows and I gave them a car in the garage (a purple Yomoshoto Evasion).

Although, yes, the story set up here is an affair by Tyler... I don't actually have a sim to fulfill that role! Maybe I'll make one? Maybe it'll be a townie? That's to be decided!

Also I completely dropped the ball and forgot Samantha's bio as of the initial writing! I know I gave her one (as you all may have noticed, every sim got their own custom bio in this 'hood), but I just. Forgot to add it to my notes? I only noticed while writing this, and it's a happy coincidence I'm going to be in-game tonight! I'll make sure to add it in ASAP.

And with that, this is the last of the showcase entries! I hope you all enjoyed these, as I finally sat down to cross-post them lol. Maybe someday I'll share what I've played of this 'hood... but that's to be determined.

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Before we cover the final family of Crystal Valley, here's the final set of lots! Any EA lots mentioned here are, as of this writing, unmodified from their vanilla states in the housing bin.

Main Street Lots:

Rapid Racers Roller Rink - EP5 Community lot

H&M SimCity - SP6 Lot

10 Main Street (Uplifting Loft) - SP3 House

Crystal Tailors - Built by me, details below!

Rec Center - salamisimmer (DW)

Chain Restaurant - Peni Griffin (MTS)

Crystal Valley Grocer - Built by me, details below!

12 Main Street, European Townhouse - A Lot Bin Makeover (Thompson Family Home) - Justpetro (MTS)

11 Main Street (39 City Ave.) - Creator unknown at the moment

Oceanside Court Lots:

201 Oceanside Court - Base Game Home (European Townhouse)

202 & 204 Oceanside Court (European Townhouse - Small Lots - 4 Versions - Part 1 - No CC) - angellasimmer (MTS)

206 Oceanside Court - Vacant Lot

Now onto the handmade community lots! Only two in this section.

Crystal Tailors

Looking for local clothes? Stop by Crystal Tailors! Great styles at affordable prices.

Crystal Valley Grocer

Highest quality produce, meat, and dairy from the fields of Crystal Valley, right to your plate! Low prices! Check the newspaper for the latest sale flyer.

Creation Notes:

Look, I'm a sucker for a good downtown/main street area. I wanted to emulate that, and since Crystal Valley proper is a bit of a smaller town, this makes sense.

As with the other community lots built my me, yes, the custom parking spaces are wrong. I still need to correct these at some point.

The tailor I enjoy, but it's a bit... cramped? I really wanted the displays to look like that with the elevated foundations, so some sacrifices were made.

Crystal Valley Grocer is... passable. It's a grocery store, so it's not meant to be flashy, but man is it boxy. I tried my best to break it up with that café section, but it's still a bit boring. But hey, boring is okay!

Oceanside Court being the European Townhouse lots just. Kind of happened? I could see them being condos that are used for vacationers.

You can see it off to the edge, but I put down some construction 'hood deco! The plan is to eventually place more homes there, and I felt that it would be a touch more realistic to have that set down in the meantime.

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Next up is a lot interlude for the Pine Road (residential) and Cottage Street lots!

This is a very awkward crop, but I couldn't get it any other way for now. This is due to how I took the neighborhood view (from an angle), and my own laziness to not get back in-game just yet. Regardless, this post is going to be largely credits, seeing as I downloaded lots or used premade ones to fill out the road. Aside from lots already showcased (businesses and the Rouge home), none of these houses/community lots have been altered. Credits read from top left of the image to the bottom right!

Pine Road Lots:

CV Bank and Trust: Built by me, detailed in an earlier post

Crystal Park: Built by me, detailed in an earlier post

Park n' Go: Downloaded lot, creator unknown at the moment, mentioned in an earlier post

Meals by Lopez: Built by me, detailed in an earlier post

35 Pine Road: Haute Habitaction - SP1 House

36 Pine Road: Hillview Sun - mir-sims (Tumblr)

41 Pine Road: Minty Green Abode - Sharpie0 (MTS)

42 Pine Road: Hearty Home - EP5 House

43 Pine Road: audreysims family estate - audreysims14 (Tumblr, linked on previous post)

44 Pine Road: Visionary Villa - SP1 House

47 Pine Road: The Cottage - Creator unknown at the moment

48 Pine Road: 01 Plymouth St. - dadeux029 (MTS)

Cottage Street Lots:

Cottage Street Apartments: Cottage Apartments - HugeLunatic (MTS)

Creation Notes:

Lots of custom and prebuilt lots! This was how the 2011 version of the street looked (albeit with some different lots), but I kept the concept the same. The EA lots, I can say with certainty, are the same as they were a decade ago.

Cottage Street has just the apartment lot! I will say this does have a minor change, and that's the inclusion of the brick wall. I wanted to give a smidge of realism with the wall as a function of both privacy and noise reduction, given its location.

I do apologize for the slight gaps in creator credits! There's always that one piece of CC that you forget the creator, the link vanishes off the face of the Internet, or both! Like Park n' Go, if I can remember who made it, I'll update that with the proper credit.