jonnyparable

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The Secret Life of Plants

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Autumn in Olkanshire

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The Secret World of Fairies

A fairy pack is upon us and with EA's track record, that sounds like a threat doesn't it? Well at any rate I've been very happy with my fairies, courtesy of mod by Spinning Plumbob. I've had the mod for some time now, years in fact, but only just started to get into it since the world I created for them is so apt.

Welcome to the Moonwoods, next to the tiny fairytale hamlet of Olkanshire, where all my occults live. The world is littered with portals to different realms, and is dotted with little fairy houses. Perfect for all manner of magical beings and fairies.

Here reside fairy sisters Belle Sprout the Garden Fae and Buttons the Wood Fae. Woodland fairies are typically quite secretive but Belle Sprout, like any good sun-loving flower, loves being out and about, showing off her powers and interacting with the locals, while her sister, true to her shy little toadstool ways, prefers to stick to the woods, seldom venturing out, spending most of her time honing her skills and talking to the plants.

Their house is high up in the trees, and you can only access it if you can fly. I wish it was a real miniature, instead of something towering above the canopy, but to that end, I thought it'll be cute if it looks a little bit like they grew their house from a seed, so like a pair of giant fruits or flowers. Kinda like the houses in Cafu, Grandia, a reference I'm sure no one will get.

The interiors are wholly enough for their needs. Seeing as they can sleep and shower in their little fairy castles. There's no kitchen, I think fire in a house like this seems a little precarious, they just eat fruits and veggies grown right there in the hut. Which is just also, a fairly fairy thing to do. *snorts*

That's it for this post, but if you've made it this far, I'd love some opinions. Here are four options for the roofs. I know I said I wanted the houses to look like flowers, hence the reddish roof but I also find thatched roofs and shingle roofs with dormers very cute, more conventionally woodsy and also a little less jarring against the green forest, but ultimately, much less whimsical. So, I'm torn, I like them all! I'm curious what you have to say!

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Antoni's Pizzeria

Featuring a family of Sims I got off the Gallery. Antoni Panettone and his wife, Roberta run the Pizzeria together with their son Jacques, with Antoni being the chef and owner, and Jacques working the counter and floor. Also newborn Gia, the first infant I've ever played with in the Sims 4. Infants are fine.

The lot is a residential and uses the Home Chef Hustle mechanic, it is not a Dine Out restaurant. I shall talk about how I do things and why in another post.

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Charging $50 for my Sims to sleep on the ground is really a new low for this franchise. Already have Fairies in my game so no thanks, EA.

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Nora's Tavern

Any medieval fantasy village full of weirdos is gonna need a tavern, and Nora provides! Featuring a renovated build I got off the gallery by anna_simsbuilds.

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Weird Little Olkanshire

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Actually playing the game and it's been great, really. With mods.

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The Pleasure District

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A little feed cleanser. Just chilling on the island today.

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The Inner City

Hello! Pretty much done with the inner city area.

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The Outer City

Hello! The first region in the capital is done! Well not the lot interiors but that's another matter. The outer city corresponds to what is the low rent hood in Newcrest, which is where this city technically is. This region is separated from the others by another wall, which was a common feature in many Chinese cities, both for defense during invasions, as well as a way to separate the more genteel parts of the city from others.

Here it's pretty much all commercial lots all right along the wall, and is close to the city's main gates and countryside outside. Indeed some of the area inside is still used for farming or industry. Therefore some of the buildings here are still thatched, which historically made them fire hazards. Another reason why these thatched roof buildings were usually further out from the city center or outside the walls altogether.

All of this context is useful in deciding how to fill the large swathes of land outside the interactable that will just be set dressing. Some of the set decor here includes a little pear orchard, an orange grove, and a few carpentry, ceramic and metalsmithing workshops.

Lots wise, there's a market, built around a drumtower, a kind of watchtower. Also here are a few shops and home businesses. The gaps between lots are filled in with some cc buildings to flesh out the area and make the lots feel more seamlessly integrated into the world around them.

I'm currently working on the upper region of the map, the one with the canal running through it. It's nice to have a project to be working on just for fun although it sure is laborious.

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The drum tower at night.

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The Serene Capital

Omg it looks so good

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A City Appears

From the ground up, an ancient Chinese city takes shape, slowly but surely

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Some good progress!

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Chinese Paifang

Made a Paifang for the market square! Basically a Paifang is a kind of archway in Chinese civic architecture that demarcates or marks an area, usually found at the start of major commercial and administrative districts and can be simple wooden ones like this or more elaborate stone ones. Today, apart from being everywhere in China, they're also commonly found marking Chinatowns in many cities around the world. Didn't think I had the necessary parts to put this together but by combining three tori gates from Snowy Escape and some CC, I'd say its a apretty convincing likeness.