#Foundations For Families

[persimmonthusiast]

Here comes my third build for the Foundations for Families challenge rebooted by @rockethorse! This time with a modern and rather fancy townhouse for rising soccer star Tyler Gravel.

The ground floor is mostly an open concept with the suspended staircase being the centerpiece. Even though Tyler lives alone, he likes to host parties and have friends and relatives over. I wanted the living area to feel spacious despite the house having a relatively small footprint. The entry hall is only separated from the main area by an arch, and includes a desk, access to a toilet and the staircase to the basement. And the kitchen would not be complete without a blender for Tyler's morning protein smoothies! (More pics under the cut)

The first floor has two bedrooms: a guest room furnished with twin beds, and Tyler's bedroom with a closet and high bay windows opening onto a private balcony. Tyler puts a lot of effort into his looks, and the main bathroom reflects how much time he likes spending there, complete with a massaging shower, corner bath and a large vanity.

Tyler's home gym is located in the basement, with an attached bathroom and combined shower/sauna cabin. The rest of the basement is occupied by a "play room" to entertain his... special guests And of course a bachelor needs a nice terrace, including a hot tub and outdoor lounge for grilling/pool parties.

Again I struggled a bit with the layout for this one but I had a quite clear vision from the start of the vibe I wanted to achieve, and I think it turned out pretty close to what I envisioned!

[rockethorse]

Foundations for Families Challenge: Rebooted!

Inspired by an ask, this is a reboot of the Foundations for Families contest over at Mod The Sims 2 from 2012. I've reverse-engineered the original floorplans based on the surviving entry images, streamlined/loosened the rules, and hopefully this old contest will interest some players as a new challenge!

You can participate using any Sims game.

The challenge:

Pick one foundation blueprint below and assign it to one of the families below.

Place an empty lot and build a foundation that matches the blueprint exactly. You may use any lot size or type, position the foundation anywhere on the lot, and rotate the foundation however you like (but cannot mirror it).

Build something on the foundation according to the specifications of the family you picked.

You're done! Share with the tag #Foundations For Families Challenge or simply enjoy your handiwork!

The rules:

You can only use each blueprint and each family once; so at the end of the challenge you will have four different families with four different foundations.

You can have as many decorative floors/dormers as you want, but only the first one or two floors may be useable or accessible by Sims (after the foundation).

You can use any combo of the three basegame foundation types to build the blueprint, but stages can only be placed above existing foundations.

You can only build walls above foundation, and you cannot have flooring or roofs extend/"hang" over the edge of the foundation. This includes greenhouses, but excludes pool walls. Fencing, flooring, and awnings are allowed on the ground.

If you want to build a basement, go for it, but it must be contained entirely within the original foundation and cannot be visible from the outside. There may only be one level of basements.

The families (all credit to @w-sims):

The Barkworth Family - Mike and Meadow Barkworth both love the outdoors. They've always dreamed out having a beautiful log cabin home they can come back to after a long day of hiking and insect collecting. They would love for their house to be a traditional pine cabin, with a gorgeous fireplace in the living room. The bathroom(s) should be simple and in-keeping with the style of the house, and Meadow loves the idea of flowers, home-made quilts and decorations all throughout the house.

The Montenegro Family - Rain Montenegro is a struggling artist. Her house is filled with art projects in various states of completion, but she wants a studio in her house so she can escape the world and focus on her art. As for the rest of the house, simple, cheap furniture will do, as long as it's bright and colourful. Rain loves the colour green, but can't stand purple.

The Lewis Family - When Layton and Lucinda found out they were expecting it was the greatest day of their lives. When they found out they were having triplets? Not so much. Now their three daughters (athletic Lara, bookworm Leanne and musician Lorrie) are all teenagers, they are demanding their own rooms. Layton and Lucinda are happy to move, but want a large master bedroom and their own en-suite bathroom.

The Gravel Family - Tyler Gravel is a romantic, fitness fanatic and rising athlete. He wants his house to have a modern feel, and the wow factor that will impress all the ladies. A home-gym is a must, and a swimming pool outside would be his idea of perfection. Tyler also wants a guest bedroom for when his family fly in to town to watch his matches.

The blueprints:

Have fun and feel free to share your finished builds with #Foundations For Families Challenge!

[owldart]

New Miku trend?? Sign me UP

People are drawing Hatsune Miku in some of their culture's most iconic looks and I couldn't resist drawing Tlingit miku!!

[rejectingrepublicans]

😂

[communistkenobi]

whenever right wing people talk about “parental rights” they are talking about property rights. they are arguing for further political and legal enshrinement of their children as their literal actual property

[inkskinned]

in internet posts it is easy to cut them out of your life. they are hurting you! they aren't listening to you!

they held your hair back. they lent you lipstick. they held your hand at the train station and got you home safe. they rounded on your bully, got loud, said get fucked, spitting-mad in your defense.

they also cut the hair off again. told you that you should really think twice before wearing something like that. took you for granted. took your insecurities and threw them in your face again.

you know logically it should be easy. all the internet advice comments always read it will feel better. like an equation - if a person is rotten, you just remove them. you pull the tooth that's hurting.

but it was never a big flare-up moment. you don't live in a sitcom. they never tried to take your boyfriend or steal from your apartment. they showed up to birthdays and they wrote songs about you and bring you water without you asking. once you found out they carry an emergency inhaler for you, even though you haven't had an asthma attack in years - just in case.

where is the line? people fuck up. sometimes they fuck up badly. sometimes people have raw personalities, like a powerline, and being around them is dangerous. addicting. sometimes they can't help themselves, but you know they're trying. sometimes they are just rough-around-the-edges. sometimes they don't even realize how they sounded when they said that. sometimes it's just - you've both loved each other for so long now, the way this thing hurts goes back to the root.

and that's the fucked up part. you have pushed your fingers against the sweetheart of memory. things these days are electric, tense, harrowing. they didn't used to be. there were a lot of good days in there. sometimes you want to just close your eyes and say can this be over yet? do we still need to be fighting?

doing that would give up any chance you get of getting an apology, but you don't always know that you need an apology, you love them. once they flaked on your birthday party. once they told you to get over it, people are always dying. they also let you crash on their couch for a week after the breakup, handfeeding you when you were so sad you couldn't eat. they are also judgmental about everything, occasionally react to banal statements with an attitude that is weird and fiery. they also love you like a lighthouse sometimes, so strong they cut the storm like lightning.

but the problem is that you might be storm. you might be the thing that needs breaking. what if you are two forces who are desperately, horribly drawn to each other, shaped by the other person's passions, and both good for each other and bad in equal measure.

what if you're both just people, and you're no saint neither.

just cut them off! swallowing the saltwater, you catch yourself in the mirror. you've been shaking more than usual. there's an ache in you that is oblique, loud, impossible to soothe. is this what it looks like? when life is "easier"?

your mouth will always have a hole, is the thing, if you remove the tooth.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Justin Horowitz at MMFA:

Project 2025 advisory board members have attacked or outright called for the end of no-fault divorce, the option to dissolve a marriage without having to prove wrongdoing by a partner. Research highlighted by CNN found “no-fault divorce correlates with a reduction in female suicides and a reduction in intimate partner violence,” including “an 8 to 16% decrease in female suicides after states enacted no-fault divorce laws.” Project 2025 is backed by a nearly-900 page policy book called Mandate for Leadership, which extensively outlines potential approaches to governance for the next Republican administration, including replacing federal employees with extremists and Trump loyalists and attacking LGBTQ rights, abortion, and contraception. The Heritage Foundation’s proposals have a track record of success — the first Trump administration implemented 64% of Mandate’s policy recommendations. Project 2025 is also supported by a coalition of over 100 conservative organizations, many of which have spent years promoting critiques of no-fault divorce as “destructive” for society — or even blaming it for enabling a “culture of death.” According to a Media Matters review, at least 22 Project 2025 advisory board members have made similar comments targeting, restricting, or eliminating no-fault divorce. Additionally, MAGA and far-right media figures have pushed for the removal of no-fault divorce laws across the country, and several local Republican parties in Texas, Nebraska, and Louisiana have called for the dissolution of no-fault divorce in some capacity.

Project 2025 partner organizations, including the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, and The Heritage Foundation, have called for significant restrictions or an outright ban on no-fault divorce.

[sher-ee]

The Heritage Foundation is the sponsor of Project 2025.

We have been screaming about this.

VOTE BLUE.

[dangans-ur-ronpas]

normal day at the future foundation

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

anyone else have multiple traumatic memories associated specifically with holidays/family vacations? because that is a topic I never see discussed in all the So You Had A Shitty Childhood, Now What? self-help books i've been reading. but for me, it was a significant thing. and the more i think about it the more it seems like this would be an (unfortunately) common experience. would be grateful to hear if this matches other peoples' experiences...

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

[persimmonthusiast]

I was inspired to take on the Foundations for Families Challenge started by @rockethorse based on an old MTS contest. Had a lot of fun building and decorating this log cabin for the Barkworth family!

more pics under the cut

I imagined Mike and Meadow Barkworth as a middle-aged butch-femme couple who met as they were already well into adulthood and decided to renovate and decorate their dream home together. Meadow has her sewing space, while Mike is into woodworking and cooking. Both love picking mushrooms, tending to the garden, and they stock up on homemade preserves before every winter. They always have a cosy guest room ready for visiting friends and relatives!

Still not 100% satisfied with some details (especially landscaping which is still my weakness...) but I already spent way too much time on this looking for loads of patchwork and quilted CC, and I want to move to the next family

[rockethorse]

The second household for the Foundations for Families Challenge, Rain Montenegro. I chose Foundation 4 for her; my idea was something like, "old Australian council housing that was sold off to Grandma Montenegro, which was inherited by Rain, who decided to just do whatever with it instead of tearing it down because she'd never be able to afford to own property otherwise". It's inspired by a few houses I've lived near, especially the "whimsical" art displayed on the fence.

Key points: Furniture should be cheap but colourful, with a bias for green and minimal purple. The interior inspiration was a cross between "maximalist" Instagram home deco influencers with the wildest beef you've ever heard of, mixed with the nice but overbearing older hippie lady at the farmer's market. Everything about this house makes me feel like she needs a roommate, but maybe she just has serial couch surfers.

My least favourite room of the house (bedroom - just couldn't make it come together) and my most favourite (the bathroom!)

Rain's requested studio. I imagine it was originally just a smaller bedroom, nothing special or fancy. Maybe this was where Rain slept as a kid when she visited her grandma :)

It was hard not landscaping things the way I normally would and keeping things looking a bit scraggly/dry but still "on purpose". There's a small produce garden 'round the corner there, and a flower arranging station by the front, because she seems like the type to collect hobbies.

Floorplan on the foundation. I kinda like how this challenge forced/encouraged me to make use of bigger outdoor landings. My favourite part (after the bathroom) is the little kitchenette.

[world-of-wales]

NEWS -

THE ROYAL FOUNDATION CENTRE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD'S NEW FUND!

The Princess of Wales' Centre for Early Childhood Business Taskforce has set up a specific fund to support 600 new apprenticeships within the early years sector.

They're specifically targeting the lack of health visitors, midwives, and nursery nurses to meet the government's target of 3,000 nurseries.

The main investor from the Taskforce is the co-operative group who have a long standing service to investing back into communities.

[royalarchivist]

Cellbit: Yeah, [Bobby is] our son.

Roier: What?

Cellbit: He's our son, no? Or not? Am I not?

Roier: I mean… he's already dead. [...] By the time we got married, he was no longer around. So in theory, in theory-

Cellbit: But in my heart, he is my son.

Roier: Oh, that's fine, in your heart, yes. In your heart, yes. But actually-

Cellbit: He could have been my son, he could have been.

Roier: But actually, he is my son and Jaiden’s.

Cellbit: Yes yes, definitely, of course.

Roier: [Smacks him] Exactly. Well, you're the step-father, you know?

[ Full Transcript ↓ ]

Cellbit: Hey Tina, have you met Bobby? I don't think you did, right?

Tina: I met him a little bit earlier, he's so cute!

Roier: Aww

Tina: I told him I like StarBobby.

Cellbit: Yeah, it's our son.

Roier: What? But-

Cellbit: He's our son, no? Or not? Am I not?

Roier: I mean... he's already dead.

Cellbit: That's true, that's true.

Roier: By the time we got married, he was no longer around.

Cellbit: That's true, true.

Roier: So in theory, in theory-

Cellbit: But in my heart, he is my son.

Roier: Oh, that's fine, in your heart, yes. In your heart, yes. But actually-

Bagi: Am I the auntie?

Cellbit: He could have been my son, he could have been.

Roier: But actually, he is my son and Jaiden’s.

Cellbit: Yes yes, definitely, of course.

Roier: [Smacks him] Exactly. Well, you're the step-father, you know?

Bagi: So I don't think I'm your auntie, sorry. Unless you want to!

Cellbit: Yes, fake dad, fake dad. Fake father.

Roier: But it's ok. It's ok.

Cellbit: It's ok, it's ok.

Roier: It's this dumbass' fault he died anyways.

[badboysteve]

Steve really looked at these severely traumatized kids regularly giving him shit, threatening to prosecute him, dragging him into danger left and right and said:

'Yeah! Yeah, give me six of my own. I want to do this for the rest of my life.'

And I think that's beautiful.