#Siew

[guessimate]

TLDR there have been 2 deaths in the Tia/Siew household, but before that, I played Demiana Tia's grandfather, Phaesi Garas, and his son Harmine, so that they would be in sync with the rest of their family tree.

~*~

Demiana had been sneaking out recently and, unfortunately, ROS gods decided that she would get her comeuppance for this un-ladylike behaviour. Because she sadly passes away, the Tias' residence is going to be overtaken by the Siews... at least until Zet Tia comes back from war (but even if the war doesn't claim his life, old age will).

Before it was decided Demiana would perish immediately, I had been considering her options, even though her marriage couldn't be arranged properly at this time due to the absence of her grandfather. She would have made a great match with Volesus Bruni (originally a Romance sim, now only interested in Grilled Cheese). The other option was Tullus Imago, but the Imagos are not on good terms with the Tias now... especially that Demiana saw Sampsa Imago at the graveyard.

~*~

Demiana was an Athletic, Charismatic, and Family-Oriented Sagittarius. She was a very playful and active maiden. Even if she wasn't particularly pretty, I'd like to think she had a nice physique. Quite nice but also shy, she was hoping to find a romantic partner [or multiple], but her life ended prematurely. She was very friendly towards servants. She made friends with Peregrina, Titia and Cleo Flori (with whom she would sometimes sneak out, which possibly led to her 'downfall'). She was on good terms with her cousin's family, the Siews, and naturally, her grandfather Zet Tia will be devastated to hear news of her passing.

~*~

Saku and Yune met Phaesi this round to share the grave news of Demiana's passing. Phaesi lost his daughter Sosen almost as soon as she had left the family home, and now his granddaughter Demiana was also dead.

There is some difference in age between Phaesi and Yune, but they had been BFF-s for some time already. Both Yune and Phaesi wanted to 'marry rich', and a marriage was arranged for these two Fortune sims. Yune still remembered the times when she was helping her mother with the family business, and she heard Phaesi had his own quite profitable store, which she was interested in.

Saku was very enthusiastic about the betrothal, since she wished for a relative to get engaged, married, and have children. She was also friends with Phaesi.

I felt bad about turning this post into a happy one after Demiana's death because of Yune Siew's marriage... but in the end even this was not truly happy...

Yune and Phaesi had 2 bolts of chemistry, but they didn't want to go on dates, much less get engaged specifically to each other, despite the attraction. This marriage felt like an arranged marriage of convenience between two long-time friends?

Phaesi's wish to marry rich was fulfilled, but sadly, Yune didn't get her want. She still wanted to WooHoo though, and she got pregnant first try... with twins... who would both be fine, but... she wouldn't.

She had twin girls, with purple eyes (dark blue replacement), my first purple-eyed babies! They were called Paesia and Athanasia because I guess we are doing some random saint names for this family now. Paesia is black-haired, while Athanasia is brown-haired. We'll see how they turn out in the following rounds, for now they are only babies.

~*~

Yune Siew was a Diva, Virtuoso, and Born Salesperson with Green Thumb. She always looked up to her musical mother, Saku, who used to work as a Dance professional. She shared her father's love of Cuisine, even if she didn't know him very much at all. She was enthusiastic about learning the ropes of running a successful business, but it was never meant to happen...

~*~

Before the funeral, I played Demiana's grandfather Phaesi so that his son Harmine would at last become a teenager.

Phaesi opened a little blacksmith business. He got the Gold Robotics Badge and maxed out the Tinkering enthusiasm. For some reason Phaesi has got a bad reputation. Fitting for a 'merchant', I guess. He opened his store twice, since I played them for almost two seasons.

He crafted ~8 swords and brooms, but didn't sell all of them. They got to business rank 3 and I let them get all the money prizes, which brought them to the total of 25,578$ (half of which was just from the rewards). I normally don't use the LeTourneau Prize, but I thought it was fitting in this situation.

~*~

I'm considering making it a requirement from now on for sims who go to war to have swords (average price 1380$), otherwise they might not be doing so well during conflicts. The current war should be exempt from this 'rule', as there was no way of obtaining swords before.

I am also thinking about letting my servants settle down into their own houses when they can afford the broom (of freedom ;)) priced at 920$ on average... Unfortunately, there is a problem with that, as servants would have been unlikely to get paid much or at all? in this time period, I'm afraid. I would have to think about this more.

~*~

The TiaSiew/Garas household had 51,991$ in the bank after I took away ~half of the money Phaesi had brought into this marriage (so that he only brought in his actual earnings). They paid the taxes off of the 25,578$.

3000$ - rent

2,558$ - tax (10%)

2,558$ - tithe

100$ - marriage license (I keep forgetting about charging for this, and I might have to make it more expensive for community lot weddings, so especially for patricians +)

They paid 8215$ total. They will pay the burial fee when the graves are sent to the graveyard. They are left with ~43,850$. In total the town has accumulated 81,905$ so far.

[lukaszrygalo]

Broń nasza — to praca, czyn!

Z Koła Młodzieży Wiejskiej w Zwierzyńcu (pod Radzyminem). Kiedy się czyta „Siew” zdawaćby się mogło, że do pow. Radzymińskiego praca organizacyjna jeszcze nie dotarła, tak rzadko spotykamy głosy z Kół. A jednak tak źle nie jest. Koła powstają dosyć licznie, w czem niemało zasługi prezesa O.Z.M.W. kol. R. Tyczyńskiego, który pracuje z iście nadludzkiem poświęceniem. Nie będę się zagłębiał w treść…

[myxomycota]

Hemitrichia serpula by Gim Siew Tan

[genevereyoyo]

Pumpkin Bao with Char Siew filling

[applekissis]

Pumpkin Bao with Char Siew filling

[hurrlurrimsami]

Pumpkin Bao with Char Siew filling

[buffetlicious]

Tanjong Rhu Wanton Mee (丹戎禺云吞面) used to operate a hole in the wall outlet under the escalator in the basement of Sembawang Shopping Centre. It had become mum’s favourite noodles stall until it closed.

While mum enjoyed the Classic Wanton Noodles notable for its springy thin yellow noodles, boiled & fried wantons plus char siu mixed in ketchup-based sauce. I much preferred the dry style Dumpling Noodles, served with a bowl of pork & shrimp dumplings soup.

[mikuni14]

15 Day BL Challenge - Day 9

Day 9: Most Visually Pleasing Love Scene

(I took into account the love scenes and the heavy making out sessions)

The Sign the pink one

TharnType the ice cube one (please don't hate me 🥺)

every MaxTul scene, I mean.. come on, it's them

every scene of Kinn and Porsche

Siew Sum Noi - IG and Ruk scene

Be Loved in House: I Do

Love Class 2 this scene

gif by @nanihirunkits

Twins both scenes, I especially like this one

Ghost Host, Ghost House this scene

every DaouOffroad scene in Century of Love and Love in Translation

cold blue:

red hot:

Destiny Seeker

The Eighth Sense so beautiful

Bake Me Please both their scenes

4 Minutes all scenes, it's the same as with KP

well I'm not 😭

[drafthearse]

Orange plastic coral by Siew Chu Kerk. From the Crochet Coral Reef project.

[nappe-plays-the-sims]

There's no neurotypical integration No intergalactic emigration

[monsterfactoryfanfic]

Spy in the House of Eth and Automating Exploitation

My latest essay is on @zedecksiew 's "Spy in the House of Eth!" A bit of a weird one, I talk about the module's use of undead labor, and compare it to generative AI programs' abuse of the public domain.

I also go on a little rant about ai in journalism because holy shit has it gotten bad, why is it so hard to just let real people do their jobs

Transcript here.

[guessimate]

For the purposes of this post I had to play 2 houses - the Tia and the Siew.

I rolled the Out with you, child scenario, but I already wanted to marry off the female teen in this family so I got an additional ROS, and naturally, it was a death roll. Jonah, the patriarch of the Tia family unfortunately wouldn't get to die a peaceful death of old age. He instead passes away because of shock and heartbreak.

Solely for story purposes and some drama, I temporarily added the pregnancy relationship mod. Zet lost his temper when he found out his daughter got pregnant by her acquaintance from Sim Asia instead of marrying into the emperor's family (or another patrician family).

Zet is a serious man and he honors the rules - no weddings shall take place on the grounds of the Sim Empire this season. People are mourning the dead, not celebrating, and his daughter was clearly not mourning enough.

The Tias gave Lovi a dowry of 6000$ and a maid servant. Should anything bad happen to Lovi in the Far East, the servant will come back home to let the Tia family know. The servant maid's name is Peregrina Flori. She's a shy popularity sim.

However, before any pregnancy of Lovi's is carried, one sadly is meant to end. The next 2 babies have blessed perfect rolls though. Unfortunately that's where her fortune ends.

~*~

Because Yong Siew was never meant to survive his teenage years, I'm going to say that there was something bigger that happened there, not a childbirth death... Lovi was not well accustomed to the local water and food, so she wasn't having a great time there in faraway lands, but what really got her spirits down was her husband's fate. He was attacked by a wild animal in a forest. I imagine his cat lead him somewhere in the forest and there was a lair of wild animals.

I realized that neither Lovi's mother-in-law nor her sister-in-law liked her very much. So I can see how her servant didn't feel comfortable leaving her kids there... Would that have happened in real life? I don't think so, but I'm taking kids home because I want to play them. It would have probably made more sense to move Lovi's ashes. Her relics staying in the Asian part of town could become a problem later on.

Side note: Sampsa Imago [Lovi's uncle] wants to make another zombie, naturally, this time he'd like to zombify Lovi's husband.

~*~

Before Lovi passed away, she had one outing with her friend, Tasuku Tian (who has an unrequited crush on her). He brought her a piano for their awesome outing. I sold it and replaced it with a Chinese instrument. I did roll a ROS for the Siews as well, but they were just supposed to get a kaching, so Lovi's 'dowry' and the instrument gift more than made up for it.

The Siews earned ~1900$. The business ranked up to level 4. I made them pay the tax on the money they earned so they are broke again. They had to pay 1450$. Overall I think the Siews have the best house because they have an instrument, a tea set... They have proper rooms now as well.

~*~

Rana Tia, the youngest daughter of Zet Tia, is a Libra. She's 1 Sloppy, max Outgoing, 7 Active (like dad), 5 Playful (like dad), and max Nice (like dad).

Lovi and Yong's firstborn is a baby boy, Tane. He's a brown-eyed brunette, like his aunt Yune, but he inherited his mom's darker skin tone. Tane is a Taurus. He's 6 Neat (like both parents), 6 Outgoing (like both parents), 6 Active (like mom), max Playful (like dad), and 4 Grouchy. He has the same zodiac sign as his grandfather Yutaka Siew. And he's into Games, just like his mom.

Their second child is a baby girl, Sen. She fully takes after her grandmother - she has brown eyes and brown hair, but she has her mom's skin tone as well. She's a Cancer: 7 Neat, 6 Outgoing, 6 Active, 5 Playful, and 8 Nice. For some reason Zet wants to teach her all the toddler skills. I guess he prefers his granddaughter, or he preferred his firstborn daughter, so he loves her offspring like his own. He was not interested at all in his youngest daughter Rana.

Yong's younger sister, Yune, also aged up and she's now a teen. She was rolled to be a Fortune sim. I love it because that's her dad's aspiration. So both siblings took their parents' aspirations. She got the Silver Gardening Badge, so she should be doing great at the Siews' business.

~*~

I know moving sims in together out of sync like this doesn't make sense to a lot of simmers, but I'm fine with that. I decided to add some days to Tane's toddlerhood, because Rana should age up before him. Rana is a special baby anyway because she was born only because I had to revive her mom.

I expected all of the toddlers to go into aspiration failure, but it's actually only Rana, Jonah's granddaughter, who cared. I guess great-grandkids really have no relation to their great-grandparents.

Zephaniah wanted to max out Arts&Crafts enthusiasm, so he painted his grandpa before he'd perish. He apparently played an instrument at school and got some pocket money for it. It makes sense with his 9 creativity points. Sadly, he totally neglected his schoolwork and got a D. Only after that did he and his dad want him to get good grades and get him some homework help.

Zet knows Zephaniah needs to do better at school to go into a good career. Zet will look for a job as well. I think this family could become knights [either athletic or military career].

[lukaszrygalo]

Koło Młodzieży Wiejskiej w Wujówce, pow. Radzymiński

Siewiarze! Z radością donosimy, iż od dnia 13.V.1934 roku jesteśmy Waszem koleżeństwem. Otóż mała i cicha dotąd wieś Wujówka w powiecie Radzymińskim, gminy Strachówka zaczęła bić żywszem tempem życia. Młodzieży jest u nas mało, lecz znalazło się kilka osób, którzy trzeźwymi oczyma patrzą na świat, i przy pomocy dzielnej naszej Pani Nauczycielki Stępniewskiej weszli w szeregi organizacji…

[myxomycota]

Hemitrichia calyculata by Gim Siew Tan

[sesiondemadrugada]

A Land Imagined (Yeo Siew Hua, 2018).

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios Adventures

"He's perfect! Just look at those little fingers. That little nose! It makes you want more of your own, doesn't it, Ewan?"

Ewan Goldman smiled adoringly at his wife as his grandson yawned.

"It does. I miss this age. Remember Claudia in those fuzzy jammies Gee bought her? Or Travis and his favourite board book? You couldn't pry it away from him."

"We were blessed to have the family we have," Anna agreed, still tickling her grandson's foot. "We'll just have to live vicariously through our children. Claudia had Victoriana so young, it feels like an eternity since we've held a grandchild."

"Vicki will be thrilled to meet her little brothers once she gets off her phone. She could actually meet her brothers instead of posting about them for her friends."

"That's teenagers for you, darling," Anna laughed. "Let's just enjoy these babies before they learn how to text."

Claudia held her older son, rocking him gently while she plotted to steal his brother back from her parents. They were both perfect in their mother's eyes, just as Victoriana was. It was a little early to tell what the twins had inherited from their parents, aside from the obvious green skin. The oldest boy had red hair like the Toyonagas on Anna's side of the family, and the younger twin appeared to have blonde hair. That could have been from the Toyonaga or Siew side, but if Claudia had to guess, that blonde might fade to silver like Victoriana's had.

Her parents looked like they'd never heard the name Coby Wall. Both of them were beaming, utterly focused on the newest members of their family, and not the problems that had loomed over two realms. Claudia was glad to see them smile. They deserved to be happy, even if it was only for an afternoon.

"Excuse me, monarch coming through. For the good of your nation, I need to see those babies!"

Claudia turned to find her cousin elbowing her way through the busy room with determination. Claudia couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"Here, Your Majesty. Is this view enough to keep you from declaring war?"

Maura’s face lit up at the sight of the young prince.

"Baby!" she squealed, instantly making faces at the infant. "He's adorable, oh my god! Where's the other one?"

"My parents seem to have taken him hostage," Claudia chuckled. "I may never see my son again."

"Ah, well, I don't want to bother reapers," Maura said, scrunching her nose at the idea. "I was already in the waiting room of the afterlife once; I don't want to get sent there again. That just means that I can spoil this little guy."

"Miruna was lucky to have held both boys before my parents barged in. She's resting now, but maybe by the time she wakes up, my parents will take a hint."

"You are the mother here and a queen," Maura reminded her cousin. "They're not even alive."

"So go over and tell them that," Claudia challenged, making her cousin laugh.

"They can only kill you if you're on their list, right? No, your parents look happy, I can't interrupt that. I'm sure I'll see both of these handsome boys a lot in the future. Do you have names for them yet? Let me guess, traditional Pleasantview names? Casper? Archer? Beau?"

"You're looking at Prince Gerard Ewan Medora Goldman Goss," Claudia announced, holding her son up for Maura to have a closer look at him. "My parents have kidnapped Prince Christopher Ewan Lind Goldman Goss. So, both a little bit traditional and a little more recent in the family tree. Both of our father's are named Ewan, and with her father being in the condition he's in, we wanted to honour them both."

"Ugh, if I have to greet another person named Ewan, I'm going to scream," Maura stated. "And it's all after one single guy! It's insane! My court is just a gathering for Ewans."

"It is not," Claudia laughed. "We definitely kept that trend in mind though. I think my dad was happy with the final decision. We don't need Ewan III Goldman."

Claudia shrugged.

"So what's the deal with Miruna's mom? Your parents are here, her father is in a coma, and her mom's a noshow at her daughter's royal wedding? She doesn't want to see her grandchildren? If my mother wasn't dead, she'd be fighting reapers right now just to see the new princes. A lot of our extended family would."

"I don't know. She might be dead. Miruna never speaks about her, and Master Maricourt is usually busy cleaning up his other ex-wife's messes to bring her up. She's never been a part of Miruna's life as long as I've known her."

"And you've never had suspicions about her after my own "dead parent isn't really dead" drama? I would be getting all the intelligence I could on this lady if I were you."

"How many assassins do you think there are? Some people just have normal parent drama, Maura. Not all of us can be the daughter of an assassin."

"Didn't your dad find out that he would have been king of Pleasantview had his older sister not murdered him? Didn't your uncle find out that his sister lied about how his mother died and that her family wanted to get in contact with him?"

Claudia frowned, trying to weigh her family drama with Miruna's family drama. Were the Goldmans cursed because they were royalty or did other families experience the same level of tragedy as they did?

Before Claudia could answer, Maura leaned towards her cousin, looking for eavesdroppers.

"Did I hear right that Edana confessed to killing her father? I know all the coven disciplinary records are supposed to be sealed to outsiders, but I have my sources, and they said that she started confessing that she and her brother killed their father somehow! Is that true? Can she be expelled from the coven for that?"

"Well, you might want to ask him about it," Claudia replied, holding up Gerard for Maura to see. "Either he or his brother will be in charge of all that someday. I'm just the legal head of the coven."

"You can't spare witch gossip for your favourite cousin? I thought we were friends. With my dad and a plague on the loose, the least you can do is cheer me up with whatever's happening with the coven. My cousin happens to be dating Evren, so you might as well just tell me. Adrian will tell me, but he usually gets the details wrong."

Claudia rolled her eyes. Well, at least Maura seemed to be recovering from the trauma her father had inflicted on her. She hadn't been truly gossipy in weeks.

"Edana didn't confess to murder; she accused her brother of being responsible for their dad's death. She would never confess to anything even if she had done it. The coven pulled Josh Darktide's death records just to be sure, and his death was ruled accidental. No grey areas, no suspicions. He died pushing his kids to the ground and taking the full force of a miscast spell himself. There was even video from the coven courtyard cameras. If he hadn't acted when he did, both siblings would have been lost. He died heroically."

"So her brother cast the spell and that's why she blamed him? I can see her point, I guess."

"It was a high level spell that needed at least two people," Claudia informed her cousin. "They both cast it, so she's just as guilty as he would be. Though it does seem in character for Edana to ignore her own guilt if she can blame someone else for it."

"Ugh, of course she would. It sounds to me like both Darktide siblings had a taste for magic above their skill level." Maura paused to remember her first point now that a juicy murder cover-up didn't seem to be happening. "So what's happening then? Edana gets a slap on the wrist for verbally attacking an apprentice of the coven?"

"Well, there was talk of dumping her in Jubilant Accosts to see if she could find any traces of her brother there, but it was shot down because of her lack of emotional stability. She's currently housed in a magical treatment community and forbidden to leave the premises. I think that's punishment enough unless new evidence comes to light."

"That's very anticlimactic," Maura pouted. "What about Edana's son? Everyone knows that he and Theo are leaving to do something in Jubilant Accosts. Even I was briefed on the beginning discussions for that, but I haven't heard anything from Pleasantview about it in days."

Claudia groaned and held up her son as a defense.

"I've been a little busy," she replied. "A rushed wedding and preparations for two new infants have taken a bit of a backseat to checking in with the coven. Alicia has it covered for now. You couldn't tear her away from those meetings if you tried. The boys leave in two days at the most, hopefully sooner. Alicia will escort them to the portal and meet with their ally. It was deemed too risky for me to be anywhere near a portal that could expel disease or an angry assassin at me, so sadly, I'll just be getting reports on the matter. After Miruna lost her dad to this illness, even temporarily, I want to make sure that I'll be around for my kids. That's all I know on the subject, so either take this baby so I can steal his brother back from my parents or go to the coven yourself and ask them for drama."

Adam sat on the floor of his royal accommodations, trying to compose himself. His dance had gone well with Leah, so well that they'd snuck upstairs afterward. Travis hadn't seemed to object or even notice that they'd left, so Adam's hookup would probably go unreported.

Leah was a great girl, but like Reese, she didn't see a future with Adam. Not even for as long as it would be before he was sent to Jubilant Accosts. Leah had kissed him goodbye and wished him good luck on his upcoming mission, and then she'd left. Remy would have been proud of him for having a wedding fling, but she wasn't around to cheer him up like she usually did. And Theo?

Adam sighed at the thought of Theo. He was never going to act on his feelings for Adam after being cheated on, so Adam had to try to push down his own feelings so they could work together. It wouldn't be easy, but he had to do it. Too much was riding on their mission to Jubilant Accosts to jeopardize it with pointless feelings.