#i'm mostly just building this save but i am playing lol

[batshieroglyphics]

Surprise self-rec time! Pick 3 of your favorite things you’ve written and share them here, then put this in the inbox (anonymously or not) of your fellow writers to spread the positivity and help celebrate already written fics 💞

I feel like this is a trick question, mostly because I am multi-fandom, and I tend towards favs per fandom, as opposed to favs of all time, lol So, uhhh, how about a fic from 3 diff fandoms that...I don't know I'd call them my 'fav', but they're the ones I'm most inclined/tempted to reread in that fandom on a whim.

For Fullmetal Alchemist, I'm going to say Colours in Your Eyes. It was a Big Bang piece, and I really, really loved how it turned out. Playing with soulmates is always interesting, but I loved the chance to fuck around with this one. I had a lot of fun playing with the ideas of cultural differences and how when you discovered your soulmate could change things. And I was just so, so happy with the ending. I think the last ending I adored as much as I did this one, was Reclaim. It just....hit that sweet spot.

Picking one for Final Fantasy VIII, lol, okay, that's...rough. I going to go with Noblesse Oblige, I think. I did so much work on developing the world in this fic, and building out original characters that were able to join as part of the main cast. It's also my only fic that really looks at how the events of canon might have unfolded in the following months. It was very much a labour of love, and I remain very proud of it.

I'm going to cheat, for Star Wars, actually, and pick a series: JasBen Save a Galaxy Far, Far Away. Because it has the healing and the happy ending that Obi-Wan—Ben— deserves. It's also got Jaster being an awesome and supported Mand'alor, and Tor not going batshit, and Xanatos getting the healing he deserves, and little baby!Obi-Wan being the cutest fucking thing. And it manages to be both pro-Jedi and pro-True Mandos, without shitting on either one, or shitting on the New Mandos (although it's pretty clear they're less than respected, oops), which is...such an achievement in this fandom, I am so proud of myself for it. I am sad that the clones aren't in it, but the series feels to me like healing and acceptance, and that's almost always going to be my go-to when I'm trolling my fic, looking for something to read.

[pudding-parade]

No one sent me any sunflowers. YOU ALL SUCK!

..........That out of the way, to be completely clear: I am absolutely, positively joking. I just thought it would be funny to say that no one loves me. LOL Please do not flood my inbox with sunflowers. Seriously. That would stress me out because then I'd have to stress about answering them, publicly or privately, and having to worry about hurting other people's fee-fees if I answer publicly because I got something they didn't, and...ugh. Sometimes, I just get really tired of delicately tip-toeing around other people's fee-fees online.

That said, I am going to punish you all with Planet Zoo pics instead of Sims pics. Because I can, but mostly because that's what I've been playing lately. Like, obsessively. Like, spending many, many hours building a couple goddamn barns and neither of them is done yet. Not to mention prettying up the habitats, which also isn't near done. I bought the two newest DLCs that I didn't have yet and thought I'd build a zoo with the new Oceania maps and tiki scenery items and stuff...and I end up building a zoo in a snowy biome. Yeah. That's me. At least I'm going to put the new Tasmanian devils in the snowy zoo!

Though I do need to prepare some random legacy posts because my queue is just about done even though I've only been letting it post every other day or so. So, I probably need to play that save more, too, because I don't have many pics in the backlog, either.

My "work" is never done, apparently. LOL

[gladlypants]

What have you guys been doing in Sims 4 lately? Any fun challenges?

I mostly just piddle around with a super casual little save or builds on my laptop these days while I'm watching TV between doing other stuff. No mods and no Reshade so the screenshots are not good lol. I'd like to get back to my Super Sim one day but I just cannot be bothered to go upstairs and sit at my desk for any real period of time anymore. Also trying to be mindful of my time spent gaming, with the changes that are upcoming with our household. Sometimes it's like a black hole, know what I mean, haha? I swear I've been playing Overwatch somewhat consistently ever since the current season launched and *still* haven't finished the battle pass tiers yet.... am I finally getting too old for the time commitment for games, you guys??😂😂

Anyway, maybe I should just move the SS save over, I guess that would make sense. Reshade be damned.

[smashwolfen]

hello i am so in awe that you have collected all the pokémon games (i finished my collection of 3ds ones a bit ago but i considered a lot of the other ones out of reach) and i was wondering how long it took? i know especially the older remakes are insane to get so i’m super curious

(This got incredibly long i'm so sorry for the wall of text my guy)

In relation to this post

Hello there! :D

Believe me, I still can't believe it myself that I managed to pull it off considering who I had to get ahold of! Been happy dancing to myself ever since I got the last game~

God it feels like it was longer ago honestly, but I only really began trying to finish the Pokemon collection just a year ago! Had to check back in my DMs with my buddy, but the day I began to seriously search for the rest of the authentic generations was May 5th 2023, the day I discovered my copy of Platinum was a repoduction, ya watch ONE video regarding reals vs. fakes and it all went down from there when I looked over the ones I owned already, luckily Platinum was the only one who was fake ;w;

I had passively over the years been picking up games as I went, but from that day last year til recently I looked where I could for the games I was missing, to be fair I had about half the collection to begin with just from growing up and finding ones out and about, I only needed to find the pair of whatever I owned already, besides gen 5.... since I somehow never played gen 5 growing up. Funny enough I didn't have to look too far, every single game I found had all been local! Facebook marketplace saved me big time I just had to wait and compare prices til I was happy with what I was willing to pay for! I scrutinized every single copy I got my hands on and triple checked everything before I was satisfied XD

The 3DS titles were very easy to get thankfully, and the same goes for you too good on ya for getting your 3DS ones! Hardest for sure were gens 3-5, specifically ALL of gen 5 they are the WORST to get since no one wants to sell them and they're required to be able to move anyone forward to the 3DS and then to the Switch! I think It'd be easier to list who I owned and who I hunted for in the year of the search.

So I owned:

Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Leafgreen, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, X, Alpha Sapphire, Moon, UltraSun, Sword, Violet and Arceus (some I had gotten as gifts growing up and others I had gotten through yardsaling and thrifting by chance as I grew up, Emerald was 70 at a yardsale!)

The ones I got from the year of the hunt:

Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, Platinum, Heartgold, SoulSilver, Black, White, Black 2, White 2, Y, Omega Ruby, Sun, UltraMoon, Shield, Lets Go Pikachu, Lets Go Eevee (I DID own Eevee before but traded it in before the hunt) Scarlet, Brilliant Diamond, and Shining Pearl.

Now knowing who I had to get, we all know it costs a pretty penny, so I essentially sold things myself to fund the hunt, like my amiibos I didn't really need or want, a handful of random collectable things I picked up and kept over the years (notably a masterchief helmet from the legendary collection I got for free like 10 years ago lol) and some odds and ends I didn't need anymore and to declutter the home! I think out of my own pocket I only paid maybe 40 bucks total so I paid for everyone that way! It was all mostly luck finding everyone and keeping an eye on marketplace, and some of them I had gotten from folks I knew! Black and Black 2 actually came from one of my managers at work who sold them to me for insanely cheap, and Sapphire I got for free as I mentioned in the games post XD

If you do try to go for the complete collection, I say have a gameplan for how to pay and build that piggybank of funds, go for what you can afford! So if you see a game without a case thats usually better, you dont NEED a case or have a game CIB really, a bunch of mine dont have a case or box and I'm alright with that! Look locally at second hand stores, vintage ones, marketplace or any other local yardsale or fleamarket type thing you may have in your area, and I say this with caution, but if you HAVE to, you can consider ebay, but I strongly suggest not to when it comes to the games. I had originally tried to get a Brilliant Diamond copy from there and well, dude never sent it at all and got my money (ebay fully refunded me but that still bites). And finally get well versed in learning how to authenticate to the best of your abilities, 3DS and switch I don't think can be faked but everything else can be! I used this as my guide to figure out who was real and fake in my search and it worked very very well! Twas my bible of knowledge

End of the day it didn't take as long as one would think, but luck played a HUGE roll in this endeavor, I was smart with my money, and I was very very VERY stubborn and wanted them all XD

If you go for the complete collection like I did then I wish you the best of luck my friend! And thank you very much for the ask! It kinda got away from me while typing but yeah thats the story and process of how I got all the main series titles!

[ac-liveblogs]

Hello! Just wanna say thank you to you & kyogre-blue (and the anons) for being like the only people I can find that agree that Genshin's storytelling is wack lol I'm surprised how many people praise the writing when it's so confusingly paced and conflicts they bring up don't really go anywhere or the payoff is lackluster. There so much unnecessary dialogue & the last acts of the main story are always such a big rushed mess!

That being said, I wanted to ask if there's any series(game, anime, manga, etc) you'd recommend that does the things genshin wants to do but better, or even just series you'd recommend in general or wish more people knew about!

Hi anon! Sorry for the late response, I have been adding and removing stuff from this list for a few days. I genuinely don't know why people think Genshin is well written - I can understand people thinking it's good in concept and that some of its high concept ideas are interesting, but the actual story itself? Beyond me.

Thank you in return for the validation - the more I see people go on about how great it is the crazier I feel...

As for recs...

The real issue is that Genshin tries to do a LOT of different things, but there aren't a lot of games that do ALL the things Genshin tried to do. That's what makes Genshin stand out, though obviously a lot of what it does do leaves a lot to be desired... I am mostly going to stick to anime/manga/games per your request, but if you like fantasy worlds with lots of lore there's a lot of western high fantasy that might also be your thing.

And you know, these are gonna be subjective recs.

In general, if you're looking for more JRPG fantasy games - Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Tales of Franchise are good places to start. They're all self-contained stories and you can easily jump from one entry to another. My experience with anything except Final Fantasy is really spotty, but narrowing it down a bit;

Tales of Vesperia and Tales of Symphonia are generally the most well-regarded Tales of games; they're on my 'to-play' list so I can't rec them personally. I am playing Tales of Berseria (very slowly) and quite enjoying myself, but it's supposed to be pretty different to the rest of the series.

Dragon Quest XI is a very well-regarded entry into the series, and the most recent. It's a fun game with a cute cast; it doesn't do anything particularly exciting and is a very standard 'save the world from the forces of darkness!' plot, but it's very cute and I had a good time.

As an generally well-regarded MMO Final Fantasy 14 probably comes the closest to encapsulating what Genshin offers, though I never got far (no shade to 14; I just don't like MMOs). Apparently the guy that wrote FF16 is also a 14 writer, but I thought FF16's writing sucked so take that with a grain of salt. Actually, FF16's combat reminded me a lot of Genshin too lmao. Lots of waiting for skills to cool down.

Final Fantasies 6, 7 and 9 are generally pretty safe jumping-on points - 7 being the most well-regarded for a reason, though arguments on the 'best Final Fantasy' can get vicious. 15 is also open-world but, uh, I got bored and couldn't finish it.

Final Fantasy Remake, Intergrade and presumably the upcoming Rebirth are very good, I just disagree with some choices made (and every they're not ALL bad choices.) Rebirth will apparently be open-world, but it's not a cheap investment to get them all.

Games that have elements similar to Genshin's;

Legend of Zelda; Breath of the Wild inspired Genshin's open-world and though it's not as pretty, it's certainly more engaging. It's not as story-heavy as Genshin. It handles exploration a lot better in almost all regards, imo.

Bravely Default and/or Octopath Traveller (party-based RPGs with HEAVY party customisation options - if you wish Genshin allowed for more variety/options there. Very different experience, BD is a 'complete party' and OT is '8 separate storylines')

Similarly, if you like character/party building and strategy games in general, while I didn't love the story Fire Emblem Engage was really fun to play. If you want a cute party and story, Fire Emblem Awakening is a pretty solid entry too.

Ace Attorney, if you need to detox after Fontaine's attempts at writing trials. Ace Attorney vs Professor Layton has a batshit ending, but its about witch trials, which is cool.

I'd also tentatively recommend Kingdom Hearts. A game about traveling to different worlds, meeting new people, searching for people that you've lost but still care about despite everything. Very fun hack and slash gameplay from KH2 onwards; iconic villain squad and some of the best (bonus) boss fights in the business, incredible soundtrack and plays around with identity and personhood as concepts in more interesting ways than Genshin does. Clunky and cheesy, but still close to my heart. But yes the worlds are mostly Disney.

Fate/Samurai Remnant is both probably currently the best introduction* to the Fate universe and a good game in it's own right. And if you like series with a fucktonne of lore and world-building that take their own spin on history and mythology, you'll probably like the Nasuverse. The original Fate/Stay Night will be getting an official english release later this year, along with Tsukihime. Witch of the Holy Night is also already out - they're meaty visual novels. FGO walked so that Star Rail could faceplant into the ground, etc etc.

Some general adventure anime/manga;

One Piece Live Action: Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this. You might also enjoy actual One Piece, on the off-chance you haven't already seen it. (maybe that's the more sensible recommendation? I really wish I liked One Piece more than I do) After all this time, Romance Dawn is still my favourite One Piece saga.

Hunter x Hunter is generally just good and fun, though its a bit of a slow start. Finally finished 2011's anime adaptation. It made me cry. Also, the Phantom Troupe are just. So fun. Chrollo my beloved scumbag

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End and Delicious in Dungeon are two adventure anime with extremely different vibes. Though you might already be watching those. Frieren has themes of living longer than your friends and companions, and watching people you care about vanish while you stay young - what it's like to experience that, and how to move on. Delicious in Dungeon is a comedy in a well thought out fantasy world.

Trigun's anime, Trigun's manga and Trigun: Stampede are all very different but similar narratives about a semi-immortal inhuman character traveling across an apocalyptic planet humanity failed to properly settle. I haven't watched the original anime, but the manga and Stampede were both fun.

If you haven't seen Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood yet, rocket that to the top of the list.

I'm currently watching a mid-2000s shonen isekai - Marchen Awakens Romance - with a friend. We're enjoying ourselves so far... at ep 40/ out of 100ish. If it gets bad it's not my fault.

Classic old-school isekai I haven't seen in ages are Inuyasha and Magic Knights Rayearth. Didn't finish InuYasha, actually. Fushigi Yugi is on my to-watch list.

Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles is a mid 2000s adventure manga that involves a LOT of dimensional travel and found family feels. It gets very mind-screwy by the end and has a sister series partially needed to understand what's going on - xxxHolic, which I also remember liking though it has been a hot minute (over a decade) for both of them. Go manga, not anime. More of a 'alternative to Star Rail' rec, tbh.

I think if you mentioned some specific characters or potential plotlines in Genshin I might be able to offer alternatives? Like, if you liked the House of Hearth as morally grey found family trying to protect Fontaine, I could say you might like Moriarty the Patriot or Bungou Stray Dogs, but a lot of that's gonna be way more subjective than broader fantasy/adventure story recs...

(If you wish Scaramouche had ever been able to confront his creator and his vague allusions to 'having a heart' and personhood/identity were more of a thing - Lies of P! If you liked Diluc but wish he still did anything vigilante-like, you'll probably like... some... Batman media! Depends why you like Diluc! Stuff like that.)

The thing I've watched most recently that I really, really liked was Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. I read the books in high school and revisiting it (and it revisiting itself) was really interesting. The show has some extremely interesting animation choices and generally looks incredible - it's also pretty funny, so there's that. I'd recommend either reading the books or watching the movie first (the entire movie cast returned to voice act Takes Off, actually - and do an incredible job).

I've also been playing a shitton of Castlevania lately. I didn't like the shows very much, but I found myself enjoying the games I got on the Switch store.

[expirisims]

Hello All!

So...I've been on a bit of a hiatus once again! I have been super busy in my personal life as always. I am hoping to get some play time soon, I've been really itching to open my game especially while my manuscript is still with my betas for a few more weeks. Anyway, I have some plans!

For my Sims game, I have been really wanting to make another world, or maybe more...I don't know, I'm too indecisive. I have been toying with the idea of making a roadless village type island, possibly resurrecting my old Pickerling Cove world I started ages ago and did not complete, and a new idea that ties into my real life a little bit. I started a world years ago and it corrupted so it was never completed, however, I found some of the old builds for that world from before the corruption that I have tested in game. I'm thinking of remaking the original concept and using those old builds where I can. Some of them unfortunately will be quite impossible to use because of the terrain, however, I am wanting to incorporate interiors that I am planning to make in 1/6 scale for my little one's doll town. Yes, I have an entire hidden doll city planned in our playroom...and I've been watching too much Youtube in my free time lol! Anyway, I'm thinking that building the various cafe's, apartments ect in Sim World will help me make design choices for the compartments I have planned in the window seat, coffee table and bookshelf in our playroom.

I have also started sewing some clothes for my kiddo's dolls because we have mostly rags left over from my childhood, modern Barbie clothes are simply not the same as they were when I was a kid and let's just say it's a good thing the majority of my kiddo's Ken dolls have molded on underwear! That being said, I would love to share pictures with you all, but I don't want to clutter up Simblr's with non sims stuff so I am planning to open a second page for sharing my crafts! As long as Tubmlr still exists that is.

I know this is already long, but I wanted to at least share my last played day in Redwood Harbor (from months ago) below the cut as I haven't shared pictures in a LOOOONG time! Thanks for sticking around to read this and I hope everyone is doing well! Now on to the pics!

I don't remember exactly what was going on, but I do know that Antonio is still working nights and Joanna is getting VERY pregnant so once I get back into game she may go into labor by the end of this rotation!

Woohoo! Jody has learned to walk! I'm going to be honest, the Sims toddlers wear me out so I have never really tried to get their skills accomplished until my Redwood Harbor save, lol! Quite proud of my little sims!

Looks like it was off to the winter festival the next day! Antonio works nights and Joanna is on maternity leave already...aaand of course, they left Jody to fend for himself while they went ice skating!

Left over salad it is for dinner...Joanna what are those shoes you're wearing with that outfit!!??

OMG!! Really!!?? I'm pretty sure these two are going to break up again so I'm not sure how this is going to work out!

Time for bonuses! Better luck next year Joanna, maybe you won't be on maternity for most of the next year so you can progress in your career, fingers crossed the sims in this save seem to be very fertile.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE playing this save?

[virsancte]

Hello hi! Where is Luca living now while at uni? Is it a dormitory (like drake Hall) or an apartment? Its gorgeous!! I always find university so hard to play through because the dorms are so annoying to decorate, you know the big ones :(

hello friend! thank you! he's living in a dorm room in britechester. i usually use whatever is in the save i'm playing in but bc the ultimate save doesn't seem to have britechester decorated almost at all, i replaced most of the lots & i'm currently playing in the drake hall reno by mikkimur on the gallery.

as for decorating, i know what you mean lmao so i usually just stick to decorating the room my sim is gonna be living in and leaving the rest mainly or completely untouched. i almost never play university on campus (because it's boring to have to manage a single sim who's just studying 99% of the time lmfao) so i don't really see any reason to build an entire dorm w/ how particular i am with cluttering stuff lol

to answer the other question about the layout (since i'm assuming it's from the same person), it's just the 2 rooms in mikkimur's reno glued together with an arch, mostly bc taking screenshots in a single tiny room gets repetitive, Fast (and bc a roommate is just more fun). here's a top down view of what it looks like in my game:

[murder-cookie-dust393]

Hello, I see that you're doing matchups. Never tried these before, but here I go!

First up, things I like to do: I like to play Magic the Gathering, play video games(luv me Deep Rock Galactic), bake and cook, listen to music, thinking about various things while staring up at the ceiling from my bed, see new things(even if it's just a part of a building I rarely go in), and read wikis to get lore dumps on various stuff(like Cookie Run lol)

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Next up, Personality traits: I am mostly quiet and reserved, but can be quite energetic towards friends. I am considered the "Black Sheep" of my family and frequently spend time cooped up in room although I am still very close with them and can still get some family time in. I am also quite a good listener.

I am relatively frugal with money and would rather invest or save most of it though I still can splurge occasionally. I am known to be quite patient. I also have a guilty conscience and sometimes the smallest stuff can haunt me for a long time. When not around people I talk to I just go about my business quietly (usually with my head in the clouds).

I am also autistic and have been known for things like running around the house or spinning pencils or not grasping social ques (which can possible contribute to the above guilty conscience). I am also quite easily flustered. I think that should be it for personality traits

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Finally, dislikes. I do not like sitting in one place for a large amount of time, I don't like too much chaos in my life nor crowded areas. Lastly I do not like those large drop rides at amusement parks.

I hope this is enough

Tw: implied isolation, some manipulation

I match you with: Milk

Milk is a very chill dude, so he makes friends with most people. (If he can deal with both Yam and Dark Choco- I'm like 90% sure he can deal with everyone). So if you ever feel your guilt eating up, he's right there to fight against it. Honestly, shouldn't you just stay with him? So you don't keep finding yourself in these situations?

He's pretty extroverted, but if you guys are in a crowd, he'll leave with you to a quieter place. He prefers to talk to you individually anyway.

He's there for when you can't get the social cues. Either it's quickly changing the topic or telling you himself, he tries his best to help you. That includes trying not to fluster you so easily.

Oh your friends? Why do you keep wondering why they won't respond? How about you go on a walk with him, so you can tell him all your troubles.

(I was originally gonna put Werewolf- but then decided that was not going to help the situation lmao)

- Celina

[starandsims]

Starandsims Introduction

Hello and welcome to my simblr! Here you'll find links to my gameplay as I play through different challenges, legacies, and just whatever I feel like doing!

Currently Playing:

The Carter Legacy - a decades challenge following the Carter family, currently on gen 2 circa 1910

The Poche Legacy - a Pokémon type legacy challenge following the Poche family, currently on gen 1 normal type

Personal information and more under the cut

My name is Star (she/her) and I've been simming since the Sims 2, I have a lot of nostalgia for the old console games since I didn't have a computer until Sims 3 and didn't have a gaming computer until Sims 4. I'm mostly Maxis Match, I like to think I don't use a ton of mods and CC but in reality my mods/cc foster is overflowing.

Please feel free to ask me anything or comment about my characters and stories! Constructive criticism is welcome but please always be positive and encouraging in your delivery! I'm an adult but I still get my feelings hurt sometimes! I would say I'm WCIF friendly but the truth is I might not able to figure out where something is from. I don't use reshade or gshade or photoshop, I just edit my photos in Canva so my screenies don't always look professional but I strive to do my best and focus more on writing and story!

I am NOT a builder, most of the builds in my game are downloaded from the gallery. I do so appreciate all the builders out there and will always post somewhere what build I'm using, but I won't put it on each and every post! My playstyle is to use random traits and follow the whims of sims, for example I never try for a baby unless at least one (or sometimes even both) person has the whim for it (I do lock in the whim though lol). I never save and start over, whatever happens happens and I live with it and try to use it in the story.

I use a custom lifespan with MCCC in which every four sim days is a year, I use 14 day seasons and generally have at least two holidays in a season. This is just what makes the most sense to my brain and I have a personal handwritten timeline for each save to keep up with when things happen and use that to inform when relationships should progress and precisely how old sims are.

I focus on a lot of family gameplay, I rarely play just one sim unless I'm just starting a save - and even then I usually make some sims to be their family and friends going into the save. I do a minimal amount of rotational gameplay through my saves, I usually focus on one specific household and then occasionally will go through other households in the save to clean them up and things like that. Maybe spend a day or two with them just to see what's going on and then return to my main household.

I am an adult and a lot of my stories will involve more mature themes, if you are under 18 then I would strongly suggest you avoid posts that are more mature in nature. Everything will be tagged and more explicit posts will also have a warning in the title, but use abundant caution just in case! If anything is ever missed in tagging I respectfully ask that you message me privately to alert me!

[dontlikeadam]

Updated Song Interpretations

******

Track 1: Fortnight

Nothing overly specific or notable.

Could also just be referencing the fact that he now lives mostly in the US it appears. Between LA and NYC most likely.

Or when he started working with Jack and showed up in “her backyard”

"I love you, it’s ruining my life" could have also been something Matty said to her, or her to him. Would work either way.

For the music video- just a side by side photo comparing her music video to parts of his "Part of The Band" music video and his tour. 

The main notable thing being she was the white queen and he was the black king. She also included a dog like his black dog (who is hilariously named Mayhem)

Also the music video copying her old music video for Style.

Also a possible reference/ play on words to Mattys love of building forts, discussed later.

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Track 2: The Tortured Poets Dept

Pretty clear cut song, but some info.

Matty has mentioned his love of typewriters multiple times.

Matty is known for self-sabotaging and has admitted it multiple times.

Possibly brought up specifically him eating chocolate to relate back to his song chocolate.

“You awaken with dread, pounding nails in your head” Matty suffers from terrible nightmares and migraines, which he has talked about multiple times.

Lucy being Lucy Daccus from “Boy Genius” - who notably told him to F off after he tried to make a tweet about her, after the break-up

Him moving a ring from her middle finger to her ring finger just seems like such a Matty play to me lol. I can’t tell if that is just his MO and something he does or if that was truly sincere. He is too bipolar for me to stand by him on that one hahahah

"You're not Dylan Thomas, I'm not Patti Smith. This ain't the Chelsea Hotel, we're modern idiots". Jack Kerouac commonly stayed at the Chelsea hotel, as did Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and William Burroughs (who Matty mentions a lot as well). Sex pistols Nancy, from Sid and Nancy died there.

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Track 3: My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys

"But you should have seen him when he first got me" All I can think of is Matty at most of the shows from his birthday 2023 till when they went public in Nashville. He was beaming almost every single night on stage and seemed so content at a lot of those shows.

“There was a litany of reasons why, we could have played for keeps this time” relating back to them going back and forth since 2014

“I’ll tell you that he runs because he loves me” him always leaving to “save her”

“Just say when, I’d play again” —— uh oh lol

“My best friend” also maybe throwing back to the best friend line in her song about him, Maroon.

“He took me out of my box” - a reference to the box and also do being a doll he plays with

“Told me i’m better off”- still leaving to save her

"Put me back on the shelf, but first, pull the string and I'll tell you that he runs because he loves me" - Taylor being a doll who keeps giving him the excuse that he leaves to save her.

Overall addition. Her take is that they are insanely similar and they were perfect together, which freaked him out. She felt like they knew each other better than anyone else. They couldn't hide things from each other, because they are essentially playing the same game and doing the same art. They know all each others plays. So, where she really enjoyed that part of it, it was too "real" for him, so he left/ ruined it.

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Track 4: Down Bad

"Did you really beam me up. In a cloud of sparkling dust" Just to do experiments on?" I am thinking Matty's lab from his videos. Which she also has in the fortnight MV.  Matty during that entire lab coat phase. This was the part of him switching from his childish “Truman Black” personality to his “Matty” lab coat.

"I'll build you a fort on some planet. Where they can all understand it. How dare you think it's romantic, leaving me safe and stranded". Reference to Matty's fort. Taylor saying she could figure out a way where they could have their love and his fort and she could make people understand. Him instead leaving her stranded to "save her".

“All your indecent exposures, how dare you say that it’s…..” OVER. Taylor not even being able to say it. Referring to all of Matty's shit talking, especially on podcasts.....

"Like I lost my twin" returning to the reference that they are essentially very similar people, which from what we know is pretty accurate, especially as artists and performers.

------

Track 5: So Long, London

Truly a song for London as the main plot. After like 5-6 English boyfriends that never worked, she is done with the city. Matty was the last one......

"I saw in my mind fairy lights threw the mist" Possibly reference to Matty's fairy lights in his fort.

"I didn't opt in to be your odd man out" reference back to Bejeweled and not being in his top 5 (Joe)

"I founded the club she has heard great things about" Taylor saying the girls are only interested in him because of her. She put him on the map/ founded the club.

"I stopped CPR, after all, its no use" A line relating back to her final song to Joe "You're losing me"

"Two Graves, One Gun" I think songs really relates to pieces of both Joe and Matty and the city. Possibly relating to the two gunshots in Smallest Man on ERA's tour.

---------

Track 6: But Daddy I Love Him

A song about the fans that dragged/attacked him and was sending him and his family death threats, trying to put her in a conservatorship etc.

"They slammed the door on my whole world. The one thing I wanted" She was finally happy and she had professed that before playing the secret song Question? while Matty was at the show. She said she was the happiest she had ever been and everything made sense for her. But instead of being happy for her, they slammed the door in her face and ruined it.

"I'm having his baby, No I'm not, but you should see your faces" A very funny line, thats a little unusual for her. Trying to make a funnier album then Mattys album? He prides himself on being funny in his lyrics, but especially for BFIAFL

“Tendrils tucked into a woven braid” - We always felt the braid was there as a call out to Matty, so this is just funny to me. She was always trying to show him she wanted him back, which we delusional guessed but thought we were truly crazy.

"We came back when the heat died down. Went to my parents and they came around". Referring to when they tried to date in 2014/2015/2016 And then coming back around in 2023? Or referencing when we assume they broke up in early July- then the rumors they were still trying to work something out after that.

“Even my daddy just loves him” Matty was seen with her dad at most of the shows, never her mom lol

New theory going around is that the end of this song switches to Travis. If you do that theory:

Travis would start after the line "but fuck 'em its over"

That would make the following lyrics Travis-

"Now I'm dressing in my dress in the sun, and even my daddy just loves him"

and

"Time doesn't it give some perspective? And no, you can't come to the wedding"

Then it just repeats the verse.

My argument would be that the second line about the wedding doesn't really fit to me. Everyone was always fine with her and Travis. And Travis is essentially her just dating the exact person all the people who were mad about Matty, would want her to date.

-----------

Track 7: Fresh Out the Slammer

Confirmation that Matty and T were something prior to her and Joe being completely finished.

"Splintered back in winter, silent dinners, bitter". Winter of 2021 or 2022?

"He was with her in dreams" Joe wasn't happy either and was thinking about someone else

"Camera Flashes, Welcome Bashes. Get the matches, toss the ashes off the ledge" - She was ready to go public and knew it would get negative attention. She was fine with burning it all down.

"Starting Line” reference, which is one of Mattys favorite old bands and he sang them during his tour while they were dating.

"As I said in my letters" - possible link back to the letters link between her and Matty?

"At the park where we used to sit on children's swings, wearing imaginary rings" - Back to the wedding/marriage plans

Track 8: Florida

Florida was the first Eras tour she did after her breakup with Joe was announced. Otherwise nothing major here I noticed yet. I am sure we are missing something though. I wonder if this song is something personal to them. Also the song could truly be one of the random songs she just throws on. Overall theme is just how everyone eventually ends up "running away" and moving to Florida.

--------

Track 9: Guilty as Sin

Song about wanting to be with Matty while still with Joe. How to be as close to him as possible without actually cheating.

Backing track is almost identical to Mattys "About You"

"Downtown Lights” reference, one of Mattys favorites. Sent to her while she was still with Joe and "bored and caged".

"I keep these longings locked, in lowercase, inside a vault" - clue of some sort? referring to imgonnagetyouback ? 1975 songs? fallingforyou, lostmyhead. Reputation vault tracks?

"I'm seeing visions, am I bad? or mad? or wise?" just reminds me of Matty saying you can't be wise and in love in his interview.

"Why does it feel like a vow we will both uphold some how" wedding/ marriage reference again.

""If long suffering propriety is what they want from me, they don't know how you've haunted me so stunningly. I choose you and me, religiously" - They want her to be good and proper, but they have no idea how much she has always wanted to be with him.

"One slip and falling back into the hedge maze" AKA a Labyrinth/ which is a Matty coded Midnights track.

---------

Track 10: Who's Afraid of Little Ole Me

A song partially to Matty, about how she was about to lay all this out. The rest I think is about her fans/ the press.

She is tried of everyone thinking she is too prim and proper and PC to ever fight back.

"If you wanted me dead, you should have just said" - a reference to smallest man and her asking if he was sent by someone who wanted her dead? Also the press/fans

“The scandal was contained, the bullet had just grazed” Her covering his scandals. The Ice Spice collab for sure. That was a terrible collaboration thrown together last minute to cover for him.

"You don't get to tell me you feel bad" - possibly Matty saying he felt bad for everything that happened or was happening.

“Is it a wonder I broke? Let’s hear one more joke” A reference to Matty always trying to make a joke out of everything or the press/media always making jokes about her misfortunes.

---------

Track 11: I Can Fix Him

"They shake their heads saying god help her when I tell them he's my man" - funny line about Matty

“The dopamine races through his brain. On a six-lane Texas highway” “Roadkill" reference most likely.

"His hands so calloused from his pistol, softly traces hearts on my face" Reference to his callouses from playing the guitar and his pistol being his songs?

Honestly I need a good guy with "I can fix her, no really I can" energy. Where is that? I need someone like that.....

-----------

Track 12: loml

Her chicago secret song ( I don’t want to live forever) and her crying during "did I dodge a bullet or just lose the love of my life” right around when the breakup was announced

"Mr. Steal Your Girl" besides the pop culture reference, Matty's MO lately has been winning over taken women.

“You cinephile in black and white” - A reference to Mattys love of black and white art/ movies

"You shit talked me under the table” - He IS a huge shit talker in general lol

"I wish I could un-recall how we almost had it all" - A reference back to Me and You Together Song and About You

“Oh what a valiant roar, What a bland goodbye. The coward claimed he was a lion. I'm combing through the braids of lies” - He came in hot. Fighting for her. Doing everything to get her and then bailed. Also the braid again.

“I’ll never leave, Never mind" also a reference to his song Change of Heart which he focused on all tour.

"Your arson’s match, your somber eyes” - His self-sabotage again and his sad eyes.

------------

Track 13: I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

I love this goofy little song so much.

Her doing the Chicago shows and beyond after him leaving. Also maybe a slight at the fact he was breaking down on stage off and on his entire tour, but she was trucking along.

“Lights, Camera, Bitch Smile” - is one of my favorite lines on this album in general.

"I'm so depressed, I act like it's my birthday". Another funny line.

“I cry a lot, but I am so productive” She was destroyed, but she was touring and getting this entire album together.

"I keep finding his things in drawers. Crucial evidence, I didn't imagine the whole thing" The Damn Beatles Shirt of his she kept showing up in not long after they broke up.

“All the pieces of me shattered, As the crowd was chanting More!" "as the crowd cheers for an overdose", a Matty lyric from the song Paris. And obviously she has a song Paris too.

---------------

Track 14: The Smallest Man

The sigh........ A very similar sigh to how she started "Your losing me" her main song for Joe after their break up.

"They just ghosted you, now you know what it feels like" Oh Matty….. the king of ghosting women. He is a true child….. This is sort of referenced again in Stevie's poem saying that "He didn't say goodbye"

"Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead? Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed? Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy? In fifty years will all this be declassified?" Taylors confusion about if it was real or just a "bit". Reminding me of the Radio 1 performance and Matty mentioning the possibility of “is it a bit, or is it sincere" in his lab coat. Referencing back to her wondering if it was all an experiment. But that is something Matty says and comments on all the time…... About what is real and what is not, so also sort of just a fascination he has had his entire career. Also reference to the fact he says he has been sort of writing a book/ movie/ documentary for ages and its never gotten done.

"You'll slide into inboxes and slip through the bars" Matty's MO of finding random girls to date. Finding them on instagram, following them and then showing up with them a few weeks later.

"You crashed my party and your rental car" Reference to him crashing his rental car in LA after returning from Malaysia. No idea why I find it so funny that she knew about this.

"You said normal girls were boring, but you were gone by morning" Referencing that the “normal” instagram girls like Meredith, Ana and Charlotte were boring. The girls who weren’t really “famous" or artists.

"You kicked out the stage lights, but you're still performing" - reference to the fact that no one can tell when he is performing or when he is being real. He's not on stage, but he's performing.

Overall just a very standard pissed off/ scorned women song. Very overdramatized and a representation of how pissed/hurt she was at the time.

------------------

Track 15: The Alchemy

Song about Travis with the quirky goofy football lines.

“These chemicals hit me like white wine” A reference to Travis being white wine after Matty (and his known love of red wine) He switched to Whisky from red wine on the tour after Taylor. He has a line in his song “Give yourself a try” about growing up and how “whisky never starts to taste nice”.

"The hospital was a drag" - The perceived psych hospital she was in after Matty

"I haven't been around in so long, but I am making a comeback to where I below" Referencing dating an American again?

"He said its Heroin, but this time with an "e"” Travis talking about her being his Heroine instead of Matty talking about his struggle with Heroin. A wordplay used in multiple songs by emo/punk bands. ie: Boys Like Girls. Silverstein. Also hilarious because I was at the Boys Like Girls show when they sang Sweet Caroline into Oh Caroline. And she would have just been working with Martin again for 1989 TV……. Also the main reason I can't listen to this song. Such a low blow and so unnecessary. Either she is just story telling, or her and Travis are making fun of Matty's addiction... either way. Not needed. This song and reference bothers me more than any of the shit in smallest man.

A second option:

The Alchemy: If also about Matty

Why this would work:

It would essentially make all of Poets about Matty, except for the random songs that are about Taylor or about a generic concept. Thats pretty standard for her. This would fit the same style album as Lover and how it was for Joe. The anthology album would then be considered separate.

This would also work since she has the Stevie poem at the start, which would link the album clearly to Matty.

For what it's worth when asked his favorite song between The Alchemy and The Man, Travis chose "The Man"

Wine reference

"What if I told you I'm back" - coming back to Matty

"The hospital was a drag" - being with Joe and his depression etc.

"I circled you on a map. I haven't come around in so long" - her having her eye on him from the start and not seeing him in a while.

"Touch down, call the amateurs and cut 'em from the team" - Plane touching down. Joe was a big rugby fan, so maybe added the sports references as a dig at him or possibly since Matty is a soccer fan?

"Ditch the clowns, get the crown, baby I'm the one to beat" - crown reference

'Cause the sign on your heart said its still reserved for me" - didn't fit with Travis, would work for Matty

"Honestly, whoa are we to fight the alchemy?" - who are they to fight fate? love? Chemistry? Alchemy and Matty's lab?

"Hey you, what if I tell you were cool. That child's play back in school is forgiven under my rule" - Saying that she let it go, she doesn't care, they were just kids.

"But I'm making a comeback to where I belong" - going back to him"

"He jokes that it's Heroin but this time with a "e" " Would fit with Matty's jokes and the common emo theme of using similar lyrics.

Then it goes into the strong sports verse, which I can't really decipher the point of... unless it was added later as a red herring?

"Shirts off, and your friends lift you up over their heads. Beer sticking to the floor, cheers chanted 'cause they said There was no chance, tryna be the greatest in the league. Where's the trophy? He just comes running over to me"

"These blokes warm the benches, we been on a winning streak" blokes would be English not American...

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Track 16: Clara Bow:

Song mostly about fame and maybe Travis, but layered with Matty/ 75 items

"Breath of fresh air thru the smoke rings" Travis verse Matty "Stevie Nicks/ 75"

"Half moonshine, a full eclipse" Reference back to Question? and "Half moon eyes/ big surprise” being Matty

"Beauty and the Beast” awwwwww lord

"You look like Taylor Swift" "You've got edge she never did. The futures bright. Dazzling" Back to "The old Taylor can't come to the phone right now, because she's dead" and lead into Rep. Reference back to Bejeweled and "The Band". Also possibly a reference to Olivia Rodrigo and the fact she would have more edge than Taylor and was always considered the one coming up after her.

“The futures bright, dazzling” Referring to how Matty was the who made her bejeweled after Joe… now she is “Dazzling” with Travis.

The crown mentioned again…..

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The Black Dog:

The Black Dog - Bar in London - Or just a name she used to reference and to correlate with Mayhem. Also possibly a bar Joe used to go to a lot, so may have been used to ruin his favorite bar.

"You shared your secrets with and your location" Is anyone else shocked Matty would share his location with his girlfriend? I was shook lol

"When someone plays the Starting Line and you jump up. But she's too young to know this song, that was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming." "Old habits die screaming" Matty returned to dating girls decently younger than him, who wouldn't know his references. Reminded of him mentioning how hard it finds it to relate to Gen Z anymore.

More references to him "acting" in real life.

"Six weeks of breathing clean air, I still miss the smoke" - this was seemingly written around 6 weeks after they broke up based on some photos by Jack.

"And remember, how my rain-soaked body was shaking" Most likely referencing after the Nashville rain show or the Gillette rain show, both were pretty cool temperature wise.

"Were you making fun of me with some esoteric joke?" Back to radio 1 and Matty saying is it real or is it all a bit? Or just him in general always joking about serious things.

"Now I want to sell my house and set fire to all my clothes" Burning down the lover house from tour? New part or Era's tour? New outfits?

Update: We did get TTPD and New outfits, but Lover house is still just burning away

----------

The Albatross

I really didn't know where this song was going, but I did see a theory on twitter that it may be about how dating her almost ruined Matty's career and I could totally see that.

"They tried to warn you about me. Cross your thoughtless heart" Him going into their relationship even though he was probably warned it wouldn't go well

"She's the death you chose, you're in terrible danger" see imgonnagetyouback and idea that she is going to kill him either way.

"and when that sky rains fire on you and you're persona non grata, I'll tell you how I've been there too and that none of it matters" Referencing when the hate started piling on, and her saying she can relate because its happened to her too. Also persona non grata possibly relating to him going back to Europe ( even though it was for shows) when the hate was really bad.

"Wise men once read fake news and they believed it." Everyone believing whatever they read about Matty

"You were sleeping soundly when they dragged you from your bed. And I tried to warn you about them" Taylor probably giving him a heads up that them dating wouldn't go well with her fans.

"So I crossed my thoughtless heart, spread my wings like a parachute. I'm the albatross, I swept in at the rescue" Her trying to cover for him (ie the awful and rushed Ice Spice collab) also, depending on how you think this album went she could be referring to putting out this album to clap back at her fans that acted insane before.

--------

The Manuscript:

After further review this song seems 100% like John Mayer.

"He said, Im not a donor but..." I AM OFFENDED - for those who are new I work in Lung Transplant lol

"I'm not a donor but I'd give you my heart if you needed it. She rolled her eyes and said 'You're a professional" John Mayer has always been known as a sort of professional play boy.

"In the age of him she wished she was thirty" at the time they dated, Taylor was 19 and John was 31.

"Afterward she only ate kids cereal and couldn't sleep unless it was in her mothers bed" her going from wanting to be older to regressing to a child after they broke up.

"Then she dated boys who were her own age with dartboards on the backs of their doors" After John she dated a college student at Belmont and Taylor Lautner, both were closer to her age.

"She thought about how he said , since she was so wise beyond her years everything had been above board. She wasn't sure." Him trying to cover for their age gap. She has been very vocal on how she felt this age gap was never OK and that he shouldn't have dated her. See Would've Could've Should've

"The professor said to write what you know" she would have felt like John was the teacher at the time. He was significantly older than her and had been known as a top song writer for ages.

---------

The Bolter:

-----------

The Anthology- to note these could have been recorded and written much later, as they do not have vinyls or any hard hard copies that would have needed to be prepped.

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imgonnagetyouback: --- all lowercase

I am going to get you back, and I am going to get you back for hurting me (double meaning) Her trying to figure out if she is gonna keep fighting for them or lash out at him.

Intro is almost identical to Looking for Somebody to Love

This song also makes me think "uh oh" lol The same uh oh I felt when the 1975 started working with Jack. hahahah

"Whether I'm gonna be your wife or gonna smash your bike, I haven't decided yet" reference to falling for you and Matty mentioning all he needs is her gynormous house and his bike. - Not a song about Taylor, but a song he would dedicate to her.

"Flip the script and leave you like a dumb house party" her leaving him next time instead of vice versa

"Act like I don't care what you did" could be any of the million things Matty did/ said between them in 2014 and now.

"I'm an Aston Martin that you steered straight into the ditch, then ran and hid" Another ghosting reference.

"Pick your poison babe, I'm poison either way" saying he could either come back or stay away, she was going to "kill"/ruin him either way.

------------

Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus:

"Hands in the hair of somebody in darkness, Named Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus and I just watched it happen". The fact Matty was out with all sorts of other people and she just watched.

"And you saw my bones out with somebody new, who seemed like they would've bullied you in school and you just watched it happen" - The fact she was with Travis and he didn't do anything or say anything. She was still giving Matty signs (ie Beatles shirt, Griff song) via posts even after start of Travis, so she was initially still hoping he would stop her.

"I changed into goddesses, villains and fools. Changed plans and lovers and outfits and rules all to outrun my desertion of you. And you just watched it" Taylor re-arranged her life for him. Broke all her own "rules" for him and he let her (all to ghost her in the end)

"If you want to tear my world apart, just say you've always wondered". When Matty and her re-connected he must have said he always wondered what they could be if they tried again (or something along those lines). Then he tore her world apart.

"And if you have some kids with an internet starlet, will that make your memory fade from this scarlet maroon" A throwback to Maroon being about Matty. A song she played over and over as her "secret song" for Era's. She also played Maroon in LA. When Slut! was apparently supposed to have been released.

"cooler in theory, but not if you force it to be" The fact they most romanticized their relationship, but they couldn't force it to work.

"Will I always wonder" Because he ghosted and she never got closure. -----------

Peter:

Decently Straight Forward. This song was the one that made me cry on first listen.

Throwback to Cardigan and the line "Peter losing Wendy"

"Forgive me Peter, my lost fearless leader" - reference back to him telling her she needed a brave man, "then proceeded to play one"

"Lost to the Lost Boys chapter of your life. Forgive me, Peter, please know that I tried". He never did grow up. She was tired of waiting.

Overall, more references to him making big promises and breaking them.

------------

How Did it End?

Most likely Joe? I could argue it either way, but Joe fits a little better.

"He was a hothouse flower to my outdoorsman" He was a total introvert and she is obviously not.

"and so a touch that was my birthright became foreign" a familiar touch that she assumed she would have forever becoming unfamiliar.

"We'll tell no one, except all of our friends" - telling no one that they had broken up, when it initially happened, except for all of their friends.

"We were blind to unforced circumstances" - depression? Covid? Lockdown?

"and fell victim to interlopers glances" - She was obviously interested in at least Matty, she has noted in earlier songs Joe was thinking of other people too

"Didn't you hear they called it all off? One gasp, and then. How did it end?" The shock everyone felt that they had broken up.

--------------

I Look in Peoples Windows

Train reference. Always headed in different directions.

"I'm afflicted by the not knowing" Always wanting to know what they could be

"What if your eyes looked up and met mine, one more time" Always wanting to give it another chance

"I tried searching faces on streets, what are the chances you'd be downtown" She was always looking for him, wherever she went

"Does it feel alright to not know me. I'm addicted to the 'if only'" Asking if he does OK when they are apart, because she never stops thinking about what they could be

-------------

The Prophecy:

"Hand on the throttle, thought I caught lightning in a bottle, oh, but its gone again" She thought they were finally going to be able to be together.

"I guess a lesser woman would've lost hope" relates to the fact she has spent the last 10 years hoping it would work out.

"don't want money, just someone who wants my company. Let it once be me, who do I speak to about if they can re-do the prophecy" - she has everything else, but just wants someone to love her.

Song overall also referring to the fact she feels like she can not get anyone to commit to her, no matter how hard she tries. The fact that she has all the money in the world, but no partner.

"Poison blood from the wound of the pricked hand. Oh, still I dream of him" still wanting Matty.

"No sign of soulmates" "I'm afraid I sealed my fate. No sign of soulmates" I think she truly thought Matty was always her soulmate. No matter who she was with, she kept faith they could always still work out. Now she truly feels she has nothing left to hold onto.

I think she may think she sealed her fate with her fame. She made herself so famous that a relationship with her is intolerable to most people.

---------------

So High School:

Travis.

"You know how to ball, I know Aristotle"

Also this song is soooooo bad. I can't survive a Travis album if this is going to be a vibe. I may tap out.

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I Hate it Here:

I have no real thoughts on this song.

---------

ThanK you aIMee:

Kim K

---------

Cassandra:

Taylor

Most likely referring to a lot of situations (Scott B, Scooter, Kim/Kanye) where she tried to warn people and no one listened to her and instead would either try to silence her or try to ruin her.

----------

Robin:

For Aarons son, Robin?

[felinemotif]

i am also nosy <3333

4, 21, 24, 33, 34, 41 (or other hot drink), 43, & 46

two nosy gals <3333

4. which cryptid being do you believe in?

listen i LOVE cryptozoology my dream is to one day go to the annual mothman festival in west virginia and spend an entire weekend. i don't necessarily believe-believe but if at least one were real???? like say....the yeti... i would not be shocked. honestly it makes me pretty happy to think that there are all sorts of interesting creatures out there. so maybe not true belief but wanting to believe?

21. something you’ve kept since childhood?

my childhood dog passed on when i was a teen. her name was jackie, and she had a white collar with a diamond bejeweled bone. the leather got worn down over the years but i still have the jeweled bone!! eventually i would like to get a copy of it tattooed + have the pendant remade into a bracelet or hair clip.

it's actually one of the only things i still have from my childhood! some things are just worth saving.

24. if we were together on a rooftop, what would we be doing?

definitely eating for one. i don't know how you feel about fast food but it's not something i eat bc i worry about cross contamination (no meat outside of seafood for me) so it'd have to be either a picnic or convenience store snacks. totally painting each other's nails and talking about childhood comforts and fiction.

33. the last adventure you’ve been on?

i did a roadtrip with an old coworker of mine. he moved out to idaho about a year and a half ago now, but we were good friends fast so we try to stay in contact. he had to drive back my way on his way to go see his parents so he stopped, picked me up, and then we went all the way up to NH together. it was a lot of fun. i really appreciate his calm way of going through life; he lived out of his van by choice for a few years straight out of hs and then saved up to buy a plot of land so he could start building his own place. he's like a strange cousin to me.

34. is there a song you know every word to by heart?

so many!!! memorizing lyrics is easy for me. i've been singing un puño de tierra by becky g (my girllllll) in the shower though lately. and while washing dishes. and driving. basically all the time. i rarely even play the song anymore since it's already so stuck in my head.

41. how do you take your coffee? (or other hot drink)

if i'm very tired i'll just drink regular old black coffee to wake up, no milk. for hot drinks i really prefer to have matcha or a bay leaf and cinnamon stick tea.

43. what’s your take on spicy foods?

i'm latina; if it's not spicy, i don't want it lol. i have been really into indian food recently actually and have been learning tons of new recipes bc they have such a large amount of vegan and vegetarian dishes that all have a kick to them. it's great.

46. favorite holiday film?

i'm a the nightmare before christmas girl all the way. one of my favorite films in general, even outside of the holiday category. i also like to watch the low budget horror films they come out with for holidays (mostly the halloween ones but the christmas ones are always pretty funny too).

[jerzwriter]

Sunday Six 12.11.2022

Giving a little peek at some upcoming holiday fics. I have some for Ethan x Kaycee, Tobias x Casey, and even for Eli x Zoe in WTD world. Plus, one OH / TRR crossover that I've had so much fun working on.

There are no sneak peeks for these, but these works are coming up in the weeks ahead.

I'm wrapping up Tobias & Casey's wedding this week - two parts are remaining, the night before and the day of their wedding.

Vegas 3 will also be out this week. I know, I've said it before, but I MEAN it this time. :)

I am really excited to embark on two angsty series by month's end, Reset for Ethan/Kaycee and Where it Goes From Here for Tobias/Casey. I miss angst something fierce. lol

I'm sooooo anxious to get to the core of my HC for Eli & Zoe in Wake the Dead, but time hasn't been a friend, and I don't want to rush it. But part three of A Mother's Journal is coming, and I'll admit, it's getting angsty as fuck. Mostly because we know what lies ahead.

I also think all the couples deserve some new year's smut... hmm.... anyway, I've blabbed enough. Here are some sneak peeks!

A Very Mixed Up Christmas - OH - Ethan x Kaycee

Ethan and Kaycee were putting the finishing touches on dinner,  unsettled by the relative silence in their home when there were… well… so many relatives present.

“Ethan,” she whispered. “What do you think is going on?”

“Regarding?”

“Your Dad and Naveen were acting all weird before. Now my parents have disappeared too. Usually, they’d be helping us or in the living room chatting.”

His brow furrowed as the realization dawned on him. “You know what, you’re right…and look… they’re on the balcony!”

“The balcony! It’s 30 degrees today!”

Ethan dried his hands with a dishtowel and walked toward the sliding door.

“What are you doing?”

“Saving them from  hypothermia… and getting to the bottom of this.”

Unnamed Christmas Fic - OH - Tobias x Casey

"Thanks for coming with me," Tobias whispered, his wife looking at him with questioning eyes.

"Where else do you think I would be?"

"I just know... well," he motioned around, "this just isn't your scene."

"Hmmm. And being married with a baby on the way wasn't your scene once either, was it?"

"No," he chuckled, "It most certainly was not."

"But you're happy now?"

"Do I really need to answer that?"

"Nope. I'm just saying, life changes for both of us... for the better."

Unnamed Holiday Fic - TRR/OH Crossover - Ethan, Kaycee, Tobias and Drake, Liam, Olivia

"OK, you need to stop!" Kaycee ordered, closing Ethan's laptop in the hopes that would do the trick. But it sprung back open just as quickly as it had been closed. She turned to Tobias with desperation in her eyes.

"T, please! Get him to stop!"

"Stop? I just went out to get munitions, dear! This is war now."

"Face it, Kaycee, you're outnumbered. The only question that remains is, are you joining our ranks... or are you on the other side?"

Unnamed Holiday Fic - WTD - Eli x Zoe

Zoe stood on the deck taking in the bucolic setting that surrounded them and made a mental note to thank Troy for what seemed like a ludicrous idea less than a year ago. Who knew that Red Meadows, would be their home; and who knew that the young woman who was cold when it was seventy degrees would come to find winter to be her favorite season.

It wasn't the billowing snow that covered every surface, blanketing a horrid world in a sort of peace she had never known. It wasn't the way it glowed like an enchanted forest in the moonlight. Most would believe it was because zombies were all but non-existent this time of year, and she would admit having that one huge worry lifted from her brought a relief she couldn't express. But it was more. Looking inside the lodge as the residents of the new colony conversed, imbibed, laughed, and played games... she had found something she had always longed for without knowing what it was. She had found a home.

She could feel the tears building in her eyes, this life would be unrecognizable just months before..., and she was so grateful, yet so still so wracked with guilt because the one person who enabled all of this to exist wasn't there to share it with her. Lowering her head with a deep breath, she was about to surrender to the torrent of tears building within when she felt a hand gently pulling her near.

"I knew I find you here," he whispered.

He always knew where to find her. And like magic, he knew when she needed him most.

[pudding-parade]

A reply that got out of hand. LOL

@enjoji101 I hope you don't mind me replying this way. I just had more to say than was practical for Tumblr's pitiful character count. :)

Yeah, it's not just Tumblr's rules, but also how…well…sensitive some Simmers can be and how some feel free to tell you you're an awful person because of how you play a game where you can do whatever you want and it's not necessarily reflective of what you'd do or condone in real life. There are things I include in my playing in this world (and others) that I know some people will find objectionable for various reasons. It isn't that I care what people think about me because I truly don't. I just don't want to hear the bitching, you know? I come to Tumblr to have fun and to "socialize" a bit, not to be lectured. And I fear that I would be. So…eh.

That said, I could probably share a more detailed description and the rule set and maybe share the Story Progression caste set-up once I get it all 100% hammered out and tested and just shove it all behind Tumblr's "mature" filter and then announce that I've done it. That way, interested parties that aren't already set to view mature posts could do so for a moment, look at it, and maybe pick and choose from the ideas as they see fit, if they want to set up something similar. Hopefully, they could do that without feeling a need to tell me how awful I am because they don't like some of the things I include in a pure fantasy world-building scenario. ;)

Or maybe I'll just throw caution to the wind and share that plus gameplay behind the mature filter. I don't know. Historically, I'm terrible at posting gameplay consistently because, usually, I want to just play the game, not worry about taking pictures and then editing the pics and making the posts, etc. And with this scenario specifically, I haven't wanted to share about it mostly because it was still experimental, so I wasn't playing a save for long without resetting and restarting when I found that things weren't working like I wanted or I didn't like an idea in practice as much as in theory. But now that I'm closing in on getting it working like I want, maybe I'll feel differently. I don't know. We'll see, I guess.

[gladlypants]

Hey! I love your vault build/renovation! Do you think you can upload it please!

Hey, sure, here ya go! (google drive, no ads) The library image is a couple of zoomed in trees 😅 and it's called Vault Challenge Build.

>>> Some things to note below the cut <;<<

** I've changed a bit around since my first post with all the screenshots, and I apparently didn't save that earlier version, my apologies. Nothing that would be difficult to change/add back yourself if you wanted to! Most notably I removed the family unit's kitchens and they just have the one kitchen in the main middle floor living area now, and I just moved some of the skill items into those empty spots for now cuz I was too lazy to keep sending them downstairs. I also added some very basic en suite bathrooms to those units for the same reason, and a chapel type room on the bottom level. I am honestly thinking about removing the bottom level all together and adding more beds to/rearranging the 2nd level family units, because I feel like it's a bit too much now that I've played in it for a while. ** There are some weird empty spaces/rooms I just haven't decided what to do with them yet, or are just there to prevent lighting issues or hide things, etc. I'm not a very good builder, so you'll get to see behind the curtain so to speak lol. ** The whole thing is a bit close to the road/edge of the grid. I tried to move it back on the lot to have a little more building space in the front (mostly because the kid's play area is a really awkward room,) but the game wouldn't let me without moving each level individually and I didn't want to do that again, but you could if you wanted to. Just know that it is frustrating with all the stairs and open ceilings. ** There's no cc, but I do own all the packs and kits and I think there is a lamp from a TS3 thing in there, so if the game tells you something is missing when you load it up for the first time, it's probably just that. ** I have to shift-click and set the growth stage on most of the plants in the garden area pretty much every time I log in. It's annoying, and sometimes their harvests go into the household inventory when that happens. ** There's a mailbox behind a tree on the surface if you need it for cheats or whatever. ** The stove may catch fire a lot. You have been warned!

[zergula]

Get To Know Me Sims Edition

I got tagged again, yay! Thanks @oasislandingresident Anyone else who wants to do this, I officially tag you!

What’s your favorite Sims death?

I don't think I have a "favorite" death but it's always the meteor strikes that get me. I haven't had too many happen in my game but when they do, it is an EVENT lol

Alpha CC or MaxisMatch?

Alpha for hair (SUPER SHINY PLEASE) maxis match for clothes and everything else

Do you cheat your sims weight?

There is no cheat in this game that I have not nor will not try. If I wanted to be miserable, I'd just live in real life so my sims get whatever they want, look however I want them to look, and never ever run out of money or get sick or anything bad. Nope, if there's a cheat for it, I'mma use it!

Do you move objects?

Absolutely. I am very particular about how I place things, I do not know why lol

Favorite Mod?

Probably the NRAAS mods or any mod that removes things that annoy me about the game. I use a lot of those!

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

I started playing Sims 3 late so the first pack I got was a combo Base Game, Late Night, and High End Loft stuff. World Adventures came next and then everything else very shortly after lol

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing?

Alive.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

Autumn Moon! She is absolutely the most gorgeous sim I have ever had. She was the daughter of a sim I made and Anoki Moon.

Have you made a simself?

I started to but I can't seem to get it quite right, lol

Which is your favorite EA hair color?

I don't know, really. I guess it depends on what kind of look I'm going for on the sims.

Favorite EA hair?

Definitely this one from the Showtime pack:

Favorite life stage?

I play mostly as YA but my favorite is child life stage. Toddlers and kids in Sims 3 are A D O R A B L E !

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

A little of both, really. I love building but I am not as good at it as other folks but it's so fun to try and create different places! Gameplay sometimes feels like a time killer until I can think of the next place my sims absolutely must have.

Are you a CC creator?

I make patterns but other than that, no. I love all of the people who do, though, endlessly!

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

I don't know really. There are a lot of folks here on Tumblr and elsewhere that I consider friends and hope they think of me as a friend as well <3

Do you have any sims merch?

Weirdly, no. I don't think I've ever even thought about buying any. I spend enough on the game and stuff for the game, I think lol

Do you have a YouTube for sims?

I don't have a YouTube for anything but watching and occasionally commenting on videos.

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing?

I have a certain list of things that I do before I even start a save now. Another list for once I start. It's a process but it's time tested and perfect! I use a lot more player made creations instead of defaulting to whatever EA gives us. I also do A LOT more travelling and challenges now.

What’s your origin id?

I have no idea.

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

ALL OF THEM

How long have you had simblr?

I don't even know. I think maybe 5 years now ? but it's probably longer than that. I know once I got here, everyone made me feel so welcome! Now you'll never get rid of me muuhahahahahahaaaaa

How do you edit your pictures?

I am really bad at editing any photo and my sims pics are just as bad, lol. I kinda just crop and clean them up a little but my ability really does not extend very far beyond that.

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite?

Surprisingly to me, it's Supernatural. I say it's surprising because I had no interest in play occult sims or anything like that at all but Supernatural is essential to me for one reason and one reason alone: witches can magically upgrade everything in WAY less time than it takes to manually upgrade something. I know, it's a weird reason but that's seriously why. Big fan of Seasons and Generations as well!

[protagonistheavy]

Not more than ten minutes into playing more TotK after writing my previous tumblr post about did I discover the steering wheel objects you can attach to things lol. So that resolves one of my biggest worries, mostly. It's still pretty frustrating to be juggling so many awkward physics in a lot of cases, I've come close to losing tons of progress just because building something was tedious + the execution had to be so specific.

Otherwise though yeah Im surprisingly still having quite a bit of fun just putting together all the scraps and pieces the game has left lying around. Lots of the sky islands in particular are just little puzzles like this, figuring out how to use the items around you to get to a higher point or to another island. I've already come across a few "repeat" islands, which is unfortunate but not totally disruptive -- "repeated" in the sense that it uses the same general layout or puzzle situation, but given a little variety of what zonai items you're given.

My goal right now is to get all the parts+batteries necessary to make an RV lol. I want Link to be big truckin' and haulin' across Hyrule. I say this but it also does majorly suck that, at least where I'm at now, there's no way to save anything you build or create. The moment your game has to reload, it despawns all your creations. Pretty lame but I guess that's understandable.

I do wish dying wasn't so, so frequent... I feel like this game much more quickly thrusts tougher enemies at you from that start than BotW did. I mean I remember BotW being punishing too, but jesus fucking christ, every single thing in this game one-shots you for the first 20 hours. It's so obnoxious that you are not permitted ANY mistakes unless the game mercifully spares you with a one-quarter heart. So many times I get swarmed by enemies with spears and I feel like I have zero options but to run away -- which sucks because running away, like, ALWAYS WORKS, you can cheese so many fights by just kiting enemies.

One last note is about dungeon design. I've only completed the Water Temple but I'll say that the dungeon itself wasn't as much fun as the build-up to that area. I quite enjoyed the "pre-temple" obstacle course that takes you to the temple proper, but the actual dungeon itself was surprisingly straightforward. The boss was also a far cry from the BotW bosses lol, and the aesthetics do not match the divine beasts at all. But it's passable, had cute puzzles. My biggest complaint: I accidentally walked two steps faster than Sidon and entered the temple before he did, which left me exploring these puzzles... without Sidon there to solve them. That was REALLY annoying to have to re-enter the dungeon so that it would "start properly."

But I am still very much enjoying the game. Re-exploring Hyrule is a blast, there's enough different with it that it does not feel like trekking the same place as before except for a few nostalgic strips of land where I can go "ohhh yeah I remember doing this here!" which just feels nice. And there's also the fact that uhh just in general, I didn't explore all of BotW's map anyway lol, I completed the map itself but there were tons of places and corners I looked past, so this is a great chance to see more of what was made. And even if I do get tired of Hyrule, the Sky Islands and the Depths are both totally new areas, even if they're a bit bland, they still have a lot to offer and are totally fun to go back and forth between.