#making a spreadsheet for sims is hard

[woolpines]

idk what im doing but im doing something

[red-archivist]

TMAGP 23 SPOILERS!

i heard those lines and was immediately inspired to make something sad lol

~

Twenty years ago, Jonathan Sims quits smoking.

Twenty years ago, Martin Blackwood’s mother survives her second stroke.

Twenty years ago, Jonathan Sims quits smoking.

It’s not enough to just stop, the shakes and the headaches nip at him constantly, and he reluctantly concludes that bad habits need to replaced by better ones.

That’s where the cycling comes in, to start with.

It’s exercise, it’s eco-friendly, and he can pretend he is literally leaving his cravings behind him as he pushes hard on the pedals.

He does his homework first, researching what is the best option for city cycling, for his budget, for someone that hasn’t ridden a bike since they were nine.

He plots out his paths to the office, the shops, and the nearest puncture repair centre, just in case. He even makes a spreadsheet to keep track of them.

He is sure Tim would poke fun at him for it, if they were still talking, but the organisation keeps his twitching fingers busy and his roaming mind away from the half-finished box of cigarettes in his desk drawer that he promises he will throw away any day now.

What all that planning fails to account for, as soon as he actually gets onto the road, is the rest of the world moving around him.

Every stereotype he has heard about antagonistic drivers is proven ten-fold as he dodges swerving cars and gets sworn at for whizzing past stalled traffic. He soon learns to sneer through tinted windows.

Pedestrians are almost worse. They seem blind to him, stepping out directly in front of his wheels and making him wobble as he overcorrects. As if a bike can’t still do some damage if he were to actually hit someone. Once, he clips the edge of a pram and stops in the street to shout some sense into the careless father pushing it.

He bitches openly about this during his lunches and his coworkers only roll their eyes at him sometimes.

The cycling becomes a bit of running joke in the office when they spot him coming in with his bike shorts and change of outfit, but he ignores them. The shorts are practical. For some reason, telling them that only makes them laugh harder.

He takes the fastest route into the office and a scenic one home. It winds through quiet well-off estates, before opening out to one of the less well-known urban parks. It’s calming, almost meditative, to roll through the cool shade the cluttered trees offer after another meaningless day of data entry.

In those times, he doesn’t think of his empty flat or his dead-end job, he forgets his sniggering coworkers and his ever-dwindling contact list. It’s just him and the wind.

The only thing that could make those moments better, he admits to himself, is a smoke.

The problem with this particular path is how hard it is to see around corners in the park. There is some national re-wilding initiative in the works and the foliage looms over the roads in a way that block his line of sight.

He checks every turn, even though it is rare to encounter a car in this area. Better safe than sorry.

The night he dies is warm but overcast.

He follows his usual route and cranes his neck to see around the overgrown corner he is approaching. A drooping branch grazes his head and something falls from the tree onto his neck.

It could be a leaf, or a twig, or a ladybird, but Jon feels the whisper-touch of something small at his throat and his only thought is: spider.

He has been afraid of them since he was very young and terrified instinct immediately beats any reason. One hand flies up from the handlebars to bat away at his collar. He swerves. Fear makes him pedal faster and the bike speeds onto the junction.

He is so scared of the potential at his throat that he never even sees the delivery truck.

The bike is sent flying from the impact, Jon falls under the wheels.

The driver, to his credit, calls emergency services immediately, distraught.

The ambulance is there within five minutes, but they needn’t have bothered. Jon is declared dead at the scene with a broken neck.

What few friends he has left comfort each other with that fact.

At least it was quick.

~

Twenty years ago, Martin Blackwood’s mother survives her second stroke.

This is a good thing, Martin reminds himself, more than once. It is Good that his mother is alive.

It doesn’t matter that the nurses need to attend to her around-the-clock now. It doesn’t matter that the care home bills have skyrocketed. He is grateful that she is still with him.

He starts looking for a third job. The admin work during the day and the shelf-stocking at night barely covered his previous bills. He’ll have to look for some flexible positions to cram into his schedule.

In the meantime, he cuts back. Eats cheaply, eats less. Cancels overdue check-ups and doesn’t touch the heating.

His days are a current of constant worry, occasionally breached by a wave of panic that he tries to quell by hiding in the office bathroom and digging his nails into his legs.

Panic won’t pay the rent or keep the lights on or remember to call Mum every Sunday. He smothers it deep in his chest and ignores the spasm of pain he gets whenever he forces it down.

He has been getting those more often; sharp, sudden chest pains, numb fingers, dizzy spells, an aching back, shortness of breath.

He had been going to ask the doctor about it all before he cancelled the appointment but. Well. Needs must.

He has his first heart attack on the evening shift.

Pulling a box of washing up tablets from the top shelf in Aisle 4 causes such a rush of agony in his chest that he dares to ask the manager to take his 15-minute break early.

He doesn’t make it to the back room before he collapses.

In the hospital, after he wakes, the doctors ask if there is a family history of heart problems.

If he didn’t feel so weak he would laugh.

He has more in common with his mother then he likes to admit. Of course they share a bad heart.

Or maybe it came from his father. Mum always said he was heartless. Maybe there’s a hole where Dad’s DNA should be.

When the medical team leaves him to rest, all he can think is how much this will cost him.

The NHS is no charity no matter what their marketing says, not to mention how much money he will lose by recovering. He can’t afford six weeks of not working. His first job doesn’t have that much sick leave and his second doesn’t have any.

He runs the numbers in his head, tries to find what else he can hack out of his life to keep his head above water. Occasionally his thoughts swerve, self-recriminating and barbed. He is so stupid for letting this happen at all.

It’s all his fault.

Mum is going to be so angry with him.

His heart pulses in keen pain, bitter and broken.

Somehow, he drifts off, counting figures instead of sheep.

The second heart attack kills him in his sleep.

~

They die on the same day, at nearly the same time (Jon rushes ahead, always too eager, Martin follows inevitably after him).

Their death certificates are filed away alphabetically by a bored clerk in the dusty management system of the General Register Office.

Twenty years later, Samama Khalid exhumes them and examines them, with more curiosity than sense, only to be disappointed by the mundanity of their ends.

He returns them together, heedless of any organisation.

Jon and Martin meet, in the quiet and the dark.

The filing cabinet is a shared headstone, their names rest side-by-side.

~

Also on AO3

[kairos-polaris]

Jonathan Sims having a mild interest in the Head of the Magnus Institute during the interview. he isn't one for gossip but he listens in when he hears someone mention Elias. Jon bumps into him in the library while researching, asks a question absentmindedly, not expecting an answer, only for Elias to tell him everything he needed to know. he soon learns just how knowledgeable Elias is about everything that is esoteric and paranormal and his interest grows just so

(Jon quits smoking because the feeling of being watched gets too unbearable)

they talk often, mostly in the library because Jon spends there most of his time, Elias always willing to answer his questions and guide him in the direction of the reference materials he needs. Jon takes two coffees once, when asked says it's because one wouldn't be enough for him, because he would never admit it's for Elias. he doesn't tell that to Elias either but he smiled as if he knew already (Jon prayed he found it amusing and not creepy). it's his luck they both take coffee black

they start hanging out more (this doesn't mean anything and Jon isn't a hopeless idiot with a crush on his boss, nope) and mild interest turns does not become obsession, Jon tells himself as he notes on Elias' little habits, his rituals. the way he looks calm and relaxed when making spreadsheets or scheduling. he does enjoy it, Jon realises, and immediately turns to his own documents because he realized he has been staring

Gertrude Robinson is missing and Elias looks almost pleased with that. which is absurd and Jon forces himself to stop thinking about it, he probably misinterpreted Elias' expression as he always does

Jon is made Head Archivist and he is too shocked to feel enough shame to stop staring at Elias. his not-obsession turns into an actual obsession, a desperate need to understand why Elias chose him and not someone more competent. he isn't doubting Elias' judgment and will instead work hard to live up for his expectations but the damned curiosity and need to understand never leave

Jon hasn't been sleeping the past week, getting by via short naps (he was too busy dealing with Gertrude's mess, not because he was scared of his dreams where he watches Naomi Herne suffer over and over) and his filter isn't working so when Elias brings him a coffee, puts a hand on his shoulder, smiles and says Jon should rest more, he blurts "will you grab a dinner with me later" before he can bite his tongue. Elias looks surprised for a second before agreeing. and Jon, who was ready to be fired, was more shocked than he has ever been in his life

(Elias, too, is shocked he agreed, he should keep his distance from his Archivist. but Jon looked so lovely and so desperate to Know him in a way no one has in a long, long time, he couldn't help but agree. one date wouldn't be too bad)

one date turns into two, turns into three, turns into five and it's not really official (and Elias knows just how desperate Jon is to ask) but they have sex at some point. less so because of Jon's interest in it and more so about his desire to know all that is to Elias. to shelf away and categorise all the information, including how he is in bed

the interest/fascination/obsession are tinged with paranoia after Martin finds Gertrude's body. he stares at Elias wondering if he is the kind of man to kill his employee. some part of Jon is convinced that he is, that he killed Gertrude. he wonders if he will be next. he keeps going to Elias because he is certain there is more to Elias than he lets on and the thought of losing the opportunity to learn more about him is more terrifying than the thought of dying (a part of him know Elias wouldn't kill him either way)

Leitner's revelation makes him feel more vindicated than betrayed. he knew it! he was right there was more to Elias than the front he presents, a difficult man to pin down, truly

what truly hurts is Elias refusing to answer any questions, any attempts to learn more about the Unknown and Elias himself. what hurts is Elias refusing to see him after Jon woke up. what hurts is that Elias reveals the truth about himself by pushing the words into his head

Jonathan Sims does not miss Jonah Magnus and neither does Jonah Magnus miss him

[juniper-simblr]

Sooooo, I've been having some problems with my custom neighborhood

*cough* pink flashing *cough*

so -naturally- instead of fixing the issues, I've been procrastinating by making a new custom hood. Yay. Long post incoming..

I've been watching Stories & Strategies "Hard&Harsh" Let's play on youtube, and wanted to do something similar, because I've wanted to play with Sun&Moon's mods for ages, but haven't because I don't want to play a Medieval 'hood. So this post-apocalypse idea was just what I needed.

And then I -naturally- had to build a lot of different lots and places in this hood, because I need the 'hood to feel 'coherent' I guess.. So the survivors start out at the crash site, and can then unlock other lots which all needed to have different requirements, so...

-naturally- I had to create a spreadsheet with all of the different areas and every lot and requirements. But then I thought; "Oh, I should also make a custom ROS" to spice up the gameplay, so...

-naturally- I spent way too much time on creating not 1, but 2 different ROS. One to roll every day, and one to roll the first time the sims enter a new, unexplored, lot... And with the second ROS, I made it so that the sims could encounter strangers, so...

-naturally- I had to come up with some hostile and friendly encounters, who also had to have unique background stories, personalities and groups. Pictured above is six of the hostiles from two different groups; Warborne and Thornes. They also have a dedicated tab in my spreadsheet...

I'm still in the process of making more encounters, but during the creation of these, I though it would be fun to divide every sim into different "factions" based on personality/aspiration/etc., that acts as an easy way to make unique sims, so...

-naturally- I made another tab in my growing spreadsheet to make 8 different "factions" with unique traits and in these factions are different types of sims (I call them archetypes) that I can base each created sim on. Like, for example in The Accord faction there are sims like "the diplomat" and "the life coach" and in The Echoes are sims like "the ghost whisperer" and "the artist"..

But, then I needed to make some rules for each faction (like what type of aspiration fits with it), and I also needed to figure out how to add new homes for the settlers (since they all start out living together), and more stuff, so -naturally- I did that. In another tab in my spreadsheet..

And now I'm 3 months deep into this project, and I still haven't actually played the game. lol.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this? Like.. please.

[belladovah]

Sims 2 Terrain Comparisons

I guess I'm a picky Maxis match girly when it comes to Sims 2 neighborhood terrains. I've never found many I like the look of, most are too emerald green or perfect-carpet-looking, or even too busy. But, I do like Nopke's Not So Dull Grass which simply makes the lot terrain match the more vibrant tone of the neighborhood terrain, which also has a dark variant, and I also recently found siletkasims's less emerald green edit of CuriousB's which I also like. I had a hard time deciding, especially because of the different options of Nopke's Accurate Neighborhood Terrain Lighting added into the mix. So, I made this whole thing and thought I may as well share in case it can be useful to anyone else or help me decide!

Neighborhood Terrain comparisons in Maxis Lighting:

The Not So Dull option is identical to Maxis in Neighborhood view, the standard version of the mod only impacts lot view.

Lot Terrain Comparisons:

The Accurate Lighting Mod only impacts the look of the Neighborhood Terrain, not in Lot view. I am using the Cinema Secrets Lighting Mod in all pics.

Keep reading for more pics and a poll!

Neighborhood Terrain comparisons in Accurate Soft Lighting:

Neighborhood Terrain comparisons in Accurate Strong Lighting:

Not So Dull comparisons in the different lighting options:

Not So Dull Dark comparisons in the different lighting options:

CuriousB Edit comparisons in the different lighting options:

Here's a link to the spreadsheet for clearer bigger images.

I personally can't tell a difference between the Accurate Soft and Accurate Strong lighting on Lush Terrains.

I think I'm currently torn between either the standard Not So Dull with the Maxis Lighting or the CuriousB Edit with the Accurate Soft Lighting, but they're all nice in their own ways! (except for the maxis lot terrain lol)

If you know of any other terrain DRs that aren't emerald green, please let me know because I might just not know about them.

[curiousb]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals and followers ♡

Thanks, @persimmonsimmer! Thanks also to @grilledcheese-aspiration - who sent the same ask!

Well, sorry to start on a bit of a strange note, but I'm not sure that true happiness is something that I really experience very often! One thing that does make me genuinely happy is...

Laughing with my husband - we both have the same silly, eccentric sense of humour, and laugh long and hard with each other over our own private jokes. It's what keeps us alive.

My remaining answers are things that bring me contentment and peace, which is what I really value, as it's not easy to find!

Solitude. The only time that I can be my true self - without having to conform to anyone else's expectations - is when I'm alone. It brings me the greatest peace.

Sims 2! I love worldbuilding, and this is the ultimate way of doing that! Plus, it's a way of channelling my ever-whirring mind into something that completely absorbs my attention, and allows me to switch off from the real world. It's my 'mindfulness'. Tinkering with spreadsheets, or anything that involves organising data, is meditative in the same way. (My computer is absolutely essential for my emotional regulation! 😁)

Spending time with the best friend I have ever known. She was my platonic soul mate, and I always felt good just being around her - and the feeling was mutual. But she's gone now.

Guinea pig videos - other people find ASMR videos calming, I enjoy clips of small, furry, chonky potatoes on legs, being their adorably comedic selves. I can't have a pet myself, so this is the next best thing.

[bongdyke]

Second half of my 100 baby challenge update! This one is mostly the Corille and Corette show 😭

First, we have a teenage Adelaide holding a toddler Corette, and then Genevieve holding up a toddler Corille to look at her! The twins are both super cute!

Then both of them in the playroom together - it was hard to get a tolerable shot with them both in it lol

Elena celebrated her birthday, and is now a teenager! She gained the Nurturing trait, just like her sister Genevieve!

The Corille and Corette grew up into children, and gained the Supernatural Fan and Grumpy traits, respectively. They had a good afternoon in the yard together, other than Corette hogging the pony ride from her sister.

Corille also enjoyed a nice leftover salad - made by Genevieve! - while her mother was in the kitchen making spaghetti for dinner.

And finally, to finish off the session, baby #11 was born! Amity Delphine, the daughter of Robbie Platt, is the 7th girl of the family (in a row!) and was born an Excitable Loner.

Here is the updated spreadsheet of all of the children's names, fathers, and traits so far!

also my game reverted all my sim quality settings and whatnot to low today when i launched it and i was too lazy to fix it so if some of these screenshots look kinda like shit that's why lmao

[squeakynose]

SIMS 2 OC LORE DUMP

@hauntedsavefile !! Ty for being so sweet and interested 😭😭 and for giving me the motivation to draw this!!

Putting the actual “lore” stuff under the cut so I don’t clog up peoples dashboards!

OKAY SO

First of all, this isn’t even the entire family!! This is just up to Generation 3. I haven’t even included Gen 3s partners and children, and their grandchildren! I’ll eventually get around to that, but for now here’s the 3 OG gens.

THIS IS THE CORN FAMILY!!!!!!! I don’t know why I named them after Corn. I think I just thought it sounded funny, kinda like saying “Bob Pancakes.” Thus, you get “George Corn”, you see?

I’m very much a family based sims player, I loooove long legacy families and multiple generations and family gameplay in general so A LOT of the lore is like….interpersonal family drama LOL. I like to have my stories rooted in realism (though I’ll mix in the general sims wackiness like aliens and vampires and shit)

I would have included everyone’s personality points too if I had saved that info somewhere but unfortunately I am a fool who didn’t make a spreadsheet when I started this save file, but i could probably tell you the general rundown for anybody if asked!

I think I’d end up writing forever if I tried to retell the entire story here, so I’ll just give a pretty general recap. If anyone cares enough, feel free to ask questions about them!!! Idk idk idk

Content Warnings for minor discussion of abuse, cheating, alcoholism, pregnancy complications, postpartum depression. Also mentions of sex. I think that’s it? 

George Corn and Mary Sweet met as teenagers in their small town of Appaloosa Plains.

George was the oldest of three, and his family was very poor. His father was an alcoholic and a serial cheater, often out of the house or asleep on the couch. His mother was emotionally absent, unable to be present for her children. So George was responsible for the household from a young age.

Mary was raised by a loving mother and father, and comfortably middle class. Her mother was a famous horror novelist, and her father an architect. When she was 14, Mary’s father died in an accident on a worksite. Mary and her mother were forced to relocate to a smaller home, and Mary’s mother struggled to write after the death of her husband. She also became very overprotective and strict, watching Mary like a hawk.

Mary and George met while George was working his part time job at the diner, and immediately hit it off. Mary wasn’t allowed to date, but the two continued to secretly meet and began a budding romance behind the back of Mary’s mother.

(I could make an ENTIRE backstory lore post for just George and Mary but for times sake, we are skipping a bit here)

Mary ends up pregnant with their first child at the age of 17, just before she was meant to start college at Sim State University. Mary receives a large sum of entitlement money on her 18th birthday from her father, which her and George use to put down on a house in Belladonna Cove.

Skipping out on college was a hard choice, but George and Mary were happy. They give birth to their first daughter, Alma (named after Mary’s mother). George got a job in the culinary career track, and Mary went to night school to obtain her bachelor’s degree and start in the Law career track

They grew their family as well as their home. When Alma was 4, they had their twins, Ryder and Wren. 5 years later, they had their last child, Eleanor.

They were a very loving and functional family. George especially worked hard to be sure he was a great father to his children, knowing how much he needed one growing up. Mary is the stricter parent, but she learns to be more understanding with time to avoid coddling her children the same way she was.

Their eldest daughter, Alma, was a bit of a rebel. She snuck out, stayed out late, hung out with the wrong crowds. Anything that would generally piss off her parents, she was happy to do. Alma mostly only did it out of boredom, wishing her life was more interesting and less wholesome.

Ryder and Wren were very different despite being twins. Ryder was very social and popular, the MVP of their high school basketball team. Wren was a child genius, and extremely shy. She always had her nose in a book, much more interested in her studies than other people.

Eleanor was the silliest of the children. They matched their father’s goofball spirit, and loved to make people laugh. They were the baby of the family, while simultaneously being the most aware. They were fairly popular in school, but didn’t have very many real friends.

Alma was the first in the family to go to university. She majored in Fine Arts with the goal of becoming a rockstar. It was in college that she met her first husband, Christian. Alma was smitten with Christian. He was everything she thought her parents would hate. Mean, loud, entirely unwholesome. And he too wanted to be a rockstar. So the two formed a band, and eventually had a shotgun wedding right after graduation.

Mary and George didn’t….love Christian. But they tried to be supportive of Alma.

Alma and Christian would go on to have two children almost back to back. They had Bowie first, and then their daughter Amy-Lee. Alma worked all the while, writing music and touring and making a name for herself. Christian fell behind in work, calling out often and lounging around the house instead. He doesn’t do much to take care of the kids. And he does all of this while simultaneously cheating on Alma with their neighbor, Sirena.

Alma quickly learned about the affair and beat Christians ass. Good for her. We support women’s wrongs.

Alma packed her stuff up, took the kids, and hightailed out of there. Shortly after, she wrote and released her first full album, which became a hit. The entire album was dedicated to her ex-husband, and she made sure the world knew how much of an ass he was.

Alma would go on to meet Sanjay Ramaswami through work, and the two of them fell for each other. They got hitched, and had their own son, Stevie.

Shortly before Ryder and Wren went to college, Ryder met a girl named Opal at school and brought her home. Opal was known around school for being the cool emo girl that everyone wanted to be friends with. Ryder was trying to woo Opal, thinking that his usual charm would work on her. Little did he know, Opal actually had the hots for his twin.

Opal snuck off to hang out with Wren instead, and the two shared their first kiss together. Wren was shocked that someone like Opal would be into a nerd like her, but the two were attached at the hip almost immediately.

Ryder wasn’t too hurt. Turns out Opal wasn’t really his type. He eventually met Dagmar, a transfer student from Windenburg, and caught her attention instead.

The four of them went off to college together, splitting the rent in an off-campus house. Eleanor and Opal were both majoring in biology as knowledge sims. Ryder majored in Theatre in order to go into the Athletic career. And Dagmar floated around before landing on philosophy.

Almost immediately, Dagmar and Ryder were having relationship issues. They were very on-again-off-again. At some point Ryder “caught Dagmar cheating” with the Cow mascot, though in my opinion that wasn’t even Dagmar’s fault!

Eventually though, they proved their loyalty to each other. Both couples got married right after Graduation.

Eleanor and Opal were very career focused, and initially I didn’t plan for them to adopt children at all. But eventually they both rolled the want to adopt, and how could I deny that!? They adopted their one daughter, Robin. Almost immediately, Robin was a childhood genius and savant. She was incredibly good at music, specifically piano. She danced ballet. Her mothers encouraged her passions. They were a very artsy and “cultured” family. Eleanor reached the top of the Adventure career, which I interpreted as being an archeologist. Opal reached the top of the medical career and became a renowned surgeon.

Robin often felt a strong pressure from her mothers to be the best at everything she did. She was naturally an overachiever, and yet she didn’t feel fully satisfied by the pursuit of knowledge or talent the same way her mothers were. They loved her, and she loved them, but she knew she wasn’t going to be the perfect daughter for them forever. They supported her with everything, though. They only wanted the best for their little girl.

Their family was very very wholesome and sweet. I loved the vibes of their house and just how fancy it all was. I definitely pictured them being a little snobbish in an artsy kind of way. The kind of people that would gatekeep their favorite bands, yknow? A bit pretentious. But I loved them <3

Ryder and Dagmar were NOT supposed to have kids. But I installed ACR and almost immediately….they got pregnant. SMH smh smh.

The twin genes carried on and they had their twins, Ace and Archer. At first, everything was great! They were a happy family. But as I said, children were never in the plan for Ryder and Dagmar, and I think it showed in their parenting. Ryder was very involved in his career as an Athlete. He eventually reached the top of his career, but he was often working and not home a lot. Dagmar was in the slacker career, and she focused more on making friends and hanging out with people. They were decent parents at first, providing a comfortable life for their children and even supporting Ace through his transition (ftm)

But then Dagmar got pregnant again on accident. And it wasn’t pretty. It was a very hard pregnancy for Dagmar. And my game eventually glitched during the pregnancy and she WOULDNT GO INTO LABOR.

I interpreted this as complications with the pregnancy, and eventually I did get her to have the baby. Their youngest, Hunter, was born. But Dagmar did not have a very strong relationship with him. She became very distant, not wanting to socialize as much as she used to. I chose to interpret this as Dagmar struggling with PPD after having Hunter, and realizing that she wasn’t very satisfied with her direction in life.

Eventually though, their relationships recovered and Dagmar went on to have decent relationships with her sons. When Ace came out to her and Ryder as trans (ftm), she supported him wholeheartedly. She taught Archer how to cook all kinds of things. And she supported Hunter and his girlfriend after they accidentally got pregnant themselves. But there was still an edge of tension in the family. Especially after Ryder passed away. He died rather soon, despite being in platinum. Again, I interpreted this as Ryder having health complications and dying around the age of 45 or so. Old enough to see his sons grow up, but he didn’t get to meet his eventual grandchildren.

Eleanor went on to be the artist of the family. Initially I thought they might have been an entertainer of some sort, but they were a pleasure sim who preferred to paint all day and just lounge around, which was fine by me!

Eleanor befriended Veronica in high school, and the two started dating just before moving off to college. They brought along two other friends, Sarah and Zack, so they could split the rent.

Sarah and Zack are what I like to call “spare” sims. Sims who play a part in the story but never really made their way into the rotation.

Sarah and Zack were initially just there to be extra income for the household, but they caught my attention when I realized how much they hated each other. I was convinced that they’d end up fighting by the end of the semester……….and then one day I watched as they both fell in love with each other. Yknow…the little animation with the hearts over their heads? I was so confused. But I took it to be an enemies-to-lovers-hate-sex sort of thing and just rolled with it.

The couples lived harmoniously. Veronica was a fortune sim who wanted to become a criminal mastermind, and again, we support women’s wrongs. Eleanor majored in theatre because they would absolutely be a theatre kid. And I cannot remember what Sarah and Zack did but I’m sure it was fitting.

And then one day I realized that Sarah, a romance sim, had crushes on both Veronica AND Eleanor.

Now with ACR installed, I could have most definitely made this a working polyamorous relationship. And unfortunately I did not know this at the time LOL. But either way, I decided that this plot line was too good to pass up. And thus, the four entered a kind of complicated and messy swingers situation. Zack was with Sarah who was with Veronica who was with Eleanor…etc etc etc.

They passed their time in college having crazy fouresomes, eating pizza, and bullying the cow mascot. And then when they graduated, the OG couples went their separate ways. Veronica and Eleanor got married and inherited the original Corn family home. Sarah and Zack got married and rented a house down the road.

Eleanor and Veronica just did not seem like the parenting types to me. Neither of them ever rolled any wants for children, so I let them be pet parents to their elderly collie named Pop and eventually a cat named Caramel.

They eventually went on to be the gay rich aunties of the family and I really love that for them.

AND THATS WHERE IM LEAVINF IF OFF BECAUSE I HAVE LITERALLY BEEN WRITING FOR TWO HOURS NO JOKE. if you genuinely read to the end of this, you are now my best friend. Again, family drama lore may be the most boring shit ever to some people but idgaf I need to get all of this out of my brain and put it somewhere!!!

There’s so much more I could say about this family, and lots of little details I left out. And like I said THERES MORE FAMILY!! THIS ISNT EVEN ALL OF THEM!! But yeah. <<<<3333333

[twig-tea]

A question for you because you seem like one of those people who has watched everything: how did you get started watching bl, and what are your ultimate favorite shows?

Double-barrelled! I'm honoured.

How did I get into BL?

The short answer is that ~2016 the YouTube algorithm served me up Lovesick and I immediately went EXCUSE ME WHAT IS THIS and looked up everything else available and watched literally everything I could get my hands on (which at the time was easy because there was only a handful compared to today, but it still felt like a wealth of content to enjoy).

The longer answer is that I used to be really involved in GL (I was the secretary at the first Yuricon in North America in 2002 or 2003) and then BL manga fandom (was in a scanlation group for awhile) through ~2006? so its extra hilarious that this wasn't my route in; I apparently took a break right before they started making live action versions in Japan. But when I got into Thai BL it was fun rediscovering these tropes in a new medium and through the lens of a new-to-me culture, noticing how they differed and how the genre had matured (and how it hadn't), and on catching up on the stuff out of Japan, seeing some of the manga I read over a decade ago come to life! So I mention this history because it's definitely a part of why I stayed (and probably why the algorithm found me relatively quickly).

I only started tracking things in a spreadsheet in 2020 (and it's not nearly as comprehensive or useful as @absolutebl 's), but I did try to backfill the highlights of what I've seen and I have over 550 rows on there, fwiw. I'm a completionist so I do try to watch everything, though that's getting more and more impossible these days.

Ultimate Favourite Shows

This question is so hard. I know you didn't even give me a limit but you have to understand @lurkingshan, I can't choose favourites, I have a draft top ten list that has been blank for 3 years because I can't commit. Okok. I'm just going to list shows as they come to me (not in any particular order):

Thailand: Until We Meet Again, He's Coming to Me, Diary of Tootsies, WhyRU, Ingredients, Not Me, Secret Crush on You, I Told Sunset About You & I Promised You the Moon, Triage, You're My Sky, Make it Right, La Pluie, My Ride, Bad Buddy, My School President, Laws of Attraction, Moonlight Chicken, Dear Dr I'm Coming for Soul, To Sir With Love/Khun Chai, The Eclipse, Midnight Museum, Lovely Writer... Grey Rainbow [ducks, hides, runs away]

Japan: Doushitemo Furetakunai (no touching at all), Kinou Nani Tabeta (What did you eat yesterday?), Our Dining Table, Takara-Kun and Amagi-Kun, Old Fashioned Cupcake, 7 Days (mon-thurs & fri-sun), His (miniseries & movie), I Want to See Only You, Kieta Hatsukoi/My love mix-up, the Cherry Magic Movie, Life~Senjou no bokura/Love on the Line, 180 Degrees Longitude Passes Through Us, Given (anime is my fave version), Tokyo in April Is..., Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese, Utsukushii Kare/My beautiful man

Korea: Our Dating Sim, Semantic Error, The Lover [BL side], Color Rush, Blueming, Cherry Blossoms After Winter, Love Class 2, Made on the Rooftop, Discipline Z, Light on Me, To My Star (yes both seasons), Strongberry (faves are Long Time No See, Confidential Coffee Break, and A First Love Story), Sing My Crush, Just Friends?

Vietnam: Goodbye Mother, Hey! First Love, Nation's Brother, You Are Ma Boy, Follow My Sunshine, FOOLs, Tien Bromance: My Small Family, Love Bill

Philippines: Gameboys, Gaya sa Pelikula, Boys Lockdown, Cheat [warning: horror], Your Home, Better Days

Taiwan: Be Loved in House, My DNA Says Love You, We Best Love (1 & 2), HIStory (Crossing the Line is my fave, and second fave is...Make Our Days Count [ducks, hides, burrows into ground]).

Other: Summerdaze (short from Singapore), Stay Still (Hong Kong), HeHe and He (Hong Kong, final season in progress but s1&2 are so funny) and the bromances/difficult to categorize: Scumbag System, Word of Honor, The Untamed, Guardian, Coffee Prince, Bromance (Taiwanese), Great Men Academy, Mr Queen, Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, SCI Mystery

*deep breath* ok I'm stopping lol narrowing it down any less than this gives me pain so I won't try. Also I'm sure I forgot something obvious (and Tumblr was eating drafts of this at various points). All I can say about this list is it's under 100 and that's the best I could do.

Thanks for the ask, and to anyone who made it this far thanks for reading!

[anachronisims]

simming goals 2024

it's been a good year back for me, and i'm ready to spend as much of 2024 simming as i can. thanks to those who've stuck with me through the hiatuses; to those whose encouragement, examples, and support have helped me grow as both a modder and a player; and to everyone who helped make the pink flashing survey circulate as widely as it did. this is a wonderful community and every day i am thankful to be part of it.

now, the goals!

the pink flashing survey report is still on track for a (mid-to-late) january release. i've done about as much coding and data validation as i can with the responses (thanks SO MUCH to everyone who was so receptive to my follow up DMs!) and there have been some promising tweaks and fixes and best practices coming out of the guinea pig testing group. we may not eradicate pink flashing forever but we can substantially work around it in most instances.

2. i'm collaborating with @cityof2morrow on a big traits expansion project, which you may already know something about if you saw the poll for the nudist icon. work is chugging along; all the new traits packages have been created and i've started on the actual modding work as of this week. take a peek at our planning spreadsheet if you want to see the scope of work. i have no firm estimate of when this will be out but i really want to use it in my new hood, and i really want to play kinda asap, so, asap.

3. playing in mount topazos. enough said. before that can happen i am going to

3b. finish paring down my downloads folder. i have like, just so much crap, including waaaaay more duplicates than i expected. currently this project means using my testing hood to open one catalogue section at a time, writing on a legal pad any object that needs to be cut or recatagorized/repriced. i've done windows, doors, deco paintings, and deco misc so far. i also packaged all my decorated MT lots, then faux-installed them in a desktop folder so i could see which cc is actually in use, allowing me to sequester items from bigger sets that aren't actively in use to a holding folder on my hard drive.

4. hunting update as part of the sun&moon team. honestly, this is long overdue. i made a prototype update of the huntable deer in 2021 and have hardly touched it since, and there's a lot more functionality we've been chatting about in that time. and i just need to buckle down and get on it. after the traits update is released that is absolutely my next priority.

5. that is it for goals. i think all of these are doable and achievable and honestly i really want to play and screenshot and share the mount topazos hood, so once i get the report and mod work out of the way that's really what i want my focus to be.

love and hugs and best wishes to everyone for their happiest, healthiest new year.

[yurithechaoslord]

Hi, I'm Yuri. I made this account during my ✨preteen cringe phase✨ and I didn't use it for much. It was forgotten for years, but a few months ago I got reminded of its existence. Still, I only used it to like post and occasionally comment. About a week and half ago I was like "I'mma make an Uberhood in The Sims 2". While researching how to do it, I found Pixu's account ( https://pixuou.tumblr.com/ultimatehood https://youtu.be/qIQ4lD_ynJI?si=o0JYn1pEDX9YBuC4 ) and got inspired to use Tumblr as a way to record my gameplay and stories I make about the little pixel people. For those who want to know me a little better, I'm a sleep-deprived biotechnology student from Poland. I'm a lesbian in 20s, who's often described as chaotic. Also, from time to time, I might post art since I like to draw. And I enabled the ask option, if anyone is interested in that. So back to the Hyperfixationhood- Uberhood... Basically, it's a way to play every The Sims 2 neighborhood on one savefile. The setup is fairly easy, you need to pick your main hood and then add other ones as subhoods. I'm playing with Pleasantview as my main hood with added Strangetown, Veronaville, Bluewater Village, Riverblossom Hills, Desiderata Valley, Belladonna Cove, and a custom Downtown ( https://katatty.tumblr.com/post/645638968277417984/im-delighted-to-present-at-last-my-fully-madeover I think it doesn't have any Sims, but adds extra space). I also added all 3 universities (Sim State University, Academie Le Tour, La Fiesta Tech), all 3 vacation destinations (Takemizu Village, Three Lakes, Twikkii Island), and all the Sims from the Stealth Hoods. I use the clean versions for each of those. That was the easy part. Because of the discovery of baby face templates ( https://youtu.be/MFhXpq8E8eQ?si=BWxl77sX-Rg5dmFC ), I decided I wanted my Sims to have genetic infant faces. Every hood had its "babyfied" version. ...Except Belladonna Cove and Desiderata Valley. But I found a tutorial by ivycopur on how to create Sims with baby face templates ( https://ivycopur.dreamwidth.org/439.html ), so I was like "I'mma do it myself". Honestly, it wasn't that hard, just took a lot of time. General gameplay information and rules:

- I'm playing rotationally with each family, but the order of the households varies.

* The very first round (Round 0) will last 2 days, and the rest of the rounds will last 6 days.

- I made myself a custom livespan and custom pregnancy duration, using this tutorial https://s2idownloads.blogspot.com/2016/10/new-tutorial-create-new-pregnancyspan.html?m=1

* Sim pregnancy lasts 36 h, and pet pregnancy lasts 12-24 h.

* 1 day = 6 months

Baby - 2 days (0 - 1 year)

Toddler - 10 days (1 - 6 years)

Child - 14 days (6 - 13 years)

Teen - 18 days (13 - 22 years)

Adult - 76 days (22 - 60 years)

Elder - 20- 40 days (70 - 80 years)

- I'm marking the starting year as 2004 since that's when the game was released. Plus it will be funny when I eventually get into the far future, but the technology won't change much.

- I'm choosing my Sims aspirations, one true hobby and job with the help of a calculator made by Marticore ( https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15qEDgAZI6Lk8IGKfRmemPYftl5n-mmjOt2CyA5e8dmY/edit?gid=1882396550#gid=1882396550 ).

- I'm using ACR to choose my Sims' sexuality when they become teenagers, but sometimes I pick it myself if I find it fitting (for example, I headcanon Beau Broke as a gay man).

- I'm using several supernatural mods that change the mechanics of occult Sims, found in this video https://youtu.be/FcbEoMHxpo8?si=9hNBwhv9HjEiv6Zl , but I didn't pick all of them. The most notable ones I added to my game are Alien superpowers, children and teen Plantsims, toddler and child Vampires, child Werewolves, toddler and child Witches, and Fairies as a new occult.

* I have supernatural skins as custom skin tones ( https://modthesims.info/download.php?t=284759 ), and I will change Sim's genetics if they become occult (for example, a Plantsim will get a Plantsim skin in their DNA).

- I'm using The Traits Project mod, which adds The Sims 3 traits to The Sims 2 ( https://hexagonal-bipyramid.tumblr.com/traitsProject ), and the farmhand trait ( https://fireflowersims.tumblr.com/post/651840507529543680/the-3t2-traits-and-the-medieval-caste-expansion ).

* I will randomize Sim's traits, but if a Sim gives me a specific vibe, I will pick a trait myself.

* Toddlers get 2 traits, children get 3 traits, teenagers get 4 traits, and adults (and elders) get 5 traits.

* Each Sim will get at least one trait after mom and at least one trait after dad.

* I also have a chronic illness trait mod ( https://modthesims.info/download.php?t=673581 ). I will give it to my Sims if the pregnancy passes terribly, if the Death by Childbirth mod takes effect, or if it fits story-wise.

- I'm playing half wants-based. I'm going to use the Sims' wants to help influence the story, but they won't be the main deciding factor. I don't want every Sim to turn out the same.

- Knowledge Sims always go to college, Sims with other aspirations go if they have a want at the end of the teen lifestage, or if it fits the story. The Capp family always goes to college. College is frozen time.

- Teens can get a job when they turn 16 yo, no sooner.

- If more than half of the household has corresponding wants to get a pet, they will get one.

- I’m working on a spreadsheet that will help me track and control my gameplay. ( https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1O0DuFTiIFk5nLzxGj3mWXrXrlPaCKBp5iXRbJfvoJSw/edit?usp=sharing ) - work in progress Also, I'm going to mark my Uberhood posts with the tag "Organized Chaos in Uberhood". The neighborhoods I used - https://www.tumblr.com/yurithechaoslord/778671800905351168/heres-the-list-of-links-to-the-neighborhoods-i?source=share

List of community lots - https://www.tumblr.com/yurithechaoslord/779474808333385728/heres-the-community-lots-list-i-added-several?source=share

List of careers and workplaces - https://www.tumblr.com/yurithechaoslord/780001836126142464/careers-and-workplaces?source=share

List of custom majors - https://www.tumblr.com/yurithechaoslord/781089082041384960/my-custom-university-majors-agriculture?source=share

[thegoopycarbonara]

my decades challenge index

Sul sul!

I have begun two different Decades Challenges, one I played from 1890 to 1960 and the other I didn't make much progress in. In both of these, I realized that I'm too much of a control freak and needed to do more prep before committing to the challenge!

Thus, I've indexed all of my hard work below in case you, too, are looking to control everything like I am :) I will update as I find new mods and items that improve my gameplay

Last Update 7/6/2024

I am using a mix of various rules from different creators.

IllusoryThrall's Decade's Challenge (Hard Mode) for starting money, starting age, and MCCC settings*

MorbidGamer's spreadsheets, death rolls, and aging (I'll be using four sim days per year rather than IllusoryThrall's two sim days per year)

Finally, a mix of IllusoryThrall and cutecoffeegal's Decades Challenge Rules for each decade of active gameplay guidelines

some extra details - I highly recommend MorbidGamer's spreadsheets for keeping track of everything, you can find them linked in the Google Doc for the challenge; I am not starting in 1300, so I deleted all of the cells in my copy until 1890 - I'm making minor changes to IllusoryThrall's rules as far as their gameplay settings, but I am using their holidays - Likewise, I'm making some small changes to cutecoffeegal's standard rules for personal preference towards storytelling, so I might allow an heir to be a woman depending on the story I wish to tell

I have lots of experience with mods, but this challenge requires more tuning than I'm used to. I've tried to lay everything out here for you! If you need it, here's a quick tutorial on how to put mods and custom content in your game

CORE MODS

deaderpool's MC Command Center : I used IllusoryThrall's MCCC Settings for gameplay, you'll need to adjust these settings through a computer on your lot; if you're going to have any mod, I would recommend this above all

roburky's Meaningful Stories : Adds depth to the experiences of my sims

Realistic Gameplay (alphabetized)

adeepindigo's Healthcare Redux : I love adeepindigo's mods, they integrate so well with the game; I'm only using Healthcare Redux for now to simulate realistic sickness and medical care

BrazenLotus's Harvest & Gather, Crafting, and Food & Drink : Another great mod that allows you to farm, craft, preserve, and cook in a more period-appropriate way; it took me a while to get this working how I wanted, but it's so worth it

chingyu's 100 Base Game Traits : The lack of traits in Sims 4 is one of my biggest complaints, so I broke the rules of the challenge a bit to give my sims more interesting, life-impacting traits while keeping close to the decade

ClaudiaSharon's No Autonomous Anything : So my sims stop taking selfies and texting people in 1890

ClaudiaSharon's No Festival Notifications : So I'm not pestered with festivals I can't attend yet

Frankk's Language Barriers : More realism to sims being from different worlds; !!be sure to follow his download instructions very carefully!!

Kuttoe's Enlist in War : For war realism

Kuttoe's Home Regions : To simulate contact only between sims in one world before common travel

Littlbowbub's Ye Olde Cookbook Kit : A great mod that lets you forage, hunt, and cook meals with new oven animations, lifesaving if you're playing with Simple Living

Lumpinou's Mood Pack : This is a required mod for a number of other mods to work that give custom moods and moodlets to your sims; I use it for chingyu's Base Game Traits

LittleMsSam's Auto-Employees : A lot trait you can use to populate vendor stalls on lots you create, a HUGE lifesaver for my Simple Living sims

maplebell More CAS Traits : serves the same purpose as chingyu's mod!

MizoreYukii's Children/Toddlers Can Die of Anything : For realism and death roll compliance

MizoreYukii's Remove Hats Indoors : An item that allows you to set hat and glove rules inside, functions like the shoe sign from Snowy Escape

Pandasama's Childbirth Mod : For realism in childbirth

RVSN's ISO LovePhotos Camera : I use this to take portraits in-game

SimplyAnjuta's No Makeup/Accessories on Randomized Sims : Keeps my townies from looking deranged

SimRealist's Mortem, Sim National Bank, Financial Center ,and Private Practice: I use these mods for realism in dealing with money and sim death as well as building a functioning bank/clinic, it takes some finagling to hide the required computers in the venue, but I really appreciate the structure it gives my game

TURBODRIVER's Wonderful Whims : For realism in relationships, woohooing, and menstruation

The Peridot Project's Shorter University Mod [4 credits] : I use this mod to remain true to the timing of the challenge; 4 credits/2 weeks simulates four years in-game

Triplis's Quit or Join School : In case I need my teens to quit school

Overrides !!I recommend keeping your overrides separate from mods in your game folder!!

pandorasimbox's Timeless Mod surely-sims Invisible Crib kat-simss' Historical Homework Defaults extrellka-chipsa's Fire Extinguisher Replacement MoonSimmers' Victorian Books Override 20thCenturyPlumbob's Map Replacements CowplantSnacks' Historical Replacements (Scouts) Savythatsimmer's Henford River Loading Screen Magnolian Farewell's Take the Lead Leash Replacement motherof70's Bug Spray and Trash Replacements MorbidGamer's Present Override Surely-Sims' 1900s Millinery CAS Backgrounds (I use Lace) xbrilliantsims' Toddler Bathtime Overrides Cepzid Creation's Functional Cottage Living Phonebooth MizoreYukii's Functional Broom JaneSimsten's Parchment Computer

Poses all used with Andrew's Studio Pose Player and scumbumbo's Teleport Any Sim (I also use Twisted Mexi's Searchable Pose Player)

Minty_Mint's Large Farm Family Portrait, Town Family Portrait, and Farm Family Portrait scythesims' Victorian Children Posepack, Part II, and Victorian Family Portraits Posepack EllieMaySims' Pose Pack Old Photos kat_simss' Old Family Picture Posepack lucky-content's Wedding Poses TheRoyalSims' Old Timey Couple Posepack RevolutionSims' Portrait Poses TwentiethCenturySims' Embroidery Posepack

Misc Mods Scumbumbo's XML Injector weerbesu's UI Cheats Extension TwistedMexi's Better Exceptions SrslySims' Simulation Lag Fix

There is too much custom content in my game to possible put it all here, but I am going to list some of my favorite creators and simblrs for you to browse

BatsFromWesteros Vintage Simstress Vintage-Simmer Medieval Sim Tailor & Carpenter retropixels SFS Archive Linzlu & SFS Archive historicalfictionsims ChèreIndolente Moon-Simmers JewishSimming cmoonsims historicalsimslife cringeborg GildedGhosts & SFS Archive peebs pandorasimbox AmeyaSims lonelyboy the-melancholy-maiden joliebean Out of Fashion Cepzid buzzardly28 Saurus lilis-palace (FOLKLORE, INTARSIA, BUDAPEST) plasticbox's Washing Bowl syboulette

Currently Testing... Lot 51's Fashion Authority Mod

Current Game Stats: Arthur & Clara Wright 1890 (Day 1)

World Stats:Windenburg Landgraab Bank and Clinic, Oak Lane Schoolhouse, Windenburg Congregational, Windenburg Town Hall, The Knight's Arms Restaurant, Landgraab Shoppes, H. Licht Fine Photography, Town Centre Tavern

Townies:The Von Windenburg Family [The Von Windenburg Estate] - Byron Von Windenburg, Pearl Von Windenburg, Eugene Von Windenburg, Harmony Von Windenburg, Mabel Von Windenburg, Dahlia Rheinfrank (nanny), Joelle Whitlock (tutor) The Gallagher Family [14 Willow Lane]- George Gallagher, Louise Gallagher, Jerome Gallagher The Parsons Family [6 Oak Lane] - Matthias Parsons, Juliette Parsons

Some more information on MCCC Dresser functions - follow the instructions to save outfits then automate them on age-up for unplayed sims; it's a time suck, but makes your gameplay much more immersive, in my opinion

from IlluoryThrall's Rules

Gameplay Options:Autonomy: Off Disable autonomy for selected sim: off Auto-age played sims: no Auto-age unplayed sims: no Sim Lifespan: Long Maximum sim count: at your discretion Fill empty homes: also at your discretion Show whims: on Build mode items grant gameplay bonuses: on

Environment:8 Day Lunar Cycle Permanent Phase Disabled Disable lunar effects OFF Season Length: 7 Days Rain and thunderstorms Snow and Blizzards Enable temperature effects on Sims: on Enabled Thundersnows: on Enable Icy conditions: on

Pack Settings: Get Famous: disabled until the 1910s Eco Lifestyle: disabled on both options until 1970s Bust the Dust disabled until the 1920s Werewolves must be locked to Moonwood Mill (although deleting them might be useful, as well.) High School Years: Enable both options (Following Teens to school is forbidden until the 1920s or after, at your discretion.) Growing Together: both options enabled

[delijume-sims]

Hi! Would you be able to share with us what kind of spreadsheet / program / way you use to track all your Sims' info (like an example / template)? I'd love to try out some of your gameplay rules, but I am personally very bad at designing well made spreadsheets, so I am curious to know how you've set it up! :) Kudos and lovely that you've shared you personal game rules with us! <3

Hello anon! I am so sorry it took me so long to see this, I was getting zero notifications of these questions and happened to discover my inbox at random and sorted through answering these all at once. I can share my tracking template but there's a couple reasons I don't have it posted on my page anywhere!

It's a constant work in progress, as I come up with new ideas for gameplay or aspects I want to track. So I'll post my current version in this reply, but it may continue evolving over time.

It's very large and I worry other people would be overwhelmed. It is a lot, it's how I enjoy the game (I play with two monitors, game on one monitor and spreadsheet on the other) but I realize it is NOT for everyone.

I sometimes write custom formulas in it that are hard to include in a template version that make tracking some of the information easier, and not everyone knows excel formulas that well to write up custom formulas on the fly.

I worry because of its size and complexity it would be too confusing to even be useful to most people. Stuff on it that makes sense to me might not make sense to others since it's not I like I included instructions in it or anything...

So with those disclaimers out of the way, here is an empty version of the template I (currently) use:

Empty Neighborhood Tracking Template

And here is a mostly filled out version of a megahood I was working on but haven't played yet to give you an idea of what it looks like filled out: Unfinished Megahood Tracking Sheet Example

If this is too insane for you (I totally understand), I'd recommend if you still want it as a template to just delete the columns of all the stuff you don't want to track until you have the essential information you do like keeping track of!

Again, I'm sorry for seeing this so late and hope this helps somewhat!

[prettyflyshyguy]

Happy April 1st, I have no new joke but here's a really good old one.

Buckle up.

Alright. Can't remember if I posted much about this before, but at my old job I produced this videogame. It was pretty cool!! It was set in the future, you're a super soldier who piloted remote robot drones called Espire.

(Violent little robot Sooty, my beloved. The shotgun pump in the trailer is still my favorite bit.)

I had my fingers in just about every pie that made up this game, and it was extremely cool getting to work with the team. April fools rolled around, game hadn't released just yet, we were finalising into the certification phase.

Every friday we had something called 'demo friday' where the team would show off something they worked on that week and we'd celebrate. It was charming to let everyone have a chance to show off their contributions, from every department in the company. I never really showed off anything because the spreadsheets I worked with, everyone already saw cause I would run around showing people every day as part of my job.

So on this fatefull, April 1st Friday, I asked to show the team something special. I pulled up a powerpoint presentation and add-libbed a new game concept pitch.

I pitched Espire to Love, a robot dating simulator, to a room full of 25 odd videogame developers.

Now as you may or may not have noticed, I don't often dabble in romance as a genre. I've barely touched dating sims and I'd never mentioned them before at work.

"From Dreamy daddies to anime girls, KFC's the colonel and even dinosaurs, there's an incredible range of options in the dating sim genre" I said with a straight face infront of a room full of people who were crying with laughter. I was barely holding myself together.

No one was prepared for the fake screenshots.

Still remember how hard some of them laughed when I pulled these slides up. I packed a lot of in-jokes into these that I won't explain - I wanted this to hit hard and hit home for the people I'd spent two + years working with.

People loved it, I made my friends laugh, it was good. And then upon being told "Hey you should send this to the publisher!"

That's exactly what I did.

The response from our assigned reps at Tripwire (YES, THAT TRIPWIRE) said they loved it, and they too were asking themselves the question "why not!" the whole way through.

But this story doesn't end there, oh no.

Fast forward a year. The game is released, we're hectic busy working on post release content, I'm cooking up the next stage of the joke.

Unfortunately, it never came to fruition due to time and stress. But here's what it was going to be:

We'd had our community clammoring for merch - so I wanted to pitch something bold, new and exciting, and the kind of thing that'd make us stand out.

Body pillows.

Would have been incredible. Might've made someone faint.

The robots were called Bean and Sooty during development so yes. I was going to deadass say "The bean bag and the sooty sack" (I mean what I say)

Unfortunately I didn't make it in time, and then double unfortunately, I lost my job when the studio had to significantly downsize.

But that never stops me from posting a good bit. You all know I'm a committed freak.

Fast forward a bit more and I'm trying to learn how to make my own games! So I download RenPy since it's a good starting point. It's designed more for VN's, so to find my feet I figured I should make as VN right?

I didn't want to make to make new assets, as the point was me learning to code. What to do..... what to do....

Full circle babeeeeyyyyy

And that's where we're at today! Long post I know, but I'm real proud of this joke. I love a good laugh that hits you at home, that's just honest fun. Huge shoutout to my old co-workers for listening to my original presentation, their laughter filled my heart and I was fucking terrified at the time, it was worth the joke.

It became a running gag in the office - we were playing Jackbox for a work party and it was one of those question and submitted answer games, and without any input from me the team had made the question "What would the for the sequel to Espire to Love be?"

and the options were "Espire to Live" and "Espire to death"

Anyway, I hope you only have charming and well considered April fools jokes today - designed for you to laugh at as much as the person making the joke. That's the best joke. Peace out.

[moyokeansimblr]

If you notice a lull in posting coming up soon apologies in advance. My queue on this blog is almost out and my moremoyo queue has another week and a half or so I think. But my brain finally kicked into Eurovision mode earlier this week when I ranked the songs for Croatia's national selection and heard Baby Lasagna's song Rim Tim Tagi Dim for the first time (I AM BEGGING PLEASE LET THAT WIN TOMORROW) as well as if you've heard I've been redoing my downloads folder so it's been like 2 weeks since I've played... and since I can't be normal and start playing before downloading every piece of CC I might ever possibly need 🙃 idk how long it's gonna take me to finish my new downloads folder. And if I don't even want to download CC because I feel like doing pointless spreadsheet shit like trying to predict the likelihood of each of the 37 countries this year being in my top 10 (I know Finland will be, they're the only country that has been every year since 2019 and No Rules is entirely up my alley, and any of the entries left will have a hard time passing Lithuania as my current 🥇) it'll take me even longer until I play sims and have more gameplay screenies to share.

Nobody cares, people have lives and I can do whatever I want and yadayada. But I'm weird and I start stressing about my queue as soon as it drops under like... 200 posts 😆 (I know wtf) so imagine how it having just 25 left makes me feel.

That being said, I'm almost done with that fullbody kalux dress anon asked for so that'll be shared later today woo! I could've finished it yesterday but I'm sick and by end of day I was dying so I gave up after the meshes. I've just gotta do the other colors now.

[anewnewcrest]

What mods do you use for this save, if you don’t mind me asking? I’m assuming MCCC to override the household member limit, but anything else?

And how much autonomy do you allow these nincompoops? For example: did David Johnson autonomously start flirting with Henrietta, or did you script that? I’d be very impressed if you have entire storylines written out in advance, but managing to turn sim AI into a coherent plot also takes mad skills.

Just for my own amusement: do you have a favorite family/sim atm?

Thank you for asking, please feel free to ignore my incoming ramble, I am constitutionally incapable of keeping things short (but you read the blog, so you probably already know that).

I use MCCC to override the household limit and increase the limit of sims allowed on a lot up the wazoo so I can get everyone assembled at church or the Johnsons' house. I also double the bills and half skill gains and career performance gains (and in some cases just stop career progression entirely if it doesn't suit the story), because the game makes it too easy to accumulate wealth, and them all being rich and not struggling with finances would really take the fun out of the Fundies (and really, with their education, they're not supposed to get promoted anyway).

For the religion content, I use Rambunctious Religions.

For screenshot purposes, I also have pose player and teleport any Sim (obviously), in addition to that Control Any Sim (invaluable if you have people from other households who just won't do what you want them to), Less Musical Chairs and No Stand Up to Greet from LittleMsSam, and a few mods that remove effects such as food sparkles and floor sparkles and sparkles around heads and other cosmetic things similar to that, as well as a few to turn off fade on trees and columns.

As for things peculiar to Fundie gameplay, with as often as everyone is pregnant, LittleMsSam's Pregnancy Overhaul is also a must, because if those ladies can't exercise during their pregnancies, they'll never exercise. I also got the Unlimited Jobs mod from Turbodriver because if you've got eleventy kids, one job really doesn't cut it, and you need a side job for your side job. Also a mod for them to keep their instruments in their inventory because these kids are always practicing the violin and keeping their instruments in any semblance of order is a chore. And Adults can Cry which is obviously critical for them to express their misery with their choices.

There's also a lot of modest clothing CC (even though I try to keep it rather minimal - I rarely succeed). And I recently installed Healthcare Redux to spice up the whole thing a bit, because I was getting a bit bored with gameplay lately.

As for how much autonomy they have... very little, I'm afraid! I'm a bit (more than a bit) of a control freak, and I have a large SPREADSHEET where everything is accounted for. I usually have a Sims' general life direction planned out before they're even born (so I can start giving them the personality they need for their plot starting as young as toddlers, and also so I can start dropping story hints), though sometimes they do surprise me (Chelsea leaving was not planned that way, she was set to get married and have a lot of Fundie kids, but then she rebelled so hard and I liked her so much that I just couldn't do that to her, and Sharon Graham was supposed to be a Fundie lawyer lady in a politically influential Fundie power couple... but then I couldn't do that to her parents).

Stories shift around as they develop and I get to know them (honestly, I thought Baker and Lily would be a boring standard-issue Fundie couple together and then I wrote them and I realized all the issues they have from the way they grew up and I couldn't just not add that to their relationship dynamic!) and see how much I like them or not, and whether I'm having fun with them, whether they get along, or if it would be weird for them to end up together, and I also have a long, long list of ideas to draw from if I totally draw a blank with a kid (which does happen). As for Henrietta, she was made for having an affair with David, quite literally, the poor woman.

As for my current favorites... I really like Mark and Kathryn Graham a lot, because they're some of the very few decent folks I currently have in the game, and Mark's just living his best life right now. And on the other end of the spectrum, I'm absolutely, ridiculously excited about Priscilla Sawyer (née Johnson) starting her arc, because while she's not a good person, she will be so much fun, and rebelling hardcore against the Fundie wife mold. Max Sr. and Jr. have no idea what's going to hit them.