#nsb: gen 1 (2nd try)

[cowplant-pizza]

bedroom spaces 💤🪴

[rosevelvetcupcake]

Obsessed with the Sims 4 Not-So Berry challenge? Love the concept, but tired of playing it over & over again; Wish it was more storyline-driven? Say no more, for I have a solution; My own version of the NSB challenge that I started writing back in May of 2022:

The basic rules for the NSB challenge are simple: Each Generation is based on a specific color, & must have that hair color, or at least as close as you can get to it (MY FELLOW CONSOLE SIMMERS, SNOWY ESCAPE HAS GREAT HAIRS FOR THIS!). Each generation has a unique set of rules, including, but not limited to: Their Aspiration(s), traits, & career(s). The original challenge was written by @lilsimsie 5-6yrs ago.

*there may be multiple aspirations listed, only the first is required, the 2nd is to switch it to after you finish the first, but you don't need to complete it

Gen 1: Rose (Dusty Rose/Pastel Pink)

You grew up in the simple farming life in Henford-on-Bagley. As an orphan, you never knew your own parents, but after the orphanage kicked you out at the age of 18, you start a cozy farm where you raise crops & animals as if they were your children until you had your own *human* children. You've always known that you'd love your own child more than anything, & try your best to give them the best life you can while managing your farm.

Requirements:

Aspiration(s): Country Caregiver, Super Parent

Traits: Animal Enthusiast, Family-Oriented, Cheerful

Must Master Gardening & Parenting Skills

Must live entire life with the Simple Living & Wild Foxes lot challenges

Must marry a townie from Henford-on-Bagley (or a NPC, like a Pub Owner or Grocery Deliverer (aged up ofc) in an older save file, for example

Must have at least one cow, llama, & chicken

Must befriend one bunny & bird flock

Must die before gen 3 heir is a teenager

Must START generation in Henford-on-Bagley

Can only PREGNANT once (can still have twins/triplets, science babies, get others pregnant, or adopt)

Cannot have a real career

Cannot attend university

Gen 2: Sapphire (Blue)

You grew up in the heart of Henford-on-Bagley, but never got to see the rest of the world, so when you move to Windenberg, you enjoy spending your days socializing with new people. After growing up in such a small town, the busy urban life excites you! That being said, though, you still have a major soft-spot for your childhood home & the cozy country-side. To you, Windenberg is the best of both worlds.

Requirements:

Aspiration(s): Leader of the Pack

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Dance Machine, & Insider

Must Master Dance, Cross-Stitching, & DJ Mixing skills

Must be born in Henford-on-Bagley, but eventually move to Windenberg before they are an Adult

Cannot attend University

Gen 3: Orange

You're sort of the "Orange Sheep" of the famiy, so to speak. While the generations before you enjoyed the simple, cozy, quiet country life, you've always wanted more with your life. You & your parents always argue about how you dream of leaving Windenberg to go off to college. You know they love you, but you also know your thirst for knowledge & new experiences just can't be ignored. So you run off to college, & move to San Myshuno. Your relationship with [gen 2] is permanently damaged, & while you may mend your relationship eventually, it will never be the same. Romance was never a priority, you never really thought about it. You've always been way too focused on your family, education & career, so you never marry (plus, you've never really been that interested in relationships anyway, which is perfectly fine!).

Requirements:

Aspiration(s): Academic

Traits: Ambitious, Lactose Interolerant, Genius

Must Master Logic & Research & Debate Skills

Must earn a Distinguished Degree from either university

Must join any career supported by your sim's Distinguished Degree

Must retire from career as an Elder, then join the Teacher career in the Educator branch

Must move to San Myshuno Spice Market neighborhood as soon as sim starts Uni

Can never marry

Must adopt all children

Cannot interact with parents throughout entire Young Adulthood

Gen 4: Teal &/or Turquoise

You grew up in the more suburban areas of San Myshuno, the Spice Market, filled with friendly faces & a love for flavor! Ever since you were a child, you would look up at all the fancy high-rise buildings, & the locally-famous Uptown San Myshuno, dreaming about one day being one of those successful, wealthy residents. Like your parent, you have a lust for new experiences & culture, & none is as unique & diverse as San Myshuno! Especially when it comes to food! Growing up in the Spice Market, you fell in love with food, & have quite the knack for the culinary arts. You are always on the look-out for new recipes. You've only ever had 1 parental figure, & they never married, so you never really saw a lot of PDA. It's really unusual to you, & makes you a little uncomfortable. I mean, people just,,, put their lips together?? For pleasure??? Kinda weird if you really think about it, not gonna lie. Regardless, you find yourself a partner & stay together for the rest of your lives, happily growing old together. You love your city, & what better way to protect it & show your appreciation than become a Politician?

Requirements:

Aspiration(s): City Native, Grill Cheese

Traits: Ambitious, Unflirty, Foodie

Career(s): Politican Career in either Branch

Master Cooking & Gourmet Cooking skills

Must marry & stay together until death do you part

Must join the Fast Food career in high school

Must learn ALL City Living recipes

Gen 5: Black

You were raised by one of San Myshuno's elites, a born-&-raised Myshunan! While your parent's intentions were always good, everyone has their enemies. Not even just from your parent's haters, there was crime everywhere! It's inevitable in such a big city. Everyone tried to hide it from all the children, but no one could hide it from you. You train hard to become a Detective when you grow up. In high school, you make an enchanting frenemy, your academic rival of sorts. You fall in love & get married straight out of high school. You have twins, & wanting to protect your family, get up & move to the suburbs. Not only is work hard to manage, but with raising two kids who are total opposites at the same time, plus the frequent marital squabbles, which is expected when your life is an enemies-to-lovers fanfiction. Needless to say, it’s stressful, & when your workaholic-ass finally gets home, all you can do is try to hold onto your sanity for dear life. But it’s all worth it when you get home & can relax by baking, a coping mechanism learned from [gen 4], & other creative activities. Your kitchen permanently smells like freshly-baked cookies.

Requirements:

Aspiration(s): Successful Lineage

Traits: Good, Gloomy, Loner

Career: Detective

Must master Baking skill & 1 other “creative” skill of your choice (ex: Painting, Fabrication, any instrument, any skill involving food or drinks, etc.)

Must marry HS rival

Spouse must have the “Evil” trait (Cannot be in the Criminal Career, because [gen 5] would arrest them)

Must have at least 1 set of twins (Cheats allowed! Btw, if u shift-click on keyboard or O+X on PS4 controller (idk Xbox), u can click "Starve baby (DEBUG)" if u have triplets)

Must move from San Myshuno to any world perceived as “Suburban” (ex: Copperdale, San Sequoia, Newcrest, etc.)

Gen 6: Gold/Yellow

Your family is from the fabulous, busy city of San Myshuno! But unfortunately your lame parents decided to steal you away from it & instead move you to Nowheresville. They’re fine & all, but, like, not really, y’know? This suburban slice-of-life way of living just isn’t enough for you! Your parents could never balance their attention between work, & your & your sibling(s), & each other, so you always felt like you got the short-end of the stick. As a result, you crave the World’s attention (Daddy Issues much?*)! What better way to get that attention than to become a World-Wide Celebrity! You’ve always had a taste for the dramatic. Your creativity was never encouraged in your youth, so you throw yourself into your life’s work just like [gen 5] (*You can say that again). Of course, you never go anywhere without your other half, your mischievous twin. They might stress you out from time to time, but you might as well be bound at the hip. As long as they don’t cause too much trouble, right?

Requirements:

Aspiration(s): Master Actor/Actress, World-Class Celebrity

Traits: Creative, Self-Absorbed, Snob

Career(s): Actor/Actress

Must master Acting & Media Production skills

Must live with your twin for your entire life

Must only have 1 child

Must marry baby-parent, then divorce child’s parent when [gen 7] is a teenager

Heir must be the oldest sibling, being Gold/Yellow theme, twin being Silver/Grey theme, & other siblings being Copper/Peach, Bronze/Brown, etc., continuing with a metallic award-based color scheme

Twin Requirements:

Aspiration(s): Public Enemy, Chief of Mischief

Traits: Geek, Goofball, Kleptomaniac

Career: Criminal

Cannot marry or have children until Heir dies or retires

Gen 7: Red

Just like [gen 6], you have immense creative talent, & your self-expression has no bounds. Unlike their parents, yours support all your endeavors unconditionally. Your parents’ divorce left an impact on you, & sent you into an emo/goth phase, which was more encouraged by your Pling (a gender-neutral name for Parent’s sibLING). You write goth-y fanfiction, channeling these hard times into your creative spirit. Teenage angst aside, you have a happy childhood, spoiled rotten by your famous parent. You learn to accept the change as you become a Young Adult & completely go back to your usual self. Born & raised in Del Sol Valley, you most definitely believe you have a greater sense of style & poise. You just enjoy the finer things in life. As an artist, you feel fully qualified to tell others when their work isn’t one of the finer things.

Requirements:

Aspiration(s): Painter Extraordinaire

Traits: Materialistic, Creative, Self-Assured

Career(s): Critic in the Art Critic Branch

Must master Painting skill

Must be at least level 7 Writing skill

Must live in Del Sol Valley for your entire life

Gen 8: Violet

You live a simple life, despite being raised in Del Sol Valley. You spent your childhood playing the piano with your family & singing, letting your voice echo throughout your luxurious childhood home, which you admit, was impressive, but you stayed humble & didn’t get caught up in the spoiled, luxurious life of fame like [gen 6 & 7]. You appreciate your Glamourous childhood & the privileges you have that others aren’t lucky enough to. The generational creativity certainly didn’t skip you, for your love for music & your natural talent is blatantly apparent. Any party guests can hear the instruments being gracefully played from The Other Side of the Door of your bedroom. You take any & every chance to take up a new instrument, until there aren’t any more to master! While [gen 7] focused more on painting & such, you’d always find your nose stuck in one of their novels they wrote as a hobby in their emo days. Novels of romance & fantasy, occult & spectacular sights. Thoughts like these consume your Teenage Mind. One day your dreams came true, as you met a Vampire, the Edward to your Bella. You fell in love & promised to run away together as soon as you graduated. Your Highschool Sweetheart teaches you about fantastical abilities & Wonderland -like secret worlds you only saw in your Wildest Dreams. You work together to build your dream home from scratch while pursuing exciting magical adventures. You fill your home with your Family Portrait & photos of your youth.

Requirements:

Aspiration(s): Musical Genius, Spellcaster & Sorcery

Traits: Music Lover, Book Lover, Romantic

Career(s): Entertainer in the Musician Branch

Master Piano, Pipe Organ, Guitar, Violin, Singing, & Vampire Lore skills

Must have 5 kids, at least ⅗ being vampires (matches Vampire Family aspiration), must have human Heir

Must move to an Occult world as a Young Adult with $0

Must learn ALL spells

Gen 9: Cream🍦

Your family was…interesting…to say the least. There was always something happening. You grew up w/ magical parents, a vampire & a spellcaster, w/ 4 siblings, & sometimes you feel like the only normie. After all, even some of your siblings are vampires, too. You don't really fit in, but honestly, you're glad. I mean, wasn't it Spiderman who said "with great power comes great responsibility"? I mean, you have 1 human-born musician parent who's working to become a talented spellcaster, shooting off spells all over the place & another vampire parent trying to train vampire children. So there's always spells being thrown around, sometimes starting fires, yelling & criticism, kids trying to fly through the house, & stubbing toes on all sorts of instruments just lying around. To be honest, as much as you love your family, & how close & special they all are, it *is* pretty overwhelming. Luckily, you used meditation as a way of coping through the chaos. Speaking of overwhelming things, you grew up in a pretty isolated area. Your life motto is "don't talk to strangers." So when you get older, you take a trip to the peaceful Mt. Komorebi, & fall in love. The serenity, the snow, & most importantly, the solitude. So, after your trip, you pack your bags! You continue to develop your yoga skills, but also develop an interest in snow sports! You're just in love with mountain climbing! Just another reason why you love Mt. Komorebi so much. You enjoy your alone time for as long as you want, then take in a single child as an adult, adopting them. You guys sorta just,,,found each other?? Whatever, you guys are more like bros than parent-&-child. Like &i & Bex from the late 2010s Disney channel show "&i Mack" (iconic). You chill out together, go down the bunny slopes, & while it's not really your area of expertise, you teach them to ski & snowboard as best you can, & they seem to love it, so you must be doing something right. You learn from the culture around you, & practice healthy habits, like clean vegetarianism & meditation, inspired by your relaxing environment. Oh, & you think Simmis are really, REALLY cute.

Requirements:

Aspiration(s): Inner Peace, Mt. Komorebi Sightseer

Traits: Socially Awkward, Loner, Vegetarian

Master Wellness & Rock Climbing skills

Must move to Mt. Komorebi before aging into an Adult, alone

Must adopt 1 child-aged sim as an Adult

Must complete Simmi collection

Any or No career, as long as their career doesn't involve too much socializing

Gen 10: Olive

You grew up sort of bouncing around between boring blue suburbans, collecting post cards from all of your foster homes, until you somehow l&ed in the clutches of your best friend, your adoptive parent who lives in Mt. Komorebi. It's awesome! They teach you about meditation & stuff, but most importantly, they teach you to ski & snowboard, your passion! Sure, they might just know the basics of it all, but after they introduce you to the snow sports, you become obsessed & throw your heart & soul into it. You learn the local mannerisms & expectations, & they immediately grow on you. You're super friendly & outgoing (mostly from the isolation [Gen 9] enjoys so much, so you're constantly on the lookout for some outside socialization), but you would cut someone's foot off if they entered your home w/ shoes on. Are they trying to dirty your brand new rugs?? If you want some protection for your bare feet, but on a slipper, you just got that carpet at the San Myshuno flea market, after all. The audacity. Besides that, though, you're really chill. I mean, how can you be so pressed when you're the kid of a total Zen guru? Even if you think they're a little quirky at times, they still taught you everything you know, & you love them for it. You want to become the reigning Monarch of snow sports.

Requirements:

Aspiration(s): Extreme Sports Enthusiast

Traits: Proper, Bro, Adventurous

Career(s): Athlete in the Professional Athlete branch

Master Skiing, Snowboarding & Fitness skills

May or May Not have kids, up to the player since it's gen 10

Must complete Postcard collection

[nikatyler]

As I promised, here’s part two of that super long ask! This was actually supposed to be part three but I’m not ready to unpack a certain thing from Ross’s post yet. There’s...a lot to address.

So yeah, Tyler goes first. He and his siblings are some of my Characters with a capital C. I’ve been creating OCs ever since I can remember, I just didn’t know they were called OCs when I was little. Not many of them are still “alive” at this point, but a very few, from various universes/fandoms, are, and honestly I can’t imagine my life without them. I’ll always want to tell their story in some way I guess.

And just like the last time, this post will be packed with screenshots...only the old ones this time, but hey, that’s fine. And if you’ve been here for a while you might enjoy this nostalgia trip...right? :D

1. How have your characters changed since you created them? 

Tyler has changed a lot. The basics are the same, he's the one who makes jokes and loves music, but many details are different, which has a lot to do with me changing as well. When he was born in my game, I was 16, close to 17, and I still had a lot of growing to do (not saying that I don't have to learn or grow anymore, but there's been a huge switch in my opinions and everything in the past 4 years). 

The way I write him now, he's definitely less of a jerk and more of a dumb idiot that doesn't sometimes realize that he's about to hurt someone. Not that that's okay - it's just that he doesn't do it intentionally. Most of the time, I guess. But he unlearns it as the time goes.

Another thing is his bisexuality and the way he feels about it, which honestly reflects a lot how I felt about myself as well. I've always seen Tyler as bi. However, originally I decided that it's just something that he knows about, but it's his little secret that no one has to be aware of - especially since he found a girlfriend so he can pass as a straight guy. Later in the story I made him say something like "don't tell anyone, but I actually kissed one guy in high school and I liked it", to make a hint or something to the readers that this boy isn't straight. Looking back, it was rather pathetic and seemed like I'm just trying to get extra points for rEpResEnTaTiOn, but like I said, I was learning, and I'm still not sure if my lgbt representation is good sometimes, I mean look at my gen 2 of NSB, it played right into the stereotype of "bisexuals are greedy and more likely to cheat on you" with Ross. I didn't even realize that I was doing that and I should have. Especially since I’m bi myself and see no logical explanation for these stereotypes. Honestly fuck them.

Anyway, back to Tyler. Then started my great quest of turning gen 4 into a real story, and as I was getting to know the characters better, I realized he wouldn't hide it, he'd be proud, he'd be so in-your-face proud to be queer. Even with a girlfriend. He couldn't care less about "passing as a straight guy". And that's very different from what he was like in the beginning. I love this attitude that he has now.

rip Golden Days 1.0

Which kinda brings me to one last thing I want to mention (although there's so much more that I could share about him, but this is already turning into an essay), his style…which, yeah, was really influenced by my own. I was in my 2nd year of high school when he came into my game and at that time I pretty much only wore black and listened only to dark, symphonic/power metal bands (which I still love but loooord, it was my music snob phase and I hate that 😂). When you look at the pictures of him from that time, you can tell. Later in that school year, I started to really like classic rock and 80s music, eventually even the whole bright sometimes ridiculous aesthetic and I realized that that fits him more than dressing in all black, he'd absolutely love it and he'd absolutely get inspiration from the old music videos and photoshoots of his favourite artists. Somewhere down the line, that started including even some makeup, crop tops, chokers and generally some things that are considered to be rather feminine today (side note, let men wear crop tops, thank you). One time years ago someone commented why his face looked so girly, and now I think that he knows that he is kind of like that, but instead of being sad about it and wanting to be more traditionally masculine, he just embraced it and it's awesome.

Yeah. Out of all the pictures I could’ve chosen to show his old, all-black style, I chose this one. I still cackle when I think about this moment, okay?

2. What do you consider the biggest themes in your character, if any?

Hmmm. I think it would be this whole "I want to, and I will become a famous rockstar, just watch" thing. He's dead set on following his dream, even if everyone around him tells him not to. Take his parents for example - they know he's talented, but they'd rather see him pursue a more stable career. I wouldn't say they 100% support him. But he knows what he wants and he's ready to take it. He has his doubts sometimes, sure. Who doesn't?

3. Did you create the character to be like yourself, did they end up being like yourself, or are they very different from you?

Nowadays I can see myself in him a lot, but that wasn't always the case. Naturally, I put parts of my personality or interests into my characters, but that then lives its own life, sometimes it changes so much that you wouldn't tell that it started off with me. With Tyler, it wasn't really planned. Nothing was really planned with Tyler, he wasn't even supposed to be a major character (lol). Now I'd say he's in many ways a funnier, more confident and also a musically talented boy version of me. When I had long hair, we even looked alike, kind of 😂 (which again wasn't planned, I had very short hair when he was born in the game, I didn’t even know I’d let it be long someday - and surprise we’re going short in a few weeks again, and blonde, and I’m a little scared tbh - okay that’s off topic). Also we both have a stupid big lowkey ugly nose, but actually, having him kind of made me feel better about it. (even though I just described it as a "stupid big lowkey ugly nose"...trust me I feel better about it nowadays 😅)

We do not talk about this birthday special thing that I did back in 2017 but ngl some of the screenshots are kinda pretty, remember when I actually put effort into my stories?

4. Would you hang out with your OC if you could?

YEEEEEES.

9. How did you come up with your OC?

I think Tyler's character (beyond sim traits) started forming when he was a teenager. Fun fact, his whole music thing was influenced so much by such a little dumb thing. At that point, I had a tiny mods folder and no short male hair suited him, but the one long hair did. And so I thought, alright, you're into badass music (the same badass music that I loved at that point, even though later I realized it was too serious for him - not saying he wouldn't enjoy it or appreciate it, but let’s just say him listening to Nightwish 24/7 is highly unlikely and quite out of character).

In terms of early character development, that 2016 Christmas story was important. That actually was the foundation for a lot of gen 4 things, the relationships between the siblings, the famous bickering and so on. (okay, calling it "famous bickering" is a stretch but you know what I mean)

I remember he made a certain face in this scene, and that’s when I knew I loved  him and wanted to keep him forever lol. Just a fun fact. That 2016 Christmas thing also wasn’t very well written, but the memories, ah. I loved playing that.

Alright, that’s it for part two! Stay tuned for part three!

[cowplant-pizza]

little kitchen details 🪴🧺🍽️

[cowplant-pizza]

little dust bunny baby 🐰

[cowplant-pizza]

first meal in the new house!

[cowplant-pizza]

ok ok last house post

[cowplant-pizza]

lillith's little outhouse!

[cowplant-pizza]

just a girl and her really weird cat 🐱

[cowplant-pizza]

ok but i am OBSESSED with their new house!!!!!!

[cowplant-pizza]

napping together 💞🌈

[cowplant-pizza]

tiny bean -> large bean 😺

ft. dove's hairy legs

[cowplant-pizza]

tiny little bean

[cowplant-pizza]

lula's favourite napping spot

[cowplant-pizza]

HER LITTLE SMILE 🫢🤗

[cowplant-pizza]

true love 💞