It’s another school day; at 6 a.m., André is already dressed and ready to go. Just like the previous days, André arrives on time at Harmony
Hi everyone, today I was finally able to post something else about my InZOI gameplay. I hope to post more about The Sims soon, but I’m just still fascinated by InZOI, especially after the school update.
My blog, however, is still about both The Sims 3 and InZOI -for now-.
Like I’ve said before, if InZOI becomes an official game someday, my characters and I might finally make the leap, but in the meantime, I’ll try to post about both, though, to be honest, InZOI is my new favorite sim game now, even though most of my gameplay consists of just test runs.
Paralives is definitely out of the picture, for (purely technical) reasons I might share with you later. For now, and for quite some time, I’ll keep sharing the stories of my teen sims to zois André Langerak and Zeke Wilson at school, I really hope you enjoy them.
Also, I’d love to start posting regularly on Tumblr again, but from what I’ve seen, they’re still censoring and labeling story posts, and even some CC posts, for no reason at all, which makes me think twice. But I'm considering coming back once I have the opportunity. For now, due to personal real-life circumstances, free time has become a luxury for me, so for the moment, all I can offer you are links to my WordPress blog. Please excuse the inconvenience.
And we’re back at Cahaya’s Harmony High School, once again with our special guest today, André Langerak. I like to call him a guest because
Here's a little bit more about André Langerak, now as an adolescent. From here on out, we’ll try to continue with this test save until he graduates, although, as I mentioned before, we may have to start over once InZOI is official and I am able to transfer the entire Langerak family (and all my other sims, really). In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this little glimpse of André, the Langeraks, and the school system in Cahaya. 😊
Cahaya also has a new school system, and to test it out, I chose André Langerak, whom some of you may remember from The Sims 3. He is the so
First of all, a huge apology for continuing to be so absent from this blog, but some real-life issues have been taking up most of my time, and my free time is spent playing InZOI, which I’m becoming more and more fascinated by. This game really brings my Sims 3 characters to life, which is exactly what I’ve always wanted for them. I love how realistic they look, and I love the immersion provided by all the updates that have been made, including this school system for teens. Just a heads-up: these game/save are just test versions, so we might have to go back and rework things later when we bring the whole Langerak family together. But for now, enjoy this little story about one of the youngest members of the family: the not-so-little-anymore André. And stay tuned because we’ll be back soon with more InZOI stories, like those of Rowan and Bomi, and, of course, Zeke Wilson. As for The Sims 3, there are still things to share, though I must warn you they may become fewer and fewer. But somehow, I’ll try to bring everything about this game to a proper conclusion, and I’ll also try to continue those stories in InZOI as soon as the game is officially released. Thank you for your understanding and a wonderful weekend to you all!
Remember little Zeke, the youngest of the Wilson kids in my Sims 4 story? Well, Zeke literally came to life in InZOI and celebrated his birt
Hi again. And now, before we continue with Rowan and Bomi, let me share a little about my first experiences with the new InZOI’s high school system, for which I chose the only teens I actually have, that is, the Wilson kids from my Sims 4 game. We'll start with the youngest, Zeke, whom we’ll see as an adolescent in this story. We’ll peek as well into the lives of his older siblings Anika, Kennedy, and Lukas, but that’ll be for another time. For now, we’re sticking with Zeke, whom I had to grow into an adolescent for this test run. Today’s post is just the beginning, if you want to see more, just stay tuned! 😉
Let’s fast-forward to the present day. Crystal has just gone from being a newborn to a toddler. The situation between Bomi and Rowan hasn’t
Finally, after days of not posting anything due to various reasons, both from real life and from my fascination with the new InZOI update, (I can't stop playing, sorry, not sorry) here’s the next installment of this mini story about Rowan Crane and his wife Bomi Yoon. You can read it comfortably and without cuts by following the link to my WordPress blog above. I will hopefully be able to bring you the conclusion soon; in the meantime, have a great weekend, everyone! 🤗💖
Rowan and Bomi were, and still are, too young to get married: she had just turned 18, and he was almost 19. Both were just starting college,
As promised, here is the first part of Rowan and Bomi's (mini) story, which you can read by following this link to my WordPress blog. Have a great Sunday, everyone! 💖
InZOI – My First Look at Toddler Gameplay and CAZ Update
Sorry to everyone for my long absence. I'd really like to update this blog more often, but I have to admit I’ve been really busy playing Inzoi ever since the June update. This update includes two important gameplay features: improvements to babies and toddlers, and a fully functional high school system.
I haven’t explored the latter entirely yet, but we’ll be seeing some of that soon. For now, to share a little about the babies’ update, I’ll use my zois, Rowan and Bomi. Rowan, by the way, is the oldest son of Robin Crane, my Time Traveler main character. Of course, here Rowan is no longer a baby, but a young adult. He’s still very young but he already has a small family. How did that happen? I’ll explain that later, for now, let’s get started.
Rowan and Bomi started out as just a young couple who moved in together to a small house in Dowon, but a series of circumstances led them to get married and become parents sooner than expected.
Most of the options for babies are designed exclusively for toddlers, so I sped up time a bit and turned little Crystal Crane into a toddler. Here she is with her mom, followed by a few cute photos of her alone and with her dad.
Well, all these pictures look so sweet, and you might think everything has been great for Rowan and Bomi all along, but sadly that wasn’t the case. They went through some really rough patches together, but we’ll talk about that in our next post. For now, I just wanted to share a little about the babies’ latest update. We don’t want to ruin the cuteness of seeing Crystal in her new outfit with adults’ problems, right? So let’s save the drama for later.
Now my opinion on the June update? It's definitely worth it So if you haven't tried, don't waste time go and try it, you won't regret it. Here I showed just a bit of the new clothing and accessories options for babies, but there is a lot more, don't miss it! 💗
Previous: E238. “Captive” (Part 1) “Please, tell me I’m not one of them,” Robin pleaded inwardly. “Or maybe I am? Is that the reason for the
And for those of you who could still be remotely interested, here's another episode of Time Traveler. I know I haven't been producing this series as quickly as I'd like, but I'm still working on it with the same enthusiasm, despite everything.
Just like the previous one, you’ll find this only on my WordPress blog, for the reasons I’ve explained several times before. Yes, Tumblr continues to flag posts indiscriminately, so I don’t want to waste my time posting my stories here only to end up with a flag that will prevent my readers from reading them safely.
Once again, none of my stories carry mature content, at least not in photographs, so you can open and read them anywhere. Also, I want to apologize for the constant “To be continued” at the end of my entries, but like I said, it’s been really difficult and time-consuming to release this story, mainly because of the process of taking the photos, which, due to a wide variety of distractions, especially from real life, has becoming increasingly difficult for me to carry out efficiently.
Anyway, without further talk, here's the second part of Episode 238. “Captive”. I'm already working on the third (and final) part of it, which I hope will be ready very soon. To all of you (very few, I’m afraid) who still read “Time Traveler”: Thank you so much for your support and patience. ❤️
As we already know, Martin and Kaitlyn are in an open relationship. Kaitlyn has taken this agreement very seriously and has met a lot of new
I still can't bring myself to write long posts on Tumblr, you already know why. Honestly, I refuse to label my posts as something they're not; in fact, I refuse to label my posts in general, except for the tags related to my stories, which you all already are familiar with.
Anyway, here’s another installment of my Inzoi gameplay, just click on the link above, and you’ll be able to read the full entry without interruptions or unnecessary tags.
Thanks to those of you who still read me and a happy weekend, everyone. 🤗💖
Roderick responded to Tiara’s call. What else could he do? Alive, dead, or revived, Tiara is and will always be the love of his life.
And he is hers. That’s why she called him. Somehow, she has to pry him from Suzy Strummer’s arms and get him back to her recently recovered life.
Roderick still isn’t sure if it was a good idea to come, but here he is anyway.
Tiara: Welcome, hon. I’m so glad to see you again.
Roderick: I’m glad to see you too, dear.
Yeah, for a moment, Roderick can’t help but succumb to his ex-wife’s charms, but unfortunately for her, that doesn’t last.
Roderick: So? What can I do for you, Tia?
(Isn’t it obvious? Oh well, she’ll be glad to explain it to him.)
Tiara: Well, I think you’ll agree that we need to get our life and our marriage back.
Roderick: What? No, I… Tiara, you know that’s not…
Tiara: Come on, Rod, before I died, we were incredibly happy, why can’t it be that way again?
Roderick: You know well why.
Tiara: Because of Suzy Strummer? Oh, please, Rod. She will never make you as happy as I do; she can’t compete with me, and you know it.
Roderick: If you don’t mind, I’d rather we not talk about Suzy.
Tiara: Okay, we'll leave that alone for now.
But once they’re out on the terrace…
Tiara: Why can’t we talk about her? Or about how you still have feelings for me? Are you afraid to hear the truth?
Roderick: Tiara…
Tiara: No, seriously, Rod, why can’t we discuss that?
Roderick: You invited me over to have a good time in your pool, so if you don’t mind, that’s exactly what I’m going to do now.
Tiara: Damn it, Roderick, at least have a drink with me first. Or are you afraid I’ll put something in your glass?
Roderick: Of course not, you don’t need to resort to tricks like that.
That was music to Tiara's ears. It means she still has a hold on Roderick. Good to know!
So, without a second thought, she jumps into the pool after him.
Roderick: I always loved your pool. The water is so warm here despite the weather outside.
Tiara: The water temperature isn’t exactly what you loved about this pool.
Roderick: That's kind of true.
Tiara: We used to have so much fun skinny dipping here. We could try that again.
Roderick: Really, at our age?
Tiara: I don’t know about you, but I feel younger than ever.
Roderick: And that’s how you look, but not me.
Tiara: Oh, come on, Roddy. Don’t be so modest.
Roderick has started to feel a little… restless, so he suggests they go get a drink to change the subject.
Roderick: (To himself) I have to keep myself in check; Suzy trusted me enough to let me come here. I can’t fall for Tiara’s charm. I’d never forgive myself if I did. Maybe it’s best to just cut and run.
Roderick: Tiara, um, I had a great time swimming with you, but… I think I have to go now.
Tiara: What? Already? But we didn’t even get a chance to talk.
Roderick: I don’t think we have much left to talk about.
Tiara: What do you mean we have nothing left to talk about? I did die, but I came back. I’m here and I’m still your wife legally. If you and Suzy won’t accept that, I’ll sue you both.
Roderick: If you think that’s necessary, then go ahead.
Tiara: Are you saying you’re okay with me suing you?
Roderick: No, but I know once you set your mind on something, there’s no stopping you.
Tiara: (Sobbs) You know I could never sue you. Suzy, maybe, but you? Never!
Roderick: That’s not much comfort, I must say. Oh, by the way, she and Doreen are waiting for me, so I need to leave. I’ll call an Uber.
Tiara: Not yet, Roderick, please. If this really is goodbye, then you won't mind staying a little longer, right?
Roderick feels like he’s starting to falter. If there’s one thing he can’t stand, it’s seeing Tiara cry. And in that bikini, oh my…
Roderick isn’t just faltering; he’s completely under her spell now.
Roderick: You look beautiful, you know that?
Tiara: (Wiping her tears) R-Really?
Roderick: Yes. And the Bridgeport lights make you look even more gorgeous.
Tiara: (To herself) Yes! Take that, Suzy Strummer.
Roderick: Here, these are for you.
Tiara: Flowers? Oh, Roddy, you didn't have to.
Roderick: You deserve far more.
Tiara: Okay, I'll accept them only if you stay.
Roderick: Well, your wish is my command.
Lala: (As she falls asleep) Yeah, it's going to be a long, long night… Stupid Roderick, you're so predictable. Sorry for poor Suzy Strummer.
🍼 More realistic baby faces and new baby outfits
🧬 Ongoing genetics system improvements
💇 Exclusive hairstyles available through hair salons
🏪 New clothing store outfit collections
🎨 Sticker Creator with custom PNG uploads
❤️ New romantic interactions and animations
🎒 Additional previews of upcoming school gameplay
📖 Read the full article:
This week's preview focuses on making babies look more realistic, expanding customization options through hair salons and clothing stores, i
Martin and Kaitlyn ran into a problem today. It has nothing to do with them as a couple. It’s a family matter for Martin. No, it doesn’t hav
Finally, after many, many days without being able to post anything about my gameplay, here’s a post about James Cooper, a minor character in my game whom I worked on for a long time and who went through many changes before I could bring myself to share him with you. He’s Martin’s cousin, and he’ll make a few brief appearances in the story from time to time. I hope you like him.
I would've liked to post the photos here, but honestly, there are just too many of them, it would've been a huge amount of work. Plus, Tumblr won't let me post more than a certain number of photos, so this time we'll have to link back to my WordPress blog again. Anyway, I hope you enjoy James's photos and his mini story as much as I enjoyed writing it. 😊💖
I was going to write this up in a reply to a specific person, but I thought it would make a better standalone post.
I think Paralives is a case where a little knowledge is a dangerous thing - if you're coming from a Sims background, some of the subtle differences can leave you way more confused and stumped than someone coming to the game completely fresh-eyed.
But having sunk the past few days into the open access, I truly feel like it has good sandbox life sim gameplay, so here are some tips for anyone coming to Paralives from a Sims background who doesn't know how to quite approach this game!
(It's very long, because I cover a lot of stuff, but I tried to make it clear enough that you can skip around to the parts that interest you:)
Quick tip for the Paramaker: In my opinion this is a really great character creator, BUT if you're coming to it from The Sims 2 or even 3, you'll need to alter your mindset. It's a lot closer to The Sims 4's CAS in that to achieve certain features you to pick a preset that's closest to what you want and edit it - you won't be able to reverse-engineer every feature from every starting point.
Visual example: If you want a rounded nose closer to the one on the left, don't start with a pointed nose like the one on the right, and vice-versa.
Below: Some more examples of features which are only or most easily attainable through presets; cleft and bulbous chins under the "chins" presets, cheekbones and jowls in the "cheeks" presets, etc.
Basically, if you're having a hard time wrangling a Para's features into what you want, double-check the related presets for a better launching pad.
Unlike The Sims 4, though, you still have the benefit of manual sliders; here's the eye modifiers for example - if I were to click and hold the button for "eye position", I could drag the mouse around to move the eye around the Parafolk's head. HOWEVER, if you click on that modifier, you can see sliders for the parameters I'm actually controlling when I do that - namely, how far apart the eyes are (width), and how high on the head they are (height). So you have the benefit of being able to sculpt your Para's head in broad strokes, and then manually edit the sliders to make very fine alterations.
And if you make a mistake, don't worry. At any time during gameplay you can open the cheat console (CTRL+SHIFT+C) and enter "editcharacter" to open up the Paramaker again and edit them as much as you want, so you aren't locked into anything.
Another Paramaker or outfitting tip: When selecting clothing with layers, check for the layering icon (outlined here in red). This allows you to swap out the clothing underneath, which you can also customise. Secondly, the tucked/untucked icon (outlined here in green) allows you to choose whether some pieces are- well, tucked in to pants or not, lol.
I like big households in The Sims, so I picked a household with 3+ Parafolk in it for my first playtest, but in retrospect I think it would have been better to start by playing a single-person household. The core mechanics of the game can take a second to get used to and there's so much in the world to explore that I think it would've been nicer to worry less about multiple Parafolk while I was still learning to walk.
The skill system in Paralives is nested: There are broader "knowledge" skills, and then other related but more focused skills under them; for example, "music" is a knowledge skill, under which are the skills "guitar", "piano", etc. Practicing a specific skill - for example, playing the guitar - will not only raise your guitar skill, but your broader music skill, too. And if you then start learning how to play the piano, your existing music skill means you will pick up the piano faster. Sometimes your Parafolk will not be able to increase the base knowledge skills, usually because of something like being in a bad mood or having low motives. So a Para who's really tired when they're practicing the guitar might still raise their guitar skill, but it won't raise their broader music skill.
Parafolk have "wants", but you get to/have to pick them, based on their emotions. Emotions in Paralives work in a similar way to moodlets in The Sims 3, in that Paras can feel multiple emotions at once, and to different degrees. These impact various things; your success rate at certain social interactions (see below), how effectively you gain skills, whether your Paras will even agree to perform actions at all, etc. Randomly, these emotions will get little exclamation marks next to them, which means your Parafolk wants to choose how they "react" to that emotion. This is a want! Click on the emotion to choose from a little list, which is decided by their personality, recent actions, hobbies, etc. The option you select from this list becomes one of their wants and the rest are discarded. Wants reset when Paralives sleep and at the end of the day, but you can pin one want to hold onto it until you fulfill it (or un-pin it).
Fulfilling Parafolks' wants earns them personality experience points. When they level up, you get to choose upgrades along trees based on their personality (vibe), social perk, and talent (hobby). These perks are less like personality traits and more like the Aspiration benefits from Sims 2 Freetime, or the Professions your farmer can choose from when skilling up in Stardew Valley. IMO they don't dictate your Parafolks' personalities or railroad them into certain behaviours. This system is definitely still being worked on and some of these perks aren't very useful lol (while others are VERY useful), but it's a neat system so far. IIRC I also had the option to add to one of my Para's Physique/Mind/Creativity/Charisma points during one level-up? I presume they might add other ways to increase or change these stats in the future, because there are some things like jobs that require you to have them to a certain level.
Socialisation in Paralives is like a series of mini event cards, and increasing friendship with other Paras is not the only or even the primary outcome. It is not like the Sims, where socialisation is a pretty shallow and easy grind until Sims achieve the relationship you want. In Paralives, the most immediate outcome of talking to other Paras is that you have the chance to improve (or dampen) your Para's mood and the mood of the Parafolk they're talking to. What mood you want your Para to be in can depend on their personality, perks, wants, goals, and the direction you want to take the conversation/relationship.
I kept falling back into the thought process that a "good" outcome from conversation cards was the same thing as 🧑🤝🧑➕➕, but that's not what a positive outcome (usually) achieves. And a "negative" interaction does not necessarily lower your relationship. Think about it more as if you are trying to keep a game of cards going: avoiding bad cards, playing neutral/bonus cards, until the card you REALLY want comes up. This might sound tedious until you realise that the right card can immediately make your Parafolk friends, or romantic interests, etc. and then the way it scales with socialisation in The Sims makes more sense. Play your (together) cards right, and you could befriend another Parafolk within a short conversation. I really enjoy the feedback loop of socialisation in Parafolks once I got the hang of it!
Your Parafolk's personalities and interests matter much more in how well they get along with other Paras. You can't just force a friendship between two clashing Paras the way you can force a friendship between any two Sims by spamming social interactions. Find a Para with a personality closer to yours and you'll have a much easier time befriending them.
There are other bonuses to conversations, too. There are cards that give you the opportunity to learn more about the Parafolk you're talking to, such as their relationship status, family, job, personality, etc. You also sometimes get options to boost your and other Para's moods, and my favourite part: talking about skills increases that skill for all interested Parafolk! (Uninterested Parafolk get bored instead, which is another good way to learn more about them.)
In The Sims, group activities - playing games, watching TV together, WooHoo, etc - often require one Sim to initiate the action, then call the other to join, or to interact with the other Sim first and ask them to start the activity together. In Paralives, similar activities are usually initiated by selecting multiple Paras and directing one of them to start. For example, click and drag to select two Paras, then click on a couch to get them to sit together and chat, or a bed to get them to "get intimate". Parafolk are also experts at body doubling and a lot of actions can be done "together"; cooking, eating, showering, walking, etc. The entire time counts as raising the conversation bar to get new together cards, so socialisation doesn't have to be a static thing like in The Sims; see how far your Paras can get going about their lives without breaking a conversation!
This gets interesting with certain needs. For example, I had two Parafolk in a group and directed both of them to use a toilet. I expected one of them just to kind of hang out while the first one did their business (gross but socially efficient), but the other Para actually hunted down a second toilet on the lot to use! Can be useful when managing multiple Parafolk's needs in a hurry?
Speaking of selecting multiple Parafolk - you can also hold down shift, then click and drag over individual Paras to add them to the group, kind of like computer files, lol. This helps you avoid including other random Paras. CTRL+U also automatically selects all the Paras in the household you're currently playing (useful with smaller families).
Parafolk not only automatically wash their hands after using the toilet, but also after cleaning and repairing objects, so keep this in mind when queuing actions 👍
Books do still exist in Paralives, but computers kind of better fill their role. Basic skilling and other grunt work is better handled by a computer than a bookcase, so if you have to choose one, choose the PC.
Careers in Paralives seem to make a LOT more use of lateral motion than The Sims, and most jobs have much higher application requirements than anything in The Sims. What I mean by that is that it makes a lot more sense to just find any job your Para qualifies for, then use that time and experience to gain skills necessary to qualify for the job they actually want (and they can suggest wants or long-term goals for certain careers, usually talent/hobby-based, which can be worth pinning and working towards). Sometimes experience in one field can allow you to qualify for a job in a different field; for example, you can work in the service industry to get enough experience in service to get a job as a waiter, which also gives you experience in the food industry, which you can use to qualify for jobs in the kitchen. You should also have your Parafolk manually apply for a job in a higher position in the same career after earning experience in their entry-level position rather than randomly waiting to get promoted from, like, a fast food line cook to a restaurateur.
If your Parafolk works in a store (e.g. the salon), then the front door is a rabbithole during their work hours. I didn't know how to best prepare my Parafolk for work so I sent them directly into the shops ahead of their shifts, but if you're doing that it's better to just let them loiter around outside; they will disappear at the front door when their shift starts and reappear when it's over, so there's no point in being actually inside the building, or even loading it at all.
Make use of the bus!! I thought the map was small enough not to need them unless I was going from one opposite end to the other, but they really are a life saver, especially for moving multiple Parafolk at once (click and drag to select all of them, then direct them to catch the bus - voila!) Learning the bus "zones" helped me break the map up into smaller chunks to get a feel of where I need to go. (Some bus stops are only the sign, not the whole shelter, for example at the base of the hospital.)
Calling Parafolk on the phone is currently borderline useless, but it's obviously something that will be fleshed out as the game grows. Instead, when you check on a Para's relationship - you see this thing here where it says "Find Parafolk"? The part that looks like a nothingly header between a banner and some actual stats?
Yeah, that's a BUTTON. Click it.
It will immediately show you on the map where that Para is so you can hunt them down like a conversation-seeking missile.
This is currently the best way to try and seek out specific Parafolk to befriend, because they're almost never home. It ALSO glitches sometimes unfortunately, but it usually works if I wait and try again later.
On the flipside you can break & enter into any Parafolk's house and they won't care. This is surely a bug and not a feature so take advantage of it while you can and just use everyone's furniture while they're out and about👍 Then bother them as much as you like when they arrive home at like, 12 AM.
Parafolk can check if they're pregnant via peeing on a stick on the toilet.
If you're lost on what to do next, check the newspaper (the one you the player read, not your Parafolk - look for the button in the top right corner of the screen) and one of the request noticeboards (there's one by the train station, usually with an exclamation mark above it). The newspaper will tell you about interesting events going on that will generally attract other Parafolk, allowing you to meet new Paras, take advantage of objects like computers or exercise equipment, etc. They also showcase areas of the map you may not have paid attention to before. The request noticeboard is a good way to befriend new Paras, earn Paradimes, and learn about mechanics such as hunting for collectibles, etc. (Note that these can sometimes be a bit glitchy, especially in befriending Parafolk I've noticed, but it's still a nice way to explore the game.)
Photo mode is super interesting and I can see how it will be incredibly powerful for machinima & storytelling, especially as they continue to iron out the kinks. But for casual gameplay screencaps I found it more useful to hit CTRL+H to hide the overlay. The navigation (click/dragging the mouse, etc) also seems to work closer to photo mode in this mode. It's kind of like cameraman mode in The Sims. The game doesn't tell you about it except for when you're in photo mode, and even then it doesn't explicitly tell you that CTRL+H still works even outside photo mode, so it's good to know early.
When it comes to decorating, a lot more objects are modular than you might think! Many can be lengthened, shortened, widened, and scaled up/down, while retaining functionality. Single beds can become queen, double, king size; bookshelves can be shrunk up or down; you can stretch one counter to size rather than placing multiple; the same table can be a tiny two-seater or a family dining table; desks and standing clothes hangers can be as wide as you want them; windows can not only go wherever you want on the wall, but be whatever dimension you need! Try it with a BUNCH of different buy AND build objects to achieve the vibes you want.
Also, this is specifically a tip for people coming from The Sims 2 since this became a lot more normalised in other Sims entries, but check objects for these three dots:
It means that object has variants, such as these matching corner, island, and cabinet counter pieces.
SAVE OFTEN! This game is in open access and bugs are inevitable. Do your part by making sure you save frequently so that you don't lose too much progress when something unintended happens.
That's it for now! I have played Paralives pretty much every day since I got it because I've wanted to, so if you have any questions, I can try my best to offer my advice from the perspective of a Simmer. 🫡
Thank you @nocturnalazure for the tag! 🤗❤️ Sorry it took me longer than I thought, this was fun but not easy at all! I don't know much about tropes and all that writer's stuff cause I always write from the top of my head, without a roadmap or much more than just little guides to help me keep track of dates, ages, or cities, but I don’t really follow any plan. Maybe I'm not the typical of a writer, which is why I’ve never considered myself more than a storyteller and/or an agent of what my characters want to do or say.
Anyway, without further ado, I'll proceed to (try) to answer the questions:
Slow burn or love at first sight?
It's always love at first sight for my characters, maybe because most of them are impulsive and needy. If we're talking about The Sims, or any other simulations game, the characters don't have much of a lifetime to beat around the bush, huh? So they just go straight to the point. 😄
Fake dating or secret dating?
Secret dating is a recurring theme in my stories cause practically all my characters are serial cheaters, either by accident or because they're just naughty by nature. Fake dating, though, is how it all started for my Inzoi characters Martin and Kaitlyn, so that too.
Enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers?
Friends to lovers, always. Though enemies to lovers is a tempting trope, I have always thought that the shorter path to love is definitely friendship, whether it's a long-standing one or one that's just beginning. But there have also been occasional hints of an “enemies-to-lovers” dynamic in my stories. 🤭
Hurt/comfort or amnesia?
Though I confess the term hurt/comfort is completely new for me, I think that is a constant in my stories. There's always someone who is there to comfort my characters, usually only to complicate the plot more, lol. I used amnesia in one of my non sims stories once, but it was the temporary, clinical type of amnesia, like the one you get from an accident, and was not the main theme of the story.
Fantasy AU or modern AU?
Modern, probably. I always place my characters in modern scenarios, or in the future. (Never in the past, though, the furthest back in time I've gone in my stories is the 1980s). Also, I rarely ever write about fantasy characters like fairies, vampires and stuff like that, except in The Sims of course. In the sims I've used all kinds of fantasy characters, from vampires to aliens. I feel comfortable writing about that in Sims, but I've never really tried those topics in my non sims stories. I wrote a vampire story for The Sims 2 once that I could never finish, for the same reasons Time Traveler is now on hold: a new game arrived and got a hold of me. :P
Mutual pining or domestic bliss?
Neither, really. Except for a few very special cases, my characters are too impatient and straightforward for mutual pining, and too chaotic for domestic bliss; they will always manage to rush and ruin their relationships in some way. However, if we look at my Sims/Inzoi stories about family gameplay, I confess there's plenty of domestic bliss there, but these are my comfort gameplay saves, not stories in the strict sense.
Smut or fluff?
Uh, somewhere in the middle? Depending on the story type, if its the Sims, with pictures, I won't use any explicit/graphic images, cause I've always liked to keep my stories family-friendly, and if there are adult themes or scenes we might call “steamy,” I prefer to just hint at or subtly describe what’s happening. I keep the romance and a bit of hotness but something I try to do when I write, even in my non-sims stories is to convey the sexual tension between my characters not literally, but through subtle details or descriptions. My idea is for the reader to “feel” the sexual tension and fill in the gaps with their imagination, cause I feel that being too explicit or graphic robs the reader or viewer a little bit of the freedom to let their imagination run wild. In other words, my intention is for the reader to feel that tension without actually seeing it, if that makes any sense. I don’t know if I actually achieve my goal every time, but that’s what I strive for when I write my scripts.
Reincarnation or character death?
Recently, in The Sims 3, I touched on the topic of reincarnation, or, more accurately, resurrection, based on the game’s mechanics. The topic of death and resurrection is a sensitive one for me, as I have a personal conflict with death due to a sudden loss in real life, followed by unresolved grief, so I rarely kill off the characters in my stories. I do make them suffer a lot, mind you, and sometimes they will lose someone close to them, usually a secondary or a supporting character, but the main character of my stories rarely ever dies, unless the main theme of the story is that character’s death. In my simulation games, there’s no getting around it, my characters aren't allowed to die.
One-shot or multi-chapter?
Are you kidding me?? 😄 Multi-chapter, of course! I have a serious problem finishing my stories, not because I can’t come up with an ending, but because I don’t want to. I get too attached to my characters to stop writing about them, and because I write more as a form of therapy than because I want to complete a book or anything like that. Plus, my dream as a writer was to write series, not movies, because movies end and series can last for years, even decades. That’s just me. XD As @noctunalazure so aptly put it, I don’t know how to say goodbye!
Kid fic or road trip fic?
If a pop band traveling around America, can be considered road trip fiction, even if they're flying, then yes! It was the longest story I’ve ever written; in fact, it’s a two-book novel that I, of course, never published. The characters fly all over the country, giving concerts, and in every city, they have all kinds of adventures, some of them really wild. I had a lot of fun writing that book, but I also suffered and literally cried along with my characters. So yeah, road trip fic it is.
Arranged marriage or accidental marriage?
Most of the marriages in my stories could be called “accidental marriages” because my characters rarely plan or even think about what they’re going to do or what their next step in their relationship will be. They always let life or fate take them where it will, and before they know it, they’re married to someone they barely know and expecting a child. It’s a recurring theme in my stories. Arranged marriage is a tempting topic, however. I may try it sometime. That would be perfect for the drama.
High school romance or middle-age romance?
Well, not exactly high school, but University maybe? High school romances are almost always just a side story here and there, cause my characters are mostly adults, or middle-aged. I like to start with young adults and end with middle-aged or senior characters. I like to cover topics about all stages of life. I mostly write about young people, but I really enjoy writing about older characters too, it all depends on the story.
Time travel or isolated together?
Time travel of course! This is a captivating subject for me, I mean, anything related to science fiction, journeys into the future (almost never into the past), and all that. It’s not exactly my main genre, since I prefer contemporary drama focused mainly on relationships, but sometimes I like to let my imagination run wild, like with my story "Time Traveler". Mind you, I give myself a lot of creative licenses, I don’t mind if there are plot holes, cause it’s just a story for The Sims which I really enjoyed writing. It’s a shame I haven't been able lately to post more about it, but yeah, it's been really fun not only to write it but preparing the sets for the photographs, especially the sets in Lunar Lakes with the aliens and stuff. I confess I haven’t physically written the ending yet, but I do know how it turns out. Spoiler alert: it’s a happy ending! I’ve never tried the isolated together trope, but it sounds super interesting, maybe someday I'll give that one a try.
Neighbors or roommates?
Both work for me, but I use roommates more, like in stories about dorms at college, or people who end up living together by accident and such, cause, as I said, I like to get right to the point. When I start my stories, I need my characters to be together in one place already. I can't wait for them to meet each other. :D
Sci-fi AU or magic AU?
I like both of them! And I've tried both, at least in my Sims gameplay, as I have already explained at length.
Body swap or genderbent?
I've never tried any of these, because it makes me really anxious. I don't know why, but all those movies where the characters switch bodies, like in that Jamie Lee Curtis movie. No, I just can't. I suffer so much just watching those stories, let alone writing them. I can just imagine the horror of waking up in somebody else's body.
Angst or crack?
For me, it's always angst, even if my characters have moments of pure happiness, there will always be angst in their lives; in fact, it will always be the central theme.
Apocalyptic or mundane?
If by “apocalyptic” you mean chaos, then I’m in. But in a figurative sense of course. Each of my characters experiences their own little apocalypse. Some more intensely than others. Now, an Apocalypse in the literal sense, I've never tried that, but I'd sure love too. 🥰
Okay, I answered everything, or at least I tried to, lol. Sorry for the wall of text, I hope I didn't confuse you guys with my ramblings.
I'd like to tag: @tia-amorosa, @ennysimmer, @bagesims, @treason-and-plot @marcishaun, @sarsoi, @pp-zoi, @hibozoi, @kfvarela, @toastedteddy, and @saturn-canine. As always, there’s no obligation to answer unless you want to.
And thanks again to my dear @nocturnalazure for the tag! ❤️
