No Idle Sims

Story-driven simmer. Spending my non-existent free time playing Sims 2, 3 + 4, plus a little Stardew.

[noidlesims]

I need someone to explain to me why people say TS3 is ugly...

...because I DO NOT see it! This screenshot isn't even doing it justice. Shang Simla is GORGEOUS I tell you. This was my first time seeing it with most of my graphic settings on high, card recognized, etc. But even before then, I thought Shang Simla - and other worlds, looked great!

[noidlesims]

Who are your favorite Sims Pre-Mades?

I have a handful, but definitely in the top 3 is the Dutiel family from Sims 3 Champs Les Sims (World Adventures). They are just such a gorgeous couple and little Remy is so cute.

I recently decided to pull them out of Champs and give them their own lives and storyline in St. Claire - also one of my top 3 custom worlds!

This screen shot is funny because all their thought bubbles actually speak to their lives back in France. The Dutiels are often assigned one or more of the shop keeper roles around town so we know they are business owners. I took the book above Gaston's head to imply the museum/quest they give you. And of course we eventually find out they have a ghost living in their basement. No wonder they moved. 🤭

I have a real soft spot for the whole family but Lea especially I just think is such a gorgeous sim with extremely unique features. She married into a Legacy save I had going on a few years ago because when I first saw her, I was like..na, she's too cute, we gotta marry her, only to find out she's married and has a son. My head canon then was that Gaston low key groomed her...they have a CRAZY age gap. Remy is a whole child, while Lea is on her first day of young adulthood, and Gaston is on his first day of adulthood. Let's not dwell on that math too long. 😅

My legacy heir befriended Lea, convinced her to leave Gaston and they ran away in the night with Remy and hid out in the French countryside until our vacation was over. I found the screenshots from that save and might share it sometime soon.

When I am not busy poaching Lea from Gaston, I actually think they are such a cute couple. They look great together and have complimentary skills and traits. Plus Remy is so adorable.

For this save my canon is that they wanted to move out of Champs Les Sims to give Remy a better future. Afterall, there wasn't even a school in their town. Moving closer to a city and into a bigger house would also allow them to persue their career ambitions and grow their family. But they both have nature orientated hobbies so somewhere family friendly with easy access to the great outdoors was still a must. St. Claire ticked all those boxes.

They found a cute 3 bedroom house right on the beach and near the bridge on the town/country side of St. Claire. It is also in walking distance to a lot of the town amenities, including the school and the bistro where Gaston went to get the nectar maker career. I downloaded this mod a while back specifically with the Dutiel's in mind so I am very excited to try it out!

Plus look at the view from their backyard. There is also enough space on their property for Lea to have a little garden and a few toys for the kiddos.

Lea and Gaston are both family orientated sims so I plan for then to have 1 or 2 more kids.

Seems they had the same idea because Remy was immediately asking his mom for a sibling which Lea then went to talk to Gaston about.

After all make overs were complete (except for Remy...did I already mention how cute he is as is), I sent them into town for various errands. Lea went to the bookstore and grocery store to get started on her farm to table lifetime wish and Gaston went to get that nectar job then joined Remy for a round of dominos while they waited for Lea to finish her errands. Oof, Gaston! I will need to make over all their other outfits too.

I am so excited to play this adorable family and give them full lives in this gorgeous town. I am especially excited for Lea. She is ambitious so rolled a wish to join the business career, I will put her there for now but eventually she will stay home with the kids so I can try out the baking mod with her, along with gardening cooking and all the cozy stuff I love about sims 3. Then eventually I will have her join the gallerist career. So many exciting times ahead!

I just hope my sims 3 game will stop crashing long enough for me to enjoy it. 🥲

[noidlesims]

Daisy’s Blooming Garden

Daisy settled into the rhythm of farm life. She rose early and tended carefully to her garden and chickens. She was even able to convince some reluctant wild animals to aid in her garden’s progress. She was quickly finding herself quite the animal enthusiast and soon had a family of rabbits and a flock of birds make themselves a home near her garden, though the foxes that gathered at the edge of lot remained distant.

She had yet to join the gardner career, though she now had a few friends who worked in it. She felt she hadnt honed her skills enough yet and was considering saving up for a college course before joining.

To earn some income in the meantime, she took to canning. There were plenty of recipes in her grannie’s old cookbook which she found tucked away in one of the cubboards. There were so many ways this house kept showing that she was always meant to inherit it, and she appreciated the ways it continued to take care of her.

Although, being an old house that had been neglected for quite a while, it did come with its issues. Daisy found herself periodically scrubbing toxic mold out of the fading kitchen floor.

On a bright spring morning after she finished her garden chores and canned a few extra items, Daisy felt she finally had enough quality stock to sell her wares. She had a range of goodies from strawberry jams, to vegetable stocks. She even had a few fresh flowers for sale to see what would do well.

She caught the bus going into Windenburg and set up shop outside a coffee shop. She made a few great sales but no where near what she had hoped.

After her street sale finished, she sat to speak animatedly with Laura Hargrove, one of the fellow Henford residents whose family owned the local bakery. As with many spring evenings on Windenburg, the chill had sent sims reaching for their sweaters and scarves.

“You’re a business woman, Laura. How on earth am I supposed to understand what people want? I know my canned goods are very healthy, but people dont seem to care about that!”

Laura was about to respond when Daisy’s phone rang. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt her stomach do happy flips when she saw the caller ID.

“Hello….?” Daisy said, a smile rising to her lips.

[noidlesims]

When Daisy Met Tommy

M

Daisy was enjoying getting to know Henford and its kind people. She even ran some errands around town to make some money while she waited her plants

to he ready for hsrvesting. She took a break from farm chores to meet up with some new found friends in Autumn Leaves Park. They happened upon a yoga class which Diasy eagerly joined.

As the instructor guided them through each pose, Daisy’s mind drifted. She thought of her quiet cottage, cozy but empty. She thought of the trees, springing high into the sky as their roots got deeper. She would soon have enough fresh fruits and veggies to finally cook delicious hearty meals and even can some for selling. She felt excited at the opportunity to nourish people with fresh home grown foods. She looked forward to building a life that honored the earth her and her body. And she hoped she could find someone to build that with.

When the routine ended, Diasy sat up with immense clarity. She quickly logged into the local meeting app and created a club: Earth and Health. She hoped to meet like minded people who wanted the same things she did. She immediately started a meet up and many eager attendees showed up!

Daisy couldn’t help but smile as she saw the men in the group lined up like an episode of The Bachelorette. As if on cue, one of the new members stepped forward and brandished a rose for Daisy. She was equal parts horrified and delighted. She took the rose tentatively and smiled shyly at this handsome guy.

“Hey,” he said with a deep honey voice. “Thanks for creating this group. Its great to know so many others care about the earth too.”

Daisy agreed. “I wasnt too sure who would show up when started but I am pleasantly surprised by the turn out.”

“You did well. My name’s Tommy.”

Diasy stretched out her hands, “Daisy.”

One corner of Tommy’s lips twitched up, “of course you are. A beautiful name, for a beautiful woman.” He took her outstretched hands and gently grabbed her other hand before raising them up to his lips for a gentle kiss.

Daisy kept her face even. But her heart was aflutter. Who was this guy?! Was he for real?! Trying hard not to smile, she rolled her eyes.

“Okay, Romeo. We’re just hear to talk about community initiaves to help Henford be a happier, healthier place.”

Tommy chuckled, then quickly evened out his expression. “Noted. How can I help?”

Daisy and the group had a lovely discussion about community gardens and spaces that allowed the earth and heart to heal. Throughout the meeting she remained acutely aware of Tommy’s eyes on her. Listening intently, contributing actively, speaking cheerfully with the other group members, but somehow his eyes always wandered back to hers.

After the group adjorned, Daisy stayed for an evening yoga session that was just getting started. She needed the relaxing session to calm her nerves before she headed home. As she tried to stay focused on the instructors words, her mind kept drifting. She thought about how productive the groul had been. How everyone came eager to do some good and excited to change things for the better. Then she thought of the most engaged group member and how many lovely ideas he had. She then thought of Tommy’s warm brown eyes. Then to his easy going smile. Then to the feel of his soft lips against her knuckles. She wondered how those lips felt pressed against….she reigned her thoughts back in.

She sat up as the class concluded. She only just met him. How was he already having this effect on her. She shook her head and took herself home to take a cold shower.

Watchers Notes:

Please enjoy these additional pictures of Tommy coming on hella strong. However, there was no way to weave them into the story without Tommy coming across as a psycho. 😂 so they have been relegated to BTS.

And yes, I mkst definitely crested this group withr then loves the out doors trait requirement. There were more people at the meeting, but seems I only got screenshots of these guys. Its likely they were the only three I was interested in for Daisy.

Who will her heart desire? Nathanael the gardner and poet? Or Tommy, the wild card?

[noidlesims]

Settling Into Henford

Daisy’s first few days in Henford were a whirlwind. She met many kind people and was excited to roll up her sleeves and start digging in the dirt. With little money and hardly any skills, it was tough to make ends meet but she was slowly getting by.

Things finally started looking up when she met Moira Fyres who invited her to the Blossom Buddies meetup. Daisy was looking forward to meeting fellow nature enthusiats. Maybe she would even meet that special someone who shared her love of the great outdoors. She immediately agreed to go to the meet up happening soon.

This was where she met Nathanael Conner. He came in from Willow Creek for the meet up and he and Daisy hit it off immediately. Before she knew it, he was recitimg poetry to Daisy. She wasnt so sure about his poetry skills, but she enjoyed the attention. Despite being quite tired, she made sure to still make time to get to know the other members of the club. It would be great to make a few friends around the area.

The meet up had been great for meeting new people, but the money situation still wasnt looking great. Most days all Daisy could manage to cook up was a loaf of bread. The home she inherited came with a cow and chicken already which was quite handy. She tried to spend more time on her garden and budding farm so she could sell higher quality ingredients.

As she was finishing up her farm chores, she got a call from Nate that he was in town and would love to meet up with Diasy. She went to Autumn Leaves Park to go fishing together. It was wonderful have someone who loved spending time outdoors as as she did. Could this be the start of something beautiful. As she ran home in the rain, Daisy was hopeful but very unsure. The uncertainy of it all made her quite sad.

Well if she ever hoped to start a family, with Nate or anyone else, she’d have to start making some money soon. She woke up early the next day and threw herself back into her chores. However, just as she finished milking her faithful brown cow, Grim came to call her to the pasture beyond. Bye lovely cow. Even though, I dont remember your name, you’ll be missed.

Will Nate be the one? Will Daisy get to eat anything but bread? Can Daisy afford a new cow? Find out in the next episode of the Blooming Legacy.

[noidlesims]

Meet Daisy Blooming

Two guesses as to which Legacy Challenge I am currently playing. 🤭

If you guessed Sims in Bloom by @a-sims-garden then you’d be correct! (My previous post was not a Sims in Bloom sim…I apparently just seem to like the color yellow.)

And like only the most creative simmers before me have done, I named my founder Daisy. 😇🌼

Daisy lives in Henford-on-Bagley, in the best sims 4 Save file ever - Beyond Bloom by @aneleya . It was all too fitting. My Sims in Bloom Legacy in the Beyond Bloom save file? It was meant to be honestly. And I have been having so much fun. I love that all the lots already have so many activites, the homes feel lived in and the sims are cute! (The randomly generated ones are so obvious!!)

About Daisy Blooming

Okay back to Daisy. She is clumsy, loves the outdoors and idealist (I know its supposed to be cheerful, but I low key dislike that trait and for her backstory, idealist made more sense than cheerful). Idealist is a custom trait. I also use a mod that lets me give her 2 more traits so she is also a health nut (custom trait) and recycle disciple (but I will change this to farmer (custom trait) soon because I finally decided to glance ahead to the other generations and recycle disciple will be used soon…Henford as well, but o well).

Legacy Tracking

I am using the Sims in Bloom notion tracker by Rosannatxt to stay on top of the legacy challenge and I am really enjoying using that. I wish there was a built in place for logging play sessions, task lists, stories, lore, kids, friends, etc. But it was easy enough to just add as a sub page within this generation.

What I love about the Sims in Bloom legacy challenge is thar it just gives you a little prompt instead of a full backstory and the generation tasks are simple and varied enough for you to come up with different approaches. What I mean by simple is that I have seen some legacy challenges where the tasks are like a multistep process and require you to remember a lot of things at once…like your sim never eats on Tuesdays (just an example of how obscure and specific some legacy challenges can be). Then I said varied because I think there are some interesting combos here that I would have never thought of like the vet and video gammer combo in Gen 2. And even Gen one, I had to think for a bit…what would make someone insist they want a garden AND meditate under a tree they grew themselves. I thought hard about that and here is what I came up with:

Daisy's Backstory:

Daisy grew up with …interesting parents. They were always up to one scheme or the other. Their family moved around alot and lived on junk food. Her parents lived a fast and unhealthy lifestyle which led to their untimely demise. The loans sharks and banks caught up with them when they were sick in hospital and took everything back, and they succumbed to their illnesses not long after. This left Daisy with zero simoleans and no parents. While packing up the last of her parents things to repay the debts, Daisy found a deed to a small cottage in Henford on Bagley that had been in her family for generations. She decided this was her chance at a fresh start. She had hoped to go to school to study medicine, nutrition or environmental studies, but being penniless and now with a cottage gave her a new idea: start a legacy built on holistic values, wellness, simple living and living off the land. Where will her legacy grow?

The House:

In the Beyond Bloom save file, I had to delete the Hendford Library and then grabbed Cordialla's Cottage from another Save File. It comes like a wooden cottage, but I have tranformed it into more of a whimsical fairytale place. I absolutely love how the outside turnout.

We have a lot of growing into this house to do but I am really looking forward to it. I am already two weeks into the legacy so will be sharing more screenshots soon. The house is really coming together well! Stay Tuned!

[noidlesims]

Hello World: A Tumblr Intro

Hey everyone, welcome, welcome. I am new to Tumblr and after about a year of lurking, I finally decided to post! I am so inspired by all the creative and gorgeous stories and screenshots here and would love to contribute to something I’ve been enjoying myself. 🥰

Backstory:

I first got into the Sims 2, around middle/high school. It will always be my first love. Like most people, life and time took me out of the franchise for a while. Then in 2020, I had a family tragedy and other big changes going on but was stuck at home (thanks Covid), with not much to keep me occupied. Enter Sims 3. This game found me when I needed it the most, and I have hardly put it down since. Whenever I am tired of the crashing and lag, I go play Sims 2, 4 or Stardew Valley for a bit, but eventually make my way back to Sims 3.

What to Expect:

I have a full time paid job, married to the love of my life, and have 3 gorgeous kids who are 5 and under. So you can expect sporadic and inconsistent posting, unedited screenshots (max I’ll do is crop😅), lots of wholesome family gameplay, swoon worthy love stories, cozy vibes, and my sims living their best cottage core life while I ignore my own IRL garden (in my defense I play sims at night after the kids sleep…it would be odd to garden at that hour. But actually, I am currently listening to a book called the Moonlight Gardening Club where they indeed garden at night 🤔). Apparently you can also expect a lot of asides. 😁

Why ‘No Idle Sims’

Cuz my sims are never Idle, and neither am I.

As mentioned, I got back into sims at a time where I was trying to avoid idleness (obviously, I am a Capricorn)…really needed to take my mind off everything going on. And sims continues to provide that outlet for me. Stay up worrying and analysing everything? Or stay up playing sims?

I also continue to be a busy working mom who uses her leisure/idle time to play sims. No rest for the Watcher. Which is why I wont edit my sims too much, try to solve crashing issues immediately or do too much cc shopping (though there is some GORGEOUS stuff out there). My sims time is already limited, I want to spend most of it on actual gameplay.

I love challenges, legacies, collections, in-depth storytelling, gameplay mods and any and everything that give my sims full and busy lives (like my real life). Seriously, my sims are never idle. And if they are, its a planned family outing, romantic picnic or leisurely stroll to recharge and reflect.

I came up with this username around the time I got a new laptop that I bought specifically because I hoped it would play Sims 3 better. No lagging, stuttering or idling over here. The Sims 3 still Sims 3 on my laptop, but its much better, especially after following all the opitmization tutorials around. Currently having an issue where taking screenshots crashes my game hence why I am on my most recent Sims 3 break. Its always something!! But enjoying Stardew and a bit of Sims 4 in the meantime.

So excited to share my stories with you. 🥰Thanks for being here and a special thanks to @strawb3rryxsims for being the final push I needed.