I am Maple! I am a polyam, queer, Canadian entity that crawled out of the deep woods 30+ years ago. I started playing The Sims when its first expansions came out and played through every iteration since. However, I am one of those players who became disillusioned with it under the weight of all its paid content, and EA’s change of ownership was the last nail in the coffin for me. Paralives is a direly needed breath of fresh air, and I’m so excited to be telling stories using it as my medium! (Which I promise you – will be filled with occults even if they don’t exist in game yet).
I plan to be primarily doing challenge stories such as: Legacy Challenges, Rags to Riches, 100 Baby Challenge, and any more that come up. Later on, I hope to post speed builds and other video content as early access develops.
This is a side blog, and any following back will be on my main @mapleorbits. I would love to follow anyone who is mainly posting Paralives content, so please don’t be afraid to reach out!
Being against monetization is giving classism and communism. Poor people deserve compensation too!
Both classism AND communism, huh? You do realize those are two opposing and conflicting ideals right?
But to your main point: monetization of mods is not normal in spaces outside The Sims and FFXIV. Nor should it be normalized as it does nothing but ultimately harm communities. There are other ways to exist outside of capitalism and many modders who do make a living with their mods without shitty practice. Tips, pay what you want models, patreon (the Vanilla expanded Rimworld Patreon is a fantastic example of a successful modder patreon that does not paywall) are a few examples of many.
Coming into an indie game space where the devs themselves have stated they will never charge for DLC and charging for mods will always be gross to me.
There are many reasons why paid mods are harmful to communities and if you are actually interested in learning why rather than holding up straw man argument “poor people” as a prop, a well known modder made a well thought out reddit post here explaining it far more elegantly than I can.
Are you playing Paralives? Are you annoyed over the fact that modders are already paywalling content for an indie game that won't charge users for future DLCs?
Content that would improve the game dramatically, like saaaaaay...camera controls that mimic the Sims 3?
So, I assume most of you don't know, but there is a bit of drama inside the Paralives community. It's funny because this whole thing is revolving around The Sims 3.
TwistedMexi made his first paywalled "early access" mod called Sims 3 Camera, and I've been working on the same thing as he was.
1. Let's get the "clone" allegation out of the way first.
(Source: TwistedMexi's discord server)
TwistedMexi is accusing me of cloning his mod, but let’s look at the facts. Thankfully, I always use GitHub, so the commit dates are there to prove it.
(2026-05-26 22:27:02 +0200) is a timestamp of the first commit with hash d82ddd909e06833b0f8d5d439ad602d04a4f3e08
(2026-05-27T19:57:44.000+00:00) is a timestamp of the publication date of his Patreon post.
Honestly, I didn't know I could see the future, but ok.
2. The second thing I want to address is that currently there are a lot of awful comments directed at Tmex. PLEASE do not harass other creators.
3. Regarding early access and paywalls: My mods are developed in my spare time as a passion project. I believe in keeping my work accessible to everyone, which is why all of my content will remain completely free, forever. I believe the community should play a role in maintaining projects if the original creator steps away, which is why I always share the source code for my projects
Free mods are a pillar of a healthy community, whereas paywalls only lead to gatekeeping and unnecessary drama. My hope is that more creators choose to release their mods in a way that prioritizes community growth and shared resources.
A reblog would be greatly appreciated to help spread this message.
Thanks for reading,
xoxo, Arro
Ps. If you want to see a broader discussion on this topic, I recommend this Reddit post that goes way more in-depth than I do. It's a good read.
The sounds of ocean waves lap at the shoreline, accompanied by murmured voices. Every shift of Elayne’s body in her makeshift bed caused the small assembly of townsfolk around her to freeze. The last thing any of them wanted to do was rouse her from slumber.
Townie 1: It’s like Laura said, she looks identical.
Townie 2: Almost…
Townie 3: A descendant, maybe?
Townie 2: Maybe– if you take Laura’s word for it.
Townie 1: How many people have you seen come to town lately?
Townie 2: Even if she is one of them, there’s no telling what brought her back. … Or what more she is capable of.
Townie 1: If?? She’s been sleeping on the beach! She came to town BY herself!! Scampering around eating mushrooms. That's Le--
Yet it would be a few more hours until Elayne woke…
Elayne: “Oof… I am not going to get used to that, am I?”
Her bones felt like they were creaking with every movement, muscles screaming out in protest with stiffness from the morning cold. Sleeping out on a plastic chair, no blanket or pillows, was a far cry from the life she ran from. But it felt like freedom all the same.
The current situation was far from perfect, but it was better than living a lie. Better than waiting to be another victim, a lamb to slaughter in the name of power. Of course, Elayne wasn’t in the clear yet. Someone could find her. Bring her back to that inhuman house of betrayal with skeletons in every closet.
But even still, she could feel herself starting to relax. Like things were going to be okay this time. That she had made the right choice.
And if she didn’t get ready now, she was going to be late for work…
For work! Imagine, instead of existing in a gilded cage where days passed with no meaning should could do something with her life. Sure, for now, it was a little corner store… but maybe it could turn into something more. Maybe she would sell paintings one day or maybe put her mind to work on something challenging… That’s what it meant to be …free. If she pulled this off, she could build anything… and make it last.
Illusions of grandeur aside, Elayne was instantly humbled by her roadside mushroom breakfast.
Elayne: “Well, I didn’t die last night, so they should be okay.”
The perks of a walkable city. The general store was right down the street from the beach. Everything was working out quite neatly for her living situation.
Although Elayne caught her gaze wandering over her shoulder toward the small ridge behind her. A tug of familiarity almost stopped her in her tracks. It was up there. That feeling that had brought her to Melino seeking refuge. Her blood was singing with anticipation and anxiety in equal measure
Elayne: Work first. Focus.
And yet when the work day ended with paradimes in her pocket (finally), Elayne found herself hesitating to look beyond the hill. It was right there, but the space where it felt like there should have been … something. A manor. A rambling abode. Disturbed her in a way she couldn’t explain.
The idea of putting a real meal in her belly and heading to the gym next door to shower felt far more appealing. She was beginning to feel like a person again rather than a mushroom-eating, beach-dwelling gremlin.
Just as Elayne finished putting her clothing back on, the door to the bathroom opened with a swiftness that startled her.
On raw instinct, she made herself small, let her back hit the wall, and pointedly didn’t scream. Too ingrained in her that making a sound was akin to violence. In tandem, the person entering was also an explosion of movement propelled toward her. In a split second, he had crowded the corner she put herself in, but made no contact. Just a pair of sharp blue eyes bearing down on her, blinking slowly as he came to some realization that she wasn’t a threat.
Had he expected someone else?
Jason: “What kind of person doesn’t lock the door?”
Elayne: “The kind that forgets! Who charges into an occupied bathroom?”
Jason: “Someone who doesn’t like surprises.”
Elayne: “Were you expecting a bad one?”
Maybe such a thought wasn’t out of the question, her eyes caught the small scar under his eye. He’d seen some sort of trouble before. It was curved like a claw or blade had grazed it. A glancing blow that was almost elegant. He studied her features hard as if he was trying to decipher a code before a small huff of breath escaped him. Relief, perhaps. The tall man took a step back and rolled the tension out of his shoulders.
Jason: “Wasn’t expecting any. But what sort of ‘surprise’ are you? Good or bad?”
Elayne: “Maybe we could step out of the awkward bathroom situation to talk more?”
Jason: “Heh…. Yeah. Right. After you.”
( Two of the most nonchalant, nothing-weird-just-happened people in Melino right here, folks. )
Elayne: “Would you stop acting weird. People are going to notice.”
Jason: “Says the woman who is also smiling. As if mentioning it is going to make it any less weird.”
Elayne: “Shut up.”
Jason: “Only one making this weird is you.”
Elayne: “Shut up!”
Elayne: “At least ask for my name before you start teasing me.”
Jason: “Not like you asked for mine either.”
Elayne: “You barged in on me! Forgive me for lacking manners.”
The deep rumble of a chuckle started to edge the man’s tone.
Jason: “There you go, making things weird again. ”
Elayne: “You are an ass.”
Jason: “Alright, alright – before you think I’m more of a classless buffoon. I’m Jason, and the lady’s name is…?”
Elayne: “Lady? Oh, that is better – I am Elayne.”
Jason: “See? I can behave myself.”
A chuckle of her own warmed her expression as she eased herself into the conversation. Bathroom mishap aside, he seemed to be a good sport about the whole thing. It was an accident. Paired with poor reactions from both of them that seemed to stem from things in their pasts rather than any ill intent. Which only made Elayne more curious about him.
Elayne: “So aside from scaring ladies in bathrooms, what do you do?”
Jason: “Avoiding ambushes from pretty ladies."
Elayne rolled her eyes, but she couldn't stop the smirk from curling her lips.
Elayne: “Are you just going to keep dodging my questions? I thought you were trying to behave?”
Jason: “I work as a personal trainer here, I do some… moonlighting with, uh, odd jobs, here and there when time allows.”
Elayne: “Odd jobs?”
Jason: “Yeah, it’s a niche field– I’ll tell you about it if I see you here more often. Sound like a deal?”
Elayne: “Ooh, you are good. I can’t even tell if you are flirting or hustling for gym memberships.”
Jason: “Heh, can’t get anything by you.”
Elayne was starting to lose track of time, trading quips with Jason and talking about life in Melino. How long had he been here– If he had any family in town– Talking with him was easy, more son because he didn’t seem to mind when she was cagey about her own answers to those questions. More often than not, only marked her evasion with a raised brow or smooth change of topic to something neutral.
He’d seemed extremely interested in life outside of Melino. Exceedingly so. Surely, Melino wasn’t so far detached from society that news was hard to come by. The Internet existed and–
Before Elayna could follow that train of thought further, she became hyperaware of how heavy her body felt as he spoke. The sharp tugging on her heart from before dragged her thoughts back to the hillside as her vision quickly became dark at the edges. Jason’s face contorted with concern, but it was like she was looking at him from underwater. Her world suddenly tilted sideways, her legs buckling under as everything became black.
Jason: “Hey?! Are you al–!!”
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
She was walking down a familiar corridor to her fiancé’s office. Their wedding ceremony was in mere days now, and the final details were still up in the air. Things that would undoubtedly leave her as the scapegoat again if anything went wrong. Enough that her younger sister, Lyssa, could take advantage of her precarious situation more than she had already.
Lyssa, who didn’t care about these… monsters… using them. Lyssa, who only wanted power more than anything else. Lyssa, who, when presented with the facts of their bloodline, the truth of their parents, only shrugged her shoulders and said – So what?
And maybe she had been right. There was no foreseeable escape for either of them. Elayne hadn’t even remembered the last time she had been allowed out of the manor. For now, she had to focus on integrating into the Mikaelson Family and figure out what to do from there…with or without her younger sister.
Her hand curled around the cool metal of the door handle and pushed it open. What lay on the other side prompted a shallow gasp–
Elayne shouldn’t have been shocked by the scene, and yet her blood ran cold with the sight all the same. Her fiancé, the eldest of the Mikaelson brood, a man she had thought for a long time had been her childhood sweetheart… with her younger sister Lyssa in his arms.
This was just another lie to swallow. To endure.
The pair finished their kiss unapologetically, unashamed as they turned their heads to regard her. Alaric spoke with cool tones around the fangs in his mouth while Lyssa’s smile widened with a perverse, sadistic glee.
Alaric: “Oh, Elayne. You really did believe I loved you.”
At one point. Yes. Now? This only made the truth she had stumbled on more apparent. Maybe he already found out how much she knew. Maybe Lyssa had told him. Found out that the mask was no longer necessary.
Alaric: “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We will still be married, to save you the shame, but know that my love will never be yours.”
Elyane: “You can not seriously expect me to be okay with this…!”
Lyssa: “Please don’t be upset, sister. You are still the heir. I’m just a lowly spare; he’s only defending us both. The rest of the clan will tear us to shreds otherwise.”
Alaric: “Don’t coddle her, Lyssa. You were right. I need someone who won't betray my trust. Who shares my vision. She could never compare to you. Elayne should be grateful I’m honoring our childhood promises instead of letting her fend for herself.”
It was mercy, perhaps, that days later her sister’s own hands clawed into her throat with inhuman strength. Unrelenting. Final. Both of them in white on what was meant to be her wedding day as she gasped for air. Elayne pawed uselessly at Lyssa’s grip until her strength failed her and her body convulsed, starved of oxygen.
Lyssa bared her new teeth as she snarled down at Elayne’s crumpled body.
Lyssa: “He doesn’t need you. Just your blood, but it doesn’t matter anymore. Heir or Spare. Not when you’re dead. Not when it will only be me.”
With the last of her thoughts, she could only pray to the Creators that in another life… she would have the strength to change things.
That she could make it back to where she’d been born…
To Melino…
Her eyes snapped open, welcomed by the sound of waves and warm sun on her face. She gasped for breath and found her hand instinctively reaching for her throat. It took a few more breaths to convince her body that it was alive and for her heart rate to settle.
She was alive. She was given another chance. She made it to Melino. She was fine. It was safe.
She was back on the beach, in her uncomfortable chair. She had been with Jason before she passed out, but why here? Why had he known to bring her back here?
The thought alone had her rushing back to her feet.
A hospital. A bench at the gym. Those would’ve made sense. Leaving her here –?? That would only make sense if he had been watching her… right? If it was even him that brought her back in the first place…
But who else would it have been? Either way, only Jason would have known exactly what happened after she lost consciousness. All she had to do was go to the gym and pry answers from him.
Heyon: “Little early to be working on your tan isn't it, Little Miss Not-A-Tourist?”
Elayne: “Hi, Heyon – Look, I am a little busy, okay? We can catch up later?”
To her surprise, Heyon quickly cut off her path towards the gym. Traces of laughter oozed through his smooth tone, with a foxish grin spreading across his face.
Heyon: “Really, now – what’s the rush? You look like you saw a ghost or three.”
Elayne: “I am really not in the mood. There is just someone I need to talk to, and it is not you right now. We can do coffee later - promise.”
Elayne tried to cut around him once more, only for him to grab her forearm firmly, voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper.
Heyon: “You are doing a good job of attracting attention, Miss.”
Elayne: “...what?”
Heyon: “Just looking out for you. Not everyone has good intentions in this town. And you are very new. Be careful, won't you?”
He released her gently and took a step back to let her pass. There was only a beat of stunned silence, Elayne regarding him with widened eyes before she scampered off at a run toward the Gym.
I'm actually so excited to post the next chapter of the Velaris legacy. The gameplay + the meta storyline I have planned is coming together so well.
BUT I'm tempted to go back and take better pictures NOW THAT I KNOW HOW BADASS PHOTO MODE IS.
What do you mean I can pose EVERY para how I want?? What do you mean I can choose ANY animation and pause it where I need to? What do you mean I can MOVE paras around like dolls if I drag them??? What do you mean I can control the time of day?????
not tryna glaze AT ALL but paralives was sooo worth the wait, i spent so much money on the sims throughout my life and they treated simmers soooo bad, feel like im leaving an abusive relationship, wheres my tyler perry movie
There are already a bunch of negative reviews for Paralives that are only about the game's performance issues and bugs...
Saying you shouldn't play an early access game because it's unfinished fundamentally misunderstands the point of early access
The Sims 4 has been broken for over 10 years and that doesn't seem to stop people from spending hundreds of dollars on it every year
By leaving a negative review you are hurting the game's sales and consequently making it harder for the devs to actually afford improving the game
I need people to understand that this is a (formerly) crowdfunded early access indie game and holding it to the same standards as a finished AAA title makes no sense.
It is incredibly frustrating that there are people out there who:
1) Don't understand that steam early access =/= pre-order bonus early release. Yes, you are paying for the privilege of helping the devs DEVELOP an UNFINISHED GAME. A lot of this confusion does come from AAA games co-opting the term "early access" to mean 'pre-buy a game we are saying is finished and play it a few days earlier than those that don't'.
2) When they are told that complaining about the existence of bugs in an early access game is not valid criticism, they shoot back with the "Paralives community is too sensitive and defensive". Or "You can't say anything bad about Paralives". When that's not the case.
Bugs, unexpected crashes, and errors SHOULD be expected in Early Access titles. People who buy Early Access games do so with the hope that they can help shape the game. This is done through suggestions and detailed bug reports.
Which, The Paralives team has made it SO EASY to do IN GAME. This is fantastic for a game that entered Early Access days ago.
