How DID you get through 17 infants and toddlers? If I had that many I’d just make some plumbite crystals and keep them in the nursery.
Thought that would probably count as witchcraft to the wagnersz
So, it's a long answer! I’ll put some bullet points with advice below the cut.
On a related note, though, I think now is a good time for an exciting(?) announcement: I am working on an “Ultimate Guide to Fundie Simblr”-type document! I hope it will end up being a handbook of sorts for both current and prospective fundie simblr-ers.
The doc will include gameplay advice (keeping your sims alive, DIY sim-homeschooling, ), simblr advice (taking screenshots, making posts, templates for tracking your stories/characters), CC/mods stuff (my recommendations, MCCC features essential to fundie gameplay), and whatever else I can think of. In writing it I've been using every single piece of fundie simming knowledge I’ve collected over the last decade. (Before I had this blog, I ran another fundie simblr for a few years; I have also played many a fundie family on my own time!)
I’m creating this type of guide because this community is a really fun space as it is, but it’s the most enjoyable when we have more people sharing stories and interacting within the community. So I want to make it as easy as possible for people to join in! It won’t be done for months (the perils of overcommitting oneself to extracurriculars…), so in the meantime, everyone is more than welcome to come to my inbox with any questions about fundie simming and fundie simblr-ing they may have. (That’ll still hold after I share the document, of course!)
Okay, announcement over. Some rapid-fire advice for surviving a dozen+ infants and toddlers:
Choose your furniture carefully. Lots of showers and few baths to maximize efficiency. Multiple drying spaces if you do laundry. High-quality beds -> more sleep in less time -> more adults available to care for kids. I also have LittleMsSam’s Power Nap mod, which has been endlessly useful.
Choose your furniture carefully, part 2: high chairs, by contrast, are endlessly useless. I had a few for photo-ops but otherwise just went with breast/bottlefeeding for infants and the toddler-accessible lunchbox for toddlers. That said, the infant playmats are great. They keep infants out of the way while providing opportunities for them to sleep and build skills.
Go hard on the thinking (Spamming the “Watch [sim]” action is the fastest path) and potty skills as soon as the sim ages up to toddler. That + movement level 2 allows them to be as independent as real fundie kids and cuts down on meltdowns/disobedience.
Invent ways to get sims out of the house. I’ve found that ease of playing is correlated to number of sims present rather than ages. (Seriously, I’ll take a house of two adults + three infants over a house of five adults + ten teens/kids any day.) So sign kids up for clubs/scouts/whatever and call it youth group. Have teens get part-time jobs. If you travel somewhere, send the younger ones to daycare—church daycare or a faithful friend’s home, that is. And find excuses to take 1-3 sims to visit another lot on a regular basis; it gives you a break from large-household chaos and allows you to focus on developing just one (or a few) characters. In my opinion, this is important even if you aren’t posting your family on Tumblr, because the more attached you are to your sims and the stories you made up for them in your head, the more likely you are to enjoy playing and keep up with the legacy!
On a personal note, two things that help me, specifically “get through”:
First, I like lists of specific types of information, and playing a big fundie sim family is like having one long list of my favorite type of information going at all times. Names, potential names, birthdays, skills to work on, (future) career, level of devoutness, status within the ISCS commuity, feelings about their parent/sibling/spouse/kid at any given time, and so on. It’s all information with which I’m really fascinated, and that’s what’s kept me playing fundie families for a decade. It’s not really advice, because you’re either born like this or you’re not. But it’s part of why I enjoy playing this type of household! (Before I played the Sims, I would draw elaborate family trees for fake families on stacks of printer paper. I’ve made family trees for characters I love in media. When I was little, I made a family tree for the inhabitants of the llama sanctuary I built in Minecraft. It goes pretty far back lol.)
Second: this blog. There are specific plotlines/characters I was and am dying to execute, so that kept me going. There are also a bunch of people who follow me and are invested in this story, which is very cool. I derive a lot of motivation from that! I also have a great group of friends with whom I talk about fundie sims. They help me when I'm stuck or unsure, cheer me on when I've gotten something right, and inspire me when they talk about their own stories. Special thanks to them lol.
And there you have it! I'm not sure whether your question was rhetorical or serious, but nevertheless, I hope this avalanche of information helps someone lmao.
Don’t stress about what you post. I know it feels discouraging sometimes as your posts gets so much less notes than some other similar kind of posts, but I tell you..I rather more have 10 active and interacting followers than 1000 who does not even look my posts.
Simblr is full of simblr, simmers of all kind. Take a habit of getting to know to some new simmers, their blogs, reblogs posts, shower them in likes and send a nice ask. Tumblr does not work based on likes, reblogs give you the visibility more. Don’t be afraid to reblog.
Be nice to others and they treat you nicely as well. Do not engage in any kind of simblr drama and let me tell you there is lot of it sometimes. Turn anons off and continued to sim wiht a piece of mind.
Simblr is not anyones job, don’t harass people about their posting schedules. All good is to be waited for it tastes more sweet like that. Simblrs are people with real lives, jobs, studies, life...and this is a happy place for lot of people , let’s keep it that way!
How would you recommend growing a community on tumblr? I have struggled with this in the past and have recently gotten back on here. Love your content!
Aweee thanks nonny and welcome back! 🤗
I'll try my best, but I'm no expert aha.. here are a few tips/ideas I think might help you make the most of being here on simblr ❤
Don't be afraid to show the love! Leave likes/comments on peoples posts, even the old ones. Everyone enjoys some good ol' like spam.
Reblogging takes that love a little further, but don't stress and feel like you have to, it's your blog!
Talk to people! Take the time to reply to comments, tell people how much your enjoy their stuff, weigh in on the various daft discussions we all have on here about stupid shit.. like your favourite ice cream flavour or some shit idk 😅 don't be scared to join in is all I'm sayin'.
Follow some tags. Following the ts4 or sims 4 tag for example will fill your dash with people you might not have found otherwise.
Keep an eye out for other new/returning simblrs via the "new simblr" tag. Maybe make your own intro post whilst you're at it.
Hear me out on this one.. but I like to do this thing I call a simblr deep dive. I take a lil' look-see at the notes on peoples posts and check out the blogs liking their stuff, then I check out their notes and and go those blogs, etc etc lmaooo.. Honestly I've found so many new people doing this, it's really fun seeing where you end up aha. For some reason, I always end up in ts3 territory 🤔
Tag people! I wouldn't overdo it or spam.. but if you use a gshade preset someone made, a pose, or a sim from a sim dump etc etc feel free to say a quick thanks and show 'em what you're up to! Most people appreciate the thanks and would love to see how you're enjoying their creations.
Similarly, maybe take part in some simblr tag games and tag the people you'd like to get to know better! I'd tag them accordingly tho cos some people block these (they can get a bit spammy ig, just don't go nuts and it'll be fine)
Take part in/host your own challenges. Bachelor(ette) challenges for example are a great way to meet some new mutuals. I know it's kinda scary to apply/take part in these things sometimes but they're always heaps of fun so it's worth it!
Expand your horizons. I'm not telling you what to enjoy here but if you only look out for one type of content you're gonna miss some good shit! You might find some inspo or something new to enjoy.
I think this one goes without saying, but be friendly! You don't have to enjoy everyone's content on here but if you don't have something nice to say, don't say it.
Try not to stress over your notes/follower count. Take quality over quantity and just try to enjoy yourself! The numbers might come (or not) but it's not important as long you're having fun.
Congratulations on reaching 5.5k followers! Do you have any advice for someone just starting out? Long time simmer, first time simblr! I've just moved from TSR > Tumblr but struggling to make connections. xx
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it! 💕💕
For me I’d just have to say keep posting stuff you enjoy whether it be edits, lookbooks, cc, gameplay, etc. while also straying a little out of your comfort zone.
You don’t always have to post consistently, but stick to a schedule that suits you best. AND ALWAYS give yourself a break! simblr will always be here and followers will check on you to make sure you're alright.
Interacting with other simblrs even it’s just them rambling. It can spark interesting conversations and make friendships :)
A lot of people enjoy feedback! Taking the time to send asks, respond to polls, leaving comments, and participating in challenges even if you haven’t been tagged can really help you grow by showing you want to interact with others in the simblr community.
DEFINATELY acknowledge other blogs besides cc creators because there is more to simblr than creating custom content. There are some amazing simblrs out there to follow!
-- this is a small one thing-- tag others in posts if you're using cc or doing challenges. you may not interact with each other much but they’ll appreciate the fact they feel included and may respond back.
I originally just started this blog as a cc finds page and planned on making sims to put up for download, but I just started interacting with others and sticking true to me by showing my personality through my lookbooks and grew from there.
I hope this little bit of advice helps! I feel this is what has helped me to grow but every blog is different :D
I have several ideas for stories but I just want to see how you come up with your stories I love them all and I do not want to start a story and it be a flop I want to have cliffhangers and make sure people enjoy them, do you have any advice? x
Thank youuuuu! ♥ So I pull inspo from all sorts of places like TV, books, real life and since I mainly write about one family with a set of characters that I know very well, sometimes these random scenarios will come to mind for one of them and I’ll build off of that. Like with this Glimmerbrook story I have going on with my legacy, I was in the bookstore with my kids and saw this book that I thought was adorable. I didn’t read it and I still have no idea what it’s about but just the look of it made me say, “I wanna do a comic book style story” and then I thought “I wonder what’ll happen if I send them on vacation in the woods” and since I know Lux has curiosity on top of paranoia and questionable decision making skills, lol, I felt like that could be a fun thing to explore.
Now, I really don’t want you to think I’m being cliche by saying this but I honestly think that if you truly enjoy your story, others will too. Most of the time when I’m writing/setting up these scenes, I can’t stop laughing and I think it translates over to my audience who usually ends up laughing with me. So my advice to you would be to create a set of characters you LOVE, come up with a general idea of what the story is about (I never plan anything all the way out and wing most things) and start writing/posting. Put yourself out there, so your audience can find you and they will love your story just as much as you do.
HOW DO I GET FOLLOWS, LIKES, REBLOGS AND ASKS I STARTED MY BLOG IN JULY AND IT IS SHORT TILL JULY AND YOU HAVE TONS OF FOLLOWERS AND I JUST GOT 50, But On A Calmer Note I Just Need Some Friendly Advice. Wow 9997 Visits For You.
ahhh nonny tbh i don’t know why so many people are following cos my content is literally the definition of subpar but i will try and give you the all the advice i can! however, first and foremost, i hope that you value the enjoyment you are getting out of running your blog above all the follows and attention! having 50 more dedicated followers is better than having a thousand unactive ones 😉 anyway, i am by no means good at this blog thing and have no idea why so many people are sticking around but i guess my top things would be… (under the cut lol cos this is way longer than i thought it would be 😂)
• be yourself - you didn’t specify if you were a simblr or not but i’m sure you must be part of some sort of tumblr community. the sims community is ma-hoo-sive so it can certainly be hard to be spotted, but if you just copy someone else you will probs a) be called out cos we are all savages and drama whores but b) you won’t be special or different. you don’t have to make your blog super personal to show this - just try out different things, be honest with your followers and BE YOU when you are writing up posts. sure, it’s great to be inspired by others ideas but make sure you are doing you and are comfortable in what you are doing. find new ways to be original with content you love yourself. being unique is better than being perfect!
• post consistently - (lol coming from the girl who is still on hiatus but) make sure you are posting your awesome stuff as often as you can. its great to reblog and share other people’s content but people follow your blog for you and your stuff, not others! so i would make sure that your blog is mainly your posts and less reblogs, as i know myself that i tend to shy away from blogs that do that - not because their blogs are bad i’m sure, but because i can just follow the original people who made the post! you don’t have to have a schedule, or even be posting the main content of your blog (e.g. sims screenshots or fan art). i’ve learnt that just posting a meme, tag or even just a random text post can keep your followers engaging with your blog and gain you more in the process! of course, don’t abuse this and spam, cos that does the complete opposite!
• quality over quantity - at first, seems to kind of counteract the last point, but making content that you are proud of and is engaging for everyone means more people will notice it - meaning more likes and activity on posts, and more people wanting more. don’t rush things, or make a post just for the sake of making one, as people will be able to see that your heart isn’t really in it. if you want a dedicated and active following you need to grow slowly, and get people really invested in what you post. making friends and collaborating with people, which is super easy on tumblr thanks to tags, can draw people to your blog and get others to basically promote how great you are - so don’t be afraid to get in contact with people who are happy to talk or just be really active on someone else’s blog that you love to get them to notice you to get them to tag or message you!
• having an aesthetically pleasing and easy-to-use blog - okay, so this sounds really petty but it’s true! even just tagging all your posts correctly and making a link to all those posts tagged can get people who may at first be interested in your blog, to become obsessed with it (say with sims, tagging a legacy with the name of the family and generation, and having a page with links to the beginning of it). people can read through your loads of your blog posts nice and quickly, without having to search too far for things. furthermore, having an uncluttered theme and layout is great - you shouldn’t need too many things at a smaller stage, so go for something clean and easy-on-the-eyes. people will be able to find certain posts easily and focus on the posts rather than all the other crazy links on the side. i’ve also found that having a theme that lets you like without having to go into the post itself makes blogs so much more easier to interactive with, as you don’t need to keep page-hopping to show your love!
if you need to and comfortable with coming off anon, i’d be happy to answer any questions and/or help you if you need to! ♡
I love your sim! I just started this whole tumblr thing and omg! I am so glad I found your page! You have such an amazing sim, so sweet! ILY already! Do you have any tips for me and trying to get my simblr noticed?
Whoa thanks soo so much! Honestly just be yourself and do what you like! Also using broad tags like “sims 4″ will create more traction for your blog, getting active in the community will get you seen by more people as well. <3
What do you say to someone who doesn't like playing sims and thinks it's stupid and makes jokes about you playing it?
I’ve played the sims for a long time and trust me I’ve had my fair share of “haters”. It’s all about confidence so honestly, just rock it! Just stop worrying about the people teasing you and they won’t find joy in it anymore. Remember the soul purpose of a bully is to provoke a reaction, if they don’t they’ll get board. Hope that helps a little :)
