Howdy! We're Xan (he/they) and Dez (she/her), a nerdy couple who make cc, tell stories, and do builds. Our genres vary between goth, horror, sci-fi and fantasy/semi-historical. We're queer, and WCIFF, and everything we post is free.
Be aware that if you talk to or about our characters, there is a chance they will talk back. Usually because it's fun.
FYI: This is a side blog! Asks, comments, and likes will come from @xandamonium or @countess-d. You won't see Sims stuff from either of those blogs--it's all here, or on our finds-blog, @xds-finds!
"You cannot save me. Don't try."
"Oh, yeah? Just fucking watch me."
A tortured ghost, beyond redemption, and an all-powerful Being to which pity is unknown. What could possibly go wrong?
@morrigan-sims I need you to know that by being lovely and asking one little question, you started something. (This is 2 edits out of approximately 10.) In asking about the Thing that broke a world, you opened the flood gates of something we've never been able to share before. So I apologize in advance, but you're getting a wall shortly.
Vischias Sei'Dist:
Top @simandy | Blood overlays by @natalia-auditore and @herecirmsims | Hair @okruee | Eyes @pralinesims | "Nails" @faaeish
Spirit of Desolation:
Hair @aharris00britney | Skin @ratboysims | Face Cracks @evilquinzel | Arm Bands & Glowing Hands @strangegrapefruit | Ears by Saruin
Pose also by herecirmsims
Full credits with the actual post. Which I'm still doing edits for.
...Pretend I wrote something clever here, okay? :B <3 I'm sleepy.
Mesh Edit (original by Cepzid/Zulf/Ferdiana)
Found in Vests
36 Swatches, Sinful Palette
8 Bonus Swatches, prototype KINGDOM Palette
Custom thumbnails
Masc Frame (trans inclusive, I think)
Download: Patreon (free) | SFS
Full credit to Cepzid for the original conversion. I reshaped it a bit, for a more streamlined silhouette, but wasn't sure how to do a mesh-edit without the mesh. So it's included. If she wants me to take it down, she can just let me know. Hopefully she won't mind.
Other CAS and decor cc by @saurusness @pralinesims @laeska @lady-moriel @simdertalia and @moontaart. Pose by @herecirmsims (who has got to be sick of me by now)
Models: The Duke of Kant & Joanna de Aragon, Lady Avarice
Lord Wrath is...not super popular at social events. (Which is fine, because he hates them.) But you can't say he isn't well-dressed.
Surprise. I wanted to finally share my favorite recolor. Witcher bases are incredibly hard to recolor, so I of course redid it three times. Since it's Wrath's main outfit, it really needed to pop. Only the HQ version for now. I'll update it with a non-HQ when I have brain-space. (Won't take long, I just haven't slept.)
Mesh Required: Olgierd by @plazasims
Found in Jumpsuits and Costumes
36 Swatches, Sinful Palette
New Specular
Custom Thumbnail
Masc Frame (distorts on transmasc)
Download: Patreon (free) | S4S
Credit to plaza for the original. I think I'm done spamming now. More stuff here, like, reblog, and have fun. I'm gonna take a nap. IB Last update for a bit. I need to sleep, and actually do birthday things. Hope you like it. <3
Other cc by everyone ever @zeussim @wistfulpoltergeist @natalia-auditore @regina-raven @lady-moriel @shandir @johnnysimmer @simandy @laeska and @blahberry-pancake. Poses by @surely-sims @simmerberlin and @herecirmsims.
Models: Sir Killian d'Artes, Lord Wrath & Darin Harte, Lord Lust. Guest starring people Killian doesn't know, so you can't see their faces. I'm clever, okay.
Only the most adept wizard could be made Head of the Sorcerer Clan, and Archmage Faire was adept in ways no one after him could attain. Able to summon down lightning or flame with a gesture, Faire was nevertheless the diplomat of the Traerid, reserving use of his power for only the most dire circumstances.
"Though his son and great-grandson carried on his great legacy, no one before or since could match the raw power of Lord Faire."
Yes, I overdid it with this edit, but in my defense--it was fun. Also, Faire is insanely OP, and we do love when patient people lose their tempers. You'd never believe he's a huge nerd scholar.
Unedited below. Fun fact: most of the effects you see are in-game. All I did was polish them up.
Armor recolor; original by @cursedbeasts-cc
Eyes (ours; unreleased)
Hair @simandy
Magic Circle @lumenniveus
Soldiers by @notsooldmadcatlady
Pose @freezerbnuuy
...Pretend I wrote something clever here, okay? :B <3 I'm sleepy.
Mesh Edit (original by Cepzid/Zulf/Ferdiana)
Found in Vests
36 Swatches, Sinful Palette
8 Bonus Swatches, prototype KINGDOM Palette
Custom thumbnails
Masc Frame (trans inclusive, I think)
Download: Patreon (free) | SFS
Full credit to Cepzid for the original conversion. I reshaped it a bit, for a more streamlined silhouette, but wasn't sure how to do a mesh-edit without the mesh. So it's included. If she wants me to take it down, she can just let me know. Hopefully she won't mind.
Other CAS and decor cc by @saurusness @pralinesims @laeska @lady-moriel @simdertalia and @moontaart. Pose by @herecirmsims (who has got to be sick of me by now)
Models: The Duke of Kant & Joanna de Aragon, Lady Avarice
Only the most adept wizard could be made Head of the Sorcerer Clan, and Archmage Faire was adept in ways no one after him could attain. Able to summon down lightning or flame with a gesture, Faire was nevertheless the diplomat of the Traerid, reserving use of his power for only the most dire circumstances.
"Though his son and great-grandson carried on his great legacy, no one before or since could match the raw power of Lord Faire."
Yes, I overdid it with this edit, but in my defense--it was fun. Also, Faire is insanely OP, and we do love when patient people lose their tempers. You'd never believe he's a huge nerd scholar.
Unedited below. Fun fact: most of the effects you see are in-game. All I did was polish them up.
Armor recolor; original by @cursedbeasts-cc
Eyes (ours; unreleased)
Hair @simandy
Magic Circle @lumenniveus
Soldiers by @notsooldmadcatlady
Pose @freezerbnuuy
So there's overdoing it, and then there's whatever this is. But hey, it's not every day I get to do an edit of the Archmage of Tarsh. RIP, y'all.
ANYWAY! Second drop of God knows how many, a recolor I did of this armor by @cursedbeasts-cc. I've wanted to do this one forever, and I finally finished! Then I sat on it, like a fool. So here you go!
Mesh Included (original by @cursedbeasts-cc)
Found in Costumes, Jumpsuits and Aprons
18 Swatches, Tarshian Palette
+Sash Overlay, under Socks
Custom thumbnails
Masc & Femme Frames (trans inclusive-ish, enabled for all)
Download: Patreon (free) | SFS
Shoutout to cursedbeasts-cc, for the mesh, and for being one of the first creators to inspire me to create. Thanks for putting me on a warpath I may never escape. :D
More stuff here, like, reblog, go download the original, and have fun.
So there's overdoing it, and then there's whatever this is. But hey, it's not every day I get to do an edit of the Archmage of Tarsh. RIP, y'all.
ANYWAY! Second drop of God knows how many, a recolor I did of this armor by @cursedbeasts-cc. I've wanted to do this one forever, and I finally finished! Then I sat on it, like a fool. So here you go!
Mesh Included (original by @cursedbeasts-cc)
Found in Costumes, Jumpsuits and Aprons
18 Swatches, Tarshian Palette
+Sash Overlay, under Socks
Custom thumbnails
Masc & Femme Frames (trans inclusive-ish, enabled for all)
Download: Patreon (free) | SFS
Shoutout to cursedbeasts-cc, for the mesh, and for being one of the first creators to inspire me to create. Thanks for putting me on a warpath I may never escape. :D
More stuff here, like, reblog, go download the original, and have fun.
My birthday is this weekend, so you get gifts! By request: more sword racks, liberated from R&L debug, remeshed, retextured, recolored and slotted. Functions with the Royal Arms Collection of deco swords.
To find in BB, search 'royal arms' or 'xandezsims'.
Royal Arms Sword Racks:
Found in Surfaces > Displays
3 stands
Slotted (use bb.moveobjects on)
Merchant Sword Rack: 6 stacked slots; swords can be adjusted a bit up or down
Soldier Sword Mount: 10 metal swatches. Wall-mounted, 2 stacked slots; swords can be adjusted a bit up or down. (Yes, you can stick a sword on the wall now.)
Smith Sword Rack: 3 horizontal slots. Warning: Once placed, swords will remain horizontal once removed. To reset rotation, use the hidden slot at the back to stand them back up.
Download: Patreon (free) | SFS
More stuff here, tag us, any problems, let us know. Ko-Fi here to help buy kitten food. Have fun. More stuff shortly, so buckle up.
So I'm gonna randomly dump a bunch of things I've been sitting on, in no particular order. Because the best gift I can get it validation, so you all get free stuff. Stay tuned. IP
Thanks @herecirmsims for the tag. You gave me an excuse to talk about V: shown here in his future as the Viscount, tutoring his son Payne. The trick is: him being alive is the AU. Originally--canonically--Vischias Sei'Dist was dead. Both perpetrator and victim of a mental breakdown that ended his life, Vischias died in agony, and lingered as a murderous ghost. That was his fate. We just decided that he deserved better...and someone in his world agreed enough to change it, literally.
Now, he does survive. He gets to live past the crisis, learn to cope with his condition, and even found someone to love. (Though, more accurately, they found him.) To say he's better off is putting it lightly. V is a cornerstone of our world-building, and my personal favorite character. And I never would've known that if Someone hadn't given him a better chance.
These edits are based on drawings I did of V's original fate, and his better future. Originals under the cut, along with a bit more about V and how his fate changed.
Other cc by @lumenniveus @simandy @johnnysimmer @strangestorytellersims @luumia @igorstory @anachrosims and Felixandre. Poses by @surely-sims @natalia-auditore and Akuiyumi.
✶ Rules: Pick an OC and recreate an alternate version of them
✶ Challenge created by @elderwisp
Tagging: @taanoir @crazy-hazy-sims @surely-sims and @morrigan-sims (I know you did it, I wanna see another lol but no pressure ;B)
In the first draft, Vischias--the older brother mentioned in Helvah and Frederick's post--was the villain. The vengeful ghost of Helvah's murderous brother. When I came up with him, I was 19, I only knew he was "mad". That madness got his entire family killed, aside from Helvah. V himself got the worst of it; the violence of his death was inhuman, and left his ghost horrifically mutilated. Unable to cope with the horror of his own death, V became a poltergeist, and made it his mission to hunt his brother down. Helvah got to walk away, and that wasn't fair. He was going to finish what he started.
I was much older when I realized that V's plot wasn't a horror story. It was a tragedy. He was 21 when he died--hardly grown--and mentally ill in a time when it wasn't well understood. I asked myself, what would it have taken to prevent it? The answer was that someone would've had to care enough to be there for him, before it was too late to stop the train. It was a shame that no one ever had.
Somewhere in the ether, something not human took notice of an angry ghost raising hell. It was amused, at first, drawn to chaos and pain. But the longer it watched, the more it saw that, behind his rage and bravado, this was just a boy, deeply hurt and terribly alone. That Something decided that it was going to prevent his fate. So, using all its phenomenal, cosmic power, it broke the goddamn universe.
But, that is a very long story. You'd have to actually ask. Needless to say, Things Changed. It wasn't a hand-wave, and it was hard-won. And we are very happy for him.
If you read this, here's your reading bonus. As a thank you for caring. (Or at least scrolling to the bottom.)
Hi, we wanted to do a Pride shoot like usual but Xan got sick, so here's a favorite edit of our Sim-Selves instead. Because we count. Anyway, hope you had a happy Pride! And we love you. <3
And we're gonna try to have Pride stuff soon because it's never over
"I will find you!" he called across the impossible space, "No matter how long it takes! Nothing in Heaven or Hell will stop me, I swear it!"
Miles and years and lifetimes away, Frederick gave him one last smile and said, "I know." And then, he was gone, torn away by the gale, as if he had never been.
Then, only Helvah remained—left to be torn by the unseen winds of that great and terrible chaos. To be unmade, as everything he had come to love simply ceased to be.
Made for this monster post, but I'm low-key obsessed with it, okay? It deserves its own post. Helvah being so far off-model is extremely jarring. But, nearly being murdered as your universe caves in has an effect on your final moments. At least before the world-state resets.
I haven't even started to set up the explanation for this image. No one has time or attention for that. Anyway. Don't mind me. Just abusing my star backdrop, and this set by @herecirmsims.
Other cc by @subtles4stubble @natalia-auditore @daylifesims @trillyke and @lady-moriel. (And us.) Unedited below the cut.
I straight-up made cc for this. That's how much it means to me.
This started life as a 'share your favorite Sim' tag game, but it got deep when we realized we couldn't just present them without explaining them. Largely for @morrigan-sims , who both tagged us, and inspired us to talk about the characters we owe everything. Morrigan recently went through something we've been through, so it felt right.
This is our equivalent of "it gets better", but for characters. And it's longer than it has any right to be, so buckle up. There's a reason we don't talk about our kids much. This is what happens.
Frederick Duncan and Henry Christophe Abernathy started their lives as Frederick Du Con and Helvah Sei'Dist. These two have appeared before, but not in their "true" forms. And the reason for that is...that their world died, and we had to move them elsewhere. Then, we sorta moved them back? More on that below, along with the questions.
Before that, cc credits here: @subtles4stubble @joliebean @simandy @shandir @strangestorytellersims @daylifesims @trillyke and @tzuhu [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Poses by @helgatisha @herecirmsims and @atashi77.
Survivors of World-Death:
Frederick and Helvah started life in a slightly kinky, comical fantasy RPG, where Dez and I met in 2006. In a world of cat-boys, maid costumes and magic, we found each other through common ground: we both made complex characters, with books-worth of backstory, and could not wait to challenge them. Dez's enthusiastic comment on my concept art started a friendship that would change both our lives. Our characters later fell in love--10 years before we realized that we had fallen in love, too. We just hadn't known it yet. Because we're dumb af.
Then, the worst happened. In 2009, the RPG group fell apart, and the site that hosted it was suddenly shut down. We were crushed. It was like their world had disappeared, threatening to take them with it. The setting belonged to someone else. What could we do with characters that had nowhere to go?
We did other things, for a while--but we kept them in our minds. They showed up as cameos in modern worlds, and we played with their dynamic. The answer to the problem came suddenly in 2017. We didn't own the world they came from, but we owned their origins. As they came from the same kingdom, a neighbor of the original setting, we simply moved them home. That is how our series, KINGDOM, got started. Their part of the world has been revised, through an event that reset their timeline, but it's better for them both. And, they get to be together. That's all that matters.
The moral here is this: you may share your characters' lives and worlds with other people--but in the end, they are yours, and they remain with you. You just have to find where they belong. It may take some time, but they'll be ready when you are.
(Also, save everything you make. Or you'll end up like me and Dez, spending a week digging for 20-year-old character references.)
Now that we've lost 95% of you: the actual prompts lmao
Helvah: Helvah is a workaholic. He spends more time researching than he does sleeping. As Henry, he works for an intelligence agency--a nod to his role in KINGDOM, where he serves as Royal Inquisitor to the Queen of Achillea. (Much more fun than it sounds.) When he's not working, he goes on long people-watching walks. His hobbies include reading, languages, yoga, contortionism, knot-tying, journaling, and giving unasked-for advice.
Frederick: Aside from the time period, the major difference between settings is that in KINGDOM, Frederick has his life figured out, and in the modern world, he doesn't. (Relatable.) At home, he spends his days reading and giving asked-for advice as court counselor. In the modern day, he has a few more challenges, including deciding what he wants to do with his life. Tea cups stack up on his desk in both places. Only one has servants to collect them before they go weird. The other one has a bemused Henry instead.
A Bit About Their Family:
Helvah: It's complicated. His noble/rich parents were distant growing up, leaving him in the care of a nanny and their head servant, who are more like his parents. His older brother, V, is equal parts his closest ally and worst enemy. Despite this, he often runs interference between his brother and parents (and other people), mediating to keep personalities from boiling over. He grew to understand his father as he aged, and they have a subtle bond. His mother is present, but the brilliance he inherited reflects more coldly from her. They don't see eye to eye; she's too much like her older son.
Frederick: Freddie is the youngest adopted son of a soldier who does not like other people. His older sibling, Fred--also adopted--is the bad one, and encourages freethinking (and often destructive behavior). Freddie learned most of his counseling skill negotiating between Fred and their father, Reginald. He loves them, but if being an adult is having your shit figured out, he's fairly sure they aren't adults. Reginald is protective of him, being the baby, but his sibling's interference prevented him being too smothered. Despite Dad's best efforts.
A Bit About Their Close Relationships/Friends:
Helvah is generally too busy to keep close friends, but he was on good terms with most of the court. His older brother is a constant source of frustration, and they share a somewhat unhealthy rivalry. Helvah would back him in a fight without question, but he'd also fight him in the dirt, and definitely lose. V's overt athleticism and brutality inspired Helvah to favor strategy over force, using him as an example to avoid. Even in a modern setting, the dynamic remains: Henry is the peacekeeper, and V is the problem. Both are fine with this.
Freddie gets along well with his father's partner, Jasper, who partly helped to raise him and is also a bad influence, and with his older sibling Fred. Frederick looks up to Fred for all the wrong reasons, inspired by their daring, if not their poor choices. Fred spent their childhood looking out for him. His father dotes on him, though his workload prevents them spending much time together. He has a friendly relationship with the entire castle staff, largely because he grew up with few servants and views everyone fairly equally.
Their Goals In Life:
Having a life is about all they can hope for, considering their backgrounds, and they are enjoying it as much as they can. Their current focus is raising their kids and keeping their siblings out of trouble. And they're happy to have the chance.
Tagging:
If you're actually reading this, you're tagged. Don't take our example; we had to go overboard. Thanks for coming to our TED talk. If you read this far, you get free cc. Both for male frame. (Don't snitch. Thank you for reading.)
