xiapxls

xia | she/her | 26 | Finland

[xiapxls]

Hey yall, it's apparently time for my yearly text post again. I'm still alive, though a lot has happened in the last year. Last July my cat died at 15 years old, so last fall was awful. Then I got a new cat at Christmas, and then in February I got a new job that I like a lot better with a much shorter commute too. And I'm currently on summer vacation so I'd say I'm doing well now.

Sims-wise I know I'm not the only one who's been fed up with how broken the game has been as of late. I've been playing through my backlog of other games, but lately I've been getting the itch to get back into TS4 and posting (deciding to go 🏴‍☠️ definitely helped there). It's been so long I do need a fresh start, though, and I have some plans for what I want to do, but I'm gonna wait until the new pack (and patch?) comes out and see how much it breaks the game before I even think of playing. But hopefully I'll be back someday soon-ish?

[xiapxls]

Hey so it's been a while again, and that's because I just don't know what to do with this blog anymore. It's been so long, and we've had so many game updates, and we've had some tumblr updates, too, it's been really hard to get back into things. The thought of just deleting everything and starting fresh also won't leave me alone, no matter how many times I decide I'm not going to do that, it just keeps coming back. I just feel like all my saves are a mess and this blog is a mess. I haven't updated this blog in ages, I don't like the way I've organized things, and there's some stuff in game I also wished I'd done differently.

But I do actually like my saves so I don't want to complete get rid of them. So when I say 'delete everything and start fresh' I actually mean I would like to reboot them. The 100 baby challenge especially, but also SuperValerie. Though I kinda dread the idea of starting that over bc I've already done so much and the thought of doing it all over again is kind of a lot, I still kinda want to do it.

I also feel kinda shitty thinking about doing this after I just did the bachelorette challenge and got some amazing sims from members of the community. I know community challenges like bcs end up getting canceled and going nowhere all the time here, but still. I feel bad about it. Now I also know the common advice is just don't worry about it, just do what you want, this is just a hobby after all, but the problem is I just don't know what it is I want. I keep going back and forth between continuing where I left off and starting over, but I genuinely don't know if starting over is what I really want or if I'm just obsessing over some minor things that don't matter and I should just keep going.

That said, if I do end up going down the reboot road, I probably wouldn't delete anything on this blog bc I personally don't like it when simblrs actually do that. What I would do is probably make a new blog and keep this one around as an archive.

So, yeah, that's where I'm at right now. I'll be back when I figure this shit out, though I have no idea when that'll be. I suppose at some point I might try starting a little SuperValerie reboot and seeing whether I like it or not. I'll let you know how it goes. Whatever happens I won't just disappear and delete everything without warning, that I can promise you.

TL;DR I'm considering rebooting my saves. I'll let you know what I've decided when I've decided.

[xiapxls]

*taps mic* Anyone here?

Hi. Sorry. I did not mean to be gone for over a year holy shit. I mean I haven’t really been gone, I’ve been here literally every day reading all your posts like usual, thinking about posting an update about 1-4 times a week every week ever since the bc ended in June last year.

Long story short, first work was kicking my ass, then work + working on my thesis was kicking my ass, then I graduated, then work was kicking my ass again, but slightly less this time, and then I had a ts4 crisis where I kinda wanted to delete all my saves and start all over again, but I also definitely didn’t want to delete all my saves. So that was fun.

I’m over that now, though, and I’m also on summer vacation. So I’ve been trying to get back into playing ts4 again, which has been kinda hard bc HSY made some changes to the life stage durations and then they added infants and suddenly I just don’t know how to play this game anymore? I’ve also completely forgotten how to play the game while taking pics and notes so that was also something that made it more difficult to come back.

But I did manage to play some SuperValerie today. I don’t know how long it’ll take to get a queue going again bc it’s been so long, but I just wanted to let you know I’m alive and well. And hopefully I’ll be back sometime soon.

[xiapxls]

Congratulations Valerie & Gabrielle, and congratulations @mvlkavian​! Gabrielle is an amazing sim, and I’m so excited to for her and Valerie’s life together!

I was initially very worried about getting enough contestants, thinking I was far too small a simblr to be doing a BC, but I’m so glad I ended up doing this. Playing this BC was honestly so much fun! I learned a lot, too, so if I ever do another one hopefully I’ll be able to avoid most of the mistakes I made with this one. And I do want to do another BC someday, but probably not anytime soon.

[xiapxls]

That means Gabrielle is the winner! So Valerie calls her over and pops the question, and of course Gabrielle accepts!

Gabrielle’s final friendship / romance score was 100 / 77. Yes, she really won by just a measly three points, it was that close! But in the end Gabrielle’s aggressive autonomous gestures paid off, and she won herself a place in Valerie’s heart, and in her mansion.

[xiapxls]

@simsinfinitylt Thank you so much for sending Betsy, and I’m so sorry! She’s such a sweetheart and she was so close, but alas not close enough.

Betsy’s final friendship/romance score was 100 / 74. She was actually in the lead by exactly one romance point after both dates were over, so it really came down to those autonomous kisses. Unfortunately she was just a little too passive to earn herself the win.

[xiapxls]

Valerie decides to talk to Betsy first... And let her know that unfortunately she’s not the one. Honestly, Betsy took the news much better than I did bc this decision absolutely destroyed me. But it had to be done.

[xiapxls]

But eventually the clock strikes 7 for the final time in this challenge. It’s time to make the final decision.

[xiapxls]

Valerie spent the rest of the evening taking turns kissing both Betsy and Gabrielle. No, really, this went on for hours.

[xiapxls]

Back home Gabrielle immediately greets Valerie with a kiss.

[xiapxls]

The flirting continued at the table, and this time the food arrived much more smoothly. This date also ended up bronze.

Autonomous interactions: mistletoe kiss x2, recite love poetry, flirt

[xiapxls]

Valerie got another whim for a kiss, and Betsy immediately followed with a mistletoe kiss, to which Valerie responded with a mistletoe kiss of her own.

[xiapxls]

The next morning it’s immediately time for Betsy’s date. They went out for breakfast, and I suppose I could have chosen a little more romantic restaurant for this, but it’s a little too late now. I guess this will be more of a casual date, then.

[xiapxls]

There was some glitchiness, but eventually Valerie and Gabrielle got their food, and the date ended up being bronze.

Autonomous interactions: flirt, complain about new skill day, inside joke, gross joke, impress with video game prowess

[xiapxls]

For these final dates I will not be giving them any directions regarding interactions. I did make them get a table, and I will make sure they eat, but other than that, it’s all up to autonomy + any whims Valerie might get.

Valerie did get a whim for a kiss, and then they happily chatted and flirted with each other while they waited for the food to arrive.

[xiapxls]

It’s finally time for a date, so I rolled a die to see who would go first, and it ended up being Gabrielle. So they went out for dinner, and I do gotta say that is a really pretty view.

[xiapxls]

Then Diego called Gabrielle to tell her he’s got a crush on Agnes Crumplebottom. Listen, Diego, while I do want you and all the other eliminated contestants to get married and have cute kids so I can marry them into the family later, I sincerely don’t think this is a good idea.

Also at this point I realized, wait, why aren’t your phones silenced, they were supposed to be. So now they are.