Thanks @Pegasus143 and @Meggles for the audition suggestions! I think I will select two short and (relatively) easy pieces from Bach's 4th cello suite and try to polish them as much as I can... Oh. Boy.
I will try to play with Tiger Spirit so I don't get nervous!
@Rainydayz179 That's so cool that you love music! Singing seems like a neat way to be involved with music!
Thanks @Pegasus143 and @Meggles for the audition suggestions! I think I will select two short and (relatively) easy pieces from Bach's 4th cello suite and try to polish them as much as I can... Oh. Boy.
I will try to play with Tiger Spirit so I don't get nervous!
@Rainydayz179 That's so cool that you love music! Singing seems like a neat way to be involved with music!
what audition? ive been here on and off for a day and a half.
yeah i finally know something sissy doesn't.lol that almost never happens usually its her saying something that goes complely over my head and me saying i'm confused.
sis a switch is nintendos new game system.
Awesome! Well, let me know how it goes! I hear that Masquerada ) https://twitter.com/masqueradagame?lang=en) is THE game to play, and it's coming out on consoles on Aug. 8--don't know if this means Switch or not.
Hello thread! I checked out the into posts and it seems like a chill place!
@CathyTea ...oh, you've done it now! Thanks for the mention and I'm glad my legacy's story adds to your internal debate on creativity/ideas/cause-and-effect/philosophy. I'll dabble with you.
My process for the legacy is more so game-lead than not. I thought it'd be a fun writing exercise to interoperate game events into a story. It's not a whim challenge, so I'm not completing every whim, but I try my best to focus on whims that would "make sense" or flow with the story. Of course that means getting a little off the path sometimes with side-characters, instead of focusing on the current household head, but they're always characters that are relevant to the story (i.e. Generation 4's step-sister/girlfriend). I then do my best to justify events in a slow way that makes sense. It often leaves me wondering...who's in control here?
I guess it can sound a little silly to think that way, but I do sometimes! Especially with this legacy, and my Tiny Living Challenge (the game has a mind of its own. I swear!).
I know the choices I have my sims make, whim generated, or not, influence whims the sims get in the future. But who's really leading this operation? Is it me? Because it doesn't always feel that way, for sure. A great example (that I didn't follow through on) is today: Louis got a whim to flirt with Myra, his step-mother. It's wrong on all sorts of levels, but I could choose to let him do it. Or, as he's got autonomy, he could go ahead and do it himself (which is how Gen2 had so many children!). That, I feel, is another layer that should be added to the conversation: autonomy. Sims will do all sorts of things without us, even try for baby, so how exactly does that come into play with our own ideas and imaginations? Sometimes they autonomously do what I "think would be neat for the story" and sometimes its something that will stress me out.
Have you read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert? Its about living your most creative life and what that can mean for you. In it, Gilbert talks about ideas and her...idea...of them. She thinks they're beings in this world that we cannot see, floating in and around us until they find someone that can make them come true. They form a contract with you, then stay until you deliver your promise. If you can't deliver, the idea leaves and finds someone else to contract with. It's a really interesting philosophy, and she gives several examples that yield the heebie-jeebies.
Just wanna say... I think spamming is fine in this thread, especially, when you have multiple topics you want to bring up! I, personally, am from the old school of "One Topic Per Message" because it helps with replying and it helps me keep track of it all...
So... if I spam, that's likely why! Plus being Fan Of Spam!
@CathyTea & @Asaoyoru Awww, you guyyyys. Thank you so much! Tad does have a fanclub, I guess. It's... I still find it difficult to wrap my head around that.
Thanks to your kind words, I decided to test my new Inktense colour pencils by drawing a pic of Tad for you guys and all the other Tad-fans out there:
Those flowers are probably flower-souls and not alive ones...
...Also Tad is very much in his head or somewhere other than where his body is even as a Sim. He spaces out a lot and tends to stare blankly at people. For some reason, his animations sort of glitch out a bit more than average, so sometimes, when he's sitting at a table, he may hold conversations with others by just staring at them. This occasionally happens with other Sims too, but I've noticed that he does that more often than others. Or then I'm just noticing them more with him because I expect him to be like that. Though sometimes Tad exhibits incredible situational awareness, such as realising that Amelia has just been insulted by someone and is feeling upset. While she was at the front yard and he was indoors, somewhere near the back of the house. So he suddenly just walked across the house and outside just to give Amelia a hug. This all happened totally autonomously.
First, what a lovely Tad drawing! Maybe they are dreams of flowers! Like he's got a dream of a heart!
And... That story about Tad in-game is amazing!
@Asaoyoru 's Sierra is also getting me back to thinking about Sims as digital individuals...
HUGE plot! I mean, gigantic! And, it's coming from the Sims and from the game...
So... a lot of the stories we write come from our imaginations... and a lot comes from the game and from the Sims themselves. And that's always something I wonder about.
I know that, probably for most of us, a lot of our writing is drawn from our close observations of our Sims... they show us who they are and "the lives they want to lead" and we pull our stories from there. And I also wonder about the two-way connection of imagination. In what ways do our imaginations infuse the game?
Certainly, we shape and shift the game-engine (the artificial intelligence of the game and of each and every Sim) through the choices we make. It is built on adaptive intelligence--so every single click we make influences the intelligence of the game. And so obviously that's a big part of how our imaginations infuse the game... but I wonder, too, about the energy of our imagination...
When I am in my most quantum-like perspectives, I think about the energy of our thoughts and imaginations interacting with the energy of the game and our Sims... on a very physical level, not even metaphysical. Well, if you've thought about this or have pursued these types of ideas, I'd love to hear your thoughts and insights!
I am loving the conversation here! And hello @allysimbuilds ! Great to run into you on the forums.
Although I love reading the conversation, I don't know that I have much to contribute so I'll just sit back and enjoy reading what you all have to say.
I will say that I've found that my more introspective sims seem to develop the most unique/ vivid personalities. It's always great when I'm observing a sim and feel like they have a hidden trait. My generation 2 Build Newcrest heir, for example, I believe has a hidden loner trait. Even though according to her panel she's not a loner, she acts like one. It's not that she always wants to be alone, but she is very selective about how she spends her time and who she spends it with. It's fascinating to watch.
Although I love reading the conversation, I don't know that I have much to contribute so I'll just sit back and enjoy reading what you all have to say.
I'm feeling the same way today! Like, I've stopped in several times and not one thing has come to mind to say. I did manage to get a chapter written today though so I'm actually feeling like I accomplished something today!
Although I love reading the conversation, I don't know that I have much to contribute so I'll just sit back and enjoy reading what you all have to say.
I'm feeling the same way today! Like, I've stopped in several times and not one thing has come to mind to say. I did manage to get a chapter written today though so I'm actually feeling like I accomplished something today!
i'm working on charcter profiles for the rest of the benders. but i think i have a short attetionspan i stopped already.
@ny275 Oh boy! You're here, too?! I read stories all day and comment on their respective threads, so I'm a little confused as to how we haven't met up on here sooner... lol. Oh well!
Hi everyone, sorry I kinda disappeared. I posted about why I've been silent in the kindness bench thread, but I have been lurking-ish!
From the little bit I played of my vampire "mother" Helena, she's very aware of her role in my story and the family dynamic. She's constantly getting whims to use interactions from the parenthood pack (I cheated to give her the good character value traits, shhhh.) and she's always wanting to interact with them. She doesn't have the family trait, or any of the family aspirations either. Whereas her helper Ophelia isn't as hands on. She gets the occasional whim, but not as often as Helena does, but she has the family aspiration.
It's probably not what @CathyTea was talking about when asking "What are your experiences with your Sims being "in their heads" and "in their bodies"? Do you have Sims who live in the present? Do you have Sims who live mostly in the past or mostly in the future?" though, but I thought it was a cool observation.
@allysimbuilds Hello! I haven't seen you around, so (belated) welcome to the fringe~
hello everyone, I'm just exhausted from a week of Bible Camp and then running around making supper. I'm like zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and my legs feel like i have the overexcerised moodlet from Sims 4
@Asaoyoru I have a huge SimSquish on him! He's just so... amazing. This chapter you posted yesterday, Ripu... Man! If it weren't so exciting, my heart would be in a thousand pieces!
@Pegasus143 I remember that laughing-to-oneself in TS2! I thought that was such an endearing animation! I've seen variations on it in TS3 and TS4, too, and it does seem to present a very internal state.
@Asaoyoru Don't you think that Gael and Sierra have really beautiful body awareness? Gael seems really physically centered--and Sierra's just got the whole package! She's one of those amazing, inspiring Sims! A role model!
@RipuAncestor I was thinking when I was reading this morning that Dewey and Novak have really good body awareness, natural and developed, for both of them. And Fate does, too, interestingly enough! So does Love, of course! And Tad has out-of-body awareness!
In my Sims, Sugar has incredible body awareness. She's very physical, being an Aries Moon, and I love to play her because she's so different from me in her physical-centeredness.
@jbestxoxo Welcome to the Fringe! I'm glad you're here!
And... I'm purposely NOT talking about tests! Oooh! Scary!
Oh, @Meggles - I'm going to be playing in a chamber group this fall! And they accept everybody! But even so, I'm already nervous about having to play for the coaches so they can see where to place me... I keep thinking maybe I should play something super easy, but if I play something easy and can't get a good sound, that's even worse than playing something challenging scratchy! I should as @Pegasus143 for tips!
i just saw this............... you made me smile when you said tests are scary, your a teacher.lol.
First, what a lovely Tad drawing! Maybe they are dreams of flowers! Like he's got a dream of a heart!
And... That story about Tad in-game is amazing!
Thank you! It was kind of a speed-drawing, so I can blame that on all the small errors... that I'm not gonna point out here because then everyone is just going to see them and nothing else.
I know that, probably for most of us, a lot of our writing is drawn from our close observations of our Sims... they show us who they are and "the lives they want to lead" and we pull our stories from there. And I also wonder about the two-way connection of imagination. In what ways do our imaginations infuse the game?
Certainly, we shape and shift the game-engine (the artificial intelligence of the game and of each and every Sim) through the choices we make. It is built on adaptive intelligence--so every single click we make influences the intelligence of the game. And so obviously that's a big part of how our imaginations infuse the game... but I wonder, too, about the energy of our imagination...
When I am in my most quantum-like perspectives, I think about the energy of our thoughts and imaginations interacting with the energy of the game and our Sims... on a very physical level, not even metaphysical. Well, if you've thought about this or have pursued these types of ideas, I'd love to hear your thoughts and insights!
This is interesting, and I think that there are very different ways of interpreting the game in our community, and it shows in our writing a lot. Some take stuff more straight out of our imaginations and sometimes flat-out ignore what happens in the game (like I do, though I too take inspiration from the game and how the Sims react in that), and some can observe the game very closely and let that fuel their imagination a lot more. And there's a lot of ways in between those and more. And I think they're all creative, great ways to play and write and interpret the game.
I notice that the way I've created and written the characters in the stories very heavily influence how I interpret their actions in-game. Though since I take a lot of cues to their personalities from the traits they have especially with the more central characters, they do often act the way I think they do.
My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
Also, my legacy founder/sim self is a loner. I love her combination of loner & friendly traits. I somehow think that playing her and writing about her is like placing myself in the "honorable" role of Legacy Founder and that giving attention to her is some kind of self-care, and that save is the one I'm finally content with, too. I am finally able to be attached to a Sim and finally managed to write a chapter for the same Sim's story.
@CathyTea , you mentioned on the first page something like that you won't update your story because you think you'll get tired and bored, so it will get boring. I experienced that with my story's beginning, but I made some breaks to be able to finish it. I needed to do it since I don't know how to plan out chapters other than writing an update consisting of screenshots of my whole gaming session.
Hi! You know what's great about having term break? Having time to talk to all of you!
@allysimbuilds, @RipuAncestor and @CathyTea and @DreamsInPixels Thank you so much for your thoughts about Sims and autonomy! Since I started telling my Pinstar legacy like a commentary, I feel as if the plot writes itself. I'm not sure if I'm 100% right all of the time, since the story does go over my filtered interpretation of the events that are happening in game, but I think this way of playing is really fulfilling!
@ny275 Since you already mentioned her, it's okay to fangirl, right? I love your Gen2 and her stunning beauty. If you ever have a spare you can't use, I would be willing to adopt for sure Somehow all of your sims are so gorgeous ...
@Rainydayz179 Yay for the chapter! That's an accomplishment for sure!
@MadameLee Cool that you made it through bible camp! I used to do the German version of that before I moved away from home and I remember it being a hassle sometimes. I hope you can rest up and restore your energy!
@RipuAncestor That picture is so pretty! I once read a book where flowers were souls (can't remember the title, though) and I immediately made that connection. Amelia's soul would be the most colorful bouquet, I think. And Tad would probably have a bunch of white lilies ... now I'm thinking about that ...
@ninaumi Hi! I'm so glad you found something you like to write! That sounds so interesting!
I've come with a topic/a question that might concern those who take a more game-driven approach and like to play with their Sims whims and wishes in mind. My Generation 1 spouse, Sierra, is an active bookworm who likes to be creative a lot, especially since she had her child. But her aspiration is Computer Whiz. She never whims for anything video-game related and barely ever wants to program and when she does, her funmeter goes yellow very quickly. For the aspiration, she would have to quit her job as a writer (which she seems to love) and go into the techguru career ... But I'm not seeing her as that at all. What do you think I should do? Break the legacy rules and change her aspiration? Ignore the aspiration alltogether? I had to change Gael's because it was impossible to fulfill for a legacy because he couldn't own an apartment, but Sierra could very well do it ... Or am I thinking too much about this? Maybe I'm just weird and want to make my Sims happy too much?
@Asaoyoru It's okay to fangirl! I'm hoping to have some cute spares around for the generation 2 casting call you're doing!
In @CathyTea 's Goofy Love, there were a few aspirations that went un-finished for various reasons. Of course, CT can give you more insight on that because it was her game! I don't think those sims were any less accomplished or happy because they did not complete an aspiration. Of course, her legacy was 100% Pinstar compliant (until that phenomenal sim, Sugar, came around).
Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong in changing aspirations for my sims- even in challenges when that kind of thing is forbidden. I will try to complete them but sometimes a sim and their aspiration doesn't fit. I know sims aren't humans, but a lot of people see their aspirations change throughout life. Especially if they get married and have children. And some people's aspirations stay the same no matter what happens to them.
Olivia Marie's (since we were just talking about her) aspiration is Big Happy Family but I don't think it really fits her. Its required by the Build Newcrest challenge so we're both going along with it, but I'm sure she would prefer something like Nerd Brain. If this was a normal Pinstar legacy and she rolled that aspiration, though, I would probably change it because I don't think it fits her.
Sierra, well, she's a unique sim so I won't tell you what to do, but I hope I gave a little insight.
I've come with a topic/a question that might concern those who take a more game-driven approach and like to play with their Sims whims and wishes in mind. My Generation 1 spouse, Sierra, is an active bookworm who likes to be creative a lot, especially since she had her child. But her aspiration is Computer Whiz. She never whims for anything video-game related and barely ever wants to program and when she does, her funmeter goes yellow very quickly. For the aspiration, she would have to quit her job as a writer (which she seems to love) and go into the techguru career ... But I'm not seeing her as that at all. What do you think I should do? Break the legacy rules and change her aspiration? Ignore the aspiration alltogether? I had to change Gael's because it was impossible to fulfill for a legacy because he couldn't own an apartment, but Sierra could very well do it ... Or am I thinking too much about this? Maybe I'm just weird and want to make my Sims happy too much?
I'm a whim expert! LOL Okay so, she's not going to get those gaming and programming whims if she doesn't have the skill. Even with the skill sometimes if you go for awhile not working on it you'll stop getting the whims. Are you scoring your legacy? If so, I wouldn't change it. That's kinda why we use the randomizer to pick their traits and aspirations. To make things more difficult. If not, I agree with @ny275 go ahead and change it to something more fitting. If you're playing a lot with whims switching aspirations often can help to get new ones. You could have her listen to music while she programs. That would keep the fun meter up.
@Asaoyoru well when you consider this is my 14th year of helping with Bible camp. The only time I changed a aspiration was for story-purposes.
I started to realize something a bit odd about my Swanson Legacy. Apparently an actor who was in the Disney Channel movie "Smart House" in the 90s has appeared in the TV show "Pretty Little Liars" which theme song i used for one of my Interlude chapters. Or (Lea Salonga) had portrayed a character in a Les Miserables performance which one of the show's song is another song I used as well..
I thinking of watch 13 Disney Channel movies (2 Halloween-related) and I coudln't decide what to watch first so should I just go with order of release?
@RipuAncestor That picture is so pretty! I once read a book where flowers were souls (can't remember the title, though) and I immediately made that connection. Amelia's soul would be the most colorful bouquet, I think. And Tad would probably have a bunch of white lilies ... now I'm thinking about that ...
Thank you! Flowers as souls sounds like a really neat concept. Reminds me of the point and click adventure game Grim Fandango, which takes place in the afterlife... or at least in a world that leads to the proper afterlife, and the only way for the undead/souls to die again (which is bad, because then they probably won't get to move on to the actual afterlife) is to be "sprouted", which means they're hit with a substance that makes flowers sprout all over them (it's pretty gruesome even when they're all cartoonish, skeletons) and it's hinted that the flowers change depending on the soul that's being sprouted.
Amelia's soul would be so colourful and happy. Tad and white lilies go together really well. If he even has a soul... I imagine he doesn't have one in the same sense living ones have, but if he did it would probably be lilies, with maybe purple and black roses or something thrown in.
My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
@Asaoyoru I'm not thinking you should change her aspiration, but it is your story. As far as things stand now, wouldn't her failure to complete her lifetime aspiration be part of the story? Lots of people don't fulfill their life's dreams in real life, and she'd just be another one. Maybe this is a little depressing of me, but I feel that that story...the one where not everyone lives a fulfilled life...is a story that's much more deep and raw than one full of butterflies and rainbows.
Sierra will have lots of happiness in her hobbies, and she does love her job. Then, of course, there's her family. She's got plenty of things to keep her happy and pre-occupied. Maybe she just never got around to pursuing her Computer Science degree. Maybe meeting the love of her life distracted her from her dreams, then they had a kid and time slipped away from her. There's plenty of places the story could go, and I don't think you should necessarily change her aspiration to make the pieces fit into a nice and neat story.
For example, my Gen 2 heir hated kids. He and his wife had 8. Even though he "hated kids", and she knew it, they both whimmed to try for baby. Constantly. He never got tense, or angry, around his own children. He never wanted to "crush their dreams," or break the dollhouse. He was always happy and loved his family. Sometimes the sims seem to have a plan of their own, and I wasn't going to get in Kristopher's way.
I'm really interested to see what direction you take here: if you do change her aspiration, or not. Please keep me posted!
@RipuAncestor That picture is so pretty! I once read a book where flowers were souls (can't remember the title, though) and I immediately made that connection. Amelia's soul would be the most colorful bouquet, I think. And Tad would probably have a bunch of white lilies ... now I'm thinking about that ...
Thank you! Flowers as souls sounds like a really neat concept. Reminds me of the point and click adventure game Grim Fandango, which takes place in the afterlife... or at least in a world that leads to the proper afterlife, and the only way for the undead/souls to die again (which is bad, because then they probably won't get to move on to the actual afterlife) is to be "sprouted", which means they're hit with a substance that makes flowers sprout all over them (it's pretty gruesome even when they're all cartoonish, skeletons) and it's hinted that the flowers change depending on the soul that's being sprouted.
Amelia's soul would be so colourful and happy. Tad and white lilies go together really well. If he even has a soul... I imagine he doesn't have one in the same sense living ones have, but if he did it would probably be lilies, with maybe purple and black roses or something thrown in.
yeah and for the first 3 of the 14 years I got community services hours
Hello thread! I checked out the into posts and it seems like a chill place!
Have you read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert? Its about living your most creative life and what that can mean for you. In it, Gilbert talks about ideas and her...idea...of them. She thinks they're beings in this world that we cannot see, floating in and around us until they find someone that can make them come true. They form a contract with you, then stay until you deliver your promise. If you can't deliver, the idea leaves and finds someone else to contract with. It's a really interesting philosophy, and she gives several examples that yield the heebie-jeebies.
@allysimbuilds Oh! Thank you for recommending this book! I bought it this morning and read the first chapter! (What I love about my nook--I can follow up on recommendations immediately! And read them right away!)
How many of you have read this book? I totally recommend it for SimLit writers! Her first chapter talks about the courage to lead what she calls "the creative life". As I listen to all of us talk about our passion for Sims and writing SimLit, I see how this fits into our own individual creative lives. In the first chapter, Gilbert lists a very long list of fears: all the fears that people hear that try to dissuade them from their own creative lives. And SO many of those fears are ones that I've heard SimLit writers confess! They're not to be made light of: they're actual beliefs that can keep people from writing--and from living their beautiful quirky lives.
Towards the end of the chapter, Gilbert talks about how she handles her own fears--how she invited Fear to come along on the ride with her and Creativity. She tells Fear, "You're included! You're part of the family. But you don't get to vote, you don't even get to choose the radio station we listen to, and you definitely don't get to drive!" It's so funny, and also very useful.
I think every SimLit writer could benefit from reading that chapter, at the very least.
I love how she doesn't commodify creativity. She talks about a friend of her who returned to ice-skating at age 40, and who skates for a few hours every morning before work--not because she'll compete or perform but because when she skates, she feels grace. I took up ballet at age 40 for the same reason. And I started playing cello at age 50 because I wanted the joy of learning--and now I play for the joy of music (and because the vibrations work energetically to put my body into maximum health, while Bach's structures work to put my mind into optimal balance).
I know that for many of us, friends and maybe even family tell us, "Why do you spend SO MUCH TIME writing silly stories about a game? Can you sell the stories?" And if we're good writers, they'll say, "Why don't you write a novel instead... you know, something you can publish?" I've got a really good friend who loves to listen to me talk about playing the cello or drawing (neither of which I'm ever likely to do professionally), yet she refuses to listen to me talk about Simming and SimLit, which she finds a colossal waste of time--and sort of depraved, like dark and nasty. ("Isn't that the game where you make somebody that looks like yourself and then have sex with all these other characters?" Ugh. Not necessarily?) It's surprising, because she's quite a rebel, very liberal, and an artist! But video games, the Sims and SimLit all fall within a blind spot for her, a place where prejudices reign, no matter how liberal she might be in other areas of her life...
But the thing for me is that playing Sims and writing SimLit are integral to my creative life--they're not ancillary, they're not extra, they're an integrated part of how I express myself, explore, develop, consider, learn, have fun, create, enjoy, and live! They're all that!
Anyway--great book, and I recommend it, too, even after reading just the first chapter, because it helps me see, appreciate, and understand the ways that Simming and writing SimLit fit into my already creative life!
And the fears are OK--they just don't get to vote!
@friendsfan367@RipuAncestor The thing about tests is that I don't feel they're accurate assessments of learning. They're a little less work than other assessments for the teacher--but they're not of much value, as far as I can see. In my classes, we write essays and do a lot of peer-reviews and discussion posts! Those work pretty well for assessing writing!
I think it's the stress that scares me! I'm not much for learning under stress. I'm a "broaden and build" kinda learner! And stress tends to shut me down and make me less intelligent so I learn less.
Also, my legacy founder/sim self is a loner. I love her combination of loner & friendly traits. I somehow think that playing her and writing about her is like placing myself in the "honorable" role of Legacy Founder and that giving attention to her is some kind of self-care, and that save is the one I'm finally content with, too. I am finally able to be attached to a Sim and finally managed to write a chapter for the same Sim's story.
@CathyTea , you mentioned on the first page something like that you won't update your story because you think you'll get tired and bored, so it will get boring. I experienced that with my story's beginning, but I made some breaks to be able to finish it. I needed to do it since I don't know how to plan out chapters other than writing an update consisting of screenshots of my whole gaming session.
I can't really do phone calls, either. My boyfriend can't, either. So at our house, the phone just rings and rings and no one ever answers! We don't have cell phones, either!
I liked your recent chapter, where you covered all that happened with the screenshots! That was fun.
@friendsfan367@RipuAncestor The thing about tests is that I don't feel they're accurate assessments of learning. They're a little less work than other assessments for the teacher--but they're not of much value, as far as I can see. In my classes, we write essays and do a lot of peer-reviews and discussion posts! Those work pretty well for assessing writing!
I think it's the stress that scares me! I'm not much for learning under stress. I'm a "broaden and build" kinda learner! And stress tends to shut me down and make me less intelligent so I learn less.
then why do teachers make students take tests? this is a actual question . i agree with you though when i was in school i learned what i needed to to pass the tests but if i was asked one of the questions today i wouldn't know the answer.
Comments
Thanks @Pegasus143 and @Meggles for the audition suggestions! I think I will select two short and (relatively) easy pieces from Bach's 4th cello suite and try to polish them as much as I can... Oh. Boy.
I will try to play with Tiger Spirit so I don't get nervous!
@Rainydayz179 That's so cool that you love music! Singing seems like a neat way to be involved with music!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
what audition? ive been here on and off for a day and a half.
Awesome! Well, let me know how it goes! I hear that Masquerada ) https://twitter.com/masqueradagame?lang=en) is THE game to play, and it's coming out on consoles on Aug. 8--don't know if this means Switch or not.
But you can let us know what cool games you find!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
@CathyTea ...oh, you've done it now! Thanks for the mention and I'm glad my legacy's story adds to your internal debate on creativity/ideas/cause-and-effect/philosophy. I'll dabble with you.
My process for the legacy is more so game-lead than not. I thought it'd be a fun writing exercise to interoperate game events into a story. It's not a whim challenge, so I'm not completing every whim, but I try my best to focus on whims that would "make sense" or flow with the story. Of course that means getting a little off the path sometimes with side-characters, instead of focusing on the current household head, but they're always characters that are relevant to the story (i.e. Generation 4's step-sister/girlfriend). I then do my best to justify events in a slow way that makes sense. It often leaves me wondering...who's in control here?
I guess it can sound a little silly to think that way, but I do sometimes! Especially with this legacy, and my Tiny Living Challenge (the game has a mind of its own. I swear!).
I know the choices I have my sims make, whim generated, or not, influence whims the sims get in the future. But who's really leading this operation? Is it me? Because it doesn't always feel that way, for sure. A great example (that I didn't follow through on) is today: Louis got a whim to flirt with Myra, his step-mother. It's wrong on all sorts of levels, but I could choose to let him do it. Or, as he's got autonomy, he could go ahead and do it himself (which is how Gen2 had so many children!). That, I feel, is another layer that should be added to the conversation: autonomy. Sims will do all sorts of things without us, even try for baby, so how exactly does that come into play with our own ideas and imaginations? Sometimes they autonomously do what I "think would be neat for the story" and sometimes its something that will stress me out.
Have you read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert? Its about living your most creative life and what that can mean for you. In it, Gilbert talks about ideas and her...idea...of them. She thinks they're beings in this world that we cannot see, floating in and around us until they find someone that can make them come true. They form a contract with you, then stay until you deliver your promise. If you can't deliver, the idea leaves and finds someone else to contract with. It's a really interesting philosophy, and she gives several examples that yield the heebie-jeebies.
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your the queen of spam.
Although I love reading the conversation, I don't know that I have much to contribute so I'll just sit back and enjoy reading what you all have to say.
I will say that I've found that my more introspective sims seem to develop the most unique/ vivid personalities. It's always great when I'm observing a sim and feel like they have a hidden trait. My generation 2 Build Newcrest heir, for example, I believe has a hidden loner trait. Even though according to her panel she's not a loner, she acts like one. It's not that she always wants to be alone, but she is very selective about how she spends her time and who she spends it with. It's fascinating to watch.
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I'm feeling the same way today! Like, I've stopped in several times and not one thing has come to mind to say. I did manage to get a chapter written today though so I'm actually feeling like I accomplished something today!
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i'm working on charcter profiles for the rest of the benders. but i think i have a short attetionspan i stopped already.
Hidden traits, huh? Now that's interesting...
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From the little bit I played of my vampire "mother" Helena, she's very aware of her role in my story and the family dynamic. She's constantly getting whims to use interactions from the parenthood pack (I cheated to give her the good character value traits, shhhh.) and she's always wanting to interact with them. She doesn't have the family trait, or any of the family aspirations either. Whereas her helper Ophelia isn't as hands on. She gets the occasional whim, but not as often as Helena does, but she has the family aspiration.
It's probably not what @CathyTea was talking about when asking "What are your experiences with your Sims being "in their heads" and "in their bodies"? Do you have Sims who live in the present? Do you have Sims who live mostly in the past or mostly in the future?" though, but I thought it was a cool observation.
@allysimbuilds Hello! I haven't seen you around, so (belated) welcome to the fringe~
i just saw this............... you made me smile when you said tests are scary, your a teacher.lol.
@MadameLee I hope you have some time to rest and catch your breath!
@friendsfan367 Well, I would think that tests at least mean more work for a teacher... but I don't think Cathy is scared of work.
@CathyTea Thank you!
This is interesting, and I think that there are very different ways of interpreting the game in our community, and it shows in our writing a lot. Some take stuff more straight out of our imaginations and sometimes flat-out ignore what happens in the game (like I do, though I too take inspiration from the game and how the Sims react in that), and some can observe the game very closely and let that fuel their imagination a lot more. And there's a lot of ways in between those and more. And I think they're all creative, great ways to play and write and interpret the game.
I notice that the way I've created and written the characters in the stories very heavily influence how I interpret their actions in-game. Though since I take a lot of cues to their personalities from the traits they have especially with the more central characters, they do often act the way I think they do.
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
Also, my legacy founder/sim self is a loner. I love her combination of loner & friendly traits. I somehow think that playing her and writing about her is like placing myself in the "honorable" role of Legacy Founder and that giving attention to her is some kind of self-care, and that save is the one I'm finally content with, too. I am finally able to be attached to a Sim and finally managed to write a chapter for the same Sim's story.
@CathyTea , you mentioned on the first page something like that you won't update your story because you think you'll get tired and bored, so it will get boring. I experienced that with my story's beginning, but I made some breaks to be able to finish it. I needed to do it since I don't know how to plan out chapters other than writing an update consisting of screenshots of my whole gaming session.
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@allysimbuilds, @RipuAncestor and @CathyTea and @DreamsInPixels Thank you so much for your thoughts about Sims and autonomy! Since I started telling my Pinstar legacy like a commentary, I feel as if the plot writes itself. I'm not sure if I'm 100% right all of the time, since the story does go over my filtered interpretation of the events that are happening in game, but I think this way of playing is really fulfilling!
@ny275 Since you already mentioned her, it's okay to fangirl, right? I love your Gen2 and her stunning beauty. If you ever have a spare you can't use, I would be willing to adopt for sure
@Rainydayz179 Yay for the chapter! That's an accomplishment for sure!
@MadameLee Cool that you made it through bible camp! I used to do the German version of that before I moved away from home and I remember it being a hassle sometimes. I hope you can rest up and restore your energy!
@RipuAncestor That picture is so pretty! I once read a book where flowers were souls (can't remember the title, though) and I immediately made that connection. Amelia's soul would be the most colorful bouquet, I think. And Tad would probably have a bunch of white lilies ... now I'm thinking about that ...
@ninaumi Hi! I'm so glad you found something you like to write! That sounds so interesting!
I've come with a topic/a question that might concern those who take a more game-driven approach and like to play with their Sims whims and wishes in mind. My Generation 1 spouse, Sierra, is an active bookworm who likes to be creative a lot, especially since she had her child. But her aspiration is Computer Whiz. She never whims for anything video-game related and barely ever wants to program and when she does, her funmeter goes yellow very quickly. For the aspiration, she would have to quit her job as a writer (which she seems to love) and go into the techguru career ... But I'm not seeing her as that at all. What do you think I should do? Break the legacy rules and change her aspiration? Ignore the aspiration alltogether? I had to change Gael's because it was impossible to fulfill for a legacy because he couldn't own an apartment, but Sierra could very well do it ... Or am I thinking too much about this? Maybe I'm just weird and want to make my Sims happy too much?
~ Generation 2: Abbey Conway ~
In @CathyTea 's Goofy Love, there were a few aspirations that went un-finished for various reasons. Of course, CT can give you more insight on that because it was her game! I don't think those sims were any less accomplished or happy because they did not complete an aspiration. Of course, her legacy was 100% Pinstar compliant (until that phenomenal sim, Sugar, came around).
Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong in changing aspirations for my sims- even in challenges when that kind of thing is forbidden. I will try to complete them but sometimes a sim and their aspiration doesn't fit. I know sims aren't humans, but a lot of people see their aspirations change throughout life. Especially if they get married and have children. And some people's aspirations stay the same no matter what happens to them.
Olivia Marie's (since we were just talking about her) aspiration is Big Happy Family but I don't think it really fits her. Its required by the Build Newcrest challenge so we're both going along with it, but I'm sure she would prefer something like Nerd Brain. If this was a normal Pinstar legacy and she rolled that aspiration, though, I would probably change it because I don't think it fits her.
Sierra, well, she's a unique sim so I won't tell you what to do, but I hope I gave a little insight.
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I'm a whim expert! LOL Okay so, she's not going to get those gaming and programming whims if she doesn't have the skill. Even with the skill sometimes if you go for awhile not working on it you'll stop getting the whims. Are you scoring your legacy? If so, I wouldn't change it. That's kinda why we use the randomizer to pick their traits and aspirations. To make things more difficult. If not, I agree with @ny275 go ahead and change it to something more fitting. If you're playing a lot with whims switching aspirations often can help to get new ones. You could have her listen to music while she programs. That would keep the fun meter up.
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I started to realize something a bit odd about my Swanson Legacy. Apparently an actor who was in the Disney Channel movie "Smart House" in the 90s has appeared in the TV show "Pretty Little Liars" which theme song i used for one of my Interlude chapters. Or (Lea Salonga) had portrayed a character in a Les Miserables performance which one of the show's song is another song I used as well..
I thinking of watch 13 Disney Channel movies (2 Halloween-related) and I coudln't decide what to watch first so should I just go with order of release?
@Asaoyoru Thank you!
Amelia's soul would be so colourful and happy. Tad and white lilies go together really well. If he even has a soul... I imagine he doesn't have one in the same sense living ones have, but if he did it would probably be lilies, with maybe purple and black roses or something thrown in.
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
Sierra will have lots of happiness in her hobbies, and she does love her job. Then, of course, there's her family. She's got plenty of things to keep her happy and pre-occupied. Maybe she just never got around to pursuing her Computer Science degree. Maybe meeting the love of her life distracted her from her dreams, then they had a kid and time slipped away from her. There's plenty of places the story could go, and I don't think you should necessarily change her aspiration to make the pieces fit into a nice and neat story.
For example, my Gen 2 heir hated kids. He and his wife had 8. Even though he "hated kids", and she knew it, they both whimmed to try for baby. Constantly. He never got tense, or angry, around his own children. He never wanted to "crush their dreams," or break the dollhouse. He was always happy and loved his family. Sometimes the sims seem to have a plan of their own, and I wasn't going to get in Kristopher's way.
I'm really interested to see what direction you take here: if you do change her aspiration, or not. Please keep me posted!
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yeah and for the first 3 of the 14 years I got community services hours
@allysimbuilds Oh! Thank you for recommending this book! I bought it this morning and read the first chapter! (What I love about my nook--I can follow up on recommendations immediately! And read them right away!)
How many of you have read this book? I totally recommend it for SimLit writers! Her first chapter talks about the courage to lead what she calls "the creative life". As I listen to all of us talk about our passion for Sims and writing SimLit, I see how this fits into our own individual creative lives. In the first chapter, Gilbert lists a very long list of fears: all the fears that people hear that try to dissuade them from their own creative lives. And SO many of those fears are ones that I've heard SimLit writers confess! They're not to be made light of: they're actual beliefs that can keep people from writing--and from living their beautiful quirky lives.
Towards the end of the chapter, Gilbert talks about how she handles her own fears--how she invited Fear to come along on the ride with her and Creativity. She tells Fear, "You're included! You're part of the family. But you don't get to vote, you don't even get to choose the radio station we listen to, and you definitely don't get to drive!" It's so funny, and also very useful.
I think every SimLit writer could benefit from reading that chapter, at the very least.
I love how she doesn't commodify creativity. She talks about a friend of her who returned to ice-skating at age 40, and who skates for a few hours every morning before work--not because she'll compete or perform but because when she skates, she feels grace. I took up ballet at age 40 for the same reason. And I started playing cello at age 50 because I wanted the joy of learning--and now I play for the joy of music (and because the vibrations work energetically to put my body into maximum health, while Bach's structures work to put my mind into optimal balance).
I know that for many of us, friends and maybe even family tell us, "Why do you spend SO MUCH TIME writing silly stories about a game? Can you sell the stories?" And if we're good writers, they'll say, "Why don't you write a novel instead... you know, something you can publish?" I've got a really good friend who loves to listen to me talk about playing the cello or drawing (neither of which I'm ever likely to do professionally), yet she refuses to listen to me talk about Simming and SimLit, which she finds a colossal waste of time--and sort of depraved, like dark and nasty. ("Isn't that the game where you make somebody that looks like yourself and then have sex with all these other characters?" Ugh. Not necessarily?) It's surprising, because she's quite a rebel, very liberal, and an artist! But video games, the Sims and SimLit all fall within a blind spot for her, a place where prejudices reign, no matter how liberal she might be in other areas of her life...
But the thing for me is that playing Sims and writing SimLit are integral to my creative life--they're not ancillary, they're not extra, they're an integrated part of how I express myself, explore, develop, consider, learn, have fun, create, enjoy, and live! They're all that!
Anyway--great book, and I recommend it, too, even after reading just the first chapter, because it helps me see, appreciate, and understand the ways that Simming and writing SimLit fit into my already creative life!
And the fears are OK--they just don't get to vote!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
@friendsfan367 @RipuAncestor The thing about tests is that I don't feel they're accurate assessments of learning. They're a little less work than other assessments for the teacher--but they're not of much value, as far as I can see. In my classes, we write essays and do a lot of peer-reviews and discussion posts! Those work pretty well for assessing writing!
I think it's the stress that scares me! I'm not much for learning under stress. I'm a "broaden and build" kinda learner!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Hi, @ninaumi !
I can't really do phone calls, either. My boyfriend can't, either. So at our house, the phone just rings and rings and no one ever answers! We don't have cell phones, either!
I liked your recent chapter, where you covered all that happened with the screenshots! That was fun.
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
then why do teachers make students take tests? this is a actual question . i agree with you though when i was in school i learned what i needed to to pass the tests but if i was asked one of the questions today i wouldn't know the answer.