Okay, first of all, I have no idea why I was so compelled to do this study, lol! But since I couldn't think of a fictional Christmas gift to you all, I decided to give you a character study on fictional sex!!! :D
Of course, just the very reason I'm exploring my characters' views on sex at all has to be inspired by Lunar's profiles for Ruin. I've always felt (and I think she would agree) that you can tell a lot about a character based on how they approach their sexual relationships. This became even more apparent since I've been writing Matt and Leila, in their current ordeals, seeing how each of them view love and sex so differently.
The way our characters view sex is as varied as their different personalities are. Not everybody likes to get down and dirty, and not everybody is wholesome either. Even from within the same aspiration type, there can be huge differences. But it goes even beyond a simple range of promiscuity - the way people approach sex comes from all sorts of angles, and I found a lot of these angles completely unrelated to promiscuity at all.
I found thirteen different subsets of the six TS2 aspiration types, and when I went through my list of characters, there was hardly a single one who didn't fall into one of the groups. This is something I've always worked out behind the scenes myself, but as I saw the similarities between characters of the same "type" it became an interesting study. And especially how they managed to clearly fall into these different dividers. For example, all of my characters viewing sex through a "romance" lens would fall into one of three types. All of my characters viewing sex through a "family" lens would fall into one of two other types. And so on. I think of these as the color of glasses they view their sexuality through. This kind of thing is helpful to me, as a writer, so that I can remember that not everybody views their sexuality through the same color of glasses that I do. Or when I'm writing from the POV of one character, I have to remember that their partner might see their relationship very differently.
If you wanted to implement this in your writing or in your game, whether a TS2 based story or not, you could even set this up as a random character roll. Each of my characters have two aspiration types, and thus will have two influences on the way they view sex. For example, Leila will take one influence after her family aspiration, and another influence after her romance aspiration. You could choose two opposing, or complimentary types to create an interesting and dimensional character, or stir up a boring one. (Of course, in my story, their preferences are already mostly determined, but I may begin some random rolls for my younger and new characters.)
As with any aspect of a character, they are not bound by this kind of behavior, but given the freedom, this is the kind of sex they would prefer or seek out. Any character can be driven to act outside his or her own behavior norms in the right circumstances. I just think of this as the colored glasses they view their sex, love, and relationships through. They come at it from these different approaches, but it doesn't mean they don't ever do things differently.
lovers: would opt for emotional and connected love-making over purely physical sex
Tyler Jackson
Corbin Gray
Joel Harris
Aurora Miguel
fuckers: would opt for lusty and exciting physical sex over emotional connection
Maxwell Shaw
April Hutchins
Emmy Masuko
Bella (Bradshaw) Gibson
Adrian Jackson
flirts: lusty and playful, but follow-through is an unrelated decision, likes to tease
Leila Watts
Summer Phoenix
Cameron Gibson
Berjes Monif
notes: these types are bold about their sex and/or relationships. They pretty much live for it. They can be easy to mistake for each other though. As Tyler and Corbin have proven, a lover can easily indulge in purely casual sex, especially when they don't want to (or are not able to) use their heart. Also, the fuckers usually do manage to find someone, at some point, who they can express true love-making with. The flirts though, while they might first appear a lot like both of the other two types, are distinguished by their intentions to follow-through. The actual follow-through is a separate decision, and they may or may not ever intend to deliver at all.
hedonists: they value fun, spontaneous, rich, flavorful and indulgent sex - hates boredom
April Hutchins
Adrian Jackson
Lara Nova
Keri Riley-Kim?
comfort lovers: values comfort and ease in their sex, but also easily pleased
Beau Jackson
Stephanie Day
Hayden Phoenix
Piper Wilson
Claire Bradshaw
notes: these types approach sex from an angle of pleasure, both personal and for their partner. Comfort lovers might look a lot like the fortune spoiled ones at first glance, but the difference is in their expectations. Comfort lovers are quite easy to please, and they aren't as selfish either. The hedonists aren't necessarily selfish either though, they just want a lot out of their sex, and they have a lot to give back as well. I can't see a hedonist and a comfort lover pleasing each other for very long in the bedroom, which bodes badly for those who ship April and Beau. Who knows, anything is possible. Beau also has a bit of fortune achiever in him, so maybe he can pull out some extra effort when he feels like it, lol!
BFFs: prefer a close, trusting, and lasting friendship with their sex
Amelia Bradshaw
Micah and Mariah Buchanan
Lucy Harris
rock stars: prefer new people, fresh experiences, and has a short attention-span
Maxwell Shaw
Emmy Masuko
Summer Phoenix
also, though not popularity aspirations: Angelo Shaw and April Hutchins
notes: these types approach sex from a social angle, the variant being whether they needed new, or liked the same. The BFFs, a lot like the romance lovers, when in a state of emotional turmoil can act out and look a bit like the rock star types, though they prefer to go the "friend-with-benefits" route than strictly casual sex. Amelia was a good example of this in her uncommitted phase. I've found that "rock star" types, unless under the influence of another aspiration, are a bit sketchy in relationships and hard to hold on to. (Which makes me worry about Summer quite often.)
idealists: hopelessly romantic, seek out a soul-mate kind of connection in their sex
Micah Buchanan
Tyler Jackson
Drew Bruty
Leila Watts
Hailey Monif
Dallas Deppiesse
traditionalists: steady and committed, they value integrity and stability in sex
Matt Watts
Charlotte and Paul Gallagher
Vicky Garth
Andy Bradshaw
notes: these types approach sex from the angle of marriage and/or family. It's always my more idealistic family types that end up having trouble in their relationships - they need that soul-burning passion with their love, so that when they lose it (like Hailey), or find it with someone else (like Leila), it's almost impossible to fix. But on the other hand, like with Tyler or Drew or Micah, when that soul-burning relationship is still burning but in trouble, it can be a positive thing, because they'll hang on to the bitter end... or longer (ahem... Tyler, lol!).
My traditionalists, on the other hand, end up being the ones who hurt the worst when a relationship doesn't work out, because they just don't understand how the other could simply give up. (Like Charlotte did with Adam, or like Vicky with Dallas.) Traditionalists are committed, steady, and one of the most loyal of the different types.
achievers: committed to doing their best, like to impress and please, they try hard (in bed, at least).
Justin Kim
Drew Bruty
Bella Gibson
Andy Bradshaw
Berjes Monif
spoiled ones: likes to be pampered and impressed, has high expectations
Keri Riley-Kim
Cameron Gibson
Jodie Larson
Mariah Buchanan
Amelia Bradshaw
notes: these types approach sex with an appreciation for the very best. They want to give the very best, or expect the very best. They're also interesting, because they're one of the few opposing subsets who actually do work well when paired together, as with Bella and Cameron, or Drew and Amelia. Though when taken too far, the achievers can end up feeling unappreciated. Though it's really a tricky balance for the spoiled types, to be pampered without taking so much that it drains the relationship. Without the right balance, they can be like vampires, lol! Most of my spoiled ones do okay since they're balanced out with one of the other more giving types, but I do worry about Keri with Justin in this aspect.
innovators: curious and inventive, creative in relationships, seemingly "normal" on the outside but can bring some pretty "imaginative" ideas to the table
Corbin Gray
Dallas Deppiesse
Orion and Violet Deppiesse
Adam and Heather Thompson
masterminds: will use sex to their advantage if the opportunity strikes
Fiona McCullough
James Porter
Jodie Larson
Jasmine Nova
Justin Kim
notes: this was the only aspiration type that at first, the two subsets didn't seem to have anything to do with each other. Though when I dug deeper, I saw that they exist on a sort of slider of innovation, with "goodness" being the differentiating factor. The characters with less "goodness" in them might tend to use their innovation for selfish purposes and schemes, while that same innovation without any schemes will just bring a creative zest to the relationship. Masterminds are not necessarily destined to be "evil", but they can be manipulative in relationships, and like to get their way. The emo-games Justin plays with Keri is a good example of manipulation from a character who is usually a pretty nice guy.
******
further notes:
- If you want a dramatic couple to write about, pair up a bad match. Two masterminds together? I wonder what terrible and devious things they might do to each other, lol!
- Romance lovers and fuckers are probably the most promiscuous when single, though they have proven to be quite happy in relationships when paired well.
- While any type of person might be driven to cheat in relationships, some of them are more prone to it than others. Pleasure hedonists get bored easily, and popularity rock stars have trouble keeping a relationship fresh. These two types have proven to be my most cheaty. Almost any of these types would be driven to cheat if their needs weren't being met.
- Most likely to look like they're cheating when they're actually not: the romance flirts.
- Most likely to consider cheating but not actually do it: the family idealists.
- Most likely to be disappointed: the family idealists and the fortune spoiled ones.
- Most likely to pull out some kinky stuff: the pleasure hedonists and the knowledge innovators.
- Most likely to be loyal: the pleasure comfort lovers, popularity BFFs, and family traditionalists.
- Best in bed? All of them, or none of them, depending on what you're looking for ;)
- Remember, this is just a study of my own characters, based on how I interpret their character differences. So I'm not sure how much this will apply to anyone else's game or story, but I'd be interested to know if these types fit anyone else's range of characters. Let's compare notes, lol! Also, let me know if you think there are any types I've missed.
- And of course, have a safe and happy holiday season! :)
Very intresting but I like it. And that pic of Drew and Ameila, umm what are they doing? "Cause my mind goes straight to the gutter. LOL
ReplyDeleteSo far I have spotted one of my sims, Sunni Ramasawami, I think she fits the traditionalists, though she still has time to develope. But even now at 17, she's still hung up over AJ when they broke up what like four years ago. And she's moved on with Oliver. *sigh*
Great stuff!
Riverdale, lol! You know exactly what they're doing ;)
ReplyDeleteOh yes, those traditionalists take *forever* to move on! Is she a family Sim in your game?
Have you seen your characters change, slip out of one category into another? Or, after working with one of them for a while, have you ever realized she was not who you thought she was and followed that change?
ReplyDeleteFascinating and meticulous process of discovery; I am in awe!
Beth, hmmm, change categories? I don't think so. But that doesn't mean their behavior won't change. Like April, for example. She's a "romance fucker" and "pleasure hedonist". (He-he, and even with my potty mouth, I'm blushing a bit writing "fucker" over and over again, lol!) Anyway, I think we all hope that some day she'll sort herself out, and settle down, but I can't see her changing what she inherently likes. She'll still enjoy a good physical roll in the sack, and lots of indulgent fun. Just in a more responsible manner.
ReplyDeleteI guess I believe that people don't really change who they are at their core - not without some huge traumatic reason for doing so.
I have definitely not known my characters very well, for a long time. I wouldn't call that changing either though. Charlotte is a good example, I think, especially in regards to her "popularity BFF" type. For the longest time, I wondered if she wasn't more like the "rock star" kind of popularity type, because she was so scattered and flighty. Really I just didn't understand her well enough - there was something she needed to get over her heartbreak from Adam, and once I figured out what that was, and gave that to her, she fell back in line with her true self. She wasn't the one who changed though, just the emotional turmoil she was dealing with changed. A lot of my popularity BFF types have thrown me for a loop in the past - Mariah, Amelia...
Hmmm, I'll have to think on this. In all the characters I've ever written, there must have been one who genuinely changed. I'll get back to you on that ;)
Hilarious and fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI ship Beau and April, and right away when I saw their categories, I worried. But I can see how that wouldn't necessarily break them, it just makes things difficult/interesting.
This totally made me laugh this morning. You're such a nerd; I approve.
Awww...poor Beau and April. :( Part of me wants to be mad at April for it--if she really wants so much variety, she should stop trying to sleep with him over and over again, LOL. That's a bit harsh though.
ReplyDeleteThis was very interesting. I miss some of the personality features of TS2...I'm not sure how things like this could be done in TS3.
Lunar, thanks, lol! I knew you'd approve! :D
ReplyDeleteRight, I wouldn't call any pairing impossible. Just some are more work than others.
Rachel, ha, you're right. She's been after that boy every since she lost him, lol! I've always felt like he was the one putting up the resistance though, so maybe be mad at him instead ;)
The types themselves are completely made up out of my head though. They don't really have much of anything to do with the game. I even managed to apply them to my novel characters and it worked. So you might be able to work them into your TS3 characters? All this stuff is just at character level anyway.
This was quite interesting, and unexpected. ;) I think you did a great job fleshing this out, and dividing into aspiration groups. Not all my romance sims are the same and this divides it nicely. I do believe Ill need to open my notebook and start deciding some of my sims' sexual tendencies! Not something I was thinking of doing the day before Christmas!
ReplyDeleteHee, hee, great post!
ReplyDeleteI love how you break it all down into different types. And there are a lot of different types!
While I was reading this I was thinking which type the characters in my story are. I'm thinking most lean towards being idealists, but with a mixture of achievers. They are more lovers than flirts and err, fuckers. (How many times I've laughed when I read that word in this post. lol)
But I do have one character that would definitely lean towards being a hedonist/inventor! lol
Oh and Merry Christmas btw! ;)
ReplyDeleteMaisie, no it's the *perfect* thing to think about on Christmas, lol! I don't know, I'm always bored on Christmas, after all the toys are opened and played with for five minutes and there isn't much better to do.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I know, who would have ever thought you could use the f-bomb so many times in a nerdy character study? ;)
Thanks though! I knew I'd have to have more types than just the six standard aspirations. And since my characters each get two, this gives me a nice wide variety of combinations for everyone! Enough to fit any kind of character I could ever conjure up! :)
Very interesting - I love it when you get all nerdy. ;) Of course, Adam and Heather's picture had to be in the cemetery!
ReplyDeleteI've sometimes thought of romance Sims falling into different categories but I've never given as much thought to the other aspirations, oddly. The knowledge types were the ones I was most curious about when I saw you were doing this. That aspiration can seem almost asexual to me at times! Were the knowledge Sims the hardest ones for you to figure out?
Anyway, I can definitely see some of my own Sims fitting into these categories and that's just off the top of my head. Asha is definitely a Romance flirt, ditto Max Nihill; Lia couldn't be anything other than a Family traditionalist!
Sidenote but April's underwear is too cute! Do you remember where you found it?
Merry Christmas to you as well!
Carla, you know, apart from the romance types, and maybe the family types too, none of the other aspirations as taken from the game really give much at all to go on as far as sex goes. That's mostly why I do these kinds of things, really, because if I just went by the game, they'd all be the same.
ReplyDeleteSo since I was mostly making it up from scratch, for my knowledge type characters, I had a look at all the ones I had, and tried to imagine what being brainy did for them in bed, or meant to their sexual habits. I considered the ones who did seem to favor their "brainyness" in sex, and they seemed to fall into two categories.
I had Adam and Heather with their graveyard fetish, and Orion and Violet with their lightning fetish, so they defined the innovators category for me, lol! But basically, considering the ones a little less kinky, they use their minds to make their sex life interesting and creative. Like Dallas and Corbin, I don't know how kinky they'd be, but I could see them using their mind-power in skill and practice, learning new techniques and such.
Then Fiona and Jodie defined the masterminds category for me, and after I had that, I found a few more who fell in line with them. They also use their minds in sex, but for more selfish reasons.
And LOL, probably far more information than you wanted, but that was basically the process for each of these types. I thought about what sex might mean to a [whatever aspiration] type character, and how that might make them different.
I actually had the hardest time with the fortune and pleasure types, as far as determining what the different subsets might be.
Also, not everybody who has a particular aspiration will favor that aspiration in sex. Like Charlotte's Paul, for example - he's a knowledge primary, but I see him largely favoring his family traditionalist side instead. I'd guess he doesn't take much of anything at all from his knowledge aspiration in sex. Some others might only be influenced slightly. And some are more equal, like Corbin, he favors both his knowledge and his romance side pretty equally in sex.
And after all that, lol! April is actually wearing a bathing suit there. And man, I'm sorry, I haven't the slightest clue where I got it. I'm the worst with my clothing.
Ha, okay, I lied, I do know where I got it, from MTS: here. ;)
ReplyDeleteHa, no, not too much at all! I was honestly interested in how you came up with all this, so I appreciate the essay. ;)
ReplyDeleteLOL, you know, now that you mention it's a bathing suit, I think I might already have it! I'll check in game another time.
ROFL Gutter brains! But thats good. ;)
ReplyDeleteSuni is a family sim and I think pleasure is her secondary. I'll hav to check, can't remember.
This was such an interesting read, Laura. I've been thinking about sex with some of characters. I don't know if it'll be as elaborate as yours but it's strange that you wrote this as I've been thinking about how my characters' sex lives. Hopefully I'll be brave enough to write about it soon as well as take some pictures a la Drew and Amelia up there without blushing to death. I can see some of my characters in this analysis and some of them are combined and some don't fit in at all. Do you find this to be the case with some of you characters? That there's no particular category that they fit into for some reason or another? Lovely read.
ReplyDeleteChoco, oh, I'd love to read yours if you get around to writing it. And LOL @ Amelia and Drew! I just couldn't think of a more fitting representation of those two types, lol!
ReplyDeleteWell I specifically wrote this with all of my own characters in mind, so there is at least one category for everyone. I'm intrigued though, what kind of character of yours wouldn't fit any of these? I was wondering if I'd missed any types, so I'd love to hear more! :)