one day, when revenge is sweet and so simple

September 2083 - Hailey Monif is 38, Hazel is 14. (Berjes Monif and Bradley Guthrie are 38)

* note: Just a little quickie update for you about my Monif girls. I was just in there to give Hailey a little makeover, and all this came out, lol!

I've been snowed-in with the kid this week, and a hubby working from home, which is not very conducive to my writing. Or maybe we can blame it on Leila, she stole what little brain I had left over these past couple days and refuses to let me work on Jodie's story, or anything else at all. Though this mini-update does indirectly have to do with Jodie's story a little anyway... which I hope is coming up very soon, if Leila allows it ;) *

One day, after school, Berjes stops by to see his daughter. He swears he doesn't miss Hailey, but he misses Hazel. He misses every morning when they'd watch cartoons together, their cereal bowls full of sugar and milk. He misses helping her with her science and math homework in the evenings.

"I'm here to see Hazel," he tells his ex-wife as Hazel's school bus pulls up, as if she didn't already know that good and clear.

SBP: a conversation with Autumn Phillipine

September 2083 - Autumn Phillipine is 67. (Samantha Bradshaw is 33, and has been missing for ten years).

"The name, it's just Phillipine now," Autumn says. "My maiden name. I suppose I should have kept it after all. Turns out I wasn't good at being married.

Mitch, here, he's my third..." Autumn points. "Over there," she says. "Say hi, Mitch."

how to modify a custom career, in a very basic way

How to modify a custom career, in a very, very basic way: and some super dorky experiments in binary math!!! Woohoo! LOL! This tutorial assumes a very basic knowledge of SimPe, and is probably a great way to dip your toes into using SimPe if you've never used it before. Modifying custom careers was one of the first things I tried with SimPe.

Also, at the end, I've uploaded my modified stay-at-home parent career.

LH stuff: modified uni careers hack

This is my modified version of the Uni Careers Hack by Syberspunk from MATY.

career rules: a study on impoverishment

I've always had these career rules that I made up for my game, and I think I've mentioned them before, but never really talked about them in any detail. I haven't actually enforced these in quite a while, but writing these stories for Max and Bella recently reminded me of that. For a time, I was very strict about these, and they work kind of like the ROS do. Maxwell's father actually died of one of these when he was very young (Nina was still pregnant with Anjali at the time), which was part of their family's curse of bad luck - he was in an old custom extreme-adventurer career, and the story was that he died in a bungee jumping accident ;)

These are mostly an effort to make the Maxis careers more realistic, and give some risk for more interesting gameplay. And just to make things harder. I personally get very bored, very fast, when all of my Sims are at the top of their careers.

LH stuff: soundtracks

I just made a collection on Grooveshark for all the soundtracks I've used as inspiration for some of these stories.

making memories

August 2083 - Cameron Gibson is 32, Bella is 27.

* long, but mostly picture-heavy *

When Bella and Cameron step into their seaside bungalow on Twikki Island, they discover that it looks nothing like the pictures in the brochure. "Ugh, what a color," Bella says. "It's like vomit in here."

"I know," Cameron says. "A sea foam green would have been better, against a more calming shade of yellow, like wheat."

my biggest fan needs help with a school project...

Dear Anonymous,

Wow, you got here searching for France? I'd have to say you're doing it wrong. Google is your friend. You really should try to learn how to use it.

under the skin, revisited

Gameplay notes, extras, outtakes, and assorted goodies for the four part, "under the skin" story series.

under the skin, part 3

August 2083 - Cameron Gibson is 32, Bella Bradshaw is 27, Micah and Mariah Buchanan are 25, James Porter is 26.

* soundtrack: "The Blower's Daughter," by Damien Rice. Warnings: unapologetic cheese? It's a wedding, I'm allowed ;) *

Bella Bradshaw and Cameron Gibson are married on a sweltering day in August, in a garden ceremony at Riley Hall, hot enough even the flowers seem to sweat. Their wedding is elaborate, but appropriate for a rising young film star and Lake City's prettiest playboy socialite. The guests are adorned in shades of silver and scarlet, as per Bella's fancy. Delilah and Naomi don't exactly understand all the fuss, but they're happy enough to be held and cooed over, while their parents make funny gestures and faces at each other.

under the skin, part 2.5

August 2083 - Cameron Gibson is 32, April Hutchins is 20, James Porter is 26, Drew Bruty is 27, Bella Bradshaw is 27, Amelia Bradshaw is 28.

* soundtrack: "Reckoner," by Radiohead. Warnings: NSFW/kids *

Men are, by their nature, quite simple creatures. They like beer. They like women. But Cameron Gibson is not just any ordinary kind of man.

James, he's pretty ordinary. He'll drink cheap keg beer as long as it's free, and he certainly likes the sight of April.

Cameron, however, is not impressed with anything less than his usual rich and frothy imported ale. And April, sure, she cute, but next to Bella Bradshaw, a quickly rising young film star and the beautiful mother of his children, April is unfortunately just the average little college tart.

under the skin, part 2

August 2083 - Maxwell Shaw 37, Valerie is 42, Angelo is 13, Devon is 7. (Cecilia Dawson is 14, Cameron Gibson is 32, Bella Bradshaw is 27.)

* soundtrack: "Trouble," by Coldplay. Warnings: vulgarity? lol! You know, it is Max ;) *

Maxwell Shaw starts the day like any other man, though maybe a bit later. Valerie looks over him as she pulls back their sheets. He's almost peaceful, almost calm, with the covers pulled up to his chin and snoring lightly. But she knows better. He isn't peaceful in the least. Especially not lately. He confided in her about it, because this is about her now too. In truth, it always was. The closer he gets to the top, the more people there are just waiting to knock him back down.

under the skin, part 1

August 2083 - April Hutchins is 20, James Porter is 26, Maxwell Shaw and Heather Huffington are 37.

They have errands to run for Max. April's are quite simple, pick up some supplies for the bar, some random trivial things the delivery service had forgotten. James is here to help her carry them. Then afterward, he has his own errands to run for Max. These ones are secret - they always are. April doesn't ask anymore. She's never been a big rules kind of person. She hardly even thinks about it - what he does, that is.

But him, yes, she thinks about him. She thinks about him a lot. There's something about him that just sticks. She grins at him as they're walking. "You're a hard egg to crack open, Mr. Porter," she says.

dig your grave

August 2083 - Fiona McCullough is 16, Robbie is 13, Liza Hathe is 15.

* soundtrack: "Gold Dust Woman," by Fleetwood Mac *

If you think they don't have powers, these regular kids in the regular world, you'd be wrong.

Everyone has powers. Like her brother, with that stupid dopey smile of his. It's a power, and it certainly gets the girls all smitten. Fiona has power too, lots of it. She has her breasts for example, which are quite powerful. Maybe not powerful enough to win over Charlie Roseland, but that's okay. That isn't all Fiona has in her arsenal. That isn't even that start of it, if you want to know the truth.

Fiona has her brain. And Fiona has the world of knowledge available to her, all the books in the library, all the words on every website ever written. Fiona has some very interesting information, a strange-looking, old and worn book she found in the back shelves of some little book store. You can learn a lot of things in books, and Fiona is onto something. She'll get back at Charlie Roseland. She doesn't know how yet, and she doesn't know when, but she's learning things, very interesting things.

Curse him all to hell, for choosing dorky, chubby Natty over her! She'd burn him, push him straight into that fire. But that would be too easy, too quick. Sure, he might squirm a little, but that's not enough. She doesn't just want to make him cry, she wants to make him pay. And it's only a matter of time - sooner or later, she's going to figure out how.

fall 2083: take it down

Our little project is well in the works now, so let's dig ourselves out of the past around here and carry on. With the new year, we'll start a new chapter. The theme for fall 2083 is "take it down." This chapter will span from August through November.