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didilysims said: Dun dun dun

Dun, dun, dun indeed!

holleyberry said: Congrats you guys! Don’t ruin it by having another baby.

Oh, I think she’s getting too old to have another one.

Thanks, I’ve had a soft spot for that name ever since I watched Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cressida”. And the name fit very nicely with both alien and plantsim naming schemes.

Baby Cressida… and Poppy

littleblondesim said: Loving how green and naturey this family is!

Well, they ARE plantsims after all!

Plantsim… behaviour

holleyberry said: It’s like Groot. She can grow that shit whenever she wants.

She probably is… and it’s not like we humans don’t pull out our own hair on occasion.

didilysims said: Eep I never thought of it like that before. D:

I was sitting in front of my PC, looked at Poppy playing that game and suddenly thought “Wait, what is she doing?”.

Jan and Komei’s relation

didilysims said: Sorry if you mentioned this and I forgot…did you make Komei and Jan related at all or is it coincidence they have the same last name?

Eh, it’s the one thing I think of ret-conning. They are ex-husband and wife. Best friends which decided to get hitched for career reasons. They split up when Komei publicly came out as gay ( I’ve decided that Jan would be his ex-wife when I created this neighbourhood, determined to eventually add her to the mix. Stuck to it when Komei rolled gay (not a good idea in my opinion). Should’ve made them siblings or something.). Jan kept his last name as he was somewhat famous back then.

Jan’s announcement

didilysims said: I really like this–great pictures. You go, Jan!

Thanks! I’ve felt like doing some storytelling again.

The pool

didilysims said: I actually cringed. 😮 Maybe just switching the diving board and ladder would be enough?

Yeah, I might do that. It’s easier (and cheaper) than expanding the pool.

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littleblondesim said: Interesting…seems like the more modern English names are frowned upon where you are, then. Like the ones American celebrities all name their kids. Emma might be popular because it’s simple and pretty cute. My list is probably a little biased because I’m a barista. So the people I see all the time are slightly older and have money to spend on silly coffee drinks. 🙂

That’s pretty much it. Many people are very prejudiced against the more modern English names like “Maddox”; meanwhile, names like “John” and “Tom” actually have some sort of tradition in old trading towns like Hamburg or Bremen, where international merchants and sailor often visited. Emma is a very international name (it’s relatively easy to pronounce), and, to be fair, it IS cute. I can certainly understand why it is so popular.

Yeah, I’m very interested in how names and naming traditions change over time, including the current decade. I also lead a youth group (ages 8-12), so I know quite a lot of names that are popular right now.

holleyberry said: You know I’m a huge Sandy/Goopy shipper, but Brandon is a very close second. So happy these two are so happy…for now.

For now? What do you know that I don’t? (I’ll probably add Goopy at some point, but I don’t know whether it will be as a playable (when/if I feel like it) or if I’ll just add all of the remaining townies as… well, townies.)

eulaliasims said: One of my favourite houses in Middleground. 😀 That painting corner upstairs is cute!

Thanks! I really like how it turned out! I’m usually not very good at decorating houses…

holleyberry said: Perhaps they can get put of the weeds now.

Yeah, they really need the money… (At least I hope that’s what you’re saying. XD I still struggle with colloquialism.)

Long overdue replies

Joe, the ~~idiot~~ emotionally stumped sim

holleyberry said: You are a tool Joe.

Yeah he is. (I think, at this point, not even Joe himself would try to dispute that claim…)

moocha-muses said: There’s a difference between “emotionally stumped” and Romance Sim, Joe.

There definitely is. Putting the fact that Brandon has always had very healthy relationships and definitely isn’t emotionally stumped aside…

Pet breeds

hunnybunnysims said: It’s like they just barely tried. Jussstttt barelllyyy

plath-sims reblogged this from aondaneedles and added:

It has always been concerning. I deleted all of them lol.

Barely… I mean, that plush pug was like 8€. Can’t imagine a lot of designing effort went into that.

Yeah, might want to download some CC pet breeds. Had corgis once, they looked pretty nice.

It’s Poppy!

didilysims said: Poppy seems like a very sassy child. 😀

She is. She is veeeery chatty and always ends up doing rather weird stuff/ reacts in interesting ways. She’s great.

Heated pools

littleblondesim said: sims are so spoiled that they all get heated pools

I love little details like this. The pools look so awesome in winter. Must resist the urge to build a pool in everyone’s backyard.

Jan and Leo

littleblondesim said: Does she know about the nooboo?

Well, now she knows! XD

Jan and Kaylynn

littleblondesim said: oh dear

This is going to end badly…

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Exams are over and I only have one more term paper to write. Juchuu!

Aliens!

holleyberry said: Perfect gif use is perfect.

I was actually looking for that “Aliens.” guy, but when I found that gif, I knew I had to use it!

littleblondesim said: ooooooooooh, yes, now I remember!

I was sifting through my “Middleground” posts a few days ago and only then did I realise that even though my queue usually posts stuff every day, it can take a month before I return to a previously played family (well, posting-wise. I play two rounds straight whenever I feel like it (the joys of being a walking impaired person’s main caretaker- other than going to college and spending the weekend with my boyfriend, I end up spending a lot of time at home…)). Long story, short: I tend to forget that you don’t see things unfold in my game like I do. ^^

Pregnant women. Pregnant women everywhere.

holleyberry said: Oh! They are going to be very busy soon.

Yes, yes they are.

Plantsim Watergate

strangetomato said: Any liquid will do. 😛

Any liquid? *shudders*

Double clicking

littleblondesim said: yes!

Very exciting!

taylors-simblr said: I never knew that! But I did know that you can load a household by double clicking it

Oh, I knew about the lot double-clicking ages ago. But the neighbourhood clicking was completely new to me. Although now that I think about it, I could have probably guessed that if it works on lots, it also works on neighbourhoods…

Technically End of the year tag

didilysims said: Congrats on the job/career experience! That’s exciting!

Thank you! It is actually mandatory if you want to ‘master’ in Education and schools are required to take student/intern-teachers as long as they have the capacities (I guess they don’t want to end up with a bunch of teachers who quickly realise that they hate kids or something…) but yeah! I’m going to teach elementary school kids which will probably be very energy draining- but also very exciting.

Store sets

didilysims said: Wow you held out for a long time! The garbage cans were my favourite part of those too. 😀 Asian Fusion square garbage? *Everywhere.*

They are soooo awesome! The game seriously lacks any kind of trash can variety! (Can’t wait to redecorate half of Middleground with those furniture sets!)

End of the year tag! I got tagged by *takes deep breath* @stellaterrano , @lilibethsonar and @holleyberry . Thanks for tagging me!

Rules: Find your fave pics of your story, your CC, or your blog in general and post in a collage! It can be 1 picture or 100– When you’re done tag 5 people or more~!

I limited myself to 10 pictures. These are some of my favourites (not all of them, a post with all of them would probably crash tumblr’s servers). Some of them are sad, some of them are cheerful, some show the very beginnings of Middleground, others are more recent, some show bad life choices and one isn’t even a picture of Middleground (can you believe it? This year, I actually played Strangetown- which is on hiatus, not discontinued-, did some storytelling- most of which still sits in my drafts folder… whoops!-, played a little neighbourhood just for myself, tried my hands at a selfmade ‘challenge’- resurrecting the Tricous-, and then, of course, started Middleground. Next year, I -I’ll probably go on a short hiatus in February because *drumroll* I’ll finally be teaching real students for a bit, yay! (for everyone that’s like “huh, wasn’t she a die-hard drama major?”- I switched majors in 2016/17 as I figured out what my priorities in life are). But I will continue to keep you updated on Middleground, as that neighbourhood has become quite dear to me.

I’m so late to the party, it’s not even funny. So, I’m not gonna tag anyone, sorry.

5 Things Meme

I was tagged by @holleyberry . Thank you!

5 things you’ll find in my bag:

A huge wallet (style over functionality in that case- still love it to bits)

Tissues

A marble (?) ( I don’t know how that got in there- I don’t even own marbles.)

A grocery store receipt from October. Bought some orange juice and minced meat. Nothing else.

Another grocery store receipt. This one’s from August. Really need to clean out my purse more often.

5 things you’ll find in my room:

The handmade, bright green-blue-pink quilt my mother made me some years ago. Love it to bits, even though she’s now kind of ashamed of it (she’s gotten so much better over the last three years, it’s amazing).

Way too many empty water bottles. I’m lazy. And I drink a lot.

A dirty pile of clothes the big dog usually sleeps on.

Lots and lots of gifts. Spent two hours today gift wrapping. I’m the primary gift wrapper this year (but I’m not very good at it).

“Buckingham Corgi”– bought him at the Buckingham Palace gift shop two years ago. He’s sitting in the forest of empty water bottles, judging me…

5 things that make me happy:

My dogs

My boyfriend

Working headphones– it’s really hard to find a working pair in this household

Christmas!

My upcoming vacation with my family and boyfriend- even though I could throttle my family right now- the joys of Christmas preparations ^^

5 things I’m currently into:

Christmas! I’m all about that holiday, preparing food, decorations and gifts!

Animal Crossing New Leaf– yup, still addicted

Learning about midwives and the process of giving birth- this one needs some explaining so I don’t look like a serial killer! I’ve always been interested in the topic, but never considered becoming one (I’m extremely squeamish). My oldest friend- who is currently in training to become one- has given me some literature on the topic. It’s so interesting (even though I’m surer than ever that I don’t want to be one)!

Makeup– after feeling like shit for the entirety of the semester (health issues), I’ve recently started to do makeup again. It’s fun!

I’m still pretty into names. Blame it on the historian inside of me, but there’s something about learning about names and the history behind them that’s really speaking to me. ~~Too bad I won’t be able to write my bachelor’s thesis about that…~~

5 things on my to-do list:

Clean the entire house

Prepare my 3+ college presentations and learn for the exams

Pack for my vacation

Watch Parks and Recreation Season 7

Relax!

Somehow this turned into a freaking novel. Sorry about that! As always, I’m gonna tag people out of my activity page… @davidmont , @cindysimblr , @moocha-muses , @eulaliasims and @wickedjr89 . No pressure, though.

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And oh boy, are there many…

Nocturnal college professors

audreysims14 said: I’ve also found my professors are either quite good at getting back in a timely manner, or even within the hour, or they take days. There is no in between

Yeah, college professors are a weird species… like, I am the college student. I’m supposed to be up until the wee hours of the morning. You are a functioning adult being, why do you email me at 3 in the morning?

Orlando being a little brat

didilysims said: He’s on the prowl for newspapers, of course!

The orphanage must have terrible security, though!

Bye bye, dogs!

didilysims said: Oh no!

I was so shocked when that happened. Thankfully, pet adoption requirements are pretty lax…

When Brandon met Kaylynn

moocha-muses said: You need to push harder for the Joe/Komei reconciliation, Brandon! How else are you going to get him out of your place?

But he also likes to keep out of other people’s businesses. And if it gets unbearable, no one would judge him if he’d throw Brandon out.

Brandon and Sandy contemplating marriage

littleblondesim said: elopement?

Not really an option in this small town. The neighbours are really noisy, I heard. XD

holleyberry said: I don’t think they will roll an engagement want with the married there. Have you tried having them go on a date?

holleyberry said: Oh, nevermind 😛

Yeah, I don’t really feel like “unlocking” their wedding wants at this point. Who knows if they’ll ever roll one again, and at this point, them wanting to marry is basically “canon”.

Joe’s and Kaylyn’s… weird date

stellaterrano said: Don’t you hate it when you want a ring but your man just wants to buy a car and a stereo 😂

Typical Fortune-Family dating incompatibility… or really Fortune-any other Sims (why are they so obsessed with buying things on dates?)

Rude sleepover guests

eulaliasims said: I don’t know of one that does it autonomously, though I sure would like one too. Maybe you can use Dolphin’s Control This Sim hack to do it manually?

Hm, never tried that one out. Not sure if the effort is worth the result, though. *sigh* A mod like this would be awesome!

Pao

holleyberry said: You deserve it Joe.

If only Joe cared about it. No, that is my internal dialogue everytime I see him. I like him, I really do, but if he could stop barging into stranger’s houses, that would be great.

Apologizing

holleyberry said: I hate people who say sorry but don’t say what they are sorry for. That’s important, imo. Even if they both know what he’s sorry for him actually saying it holds more weight.

Baby steps… Joe’s learning. (Also, psssht! That might be a ‘plot point’ in the future…)

A whole lot of replies

An unfortunate mix-up

didilysims said: Psst! That’s Poppy. 🙂

Oh, shoot! I fixed it now. (I even tagged her as Ivy… wow.)

Misbehaving Timothy

didilysims said: Low aspirations?

As it turned out, it was low aspirations. But not on Timmy’s part.

Joe being Joe

holleyberry said: Ugh!

It’s like he’s trying to make me hate him!

Orlando being an ass

didilysims said: But he’s also very joyful about it.

Yeah, he is. He’s pretty thrilled to be the town’s troublemaker it seems.

Pao stalking the whole town

didilysims said: Poor Pao. So unwelcomed everywhere he goes. 😥

Eh, if he would stop barging into their houses in the odd hours of the morning, disturbing everyone’s peace and quiet and stop laughing at the artwork the townspeople hang in their homes, he might be a bit more welcome…

Joe being Joe Part II

moocha-muses said: I’m with Brandon. You’re kind of the worst, Joe.

At this point, I’m not even surprised. Lately, he seems to try to redempt himself, but I’m not entirely convinced…

Joe being Joe Part III

eulaliasims said: Maybe he’s learned and will do better this time? Eh, maybe I shouldn’t hold my breath on that one.

Don’t hold your breath, but it does appear he at least considers changing for the better.

Kaylynn is a witch! (No surprises here)

didilysims said: She’s been hiding it so well after all. 😛

I mean, it’s not like she wears a giant witch hat!

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Chloe’s birthday

moocha-muses said: They should at least be in their birthday suits!

Ha ha! Oh, they would be if I hadn’t changed the global setting in ACR. Romance Sims are no prudes. Even though Sandy’s door, which is in the line of sight of the couch, is completely see-through… (welcome back, btw!)

holleyberry said: Time to put a ring on it Brandon.

Ugh yes. Both want to marry each other, but neither want to pop the question. I give it two more rounds before I may force them- in the name of love, of course.

On finishing round 8

didilysims said: Such a bizarre glitch, and I hope it’s limited to this ‘hood only! But I’m glad you’ve stuck with it regardless. The drama is great! (Except for this household. Get with it, Jan & Leo…)

It appears to be. But I’m still very wary of it, and even actively put off other ideas because I’m so afraid of it happening again. Oh, just you wait. There is plenty of drama to come.

Sandy’s new clothes

eulaliasims said: That leopard-print top looks great on her!

If Sandy can’t rock it, who can?

Little orphan Brittany– dream big, girl

didilysims said: It’s okay; she wants a sumo wrestler father anyway.

XD. That is not going to happen, unfortunately. But I’m sure she’ll find a loving family and an equally cool father. 😉

Some quick replies- Holleyberry edition?

holleyberry said: At times?

Every hour of the clock, actually (much like real life parenting). But I feel like Christy would have troubles admitting this to herself, because it would make her feel like a failure (seriously, her aspiration is constantly in the low green/ red and she’s got a terrible mood due to their living conditions (dirt poor). But she actually has great relationships with all of her boys, and isn’t that the thing that really counts?

holleyberry said: Poor Komei.

He’s taking this really badly. He actually rolled the want to fall back in love with Joe, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon, unfortunately (they’re still fighting whenever they meet).

Man, I’ve got a sad bunch of characters in this neighbourhood…