Strangetown extras: Family portraits, gardening, and reader participation + sims talk

[strangetomato]

I just wanted to share a couple of photos and do some sims gabbing about CC and the Kitchen and Bath Stuff Pack.

Have you seen these recolours of the Teen Style Stuff gym wear converted for adults by cloudlessnights on MTS2? I think they're really cute. Lots of nice colours and patterns, and it makes up for the lack of gym clothes in the game. I'm a pretty big fan of conversions like that in general, and migamoo also did some really great ones, including the clothing that Ripp wears right now in this story. Imagine that - a plain black button-up shirt! It seems like something you would take for granted, but I don't, considering how specialized a lot of CC is (and the Maxis stuff too, for that matter). Basics, people, we need basics.

Speaking of basics, the new Kitchen and Bath Stuff seems awesome to me. And it has clothes! Nice clothes. Argyle sweaters with jeans (Buck and Frances just heard that and looked over), and a nice sweater and leggings outfit. Yes, actually classic and nice, not trendy (I couldn't believe it either)! They've posted the item pics at the official site, if you haven't taken a look at them yet. It seems like a good SP to me. Lots of things that have already been done pretty well by Holy Simoly, but some new things too.

I only recently started using the hula mod, and I'm really liking it. Especially the still poses from the lot loading screens. I've always wondered how other people posed sims for photo shoots like that and now I know. I'm so behind sometimes. Anyway, I thought I'd share the results of my tinkering with the poses and moveobjects/snapobjectstogrid.




A little "family" portrait. Aren't they cute? Why limit myself to Sim Couple A & B, when I can pose three together!

You can see Ophelia's garden in the background too. She already has her gold talent badge, and Ripp and Johnny are both getting there too, just from occasionally helping her (the garden got so big that she really needs some help). Here they are in action:




Sure, guys. Why bother getting dressed first? Why not?


ETA: I also just noticed this new "Cottage Garden" loveseat on Holy Simoly. How perfect for Nervous' garden one day! :D The universe just seems to be aligning for me right now.

Also, is anyone interested in some reader participation related to the next chapter? No promises that it will end up in the story, but I'm opening the floor to anything that you would like to see come up in conversation at the dinner party with Johnny, Ophelia, Ripp, Stella and Jayne (within reason and character, of course). I have plenty of my own, but is there anything that you would like to see brought up? Just curious. Maybe I'm overlooking something good...

Comments

[sinderellah.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of people who read this story want to see Tank be gay! He strikes me as hetero, albeit inexperienced as we've now found out. A drunken kiss from Francis I can see happening, but I don't think it would swing Tank that way? Embarassing, yes, but not orientation-conversion in my mind.

The whole Tank/Frank issue makes me think of two things:
That one scene in American Beauty where the hardcore father kisses Kevin Spacey, and parts of Rescue Me where the Probie was getting bj's from his roommate, but since he was on the receiving end, it didn't make him gay.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I agree. I read a lot of Tank/Frances support from readers, but I don't intend to let that be what decides the outcome (though I'm afraid of some of the hardcore fans of Frances/Tank... just a little). That's for Tank to decide, and I've given it some lengthy thought.

I don't think that any one experience can really convert your sexual orientation. It might bring about awareness of something that was already there, but you're right about that. There's nothing that Frances can do to "make" Tank gay, or even bisexual, if he isn't.

That American Beauty comparison seems fitting, since isn't that neighbour also a big military guy? Tank has all of that in his upbringing too. I don't know if I've seen Rescue me, but I've seen a scene like that in other movies or books or what have you. That one I disagree with. If you're getting head from a guy, I think that says definitely something about your sexuality. Sure, all mouths are the same, but it's still a man that you're touching, in the end. That's like the really old notion that only the "bottom" is gay in a gay male relationship. That's so clearly not the case.

[sinderellah.livejournal.com]

Oh no, I totally agree with you. I think that was the character's "reasoning" of it to his co-workers. He was gay, but was confused about whether he was gay or bisexual. I had meant to put qotes around that last part, but I don't have a paid account so no editing for me! (and I didn't feel like deleting, lol)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Right on. (Wait... does that expression make sense outside of NL? Sometimes the only good expression for what I want to say is a local one.)

I can also see the other side of it too. If it is just a one-shot thing, it really might not have a lot of relevance to your sexuality. It's just an experimentation, and many of them can be very random and not at all typical of the person's normal behaviour.