Strangetown extras: Feeling the love

[strangetomato]

Let's take a moment to remember the many faces of love on this, the 14th of February. As our friends in Strangetown have shown us, there are many types of love out there. Whether in an established relationship, one just starting out, or with someone you barely know, an unrequited crush, self love, or love of family and friends. Love comes in so many forms.

Sometimes it's the little things that show the greatest love of all...

Happy Valentine's Day! Go ahead and enjoy your favourite sort of love.

Comments

[music-simbol.livejournal.com]

I like how you didn't just show kissing, but the little things, like helping a friend when they're sick, doing the dishes, reading a romance novel. :P

I think one of my favorite shots was Vidcund getting thrown from the spaceship. LOL!!!!!!

But, of course, you can't mention the word love, without including Ripp looking at the mirror and taking pictures of himself. Will that man ever love anyone else more than himself?

(Update soon, yes?)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm all about that. It's not all about the "romantic" stuff.

Vidcund gets a very special kind of alien love. Now that's a one night stand to remember (or, in this case, forget)!

Well, I said self love too! Ripp has really got that one figured out (at least in some ways). *snicker* I love that solo romantic photo booth mod.

I really want to update tonight with the first half of the chapter, but if it doesn't work out it will have to be Sunday, unfortunately. Busy weekend. Wish me luck!

[music-simbol.livejournal.com]

SUNDAY?!?!?!

*falls over from heart attack*

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I know, I know... like I said, I hope it's tonight. I have to work all Friday, up until Saturday afternoon, and then work again Saturday night. I suppose I might fit something in on Sat. afternoon, but I'm thinking that tonight is my only window of opportunity.

I think I can split the chapter into the dinner party and the sorority party, and serve up dinner tonight before all this work hits me.

[music-simbol.livejournal.com]

If you can do it tonight, I'll.........um........I'll give you a cookie! Or, a hug? 1000 cool points? My unending adoration? (Can you tell I'm broke?)

Boo on working! Don't they know you have sim stories to do? Bums.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Ooooh! I'll take the 1000 cool points. I need those. :P

I know. Really, eh? I don't usually have to work on the weekends, but it just so happens that something came up in both of my jobs. Lucky me!

[sinderellah.livejournal.com]

Awww! Very nice. I think Pascal and baby Mint is my favorite. Lol'd at Olive and the sexy Mr.Death. ;) Who is that with Bella? And the one below Lazlo and Crystal at the Restaurant... is that just them with makeovers?

Boo for working weekends! I vote for two-parter, that way we might get something to read over the weekend. But you know, no pressure. ^_^

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a really sweet pic of Pascal, isn't it? I'm not sure why I didn't find a way to use it in the story. (I'm pretty sure I didn't, anyway.)

Death's a pretty sexy guy! :P

I'm not sure who the guy with Bella is. Just a guy from work. A downtownie, I think.

The pic below Crystal and Lazlo is them again. That's what they look like now. They've been pretty reclusive, but I plan to work them back into the story again really soon.

Heheh. I'm going to try. It might be a late night, but I'll try...

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

That was so sweet!
This montage actually moved me!

And I agree that sometimes, the greatest forms are love are not the ones that holidays like today's and the mass media often tell us about. Romantic/Couple love is nice, but so is to feel surrounded by good friends and a warm family. And to love your-self, as Ripp showed us in the pics (LOL, although I'm not sure his self-steem is as high as he tries to make you think) .

You don't need to do big things either. The pics of the omelette, the bath, the comforting and playing with younger siblings. Those are subtle but strong forms of love. I was reminded of my little sisters :).

And just to note that Tank is not as "newbie" in the romance matters as Ripp might think. I'm reading your last update (I was in the middle, but then the electricity went out for a while) and now that I've seen your pics, I'm giggling.

Thanks for the update! :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It was pretty moving for me to go through these photos to find all these moments. It was really nice, and I'm glad that feeling came across in the montage. There's a lot of love in Strangetown. All kinds.

I definitely think that the little things are the most special, and they usually don't have anything to prompt the person to do them (like a holiday or special date), so it's more genuine.

Those photo booth photos with Ripp crack me up. You're right - Ripp really doesn't have self-esteem quite as high as he portrays most of the time, but he really does had a massive ego. That's the one area of his life that he feels most secure about, so he just goes with it! :D

Yeah, Tank at least knows about it from reading. *snicker* I love seeing who pulls out the romance novel while reading. You'd expect it more from Ripp, but he rarely reads. Tank reads because he's so serious (he reads the paper too). When Ripp reads while relaxing on bed, the book is always upside down, which makes me laugh. He's just pretending to read.

Thanks. I hope to try to slip in a real update sometime today, since last night didn't work out for me.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

*snicker* Vidcund's sweet alien loving!

And I agree, it's more than just the romantic love (for Nocheat, I had to just do the kissy stuff or I'd STILL be sorting the pics!).

Ooh, Pascal, I see you staring longingly at your Nervous. (great, now I'll have to go into my Strangetwon when I get home and let my Pascal/Nervous get their smooch on again)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

That's the only loving that Vidcund's been getting. *snicker* Poor ol' Vid.

For sure. (And you must have a bazillion pics to go through for Nocheat.)

Well, we don't know if that's a longing stare, exactly... do we? Heheh. I like how you get revved up on my Nervous and Pascal and then go home to take it out on your own pair. Too funny.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Is Vidcund all cherry like my poor Lazlo? *snicker*

Pishaw. That's SO a longing stare. Pascal's like Jill Smith. He soaks in the bubble bath and diddles himself thinking about Nervous. And I actually didn't go and take it out on my Pascal/Nervous (or Pascal/Percy). But I did sort some pics that had some Pascal/Percy (and Pascal/Al) love (and a Percy makeover). So I got a fix.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's pretty much the opposite here. Lazlo's the only Curious brother that is getting any action. I see Vidcund as someone who would have trouble getting rid of his virginity, even that late in life. He had a shot at it with Circe, possibly, but he lost out on it to Loki.

You'd like that, wouldn't you? But no... my version of Pascal really isn't much like that. I can't even see him taking a bath, since a shower is far more efficient. It's only logical. *snicker*

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Ok, ok. Then he diddles himself in the SHOWER. Masturbating in the shower would be very efficient, too (and less messy).

*snicker* Great, now I'm thinking about how the uber-efficient strange_tomato Pascal tries to shave strokes off his masturbation session to make it that much more productive. (and the whole "logical" thing is making me see him as Spock--great, just what I wanted).

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I just don't see Pascal as being all that sexual, but I suppose that even he must do that. Sometimes. Everyone does. And yeah... only in an ultra efficient manner. *snort* He's even done the calculations.

Oh no. Not Spock. *snicker* I'm getting horrible mental pictures here. Maybe he's not THAT rational.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

So THAT'S what you use a protractor for! Masturbation calculation! *snort* Now I'm thinking "angle of the dangle". Good lord, I'm not right.

*shudders* The spock thing is freaking me out, too. I recently saw this star trek slash fan art (no, I didn't google it, I'm weird but not THAT weird) and it was just so bizarre and sad and. . .I just can't stop wondering who's body they put spock's head on.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Angle of the dangle. *snort*

That sounds crazy. You can really end up in some odd little corners of someone's mind with the whole fanart/fiction thing.

Speaking of Star Trek funny, have you ever seen these Star Trek outtakes YouTube videos? I don't even really know anything about Star Trek, but this made me die with laughter. The creator is obviously a genius. If you like randomness, this will amuse you.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Damn, I'm so happy my work computer all the sudden likes to play youtube videos (must have been one of those updates I'm always bitching about).

The 50Cent music. . .*snort*. . .I'm so going to have that earworm now.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

That was the best part. I had tears of laughter. Great use of that scene where they're about to leave, and the lights start flickering. They're like, "Oh, wait... time to party."

Re: Love!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's so nice to hear! Thanks for making the effort to delurk. It's great to hear from you. I'm glad that you've been enjoying the story so far. Thanks for reading!

[http://users.livejournal.com/fileg_/]

Reading to little Buck! *sniff* This was a great way to celebrate the day!

Are those the romantic photobooth pics? I adore the one of Rip with his arms over his head.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Sweet little Buck. Tank read to him fairly often too, though I couldn't find the pic I had of that. Ripp and Buck are pretty tight, though. Buck was the only person in the house that Ripp had much time for.

Yeah, it's a mod that I got from MTS2. It enables solo romantic photos. You can find a link on my user info page. That arms over the head shot is so funny and dramatic! I love the bottom right one too, looking over the shoulder. Too cute.

[hidden-kitten.livejournal.com]

Aww, how beautiful. I loved Olive and Tank with the romance novel! Just adorable, all of it.
Wonderfully put together.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Glad you liked it. Tank just loves a good romance novel... ;)

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

Aww, I thought this was so cute. I was listening to Damaged by TLC and it made it all the much cuter.

I just about squeed when I saw Buck staring at Jill when they were children.

Then when I saw Nervous and Pascal I HAD to squee.

The Johnny and Ophelia pictures, they are so sweet together. I hope he chooses her and they stay together and be adorable and such. Leave Stella to do the pollinating. And Lola.

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

Oh and Tank with the romance novel - haha, priceless.

"I just wanted him to have his way with me me..."

"Tank: :O"

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I wonder if Tank reads the whole novel, or just the good parts? I know that when I was growing up and sneaking a peak at my mother's stash, I never bothered reading any of them all the way through. ;)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I had another great one of Buck and Jill as children, but I couldn't locate it very easily, so I just dropped it for now. It's good enough to use in the story at some point too, so I probably will.

Everyone loves that one of Nervous and Pascal. *grin* He's just LOOKING at him, people! *sigh*

I like Johnny and Ophelia together too. But there are a lot of things for Johnny to consider in his decision, so we'll have to wait and see how it all goes.

[80sfiend.livejournal.com]

Aww this was so great!! :D I loved it. :)

I especially loved the Jill/Ripp pictures, but you already knew that. :D

The pictures of Ophelia/Johnny made me laugh cause Ripp is always just there watching them. :P

Happy V-day to you too. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yeah, I could have guessed that you'd like those.

You'd be surprised (or would you?) at how few photos there are of Johnny and Ophelia kissing that don't have Ripp in them somewhere. He's such a permanent third wheel to their relationship, they don't even notice that he's there.

[sofieamalien.livejournal.com]

AWWWWW!

After experiencing my first ever Valentine's Day yesterday (we don't celebrate it in Denmark... ) I was so happy to see a Valentine's Day post! With all our fav. Strangetown residents!! HURRAY! For some reason I really like the one with Loki and Circe...

I finally got to read chapter 21 too - I've been sick and haven't been up foir reading anything too long, because it hurts to look at the screen - biut it is as always a pleasure to read your work! I really love this place!!

OMG I'm going home in a week! I better start packing! I've been here (USA) for 6 months already and that's all the goverment will allow - if you're just a visitor/traveller like me. I've had a WONDERFUIL time and I'm SERIOUSLY gonna miss the people I met here and to be in the same timezone as everyone else.. It's gonna be good to go home too, though. I got a job now!!! And things have been turning out really lucky for me the last year or so.

I'll continue reading your work when I get home - but I will also be playing my own sims! HURRAY!

I'll be looking forward for the next update!

Love
Sofie

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I agree. Loki and Circe are a cute couple. Evil, but very cute together.

It should be fun to get back to playing your own sims! :D

Thank you.

[franwi.livejournal.com]

I was laughing at all the shots of Phi/Johnny with Ripp in the background or watching them, lol. Loved seeing the "kiddy" pics again from when they were younger. Buck was so adorable! ;) Is that Chloe and ERIN making out on the bed? LOL. Must be my imagination.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Clearly, Ripp likes to watch. ;)

He's seriously in almost every pic of them together. I'd think that I found one without him, but then he'd end up being hidden there somewhere.

I like digging out the pics from when they were younger too. I took plenty, and some may be used here and there for flashbacks.

*snicker* No, that's not Erin. Just some townie. Wouldn't that be funny, though? They're not too keen on each other.

[missgan.livejournal.com]

*sigh* Wonderful post! :D

I'd forgotten all about Kendall Lawson! Aww, Tank's first love. Now that I think of it, Ripp must have done quite a lot of psychological damage when he made out with her to get back at Tank. I think if he'd had a romantic partner back when he was a teen, it would have made it easier for him to loosen up more! :/

Awww, Buck as a child! I missed that. So cute! Not that he isn't cute now, as a teenager, of course. I love Buck no matter how old he is. Darn, why didn't you post the pics of Lyla interacting with her sons? That would have made me go 'awww' some more! XD

I love that pic of Buck & Jill in the hot tub! Those two need to get married and have babies NOW! :D:D:D

LOL, Ripp seems to almost always be around in pics of Ophelia & Johnny together. Just check out that one with all three of them in the hot spring (Is it a hot spring? Wait - you don't have Bon Voyage, so I guess it's CC?), Ripp seems to be staring intently at the two of them! XD

Oh yea, and LOL at the picture with Ripp and his photobooth picture! I'll bet that's the person he really and truly loves.