strangetomato | Discussion: Reflections on Maxis Sim Shipping

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Discussion: Reflections on Maxis Sim Shipping

I think the thing that really stands out for me now that I'm seriously considering my Maxis character shipping preferences is how I do not see either Dirk/Lilith or Angela/Dustin working out in the end. I never really have. Well, actually, I did have an early notion, when I first started to sim in Pleasantview, that Angela WOULD marry Dustin and live a terribly dissatisfying life of semi-poverty (Broke-style), with a criminal husband and a yard full of scary domerman pincers. (Have I mentioned my active imagination? This was way before I had any concept of sim storytelling for others. Just myself.) But now I just see Angela moving on to greener pastures, leaving Dustin to find someone else (Ginger Newson being my favourite contender at this point, given her parallel to Brandi, which is a life he knows all too well.)

I can't ever stop seeing Dirk eventually cheating on Lilith with Angela, causing a huge rift there. In my game, he always, always cheats on her, in fact. Usually with Angela, but sometimes with someone else, and often without any input from me. I don't know if he ends up with Angela, or if he eventually reconciles with Lilith, but somehow that HAS to happen for me. Lilith is all over the place for me. She nearly always gets tangled up with Don Lothario at some point in my game (*lowers voice* sometimes even while still a teen... Oh Don, you're just... yeah), and then I just see her as this amazing free spirit who maybe stays single forever. You know those amazing old ladies who were movie stars or artists or musicians, who were lovers to many famous people over the years (mostly men, but there were some exceptions, if you believe the rumours), but always stayed true to themselves and didn't settle down? Yeah, that's how I see Lilith Pleasant.

Also, Tara Kat/Chester Gieke is the nerdiest couple EVER, by far. Geeky nerds trump bookish nerds any day of the week. (That's one of mine, by the way, from my uberhood. The red hair is a bonus, but they also remind me of my cousin and her husband in an uncanny way, right down to the cat lady-ness and the too geeky/socially awkward to live hardcore videogame geek factors. I am so sold on that pairing. I've seen its proven results in RL, people! XD)

So, I'm opening the floor to other shipping chit-chat here. Please try not engage in any full-on shipping brawls, but if you feel the need to pen an impromptu shipping manifesto, then who are we to stop you? :D Go on and share your insights, amusing pairing stories from your game, and so on.

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Have you read this Mirror, Mirror short I wrote a while back? I think there are some similarities between our takes on Dina (well, some parts of mine and maybe both of yours?).

I tend not to put too much stock in the Maxis memories for details like that. In that case, I might assume that they messed up with the "married a rich sim" memory, but it's also a good opportunity to work on another reason... my own Dina's motives are far from that simple.

I think the game set-up means for Dina and Don's affair to be a new thing. I think it's her they prompt you to phone up at the start of the game, if I recall correctly.

I love all of your ideas here, by the way. Your game must be tonnes of fun!

Have you read my Mirror, Mirror short? It has some elements of Dina wanted to be Bella in it.

Eww. Rape porn. :P

The lucky lacrosse stick line was good though.

Gotta agree with the Mortimer/Bella OTP! I like the backstory the Sims 3 gave us, but I really hate some of the inconsistencies it brought with it, especially the 25 years thing. I mean, there's no way TS1 Michael Bachelor is 40 years old.

And I still have no idea how he went from pale pouty-lipped puddin' face-->ambiguously brown college hottie-->completely generic face 2?

I think it would totally depend on when Alex met Bottom. In my worlds they meet as children. If they were adults the reactions could be very different.

Alexander as a child is very subdued, he's lost his mother, his father is obsessed alternatively with his telescope and a new younger woman, and his sister? Yeah, Cass doesn't have much time for him either. Her entire fantasy world is about to explode in her face. No wonder Alex is a gloomy reclusive little boy. He needs some sunshine in his life and who better to bring it?

I don't see the Summerdreams in the same way that you do, not exactly. Open relationship? Perhaps. Love of family and friends? Sure! Beyond that not really. My Puck would die if he was asked to wear that hat.

Megahood version of the Goth-Summerdream family Kudzu includes Bottom and Alex meeting at a birthday party. It's a toddler tossing, Alex's new step mother recently presented her husband with twin sons. Mortimer was aghast to see the elf ears.

Yeah, I think I actually discovered your journal around the time it was first posted! I especially loved your take on Flamenco's sunglasses!

The maxis sims ages and memories are so messed up. Like how can Cassandra only be 12 years older than Alexander if she's like 30 and he's a little kid? And I have to laugh at how the wiki's explanation for every single error is "Elixir of Life." It's like a drinking game at this point.

The story I'm working on is a prequel taking place between TS1 and TS2. Dina's not evil in this one (in fact, she's pretty much a jerkass woobie) but I'm going to provide the setup that she could still be pushed to become so by the time of Bella disappearance.

All I could think throughout the whole thing was "I hope the press doesn't find out about this or Mary Sue's gonna have to do some major damage control for her political career!"

There was also some John Burb/Plantsim stuff that I cannot bleach out of my brain.

I always make Alexander gay and hook up with a literal goth. Either a resurrected Fricorith or that Tricou lovechild downtownie
I was really surprised to see someone else nominating Alex/Fricorith. They are just so emo together! XD I totally <3 them!

Late to the party, but I do have my two cents to throw in!

Obviously, I'm biased. I definitely see where Angela and Dustin would fail, but they grew up together. In my mind, Angela is someone who is very concerned with firsts and milestones and Dustin was her first. She saw everything he went through and of course part of her holds on to the hope that he can change, and that he will make something of himself, but that's my interpretation. I have very definite ideas about whether they work out or not but I don't want to spoil my story (that will apparently never be finished).

Wrt Lilith/Dirk, I totally see your version of it. Lilith is totally a wildcard and someone who wouldn't allow herself to be tied down to anything, and poor Dirk gets left behind in what I see as her struggle to find her identity outside of being the bad daughter, Angela's sister, etc. I see Dirk as someone who would crave stability, and having a happy home life (trying to recreate the marriage of his parents) and Lilith does not *do* happy home life (child of dysfunctional marriage, did you miss the memo) so their relationship kind of falls apart on that level as well.

I basically went with my heart and soul otps and nominated Erin/Lazlo, Bottom/Vid, Johnny/Ophelia, and Beau/Franny. I WAS HEAVILY INSPIRED BY OUTSIDE SOURCES.

Some of my favorite pairings make no sense to me. I love, Love, LOVE Tank/Johnny and even though I've several stories where it *could* have worked and made perfect sense it never quite happens. (I guess it's a bit like Hermione/Draco- on paper, who else is good enough for them? But there's so much blood under the bridge and hurtful behaviour that you can't really *buy* it, you know?) And the worst part is, they're GOOD together. Better than they should be for being reflections of each other... Great, now I want to stick Cassie Goth and Sandra Roth in a room together and see what happens...

But with the P/view kids, I was always annoyed there wasn't anyone better in town for Dirk. It felt like Maxis gave him to Lil so she could hold him back, which is weird since I like Lil. O_o

I know! When the Sims 3 version of Michael Bachelor appeared I was SO annoyed, because I had taken many pictures for my story using a Sims 1 recreation of Michael and then Maxis decided that he was now a pale, brown haired guy!

I was thinking of re-doing those pictures, but then I decided to let them alone. In my mind, the Bachelors are wizards, so Michael perhaps altered his appearance when he became an adult to attract more ladies or whatever :P.

Even though I always want to keep Dirk with Lilith just because, it never works out...they just don't get along very well and are complete opposites. You know, the things that are cute and endearing when you are a teenager doesn't always translate well into functional adult. It's silly to be a rebel in your 30s...and I see Lilith as the eternal rebel and Dirk needs to have a normal family life. They only have one bolt for each other, so I'm going to try to find them their own personal 3 bolter. I have this thing...my Sims need to have 3 bolts for their potential marriage partner, or it bugs the shit out of me. I will marry a pair off with 2...but I need it to be 3 to be okay with it.

Angela and Dustin aren't going to make it. Angela is too much of a princess. They are going to grow apart. Dustin will make something out of himself, but he will always be rough around the edges and will never be able to please Angela. Yeah...they need to find someone else.

I always pair Alexander with someone made by me.

Only exception is Darren and Cassandra, but I NEED them to be together. Darren has 3 bolts for Brandi, but I really don't want them together. In my game I usually have Darren resurrect his wife after marrying Cassandra. He winds up having the amnesiac Darleen living in another town(usually Strangetown, everyone goes there to hide) and has started a family with her in addition to the family he has with Cassandra. I'm currently playing Pleasantview again for the 20th time, so I may not go that route. Cassandra deserves better.

I resurrected Skip Broke...my God, he was better off dead. I called myself trying to reunite a family...Skip is such a douche. ACR has him cheating with Nina and another romance Sim made by me. Brandi and Skip don't belong together at all. I foresee him having another mysterious pool ladder accident(Or, he'll just leave Brandi and go be a whore), and I'm going to find Brandi a real man.

Johnny has to be with Ophelia. They make adorable kids.

I didn't submit any ships for this, and admittedly I regret it, because when I went in to vote on my favorites, I was so hung up on mine that weren't submitted by anyone else (Tank/Ophelia, Julien/Natasha and Lazlo/Mary-Sue stand out among others) that I couldn't get myself to look at it nearly any other way. If I ever get around to writing a story about the premades, there'll be enough focus on these characters that you'll see why I'm shipping them.

For Angela/Dustin and Lilith/Dirk, I agree with you. Having a high school sweetheart is nice and all, but these two pairs are, I think, so opposite each other at a fundamental level that I can't see a long-term commitment. I've heard from players who switched up the pairs, but there's something about that that still doesn't work, especially Dustin/Lilith — I don't know why, but there's something about the two that really keeps them from clicking.

I have Don listed on my MS Excel ships spreadsheet (which has relationships established in the game as well as those I've imagined) with four possibilities (and being that it's Don, there's definitely room for more than one). Since I see Kaylynn, Cassandra and Dina wanting to settle down at some time in their lives, with options set or implied by the game (Daniel, Darren and Mortimer respectively), it leaves Nina, ironically, as the only one Don has to himself right now. But that's bound not to last for long :P Maybe that guy down the street with the dog would suit her? If I weren't on the verge of shipping Cyd with Dina instead, it'd be a lock.

There are five listed for Castor Nova, but it's mostly because there are four girls crushing on him and one with a really strong friendship, and I haven't looked at it enough to decide on one of them.

Throwing original characters into the mix changes things up quite nicely: I've got one teen male of my own in Pleasantview and two teen girls in Strangetown.

All this is reminding me of how much I need to think this out. It's not going to be overly complex, but I want to make sure I've explored lots of possibilities.

He totally did! It was Dirk's nose combined with some of Lilith's features, plus the John Burb hair in black (which fanseelamb did use for her Mulder!). I wish I had some pictures from back then. I don't think I deleted the 'hood, but I've no idea where it would be. Probably on the old computer somewhere.

*curious* You can whisper it to me...

Meredith Lillard. :) Ooh, secret lovers x 2... I like this idea. Circe and Olive are some of the best female villains ever.

Oh wow, you've just given me such a good idea for my game. Resurrect Darleen. She'd be a zombie, which would never be accepted in Pleasantview [in my game it's REALLY class-obsessed and pretty damn judgemental] so Darren moves to Strangetown with her! Dirk wouldn't want to move, because of Lillith and everything he has in Pleasantview, so he'd stay in the house, alone, and it would end up run down and broken because he'd have loads of parties there - what else would a teenager do? Especially a rebellious one, like Dirk is in my game - and Lillith would finally find an escape from her shitty home life so she'd move in with him... oh wow, this would be so awesome. Thank you for the unintentional inspiration!

I feel like adding my two cents to this as well. These are unpopular choices, I know, but they just work out so well together...

Lilith Pleasant / Alexander Goth. Always. I don't play them as being married or being in a serious relationship or even living together, but instead in a constant state of lusting after each other.
Buzz Grunt / Brandi Broke. They are so good together. I've rarely had them NOT have attraction points towards each other in my game, & they've been natural 3 bolts a time or two. Their aspirations match up pretty well, all the kids do well together especially if you get to them soon in the game.
Bella Goth / Malcolm Landgraab. Works well also.
Angela Pleasant / Almeric Davis. Don't know why. Anytime I don't just leave her with Dustin.
Gavin Newson / Ginger Newson. They're adopted & therefore not biologically related, it's not gross at all. Also their character descriptions make it seem like they were adopted recently.

I think what feels the weirdest is that a lot of the characters I think of as being homosexual are normally depicted as straight.
Honestly I've never played a game where Buck Grunt isn't gay. He's usually quite feminine about it, too. Also Hermia Capp is always a lesbian, I know she's with 2 guys at the start of the game, but to me she also seems like someone who wouldn't admit it to herself until later.

You're welcome! That's why I love discussions like this, I always walk away with ideas to try. :)

Dustin Broke/Lucy Burb: I always turn her into some sort of ManicPixieDreamGirl who moves into Pleasantview and quickly befriends him, opens his eyes up to the world, and he decides to dump Angela and reform his life, because all Angela was attracted to was his Bad-boyness.
Nina Caliente/Don Lothario: In my mind, they work the best. Even in the premade story shots, while all the other pics of Don and his girls involve romance, the one of him and Nina is a shot of them jogging. I think of them as long time friends-with-benefits and after a few mishaps, they realize that they are perfect for each other.
And Buck Grunt and Jill Smith, of course.

I definately agree with the Don and Nina thing. Most of the time in my game, Don marries Cassandra, gets divorced, and ends up in a long-term relationship with Nina. They deserve eachother.

Adding to this a couple of weeks later, now I've loaded up the new computer and started playing them again:

I only got as far as 2nd year uni with my old game when the neighbourhood borked, but by that time Angela had just seduced Dirk in the spa. I also had Dustin and Dirk going to uni a year earlier than the twins and Dustin bascially screwing his way through the dorms before Angela arrived. Also, Dustin and Dirk had a thing going with each other after only a little pushing from me initially.

This time around I have ACR installed and I'm letting them go on free well. So far they're all faithful to each other but both Dustin and Dirk (especially Dirk at the moment) have been heartfarting over the other twin. Interestingly enough, though I have red hair as a turn on for both of them and two other redhaired dormies, neither have shown a lick of interest.

I admit I have a soft spot for Dirk-Lilith. We shall see.

Interestingly enough (now I can't see him as any other way) I switched Beau over as gay via the batbox and how he has a raging crush on Dirk and Dirk rolled the want to call and then invite over Beau. They'll both be at Darren and Cassandra's wedding, so watch this space.

I hadn't even thought of Ginger Newson until the hood was too far along, time-wise. Any suggestions for houses?

As for the adults, this is the first time I've played Darren and Cass as a couple. Last time it was Darren/Brandi Broke (and with ACR and the three bolts this time around I've had to swat them off each other) and I decided to let Don and Cass marry each other and see how they went -- surprisingly well up as of when the game blew up.

I thought of Don and Nina this time around but Jan Tellerman fell for her like a ton of bricks at the welcome wagon for a CAS character I made for Brandi and Nina hasn't shown a flicker of interest in Don since, whereas Dina was showing him up in her wants and fears in the early days of the marriage (and he's in her fears, but her wants are taken up with her career and possessions the odd one with the baby she wanted).

As for my view of ST, it's completely shaped by your STHWC so I can't see anything but J/R/O, Buck/Frances and Tank/Lucy. And of course Buck/Jill.

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Discussion: Reflections on Maxis Sim Shipping

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Re: Reconstructed :P

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