Discussion: Reflections on Maxis Sim Shipping

[strangetomato]

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.

Comments

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

Oh, so now it's time to endorse our ships, I see... XD

Way before I even considered doing a Legacy, I exclusively played with Pleasantview. I'm not sure why, I guess the desert environment wasn't appealing to me. Therefore, the very first time I played with the Strangetown characters was when I began the Broke Legacy (because I took that as a challenge for me). This means I never played with the Strangetown characters the way "they were scripted" by Maxis. Most of what I know about these characters was learned from your story :D (especially the Beakers and the Curious).

I guess this is why all my noms were from Pleasantview, although I tried to add a couple noms from ST and Belladonna Cove.

I think that my canon OTP is Mortimer/Bella, if anything because their story is so weird and sad (my version of how they got together was contradicted by the Sims 3, though). I was one of the dummies who tried to resurrect Bella in the Sims 2 and was dissappointed that it never really worked.

I also ship Beau and Lucy, because that's what usually happened in my early games. Therefore, I was surprised when I ended going with Beau and Lilith in my Legacy, because it seemed like the more believable option according to the plot, although I don't ship it as a canon couple. But I loved them together and their children.

It took me a little while to warm to the idea of Beau and Frances from your story, but now I think they are adorable together. I voted for them too :)

As for your original question, I often had Lilith break up with Dirk and going out with Alexander (who by then was Dirk's "step-uncle", because I just can't let Cassandra marry Don, who I still think is behind Bella's abduction AND the father of Brandi's third kid). I also had Angela disowned by her parents and marrying Dustin in an act of rebellion after so many years of being the perfect twin. Yikes, I really turned that hood into a soap opera!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I'm a Bella/Mortimer shipper, too. To see that their love even spans several incompatible timelines (and dimensions? LOL! XD), how can anyone deny them that?

I love how wonderfully complicated it is. And the fact that it doesn't have a happy ending... or does it...? That's up to us to decide.

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

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?

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

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.