#about n.

I have a question! When did you first start playing the sims, and what was your first sims game? ^w^

ooh, good one, thank you! ♥️ i dimly recall “playing” one of the console versions when i was in fourth grade, perhaps? by which i mean the babysitter’s family owned it, and i built the world’s ugliest and least functional box house once while i was there.

thank you for the tag @sirianasims ! haven't done one in a hot minute

last song: listened to "boys wanna be her" by peaches in the car on the way home the day before yesterday. rare break from my work-in-progress 1992 soundtrack playlist :^)

favorite color(s): black ! red ! jewel tones.

currently watching: rewatching modern family right now.

last movie: watched saltburn last night. big fan. love freaks doing freak stuff.

currently reading: nothing !!!!!! how many times must i say i ain't read, smh. started @hannahssimblr's story most recently, so i will be returning to that before the christmas/new years limbo period is over. i did buy ned blackhawk's new book, "the rediscovery of america," for christmas, so i'll be reading that when i get back to work.

sweet/spicy/savory: savory, then sweet.

last thing i googled: "harbor define" lmao

current obsession: saving 1990s runway fashion pictures and saying "this will go on my 1992 costume design pinterest board" then never adding them

currently working on: story post for tomorrow (it's a two-parter!)

tagged by: @royalmedani, @armoricaroyalty, @warwickroyals, @trhor ♥️

i have no clue what the criteria is for picking the FIVE (5) songs, so these are five that i've been listening to a lot recently ??? i think i've mentioned most of them, but what i usually do is recycle the same handful of songs for a month or two :^) recently, the vibe has been ... well. all over the place. mainly, i like songs that i can sing or rap along to while i'm dancing in my kitchen.

i'm every woman — chaka khan

are you that somebody? — aaliyah

carry out — timbaland ft. justin timberlake

right thurr — chingy

i like him — princess nokia

honorable mentions aka songs that i always go back to: do me a favour, arctic monkeys; feels blind, bikini kill; life is but a dream, the harptones; bonfire, childish gambino; wish you were here, incubus; 6 foot 7 foot, lil wayne; the unforgiven iii, metallica; getaway car, audioslave; chateau lobby #4, father john misty; p.i.m.p., 50 cent; living dead girl, rob zombie; thick thighs, willam ft. latrice royale; black magic woman, santana; make this go on forever, snow patrol; no choir, florence + the machine; powerglide, rae sremmurd ft. juicy j; no plan, hozier; bulls on parade, rage against the machine; coming undone, korn; radio, lana del rey; goodies, ciara ft. petey pablo; sneakernight, vanessa hudgens; many more .................

actually writing, obviously ! that's the easy answer. i think it's a bit more complex than that, tho.

having motivation to write at all is the biggest struggle, but i wouldn't frame it as a matter of ~inspiration~ so much as a matter of ?? idk, discipline ?? i write for work and for fun, yet it's much easier to write for work because it's something i have to make myself do regularly. i haven't written for fun in a HOT MINUTE, neither long form stuff nor my simblr content. i do feel really mournful about having abandoned my lifelong love of Working On Novel Ideas, but 1) it's a choice i can always unmake and 2) i could theoretically get the same joy and satisfaction from my simblr story. for a while, i made time every evening to work on story things, including the stuff i'd classify as really "writing": plotting, revising plot things, drafting dialogue. sticking to a regular practice of writing is hard. especially when seemingly more important things are demanding my time and energy ! i am getting major fomo from seeing everyone's posts the last several weeks ... oh, to mount my own comeback ...

the more interesting answer, to me and in the context of simblr, is that i sometimes find it hard to convey the investment i feel within the writing itself. being limited to dialogue is part of it, i guess. it's not that i'm eager to hit everyone over the head with exposition so much as the facts that 1) i like to lavish in metaphors and build out the inner world of the characters and 2) the worldbuilding i adore is much more behind-the-scenes than super obvious or at the forefront. as a writer, i rarely spend time on the physical settings unless it's immediately relevant to what's happening; in the story, i build sets but they're not really the point most of the time. historically, the stories i write take place in the minds and hearts of the characters (although i rarely write in first person; i don't really like that kind of, uhm, perspective, as a writer or reader). adding prose paragraphs helps me get at what i want to include with the sims story, but it's not quite the same ! there's also the problem of the nature of the format, which i just haven't mastered. maybe it's my impatience, but i read y'all's stories that make me FEEL things and RELATE to what's happening and CARE deeply ... i'm not sure how to get that effect, in a way that feels real and successful to me personally. step one is probably Posting Regularly Instead of Being On Hiatus For 12843950 Months, huh?

𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐁𝐋𝐑 𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐒   /   accepting ! 

thank you for asking these !!! 💖

13) what do you do when you are unmotivated?

ooh ! usually what i do when i don't have any story motivation but still want to play sims is 1) do a bunch of photoshoots with my collab sims or 2) build something. anyone who has a collab with me knows that i insist on spamming them with fully-fleshed-out-but-sans-dialogue scenes and couple / family photos when i should be ?? making scenes for my story ?? and building ! i love building and decorating lots, but i don't spend as much time on it as i used to. i built a recreation of rosecliff last summer, and now i'm working on recreating pipewell hall. casa de pilatos has been on my to-do list for a while, so maybe i'll return to that next.

when i'm unmotivated and want motivation to continue my story work specifically, i usually go read other people's stories ! my story is still stalled, but lately i get a burst of inspiration every time i see a new post from @funkyllama or @warwickroyals or @armoricaroyalty or @ardeney-sims or 18395 others. seeing other people improving their craft and being excited about their characters is great bc those feelings are contagious ! it's also helpful talking to people about their stories, or when they very graciously have questions or thoughts about mine.

14) who is your current favorite sim?

tagged by: all my friends ! [insert crying emoji] thanks for the inclusion, @warwickroyals & @armoricaroyalty & @funkyllama & @trentonsimblr & @trouvailleroyals

favorite color: black, red, all of those verdant shades of green.

currently reading: [unhinged screaming] on the docket for today is gary nash's forging freedom and cynthia radding's wandering peoples. yesterday, i read stuff about the andes and also women in plantation households. for leisure, i've been reading since this summer: tommy orange's there there, ottessa moshfegh's my year of rest and relaxation, and stephen graham jones' my heart is a chainsaw. also y'all's stories ! i don't want to jinx myself, but i'm hoping to FINALLY catch up with @ardeney-sims this weekend, among some others i'd like to at least start. if anyone has suggestions for how to keep your place in stories instead of frantically scrolling someone's blog every time ... lemme know ...

last song you listened to: uh oh. spotify says "king" by florence + the machine, which checks out.

last series watched: my watching is all over the place. lately, it's been dance moms (finished. chaos) and season two of rez dogs (so good), plus i started rewatching american horror story: coven with a friend this week. i also started fear city on netflix last night but idk if i'll go back to it. why when i can rewatch goodfellas for the 1834935th time .... oh, and fear the walking dead ! i picked it back up recently but idk if i will continue anytime soon (more zombies, less interpersonal drama that isn't about zombies). either way, it's october. should be watching scary stuff.

sweet, savory, or spicy: i like them all but i'm a savory gal at heart. i love desserts so much, and i like spicy food more than it likes me, but ultimately... pretzels make my world go 'round.

craving: OKAY SO LIKE. i wanted italian food, and then when i sat down this morning to make my dinner plans, i was like "meh... vegetables?" i am craving green things, but i ain't a quitter, so we're having salad and decadent pasta tonight. we're in a weird and not-good place this week, mentally and emotionally, that's my explanation.

tea or coffee: i like both. but ... i have coffee daily—latte, almond milk because i hate the environment or w/e obviously, no sugar—but tea is more infrequent as of late. i am a southerner through and through, tho, so i love sweet tea. that counts.

working on: everything and nothing, it feels like. grading papers. trying to stay on top of my reading list. writing grant applications. writing a historiography for my dissertation proposal. building a house for sims who haven't even been born yet. researching tattoos and testing them in cas. procrastinating revisions for my story outline. ruminating on the asks y'all've sent. whew.