#bananzer

Just kidding. Thinking about my space bounty hunter oc who has the same first and last name and constantly wears a helmet because of sensory issues and people think he's so mysterious and cool but he's, like, freaking out all the time. And he's short.

omggg you're askin me? 🥺

I'm not sure I'm the best simblr to ask because I'm not in it for the trends or popularity; I'm all about the interaction and finding others to talk to at length about my delusional fictional universe that's been going on for over a decade now lol. But let me try:

*puts on my mother glasses* There are two ways to go about it; depending on your goals. There are plenty of exceptions, but simblr sorta has a formula you can follow. Get ready for some contradictions haha

if you aim to appease the simblr community:

reshade/gshade mixed with photo-editing is generally a must. Simblr users will gravitate to pretty pictures, so even if you're an excellent writer, people usually won't give it a second look unless something attracts them to it. The sims is pretty ugly without filters and such, and it will enhance the experience as well. Bonus if you crank up the mxao and depth of field but I prefer to take it a little easy on those lol

CC. Not necessarily a must, but simblr in particular usually hates vanilla sims. same explanation as above, slather those suckers in skin details!!

poses poses poses. readers love reading stories with poses and they spit on screenshots with only game animations! (tbh those game animations do get pretty repetitive after a while so I kinda get it)

Read stories. I'm not much of a reader personally, but there's a huge imbalance in the reader-writer ratio on simblr, and lots of simblrs will return the favor if you read theirs too. Be careful, though; getting stuck in a transactional mutualship can lead to tricky dynamics. Only reach out to other stories if you're genuinely interested in following more stories, not just to gain readers.

BUT, with all that being said, as an "elder" of the simblr community, please consider this as permission to say screw any and all of those above tips if they don't align with your goals.

If your goal is to just have fun and relax:

reshade/gshade. Because let's be real the game's graphics are very depressing. It's not actually a must if you're just enjoying yourself, but if you find the right settings and just play, so you can spend minimal or even no time editing your photos. There are lots of tutorials that explain how to set it up. If you can't figure it out or don't feel like it, that's also not a big deal.

I can be a controlling sim god when it comes to my stories, and I have most things planned out. HOWEVER sometimes it's a little fun to let the sims drive their own storylines. If something is just not working, I consider that a sign to let the story flow in a slightly different direction. IF you're planning on writing gameplay stories/writing as you go, as I do. (which has its own challenges lol)

Sometimes it can be tempting to let readers sway the way the story is going. Sometimes that is a strategy that works. But if you have a storyline that you're confident in, own it and let it play out. Even if the whole community (and your spouse) wants that alien character to go die, you have him there for a reason, trust in the power of your storytelling 😜

Despite being a pose creator, I find using poses kinda tedious and sucks the life and immersion out of the story and gameplay personally, if used too much. Trust me, I do use my fair share of them, but I do try to use the game animations whenever possible. When I do use poses, I personally prefer to keep the expressions very maxis-y.

Don't try to be like any one particular simblr. With a community where we all pull from the same CC and game pack pools, there's bound to be overlap in aesthetics, storylines, and concepts. Definitely find inspiration in all your faves but do what works best for you but don't feel some sort of way if your screenshots don't look exactly like PastelPlumbobPixelLlama's game, despite you downloading all the content and presets from their resource page! You have your own style babe and it's way more unique ♥

Post a "New Story/New simblr" post to get the word out about your story.

PLEASE don't ever get discouraged by notes because you are perfect and creative and if others don't understand your genius that's them problem ok <3

Instead of dying her hair pink Howl!grognak looses her gamer glasses or something idk sorry 🏃 *runs off*

Fandom ocs I consider as a challenge to fit them as realistically into the preexisting story as possible. I usually do it because I want a character to have a love interest 😅 but I go about it trying to see how realistically I can fit the character into the story! It's a fun challenge!

If it's a nonfandom oc I just go wild. Yes his name will be Ricardo Ricardo and yes he will have an alien gf and yes he's my favorite guy. He started as a joke because I though haha imagine being named Ricardo Ricardo and now he lives in my brain and a whole group of people came from this one joke guy. PS: he's not a joke anymore. Yeah and that's usually how it goes tbh...

[Images: @cassiabaggins asked "Hmm autistic Fili and autistic Thorin. I'm thinking about it! (And projecting, what of it???) Thoughts?" @bananzer asked "I always hc Kili to have adhd. Thoughts?"]

Time to confess that I haven't seen the Hobbit movies since they first came out, and I haven't read the book for even longer. Sorry :(

But idea: almost all dwarves are neurodiverse.

Their "crafts" are really just another term for what we might know as special interests, and that craft can be anything!

Their long projects at the forge and endless patience, working until a piece is perfect? Hyperfixations.

The beads and fancy ornaments they wear in their hair? The main purpose is stimming, although hair decoration is also used for personal expression and to convey rank and deeds.

Their hearing protectors? Outsiders believe they're exclusively for protecting hearing while mining or crafting, but actually some dwarves wear them whenever sound is distressing or overwhelming. (There are also a lot of deaf and hard of hearing dwarves, but that's another story.)

Other races sometimes think that dwarves are cold or antisocial, but it's really just a case of neurotypicals and neuroatypicals struggling to communicate in a common language. (Culture comes into it too, of course.)

It's not like there aren't plenty of neurodiverse people of other races, but neurodiversity is pretty much the norm in dwarven society. This means that masking generally doesn't happen at all within dwarven communities and they don't do it when they're around other races.

Tolkien also told us about Iglishmek, aka Dwarvish Sign Language, in HoME Volume XI. It was taught to all dwarves starting at the same age as spoken language and there were regional dialects. This is wonderful on so many levels, but I'm mentioning it specifically here because non-verbal dwarves!

Happy OC Sunday (except for, you know, the fact that it's Monday...) thank you for the ask!

Giiiiirl! Heeeey! Thank you so much for sending in an emoji ask! I’m so glad you’re participating 😄😄😄 It means alot to me and you really helped me on my way to where I am now 🥰🥺

⏰ What is your OC like at timekeeping? Are they punctual, or always running late?

All 3 are punctual or early. Amari’s motto is: If you’re on time, that means you’re late. She really drills this into her and Thorin’s kids- and to their credit, they follow it through their lives. Need to get to a meeting? Be there 10 min before. Need to get ready for a party? Get ready in 3 hours so that the left over time can just be used to leisure (or naps). Fun fact, if the family is going to a new place, Amari gets the family ready so as to allow Thorin to get them lost lol!

🩺 Does your OC accept help easily? Are they willing to admit when they need help?

Amari is not afraid to ask for help, but accepting help easily? No. She has a chip on her shoulder and she wants to prove to anyone and everyone that she can do it her way and on her own. This carries onto the twins- to an extent. Darna will ask for help and will easily accept it, but not because she thinks she's helpless. Rather, she sees this as an opportunity to learn how to get it done well the first time so that the next time, she won't ask for help. Arnel is similar in that he will ask for help. But he won’t easily accept it- much like a certain dwarven king 🤭. He is the son of the king, so not only did he inherit that pressure, he got his mom’s drive to prove himself.

🌋 What’s your OCs temper like? Are they a slow boil, or an instant explosion?

Amari and Arnel are a slow boil temper, and when it overflows- watch out. Amari may have fiery red hair, but her temper is cold like ice- sharp and wet (someone will cry, and it aint gonna be her). Arnel is the same, except when someone cries, it’s him. He is an angry crier, but don’t think he is weak, if you push him far enough, that Durin temper will come out. 

Darna has her father’s temper: sudden, loud, steadfast, and proud. The only difference is that if she realizes she’s in the wrong, it’s like a bucket of cold water onto a fire; just a fizzle. She will apologize (all three would, if they knew they were in the wrong.)

Bonus: neither would ever lose their temper on their family and friends :)

~@cassiabaggins

21. Who are your OC’s closest relatives?

Prim’s closest relative is her Aunt. She took her in when her parents divorced (her mum moved to the U.S. and her dad married an absolute cow) and is the reason she moved to New Zealand. Her aunt never had children and considers Prim as her own, their shared love of horses increasing their inseparable bond.

24. Who are the people your OC dislikes/hates?

She hates liars, cheats, and blatantly ignorant people. There’s not too many people in particular she hates, she’s always willing to give people a fair chance.

26. Why does your OC and his/her soulmate work so well together?

Prim and Fili are like yin and yang. They are almost entirely opposite of each other in personalities aside from how completely they love each other (and how equally stubborn they were to get there). They balance each other out, Fili helps keep Prim calm and in turn Prim can help unleash a more relaxed and playful side in Fili.