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Sunday, July 24, 2011

'Drumming Song' Commentary

So, that was quite a fun chapter to try and crank out! I purposely focused very little on Ella because her massive ego took up 75% of the first season, and I don't want that to happen to the second season. I don't know where this whole Eric-Ella-Jordan triangle is going, but it might end in tears. The main reason why I wanted to throw him back into the mix is because  he was a relevant part of Ella's life before moving from Bridgeport, and I felt that with their off-again on-again past, she moved on just a wee bit too quickly. She has a habit of doing that, actually. I also threw him back in there because I think he's awesome. There, I admit it.

Now that I think about it, all of my female characters are "moving on" rather quickly, in a sense. Harlots, the lot of 'em. Off with their heads!

*ahem* Anyway, as you can see, Bonnie's road to recovery will be very difficult and her family isn't making it any easier. I really wanted to highlight the conflict between Bonnie's interests and the interests of her mother and therapist, because I feel that there's a lot of grey area that needs to be highlighted. Bonnie's unstable, so her mother and therapist feel that she should stay in the psych ward until she's been properly medicated and counseled. Bonnie, however, just wants to be out of the place; she feels that she'd have a much better chance of recovery if she were left to deal with her demons in peace. Jack kind of represents the neutral side of things; he knows that going back is what's best for Bonnie, but he also knows that sending her back could end badly. It's all a mess, really. A wonderful mess.

Michele is just being really stupid, and there's no explanation for that really. She's starstruck, and she's only been on two or three dates with guys other than Alex, so of course she's stupidly curious about another guy other than her fiance. This is the potential danger of high-school sweethearts, folks! I know that most HS sweethearts end in tears in most cases, but some of them carry on for the long-term. I do know which category Alex and Michele will fall into, but I'm not allowed to tell you yet. ;)

Another thing this chapter attempted to reveal is that Michele herself is a bit of a socially awkward 'fraidy-cat. The only difference is, Alex's fearfulness is so severe that it makes Mich look normal.

And now, here is a video of Beau dancing in his underwear that I recorded quite awhile ago and just edited today. For some reason, the music skips, but whatever:


 And now, I am missing my Dillards again. I'll probably check in on them again at some point. Life With Angie must go on!

'Till next time,
Cheezy ;)

Friday, July 22, 2011

New 'Six Degrees' Updates

Someone looks stressed. dun dun duuuuunnnnn
It's been about a week since the season finale went up, so I thought I should list some updates that have happened since then:

-The Season 2 banner went up
-Part 1 of The Drumming Song has been written (I still have some other parts to add in before posting the entire thing)
-Season 2 Character Bios have been completed, and missing links have been corrected
-Scene "sets" have been constructed, with the exception of a few sets.

So, what's happened in your game so far? :)

Friday, July 15, 2011

Chapter 7 Commentary

Chapter 7 can be read here.

WOOOO! Finale!! :D I can only hope I did this season justice. I'm really excited for the next one. I know I didn't really focus on Bonnie that much this season, but as the new banner will hint, she'll have her moment in the sun. I did feel bad about taking her precious Jordy away from her, but I felt that things wouldn't have worked out between them anyway.

Writing about Bonnie's attempt to off herself was hard for me, because I didn't want to make light of it, but I also didn't want to delve so deeply into it that it became a trigger. So why do it in the first place, you ask? Well, because I had to put her in the psychiatric hospital for something. You'll find out more about that in the next season. :) Also, I know it's a little dramatic to have a character so distraught over a break-up that they have a mental breakdown, but it'll all make sense soon...promise.

The Season Two banner is a lot darker and a lot more "glamorous", mostly because it will deal with some "darker" issues and, well, I just really wanted to have a high-fashion photo shoot. To me, the Season One banner symbolized new beginnings (Michele and Alex finally getting together, Mark getting kicked out of the trailer, Ella moving away from Bridgeport, etc.) so it was much brighter and perkier. Now, with all that has happened (Ella "stealing" Jordan, Mark completely destroying Ella, Bonnie basically having her heart ripped out of her chest, etc.), it would make sense that the banner would be a lot gloomier.

But really, the main point of this banner is to show that high-fashion photo shoots are SO FUN. Seriously. You get to dress your sims up in absurd makeup, decadent outfits, and snooty poses, and with a few lighting tricks, it doesn't look ridiculous. I tried to keep it as close to "them" as possible, so I didn't go all-out for Michele (she just isn't the type) but I really went for it with Ella and Bonnie. She has blue eyeshadow, but you can't tell in the banner. ANYWAY, it's no fair to keep talking about the banner and not showing it to you guys, so I'll post it here ahead of time.

Zee new banner!
And of course, the Season 2 theme song:



I'll be taking a few days to prep for the next season (I have to update the character profiles), so expect a new chapter from season 2 very shortly.

'Till next time,
Cheezay ;)

Monday, July 11, 2011

Chapter 6 Commentary

 Chapter 6 can be read here.

Ah, and now we're focusing on the boring couple, if only for a little bit. :) Leave it to a surprise (almost)  pregnancy to make things not-so-boring, eh?

This chapter definitely took the longest to write, simply because I thought it was boring. I kept wanting to toss in some sort of drama or conflict to make things seem less boring, but that wouldn't be true to their personalities or the simplistic and idyllic nature of their relationship. I'm sure that when the day comes, they'll have their own dramas with wedding arrangements and child-rearing. Or maybe their dramas will consist of something different? Who knows? I do. *cackle*

'Till next time,
Cheezy

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Chapter 5 Commentary

Chapter 5 can be read here.

In this chapter, two sims walked into a bar and wound up woohooing. This wasn't my intent (at first), but I found it odd that Mark would walk into SHooters with the intent of suppressing some feelings of guilt, and Colette Bachelor (another one of my sims) would be sitting there; almost as if she was waiting for him. I also found it kind of ironic that they'd end up "together" for reasons you'll find out in Season 2.

Will they actually end up dating? I'm not really sure. I mean, how many long term (or even short term) relationships are born out of a drunken one night stand? On the other hand, it would really be fun to pair them up together, even if only for a little bit.

This chapter focused mainly on Mark, because I had no clue what I wanted to talk about in this chapter and I felt that Mark's side of things were just as important to the story as everyone else's. Plus, I like him. :) I think he's cool, even though he conned my main character, stole jewelry, committed crimes and all that jazz. Every story's gotta have an antagonist, and I think Mark made a darn good one.

Anyway, here are some other things that happened during this chapter:

 Kristina Dillard had a YA birthday! And she's already stalking prey, I'm assuming. ;)

 Lorena Pinciotti (yes, relation to Bonnie and Ella) had a YA birthday too, and her older brother Clyde grew up a couple of days earlier.

 Clyde and his mommy. :) Did I previously mention how much I love Tiffany? Speaking of the Pinciottis...

Xander Clavell, aka Bonnie and co.'s deceased grandfather (in another save file) is now with Kristina. This isn't a sign that my game is about to explode, right?

*fingers crossed*

'Till next time,
Cheezy

Friday, July 8, 2011

Chapter 4 Commentary

Chapter 4 can be read here.

This chapter focused solidly on Jordan and Ella because I wanted to kind of "explain" to everyone why they treated each other the way they did and why Ella usually tried to avoid being alone with Jordan. Basically, on the night she arrived at her bachelorette pad, she broke down over her mother's death (Bonnie was inexplicably absent) and Jordan consoled her. Then, after she stopped crying...well...he consoled her some more, if you catch my drift.

Dirty jokes aside, I didn't really deviate that much from what was actually going on in the game. The "first night" scene was all in my head, but Jordy really does seem to be losing interest in Bonnie and trying to chase after Ella, who is trying to be uninterested because he's her sister's boyfriend. It's all a mess, really, which is why I prefer "boring" Alex and Michele sometimes. :)

Some examples of Jordy being a general (and autonomous) pain:




And even then, she only had eyes for Mark. Oh, what a tangled web my simmies weave.

Oh, and SPOILER ALERT: highlight the text to read. I'm pretty sure I've already figured out what song I'll link to when Bonnie finds out about Jordy and Ella. It's a beautiful, heartbreaking song called Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machine. I think it suits her perfectly.And for Jordan and Ella's song, I'm thinking either Drumming Song by Florence + The Machine, or Sweetest Taboo by Sade. So many choices! I'm squeeing in my chair as I type this.

Anyway, now that the spoiler is over, I'm so happy to have my first morally gray characters in Six Degrees! I love morally gray characters. I'm really just babbling now, so I'll cut this commentary short. And for those wondering about chapter 3's commentary, I didn't do one; mostly because I had nothing to say about it. So, yeah. :)

'Till next time,
Cheezy

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Pr0n??

So, this incredibly brief and possibly humorous blog post was brought to you by Blogger's stats tracker. Apparently, one of my referrals came from a porn site.

....

...how?????


Sincerely,
A Confused Simmer who doesn't write porn.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Lovefool, Pt. 2 Commentary

 Part 2 of Lovefool can be read here.

This episode/installment/update/post felt less hurried and a lot smoother than the last one, but then again, I actually wrote it during the day instead of the middle of the night. Whew, that makes a world of difference!
 
I swear, Jordan's favorite word must be "giggity". I have never heard a sim, male or female, flirty or not, use that phrase. And yet Jordy uses it pretty frequently, even in normal conversation.

Well I must say, he makes a much handsomer Quagmire. ;)

I completed the character bio yesterday, but I need to update it with Alex's bio. I honestly love Alex. He's an awkward, huggable computer genius with a crush on his best friend. How stereotypical is that? He's so wonderfully predictable and boring. :) I think this story could use a little predictable and boring. He also has a huge nose. So does Michele, Jordan, and Mark now that I think about it. I wonder why I feel the need to give my sims huge honkers? Maybe it's to make up for my small nose...

And now, time for some bloopers!

Bonnie rolled up the want to woohoo with Jordy one day, when I realized that they hadn't slept together yet. Of course, since Bonnie is epic and I felt bad about not paying attention to her "special sim needs", I obliged. Or at least, I attempted to.

Someone *cough*Jordy*cough* decided to completely and totally offend his girlfriend for no reason by saying "nuh-uh". Not once, but twice.

 Poor Bonnie...just look at that face! Look at that perfectly mastered expression of hurt! How can you say no, Jordy? How?

 Ahh, his back hurts. That explains it. Well hopefully, complaining about it will somehow make it hurt less so they can commence the woohooing.

 And like the attention whore sim that she is, she grew jealous of their attention and did her "dramatic idle" thing. She really hates being the third wheel.

And last but not least, here's a picture of Awkward Alex being awkward. I love nerds. :')

'Till next time,
Cheezy

Monday, July 4, 2011

Lovefool Pt. 1 Commentary

 Part 1 of Lovefool can be found here.

 *Warning, kinda rambly and random for the next three paragraphs that aren't really paragraphs but I'm digressing so just read*

I'm currently typing this and publishing it at almost 2AM. I just finished typing up Lovefool Pt. 1, and I'm going to start thinking about what will happen in Pt. 2. I don't know why I tend to plan my stories chapter by chapter instead of planning them all out beforehand, but I think I like it better this way because it leaves room for flexibility. Also, I didn't really want to start this with "oh yeah I'm back", because I never really left. I just hadn't updated in a month because nothing hit me.

Oh, and I changed the "adult content" rating because I don't plan on having nudity or overly descriptive lurve-making sessions (I'm horrible at describing those), so the only "adult" part would be the extensive swearing (thank you, Ella), which anyone above the age 12 has probably heard, seen, thought of, or used on one or more occasion. Just in case though, I made sure to put up content warnings.

Anyway, remember when I mentioned in the first paragraph that I didn't update because nothing hit me? That's okay, go ahead and re-read the last portion of it because I didn't remember it either. What can I say, I'm tired. I always seem to do my blogging late at night. Why brain? Whyyyyyyyyyy? WHYYYYYYYYYYY?

*ahem*

So, as I was saying...I didn't have any idea about what the next update should be until I went to bed one night and thought to myself  "man, how great would it be if I could just sleep for a living? Or better yet, what if I just told everyone I ran off to Las Vegas and became a professional drag queen, but secretly I'm just spending most of my time sleeping?" Yeah it didn't make sense, and I'm already a girl, but whatever and I'M DIGRESSING AGAIN HOLY GEEZ.

So, the drag-queen story above gave life to this little character:


Mark Filroy, at your service!
When I began to get really delirious and envisioned what Mark would be like, the first traits that came to my mind was "bum-like", "sketchy", and "lazy". Does anyone know who Mark really is? Well, I have a general idea, but I'm not supposed to tell you. So hah. :) I'm pretty sure I've made the signs obvious though, and if not, awesome! Wooooo! My job as a amateur sims blogger is to keep things fresh for you guys, so I'm elated when I succeed in doing so.

Oh, and I cut out the scenes of Ella actually meeting her father's family and the ill-fated dinner, because it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. However, since I realize I cheated you guys out of meeting her "other family", I'll show you the picture of one important family member: Tiffany Pinciotti.

So much poise.
This, is the aged Tiffany Pinciotti, aka Bonnie's mother, aka Ella's "evil" stepmother. I actually love Tiffany, especially in this picture from their botched family dinner. You can read so many emotions; apprehension, anger, sadness...all veiled under an air of poise and dignity. You can tell the years have taken a toll on her emotionally. I in no way manipulated her into posing this way. I mean, she's even looking dead into the mirror, without me having to move her there. For a comparison picture, here is Tiffany in her YA stage:

For some odd reason, this is the only shot I have of her. Eh, oh well.
And honestly, Bonnie looks a lot like Tiffany, but black-haired thanks to her grandmother Abbot. Bonnie is also really good at throwing realistic, useable facial expressions, much like her mother.

It must be genetic.
I must say, Bonnie is my current favorite sim out of all my young adult sims, not including Beau and Angie who are still YAs, thanks to vampirism.

So...how was that for commentary? Ahahha, better luck next time...preferably when I'm not as drowsy.

Till next time,
Cheezy :)