Jayce's Hood: Pacific Beach

ilikefishfood wrote:

By the way...my explanations are faaaaar more interesting.

But sometimes you should have thoughts, that are above the navel.

Caleb_71 wrote:

But sometimes you should have thoughts, that are above the navel.

I was going to defend myself by mentioning the rabies theory, but technically if Eddie was bitten by an animal, in all likelihood that too took place below the navel.

Okay...I'll go take my salacious thoughts elsewhere.

This is what happens when you put two naughty kids in a room together!



Eddie would be utterly delighted!

Russ, thank you for coming to my rescue there!

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That is zinc cream, used on lips, nose and any other exposed skin to stop the sun drying it out. It comes in all colours and flavours.

Eddie, sun-lizard that he is, got quite tanned with all that lazing around on the beach when they first moved into the house. After slogging away at uni "forever" to get his Philosophy degree (only in the last semester of their final year do I discover a mod that reduces uni time!), I let Eddie really "live the life" while his brother, Ethan, and Ethan's girlfriend, Sarah, were establishing their careers.

With a suntan, Eddie's lips seemed more pale than usual. I did "pffft" at myself for thinking, "He looks like he's wearing zinc!" and being all flappy and excited by that (I play my game waaay too much! ) so I'm thrilled you saw that, Russ!

Toni, he does have a lip-piercing as well, which could very well account for what you were observing when you, ahem, implied...

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either he's got rabies, or he's switched teams and decided he likes his surfer buddies in a whole other way

Nah, for Eddie, surfer mates are for hanging out with, playing cards, drinking beer and taking about cars and football.
And girls are for... well, you know what girls are for!
Insert disclaimer: the views expressed by Eddie Vegas are not necessarily supported.. blah, blah, blah...

I prefer Eddie without the tan. He always looks kind of sweaty and metabolically over-heated in a way that can't be attributed to just living in the tropics!


When I said no waxing in my hood, I meant it!

Jayce wrote:

This is what happens when you put two naughty kids in a room together!

Jayce wrote:

Insert disclaimer: the views expressed by Eddie Vegas are not necessarily supported.. blah, blah, blah...

Duly noted.

Jayce wrote:

I prefer Eddie without the tan. He always looks kind of sweaty and metabolically over-heated in a way that can't be attributed to just living in the tropics!

Jayce wrote:

When I said no waxing in my hood, I meant it!

You're not kiddng! Holy mackerel, that is a hairy fella! He's still hot...back hair and all!

If Connor MacLeod in your neighborhood is as lucky as David Tennant in mine, he can capture the heart of a lady like Ari's Lenora
He's Knowledge/Virgo Science/Tinkering and she's Knowledge/Cancer Medicine/Science. Not only is she a DDG redhead, but she's very intelligent as well!

Lenora is just... What a stunner!!

David is one lucky man! With his intellect, he needs a woman like Lenora to interest and challenge him. I think you've matched them perfectly, Mac!

As for Connor, I'd say he's done extremely well for himself! Yep...


With Lauren!

If you can tear your eyes off Lauren for a moment and notice the new bedspread there (love it, thanks Sugah!)
Even though Lauren is just walking into the room, she actually looks like she's doing a cat-walk model strut.
Have I made her somehow conscious that she is a model?

She certainly works hard for it!


Here's some of my favorite catalog photos of her:



As you can tell, I love this colour on Lauren. To the extent that the other ladies are forbidden to wear it!

Connor always came across to me as private, a bit reserved and shy, conservative. I never know where my "simpressions" come from! I just follow them.


His room (in a shared house with Brooke and Owen) is minimal to the point of being spartan.
This feeling that he was holding something back really compelled me to introduce him to Lauren and put him right in the middle of Jack and Lauren's "broken hearts" story-line.


As you will see in my next post, Connor has to contend with some serious emotional baggage when it comes to Lauren...

To understand Lauren, you have to meet Jack...



Another character from my first hood (no CC or mods in those days!), Jack Diamond was my first planned sim for Pacific Beach. I couldn't wait to see him again! He was my favorite sim. I think because he was first to go to uni (my only teen when I installed uni and Free-Time the same day) and get those extra wants and locks and second-aspiration. He was anointed!

I still marvel how my game has evolved in that space of time. I am allowed so much more scope and freedom. I don't play to "achieve" (in the object-of-the-game sense), I'm really more interested in the characters. They still mostly get what they roll, except when it's an unlikely or Maxis-kind-of-silly thing to happen to them.

Honestly, I don't have a favorite sim in this hood (sorry, Jack, I know your old counterpart was undisputed there). Anyway, I made it up to him by giving him a beach-house and those eyes.


OK and maybe a muscle-car!


Jack is very earthy and a bit of a "simple pleasures" guy. Perhaps sometimes a little too much...


Um, I'm not sure that's what Angelina and Mike mean when they say "make yourself at home."


If you hadn't guessed, Jack's a pro-surfer.



That's the first time I've ever got a decent shot of anyone paddling out. Yay!

I think some of you know one of Jack's house-mates, Anthony....


I'll get more into the nitty-gritty of Jack and Lauren tommorrow.

Here's some for the girls...

Eddie's brother, Ethan.


Mike.


We started with Jack, so it's really only fair ...

It looks like Connor's doing just fine! When it comes to Lauren, he should leave his emotional baggage at the side of the road!

omg...and you talk about my Sims? I hafta keep a bucket n mop around whenever I look at yours good lord *fans*

Btw it took me a few before I comprehended your "raincoat in the shower" comment.

And you call me a tease! D: I wanna know what laurens deal is!

Jean, you make me laugh!!

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I wanna know what laurens deal is!

Well, pull up a seat by the fire....

Although Lauren was getting on with her life after breaking up with Jack, she did often think back to when they'd been so happy at uni living together.


She was sharing a terrace-house with Erin Seymour, a journalist. While it was nice for Lauren to see Erin starting to come out of her shell, especially around Lauren's friend, Scott Lewis, who was signed to the same modelling agency as her ...


.... sometimes it just made Lauren feel more alone than ever.
She retreated into her yoga. Something she and Jack used to do together.
God, why was she thinking of him when her head was supposed to be clear?


Did he ever think about her?


Since her and Jack agreed it was best to not see each other at all for a couple of months, she really had no idea how he was feeling.


Jack struggled over his own emotions. He didn't want to tell Lauren he'd started seeing someone else. But he didn't want her finding out from anyone else, either.


When Lauren and Jack eventually caught up, he seemed sometimes a bit... uncomfortable.


Actually, now she thought about it, his house-mate, Jessica Fairbanks, seemed a little uncomfortable with her, too...


Lauren knew she should just get on with her life.
After turning down Connor MacLeod a few times, she'd finally agreed to go out on a date with him.
He was so different to Jack. Determined where Jack was vague, reliable when Jack would never be.


So why was standing outside Jack's house at two in the morning?
Lauren, don't do this...


Really, don't... do this..


Even though on some level she knew, discovering Jack and Jessica together shocked her.
How long had this been going on?

Sad story Amazing pics!

Oh my, oh my... Whatever will Lauren do now? Please don't do anything stupid Lauren

I'm really touched you care so much about Lauren!

Everything described above happened over the course of several weeks game-play (I really condensed it here) and it was actually quite awhile ago.

You'll be pleased to know, at present, Lauren and Connor are deliriously in love!
They're living together in the house with Brooke and Owen (who have their own convoluted story going on!) and both have locked wants to "get engaged" and "get married" to one another. It can't get better than that!

I really wanted to give you some background into Lauren and Jack. Exploring that facet of estranged relationships - futile, obsessive, emotionally draining - really cracked open their story for me (and kind of sucked Connor into the centre of it!)

From the moment I met Lauren, I knew she was going to have some kind of emotional journey in my hood.


Besides, I've kind of liked making Connor work so hard to win her over!

Jayce wrote:

I'm really touched you care so much about Lauren!

Everything described above happened over the course of several weeks game-play (I really condensed it here) and it was actually quite awhile ago.

You'll be pleased to know, at present, Lauren and Connor are deliriously in love!
They're living together in the house with Brooke and Owen (who have their own convoluted story going on!) and both have locked wants to "get engaged" and "get married" to one another. It can't get better than that!

I really wanted to give you some background into Lauren and Jack. Exploring that facet of estranged relationships - futile, obsessive, emotionally draining - really cracked open their story for me (and kind of sucked Connor into the centre of it!)

From the moment I met Lauren, I knew she was going to have some kind of emotional journey in my hood.


Besides, I've kind of liked making Connor work so hard to win her over!

:3 it always sucks to see someone who was once so happy become sad for whatever reason butttt...on the flip side its nice to see them come out better than they were before. Now! Who will we get to hear about next? :)

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Don't worry, I'm guilty of devouring your entire Arrandale story and, ahem, neglecting to comment!

Okay, I won't feel so bad then.

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It would seem you and Miss Toni have developed a taste for hairy men! laughin

Uh, not particularly, but it's nice to have some variety and realism in the game. My sim men could use more of that.

My sim guys are all (as you put it) . . .

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Without it, they look... affraid

None of that metrosexual waxing and shaving in my hood!

Ooh, lots of drama with the Connor/Lauren/Jack/Jessica romances! Nice story! You have so many lovely sims and really nice screenshots. You set up the scenes so well!

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Ooh, lots of drama with the Connor/Lauren/Jack/Jessica romances! Nice story! You have so many lovely sims and really nice screenshots. You set up the scenes so well!

Why, thank you, Em!
That means so much to me, I think your story is beautifully photographed!

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Who will we get to hear about next? :)

I have been playing a fair bit of Daniel and Brigitte lately. I adore these two, they're so in love with each other!


I really enjoyed decorating the house Daniel shares with Simon (the successful lawyer shaving a few posts back).
They're both really masculine, cultured white-collar professionals. I wanted to reflect their lifestyle in their tastes and the fact that, while their respective girlfriends (plural in Simon's case! ) frequently stay the night, this really is a bachelor pad!

I made life a little... "interesting" for the boys when I appointed the secondary Family aspiration to them at the same time a couple of months ago.

On the surface, Daniel might seem a player like his house-mate, Simon...


... but there's an intensity and tenderness about this "office romance" of Brigitte and Daniel's.


I love the way they look at each other!






Talking about their future...

That's Brigitte's room in the house she shares with musician, Courtney.

I think Daniel is quite aware he found someone very special!


I'm going to marry them... eventually. Being the stalling sim-commitment-phobe I am lately, I distracted myself as soon as they were getting serious by... moving more sims out of the sim-bin into a new apartment complex!!

For the record, I never let my folk live in apartments. Ever!
I love the concepts in Apartment Life but never really enjoyed playing an apartment building. I want to play all my sims there at the same time, like a normal lot, instead of one at a time.


A couple of days ago, it occurred to me (at work, naturally. when I cleverly look busy but "zone out") that maybe I could alter it more to my style by using the re-zoning cheat ("changeLotZoning residential") and redecorating an apartment-lot I downloaded ages ago (from keef1973 at MTS, I use his beautiful houses in my game).

I'm hoping to create the "feel' of some tropical bungalows...



Like me, Beck is about to embrace a new way of life in Pacific Beach!

Heya! \o Well well...more progression I see. Aww :3 They look very sweet together.

Ehh...I'm not too dang keen on apartments either b/c it can be hard to shoot in them depending on which ones you get and I'm not so sure about making them residential though b/c it'll just be a regular big house for a lot of sims together. I attempted making a house into an apartment and I just failed so damn bad, I never have dared it again Although I will have a couple of my characters in apartments just because they have no commitments at current, but I won't say too much right now - at least not here. This is your thread after all.

Ooh! Who's that young lady?

I don't know if I've ever asked if you have your simmies posted anywhere for dl? They're so cute. Not that I need anymore sims in my game. Geezus...I think my dl'd sims exceed my in-born game sims probably by about 50 - 100 or so :p LOL!!!

butterflyunion wrote:

I don't know if I've ever asked if you have your simmies posted anywhere for dl? They're so cute. Not that I need anymore sims in my game. Geezus...I think my dl'd sims exceed my in-born game sims probably by about 50 - 100 or so :p LOL!!!

Nevertheless... I wouldn't mind having one or two... Georgia... Angelina... Courtney... Lauren...

mac wrote:

butterflyunion wrote:

I don't know if I've ever asked if you have your simmies posted anywhere for dl? They're so cute. Not that I need anymore sims in my game. Geezus...I think my dl'd sims exceed my in-born game sims probably by about 50 - 100 or so :p LOL!!!

Nevertheless... I wouldn't mind having one or two... Georgia... Angelina... Courtney... Lauren...

That's more than two Mac you greedy thing Just kidding hon

butterflyunion wrote:

That's more than two Mac you greedy thing Just kidding hon

I can't help myself, they're all so DDG!

Jayce wrote:

As you can tell, I love this colour on Lauren. To the extent that the other ladies are forbidden to wear it!

Jayce wrote:

I don't play to "achieve" (in the object-of-the-game sense), I'm really more interested in the characters.

I totally get that!

Jack's hot! But...Anthony is still my boy!

Ethan's gentle on the eyes. But that shot of Mike! More please!

Oh! Oh! Oh! Noooooo! Poor Lauren!

I was pleading with her to walk away, but she didn't listen!

Anyway...truthfully, she needed to see that with her own eyes. Of course it hurt...but it allowed her to get closure...and move on to the determined, reliable Connor. I'm so happy for her.

Those are some seriously seksi shots of Daniel and Brigitte. It's great to see them again! I particularly like the one where he's standing behind her...and that white dress is to die for!

Brigitte's such a stunner! Gorgeous cheekbones.

Jayce wrote:

For the record, I never let my folk live in apartments. Ever!

Soooo frustrating! I build apartments on normal residential lots, so I get the illusion of them having their own places, but I can play them all at once. Of course sometimes they do weird things like go next door to use the trash compactor or something. I find it helps to keep the front door of a unit locked to all but one sim who lives there, and then I unlock it when I want the others to come over.

Apparently the locking feature keeps locked-out simmies from recognizing stuff behind them, so they won't try to take something from their fridge and go and prepare it on the counter in another simmies kitchen.

butterflyunion wrote:

That's more than two Mac you greedy thing Just kidding hon

mac wrote:

butterflyunion wrote:

That's more than two Mac you greedy thing Just kidding hon

I can't help myself, they're all so DDG!

You guys slay me!

Jayce wrote:

For the record, I never let my folk live in apartments. Ever! I love the concepts in Apartment Life but never really enjoyed playing an apartment building.

I gave up on apartments for an entirely different reason - one that others haven't experienced but was driving me nuts. Maybe interaction with some hack I am using.

When sims move out of an apt, they still hang out on the lot. You can't control them... They sleep on the lawn, get hungry (I won't go further)

I really don't mind playing one or two on a lot (or three of four if they have kids) at a time. Beyond that I can't keep track.

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Oh! Oh! Oh! Noooooo! Poor Lauren!

I was pleading with her to walk away, but she didn't listen!

Anyway...truthfully, she needed to see that with her own eyes. Of course it hurt...but it allowed her to get closure...and move on to the determined, reliable Connor. I'm so happy for her.

I hope Lauren really has moved on from Jack once and for all, because the other night...



... one of those steamy tropical summer nights in Pacific Beach, when a nature-loving, down-home dude like Jack can get caught in the moment...





.... anything can happen. Like an engagement I wasn't planning!

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I build apartments on normal residential lots, so I get the illusion of them having their own places, but I can play them all at once.

That is what I'm hoping for. That is, if I can actually finish building!

As I discovered, there isn't a whole lot of room in most apartments.


I've taken the momentous (and time-consuming! ) step of building some myself.
Apartments are supposed to be kind of "boxy" right?

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I find it helps to keep the front door of a unit locked to all but one sim who lives there, and then I unlock it when I want the others to come over.

Apparently the locking feature keeps locked-out simmies from recognizing stuff behind them, so they won't try to take something from their fridge and go and prepare it on the counter in another simmies kitchen.

Ohhhh, I get it. Thanks so much for the tip, Toni!

Mac, I don't mean to traumatise you all over again...

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When sims move out of an apt, they still hang out on the lot. You can't control them... They sleep on the lawn, get hungry (I won't go further)

.... but what happened to those restless, grubby lawn-ornament sims of yours??

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Jack's hot! But...Anthony is still my boy!

Ethan's gentle on the eyes. But that shot of Mike! More please!

Gosh, Toni, I don't want to get you all worked up or anything but I've got so many "disrobed" photos of my lads.
I promise more in my next post!

I'm so thrilled you like them...

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Brigitte's such a stunner! Gorgeous cheekbones.

Brigitte was a download from the talented enriquemt0 at MTS, based on Australian singer Delta Goodrem.
She looks so much like her, it's unbelievable! I changed her skin (and, knowing me, probably gave her a make-over) but, yes, her cheek-bones are amazing. In fact, her whole facial structure is incredible...

Her boyfriend, Daniel, is also from MTS. He's based on Daniel Craig, the English actor and current James Bond.
I dinked around with him (eyes, teeth, lashes etc) and I think I may have given him an overlay to make him more freckled than he originally was. I actually love Daniel's colouring and this particular "intensity" he has. I wanted him to be a contrast to the boys in my hood.
Brigitte doesn't even have "thing for rangas" as her turn-on but she's nuts about the guy!

Jayce wrote:

.... but what happened to those restless, grubby lawn-ornament sims of yours??

They're still around, in whatever lots I moved them to - the problem was that their presence wasn't removed from the apt lot - they couldn't be controlled, they were just there. When I've moved all of the active sims out of an apartment lot, I delete the apartment lot.

Jayce wrote:

... one of those steamy tropical summer nights in Pacific Beach, when a nature-loving, down-home dude like Jack can get caught in the moment...

Well! That was unexpected!

Jayce wrote:

I've taken the momentous (and time-consuming! ) step of building some myself.

It's such a challenge (which I love) getting everything into a teensy space, and keeping it all usable.

Jayce wrote:

Gosh, Toni, I don't want to get you all worked up or anything but I've got so many "disrobed" photos of my lads.
I promise more in my next post!

Yes please!

Jayce wrote:

In fact, her whole facial structure is incredible

Really striking.

Daniel's quite tasty!

Anxiously await your next installment.

By the way, the beach-at-night-photos are beautiful ~