I thought I would create this thread as a variant of “What happened in Your Game Today?”
Serial and non-serial updates are welcome, but I know that merfolk are in other people’s games. Are they vendors? Are they playing the Violin or Guitar just because? What do you see your merfolk doing while playing another household in Rotation?
While I’m telling my story, I often check on my merfolk as they wander through the neighborhood.
Tip: The Merfolk don’t have to be your played household and they can even be a premade townie!
My Only Rule: Keep the updates focused on merfolk!
I'm so close to finishing my next chapter. I was going to see if I could retake the screenshots for the last scene of the chapter, but I ended up deciding to keep the ones I originally took. And, instead of finishing the chapter, one thing led to the next, and now I have some extras to share.
My twins are identical in appearance and it appears that they are so similar that the game is actually changing one of the twin's hair color. :D No, Zeph does not have dark brown hair... his hair color is the exact same as his twin.
I wanted to start working on the templates for when the twins age up. I have plans to gradually edit their appearance as they get older. Kinda my way of simulating their growth.
This is Dylan and Zephyr when they age up to teens. In my story, this is how they will look when they age up to being merboys. As much as I want to get to this point, I really want to take my time and enjoy their merling years.
Their templates can be found in the Gallery. I use CC from SimmieV and Spinning Plumbob. The Expanded Mermaid's Mod makes it difficult to create an unmodded version.
What If Damion Never Had a Redemption Arc?
I imagine that if things were happening differently in my story, and Damion wasn't on the path for redemption, he might've eventually lured Dylan into his lair for a deal. Given that Dylan has such incredible musical talent, the thing Damion would have taken as payment from him would have been without a doubt his voice. And if this ever happened in my story, Damion would pass the point of no return as a villain.
This extra includes Dylan when he's a young adult, or a merman. Because the twins are identical in appearance, it can be assumed that Zephyr would look exactly the same.
I was hoping for more screenshots to not come out so well, but it seems that most of them turned out too good to delete.
@Ellupelluellu That’s an epic screenshot, and she has that mischievous grin! She’s the one mermaid I wanted to do more with but never could fit her in the story. I’m glad she’s getting some attention in another save!
By the way, I’ve been quietly catching up on stories and I have so many stories open at once! Looking forward to catching up on your story!
@Lyrie I was kinda thinking about where the best place to continue a discussion about the Mermadic Lore I use in my Sims Game, and I think this thread would be a good place for that. I have plans to write a post in this thread that should make finding various details easier.
It’s also a good warmup writing to write about lore you imagine.
Anyways, one of the details that I might be amending from previous discussions is how my merfolk pick their partners.
One of the things my merfolk traditionally do is sing their Charmer’s Lullaby to the one they plan to spend the rest of their lives with. I was originally thinking that they only sing it to one individual in their lifetime, but I don’t think it will always be limited to one individual.
Because my merfolk never look older than a young adult and essentially have eternal life… (a form of immortality in which they can die by alternative means, but they will never die from old age or age past what humans might consider their “prime.”) Generally, my merfolk will only pick one partner.
However, they can pick another partner if something happens to their existing partner, but not until after “till death do we part.”
I imagine that after they sing their Charmer’s Lullaby, they have a connection to their partner they can “sense”….
There is a game mechanic that influenced my decision. The Charmer’s Lullaby is one of four Siren Lullaby’s that merfolk can sing from the Vanilla game. This Siren Lullaby is extremely powerful when it comes to romance. It will make the receiver of the song flirty, and the success rate for romantic interactions is higher.
Actually, when Calum started building romance with Arihi a few years ago, he built the romance so quickly with Arihi after singing that song that he ended up having his first kiss, proposing, getting married, and having his first Woohoo by the end of a sim afternoon…
Well, I've been so busy I haven't even had the chance to begin trying to keep up with the forums, much less focus on writing anything or playing the game. I'll start with writing a teaser for my next update. I need to start somewhere to begin writing again.
I plan on keeping him the Evil Merman everyone loves, but I'm thinking of redirecting his evil schemes to help others. The love shared between Caleb and Damion will likely help Damion find his way back into the light and motivate him to be a better merman.
As for Damion and Kali... well, even a redemption arc won't change what Damion has planned for her. I think Kali thinks of herself as a super villain, but when Damion enters the fray, that's when the boss music will start.
And, Damion has been plotting something for a very long time. And in the present, he's got another minion.
I try to face the fight within But it's over I'm ready for the riot to begin And surrender I walked the path that led me to the end Remember I'm caught beneath with nothing left to give, forever
When angels fall with broken wings I can't give up, I can't give in When all is lost and daylight ends I'll carry you and we will live forever Forever
Grey skies will chase the light away No longer I fought the fight now only dark remains Forever Divided I will stand And I will let this end
When angels fall with broken wings I can't give up, I can't give in When all is lost and daylight ends I'll carry you and we will live forever Forever
The sun begins to rise And wash away the sky The turning of the tide Don't leave it all behind And I will never say goodbye
When angels fall with broken wings I can't give up, I can't give in When all is lost and daylight ends I'll carry you and we will live forever Forever Forever Forever
https://youtu.be/zrZSXNHHXdI?si=1jjdBYGXJ8yPQMxz
This song actually could be a song I can imagine Damion singing when he's thinking about a difficult choice. I don't normally imagine my characters singing any songs, but this one actually seemed to fit that.
Shadows fill an empty heart As love is fading From all the things that we are Are not saying Can we see beyond the scars And make it to the dawn?
Change the colors of the sky And open up to The ways you made me feel alive The ways I loved you For all the things that never died To make it through the night Love will find you
What about now? What about today? What if you're making me all that I was meant to be? What if our love never went away? What if it's lost behind words we could never find? Baby, before it's too late What about now?
The sun is breaking in your eyes To start a new day This broken heart can still survive With a touch of your grace As shadows fade into the light I am by your side Where love will find you
What about now? What about today? What if you're making me all that I was meant to be? What if our love never went away? What if it's lost behind words we could never find? Baby, before it's too late What about now?
Now that we're here Now that we've come this far Just hold on There is nothing to fear For I am right beside you For all my life I am yours
What about now? What about today? What if you're making me all that I was meant to be? What if our love never went away? What if it's lost behind words we could never find? What about now? What about today? What if you're making me all that I was meant to be? What if our love never went away? What if it's lost behind words we could never find?
Baby, before it's too late Baby, before it's too late Baby, before it's too late What about now?
https://youtu.be/Enwlpf4eqQY?si=D5ZZnOivIMQ9sENV
I don't know what Alex was trying to say to Ember, but both of them walked into Damion's home uninvited.
A passerby happened to see Lorelei swimming at the mouth of the river, but a charming smile and a gesture to not tell made him think it was just a daydream...
@Metior_Ice Thanks a lot, just if you feel stressed or overworked by it, I will have zero harmed feelings about it. Take as long as you need, I will still start my save and play around with the mod and the one by Spinning plumbob too. :)
I enjoyed the extras! I very much agree that Calum and Arihi are a strong and sweet couple!
In the Zalrian Pod, the only part of CAS that I give much attention to is the mermadic form. Alex is the only member of the Zalrian Pod that actually has more developed "disguises" to blend in with humans.
A lot of this has to do with one of Kemps's strictest rules. Kemps forbids interaction with the human world, with only two members of the pod having exceptions:
He allows Alex to go on land, and only after being persuaded to allow it by his brothers and Arihi. Alex's relationship with Ember was also something Kemps needed persuasion with.
Kemps allows Calum to go on land with the understanding that he is to return to the sea as soon as possible. Kemps recognizes that Calum has a much stronger interest in the Human World than him, and he tasks Calum with learning about things that come from the Human World to make sure they know what is safe or dangerous.
Other than that, Arihi, Sarah, Reef, Dylan, Zephyr, Kylen, and Lir are strictly limited to living in the sea. Consequently, the members of the pod that can have a human form don't use their human form. The closest the pod has gotten to a Human Settlement in the story happened while the islands were largely abandoned by humans because of pollution and a failing economy. When people start to regularly move to Ohan'Ali Town, the Zalrian Pod will likely keep their distance.
Anyways, I had Kemps and Calum work on the Beach Life Aspiration. I felt like both of them have had a lot to deal with recently. Calum getting sick, and Kemps dealing with Alex's involvement with a human girl... I kinda felt like they needed a relaxing break.
The day started with Calum and Kemps getting a sweet tan, but there was one thing that they needed to go on land to get.
But, considering that he rarely moves around on land, he did stumble on his feet. Even Alex struggles to stay steady on his feet, and he spends more time in his human form than anyone else in his pod.
And I was surprised that his clumsiness on his feet didn't catch up with him while he fiddled with his phone... Possibly a bit of mermadic magic?
Author Note: I'm actually not going to include this screenshot in my official update, but I still wanted to share the extra. At least merfolk don't swim and use their phone.
Was going to try and get Calum and Kemps to eat the coconuts while swimming, but that didn't seem to work the way I hoped it would.
CC Credit: Calum is wearing a Tribal Printed Maros from SimmieV.
I'm undecided on sharing a link but I can if anyone wants to use the CC. Not because of the actual CC. It's just a different Mesh of an Island Living CAS item.
In typical sims fashion, Arihi joined in the conversation unplanned and the following might just be an extra that won't make it into the chapter.
Arihi did catch up with the brothers when the day ended.
Calum recovered from being sick, and Kemps decided to give Calum some space with his partner. When Kemps left, Calum gave Arihi a Mermaid's Kiss before catching up with her.
While Arihi might not be the most ideal mother, and even the game itself questions her parenting methods when she visits the Parenting Forums, Calum does care a lot about her, and that ultimately swayed me into keeping her around. However, I will say that Calum proved to be the more family oriented one out of the two of them. One of the rare instances where I've had a sim behave in such a way that I used a retreating potion. Calum didn't originally have the Family Oriented trait. If I did try out infant gameplay, I know Calum will be a thousand times more suited to it than Arihi. Calum is just better with younger sims. Arihi does prove to be a stronger parent with teens and older though. A very interesting dynamic, and even if Calum and Arihi were originally intended to be used to create the twins with the Sulani Mana Trait without cheats, they've definitely proven to be a strong couple.
@Lyrie I'll do my best to create the builds as soon as I'm able to. I'm thinking I'll need to go in and replace some of the CC I use in a lot of my builds. I've been using CC corals by Serinion that are different colors of debug coral found in build mode. If my memory is correct, those corals aren't public access.
It actually took me a really long time to make a lot of my builds, so I imagine that it will take almost as much time to update the builds. Honestly, the thing that made the builds take Sooo long to build was placing the coral. None of the coral, CC or otherwise, is actually wall art or wall sculptures, and placing one bit of coral on a wall requires a bit of effort.
Because sooo much content that I think is actually more merfolk themed than the Standard Island Living build mode content is locked behind build mode cheats, the actual process of using that content isn't as user friendly. I started using the Serinion CC because it includes a greater variety of coral colors, and I don't need to use build mode cheats to find it... if you've ever used Debug Build Mode, there is quite a bit of content in build mode to sift through to find anything.
I truly believe that Merfolk would largely benefit from a pack that expands on merfolk themed build mode items. That and various apparel and accessories tailored toward merfolk would be nice. One can always hold onto hope.
Island Living Content isn't the same as the content found in the Vampires and Werewolves Game Packs. Definitely works perfectly for an Islander Vibe but does little for the merfolk that come with the pack.
When I do upload the builds, I'll share links to CC that is public here. I try to keep custom content and mods to the minimum, but it's very difficult for me to completely eliminate it for merfolk. My merfolk households will be modded, and at this point, you will need the Expanded Mermaid Mod and Atlantica Set from Spinning Plumbob. They've become that intricate to my households.
The actual build mode lots might be different. I Think I might be able to upload a build without CC and a Build with CC... I do have an idea of how I might do that when I start building... Either way, this will definitely be a project, not gonna lie. And, I do want to invest the time in creating these builds regardless of how much work they will be. I want the builds for my own gameplay and so that other people can enjoy them too.
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