Culpepper Pals (Winter 4 Part 7! Updated 20th March '24)

[Sam]

I'm storming ahead playing this rotation! Spring has been so much fun so far!
Time for a visit with the Goth family!

[Sam]

We're almost halfway through spring! Time to check in with Tori Holiday

[Heather]

Spoiler:

Titan-Ojo: The turtles! The fair is honestly my favourite part of the high school pack, it's great for dates. Super interesting that Casey got that fear after David rolled that want last season! Poor Casey not being totally reassured though. I love that some of them chose to set their sleepign bags out on the sand, a sleepover on the beach is actually so cute. Poor Casey again, getting trapped by the sleeping bags!

Goth: Ana reminds me a lot of myself when I was in high school. I think Oli deserves that self-care moment considering all that he has on his mind! I like your method of giving your parent couples their own little day off while the kids are at school. Junk food and grilled cheese when your parents are out for dinner is a must! Ella and Tarin really make a sweet pair together. I'm sorry to say I find Oli becoming even more stressed out as the week progresses very amusing. Ana and Greta dancing under the umbrella is so cute! As is Ella and Tarin winning royalty & jester!

Holiday: If I had to have Judith Ward on my guest list I'd elope, too! Love their little beach wedding, even if Summer decided she'd rather play soccer during the vows? Also love that Orange's formal wear still includes his hat. Oof, dramatic night at the Accolades! Gotta say, I love the little touch of storytelling the new trait pop-ups can add now, though. Tori getting a fame star while dancing in her bikini is iconic. It's a shame to lose Summer, but at least she got to attend the wedding!

As always, enjoying seeing your posts on my dash every day.

[Sam]

Heather:

Spoiler:

Titan-Ojo: I've never seen the turtles before this but I love them! I love the fair. Right? It's like she knew or something?! She still has the fear even now, bless her. Maybe she'll conquer it next season. I swear none of my houses are big enough for sleepovers, someone is always outside

Goth: She's very relatable Oli was so full of fear and grouchiness this season, it was hard knowing what to do? It's been really nice giving the couples a breather like that, the day-to-day grind can be a bit much! I love Ella and Tarin together He just kept getting new fears?! I'm thinking I might have to get the fear removal potion aspiration reward for him next time It was really sweet to watch!

Holiday: absolutely! It just wouldn't be the sims if everyone paid attention to the wedding. EA put the hat on his formal look and I just rolled with it I love the new trait pop ups! I'm still not loving the best friend prompts, I really need to find a mod to tone that down. It's strange how some of the elders get way longer than others - but I'm glad Summer could be at the wedding.

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Time for an update! Spring with Brianna Caliente was so much to play enjoy!

[creativecress36]

I was following this on tumblr, and my goodness Brianna had quite the season! XD

[Heather]

Spoiler:

Caliente: Gotta say, this was an absolute rollercoaster to follow along on tumblr. What a week Bri has had! I'm afraid to say I'm rooting for any particular partner after this week, just waiting to see what happens with Bri's romantic life next. (I like to imagine there is perhaps something going on between Kenzie and Jacqueline though? Extremely sus that they sat together during the date!) The interior design career sadly seems to be broken at the moment, it's about 50-50 for me on whether it pays or not.

[sueplayssims]

I’ve caught up!

Spoiler:

I’ve had several sims recently who get fears one after the other as soon as one goes, another comes. I keep getting fear of a dead end job, on a sim who absolutely loves to cook and is in the culinary career. So I just don’t see how that’s right. In the end I turned fears off which is a shame as I love having whims to shape my gameplay, but even with this feature turned off they still act like they have the fear if I didn’t clear it beforehand. So I feel your pain.

Oh my goodness Bri’s rotation made me laugh so much! She’s certainly living her best life. I love how carefree she is about finding someone, no pressure just seeing what happens. Talk about 3 girlfriends and a funeral though!

It must give such a different feel to the save to have the first generation start to pass away. Something I’m not really looking forward to with my rotational save. You also have some beautiful looking lots by the way, do you build them?

[Sam]

creativecress36:
I did see you over there! I mainly lurk on tumblr, I have to admit Bri's season was so much fun to play!!

Heather:

Spoiler:

Honestly it was a rollercoaster to play Yeah, I'm not really rooting for any of them now! I'm even considering giving Bri the Serial Romantic aspiration! I love that idea, maybe that's what was going on It's a shame it's busted because I was really enjoying it - though Bri rolled up the want to quit, because of her non-committal trait

sueplayssims:

Spoiler:

I feel like most of my sims have a new fear when I arrive at their lots? I get the Unfufilled Dreams one a lot when it doesn't seem to make sense. I've been using the fear clearing aspiration potion to get rid of the pesky ones. There's a few my sims have conquered though - someone gets over a fear of swimming during the summer rotation.

It was so much fun to play I can't wait to see what happens next! 3 girlfriends and a funeral so accurate!!

It really does, and honestly it feels more intense now that the second generation is getting up there? Like David & Oli, the first Culpepper babies, will be elders around Winter 4 ish. I'm playing Summer 4 at the moment, and even that feels kind of transition-y because a lot of the kids are growing up now, if that makes sense.

I have a mixture of lots I've built & lots I've taken from the gallery. The Titan-Ojo house & the Goth house I built from scratch. The Vatore house & the Zest house are in game lots I've built onto/expanded. Most of the community lots are from the gallery - the botanical gardens in San Myshuno. I also use several of Heather's lots - you'll see more of them over the summer rotation.

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Thanks guys

Time for the Zest update!
We're almost at the end of spring now, which I'm excited about because I've started playing summer 4 and I can't wait to share it

[sueplayssims]

Spoiler:

Ha! All of those fires cracked me up! Some of the facial expressions were classic!
Becky reminds me a lot of my two sims Florence Cooper and Quartz Evaristo who are very strong, independent girls full of personality and they never fail to make me laugh, I love them so much!
The Zest's have a lovely garden, the lot really does give a lot of potential to landscape on doesn't it

[Sam]

sueplayssims:

Spoiler:

I couldn't believe it genuinely felt non-stop!
As much as she was a difficult toddler, I absolutely love that Becky is so spirited they're always the best kind of sims! I really do need to catch up with your rotational save sometime soon
It's so nice! Definitely one of the better ones in the save

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time for an update! Let's visit the Vatores

[Sam]

u p d a t e !

[Heather]

Meant to get around to commenting the other day, but the Lobos' rotation was so close to being finished I'd thought I'd wait until it was done.

Spoiler:

Zest:Toddler quirks really decided Becky wasn't quite enough of a challenge as it was! Oh boy. The toddler playdate is too cute! Of course she'd grow up with a mohawk. The kids all being there to freak out over the grill fire gave me a good giggle, poor Johnny! And then poor Tania and Becky! They're really having a time with fire this rotation, huh? Hopefully there'll be less flames involved the next time we see them.

Vatore:I see Caleb is now sporting some very cute flower gloves, I approve! I believe there is a mod fix for the garden piles reverting, trying it out in my own game at the moment to see if it helps. Love Kirby and Caleb being happy and taking on new careers, while most other adults in your save are going through pre-midlife-crisis crises. I'm counting all the one-time whims to flirt as part of the crises sweeping the save. Caleb putting a tie on for love day absolutely tickled me, a true gentleman! I also love that your teens take over the Narhwal Arms every so often. An art club gathering hosted by two vampires in the gorgeous countryside is the kind of art club I wanna join, tbh.

Lobo: Not sure what it says about me that Dolly and Bri are some of my favourite Culpeppers because of how messy they are... but I love them. I have not played much in Forgotten Hollow, but dang it does get pretty dark! Leave it to Bella to lose that duel in such an aesthetically pleasing way, though. As much as I love Diego, I found Dolly opting for a quick woohoo with Paolo as a consolation prize for not getting a tasty plasma drink very amusing. Caleb to the rescue with some good advice for Dolly! Did not see Dolly siring a new vampire coming though, a plot twist! Love little Zelda being good. <3 The backyard of the new house is lovely! Already so much brighter than Forgotten Hollow. The Slyvan Glade is gorgeous as always, but the magical pink lighting really suits both Dolly and Diego. Looking forward to seeing their future cabin!

As always I enjoy seeing your posts on my dash, but it's just as enjoyable going back and reading through them in one go whenever I come back to comment.

[Sam]

Heather:

Spoiler:

I did see you'd commented here & there on tumblr, but I never got round to replying (sorry! I always forget to on tumblr!)

Zest: Becky was an absolute handful to play Tania keeps rolling the want for another one and I'm like do I have to?? Becky and Spatula are enough! I do love Becky though, she's such a character. There was so much fire I hope I never have that much fire in one rotation again

Vatore: it was necessary I'll have to grab that mod and give it ago, it's very hit & miss if the plants are going to exist when I load up a lot and a lot of the gang have gardens now. Kirby and Caleb have got it together somehow maybe because they're immortal? I'm still not sure why he put the tie on, but it's such a Caleb thing to do. I just renovated the Narwhal Arms a little because the teens keep hanging out there, it seems to be tradition now! I would also sign up for that art club.

Lobo: They're a lot of fun to play too, I never quite know what they're going to get up to next! I had forgotten all about Forgotten Hollow (ha) until I had Dolly live there, but oh man I couldn't bear the dark I get that that's the point but I was desperate to go literally anywhere else after a while. And most of the walk-bys seemed to be vampires, which wasn't great when Dolly needs a snack! I'm really not sure what the future holds for Dolly & Diego, but the thing with Paolo was quite funny. Zelda is such a sweetheart I can't believe it has taken me this long to send a culpepper to Sylvan Glade

I'm the same with your posts, I always enjoy going back over them when I drop by to comment

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Spring with the Embers is up now! Just one more update and it's summer!
I'm halfway through playing summer at the moment, it has been a lot of fun so far

[Sam]

A little visit to Caroline Ember and her new home, and we are DONE with spring 4!!
The seasonal summary will be up in a couple of days, and then the summer fun can begin.

[Sam]

The summary for Spring 4 is up now, and summer 4 updates will begin!

I've added a new holiday for the summer, every Wednesday is now "Leisure Day", inspired by the holiday from TS3. Basically all of my sims get the day off to relax, spend time with friends and family, etc etc.

[Heather]

Yay for the start of summer! Excited to see what will happen in the new season. For now, here's the rest of my comments on spring:

Spoiler:

No worries! I don't really expect replies to those, I just like to react to some things as soon as I see them.

Ember: Well, at least Tarin showed up? Awww at Morgyn caring about Tarin's studies though, that really fits their character. Love that he streams in heaert print undies, of course. What else would you stream in? I'm glad you are enjoying the realm makeover, I hope it runs alright for you! It's sort of cute, in an odd way, that they've piled on Elsie's bed together to hang out during homework... if only Elsie weren't trying to sleep on it! My sims all hate roses too, I don't understand it!

It's a shame the environmental score seems to shift so quickly, the polluted state of Evergreen is quite cool (even if those orange skies are perhaps a little too reminiscent of current world events at the moment, haha.) Oh man, just when it looked like Grace's non-committal trait might cause some trouble, Caroline drops that want on you! I don't know if I just don't look at my sims' wants often enough, but yours sure like to live exciting lives! A new potential match for Bri, oh goodness, we'll have to see how that goes... Glad things worked out with Mizuki though! Tarin's little annoyed expression while they're flirting in front of him cracked me up. I hope that romance guru is telling them a good fortune...

[Sam]

Heather:

Spoiler:

so excited to share summer, it was such a fun season to play!!
I enjoy coming across the little comments Any luck figuring out who the mystery Culpepper baby belongs to?

Ember: That's about as much as you can say when it comes to Tarin & studying, it's really not his thing I love Tarin though. The realm makeover is so great, and it runs fine from what I've seen so far! This is not the last time you'll see one of your lots in my game I swear thank you for sharing them. It is cute that they hang out there, even if it's usually when someone is sleeping in the bed!! I always think of roses being top tier but no one likes them??

It had shifted back to smoggy skies again when I next opened the lot so who knows what's going on there? And yeah I can imagine, the wild fires sound scary! I guess Caroline didn't want Grace to spring a break up on her? I have no idea There's usually several ordinary wants like "listen to X music" or "read a book", but then you'll get "flirt with such and such" and it just completely changes the direction of play, it's a lot of fun. I don't always fulfill the "flirt with" ones, it depends on if I feel like it "fits". Very rarely do I fulfill the "be disliked by such and such" ones there's usually too much going on to be making enemies! As for Bri & Grace potentially being a match, I guess we'll have to wait and see I like Mizuki a lot, and it'll be interesting to see where they go from here. I thought I'd screenshotted their fortune but it turns out I hadn't and I had no idea what it was!

Time for the first update of the summer - a visit to Jared Q and his wife Alice.
I'm super excited to be putting the summer updates out now!

[ciyrose]

Ok, so after you have had a LOT of updates I'm here to read again because I was really enjoying the families and just haven't had time to read as much as I would like. (I'm only like 4 years behind, it's fine)

Spoiler:

Autum:
McMullen: Awww, Snickers! I love it. I have a feeling for Jo and reason to throw a party is, it's a day that ends in 'day'. Poor Jo, I always forget about my vegetarian sims. I wish there was a way to like limit recipes (not automatically but like you could turn it on/off) to things they can eat. I think you can always call them the Culpepper ladies, since that's where they were and met. I never think to dig through the box, and then the times I do and put the decorations in the family inventory I always wonder where they came from. I should try and do it more. lol I want to know that guys story now too! I will fully admit to having the gnome appesseal chart from boolprop's discord pinned. I don't always use it, but I MOSTLY remember the gnomes likes now. Oh man, that IS a bad date. What a fun season for Jo.

Titan: Wooo, a new baby already! It always looks like so much is happening in the city, I don't blame you for people-watching. I've started doing more of that in my games. Oh boy, twins!!! Aww, the boys are cuties! When I first started playing toddlers seemed crazy to take care of, now infants feel that way and toddlers are no big deal. lol I'm a long way from you having infants, but still. Poor Norah, she really dreams of that picture-perfect family, but reality will still be good. YAY for a house in Windenburg. I understand wanting to stay, but also reality sets in. lol The house is cute, and yay for room!

Brows: Awww, poor Candy, but good for Dusty. There are so many random weird things happening in restaurants. The number of random sims that stop by is pretty funny. LOL....I love all the comments from your 'visitors.' Dusty is doing so well though!

Bell: Wow, I have never seen those light things....I clearly need to take my sims out more. lol I am loving all the 'wrestlers' in the spice district because that is what I think of when I see them. Too funny. Adora looks SO HAPPY with the bees! So cute. Yay for an engagement too. It may be a bit dull to play, but I like these two, interesting to see what happens in winter.

Vatore: The costumes are hit-and-miss for me, and I wish there was a bit more variety. I hate that kids have 2 options for costumes. Seems like they should have more, but it's ok. I have started really enjoying putting murals up on kids walls, it is really nice. Oooh, that's a nice mural, I haven't seen that one! YAY a new baby boy! Oh my, Maxwell is super cute!! I can understand the heart-eye emoji feeling, they are the cutest little family! You know Caleb, I feel you, I would speed through my chores so I could do something fun too. I love the green lamp that makes me think of a tall martini btw.

A fun season. I'll have to come back to get through more. Really enjoying it!

[ciyrose]

Ok, hopefully I can finish up the rest of this first year and maybe more today (work is slow)

Spoiler:

Winter 1:
McMullen: I'm with Jo, in winter hibernate. Awww, I love Jo and Snickers!!! You know that is a cute idea. Get family or buddies together to do something like skate on Winterfest Eve. I'm glad Snickers didn't actually go anywhere. I am always so sad when a pet runs off, even if they have always come back. Oh, she did end up going. Glad she is back though. Oh boy, whoops, MCCC drama! What a fun-looking NYE party! A good way to end the season.

Titan: HAHA, Paolo looks like he got drug here against his will. lol Awww, David got Paolo to smile. YAY engagement! I'm not sure I've ever tried having a toddler befriend a snow pal. I might have to try that, although a good portion of my families live in Sulani. Wow, children already. It feels like they were JUST toddlers. The boys are very handsome. I have a love/hate relationship with past weddings. I wish the guests would have actually come to watch, like they did in TS2. Oh well, now we have an entire wedding pack that kind of works. lol I always feel so bad for sims who get empty presents. Holidays with families I think is a lot of fun. I love Nora, she is just living her best life.

Brows: I like the restaurant, and I am with you at seeing other families out and about. YAY for the first kiss. I think Summer is going to be good for Dusty! Winterefest breakfast, outside, with ice cream. lol Snowball fights really aren't that exciting in TS4, it is kind of sad I agree. YAY a holiday in Sulani, one of my favorite worlds. LOL, that sculpture behind Candy's head made me think it was icicles coming off her hair at first. lol yeah, Candy needs a life now. YAY another engagement and this time picture perfect!! I feel like Dusty needs to ask for the key back from Candy. Jo is still a friend, and not that Candy isn't, but geez, boundaries Candy!!

Bell: Oh boy, fun random baby. She is cute though! Awww, they moved back? But Adora was so excited for her garden. Hmmm, I know you are WELL passed, but since you can't even be sure if the baby was there before Adora or not I would play it out with them both raising Shari, unless something happens that causes a break for them, then I'd probably use that to play it out that way. But since no one is overly upset, he doesn't have a relationship with the mother, I would just run with it myself (of course if I had a really set plan then maybe not, but I kind of enjoy the weird and unexpected things the game will throw at you.) Awww, Cookie...so cute! Taeko is adorable! At least Shari is going to be a child. Might be slightly less chaos.

Vatore: Hehe, I love Caleb ready for the holidays! Don't you know playing with your food is more fun then eating it, even when you are hungry? Haha, bat woohoo, love it! I love to see other people having toddler play dates. They don't work overly well for me, although I haven't tried in quite a while. Maybe next generation. Wow, already Max's birthday? It goes so fast! That seems like a LOT of windows for a vampire family, but I LOVE IT! I love the picture of Maxwell in the back where it's just him, almost looks like his parents are just invisible because vampires....even though they have plenty of other pictures. I think it's just how he's placed. I think it's fun! Woo, good job Kirby, being able to be out in the sun.

What a fun season!

[Heather]

Spoiler:

Shamefully, I have not got a good guess yet. Thinking I might go back and reread some updates to see if I can figure it out before it's revealed, though!

Glad to hear it works well, and glad you're enjoying and using some of the others!

Q: “Don’t you think Sulani is a little…overdone?” made me cackle, as did “Don’t you like it? I got it specifically for this trip.”, I love how you write Jared. Can not express how delighted I was to see that hat return, it's just so Jared! Their little Strangerville vacation was so cute, I have yet to clear it in my save, so I never considered how good a vacation spot it might make! So many beautiful shots, I particularly like the one of Alice knitting outside with Jared, and those slip n slide shots! Jared's bubbly nap was also entertaining. Yay for the new house in Strangerville, love that they're still living in a triangle! Hopefully it works a lot better than their old one did, especially with a bebe on the way!

Eager for more summer updates, and more ridiculous tan lines!