for a little while, i had broke my sims 4 game. somehow.

well, not exactly somehow. there was a number of issues. i didnt install correctly, had to delete some things to be regenerated, had to take out a few bad mods... etc. etc. but the other day, i finally fixed all of it and began playing again.

i decided to load up one of my usual saves and play a household that has one of my favorite sims in it. her name is Mandy Andrews.

a screenshot from The Sims 4, featuring Mandy Andrews. she is a small-built sim with short, brown, messy hair. she is eating half of a grilled cheese. behind her is a Servo named Ivan, who is sitting on a black couch watching television. they stand in a blue room.

here is Mandy, eating a grilled cheese while her servo, Ivan, chills in the background.

in this particular save, it was time for Winterfest! which, if you don't play the sims 4, is basically just christmas. why they called it "winterfest" instead of "christmas" is still a mystery to me. but, regardless, still perfect timing, as it is that time of year again here in the real world.

so, since i was playing with Mandy anyways, i decided to make her go give gifts to her friends!

Mandy pictured talking to Ivan, a Servo, who is a vaguely humanoid robot. They sit upon the black couch from before in the same blue room. Ivan has heart eyes.

...right after she's done chatting with Ivan. i don't think he has a thing for her, he just got finished watching the romance channel.

so, first stop is her friend Renee. Renee is pretty cool. they're a spellcaster, which is basically a witch in the game. Mandy has bought them a camera, i believe.

Mandy is handing her friend Renee a gift. Renee is taller than Mandy, sporting lavender, wavy hair. they have a tattoo of an UFO on their arm. the two stand in a dimly lit room, and baren walls except for two posters featuring designs from the Rider Waite Tarot Deck. behind them is also a tv on a tv stand.

those tarot card posters are cool. i want some irl.

whatever it was, Renee loved it! Mandy gained a happy moodlet from it, and after some visiting, it was time to go visit Youko.

Mandy isn't... exactly close to Youko. i think she got her like, a journal or something? yknow, like the ones from Claire's with the cheap lock on them and the funky designs... i loved those things to death as a kid but never wrote in them...

a purple, iridescent journal with a pink, heart shaped lock. the cover of the journal spells out LOVE, with the O being a heart filled with glitter. L is blue, V is lavender, and E is pink.

YKNOW, THESE??? LOVED THESE FUCKERS i thought they were so cool

Mandy handing off a gift box to Youko, who is about the same height as Mandy and has light purple, long hair. they are standing outside in the snow at night.

anyways... so she gave her the journal and...

Youko clenching her fists and gritting her teeth as she stands across from Mandy, showing her anger.

...she hated it. a shame. Mandy got sad from that, and then quickly and awkwardly left as soon as possible to go see her next friend.

next friend is Gwendolyn. i actually forgot she had a family with her wife! (i think she's her wife?) i believe Mandy got her a romance novel of some sort, because i felt like Gwen is into that sort of thing.

Mandy stands in the foreground, and across from her is Bo, a tall woman with very short, dark hair and glasses. Bo is wearing a red and black coat, and also holding a toddler in a pink coat and equally dark hair. Bo stands in a doorway.

upon arrival, Mandy first ran into Gwen's partner, Bo, holding the baby. (also yes this is a premade house that i just edited my building skills arent great)

this visit was quite the visit indeed. first Mandy ran into Bo, Gwen's wife(?). then Gwen herself actually came along, as so did the pets. then they all danced to christmas Winterfest music. and then, of course, Mandy had to say hi to the pets! how could you not??

Mandy crouching down to pet a large, black dog.
Mandy crouching down to pet a small, calico cat.

eventually, it was time to give Gwen her Winterfest present. thankfully, she was happy with it! woohoo! oh god no not that kind

Mandy handing off a gift box to Gwen, who currently has her dark hair tied into pigtails. She is also wearing comfortable clothing, a blue T-shirt and some black sweatpants. Gwen is facing away from the camera.

now it was time to see Celeste, who is actually Gwen's sister.

Celeste and Mandy are close enough, i think? i remember Mandy getting her a boombox or something, the same one she has in her own home. (...i was kinda running out of ideas and i didnt get a very big list of gifts to buy in game on such short notice...)

so she heads up to Celeste's place. yknow what Celeste has?? like, my favorite item in the whole game! right in her home! check this out!

a stylish statue of a pink and yellow armadillo, sitting upon a white countertop. it has it's little tongue sticking out with little beady eyes.

this thing!! is called a Crabby Bottom Armadillo!! and i think it's the cutest little thing!!!

*ahem* ...anyways. so Mandy give Celeste the boombox... which somehow fits in that tiny ass box, but it's a video game, it doesn't need to make sense. regardless, Celeste is happy to be a proud owner of a new stereo system! another successful gift given!

Celeste, a tall woman in a black hoodie and light green beanie, sporting long, black, wavy hair in a ponytail, opening a gift box from Mandy. inside the box is glowing, and Celeste is smiling.

screenshots like these make me happy i installed a height slider sometimes.

and now... we have one final gift recipient. and that would be a woman by the name of Heather.

i think Mandy has a little crush on Heather. she is very pretty. anyways, Mandy found a SimRay for sale and decided that would make the perfect gift for Heather.

a white house that looks somewhat modern, but not really.

can we appreciate this house for a second? i built it! once again im not a great builder but this is one of my better builds.

so we stroll on up, come on in... at this point, Mandy wanted to go to bed... in Heather's bed. but if we do that without asking to stay the night we will get yelled at!! so we cant sleep now... and besides, we got a SimRay to deliver.

Mandy does manage to give the SimRay to Heather, and she loves it! hooray!! a happy holiday indeed!!!

Mandy presenting her final gift box of the night to Heather, a taller woman with blonde hair tied up in a bun and in a red coat. they stand in a room with dark grey walls.

all of this was managed before 2 AM, when Winterfest officially ends. Mandy went home, talked to Ivan briefly, and then went to bed. she got a happy moodlet for a good holiday, so i consider it all a huge success.

if you actually like... read all of this. uh, thank you? the sims 4 can be a really mundane game sometimes, but i love the series to pieces. life simulation games in general are really my thing and i'm happy to be able to talk about them lol.

i'll probably write more sims posts in the future? i really like this game. but for now, that is all. i've been really vibin' to the PS VITA home menu screen music lately, so i'll post that below. take care everyone! stay safe out there in this crazy, crazy world.