More Awesome Than You!

I have just discovered (as a result of reading all about Lizzlove's forthcoming autonomous woo-hoo bed), that when a Sim woo-hoos, it apparently doesn't alter their sexual preference one iota, only flirting and so on does that.  I have suspected for some time that this is the case, having noticed when checking that nothing seems to alter after woo-hooing.  Is this yet another mistake, or is there a reason for it?  ... Have just done a quick check with a 1000/1000 Sim and after kissing, making-out and woo-hooing with a member of the opposite sex, his preferences only changed to 1007/904.  Only a measly seven points for those three things?  No wonder they never make autonomous advances. 

Not only that, but that too: I played with Bella Goth in Strangetown, mating her to some romance sim too. As she wanted 20 lovers, I let her woohoo with a female, and was surprized to see the disgust  on her face. It was terrible disgust, as she was going to puke. From then on I gave her to woohoo only with men...:).

That's funny, and yet kind of interesting, as I doubt that's how it works in the real world. 

Oh, and you got BELLA???  Where?  Did you use boolProp?  Is it the REAL Bella??  I'll give you BENES!!  [/BBS sarcasm]

Bella in Strangetown is just a townie. She'll pop up after a while, but is not the real Bella.

The real Bella is a disabled townie in Pleasantview. You'll have to remove her dead token with SimPE for her to show up, but since she lacks any family relationships or memories it isn't worth it, in my opinion.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, I know.  It was sarcasm.  About the BBS.  Thus the little "[/BBS sarcasm]" thingy.

I think if they have a same sex affair as teens, it affects sexual preference in adulthood, and vice versa.  I have one YA who has been in love with the same female sim since they were teens (he's Romance, she's Family) and although he made best friends with membes of my Gay Male Greek House, whenever they've tried to flirt with him he's repulsed them immediately.  His friend, who with both their girlfriends, also shares his house, has a more open view of life (he's Popularity) and tried to flirt with him and was immediately pushed away.  When I checked Dorian in SimPE, he was only around the middle of the bar for both, slightly above for hetero, exactly in the middle for homo, but his preferences were obviously much stronger than that!

I think that in the real world can be shown the same reaction.

LOL, give me all the benes you have - I need them...for nothing...:).

By the way, I revived the real Bella too, in Pleasantview, with the SimPe and Insimenator.

Now I remeber - I mated Strangetown Bella to Abhijeet Cho, one of my favorite townies. I moved the both to Olive's house, and then they found their own place, married, payed a lot of aspiration points, and made 2 kids (romance too).
 
I was astonished by  one thing: after one of them cheated on the spouse, immediately showed wishes to kiss/flirt/appreciate the spouse.

It was as if they couldn't control the way they were programmed, and tried to "override" it. It was huge love between the two. Slowly Abhijeet stopped the cheating wishes, and Bella too, and concentrated in their kids. I laughed a lot playing them.

I think there is a point in the relationship where, if you keep their aspirations high, then most of their wants revolve around the spouse and family, although they do still get the occasional Woohoo with 3 different sims etc. want. 

I think twojeffs discovered this when he was working on his Casual Woohoo/Romance hack. I think, at least for his hack, he fixed it so that Woohoo would have the proper effect on orientation.

And I don't know if Pescado's Romance hack fixes it for regular Woohoo, but it would be nice if it did. If does already, that's neat. If it doesn't and this is something that can be added, that would be great, however, I don't know if that means it would then cause conflicts with other Woohoo related hacks.

Ste

I think you have to be careful which ones you install, though I think Peacado's and TwoJeffs are normally compatible.

They are, since Twojeffs' Casual Romance mod uses completely new interactions, and doesn't affect or call the normal interactions at all.

Oh they definately are compatible. I have both Pescado's romancemod and twojeffs' Casual Woohoo, as well as JenFlower's Teen Woohoo hack, and they all work fine. So this means one of two things:

a) Pescado's hack corrects the issue of Woohoo affectiong orientation, and I have no problems.
b) Pescado's hack does not correct the issue, and I have no technical problems, just that crappy Maxian logic fails yet again. :P

I haven't noticed this however, since my simself is definately very gay orientated, but that is most likely because of all the gay flirts, hugs, and kiss interactions that have built up over time rather than the Woohoos. Which to me seems ludicrious because I would think that, if anything, Woohoo might have a more powerful impact or influence on sexual orientation.  ::)  I mean, it does make sense that, who you have sex with would most likely affect who you enjoy or prefer to have sex with.

I guess... on the one hand, if you think about it, maybe you can interpret as Maxian philosophy or political views in that they don't regard the actual act of Sex as something that is relevant to orientation. In a way, it almost seems to say that who you have sex with shouldn't matter or necessarily affect who you are as a person. That almost seems noble. On the other hand... it could also be seen as a total disregard of the emotions involved with sex, which seems more likely considering their take on Romance, where such Aspirations lead to wanting 20 plus lovers rather than a lovingly, fulfilling, monogamous committed relationship. A truly romantic sim, at least in my eyes, would be just as interested in say having a long lasting relationship that reaches its "Golden Years" as much as a Family sim would. And being a Family sim, to me, doesn't necessarily equate to Romance. You could just love having kids and raising a family, and not necessarily be romantic towards your spouse/mate. And you can be very romantic without necessarily wanting to have kids or a family.

So, in a way, it could just fall along the lines of Maxiam Romance translating into slutty slutty whoriness. Again, it doesn't matter who you sleep with, the gender of your partner shouldn't affect your orientation because then that would only result in limiting your partners, which according to Maxian logic would be detrimental to the desires of a Romance sim.

Plus, we all know that Maxian logic don't make no sense anyways, so says Pescado. :D

Ste

I think they definitely overdid the sluttishness of Romance sims (and for that matter, Family sims, who are forever to be seen walking past Romance Sims houses, coming home with them from work, and generally trying to break up both their own relationship and the Romance sim''s relationship!)  I think I've said this before, but an LTW for Romance Sims such as Stay Faithful till Death do us part! would be a good one for them to aim for!

I find myself agreeing with you in every thread today ZZ :D

Maxis' idea of romance is most certainly not my idea of romance, since sex is a romantic fringe benefit ;) but not the romance at its core. Their fambly sims are a joke as well, since romance and knowledge sims make the best parents.

Makes me wonder what is going to be the new ep's take on romance, friendship, family etc. Although I will not buy it before JM has had a look at it, I will nevertheless eagerly read everybody else's reports.

Oh, by the way...Reg, I would like to pre-order screen-shots of your New Orleans vampire district in NL :D

After having done some testing, it would appear Make-Out doesn't affect orientation, either.  So, the more sexual the content, the less it affects sexual orientation.  Now that makes a LOT of sense!  I think I am going to adjust all this in SimPE, at least in terms of the ones who've not had the casual sex via TwoJeffs' mod.  Yet again, I am mystified by Maxian logic ...

I've got my reference books all sitting here and itchy fingers ready to build, build, build. That is if I can stop playing Legacies and other challenges long enough. ;)

Ancient, if you declared that you fully understood Maxian logic I would send for a priest, or for the Vicar of Dibley at least. Not understanding maxian logic proves your basic sanity, don't you know?

Reg, now you have me thinking... a vampire challenge? With stories? Set in NO?  Now I can't wait for you to get the ep either :D

G.

The Vicar of Dibley certainly has a large parish!   And it's nice to know someone agrees with me!

Was this a freestanding make-out or a bed-assisted one? Most furniture-assisted interactions function very differently from standard sim-to-sim socials internally.

I think I've mentioned before, I have a Greek House which originally housed 4 male Romance sims, all of whom were having relationships with each other.  Keanu Broke, the founder of the house, has now moved back to Pleasantview, leaving three, and when I checked there orientation in SimPE, I found two of them were much more inclined towards their own sex than the third, yet none of them have, in fact, had relations of anything more than friendship with the opposite sex!

It was in bed, prior to woo-hooing, between two in-love Sims.  I have since tried it with TwoJeffs Casual WooHoo mod - Romance female had her way with non-Romance male best friend.  He had previously done a public woo-hoo with another female Romance Sim he was in love with and was still 0/0 after it.  After doing the casual woo-hoo (with kiss, make-out and woo-hoo) he was only on 3/3.  I am going to do some serious adjustments and give them all 10 for woo-hoos and 6 for make-outs or something.  I want to see if the extra points prompts spontaneous flirting and what-have-you.

Do you mean spontaneous flirting with sims they aren't as yet in love with?

Sorry, but I really like that term, "spontaneous flirting."  It sounds like a good name for a band, or something.

OK, carry on with your conversation.

Yes, in a word.  I am sick of playing matchmaker, I want them to choose their own partners (independent of handhelds, fingerprint scanners, cheerings-up and other such anomalies).  So far it just ain't happening.  I am now in the process of changing sexual orientation (dramatically in some cases) to allow for woo-hoos, make-outs, falling in loves (they don't even get any orientation change for that), to see if it makes any difference.  I have my doubts, though.  I reckon there are 'hidden things afoot' somewhere. 

I had two sims autonomously develop crushes on each other a long time ago. It's the only time it's ever happened, as far as I know. They were both family sims. Jennie was married, but she had caught her romance sim hubby cheating with the maid, so her points toward him dropped significantly. Gary was single (and had gotten left at the alter a couple of days before. That was my fault; at the arch, the dialogue box popped up asking how many sims were moving in with her. I guess I missed the part where it said "0 sims possible". Not thinking about it, I selected her younger brother, which would have made 9 sims total in the household. Doh! She couldn't marry him.) Anyway, Gary was also the brother of Jennie's husband and they all lived in the same house. Joe, the husband, was bathing his toddler son across the house and that's where my attention was focused at the time. Meanwhile, Jennie and Gary (who had recently gotten best friend status with each other) were in the kitchen "chatting". I heard the harps play and I found that Jennie had lept into Gary's arms. I certainly did not tell her to do that! But, as it turns out, Joe eventually broke up with Jennie and married another romance sim (this was around the time the Romance Mod was first released, and I wanted to test it out by giving them an open relationship), and Gary and Jennie are now happily married.  Awwww, so romantic.  ::)

I sometimes imagine I hear this sound sometimes in dorms, but I never know for sure.  I did come across one weird thing today.  I noticed that Don Lothario's son, Adrian (Romance), who I hadn't played in a while (I just can't because he's about to turn into elder and he's SO gorgeous I just don't want him to, but if I prolong it he'll be out of synch with all the other Lothario spawn) ... anyway, I noticed that his last memory was of having an affair with Brittany Upsnott (positive memory!) who is also Romance as I changed her.  He's engaged (and also in love with quite a few other Sims) and she's just started living with another Romance Sim (Castor Nova, changed him too!) who she's in love with, plus she has one other love.  She has no memory of any recent contact with Adrian.  Their relationship is 60/60 (him) and 30/30 her, so they're not even friends.  As I recall, she greeted him when he was passing by her house, so I'm wondering if there was some autonomous flirting or something going on.  I'm not sure what constitutes an 'affair' for someone who's engaged, but knowing Maxis' logic it was probably nothing more than a wolf whistle. 

I know what you mean about not wanting to age the "gorgeous" sims. My avatar (that would be Joe, the hubby in that story), is of a character that has great-grandchildren. My families are all out of sync with each other! But I'm not aging him until maxis adds another age group, so he doesn't have to turn from a young, good-looking sim directly into a hunched-over old guy with an annoying voice. 

My Castor Nova is gay and married to Ashley Pitts!

I don't want to age any of mine!  So I don't - wouldn't be much good at a Legacy challenge, but then, I'm not really into competitions, never have been.

Cassandra Goth is very good at chasing after Romance sims she fancies!  In one version of my game, she was married to Beau, and in the Athletic career.  One day she brought Daniel Pleasant home from work (he'd had loads of elixir!) and leapt into his arms in front of Beau!   Well, Beau went berserk, and would have killed Daniel except Danial had more body points than Beau!

In my present game, she's in the police and for some reason always comes home with any Captain Hero around.  Ty Crewe, who's not only gay and married, but has three daughters (2 CAS, one his own after I treated him as female) and is very definitely not interested in females, but it made no difference to her, she followed him everywhere - even when he was pregnant!  She'd keep phoning up, or calling round!  She eventually took him home from work to her own house, and started flirting with him, got caught by husband Max and thrown out!  (He's a Fortune sim, and did very well out of it all, but he was still very upset!)

Family Sims are nearly always home-wreckers in my game!

It could be one of the "bugged" interactions, like teach/play handheld/cheer up, none of which are supposed to be romantic but are accidentally flagged as such. The "No Random Crushes" fixes the teach/cheer up crushes, and the handheld fix eliminates the schizophrenia and handheld crushes.

It is, however, possible for sims to decide to autonomously flirt, but this is often quite rare as it requires a confluence of several traits which normally don't occur: First, a sim has to exhibit a gender preference (they don't come with one, so homemade sims never attempt it). Secondly, the sims have to be unattached. I've actually seen this happen once: Beau Broke decided to spontaneously and deliberately flirt with Lucy Burb during a wedding party. I saw it actually pop up, and paused the game, to look at it in confusion. And maybe X it out. Then I decided, "Nah, why the hell not?", and let them run with it. This is much more likely to occur with Maxian sims, however, for one reason: Maxian premades *DO* ship with a gender preference wired into them. Circe Beaker, for instance, amusingly enough starts out as a lesbian. I saw her do the "attraction" thing....at a FEMALE Romance sim. You can actually confirm this if you dig up a clean Strangetown in SimPE.

Circe Beaker had a lesbian affair in my original game with a barmaid; it cost her her marriage to Loki, who never forgave her.  Does Circe have a tendency to have twins?  She had 2 sets; with Loki and with townie Abhijeet Cho.

How strong does the gender preference need to be and what exactly is "unattached" in Sim terms?  If they are living with someone but not engaged, only in love, would that qualify?  What if they are engaged but not married?  I made two Romance Sims very strongly in favour of the opposite sex and threw them together, but all they did was talk.  Both are living with someone, one is engaged and the other isn't.  They had only encountered each other in passing (had a 0/0 relationship), but the male is 100/100 best friends with the female's live-in.  Not sure if that would stop them flirting with each other or not.  I think flirting is coded-in with some Sims anyway.  Not sure if I mentioned it here, but in my game Buck Grunt always flirts spontaneously with Jill Smith (maybe others too, haven't tested it yet) and it's the only time I've ever seen that happen with a pre-made Sim.

Keanu Broke flirts with anything in trousers that he doesn't happen to be related to!

I wish there were more configurable options in the game . . . like maybe two seperate power want trees for Rromance sims: one that was all about promiscuity, and one that was about romance but not kids. The "Have a child" fears would come up more for the second one; the first wouldn't really care. And multiple power want trees for Family sims would be nice: one that was about having tons of kids, and one that was more about having a larger extended family, so they would get more "relative gets married" and "relative has child" (I don't know why that's not a want that ships with the game . . . seems kind of obvious.) and wants like "Have/Be Friends With X family members". Heck, while I'm on the subject, having seperate "paranormal" and "science fiction" want trees for knowledge sims, and some more non-personal power wants (relative saved from death, self/relative saved from death X times, relative abducted by aliens X times, self abducted by aliens some obscene number of times, etc.) would be nice.

Also, it'd be nice to be able to pre-configure a CAS sim's gender preference. I guess they didn't put that in because they don't want to be accused of shoving the whole idea of having "gay sims" in peoples faces. They could have at least made a cheat code, though.

Is it even possible to hand-edit sexuality in game?

I think the WooHoo not affecting it thing is probably a combination of technical stuff associated with it being an object-based interaction and the thought that if a sim is at WooHoo level with another sim, they've done enough romantic interactions to define their sexuality anyway.

At least it's not binary. Maxis does seem to grok the idea that sexuality is a range rather than a "gay/straight/bi" choice.

You can choose the sex preference with the SimPe. When you select the character (sim), You can set his/her sex preferences - equal/women/men. It a slider, which can be dragged wherever you want.

Yeah, I know. It's just a bit of an annoyance that there's no way to do it in-game. <sigh>

Well, if you create a couple of gay sims who are married in CAS I've found that the slider is usually slightly higher for male preference.

JM's romance modification seems to be taking preferences into account, at least in my game. Once I have committed a sim with the auto-socializer/romantic to a certain gender, they seem to lock onto that gender and the higher the commitment (crush/love etc.) the more fixed the preference seems to become.

I don't have many romance sims, perhaps one or two per hundred, but I have to keep switching their conquests pretty evenly, so that their hunting ground stays larger and does not focus on one or the other gender.

Ah, what do I know, I ususally make them do what I want anyway :D

G.

I would say about 40% of my sims are Romance Sims at present!  But usually I reroll their LTW to a career one, then the Woohoo with x different sims don't really matter, they are usually quite happy just fulfilling the Woohoo in Bed/Woohoo in Hot Tub wants!

There aren't any gray areas in my game. I make all my straight sims as straight as they can be, all my gay sims as gay as they can be. With simpe. I'm-a-poet-and-didn't-know-it.

Remington, the maid, immediately took notice of my male romance sims upon entering the house. I guess he "shipped gay". (The Maxian version of the age-old question of homosexuality: nature or nurture, shipped or trained). He and Alexander Goth are a couple, now. Alexander is one of my few middle-of-the-road sims. Only because I keep forgetting to set his preference higher in simpe.

If you create sims that are already married, they'll come with a preset bias towards their existing partner. Otherwise, they start out completely neutral.

My playable Sims are all SimPE-enhanced normal (damn Maxis for not doing THIS right, either).

For homosexual NPCs and townies there's the Cow Plant or buyable fire.

So, does the fact that you are maxing out their yays and minimising their nays mean that they will autonomously flirt?  Or do they still just prefer to have stupid pillow fights?

Probably pillow fights. There's a ton of other conditions involved, such as that the sims involved must be unattached, and then it's just up to random chance. And there's an awful lot of very useless socials which tend to be preferentially chosen instead. Like kicky bag.

I tried the Romance function on the auto-socialiser last night (nearly laughed myself silly at "Romanticate").  Got Don Lothario to start romancing the Romance sim mother of his illegitimate grandson (who he didn't know).  He went from 0 to 100 daily using nothing but chat, bust-a-move and dirty jokes, with just one wolf-whistle thrown-in once they'd made it to friends status.  This was the person he had the crush with who gave him the affair memory I mentioned in my thread on the topic.  I didn't save it, was only testing it out, but it was interesting how he only needed that one actual romance interaction.  He concentrated mainly on busting his moves.

I get so sick of kicky bag!  Why do they always decide they want to play it when there's no room?  And why can't kids play?  It's a kids' game, for heavens' sake!  And I'd love to see kids kick a can (not the dustbin) when they're bored!

Is there any way of treating kicky bag in the opposite way to pillow-fights?  So that it can only be played outside?

Twojeffs has (have?) a mod for that. http://www.variousimmers.net/vsimforum/showthread.php?t=527

Thanks, I never noticed that one!  I'll go take a look now!

My married sims autonomously flirt, or sims that have just woohoo'd. Usually if I get the ball rolling with a flirt or kiss interaction, they'll take it from there. Sometimes I don't even have time to queue the next interaction before they're already making out. But there's still an awful lot of annoying pillow fighting.

But can you get them to woohoo autonomously?  The flirting between couples I never had a problem with - the gay Romance sims are at it all the time (flirting, I mean) but they still have to be given the ok to woohoo!  And how many couples do you know who have to wake up, get out of bed and then relax ON the bed, before they can have an early morning woohoo?

And why the heck don't they get social in bed - after all they cuddle up to each other and talk to each other in their sleep?

I have yet to see an autonomous woohoo or makeout session with my Sims.

The making out is fairly common but usually one of the couple at least will be either Romance or Family.  Spontaneous woohoo just doesn't seem to be in the programming at all!  No doubt I could get a hack for it somewhere, but it just wouldn't be the same!

Well you can get an autonomous woo-hoo hack now, the bed I mentioned at the start of this thread.  It's quite good actually, you can customise it up to the eyeballs, so it does exactly what you want it to do, and it works well with Pescado's Romance Mod and TwoJeffs' Casual Woo-Hoo.  If anyone's interested, it's by Lizzlove and you can get it on MTS2.  It only went 'live' 24 hours ago and is still in beta-testing, so it will be improved upon in future weeks.  Not the same as them doing it off their own bat I know, but better than nothing.  I am nevertheless still waiting for the mod that lets them flirt on their own and the rest of it.  I SO want them to choose their own partners.  If I'd wanted to be a matchmaker I'd have spent my entire life singing songs from "Fiddler on the Roof".

Interesting, though, that if you have Family teens who are in love and send them off to Uni, when the second one arrives the first one makes straight for them and they fall in love all over again.  One female sim was so shy her boyfriend had to kiss her through the front door!

Ooooh I've been waiting for that! Been checking that thread every day.
To answer the question about my sims autonomously woohooing...no. They don't. But, like I said, the married ones kiss, hold hands, hug, etc., and the ones I get started  with a few commands take it from there. I just had one of my female teens, Bella's daughter with my sim, have her first kiss. I then had them "kiss romantically", and before I could even put in the next command, she made out with him. Cute. They're both family sims, by the way. Now I see them in the background hugging and kissing all the time while I'm dealing with my other sims. I'm using her boyfriend as a sort of experiment, too. He's the first sim I haven't made adjustments to. I wanted to see how much his preference would change, and how quickly. He started out as 0/0, but he's now at female preference with a score of 136/-84. Didn't take too horribly long. I have one married couple, she's a romance (she's never cheated, even though she gets those wants. I ignore them.) and he's a popularity, who seem to be all over each other more than any other couple I've played. I wish I knew what specifically determines how autonomously affectionate a couple are.  Anyone? J.M.?

Niceness affects how likely sims are to do a lot of romantic interactions. Playful and Seriousness affect things like Serenade and (I think, have to check) Squeeze, so a sim with an extreme trait in one of those should theoretically be more affectionate. Being outgoing also affects it. I'd have to look it up in the Prima guide, which is usually pretty good about the specific numbers involved in those little charts. Not good for actual strategy, but fairly good for the info needed to build a strategy. Or is that "strategery?"

Hmm. I'll put this on my list of "things to be tested."

1. YA pregnancies/abductions.
2. Effect of personality on autonomous affection.
3. Some other stuff I can't think of at the moment.

Thanks for that info. This particular couple is pretty high in outgoing and playfulness, around a 3 or 4 on the niceness scale for him, though. He still loves to "squeeze" her.

Even my Leos with only one in the niceness stakes still autonomously flirt etc. - and are generally much nicer than they are supposed to be!  Whereas a Scorpio or Sagittarius can have 4 in niceness and still be extremely nasty!

ZZ, did you try to match Leo and Scorpio - it's a fire ball...:). They are the most devoted couple I have ever seen. When I see a Leo, immediately I mate him to a Scorpio.

Don't think I ever tried that!  Usually I find they get on well with other Leos, and with Aries or Aquarius.  But so much also depends on the interests they have in common.  I mean, a Leo Romance sim will woohoo with anything that moves, but if they are to fall truly in love, they have to be able to talk to each other!

This is one of the puzzling aspects of the game.  Astrologically, Scorpio & Leo are a total mismatch.  I am Scorpio and I wouldn't touch a (typical) Leo male with a bargepole.  Far too extrovert, far too full of themselves (I'm the King of the Jungle and all that) and forever titivating their manes.  Anyway, everyone knows fire & water don't mix.  And as for Scorpios being nasty, they've fallen into the usual trap there.  We're the most loyal sign of the lot and also one of the most faithful.  We're also very generous (the only thing we have in common with Leos), at least to those we care about, and ... well, we're not sex-maniacs or alcoholics, either.  And we only sting idiots, because we don't suffer fools at all, never mind gladly.  This does mean that we never run out of people to sting.  ;D

Astrological signs have little to do with compatibility in TS2. You can pretty much hamfist anything pretty easily with AutoSoc's method.

I dunno about you, but as a Scorpio myself, I find I've gotten along with a fair number Leos that behave in just such a manner as you describe. The key here is allowing them to go ahead and draw fire. Remember, everyone shooting at them is not shooting at you. Learn to understand the tactical value of a diversion. :)

What, you mean it's not true Scorpios are nasty? I'm nasty! I kill people with my bare hands! And rip off lips!

Okay, you got me there.

What, me, generous? You can't pry a peso from my cold dead hands with a crowbar.

Doesn't that pretty much describe everyone here who still has lips?

J. M. PescadoYet you give your time, mods and fixes for free. 

Still waiting for that Thank You placebo button.

The true key feature of a Scorpio is that s/he thinks others don't understand their 'complex' personality because they are 'smarter' than everyone else; I've yet to meet one who didn't feel that they were misunderstood and hard done by.

The reason Scorpios battle with Leos is due to the obvious clash of huge egos.  Add an Aries to the equation to see real fireworks.

Not true. They cost $29.95/month. Have you forgotten what it says on your receipt?

Doesn't everyone? It's hard not to when you're surrounded by COMPLETE MORONS. Although I'm not really so much hard done by as just plain hard.

That's probably because they're going about it wrong. When you're dealing with a Leo like that, the best way to get them to adopt an idea is to make them believe that it was theirs.

J. M. Pescado
Substitute 'man' for 'Leo'  and you have learned the first lesson every mother teaches her daughter.

Hoooaaah! Hold your horses!

I am Scorpio too - and as ZZ said, I have very few Leo friends in RL. I talk about the GAME: don't know why it was programmed that way, but I just tried to follow the Official Guide suggestion of matching sims:

"Scorpio - attracted by Pisces/Leo; repelled by Libra/Aquarius.

Leo - attracted by Saggitarius/Cancer; repelled by Capricorn/Gemini."

There is no Scorpio for Leo to be attracted to - only for Scorpio.

I tried it on General Buzz Grunt (Leo). Ripp is Saggitarius, Tank is Capricorn, and the General liked Tank more than Ripp (contradiction);
But when I "fixed" the relationship with Ripp - Buzz was concentrated more in Ripp than in Tank.

Then I tried to match him my CAS Scorpio female - and it was burning flame!
I also noticed, that Olive (Scorpio), wanted to invite Buzz, and Buzz always brought home a Scorpio girl.

On the family tumbnail, in the neighbourhood - my Scorpio girl was shown to kiss Buzz's cheek (great love), while with other astrological sign the tumbnail showed Buzz with "V" fingers behind the spouse (cheating).

It's not RL, it's a game, programmed to match - sometimes in contradiction with RL - sims.

I have whole neighbourhood Leo-Scorpio matches, which works great for all...:).

It's funny - I was looking at this http://www.snootysims.com/zodiac.php idly on Saturday and figured out that most star signs have two or three star signs that are attracted to them, but only Sagittarius does not repel any other sign.  Just like real life eh?    ;D

Of course. We Sagitarii are absolutely amazing. Every one loves us. You questioned this? ;D

No, silly - I'm a Sagittarian through and through!  Your level of modesty befits a true Sagi, as does that glowing inner confidence.  Now if we could just work out the difference between friends that want to be lovers and lovers that just want to be friends, we'd be laughing! ;D

I have just the opposite experience: I've had a number Leo friends in RL. The emphasis here is on "had", because they tend to get themselves gruesomely killed. This is unfortunate and has the side effect of leaving me in charge. Bother.

I hadn't seen the paranormal, showbiz, artist or natural science careers except in bits, so I decided to create a house of four single sims in my new n'hood. I also wanted to test out JMs romancemod. I've tried twojeffs casual woohoo, but I don't currently have this hack in my game. So I made three romance sims and one popularity, (was going to make two of each but obviously can't count past two).  ::)

I set up their interests and gave them half skills, I did not change their sexual preferences as I wanted them to be bisexual because there just aren't that many sims in my new n'hood for them to have a preference for one gender. I wanted to try them out woohooing each other in the flat to see if they would get jealous if they were not in a committed relationship, as per the romancemod.

Anyway, to get to the point of this post, last night I realised my sims had been alive for about 7 sim days & not one of them had had a woohoo yet. (House is looking good though  :P ) So the next two sims at home at the same time were it. It turned out both females were home so I tried a flirt action. Caress maybe? The second sim pushed away the flirter and shook her head. I tried another flirt and a romantic hug, neither were accepted. I swopped sims and chose flirt/caress, this time no problem. Both sims were 100 daily (insert product placement for macrotastics :) ) and 60-70 for lifetime.

Why would one sim accept a same gender advance, but another not, despite neither having a gender preference? Is it down to personality in that case? Both are fairly outgoing. I'm pretty sure it was Winona, a popularity gemini who made the first advance only to be repulsed by Jennifer the romance aries.

Non-Romance sims decline attempts to start a new relationship once they already have one. Break up their existing one, or have them initiate it, and they'll be fine with what they have.

Neither sim had any previous romantic attachment, this was the first romantic relationship any of the household members had with anyone, inside or outside the house. I don't think they were best friends though, I wonder if that makes a difference to the acceptance of a romantic overture? I just found it odd that one sim would and the other wouldn't.  :-\

I should have guessed Mr Pescado was a Scorp.  I can understand him a lot better now.  Which of the many masks that he keeps by his front-door is he wearing here, I wonder?!  And yes, of course he is generous, but Scorpios aren't openly generous like Leos, they're 'quietly generous' and don't usually talk about it.  As Scorpios only show their true selves to those they really care about (and, most importantly, totally trust), it is anybody's guess as to who the true JM Pescado really is (or even what he is, as there has been talk of him being an alien).

Ancient Sim, surely the same applies to you, as you are also a Scorpio?

Personally, I don't think that Scorpios ever truly reveal themselves to anyone.  They are guarded by nature and ultimately trust no-one but themselves.  True?

I'm astrologically a Leo. But my character is nothing like one (except perhaps the arrogance). The classical description of Capricorn fits me better.

I do have the hair.

I don't really follow astrology much in general, but apparently, according to what I've read, there are now 13 signs, and you may want to check if your date has been reclassified as a result of a few thousand years of stellar movement.

Yeah, but if I was an alien, I'd have a completely different astrological chart. Like, say, Vega.

Not true. I have several good friends that I trust absolutely. It helps a lot that they're dead.

13 signs? Where did you find that information?

http://www.geocities.com/astrologyconstellations/ophiuchus.htm

hm, im still a leo by that account then :D

*starts fiddling with her red hair* And i really got to go now, I have a mirror that is missing me   /sarcasm off

I'd be a Cancer according to that. Which would indeed fit better than Leo.

I'd fit into the 13th sign Ophiuchus.  I've no idea what that would make me. 

Same here, I'd be a Cancer too. I've always thought I didn't fit well into the description of a "typical" Leo.

according to the horoscope my mother had made for me a long time ago, I am a double Leo, with leo being both my starsign, and my ascendant sign. Im not however, the flashy type of leo, I am generally shy, silent, and dont have a large social circle.. Guess im one of those sick kittens that should have been removed by mother nature. :P

I'm an Aquarius, and the only thing that this tells me is that I was born in the winter :D

G.

Yeah, the astrology thing is very complex and twisted. Just out of boredom, I consulted all of them, and as it turns out, I manage to just barely squeeze by as being a Scorpio on the traditional and "real" charts. Of course, that doesn't mean terribly much, other than that for some reason, people seem to suddenly gain an understanding of me when I tell them this.

Which unfortunately happens to to pin my birthday down rather exactly.

Hmm. It seems, according to this chart, I am no longer a Sagitarius but an  Ophiuchus. I never gave much credence to horoscopes, but was always quite fond of the Sag description. I never believed in the mythos, but found the character portrayal apt nonetheless. Now I am a new sign? I find it disappointing, slightly, but see no reason why this info should change my life in any way. Oh, well. C'est la vie.

Hey, hold on a minute! Here I was, basking in the self-satisfied glow of being a Sagi, and laughing at the Scorpios, and then I click the bloody link and find out I am now ONE OF THEM!!!  :o

Hmm. Kinda makes sense, actually....

Well, they are sufficiently vague as to encompass a broad variety of people. I myself happen to fit the description for several signs in most cases, and probably so do you.

Well, here's a link for attributes associated with Ophiuchus. You decide how applicable it is to you.
http://aquarianmysteries.com/ophiuchus2.html

Well, look at it this way: Previously I narrowly dodged being a Sagi, and now I've narrowly dodged being a Libra. Clearly I have a knack for avoiding things. Like death, which is the fate that has befallen every single one of my known family members.

I went to the link to read about my new Sun Sign - which I'm still learning to spell and say.  As it only lists positive attributes I must say that it describes me perfectly! 

In truth, they are all generalisations that are just fun to read.  Chinese horoscopes personality profiles seem to be even more accurate at typically describing my friends and family.  No one's surprised by my sign anyway!

I personally prefer the Horrorscopes, the prediction of dire unpleasantness that will befall you in the near future. :P

Badly actually. But, I can interpret events of my life to make it fit. Then, that works for all 13. I think I'll just live in denial. I'm only off by 5 days. I'll pretend I never heard of this new thing and continue to claim Sagitarius. Foolish attitude perhaps, but hey, they're only horoscopes.

I would indeed love such a thing, why is it that horoscopes tend to emphasize the positives? One severely flawed Chinese horoscope went as far as to  lable every single sign as successful.  :)

Well, when you think about it, horoscopes never had any real basis in fact, anyway. Why bother living in denial, when you can just figure it's mostly BS anyway?

It would be a different matter if I believed in them or thought they had any real relevance on my life. I don't. I find horoscopes, at best, to be occasionally amusing. Being Sagitarious amuses me more than this new thing. Here are some of the attributes. These are all characteristics which sound dull, or else do not fit me at all. No thanks.
    * lofty ideals
    * a seeker of peace and harmony
    * doctor of medicine or science
    * seeks higher education
    * overseer, supervisor of work
    * longevity, aspirations of healing the ills of man
    * tax assessor or levys taxes
    * astrological talents, intuitive
    * the number twelve holds great significance
    * foresight to benefit from hard times
    * notable father, apple of father's eye when young
    * high position in life expected [depending on aspects] highest fame and legend comes after death however
    * likes to wear clothing of vibrant colors
    * receives the favor of those in charge

It is pretty much all bs. It's stuff like this, 13th sign business and all, that proves it doesn't stand up to decent scientific inquiry.

For example: Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and *mysterious recently discovered planet-like object* are all fairly recent additions to the whole thing, but pre-discovery astrology never even slightly indicated the existence of these planets. If it actually did work the way it is reported to, there would have been discrepancies in it that were resolved by the discovery of said planets.

I'm Scorpio, but the only part I really like is pluto. Come on. It's small, cold, dark, and gives astronomers fits trying to figure out what it is. An excellent metaphor. :-D Anything that annoys people is good by me.

That's about all that is fun about the star-signs. I like the idea that Aquarius is somehow connected with Uranus. I like that fact... other than that it is bs.

That's how the palm-readers and fortune-tellers and the like make their money by the way. Everyone gives away tiny clues about themselves even without saying a single word. That, coupled with things that most people want to hear, and things that could fit just about everyone is the con-artists bread and butter.

G.

Dunno, I had my palm read when I was about twenty, and most of it came true!

That's because it was sufficiently vague or obvious that it probably would come true.

I've never had my palm read and don't want to have it done after a work colleague of mine freaked me out; she had on two different occasions gone to get her palm read; The first palmist looked at her palm then refused to give her a reading.  A few years later she again went to a palmist, who looked startled at what she'd seen then told her that sometimes it better not to know and refused to give the reading. 

That's translation for, "I have no idea what to say that would sound even remotely plausible.". I mean, I had a free reading tell me that I would likely die horribly and messily. Gee, tell me something I don't know.

Yes, the first reader used a common ploy. Something averse is bound to happen, it happens to everyone sooner or later. The reader most likely also refused to take a fee. This will occupy the customer's thoughts and s/he will talk about it with others. The best advertising around. The second one most likely was able to detect her/his apprehension right off the bat and used it as well, and for the same reasons.

Another ploy these people use quite often is to not take any money at first, claiming they're doing it out of the kindness of their hearts and are using their gifts for humanitarian reasons. This will get around and bring in more customers. I have a friend who works for the, I guess its called 'bunco' squad here. Some of the things he tells are truly incredible.

V.

I like the one who foretold my gruesome death in battle for free. I laughed at that one. I mean, hell, my family has died in battle for generations. I knew what I was getting into. Amusingly enough, he was right, to an extend: I did ultimately get killed in action. But I GOT BETTER!

Explain?  (I want to keep my lips please).

Astrological signs....According to the new chart, I am still a Capricorn, but just barely not Sagittarius as opposed to just barely not Aquarius. In real life, what sign/personality I display depends upon how well I know you. My nature is cautious and I tend not to let on to "the real me" until I decide whether I like you and want to know you *and* whether I want you to know me and  like me. There is a difference.

The general description of Capricorn fits me in some ways. I am realistic and logical. I am a hard worker and seldom give up until a problem is solved to my satisfaction. One thing I read describes Capricorn as the Energizer Goat. That seems to fit. I am rather tenacious when I decide on something. I am a perfectionist and don't suffer half-assed people very easily.  I can be very critical, but I use my superior Capricorn self-control to curb it. I can also be arrogant, but I curb that as well. I, too, am more awesome than you, I'm just usually too polite to say so.  ;)

Chinese astrological sign is The Rat.

Actually, I think it's all bunk, but it's fun to read sometimes.

"Astrological signs....According to the new chart, I am still a Capricorn" (reggikko)

Capricorn is good friend with  Aquarius and Scorpio (veil and JM)...:).

Many of my Capricorn sims are matched to Scorpio and Aquarius. The Official guide says they are attracted to Saggitarius too, but this didn't work in the game.

Oddly enough that description fits me, though I'm a  Libran, I think horoscopes are bs too...
Chinese - I'm a rooster

The sky is falling, the sky is falling

I actually went to search for the correct spelling of Sagittarius - I know US/UK can be different, when I found this http://www.zodiacfragrances.co.uk/sagittarius.htm 

Each star sign's personality is so general it could apply to anyone.  Astrologers cover this obvious flaw by adding rising signs, the position of the moon at birth and whether or not it was raining when you walked through the door to allow for variations for each person. So I was a Sag with a rising Gemini, born under the influence of Mercury. Which would explain so much (not) because now I'm that 13th sign.
The phrase 'pissing in the dark' springs to mind for no apparent reason.

At least that didn't happen to me, and actually the predictions were very specific.

I'm a Scorp - a double as my Ascendent is Scorpio too. And you're right about not being nasty. Generally. Unless someone really needs it. But Scorps are also, under the lashing tail, ferocious claws and thick armour plating, complete pushovers for those they love. Generally...
Leo males are some of the most self-obsessed idiots I've ever come across, and if you can't give 'em the attention they need...well, you can't so you might as well stop trying. Narcissistic don't even come close. The females have similar needy attention issues too.

I think I'd agree with that about Leos generally, but nevertheless, I like my sim Leos!  Also, my brother-in-law is a Leo, and my sister assures me he has none of the Leo personality defects!  They've been together for thirty years, so I guess she should know!)

I actually do Tarot readings for people, and while I am a pretty good psychologist I would never use that skill as a way of cold reading a person. I'm not interested in anything about the person before I meet them and only use my ability as an interpretor to answer questions they might ask the cards. If there's nothing there for 'em, then that's what I tell them whether they like it or not.

I'm actually a great believer in the quote: "There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy!"  Which means I keep a pretty open mind about most things.

Oh, I am not at all saying that these things are all bunk, but it is nevertheless an area that is frequently abused by charlatans.  This is particulary revolting when those swindlers latch onto desperate people, the recently beraved, or the easily persuaded. There are too many things between heaven and earth that are unexplainable with simple logic (sorry JM) to close the mind. That's what my grandmother used to say, and she was not a stupid person, nor was she gullible.

The same goes for the quacks that proclaim themselves naturalistic healers, homeopathic therapists, etc. While there are quite a few very knowledgable and conscientious naturalistic health care providers, the field is also loaded with quacks out to make a quick buck of the desperate and the ill.

It's really up to governments to provide some kind of licensing system so that the charlatans don't get a look-in!

I find it interesting that an awful lot of people used to deride acupuncture, and now they've virtually proved it's based on sound principals, since the acupuncture paths and the DNA paths are the same!  And I know from personal experience it works, it just gets too expensive to keep it up, whereas medication in this country is free.

veilchen
My father has practised homeopathic medicine for over 25 years now.  I was sceptical when I was a teen, especially as the doses are so low.  However, as I got older and my father explained some of the basic principles of using it along side other medicines and techniques, I started to accept it more. Also, my father has used homeopathy for over 3 decades and he looks no more than 10 years older than me!  He's still very fit and active.

The Queen of England consults a homeopathic doctor, so I believe.

Yeah, her mother did too and she lived till 100+.  I'm sure that the Queen will outlive Prince Charles (her son).

Sandilou, your father clearly belongs into the category of knowledgable and conscientious homeopathic practitioners. If used with care and in conjunction with other therapeutic measures, homeopathy is quite equal, if not better, than conventional medicine.

I have a cousin in the field and she insists on the same measures. Low dosage, non-strenous excercise (if appropriate), proper diet meditation and relaxation; this is the way she explained her approach to me. I prefer this approach to the use of overpriced pharmaceuticals, and doctors who can't be bothered to remember their patients names, let alone doing an in-depth examination.

Well, even though I'm not British, I do hope she outlives Charles. The Brits deserve better than that for their throne. I might be biased though. I liked Diana, and I do like her sons, even the rebellious younger one (I know their names are William and Henry, but I keep forgetting which is which, sorry :D)

Anything's possible!  Let's hope, though, they neither of them live too long, or abdicate as soon as William is a little more experienced!  I think it's time we had a monarch that young people could feel some sense of affinity with!  (The younger one is Harry, which is a form of Henry, but can also be short for Harold.)

Thanks, Veilchen.  My father is an osteopath who uses homeopathy alongside acupunture, the Alexander Technique and others.  I'm a real daddy's girl; even so, I was a bit miffed when he made it perfectly clear that someone could only do his job if they had life experience too. His treatment is holistic; so there's alot of psychology as well as physiology used to work out what the patient needs.  My dad's very intuitive to the point of being a bit spooky really.   

ZZ's right, treatment is very expensive to keep up, and has only just started being supported on the NHS.  My dad's is a well respected (read expensive) private practice, shame I can't afford to use it - it could widen the age gap between us! ;D

I prefer the approach of "health through stubborn refusal to die". I may *LOOK* pretty awful, but I feel and function great.

Personally, if I'd known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.

(veilchen) "(I know their names are William and Henry, but I keep forgetting which is which, sorry :D) "

Aaaghhh! How can you??? William is the most handsome  prince in the whole world...:). I could "eat him with sugar and spice, and everything nice"...:). He has his mother's face, copied.

And, he is modest, and shy, and has wise eyes. He will become "more awesome than all" king...:).

:D Gali, I know the blond boy with Diana's features is the heir, and the red-head is the spare, I just can't keep their names straight. He is very handsome (thank goodness, he has little of the hanoveranian features, a spitting image of his mother) and should appeal to the British youth in spades, especially the girls.

Damn!  I just got pushed into Aries, when I'm obviously still a Taurus by temperament.  I'm going to ignore this whole thing.

Vicki

Happened to me too, and even though I'm nearly on the cusp, I don't fit Aries very well at all!

I'm afraid homeopathy is a pseudo-science, there have been only flawed studies proving it works and plenty of repeatable studies to prove it does not. Water is water, H2O, there are no other molecules or essences attached. This link gives a good history and background (http://www.theness.com/articles/homeopathy-cs0103.html) to the practice of homeopathy. Homeopathic studies are discussed about half way down the article. I followed up on studies when I first read the article, I did not find anything to contradict the assertions made in this article.

  I suspect that combined with your dad's intuition & experience, the well-researched placebo effect comes into play. Many people feel better just after someone takes an interest in them as well. Your dad is probably also someone who also looks after his health and diet, creating a younger fitter person than the average, all kudos to him. :)

That's pretty much how I think alot of medicine works.  Chemicals come into play, but willpower seems to be the biggest driver in getting the immune system to kick in.  I've seen some remarkable results from my father's practice.  People who have gained much more flexibility in their joints, feel far less pain after the initial increased pain from first treatments.  Homeopathy works through belief as much as chemical impact - the dosages are so small as to be negligible, yet long term do have an impact - particularly in the treatment of eczema and asthma. 

Note that the wealthiest family in the world (The Royal Family) all use homeopathic medicine.  Especially Harry. :D

I don't doubt it, he sounds like a special person. :) I believe that belief in a cure and a strong willpower do in fact affect the immune system. Anecdotally, I have seen people die, they literally gave up and believed there was no hope. When I had breast cancer 5 years ago, I just couldn't believe I would die, NOT ME!!! And I believe that affected my outcome, I should certainly have died.

Well, that was my point, there are no dosages, negligable or otherwise, it is just water, H2O. Your farther probably gives excellent health advice, eg give up smoking for asthmatics etc.

Yeeess, the mad hanoverians, not an inducement to believe in homeopathy I'm afraid. ;)

OK, have to say something here.  While I agree that there are a lot of charlatans around professing to be able to predict the future and the rest of it, this is not true of all psychics or whatever you want to call them.  I have been reading the tarot for over 30 years and I do NOT use cold-reading.  I know what it is and I know how it works, but I don't use it because I don't need to.  I am also a trained medium and between the two I don't need any extra help, thanks all the same.  There are always going to be people who knock this sort of thing, simply because THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND IT.  If it's not tangible, they don't want to know.  One day we will all communicate via our minds and our mouths will be almost obsolete.  I've said this from being a small child and I will continue to say it.  The next stage in evolution is mind communication.  Unfortunately, I won't live to see it and neither will anyone reading this (although all the signs are there).  Pity, because I so would love to come back here and say "I told you so".

Oh, and if you're not like your sun-sign, that's fine.  Most people are far more like their rising-signs anyway.  I am Virgo rising and I am typical of it, or rather the more negative aspects of it (how about nit-picking, critical and pedantic for starters?).  Those 'in the know' will sympathise if I also add that I have an unaspected Sun and all my planets crammed into houses 2-6.  Those not 'in the know' will be thinking "OMG, she's several planets short of a full horoscope".  Well, the latter are probably right, but do I care?  No, 'cos I'm a SCORP!

Ancient SimIsn't there a cliched statistic for body language?  Something about most communication being non-verbal?

witch The current royal family are Windsors as in Queen Elizabeth Windsor.  I thought that the House of Hanover was another set of royals?  Only know this because my early schooling used 6 houses, (for a points system like in Harry Potter) which including York (white), Windsor (yellow), Stuart (orange), Lancaster (red), Hanover (green) and Tudor (blue).  Just like the choosing hat in HP, you were placed in a house when you joined and never, ever changed!

Pretty sure Prince Phillip is House of Hanover. Not interested enough to look it up. :P

I know nothing; doesn't he have German/Austrian roots?  (Sounds like I'm in a hairdressers).

House of Hanover is German I think.

PS Which would mean he probably had blonde roots. :P

Actually, most of the european royalty is bred together in one way or another, they have married so many times between the different families, they are all related.

Which makes for some interresting effects when it comes to genetical diseases...

The russians had the hemo haema bleeders. There's quite a bit of madness too.

I assumed that the current royals were Windsors because the Queen rules (literally) -  Prince Philip is not king, so the Royal Family are all in the Royal House of Windsor.  The press here refer to them as the Windsors.  I've never heard Queen Elizabeth II referred to as a Hanoverian, until now. 
http://www.debretts.co.uk/royal_connections/hm_queen_elizabeth.html  Queen Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor.

Prince Philip springs to mind immediately.  When you're that mad, NO-ONE takes your surname!

The german royal house of hanover is very closely linked to the british crown. Queen Victoria was one of them for instance. I found a link for you, I haven't explored the site thoroughly yet though. The hanoveran facial features are however, prominently displayed on many british royal princesses and princes, except, thank goodness, Prince William, who sports his mom's good looks. Just try to imagine the kids charles and camilla would have prodced, they would've topped the hanoverans in spades.

http://www.royalty.nu/Europe/England/Hanover/

Posted by: veilchen
Yep, they all look alot like Prince Philip.  My mother told me a while back that he was a (distant) relation of King George's (the Queen's father) - read what you will into distant.  They all look alike (horsey).

Thanks for the link - the Queen and her offspring are Windsors.  What shocked me was realising that the younger royals were all in line for the throne before Princess Anne.  They better hope that William does get to the throne and not one of the others, or the royal family will be officially disbanded during my lifetime!  Talk about champagne charlies.

Font of royal information - my mother - told me that back in the day there was much speculation that Camilla's eldest son was Prince Charles.  So of course, I went off to search on the internet and did a quick profile check (the artist in me was looking for the littlest similarity), but I have to say that I concluded that he wasis unlikely to be Charles, because he looks alot like Camilla and physical features (eg forehead and lines) were just like his named father - and nothing like Charles'.  A close call though, because Charles is his godfather.

I hope this will also feature an Anne Rice Sim Celebrity(?)  Is this a new neighborhood or a subdistrict of Strangetown?

This is off-topic, Reg, and I don't know if you are still in the Email challenge, but I remember you mentioned the Hydroponic Plants had lower standards for Pee-ability.  Windkeeper has taken these Maxis plants and produced both yard varieties and potted indoor plants and I wondered if they offered the same benefits.  Just thought I'd pass that along - I saw them at TSR.

SandiLou,

Sorry this is late - but my frame of reference to this is very recent - today in fact.  I take it that you are Sagittarius?  If so, this true of you personally - and I know you through LadyK the Viper KMLough, EA-BBS and from the former VS, now Rentechd.com.  However, being Sagittarius myself, I would have agreed wholeheartedly with you yesterday.  I have always been patient and caring - but too serious by JM's account.  Today, I started out being my usual Sagi-self, trying to help/protect/serve our Modder Guru's but instead of being the Archer, I ended the day as the Target on everyone's hit list over at Retardo.  So, is there anything to indicate your Astrological disposition, if you are born on certain days as opposed to others - in other words are there better days to be born on?  I suppose it is possible that the stars were not aligned in my favor today - but again I am not really into Astrology that deeply - I know my sign and that's about it.  I wonder if the Chinese New Year signs have any influence here - SIMply speaking that is.

Does it count if the numbers significant to you add up to 12?  Because mine are 2, 3, & 7.  Other than this technicality, I'm good to go!

And this is why I take immense satisfaction in the fact that I have absolutely no royalty in my family tree, unless you count barbarian chieftains as royalty. I am solidly a peasant and barbarian. It makes me short, brutish, and nasty, and makes my disposition likewise.

And that should add Ophiuchus as one of the signs.

Couldn't have said it better myself. There's no way I would cold read as it serves no purpose other than to piss people off. Plus, you rarely get to the gist of what is going on in the life of your punter, and that is what they want to know about.

A Scorp with Virgo traits and all your planets squashed into two houses...! My, that's a bit of a bugger aint it?  :-X

I wonder how reliable palmists are if you only send them a scan of your palm through email?  ;D :P ::)

I imagine it would depend on the quality of the scan!  Surely, if you are reading the lines on a palm, the presence or absence of the palm's owner should make little difference, but since they also read the bumps and hollows in your palm, they would probably miss a lot as a scan would not show these clearly!

I grok it quite well.  Nice Heinlein reference.   :)

Banechild I've only just seen this, so sorry for the slow response.   Ignore what's happening in Retardo Land, I do; it's usually full of people trying to prove how clever they are. I used to enjoy the Idiot Thread over at Variousimmers, but here it's taken on a different flavour.  The point of the thread originally was to find 'an idiot thread' and then add something witty to it.  Now its just point and feel superior without being funny. But I don't read it very often, so I could be wrong.  I tend to stick to reading what's in The Podium and in The War Room as my main reason for visiting here is to keep up with JM's updates and to see what other simmers have discovered. 

Yep, I was a Sagg until JM pointed out the new star sign.  That does match my personality more than Sagg ever did -  Saggi's traditionally love sport and animals; I've always been happy to lead teams as captain, but I hate pointless exercise.  I do live with two cats and a not so small puppy (he's taking me for walks now).  To be fair though, animals are drawn to me.  I do speak my mind - tact is not a strength with me, but over the years I have tried to learn to be more diplomatic.  No evidence of that here though!

 

Apparantly I'm not a Sag anymore-which is ok, the new sign is actually more like me anyways.  Well, back to the subject, I have the romance mods and the interactions work great.  I was having to change the townies to be all romance-except for the ones I wanted to use.  Because they would only hook up with the first romance sim they came in contact with(Townies I use as romance fodder).  But I found if I take control of them and have them make the moves,then they will have many lovers no matter what their aspirations are.  But one thing baffles me, Don L. has a large sexual preference(female+856/male-1057)yet,I unknowingly unleashed an anamorous Professor on Pleasantville,and he flirted with Don and he fell in love with him and they started making out??????????

The thing about the caress flirting option.  It is VERY dangerous flirt.  I have had a spouse who had a 100/100 relationship with their spouse reject it.  The sim has to be in a good mood and it shouldn't ever be a first romantic interaction.  I save it for after a string of romantic interactions.  I guess,if you think about it, you have to be "in the mood" to appreciate someone touching your face.  It is a very intimate interaction.

A lot of very outgoing Romance sims turn their noses up at it all the time, but love to serenade!  Mine do that spontaneously whenever they get the chance!

One big fat hearty second to that! I find it incredibly funny that the above-mentioned forum participants have self-selected the appropriate forum.  ;D

The Retardo Land forum is exactly that, an off-topic forum akin to the War Zone at MTS2. It is barely moderated, just let them run with it. We have a lot of threads going off-topic in the Podium as well, but this isn't a strict and prohibiting site, and if you want a censored site this is not the place to be.

Threads without purpose that have no business in the podium get moved to Retardo Land, and to quote JM: "so they can make fun of it and poke it with sticks." It states right in the RTFM that this particular forum is for 'assorted silliness.'

That's the beauty of a split site like this, if you don't like it, don't go there. I happen to like those kids; granted, they do occasionally go overboard, but everytime this has been politely or in a light-hearted manner been objected to, they stopped and apologized; no harm, no foul. This way of co-existence should be continued, it worked up until recently, and there is no reason why it should not continue to work.

Whatever you might think of Retardo Land, it serves its purpose.

Hear, hear Veilchen. Well said.

I am not always in the mood for Retardo Land, But when I am, I greatly appreciate that it is there. Just as I appreciate that I don't Have to go there, when not in the mood.

It's not for everyone, but has its purpose.
'Nuff said.

Yep, the Queen and Prince Phllip are distant cousins--looks like Queen Victoria is great-great grandmother to them both. Check out  this (http://www.royal.gov.uk/files/pdf/current.pdf") link (it is a .pdf, though, for those with slower computers).

The inbreeding in the royal families of Europe is something to behold, and something to make certain you try to avoid unless you're attracted to horses, flippers and wing-nuts (the ears, oh lord, the ears!). Anyone taken a long hard look at Camilla, the latest wife in the Windsor stable, and I do use that word advisedly? Still, Charlie loves her and they seem suited, if somewhat odd.

Am glad they're past the breeding stage however, as  they're prob cousins somewhere down the line...

The British royals and the top aristocrats are certainly very much tied together through intermarriage and morganatic marriages (the Prince Regent and his brothers!), so if they marry within that very closed group it's lucky if they don't meet somewhere not too far back on the family tree!  Did you know that even George Bush is related somewhere in the past to our Royals?  (I believe it was the "wrong side of the blanket", and how many people in the world are there who can claim that, I wonder?  One thing you can say about them, they're prolific breeders!)

I'm sure of that ZZ. History tells us the high-handedness and ruthlessness of the feudal lords (and quite a few ladies. I wonder how many were born on the right side of the blanket, even though they had no blood-ties to their mothers' husbands :D). I believe in those days it was quite 'normal' for the lord of the manor, or his sons, to rape and impregnate a pretty peasant woman -without fear of reprisal-.

Very common.  My mother recently found out that her maternal grandmother wasn't her great-grandfather's daughter at all, but the daughter of the Lord of the Manor, who had taken advantage of my gt. grandmother when she was in service with his family.  Oddly enough, I am also descended from the aristocracy on my father's side (long story, very romantic & sad, involving true love & disowned offspring, resulting in no descendants inheriting any of the millions my gt.gt.gt. grandfather died possessing in the 1800's, they went to the state instead).  What is weird is that ever since I was a baby, I've expected to be waited on hand & foot.  I never even crawled, just pointed to what I wanted and told someone to get it for me.  Everyone in the family used to joke about me needing servants.  I still don't feel it's right that I should lift a finger.  Then again, I am incredibly lazy.

I'm afraid among some upper-class males "droit de seigneur" still hasn't really died out, they still think it's okay if the girl isn't of their own class!

Well, that certainly explains a lot. And this is why I am ever thankful I don't have any of that on me.

Are you sure?

Heh. Nice to see some old customs never bite the dust. Wasn't that quaint custom started by the Normans (oh to apostophise or not???) after the invasion of 1066 so they could a)outbreed the Saxons b)make certain they got all the land and was practised regularly to make certain the Lord of the Land had as many bastards as possible to keep any legitimate sons in check? An interesting political strategy, would you not agree?

It may have started out as a political strategy, and was no doubt extremely successful, but rather past its sell-by date, I think!

I have changed from a Scorpio, which i loved, to a Libra, which was my rising sign before; whatever that entails, so i wonder if this means our rising signs change also?

There's some possibility of my family being descendants of some of the Normans who came over with William the Conquerer, (Who were, in turn, descendants of Vikings, according to family legend.) but the furthest back records we have are from the 1500s in London about some guy named Ig. Or something. My grandfather and uncle are into genealogy. That far back, though, most people are related to some sort of famous or royal person.

Well there weren't that many people to begin with and if firstborn serfs were mostly the Lord of the Manor's offspring then they'd be bound to have high-up relations!

I used to read tarot over the phone for extra money (excellent job if you are pregant, because you can do it from bed), and I found you can't go wrong with "your boy/girlfriend's ex is very controlling".

Well, that makes sense - but what if they then tell you they have no boy/girlfriend?

I would usually have established that they want to talk about their relationship - almost everyone who calls wants to do that. But if it isn't, well, then you say, "I see that is could be a woman/man in a position of influence in your life who is very controlling; it could be a boss, or possibly a family member." Which covers almost every other possibility. I mean, most people have a person in their life who bugs the hell out of them, and it's nice to attribute that to the person being bad (which is how they interpret "controlling"). People who call want to talk, mostly, and if you sound totally sympathetic, no matter how much of a jerk you think they are, then they will think you are psychic.

Well, I suppose most people who would use a phone for psychic help must be pretty desperate, and you are fulfilling their need to talk about what is bugging them, and that's all that matters, I guess.  A friend of a friend was left alone with four kids.  She made ends meet by working on a Sex Line, actually thought it was absolutely hilarious what these guys would fall for!  I mean, there she'd be in the middle of peeling spuds for dinner, phone rings, some guy wants to know what she's wearing, so she describes some seductive undies, then he wants to know what she's doing - well, naturally, she doesn't mention the spuds!  But after a few minutes, he rings off and presumably goes away feeling better than when he rang up!

Must admit that it's really tempting work for a woman on her own, the sex line, and it earns you a few quid. During periods of having absolutely no money at all it was something I considered finding out about, but wussed at the last minute.

Rohina: May I ask if you would consider yourself genuine or not? I tend to agree that there are indeed some sad buggers out there who just need to interact with someone, but to behave as you did seems a little harsh. After all, if there's nowt to say, then don't say anything and tell 'em they're wasting their hardearned. Just my view, is all.

Well, you could say the same for car salesmen, double glazing salesman etc......At least the person phoning for a tarot reading has taken the initiative.  The householder does not ask the window salesman to knock at their door, usually very loudly, just as people have got in from work and are having their tea!

We could be related!  We have traced our family on my father's side back to William.  Our surname is the same as a small village in Germany (named after the fact that its residents had red hair), from where William removed all the able-bodied men and brought them over here.  Those who were left (from my family) settled in Norfolk and their descendants now own a chain of stores in Norfolk, Suffolk & Essex.  Everyone in the country with my surname is related somewhere along the line. 

Rohina: May I ask if you would consider yourself genuine or not? I tend to agree that there are indeed some sad buggers out there who just need to interact with someone, but to behave as you did seems a little harsh. After all, if there's nowt to say, then don't say anything and tell 'em they're wasting their hardearned. Just my view, is all.

I have certainly had some experiences that I would describe as empathic, and one or two episodes of precognition. My grandmother used to work for the police in her town as a psychic, so if a psychic pedigree matters, I have one. (A lot of people think I am cold and unsympathetic and sarcastic, which is a perhaps a side effect of me often blocking emotions because I can get overwhelmed by strong emotion if I don't block it, or maybe I am just a sarcastic bitch). I am an excellent tarot reader; I used to used it when I was an academic counsellor because tarot is a great way to get people to talk about difficult emotional issues. I am often conflicted about my abilities, because I am also a highly educated person, and I know how to think critically, but I can't always dismiss my own experience, even if I can't prove it empirically.

The phone thing is a major rip-off. It's way more expensive than seeing a good tarot reader in person, and most of the people who phone will hang up if you tell them the truth about their issues. When you are paid by the minute, if you want to make money, you tell people what they want to hear to keep them on the phone.

Open invitiation: send me a message with a question (general or specific), and I'll read your cards for you. Any of you. But not till tomorrow afternoon because it *is* the first day of semester.

Heh, I'm not much for precognition myself, although I do have the ability to sense what are probably the bioelectric emanations given off by another person. It's rather useful in hostile situations with low visibility, since I can feel the enemy's presence before they know I'm there. As far as telling the future, though, I prefer statements like "Clouded, your future is not. Becoming shorter, perhaps.". I also happen to be rather fond of Chronomancy, the art of predicting the future by waiting to see what happens.

Bioelectric emanations? You mean . . . like a shark? Eep.

Yoda/Reverse Polish Notation statements are good. As is Chronomancy, as a tool for annoying New Agers.

Tarot, and other fortune telling, is interesting, especially since even if you start with the assumption that the reader is reading their client, rather than the cards, it can still be useful, as Rohina said when she used it for academic counseling. I'm personally most interested in dreams; there are some interesting documented incidents, reported by professional dream researchers in a at least casually experimental setting, involving shared dreams.

Also dreams which deal with something happening, and then you find out it has happened.

That one's obvious and cheating...Even I can manage to precog something when I've got a large gun shoved up my nostril.


Ok, I take your point about phone calls, and would agree that people want to hear certain things. I just feel, personally, awkward about feeding them a line.

I'm a Tarot reader too and a pretty good one. I don't use it when I'm counselling as the two are not really compatible though my skills as a clairsentient do give me a good feel for what is happening to my client. If they want me to read for them, I will, but only at a seperate appointment.

Ah, ethics. There are some jobs you will do when you are a penurious grad student. Personally, I drew the line at writing essays for money; feeding a line to sad idiots seemed more palatable than my other options.

I am known to dip into ethics every now and again; it's a bad habit of mine. You demonstrate a very cynical attitude but one that I can applaud. ;D

I guess it is also a matter of need and priorities. I spend a lot of time dealing with plagiarists, and not that much with thieves and murderers, so I have a skewed ethical sensibility about academic integrity.
In the case of "ripping off" the people who called me on the psychic line, I think they mainly called because they had no one tot talk to (or no one who would sypathise with their crackpot position), just as much as they called for genuine psychic advice, so I think I did give them what they wanted, partly.
Just as a side note, I would like to say, I wish that in Sims U, the "write my term paper" thing had an option for a negative consequence if you get caught, just like the hacking of grades. There also should be a "buy paper from internet" option with the same possible negative consequences.

Plagiarism is rife, I'm afraid, and not just in academic circles. I do believe that the funniest thing I heard was of an essay (not mine, thank heaven!) returned with one comment: "I believe you have left out the quotation marks". When the student enquired where, the tutor indicated the start of essay and the end. I think they got a fail...

You know, I can't decide if that is just too funny, or just too sad.

What, like, if you don't laugh, you'll cry? I once had a plagiarist complain about his F because he had written parts of the essay (i.e. two sentences) himself, and shouldn't he get credit for that?

It made me laugh like a drain. But you're both right, it is incredibly sad that someone thinks they can even try to get away with this sort of thing. Don't they realise that all tutors have an instinct for plagiarisms, AND they know all the text books inside out? If you're going to plagiarise make certain it's from an unknown source, so you can at least pass it off. And if you can substantiate, so much the better. That's harder work than writing the goddam essay in the first place.  ;D

One student got done here because she plagiarised the tutor's book. i.e. a book the tutor had written and published.  ::)

Pictures from the Internet are the big issue we have with marine & environmental, florists and fashion design students...

• Pictures on the Internet are there for anyone to use, aren't they?
• Reference a picture? Can't I just reference the Google image search page, where I found all the pictures?
• No-one will know.
• I can't remember where I found it.

lol   ;D Not a very bright student then?

As for the web images... Bless, you have to give 'em credit for nerve, eh? I think what gets me the most is the air of bewilderment and shock that anyone would have the audacity to accuse them of plagiarism.

Actually the Asian students have a real difficulty understanding plagiarism, in some Asian cultures it is considered respectful to use the words of those more knowledgable, as no words the student could use would be as good as the ones in the books.

Interesting.