So, it’s been a while since I posted. Things have been busy – but good. I am well on my way through the first of many challenge updates (which will be all published in January – I have that month set aside for challenge updating!) – I started with Timeline Adventure – and my 6-month post-cancer scan has come back CLEAN!! I realize I’m rather late on the challenge updates from when I originally said I’d start working on them, but… well, life happens, unfortunately.

Now, onto the meat of this message:

The Giveaway

First thing I want to mention is that I have a GIVEAWAY going on for a Worldwide PC Code for the Snowy Escape Expansion pack on my discord (join here: https://discord.gg/XweHZmQKVX). The winner will be drawn on the 15th of January at 6 pm eastern us time during my ISpy House tours (5pm eastern US time start on those). You must be a member of my discord (and have accepted the rules) AND entered in the giveaway (it’s in the Giveaways channel) to win. It is a code for the EA App, and only for PC, unfortunately, they make us pick at the very beginning as to what we want to give away, and I know most of you are on PC.

Website Images

Next, I have (in the intervening months since my last major post) finally had the emotional fortitude to fully look into what’s going on with the images for my stories (and some other pages) on this website. Things are, unfortunately, worse on that front than I initially had suspected. Not only does EVERY SINGLE IMAGE on every chapter of my stories need to be individually re-linked to point to the new location, but half of the images NEVER GOT TRANSFERRED!! On a positive note, however, I DO still have the original images on my hard drives. It will just take finding each missing image and re-uploading. I spent a couple full days of work on starting to “rescue” the first story I want to fix – Adventures with Jaz – and I’m sad to say, two full days only got me approximately through a QUARTER of the work for that story. And as many of you know, my time is severely limited… so I honestly don’t know when I’ll get to it again. I desperately miss writing, but I CANNOT continue my stories until I have the previous chapters fixed. A big part of me keeping the chapters free of plot holes and in the same character voice is to re-read the old chapters before starting writing the next. Without the old chapters, I cannot do that. And the images – are a big part of the storytelling on my stories. Sigh. So that’s the news there. Jaz will be the first story to be finished – whenever I can get to it (hopefully after I finish the challenge updates in November) – that way I can at least begin writing their story again. After that, I’ll probably do some serious soul-searching to figure out which of my “currently active” stories must be saved, which will never come off hiatus and can be removed from the site… and which of the VERY old stories mean so much to me that I feel I really must fix them. At this time, I’m fairly sure my Townie Rotation section of the site (a retired story) will probably be getting cut for sure – because that’s one I have NO intention of ever revisiting, and I never really got too far into it anyway, despite the HOURS and HOURS I put into setting it up.

All that being said, getting Jaz’s story back up and running is a HUGE priority for me… and I have it slotted in at the very earliest time I had available: February. So… by March I hope to be able to be writing again!!

Shell Challenges

Another thing I want to bring up is my Shell Challenges (hosted mostly through my Twitch Channel, tours done on the second Wednesday of every month always at 5 PM Eastern US time). The ISpy House Challenge is still going on and will be finishing up at the end of the year with full house tours of those who finished (and yes, there ARE people who finished!!) on January 15th, 2025. There is STILL TIME to catch up and get your rooms and your final house toured! Being that we did one room a month, it’s really only a single build to decorate and stick in the items mentioned in each room’s rhyme, so there’s not a whole lot to do to catch up. That being said, I still am behind on rooms, too, so don’t feel bad if you got left behind (or never started) … I completely understand!! Even if you don’t have time to catch up by the end of the year’s tours in January, if you come to any tour date on any month after these are due, I will 100% tour them for free. (Same applies for any of my previous challenges!!)

As for next year… I already have the house built for next year, and if you’re looking closely, the featured image for this post (and the one just below) showcase the house that we will be decorating, one part at a time. It will NOT include rhymes for ISpy challenges, but you’re welcome to add them if you’d like!!

Website Updates

If you’ve been wandering around the site recently, you might have noticed a few changes. The major one is in the right-hand sidebar. I have finally finished the process of updating/upgrading it. Also, I’m going to be changing the link suggestion form, and the contact form will be changing to one that actually works. (The one I currently have appears to be broken? – so the best way to get a hold of me right now is comments or discord.) I already have some research into ways to do it. In addition, the top of the screen will be getting a different Online on Twitch notification than the one it currently has, and some small issues with links and coding I’ve noticed.

Challenge Updates

Back to the news about my challenges getting updated. YES, all of them are on my priority list. I’ve already started work on several of them, but I will be holding off on publishing them until after I have added the pack that’s coming on October 31st. In an amongst the updates are plans to finish updating my Interactive Asylum to the “final” rules and converting it to a Solo challenge for anyone to play, as well. I will also be finishing up and updating my “Misery2Mansions” Farming Legacy challenge! Before even bringing the new pack into the mix, it appears both Timeline Adventure & Not So Berry Extended will be getting three generations added each to their line-up… and Timeline Adventure has one of the later generations that will be getting moved to a different time in history (it’s not dependent on technology as much as some others – and one of the new generations need that year’s spot specifically) Also on Not So Berry, I do now finally have access to updating/fixing the accompanying spreadsheet, and that will be getting a good look-over, fix, and update as well as the main challenge. I have had a request on the Super Sim Challenge Tracking Spreadsheet to add a collection tracking system, so that will also be coming.

Future plans for challenges and Spreadsheets include:

1. I will be adopting & updating fully a “Build A World” Challenge for Sims 4 – which will be a major undertaking as it’s a rather old challenge and there’s a LOT of new packs to add to it… plus it’s a rather long and complicated challenge anyway. I will also be making a companion Spreadsheet for it.
2. I will be creating an “Add-on” or “Expansion” for my Hard Mode Decades challenge to allow for folks who want to start earlier in history… namely, starting back in the 1850s or 1860s in the USA. This would include details for starting your family out in the “wild west” era of US History. So – That should be fun. And – Since I have plans to actually be starting a Youtube Playthrough in 1851 with my McPherson family moving to the “Old West”… updating the challenge seems to be a super idea… and it means I will have some non-CC Era-appropriate builds for Chestnut Ridge and maybe Oasis Springs coming to my Sims Gallery as I get prepped for that.
3. I also have some thoughts/ideas in the works for a “choose your own adventure” style Sims 4 challenge or two. Possibly one based in the European Renaissance era & including several mod requirements (like the Royalty mod), and another based on modern times. Let me know if this sounds interesting in the comments??
4. I have several spreadsheets also on my “planned” list that will be coming eventually – including a Random Legacy planner/tracker (currently planning one for a 10 gen legacy, but if there’s interest, I might make one for longer legacies), A separate Collections Tracker, a spreadsheet companion for my Master Simmer Challenge, my Decades challenge, and possibly some of my other challenges (like the shorter legacies).
5. I also have been contacted about helping to design a new, shorter, challenge for sims based on the “Chased by Death” trait, so that will be fun!
6. Finally, I have plans to create a Sims Medieval challenge based on the premise that some of us (ahem… me) have the game and have started and restarted the whole campaign progress many times but never unlocked all of the scenarios and finished the campaign. The challenge will be designed to fix that problem by taking you through the whole campaign with different goals for each “generation” as I usually do.

News on my Twitch

Things changed a WEE bit on my Twitch channel – partially due to weird internet issues at night (which HAVE BEEN FIXED) … and partially due to me desperately trying to get this Planet Zoo spreadsheet complete in a semi-timely manner. In the evenings on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – I am now doing Co-Working Streams!! In a nutshell, it’s all of us getting together to do some focus work with music and pomodoro timers. I have a special bot that allows everyone to enter tasks onto the board, and we have monthly goals for a number of tasks that we are aiming to complete as a community. IF WE MAKE THOSE GOALS: We will be scheduling a special stream over the following month for EITHER a Sims 4 community tour night – where everyone can get their builds toured on stream no matter the size, and show them off… OR a Community Game night – where everyone can join in on some fun games (that they DON’T have to PAY FOR!) and just have fun as a community.

Wednesday nights are still devoted to Sims 4 content, and Monday and Thursday mornings have some fun variety gaming content. The games in the evenings will be coming back (in March) – although Friday nights WILL remain a Co-Working stream permanently!

January on Twitch will feature a ton more co-working streams as I spend some serious time updating ALL my challenges and trying to finish writing some that aren’t fully complete… then, in February, I plan to devote the ENTIRE month of February except for Try-it Thursdays (morning), Co-work Friday evenings, and the co-op streams of Baldur’s Gate 3 with hubby Bruj on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

That being said, as time goes on, I’m thinking I’ll do maybe two months a year of SIMS focused content, and there will be four months of the year (one each season) that will have the evenings focused on Co-Working so I can actually get THROUGH some projects.

News on My YouTube

I apologize, my YouTube just finished a hiatus as I took some time off for my mental health… but they ARE back! The VODs were re-started and the Exclusive Let’s Play series’ are back as well – with the notable exception of the Ultimate Decades Challenge, which is still waiting on a broken mod. No ETA there, unfotunately, but I hope to bring it back ASAP.

However, there are also fun things coming there, too. As I mentioned earlier, the McPherson family will be getting its own YouTube Series as they are moving from being a blogged story to being a video-based Let’s Play. Also in the works are a “Build A World” Challenge playthrough (after I’ve finished the rules for it!) a Sims Medieval playthrough based on the challenge I mentioned above… AND a full Super-Sim playthrough (after the save file for it is completed & published) – which reminds me…

Sims 4 Save Files & Thrall’s Apartment World

YES, I do still have plans for releasing more save files (currently the only one published is my “Blank World” save file). The one I will be publishing FIRST is the one I will be using for my SuperSim YT playthrough that I mentioned just above. It’s going to be designed to be a Maxis + Thrall save file. I’m pulling in some iconic Maxis builds that they have “hidden” in the gallery or your build libraries, as well as some of my own personal builds, and some renovations of the normal/ boring/ over-used Maxis lots we’ve all gotten VERY tired of.

The save file I initially started a LONG time ago is still a dream of mine (one filled with my own personal builds in two flavors – one for those who have all the packs, and one for base game + one pack for each build)… but the one that will be brought out next after the above-mentioned Maxis + Thrall save – will be the BASE GAME scenario save. Where I have every scenario set up and ready to play with a family and build created by me. (I have this save started, and had been promoting it on my Simstagram, but I got stuck into other projects and it’s been on hold for a while… I promise, I am still planning on working on it!!)

Not TECHNICALLY a save file – but also a project of mine I want to mention – is a challenge I’ve set for myself to build a For Rent style apartment for EVERY residential world to match the vibe of that world. Obviously, you would need a mod to put ALL of them into a save, because of EA’s 99-unit restriction, but I can recommend a good one to achieve the extra units available. But I will probably make a save with all of them available as well as the individual builds once they’re ready!

Supporting Thrall – News on my Kofi AND … dare I say it… a new Patreon & Merch Store??

Supporting me without purchasing a Twitch sub is soon going to be even easier. (Because let’s be fair, I don’t get a huge percentage of Twitch subs!) I had originally set up a Kofi account, but after doing quite a lot of research on it, it’s not as private for those donating as I would like it to be. But Patreon … IS. So, I will be switching to using Patreon for a cheaper way to support me that I will see more of. Also: my “channel point redeem” custom Sims builds – will be moving to a store on my website, accessed through Patreon. Yes, they will be paid, but they won’t be expensive, and it’s just paying for my time. For your money, you will not only get your custom build (in all sorts of sizes, shapes, themes, etc…) – you will also be getting a private, exclusive YouTube video of me talking my way through your build, so you know where my head was while I was building it! (Some of those builds will, obviously, take more than one YT video… but you will get to see the WHOLE process!! Other things that my Patreon will be for? I will be collecting ALL my spreadsheets on there – THEY WILL ALL BE STAYING FREE!! – but it’ll be an easier way for me to let anyone know who downloaded them (by them being a free member) that they’ve been updated. On that note, my first MAJOR NON-Sims spreadsheet will be launching at the same time as my Patreon. (Currently shooting for Mid-November launch date!) The spreadsheet in question is a HUGE Planet Zoo information database. It’ll launch in a semi-beta state then, but I hope to have the 1.0 version out by the end of the year, and it will continue to be updated over the next year or two all the way to a bigger, badder 2.0 version. (Also in progress is a Subnautica Information spreadsheet, and I have an Elder Scrolls Online sheet in mind, as well.)

Also, my birthday is TOMORROW!!! and I’m fund-raising for a new keyboard (my expensive and amazing one had an accident with a drink) on my Throne page. (https://throne.com/illusorythrall/item/8e5f1dc2-9cd2-4a77-9507-f0650a9a8643) I will also be streaming ALL day tomorrow, starting at 10 AM and going until 9 PM eastern US time, just hanging out, relaxing, playing games and chilling with friends. Also: once my keyboard is funded, I will be switching to fund-raising for a capture card with the promise that I will play some console games (perhaps leaving the final choice of game up to you guys!!) as soon as that is funded and has been set up.

On the support front, I will also say: my old Merch store seemed very much to be a rip-off in the way of me seeing ANY of the profits. BUT! I have found a better one… and I hope to launch my brand-new Merch store soon after my Patreon goes live for spreadsheets. So… there are lots of fun things on the horizon!!

Conclusion & a Note from Thrall

If you made it this far, congratulations. I know that was a lot. If you skimmed through and picked what you wanted to know about and STILL made it to here, also congratulations!

The other thing I really do want to say – is I HAVE noticed quite a number of people who have linked their story blogs to my website for the rules they’re using for their challenges. I can’t even say THANK YOU enough for those of you who have done this! Even just a couple people clicking on my site adds to my metrics, and I love you all for it.

Here’s to all the fun things I have planned for Twitch, Youtube, Patreon, a Merch store, my Sims build store, AND my blog… I hope something in an amongst all the hullaballoo outlined above to interest you! Love to all of you!