I don't have a ton of representation of things in my game, because I don't make it a goal to include X of this or Y of that. I just sort of introduce things as I get inspiration for them. For example I currently have a Sim with Down Syndrome, which I only did because looking at her, she has features that match the typical appearance of someone with DS. Seeing it made me excited because I have a brother with DS and suddenly he got to have some representation in my game. I probably wouldn't have thought to make a Sim like him on purpose, because I don't really do self-sims, but when a Sim naturally did/had something that sparked the idea, I embrace it and roll with it. Trans, bi, ace, pan etc all that has to come up equally naturally to happen, which so far it hasn't done very much. I play a fairly small and slow game, for example I just did a count of my mothers in game and I have 17 total

But I do have one trans Sim, though she transitioned as a toddler so it wasn't really all that complicated or advanced because at that stage the body is unisex so it was just a matter of changing her in SimPE and then as she grows it naturally acts like it would have if she was born that way. I choose to view Sims as able to fully transition, because I think it's nice that the person gets to be 100% that without any limitations like didn't have a uterus at birth so can't get pregnant. When it comes to lgbtqia+ type stuff in game I like to have it be how I wish the real world was, in that nobody cares or reacts any type of way about it. So trans Sims get to transition completely, and nobody has to come out as a certain orientation, because it's not a thing that you are this or that, you just are what you are.

As for how I decided that she was trans, I can't really pinpoint what it was about her but for some reason when she was a toddler I just kept seeing a girl. Her name Oskar did not suit her, she didn't feel like Oskar, because she felt like a girl. So in the end I decided to interpret it as she really was and the game just got it wrong, and she needed help to get to be what she felt she was. Now she's Sigrid, and everyone moved on with their lives. The fact that Sigrid is trans is not really something I think about or that comes up, her family have a memory of it happening and that's the end of that. I mostly get reminded of the fact in conversations like this one



I also have one Sim that is sort of fluid/binary/queer, but I'm not super strict about it. Like someone else mentioned, I don't have personal experience and I'm still in the phase of just listening and learning so it's just my interpretation of how I want to do it in my game. Their name is Andy and they tend to wear mostly fairly androgynous clothing, but on occasion they feel like celebrating their curves and will wear something super feminine. They just got married to their partner Sandra, and decided to wear a suit but with a little accentuation of their curves. Sometimes they'll go by she/her, sometimes they/them, ijust whatever I feel like that day.



I'm planning a demi-ace character currently, because I've been enjoying Charmful's stories which happens to have an ace-Sim (Battle of the bands and Nest of Vipers) and that made me want to do it. That is my own orientation (who knew there were so many ace simmers, fun discovery!) so I thought it would be neat to incorporate it somehow, but I haven't really thought a ton about it yet

I don't play queer sims for "representation" since my game stays in my game and I don't post stories about it, or anything like that. I play them because I think they make things more interesting. The game would be super boring if every sim were cishet.

Agreed, and also, in terms of sexual orientations that the (vanilla) game itself make possible, making a sim straight is as much of an active choice as making them something else.



Same!

I assume this was in reference to me I agree that every Sim being cishet is boring, but I never said they are in my game. I'm simply saying that I don't make it a goal to have X amount of representation or make a systematic way to ensure I incorporate this or that. It's a thread asking people how they handle it, and my way of doing it is that I let the Sims guide the way with inspiration as I play I fully agree that variety is the key to a rich hood that you'll have fun playing year after year. Though my advice there tends to focus more on every story not being a happy one, because who has a life where everything is good always?

Yeah, and I'm saying that most of us who do do that are not doing it for the sake of there being representation in a story we only tell to ourselves, since you seemed to think that that's the only purpose of doing it that way.

Why are you presuming what people think because of the way they choose to play their own games? Noone is trying to say that is the only way you should be playing or that because we like one way that means that we hate your way!

Can we all just not fricking judge, please. Some people might find a neighbourhood of all cishet sims interesting. That's their choice and it kind of sucks to tell them that they have a boring neighbourhood because of it.

I'm not. I'm only speaking for myself. I never claimed anyone said they hated anything, just that gummi wasn't correct in their assumption.

That's because she never assumed anything.

Ok, maybe that's how you interpreted it. I just wanted to clarify something I'd said earlier. I don't see any reason for anyone to get offended by that.

There are nine-and sixty ways of [playing The Sims]
And every single one of them is right.

(Hattip to Rudyard Kipling, "In the Neolithic Age")

I don't have gender steriotypes in Pleasantview and that's in a 17th century colonial settlement as they had to drop it if they even followed in in the old country and I don't mind have the lot in my game since I identify myself as nonbinary.I've been using subliminals on YT to help with my own RL transition and would pretend the same for my sims.

In terms of sexual orientation, I don't really use real life categories all that much. If I'm choosing partners for them, I'll pick whoever I think makes sense. It could be because they'd make a good couple or have cute kids or because there's potential for an interesting story. In my experience, planning things too far in advance doesn't work out in my game.

In terms of gender identity, I'll have headcanons sometimes but it's not necessarily visible in my game since options for gender diversity in TS2 are pretty limited, even with CC

I don't really roleplay stuff like my Sims experiencing prejudice over their sexual orientation or gender identity and I don't bother sticking with realism, what with alien pregnanciesand all that. I play with Occult Sims A LOT so I just figure nobody's going to bat an eye at a same sex couple when they might see an alien marry a vampire.

(That's the extent to which I roleplay prejudice as well, in some Sim societies or households Occults may be frowned upon and have to hide, usually as part of a challenge. Otherwise, my Sims games are basically a utopia haha)

One of my apartments has several romance and pleasure playables who all like to get intimate with each other... even when the others are also present. I think they might be in a polyamorous relationship.

Yeah, I like that sims are totally non judgemental over things like that. Racism, sexism, etc. are gross enough in RL without making sims suffer them too.