4, 18, 22, 25, 26 🤍

4. How did you choose the name of your story?

I remember trying to come up with something evocative but not spoiler-y. I think the biggest contender I had was Fresh Meat, which was supposed to be a play on Helena starting off as a naive college freshman but also a hint toward the vampire element (though it might actually give more werewolf). I also kept trying to come up with something using the word "blood," but that didn't work either. Ultimately, I just decided to make it as blunt and straightforward as possible, a., because I think the why and the how are always more important than the what, b., because I liked that it seemed to give everything away but also raised more questions, and, c., because it perfectly sets up the title for part two, if we ever get there. 😉

18. Answered (boringly) here.

22. Choose a favorite character from your story so far.

I'm going to say Ulrike because she's definitely my type physically but I also ended up way more attached to her emotionally than I thought I would. When I first brought her into the story, she wasn't very fleshed out beyond being Helena's future girlfriend, but she really became special to me and is a lot of fun to write as a big softie with a heavily sarcastic and guarded exterior. 🥹 Caleb is, of course, the other character I went in with a generalized picture of, and he's now my tortured vampire baby. 😭

25. What inspirations have you drawn on for your story?

I feel like a big fake answering these sorts of questions because I'm truly just coasting on subconscious vibes!! I have no mood boards. There's just a big jumble in my brain that gets sorted out semi-coherently in a way I can't explain. I suppose my initial inspiration was just wanting to explore vampire gameplay, which I'd never done before in any Sims game, and that really spiraled! Both ironically and unironically, though, it always comes back to Twilight.

26. Have other sim stories inspired you?

Absolutely!!! I was inspired to start one in the first place because of amazingly talented people like @gunthermunch and @softpine. Recently, I've been so inspired by what @fallstaticexit and @dreamlandiasims have been doing with sci-fi/fantasy themes! And I've also been inspired by historical storytellers like @aheathen-conceivably and @antiquatedplumbobs and @bloodylittlemess (and yourself!) to develop more of the Vatores' past! And there are, of course, so many others I've left out!