ANGELA AND LILITH PLEASANT'S OVERLOOKED ASIAN HERITAGE

By Thee 1sland Simmer

A few years ago, I got the bright idea to create a Sims 4 machinima based on iconic characters from across The Sims franchises. Working on this project gave me an opportunity to re-imagine the lore in The Sims 4 since there currently isn ’t any related to many beloved Sims families. Once I developed the storylines, it was time for me to:

1) makeover the existing Sims and 2) create the Townie Sims who are not in The Sims 4 but who were featured in previous games.

The Pleasants are one of the starring families in this upcoming machinima (and one of my favorite families in general). The Pleasant twins were already in the game thanks to The Sims 4: Discover University, so I started with their makeovers first. As I sat and thought about each twin ’ s personality, history, and appearance, I realized that a seemingly major aspect of their identity has been virtually non-existent.

The twins are part-Asian.

It is widely-known that Mary-Sue Pleasant was adopted by the Oldies as a toddler and that she is of Asian descent. But that is the only way many of us would know, especially since later iterations of The Sims didn ’t make her Asian features very prominent. I’ll admit that I was happy (and a bit surprised) to see that most –but not all – versions of Mary Sue on the gallery acknowledged her Asian ancestry. But that’ s where it usually stops. Despite being part-Asian, Lilith and Angela Pleasant are almost never depicted as such. The only real reference to Mary-Sue being Asian in The Sims is a one sentence descriptor, and there is no such descriptor to be found for the twins.

Realistically, being Asian is and should be a major part of their identity. But their Asian heritage is not reflected in any of their clothing, features, or interests. Even The Sims team themselves haven ’t incorporated it into the twins ’ appearance or background when they added them to Sims 4. When I see gameplay and stories that include one or both Pleasant twins having children, their Asian ancestry is almost never reflected in them.

After I came to this realization, I made it my mission to make sure that Mary Sue and the twins ’ Asian heritage is highlighted since they are stars in my show.

Mary Sue Pleasant

Thanks to Sims 4: Snowy Escape and a base game update for Asian eye presets in May 2021, I was able to make some changes to Mary-Sue ’ s appearance that emphasized her Asian heritage. I used hairs from the Snowy Escape pack and played around with the various eye presets. I also tweaked her skin tone, the shape of her face, and her head shape.

Sims 2 Version

My Version

Angela Pleasant

I changed Angela ’ s eye shape, but she and her sister kept their father ’ s hair color. Let’ s be honest the hair color is iconic. I also made some small tweaks to her skin color, the eye position, her nose, her overall head shape, her cheeks. In my game, her fashion choices are not as edgy as her sister ’ s, but she loves luxury brands like Chanel, Gucci and Dior.

The Sims 4: Discover University (before)

My version (after)

Lilith Pleasant

I wanted to make the twins look slightly different from each other, so I made different changes for Lilith. I still changed her skin tone, eye preset, and eye position, but I didn ’t manipulate her face as much.

Acknowledging the lore behind Lilith’ s upbringing and personality, I thought it would be appropriate for her to show her love for her heritage through her fashion. In my story, Lilith is obsessed with streetwear, particularly Korean and Chinese-inspired streetwear, which she shows through her hair, makeup, and clothing.

With all the East Asian representation in the game, I hope to see more Simmers who play with the Pleasants lean into their heritage and make their gameplay richer by incorporating their culture. After all, celebrating our differences is what makes our experience on this floating rock called Earth more fun!

The Sims 4: Discover University (before)

My version (after)