Fairest Blog Tour: The Lunar Sims (+ Giveaway!)

Posted January 6, 2015 by Debby in Giveaways


Followers of this blog will probably know that one of my FAVORITE series by far is The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. So being asked to be on the blog tour, to celebrate the series and the release of Fairest, was equal parts shocking and exciting. If you’re not familiar with the series yet, here are my reviews of Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress – all spoiler-free! Believe me when I tell you that these sci-fi fairy tales are stunning, well-written, completely engaging adventures that I believe any reader would like.

What I probably like the most of this series, though, are the diverse and compelling characters. If you’re unfamiliar with the structure of the series, there’s a big cast of main characters. In Cinder, the story focuses on Cinder and her love interest, Prince Kai. In Scarlet, we add to that cast Scarlet and her love interest Wolf. Thorne also makes an appearance, though his part gets larger in Cress, where that titular character is also introduced. And at the end of Cress we meet Winter and Jacin.

All the characters play big roles, but they’re all so different. And I want to introduce them to you – at least, in my interpretation – in a fandom-y way. Though I’m not artistic, there’s one thing that I can do kind of well and what I find super fun – so I made Sims of these characters in The Sims 4! LEGGO.

(Click to enlarge any of the images below.)

thelunarsims

Cinder (Linh Cinder)

Cinder is the main character in the first book. She is based on Cinderella, but in Meyer’s universe, there’s a big difference: Cinder is a cyborg. She has a robotic left leg and left hand. She even has a computer built into her brain! Aside from that, she’s a mechanic, living in a dusty part of the Eastern Commonwealth with her stepmother and step-sisters – one of whom she is extremely close to.

According to Marissa Meyer, Cinder is of mixed ethnicity (Asian/Caucasian), with tan skin, brown eyes, and straight brown hair that she often wears in a ponytail. She’s slender, has few curves, and dresses comfortable and utilitarian, befitting her occupation.

cinder cinder-closeup

Meet Sim Cinder! As you can (hopefully) tell, I tried to stick really close to the physical descriptions provided throughout the series, and I just love how she turned out. I added gloves to her outfit, for obvious reasons, and boots, and tried to give her a crafty mechanic type look. Aside from that, a big part of the Sims is choosing their personality traits and aspirations. In The Sims 4, this is more important than ever before, because it affects gameplay A LOT. For Cinder I chose the aspiration Nerd Brain, which means she wants to be both book smart and handy. Her personality traits are Family-Oriented (because of her love for Peony), Creative (because of her mechanic skills), and Genius (she has a built-in computer!).

Prince Kai

Kai is the crown prince of the Eastern Commonwealth – and he quickly becomes the love interest for Cinder. He is described as being Asian, with copper-brown eyes and shaggy straight black hair worn past the ears. He is slender, almost lank, and dresses in suits and dress-shirts because of his position.

kai kai-closeup

Meet Sim Kai! His aspiration is Successful Lineage – which I found fitting for a monarch. This means he wants to have a family that succeeds in life. His personality traits are Good (in game this means he wants to talk about world peace), Ambitious (he wants to be a good leader and do well for his people), and Loner (because he doesn’t always know who to trust).

Scarlet Benoit

Scarlet comes around in Book 2, and she is based on Red Riding Hood. She is from France, Caucasian, with big brown eyes and curly/unruly ginger-red hair to mid-back. She has some curves and can be spotted wearing a red hoodie that her grandma gave her. She also has lots of freckles. Scarlet is described as being frank and abrupt, sometimes impulsive, and she tries to make herself look big and strong.

scarlet scarlet-closeup

Meet Sim Scarlet! I looove this hairstyle and this outfit, though it isn’t quite a hoodie. Her aspiration is Friend of the World, because I interpret her as being one of the most extroverted characters of the cast. Her personality traits are Self-Assured, Outgoing, and Ambitious to fit with the descriptions mentioned above.

Wolf Ze’ev Kesley

Wolf comes into the picture in Scarlet, and he has a bit of a questionable identity for a while. But as his name implies, he has certain wolf-ish qualities. Meyer describes him as having olive-toned skin, with bright green eyes and messy brown hair that sticks up in all directions, refusing to be tamed. He is super buff and dresses simply with loose gray pants and plain t-shirts or tanks. He’s been in so many battles that he has quite some scars and wounds, and he has sharp canine teeth. He has a tense, protective stance, always ready to fight and uneasy around other people. He’s super active and always hungry.

wolf wolf-closeup

Meet Sim Wolf! The hair is custom content, but I had to have it, because it’s PERFECT for him. I made him as bulky as I could, but like the actual Wolf he can still manage to look a bit kind. His aspiration is Body Builder (because duh) and his personality traits are Loner (double duh), Hot-Headed (triple duh), and Glutton (…). I wish protective were a trait though, but I guess that wouldn’t do much for Sims gameplay. OH WELL.

Cress (Crescent Moon)

Cress is personally my favorite main character among the girls. I fell in love with her from page 1 of Cress. She’d been stuck in a satellite all her life, used by Queen Levana to spy on the people on Earth. As such, she’s pretty pale-skinned and has bright blue eyes and insanely long honey blonde hair. As you may guess, she’s based on Rapunzel. She’s petite and slender, has a couple freckles, and a giddy smile. She usually wore day dresses in the satellite, and her isolation there makes her a bit nervous around people.

cress cress-closeup

Meet Sim Cress! I wanted to give her a sweeter, less tough look, because that’s how she is. Her hair isn’t that long, but (spoiler-alert) it gets cut anyway during Cress. Her aspiration is Computer Whiz (because she is a super talented hacker), and her personality traits are Loves the Outdoors (getting out of the satellite is like a dream to her), Loner (because people intimidate her easily), and Geek (because, hello, she gave her computer a personality who she talks to like a little sister/friend).

Carswell Thorne

I’m probably not alone in saying that Thorne is my favorite because Thorne is everything. It’s hard to beat a flirty space pirate, okay? Meyer describes Thorne as being Caucasian with blue eyes and short brown hair, usually styled with product. He’s broad-shouldered and strong, but not super buff like Wolf. He’s always well-dressed, loving dress shirts with rolled sleeves, slim-fitting sweaters, vests, leather jackets, and dressy military uniforms. He’s pretty cocky (read: awesome) and flirty. He has beaucoup swagger. And basically he’s just the dream.

thorne thorne-closeup

Meet Sim Thorne! Now wipe that drool from your chin. Mmmm, I’m loving it. From the hair to the shirt with the vest… this screams Thorne to me. His aspiration is Hopeful Romantic (meaning he wants to play the field and go on lots of dates), and his personality traits are Self-Assured (read: cocky), Goofball (because he is pretty playful, okay?), and Ambitious (space pirate). I could have made him non-committal, because arguably he is, but that’s less fun for gameplay, imho. (And yes, I do intend to play with these Sims.)

Princess Winter Hayle-Blackburn

Winter is based on Snow White! We don’t know too much about her yet, though I can already tell she’s going to be a super interesting character. She is black, with golden-brown eyes and black, curly hair. She is slender with enviable curves and extremely graceful limbs. With her status as princess, she dresses sophisticated and conservative and is a fan of feminine clothes and gauzy fabrics. Though this makes her sound royal and sophisticated… it quickly becomes apparent that she’s actually pretty crazy – no joke. She wanders off and acts with almost uncomfortable-making playfulness. She’s a bit of a weirdo.

winter winter-closeup

I don’t have the strongest image of Winter in my head yet, but Sim Winter is definitely growing on me. I love that dress and want to steal it. Image-wise, I could be off, but I definitely had fun choosing her personality traits. Her aspiration is Friend of the World (because she does seem pretty outgoing, albeit in a really kooky way) and her personality traits are Insane (going to be FUN for gameplay), Goofball, and Outgoing.

Jacin Clay

Jacin is present in Cress as well, though I expect his role will grow in the last book. He is a member of the royal Lunar guard, and a personal guard and pilot for Sybil, the thaumaturge. Meyer describes him as being Caucasian with blue-gray eyes and blonde-white straight hair that falls past the chin. He sometimes pulls it into a ponytail. He is muscular and graceful from combat training. He’s normally clad in the official uniform of the Lunar guards. He has rigid, tense posture, is confident and capable, but he’s more the strong but silent type. He speaks with purpose only and can come off as abrasive. But he will do anything to protect the people he cares about.

jacin jacin-closeup

Meet Sim Jacin! Yep, I gave him a ponytail. Hey, that can be cute! I had to give him the most official looking outfit I could find, so all in all I’m pretty satisfied with this Sim. Though I don’t know Jacin too well yet. Like Wolf, his aspiration is Body Builder (he wants to be strong so he can protect his loved ones), and his personality traits are Active, Self-Assured, and Perfectionist (a bit of a stretch, but as a careful military man, I could see this happening).

Some Candid Shots

snugglyoranges's The Lunar Sims album on Photobucket

What do you think of my Lunar Sims? I am planning on playing with this household soon, so let me know if you want some updates or gameplay 🙂 I’m sure it’ll make for an interesting game!

Show your love for this series!

Marissa Meyer
Fairest goes on sale Tuesday, January 27th, 2015!
Pre-order it now!
giveaway

Macmillan is kindly providing paperback copies of Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress to one lucky winner! If you haven’t started on this series yet, THIS is your chance! And believe me, it’s worth it. You need to experience all this awesomeness.

Cinder Scarlet Cress

Rules:

  • You must fill in the Rafflecopter below to enter.
  • This giveaway is US/Canada only!
  • You must be 18 years of age or older to enter, or 13+ years old with parental permission.
  • Any entrants who are found to be gaming the system will be disqualified.
  • The giveaway run until January 26th, at 11:59 p.m. EST.
  • When the contest ends, the winner will be announced here and emailed. The winner will have 72 hours to respond, before another winner is picked.
  • I am not responsible for items lost or damaged in the mail.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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56 responses to “Fairest Blog Tour: The Lunar Sims (+ Giveaway!)”

  2. Liat

    I didn’t read the lunar chronicles yet, but I heard good things about it, and I’ve actually ordered Cinder a couple of days ago… My favorite sim is probably Scarlet, because I have a thing for redheads.

    Reply
  3. Rinn

    I wanted to do this with Celaena from Throne of Glass a while ago, but I couldn’t work out what to use – how did I not think of the Sims??!

    These are wonderful, Debby! 😀 You have to keep us updated on how their household is going too, haha 🙂

    Reply
    • Debby

      Haha, I’ve been toying with this idea in my mind for ages, and I’m probably making it into a new feature this year 🙂 Designing Sims is my favorite part of the whole game, and my first household in The Sims 4 was actually Harry Potter. It was hilarious for gameplay – in the first day or so Draco was being mean to Harry and Ron – without me triggering it. The emotions and personalities just made it perfect!

      I hope I can play a bit more and I think I’ll share some screenshots on Twitter/Instagram! I was thinking of making Let’s Play videos for YouTube, but that’ll require a bit more prep work that I don’t have time for this month. (But if there’s enough interest, I guess I could put it on the priorities list for after I finish moving!)

      Reply
  5. Kat @ Perusing Bookshelves

    This is so awesome! You must have had a great time creating these characters (for some reason, Sim Cinder reminds me of Elsa). I also want to steal that dress from Winter. Who’d have any reason not to? It’s gorgeous!

    I have the Sims FreePlay on my iPad, and funnily enough I’ve been planning on doing something similar to your post. I already have a draft on what I’m going to include in my post, but basically I’m just going to talk about the Sims I created based on book characters (hair, hobbies, etc.), though the Sims FreePlay app doesn’t offer as much flexbility in its gameplay as the original Sims.

    Reply
    • Debby

      Awww thanks!! I think you meant Cress looks like Elsa? Totally agree though, that hairstyle is SO Elsa.

      Ah, I tried Sims FreePlay like once, but it was so slow and had so few customization options, so I quickly gave up. Good luck with your feature!

      Reply
  7. Mel@thedailyprophecy

    Finally, your idea in action! I remember you talked about this some book club meetings ago and your characters look perfect. Scarlet & Cress come the closest to what I had in mind for the characters, but look at that Thorne 😀 The hair is so cute and the cheeky smile is so fitting.

    Reply
    • Debby

      Haha, yeah, I just never got around to developing the idea, but I felt like this blog tour was the right opportunity 🙂 Thank youuuu! It can be hard to really make the Sims look *just* like how I imagine the characters, but I’m really happy with how they turned out. Scarlet, Cress, and Thorne are my faves as well. And Thorne just keeps smirking all the time, it’s absolutely perfect!

      Reply
  11. Danielle

    I AM OBSESSED WITH YOUR SIMS. Please tell me where you got Scarlet’s hair. Or better yet, upload her? She’s amazing and perfect and I’m in awe.

    Reply
  12. Shae/Shelver @ Shae Has Left The Room

    Ah-hahahaha! This is so cool and creative! I love the thought you put into their looks and personality. (Of course, now I’m tempted to buy Sims 4 and disappear into the wormhole, dang you.)

    I think Cinder is my favorite character overall, honestly. Wolf and Kai are both pretty cool, though, and fun to read about.

    Reply
  15. Cee

    This is such a creative post, Debby! So in love with it! I’m seriously in awe. This really makes me want to play Sims. Lol.

    Reply
  20. Morgan @ Gone with the Words

    This is the most amazing blog post, you are SO CREATIVE! The Sims are absolutely perrrrrfect, especially all of the girls! They look just like the characters to me and I really like how you included what personality traits you gave them. Plus yeah, Sim Thorne is very yummy 😀 You’re making me want to reread these books again! They are fantastic and I love how they connect from one book to the next but still have individuality to each story. AHH. Seriously, this post rules.

    Reply
  21. Marianna

    I love the Cress Sim. I adore the Sims honestly! I can say I’ve never read them, but really want to. Have heard so many good things about them!

    Reply
  22. HollyB

    Ha, your Sims are brilliant 🙂 Cinder is still my favorite character – she was, of course, my first introduction to the brilliance of Marissa Meyer and it’s kind of like how you never get over your first love 🙂 She is just such a fantastic character, so smart and strong, and I love that she’s a tech genius. I just adore how Meyer i able to take the young women from fairy tales and make them badass and so smart and independent, but NOT in a pandering way, not in a way that’s so OBVIOUS, you know? Retellings just don’t always work, in my opinion it’s the rare talent who can rework a beloved, centuries-old story and infuse new life into it, but Meyer does it brilliantly. It’s absolutely one of my favorite series EVER, and I’m only a few years from 40 years of reading under my belt, so that’s really saying something!! Glad you love it so much to 🙂

    PS – just saw your review of FEED by Mira Grant – that’s a series I keep meaning to read, so it was good to read a recent positive review of it as a kick-in-the-bum to get started with it!!

    Reply
  23. January

    Well, I’ve only read Cinder, so Cinder is my favourite character at the moment, but I have a feeling that Cress will be my favourite once I continue the series because I love the Rapunzel story! Also, I love the Sims idea. It mixes two things I love and it’s great to see characters visualized! 🙂

    Reply
  24. Sierra

    I really like Cinder in the books because of how both insecure, but strong she is at the same time. As far as the SIMS go, Scarlet looks really good! I LOVE the hair!! Thanks for the giveaway. 🙂

    Reply
  25. Molly Mortensen

    My favorite character is Iko, but I like Cinder and Cress a lot too! Oddly enough my favorite Sims were Scarlet and Wolf. Such a cool idea for a post! I loved seeing their Sim versions. Thanks for the giveaway!

    Reply
  26. Amber Morrison

    Your Scarlet Sim is perfect!!! Not only is she my favorite from the novel but she’s my favorite Sim here. You have some serious talent. I’ve played Sims, and even my character looks nothing like I picture myself.

    Reply
  27. Krysten M

    Oooh, love the sims, Carswell looks mighty fine lol! Scarlett is my favorite character in the books though, she’s just too cool 😀

    Reply
  28. Clarisa Ramirez

    FAVORITE character from the Lunar Chronicles is wolf since he will always love Scarlet! I love the sims you made!

    Reply
  32. Katie

    Ooh, my favorite character is probably torn between Wolf, Thorne, Scarlet, and Cress. While I do care for Cinder and Kai, neither of them are favorites–I’m not entirely sure why. But I SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP Cress and Thorne and WE NEED MORE KISSES BETWEEN THEM IN WINTER.

    Ahem. Thanks for the giveaway!

    Reply
  34. Munnaza

    Cinder and Kai are probably my favorite ship, but I think Thorne and Iko are the best characters. They’re so hilarious.

    Reply
  35. La La in the Library

    My fave would be Wolf because of his hair; he looks like a rocker! The description of his personality left a little to be desired, but hey, everyone needs a little bad boy in their lives, right? Thanks for the fab giveaway contest. 🙂

    Reply
  37. Ani

    All of those sims are so awesome! I love the sim for Scarlet; she’s got a spunky, kickass look to her. I can’t wait to read Scarlet and find out just how kickass she really is!

    Reply
  38. Brigid

    Clearly I am an idiot for not starting this series. I have the hardback. And I’ve had since it release. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? Somebody hit me.

    Reply
  41. Mary G Loki

    Def Cinder because she is so badass! 😀 She’s a genius mechanic! I wish I work with machines- they are beyond my comprehension.

    Reply
  42. Michelle Lee

    I would have to say Cinder because she’s the type of character I’d like to be! Thank you for this amazing chance! 🙂

    Reply
  46. Perla

    Cinder was my favorite because she had to deal with so much especially with her stepmother and stepsister and I honestly don’t know what I would have done in her position.

    Reply