Healing my Inner Child Through Myscene, Pop Rock & Sims 4

So I have been heavily dissociating from the chaos that is the  United States these last few days in my ultimate favorite pastime game, the Sims 4. I created a whole new save file dedicated to the classic early 00s doll line Myscene.   For anyone who wasn’t fortunate enough to be aware of such icons, My Scene was a doll collection by Mattel that launched as a competition to Bratz in 2002. 

Even though I am a Bratz girly for life, I still absolutely adored this doll line because I was far too young to know or care about competition, and in love with any dolls that were fashionable in chic.

I’d been reawakening my old Myscene memories over the past year by digging up their old dressing game websites that started my internet addiction in the first place back when I was 7-8 years old. Anyone else remember?

I forgot how iconic the lore of the doll line was. Not only did it come with a fashionable friend group of 5 NYC natives - with their super cute boyfriends - it also released three canon movies, and an interactive website with fun facts about the characters. 

I recently brought these dolls back to life, by recreating them in the sims 4. In doing so, I’ve completely created a new world of escapism that is super hard to break away from. (For real, I’ve fucked my sleep schedule up because of this lmao)

I  downloaded a bunch of custom content clothing and mods for the game that were very y2k/early 2000s centric - like lava lamps, flip phones, cd players, and discs, and created my own custom builds in the sim world of San Myshuno (which I’ve converted to NYC) such as a record store to ensure the world feels like it came straight out of 2004. 

I also put together a custom playlist for the game, to ensure the ambiance and vibe fit, and stumbled across so many gems that give me insta serotonin! The music completely took me back to when I was 7 years old in 04, dreaming about growing up to be like these girls, living in a big city, in glamorous clothes. 

I’ve filled the game playlists with lots of late 90s/early 00s songs from Alt Pop girls like Michelle Branch, Fefe Dobson and Liz Phair, and boy bands like BBMAK. If anyone wants to check out my playlist, it’s here: "> 

Altogether, this has been such a fun experience to kill time, as I’m between jobs. The clothing and furniture I’ve been downloading reminded me of just how fun and unique the world used to feel - colorful door beads, inflatable bubble furniture, trendy paperboy hats, puka necklaces and transparent rimless glasses. 

Like, this was the world I was supposed to be an adult in! Someone take me back!