Okay, cool. Thanks for including a link to the Mod for those who might like to check it out. Also, thank you for uploading your challenge Sims.
Oh how funny that when Jackson met Makoa they were wearing the same shirt! LOL I can see how Makoa would think he was trying to copy his look. Jackson's good at squirming around answering questions he doesn't want to answer eh? Boy, had no idea Duane was that tough about the festivals. I thought the Islanders were friendly and open to everyone. I mean, they do just barge into your Sims homes like they live there. Fun chapter!
May I ask you a favor? Would you consider possibly putting at least the story part of your posts in a spoiler? It just makes it easier to read the thread that way if you've already read the story once, won't need to scroll down a wall of text. If that makes sense? I hope you understand.
Nice that Jackson got invited to dinner at Makoa's house and offered a lifeguard job by Duane. Interesting that you have Duane as Makoa's Son. Did you change his last name to Kealoha then? Or is he adopted or something? I'm just curious. I know a lot of Simmers have explained in many different ways why Duane lives with them, but isn't related to them. So this must be how Jackson gets some simoleans, the lifeguard job, if he takes it that is.
I know, shocker right? o.O Josh has had that same hairstyle since I created him years ago. It's just for awhile though and I think it looks okay on him. Best one I could find that I could temporarily live with anyway.
Gah! The Beast is back! At least as long as I remember to have Josh feed it.
Oh nice that Bryon has a blueprint of the lab. Great idea having Bryon join the military to get a keycard! So funny how Naoki mocks him though about not being able to run around the house. HAHA Aww, sweet of Johnny to offer to be his personal trainer!
Oooo, I didn't know you could find evidence in a book at the Library! Good to know. I always just had my Sim get all they need from the lab, or George Cahill. Sometimes the Roswells. I wish I could have Josh hack the lab computers. I don't think Essa's at a high enough programming level, but maybe. We'll see.
Oh I absolutely love how you're having Naoki find out by analyzing the blue smoke it's the cause of the possessions, also love that he came up with the Hazmat suit too. Clever guy! So funny how Bryon is annoyed at Johnny just barging in and using his computer. Even though he's family. I get it though, even family should at least have the courtesy to ask to use someone's computer! Sheesh!
Great idea using the Simray and having guards at the doors. Are their uniforms CC? Just curious. I have only played one guy, my first Hero, in the military so I don't remember what all the colors were. Poor Hugo, he's just not the bravest guy eh? But he has a lot of heart. Well, actually it was brave of him to go with Jules in the first place, so I take that back.
Ah, I see. I've never tried that clown pic either, but I have read a lot about it and I remember it from TS2. Well bummer about not being able to use your own Sims. Pretending is fun though. Yep, I know the trait cheats for possessed, needed it for one of my Asylum challenge tries. There's always the Strange fruit too.
It's the same gardening bug, definitely. It's a bummer. But I know how to cheat it back to a skelly if I want to. We'll see how long I remember to feed the darn thing. o.O It was fun making it a part of the story. It just came to me when I saw that strange plant pod behind it. A real light bulb moment.
Fabulous group shot of everyone's challenge Sims! Love it!
Or, there's always the weather machine!
Very nice reunion between Jules and Emmett! Great suggestion he had about pretending to be military to get into the lab too, and it worked! Cute how she and Hugo high five their good fortune. Oh and of course there's a dog there. I'd bet pretty soon that dog is going to be her's! You really love dogs eh? And yes, I would've asked who won! HAHA
Very nice nursery for the girls! Sweet they can now see Megumi's gifts hanging on the walls too. You'll have enough funds before you know it to give them separate rooms.
I can see how it would be a bit tough for Jenny moving to Windenburg, luckily she has Morgan to help out and sounds like Jules, Essa and Wolfgang as well. She and the girls will acclimate soon. I love how sweet and gentle Jenny is with her girls. Celeste seems like a very independent child. It's tough when they don't have an established sleep pattern yet, and even if they do it's sometimes a challenge. We can always tell when my Grandson is overly tired, he starts spinning round and round in a circle laughing his sweet little head off. My Granddaughter on the other hand, when she's tired she'll tell you, no problem, no protests, "I tired." It's fun seeing their unique personalities start to shine like that. Can't wait to read more!
Aww, so sweet of Wolfgang to bring the gift that Lucas painted for her. Very sweet too that Wolfgang has been coming by every day to see Sakura. I love how she admitted she missed him too. Bummer Sofia and Luna weren't able to join her in the dorms. Oh cool, they checked out the Creativity Celebration! They had a juice keg there? Huh, I wonder why there wasn't one at the Celebration Josh and Essa attended. And juice pong too? Sheesh, they're lucky, all they had was ground murals and a stereo at Essa's.
Wolfgang looks like a bad butt throwing that ball without even looking. Poor Luna getting dropped by Sofia for the keg stand. Congrats to Sakura though! Way to go holding her up there Wolfgang! What!? Oh no! Must have a klepto in her dorms. That's so sad. Great chapter anyway. I love seeing these two interact, they're so good together in my opinion...as you know.
Welcome to the challenge! Starting in June sounds like a good idea, give yourself time to set up and get the points you need to post. There are a few other challengers that don't have all the packs either and they've been very creative finding ways to use what they have to make up 12 months of posts. For instance Soulgal7 doesn't have Realm of Magic, so she used the hidden world of Sylvan Glades to make up her own magical world. You could do something like that perhaps.
There's also Newcrest, Magnolia Promenade, Oasis Springs and even the hidden world of the Forgotten Grotto, so there's six worlds already with Willow Creek. If you get Cats and Dogs, that adds Brindleton bay, so you'd only need another 5 months worth of 'worlds' for a year. Who knows, maybe by that time you'll have more packs or a new pack will come out with another world.
Your idea about using neighborhoods for 'worlds' is good too. Just decide which base game aspirations you'll be playing where and you're good to go! Good luck and just have fun, that's the main objective! Oh and Thanks to @SoulGal7 for helping out when I was offline. She's right, I keep different hours than most everyone else here so I'm usually offline when y'all are here. I always try to reply to comments and questions when I can though and I appreciate when others help out too. We're a small group, so we like to try to help each other whenever possible.
Thank you for the comment on my pic of the day of StrangerVille. It is an absolutely gorgeous world. I love it!
Sounds like a good plan you've worked out for yourself. I have no clue on how you would work in Brindleton Bay unless you just want to move your schedule up a month so you can include it in the line-up. Perhaps play the toddler or child stage one less month so the teen would have an extra month to play in Brindleton Bay or any of the age groups really from teen-elder.
You won't be able to use spoilers until you have the points to use html/bb codes in your posts. So, unfortunately for now, you'll just need to post what you need to not in spoilers. It's cool, we all understand.
Oh no! Poor Jaz wetting herself like that then making a mess and having her Dad yell at her. Oh gosh then she has to round up her Brother as punishment. Kind of worked out for her though being able to tell him about her problems and him letting her know about hall passes. He seems like a somewhat decent Brother anyway. Bummer he passed out though in front of his crush. o.O
Whew! Think I'm all caught up now, well, except for my post for today, but that will come later. I think I'm going to have to start cutting down on my novel comments soon, it's taking way too long for me to type them up now that we have more challengers in the mix. I'm not complaining, love that y'all want to join in! It's my own fault for going into so much detail with my comments all the time. o.O
Anyway, hope I didn't miss anybody, have a great day/night!
Frank is just too darn funny and cute, I'm glad he's just casually a part of the family now too. I enjoy the way you format his dialogue too, I can't help but to read it in a robotic voice. Also that daily shot is simply GORGEOUS
Nice that Josh is enjoying knitting. It's fun to watch them knit, since they usually do seem to enjoy it. And super cute to have Essa teach Frank how to knit, I love it! And I'm gonna guess that Frank won the video gaming
I love that Josh loves the Beast. Like I said, I feel like it's easy to become unintentionally fond of those odd creatures...and even if you and Essa aren't fond of him, I like that Josh has decided to take on the responsibilities of caring for him. Nice hot tub shots as well. I waiting patiently for the time when I will get to start adding more romance interactions into my game again...I think I have a plan for that
Curious to see how you decide to get Essa into the lab to snoop around. As your title suggests, it looks Essa is gonna get dragged into this soon whether she wants to or not, haha
Oh, forgot to add this, so I'm adding it in now, hopefully you will see it - the outfits aren't CC, just another swatch of the ones that Skeilah is using for Johnny and Bryon. And thanks, I decided to add the guards since it just seemed too easy to waltz into the lab and snoop without anyone or anything stopping her, haha. And the SimRay is just too much fun, glad I had her take that from Bex's house when she was "living" there for the update I did when Bex was possessed, haha.
And yes, I do really love dogs 😂 We’ll see soon if your prediction about Jules acquiring a dog is correct 😏
It will be interesting to see if Duane and Jackson become friends, or if Duane will end up causing more problems for him as Jackson tries to stay under the radar. I'm hoping for the former - they seem like they could be cool bro friends. Not sure what Duane's traits are, but he seems like he'd be a bro haha
Man, if only I had some alien twins to rescue to motivate me to get rid of my sedentary lifestyle Great update though. Iove how Bryon is so determined to get the babies back that he's pushing himself so hard Also Naoki is cute and funny, suggesting an astronaut suit haha...clever way to get the construction of the hazmat suit underway though. This mystery is really just fitting perfectly into your story, as I've already said
I think that sounds like a good plan for what you have to work with! Like I said, I think if you're invested in a story and having a good time, it's more about that than what packs you have, so if you create a sim you love, the story and motivation will come from there
@Karababy52 - Creativity Celebration - Maybe this was one of the Spirit Day Gatherings, lol, but I did look back at all the popups I received and this is the only one I could find. Can't remember if you get a pop-up when an organization event is happening, other than debate day. Oh well, whatever event it was, they had fun! lol I did edit my story to remove that pop-up, though, as I do think it was a Spirit Day Club organization.
Okay, I just checked Carl's Guide and since it was Friday in-game, it was a Britechester Game Day Party, which ran from 3-7pm. This would also make sense since the stadium had both Foxbury and Britechester banners on it. lol
And your daily pic for May 3 is absolutely gorgeous. All of the Strangerville photos are coming out so clear and super beautiful.
@miss_eulenauge - That sounds like a good idea for your plan. If you decide to get Brindleton Bay, you can always just keep them as Adult a while longer, because with that pack, there is the vet career, too. Aside from the Aspirations, you can work on perhaps doing all the collections, and careers. That way, there's no way you could get bored! lol You'd be a super, SUPER sim.
Here was my Overview post until I tried to edit it with BBCode and the Forum decided that this post couldn't have BBCode since I originally posted it before I was promoted to Member. Oh well... I guess I will just post the Overview as a new post and accept that my Overview will be posted after the first Update :s
Nice backstory! I can’t load the game to look in the gallery yet, but I’ll check them out later! I’d also recommend seeing what other topics you might be able to contribute to around the forums to get your posts and points up, and then you’ll be a full member in no time and be able to use all the features like photos and spoilers when posting I’d recommend the General Discussion area of the forums - it’s usually pretty easy to contribute to topics there
Skye schedules another audition and this time she is trying to break out of commercials by auditioning for a part in a movie. Of course, she needs to improve her Comedy skill before the audition so she spends the day telling jokes. Mia doesn’t think they are funny but that could be because she woke up with a dirty diaper and she really wants someone to change it.
Emily has the day off from work she she piddles around the house, starting off with a bath for Mia. The house is so big and gets dusty so fast, so Emily hires a maid to come each day and help with the cleaning. That leaves her more time with spend with Mia.
Mia gets in some skills training today, mastering both the potty and movement. Jake came by for awhile and read her a couple of stories which improved her imagination to level 4. Communication is still level 3 and thinking is level 2, so she is a little behind the plan. They were hoping to move out on Friday, but only if Mia is a top-notch toddler by Thursday. They will probably move on Saturday, so Mia can start school on Monday.
Emily also added two robot vacuums to the house, one on each floor. Then she got busy learning how to upgrade them. She mastered Cooking early today so her new focus will be to see how many items she can upgrade before Mia and Skye move out. The darkness is driving me crazy in these pictures.
Oh crap. So, I do play with MCCC risky woohoo, and now there are consequences from asking Jake to spend the night. As many things in life, this was not planned.
@sassyxtra I love how you are taking the time to go somewhere with Mia, or have her slide... I find that I often spam "build blocks" all day when trying to get to top notch toddler, which makes for sooo boring gameplay. (That's also why I will not restrict worlds - I never get my Sims out of the house anyway and am waaay too focused on making money, completing aspirations and careers compared to actual gameplay and relationships!)
And I somehow love that Mia is going to get an (unplanned) little brother or sister. Are you going to have them get an ultrasound scan to find out about twins/triplets? It's a mod. Guess that some things just aren't planned...! (such as my last homeless teen who wound up with triplets while still not having a shower!)
May 3rd and 4th
I played a bit but have to break it up for a number of days to get by here because I'm getting really busy again. I was going to get more into the mystery sooner but will have to draw it out because of game time limitations. I think I'll be finishing up the Aspiration late in the month.. but the world is pretty/unusual and I always enjoy playing in it.
May 3rd
When Roxanne came home from her first day of work Rubanoid had some news for her.
"I decided to become a scientist and I got a job.. It's kind of low level, but they are needed now, and I know I can advance quickly..." Roxanne was happy for Rubanoid, although she had hoped he would be fine being a house husband and just taking care of things, especially if the house got fuller.
Rubanoid gave her a quick scan and nodded after having read her thoughts.
"I'll still take care of most things around here, or hire it out." He continued... "So you like this guy you are working with too right?"
Roxanne looked at him then nodded slowly, knowing he had read her thoughts .... "He seem's nice.."
..."and attractive", Rubanoid finished. "You know I flirt with the appliances all the time right?" His head maneuvered from side to side somewhat aggressively as he spoke.
Roxanne's eyes widened..."Umm no, I didn't.."
"Don't look so surprised... it's just flirting right?" then he trailed off and slumped forward.
Roxanne started the tune up and her brows knitted. She was grateful for the time alone to think. She hadn't flirted with Lenny even if she did find him attractive. She might have to find a way to disable Rubanoid's scanner or at least make him understand that private thoughts were confused things in humans.
May 4th In spoilers..
Rubanoid met Lenny as he came up to the house, and greeted him politely with a little bow. "Ill show you to your room..."
Rubanoid had these thought bubbles and I just thought they were funny! So had to add it in. (Watch it Lenny!)
Then he showed him to the room he had prepared. "This is the only other room with a bed, but I guess we could squeeze beds into 2 others if needed."
"This is great!" Lenny sighed taking a deep breath, "It'll be nice to sleep in a good bed again." They just started assigning the vacant homes and Roxanne was one of the first to get one, but we are having problems with housing. I let her know yesterday.. So many of the military quarters are being quarantined and people are being moved around, to make room. I'm really sorry to be in your way.."
"Oh I'm sure it won't be for too long." Rubanoid's chassis shook momentarily, then he added, "All you fine agents will get all this human mess sorted out and things will get back to normal soon!"
@miss_eulenauge I am already past getting the ultrasound. In game she went into labor right as I was stopping for the day, so the new baby will come in Saturday's update (real life Saturday, Sunday in game). I don't have the ultrasound mod although I am familiar with it. But I normally peek with MCCC to know what to expect.
And, yes, normally I play with aging on so everything is go-go-go to get things done. I keep reminding myself that we have lots of time so not to rush too much.
@sassytxbrat Oh my goodness.... so close to Top Notch Toddler and poof.. sibling. That should add some fun chaos to the challenge! (And you know how much I love chaos!) I truly hope your game doesn't play like mine does and decide to troll you with twins or triplets!! (I realize you've already played past the baby's (babies'?) birth, but I'm just thinking ahead here. Hehe.
I'm glad you read Frank as a robotic voice from the formatting, that was my intention. Beast's days are numbered. Might be easy for some to be fond of those things, but not me! I'm looking forward to seeing romance between Jules and Emmett, bring it! You're half right about who won, Josh did too. Essa lost to both! o.O Ah, good to know the uniforms aren't CC. I'm taking it slow with the aspiration so it will be some time before Essa ends up at the lab.
Ah, yes, I bet it was the Game Day celebration then, because of the banners. Carl's guide sure comes in handy eh? I use it a lot. It is so easy to take great screenshots in this world. It's so beautiful and you're right, it does seem crisp, clear and brighter there too.
@miss_eulenauge - Interesting backstory and characters. Looking forward to see how it all plays out for you.
Aha! She does find the agent attractive. I figured. Congrats to Rubanoid for getting the Scientist career. Yeah, probably a good idea for Roxanne to give Rubanoid a tune-up so he can't read her thoughts. Hilarious how Rubanoid was thinking about a tombstone while talking to Lenny. HAHA! I'll be drawing out the mystery as much as I can too.
Today's post coming in a little while. Hope y'all had a great day/night!
Just another day in the Malone household. It was storming horribly outside, so there was going to be no sending the kids out of the house for a break. The twins were up early, and Bennie was annoyed. He was just trying to drink his coffee, not get accosted by smelly toddlers.
Marnie tried her best to distract the little ones, but she was only one person.. and there were two of them. Naturally, the other one followed Bennie around, trying to get some attention.
Bennie tried grumbling at the toddler, but all he got was a quizzical look. Finally he tried yelling at him. That worked better, although getting a nasty look from a toddler isn’t any one’s idea of a good day. At least the twin – whichever one it was (Bennie could care less) – finally left him alone.
Marnie was just finished with giving a bath when Braydon came in, begging to be shown how to go potty. He certainly hadn’t been taught by anyone, and was curious how this whole thing worked. (And at this point, the only way he was going to learn was by his own choice or demand.)
Poor Marnie took care of that, then tried to get some of the never-ending cleaning done. Her mind was wandering, however, and she ended up spraying the table instead of the high chair. Could nothing go right??
After school, Jaz hummed to herself as she walked up the stairs. For the most part, her day hadn’t been too bad, and Benji’s suggestion had worked like a charm. She had been able to go to the bathroom all by herself and without the prying eyes and bullying words of the other students. She had kept to herself all day, though, and had avoided the playground at recess, so finding something fun to do and someone to play with was high on her list of priorities.
Bennie turned out to be the wrong choice for a chat partner.. and why Jaz tried him first, we’ll never know.. but as you can easily guess, it didn’t go well for her.
Braydon was playing nicely by himself now that he was all clean, had a fresh diaper, and a full tummy. It was amazing how nice a happy toddler can be. Myles worked on some art projects for his scouts badge, oblivious to what happened with the rest of his family.
Jazmyn was completely annoyed now after being yelled at by Bennie, and decided she’d go play with Braydon for a while. All the noise, however, woke a grouchy Benji up from a nap (in Jaz’s bed, no less) – and got her another “talking to”.
Luckily, however, Bennie had disappeared (nobody knew where – he hadn’t bothered to say), and the living room was free. Little Brett had decided to join in on playtime, to Jaz’s delight, and they had a lot of fun playing with the little toys
Phoenix was murdering some piece of music or another, (I assure you, nobody knew what it was – probably not even him), and Brett thanked his big sister for actually taking some time for him the only way he knew how.
Since the TV was (uncharacteristically) actually not in use, Benji talked Jaz into playing some games. He may or may not have picked her because she was easy to beat, but he certainly wasn’t going to admit it.
Poor Brett had hoped for more attention, however, and toddled off with a pout to find someone else he could annoy.
Marnie, luckily, caught him before he ran out the front door into the storm, and got him into bed. Braydon was already asleep, so she tried her best to keep Brett quiet, but it wasn’t working. That was when she noticed the smell.
Sure enough, there was a diaper that needed changing before bedtime – so Marnie took care of it. She may or may not have been begging a higher power for an actual break in this screenshot, and if she was, who would blame her?!
Bennie ran in to the house soaking wet, and in a better mood. (He wasn’t going to explain where he’d been, because his C-lister gig wasn’t exactly something to be proud of, but at least he had 240 bucks to show for it. Grocery money!)
Unfortunately, the night wasn’t over. And having all the kids in bed really didn’t mean anything with the twins in the house. Before you knew it, Brett was up again, and bawling at the foot of the Murphy bed. Bennie grumbled and poked Marnie. “Your turn.” he mumbled.. and rolled back over. Marnie yawned widely, and glared at her husband’s sleeping form. “When has it EVER been NOT my turn!” she whispered, and wearily turned to catch the toddler before he headed off to wake up the rest of the household.
Thanks about liking the idea of living under the radar story plot. At least for the first month. As stuff happens in game, more story ideas come to mind. I have to jot some stuff down. I've been getting some interesting feedback as well I write down cause it's stuff I never thought of and could put in in somewhere. I'm always looking forward to seeing what ideas I can come up with the new challenges I do face with Jackson.
Small spoiler alert, Duane does have the Bro trait. I plan on developing something between the two. Good, bad, in-between....I'll have to see on how the game plays out as well. But there will be more of these two together.
I wanted something different with Sulani. Kind of why I started off off-the-grid as well. I was hoping there would be no welcome wagon and there wasn't. The story would have been completely different to be honest. I decided to have the Sims of Sulani be close knit. Most of their stuff be islanders only.
I went ahead and edited my posts to put the story part in spoilers as well. I completely understand the reason behind it, so it was no worry. Easy peasy.
I never really thought about explaining why Duane lives with Makoa and family. I am thinking adoption. Maybe it's something to explore further with him and Jackson. When I found out Duane is also a Bro trait, I got excited. We'll definitely see a relationship grow (whether it's good or bad) between Jackson and Duane as time passes.
I have had some serious thinking about the commenting stuff So for myself as my work schedule (and certain thing what whoever is following the "post your last screenshot thread" might of saw) , I am always late
So for now on, I will only reply to mentions and comment the updates of simmers who have commented mine, so I hope this way nobody has to feel guilty if not commenting others
As it is only optional, nobody should take pressure from it Or feel guilty for not commenting back We are all here for fun, right
Just my penny, I hope I can finally get the last semester replayed tomorrow. I so want to go to SV
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
May 2 - University - WK 1 - Saturday - Friends-4-Ever Club
Sakura woke up to an overcast day, and got dressed and had breakfast in the dorm dining room. Yes, food was free at UBrite Commons, but she was meeting the Resident Don today to fill out some paperwork on the theft of her little plant pots. After they went missing, she had gone around to everyone's room and asked them if they had seen them. Sakura also kind of gave a once-over to her roommates' rooms, but no pots were to be found.
Sakura was eating cereal when the Resident Don came to chat with her. It was actually one of her roommates, Reyansh Raghavan, who was in the History program, and wanted to pursue a legal career.
Reyansh: "Sakura, I am sorry to hear of your loss. Unfortunately, there were a lot of sims who came in and out of the dorm yesterday due to moving day, so it could have been anyone. It has happened before. I would suggest that you not leave anything of value out in the open," he handed her some claim forms to fill out.
Sakura filled out the forms and handed them back.
Reyansh: "You know, a friend of mine owns a house in Britechester, and he's looking for someone to take over the house. He's heading off to Strangerville on short notice...got a scientist job at some lab there. Anyway, you seem like a nice sim, and I see you're serious about your studies because I saw you working on your presentation already. He's looking for a responsible sim, who won't trash the house. Anyway, if you're interested, you would get your own room, and then you can lock the door and nobody will get your stuff. You'll still be living with roommates, but you get to interview them. Make sure they're the right sims you want to live with. It would be available for next term, but he's interviewing sims tomorrow."
Sakura thought about what Wolfgang had said yesterday about off-campus housing, "It sounds really wonderful, but I have to talk to my friend about it first."
Reyansh: "Okay, well, here's the address. Let me know if you're going and I'll put in a good word for you."
After Reyansh left, Sakura headed to the computer and started working on her term paper. She had so much work to do before term even started. She wished there was a campus organization that was for both Foxbury and UBrite students to help them with homework. Thinking about homework reminded her of Lucas and the Homework Helpers Club.
["Of course", she thought, "I will form my own Homework Helpers type club for all university students."]
Sakura got on the phone and called Wolfgang, and he thought it was a great idea. They could work on homework together, but also do skilling for their program. Wolfgang suggested they meet at Larry's Lagoon at Foxbury. He had two students in mind to invite, and Sakura already knew who she would be asking. She saw Jeb Harris wandering the halls, and asked him if he would like to come along.
Once there, Sakura saw Wolfgang and River and was introduced to another student named Julia Wright. She lived in Wyvern Dorm with Luna and Sofia and was in the Physics program. Sakura introduced Jeb Harris to everyone, and found out that he and Wolfgang were in E-Sports together. What a great group to start!
The name of the group was Friends-4-Ever and it would concentrate on homework, research, and some skill building like playing chess, practicing violin and building robots. If something didn't work, they could always change it.
Sakura had done a draft of her presentation, and asked Wolfgang for some feedback.
Her presentation was looking excellent, so she put that away for now. Sakura then started doing homework, and noticed that River wasn't doing any.
River: "Um...yah...about that...I...er...lost my homework book somewhere. I guess I need to buy another one...but I think I'll work on building a bot for that Bot Savant meeting tomorrow morning. Hey, Wolfgang, come and build a bot with me."
[Note: At this point I switched to Wolfgang in worldview and then had him call a club meeting again. I decided it was a good time for him to work on his presentation board.]
And then suddenly...oh my gawd! Not River!
Noooo.....this can't be happening! Sakura's first club meeting and she kills someone.
And there is Grim making his appearance. GO AWAY!
[Note: At this point, I can't switch to worldview to control Sakura, because I know she has a death flower in her personal inventory. I am racking my brain trying to think if she gave one to Wolfgang...]
Poor Wolfgang, "River, bro...you can't die on me. We have that bot to build together, remember?"
And eureka, Wolfgang has something that Grim likes in his personal inventory, "How about we do a trade, Grim? This flower for River's life back?" It sounded like a good trade to Grim.
Sofia is so excited, "Hallelujah!" she shouts.
River: "Whoa! What a rush! Is this some club initiation or something?"
Wolfgang: "River, promise me bro, that we will only work on robots together. And I'll get some more of those flowers from Sakura. Those things are a real lifesaver!"
River: "Sure thing, Wolfgang. Man, I feel like I ate a spicy meatball. Talk about heartburn!. You got any tums on you?"
Grim to River: "Hey, what can I say, it's a job, and I do it well...no hard feelings, I hope..."
Once Grim leaves, River and Wolfgang sit together. River is a bit dazed, "Wolfgang, you're my hero. I love ya, man. Anything I can ever do for you, let me know...but ask me in a few hours...okay...man, I feel dazed and I didn't even have any juice! I think I need to get some juice...or my bed...or something. Is the Club Gathering still on? If I leaned my head on your shoulder, would you mind? You are just so amazing. Wolfgang, you're my hero. I love ya, man. Anything I can ever do..." River must have short-circuited something because he just keeps repeating himself over and over again,
Wolfgang rolls his eyes. If they didn't have a bromance before, they have one now!
Immediately after this, I switch back to Sakura, from world view, and then, turn the robot stations around, and she replaces robot building with practice acting. Yep, no more robot building in her club.
They stay the entire day at Larry's Lagoon and then suddenly Sakura hears an announcement. There's a Mixer Night tonight, right there in Larry's Lagoon. What luck! Sakura asks Wolfgang if it would be okay if she toured his dorm tomorrow, and he agrees, as they all need some fun after that rather electrifying afternoon.
And the party animals come out. There is Essa. And what a pro! She taps the keg on her first try.
And Melody is doing the Foxbury Cheer!
Jenny has shown up, too, and plays some ping pong with Jeb Harris.
And of course, Sakura asks Wolfgang if he wants to do a keg stand with her. And again Sakura gets the "Keg Stood" moodlet.
Sakura: "You're my guy, Wolfgang! We did it again!"
Wolfgang smiled at Sakura and only wished he was really "her guy".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Notes: On the second day of uni, I realized that perhaps I had made a mistake putting Wolfgang and Sakura in separate dorms. I had never played multi-sims at uni before. In uni, as opposed to high school and grade school, sims have presentations and term papers to write for their courses. And sims will not autonomously do either of those. They will autonomously do homework, though. And if sims don't do their coursework, they will end up on probation and then get suspended. Yikes! And then there was poor Jeb Harris who was in Sakura's dorm on probation. I had to try and help this poor guy. So, I thought of a sort-of solution to this, clubs. At least in clubs they will do their homework, and do some skilling for their course requirements. If they go to class or not, well, the game would have to take care of that. There is no option in the clubs menu to write a term paper or do presentations. So, on Saturday, that is what I had Sakura do, create a club called Friends-4-Ever.
Club members include: Sakura (leader), Wolfgang Munch (in Physics), Julia Wright (pre-made sim; on probation in Physics), River Funke-Townes (in Physics program, and Wolfgang's best bud), Luna Villareal (pre-made sim; in Drama & Sakura's friend), Sofia Bjergsen (pre-made sim; in Fine Arts & Sakura's friend).
I also had Sakura invite Jeb Harris (who I can control) to come with the group. He is currently on probation in Computer Science and is on the E-Sports Team with Wolfgang. I enrolled him in uni and chose four courses for him, which I later think may have been a mistake, with 2 term papers, a presentation and a final exam. I should have just signed him up for 1 course.
I am sure there is a way to cheat grades with a mod, but I don't use mods. Unless someone knows how to do this without a mod. If so, let me know.
So much in a post. Love your initial shot for March 31 so cute and they'll be on different "teams". I am glad Sakura ended up going to Britechester. It suits her and is so pretty.
I love their awareness of each other too! Will be good when they finally get together if and when it happens. The makeovers of the where they will live is great.
For your May 1 Post was laughing over the names of the classes .. if theres any reason I want my sims to eventually get every degree it's to see all the class names.
Great shots of Uni life and the further story of unrequited lovegoing on here.. aww. It is easier to live on a home lot.. easier to get to school on time for sure.
Love the shots of Mia playing with the doll and the one with her dad.. and of Skye practicing acting!
For the next post on Tuesday I think I'm getting Emily and Skye mixed up lol. I'll get it eventually though. Poor Mia but they look adorable even passed out on the floor.
For the post for today omg pregnant again! I have a lot of problems with dark pictures too. And when it's outside it drives me even crazier because you can't do anything about it at all if it's due to weather.
The vampire bug was too funny.. especially since he was in vampire form. Funny how they took it all on in stride. It's the sims universe!
The family time was great too of course.. and by great I mean it that poor household! You'll have lots to post for any day that's for sure. Poor Jaz she just doesn't want to go..
Okay you made me bust out laughing with your next post "Why are you peeing on the floor like a wild animal??".. I had a hard time stopping. But oh man they are so mean to her, seriously poor Jaz... I'll try not to laugh again...
Aww with your picture of Brett and Jaz on the next post... lol do you try to control them much? That poor family lol.
Oh man your screenshots for the whole of this month will be gorgeous. Love the story you are starting to build with Strangerville and the pod people. I might have to use that line too. I'm such a sci-fi nerd.
Was the cowplant thing a bug or did you set that up for the story? Either way great tie in to Strangerville.
Josh still looks cute with short hair by the way... darn those pixel blurs!
Okay I read your next post and found out it was a bug thing. I like that bug!
For the May 3 post. Frank is great and he finally got his flirt on! Awwws for the "You make me happy" line too!
In reading your response from a few days ago (and todays comment). I decided that it makes sense for Roxanne to have a partner and when I was making Lenny (well it was a remake of a gallery, sim.. a girl that had made it to the top level) I started putting asian faces on him then shaping him more.. then a better body ect and yeah I decided Roxanne would like the way he looked cause I did! I doubt I can put him on my gallery though because I started with someone else's sim. I do have a feeling he might stick around though!
For Update 122- Lol, Hugo stole the show in comic relief for that post.. I really liked that in the pictures . Jules in charge!
For Update 123. That jukebox great, and great shot in front of it. I want couples dances in this game so bad! Cute poses. Jules looks right at home in that uniform too . Don't worry about plot holes.. I won't feel alone if you do it too!
Such a cute toddler room. Nice pictures too. I downloaded a house this time with player made pictures and was surprised at what they could do.
Jenny's tucking Celeste in was sweet. I hope they all settle in well soon.
Lol for your first shot, for some reason those guys don't seem to fit the look for the uniforms... Lol "You can't even run around the house once" hehe.. Time to grow some muscles men!
For your May 4 post .. wow what a drop down about the sedentary lifestyle. I like it when it hits home.
Bryon can do it though!
For your day 3 post.. great picture of Jackson and Makoa. Awww.. poor Jackson must be feeling like such an outcast..
Thanks for putting him on the gallery!
For your day 4 post.. I'm glad Jackson is making some friends despite his fears of being found out.
Welcome aboard! Well when you start! I think it's a great idea to move neighborhood to neighborhood as a way to work around the world issues.. and who knows you might get more packs before the year finishes. There are certainly enough aspirations either way. It might be a good way to hold your interest too doing it this way.
You'll be able to do the spoilers and things as soon as you become a member.. it won't take long.
For your first post about your family. I don't like Greg already and feel sorry for his wife and that's good lol. I like stories like this.
I'll be doing the same thing as @Ellupelluellu has decided too. I realized between reading and having a note open to comment I've been here for 2 hours. Sometimes I don't have time to play.. So I'll probably make more effort to comment to someone who has commented to me, but I'll be reading it all and sometimes I'm sure I'll flip a comment out there especially if it was just too funny or gut wrenching or something. I might also just do a more overall comment every few days then trying to do it post by post.. and I've done that in the past now and then when I get behind.
Since Josh had previously served in the military, he started in StrangerVille at a higher level. He left the next morning to report for duty and Essa left for town not long after. She wanted to take a look around and see if there was anything she could discover about what was happening there. Josh had asked her not to visit the lab, but he didn't say she couldn't ask questions.
Her first stop was the information center/library. Perusing the bookshelves, she found an interesting book that seemed promising and checked it out to read later. On her way to leave, a man in a white lab coat passed by her with an "Excuse me."
"Hey, wait! Sir? May I ask you a question? You look like someone who might know. Do you know anything about what's happening in this town? Where did those strange plants come from I see everywhere? And why are they infecting people that get near them?" "I'm sorry Miss, that's classified."
"But why? Shouldn't people be informed so they know how to protect themselves? Why is everything such a secret?"
"You'd be better off not knowing. And don't go near the lab, it's not safe. That's all I can tell you. Good day."
"Okay, thank you anyway. I guess."
(He knows something. He just won't tell me. Great.)
Essa left and noticed a bar across the street. Maybe someone in there would talk to her. It was early morning so there wasn't many patrons visiting this time of day. But, she did see one soldier sitting at a table watching a television bolted to the wall.
"Excuse me. I apologize for the interruption, but I'm hoping you can help me. Is there anything you can tell me about the strange plants and infected people I see all around town?"
"I'm sorry Ma'am, I don't know anything about that. It's classified information and I don't have the correct credentials to gain access to it." The soldier said and turned away to continue watching her show.
"Okay, thanks anyway."
(Lesson learned, don't ask lower level soldiers.)
Essa left the bar and saw a girl wearing a vest with a lot of patches on it. Some of them in the shape of supposed aliens. At least by those who believed anyway.
(I wonder if she's one of Audrey's friends.)
She approached the girl and asked her the same questions she'd asked the prior two about what was happening in town. Unlike the others, she was happy to talk to Essa.
"Oh yeah, it's aliens, they've taken over the lab outside of town. I heard they're abducting people and infecting them with some kind of virus. Then they release them to walk around and plant those strange plants to infect others. Be careful who you talk to around here. Some of the aliens disguise themselves as lab technicians and soldiers. You should go talk to Erwin at that booth over there, he knows a lot more about it then I do. Oh! You can get a special hat from him too that will..."
The girl abruptly stopped talking when a lady in a white lab coat walked by and gave her a bland look.
"Uh...I'm sorry Miss, I don't know what you're talking about. I can't help you." She said with wide eyes filled with fear and a fake smile on her lips. She froze in place and wouldn't say another word. She looked terrified of the lady who had passed her by.
Essa ran after the lab technician shouting, "Wait, hey wait, stop, I'd like to ask you some questions if I may?" "Can't stop, I'm late for work."
"Did you know that girl thinks you're an alien. She's terrified you'll infect her like all the others I see around here." "That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard lady. I'm just a lab technician, nothing more."
"Will you tell me what's going on at the lab then? What are those strange plants? Where did they come from? Do you know anything at all?" "I'm sorry Miss, that's classified. I can't tell you anything. I have to go."
"You mean you won't tell me!" "That's right, clever girl. I won't. Now leave me alone. You're making me later than I already am." She said and disappeared behind a military truck.
(Strike three. Does that mean I'm out, of luck?)
Essa walked back to the street from the alleyway and began walking down the sidewalk. As she was walking she heard some strange recordings coming from the booth the blond had told her about and a redhead who must be...uh...Erwin? Yeah, that was his name, loudly hawking his wares.
(Guess it's worth a try. Let's see what Erwin has to say. If anything.)
The closer she got to the booth though, the more her stomach dropped with disappointment. It looked filled with all kinds of alien swag; t-shirts, those anti-alien hats, crystals, photographs and maps marking spots where aliens had been spotted, stuffed toy aliens, and a gnome in a cage, among other things.
(What? Why?)
The weirdest thing of all though, was the grinning skull of a dead cowplant (Beast!) nailed to the top looking down upon anyone who cared to approach. Seeing all that didn't give her much confidence Erwin would have any reliable information, but what did she have to lose?
"Hey there! Hello! Finally, a customer! I was about ready to close up shop, so you're a very lucky lady! What can I help you with today? Can I interest you in a lovely Anti-Alien hat, guaranteed to keep any menacing aliens away. They come in an assortment of colors. On sale today only for $20! Or perhaps you would like a stuffed alien for a child or even yourself to cuddle?"
"Uh, thanks, but what I'm really interested in is information. Someone wearing a vest like yours told me you could tell me what's going on in this town. Where did those strange plants come from? How are people getting infected? Just...what's going on here? Do you know?"
"Okay, yeah, I can help you with that. Just give me a minute to close up and I'll meet you around the side of the booth." Erwin said as he looked nervously from side to side up and down the sidewalk to see if anyone else was around.
After a few minutes, Erwin appeared from the back of the booth and joined Essa.
"Thank you for agreeing to talk to me. Nobody else would say anything to me. I asked two lab technicians, a solder and the girl that pointed me in your direction. She clammed up though when a lab technician passed by her." "Okay, shhh, not so loud, okay? They'll hear you."
"Who? Who will hear me?"
"The ALIENS! Gah! Why are people so clueless? Why? Why? Why?" Erwin shouted despite asking Essa to be quiet.
"Of course it's the aliens doing all this, what else could it be? Wake up lady! They're working with the government to take over the world! Before you know it, we'll all be mindless soldiers for the military under their infinite control! And the military is so dumb they just go right a long with it thinking it's good for the country for some reason. How? How is that good for anyone? Tell me, huh? Cuz I'd really like to know."
"Uh, I don't know." "It's all happening out at that lab. Anyone that gets near it comes back infected. I'd stay away from that place if I were you. It's dangerous! You don't want to be an alien robot do you?"
"Wait, what's that? Did you hear that sound? Oh God, they're coming for me. They probably heard me. Good thing I have my anti-alien hat to protect me. You need one too, everybody should wear one! I have to go before they find me, come back some other time when it's safe. I've got lots of stuff that'll help you find out more. I'm learning more every day....*Gasp* I said too much!" Erwin said and then ran off down the street, wildly looking in terror from side to side as he went.
(Well that was a bust. Great. I might as well just go home now. Josh will be home soon. Maybe he's learned something that will help us figure out what's going on.)
Back home Essa noticed another one of those strange plant pods had popped up in the side yard of their property. She walked over, but not too close and looked down at it.
(What IS that thing? Where did it come from? It certainly looks alien. Maybe it is aliens, who knows? But aliens aren't real, right? I don't know. I know one thing though. The answer is in that lab. Everybody mentioned the lab. Whatever is going on began there. It just makes sense, right?)
Essa walked away and went in the house to check on Frank and read the book she'd checked out before Josh returned home from work.
Hahaa, I love that Roxanne just wants Rubanoid to be to be the perfect house husband. But of course, he's gonna try to balance work and up-keeping the house, hope it's not too stressful for him I have too much time to play the sims these days, haha, I feel like I'm plowing through this mystery...I have several "filler" updates planned though to help slow things down, I definitely don't want to complete this aspiration too quickly even though I just want to keep playing!
Haha, risky woohoo is how Jules ended up a teen mom in this challenge. You just gotta embrace it sometimes. It will be fun to for Mia to have a sibling (or multiple!) as she goes through life though.
It looks like Jaz is starting to feel less stressed out about things, though I'm sure something will happen soon that will have her questioning her gender identity more and more, and figuring that out in this crazy family doesn't seem like it will be easy. Super cute picture of Jaz hugging her little brother. I love toddler/kid interactions.
I've been meaning to share a picture of my non-binary sim kid with you, since I think it's cool you've been exploring gender identity with a kid sim too! This is Wendell (a game generated name I got when their parents adopted them, and I just left it!) who uses they/them pronouns. They exist in the same save as Jules, they just haven't appeared in any storylines yet. They are actually the little sibling of one of Jules' high school friends' though, so maybe they will show up eventually
Nice set up to move Sakura off campus for future semesters. It would be a lot to suffer through dorm life for a whole month, LOL. I was gonna say, are you getting things set up for Strangerville with that conversation, but you're not gonna do Strangerville for several months...but knowing you and your knack for storytelling and planning, you probably do already have plans.
And oh my goodness, I'm so glad you gave Wolfgang a death flower! I got worried that River was gonna die again . One of the first things I do when I move a sim in with Jules is put a death flower in their inventory, since Jules has so many now. And this is reminding me why it's a good idea to do that Haha, probably a safe choice not to have more robotics incidents. It's a bit too deadly....
It is hard to manage several enrolled sims - doing a club was a great idea! I had to cheat degrees for sims like Emmett and Mario since they were always on probation when I went to check in with them, haha. I wish that they'd just autonomously keep up with their classes when not controlling them! I don't know about cheating grades (I only know how to do that with high school grades), but like I said, you can cheat degrees without a mod, which is helpful if you do end up not being able to keep up. Carl's University cheats has a lot of helpful cheats when trying to manage a lot of sims going to uni.
I'm doing comments once again after my May 4 post ^^ Was just feeling like it, lol. Meanwhile everyone is stopping doing comments hahaha. But hey, I really get it. It's really a lot, and I only tend to do it when I really want to sit behind my computer and type comments for an hour straight.
I always read the stories on my phone when I wake up in the morning. Since I'm in Europe, all of you spam this topic when I'm fast asleep and I have a lot to read when I wake up. It's a nice way of waking up, actually, and I enjoy waking up now. Thanks for living on the total opposite side of me! XD
I absolutely love that picture with Emmett sweeping Jules from her feet. I feel the love is in the air! So happy Emmett wants to help Jules. And the dog makes an appearance! Such a cute doggo Hugo and Jules make such a good team too. Jules has such good friends.
The hairstyle Josh has now is actually also Johnny's hairstyle (back when he had hair, lol). I also love the curl in front, haha, just like Essa I think the Beast is super duper cute. It's just that I haven't found the right timing to do the freelance botanist aspiration. I forgot about it back in the beginning and now I'm like "yeah, well".
Bryon has this Sedentary lifestyle, what makes it more difficult :P He's never had the condition Naoki for example has. But we're gonna change that! I'm Aspiration swapping between Strangerville and Bodybuilder right now, because this seems like the perfect timing to do that.
Yep! You also find a lot of nonsense in the Library, like articles and stuff, but here and there you can find evidence! I used it to get my last piece of evidence for the dossier. Funny thing is how I only made the dossier for the aspiration, since I won't use it to get a keycard.
Naoki loves to help and of course, he also just wants the babies back! It's a good thing he's keeping it a secret, because if Jaquan would find out...
Josh's first day at work! Good luck, Josh! Yep, everything is a secret in Strangerville. So, you're also going with aliens? ^^ Seems like aliens being the cause of this all is rather popular! These scientists sure are something.... They get on my nerves lol. Erwin is funny xD I had a good laugh when he was explaining everything to Essa. Hehe, aliens aren't real, she said. I know all about aliens!
I went into the Gallery to take a look at Sarah and Greg. Greg is like a non-existing younger brother from Dylan Sigworth from Strangerville, haha! I absolutely love him, and Sarah too! I'm really curious of how their children will turn out, and who exactly will be the person to play this challenge. You got me on the edge of my seat!
Talk about opposites, and there you have Sarah and Greg. Nice background story you got. Can't wait to see more about them!
Mia sure is super-duper cute. She's on her way to get the top-notch trait! But then your game decided to do something on its own and give a little surprise! That actually made me laugh a lot, but I can imagine Skye isn't really laughing right now, lol.
Why didn't you say so, if you wanted Rubanoid to be houseman, Roxanne? :P Maybe you just have to 'program' him to stay at home lol. Oh lol, the robot read it himself out of Roxanne. XD Rubanoid is so weird hahahaha.
I absolutely love your set-up lol. The house is a mess, nothing goes right, screaming all the way, ... "At least the twin, whichever one it was, finally left him alone" HAAHAHA this is so me. I'm absolutely not good with names so I also just call them 'the twins'. I'm with Bennie in this one.
Yesssss, I have this feeling that Wolfgang and Sakura won't be apart for too long, and I love it! I felt so bad when in the previous update Sakura lost the plant pots :c OH MY! RIVER! NOOOOO! Luckily Wolfgang had a Death Flower. These two were almost inseparable already but now... Real bromance incoming! Better not die again, you!
@Skeilah: (May 4) It's great to see how the lifestyles impact a Sim... might have to move Snowy Escape higher up on my "what to buy"-List! :) I really shouldn't read your posts late at night in order to keep the laughter down! :D
@Permanentrose: (Update 123) that pose is cute! And I soooo hope she'll find that dog again. I love Cats as well as Dogs in RL, and this one just is too cute! Thank you for your suggestion on posting in other forum threads. Perhaps I should split up replies here (I still need 10 more posts I think!), but I don't want to doublepost in case someone thinks it's rude.
@SoulGal: The university life souns really fun! Good idea about the club to keep your other university Sims from failing. And I'm curious about the potential off-campus housing. (and the development with Wolfgang :D)
@Hermitgirl: LOL at your robot not quite grasping the difference between private thoughts and conversations with him. I hope there won't be a rift between him and Roxanne because of him cluelessly admitting that he flirts with appliances. And it was funny how Rubanoid greeted Lenny and "showed him to his room".
@Sassytxbrat Oh no, why did you say that! O.o Now I will be curious about the baby(babies?) until your updates have caught up with your playing...
@IllusoryThrall The Kid-Toddler interactions are just so cute :D Glad that Jaz was able to forget about her worries and didn't have quite so many problems at school.
@LegacySims Somehow I don't quite get that reference? Is it about Jackson and Sulani? If you were confused if they were lawn living right now - No, Greg inherited this small, cluttered Goodwill home, which we will fill with kids over the course of May.
@Karababy: LOL at Essa's unsubtle attempts to question people. She'll really make waves whereever she goes, won't she?
(am I using :D and LOL too much? I guess I am just a bit self-conscious :#)
The next day Agent Hopper took Roxanne to visit the squad that been exposed in the latest attempt to get into the lab. She had been assured they weren't catching by just being around them. "It seems to be the gas down there, although some civilians have it too. We don't know how they came in contact with the gas as the air seems fine above ground."
He went on. "They mostly just wander around aimlessly, but we've found out they love to plant.. you can't keep them away from it if you put the seeds out. There's a few other things they will do .. but hey you try things, better to see for yourself."
Roxanne tried to talk with one of uniformed men and he thrust himself in her face making strange noises. It was bizarre and creepy.
She tried other things but mostly they just wandered away. One played ping pong with her. He was good at it too!
"So we got all these people and we're keeping them locked up to protect them... nearly every encampment area is full already. We try to keep the civilians we find in other areas and also separate the sexes.. to keep it drama free and I mean God forbid they breed. One odd thing though is we have to give them access to an outside area. They will batter themselves bloody against the walls if they are fully trapped. It can even be a small area as long as it's outside with a patch of ground. "
They also have periods of complete lucidity ... totally normal. Although they forget the time frame when they are possessed. We can't send them home like this though. We have to find an answer and quick!
They spent the day there and into the night. Lenny felt it was important that she see what happened to them. Although they had periods in the daytime when they might become possessed. They always did at night.
(Obviously I took some liberties to what time frames they are actually normally possessed in, in the game. I had them eat the fruit in the daytime to have them act that way. Also they don't just love to plant... but you can make them do it and other things while possessed with group interactions...I find it fun in other saves I have to use this.)
Comments
Oh how funny that when Jackson met Makoa they were wearing the same shirt! LOL I can see how Makoa would think he was trying to copy his look. Jackson's good at squirming around answering questions he doesn't want to answer eh? Boy, had no idea Duane was that tough about the festivals. I thought the Islanders were friendly and open to everyone. I mean, they do just barge into your Sims homes like they live there.
May I ask you a favor? Would you consider possibly putting at least the story part of your posts in a spoiler? It just makes it easier to read the thread that way if you've already read the story once, won't need to scroll down a wall of text. If that makes sense? I hope you understand.
Nice that Jackson got invited to dinner at Makoa's house and offered a lifeguard job by Duane. Interesting that you have Duane as Makoa's Son. Did you change his last name to Kealoha then? Or is he adopted or something? I'm just curious. I know a lot of Simmers have explained in many different ways why Duane lives with them, but isn't related to them. So this must be how Jackson gets some simoleans, the lifeguard job, if he takes it that is.
@Skeilah
Gah! The Beast is back! At least as long as I remember to have Josh feed it.
Oh nice that Bryon has a blueprint of the lab. Great idea having Bryon join the military to get a keycard! So funny how Naoki mocks him though about not being able to run around the house. HAHA Aww, sweet of Johnny to offer to be his personal trainer!
Oooo, I didn't know you could find evidence in a book at the Library! Good to know. I always just had my Sim get all they need from the lab, or George Cahill. Sometimes the Roswells. I wish I could have Josh hack the lab computers. I don't think Essa's at a high enough programming level, but maybe. We'll see.
Oh I absolutely love how you're having Naoki find out by analyzing the blue smoke it's the cause of the possessions, also love that he came up with the Hazmat suit too. Clever guy!
@permanentrose
Ah, I see. I've never tried that clown pic either, but I have read a lot about it and I remember it from TS2. Well bummer about not being able to use your own Sims. Pretending is fun though.
It's the same gardening bug, definitely. It's a bummer. But I know how to cheat it back to a skelly if I want to. We'll see how long I remember to feed the darn thing. o.O It was fun making it a part of the story. It just came to me when I saw that strange plant pod behind it. A real light bulb moment.
Fabulous group shot of everyone's challenge Sims! Love it!
Or, there's always the weather machine!
Very nice reunion between Jules and Emmett! Great suggestion he had about pretending to be military to get into the lab too, and it worked! Cute how she and Hugo high five their good fortune. Oh and of course there's a dog there. I'd bet pretty soon that dog is going to be her's!
@lilypadmeulin
I can see how it would be a bit tough for Jenny moving to Windenburg, luckily she has Morgan to help out and sounds like Jules, Essa and Wolfgang as well. She and the girls will acclimate soon. I love how sweet and gentle Jenny is with her girls. Celeste seems like a very independent child. It's tough when they don't have an established sleep pattern yet, and even if they do it's sometimes a challenge. We can always tell when my Grandson is overly tired, he starts spinning round and round in a circle laughing his sweet little head off. My Granddaughter on the other hand, when she's tired she'll tell you, no problem, no protests, "I tired." It's fun seeing their unique personalities start to shine like that. Can't wait to read more!
@sassytxbrat
Nice that Mia got to spend some time with Jake while Skye was out. Fun too that Skye got some alone time with Jake too.
@SoulGal7
Wolfgang looks like a bad butt throwing that ball without even looking. Poor Luna getting dropped by Sofia for the keg stand. Congrats to Sakura though! Way to go holding her up there Wolfgang! What!? Oh no! Must have a klepto in her dorms. That's so sad.
@miss_eulenauge
There's also Newcrest, Magnolia Promenade, Oasis Springs and even the hidden world of the Forgotten Grotto, so there's six worlds already with Willow Creek. If you get Cats and Dogs, that adds Brindleton bay, so you'd only need another 5 months worth of 'worlds' for a year. Who knows, maybe by that time you'll have more packs or a new pack will come out with another world.
Your idea about using neighborhoods for 'worlds' is good too. Just decide which base game aspirations you'll be playing where and you're good to go! Good luck and just have fun, that's the main objective!
Thank you for the comment on my pic of the day of StrangerVille. It is an absolutely gorgeous world. I love it!
Sounds like a good plan you've worked out for yourself. I have no clue on how you would work in Brindleton Bay unless you just want to move your schedule up a month so you can include it in the line-up. Perhaps play the toddler or child stage one less month so the teen would have an extra month to play in Brindleton Bay or any of the age groups really from teen-elder.
You won't be able to use spoilers until you have the points to use html/bb codes in your posts. So, unfortunately for now, you'll just need to post what you need to not in spoilers. It's cool, we all understand.
@IllusoryThrall
Whew! Think I'm all caught up now, well, except for my post for today, but that will come later.
Anyway, hope I didn't miss anybody, have a great day/night!
Nice that Josh is enjoying knitting. It's fun to watch them knit, since they usually do seem to enjoy it. And super cute to have Essa teach Frank how to knit, I love it! And I'm gonna guess that Frank won the video gaming
I love that Josh loves the Beast. Like I said, I feel like it's easy to become unintentionally fond of those odd creatures...and even if you and Essa aren't fond of him, I like that Josh has decided to take on the responsibilities of caring for him. Nice hot tub shots as well. I waiting patiently for the time when I will get to start adding more romance interactions into my game again...I think I have a plan for that
Curious to see how you decide to get Essa into the lab to snoop around. As your title suggests, it looks Essa is gonna get dragged into this soon whether she wants to or not, haha
Oh, forgot to add this, so I'm adding it in now, hopefully you will see it - the outfits aren't CC, just another swatch of the ones that Skeilah is using for Johnny and Bryon. And thanks, I decided to add the guards since it just seemed too easy to waltz into the lab and snoop without anyone or anything stopping her, haha. And the SimRay is just too much fun, glad I had her take that from Bex's house when she was "living" there for the update I did when Bex was possessed, haha.
And yes, I do really love dogs 😂 We’ll see soon if your prediction about Jules acquiring a dog is correct 😏
@LegacySims2017
@Skeilah
@miss_eulenauge
Okay, I just checked Carl's Guide and since it was Friday in-game, it was a Britechester Game Day Party, which ran from 3-7pm. This would also make sense since the stadium had both Foxbury and Britechester banners on it. lol
And your daily pic for May 3 is absolutely gorgeous. All of the Strangerville photos are coming out so clear and super beautiful.
I guess I will just post the Overview as a new post and accept that my Overview will be posted after the first Update :s
time zone: Berlin, Germany - EA Gallery ID: Noctuara
May 4
Week 1 Wednesday
Emily has the day off from work she she piddles around the house, starting off with a bath for Mia. The house is so big and gets dusty so fast, so Emily hires a maid to come each day and help with the cleaning. That leaves her more time with spend with Mia.
Mia gets in some skills training today, mastering both the potty and movement. Jake came by for awhile and read her a couple of stories which improved her imagination to level 4. Communication is still level 3 and thinking is level 2, so she is a little behind the plan. They were hoping to move out on Friday, but only if Mia is a top-notch toddler by Thursday. They will probably move on Saturday, so Mia can start school on Monday.
Emily also added two robot vacuums to the house, one on each floor. Then she got busy learning how to upgrade them. She mastered Cooking early today so her new focus will be to see how many items she can upgrade before Mia and Skye move out. The darkness is driving me crazy in these pictures.
Oh crap. So, I do play with MCCC risky woohoo, and now there are consequences from asking Jake to spend the night. As many things in life, this was not planned.
(That's also why I will not restrict worlds - I never get my Sims out of the house anyway and am waaay too focused on making money, completing aspirations and careers compared to actual gameplay and relationships!)
And I somehow love that Mia is going to get an (unplanned) little brother or sister. Are you going to have them get an ultrasound scan to find out about twins/triplets? It's a mod. Guess that some things just aren't planned...! (such as my last homeless teen who wound up with triplets while still not having a shower!)
time zone: Berlin, Germany - EA Gallery ID: Noctuara
I played a bit but have to break it up for a number of days to get by here because I'm getting really busy again. I was going to get more into the mystery sooner but will have to draw it out because of game time limitations. I think I'll be finishing up the Aspiration late in the month.. but the world is pretty/unusual and I always enjoy playing in it.
May 3rd
"I decided to become a scientist and I got a job.. It's kind of low level, but they are needed now, and I know I can advance quickly..." Roxanne was happy for Rubanoid, although she had hoped he would be fine being a house husband and just taking care of things, especially if the house got fuller.
Rubanoid gave her a quick scan and nodded after having read her thoughts.
"I'll still take care of most things around here, or hire it out." He continued... "So you like this guy you are working with too right?"
Roxanne looked at him then nodded slowly, knowing he had read her thoughts .... "He seem's nice.."
..."and attractive", Rubanoid finished. "You know I flirt with the appliances all the time right?" His head maneuvered from side to side somewhat aggressively as he spoke.
Roxanne's eyes widened..."Umm no, I didn't.."
"Don't look so surprised... it's just flirting right?" then he trailed off and slumped forward.
Roxanne started the tune up and her brows knitted. She was grateful for the time alone to think. She hadn't flirted with Lenny even if she did find him attractive. She might have to find a way to disable Rubanoid's scanner or at least make him understand that private thoughts were confused things in humans.
May 4th In spoilers..
Rubanoid met Lenny as he came up to the house, and greeted him politely with a little bow. "Ill show you to your room..."
Rubanoid had these thought bubbles and I just thought they were funny! So had to add it in. (Watch it Lenny!)
Then he showed him to the room he had prepared. "This is the only other room with a bed, but I guess we could squeeze beds into 2 others if needed."
"This is great!" Lenny sighed taking a deep breath, "It'll be nice to sleep in a good bed again." They just started assigning the vacant homes and Roxanne was one of the first to get one, but we are having problems with housing. I let her know yesterday.. So many of the military quarters are being quarantined and people are being moved around, to make room. I'm really sorry to be in your way.."
"Oh I'm sure it won't be for too long." Rubanoid's chassis shook momentarily, then he added, "All you fine agents will get all this human mess sorted out and things will get back to normal soon!"
And, yes, normally I play with aging on so everything is go-go-go to get things done. I keep reminding myself that we have lots of time so not to rush too much.
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
@SoulGal7
@miss_eulenauge - Interesting backstory and characters. Looking forward to see how it all plays out for you.
@sassytxbrat
@Hermitgirl
Today's post coming in a little while. Hope y'all had a great day/night!
Marnie tried her best to distract the little ones, but she was only one person.. and there were two of them. Naturally, the other one followed Bennie around, trying to get some attention.
Bennie tried grumbling at the toddler, but all he got was a quizzical look. Finally he tried yelling at him. That worked better, although getting a nasty look from a toddler isn’t any one’s idea of a good day. At least the twin – whichever one it was (Bennie could care less) – finally left him alone.
Marnie was just finished with giving a bath when Braydon came in, begging to be shown how to go potty. He certainly hadn’t been taught by anyone, and was curious how this whole thing worked. (And at this point, the only way he was going to learn was by his own choice or demand.)
Poor Marnie took care of that, then tried to get some of the never-ending cleaning done. Her mind was wandering, however, and she ended up spraying the table instead of the high chair. Could nothing go right??
After school, Jaz hummed to herself as she walked up the stairs. For the most part, her day hadn’t been too bad, and Benji’s suggestion had worked like a charm. She had been able to go to the bathroom all by herself and without the prying eyes and bullying words of the other students. She had kept to herself all day, though, and had avoided the playground at recess, so finding something fun to do and someone to play with was high on her list of priorities.
Bennie turned out to be the wrong choice for a chat partner.. and why Jaz tried him first, we’ll never know.. but as you can easily guess, it didn’t go well for her.
Braydon was playing nicely by himself now that he was all clean, had a fresh diaper, and a full tummy. It was amazing how nice a happy toddler can be. Myles worked on some art projects for his scouts badge, oblivious to what happened with the rest of his family.
Jazmyn was completely annoyed now after being yelled at by Bennie, and decided she’d go play with Braydon for a while. All the noise, however, woke a grouchy Benji up from a nap (in Jaz’s bed, no less) – and got her another “talking to”.
Luckily, however, Bennie had disappeared (nobody knew where – he hadn’t bothered to say), and the living room was free. Little Brett had decided to join in on playtime, to Jaz’s delight, and they had a lot of fun playing with the little toys
Phoenix was murdering some piece of music or another, (I assure you, nobody knew what it was – probably not even him), and Brett thanked his big sister for actually taking some time for him the only way he knew how.
Since the TV was (uncharacteristically) actually not in use, Benji talked Jaz into playing some games. He may or may not have picked her because she was easy to beat, but he certainly wasn’t going to admit it.
Poor Brett had hoped for more attention, however, and toddled off with a pout to find someone else he could annoy.
Marnie, luckily, caught him before he ran out the front door into the storm, and got him into bed. Braydon was already asleep, so she tried her best to keep Brett quiet, but it wasn’t working. That was when she noticed the smell.
Sure enough, there was a diaper that needed changing before bedtime – so Marnie took care of it. She may or may not have been begging a higher power for an actual break in this screenshot, and if she was, who would blame her?!
Bennie ran in to the house soaking wet, and in a better mood. (He wasn’t going to explain where he’d been, because his C-lister gig wasn’t exactly something to be proud of, but at least he had 240 bucks to show for it. Grocery money!)
Unfortunately, the night wasn’t over. And having all the kids in bed really didn’t mean anything with the twins in the house. Before you knew it, Brett was up again, and bawling at the foot of the Murphy bed. Bennie grumbled and poked Marnie. “Your turn.” he mumbled.. and rolled back over. Marnie yawned widely, and glared at her husband’s sleeping form. “When has it EVER been NOT my turn!” she whispered, and wearily turned to catch the toddler before he headed off to wake up the rest of the household.
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
Small spoiler alert, Duane does have the Bro trait. I plan on developing something between the two. Good, bad, in-between....I'll have to see on how the game plays out as well. But there will be more of these two together.
@miss_eulenauge
@Karababy52
I went ahead and edited my posts to put the story part in spoilers as well.
I never really thought about explaining why Duane lives with Makoa and family. I am thinking adoption. Maybe it's something to explore further with him and Jackson. When I found out Duane is also a Bro trait, I got excited. We'll definitely see a relationship grow (whether it's good or bad) between Jackson and Duane as time passes.
So for now on, I will only reply to mentions and comment the updates of simmers who have commented mine, so I hope this way nobody has to feel guilty if not commenting others
As it is only optional, nobody should take pressure from it
Just my penny, I hope I can finally get the last semester replayed tomorrow. I so want to go to SV
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
I had a blast playing the StrangerVille story. Not sure I want to do it again within this challenge. I'll have to wait and see as time goes on.
Shameless plug if anyone wants to read my StrangerVille story. It's only 9 chapters long, so it's a pretty easy read.
(A #BuildNewcrest Challenge: Simself Legacy Edition Spinoff)
Sakura was eating cereal when the Resident Don came to chat with her. It was actually one of her roommates, Reyansh Raghavan, who was in the History program, and wanted to pursue a legal career.
Reyansh: "Sakura, I am sorry to hear of your loss. Unfortunately, there were a lot of sims who came in and out of the dorm yesterday due to moving day, so it could have been anyone. It has happened before. I would suggest that you not leave anything of value out in the open," he handed her some claim forms to fill out.
Sakura filled out the forms and handed them back.
Reyansh: "You know, a friend of mine owns a house in Britechester, and he's looking for someone to take over the house. He's heading off to Strangerville on short notice...got a scientist job at some lab there. Anyway, you seem like a nice sim, and I see you're serious about your studies because I saw you working on your presentation already. He's looking for a responsible sim, who won't trash the house. Anyway, if you're interested, you would get your own room, and then you can lock the door and nobody will get your stuff. You'll still be living with roommates, but you get to interview them. Make sure they're the right sims you want to live with. It would be available for next term, but he's interviewing sims tomorrow."
Sakura thought about what Wolfgang had said yesterday about off-campus housing, "It sounds really wonderful, but I have to talk to my friend about it first."
Reyansh: "Okay, well, here's the address. Let me know if you're going and I'll put in a good word for you."
After Reyansh left, Sakura headed to the computer and started working on her term paper. She had so much work to do before term even started. She wished there was a campus organization that was for both Foxbury and UBrite students to help them with homework. Thinking about homework reminded her of Lucas and the Homework Helpers Club.
["Of course", she thought, "I will form my own Homework Helpers type club for all university students."]
Sakura got on the phone and called Wolfgang, and he thought it was a great idea. They could work on homework together, but also do skilling for their program. Wolfgang suggested they meet at Larry's Lagoon at Foxbury. He had two students in mind to invite, and Sakura already knew who she would be asking. She saw Jeb Harris wandering the halls, and asked him if he would like to come along.
Once there, Sakura saw Wolfgang and River and was introduced to another student named Julia Wright. She lived in Wyvern Dorm with Luna and Sofia and was in the Physics program. Sakura introduced Jeb Harris to everyone, and found out that he and Wolfgang were in E-Sports together. What a great group to start!
The name of the group was Friends-4-Ever and it would concentrate on homework, research, and some skill building like playing chess, practicing violin and building robots. If something didn't work, they could always change it.
Sakura had done a draft of her presentation, and asked Wolfgang for some feedback.
Her presentation was looking excellent, so she put that away for now. Sakura then started doing homework, and noticed that River wasn't doing any.
River: "Um...yah...about that...I...er...lost my homework book somewhere. I guess I need to buy another one...but I think I'll work on building a bot for that Bot Savant meeting tomorrow morning. Hey, Wolfgang, come and build a bot with me."
[Note: At this point I switched to Wolfgang in worldview and then had him call a club meeting again. I decided it was a good time for him to work on his presentation board.]
And then suddenly...oh my gawd! Not River!
Noooo.....this can't be happening! Sakura's first club meeting and she kills someone.
And there is Grim making his appearance. GO AWAY!
[Note: At this point, I can't switch to worldview to control Sakura, because I know she has a death flower in her personal inventory. I am racking my brain trying to think if she gave one to Wolfgang...]
Poor Wolfgang, "River, bro...you can't die on me. We have that bot to build together, remember?"
And eureka, Wolfgang has something that Grim likes in his personal inventory, "How about we do a trade, Grim? This flower for River's life back?" It sounded like a good trade to Grim.
Sofia is so excited, "Hallelujah!" she shouts.
River: "Whoa! What a rush! Is this some club initiation or something?"
Wolfgang: "River, promise me bro, that we will only work on robots together. And I'll get some more of those flowers from Sakura. Those things are a real lifesaver!"
River: "Sure thing, Wolfgang. Man, I feel like I ate a spicy meatball. Talk about heartburn!. You got any tums on you?"
Grim to River: "Hey, what can I say, it's a job, and I do it well...no hard feelings, I hope..."
Once Grim leaves, River and Wolfgang sit together. River is a bit dazed, "Wolfgang, you're my hero. I love ya, man. Anything I can ever do for you, let me know...but ask me in a few hours...okay...man, I feel dazed and I didn't even have any juice! I think I need to get some juice...or my bed...or something. Is the Club Gathering still on? If I leaned my head on your shoulder, would you mind? You are just so amazing. Wolfgang, you're my hero. I love ya, man. Anything I can ever do..." River must have short-circuited something because he just keeps repeating himself over and over again,
Wolfgang rolls his eyes. If they didn't have a bromance before, they have one now!
Immediately after this, I switch back to Sakura, from world view, and then, turn the robot stations around, and she replaces robot building with practice acting. Yep, no more robot building in her club.
They stay the entire day at Larry's Lagoon and then suddenly Sakura hears an announcement. There's a Mixer Night tonight, right there in Larry's Lagoon. What luck! Sakura asks Wolfgang if it would be okay if she toured his dorm tomorrow, and he agrees, as they all need some fun after that rather electrifying afternoon.
And the party animals come out. There is Essa. And what a pro! She taps the keg on her first try.
And Melody is doing the Foxbury Cheer!
Jenny has shown up, too, and plays some ping pong with Jeb Harris.
And of course, Sakura asks Wolfgang if he wants to do a keg stand with her. And again Sakura gets the "Keg Stood" moodlet.
Sakura: "You're my guy, Wolfgang! We did it again!"
Wolfgang smiled at Sakura and only wished he was really "her guy".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Notes: On the second day of uni, I realized that perhaps I had made a mistake putting Wolfgang and Sakura in separate dorms. I had never played multi-sims at uni before. In uni, as opposed to high school and grade school, sims have presentations and term papers to write for their courses. And sims will not autonomously do either of those. They will autonomously do homework, though. And if sims don't do their coursework, they will end up on probation and then get suspended. Yikes! And then there was poor Jeb Harris who was in Sakura's dorm on probation. I had to try and help this poor guy. So, I thought of a sort-of solution to this, clubs. At least in clubs they will do their homework, and do some skilling for their course requirements. If they go to class or not, well, the game would have to take care of that. There is no option in the clubs menu to write a term paper or do presentations. So, on Saturday, that is what I had Sakura do, create a club called Friends-4-Ever.
Club members include: Sakura (leader), Wolfgang Munch (in Physics), Julia Wright (pre-made sim; on probation in Physics), River Funke-Townes (in Physics program, and Wolfgang's best bud), Luna Villareal (pre-made sim; in Drama & Sakura's friend), Sofia Bjergsen (pre-made sim; in Fine Arts & Sakura's friend).
I also had Sakura invite Jeb Harris (who I can control) to come with the group. He is currently on probation in Computer Science and is on the E-Sports Team with Wolfgang. I enrolled him in uni and chose four courses for him, which I later think may have been a mistake, with 2 term papers, a presentation and a final exam. I should have just signed him up for 1 course.
I am sure there is a way to cheat grades with a mod, but I don't use mods. Unless someone knows how to do this without a mod. If so, let me know.
I love their awareness of each other too! Will be good when they finally get together if and when it happens. The makeovers of the where they will live is great.
For your May 1 Post was laughing over the names of the classes .. if theres any reason I want my sims to eventually get every degree it's to see all the class names.
Great shots of Uni life and the further story of unrequited lovegoing on here.. aww. It is easier to live on a home lot.. easier to get to school on time for sure.
@sassytxbrat
For the next post on Tuesday I think I'm getting Emily and Skye mixed up lol. I'll get it eventually though. Poor Mia but they look adorable even passed out on the floor.
For the post for today omg pregnant again! I have a lot of problems with dark pictures too. And when it's outside it drives me even crazier because you can't do anything about it at all if it's due to weather.
@IllusoryThrall
The family time was great too of course.. and by great I mean it that poor household! You'll have lots to post for any day that's for sure. Poor Jaz she just doesn't want to go..
Okay you made me bust out laughing with your next post "Why are you peeing on the floor like a wild animal??".. I had a hard time stopping. But oh man they are so mean to her, seriously poor Jaz... I'll try not to laugh again...
Aww with your picture of Brett and Jaz on the next post... lol do you try to control them much? That poor family lol.
@Ellupelluellu
@Karababy52
Was the cowplant thing a bug or did you set that up for the story? Either way great tie in to Strangerville.
Josh still looks cute with short hair by the way... darn those pixel blurs!
Okay I read your next post and found out it was a bug thing. I like that bug!
For the May 3 post. Frank is great and he finally got his flirt on! Awwws for the "You make me happy" line too!
In reading your response from a few days ago (and todays comment). I decided that it makes sense for Roxanne to have a partner and when I was making Lenny (well it was a remake of a gallery, sim.. a girl that had made it to the top level) I started putting asian faces on him then shaping him more.. then a better body ect and yeah I decided Roxanne would like the way he looked cause I did! I doubt I can put him on my gallery though because I started with someone else's sim. I do have a feeling he might stick around though!
@permanentrose
For Update 123. That jukebox great, and great shot in front of it. I want couples dances in this game so bad! Cute poses. Jules looks right at home in that uniform too
@lilypadmeulin
Jenny's tucking Celeste in was sweet. I hope they all settle in well soon.
@Skeilah
For your May 4 post .. wow what a drop down about the sedentary lifestyle. I like it when it hits home.
Bryon can do it though!
@LegacySims2017
Thanks for putting him on the gallery!
For your day 4 post.. I'm glad Jackson is making some friends despite his fears of being found out.
@miss_eulenauge
You'll be able to do the spoilers and things as soon as you become a member.. it won't take long.
For your first post about your family. I don't like Greg already and feel sorry for his wife and that's good lol. I like stories like this.
I'll be doing the same thing as @Ellupelluellu has decided too. I realized between reading and having a note open to comment I've been here for 2 hours. Sometimes I don't have time to play.. So I'll probably make more effort to comment to someone who has commented to me, but I'll be reading it all and sometimes I'm sure I'll flip a comment out there especially if it was just too funny or gut wrenching or something. I might also just do a more overall comment every few days then trying to do it post by post.. and I've done that in the past now and then when I get behind.
Notes
Since Josh had previously served in the military, he started in StrangerVille at a higher level. He left the next morning to report for duty and Essa left for town not long after. She wanted to take a look around and see if there was anything she could discover about what was happening there. Josh had asked her not to visit the lab, but he didn't say she couldn't ask questions.
Her first stop was the information center/library. Perusing the bookshelves, she found an interesting book that seemed promising and checked it out to read later. On her way to leave, a man in a white lab coat passed by her with an "Excuse me."
"Hey, wait! Sir? May I ask you a question? You look like someone who might know. Do you know anything about what's happening in this town? Where did those strange plants come from I see everywhere? And why are they infecting people that get near them?"
"I'm sorry Miss, that's classified."
"But why? Shouldn't people be informed so they know how to protect themselves? Why is everything such a secret?"
"You'd be better off not knowing. And don't go near the lab, it's not safe. That's all I can tell you. Good day."
"Okay, thank you anyway. I guess."
(He knows something. He just won't tell me. Great.)
Essa left and noticed a bar across the street. Maybe someone in there would talk to her. It was early morning so there wasn't many patrons visiting this time of day. But, she did see one soldier sitting at a table watching a television bolted to the wall.
"Excuse me. I apologize for the interruption, but I'm hoping you can help me. Is there anything you can tell me about the strange plants and infected people I see all around town?"
"I'm sorry Ma'am, I don't know anything about that. It's classified information and I don't have the correct credentials to gain access to it." The soldier said and turned away to continue watching her show.
"Okay, thanks anyway."
(Lesson learned, don't ask lower level soldiers.)
Essa left the bar and saw a girl wearing a vest with a lot of patches on it. Some of them in the shape of supposed aliens. At least by those who believed anyway.
(I wonder if she's one of Audrey's friends.)
She approached the girl and asked her the same questions she'd asked the prior two about what was happening in town. Unlike the others, she was happy to talk to Essa.
"Oh yeah, it's aliens, they've taken over the lab outside of town. I heard they're abducting people and infecting them with some kind of virus. Then they release them to walk around and plant those strange plants to infect others. Be careful who you talk to around here. Some of the aliens disguise themselves as lab technicians and soldiers. You should go talk to Erwin at that booth over there, he knows a lot more about it then I do. Oh! You can get a special hat from him too that will..."
The girl abruptly stopped talking when a lady in a white lab coat walked by and gave her a bland look.
"Uh...I'm sorry Miss, I don't know what you're talking about. I can't help you." She said with wide eyes filled with fear and a fake smile on her lips. She froze in place and wouldn't say another word. She looked terrified of the lady who had passed her by.
Essa ran after the lab technician shouting, "Wait, hey wait, stop, I'd like to ask you some questions if I may?"
"Can't stop, I'm late for work."
"Did you know that girl thinks you're an alien. She's terrified you'll infect her like all the others I see around here."
"That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard lady. I'm just a lab technician, nothing more."
"Will you tell me what's going on at the lab then? What are those strange plants? Where did they come from? Do you know anything at all?"
"I'm sorry Miss, that's classified. I can't tell you anything. I have to go."
"You mean you won't tell me!"
"That's right, clever girl. I won't. Now leave me alone. You're making me later than I already am." She said and disappeared behind a military truck.
(Strike three. Does that mean I'm out, of luck?)
Essa walked back to the street from the alleyway and began walking down the sidewalk. As she was walking she heard some strange recordings coming from the booth the blond had told her about and a redhead who must be...uh...Erwin? Yeah, that was his name, loudly hawking his wares.
(Guess it's worth a try. Let's see what Erwin has to say. If anything.)
The closer she got to the booth though, the more her stomach dropped with disappointment. It looked filled with all kinds of alien swag; t-shirts, those anti-alien hats, crystals, photographs and maps marking spots where aliens had been spotted, stuffed toy aliens, and a gnome in a cage, among other things.
(What? Why?)
The weirdest thing of all though, was the grinning skull of a dead cowplant (Beast!) nailed to the top looking down upon anyone who cared to approach. Seeing all that didn't give her much confidence Erwin would have any reliable information, but what did she have to lose?
"Hey there! Hello! Finally, a customer! I was about ready to close up shop, so you're a very lucky lady! What can I help you with today? Can I interest you in a lovely Anti-Alien hat, guaranteed to keep any menacing aliens away. They come in an assortment of colors. On sale today only for $20! Or perhaps you would like a stuffed alien for a child or even yourself to cuddle?"
"Uh, thanks, but what I'm really interested in is information. Someone wearing a vest like yours told me you could tell me what's going on in this town. Where did those strange plants come from? How are people getting infected? Just...what's going on here? Do you know?"
"Okay, yeah, I can help you with that. Just give me a minute to close up and I'll meet you around the side of the booth." Erwin said as he looked nervously from side to side up and down the sidewalk to see if anyone else was around.
After a few minutes, Erwin appeared from the back of the booth and joined Essa.
"Thank you for agreeing to talk to me. Nobody else would say anything to me. I asked two lab technicians, a solder and the girl that pointed me in your direction. She clammed up though when a lab technician passed by her."
"Okay, shhh, not so loud, okay? They'll hear you."
"Who? Who will hear me?"
"The ALIENS! Gah! Why are people so clueless? Why? Why? Why?" Erwin shouted despite asking Essa to be quiet.
"Of course it's the aliens doing all this, what else could it be? Wake up lady! They're working with the government to take over the world! Before you know it, we'll all be mindless soldiers for the military under their infinite control! And the military is so dumb they just go right a long with it thinking it's good for the country for some reason. How? How is that good for anyone? Tell me, huh? Cuz I'd really like to know."
"Uh, I don't know."
"It's all happening out at that lab. Anyone that gets near it comes back infected. I'd stay away from that place if I were you. It's dangerous! You don't want to be an alien robot do you?"
"Wait, what's that? Did you hear that sound? Oh God, they're coming for me. They probably heard me. Good thing I have my anti-alien hat to protect me. You need one too, everybody should wear one! I have to go before they find me, come back some other time when it's safe. I've got lots of stuff that'll help you find out more. I'm learning more every day....*Gasp* I said too much!" Erwin said and then ran off down the street, wildly looking in terror from side to side as he went.
(Well that was a bust. Great. I might as well just go home now. Josh will be home soon. Maybe he's learned something that will help us figure out what's going on.)
Back home Essa noticed another one of those strange plant pods had popped up in the side yard of their property. She walked over, but not too close and looked down at it.
(What IS that thing? Where did it come from? It certainly looks alien. Maybe it is aliens, who knows? But aliens aren't real, right? I don't know. I know one thing though. The answer is in that lab. Everybody mentioned the lab. Whatever is going on began there. It just makes sense, right?)
Essa walked away and went in the house to check on Frank and read the book she'd checked out before Josh returned home from work.
@sassytxbrat
@IllusoryThrall
I've been meaning to share a picture of my non-binary sim kid with you, since I think it's cool you've been exploring gender identity with a kid sim too! This is Wendell (a game generated name I got when their parents adopted them, and I just left it!) who uses they/them pronouns. They exist in the same save as Jules, they just haven't appeared in any storylines yet. They are actually the little sibling of one of Jules' high school friends' though, so maybe they will show up eventually
@SoulGal7
And oh my goodness, I'm so glad you gave Wolfgang a death flower! I got worried that River was gonna die again
It is hard to manage several enrolled sims - doing a club was a great idea! I had to cheat degrees for sims like Emmett and Mario since they were always on probation when I went to check in with them, haha. I wish that they'd just autonomously keep up with their classes when not controlling them! I don't know about cheating grades (I only know how to do that with high school grades), but like I said, you can cheat degrees without a mod, which is helpful if you do end up not being able to keep up. Carl's University cheats has a lot of helpful cheats when trying to manage a lot of sims going to uni.
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
I always read the stories on my phone when I wake up in the morning. Since I'm in Europe, all of you spam this topic when I'm fast asleep and I have a lot to read when I wake up. It's a nice way of waking up, actually, and I enjoy waking up now. Thanks for living on the total opposite side of me! XD
@permanentrose
@Karababy52
Bryon has this Sedentary lifestyle, what makes it more difficult :P He's never had the condition Naoki for example has. But we're gonna change that! I'm Aspiration swapping between Strangerville and Bodybuilder right now, because this seems like the perfect timing to do that.
Yep! You also find a lot of nonsense in the Library, like articles and stuff, but here and there you can find evidence! I used it to get my last piece of evidence for the dossier. Funny thing is how I only made the dossier for the aspiration, since I won't use it to get a keycard.
Naoki loves to help and of course, he also just wants the babies back! It's a good thing he's keeping it a secret, because if Jaquan would find out...
Josh's first day at work! Good luck, Josh! Yep, everything is a secret in Strangerville. So, you're also going with aliens? ^^ Seems like aliens being the cause of this all is rather popular! These scientists sure are something.... They get on my nerves lol. Erwin is funny xD I had a good laugh when he was explaining everything to Essa. Hehe, aliens aren't real, she said. I know all about aliens!
@miss_eulenauge
Dylan Sigworth from Strangerville, haha! I absolutely love him, and Sarah too! I'm really curious of how their children will turn out, and who exactly will be the person to play this challenge. You got me on the edge of my seat!
Talk about opposites, and there you have Sarah and Greg. Nice background story you got. Can't wait to see more about them!
@sassytxbrat
@Hermitgirl
Lenny, run! Run before its too late!
@IllusoryThrall
@SoulGal7
I really shouldn't read your posts late at night in order to keep the laughter down! :D
@Permanentrose: (Update 123) that pose is cute! And I soooo hope she'll find that dog again. I love Cats as well as Dogs in RL, and this one just is too cute!
Thank you for your suggestion on posting in other forum threads. Perhaps I should split up replies here (I still need 10 more posts I think!), but I don't want to doublepost in case someone thinks it's rude.
@SoulGal: The university life souns really fun! Good idea about the club to keep your other university Sims from failing. And I'm curious about the potential off-campus housing. (and the development with Wolfgang :D)
@Hermitgirl: LOL at your robot not quite grasping the difference between private thoughts and conversations with him. I hope there won't be a rift between him and Roxanne because of him cluelessly admitting that he flirts with appliances. And it was funny how Rubanoid greeted Lenny and "showed him to his room".
@Sassytxbrat Oh no, why did you say that! O.o Now I will be curious about the baby(babies?) until your updates have caught up with your playing...
@IllusoryThrall The Kid-Toddler interactions are just so cute :D Glad that Jaz was able to forget about her worries and didn't have quite so many problems at school.
@LegacySims Somehow I don't quite get that reference? Is it about Jackson and Sulani? If you were confused if they were lawn living right now - No, Greg inherited this small, cluttered Goodwill home, which we will fill with kids over the course of May.
@Karababy: LOL at Essa's unsubtle attempts to question people. She'll really make waves whereever she goes, won't she?
(am I using :D and LOL too much? I guess I am just a bit self-conscious :#)
time zone: Berlin, Germany - EA Gallery ID: Noctuara
Story and more pics:
He went on. "They mostly just wander around aimlessly, but we've found out they love to plant.. you can't keep them away from it if you put the seeds out. There's a few other things they will do .. but hey you try things, better to see for yourself."
Roxanne tried to talk with one of uniformed men and he thrust himself in her face making strange noises. It was bizarre and creepy.
She tried other things but mostly they just wandered away. One played ping pong with her. He was good at it too!
"So we got all these people and we're keeping them locked up to protect them... nearly every encampment area is full already. We try to keep the civilians we find in other areas and also separate the sexes.. to keep it drama free and I mean God forbid they breed. One odd thing though is we have to give them access to an outside area. They will batter themselves bloody against the walls if they are fully trapped. It can even be a small area as long as it's outside with a patch of ground. "
They also have periods of complete lucidity ... totally normal. Although they forget the time frame when they are possessed. We can't send them home like this though. We have to find an answer and quick!
They spent the day there and into the night. Lenny felt it was important that she see what happened to them. Although they had periods in the daytime when they might become possessed. They always did at night.
(Obviously I took some liberties to what time frames they are actually normally possessed in, in the game. I had them eat the fruit in the daytime to have them act that way. Also they don't just love to plant... but you can make them do it and other things while possessed with group interactions...I find it fun in other saves I have to use this.)