#me when i want to get a berry in the late game in gen 8

[front-facing-pokemon]

[simslegacy5083]

Not So Berry (Straud Descendants) Gen 9

Today's (8/13/2024) Episode: Making The Pitch

When Luigi put his mind to something it usually wasn’t long before he’d achieved his goal, and his proposal for Noemi’s boss was no exception.

Working late into the night he outlined his idea for a new life sim. He’d played Sims Forever since he was young and had been programming mods to enhance his gameplay almost as long. The popularity of those mods made him confident that he understood what would appeal to other gamers.

Noemi had been right that Luigi’s name being attached to the project would get her bosses attention.

Her supervisor had looked skeptical when she’d dropped a proposal from her fiancée off that morning, but by lunchtime Patricia caught her in the breakroom with quite a different attitude. “I looked into your boy’s plan.” She said, wolfing down a quick sandwich between meetings.

“A respected Sims Forever modder with a couple other claims to fame developing a competitor to the classic game?” She rapped her knuckles on the table for emphasis and pointed. “Get him here ASAP for a meeting with me and Daniel from investment! I’m positive the community will eat this up.”

A couple days later Luigi found himself in the conference room of Rainy Day’s downtown headquarters. He and Noemi worked for different branches of the same parent company, and he’d met her boss a couple times in passing, but the investment guy was new to him.

Used to public performances he was at ease, smiling brightly as he shook hands and settled down across from the other two sims.

“So…” Patrica began “I read your proposal and I’m intrigued. I want to hear more about what you think you can bring to the table to set your game apart from Sims Forever. We’ll want to attract its audience and bring in new players – how do you intend to do that”?

As he’d gotten older Luigi had learned how to use his cheerful nature to his advantage. To that end he didn’t attempt to hide his enthusiasm, letting his excitement shine through and captivating his audience as he launched into an explanation.

"Sims Forever has been my favorite videogame for as long as I can remember. I love it, but I’m also very aware of what it lacks, the things I got into modding to fix. I want to develop a game that has options for more control, and more chaos. One with randomly generated NPCs that didn’t dress themselves in the dark, who have skills and backstories to match their traits and preferences.” 

Luigi paused to take a breath, but before he could continue Daniel held up a hand to stop him. "I've heard enough. Your project writeup outlined this quite nicely. It’s clear you have the passion to execute your vision; and I’ll be counting on Noemi here to manage the team needed to back you up."

Luigi gave Daniel a sincerely thankful smile as they discussed the contractual details, but Patricia didn’t let him escape on a high note.

"Before you go, there is one issue we need to talk about. You got yourself into quite the pickle the other night with that little mouse fiasco. I trust the PR department is helping you clean up that mess?“ She looked at him expectantly as he did his best to suppress a flash of irritation and shame. 

"Of course," he lied "they're all over it.“ In reality, the “damage control” team were all over him to address it publicly, but he’d been stonewalling them. He’d hoped the whole thing would just blow over in time without requiring him to take an active and risky role in repairing his reputation.

 As he and Noemi walked out to grab lunch, Luigi’s excitement at his win was dampened by worrying about what he was going to say to the team’s publicist later that evening. It looked like he was going to need to cooperate with them after all.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[askkrenko]

Krenko’s Guide to Pokemon: Geodude Line

DESIGN:  Geodude is a rock with arms. And yet somehow it’s really cool about it. The fact that they’re really realistic arms and not just goofy arms really helps it, because it means that the purpose of this rock is to punch you in the face. And he looks like he’s ready to punch you in the face, too. Alolan Geodude looks mostly the same, but with big bushy eyebrows and spikey hair made of what I can only assume is some sort of highly magnetic metal.  Probably the Iron Ore “Magnetite.”  Also, Alolan Geodude doesn’t have fingers which I guess is just to conserve detail and make them look a bit different. It works. 

Graveler is mostly great but kind of confuses me. I like how it’s rounder and clearly designed for rolling at things, like something you’d want to push down a mountain or throw out of a catapult. I also appreciate the little stubby legs for better motion. What I don’t get is the two extra arms. They just sit there, hugging itself. I suppose they could be useful in helping it climb, but Geodude doesn’t seem to need them and, more confusingly, Golem doesn’t have them.  I do generally appreciate Graveler’s design as bigger badder Geodude. The second arms just confuse me.

Alolan Graveler changes in much the same way. It gets more Magnetite pieces, and sort of a moustache to go with its bushy eyebrows, but also picks up chunks of Amber, which I literally just learned can acquire and hold electric charges.

Golem never struck me as the final form of Geodude, and the fact that the three Pokemon aren’t near each other on the internal list tells me it wasn’t really planned. In fact, Golem and Graveler both appear in the stage of design before Evolution existed, suggesting they were entirely different monsters, with Geodude, created very late along with Nidorino and Nidorina, built as a way to flesh it out into a three-stage line.  Golem itself seems to be some sort of rock turtle, and really doesn’t feel like a Golem in the traditional sense. In fact, it’s Japanese name isn’t just Golem, but a mix of the words Golem and Stone, aiming for the idea that it’s a Rock Golem rather than a Clay golem. 

But name and origin aside, Golem’s pretty cool. It’s a big rock with just enough body parts to look like it can fight, but not so many that you’d think you can attack it without just punching stone.  And I love the way the rocks on it look like armored plates. Come to think of it, I’m starting to get Black Tortoise vibes here.  Maybe he needs to form a party with Moltres, Gyarados, and... uhh...   Pokemon needs a Wind Tiger. 

Alolan Golem gets a similar treatment to Geodude and Graveler, but winds up looking very, very Eastern European. Big bushy beared and moustache, huge aggressive eyebrows, the way the magnetite on top looks like a little hat from the right angle... Oh also it’s got a rail gun built into it now for shooting rocks at high speed, and its arms are really withered and tiny.   Frankly, I think this thing just looks ridiculous. I can’t take Alolan Golem seriously at all. For a fully evolved Pokemon, I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

EVOLUTIONS:  Geodude evolves into Graveler at 25 no matter where he is, and Graveler to Golem is a Trade Evolution. Pretty standard, not much to say here I haven’t already said. TYPING:  Kantonian Golem is a Rock/Ground type, which is not actually that good defensively. Five resistances and an immunity is decent, but it’s also got six weaknesses, two of which are double weaknesses.  On the other hand, it gets STAB super effective against eight types, and no single type resists both Ground and Rock type attacks.  Alolan Golem is the unique Rock/Electric which only has four weaknesses (though one is a 4x weakness to ground), and has five resistances.  Unfortunately, its attacks are only supereffective against five types, and Ground resists both of its STAB options.

STATS: Both Golem forms have identical stats: Average HP, Great Attack, Great Defense, Poor Defense, and just abysmal speed.  This means Golem can be a very good physical tank, but has to constantly be wary of getting ruined by a special attack. There’s a lot of attacks it can safely switch in to, and its got enough Attack that switching into it is usually going to be risky. Still, with no speed, any time Golem does get a kill it’s going to get revenge killed immediately if you don’t switch it out. ABILITIES: Both Golem forms can get Sturdy, which is honestly quite useful for inhibiting the Revenge kill, catching a Sweeper, or otherwise just surviving when you shouldn’t be able to. Obviously plenty of things can break it, like Hail, Burn or just not being taken out in one shot, but it comes up often enough.  Many Golem players like to combine Sturdy with a Custap berry,  allowing it to go first the turn it should be dead. Kantonian Golem’s other abilities are Sand Veil and Rock Head. Sand Veil is fine, but requires a dedicated Sandstorm team. A Sandstorm does patch Golem’s poor special defense, but it’s still a specific niche strategy. Rock Head prevents recoil damage from Golem’s attacks, but unless Gen 8 gives Golem access to Head Smash, it has no way to leverage this. Its only Recoil move is Double Edge, which isn’t STAB and thus isn’t as strong as just using a Rock or Ground move.

Alolan Golem’s secondary options are a bit more interesting. Magnet Pull prevents Steel types from switching out. This can provide a lot of tactical power, but Alolan Golem has to go off-STAB to get a supereffective move for Steel types (though Earthquake is great), doesn’t resist Steel type attacks, and  Aegislash, one of the best steel types, is immune to Magnet Pull because Ghosts are immune to being Trapped. Alolan Golem’s other ability, Galvanize, turns all its Normal moves to Electric moves and increases their base damage by 20%.  This is potentially very useful as Alolan Golem’s Normal type moves are just outright stronger than its Electric type moves.  Wild Charge has a base power of 90. Double-Edge has a base power of 120.  Return, though missing in Gen 8, has a potential base power of 102, without recoil.  And then there’s explosion. A Galvanized Explosion by Alolan Golem is one of the most powerful moves in the game, if not the most powerful. MOVES: Golem learns Earthquake. On its own. You don’t even need a TM.  Alolan Golem doesn’t have STAB with it, and does need a TM, but Earthquake is Earthquake and Alolan Golem might still want it, especially if it’s using Magnet Pull. For rock moves, Stone Edge is the obvious STAB move for both forms. Alolan Golem’s electric options are not great. It’s a physical attacker with 120 Attack and only 55 special, but its best electric attacks are all special attacks.  A Magnet Pull Alolan Golem is going to have Wild Charge as its best electric option, easily.  A Sturdy Alolan Golem, though, can’t afford the recoil without shutting off its own ability, and has to rely on Spark. Thunder Punch technically does more damage, but Spark’s higher paralysis chance is generally going to make it better.  Galvanize unlocks options, with the major one being Double Edge at base 120 power. Coverage isn’t really something either needs to think about- nothing Kantonian Golem can learn doubles to being better than a STAB Earthquake or Stone Edge, and nothing Alolan Golem can learn is super effective against Ground types.

What they can both learn, though, is Stealth Rock, getting a bit of damage in ahead of whatever’s coming in next. AND THEN YOU EXPLODE!

With Golem’s high attack stat, Explosion is going to do serious damage to anything that isn’t immune.... and with Alolan Golem’s Galvanize, a STAB +20% Electric Explosion is entirely capable of killing even things resistant to electric attacks.  And consider this line of play: With Sturdy and a Custap Berry, they attack with Surf, one-shot the Golem, but it stays at 1 HP... and the berry means it goes first. So you explode and kill the enemy at once despite being slower nearly dead.  And then whatever they switch into gets hit by Stealth Rock.

Look, Golem’s not a sweeper, and it’s not the best tank, but if it can take something down with it and set up a bit of extra damage with Stone Edge, or set up a Sandstorm or Sunny Day for the rest of your team, it’s doing its just just fine. OVERALL:  Golem is entirely fine. It really suffers from x4 weaknesses and low speed,  but its stats are overall decent.  Its abilities in both forms are all pretty mediocre, and it’s not really working toward some overarching strategy, but it’s numbers are decent and it can reliably kill things by Exploding.  And its ability to Explode is actually pretty impressive. It’s the strongest base power of any attack, and Alolan Golem’s one of only three Pokemon that can get STAB to it, the other two  having significantly lower Attack stats. I’m never going to call Golem one of my favorites or rant about its usefulness, but it’s got things it can do better than others, and it’s got ways to fit into teams. Turn one: Sunny Day. Turn two: Explosion. There, you’ve made a valuable contribution. It does really need and deserve Head Smash, though.  Getting Rock Head and then only learning one move with Recoil that isn’t even STAB is just a waste of everyone’s time.  Or consider this: Give Rock Head to Alolan Golem instead of Sturdy, then let it use Wild Charge AND Head Smash with impunity. 

[gaming-grandma]

Pokemon: Let’s go

It is hilarious to me, beyond any bearable laughter pain, that the majority of negative reviews for this game is that it’s “Not my pokemon” “not a true tribute to gen 1″ and such, when this game is the first ACTUAL homage to the original series since the first games actually released, and is a joyously heartfelt compact experience with a surprising amount of game in it. 

I’m going to talk about a few things first.

1) This is not a main series Pokemon game. It was never even intended to be one. Nintendo said it was not one. It was never advertised as one. It was even said, at the release of this game’s title, that they were working on a separate main series title for the switch. And yet. There are numbskulls going around acting like they discovered the cure for the black plague when they spam people with “THIS ISN’T EVEN A MAIN SERIES POKEMON GAME!” congratulations; that is the point. You have achieved cognition.

2) This game is more true to Pokemon Yellow than leafgreen firered, fight me. There’s no abilities, no item holding; mechanics are basic and simple- encountering is less of an artificial time lengthen-er and more interesting and fun and doesn’t make you want to drive your skull through several buildings. The game does this weird thing where it’s fun. It keeps the simplicity of Yellow and cuts off all the unnecessarily stupid mechanics that are hallmark of Pokemon games, ones especially prevalent in yellow because they were even more inconvenient than later main series titles; your Pokemon box is in your inventory, you can mass release Pokemon, you can see what Pokemon you’re encountering in the overworld, you don’t need to have dedicated HM Pokemon. 

3) it’s actually less hand-holdy than sun/moon. I’m at the stage in life where I’ve accepted sun/moon are bad games and I have no reasons to like them; when I replayed moon i kept track and realized that in every single route/city/area in the game there was a lengthy, unnecessary, boring cutscene until around the second island, and if i’m remembering wrong it’s only by 1 or 2 areas. After the second island it’s about every other area that has pointless waterfalls of dialogue that contribute nothing to anything except copious amounts of items to your inventory. In Pokemon: Let’s Go, it cuts to the chase: you get helpful items from beating trainers in one freaking dialogue box that is quickly skimmed before exiting the battle animation, your (albeit spineless) rival gives you quick-beat fast lines and items without wasting your life away. The game gives you the same advantages sun and moon did in about 1/100th of the time wasted.

4) it’s not a main series game but it plays as one in a lot of respects, so I’m going to compare it to main series games in many ways. 

Now that I've got those off my chest. I’ll go over basic pros and cons.

Good things:

Amazing foundation for gen 8. Pokemon follow you around is wonderful, and what we’ve been begging for since HG/SS. Mechanically the best game in the entire franchise, cuts down incredibly on time-wasters. If you like Pokemon go then you’ll like catching Pokemon in this game. Your partner Pokemon is not useless crap after the first gym, and is in fact very useful even in the late game despite not being able to evolve. Chaining for IV/shiny is as brain dead easy as it’s ever been, in a good way. Pokemon encounter pools have changed a lot, you can run into some cool stuff in the wild if you hunt carefully enough, and encountering Pokemon is fun for the first time ever.

Bad things:

No bike... Very salty about the removal of bikes from these games. Bikes are like, my favorite part, sue me. Yes, there’s mechanical parallels with Pokemon you can ride that run super fast, but it’s not the same i tell you. If you don’t like Pokemon go you’ll hate catching Pokemon/grinding in this game. Was disappointed you couldn’t evolve eevee/pikachu, but it makes a lot of sense so it’s fair. The “rival” is a spineless wimp, as they all have become more and more like a cuddle pillow ever since g/s/c. I would argue D/P/Pt had a great rival, so maybe exclude that one. Catching Pokemon feels strictly linear. The higher level the Pokemon get, the stupidly harder they are to catch. At least in main games you can false swipe/sleep/paralyze and try from there, but here hitting EXCELLENT ultra balls + razz berries is about the best you can do, and is absolutely no guarantee that you’ll even get 2 shakes. At least you don’t have to waste time whittling them down, you just have to waste time throwing 5x as many balls at them. For the harder ones at least. 

In conclusion:

Pokemon Let’s go is an uplifting tribute to what makes Pokemon fun and approachable for everyone. It cuts all the shit from the main series and makes it a more focused, consistent experience about Kanto where all your favorite original Pokemon can follow right behind you! It’s definitely worth the price, the multiplayer is cute and helpful in catching harder Pokemon, but not immersion breaking. Jesse and James from team rocket are in this game. What else do I need to say? It’s a fun distraction until the next main series title. A breath of fresh air after the disaster of Gen VII, and gives me high hopes for Gen VIII if they keep even half the mechanically changes of this game.

4/5

[cyanoticfireflies]

Pokémon Sword Avatar Challenge Playthrough Part 1

Thus begins our little tale. Strap in, everyone, and join me on an adventure through the Galar Region!

I have been doing Pokémon Avatar challenges for several generations now and have decided to take on Galar as a Water Tribe trainer.

For those unfamiliar with the Pokémon Avatar challenges, it’s fairly simple: each Pokémon type is assigned to a nation.  You may only catch/use Pokémon with a type that is assigned to the nation you choose. You may not use a Pokémon from outside your nation.  The link previous has the more detailed rules.  I’m using the nation allocations updated for X and Y since they take Fairy type into account.

I will be playing Pokémon Sword as it is the version I own.  I do not have the expansion, though I may end up getting it partway through the playthrough.

Ready?  Let us commence.

We step into Galar as a female trainer from the town of Postwick.  As always, we’re watching the beginning of the exhibition match between Leon and Raihan.  Is anyone else getting a little tired of Charizard?  (Watch me be chased off the Internet for that….)  Can we get some love for the other Gen 1 starters up in here?

Also, I know his brother is the Champion, but Hop’s house is huge?  Like it looks massive from the outside.  Remember the days when your rival’s house was a kitchen and their bedroom because apparently they made their family members sleep under the dining room table?  Ah, those were the days.

Real talk: how does Hop think Leon’s going to get lost?  It’s literally a straight shot!  The train station is directly in front of the road that goes to his house?  Where would he turn?  Also, my god the music in Potswick sounds like the music for the “Back Alley” in Kingdom Hearts II.  Or am I just nuts?

Our first partner is the starter Pokémon, the grass type Grookey.  I name him “Anyu” for absolutely no reason whatsoever.  He’s Relaxed nature, so more Defense and less Speed. I wasn’t counting on Anyu being that fast, so that’s fine with me.  Grookey starts with Scratch and Growl.  Since we’re not using any hacks, his ability is Overgrow.  This, of course, will give Hop a Sobble.

We Scratch down Wooloo despite Wooloo getting a lucky crit against Anyu.  After Wooloo goes down, Anyu hits level 6 and learns “Branch Poke,” a new Gen 8 grass type move.  Just in time to use this new super effective move to take Sobble down in two easy strikes and hit level 7.

We get ready to begin our Pokémon journey but are immediately waylaid by a Wooloo trying to give itself brain damage by ramming into a fence.  But we have to go save it!  Surely the fog-covered Slumbering Weald where we’re forbidden to go won’t be any big deal, right?  Rookidee having Peck sucks, though, and is quickly showing one of the benefits of the nature-boosted Defense stat early.

We faint dramatically due to the simply overwhelming presence of a strange Pokémon who (despite being on the box art) will certainly not be the game’s legendary Pokémon . Definitely not.

I’m feeling Hop’s slang though.  Leon’s “pants” with directions, mom will go “spare.”  It’s okay, I’m hip.  I know what the youngsters find groovy.  On the topic of language, if Pokémon say their own names why does Grookey say “tumtum?”

A quick peek in the bag shows we start out with five Pokéballs, a potion, and a fishing rod. Hey, remember when we had to find/buy that stuff ourselves?  Good times.

We add a Skwovet to the team as our first encounter and the first Pokémon I’m allowed to catch. (Normal type: Allowable for all nations if it doesn’t gain an incompatible type upon evolution.)  We name her “Rajuna.”  She’s level 6 at catch, with the ability Cheek Pouch.  She joins the team with Tackle, Tail Whip, and Bite.  Impish nature, so more Defense and less Sp. Attack.  Right now, our team is all physical walls….  Since S/S have catch experience, this also gets Anyu to level 8 and he learns “Taunt.”

We also grab a Grubbin and name her “Karane.”  I’m typically a fan of Vikavolt and since all Bug types are usable by all nations this is within the rules (a change from the Gen 1-5 Avatar challenge rules).    She’s Rash nature, so extra Sp. Attack but less Sp. Defense, which is fine.  Level 4, ability Swarm – nothing too special.  But adding the Electric type coverage is going to be good for any Flying types for now.  We may not end up using Karane long-term.

After a little grinding, all three members of our team are Level 9/10.  I pass on the chance to catch a level 2 Caterpie just to save my own sanity.  Not gonna lie, I’m so tired of Butterfree/Beedrill – but at least Beedrill got a mega-evolution.  I accidentally one-shot a Blipbug with a critical Vice Grip from Karane, so… meh. That happened.  Plenty of chances later.  I purposely pass on a Wooloo.  Don’t want to double-up on my Normal types right away.  All that said, I will be prioritizing the Gen 8 ‘mons. Still working on getting to know the newest 87 Poké-pals.

We arrive in Wedgehurst to see Charizard flaunting his flames and Leon about to visit the lab.  We get a special introduction to Sonia, Prof. Magnolia’s granddaughter who is apparently a good cook because this is important somehow?  But Sonia gives us the Pokédex that I’ll never end up using, so.

I give everyone an Oran Berry then go drop some Poké-dollars on a shirt and pants because I’m imagining doing all that running in the dress and my thighs would be chafing until I cried. #BigGirlProblems

We snatch up a Blipbug and name him “Rorou.”  Level 6, Gentle nature so more Sp. Defense and less Defense.  His ability is Swarm and he only knows Struggle Bug, but let’s work on him.  This will be our only opportunity to add a Gen 8 psychic type to the team besides Mr. Rime fairly late in the mid-game, so I’m excited to see how this goes.  

We also catch a Chewtle. I feel like I can’t be the only one to not love this thing’s face, but whatever.  It’s evolution is fine.  His name is “Amal.”  He is also level 6 and has a Quiet nature, so more Sp. Attack and less Speed. Considering the line has abysmal Sp. Attack, those Water Guns are still going to be dribbles, but whatever.  He has the ability Strong Jaw which will make Jaw Lock and Ice Fang hurt.  For now, though, he only has Tackle and Water Gun.

We’ll finish out Part 1 by grinding the team to around level 11-13.  I always forget just how quickly the early game Bug Pokémon evolve!  I wasn’t even thinking about Blipbug evolving soon, but we’re not even through Route 2 and Rorou evolved into Dottler!

So that concludes Part 1 of our epic adventure.  I hope you guys will join me next time!  See our exit stats below:

[dead-dove-sims]

Fall Into Wonderland Legacy Challenge

I made this legacy to be pretty lax, I don't mind if you mess around with the rules. The general idea is a vanilla sim ending up in a berry world and their adventures in it. Each gen is based off an Alice in Wonderland character though technically Tweedledee, Tweedledum and the White Knight are from Through the Looking Glass.  How you show the character traits is your choice, like you don't need to use animal ears if you don't want to, As long as there is a rabbit somewhere it's fine. You can even cheat if you want.

Seriously this can be a story, purely game play or a mix of the two, the most important thing to me is to have fun with it. Just credit me if you do it cause I wanna see the results and use the tag fallintowonderlandlegacy. Rules under the cut

Gen 1 – Alice

Founder must be vanilla (custom eyes fine but maxis swatches must be used for the hair and skin)

A name beginning with A

Complete the Aspiration Bestselling Author 

the trait Book worm

Founder finds themselves in a strange land after following a white rabbit berry sim

Before the Founder can meet the white rabbit they must befriend three other berry sims while searching

Founder moves into the rabbit's cottage once married

Have one or more kids (final count up to player)

Heir is player's choice

Gen 2 – White Rabbit

Complete Aspiration Freelance Botanist

Gen trait Vegetarian 

Heir has inherited their parent's aptitude of being late and while trying to get to an important appointment they stop at a tree and ask a berry for directions. Said berry gives out the wrong ones, leaving the heir wondering about that mysterious sim before realizing they're even more late

To marry the Cheshire cat the heir has to be tricked by them three times before they can woo them

Heir has the Cheshire Cat move in

Have one or more kids (final count up to player)

Heir is player's choice

Gen 3 – Cheshire Cat

Complete Aspiration Chief of Mischief

Gen Trait Mean

Heir is around town causing mischief when they come across someone who's unfazed by their shenanigans. The Caterpillar is too busy at the bubble bar to care about the heir and their ability for mayhem. 

To marry the Caterpillar the heir must wait until they transform (your choice on how) 

Heir has the transformed Caterpillar move in

Have one or more kids (final count up to player)

Heir is player's choice

Gen 4 – Caterpillar  

Complete Aspiration Renaissance Sim

Gen Trait Snob

Heir transforms at some point

Heir is forced to go to a party where they come face to face with someone who's an enigma. Wearing many crazy hats the Mad Hatter is fun to be around constantly hosting parties.

To marry the Mad Hatter the heir has to attend three parties thrown by them.

Heir has the Mad Hatter move in

Have one or more kids (like always final count up to player)

Heir is player's choice

Gen 5 – Mad Hatter

Complete Aspiration Party Animal

Gen trait Insane

Heir has a hat equipped for each outfit

Heir meets a new person while throwing one of their titular parties, their crazy matches the heir's crazy so soon enough they become fast friends with the March Hare.

To marry the March Hare the heir needs to listen to three of their jokes.

Heir has the March Hare move in

Have one or more kids 

Heir is player's choice

Gen 6 – March Hare

Complete Aspiration Joke Star 

Gen trait Goofy

March Heir is wandering around when they hear beautiful music, searching for where it came from they find the source. The Dormouse plays wonderful music but is absolutely afraid of everyone.

To marry the Dormouse the heir has to romance them in private and only show affection indoors

Heir has the Dormouse move in

Have one or more kids

Heir is player's choice

Gen 7 – The Dormouse

Complete Aspiration Musical Genius

Gen trait Unflirty

Heir has known Tweedledee and Tweedledum since they were children and has constantly been in the crossfire in the twin's rivalry. Both of them like the heir but neither of them cease their arguments to do anything about it.

To marry either of them the Heir must mend the relationship between Tweedledee and Tweedledum

Heir has either Tweedledee or Tweedledum move in

Have two or more kids

Heir has to be one of multiples (twins, triplets, etc)

Gen 8 – Tweedledee and Tweedledum

Complete Aspiration Super Parent

Gen trait Childish

Heir must have a negative relationship with their siblings

Heir hears about the legendary heart breaker living in Wonderland. Intrigued they follow the path of ex's to meet The Queen of Hearts who turns out to have a serious temper. The heir doesn't let that deter them from their quest to make them theirs.

To marry the Queen the heir needs to go on three dates with them

Heir has the Queen move in

Have one or more kids

Heir is player's choice

Gen 9 – The Queen of Hearts

Complete Aspiration Serial Romantic

Gen trait Hotheaded 

Heir has inherited their parent's reputation as a heart breaker and meets someone who saves them from certain doom. The White Knight is a hero in the truest sense of the word and the heir has to constantly break the White Knight out of their thoughts to pay attention to them.

To marry the White Knight the heir needs to have a high friendship with them before romance can happen

Heir has White Knight move in

Have one of more kids

Heir is player's choice

Gen 10 – The White Knight

Complete Aspiration Friend of the World 

Gen Trait Self Assured 

Spouse is player's choice

Have one or more kids

The last Heir has to age up to an adult to end the legacy.

[simlovinggirl]

Original credit to this challenge goes to @berry-sim-wonderland thank you for making such a fun challenge and I hope my sims 3 version does it justice!

From Berry-Sim-Wonderland: I made this legacy to be pretty lax, I don’t mind if you mess around with the rules. The general idea is a vanilla sim ending up in a berry world and their adventures in it. Each gen is based off an Alice in Wonderland character though technically Tweedledee, Tweedledum and the White Knight are from Through the Looking Glass. How you show the character traits is your choice, like you don’t need to use animal ears if you don’t want to, As long as there is a rabbit somewhere it’s fine. You can even cheat if you want.

Seriously this can be a story, purely game play or a mix of the two, the most important thing to me is to have fun with it.

General Rules:

Your sim does not have to reach the highest level of their career, however each generation is required to finish their lifetime wish before moving onto the next generation.

Please use the tag #fallintowonderlandlegacy and #fiwlsims3 so we can see your challenges!

Generation 1 – Alice: Lifetime Wish: Professional Author Generation Trait: Bookworm Career: Self Employed - Writer

Founder must be vanilla

They must have a name beginning with the letter A

Founder finds themselves in a strange land after following a white rabbit berry sim (berry color: white)

Before the founder can meet the white rabbit they must befriend three other berry sims while searching

Founder moves into the rabbit’s cottage once married

Have one or more kids (final count is up to you)

Heir is player’s choice

Generation 2 – The White Rabbit: Lifetime Wish: Perfect Garden Generation Trait: Vegetarian Career: Up to the player

Heir has inherited their parent’s aptitude of being late and while trying to get to an important appointment they stop at a tree to ask a berry for directions (berry color: purple).  Said berry gives our the wrong ones, leaving the heir wondering about the mysterious sim before realizing they’re even more late.

To marry the Cheshire cat the heir has to be tricked by them three times before they can woo them.

Heir has the Cheshire Cat move in

Have one or more kids (final count is up to you)

Heir is player’s choice.

Generation 3: Cheshire Cat Lifetime Wish: Emperor of Evil Generation Trait:  Mean Spirited Career: Criminal

Heir is around town causing mischief when they come across someone who’s unfazed by their shenanigans.  The Caterpillar (berry color: lime green) is too busy at the bubble bar to care about the heir and their ability for mayhem

To marry the Caterpillar the heir must wait for the to transform (your choice on how)

Heir has the transformed Caterpillar move in

Have one or more kids (final count is up to you)

Heir is player’s choice

Generation 4: Caterpillar Lifetime Wish: Renaissance Sim Generation Trait: Snob Career: Player’s choice

Heir transforms at some point

Heir is forced to go to a party where they come face to face with someone who’s an enigma. Wearing many crazy hats the Mad Hatter is fun to be around constantly hosting parties. (Berry color: Hunter Green)

To marry the Mad Hatter the heir has to attend three parties thrown by them

Heir has the Mad Hatter move in

Have one or more kids (final count is up to you)

Heir is player’s choice

Generation 5: Mad Hatter Lifetime Wish: Super Popular Generation Trait: Insane Career: Player’s Choice

Heir must have a hair that includes a hat on all outfit and it must be worn the entire time.

Heir meets new person throwing one of their parties, their crazy matches the heir’s crazy and they soon become fast friends with the March Hare (Berry color: Orange)

To marry the March Hare the heir needs to listen to three of their jokes

Heir has March Hare move in

Have one or more kids

Heir is player’s choice

Generation 6: March Hare Lifetime Wish: Reach Max Influence with All Social Groups Generation Trait: Good Sense of Humor Career: Player’s choice

Heir is wandering around when they hear beautiful music, searching for where it came from they find the source.  The Dormouse plays wonderful music, but is absolutely afraid of everyone. (Berry color: Pink)

To marry the Dormouse the heir has to romance them in private and only show affection indoors

Heir has the Dormouse move in

Have one or more kids

Heir is player’s choice

Generation 7: Dormouse Lifetime Wish: Hit Movie Composer Generation Trait: Unflirty Career: Music

Heir has known Tweedledee and Tweedledum since they were children and has constantly been in the crossfire of the twin’s rivalry.  Both of them like the heir, but neither of them cease their arguments to do anything about it (berry color: yellow).

To marry either of them the Heir must mend the relationship between Tweedledee and Tweedledum

Heir has either Tweedledee and Tweedledum move in

Have two or more kids

Heir has to be one of multiples (twins, triplets, ect.)

Generation 8: Tweedledee and Tweedledum Lifetime Wish: Surrounded by Family Generation Trait: Childish Career: None - Stay at home parent

Heir may have a part-time job but never a full time career, once married they must quit their job to become a stay at home parent.

Heir must have a negative relationship with their siblings

Heir hears about the legendary hear breaker living in Wonderland.  Intrigued they follow the path of ex’s to meet The Queen of Hearts (berry color: red) who turns out to have a serious temper.  The heir doesn’t let that deter them from their quest to make them their’s.

To marry the Queen the heir needs to go on three dates with them.

Heir has the Queen move in

Have one or more kids

Heir is player’s choice.

Generation 9: The Queen of Hearts Lifetime Wish: Serial Romantic Generation Trait: Hot headed Career: Politician

Heir has inherited their parent’s reputation as a heart breaker and meets someone who saves them from certain doom.  The White Knight (berry color: white) is a hero in the truest sense of the word and the heir has to constantly break the White Knight out of their thoughts to pay attention to them.

To marry the White Knight the heir needs to have a high friendship with them before romance can happen.

Heir has White Knight move in

Have one or more kids

Heir is player’s choice

Generation 10: The White Knight Lifetime Wish: International Super Spy Generation Trait: Good Career: Player’s Choice

Spouse is player’s choice

Have one or more kids

The last Heir has to age up to a young adult to end the legacy.

[kiishou]

1-98! Not 99

1) Sexuality?

I am pansexual and demisexual

2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

I would love to meet Obama

3) Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.

4) What do you think about most?

I think about a lot of things but I think I mostly think about the beauty in life and how often it goes unnoticed.

5) What does your latest text message from someone else say?

“Ok”

6) Do you sleep with or without clothes on?

I usually do because I tend to fall asleep in whatever I’m wearing (usually like jeans and a sweater)

7) What’s your strangest talent?

I took a quiz on what my talent is and I got “Secret Singer” so there ya go

p.s. my boyfriend says organization is another talent of mine

8) Girls…. (finish the sentence); Boys…. (finish the sentence)

Girls are so pretty you should look at the nearest girl and admire her. Boys are misunderstood and raised to live up to some bullshit standards and should learn to be more forgiving and understanding of the world.

9) Ever had a poem or song written about you?

“I’m working on it” - Shane 6:00p 22.03.2017

10) When is the last time you played the air guitar?

um never i’m not a loser HAHA

11) Do you have any strange phobias?

Atelophobia, metamfiezomaiophobia, and i forgot the word but… fear of automatic toilets

12) Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose?

when i was younger i stuck a grape up my nose

13) What’s your religion?

14) If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?

probably either going for a walk/enjoying the weather OR on my way back inside

15) Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

behind the camera

16) Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?

i have more like favorite artists of the month or a period of time so the one for this month is: in love with a ghost

17) What was the last lie you told?

“i’m not upset”

18) Do you believe in karma?

YES i do (it’s been kind of good to me lately)

19) What does your URL mean?

it’s my gamertag and literally just a dumb pun on my nickname

20) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

my greatest weakness: proving others wrong / impulsion

my greatest strength: cheering others up /  “fucking” selfless

21) Who is your celebrity crush?

Emilia Clarke

22) Have you ever gone skinny dipping?

nope it would be too cold

23) How do you vent your anger?

I cry out of frustration but I’m never really angry. I know things make me upset and sometimes I’ll take it out on myself by like self loathing and shit; other times I get upset at others as well.

24) Do you have a collection of anything?

I’ve been collecting figures and other nerdy shit over some time now (I can post a photo of my shelf), I’ve been collecting the C9 season posters but I’m missing two of them currently, and I also collect different skins in League of Legends/Overwatch

25) Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

I like video chatting because I think it is such a great invention and it should be utilized at all costs #WhatATimeToBeAlive

26) Are you happy with the person you’ve become?

I’m starting to be happy with myself and being loving/forgiving of myself

27) What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?

I hate the sound of

28) What’s your biggest “what if”?

my biggest what if is “what if I didn’t exist”

29) Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

30) Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.

right arm: Jerry’s face

left arm: nothing

31) Smell the air. What do you smell?

I can’t smell i am noseblind

32) What’s the worst place you have ever been to?

Neuvo Laredo, Mexico

33) Choose East Coast or West Coast?

Texas

34) Most attractive singer of your opposite gender?

Childish Gambino tbh

35) To you, what is the meaning of life?

I don’t really know but I think that IS the meaning: trying to figure it out because it’s different for everyone. I think it’s trying to bring a little more sunshine in this cloudy world

36) Define Art.

visual imagination: images from the mind 

37) Do you believe in luck?

yes i do; i also believe that i am kind of unlucky

38) What’s the weather like right now?

it’s kind of sunny

39) What time is it?

4:00p

40) Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

I do drive, I’m not fond of it. I’ve never crashed but I’ve been crashed into.

41) What was the last book you read?

I am currently reading The Catalyst: Rogue One

42) Do you like the smell of gasoline?

no it is too strong and my nose is sensitive (don’t tell it mean things)

43) Do you have any nicknames?

gen, geny, yen, yeny, gun kuhknee, dad, nina, flaca, chiquita

44) What was the last movie you saw?

Freedom Writers

45) What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

I almost cut off an entire finger once

46) Have you ever caught a butterfly?

yes i’ve caught many actually i used to really like bug catching as a child

47) Do you have any obsessions right now?

right now i’m obsessed with sleeping and spending time with friends 

48) What’s your sexual orientation?

i was/am asexual but recently i’m learning that i am demisexual (my friends have a joke saying i’m Shanesexual)

49) Ever had a rumor spread about you?

probably but i don’t care enough to remember or think about it

50) Do you believe in magic?

ya i graduated from Hogwarts

51) Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

I wouldn’t call it holding a grudge: i forgive people but i never ever forget what they have done

52) What is your astrological sign?

virgo

53) Do you save money or spend it?

depends on what i want or what i need to do

54) What’s the last thing you purchased?

spicy chick fil a sandwich, fries, strawberry gansito, sno-berry peace tea, and two scan trons 

55) Love or lust?

love love love

56) In a relationship?

yes i happily am in one

57) How many relationships have you had?

two and the one i’m currently in

58) Can you touch your nose with your tongue?

nope

59) Where were you yesterday?

@ my house

60) Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?

not currently

61) Are you wearing socks right now?

nope bc i wore cute flats today that hurt my Achilles 

62) What’s your favorite animal?

sharks, rabbits, cats, foxes

63) What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

if i had one i would have more friends :^)

64) Where is your best friend?

she’s in another town rn 

65) Spit or swallow?(;

neither

66) What is your heritage?

i am hispanic w/ mexican heritage 

67) What were you doing last night at 12 AM?

i was finishing my math review for an exam and watching a movie with soem internet friends

68) What do you think is Satan’s last name?

Santana

69) Be honest. Ever gotten yourself off?

nope

70) Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?

the ones i have rn 

71) You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

save the dog fuk the job i can get another one 

72) You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

I probably would only tell the one person closest to me about the situation. I would spend my remaining days with people i love and doing things i would miss. I wouldn’t be afraid.

73) You can only have one of these things; trust or love.

trust

74) What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

Waterloo - ABBA

75) What are the last four digits in your cell phone number?

0126

76) In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?

trust, honesty, and communication

77) How can I win your heart?

you can’t it belongs to shane, sorry

78) Can insanity bring on more creativity?

maybe

79) What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

finally doing things towards my happiness

80) What size shoes do you wear?

5 ½

81) What would you want to be written on your tombstone?

“it was lit fam”

82) What is your favorite word?

pantooflas

83) Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.

shane

84) What is a saying you say a lot?

“it’s a warm up game”

85) What’s the last song you listened to?

idk the name but the last one i can remember is Sweet Dreams Are Made of This

86) Basic question; what’s your favorite color/colors?

gray, and pale yellow 

87) What is your current desktop picture?

88) If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?

trump

89) What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on?

nothing tbh ask away i’ll always be honest

90) One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren’t really doing anything, they’re just standing around your bed. What do you do?

go to sleep 

91) You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?

the power to always be right

92) You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?

I think I would like to re-live the night of my first date with Shane (we went to the carnival and it was gr8)

93) You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

i think they were all important in my growth/development so none

94) You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?

hmmmm im good dude 

95) You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

Japan

96) Do you have any relatives in jail?

kind of?

97) Have you ever thrown up in the car?

no i think i would die of embarrassment 

98) Ever been on a plane?

yes but only twice

[zichqecs-hoard]

Thoughts and feelings on Pokemon Moon

So, I finally finished my run, and I feel like I need to summarize how I felt about it. I dunno how many people are going to read this, as it’s probably going to be long, but it’s also here for me to look back on. Who knows, maybe a few years from now when we get generation 8, my thoughts will completely change.

My overall feelings are very negative. I did not enjoy the game except for a few select parts, and in fact it literally gave me headaches to play because I was so frustrated. I was bored, I would procrastinate and do anything else, and there are so many tiny things that made me angry with it because they got rid of good features/added useless ones I don’t like.

There’s a pros and cons list and some rambling under the cut if you want to know why I feel this way more in depth.

Pros!

-I like a few of the pokemon designs    I especially really love the Cutiefly, Rowlett, and Mudbray lines, as well as a handful of other designs that are neat.

-Festival plaza is kinda fun    Though really I just mean playing missions and connecting with people, which is nothing you couldn’t do in earlier games... though if I’m honest I got on the pokemon train too late to experience.

-Poke pelago    Best feature of the game, hands down. Does it totally break working to get berries/hatch eggs/find money items? Yes. Is it fun? Heck yes.

-Po town    It had a really awesome creepy atmosphere. Well done.

-Time offset    I usually play the game at night, so having the time offset by 12 hours means I get to play during the day, which is super nice.

-That one Machamp you can ride    ...Yeah. I still find that hilarious. Just. The way it carries you. XD

Cons

-Pokemon refresh    They ruined Pokemon Amie and I was absolutely devastated and angry. I want the minigames, I want to play making faces, it was such a good thing, give it back. I barely used Pokemon Refresh because there’s just no reason to besides status healing(which means there’s even less reason to buy status heal items now)! The rainbow beans cheat it to max out affection, you can only play for short sessions at a time, and there’s no games to play! I can play Pokemon Amie for hours, and I still do! Pokemon Refresh? Uuuugh, no. I like that the beans stack, but that’s literally it.

-Called for help!    ...Do I need to explain? I hear they’ve fixed this in Ultra Sun and Moon, but for crying out loud why can pokemon attack and call for help in the same turn, I literally got stuck in battles for several extra turns because I’d faint the help and another would immediately show up and that’s total bull.

-Story    Mmm.. I didn’t really enjoy it all that much. I did find it interesting how downright dark it got at one point, but that alone doesn’t make it a good plot.

-Pacing    This game is so s l o w. It took me 70 hours to beat, most pokemon games take me 50-60. And I was rushing to get through as much as I could.

-Difficulty spike    Anybody else notice that the difficulty suddenly spiked towards the end of the game?? I was doing fine and then suddenly I was really struggling right at the end.

-No soaring    One of my absolute favorite features of ORAS. Not included. It would have been perfect in this game. Just imagine soaring around Alola! It would have been great! And honestly, I can just soar without any particular purpose in ORAS, just listening to the music, loving the visual... it’s such a great idea, especially since it also gets rid of needing to have Fly all the time.

-No bike    I know there’s ride pokemon for that, but they’re bulky and don’t turn the best and I like the bike aesthetic.

-No credits recap    So you know that great feature in all the gen 6 games where during the credits you get to see important moments from your journey again and be reminded of your adventure? Yeah nah, they scrapped that.

-Not enough clothing    Honestly mostly a fault of the setting but for crying out loud so many people need to put on some freaking clothes. I know there’s swimmers and stuff in previous games but at least it was only the swimmers.

-Can’t sit    So you know that great feature in gen 6 where you could sit on chairs and things and it was really immersive and nice? Yeah no, that’s gone too!

-Music    Something that’s been more and more of a problem for me with each generation, and maybe it’s just me, or that I haven’t replayed them as much as I have the other games, but all the music just... kinda feels bland and blends in? I dunno, I really think this one is just me, at least for this part. Just.... I miss the generations where music was simpler and had limited channels and instruments, and things kinda stood out more. I can’t remember a single melody from Moon off the top of my head, but from, say, Hoenn? Oh you bet. Really though, since I think that’s just me, here’s another reason. The battle songs were uninspiring, especially the Kahuna/E4/Champion songs. Those are supposed to get your blood pumping and be an intense battle and they just didn’t do that for me.

-Hand holdy    This game babies you so much and it’s frustrating... cmon I didn’t memorize most of the type chart for you to just tell me when a move is super effective or not. Also I find that little pokeball graphic that covers the pokeball when you catch something really annoying. It’s dumb and unnecessary and I want to see the pokeball thank you.

I don’t know... it just didn’t feel right, to me. Something was just off the whole time. It didn’t give me the same feel as playing any other pokemon game, including X and Y, or (eugh) Diamond Pearl and Platinum. I don’t like any of those games very much, but at least they felt like a pokemon game. Something was just different about this and I didn’t like it.

Sad, really, as this was the first pokemon game I was even a tiny bit hyped for, and I made sure to avoid all the spoilers I could.

Would I ever play it again? Not likely, really. Maybe some day far in the future, but... considering how many headaches this game gave me, it’d be torture to put myself through it again.

I think that’s all I had to say... and I guess that concludes Zi’s adventures in Pokemon Moon. Thanks for putting up with it! And now back to your regularly scheduled cats~

Though I’m thinking of doing posts on my thoughts and feelings from all the pokemon generations. We’ll see.

[simslegacy5083]

Not So Berry (Straud Descendants) Gen 9

Today's (8/28/2024) Episode: On Her Shoulders

Luigi’s reputation was critical to maintain his endorsement deals, buzz for his game, and of course his actual e-sports career, so he took it seriously.

One easy way to make others see him as a “good sim” was regular donations to charity.

He found worthy causes to associate his name with, such as Tess’s ex-boyfriend Julio’s “happiness for all” campaign and the Tomorang Renters Fund, which temporarily paid the rent for sims who were down on their luck so they wouldn’t get evicted and wind up homeless.

Luigi’s enterprising efforts were only possible by the grace of his rock-solid support system.

Now that it was her full-time job, Noemi had taken over the lion’s share of management and development for Project Daisy, in addition to being Skye’s primary caregiver. She’d never been the best at dealing with strangers, and lately organizing their staff of artists and programmers was wearing through her patience faster than it ever had before. It was a trial she could only bear by assigning herself chunks of relaxing code work between meetings.

The freedom to pick her own timelines and teammates was undeniably the part of being “lead programmer” that got her through all the rest, but her strange irritability remained a worrying mystery. Fortunately, at her annual GYN checkup, her doctor put her mind at ease with a simple explanation.

Noemi was officially going through “the change” and her issues were just temporary side effects of her body and mind adjusting to the perfectly normal and expected changes of leaving her child-bearing years (and hormones) behind.

Noemi was honestly relieved by her advancing age. She had never feared the idea of growing older and she and Luigi had long ago decided they were “one and done” in the kid department. If anything, saying goodbye to worries about a second unplanned pregnancy was a big win!

Her doctor warned her about other unpleasant symptoms that might pop up, but she was hardly listening as she gleefully composed emails pushing her most annoying issues back to Luigi.

“These hot flashes make me way too sweaty during the all-hands standup meeting. I’m going to need you to take those over.” … “Susan’s being a plumhole about revising the walk animations. Talk her around before I shiv her. Mood swings, you know.”

By the next time both sims had a day off, Noemi was feeling much more like herself, and they made some time to visit family.

Luigi and the relatives he was closest to had mostly ended up childless or with small families, but Chance and Bianca’s daughter Fern wanted a full house. When her third little one was born, she invited his family over to meet the new addition and hang out with the rest of her crew.

While the energetic Skye played outside with Fern’s doggie and the other kids, Luigi and Noemi headed in to say hello to little Alice. Noemi and Luigi had a great time holding the adorable tiny newborn and an even better time handing it back for a diaper change with big smiles. No more for them!

Even their next stop, seeing relatives at the wake for Denton’s mother Nikita, put no significant damper on Noemi’s improved mood.

She was, of course, sad for her friend’s loss, but the quiet atmosphere, surrounded by sims she knew well as her husband mixed drinks behind the bar, was as close to her ideal evening as was possible without a sturdy set of padded handcuffs.

She’d felt lonely and misunderstood as Kiana’s “too young” wife, but loving Luigi had brought her right into the heart of his warm family circle.

As Denton wept on her shoulder, she reflected on how happy she was to have given this strange family a second chance.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[simslegacy5083]

Not So Berry (Straud Descendants) Gen 9

Today's (8/18/2024) Episode: Family Reunion

Luigi’s gaming project had officially become Neomi’s day job, and her new flexible schedule let her visit her island friends easier than ever.

“Thanks again for offering to host Skye’s birthday party, Isra”, she said as they enjoyed the warm autumn sunshine on Breanne’s deck. “Are you sure its still no trouble with your sister coming for a visit? You’ve got to be busy preparing the space for Jade, and we could find another nearby venue.”

“I’m positive” Isra smiled “She’s actually going to stay with Par so I have less to prepare than I might. My old room became the guest bedroom, and we all agreed that would be more comfortable for Jade than sleeping on a pullout bed and sharing a room with a toddler!”

She pushed back her chair. “On that note however, I better get going. She’s supposed to be arriving in about an hour and I don’t want to be late!”

Isra wished her friends goodbye and headed out. She’d seen photos of her sister post transition, so she knew what to expect, but in a very real sense she’d soon be meeting a different sim than the one she’d met so long ago “Well, so long ago for me anyway” she chuckled “Jade’s still a teenager!”

She’d only been waiting a few minutes when a young sim with long, flaming red hair exited the teleporter station and engulfed her in an eager hug.

“Its so great to see you!” she finally said when she was released “You look lovely.” Jade blushed at the praise.

“Thanks. I wasn’t sure what to wear, but then my sister Lulu took over and suddenly I didn’t have much say in the matter! I’ll tell her it was a hit.”

“So…” Isra continued “I figured we’d head to The Harbor first. Once you’ve had time to settle in Rhys is going to meet us at the park and we can introduce you to the kids. That sound good?” Her half-sister was clearly nervous to see her birth parent and niblings but nodded excitedly.

As they walked to the teleporter Jade pulled out her phone. “Do you think they’ll like this video of a llama who’s best friends with a cat?”

Jade’s palms were sweating as she and her sister exited the elevator at Wren’s apartment building. Isra, who had been keeping an eye on her sibling, gently squeezed her hand. She didn’t let go until they got to the door of Wren’s apartment, knocking and calling out “Par – we’re here!”

The door was flung open so quickly, Isra was sure her parent had been waiting just on the other side of it. For a moment she and Jade just stood there, staring at each other. Wren finally broke the silence “Both my girls, here together.” the tears in her eyes mirrored those in her firstborn’s. “Come in!”

Once they were all inside Jade broke the ice. “I love your hoodie.” Wren grinned, holding out her arms to model it.

“I saw it in a store window and just knew you’d appreciate the lemons!” The older sim then sighed with happy surprise as she found herself wrapped in a tight embrace.

“That’s the picture we took during Isra’s visit!” Jade exclaimed, staring at the large framed photo on the wall. “It is indeed” her par smiled “and while you’re here we’ll be sure to get some new ones for you to bring back home with you.”

“So, this is the room I grew up in,” Isra said as they entered the cozy space where Jade would be sleeping, before her par interrupted.

“There’s some apple juice and freeze-dried bananas on the nightstand in case you get hungry. The kind you liked when you were small since I don’t know what your favorite snacks are these days. The bed should be super comfy; I bought pure cotton sheets in case you were allergic to synthetics.”

Jade put a soothing hand on her par’s shoulder, arresting her monologue. “Everything looks great Par. That’s still my favorite brand of apple juice, mom always buys it just for me.” She looked at Isra. “Can I bring some of those nana nummies to bribe your kids into liking Auntie Jade?”

“Sure!” Isra chuckled, “I think they’ll appreciate that. So, are we ready to go?”

The others nodded their agreement, and the group headed back out to meet Rhys and the kids for dinner in the park.

For those that don't know, Wren was originally Anna from The Lemon Legacy series written by Bunbeeplays over on Twitter.

The story of Wren's (nee Anna) exodus to my save was a dark tale involving her reckless husband Calvin. He wronged a very powerful and dangerous man with some unwise investment decisions. Not safe from that sims vengeance anywhere in their homeland, in desperation the couple turned to a dark magic that would send them worlds away, with no clear path to follow.

The danger and uncertainty inherent in the process prompted them to leave their young son Jaden in the care of friends.

Upon arrival in my save the LGBTQIA+ mod had Anna questioning her gender identity and she discovered she was non-binary. They divorced Calvin and had another baby, Isra, on their own using IVF. Quite recently in bunbeeplays save Jaden came to the realization that they were transgender and came out as Jade.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here