#next generation sequoia

[fleuraliasave]

❤ Version 8.0 Fleuralia Save File ❤

Download link down below (please read entire post before installing)

This save file uses all EP’s, GP’s, SP’s and most of the kits (Except Sweet Slumber Party, Cozy Kitsch, Urban Homage, Goth Galore, Grunge Revival, Carnaval Streetwear and Modern Menswear kits).

What’s new in this update?:

Ciudad Enamorada and Ravenwood have been completely redone, added multiple new lots, updated other lots and provided make-overs for the households.

Added new households (when living in world; with jobs, friends, preferences etc).

Current Status of Worlds:

Finished worlds: Willow Creek, Oasis Springs, Newcrest, Magnolia Promenade, Windenburg, San Myshuno, Forgotten Hollow, Brindleton Bay, Del Sol Valley, StrangerVille, Glimmerbrook, Sulani, Britechester , Evergreen Harbor, Mt. Komorebi, Henford-on-Bagley, Tartosa, Moonwood Mill, Copperdale, San Sequoia, Chestnut Ridge, Tomarang, Ciudad Enamorada (NEW!) and Ravenwood (NEW!).

Finished vacation worlds: Granite Falls and Selvadorada.

Finihed other lots: Hospital, Science Lab and the Police Station.

To be updated: the Magic Realm and Grimm's office, will either be included in a future update or on the gallery (OriginID: fleuralia)

What do you get with this save?:

For my save file all lots are either completely new builds (almost all) or renovations, ofcourse created by me. Exception: I have added the official build for the release of the Paranormal SP by Dr Ashley to this save. This build is therefore not my own creation, credits are given in the description to Dr Ashley. The lots in newer worlds are largely created by GameChangers. The ratio is around 50/50 with my builds versus renovations (done by me but with the original as the base).

All the townies had make-overs plus I added new families to spice it up a bit. Some of the townies are made by other creators, who are given credits in the description of the household. All the townies in the different worlds have a story, some include sentiments and adjusted relationships to the story.

Added plenty of community lots to give your Sims something to do (YAY!). Almost every world has one restaurant, but it also includes festivals that represent the four seasons (park lots) and a fully functional shopping street in Magnolia Promenade (toy store, bridal store and more).

I have added rental lots so you can go on vacation in more worlds. For example in Sulani, Willow Creek and Windenburg.

Other details:

As mentioned at the beginning, this save uses almost all packs (except some kits). This means that if you download it without owning or installing most of the packs a lot of objects will disappear from the save, but if you are not bothered by this you can still download and play in it.  

I disabled the neigborhood action plan voting/environmental changes, you enable them again in the pack settings menu. I also disabled the neigborhood stories, you can enable them again in the household menu.

I would love to add some households in this save created by all of you! Add your household under the hashtag #fleuraliatownies in The Sims 4 Gallery, you can add a storyline and world in the description but thats not obligatory. If I respond on your creation it means that I have incorporated it in the save for the next update.

Sadly every game update comes with a lot of bugs. I suggest before reporting problems in the save to me, to check on forums if its related to a general bug/glitch or to mods (if you use them).

Questions and supportive feedback are always welcome, you can reach me here via a comment on this post, an ask or through a DM 😁

As said in my previous post I will be slowly starting on moving the builds and sims to a fresh save to help with bugs and incorporate fixes from the Sims team that only work in fresh saves (like Grimm not being able to woohoo). But this will take me some time, when its nearly done I will update on here as always.

How to make it work in your game:

Download the save file from the link below.

Drag it in your saves folder under: PC/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/saves.

Change the numbers if you already have a save with the same name.

It should now show up in your game as: Fleuralia Save V 8.0.

DOWNLOAD (SFS) / Alternate (GD)

!!Don’t re-upload or claim as your own!!

Future updates will follow after each pack release (if it includes a world). The time the update will be uploaded after each release depends on how much I have to change and on my work schedule around that time.

Last but not least, enjoy and till next time! XX

Fleuralia

Feel free to support me ❤️: Ko-fi account

[lynzishell]

🎶Ready to Start by Arcade Fire

Prev // Next

Reference Post: 8 Years Ago

I have to give a HUGE shoutout to my dear friend @honeyjars-sims who not only helped me with the Goode Boys Gaming logo, but also with the cover art for the boys' first game: Oneironaut I am forever grateful to have such a talented and generous friend who is always willing to help me bring these little details to life!! I can't tell you how much I appreciate you, T!!! Thank you so so much!! 😭💖

Oneironaut cover art + Transcript below the cut:

SFX: Ambient bar sounds 🎶Ready to Start by Arcade Fire

The businessmen drink my blood Like the kids in art school said they would And I guess I’ll just begin again You say, “Can we still be friends?” And if I was scared, I would And if I was bored, you know I would And if I was yours, but I’m not

Asher: Yeah, I mean, you could always move to San Sequoia. I’d make you a hell of an offer to have you on my team again. Evan: It’s tempting. But, um, I think I’m gonna stay in the city for now. I’ve been seeing someone new, and I kinda want to see where it goes.

Asher: Damn. Rejecting me for some guy you barely know. That’s fucked up. Evan: [smirks] Consider it payback. Asher: [laughs] Wow. Been hanging on to that one for eight years, have you? Evan: Nah. You obviously made the right choice.

Charlee: We’ve actually been talking about moving out that way. Jensen: Yeah, I don’t know what your plans are, but if you’re looking for a developer…? Atlas: Yes, absolutely. Let’s talk next month. We have to get a few things sorted before we can start hiring people, but— Lex: [dramatic gasp] Is that THE Atlas Goode?!

Atlas: Oh my god, Lex, finally! Lex: I know, we’re late. I’m so sorry. Atlas: It’s alright. How are you? Lex: I’m good.

Lex: Congratulations! I knew you guys would kill it! Atlas: Thank you. Lex: Is Ash around? Atlas: He’s back by the bar with Evan. Will you go get them? I want to say a few words. Lex: Ooh! I’m on it.

Atlas: Alright, everyone, listen up! I fucking hate speeches, so I’m gonna make this quick.

Atlas: It was eight years ago, at that table in the corner over there, when Ash first told me about his idea for a video game and asked me to work on it with him. For me, this dream was born on that night, but for him, it was years in the making. He’d already spent countless hours building incredibly vast and detailed worlds, creating compelling characters and storylines. His passion for this project was contagious. It reminded me why I got into gaming in the first place, and it has been an honor to be a part of bringing his vision to life.

Atlas: Ash, you are the most incredible person I’ve ever met. Not a day goes by that I’m not in awe of how brilliant your mind is, and how big your heart is. And I’m so proud to stand next to you, to build this company with you, to share my life with you, and pretty soon, to raise two little gremlins with you.

Atlas: To Asher - The love of my life, the father of my children, and the genius behind Oneironaut! Everyone: [cheering]

Everyone: [cheering louder]

Asher: Can we step outside? Atlas: Sure.

Atlas: Was that too much? Asher: No, I just needed a minute. I’m starting to feel a bit sentimental, and I didn’t want to get emotional in there.

Asher: I’m gonna miss this city. And our friends. Atlas: Me too. Asher: And our family. Atlas: I know.

Asher: Promise me we’ll still come back to visit? Atlas: Of course. Why wouldn’t we?

Asher: You know why. And I get it, I can come visit any time I want, and if you choose not to join me then that’s your prerogative. But I’ll want to bring the twins with me, which means they’ll be around Ezra, and I don’t know how you’ll feel about that, but like, our kids and his are going to be cousins and I’m not going to keep them apart. There’s no detangling him from our life, and I just worry that this whole thing is going to get worse over time. Atlas: No. I won’t let that happen. Asher: How?

Atlas: Would it make you feel better if I called my old therapist to see if I can get an appointment? Asher: Yes. It would. Atlas: Good, because I already did. He’s going to get back to me on Monday. I promise I’m dealing with it. I just need a little time. Asher: Okay. Yeah, you’ve got it.

Asher: Y’know this is the spot where we had our first kiss. Atlas: I remember. Asher: That will always be the most memorable part of that night for me. Atlas: For me too.

Asher: We should probably head back inside. Atlas: Or… we could get outta here. Asher: Nice try, but we are not bailing on our own party. Atlas: Worth a shot. Asher: Come on. We don’t have many of these nights left. I don’t want to take it for granted.

Atlas: If it helps, it sounds like we won’t have to say goodbye to everyone. Jay and Charlee are thinking about moving to San Sequoia too. Asher: No shit? Atlas: Yeah, Jay’s interested in working with us, and with Charlee out there, you may be able to convince Evan to join us too. Asher: I already tried. They’re not ready to leave the city.

Atlas: Are you ready to leave the city? Asher: We haven’t lived in the city for a while. Atlas: I know, but you know what I mean. Asher: Yeah. I’m ready.

[grogumaximus]

Hihi!! is this article new? it has a paywall :( https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Flife%2Fwish%2Fmax-verstappen-has-his-eyes-on-the-prize-at-f1-melbourne-with-new-lvmh-partnership%2Fnews-story%2F7632ff3144b64fb64330355b54844985&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&BT=Newspass

Max Verstappen has his eyes on the prize at F1 Melbourne with new LVMH partnership

He is the pre-eminent driver of his generation, already considered an all-time great by many. We meet the father-to-be ahead of Formula One powering into Melbourne next week.

A billion pounds is a lot of money in anyone’s language – indeed it’s nudging two billion in ours – and yet that’s how much is reportedly being dangled in front of Formula One driver, and four-time world champion, Max Verstappen, like a particularly shiny and tempting carrot.

But how can he be worth that much, I hear you splutter? Sure, you can’t manage a 160km/h baseball pitch, or nail most of your shots from behind the three-point arc in the NBA, but most of us can drive a car. He’s just got to sit there, right? One steering wheel, two pedals, and $2 billion?

Here’s the thing, you quite simply could not physically drive a Formula One car, let alone race one. It’s not just the speed – hitting 200km/h from a standing start in four seconds before maxing out at 375km/h – it’s the physical punishment.

To drive his Oracle Red Bull race car, Verstappen has to literally lie down, as if he’s in a particularly fast bathtub, with the pedals where the taps would be. While the G-forces, which can exceed six times gravity under braking, apply brutal pressure to his whole body, during long corners his head is out there in the rushing air, pulling five Gs, which means it effectively weighs approximately 25 kilograms, or the same as an eight-year-old boy.

This is why Formula One drivers have necks like sequoia trunks. When Lewis Hamilton started racing he had a 14-inch collar; it’s now 18 inches.

That notional bath that Verstappen is in is also full of very hot water, because his carbon-fibre sarcophagus can reach 50°C (at one scorching event in Qatar in 2023, drivers reported vomiting in their helmets from the heat) and during the course of the race he can lose as much as five per cent of his body weight in fluids. That loss also affects mental function, according to Formula One experts, with each kilogram you sweat costing you, temporarily, as much as 10 per cent of your brain power.

Which brings us to that steering wheel, which is not only covered in two dozen buttons also but features dials that allow the drivers to shift the brake balance in and out of the corners they are approaching at more than 300km/hour.

Verstappen, 27, describes it as being, “Like a rollercoaster that shoots off, but faster than you think, whilst having a steering wheel in your hands with all the buttons,” before mentioning that “the weather conditions massively affect driving the car”. His vehicle has more than 1000 horsepower, but no traction control at all other than his right foot, so in the rain it’s like strapping a whirring chainsaw to each boot and attempting to ice skate.

“Of course, it would be nice if the weather was always good, but that is what makes F1 exciting and fun as a driver: to adapt and push to the limits,” he explains following the shoot, captured at The Maybourne Riviera hotel above his home in Monaco. “It can be tough to train for such extreme conditions, especially for a race like Qatar a few years ago, but it is definitely something you try to get used to.”

I was once unfortunate enough to be a passenger in a Formula One car for a few laps of the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, where this year’s season will kick off with the Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix 2025 from March 13 to 16 (and where Verstappen became the youngest F1 debutant ever, aged 17, at his first race in 2015).

The G-forces in the middle of a long corner felt like I was being hit hard, sideways, by an angry rhinoceros and I seriously thought about taking my finger off the Dead Man’s Button they make you hold; because if you pass out you will let go and that will notify the driver to slow down. Staying conscious is tough; thinking about actual racing and tactics on top of that sounds impossible. I was unwell for hours afterwards.

Verstappen’s job, then, is not easy, but he’s already been well compensated for risking life and limb, with an estimated net worth north of $300 million. Last year he bought himself a $22 million superyacht, and he recently added a new $80 million private jet to his collection of toys.

Fortunately, he doesn’t have to buy his own watches, courtesy of being a friend of TAG Heuer, adding that he wears his statement timepiece, a TAG Heuer Monaco, “both on and away from track”.

“Of course, it would be nice if the weather was always good but that is what makes F1 exciting and fun as a driver: to adapt and push to the limits.” – Max Verstappen

“It is customised with my name and has the years of my first three championships engraved, which is extra special. They are engraving the fourth at the moment,” adds Verstappen who is expecting a child with his partner, Brazilian model Kelly Piquet.

Antoine Pin, chief executive of TAG Heuer, recognises the synergies between driver and brand, but also what it takes to achieve a champion’s mindset such as Verstappen’s.

“[TAG Heuer] has been with Formula One for almost 60 years now … because from the very beginning, Jack Heuer [the last member of the brand’s founding Swiss family to manage the manufacture] realised this intensity. These Formula One drivers, they are the knights of modern times in a way. They’re going for fight, they’re going in duels, they’re ready to face death.”

And so, we come to what makes Verstappen so special that a rival team, Aston Martin, is reportedly negotiating a $2 billion deal to lure him away from Oracle Red Bull for the 2026 season. It sounds fantastical, except that Aston already poached Red Bull’s brilliant race-car designer Adrian Newey who – alongside charismatic team boss and Mr Ginger Spice, Christian Horner – engineered much of his success and is paying him a rumoured $60 million a year.

Formula One cars are ground-bound fighter jets – they have so much downforce that they could drive upside down on the roof of a tunnel above a certain speed – which means designing them to maximise the flow of air, and thus their speed, is vital. Which is one of the things that will make this year’s season so interesting.

With Newey gone, and thus the chance his Red Bull will not be the fastest car on the grid, will Verstappen be able to maintain the utter dominance that has seen him win the past four Formula One World Drivers’ Championships?

What is undeniable is that he is the driver of his generation, and some would suggest he is already an all-time great, but his seemingly unrelenting will to win has been known to tip over into conflict. In boxing terms, Verstappen is a combination of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, or to put it in more local parlance, he’s the Tony Lockett of Formula One – fantastically talented, but likely to flatten you if you annoy him.

His fans, which include much of his native Holland, would say he simply hates being overtaken and will go a lot further than most drivers to stop it from happening. In last year’s Mexican Grand Prix he was hit with two penalties after tangling with McLaren driver Lando Norris (the teammate of Aussie hopeful Oscar Piastri, who nine-time Formula One Grand Prix winner Mark Webber describes as our best chance in decades of being a world champion).

Norris went so far as to call Verstappen “dangerous” after the race, former world champion Damon Hill accused him of driving like Dick Dastardly from Wacky Races, and respected commentator Martin Brundle also lashed out.

“I know that Max doesn’t care what anybody thinks, but it saddens me when he drives like that,” Brundle said. “He’s a multiple champion, has more driving talent in his little finger than most of us ever had, but his legacy will be tainted by this sporting attitude, and that’s a shame.”

A few races later, Verstappen reportedly had a fiery encounter out of the car with another rival, Mercedes driver George Russell, who said the champion threatened to deliberately crash into him and to “put me on my f***ing head in the wall”. Verstappen’s response to the ensuing media firestorm was to tell Dutch television that Russell could “get lost” and that “I meant everything I said”.

Despite this, Norris has previously described Verstappen – often seen sharing private jets between races with other drivers – as a good friend.

“Of course, at times it can get a bit tense on track but off the track, that shouldn’t matter at the end of the day,” Verstappen explains. “I have good relationships with the drivers on the grid. We always try to do the best we can on track to get the best possible result, but the main thing is that we can talk about it afterwards.”

If you want to win in Formula One, you need the best – and perhaps the most ruthless – driver. And clearly Aston Martin wants to win, but $2 billion still sounds like a lot until you consider the global financial clout of the sport. Formula One received a huge boost from the success of brilliant Netflix series, Drive to Survive, which turned each season since 2019 into a highly watchable sporting soap opera (Verstappen refuses to take part in the show directly, and won’t answer questions about it).

The ratings hit has driven the popularity of F1 in the US – which had previously been the one global holdout – through the roof and led to the adding of two new American races, in Miami and Las Vegas, to the circuit. It also drove an increase in income from the many acres of advertising splashed all over the cars and the drivers. As of this year, the Formula One Group has a market cap of $39.6 billion, an impressive rise from when the sport was bought by Liberty Media in 2014 for $7.3 billion.

With new drivers on the grid this year, including Australian Jack Doohan, the son of motorcycling legend Mick, and New Zealand’s Liam Lawson, there will be thrills and spills aplenty. But one driver remains the hot favourite and the hot-headed man to beat. Put your billions on Max Verstappen.

[mariacallous]

Next year will be Big Tech’s finale. Critique of Big Tech is now common sense, voiced by a motley spectrum that unites opposing political parties, mainstream pundits, and even tech titans such as the VC powerhouse Y Combinator, which is singing in harmony with giants like a16z in proclaiming fealty to “little tech” against the centralized power of incumbents.

Why the fall from grace? One reason is that the collateral consequences of the current Big Tech business model are too obvious to ignore. The list is old hat by now: centralization, surveillance, information control. It goes on, and it’s not hypothetical. Concentrating such vast power in a few hands does not lead to good things. No, it leads to things like the CrowdStrike outage of mid-2024, when corner-cutting by Microsoft led to critical infrastructure—from hospitals to banks to traffic systems—failing globally for an extended period.

Another reason Big Tech is set to falter in 2025 is that the frothy AI market, on which Big Tech bet big, is beginning to lose its fizz. Major money, like Goldman Sachs and Sequoia Capital, is worried. They went public recently with their concerns about the disconnect between the billions required to create and use large-scale AI, and the weak market fit and tepid returns where the rubber meets the AI business-model road.

It doesn’t help that the public and regulators are waking up to AI’s reliance on, and generation of, sensitive data at a time when the appetite for privacy has never been higher—as evidenced, for one, by Signal’s persistent user growth. AI, on the other hand, generally erodes privacy. We saw this in June when Microsoft announced Recall, a product that would, I kid you not, screenshot everything you do on your device so an AI system could give you “perfect memory” of what you were doing on your computer (Doomscrolling? Porn-watching?). The system required the capture of those sensitive images—which would not exist otherwise—in order to work.

Happily, these factors aren’t just liquefying the ground below Big Tech’s dominance. They’re also powering bold visions for alternatives that stop tinkering at the edges of the monopoly tech paradigm, and work to design and build actually democratic, independent, open, and transparent tech. Imagine!

For example, initiatives in Europe are exploring independent core tech infrastructure, with convenings of open source developers, scholars of governance, and experts on the political economy of the tech industry.

And just as the money people are joining in critique, they’re also exploring investments in new paradigms. A crop of tech investors are developing models of funding for mission alignment, focusing on tech that rejects surveillance, social control, and all the bullshit. One exciting model I’ve been discussing with some of these investors would combine traditional VC incentives (fund that one unicorn > scale > acquisition > get rich) with a commitment to resource tech’s open, nonprofit critical infrastructure with a percent of their fund. Not as investment, but as a contribution to maintaining the bedrock on which a healthy tech ecosystem can exist (and maybe get them and their limited partners a tax break).

Such support could—and I believe should—be supplemented by state capital. The amount of money needed is simply too vast if we’re going to do this properly. To give an example closer to home, developing and maintaining Signal costs around $50 million a year, which is very lean for tech. Projects such as the Sovereign Tech Fund in Germany point a path forward—they are a vehicle to distribute state funds to core open source infrastructures, but they are governed wholly independently, and create a buffer between the efforts they fund and the state.

Just as composting makes nutrients from necrosis, in 2025, Big Tech’s end will be the beginning of a new and vibrant ecosystem. The smart, actually cool, genuinely interested people will once again have their moment, getting the resources and clearance to design and (re)build a tech ecosystem that is actually innovative and built for benefit, not just profit and control. MAY IT BE EVER THUS!

[catboybiologist]

Porters count as carboloading right

Within the next couple of days, I'll be setting up my first camp on the HST

Y'all I'm so fucking excited.

Little kid hours but I've been going to Sequoia NP, and the Sierras as a whole, for my entire life. I've been wanting to do "the long way to Whitney" for pretty much as long as I've had a conception of where Mt. Whitney was, and how close (relatively) it was to the giant forest area that I loved.

At the start of this summer, I was honestly a little terrified about what I was committing myself to. I'm still nervous (not unsafe, DW, its a highly trafficked trail and I have satellite communication) but I feel very ready. The routes I've done so far have honestly been more technical and strenuous, the primary key difference is that the HST is much longer. But honestly, that shouldn't be a problem.

I'm meandering my way towards the trailhead in the general area, and got a moment to enjoy the Sequoia front country before I head out.

But y'all.

I got the logistics figured out. I got the permits. I got the gear. I got the skills. I got the physical training. I'm in a brewery enjoying some nice ass beer. Sitting alone but vibrating with excitement. It's HAPPENING!!!

Time to earn my name 🍻

[navigatingsims]

i am an avid sims 3 player that wants to get into the sims 4 so i have decided to throw myself into the deep end and try a 26 generation challenge lol. introducing the letterman household, the alphabet legacy.

a couple of pretty basic sims but i think i quite like them! i am not really following any particular rules aside from each generation has to have a name beginning with the next letter in the alphabet. i want this to include spouses / partners so audrey and arlo's child will have a name starting with b and their partner's name will start with b and their child will have a name starting with c and their partner's name will start with c etc. i am playing on short life span and my goal really is just to explore the sims 4!

we're starting off with audrey and arlo, married, and having just moved to san sequoia into sequoia cottage. let's see what happens!

pose credits: @shysimblr, @ratboysims

[mmmatchasims]

Wow, I can't believe gen 3 is over! This was my most ambitious generation and I don't think I have plans to ever write another gen as long as this one turned out to be, so I put a bunch of thoughts and ramblings under the cut for those interested.

If you have any questions or thoughts/theories about my bpr please feel free to send me an ask! I'm happy to clarify anything that wasn't as clear as I intended (as long as it's not something I purposefully kept unclear for the time being) or just chat about my story and characters. Thank you for reading! ❤️ Okay, phew, let's get into this!

I hate to say it, but Citrine was always going to die at the end of their senior year. I've had some variation of her & Hib's tragic love story bouncing around in my head since I was at least 14, and that was absolutely not helped by my adolescent love of John Green books. What can I say? I live for the melodrama and tragedy and intensity and clumsiness of those types of stories, and I wanted one in my BPR. Is it the most nuanced thing I could have written? No. Was it self-indulgent and very fun? Absolutely. 😇

While writing this gen and solidifying the lore of the Dream family, a question kept popping into my head. What happens if two people who are meant to be together are somehow prevented from doing so? It's starting to become clear at this point in the story that the Dreams are part of something bigger than themselves. Some sort of prophecy or cosmic will. What would have happened if our Gen 4 heiress had been born to Hibiscus and Citrine? How would the world have changed? Would it have impacted the story? This is a BPR after all, we need a certain amount of generations before we can conclude the story. Or do we? Jasmine seems to be waiting for something, or someone, to arrive. But even she isn't sure when that will be. While we're at it, what is her deal? We'll explore that in much more detail next gen.

Speaking of things that were or were not meant to happen, I had always planned on Hibiscus having a child with Topaz. I tried to leave it up to interpretation how much of their story was fate course-correcting after Citrine died vs. an intentional coupling. They have a shared bond through her, but that shared bond might not be the best thing to foster a marriage on. To be honest, I didn't intend for them to have as much chemistry as they turned out to have. In my mind, they were always better as friends than lovers, and Hibiscus was always meant to be with Citrine. Their whole relationship/marriage/baby montage at the end of this gen was meant to feel rushed and strained, because that's how Hibiscus and Topaz feel. There is real love there, but it was always going to be complicated by Citrine. I'm very excited to explore their dynamic more in Dandelion's gen and let you guys peek behind the curtain into some very honest and raw conversations.

Not to mention, Hibiscus hasn't found out that Andromeda was somehow responsible for "cutting Citrine's thread" before her time... Yet. I left what happened during her visit to the three seamstresses a bit vague, but I'm curious if anyone picked up on what happened. I'll expand on that pretty immediately in gen 4, so don't worry too much if you've totally forgotten what I'm talking about.

Lastly, I wanted to touch on Hib's friend group. Midna and Tamber were literally a reference to the "All or Nothing" webseries/tumblr meme that became a core part of this site's lore back in the 2010s or whenever. As somebody who identifies as being somewhere on the Ace spectrum, I knew I wanted to very briefly touch on my own feelings as a young person working through that identity. And then the dynamic between her and Tam kind of just wrote itself! They are still very happy living in San Myshuno together along with Tam's other partners. Maybe someday I'll do a side story about their adventures together. Cherry and Cranberry are happily married with one daughter and another kid on the way. They live in San Sequoia where Cran is a track coach at the city college and Cherry is a professor at San Sequoia University. I'd like to post some gameplay of them at some point, bc I want people to know they are happy and thriving but there probably won't be any room in the official story for them.

I think that's everything I wanted to touch on! Like I said, please hit my line if you have any questions about the story or just want to say hello and chat. It means a lot to me that people are still reading, despite this generation kind of getting away from me in length 😅 So thank you for the support! I will be taking a bit of a break from the sims for a few months because this gen did burn me out a little bit, but I'll still be active on here reading other people's stories and downloading CC. I'll let you all know once I start prepping Dandelion's gen, I'm very excited for you all to meet her 💛

[gingerbeardmansim]

Kelvin "Kel" Pence

In 2025, I am going back to my Simblr roots.

Back in 2021 I began playing the Pence family. A Sims4 family, created and shared with me from @thelastairsimblr ; featuring Daryl Pence, his older brother Chad, their father Frederick and Frederick's mother Raquel Pence. Over the next few weeks and months, I hope to start posting the 2nd Generation of the Pence Family, featuring Daryl Pence and Tatsuo's son Kel Pence.

Kel is a young adult, moving into the Alpha Sim Phi Frat House in Britechester, and in his 2nd year at the University.

Kel, having the Painter Extraordinaire Aspiration, is currently majoring in Art History and is also working as a pallet cleaner for the San Sequoia Art Gallery Studios. He is an expert artist, both in painting and photography. His dream is to have his own art studio.

He is creative, loyal and a lover of the arts.

Kel is pansexual. He would love a family someday, and his fathers have set a wonderful example. However, his closest family member to him is Raquel, his great-grandmother, as she had a big part in his upbringing.

I hope you follow along in seeing Kel's realization of his dreams.

[solitasims4]

the Volkov-Kealoha family.

introducing Generations 1, 2, & 3 of my Sims 4 Legacy challenge.

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Generation 1: Alexis Dionne Ketter (Founder) turned Alexis Dionne Volkov & Kristopher Volkov of Moonwood Mill.

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Generation 2: Rory Oaklow (not pictured, adopted by Kristopher), Jacob Volkov (not pictured, adopted by Kristopher), twin siblings Ezra Volkov & Autumn Priscilla Volkov Kealoha (Heir), Nicole Volkov, Edward Volkov, Clint Volkov ("adopted"), & Renesmee Volkov.

Autumn Kealoha is married to Shanna Kealoha. They share 2 sons.

Edward Volkov is married to Hilary Tanaka turned Hilary Volkov. They live in San Sequoia & share 2 children, one boy & one girl.

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Generation 3: River Kealoha (not pictured, deceased) & Sage Kealoha.

Extended family members of Generation 3: Sawyer Oaklow of Moonwood Mill (not pictured), Nina & Micah Volkov of San Sequoia.

-

The next Legacy episode will be out on YouTube & TikTok tomorrow, Monday, November 13, at 11:15AM PST.

You can catch up here:

Gen 1/2: ♡ | ♡

Gen 2/3: ♡ | ♡

Follow me on Twitter & check out my YouTube Community for updates, sneak peeks/spoilers, polls, photoshoots, & behind the scenes.

Solita

[im-jennx]

← Previous | Next →

૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა Generation Two | Part Thirteen

🏘️ “A new bombshell has entered the villa!” San Sequoia’s Lavender Lane — the charming street where the Deveraux family resides — was buzzing with new energy. A mysterious new homeowner had moved into the once-foreclosed property just two doors down. Naturally, Melody’s curiosity got the best of her, so she took a little stroll to investigate. That’s when she met the stunning new neighbor: Carina De Palma. Melody was instantly charmed by the young woman and didn’t hesitate to extend a dinner invitation. Over the meal, the Deveraux family learned that Carina is an up-and-coming realtor, personally renovating the home with plans to flip it for a profit. But the dinner took an unexpected turn when Carina laid eyes on August Deveraux— the family’s rising-star musician. As fate would have it, she was already a fan of his breakout hit, “F** Hoes, Get Money.” She never imagined she’d run into him of all people in a quiet town like San Sequoia. Looks like this small town just got a little more interesting…

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[scenvs3000w25]

The Power of Teamwork (Unit 9)

You see it everywhere: outside, on the sidewalk, tiny little ants walk in a line, carrying breadcrumbs back to their nest. Bees buzz around the flowers, intent on gathering nectar to take back to their hive. You even see it in the skyscrapers rising up into the clouds, the organized roads and streets that take you where you want to go, and the people you collaborate with every day to get things done. 

(Video: bees bustling around on a hive. Taken by Serena Causton)

(Photo: Toronto skyline as sunset against clouds. Taken by Sequoia Death)

The most amazing thing that nature has to offer is teamwork. Species of all shapes and sizes work together to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Humans create technology, spaceships, medicine, buildings, and more, together. Bees create hives they fill with honey. Ants create a network of tunnels to house the colony. Species everywhere create a system; a system that functions independently of the individuals that created it (Meadows, 2008). If one individual is lost, the system remains. 

Monarch butterflies even use transgenerational teamwork; one generation begins the migration south to find somewhere warm to overwinter. Then the next generation is born in the south, and makes the return journey north (US Forest Service, 2024). This journey is guided by instinctive genetic patterns. 

Unfortunately, it’s easy for humans to overlook the importance of these connections within a system when we get lost in the technology created by it (Beck et al., 2018; pg 468). Nicolas Carr (2014) warns that...

“the mounting evidence of an erosion of skills, a dulling of perceptions, and a slowing of reactions should give us all pause.”

Interspecies cooperation is everywhere in nature, from ants to bees to birds to dolphins to elephants; this quality, preserved through millions of years of evolution, is clearly essential. These skills that we are losing, the skills of empathy, connection, and agency, were cultivated in our species for a reason; throughout our evolutionary history, these skills have made us stronger, better, and better adapted to survival.

What happens to us if we lose these skills?

Are we devolving? We as a society need to take proactive, intentional measures to connect with each other and strengthen our bonds.

As nature interpreters, we can strengthen these skills in ourselves and in others through promoting and supporting nature connection. Through nature, we can inspire awe, and awe can inspire action (Beck et al., 2018; pg 472). By being in nature we can also reduce reliance and dependence on technology, which can reduce the distractions that prevent people from connecting with each other, nature, and themselves. 

Next time you go outside, whether in the city or in a forest, in a suburb or next to the ocean, think about everything you see around you. The birds you hear calling to each other from the trees. The squirrels running up and down the trunks, working hard to scavenge for acorns. The worms in the ground that filter soil and nutrients, turning chemicals into compounds that plants can eat. The plants that take up carbon dioxide and release oxygen for us to breathe. 

(Photo: Centennial Park at sunset in 2018. Taken by Serena Causton). In this photo, the moss was disrupted on the right hand side by a mother duck and her ducklings swimming across the pond.

If you’re in an urban environment, think about the number of people who worked hard to mix and pour cement for the sidewalk. The people who measured and remeasured and mixed and remixed ratios until they found the perfect combination to even make cement. Think about the architects that designed the buildings you see, the mathematicians and engineers that made it possible, the construction workers that operated the equipment and machinery to build it, the transport workers who travelled across the country with materials to build.

(Photo: A night market in Osaka, 2024. Taken by Serena Causton)

Think about all these things that contribute to the system that makes life possible, whether it be natural or human-made. What role do you play in the system? Do you like your role?

What do you want to do to contribute to the system? 

References:

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing, Sagamore Venture.

Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in systems (Illustrated edition). Chelsea Green Publishing.

U.S. FOREST SERVICE. (2024). Monarch Butterfly Migration and Overwintering. Www.fs.usda.gov.https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/Monarch_Butterfly/migration/index.shtml

[luvo27]

i would love to please hear about Redwoods 2 👀

Redwoods 2!! also known as what will be the actual publishing title: I want to feel the fire that you kept from me, a fic that is my love my life my heart!!! in the parenthesis where i listed this on my wip list, you might have seen that it was previously titled eclipse fic seq. because!!! Redwoods 2 is the sequel to If they could only remember/which one is you and which one/the source of all fire aka the bruce and stephanie north american eclipse of 2024 roadtrip!!!

this is a sequel that first came to mind when i reread the eclipse fic and realized exactly how sad it was because i had spent the entire time writing the fic giggling about the pun of its existence, in that steph is getting eclipsed by jason throughout, and then i reread it and went wait why is this so sad it was supposed to be a joke and then i went well now i have to write a fix it sequel for my own goddamn fic and. well. the amount of fixing that happens is actually not that much. i might be making things worse actually. But im having a lot of fun doing an excessive amount of research for this, so instead of a snippet i'm going to tell you what i've been learning!!! long post incoming:

So the Redwood forests are moderately well known as being some Big Honking Trees found in California, but there are three species of redwoods!!! two of them are found in california usa: Coast Redwoods and Giant Sequoia, while the third, Dawn Sequoia, is found in China! The coast redwoods and giant sequoia are responsible for the tallest and largest trees respectively, the tallest tree being the coast redwood known as Hyperion, and the largest being General Sherman the giant sequoia. the distinction being that General Sherman has a higher overall woody mass. Not to be confused with the other largest tree, Pando the quaking aspen grove, which is the largest tree in terms of biomass because it's one large clonal organism, like a mushroom

the majority of my research has been on giant sequoia reproduction and its relationship with fire. the main reason i'm still on my loose writing break is because this is the fic i want to finish next, and before i continue writing it, i want to finish reading Giant Sequoia Ecology: Fire and Reproduction by Harvey et al which is free to read via google play books which is what the link is to. i'm like 2/3s of the way done, and have read the sections on fire which is what interested me but im at the point where it's like, might as well finish it because some of it might come in handy. important to note that this research is like, 40-60 years old, which is PRETTY DARN OLD. why am i reading it? idk it was cited in a different article i started reading and looked relevant. and it is! because trees are old, and their reproductive strategies don't change all that fast in the face of the rapidly changing climate, which is, you know. pretty much the whole entire problem about that, but i'm getting off topic. Basically, this study was great to start to understand Giant Sequoia reproductive strategies, especially for literally just what's going to be a 10k words max fanfic and not an actual research article.

ANYWAYS in most organisms, reproduction is a balance between Have Enough Backups That At Least One Of Them Survives To Adulthood vs. Pour All Resources Into One Guy to Make the Best Guy Ever Who Will Live Forever. Giant sequoias fall into the first category, with Harvey et al finding an average of 2000 seed bearing cones per tree, each of which contained an average of 200 seeds each. they produce a lot of seeds, and a lot of seeds die.

how does fire play into it? A few different ways!

first, it reduces competition. harv tells us that giant sequoias are shade intolerant, so by reducing the number of other less fire resistant species, it clears room both on the floor as well as increasing the level of sunlight for giant sequoia seedlings to grow.

second, it helps with seed release! a lot of people probably know that there are some species of trees that require fire to reproduce! in the case of the giant sequoia, fire helps to dry out cones bearing mature seeds, causing them to be released into the newly cleared forest soil.

third, it reduces other litter on the forest floor! if there's a ton of stuff like twigs and branches and dead leaves etc etc, it'll be harder for those newly released seeds to make their way into actual soil, and possibly they'll remain on the surface, dry out, and die.

so we know that fire is important for giant sequoia reproduction. we also know that california, as well as other wildfire prone areas, are having higher intensity wildfires with more frequency as one of the side effects of climate change, what with increased average daily temperatures as well as other weather patterns such as droughts creating super awesome conditions for fire and super bad conditions for a lot of pretty much everything else. source? recent events man idk this is what i've been learning in basically every class ive taken for the past four years whether i wanted to or not. anyways, one of the other things that can increase wildfire intensity is fuel availability, such as dead leaves, twigs, etc on the forest floor, and this is one of the reasons why prescribed fire is a useful form of forest management. lots of little fires are a lot better than Big Fires that kill everything.

several years there were some pretty honking big wildfires that killed a ton of giant sequoias, and i've been reading about those too and i'll talk about it when i'm actually finished writing the fic and cite everything properly i promise promise promise but for now you can read a bit about those from this national park service article!! but quick summary, lightning strike + drought + fuel + wind= big big big fire.

so fire's good for sequoias, but everything is only good in moderation. While giant sequoias have adaptations to be more fire resistant (like thicker bark and crowns aka the leafy parts being super super high up) high enough intensity wildfires can end torch and kill the trees, where the fire gets to the tree crown, burning all the leaves and also incinerating the cones and seeds. so it's a problem.

anyways, this is where i'll leave it for now, but know that when i actually get around to finishing the fic i'll hopefully dump some more information and drop some more links because this fic is taking the spot of most researched fic for literally absolutely no reason at all. my friend, the big twist is that the redwoods aren't even actually going to appear in this fic. But i hope you enjoyed, and maybe you learned something!!! thank you for asking and letting me ramble!! :DDD

[mysimsloveaffair]

Wade grew up in a two-parent household on a homestead in Henford-on-Bagley with two younger brothers. His educated parents, Kai – a farmer/biologist, and Melisa – a mechanical engineer, were wildly successful in their careers and could always provide their sons with whatever they needed. With a private school education and plenty of money to start his adult life, Wade seeks out the one thing he always felt he was missing – a little adventure. Now he has to figure out how to make a career out of it and who he wants to share it with.

Below you will find the chapter summaries for Generation 4…

Day 1.4 – Dub begins thinking about his future, which includes moving out of Henford-on-Bagley.

Day 2.4 - Dub and his brothers arrive in Batuu!

Day 3.4 - The Banks Boys explore Batuu, and later Me-Me ages up and reminisces with Kai.

Day 4.4 - Dub gets caught up in a ‘sticky’ situation, which causes strife with Mase.

Day 5.4 - The Batuu trip ends abruptly, as Dub is forced to go home and “face the music.”

Day 6.4 - Dub asks his parents for help with his plans to move out and later meets with Perla to break things off.

Day 7.4 - Mase ages up to a young adult, and the Banks Boys learn some family history from Uncle Merit.

Day 8.4 - Dub moves out, but his first day in Brindleton Bay is not what he thought it would be.

Day 9.4 - Dub discovers the Skills Academy and some of the more appealing locations in Brindleton Bay.

Day 10.4 - Back at the skills academy, Dub meets someone new and intriguing. Then, later, he makes an impulsive decision.

Day 11.4 - After a hectic day, Dub realizes that he has a tough decision to make.

Day 12.4 - Dub’s 2nd meeting with Maia doesn’t go well.

Day 13.4 - Dub shoots his last shot when he bumps into Maia once again.

Day 14.4 - Maia gives Dub a tour of Dreadgrass Isle. Later, Dub makes a move that he soon regrets.

Day 15.4 - Dub receives a surprise visit from his family and finally finds out what Maia thinks about the kiss.

Day 16.4 - Maia joins Dub on his trip to Del Sol Valley for the Starlight Accolades ceremony.

Day 17.4 -  A trip to San Sequoia to meet Maia’s father leads to an unexpected friendship for Dub and convinces him that it’s time to make some big moves.

Day 18.4 - Dub and Maia experience the first day of their new relationship.

Day 19.4 - It’s Winterfest. Dub makes another big move, and later, he and Maia arrive in Henford to spend time with Dub’s family.

Day 20.4 - Dub and Maia plan to attend a friend’s wedding in Tartosa.

Day 21.4 - Maia experiences a serious mood swing as Dub plans how to spend the early part of their vacation.

Day 22.4 - While Dub and Maia attend the wedding, Dub’s cousin Brianna meets an interesting guy and Mase is finally introduced to Zoe’s family.

Day 23.4 - Dub starts to worry as Maia begins to suffer from a ‘mysterious’ illness.

Day 24.4 - Hit with a new reality Dub and Maia are forced to come to terms with their past, present and future.

Day 25.4 - It’s time to share the news of Maia’s pregnancy with the rest of the family.

Day 26.4 -  Me-Me throws a baby shower for Maia and Dub in Copperdale.

Day 27.4 -  A new baby of the Banks dynasty is born soon after Maia’s father, Clyde, comes to visit.

Day 28.4 -  Dub’s family arrives to meet Tambara, and Clyde comes through for Dub in a major way.

Day 29.4 - Dub earns the badges of fatherhood, and later, he and Dwight search for a rare gem for Maia’s engagement ring.

Day 30.4 - Maia and Dub reminisce on their last day in Brindleton Bay.

Day 31.4 - Moving day has arrived – Dub and family relocate to the West Coast.

Day 32.4 - Tami becomes mobile, and new tenants move in next door.

Day 33.4 - Dub has a strange run-in with his new tenant and later hosts a visit with his best friend, Luca.

Day 34.4 - It’s Tambara’s toddler birthday, but Dub gets the biggest surprises.

Day 35.4 - Dub feels paranoid, and his new tenants don’t help the situation.

Day 36.4 - After such a challenging day yesterday, Dub wants to spend some quiet time with his family.

Day 37.4 - The day begins with trip planning and self-care but ends with a trip to the vet.

Day 38.4 - In Ciudad Enamorada, Dub finally proposes, and Drake discovers how much babysitting can pay off.

Day 39.4 -  Dub and Maia exchange vows with friends and family. Later, Drake and Mariana dance the night away.

Day 40.4 -  Dub and the family return home to San Sequoia, only to discover that things aren’t quite right with Maia’s father, Clyde.

Day 41.4 -  Dub and Tami age up and later celebrate Spooky Day.

Day 42.4 -  Maia and Tami help Clyde settle in next door while Dub questions his own parenting skills.

Day 43.4 -  Despite it being her birthday, Maia stays behind in San Sequioia with her father while Dub and Tami go to Henford-on-Bagley the day before Mase’s wedding. While Tami spends time with her grandparents, Dub comes face to face with his past at the bachelor party.

Day 44.4 -  It’s Mase and Zoe’s wedding day. Dub makes things clear with Perla.

Day 45.4 -  Tami starts school, but the day ends with terrible news.

Day 46.4 -   Dub makes a decision that threatens to change his relationship with Maia, and later, the family faces another tragedy.

Day 47.4 -   Dub, Maia, and Tami spend Winterfest in Chestnut Ridge and meet a new family friend.

Day 48.4 -  The family says their final goodbyes to Clyde, and Kai teaches Tami some of her family history.

Day 49.4 -  Maia finally figures out how to deal with her mid-life crisis when Dub makes a request that threatens her plans.

Day 50.4 -  The family visits their good friends, the Murillos, as Maia goes through a mid-life crisis.

Day 51.4 -  It’s Tami’s birthday and a bad move from Dub causes serious issues between him and Maia.

Day 52.4 -  Dub hopes to discuss things with Maia, but it blows up in his face. In the meantime, Tami begins her first day of high school.

Day 53.4 -  A clothing mistake increases Tami’s popularity at school. Later, Dub arrives in Henford and gets good advice from his father.

Day 54.4 -  Dub hears some harsh truths from Kai as the guys spend the day getting some self-care. Later, there’s a loss in the family.

Day 55.4 - (coming soon)

[storiesbyjes2g]

3.57 The resort

Winter arrived, and I couldn't even tell. The pleasantly warm temperature was the same as every other day that week, like autumn in San Sequoia, and I loved it. At least it didn't rain, though. I in no way had any regrets about moving in with Sophia, but I missed San Sequoia a lot—a whole lot. There was just something about that colorful town that resonated with me. With any luck, we could move back one day, but for now, Oasis Springs was my dusty new home.

Good thing I didn't have a traditional job, or otherwise Sophia and I would struggle to find time together. Not only did she work an early shift, but also she worked on weekends and had two random days off in the middle of the week. But that also meant I'd only have a few hours each day to get everything I needed to get done before she got home if we wanted to maximize our time together. I could have gone back to San Sequoia to host a class or two, but I used the time to shop for a few items for the house and put up my pictures. I was no design diva like Mama, but I hoped Sophia would be pleasantly surprised when she walked through the door.

After the decor adventure, I went for a jog, and would you believe it rained after I had just given Oasis Springs props for not raining on me? Rude. Maybe the latter part of the year was just rainier everywhere in general and I never noticed until now.

Next to our house was an empty lot, and even though I'd jogged past it a few times, it stood out that day and got me thinking. How much would it cost to build a very small, very basic studio? The question intrigued me so much I canceled my second lap and went back home to do some research. The price of the land was relatively cheap, which meant the lot taxes would probably be low as well. So far, I had no reason to not consider this path, but I tucked the idea away for another time because I became distracted by learning about a spa resort right here in Oasis Springs. The resort, named Desert Bloom Spa Hotel, was conveniently located near our neighborhood. I still had a few more hours before Sophia got back, so I went to check it out.

I had only entered the lobby and already fell in love with the place. It was so clean, modern, and peaceful. Maybe one day Sophia and I could do a weekend getaway—a staycation of sorts. Well, definitely not on the weekend, but you know what I meant. I found someone who worked there and asked if I could look around, and to my surprise, she volunteered to take me on a tour and began in the dining room, which was just across the breezeway from the front desk.

They served continental breakfast, snacks during the day, and tapas at night. At the heart of the facility, there was a sprawling fountain that spanned almost the entire length of the spa. The poolside bar was pretty big too. Tables and chairs were scattered all around the fountain, giving plenty of room for everyone to hang out and chill over a nice drink.

They even had a two-level gym with enough machines to accommodate nearly anyone wishing to workout during their stay. Not even my gym in Newcrest had that many machines. This place was really growing on me, and I wondered if I could frequent it without a reservation.

Up next were the residential suites. We couldn't go in them, of course, but they were duplex style, side-by-side suites that mirrored each other. They shared a common pool, and I got to peek inside a little from the patio door. They looked nice enough inside. I think we could be happy there for a few days--not that we'll be sitting around looking at the wallpaper, heh.

The yoga area was outside across from the suites and pool, and MAN I was so inspired. I rarely thought about opening my own yoga studio. Honestly, it was yet another one of Mama's ideas that eventually bored its way into my subconscious. But sometimes the idea was strong enough that it felt like it came from my own mind, and I really wanted to do it. Looking at their setup gave me so many ideas for how I could craft mine when the time came.

Hopefully, they also had an indoor facility because it started raining again. I would hate to be a paying customer who wasn't able to take any classes because of the weather. Watcher forbid they still carried on, regardless. I asked my tour guide if they ever did guided meditations and explained I was a yoga instructor myself and led guided meditations in San Sequoia. This intrigued her, and she promised to discuss it with the owner.

Turns out they didn't have an indoor yoga room, but the meditation room was upstairs. The spa rooms were also upstairs, but my tour guide didn't let me go in for obvious reasons. But she said there was a sauna, two tables inside, and multiple massage chairs on the upper deck. The lobby for the massage rooms was just as clean and peaceful as the front desk, so I knew the service rooms would be too.

I was so wrapped up in the tour I didn't realize the time. Sophia had already arrived home, and I missed the opportunity to show her the things I bought. True, she could see them as soon as she walked in, but I wanted to be the one to show her. But in Sophia-like fashion, she began raving about how much she loved the rug and blinds as soon as I walked in.

Luckily, she hadn't seen the other room yet, so I got to show her the couch for the office, and she loved that too.

"Thanks for moving the desk and fitting the couch in there. I know it's not easy getting things in and out of here."

It was no trouble. After all, I was a very strong man, heh.

I joined her on the couch and asked about her day. Thankfully, it was much better than yesterday but still kind of meh. I guess that's the answer a lot of sims gave since it was so common to work a job one didn't love. I wanted better for her and didn't enjoy seeing her live a mediocre life. Hopefully, one day my yoga business would be so good she wouldn't have to work if she didn't want to. I just wanted her to be happy.

The conversation reached a lull, and she took the opportunity to change the subject and ask me a very serious question.

"So how are you feeling about living here?"

To be continued...

The resort is a golden oldie by @jenba!

[the-starr-legacy]

🌟 Our story begins... with a wish 🌟

Or, to be more accurate, our story begins in bustling old San Sequoia where a little boy named Spencer Starr was born.

Spencer had a pretty relaxed, easy going childhood. His parents were neither rich or poor, well off enough that Spencer rarely struggled (except with his grades) which gave him enough free time to spend his days dreaming. He dreamt of wide open fields, the wind in his hair, and the adoring cheer of crowds applauding for him as he took home first place prize with the help of his own pretty pony. Sure, he'd never been near a horse before in his life, but he was confident it couldn't be that hard to ride one: After all the horse basically rides itself yeah?

Fast forward a good few years. Against all odds Spencer graduated High School, and immediately was left wondering what exactly he was supposed to do now. The free-spirited dreamer in fact had too many dreams, he just couldn't pick a direction to go in to save his life. His dear old mom who was definitely not sick of his tomfoolery decided to give him a push to start his adult life. She bought him a brand new shiny pick-up truck, gave him 15,000 Simoleons, and sent him on his way.

And so, young Spencer went to the only place he thought was appropriate for a big dreamer like him: San Myshuno.

Unfortunately, almost as soon as Spencer spread his wings and left the nest, he would crash and burn on a hot summer pavement. The next several months were a blur, but his antics included but were not limited to: Blowing several thousand Simoleons on gambling and coke, picking up guitaring only to immediately drop it in favor of selling the guitar for more gambling money, getting evicted from his apartment after an ex-girlfriend carved a death threat into his front door, almost dying from a bad plate of Pufferfish Nigiri, and losing all his money in gambling trying to make enough to pay off the medical debt he got from the Pufferfish Nigiri incident.

15,000 Simoleons down the drain, a string of disgruntled ex-girlfriends and at least 2 restraining orders later, Spencer was in dire straits. Down to his last 50 dollars, he took his car and left the city, and kept driving and driving until he reached the edge of a cliff overlooking what seemed to him like the entire big wide world. He looked up at the moon and the stars through his car windshield, and for a split second, he believed he saw what had to be a shooting star fly by. His breath quickened, he closed his eyes, and he prayed to the shooting star to send him something, anything at all, that would point him in the direction he was supposed to go.

And the star granted his wish... by reminding him he accidentally left his car in neutral as it slowly crept forward until it slipped off the edge of the cliff and went tumbling down a steep 50 foot incline.

Hours later, Spencer came to inside the crumbled remains of his once beloved car, the morning light seeping through the cracks of the broken windshield as he realized where exactly he was: The outskirts of Chestnut Ridge.

Spencer managed to limp his car along for a few more miles until he reached the down, at which point he cut his losses and pushed the hunk of junk into the nearby creak, keeping with him a sleeping bag and whatever clothes he could salvage from the wreckage. If this was where the shooting star thought he should be, then this would be where he would make his legacy; and maybe even fulfill that old pipe dream that his younger self had of winning a first place prize with the help of his very own trusty stead...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello! This is a Sims 4 Legacy Challenge blog chronicling the journey of the Starr family, starting with its single founder and working our way to 10 generations, and maybe beyond! This blog isn't following any specific Legacy rules, it's just a simple classic playthrough where we start with nothing and hopefully end up with something. You can call me Mod Jolly!

This save file does include a large handful of mods, including:

Wicked Whims

Basemental Drugs

Srsly's Complete Cooking Overhaul

Several a.deep.indigo mods including Heathcare Redux and Preteens

Extreme Violence

Chingyu's 100 Traits pack

Realistic Childbirth

Lumpinou's Relationship & Pregnancy Overhaul Collection

And several smaller mods to enhance the experience

So let that serve as your disclaimer of what to potentially anticipate from this blog.

Current Generation: 1

Founding Sim: Spencer Starr

[Links such as the series in chronological order and family trees will be put here later]

[taanoir]

Gene and Milo made it to Henford in fall of 1988. Gene's parents were buried in the family plot.

Gene read through the oldest stones at the back of the plot. He didn't realize how many relatives he had here. The oldest ones were almost completely worn away, "Calisto" and "Khur" were the only part still legible on the oldest pair.

They sat in the chapel listening to the chaplain talk about the watcher and his plan. Gene's mind wandered, he stared holes into the graves outside.

Eventually Milo realized Gene was here but not present. He poked him a bit and asked if he was ok? Gene told him he was fine, just in his head a bit.

After a stop back at the hotel, Gene thought maybe he just needed dinner. They made their way to the restaurant down the block from the cemetery.

They had a nice dinner and Milo tried to pry at Gene's mind a bit. He was quiet and clearly still preoccupied.

After a couple glasses of red nectar, Gene told Milo what was really on his mind. "All those headstones, generations of my family. All mothers, fathers, children. I always figured my brother had the next generation covered, he has three amazing kids. But sitting there thinking about Jimmy and the girls, is he ever going to have it together enough for us to walk away?"

Milo's smile faded. He was honest with him "No hun, I really just don't see that in the cards. If I'm being honest, I knew years ago when I said we should stay. That was the opportunity to leave and we didn't take it. I used to get in my own head about it, but in hindsight, it was the right call. I love our nieces, I loved your folks and I love you. We're where we need to be."

As the words left Milo's mouth, Gene looked like he was going to cry.

"Don't get all mushy love. We're where we need to be but we need to talk about the division of duties, I need more help. I need that help from you. Balancing a 10 year old, a six year old and a toddler is a lot, add the cooking, cleaning and just day to day and it's crushing. If this is what life is going to be, I'm good with it but don't drop everything in my lap."

Gene could see that he meant it, this wasn't goofy Milo, this was serious Milo. Gene promised to help more "When we get back to San Sequoia I will take on a more active role. The business is going well, I can rearrange some things, I still need to be in the office but maybe not as long."

Milo softened, "Thank you. I know the business has been your focus and you've done amazing but with your parents gone ... I can't do it all alone."

Gene nodded, "I know you're right, I'm just afraid of dropping the ball." Milo grinned, "You made the ball and it's not just you anymore. You have a staff, delegate, let go of something".

They spent their last day in Henford as tourists. Milo had another question for Gene "So, when we die .... do we get planted here with the rest of your family?" Gene hadn't actually thought about that, ever. "I mean, we can be or we could write it in our will to be buried in San Sequoia. Would you prefer that?" Milo smirked, "I'd prefer not to die" Gene laughed "I'll get right on developing an immortality protocol "

Gene thanked Milo "for the support, for helping work through all of this. I couldn't have done this without you, thank you love."