IllusoryThrall's Sims 4 Hub
- Challenges, Tips & Stories
Chapter 1.8 | Chapter 1.10
And.. we’re back with these guys. Now, I will warn you, I’ve had these pictures for AGES.. and I’m only just now sitting down to write the words, so I may be off about exactly why I took each picture, but I’ll give it my best go.
And we pick up very close to where we stopped. Luke is definitely into Anika, but he can’t seem to figure out if she likes him too.
(more…)We start our triumphant return to posting more than just build and CAS posts with finally bringing out the last saved pictures I have for my Rebuild save. I’ve been missing these guys so much, so I’m excited to get back to playing them.
Anyway, our header image is McKenzie once again trying to catch Aleki’s eye, this time with a rose. To both McKenzie’s and my surprise, he accepted it.. so I pushed the issue.
… And McKenzie ended up with her first kiss and her first real crush. Who knows, maybe it’ll also be her last. Because at this point, I’m pretty much thinking she’s out of the running for heir.. and I’d like her to be happy when she moves out, you know?
Here’s where things get a little crazy in this post.. because I have McKenzie romancing her new beau on one side of the map.. and little Luke trying to finish his Social aspiration up on the other side of it. I remember I was going a little bit insane at the time trying to zoom back and forth in between the two of them.
Luke was being dramatic and telling stories to this lady, and she was going to be the last friend he needed to make.
Meanwhile, the closet was definitely rocking. I love the way the hearts roll out from under the closet door.
I then sent her and Aleki off for some more tame fun on the family’s new ping pong table.
I’m not sure who won, because the game went on forever, and I had them just give up on it. McKenzie was definitely on a roll, though, and decided they would be the first ones to actually try out the deck hot tub.
Aleki looks like he’s as into McKenzie as she is into him. He’s definitely giving her the side-eye in this photo.
… Zoooomm… and Luke finally gets that aspiration complete with some Stargazing. I love that interaction, even if it seems a little bit cheaty because it’s so overpowered.
… More Zooming… and there’s more hearts popping in the air. Aleki then runs off to go home for the night, and Luke trudges home for bed, making it there after everyone else has gone to bed.
Harvestfest arrives the next day, and poor Iris gets shocked while trying to redeem the family from the failure with the Grim Reaper gnome (and he’s breaking everything in the house because of it!)
The next day, Iris is busy making a cake for Luke (you can also see that she has already finished the grand meal of ham on the other end of the counter…) Nobody seemed to want to wait for the meal, though, and they’re all snacking – well, Luke is being a good boy and doing his extra credit.
So, Aiyden tries instead.. and he, also fails. Adrian is blithely also snacking before the big dinner, as well.
Never fear, little Kassidy is still around. And still very cute.
Luke keeps talking up his fun times in scouts to his little brother Jaron (and no, I have no idea why they’re in their big sister’s room.)
I finally give in and let Jaron join scouts as well, because he seems like the sort that would definitely do that.
He immediately begins work on his badges, while his little sister Kassidy plays happily behind him.
McKenzie finds her guitar, and, despite being horrible at it, is jamming away. (Note that her terrible playing finally got rid of her little brothers, though..)
Aiyden takes some time out to play with his youngest, and she’s completely thrilled about it. Also.. I love the boat in the background of this photo…
Practicing the super secret Scouts handshake (omg this interaction is so cute!)
And, somehow, the cake that looks like it took forever to make with all the pictures in between when she started it and now… is finally done. Luke gives one last hug to his little brother, and then turns to become a teen.
3…. 2…. 1…. spin.. and…
Err… well, if he wasn’t completely out of the running with the Dog Lover trait.. that wild roll of randomness definitely doesn’t help him out.
… *Dies laughing* .. Nope. Nope Nope. That haircut is NOT going to work, Luke!
Post- makeover outfits. He still looks particularly worried in every shot.
Luke’s upgraded look. He’s not sure about it, but I definitely think he looks better.
Dinner. And everyone who snacked before dinner still shows up and enjoys the grand meal.
Especially our resident glutton, McKenzie. I really had forgotten she got that trait until she was busy scooping her dinner in like she’s got a shovel instead of that fork.
Even little Kassidy is enjoying her dinner.. which reminds me, they’re going to need a bigger dinner table… but we’ll get to that another time.
After the grand meal, I finally get around to giving Luke his room makeover. It’s not as drastic as some of the others have been, but I still like it.
Then, Since Adrian is the next to age up, I try to get him through some of his Mental aspiration, despite the glitchiness of never finishing games. Spoiler.. I get at least one of them done here.. so maybe there’s hope?
Luke gets going on his hobby of Vampire Lore.. and he looks like he’s shocked by what he finds. His fish, however, ignores whatever horrible fact he’s found out and just keeps swimming.
Homework party!! (While McKenzie is still eating…lol)
Oh! Guess what?!
We did it! Aiyden actually made it to the end of his aspiration without getting killed by the cowplant!!
Meanwhile, the teen that Luke brought home from school decides she wants to meet said cowplant. Luckily, it wasn’t hungry.
Luke starts his grand romance plan with a casual scary movie with his new friend, (I had to load the game back up just to figure out what her name was) Anika.
I leave this update with a close-up picture of Anika – who is adorable, and would very much make for some fun genetics. Which reminds me, I really ought to see about adding MCCC into this save so that the kids can have extended family when they move out. I’ll have to see about that next time I play…. which, hopefully will very soon, because I’m dying to get back to this family, and now that I have caught up with all their saved pictures, it’s time to play more! (I also need to remember to officially pick their family skill. I was leaning towards Logic because of the microscope print collection we got, but Knitting is also a possibility – because I just love knitting. I just need to stop waffling about it and PICK. What do you guys think?)
Time for another update!
Luke heads off to scouts while Jaron plays with his food on the couch. Hopefully he doesn’t make a mess. At this point, Luke only has three badges yet to go, but I think all but one will have to be done as a teen. He’s not doing so well on his aspiration because my game doesn’t seem to be spawning kids for him to be friends with. Hopefully his little brother aging up will help him out on that one.
I have never really messed around with this thing, and have been having fun with letting the kids play against each other. Unfortunately, it also seems to be bugged like chess at the moment, and doesn’t want to let them complete the game. (GRRR EA!!)
Still no last Microscope print…
… But we did get this! Now Aiyden and Iris won’t have to take turns on it. It also means that Iris will get her last promotion when she has work next.
Just barely finished this one in time. I got her birthday notice and realized she was just half a point of creativity away from getting it complete, so I made her play with the dolls for a while. She didn’t seem impressed.
Time to see her all growed up. *grin*
Not terrible traits.. but I can’t say I’m a fan of the Mansion Baron aspiration. At least her hobby matches her trait!
Outfit tour. She had a short hairstyle, so I stuck with that idea, but went for some color for her. Then followed the hair color with her outfits colors. The white dress for party outfit was her idea, and I liked it so much I kept it.
Not sure I’m a huge fan of her genetics.. but I do have to admit, by the end of this chapter, she’s growing on me. Still haven’t decided whether she’s in the running for heir or not, though.
Her room makeover:
I gave her a guitar. We’ll see if I ever remember to have her use it.. LOL.
OMGosh, Aiyden.. I’m so sorry I forgot you were making candles! Poor fella didn’t make it to the bathroom in time, and I got the “no excuse” achievement for a bladder fail on a lot with 5 or more toilets. HAHA!
Jaron is so cute. He’s always getting attention from his parents and siblings, so I doubt social skill will ever be an issue for him!
After Luke gets home from Scouts, we have him take a trip to the Willow Creek park (that doesn’t really exist right now) .. but at least the fishing areas are there.. and there’s frogs to find. He finishes his Outdoor badge easily and heads home with his froggies.
It’s time! Silly little Kassidy…
… Is so adorable. Those big eyes and black hair instantly make her stand out from her siblings to me. We’ll have to see how she grows up.
Proof that we got the very last microscope print … finally! Aiyden found it for his wife, which means her aspiration is now complete.
For those with a squeamish trait: skip this next pic…
Apparently the meat walls can get infested with bugs and still be at “Normal” quality. EWWW. Spray those things quick, Iris!
I’m not sure what they were talking about here, but McKenzie’s expression was so funny I had to capture it. Jaron is, once again, inserting himself in “adult” conversations like he owns the place. (And Luke is cleaning up the dishes all by himself. What a kid!)
This is Aleki, the kid Luke befriended for his aspiration. He grew up, and I just had to see whether he and McKenzie would get along. They made friends quite quickly…
… But it seems he’s not ready to jump into a relationship yet. Poor McKeznie is so embarrassed about it, too.
After Aleki leaves, she drowns her embarrassment in learning to cook. Let’s be honest, though, she’s really not very good at it yet. I let her make her little brother’s cake.. and… well, let’s just say I wished @debjameswhite ‘s Lia was around!
.. Because it turned out AWFUL! Even Jaron looks a bit concerned.. and I didn’t let anyone eat it – for obvious reasons. Ew.
He’s perfect for Eco Lifestyle!
I went with a green theme for his outfits – and he picked the hair cut. I tried others on him, but this one just looked the best.
He gets the third floor room, which had been set up as a “guest room” until now, since the last person to stay in it was Iris back when she and Aiyden weren’t seeing eye to eye.
I like the way it turned out. It’s a nice getaway up there from the hectic family below.
Kassidy is trying to learn her skills, but with as crazy as five kids is.. I don’t know whether she’ll actually get to Happy Toddler like all her siblings. We’ll see!
Poor Aiyden is completely over me making him work on his Logic skill. He’s really unamused with me at this point.
… But at least he got results! Now he just needs to finish up fabrication skill for his aspiration. He (and me) are pretty tired of making candles.. but he’s only got a half point of skill left to go.
I leave you with a picture just proving that Aiyden is still grumpy. Especially in the mornings. (But it’s rare that the angry moodlet gets through all the other positive ones from having a happy family.)
Yay! It’s time for Chapter 6 of my Diversity Experiment! Let’s see what trouble the Greenes can get up to this time.
Upon loading the game, I notice that it’s Love Day and Iris and Aiyden have yet to celebrate it. So, I rectify that immediately.
Luke and McKenzie spend some time chatting on their own while their parents are… otherwise occupied.
This family is so cute and loving with each other, I swear. That’s McKenzie in the background loving on her little brother Adrian.
It’s time for the next toddler reveal! (And, he’s a Charmer. I love that trait!)
Awwww! Those big eyes are so cute!
Later that day, McKenzie and Luke get home from school – and McKenzie is proudly sporting an “A” grade now!
Both Iris and Aiyden need Logic for their careers, so they take turns trying to get that very last microscope print I’m missing for Iris’ collection complete aspiration.
Oh yeah.. and it’s Monday – so it’s school project time. I love that they can chat when they’re working on them. This also reminds me that I have this HUGE unused open space on the second floor that I don’t know what to do with. *starts contemplating madness*
*drumroll* (While Aiyden looks horrified that yet another of his little babies are growing up.)
Geek? Hey, I don’t mind that at all. That puts him solidly in the running for heir, methinks.
His outfit tour. I did not change his hairstyle, despite the fact I was tempted. I wasn’t sure it looked “right” on him, but he did pick it. And the blue theme – was “his” idea. Most of his aged-up outfits were that baby blue color, so I went with it.
Iris is talking to her plants yet again….
… But it was all worth it in the end.
A close up of Adrian, whose first action was apparently to find the doctor playset in his sister’s room. Which reminded me I needed to give him his “big boy” room. And here’s where the madness really began. Instead of using the empty third floor bedroom like I had intended, I used that big empty space to throw in another bedroom for Adrian.
It’s all geeky and messed up, and of course – blue to match his outfit theme. I like the way it turned out.
What was the madness? .. Well, now that I have an extra bedroom…
… Iris announces she’s expecting again. Silly me!
Aiyden appears thrilled. Even Iris still seems enthused about the whole idea. We’ll see how happy they are when they end up with yet another toddler stage to go through.
Aiyden!!! NO! Do not eat the cake when I didn’t expressly TELL you to!
… Whew. At least he didn’t have the drained moodlet. So he’s safe. For now.
Homework party! Although Luke appears to be daydreaming instead of working. Can’t say as I blame him.
In an effort to work on Luke’s Social aspiration, I send them to the Community Garden to meet some more people. He then, of course, needed a BFF… and the closest relationship to that was his big sis.. so they’re now best of friends.
It’s time!! (I admit.. I sped through those last couple days because I was so excited for another nooboo, so I barely took any pics.)
Welcome to a little girl – Kassidy! On that note, I’m going to save the second half of the pictures I have for a second update. Which means I’ll actually have another update for you guys tomorrow!
Welcome back to the Diversity Experiment and the Greene household. We left them in the middle of Winterfest (not sure why I quit then.. but okay, lol).. so I immediately sent the family to open their gifts (except for poor pregnant Iris, who was in desperate need of a nap.)
McKenzie puts on a happy face – she loves her new doctor playset.
Luke is so cute. Look at how excited he is!
Later, after that much needed nap, Iris meets up with Father Winter for her present. Most of them were sold for family funds, but I think the kids’ presents were both saved for them in inventory.
Flying Luke! Iris and Aiyden are constantly tag-teaming with the kids, although Aiyden seems to be doing the bulk of it now that Iris is about “ready to pop”.
Speaking of.. she has a little boy at home, and I chose the first name it suggested, because I liked it. This is Adrian. I did not think of how close it was to Aiyden until later, when I kept trying to call the poor boy his dad’s name. Oops. Too late now!
Then, it was time for the first child birthday. Poor McKenzie looks very worried about it.
However, she didn’t need to be worried. She got a good trait.
I had initially been thinking of making McKenzie identify as a boy, but after perusing the outfits she had “chosen for herself”, I completely ditched that idea. She was very clear to me on the fact that she’s female – and she loves colors and her collection of bright shoes. *grin* So here’s what we went with. I have to confess, it’s one of the few times I’ve actively put a hat on a sim, instead of taking it off immediately.
McKenzie was NOT impressed with baby Adrian, however. Hopefully he’ll grow on her.
Here’s her room all made over:
I put a lot of thought into it, and I like that it reflects her personality. She is an art lover, after all.
Playtime with the Greenes. Little Luke is still unsure about the slide, so mama was helping.
It’s that time again… only this time, as I was editing the pictures, somehow I COMPLETELY missed taking any pictures of poor Adrian. He’s not being neglected, I promise! I went back into the game and got a shot of him to stick here:
.. He’s really quite cute. I have elected not to give the toddlers makeovers, they aren’t toddlers for very long, after all.
McKenzie decides to be the first Greene to pick up Knitting, and she seems to really enjoy it.
She comes home from school Monday with the traditional weekly school project, and Iris gives her some help. (While Adrian plays with the dollhouse in the background. This is apparently the only shot I actually took of him during gameplay.)
Surprise!! I couldn’t resist. I changed the walk in closet that never made sense to me on the first floor into a bedroom and shrunk the size of the master bath to make room for it. I have to wonder, though, if Aiyden is as “into” the idea as Iris and I were, though, his reaction was clearly mixed.
This is what happens when I try to make my sims make school friends. This is Aleki – and he ends up playing quietly by himself while poor McKenzie crashes. She was too tired to play for more than a few minutes.
Uh-oh. As much as I love Luke, that Dog Lover just might disqualify him from heir-hood. I really had no plans to get a pet for the next generation.
However, I LOVE his style. He’s adorable… and he could change my mind if he keeps up the cuteness.
I pretty much spent all the rest of the money they had saved up on decorating his room, though.. so it’s definitely time for Mom and Dad to get back to work. They’ve both finally got their skills up to par and are getting promotions, though, so money shouldn’t be too bad of an issue.
Look at this cutie! How can I resist?!
Aiyden takes the chance to present one of his ideas to his pregnant (and hungry) wife. She didn’t seem impressed, but it gave him his daily paycheck.
Yes, I had Luke join Scouts. And he’s playing with the block table before bed on his own, which is so cute. Usually my sims completely ignore block tables.
We finish this update with a nooboo. (Hopefully just one!) … and I was lucky. We get a little boy that is named Jaron.
Iris then makes herself a coconut cake (since SOMEONE – points at Aiyden accusingly – stole a piece from the fridge. I immediately told him I hoped he munched on a candle. =P ) and ages up to adult. I didn’t want to “forget her birthday”.. and she was quick to taste the frosting. Perhaps she knew I was going to take the cake away for a later date immediately after the birthday. Maybe Aiyden will even leave it alone. Maybe….
So… we ended the last chapter on the two of them sitting by the pool reading.
… We start this one.. with Harvestfest bringing us an invasion of garden gnomes. We appease all of them because Iris can always use new seeds.
I decide we should save up an essence for the next time it wants us to drink one for work. Little Moo doesn’t seem to mind the meal.
Iris decides to get all flirty, so she drags Aiyden to the bathroom to help her clean up.
I then realize they have some 15k in the bank, and I haven’t done any building in a while… so I do some upgrading. Here’s their new open plan dining area. (They’re eating a grand meal for harvestfest – it seemed appropriate to get them an actual table to eat it at!)
The living room gets a facelift, as well, with some color changes.
The breakfast nook becomes an impromptu garden area.. because why would they need two tables to eat at?
Oh yeah… and there were consequences to the shower romp. *wink*
With his new job, Aiyden gets the ability to “grow” meat. Weird, but.. okay then. The “Massage” interaction is one of the creepiest things I’ve seen in game.
Upgrading the dryer for safety reasons. We don’t need any fire accidents.
Despite being lazy, Iris seems to actually be a good mother. She is almost always the first to make it to the bassinet when McKenzie starts crying. (Also: I realize I spelled McKenzie’s name wrong in my last chapter. Sorry, sweetie!)
Flying baby!! (Screenshots of baby age-ups crack me up… I had to include it.)
Inquisitive, huh? Nice.
Squeee! OMG She’s adorable!
Proof that Iris actually cleans on her own sometimes in my save. Also: I adore that kitchen shelf.
Poor Iris. This pregnancy has been really rough on her. I find her in the bathroom after nearly every meal.
Aiyden lets me know it’s that time. But since I don’t want to leave McKenzie home alone or send her to daycare, I have him stay home for the birth. Iris assures him that she’s got this.
Iris? You going to wait for the doctor to get in the room? .. Nevermind. I guess not.
Welcome baby Luke! I had the hardest time picking his name. I randomized for about 15 minutes before I just picked my own name that was a variation on one of the ones that had popped up while randomizing.
We arrive home.. to snow? .. Okay then. Everyone has to run outside to “react to first snow”, which always amuses me.
I find McKenzie reading all by herself in her room after a nightmare. Apparently she didn’t think waking up the parents was necessary. (Immediately after this photo, she starts chewing on the book. I was so startled I didn’t think to take a picture. I’ve never seen a toddler do that in the sims before. I guess that’s one way to be inquisitive? LOL!)
Winterfest arrives, and Iris and Aiyden move the coffee table in favor of a traditional tree.
The night before, Aiyden rolled the “Try for Baby” whim, so I indulged him. This was the result.
Welcome to toddlerhood, little Luke!
Based on that smile, he’s definitely a Charmer, alright.
First thing he does: head out to the back porch nobody uses to play in the snow. Too funny.
He then runs stumbles back inside to give his big sister a huge hug. Next time: Father Winter … and another baby on the way. Wonder what it’ll be?!
Time for my next update. I spent a whole lot of time grinding out these two’s skills, especially Fabrication for Aiyden, but I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures of it. It was pretty boring, let’s be honest.
So you’ll have to deal with this one..
.. and then this one. Apparently changing the Maker Space (which Aiyden doesn’t need anymore because he has all that stuff at home) to a Garden made the place all Green and stuff. While I was busy grinding skills, I almost missed that Sharing is Caring was going into effect, and I had to hurry to vote for something, anything else. Because.. no. That NAP is too buggy.
Fall hits for them, which was my personal cut-off for skill-building.
… Which means it’s NOOBOO time!!
Now that Aiyden got his level 7 in fabrication, I splurge and let them buy a Juice Fizzer. He still needed one more Freelance Crafter Gig completed for the last tier of his Aspiration.
The next day… Iris is supposed to drink a cowplant essence for work. Uh oh. I hadn’t saved any up.. and she can’t sacrifice herself because she’s pregnant. So it has to be Aiyden. Sorry, buddy.
… Right into the pile of laundry that Iris manages to leave EVERYWHERE.
.. Never seen a potion of “Daze” before… Iris makes a face at it.
And then wishes she’d said “no” when I told her to drink the stuff.
Aiyden: “Honey? I have a surprise for you.” ….
Iris: “Hm?? Oh, that feels great, Aiyden..”
Aiyden: “I quit my job.”
Iris: “Wait. WHAT?”
Aiyden: “But look – I have a new one. And it pays more.”
Iris: “Why didn’t you talk to me about this before now?!”
Aiyden: “I didn’t want you to talk me out of it. I got my 5 gigs done for my aspiration, and I want to make a bigger difference in this town.”
Iris: “….” (Both go to bed.)
Both are grumpy-morning sims, so Aiyden decides not to bring it up again.
When he’s done eating, he gets a start on tomorrow’s work for his new Civic career, and Iris grouchily finishes her breakfast and gets back to work on her Gardening and Logic skills.
The next morning… mere hours before both are supposed to be at work.. labor pains start, and Aiyden immediately panicks. He drags his complaining wife off to the hospital, citing the fact that they never bought a crib for the baby as reason to go.
Iris: “Wait.. Doc.. I don’t think that’s my baby…..” (Flatline)
Doc hurries up and puts the heart back in. Aiyden misses this and has wandered off to play computer games.
Finally, The doctor figures out what he’s supposed to be doing, and our first little girl, Mackenzie, is born. Was the first random name that popped up, and I liked it.
I get everyone home, find the baby in the crib, and then wonder where in the heck Iris is going. Apparently I never got the pop up for “whether to go to work or not” and she was like “Ok, done with this morning” .. and left the baby screaming to go to work.
Aiyden dutifully calms the baby, making himself late for his first day of work in the process, then regretfully sends his little girl off to daycare and goes to work.
After work, the two are sent to read some skill books.. and they both choose to sit around the pool. I have no idea why. Perhaps it’s safer out there? I mean, the baby is sleeping. Wouldn’t want to wake her up, right?
(And this was when I noticed I had played right through dinner time and it was nearly bedtime. LOL. So that’s where this update ends…) See you next time!
So, here we are, back in Evergreen Harbor, with a pair of sims who are really not getting along very well. I keep trying to get them to make friends, but it’s slow going.
Eventually, I give up and send them to the new Maker Space. Iris is less than impressed, while Aiyden seems overjoyed by all the gadgets he now has access to.
While Iris attempts to find something to occupy herself, he climbs up the ladder to do some recycling. He needs bits and pieces to start working on his first commission – a simple rug.
The rug turns out to be more difficult than he had initially expected, and takes two tries to get it right before he feels he can send it on to his client. (I add a computer to the office, so he can keep working on gigs while staying at the Maker Space.)
Iris, however, gets bored of dumpster diving for stuff for Aiyden to salvage, and cancels out all her interactions to go buy something to eat from the food stall. I really can’t blame her.
Aiyden gets some mentoring from a Master Maker in the area, but even the mentoring can’t keep him from being dragged into the machine and spat back out. Embarrassed, he apologized to the mentor, and started over.
… Only to have the machine break on him. Sighing in frustration, he decides to risk his life and try to fix it. Luckily, everything works out for him, and soon he’s able to complete his second rug commission of the day.
Looking around, Aiyden realizes that it had gotten dark and Iris must have gotten bored or tired and went home. Following her example, he trudged home. Tomorrow was soon enough to get another commission.
Aiyden’s commissions were all done for the day, and Iris had finished her work, too. With a huge storm outside, neither felt like leaving the house, so they sat around and chatted instead.
Sometime during the evening, Aiyden discovered his feelings for Iris and swooped in to surprise her with a kiss. It may have been sudden, but she didn’t say “no”… in fact, she actually kissed him back.
After a long conversation and some more flirting, Iris agreed to be his girlfriend, although both seemed to feel that was as far as they should go for the night and they still slept in their own beds.
Iris usually completed her “work from home” task easily and followed Aiyden to the Maker Space to help him find salvage for his growing obsession with fabricating. He wasn’t making much money doing it, but he was slowly getting better.
… Well, sort-of.
Love Day came around, and Aiyden decided it was time to take their relationship to the next level.
He bought her flowers, and she seemed to really appreciate them, taking a moment to gently sniff them and put them in a vase in the kitchen. Where she came up with a vase at, nobody knows.
Iris then thanked Aiyden for the roses in the only way she could think of.
Together, they decided on a romantic date to the new restaurant in town, and they were pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t a hole-in-the-wall dump.
While Aiyden used the facilities, Iris ordered for them, so that the food was ready to be delivered by the time he got back to his seat. The waiter, however, seemed very new to his job, and dumped the entire order on the floor. Apologizing profusely, he headed back to the kitchen to push a rush order in for replacements.
When dinner came, Aiyden raged inwardly at the fact that she had ordered him spaghetti, of all things, but he didn’t take it out on her. At least the drinks were good… and it wasn’t her fault she hadn’t known about his dislike of spaghetti sauce.
Another storm had moved in by the time they were done eating, and the two of them were soaked by the time they finally got home. Getting out of their wet clothes and warming each other up was great fun, however, and it seemed Iris sleeping upstairs may have become a thing of the past.
By this time, I had worked them so hard that Aiyden was finally able to buy some equipment for working from home, and he seemed to really enjoy making candles. Although working with the hot wax while half-naked may not have been the best choice…
That night, the Romance Festival was in town, and the two new lovebirds couldn’t help but attend. Aiyden’s first concern was consulting the love guru, who had interesting advice. “At least your flaws are evenly matched.” … What did that even mean? Shrugging, Aiyden decided that maybe the guru wasn’t all that wise after all, and called Iris over.
Taking advantage of the flirty vibes and the drink that went to both of their heads, Aiyden read her some flowery poetry and romanced her, ignoring the guru watching happily.
He then dropped to one knee… and pulled a ring out of thin air.
Iris took the question very seriously, and thought for a long moment before deciding to say “yes”.
She then kissed him impulsively and jumped unceremoniously into Aiyden’s arms. She was lucky he managed to overcome his surprise and catch her!
Iris pointed out the wedding arch, and they decided there was no time like the present.
They hardly noticed the celebratory fireworks, as they were completely wrapped up in each other.
Aiyden seemed particularly pensive the next morning, and didn’t talk much during breakfast – but Iris couldn’t seem to be quiet. At least her cooking was improving, though!
Unbeknownst to either of them, alone in the garage, Little Moo grew up to be.. well, not so little. I’m just praying Aiyden keeps his paws off the Cowplant. (Spoiler: he’s already discovered gardening by playing with it, so I’m going to have to watch him closely!)
Yeah.. I started a new challenge. So sue me. 😉 Actually, I intend for this to be my “I’m bored and don’t want to get into anything deep” challenge, or the “I don’t have time to do more than a little play” .. well, you get the idea. Something a little more casual. However, my grand idea is anything but casual. I want to keep these guys around for 100 generations. So I’ll be working on them for a while. I know it’s possible to get the legacy generation challenges by doing fast aging and adoptions and such, but I just can’t see playing a family like that. I like to get to know my sims! And there’s no way I could imagine playing for 100 generations without liking or being attached to the sims in question. So here we go. There’s more info on the Intro/Rules page, if you’re interested how this is going to work, or where I got the sims from, as well as info on the commercial lots I built. (All are on the gallery under my Wyldhawke Origin ID)
Anyway, let’s meet our founders. I chose the Greenes, and gave them hair/outfit makeovers. Nothing about their faces or bodies were changed, though.
Iris wants to be a collector, and has the Loves Outdoors, Clumsy, and Lazy traits. She also comes with a biology degree. Aiyden wants to be a Master Maker and has the Maker, Romatic, and Hot-Headed traits. He also comes with a physics degree.
Anyway, now that I’ve introduced them, let’s get down to the play.
They load up on the pavement next to their new home, and Aiyden immediately devolves into a coughing fit. Iris seems a bit worried for her college friend.
She inquires as to his health, and he mentions the smog is choking him. He is second guessing their decision to spend so much on this house when the neighborhood appears to be in such bad shape. (They are 40k in debt from buying the bare necessities and building the house.)
Iris immediately lights into Aiyden for doubting their mission to clean up Port Promise, and he initially looks bewildered by her attack.
Before long, however, his hot-headedness takes over, and he’s giving as good as he gets. As a simmer, I try to make them play “nice”, but they’re simply not cooperating. Every “friendly” interaction is causing further damage to an already tenuous friendship.
Finally, They’re thoroughly angry from both sides losing the argument, and I gave up and sent them to inspect their new home. Both stomp off to the front door like recalcitrant teenagers.
Iris checks out their kitchen – which is pretty much the only mostly furnished room in the house. Aiyden checks, and finds that the bathrooms, indeed, at least have plumbing, there’s a washer and dryer – and one double bed that looks like a rock to sleep on. He comes back to relay the bad news to Iris, and she doesn’t take it well.
“There’s only one bed? How on earth did this place cost so much, then? What did all our money go to? The walls and floors are so BORING! How could you have approved these designs?”
“Whoa. You weren’t exactly helpful in picking out the designs, you were too busy with college to help out, so I picked the house that looked like it would be big enough for both of us. It’s not my fault the designer misunderstood and thought we were a couple!”
“Whatever!” Iris has had enough of Aiyden, and turns her back on him to order some cheap (very cheap) bedroom furniture for herself, and contact the local job bureau for employment. She has the furniture installed in the room that’s the furthest from Aiydens (in the third floor), and lucks out with finding a company who will hire her on based solely on her degree, not her abysmal skills. Aiyden considers the fact that his Aspiration requires him to be a Freelance Maker, and makes the contacts to join that agency – but his “slacker” approach in his “career” only seems to aggravate Iris more.
With neither of them speaking to each other at the moment, they both decide to head to the local Community Space to check out the neighborhood. Aiyden is horrified by the mess on the lot, and immediately starts meeting people to try to gain influence so he can turn the lot into a Maker Space.
Iris sees the lot and immediately has other ideas. This neighborhood NEEDS revitalization. This junkyard of a community space can always be cleaned up later – after they have some better laws in place. She immediately start campaigning for the area to be more “Self-Sufficient”. There aren’t a whole lot of people around, yet, though – and who can blame them with all this mess around?! – so both Iris and Aiyden settle on the same thing to keep themselves busy.
Dumpster Diving. Before long, they’re both filthy and miserable, but they’ve been finding a ton of great stuff they can sell to improve their home situation.
Iris finds some locals to convince to join her cause finally, while Aiyden continues looking for deals in the dumpsters. He finds a coffeemaker that looks like it’s seen better days, but he decides that’s the one item he thinks he can salvage for their home.
When he finally turns to finding people who might also like a better space to gather as a community, the smog again chokes him up. This lady is not impressed, and decides she didn’t want to talk to him after all.
Throughout the day, Iris continues to gather influence and votes for her plan of action for the neighborhood, completely ignoring whatever Aiyden might be up to.
She finds another dumpster, and ignores the cats who are now showing up en masse to look for food in the junkyard. She might as well look for more deals, because it’s not like she’s going to get any dirtier by dumpster diving some more.
A commotion behind her finally draws her attention, and she turns to find a cat stalking a mouse that is clearly too smart for the trap placed by it’s hole near the junkyard “office”. Chuckling, she turns to look for some more things to sell.
They end up spending most of the night searching for deals, and end up with quite a nice chuck of change.. and needs that are in the red on pretty much every front. Exhausted, they both head home.
The next day, Aiyden’s priority is fixing the coffeemaker he found. And possibly cleaning it up, because it smells something awful.
Iris spend her time rearranging their new furniture, and making sure the cable got hooked up properly. Already the place is starting to feel more like a home. She even ordered a more comfortable bed for both her and Aiyden.. although she might have consulted him first.. but she didn’t think about it.
Finally, she makes dinner for them, and finds out what he spent his day on while they were at the junkyard.
“A Maker Space?? What do we need that for? Didn’t you see the horrible plans that the neighbors have for the neighborhood?? You should have been campaigning to stop those ideas, not wasting your influence on that silly junkyard. We could always have fixed that later!!”
Aiyden just rolls his eyes and goes back to eating his salad. Not a very good salad, either, mind you. But – then – with the way things look, it’s no wonder the only produce they could get at the store was already turning brown at the edges.
Will these two ever start getting along??
**ON HIATUS**
Yep, I’m starting a new challenge. Again. Don’t ask, it’s probably better that way. I’m calling it “The Diversity Experiment” or “TDE” for short. This challenge is based on the “Rebuild|Renew” and “Rebuilding Worlds Vol. 2” Challenges by OJenn on the Sims Forums. I’m going to be putting them together.. and, instead of picking ONE town to play, I’ll be rebuilding ALL of them. My ultimate goal is to get to 100 generations (which is a Sims 4 Achievement I would love to have said I’ve gotten once) starting with a mixed race couple and continuing through the generations, keeping genetics / races / gender identities / etc as diverse as I possibly can. I will be using the genepools provided by the Challenges, or making my own, depending on whether the genepools exist or not. Per the Challenge Rules, each sim will roll for aspirations, hobbies traits, and aspirations. Also, I will be setting up some sort of way of rolling for each sim’s gender and partner preferences, although I haven’t 100% decided on how, yet. Obviously, these rolls don’t apply to the founders, as I’m using made-over versions of the one of the provided sim families – The Greenes. I specifically did not touch any face or body sliders, or skin tone/eye or hair colors. I only “made over” their clothes and hairstyles. I’ll introduce them a little better in the first chapter.
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BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!
Chapter One – Starting Anew
November 2025 Dev DiarySuperSweetBot Commands for Mods & BroadcastersOctober 2025 Dev DiaryProgress Report!Hacking Situation ResolvedHey all…
Welcome to my new webhost!!
Progress Report on Not So Berry & TimelineExtended Not So Berry 2.0 is coming!!
OMG A Thrall Post?? What?Not So Berry Updating
Jaynie’s Gems: By-The-NumberToday
