From Detroit to Melino

[detroitverse]

This is a sideblog dedicated to the lifesim Paralives. Visit my main for Sims 2, Sims 4, Detroit: Become Human and Star Wars content!

The blogname "Detroitverse" refers to my multiverse that consists of characters I originally originally borrowed from those four games/franchises, but that have by now changed quite a bit.

The stories so far:

Rebuild the Community Center (completed)

Cowboy Challenge (ongoing)

[detroitverse]

Armitage: I can't let the cowboys outdo me. Father already reminded me what a weakling I am. I'd be the laughingstock of the county in addition to losing my inheritance.

Armitage: "Hey! Dameron! Tico! Sloane! Palpatine! I want to show you something!"

Armitage: "These are instructive materials that you will find helpful for your promotion."

Armitage: I'm the better reader by far. If they practise exercise, they'd advance faster than me. But if we all learn from the textbooks, then I have an edge!

Finn: "Oh! Haha! That was close!"

Armitage: "What's so funny in the textbook, Sloane?"

Finn: "Oh, I put away those. I'm reading Oregon Trail now."

Armitage: "You read for fun?!"

Finn: "Yes! Thank you for sharing your library with us, Mr. Hux!"

Armitage: "Er... you're welcome?"

[detroitverse]

Not sure if low Physique figures into the chance to catch a virus, but Armitage managed to get sick on Tuesday already.

A visit to the doctor costs less than his daily wage, so I let him seek care.

Brendol: "I saw you enter the pharmacy today..."

Armitage: "Just nose drops, father. To help breath. I can work tomorrow, no worries."

Brendol: "It's never "just" drops. Now you feel better, but before you know, your body will get used to getting coddled! Then you'll NEVER again recover without medicine from ANYTHING. Bamm, another victim of the snake oil merchants, enslaved forever. It's what they want us to become."

Without medicine, Armitage would probably have died young. And sometimes he wondered if Brendol would maybe have preferred that.

[detroitverse]

Poe: "Sit down, Mr. Hux! Ever sat on the grass before?"

Armitage: *snorts*

Poe: "And now smell the flowers! Breathe! Let everything flow out."

Much to Poe's surprise, his boss' son follows his advice. Armitage relaxes, just a little, but that little is enough for Poe to shoot his question.

Poe: "Why did we have to move the cows today?"

Armitage: "I noticed that this meadow is rich in flowers and herbs that will give their milk a special note. Couldn't let that go to waste."

Poe: "Are you knowledgeable about that kind of thing? Botany? Natural sciences in general? You a scholar, Mr. Hux?"

Armitage: "I'm nothing of that sort."

Poe: "But you're my age, maybe even a little older. You must have, well, maybe not officially learned a trade, but picked up lifeskills. Went to college, maybe?"

Armitage: "I do have a field of expertise, yes."

Poe: "So what is it?"

Armitage: "In addition to my primary vocation, I also have a modicum of military training that includes resisting clumsy interrogation attempts."

[detroitverse]

The next day Armitage ordered the cowboys to herd the dairy cows on a different pasture. The foreman watched them closely and at the end of the process noted down a score for everyone in secret.

But then he added a fifths line to the table...

Poe: "Hey, boss! Boss' son... Mister Hux! A word, please?

Armitage: "What's the matter, Dameron?"

Poe: "You seem to get scored just like us."

Armitage: "Oh, do I?"

Poe: "Yes. We saw. And you don't sound surprised in the least. What's going on here?"

Armitage: "Well, what did you figure out so far?"

Finn: "Your father wants to promote one of us. But if you were in the running, too, wouldn't he just give you the job, you being family?"

Armitage: "My score is just a benchmark. If any cowboy drops as low as a layman, they don't deserve to get kept on the payroll, let alone get promoted."

Rey: "That makes sense."

Finn: "Yes, because it comes from Hux jnr.'s mouth. But old Hux? He doesn't make sense. He's a nutcase. So I reserve doubt. If you ever want to talk, Mr. Hux, you know where to find us."

Armitage: "I don't want to talk. But I would like to stay for a while longer."

Rey: "Sure, knock yourself out. It's your land, after all!"

The foursome saw Armitage wince at Rey's remark. What had been so bad about it, they wondered?

[detroitverse]

The first day of work Finn and Rey got off an hour early from a sign-on perk. Finn also earned an upgrade point.

Career level and Daily income are two of the categories the challenge participants will get scored in (4 points for the best, 0 for the worst).

[detroitverse]

The cowboys had gotten told the categories they would get evaluated in, but not the exact skills that would provide the score.

Guitar contributing to "Culture" was a bit of a stretch, but there they were, merrily taking turns plucking away on the strings of a single guitar between the four of them.

After watching Poe Dameron play for a while, Armitage noticed that he gave the others helpful hints to improve their own playing.

What was the point of this? They were rivals! Why would Dameron give his opponents pointers? It made no sense!

Oh, well, all the better for him! Should Dameron sabotage himself, that would only help him, Armitage, come out on top.

Armitage slammed down the keys of the piano with mathematical precision, but little heart, until the noise drowned out Poe's guitar play.

[detroitverse]

I didn't expect the Paras to manifest romantic cards in the very first conversation already! Brendol quickly changed the topic to the weather, but before that I took a screenshot of Armitage's romantic prospects.

Right now it looks Rose > Finn > Rey > Poe.

In my headcanon it's actually Rose > Poe > Finn > Rey, so me and the game at least agree on Armi x Rose, lol.

[detroitverse]

Later that evening the cowboys met their boss' son, of whose existence they had known, but who had rarely made his presence known. Whatever Armitage Hux spend his time with (other than being a professional heir, that was), it wasn't ranchwork related.

On first glance Armitage seemed aloof, with just as long a stick up his ass as his old man.

Brendol: "That I have to give you, Dameron and Sloane, your dancing grace matches my son's piano skill."

Poe: "That was an insult, was it?"

Armitage: "Take three guesses!"

Finn: "I'm guessing... I'm guessing it wasn't an insult!"

Poe: "Right! I'm with you! Who'd insult us? We're way too adorable for that!"

Finn: "What do you say, Rey?"

Rey (off camera): "Not an insult!"

Armitage: "Don't you take ANYTHING serious?"

Finn: "One guess!"

Armitage: "I gave you three!"

Poe: "Well, you're loaded, Sir. Us, we're running on a tighter budget here."

The glare and hiss Armitage responded with told his agemates that they were not dealing with a stone-cold person here, but a boiling, barely kept in check fury.

What mess had they gotten themselves into again without even trying...

[detroitverse]

Mr. Hux' four best cowboys, picked by his foreman, arrived right from work.

Had the rancher expected them to step nervously from one foot to the other, staring at their toes while clutching the brims of their hats, he now got confronted with the reality of the foursome beelining for his sofas and making themselves comfortable.

"Ty for the invitation, boss!" the shorter of the two men beamed and only now did Hux realize that all of them were a fair bit less english than expected. Even the white passing girl bore a strange surname: Palpatine.

So shaken was the old rancher that he took a seat on the armrest...

What made those people so confident, Hux wondered? They had maybe ten dollar to their name each. Did he really want to make one of them his heir? See his ranch end in the hands of what he thought of as lesser races?

Working through half a dozen slurs in his mind, Brendol Hux eventually decided to only inform his employees about the contest and keep the reason for it to himself.

Poe: "Do you think the same I think what this is about?"

Rose: "I hope so! Mr. Pryde might want to retire and then Hux needs a new foreman."

Poe: "I'll be the best boss you ever had!"

Rose: "So sure that YOU will win this?"

Poe: "Huh? Why, of c... I mean, I'll give my best!"

[detroitverse]

The challenge participants' stats.

Since the Technology talent is useless in this era, the Paras who usually have it had to pick a different one. Rose now favors Art, Armitage Food and Rey became a Jack of all Trades.

I also lowered Armitage' Physique from 1 to 0 to better reflect the backstory.

This is just an example how my characters change in little ways between the saves I play them in.

[detroitverse]

Poe, Finn, Rey and Rose in my new cowboy themed challenge.

Close-knit, they won't take kindly to getting pitted against each other and may very well decide to split the prize, regardless of who wins.

[detroitverse]

New story: THE COWBOY CHALLENGE

The midwest. Sometime early to mid 20th century.

Not that it mattered, Armitage thought. His father was perfectly able to combine the worst antediluvian barbarian behavior (towards everyone else) with the comforts of the civilized age (for himself).

"Weak, paper-thin and just as useless" - by now the young man was word-perfect on every last way Brendol knew to belittle him, about the only department in which the elderly man showed any creativity. Even the added "not without potential" Brendol managed to make sound like an insult.

"Die already", Armitage thought and realistically speaking that day couldn't be too far in the future. Then he'd sell the ranch and move someplace where he probably wouldn't be apprecciated any better, but where at least he could distract himself from the memories that would accompany him.

Brendol: "We will have guests today, by the way, one of them being the future owner of this ranch."

Armitage: "You're going to sell the place?!"

Brendol: "You wish, boy! No. I was thinking that my time is running out and that I need an heir. And I have decided that my land and money will go to the best of my cowboys, smelly things that they are."

Armitage: "You don't even know their names..."

Brendol: "I don't need to. Only one is important: the winner.

You have the choice, Armitage: Outdo those dirty lowlifes in my challenge to claim your birthright or marry the winner to get at the wealth and live with the shame. Or do none of that, lose everything and perish at the roadside, like the useless runt you are!"

---

So this will be my new save. Brendol's clock is ticking and whichever of the five young adults scores best in the categories Professional competence, Income, Culture, Household, Romance and Parental Approval when he leaves us will be named heir.

[detroitverse]

It happened on the first day after moving into their new home, on a bright saturday morning: Armitage discovered the missing painting in a crate buried at the foot of the lighthouse.

Chris: "We've made it, Poe! We found the woman combing her hair! Quick, fetch the rest of the paintings!"

Poe waited for Finn to return from work.

Together they delivered the final three paintings, that they had kept for a long time now, but that the curator wouldn't accept before Woman combing hair, to the museum.

And with that, my mini challenge's goal was reached. The community center didn't change visually, so there might be more objectives to fulfill in the future.

I think the finished community center will be the last thing to get implemented at the very end of Early Access, or at the very least, it would be thematically fitting to put this milestone right before release.

I will set this save aside for now.

[detroitverse]

Next to move out were the Millers, and they did so with a clear intent to marry as soon as possible. They both ditched their well paying jobs in favor of ones they enjoyed, Chris in Management and Armitage in Graphic Design.

Armitage: "I've slit tires, delivered packages of questionable contents and set fire to an apartment to hide that fact that I had burglarized it the minute before, but I don't think I ever felt this guilty."

Chris: "I raise you one "put a gun to a person's face" and still I feel the same. We'll never get the hang of this responsible citizens thing..."

(The feeling of inadequacy passed the moment Tina awarded them a trophy for donating an antique pitcher to the museum.)

[detroitverse]

Meanwhile at the Tico ranch:

I moved a computer under the cow, then turned the desk invisible via the ALT-floor tile trick. Now when Daniel uses the computer (the mouse is still visible) to learn Biology, it looks vaguely as if he was milking the cow. (Yes, he needs a different chair. Pls don't comment on the office chair, lol.)

---

Take this as the teaser for my next mini challenge! It will be cowboy themed and feature some of the Paras that already were in the Community Center challenge.

[detroitverse]

Gavin: "Do you ever think about us having kids?"

Tina: "I'm the last of my branch of the family. I should have at least one."

Gavin: "Uh... I'll ask again later."