Strange Oasis

Welcome to the Oasis Springs County, an oasis nestled in the austere beauty of the western desert, this haven of eclectic culture is fringed by countless soaring palms, and lent vibrant color through impossibly lush landscaping. Oasis Springs offers relaxing retreats from the sun to any traveler who discovers it. Some come to this town for its military secrets, some for its beautiful rock formations and scorching deserts with potential for oil extraction. One can choose to live in the Lucky Palms a neighborhood with ample parks, recreation opportunities, and a thriving culinary scene, Lucky Palms is an island of green amid shifting sands. This desert enclave offers manicured gardens, modern estates, and cozy abodes nestled on the banks of a pristine lake. Loner sims might be inclined to move in to the neighborhood of Strangetown where loneliness does not seem to be disturbed. However, the authorities suggest those who move to this weird neighborhood to avoid the nightlife and to never even thinking about looking through the telescopes. The Oasis Springs County is also home to Del Sol Valley, the biggest of all of its cities its the best choice if your sim wants to stan someone or be the one to stan. A densely populated city brimming with opportunities to make it big! If you can make it in Del Sol Valley you can make it anywhere. From the lavish living in The Pinnacles to the booming nightlife of Starlight Boulevard the capital of Oasis Springs has everything going for it. If you are a student you should move to La Fiesta Tech, it's easy to see why Sims from all over the flock to this university as their college of choice. But don't be deceived by the quiet desert landscape -- though far from the bustle of city life, the desert setting offers plenty of excitement of its own. Other good neighborhoods nestled in the desert sands are the full of stories Mesa Flats, the forgotten Vyper Canyon, the working-class driven Bedrock Strait, the quiet Parched Prospect, the spanish inspired Skyward Palms and the wealthy Acquisition Butte. Who are the families we are going to meet in this strange county? Does Oasis Springs have any drama? Is it true what they say about green people?

[strangeoasis]

02.03 Acting Skills

The next day, as soon as Venessa woke up she went to the front of the mirror to train acting, not even bothering to change her clothes. It was kind of annoying to rehearse alone, but she had to study to become the best version of herself.  Suddenly the house bell rings, scaring Venessa. She shouted to whoever was at the door to “wait a second”, and then she hurried to change her clothes.

-        Hello? – Said Venessa while opening the front door.

It was Tasha, with a big smile on her face.

-        Hey, Jeong! How you doing?

-        I’m fine, just practicing acting… - She suddenly stopped to think – Hm… How about you help me train?

-        I was going to invite you to go to the cafeteria, but I guess I can help… yes!

Tasha then walked in, and sat in the living room while Venessa headed to the kitchen to get a snack for them and prepare some drinks in the juicer. Tasha had already seen Venessa in a play in her old town, but she was nevertheless impressed by the talent of Miss Jeong, then something came to her mind.

This girl had trained too much hidden between four walls and she was talented enough not to be ashamed if people saw them, and performing on the street could be a good thing for Venessa's visibility. Tasha then made a proposal for Venessa, and explained the benefits she could take from it.

-        … Besides that, V., you can earn some tips by doing this!

-        I’m not so sure this is a good idea - Venessa had said, slowly beginning to blush.

-        Oh, come on - Tasha replied. - One day you’ll thank me for this.

Well, what did she have to lose? The first few times they performed in public, people gave them confused looks. But after a few more times, the same people started taking notice. They even drew a small crowd on a Saturday. Performing helped pay the rent, though Venessa wasn’t getting called for any auditions. But they kept at it, and Venessa began performing on her own.

And one day – finally – the phone rang.

-        Ms. Jeong, we’ve heard good things, and we’d like to represent you! - said the voice on the other end.

Venessa was all but squealing with excitement when she accepted the offer from one of the most prestigious agencies in Del Sol Valley. She crossed “GET TALENT AGENCY” off her master list. This. Was. It. The big time.

Well, sort of.

After that call, the agency gave her a couple of low-paying auditions. Yep, she’d have to pay her dues. But she didn’t care. She was on set, in hair and makeup, chatting up the director, and slowly living out her dream.

[strangeoasis]

02.02 Meet Tasha

Miss Jeong had been so busy moving, packing and unpacking, getting used to be on her on that she forgot about Tasha Martin. They were not the BFFs – yet -, but Tasha was the only one that Venessa knew in Del Sol Valley. When Miss Jeong was in high-school she had a pal called Luke, and was through him that the girls meet eachother.

Tasha used to have family members living in Venessa’s hometown, and she would go there to visit them on school holidays and, Luke was neighbor of Tasha’s relatives, they knew eachother since they were kids. Venessa became BFF with Luke in school and consequently meet Tasha once.

Before Miss Jeong moved to the big city, Luke assured her that she could count on Tasha's help if she needed it, but Venessa was so busy in the first few days at the town, that she even forgot about it. When Luke called to know how everything was going, Miss Jeong remembered about Tasha’s offer to help.

-        Oh my god, V. - Luke laughed at Venessa’s ear – You never change… So distracted that you missed a big chance of not having to unpack everything by yourself!

-        Don’t piss me off Luke! At least I’ve never burned instant noodles… Who burns instant noodles?!

-        Shut up! It was only once, and I was distracted by my smartphone! – He said with a frustrated voice, while Venessa laughed at him – Anyways, go visit Tasha, she’s waiting until today for your call!

As soon as Luke disconnected the call, Venessa called their friend. It was a very quick call in which they agreed to meet at Tasha’s house. By coincidence of fate, Tasha lived across the street, right in front of Miss Jeong’s house. She was surprised to know that, and couldn’t help wondering how they didn’t bump at eachother in those days that Venessa was living in there.

I didn’t take too much time for Venessa to cross the stree, and there they were meeting at the door of Tasha’s house with a warm hug.

-        It’s been so long since we’ve meet!

-        It’s your fault! – Said Venessa with a big smile in her face – You never came to visit us again after you became a celebrity, you little star!

-        Success requires har work girl… For most people! – They laughed after Tasha’s excuse – But now it’s your turn to work hard, V., but with your talent, it will not be long before you become a star!

-        I hope so… - Venessa apprehensively said.

-        Let’s go talk inside… I made some burgers, maybe we can watch a movie as well…

Then they got inside Tasha’s house and Venessa didn’t fail to notice how simple the house was. Tasha said that she didn’t need much in the house, as she was planning a tour in the near future. There were no unnecessary luxuries there, reflecting Tasha’s down-to-earth spirit. The girls talked all night long, watched a movie and then binge watched a season of a detective’s series. Anyone could tell that they were destined to be best friends.

[strangeoasis]

02.01 Future World-Famous Actress

Oh, Del Sol Valley… The biggest city in the Oasis Springs County which has such an ironic name for a city full of stars of different types from supernovas more than deserving extinction to little ashamed red dwarfs which may never fail to be overshadowed by the most charismatic stars. Vanessa Jeong felt sick just thinking of thinking something like that.

She had just moved in from her quaint country town looking to make it big as a rising actress. Venessa has starred in a few low level commercials, but her agent always tells her she has what it takes, she just needs to find that breakthrough role. And, now that Miss Jeong (as her dad would call her) had moved to the Big City, the hopes were more than strong.

But she was still a nobody dreaming of being somebody, which means she had to unpack everything by herself. Maybe if she didn’t suffer from rhinitis she wouldn’t have spent two days in this process, but at last she now could rest and dream of hiring a butler to deal with the dust for her. It was always a pain…

In the next day she decided that she wanted to paint her hair from brown to teal and green to represent her destiny from boredom to stardom. Then, later that day, she finally she understood what her mother meant: "You know, daughter, moving has a curse... Sometimes you find things you did not even remember, but you also lose things to find them only when you move again".

She couldn’t have lost that... Venessa searched everything and even checked all the boxes again. There were papers strewn everywhere, but none of them were what she was looking for.

-        I know it’s here somewhere, - Venessa said to no one.

She continued rustling through the last of the boxes. Where was it? Just then, Venessa noticed a small box in the corner of her bedroom. She must have missed that one. After ripping open the packing tape, she spotted the list on top of a stack of her favorite books.

She had dreams of becoming a world-famous actress since she was little Miss Jeong, but even as a child she knew there were a few hurdles she’d need to jump over to get there. And to keep her on track, she put them into a list which she holds to this day.

First on the list was study up, which she had already been doing. She knew if she wanted to get a leg up on the competition, she would need to flex her acting chops. But, she also wrote there “Move to Del Sol Valley”, and she had to secure her child-self that Miss Jeong would not forget to check that from the list.

[strangeoasis]

01.05 Life At Cacti Casa Dormitory

The Cacti Casa Dormitory seemed to be peaceful in Zoe’s first couple of days there, but she quickly came to the recognition that the guys were probably acting behaved to impress her as everyday this false façade crumbled bit by bit. The mess and disagreements began to increase little by little.

Zoe even offered to take care of Gavin's work on fixing up the mess. Zoe being a collector of friends, was a gain for both sides. Gavin did not deny it would mean more time to study, and from that moment onward he seemed to be talking more openly to Zoe than before. Gavin seemed genuinely grateful to get rid of this burden, which made her a little worried. Would she regret it?

At least the food was not a problem... Mitchell was a incroyable chef, and everyone in the house seemed to be eating dishes from a five-star restaurant. That was the degree Kalani was trying to achieve, although he had admitted to Zoe that he was afraid to repent. Mitchell loved comedy, but used to think that it was foolish to become a comedian and he had to take a straight shot. J Huntington's stomach told him he had made the right choice.

And, speaking of Jameson, he was the fitness guy of the house, so it was not long before Zoe was taken into his daily exercise routine. She did not complain at first, it would be a great excuse to see him flex those pretty sweaty muscles, but after a few days she could barely raise her arms to pick up the dishes on the kitchen shelf.

After several days they had all become good friends with Zoe. She still had not decided which degree she would apply for, but she kept thinking which of the three would be the best romantic partner since everyone was so nice to her, Mitchell even gave her a daisy on Love Day. Degree or a Husband? Some people have priorities...

[strangeoasis]

01.04 The Restless Nerd

Mitchell spoke for a few minutes, and between jokes and antics he summed up the story of his move to Oasis Springs. Then he remembered to introduce the third resident of that dormitory: Gavin Richards, the one clearly responsible for the cleanliness of the dorm (not that he has a choice, otherwise they would all be living in a nightmare).

Zoe's first impression of Gavin was not very good, and she found him rather rude. He barely opened his mouth to say anything for the time being and did not take off his glasses from the pages of the book he was reading. Yeah, it's good to focus on your studies, but that was Zoe's first day in the dorm.

After failing miserably the attempt of a conversation, Mitchell then shrugged off saying Gavin was kind of ... embarrassed of strangers, besides being addicted to studying. Everything Zoe found out about Mr. Richards that day came out of the mouth of the former resident of Isla Paradiso. He wanted to exceed the expectations of his family of intellectuals.

Coming from a family where his grandmother, Debbie Richards, was a business teacher at the Sims University, his grandfather, Robert Richards, was a graduate student several times in different subjects, and his great-aunt Jessica Richards was a master at logic ability, Gavin wanted to impress and didn’t wanted to be a shame like his simple-minded mother was.

Zoe found this objective a little stressful and degrading, but she understood the message… She would have to work two more times to have some friendship with Gavin as he was not there for jokes! If he’s not cleaning the house or resting to absorb the knowledge, he will be studying madly. A degree has never been so tiring.

[strangeoasis]

01.03 A Couch Potato From Isla Paradiso

After a quick introduction, Zoe and J headed inside the Dorm where they found a snoozing black haired guy on the couch. Zoe found it funny and cute at the same time, the way he slept quietly on the couch. J called his name, Mitchell a couple of times, raising his voice every time until he had to slap the lazy Mitchell Kalani with one of the pillows of the couch.

Zoe was holding back the laughter, and after a couple of minutes Mitchell fully recovered consciousness. J introduced him to her and left both talking and went to take a bath. It was not long before Zoe realized that Mitchell loved to tell a joke, and talk ... a lot (which wasn’t a problem, actually… Since Zoe was a master chatterbox).

Like Zoe, Mitchell was not from Oasis Springs and he moved to attend La Fiesta Tech. He had grown up even further in Isla Paradiso, an archipelago of islands surrounded by tranquil seas, where he used to live if his older sister Kaele Kalani. He even stated that he was having difficulty getting used to the dry weather and lack of water surrounding everything by all sides.

His sister was also a young adult, but unlike Mitchell, Kaele had no intention of going to university. She just wanted to be waterskiing and partying, which lead her and Mitchell to heated discussions. One might even say that Mitchell is lazy, but when it comes to family, he is very dedicated. He cared a lot about Kaele.

He was worried about her, their parents were long dead and they had no family to count on, and they had nothing besides the money that Mitchell gathered during the high school for them to go to college. So, he was furious when he found out that the part of Kaele’s money had been spent with nonsense. He had no more to do but to go on with his life.

[strangeoasis]

01.02 The Handsome Jogger

After spending some time standing still in front of the Cacti Casa Dormitory, thinking about the hurricane that went through her life, Zoe was graced with the vision of a beautiful hunk of man jogging towards her. She tried to change her sadness face as quick as she could, to give him a good impression of her instead of a bored emo.

He had brown hair, a tan skin and was wearing an athletic suit with sunglasses in his face. She did not know, but that was Jameson “J” Huntington III. Looking so good, no one would say that J had problems in his childhood, but the truth is that he was a chubby little kid, with crooked teeth and had a frightful case of acne all over his face.

Despite having repaired his teeth, high school was not so different. He used to date with his good friend Amber Stein, but he was ashamed to assume their relationship, because she was chubby too. But Amber had a good relationship with her own body and one day she got tired of being made a fool, and left J alone around the time of the high school prom.

Everyone was busy inviting their partners, and J was feeling more and more pressured. Then, he decided to invite someone, but every girl had an excuse, while some of them had a "no" without mercy or pity. So, finally, J decided to apologize to Amber and invite her to the prom, but she had been invited and that was no excuse… She was going with Sean Sullivan.

He was devastated. From that day on he took every possible remedy to stop the pimples, exercised untiringly and spent days learning how to take care of his hair. He even dated the most beautiful woman in Oasis Springs County, Katrina Caliente, before she moved to Pleasantview. Not only had he become handsome on the outside, but on the inside too... a little.

[strangeoasis]

01.01 Zoe Patel’s Prologue

Dressed in a yellow floral dress, standing in front of her new home, the Cacti Casa Dormitory, was Zoe Patel. Her face might make on think that she was not content to be moving to the dormitory, but she was actually sad to remember the occurrences that happened prior to her even considering to attend La Fiesta Tech.

Back in Belladonna Cove, she used to live with her brother Ramir Patel and, although their parents were not around, she had a relatively happy life. She was an A+ student at the Belladonna Cove Private School, she had many good friends, and thought she had the best relationship of the world with Geoff Rutherford, the prettiest red-haired teen boy in town.

Zoe couldn’t stop staring inside Geoff’s beautiful blue eyes, wondering about their future together. They made many plans… They would attend Sim State University together, he would turn into a Celebrity Chef, she would become a Prestigious Reporter, they would marry, have kids and live happily ever after. Until she caught him cheating on her.

From this point forward she realized that all your dreams were mere illusions. Why she was planning to attend Sim State University? Why she wanted to be a reporter? Did she really wanted to be famous? What if there was more in life that she was going to lose just because she was trying to fit in the society's standard agenda?

There had always someone controlling her life ... Or her brother telling who should she be, or her boyfriend telling how she should act, or her friends telling were to go... She then took the wheel of her life from the hands of the traitor Geoff, took a turn and for the first time made a choice on her own. She was going to Oasis Springs County, to attend La Fiesta Tech.