#periwinkle palms

[milliondollarnooboo]

'This was not the plan. '

'This was not supposed to happen.'

'How could I let this happen?'

'It was supposed to be casual, quick. Get in and get out. I've done this so many times before, how could I screw up this time?'

'It's only my first couple of months here... I wasn't supposed to get pregnant.'

"What are we gonna do, Michael? I can't raise a child! I'm too young for this!" she wailed, looking tearfully at the sheepish father of her unborn child.

"Hey, hey-- everything's going to be okay. We'll figure it out when the baby comes." Michael placed a reassuring hand on her arm.

" Right now, you need to relax. Look, I'll clean your house for you before I leave, then you can get some rest. Sound good?"

He didn't wait for a confirmation before turning around and heading for the soiled toilet in Natasha's neglected bathroom.

She stared after him, fingers shaking as she guided a can of instant meal to her mouth. The sweet strawberry concoction tasted bitter and rough on her tongue.

She knew she needed to eat better for the baby. But she didn't want to think about all of that. She never wanted this.

In the bathroom, Michael struggled to suppress his nausea as he scrubbed the toilet. But it's not the stench that was making him feel ill.

Hadn't she said she was on birth control? How could this happen?

Would they have to get married now? He could hardly leave her and the baby by themselves. She would need support.

But right now, he honestly didn't know if he was willing to step up for that.

An hour later, the house was clean. Natasha lay asleep on the couch, dried tear stains and a slight frown on her sleeping face. She looked so tired.

A pang of guilt shot through Michael at the sight of her. Without a word he turned and walked out into the night.

--

The next couple of months flew by in a haze for Natasha. She couldn't tell whether it was Monday or Saturday. Noon or evening. All she knew was exhaustion.

Her bump grew bigger, and with it came a determination to eat better.

'I guess this kid knows better than I do.'

She saw less and less of Michael as she drew closer to her due date.

Natasha missed being outside. But the shame of her predicament and the perpetual state of exhaustion made it near-impossible to open the front door.

But on some nights, when the loneliness was unbearable, she would push through that invisible barrier and go out to hunt for bugs in her front lawn.

Fireflies always reminded her of the city lights. She found them comforting.

--

And then it was her due date.

Spending so much time alone, Natasha had made a little game of trying to predict when baby would come. As she sat at her dining table, she stared unseeingly at a scratch on the vinyl coating of the table.

'So, this is really happening. I am really about to be a mother.'

'What will my fans say... will they laugh at me?'

Distressed by the thought, Natasha spent the rest of the day on her bed, waiting.

At 9PM, baby Toby was born.

Thus began Natasha's new life.

--

And that's it for rotation 1 with the Moretti household. I'm ngl this story feels a bit choppy on some parts because I wasn't prepared to develop it. I was gonna be lazy and just slap the screenshots on the post and call it a day, but I'm trying to be as intentional as other simmers whose BACC content I have enjoyed because of their storytelling.

I apologise for the uncropped and unedited screenshots. I'm writing this at 3 in the morning because I forgot to sleep while putting together my BACC post. I was working on it all day yesterday.

More coming soon :)

| Intro | Rules | Next |

[milliondollarnooboo]

I haven’t wanted to admit it but I think my BACC is on hiatus now.

I got burnt out after the last household of rotation 1. Not surprised cause I knew this would happen but it still sucks.

Basically life got in the way + something so unexpected and depressing happened in the save that I just didn’t know what to do with it.

I still play the game but I’m exploring other saves offline. Some that I may mention occasionally or not at all.

So uh, yeah. I’ll get back to it eventually. I’ve got a couple screenshots stored up so I may post those one of these days. Or maybe I’ll summarise everything when I return from my hiatus.

[milliondollarnooboo]

He hated his life a little less when he watched the stars.

There was something so peaceful and dignified about the way each of them nestled itself in the big blue blanket of sky.

Being in the water made him feel like he was up there with them, swimming among their reflections.

Of course, the stars weren't his only friends. Joseph had gotten quite well-acquainted with the Social Bunny. Though he never said much, the bunny's silent stare and nimble hopping was somewhat comforting. He’d never admit this but that idea of presence was all he needed sometimes.

He found that they could talk for hours about the stars, the sea, and how much he hated his life in Periwinkle Palms.

Yes. There were times when Joseph's thoughts would wander gleefully to scenarios where the whole place would just catch on fire and give him an excuse to leave.

Sometimes, you just want to watch the world burn.

You know what they say though-- if you think about it hard enough, want it badly enough, then you just might get it.

It happened while Yu-Bi was visiting for a residence check in. In an effort to be hospitable, Joseph thought some Mac and Cheese would soothe the lingering tension between them.

The stove had other plans though.

As panic consumed Joseph, he could only yell for help as Yu-Bi swooped in with the fire extinguisher and battled the raging flames.

She was glorious.

If it wasn't for the chaos he would have stopped and stared. Right then, she looked like the stars he gazed at in the night sky.

Soon the other residents burst in to join the fight, but the flames grew angrier, and Yu-Bi grew weary. All of a sudden, she was ablaze. Her screams made Joseph's body go rigid with fear-- he'd never heard such anguish.

Just then, a chilling howl began to consume the room. The Grim Reaper emerged, his scythe ready to claim the bleeding soul. Joseph felt his heart plummet.

Natasha dropped to her knees and began to plead for the mayor's life, sobbing as though her own life was at stake. Joseph turned away, he knew there was no hope.

For the first time ever, Joseph thought about another life aside from his own. As he sat in his bed several weeks later, his eyes could not see the words on the page. Instead his thoughts drifted back to Yu-Bi.

Why had she risked her life for him? At that time, things were still tense between them from the time when they'd fought. His heart cooled with shame at the memory. The fact that that would have been one of her last memories of him was haunting.

Except, it wasn't.

Yu-Bi had lived, after a dramatic turn of events where Natasha unexpectedly defeated the Grim Reaper.

Joseph had been so shocked by it all that he decided to value his relationship with his neighbours from that point on, starting with Yu-Bi.

"I've noticed that you are the only one among the girls who wears earrings. So, here." Joseph said plainly, handing her a neatly wrapped gift box.

Inside lay a simple pair of sea-shell earrings. He'd discovered them while combing for shells at the beach. Yu-Bi was surprised, but quickly recovered and thanked Joseph politely for the gift. It was a bit weird, but she didn't want to be rude and turn him down.

Eventually they went on to chat about other things, with Joseph enlightening Yu-Bi about the stars and the sea.

All was well again.

But as Amin walked by and saw them, his jaw clenched tightly.

--

End of Mwale Household rotation 1.

Well, that was interesting. I never really come up with the script until I'm actually typing the post. I'm making up most of it as I go.

I'm curious to see how the friendship between Yu-Bi and Joseph goes. Amin might not be so keen though.

This chapter felt a bit clunky, but I'm just going with it. I'll get better.

[milliondollarnooboo]

Rules for my BACC

- currently, there’s not that many. I’ve very loosely referenced the approach of other BACCs around me for a sense of structure but then everything else is just me playing however I feel like.

Here’s the framework though:

1. Starting off with some kind of founder, and from which there must be a mayor figure. I started with 6 sims - one of each aspiration, because I figured it would be a good way to get a balanced mix of personalities in. I didn’t want to stick to just one founder because I honestly don’t have the energy for that.

2. Starting with only one community lot, with the rest to be earned as certain milestones are reached. I truthfully haven’t looked around much for rules on this and will likely be drawing inspo from The Redmond Flats approach. I really liked how @ennysimmer did it in their Neptune BACC - it seems the lots were being determined mostly by necessity along with the aspirations of their sims.

I built a deck/dock by the seaside to give the outside world access to the island. This will help me to explain the daily visits of NPCs like the paper boy and eventually, NPCs who will serve at other community lots. I actually got this idea while reading one of @ennysimmer 's BACC posts where they weaved into the story that the paper delivery person had to commute every day to deliver the paper. I loved that little detail.

My dock/deck (idk man, I'm from a landlocked country leave me aloooone lol) has a little 'office' where visitors and deliveries from Sim City are recorded. There's a few boats on the water because of regular visits from necessary NPCs. Unfortunately, Unsavory Charlatan thinks himself a necessary NPC, too.

Anyway I added a few community-activity items to give my sims somewhere to hangout when they're not at their houses. I tried to keep it simple and rely more on the natural traits of a beach lot (sunbathing, sandcastles, etc) to keep them busy.

3. Limited but still modern access to certain things. In most challenges I've seen they usually start out with minimal access to electricity, plumbing, and technology. In my hood though I am giving each of my adult sims cell phones because it's just more convenient that way and is generally a crucial part of my gameplay. I even weaved it into Natasha's character by making her a streamer with a following that she has to check in with often.

They'll still have to earn access to other more complicated instances of technology and the other things.

4. I can build or download my lots and modify them accordingly. Yes, I know that building your own lots is common practice in this challenge but sometimes I just can't be bothered and anyway I may prefer someone else's approach to building over mine. For instance, the house at the top was a starter home I downloaded off MTS (I would have linked it but I can't find the specific download :( ).

It also gives me time to enjoy gameplay more.

5. Whatever happens, happens. I will do my best not to interfere with the events that take place and will try to maintain continuity in the story even when something unexpected or undesired happens. For example, if a certain sim keeps getting pregnant despite having a million kids already, I will still have to let it happen even if it bothers me. It will all be dependent on their autonomy though because I'm not going to encourage it, lol.

6. I townify sims that I can’t be bothered to keep up with then I reintroduce them into the main story where necessary. Some may never be reincorporated and may be killed off if everyone else from their generation has passed. I know that part of what makes a BACC an actual challenge is the commitment to playing each sim but I get overwhelmed veeeery quickly so… yeah.

7. Birth control is allowed. I know rule 5 suggests otherwise but this is for the same reasons as rule 6. I wasn’t going to do this at first until the first baby was born and I immediately felt it would be too much for me if several of my sims became parents at once. So I toggle on and off with birth control depending on what makes sense for my story or the mood that day.

--

So far, this is it. It's still pretty early in my gameplay to have developed much. I want to allow myself to add things or take them away as I go along because at the end of the day, the priority is to have fun.

[milliondollarnooboo]

Introducing my first ever BACC: Periwinkle Palms!

Quick Navigation:

Rules

Rotation 1

Rotation 2

—

Characterised by sweeping palms and whispering pines, Periwinkle Palms is the darling little island that the Sim City government has invested billions of simoleons in creating.

Why, you ask? Well. You see, there was a time when Sim City prided itself on its infinite capacity to house several sims at once. But over the years, there has been a steep incline in the number of new births occuring per generation as a result of some rather erm-- overly enthusiastic Romance and Family sims around the city.

And with the black market thriving on the sale of a particular elixir that extends lifespans... sims just aren't dying quickly enough. There, we said it. There are simply too many of them and just not enough homes for them all!

So the government of Sim City came up with the bright idea to divert the concentration of the population to another part of the map. And they figured that if they made the relocation attractive enough, more people would likely move over there - and potentially invite tourism business prospects in the process.

But to do that, they had to gain the public's trust about the sustainability of this project. So they would send a sample batch of sims to stay there for a few years.

So a nation-wide raffle was held, and out of the thousands of sims that applied, 6 fortunate sims were chosen. They say that the raffle was random, but it's pretty clear that the results were engineered towards a certain age demographic...

Anyway, let's meet the 6 winners:

Congratulations to our new Periwinkle Palms residents! We hope you enjoy your stay.

[milliondollarnooboo]

Yu-Bi sat on her couch, a can of fizzy orange soda in hand. Her mind replayed the phone call she'd had a couple of hours before.

So Natasha had a son now... and was terribly underprepared. As the aspiring mayor, Yu-Bi knew that she had to figure out a way to help the girl as soon as possible.

"I'll stop by with a quilt for the baby, he can sleep on that for now. I will arrange with the people over at project management to have a crib delivered to your house in a week's time," she assured Natasha.

The poor girl sobbed her thanks, then had to cut the call when an agitated shriek erupted from her son in the background.

Yu-Bi sighed. This was too much for Natasha to bear alone. She had to get the child's father involved.

--

The next day, Yu-Bi called a meeting with all of the residents. It was just a way to get to know everyone. Natasha was understandably unable to attend, so Yu-Bi made a mental note to check up on her afterwards.

The first to arrive was Michael.

"Congratulations on the baby boy! You must be thrilled," Yu-bi beamed, her eyes watching him closely.

Michael looked startled. "Oh... thanks."

"I'm guessing you two have made arrangements to live together by now? Natasha could definitely use the help."

"Uh... not really."

"Oh? And why not?"

"..."

"... You are going to take responsibility, aren't you Michael?"

By now, all of the sweetness had dropped from Yu-Bi's voice. She stared at him challengingly, waiting.

Michael would not meet her gaze.

Before she could further interrogate him, the others arrived. Yu-Bi gave Michael one last hard look before she finally turned away to greet her other guests.

The meeting was unproductive. Chatty, but nothing of substance came up.

The group munched happily on tomato toast as they talked. All except Amin, who was helping himself repeatedly to Yu-bi's snack stash. And chewing very loudly, much to Chloe's annoyance.

At some point Yu-bi tried to bring up the arts and tourism part of their responsibilities but did not receive an enthusiastic response. It just didn't seem like much of a priority at the moment.

Everyone loved talking about the beach though.

Yu-bi's stomach started bubbling uncomfortably. She excused herself and walked quietly to the sink with her plate, discomfort clear on her face.

Then, when she thought no one was paying attention to her, she let it rip.

Unfortunately though, Joseph saw - and smelled - it all. His nose wrinkled in disgust. Michael -who's nostrils hadn't been assaulted yet- simply assumed that Joseph's expression was because he didn't like the weather.

The meeting went on without much incident after that.

Except for when Chloe and Joseph nearly started fighting because they were blocking each other's way. Those two could be so immature at times.

__

In the evening, Yu-bi got to work drafting a proposal for a maternal and child welfare program to present to the project managers the next day. She felt very uneasy about Natasha's lack of support and Michael's apparent hesitation to get involved.

Yu-bi sighed. She knew that this would not be the last time something like this happened. Especially not on a remote island with 6 warm-blooded young adult sims living so close together.

There were a lot of pressing needs, like a grocery store, a clothing store, utilities, etc - but Yu-bi felt that they could rely on imports from Sim City for a little longer until she established this.

--

Yu-bi was startled awake by the ringing of her landline. Annoyed, she got out of bed to answer it. Whoever it was had better have a good excuse for waking her up at 12:43AM on Tuesday morning.

It was Michael. And he'd be there in 5.

She waited for him on her porch, arms folded over her chest. When he arrived she wordlessly let him in and led him to the couch.

"So have you finally decided to stop being a coward?"

Michael recoiled at the remark. "Excuse me?"

Yu-bi rolled her eyes. "Michael, your attitude has been so disappointing. I expected better from you."

"Yu-bi, you're being unfair. Do you know that she didn't even tell me that the baby was here? I had to find out from you, when you congratulated me."

Yu-bi's mouth formed a thin line. "That's still not an excuse. You could have checked on her and seen for yourself. For goodness sake you live right down the road!"

"Yeah, if she ever let me visit her."

"That's just ridiculous Michael, you could have called her."

"She was ignoring my calls."

Yu-bi threw her hands up in exasperation.

It was Michael's turn to be angry now. "Listen. I don't know what the heck she said to you about me, but I'm not the monster you want me to be. I came here to explain but clearly you've already formed a narrative in your mind."

Then, he stood up to leave. "Sorry for disturbing you. Good night."

Yu-bi was silent.

This wasn't really making sense. From how Natasha had put it, Michael was clearly avoiding her. Yet from his side, she was avoiding him.

"Michael, wait."

He stopped, his back turned to her. They were outside now, the coastal breeze whispering through the trees.

She stood barefoot on the pavement, a concerned frown on her face.

"I'm... sorry. It's not that I'm trying to make you out to be the bad guy. It's just that Natasha hasn't been taking this so well and it feels like I'm the only one who sees her. I just don't want her and the baby to suffer."

Michael was facing her now, his expression unreadable. The finally, "I'm scared too, Yu-bi. I didn't want to put her in this situation. But no one has considered what this means for me too. I'm trying to figure it all out too."

Yu-bi nodded in understanding.

"I'll go see her soon. Maybe not this week, but I will make an effort to show my face. I hate that she's been avoiding me but I'm willing to give her one more chance."

With a gentle but meaningful squeeze of his hand, Yu-bi bade the younger man goodnight.

As she padded back into her house, Yu-bi had no idea that she and Michael were not the only ones on the street that night.

--

The next day, Yu-bi hurried for her carpool as the diver impatiently honked for her.

Natasha happened to be visiting just then.

"Hey, Yu-bi- can we talk? I know now isn't a good time but-"

"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry but it'll have to be later. I've got a meeting with the board and I'm running late!"

Then before Natasha could respond, Yu-bi shut the car door and they drove off, leaving the girl to stare after them.

--

When she got back home, Yu-bi was as exhausted as she was frustrated. The project management board had brushed off her proposal, claiming that there were other more pressing matters to address first. Like the arts and tourism sector.

Her head was pounding.

As she walked up to her house, she noticed Joseph waiting by her mailbox. Sigh. Now was not the time.

"Joseph, to what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked with practiced warmth.

The young man did not respond, but his steely gaze struck unease into her heart.

"... what is it, Joseph? Have I done something to upset you?"

It was then that he scoffed.

"You know, I always knew there was something off about you."

Yu-bi quirked an eyebrow, urging him to go on.

"I just never expected that being a man-eater and a backstabber was part of it," he sneered, jabbing a finger at her.

"Excuse me?" Yu-bi sputtered, completely surprised by the accusation.

"Don't play dumb! I saw you with Michael last night. What could he have been doing at your house so late at night?"

Yu-bi sighed, the tension in her head intensifying. "Look, Joseph. It's not like that--"

"Oh save it. I know what I saw. How brazen of you to even hold hands like that in public, as if Natasha doesn't live right across the road from you. It's almost like you wanted her to see you."

And then,

"I despise women like you. You don't deserve to be mayor."

That did it.

Yu-bi's open palm went flying and landed smartly on Joseph's cheek.

"Listen here, little boy. You don't know what the heck you're saying. Now you better shut your mouth and get out of my sight." Her voice was low and level, completely void of it's usual airiness.

Joseph looked at her hatefully. "I'll make you pay for that."

And then he lunged at her. They crashed to the pavement, yelling, kicking, punching, and pulling.

Natasha heard the commotion across the street and came running.

"Guys, stop it!" she screamed, looking around desperately for someone to help.

But they did not let up. After several moments, Yu-bi finally threw Joseph off herself and stood up, bruised and panting.

Joseph stood up too, and only then did he notice Natasha. Immediately his face crumpled and he started crying, feeling utterly humiliated.

"Joseph-" she started, but he didn't let her finish and abruptly bolted down the road, his wails punctuating the air.

Natasha looked at Yu-bi. She was shaking, shoulders tense and tears in her eyes as she burned holes into the spot where Joseph had stood moments before.

Natasha contemplated comforting her, but it was clear that Yu-bi needed to be alone. So she turned wordlessly and walked back to her house.

--

Yu-bi couldn't focus on anything after that fight. Working was not an option. Even her appetite was crushed by the weight of her emotions.

Eventually she decided to jump rope as a way to blow off some steam. But her house felt suffocating so she took it outside.

'That stupid little boy. How dare he!' she thought hotly as the rhythmic smack of the rope on grass guided her jumps.

'I've been nothing but sincere. I didn't even have to take this stupid job as mayor. I could have started working on my businesses by now. But I pitied them. And this is the thanks I get?'

The more she thought about it, the faster the rope swung.

She continued to jump rope until her physical exhaustion overwhelmed her anger, and she eventually went to bed.

--

The next day, Yu-bi woke up with renewed determination.

She was going to get her plan approved no matter what. Dressed with dignity, she set off to work for another meeting with the board.

When they saw that she was serious and her points were undisputable, the board had no choice but to approve the maternal and child welfare program.

Starting today, all expecting and parent sims would receive government support from Sim City until Periwinkle Palms was established enough to sustain its own program.

She got promoted, too. Which made Yu-bi feel validated against Joseph's mean remark.

Just as she was about to get into her house, Chloe jogged by and waved cheerily.

The two ended up having a little catch up session in front of Yu-bi's house.

When Chloe finally left, Yu-bi got a call.

"Hey, Yu-bi. Are you home?"

"What do you want?"

"Can I come over? We need to talk."

That evening, Joseph begged for Yu-bi's forgiveness. Turns out he'd run into Michael after the fight and he'd found out the truth. Then, when he heard about the maternal and child welfare program, he realised how wrong he had been about Yu-bi. Both as a person, and as a mayor.

Yu-bi was still internally seething, but she figured it would do her no good to have a longstanding grudge with one of the only other residents on the island. And as mayor, she had to be rational and not so emotional. She wasn't going to treat him as warmly anymore, but with some level of civility.

Joseph was appreciative all the same.

--

The next morning, Natasha came by again. This time Yu-bi had time to talk to her finally.

"Here's the quilt, I'm sorry it's taken so long to get to you," Yu-bi said with an apologetic smile.

"Oh, Yu-bi," Natasha pulled her into a hug. Thank you so much. For everything. For seeing me and fighting for me."

"Of course. It's what friends- and mayors- are for." she responded kindly.

Their moment was broken when Natasha noticed something in her peripheral view.

She smiled. "I better get going. Looks like some is in dire need of your time."

Yu-bi followed Natasha's teasing gaze and caught sight of Amin loitering aimlessly by her front yard. She blushed.

As the two embraced, Natasha secretly wondered what Yu-bi saw in him. They were cute together, though.

The canoodling was short lived, unfortunately. As she talked to her bosses on the phone, Amin couldn't help but wonder if Yu-bi would still have time for him as she got deeper into her role as mayor.

--

Aaaand that's it for the Kyung household, rotation 1.

Some notes:

the random event rolled for this household was to make an enemy of 1-5 sims. It was generally difficult since Yu-bi gets along with most of the other residents. But then inspiration struck when I thought about Joseph's general demeanour and how he would be likely to confront a misunderstanding that way lol.

I'm surprised at how far the plot point of Natasha's baby has taken the story. I didn't expect it lol, but it was fun to delve into some pretty realistic aspects of the reality my sims live in

this took way too long lol

| Prev | Next |