episode: "the grass is always greener..." (year 5)
previously: the Wyles family is ready for baby #2 // Sofia and Jason have bedroom troubles
With Isabelle's childhood years fast approaching, Cassia and Adrian are ready to start trying for another baby. Unfortunately, things aren't going as easy this time around. Try as they might, month after month after month, that test comes back negative.
As they reach the six month mark, they wonder if it's time to see a professional about this little hiccup. Cassia hears that Sofia saw a fertility doctor a couple years back, although she never said exactly why. It obviously worked out well for them, as they now have two beautiful little girls.
Not quite time to despair, Adrian springs into action with his research, clicking away on his phone before Cassia has even finished flushing the toilet. Surely there is more they can try. She could lie down and elevate her hips after intercourse? He could eat walnuts and take cool showers? Does any of that really work? And maybe they're trying too often. "It's better to try two or three times a week. Not every day. So the swimmers can be stronger and more potent."
Cassia didn't have the heart to be disappointed again, but they agreed to try for one more month.
They never really found out which of all those things they tried finally did the trick. (Or if it was that their watcher bumped up their fertility chances from 30% to 50%, because I was starting to worry it might be a bug... I mean, even at 30%, they tried like ten times and it had me worried for a minute!)
They suspect it was the face clipping that finally worked. Duh, everybody knows you can't make a para baby without face clipping cuddles! Magic tricks. Phew!
With all the stress of conception in the rearview mirror now, Cassia could return some of her energy to other things in her life, like neglected friendships.
She and Sofia had been planning to get the girls all together for a toddler playdate ever since they bought the house next door. It took some back and forth (literally, loading and reloading each household to get all of these paras in the same spot at the same time), but they finally found a time that worked for them all. They can't wait for their girls to become best friends. Maybe they'll even take down the fence between their yards so they can all see a lot more of each other!
Cassia also has some happy news to share with her friend. "I'm pregnant! Finally. Oh, it was the worst! Such an ordeal! We had to do it so many times. It took like six months!"
"That must have been so hard for you," Sofia said, biting back a surprising wave of envy. Oh, to have a man who could rise to the occasion over and over again for six whole months… No, Jason still could not, and Sofia was beginning to feel hungry.
That night while Sofia slept, she was offered an interesting choice of story cards, one of which was overwhelming and terrible. She should reject the idea. We don't need that level of drama in our cozy Paralives gameplay, do we?... She's your friend, Sofia. They are your neighbors. Be happy for them. Don't, don't, don't fantasize about your friend's exceptionally virile husband.
(Of course, we clicked yes!, because we are sluts for that drama! 😆 )
Or at least, if you must embrace these perverse feelings, then don't slink by their house the next morning in your underwear hoping he might peek out the window and witness those tempting curves and develop a crush back...
We whispered, "drama," and Sofia said, "How high?"
Adrian didn't see anything, by the way. Cassia wore him out and he's kind of tired, to be honest. Now that they're expecting, he doesn't want to think about sex of any sort for at least another month!
So inside the Wyles home, secrets are still secrets. Maybe they should stay that way, but that will be up to Sofia in the end. For now, we'll just enjoy a celebratory happy dance and announce to Isabelle that she's going to be a big sister.
I have learned how to put family photos on the wall and in frames! 🤩
It's not even really a secret or hard to do, I just didn't know how to do it, lol!
But I am so supremely impressed with how this works, because you can edit/crop/resize the screenshots outside the game first, then import them back into the game to use in photo frames. And the image quality on the wall is excellent, sized up or down, even close up.
(Shade 100% intended at TS4 and its botched family photos! 😒)
I am going to have so much fun with this! We had a trick like this in TS2 to put edited screenshot photos in game, and I have missed it so much. It's so cool the feature is just built into Paralives, no tricks needed.
previously: Sofia has an unsatisfying marriage // and a crush
cw: drug abuse kind of?
Before they knew it, the three girls were grown up enough to run from yard to yard between their two neighboring houses, playing as much as they liked as long as their homework was done. Adrian fired up the grill while the ladies chatted on the deck, keeping a close ear tuned to the baby monitor for little Juniper inside.
And this was what they all always wanted, wasn't it? To be neighbors and for their girls to be best friends and to see so much of each other every day?
If only Sofia didn’t have such a crush on him—her best friend's husband. It made things awkward, but Sofia was still the only one who knew that. She intended to keep it that way. Adrian was a good dad, a devoted husband, and a good friend. She supposed he wouldn’t be crush-worthy if he wasn’t all of those things. But because he was all of those things, he didn’t deserve to have his home wrecked, or for joyful friend Cassia to have her heart broken, or for dear Izzy and Juniper to have their childhoods ruined. So Sofia vowed that her secret feelings would remain that way.
There was too much at stake here. Too many friendships, and wasn't friendship just as cherished in life as some scandalous romance? Or more.
The men challenged each other to a spirited and friendly push-ups contest.
“Our dads are such meatheads,” the girls laughed.
They were silly together and had so much fun. So nothing terrible happened and the two families enjoyed each other's company most evenings until the fireflies came out.
“I know you’re unhappy,” Jason admitted to Sofia one night soon after.
Sofia hoped he didn’t also know the full extent of her unhappiness. She had wondered all these years what the problem was. Was he depressed? Was he gay? Was she ugly? Could he just try? All these years Sofia felt like she’d done all of the trying for them both.
“It’s steroids,” he continued. “That’s why I was ashamed to go to a doctor about… the problem. I know exactly why I have the problem.”
“Oh,” she said. She had no idea he was still taking those, and now everything made a lot of sense. She felt all at once betrayed, but also relieved. If the steroids were the problem, then they could also be an easy solution. He could just stop taking them.
If he chose to, that is.
“If I come off them, I’ll lose bulk. Nobody will take me seriously. I’ll never be a celebrity trainer. You don’t know how skinny I was. You wouldn’t still want me like that. You wouldn’t want me if I had to quit training and become some security guard or something.”
“You aren’t giving me enough credit,” Sofia said.
Her husband would still be strong, but wiry and lean and tall.
Oh. He would look like Adrian.
But if her husband was more like Adrian, then she wouldn’t need to have a crush on Adrian anymore. It all made too much sense. It could be the answer to everything. It could work.
A few weeks later, Jason was off his juice. And for the first time in their marriage, they went to bed together properly.
Everything worked. Everything did what it was supposed to do. This would be the answer to everything, Sofia thought.
Please. Please. Please.
gen 1 start // previous // next // index
So many story notes!
We needed a bit of storytelling in this one to make sense of everything this game threw at me! Sometimes Paralives is very fateful. There are usually three packs of story cards to choose from, but one night, Sofia was assigned a pack of social cards, and there was only one choice to make!
Okay, yes, one of them does have to do with Adrian, platonically, but two were for her husband and they are very sweet ones!
Aw, this lady wants her marriage to work. So we're going to help her fight for it!
We chose the one about “romantic interest” because I suspected that might be a problem with some of these premade couples. Soon after they added a romantic interest tag, they were able to roll the card for “get intimate for the first time.” And I think that might have been the problem all along. Romantic interest is an early relationship tag, but they were already marked as fiancés and lovers. Like the game had skipped ahead too far and missed that early tag that would have allowed them to initiate their romantic relationship.
It worked. Now they’re all fixed up! They can get intimate and try for a baby as they should be able to.
further notes:
It was *not* easy to get all those paras together in one yard. I wish it was easier to wrangle inactive paras. The girls can’t even invite each other over on their phones. So the best I can do is load and reload from house to house, telling the paras to “go here” and get them busy with an action before they can run away. I had in mind an evening cookout, but it was like midnight before I got everyone under control. 😵💫
It was not my intention for Sofia to hijack this legacy from my main family, but she had juicier drama, so here we are. But this is not turning into the Cooper legacy. We’ll still give priority to the Wyles kiddos as next generation heirs, as we do.
Kind of feels like the end of a chapter here, with the girls in childhood now, with resolutions to some drama and also some momentum to pull us back after a break to play some more. And I’ve been feeling my sims calling, so we'll come back to these guys in a little while. Maybe we’ll do back and forth between the two games? As long as Paralives continues to entertain. But I also finally miss my sim babies! So many stories, so little time!!!
On a whim, we feel like spending the morning at the beach before work. Cassia is blessed with short afternoon shifts at the museum, leaving her mornings wide open to spend with her little one. This morning, we crave some fresh air.
Let's see if Isabelle can walk on her newly minted toddler feet to the beach. She is destined to be a sporty para like her daddy, and the beach is just two blocks away.
Ha ha, technically, yes, she could do it.
Also, technically, it would take her until dinnertime to get there. So we are carrying this baby again.
She ate the sand! 🤣🥰
We totally have to get open water swimming someday in this game, right? Until then, we will just gaze longingly at the water and be jealous of our TS4 neighbors (but only the ones living in select worlds where swimming is allowed...)
And she's worn out before lunchtime.
"Up! Up! Up!" She is super offended that her daddy wants to lift weights for a minute instead of her!
Child, you have all of the attention all the time and a 100% full affection bar! And it's not enough???
Para parenting is too real life. Little girlie got clingy. We think it's time for a sibling to occupy her attention.
Matchy matchy, clutter clutter. I still feel like this house, and this room especially, is too bland for this very spritely couple. Too brown. Need more color! (Although I do love matching all my wood tones with the color wheel!)
But I think that crib is definitely ready for some more "try for baby" action!
episode: “meet Julien” Because we have to play some of these townies or else the whole town will die since there's no neighborhood progression yet in this game… (year 4)
I chose Julien to play for two reasons. One, he is a serious para and I find serious paras amusing. Two, I like his house. That’s a big deal in this game because some of these build layouts are very annoying to spend time in. Julien's home is well designed and pleasant to spend time in, so he wins.
First mission for any new para in my game is to meet some new people. Serious paras have a hard time making friends and lovers in this game, so it will be a challenge for Julien. After many attempts that I did not take pictures of, he finally met Rebecca and their connection was fantastic! You have to understand, that these nerdy jokes DO NOT fly. So whenever one does, I'm like, soulmates???
I know it doesn't look like they're having a deep and fascinating conversation, but they really are. (Conversation multitasking coming soon, I hope!)
But Rebecca is aromantic. That's not programmed into the game, yet, but she has a pride flag hanging in her bedroom (and reflected in her outfit color choices), and somehow my game wants to reflect that identity for her, too, because just none of his flirts land with her. None of them. Even though their friendship is so effortless and amusing.
She's like, “I really like hanging out with you, my dude, but you have to stop flirting with me!”
That's kind of a bummer for Julien, because he hardly gets along with anyone in this town.
But this doesn’t have to be a bad thing! Rebecca has an idea. She brings over one of her roommates, Monica, and sets them up on a date. Monica is a serious para, too, and Rebecca just knows they're going to hit it off with all those nerdy jokes and dorky science flirts.
And they do!
"Cool," Rebecca says, tapping on her phone idly. "Now I'm gonna go get lost so y'all can continue your flirting without me."
A little side note: some of these townie paras have pride flags hanging in their homes. Like Rebecca does. This is Julien's office with his nerdy decor and a pansexual (???) flag hanging above his desk. (? Because it’s not quite the right colors for the pansexual flag, but it’s labeled as such, and him being pansexual suits my story, so let it be so!)
This is relevant because, Monica is a canon trans woman in this game. She has a trans flag hanging above her bed in their apartment, and the colors reflected in her outfits, and her default settings in game don't allow for her to get pregnant. Julien is totally cool with that, because he thinks she's gorgeous and their chemistry is bubbling already! He can't wait to get to know her better!
First date, he takes her to the museum. She shows up in pajamas. He says, "I didn't even notice those were pajamas. It's the pearls. It elevates the whole outfit."
Second date, he invites her over to watch the news. You might think that sounds like a totally lame date idea, but for two serious paras who don't have conversation multitasking animations yet, you'll have to trust me that they're really having an absolutely riveting time.
But what really made the difference for Monica is when Julien tipped her off about a job opening at a local restaurant for a new chef. He read it in the newspaper one morning and instantly thought of her. As a foodie para, that meant the world to her! Monica had been searching for a big break in the culinary field, and it was so touching that he remembered.
She put in an application and got the job! She could hardly contain her excitement when they met at the beach for their third date. She knew all the restaurants in town, and she excitedly ranked them for him on which ones were the best for a first date, and how they might visit sometime together.
“But this is our third date?”
“If you’re lucky, I might give you a lucky fourth first date.”
“If you’d like to hear it, I have plans for our fifth, sixth, and twentieth first dates, too.”
“Yes,” she says. “I’d like to hear them.”
Julien was happily shocked. That line never worked on anyone! They must be soulmates!
Asking her to come home with him that night was a bit of a long shot. The logical part of his brain told him not to risk it and to share some nerdy science jokes with her instead. But you can't always wait for perfect chances in life. He had a feeling about this one, and so did she. It was a beautiful night for them both.
Their relationship bloomed quickly, and after about a year of dating (or like, four more gameplay days—time moves fast on this lifespan and while rotating households!), Julien asked Monica to move in with him.
She said yes! Honestly, she couldn't wait to move out of this apartment. Rebecca's macabre sense of decor was a little unnerving sometimes. But they both owed gloomy Rebecca their deepest gratitude for not wanting to flirt with Julien and instead bringing them together. Someday, Rebecca could be maid of honor at their wedding. (Or, since this game doesn’t have formal weddings, they will invite her to stand beside them while they elope.)
They haven't brought up the topic of marriage yet, but both of them are on the same page about wanting to adopt a baby together soon.
Paralives relationships move painfully slowly sometimes, but Julien and Monica thrived at the fastest pace any of my paras have so far. They are charming together, and they've earned their little place in the rotation.
episode: "here comes a little Junebug" (year 6, day 5)
It's the middle of the night, husband is asleep, got our laboring robe on. Cassia knows that means it's time to have a baby!
Adrian wakes from his slumber to stand beside his wife dutifully, in his underwear, looking concerned. Cassia is torn between feelings of fondness for him and the overwhelming urge to scream.
In the end, the scream wins. But she does appreciate that her man woke up from his sleep (and stayed awake!) while she labored for their second child. She knows that's better than some husbands do around here.
And we have another sweet little girlie!
(Man, this game likes to give me girls! I'm like 4-0 over here!)
I can already tell this one is going to be a 100% Cassia clone. It seems like, so far, this game makes kids either all one parent or the other with very little blending between. But it is interesting to note the same light brown eyes as her big sister, while neither parent has that color (mom is green and dad is blue).
Aw, and big sissy can hold her, too! 🥰
(Not that I would let my 5-year-old walk around the house with a freshly birthed newborn, but life sims don't need to make that much sense I guess, lol! But what I would really really love, either in Paralives or in TS4, is a kid sitting on the couch to hold their little sibling animation!)
episode: “nobody’s gonna steal Sofia’s man in this save!… not before I get some para bubs out of them, anyway.” (year 2, days 2-3)
We already met Jason, the tall hunk of meat that Adrian befriended at the gym.
Jason is obviously hot. Some of the novelty of this situation relies upon knowing the overwhelming community sentiment that EVERYBODY breaks up this premade couple to steal Sofia’s smoking hot man.
But we are gonna be the only save on the planet who will not break up this sweet couple. Adrian chose Jason as his first friend in town, and he seems like a pretty cool guy. And Sofia is amazing! She’s beautiful, she’s caring, she loves music but put aside her musical dreams because caring for people as a nurse is so important to her! She's good at romantic relationships, so she's gonna be the best wifey ever!
And we need them to get married and have a baby so Isabelle can grow up with a friend! 😁 They are also energized, social paras and we’re gonna go on double dates and have backyard barbeques in our houses next door to each other and raise our families together!
The only problem... their relationship is bugged all to hell in my game.
Oh, to live with such a fine fine man and you climb into bed together to… just sleep.
They cannot "get intimate" with each other, or try for a baby, despite their high relationship and being romantic interests/lovers/engaged and having both agreed that they wanted to try for a baby. We even eloped in our underwear to see if that would fix things, but nope, it didn't.
The deep dark secret? Jason is big and tall and strong and has a tragic case of ED. Poor Jason. Poor Sofia. There will be no baby-making in this bed tonight.
But Sofia is sweet and kind and devoted. She's committed to this now.
While he waits for the developers doctors to cure his condition*, we’re gonna cheat that baby.
[*In my game, ALL premade couples are unable to "get intimate" with each other, while new couples, or premades in brand new relationships are fine. I'm assuming it's a bug that will be fixed at some point in the future.]
Boop. Done. The wonders of medical science. We might imagine they had Para-IVF or something.
Her pregnancy was healthy and normal, lasting the intended 6 days. Then it's go time!
Another labor in jeans? Nope, this time I figured out how to change her into something more comfortable to labor in. Lucky girl.
And where is Jason, you might ask? We did wake him up so that he might attend his wife's labor and at least stand there looking concerned, the best a father can do in this game. But he was tired. 😒 He wanted to go back to bed. 😒 And after the fourth time chasing him down the stairs, we just let him stay there. 😒
Do better, Jason.
[And then here things got a little wonky. Her cheated labor completed, but no baby appeared. What?!? So I assumed the cheat didn't work, got frustrated, and popped into Paramaker to roll a baby for them. Oh... but wait, when I came out of Paramaker, it seems the cheat did work, actually, it just took a few extra hours in-game for the baby to pop up. Now we have TWO babies. Oops, lol! I guess that often happens in IVF, so we'll run with it.]
Welcome babies Reece and Nadia. Isabelle will have two friends to grow up with!
I don’t even mind that they have twins now, because I will not be playing their baby stage, anyway! We will rotate back to them when they are toddlers. 😁
episode: "life with a para bub" (year 1, days 5-7)
Life with a para bub.
This is great. We're doing great.
gen 1 start // previous // next // index
As expected, probably, there is not a whole lot to do with the babies. Just a handful of interactions, which are very cute!, and one skill to learn (language). And they poop a lot, lol!
But please forgive me for being absolutely obsessed with this long 3D grass. OMG! 🤩
