Witchy Lychee

Hi! Here I share my experience playing Paralives ever since release day. It's mostly rotational gameplay with my own households, with the occasional Photo Mode screenshot sprinkled in to add to their stories.

✦ Index Page ✦ (https://witchy-lychee.tumblr.com/gameplay)

⏭ Most Recent Gameplay (#the motley folks of melino) ⏮ From the beginning (chrono)

I was on a tattoo-making spree and posted two tattoo packs:

🩷 One using only images found in the game files ➜] Steam Link

Poor kid's gonna be raised by a bunch of hay-for-brains.

Cult member: Dwink your milky-wilkies, precious little moo-moo! *impales herself in the face* Baby: You're making it rather difficult for me, ma'am (·•᷄‎ࡇ•᷅ )

Anyway. PERFECT NAME ALERT!

I mean... Lord Byron? Broody McBroodison himself, Ronette's personal hero, has a name that apparently means "place of the cow sheds"??

There are no other options for you, kid, you're Byron. We'll allow "Ronnie" as a nickname because I find it amusing for Ronette to have a son called Ronnie.

Dean: Honey, Evie's getting cranky, I think we should-- Hey, it's you. Ronette: Huh? You've met my-- Dominic: MIDWIFE. Yeah, midwife. Dominic Newlow. Excuse me for not introducing myself last time we saw each other. Dean: I've never seen you at our hospital. Dominic: Oh, I took a… rather long sabbatical. To pursue more… philosophical matters. I've only just returned. Evie: Dadaaaa, I want hoooomeeee! Dean: Sounds very interesting, I'd love to hear more someday.

Dominic: Actually, let's just get this over with. The child she's carrying, it's mine. Dean: You're some midwife I've never seen at work, standing here telling me my wife's pregnancy is yours? Ronette: Please-- Dean: Ronette, why?! What did I ever do to you? Ronette: Nothing! You were a bit distant, that's all. You yelled at our friends. I felt uneasy. Dean: UNEASY? One of them died! What was I supposed to do, just let it go? And what, this was your solution to feeling uneasy? Finding some EASY man to have philosophical debates with?? Ronette: I wasn't looking for a different life or a different man or anything like that. I just felt stuck.

Dominic: …How long? Ronette: Ten weeks. Dominic: I wondered when you'd tell me. It's mine, isn't it? Ronette: I have a husband. And Evie. And I love them. Dominic: You're a fool if you think your dorky little husband won't find out. Spare him the prolonged humiliation and just tell him. Can't believe I'm saying this, but he seems like a decent man, he deserves honesty. Ronette: Honesty? That's rich coming from you, hiding away in a barn, preaching obedience while ignoring your own society's tenets. Dominic: Ah, yes, The Four Pillars of The Kine. Always stay with the herd, the stray cow falls into the thicket…

Ronette: You're really going to quote every rule at me? Dominic: Not all readers have played the PSP game! Always keep your eyes on the cow in front of you, attention yields obedience. Always look to the future, the path behind you is strewn with manure. Always be wary, the enemy tips the cow who sleeps. Ronette: Dominic. Dominic: Hold on. And now, Always follow the bloodline, for the calf will seek its true path. See, pet, that's why I like you. You're always so INSPIRING! What a perfect fifth pillar! This got me thinking. In architecture, pillar and column are almost the same, yet here… perhaps this is what you prefer to happen. A fifth column. You want that baby raised like it's his, only to undermine the family years from now, because it inevitably will? No, no, no, pet. I can't allow that. This isn't about your husband, or your guilt, or even you. This is about MY heir. I will NOT let them, for a single day, be controlled by some external force like all those SLAVES! My heir will have absolute free will! MWAHAHA!

Finally installed Zerbu's TS2 > Paralives Aspirations mod to try out. I only gave my paras primary ones for now. This prompted another set of posed images. No CC was used in them, by the way.

Cobalt - Pleasure Rock - Popularity Ronette - Romance Dean - Knowledge Java - Fortune Kaylynn - Family

Since Dominic is all about free will, defy the Plumbob yada yada, I gave him both primary and secondary ones - so he's Knowledge/Pleasure, and I'll try to play him mainly wants-based.

Lily: Hey, thank you. For the help. We didn’t get your name earlier. Dominic: It was nothing, kid. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, as they say.

Rock: I still can't get over the way you just showed up back there. Since when is that barn such a hotspot? Lily (whispering): Rock! Dominic: Haha! You heard your friend: who'd pass up the chance to get their hands on free books? I know I wouldn't. I just didn't expect to walk into an emergency. Rock: Right. You could've at least announced your presence. Coughed or something. Lily: We're very grateful, honestly.

Lily: But I still didn't get your nam-- Dean: Guys, guys! Good news: Everything checked out fine, likely just stress-induced fainting. She'll be discharged very soon. But also - wait for it - Ronette is PREGNANT again!

Lily: Ronette! Dominic: *sigh* Rock: I'm calling an ambulance.

Dominic: No need! I'll take you, it'll be quicker. Rock: Gahhh! GOOD GRIEF you scared me. Who are you? You've been standing there this whole time?? Lily: Save the intros for later, please. She's gone really pale.

The Kine Society was a cow-themed cult in Strangetown in The Sims 2 for the PSP, that was founded by Dominic Newlow, a.k.a. Dr. Dominion, a.k.a. El Toro - a charming Machiavellian genius with a superiority complex. They worshipped a mythical cow demon named Beelzebeef. Dominic's real goal, however, was to use the Society's rituals to power his scientific experiments.

He had discovered that everyone was being controlled by a giant green diamond (the Plumbob) and invented a helmet that could take control of the Plumbob, allowing him to manipulate others. By the end of the game, Dominic vanished from Strangetown.

Lily: Is that… a giant mural? Rock: It feels like glass. Bloody weird. We sure Ronette went in here?

Dominic: Very thoughtful of you to bring guests, my dear. But it’s best for everyone involved if you head back outside before they see the other room, and ensure they give it no further thought. Ronette: B-but what am I supposed to tell them? Dominic: I'm afraid the details are yours to manage. Ronette: I feel sick. Dominic: Breathe, you'll be fine. Now go. No more mistakes!

Rock: I've played enough Tomb Raider to know there's a hidden lever or a button or a... Ronette: Are you two stalking me? Rock: You're here! What the hell is this place? Bit rude to paint a fake barn inside a real barn, if you ask me. Lily: Ronnie, we weren't trying to pry. We were worried about you. You seemed really tense back at the café, then you just bolted out. But yeah, what is this place?

Ronette: It's… um… I… Someone said a bunch of books were left out here, I wanted to have a look. There's loads of them. Really nice ones, too, like this… Pocket Guide to Urology. Okay, maybe not that one. And I--

Ronette: Hello, I'm here. C'est quoi? What's everyone staring at? Dominic: Come and see for yourself, ma chère.

Lily: We could rename the band "Spilled Milk." Be trendy with the kids. Rock: By the time we announce it, the trend'll be over. We'll be beating a dead cow. Lily: That's udder nonsense, it's never too latte. We have to milk this idea for all it's worth. Rock: I'd absolutely ask you to marry me right here, right now for these puns, but we're kind of in the middle of an investigation. Lily: Do it. I dairy you. Rock: You're unbelievable.

Rock: Lily Brown, will you kine-dly take my hoof… I mean, hand, in marriage? Lily: Yes! A million times yes! Although you're an absolute cow-ard for waiting this long. Rock: We'll beef about it later, love. Right now, let's not steer too far off course - we're on a mission.

Ronette: Oh, h-hey. Didn't think I'd run into anyone today. Lily: You okay? You look a bit rushed. Ronette: Just one of those days. Stuff to do, places to be.

Ronette: Guys, I'm fine, really. Dean and I just had a fight. It's so silly! I'd been looking for this little trinket at the curio shop for ages, and it finally turned up at the worst time. We've got overdue bills… and I bought it anyway. It was quite expensive. He got mad. Rock: I can see why he'd be annoyed. Ronette: I know, he's right. It's just… he used to not react like that. He'd usually laugh it off with me, like we'd figure it out together. Today it felt like I was on my own in it, you know?

(lmao the nails look so chopped up close) Rock: Well, you do have a baby to take care of now. Surely that changes how you handle spending? Ronette: Probably. Definitely. Anyway… what's done is done. We're managing. And I love that trinket. No point crying over spilled milk. Rock: Why'd you phrase it like that? With the milk? Ronette: Huh? I don't know. I really should go. See you guys.

Rock (whispering): Hey, psst, Nataliya. We haven't seen you around lately. Nataliya: I've been busy. Rock: Did you… leave Roger? Because of... y'know. His special recipe. Nataliya: Yes, I moved out.

Rock: And Noa? Is he all right? Nataliya: He's still with-- Yoga Instructor: Don't forget to breathe, everyone.

Nataliya: He's still with his dad. They've always been close. I didn't want him caught in the middle. Stability matters more than anything right now.

Rock: But why didn't you-- Lily: Rock, save it for later, will you? Karen over there is already staring daggers at you. Rock: I just want to know--

It's the heat of summer not only for me IRL, but also for my motley little folks. Shaundi's sudden death really shook them, and I guess brought them closer together.

Thanks to this mod (also shoutout to this build for the inspo) and (of course!) Photo Mode, they're now pretend-enjoying the pretend-pool I haphazardly made just for this photoset. ⛱️🍹