Fanon:Strange Palms
Project Strangetown
With The Sims 3 being effectively a prequel to The Sims 2, one of the things I have always loved to do with my game is to tell the backstory of a Sims 2 neighborhood. But, while many of the Pleasantview families already exist (albeit scattered across several neighborhoods), my favorite world, Strangetown, was looking sparse, with only the Curious family (paternal side), the Beaker family (Loki's side), and Olive Specter (and Nervous) in existence.
But rather than populate a custom world with custom replicas, I wanted to use an existing neighborhood with existing families to tell the story of the evolution of Strangetown from thriving desert community to deserted military outpost. The only obvious climate: Lucky Palms. And so, I bundled up the Curious family, uprooted them from Twinbrook, and headed for the golden sands, where there the roads are paved with Simoleons.
The Road to Strangetown
They layout of Lucky Palms lends itself wonderfully to a recreation of Strangetown. A large dual carriageway runs straight across the map, with the science and military establishments closeby. This empty freeway is, of course, the Road To Nowhere.
In the various descriptions of the lots and households, it is hinted that some residents of Lucky Palms are already down on their luck. The area north of the freeway is populated with small, cheap housing, and abandoned commercial buildings now doubling as homes: the theatre, the pharmacy, the garage, and the motel. The lake has run dry, the businesses have died a death, and the population of this little section of the community may soon move on to greener pastures, or else leave their children to clean up the mess of this failed gamblers' paradise.
Generation 0: The Baby Boomers
This first generation of Strangetowners consists mostly of the original residents, with the addition of the Curious household who moved here from Twinbrook. These are the people for whom the lush, green parts of town were built. They live in the big, gleaming houses on Golf View Road, eat at the Blooming Cactus Bistro, and enjoy Drinks at Diamondbacks. They are also going to be the parents of the next generation of Strangetowners - and boy, there sure are a lot of them! In order to populate the entire forest of Strangetown family trees with all the right grandparents, there were going to be a lot of babies born in these golden years!
My starting families included:
- Existing pregnancies
- Established couples
- New romances
- Adoptive parents
- Out-of-towners
Existing pregnancies
Red-headed showgirl Lola is pregnant with her married lover's baby. Despite all the genetic odds, Lola's gene for ginger locks will eventually be passed on to Circe Beaker, via Lola's daughter Moira McGork (nee Moira Lancaster).
Lina is living with lover Eli Vokoban when she falls pregnant. Her daughter Jacqueline is named 'Vokoban' after her step-father. Eli dies without ever knowing the true parentage of his step-child. Lina and Eli marry, and Lina achieves her Lifetime Wish (Golddigger) upon the event of his death.
Yolanda begins the game pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's child. She raises her son, Hamm, alone, naming him after the her favorite dish at Lennon's Desert Diner. Young Hamm Shaw inherits his father's tan skin and his mother's blond hair, the latter of which will be passed to his daughter own, Kitty Curious.
Baby Annie is born to a progressive, modern family.
The Tanners have two existing children - Ethan and Yuna. Daughter Eurydice is already on the way when the game begins.
Established Relationships
These young lovers are living apart but are romantically involved. When their son is born, Marisol gives him his father's surname. Marisol and Donnovan move in together, leaving Marisol's former house to their son, Mike Steel.
This young couple live with their roomie Clark in a big house share. The arrival of daughter Wanda puts an added strain on their living situation.
As if Piper wasn't already having enough trouble, this 'problem child' became further estranged from her father after she became pregnant as a teenager by her new boyfriend. She moves out to live with her in-laws, but the stress of raising their son is too much for Sahan, and they break up soon after. Piper changes her surname and moves into a motel with her son, Kavi Loner.
New Romances
Pansy and Ezekiel have a difficult friendship when the story begins. Pansy decides that the best way to cement this relationship will be to seduce her roommate and win him over with some romance. But the plan backfires when Pansy falls pregnant just as Ezekiel's career as a singer is starting to take off. The pair go their separate ways, with Ezekiel launching a successful career under his stage name, EZ Kool Rock, and Pansy moving to the motel across the street. She doesn't want to admit to having had a romance with a rock star, and so, when asked to give the name of the baby's father, Pansy merely grunts. Thus, her son begins his life named, in a roundabout way, after his dad: Rock Grunt.
Baby Addison grows up, dates, and has a child with her childhood friend, Hanson. She still lives with her parents, who help her raise baby Milony as Addison continues at high school. Brittlebrush Academy draws the attention of the education authorities following reports of an unusual rate of teen pregnancies.
Retired starlet Kitty is determined to have a child before old age kicks in. She hooks up with barman Cornelius and nine months later gives birth to a baby boy. She names him Andre Price Vandeen, but his future daughter and grandchildren will know him as A.P. Vandermorgan.
Adoptive Parents
Having always grown up with a big family, Ethan Tanner can't bear the thought of winding up alone in a big empty house. And, while Ezekiel's career is thriving, this eternally childish superstar is starting to feel the need for a family of his own - at least as an excuse to hold onto all the toy they've kept around the house. The pair adopt a new baby son, Bhu Frehndly, from an orphanage in India, although Ezekiel still plays with the dollshouse more than Bhu ever does. In his old age, Ezekiel becomes something of an Elton John type figure, known for his extravagant dress, younger partner, and legendary musical career.
Cricket grows up into something of a hippie. She enjoys painting and does yoga in the back garden. She and girlfriend Tabbi move into the Tanner household and set up a hippie commune, much to the shock of the conservative desert community. The same agency in India that helped place Bhu also appeals to Cricket to house another child, Jeevika. Cricket accepts, and Ethan builds an extension into the garage.
Out-of-Towners
- The Curious Family
It wouldn't be Strangetown (or Strange Palms) without the Curiouses! This project began with Marshall Curious and Cherish Curious upping sticks and moving out to the Palms. Now, they live in 'That 70's House' on Golf View Drive. Cherish practices inventing on the side of her career in education and now their house is full of little gadgets and gizmos. Meanwhile, Marshall keeps claiming he was abducted by aliens and is beginning to write books speculating upon the existence of extra-terrestrial life. They are a long way from Twinbrook now, and Notzo Curious has a very different future ahead of him here than he would have done back home!
- The Whelohff family
The Curiouses couldn't bear to leave old friends Rich Whelohff and Rosy Whelohff behind, so they persuaded them to move, too. Rich and Rosy live just across the way in 'The Claw', a super-swish high tech mansion. Daughter Zo (soon to be Zo Curious) is growing up nicely.
- The Morel Family
I was running out of sims in Lucky Palms, so I widened my search to France. In Champs Les Sims, locals Edith Morel and Gérard Morel have a daughter named Mary. As she grows older, her love of gardening (and her hourglass shape) earn her the nickname Mary Melons.
- The Salas family
The similarity to 'Salamis' was close enough, and as I had Midnight Hollow all set up, Jay Salas and Tatiana Salas were the perfect residents for the spooky haunted castle that now sits on the outskirts of Lucky Palms. Tatiana is already expecting a baby, and she and Jay are doing everything they can to ensure their third child escapes their ghostly fate. Researching cures, harvesting life fruit, and scouring the graveyard for deathfish, the Salas family work night and day to ensure their new child will be flesh and blood, rather than a mere apparition. Their baby son is born, and named 'Andros', meaning 'man', a fitting title for their first human child.
Generation X
Coming soon...
