Alej Enjoys Waiting for the Spore Filter

Thu, Fall 20 (Apr 22)

Tae: At the Info Center, I hand over the Infection Profile Data to a Scientist and am thrilled to hear that I’m close to discovering an anti-infection vaccine! I'm not excited that I’ll have to wait while he examines the data, constructs a Spore Filter, then mails it to me.

Alej: A Pizza Oven! I didn’t think you’d remember my answer from our Woo Who? game. 

Tae: Yes, I do remember but this Pizza Oven isn’t for us. I bought and fully upgraded it as a gift for my friends, Honey and Rowan. Since we’re free today, I thought you could meet them and we could both meet their infant daughter Melody. 

Alej: What time are we leaving?

Tae: We’re not. This vacay rental insists I don’t own the Pizza Oven. We’ll have to wait until we’re back home.

Alej: I know we’re sleeping in separate rooms, but could I cuddle you for a bit? This is my first time away from Brazil and I’m feeling a little homesick.

Tae: But only cuddling, okay?

Alej: I would love to only cuddle with you, Tae.

Tae: What are you doing, Alej?

Alej: I discovered I have a new Bucket List goal. *beams

Tae: What is it? Never mind, I think I can guess.

Alej: Thank you for inviting me on a date to such a fancy restaurant.

Tae: It’s nice getting away from StrangerVille and you’re really handsome in your suit.

Alej: I’m enjoying our break from the StrangerVille Mystery. Now, say, “Ahhhh!”

Watcher: Time to go, boys!

* * * *

Fri, Fall 21 

Tae: Watcher tells me I’ll eventually need at least 35 spore clusters and 7 Bizarre Fruit to make 3 experimental vaccines then 4 tested vaccines (including one for me). While waiting for the Spore Filter, I spend the morning at the Secret Lab, scanning for spore clusters and end up with 55. 

Alej: I help by harvesting Bizarre Fruit outside the Secret Lab. Since Tae collects 55 spore clusters, I gather 11 Bizarre Fruit. Having too many is better than finding out we don’t have enough, right?

Back home, no mail today but that Scientist lets me know that he’s constructed and mailed me the Spore Filter. I hope it arrives tomorrow!

Later, we visit 8 Bells where I chat with various Military sims, hoping to meet someone who’d fit my team. I come outside to find Vivi arguing with Alej, so I return to the rental with them both to find out what’s going on.

Vivi is tense and angry. I really dislike Argumentative sims. She's a beautiful, kind-hearted sim but she's no match for Alej. After listening to her vent a while, I calm her emotions, ask to be just friends, then politely ask her to leave. Sorry, Vivi. We weren't meant to be.

Erwin and I are best friends now! 

(At a cafe in San Sequoia)

Juwon: Thanks for inviting on a date to this nice restaurant, Tae. I was wondering when you’d contact me.
Tae: This is not a date, Juwon. You and I need to talk. What happened to Mr. End Goals and why have you suddenly shown up in StrangerVille during my stay?
Juwon: There’s never been a Mr. End Goals for me, except you, Tae.

Tae: So, your letter was a complete lie?
Juwon: I wanted to give you the freedom to decide for yourself that I’m The One for you, but my plan backfired.
Tae: How did you know I was in StrangerVille this week? I bet it was that I’m-No-Gossip-I'll-Never-Dance-the-Rumbasim Wolfie, am I right?
Juwon: Of course, I’d want to see you again. You’re all I’ve thought about since I left Nordhaven!

Tae: Juwon, I invited you here because I have two things you need to know.Juwon: You want us to get back together?
Tae: Listen, have you never wondered why we only kissed and messed around one time each despite being exclusive for nearly a sim-year? I’d assumed I was on the left edge of the ace and aro spectrums. But I know now that I’m neither ace nor aro. I’ve always seen you as too much of a younger brother to feel the spark of passion. I tried, Juwon, I really did, with our First Kiss and the Mile-High Club, but the thrill was missing.
Juwon: But I've loved you so much for so long Tae!

Tae: Please, let me finish. Watcher had me do a six-day Bachelor Challenge where I kissed and superficially romanced both men and women. Before the getaway, I’d thought I was bi due to my teen crushes on all the crew ladies, but I’ve since learned that I’m not.
Juwon: We can still work on our relationship, Tae. I'll do my best to make it work!
Tae: We will never work, Juwon. Before the getaway, I checked your profile to remind me of your third personality trait and saw that your sexual orientation had changed. That’s a deal-breaker for me; it’s what convinced me that my HEA could never be with you. We'll always be besties, Juwon, but it’s your turn now to look around and explore who you really want to spend the rest of your life. I wish only the best for you.

On our favorite porch, I explain to Alej about my past relationship with Juwon and our conversation at the San Sequoia cafe. After that, Alej and I share deep thoughts about healthy romantic relationships until we're both Romance Sages. Along the way, I discover I’m Romantically Reserved, which definitely feels more like me than being Romantic or a Lovebug, so I accept it.
And when Alej professes his undying love to me, he discovers he’s Loyal, which he embraces.

Watcher's Notes:

*Spore Filter: On Reddit, one simmer shared that their sim's Spore Filter arrived in the mail after seven sim-days, the day after the simmer caved and bought the Spore Filter from debug mode. Ain't nobody got time to wait a whole sim-week! *I really love the Dine Out pack's Feed a Bite animation! So sweet!
*Vivi: She didn't have any negative sentiments with Tae nor her acquaintance Alej. Was she tense due to the current state of StrangerVille. When Tae visited Erwin next, Erwin was also tense but didn't act angry with Tae, like Vivi did.
*Last (rl) night, when I had Tae check Juwon's profile, we noticed the change in Juwon's Sexual Orientation. That completely shifted Tae's affections in Alej's favor. (I was tempted to check Juwon's MC logging file, but decided to let him keep his secrets. *My apologies to Juwon fans. Tae cared deeply for Juwon but as family. I never saw Tae with a want or thought bubble to kiss or mess around with Juwon. I'd thought that was just Tae's personality, but then he met Alej. Also, I feel like Juwon didn't get a chance to have his say at the cafe and that their conversation ended too abruptly, but I didn't want this post to require too much reading