Author Topic: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story  (Read 67129 times)

Offline FrancescaFiori

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #90 on: March 07, 2018, 03:01:38 PM »
@oshizu I think you're absolutely right. The well knows. It always knows! And to be honest I think it's in cahoots with the traps in the temple. I always guess wrong. Every single time! My poor sims are permanently poisoned or cursed!
I'm so flattered you want to see more of my museum. I'll take a few shots next time I'm in-game and do a little building interlude.
Honey's takeover coming up!

@Shewolf13 I agree that the well is worth it, but it's very hard on my nerves! :) I'd be delighted to show you what I did with your awesome build! I'll roll those pics in the with the museum pics oshizu asked for and it'll be a regular building party! Next post, I think.

@rika1431 Good to know about rejoining the career! None of my ladies have been fired yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time! As for the museum, I'll give you my super-secret formula:  Make a long rectangle, then put a fancy entrance on it. And columns. So many columns! :D In all seriousness, I'm not super-confident in my building skills, so I really appreciate your compliment. Thank you!

@commasplice Thank you! I really appreciate you reading along and your supportive comments. It means a lot!

@PeregrineTook I'm glad the puppet show wasn't too morbid for you. Jessica was totally the unsung hero. I have a lot of unused pictures of her helping Domino with homework, getting her ready for school, playing chess with her, and watching her puppet shows. They really were very good friends, so the show in her honor was kind of appropriate in the end.
Good job finding a way to make this chapter about Mary! You're the best.

Ponsonby, Week 4, Part 2

My Dear Ladies,

This time, it really is goodbye.



Honey wasn’t quick enough to escape witnessing the tragedy of Jessica's death, so sat down to play a dirge or two. She really is getting quite good at the piano, even the Grim Reaper thought so. But time marches on . . .



That satisfied face I earned. So what might have been Monday, and should have been Tuesday, ended up being Wednesday. It was done. I’ve no parting shots of the restaurant, but let the record show that the efforts of the Backyard Money Factory raised its sale value to $106,901. Not that we sold it. We’ve hung onto it. I, for one, can’t think of any better way to wait out the next four generations than by pouring tea and upholding its five-star reputation.



Honey was still a bit low about Jessica, but few gentle words from her father perked her up sufficiently to nudge her toward her birthday cake.



One last photobomb from our sweet Domino and a few hasty hugs later, and she was out the door,



moving just across the street.



She summoned her new chum, Joaquin . . .



Who in turn summoned his chum, Sergio . . .

And they were off!

And that’s the full tale I can tell from my perspective, I’m afraid. At this moment I’ve got my feet up and a mug of darjeeling in my hand. Raj is cooking something delicious for dinner, and Domino’s off in her room trying to convince Max Villarreal not to chew the heads off her dollhouse dolls (my word what a terror that child is!). I’m sure you’ll be eager to hear how things went with Honey, so I’ll enclose here a copy of her first missive to me. Once again, girls, I’m so pleased with our little experiment, and I hope you’ll take it the right way when I say I’m so very proud of the two of you. We’re a trio of unlikely heroines, I must say, but we’ve become a smashing success.

With Great Gratitude and Love,

Loelia Ponsonby

Dear Mum,

Hullo from across the street! I can see your kitchen window from mine, so it seems rather silly to communicate by post, but I know how you feel about tradition, and to be honest it’s nice to sit down and catch my breath every once in awhile, so here we are!



You’ll already know about the house, of course. With the money Joaquin and Sergio brought in I was able to plunk down the prefab “Nice N Flat Midmod” by FrancescaFiori (available on the gallery!), and we settled right in.



We ought to have set right to baby making, but I lost my nerve and went for something safer. Making eye contact with a dragonfruit is much less stressful than with a potential lover. How awkward is this photo? It makes me cringe even now. Planting seeds, am I right? It’s like a bad pick-up line in picture form. Ugggggghhhh.



Joaquin’s a phenomenally good sport and went straight to his easel. He’s quit his entertainer job and gone into art professionally and never once mentions that he and I probably would have made a better couple, but I mean . . .



First hug! First swoon, too. He smells exactly as good as he looks.



He likes me a little bit, too.



More than a little.



He did get a bit of panic in his eyes once the nooboo subject came up, but he kept calm and carried on and . . .



Success!



Or failure, depending on your perspective.



He took the news . . . not well. But he recovered famously, I promise!



I sent him to the workbench and he’s made excellent strides taking out his frustrations as our resident handyman.



I do appreciate you bringing the club round, though, Mum. I’m glad at least someone was excited about our upcoming new arrival. Oh, and thanks ever so for letting me take over as club leader. It definitely simplifies things!



Would you hate me terribly if I kicked Domi out of the club, though? She’s my sister and I love her, but her loud phase is incredibly annoying when I’m trying to practice for work, and she won’t stop making messes on my new floors and I have no way of punishing her or making her clean them up. It’s just a thought. I know you’ll say no. I know you’ll say family is everything. Could we at least age her up to teen, though? She’s driving me nuts.



Tada! Wolves & Barley, our swank cocktail bar. I got the name through a “hipster business name generator” I found online. It’s pretty, but don’t get attached. It was over before it even started.



Here’s my honey (and his Honey! Lol!) celebrating the grand opening.



A little training and encouragement for the chef . . .



Naturally, our first two customers were a critic and you, Mum.



Though I suppose I can’t really claim either of you as customers, since you were never sat at a table. Behind Nancy Landgraab’s head is a blank space where our hostess ought to have been. She never showed up for work. Nor did her replacement after we fired her.

I’m not sure how we’re meant to have a perfect 5-star restaurant if we can’t even keep a full staff, but as soon as I figure it out I’ll let you know. I'm trying very hard not to let you down, Mum, and to carry on your legacy, but it may be more difficult than we thought. However, I'm pregnant and in love so it's going to take more than a couple of errant employees to bring me down.

Love you,

Honey

Offline Heart Foam

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #91 on: March 07, 2018, 03:20:17 PM »
I love the hipster name generator. Too much fun. And it worked. Wolves & Barley. I can't get over how hipster that is. 
It is a little thing of my own. I call it "Heart Foam". I shall not publish it. Farewell! Patience, Patience, farewell!

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Offline Shewolf13

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #92 on: March 07, 2018, 05:04:41 PM »
Woo!  Can't wait to see the builds!  Your builds are amazing ^^

Ha!  Go Honey!  Sergio huh?  Get used to having chilluns!  Oh my, restaurants seem to have quite the bugs :(  But I do love that Hipster Name generator lol  You can do it, Honey!  #TeamPonsonby!

Offline oshizu

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #93 on: March 07, 2018, 05:34:27 PM »
Yay, the first heir to move out! Congrats to Loeilia on maxing that career!
I was wondering about Joaquin and then Honey chose Sergio! He's smart to do woodworking in his sleepwear. I hear one gets higher-quality sculpture and furniture that way.
(May I privately ask where Sergio gets those abs? He never even works out!)

Before moving out my second heir, I cleverly added Snagglefluster to my founder's restaurant, or so I thought.
When the heir and her family returned, the menu had changed and so had the staff. Restaurants are so buggy. Let me know what happens to Loelia's restaurant!
I love the name and facade of Barley & Wolves!  Retail shops aren't as much fun but they're doable, at least. :( (And faster, did I mention faster?)

Yay a special tour of Loelia's house and the Posonby Museum!
Can't wait, of course, to see what Honey and Sergio's kids look like!

P.S. When I was perusing your Gallery wares last week, I noticed some unscrupulous simmer has re-uploaded your Nice n Flat Midmod (and another of your builds whose name escapes me). >_<

Offline PeregrineTook

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #94 on: March 08, 2018, 08:16:21 AM »
Restaurants are terrible!!  It might be super hard for Honey to complete her phase of this if...wait...that would help Mary's line.  Restaurants are the best!
Seriously, though, I massively prefer the retail store for RDC's since you can actually control everything.  With the restaurant, if your hostess doesn't show up, you're done for the day.  If the wait staff decide to go out jogging, food takes extra long to get there and your rating drops.  If, if, if.  It's a hassle.  I really wish they would have designed it to let our controlled Sims hop in to fill roles as needed, but they didn't.  That being the case, you're letting the game decide if you succeed or fail each shift which is really hard in a competitive dynasty like this. That said, she should absolutely keep the restaurant so Team Mary can regain the lead  ;=)
Go Team Mary!

Offline FrancescaFiori

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #95 on: March 08, 2018, 04:27:15 PM »
I've had a couple of questions and requests regarding the builds I've been using in my dynasty, so I thought I'd take a pause here and talk about them a little bit.

For this challenge we're allowed to download builds from the gallery that have the hashtag "carlsguiderdc" and I took full advantage of that for my first generation.

The Ponsonby's used the "Red N Black Starter" by @Playalot . I liked the sort of mid century modern style (and I'm trying to stick with it through the rest of the houses in the neighborhood so everything looks cohesive) and I found it very easy to expand and add onto as the household (and household finances) grew. Here's a quick comparison of the house when I first placed it and when Loelia's requirements were finished:





I really liked the interesting roofline, and I always struggle with roofing in my own builds, so I did my best to preserve the look as the house grew.

The Goodnight family used the Spooky Starter by @Shewolf13 . Again, I loved the dramatic roofline and I wanted to preserve its curb appeal, so I tried to keep the same look while just making the house larger:



I also added a bunch of vampire-y stuff because I got the Vatores' furniture when I moved them in and because the pack was quite new when I was playing this portion of the file and I wanted to try everything out. I can't remember now why I changed the roofing on the porch portion, and I'm sorry I did as I really like the fancy star shape in the original.

Here's a comparison of the first floor:



For reference, the bathroom is pretty much exactly the same, I just expanded things around it. The house got wider to accommodate the stairs down to the vital-for-vampires basement and I tried to keep it symmetrical by extending the other side along with it.

I really liked the rounded front porch, so I echoed it on the back of the house with the porch I created to house the wishing well (safely out of the sun) and massage table.

Here are a couple of interior shots:



Lilith's masterpieces are scattered around kind of haphazardly, and I'm very embarrassed about the curtain that doesn't line up with the window. Oops!





Poor Aidan doesn't get much attention in the story, but here he is enjoying the dining room. Around the corner is a little nook with a dresser tucked into it because I love nooks!

Here's the second floor:



The plan is very much the same, I just added a nice big bathroom and an organ nook (yay nooks!). I went for symmetry on the first floor, but asymmetry on the second floor to make the house look interesting from the sides and the top. There's also a back balcony where Lilith painted and others did yoga. Here's a side view of that:



And here's the whole back of the house:



I added a third floor when the babies were born, and I like the sort of spooky tower element it gave to the house. It was also practical because I like to keep toddlers confined to a small area with everything they need as much as possible. Adults move much faster (especially in bat form), so it was easy to have them travel upstairs to tend to the children's needs.



I loved how tower-y it looked from the outside, but inside space was a little too tight for taking good screenshots. Fortunately, Tatiana was only a toddler for a few days and Aidan got good at climbing stairs very quickly.

Here's a side-view of the house for maximum tower appreciation:



And here's the basement, just so you get a complete picture of the house. It's very utilitarian. Just garden and coffins. You know, normal basement stuff. :)



I really loved using this house and I hope Shewolf13 likes what I did with it!

Since I gave an overview of the other two houses I thought I'd throw in a couple of shots of the Monepenny/Alien bloodline's home as well. I built this one myself, and the starter version is on the gallery (it's flagged as having cc, but it doesn't). My main concept was to have the floor plan centered around the rocketship as that was pretty much the center of the family's life. The basketball court was just for fun.



In the back is the museum, which I tried to make as strange and dramatic as a long rectangle can be. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.



Speaking of museums, oshizu asked for a better shot of the Ponsonby's more classic museum build, so here's that:



It's kind of fun, and the swanky domed entrance adds some elegance to the otherwise pretty dull rectangle of the main building. The view out the back would be lovely, so it's kind of a shame there aren't any windows, but it is a museum, after all, and that wall space is reserved for exhibits!



Honey's will be the only display enclosed in glass. I've placed shelves for the collections of future generations. Here's hoping there are enough of them and that I don't change my mind about what I want them to contribute!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have enjoyed this little tour! If you have any questions, please ask away! I love to chat about building.

Offline MarianT

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #96 on: March 08, 2018, 05:32:57 PM »
I got caught up with this. I absolutely loved Sergio's expression when told about the nooboo. I had a couple of parents who hated children, but I found that they usually are fond of their own.

Thanks for showing off your houses. I like @Playalot's Red and Black house, too. And I'll take a moment to say how glad I am that I started the #carlsguiderdc in the Gallery <blows on fingernails, brushes them on shirt>. The builds there just get more and more amazing, and it's great to see people using them.

Good luck to all the other ladies trying to get their heirs out of the house!
When the Zombies Come(Completed)--100 Nooboos Nabbed




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Offline Heart Foam

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #97 on: March 08, 2018, 05:48:24 PM »
I'm finding inspiration in all your houses. The Goodnight house is amazing. I admire how it all stays on theme. I admire how towery it is.

The thought of lowering the rocket into a bunker popped into my head. :) But it would not be as easy to access.
It is a little thing of my own. I call it "Heart Foam". I shall not publish it. Farewell! Patience, Patience, farewell!

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Offline oshizu

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #98 on: March 08, 2018, 05:55:37 PM »
Thank you so much for the house and museum tours! It's always wonderful fun to see different housing approaches to the same challenge.
Very much enjoyed your before and after shots. The Spooky Starter went under the most renovation, it seems. The Gen1 vampires must be rolling in simoleons!
As for your museums, what a difference a facade makes! Brilliant idea to make them long, one-story rectangles.

And I'll take a moment to thank @MarianT for the fabulous idea of starting #carlsguiderdc on the Gallery.
I don't use starter homes much but I'm really looking forward to seeing toddler-friendly parks from the 2018 Building Challenge #2!
Also looking forward to placing FrancescaFiori's winning Challenge 1 home somewhere soon!

Offline PeregrineTook

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #99 on: March 08, 2018, 09:28:13 PM »
Wow!  I think I was too distracted by Mary to fully appreciate the houses  ;=)  Thanks for the tour and the comparisons so we could see how they've grown and developed.  I like Mary's house the best, and I'm saying that without it even being about Mary  ;=)
Go Team Mary!

Offline Shewolf13

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #100 on: March 09, 2018, 12:27:54 AM »
Oh wow! You've done wonders with all of those houses! I especially love the changes to Spooky Hallow ^^ Those museums are awesome. Those little touches make all the difference.

Btw regarding that star-shaped roof, I think it has to be a certain number of tiles to work. I seem to remember that as I was building. I wanted to make the porch bigger but couldn't  get the roof right so had to stick with the smaller size.

Offline wa-wa-world

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #101 on: March 09, 2018, 11:24:52 AM »
Hahahaha, Having sergio around kids is one of the best things he looks so upset but I'm sure he'll eventually come round  ::)

So far I think I'm on team goodnight though, but I really like the Ponsonby's house! (Both renovated and unrenovated)
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Offline FrancescaFiori

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #102 on: March 09, 2018, 04:46:53 PM »
@Heart Foam You must try it yourself:  Hipster Business Name Generator Each one is better than the last!
I do love the idea of putting the rocketship on the basement level. It would look cool and make a lot of sense. I've got at least three more alien houses to build, so I'll definitely have to try that out on at least one.

@Shewolf13 Yup! Sergio! He's very entertaining, and easy on the eyes, especially with the great faces he makes. I've seen enough of him in other files to know he'll buck up and be a good Daddy to his own kids, and he's super sweet and affectionate with Honey. So glad you liked the builds!

@oshizu Yup! Sergio's been taking woodworking tips from Caleb! :) Sergio is deeply genetically blessed. Abs of steel and a Scarlet O'Hara waist! Plus, he seems to have amnesia in this file and has never heard of Siobhan Fyres, so I didn't even have to feel guilty about breaking up his old relationship!
I was all set to get annoyed about my house getting re-uploaded until I looked for myself and saw that the title of the new one is something like, "Love deze Huis!" and now I can't be anything but flattered. :) Plus, they added a pool and a second floor, so it's not just a straight copy job.
I was also deeply flattered to find that 85 people have downloaded my winning challenge house, but also deeply embarrassed because now 85 people know that I forgot to put in a mailbox and a trash can. Sorry, 85 people! That was lame of me, I know!

@PeregrineTook Yes, retail is less buggy, but I'm soooooooo stubbboooooorrrrnnn! I really love running restaurants and I'm going to make it work even if it kills me (and puts the Ponsonbys three weeks behind)! We'll see how things go next gen, but I'm hoping my "nothing but the barest essentials" technique will work again, and at least I won't have to waste time trying all of the other solutions first.

@MarianT Yes! The #carlsguiderdc idea was really genius, and it's so much fun to look at the things people have contributed. Please accept my congratulations and back pats along with your own! :) Thanks so much for reading, and for your well-wishes!

@wa-wa-world Thank you! Yes, I have faith that Sergio will come around, and if not, he's a great restaurateur. The customers love him!

Ponsonby, Week 4, Part 3

Dear Mum,

Things have calmed a bit, so I wanted to fill you in on the rest of our week:



It was a rough beginning for our restaurant, but Sergio cheered me up after we finally gave up waiting and went home by proposing.



Of course I said yes. There's that deer in headlights look from him again. No regrets!



Next shift we bypassed our hostess problem by opening the restaurant from home and then traveling over. Still no hostess, but two tables of customers had magically seated themselves so we did actually get a few plates served. It’s a workaround, but I’m afraid it would take us just ages to work our way up to five stars this way, so we had to try and come up with something else.



Ugh. It’s so pretty. It had such potential! I’m really going to miss that place.



We sold it. The second we did, a hostess showed up for the new owners with no trouble at all. A mystery for the ages. No time for us to ponder it ourselves, though, as it was time for me to go to work.



I waddled the long way down the pier at Magnolia Promenade and made myself late, hang it all, but I got promoted anyway. The career, at least, is coming along fine.

Things get rather messy and undignified from here on out, so prepare yourself, please.



Speaking of messy and undignified, tell Domi if she drips paint on my floor again I’ll come back over to yours and smash her dollhouse myself. I’ll also thank her to stop making that face at me when I teach her about responsibility. It’s an amazingly useful bonus trait and she should be grateful I’m taking the time to help her get it.
Do tell Advik thanks for mentoring Joaquin. He’s such a help!



Restaurant attempt #2: A cozy tearoom. I didn’t spend much time or effort building it as I didn’t want to get too invested, and it’s a good thing . . .



as you can see our invisible hostess problems followed us to the new lot.

Brace yourself, this is the part where desperate times called for desperate measures:



I’ve got no hair and no pants, but do you know what I have got? A host! On this lot we placed nothing but the barest essentials: a few tables and chairs and stations for the chef, waiter, and that marvelous fellow in the tuxedo.



We ran The Roadstead (we didn’t even bother changing the name) on a bare patch of grass for a few hours, until the lady on the right began to smoke in the sun and we realized we’d have to build a ceiling before she burnt to death right before our eyes (which was sure to make for a bad review).



We were feeling a bit cheeky, so based the sparse design on the “Double Deuce” from the Patrick Swayze film, Roadhouse. We still don’t know what caused our horrid hostess glitch, so we’re building very slowly and cautiously. It’s not much to look at, I’m afraid, but at least it’s no longer deadly.



Here we are in the dismal bathroom. Fortunately, my fiancé still fancies me even without custom content.



Would you like to try the special? I’m still a bit punch-drunk from all the stress. I did get some temporary hair, though!



Huzzah for another promotion! (and do tell your chum, Eve, that I’m sorry about her hair and her husband’s skin tone. (Felix still looks perfect, of course, that rat!) I’m sure they can be put right soon enough, but they all looked quite uncomfortable at dinner, and I don’t think it was the lack of pleasing decor. At least not completely.



We returned home and panic set in!



And just after midnight . . . Aki arrived. I had just a few moments for a cuddle before we had to make the switch. It’s been a deliriously difficult week, Mum, but please don’t worry. I’m beyond happy. I have a darling baby, a loving husband, and a fully-staffed restaurant. It can only get easier from here, right? Right? Don’t remind me about toddlers. I don’t want to hear it.

With Love,

Honey

Offline oshizu

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #103 on: March 09, 2018, 05:12:44 PM »
Honey deserves a medal of some sort for revealing herself without custom content for the sake of running a restaurant.
Give one to her watcher, too, while you're at it.

Of course, Felix looks perfect because the perfection that is Felix needs no cc. Not even light lip gloss, lol!

Oh, the Roadhouse? Is that the Swayze film with all the dancing? *looks away innocently
Congrats on your promotion, Honey.

Brilliant strategy! Get your 5-star rating with the bare essentials, then boost the restaurant value later!
The relationship between cc and the host's appearance is incredibly unfair!
Luckily, Honey looks gorgeous even bald and pantless!

Welcome, Aki! We are looking forward to your birthday already! :D

Offline Heart Foam

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Re: Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story
« Reply #104 on: March 09, 2018, 05:49:17 PM »
That's quite unfair that a hostess arrived for new owners. Tell M. Although... no. It just struck me you might be planning on calling a future child M. In that case, don't tell M. You'll get through the restaurant ordeal, barely.

So if there was no bad review on the line... let 'er burn?
It is a little thing of my own. I call it "Heart Foam". I shall not publish it. Farewell! Patience, Patience, farewell!

Exit Bunthorne.

 

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