The Dueling Veronaville Dynasties (All is right with the world, Updated 01/27)

[NexttoNormal]

@oshizu the medical exam was actually for a chronic pain issue I've had for years but had gotten worse lately. They gave me a presumptive diagnosis but unfortunately the disorder I may have requires more steps to fully diagnose and treat. So the next step is an ultrasound and then possibly surgery if anything is found. In the meantime I've been prescribed a high dosage of painkillers to manage it, and I may be put on a hormonal treatment in the near future but that depends on the results of another appointment I'm going to have next year.

@FrancescaFiori thanks! I'm glad you like the characters!

[NexttoNormal]

Capp Scene III (week 3)

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Mila: Hello everyone, mother-in-law Mila Munch here to narrate! Desdemona has been extremely busy this week so she decided to hand this over to me for a little while. Well, to be fair she isn't the only person who's been really busy, we all have been. My grandbabies have been hard at work in school along with my younger two boys, and of course everyone helps at the store!
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The week started off with some excitement as my younger two boys, Lucas and Wolfgang, had their birthdays!
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Wolfgang decided to clean his act up from being a teenage rebel. He still likes to dress like a tough guy but he wants to look more mature and professional. We're all very proud of him, he was able to get a level 3 job in the Intelligence career straight out of high school!
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The work week continued pretty much as expected. We managed to get several more store perks and our store is officially appraised at over $100,000! It'll be a nice retirement fund haha!
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But we decided to treat ourselves to a nice day off on Saturday since everyone had some free time. It's kind of hard to get a family of eight out of the house but it's worth it.
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We began the day at the pool. The girls kept daring each other to do increasingly extreme jumps, which ended in Lavinia belly-flopping. I don't think they'll be doing that again any time soon.
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We stopped off at the gym next because Desdemona and Wolfgang both wanted to spend some time working out. Desdemona decided she wanted to try to lose what was left of her babyweight, and Wolfgang wanted to get in shape for his new job. I'm very proud of both of them.
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The kids all decided to play basketball, and Lucas tried boxing for the first time.
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Gunther tried to join Desdemona on the treadmills but my poor boy ended up having a mishap.
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Next stop was the Art Museum in San Myshuno, Tamora seemed particularly enthralled by what she saw.
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A final stop on the way home for dinner...I can't say I like the idea of eating in a bar but the kids all seemed to like what they had so I can't complain too much.
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And of course Desdemona got more promotions! She's such a determined young woman, I admire her so much and am glad she married my boy. Until next time, everyone!

Wow sorry for not updating in a while. I've kind of touched on it but I'm currently in the process of having a chronic pain issue diagnosed/treated, which has taken up some of my time and enjoyment. I can't really say I'm a fan of having abdominal pain for four weeks straight But hopefully everything will be figured out soon. I also had some online drama which resulted in my departure from a site I was a mod on.

Anyway at this point I can safely say the Capps are the furthest along at this point. Desdemona is a level 6 critic now, Titus (even though he wasn't shown much) maxed the Artistic Prodigy aspiration and the Child Creativity skill, and is now level 3 in the Piano skill. They've unlocked all the store perks except for Cheaper Restocking, and the store is valued at $111K! I'm fairly certain I'll be able to finish almost everything else off by the next part!

And now some close-ups of Lucas and Wolfgang!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

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Top: Wolfgang. Bottom: Lucas.

I'm really happy with how these two look, especially Wolfgang. He's always been my favorite of the Munch boys, and I like the more mature but still edgy look I gave him. I also always think Lucas looks good in softer colors like green and blue

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[oshizu]

Good for you, boosting your retail shop's value over $100K already. That was fast!

Even with the triplets, the Capps have done so well. Are they farthest along because they're first in your rotation?

Congrats to Desdemona for her many promotions. Your three founders are each so lovely.
I'm looking forward to the teen birthdays of all your heirs.

[PeregrineTook]

I hope they find an effective treatment/solution for your back pain soon!
Another lovely update and glad to see things are going so well for you and your Sims  :=)  It was nice of you to give them a day off.  I've got all the shots done (but haven't yet managed to put the update together) for my retail bloodline, and as soon as the store was built, almost every single picture from that point on is just in the store.  I'll have to remember to give them a break/day off.
Looking forward to the next update!

[FrancescaFiori]

Nice progress, and a really fun day out, too! They really hit all the hot spots. I find it really hard to let my dynasty sims have fun days or even get out of the house sometimes, so it's really nice to see you treating yours so well.

Loved the shot of poor Gunther on the treadmill.

Mila's younger boys both aged up very nicely. I really like the way you've styled them. I'm fond of Wolfgang, too. I'm glad you're having him mend his ways. I'll join oshizu in anxiously awaiting the heir birthdays!

Sorry to hear about your troubles both online and off. Best wishes that things improve for you soon!

[NexttoNormal]

So...I was playing today and I realized at some point "Fill Empty Houses" had gotten switched on for the save...so yeah, I think I may have messed up. As far as I can tell none of the original townies have been culled, but some of the randos have moved in. I can easily cull the randos, none of them are that close to any of my families except for one girl who's good friends with Thasia and Lucentio.

I suppose it's good that I caught it still early into generation 1 rather than in a later generation after the culling would have started. But I'm not sure if I can proceed from here since the rules got violated.

[oshizu]

Since your mistake gave no strategic advantage, couldn't you just evict those move-in households so that they become not-in-the-world sims?
Your best bet, though, would be to PM the Challenge Team.

Crossing my fingers for a favorable verdict! 

[MarianT]

You should PM us, I can't speak for everyone on the Team, but I think if you evict the households that moved in you should be okay.

[PeregrineTook]

Ugh!  A file set-up messed up my first official go at a Rivalry Dynasty as well, but it sounds like yours is likely salvageable.  Marian says so!  I now officially dub her "Marian the Merciful!"

[FrancescaFiori]

Oof. That's a bummer. Fingers crossed you can get it worked out and continue!

[NexttoNormal]

Good news everyone! My file was able to be saved thankfully, I just had to clear out the randos who moved in. So I can officially continue! So without further ado...

Summerdream Scene III (week 3)
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Thasia: Ohayo gozaimasu! It is I, Thasia Summerdream! What? You thought I was just a little kid? Nope, I'm writing this part! Chichi and Haha are too busy with work, so they're boring.
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And yes I know some Japanese, Chichi is Japanese after all so I learned from the best!
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I've made a lot of friends in the time since I've been a nooboo.
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There's Titus Capp, he's the son of Haha's childhood friend Desdemona.
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And then Petruchio Monty, who's the son of another one of Haha's childhood friends, Beatrice.
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And of course my bestie Shanaya! She's a geek and always loves telling me about new movies and stuff.
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Me and Shanaya have been going to San Myshuno by ourselves a lot...not that Chichi and Haha need to know...But we're safe! We don't talk to strangers or anything.
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We usually just play games.
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I also started to notice some stuff that people just left in the street. Why would someone leave perfectly good stuff out there?
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Or leave stuff in the trash?
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My favorite things I've found so far have been these snow globes! They're so pretty, I always look for them when I go to the city! I also found some books and a weird doll...thing. It's made out of the stuff tarps are, I dunno what it's supposed to be.
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Anyway back to Chichi and Haha they're both really busy with work. Haha has gotten two promotions this week and is close to another! And Chichi spends a lot of time on the computer working on other projects, he won't tell me what they are exactly but I still think it's cool.
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Chichi and Haha also got engaged when we went to the romance festival! Everyone thinks they're married already but I'm super happy for them!
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I can't wait for the wedding!
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Chichi also took pictures of Haha and me at the end of the week, since our birthdays are coming up super soon. Haha said she wants to have a huge party for her birthday and I want to have one too!

Aw...I guess that's it for the week. Oh well. Sayōnara! I'll be back soon!

I am so relieved that I got to continue the challenge! I was so worried when I noticed the issue with fill houses being on but it was an easy enough fix. As for my personal life...health issues aren't going anywhere any time soon but at least my current flare-up seems to be ending.

Recap of the week, I know Bottom and Akira weren't shown too much but that reflects how little free-time they had. Both were absolute work machines, and now Bottom is level 6 in Business and Akira is level 4 in the Tech career. Thasia is on the cusp of an A (curse weekend birthdays), maxed the Social Butterfly aspiration as well as the child Social skill, and has 3 points in Charisma already. She's also pretty much completed her good friends requirement (she somehow became friends with Katrina Caliente, Bella Goth, and Don Lothario while I wasn't looking) and is currently working to complete the Snow Globe collection.

Also as a note, I decided to have Thasia use a little bit of Japanese vocabulary, the most prominent being what she calls her parents (Chichi, which is the informal equivalent of dad, for Akira; and Haha, which is the informal equivalent of mom, for Bottom). I feel like the Summerdreams have always been a more multi-cultural family so knowing another language would fit in well with it, plus Akira is implied to be Japanese. I hope this didn't come across as culturally insensitive, I can easily change anything if it did.

[oshizu]

I'm so glad that you and your story are back!

Thasia is so pretty and it sounds like her parents are making great progress on their careers.
Thasia's final picture with her hands on her hips is so sassy! Nice shot!

I love how Thasia's using the right form of address when talking about her parents with us.
Congrats to Bottom and Akira on their engagement. I can't wait for their wedding as well!

[PeregrineTook]

So glad your story is back on track!!
I found Thasia to be a rather charming little storyteller.  I also like the bits of Japanese in there.  It kind of reminds me of little children who watch Dora the Explorer and randomly throw one or two Spanish words around simply because they know them and think it's really cool that they know them.  That said, I think it's far more of an accurate depiction of how children behave rather than an offensive usage of a foreign language. 

[MarianT]

Glad you've come back to this. Thasia is really cute, and I don't think it's culturally insensitive to have her call her parents Chichi and Haha. I never knew the Japanese for Dad and Mom -- always something new to learn here.

[FrancescaFiori]

Yay! I'm so happy you get to continue, especially since Thasia is such a great spunky narrator! She's such a fearless city girl, jumping into trashcans to find treasures.

Congratulations to Bottom and Akira on the engagement. Nice to do it at the Romance Festival. Also loved Thasia showering her Chichi with flower petals. Too cute!