The Long Way Home. Complete.

[yruvian]

It's my adult birthday today! Now that I've managed to complete all prerequisites for social events... I think it's time we throw a party! I've already added a party room to our house... If Mariska won't go meet the new inhabitants, I'll just have to let them come over here, don't I? Maybe she'll find a nice target for her spells among the guests. To make sure of that, I've asked every single new inhabitant of Redemption Island to come over, though I doubt I can even find the time to talk with each of them. Of course, a lot of them either didn't find the time... or just weren't interested enough to show up.

I wish I could ask my family to the event, but I'm sure that would count as contacting them. However, there is one person that I did invite... even though I realized before placing the call that he may be too busy to attend. As I already expected, he immediately told me he wouldn't be able to make it to the party. Maybe next time.


My other target of the evening, however, went over much better! Mariska found someone to love! She used a Blessing of love to make sure of him... Even though she is a hopeless romantic AND a great kisser, she's none too certain of her appeal. Can this be because of the way I've acted towards her?


I guess now it's time to decide which Young Adult sculpture to keep.
(Mmmm.... maybe I'll have him stick at adult after this is over...)

[Audren]

Is that a female hair style Gabriel aged up in? 

[RainBeau]

What are your rules for this challenge? It's very interesting.

[yruvian]

Is that a female hair style Gabriel aged up in? 

Now that you mention it, it seems like it is. I've gone into CAS with him to check, and I can't find that particular hair style among the possible choices. Never had that happen before.
Edit: when I look at the little avatars of both Mariska and Gabriel as adults, it looks as if they're sharing the hair style, though I'm not really sure.

What are your rules for this challenge? It's very interesting.

At the moment, I only have that in Calc. I'll try to put it in a text format and post it here tomorrow . The original format is based loosely on the Rebuild the world-challenge I found on the net, but that one doesn't take any expansion packs into account.

[yruvian]

"Gabriel... wake up..." Az' mocking voice manages to wake me. I look around in surprise. Where's Mariska?

"Your lady friend has gone to the greenhouse. But... I think I can show you easier than telling."


"She really likes the greenhouse, see? She's already stocking it up with her own inventory! But wait 'till you see the wildlife that place attracts! I've seen several birds and at least a couple of shrews already. Plenty of new familiars for your witch to catch, if Pino ever kicks the bucket. I doubt she'll need another trip to the beach next time."


*swallows* "I hope she isn't going to bring all of those along? I really don't know whether I can bear more than Pino's incessant cheeping. Bird song is nice, when it's not constantly... and that bird doesn't know the meaning of silence!"

There's obviously laughter in Az' voice when he answers me: "Oh, I don't think she'll be bringing all of those along just yet, Gabriel. Unless she goes back for them. She's found something a lot more interesting. Your plan worked like a charm, brother. Her love interest arrived at the greenhouse... and she's now trying to cement the relationship!"

*lets out a relieved sigh* "That's great news. Maybe she'd arranged to meet him there at the party."

"Maybe... but I have something else to show you." The wicked amusement in Az' voice makes me wonder a little. I know for certain that Azaziel isn't on my side... which makes me distrust him as the bringer of good news.


"This... is Orange Peel. And I highly doubt the doll will take over raising him if your witch manages to lure his older brother in. The boys are orphans, you know, and Lemon is the man of the house. They came to Redemption Island to get over the death of their parents. Poor Lemon had to cancel his travels immediately, to take over the care for his younger brothers. It will be some time before he can go abroad again, if ever."

I'm not sure whether I like the idea of having a toddler in the house... but I'm sure it beats being the target of Mariska's love spells (and other romantic ideas). I guess there's always a catch, isn't there?

"Poor Gabriel. Bye now."


I stare at the last picture Az puts in my mind. It seems Mariska has already proposed to Lemon... and he has accepted. Just like that. I guess it's time to plan another party. I wonder whether she'd like a bachelorette party?

(and... right on cue, Mariska pops the bachelorette party wish, while I was typing the last paragraph.)

[Audren]

Congratulations to Mariska and Lemon! Ornage is a cutie! 

[RainBeau]

Yes indeed, congratulations! Gabriel will be forced to spend more time with Sims whether he likes it or not!

[yruvian]

Congratulations to Mariska and Lemon! Ornage is a cutie! 

Yes indeed, congratulations! Gabriel will be forced to spend more time with Sims whether he likes it or not!

Thanks .

lol. Gabriel has his reasons to keep his distance though... even aside from feeling slightly uncomfortable around Sims in general.

[yruvian]

The rules of Gabriel's challenge
The story starts with a map without buildings... None of the automatically appearing NPCs are supposed to be there, so the only one Gabriel can interact with, is Mariska. (Or the Grim Reaper, if he were to run into him, as they know each other from before.) No phone calls, no opportunities, no travelling.

Only items in the home at the start: a sink, a toilet, 2 sleeping bags, an easel and a sculpting station. The house is a flat-roofed bunker of 5 by 5, without wallpaper or floors. (Because of this, his partner had to be witch or genie... and genie would have been too convenient.)

Length is on Long, Free will on high, story progression on.

Only Gabriel can unlock anything. Nothing Mariska (or one of her family) does, counts.
--------Other rules------------------
1. No romantic involvement between Gabriel and Mariska. Neither Mariska, nor her family members can be moved out of the house.
2. New families move in after a new skill/career has been maxed (One new family per skill/career. Only possible after their future house has been build. House needs to have at least the amount of sleeping space required for the family. Family size decided by random.org, as well as ages, genders and supernatural. Only half of the population can be supernatural.)
3. Gabriel needs to age up to Elder and have one painting and one ice sculpture of him in each stage. If not, he'll have to use a young again potion and go through all stages again. Only when all 3 sculptures and paintings are available on the lot, will he regain his immortality and his wings. (Meaning... the Never age life reward and a bit of CAS.)
4. Life Time Wish: Rennaissance Sim. Once achieved, Lifetime rewards are unlocked, except for the items. Before this moment, no lifetime rewards can be bought.
5. Unlocking new possibilities:
Skill: Athletics. Maxed
Unlocks:
* buildings: police station, military base (with logic), stadium, spa, gym, academy.
Skill: Charisma. Maxed
buildings: City hall, business tower, Film complex
Skill: Cooking. Maxed
Unlocks:
* Buildings: Diner, Bistro (with gardening and fishing)
Skill: Elixirs. Maxed
Unlocks:
* Elixir shop
Skill: Fishing. Maxed
Unlocks:
* Restocking of pools.
* Buildings: Bistro (with cooking and gardening), grocery store (with gardening).
Skill: Gardening, maxed.
Unlocks:
* Buildings: Parks, Hospital (with logic), Nectary, Bistro (with cooking and fishing), grocery store (with fishing), Gypsy caravan.
* Build mode: landscaping tools, trees, flowers and shrubs.
Skill: Handiness. Maxed.
Unlocks:
* Build Mode: walls, halfwalls, fences, columns, basements, ... (actual building parts)
* Buildings: Handiness maxed is necessary for ALL buildings.
Skill: Handiness: Plumbing challenge
Unlocks:
* Buy Mode: anything with water.
* Build Mode: Pools.
Skill: Instrument. Maxed
Unlocks:
* Buildings: Theatre, Showtime Venues (with Mixology)
Skill: Logic. Maxed
Unlocks:
* Buy Mode: anything which needs electricity to work.
* Buildings: School, Science Building, Hospital (with gardening), Military base (with athletics), Crime building, Laundromat
Skill: Mixology. Maxed
Unlocks:
* Showtime Venues (with instrument), Late Night clubs, Werewolf hangout.
Skill: Painting. Maxed
Unlocks:
* Build Mode: floors, wallpapers. As well as any changing of colours in both buy/build.
* Buildings: Art Gallery (with sculpting)
Skill: Riding. Maxed
Unlocks:
* Buildings: Horse Ranch, Equestrian Center.
Skill: Writing. Maxed
Unlocks:
* Buildings: Library, Book store.
Skill: Sculpting. Maxed
Unlocks:
* Buy Mode.
* Buildings: Art Gallery (with sculpting)

First dead in Mariska's family
Unlocks:
* Buildings: Graveyard, Mausoleum.

Gabriel is only allowed back home after all buildings are unlocked AND build, no matter how many lifetimes it takes.

[yruvian]

My alien friends arrived all at the same time. Aside from Grim, they were the first ones to arrive. (They actually trotted up in single file, but I was too late to capture them on photo.)


This time Grim actually made it. I... kind of spend the entire party with him, while Mariska tried to keep the other guests entertained. Someone had invited a couple of party dancers, so it wasn't really that hard, I hope. I know I more or less abandoned her to her guests, but then, it IS her party. (I've never had more than one party dancer show up before, but there were actually two this time. Maybe it's because of the sheer amount of guests?)


It was quite a party too... with most of the guests trying to sleep over, even without an invitation. In the end I got all of them to leave, though it took some waking up of sleeping guests. The party lasted for fully 16 hours... and both Mariska and I were so tired we nearly fell asleep on our feet.

Most of the guests enjoyed themselves very much however... and I could tell by looking at Mariska's happy smile that this would be a day to remember.

[Audren]

Maybe the aliens called into another party dancer from their mother ship. 

[RainBeau]

How did you get Grim to come!

Also, that sounds like a very intriguing challenge. Like something to play when I don't have six other challenges lined up, because this one seems like it would take a lot of energy.

[yruvian]

How did you get Grim to come!

*shrugs* Gabriel knows him from before his exile. After all, Grim's the angel of death, so it makes sense.

(Technically? Thanks to a mod I use they can invite anyone to a party, even those they haven't met before. That includes Grim... and the party dancers, if I wanted to invite those. I usually don't use that part, as I installed the thing because I got tired of the bugs in Sims. But, in this case, it fits the story, so I went with it . Usually, I just use the Friends only-button, because with regular full maps, it's more of a bother than anything else: too much contacts slows down the invite screen. )

[yruvian]

Mariska was invited for a party at her lover's house. I encouraged her to go... after all, it would give her a chance to get to know his younger brothers as well. She was actually the only guest, so I wonder what Mr. Peel was planning for the night...


Mariska befriended his eldest brother, Citrus, easily enough though she and Lemon spend most the time caught up in each other. I strongly doubt the wedding will be a long time in coming. Both of them are romantics by heart, so there'll be a lot of whispering and staring going on whenever they're in the same general location.

I guess that means I have to pick up the pace in my logic a bit, because I'm sure Mariska wants Lemon's younger brothers to go to school... and I would very much prefer that too. After all, they will come with their brother when the two love doves get married... and I don't think I care much for having a couple of noisy brats around me all the time. Too much distractions can't be good for skilling. i'm getting close however...

[DoubleWe]

God! I love this story! It's so well written and the buildings are so cool. I can only hope you put them up into SwapShop. Gabrial is such a handsome man. Where did you get these wings from?