New World Rising - Graveyard please

[Swirl-Girl]

Well, dad must have lifted two, hopeless and whatever he lifted to lift hopeless. I don't know what Sheryl lifted, if anything.

[fanofaband]

Yep, Corrin lifted Hopelessness and Education, Sheryl didn't manage to lift anything since she was only a few days away from becoming an Elder in the first place.  That's okay though, we're still off to a good start.

I was surprised at that, I didn't know teens could live on their own if everyone else died.  It was a pretty happy outcome of it all!

So whoever's reading this knows, I am keeping tabs on the family in the first post, so if you want a few spoilers, check it out.  I'll be updating information on all generations up there.

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Entry 5 - Moving On


I woke up one morning to see Mom messing around with my typewriter.  Maybe someday I'll put what she wrote in here, but not now, it's still much too personal.  At least I know how they felt about us when we grew up alone.  Our parents loved us very much, and we'll leave it at that for now.


My teenage years were uneventful, to say the least.  I've been writing and painting until I can't move my fingers.  Every time I achieve something new, Len's always there with a hug or a smile.  He's so supportive of me, and we both know I'd do anything for him as well.

There's always clothes we can scrounge around for in the old houses and everything before the Big Fallout.  Sometimes it's something we think we would wear, and other times we wear it just because we don't really have a choice.  Still though, at least it helps keep us warm.


The biggest news for me is, I got married!  I met Donovan in school, and something clicked.  I love him, and he loves me.  Sometimes I'll catch a look Len throws at him, I think he's jealous.  Hopefully he'll get over it and they can be friends, it's tense when they're in the same room together.  I just want us all to be a family.



I've been getting sick lately.  I really hope it's not the food, we only get so much for each day.  Sometimes it's hard to stretch it out, but we do what we can.

[fanofaband]

Entry 6 - Hope

We have hope for the future!

I'm pregnant, that's what all that sickness was.  Mom should have been here to help me through all of this, but I think I should forgive her.  It's not my fault she and Dad were so old when they finally had kids.  They probably knew they weren't going to be around too long.  I promise, my child will know their mother better than I knew mine.  Maybe... maybe even grandchildren...



Len grew up, and I think he has a thing for one of the girls he went to school with.  I'm not sure, but it could be he's sneaking out to see her sometimes.  As long as he doesn't get hurt, things will be fine.  He got a job in the Culinary career, he's tired of not having enough food, and he wants to make it so we won't have to fight that battle much longer.  Oh, and Donovan became a Thief.  I'm not sure if I'm proud of that... but... he enjoys it at least.


I've read Old World books about childbirth, and while I thought I knew what it would be like... I was wrong.  Oh I wish we had everything they had back then.  Maybe it wouldn't feel like I was in a war zone...

But it was worth it to see my daughter.  This is Catie, and she's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen.


Donovan loves his little girl, and he finally pleaded with me enough that I agreed to go through it all again.  I know we'll still have our minds when we get old now, I've almost finished doing everything that should help out.


If anything happens to us, I want to know Catie will be alright.  When Mom and Dad died, I still had Len, and he had me.  I want her to have that same comfort.

[yruvian]

Good luck with this challenge . Could you, maybe, upload the cheat sheet you've found/made? I've been reading the rules a while ago, but... got kind of lost <.<. It's definitely one I would like to try some day.

I love the story, by the way. And I didn't know teenagers could carry on when all of the older sims died off, either. That is nice to know.

[fanofaband]

I actually found a good spreadsheet I'm using on their Facebook page.  It wouldn't download to my laptop, so I ended up having to open up each page online one by one and print it off.  However, their Facebook page has a TON of resources to use, I recommend checking it out.

[Swirl-Girl]

Great update, I do hope that the children know their parents better than their parents knew theirs. (convoluted sentence, I hope you get the sentiment)

[fanofaband]

Haha, yeah, I got it!  Makes sense to me at least.

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Entry 7 - Little Girls



My little girl is a fast learner.  While Donovan is at work, I do my best to teach her all the things my parents never taught me.  It's quite fun, actually.  She's a good little girl, never fusses, always happy to see us.  She does her best to learn, and I can see it in her eyes, she will do great things in life.


Catie, you'd think your father wouldn't stress out as much as he did at your birth, but I suppose men must be men.  They have no idea what to do in these situations.  I sent him back to bed, and soon after, well...

...your sister was born.  Corrie was a cute little baby too, just like you.  You both looked like you could be twins at that age, but all babies do, I guess.

Oh wow, having children has really mellowed me out a bit, hasn't it?  Hope for the future and all that.  I'm still the best thing to happen to the world, but I think things will turn out alright, don't you think?



Both of my girls are growing up so fast, you wouldn't believe how fast time flies when you're trying to raise children.  Donovan swears his sister has the same hair color as Corrie, but can't remember what his parent's hair color was.  I choose to blame him either way.


Corrie is a fast learner too, she almost passed Catie in how fast she came across things.

I just wish we could find some toys for them, but I think it'll be awhile before our family can fashion some for the world.


In other news, we have a new ghost in the bunker.  A stray cat found it's way to Grim outside and comes in from the cold when it has the chance.  I like to think it keeps Mom and Dad company on nights of the full moon.  Though at the moment it just wakes all of us up when it comes around, but with our beds being how they are, we can't get too good of sleep, so it doesn't take long to pass out again.


I also painted a Masterpiece.  This is the last thing I needed to do, I can even feel the madness come away from my own mind.  It was sitting there, waiting for a chance to spring, but I feel the fog lifting.  It's a glorious feeling, even Donovan can feel it.

My children, my hope, my chance for a better future, is all here.  Even if I do nothing else with my life, please know, children, this is the legacy I leave.

[Swirl-Girl]

I thought they had to max creativity as a child for that?

[MarianT]

Congratulations on getting control of those elders! Lane is the true hero of this apocalypse.

[fanofaband]

Comforting Children is a tricky one to complete, and I ended up using a checklist to make sure Lane had made all the requirements before each birthday.

Child - Level 5 Painting, Good friends with an Elder, Paint a family member doing something
Teen - Master Painting, Level 5 Writing, Paint portrait of elder friend (If their parent is an elder and they're good friends, then painting them doing something counts as a portrait as well)
YA/Adult - Master Writing
Elder - Paint Masterpiece, Write 1 Hit, Write 5 Best Sellers, Earn $4000 in weekly royalties

She finished it all when she was a Young Adult.

Thank you!  I'm pretty proud of Lane too, I'll be sad when she dies.

[fanofaband]

Entry 8 - Tutors


Len and I still try to do things together, though sometimes it's tough to get some free time.  My struggle to make the world a better place may have ended, but not Len's, not Donovan's, and not my daughter's.  Len is still doing his best to become a great cook, Donovan has a ways to go before he's the world's best thief, and my girls haven't even had the chance to decide what they want to do with their lives.  In a way, I'm happy about it though.  I had to grow up fast, and while I did my best to let Len be a child, my girls are the first ones to really have fun.  Sure, they paint and play chess, but that's all we really know.  For us, that is fun, no matter what some of the Old World books might say.


Corrie is a cute child, though I'm not sure what she found to keep her hair up like that.

And of course she was there to cheer on her big sister as she became a teen.

Catie is a stunning young woman, I can't wait to see what she does with her life.

Right now she spends her time exercising, like most of us.  She took to it right away, and I have a feeling Corrie will as well when she's old enough to use the bars.


School gets canceled more often than not right now.  The ash outside is really piling up, and it's hard for us to get to town sometimes.  The boys have work, of course, and they have to go to that, but if it's the health of my children that's at stake, they're staying home.  Luckily, Len's agreed to help tutor Catie, and Catie has promised to do the same with her sister if the need arises.

Of course, the days they do get to go to school, they come home and work on their homework together.  Catie's such a good big sister, she does her best to get Corrie ready for the bigger school.


Both Donovan and I became full Adults not long after.  He's starting to worry he won't become a great thief, but I have ways of calming him down.  We're all getting a little worried though, but I'm not sure about the extent of it just yet.



As soon as my Corrie became a teenager, her sister pulled her aside to help tutor her.

They're close, which I'm happy for.  As long as our family stays close to each other, if we stick together through thick and thin, we have a chance of making this world liveable again.  I won't live to see it, but I hope, some day, one of us will.

[MarianT]

I hope so, too. Catie and Corrie are both very pretty. Do they get to go to school at all?

[Shewolf13]

Wow, this is one complicated challenge!  But I'm loving this so far!

[Caterina]

Yay...an apocalypse story!  Bookmarked.

I have played all the way through the challenge at least twice.  The first time was with pets installed and I had alot of trouble with strays.  The most recent time, I uninstalled both Pets and Late Night.  I had a lot of questions with the rules when I played.  The first time, I didn't remember about the 10 free days until near the end of the challenge.  It was exciting playing with Supernatural installed.  To actually have Zombies in the game was fun.  I really enjoyed the Architect career.  Getting to re-decorate all of the bunkers was fun. 

I'm curious...where did you put your home lot?

[fanofaband]

They had mostly snow days, so I made sure Len tutored them up to an A each time just in case.  I think everyone in the game has had a max of 3-4 days of school, child and teen combined.  Haha, wouldn't mind that school system when I was younger.

I downloaded Viper Valley and set up in one of the outer 64x64 spots.  I'm glad I'm not the only one who's tackled this challenge!  Gratz on making it twice!

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Entry 9 - A Measure of Success

I'm proud of my family.  It feels like I'm the founder of it instead of my Dad, but I try to remember the truth.  If it wasn't for him, none of us would be here.  Everyone's growing up, everyone's getting jobs, and I've finally finished my own ideas.

Len's an Adult now too, and I finally found out where he's sneaking off to.  He has four kids with one of the girls he met in school.  Three early on, and another after she got married and had two kids with her husband.  I'm not proud of my brother for this, and he knows it, but I suppose I should be happy for him.  He has something Corrie will never be able to have.



Catie became a Young Adult, and I'll be passing the family on to her soon enough.  In fact, this will be my last entry.  After this I'll entrust this book to her, make sure she knows she needs to record history for the rest of the world.  Even if it's from our eyes, maybe we can stop this from happening again.


I watch my brother and my younger daughter play chess together whenever they can.  They speak in hushed tones when they think they're alone, speaking of things they'll never have.  Families, spouses, stories of their own.  Len hasn't even had a chance to write in this book, and to be honest, I'm afraid to let him.  We've always been close, but I know there are things he'll never tell me, only Corrie.  This family has to stay strong if we're going to make it, and even if I have to linger like Mom and Dad do, I'll make sure it does.

My name is Lane Hall, and I'm awesome.  I'm a daughter, a sister, a wife, and a mother.  I'm a painter and a writer, and I've taken sanity back from the grip of eternity.  Maybe, just maybe, we finally have hope.

Maybe, just maybe, I can be proud of my success.

~Lane Hall