The Jack 'Short' Dynasty- Ch 73: Skyfall (COMPLETE!)

[Cainus]

First of all, please let me say that I am very new to posting to this forum (as I've said in another thread I am practically a professional lurker) so if you see any mistakes in any of my postings, please let me know.

Although if you could do it as gently and kindly as possible, that would be great. I scare easily. Like a twitchy rabbit. But enough with that, let's get this show on the road.


The Jack Short Dynasty Project- Ch 1. Expect Failure

After having read the many, many amazing dynasty stories here at the forum, I was inspired to try such a thing for myself. Not wanting to rush into things, however, I set up a test family and did my best to live by dynasty rules (by best I mean I cheated on a few things) to see how I would fare at such a huge, imposing project.

Here’s a taste of how that went-



What did I learn? Well, a lot, but the most important being that I have absolutely no patience, very little discipline and that no matter how much I love a Sim (from this ‘Dynasty Lite’ family came my new favorite Sim ever- Dodge Lestrade) I get bored with seeing them around all the time.

So when I came across cndneh’s “Short” Dynasty rule set it seemed perfect. Less stringent rules? I don’t have to see the same Sims all the time? Heck yes. Let’s load up a game and do it.

I needed a theme and settled on ‘Halloween’ as this project was started in October. But where to start? Moonlight Falls seemed a natural place and I’d just gotten Midnight Hollow, but I needed somewhere familiar. Somewhere safe. Somewhere I knew all the spawning areas.

Yup. Time to stick out like a big ol’ orange-and-black ball of silly in Sunset Valley.



Meet Pumpkin Jack, founder of the Jack Short Dynasty, seen here staring at her starter home. Pumpkin’s randomly rolled traits are: Angler, Clumsy, Lucky, Vegetarian and Perfectionist. Not a bad set.

She also rolls her favorite color as black. It’s almost like the character creator knew what I was going for.

I picked Perfect Aquarium from the list of LTWs, figuring that I would max/supermax fishing and see where things went from there. But man, when you see that ‘five days to age up’ panic begins to set in and you come up with a plan fast.



First comes the best house starting money can buy on the biggest lot in town (no living on the outskirts- too long to travel), complete with any free paint I could find. It just so happens that most of the free paints and the cheapest lighting fixtures fit the Halloween theme perfectly. If you excuse the horse on the door it almost seems like I planned this or something.

Next I needed to find a potential spouse. I needed someone close by, so there would be little travel time wasted whilst wooing. Who lives next door, anyway?



Mr. Steel. Why not? I’ve never actually picked him as a spouse before, but everyone else seems to like him. He and Pumpkin hit it off well, but there’s only time for a quick chat (one in which he eats dirt- someone’s a Daredevil) before we’re off to raise that fishing skill.



Pumpkin spends most of her day at the park. When she gets hungry I head her towards whatever free picnic basket is available and before we head home I have her collect from the apple and lime trees. Nothing of real interest occurs aside from Thorton Wolff losing control of his bladder. And Arlo Bunch being left out a lot. I swear between this and reading Gwendy’s Hideous Dynasty it’s made me feel pretty sorry for the kid and one day I’m going to make him King of Sunset Valley or something.

With so little time available I try and streamline everything- shower in the morning, apple for breakfast (no time to make food!), chat with Chris, then off to a fishing spot until it’s time for bed.



I also noticed that Chris has developed a habit of changing into his nice clothes, almost as if he wants to impress Pumpkin. It’s honestly kind of adorable. They start going steady 3 days in.

By the time Pumpkin hits her adult birthday we have 5 of the 13 needed fish collected and it’s time to seal the deal with Chris.



Pumpkin proposes (almost dropping the ring in the process, the poor girl) and they have a private ceremony about 1.5 minutes later. When you only live for about 15 days there’s no time for a long engagement. Honestly it’s better than my previous VJ/WanWan couple, who had a touching vow ceremony in the bathroom while they were wearing their jammies.

After Chris moves in I note that he does have some decent traits and he pops a wish to learn cooking, which is convenient because he moved in with Cooking Vol. 1 (and a car, which was of course sold. I bought him a broom though. Well technically I bought Pumpkin a better broom). He also wants to learn the guitar skill. Huh, what’s his LTW then, Golden Tongue/Golden Fingers?

….oh, it’s Perfect Aquarium? And it’s counting Pumpkin’s fish that I already had? That’s…oddly convenient. It’s like you two were accidentally made for each other.

Now go have babies.  We’re on a schedule here.

[Niana]

Oh, wow, you're right, that IS terrifyingly fast. Hopefully it works out for you!

[Cainus]

Thank you! 

It's horrifyingly fast (I haven't even tried gardening- the plants might live longer than my sims) but luckily it's tough to fail. You just don't earn as many points if you do poorly.

[Cainus]

Ch 2- The Second Jack



Baby number one is on it’s way, as Pumpkin realized while trying to eat autumn salad. She immediately wishes to have a boy, while Chris wants a girl. I promise both because I’m just letting fate take it’s course on this one. First born, boy or girl, gets to be the heir.

With Chris now working a job and Pumpkin catching death fish, we have enough money to expand the house a little and prepare for the arrival.



Sure the kid doesn’t have it’s own room yet (the fish practically have their own wing) but we can work on that. Later. And can I tell you guys that I love the Katy Perry poster? Because I do. It adds +7 to any room and makes it looks like a celebrity is always watching you.



Here we can see Katy watching over Pumpkin as she does her morning routine of making the bed. Pumpkin is very serious about making the bed, which is kind of refreshingly different from the slobs I usually have to clean up after. It’s like they just get up from the table and go “Eh, Watcher will clean it up.” I mean yeah, I do, but they shouldn’t expect it.

And just because the baby is on it’s way doesn’t mean we escape from the daily grind. With elder hood only a few days away and six more perfect fish to catch, Pumpkin still has a lot of work to do.



Not that the work is terrible.



Okay, so not always terrible. Sure it took way longer to walk down this path than I thought because I forgot that Pumpkin is now walking at ‘waddling penguin’ speed, but she got there, and she didn’t even complain once! What a trooper.

We also had a sighting of Bella Bachelor, sporting a haircut that doesn’t really suit her in my opinion.



It reminded me that I haven’t seen any of the Goths yet. For some reason Mortimer tends to end up dead in my games. Last time he came back as a zombie and ate my money tree because I forgot to lock the gate.



Remember that I told you that Pumpkin is very serious about making the bed? Well you should, because I just said it five minutes ago. Here’s Chris doing the obligatory ‘the baby is coming the baby is coming!’ dance….



Chris: “What do I do what do I do?!”

Pumpkin: “Well first you get out of the way so I can pull up your sheets.”



Chris: “Who cares about the bed you’re about to give birth!”

Pumpkin: *Sigh* “Just go wait outside.”



It turns out mom was right, the newest addition to the family is a boy. Soon after Chris rolls a wish to have another child, something I’m not sure I can promise. Maybe I should con someone into joining the family just so they can watch the kids?

Welcome to the madness, Skeleton Jack.

[hazelnut]

Nice start.  Good luck with the rest of it - this has to be one of the madder projects on the forum  .

[cndneh]

yay!  a short dynasty!  Can't wait to read more!

Hope you don't pull your hair out before the end!  HA!

[Cainus]

Nice start.  Good luck with the rest of it - this has to be one of the madder projects on the forum.

Thank you! Personally I think things like the Baby Boomers Challenge and Immortal Dynasty are much worse, but it may just be because of my play style. That and I have a horrible memory so I could see myself getting to the end of an Immortal Dynasty and going "Oh wait I was supposed to do Black Ops".

yay!  a short dynasty!  Can't wait to read more!

Hope you don't pull your hair out before the end!  HA!

Hehe let's hope  . I promised myself that if I just got to 10 generations and had 10 points at the end of it all then I would be happy, so that keeps my stress levels pretty low. I wonder what playing on a normal lifespan again is going to feel like, though.
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Part 3- Birthdays and More Fish

With the second generation born the focus is 1) keeping Social Services away from him and 2) completing Pumpkin and Chris’ combo LTW.




With Chris at work Pumpkin has to stay home and watch Skeleton, and you can kind of see it in her eyes: “Wait- I’m not fishing. What do I do?”



That doesn’t mean that fishing doesn’t happen. It just means it happens after Chris comes home.



And on the way back from one trip...



Pumpkin has her elder birthday, and honestly in one of the better outfits that I’ve seen. Skele also has his toddler birthday right before Chris leaves for work.




A townie (looks like one of the Bunches, but honestly I’ve forgotten who it is exactly) gives her well-wishes, but panic sets in for me. Pumpkin still hasn’t maxed fishing or completed her LTW and the option for more kids is now out of the picture. So what do I do?





Hire a babysitter! Yeah, I kind of give up on teaching Skele his toddler skills, as time and the threat of looming death are now creeping up on me.




It turns out this was a good decision, as Pumpkin not only maxes fishing, but gets to 12 of the 13 needed perfect fish.
On a side note Pumpkin climbed all the way up that mountain in heels while being an elder and I still haven’t heard any complaints. By contrast my other favorite Sim, Dodge, complains if I stop him from scaring his housemates or casting an ice blast on the toilet. This is why you’re the best, P.



The next day is the beach, and I finally get a shot of these near-twin wild horses that have been roaming around. Oh and Pumpkin gets the last perfect fish, I guess that’s important.

My mom wanted me to let you know that these two look like Trakehner horses, which are apparently very expensive. She’s a bit confused on how wild animals work in the Sims because she was disappointed that I "let these two run around and not some scrubby mustangs".  She also doesn't know how forums work, but she knows that I'm "writing a story for people on the internet" and she likes looking at the animals.



But back to the topic at hand- here’s 12 of the 13 perfect fish, along with a mounted shark and a death fish.



The last one and the end of two worries- a salmon named Rebekah.

[Niana]

I wonder if you (in the future) can extend their lifespans with a properly timed pregnancy - ie conceived with 1 day to age up, would give the female two extra days I know it works on normal (and long)

I think that's Blair Wainwright, maybe? I really need to go look at the rules of this project as to how you get points!

[cndneh]

(your mother is correct in saying the horses look like Trakehners... a sport horse designed for jumping or dressage.. and can be quite expensive.  These two are obviously getting back to their roots  )

On a side note regarding the fish.  I always had them die because I forget to keep feeding them.  But they live forever in your inventory.  I usually just pull them out after I've collected all 13. 

Good job on doing it on the short time span.... getting any LTW done on short is fantastic!  Have you started to go crazy yet?  I know I did when I tried this, I also had multiples first time around thanks to kids music so I went super crazy with multiple toddlers crying and pooping and crying...

[Cainus]

I wonder if you (in the future) can extend their lifespans with a properly timed pregnancy - ie conceived with 1 day to age up, would give the female two extra days I know it works on normal (and long)

I think that's Blair Wainwright, maybe? I really need to go look at the rules of this project as to how you get points!

I believe I gave someone an extra day, but that was more of an accidental 'Oh, hey, she didn't have her birthday yet' thing. Thank you for the tip, though no promises on if I'll ever use it  . I'm not the best at planning or remembering to plan. If you do attempt this, I would be interested in seeing how you fare! It's always neat to see how others do things.

And you're right, it's probably Blair. I just saw the blonde and thought 'Bunch'.

(your mother is correct in saying the horses look like Trakehners... a sport horse designed for jumping or dressage.. and can be quite expensive.  These two are obviously getting back to their roots  )

On a side note regarding the fish.  I always had them die because I forget to keep feeding them.  But they live forever in your inventory.  I usually just pull them out after I've collected all 13. 

Good job on doing it on the short time span.... getting any LTW done on short is fantastic!  Have you started to go crazy yet?  I know I did when I tried this, I also had multiples first time around thanks to kids music so I went super crazy with multiple toddlers crying and pooping and crying...

Hehe my mom is usually correct when it comes to horses, but it's nice to get verification. I also received an impromptu lesson from her regarding their shoulders and how they gait and other things, but I decided to leave that part out.

Oh the fish were a pain, especially having to remember to feed them. I didn't want to keep them in the inventory just because I was selling anything extra (vegetarian trait meant no fish dinners) and I didn't want to accidentally sell one of them. I could have stashed them in the fridge though, now that I think about it.

I'm am starting to go a little crazy but oddly enough it’s not the toddlers who are doing it. It’s all the sims wanting to learn the logic skill. Hours and hours of chess and stargazing. Ugh. Plus it helps that I was a little crazy to begin with

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By the way, I think this is my longest update with 20 total screenshots. The rest I'll try and keep to about 10-12.

Part 4- I Guess We Can Kind of Slow Down (Not Really)

Now that Pumpkin doesn’t have to spend all of her time fishing, I guess she can do some of that other ‘life’ stuff. I’ve given up on super maxing fishing, as she has caught a total of 200 fish and that would mean another 150 needed. I rule this ‘pretty much not going to happen with the time given’. Other, better Watchers could probably accomplish that and leave enough time for painting and athletics. I count myself lucky if everyone doesn’t die horribly.




Chris teaches Skeleton the basics of walking and using the bathroom while Pumpkin works on-



Uhm. Dang. I may be focusing a bit too much on the end if even my most happy-go-lucky Sim starts worrying about it. I also notice there may be a tiny, slight, smidgen of a problem.




Chris and Pumpkin are now elders, while the heir is still a toddler. If they die before Skele ages up to YA- then what? (Honestly, what? Does he have to move house? Get adopted? I don’t know).

Time to adopt a random child and hope they’re going to be a teenager soon!



Welcome Ghostie! Quit staring at your new dad and get to a mirror. You’re kind of creeping me out.



Seriously. Stop it. Go find some gems. We need some money for beds and I don’t buy cheap furniture.



While Ghostie’s at the graveyard I spot these two cuties. It’s nice to see that life elsewhere goes on. Mortimer is still probably dead though. I really don’t know what’s up with that.



Here’s Katy watching over our growing gem collection, which I had to sell in order to buy a chess table and some other stuff. Maybe if we ever get ahead money-wise I’ll get a proper gem collection and work on a museum, but I’m seriously doubting it.




Skeleton has his child birthday and Ghostie ages up to teen, just like I’d hoped. Speaking of Ghostie she came with Genuis and gains the Lucky trait while Skele gets….Grumpy. Terrific. You know your mom was only like 1 hour away from fully teaching you to talk, right? I didn’t do that bad of a job.



I mean look at Ghostie! A in school, finds gems, works a part-time job, has a cool, kind of eccentric thing going on…why couldn’t she be the heir? Man if I had Ambitions this girl would be an inventor with a time machine, no questions asked.



Chris pops a wish to retire and I go ahead and grant it. There’s just not enough time left to get him to the top of his career and maybe, just maybe, I can max his cooking.



Chris instead decides to spend his new found free time embarrassing his children by playing chess on the front lawn in his undies. I get him back inside to cook some pancakes, but I’m sure the damage has already been done.

Go spend some time with your wife, you doofus.



That’s better.



Skele ages up into teen as Ghostie and Chris have a good laugh about his Teen Wolf-like appearance.



Yeah I give him a hard time but he’s not a bad looking kid. We still need to change either his eyebrows or his hair. Both together kind of scream ‘Evil, Flirty, Schmoozer, possibly all 3’.



He also goes over to someone’s house (I think her name is Katrina? Man I need to start writing stuff down) after school. I like to call this situation “Target Acquired”.



It looks like her mom is thinking the same thing. It’s okay, mom, you have like 4 kids I’m sure she’ll be fine. I know Skele has the Grumpy trait and we discover Katrina has Friendly but I think these two crazy kids can make it somehow. Mostly because the only other age appropriate girl has terrible hair and didn’t invite us over.

At any rate they chat for a bit and- hey why’s my camera suddenly….



Oh. Oh no. You know I didn’t see it in the rules but what happens if your heir dies before the other is YA? Chris is still alive but I should have asked first. (Fake edit: I asked and it’s okay!)



It’s pretty sad to see Pumpkin go, but she seems okay with it. In fact she tried to sneak out before Ghostie got home from her after school job and while Skele was at a friend’s house, like she didn’t want them to be sad. She doesn’t plead with Death and instead hops right in the urn.



But Pumpkin’s plans to pass away as kindly as possible get a bit waylaid as everyone comes home. Chris tries to be a model host and chats with his guest as I stop Skeleton from arguing with him. I don’t think anything will happen because of it but I still think it’s a bad idea to argue with Death.



Rest in Peace, Pumpkin. Thanks for leaving a medium gravestone so I can get at least one more point. You were the best, and I’m sorry that your Vegetarian trait couldn’t let you last-

Wait, Ghostie, what are you doing?

[LivvieLove]

This story is so awesome! I usually lose track of my Sims as well, but I felt that a short dynasty would be wa-ay to much work!
You're doing awesome! Bookmarked!

[Cainus]

This story is so awesome! I usually lose track of my Sims as well, but I felt that a short dynasty would be wa-ay to much work!
You're doing awesome! Bookmarked!

Awww thank you so much! I'm happy to entertain and I will hopefully continue to do so. And no promises on if I continue to do well .

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Part 5- The Show Goes On with Some Bad Timing



You’re having your birthday now? As in about 2 seconds after your mom died? Well I guess that’s just how things work. Sorry I forgot to buy you a cake, it’s just that we have a birthday like every other day.

I also notice that Pumpkin’s side of the bed is made . Wait, sorry Ghostie- go ahead and have your big day.



Wow. Okay, I know I’ve been pretty lenient on clothing but that is just going to have to go. Who on sim-earth would wake up in the morning and think “Hot pants and a frilly Victorian jacket with ankle booties, yes this is exactly what I want to face the world in”? And yes, I let you keep the hair because I figure everyone has the right to look like a dork during their teenage years, but I think it’s time for a little sprucing up. We’ll still make you a bit eccentric though.

While Ghostie gets a makeover (she gains the Family Oriented trait and I seriously have to think about her LTW. Even if she doesn’t count towards points I’m fond of Ghostie and would like to see her do well) Chris wants to meet someone new and visit the park, so visit the park he does.



Is that…Vita Alto? HOW ON SIMS EARTH ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?! It’s not like I want her dead but…




That is Pauline Wan. ELDER Pauline. And somehow-still-kickin’ it Vita. Seriously, tell me your secret. Did you bribe Death? Pick the Death Flowers that I couldn’t get?  Am I just really off on my math and it’s perfectly fine that you’re still around? Because that’s possible.




Here’s Ghostie post makeover. Not perfect, but much better. She is a serious cutie.



Oh hey Chris. I know you’re upset about Pumpkin, but why are you getting up in the middle of the night to-



Oh.




*Sigh* Sorry Chris. We might have gotten your LTW accomplished, but we never did max your cooking. That’s one thing about this challenge versus an Immortal Dynasty, much less time and when someone passes, someone else has to take up the slack. No having that super-maxed chef around forever.




And Death really likes that blue couch of ours. I didn’t even notice him watching TV until I went to save. Hopefully he’s gone before Skeleton wakes up. That kid is not having the easiest time during his teenage years.

[LivvieLove]

Poor Skeleton! He's an orphan now! I can't wait to see Ghostie's makeover! This seems to be going along as smoothly as it can on such a short schedule!

[Cainus]

Poor Skeleton! He's an orphan now! I can't wait to see Ghostie's makeover! This seems to be going along as smoothly as it can on such a short schedule!

I know, poor guy, but at least he has Ghostie. And I'm pretty lazy about dressing up sims. They definitely don't have the level of care you put into them. And things are going pretty smoothly, but I am playing ahead and some things...well... you'll see. 

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Part 6- A Zombie Attack and a Wedding

You know Ghostie aged up to young adult one night before Chris died, which would have meant Skeleton alone in the house as a teenager. That was really cutting it too close. This time we’re going to have kids MUCH earlier.




Not that we can right now. Skele is still a teen and wants to donate to charity. I like to think he did so in memory of his parents.




Ghostie and Skele work on their logic skill during their downtime and bond a little. Skele wants to work on his athletics, but athletics isn’t ‘fun’ and I have a hard enough time keeping Skeleton’s happiness meter full. We can work on athletics later. Hopefully.



Sparkle time! Goodbye angsty, grumpy, death-filled teenage years, hello new and hopefully good traits and times!



Well it isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen. Give Catrina Belcher a call and hit the dresser. We have work to do.



Well Cat is still a teenager, but I’d say the option for romance is very much open, judging by the look she’s giving Skele. “Yes, please tell me about sports and hot dogs. Just keep talking. I don’t even care what you’re saying.”



“And I kept trying to work out, but my Watcher is all ‘Skele you’re stressed, go play with Ghostie!’ I hate playing chess with Ghostie! She always wins.”



And then Cat tried to leave and got stuck on the gate, so I opened the gate and what happened? The zombies came in and Cat stayed in the yard for another three hours being both terrified and amused by them.



Skele’s trait upon aging up? Neat. He also inherited his parents’ bed, and dutifully makes it and Ghostie’s.



We also have a Bunch family sighting at the gym.



Finally (as in a day later) Cat ages up. Ghostie learns cooking and makes pancakes in preparation for the big romancing day. I’m not exactly sure why she felt the need to fling eggshells across the room, but I’ve since learned to stop questioning her.



The day goes as planned. We go from zero to married in the space of an afternoon. Looks like I was right on Cat and her feelings toward Skele and his ‘Hot Professor’ outfit.



Yes, I’m very happy….but 2 things: One, Cat isn’t quite in line with the weird, slightly over-the-top costumey vibe I have going (plus she has that ugly green/brown hair color) and two, I think we need a kid or two as fast as possible. You guys know what to do.



Much better. Cat, you are a cute.




Yeah. You guys knew what to do. Congrats!

[LivvieLove]

Sit her down in front of that kids TV and pop in some kids music if you really want to try something fun (you'll get more kids that way too!) Man, you certainly make me want to try this!

I know, poor guy, but at least he has Ghostie. And I'm pretty lazy about dressing up sims. They definitely don't have the level of care you put into them. And things are going pretty smoothly, but I am playing ahead and some things...well... you'll see. 

Haha I spend HOURS in CAS sometimes, it's pathetic. I love the makeovers you've done though, Cat is gorgeous! I'm expecting some super cute nooboos!