Clan Douglas Dynasty (Finished)

[Schipperke]

“Conversations” or, “All the News that’s not Fit to Print”




Bunny hug [that’s what we call them in Saskatchewan.  You may be more familiar with the term “hoodie”.]:  I saw those Douglas boys running down the street just now.
T-shirt:  I bet the police were after them.
Bunny hug:  Or that old bucket of bolts they drive around in broke down again!
(both laugh)



Shirt with bandana:  What I’d like to know, is why those two don’t get a part time job like every other teenager?
Skirt:  Oh, that family is incredibly rich.  Those boys don’t have to work.
Egyptian robe:  They’re just a couple of nectar louts.



Overheard in the canned goods aisle -

First voice:  I hear those Douglas boys were brought home by the police again last night.
Second voice:  Again?  That police car is there at all hours.  What were they up to this time?
First voice:  Becky Hart heard they were joyriding and drinking nectar.
Second voice:  I thought that Dynasty cult they belong to had such strict rules.
First voice:  Oh, they do!  The others in that family are very focused and hard-working.
Second voice:  So if Mojo and Radar don’t shape up, what will happen?
First voice:  Oh, I think the family would be kicked out of the Dynasty group.
Second voice:  What a shame.
First voice:  Uh-huh.  Canned life fruit - I wonder if this is any good.  Have you ever tried it?

[Joria]

ROFL!  Canned Life fruit!  lol  That was a great update!  Those boys better shape up!  I bet mom and dad are just pulling their hair out over the boys' antics!  I can see that they bought their own car though.  Very responsible of them even if it is a bucket of bolts. 

[Schipperke]

“Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.”~Vietnamese Proverb

The police car pulls up outside the house again.  A police officer and an irate neighbour get out.



The neighbour complains that Mojo and Radar kicked over all her gnomes.  Her troglodyte Trollope was so traumatized by the experience that he ran away from home, or perhaps those hooligans kidnapped the little darling.
Sleuth tries to distract the angry woman by telling her about his new toothbrush (smooth conversationalist).



Meanwhile, Jenna complains to the police officer about the boys being brought home in handcuffs.
While the adults are occupied, Mojo slips off.

Mojo and Radar play catch for hours.



Best friends forever.



Let’s open a bottle of nectar and wet our whistles.

[Saltypaws]

Too funny, so enjoyable to read.  Those two boys better watch it or they will get in deep trouble. 

[Anushka]

Ha ha ha  You're really having fun in your game. But be carefull, I actually find one of my Sims drunk in Nectary so he couldn't leave the place alone - I kept getting message to sent someone to help him leave the place safely.
I can only imagine how the story will develop with having twins who are best friends and one of them will have to die. But having a twin brother as best friend and share the childhood adventures with someone so close is precious.
Great writing skills Schipperke!

[Schipperke]

“Grown Up (not quite)”

The twins have a birthday.



Born to wear the kilt.  (L- Radar; R- Mojo)



No more school!!!!  They head out in the rust bucket, which looks more dilapidated every day.



They spend the day exploring.



Here’s what we’ll do after dark:

[Joria]

Uh, oh!  These boys are up to mischief!  Better watch out.

[Schipperke]

A brother shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams. ~Author Unknown

The days following graduation pass quickly.



Radar:  Do you think you’ll ever get married?
Mojo:  I can’t think of any reason why I’d want to.



The brothers do everything together.



Then one evening, there is a family meeting.



Jenna:  Don’t you boys think it’s time you got a job?
Mojo:  Why should we?  This family has more money than everybody else in town put together.  There’s no need for us to work.
Christie:  That’s not the point.  Every sim needs to have an occupation, a purpose in life.
Sleuth:  Your mother and I didn’t raise you to be layabouts.
Radar:  Nectar is our purpose!
Mojo:  Well, I want to know why we can’t have better cars to drive.  It’s faster to walk than to drive anywhere in the rust bucket.  I want a really fast car!
James:  You’ll get fast cars when you show yourselves mature enough to use them responsibly.
Sleuth:  Which, at the rate you two are going, will be about 3 months after you’re dead!
Wimsey:  You boys are the best athletes in town, or could be if you tried.  I know they’re looking for people to work at the Stadium.  Why not give it a try?
James:  If you make it to the AllStar level, I’ll buy you whatever cars you want.
Mojo and Radar look at each other for a long moment, then they nod and agree to go to work at the Stadium.  The other family members all breathe a sigh of relief.

[gerrr00]

Yea, a job.  Something constructive for the boys to spend their time on.  Can't wait to see if they both survive working.

[Schipperke]

Now that the troublesome twins are finally safely at work, we can catch up on the other members of the household.  It’s hard - and slow - managing 7 sims!  Having a couple of them away at work for part of the day means I only need to deal with the remaining 5, and that seems positively restful by comparison.  So I thought I’d bring us up to date with the other clan members.  Let’s begin with James, laird of Clan Douglas and founder of the Dynasty.  Here is my favourite picture of him: 



I think that picture says a lot about the sort of person he is - the rugged outdoorsman and individualist.  Sunset Valley is a bit tame for him; he really belongs in the northern woods in a canoe, in my opinion.

If you’ve been with us from the beginning, you may recall that James is a fisherman.  This is the first time I’ve ever played a career fisherman, and I’ve decided it is one of my favourite careers.  It’s also a very lucrative job:  James has made $1,626,738 from fishing.  It could have been much more but he stopped fishing for death fish a while back to focus on some other fishing goals.  His most valuable fish, a death fish of course, sold for $6781.  He can catch 6 death fish most nights in just a couple of hours, so you can see how quickly it adds up. 

The other nice thing about James and his fishing is that he’s the easiest of my Immortals to keep occupied.  He never seems to run out of fishing-related wishes:  he’s just completed wishes to catch 500 blowfish and 500 swordfish, and there are a whole lot more species of fish.  If he decides to catch 500 of each of them, he’ll be busy and happy for a long time to come.

And I have to admit, he’s my favourite person in the Dynasty.  I like all of them, but James is special.  Maybe that’s because he’s the only one I created, I’m not sure.  I just wish his descendants had inherited his red hair.  And that the Sims store had kilts for elders.

[Joria]

I agree with you!  Of all of them he is the one who should wear the kilt!  I love how this story is moving.

[Schipperke]

Wimsey is Generation Two, and is the Dynasty’s sculptor.  Here she is, working on her Young Adult sculpture of Mojo.



It’s a good thing Sims don’t get a “Bored” moodlet, because Wimsey spends her days sculpting.  That’s her whole life, aside from harvesting the money trees every morning.  I get her out of the house a couple of times a week to go to the spa or take one of the tours offered by local businesses (touring the science facility, military base, etc).  Aside from these little excursions to keep cabin fever at bay, her life is quite dull.  She really hasn’t made a lot of money from her sculpting - $632,075, but then a lot of her sculptures haven’t been sold.  There are 28 ice sim sculptures on the lot, and a lot of sculpted chairs, nectar racks, chessboards and pedestals.  The house and contents are valued at almost a million simoleons, much of which has to be from the sculptures.  Her most valuable sculpture sold for $12,410.

Wimsey is, of course, James’s daughter, but she doesn’t show up as such ever since the travel bug in which the family acquired an illegitimate daughter in France.  Since James is apparently no longer related to the rest of the family, they are now able to do romantic interactions with each other.  I’m not too worried about this happening autonomously, as both Wimsey and James would rather play in the sprinkler than flirt.  But it has crossed my mind that they’re both alone and doomed to remain so for a long time to come - would it be so wrong for them to seek a little intimacy and comfort in their declining years?  With the family tree broken, presumably it would be possible to marry them off to one another.  I have a feeling that Simmy incest wouldn’t be in the spirit of the Dynasty challenge, though, and in any case I don’t really want to do it - it’s just something I’ve thought about.  But it’s an interesting moral dilemma - would it be wrong, if nobody is being hurt by their actions and they are benefiting?

[Schipperke]

Christie is our third Immortal, Wimsey’s daughter and supposed to be James’s granddaughter but at this point she can also do romantic interactions with him, if either of them should want to.  Here she is relaxing after work, watching - of course - Cooking Cable:



Christie is, obviously, the clan cook and ambrosia expert.  She wanted to retire when she became an Elder but I didn’t let her because I didn’t know how I’d ever keep her occupied.  It’s hard enough to find things for her to do, as she works only 12 hours a week and cooking doesn’t take that much time.  She really doesn’t need to cook much, with 2 food replicators, but it helps keep her occupied.  She also weeds and fertilizes the garden.

Actually, as a Bookworm, Christie is always happy to spend time reading.  It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s a book she’s read before.  In fact, her favourite book - the one she usually picks when I tell her to “read something” - is one of the pregnancy books.  I wonder if this has something to do with her deceased husband’s illegitimate daughter in France?  Maybe poor Christie is still trying to figure out how it all happened. 

With all the travel bugs, I’ve decided not to do any more travelling in the Dynasty.  This means Martial Arts can’t be one of the Supermax skills, which is too bad, but it also means all family members can take up Sim Fu as long as they don’t get their Athletic skill too high.  Christie is one who has really taken to Martial Arts and often gets wishes to meditate for long periods.

[Schipperke]

Sleuth, Immortal-in-Waiting.  He’s another one with a boring life, although as a creative genius, maybe spending every waking hour at his easel is his idea of heaven.  Like Wimsey, he has to make a deliberate effort to get out every so often to avoid cabin fever.  He has painted 23 masterpieces to date.  His most valuable painting sold for $7843, but most of them are worth a lot less.  His total amount earned from painting is $271,506.



Sleuth is 2 days from aging up to Elder.  When his birthday arrives, two momentous events will occur:  (1) He will have to give up his kilt.  I’m not sure if he will opt for tartan shorts like James, which are the closest substitute for a kilt I can find.  (2) As soon as his Elder portrait is painted (by Wimsey, who has just enough painting skill to do portraits, even if not masterpieces), he will go before the Council of Immortals who will determine whether he is worthy of joining their ranks.  Sleuth has always been an earnest, hardworking sort of fellow (unlike his own offspring), and will almost certainly pass as long as none of his best friends kick the bucket before then.

I know this is supposed to be about Sleuth, but I have to mention this:  Sleuth has had a wish to see Mojo married ever since the boys aged up to Young Adult.  He has never had the same wish regarding Radar - it’s almost as if he knows the younger brother will never be able to marry.  I find that rather spooky.

[Schipperke]

Sleuth’s wife Jenna is now the oldest member of the household, at 88 days.  She looks pretty good for an old dame, don’t you think?



She seems to like slinking around in that black gown for some reason - I certainly never chose it for her.  I’ve just been letting her wear whatever she wants.

A few days ago, Jenna reached the top of her profession and completed her LTW.  I’m glad, as I’d like her to earn enough happiness points to have a large tombstone like all the other mortals in the family plot.  I think she’s done quite well, considering that she had no Young Adult life stage because of that age bug that affects babysitters.  Now the big question is, when is she going to shuffle off this mortal coil so her son can get married and procreate.  That is, if we can ever get him interested in anything other than parties, nectar, and fast cars.