Clan Douglas Dynasty (Finished)

[AriaGirl77]

Grumpy is no big deal.  Once you get them happy it's easy to keep them that way.

[Schipperke]

Am I going to have to watch him every minute to keep him from doing mean interactions with the other members of the household?

[AriaGirl77]

No, grumpy just makes it harder to get their happiness bar to the green.  They need more moodlets to get happy, but I'm pretty sure that their moodlets also last longer than for un-grumpy sims.  I've had several grumps in my Legacies, and it's a much easier trait to manage than say mean-spirited or something.

[Schipperke]

In 2007, Scientific American published a report by scientists Bernd Heinrich and Thomas Bugnyar in which the following claim was made:  “it is now clear the raven is one of the very smartest creatures we know about.”

Early one morning the raven Nevermore observes the Douglas household gathered around the kitchen table.

Wimsey:  Mum, Dad, as you know I’ve been seeing a lot of Mortimer, and we like each other a lot.  In fact, we’re in love.  I really think he’s the one for me.

James (still in his pyjamas):  Wimsey, Mortimer’s a fine lad.  I knew you’d like him.  Your mutual love of the outdoors will be a strong bond between you.  I wonder if he likes fishing?

Holly:  Yes, we both like Mortimer.  And it doesn’t hurt that he has a little money.

James:  And I hear he’s a fine artist.  I plan to commission him to do a portrait of you, Holly, my love.

Holly:  Why James, you know the Dynasty prohibition against hanging portraits of the spouses in the Museum.

James:  Dynasty Museum be hanged!  This portrait will hang in my bedroom, where it will be the first thing I’ll see every morning.

Wimsey:  Look at the time!  Gotta run, parents - my last day of school, yay!

[Schipperke]

Aria, thanks for reassuring me about Mortimer's grumpiness.  Full speed ahead, Mortimer and Wimsey!

[simfulicious]

Very nice idea to hang portraits of spouses up so they don't get forgotten.

[Schipperke]

From Holly’s Diary:

Diary, you wouldn’t believe how busy I’ve been.  What a whirlwind of activity!  So much has happened in such a short time.

Yesterday Wimsey had her last day of school.  This morning, impatient to grow up, she dragged us out of bed to come and watch her blow out the candles on her birthday cake.  She was in such a hurry she wouldn’t even give James time to change out of his pyjamas!  She decided she wanted to be a Good person (like her mother), giving her a full complement of traits:  Good, Friendly, Loves the Outdoors, Frugal, and Savvy Sculptor.  She chose Swimming in Cash for her Lifetime Wish.

James and I would have been very happy to see our daughter become a scientist, but it seems she has her heart set on becoming a professional sculptor.  She is very talented in this area and I believe she will achieve great renown.

Mortimer called to wish her happy birthday and Wimsey invited him over.  While waiting, she went out to collect the mail and found her Dad’s birthday surprise:  it seems that canny husband of mine has secretly been collecting precious metals since Wimsey was born:  compendium, supernovium, and several others.  Yesterday he sent them off to be smelted so Wimsey would get them in time for her birthday. 

When Mortimer arrived and saw the lovely young woman my daughter had become, their friendship instantly blossomed into love.  They wasted no time in being married.  Mortimer sold all his household furniture (oddly, he wasn’t able to sell the house), which brought in over $20,000.  Mortimer’s money together with the money realized from the sale of the precious metals from her father gave my girl more than enough money to complete her lifetime wish!  And to think my daughter achieved all this before lunch time.

Now James and I are hoping we won’t have to wait too long to hear the patter of little feet.  We are both eager to become grandparents.

As for me, I will be having my birthday celebration this evening.  Now I am off to play my guitar in front of the theatre.  I haven’t completed my lifetime wish as quickly as my daughter did, but I am almost there.

[LlamaMama]

Your troglodyte looks happy for your engagment!

[Schipperke]

Wimsey’s Blog

Mortimer and I got married this morning!  I can hardly believe it!  Things have happened so quickly - just yesterday I was a child in school, now I’m married, a professional sculptor, and have already achieved my lifetime wish.  And Mortimer is so very special.  Thanks to all who wrote in encouraging me to go for him.

He’s a bit older than I am - an adult already.  But that doesn’t matter.  His LTW is to be a Fashion Phenomenon, but he hasn’t made a start on that yet and I think it might be a good idea to do something else.  He didn’t start painting until after our wedding.  I think it’s a great shame that such an incredible talent was going to waste, but he’ll have lots of time to paint now that he’s quit his job at the spa. 

I wanted you to see the new clothes and hairdo I helped him pick out.  (we threw out that grey jacket he used to wear all the time).  Doesn’t he look handsome?



See that easel he is painting on?  I made it for him on my sculpting station and gave it to him as a wedding present.  He was so moved.



And this is a picture of me just after my birthday party.  Oh, I am so very happy!

[Schipperke]

Postcard to Sandi French:

Sandi, I bet you‘re surprised to be getting a card from Egypt!  Dad said he would pay for Mortimer and me to come here for our honeymoon if we picked up a camera for him (it’s a special camera he can’t get in SV).  So here we are!  Oh, it is just dreamy being here with Mortimer.  We are having so much fun.  The picture on the card shows the Sphinx, which we just visited.  I’ll show you our travel snaps when we get home.  See you!

[Saltypaws]

Oh how cute.  You are doing the same thing I am or I am doing the same thing you are, not sure.  I like using first person and that was my plan.  Seems to work out better and makes for such an interesting storyline and more fun to write.  Keep up the good work.

[Schipperke]

Thanks, Salty - I've been reading your story about Agnes and that good-looking founder of yours (sorry, can't remember his name) and your use of first person really is effective in giving us Agnes' perspective.  For me, it's more that I need to find different ways of telling the story because otherwise I'm sure I'd get bored and stop (it will be a miracle if I manage to keep it up to Gen Eight .  So far, I'm enjoying the various narrative devices and have ideas for more.  I'm trying to think of it as a real family rather than "my sims", and the different ways in which their everyday lives evolve, like something as trivial as a postcard.

I hope others will find the story interesting enough to want to follow it.

Edit:  I don't know why this program insists on changing the digit 8/eight to  ! 

[Schipperke]

Email from Wimsey to Sandi:

Subject:  Vacation Slides
From:  [email protected]
To:  [email protected]

Oh, too bad you won’t be able to come over and see our vacation slides!  I had a whole evening planned.  I’m really sorry to hear how busy you are.  I know how much you wanted to see all the pictures of Mortimer and me.  Call me when you’re free.  Meantime, I’m sending you a few pictures just to whet your appetite.

Mortimer catches a crocodile



I take up snake charming



We escape base camp, find our own private oasis, and read by the fire



Rockin’ the tent

[Pam]

Edit:  I don't know why this program insists on changing the digit 8/eight to  ! 

I think it was because you put parentheses around it.  8 plus ) is what makes !

This is really a great story, Schipperke.  I love all the different views you're using.  Very clever, indeed.  I have a silly question, though.  Why did you change the color of Wimsey's hair?  She was reddish-brown as a child, then black as a teenager.  Just curious.  And Kudos to all of you who are writing such nice stories around your Dynasties.  I'm not nearly that creative!

[Schipperke]

Thanks, Pam.  I had that problem with the program changing a number 8 into the  symbol one other time, can't remember if there were parentheses that time or not.

When Wimsey aged up to a child and I saw that black and white hair, I couldn't believe it!  My first impression was that it was really grotesque, a child with hair that colour, so I changed it to her Dad's colour.  After I thought about it for a while, I kind of got used to the idea of black and white hair - I thought it might fit her persona as a creative sculptor-type, so I changed it back.  It still isn't what I would ever choose for a sim, but I guess it helps to make her an individual, in a way.

Thanks for taking the time to read my little story.