Clan Douglas Dynasty (Finished)

[Metropolis Man]

Keep up the great story, Schipperke. I'm really enjoying your writing.

[AriaGirl77]

Wow!  Congrats Wimsey!

[Schipperke]

And now, a note from our sponsor:

1.  Thank you very much to everyone who takes the time to read the continuing adventures of the Clan Douglas.  There is a lot to read on the forum these days, and I'm glad you find our little story worth looking at.

2.  Thank you VERY, VERY much to everyone who has posted a comment.  Any comments are much appreciated.  Constructive criticism is welcome also. 

3.  As more generations come along, I am trying to find a way for the clan members to talk to one another.  Calling someone "great-grandfather" is too unwieldy for me, and as for when we get to the great-greats, forget it.  So: (1) Everyone's parents will be Mother and Father to them.  Grandparents may get special mention but everyone else will be referred to by their first name.  As they all get older and become Immortal/ageless, I think they will begin to relate to each other on an equal footing, more as siblings than parents/children.  (2) The exception will be James, founder and laird of the little clan.  I can't imagine any of them calling him anything other than "Dad," and so it shall be.  Interesting little sidebar here, I've noticed that all the children are born with a high relationship with their own mother, which is understandable, and with James, which seems less understandable.  They all like him more than their own mortal parent.  I've never played multi-generations before, so maybe there's an explanation but I don't get it.  Ah well, James is the character who gains charisma while he's fishing, so maybe there's just something special about him.

[Schipperke]

Wimsey continues to sculpt pedestals for the gallery.  At last count, she had completed 146 sculptures altogether, of which 108 have been ice sculptures.  When she leaves pedestals unfinished overnight, the gnomes often come and sit on them.  This little guy apparently thought an unfinished ice pedestal would be a cool place to sit and have his morning coffee.

[Schipperke]

“Toddler No More”

Sleuth Douglas has another birthday.




One of his first wishes is to go to the Art Gallery.  He and James head out in their matching tartan shorts.  James tells him, “your grandfather Mortimer painted that.  It was one of his first masterpieces.”



Sleuth is fascinated by his grandfather’s distinctive palette.  He can’t take his eyes off the paintings.



Sleuth rushes to get to the painting class he signed up for.  James goes off to work on his goal of catching 250 blowfish.




Why do the kids always have to do the dishes in this house?  And I didn’t even get any angel food cake!  Not fair!



As he boards the school bus, Sleuth wonders what new adventures are waiting for him.

[Schipperke]

Still trying to find a good way to display the Immortal gallery items.  This is the latest attempt at a Founder's Room.

[Joria]

Joria and Samoht, thanks for taking the time to look at my story.  Joria, are you a McCallum?  I am enjoying my little clan, but dressing them all in the tartan gets a bit challenging as more people join the family - trying to give each a distinctive look is harder with that self-imposed restriction. 

Not anymore, (ex-husband),  but my great-granddaughter, who we are raising, is.  My daughter kept the McCallum name when her daughter was born and she kept the name for her child who we are raising.  She in turn has said she will keep that name or will hyphenate her name if she marries in the future.  Confused yet?  We found clan names originally were passed down the matriarchal line as you didn't always know who the father was but there was no doubting the mother.  lol
Because we have so many generations of immigrants who have married other generations of immigrants our family is a mix of many cultures and nations.  Our little one has Scots, Irish, Welsh, Spanish, Polish, Prussian, German, Native American and who knows what else lineage.  Oh, and since my ex has traced most of his lineage I guess we could throw Norman French into that mix as well.

I love the way the family is developing!  This is a truly fascinating story for me.  I wish I had time to read everyone's stories every day but alas, I want to play as well.

[Saltypaws]

Still trying to find a good way to display the Immortal gallery items.  This is the latest attempt at a Founder's Room.

That is really pretty how you did that.   Also a good way to light up ice sculptures, is use "moveobjects on" and put that flat round floor light under the ice sculpture, but before you do, color it the color you want.  Same effect and of course, my favorite color is purple.

[Anushka]

Amazing, you write a quite a story! and so many interesting details! really enjoying reading this!
Lighting the basement is a must but I figured that everyone but the founder will have 6 stages painted/sculpted/photographed and I like how they look in corners so I have to figure how to arrange 7 rooms with 6 angles and one with 3. I managed to get the sculpture of my founder in YA thinking exactly as you are now, his part of museum will look poor and empty comparing to other. For now, I choose their favorite colours for light, and if that end up boring, I'll probably have rainbow scale in the basement I also have some other ideas involving moveobjects but I'll get to it as story continue. In meanwhile I love reading your story, and some others too!

[Schipperke]

Rhett awakes, drowsily reaches for his wife, and instead finds James lying beside him reading a book.



Rhett:  What are you doing here?
James (curtly):  Get dressed.  We’re going fishing.
The old man has never taken Rhett fishing before.  Rhett senses something is wrong but doesn’t want to ask what.



Rhett:  Nice car.
James:  Aye, a kind woman named Agnes Crumplebottom donated it to me when I first arrived in SV.
Rhett:  You must have been good friends, for her to give you such an expensive present.
James:  I never knew her.
Rhett:  Was she a philanthropist, then?
James:  Something like that.
They subside into an uneasy silence.

James:  Here’s your fishing rod.  Get busy.  You can help me meet my anchovy target.



They fish in silence for a while, Rhett uneasily wondering what the old man has in mind.
Then James asks casually:  So what’s this I hear about you having a daughter in France, then?  Have you been fooling around on my granddaughter?
Rhett, miserable:  How did you find out?
James:  That’s hardly the point, now is it?  You’d better come clean, laddie.  And I shall take it very hard if you lie to me.
Rhett:  Oh, I’m glad it’s out in the open!  It’s been bothering me and I couldn’t talk to anyone about it.  It happened last time I went to France - all of a sudden, there she was, claiming to be my daughter.  I’ve never heard of her before.  Her name is Mathilde, and she’s older than Sleuth, and I swear I never even met her mother!
James:  Aye, that fits with what the private investigator found.
Rhett:  You hired a private investigator?
James:  Of course.
Rhett:  Not that guy who hangs around the park trying to hide behind the bushes?
James:  The same.



Rhett:  Do you think he’s … competent?
James:  Well, he’s the only one in town.
Rhett:  So what did he find out?
James:   Apparently the girl’s mother saw you shopping at the Relics store and fingered you as a rich tourist.  When she had the baby, with no father around, she decided to try to pass off the child as yours, hoping to get you to part with some money to keep her quiet.
Rhett:  So it was all a scam?
James:  Every bit.
Rhett:  What now?
James:  I told my accountant to pay her a small stipend until the child grows up, on condition that she doesn’t bother us or any other unsuspecting tourist.  If I find out that she’s been up to her old tricks, the money stops.
Rhett:  Does Christie need to know about this?
James:  Oh, she knows.  I explained the situation to her.  She trusts you, boy.  And she trusts me to look after her interests as well.
Rhett:  Thank you, James, you’ve taken a weight off my mind.
James:  Well, just remember:  I look out for my family.  So you stay on the straight and narrow, laddie.
Rhett:  I will!  Say, can we go fishing again sometime?

[Metropolis Man]

Classic! You turned a stupid and frustrating game bug and actually made it part of your story! How creative. Well done. 

[Saltypaws]

That was great.  I really like reading this, it gets so interesting as you go along. 

[ratchie]

I love this, you have a very expressive way with words. I look forward to finding out what happens next.

Rachel

[Anushka]

I had to paraphrase this story of yours to my not-a-sim-fan husband, and even he find it interesting to hold his attention to it, so take that as a really big compliment!

[Joria]

OMG!  I laughed so hard at that story!  First he finds James in bed, THEN the picture of the investigator!  I just roared over that one.  I love the way you took that bug and made it your own.  It won't be a game breaker for you though, will it?  I'd hate to lose the clan!