Clan Douglas Dynasty (Finished)

[Schipperke]

Oh, thank you, Anushka.  I hesitated about posting something so long - I wondered if anyone would want to take the time to read it, so I really appreciate your comment.

[Joria]

Oh, thank you, Anushka.  I hesitated about posting something so long - I wondered if anyone would want to take the time to read it, so I really appreciate your comment.

It was wonderful Schipperke!  You write so well and the way you've tied their misbehavior to how Mojo must be feeling about losing his brother is really great.  Made me sad.

[AriaGirl77]

Absolutely beautiful Shipperke!  I just spent my limited internet time catching up with your story and it's just downright awesome!  Love it!

[Schipperke]

Late at night, as Jenna is going to bed, she suddenly feels very light-headed.



She drifts through the house and out to the yard, where her tombstone is later found.

Grim heads down to the cellar, possibly looking for an open bottle of nectar.  Radar follows him.  They talk about the weather and other things.



They make scary faces at each other.



And Grimmy departs in his usual puff of black smoke back to the dark realms from whence he came.

As mentioned above, it was late at night when all this took place.  Everyone but Radar has gone to bed.  (And James, who is nocturnal, and has gone out to play in the sprinkler.)
Radar’s energy level is very low, well into the red.  But when I try to get him to go to bed, watch what happens.  He stands in the bedroom he shares with Mojo, tapping his foot.  You can see there is nothing standing in the way of him getting into bed.  The bedroom is just the same as it has always been.



He seems to be saying he doesn’t want to sleep here with Mojo, even though they have shared this room since they were born.



And he absolutely will not get into the bed he has slept in since he was a child.  I finally have to send him to his parents’ bed before he collapses from exhaustion.

The next morning, still tired after only a short rest, Radar quite happily goes to sleep in the bed he rejected yesterday evening.



So what on earth was that all about?  If I didn’t know better, I might think Radar knows that now that Jenna is dead, there is room in the house for Mojo to marry and have a child, and so he (Radar) doesn’t want to sleep with Mojo any more.  But that would be anthropomorphizing, right?  Sims don’t really think of things like that.  Or do they?

Ps.  Jenna was 98 days old when she died.  In her abbreviated lifespan [she was a victim of the aging bug that hits babysitters and went directly from Teenager to Adult, skipping the Young Adult stage entirely], she managed to complete her LTW and accumulate enough happiness points to qualify for the large tombstone.  She contributed a great deal to the Dynasty.  Sadly, some of her contributions were classified secret and cannot be revealed at this point.  We shall have to await the passage of time before we know the full extent of what Jenna has done for the family.

[Joria]

Awww.  That is too sad.  No one there to see her pass.  No one to grieve or say good-bye.  Poor Jenna.  And Radar!  How weird was that?  This story is getting more and more intriguing.

[Pam]

Very nice, Schipperke!  And even though it seems long to you when you post, it's really not that bad when we're reading it.  I feel the same about my long posts, but after they're done and posted, they aren't as bad as I feared.

Love the story, too.  Nice twists.

[Anushka]

Fare well Jenna.
Can't wait to see her secret contribution. Wonder what was on Radar "minds", it sound like anthropomorphizing our precious Sims, but it is not far impossible, who knows all surprises game developers put in, and they are humans I suppose
However, it is time for boys to separate and prepare for life without each others.
Keep it up!

[Schipperke]

There's no other love like the love for a brother. There's no other love like the love from a brother. ~Astrid Alauda

Mojo and Radar go out exploring on their day off.  They stop in front of a large rock with strange symbols carved on it.



Radar:  Those symbols are how the ancient sims used to write.
Mojo:  I wonder what it says.
Radar:  It foretells a great cataclysm that will destroy all of Sim civilization.
Mojo:  So is that what happened to the ancient Sims?
Radar:  Either that, or it’s yet to come.  The timing of the prediction isn’t exact.
Mojo:  How do you know what it means?  You’ve never studied ancient Simlish.
Radar:  … I just know.

They come to a circle of standing stones.  Mojo has never been here before.  As soon as he arrives, Radar pops up a wish to meditate.

[ratchie]

You certainly know how to keep an audience hooked. Excellent as always

Rachel

[Schipperke]

Radar:  This place was sacred to the ancients.  Can you feel the peacefulness here?
Mojo:  I’ve never seen so many kinds of butterflies.
Radar:  Yes, they are drawn here by the positive energy of the place.  I often come here to meditate.  Yesterday evening I came here on a vision quest.  I meditated all night in the circle.



Mojo:  And did you see a vision?
Radar:  I saw the meaning of my life.  And that of my twin brother.
Mojo, surprised:  You saw my life?  I thought a vision quest was supposed to be just about you.
Radar:  It’s because we’re twins and we are much closer than other people.
Mojo:  So what did you see?
Radar:  I saw you marrying and having a child. 
Mojo, interrupting:  Now, just a minute -
Radar:  No, you wait a minute.  Let me finish.  I saw you becoming known for your good works.



(Mojo rolls his eyes)
Radar continues:  I saw you becoming immortal and helping to guide and nurture future generations of immortals.  And I saw me by your side, your confidant, supporter and best friend forever.  I saw me achieving enlightenment in this lifetime and, at the end, happily going to meet the ancients who went before.
Mojo:  But I don’t want to lose you!  I don’t want to live on after you die.
Radar:  That is our destiny.  We have different paths to walk.  But the paths will converge in the end - we will be together again at some point in the future.  But I can’t say any more about that.
Mojo:  You’re sure about all this?  You wouldn’t just say it, to get me to do all that Dynasty stuff?
Radar:  You know me better than that.
Mojo:  Yeah, I guess I do.  I’ve always known there was something special about you, and if anyone can have a vision about the future, it would be you.



Radar:  I’m going to stay and meditate for a while.  See you back at the house later.

He sits down in the circle of stones as Mojo walks off, deep in thought.

[Schipperke]

You certainly know how to keep an audience hooked. Excellent as always

Rachel

Thanks, Rachel.  But I have to confess the reason those two posts were two instead of one was because my browser was having problems and I thought I'd do shorter posts rather than losing all my work again!   I do appreciate your comment.

[Schipperke]

Notice in the Sunset Valley Sunday Sun, October 17

Sweethearts for Sims is pleased to announce the grand opening of our new dating service bureau in Sunset Valley.  With our help, lonely single sims will find their perfect partner.  We guarantee to find your perfect match, someone with no incompatible traits or undeclared children in foreign countries.  Call now to arrange your personal interview with our award winning matchmakers.  Satisfaction guaranteed.

Well, that’s the notice that I wish I’d see next time I start up my game.  Unfortunately, there is no Sim Matchmaker at this point, so I’m left to scour the town every time one of my sims is ready to take the plunge into matrimony.  Mojo is finally in a marrying mood, and I don’t want to leave it too long because, to be honest, he’s not really that keen.  I want him married off before he has time to change his mind.

Of course, I’ve been looking ahead to this day ever since he was born.  I scrutinized every girl he met at school, looking for the right one.  No luck.  Most of them were babysitters, and we’re not going there again after the experience with Jenna and that weird aging bug.  The only other girls he met at school had quite nasty personalities and I just didn’t want to inflict any of them on the household.

So I started sending family members out and about, getting them to meet as many female townies as I could find.  Without exception, they were all (1) too old or too young; (2) too married; or (3) too unpleasant.  The only likely candidates were two sisters who apparently are descendants of the Alvi family, although they have a different last name.  One of them seemed interested in Mojo - she kept turning up on the doorstep to visit.  Problem is, both of them were teenagers and in no hurry to grow up.  Does everybody find it so frustrating finding mates for their sims, or am I just unusually picky?  Sheesh!  This is more work than all the Dynasty stuff put together.

[Schipperke]

Then one day when Mojo and I are out and about, I spot a French tourist and send him over to meet her.  Her name is Camille Robespierre, she’s not married, and wonder of wonders, she has quite a good personality.  Mojo invites her over and the various family members rush out to meet her and see what traits they can learn. 



We find out she is Friendly, Athletic, Virtuoso, Green Thumb, and Loner.  This gives her something in common with everyone in the family.  I’ve had experience with foreign tourists suddenly taking off when their trip is over or something and don’t want that to happen, so I have Sleuth enthuse about music with her until he gets the option to invite her to stay the night, which she accepts. 

Because of her compatible traits, Camille quickly becomes good friends with most of the family and I decide Mojo isn’t likely to find anyone better.  He really isn’t that keen to get married - it takes a lot of romantic interactions before he gets the option to pop the question.  I have him change into his formal wear and tell him to get on with it.  He and Camille walk into the bathroom and he proposes.



The bathroom?  Is this Mojo’s idea of a romantic setting?



I can’t believe this.  The stories in this section are full of beautiful, romantic weddings on the beach or in gorgeous home environments, and my sims choose to get married in the bathroom!   Seeing this, I was wondering if they were just trying to embarrass me on the Forum.  Then this happened:



Oh.  I guess there was another reason for them wanting to be near the toilet.  Looks like Generation 6 is on the way.  None too soon, either, because Camille isn’t as young as she might be - she’s only 7 days away from her Elder birthday.  But until that happens, she’s really quite an attractive woman, I think.  Here’s a picture of her after she lost a few pounds:

[ladylaw1978]

Camille is very cute. And when you were saying about how tough it is to find mates I was going to suggest travel (if you're that brave!)

[Asleep]

She's really pretty! But, won't she cause bugs? And also, doesn't Sleuth asking her to sleep over count as a romantic social?