And so it came to pass that the fairy newly made human was named Sun Short. Sun because the other name was too long and the Watcher really couldn't be bothered to spend more time to learn a new name when the next founder would come along soon forcing the Watcher to learn another. Really, Watchers had much more important things to deal with, like having tea with the Queen of the Fae. And Short because that was what her time was, short that is. The benevolent Watcher smiled upon her thankful charge as she was off to find romance…Sun: Benevolent? You got to be kidding! And stop talking about yourself in the third person, it’s pretentious.
Watcher: What? You get a job and one skill point in athletics and all of a sudden you are a linguist? You work in professional sports not academia, off to the salon with you now.
Sun: But I just had a makeover, can’t I go to the gym instead?
Watcher: No! You may not! Let’s get things clear, you are a founder and will be given blame or accolades depending on how this dynasty fares. I, on the other hand am but a humble Watcher…
Sun: *mutters* Hardly humble.
Watcher:*with a raised voice* I am the humble Watcher and my word is law! And don’t forget to document your progress in the journal I gave you. I will be monitoring – silently.
Sun: *thinking* If only I could believe you.
Watcher: And will only intercede when I deem it necessary. Well? Any last thoughts?
Sun: *rolls her eyes and walks away*
Watcher: *yells after her* Don’t think I can’t hear you! *mutters* Why do I always get the annoying cases? Was there something I did? Nah, must be that CAS machines fault.
Dear Diary and whoever is listening (yes Watcher I know you are out there).
After the horrible experience of the CAS machine my Watcher (not humble at all if anyone wants to know) sent me to Sunset Valley where I and ten generations of my descendants will work to complete a short dynasty. I am not completely sure why exactly I am to do this, since the prize (presumably getting my wings back) won’t be very useful when I have been dead for ten generations, but I am determined to give it my best.
The Watcher in her benevolence (I only write this because the Watcher promised to play with the interactive loading screen if I did, thus landing me with more HP) has found me the perfect spouse. A man that will complement me, a man who is good and ambitious, a man who is family oriented and brave, a man who is frugal which is a big plus since I have no money. A man who already has a son and comes with a mother in law – wait! What? Watcher! What have I done to deserve this?
Sun: So, how about those llamas eh?
Leighton: Do I know you?
Sun: Um, Sun, from work – I started today…
Watcher: It’s not going so well is it?
Sun: Shut up!
Leighton: You are creeping me out woman!
Watcher: You are creeping him out. Bring on the romance!
Sun: Watcher go away!
Leighton: What are you talking about? Maybe I should check in with Monica to hear if you are the person you say you are.
Sun: Um, I was just joking, haha, look at my silly face…
Contrary to what the Watcher claimed Leighton was not an easy flirt. In fact, he disliked my flirting a lot. It was only though acting like a clown and telling jokes about the llama mascot I managed to make friends with him. Clearly romance would have to wait.
After a long day battling a reluctant conversation partner I finally felt comfortable enough to ask Leighton over to look over my lot. I couldn’t help but to be a bit apprehensive, asking someone to move in when there was nothing to move in too. There was also the slightly worrisome fact that he had dependents he would insist on accompanying him. They would also need a roof over their head.
Sun: So, that’s basically why I asked you over here…
Leighton: You want me to move my family from our nice house out to this empty field, where we will build a house for the money we get when we pawn our cameras, any books in our inventories and this ominous portal in time and space?
Sun: If it’s not too much of a bother, I’m a bit overwhelmed by all of this. Kind of scared you know.
Leighton: Challenge accepted!
Sun: What?
Leighton: I will make sure you aren’t scared anymore. Only, my son is coming too. And my mother, I can’t very well leave her behind.
Sun: Oh lovely, I just adore old ladies (or not).
The money we scraped together (selling everything in our inventories, even Leighton’s used car) bought us this hovel. I tried making it more cheerful by putting in bright wall paper, and we didn't skimp on sleeping and showering comfort, but it was the bare bones of living. Not a single window broke the orange brick facade. We had to make do with salads because a stove was too expensive, or rather, we made another priority acquisition.
Meet Laika our new dog. She is an adult mixed breed that kind of looks like a beagle with her long floppy ears. She’s a genius, which is great because I don’t think we have much time to put aside for training her. My hope is that she will bring in some valuable items we can sell, because we need a bigger house with windows and everything. I could probably live like this my whole life, I just want to work out and become a superstar athlete, but Leighton wants to raise five children in this house – and I can’t very well tell him they’ll have to sleep outside. Or can I?
Two days of toddler living is not long at all. It was a good thing that Yumi was family oriented just like Leighton. She had Sam trained in a day, and so she and my son by marriage could spend the rest of their time in the park fishing for some fish to sell. We couldn’t afford a babysitter so she had to do something Sam could tag along to. He grew up a couch potato, something that might cause problems since we have neither couch, TV or even any novels to read.
Sam growing older freaked me out and I decided to take my and Leighton’s relationship to the next level. We promptly had a fun time under the blankets and a chime was heard. This was one of the best and worst days as a founder. One of the best since I had continued my line, but one of the worst since it meant I would no longer be required to work (Not to future female heir: Do not get impatient with the wohoo! Wait until you have advanced in your career, or you will be a snack hawker forever!).
Leighton wanted five children. He already had one and I was willing to give birth once. This meant he had to find other ways to prove to the world that he was an excellent father. After many deep conversations (see transcript) he decided on adoption.
***Week 1 Day 2 of Short Dynasty, Watcher’s notes***
Leighton: I really feel I need more children. Once you are done with that one, can we have another?
Sun: I only need one, to continue the line and so forth, and you have Sam. Isn’t that enough?
Leighton: Two fifths doesn’t make the HP roll.
Sun: But really, do you need more kids?
Watcher: Um, Sun, his LTW gives us a point too.
Leighton: Yeah! High five Watcher!
Sun: All right – have you heard about this cool thing called adoption?
***End of Transcript***
And we welcomed the two girls Millan and Laila to the family just as I changed into maternity wear.
With no help from Laika (How many interesting things can a dog find? So far 3 feathers and 2 leafs), our lowly pay and the seven fish Yumi had managed to catch we had enough to invest in 3 sleeping bags. Luckily that was all we needed to get through the night.
My impending motherhood did not inspire me to marry. Leighton on the other hand, wished to both marry me specifically and to marry in the general sense (he was desperate to marry). So, since I realized that my LTW was probably beyond me anyway I decided to get married and become a helpful wife. First part: switch to kids music in the hopes of getting twins. I can now sing the songs in my sleep. By a stroke of luck (the Watcher called it a glitch) I was able to work out during my entire pregnancy, and soon reached level four. Leighton often joined me so we got to spend a lot of “quality time” together.
With the kids all in school, Yumi was able to leave the house in search for gems and precious metals. Laika contributed one smoked quarts, a snake skin and two empty snack bags (really, what is it with this dog and garbage?). All that effort and what she brought home next was fleas! This meant we had to spend our scant money on a bathtub, a bathtub we couldn't even fit in the house because our house was too small!
When the family had dinner that night, a family dinner how nice! Yumi went to the elixir shop and refined the raw gems. With the proceeds we could enlarge the house and invest in real beds for the kids. We also added a second bathroom. Ah, bliss.
When the weekend came around (yes, we are still on the first week, I just have to pack a whole lot of living into very few days) the children were sent out to collect anything of value. Child labor is frowned upon in most universes, not so in a dynasty, here child labor is required. Besides, the kids could finally do something useful with their time (school is a bust when you only attend two days anyway). This left us to do – you guessed right! More skilling.
It was soon apparent that something was wrong with me.
Sun: Ouch! The pain, the pain, I understand why sims give their kids up for adoption – they are the cause of this horrible thing.
Welcome Moon Short, our female heir. She is evil and brave.
Sun: No, stop! Why did I listen to all that kids music?
Also welcome Cyrus Short, our male spare. He’s an artistic heavy sleeper.
With my two children I have earned 2 points for this dynasty. Go me!
