The Carlisle Dynasty - Return to Dragon Valley

[awaytobeunshaken]

Penny got an opportunity to train Cara Gallagher, who conveniently turned out to be one of her co-workers at the fire station.  She wouldn't have known before, considering that none of them ever seem to show up for work.  It gives her a chance to work that coworker metric a bit.



Penny: Yeah, you feel that burn?  Feels good, doesn't it.

Cara: Ugh! I think I'd rather be stabbed.

Turns out one or another of Cara's foster siblings had passed away recently, so she can be forgiven for being a bit on edge.  Penny's happy to help out though.



Mason's lifetime wish is Jack of all Trades.  After a hard slog through 3 levels of the Police career and some serious grinding of his logic skill, he's off to dabble in Education.



And back home, a bout of dancing turns into something else.






And like any athletically-inclined couple, they celebrate with a friendly sparring match.



Penny tried to throw a bachelorette party at the newly renovated McCafferty's Pub, but apparently you can't throw parties at hangouts.  So she held it at home.




All right, party time's over, back to work.



Or not.



Jordan: Uh, son, she said party time's over.

Ramon: Do the Smustle! doo doodoo dadoo dadoo doodoo

Okay, then.  *resetSim Ramon Carlisle*



Hey, watcher, check this out!  This guy was saying that our present economic situation is unsustainable, and I told him his butt is unsustainable.  Hahaha!

Oh, good, you've discovered your favorite past time, inappropriate forum posts.



She's worked her way up to 5 oak boards, though, so she should have Timber Terminator before long.



And now she's off to her first day of work at the stadium.  I wanted to have her max firefighting first, since I figured it would be pretty quick, but I couldn't stand how buggy the fire station was behaving.  None of her coworkers would show up, ever, unless I quit and reloaded the game.  And then they'd show up for one day.  Emergencies spawned very infrequently, and would cancel themselves more often then not when she tried to respond.  So she quit at level 8 with the needed rewards.



And since I'm not at the fire station all day, I have more time to meditate on the mysteries of the dishwasher.

In other news...



Oh, look!  I'm aging up to adult again.  In the bathroom again.

[awaytobeunshaken]

Penny didn't strike me as one for a traditional wedding dress,



but I think this is a lovely look for her.



The wedding was held at the family-owned Feudal Fishing Spot, because wow, this place has a lot of empty space for a fishing spot.



Rings were exchanged,





Cake was cut,



and the guests dug in.





Well, most of them.



Whee!  Rice is fun!  Yay! Yay! Yay!

Sigh... *resetSim Ramon Carlisle*

And you're not invited to any more parties.

Finally, the happy couple head home to finish enjoying their wedding day...



and night.



Congratulations, Penny and Mason!

[awaytobeunshaken]

Uh, Shannon?



What? I wanna go to bed.

Remember when I said I didn't want you randomly throwing love charms at people?

Uhh... sort of?



So why is your husband KISSING your son-in-law?

No, don't answer, I know exactly why.  Go spend the night at the nectary, where you can only screw up relationships outside of the family

And in heir-related news...



Penny finished up timber terminator, broke her first thin stone block, then immediately rolled the 5K wish to break 500 more boards.  So it's back to oak for a bit.



A few more miles to finish up marathon runner, and now we come to the point in our tale where the watcher is an idiot.

For some reason I got it in my head that the master of meditation skill challenge required 500 hours of meditation.  I don't know why, because that's ridiculous.  Realizing it was ridiculous and never going to happen, I decided that with Penny being a virtuoso and still sitting on 3 instrument points from her xylophone, she could take up an instrument, max it and do the "learn all songs" challenge.  So I bought her a drum set, since she's an athlete and drummers are pretty ripped.



And then once she had drums at about level 7, I decided to actually look at the martial arts skill journal and discovered that the meditation challenge was much more do-able than I'd believed.  So back to that.



She's so good at it she can blend into the foliage.

I have her start meditating right outside of work, chugging potent invigorating elixirs and zipping up the street to Varg's for a quick meal and a sponge bath.

But community lots have their own distractions.



Norman Miller: Oh, no! Zoe Cronos is dying.  And worse, they stereo is broken!



Yeah, probably quicker just to zeneport back home.



Which has recently been updated with some new landscaping and a garage.



Penny may have finished the marathon runner challenge, but adulthood waits for no sim



Meanwhile, Shannon finally ages up to elder.



But she sure does it with class.

And once I got into a groove with meditation again, the rest of Penny's requirements flew by.



She returned to young adulthood,



and it's nooboo time.



Penny Carlisle - Generation 2 - witch

One best friend - Susie Sackholme, fairy
Two career rewards - firefighters axe, firefighters coat, honor trophy
Three opportunities - Frequent Fatigue, Jog Everywhere, The Ultimate Challenge
Four lifetime happiness rewards - Fireproof Homestead, Magic Hands, Flying Vacuum, Inappropriate but in a Good Way
Five wishes work 5K points - Be worth more than $500,000, Master Athletic Skill, Marry Mason, Break 500 more boards, Master Martial Arts Skill
Six skill challenges - Timber Terminator, Body Builder, Marathon Runner, Fitness Nut, Gem Collector, Master of Meditation
Mausoleum piece - 7 Gems from board breaking

[awaytobeunshaken]

Chimes have sounded, so it's time for Penny to start on her steady diet of apples.



Gen 2 was the only one that I could afford to not influence gender; I had a wide range of choices for the fairy spouse, but those have dwindled now that we come to the other life states. 

I wish you hadn't given me Hardly Hungry, then.  I'm gonna get fat.

We'll have your mom whip a lean and mean for you if it comes to that.



Penny engages in the favorite past-time of life states mothers-to-be.

Define "favorite".

Watcher-enforced.



Uh, guys, could you maybe move?  You're kind of in her way.

Penny: Nah, they're good.

Penny was on her way home from work when the nausea finally kicked in.



It's not fair.  I'm an athlete; I'm supposed to be in control of my body.

Welcome to pregnancy, sweetheart.

No, I can do this.  I'm stronger than this, I can fight it.



Urgh, no, here we go again.

The next few days passed uneventfully, until I sent Penny to the spa late in her pregnancy.



Of course, the next stop was the hospital,



where we get to meet David, an insane loner, and... that's it?  Only one nooboo?  Penny, were you switching that TV to the sports channel when I wasn't looking?

Nope.  I watched every brain-melting second of dancing bunnies and trippy backgrounds.

I never should have sent you to that spa.

But what's this?



Oh, good, those are fairy sparkles.  Well done, Penny and Mason, well done.

Well, in my excitement at finishing Penny's requirements, I'd gotten a bit over-eager and had them try for baby in the morning.  Giving myself 3 full days of excruciatingly boring infant stage to get through. 

So when Penny got an opportunity to train Martin Eames for a few hours, I grabbed it.



Unfortunately I didn't look at the opp too closely; she was supposed to be training him in martial arts.

Macon left a fairy house party just in time to age up to adult.



Whoa! What's happening to me?

You're just getting older.  Don't worry, you still look good.



And, no, that wasn't an invitation to go around making bedroom eyes at the camera.

But enough about you, it's finally time for David to age up and become interesting.



Penny: Haha! You're getting old!

Ah, yes.  The inappropriate trait.




And David ages up from a burrito to the spitting image of his daddy.  Hooray!

[dontmindme]

wow, you are flying through this challenge! Keep up the good work! David is adorable; can't wait to see the spouse you've chosen for him (DV is certainly not lacking in beautiful women).

[KRae]

David is such a cutie and those are my favorite wings, by the way. Oh, and congrats on getting a fairy first try.

[awaytobeunshaken]

wow, you are flying through this challenge! Keep up the good work! David is adorable; can't wait to see the spouse you've chosen for him (DV is certainly not lacking in beautiful women).

I'm actually trying to catch up my story to my game right now (gen 4 is ready to age up to YA), so once I've done so, the updates should slow down a bit.

David is such a cutie and those are my favorite wings, by the way. Oh, and congrats on getting a fairy first try.

Yeah, I have really lucked out on getting the right life state so far.  Here's hoping my luck holds.

------------------------------------------



Somebody needs to talk to whoever sold you that porch railing; this does not look safe.

On the other hand, if David just let go of that imaginary friend right now... nah, who am I kidding, I've tried stashing IFs between the ceiling and the roof and they still manage to teleport out.



I never bothered finishing up Penny's toddler training, since it's not a requirement and there's no real reason to since traits are random anyway, but I felt kind of bad about it.



So with twice as many adults and only one kid this time around, I'm going to make sure David ages up well, even if it is just so I can click the dice.




Besides, he pulled some great faces while learning to talk.



Look at those eyes.




When I saw the loner and insane traits pop up I immediately thought "writer", so we're breaking out the skill books this time around.



Meanwhile, Mason and Penny are still very much in love.



In fact they pretty much exist in a constant state of "very alluring" at this point.  I just leave them to it until they get up to irresistible and then I hit the woohoo button.



Yeah, I see you looking at that cake, Jordan.  That's going to be your breakfast.  Now back away from the pancake ingredients slowly and no one gets hurt.




Now embrace the sparkles, young one.



Happy Birthday, David!

David Carlisle - gen 3 - Toddler

Best friends with Penny Carlisle
Best friends with Mason Carlisle
Level 3 writing skill books
Level 3 Xylophone


 

[Lisa46]

He's adorable and has a gorgeous skin color!

[awaytobeunshaken]

Penny achieved her lifetime wish shortly after David's birthday; she's a superstar athlete now, and a classy one if I do say so myself.



And David heads off to his first day of school in his fairy formalwear.  You're brave, kid.

I bet if there are other fairy kids in my class they'll think this is cool.

Yeah, well, there won't be.  This town hasn't spawned occults since week 2.

I just realized I forgot to mention David's child trait.  It took me a minute to remember it myself, but I'm 99% sure it's unlucky.  So he takes after his dad in quite a few ways.



Mason taking over some of the tutoring this time around, and demonstrating the reason he'll be one of the last spouses to leave the household.  Between this, the gardening, and the eye candy, he's just too useful.  And by eye candy, I don't mean the LTR.  Although maybe I should get that for him...



David continues the tradition of befriending his future spouse early. 



That's vampire Marian Hooley if you were wondering.



David is quite the dancer, here he is having just won the lead role in the school ballet.

Well, I'm the only fairy, of course I'm gonna be the best dancer.




Well, her lack of wings doesn't stop Penny from relearning the dance moves from her own school days,




Or picking up some new ones. 

I ought to move them to Bridgeport once this dynasty is over; they can tear up the town.

That looks exhausting though, maybe you should get to bed.



To bed, you say

Seriously, you guys are so adorable I can't stand it.  Quit it!

You don't mean that.

No, I don't.




Penny didn't have much time to work on her magic skill while finishing requirements, so I'd never noticed before how cool the magic hands animations are. 

And with his requirements done, David has a chance to get started on his writing skill.



So what'cha writing about?

Aliens.

Oh, so it's a Sci-Fi book?

Nope, non-fiction.



Mason, quit it with the sparkly hearts, you're inviting your son's future wife to his birthday party, it's not a date.



Hey, David, you should wish for a good trait.



And we roll... Ambitious!

Woot! Ambitious! *does happy dance*



And quite the handsome young man.

Although, what's with the shiny metal hat?

It's so the aliens can't steal my brain.

Wait, I thought... that's not even... never mind.

[Trip]

Although, what's with the shiny metal hat?

It's so the aliens can't steal my brain.

God help him for when he decides to go to school in his swimwear!

[awaytobeunshaken]

Penny: Happy Birthday, son!

David: Wow, thanks! I never expected this.



Penny: Well, if you're going to be a writer, you need your own computer.  I don't want you hogging the laptop when I'm trying to make inappropriate forum posts.

So generous.



Penny has finally reached the top of her career and become a sports legend.  I sent her straight to her first autograph session.



Meanwhile, Shannon is 90 days old.  Probably twice that between the makeover, tattoo, and young again potion, but who's counting.  She could go any day now, so it's time to enjoy life. 



Some early morning woohoo,



and a quick donation gives her enough lifetime happiness to buy the family a new toy.



Who knows, might come in handy.



And I finally let her retire.



Back before David was born, I had a bit of a scare with Marian there.  Namely, she'd dropped off everyone's relationship panels, I didn't know where she lived, and I wasn't sure if she was still in town.  Fortunately I managed to follow her home from work one day and get her back in the family's life.  And I'm not taking any more chances.

Shannon: Now, David is a loner, but as you can see, he's quite handsome...



In fact, I'd better make sure to stay friendly with next generation's spouse as well.



Prom falls on a non-work night this time around, so David gets to go.  He sure isn't happy about it, though.

There's gonna be so many people there.

Deal with it.  And do me a favor and try to find a romantic interest, would you?



Okay, fine then, you know one girl from school, invite her over.

She doesn't want to come.

Well... there's a boy.  D'you mind dating a boy?

I guess not.  I've never dated anyone, I might as well.



That's the spirit.



And sealed with a kiss.



Hey, what'cha writing about now?

Crab people.

Oh, a horror book?

Nope, non-fiction.

Well, it's been quite a fulfilling teen-hood for David.  Just one thing left to do.

[Nettlejuice]

You're extremely lucky to have got a fairyboo with just one child. Really enjoying this 

[awaytobeunshaken]

Obligatory "child with parent's hairdo so you can see how alike they look" shot.



Wow.  Doesn't quite have that gorgeous jawline, but other than that he's all Mason.



And here's his actual look.  So excited to have that hair actually work for someone.



Oh, insane sims.  Thank you for giving me an excuse to use those outfits that would otherwise languish in CAS for eternity.

And forgot to mention, he Hates the Outdoors.  Well, since I'd already decided to go with writing and sculpting as his skills, I guess that works. 

Actually, an insane fairy who hates the outdoors?  That really works!

I was hoping for Professional Author as a lifetime wish, and it did come up as an option, but I decided to go for Swimming in Cash, which he achieved as soon as we collected rent on the family properties that afternoon.

There was just one thing left to do before starting on requirements hardcore.



Wyatt, I'm sorry, but I think we should just be friends.  I mean, you're a great guy and everything.  It's not you; it's me.  See, I have to have a kid at some point, and it has to be with someone who's a different life state than anyone else in the family, so... well, I guess it kind of is you.



WHAT?!  You're telling me that evening under the stars meant NOTHING to you?

Man, this is always the hardest part.  So long, Wyatt.



David rebounded nicely, though.

And soon things started to get a bit more...



ah, intimate.

David got an opportunity to deliver a book to China.  His phone hadn't exactly been blowing up, so I decided to send him.  Marian went along so I could have someone do some tomb raiding while we were there, and Shannon went as well so I could get a bit more mileage (sorry) out of her travel LTRs.



This screenshot, taken upon their return, is actually a pretty good representation of how that trip went.

Marian's tomb raids kept getting cut short because I didn't think to pack any plasma fruit, Shannon got in a fight with the special merchant after one of her love charms backfired, and David got his opportunity done and spent the rest of the trip in base camp writing humor books about how much fun outdoor activities are.

Well, I guess that last part worked out okay.

Yeah, get it?  Because outdoor activities aren't fun at all.  They're terrible.

Yes, you hate the outdoors, we get it.



Anyway, it was good to be home.

I sent Shannon to visit a friend after yet another love charm, since I don't need her messing up any relationships in the household and I can't be bothered babysitting her.



It was the last visit she would make.



Jordan: Hey, old lady that my love-charm addled wife was kissing moments before she died.  You're kind of hot.

Jordan, please remember why you're here.

Oh, yeah, and can I go in and get her urn?



Farewell, Shannon.

[awaytobeunshaken]

So I mentioned a while back that my game hasn't spawned occults since about week 2.  I wasn't exaggerating.  No one younger than teen stage ever became an occult, none of the move-in townies are occults etc.

Still I had my spouses all picked out and should have had enough in reserve to count as best friends, until Marian moved in.  Guess who's best friends with most of the remaining occult townies?

Now, sure, there's always imaginary friends, and I could always have the vampire and werewolf heirs turn some people, but I've got an heir with weeks of boring skilling ahead of him, and a recently widowed male founder with commitment issues.  I'll make my own future best friends.



Well, look who I found walking by.  Get to wooing.



Oh, if only there were some code in this game to make it put together outfits that match.  I mean, what lovely flowers, Jordan.  They match her skin.



Ooh, now we're talking.  Relationship bar's still not high enough for woohoo, though.  Why don't you take her out somewhere.

Meanwhile...



Marian, you've always known I'm a bit mad.  You chose to embrace me in spite of it all.  Will you let me be mad for you, for the rest of our days?



Can't get over that goofy grin.  Oh, and this was full moon, too, so he was in full on lunatic mode.



Yeah, they are easily the weirdest couple I've played in this game, but still so in love.

---------------------

Well, after two tries for baby in a tent outside the art gallery and 3 more back home in bed, I still had no chimes, so I sent Jordan and Morrigan to the shower for one more try before calling it a night.



Shower: Attention everybody! I have just been woohooed in by someone who does not live in this house.  You must all come tell her how unforgivable rude she's being.

Oh, honestly.  They're in Jordan's private ensuite bathroom.  No one else even uses this shower.  How would they even...

Entire household: How could they! Oh, the scandal!

Uh, they were just doing the exact same thing in his bed a few feet away...

Shower: Well, I never!

Oh, and still no chimes.  That's okay.  Sometimes the chimes just don't chime.  She's got to be pregnant by now, though.

Fast forward to Marian's bachelorette party...



Yeah, I don't think that's from too much pollen punch.



And this lovely little fairyboo is Denise.  Shame Jordan won't be able to get too close to her if we want to keep her open for a best friend.

But she's my baby girl!  Remember when Penny was this small? 

I do.  I'll make it up to you after the dynasty, promise.

On a lighter note, for 5K lifetime happiness, David finally sculpted his first masterpiece.



A panda with its head cut off.  Well done, David. Seriously I don't get this game sometimes.

[dontmindme]

lol, that is great. Excellent way of keeping the occult population up, Jordan! David and Marian are cute together!