Re: With a Twist-McCloud Kids Gotta Skill, Dec. 16

[Joria]

Thank you, oshizu and FrancescaFiori.  Family visiting our house since I last updated and will be here till Sunday so please forgive the lack of updates. 

@oshizu:  Actually, adding the no buy to the ID wasn't that bad.  There are so many ways to get around the inability to just buy what you want.  Since we are allowed to modify Maxis created venues by adding things, you can really set things up so that you have access to most things.  I suppose I could even have put a rocket ship kit in a park.  I just felt it wouldn't be right.  As it is, adding some kitchen things and a wedding venue to one of the parks and skilling items here and there made it entirely possible to skill up when needed and using "Connections" and job rewards took care of the rest.  Skilling was the hardest thing to get around because it does mean traveling a lot.  The only area where it was a bit iffy was children's things so I gave myself permission to get kid's things.  Once you have the ray gun it's pretty easy to acquire things.  I have even transformed things like a hand crafted bath tub, (figured I could always make another), and wound up with it becoming that nice love seat in my little date area.  Another time I got a top of the line bathtub.  Some day, just for fun, I'll try a game where I don't put the skill items in parks and such and see how far and how fast I can go from broke to a Fabulously Wealthy Mansion Baron.  I think the whole difference is the ability to travel, which you can't do at first in an AC for instance, plus allowing buying from the kiosk in Granite Falls.

@FrancescaFiori :  Thank you.  That is my favorite spot on the lot so far.  I really dislike my house so there will be remodels coming along soon.  First focus was to get my founder done.  I've usually failed before that happens so so far I'm pretty happy with how things are going.

[Joria]

Life had settled down somewhat.  Watcher's family had all returned to their homes so far away, summer had turned to a rainy autumn, houses were being prepared for the coming cold and damp.  But not in Willow Creek.  Here there were skills to acquire, friends to make, parties to give and attend.  Upstairs in the McCloud house we find several of the family members busy with the daily things that made up life for Sims.  Kieran was tutoring Airynn in guitar, a good thing to keep them busy while heiress Aislyn worked on her job requirements and was painting up a storm.  Between her works and our beloved Don's, the family was becoming quite wealthy.



Aislyn eventually had the bright idea that it just might be possible to do a self portrait by training her camera up at her face once she chose to paint from reference.  It worked but the look was a bit strange.



Meanwhile Airynn had wandered off to the focus room.  Rez was in there, ostensibly working on his work requirements, and she was bored and missing his charming face.  She sat down at the pc and soon had distracted him from his assigned reading, not that he minded in the least.  As a lazy Sim he was quite willing to just stop "working" and talk to the girl of his dreams.



Of course, in their case, talking soon became flirting and flirting soon became....



Rez was conflicted.  He felt so unworthy of Airynn and all she and her family stood for.  He recognized his failings, not the least of which was his inability to stick to pretty much anything.  Naps were so much more appealing, but not half as appealing as Airynn.  His face fell as he catalogued all his flaws.



Airynn was having none of it!  She quickly pointed out to him that it didn't matter if he had the Lazy trait.  Their dynasty would not fail or fall because of either of them because, in the long run, they really didn't matter.  The burden of success was not on their shoulders at all.  Yes, they would help the family prosper, and for that help they would be loved and sheltered, cared for all their lives, but their lives would one day end.  Wouldn't it be best to make the most of their time together and just enjoy their carefree lives?  They could take a lifelong vacation if they so chose and the dynasty would still succeed.  Aislyn would make it so as would all the heirs to come.



Looking at her beautiful face, so filled with trust and love, Rez knew he was the luckiest man in the Simiverse.  His heart swelled with hope and joy.  This was definitely the woman for him, the soul mate of his heart.  Seeing himself in her loving eyes, he knew he was up to the challenge of whatever future they may have, and it was time, more than time, to make a stand.



"I love you so very much, Airynn.  You make me a better man than I had ever hoped I could be.  Would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife and give me the chance to show you just how much I love you?  I don't have much to give, but all I have and all I am are yours if you will say yes."



Tears of joy shining in her eyes, Airynn slipped his ring onto her finger.  She reached over and whispered, "yes", and kissed him sweetly.



Unable to contain herself any longer, Airynn shrieked a triumphant WAHOO! and leaped up into his arms.



"Oh, my plumbob!  I might have dropped you!"

"Never happen handsome.  I know you've been working out and I've always wanted to do that.  You would never drop me darling, or do anything that would hurt me.  I trust you with my life, my love, my whole being."



"I love you Rez.  This is where I've always wanted to be.  Safe in your arms."



"And this is where I want you to always be.  You've made me the happiest man ever.  You are so beautiful.  I promise to try to never break your trust in me."



"You're the only man for me.  I've loved you since we were little kids.  I was so afraid you'd fall for Aislyn and not me.  You have no idea how relieved I was when she chose your brother. I'll always love you, Rez."



A Watcher's heart is always full of joy when two of her Watched Sims can find happiness.  Life is too short to be without love.  This Watcher is just going to tip toe out of the room now and leave the two sweethearts gazing lovingly at one another.  Moments too private and beautiful to watch.



Till next time, thank you all for reading.

[Caterina]

You write romance very well!  The relationships between your sims seem real.  It must make it extra hard when of them passes.

[Joria]

Thank you, Catarina, and yes, it does make it hard for me.  As I play, I put myself in their position, their lives.  I "become" them, much like a method actor does, so they become real to me.  I want each one of them to have a good life, or at least an interesting one.

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Proposal given and accepted, the decision to "do it now" followed quickly.  Aislyn and Waylon had found a perfect spot for their proposal and suggested it might also be a great spot for a wedding.  Besides, time WAS marching on and with beloved family members aging to elders, it was important that they be a part of this joyful occasion before it was too late.  Donning their formal wear, the little family soon were at their destination.



"When I look at this beautiful face before me, I once again realize just how lucky I am.  I am so grateful you agreed to be my bride."

"And I am so grateful you chose me to be your bride.  I will love you forever."



The bride and groom had not had time to write out their vows, so they asked me, their Watcher, to provide some for them.  I turned to one of my favorite author's, Mercedes Lackey, and taking some of the words from her book, "Closer to the Heart", one of her Valdemar series books, they said the following:

"Now we will feel no rain, for each of us will be shelter for the other."
"Now we will feel no cold, for each of us will be warmth to the other."
"Now there will be no loneliness, for each of us will be companion to the other."
"Now we are two persons, but there is only one life together for both of us".



Pledging their life, their love and their future to each other, they sealed the vows with a symbol of eternity, a ring, the thing which has no beginning nor an end.

"I offer this ring as a symbol of my everlasting love and my pledge to you for all time."



"I accept this ring and your pledge, and offer mine in return."



Of course, all that was left was to seal it with the first kiss of their married life.







Now, dear readers, you might think this was it.  Off they would go to a small reception with cake and all the trimmings and then off to their honeymoon.  But no, there was a bit more.  Wanting to share the joy even further, the new bride and groom offered to hear Dina and Kieran renew their marriage vows.  After all, they had not been there when they first were married, and their love had started the whole thing.  Stepping forward, they joined hands, gazing lovingly at each other.  Don's eyes welled up seeing his best friends renewing their love. He had been with them since the very first and was an integral part of the entire family's lives.



"Our journey together has been so full of love and joy.  We've worked hard, sacrificed our time together, and now here we are.  Our beautiful daughters married and wanting to share their special time with us. I thank you for all the love you have given me through all our years together.  Will you marry me once again, my beautiful Dina?"



"I've always loved you, Kieran.  I will always love you for eternity.  Of course I will marry you again, and again, and again, till time stops."



"Once again, and for always, with this ring, I thee wed...."



Yes, even an old married, and remarried couple gets to have confetti.  Long life and happiness to them all.



What lays in store for our family?  The first steps have been taken.  The dynasty is ready for the next chapter; and so are we.

[FrancescaFiori]

Lovely! What a beautiful wedding and a sharply-dressed bride and groom! Adding the vow renewal was inspired as well. Makes me wish I could go back and see my parents' wedding. Congratulations to all!

[Joria]

Thank you, FrancescaFiori.  I admit to having a secret motive for the double wedding vows.  Kieran and Dina are such a loving couple all the time but they've been so busy they haven't had much time to express their love.  Unfortunately, the happy times can't continue for long.

At the moment I'm in a bit of a quandry.  My game is not repopulating the towns.  Oasis is totally empty now and there are very few homeless.  I have a pollinator who has been pretty busy but his kids won't be the right age for future spouses and the empty towns are pretty depressing.  Is it legal to add Sims from the gallery if they are not your own creations, or even if they are?  Without an influx of people this dynasty will be doomed to failure.

[oshizu]

I'm so glad that Airynn and Rez found each other as well! I actually get the two couples confused because the girls are, well, twins, but the half-brothers also look a lot alike (not identical, I know). Plus the names, Airynn and Aislyn--how do you keep everyone straight?

What a lovely double-wedding! Dina is quite long-lived; is it because of her Active trait? I'm glad she's not one of those sims who must constantly do push-ups at inappropriate moments, lol.

You're best off PM'ing the Immortal Dynasty Challenge Team about your depopulated town. They can advise you about what's "legal" or not.
My dynasty had 3-4 generations of pollinators as well as some short-term male elders, but the dynasty house eventually runs out of space for a pollinator.
For children, having a child "Make friends" instead of "Study Hard" sometimes generates new households with children.
For young adults and older, checking out all the working NPCs is a good idea, too (baristas, bartenders, DJs, yoga teacher, massage therapists, gym trainers, etc.)
For my legacy, I even had a sim briefly join the Scientist, Detective, and Doctor careers, just to generate new households based on those new NPC employees.
Just some ideas. Best to contact the Team as soon as conveniently possible, though.

I can't wait to see what unfolds now that Aislyn and Waylon are poised to create Generation 3!

[Joria]

@oshizu : I did contact the team although in the Dynasty rules thread, not via pm.  So far no response.  Next step is pm them.  What I did tentatively is add Sims from the gallery to a second file, so I have one that is pristine with nothing added and one with added Sims.  I'll take your advice though and see if I can't generate more by putting my pollinator to work somewhere to generate more people.  Probably Science since that's easiest for me.

Actually, Dina IS one of those push up/sit up compulsive Sims!  I just keep her busy doing other stuff.  I'm having all my Sims work out so they all will be a bit more long lived than otherwise.

I swear I will never again name two Sims with names so similar~~!  Especially twins.  I have to make sure and read their names before I have them do anything because just trying to have them do stuff based on what they look like is next to impossible.  My granddaughter named her four boys with names all starting with B, which wouldn't be so bad but Bryson, Braydon, Braxton and Breven all sound alike to my ears so I wind up pointing or giving them all nicknames.  The only one I regularly remember is the first one, Braxton.  Her girls, Lily and Evelyn are no problem. lol

New update tomorrow if all goes well.  Maybe even a double since I have four folders ready for writing up.

[oshizu]

@Joria
Your pollinator doesn't need to actually work each career--simply join it, go to the workplace for one day, meet all the employees, then quit.
He can repeat that for all three active careers, if you wish. Maybe try it out in a copy of your save game--see who shows up?

Looking forward to your updates! Almost got myself into the mood tonight to work on a new update myself, but....nah! lol.

[Joria]

@oshizu :  Good plan!  I'll give that a try.

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Now that the weddings were all over with, our little family settled in to accomplish all the things that needed to be done.  With Kieran established as the first immortal, it became important to fill up the chest with death flowers and the fish bowls with angel fish.  Hopefully there would be a need for many, many, of each as heir after heir was produced.  On the producing end, so far no new heirs on the horizon, but with Aislyn still being a young adult and with her career to max, there was still time to just enjoy being young and in love.  Taking the family needs as their cue, Dina and Don went off to catch a few fish.  The day was another gorgeous, sunny day with a soft breeze blowing off the water to keep them cool.  Don had decided he really liked the compliments he had gotten wearing a nice pin stripe suit, so he continued to "dress up" no matter what he was doing, while the elegant Dina looked stunning as usual in a bit more casual outfit.



All was going well when suddenly, Don, looking back toward the house and pointing shakily exclaimed....

"No!  Not you!  It's not time.  I know it's not time!  I'm still young.  I'm strong.  I work out every day.  They need me here!"

"What are you going on about, Don?  Shush or you'll scare away the fish!"

"Dina, don't you see him?"

"See who?  The family is all busy and at work.  It's just you and me.  Throw in a line or go home."



"He's come for me Dina. I guess it's time.  Good bye, Dina.  Tell my old friend I'm glad things are going well.  Just put me with Alton, ok?  Tell the girls and my kids I love them."

"Will you just stop nattering on?  Really!  You keep on this way and I'll be the only one bringing home the dinner.  Well, maybe you're right.  Maybe it's time to call it a day.  They don't seem to be biting anyway."



"I think I'll just rest here awhile.  Stay by me Dina.  I don't want to meet him all alone."

"Hey Don!  Check it out!  The Thompson's have a new sail boat.  Would you look at.....Don?  Don?"



Pulling away and shrieking in fear, Dina finally saw Grim.  Realizing her age bar had been bubbling for quite some time, it was a horrid shock to see him come ghosting up to them. 

"Oh my heavens!  It's not......?  I mean you.....?"

"No.  Not you.  You've a bit more time.  Be prepared."



"Oh, Don.  I'm so sorry.  I didn't realize.....I'm here Don.  I won't leave you.  I'll miss you my friend."

" Well now, he's had quite a life hasn't he?  Eight children, completed 80 whims, maxed out dancing, fishing, painting, fitness, and mixology!  They sure are going to miss him at parties.  Time for him to get some rest then."





"Oh, Don.  I can't bear it.  He was such a good friend and helper."

"Get a grip woman.  He lived a long and fruitful life.  If he stayed any longer the town would be completely over run with his progeny.  You be better off getting yourself ready.  Not getting any younger, you know."



"No, I really can't bear this.  Aislyn, thank you my darling girl.  Thanks to you I don't have to suffer with this."

"What you got there? Oh!  Cheater!  I can't believe you're going to use that stuff.  I mean, it's part of the whole deal isn't it?  Mourning and all?  Hysterical crying for hours?  Weeping away in your bed?  There are rules woman!"



"Pish tush, Grimmie.  Aislyn made this to be used and use it I will.  Just slather on some anti-sadness lotion and there...."

"I can't believe you went there.  What is this world coming to anyway?  Takes all the fun out of my job.  No weeping, no wailing, just selfish I calls it.  Selfish."



"Ahhhh.  That's better.  Much better."

"That does it!  I'm outtie!  Be seein' ya."

"Tomorrow is another day."



The no longer quite so devastated Dina went home to tell the family.  Coming second hand as it were, they were saddened at the loss of their dearest friend and father, (for his sons), but not half as much as they would have been had they witnessed it.  After all, while he had been quite the presence in their lives, he had lived a very long life and it was time to move on.  They had so many things yet to do and there was little time to mope around grieving.  Had the Watcher planned this to spare them grief?  No, not at all.  Later that day, as the family continued to do the things that needed doing, there was a sudden chill in the air.  A presence was about to make himself known.

"So this is what being dead is like.  Huh.  Not so bad.  Kinda like the floaty thing and the moving right through the walls and doors bit.  Hehehe.  Bet I can scare the living whatsis out of some of them."



"Whoooooo's that?  Rez?  Hey!  Rez!  Can ya see me boy?  Over here!  Yo!"



"Dad?  Dad? Dad!  You came back! Oh, man!  Good to see ya.....I think."

"Rez.  Good to see ya too.  How about a hug for your ol' man?"

"Ummm, you can do that?  I mean...."

"Yeah, sure.  One of the perks.  C'mon, hug time!"



"Soooooo, what's it like?  Bein' dead I mean?"

"Not too bad at the moment.  Has it's good points and it's bad points.  No taxes.  At least I don't think so.  I'm pretty new at this you know."

"Yeah.  Say, sorry about not bein' there.  Work and all.  You know.  Hey, how about a selfie to commemorate this?  No one will believe me otherwise."

"Say!  Not too bad.  I look a little.....I dunno.....see through?"

"Yeah.  But at least you don't have a goofy look on your face like I do!"



"Well, you go show the others.  I'm outie.  Don't forget, put me with Alton.  Ok?"

"Ok, Dad.  I'm gonna miss you, you know.  I.....I love you Dad."

"I love you too.  Tell the others.  I love them.  Be seein' ya."

And with that we say farewell to the best pollinator the world has ever known.  Rest well, dear friend.

[Caterina]

I really liked the way you wrote Don's death!  Poor grimmie didn't get to see Dina upset.

[Magpie2012]

Sorry I haven't been commenting... Been reading though, and, as always, I absolutely adore your writing!

RIP DL, you will be sorely missed!

[FrancescaFiori]

Oh, Don! No matter how many times I see it happen, his death always gets me. Loved his reunion with Rez!
I really loved him fishing in his formalwear! Now there's a man who can fill out a suit!
Farewell, Don! So glad we can always see you in the next new game!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[oshizu]

Don and Dina have certainly lived long lives in your dynasty! A testimony to the quality of life you provided them, Joria.

Rest in Peace, Don. Your legacy lives on in the dynasty household through Waylon and Rez.

[Joria]

@Caterina : Thank you.  Grim really seemed surprised when Dina pulled out the Sadness Alleviation Lotion.

@Magpie2012 :  Thank you Magpie.  It's great when you can post but I know life sometimes gets in the way.  Glad you are reading and enjoying.

@FrancescaFiori :  I know!  It took me a long time to buck up enough to write his death scene.  I knew it was coming yet it still was a shock.  I mean, he was just enjoying his handsome self fishing and Dina really was so oblivious to it.

@oshizu : Thank you, oshizu.  They both had the active trait and both of them were constantly working out.  Don had maxed fitness and had mentored Waylon in it as well so I really did expect long life from them.  Broke my heart when he passed on.  I think there should be a story where you go like several generations but can salvage the ones that are your favorites and give them potions or ambrosia as well.

There may be a bit of a hiatus.  I'm am very involved with watching "Jane the Virgin".  Having been raised by my abuela it really touches home with me.