The Power of Blood: The Doran Immortal Dynasty - 20: It's a Sad World (11/15)

[FrancescaFiori]

Thank you so much for the tour! I love it! It's already fantastic, but it's going to be gorgeous when it's done. I really love the layout, too, particularly the garden courtyard. I'm a sucker for courtyards.
The meditation area is really lovely. Excellent use of terrain paint!
I'm studying your toddler room very closely. I read your advice in the "raising four kids" thread and it was really, really useful. I was so surprised to find you level your toddlers up mostly without assistance. You've saved me millions of simoleons on nannies! Anyway, you're a toddler rockstar and I'm definitely going to be using your techniques next time I've got a rugrat.
Love the ambrosia room, too! It's perfectly somber and elegant. Can't wait to see it when it's full of museum items!

[PeregrineTook]

Quite the elegant palace you've built there!  I thought my Tooks were living in the lap of luxury, but they certainly aren't matching that level of opulence!

[rika1431]

I'm glad you all liked the build!^-^ I was pretty impressed with myself, since I always do giant rectangles, and this is slightly less of a giant rectangle.

Chapter 7: A Master Plan Is Born



Zoe: Ooooooh, you have a hot tub now.

J: Indeed, we do. And it has some very interesting features I’d love to show you.

Zoe: -giggles- Well, do show me, then!



Aislin: Look at us, two hard working sims, getting things done.

Diego: Hm…something sounds off in that sentence.

Aislin: What? No. What? Noooo…It’s not at all making me anxious that I’ve been in one place with one job for so long.

Diego: Allow me to reassure, ma coeur, that you are as beautiful and exciting as the day I met you, and your adventures are nowhere near done.

Aislin: Aw. Do you promise?

Diego: I promise.



Aislin: Hey, Akira, thanks for coming over!

Akira: No problem! You didn’t really say why on the phone, though. Did you need another donation?

Aislin: Oh yeah, let’s get that squared away first.

Akira: Of course.

Aislin: Now, actually, I was going to ask you to move in. See, you’re a good looking man, and I’d bet money that you’d make good looking babies, and this town needs good looking babies. What do you say—move in with me and have a bunch of fun with whoever strikes your fancy in the town?

Akira: Well…That’s not exactly my style.

Aislin: It also includes a lifetime of excessive fishing!

Akira: Eh, I could do worse.



J: Then by all means, allow me to entertain your distractions.

Miko: Oooo, I could definitely get down with this.



Aislin: Aha! I made you. You’re mine. Aaaaand, yes! Playing with you just maxed my gardening. Well, that’s a fourth aspiration completed, and not a single one of them my unique aspirations. Dang.

Grax: Moooooo?

Aislin: That’s right, buddy, you get a treat for being such a good boy! Oh, and now that I don’t need to mess with the garden all the time to level gardening…



Aislin: Hello, Shanaya! Now, we’re living in the lap of luxury.

Shanaya: Yes, ma’am, I will do what it takes to ensure that your life is one of ease and leisure.



Niall: I’m going to draw the best picture that there ever was! I’m so pumped for this.

Aurora: Niall, you know not everything is a competition, right? You could just enjoy the simple act of putting colored pencil to paper and trying to bring forth something beautiful.

Niall: That sounds really gushy and I don’t know about that. -peeks over- Oh man, you’re better at this than me! When did that happen?

Aurora: -shrugs- Do you want me to throw it away?

Niall: What?! No! Girl, you have to let your shine out. We all have to shine. I’m not going to let you hide your shine even a little bit.

Aurora: Oh.



Shanaya: -sighs- Ah, yes, another dynasty garden. Should I give them the list of tips I’ve picked up from all of the others I’ve tended before, or allow them to continue trying to figure it out for themselves? Well, it wouldn’t be my place to correct them.



Zoe: I mean, I guess I can just stand out here and listen to pop music. But why? Where did J go?

Aislin: You’ve had two boys already, you need to have a girl! Keep listening to pop music!

Zoe: But…oh, all right.



Aislin: And I’m so proud of you for getting your extra credit done, but would you mind setting the table?

Aurora: Of course, Mrs. Doran, I’d love to.

Aislin: Oh, thank you, darling, and you did such a good job at it! But sweetheart, I think you might need—

Aurora: Um, I’m sorry to interrupt. But you’re sparkling. Are you okay?

Aislin: Oh, yes, I’ve just gone into full parent mode, that’s all.

Aurora: That sounds magical.

Aislin: It tingles, a little.



Niall: Thanks for mentoring me, Mrs. Butler Lady, it’s super cool of you to do that.

Shanaya: Anything you require, sir.

Niall: Would you get me a rocket, then? I might need one.

Shanaya: Sir, you have a rocket in the front yard.

Niall: No, no. A smaller rocket. More discrete.

Shanaya: Sir, I believe it would conflict with my required duties of keeping the rest of the household content.

Niall: Dang.



J: And how are you, this fine and beautiful morning?

Random chick: I’m all right. This is a pretty cool hot tub, at least.

J: Yes, but you are wearing entirely too many clothes for it. Allow me to assist you with that.



Aislin: Hey, buddy, I just wanted to check in with you and make sure you’re doing okay.

Niall: I’m awesome, mom. Where all the other glands—the sad gland, the mad gland, etc—are, I just have more awesome glands. Nothing can keep me down.

Aislin: Oh, sweetie. I hope you never stop feeling that good about yourself.



Aislin: Phew, and now I have to drink this cowplant essence before work—that’s kind of gross, isn’t it?

Bella: Maybe so, but it’ll help keep you in the best mood towards promotions, and you want to max your career, don’t you?

Aislin: Well, of course, I do.

Bella: I need to talk to you about something, though.

Aislin: Oh?

Bella: It’s Niall. I’m worried he’s going to deviate from the plan.

Aislin: Oh, come on, Bella, the plan? If he wants to do a different career than we mapped out ahead of time, is that really such a big deal?

Bella: Yes. It is. Things need to be done in a proper order. You need to talk to him, make sure he knows what his responsibilities are.

Aislin: But…all right.



Akira: Charisma! Uh…maximum charisma! So much charisma it’s oozing out of every pore! Charisma!!!



Aislin: Okay, sweetie, apparently we need to have a little chat.

Niall: Did I do something wrong?

Aislin: No…no, you didn’t. But you remember what I told you about what our family is trying to do?

Niall: Yeah, we’re gonna live forever. That’s pretty awesome. I think it jives all right with my image.

Aislin: Okay, well, in order to do that…you’re going to need to go into the culinary career, and complete both food aspirations.

Niall: Booooo! That’s not fun or awesome at all! I want to do a fun aspiration. I want to be a DJ or a comedian or something awesome like a dinosaur wrangler.

Aislin: Honey, there’s no such thing as dinosaur wranglers, and I need you to do this for me.

Niall: You’re just taking all the awesome out of it. If I didn’t have my extra awesome glands, we’d be in real trouble.



Niall: Tell me to be a chef, huh? We’ll see about that. I’ll get me a master plan that she’ll never see coming. I just have to make sure to hide my journal real good.



Geeta: Boy, are you causing trouble for your mother?

Niall: Or is she causing trouble for me? Did you ever think about it that way?

Geeta: Your mother had a very hard road to walk to get here, and she needs your support. Don’t make this harder on her than it already is.

Niall: -sigh- Geez, Grammy, I’m not going to tank the whole operation. I am going to have some fun with it, though.

Geeta: Just so long as you know you have a ghostly grams on the other side watching your every move.

Niall: Creepy. But cool.



Akira: Oh, um, hello, there. You…have very pretty hair.

Yuki: Hehehe, thank you! I like your hairstyle, too.

Akira: Thanks! We should, um, sit and talk a bit more, shouldn’t we?

Yuki: I’d love to.



Candy: It was so sweet of you to bring someone over to talk to Yuki, too. That girl is hopeless in the love department.

J: No worries, I’m a man of many talents, and knowing what a situation requires is just one of them. Now, why don’t we stop talking about your little sister and start focusing on us?



Niall: Hah, take that, whiz kid! You have been defeated by the mighty Niall! How many aspirations can I complete? A million! All part of the master plan.



Aislin: Oh, Diego, it’s moments like this—when it’s just the two of us—where everything feels calm and stable around me, and I can just breathe. I’m so grateful for you.

Diego: Ma coeur, I will always be here for you.

Aislin: I think I’m ready.

Diego: Are you sure? I don’t want to rush you. Just because you proposed, doesn’t mean we actually have to…

Aislin: No, no, I’m ready. I want to do this. I want to show everyone how much I love you. I want to be yours, and I want you to be mine.

Diego: Oh, darling, I was always yours.

[Shewolf13]

Awwww!  How sweet! Really love Diego and Aislin.  My oh my, Naill XD he's a pistol, for sure.  Wait, Aislin completed four aspirations?  Are they all going to be the free ones for the dynasty?

[FrancescaFiori]

Akira shouting the word, "Charisma!" at the mirror cracked me up! You keep at it, buddy! You'll get there!
Love Niall plotting to change the plan (takes after his mother just a bit) in his journal, and then being caught by Ghostly Grams. Thank heavens for Geeta, keeping everyone in line from the other side.
So excited for the wedding!

[PeregrineTook]

Niall may be thinking of deviating from the plan, but I'm sure our dear little Aurora will whip him back into shape  :=)  Go Team Nirora!!
J is so slick and Akira...has nice hair...
Loving how you're writing these characters!

[LenaLJ]

Just caught up again.
First i must say, what a house, or should i just call it a mansion. I really like it.
I like both Aurora and Niall, I just dont hope his masterplan will cause to much of a hazard.

[rika1431]

@Shewolf13 He's definitely something, isn't he? I keep thinking 'ah, this is the moment he'll calm down, for sure', but he keeps insisting that he's too awesome for that. And  actually, as of current gameplay, Aislin has completed a total of eight aspirations--her two unique ones(Jungle Explorer and Super Parent) and six free ones(Fabulously Wealthy, Mansion Baron, Nerd Brain, Serial Romantic, Soulmate, and Freelance Botanist). She's also working on The Curator, and I think she might do Friend of the World after that, or maybe Party Animal if I'm really feeling frisky. I take this potion of youth thing very seriously I've also got three spreadsheets--one for marking down actual progress on the dynasty requirements, one that details all of my planning(I've planned out collections, careers, both aspirations, and reward traits for each generation already, and because I'm super paranoid I created a fourth temporary spreadsheet where I ran a check on my planning sheet to see if I'd accidentally repeated anything--I didn't, phew!), and then the third spreadsheet is a list of the 'free' aspirations, with checkboxes to mark off which ones have been completed, so I can easily reference which one to do next. As far as aspirations go, there are a total of 33 aspirations available in my game with all expansion/game packs, but 3 of those are vampire aspirations so they're not available, and then 16 of them are unique aspirations(2 for each generation), which would leave 14 free aspirations, but bodybuilder is banned, so there are 13 free aspirations each heir can complete on top of their 2 unique aspirations. And then I also make my children complete all 4 childhood aspirations, because maximum satisfaction points possible, but that's rather unrelated. When I was planning out aspirations, I tried to do it as matching aspirations to personality types, but for Niall it actually ended up being the opposite, because once his personality formulated in my mind, the idea of him being a bit of a rebel just worked really well. But I also planned out a few specific aspirations I wanted to leave free, because they're the easiest to complete--most especially Fabulously Wealthy and Mansion Baron. If I have someone with marketable crafting a ton of camping mascots while the heir is a toddler/child, and just keep moving them into the toddler/child's inventory to have them sell them, I can usually auto complete both fortune aspirations the second they age up to teenager. Actually, just in case it helps anyone else with planning their immortal dynasty, here's my list of free aspirations, with reasons attached:

• Family - Big Happy Family -- This one really depends on how you're handling gender in your dynasty. My preferred style of gameplay, legacy/dynasty/whatever, is to trade off genders from generation to generation, so I personally can't complete this aspiration since it would require having 3 children and 4 grandchildren. Well, actually it depends on how creative you're willing to get, but would only be possible for male heirs, and is best paired with serial romantic. Have 2 kids outside the house with one or two of your serial romantic conquests, then have a pollinator pollinate the two kids once they're young adults, and you'll be able to have the 4 grandchildren. But it's pretty good for farming a little bit of satisfaction at the first three levels, regardless, so you should definitely do the first three levels.
• Family - Successful Lineage - Really, there's no excuse not to do this one, because it's easily completed throughout the course of the next heir's childhood/life, just switch back and forth to it when you're completing milestones. Very easy to complete, just requires that you remember to switch back to it.
• Food - Grilled Cheese - This is another super easy aspiration, although I'm very vain about my sim's fitness levels, so I either want to do it before they're elders so they can still work out, or make sure there's insta-lean potions available. Not a problem if you have a helper do a few levels in the scientist career to get the cloning machine, then you can just clone a bunch of insta-lean potions to have them chug once they complete the aspiration. The talk to the grim reaper goal is pretty easily completed by either having a club filled with elders, and just keep the club gathering going until one of them dies, or hit up a bunch of fishing spots/bars if you're getting impatient to talk to the reaper. He shows up at the fishing spots in Newcrest and The Shrieking Llama bar a lot.
• Fortune - Fabulously Wealthy - I went into this above, but if you have the Outdoor Retreat game pack, level up to handiness 7, go learn the camping mascot, and buy the marketable trait, you can complete this one really fast. Paintings with the marketable trait are also good if you don't have OR, but take a little longer, since camping mascots are super fast to make. Also very doable if you have a big ufo-grafted-to-fast-growing-plants-like-herbs-or-strawberry-bushes and you just harvest it frequently, if you don't have OR or if you don't have to chain a sim to the workbench, lol. I've never seen a grafted plant produce less than 4 either plant type that's grafted to it, so you'll get at least 4 ufo's per plant per day, and if you've evolved them up to perfect then the ufo's are worth $120/piece, so getting that $200k just depends on how many plants you're willing to have in your garden. At 4 ufo's per day at $120 per ufo, it'll take exactly 417 harvests to hit $200k. If you have the ufo grafted to a strawberry bush, you should be able to harvest once a day, you definitely can if you have it grafted to one of the 18h herbs(like the fire leaf one), so one ufo plant would earn $3,360/week at minimum, probably more, since the plants vary how many of each plant you get per harvest, so a lot of the time you'll get more than 4. At that point, it would take either 60 sim weeks(if you have just the one plant), or 2 sim weeks if you have 30 plants, etc. I think I've seen most people like to use six planter boxes, which would be 24 plants, so that would be 2 and a half sim weeks to hit $200k for the aspiration if you remember to harvest every day. But remember, that's only once you have perfect plants. Personally, for start up cash I like to level handiness fast and start banging out camping mascots, and at the same time be working on evolving one herb/strawberry bush up to perfect, so that I can just plant a bunch of already perfect plants, then graft the ufo's onto the perfect plants, so that I don't have to worry about evolving a bunch of plants. Btw, whether you're going the camping mascot or gardening route, make sure to switch to Freelance Botanist or Nerdbrain during that, because you need handiness for Nerd Brain and you'll be gardening a lot for Freelance Botanist.
• Fortune - Mansion Baron - Omg, ALWAYS leave this as a free aspiration. If you listen to nothing else, listen to that. Because once you complete mansion baron for one sim, you'll have it ready to insta-complete for any other sims in the household. When my sims age up to teens, I always pick their real aspiration, then quickly switch to mansion baron for an immediate satisfaction point boost. I recommend completing fabulously wealthy before mansion baron, because then you have the cash to breeze through mansion baron. If you're not interested in building a super pretty house(I'm usually really lazy and just build a giant rectangle), then here's an easy rundown on how to do this fast: for art, I really recommend you buy the second most expensive painting(second most expensive because it has the same highest environment score as the highest one, but slightly cheaper), and OMG, stick them in any and all rooms you're going to be skilling in, because it'll give you a +3 happy moodlet, which if you combine that with the +3 strongest camaraderie moodlet for clubs, then you just need one mood altering moodlet(thoughtful shower, psych self up, heck, just 'view focused art', or have a mood aura object in the room), and you'll be Very (Emotion) straight away, so really, take advantage of the fact that you need art for this aspiration to boost your skilling abilities for everything else; for landscaping, go to the trees section and buy like seven of those purple/pink trees, the most expensive ones, I think they're like $800, off the top of my head? You can stick them really close together to just have a cluster in one corner of your yard, so you don't have to spend a lot of time doing pretty landscaping, you don't have to worry about taking up a lot of space on a small lot, and since they're ~$800, I think, seven of them is all you need to complete the landscaping requirement. Windows, seriously you can just buy the teeny cheap windows if you want and smack them up side by side until you have 30. Columns--okay, I got really lazy one time when I was completing this aspiration, and I had that easy giant rectangle house, and I didn't have a roof because I seriously hate trying to make my roof's pretty, so I literally just slapped 20 columns in a 4x5 pattern on my room  If your home isn't worth $350k yet, and you still have the money, I recommend going back and adding those highest environment paintings to any rooms that don't have them(I recommend the paintings over the suit of armor because then you aren't taking up valuable floor space), go and get those highest quality beds(omg, I love them, I hate waiting for my sims to finish sleeping), get that super nice computer, etc, just fill up your house with the nice stuff. Or, if you're like me, and you're lazy, legit just build a small basement room with no stairs or anything and slap down like fifty suits of armor in it. Super easy to build up your home worth that way. And tada! You've completed mansion baron without having to be a master architect.
• Knowledge - Computer Whiz - Okay, so this one you may not want to do for your founder, depends on how you feel about them starting a new career once they've maxed their unique one/you want to hurry and get them into their unique career at the very beginning. But even if you've set aside one of the tech guru careers for a unique career, you only have to get up to level 5, so it doesn't hurt to do this one, too. Pretty good for your heirs to do, because they can work on programming/video gaming while they're a teen and get the first three levels of it done, then buy connections, then join the tech guru career as soon as they age up--I usually play with a home club and the networked perk, so my sims get promoted to level 5 on their first day of work, so this aspiration is pretty easy to complete almost the same day as an heir ages up to young adult. Maintaining focus for 2 straight hours of video gaming is really easy if you have focused decor in the computer room. I usually have a room with one or two chess boards, one or two woodworking stations, and a computer, so that's easy for me to accomplish. Focused decor is easy to get even if you don't have the plumbob lamps, either ponder moves on the chessboard and bang out a quick mathematical diagram, or observe the sky/stargaze for a bit in the observatory and you'll get a space print which provides a focused decor. Very easy aspiration, overall.
• Knowledge - Nerd Brain - This one's a little annoying for me, mostly because it involves a lot of hopping around from one activity to another, and I find it a little annoying to constantly order upgrade parts to do upgrades on appliances. If you've had a lot of sims do this one and you've run out of upgrades to do, just plop down like five cheap toilets in a room, do the upgrades on them, then sell them, easy peasy. Best to do this after you have a sim in the house that has maxed handiness and logic, so they can mentor everyone up real quick. I recommend planning ahead on which three books to have them read for the first milestone--I usually do logic, handiness, and gardening, since I have everyone complete freelance botanist, and they need logic and handiness for this aspiration, but sometimes I'll do a parenting book instead of gardening, if they're going to be a parent. The first sim you have do this will pretty obviously be the sim that will fully upgrade your rocket--after you have that sim do the five upgrades on the rocket, please, pretty please, finish upgrading your rocket. Less upgrades on your rocket means a higher chance of a crash landing, and I don't know about you, but crash landings always make my heart seize up, because even though I haven't had a rocket ship death yet -knock on wood- I'm really scared it'll happen. When you're doing the repair/upgrade objects in the final milestone of the aspiration, I recommend moving any upgrade parts that sim might have out of their inventory, then hover over each upgrade, do the math as to how many of each upgrade object you need for all five upgrades, then move the upgrade objects back into their inventory and buy the remaining ones you need, so that you only have to order upgrade parts once. Idk, I just hate constantly ordering upgrade parts, lol.
• Love - Serial Romantic - Definitely do this one sim at a time. It turns into a headache if you have multiple sims working on this at once. But seriously, this is a super easy aspiration to complete in a single day if you either have the club perk rally the troops or if you have access to moodlet solvers. For the first milestone, remember that you don't need to earn a medal on those two dates, so just 'ask on date' then immediately end the date twice, and it'll complete straight away. My personal recommendation for getting a sim amiable to romance interactions is to buy the incredibly friendly reward, then either go out and meet a bunch of people, or have another sim in the household form a club, start the club gathering so that the target sim shows up, and have your serial romantic sim introduce themselves. Don't have the serial romantic sim be the one starting the club, and don't add them to the club, if you're using the incredibly friendly reward, because adding a sim to the same club as them will start them out with a very low acquaintance friendship level, whereas an introduction with the incredibly friendly reward will always put you at either almost friends, friends, or even good friends sometimes. Then warm them up with a couple brighten day interactions--if you're early on in the aspiration/you're not playing an heir, so you didn't level charisma as a child, then go ahead and spam brighten day seven times(pause after doing the friendly introduction, then queue up brighten day 7 times), then spam heartfelt compliment 7 times, then trade off with one romance interaction the one friendly interaction for about four sets(so four romance interactions total), end on another friendly interaction, then you should be able to proceed with a bunch of romance interactions to build them up to girlfriend/boyfriend status. While you're doing the kiss 10 sims portion of the aspiration, make sure to go ahead and get them to girlfriend/boyfriend status anyway, so that when you get to the final milestone you already have the 8 boyfriend/girlfriends that you need for it. Oh yeah, and on the second milestone, when you're having your three first kisses, also get them to girlfriend/boyfriend status, because that'll instantly mark off the next milestone's 'have a strong romantic relationship with 3 sims' goal. Also note that even though your three first kisses won't show up for your 'kiss 10 sims' goal, you can kiss those same 3 sims when you're on that milestone, and they will count for it as well. You should already have level 6 charisma by the time you get to that goal, even if you don't pick up great kisser, because you should have been spamming brighten day 7 times and heartfelt compliment 7 times on each of the 10 sims, which will raise your charisma. But if you pick up great kisser(which honestly, I don't, because I don't like to waste satisfaction points when I'm supposed to be farming them for potions of youth), then you'll definitely already be there. The three gold medal dates should be really easy to do, especially if you do them at the bluffs or some other very empty place, because then you'll only get date goals to interact with your date(flirt 3 times, flirt while flirty, give massage, kiss, etc) and probably to sit and chat with your date. Boom, quick gold medal. If you're doing this for a pollinator, and I highly recommend it because then you can just form a pollination club and make your way around it pollinating all those sims, I highly recommend that you don't pollinate right away, but just lock in on doing serial romantic the first day when you move them in; you can get it done really fast if you're focused on it instead of trying to focus on pollinating and completing it.
• Love - Soulmate - Omg, this is one of the easiest aspirations. If you're doing this with a founder/heir and their spouse early in the dynasty, then definitely have them both do it at the same time. You can easily have them both complete it in less than a day. Your first two dates don't need medals, same as serial romantic, so you can just start and immediately end them. And the dates count for both sims aspirations, regardless of which one initiated the date, so that's really easy. Also, you can either wait for the founder/heir to have achieved immortality first, so that you've already had your unique bff and then be free to be bff's with your spouse, or you can do it straight away at the beginning when they're both young adults and you don't need to worry about the bff requirement being anytime soon. I know they're used to be a bug where you could only ever have one bff, but I'm pretty sure that's gone, or at least it is in my game. You still get the ask to be bff interaction as long as your friendship level is high enough, and it'll just cancel your previous bff and make you bff's with the new target sim. So, super easy. Soulmate status should be super easy to accomplish especially if you're already married when you start this aspiration, but if you're not there yet, then just like woohoo three or four times, and you'll be there pronto. If soulmate isn't registering when it should be, just travel to another location and it should pick up. Your 2 silver dates will count for both sims at the same time, same as the first non-medal dates. For the three gold medal dates, I recommend trading off which sim initiates the date, even though it counts for both of them regardless of who initiates, just because then you're getting in a fair amount of those required romantic interactions at the same time, for both of them instead of just one. Then, once the three dates are done, just focus on finishing the romantic interactions for one sim, and once they're done do the rest of the romantic interactions for the other sim. I think it took me a total of 8-10 sim hours to do soulmate for both founder and spouse, but that was also taking into account that my game lagged a bit and wouldn't drop actions from their queue into their active action, so if you don't have a laggy game, it would probably be even faster. Heck, I'd even recommend having your pollinator do soulmate after serial romantic, since it's a quick and easy aspiration to farm points from.
• Nature - Freelance Botanist - This is slightly time consuming for the first sim who does it, but the nice thing about it is that it's kind of similar to mansion baron, in that your 10 excellent plants count for all sims who do this aspiration, so you don't have to worry about evolving 10 excellent plants every single time. Gardening is really easy to level if you harvest, plant, and water a bunch of plants over and over. Talking to plants after you hit level 4 is also a good way to level gardening, although a bit slower than actually gardening, if you're tired of harvesting, planting, and watering. I'd probably recommend that you set up a room in the basement to do this one, since you can lock other sims out of it without having to worry about them reaching through a fence, and it's also easier to place focusing space prints/mathematical diagrams, assuming you don't have access to the mood lamps. I'm a little lazy sometimes, so I'll usually have my sim read a gardening book up to level 4 before I start this aspiration. Oh, and plant your cowplant early, because waiting for it to mature once you get to the last level is just bleh. If you don't want a dead cowplant hanging around, plop it in your family inventory once it's grown, it won't die there, and you can drag it back out if you ever want to get some essences harvested.
• Nature - The Curator - Blehhhh, I don't particularly like this one, because bah, I honestly do not like traveling with my sims, because my load screens take a good while. Maybe that'll change when I get my new laptop on Wednesday, though, since it'll have more ram and a better processor...But yeah, this is a really easy aspiration to complete, overall, if you're willing to run around looking for dig sites. If you don't have a complete collection yet and you're looking for a super easy one, the postcard collection can be completed in 1-2 days if you just chain your sim to the computer and check for pen pal replies/look for new ones. Oh! And I just discovered, that the first milestone is so easy if you have a wild plant that's fully matured around you, because you can harvest it once and it counts all 10 harvested plants as individual collectibles. So bam, 10 collectibles found all at once. When you're breeding frogs, make sure to remember to check back on whether or not you can breed again, idk, I frequently forget about it once I've done it and then it goes into re-load time.
• Popularity - Friend of the World - If you've already done serial romantic and/or you buy incredibly friendly(which if you're doing this with an heir, you should definitely already have, because you'll have done social butterfly as a child, and incredibly friendly makes that aspiration so much easier), then this is a super easy aspiration to complete. Just run around introducing yourself to people--oh, but make sure you spam brighten day and heartfelt compliment on each sim you introduce yourself to, so you can level charisma really fast. Sometimes I feel lazy about building charisma, and I'll just stick my sim in front of a mirror(making sure to have that high environment painting and the strongest camaraderie moodlet plus a confident painting, which instantly puts them at very confident), but seriously, if you want to level charisma fast, stop practicing your speech in front of a mirror and go talk to people. If you've spammed out brighten day and heartfelt compliment and still need to level your charisma, and there are no other sims to introduce yourself to and start that cycle over again with, then spam these interactions: flatter, compliment outfit, express admiration, tell engaging story. Each will level your charisma, and they don't have timers on them like brighten day/heartfelt compliment. Very fast charisma leveling. Make sure your cycling through those actions, though, instead of just doing flatter over and over or something, because then the sim you're talking to will get bored and you won't gain charisma and your friendship will take a hit. Most of my heirs have already maxed charisma by the time they're teens, plus they already have so many friends from incredibly friendly interactions while doing social butterfly, that this is almost an insta-complete aspiration for me once I go and do the meet 10 sims and meet a sim in 3 different locations. Meeting 10 sims is also very easy to do if you got to the gym or a bar. For some reason, parks do not generate visiting sims very much for me, but gyms and bars are always rocking with plenty of sims!
• Popularity - Party Animal - I know a lot of people shy away from this aspiration, but it's honestly very easy to complete if you're willing to dedicate 1-2 sim days to it, just like serial romantic. If you've already done friend of the world, then your first milestone is already complete. Keep in mind that, for some reason, not all parties count for this aspiration. Dinner party counts every single time I've done it, though, so I just always throw dinner parties. Don't push for gold when you only need a silver medal--just end the party as soon as you get silver. BUT ACTUALLY. Throw and cancel 3 parties in rapid succession--boom, that milestone is complete, and very fast, too. Dates are easier to get medals quickly on then parties are, so throw and cancel those 3 parties, then go get silver on 3 dates, because it doesn't specify a party, it just says a social event, and dates count for social events. Next milestone, you need silver on three social events, and to attend 5 social events in different locations. Go get silver on 3 dates in different locations(I usually hop around San Myshuno for some reason, idk, I like the area), then start and end two more dates in different locations right away; you don't need medals on the last two. Last milestone, go ahead and throw 2 gold medal dinner parties, then for the last 13 social events that you need, guess what? You don't need medals, and they don't need to be parties if you don't want them to be. If you have a romantic interest readily available, just start 13 dates and cancel them immediately. If you don't, then start 13 parties and cancel them immediately. Boom. Party Animal is done in 1 day.

Whoa, that got really intense. I did not mean to write that much. I'm going to do the update in a different post, now, rofl. I hope that was helpful for at least some person out there 

@FrancescaFiori Hehe, I like to think Niall is a good mix of both his parents. Very confident, and maybe a little too into himself, from his dad, and very stubborn and a bit wild from his mother. Geeta's here to keep everyone in line What would we do without her?!

@PeregrineTook Aww, I'm so glad you're liking how they're written <3 I'm honestly very nervous about this immortal dynasty, because it's my first time really focusing on weaving a story into it, even though the story is a bit muted at times while everyone's working through their requirements.

@LenaLJ Yay for catching up! I'm glad you like the house Confession time, it's totally based on the Biltmore estate in North Carolina, USA. I'm not very creative with building designs, so I needed something to refer to, but I played a little loose with it as well. And don't worry, Niall's masterplan shouldn't be too hazardous...I hope...Idk, we'll see.

[rika1431]

And here's the actual update! 

Chapter 8: Forever Committed To You



Bella: Now, who would have thought we’d ever see the day?

Raj: I, for one, did not see this coming.

Diego: Ah, you should have had faith.

Aislin: Pfft. I can be surprising. I do what I want, always have.

Diego: We know, darling. I’m just happy this is what you want.

Aislin: Oh, Diego.



Aislin: All right. I’m doing this. Walking down the aisle, not scared at all. Not panicking. Deep breaths. This is okay. This is absolutely all right.



Diego: Ah, look at her. She is so beautiful in the moonlight.



Aislin: I can hear you!

Diego: Good! Perhaps I should shout it louder, then? You are magnificent, ma coeur!



Aislin: You’re absolutely ridiculous, but I wouldn’t want to spend my life with anyone else in this world.

Diego: I will always be ridiculous for you, cherie. The moment I laid eyes on you, the moment you parted your sweet lips and let out your siren song, I knew that there would be nothing and no one else for me so long as you breathed. And what a lucky man I am that I will never lose you. My heart, as it has always been, is yours.



Diego: Please, allow me to present you with this unending symbol of my love and affection. Wear it always, to keep me close to you, to keep my love beside you.

Aislin: How am I supposed to compete with those vows?

Diego: -winks- You can’t. But that’s okay. I love you anyways.



Aislin: Oh shut up and kiss me, already, you goofball.

Diego: With pleasure.



Aislin: Not too much of this cake, though, or I won’t fit in this dress for long!

Diego: I am not planning on you staying in that dress for long.

Raj: Gross. How dare you flirt with each other in front of me. It’s sickening.

Aurora: What did Mr. Lobo mean?

J: Uh…nothing, nothing at all, dear. You’ll understand when you’re older.



Diego: And that, son, is how you weave a spell so powerful that even the most noncommittal woman cannot resist you!

Niall: Dad, we all know mom calls the shots in this family.

Diego: Ah, or is she simply allowed to think that? -winks- You have to stay on your toes with the women.



Aurora: Oh, Mrs. Doran, you look so pretty in your dress! I hope I’m half as pretty as you someday.

Aislin: Aurora, you are already one of the most beautiful girls I have ever met. You don’t need to worry about that.

Aurora: -sigh- Do you think I’ll ever have as magical a day as you had today?

Aislin: Oh, I’m hoping so.



Aislin: It was a pretty good wedding, wasn’t it? Not bad at all. I only panicked five times. That’s pretty good for me!

Bella: And you made it all the way up the aisle without running back down it! I was so proud of you.

Aislin: Yeah! Go me. I’m so good at this commitment thing. Oh god, I’m committed, oh god, this is terrifying.

Bella: Breathe. It’s all okay.

Aislin: I need to find Diego. -deep breaths- He’ll make me feel better.

Bella: That’s right.



Miko: This is pretty good music! I could dance to this all day!

Yuki: I’m tired. I want to go home, not listen to pop music.

Miko: Tough. This is the price we pay for the beautiful men we visit.

Yuki: I should have read the fine print…



Akira: So yeah, you’re super cute. Very cute. I like your pigtails.

Liberty: Oh, that’s sweet. Most people think they’re silly.

Akira: No, I think they’re really cute! Just like you.

Liberty: You’re new to this, aren’t you?

Akira: A little, yeah.

Liberty: It’s okay, I think you’re cute, too.



Niall: And then I jumped off the roof of a five story building and did a triple flip before landing on my feet! Pretty impressive, huh? But you wouldn’t know, because you’re just a mirror. -sigh- My awesomeness is so wasted here. Gotta be careful, though, I don’t want to be too charismatic just yet. Master plan doesn’t allow for it.



Liberty: Blerghaflarghba! Stupid adorable man. I’m in trouble now.



J: Oh god, what’s happening? Not this feeling again! I hate this feeling! Who’s going into labor?

Mila: That would be ME!! END THIS CLUB MEETING IMMEDIATELY!

J: OH GOD.



Aislin: Have I told you today that I love you?

Diego: Hey! That’s my line. But yes, you have, and still, I’d love to hear it again.

Aislin: Well, I do. I love you. So, so much.



Aislin: I love you so much that I’m willing to eat here again.

Diego: Aww, you spoil me.



Diego: Just have to get a quick picture of this, it’s positively intriguing.

Aislin: Mmm, that nectar though. I’m back on a liquid diet here.

Diego: Sweetheart, couldn’t you at least try your food?

Aislin: But I don’t want to make unattractive faces on our date!

Diego: Well, that is considerate of you.

Aislin: It is your birthday, after all.



Diego: I’m rather ready for adulthood, I should think. It’s just another grand adventure to go on with you.

Aislin: I’m scared. Am I allowed to be scared?

Diego: Why should you be scared? It isn’t your birthday.

Aislin: But…it means…

Diego: Shh, darling. We both know it’s going to happen eventually, but we don’t need to talk about it. Let’s just enjoy each moment as they happen.



Diego: Like this one! Here we go!



Diego: Ah yes, still as beautiful as ever.

Aislin: Ugh, you’re insufferable. I hate you.

Diego: -grins- You love me. I always know you’re really feeling in love with me when you say that.

Aislin: -blushes- Shush.



Diego: There, that wasn’t so bad, was it? I’m older, and wiser, and still very much in love with you. And now we have food that you’ll actually eat.

Aislin: Are you sure you don’t hate me now that you’re wiser? That seems likely.



Diego: Ma coeur, that is one thing you will never have to worry about.



Niall: Hey, Aurora, want to be my very best friend?

Aurora: Oh gosh, really? Really, really?

Niall: Yeah! I mean, we can only be best friends for a while—I’m going to need an out of house best friend eventually—but then we can go back to being best friends when I’m an elder, if you still want to. But you’re super awesome, and I want you to be my best friend.

Aurora: I want to be your best friend, too! Oh gosh, I really do.

Niall: Will you do me a favor, now that we’re best friends?

Aurora: Anything, of course! I mean…yeah, sure.

Niall: Will you promise to still be as much of my best friend when I’m best friends with someone else for like, a day? We won’t be officially best friends anymore, but will you still like me as much? I promise to still secretly be your best friend.

Aurora: As far as I’m concerned, we’ve been best friends since we were toddlers, and we’ll be best friends forever and ever.

Niall: Oh, phew. That’s a huge relief. Can you do me another favor?

Aurora: Of course! What is it?

Niall: It’s totally not fair, since I’ll have another best friend, but could you not have another best friend?

Aurora: I don’t want another best friend, so that’s no problem.

Niall: Oh, good. You’re just really awesome, and I mean, I’m really awesome, so we should definitely be best friends, but like…I don’t know, maybe it’s lame, which is really bad for me because I shouldn’t be lame, cause it’s kind of selfish, but I kind of don’t like the idea of you being best friends with someone else. I don’t want to share you.

Aurora: Oh. -blushes- That was actually really sweet.

Niall: Booyah! I’m sweet! You think I’m sweet! Yesssss, score for Niall!

Aurora: -sigh- You’re kind of as insufferable as your dad, though.

Niall: I will take that as a compliment, considering all my dad has accomplished.

[Shewolf13]

Oh Wowsa!  That's an awesome write-up!  Thanks so much for that ^^ If I decide to do an IDC again, I'll definitely be looking at that for when I do the planning (I love the planning stage, but somehow things always go a bit nuts once it starts XD).

Now, that update was amazing!  The wedding was gorgeous and oh my, Diego is just so smooth lol.  I love the whole "I hate you" thing, because my husband and I do that on occasion XD for much the same reason lol

That last part, with Niall and Aurora was awesome.  lol and yes, he's as insufferable as his dad, I would say more so in some ways.  He doesn't yet quite have the charm of his dad lol Though I imagine that will come with age hehehe

[FrancescaFiori]

I love it! Good for Aislin not even trying to match Diego's vows. He said it all.
The budding romance between the two children is just darling. Niall showing a tiny sliver of vulnerability tugs at my heart strings, but it seems Aurora is going to give him nothing to worry about. She's as patient and faithful as he is braggadocious. Awww.

[rika1431]

@Shewolf13 Bahaha, the 'I hate you' thing is one of my favorites, too--for me, it's "you're a dork." My boyfriend knows I'm in a great mood whenever I say that Hopefully Niall grows into his personality 

@FrancescaFiori They make a good pair, don't they? She's very calm and steadying, which is a very necessary influence on him, hehe.

Chapter 9: Back to the Jungle



Aislin: So hey, how’s it going? You having a good day?

Miko: Um, yeah, but it’s kind of late. Why did you call me out here?

Aislin: Oh, you know, I just thought we should catch up!

Miko: You want another donation, don’t you?

Aislin: That would really help, actually, yeah. But I also want to maintain our friendship! It’s so important to me, you know, you’re just such a good friend.

Miko: -squints- Somehow, I really like you, and we’re good friends, and yet I also don’t trust you.

Aislin: You know, that isn’t very surprising.



Bella: Oh Geeta, I can’t believe you’re gone, even now, even though you visit. I know I have to keep us on task, but you were so much better at this than I am. I wish you could have stayed.



Aislin: So Candy, friends, yeah?

Candy: Sure, friends sounds great! I never really make friends, unless someone’s doing a dynasty, but you’re nowhere near an elder, so I don’t think you’re doing that, which is so refreshing!

Aislin: …Yes, definitely not doing a dynasty, no ulterior motives here.

Miko: Suspicious. And yet I’m just going to keep listening to pop music. For some reason. I can’t seem to get away from it.



Aislin: And I’m making a bunch of friends at the same time as I’m collecting donations for my job! It’s just perfect, isn’t it? I’ll just have to pick six to keep up the friendship status thing with, and it’ll all be golden.

Geeta: That’s very good, dear, but what about your aspiration?

Aislin: Well, yeah, that’s…that’s important. I just don’t want to miss work, you know? And I want to make sure Niall gets his A before I take off.

Geeta: Hm, that’s fair. I trust you—I don’t want to see you fail, that’s all, darling.

Aislin: I know. I really appreciate your support. You just…you mean so much to me.



Aislin: You two seem really nice! I’m sure you’d love to donate to a worthy cause, and make a good friend at the same time?

Alice: Actually, that sounds very nice. It’s a refreshing change of pace from being forced to move to a horrid hovel so that some dynasty founder can get their hands on all of our money.

Aislin: Oh geez, yeah, who would do that…

Alice: Right?

Aislin: It certainly wouldn’t cross a founder’s mind and then be immediately rejected because you have such a large family, nope, that wouldn’t happen at all.



Aislin: Nice baby bump! You must be so excited—I bet you need a friend, don’t you?

Liberty: I’ve heard about how you’re running around making friends with everyone. It’s a little odd…

Aislin: Hey, I’m just a very dedicated charity organizer, that’s all.

Liberty: Eh, I’ve already been pollinated, might as well support your dynasty for all it’s worth.

Aislin: Dynasty? Who said anything about a dynasty?

Liberty: This is not my first rodeo.



Aislin: That’s right, I’ve maxed charisma, and I just went out and got about a billion donations in a single night, so you should definitely give me a raise! What do you mean, I just got promoted? That’s beside the point!



Niall: Sup, dude! Cool threads. I mean, the shirt and pants combo is a little off, but it’s a unique style, and kudos to you for having the guts to pull it off.

Random: I have no idea why, but I feel instantly compelled to be your friend upon just saying hello to you.

Niall: Muahaha, I’m awesome, that’s all.



Aurora: And do you see that cloud? I think it’s really beautiful how nature can make such amazing things out of seemingly unimportant parts. Don’t you?

Toby: -sigh- You’re amazing.

Aurora: Oh! -blushes- Thank you.

Toby: Can I spend all my time with you?

Aurora: I don’t think that’s wise. I already have a best friend, even if he’s a bit of a fool, and doesn’t seem to notice me all the time.

Toby: That’s silly. You should be my best friend!

Aurora: Absolutely not! What kind of person do you think I am, to just go around changing best friends? I think you should leave right this instant.



Niall: And then the teacher called on me and I jumped out of my seat and struck simply the most awesome pose—because I’m awesome, natch—and everyone was blown away when I pulled the most awesomely correct answer out of thin air.

Shanaya: You…are a hand full.

Niall: But an awesome hand full.



Niall: Argh! Monster dead ahead! Raise the sails! Why aren’t you all playing?

Aurora: Oh, you didn’t ask. I just thought I should stay out of your way.

Randall: I’m kind of stargazing with Aurora right now, and I heard she kicked Toby out, and I’m not risking that.

Toby: Lucky. -sulks-

Niall: Toby, didn’t Aurora ask you to leave? If you’re bugging my best friend, I’ll hang you upside down on this ship, I swear!



Aurora: Fishing is an excellent way to raise my mental skill, don’t you think?

Raj: It’s an excellent way to be forgotten about and become absolutely filthy.

Aurora: That’s no way to look at it! You’re providing excellent support to the family and are incredibly valued, don’t ever, ever, forget that.

Akira: Whoa, I can’t help but feel happier after hearing that.



Aislin: I love you so much, Diego. I would renew our vows every single day if I could.

Diego: As far as I’m concerned, every moment we speak is a renewal of our vows. I will never cease to declare my everlasting love for you, ma coeur.

Aislin: Oh, goodness. You always know just what to say.



Aislin: All right, everybody, very important meeting time.

Niall: Are we getting a puppy? That would be so awesome.

Aislin: No, I’m sorry, no puppy just yet. Your father and I are going on a special trip. You’re a little too young to come with us, but I want you to be on your best behavior for Aunt Bella, do you hear?

Niall: I mean, I can’t make promises if my awesome gets out of control.

Aurora: Don’t worry, Mrs. Doran, I’ll try and help as best as I can.

Aislin: As long as you’re around, I can’t imagine he’ll get into too much trouble…



Diego: Didn’t I promise you you’d still have adventures?

Aislin: You did, and you came with me, and I’m so touched!

Diego: Well, it certainly is a new experience for me! There are no city lights at all out here…and the air is so…so…

Aislin: Fresh?

Diego: Perhaps. I think it’s going to my head a bit.



Diego: So, this is where it all began, then?

Aislin: Yep. I just tossed a coin in there on a whim, and everything changed.



Diego: For the better, ma coeur. I hope you are happy with the way things turned out.

Aislin: How could I not be happy to have you in my life? I never knew love could be so sweet.



Aislin: So, do you have any cool stories about local myths or anything?

Dia: Trying to raise your culture skill, eh? Strap in, I’ve got a doozy for you.

Diego: Oh my.



Diego: Darling, this sign is a little terrifying. Should we be out here?

Aislin: Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of baits and waterfall bottles and such, and I’ve even put quite a few in your inventory! Everything will be fine.

Diego: If you say so…



Diego: Now, we may be out in the jungle, but this bridge is overlooking a simply magnificent area, and I must insist you stop and listen to my poetry.

Aislin: How could a girl say no to that?

Diego: Well, you don’t particularly have a choice in the matter, so I’m glad you’re amenable.



Aislin: We did it, we found the temple! Quick, down a moodlet solver so we can keep exploring.

Diego: Are you sure you need me for this part, love?

Aislin: Oh, I…I’d rather you stay.

Diego: Then of course I will be by your side.



Aislin: All right, just have to figure out a few of these temple traps. I can do this. I’m not going to get cursed—oh drat.



Diego: Take another moodlet solver, ma coeur, and all will be well. I’ll just try and find a few things for you to authenticate while you’re—



Diego: Perhaps I should go back to the villa.

[Shewolf13]

Bwahahaha I am getting far too much enjoyment at seeing Diego in the jungle with his flower suite hehehe. Oh Aurora, so popular lol Niall... better wise up boy. Don't take your best friend for granted. Seems she has a fan club lol

[FrancescaFiori]

I love how mother and son are both mastering the skill of winning over skeptical, been-around-the-block, potential friends. Nice work, guys!
I also love how Aurora is stepping so easily into the Bella/Geeta role of facilitating and smoothing things over. That girl is perfection. I hope Niall comes to appreciate her as much as Aislin appreciates Diego.
And, yes, Diego in the jungle, impeccably overdressed! To die for! And he's an excellent sport until the electrical trap. Lol! Glad he made sure to pause for a poetry reading. I mean, how could you not?

[Tynynounours]

A great update, Awesome Niall, wise Aurora and a great romantic adventure in the jungle.
Well, and some nearly forgotten Raj. I'm sure he's trying to afraid the kid and just got dirty in an epic fight to bring back some giant angelfish.