Author Topic: The Blackburn Dynasty  (Read 28251 times)

Offline Chubling

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Chapter 31
« Reply #120 on: March 22, 2021, 05:20:39 PM »
Welcome travelers to Space Station Excelsior! If you will just step right through here, you’ll be sterilized for entry! Haha! I wish! But wouldn’t that be so cool if I could have my own space station? Sadly, that isn’t an option. Yet! But I do have my own space above the garage!

I’m Velma of House Blackburn and I’ll be your guide for this stretch of our family epic. I love sci-fi and I want to be a Space Ranger more than anything. I wanna meet aliens and discover stars and planets and fight galactic beasts, just like Barbarella or Duck Dodgers!

I have been working on making my own inventions as well. That way I can build my own devices and objects from my favorite movies! I thought about communicators, but that's just my cell phone, but I have been working on a fully functional decontamination blast! Take that space parasites! Ziff! Zap! Zowie!

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Mom just worries about my obsession with “Old Movies and Silly TV shows”. She doesn’t approve of reading fiction or watching TV, says it rots the mind. But she’s the one trying to steam and herb things that have no business being steamed and herbed, so who’s mind is rotten, Mom! Besides, she is always going on about projecting the energy you want to be into the world and I can’t think of anything better than limitless possibilities!

Whenever Mom kicks me out of the house because she “worries” about me, I spend a lot of my time digging around in junk yards, which doesn’t really make one super popular in school. Mom used to set up playdates for me with neighborhood kids, but now that I’m a teenager, I have to make my own friendships and it’s a little hard. It’s not that I’m bad with people, it’s just that I don’t find them very interesting. But I have dynasty commitments that say I need to at least get them to like me.

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So I decided the best solution was to throw a party. That’s what popular people do so that is what I will do! A costume one, because costumes are the best and it was that time of year. I wanted to go as an astronaut, but Mom said she had already picked out an outfit for me. She hates how unflattering space suits are and wants me in something a little more “fun”.

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It turned out to be a stroke of genius! A divine touch of luck and destiny! Because Terril was wearing the same costume as I am! He’s one of the rare interesting people in this town.

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Who is Terril I can hear you asking. Terril is the most handsome man I have ever seen. He has the red skin of an exploding star and the most romantic eyes to gaze into. I’ve had a crush on him since puberty made me realize that kissing might be fun to try. Sure, he's a touch older than I am, but it hardly matters!

He’s smart and funny and always willing to talk to me about the stars. He’s just as interested in them as I am. And he doesn’t treat me like a silly little kid, he gets how impressive my intellect is! A rare quality in an adult.

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Perfect, right?

Almost. There is a slight obstacle between me and my love.

He happens to be dating my Mom. Who has been feeling so lonely since dad died and now that I’m older she wanted to “start getting in touch with her feminine energies” again.

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And Mom really likes him. How could she not! But it means I can’t just make my feelings for him known. I just have to watch the only person I have ever had feelings for dance with my mom.

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So I have been spending extra time locked up in my Experimentation Chamber working. I have been channeling my frustration into the greatest idea ever! Prepare for AMAZEMENT! My greatest triumph!

See, Grandma Adelaide isn’t really sold (Yet!) on my wanting to go to space. She doesn’t see how that helps the Path and wants me to have on a career that will focus on what’s “important”. So I am going to do something so amazing that she’ll have to let me go into space.

I’m going to create a device that will let us go to alien planets! See, when I discover sentient life as a daring Space Explorer!, my family can use this to visit it instantly and bring the word of the Path to new species! And Mom will have a whole new audience for her shows! She’ll be so busy she’ll forget all about Terril! It’s the perfect plan and absolutely nothing can go wrong!

I did have to take a break and go to Prom. I wanted to keep working on my world changing inventing, but Mom insisted. She’s worried I am not socializing enough with my peers. It’s not my fault they are boring! I am trying to change science as we know it, but fine, I shall go to this silly little prom.

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I won Prom Queen? I was honestly expecting pig’s blood to fall, but I guess they have managed to recognize the greatness in their midst. One of the boys tried to flirt with me, but I don’t want some scrawny half-child. I only have eyes for Terril!

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I went home, changed out of my prom dress and headed into the Experimentation Chamber to work. I was fired up after an evening of dealing with pimply adolescents. Late into the night, I realized, I had done it! It was time! I am unstoppable!

I wasted no time sneaking out of the house and headed to the graveyard. I didn’t want my family to know what I was up to yet, not until I knew it was working smoothly. They would probably try to stop me as they have to imagination except for Grandma Giulia. My machine whirled to life and smelled of burning metal and reckless choices, but I wasn’t scared. I lept in, ready to finally get to touch down on an alien planet.

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And ended flat on my tail and still in the graveyard. What was going on? Why wasn’t I on Sixam?

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Then I heard it. A shrieking of metal on metal as the door to my machine opened again.

I had made a very big mistake in my calculations.

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Will our Hero survive? Tune in Next Time to find out, Space Ranger!

~~~~~~~

Heir 5 has arrived in all her glory! She's been a lot of fun so far and while play is slow (I have to restart the game constantly to avoid losing progress, but I don't have to keep replaying stuff over and over thankfully).

Offline Auranaris

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Re: The Blackburn Dynasty
« Reply #121 on: March 22, 2021, 05:54:16 PM »
After reading that I have three things to say:

1. CLIFFHANGER

2. You’re very brave to use the time machine! My sims have only had chaos come from that thing. Including a cave woman daughter who is the same age as her parents.

 And finally,

3. I know I haven’t commented yet but I’m loving the way you write all your sims .
they/he pronouns please!



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Offline Chubling

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Chapter 32
« Reply #122 on: April 06, 2021, 04:36:44 PM »
Welcome back Space Rangers! As you recall, things have been getting grave for our Hero!

Fog rolled out of the Machine as a transparent specter clawed their way out. Metal on metal shrieked as the doors were twisted and bent out of shape, unable to close again. This was bad. This was ghosts. Ghosts that are supposed to be on their new Path, not back on Earth.

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One after another, they came out of the Machine, mingling around as they realized what was happening, confused and angry.

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It seemed to never end. Space Rangers, Our Hero might be in trouble.

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Ghosts were spewing across the graveyard, glowing and transparent in the darkness. This was very bad. I had made a very big mistake somewhere. It didn’t connect to Saxim at all Space Rangers! It connected to the land of the dead! (Which, when you think about it, is actually more impressive!)

As a highly trained Space Adventurer, I knew exactly how to handle this emergency!

I ran away I took stock of the situation and decided that an organized withdrawal was the best course of action. I, of course, would have stayed if it was an alien menace, but this was not in the Space Rangers Handbook!

Of course everyone at home had already figured out what happened by the time I got back. Great adventures are never subtle (and the also ghosts had already started spilling into town). Mom was apocalyptic! She’s never been angry with me like this before. Usually she wants to tell me about my feelings.

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Also, the middle of her yelling is not the time to suggest she unblock her muladhara. That just makes it worse. Learn from my mistake, Space Rangers!

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Grandma Adelaide managed to be even angrier. She couldn’t believe I had been this stupid; that I was such a disappointment. (If I’m so stupid Grandma how did I invent a Machine that let me connect to the realm of the Dead! Sure, it backfired a touch, but STILL)

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I still begged her for forgiveness anyways. I’m not used to having to do this much begging, but even this Space Adventurer can admit I have made a slight calculation error here. Anyone would have! It was very complicated math, okay!

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Grandma Adelaide then reminded me that she wasn’t the one I needed to convince to forgive me (Conveniently after I already did my begging). It was High Command itself, the Reaper. And they weren't going to be willing to just wave this away if I asked real nice. I was going to need a plan.

There was nothing to be done but head to the library. I searched high and low for any information that could be useful to my needs. I found a few physics books that could help, but what I really needed wasn’t here on these shelves. We needed to go deeper, Space Rangers.

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I had to head to the Archives. That was where Moonlight Falls hid it’s secrets, or a few of them anyways. I spent hours there, pouring over the information there. Finally, I had enough to try and make my case. That I could handle this and I was capable of fixing things.

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Going up in front of High Command is always stressful, but I was prepared! I laid out my plan and I got my orders! High Command was willing to let me clean up my mess! I had my Assignment and was ready to go!

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I just needed to get the specifics worked out and make sure my theories worked. But I am a genius, so I think we’ll be fine, Space Rangers.

With that at least handled for now, it was time to celebrate Mom’s last birthday. Grandma Adelaide made a big old pomegranate pie and Mom invited a few friends over. Including Terril!

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While she went upstairs to try and fix her wardrobe, I got to spend some time chatting with Terril. He is just marvelous to talk to. I could spend hours with him, telling him all about my latest projects.

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But the life of a future Space Adventurer isn’t all play, I had work to do! Into the Experimentation Chamber I went, clanging away and figuring out how to fix the Machine.

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It didn’t take Mom long to get her museum pieces finished and to have her first meal of ambrosia. She’s officially Immortal now, but it hasn’t prevented her from still eating all her weird rabbit food and doing her yoga everyday. She complained the whole time about the fish taste and kept gagging. Grandma Adelaide wasn't amused at all.

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Now it’s all on me. I just have to actually solve this mess so I can get back on track to Space! It’s going to be extra hard now to convince Grandma Adelaide that I should be allowed onto a rocket ship! But a Space Adventure never surrenders! I wonder if I could build my own without her knowing…

I couldn’t spend all my time in the Experimentation Chamber, no matter how much I tried. Mom hasn’t let old age stop her from dragging me out of Space Station Finder and telling me I’m not allowed back into the house until nightfall.

So I divided my forced free time between gathering inspiration at the local theater

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And hanging out with Terril. He’s always happy to see me and I’ve become a master of coming up with excuses to “just be in the neighborhood.”

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My time in the archive was starting to pay off. My birthday was drawing closer and I am desperate to get this fixed before I grow up! Getting into space is competitive and I don’t want to fall any further behind than I already am. But I think I have figured out a way to close the Machine at least. It might not matter. Hundreds of ghosts must have spilled out by now. But the sooner I get it closed, the less I have to clean up.

I headed to the graveyard with my trusty tool kit and went to work. A few hours of banging and sweating and a few curses I’m not supposed to know, I had done it! The portal was closed!

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Now I just have to figure out how to collect a ghost. And it’s my birthday party in the morning so I am running out of time if I'm going to get into a rocket.

Until Next Time, Space Ranger!

~~~~~

After reading that I have three things to say:

1. CLIFFHANGER

2. You’re very brave to use the time machine! My sims have only had chaos come from that thing. Including a cave woman daughter who is the same age as her parents.

 And finally,

3. I know I haven’t commented yet but I’m loving the way you write all your sims .

1. Haha! I felt like after how boring MJ's drama ended up being I needed to spice things up a little.

2. Technically, I am not brave. The graveyard stuff was all in an alt save, as was probably obvious by this chapter. I have pretty tight housing because I pollinate a lot (my poor game is not being helped by dealing with all those extra sims). I was way to terrified that I might come home with an extra child and be ruined! So I chose the cowards path!

3. That's so flattering! Thank you so much! I always worry my characters all sound the same, so it's wonderful to know people are enjoying them! I will take my dopamine hits where I can in this pandemic.


So, I have generations installed, so I have had a number of the kids end up with IFs. I just leave them in their inventories and never let them out and that seemed to work fine so far, but with Velma, hers started to show up randomly, but in a person form. So it made getting screenshots difficult on occasion. Ah the joys of my slowly degrading game.

I have also been bad about mentioning the pets, they are still there and adorable and do very little but get loved on. And I have been bad about showing the various pollinated kids around town. If people are interested in seeing them, I might see about making a post that is just an update of who is still around town and show off some of the kids.

Offline Trip

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Re: The Blackburn Dynasty
« Reply #123 on: April 06, 2021, 09:26:01 PM »
I thought the time travel screenshots were great! And seamless. I think you won't get a time travel child if you already have a full house, but time travel to the past can also change a sim's career and it's game HoF good boy points over if you get switched to the top of a career that another immortal has.
No respect, no chance, cease and desist when I chant-

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Offline Chubling

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Chapter 33
« Reply #124 on: June 10, 2021, 08:34:20 PM »
Welcome back to Space Station Excelsior, Space Rangers! Things have been busy since I last saw you!

While the town was filled with ghosts, there was something a little more important going on. That’s right, Space Rangers, it’s my Young Adult Birthday! My time to shine has finally arrived!

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We threw a party, because no matter how much trouble I’m in, no one in this house can resist a good party. And it was the perfect way to invite Terril over to see that I’m not some awkward teenager anymore!

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I raced upstairs to get my new wardrobe settled, but by the time I was looking just right, Terril and Mom had slipped away and who cared about the party at that point? Might as well get started on my museum pieces if I can’t hang out with him. Not the way I had been hoping to spend my birthday party.

The next day was my Graduation from Space Academy (If only, just High School)! I was Valedictorian, obviously, because I am a genius. None of my classmates are even close to me in terms of grades. I was voted Most Likely to Take Over the World, but I’m sure they meant Explore a New World.

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I just have to solve the slight...haunting problem the town has. After the traditional Graduation breakfast (I had my pancakes with extra everything just to watch Mom freak out about sugars and everything not being alkaline), I figured I would head back to the library and get to work. This was going to be no trouble for someone with my abilities!

Mom apparently decided to hit up the Spring Festival. With Terril, I’m sure you are thinking, Space Rangers, but incorrect! My mother decided that having one perfect, loving, handsome, fascinating man wasn’t enough. No, she went to the Spring Festival, the Love festival, with
Sophie ** Rodgers!

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How dare she! Terril is perfect and she is cheating on him right out in the open!

When I looked up from my work and I saw them flirting, I admit, I might have gotten a touch...upset.

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I stormed right up to her and her hussy and I told her I couldn’t believe she was cheating and what kind of lesson was she teaching with that! I demanded to know if Terril had any idea this was happening. How could she do this to him!?

It was one of the worst fights we ever had. We never used to fight until recently and now they keep getting worse and worse! Why does she have to keep acting like this!

I wasn’t sure what to do, should I tell Terril or not? Could I betray my mom like that? But I couldn’t stand to betray Terril like this either. He deserved to know, didn’t he? But what if my telling him makes him hate me?

It weighed on me heavily every time I hung out with Terril. Should I tell him? Should I not?

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Mother continued to see Sophie and Terril, no matter how much it upset me. How could she be so selfish!?

And Terril and I grew ever closer. If I wasn’t in the library or Space Station Excelsior working on my inventions, I was with him. He is so smart and handsome and funny. It made my guilt over hiding this from him so much worse.

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Despite my feelings for him, I’m making sure I was still focusing on my goals. I needed to get training for the space program and every day I dawdled around with this ghost stuff meant I was that much less likely to get into the program! Not even my family name and wealth is enough to get me in if I can’t pass the tests! It was during one of these sessions that I had my Eureka! I had figured out a way to suck ghosts up and the ritual to return them to the Path!

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I had to find a ghost first, so I could test it out, so I got to work, searching the skies for that telltale glow.

Blast off, Space Rangers! My first ghost huntretrieval went well. Messy, but well. I learned if you turn the beam up too high, sometimes a ghost can explode! Lesson learned Space Rangers! I’m sure that ghost will eventually get back together?

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My time was very busy. I needed to figure out how to upgrade my ghost catcher and I needed to capture more ghosts! No matter how many I returned, there always seemed to be more. And the older I got, the harder it would be to make it into Space! While aging won’t be an issue later, right now Time is my enemy!

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But when Terril called, I always made time for him. The touring production of my favorite sci-fi book turned into a movie that was then turned into a musical was in town and he had gotten me tickets! Of course I was free to go with him! A little white hair didn't make him any less handsome to me.

The show was so much fun, the perfect blend of silly and drama and earnestness that had Terril and I whispering and laughing the entire time. It was a perfect datetime and the conversation was so easy. I was in the middle of showing him my new ghost catcher when the guilt began to overwhelm me.

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I was looking into his beautiful eyes and I just couldn’t stop myself. “She’s cheating on you!” “What?” “My mom. She has been seeing Sophie behind your back! I’m so sorry!”

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Poor Terril. He was just devastated. He really cared about my mom and she had stomped all over his heart. I, of course, comforted him as best I could.

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Emotions were running high and one thing led to another and finally, it was happening! Terril and I were kissing! And it was better than I had ever dreamed of!

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Such bliss couldn’t last forever. Eventually I had to head back home and face my mother. I told her everything and she was beyond furious, Space Rangers. We had a huge blowout and screamed things at each other I never, ever thought I would hear from someone I loved, let alone say. I won't be repeating them here but I’m sure you can imagine just fine.

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In my hurt and rage, I sought out the one person who understands me. I could hear my mother’s words in my ears, filling me with dark thoughts and I needed to drown them out with happy ones. So I did what anyone would have done and I proposed to Terril and he said yes! We were meant to be together and there was no reason to resist any longer! Mom can't stop me anymore!

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I didn’t want to wait for my mom to get involved and try to get in the way so I brought Terril with me to the Temple. I had never been at night before and it was beautiful and romantic and the soft scent of flowers filled the night air. It was so ideal and right, I just knew we were destined for each other.

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We were married in the moonlight, just the two of us proclaiming our love to each other and binding ourselves together. Everything was going to be perfect, Space Rangers!

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~~~~~

I thought the time travel screenshots were great! And seamless. I think you won't get a time travel child if you already have a full house, but time travel to the past can also change a sim's career and it's game HoF good boy points over if you get switched to the top of a career that another immortal has.

They can WHAT!? Oh man. Now I am extra glad I didn’t actually mess with it in my real save. I don’t even know what I would have done if I had lost my HoF status over that. I reject that!!! Not today Satan! I mostly figured it would be obvious that I wasn't in my main save because I put all the MF ghosts into the house with Velma to get those shots. Figured they would give me away but I should have just kept my mouth shut!

This has taken a bit because, well, my mental health has been in the toilet for so long and it’s hard. But making my way through this slowly and surely. Finished not perfect has been my mantra through this. All the steps with the pictures are murder on my executive dysfunction. But I am still working on this and it will be finished! I speak this into existence! Hopefully people are still enjoying it and the wonderful, definitely not terrible choices the Blackburns love to make.

 

anything