House of Steel Dynasty - Failed Due to Bugs

[Lilygirl]

Happy Birthdays again!

Personally, I hope Pepper's heir has Shantel's pink eyes because that would be super unique! It's even better since Shantel wears a pink shirt.

[cathyknits]

I don't think I've ever seen pink eyes before! And, my gosh, you have a houseful right now...

[Ricalynn]

The Big Bash

It was the day that I had been dreading for so long.  It was also the day that I had waited for.  Today was the day my little boy became a man.  Today was the day I became an old man.  That morning a note from the Watcher was waiting for me instead of my wife when I woke up.   The Watcher let me know she was proud of me for having reached every challenge that had been put before me.  She said once the art pieces needed for the museum were complete I could taste ambrosia with Her blessing.   I wasn't even sure I still wanted Ambrosia but I was very sure that if I changed my mind, my wife and cousin would beat me then force it down my throat.

Agnes invited over as many people as she could think of between our friends and Pepper's to watch us both grow up.  Well I'm not sure about my son but all I really did was age up not necessarily grow up.  I'm not sure our living room can handle much more of these parties though.  After everyone was assembled, I called dibs on first cake.  Doing it in order of importance seemed logical.  I think it was one of my sons, or maybe it was Mike, one of the younger ones called out "You mean Age before Beauty."  It might have been Chris come to think of it.  They're all brats.

I remember thinking really hard about how much I wanted my wish and then it was time for the cake magic to work.  It doesn't matter that I've done this 5 times before.  The sparkles and the feeling always surprises me.




Agnes promised me that she had gotten the hair dye I wanted as we watched our firstborn take his turn.  I think I saw him look at Shantel when he blew out the candles and then suddenly, he was a man.  Need I say it.  Yes I need.  A Man of Steel complete with a steel bladder.  Sorry, I had to say it.  Touching moments need laughter to keep us from rusting. 



As soon as the sparkles were over and he did his tada face, Pepper got a look at himself in the window and made a mad dash to fix his hair before sitting down to enjoy the cake. 


I waited until most of the people were gone before attempting to dye my hair.  I think it turned out ok.


After that Chris called me into the courtyard and we had a Steel men dance off just to commemorate.   Only Chris and I knew why we were really celebrating.  As soon as my Aggie put the finishing touches on my portrait, I could partake of the Ambrosia sitting in the fridge.


Ricanote: The whole reason I took the last screenshot was to show you guys that I had decided that all Men of Steel will be wearing the token teal suit for the rest of the dynasty.   Here's a closer look at all my men.
[L-R: Mike, Chris, Sage, Pepper, Dill]

I don't think I've ever seen pink eyes before! And, my gosh, you have a houseful right now...

I love having a house full.  I've just gotten used to it so when there is only a couple of Sims I'm really bored.  As for the pink eyes, I saved the color a while back because I had started a game with a Red-skinned Sim and that was her eyes so I'm guessing the game just grabbed from there.

Happy Birthdays again!

Personally, I hope Pepper's heir has Shantel's pink eyes because that would be super unique! It's even better since Shantel wears a pink shirt.

I'm kind of hoping the same thing but we'll see.  Agnes's gray eyes beat out the Steel genes so we'll see.   In fact, I see more of Agnes in Pepper than in Dill.  Dill is definitely a Steel as is Mike.  Jolina genes apparently not so powerful, except the hair.

I am loving this so far, great job, Ricalynn.

Thanks!  The easy part is playing the game.  The hard part is trying to tell you guys what I saw!

[Ricalynn]

Life as We Know It

The morning after Pepper and I stood for our ice sculptures to go into the vault.  Agnes was not amused at our poses and sculpted us the way she wanted us to be.  That's my Aggie. 



That night was Chris's turn to become an old man.  He said we had enough birthday cake in the house from the night before he didn't need one.  I think my cousin is actually shy and just hasn't informed any of the rest of us. 




I remember the first time I saw Agnes sculpting Shantel in the art room.   My wife and cousin have been my entire drive as far as the immortality race has gone.  I was promised that if I completed the challenge, happiness would be mine.   When I think about it now, I realize that I'm already happy with my wife and family around me.  Agnes won't let me give up though.  After Chris cleaned up his sparkles in the living room, Agnes pulled me into our room and started flirting with me.  Then she said she wanted to go visit the park where we had gotten married. 


There we sat on the memorial bench I had placed just for us and she told me that it was time for me to make sure that Pepper fully understood everything.  She has been wanting to tell him since he was a child and it looked like the Watcher wasn't going to be the one to do it. 


When the lecture was over, she leaned back and made all the time sitting uncomfortable worth it.


There are days when I feel like we're actually a breeding program for some outside force.  Much like the one that Chris has started in his fish tanks. 


That didn't change the fact that when the day came that all pieces were in place. I made a fresh batch of Ambrosia since the other one had gone to a work opportunity. 


I have to say I'm not sure I was prepared for how I would feel when it was all said and done.  It was weirder than birthday sparkles and the taste wasn't what I had hoped it would be.  But with my youngest son watching, I officially became the first immortal in the House of Steel.




Ricanote:  Here are the stats for Sage.
1st Generation/Founder
Sage Steel : Green Thumb, Natural Cook, Friendly, Great Kisser, Lucky
Supermax: Gardening (done)
Career: Culinary (done)
LTW: Celebrated Five Star Chef
Building: Hogan's Deep-Fried Diner
Property: Summer Hill Springs (fully upgraded)
3 LTRS:  No Bills Ever, Super Green Thumb, Collection Helper
6 Best Friends: Christopher Steel, Agnes Steel, Jared (Frio) Vatos, Emma Hatch, Jamie Steel, Madison VanWatson
6 BlackOps:  Catfish for the Chef(career), Corporate Dining(career), Chinese Stir-Fry(career), Falafel Portfolio(career), Uncommonly Good(gardening), A Lot of Bad Apples(career)
YA Portrait: check + photo
A Portrait: check + photo, sculpture
E Portrait: check + photo, sculpture

And a shot of the sad sad museum with his pieces in it.


Sidericanote: it's easier to let the deathfish/vampirefish breed in the fish tanks than it is to get Chris to the cemetery some days.

[Ricalynn]

The Talk

"I'm glad we had this talk, Dad.   I promise to try and not fail."

"I know, son.  I'm glad, too.   Don't forget to talk to your mother about Shantel."

"I won't.  Good night Dad."

"Good night Pepper.  See you in the morning"

[Ricalynn]

Pepper takes the Wheel

The one thing I didn't tell my dad when he was giving me the talk was that I had received a note from the Watcher that morning.  The note basically said that I would be having a serious talk with my father after everyone went to bed.  I'm not sure if that's supposed to make a point to believe in the Watcher but it is a strong argument.   Then again, the note could have been from Mom, too.  All the little things that I had noticed but wasn't sure about suddenly made sense after that night.  The next day I started working on my painting a bit harder.  On the ten scale I was already considering a level 8 artist.  So I took it upon myself to do portraits of the mortals that made Dad's road to immortality that much easier.   First on my easel was "Aunt" Jamie.


Mike had been busy himself.  He had reached the the point in his art where he was allowed to use a chainsaw against ice.  Mom says that Mike will be the one to do sculptures when she's gone at least until the firstborn that will do them is of age.  She's going to teach Mike how to make them not melt, but only after he's slaved away by doing 25 melting ones first. 


Chris found a miner thing at the consignment shop when it opened itself back up the other day.  He loves making giant holes in the ground and finding stuff.   He says it keeps him busy because he's done everything he's ever wanted to as a fisherman.   He enjoys investigating some of the holes that he finds too.  '


Of course, sometimes he doesn't come back as good as he went in.


Chris isn't the only one who's feeling their age.  Jamie goes to work but on her days off she steals the miner from Chris.


I'm beginning to think that the game system was a bad idea.   Every night right before bed all the old people gather on the couch for a game or two.  Mom and Jamie stay up even later than Dad and Chris. 


As for me, I spend most of my mornings working on my athletics.  Midday is a game of chess or two.  Early afternoon is for a painting and then late afternoon and evening I've been spending time with Shantel.  Because of the age difference, we can't get close like we did when I was in high school but sometimes it feels like we're still that close.


Some days I help her with her homework. 


Other ones we go hang out somewhere in town.   I really didn't mean to hit her with the baseball.


She says her birthday is coming up but she doesn't want a party.  I think she's worried that people will be freaked out by her parents.   Her mom is getting older but her dad is a vampire now.   I just hope he doesn't try to turn her.   Dad says he finds some of the vampires annoying.  The other day one of them passed out in front of the diner where he works and the whole diner stopped what they were doing to run out and look at him.   It took him several minutes to get everyone back inside to work, eat and pay.


Ricanote: Seriously, I don't know how many times I've had to get Sage back into the diner because some vamp was outside and passed out.  I did see one eating a plasma fruit so I guess they're not all stupid.

[Lilygirl]

Congrats on your first Immortal, Ricalynn! WOOT!  Pepper better keep a close eye on Shantel and ask her to move in as soon as she has her birthday.

[Gogowars329]

Congrats!!

[Ricalynn]

Saving Shantel

After several days of having to deal with him plus ourselves, the elder community of 15 Summer Hill decided that Pepper had to get a job.  Of course, the day we send him off to work is the first day that Shantel is actually an adult.   Agnes noticed that the digital picture of her in the phonebook had changed so she called her up and invited her over.  And of course, Agnes had to sculpt her for old times' sake.  


The sculpture wasn't a masterpiece but it was enough to get Agnes the final promotion she needed in her sculpting career.  Then Pepper came running home as a way to boost his athletic skill.  As soon as he could get her to do it, they moved into the hallway outside away from the listening ears of the rest of us.  We left Dill in the living room since he was young and might be able to hear better than the rest of us.  The living room back wall is made of windows so it's not like we couldn't see what was happening.  We saw it all.  Agnes took pictures.






The moment Shantel looked away from Pepper, we all thought we had been made by our future family member.  It turns out Shantel is a bit absentminded but I think living with us will change that about her.  


As soon as she said she would move in with us, Agnes and Jamie couldn't stop squealing.  They grabbed Shantel in giant hugs and welcomes then carted her off for a makeover.   I think it turned out great.  Pepper couldn't find words when she walked back out into the living room.  He'll learn.  


You know it occurs to me now going back over the memories of our family that Shantel really had no choice.  Who could resist such a good looking young man not wearing a shirt?  He's almost as good looking as I was when I hooked Aggie.

Ricanote:  Shantel's favorite color is Spiceberry but I thought it would be cute if her and Pepper were matching when they worked out together.  We got Shantel to move in the day after she aged up.  Her traits were  absentminded, lucky, great kisser, photographer's eye and technophobe.   First order of business is to get her enough LTH to get a mid-life crisis to change the absentminded and technophobe.  Every time I'm not watching her close enough or her absent minded kicks in and she loses her action queue, she goes into the living room and breaks the tv or stereo.

Also - Shantel makes 8.  I have 4 elders, 2 YAs and 2 teens for another couple of days.  Generation 2 can't be brought in until some of the mortals pass.  Not that I'm biased or anything but since they're the same age.  I hope Jamie goes first kek

[Katluvr]

I love your story so far and am really impressed that you brought so many extra people into the house right from the beginning.  I had to work my way up to controlling 6 or 7 sims gradually. 

Also wanted to mention that I really love the design of your dynasty house - absolutely wonderful.  Would you be willing to take us on a tour sometime - I love to see how other people build and decorate. 

[Ricalynn]

I love your story so far and am really impressed that you brought so many extra people into the house right from the beginning.  I had to work my way up to controlling 6 or 7 sims gradually.  

Also wanted to mention that I really love the design of your dynasty house - absolutely wonderful.  Would you be willing to take us on a tour sometime - I love to see how other people build and decorate.  

I'm glad you like the story.  I was just thinking that I should probably do a tour but I hadn't actually gotten around to it. I'm not very good at getting some of the screenshots that I want.    As for the house full of Sims.  The smaller the house the easier it is for me to get bored.    I know you've mentioned before that you're a WoW player (notice the kek instead of a heh), even in wow games I can't stand to spend more than like 30 minutes farming herbs/ore/whatever I have to be doing something or leveling a new toon.  When TSM hit, I did 5 ambitions in like a week.  Then I started my dynasty after juggling the 5 new kingdoms and I needed more so I kept bringing in more.  It made the story interesting so far and I wouldn't change any of it (unless I have to)


Question:  At what point is it that kids from the same family can marry fourth cousins?  I'm attempting to set it up so that Christopher Steel's line doesn't end but maybe rejoins with Sage's.  So i'm trying to figure out what generation that would be so I can keep an eye out.  Not to mention maybe Mortimer's since he had a child.

[Ricalynn]

Grim visits for First time

Everything seemed to be going well for us.  Shantel and I hadn't exchanged rings of any kind, but I think she was just getting used to being in a house full of people so I didn't rush her.  The boys were about to become young adults themselves in 3 days.   I knew Shantel was one of us when I heard her giving them a hard time about not having to go to school in the morning.  When it got close the less than 48 hour mark on the birthday celebration, Mike and Dill started letting us know who was allowed to come to the party and who wasn't.  Mom was the official party giver but she was sculpting so they wanted to make sure someone knew their opinions.   It was just after midnight and I'll never forget the sound of a chisel hitting the hard wood floors.   Dad was the first to go check on Mom but it was too late to do anything.  Not that we could.   Everyone in the house rushed towards the art room to see what was going on.   





We were all too late.  Dad had seen the whole thing- Mom becoming a ghost and the grim reaper taking her despite her begging to stay.  I can't believe she's gone.  That feeling never goes away either.  I went out into the hallway to cry.


The whole house was in such a state of shock.  The next morning I went outside to find Jamie just sitting on her miner in her sleepwear just staring off into space.


I think something in her mind told her that it could have easily been her that was taken.  They had been the same age which was 95 today.  So the next morning when she woke up next to her husband, she went across the street to the park and called in her retirement.   She retired from the medical career as a Surgeon at age 96.


Ricanote:  I have to say the day that Agnes died I just kind of hit "save and quit."  I think we've all done that though.  I was ready for someone to die.  I knew it would be any moment.  A part of me knew it would end up being Agnes but I was hoping having Jamie in the house as the same age would tip the scales of fate.  I'm not as attached to Jamie. 

I have since recovered and did a marathon run Sims game that has included a very boring trip to China with a couple of firsts for me.  Those updates are to come and quickly.  I realized last night that there was no way for me to give a tour of the house without some more story as there have been changes to the family structure and of course the rooms within to handle that.

[Ricalynn]

Life Goes On

Even though it felt as if the world has shattered, life did go on.  The birthday party that the boys had been so excited about was cancelled by them.  They said they didn't want to celebrate their birthdays since it would happen in the traditional 48 hour deep mourning period.  Jamie said they were having cake because Agnes would have wanted them to.  The tilt of her jaw made it so none of us argued. 

So two nights after the last time any of us really smiled, the boys were standing in front of two lit cakes.  I think it's funny how they refuse to face the same direction.


It was hard to pretend we weren't still in mourning though.  The pain was still raw for Dad, Dill and myself.   I think Dad feels it worst of all. 


"Born first gets to spit on the cake first." Mike announced as he pointed to Dill.  This was the first birthday where Mike hadn't gone first but I think he knew it was important.


Then immediately afterwards it was his turn.  With Mike's sense of humor lately, he's been putting extra big expressions into everything he does to cheer us all up.


A little sparkle magic and we had two very interesting looking young men in our midst. 



Dad and Chris mumbled something about Mike's hair to one another as we gathered in the dining room for cake.   The vampire gnome couldn't take being around any of us anymore and poofed her way out of the living room.


Shantel and Jamie cleaned up the cake mess while the boys went to go work on their wardrobe.  Mike mentioned something about finding his dad's old PJs.  We all noticed that the house had suddenly gotten colder.  Then we heard the noise of one of the computers being broken in the boys room.



We were barely out of mourning and Mom had already come to visit for the first time.  Dad immediately went back there to tell her how much he missed her.  It was easy to see that she felt the same way.  And after a few hours when he said he couldn't stay awake any longer, she went to lay down beside him like she always had.




The next morning as we were getting ready for our day, I asked Shantel if she had a moment.  She gave me a questioning look since we both know I'm the only one in the house that has a day job.  I pulled her close and told her that she meant a lot to me.  I told her seeing the way my parents were even after my mom's death really brought to home that I wanted her to be mine.  So I told her everything about the family.  I told her about the immortality and how that what we saw last night would one day be us.  Then I got down onto one knee and asked her to be my bride. 


Even after learning of our family's secret, she still said yes.


We both wanted to get married right then but Shantel said we needed to make it special for us.  Standing in my bedroom in our underwear wasn't special enough for such an event.  I consented to wait until she was ready.   Then with a final long kiss, I grabbed my uniform and tripped into it on my way out to the carpool that was about to leave me.

Ricanote!:  OK so the last two posts were just as hard to write as they had been to play.  I cried when Agnes died and I cried again when she showed up and Sage went to go hug her.   The vampire gnome was kind of comical the way it just poofed out when the celebrating was done and the yelling for cake was starting. 
I'm going to share the clothes for the boys in a second but first I want to show you a picture of Mike with his dad's haircut

That is one apple that didn't fall far from the tree.  If it wasn't for the blond on Jamie side they'd be identical.  Dill looks eerily like Pepper but there are slight differences, mainly skin tone, eye color and lips. 

And now for the show! First Mike then Dill.  I took into effect that Mike had a sense of humor and had him "borrow" some of Chris' old clothes.  Both boys ransomed into the same swimsuit that Chris/Sage use so I decided to keep it as flavor.

[Ricalynn]

The Next Step

Every day life seems to have fallen back upon the House of Steel.  Mike is full-time into his sculpting as he working on getting his ice to not melt.  Dill has pushed forward with his painting.  I'm down to only a few more points needed in the fields of logic, painting and athletics to complete my requirements.  Dad gardens.  Chris fishes or works out.  Jamie digs holes, falls into them and then once she's done fills them back in.   The other day she managed to pull this rock out of this hole.  No idea how she did it.


Shantel has been with us less than a week and she's already gotten a certificate saying she has maxed out her photography ability.  Her first panoramic shot with Mom's camera was of the beach at Sunset.


The old ones, as I've started calling them, are back to gaming in the living room.  The nights that Mom appears she joins them like nothing has changed.  Then when it's time to sleep, Dad and her go to their room.



Shantel came to me and said it was time.  I said I would follow her lead.  I put on my suit like she told me to and let her take my hand.   We went across the street over to the park and onto the island where my parents had sat many an occasion since we had bought it.  And that is where we exchanged our vows.




Ricanote:  OK so I have a few extra photos that can't really go into the story but I -have- to share them.  Right after they exchange vows they started talking to each other and Shantel had a thought at the same time.  This is how the picture turned out.


Then I sent them back home to go relax on the bed to get ready for their first woohoo, however they both got distracted with Agnes visiting and it took a little work to get them back on the bed and get everyone else in the house situated.  I pan back to Pepper and Shantel and this is what I see.  Mind you I paused the game once they were relaxing.  I just wonder what she was -actually- talking about


This picture has nothing to do with the wedding but I love the faces that Sims make when they have to pull on the miner's lever.  I only got a blue topaz out of this face but the screenshot is still kind of awesome.

[Ricalynn]

Honeymoon in China

Quick Ricanote: With Shantel leveling up photography so fast, I was able to buy her a midlife crisis and prepared traveler plus in less than a week. I'm using China as a test run for issues because Shantel's lifetime wish is World Class Gallery.  She may not get that if I have too many problems.

I asked Shantel where she wanted to go for our honeymoon.  She immediately said China.  She said she'd always wanted to take a picture of the Dragon Cave.  Her wish was my command.  I had Dad and Chris come along with us.  Dad wanted to do some sightseeing and collecting while Chris really wanted to get his hands on a dragon fish.  With all of us going together, we were able to get a fifteen day trip for a fairly decent price.


As soon as we landed we split up.  Shantel and I went to visit the academy where we worked out together.


Chris went in search of fishing holes.


Dad found rocks.  A lot of rocks.


When we were tired, Shantel and I did some studying.  I was working on my level 9 Logic and she managed to reach level 6 charisma.  After that she told me that she wanted to go on an adventure, so I checked the board and eventually, I got my visa level 1.


She said she was having fun so we kept doing it and suddenly, I had a level 2 Visa. [missed the shot by seconds ]


I guess the locals were scrambling to find stuff for us to do so we went back to the academy where I reached the highest level you can get in athletics and Shantel worked on her martial arts skill.   She said she wanted to try to break a space rock.  Her instructor gave her a weird face but he let her try it.  If I hadn't been laughing myself, I probably would have, should have fought the guy after she practically broke her hand.


Finally an opportunity came about but they wanted me to meditate in the Scholar's Garden.  With her hand still throbbing, Shantel decided to come over and join me.


Dad snuck into the academy and worked his way up on a training dummy on the top floor. [Sneaky Sims!] Then he decided to go find bugs.  He actually managed to catch about 6 Red Assassin Beetles while we were in China.


Chris finally got the fish he wanted - a perfect dragon fish.   He was also getting a lot of koi that he said was going to go into the pond back home.  I'm surprised China still has fish in it's waters.


As the trip was coming to an end, it was getting harder and harder to work on my Visa level.   They had me running everywhere.  I'm not sure the locals knew how to handle my shoelaces though.


Shantel found a set of stairs behind the market and told me to come meet her there.  A little noon day fun never hurt anyone but maybe she should have put some clothes on before we went back up the stairs.  She ended up being publicly called out on it and China doesn't have the ability to pay off the paparazzi like you do back home.



In the last three days of our trip, I had someone ask me to go find an ancient magical relic that would take care of a giant boulder.  Shantel said we could do it no problem and the both of us went in search of it.   It felt like nothing I've ever felt before when I took the axe off the wall.


With 6 hours left in our trip, I was able to confirm my final Visa level and buy us a vacation home.   Dad said he didn't know any builders out this way so we got one of the ones available near the market.  It's not much but with a little time later, I get the feeling that we could definitely make this a home away from home



Ricanote:  So I finally got my first pangu's axe.  Managed to max out athletics and almost finish logic for Pepper's LTW.  Shantel got more than enough photos to handle that part of her LTW.  Still not sure I'm going to keep it though. Some of the shots came out really good.  I was impressed with myself.  This is also my first vacation home as WA has always given me troubles since it came out.  The adventure board bug was driving me insane in the last couple of days of their trip with him so close to getting Level 3 Visa.

Having Sims all over the place wasn't easy to handle here like it is in SV.  Sage would run out of rocks and then find something to do.  He snuck into the academy and got some MA skill twice.  Chris was easy.  He had food, a tent and his fishing rod.    I do have some shots I would like to share.  I hope that's OK.

(1)This is how you dive honey.


(2) Like this babe?


(3) Pepper, we're lost.  No.. I got this.


(4)Rica can't find me so I'm gonna shake my groove thing!


(5)  The panoramic I had Shantel take in China


Thanks for reading everyone I really appreciate it!  If I can improve don't forget to tell me!