#sims3challenge #sims3legacy #sims3story #thesims3

It was that time of year again. Dylan was filling up the yard with jack-o-lanterns.

More on the way here

And here

And here.

At Sawyer and Gamora’s house, it was just another day. If Sawyer even knew it was a holiday, he never mentioned it.

It was a day off school and work, though, and they had a very productive morning together.

Now that Sawyer and Gamora had moved out, all of Dylan and Andria’s kids could have their own room. Winston took over Abby’s old room, which Sawyer had been sleeping in before he left.

Spooky Day was a day for stuffing yourself with sweets, wasn’t it? Winston was prepared!

When she went outside to photosynthesize, Gamora got a call from Vickie, inviting her to join her cousins at the Autumn Fair. She decided to give it a try.

She told Sawyer about the invitation and invited him to join her. He grunted.

At the festival, Winston set up his bake sale.

Abby tried out some roller skates.

While Chaim was scared ghostly in the haunted house.

Gamora decided to try bobbing for apples.

It turned out to be a lot of fun.

She didn’t need to breathe the same as an ordinary human, so winning turned out to be easy.

Victoria bought a snack from the treat vendor.

Glazed doughnut. Yum.

After lunch, Gamora got a surprising call from her father.

“Did you know today is Spooky Day?” he demanded.

“I told you before I left,” Gamora said.

“Emily Doctor is throwing a costume party. I’ll be at her house.”

“Oh!” Gamora said. “The Autumn Festival is kind of childish. I’ll find a costume and join you.”

Sawyer didn’t have any idea for a costume, so he grabbed an old EMT uniform from the hospital.

He made a beeline to the back yard, where Emily was entertaining her guests.

“I can’t bear to watch this. Can’t you two get a room?”

Forest and Gamora, already fast friends, commented on the drama from the safety of the porch.

“This is so much more fun than bobbing for apples,” Gamora confided.

“Ready!” shouted the ref.

“I already think I’m going to be sick,” Judith whispered to Victoria.

“Set!”

“Too late now!” Victoria chirped, grinning wickedly at her best friend.

“How did I let you talk me into this?” Judith groaned.

“Go!”

Sawyer worked up his nerve and stole a kiss.

Emily was delighted.

“I would love to be your girlfriend!” Emily said.

Gamora couldn’t stop laughing.

“I can’t see!” Dylan said.

“My face is stuck in this pie!” Victoria slurred.

“I surrender,” Andria said. “If I eat another bite, I am going to be sick.”

“And the winner is, Judith Culp!”

Afterward, they all cleaned up for their family picture. Well, almost everyone cleaned up.

After dusk, Forest became more comfortable leaving the porch. Gamora was much more comfortable around adults than childish children. Everyone appreciated her intellect.

She told a scary story she read once about the ghost of a vengeful pharaoh. All the adults were riveted.

Afterward, they couldn’t stop telling her how cute she was. It wasn’t the reaction she was going for, but she’d take it.

“Come here, sis!” Edmund said. “I’ve been practicing something, and I want to try it out!”

“Wait!” Victoria cried. “What are you –“

“Ahhh!”

“Hey, wait!”

“That felt pretty good!”

“It ought to,” Edmund said. “It’s a good luck charm. You ought to study some magic yourself.”

It was worth being outside for a little while to spend time with family, or so he told himself.

He turned out to be pretty good at apple-bobbing.

Everyone decided to head home about the same time. Sawyer knew what would be waiting for him at the Sample Estate.

Andria was cooking again. It was salmon, not the usual Feast Party fare, but who would be complaining?

Abby brought dessert.

“How do I look?” Victoria asked.

“Way too nice for a Trick-or-Treat costume,” Edmund said. “Are you sure you’re not sneaking out for a date?”

“Of course not, silly. I’m going with Judy and Winston. Aren’t you coming?”

“No,” Edmund said. “Dressing up like a monster isn’t really my thing.” He didn’t want to admit that half of his class at school were already spreading rumors that he was a monster.

“Are you ready to go?” Winston demanded.

Judith met them outside.

While the kids were out, Dylan and Sawyer handled candy duty at home.

Some of the neighbors came to the door in costume. That was a costume, wasn’t it?

By curfew, everyone was home and stuffed with too much sweets. That’s the way the day should go.

———-

This was the first time I actually tried trick-or-treating. It was a great big glitch fest. The kids kept forgetting they were trick-or-treating, losing the the interactions on their menu, and switching back to their everyday outfits. This was the only successful trick-or-treat action they managed.

I strongly suspect that the NRaas mods are doing something here to screw up the flow of the EA stuff. I need to get around asking on the NRaas boards about it.

I love the Seasons holidays so much. I tried to do EVERYTHING for Spooky Day this time. It was fun, but SO MUCH STUFF.

Gamora and Forest are best friends. They were best friends before Emily’s costume party, and as far as I know, this is the first time they’ve ever met. I have no idea where that relationship came from. It makes sense, though. They’re both Evil Geniuses :). Actually, Gamora does not have the Genius trait, but most of her wishes have centered around the Logic skill. It makes sense, considering her upbringing.

I’m very pleased with the way Stanley’s face turned out. He’s Xia’s son that Plum kept a secret from her. He and Jody Ursine-Sample are making babies now. His genes will continue.

The last post before the heir poll should be 6.49. The countdown has begun.

#sims3challenge #sims3legacy #sims3story #thesims3

Dylan was starting to feel limited by his own nectar-making equipment. Nectaring took a lot of time, and he could only work with one fruit combination at a time.

Eventually, he decided to approach Fawn Rockwell, the proprietress of the local nectary, to see if he could make use of some of their on-site equipment.

Fawn was a shrewd businesswoman, and she didn’t let him make use of her nectar makers for free. But she did quote him a more than fair price to use the things when they weren’t committed elsewhere.

Judith Culp was the first of Victoria’s school friends to have a birthday.

She held it at the beach clubhouse, despite the cold. Vickie couldn’t have been happier.

They spent the entire party hogging the karaoke machine until they drove everyone else away.

This was a new chapter in a beautiful friendship.

Gamora suddenly had a world of space to use for her own purposes. She had plenty of schemes to fill it.

Since her father had set up a lab on the third floor, she grabbed the second floor office next to her bedroom and took it as her own lab.

Her chemistry experiments looked promising.

Though every experiment had a certain chance of failure.

Fortunately, she had a great way to work off the tension.

And a father who helped her do it.

Actually, the video game system was one of the biggest sources of strife in their new household.

When he wasn’t working, Sawyer often wanted to kick her out of the living room so that he could play video games that he didn’t consider “child appropriate.” 

Gamora thought that was absurd, and she didn’t keep it a secret.

To get private revenge, she downloaded pirated versions of her dad’s games to the office computer and beat them before he did.

Sometimes, on her way to bed, she’d find that Sawyer had gamed himself to sleep.

Being that there was no one else, it was her job to pull him off the sofa, dust him off, and send him to bed.

It wasn’t always clear who was the parent in this relationship.

Sawyer was feeling younger in more obvious ways.

They met at the bowling alley one evening. It was Emily’s idea, of course.

They began the evening with a rousing game of Synesthesia. It was immediately clear why Emily wanted to come here. She was an old pro at this game, and she stomped Sawyer in no time.

“I’ve never met a woman with such amazing eye-hand coordination,” Sawyer said afterward.

Emily laughed. “You say the sweetest things.”

Abby was incredibly curious about Sawyer’s new gal. When he told her he was going to a date to the bowling alley, she just couldn’t resist making an excuse to be there herself.

She did her best to be inconspicuous. It wasn’t too hard, at least until the paparazzi invaded, and she had to leave.

After that, they tried their hand on a different kind of hand-eye coordination.

Sawyer was pretty disgusted by his performance.

But not half as disgusted as Emily.

Sawyer couldn’t stop laughing.

“All right. All right,” Emily conceded. “I deserved that.”

Under the black lights of the bowling alley, Emily looked into Sawyer’s eyes and reached out to take his hands. It was the first time they touched. Sawyer was suddenly terrified. He had to force himself not to pull away.

“Sawyer Sample,” Emily said. “Where have you been all my life?”

“Making some very big romantic mistakes, apparently,” Sawyer said.

Emily raised an eyebrow. “Do you think this is another mistake?” she asked.

“It feels great,” Sawyer said, “but I’m a very poor judge of character.”

“We can take it slow,” Emily said. She squeezed his hand.

Sawyer squeezed back and smiled nervously at her.

———-

Judith Culp is a former papergirl. I turned off Homeless Management in NRaas
StoryProgression, and I couldn’t be happier. Either EA fixed most of the bugs that generate extra homeless to stuff your town, or something else is keeping them from happening. I’m using settings on Register (I think) that generate service and role sims from genetics in the town and the sim bin, so they’re a nice source of extra genetics. When one of my actives develops a relationship with one, I usually move them into town. Judith is now the ward of Patrick Watchmaker, schoolteacher and formerly the Second Doctor. (See, I’m never going to use Doctor as a surname again ;-).)

I just love Emily’s face. She kind of looks like the Wicked Witch of the West, but in a good way. My hand-picked gene pool is producing some great faces. I highly recommend seeding the population with celebrity simselves — sims designed to look like an existing person have the most unusual genetics. All sims don’t have to look alike!

#sims3challenge #sims3legacy #sims3story #thesims3

Connery loved his life. He had Dylan and Andria and the kids in the house he’d always known, and across the street he had a new home with Abby and Chaim. He belonged to everyone.

Prom night arrived. Edmund spent many an evening agonizing over who he might ask to be his date, and eventually he gave up. He kept to himself too much to have a sense of the girls in his class.

He couldn’t resist a chance to dress to the nines, however.

He began the evening in high spirits. The gym was decorated beautifully. He was proud of his formals. The music made him want to dance, which was a feat in itself.

The evening turned out to be more…. physical than he expected.

“Accidental” elbows to the gut as he tried to dance, “accidental” punch splashed on his suit.

Once, in a press of bodies on the dance floor, someone punched him. He never even knew who did it.

He eventually found himself holding up a wall, brooding at the people dancing and having fun.

He began to notice he wasn’t the only one taking shelter away from the action. Another student took a place against the wall nearby.

“This sure is a lot of people,” Joy Reacher observed flatly.

“Yeah,” Edmund agreed. “And apparently most of them hate me.”

Joy looked at him in genuine surprise. “Why would anyone hate you?” she asked. “You’re one of the only interesting guys at this school.”

Edmund was shocked. “Really? You think I’m interesting?”

“Sure,” Joy said. “Most high school guys are so shallow, but you really see the dark depths of things.”

“Um,” Edmund said, really seeing Joy for the first time. “Would you mind, I mean would like it it I got you some punch?”

The second half of prom night was a lot more fun than the first half. Edmund and Joy gave up dancing, retreated to a corner with their punch and wiled away the time talking about existentialist philosophers. They had been sitting next to each other all term in math class, and he had no idea they had so much in common!

When it was time to leave, Edmund had Joy’s phone number and an entirely new attitude.

When someone tried to mess with him at the exit, he wasn’t above using his magical skills to give as good as he got.

His article “Neurophysiology of Plant-based Sentient Life Forms” was accepted to the Journal of Simazing Science. It was the most prestigious scientific journal in the Simworld. He’d finally arrived. He was a World-Renowned Surgeon.

He didn’t go straight home to the Sample Estate. He had other plans. Those plans took him to Camelot.

His final offer was accepted. He left the castle that night with the deed to a new property.

The next morning, he found Victoria and Gamora in their room, discussing something to do with freshwater aquatic life. Or maybe it was life on a boat in a lake. He wasn’t really listening.

“Gamora, I’d like to speak with you alone for a moment,” he said.

Victoria was immediately worried. “What? Is there something wrong, Uncle Sawyer?”

Gamora shook her head. “Don’t worry, Vickie. When something’s wrong with Dad, he yells. This has to be a good thing.”

“Just get dressed, and we’ll talk,” Sawyer said.

“I have good news,” Sawyer said. “We’re moving today. I found us a suitable home.”

“What?” Gamora demanded. “I thought we had a suitable home! What’s wrong with the one we have?”

“We’ve lived in this chaotic household long enough,” Sawyer said. “There’s always something absurd going on. It’s inhibiting our intellectual advancement.”

“I think I can judge what’s good for my own intellect,” Gamora retorted. “Where do you think you’re moving us?”

Sawyer gave her the address.

“Wait,” Gamora said. “That’s the house next door.”

“Precisely,” Sawyer said. “I didn’t see a need for our private home to be on the other side of the island.”

Gamora’s expression changed immediately “Well, why didn’t you say so?” she said. “I want my own room!”

“That was a selection criterion,” Sawyer said, looking vaguely affronted. “I’ll take you on a tour of the home, and we can assign bedrooms.”

Compared to the primary Sample Estate, Sawyer and Gamora’s new home was a quaint little cottage.

Across the street, Chaim kept an eye on the house. His house was across the street from Dylan and Andria’s. Now the Sample clan owned the whole street. He had a special motivation to keep this area safe and crime-free.

But it had space for the important things in life:

A science lab, along with a separate office with a computer.

A master bedroom for Sawyer, and a smaller private bedroom for Gamora.

A living room with a home theater, and a kitchen/dining space.

“So this is it,” Gamora said, looking around at their new home.

“Apparently,” Sawyer said.

“What do we do now?” Gamora asked.

She even ate it. It wouldn’t provide any nourishment, but it wouldn’t do her any harm either. He was so proud of taking the role of providing father that she couldn’t bear to affront his ego.

Afterward, Sawyer showed her to her new room. It was simple, but comfortable. She’d do some redecorating in the morning. For now, she just reveled in having a space that need not ever be invaded by another child.

Sawyer sat up in his new bedroom, reading his new article in Simazing Science for the fourteenth time. He always felt proud of himself, but at this moment he felt content for what might be the first time in his life.

The next day, Sawyer also had plans after work. These took him someplace else entirely, someplace he would never go on his own.

Holy Grail Fitness Center.

Outside, Abby was waiting. She had already failed at traveling incognito.

Gamora arrived straight from school and shared some quips with Abby as they walked in together.

Then it was time to gather around the cake.

(Photobomb above by Asriel Bookabet, who just keeps on living!)

While Joy Reacher collected her slice of cake –

Edmund was hiding in the lounge, trying to come up with something suave to say to her –

and Gamora was in the corner, watching his discomfort and cackling quietly.

“All right now!” Victoria shouted. “Pool time! Everyone get wet!”

“Whee!”

There followed a lot of laughing and splashing.

Most of Victoria’s friends hadn’t had their birthday yet, so she felt a little bit like a grownup at a kid’s party, but there was swimming, so it it didn’t really matter.

Gamora got as far away from the rest of the kids as possible, which ironically was in the nursery room.

“Hi! Joy! I’m so glad you came!” Edmund said, the words coming out just a little too quickly.

“Hi!” Joy echoed. “This is such a nice party. It was so nice of Vickie to invite me!”

“Well, I kind of asked her if she would,” Edmund admitted.

Joy lit up the room with her smile. “Thank you for thinking of me.”

“Say, I was thinking,” Edmund said. “Do you think you’d be free this week to, I don’t know, go somewhere together? Maybe has a, uh date?”

He put on his best, suave, romantic face.

“I think that would be great!” Joy said. “What do you think about this weekend?”

Edmund was overcome by relief and excitement. He and Joy locked gazes, and suddenly he was pulling her into a tender hug.

“Hey, kids,” Dylan said. “You’re a long way from the pool, aren’t you? What are you up to?”

Edmund pushed Joy away like a hot potato. “Hi Dad,” he said.

Mason James shot to the top of the water.

“Ha!” Winston crowed. “I win!”

“So eat this!” Victoria cried.

Meanwhile, Sawyer caught up on his medical journals.

———-

Holy crap. Vickie is gorgeous.

Of course she was going to throw a pool party. Too bad that it was too cold to go to the beach.

I was pretty pleased that I was able to click, “Go Here With” (I think a feature augmented by NRaas GoHere, but I’m not sure) and get all the inactive kids into the pool. Otherwise, they just weren’t going to go there.

I bought a second residential property for the Samples. Sawyer had a Midlife Crisis wish to move to a new house, and I could see where he might want to live on his own with Gamora. Gameplay-wise, it’s been a bit of a mixed bag. Gamora ended up sleeping in the primary house a lot because I can’t send her to her actual house after curfew, even if she goes with an adult. We’ll just handwave that for story purposes :).

Vickie rolled a really WTF trait, so I made an executive decision to give her the family trait of Brave and punt her final rolled trait to her YA birthday. Now I’m kind of regretting it. Whenever I second guess a random-rolled trait, I always find a way to work it into the character after a bit of time. But I don’t remember what the trait WAS that I didn’t like. Argh. So she’s going to be a bit of an unknown in the heir poll compared to the other three.

And, hey, Edmund picked up Joy Reacher (Shannon Simsfan’s simself daughter) as a romantic interest at a really tragic and destructive prom!

I should mention that Edmund has picked up a celebrity disgrace (false accusation). I thought that his fight-ridden prom might be related to nasty rumors being passed around about him at school.

Trying to keep this pace up so we can get to the heir poll! Two more teen birthdays to go!

#sims3challenge #sims3legacy #sims3story #thesims3

The Sample children now spent more time in their natural form.

Andria encouraged it. She wanted her children to feel comfortable in their bodies and not be ashamed of being different.

Edmund spent hours staring into his own button eyes, trying to find meaning in their apparent emptiness.

This looked promising.

One afternoon, she received a phone call that made her face light up.

“Are you kidding?” she exclaimed to the voice on the other end. “Of course I will! It will be special. Just you wait!”

She ran to the kitchen and began mixing.

It was the largest single cake she had ever baked, and a masterwork if she did say so herself.

Abby and Chaim picked a venue for their wedding to suit their own unique style — Steamshock, the local Steampunk-themed nightclub.

Abby, in typical celebrity form, wanted to do things a bit differently from everyone else.

Chaim just liked dressing up like an anachronistic lawman.

Victoria squealed when Abby made her entrance. “This is going to be so awesome!”

“I know, right!” Abby shot back.

The techno music crescendoed, and all eyes turned to the bride and groom as they stepped together under the lights.

“Chaim, my love, I was truly half a woman before you walked into my life. You helped me look past my ambition to find the happiness I had lost. I know that together, we can be even more than whole. I want to spend my life discovering what we can be together.”

“Abby, you lift me up to see things bigger than myself. With you, I’m a better person. I promise to walk by your side to the ends of the earth. I give you my love, support, and encouragement in your every endeavor.”

“From this day forward, and for the rest of our lives.”

With that kiss, they became Mr. and Mrs. Sample-Erickson.

The photographer got close enough to elbow the groom during the final kiss. Hopefully her pictures were worth it.

The cutting of the cake.

“You really surprised me,” Abby’s best friend Aminali admitted, “but you did good. Chaim’s a catch.”

“Let’s raise a glass to my sister-in-law, Abby Sample-Erickson!” Andria said. “It was my privilege to live alongside her for most of my marriage. She is the most focused and talented woman I have ever met. I wasn’t sure she would ever surrender to the love of a man, but it turned out she just needed a very special kind of man. Here’s too a long happy life together!”

“To Abby and Chaim!” Dylan echoed.

“The nectar tasted amazing,” Abby whispered to Andria later. “Did Dylan make it?”

“Are you kidding?,” Andria hissed back. “I bought that stuff. Don’t tell him I said this, but Dylan’s nectar still tastes like watered-down grape juice — and that’s the good stuff.”

The music changed to a techno-waltz, and Chaim escorted Abby to the dance floor for their first dance as a married couple.

It turned out he had quite the moves.

Sawyer decided to try something else that he had never experienced before.

Dylan threw a fit about the state of the bathrooms.

Then he made jokes about the wedding, which bored her.

Then he got her talking about herself, and it was smooth sailing.

Andria grabbed Dylan’s hand. “Did you know that this venue has a hot tub,” she asked.

“I haven’t gone exploring,” Dylan said.

Andria giggled wickedly. “Neither has anyone else. Come on! We can have it to ourselves.”

“This room was decorated by someone with impeccable taste,” Dylan observed.

“Hush you,” Andria said. “Just feel the bubbles.”

“I can’t believe we actually did it!” Abby breathed.

Gamora wasn’t even looking at Abby and Chaim. “Right,” she said coldly. “I bet you do.”

She immediately marched over to her father, grabbed his arm, and pulled him out of his seat. “Would you quit embarrassing me?” she hissed.

“How can I possibly be embarrassing you?” Sawyer demanded. “Who is the parent in this relationship?”

“You’re going to sit there puffing on the bubble blower until you pass out, and then I’m going to have to get you home,” Gamora said.

“If it bothers you that much,” Sawyer said, “I’ll do something else.” He cast about the room until his eyes fell on Aminali Ibari.

“Would you like to dance, Ms. Ibari?” he asked.

Aminali laughed. “Are you kidding? I thought you’d never ask.”

Gamora scowled at him, but Sawyer could remember when he’d last felt this relaxed. “All right then,” he said. “Show me how you dance, and I’ll copy your motions.”

“You tiger,” Aminali said.

And the music played late into the night.

———-

Here is a good example of how Shannon Simsfan has changed my play style. I added Abby back to the household for this party. There was no other way to cut the cake. I left her on autonomy most of the time, though I did direct her to dance with Chaim.

I had Andria bake a cake and call a party as soon as I got the NRaas notification that Abby and Chaim had gotten married. As inactive sims go, it didn’t take them long! I intended this to just be the reception, but then the two lovers had that adorable, earnest conversation alone under the lights of the dance floor. (I believe Abby was actually asking Chaim to dance.) It looked so much like vows that I decided they would be :).

I had SO much fun following my sims around and watching what they did :). I just love parties like these. I was really pleased that I managed to throw the party while Abby and Chaim still had their, “Just Married” moodlets!

Sawyer hit the bubble blower all on his own. I’m not entirely clear what the moodlets from that thing are supposed to do. It’s a very entertaining animation, at least.

Winston has a crazy crush on Cortney Pierce-Hodgins. He has rolled a good four or five wishes to do things with her.

Sorry there’s no Edmund. He was there for about half the party. Then he had to go to work. I don’t seem to have a single screenshot of him.

#sims3challenge #sims3legacy #sims3story #thesims3

After Sawyer walked out on Manisha Kapoor for the last time, the chaos level in the Sample Estate skyrocketed, particularly for Victoria and Winston.

Someone sabotaged Winston’s jack-in-the-box.

Nobody found out for sure who did it, but the prank had Gamora’s name all over it.

Edmund was in the after school Artist Club. His new passion was sculpting. He had never been able to truly express the darkness in his soul with paint on canvass. He hoped he would be able to do more with hammer and chisel.

So far he’d made an end table.

Winston’s favorite time of the week was still dance practice.

He jumped at any chance to perform.

He was even pretty good at it. Mom and Dad couldn’t be prouder.

Schoolwork, on the other hand, didn’t come naturally to him. He persuaded some of his classmates to form a study group. At least then he could be social while he struggled with his math homework.

He was also starting to show affinity for magic, the same as Edmund and Victoria.

While the children were in school, Andria spent hours in the musty stacks of Monmouth Archive, pouring over forgotten books of fae lore.

She wanted to free her people from hiding, start a new chapter in the history of the fae of Avalon.

To do that, she needed to gain the favor of the Fae Council. Old tomes contained rites that might, if she was lucky, might encourage them to take her seriously.

She set about gathering the ingredients of the most challenging elixir she had ever brewed.

Study Club met at Percival’s Provisions Cafe to review for the history test.

“You know, Winston,” Gamora scoffed, “reading your homework would be a whole lot easier if you’d just wear your glasses.”

“I forgot them at school after basketball practice,” Winston admitted. “I’ll manage.”

The sound of shouting filled the courtyard.

“What is going on?” Mason cried.

Gamora lit up. “Fight! Fight! Fight!” she shouted. She jumped up and ran to get a better look.

“That was awesome!” Gamora cheered. “Kick her butt!”

“I don’t think I want him to notice me,” Mason said.

“Gamora, who founded the Duchy of Avalon Island?” Winston asked.

“Come on, Gamora,” Mason said, grabbing her arm. “Just turn and walk away slowly.”

“Oh, come on,” Gamora protested. “I want to see if she hits him back.”

One evening after dinner, Andria called her children to the back yard.

“I want to see you in your natural forms,” she told them. “We don’t have to hide tonight.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen everyone in doll form at the same time!” Victoria said.

“I’ve been consulting with the Fae Council,” Andria said. “They agree that we have been hiding ourselves too deeply. Our people have lost track of who we are.”

Three doll faces watched her intently.

“I want to begin by telling you some of the history of our race,” Andria began. “Some of it was told to me by my fae father, Sebastian Hodgins. A lot of what I’m going to tell you is information I learned from the Fae Council just this week. We owe it to ourselves not to erase our nature because we are afraid of how normals will treat us.”

“A lot of what I’m going to tell you isn’t pretty, but it’s part of who we are.”

“Tells us,” Edmund said. “I want to know everything.”

Andria talked all night.

The children listened.

By the end of the evening, they looked at the world and their place in it very differently.

———-

I wanted to come up with more text for Andria’s lecture on fae history, but the important thing was really that the kids were learning about it. So I left the pictures to speak for themselves.

Also, I love the ghost story interaction so hard.

I don’t seem to have saved the popup, but Andria threw some invigorating elixirs on her kids so that they all had enough energy to interact at the same time, and those completed her Alchemy Artisan LTW. I believe only Sawyer is left, and he’s one promotion away.

I have played until all the kids are teens! I love them all! I now can’t proceed with gameplay until I hold an heir poll (PLEASE no three-way tie like the last one). But these guys are so interesting, and they have done SO MUCH STUFF. I am trying to get through the final posts as quickly as I can. Right. We’ll see how that goes.

#sims3challenge #sims3legacy #sims3story #thesims3

“What is it?” Victoria asked. She couldn’t keep the disgust out of her voice.

“I have no idea!” Edmund answered. “Isn’t it amazing? Connery dug up the pieces and brought them to me. I assembled it. I can’t guess how old it is, but I’ve never seen any living creature like this.”

The prehuman skeleton stayed in the living room until Andria made Edmund move it outside.

Dylan’s nectar-making skills were improving.

At least, he was pretty sure they were.

Bonehilda still emerged from her casket to handle most of the housekeeping. She even took over the care of Dylan’s bees.

When she thought no one would notice, she rehearsed conversations in front of the mirror.

“More magic is coming out in the world every day. There’s no reason to be afraid. Let’s just make an announcement and come out!”

Dylan told Victoria the family story of the two music boxes that had been passed down in the Sample family for generations.

Victoria’s great-grandfather Charles had presented great-grandmother Veronica with a ballerina music box on the day they’d confessed their love to each other.

Much later, she had presented him with a ninja music box. Apparently he’d been a martial artist or something, and a ninja suited him.

“I just can’t get over how romantic our ancestors were!” Victoria cooed. She listened to the music boxes play over and over, sometimes at the same time, which drove everyone else in the family crazy.

Meanwhile, Gamora wondered what exactly she was.

According to her father, she was the first of her kind. What did it mean to be a sentient plant? Or a plant-like sim? Or whatever she was?

Whatever the case, she was sick and tired of all the fluffy romantic stuff that Vickie was burbling about all the time. Those music boxes made terrible music.

“Take me to see my mom now,” Gamora told her father.

Sawyer scowled. “I don’t know what you expect to happen,” he said, “but it’s going to turn out badly. I thought I could get her to change her mind, and I was wrong. Your mother is obtuse and irrational.”

Gamora shrugged. “Take me anyway,” she said.

Sawyer owed her that much, so he looked up her address and took her there.

Manisha had moved around several times since arriving in Avalon. She was currently rooming with a man she met through work.

Sawyer felt his throat constrict as he approached the door. Blood was pounding in his ears. It was difficult to breathe.

He had to stop and watch Gamora playing in the yard for a few minutes to calm himself down enough to press the doorbell.

He hoped Manisha would not be the one to answer the door. He rehearsed a message in his head for him to leave with her roommate.

He wasn’t so lucky. Manisha opened the door herself. “Sawyer,” she said. “This is a surprise.” She didn’t sound like she was surprised, but Sawyer had no idea what she was actually feeling. He’d never been very good at that in the best of times.

Manisha invited him inside, and Gamora silently trailed after them.

“This is where I’m living now,” Manisha said. “Have you met my roommate Eloy? Eloy Berg, this is my boyfriend Sawyer Sample. Sawyer, Eloy.”

What had she called him?

He had a hundred questions, but all he could manage to say was, “I don’t understand.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess I should explain myself,” Manisha said, avoiding Sawyer’s eyes. “You gave me a lot of time to think about everything. I guess I was wondering–“

She broke off, stepped forward suddenly, and grabbed Sawyer by the shoulder to pull him close. He felt her lips on his. He had forgotten how wonderful a kiss could be.

Gamora slipped upstairs while her parents were doing adult stuff. This was going so much better than her father had said it would.

Now they could all come together and be a family at last.

She could start figuring out how to be normal.

Sawyer came up for breath. “What just happened?” he asked.

“We talked about this before!” Manisha shouted back. “Stop trying to make me something I’m not!”

Sawyer took a deep breath. “I came here against my better judgment. It will never happen again. Gamora is a person, and you are not. We are going home. Stay away from us.”

Gamora did not cry as he escorted her out of the house. She turned baleful yellow eyes on Manisha. “You’ll pay,” she said quietly.

Sawyer didn’t hear her, but Manisha did, and something in the look on Gamora’s face made her turn pale.

———-

Poor Gamora. I decided that if Sawyer had a Midlife Crisis AND he rolled no romantic wishes for Manisha, then he would go and break up with her. Otherwise, he would go work hard to patch it up. The date with Emily Doctor sealed the deal.

I figured that since Gamora was upset with Sawyer for cheating on Manisha, she’d be the one who wanted to go visit her. I let the interview run on autonomy, and it turned out pretty much the opposite of what I expected. Instead of immediately ending up in a fight, Manisha was all over Sawyer. She flirted with and kissed him autonomously. I sent Gamora to talk to her, though, and that was a big flop. So that was the end of that. Sawyer broke up with her.

Oh, and I am madly in love with My Friend Fred, which is one of the sculptures that dogs can find. Ha!

I have been on vacation for a week, and EVERYONE appears to have posted. I am slowly catching up. I haven’t forgotten about you.

#sims3challenge #sims3legacy #sims3story #thesims3

Edmund knew that he lived in a bubble of luxury as the scion of an old monied Avalon family. He hated it. If he allowed it, his family connections would make everything easy. He would never need to work hard for anything. Money would mean nothing.

Edmund did not want to be that person. Once he graduated from school, he intended to live on what he earned and nothing more.

He took an after school job at Avalon Memorial Gardens as an assistant undertaker. He knew he couldn’t yet earn enough to cover his room and board, but it was a good start. He could learn the value of labor while he while he was still in school.

Many sims might hesitate to work at a cemetery, but it was the perfect job for Edmund. His work was filled with reminders of mortality, but also the spirits that lingered beyond death. It was a perfect place for magic.

Edmund fought a migraine for the rest of the day. His first experiment could have gone better.

Gamora was a force for chaos in the Sample household. Sawyer was the only sim in the house unfazed by her moods.

Not only did she dislike other children, she went out of her way to cause them trouble.

Out of everyone in the home, she seemed to get along best with Connery.

Other than her father, the human sim she seemed to do best with Victoria. She seemed to like Victoria in spite of herself. Everyone liked Victoria.

Or maybe Gamora just found it useful for them to get along. They shared a bedroom, after all.

Fall came to Avalon, bringing with it falling leaves and colder breezes.

When the weekend came, it was tool cool to go to the beach. Instead, Victoria persuaded Gamora to go with her to Persephone Hot Springs.

She made a splash that would be hard to beat.

“Splashing isn’t really my thing,” Gamora said. “I like the water, though.”

Victoria paddled around in the crystal clear water.

Winston had big plans for the weekend himself. He’d been perfecting his baking skills for days, and now he was ready to show it to the world.

He prepared as  best he could that morning.

The baking report was encouraging.

At first, he set up shop in the old theater, Magical Moving Pictures. He thought it would be a great idea to offer an alternative to the movie concessions, but the result was disappointing. Nobody seemed to notice him. Perhaps that they were just too much competition.

He even tried outside the theater. It was out in the sunlight where he could get burned or bitten by bugs or all sorts of nastiness, but in theory it ought to increase his visibility. Still, he couldn’t attract a single sale.

Winston knew he was a good baker. Why weren’t other sims giving him a chance? Were his prices too high? Was it because he was a kid?

Finally, as the sun was beginning to set on a frustrating day, he moved his table inside the bookstore.

And that location turned out to be the jackpot.

There was no coffee stand in the bookstore, and apparently everyone was desperate for refreshments.

When it was finally time to fold up shop and head home, he eagerly counted his simoleons.

Selling treats was not as profitable as he’d thought it would be.

———-

Here’s a little snapshot of all the Generation 7 heirs.

I’m rolling all four traits for the Gen 7 kids, just to see how it goes. The bit with Edmund wanting to earn his own money is the Frugal trait he picked up as a teen.

I suppose now is the time to admit that Gamora’s traits are…. problematic. I suppose she’s her father’s daughter. Sawyer’s Forbidden Fruit plant surprised me when it grew to Horrifying quality. I did everything I could come up with to try to raise its quality. I even moved it into the greenhouse and had Sawyer talk to it with the megaphone. No good. I could have had him harvest the fruit and let Andria plant another one with all her bonuses, but those plants take FOREVER to grow, even with fertilizer, and the resulting baby would have been a good week younger than the Gamora we have. So I let him pick her, and she came with Evil and Dislikes Children locked in. Then when I rolled her child trait, she got Hotheaded. I’ve already played the Evil sociopath in Forest, so I intend to do something different with Gamora. Gamora is going to express her Evil trait in a much milder way, more chaotic than sadistic. I’m still waiting to see how Hotheaded plays out — she hasn’t had a single Hotheaded wish yet.

Woo, those baker’s stands are really persnickety. I spent the whole day trying to figure out how to to get Winston to sell some of his baked goods. It turned out there was was some kind of glitch in the bookstore rabbithole that was causing routing problems on the lot. When I found and fixed that, suddenly Winston had customers. But I tried to have him set up that stand two other times, and nobody noticed it. I even dropped the prices for his goods very low. It’s a bummer because it seemed like just the thing Winston would want to do.

Hey, Persephone Hot Springs is still up for download, for those who might be interested. It’s the prettiest community pool lot that I’ve ever seen, and I like the idea that there’s a story excuse for using an outdoor pool in cold weather. As I was writing this, I got the impulse to learn how to use a fog emitter so that I could add some steam around the water. I’ll see how that goes. The only downside I see is that I can’t come up with a good way to add a slide.

I looked again at the traits that came with Island Paradise, and there *is* a Loves to Swim trait, which would be the opposite of Hydrophobic. I guess I’m playing Victoria as a combination of Sailor (the trait she has) and Loves to Swim. There’s just not a whole lot to sailing by itself. She doesn’t get a moodlet for being on houseboats, and the only activity you seem to be able to do from regular boats is fish. I think of Victoria as having the imaginary trait Loves the Sea, but she’ll take freshwater if that’s the best she can do.

Oh, and I finally did it. I played to all four kids are teens. Now I just have to catch up on posting so I can get the heir poll going. Can you believe it?

#sims3challenge #sims3legacy #sims3story #thesims3

Edmund was no stranger to solitude. Indeed, he sought it out. Solitude kept his thoughts from being drowned out other voices. Idleness created a place apart for him to ponder the eternal darkness of being.

Still, have after a few days of being confined to the house, even Edmund had enough. Edmund needed a plan to get his father to back off. As much as he hated to admit it, the traditional method would probably be most effective.

“Please let me off the hook, Dad!” he pleaded the next morning. “I learned my lesson!”

Dylan thought about it.

“I’ve probably been too hard on you son,” he admitted. “You are a good kid, and you’re growing into an upstanding young man. I know you just lost track of time at the library. But do keep in mind that even honest mistakes have consequence. Your mother and I were beside ourselves with worry when you didn’t come home.”

Edmund gave his father a chance to wind down, then jumped to the important part. “Does that mean I’m not grounded anymore?”

Dylan chuckled indulgently. “You’re fine, Edmund. Now go get ready for school.”

Edmund headed to the house before Dylan could find more wisdom to impart and ran into Andria watching from the other side of the garden.

Andria smirked. “A little humility goes a lot way with your dad,” she said.

“Dad’s never going to understand, is he?” Edmund asked. “I’m a create of the night. It’s in the magic that runs in my veins. I come home at night because he wants me to.”

Andria’s voice took a stern tone. “You’ll be responsible for yourself in time,” she said. “Until then, you must live by my and your father’s rules. That means you come home by bedtime.”

Edmund scowled, but he didn’t try to argue. While he was distracted, Andria threw something at his feet.

“Yow!” Edmund shouted. “Mom, what is this??”

“Elixir of bacon and eggs,” Andria said brightly. “Have a nice breakfast!”

One evening, while Sawyer was tutoring Gamora in advanced calculus, he got an unexpected phone call.

It was Dr. Emily Doctor, a resident at Ygraine Memorial Hospital with Sawyer. She wanted to meet to talk about something important, but Sawyer couldn’t figure out what. It didn’t seem to be related to an emergency at work.

“Can we take Connery out to play?” Gamora asked while he was trying to concentrate on the phone call.

That’s how Sawyer ended up taking his daughter and the family dog out to the dog park after dark in order to have a conversation with his coworker.

He found her standing by the ornamental fountain. “Thank you for meeting me so promptly, Dr. Doctor,” Sawyer said. “I couldn’t get a strong idea of your concerns over the phone. I hope you can give me more detail in person.”

(Note: Emily is descended from Chris Doctor, the Ninth Doctor Who simalike. Remind me NEVER to give a sim the surname “Doctor,” again.)

“I’m so glad you were willing to meet with me,” Emily said. “This isn’t the kind of think I’m comfortable talking about on company time. I’m having trouble with the new intern we hired this week, Rosalie Weaver. I caught her saying nasty things about me at the water cooler.”

Sawyer was taken by surprise. “I don’t think I’m the best expert to handle this problem,” he said. “I’m not terribly good with personnel issues.”

“Are you kidding?” Emily said. “I hear our colleagues talking trash about you at the water cooler all the time, and you always make them regret it. You’re the smartest person at this hospital, and everyone knows it. You’re even smarter than I am, and that’s really impressive!”

Sawyer stared at her. “Do you really see the value of my intelligence?” he asked

“Of course!” she replied. “It’s obvious. Just as obvious as mine.”

There, under the starlight, Sawyer saw his old colleague in a way that had never occurred to him before.

The stupid newsreel that ran on a loop in the waiting room.

And, of course, they had an endless stream of complaints about their awful colleagues, none of whom appreciated their brilliance.

“I have to go,” Emily said. “I have a 7am spleenectomy.”

Sawyer felt his throat constrict. “I’d like to see you again,” he said hoarsely. “I mean, I see you every day, but I’d like to see you again like this.”

He watched her walk away, his throat and chest still tight, wondering what the heck had just happened.

Then he realized that he’d completely forgotten he had not come to the park alone.

“Dad! How could you!” Gamora cried. “What about my mom?”

This evening was just filled with conversational segues that made no sense to Sawyer.

“Your mother?” Sawyer said. “She doesn’t want to see us. How can she possibly matter?”

“I want speak to my mom,” Gamora said. “I bet we can work everything out together.”

Sawyer sighed. “I don’t share your optimism,” he said. “Let’s go home and talk about it.”

Dylan pulled the van up in front of the Sample Estate. He stepped down from the driver’s seat, took Andria’s hand in his, and bent over it to kiss her fingertips. “Please accompany me, my lady. Our carriage awaits.”

Andria, caught by surprise, caught herself blushing. She hid it with a laugh. “Of course, my prince!” she said. “I go wherever you go.” She looked Dylan up and down — he was dressed in the tuxedo they had been married in, and it fit him surprisingly well.  “Just let me go change into something more appropriate.”

He took her to Serenity, the upscale dance hall where Dylan’s mother had often performed at the top of her career.

“You look beautiful,” Dylan said. “You’re beautiful in your overalls with dirt under your fingernails, but it’s still special to see you dressed up.”

“Wow,” Andria replied. She blushed again under his intense, admiring gaze. “I remember when you last worse that tuxedo. You look just as dashing in it now as you did then.”

“I brought some of my best nectar for the occasion,” Dylan said. “Lemon mead. It should be aged just right by now.”

Andria took the glass from Dylan and twirled it between her fingers.

“You put so much thought into this date!” Andria said.

“To many more years ahead that are as happy as the ones behind us,” Dylan said and clinked his glass to hers.

Suddenly, everything came into focus. Andria’s jaw dropped. “It’s our wedding anniversary,” she said.

“I haven’t wanted to put you under pressure,” he said, “but I noticed you’ve been distance recently. You’ve seemed restless.

“I’ve been thinking about what I said about being afraid that you and our children would leave me behind. What I said is true, but I think it’s incomplete. I think that fear is good for me. You have taken me in directions I would never have gone on my own. You have forced me to grow. I am a much better person because you are in my life. I want you to know that if you need to make more changes to be happy, I am ready to make them with you. You are, without a doubt, the most important thing in my life.”

“Now,” Dylan continued, “I have more in mind for this evening than drinking and talking. Come to the dance floor, my lady, and dance the night away.”

“You want to dance?” Andria asked. “We have a very bad track record with dancing.”

“I found the solution to that problem,” Dylan said. “I’ve been taking lessons. Come with me, and I promise not to step on your foot.”

“Lessons!” Andria cried. “Really? When?”

Dylan chucked. “You spend hours gardening,” he said. “It’s not difficult to take an hour away without you noticing. Come, let me show you.”

And he did.

“I love you,” Andria said.

“My heart is yours forever,” Dylan said.

And it was true.

———-

This post took forever to write. I’m not sure why I found it so difficult….

Andria’s midlife crisis ended on her wedding anniversary! That sounded like as good a sign as any that she and Dylan were going to be all right.

Dylan has Nectar Making at 7 or 8 at this point, and he’s using a minimum of “great” combinations. The wine he served was either Excellent or Perfect quality, and it STILL gave Andria a nauseated moodlet for the whole evening. I have no idea when you start making good wine with this skill. It’s possible that it wasn’t aged enough.

I fulfilled all of Andria’s Midlife Crisis wishes except the one to divorce Dylan. It’s hard to get anything other than “Barely Fulfilled.” Grr. Dylan was the only sim in Gen 6 to NOT have a midlife crisis. I assumed he would because he holds himself to such impossibly high standards. But I guess he really is content. That removes an expected source of drama from this generation, but it’s hard to wish discontent on the poor boy.

But more excitingly — Sawyer has found his soulmate! Holy crap!

I noticed at some point that Sawyer’s highest relationship on his relationship panel wasn’t anyone in his family. In fact, it wasn’t someone I hadn’t ever seen him interact with. It was this coworker of his, Emily Doctor, with whom he had a completely maxxed relationship bar. I wondered if I ought to do something with that.

Then, the good old dating system kicks in, and she calls and asks him on a date — to the dog park. So I decide he should actually go with the dog. Gamora came to play with the dog. She and Connery actually get along very well, though I’m not sure why I don’t have pictures of them playing.

I left Sawyer and Emily interacting autonomously, and they were *adorable*. They even flirted autonomously. Not a single failed interaction.

Here’s the big secret: I thought Sawyer’s biggest problem was being Socially Awkward, and I couldn’t figure out what to do about it. Two Socially Awkward sims together are actually worse than just one. But two DIVAS — they spend all their time whining and complaining, and it raises their relationship! Finally someone understands Sawyer!