Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Chapter 3 Bonus

More things from chapter 3!

Spot the things going wrong in this picture, answers inside brackets: [screaming stinky infant in crib; broken tv; newlywed couple arguing over said tv]

Really, Tanya? In your skimpy nightgown? The neighbors ARE going to talk, you know.

Tanya lost a business star because the streetlamp outside her club was hit by lightning and caught on fire.  How is that fair?

Wow Tanya, self-centered much?  Either that or you're a mind reader.

Chapter 3.3: Progress

Years 11-12

At Lennon and Christy's home, progress on saving for their new house ground to a halt after they both woke up coughing and sneezing one morning.  Christy's attempts to create a cure were met with failure, and they resigned themselves to bed rest until they felt better.


Komei was finally back on the streets, this time as a member of the vice squad.  He was glad to be doing something useful again, instead of pushing papers, but was worried that his deductive skills weren't quite up to the job.  Unfortunately, he currently had no way of training himself further in that area, so he resigned himself to keeping the same job for a while.


After a few years of work, Timothy finished his first novel, Romancing the Skies, a steamy airline-themed romance.  He stepped outside of his apartment for the first time in a week, and began to carry the stacks of yellowing newspapers that had accumulated outside his door.  He was waiting for the elevator when Tanya and Komei came up.  He tried to ignore them, but he couldn't ignore what he heard Tanya say.  The same words that she'd whispered in Timothy's ear, saying that they were only for him.  He stared angrily at her husband, the man who'd happened to find her first, before storming off back to his room.  It was over.


Angry, betrayed and dejected, he sat down to begin work on his second novel, which would be about the demise of a police chief and his wife, as jealous sims launch a master plan to make them pay as they walked around town, making out on every park bench.  Of course, as he assured his publisher, all characters that appeared in the work were fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, was purely coincidental.  Naturally.


In her farm on the outskirts of town, Freya opened a produce stand, calling it Northbend Produce.  Her first harvest was nearing, and she wanted to sell the - literal - fruits of her labors.


Soon afterwards, Christy gave birth to a baby girl, who she named Roselyn.  She took after her mother in both skin and eye color, but it was still too early to tell whose hair and mannerisms she would have.


Rachel Won was growing up!  It felt like only a few days ago that she'd been born, but she was already a toddler.  She clearly took after her father, once her jet-black hair began to grow.  Ji and Lilly moved her crib into one of the spare rooms to create a nursery, then began to talk about their next child.  Ji was enthusiastic about the idea, while Lilly had a few more reservations, but they agreed to give it a try.


Rachel wasn't the only child growing up.  On the south side of town, Nicholas Tellerman was getting older too.  In fact, he was now old enough to be bussed to a nearby school to start his education.  To celebrate, the living room was reorganized and a brand new chess set was purchased, so that Nicholas could keep up with his peers in education and so that Komei could continue advancing in his career.  The unstated reason, of course, was that they hoped Nicholas would realize how illogical it was to wander around all day dressed like a pink dragon.


Timothy took to spending evenings at the only club in town, carefully avoiding Tanya of course.  One night while he was there, he met a woman named Melissa Fancey.  Her primary motivation was the pursuit of romance, which meshed well with some of Timothy's interests, though he did find her grilled cheese obsession to be a bit odd.  Despite his resolution that he was done with love, it was almost like they were meant to be together.  So he leaped in...all the way.  Before the year was out, they were engaged to be married and living together in Timothy's apartment.


One night, disaster struck on Freya's farm!  Lightning struck one of her lemon trees, and it caught on fire.  She ran over to try to save it, but she could feel the heat of the flames drying out her flesh, and knew that she couldn't stand it for much longer.  Luckily, the rain extinguished the flames before she or her tree perished.


But the year wasn't all bad for her.  When spending time at the oasis, one of Freya's acquaintances offered to set her up on a blind date.  Freya agreed, not without some hesitation, and was introduced to Vyn Scott, an elderly woman from the next town over.  They got along well, and as Freya returned to her farm she thought that there might be a possibility of something there.


As spring was fading into summer, a new resident moved to the canyon.  Her name was Jasmine Krentz, and she was a creative free spirit with dreams of raising a family and supporting that family through her artistic endeavors.  She couldn't help but notice, upon her arrival, that the town lacked a proper clothing store.  People were going to end up wandering around naked in a few years if she didn't do something about that.  She could even sell her own designs!  Unfortunately, she lacked the immediate funds to start her own business, but she knew that if she sold enough paintings she would be opening her doors in no time.


Of course, at the end of the season taxes were due again.  The Henkes family paid $2,500, the Wons paid $1,000, the Tellermans paid $1,900, Timothy paid $2,850, Freya paid $50, and Jasmine paid $600.  The total amount of taxes collected in the town fund was now $12,350.  It wasn't much, barely over 1% of what would be necessary to found a university, but the town was still in its infancy.  And it was progress.

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Yeah, Christy and Lennon both have colds.  For some reason, even though I have apartment life, the biotech station doesn't make the cure properly for me.  They can make it and sell it, but can't drink it.  Once she gets her next lifetime happiness point, I'm going to grab the comfort soup for Christy, so that I can avoid this mess in the future.  Speaking of bugs, I didn't realize that Timothy didn't have a phone in his apartment, and I think I bugged his first book's royalties because, once I realized and put the phone in, it never rang.

It's a shame Timothy got jealous about Komei, I had some drama up my sleeve.  Oh well, sometimes the sims have different ideas, just like back when I thought Ji was going to be gay(I had a whole thing planned out, where he'd marry some chick and then cheat on the side, since he's got romance as secondary aspiration), and then Lilly walked by and he - very emphatically - wasn't.

First kid aging up, and he doesn't seem to have the fug!  Let's hope my luck continues.


Again, sorry this post took so long to happen, like I said...a lot happened!

Update coming soon!

Last night I dreamed that, in one fell rotation, I managed to electrocute my entire neighborhood to death.  That hasn't actually happened, luckily, and the reason I haven't updated isn't that all my sims are dead.  I've just been pretty busy lately, and this post ended up being really long; I played one year and it was too short, but the second year has been a monster of a year. :\

The good news is, it's coming soon.  Possibly today, in fact.  All I have left is one household to play, I just haven't had the chance to sit down and start up the sims since last week sometime.  I just wanted to put this out there so it wasn't assumed that this legacy is dead.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Chapter 3.2: New Lives

Year 10

Lennon was enjoying his new store.  With a sales floor out front and a workroom/leisure area in the back, it had everything he needed to be productive and profitable.


Christy recieved a promotion to a position as a scholar.  She enjoyed the quieter research, a break from the pandemonium of her previous position, especially since she suspected she might be pregnant.


One evening after she came home from work, she found a mysterious old lamp sitting in the front yard.  Neither her nor Lennon had seen anybody place in there, but, remembering the old stories, she gave it a rub.  Sure enough, there was a genie inside!  She wished for peace of mind and wealth, while Lennon wished for his own peace of mind.  The genie granted their three wishes, and then vanished, leaving them $25,000 richer and with a sense of satisfaction with their lives.


Meanwhile, in the Won household, Lilly was giving birth.  The labor was relatively easy, compared to the pregnancy, and soon Lilly and Ji were left with a baby girl, who they named Rachel.


Ji was proving to be handy around the house, even with his relatively small amount of mechanical knowledge.  When Lilly broke the television channel surfing, he was able to get it working again, and didn't even shock himself in the process.


Love - or at least lust - was blossoming between neighbors Tanya and Timothy.  The hours when Komei was at work was the time when they secretly met.  Tanya was a bit worried about taking her flirtatious activities home with her, but figured that as long as they never so much as glanced at each other when her husband was home from work it would be okay.


Komei and Nicholas were both gaining lots of new skills.  While Nicholas busied himself playing with the only educational toy his parents had been able to afford, Komei was working out daily after work.  If he wanted to get back on the streets, he had to become more physically fit, so push-ups it was!  He just knew that he would get promoted soon, and then they could move out of that cramped dump of an apartment.


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Okay, I did NOT expect that lamp to show up!  No idea what triggered it, they weren't even that happy.  I got good wishes though, might move them up to a bigger house instead of trying to raise kids in the shed(Lennon would be down for that, but I still think it's a bit dubious, even with his security robot!).

I downloaded some new defaults for eyes and skintone, so if character appearance shifts a bit in the coming chapters that's why.  I'll keep it as consistent as possible, sorry for the confusion.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Chapter 3.1: Expansion

Year 9

As winter turned to spring, Christy finally accomplished enough study of science to be admitted to the career.


Due to her advanced knowledge, previous experience and connections in the field, she started as an inventor working the day shift and was given a biotech station to experiment with viruses and cures.  Needless to say, this made Lennon a bit nervous, and he made her keep it in the backyard and promise to be very, very careful with it.


Finally, construction on Lennon's new shop was finished.  He visited to move his stuff in and set up the displays in preparation for opening to the public.  It was simple, but with room to expand, and a nice break area for himself and any employees he might hire in the future, though the idea of having to work with other people made him a bit nervous.


When he got home, he installed a set of doors on his old workshop, so that it could be used for sleeping in the future.


The final pieces had fallen into place.  Christy and Lennon couldn't wait any longer, they had to marry.  Money was still a bit tight from the business expansion, so they opted for a private ceremony, rather than a party, and they both took Lennon's last name of Henkes.  They decided to try for their first child right away, before Christy really started advancing in her career.


As Lilly Won was making dinner one night near the end of her pregnancy, she somehow managed to send the entire stove up in flames!  Luckily, Ji had the night off and remembered his fire safety training, and the fire was extinguished without much trouble.



This latest fire, the third in the small town, prompted the formation of a law enforcement department, which would handle criminal activity and fires.  Due to his previous out-of-town experience as an officer of the law, Komei was designated the town's first patrol officer.  He was soon promoted to be a desk sergeant, working on the logistical side of things rather than patrolling all day.


Despite her husband's success, Tanya was restless.  Some routine flirting at the club - come on, how else is she going to get people to come inside? - began to develop into something more.  She was in love with a man who wasn't her husband, and it was thrilling.  She wanted more.


When Ji Won came by later that night after his DJ shift, Tanya couldn't help herself.  She practically jumped him.  Surprisingly, he didn't seem to mind, and they shared a quick cuddle in the lounge of the Wrong Side of the Tracks before he went home to his expectant wife.


Word of the new community in No Man's Canyon was starting to spread to neighboring communities.  With the spring thaw came two new people looking to start a new life in the town.  The first was Timothy Burns, a pleasure-seeker with a penchant for steamy romance.  He moved into the studio apartment that shared a floor with the Tellermans'.  Since he was a child, he had always wanted to become a romance novelist; this was his chance.


The other was Freya Dresden, a peculiar woman if there ever was one!  It was said that she was like a plant, and yet still a sim - a plantsim.  She moved into a tiny cabin located on a plot of irrigated farmland on the far edge of town.  Despite her unusual biology, she longed for fortune and an easy life as much as anyone else in this town.  She kept to herself and her plants for the most part, carefully gardening and irrigating both them and herself under the desert sun.


 The town was growing to the point where there was demand for community resources.  The townspeople debated, and decided to build a park around a natural lake, calling it Oasis Park.  This park would be free for all to enter, and the resources contained within were to be shared among all the people in town.  It was their plan for the future to designate more places such as this, when the town was large enough to support it.


((Christy got a spot in the science career because she maxed her logic skill and science enthusiasm.  She started so high because she has a billion friends.  She was actually at career level 9 when she joined the family.  I'm not sure if this is cheating or not, but the rules don't seem to prohibit it, so I won't force her to start at level 1.  Finally, the first slot opened up in law enforcement.  The Tellermans are doing much better now.  Silly me completely forgot about earning CAS sims for player-owned community lots, so I introduced two new townspeople at the end there, as well as the first community-owned lot.))

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Chapter 2 Bonus

More things from chapter 2.

"OHAI u tryin to take a photo?" *trollface*

I know that picture was in chapter 2.2, but really, I have to talk about that toilet...that was taken at 9:45 AM, and it had just been cleaned at 4AM!

Apparently, women scare Ji: "What?  No, I'm fine talking from over here...behind the TV...you're a bit scary's all..."

Chapter 2.2: Making Things Work

 Years 6-8

After her long, hard labor, Tanya was rewarded by the cries of an infant.  It was a boy!  She named him Nicholas, and thanked her lucky stars that it wasn't twins.  The newborn was settled into his nursery, located in the living room, and Tanya got some well-deserved rest before she had to go back to work.


It was a lot of work taking care of the infant, but they managed to juggle it with their work schedules.  Soon after the birth, Komei finally managed to paint that elusive masterpiece, bringing him up out of the depression that he'd been slipping into.  The Wrong Side of the Tracks club was turning a small profit, but what it really needed was a bar.  Unfortunately, the funds weren't there for that sort of construction expense, and wouldn't be for some time.  So Tanya would just have to make do with what she had.


Lennon's business was going coming along nicely.  He managed to sell a steady stream of merchandise while simultaneously working on his SentryBot.  Soon, it was complete, and he set it to patrol around the house.


Newlyweds Ji and Lilly were enjoying the time they had together.  Of course, Ji had work most days, while Lilly stayed at home and studied.  She had been experiencing some pretty bad nausea, but couldn't tell if she was possibly pregnant or if one of her cooking experiments had just gone bad.


While watching the yummy channel later, she considered calling Ji at work to let him know that she might be pregnant, but decided to wait.  It would surely make itself known in a more concrete way soon, and then she could tell him.  Nothing like announcing to your husband that you're pregnant, and then have it turn out to be food poisoning from undercooked omelette!


Sure enough, before long she was having a hard time fitting into her clothes; Lilly was pregnant.  Ji was excited at the news, and they started setting aside some of their savings for a nursery.


As winter began to grow to a close, Christy started dropping hints to Lennon about what she wanted out of life.  Sure, she had goals to become a scientist, but that wasn't her ultimate aspiration.  She wanted grandchildren.  Lennon was confused by that at first, but slowly came around to the idea.  However, he knew that grandchildren meant children, and that meant space in the house that they didn't have.  It was Christy who came up with the idea of repurposing the workshop into a detached nursery; after all, the children would be safe enough with the SentryBot flying around.  Lennon protested, asking where his business would go, but Christy replied that maybe it was time for the business to move out of their home.  After thinking about it for a while, Lennon agreed, and started construction on a building.  They also announced their engagement that day, though they set no plans for the wedding yet.


Lilly's pregnancy was progressing well.  She was spending most of her time watching the yummy channel, and was beginning to consider opening a food store of her own once the children were older.  Ji was promoted again, this time to a party DJ, which meant he was back on the night shift.  But he didn't care, the job was great fun, didn't pay badly at all, and he was finally out of those ridiculous uniforms.


As a reward for finally breaking out of the boring jobs, he was given an indoor hydroponic garden, which would exercise his creativity as he tried to grow plants in this unusual setting.  End of winter taxes were coming due.  Lennon and Christy owed $1,150, the Wons owed $1,400 and the Tellermans owed $250, bringing the total funds to $3,450.


On the other side of the small town, Nicholas grew up.  He was mostly taking after his father in appearance, with the same red hair and wide jawline.  With the new toddler toilet and toy in the apartment as well, they were beginning to get very cramped for space.  Tanya and Komei began to talk about finding a new, larger home, though with money so tight they couldn't see how it would be possible.  But they'd find a way, somehow.


((Their apartment is really cramped.  I'm not sure where Komei's going to paint after Nicholas ages up and needs a real bed.  I might have him give it up whenever he gets to go back to the police force(that was his career upon move-in), when we get that third fire or a burglary.  For some reason, I didn't check until just now and notice that Christy has a telescope and lots of other crap in her inventory...we'll just fudge that one I think.  I have such a hard time getting photos in the Won's bathroom because the door stays open most of the time due to sims standing in front of it.  I changed the way it was facing in the hopes that it would help, but I'm not too hopeful.))