Author Topic: The Ghosts of Twinbrook (Life States Dynasty)  (Read 108261 times)

Offline hazelnut

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The Ghosts of Twinbrook
« Reply #60 on: November 04, 2012, 12:35:07 PM »
This isn’t a proper story chapter, just a chance to show off the rebuilt house – I’ve mostly been building rather than playing this week.  The first rebuild was intended to be the basis for the final house but I hadn’t left quite enough space for stairs and couldn’t get the basements to work.  The first two houses were grey stone but I decided to go for red bricks and Victorian Gothic this time.


Front view


Back view


The house at night


Dining room


Study (still needs some more furniture)

The living room is currently acting as a foosball room.  There will eventually be a games room in the top basement level but I ran out of money.  I’ll post pictures of the finished versions of both rooms later.


Christabel’s room (she’s a yellow ghost who likes blue).


Poor Vicky is still sleeping in a child’s room at the moment.  She’ll move into a basement bedroom later. (Her favourite colour is also blue.)


The other children’s room

The family mausoleum is on the third basement level, hopefully safe from meteor strikes.  It’s only partly decorated as yet.


Ana’s area (with all of her career rewards, not just the 'official' two)


Chris’ area


Vernon’s final resting place…


…and Cecily’s.

They both come out to haunt most nights (and Vernon is still yellow).





Next chapter

Offline JudesSims

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The Ghosts of Twinbrook (house rebuild)
« Reply #61 on: November 04, 2012, 12:47:02 PM »
Awesome house!



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Offline Gogowars329

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook (house rebuild - not a proper update)
« Reply #62 on: November 04, 2012, 03:32:17 PM »
The house looks great!
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Offline RainBeau

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook (house rebuild - not a proper update)
« Reply #63 on: November 04, 2012, 03:45:31 PM »
So jealous, what a gorgeous house!
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Offline Forest_Bear

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook (house rebuild - not a proper update)
« Reply #64 on: November 05, 2012, 02:32:17 AM »
Wow I love the house! :D
Hi Im new! Call me Forest or Boo.

Offline RavenKay

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook (house rebuild - not a proper update)
« Reply #65 on: November 05, 2012, 01:05:11 PM »
Will you come build the Bloodthornes the house of their/my dreams? Please! Hellion and Wilhemenia problably wouldn't notice, but, the heirs will!

Gorgeous home!

Offline Odie

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook (house rebuild - not a proper update)
« Reply #66 on: November 10, 2012, 07:30:29 AM »
I have just read your complete story and gazed at your house. I have only one word that says it all: wow!
But maybe that doesn't do you enough justice ;) ...I absolutly love your story. Your background story was intriging and really pulled me in to the story. Genius how you wrote some from a different perspective. I love how the whole puzzle seems to come together. It shows you have put a lot of time and energy in this wonderfully creative and inventive story. Plus you are a terrific builder. Wow!
Problem? Don't panic! There is always a solution. You just have to find it  :D



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Offline hazelnut

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook (house rebuild - not a proper update)
« Reply #67 on: November 10, 2012, 01:39:44 PM »
Thank you, everyone.  The house was really supposed to look spookier than it does but its still my favourite of my Sim houses.

Offline hazelnut

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook
« Reply #68 on: November 10, 2012, 02:46:17 PM »
Chapter 5: Love-Life

That night, Chris went along with Vicky to the cemetery – but the only ghost they met was a little girl.  Vicky was planning to spend the next few nights fishing there and promised to phone when Steward appeared again.  Chris went back to her cases but, oddly enough, the next one involved strange goings-on at the graveyard and she was already there on stakeout when Vicky called her over and introduced Steward.





Chris was so pleased to meet another adult ghost that they spent the whole night chatting.  Vicky was clearly less interested – she wandered off to fish for a few hours and rejoined them as dawn was breaking, yawning rather pointedly.



As it got lighter, Steward stopped talking mid-sentence and drifted back to his grave.



Chris looked at it thoughtfully – if she picked up the gravestone and took it home, would Steward go too?  Mamma would probably know.



Ana was delighted that Christabel was finally talking to her, even if it was only to ask her professional opinion as a former ghost hunter.  Still, it was clear that she was falling in love with this Steward.  Maybe ghostly grandchildren weren’t so far off.

With Steward’s urn now on her dressing table, it was easy for Chris to see when he appeared.  She took to sleeping in the day so that she’d be awake when he was around, and only worked on nights when it was clear he wasn’t going to emerge.



It was a frustratingly slow romance, though.  Steward was always exhausted and in need of a bath when he appeared and even curing him with her moodlet manager took time out of their precious few hours together.  She knew now that he was grumpy and disliked children, which didn’t bode too well for her future plans, but maybe he’d come around to having a family later.  Perhaps that was why he refused to take their relationship any further than kissing.

Eventually, she confided in Vicky, who persuaded her to talk to Mamma.  It was a decidedly awkward conversation to begin with – but at least ghosts don’t blush visibly.  In fact, Mamma was surprisingly down to earth.



“Men are such romantics!  I had exactly the same trouble with your father – although I did, er, win him over eventually.  Maybe the scientists at the laboratory can bring Steward back to partial life, as they did with Papa.   I am afraid I am out of touch with their current research but they do still owe me a few favours.  And I know someone else who might be able to help…”





“Good morning, Deirdra.”
“Hi, Ana.  Is that daughter of yours a sports star yet?"



“I think she has given up on that dream – but she has finished her tasks and found a suitable partner.  She is dreaming of weddings and children now – but it seems unlikely that either will ever happen unless Steward can be revived in some way.  He seems even more afraid of commitment than my dear Vernon.   I have talked to the scientists and they will ‘see what they can do’.  I suppose we will just have to wait to hear from them.”
“It sounds as though you could do with some proper help.  Can’t rely on humans.  Some of my friends would be willing to join in.  I’ll tell you where their lamps are hidden.”



“Oh, Deirdra, thank you.  What would I do without you?”



Eventually, the scientists contacted Chris and she hurried straight over with the urn.



With Steward around full-time, she felt able to take things more slowly and let him get used to the idea of having a girlfriend.





They went out on several all-night dates and then, as the sun was rising one morning, Chris proposed.



A few days later, Christabel Goole and Steward Curious were married.  It was a quiet ceremony at Willowglen Amphitheatre, with just the bride’s mother and sister as witnesses.





Before long, Chris was sure she heard chimes.



When she told her mother she was pregnant, Chris was surprised by the warmth of Ana’s response.  She’d been expecting medical advice but not hugs.



And she certainly hadn’t expected to hear Ana’s life story - or that it would be so... unusual.  At the end of a long talk, they agreed that Chris’ children and their descendants would grow up knowing all about Grim and the tasks they must complete.  One generation of misunderstanding and estrangement was more than enough.


Next chapter

Offline Odie

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook (updated 10 November with chapter 5)
« Reply #69 on: November 13, 2012, 07:00:08 PM »
Great update! I am very curious what the nooboo will look like!
Problem? Don't panic! There is always a solution. You just have to find it  :D

Offline hazelnut

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook (updated 10 November with chapter 5)
« Reply #70 on: November 16, 2012, 05:28:10 PM »
Well, I can reveal that the Twinbrook noses make their presence felt in generation 3  ;)

Offline hazelnut

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook
« Reply #71 on: November 17, 2012, 12:40:27 PM »
Chapter 6: You Only Live Twice

Steward had known when he woke up that morning that it was going to be a bad day.  Of course, he quite often woke up feeling like that.  This time, though, he was right.  He’d gone out looking for a peaceful place to read his book – one with no children around.  If he had his way, they’d all go to school seven days a week, instead of running around at weekends making a noise and disturbing people.  When it started to get dark, he thought it was just cloud but then it got too dark to read and he looked up – just in time to see the meteor rushing down on him.  Typical, he thought, just before he stopped thinking anything at all.

When he was next aware of his surroundings, he was in the cemetery.  He was dead, then.  At least it was quiet – and mostly free of children.  There was Wilhelmina, the child ghost, but she was a quiet little thing – and mostly fainted when she saw Steward, anyway.  He could almost get to like that.  The adult ghosts were a pleasant enough bunch, although they rarely all came out at the same time.  Occasional living Sims would visit at night, but they were mostly anglers in pursuit of deathfish.  Then one of them started talking to him.  She said her name was Victoria and she was part-ghost herself.  Despite this delusion, she was reasonably good company.

The next time he emerged from his grave, she introduced her sister Christabel – who was a ghost.  Clearly Victoria's mad story had some basis, after all.  Christa was a charming young lady, if a little over-eager when it came to romance.  It was no great surprise to find himself in her house the next time he awoke, although placing his urn in her bedroom seemed rather forward.

He wished the wretched woman would let him have a bath in peace, though.  After so many years without one, it was pleasant to relax in hot water.  She kept using some strange device on him instead.  It removed the dirt efficiently enough but it just wasn’t the same as a proper bath.  And then he’d have liked a nap on a comfortable bed.  The house seemed to have plenty.  Instead, she kept trying to kiss him – and clearly wanted more than that.  Young hussy.

But then he woke to find himself outside an unfamiliar building with Christa – and it was evening, not the early hours of the morning.  She explained that he had been returned to partial life by the scientists who worked there.  They had done the same for her father, apparently.  Now he could carry on with the life that the meteor had interrupted, even though he was still essentially a ghost.

His revival, if you could call it that, seemed to have had a good effect on Christa, too.  She was prepared to settle for a dignified courtship now, and seemed much more like the delightful person he had thought her at first.  When she asked him to marry her, he was happy to accept.

Her mad mother was the only real drawback.  The old bat was remarkably well-preserved physically but she was clearly losing her marbles – assuming she’d had any in the first place.  She offered him a potion of her own devising, one that she said would make him young again, but he refused.  Even assuming the stuff actually worked and didn’t make him as crazy as she was, why would he want to be a callow young man again?

Then, one day soon after their wedding, Christa told him she was pregnant.  Didn’t she know he hated children?  He’d thought it was only overindulgence in her sister’s excellent cooking that was making her put on weight.  And then she had triplets.  Three babies in the house!  How was he ever going to get a decent night’s rest?



Chris wasn’t too surprised to have to give birth with no husbandly support.  In fact, Steward didn’t even wake up.



Mamma had told her she could feel two heads, so she wasn’t alarmed when the contractions continued and Henry was followed by William.



Edmund was an unexpected bonus, though.



As they grew older, it became apparent that they weren’t the cutest toddlers in the history of the world…


(Henry)


(William)


(Edmund)

…which didn’t stop their grandmother, mother and aunt from doting on them.









Surprisingly, for a man who claimed to dislike children, Steward seemed quite fond of William – perhaps because he was the one who resembled his father most obviously.





During his sons’ childhood, Steward reached his elder birthday and Vicky made him a very special meal.







He asked why Christa and the boys couldn’t have some of this wonderful food too but apparently there were 'reasons'.  Something about a family curse.  Honestly, sometimes he wondered if they were all as potty as his mother-in-law.

Still, his sons were developing well.  They were clearly showing the good influence of their father’s genes.  Well, two of them were: Henry and Edmund grew up brilliant, hardworking and inseparable.



William was very much the odd one out.  He'd inherited his mother’s love of ballet…



…although he was rather fonder of Auntie Vicky’s cooking than was strictly desirable for an aspiring principal dancer.



He was given to playing noisy games, too – usually when Steward was trying to work.



Their friendship began to deteriorate.  It was becoming clear that young William had a temper – and, once teenage hormones were added, they often ended up yelling at each other.  At least he’d stopped all that prancing around – he now seemed to be keener on making music than dancing to it.  It was still infuriatingly noisy, though.  Why couldn’t they make silent guitars?  He could have a proper one when he could play some decent tunes.





Will was developing other interests, too.  He’d met Doris Tisdale on his very first day at school and their friendship was now taking on romantic overtones.



By the end of the school prom, they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

Hal and Ed hadn’t discovered girls yet.  They spent most of their spare time playing chess or reading.



Still, it paid off academically.  They kept being moved up to more senior classes and graduated from high school some time before Will.  They moved into the house next door, where there was no guitar practice to distract them from their studies, but they could still stay in touch with the family.

With the boys growing up, Chris decided it was time to think about her own life again – and to have another shot at sports stardom.  Following in Ana's footsteps, she applied for a new job.



Steward was getting older, although he refused to slow down or retire.  He lived just long enough to see Will graduate as valedictorian.  That evening, he was out in the garden when Grim came for him again.





Chris placed his urn in the family mausoleum, next to her gem collection.  She knew she’d see him again soon, just like Papa and Cecily.




Next chapter

Offline RainBeau

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook (updated 17 November with chapter 6)
« Reply #72 on: November 17, 2012, 02:06:00 PM »
Wow. A man's whole life (and second life) in one chapter. You sure take the quick approach. Good writing for sure.
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By samoht04

Offline RavenKay

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook (updated 17 November with chapter 6)
« Reply #73 on: November 17, 2012, 10:27:37 PM »
I really enjoyed reading from Steward's POV. We rarely think about the spouses of our dynasties and/or legacies. It was a refreshing change to hear Steward's thoughts on everything.
 ;D

TheTripWasInfraGreen

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Re: The Ghosts of Twinbrook (updated 17 November with chapter 6)
« Reply #74 on: November 17, 2012, 10:34:00 PM »
Steward sounds like a totally unpleasant person, but I felt bad for him. I don't think he was expecting such a bad second life.

I found the picture of William practicing ballet to be oddly amusing.

 

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