Author Topic: End of the Line Dynasty (4x4)  (Read 179162 times)

Offline hazelnut

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (updated 20 Apr; house post 22 Apr)
« Reply #375 on: April 25, 2014, 02:04:33 PM »
Thanks, everyone!

Wow, you did cut it close! Welcome to Justin. :) I watched The Little Mermaid close to every day as a kid, so I appreciate the chapter title.

Glad someone else appreciates it :).  While I’m very fond of The Little Mermaid, I’d been thinking it was a pretty dumb title for a chapter.

Goodness, one day before elderhood. Glad Pearl made it in time! Also, running to complete the op in her wedding dress was hilarious. Very run-away-bride. Mark has some gorgeous eyes; hopefully he'll pass those along.

Really, I never expected a ghost hunter with fishing skill as well as logic to be stuck for opportunities.

The Runaway Bride similarity struck me as well.

I suppose you’ll have to wait and see about the pretty eyes.  Smug, moi?  I hesitate to make promises about updates because real life tends to get in the way, but hopefully you won’t have to wait long to find out.

Glad that Pearl made it! I agree with you that mermaids are a pain, for the reasons you've listed.

They really are.  In my other current game, a relaxed one in Isla Paradiso, Salty Seaworth is part of the household and I don’t find his needs and food preferences a problem at all.  Dynasty games are a whole other kettle of kelp…

Offline hazelnut

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty
« Reply #376 on: April 26, 2014, 02:19:22 PM »
Small Boys and Other Insects

Justin grew into an adorable toddler.  (Don’t they all?)  Other than his hair colour, inherited from Granny Abigail, he showed definite signs of taking after his daddy.



Pearl left the fish in peace for a few days while she taught her son those essential life skills.



Walking went smoothly.  Justin was eager to learn, giggling every time he tried too hard and sat down unexpectedly.  The dreaded potty-training went pretty well, too.  The real problem was talking.  Justin didn’t seem to see why he should bother: he always got what he wanted without words.  Crying worked brilliantly.

“Justin, you’ll be a big boy soon.  Big boys go to school.  You’ll do all sorts of things, like…”



Justin thought school sounded boring.  Maybe if he kept quiet, he wouldn’t have to go.

Pearl sighed.  Perhaps she should go for a different approach.  She stopped trying to get him to talk and told him about their family instead – about how special they were, about the tasks they’d been set.  She had a feeling most of it was too difficult for a toddler to understand but he seemed to be listening.

“So you’ll have to do something special, too.  We’ve got to win.”
“Win!”



“Wow!  Who’s mummy’s little star?”
“Star!”



“Yes, you’re a star.  Your grandpa was a rock star.  Maybe you’ll be like him when you grow up.  You’ll be famous and earn lots of money.”
“Money!”



“Yes, money.  We need it to buy things.  We have to buy lots of buildings.  Grandma and mummy bought some, like the coffee shop and restaurant.  They’re places where you eat nice food.”
“Nice food!”



After that, there was no stopping him.  As soon as he was awake the following morning, Pearl brought out the birthday table and a cake.  It was time for her baby boy to grow up a little.







Once Justin was a child, Mark took over the teaching duties.



Pearl was equally well qualified to tutor children, of course, but she wouldn’t be able to do much without invalidating one of her great-grandfather Ken’s challenges.  Besides, she was a little preoccupied.



Motherhood seemed a lot easier the second time around.  This time, she went through with the home birth.



Daniel aged up to a toddler and learned his skills at record speed.  Either he was benefiting from Pearl’s experience with his older brother or the kid was a genius.  Or both.

Justin developed an interest in insects and spent most of his free time charging around the neighbourhood in search of butterflies and beetles – or, best of all, fireflies.  They were the most beautiful things he’d seen.  It was a pity they came out so late – and after his bedtime, according to his parents.  There was a place just across the road where purple ones often gathered and he’d stand at his bedroom window long after he should have been asleep, watching them dancing.  He took to carrying a jam jar at all times, just in case they came out early one night.  The lid made a great tambourine, too.





Abi was a very old lady by now – she’d lived longer than anyone apart from Jane.  She was still painting, off and on, but was also frequently heard to mutter about wanting to try other things while she still had time.  She was likely to pop up unexpectedly in the garden, the kitchen or by a fishpond.  Or trying to discover what fascinated the rest of the family so much about standing peering into a metal tube for hours on end.

She never did find out.







Justin became a teenager and was able to devote slightly more time to the pursuit of fireflies.





He wished there was a keen entomologist on the local police force.  As it was, they totally failed to understand that he wasn’t deliberately breaking curfew.  It was just that fireflies weren’t out in the day.  His relationships with his parents and school performance began to suffer but it was worth it.  Now, if only he could capture the elusive white and blue ones…

Daniel, the neglected dynasty spare, became a child… and then a teen.



No! It’s hot pink, not that stupid dusky colour.  And what’s with the shirt and tie?  Was that sort of thing ever fashionable, even in the seventies?

No! That's not right either!  Looks like pyjamas.  Do I really have to go to school in this?


No wonder he was such a sulky teenager.



And then it was Justin’s young adult birthday.



“Yay!  Way to go, bro!  That’s a pathetic haircut.  And the Tshirt looks like it’s radioactive!”



Not that he was much more impressed by the look that Justin finallly settled on.

His big brother didn’t care.  He thought he looked cool – and it was perfect for his chosen profession.




Next chapter



Yes, Justin has had a collecting jar lid stuck to his left hand/wrist since childhood  ???.  I really must reset him and try to get rid of it.

Also, he really does look worryingly like the Bearded Lady...



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Offline RainBeau

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (Small Boys and Other Insects - 26 April 2014)
« Reply #377 on: April 26, 2014, 05:03:17 PM »
Well, I like his look. I'm going to guess rock star.
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Offline Trip

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (Small Boys and Other Insects - 26 April 2014)
« Reply #378 on: April 26, 2014, 06:10:28 PM »
I'm leaning towards acrobat, unless someone already did that (in a dynasty of 14 heirs and counting, it's a little hard to keep track :P). Justin is so cute! I've always been fond of the Best family. Their genes live up to their name.

Good luck with the fireflies! I hear that challenge is buggy.
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Offline Deklitch

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (Small Boys and Other Insects - 26 April 2014)
« Reply #379 on: April 26, 2014, 06:25:04 PM »
From his clothes, I'm leaning towards acrobat like Trip.

However this line:

Quote
He wished there was a keen entomologist on the local police force.

Makes me think maybe law enforcement.

The talk of him becoming a star and so forth, not to mention his hair makes me wonder about him becoming an Actor.

Whatever Justin becomes, his hair is cool. I've enjoyed reading your story, Hazlenut.

Offline hazelnut

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (Small Boys and Other Insects - 26 April 2014)
« Reply #380 on: April 27, 2014, 10:18:21 AM »
Well, I like his look. I'm going to guess rock star.

Isaac (Abi's husband and Starlight Shores co-founder) was a rock star, so that's not available as a unique career.  Dude was also a rocker, although I think he only reached level 8 or 9.  It's quite likely that someone will go into music, at least temporarily for the opportunities, but I'm not planning on using it as a qualifying career - although the symphonic branch is still free.

I'm leaning towards acrobat, unless someone already did that (in a dynasty of 14 heirs and counting, it's a little hard to keep track :P).
From his clothes, I'm leaning towards acrobat like Trip.

Ten virtual housepoints each :)  Yes, he's an acrobat.  I haven't played any of the Showtime careers yet (at all, never mind in this game) and Starlight Shores seemed like the place to have a go.

It's not just you, Trip.  If it weren't for the spreadsheet I'd be getting confused myself :).

I've always been fond of the Best family. Their genes live up to their name.

Mark's sister Abigail grew up looking a bit odd (although the hat the game landed her with can't have helped) but I like the rest of them.  Mark has... um... generous ears, which he's passed on to Justin - but they're nothing compared with Mike's  :P.  The rest of the genes are great.

Good luck with the fireflies! I hear that challenge is buggy.

Yep, it seems to be.  When I was testing before I started this, I moved Burl, my Immortal Dynasty founder, to Starlight Shores and he managed to catch all eight varieties in a couple of nights.  (It probably helped that he had all of the base-game collecting challenges already.)  Firefly Collector registered as completed for him, although his journal said he'd only caught 50%.  Justin has now caught all of them and his journal says 100% but the challenge is still greyed out :(.  Oh well, they make pretty decorations for his room.  Maybe it'll mysteriously register after a while, as the consigning challenges often seem to do  - and butterfly and beetle collecting are still available if not.

However this line:

He wished there was a keen entomologist on the local police force.

Makes me think maybe law enforcement.


That line was just intended to be Justin hoping for a sympathetic officer who'd let him off when he was out after curfew - or at least let him finish collecting fireflies before driving him home in disgrace  ;).


The talk of him becoming a star and so forth, not to mention his hair makes me wonder about him becoming an Actor.

Whatever Justin becomes, his hair is cool. I've enjoyed reading your story, Hazlenut.

He has a very small chin, so needs a hairstyle with some height to balance it.  I was originally going to give him the dreadlocks from UL but they didn't suit his face at all.  The style he has seemed like one that would behave reasonably well while upside-down and inside-out in mid-contortion  :).

And thank you :D.

Offline Rikki8528

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (Small Boys and Other Insects - 26 April 2014)
« Reply #381 on: April 27, 2014, 01:25:05 PM »
I can't believe you are nearly finished! The time has raced by!



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Offline Rhoxi

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (Small Boys and Other Insects - 26 April 2014)
« Reply #382 on: April 27, 2014, 01:36:41 PM »

Aw, yay! Justin did get his daddy's pretty eyes. Man, he was a particularly adorable little toddler. He looks good grown up too.  ;)

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (Small Boys and Other Insects - 26 April 2014)
« Reply #383 on: April 28, 2014, 05:23:19 AM »
They sure grow up fast! Gorgeous eyes  :) I'm thinking Rock Star too ha ha ha.

Offline hazelnut

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (Small Boys and Other Insects - 26 April 2014)
« Reply #384 on: April 30, 2014, 01:50:07 PM »
I can't believe you are nearly finished! The time has raced by!

For you, maybe.  I originally had visions of doing this at the same sort of pace as the DecaDynasty - in which case, I'd have been finished around Christmas  ::)  :).  It does seem to be speeding up near the end, though.

Aw, yay! Justin did get his daddy's pretty eyes.

So pleased about that.  Both boys inherited them, in fact.

Man, he was a particularly adorable little toddler. He looks good grown up too.  ;)

He was and he does  ;).

They sure grow up fast!

Especially on this speed.  A short dynasty must be ridiculously hectic.

Gorgeous eyes  :) I'm thinking Rock Star too ha ha ha.

Aren't they? :)

Nope.  As I said above, that one's been taken, at least as a primary career.

Offline Rikki8528

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For you, maybe.  I originally had visions of doing this at the same sort of pace as the DecaDynasty - in which case, I'd have been finished around Christmas  ::)  :).  It does seem to be speeding up near the end, though.

Mm, it's probably harder to DO the requirements than reading them.  ;D

Offline hazelnut

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty
« Reply #386 on: May 03, 2014, 03:23:11 AM »
Mm, it's probably harder to DO the requirements than reading them.  ;D

Just a bit  ;).



Juggling Requirements

Justin graduated with high honour and, like his grandmother, was voted Most Likely to Achieve His Lifetime Wish.



He changed out of his cap and gown as soon as the ceremony was over and hurried across the road to the park.  Good, the proprietor was there.  Justin went over, introduced himself and asked to be accepted as a trainee acrobat.



Wearing a mime’s outfit but just standing around in the park felt a bit silly.  It’d be more convincing if he tried out a few skills – and he might as well put out a jar, just in case anyone felt like leaving a tip.





Ouch!  This was harder than it looked.  It was probably just as well that the ‘audience’ were more interested in each other than in watching his performance.



Perhaps he’d do better if he worked out a little: holding those poses was hard work.  He headed over to the gym.



The treadmill was effective but boring.  He found he preferred jogging around the town, where the terrain was nicely varied for working on different aspects of fitness.  The hills were great for interval training and the sandy beaches provided a different sort of resistance.



Out on his favourite route one day, he stumbled, almost literally, over an unexpected find.  A large rock.  He was pretty sure, from listening to the rest of the family talking about their shared interest, that it was a meteorite.  Maybe he should take it home to show them.  And carrying something so big and heavy was bound to be good training – provided he didn’t put his back out picking it up.



The astronomers of the family were excited.  Dan had seen the meteor falling to the ground and had been about to go out and look for it himself.  They went back to their telescopes with greater enthusiasm than ever.

Well, all of them except Pearl.  She was still fascinated by the stars but they couldn’t compete with her new deathfish pond.



Justin was still obsessed with insects in general and fireflies in particular.  He finally tracked down the elusive F. caeruleus at the graveyard…





…and completed his collection, although the Simlish Entomological Society refused to recognise his achievement.

Fireflies weren’t the only colourful, glowing things to be found in the cemetery, of course.





Justin became quite friendly with Kimberley and Terry but he knew there were other ghosts he’d never even seen yet.  What were they like?  So he acquired another hobby – looking up the names on the headstones in the library’s archives and discovering as much as he could about the lives of those who were buried at Lidview.  With his athletic training, learning new acrobatic skills and his continuing quest to find new beetles and butterflies, his days were very full, even without the phone calls from the rest of the family.

“I’ve just seen another meteor.  Since you’re out and about anyway, could you jog over and have a look for debris?”

Some days it felt as though he was finding more space rocks than insects.

He was becoming a competent mime and juggler and had put together a stage set that reflected his interest in graveyards.  Gothic and gloomy – but effective, he hoped.  It was time to go public with his act: the upcoming SimFest at Verde Park would provide the ideal opportunity.

He arrived at the park just as a magician was finishing his performance, asked the proprietor whether he could join the contest and, almost before he was ready, he was being introduced to the crowd – if you could call them that.  On a weekday afternoon, the park was relatively empty.





The show went well, on the whole.  He dropped a couple of batons but managed to make it look like part of the routine.  At least, he thought the audience thought it was deliberate.  They certainly applauded rather than booed at the end, although he’d been hoping for a rather more rapturous reception.  Maybe he should stick around and watch the other acts – see what the competition was like.

The next performer was a singer.  Justin watched as he set up the stage and…

What?!



That was his stage set!  It was identical, down to the last effects pod and spooky doll.

He couldn’t watch this.  He jogged backwards and forwards across the park, hoping the exercise would help to cool his anger a little – although not too much.  He and the elderly singer would have to have words after the contest.  You couldn’t go around stealing other performers' props and expect to get away with it.  On the other hand, what could he do?  He couldn’t really beat up an old man but such behaviour deserved some sort of punishment.

The singer finished his final chorus, bowed and walked away from the stage.  Justin took a deep breath and started to follow, still trying to work out exactly what he was going to say.  But then…



That effectively finished the festival.  No-one else felt like competing.  Once the Grim Reaper had left, the proprietor waked up to the microphone and announced the winner:  Justin A. Knott.

He might have won but the SimFest had left a nasty taste.  Justin resolved to avoid them in future and to stick to normal gigs.  He auditioned absolutely everywhere.  Some proprietors turned him down, unsurprisingly for a relative unknown, but a few were prepared to give him a chance.

As he became better-known and his act became more spectacular, he moved on from the coffeehouse and park to bigger and better venues.





A successful performance at Los Sueños Private Club left him very close to the top of his career.  After the show, he performed for tips in the lobby and was about to get that final promotion when the proprietor called time.



Well, in that case, he’d just carry on in the car park.



And, a couple of poses later, he achieved his lifetime wish of becoming a Master Acrobat.


Next chapter



That SimFest was just plain weird.  Maybe Grim has strong opinions on stealing, although the death penalty seems like, well, overkill.



Justin, like Phil back in generation two, is named after a female Sim.  Justina was the generation four spouse in my legacy and my longest-lived Sim.

She and her husband Matthew had three sets of conflicting traits, which didn’t seem to get in the way of their relationship at all.  In fact, their devotion became a little irritating at times.  Matt, who hated the outdoors, kept throwing increasingly large wishes to stay indoors for x hours but kept nullifying them by voluntarily going outside to ask Justina to play catch.  Goodness knows why – she had supermaxed athletic skill before she was a full adult and Matt had none at all, so she’d slam the ball at him and he’d drop it, going “Ouch!”  Not my idea of fun.  (Incidentally, what happened to the wishes to stay indoors?  They were part of the reason why I chose Izzy rather than Georgie as the generation five heir in the Life States but she never rolled any of them.  In fact, I’ve not seen them at all in the past two years or so.)

Matt and Justina had two sets of twins, one pair just after their wedding and the other after she’d become an astronaut.  With her one-day-a-week work schedule, she was on maternity leave well into elderhood.  Because she was about a week younger than her husband and he died at 90 days, poor Justina spent more than half of her life as a widow.  She outlived the older twins, got her wish to have ten grandchildren (three of them SimBots but still…) and met several of her great-grandchildren.  She stayed lively and energetic to the end: typically, she was dancing and flirting at a party when she finally keeled over, aged 146.

For the sake of the dynasty, I hope Justin doesn’t take after her in that respect.

Offline KRae

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (Juggling Requirements - 3 May)
« Reply #387 on: May 03, 2014, 09:49:24 AM »
Love the stage name. My daughter had a kid in her high school class named Justin Shorts. The things parents do to their children!

Offline Rhoxi

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (Juggling Requirements - 3 May)
« Reply #388 on: May 03, 2014, 01:43:11 PM »

146! Good lord!  :o You know, I really need to play the Showtime careers sometime. Justin's acrobatics look like a lot of fun. Plus, he looks great in that blue leotard.

Offline hazelnut

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (Juggling Requirements - 3 May)
« Reply #389 on: May 03, 2014, 03:26:44 PM »
Love the stage name. My daughter had a kid in her high school class named Justin Shorts. The things parents do to their children!

Poor kid!  That's awful.  And I thought my brother's friend Ashley Council was bad. (I always sneakily hoped that his middle name was Town.  Sadly/fortunately, it wasn't.)

146! Good lord!

Yep, Justina was pretty amazing all round.  None of my Sims since then has come close in longevity.  I'd started to feel she'd be around forever: it was a nasty surprise when I saw something unfamiliar in her action queue and then discovered it was 'expire' :(.  She was also one of those Sims who always wants to do stuff.   I wasn't really playing for big points at that stage (I'd only been Simming for two or three months) but she supermaxed athletics, handiness and cooking; maxed gardening, logic and charisma and also had several skill points in fishing, painting and scuplting.  Very late in lfe, she discovered Matt's guitar in her inventory and had got to something like level five or six when she died, entirely through her own efforts.

You know, I really need to play the Showtime careers sometime. Justin's acrobatics look like a lot of fun. Plus, he looks great in that blue leotard.

Blue is Justin's favourite colour and I have to say it's a good choice :).

This is the first time I've seriously played with Showtime.  I loved the contortions and the rest of the acrobat stuff is pretty good, too.  I'm quite looking forward to getting back to the Household Skills and really exploring all of the EPs: medium speed plus the dynasty requirements is slightly too hectic to really appreciate everything.