Author Topic: End of the Line Dynasty (4x4)  (Read 179037 times)

Offline Rhoxi

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty: Growing Up in Public (13 April)
« Reply #360 on: April 13, 2014, 02:53:51 PM »

Cute but mean--never a good combination.  :-\

Offline hazelnut

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty: Growing Up in Public (13 April)
« Reply #361 on: April 13, 2014, 04:06:20 PM »
The first thing I noticed about the move to Starlight Shores is that I think you chose the same lot I did my life states dynasty on (it's a good lot for dynasties).

The 40x40 next to the Lucks?  Yes, it seems like a good lot - pretty convenient for everything (unlike the Immortal Dynasty lot) and a decent size.  The only slight problem I'm having with it is that steep slope behind.  I tend to play with the camera at the back of the lot, keeping an eye on the road as well as the house, and keep finding my viewpoint swooping upwards unexpectedly  ;).


And the girls turned out great! Unique, but thankfully without Abi's cheekbones. I don't hate her cheekbones, but they sometimes distract from her otherwise gorgeous features.

Wow, the girls are beautiful! 

Yeah, Abi's (and Victoria's) cheekbones are a bit scary.  I'm glad that's softened out this generation.  I love the way the twins turned out - both with a good blend of their parents' features but quite different from each other.  It doesn't show up too well in the screenshots but Pearl inherited Isaac's blue-green eyes, which I really like.  Grace got Abi's grey colour and, in both cases, the eye shape comes from the other parent.  I thought to start with that they had different hair colours but, when I checked in CAS, they both have Isaac's hair.  It must just look different because of their styles.

Cute but mean--never a good combination.  :-\

No.  Not sure what's going to happen there.  He is very cute - but mean-spirited is my least favourite trait.  There are ways to fix that, of course, but I've been playing with the traits the game throws at me so far and it seems rather late to start breaking rules, even self-imposed ones :).



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McHazy

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty: Unlucky for Some (9 April)
« Reply #362 on: April 15, 2014, 01:21:47 PM »
Only generation 13 as yet - but still defnitely getting there :).

Oops! Forgive me, I got a bit ahead of myself there!  :) The lot is a good choice being simple and central , I normally play on smaller lots (30x30) to try to reduce the strain on my PC.

The girls are pretty, and growing up so fast! Good luck.


Offline hazelnut

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty
« Reply #364 on: April 18, 2014, 05:06:34 AM »
Spooks, Stars and Scales

Pearl had decided to join the ghost-hunting profession.  After all, if her ancestress Ana had managed to reach the top of the career as well as completing five challenges and getting established in a new town, fitting it in around fishing ought to be a doddle.

The twins had chosen to graduate in absentia.  Grace hadn’t won any awards, so didn’t see why she should bother with the ceremony, while Pearl couldn’t work out why their friends had elected her Most Likely to Save the World and would have been embarrassed to collect the ribbon in person.  Yes, she was brave, but so was her friend Maria – and Maria’s dad was a cop.  Being heroic ran in the family.  With a free day in prospect, Pearl registered for her new job at Holy Cow and then took herself off to the library to start learning logic.



Her parents had bought her a telescope for her birthday, so when she grew bored with reading and chess practice, she went home to play with her new toy start a serious study of the heavens.



Life settled into a routine of sleeping in the mornings, stargazing in the afternoons and then ghost-hunting by night.  Soon she’d worked her way up from minor hauntings to full-scale exorcisms…



…and had been recognised as an expert logician and all-round clever person.



She still had some way to go to before getting her accreditation in astronomy but maybe she could slow down a little and go back to her first love.  Her fishing rod had been stuck at the back of a cupboard since her teens.



Now that she could stay out as long as she wanted, she wandered further afield and found new varieties of fish that she hadn’t even known existed.  On the morning of her adult birthday, she achieved her lifetime wish of a perfect collection.



Maybe it was time to start thinking about things other than skills and her career.  She took the day off and visited the park.  She’d heard about the plague of mermism that had swept through the town but it was shocking to see how many had been affected – and the rather odd fashions that had sprung up to allow the new merfolk to show off their altered state.  Pearl privately thought that Sebastian Gooder looked ridiculous.



Half of the Best family had also acquired scales but only Calvin had embraced the new fashions.



Mandy and Mark preferred to keep their legs hidden and the change was only obvious in their new interest in sharks and kelp cookery.  They invited Pearl to join in with their picnic and she settled down for chat.



Pearl suddenly noticed that it was getting dark – and that Mandy had gone home at some point.  Where had the day gone?  She’d fancied Mark as a teenager, of course, but now he’d gown up into an interesting person who shared her love of logic.  As an annoying photographer, who’d embraced merman fashion without having the scales for it, snapped away, Pearl invited Mark to move in.





He had an eventful introduction to Gold family life.  The moment he walked through the door, Grace started sparkling – in her bikini.  The effect was undeniably attractive.



As soon as she’d finished celebrating, her mother started.  This wasn’t quite as easy on the eyes.







The only birthday he didn’t witness was Pearl’s.  She’d noticed some intriguing shadows moving about in the depths of the pond and had stayed at the park to investigate.  This had, inevitably, led to, “I’ll just catch another one before I go,” and her birthday had crept up on her unawares.



After she’d come home and he’d finally finished reassuring both twins that they weren’t really wrinkly at all, Mark found his way to the mirror and dresser.  He’d always wanted to grow his hair.  A subtler scale colour instead of that garish blue that was all the rage, he rather thought – and, as for fashion, there were other ways to allude to his new life state without the stupid jacket-and-shorts look.



The next morning, the drama continued – and got worse.  Mark had been looking forward to getting to know Isaac Gold, the famous rock star.  It wasn’t to be.



Pearl, as usual, was out of the house.  Mark set out to find her: she shouldn’t be dealing with her father’s death all alone.  Some instinct took him to the cemetery and there she was, rod on the ground at her feet and staring blankly into the water.

He tried to cheer her up, to remind her of what a good life Isaac had had.



She barely seemed to notice he was there.

“Hey,” he said gently.  “Come on.  Even you can’t save the world from death.”
“Save the…  Was that you?”
“Yes, of course.  Maria was furious – but what else are big sisters for?  And you are saving the world, aren’t you?  All those possessed houses you’re making safe for people to live in.  You’re an amazing person.”



And they kissed, gently.



Then not so gently.  And then Pearl was asking him to go steady.

“With losing Dad like that, I’ve suddenly realised how short our lives are – and how much I’ve been missing.  There’s more to life than fish and ghosts.  I’d like to explore that – with you.”



And then she burst into a storm of weeping on his shoulder.





RIP, Isaac.  He didn’t appear much in the story but he was a fine dynasty spouse, contributing interesting genes, achieving his lifetime wish and earning large numbers of happiness points in a short time.  (Yes, I’m looking at you, Dude.)  He and Abi weren’t my most adoring couple but they were happy together.  That is, if you discount Isaac’s three midlife crisis wishes to divorce her, which, obviously, didn’t get granted.

Pearl is named after my Mad Old Fish Lady, Pearl Grey.



Pearl the First was my first Sim to supermax a skill.  I didn’t set out to do it; it just happened in the course of the gameplay.  (I also worked out what the bait was for every fish by doing it the hard way.)  Pearl had the Perfect Aquarium LTW but, rather than putting the fish into bowls at the last minute, as I’ve done with all of my fisherSims since, she gradually collected perfect fish as pets, who were all cleaned, fed and talked to on a daily basis.  She ended up with a complete set of perfect base-game fish.

Pearl was one of the happiest Sims I’ve played.  Being an outdoors-loving angler who was also a loner with no sense of humour, she was always having a blast.  She only really had two friends – funnily enough, they were the Dynasty Desirables, long before I’d even heard of dynasties.  Pearl met Chris on her first visit to Crystal Springs.  Unsurprisingly, they got on well and often fished together afterwards.  She bumped into Agnes at the supermarket when she was selling fish and stocking up on bait.  They hit it off at once, bonding over their shared loner trait.  After that, Agnes took to calling round at Pearl’s house regularly, to chat and be treated to her excellent deathfish sushi.

McHazy

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty: Spooks, Stars and Scales (18 April)
« Reply #365 on: April 18, 2014, 12:10:30 PM »
RIP Issac, you did your job well and produced a fine heir. I'm excited about the possibility of a merboo!

How did you find the ghost hunting profession? Mine is bugged, my sims can't get past level 6.  :-\

Offline EtnaFan666

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty: Spooks, Stars and Scales (18 April)
« Reply #366 on: April 18, 2014, 01:54:27 PM »
Nice to hear that, at least in one file, Agnes and Chris were treated well and not moved in.

Also, McHazy, I think she got to Level 6 by mastering Logic(which is an aspect) and just doing the jobs that weren't ghostly presence. That job was bugged for the longest time with the ghosts not appearing when they were supposed to.
I play The Sims 4 for fun, so I don't care if I never end up being interviewed for the Dynasty Hall of Fame; people who play for keeps burn out too easily and don't enjoy playing the games, so I am going to not sweat the details.

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Offline hazelnut

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty: Spooks, Stars and Scales (18 April)
« Reply #367 on: April 18, 2014, 03:57:28 PM »
Ghost hunting was fine this time around.  Ana in the Life States Dynasty ran into the problem with angry ghosts not appearing but got through the career anyway by building logic and taking on other types of job.

Pearl did one or two jobs most nights and also worked on her logic skill.  Even on the faster speed, the career was fine - which isn't to say she had a clear run through her requirements :(.

Offline Trip

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty: Spooks, Stars and Scales (18 April)
« Reply #368 on: April 18, 2014, 04:27:19 PM »
I recall a bug with Ghostly Presence being introduced in the Seasons or Supernatural and fixed some time later. I didn't have any trouble with the job on my last run with it either.

You were right about Mark being cute! Hopefully Pearl makes it through her requirements to make a nooboo with him.
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Offline hazelnut

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty
« Reply #369 on: April 20, 2014, 03:08:10 PM »
I recall a bug with Ghostly Presence being introduced in the Seasons or Supernatural and fixed some time later. I didn't have any trouble with the job on my last run with it either.

You were right about Mark being cute! Hopefully Pearl makes it through her requirements to make a nooboo with him.

I was thinking of the angry ghosts but you're probably right.  In fact, I have a feeling the problem was with the human-shaped ghosts, as opposed to the rather sweet little spirits.

I really like Mark.  Not that I fancy a Sim or anything, obviously...



Part of Your World

Pearl reached the top of her career and was given a spirit positioning device.  She tried it out and located a few stray ghosts.





This could be fun – but for now she’d better concentrate on angling.  She was still a long way short of being able to call herself a commercial fisherwoman.  She took Mark along a couple of times.  Since he didn’t seem to eat anything apart from kelp and raw fish, it might help if he could catch his own snacks.



She was starting to worry about Mark.  Armed with a degree in science and medicine, he’d got a job as a paramedic but seemed to be struggling to cope with the demands of his career.





He was keen to develop his body as well as his mind and said the gym visits helped him to wind down after a busy shift but he was looking more stressed and tired by the day.  Maybe fish and seaweed wasn’t enough to fuel such a busy lifestyle.  And they rarely seemed to have spare time to spend together.

When he finally had a day completely free of work and on-call, she left her fishing rod at home and took a day off herself.  They walked for hours, semi-randomly following paths around the back of the town.  Even though they’d both lived in Starlight Shores all their lives, neither had ever seen the famous sign from close up before.  In the late afternoon, they arrived at a deserted lookout area on the cliffs, with great views over the town and beaches.  Pearl had been looking for a suitable location and this was clearly it.  She knelt on the scrubby grass and pulled out the genie ring she’d been carrying around all day.





They celebrated their engagement with a meal at the bistro and then a visit to the theatre.  They’d arrived too late for the show but Isaac Gold’s daughter was welcome at any time.  The staff took them on a fascinating backstage tour.  Pearl didn’t want the day to end yet and went off to find out the opening hours of the various clubs in town.  While she was away, Isaac sat down on a bench but realised he was starting to doze off.



He forced himself to stand up.  It had been a wonderful day.  He couldn’t let this weakness spoil it for Pearl – although maybe he’d better get himself checked out at the hospital tomorrow.

Oooooh!

He felt really light-headed…



“Mark!  What’s happening?  Are you OK?  Do you need some water?”



“No.  Not any more.  I’m human again.  Cured.”
“Oh!  Do you mind?  You never really talked much about being a merman.”
“I’m not sure.  Mixed feelings, I think.  The swimming was amazing.  I loved being able to dive for as long as I wanted, without all of that cumbersome breathing apparatus.  There’s some terrific underwater scenery out in the bay.  I’ll miss that.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry – although I’m glad you’re not ill.  I was beginning to think it was something serious.”



“No – just saltwater withdrawal.  I hadn’t realised how long I’d been away from the sea.  I may not have done too well in my marine biology course but you’d think I would’ve spotted what was going on.  Too busy to stop and think, I suppose...
"Pearl, do you really want to go to a club tonight?"
“Not if you don’t.  Why?”
“It’s just occurred to me that I can enjoy normal human food again.  I certainly won’t miss the Mermaid Diet.  Can we go home?  I could murder a burger.”





A few days later, Pearl and Mark headed off for another day in the foothills, this time wearing rather fancier clothing.



They stopped at the middle of the bridge across Buckshot Lake.  Pearl’s phone chose that moment to start ringing but they did their best to ignore it.





“You know, you’d probably better get that.  It might be important.”



“So is this.”
And she kissed him.



Then she answered her phone.  It was the hospital.  They needed a deathfish, stat.  It wasn’t what they’d had planned for the day but, on the other hand, she needed the opportunity.  Laughing helplessly at the timing, they ran back to the car.



With the fish duly delivered, they got back to the business of the day…





…and soon Pearl was craving apples…



…and then going into labour in the garden.

“Aaargh!  No!  Breathe!  Or something…”



“Mark, you’re supposed to be a doctor.  And you’re not the one having the baby, so… ooooooooooooooh!”

And she walked out through the gate before the next contraction hit.

“Stop!  Come back!  I thought you wanted a home birth.”
“Yeah, I did.  Stupid idea.  I’m off to Holy Cow.  Are you coming?”



And, some hours later, Justin Gold entered the world.



Summary – Generation 13

Parents tried for baby within 4 days of start? Yes

Heir: Pearl
Traits: Loves the outdoors, brave, angler, no sense of humour, sailor*
Lifetime wish: Presenting the Perfect Private Aquarium

Unique maxed career: Ghost Hunter
Two unique best friends: Aloli Ra, Xiu Yi Sau Hing**
Three unique skill challenges: Amateur Ichthyologist, Celestial Explorer, Commercial Fisherman
Four unique opportunities: Logic 101, Drink Promotion, Best. Haunted. House. Ever., A Fish of Life and Death
Buildings owned: Flying V’s Coffee House, The Market Basket, C-Ment Shoe Factory, Hoi Polloi Event Centre, Broad Street Business Tower & Grill
Properties owned: MN8, Mick’s Master Karaoke
Vacations used: none

*I had no idea what to use for Pearl’s fifth trait.  I the end, I went for sailor because it’s supposed to boost fishing, even though I didn’t really expect it to have an effect on land – and I’m pretty sure it didn’t.
**Both of her qualifying best friends were tourists.  They were the only young people she ran into around town when she was close to completing her requirements.  I initially read Aloli as Aďoli and was wondering whether her mother had had a pregnancy craving or something…

Whew!  That was altogether too close for comfort.  I knew Pearl’s challenges were likely to take the longest (in retrospect, combining ghost-hunting and fishing wasn’t such a good idea) but I really wasn’t expecting her opportunities to be a problem.  As it was, she finished the challenges halfway through adulthood but had only had one opportunity at that point.  Despite trying to hang on to the celebrity ops, I sent her off to do a drink promotion at the Prosper Room (I’d put three of the Late Night bars into the town in the hope of spawning further ops).  She also tried the eating-at-the-bistro one but it wouldn’t register as complete.  Then I remembered the rabbithole tip for ITF players and I wondered whether it would work for Pearl as well; hence the meal out and theatre tour with Mark.  It may have been coincidence but her phone did ring as they were leaving the theatre (and just before Mark’s transformation) with a career op.  I was going to send her out to do another celebrity one after the wedding, but then she got her first fishing op.  She was finally able to try for baby on the day before her elder birthday.  I’d been assuming I was going to have to risk Youth Potion.  As soon as Justin was settled in his cot, she grabbed a few life fruit from the garden and then went off to the salon for a makeover.

Unlucky 13?

Pearl won’t have a full set of career rewards because the ‘Key to the City’ ceremony cancelled before she could collect the key.  I thought she’d got there in time but she had run instead of taking the car (she’d been at the cemetery, fishing), so maybe she’d just been too slow.  I tried going back to the previous save in a parallel file and watched closely.  In fact, the problem was that the mayor came out of the town hall, walked to the top of the steps and disappeared, while Pearl complained about pathing issues.  Five or six more attempts produced the same result, so I’d guess she won’t get the Paranormal Memento either.  A pity: it’s my favourite career reward.  They’re not going to be short of rewards for this town but it’s a still little irritating.

Mark is turning out to be a great choice for spouse.  As well as being decidedly pleasant to look at, he arrived with level 7 logic, level 5 gardening and one or two points in a variety of other skills (as well as the level 10 diving from being a merman, which probably won’t be very useful in Starlight Shores).  His meanness is almost invisible – I’ve caught him sneaking up behind people to scare them once or twice but he doesn’t do it anything like as often as Leo and Victoria.

I let him turn back into a human Sim for two reasons.  The main one was that he really was struggling with his job and skills and I wanted the extra moodlets from Grace’s cooking, as well as being able to fill up his hunger bar in one go.  He always seemed to start dehydrating at work, too.  The other reason is that silly celebrity disgrace for WooHoo with an occult.  After several generations of IF heirs, I was pleased when Abi turned out human and wasn’t looking forward to starting again with mermaids.

And, on the subject of Mark, he somehow felt it appropriate to stop and pose for the paparazzi before taking his wife to hospital to have their baby  ::).


McHazy

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty: Part of Your World (20 April)
« Reply #370 on: April 21, 2014, 12:12:01 PM »
Wow, that was cutting it close but you made it! Well done. Welcome Justin.  ;D


Offline hazelnut

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty
« Reply #371 on: April 22, 2014, 07:15:56 AM »
I nearly called that chapter 'Cutting It Close' but one of the offspring insisted on the Little Mermaid reference :).



I finally got around to posting the Hidden Springs house on the Swap Shop.  It's a slightly modified version, to suit a more normal Sim family.


Offline Trip

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty
« Reply #372 on: April 22, 2014, 11:00:06 AM »
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.
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Offline Rhoxi

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (updated 20 Apr; house post 22 Apr)
« Reply #373 on: April 22, 2014, 06:53:28 PM »

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.

Offline MarianT

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Re: End of the Line Dynasty (updated 20 Apr; house post 22 Apr)
« Reply #374 on: April 23, 2014, 03:59:57 PM »
Glad that Pearl made it! I agree with you that mermaids are a pain, for the reasons you've listed.
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