While Kaydence had been visiting her mother in Starlight Shores, there had been an interesting development with As the Sims Turn, the hit TV show she starred in and was soon set to leave. The year before, Sims Broadcasting Network (SBN) decided to relocate the show to its Starlight Shores studio, which, for the Stanleys, who were die-hard Bridgeporters, was like a punch in the gut.
More recently, the show made a splash by hiring social media darling Grayson Hawes as Lauren and Alexa's lover Matt, to replace Noah Conley - who had been fired by the producers, it was rumored, because of his lack of chemistry with Alanna Starr Stanley. Hawes and his brother, Nelson, were noted for having millions of followers on a now-defunct social networking site by posting videos of themselves doing silly things.
Kaydence had read about Hawes' hiring while reading a showbiz gossip site online at the bookstore in Starlight Shores. She was among the few girls her age who didn't initially know who he was, and thus had no opinion on the hire. To her, he was simply another actor, and she was going to judge him on his skill once she saw him live.
Indeed, the hiring of a social-media star to a main role in a prime-time soap such as ATST was big news. In fact, it almost made the tabloids forget about Kaydence's own impending departure from the show.
To celebrate Grayson's hire, the show did a photoshoot featuring him with Alanna and Kaydence.
But was Grayson Hawes actually ready for prime time? He certainly looked the part. A few Simtube videos posted online was one thing. Performing with the lights on was quite another.
Emmitt Stanley, the show's head writer and assistant producer, only wanted one person's opinion. "What do you think, Kaydence?" he asked her backstage. "What do you think of Hawes?"
Kaydence shrugged. "He's okay, I guess. I haven't worked with him yet."
"I can see Alanna already likes him a lot." Emmitt noted the make-out scene his dad had shot with Grayson and his sister contained more chemistry than before.
In the scene they filmed that day, the two rivals were in a dogfight for student body president at the exclusive private school they both attended. Their heated rivalry had spilled into the auditorium and the tension had spilled over.
Monday Morning Flashback: Nathan tries to get through to his son Sebastian
(from Sebastian's old diary)
“I don’t have to say anything to you, Sebastian, because you are me, except bigger and taller and younger.”
“Because you were born to fame and wealth, Sebastian, that means that everyone wants a piece of you. Everyone. Your life is not yours anymore once you choose this. I learned that the hard way.”
He started telling me about what he did when he was my age. “There was a woman named Holly Alto. Holly Alto’s parents were very rich, and when they died, they left her the mansion. I met her before I met your mother, this was a long, long time ago. I was dating someone else at the time that I met Holly. She financed my first album. Then she got pregnant. And I got scared....
My interview didn't go well. I think the interviewer put my application on the bottom of the pile, lol. Oh well, will try somewhere else. Plus the weather all day was horrible. Storms all day.
Got another interview on Friday so there's that. And there's a few birthdays and prom and a whole bunch of other stuff going on. These headaches won't stop either.
There is some good news tho. I've cobbled together enough pics for something of an update. Apologies if it doesn't make any sense.
Kaydence's boyfriend, Terry, had managed to get to the Plumbob Pictures studio in Sunset Valley, where her father, Sebastian, the mega-movie star, was working on his first major project in quite sometime. Terry, an aspiring journalist, had to interview someone for the school paper, and had chosen to interview his idol, who, luck would have it, was his girlfriend's dad.
Butterflies tumbled through his stomach as he began setting up the equipment for the interview. Talking to Sebastian Jolina-Plumb was one thing. Interviewing him on the set of his new movie would be quite another, and he was the first journalist to do so, even before the major gossip rags.
But at first, Sebastian wasn't in the best of moods. Dogged by questions about his impending divorce from his wife, Cherise, and his affair with his butler, Anissa Swenson, he didn't want to answer inquiries from another reporter about his personal life. There was also talk about infighting between him and his co-star, Emmy Starr. But Terrance Ho wasn't another reporter. And he didn't ask one thing about those forbidden topics.
Instead, Terry's line of questioning was about the movie itself, an 18th century Baroque pageant set in the court of Versailles. "I was intrigued by my character, a conflicted French nobleman," Sebastian began. "He's having an affair with a married countess."
"How did you get started in acting?"
"It's kind of a long story. I trained as a musician, my parents were both classical musicians and wanted me to follow as a musician, but I sought my own path. So when the Bridgeport studios were looking for actors to enroll in the academies, I signed up. I left home at eighteen, got an apartment in Bridgeport, and worked my way up the ranks."
Bonus pics
I found this shot of Maggie holding Baby Nathan. Make no mistake, even though they were half-siblings, they were very close...
...it's just that Maggie disapproved of Nathan's relationship with Holly Alto, who was nearly twice his age and HER classmate.
I will say this for Maggie, though... she did kinda-sorta like Savannah and Sebastian's mother, Shandra, however.
Sorry to disappear again. I'm doing much better than I was...there was just more visits because I was doing better...and then a birth and a death in the family both... and wow, we're halfway into the next month already lol. Hopefully I'm done with the xmas special before the next one! lol I'd like to get back to their Honeymoon in the main story in Sunlit Tides before high summer, but hey, no promises! lol.
@Silver: Thanks. It looks so nice with holiday lighting and icecycles! My that looks cold. Well, at least River is dressed warm. Lol @ Adam getting dressed in the morning...on the floor! (Drawers 1, Adam 0...next time, he will defeat the dresser...but first, he must train!) Good to see father and son talking. Well, it's good for the teens to make friends. Lol @ "My creator let me handle my own affairs"! It's nice to have slow days to recover from being partied out. Lovely diving pic- beautiful pool and fiery orange trees. Oh horror? Adam: "And so, the boy-who-didn't-live rose again to haunt the dark lord into insanity and beyond...to this day you can hear the tormented howling of the mad wizard who can't get that baby's cries out of his head...with a living boy, you could feed or rock to sleep or change the diaper of...but this baby can't be soothed, in the same way that a ghost that died in fire will try to put itself out by standing in the shower....all night long... the wizard who must not be talked about...can't banish this ghost...and with all his wizardly might, it has never occurred to him to have someone raise the baby from the dead to be alive again...and maybe adopted or something so the dark lord can get some sleep...but no, he only knows how to kill and destroy, so he's a tormented madman to this day...the end." Sorry, couldn't resist.
What a lovely private wedding. Looks like the teens are moving towards starting their own families! River: "We're not kids anymore!"
@Ianlyn: Thanks! Yeah, Bailey's his daughter. Of course, it's Bailey Van Gould now lol. But yeah, he's going to go reunite them...
@Dreamerz: I know how it is trying to juggle multiple stories and I totally understand. (I did have to drop the Jake story after all...) Lol @ "Plum aliens, you've failed me!" It rather seems like every time you're in the mood for them to do their thing and make you an exciting alien baby, they let you down...but if you have some story where you totally don't want an alien baby, they are totally on board for that! Then it's like 'oh aliens, you shouldn't have!' Well, I'm glad that the alien experience helped them prioritize their commitment to each other. Lol @ "Just a portal to the future") Glitch is adorable. (Aperture science song "Still Alive" plays gently in the background...) Welcome baby Haylie! I'm glad they both agree on the name... Well, with Glitch taking care of the garden, having a baby and two fur babies, they suddenly have quite a full house! Sounds like an adventurous life. Yeah, that sounds like a scary fan...best to have Mr. Superspy on it. The farm looks very comfortable. What a cute nursery.
Lol @ Aedan loving his unicorn. (Aedan: "You know, between being a superspy, looking this way and riding a unicorn... I'm pretty sure that instead of just the wedding ring, I need a headband that say's sorry, ladies I'm taken...possibly in fluorescent orange..." Me: Probably best not to call attention to yourself so much...Aedan: "You really need to understand that I'm not invisible...but people see me and their sense of denial kicks in...it's the unicorn thing, that just puts it over the top...so this outragous thing actually helps me with spying...because the brain says no, that can't be there...and boom, I can walk right up to a dignatary on my unicorn and listen to a conversation...because no one can believe what they are seeing! I love this unicorn! ) Lol @ "forgotten the most essential equipment for fishing" Lol. (Aedan: "What? I had to cover up my illicit activities- government secrets or have a kitten? Really? How is that a hard choice...? I would have taken the kitten without any dangerous motivation! Um, I mean, honey, I had to! This kitten saved my life... um, yeah, that's it.")
@Venus: Lol @ Elvis gnome. Looks like the mother and daughter are having a great day out at the summer festival...I'm glad that Madison isn't seeing her daughter as competition but realizes her own fame is her own and not some slight against her mother. Lol! Thanks. Oh, how exciting, now Kaydence gets to meet her grandma that she read about...hopefully her reading doesn't hurt her perceptions of her grandma as her family member too, but from the way she's interacting, I don't think they are. It's often fun when the game gives you twists you wouldn't have done yourself At least she didn't have some random opportunity to make her grandma cookies or something, at least it was entertainment related lol. (Dante: "Rafael, I need you to fix my stereo...can you do that for me, Dragon Master?" Rafael: "Dante, you myake a syix figurre salyarry,I lityerrally pay you in diamonds... vhy arre you usink such an old sterreo? Can't you just gyet musyic on yourr phone lyike everryvone yelse?" Dante: "Please, Dragon Master, it was my half sister's...it's all I have left of her...this ancient stereo...it's sentimental." Rafael: "Oh, alrright, but you'd bettyer rrealize ve'rre rreally good frriends! I don't just fix anyvone's old sterreo. And it's vaitink until aftyerr Chrristtmas!" Dante: "I feel better just knowing you'll do it...whenever you get around to it. It's not everyone who can get a super villain to repair their ancient yet highly sentimental stereo..."
I think Kaydence's approach is better, not assuming what he's like from his previous work. I wonder if Grayson has any ideas about them from their previous work. But if he is like he seems to be- if he really just likes doing silly things and taping it, I have to wonder if he's working to prank some famous people lol. I'm pretty sure Kaydence could take a joke or some razzing way better than Alanna lol. But if he's really out of his depth and so new to the business and he doesn't realize they aren't like their characters, then he'll probably have a heck of a time adjusting to Kaydence being the nice one and Alanna being...more volatile lol.
Lol @ "except bigger and taller and younger" lol. (Sabastian: "And Actor!" Nathan: "Shhhh. So, you're a little more thespian, it's not that big a deal, really...mostly me, only a variation on the theme, see? You're basically a remix People can like both the original and the remix...") )
Sorry to hear that, I hope you being freed up for the other interview is a good thing. Sounds like it's as stormy down there as it is here. May showers are drowning the may flowers lol. Lol @ "his idol, who, luck would have it was his girlfriend's dad." Hopefully Terry only takes good role model stuff from him. I'm sure Sabastian doesn't want his daughter treated like he's been treating his wives. Though I suppose he doesn't really know his daughter very well. At least Terry has the sense to not touch those topics...and hopefully Sabastian has the sense to not see the microphone and decide Terry is his enemy. (Terry: "I'm not a tabloid, I am capable of using manners! I can treat you like you're a real person who can choose not to talk to me if I'm rude or don't observe social boundaries of decency...shocking, I know...") I'm glad they can semi relax...Sabastian that Terry's not going to do terribly embarrassing things to him just to catch the look on his face or a few seconds of video taken out of context to make him look bad and Terry that Sabastian's not someone he knows nothing about... or doesn't really care about lol. And since Terry has tooled around with Kaydence on that set, and tried out the costumes, he's got a good idea about what wearing them under those lights feel like...without the stress of a director or other actors or any backstage chaos...just the costumes...but more than most journalists probably have. It might help him direct more meaningful questions than the competition without having to go sensationalist lol. (Terry: "If you want paparazzi style reporting, you've already got armies of them breaking into hotel rooms to catch people asleep...but even with all that effort they go into stalking the actors... how much do they really know about what the actors are excited about? Are the actors comfortable opening up to people who are so desperate to catch them doing something they can splatter across headlines? If they are being interrogated, they are probably not going to volunteer information or be very enthusiastic about giving it...
And how much homework do they really do on the movies themselves? People reading about the movie want to know about the movie, why should they watch the movie? For some people, the idea that certain stars are in it is enough reason for them to see it but others might not think they'll relate to a historical piece... and a few facts could show them that this movie will make them see things through new eyes! They might care about things they breezed over in history... Do they realize what date this is set in reference to the French Revolution; so... if, for example... the main characters were likely executed after the movie ends...? Does our modern day knowledge of future events shape the way we see the events of the movie? Or is it primarily a character study of the characters, and they just happen to be dressed like french nobility in french chairs? How serious of a movie is this? Is it a war movie with a romantic subplot or a romantic movie? If this is the Monty Python of french opera, the audience needs to know that... These are things people need to know when they are going to buy tickets. And they are things that can't be figured out by catching the stars sleeping...")
It looks like Maggie cared for him very much, and was involved with him from the earliest times, would naturally feel protective, but also a little motherly, after all, look at the look! It must have been very strange for him to be after a woman from her own age group. I'm glad she sort of liked Shandra and didn't just disapprove of anyone with her little brother.
@Jillbg: Thanks. Sorry, not yet. In the original, they are recovering from the vampire plot (I know it's been a long time, boy, am I going to need to do a review lol)...off in Sunlit Tides on their honeymoon... but in the Xmas special, he's getting close...but even in the Xmas special, where I let things work so much easier than in the regular story, I'm not just going to hand him his worst enemy on a platter. (Well, maybe during an April Fools special, but I'm definitely going to want to get back to the main story sometime lol) Yeah, it's kind of lonely at the top...he needs Dante more than he even knows.
Maybe it'll get all of it's raining out of the way now...but it's still going to be miserable, huh? When I moved to Kansas it seemed that it waited until Halloween to snow for the first time... then the snow would die down for a bit and then kick back up in November or December and go full blizzard by January...but it's been a while since it did that... I can only imagine in a magic world the Halloween would be worse lol. Yeah, they have much to discuss! Oh, what a start of the conversation...lol. It's is hard to hide fame...that's not really the nature of fame lol. Actually it rather sounds like her future is in Russia if things proceed! Hopefully Haeju can save her or there is some loophole. It's got to be terrible to be pulled in so many directions between talent and dreams and being a witch and being an heir to an ancient breeding program lol. Lol @ "I swear it wasn't alive when I left..." (Taiga singing to the tune of the Brittany Spear song: "Whoops, I bid it again, I made it start with no heart...got lost in the fame... I'm really not a necromancer"!) Sorry, I couldn't resist. Gosh, I hope they find some way out of the Baba Yaga's arrangement! Though I'm sure that would make her pursue her harder as the one that got away lol. Sounds like a tricky thing, probably pretty scary artifact to be in Missy's hands! Oh, that explains it, she was borrowing her great neices' full witch power lol. But the boy's not dead lol. Oh, and the other spirits didn't dare approach Missy in case it was a ghost hunter trap lol. I expect Haeju would be stellar at using it. It's probably a relief that Granny would tell her something she didn't know anything about after all the secrets have been bubbling to the top. (Granny: "Well, at least she had no idea that Missy was expecting...at least Missy didn't enlist Taiga's magical help in making some kind of necromancer baby...just the creepy skeletal nanny...") By the way, I don't know if with all that's been going on with me if I ever told you how excited I am that Missy's expecting- I can't wait to find out what an adorable little Juan or Missy baby will look like, I don't expect it'll win any beauty contests but I'm sure it'll be an adorable little ogre baby with interesting features! I can't wait to see what Missy dresses it in or what antics it gets up to. (Will Athan be the tame one after all or will they be partners in crime? *Giggle* Will it go trick or treating as it's mom's little zombie minion? Oh such things to ponder!)
Lol @ "But they're too old to... I mean, to do it." (Ah, the innocence of youth lol. Poor Granny... ) Uh oh, temptation to get the cow plant to eat someone! Hopefully, if she gives in to it, it's someone worthy of being eaten and not just some stray person wondering in... Awesome, Rowan's here! Yes, Rowan, distract them with gifts! Oh, he's excited. Hmm, did he really accidentally say and then wasn't really sorry or did he say on purpose because he wanted to be the one to say it? Lol @ "or worse- Granny's using it?" Lol @ "I want to hear about Linn!" I'm pretty sure she's not going to give you the details you want about her best friend, Rowan. Ah, between the both of them they might figure out how their mother died... Well, your grandma claims werewolves don't exist too but you've already met one so... you know even witches don't know everything. Lol @ 'So it's a cage'- good point- no matter how pretty it is, it functions as a cage, therefore it is a cage. Gotta love Rowan's enthusiasm. Lol... Athan's adorable, peeking out behind the bed like that- hard to hide with a bright yellow pail on your head. Aw, and he's got glasses already. He's so cute. Aw @ 'Wuv mama!' Sounds like Missy's thought of everything so she can go out without being missed! Hopefully it works. I'd hate to see what conclusions Juan jumps to without the perfectly sane witch attending a ritual under the blood moon explanation... though it is Halloween, so he might think she slipped off to a party without him, I somehow assume he'd think she slipped off to have an affair with Count Olaf or something lol. Missy participating? Oh dear...lol...hopefully that doesn't go disastrously wrong! That sounds very uncomfortable...though rites of passage are often unpleasant. Wow, I wonder where Granny is. Well, at least she doesn't have stage fright on top of her other discomfort. Oh, good Granny's there! Ah, but the seriousness of the ceremony gives no comfort... Of all the people to smile it has to be Ms. Chantelmort! Well, that's definitely an exciting ceremony- I can see how things could go very wrong if the witches don't do it right. What with the elements involved.
Rowan couldn't stay away- probably feels pretty left out (maybe even cheated) since he was initiated so young he doesn't remember it. Oh, or maybe male and female rites are different... It's good to find out what that looked like by an outside observer through Rowan's POV. Oh wow, electricity as her element? (Shocking! Sorry, couldn't resist...though that makes sense with the necromancy lol) And her outfit arrives, solid black, very cool. So she drew it in on herself....to protect them...oh dear... Well, he wasn't supposed to be there but it sounds like they are awfully quick to want to break her down for spare parts! Lol @ 'CPR'
Poor Missy! Maybe because Rowan was outside the stones... Their magic maybe gone, but their knowledge isn't. Of course...that leaves them with no magic in case Baba Yaga shows back up, and I somehow doubt that's a good idea... It's no wonder Count Olaf and co are scrambling to get their magic back first thing... Well, at least Sprinkler has an idea...and I'm glad Sprinkler is still around. (Perhaps he visited home and came back after the fairy was freed or maybe the fairy needs time to charge or something lol) Oh dear... Lol @ 'And anyways, it's a quest, and a quest is not meant to be easy." It's too bad they can't bring Derek, all prince charming like. But it does sound like Sprinkler, in true faerie trikster form, knows more about what's going on with Derek than anyone else does lol. Oh, that's going to be a heck of a quest! Ah, well, alive enough to dream at least...hopefully they stay nice dreams lol...oh, that didn't last long! And if she finds him alive, then there is still the issue of them not being exactly on friendly terms lol. How exciting! Very cool update!
@Zabeth0 I was glad to see your new posts! And happy that RL is going better for you. LOL at finishing the "Christmas Special" story line before next Christmas. So easy to get behind. I sure understand. But that's ok. Your stories are awesome and fun to read, no matter what the setting! Although, I'm also looking forward to reading more about the honeymoon.
@Zabeth0 Like lanlyn, glad to see you post again! Sorry to hear about the death in the family, I had a family friend pass away suddenly last week. It was a shock and I'm still having trouble dealing with the fallout. But congratulations on the birth too. The wonderful thing about life is that it is about renewal too. I sometimes have trouble remembering that especially in the wake of this person's sudden death.
I'm still unemployed but still hoping for something to come along...
We're just waiting patiently for your new 'updates.' We enjoy your stories and especially your commentary! Lol
Anyhoo... just some quickies... yeah, Nathan definitely recognizes a lot of himself in his son, Sebastian, even down to the same types of romantic mishaps. I think, to be honest, the main reason Sebastian became an actor - was to get out of Nathan's shadow. Remember, Nathan was a huge hit movie composer, majorly involved with musical theater, basically a god in Sunset Valley. Sebastian, being his son and with his very name being that of a composer (remember he was supposed to be named Johann Sebastian, after Bach), was pretty much expected to follow that path. When he went in another direction, it was a way for him to attempt to form his own identity.
We know now that Sebastian happens to be a very, very good actor. And I don't just mean in film, either. He had Madison fooled into thinking he was a 'regular Joe' type and a 'playboy.' Basically, he was playing a role for her, too. And she realizes this, through Kaydence and her oddities. He also had Cherise fooled into thinking he had more money than he does.
And Sebastian doesn't know Kaydence as well as he thinks he does, either. The irony is that Kaydence has chosen a guy who in many ways is a lot like, well, Sebastian - minus all the drama. The main parent who raised her, was, well, Sebastian, and his influence is, of course, all over her, for good and for ill.
The intriguing meeting is between Sebastian and his possible future son-in-law, who happens to be an aspiring reporter. He could definitely control the narrative that way, a la a certain politician. Lol Anyway, thing is, like you said, he can go in an entirely different direction with his questions, and capture an angle for his interview that his competitors won't get. And having that close relationship with the daughter of the interview subject can't hurt.
In my last post here I alluded to a sim called Margaret, Maggie for short. Maggie was Nigel's daughter from a previous relationship, and therefore Nathan's half-sister.
The current Jolina-Plumbs are descended from Nathan.
As for Margaret, she had such an influence on the family that Nathan's daughter, Savannah, named her first-born daughter (Sage Margaret) after her.
But Margaret herself, well, was the type of individual to stay in the background and mostly kept to herself. There was, however, one person she always made time for - even if she didn't want to.
That was her half-brother, Nathan. (She and Nathan had the same father, Nigel, but different mothers.)
To be sure, Nathan did his share of charming. Everyone in his life was subject to the same wiles - mostly with his guitar, which he literally made to sing. In fact, of the five women at his young-adult birthday party, three of them were his girlfriends. The other two? His sister and his mother.
Maggie watched over him and tried to protect him - most of the time, from himself. She once told her brother that he needed to get his life straight, this after getting multiple women pregnant.
Now, you can imagine Maggie's displeasure when Nathan began dating Holly Alto, a woman closer to her age than his. In fact, Maggie and Holly had gone to school together.
Maggie was not a confrontational individual, but she did have a 'talk' with Holly Alto after Holly revealed she was pregnant with her brother's child.
That son, Noah, was born at Sacred Spleen in Sunset Valley, and of course, turned out to be musically gifted and hard-headed just like his dad. They had a rough time. (Both Nathan and Noah are now deceased, sadly)
As for Maggie herself, she had a lifelong love affair with books and writing, and would indeed spend most of her days and nights with her nose buried in books.
No surprise, then, that she grew up to write books - twenty-seven in total. She was, well, until her niece Savannah came along, the most successful and prolific writer Sunset Valley produced.
Savannah has not written as many books as her aunt, but of the ones she did write, she produced three best-sellers. She also has a teaching career at the university as its author in residence.
Remember I told you guys that Alexandra, Princess of Hidden Springs, married a member of the Jolina-Plumb family? That family member is Andrew, Jr., the first-born son of Savannah (Nathan's daughter and Sebastian's older sister).
I also told you guys that they went missing in action over Lunar Lakes. It turns out that the pair were held captive by aliens.
To make a long story very, very short, they were found with the assistance of these two.
Andrew and his wife returned home for the holidays.
A few months later, Alexandra is back, this time at one of her family's historical castles, called Schloss Vanderburg (I forgot where I downloaded it).
On Mother's Day, Alexandra, Princess of Hidden Springs, announced to the world that she is about to become a mother.
She made the announcement along with her husband inside the historical throne room of Schloss Vanderburg, the castle which is now a museum.
To get an inkling what kind of parents these two might make... here's what they are...
This was AJ's reaction when first learning of his wife's pregnancy.
They had their first woohoo in a sarcophagus. Their second, in a time machine in Alexandra's basement. That should tell you something about these two.
And Andrew, Jr., may be military but he's not above the family hobby either.
Although I have been playing Sims 3 off and on over the past month I have not been posting pictures here. Before I dump a lot of screenshots I want to thank everyone for their past comments - @Silverofdreams30 , @venusdemilosims ,@jillbg , @dreamerz13 and anyone I may have left out.
The Courtship of Andrea Blake
I have started a game on the converted Sudiva resort world where I have placed 10 male sims and 10 female sims to try to get story progression to produce some households to be used in other blank worlds. I used MasterController to make every sim in town friends with everyone else to facilitate them pairing up. I started off playing
Andrea
After gathering produce I sent Andrea to one of the beaches where Quinn Rivera quickly showed up.
I mostly leave all the social interactions up to my sims so Andrea asked Quinn to group up on her own. Since she was starting to get hungry I sent them to the Swordfish Restaurant, a lot with the bistro in the basement since there is no bistro rabbit hole rug.
After eating Quinn started flirting so the outing turned into a date. Some skinny dippers attracted some attention in the nearby pool.
They watched a movie at the big movie screen in the town center.
At Andrea's houseboat she asked Quinn to spend the night
They both were exhausted so went straight to sleep. The next morning I couldn't understand why every action I initiated kept being ignored until I realized I had set up the spiral stairs to work ascending but not descending. As a consequence they spent a lot of time upstairs flirting and kissing until Andrea asked Quinn to go steady.
After gathering produce Andrea showered and met Quinn for a date at the town center when he got off of work. (He showed up in his sleepwear for some reason.)
Quinn spent the night a second time, and still no woohoo.
After work Quinn worked out ...
while Andrea dealt with domestic problems.
They both happened to go to the town center where they were drawn to each other.
There were so many sims at the town center that when Quinn tried to initiate a woohoo with Andrea he was interrupted and also when he tried to ask her to move in. Both these he initiated on his own but since the actions were interrupted I decided to merge their households later via edit town.
The next morning at Quinn's house, and now Andrea's, she tried to get things going.
But it wasn't until after Quinn got home from work and then after diner that they woohooed.
The next day, leisure day, they went snorkeling off the beach in front of their house.
Later Quinn went fishing while Andrea continued painting (she is a self-employed painter).
Once they woohooed they didn't seem to want to stop until Andrea was pregnant. Since Quinn got the wish to marry her I had him propose.
Chester: "So, I wanted to ask you something but I didn't dare ask while you had... employees around. Does this dragon speak simlish or can I ask you a question without it being overheard?"
Rafael: "She does not spyeak simlish. Ask yourr qvestion, Agyent Svain." Special agent Swain didn't speak Drakonic and apparently couldn't even distinguish that the dragon was busily singing an elaborate song in praise of the frosty air of the deep morning -drakonic worked heavily in low tones and the wind up here made it harder to hear...perhaps Agent Swain thought dragons just growled a lot, and didn't realize the musical pattern. She really wasn't very good at it...but she was just having fun stretching her wings. Rafael understood every word and was doing his best to tune out her singing. If this song got stuck in his head again, it would be there for weeks.
Chester: "You said that you cared about saving the world because you live in it... but if you get captured and tortured into madness...why wouldn't you want the dragons to destroy everything? Why would you try to save the world then...is it for your family? You've got a daughter too, right...is it to save her?"
Rafael: He flashed a 'you caught me', guilty smile. Of course, that wasn't the whole story but his family was one of the more personal reasons. There was also the fact that Rafael couldn't stay dead for more than three minutes, so if the dragons destroyed the world back to the stone age or the governments nuked the world into a radioactive wasteland...he was still doomed to claw his way through the debris alone. But Rafael did not want to share that weakness with him. His finding this one was bad enough. Agent Swain was clever...and Rafael reflected how wrong things would have gone if Agent Swain had been fooolish enough to ask that question in front of Dante. "You verre vise not to yask...I vould haf thrrown you in the sharrk tank."
Chester: "I'm not making a threat, I'm just...puzzled. If you were truly being as self interested as you said, then you'd probably want the world to be destroyed...as revenge for them doing this to you but that doesn't seem to be what you're telling me?"
Rafael: Agent Swain was still trying to figure him out...he wasn't settling for his villainous persona or buying his sadist act. Rafael had a hidden admiration for Chester Swain... he was fighting off the urge to try to impress the older man...and not exactly winning. The Dragon Master didn't usually give people dragon rides, and Chester Swain hadn't expected him to but he'd volunteered to do this. So he found himself reasoning that he could maybe give the man a crumb of truth...just a little bit, that he'd use a very selective bit of the truth to work on Chester Swain's sympathies like a good con artist. "...My daughtyerr is almost tvo yearrs old: she's my oldyest and the only girrl...and if she lifs to be teenagyerr- I am not usink hypyerrbole...my vife is a vitch, as in spellbooks and magyic and everythink that can go wronk in the univerrse comink to see herr kyind of vitch... if my daughtyerr lifs lonk enough...then the day I haf comink to me vith herr as young voman...it vill make this trrouble you haf...look like holyiday picnic. Enrragyed ancient vampyirres and all." He confessed darkly. "I shouldyen't carre. I should see this comink frrom a myile avay, and styep avay frrom the doomed child...but...I am vhat they say... wrrapped arround herr littyel fingyerr." He flashed a bitter smile. Chester had no idea how terrible the worries he had for his daughter's future were...but Rafael was pretty certain that he could understand this one. "She's prrotectyed by drragons...she's not afrraid of them... she's more afraid of dogs than she is of dragons. But since the dragons haf vatched herr grrow since she vas borrn, I don't know forr surre that they'll kyill herr orr if they'll not vant to hurrt herr like people vho don't harrm chicks but vill eat chickens, perrhaps they'll kyeep herr as pet vhile they destrroy the othyer humans in theirr wrrath... but I don't know, and the chance that they'll not kill her- it is enough forr me to try to save the vorrld to find out...though the drragons vill likely kyill me." He carefully didn't mention 'a few times' or that it would be because it's very hard to calm down an enraged dragon. This would give the impression that he was risking his life...which might appeal to Chester, who was risking his life to try to make sure his daughter was safe.
Chester: "If it's up to me, that'll never happen."
Rafael: He had no intention of ever letting it happen, but he felt understood. At least in this one bit of truth that he could share... he was understood. The rest of the dragon ride was silent.
Rafael: The walk through the forest and through the ruins before they got to the cottage was also silent. There were no birds or insects or squirrels around, the forest was frozen and silent...only the sound of them trudging through the snow and the wind shivering across the shrubbery or clacking frozen branches together kept it from being completely void of sound.
Rafael: He brought Chester to the cottage and let him look around. Rafael was quite used to Baba Yaga's decorative sense, but it was interesting to watch Chester Swain look around at this place in disbelief. Rafael couldn't help but be amused at the special agent's reaction to clearly magical things- it really was still so new to him, and it reminded Rafael of when it had been shocking to him...only a few years ago. He had relished the amazed look on Agent Swain's face when he'd first seen the large black dragon waiting for them- it was one thing to see a dragon on the news or a photo of one and a totally different thing to be standing in the presence of a full grown female dragon bored enough to flex and clean out her scales with her claws while waiting on the pavement, and watch her meticulously order her scales back into place before she was willing to get back up. When she'd first taken off, Chester Swain's face had been full of the thrill of an amusement park ride, but after a little while he'd relaxed. Though Rafael was fairly certain Chester Swain still thought that the dragons were invented by his scientists... since that explanation had been accepted for years, and Rafael would not correct it as a measure of protecting them.
Chester: He looked incredulously at the candles burning...outside... "Do they not have electricity out here in the forest...?"
Rafael: "This is magyical place. If you styand herre all yearr lonk you'll styill nevyerr see that candle burrn avay."
Chester: "Those candles have...snow on them...?"
Rafael: "Vonce again, this is a magyical cottyage...norrmally snow vould myelt and turrn to cold vaterr and the vaterr vould cool the vax...but the magyic candles don't allow the snow to myelt to pretyect theirr firre. You'd thyink they'd simply melt the snow furrthyerr and evapyorrate yit, but no, it has to scrream how magyical it is by havink snow gathyer on it vhile it's still burrnink. Unless magyic does somethink like this, us humans can't tyell yit's therre...Vitches, they see it, they can sense it thrrough valls evyen...but ve haf to see thinks like this to know. Ve're prrobably lucky she didyint decide to myake the cottyage out of cake orr cheese orr somethink like that... just to be grross." Bailey had gushed over these candles and the rainbow pattern with the snow on them...Rafael just felt annoyed by them. Bailey was so charmed by the place, she seemed to be completely overlooking the fact that the most evil witch in the world made it...rainbow candles and fairy glass embedded porch posts and all. It made him feel like they'd round a corner and find a spinning wheel and Bailey on the ground in a heap. He couldn't shake the feeling that Granny had made this place specifically for Bailey to love it and Rafael to feel Baba Yaga breathing down his neck.
Chester: "Witches really do that?"
Rafael: He sighed. "And evyen vorrse. Though not all vitches."
Rafael: "Agyent Svain, you arre fairrly brright...I don't haf to tyell you that I'm a trricky man... but vhen you arre spendink yourr holyiday vith yourr daughtyer and yourr new son in law, you'll undyerstand how vell I know yourr daughtyerr. She vill safe you... Vone morre think; do you know how I know you lof yourr daughtyerr evyen though you did such good job actink like you didyent vhen I vas tyestink you? Evyen vhen they can't rread yourr myind, vampirres can styill hearr yourr hearrt rrate and blood prressurre change vith emotions, ...my lieutenyant vas not foooled...kyeep this in mind...I haf much prractyice in dealink vith undyead valkink lie detectyorrs... but I am surre you'll land on yourr fyeet."
@cwaddell Gret update they seemed to have a ncie time.
Thank you.
Andrea and Quinn , continued
Quinn got time off for getting married. He went scuba diving where he met a friendly merman ...
while Andrea painted.
Andrea discussed the baby they were expecting over a meal, but ...
Quinn had other things on his mind.
Later Quinn continued to watch TV while Andrea gave birth to their daughter, Elena.
Since Quinn got time off for the birth of Elena he spent time with her and ...
went wind surfing using one of their wedding gifts ...
while Andrea painted.
Quinn went scuba diving late in the afternoon. It was after dark when he got back ...
and read a story to toddler, Elena.
When Elena aged up to a toddler the day before I took her into CAS to change her hair style and to see what she would look like as a young adult.
Looks like she got her mother's nose and her father's eyes and mouth. Her hair color is a blend of both her parents' (84% father and 16% mother) I am trying out the consort hair mod which gives a random blend of the parents' hair colors to the child. Using that mod I could change the percentages but decided to leave Elena's hair color the way it was generated.
@cwaddell Gorgeous photos! Andrea and Quinn make a lovely couple. And their daughter is a cutie.
@Zabeth0 Hmm wonder what Rafael wants with Chester? Who knows, with him. Lol
Major crisis! My external HD (with basically my whole digital life) fell from my desk and now it won't open. The technician quoted me an ungodly sum of money to fix it... a sum I can't afford, given that I still don't have a job...
Back in Starlight Shores, Kaydence was in the studio, shooting one of her final episodes of the mega hit TV show she was set to leave.
As usual, she was among the first to arrive at the studio, at a quarter till nine.
Her impending departure from the show had caused consternation among the show's legions of teen and young adult fans. Her performance as the show's villainess, Alexa Barstow, had been delicious, to say the least. It came as a shock to the show's followers that Kaydence had very little in common with her character. Indeed, the show's creator and producer, Alan Stanley, had called the dissonance, "the mark of a truly gifted actress."
The problem was, her performance was so good that she risked being typecast.
On top of that, her burgeoning interest and studies in science were taking up most of her spare time.
So Kaydence made a decision she felt was easy for her at the time - she decided to walk away.
Of course, that was easier said than done, given that the show's producers, Alan Stanley and his son Emmitt, were desperate and willing to do anything necessary to keep her aboard,
even if it meant allowing her to join its writing team and to have input on her character.
While Kaydence was in Starlight Shores visiting her mother, the show made a huge splash by hiring Grayson Hawes, a social media star, to play the now-vacant role of Matt, Lauren's boyfriend and the show's male lead.
Now it was the moment of truth. Kaydence was going to have her first scene with Grayson, the new male lead. After changing into her clothes and receiving instructions from Alan, she took a deep breath.
When the camera started rolling, Kaydence turned around. "You know, Matt, you've got a choice. You can choose to be with a square like Lauren, or you can choose to be with me."
"Alexa, I like you. In fact, I like you a lot."
Suddenly Alan yelled, "Cut!"
Emmitt, walking towards them, interjected, "Grayson, you seem nervous. You can't be nervous around Alexa." He then motioned for the actors to take a quick break.
"Kaydence, is it?" Grayson asked, seeing his co-star without her blond wig and wearing her natural dark chestnut-brown curls in a braided ponytail. "You look different without the blond." He then stammered, "I, uh, I think you're prettier."
Kaydence immediately recognized that Grayson was trying to pour on the charm. But she was having none of it. "A quick acting tip for ya," she laughed. "Remember when you were a kid and you pretended to be an astronaut or a dragon or a prince? That's what being an actor is, it's like playing pretend, when you're grown up. Relax a bit. You're not Grayson anymore, you're Matt McCormick of San Myshuno, the two-timing boyfriend of Lauren Giovanetti."
Grayson smiled. "You're good at this, you know, acting thing. How do you do it?"
Laughing, Kaydence replied, "When you grow up like I did, going into show business is a fait accompli."
Nice updates everyone! I'll get back to commenting later, right now I just have to post the first video I made of Champs-les-Sims after my overhaul! There are some nice before/after pics. Enjoy!
Been a busy few weeks again. But I have (had) another 4 day weekend, which I only have 1 day left of somehow . I did get an update done on Evie and Alex. Jeez was that ever ridiculous lol, I *finally* got my game to cooperate enough (France is cursed for me, I finally threatened to make another plan, and it started to work lol), it's mostly just picture spam, that I didn't even put *that* much effort into lol. So I'll post that in a little bit, just thought I'd do some comments first.
@Dreamerz: I know how it is trying to juggle multiple stories and I totally understand. (I did have to drop the Jake story after all...) Lol @ "Plum aliens, you've failed me!" It rather seems like every time you're in the mood for them to do their thing and make you an exciting alien baby, they let you down...but if you have some story where you totally don't want an alien baby, they are totally on board for that! Then it's like 'oh aliens, you shouldn't have!' Well, I'm glad that the alien experience helped them prioritize their commitment to each other. Lol @ "Just a portal to the future") Glitch is adorable. (Aperture science song "Still Alive" plays gently in the background...) Welcome baby Haylie! I'm glad they both agree on the name... Well, with Glitch taking care of the garden, having a baby and two fur babies, they suddenly have quite a full house! Sounds like an adventurous life. Yeah, that sounds like a scary fan...best to have Mr. Superspy on it. The farm looks very comfortable. What a cute nursery.
Lol @ Aedan loving his unicorn. (Aedan: "You know, between being a superspy, looking this way and riding a unicorn... I'm pretty sure that instead of just the wedding ring, I need a headband that say's sorry, ladies I'm taken...possibly in fluorescent orange..." Me: Probably best not to call attention to yourself so much...Aedan: "You really need to understand that I'm not invisible...but people see me and their sense of denial kicks in...it's the unicorn thing, that just puts it over the top...so this outragous thing actually helps me with spying...because the brain says no, that can't be there...and boom, I can walk right up to a dignatary on my unicorn and listen to a conversation...because no one can believe what they are seeing! I love this unicorn! ) Lol @ "forgotten the most essential equipment for fishing" Lol. (Aedan: "What? I had to cover up my illicit activities- government secrets or have a kitten? Really? How is that a hard choice...? I would have taken the kitten without any dangerous motivation! Um, I mean, honey, I had to! This kitten saved my life... um, yeah, that's it.")
Actually I find the Aliens tend to be fairly cooperative with my plans usually. Or they surprise me but it's actually a good thing. Though Aedan actually got abducted twice. On the same night. So I was pretty displeased that nothing happened, like he was just asking for it.
Yeah... I could actually use that headband for Aedan lol. The ladies are all over him. Get him a t-shirt with his wife's face on it lol. Yeah, I have to say I'd be in total disbelief if somebody was just chilling on a unicorn right beside me I could see that working lol.
Major crisis! My external HD (with basically my whole digital life) fell from my desk and now it won't open. The technician quoted me an ungodly sum of money to fix it... a sum I can't afford, given that I still don't have a job...
That's awful, sorry I know how frustrating that can be. Good luck on the job hunt (know how frustrating that can be too).
Loved this screenshot.
It's probably a wise choice for Kaydence to step away from the show, she does take on enough responsibility as it is and her passion is clearly with the sciences. If she doesn't get lured into staying anyway lol.
Nice updates everyone! I'll get back to commenting later, right now I just have to post the first video I made of Champs-les-Sims after my overhaul! There are some nice before/after pics. Enjoy!
Your overhaul looks amazing! So much more lively. TBH, while it's still a nice world, I kind of expected more from Champs Les Sims, more like what you've done to it (maybe not quiet 'cause it's EA lol, but you know).
We apologize once again for the delay in updates. Evie and Alex have just been enjoying a quiet life as newlyweds. Or as quiet as life is when you have a baby (even if he is a really quiet baby). And their illustrious narrator has just been very busy. Though we hope to return you to your regularily scheduled programming soon. For now we just wanted to share some of Evie and Alex's "honeymoon" pictures. Really it was more of a family vacation because there was no way they were leaving Lucas for so long. So they settled for leaving him with grandma and grandpa Ellison for a couple nights after the wedding so they could enjoy a bit of time alone at home.
And then it was off to Paris, where they spent the first few days of their vacation just relaxing and taking in the sights. It was a short trip there, so they didn't do as much as they would have liked, but they still had an amazing time. But I guess it's always an amazing time when you're newlyweds in one of the world's most romantic cities.
And from there it was off to Champs Les Sims for a bit of adventure; leaving Lucas with a babysitter while they went exploring tombs.
They even found some quiet romantic places in those tombs.
Nights they spent at the hotel with the baby.
Snuggling up with each other once Lucas was tucked in fast asleep. Really, there was no shortage of honeymoon romance.
And they decided to leave early and stay away from home a little longer, so they could visit Egypt to make further progress on some of their adventures.
And really they probably didn't want to go home anyway, they just didn't know it yet.
@Venus: Thanks. It's very easy to get hit so hard by the deaths that the births and other exciting things aren't as amazing as when you are young and think everyone will always be there. It's a good thing that babies are so cute, they can definitely break through the barriers we put up. With their little eyebrows and tiny sharp little finger nails and how they test the world, one funny face or strange warbling sound at a time. Thanks. Yeah, I think he didn't really want the stress of being Nathan 2.0. If he did music as a hobby, he could do it for himself, and not be...typecast lol. I think he did it as a way to deflect the stress... well, I don't think politicians should be allowed to control the interviews- I think the press should be respectful of people and treat them like they are people...and not play gotcha games with anyone...celebrities, politicians, scientists or whoever... but I really don't think our politicians should be able to not answer questions from the press about their policies and their interactions as it relates to their job, the way I think celebrities should be able to blow them off; because if a celebrity keeps quiet about a movie they are working on, no one dies. I don't even think Sebastian should have total control of the interviews...I just don't think that he should have to deal with every single press person being out to get him lol. Maggie's so cute as a kid on her bed reading...Kaydence definitely takes after her lol. (I wonder if Sebastian ever considers how much after Maggie she takes, or just sees her as taking so heavily after Savannah...who took after Maggie lol!) I'm really excited about the mother's day announcement! Yay, lets see what kind of little princessling or princlet we get from those two adventurers! Or twins! Toddling through...space and time...hehehe! Or walking through the time portal with a cane lol. I'm sure you can age them down lol. Or I guess they could have gone back in time and gotten their hands full lol. YAY! Exciting
Well, Rafael actually kind of admires him...which is why he's showing off...if he were afraid of him- he'd be locked down, not showing anything, if he were unimpressed with him, he'd be dismissive or outright irritable at the man wasting his time and trying to treat him like a phone book to find his daughter (like he was with Mr. Van Gould, only even worse...).
Ah...ouch. That's terrible...how frustrating! Grrrr...having your digital world held hostage... I'm glad it wasn't an irreparable thing... but how frustrating it's there but out of reach at the same time.
I'm sure it's very hard for everyone to be losing Kaydence, I'm sure as a workaholic, her dedication to the show (I remember she passed out from overwork before) probably drove even her enemies to work harder to compete with her, much less the people who admired her talent and drive. I like that shot with her standing in front of the magicial billboard, I'm sure they feel she's so skilled it's like magic they are losing. I also don't think I've ever noticed the question mark in the crosswalk before lol. Ah, the same problem her father faced- being so skilled she'll be typecast as a villain forever. But those who can be convincing as villains are usually so skilled and do such a good job it's hard to see them as anything else. I'm glad I first saw Tim Curry as the Butler in Clue rather than as some of his more notorious roles lol. (Like in Legend or Rocky Horror for example). But every time I see Anthony Hopkins my first thought is Hannibal Lector lol. Still, I'm sure that gets old to the actors lol. I'm sure it's kind of hard for her to have to walk away from people who want her help. Poor Kaydence, being pulled in so many different directions. Aw, poor Newbie Grayson. She sees right through it, but it makes total sense she would, being raised around actors and actresses her whole life. Hopefully he takes her advice to heart. But hopefully she doesn't have to explain to him his character's motivation (Kaydence: "Well, you don't have to be a smirking villain purposely playing the women off each other...you could just be so uncertain who's telling you the truth, and feeling like you want to be everything to everyone...therefore sort of apologetically hurting everyone around you.")
@Silver: What a lovely wedding dress! And you managed an outdoor wedding without rain or snow. I loved the cake cutting. Lol @ the bridal kegstand! They seem to have had some fun there.
@Jillbg: I love the video! I like the way you've shown before the and after contrast, and the place looks so much better, vibrant with more cobblestones, better fencing, haystacks, lavender and poppies, power lines, street signs, cars and parking lots! Also love the areas with the benches, fountains and trashcans.. this makes the place much more lively, and I look forward to see what you do with it. I also thought that connection between the buildings was really cool, but I don't really know what it is, I just think it's neat even if it's just a connecting walkway. (Variety, not everything is built exactly the same that way)
@dreamerz: Oh, your aliens are more cooperative than mine! Lol- yeah. Such a beautiful honeymoon. I really like that picture with them centered on the fountain with them dancing there and the arch behind them. I also really like that dip kiss there by the Eiffel tower's centering. It's beautiful. Yeah, probably best not to bring a newborn...well, newer human...with smaller lungs...into a dusty old tomb that could have anything in it...though I'm sure the Mummies would be like 'not coming out...they've got a baby and they aren't afraid to use it...' or maybe... "yeah, no way am I taking my bandages into baby gripping range...there is a reason new mother's often cut their hair short, but I'm stuck with these bandages so...staying away from the baby!" But yeah, no risking little Lukas! Looks like they had both an exciting and a comfortable honeymoon...difficult to pull off. I can understand how that would make them want more honeymoon.
Comments
@jillbg Thank you
More recently, the show made a splash by hiring social media darling Grayson Hawes as Lauren and Alexa's lover Matt, to replace Noah Conley - who had been fired by the producers, it was rumored, because of his lack of chemistry with Alanna Starr Stanley. Hawes and his brother, Nelson, were noted for having millions of followers on a now-defunct social networking site by posting videos of themselves doing silly things.
Kaydence had read about Hawes' hiring while reading a showbiz gossip site online at the bookstore in Starlight Shores. She was among the few girls her age who didn't initially know who he was, and thus had no opinion on the hire. To her, he was simply another actor, and she was going to judge him on his skill once she saw him live.
Indeed, the hiring of a social-media star to a main role in a prime-time soap such as ATST was big news. In fact, it almost made the tabloids forget about Kaydence's own impending departure from the show.
To celebrate Grayson's hire, the show did a photoshoot featuring him with Alanna and Kaydence.
But was Grayson Hawes actually ready for prime time? He certainly looked the part. A few Simtube videos posted online was one thing. Performing with the lights on was quite another.
Emmitt Stanley, the show's head writer and assistant producer, only wanted one person's opinion. "What do you think, Kaydence?" he asked her backstage. "What do you think of Hawes?"
Kaydence shrugged. "He's okay, I guess. I haven't worked with him yet."
"I can see Alanna already likes him a lot." Emmitt noted the make-out scene his dad had shot with Grayson and his sister contained more chemistry than before.
In the scene they filmed that day, the two rivals were in a dogfight for student body president at the exclusive private school they both attended. Their heated rivalry had spilled into the auditorium and the tension had spilled over.
(from Sebastian's old diary)
“I don’t have to say anything to you, Sebastian, because you are me, except bigger and taller and younger.”
“Because you were born to fame and wealth, Sebastian, that means that everyone wants a piece of you. Everyone. Your life is not yours anymore once you choose this. I learned that the hard way.”
He started telling me about what he did when he was my age. “There was a woman named Holly Alto. Holly Alto’s parents were very rich, and when they died, they left her the mansion. I met her before I met your mother, this was a long, long time ago. I was dating someone else at the time that I met Holly. She financed my first album. Then she got pregnant. And I got scared....
(more at link)
Got another interview on Friday so there's that. And there's a few birthdays and prom and a whole bunch of other stuff going on. These headaches won't stop either.
There is some good news tho. I've cobbled together enough pics for something of an update. Apologies if it doesn't make any sense.
Kaydence's boyfriend, Terry, had managed to get to the Plumbob Pictures studio in Sunset Valley, where her father, Sebastian, the mega-movie star, was working on his first major project in quite sometime. Terry, an aspiring journalist, had to interview someone for the school paper, and had chosen to interview his idol, who, luck would have it, was his girlfriend's dad.
Butterflies tumbled through his stomach as he began setting up the equipment for the interview. Talking to Sebastian Jolina-Plumb was one thing. Interviewing him on the set of his new movie would be quite another, and he was the first journalist to do so, even before the major gossip rags.
But at first, Sebastian wasn't in the best of moods. Dogged by questions about his impending divorce from his wife, Cherise, and his affair with his butler, Anissa Swenson, he didn't want to answer inquiries from another reporter about his personal life. There was also talk about infighting between him and his co-star, Emmy Starr. But Terrance Ho wasn't another reporter. And he didn't ask one thing about those forbidden topics.
Instead, Terry's line of questioning was about the movie itself, an 18th century Baroque pageant set in the court of Versailles. "I was intrigued by my character, a conflicted French nobleman," Sebastian began. "He's having an affair with a married countess."
"How did you get started in acting?"
"It's kind of a long story. I trained as a musician, my parents were both classical musicians and wanted me to follow as a musician, but I sought my own path. So when the Bridgeport studios were looking for actors to enroll in the academies, I signed up. I left home at eighteen, got an apartment in Bridgeport, and worked my way up the ranks."
Bonus pics
I found this shot of Maggie holding Baby Nathan. Make no mistake, even though they were half-siblings, they were very close...
...it's just that Maggie disapproved of Nathan's relationship with Holly Alto, who was nearly twice his age and HER classmate.
I will say this for Maggie, though... she did kinda-sorta like Savannah and Sebastian's mother, Shandra, however.
@Silver: Thanks.
What a lovely private wedding.
@Ianlyn: Thanks!
@Dreamerz: I know how it is trying to juggle multiple stories and I totally understand.
Lol @ Aedan loving his unicorn.
I think Kaydence's approach is better, not assuming what he's like from his previous work.
Lol @ "except bigger and taller and younger" lol.
Sorry to hear that, I hope you being freed up for the other interview is a good thing.
And how much homework do they really do on the movies themselves? People reading about the movie want to know about the movie, why should they watch the movie? For some people, the idea that certain stars are in it is enough reason for them to see it but others might not think they'll relate to a historical piece... and a few facts could show them that this movie will make them see things through new eyes! They might care about things they breezed over in history... Do they realize what date this is set in reference to the French Revolution; so... if, for example... the main characters were likely executed after the movie ends...? Does our modern day knowledge of future events shape the way we see the events of the movie? Or is it primarily a character study of the characters, and they just happen to be dressed like french nobility in french chairs? How serious of a movie is this? Is it a war movie with a romantic subplot or a romantic movie? If this is the Monty Python of french opera, the audience needs to know that... These are things people need to know when they are going to buy tickets. And they are things that can't be figured out by catching the stars sleeping...")
It looks like Maggie cared for him very much, and was involved with him from the earliest times, would naturally feel protective, but also a little motherly, after all, look at the look!
I post most of my updates in the other thread so you can read there but comment on here. hope your doing well.
Maybe it'll get all of it's raining out of the way now...but it's still going to be miserable, huh?
Lol @ "But they're too old to... I mean, to do it." (Ah, the innocence of youth lol. Poor Granny...
Rowan couldn't stay away- probably feels pretty left out (maybe even cheated) since he was initiated so young he doesn't remember it. Oh, or maybe male and female rites are different...
Poor Missy! Maybe because Rowan was outside the stones... Their magic maybe gone, but their knowledge isn't. Of course...that leaves them with no magic in case Baba Yaga shows back up, and I somehow doubt that's a good idea...
I'm still unemployed but still hoping for something to come along...
We're just waiting patiently for your new 'updates.' We enjoy your stories and especially your commentary! Lol
Anyhoo... just some quickies... yeah, Nathan definitely recognizes a lot of himself in his son, Sebastian, even down to the same types of romantic mishaps. I think, to be honest, the main reason Sebastian became an actor - was to get out of Nathan's shadow. Remember, Nathan was a huge hit movie composer, majorly involved with musical theater, basically a god in Sunset Valley. Sebastian, being his son and with his very name being that of a composer (remember he was supposed to be named Johann Sebastian, after Bach), was pretty much expected to follow that path. When he went in another direction, it was a way for him to attempt to form his own identity.
We know now that Sebastian happens to be a very, very good actor. And I don't just mean in film, either. He had Madison fooled into thinking he was a 'regular Joe' type and a 'playboy.' Basically, he was playing a role for her, too. And she realizes this, through Kaydence and her oddities. He also had Cherise fooled into thinking he had more money than he does.
And Sebastian doesn't know Kaydence as well as he thinks he does, either. The irony is that Kaydence has chosen a guy who in many ways is a lot like, well, Sebastian - minus all the drama. The main parent who raised her, was, well, Sebastian, and his influence is, of course, all over her, for good and for ill.
The intriguing meeting is between Sebastian and his possible future son-in-law, who happens to be an aspiring reporter. He could definitely control the narrative that way, a la a certain politician. Lol Anyway, thing is, like you said, he can go in an entirely different direction with his questions, and capture an angle for his interview that his competitors won't get. And having that close relationship with the daughter of the interview subject can't hurt.
In my last post here I alluded to a sim called Margaret, Maggie for short. Maggie was Nigel's daughter from a previous relationship, and therefore Nathan's half-sister.
The current Jolina-Plumbs are descended from Nathan.
As for Margaret, she had such an influence on the family that Nathan's daughter, Savannah, named her first-born daughter (Sage Margaret) after her.
But Margaret herself, well, was the type of individual to stay in the background and mostly kept to herself. There was, however, one person she always made time for - even if she didn't want to.
That was her half-brother, Nathan. (She and Nathan had the same father, Nigel, but different mothers.)
To be sure, Nathan did his share of charming. Everyone in his life was subject to the same wiles - mostly with his guitar, which he literally made to sing. In fact, of the five women at his young-adult birthday party, three of them were his girlfriends. The other two? His sister and his mother.
Maggie watched over him and tried to protect him - most of the time, from himself. She once told her brother that he needed to get his life straight, this after getting multiple women pregnant.
Now, you can imagine Maggie's displeasure when Nathan began dating Holly Alto, a woman closer to her age than his. In fact, Maggie and Holly had gone to school together.
Maggie was not a confrontational individual, but she did have a 'talk' with Holly Alto after Holly revealed she was pregnant with her brother's child.
That son, Noah, was born at Sacred Spleen in Sunset Valley, and of course, turned out to be musically gifted and hard-headed just like his dad. They had a rough time. (Both Nathan and Noah are now deceased, sadly)
As for Maggie herself, she had a lifelong love affair with books and writing, and would indeed spend most of her days and nights with her nose buried in books.
No surprise, then, that she grew up to write books - twenty-seven in total. She was, well, until her niece Savannah came along, the most successful and prolific writer Sunset Valley produced.
Savannah has not written as many books as her aunt, but of the ones she did write, she produced three best-sellers. She also has a teaching career at the university as its author in residence.
Remember I told you guys that Alexandra, Princess of Hidden Springs, married a member of the Jolina-Plumb family? That family member is Andrew, Jr., the first-born son of Savannah (Nathan's daughter and Sebastian's older sister).
I also told you guys that they went missing in action over Lunar Lakes. It turns out that the pair were held captive by aliens.
To make a long story very, very short, they were found with the assistance of these two.
They even went to Lunar Lakes themselves.
http://jpfamarchives.blogspot.com/2016/12/archive-post-288.html
http://jpfamarchives.blogspot.com/2016/12/archive-post-289.html
http://jpfamarchives.blogspot.com/2016/12/archive-post-290.html
Andrew and his wife returned home for the holidays.
A few months later, Alexandra is back, this time at one of her family's historical castles, called Schloss Vanderburg (I forgot where I downloaded it).
On Mother's Day, Alexandra, Princess of Hidden Springs, announced to the world that she is about to become a mother.
She made the announcement along with her husband inside the historical throne room of Schloss Vanderburg, the castle which is now a museum.
To get an inkling what kind of parents these two might make... here's what they are...
This was AJ's reaction when first learning of his wife's pregnancy.
They had their first woohoo in a sarcophagus. Their second, in a time machine in Alexandra's basement. That should tell you something about these two.
And Andrew, Jr., may be military but he's not above the family hobby either.
The Courtship of Andrea Blake
I have started a game on the converted Sudiva resort world where I have placed 10 male sims and 10 female sims to try to get story progression to produce some households to be used in other blank worlds. I used MasterController to make every sim in town friends with everyone else to facilitate them pairing up. I started off playing
Andrea
After gathering produce I sent Andrea to one of the beaches where Quinn Rivera quickly showed up.
I mostly leave all the social interactions up to my sims so Andrea asked Quinn to group up on her own. Since she was starting to get hungry I sent them to the Swordfish Restaurant, a lot with the bistro in the basement since there is no bistro rabbit hole rug.
After eating Quinn started flirting so the outing turned into a date. Some skinny dippers attracted some attention in the nearby pool.
They watched a movie at the big movie screen in the town center.
At Andrea's houseboat she asked Quinn to spend the night
They both were exhausted so went straight to sleep. The next morning I couldn't understand why every action I initiated kept being ignored until I realized I had set up the spiral stairs to work ascending but not descending. As a consequence they spent a lot of time upstairs flirting and kissing until Andrea asked Quinn to go steady.
After gathering produce Andrea showered and met Quinn for a date at the town center when he got off of work. (He showed up in his sleepwear for some reason.)
Quinn spent the night a second time, and still no woohoo.
After work Quinn worked out ...
while Andrea dealt with domestic problems.
They both happened to go to the town center where they were drawn to each other.
There were so many sims at the town center that when Quinn tried to initiate a woohoo with Andrea he was interrupted and also when he tried to ask her to move in. Both these he initiated on his own but since the actions were interrupted I decided to merge their households later via edit town.
The next morning at Quinn's house, and now Andrea's, she tried to get things going.
But it wasn't until after Quinn got home from work and then after diner that they woohooed.
The next day, leisure day, they went snorkeling off the beach in front of their house.
Later Quinn went fishing while Andrea continued painting (she is a self-employed painter).
Once they woohooed they didn't seem to want to stop until Andrea was pregnant. Since Quinn got the wish to marry her I had him propose.
Chester: "So, I wanted to ask you something but I didn't dare ask while you had... employees around. Does this dragon speak simlish or can I ask you a question without it being overheard?"
Rafael: "She does not spyeak simlish. Ask yourr qvestion, Agyent Svain." Special agent Swain didn't speak Drakonic and apparently couldn't even distinguish that the dragon was busily singing an elaborate song in praise of the frosty air of the deep morning -drakonic worked heavily in low tones and the wind up here made it harder to hear...perhaps Agent Swain thought dragons just growled a lot, and didn't realize the musical pattern. She really wasn't very good at it...but she was just having fun stretching her wings. Rafael understood every word and was doing his best to tune out her singing. If this song got stuck in his head again, it would be there for weeks.
Chester: "You said that you cared about saving the world because you live in it... but if you get captured and tortured into madness...why wouldn't you want the dragons to destroy everything? Why would you try to save the world then...is it for your family? You've got a daughter too, right...is it to save her?"
Rafael: He flashed a 'you caught me', guilty smile. Of course, that wasn't the whole story but his family was one of the more personal reasons. There was also the fact that Rafael couldn't stay dead for more than three minutes, so if the dragons destroyed the world back to the stone age or the governments nuked the world into a radioactive wasteland...he was still doomed to claw his way through the debris alone. But Rafael did not want to share that weakness with him. His finding this one was bad enough. Agent Swain was clever...and Rafael reflected how wrong things would have gone if Agent Swain had been fooolish enough to ask that question in front of Dante. "You verre vise not to yask...I vould haf thrrown you in the sharrk tank."
Chester: "I'm not making a threat, I'm just...puzzled. If you were truly being as self interested as you said, then you'd probably want the world to be destroyed...as revenge for them doing this to you but that doesn't seem to be what you're telling me?"
Rafael: Agent Swain was still trying to figure him out...he wasn't settling for his villainous persona or buying his sadist act. Rafael had a hidden admiration for Chester Swain... he was fighting off the urge to try to impress the older man...and not exactly winning. The Dragon Master didn't usually give people dragon rides, and Chester Swain hadn't expected him to but he'd volunteered to do this. So he found himself reasoning that he could maybe give the man a crumb of truth...just a little bit, that he'd use a very selective bit of the truth to work on Chester Swain's sympathies like a good con artist. "...My daughtyerr is almost tvo yearrs old: she's my oldyest and the only girrl...and if she lifs to be teenagyerr- I am not usink hypyerrbole...my vife is a vitch, as in spellbooks and magyic and everythink that can go wronk in the univerrse comink to see herr kyind of vitch... if my daughtyerr lifs lonk enough...then the day I haf comink to me vith herr as young voman...it vill make this trrouble you haf...look like holyiday picnic. Enrragyed ancient vampyirres and all." He confessed darkly. "I shouldyen't carre. I should see this comink frrom a myile avay, and styep avay frrom the doomed child...but...I am vhat they say... wrrapped arround herr littyel fingyerr." He flashed a bitter smile. Chester had no idea how terrible the worries he had for his daughter's future were...but Rafael was pretty certain that he could understand this one. "She's prrotectyed by drragons...she's not afrraid of them... she's more afraid of dogs than she is of dragons. But since the dragons haf vatched herr grrow since she vas borrn, I don't know forr surre that they'll kyill herr orr if they'll not vant to hurrt herr like people vho don't harrm chicks but vill eat chickens, perrhaps they'll kyeep herr as pet vhile they destrroy the othyer humans in theirr wrrath... but I don't know, and the chance that they'll not kill her- it is enough forr me to try to save the vorrld to find out...though the drragons vill likely kyill me." He carefully didn't mention 'a few times' or that it would be because it's very hard to calm down an enraged dragon. This would give the impression that he was risking his life...which might appeal to Chester, who was risking his life to try to make sure his daughter was safe.
Chester: "If it's up to me, that'll never happen."
Rafael: He had no intention of ever letting it happen, but he felt understood. At least in this one bit of truth that he could share... he was understood. The rest of the dragon ride was silent.
Rafael: The walk through the forest and through the ruins before they got to the cottage was also silent. There were no birds or insects or squirrels around, the forest was frozen and silent...only the sound of them trudging through the snow and the wind shivering across the shrubbery or clacking frozen branches together kept it from being completely void of sound.
Rafael: He brought Chester to the cottage and let him look around. Rafael was quite used to Baba Yaga's decorative sense, but it was interesting to watch Chester Swain look around at this place in disbelief. Rafael couldn't help but be amused at the special agent's reaction to clearly magical things- it really was still so new to him, and it reminded Rafael of when it had been shocking to him...only a few years ago. He had relished the amazed look on Agent Swain's face when he'd first seen the large black dragon waiting for them- it was one thing to see a dragon on the news or a photo of one and a totally different thing to be standing in the presence of a full grown female dragon bored enough to flex and clean out her scales with her claws while waiting on the pavement, and watch her meticulously order her scales back into place before she was willing to get back up. When she'd first taken off, Chester Swain's face had been full of the thrill of an amusement park ride, but after a little while he'd relaxed. Though Rafael was fairly certain Chester Swain still thought that the dragons were invented by his scientists... since that explanation had been accepted for years, and Rafael would not correct it as a measure of protecting them.
Chester: He looked incredulously at the candles burning...outside... "Do they not have electricity out here in the forest...?"
Rafael: "This is magyical place. If you styand herre all yearr lonk you'll styill nevyerr see that candle burrn avay."
Chester: "Those candles have...snow on them...?"
Rafael: "Vonce again, this is a magyical cottyage...norrmally snow vould myelt and turrn to cold vaterr and the vaterr vould cool the vax...but the magyic candles don't allow the snow to myelt to pretyect theirr firre. You'd thyink they'd simply melt the snow furrthyerr and evapyorrate yit, but no, it has to scrream how magyical it is by havink snow gathyer on it vhile it's still burrnink. Unless magyic does somethink like this, us humans can't tyell yit's therre...Vitches, they see it, they can sense it thrrough valls evyen...but ve haf to see thinks like this to know. Ve're prrobably lucky she didyint decide to myake the cottyage out of cake orr cheese orr somethink like that... just to be grross." Bailey had gushed over these candles and the rainbow pattern with the snow on them...Rafael just felt annoyed by them. Bailey was so charmed by the place, she seemed to be completely overlooking the fact that the most evil witch in the world made it...rainbow candles and fairy glass embedded porch posts and all. It made him feel like they'd round a corner and find a spinning wheel and Bailey on the ground in a heap. He couldn't shake the feeling that Granny had made this place specifically for Bailey to love it and Rafael to feel Baba Yaga breathing down his neck.
Chester: "Witches really do that?"
Rafael: He sighed. "And evyen vorrse. Though not all vitches."
Rafael: "Agyent Svain, you arre fairrly brright...I don't haf to tyell you that I'm a trricky man... but vhen you arre spendink yourr holyiday vith yourr daughtyer and yourr new son in law, you'll undyerstand how vell I know yourr daughtyerr. She vill safe you... Vone morre think; do you know how I know you lof yourr daughtyerr evyen though you did such good job actink like you didyent vhen I vas tyestink you? Evyen vhen they can't rread yourr myind, vampirres can styill hearr yourr hearrt rrate and blood prressurre change vith emotions, ...my lieutenyant vas not foooled...kyeep this in mind...I haf much prractyice in dealink vith undyead valkink lie detectyorrs... but I am surre you'll land on yourr fyeet."
Thank you.
Andrea and Quinn , continued
Quinn got time off for getting married. He went scuba diving where he met a friendly merman ...
while Andrea painted.
Andrea discussed the baby they were expecting over a meal, but ...
Quinn had other things on his mind.
Later Quinn continued to watch TV while Andrea gave birth to their daughter, Elena.
Since Quinn got time off for the birth of Elena he spent time with her and ...
went wind surfing using one of their wedding gifts ...
while Andrea painted.
Quinn went scuba diving late in the afternoon. It was after dark when he got back ...
and read a story to toddler, Elena.
When Elena aged up to a toddler the day before I took her into CAS to change her hair style and to see what she would look like as a young adult.
Looks like she got her mother's nose and her father's eyes and mouth. Her hair color is a blend of both her parents' (84% father and 16% mother) I am trying out the consort hair mod which gives a random blend of the parents' hair colors to the child. Using that mod I could change the percentages but decided to leave Elena's hair color the way it was generated.
@Zabeth0 Hmm wonder what Rafael wants with Chester? Who knows, with him. Lol
Major crisis! My external HD (with basically my whole digital life) fell from my desk and now it won't open. The technician quoted me an ungodly sum of money to fix it... a sum I can't afford, given that I still don't have a job...
Back in Starlight Shores, Kaydence was in the studio, shooting one of her final episodes of the mega hit TV show she was set to leave.
As usual, she was among the first to arrive at the studio, at a quarter till nine.
Her impending departure from the show had caused consternation among the show's legions of teen and young adult fans. Her performance as the show's villainess, Alexa Barstow, had been delicious, to say the least. It came as a shock to the show's followers that Kaydence had very little in common with her character. Indeed, the show's creator and producer, Alan Stanley, had called the dissonance, "the mark of a truly gifted actress."
The problem was, her performance was so good that she risked being typecast.
On top of that, her burgeoning interest and studies in science were taking up most of her spare time.
So Kaydence made a decision she felt was easy for her at the time - she decided to walk away.
Of course, that was easier said than done, given that the show's producers, Alan Stanley and his son Emmitt, were desperate and willing to do anything necessary to keep her aboard,
even if it meant allowing her to join its writing team and to have input on her character.
While Kaydence was in Starlight Shores visiting her mother, the show made a huge splash by hiring Grayson Hawes, a social media star, to play the now-vacant role of Matt, Lauren's boyfriend and the show's male lead.
(to be continued)
Now it was the moment of truth. Kaydence was going to have her first scene with Grayson, the new male lead. After changing into her clothes and receiving instructions from Alan, she took a deep breath.
When the camera started rolling, Kaydence turned around. "You know, Matt, you've got a choice. You can choose to be with a square like Lauren, or you can choose to be with me."
"Alexa, I like you. In fact, I like you a lot."
Suddenly Alan yelled, "Cut!"
Emmitt, walking towards them, interjected, "Grayson, you seem nervous. You can't be nervous around Alexa." He then motioned for the actors to take a quick break.
"Kaydence, is it?" Grayson asked, seeing his co-star without her blond wig and wearing her natural dark chestnut-brown curls in a braided ponytail. "You look different without the blond." He then stammered, "I, uh, I think you're prettier."
Kaydence immediately recognized that Grayson was trying to pour on the charm. But she was having none of it. "A quick acting tip for ya," she laughed. "Remember when you were a kid and you pretended to be an astronaut or a dragon or a prince? That's what being an actor is, it's like playing pretend, when you're grown up. Relax a bit. You're not Grayson anymore, you're Matt McCormick of San Myshuno, the two-timing boyfriend of Lauren Giovanetti."
Grayson smiled. "You're good at this, you know, acting thing. How do you do it?"
Laughing, Kaydence replied, "When you grow up like I did, going into show business is a fait accompli."
Here is finally the whole wedding update, no text just photos.
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
all for now
Actually I find the Aliens tend to be fairly cooperative with my plans usually. Or they surprise me but it's actually a good thing. Though Aedan actually got abducted twice. On the same night. So I was pretty displeased that nothing happened, like he was just asking for it.
Yeah... I could actually use that headband for Aedan lol. The ladies are all over him. Get him a t-shirt with his wife's face on it lol. Yeah, I have to say I'd be in total disbelief if somebody was just chilling on a unicorn right beside me I could see that working lol.
I do wonder what Rafael's planning here.
Lovely shot, dive spots are so beautiful. Beautiful shots of Quinn out windsurfing too. And Elena is adorable
That's awful, sorry I know how frustrating that can be. Good luck on the job hunt (know how frustrating that can be too).
Loved this screenshot.
It's probably a wise choice for Kaydence to step away from the show, she does take on enough responsibility as it is and her passion is clearly with the sciences. If she doesn't get lured into staying anyway lol.
Lovely wedding and beautiful pics, but I especially loved this one.
Your overhaul looks amazing! So much more lively. TBH, while it's still a nice world, I kind of expected more from Champs Les Sims, more like what you've done to it (maybe not quiet 'cause it's EA lol, but you know).
THE ELLISON LEGACY: EVIE- CHAPTER 20
We apologize once again for the delay in updates. Evie and Alex have just been enjoying a quiet life as newlyweds. Or as quiet as life is when you have a baby (even if he is a really quiet baby). And their illustrious narrator has just been very busy. Though we hope to return you to your regularily scheduled programming soon. For now we just wanted to share some of Evie and Alex's "honeymoon" pictures. Really it was more of a family vacation because there was no way they were leaving Lucas for so long. So they settled for leaving him with grandma and grandpa Ellison for a couple nights after the wedding so they could enjoy a bit of time alone at home.
And then it was off to Paris, where they spent the first few days of their vacation just relaxing and taking in the sights. It was a short trip there, so they didn't do as much as they would have liked, but they still had an amazing time. But I guess it's always an amazing time when you're newlyweds in one of the world's most romantic cities.
And from there it was off to Champs Les Sims for a bit of adventure; leaving Lucas with a babysitter while they went exploring tombs.
They even found some quiet romantic places in those tombs.
Nights they spent at the hotel with the baby.
Snuggling up with each other once Lucas was tucked in fast asleep. Really, there was no shortage of honeymoon romance.
And they decided to leave early and stay away from home a little longer, so they could visit Egypt to make further progress on some of their adventures.
And really they probably didn't want to go home anyway, they just didn't know it yet.
@dreamerz13 lovely update about the couple in France, great screens.
@Venus: Thanks.
Well, Rafael actually kind of admires him...which is why he's showing off...if he were afraid of him- he'd be locked down, not showing anything, if he were unimpressed with him, he'd be dismissive or outright irritable at the man wasting his time and trying to treat him like a phone book to find his daughter (like he was with Mr. Van Gould, only even worse...).
Ah...ouch. That's terrible...how frustrating! Grrrr...having your digital world held hostage... I'm glad it wasn't an irreparable thing... but how frustrating it's there but out of reach at the same time.
I'm sure it's very hard for everyone to be losing Kaydence, I'm sure as a workaholic, her dedication to the show (I remember she passed out from overwork before) probably drove even her enemies to work harder to compete with her, much less the people who admired her talent and drive.
@Silver: What a lovely wedding dress!
@Jillbg: I love the video!
@dreamerz: Oh, your aliens are more cooperative than mine!