@Venus: *Wince* And I was so looking forward to the royal couple's baby...or babies...or walking teens/elders coming through time and space to find their parents after some time travel hijinks. (Talk about a Time Lord...or I guess Time Prince/Princess lol... ) But anyway, I'll just keep my speculations shut, that's not going to do anyone any good if the computer that they are incubating in is...not functional enough at this time. Sorry. 0.0
Yeah, Rafael's not usually really big on admiring people...that's why this is so noteworthy. I'm glad you caught that.
That makes sense. Well, that is why I put that in there, to make a Sebastian reference, so I'm glad you saw it even if I wasn't properly funny.
Wow, that prom show! How cool is that to have Sebastian there as a cameo too lol. (Well, she worked with her mom on the other project now she's got a cameo with her dad lol) Winner take all, huh? I guess he's not the kind of guy that's going to go home with the loser out of sympathy, huh? It really does sound like he's playing them both lol. Wow, so Alexa won right when Kaydence is leaving the show. I wonder how that story arc goes. Well, it was probably a pretty fun note to the leave the show on. I love the dramatic pauses btw
Lol, with Savannah's rebellious side, it makes me hopeful that Skyler will turn out okay even after all the wild party, leaving school craziness...then again, after Sierra's wildness, Savannah's probably waiting for Skyler to be more rebellious than she even is now lol. (Savannah: "You call that rebellious? Come on, that's not worth sending you to military school for! Try a littler harder, Skyler! You have to compete with being kidnapped by aliens, and hacking a military base, you're clearly in the meh territory with boyfriend stealing and dropping out of that school that I had to work so hard to get you into.") Well, it looks like I see where Sierra got her dress sense from...being a little burrito looking up at her mom's choice in clothes lol. (Baby Burrito Sierra: "One day, I will grow up enough to wear those type of shorts and I will kick competitive sports teams rears so hard...") Oh, before the paps were breaking into the hotels to watch them sleep...they were following them around at school. No wonder they were so calm about it. (Sage: "Well, you know, they are kind of like flies...you just have to wave them away, but they just come back again." AJ: "Paps, they will follow us around...be prepared!" ) So, was that his first uniform? Aw, little Skyler sucking her thumb. So cute.
Ouch! That's a lot of money to fix it! And what a time for it...then again, when is a good time to have to drop nearly a thousand bucks on computer stuff? But definitely not when you're struggling with a job search! That's very frustrating! Wow, wisdom teeth on top of it? And of course, they had to take the other teeth with them! (They should have named them assassin teeth or something like that...people would definitely get them out as soon as possible if they were named assassin teeth or terror teeth or something...oh wait, no, you'd probably have people trying to be hardcore and not taking them out...they'd be all bragging 'oh, yeah, I know I should have taken them out ages ago, but I've still got all my terror teeth back there, wanna see?' Hmm, well I guess we're just stuck with them being called wisdom teeth...at least people don't play chicken with them on purpose to sound cool...though, if I can remember, I'm totally going to start calling them terror teeth... ) (I had to have mine out and then they tried to take the back teeth with them, but they managed to save them with a three part root canal...that poor dentist had to stay late and thought it would be over the first time and then it turned into a three parter... he probably has nightmares about my strange corkscrew rooted teeth...) Anyway, I sure hope your recovery is speedy and you feel better, I know it seems like eating gravy mixed mashed potatoes and baby food and ice cream is forever but at some point, you'll get real food again...and then you can have victory food...with crunch! Then you can eat celery and crisp salads and croutons and chips and whatever crunchy thing has been off limits because your teeth couldn't take it lol, victory food!
I'm glad you got gifted Sims 4 the parenthood expansion, so you could get some nice, healthy escapism, or you know, distraction pain relief from the computer game I haven't got that one yet so it's interesting to see the converted science fair project...little Kaydence is so cute. I love her cat with glasses shirt lol. Even then you can sort of see her hardworking nature (she bristled when she likely felt her dedication was questioned lol) and interest in the universe (grasping the connection between matter and gravity).
Hey guys, I know I've been spotty lately...but just a reminder, you guys remember you're only required to comment on one other simmers' posts on the thread, right? Everything else is if you feel like it. I don't want anyone to burn out because they think they have to keep up with everyone in order to post. (I know the thread isn't moving very fast right now, but it's good to remind people from time to time, since different threads have different expectations.)
@Silver: Thanks. Sorry to be so slow with them it's probably pretty hard to follow. Aw, Thornton sure is attractive. I like his hair, and he certainly is a sharp dressed man lol. Well, hey, at least they didn't break the shower... I've had sims break the tv by watching it and then get told they are behaving inappropriately for repairing it because they didn't want everyone around them being annoyed at the broken tv lol. I've also had sims use the bathroom and wash their hands the sink break...and again, not allowed to repair it, but everyone's upset it's broken lol. So, wow, that must have been a daredevil success of a party to get away with using the shower and it not breaking spectacularly lol. I got so annoyed with not being able to fix anything that I had my sim (Jake) take the 'inappropriate but in a good way' LTR so I could fix things, and make them food with wild abandon (sushi and veggie rolls are quick!) lol. But he still spent a lot time repairing objects at parties lol.
@TadOlson: Welcome back! Oh, I'm sorry, I know it's really frustrating to be sick for a long time! Oh, and then internet connection issues just make it worse... *wince* I'm glad you're doing better enough to be back. Wow, so you must have gotten those lots all put so close together in CAW when you made it? (On one update there are no lots and the other there are lots of lots lol) I see the pool over there! (I remember how useful your community buildings are.) I think it's cool how you have a realtor sign for lots to be sold. One of these days I'm going to have some sims go house hunting lol. (I had intended to have Rafael and Zelda pick out a house in a special but I got so far behind in specials last year that I skipped it in favor of trying to get more on track...and here I am, still doing Xmas special in late June!) Thanks.
@cwadell: Thanks. Well, I know this is a bit confusing, but this isn't actually the story, it's just a Xmas special...the story and specials take place in alternate universes... I'm only doing holiday specials because I started with an April Fools special and then liked the freedom to play around without affecting the actual story's consequences. And since I've got one more part to the Xmas holiday special before I get back to the actual story (where Zelda and Rafael have yet to have any children, are freshly married and are on their honeymoon in Sunlight Tides right now), that's probably going to be extremely confusing if you start from this point. You don't have to!
I'm sorry to hear about your glitches in your resort world game, and that sounds like a lot of work to clean it up, I hope it goes well! Also as an aside, I think your houses are very nice looking places, even if I don't actually download houses from the exchange (being that I cannot fix my game if I mess it up).
I also think your sims are rather attractive, it's always interesting to see what people who can use cc (other than just patterns from the exchange- which is pretty much the most adventurous I get with it ) can do with the sims, pudding face or not. I rather like the first couple patterns on your female sims there, especially that beautiful blue palm tree one... The scarf guy is quite attractive but I also think the jacket guy above him is as well. It's not that there is anything wrong with the others, I just think those two are particularly noteworthy lol...
@Wolfkomoki: Poor Calvin...sometimes immortality has some serious flaws. Those are interesting conversation topics lol. Bathroom sandwich...like a joke on the multitasking maybe? But I have to wonder if the other one is one of those new parenthood expansion things, and maybe triggered by their relative ages? That's my guess anyway. Maybe they just had to be eating at the right place and time lol.
@Zabeth0 -It was because we had a jump in population out here as the city got too expensive to live in.It forced a lot of workers with city jobs to move out of the city.That overloaded the system and slowed it down.I've got a world to finish in CAW though that was from a save in Sunset Valley2 being set up for a new game.I love using CC for sale signs and making my rabbi holes be usable.
Here's my loading Deery Meadows.
Here's Eli getting into bed at almost 8PM.
Here's the donation box interactions.
@Zabeth0 That was a post rich with inside information! Does that mean you're back to your initial story? I like your description of the Swain's father/daughter relationship, it will be nice to meet them again. I really hope Tristan and Bailey find happiness together and that old Van Gould gets what he deserves for trying to marry his son off just to make money or for politics. Or both! I think I'm not the only one who gets so absorbed in the detailed descriptions of Raphael's alternate universe mastermind that he has trouble separating the two stories, but I can't wait to see what Raphael and Zelda have been up to in Sunlit Tides...
Thanks for the so detailed feedback, it's such a pleasure to hear what you think!
I think Magnus doesn't really care who or what he interferes with, as long as he gets out of those ruins! He really cares about his daughter, though. He knows she's a miracle who isn't supposed to exist, and even though he's quite ruthless, he still has feelings and would never hurt Taïga. So spilling the beans to Magnus was probably the best thing Granny could do. If he succeeds in getting off the island so to say...
Killing the Grey witches or just playing with them - that is the question... And the dead don't suffer, so I think I know where Magnus takes it from here, even though he's already done quite some damage. Shasta is already dead, no courtesy of his, and there's no way he would lay hands on his own daughter - who isn't just any Grey witch, but also a Darkling. But her siblings are game. (Can't help but think Frost has it coming though, I won't cry for that one. )
Now, about his origins. We don't really know who his father is, do we? I think Yggve didn't just bring bewitching Gytha home just to sit around admiring her, while his brother in arms had all the fun. The important matter is - who does Magnus consider his father? What I know, is that Yggve raised him and "gifted" him with immortality... and also instaured his Viking code of honor not just over a couple of decades, but over centuries. I guess they must have had quite much fun keeping up the tradition of killing their way not only across Europe, but across the globe...
Knowing Magnus, he looks upon the museums with a cynical smile, having had the time to mourn past times - not only just the Vikings, but also the renaissance, the "discovery" of America, the French and Russian revolution, the Civil war and two World wars... I guess you become quite the cynical just to survive emotionally.
Back to Granny: I think she was genuinely bored, and not a little annoyed, with Magnus talking so much to her little sister. She overheard their conversation without really listening, and you're right about not knowing the significance. They were in Normandy, a part of France that were given to the Vikings against a truce to save Paris from their hordes, so talking with Icelandic Magnus about that era was rather logical. Luckily she has got a very good memory, even if recalling means opening up old wounds, especially as she now know he'd had no scruples playing with them both... (Did I mention making their lives miserable? lol)
With no magic to shield her, using a broom was quite risky, especially with today's advanced technology. But Granny is up against the clock so to say. You're right, I guess a radar operator would just shrug it off with it being a Halloween prank or a flock of birds or something, never getting close enough to actually see her anyway...
Yeah, beware of archaeologists! Even though I doubt they would ever have found the hidden entrance... But the light was there, and the box of matches, so someone must have come once in a while to check on the padlock... Easy to break in? Yes, very. But not easy to continue with a nice stock of boulders ready to fall on you... I think the padlock wasn't really meant to stop someone, you could always cut through the chain, or do it the hard way, like Granny. Finding the way to action the invisible pentagram would have been protection enough. We'll get back to what's hidden in the second room in a later chapter, but I can assure you we're not talking kissy pics here...
The Council was sloppy, leaving "emergency" blood and his cell. Or maybe they thought it was a psychological punishment - letting him dry away with the rescue unattainable close to his heart - and in his pocket!
I'm going on a spa get away soon, so I couldn't resist that one! I guess Magnus it a bit miffed no one's come looking for him. But he's back now, I guess he'll thin out his friends, finding who he really can count on. Begging for help? More like threatening for help. And eating animals? God forbid, that's for weak vampires like Stefan Salvatore.
He's enjoying scaring Granny, after all, it's her fault the Council found him, as he took risks thinking he was being cloaked from them. Maybe she should have told him she didn't have enough energy. Or maybe not. So what will Magnus do? Granny's of no use to him without her powers, and after thinking about the situation, she's probably not going to make it in time to save his daughter neither...
And that's where I am right now... With a trillion ideas and so little time to write - and take pics!
@cwadell: ...
I'm sorry to hear about your glitches in your resort world game, and that sounds like a lot of work to clean it up, I hope it goes well! Also as an aside, I think your houses are very nice looking places, even if I don't actually download houses from the exchange (being that I cannot fix my game if I mess it up).
I also think your sims are rather attractive, it's always interesting to see what people who can use cc (other than just patterns from the exchange- which is pretty much the most adventurous I get with it ) can do with the sims, pudding face or not. I rather like the first couple patterns on your female sims there, especially that beautiful blue palm tree one... The scarf guy is quite attractive but I also think the jacket guy above him is as well. It's not that there is anything wrong with the others, I just think those two are particularly noteworthy lol...
...
Thank you.
By pudding face I mean that every slider is set to zero (if you have a mod that tells you what the slider values are. If not, it means the sliders are mostly in the middle except some that are all the way over to the left edge). Every NPC has their sliders set to zero. They may differ in skin, hair and eye coloring and have different hair, eyebrows and facial hair styles but their feature are all alike and so not very exciting. A guess similar to pudding not being a very exciting desert.
Both those patterns are on the exchange. The the palm tree one is by @CravenLestat , a regular on these forums. The second one is by @BakingNerd . They have a real variety of patterns in their studio and I have several of them.
I am in the process of starting 2 new games. One will be a bachelorette game. The scarf guy, Jake, will be one of the contestants, although I have changed his shirt.
Hi guys, I know I'm spotty now... guess what, more dental work tomorrow... after I'm still recovering and in pain from the last round. Funnn.... not.
I get my disk back. Of course it's not fixed, because I had to pay for the dental work, so the money that would have been used to fix the disk was used to fix my mouth. So, it's more oral surgery and no digital stuff, at least for now.
As a result of the oral surgery, my recent birthday (on the 19th) was miserable. I couldn't even indulge at my fave restaurant, lol.
@jillbg What an adorable pic of the two kids on bicycle and thanks for the belated birthday greetings
@Zabeth0 I always love reading your commentary, thanks a lot!
Yep I managed to comprehend enough about Rafael's personality to realize that he didn't seem to be the type to admire too many people. So for him to come out in unmitigated admiration of Chester Swain is definitely, well, surprising to say the least.
As for the Royal Baby, I may be in the process of moving everything to the laptop so ... who knows.
The prom 'episode' is definitely dramatic, right? I decided to use Sebastian because I was too lazy to make another actor for the scene It just happened to work out. It's interesting because Kaydence had no direct interaction with her dad even though they were in the same scene. There are really no winners in that love triangle. I agree, both girls are losing because Matt (Grayson) played them both. It's just that Alexa (Kaydence) was just a little better at playing him, too. Perhaps in that moment, for the first time, Matt had realized just what chaos he'd caused...or I might be reading too much into it...
My experience with video making is slim and none, really.
Of course Kaydence is leaving the show. She has to leave now. She's pretty much outgrown that show. She has her book tour and her science stuff going on, too. Soaps are usually stepping stones for bigger and better things, and for Kaydence this appears to be no different.
Here's the thing about Skylar.
I think Skylar is falling into the Sebastian camp of trying to be 'normal' and she might have had to be, after Sierra hacking into the military base (and only copping to it after gentle coaxing by Sage in a conversation) and getting kidnapped by aliens. I think in some ways Skylar is a bit embarrassed by Sierra. She wants to be a pop star and idolizes Madison Avenue. Yes, that Madison Avenue, as in Kaydence's mommy dearest and pop music's biggest star. In some ways she has patterned herself after Madison, you know, with the boyfriend stealing etc. Now I've got her in college where she pledged the sorority there and began dating her professor.
She wants to start a band, but simmer me has no clue how to do that and has never done that in game so actually might do that. Hey what's college without a horrible sounding garage band?
I haven't had much of a chance to dabble in Sims 4 Parenthood with round the clock saline rinses.
A little behind the scenes of the infamous prom shoot at As the Sims Turn - a shoot that almost didn't happen:
Alanna Starr Stanley, the lead on the hit TV show, was having an actor's tantrum. (She has the 'Dramatic' trait.) And poor newbie Grayson didn't have a clue what to do.
Fortunately, Kaydence Jolina-Plumb, who had spent her entire life around actors, stepped in. "What's wrong?"
Alanna replied with a laundry list of complaints. The studio lights were too hot. Her stockings had a run in them. Her hair was wrong. She was getting a headache. Basically, Kaydence thought, she was simply whining about whining.
Kaydence wanted to go off on Alanna, but again, her better angels won out, showing once again she inherited more of Sebastian's calm and less of Madison's temper. "You know what, Alanna, why don't you calm down, take a couple of minutes to breathe, and we'll start this shoot once you're ready."
Watching the spectacle unfold, the executive producer and head writer, who were Alanna's father and brother, were duly impressed.
The episode ended up the highest rated in the entire three year history of the show. Basically everyone in Simland who had a TV (or everyone who had access to a laptop and stream) saw it at one point or another.
Zelda: "Whoa, Twinkle toes, I totally forgot! They're still in their jammies! Aren't you embarrassed by silly things like that?"
Rafael: "Vell, yes but ve don't haf visyitorrs and ve're at home, so it's okay."
Zelda: "We do, though, Deedee's here. She's in the kitchen feeding the dragon."
Rafael: "She's your sistyerr, she von't be insultyed by them not beink dressed, she's evyen changed them."
Zelda: "Wow, you've really upped your Christmas game this year, first you add some cartoon decorations to the mix and now being less uptight about jammies. Next thing you know, you're going to pull off that scarf and unbutton your shirt." She laughed.
Rafael: Most of Zelda's compliments were what most would consider backhanded, when she could even manage to give a compliment... she was just naturally insulting. So, he was pleased. He didn't mention why he was suddenly trying this new approach, as Zelda would really not understand...she did know his personal situation with his original family and could likely understand why he might think of Bailey as a little sister, being that Deedee was her sister without a drop of blood in common...and she likely could understand how he could find Chester Swain admirable being that he was like some strange heroic version of his father...one who hadn't murdered his wife, but once it came to the part where Rafael didn't take massive revenge against the person who was threatening Bailey, she would be irritated, as Zelda thought in straight lines. She was very direct. She couldn't even convincingly lie. Trying to explain this to her would ruin her night and he had no intention of that. He'd just cured and thrown Van Gould his rival, the vampire who had been trying to force his daughter to marry Tristan Van Gould... If Van Gould ever gave him another reason and he finally took revenge, then, he could tell the story as a proving how very richly the vampire deserved it, and then Zelda would love the story but until then it was better kept to himself. Bailey's plea to her father had influenced him. "though I hope it still involves hanging out in flannel pajamas and gifts with cartoon wrapping paper and the fun stuff...I told Tristan that Christmas was about more than just wearing the right clothes and making sure all the wall hangings are hanging perfectly...and he'd like to believe me, I'm sure...but I think he needs to have a real one before it's out of the 'sounds too good to be true' category." It was not at all aimed at him, but he couldn't help but think about it. Since he hadn't grown up with Christmas, he didn't really know what made a good one...he had been trying to do it by making it fit with the research he'd done on what was traditional, and drawing on his family gift giving traditions surrounding the New Years holiday in Russia. So, now he was trying to improve by introducing some carefully measured Simerican informality into it. He did not want his children to ever feel they did not have 'a real one'... he found himself wishing Bailey had revealed what the 'fun stuff' was. "Vell, the nyight is younk; anythink is possyible." He teased. "Perrhaps aftyerr I catch you undyerr the Misstyeltoe?"
Zelda: "Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to get caught then. But just this once. But this air stinks of not enough sugar cookies! Christmas should definitely smell more like freshly baked cookies. So I'm off to fix that. I'm abandoning you to the little monsters reality show: Stace-zilla on drums and Dmitri-dish playing the plastic car, Lil Hotsauce just looking cute for the audience, with his daddy's eyes! Oh, and on vocals. With those sudden burble screams how could he not end up a rock star?"
Rafael: "I vill vatch them amaze me vith theirr buddink talyents."
* * *
Rafael: Stacy had more magic than any two year old witch should. When unrestrained, she played games with her magic...the way some children played with light switches once they could reach them by turning them off and on...she played with her mother's fires or by teleporting and summoning her toys (what had started as accidental had turned into a fun game to her 'peek a toy' she called it)...but she was young and since witch magic could turn people into bugs or disintegrate them entirely, or any number of very dangerous things to people and structures... Deedee and Zelda had recently combined some magical bindings to try to 'child gate' her so she could learn how to interact with the world and learn that actions had consequences before she could pull the world apart with her magic. This meant that she was more frustrated than even a normal two year old. She would sometimes go sulk by the fire...but only if it was a fire that Zelda started with magic...if he started the fire, it was just 'fie', but if Zelda started it with magic then it was 'mommy fie'. Deedee never started the fire magically, but he suspected that if she ever did, then it would be 'Andy fie' since Stacy didn't pronounce the whole 'Aunt Deedee', she just said 'Andy'. He'd been trying to get her to say the whole phrase 'Aunt Deedee', but his accent made it hard to correct her...he did not want her to think his pronunciations were right. It seemed there would always be a part of her world he would never directly understand, but at least with Deedee's explanations about magic sense he knew things that he couldn't see were there... she had only been in the room when Zelda lit the fire once... but she always got it right whether he did it or Zelda did it when she was asleep upstairs...because apparently there were auras for everything, magical or not that a witch could sense with this magical sense...and she was sensing a whole level of world he couldn't.
Rafael: He knew Whizbang adored the children because he would let them manhandle him, and just stay there and move his claws and spines out of their way and hold magical barriers around them to keep them from impaling themselves on his sharp points, yet would let them put their faces right up to his. He nuzzled Dima, he was always very gentle with him.
Whizbang was more playful with Stacy now even letting her grab him roughly around his wings and saying things like 'oh no, the witch has caught the dragon, whatever will the dragon do? But this witch has a very unusual weakness! No, she doesn't melt in clean water or have to replace her face every month! Her heart is not hidden in an old chest buried under a rotten tree, no! She's not so tall she has to be folded up to fit in buildings, no, not this witch! This witch is...and I'd better whisper... she's ticklish!' and then pouncing and tickling her with his nose under her arm, blowing air with an exaggerated nose blowing sound- he didn't have the lips to blow a proper raspberry but somehow he managed to sound like it, and she always thrashed around in a spasm of giggles...it was very difficult for a creature with so many claws and teeth to manage to tickle a child...and he had mastered soft force fields close to him in order to direct them away from his spikes...this was way more effort than keeping himself out of arms reach. Sometimes Rafael wondered what kind of grown dragon Whizbang was going to be because of his particular fondness for the children...he was concentrating on things that other dragons never bothered with... like using fine force magic manipulation...he hoped his teaching Whizbang Simlish would help the young dragon have a niche in dragon society, or perhaps his favoritism of the dragon would help, most dragons were busy hunting and setting up their cave systems and fighting over territories as they grew, and collecting treasures... his hatchling that he was raising regarded the house and it's immediate surroundings as his territory and would hunt for fish in some of the rivers and ponds, but preferred to be fed by hand... he was unnaturally friendly for a black dragon, Rafael wondered if that's why he'd been given this hatchling, they thought they were dealing with a human that would do anything for a dragon hug (since that's what they thought dragon warding was, a magical hug with dragon magic), so they gave him a hatchling that would dragon hug him all the time in exchange for being hand fed and talked to from time to time. And Whizbang had decided that Rafael's children were his treasure...he had looked at the gold coin pile that Rafael had brought him...but he had just looked at it, he did nothing to guard it or even lay on it...Rafael didn't think he'd even touched it...Rafael thought that if the house wasn't magically warded to prevent dust from settling, there would be dust on the pile of gold coins... Whizbang slept on the floor in various parts of the house...so that he and Zelda could have romantic privacy, Rafael had forbidden him from sleeping in the bedroom with them...which usually meant that Whizbang slept in the kitchen or the laundry room by Stacy's crib, though there were days he just curled up in the living room outside the circle of firelight. Sometimes it was hard to figure out whether Whizbang lurked by Stacy's crib more to make it easier for anyone to check on Dima or because the boy was doomed and he was more attached to Stacy...But Whizbang kept bringing Rafael death flowers, every time he went back to the deadlands, he brought more...'for the barely alive witch son'. The care other dragons would expend on their caves and their gold piles, Whizbang used on Rafael's children. So Rafael felt they would be safe as long as the hatchling dragon was.
Rafael: Dima was the first to be exhausted and need to go to bed, but it didn't take long before they were all off to bed. They'd had an exciting day, and Christmas was still so new they had no idea about the pattern. Aunt Deedee was here, but Aunt Deedee visited a lot...the adults were dressed up...but they didn't really know why adults did things yet.
Rafael: Why he was having such a difficult time looking at Deedee? He'd done a good thing, right? It was a good deed. At the end of the day, it was at least close to a good deed...he'd saved Bailey and her father from torture and death, and he hadn't been the one that had put them in that position in the first place...and he hadn't really taken advantage of them...it was a fair deal...and he didn't really think he'd slip up so badly that he'd ever have to use the favor, though he was unlucky enough that it was possible, but even if he did, saving the world was a good thing, right?... So why did his conscious feel like he'd done something so wrong he could barely even look at Deedee in case she would somehow know?
He felt like he'd threatened Bailey...like a thug explaining what danger these poor foools were in that they weren't even bright enough to know they were in...only instead of people he cared nothing about being told how extremely doomed they were if they didn't comply...he'd told Bailey. It felt like he'd threatened her, even though he'd only warned her of the danger they were in on their own. And she'd reacted just the same as anyone he'd threatened as a thug, struggling to quickly find a way to do what he wanted her to do so that the bad thing wouldn't happen. But he was no more threatening her than the weather man was threatening people telling them to take cover from a storm...admittedly, he had more power than she knew...he could have handled it without her ever knowing what danger her father and her were in, he'd used Van Gould as a convenient bad guy- not that Van Gould wasn't, just that comparatively speaking, calling the authorities on a foreign operative on your soil wasn't generally considered villainous- it was only the knowledge of what the authorities would do...and the intent to do it to lure an innocent person into revealing her location so you could kill her...that made it particularly wrong...But Rafael could have kept her from even knowing why her father in law had suddenly become too busy to deal with them...but he'd wanted Bailey and her father to make up; her father genuinely cared for her enough to approach a terrifying international criminal on her behalf- once he came to understand that magic was real, that witches and vampires and werewolves and fairies all really existed, Chester Swain would protect his daughter. He'd never have to do this again, this was the only time. For his part, he bribed the right people and had some paperwork switched around, both physical and electronic and the Simerican government now thought that Chester was their agent under deep cover working against his government for them, so they weren't going to lay a hand on him, even if they got an anonymous tip. So, while he couldn't exactly make Bailey, Chester and Tristan have a fun family Christmas, he had done what he could to make it a safe one. Yes, in an ideal world, no one would ever have to be a bad guy to make sure that people they valued weren't harmed, but this was not an ideal world.
He still found himself staying quiet, only pouring them nectar, proposing a general toast ("Merry Christmas"), since Simericans apparently didn't care about toasts and mostly just listening to the sisters talk over nectar and sugar cookies. He felt particularly homesick right now, so he just sipped the nectar and kept their glasses full.
Zelda: She laughed. "I better have a second glass now, because I plan on being pregnant soon and until I get my second girl, because Stacy totally needs a little sister to play with...I won't be terribly sad if we get Hotsauce another brother to roughhouse with, because he totally can't touch Dima-dish, can't believe how bad I messed him up, poor little guy, I wish I could fix him...maybe when he's older we'll get him a Darth Vader suit...if he's got to have such problems breathing..."
Deedee: "When he's older, we'll be able to help him be a healthy teenager with a couple of elixirs, but we can't do that yet. I wish we could."
Zelda: "Yeah, I'd even learn how to make them if it would work, even if I had to give him an invigorating elixir every day... But I want my girl to be close in age with Stacy so they can run around in matching clothes and play...at least until Stacy's thirteen and is stuck with all the boring witch stuff like spellbooks and council meetings and zombies..." Zelda rolled her eyes and then looked straight at Rafael. "So, Deedee says that Whizbang said that Hotsauce smells like a human, and we're hoping that's true, so at least one of them can do fun human stuff like be a rock star or go to the moon or own a nightclub or something without having to worry about so many witch plots and vampire attacks and generally magical things being drawn to them at all hours of the day or night if they leave the house. But there is no guarantee that he's not just so young even a dragon can't tell yet...so I'm not getting my hopes totally up yet. Still, here's hoping. So, how about one more toast, to getting Stacy a sister, and then being able to settle down and raise the lot of them!"
Deedee: "How could I not drink to that? Okay, just this second glass and then I've totally got to go home...I sort of agreed to dance with a fairy before midnight and I hate to think of what he'll do if I stand him up."
Rafael: He toasted, drank, then texted the cab company to get a cab sent out. "They'll be herre in three minutes, but they'll vait as lonk as they need to."
Rafael: Before he knew it, it was just him and Zelda. He stood in the doorway, looking away...it was the doorway he'd hung the mistletoe over, and Zelda clearly didn't remember that, if she'd noticed it there at all.
Zelda: "What's going on with you, did I do something wrong?"
Rafael: He pointed up and smirked. "Vell, you did say you'd haf to get caught undyerr the Misstyeltoe, so not wronk as such, no."
Happy summer to y'all! To those who still work (like me, but I've only got a week left...) and those who are lounging around doing nothing except enjoying the free time!
Specially for @Zabeth0 , Tristan and Bailey in my game - he's not a vampire, so he can enjoy the relatively sunny weather at La Shove Beach in Moonlight Falls!
Hey, all, I usually post on the OTHER thread...but I figured I'd pop in and wish you all a very happy Canada Day to those Canadians and those who aren't... on the Sims Forums. Those who are Canadian will know, but to those who aren't: Canada is celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Confederation (the founding of Canada).
River modelling Leafs34's (from MTS) Canada 150 shirt in white.
My sim modelling the red Canada 150 shirt.
Happy Canada Day; eh... Everybody.
Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~
Happy celebration to you @Nikkei_Simmer and all Canadians on this Forum!
As the early chapters of The Grey Witches take place in Skagit County, not that far from Canada, I use the occasion to announce that Part I -Chapter 11 Werewolf is finally rewritten and ready! I hope it will give some more insight into Derek's past, and give more deep to the characters! Enjoy!
@TadOlson: Good to see how the Jankowsky's are doing. It looks like Eli's well taken care of, with all her needs up except sleep and off to bed to deal with that
@Jillbg: Well, now I am! (I just posted the last bit of the Xmas special, I think you can connect the dots about where they are going from there...;) ) Sorry about the AU thing but I do have fun with it (And without the Xmas specials, Zelda would have died in the main story because my original plan was to kill Zelda and when I was entertaining the idea of letting her live, I didn't know if I could let her live because if she lived, they'd have kids and I didn't know if I could handle them having kids in the story or not...the Xmas specials let me test the idea out and I found it seemed more fun for them to have kids than him to be alone and extremely bitterly evil. ) ...but little differences add up in the long run and the Xmas specials have gotten years ahead of the main story... and a lot of people died in the AU universe that didn't die in the main story...and since they didn't die, they are doing things to change the future... also Rafael doesn't know as much about the vampire world in the Xmas special as in the main story because in the main story he's actually been a vampire even so far as being forced to drink Zelda's plasma against his will by the vampire who bit him...so, that's going to make a difference as well. In the main story they are vacationing in Sunlight Tides, in the AU, they stayed home since they didn't have the added trauma of the vampire transformation and plasma drinking experience to stress them out enough for Zelda to insist on the tropics and call on the criminals to make it up...this will also affect things. So, even though you've seen things in the Christmas specials, that's not the path the story is going exactly...but some things do translate- so, when you see Chester Swain, you'll know he's actually a secret agent playing juiced for his daughter's safety- that's the same situation...but he's going to find out about supernaturals a lot faster in the version when he's had a one night stand with a witch... who is now pregnant with his son.
So, while I do apologize for the confusion, I really do like the dynamic of having the different universes to play with, and I think it makes the story better in the long run. And you guys get to feel a little of what Granny/Baba Yaga's talking about with the fact that you've seen how different things can be in different universes- like here and there whether he's still a vampire or has even ever been one lol.
Well, I'm glad you don't mind me being silly and chatting your ear off, figuratively speaking. But every time I think I'm getting too wordy and being a chore to even read, I have to remind myself that you might at the least get a good laugh out of me. (Missy: "I ain't afraid of no ghost...except Tara's!") And on a good day, I might say something that gives you an idea to play with, goodness knows you guys give me loads of ideas all the time. I'm glad to know he won't hurt Taiga but I'm worried for Rowan! I hope the fact that he's trying to save his sister will protect him! I won't cry for Frost and I certainly hope Magnus catches his dad while he's at it! Preferably before Rowan finds out what happened to his mother and comes to confront his father about it without the thought that his father will likely kill him for knowing! (Since he's a child in a teenager's body, I don't think he's going to think that his father would kill him or even could). Will Magnus actually save him from that (or not save him since he was planning on killing him anyway)? Though I'm not sure what that'll mean for Rowan, will he come stay with Taiga? Will he be stuck in Italy because he'd be the heir to his father's estate? Will Magnus frame him, turning him into a fugitive? Oh, the things that could happen! You don't have to tell me, I'm just telling you what I'm wondering about from what I'm seeing. All this assuming Magnus can get off the island fast enough so to speak lol. Yeah, who Magnus considers his father and what he's been taught over the ages that he considered valuable enough to keep when he wasn't being guided by an older vampire...that matters enormously... I await finding out by what he does lol.
I hope you have a wonderful spa get a way... The kind that goes so well it makes boring stories. (Deedee: "And then nothing happened, and it was woooonderfuulll." Zelda: "Sounds dull." Deedee: "A nap is also dull, but you'd be surprised how nice it feels." Zelda: "I've got an exciting story!" Deedee: "Oh?" Zelda: "Rafael took me to a real gas station-")
Well, I'm glad that Magnus has a chance to find out who is going to help him and who is not, and hopefully enough of the 'who is going to help him' survived the upset while he was out of the picture. I wonder if he's going to have to fight to get back on top once he escapes the island. Then again, he might feel like a good fight right now. I'm sure it felt like he was threatening, but what Granny saw didn't look that way lol. It was him almost dying on her again that got her to automatically give him his emergency blood since her concern for him was more than her fear of what he'd do to her. After the fact, she could assure herself it was because she needed his blood for Taiga, but he's a mind reader, unless he was too weak to read her mind, he knows.
Are they really being that sloppy or did they get closed in there by someone who wanted him to have those things when he got out? I'm sure even Magnus wants to know. Perhaps he has a friend on the council he doesn't know about. Or maybe someone is practicing an old world sensitivity to burying the dead with their artifacts regardless of whether they can be useful since they know that the only way he could get out is if someone freed him. (Hopeless Romantic Priest: "In the olden days, he'd be buried with his ax and his regalia...but now, I have to bury him with his cell phone and his blood necklace...his sentimental blood necklace...wonder whose blood he kept close to his chest like that, I remember reading how the Victorians had hair jewelry to mourn their dead...and some of them kept...more macabre mementos, I suppose I should be happy it's not an ear or something. What if he only had some blood left of his loved one...and even as a vampire he tried to never drink it? How terrible it would be to deprive him of it now."
Boy, don't I understand how that goes! I hope it goes better for you.
I'm happy to see you're going back and filling in some of the older stuff, so we get more background on the relationships between Granny and Taiga and Derek. It's funny to see her rivalry with the 'pinkies'. Also how Granny's lack of legal parental rights affects what Taiga can do- how that could have held her back from fame more than Granny overtly trying to stop her from being famous because of her being a witch, though maybe I just noticed that more this time because I was paying more attention it considering later issues with it. This time around it's more apparent that Granny knows Derek's a werewolf (love the comment about raw steak lol) and that's why she dislikes him and her granddaughter hanging out, she's worried for Taiga. Also, it's been a while since I read them, so I had totally forgotten that Derek's dad was an inventor and his brother was from the future and that's why there was such a difficult time between them, but I totally felt their bonding over talking about deeper things... (I felt weird that I'd forgotten that since that's the sort of thing that's totally up my alley lol, I love me some time children lol) Anyway, thank you very much for the picture of Bailey and Tristan lol. It's going to be a while before I get back to them in my story but they will appear in the future of the story lol. And you guys already know why Rafael likes Bailey, even though he has no idea. In order for him to know why, he'd have to know that Chester Swain was a special agent, and he has no idea, having never laid eyes on the man, having no special connections or spies of his own yet. So his inappropriate amount of care about whether this clumsy girl he's using for information is still alive is going to continue puzzling him.
@Cwaddell: Yeah, thankfully you guys are so helpful, because I had to be babied to learn how to even post pictures on the website (last website ago) and then for adding mods in (these have helped me so much, seriously!), but everyone seems to be really nice about teaching a cave woman to use a computer.
So anyway, thanks for telling me about the textures. I was just going through thousands of pages of patterns, and I've had some trouble where I've gotten textures stuck... like invisible boxes that won't delete and aren't select-able... it's probably better if I find some simmers I can just download textures from without.. I don't know whether the textures get too old or something is broken in them...like with the tutorial's pictures since they moved websites... or if I just don't know about stuff enough to know what's wrong O.O...but it's probably very helpful to go straight to a simmer's studio, thanks for reminding me about that!
@Venus: *Wince* That sounds like a whole business of not fun right there! Whole industries of not fun. Dumping industrial waste of not fun into the 'this used to be fun' river! Hopefully when you're all good and healed up, someone will take you to your favorite restaurant to celebrate with some victory food! Lol... Hopefully they don't take you to your favorite restaurant when you can't eat anything there!
Yeah, it takes a real skeleton key of circumstances and skills to get into that spot with Rafael, he's pretty difficult.
That's exciting! And I'm glad you've got the laptop so you're not just stuck with no way to play with them at all.
Oh yes, very. Lol. Hey, your creative use of your existing sims resources got Sebastian and Kaydence in the same thing in a natural seeming way. And he got to use his other talents lol. Yeah, well, as I understand, reading too much into it is part of the fun of such shows lol. But anyway, hey we got to see what she was up to on her way out. That's pretty fun. And hey, yeah, that's a stepping stone...she might run into her friends again in some heavier project lol.
That does make a lot of sense with what Skyler's been doing, trying to be normal like Sebastian was lol. It makes sense that she looks up to Madison, as I'm sure Sebastian saw something in Madison too.
Yeah, I've never had a band member in my household either, so she's inspiring you to try new things, huh? That'll be cool, even if it's just a silly garage band in college it'll give her some experience that's not based on her being a celebrity lol. I think I've seen options to invite other sims to jam when I've been playing people who have skill in a musical instrument, but I'm not sure if something like 'form a band' was an option...like grouping up. I don't remember...but I'm sure you'll figure it out and tell us.
Rats, well, at least you've got it to look forward to whenever you can get a break!
Lol, ah, the dramatic trait, well, that's kind of fitting for an actress lol. But yeah, poor Grayson looks like he's thinking 'If this were only a youtube video...I could say...'Oh, Alanna, you've got something stuck on your face!' and then whenever she or anyone reacted to the tone of alarm in that...say 'your hand!' and get like a million clicks...but no...this is not youtube...I have to stand around and wait for someone to handle this without laughing at her for striking that pose! Who knew being an actor was so hard?'
Lol, I'm glad Kaydence is more level than her mother lol. She's got a good mix of her parents traits. And given that the two girls haven't always got on, it's very understanding of her towards her rival even on her way out the door. I'm sure it really impressed Alanna's brother and father. That's a popular episode! Hopefully she's not totally typecast as Alexa forever lol. (Imagines at the next science convention: "What's Alexa doing here? I've seen one episode of that show, but wow, really?")
@Silver: Thanks! Aww lol they are so cute...and they got the sims crosseyes going on lol. Like they aged up so fast it made them dizzy. Looks like you've got their room all made up for them!
@cwaddell -I've been working on a town for a new game so far. @venusdemilosims -Thanks for the comment.Great update! @Zabeth0 -Great update!It's how they did things back then as everybody liked to get to bed earlier back then. @Silverofdreams30 -Great pictures! @Nikkei_Simmer -Great pictures!I saw that in the other thread.
Here's my Sunset Valley2 update below.
Salisbury Beach,Massachusetts-Under Construction.
Here's another lot being marked residential.
Here's where it is.
Marking a community lot.
I've done a few more lots with drywall so I can apply story progression settings to the lots.
Marked a community lot.
Marked this lot residential.
Here's where I worked on the lots.
I had to get the readme pages printed out and was able to create my first world just fine and it's Gibsons which is stable enough for a legacy.It might be harder to use if you're not that interested in learning how to use it.
Hi sorry people but my last sims stuff glitched badly so had to redo the games. Once reinstalled I set up Make your own destiny. I am on my main household with 4 chapters already. Too tired to start a new chapter. Will do it in the morning. Great updates everyone
@Nikkei Simmer: Happy Canada Day! That's a nice job on the flag and a rather cool shirt. And happy 150th anniversary! Well, it looks like I'm a bit late on that, but Happy Belated Canada Day.
@Jillbg: Yeah, that bike is the first taste of freedom, and I'm glad her Granny put such effort into fixing it up to usable for her, basket and all. Probably only out of concern that she was already biking with a werewolf, but I like how you're showing how she went from 'this child I don't know that's interrupting my life' to 'my (beloved) granddaughter' while you've gone back to fill in more detail on their early relationships. That kitchen looks so comfortable, and since I'm reading through this when I already know how we lose Mrs. Brown, I can't help but be thrilled you've put more of her in there. Well, I can certainly understand why the boys would be eager for a cooler full of such goodies! (Especially instead of just fish fingers) lol I have to wonder if Derek's (adopted) parents aren't as worried about him and Teddy staying outside at night alone in the woods like that because he's a werewolf and heals faster and is heartier and Teddy needs the 'forest time to get acquainted with wild vegetation' or if they are just more absentminded types... or if it's the whole boy's can endanger themselves all day long, but a girl better not thing. Did I mention how I like the interaction between Mrs. Brown and Granny? She managed to teach the old witch an important bit of advice before they lost her. Ah, the excitement of the finished fire pit! That's pretty big for kids! Lol @ Teddy hiding behind a thin tree lol. (Teddy: 'I'm from the future where only rich people have real live vegetation, I'm still adjusting to them being real, and being allowed to touch them! They don't even have force fields around them. Also... I haven't figured out the control settings on the clothes, so my clothing is stuck at orange... I'm not sure how to adjust it, and Derek just looks at me when I ask like I've got a health screening warning on my face..." Sounds like Derek scared the heck out of both of them lol. (Teddy: "You know, clearly the orange shirt and overalls are malfunctioning, I've got some shorts and a shirt...ah...stuck on red...I just can't win! This past technology sure malfunctions a lot! Oh well, I guess I should be happy people aren't hacking clothes from space yet...no rude gifs flashing on my clothes here in the past!")
Those two hiding together, even last time she hid behind the boulder and him on top of it, they're hiding on top of each other lol. Teddy's bluffing to get them to run lol. Aw, poor Teddy. (Teddy: "Were they teleported out by planetary bandits? This is too early for deletrons...right? Maybe they got lost in this thick brush somewhere and they'll come back if I go hang out at the base...unless they were kidnapped by land pirates or forest cowboys and sold for simdroid replacement packs... oh wait, that's the wrong century, right? No one could have teleported them away in this century...right? Is this before or after the Robo-Dino Wars? Man, keeping history straight is so hard!"
I wonder what the future boy thinks about Flash Gordon comics lol. (Teddy: "Man, I wish our time was as cool as they thought it was going to be!")
Lol @ "or five" Reminding her of the contest.
How nice of Derek to give Taiga his jacket. Wow, that is a significant portion of wood, but we all know he's really strong for his age, I can figure he wouldn't hide that. lol. (Derek: "Of course. I'm not making two trips!")
Lol @ to keep the beasts away. Poor little guy's probably extra careful since things can trigger it besides the full moon as well. Lol @ "Who? The guide? I don't know. Adult."
Ah, good save, there, Dirk! (Derek: "That's called thinking fast!")
Lol @ the confusion about what kind of predator it was.
I wonder how many people the werewolf got away with hunting like that... I wonder if the idea was to get the boy 'lost' while the parents were enjoying themselves, then have the parents come looking for him...and the hunt them too...or whether there are various people who visited and their relatives were looking for them...but have no idea where they went. And does he always go for kids so that 'wandering off' is an excuse? Then again, considering Derek was found alone in the woods by his 'parents' and this guide asked a lot of questions about the boy first, perhaps this was a cover for why the boy was a werewolf or even an attack by another pack... But after a game of hide and seek like that, maybe he'd never want to play it again. (Derek: "Are you kidding me? This skill saved my life, gotta keep the skills sharp and make sure the other kids play this game and do it well!") It's a good thing for the military camp, but that was quite a chase!
Aww @ Taiga's 'afraid of werewolves' panic, which went all the way home with her. It must be hard to hear from her granddaughter that the boy she knows is a werewolf told her the story of how he became one...
That's a cool decorated tree house (the crate couch really fits there!). I wonder why his mom believed him but his father didn't. I like the added Derek commentary so you get to feel what he's going through with his curse... how divided he is about telling Taiga and how he's struggling with hiding it from Teddy...and this is the night before the full moon... and tomorrow he's going to be locked in the basement again. (And always having to worry about whether Teddy finds out.)
@TadOlson: Yeah, people used to be much more tied to the day\night cycle. Looks like the town is going to fill out nicely with those divisions.
Oh my @Zabeth0 ! You are awesome! I'm glad you've taken the time to read the updates, I really try to get deeper into the characters.
Taïga didn't tell Granny about the werewolf story, she's not the kind of person you easily confide in - especially when she bawls you out after being late... Taïga knows that Granny doesn't like Derek, and even though she's just a kid, she keeps most of the things concerning Derek to herself.
If you remember what happened in Part II - 10, when they hacked into Demente Sanatoriums patient files, Derek saw something he quickly deleted. And even later, in Part II - 21, Teddy finds out that Derek isn't his brother at all - from the future or else. Derek was found in the woods, and the Vargas took him in, as they just had lost their baby. In Part II - 18, Cade Farrow is on to something, seeing Derek's wolf tattoo that isn't a tattoo, and he also gives him a picture of a mysterious woman, that we now know is Arthur Moon's adoptive mother... Complicated? You ain't seen nuttin' yet!
But you're definitely on to something, too. The Egyptian werewolf killed nomads and tourists, but Derek is special. He recognized something or someone, seeing the boy, and had to get rid of him. Unfortunately he just triggered the curse that was dormant in the little boy.
Anyhow, Derek is still a kid and changes only under the full moon. I guess changing whenever you want isn't that usual in my story - it's almost impossible, only born werewolves can do that. That's also why his dad didn't change. Derek is to little to transmit the lycan curse.
Mr. Vargas refused to believe his "son". He remembers when and where they found him, and living on the edge of reality himself, he just refuses to believe in the supernatural. Except Aliens, of course, who aren't exactly supernaturals. They are just like us. But from beyont. Dixit Mr. Vargas.
Mrs. Vargas is a nurse, and she mostly works the night shift, as it pays better. And Mr. Vargas? He's on to something that has with artificial life to do, so he's occupied. I think he even forgets that he has two sons... Derek is quite responsible for his age, and stronger and with senses he's still trying to understand. But he's just a kid nevertheless...
Granny isn't used to kids anymore, and would definitely prefer having Taïga quietly reading in her room all day long. But that's not gonna happen, and she'll have to adjust, especially as she's all alone with Taïga now...
All this to say that Granny doesn't know what Derek told Taïga...
Have a nice time reading the next updated chapter, which is n°14 - here are some pics I just added!
I spent the whole 🐸🐸🐸🐸 weekend trying to get out of build mode after an attempt at a high school sport hall. Had to build it with a family living on the lot, then it worked... And I just noticed you can't even see the basketball hoop!
It's been a long time since I've written on my story... so here's a review, before I just jump right back into it:
This is Rafael Nikitich Zolnikov. He's a 21 year old, unlucky evil genius. At 15, his life in Moscow disintegrated. His brother died playing Simerican football- he still doesn't know if that was an actual accident or a secret murder. His father, a special agent who was raising his brother to be a spy set for assignment in Simerica (which is why he was playing Simerican football when he died), then murdered his mother, a betrayal he hates his father for to this day. A co worker of his father, Konstantin Petrovich Ovechkin, showed up and shot his father, caught his house on fire with him and his grandma trapped in it, and went off to murder his little sister who was in her boarding school training to be a ballerina. His grandma died of smoke inhalation because she put her gas mask on him. No one could touch Konstantin Petrovich Overchkin for these acts, as he was a high ranking member of the Russian government. His grandmother's friends smuggled him out of Russia, to China, where he stayed for some months, to Egypt, where he stayed for more than a year, until Konstatin Petrovich Ovechkin showed up and tried to kill him again, when he had to be rushed off to France, where he stayed a few months before moving on to Simerica. He's been in Simerica illegally ever since...until his new witch wife 'fixed his immigration problem' just a few days ago.
He arrived in Bridgeport when he was 17 and was immediately pawned off on the thug Vladimir Schlick, who set him up in an apartment across town from him, because he wasn't going to to 'babysit' the youngster, despite the fact that Rafael didn't speak a word of Simlish. Vladimir also told Rafael that Simericans were faschists that would murder him if they found out he was illegal... and Rafael's still convinced that is true. But working together, they became friends, and Vladimir helped him learn some simlish, even though he didn't really have to use it until last year, after Vladimir died in an apartment fire one night. Until recently, Rafael hadn't believed in vampires (or any supernaturals), and was not aware that his bosses, the Hemlocks and Vladimir were all vampires who could read his mind (and knew he was brilliant and therefore could be very useful or very dangerous). Of course, upon learning that the Hemlocks paid off Vladimir's neighbor the day before the fire, he figured out they'd turned on Vladimir...he hadn't said anything to anyone about his discovery, but they could read his mind: from his perspective, they just randomly turned on him, and tried to sell him back to Russia- because Konstatin Petrovich Ovechkin is still trying to kill him, he just can't get to Simerica with the current diplomatic situation. Rafael escaped to Moonlight Falls, because he remembered the Hemlocks were afraid of it and wouldn't let even a decoy from their organization go anywhere near it.
This is 19 year old Zelda Zolnikov...the witch that cast a Koschei's love spell on Rafael (without reading all the notes on it) and married him in a ceremony that could have killed them both. She's an athletic, mean-spirited, family oriented sim, a powerful witch, particularly when it comes to witches duels or summoning magical fire or teleporting. When a witch dies, the closest witch gets the majority of that witches' power...minus what other witches call the 'death tax' the small percentage of magical power that is just completely lost when a witch dies. Zelda was human until she was five years old and the witch next door had an accident while trying to prolong her life with an age elixir...which tipped the balance of witches in the universe...and caused the universe to 'draft' another witch from the human population...which just happened to be her, and she got the old witches' rather sizable store of magical power, minus the death tax. When that happened, her previously happy human life was destroyed- as a large number of witches teleported into her house and killed her human parents and each other to get 'custody' of the child witch...most of which were for nefarious purposes...there were a few 'child eaters' and many witches just trying to get her power by killing her, or standing close to her when someone else tried to kill her but she was tricked by a witch named Dalia, who teleported her back to Dalia's basement...where she was kept in a cage and when she got too big for the cage, a cell for years, only bringing her food and using a cleaning spell to clean her... Dalia was keeping her alive so that she could kill her at age 13, the time when witches triples and then they finally have access to it... but the child was in rather poor health and feral by the time she was nine...and Dalia managed to get another child witch...a girl named Deedee Wynn. (Dalia had used vampires to kill Deedee's human mother and aunt, who were catching up after her mother hadn't seen her aunt in years).
Deedee was twelve and Zelda was nine...Dalia's plan was to kill Zelda next to Deedee and then she'd only have to keep Deedee alive until her thirteenth birthday...instead of having to keep the malnourished feral girl alive for four more years. But Deedee's father was a witch who came to rescue her and ruined Dalia's plans...he chose to rescue his daughter rather than chase down Dalia... so, he freed the girls, and found this feral orphan girl, used magic to help her magically learn to talk again after so many years in a cage and cell and malnurished. He unofficially adopted her, which makes her and Deedee sort of sisters, but Zelda has been rough around the edges. Deedee's father told her that the only thing that would ever help with that is connections to other people. Zelda and Deedee were pretty much sisters for several years while they lived under the protection of Deedee's father, who was grieving the loss of his wife (as was Deedee). But Deedee had gained a new little sister and she'd always wanted one, so she and Zelda did so many things together... but when Zelda was thirteen, and finally old enough to learn to use her powers, Dalia killed Deedee's father. This is where the two's differing views of revenge twisted them apart- Deedee was not interested in taking revenge, she was trying to protect her little sister from the attack... and Zelda regarded her lack of rushing out to take revenge on her father's behalf as a lack of love for him- the man who had rescued her from her cage... so Zelda, at thirteen years old, went out and killed Dalia herself- she was very powerful in raw power and very very fast, but even with that she barely won...but got more powerful every time she killed a witch...and she hunted down every witch that had anything to do with his death. Deedee, who is good, regarded that as Zelda getting worse and worse.
Rafael couldn't help but notice that Zelda's regarding Deedee as her nemesis was actually a twisted form of caring for her; Zelda was obsessed with Deedee, even telling him that before she fell for him, she had been considering killing him in front of Deedee since she wanted to save him. But since she did fall for him, she decided to cast the love spell (that had been suggested to her by Beatrice) on him and marry him...hoping this would get Deedee to fight her (Zelda regards not being willing to fight as Deedee being so weak she can't even use magic and worries that she'll die like a human)...but Deedee didn't even get her texts taunting her, so that didn't work out, and Zelda ended up marrying him with no fight from anyone-something that angered her. Rafael is in love with Zelda and the love spell is one of the hardest to break and so pleasant he'd rather die than have it broken...so the idea that Deedee might be trying to break it worried him...as he's been a criminal since he was 17, he decided to kidnap Deedee and bring her to Zelda to show Zelda that no matter what she thought she thought about it, she wouldn't kill Deedee on purpose if she had her in front of her. That was true, of course, but Rafael was not aware of the witch rules about what constitutes an attack on another witch or what the punishments for such things are. He does know that he's somehow caught the attention of the witch who is the basis of the legends of Baba Yaga...a very old, very powerful witch that goes by 'Granny', though sometimes the witches call her The Crone behind her back, to her face, they know to call her 'Granny'. He knows that the whole reason the witches started trying to use him is that there are rumors that 'Granny' wants to use him for something... so he's already worried about all these witches, even while he doesn't know the rules they operate under yet.
The Newlywed Zolnikov's have come to Sunlit Tides for their honeymoon- they were just staying at Zelda's house for their honeymoon but things went so wrong that Zelda insisted that they have a real honeymoon in the tropics. What went so wrong? Zelda's friend Beatrice, the closest to a mentor that she'd had since Deedee's father died...had betrayed her. Beatrice'd had Lavinia, a vampire heading the criminals in Moonlight falls, bite Rafael Zolnikov...knowing full well that Zelda would take her advice, she gave Zelda the idea to use the Koschei's love spell on Rafael in the first place...and she did so after the vampire had already bitten him...and suppressed the memory from him, giving him the impression that he'd gotten blackout juiced with his boss. This was a plan to get a vampire assassin into the house with Zelda, past her warding. Zelda had two days of fun with Rafael before he turned into a vampire and she realized she loved him and couldn't burn him...and he was used to bite her...only Deedee being there because he kidnapped her saved them. Zelda took as much revenge as she could- Granny/Baba Yaga took Beatrice to turn her into a statue, so Zelda didn't get that bit of revenge and in fact, Granny put the two in such a position that Zelda didn't even want it, but Zelda burned Lavinia to ashes in her yard, which disbanded Lavinia's former network of vampires, whom she cleared out of the cursed house and rescued Tristan Van Gould from their cage...she returned the teenage vampire to his house by teleporting him there, despite the recent attack on her making her hate (and fear) vampires and her being almost out of magic from using a whole lot of it in quick succession.
Both of them are traumatized by him being forced to drink her plasma...Rafael, the workaholic, slept for two days and didn't want to get out of bed. Only five days ago, he didn't believe in vampires. He's experienced the vampire ability to read minds even though he hadn't yet learned how to control it, which meant that he'd been reading Zelda's mind when he'd been forced to drink her blood...also, his vampire transformation was marred by the fact that he'd taken colloidal silver in his blood to keep other vampires from being able to read his mind when he had no idea he was turning into one...and so had a very slow and painful transformation- while he didn't know what happening to him since he didn't remember being bitten...and then when Deedee had cured him from vampirism, he'd almost died twice- going through more of an ordeal to become a human again than Deedee had ever seen... so it has been confusing, terrifying, painful, humiliating, and has almost killed him a few times. In addition, Rafael is still trying to put his world view together again after finding out that magic is real. He really needs this honeymoon to get back on his feet.
Zelda, on the other hand, is freaked out because she'd never had a vampire lay a hand on her. Her normal approach to stop someone from attacking her is to burn them to ashes. She's never really tried to learn any spells for taking people alive, and having someone she loves (and she just realized that she actually loves her human because she couldn't burn him- she was just going to let him kill her) used against her like that was traumatic. So, she took a bag of diamonds and a grudge to the newly reorganized criminals and told them that they were going to make it up to her with a great honeymoon in the tropics and when they got back from their honeymoon, Rafael was going to come work for them.
Or, if anyone prefers to go back and read the story:
@Jillbg: Well, I suppose she learned not to tell Granny everything after Granny reacted to the alien sister story the way she did. I just wasn't sure how much she would tell after Mrs. Brown prompted her to tell all about it after she'd said she was afraid of werewolves... Yeah, I was referencing the baby in the woods thing in my reply because I know they aren't technically brothers...no blood in common...but they are still emotionally brothers, as they were raised together, and later Derek was obviously willing to do whatever it took to rescue his father despite not technically being his son . Also I think Taiga had a ring that was precious to Derek (in a packet she wasn't meant to open but Chase kinda forced the issue)...I can't quite remember if that was ever explained explicitly but I suspect it has to do with it being found with him as a baby or in some way connected to the whole 'adopted/found in the woods in Hidden Springs' issue- last I remember, Taiga had the ring in her voodoo doll to hide it. But if they didn't love him, surely they wouldn't have moved to a special out of the city place to keep him from people and put up with the danger his transformations put them in every month, especially after his (adopted) father had already been bitten once - so even if they aren't his 'real' family, it's not like they don't care about him or he about them. But I don't know when Derek found out about not being their natural kid... did he know the whole time? With his werewolf sense of smell and the fact that he didn't look like either of his parents (and yet Teddy did), did he suspect the whole time and it was only proved to him with the hacking thing? Obviously Teddy didn't know, because his parents had a special talk to tell him...
Well, I can understand building a setting, but you've done a good job of doing that, it's convincing that Granny is making an effort, getting that dress and coming out to interact with her granddaughter's schooling. And it looks convincingly like a school gym with the bleachers and fold out chair seating even without the basketball court. The scale of the place.... the labels over the door (like exit signs), the placement of the speakers, the fire alarm, the podium and the coloring of everything, it's all very convincing! It really helped it feel like a school setting! I'm sorry if it ate your weekend, but it is an impressive set up! I hope you saved it so you can use it later if you want to. (I hope the computer didn't crash and lose the progress after you took pics!)
Poor Taiga, having to wait so long for her mom to even call and then she calls when she can't even talk to her because she feels guilty for dumping her daughter and running off for so long... (I wonder if she feels guilty because she promised to not leave until Taiga was asleep and while she technically kept her word about not leaving until Taiga was asleep...she then left entirely...not just the room, but the whole country!) Lol @ "You look great, just like a normal grandmother." - so cute, Taiga trying to reassure her Grandma who she knows is stepping outside her comfort zone for her. The rivalry with Serena Wilkins continues! Liked this detail; "her hair all over him." By contrast Derek keeps trying to touch her hair. Well, at least with her hired driver, the blond isn't spending that time with Derek (lots of time in class but the bus is Taiga's)! Poor Granny...perhaps soon Taiga can make the cookies...she'd learned some from Mrs Brown...but perhaps it's too soon yet. Aw, Shasta looks so happy, and it sounds like she's very excited and ouch @ "feeling happy and safe for the first time since her teens"! And "but our mother isn't..." I love the way you've got the conversations more filled out. Poor Granny, trying to figure out how to work that into conversation! Lol oh no, Derek's learned to play the Serena card! Lol @ Easier to transport. It's nice to see Granny, the earth witch turn it into a real flower when no one is looking. (This is also a case where it is better it was a flower than a tiger!) I guess she wants to know if Derek can see ghosts too since Granny didn't see Mrs. Brown or the Grim Reaper. I like how you've elaborated the kiss. Also I don't remember if I ever mentioned what an awesome setting for one's first kiss the cemetery makes lol. I like how even though Derek can't sense the ghost when Taiga can...he senses her fright is real. I'm sure it's a novel experience for him, as a werewolf...for someone other than him to sense something before he does... because he's usually the one to call the police on the burglar when the other kids don't even know there had been one...or the one to smell the cookies or hear the sound first...so now he gets to experience what it looks like for someone other than him to sense something first!
999? Don't you mean 911? Poor Granny! Such an adorable warming by the fire scene. Lol @ "Not the cute Lemur living in Madagascar." (Must not imagine malevolent ghost singing 'I like to move it! move it!'-oh, too late! ) What a terrible story...but with that tragic death, I'm sure she couldn't handle seeing the youngsters kiss. It's also nice to see the advancement of Granny's concern over her grandchild's whereabouts slowly breaking through her techno-phobic tendencies. Well, except the play like children not like Geeks thing lol. Also "I didn't confiscate your tablets only for you to go upstairs and do the same thing on a bigger screen" Well, to be fair, Taiga, you didn't like the flower, so he's brought you a stone with a fierce expression...kind of like the tiger... The thing you say is "Thank you!" But you're still getting better than 'this isn't a tiger?!' lol Lol @ princess cowboy-prince dinosaur-dragon game- that is totally how kids play! lol. Lol @ Jar Jar Binks (Teddestrial life: Yousa goin play dress up?) I'm glad Granny is sort of warming up to Derek...a little.
Comments
Yeah, Rafael's not usually really big on admiring people...that's why this is so noteworthy.
That makes sense.
Wow, that prom show!
Lol, with Savannah's rebellious side, it makes me hopeful that Skyler will turn out okay even after all the wild party, leaving school craziness...then again, after Sierra's wildness, Savannah's probably waiting for Skyler to be more rebellious than she even is now lol.
Ouch! That's a lot of money to fix it! And what a time for it...then again, when is a good time to have to drop nearly a thousand bucks on computer stuff? But definitely not when you're struggling with a job search! That's very frustrating! Wow, wisdom teeth on top of it? And of course, they had to take the other teeth with them! (They should have named them assassin teeth or something like that...people would definitely get them out as soon as possible if they were named assassin teeth or terror teeth or something...oh wait, no, you'd probably have people trying to be hardcore and not taking them out...they'd be all bragging 'oh, yeah, I know I should have taken them out ages ago, but I've still got all my terror teeth back there, wanna see?' Hmm, well I guess we're just stuck with them being called wisdom teeth...at least people don't play chicken with them on purpose to sound cool...though, if I can remember, I'm totally going to start calling them terror teeth...
I'm glad you got gifted Sims 4 the parenthood expansion, so you could get some nice, healthy escapism, or you know, distraction pain relief from the computer game
@Silver: Thanks.
@TadOlson: Welcome back! Oh, I'm sorry, I know it's really frustrating to be sick for a long time! Oh, and then internet connection issues just make it worse... *wince* I'm glad you're doing better enough to be back.
@cwadell: Thanks.
I'm sorry to hear about your glitches in your resort world game, and that sounds like a lot of work to clean it up, I hope it goes well!
I also think your sims are rather attractive, it's always interesting to see what people who can use cc (other than just patterns from the exchange- which is pretty much the most adventurous I get with it
@Wolfkomoki: Poor Calvin...sometimes immortality has some serious flaws.
Here's my loading Deery Meadows.
Here's Eli getting into bed at almost 8PM.
Here's the donation box interactions.
Thanks for the so detailed feedback, it's such a pleasure to hear what you think!
I think Magnus doesn't really care who or what he interferes with, as long as he gets out of those ruins! He really cares about his daughter, though. He knows she's a miracle who isn't supposed to exist, and even though he's quite ruthless, he still has feelings and would never hurt Taïga. So spilling the beans to Magnus was probably the best thing Granny could do. If he succeeds in getting off the island so to say...
Killing the Grey witches or just playing with them - that is the question... And the dead don't suffer, so I think I know where Magnus takes it from here, even though he's already done quite some damage. Shasta is already dead, no courtesy of his, and there's no way he would lay hands on his own daughter - who isn't just any Grey witch, but also a Darkling. But her siblings are game. (Can't help but think Frost has it coming though, I won't cry for that one.
Now, about his origins. We don't really know who his father is, do we? I think Yggve didn't just bring bewitching Gytha home just to sit around admiring her, while his brother in arms had all the fun. The important matter is - who does Magnus consider his father? What I know, is that Yggve raised him and "gifted" him with immortality... and also instaured his Viking code of honor not just over a couple of decades, but over centuries. I guess they must have had quite much fun keeping up the tradition of killing their way not only across Europe, but across the globe...
Knowing Magnus, he looks upon the museums with a cynical smile, having had the time to mourn past times - not only just the Vikings, but also the renaissance, the "discovery" of America, the French and Russian revolution, the Civil war and two World wars... I guess you become quite the cynical just to survive emotionally.
Back to Granny: I think she was genuinely bored, and not a little annoyed, with Magnus talking so much to her little sister. She overheard their conversation without really listening, and you're right about not knowing the significance. They were in Normandy, a part of France that were given to the Vikings against a truce to save Paris from their hordes, so talking with Icelandic Magnus about that era was rather logical. Luckily she has got a very good memory, even if recalling means opening up old wounds, especially as she now know he'd had no scruples playing with them both... (Did I mention making their lives miserable? lol)
With no magic to shield her, using a broom was quite risky, especially with today's advanced technology. But Granny is up against the clock so to say. You're right, I guess a radar operator would just shrug it off with it being a Halloween prank or a flock of birds or something, never getting close enough to actually see her anyway...
Yeah, beware of archaeologists! Even though I doubt they would ever have found the hidden entrance... But the light was there, and the box of matches, so someone must have come once in a while to check on the padlock... Easy to break in? Yes, very. But not easy to continue with a nice stock of boulders ready to fall on you...
The Council was sloppy, leaving "emergency" blood and his cell. Or maybe they thought it was a psychological punishment - letting him dry away with the rescue unattainable close to his heart - and in his pocket!
I'm going on a spa get away soon, so I couldn't resist that one! I guess Magnus it a bit miffed no one's come looking for him. But he's back now, I guess he'll thin out his friends, finding who he really can count on. Begging for help? More like threatening for help. And eating animals? God forbid, that's for weak vampires like Stefan Salvatore.
He's enjoying scaring Granny, after all, it's her fault the Council found him, as he took risks thinking he was being cloaked from them. Maybe she should have told him she didn't have enough energy. Or maybe not. So what will Magnus do? Granny's of no use to him without her powers, and after thinking about the situation, she's probably not going to make it in time to save his daughter neither...
And that's where I am right now... With a trillion ideas and so little time to write - and take pics!
Thank you.
By pudding face I mean that every slider is set to zero (if you have a mod that tells you what the slider values are. If not, it means the sliders are mostly in the middle except some that are all the way over to the left edge). Every NPC has their sliders set to zero. They may differ in skin, hair and eye coloring and have different hair, eyebrows and facial hair styles but their feature are all alike and so not very exciting. A guess similar to pudding not being a very exciting desert.
Both those patterns are on the exchange. The the palm tree one is by @CravenLestat , a regular on these forums. The second one is by @BakingNerd . They have a real variety of patterns in their studio and I have several of them.
I am in the process of starting 2 new games. One will be a bachelorette game. The scarf guy, Jake, will be one of the contestants, although I have changed his shirt.
Another fantastic picture.
I get my disk back. Of course it's not fixed, because I had to pay for the dental work, so the money that would have been used to fix the disk was used to fix my mouth. So, it's more oral surgery and no digital stuff, at least for now.
As a result of the oral surgery, my recent birthday (on the 19th) was miserable. I couldn't even indulge at my fave restaurant, lol.
@jillbg What an adorable pic of the two kids on bicycle and thanks for the belated birthday greetings
@TadOlson Welcome back! The house looks great!
@Zabeth0 I always love reading your commentary, thanks a lot!
Yep I managed to comprehend enough about Rafael's personality to realize that he didn't seem to be the type to admire too many people. So for him to come out in unmitigated admiration of Chester Swain is definitely, well, surprising to say the least.
As for the Royal Baby, I may be in the process of moving everything to the laptop so ... who knows.
The prom 'episode' is definitely dramatic, right? I decided to use Sebastian because I was too lazy to make another actor for the scene
My experience with video making is slim and none, really.
Of course Kaydence is leaving the show. She has to leave now. She's pretty much outgrown that show. She has her book tour and her science stuff going on, too. Soaps are usually stepping stones for bigger and better things, and for Kaydence this appears to be no different.
Here's the thing about Skylar.
I think Skylar is falling into the Sebastian camp of trying to be 'normal' and she might have had to be, after Sierra hacking into the military base (and only copping to it after gentle coaxing by Sage in a conversation) and getting kidnapped by aliens. I think in some ways Skylar is a bit embarrassed by Sierra. She wants to be a pop star and idolizes Madison Avenue. Yes, that Madison Avenue, as in Kaydence's mommy dearest and pop music's biggest star. In some ways she has patterned herself after Madison, you know, with the boyfriend stealing etc. Now I've got her in college where she pledged the sorority there and began dating her professor.
She wants to start a band, but simmer me has no clue how to do that and has never done that in game so actually might do that. Hey what's college without a horrible sounding garage band?
I haven't had much of a chance to dabble in Sims 4 Parenthood with round the clock saline rinses.
Alanna Starr Stanley, the lead on the hit TV show, was having an actor's tantrum. (She has the 'Dramatic' trait.) And poor newbie Grayson didn't have a clue what to do.
Fortunately, Kaydence Jolina-Plumb, who had spent her entire life around actors, stepped in. "What's wrong?"
Alanna replied with a laundry list of complaints. The studio lights were too hot. Her stockings had a run in them. Her hair was wrong. She was getting a headache. Basically, Kaydence thought, she was simply whining about whining.
Kaydence wanted to go off on Alanna, but again, her better angels won out, showing once again she inherited more of Sebastian's calm and less of Madison's temper. "You know what, Alanna, why don't you calm down, take a couple of minutes to breathe, and we'll start this shoot once you're ready."
Watching the spectacle unfold, the executive producer and head writer, who were Alanna's father and brother, were duly impressed.
The episode ended up the highest rated in the entire three year history of the show. Basically everyone in Simland who had a TV (or everyone who had access to a laptop and stream) saw it at one point or another.
Zelda: "Whoa, Twinkle toes, I totally forgot! They're still in their jammies! Aren't you embarrassed by silly things like that?"
Rafael: "Vell, yes but ve don't haf visyitorrs and ve're at home, so it's okay."
Zelda: "We do, though, Deedee's here. She's in the kitchen feeding the dragon."
Rafael: "She's your sistyerr, she von't be insultyed by them not beink dressed, she's evyen changed them."
Zelda: "Wow, you've really upped your Christmas game this year, first you add some cartoon decorations to the mix and now being less uptight about jammies. Next thing you know, you're going to pull off that scarf and unbutton your shirt." She laughed.
Rafael: Most of Zelda's compliments were what most would consider backhanded, when she could even manage to give a compliment... she was just naturally insulting. So, he was pleased. He didn't mention why he was suddenly trying this new approach, as Zelda would really not understand...she did know his personal situation with his original family and could likely understand why he might think of Bailey as a little sister, being that Deedee was her sister without a drop of blood in common...and she likely could understand how he could find Chester Swain admirable being that he was like some strange heroic version of his father...one who hadn't murdered his wife, but once it came to the part where Rafael didn't take massive revenge against the person who was threatening Bailey, she would be irritated, as Zelda thought in straight lines. She was very direct. She couldn't even convincingly lie. Trying to explain this to her would ruin her night and he had no intention of that. He'd just cured and thrown Van Gould his rival, the vampire who had been trying to force his daughter to marry Tristan Van Gould... If Van Gould ever gave him another reason and he finally took revenge, then, he could tell the story as a proving how very richly the vampire deserved it, and then Zelda would love the story but until then it was better kept to himself. Bailey's plea to her father had influenced him. "though I hope it still involves hanging out in flannel pajamas and gifts with cartoon wrapping paper and the fun stuff...I told Tristan that Christmas was about more than just wearing the right clothes and making sure all the wall hangings are hanging perfectly...and he'd like to believe me, I'm sure...but I think he needs to have a real one before it's out of the 'sounds too good to be true' category." It was not at all aimed at him, but he couldn't help but think about it. Since he hadn't grown up with Christmas, he didn't really know what made a good one...he had been trying to do it by making it fit with the research he'd done on what was traditional, and drawing on his family gift giving traditions surrounding the New Years holiday in Russia. So, now he was trying to improve by introducing some carefully measured Simerican informality into it. He did not want his children to ever feel they did not have 'a real one'... he found himself wishing Bailey had revealed what the 'fun stuff' was. "Vell, the nyight is younk; anythink is possyible." He teased. "Perrhaps aftyerr I catch you undyerr the Misstyeltoe?"
Zelda: "Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to get caught then. But just this once. But this air stinks of not enough sugar cookies! Christmas should definitely smell more like freshly baked cookies. So I'm off to fix that. I'm abandoning you to the little monsters reality show: Stace-zilla on drums and Dmitri-dish playing the plastic car, Lil Hotsauce just looking cute for the audience, with his daddy's eyes! Oh, and on vocals. With those sudden burble screams how could he not end up a rock star?"
Rafael: "I vill vatch them amaze me vith theirr buddink talyents."
* * *
Rafael: Stacy had more magic than any two year old witch should. When unrestrained, she played games with her magic...the way some children played with light switches once they could reach them by turning them off and on...she played with her mother's fires or by teleporting and summoning her toys (what had started as accidental had turned into a fun game to her 'peek a toy' she called it)...but she was young and since witch magic could turn people into bugs or disintegrate them entirely, or any number of very dangerous things to people and structures... Deedee and Zelda had recently combined some magical bindings to try to 'child gate' her so she could learn how to interact with the world and learn that actions had consequences before she could pull the world apart with her magic. This meant that she was more frustrated than even a normal two year old. She would sometimes go sulk by the fire...but only if it was a fire that Zelda started with magic...if he started the fire, it was just 'fie', but if Zelda started it with magic then it was 'mommy fie'. Deedee never started the fire magically, but he suspected that if she ever did, then it would be 'Andy fie' since Stacy didn't pronounce the whole 'Aunt Deedee', she just said 'Andy'. He'd been trying to get her to say the whole phrase 'Aunt Deedee', but his accent made it hard to correct her...he did not want her to think his pronunciations were right. It seemed there would always be a part of her world he would never directly understand, but at least with Deedee's explanations about magic sense he knew things that he couldn't see were there... she had only been in the room when Zelda lit the fire once... but she always got it right whether he did it or Zelda did it when she was asleep upstairs...because apparently there were auras for everything, magical or not that a witch could sense with this magical sense...and she was sensing a whole level of world he couldn't.
Rafael: He knew Whizbang adored the children because he would let them manhandle him, and just stay there and move his claws and spines out of their way and hold magical barriers around them to keep them from impaling themselves on his sharp points, yet would let them put their faces right up to his. He nuzzled Dima, he was always very gentle with him.
Whizbang was more playful with Stacy now even letting her grab him roughly around his wings and saying things like 'oh no, the witch has caught the dragon, whatever will the dragon do? But this witch has a very unusual weakness! No, she doesn't melt in clean water or have to replace her face every month! Her heart is not hidden in an old chest buried under a rotten tree, no! She's not so tall she has to be folded up to fit in buildings, no, not this witch! This witch is...and I'd better whisper... she's ticklish!' and then pouncing and tickling her with his nose under her arm, blowing air with an exaggerated nose blowing sound- he didn't have the lips to blow a proper raspberry but somehow he managed to sound like it, and she always thrashed around in a spasm of giggles...it was very difficult for a creature with so many claws and teeth to manage to tickle a child...and he had mastered soft force fields close to him in order to direct them away from his spikes...this was way more effort than keeping himself out of arms reach. Sometimes Rafael wondered what kind of grown dragon Whizbang was going to be because of his particular fondness for the children...he was concentrating on things that other dragons never bothered with... like using fine force magic manipulation...he hoped his teaching Whizbang Simlish would help the young dragon have a niche in dragon society, or perhaps his favoritism of the dragon would help, most dragons were busy hunting and setting up their cave systems and fighting over territories as they grew, and collecting treasures... his hatchling that he was raising regarded the house and it's immediate surroundings as his territory and would hunt for fish in some of the rivers and ponds, but preferred to be fed by hand... he was unnaturally friendly for a black dragon, Rafael wondered if that's why he'd been given this hatchling, they thought they were dealing with a human that would do anything for a dragon hug (since that's what they thought dragon warding was, a magical hug with dragon magic), so they gave him a hatchling that would dragon hug him all the time in exchange for being hand fed and talked to from time to time. And Whizbang had decided that Rafael's children were his treasure...he had looked at the gold coin pile that Rafael had brought him...but he had just looked at it, he did nothing to guard it or even lay on it...Rafael didn't think he'd even touched it...Rafael thought that if the house wasn't magically warded to prevent dust from settling, there would be dust on the pile of gold coins... Whizbang slept on the floor in various parts of the house...so that he and Zelda could have romantic privacy, Rafael had forbidden him from sleeping in the bedroom with them...which usually meant that Whizbang slept in the kitchen or the laundry room by Stacy's crib, though there were days he just curled up in the living room outside the circle of firelight. Sometimes it was hard to figure out whether Whizbang lurked by Stacy's crib more to make it easier for anyone to check on Dima or because the boy was doomed and he was more attached to Stacy...But Whizbang kept bringing Rafael death flowers, every time he went back to the deadlands, he brought more...'for the barely alive witch son'. The care other dragons would expend on their caves and their gold piles, Whizbang used on Rafael's children. So Rafael felt they would be safe as long as the hatchling dragon was.
Rafael: Dima was the first to be exhausted and need to go to bed, but it didn't take long before they were all off to bed. They'd had an exciting day, and Christmas was still so new they had no idea about the pattern. Aunt Deedee was here, but Aunt Deedee visited a lot...the adults were dressed up...but they didn't really know why adults did things yet.
Rafael: Why he was having such a difficult time looking at Deedee? He'd done a good thing, right? It was a good deed. At the end of the day, it was at least close to a good deed...he'd saved Bailey and her father from torture and death, and he hadn't been the one that had put them in that position in the first place...and he hadn't really taken advantage of them...it was a fair deal...and he didn't really think he'd slip up so badly that he'd ever have to use the favor, though he was unlucky enough that it was possible, but even if he did, saving the world was a good thing, right?... So why did his conscious feel like he'd done something so wrong he could barely even look at Deedee in case she would somehow know?
He felt like he'd threatened Bailey...like a thug explaining what danger these poor foools were in that they weren't even bright enough to know they were in...only instead of people he cared nothing about being told how extremely doomed they were if they didn't comply...he'd told Bailey. It felt like he'd threatened her, even though he'd only warned her of the danger they were in on their own. And she'd reacted just the same as anyone he'd threatened as a thug, struggling to quickly find a way to do what he wanted her to do so that the bad thing wouldn't happen. But he was no more threatening her than the weather man was threatening people telling them to take cover from a storm...admittedly, he had more power than she knew...he could have handled it without her ever knowing what danger her father and her were in, he'd used Van Gould as a convenient bad guy- not that Van Gould wasn't, just that comparatively speaking, calling the authorities on a foreign operative on your soil wasn't generally considered villainous- it was only the knowledge of what the authorities would do...and the intent to do it to lure an innocent person into revealing her location so you could kill her...that made it particularly wrong...But Rafael could have kept her from even knowing why her father in law had suddenly become too busy to deal with them...but he'd wanted Bailey and her father to make up; her father genuinely cared for her enough to approach a terrifying international criminal on her behalf- once he came to understand that magic was real, that witches and vampires and werewolves and fairies all really existed, Chester Swain would protect his daughter. He'd never have to do this again, this was the only time. For his part, he bribed the right people and had some paperwork switched around, both physical and electronic and the Simerican government now thought that Chester was their agent under deep cover working against his government for them, so they weren't going to lay a hand on him, even if they got an anonymous tip. So, while he couldn't exactly make Bailey, Chester and Tristan have a fun family Christmas, he had done what he could to make it a safe one. Yes, in an ideal world, no one would ever have to be a bad guy to make sure that people they valued weren't harmed, but this was not an ideal world.
He still found himself staying quiet, only pouring them nectar, proposing a general toast ("Merry Christmas"), since Simericans apparently didn't care about toasts and mostly just listening to the sisters talk over nectar and sugar cookies. He felt particularly homesick right now, so he just sipped the nectar and kept their glasses full.
Zelda: She laughed. "I better have a second glass now, because I plan on being pregnant soon and until I get my second girl, because Stacy totally needs a little sister to play with...I won't be terribly sad if we get Hotsauce another brother to roughhouse with, because he totally can't touch Dima-dish, can't believe how bad I messed him up, poor little guy, I wish I could fix him...maybe when he's older we'll get him a Darth Vader suit...if he's got to have such problems breathing..."
Deedee: "When he's older, we'll be able to help him be a healthy teenager with a couple of elixirs, but we can't do that yet. I wish we could."
Zelda: "Yeah, I'd even learn how to make them if it would work, even if I had to give him an invigorating elixir every day... But I want my girl to be close in age with Stacy so they can run around in matching clothes and play...at least until Stacy's thirteen and is stuck with all the boring witch stuff like spellbooks and council meetings and zombies..." Zelda rolled her eyes and then looked straight at Rafael. "So, Deedee says that Whizbang said that Hotsauce smells like a human, and we're hoping that's true, so at least one of them can do fun human stuff like be a rock star or go to the moon or own a nightclub or something without having to worry about so many witch plots and vampire attacks and generally magical things being drawn to them at all hours of the day or night if they leave the house. But there is no guarantee that he's not just so young even a dragon can't tell yet...so I'm not getting my hopes totally up yet. Still, here's hoping. So, how about one more toast, to getting Stacy a sister, and then being able to settle down and raise the lot of them!"
Deedee: "How could I not drink to that? Okay, just this second glass and then I've totally got to go home...I sort of agreed to dance with a fairy before midnight and I hate to think of what he'll do if I stand him up."
Rafael: He toasted, drank, then texted the cab company to get a cab sent out. "They'll be herre in three minutes, but they'll vait as lonk as they need to."
Rafael: Before he knew it, it was just him and Zelda. He stood in the doorway, looking away...it was the doorway he'd hung the mistletoe over, and Zelda clearly didn't remember that, if she'd noticed it there at all.
Zelda: "What's going on with you, did I do something wrong?"
Rafael: He pointed up and smirked. "Vell, you did say you'd haf to get caught undyerr the Misstyeltoe, so not wronk as such, no."
Specially for @Zabeth0 , Tristan and Bailey in my game - he's not a vampire, so he can enjoy the relatively sunny weather at La Shove Beach in Moonlight Falls!
@jillbg Nice screenshot.
copied this from other thread.
Here is another update
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Triplets and Alistair aged up to kids
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Adam brushing Skyler
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Ava
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Everyoe aging up
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Cake
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Nursery room changed to kids room
All for now
River modelling Leafs34's (from MTS) Canada 150 shirt in white.
My sim modelling the red Canada 150 shirt.
Happy Canada Day; eh... Everybody.
Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~
As the early chapters of The Grey Witches take place in Skagit County, not that far from Canada, I use the occasion to announce that Part I -Chapter 11 Werewolf is finally rewritten and ready! I hope it will give some more insight into Derek's past, and give more deep to the characters! Enjoy!
No, Teddy's not dead - he has just overeaten...
@Jillbg: Well, now I am!
(In case you wondered who Granny was talking about with Beatrice here: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/14937142/#Comment_14937142, now you know!)
So, while I do apologize for the confusion, I really do like the dynamic of having the different universes to play with, and I think it makes the story better in the long run.
Well, I'm glad you don't mind me being silly and chatting your ear off, figuratively speaking.
I hope you have a wonderful spa get a way...
Well, I'm glad that Magnus has a chance to find out who is going to help him and who is not, and hopefully enough of the 'who is going to help him' survived the upset while he was out of the picture.
Are they really being that sloppy or did they get closed in there by someone who wanted him to have those things when he got out?
Boy, don't I understand how that goes!
I'm happy to see you're going back and filling in some of the older stuff, so we get more background on the relationships between Granny and Taiga and Derek.
So anyway, thanks for telling me about the textures.
@Venus: *Wince* That sounds like a whole business of not fun right there! Whole industries of not fun. Dumping industrial waste of not fun into the 'this used to be fun' river! Hopefully when you're all good and healed up, someone will take you to your favorite restaurant to celebrate with some victory food! Lol... Hopefully they don't take you to your favorite restaurant when you can't eat anything there!
Yeah, it takes a real skeleton key of circumstances and skills to get into that spot with Rafael, he's pretty difficult.
That's exciting!
Oh yes, very.
That does make a lot of sense with what Skyler's been doing, trying to be normal like Sebastian was lol.
Yeah, I've never had a band member in my household either, so she's inspiring you to try new things, huh? That'll be cool, even if it's just a silly garage band in college it'll give her some experience that's not based on her being a celebrity lol.
Rats, well, at least you've got it to look forward to whenever you can get a break!
Lol, ah, the dramatic trait, well, that's kind of fitting for an actress lol.
Lol, I'm glad Kaydence is more level than her mother lol.
@Silver: Thanks!
@venusdemilosims -Thanks for the comment.Great update!
@Zabeth0 -Great update!It's how they did things back then as everybody liked to get to bed earlier back then.
@Silverofdreams30 -Great pictures!
@Nikkei_Simmer -Great pictures!I saw that in the other thread.
Here's my Sunset Valley2 update below.
Here's another lot being marked residential.
Here's where it is.
Marking a community lot.
I've done a few more lots with drywall so I can apply story progression settings to the lots.
Marked a community lot.
Marked this lot residential.
Here's where I worked on the lots.
Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~
@Jillbg: Yeah, that bike is the first taste of freedom, and I'm glad her Granny put such effort into fixing it up to usable for her, basket and all.
Those two hiding together, even last time she hid behind the boulder and him on top of it, they're hiding on top of each other lol.
I wonder what the future boy thinks about Flash Gordon comics lol.
Lol @ "or five" Reminding her of the contest.
How nice of Derek to give Taiga his jacket.
Lol @ to keep the beasts away.
Ah, good save, there, Dirk!
Lol @ the confusion about what kind of predator it was.
I wonder how many people the werewolf got away with hunting like that... I wonder if the idea was to get the boy 'lost' while the parents were enjoying themselves, then have the parents come looking for him...and the hunt them too...or whether there are various people who visited and their relatives were looking for them...but have no idea where they went. And does he always go for kids so that 'wandering off' is an excuse? Then again, considering Derek was found alone in the woods by his 'parents' and this guide asked a lot of questions about the boy first, perhaps this was a cover for why the boy was a werewolf or even an attack by another pack... But after a game of hide and seek like that, maybe he'd never want to play it again. (Derek: "Are you kidding me? This skill saved my life, gotta keep the skills sharp and make sure the other kids play this game and do it well!") It's a good thing for the military camp, but that was quite a chase!
Aww @ Taiga's 'afraid of werewolves' panic, which went all the way home with her. It must be hard to hear from her granddaughter that the boy she knows is a werewolf told her the story of how he became one...
That's a cool decorated tree house (the crate couch really fits there!). I wonder why his mom believed him but his father didn't.
@TadOlson: Yeah, people used to be much more tied to the day\night cycle.
Taïga didn't tell Granny about the werewolf story, she's not the kind of person you easily confide in - especially when she bawls you out after being late... Taïga knows that Granny doesn't like Derek, and even though she's just a kid, she keeps most of the things concerning Derek to herself.
If you remember what happened in Part II - 10, when they hacked into Demente Sanatoriums patient files, Derek saw something he quickly deleted. And even later, in Part II - 21, Teddy finds out that Derek isn't his brother at all - from the future or else. Derek was found in the woods, and the Vargas took him in, as they just had lost their baby. In Part II - 18, Cade Farrow is on to something, seeing Derek's wolf tattoo that isn't a tattoo, and he also gives him a picture of a mysterious woman, that we now know is Arthur Moon's adoptive mother... Complicated? You ain't seen nuttin' yet!
But you're definitely on to something, too. The Egyptian werewolf killed nomads and tourists, but Derek is special. He recognized something or someone, seeing the boy, and had to get rid of him. Unfortunately he just triggered the curse that was dormant in the little boy.
Anyhow, Derek is still a kid and changes only under the full moon. I guess changing whenever you want isn't that usual in my story - it's almost impossible, only born werewolves can do that. That's also why his dad didn't change. Derek is to little to transmit the lycan curse.
Mr. Vargas refused to believe his "son". He remembers when and where they found him, and living on the edge of reality himself, he just refuses to believe in the supernatural. Except Aliens, of course, who aren't exactly supernaturals. They are just like us. But from beyont. Dixit Mr. Vargas.
Mrs. Vargas is a nurse, and she mostly works the night shift, as it pays better. And Mr. Vargas? He's on to something that has with artificial life to do, so he's occupied. I think he even forgets that he has two sons... Derek is quite responsible for his age, and stronger and with senses he's still trying to understand. But he's just a kid nevertheless...
Granny isn't used to kids anymore, and would definitely prefer having Taïga quietly reading in her room all day long. But that's not gonna happen, and she'll have to adjust, especially as she's all alone with Taïga now...
All this to say that Granny doesn't know what Derek told Taïga...
Have a nice time reading the next updated chapter, which is n°14 - here are some pics I just added!
I spent the whole 🐸🐸🐸🐸 weekend trying to get out of build mode after an attempt at a high school sport hall. Had to build it with a family living on the lot, then it worked... And I just noticed you can't even see the basketball hoop!
All this just to take one pic!
This is Rafael Nikitich Zolnikov. He's a 21 year old, unlucky evil genius. At 15, his life in Moscow disintegrated. His brother died playing Simerican football- he still doesn't know if that was an actual accident or a secret murder. His father, a special agent who was raising his brother to be a spy set for assignment in Simerica (which is why he was playing Simerican football when he died), then murdered his mother, a betrayal he hates his father for to this day. A co worker of his father, Konstantin Petrovich Ovechkin, showed up and shot his father, caught his house on fire with him and his grandma trapped in it, and went off to murder his little sister who was in her boarding school training to be a ballerina. His grandma died of smoke inhalation because she put her gas mask on him. No one could touch Konstantin Petrovich Overchkin for these acts, as he was a high ranking member of the Russian government. His grandmother's friends smuggled him out of Russia, to China, where he stayed for some months, to Egypt, where he stayed for more than a year, until Konstatin Petrovich Ovechkin showed up and tried to kill him again, when he had to be rushed off to France, where he stayed a few months before moving on to Simerica. He's been in Simerica illegally ever since...until his new witch wife 'fixed his immigration problem' just a few days ago.
He arrived in Bridgeport when he was 17 and was immediately pawned off on the thug Vladimir Schlick, who set him up in an apartment across town from him, because he wasn't going to to 'babysit' the youngster, despite the fact that Rafael didn't speak a word of Simlish. Vladimir also told Rafael that Simericans were faschists that would murder him if they found out he was illegal... and Rafael's still convinced that is true. But working together, they became friends, and Vladimir helped him learn some simlish, even though he didn't really have to use it until last year, after Vladimir died in an apartment fire one night. Until recently, Rafael hadn't believed in vampires (or any supernaturals), and was not aware that his bosses, the Hemlocks and Vladimir were all vampires who could read his mind (and knew he was brilliant and therefore could be very useful or very dangerous). Of course, upon learning that the Hemlocks paid off Vladimir's neighbor the day before the fire, he figured out they'd turned on Vladimir...he hadn't said anything to anyone about his discovery, but they could read his mind: from his perspective, they just randomly turned on him, and tried to sell him back to Russia- because Konstatin Petrovich Ovechkin is still trying to kill him, he just can't get to Simerica with the current diplomatic situation. Rafael escaped to Moonlight Falls, because he remembered the Hemlocks were afraid of it and wouldn't let even a decoy from their organization go anywhere near it.
This is 19 year old Zelda Zolnikov...the witch that cast a Koschei's love spell on Rafael (without reading all the notes on it) and married him in a ceremony that could have killed them both. She's an athletic, mean-spirited, family oriented sim, a powerful witch, particularly when it comes to witches duels or summoning magical fire or teleporting. When a witch dies, the closest witch gets the majority of that witches' power...minus what other witches call the 'death tax' the small percentage of magical power that is just completely lost when a witch dies. Zelda was human until she was five years old and the witch next door had an accident while trying to prolong her life with an age elixir...which tipped the balance of witches in the universe...and caused the universe to 'draft' another witch from the human population...which just happened to be her, and she got the old witches' rather sizable store of magical power, minus the death tax. When that happened, her previously happy human life was destroyed- as a large number of witches teleported into her house and killed her human parents and each other to get 'custody' of the child witch...most of which were for nefarious purposes...there were a few 'child eaters' and many witches just trying to get her power by killing her, or standing close to her when someone else tried to kill her but she was tricked by a witch named Dalia, who teleported her back to Dalia's basement...where she was kept in a cage and when she got too big for the cage, a cell for years, only bringing her food and using a cleaning spell to clean her... Dalia was keeping her alive so that she could kill her at age 13, the time when witches triples and then they finally have access to it... but the child was in rather poor health and feral by the time she was nine...and Dalia managed to get another child witch...a girl named Deedee Wynn. (Dalia had used vampires to kill Deedee's human mother and aunt, who were catching up after her mother hadn't seen her aunt in years).
Deedee was twelve and Zelda was nine...Dalia's plan was to kill Zelda next to Deedee and then she'd only have to keep Deedee alive until her thirteenth birthday...instead of having to keep the malnourished feral girl alive for four more years. But Deedee's father was a witch who came to rescue her and ruined Dalia's plans...he chose to rescue his daughter rather than chase down Dalia... so, he freed the girls, and found this feral orphan girl, used magic to help her magically learn to talk again after so many years in a cage and cell and malnurished. He unofficially adopted her, which makes her and Deedee sort of sisters, but Zelda has been rough around the edges. Deedee's father told her that the only thing that would ever help with that is connections to other people. Zelda and Deedee were pretty much sisters for several years while they lived under the protection of Deedee's father, who was grieving the loss of his wife (as was Deedee). But Deedee had gained a new little sister and she'd always wanted one, so she and Zelda did so many things together... but when Zelda was thirteen, and finally old enough to learn to use her powers, Dalia killed Deedee's father. This is where the two's differing views of revenge twisted them apart- Deedee was not interested in taking revenge, she was trying to protect her little sister from the attack... and Zelda regarded her lack of rushing out to take revenge on her father's behalf as a lack of love for him- the man who had rescued her from her cage... so Zelda, at thirteen years old, went out and killed Dalia herself- she was very powerful in raw power and very very fast, but even with that she barely won...but got more powerful every time she killed a witch...and she hunted down every witch that had anything to do with his death. Deedee, who is good, regarded that as Zelda getting worse and worse.
Rafael couldn't help but notice that Zelda's regarding Deedee as her nemesis was actually a twisted form of caring for her; Zelda was obsessed with Deedee, even telling him that before she fell for him, she had been considering killing him in front of Deedee since she wanted to save him. But since she did fall for him, she decided to cast the love spell (that had been suggested to her by Beatrice) on him and marry him...hoping this would get Deedee to fight her (Zelda regards not being willing to fight as Deedee being so weak she can't even use magic and worries that she'll die like a human)...but Deedee didn't even get her texts taunting her, so that didn't work out, and Zelda ended up marrying him with no fight from anyone-something that angered her. Rafael is in love with Zelda and the love spell is one of the hardest to break and so pleasant he'd rather die than have it broken...so the idea that Deedee might be trying to break it worried him...as he's been a criminal since he was 17, he decided to kidnap Deedee and bring her to Zelda to show Zelda that no matter what she thought she thought about it, she wouldn't kill Deedee on purpose if she had her in front of her. That was true, of course, but Rafael was not aware of the witch rules about what constitutes an attack on another witch or what the punishments for such things are. He does know that he's somehow caught the attention of the witch who is the basis of the legends of Baba Yaga...a very old, very powerful witch that goes by 'Granny', though sometimes the witches call her The Crone behind her back, to her face, they know to call her 'Granny'. He knows that the whole reason the witches started trying to use him is that there are rumors that 'Granny' wants to use him for something... so he's already worried about all these witches, even while he doesn't know the rules they operate under yet.
The Newlywed Zolnikov's have come to Sunlit Tides for their honeymoon- they were just staying at Zelda's house for their honeymoon but things went so wrong that Zelda insisted that they have a real honeymoon in the tropics. What went so wrong? Zelda's friend Beatrice, the closest to a mentor that she'd had since Deedee's father died...had betrayed her. Beatrice'd had Lavinia, a vampire heading the criminals in Moonlight falls, bite Rafael Zolnikov...knowing full well that Zelda would take her advice, she gave Zelda the idea to use the Koschei's love spell on Rafael in the first place...and she did so after the vampire had already bitten him...and suppressed the memory from him, giving him the impression that he'd gotten blackout juiced with his boss. This was a plan to get a vampire assassin into the house with Zelda, past her warding. Zelda had two days of fun with Rafael before he turned into a vampire and she realized she loved him and couldn't burn him...and he was used to bite her...only Deedee being there because he kidnapped her saved them. Zelda took as much revenge as she could- Granny/Baba Yaga took Beatrice to turn her into a statue, so Zelda didn't get that bit of revenge and in fact, Granny put the two in such a position that Zelda didn't even want it, but Zelda burned Lavinia to ashes in her yard, which disbanded Lavinia's former network of vampires, whom she cleared out of the cursed house and rescued Tristan Van Gould from their cage...she returned the teenage vampire to his house by teleporting him there, despite the recent attack on her making her hate (and fear) vampires and her being almost out of magic from using a whole lot of it in quick succession.
Both of them are traumatized by him being forced to drink her plasma...Rafael, the workaholic, slept for two days and didn't want to get out of bed. Only five days ago, he didn't believe in vampires. He's experienced the vampire ability to read minds even though he hadn't yet learned how to control it, which meant that he'd been reading Zelda's mind when he'd been forced to drink her blood...also, his vampire transformation was marred by the fact that he'd taken colloidal silver in his blood to keep other vampires from being able to read his mind when he had no idea he was turning into one...and so had a very slow and painful transformation- while he didn't know what happening to him since he didn't remember being bitten...and then when Deedee had cured him from vampirism, he'd almost died twice- going through more of an ordeal to become a human again than Deedee had ever seen... so it has been confusing, terrifying, painful, humiliating, and has almost killed him a few times. In addition, Rafael is still trying to put his world view together again after finding out that magic is real. He really needs this honeymoon to get back on his feet.
Zelda, on the other hand, is freaked out because she'd never had a vampire lay a hand on her. Her normal approach to stop someone from attacking her is to burn them to ashes. She's never really tried to learn any spells for taking people alive, and having someone she loves (and she just realized that she actually loves her human because she couldn't burn him- she was just going to let him kill her) used against her like that was traumatic. So, she took a bag of diamonds and a grudge to the newly reorganized criminals and told them that they were going to make it up to her with a great honeymoon in the tropics and when they got back from their honeymoon, Rafael was going to come work for them.
Or, if anyone prefers to go back and read the story:
1:http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/11786648/#Comment_11786648
2:http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/11794797/#Comment_11794797
3: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/11801554/#Comment_11801554
4: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/11806217/#Comment_11806217
5: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/11811307/#Comment_11811307
6: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/11821255/#Comment_11821255
7: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/11828863/#Comment_11828863
8: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/11832746/#Comment_11832746
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Well, I can understand building a setting, but you've done a good job of doing that, it's convincing that Granny is making an effort, getting that dress and coming out to interact with her granddaughter's schooling.
Poor Taiga, having to wait so long for her mom to even call and then she calls when she can't even talk to her because she feels guilty for dumping her daughter and running off for so long... (I wonder if she feels guilty because she promised to not leave until Taiga was asleep and while she technically kept her word about not leaving until Taiga was asleep...she then left entirely...not just the room, but the whole country!) Lol @ "You look great, just like a normal grandmother." - so cute, Taiga trying to reassure her Grandma who she knows is stepping outside her comfort zone for her.
999? Don't you mean 911?