THE CHIKAMORI SELFACY (WHY? BC CMAR_NYC's ASIAN SKIN Morph, THAT'S WHY!) REBOOT!

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Caeden and Dougal

Haruo seemed to have a major fascination with the violin, as he seemed to pull it out whenever possible. Well, at least it kept him occupied and out of trouble, so it seemed. The simple fact of the matter was that the rest of the family decided that it would be too much trouble just to sell the violin when he wasn't looking so they all got earplugs. And people had to YELL just to be heard. But at least it silenced the horrible caterwauling of the mediocre violin playing. Maybe they need to make a closet just for him to play his violin in.

On the other-side of the Blue River, two pairs of eyes looked towards the hill and the luxurious dwellings on what was known as Millionaire's Row.

Caeden McIrish looked over at his companion, "They said that Fiona and her family moved here. This was where Fiona was from originally."

"You ain't thinking that you can walk back into Fiona's life and take up back where you were...right?" Dougal McArthur opined warily. "Because I know that I moved Cait so many times...it wasn't right, but well, what can you do? When you got investigators searching for you in several locales, looking for back monies owed, you can't stay in one spot or they'll find you."

"I don't know, Doug...all I know is that I left my girl pregnant with my daughter on the way and I need to make it right."Caed replied...as he looked off into the distance.

"All I can say, Caed, is I wouldn't get your hopes up. You don't know how Fiona will react to you and your daughter is now middle-aged in her late thirties. She's lived a whole life without you."

"I know..." Caed had conflicting emotions warring within him as he stared off into the distance yet again.

"Right now, we have to get jobs...you got any ideas?" Dougal asked..."After all, we have to pay the bills on the shack we just bought." he said as they slowly walked back towards the little hovel that was all that was theirs in this world.

"I don't know, maybe ask the local boss if he has any job-openings?" Caed responded sarcastically. "Do I look like an upstanding citizen to you? I don't think the police department would give me a second look, eh?

Surprisingly there were openings, but payday wasn't until next day, so they wouldn't be able to do anything unless they managed to filch a few objects to sell off. They didn't want to make their reputation known yet, keep it on the down-low to keep themselves from becoming a target by others out to make their name in the game. However they did it, they would have to bin for the night to ensure that they didn't end up spending the money that they had carefully held in reserve.

However it just so happened that Dougal got into an argument with one of the citizens of Riverview just outside the diner. That didn't bode well for the other guy, because Dougal was hot-headed and mean-spirited and he rarely ever lost a fight.

Evidently Dougal insulted the guy...because he stepped back with one foot and glared at Dougal. Way to make friends and influence people, Dougal.

Lo and behold, who should appear but a family who strode into Hogan's diner like they owned the town and they did (Haruo was the chief investor for practically all the businesses except for Good Citizen's Warehouse - he didn't delve into criminal enterprises. Caed realized that it was Fiona's family when to his surprise, she stepped out of the vehicle, she was dressed finely as he used to remember she did. But then there was yet another woman, one who he suspected was around what his daughter would be as Dougal had mentioned. He had been away from her for a long time. He called out to her, "Miss?" The woman in the red Canada 150 t-shirt looked back at him, "Yes...?"...and to his surprise, she approached him, as Fiona and a young girl were talking by the sidewalk as others got out of the car.

"I am a Mrs...I'm married." the woman ventured, and as Caed looked deeper into her green eyes, he realized the fine age lines starting to accentuate his daughter's face.

"I've been away too long." he said.

"What?" the woman asked him, and he realized he had said it out loud.

"What's your name, mine's Caed." he asked.

"River." she replied looking back at him.

Caed's heart exulted that his daughter was so open. Certainly her life hadn't made it so that she was distrustful of everyone.

"River..." he said quietly, feeling the way her name rolled off his tongue. "I don't know if your mother ever told you about me..." he continued, pausing only for a moment when he saw that she had tensed up.

"What are you talking about? I have no idea who you are?" It was too dark to see facial features very well in the dim light around the diner, they really should put up lights around the area for security.

"River..." he pressed on, "I don't mean to be forward, but you must be about mid-30s now." he looked at her for confirmation.

"I really don't know why I'm telling a total stranger, but I'm nearly forty." River said...and Caed nearly sank to his knees as his heart welled in a paroxysm of grief. He'd left his daughter for nearly the entirety of her life.

"River...oh...River..." Caed said brokenly, "I should have come back sooner." as River reared back in alarm.

Caed felt a piercing gaze in his direction and looked towards it. Fiona was striding towards them with a dire look of enmity in her gaze. "Why the ~bleep~ are you here? Caed?" She snarled at him, "When you left me 38 years ago, you didn't even think to care that you were leaving our daughter for me to raise alone. And I think I did a pretty darn good job, no thanks to you. So why did you come back? Who did you swindle this time? Or is someone after you now?"

River was in shock. She never realized that the man that she was talking to was her long-lost father, the man who had never been around to see her grow up, get married, start a family and age into the fully-adult woman that she was now.

There was a tumult in her head; the confusion of questions trying to work their way out of a mouth that seemed to be too small to get them all out at once. "Honey, did he say anything hurtful?" Fiona asked her.

With all the confusion in her brain, all she could do was shake her head, "No..." she said simply - and out of that confusion only one word came out, "Why?"

"Please Fiona; I know I did wrong," Caed pleaded, "I know I didn't do the right thing, but I want to do it now...to make up for all the years that I missed." He paused for a long moment, ignoring even the wet contact of fist meeting flesh as Dougal knocked the guy he was arguing with right out like a burnt out light. "Fiona, please, I beg you, don't keep me from my daughter."

"Not now, Caed, I'm going to have to really think about whether or not I'm going to let you back into River's life...or tell you to leave us alone."

"You had a choice...you took the one that left you with the least amount of obligations. You chose to not do anything to make contact with your daughter. I had to raise her from the time she was a baby to the time that I handed her hand off to her husband. She has now been married for over 19 years and in all that time, you were never around. So you're darn right I'm angry. As a matter of fact, I'm livid."

"I need time to think, Caed. I need to think about what this means to her and what this means to me. I also need to think about whether you deserve a second chance - you won't get one from me, I'm already married to a new man, but whether you deserve a second chance with your daughter. I need to think about whether you're worthy of a second chance or whether I should just tell you to go to hel. I suggest you leave...before I change my mind and give into my latter inclination." Fiona snarled.

If one could look into Caed's eyes, one could see the devastation those words wrought in his heart. But he knew that he had royally woohoo'd the pooch and the realization was a bitter pill to swallow. He resisted the temptation to look back. If Fiona told him to go to hel, even remembering his daughter's face would hurt too much.

As they changed to go into the diner, Fiona looked into her daughter's eyes to see the pain and anguish in them...and she knew that she would have to talk with her daughter about everything that happened before River even existed. And it was not going to be an easy talk.

Fiona noticed that her daughter was quiet all through dinner as the cataclysm of new information cascaded through her. Her father was back and he wanted back into their carefully ordered life.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Molly's Shocking Experience

When the Chikamoris got back from Hogan's Diner, they headed upstairs for bed. Molly hung downstairs for a bit to have a good stiff drink.

At least she hadn't been witness to the altercation outside Hogan's Diner, since she was working at the Bistro, but a good drink never hurt regardless.

"Are you sure?" Haruo asked River. "You do know that he left you without even bothering to check out whether you were OK or not? And now you want to let him back in...?"

"Honey...he's my dad and I need to get to know him before it's too late."

Haruo stared for a long moment out the window. "If you're sure...about this...I'm not going to raise any objections. But...promise me this. He hurts you, I get to hurt him and he's going to end up in ER if I have anything to say about it."

"I know, sweetheart," River replied "You've always been there for me, but it's just something that feels right, that I need to do. I need to get to know my Dad."

"Don't forget that..." Haruo stated firmly as he took River into his arms, "I'll have your back, always. I've kept my vows and I intend to keep on keeping them."

Nothing more needed to be said as their lips met in a kiss that meant more than what it implied - faith, hope in the future, love...all of it.

Next day was a lot of intense activity, such as school for the kids and laundry day for River. When the kids got back from school they had to do homework - they had to keep up with the schoolwork and achieve good solid test-scores. B+ or better. A's were preferred, A+ was perfect. And if they got on the Honor Roll, so much the better.

That night, Molly went for a swim, despite the fact that there were indications that there was going to be a major thunderstorm. But Molly clearly wanted to do what she wanted to do, considering that one of her traits was a party-animal and no thunderstorm was going to dampen her desire to go for a swim.

Yeah, probably not...but whether it was the wise choice was left up to the jury...

They say lightning never strikes the same spot twice...

Well, that got proven wrong...very wrong.

Everyone thought that Molly was a goner, but she barely clung to life...and managed to stagger her way to her bed and crawl in it...after managing to drag herself to a shower and wipe off the singed moodlet. That was an electrifying experience and she certainly didn't want to repeat it a third time. (Watcher's Note: resetSim before the Grim Reaper shows up does wonders).

Everyone in the family thought that she was done for and were going through a mourning process. Satoshi didn't even realize that his wife had staggered in the house and was now trying to sleep the electrocution off. He started wailing at the foot of the bed, snivelling and crying which ended up waking poor shell-shocked Molly up.

The wailing and crying caused Molly to roll her eyes and exit the room to get some peace and quiet, only to find Fiona and Toshiyuki bawling their eyes out as if she had gone to Grim's Ghostly Reward."Oh good heavens." she muttered as she headed up the stairs only to be met by Susan who was snivelling fit to wake banshees up. "Oh Creator, help me, this is going to drive me crazy...Does everyone think I'm dead?" muttered Molly.

"Why...why..." Susan moaned; her arms outstretched in beseechment.

"Oh great...Susan...Get a grip...I'm OK!"Molly retorted.

She hurried up the stairs to the ground floor...where some banging drums attracted her attention. Yep...the only cheery person in the house...

Half naked, only in underwear, banging the drums with a beatifically goofy expression on his face: Haruo. Can't beat that. "I need a stiff drink, muttered Molly and headed to the bar.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Things Get Back to Normal

Once everything was sorted out and people realized that Molly wasn't dead, everyone went and did their own thing. River, wanting some peace and quiet after that last night's brouhaha, went and sketched in the martial arts room downstairs.

Meanwhile there were tardy students around Riverview who had no inclination of going to school, but somehow, this particular student felt as though he was being watched.. The Watcher, being his usual sadistic self, decided to give that particular Sim a 1 GV (gigavolt) reason to go to school. Hey, it was a jolt to wake him up as to the necessity of maintaining a good school attendance record. Listen, kids, stay in school.

Masatoshi and Susan after a long day at work at the Science Lab headed home.

This time, Yasunobu decided that at the ripe old age of 70 that he would learn to play the drums. Haruo was beyond the age where that kind of thing was embarrassing. "Hey, Dad, whatever you want to do, eh...just give'r." If Roger Taylor could do play at a high calibre of drum-playing at 68, why the heck not?

When the kids got home from school, they went straight to the kitchen table or sat on the floor and ended up doing their homework. They were good kids.

Fiona did yet another politicial campaign fundraiser...when one ends up going for the highest office in Canada, one needs to have a large purse to draw from. There are plenty of lobby groups in Canada, however, they don't have the purse-strings or the influence that US lobby groups have. But Fiona was doing alright by herself, with her benefactors. On top of that her power base and her influence was growing.

In the morning, Haruo headed off to the Elixir Shop to consign some gemstone dust as well as a few lower-end gems to see if they would sell.

Sandi, Yasunobu and Satoshi were doing a jam-session.

Haruo decided to cook dinner, and then joined their jam-session adding some keyboard to the mix.

That got River all hot...and she asked him if he wanted to go woohoo in the shower to cool down. She didn't really have to ask. Like F-14 Tomcat pilots proudly wear on their flightsuit shoulder patch. "Anytime...baby..."

No sane man ever says "no" to that kind of invitation from their significant other.

...of course men love getting all "relaxed...". Heh heh heh...

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Spirit Shenanigans

Heading down to the graveyard to see how the quieter 97% lived (well...in RL the dead outnumber the living by well, $180B, well...you would normally expect things to be rather dead...(sorry, had to again...that pun must be getting really moldy). But for some spirits, they tended to get rather paranomally active again.

Except for one Riverview denizen who was still breathing and for some odd reason decided that tonight was a great night to come out to the graveyard, well...it seemed as though there was nothing actively haunting that night.

She seemed like a cheery individual. "Hi, my name is Meadow Carpenter-Rhodes. I'm a blonde, hehe. In my spare time, I like long walks in the park and creeping around in graveyards after midnight."

Well, it wasn't too long before Funioki decided to pop out of the ether (had to get a shot of him...while he was still alive for the family tree so went into CAS) and well, since he drowned, he hung around dripping.

Alas, he wasn't alone for long, for an evil-sounding cackle emanated from the only other grave in the private family plot.

Yes, of course, the wicked never rest. And the yellow lightning-streaked spirit of Mayumi cackled gleefully as she gazed spitefully over at Funioki who recoiled in horror as Mayumi's evil spirit floated over to him.

From this, there was no escape, she was dead, just as he was and it was eternal. And she could pursue him until time could no longer be measured. She gazed at the mausoleum for a moment and then let out a reverberating cackle that made Funioki shiver.

Seeing how it was his only form of shelter away from that evil spirit, Funioki made a dash for the mausoleum, but he wasn't quick enough.

Mayumi let out a shrieking cackle of malicious joy as she scared the ectoplasm out of him. For once, Funioki wished that there was a ghost hunter nearby so that he could be rid of this malicious revenant.

Funioki cringed as he looked up at the sky in beseechment. "Please Watcher, can't you do something about that ghost? She's going to torture me for eternity."

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Brianna Becomes a Teen

In the morning, Fiona worked on her computer writing articles and Yasunobu poked at the ground in hopes of getting more vegetables to grow. He was gradually increasing the quality of output in his garden, but frankly it was a lot of drudge-work.

Haruo, after working out in the in-home martial arts dojo, made a scrumptious breakfast. They are so lucky to have both a five-star chef and a chef de cuisine in the same home. Although Haruo is no-longer working for the Bistro - he still can whip up a perfect meal thanks to the Minus-One Kelvin refridgerator.

Dinner was an "everybody get yer own grub" sort of an affair. Nothing was ever really formal in the Chikamori household. Everyone primarily did their own thing, but there were two things that were certainly a part of the daily routine: their kids did their homework on time and they went to bed at a certain hour. Other than that, everything else was negotiable.

A peek down at the graveyard pretty much gave off the impression that fall was coming to an end and that snow was imminent. There was a fine layer of frost on the mausoleum roof and the grass glistened with hoar-frost.

And frankly, the Watcher didn't want to stick around the house because..well, everyone was asleep, except for two people...and well...um...(nope...not going there).

In the morning, Brianna aged up to teen and of course, they had to have a party for her. She pondered a moment as she figured out what her silent wish was going to be and then she blew out the candles. And the transformation over-took her as she aged up from child to teen-ager.

She aged up into a beautiful teen with large expressive eyes and a winsome smile.

...who was extremely cheerful, friendly and artistic, loving long conversations with family members.

As a bonus, birthdays celebrated in the morning, allowed the birthday celebrant to stay at home for the day...so Brianna took full advantage of this and enjoyed her day-off.

While dear old dad had to deal with the silly garburator...(Canadian term for garbage disposal unit)... GAR-BUR-ATOR...see so much easier: one word, you don't have to remember three.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Lots of Chores

Since teens are able to do a lot more things than children, Brianna's first task as a teenager was to learn self-defence skills. So she went to work on the training dummy.

Eventually, dear Dad came to join her in beating up on the martial arts dummies in the training room...and so did Mom.

Brianna worked out long enough that she worked up an appetite and she decided to eat to celebrate earning her orange belt. If any boys tried anything, they'd probably be flat on their backs with a bruised chest and perhaps broken arms courtesy of Brianna's new skills.

Satoshi's son, Aidan had his birthday and he turned into a teen as well. He grew up into a handsome, responsible teenager.

Haruo wasn't all too fond of the birthday cake and decided to let others have it, so he helped himself to a piece of key lime pie to celebrate his cousin's birthday which amused Allan and Sandi to no end.

Of course, Mama River had to deal with the dishes and the laundry that day.

Sandi just realized how much a bolt from the blue could scramble one's mind. And frankly it did just that, enabling Sandi to drop several unworthy traits, such as the evil and slob traits and replace them with something else. Call it shocking the little witch back onto the right path.

A new Sim Fu training room was built upstairs on the very top floor and things were arranged that the Sim Fu sifu was able to have his own chair to sit down in while instructing the class.

Unfortunately it seemed as though the washing machine took that opportunity to break down and started spilling suds from every orifice. Well, that meant that Haruo had to mop up the floor before undertaking a fixing job. After which he ended up having to make dinner...which well...after that maintenance job, all he had the energy for was to make French toast. Here...everyone...have breakfast for dinner. Enjoy.

River ended up finishing up the washing by folding the laundry (and watching it vanish into mid-air)

Well that was par for the course for having 16 people in the house. Lots of chores.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Just Your Average Daily Grind

Well, gosh darn, Aidan got the somewhat "bright" idea to go out during a lightning-warned thunderstorm. He wanted to catch some fish. Well, he caught something alright. A lightning bolt, right in the noggin. That probably scrambled his braincells pretty goshdarn good. Maybe he'll get the disciplined trait.

Well, that scared him so badly that he passed out. Hopefully he didn't hit his head too badly when he impacted the ground.

Most dinners were grab yer own grub.

And Susan gave her husband an indulgent look - both of them still in love after all these years. Haruo was glad that his dad had found someone as special as Susan after all those years with that witch, Mayumi.

He and River were just as in love with each other as they were the first time they set eyes on each other (OK...since they were little tykes...back then...that might be a stretch but they'd been married for nearly 14 years...and they were happy. together).

It certainly helped that some of the members were musical, so they were able to provide some after-dinner entertainment.

...and that went over well with the rest of the family who watched them play.

And Fiona went over to the Bistro to do yet another campaign fundraiser. Hopefully she'll make Leader of the Free World before she retires.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Caed and Dougal Get A New Home (And Dougal Gets an Attitude Correction)

It was the next afternoon around sunset that Caed and Dougal decided to pay the Chikamoris a visit...since Dougal had been supportive of Fiona's campaign to become Leader of the Free World (or Prime Minister), Fiona had softened her stance towards Dougal at least. All Caed wanted to do was to spend time with his daughter. Being the Dad he should have been all those years ago.

"Dougal, do you believe the size of this house? It's freakin' enormous!" Caeden's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Where did Fiona get this kind of money."

Dougal replied. "It's not hers, it's her son-in-law's and daughter's money that made this." Dougal gestured at the property. "They've got a ton of money. But because we need to get in their good graces, I told my guys to stay away from this property. They're not to set foot in it under pain of being removed with due prejudice."

In the crime world, Dougal was a kingpin. He controlled a group of guys who did odd-jobs for him, like breaking and entering, stealing cars and roughing up other gang-members who weren't a part of his gang. And of course, if he didn't exempt Fiona's house from his target list to rob, she could make life really miserable for him if she got into office as Leader of the Free World.

When Fiona came out, she pretty much ignored Caed and concentrated her conversation with Dougal. "Look, I really don't like that I have to give Caed a home, but he is River's father and River has expressed a desire to get to know her father, but I'm going to throw him out if he hurts River again.

Dougal looked warily at the Asian men standing around them, especially the one with the UBC Hockey jersey. The guy looked like he could take on a tiger and win. And that guy didn't look like he was very happy to see him.

"One minute..." the guy looked over at Fiona. "I have a few words I want to exchange with this guy..." And the next thing Dougal knew, he was being slammed up against the wall inside the gate.

"I gotta few things to say about how you treat YOUR daughter...punk." Haruo snarled as he put his massive forearm up against the throat of one Dougal McArthur with the implicit threat that he would exert the five pounds of pressure needed to crush his larynx if Dougal tried anything. "You hurt Caitlin and you're going to be answering to me, Understand?" the hissed threat was clear. If Dougal did anything to Caitlin, this guy would be wiping the floor with Dougal's carcass.

Dougal nodded, but as the guy let go of him, he lashed out with a right cross...but the guy wasn't anywhere near where Dougal's fist whiffed through the air. Nope...not even close. And lights went off in his skull as Haruo's elbow impacted the left side of his head.

A shrill "Kiyii" made his ears ring as Caed's daughter's right foot slammed up hard against Dougal's right ear, pretty much driving Dougal's skull deeper into Haruo's elbow. Nope, trying to hit Haruo was not a productive course of action, especially when Haruo and his wife were both kung-fu masters.

"OK...OK...I give..." Dougal said. "I won't try to punch you again..."

Haruo gave him a stone-cold stare. "I trust I've made my point clear?"

"Crystal..." Dougal replied as he tried to shake the ringing out of his head.

Haruo brooked no quarter from Dougal. "You'd better quit that job of yours too, because if you're going to live here, I don't want visits from the police. If you're not, then walk out that gate."

When Haruo got inside, he went over to River...giving her a heat of the moment kiss for giving him a hand. Dougal shook his head...because his head still hurt. Caeden made himself at home, going to the fridge for a left-over meal. Out of the corner of his eye, Caed saw his daughter respond to the heat-of-the-moment kiss and another pang of sorrow swept over him. He hadn't been there to give his daughter away to this man who was his daughter's husband.

He sighed as he saw just how close the two of them were...

...and swore to himself that he would be there for River and her children...for the rest of his existence. It was the least he could do.

...and that resolute, silent promise that he made to himself, was one that he swore that he would give his life to keep, as he headed upstairs after finishing his meal...to his bed.

...where he was able to sleep with a clear conscience for the first time in his life.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Alanna's and Masatoshi's Birthday Parties

The next day happened to be Alanna's aging up day, where she went from a child to a teen-ager. The kids as a group wanted to go to "military school" (The Watcher is going insane trying to keep track of 18 people in the household, so the kids get to go to school until they age up to young adult. Yasunobu has 100-something days left until his elder days runs out, so I'll bring them back home around 75 days)...so the parents acquiesced and decided that the kids would all go to CFB (Fort) Starch Military Academy where they would be screamed at by drill-instructors and made to mark off the parade square. "By the LEFT...QUICK...MARCH!!! LEFT TURN!!!" They would learn very quickly...as to whether or not they were of military calibre or not.

Alanna aged up into a teen with gorgeous long straight hair, but it wouldn't stay that way for long...

She would opt to cut it in the same style as Grandma Fiona.

...and Haruo and River would sneak off and enjoy themselves...

As the kids had wanted, they all went to boarding school together and Haruo enrolled them together at CFB Starch.

Pickup would be on Monday.

It also happened that Masatoshi had the same day for a birthday as Alanna and well, the entire family got to overdose on cake.

Masatoshi became a full-fledged adult, joining Haruo and River in adulthood.

Of course, the good ol'middle-aged bones needed some cake to go along with it - presumably for the calcium from the milk needed to bake that cake.

After which, he and his fiancee, Caitlin headed outside to go watch the stars.

...and Caed took some time to get to know his grandson.

He regretted missing all the times that he could have gotten to know his family; well, he wouldn't miss any more.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

The Inexorable March of Time

For many of the older adults in the family, life went by so quickly. And it was time. Yasunobu felt old-age creep around the corner and well...it couldn't be stopped.

For most, it seemed to be that the eve of the latter part of one's life should not really be celebrated...insofar as it marked the twilight of one's existence. But Yasunobu appeared cheery enough.

Well the transition went well, he went from a distinguished looking middle-aged man to a distinguished looking elder.

...and he looked so much like the Watcher's late father.

His beloved wife, Susan, joined him in elder status soon after.

Dougal and Caed were hit with the aging up too.

...and then his brother, Toshiyuki...also got his birthday; then Fiona, then Molly, then Satoshi.

There would be a lot of A535 needed in that household after all that...the aging creaking bones. (Don't laugh, the Watcher has enough arthritis to last him a lifetime...)

Quite a few retired and since they all decided that they were going to enjoy their birthday, they all decided to stay home from work.

Part of aging up meant that one wasn't as full of energy as they were when they were younger. Poor River...she didn't look happy that that was what she and Haruo were looking forward to as they aged...

But that wasn't going to let Haruo stop him from loving his wife.

...and neither was that going to stop things from breaking down. It seemed as though Dougal was interested in tackling the washer that had broken down and started sparking and throwing up its load of laundry soap all over the floor. Luckily he didn't meet the Reaper early.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Evidently The Creator Doesn't Like Aliens and Caitlin Ages Up

It was a pleasant snowy evening in Riverview; quiet and peaceful. After all, it was close to Snowflake Day and all the sims were happy, except for those who had late-night business at City Hall - yeah...have to pay the municipal taxes or else the property might get seized and auctioned off and that would be a nasty Snowflake Day present; to find that you no longer have a roof over your head. Merry Snowflake Day. Pay your taxes. This has been a public service message from your friendly neighbourhood tax-man.

There's also no accounting for random lightning strikes (courtesy of the Creator). Yeah, the Creator has a bone to pick with aliens. Yes, he's xenophobic. "Quit abducting my creations..." ZAP!

...and if that didn't get the message through...try a meteor on for size.

~Creator Aside~ "You know...it's been real quiet lately as far as UFO abductions...I wonder why?" ~evil grin~

...and of course, the gigantic space rocks helped my Chosen Sims out immensely.

In the morning, Caitlin aged up to full adult.

For once, her father, Dougal, was there with her to celebrate.

...and she became a mature adult, pretty much like the rest of the adults in the house.

...and as soon as the Creator figures out just how long of a life-span that he's going to allot these sims for their legacy lifespan, things will get evened out as far as regular birthdays are concerned.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Selling Paintings and Lessen Target Practice

After Caitlin's birthday, things got back to normal, with River selling paintings, and Haruo doing the same with his. There was a lot of work to be done mainly because City Hall had just jacked up taxes...and well...when you get hit with a §28K bill every three-four days, it's not a fun situation, if you can't pay it. So what do you do? You work your heinie off; that's what.

And...so did Yasunobu who worked in the garden...and tried to make vegetables...from normal quality into perfect quality...and at least leave a legacy of grown items that would help to make a great harvest and probably earn some money along the way.

But that was only if Haruo took up the reins. Perhaps if he let River do all the painting work. Both Masatoshi and Caitlin were Level 5 in their careers, Caitlin was now a Middle School Teacher and Masatoshi was a Carnivorous Plant Tender (we're still debating whether or not he's going to get eaten one of these days at work or not - tender can mean one of two things; y'know)

Dougal, noting the obituaries, realized that there was a major problem...many townies were being deposited by the funeral services at the Chikamori Private Cemetery rather than at the main cemetery in the township. That would not do, so Dougal went and cleaned out the mausoleum.

Nobody but Chikamoris and their kin at the Chikamori Private Cemetery! No ifs, no ands, no buts.

...of which well...thanks to Caitlin being engaged to Masatoshi, Dougal, if he met Grim at anytime, would be interred at the Chikamori Private Cemetery.

Evidently the patriarch of the Shallow family had passed away recently and well, it just so happened that Mary Kay Shallow had wanted to remember her father with a painting from the proceeds that she had inherited. She called Haruo and asked him to bring over one of his paintings and purchased it, no matter what the cost was, it was being bought in her father's memory. "My family and I...our deepest condolences for your loss, Mary Kay." Haruo stated as he passed over the painting to Mary Kay Shallow. "He will be remembered..."

"Thank you..." Mary Kay said as she shook his hand and Haruo made his exit.

River sold a painting of her own and considering just how much more experience she had in the painting thing, she certainly brought in a good amount of simoleons with that sale. It went for over §32K and that would certainly knock off a good portion of the tax bill that came in.

Evidently Constance Shelley was not home at the time and Jon Lessen, the town gigolo...considering how many kids he had to pay child support for, was stuck outside on a snowy night wondering when Constance would return home. Preferably before he turned into a popsicle.

Luckily he moved before a meteor struck the street.

He was certainly lucky since the impact and blast didn't come anywhere close to him.

You see, boys and girls, this is why you don't drop meteors near your house...

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Moving into the New House

It was a cold winter and the builders moved like never before. It didn't take very long for them to put up this house. Probably because they didn't want to hang out in the cold for very long while erecting this structure. They went ahead and put the pagoda roof on the house so that the home didn't have snow blowing in and wrecking the wood used in the framework. Wood-rot starts out this way...and that's why most houses aren't started in the winter-time. Foolish Sims.

There was an Butsudan 仏壇, a home shrine for Buddhist prayers which took up a great deal of room downstairs - lined with tatami floors. The Bodhisattva or Buddha had the place of honor in the center side of the room with praying Sims facing east and along the south wall of the room, there were the pictures of the deceased as well as incense bowls that were lit when they were prayed over. (~Watcher Aside~: Maybe one of these days when I get adventurous enough, I'll create a prayer pose-pack for Sims 3. Don't hold your breath, it might be a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG while)

On the main floor, the Chikamori family swords were displayed along with a suit of armor worn by Chikamori Genjiro, a first lieutenant in the Tokugawa Shogunate in the Tokugawa versus the Toyotomi clan. The daimyo promoted him and gave him lands as a sworn samurai. So the armor was a point of pride with the Chikamori family.

The first thing Yasunobu did when he moved in was to go break space rocks in the martial arts practice room.

Haruo made some food, because just the move from the old house to the new, caused all the food to spoil and it was a whole-sale dump-fest.

Fiona spent time discussing election matters with her husband, Toshiyuki, and well, he was very supportive of his wife.

And River proceeded to thoroughly whomp the living hel out of her sons in Battlefront II.
Allan: "Mom got my trooper!"
"Told you that I was going after the stormtroopers...didn't I? But you didn't believe me..."
"Haha...Allan, you're getting your rear-end handed to you by Mom...Haha..."
"Shut up, Braden!"

Dougal being cantankerous and old at the same time, ended up grumbling, "I liked it better at the old house."

Either that...or his underoos are crawling up his crack...and he's not happy about it. With Dougal, you never know.

Alanna being a virtuoso, gravitated towards the Bosenklavier Concert Grand Piano.

...and Haruo finished making dinner for everyone...so that everyone could eat.

...and after dinner, what else was a better night-cap than cuddling with his wife, River.

Which well...ended up...right where you think it did.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Bad Decisions; and Even Badder Ones.

When the builders were done, there was some alterations that needed to be worked on. A torii is not so much a gate as it is an object of reverence; Only a Shinto deity is allowed to walk through the center of the torii. If a mere mortal must pass through the gate, he will walk to the inner side of the gate, not through the center, or he will by-pass it entirely in devout reverence to the deities. So unfortunately, another pass-through gate had to be created.

Let's just say the builders weren't impressed; more freezing their buns off was required to add another gate to the fence. Oh well, that's life. Shikata ga nai. (an old Japanese saying that roughly means "It can't be helped." Or depending on the vocal intonation, it could also be construed as saying "Tough caca...Deal with it."

While the builders were swearing up a storm (you know, "Flark this, Flark that...Flarkin'...~bleepin' snow~") Haruo headed off to Aleister's Elixirs...and pawned off a few more low quality jewels. After all, his personal inventory was getting a bit crammed. How the living daylights these sims can carry it all, is impressive. And they're also able to pull objects out of thin air. The other alternative is rather stomach-churning.

While River was waiting for her husband to return from his weekly visit to the apothecary, she worked on cleaning (till pristine - neat sims are obsessive about cleanliness), and looking out the window for her husband's Margarite Vaguester.

Of course, when he got home, the first thing he did was flirt and of course, that was definitely appealing to River.

But River had cooking to do...and well...Caeden was pleasantly surprised to see how well his daughter could cook.

Dinner time was jam-packed at the two dining room tables. Considering that it required eighteen sims to get fed, it was quite annoying to say the least, but eventually everyone was able to quell their stomachs with delicious food cooked by both River and Haruo.

However, Dougal had the idea that he would head back to his old haunt to see what things were up to over there. Probably not the best idea that he'd had since giving up his position as criminal kingpin.

Yep, Life sucked the big one for poor Dougal, because just as he'd gotten in the gate... BLAMMO!

Well...gosh, golly gee...that wasn't a fun situation to be in. Looking for your old buddies in crime one minute...and then pulverized into a mushy pulp...by a rock...hurtling through space, flattened and burned to a crisp. Yep, Dougal got turned into a pancake.

Maybe the Reaper would be magnanimous and allow Dougal to continue living, but kind of hard when one was pulverized to the thickness of a 20lb bond letter paper and his bones were now ash. Oh well...

Nope, looks like Grim wasn't in the mood today, so it looked as though Dougal would be joining the heavenly choir, he was gone to meet his maker, laid out in repose, done for, erased, extinct...(okay...I think we all get the picture). Deader than a doornail. Well, he'd definitely poked the pooch on this one, as far as bad decisions went. And he paid dearly for it. Well...shikata ga nai, eh.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Evidently the Watcher Isn't Done Playing Cosmic Dice Throw

As callous as it may seem, life went on, as Dougal's remains were interred at the cemetery. They had to eat, milk the cows and get the eggs from the chickens as well as make breakfast, lunch and dinner. These were the necessary tasks of life.

It was certainly cold, insofar as climate went. Just when it seemed like it couldn't snow any longer, there was yet another snowfall in the forecast.

Because Caeden was closest to Dougal, he was the one who went to retrieve Dougal's remains from where he became a crispy critter.

But all's well that ends well and finally Dougal was interred at the family cemetery.

As much of a jerk as Dougal was, he was still family and even though he wasn't as much of an "evil creep" like Mayumi; he was missed by most members of the family - most of all by kind-hearted Alanna.

Which was more than could be said for Mayumi...

The rest of the family just put up their chin and made a brave face. Who knew that there was a meteor strike that just happened to kill one of their family members? Sometimes life was very fleeting and it was just a chance roll of the dice of fate that determined whether you lived or died. Of course, River and Haruo sort of regretted how harsh they were to Dougal...and Haruo had to cheer River up about it, even though he wasn't feeling all that chipper either.

Well it wasn't long before Earth was a target of yet another meteor storm. Evidently something in the magnetic field of the Sun shifted and it affected the trajectories of the asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and it certainly caused a much higher percentage of asteroid strikes than predicted. The next asteroid storm happened the very next day and Riverview was right in the target area. City Hall had no idea that it was right in the bulls-eye of that asteroid strike.

Nope, nary a clue...until two blasts rocked the cityhall as two gigantic asteroids impacted (When we think of gigantic, we think of two mile-wide asteroids...not a few feet or so; Extinction Level Event, guys. Not rinkydinky asteroids that Sims call "gigantic" which are only a few feet across.) causing a poor paparazzi to wet herself and turn into a ghost (albeit temporarily.

Such is life. You think you're safe from harm and then the universe decides that it's going throw the meanest curve-ball you've ever seen. Well at least no sims were hurt in the making of THIS chapter. Can't promise there won't be more deaths at some point in the story-line. ~evil grin~

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Death Hurts

River was also a compassionate soul and took Dougal's death hard; at least he was trying to make amends and well, unfortunately the meteor taking him cut short his attempts to mend fences with his daughter. Haruo, however, was not so magnanimous about it. "Oh, come on, honey, the guy was only trying to weasel his way back in because he knew that he would have a roof over his head for the rest of his life. If he had hurt Cait, I would have kicked his teeth in." There were some people and some transgressions for which there was no forgiveness.

You didn't just abandon your daughter and make her life a living hell then expect to waltz back into her life. Just as much, Haruo was skeptical of Caed's intentions too, but of course he was watching him with an eagle eye. But he was more willing to cut Caed some slack because his wife did and wanted her husband to as well. With Dougal, there was no such leeway. In 34 years of marriage, River had never seen her husband angry, but he was now. What Cait was feeling, the both of them would never know. Cait had withdrawn into her room upon word of her father's death...and it appeared that she had the computer on as loud as she possibly could.

"Can you honestly say that it was for Cait's benefit that Dougal came back...or was it because he'd run into a situation where it was either stop his criminal behavior or end up going to jail?" Haruo asked.

River honestly couldn't give Haruo a straight answer with regards to that because she didn't know the answer to that question and she realized that with Dougal's misfortune, they would never know the truth.

One by one, subdued, the other members of the family trickled down to the kitchen table in the morning, grabbing their morning repast in silence.

...and Alanna caught her taxi to CFB Starch.

The atmosphere in the house was subdued for a long while.

There wasn't really much that Haruo would say with regards to the past few days' events and River and Haruo mostly ate their breakfast in silence.

In other Riverview News, the Watcher tortured Quentin Carpenter-Rhodes for skipping school.

Quentin: "STOP IT...QUIT TORTURING ME WITH BEES"
Watcher: "Are you going to go to school? Quentin."
Quentin: "I'll think about it...now will you stop making the bees sting me! AGGGH!!!!"
Watcher: "I'll think about it."

C'est la vie...

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

A Brief Respite

With the bridge separating the road from the house, Haruo decided that he was going to toss his baited hook over the railing.

River went out to sell a few paintings, including a 15 painting Paint the City.

Considering the fact that dinner time came by rather quickly during the afternoon, Haruo got to cooking. Dinner was quiet ever since Dougal had been reaped. 10 mouths were quite the task to feed considering that Haruo had to make two servings to feed everyone which left six leftovers to go in the fridge.

Night fell over the property as they all slept.

Morning brought with it another round of cooking.

Haruo went out to pay the bills and then headed back into to transfigure some gemstones with the Carters XL table that they had just bought.

Since most of the family were elders, with the exception of Susan and Fiona, and retired, spending most of their time at home finding things to do that were more enjoyable than when they were working.

It was a bit of a respite from the tragedy that had happened to Dougal.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Burgers for Cops and Ghosts in the Graveyard

River concentrated on getting her cooking level up. She was now a Level 8 in Cooking skill and was able to make most of the dishes. It was very convenient for her cooking training that she was able to cook up a serving of hamburgers for the Riverview PD.

They had just recently replaced their grill so River utilized that to cook the burgers to give it that freshly grilled taste. There was nothing like home-cooked hamburgers; juicy succulent beef patties, tomatoes, onions, grilled to perfection, seasoned perfectly.

...and when the burgers were delivered, the police department enthusiastically accepted them, biting into them with great big smiles on their faces.

River emerged from the detachment, gratified that her burgers met the expectations of the police department's palate.

While she headed home, Haruo was outside doing some fishing. Sometimes it was nice to have home-pond caught fish and he was hoping for a nice succulent catch of salmon so that he could cook up a "grilled salmon" if he was lucky. But Haruo's fishing skill had kind of waned since he hadn't had much time for it until recently. But it was nice to have a rod and reel in hand and he enjoyed looking out at the water and the fish jumping out of it.

River decided to do some sketching when she got home, while Haruo got dinner together...and everyone came to the table to grab a bite to eat.

Haruo looked over at his father and thought to himself that it wasn't that long ago that they were young. Haruo contemplated the passing of time, that life was fleeting and that all too soon their lives were passing by. His father looked tired and haggard and he had slowed down considerably. Haruo was no spring chicken himself and he felt the aches and pains of age as well. As an adult, he knew that he didn't heal up as fast as he used to from injuries and sometimes the old martial arts injuries acted up. His father complained about arthritis periodically, but he kept going because his beloved Susan kept going. She was his life, much more than Mayumi ever was.

One by one, each of the Chikamori family headed off to sleep.

...but all was not quiet; at least not down by the graveyard.

Dougal was not happy with being dead. Dead Dougal had emerged as a ghost from his tombstone for the first time and he was not impressed with the afterworld.

The second ghost who popped up was Funioki...who made a direct beeline to the park across the street.

Dougal joined him and introduced himself, initiating a conversation.

...while Mayumi was her old cantankerous and evil self, left alone in the graveyard to cuss and point by herself.

Tough luck for her.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Home Hijinks

The mailman did not have a very satisfying existence and having to come out along what was considered Rich Man's Row was exceedingly emotionally disincentivizing. I'm working forty hours a week sorting mail and carrying it out to these people and they're living in so much luxury, he thought as he gazed upon the mansion that the people lived in. How is it that they have so much when those who work real hard have so little?

Seeing the mail arrive, Haruo promptly forgot that he was in his briefs and wandered out to get the mail, proceeding to give the neighbors a show.

So the Watcher decided that he was going to give Haruo a quick reminder as to why one shouldn't go out side without proper attire on.

Yep, shocking, isn't it?

Well, that experience made Haruo head into the house at a relatively hasty pace and up to the shower to removed the singed moodlet. Upon emerging from the shower, he decided to change into his martial arts attire and then went down to use the Carters XL table to transform some gemstones into larger gemstones.

...and have dinner...

Breakfast, of course, was a grab-yer-own-grub sort of affair and then Haruo went down to transform some more gemstones and get eggs from the chickens.

Fiona, after work, set up a party on election night which was that night. Today she would see if her plan to get elected would work out. The polls were open from 8AM to close of business that day, so there was still some time.

She talked to one of the people down at the political campaign HQ which happened to be the Bistro while they were waiting for the polls to close and for all the federal ballots to be counted.

River and Haruo enjoyed the hot-tub that Haruo had put in the backyard.

...yep more than enjoyed...

While that was going on in the backyard, Satoshi found that someone had left a jetpack on the front lawn.

...and knowing Satoshi's penchant for daredevil antics, well...his landings needed some work, but he still managed to walk away from the crashes.

Lucky for him...

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

The Jellybean Demise

It just so happened that Molly had brought home a jellybean tree and well, Molly just couldn't resist jellybeans. Oh, she had loved jellybeans from youth. And to see that jellybean bush sitting in her room...where she could enjoy a morsel now and then. Waking up and picking the first one, she felt a warm glow...eating a second one well...that pretty much caused her to have to run to the bathroom...because...she was on fire. Well at least she put herself out.

But unfortunately that didn't teach her that those jellybeans were dangerous. She got yet another warm glow from another one...and then another one...but she had a weakness for these jellybeans. Eventually by jellybean number 15...the odds caught up to her, she had inadvertently picked a black one.

Satoshi sensing something terribly wrong woke up to find his wife crumpled lifeless on the floor with Grim standing over her.

No amount of pleading and begging from Satoshi would deter the Reaper. Molly's time on this earth was up.

It was a sad day as her remains were brought down to the family cemetery and interred. Of course...after everyone left, Mayumi showed up and enjoyed the sight of the tombstone meaning that Molly was now within her realm and grasp.

Satoshi was heartbroken, he had lost the most important person in his life.

He could not be consoled.

Everybody was in a state of shell-shocked disbelief that Molly had brought in such a deadly plant into the house...it was thereby here-after locked in Dougal's old room and locked so that no-one could ever go near it again. Especially so that Satoshi couldn't try to eat a black jelly-bean himself.

...and Satoshi...well, he was stricken with grief...and not in his right frame of mind. He ended up sleeping out doors, wandering around aimlessly not knowing where he was, and not caring if he ate or drank until after the hunger-pangs were so intense that it made him nearly sick.

He spent inordinate amounts of time at the family cemetery with Molly's tombstone, grieving in private.

...and wandered in the park downtown...just looking sad, bereft and lost.

He was desolate, lonely and missed his wife incredibly.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

From childhood, Satoshi had been told never to rant about Death. He knew that carried severe consequences.

...but he was too old and too tired to care about consequences now. How dare Grim take his beloved wife. How could he go on without her. At least if there were ramifications, he'd entrusted his child's well-being to his nephew. Haruo would take care of him and make sure that he was raised well. And in any case, Aidan was a teenager. He'd be able to take care of himself soon enough. He didn't need Dad.

He tossed down his podium, got up on the thing and started ranting...about how unfair death was, that he had taken someone so dear to him, that he didn't care any more, while the rest of the family gathered, gasping in horror. Suddenly it felt tight in his chest...and crumpled to the ground.

Out of the corner of his narrowing field of vision, he saw the Reaper standing above him saying, "I heard your rant, I don't like what you said..." before his vision went black and his spirit separated from his body. "I'm not taking you this time, but you'd better not do it again." The Reaper stated in a hollow tone. "You won't be so lucky the next time."

Well, Satoshi got right back up on that podium and pointed the megaphone directly in the Grim Reaper's face and blasted him one.

"Do you think I am afraid of you. My ancestors were samurai, they died bravely when it was their time. I dictate my time...Do YOU HEAR ME, REAPER!!!"

"Others may fear you, but to me you are nothing! Do you hear me?"

That family was surprised that Reaper didn't just immediately slay Satoshi right there and then, but the Reaper explained in his ominous emanating from the depths of a tomb voice, "Your brother found a loop-hole in the contract here, I can't take his soul unless he rants again once I'm off the property. You might do well to gag him and stuff him in a closet and take that megaphone away from him, because the next time, I will have to abide by the terms of the contract."

Well...Satoshi didn't abide by the terms of the contract, nor did he agree to give his megaphone up because the second that the Reaper was off the property...

"Didn't learn, did he" Grim said as he reaped Satoshi's soul. "They never learn..."

Talk about traumatic...

But...at least Satoshi was with his wife again.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Making Sense of Satoshi's Death

...and so, yet another two photos went into the Butsudan-Memorial room.

The elders in the family realized that death could come at any moment, that life was fleeting, especially with the itchy trigger finger of the Watcher and they set about to making sure that their lifetime wishes were fulfilled. Masatoshi, though he was an adult and not an elder yet, realized that he was needing to fulfill his own life-time wish of becoming a robot-creature cross-breeder and set about making sure that everything was in place to achieve that goal.

Susan also realized that she was in the latter stages of her life and set about making sure that she was on track to fulfilling her life goal.

Seeing Grim directly in their house reaping one of their own had certainly traumatized the entire family.

...and while it had frightened them terribly, it had also galvanized them into action.

Toshiyuki headed off to the grocery store to drop off some of his fish to sell...utilizing the jet-pack that Satoshi had bequeathed to him. He wasn't much good at it, embedding himself headfirst into the ground, but managing to survive the crash. And the plus side of it was that he managed to sell his fish at a good price.

...and he was gratified to see that the fish were acceptable to the merchant.

But he missed his youngest brother deeply. The four of them, Yasunobu, Toshiyuki, Funioki and Satoshi were inseparable, but Grim had taken two of them (Funioki had drowned), and only two were left. Toshiyuki knew all too well that time was not on their side. Seeing his brother's headstone at the grave where he made a visit, only served to drive home that fact.

He stayed at the graveyard until after dark, until the shadows from the trees and the coldness of the air started to creep him out. Needless to say, his landing with the jetpack wasn't any better than the last time.

That night...it rained. And all things considered, no-one was in the mood to take down the Snowflake Day lights. Let 'em stay up until next year.

River just wanted to be in her husband's arms to drive away the image of Satoshi's cold corpse lying at the back of the couch before it was taken away by mortuary services.

Haruo wasn't in the greatest mood either and headed off to Aleister's to see if he could get rid of some jewels. And there the town thug, Maximus McDermott, picked the wrong time to pick a fight with Haruo, not to mention the fact that Haruo had a Sim Fu Master's belt.

Too bad, so sad, punk. "Minimus" McDermott got the ~bleep~ kicked out of him, but tried to say he won. Well, the Watcher took care of that lie.

You know what...Minimus. Lying is hazardous to your health.

Well, Grim, can you clean up that offal and shovel it somewhere out of the way? Thank you kindly.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

Getting Away From It All - A Shang Sim La Vacation

Evidently Landon Bagley had better things to do than going to school. The Watcher decided to change HIS mind.

First a lightning strike to let him know that the Watcher was annoyed; then a meteor storm that pretty much took out the parking lot of the pool. Needless to say, the little vermin managed to scamper away pretty much unscathed. I'll get the sim next time.

...and if Lorraine Cantina doesn't get out of the road, she's going to get hit by a car or maybe even something far worse.

Haruo drove home to get the mail and see what else needed paying, including the bills? Then it was finally time to go and enjoy a vacation, Shang Sim La beckoned.

[img]https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L6qnU5Pkq1w/WrdQ_🐸🐸🐸🐸_OI/AAAAAAAANb4/PzcDJo8zyfUM6UiAOhkH0IPjra73lcX9gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot-89.jpg[/img]

Seeing the Terracotta Warriors was a fun day out.

Haruo, River and Yasunobu went out for a close-family outing at Han's Garden

Haruo's Dad saw the two of them gazing at each other...and made an excuse to head over to the Academy, letting River and Haruo have some time alone together, of which they made very good use out of it.

The next day was spent at the Academy where they stayed late...practicing their Sim Fu.

Haruo and River spent the night together in the hostel where they took advantage of the intimate atmosphere of the sole queen-size bed on the top-floor of the hostel.

In the morning, they went down to the town merchant center to get some breakfast before they had to fly back. Haruo also asked one of the Shang Sim La residents to teach him some songs.

All in all, it was a great vacation, but it was more than satisfying to return home. Susan, Yasunobu, Haruo, River, Masatoshi and Caitlin were more than happy to get home and recuperate from the long flight from Beijing back to Vancouver International Airport, then a long drive to Riverview (let's just say that it's a fictional town on the Fraser River).

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

There and Back Again

Pretty much, as soon as Haruo and River and the rest of the family got home from Shang Sim La, evidently, the crocodiles started making their presence known. He had caught six before they had left for Shang Sim La and well, unfortunately, living in a Sims's pocket probably wasn't the best environment for them. (Just how big are those pockets anyways?) and they started getting antsy (and probably nippy too). Which meant that Haruo had to dispose of said crocodiles or at least one of them (probably the most nippy one) at the Science Center). So long, Cranky.

Yasunobu, in the morning, went back out to work in the garden. He's busy perfecting those Perfect vegetables and fruits. And gardening seemed to be quite the relaxing pastime for him.

Haruo, surprisingly, hadn't lost his leg due to crocodile bites and went out in his underwear, playing the violin (OMG, if it wasn't the Sims...(what a sentence)). No, the Watcher didn't drop a lightning bolt on him this time:
1. He was out in the backyard, meaning no traumatized neighbours.
2. He's now Level 7 in violin skill, meaning that what he plays doesn't sound like a cat being dissected by a Skilsaw.
3. He played some Bach...and that usually mollifies the Watcher.
4. His violin playing evidently keeps the cows happy and producing milk. (well had to explain why I posted up the picture of the hind-quarters of a TS3 cow...)

Fair enough?

Toshiyuki seemed to be quite handy with the jetpack and managed to make it to the grocery store to sell off some of his surplus fish stock and grab some links, steak, chicken and roast without impacting terra firma head first in a rather painful imitation of a drill. He's doing well with the jet-pack, at least far better than Satoshi ever did. You go, guy.

River went out and sold another one of her paintings for a substantial gain, which more than paid off the vacation that they had just had. She was now raking in over §40K per individual commissioned painting. And that's a lot of simoleons. Of course their bills on the house (taxes and utilities) were well over §40,000 a week, so she had to sell at least two commissioned paintings (large) to meet the bills and keep them in a positive cash flow rate. Of course, it helped that Yasunobu tended to like to break space rocks and make a mess of the martial arts training room so that Haruo had to keep selling the family jewels. (jewels come from rocks...OK...fine...I'll stop that train of thought... just had to go there, didn't I?)

Even though Susan was a Level 10 Mad Scientist in her science career, she still had to keep her ratings satisfactory to the big boss man or woman and well, she had to get her gardening and fishing up to standards; that meant going out and fertilizing the garden with freshly caught fish. Well, it was a way to get rid of the jelly fish that kept popping up on the line.

Haruo played some more violin in the living room, this time in attire somewhat more suitable as it was just after he'd broken some space-rocks downstairs.

...and Toshiyuki decided to work on his LTW of Descendant of Da Vinci by doing some inventing at the inventing table (He's already mastered Painting and Sculpting; now he has to master the Inventing skill). At least he hasn't set himself on fire...YET.

...which is a good thing that considering Funioki (who was already a ghost) and Satoshi dying of ranting about Death...well, the Chikamori family can't afford to lose yet another brother or poor Yasunobu will be all alone.

Nikkei_Simmer · March 2018

The Chikamori Selfacy

The Daily Goings On

Yasunobu, when he was not breaking space rocks and creating more gemstones for Haruo to pick up, was playing guitar...and having a grand ol' time enjoying himself.

Toshiyuki and Caeden got along famously and challenged each other to a game of chess and could usually be found hanging out in the Science Room; Toshiyuki inventing things and Caeden discovering potions.

Meanwhile on her days off, Susan Chikamori fertilized plants with freshly caught fish, working on her skills for her Mad Scientist job to keep them all up in the green.

In other parts of Riverview, Quentin caught fire again...

...and got struck by lightning. (the Watcher was bored...)

...and Toshiyuki made himself a candidate for CSIS investigation...by bombing the garbage dump (yay for det-packs). "No, investigator, I'm sorry, I had no idea that uncontrolled detonations are illegal. I was just looking for scrap."

...and the Watcher gave himself gits and shiggles by torturing Jon Lessen. "PAY YOUR CHILD SUPPORT!!!! THE WATCHER HATH SPOKEN!!!"

Meanwhile, Haruo and his Dad (Yasunobu) had a friendly game of pool. This household is stinkin' rich...they have two full-size pool-tables in the house. "HAIL TIBERIUM!!!"

...and River went off to sell another one of her paintings.

...and Toshiyuki had some more fun with det-packs. Hey, an old man has to have some fun now and again...or maybe he's just going senile and hasn't remembered that he bombed the place YESTERDAY...

In between all that insanity, River and Haruo never failed to take some time for themselves.

Ah, true love... C'est l'amour...Incroyable.

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THE CHIKAMORI SELFACY (WHY? BC CMAR_NYC's ASIAN SKIN Morph, THAT'S WHY!) REBOOT!

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The Sims Forums

****THE CHIKAMORI SELFACY**** (WHY? BC CMAR_NYC's ASIAN SKIN Morph, THAT'S WHY!) REBOOT!

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THE CHIKAMORI SELFACY (WHY? BC CMAR_NYC's ASIAN SKIN Morph, THAT'S WHY!) REBOOT!