Naoki and I didn’t have much sleep, just because I wanted to make sure Naoki had learned enough for the test today. That was a bad decision. Once at school, I noticed that Naoki was dozing off on his desk. Then I saw the teacher coming up with the tests in hand. Oh no, he has to wake up! “Pssshh, Naoki!”. No answer. “Oh no… Teacher’s gonna be mad…”. Yes, she was. The slap of papers on his desk jolted him awake. I could see the expression on his face. He was groggy and had a black out. Not good… Not good… Of course, his test results were even worse than yesterday. 38%. After school, Naoki walks away. I could see he was angry. “I’m going to the slopes. I need to cool down a bit.”. Sigh. I’m sorry, Naoki… To make things worse, I came home to a broken shower. “Argh, great. Just what I needed (not)”. I tried fixing the shower, but it was harder than I thought. Eventually I succeeded. Yay! When I got out of the bathroom, Naoki sat on our bed with his homework. He looked sad. “I’m sorry for being so childish earlier. You were just trying to help and I screwed up. I’ll try better.”. I sat next to him without saying anything. Just like that, he put his head on my shoulder. I stroke his hair. “I also screwed up. I should’ve known that sleep is important. I’m sorry.”. Then Naoki laughed. “Ah, we really are being cheesy while we should be making homework.”. Hehe. “Yeah, we are indeed.”. I took my homework, opened the book and started to read. “Come on, time to start!”.
Sakura and Kiyoshi wake up the next morning to watch the sunrise together. The weather is still freezing, and there are still wind gusts, but the winds have died down from last night. After using the pee bush and having a quick meal (Kiyoshi autonomously ate cereal), they pack up their gear.
To mark their 'summit claim', they make a snowpal together. Sakura gets a bit flirty after doing this. They are now ready for the final part and make snow angels together. Sakura then opens her pack and carefully removes an item and places it in the snow between the angels.
Sakura: "My sofu (grandfather) had made this climb when he was a teen with his father. And when my father was a teen, my sofu (grandfather) had made the climb with him. When my parents were tragically killed and my grandfather had to look after me, he promised me that we would climb the mountain together one day. He wanted to continue the tradition. He always joked that he wanted to do it when he was 77..."
Sakura continued with tears in her eyes, "...my Grandfather passed away last year, and the last words he said to me were "Promise me you'll make the climb." I promised him I would, and he smiled at me for the last time and closed his eyes and was gone."
Sakura: "He would have been 77 at the end of this month. Grandfather always told me that the mountain peak was like being close to the heavens. It certainly feels that way. Grandfather, I know that you are not here in person, but I can feel that you are with me here in spirit. I hope you will be happy here. You are with the angels now...."
Kiyoshi and Sakura stared at the urn in the snow and had a moment of silence together. Kiyoshi then turned to Sakura and hugged her.
Kiyoshi: "Sakura, you made the climb with your Grandfather yesterday. You have fulfilled your promise to him. And I am sure he is smiling at you from above. He will always be here on the mountain, living among the angels."
Sakura nodded, fighting back tears.
Kiyoshi continued, "Sakura, you are so brave, and your Grandfather and your parents would be so proud of you. I am so honored that you chose me to help you fulfill your goal. You know, when you first asked me to help you climb the mountain, I said yes because I wanted to leave home. To get away from my mother and her constant demands. But, well...over the last few weeks, I have...um...I have come to care about you...very much. You have given me so much to hope for in life. You have even made me enjoy snowboarding again. I really can't go back to the person I was before I met you. You have made an impact on my life."
Kiyoshi was interrupted by the ping of a text! Geez! It was from his mother! He turned the phone off, and looked lovingly at Sakura.
Sakura: "Kiyoshi...I could tell you were special when I first met you. I knew in my heart that you were the one who would help me on this journey."
Kiyoshi: "Sakura, promise me that we will make this climb together again? Perhaps when we are older? Maybe for my 25th birthday? Do you promise?"
Sakura: "Kiyoshi, yes, I promise. I would like to make the trek again with you. I would like to plan for a tomorrow with you..."
And with that, as the sun was high overhead, they kissed, as if to seal the promise. They took a moment and looked out over the mountain together, and Kiyoshi autonomously gives Sakura another kiss. Then, it was time to go.
With a backward glance at the urn sitting in the snow, Kiyoshi took Sakura's hands in his, both were smiling as they slogged through the snow towards home.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
* In Japan, certain ages are lucky. The celebration of one's 77th birthday is another example of ga no iwai. Age 77 is the “joyous year,” and to live until that age is indeed fortunate. The Japanese characters for kiju literally mean “joy” and “long life.”
*
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Urns, unfortunately, turn to gravestones when placed on the ground in The Sims. If anyone has ever seen The Bucket List movie, at the end, the remains of a friend are carried in a coffee can and placed on top of Mt. Everest, because the last wish they had on their bucket list was "to witness something truly majestic." This is where I got this idea.
Sakura and Kiyoshi both achieved the Trailblazer portion of the Extreme Sports Enthusiast Aspiration! Even though Sakura didn't climb courageously up the Croft Icefall Rock Wall, she still got a gold reward and the expert mountaineer trait. Plus she got $300 simoleons! She has a new Sentiment with Kiyoshi, Bonded During Epic Mountain Climb, and Mountain Mastery Inspiration. They unlocked some t-shirts, a mountain bracelet, and a climbing beanie in CAS. Further, in the challenge, I want her to max the rock climbing skill and go again because I read that if you climb a second time, there is a hidden lot with a cabin and hot springs which is unlocked on your second attempt. Plus, I would like to explore the caves, if I can find them.
Yet another different with Naoki and Bryon - one can function well on no sleep, and the other one thrives on it haha. Does the game give test percentages to high school students usually? I can't really remember seeing those before in my game.
Anyway, they are cute. I enjoy how easily they have fallen into a life together
It all makes sense now, why Sakura wanted to do the hike. That was a beautiful story (has she been carrying her grandfather's urn around since you started playing her?) I wish there was a way to choose if you want an urn or tombstone and not make it inside or outside specific. Sometimes you just want a tombstone in the middle of your kitchen, and sometime you want to place an urn on the ground!
Kiyoshi and Sakura are creating so many sentiments and bonds, I wouldn't be surprised if you have them get married eventually. They do make a cute couple. They encourage and motivate each other well.
When I saw that Sakura got flirty, I was like dang, they shouldn't have "fertilized" the bush because they they could have messed around in it but then after I saw where your update was going, a bush woohoo would not have been appropriate for the occasion lol
As I've said before, these two are opposites. Naoki really likes his sleep, and Bryon can just exist on none. Naoki was probably just frustrated with everything, and at least he apologized for his moodiness. And I think Bryon now understands that for Naoki to do well, he needs his sleep.
@Kanindota I can't even imagine trying to hold down a job to make money as a teen... the exhaustion would be too much. A challenge sure, but not much free time for fun. Nice that he got that "A".. life gets easier! @SoulGal7 I love the way you really bundled them up for the climb ... lol I don't even bother they just put on winterwear .. but it's much better for the story of it! It looks like a great climb! @permanentrose "Of course you were with Emmett" lol... Nice triangle going here .
@Skeilah They look so cute studying together! @SoulGal7 Awww man.. you made me cry! Such beautiful screenshots too..
Day 22
Roxanne is on the last part of the Extreme Sports Aspiration and thought I'd try to get her a little farther along... but when she checked the weather conditions on Mt. Komoebi it was fair, so she just did some hiking around and try to get attacked lol... (yeah that sounds wrong). Unfortunately nothing attacked her in the Yukimatsu area. She did make a new friend though, Marcus Flex this time. Her list of future conquests is growing!
After the hike she had to snowboard a little more, she's very highly skilled now so might as well try to skill it all the way up before the month ends.
Later that weekend she went hiking again through the Bamboo forest this time with our old pal Clement and got attacked enough times to finish that part of the aspiration. Clement eventually just wandered off... as usual.
More:
January - Day 22:Working on myself, by myself, for myself
Notes:
Last night was a series of ups and downs for Tessa, and for me. I had an extremely busy day and night and am thankful I had yesterday's post ready to go. After I posted that in the early morning hours, I was finally able to get in my game. After the patch downloaded, the first order of business, was finding a home for the Hunter Brothers. I didn't want to just throw Josh out on the street again, to live homeless as he and his brothers had before. The thought of that just made me sad. It was fine before since I wasn't actively playing with any of them, but Josh, and his brothers too, deserved to have a real home. I wanted Josh nearby so I fixed up one of the 3 bedroom rental houses in Yukimatsu, replacing twin beds in one bedroom for a double and gave them some extra skill objects. The rental didn't even have a TV or bookcase! o.O
I also placed an Italian restaurant in Newcrest after fixing it up a bit, which took longer than I'd like, but oh well. The last order of business before actual gameplay, was doing something maybe I shouldn't have, but I felt it needed to be done. I deleted Whitney. She is one of my own special Sims I created as a contestant for my first try at the Free Will Experience Challenge by Bree Miles. She actually drown, which broke my heart since I'd come to really like her, and I lost the challenge. Anyway, I did that because I didn't want Josh to possibly get with her again and maybe Tessa would see them together since they had full romance bars for each other. Yes, that could've caused some juicy drama, but.. I didn't want that. I know y'all love that kind of stuff, but I don't. *shrugs*
Finally, here's todays daily post which starts on the first Friday of Spring. Tessa has taken the day off from school to try once more to get that last milestone goal for the Extreme Sports Enthusiast aspiration. I apologize for the length of this entry, it's quite long, but in my defense, A LOT happened.
After taking care of the garden, Tessa heads over to the medium climbing walls in her neighborhood. It's a beautiful Spring day and I wanted to see her climb somewhere without snow. She left me breathless with her bravery and moves in reaching the top. For example, if you look closely, she's hanging there by just two fingers! o.O
"I miss Josh."
I know, so do I.
Tessa was hungry so she ran back home and grabbed a bowl of chili Josh had left behind. She kept looking over at the photos on the wall the entire time she was eating, so I had her go view one of them when she was finished.
"I really, really miss him."
Aww, Tessa, he only left last night. You'll see him again, I promise!
After a short nap, Tessa finally traveled to the mountain.
Tessa checked the board for conditions and even though there was a blizzard going on, it said, "Fair," again. *sigh* However, the weather forecast said, 'Chance for Thundersnow.' She tried the medium climbing walls first after inspecting them. It said, 'Medium' chance of success. I'd never seen that before, usually it said 'High.' She didn't get that all important 'ding' of confirmation, but the weather was getting worse! So I sent her to the Expert slope to do some snowboarding and crossed my fingers. I noticed she didn't have a snowboard in her inventory even though she'd bought the basic one. I guess it must've broke in one of her earlier falls and I didn't notice. She has a new board now, a special one unlocked at Level 6.
She did a continuous run in high intensity, but still no 'ding.' I had a thought that maybe she needed to do a 'one time' run instead of continuous so intended for her to try snowboarding again. But, while she was walking toward the gondola to ride to the top, she slipped and fell! It was now Icy! YES! Quick Tessa, get to the medium climbing walls! As with snowboarding, I thought perhaps she needed to do a one time climb so the game recognized a completed climb. With continuous, Sims don't actually climb and stand at the top, they just peek at it and go back down, then up again. While she was climbing, it started to Thundersnow! DOUBLE YES! Now I was getting so excited for her that it might finally happen, sitting in my chair, gripping the armrests chanting, "Come on, come on, come on, PLEASE!" But it didn't happen, no ding despite all the right conditions. WHY!
Alright, I'm not one to give up and neither is Tessa. Her needs were getting so low, I should've just sent her home. Despite that I sent her to the Expert Slope again, this time to do a one time run. It was still thundersnowing too! Look at her face, she's so happy! Seeing that smile made me smile, and especially when this happened...
She did it! Finally! Tessa completed her first aspiration! Gah! \o/ *happy dance* She had a little smile, more of a smirk, but doesn't look as happy as I thought she should. Oh well...
"I wish Josh had been here to see me do it."
Man, so do I Honey, so do I... but you did it, and all by yourself. I'm so proud of you!
I switched her aspiration to the Mt. Komorebi Sightseer aspiration and sent her to go pee, but canceled it when I saw the Mascot! Got a selfie with them and finally let her waddle over to the public bathroom. I sent her home after that to fill her needs and get some much needed rest. Saturday morning she took care of her garden and needs then headed to the Wakaba neighborhood to go swimming in the river for an hour and then checked a nearby board for the festival schedule. The Snow Festival was scheduled for every other Saturday, starting at 3 p.m. If it didn't happen today, she could go to the Youth Festival on Sunday. Eating with chopsticks and buying a festival outfit were two goals she needed to do at a festival.
It had been raining, but stopped, so I sent Tessa for a jog through the Japanese gardens. They're so pretty! When she was finished, I saw Kyoshi in the distance. Tessa waved at him as he approached, but he didn't stop, just gave her a look and walked right by her. o.O Look at her face, she's upset about that. I could've had her 'make' him talk to her, but decided not to try.
"Everyone is leaving me. I thought Kyoshi was my friend."
Tessa went back home and sadly talked to her plants instead since she needed social, had a shower and then a pop up announced the Snow Festival! Yay! She was ordering a meal from a vendor when I heard a familiar voice behind her laughing at something. Josh was there! That dish he's eating is a Superfood Salad he'd made while living with Tessa. I forgot I'd put it in his inventory when they climbed the mountain. I guess he didn't like the festival food vendor selections.
Tessa, look behind you!!
I clicked for her to sit next to him and 'Brighten day." She sat down and then they both got up to autonomously hug. I know a lot of Simmers find this action annoying, and I have too in the past. But not this time...
"Josh! I'm so happy you're here! I missed you so much this morning when you weren't there like always." "I've missed you too, Beautiful!"
Find yourself someone that looks at you the way Tessa looks at Josh. Her eyes are sparkling with happiness.
The two Besties and more had a lovely chat together including Tessa telling him about her success on the mountain the day before. At least that's what I imagine she would tell him. Notice she hasn't touched her food yet.
Tessa and Josh did some cloudgazing in the middle of the Festival and it was like they were lost in their own little world together even though surrounded by so many others.
All too soon, I saw Josh's image pop into Tessa's queue that said, 'Goodbye.' Before he could leave I had Tessa give him another warm hug. "I'll see you again very soon, Beautiful."
"Promise?"
"Always..."
Find yourself someone that looks at you the way Josh looks at Tessa.
Tessa sat down and finally finished the meal she'd bought earlier and then got a festival outfit from a vending machine. 'ding and ding'
Tessa's needs were still looking pretty good so I had her go sledding on the Bunny slope. It didn't turn out so well. The first two of three runs, she fell out of the sled at the end. The last one she completed successfully.
I got such a laugh out of this sad moodlet she got that said, "Too old for this sort of thing." Thankfully it only lasted 25 minutes.
Even though she was very tired, I still sent her to the Onsen to take a soak in the Hot Springs. Poor girl fell asleep in there, that's how tired she was. It had been a long day. But, she got the 'ding' for that and talked to a child while in there for another 'ding.' Only two more left! This aspiration is going so fast! I sent her home to get some real sleep after that.
Sunday, Tessa went for a Meditative walk on the Bamboo forest hiking trail. The last two goals to finish the aspiration were to make a wish or collect a forest spirit and become emotionally mindful. Luckily, she saw some forest spirits and made a wish. They gave her a blessing which energized her. 'ding' I wish she hadn't got that blessing though because I had her start another Meditative walk and she did get the emotionally mindful moodlet for it, but energized overwhelmed it, so it couldn't complete the goal. I sent her home to take a nap even though she was energized in hopes it would clear it out. It worked! When she woke up Tessa started reading a skill book for skiing and the last goal finally completed! \o/
Tessa has now finished both aspirations! Wow! I guess there is something to be said for focusing on one Sim. She did the entire last aspiration without any help or distractions. Well, one, if you count running into Josh at the festival, but that was a very good thing in my eyes. I couldn't decide which aspiration Tessa should do now, it was a toss-up between Angling Ace and Nerd Brain. She settled on Angling Ace since it'll go quickly, she's already Level 9 in fishing. That's where I ended my play session for the night, or rather day, since it was now close to 8 a.m. Fed my cats and went to bed for some much needed ZzzzZZs.
I'll apologize again for the length of this Daily post, maybe I should've broke it up into two days and posted screenshots I left out of this one. o.O Sorry about that, I was just so happy she actually finished BOTH aspirations I wanted to share it with all of you. Hope you understand.
I'll reply and comment on your wonderful Daily posts next. Give me a bit though, I see there's quite a few! I'll say right off the bat though, Congratulations to Sakura and Kyoshi @SoulGal7 for completing the mountain excursion! Yay! \o/ I'll comment more on that in my next post coming soon.
I think it makes the moment much more special to build up to something like that, especially since they're teens. Kudos to you for holding yourself, and Jules back from jumping in the sack too quickly.
I will do that at some point, probably sooner rather than later. Backstories really help to get to know a character better and why they do the things they do. Besides, they're just fun to write!
Well, thankfully this month has just over a month to go, so I'm sure you'll find something fun to write about. I really like storytelling, but sometimes I tend to go overboard with it. I love descriptive writing, but I've been holding myself back with writing that way very much. Just imagine how long my posts would be if I got even more indepth describing everything in more detail. o.O
Thanks for the Wedding Event tips. I'll keep them in mind if I ever throw a wedding again. Who knows maybe my next wedding with be a big affair for Tessa and Josh's wedding.
Day 22: Congrats to Jules for fishing up a cowplant! I feel the same way about cowplants. They give me the heebie jeebies. As soon as they fulfill the aspiration goal, I sell them. Sometimes I'll just let them die for the decoration though. Is that mean?
Very cool how Emmett invited her out for a drink. Those two always have a good time together. Too bad she forgot about her promise to Mario though as a result. o.O Uh oh...
Whoa! Did not see that coming! Though I guess I should've since you've been hinting Jules won't end up with Mario. It's so sad when jealousy rears it's ugly head eh? Will this be the end of them? Will Jules run to Emmett and share her Mario woes? Will she and Emmett become more than friends? I guess we'll find out the answers to those questions and more soon. Great chapter and lovely screenshots!
I really enjoy and appreciate how you give details, tips/hints on different aspects of the game, and links to them while playing it. Not only for this challenge, but all your challenges. Thank you so much for that!
The Daily post pic is gorgeous! You have a lot of gorgeous shots in this chapter. Wow! Love those unlocked climbing outfits! So cool they come with a backpack. I should've had Tessa and Josh wear them. I didn't have them take what they needed to make the energy bars either. Josh had his Superfood Salad in his inventory and Tessa took harvestables, plus a cooler for quick meals. Why didn't the focused painting work? Don't they get focused from doing the stretching anyway?
That moodlet sounds like Kyoshi might be doomed. o.O Gah! Thank goodness it didn't end up being true. Aww, so adorable how Kyoshi kissed her hands. What a sweetheart. He really cares for her a lot. Tessa did that triumphant yell too when she made it to the top of Croft Icefalls. Josh was too fast for me to catch what he did. Congratulations to both of them for successfully completing the Mountain Excursion. It's so beautiful up there on the top eh? Bummer they didn't have a moon, but I'm sure it still looked amazing! Very cool how you had them spend the night there. Excited to read what they leave behind and the reason why Sakura needed to do the climb. I've had a suspicion since she and Kyoshi had there talk awhile ago, let's see if it's true.
Day 22: Oh cool! They made Snow Angels and built a Snowpal together to leave on the mountain too, just like Tessa and Josh! It's the same Snowpal too!
Ah yes, I had a feeling it was an urn. Too bad they don't stay urns like you said. Oh well, it's the bittersweet thought that counts. The story you wrote about Sakura's Grandfather brought an actual tear to my eye. What a lovely tribute to him in fulfilling her promise and his dying wish. He made the climb with her afterall. Very cool how you wove the special age of 77, the joyous year into the story. I love that!
Aww, I think Kyoshi came very close to telling Sakura he loved her. I had a feeling he just wanted to get away from his Mom at first. And of course she calls him while they're up there together. Tsk, go away Mom I'm trying to have a special moment here! And they made their own promise to each other to climb again in the future. What an absolutely lovely two day update for Sakura and Kyoshi. You know I've always said you're one of my favorite writers. These last two days with them is a fine example of why its always been true. Thank you!
Yes, I know what you mean and you do a very, very good job of it too! I did more of the hiding in the dialogue/screenshots of the goals when Josh was in the picture. But with just Tessa now, not sure I'll be able to do that. I didn't much in today's post, it was mostly filled with, she did this, she did that, then this and this. Oh well. I should try to make it more of a story with just her too I guess. *shrugs*
I hope we get to see him meet her too! That will be fun! I'll have a backstory for Tessa at some point, like I said to permanentrose, probably sooner than later.
Oh no! Poor Naoki falling asleep in school. I'm guessing he doesn't do too well if he doesn't get enough sleep. Well, nobody does. Bummer about the shower, Tessa had to fix her sink after Josh left too. He usually did all the repairs while living there. She managed though, just like Bryon! So sweet Naoki put his head on Bryon's shoulder. I'm glad they're back on track and helping each other out. They're such a sweet couple. Warms my heart seeing Bryon with someone that cares about him so much.
Here's a tip for if that board just says, 'Fair.' If it's currently a blizzard and/or says a 'chance of thundersnow' in the forecast, have her try anyway. The weather changed and got worse, and became Icy while Tessa was there, despite it starting out as 'fair.' Good luck with that, I hope Roxanne can get that goal completed!
Gah! I hate those caterpillars! Thankfully none of them have fallen on Tessa, yet. o.O Glad she eventually got attacked anyway (and yes that sounds wrong lol). Cracks me up how Father Winter keeps wandering off. What's up with that guy andyway? 🤔
Hey everyone! Sorry for posting three times in a row, but we're going to a birthday party for our Grandkids late this morning. I'm headed to get some sleep earlier than usual so I'm not a zombie for the party. I'm not sure what time we'll be back, so I wanted to post now, just in case. Hope y'all have a wonderful day!
January - Day 23:A key to the future
Notes
It's the second Monday of Spring and Tessa's headed to school again. She has more vacation days, but decided to save them.
"I don't understand any of this! I wish Josh was here to help me. Life is SO unfair!"
Tessa is in a big 'ol mood. She just wants to be mean, to everyone, for no reason.
Maybe she should've went fishing. Josh was there at the neighborhood spot where they first met. Perhaps he was hoping she'd show up?
"Are all cooking shows this boring?" *sigh*
After school on Tuesday, Josh stopped by for a visit. "How are you Beautiful?"
"Good now that you're here."
"I want you to have this...for emergencies." "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Someone should have a key other than me in case there's an emergency, right? There's no one in my life I trust more than you to have it."
"Alright, I'll take it. But I want you to know, an emergency is the only time I'll use it, okay?"
"Okay...but you can drop by anytime you want, too. Just...so you know that's fine with me. I'd honestly love it if you did."
"Can you stay for dinner?" "Sure."
"Cool, I'll change and be right back."
"I tried to watch some lame cooking show last night, sooo boring. Maybe you could teach me?" "I could give you some tips, sure. But, you're already a decent cook."
"I'd rather be a Master at it like you though, Mr. Fresh Chef."
"Lookin' good, Beautiful!"
"Thanks! I've been practicing, just like you showed me."
"Why does time always fly by so fast when you're having fun? I don't want you to go..." "I know, but I have to."
"No, you can st--" "I can't, Beautiful. You know I can't..."
"*sigh* I won't argue, but you can!" "Tessa..."
"Alright, alright. Bye, for now..."
Kiyoshi, Kaori, Sofia and River are in a club—they’re the first set of teens he’s gotten close with and since gifting River’s tiny residential lot with boosting traits, River’s chummier and more keen to do homework. He’s reached the top of Buckingham-Komerobi High and he couldn’t have done that with a lot of help from his friends. Initially River (due to the WonderfulWhims mod and the addition of Sims having preferences for attraction) and Sofia were close to becoming an item, but I threw in as a rule that in their club of friends...no romantic interactions.
I have a mod as well that allows Sims to send money if their relationship is high enough, I think that is attributed to the Slice of Life mod by KawaiiStacie.
Day 22: Ahhhh that snowpal is so cute! And I really love the outfits Sakura and Kiyoshi are wearing. That story about Sakura's grandpa Oh why does Kiyoshi's mother needs to interrupt in such a moment. Good thing Kiyoshi turned his phone off. That kiss is the cutest
Comments: One of Naoki's traits should be 'hot-headed', hehehehe. And then Bryon is the opposite of that. They still have a lot to learn from each other.
I don't think the game usually gives test percentages. I made the 38% one up, but Bryon did get a school notification a few days ago about an upcoming test. He didn't study for that one so his grades were lower than normal, and I could choose for him to retake the test or don't. He didn't retake it. The notification then said 'he doesn't have 100%... But he has 98%' and that cracked me up a lot. I made it 80% in my story because 98% didn't seem believable xD
Day 22: Oh no, I see a wildlife animal on Roxanne's shoulder.... Not good, not good. HAHAHAH 'try to get attacked' indeed sounds very wrong! Ohhh, Marcus Flex! He's actually one of my main players in another save of mine. I like Marcus.
Day 22: Surely a lot happened in your game. So the rental is now a residential lot? Let's dive in the post. It's so sad to see how much Tessa misses Josh. Oh, and all those pictures on the wall won't help with that!! I'm so happy for you to see that you finally completed the first aspiration.... And the second too!!! Also, really happy that Tessa was able to meet Josh for a while at the Snow Festival. Cute Another nice update ^^
Comments: Ahhh, thank you! I can imagine it's more difficult to hide stuff in dialogue/screenshots when your Sim is alone, indeed. Bryon's diary notes where much shorter when he was alone. Apparently Bryon still does fine without too much sleep. xD But Naoki... Nope, not so much. Luckily the weekend is around the corner!
Day 23: Have a nice time at the birthday party Ohhhh, that school outfit really suits Tessa! I really like it!! Aaaand she's missing Josh again xD Oh no, and he was so close by! xDDD I'm glad to see he stopped by for a visit the day after. She gave him the house key? Naww, such a sad ending ;---;
Ahhhh, weekend! We (mostly Naoki) really needed to catch up on some sleep. It’s nice to be able to sleep without having to set an alarm once in a while. Besides that, today was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the garden was doing great and I finally had enough money to buy… A Chess Board!! I was very happy with it, but Naoki couldn’t believe why I bought it. “Did you really spend our ‘eenie meenie’ tiny budget on that thing? What’re you going to use that for?!”. “I’m going to teach you chess. It’s a good practice for that ‘eenie meenie’ tiny brain of yours”. “WHAT?!”. Theehee. He’s so easy to tease. It worked, because he sat down, ready to ‘beat me’. Too bad, I’m a professional player. No worries, I went easy on him. “Naoki. That pawn can only move straight forward”. Naoki scratched his head and then he looked to the sky. “Hey, turn around, that’s cool!”. I (stupidly) turned around. “There’s nothing to see- Ohhh, I get what you’re doing. So you want to play it like that?”. “Like what?”. Naoki had switched two pawns. He actually did me a favor. “Hehe. You lost. Check mate”. “WHAT?! THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE! I JUST—“. “You just what, Naoki?”. “Nothing. Screw this game. I’m going to tend the garden”. Theehee. Like I said. Too easy to tease.
@Karababy52 - I Will comment on your two days later this evening, but just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful comments on Sakura and Kiyoshi's mountain excursion and the reason Sakura had to climb to the summit.
For some reason, Kiyoshi was not able to put the focused painting on the easel. He could take the easel out, but not the painting. That was the problem. Yes, stretching does get them focused, but they were also energized a lot of the time. The text from Kiyoshi's mother...well...not sure who it was from, but he got a text and had that expression on his face, and I just had to capture it. It was sort of the comic relief, because, hey, things were getting a bit sad and serious up on that mountain. Yep, and that was what I was hoping for...Kiyoshi is pouring his heart out to Sakura...and then his mother texts him...not NOW mother! lol And I do like to provide tips and hints for others, especially if I'm having a problem with something and find a solution. I also like to quote songs and some real-life info. Since they are in Mt. Komorebi, which is supposed to represent Japan, I am trying to put in some snippets of Japanese culture. It's just something I like to do So, thank you again for all your kind words. It just warmed my heart.
Jules awoke to her phone vibrating. She scrambled out of bed, hopeful that it was Mario, but it was Dell, reminding her that she'd be by shortly with her and Sofia's dog, Lenny, whom Jules had agreed to watch for the week while they went to Sulani on their honeymoon.
While she waited for her sister, she went to tend the garden, not even bothering to get dressed, still in a terrible mood after her fight with Mario.
And then the scarecrow nearly gave her a heart attack - which is kind of funny since she has already met Patchy at Rose and Carrie's house (I'm trying to get a crocus seed so I can calm her bees, since they seem to be in angry attack mode 90% of the time)
Oh hi there little guy!
Dell and Sofia dropped off the dog in a rush since they were running late, and Jules put on her happiest face and assured them she'd take good care of Lenny while they were gone.
Ok, yeah, maybe snuggling Lenny does make things a little bit better.
Lenny managed to get himself filthy, and Jules no longer has a bathtub in her house. Normally, she would have popped over to Emmett's house and asked him if she could use their tub, but that didn't seem like a great idea considering recent events, so she walked Lenny over to Rose and Carrie's house instead.
Jules: "Hey, sorry to just show up like this, but I'm dog-sitting for my sister while she's on her honeymoon, and I really need to give her dog a bath and was wondering if I could borrow your tub."
Rose: "Don't apologize! Of course you can - we are happy to help you out whenever we can!"
Scrub-a-dub-dub
Once Lenny was squeaky clean, Rose noticed that Jules' seemed a bit down.
Rose: "You don't seem to be your usual cheerful self today, Jules. If you want to talk, I'm willing to lend an ear."
With her sister on her honeymoon, and her friendship with Emmett seemingly on hold, Jules found that she really appreciated the offer. She began by telling Rose about her friendship with Emmett - how they had been friends since they were very young and how sometimes being with Emmett and his family felt like the only tie she still had to her parents.
Jules: "But my boyfriend, Mario, just doesn't seem to understand. And to be fair, I did accidentally blow him off yesterday, which I feel terrible about. I really like Mario - I mean, I think I might even be starting to fall in love...but now I've messed everything up."
Rose nodded sagely. "Relationships can be hard. Carrie and I have certainly had our share of rough patches, but a willingness to communicate and compromise can go a long way. My advice - plan something special to do with Mario, and have a heart to heart with him. Make sure you really listen to his frustrations, but be assertive about your needs too. Come up with some boundaries regarding your friendship with Emmett that you can both agree on, and promise to be honest going forward. I can't promise there won't be more rough patches, but I do know that honesty and communication can go a long way."
Jules left the Douglas-Goldstein home feeling a lot better.
Once she was back home, she texted Mario, and he agreed to come over to talk with her the following day.
She purchased a cook book and began to search for a special recipe. She was determined to show Mario just how much she appreciated the time she got to spend with him, and hopefully making extra special preparations would put him in a good mood and they could talk things through.
Also side note - postcard collecting is going well!
Either Tessa really is truly miserable without Josh, or you're just really good at zooming in on her upset expressions when you notice them lol. Poor thing - it must be hard to go from living with your best friend to living alone, but it is true that only playing one sim is very productive! Jules makes a lot more aspiration progress when she's not with Emmett or Mario, and I don't even control them haha. Congrats on getting the two Snowy Escape aspirations under your belt - I think it's fun to casually aspiration hop between some less intense ones. The angling ace one is relatively easy, although I think you said there's only one fishing hole in Mt. Komorebi, so it may not be possible. The freelance botanist one takes some patience since you have to wait for plants to be ready to fertilize and evolve, but that one is very easy to incorporate into sims daily life!
That shot you have of Tessa hanging on by two fingers while she climbs is amazing! I'm pretty sure I'm gonna buy Snowy Escape if it goes on sale in the next month, and then when you all do Glimmerbrook, Jules will finally have her mountain adventure.
Josh and Tessa are so painfully in love. It is cute how they get so expressive and happy when they're with each other, and it almost makes it more special now that they have to savor their time together more. I do have a question though - I thought that you could only give keys if you lived in an apartment, or is that something new that comes with the Snowy Escape pack?
Also in reply to your replies on my story - I agree that it's nice to have teens wait to mess around, especially if it fits their personality. Honestly, Jules has taken on a personality I wasn't really expecting as I play her, one that kind of matches mine more than I might have originally intended. I think when I initially created her, I had in mind to make her more rebellious, strong willed, and promiscuous, but instead, she's turning out to be a kind-hearted (though with bouts of hot headed teenage rage lol), down to earth sim with a quirky, cute side. It is a little hard to decide what makes a sim unique when your goal is to have them max as many skills as possible and fulfill as many aspirations as you can, but that's when our storytelling has to kick in. I think Jules will grow and change a lot during this year as I really settle into playing her.
Also, you'll just have to wait and see how I handle this recent development over the next few days LOL. Look at little gay me, getting my sim into a dramatic heterosexual love triangle I never thought I'd see the day haha
Also I think cowplant skeletons make great decorations as well
ALSO, totally understand your reasoning for deleting Whitney. She just moved away forever without any notice and changed her number and gave no information about how to reach her. It happens
I'm thriving on the storytelling part of this challenge, haha. Gotta love a good love triangle for sure.
I think Roxanne is going to have a very fun time fulfilling the serial romantic aspiration in the future, haha. Perhaps you can have her become a black widow along the way too
I love that Naoki tried to cheat and Bryon still won They are so goofy and cute I GET SO MANY FEELINGS UGH. All in the best way of course
Your updates and short and sweet and to the point, but you do add so many small details in there that really build their relationship and make us all feel invested
I have the attraction system in my game too, which will be fun to use when I do the serial romantic challenge eventually. Hmmm, if River can't date a club member, I wonder who he might end up dating eventually. It looks like River is finally starting to get into a groove and isn't fearful that every action might lead to his impending death, lol. Just don't buy him a murphy bed, whatever you do
@Karababy52 - Day 22 - So Josh and his brothers are moving into a house. I like that idea. And placing a restaurant in Newcrest is also a good idea. I haven't done that yet, but probably should add a restaurant there, too. Love that shot of Tessa on the rock wall. It looks so far down when taken from that angle. And woot! Congrats on getting the Extreme Sports Enthusiast Aspiration! And boom she switches right over to the Mt. Komorebi Sightseer Aspiration. And that Kiyoshi...the nerve of him, didn't even say hi to her. She probably had told him that the app he suggested was stupid and he's mad at her for that. lol Ahhh...and Tessa and Josh see each other at the Snow Festival, and give each other an autonomous hug. Nice...! I like that action myself. I haven't had that moodlet from sledding, but that is funny! Can you seriously ever be too old to go sledding? lol And that pic in the Onsen...you worked poor Tessa hard! But I guess it was worth it because the next day...ding..ding..she gets the Mt. Komorebi Sightseer Aspiration! Congrats! That was fast! Both aspirations completed! Congratulations!
@Karababy52 - Day 23 - And Josh stops by. Well, they are still friends, so that's a good thing. And Tessa gives Josh a key to the house and invites him for dinner...showing a bit of skin while they eat! lol I like her hair in that side braid, very cute. And wanting to get Josh to teach her to cook...Tessa is just trying to think up ways to have Josh come over and spend time with her more. Ahhh...it's hard, but she'll be fine on her own. Look at what she accomplished in the last two days by herself.
@Hermitgirl - Day 22 - Shall I say congrats on getting attacked? lol And a new conquest...er... a friend in Marcus Flex -- very nice. Funny how Father Winter is always wandering off. Wonder what he's looking for? Probably going to the vendor stall to see if they have sugar cookies. That bug on Roxanne...yikes! Sounds like that last level in the Extreme Sports Enthusiast seems to be the hardest.
@Kanindota - Day 22 - River seems to be doing great with clubs and has a bunch of friends and he's now an A student! River, congrats. After what you went through at the beginning, you deserve all of these bonuses. I do have a club made, but don't use it, as it was just a "test" for that rock climbing scenario. When Sakura moves to Windenburg, she'll be making a club for sure. So Sofia and he were nearly an item, but no romantic notions in the club. I guess we'll see if River meets anyone else, or, who knows what will happen if the club is disbanded.
@permanentrose -Day 23 - Oh Jules - you look so sad But pet sitting might actually help her out. How can you not be happy when you're pet sitting a cutie-pie like Lenny? Well, that is, when he's clean! lol But heading over to Rose's house was actually a good idea and Rose did give Jules some really good advice. And Mario was willing to come over the following night to talk with Jules. Well, that's a start. Right? Let's hope that Jules makes a nice dinner for Mario and he is in a better mood once they have a chat. Nice update.
@Skeilah - Day 23 - I love that Bryon bought a chess table. It's something that Sakura has as well. Great way to get focused before you head to school with ponder moves. Naoki thinks he'll beat Bryon with a little "pawn" readjustment, which ended up not being in his favor. lol Loved that little interaction between them.
Oh! And I have to comment on the photo with Tessa, Jules and Sakura, and Major Whiskers! How cute! Was that autonomous through one of your mods, or something you did? Love it! They are going to be pretty famous now, having the Mayor of Brindleton Bay living with them! lol
Roxanne was in a foul mood. These moods had been happening more and more often lately. Out of the blue one of these rages would hit. She had been gardening to calm herself... it usually did, she loved her garden. However, when she rounded the corner she spotted that little wretch. Again! She fumed inwardly, "That little brat just can't stay away, but she's not getting away with it anymore!"
"Okay, no more of this, Nanami! First you steal from me, then you have the audacity to come over again and again just to be a little monster... it stops now!", Roxanne yelled. "Go home, I don't want you here ever again!"
Roxanne walked away fully expecting to be listened too. She had gardening to do .. and a lot on her mind.
When she finished she came back around to the front of her little home and saw the mess Nanami had created.
"Seriously?! How dare you!
Roxanne spewed forth a litany of filth at the little girl, holding nothing back. She wanted her gone... wanted her to never darken her doorstep again.
Roxanne chuckled as Nanami stomped away. Even if she does come back the little brat deserved it. She smirked to herself feeling all the lighter for unloading the anger that had been building up in her lately. "Yeah, I dare her to come back.."
Later that evening while Roxanne was in the house Naoki came over and messed with her bees. Why? Did Nanami tell him what happened and he decided to get in on the feud?
I don't plan on storytelling a lot but I think it would be good to show some build up as to why Roxanne is the way she she is. I was just playing during the week with her and this happened so I had to take advantage. Oh Roxanne is all the way in the green on manners and responsibility... her conflict resolution is almost red enough for her to get the argumentative trait. I don't like playing villans that are outwardly evil (none of my favorite fictional villans are obvious), but I might let her have argumentative to see how it goes later in life. I'll probably try to give her emotional control but either stay neutral in empathy or make her insensitive. A lot of why this is so fun to play this challenge is because I really don't explore certain parts of the game and would like to know how some game mechanics effect a sim long term.
I'll comment a little later on everyone's posts!
@Karababy52
A lot happened there! Wonderful pictures and story as usual. Such a nice connection between Tessa and Josh. I'm glad he moved out though ... mostly because there is such a long time for her to be a teenager and all that tension... whew!
I gotta say I'm glad I picked the tourist aspiration first in case I can't get this other one done before the end of the month. I will eventually but I'm worried about meeting the snow conditions (especially with the new pack to check out soon). It's a let's see. Grats on finishing the "easy" aspiration lol. @Kanindota
Being in the club will help with next aspiration too! The tiny lot traits are such a boost.. gotta take advantage while you can. @permanentrose
Lennie is so flippin' cute! You have your work cut out for you with a pet, garden, school ect. Yikes and mad props.
Darn ... I know I spammed buying seasonal seeds to get the crocus but not sure if it was spring or winter, or even patchy's pockets. They only help so much, but seem to help a little with the bees. When you scent an arrangement with them you can see the bee's hovering around the arrangement but it wilts when scented with crocus. As for a black widow future for Roxanne maybe. I do like to play them also! @Skeilah Your little home looks so comfy. Nice idea to get the chessboard, fun, skill and social in one package!
@Hermitgirl HAHAHAHHA Roxi screaming at Nanami and finally getting her to leave was a fun sequence to read. I hope they get a negative sentiment toward each other and have some sort of rivalry going. Maybe when Nanami grows up, Roxi can bind a voodoo doll to her and torture her
Having a pet is definitely a bit of work when you play without cheats, but luckily Jules isn't in school right now (I had her quit when I started this challenge using a mod) but I will have her re-enroll in a few days when fall starts, just to give myself more of a challenge. If I get too annoyed, I'll just have her quit again haha.
I might just have her go back to Rose and Carrie's house when a crocus is in season and have her harvest one from their crocus plant lol. I'll have to look what season it grows in
Also adding a reply in for @SoulGal7, hopefully you will see it haha. Jules does look miserable, I got lucky lol. I have a mod that has menstrual cycles included for females, so Jules just started her time of month today LOL so she was uncomfortable due to cramps, which made her moody almost all day. I just decided to attribute it to her being sad over fighting with Mario
Another thing I think everyone would love: I tried to replicate everyone I don't have in-game and made a group pic, since the 7 of them sort of have a bond thanks to this topic ^^ Hope you like it!!
Another thing I think everyone would love: I tried to replicate everyone I don't have in-game and made a group pic, since the 7 of them sort of have a bond thanks to this topic ^^ Hope you like it!!
IT'S AMAZING. I love it. In an alternate universe, they are all best friends
Comments
Bryon's Diary
Extra photo
Back on track to study buddies!
To mark their 'summit claim', they make a snowpal together. Sakura gets a bit flirty after doing this. They are now ready for the final part and make snow angels together. Sakura then opens her pack and carefully removes an item and places it in the snow between the angels.
Sakura: "My sofu (grandfather) had made this climb when he was a teen with his father. And when my father was a teen, my sofu (grandfather) had made the climb with him. When my parents were tragically killed and my grandfather had to look after me, he promised me that we would climb the mountain together one day. He wanted to continue the tradition. He always joked that he wanted to do it when he was 77..."
Sakura continued with tears in her eyes, "...my Grandfather passed away last year, and the last words he said to me were "Promise me you'll make the climb." I promised him I would, and he smiled at me for the last time and closed his eyes and was gone."
Sakura: "He would have been 77 at the end of this month. Grandfather always told me that the mountain peak was like being close to the heavens. It certainly feels that way. Grandfather, I know that you are not here in person, but I can feel that you are with me here in spirit. I hope you will be happy here. You are with the angels now...."
Kiyoshi and Sakura stared at the urn in the snow and had a moment of silence together. Kiyoshi then turned to Sakura and hugged her.
Kiyoshi: "Sakura, you made the climb with your Grandfather yesterday. You have fulfilled your promise to him. And I am sure he is smiling at you from above. He will always be here on the mountain, living among the angels."
Sakura nodded, fighting back tears.
Kiyoshi continued, "Sakura, you are so brave, and your Grandfather and your parents would be so proud of you. I am so honored that you chose me to help you fulfill your goal. You know, when you first asked me to help you climb the mountain, I said yes because I wanted to leave home. To get away from my mother and her constant demands. But, well...over the last few weeks, I have...um...I have come to care about you...very much. You have given me so much to hope for in life. You have even made me enjoy snowboarding again. I really can't go back to the person I was before I met you. You have made an impact on my life."
Kiyoshi was interrupted by the ping of a text! Geez! It was from his mother! He turned the phone off, and looked lovingly at Sakura.
Sakura: "Kiyoshi...I could tell you were special when I first met you. I knew in my heart that you were the one who would help me on this journey."
Kiyoshi: "Sakura, promise me that we will make this climb together again? Perhaps when we are older? Maybe for my 25th birthday? Do you promise?"
Sakura: "Kiyoshi, yes, I promise. I would like to make the trek again with you. I would like to plan for a tomorrow with you..."
And with that, as the sun was high overhead, they kissed, as if to seal the promise. They took a moment and looked out over the mountain together, and Kiyoshi autonomously gives Sakura another kiss. Then, it was time to go.
With a backward glance at the urn sitting in the snow, Kiyoshi took Sakura's hands in his, both were smiling as they slogged through the snow towards home.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
* In Japan, certain ages are lucky. The celebration of one's 77th birthday is another example of ga no iwai. Age 77 is the “joyous year,” and to live until that age is indeed fortunate. The Japanese characters for kiju literally mean “joy” and “long life.”
*
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Urns, unfortunately, turn to gravestones when placed on the ground in The Sims. If anyone has ever seen The Bucket List movie, at the end, the remains of a friend are carried in a coffee can and placed on top of Mt. Everest, because the last wish they had on their bucket list was "to witness something truly majestic." This is where I got this idea.
Sakura and Kiyoshi both achieved the Trailblazer portion of the Extreme Sports Enthusiast Aspiration! Even though Sakura didn't climb courageously up the Croft Icefall Rock Wall, she still got a gold reward and the expert mountaineer trait. Plus she got $300 simoleons! She has a new Sentiment with Kiyoshi, Bonded During Epic Mountain Climb, and Mountain Mastery Inspiration. They unlocked some t-shirts, a mountain bracelet, and a climbing beanie in CAS. Further, in the challenge, I want her to max the rock climbing skill and go again because I read that if you climb a second time, there is a hidden lot with a cabin and hot springs which is unlocked on your second attempt. Plus, I would like to explore the caves, if I can find them.
Anyway, they are cute. I enjoy how easily they have fallen into a life together
@SoulGal7
Kiyoshi and Sakura are creating so many sentiments and bonds, I wouldn't be surprised if you have them get married eventually. They do make a cute couple. They encourage and motivate each other well.
When I saw that Sakura got flirty, I was like dang, they shouldn't have "fertilized" the bush because they they could have messed around in it
@SoulGal7 I love the way you really bundled them up for the climb ... lol I don't even bother they just put on winterwear .. but it's much better for the story of it! It looks like a great climb!
@permanentrose "Of course you were with Emmett" lol... Nice triangle going here
@Skeilah They look so cute studying together!
@SoulGal7 Awww man.. you made me cry! Such beautiful screenshots too..
Roxanne is on the last part of the Extreme Sports Aspiration and thought I'd try to get her a little farther along... but when she checked the weather conditions on Mt. Komoebi it was fair, so she just did some hiking around and try to get attacked lol... (yeah that sounds wrong). Unfortunately nothing attacked her in the Yukimatsu area. She did make a new friend though, Marcus Flex this time. Her list of future conquests is growing!
After the hike she had to snowboard a little more, she's very highly skilled now so might as well try to skill it all the way up before the month ends.
Later that weekend she went hiking again through the Bamboo forest this time with our old pal Clement and got attacked enough times to finish that part of the aspiration. Clement eventually just wandered off... as usual.
More:
Notes:
Last night was a series of ups and downs for Tessa, and for me. I had an extremely busy day and night and am thankful I had yesterday's post ready to go. After I posted that in the early morning hours, I was finally able to get in my game. After the patch downloaded, the first order of business, was finding a home for the Hunter Brothers. I didn't want to just throw Josh out on the street again, to live homeless as he and his brothers had before. The thought of that just made me sad. It was fine before since I wasn't actively playing with any of them, but Josh, and his brothers too, deserved to have a real home. I wanted Josh nearby so I fixed up one of the 3 bedroom rental houses in Yukimatsu, replacing twin beds in one bedroom for a double and gave them some extra skill objects. The rental didn't even have a TV or bookcase! o.O
I also placed an Italian restaurant in Newcrest after fixing it up a bit, which took longer than I'd like, but oh well. The last order of business before actual gameplay, was doing something maybe I shouldn't have, but I felt it needed to be done. I deleted Whitney. She is one of my own special Sims I created as a contestant for my first try at the Free Will Experience Challenge by Bree Miles. She actually drown, which broke my heart since I'd come to really like her, and I lost the challenge. Anyway, I did that because I didn't want Josh to possibly get with her again and maybe Tessa would see them together since they had full romance bars for each other. Yes, that could've caused some juicy drama, but.. I didn't want that. I know y'all love that kind of stuff, but I don't. *shrugs*
Finally, here's todays daily post which starts on the first Friday of Spring. Tessa has taken the day off from school to try once more to get that last milestone goal for the Extreme Sports Enthusiast aspiration. I apologize for the length of this entry, it's quite long, but in my defense, A LOT happened.
After taking care of the garden, Tessa heads over to the medium climbing walls in her neighborhood. It's a beautiful Spring day and I wanted to see her climb somewhere without snow. She left me breathless with her bravery and moves in reaching the top. For example, if you look closely, she's hanging there by just two fingers! o.O
"I miss Josh."
I know, so do I.
Tessa was hungry so she ran back home and grabbed a bowl of chili Josh had left behind. She kept looking over at the photos on the wall the entire time she was eating, so I had her go view one of them when she was finished.
"I really, really miss him."
Aww, Tessa, he only left last night. You'll see him again, I promise!
After a short nap, Tessa finally traveled to the mountain.
Tessa checked the board for conditions and even though there was a blizzard going on, it said, "Fair," again. *sigh* However, the weather forecast said, 'Chance for Thundersnow.' She tried the medium climbing walls first after inspecting them. It said, 'Medium' chance of success. I'd never seen that before, usually it said 'High.' She didn't get that all important 'ding' of confirmation, but the weather was getting worse! So I sent her to the Expert slope to do some snowboarding and crossed my fingers. I noticed she didn't have a snowboard in her inventory even though she'd bought the basic one. I guess it must've broke in one of her earlier falls and I didn't notice. She has a new board now, a special one unlocked at Level 6.
She did a continuous run in high intensity, but still no 'ding.' I had a thought that maybe she needed to do a 'one time' run instead of continuous so intended for her to try snowboarding again. But, while she was walking toward the gondola to ride to the top, she slipped and fell! It was now Icy! YES! Quick Tessa, get to the medium climbing walls! As with snowboarding, I thought perhaps she needed to do a one time climb so the game recognized a completed climb. With continuous, Sims don't actually climb and stand at the top, they just peek at it and go back down, then up again. While she was climbing, it started to Thundersnow! DOUBLE YES! Now I was getting so excited for her that it might finally happen, sitting in my chair, gripping the armrests chanting, "Come on, come on, come on, PLEASE!" But it didn't happen, no ding despite all the right conditions. WHY!
Alright, I'm not one to give up and neither is Tessa. Her needs were getting so low, I should've just sent her home. Despite that I sent her to the Expert Slope again, this time to do a one time run. It was still thundersnowing too! Look at her face, she's so happy! Seeing that smile made me smile, and especially when this happened...
She did it! Finally! Tessa completed her first aspiration! Gah! \o/ *happy dance* She had a little smile, more of a smirk, but doesn't look as happy as I thought she should. Oh well...
"I wish Josh had been here to see me do it."
Man, so do I Honey, so do I... but you did it, and all by yourself. I'm so proud of you!
I switched her aspiration to the Mt. Komorebi Sightseer aspiration and sent her to go pee, but canceled it when I saw the Mascot! Got a selfie with them and finally let her waddle over to the public bathroom. I sent her home after that to fill her needs and get some much needed rest. Saturday morning she took care of her garden and needs then headed to the Wakaba neighborhood to go swimming in the river for an hour and then checked a nearby board for the festival schedule. The Snow Festival was scheduled for every other Saturday, starting at 3 p.m. If it didn't happen today, she could go to the Youth Festival on Sunday. Eating with chopsticks and buying a festival outfit were two goals she needed to do at a festival.
It had been raining, but stopped, so I sent Tessa for a jog through the Japanese gardens. They're so pretty! When she was finished, I saw Kyoshi in the distance. Tessa waved at him as he approached, but he didn't stop, just gave her a look and walked right by her. o.O Look at her face, she's upset about that. I could've had her 'make' him talk to her, but decided not to try.
"Everyone is leaving me. I thought Kyoshi was my friend."
Tessa went back home and sadly talked to her plants instead since she needed social, had a shower and then a pop up announced the Snow Festival! Yay! She was ordering a meal from a vendor when I heard a familiar voice behind her laughing at something. Josh was there! That dish he's eating is a Superfood Salad he'd made while living with Tessa. I forgot I'd put it in his inventory when they climbed the mountain. I guess he didn't like the festival food vendor selections.
Tessa, look behind you!!
I clicked for her to sit next to him and 'Brighten day." She sat down and then they both got up to autonomously hug. I know a lot of Simmers find this action annoying, and I have too in the past. But not this time...
"Josh! I'm so happy you're here! I missed you so much this morning when you weren't there like always."
"I've missed you too, Beautiful!"
Find yourself someone that looks at you the way Tessa looks at Josh. Her eyes are sparkling with happiness.
The two Besties and more had a lovely chat together including Tessa telling him about her success on the mountain the day before. At least that's what I imagine she would tell him. Notice she hasn't touched her food yet.
Tessa and Josh did some cloudgazing in the middle of the Festival and it was like they were lost in their own little world together even though surrounded by so many others.
All too soon, I saw Josh's image pop into Tessa's queue that said, 'Goodbye.' Before he could leave I had Tessa give him another warm hug.
"I'll see you again very soon, Beautiful."
"Promise?"
"Always..."
Find yourself someone that looks at you the way Josh looks at Tessa.
Tessa sat down and finally finished the meal she'd bought earlier and then got a festival outfit from a vending machine. 'ding and ding'
Tessa's needs were still looking pretty good so I had her go sledding on the Bunny slope. It didn't turn out so well.
I got such a laugh out of this sad moodlet she got that said, "Too old for this sort of thing."
Even though she was very tired, I still sent her to the Onsen to take a soak in the Hot Springs. Poor girl fell asleep in there, that's how tired she was. It had been a long day. But, she got the 'ding' for that and talked to a child while in there for another 'ding.' Only two more left! This aspiration is going so fast! I sent her home to get some real sleep after that.
Sunday, Tessa went for a Meditative walk on the Bamboo forest hiking trail. The last two goals to finish the aspiration were to make a wish or collect a forest spirit and become emotionally mindful. Luckily, she saw some forest spirits and made a wish. They gave her a blessing which energized her. 'ding' I wish she hadn't got that blessing though because I had her start another Meditative walk and she did get the emotionally mindful moodlet for it, but energized overwhelmed it, so it couldn't complete the goal. I sent her home to take a nap even though she was energized in hopes it would clear it out. It worked! When she woke up Tessa started reading a skill book for skiing and the last goal finally completed! \o/
Tessa has now finished both aspirations! Wow! I guess there is something to be said for focusing on one Sim. She did the entire last aspiration without any help or distractions. Well, one, if you count running into Josh at the festival, but that was a very good thing in my eyes.
I'll apologize again for the length of this Daily post, maybe I should've broke it up into two days and posted screenshots I left out of this one. o.O Sorry about that, I was just so happy she actually finished BOTH aspirations I wanted to share it with all of you. Hope you understand.
I'll reply and comment on your wonderful Daily posts next. Give me a bit though, I see there's quite a few! I'll say right off the bat though, Congratulations to Sakura and Kyoshi @SoulGal7 for completing the mountain excursion! Yay! \o/ I'll comment more on that in my next post coming soon.
Happy Simming Y'all!
I will do that at some point, probably sooner rather than later. Backstories really help to get to know a character better and why they do the things they do. Besides, they're just fun to write!
Well, thankfully this month has just over a month to go, so I'm sure you'll find something fun to write about. I really like storytelling, but sometimes I tend to go overboard with it. I love descriptive writing, but I've been holding myself back with writing that way very much. Just imagine how long my posts would be if I got even more indepth describing everything in more detail. o.O
Thanks for the Wedding Event tips. I'll keep them in mind if I ever throw a wedding again. Who knows maybe my next wedding with be a big affair for Tessa and Josh's wedding.
Day 22: Congrats to Jules for fishing up a cowplant! I feel the same way about cowplants. They give me the heebie jeebies. As soon as they fulfill the aspiration goal, I sell them. Sometimes I'll just let them die for the decoration though. Is that mean?
Very cool how Emmett invited her out for a drink. Those two always have a good time together. Too bad she forgot about her promise to Mario though as a result. o.O Uh oh...
Whoa! Did not see that coming! Though I guess I should've since you've been hinting Jules won't end up with Mario. It's so sad when jealousy rears it's ugly head eh? Will this be the end of them? Will Jules run to Emmett and share her Mario woes? Will she and Emmett become more than friends? I guess we'll find out the answers to those questions and more soon.
@SoulGal7
The Daily post pic is gorgeous! You have a lot of gorgeous shots in this chapter. Wow! Love those unlocked climbing outfits! So cool they come with a backpack. I should've had Tessa and Josh wear them. I didn't have them take what they needed to make the energy bars either. Josh had his Superfood Salad in his inventory and Tessa took harvestables, plus a cooler for quick meals. Why didn't the focused painting work? Don't they get focused from doing the stretching anyway?
That moodlet sounds like Kyoshi might be doomed. o.O Gah! Thank goodness it didn't end up being true. Aww, so adorable how Kyoshi kissed her hands. What a sweetheart. He really cares for her a lot. Tessa did that triumphant yell too when she made it to the top of Croft Icefalls. Josh was too fast for me to catch what he did. Congratulations to both of them for successfully completing the Mountain Excursion. It's so beautiful up there on the top eh? Bummer they didn't have a moon, but I'm sure it still looked amazing! Very cool how you had them spend the night there. Excited to read what they leave behind and the reason why Sakura needed to do the climb. I've had a suspicion since she and Kyoshi had there talk awhile ago, let's see if it's true.
Day 22: Oh cool! They made Snow Angels and built a Snowpal together to leave on the mountain too, just like Tessa and Josh! It's the same Snowpal too!
Ah yes, I had a feeling it was an urn. Too bad they don't stay urns like you said. Oh well, it's the bittersweet thought that counts. The story you wrote about Sakura's Grandfather brought an actual tear to my eye. What a lovely tribute to him in fulfilling her promise and his dying wish. He made the climb with her afterall. Very cool how you wove the special age of 77, the joyous year into the story. I love that!
Aww, I think Kyoshi came very close to telling Sakura he loved her. I had a feeling he just wanted to get away from his Mom at first. And of course she calls him while they're up there together. Tsk, go away Mom I'm trying to have a special moment here!
@Skeilah
I hope we get to see him meet her too! That will be fun! I'll have a backstory for Tessa at some point, like I said to permanentrose, probably sooner than later.
Oh no! Poor Naoki falling asleep in school. I'm guessing he doesn't do too well if he doesn't get enough sleep. Well, nobody does. Bummer about the shower, Tessa had to fix her sink after Josh left too. He usually did all the repairs while living there. She managed though, just like Bryon!
@Hermitgirl
Gah! I hate those caterpillars! Thankfully none of them have fallen on Tessa, yet. o.O Glad she eventually got attacked anyway (and yes that sounds wrong lol). Cracks me up how Father Winter keeps wandering off. What's up with that guy andyway? 🤔
January - Day 23: A key to the future
Notes
It's the second Monday of Spring and Tessa's headed to school again. She has more vacation days, but decided to save them.
"I don't understand any of this! I wish Josh was here to help me. Life is SO unfair!"
Tessa is in a big 'ol mood. She just wants to be mean, to everyone, for no reason.
Maybe she should've went fishing. Josh was there at the neighborhood spot where they first met. Perhaps he was hoping she'd show up?
"Are all cooking shows this boring?" *sigh*
After school on Tuesday, Josh stopped by for a visit.
"How are you Beautiful?"
"Good now that you're here."
"I want you to have this...for emergencies."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Someone should have a key other than me in case there's an emergency, right? There's no one in my life I trust more than you to have it."
"Alright, I'll take it. But I want you to know, an emergency is the only time I'll use it, okay?"
"Okay...but you can drop by anytime you want, too. Just...so you know that's fine with me. I'd honestly love it if you did."
"Can you stay for dinner?"
"Sure."
"Cool, I'll change and be right back."
"I tried to watch some lame cooking show last night, sooo boring. Maybe you could teach me?"
"I could give you some tips, sure. But, you're already a decent cook."
"I'd rather be a Master at it like you though, Mr. Fresh Chef."
"Lookin' good, Beautiful!"
"Thanks! I've been practicing, just like you showed me."
"Why does time always fly by so fast when you're having fun? I don't want you to go..."
"I know, but I have to."
"No, you can st--"
"I can't, Beautiful. You know I can't..."
"*sigh* I won't argue, but you can!"
"Tessa..."
"Alright, alright. Bye, for now..."
I have a mod as well that allows Sims to send money if their relationship is high enough, I think that is attributed to the Slice of Life mod by KawaiiStacie.
Dang it I am behind again oops
Comments: One of Naoki's traits should be 'hot-headed', hehehehe. And then Bryon is the opposite of that. They still have a lot to learn from each other.
@permanentrose
@Hermitgirl
@Karababy52
Comments: Ahhh, thank you! I can imagine it's more difficult to hide stuff in dialogue/screenshots when your Sim is alone, indeed. Bryon's diary notes where much shorter when he was alone. Apparently Bryon still does fine without too much sleep. xD But Naoki... Nope, not so much. Luckily the weekend is around the corner!
Day 23: Have a nice time at the birthday party
@Kanindota
Bryon's Diary
Extra photo's
--
Update 23 - Rolling with the punches
While she waited for her sister, she went to tend the garden, not even bothering to get dressed, still in a terrible mood after her fight with Mario.
And then the scarecrow nearly gave her a heart attack - which is kind of funny since she has already met Patchy at Rose and Carrie's house (I'm trying to get a crocus seed so I can calm her bees, since they seem to be in angry attack mode 90% of the time)
Oh hi there little guy!
Dell and Sofia dropped off the dog in a rush since they were running late, and Jules put on her happiest face and assured them she'd take good care of Lenny while they were gone.
Ok, yeah, maybe snuggling Lenny does make things a little bit better.
Lenny managed to get himself filthy, and Jules no longer has a bathtub in her house. Normally, she would have popped over to Emmett's house and asked him if she could use their tub, but that didn't seem like a great idea considering recent events, so she walked Lenny over to Rose and Carrie's house instead.
Jules: "Hey, sorry to just show up like this, but I'm dog-sitting for my sister while she's on her honeymoon, and I really need to give her dog a bath and was wondering if I could borrow your tub."
Rose: "Don't apologize! Of course you can - we are happy to help you out whenever we can!"
Scrub-a-dub-dub
Once Lenny was squeaky clean, Rose noticed that Jules' seemed a bit down.
Rose: "You don't seem to be your usual cheerful self today, Jules. If you want to talk, I'm willing to lend an ear."
With her sister on her honeymoon, and her friendship with Emmett seemingly on hold, Jules found that she really appreciated the offer. She began by telling Rose about her friendship with Emmett - how they had been friends since they were very young and how sometimes being with Emmett and his family felt like the only tie she still had to her parents.
Jules: "But my boyfriend, Mario, just doesn't seem to understand. And to be fair, I did accidentally blow him off yesterday, which I feel terrible about. I really like Mario - I mean, I think I might even be starting to fall in love...but now I've messed everything up."
Rose nodded sagely. "Relationships can be hard. Carrie and I have certainly had our share of rough patches, but a willingness to communicate and compromise can go a long way. My advice - plan something special to do with Mario, and have a heart to heart with him. Make sure you really listen to his frustrations, but be assertive about your needs too. Come up with some boundaries regarding your friendship with Emmett that you can both agree on, and promise to be honest going forward. I can't promise there won't be more rough patches, but I do know that honesty and communication can go a long way."
Jules left the Douglas-Goldstein home feeling a lot better.
Once she was back home, she texted Mario, and he agreed to come over to talk with her the following day.
She purchased a cook book and began to search for a special recipe. She was determined to show Mario just how much she appreciated the time she got to spend with him, and hopefully making extra special preparations would put him in a good mood and they could talk things through.
Also side note - postcard collecting is going well!
That shot you have of Tessa hanging on by two fingers while she climbs is amazing! I'm pretty sure I'm gonna buy Snowy Escape if it goes on sale in the next month, and then when you all do Glimmerbrook, Jules will finally have her mountain adventure.
Josh and Tessa are so painfully in love. It is cute how they get so expressive and happy when they're with each other, and it almost makes it more special now that they have to savor their time together more. I do have a question though - I thought that you could only give keys if you lived in an apartment, or is that something new that comes with the Snowy Escape pack?
Also in reply to your replies on my story - I agree that it's nice to have teens wait to mess around, especially if it fits their personality. Honestly, Jules has taken on a personality I wasn't really expecting as I play her, one that kind of matches mine more than I might have originally intended. I think when I initially created her, I had in mind to make her more rebellious, strong willed, and promiscuous, but instead, she's turning out to be a kind-hearted (though with bouts of hot headed teenage rage lol), down to earth sim with a quirky, cute side. It is a little hard to decide what makes a sim unique when your goal is to have them max as many skills as possible and fulfill as many aspirations as you can, but that's when our storytelling has to kick in. I think Jules will grow and change a lot during this year as I really settle into playing her.
Also, you'll just have to wait and see how I handle this recent development over the next few days LOL. Look at little gay me, getting my sim into a dramatic heterosexual love triangle
Also I think cowplant skeletons make great decorations as well
ALSO, totally understand your reasoning for deleting Whitney. She just moved away forever without any notice and changed her number and gave no information about how to reach her. It happens
@Hermitgirl
I think Roxanne is going to have a very fun time fulfilling the serial romantic aspiration in the future, haha. Perhaps you can have her become a black widow along the way too
@Skeilah
Your updates and short and sweet and to the point, but you do add so many small details in there that really build their relationship and make us all feel invested
@Kanindota
@Skeilah this is fantastic haha! I would love to play this alternate universe
@Karababy52 - Day 23 - And Josh stops by. Well, they are still friends, so that's a good thing. And Tessa gives Josh a key to the house and invites him for dinner...showing a bit of skin while they eat! lol I like her hair in that side braid, very cute. And wanting to get Josh to teach her to cook...Tessa is just trying to think up ways to have Josh come over and spend time with her more. Ahhh...it's hard, but she'll be fine on her own. Look at what she accomplished in the last two days by herself.
@Hermitgirl - Day 22 - Shall I say congrats on getting attacked? lol And a new conquest...er... a friend in Marcus Flex -- very nice. Funny how Father Winter is always wandering off. Wonder what he's looking for? Probably going to the vendor stall to see if they have sugar cookies. That bug on Roxanne...yikes! Sounds like that last level in the Extreme Sports Enthusiast seems to be the hardest.
@Kanindota - Day 22 - River seems to be doing great with clubs and has a bunch of friends and he's now an A student! River, congrats. After what you went through at the beginning, you deserve all of these bonuses. I do have a club made, but don't use it, as it was just a "test" for that rock climbing scenario. When Sakura moves to Windenburg, she'll be making a club for sure. So Sofia and he were nearly an item, but no romantic notions in the club. I guess we'll see if River meets anyone else, or, who knows what will happen if the club is disbanded.
@permanentrose -Day 23 - Oh Jules - you look so sad
@Skeilah - Day 23 - I love that Bryon bought a chess table. It's something that Sakura has as well. Great way to get focused before you head to school with ponder moves. Naoki thinks he'll beat Bryon with a little "pawn" readjustment, which ended up not being in his favor. lol Loved that little interaction between them.
Oh! And I have to comment on the photo with Tessa, Jules and Sakura, and Major Whiskers! How cute! Was that autonomous through one of your mods, or something you did? Love it! They are going to be pretty famous now, having the Mayor of Brindleton Bay living with them! lol
"Okay, no more of this, Nanami! First you steal from me, then you have the audacity to come over again and again just to be a little monster... it stops now!", Roxanne yelled. "Go home, I don't want you here ever again!"
Roxanne walked away fully expecting to be listened too. She had gardening to do .. and a lot on her mind.
When she finished she came back around to the front of her little home and saw the mess Nanami had created.
"Seriously?! How dare you!
Roxanne spewed forth a litany of filth at the little girl, holding nothing back. She wanted her gone... wanted her to never darken her doorstep again.
Roxanne chuckled as Nanami stomped away. Even if she does come back the little brat deserved it. She smirked to herself feeling all the lighter for unloading the anger that had been building up in her lately. "Yeah, I dare her to come back.."
Later that evening while Roxanne was in the house Naoki came over and messed with her bees. Why? Did Nanami tell him what happened and he decided to get in on the feud?
I don't plan on storytelling a lot but I think it would be good to show some build up as to why Roxanne is the way she she is. I was just playing during the week with her and this happened so I had to take advantage. Oh Roxanne is all the way in the green on manners and responsibility... her conflict resolution is almost red enough for her to get the argumentative trait. I don't like playing villans that are outwardly evil (none of my favorite fictional villans are obvious), but I might let her have argumentative to see how it goes later in life. I'll probably try to give her emotional control but either stay neutral in empathy or make her insensitive. A lot of why this is so fun to play this challenge is because I really don't explore certain parts of the game and would like to know how some game mechanics effect a sim long term.
I'll comment a little later on everyone's posts!
That is very cool, then. Love it
A lot happened there! Wonderful pictures and story as usual. Such a nice connection between Tessa and Josh. I'm glad he moved out though ... mostly because there is such a long time for her to be a teenager and all that tension... whew!
I gotta say I'm glad I picked the tourist aspiration first in case I can't get this other one done before the end of the month. I will eventually but I'm worried about meeting the snow conditions (especially with the new pack to check out soon). It's a let's see. Grats on finishing the "easy" aspiration lol.
@Kanindota
Being in the club will help with next aspiration too! The tiny lot traits are such a boost.. gotta take advantage while you can.
@permanentrose
Lennie is so flippin' cute! You have your work cut out for you with a pet, garden, school ect. Yikes and mad props.
Darn ... I know I spammed buying seasonal seeds to get the crocus but not sure if it was spring or winter, or even patchy's pockets. They only help so much, but seem to help a little with the bees. When you scent an arrangement with them you can see the bee's hovering around the arrangement but it wilts when scented with crocus. As for a black widow future for Roxanne maybe. I do like to play them also!
@Skeilah Your little home looks so comfy. Nice idea to get the chessboard, fun, skill and social in one package!
Having a pet is definitely a bit of work when you play without cheats, but luckily Jules isn't in school right now (I had her quit when I started this challenge using a mod) but I will have her re-enroll in a few days when fall starts, just to give myself more of a challenge. If I get too annoyed, I'll just have her quit again haha.
I might just have her go back to Rose and Carrie's house when a crocus is in season and have her harvest one from their crocus plant lol. I'll have to look what season it grows in
Also adding a reply in for @SoulGal7, hopefully you will see it haha. Jules does look miserable, I got lucky lol. I have a mod that has menstrual cycles included for females, so Jules just started her time of month today LOL so she was uncomfortable due to cramps, which made her moody almost all day. I just decided to attribute it to her being sad over fighting with Mario
IT'S AMAZING. I love it. In an alternate universe, they are all best friends