I didn't know that the Ziggurat was Maxis made. I'll def check it out. I think it's awesome!
I just wonder why Aerith does all these crazy things . Like getting stuck in an invisible potty loop. She must glitch out due to him not living with her, but it sure does make for an interesting story. It's like she is so traumatized she isn't right anymore. Maybe having her go "on vacation" to "get better" one day.
The most sensible solution would be to move both of them in with the Baums. There's that uge storeroom on the factory's roof level, it could be made into the perfect apartment for a single sim. After all, Izumi has custody over Karl, but nobody forbade the parents to live with both their sons. Then I'd have full control over all five of them and they'd behave smarter. But I find 4+ households hard to play in this game, so I'm still fighting that urge. Maybe when the boys are children and after Aerith had a cure (like that idea!). By then Izumi might be more open to the idea of having helpers around, too.
The most sensible solution would be to move both of them in with the Baums. There's that uge storeroom on the factory's roof level, it could be made into the perfect apartment for a single sim. After all, Izumi has custody over Karl, but nobody forbade the parents to live with both their sons. Then I'd have full control over all five of them and they'd behave smarter. But I find 4+ households hard to play in this game, so I'm still fighting that urge. Maybe when the boys are children and after Aerith had a cure (like that idea!). By then Izumi might be more open to the idea of having helpers around, too.
Glad u like it. I think it would fit in well with the story. And of course by the time Karl and Kyle age up, Izumi would be older. So it would make sense, that she would need more help, even if she didn't want it. She would do it, simply because she couldn't keep up with Karl.
I thought about how I could continue the homeless toddler theme and at the same time feed you the backstory to the whole Kyle/Karl swapping around intrigue. And the answer was pretty simple: play the backstory. Or at least part of it.
Homeless toddler and child.
In Forgotten Hollow.
GORDON, randomized ancestor of Kyle
Kyle and ancestors take some getting used to as adults, but they are extremely cute children.
MIA, randomized ancestor of a certain premade or promotional sim (I won't give you the household name yet)
I'm very happy that Mia bears some resemblance to Gordon without me needing to tweak much. I only gave them different (matching) skin and made Mia's ears a little less elephantous.
Mia: "Sob... don't leave me, Godo!"
Gordon: "I wouldn't ever!"
Mia: "But Enki's backstory sais you chucked me into an orphanage and left me there!!!"
Gordon: "Pshaw! Enki doesn't know everything. You and me, we know the full truth. You and me, sprout."
The Setup:
- The homeless children are part of Vlad's household, with no living relatives, so no parent-stalking this time.
- Vlad is hibernating in his coffin, we only need him to exist and stay out of the action.
- Money is set to zero.
Forgotten Hollow... there's something queer about this place, seeing as it can be reached by taking a boat across the bay from Windenburg in Newstate, yet a cave in Oasis Springs in New Maxisland leads there, too. By the time this story takes place, however, the cave is still neatly sealed. And the boy with the bagpack had payed a fisherman to ferry him across, perfectly mundane, no magic caves whatsoever involved.
There he stood now, between real old graves. There wasn't a McNally among them, all of those rested at the Windenburg graveyard in style and all the comforts modern life at the turn of century had to offer the deceased.
The boy stared to the mansion that towered over the settlement.
Von Straud Manor.
Home of - if only he could prove it! - the murderer of his clan.
Gordon McNally needed to put all his anger into this thought, into justified rage over the anhiliation of noble clan McNally, because otherwise, had he thought about that fact in different terms, he'd broken down.
Clan McNally, now that sounded strong and righteous and comfortingly more abstract than "mom and dad".
"One day...", the boy vowed.
One day the killer would have to pay!
For the time being he had other responsibilities: staying alive from day to day and keeping alive his sister.
Mia McNally occupied herself with harassing the pigeons at the town square:
The girl seemed save enough to set up a couple of lines and lures at the local pond. When Gordon went to check his fishtraps later, he realized that he'd contributed to clearing the pond from trash, but caught hardly any fish.
Among the garbage there were two tins of garlic. Why would someone throw away canned garlic?!
Whatever, food was food.
Unfortunately all food would come out again, sometime...
Mia: "Dipper now?"
Gordon: "No!"
Dipper, that was Mia's word for "diaper". And it was full.
Mia: "Dipper! Now!"
Gordon: (sighs) "I wouldn't know how, even if I wanted."
And then the little scoundrel went to use the public toilets.
Returning to Windenburg wasn't an option for fear of getting captured, so the siblings wandered the town. Gordon saw to it that Mia napped from time to time. Eventually the boy could go on no longer himself. He curled together on a bench in front of an abandoned house.
Picking the lock was beyond Gordon's ability. All their life the lessons the children had recieved had revolved around manners, fine arts and how to leave a good impression. Even if he'd had any locksmith skills, Gordon probably wouldn't have managed to bring himself to burglarize muncipal property.
There's a fully equipped kitchen in there, but no way to get in. So much for that plan. Looking for another method of feeding my homeless I changed the lot to "generic", deleted everything within the house and placed a buffet table. Failure again: children cannot buy from it.
Though the street lanterns had been lit, there was still some daylight. Gordon used the time well: he collected rocks and firewood, trying not to think too hard about the fact that it was technically theft. He told himself that he was at war with the killer, so everything he took was material requsitioned for his cause.
Over musings such as this, a serviceable campfire came into being:
Now how to lit it? Gordon knew vaguely that you had to rub sticks against other sticks or use flint and steel. But the "what" didn't help with the "how" and so the logs remained cold.
Sooo, Gordon McNally, how desperate are you already?
Not enough to do as the vagrant did, obviously. But asking the stranger if he perhaps had a tindertwig to spare, that was an option.
Even this simple qustion left the boy tense. Gordon neither disliked people nor was he shy, but he had reasons to avoid adults. Adults would probably bring him and Mia to an orphanage. Worse: they might ship them to distant relatives far away with no hope to finish their revenge. Worst case scenario, the adults might arrange marriages into some clan, thus extinguishing the McNally forever. (Unthinkable scenario would be seperating the siblings into different institutions)
Soon a fire was burning and Gordon bent down to roast one of the fish he had caught earlier.
The food was supposed to be for Mia, but one bite would certainly be allowed...
Problem: After canceling the action, Gordon didn't put down the plate, but made it disappear intot hin air. Meaning BOTH lost their meal.
Sooo, that left only the garlic.
And, well, can't eat your pride, I guess. Time to raid the garbage bin.
By now I had money, a buffet table, a hungry toddler who had recieved a warning already but no means to combine these three things.
Cue the vampire.
My plan was to have Vlad stock up the buffet, then immediately return to hibernating, rationalizing that he was in charge of the town's charity.
But when I told him to return home, Vlad stubbornly picked up the toddler and wouldn't set her down again.
Mia: "Hunger!!!"
Vlad: "Yes, little snack, we're going to feed now. One of us, that is."
Charity vampire style, that is. Feed the strays so you can dine on them.
Gordon raced towards the stranger who held his sister. No doubt, it was HIM. The man Gordon had seen enter the mansion in the night of the fire. Had he come to finish what he had started? Probably not, else Mia would be dead already.
True. To Vlad humans are cattle and he never remembers individual names or faces.
The man seemed to be on the lookout for a cheap maid or... worse.
"Take me instead!" Gordon shouted. "I mean, as a slave one so young is of no use to you! Except, of course, if you'd want to eat her, in this case you couldn't find a fatter pig in the woods."
It had been meant as an attempt at gallows humour, but next thing Gordon saw was the man lowering his head and trying to bite little Mia for real! Now Gordon had often seen Mia bite nannys, doctors and assorted adults, but never the other way around!
Vlad learned that morning that trying to drink from someone who had only recently eaten garlic wasn't the best idea. He retched, dropped the toddler and vomited again.
Talking to Vlad was no use, either, so I resetted him to re-gain control of Mia. Don't know why the garlic pieces Mia had eaten dropped upon resetting Vlad, but it fit nicely with the story.
Afterwards the evil man fled into the safety of the house, as if the sun was hurting him physically.
Vlad will hibernate in a coffin I placed in the abandoned house until he's needed again to re-stock the buffet.
And finally food for Mia!
I cheated, by the way. All the while Mia was being held by Vlad as the result of me telling him to go home, I had her motives frozen.
Good kid that he is, Gordon packed the leftovers. It raised his responsibility, but won't do anything for Mia, who cannot use sack lunches.
The next day started with an unfortunate accident. One of the vagrants had caught fire:
Within mere moments the man was consumed by the flames, leaving only a pile of ashes.
Now from sad experience Gordon knew that fire was a cruel way to die and it should not have happened that fast.
The boy didn't know what to make of all of this. Everything he had seen tonight fit the stories he'd heard about vampires. But he was six years old and shouldn't believe in fairy tales anymore! And besides, vampires couldn't enter houses uninvited, least of all Gordon's well protected home.
Before he went fishing, Gordon told Mia: "Be good! Don't go anywhere! And do not talk to strangers!"
Yeah, sure...
Mia is totally different from Karl. She excels in the skills he had problems with: imagination and thinking. As a clingy toddler she isn't much interested in exploring and instead of priding herself in her independence she tests ways in which she can manipulate the adults.
You must admit, dear brother, they are useful, those strangers:
He even gave Mia an apple - that IS an apple, right...?
And he cleaned away the mess, because if it stayed into daytime, the police might get alert to the vandalism.
So that was day 1. I plan to play 14 days again, fodder for maybe three or four more chapters.
As for the backstory, I'm rather proud of it, but it's not very subtle, so every revelation threatens to give away the whole thing already.
Hint 1: Remember that marriage partners of the same rank keep their surnames in my game and that the game assigns newborns their mother's surname. Paternally the McNally kids are actually linked to...
Yeah, I should have sticked (stuck?) with him.
I'm having fun playing the MacNally and chronicling their adventures, but I'm afraid they are lacking the special charme Karl had.
The second day into the challenge I had a dangerous idea. When the popup for the Humour and Hijinks festival appeared, I remembered the 500 thalers price and decided to enroll Gordon. So the siblings hid in a cart and on to San Myshuno they went!
Gordon joined the jokester team:
Despite spamming fun interactions, the other team was getting ahead. Worse: the translations are so ambigious that I was under the impression MY team was in the lead and took it easy. So in the end Gordon's team lost.
Sometimes I feel I fail at The Sims so bad...
And though Mia had mastered the art of turning food eaten by others into free to grab leftovers by starting a conversation with them...
... upon returning to the Hollow I recieved no less than three warnings before I finally had mended the damage caused by this trip. Without the power-napping mod I'd most likely lost the energy/fun/hunger race.
Back to business as usual in Forgotten Hollow:
Once Gordon could reliably catch enough fish to buy the evening meal, the siblings would be out of danger and could start making plans for their future. But so far each day was an uphill battle.
Being ashamed to scavenge was a thing of the past.
As was bathing.
Often the food was old and makes Gordon ill, so he could not fish. But he needed to chow it down to survive.
Mia didn't even touch food when it was spoiled. Well, LITERALLY she touched alright, but only to play with it.
Sleeping in shifts:
On rare occasions the siblings felt well enough to explore the hinterlands of Forgotten Hollow together. Then Gordon took the time to teach his sister something: "Say "arsonist", Mia! It is important!"
Mia had fallen behind in thinking, with imagination and communication going strong now. The world was too cold and too hard to understand, so she made up her own worlds.
Like all little girls Mia loved flowers:
One thing was certain: even if Gordon managed to cover each and every need of his sister's, her upbringing in this strange town wouldn't exactly prepare her for an average life.
Not anytime soon, at least not as part of my normal gameplay. And I doubt loading that household just for the sake of being able to post something would work. But if he makes an appearance in the world while I play the other households, I'll update bis status here!
Meantime I'm curious about all the downloaded Karls and their fates. It will be a long time 'till I see him grow up, so a sneak peak what he'll look like would be nice.
By chance I learned that the McNally have traces of fairy blood. Naturally Gordon asked his sister about all the other people she met during the day and while doing so, he hoverd above the girl.
Being half fairies became the McNally siblings' cover story. As citizens of the fairy court they's not be enrolled in school and their home would be in Sylvan glade. As long as they pretended to go home (aka hide in the hollow tree in town) from time to time, the children were left alone.
Though the tree was dead and couldn't be used to travel anymore, the fairies still kept tabs in this place:
However, they were far too fickle to care about two human children that could look after themselves well enough.
Chances were, the adults knew fully well the siblings were street urchins, but in pretending to believe their lie, they could decline all responsibility. Of all the adults the Vattore siblings proved the most helpful, lending a hand when a task was beyond Gordon's abilities.
On a sidenote, am I imagining things or is Gordon growing fatter? They both overeat, because food is so rare that I want their hunger bar filled 100% whenever they have the chance. Too bad sims don't lose weight if their hunger stays in the red for some time.
The Vattore didn't seem to sleep ever. Day and night they could be encountered in Forgotten Hollow while other residents, like the Langley cousins, never showed their faces. Helpful as the Vattores' presence was, it made Gordon suspicous of them!
One of these nights the boy dared to ask what Lilith and Caleb knew about vampires.
"I never studied that kind of lore. If you are interested, you should go visit a library."
Hm, that was certainly interesting! Though she showed no particular interest in vampire lore, the woman had just confirmed that it was a research-worthy subject, instead of the stuff of fireplace tales!
The next day the Vattore invited Gordon and Mia to their home. Lilith planned to offer them some reading-to, under the belief that any book would take Gordon's mind off his vampire fixation.
First the boy raided the fridge on Mia's behalf. It went unscolded.
Then he took a bath, only to be told that the Vattore didn't tolerate "that kind of thing" in their house.
Gordon: "What, lady, does that mean you never shower and only ever slap perfume on your body to hide the stench?!"
Lilith: "Of course not. (sighs) We do not tolerate strangers in our bathtub."
Typically for adult double standards, when she asked for it, Mia was given a bath without complains:
Gordon figured his sister was under some kind of puppy license and that he was considered old enough to work for whatever he wanted. Trouble was, for starters the boy was too young to get legally employed, three years too young exactly. And what he wanted most of all was nothing money could buy anyway, but his revenge.
So one night, despite the danger, the children sneaked into Windenburg's library...
...and while they were there, also into the local pool. Much to Gordon's surprise there were still people in there one hour before midnight.
Hallenbad 1900 by schlummikatz and my screenshot doesn't do this spot-on lot justice.
Back "home" in Forgotten Hollow Gordon made a friend: Elke Bjergsen. She seemed to like fishing, too.
Gordon: "Caught you bugger and the big one will fall, too!"
Elke: "There are even bigger fish in there?"
Gordon: "Nah, I mean the vampire."
Elke: "Yay, let's play vampire hunters!"
Play vampire hunters... Aside from a few chores, Elke's world revolved around playing. She could fish and didn't have to be particularly good at it, because she had no toddler sister to care and buy toys for.
Not long after Gordon entered a mean phase and Elke was the only person he cared not to offend.
"She's a burden!" he claimed about Mia. "I should just drop her off at an orphanage!"
As he did in my first draft, before I decided I wanted to play this.
One day Gordon caught a leather-bound tome in the pond.
He couldn't believe it when he read the title - and neither could I, so here's proof:
Encyclopedia Vampirica Volume 1
Now who knows that Gordon is interested in vampires, spends his time fishing at this particular spot and placed the book secretly there?
The Vattore come to mind, having reason not to draw attention to themselves, but willing to assist the boy. Provided "endangering" still falls under "assisting", that is.
Homeless sims have always been a favourite of mine. One of my first sims was a homeless teenager named Violet Bradley (AKA the Plant Person. DON'T ASK) who I would say is now my favourite sim. I just started a homeless family of a young adult named Anita Downing and her younger siblings Alice and Arron, and having a toddler is WAY harder than a teen.
Once at the beginning of a play session the abandoned house lot was full of adults.
Had Gordon made true on his threat? Were these the orphanage representatives?!
Who are you? - Fairykin.
What are doing here? - Play.
You smell! Don't you ever bath? - No, why should we? Mom casts a cleaning spell on us when we come home.
At this point Gordon wasn't certain if Mia was aware that she was making up stuff. His sister was so eager to talk to people, on the other hand side she withdrew more and more, never really answering his questions about the strangers. She probably only knew their roles within the imaginary worlds she created, but not their real names.
Adult: "Ah, hm. Well, you cannot play here any longer. The house was sold and this is private property now. Just so you know."
Bummer.
So where to go from here...? - Let me retcon something, children, bb in a minute!
So, there you go:
There was a small church of The Watcher in Forgotten Hollow. Ever since medieval times followership in this cult had declined after the Watcher had outright forbidden mortals to venerate her. So her houses served as libraries, concert halls and community centers nowadays. Probably for this reason the Watcher's house was the only religious site tolerated in Forgotten Hollow, because it wasn't REALLY religious.
The residents' avoidance of contact to the divine once again confirmed Gordon's suspicion that at least one vampire controlled this town.
Entering the church, Gordon let Mia look around while he sank into contemplation.
And this is how my sims do that:
I use the cube to provide an outcome to their musings. In-story it doesn't even exist.
In Gordon's case his answer was YES and the question, of course, whether he should become a vampire slayer. Several months into his hardships, with trying to block out his sorrow, the boy's mind was so fixated on that idea that he wouldn't have been able to hear a real divine answer.
The Watcher's house provided a new means of making money: by looking cute, no actual pipe organ skill required.
Meanwhile Mia made the local priest's aquaintance. She was in her sunday dress, which would have looked adoreable if she hadn't also been covered in mud all over.
Priest: "Yes, the Watcher knows everything that transpires in the world. You ask how, my child? By putting a little piece of herself into everyone of us. So you could say we ARE the watcher."
Mia: "D'oh."
Despite Mia's overt lack of respect for the spiritual, the children were tolerated on the premises from that day on.
They moved their few posessions into the yard and never looked back.
The McNally children's new hideout came with a few perks.
First, the charity table was moved over here from the abandoned house.
(As was Vlad's coffin, as I need him to restock the buffet as well as put soap into the fountain).
Second, hygiene was covered at least for Gordon now (thanks to a soapy-fountain-raises-hygiene mod).
And third, the benches were long enough for both siblings to sleep at the same one! Snuggling time!
As for the downside...
Vampire ghost.
And the glowing sphere inside the spirit, that could only be the piece of the Watcher that the priest had lectured the girlchild about!
Mia: "Oh! Is true! Shiny!"
Further proof that the McNally are fairykin: a ghost is by no means solid, yet Mia hovers in midair.
Life was easier now and the chidren could have relaxed, if not for the minor annoyances that came from the adults living in a totally different world then them:
This is food, why are you throwing it away! Granted, spoiled food that makes your stomach revolt, but at least food. You know? The stuff that's friggin' expensive and that you need to survive?!
So much for week one.
Mia has mastered imagination and communication, movement is at 4 and thinking at 3, potty zero for lack of one.
(But I think I can add one to the Watcher's house, as a community center would be equipped for toddlers.)
Gordon made good progress in empathy, manners and responsibility.
Also now would be the time to guess how the children are related to premade sims and Sims 4 canon, because tomorrow I'll reveal that part
Karl has done quite well in my game. He just now aged up, and are now a child. Very handsome with the red hair against his dark skin. And those gorgeous blue eyes! I think Cass and Shawn will have to work very hard when he grows up, to keep all the girls away! :)
I can't post pictures or working links, but I put some pics up on my Photobucket. You can post them if you like, Enki...incase other people also want to see what he looks like, and maybe compare with their own Karl :) Would be very interesting to compare pics :)
Aw A little heartbreaker in every lifestage, it seems. I absolutely adore the dark skin, red or blonde hair sims! My Cassie and Wolfgang have produced one of those, too (because I made her darker, more like in Sims 2) and he's one age with Karl. So, a direct rival for all the ladies's affection
Absolutely a heartbreaker :) and very well behaved too. No tantrums or anger fits during his toddler days. He did what he wanted with little direction, really. Very much enjoyed dancing and playing with my other toddler, they kept blabbing along and became fast friends :)
I absolutely loved Cassie in TS2. Her household is one of my fav to play.
Comments
Karl...?
It's me, your player.
We need to talk.
Like, seriously.
Care to explain how that tablet got into your inventory?
I mean, I know, but... klepto wasn't on my list of your possible childhood traits!
It would make sense. Seeing as he was on his own for so so long. It could just come down to him really not knowing any better.
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/15821670/#Comment_15821670
No pictures, unfortunately.
---
I didn't know that the Ziggurat was Maxis made. I'll def check it out. I think it's awesome!
I just wonder why Aerith does all these crazy things . Like getting stuck in an invisible potty loop. She must glitch out due to him not living with her, but it sure does make for an interesting story. It's like she is so traumatized she isn't right anymore. Maybe having her go "on vacation" to "get better" one day.
Glad u like it. I think it would fit in well with the story. And of course by the time Karl and Kyle age up, Izumi would be older. So it would make sense, that she would need more help, even if she didn't want it. She would do it, simply because she couldn't keep up with Karl.
I thought about how I could continue the homeless toddler theme and at the same time feed you the backstory to the whole Kyle/Karl swapping around intrigue. And the answer was pretty simple: play the backstory. Or at least part of it.
In Forgotten Hollow.
GORDON, randomized ancestor of Kyle
Kyle and ancestors take some getting used to as adults, but they are extremely cute children.
MIA, randomized ancestor of a certain premade or promotional sim (I won't give you the household name yet)
I'm very happy that Mia bears some resemblance to Gordon without me needing to tweak much. I only gave them different (matching) skin and made Mia's ears a little less elephantous.
Mia: "Sob... don't leave me, Godo!"
Gordon: "I wouldn't ever!"
Mia: "But Enki's backstory sais you chucked me into an orphanage and left me there!!!"
Gordon: "Pshaw! Enki doesn't know everything. You and me, we know the full truth. You and me, sprout."
- The homeless children are part of Vlad's household, with no living relatives, so no parent-stalking this time.
- Vlad is hibernating in his coffin, we only need him to exist and stay out of the action.
- Money is set to zero.
Forgotten Hollow... there's something queer about this place, seeing as it can be reached by taking a boat across the bay from Windenburg in Newstate, yet a cave in Oasis Springs in New Maxisland leads there, too. By the time this story takes place, however, the cave is still neatly sealed. And the boy with the bagpack had payed a fisherman to ferry him across, perfectly mundane, no magic caves whatsoever involved.
There he stood now, between real old graves. There wasn't a McNally among them, all of those rested at the Windenburg graveyard in style and all the comforts modern life at the turn of century had to offer the deceased.
The boy stared to the mansion that towered over the settlement.
Von Straud Manor.
Home of - if only he could prove it! - the murderer of his clan.
Gordon McNally needed to put all his anger into this thought, into justified rage over the anhiliation of noble clan McNally, because otherwise, had he thought about that fact in different terms, he'd broken down.
Clan McNally, now that sounded strong and righteous and comfortingly more abstract than "mom and dad".
"One day...", the boy vowed.
One day the killer would have to pay!
For the time being he had other responsibilities: staying alive from day to day and keeping alive his sister.
Mia McNally occupied herself with harassing the pigeons at the town square:
The girl seemed save enough to set up a couple of lines and lures at the local pond. When Gordon went to check his fishtraps later, he realized that he'd contributed to clearing the pond from trash, but caught hardly any fish.
Among the garbage there were two tins of garlic. Why would someone throw away canned garlic?!
Whatever, food was food.
Unfortunately all food would come out again, sometime...
Mia: "Dipper now?"
Gordon: "No!"
Dipper, that was Mia's word for "diaper". And it was full.
Mia: "Dipper! Now!"
Gordon: (sighs) "I wouldn't know how, even if I wanted."
And then the little scoundrel went to use the public toilets.
Returning to Windenburg wasn't an option for fear of getting captured, so the siblings wandered the town. Gordon saw to it that Mia napped from time to time. Eventually the boy could go on no longer himself. He curled together on a bench in front of an abandoned house.
Picking the lock was beyond Gordon's ability. All their life the lessons the children had recieved had revolved around manners, fine arts and how to leave a good impression. Even if he'd had any locksmith skills, Gordon probably wouldn't have managed to bring himself to burglarize muncipal property.
There's a fully equipped kitchen in there, but no way to get in. So much for that plan. Looking for another method of feeding my homeless I changed the lot to "generic", deleted everything within the house and placed a buffet table. Failure again: children cannot buy from it.
Though the street lanterns had been lit, there was still some daylight. Gordon used the time well: he collected rocks and firewood, trying not to think too hard about the fact that it was technically theft. He told himself that he was at war with the killer, so everything he took was material requsitioned for his cause.
Over musings such as this, a serviceable campfire came into being:
Now how to lit it? Gordon knew vaguely that you had to rub sticks against other sticks or use flint and steel. But the "what" didn't help with the "how" and so the logs remained cold.
Sooo, Gordon McNally, how desperate are you already?
Not enough to do as the vagrant did, obviously. But asking the stranger if he perhaps had a tindertwig to spare, that was an option.
Even this simple qustion left the boy tense. Gordon neither disliked people nor was he shy, but he had reasons to avoid adults. Adults would probably bring him and Mia to an orphanage. Worse: they might ship them to distant relatives far away with no hope to finish their revenge. Worst case scenario, the adults might arrange marriages into some clan, thus extinguishing the McNally forever. (Unthinkable scenario would be seperating the siblings into different institutions)
Soon a fire was burning and Gordon bent down to roast one of the fish he had caught earlier.
The food was supposed to be for Mia, but one bite would certainly be allowed...
Problem: After canceling the action, Gordon didn't put down the plate, but made it disappear intot hin air. Meaning BOTH lost their meal.
Sooo, that left only the garlic.
And, well, can't eat your pride, I guess. Time to raid the garbage bin.
By now I had money, a buffet table, a hungry toddler who had recieved a warning already but no means to combine these three things.
Cue the vampire.
My plan was to have Vlad stock up the buffet, then immediately return to hibernating, rationalizing that he was in charge of the town's charity.
But when I told him to return home, Vlad stubbornly picked up the toddler and wouldn't set her down again.
Mia: "Hunger!!!"
Vlad: "Yes, little snack, we're going to feed now. One of us, that is."
Charity vampire style, that is. Feed the strays so you can dine on them.
Gordon raced towards the stranger who held his sister. No doubt, it was HIM. The man Gordon had seen enter the mansion in the night of the fire. Had he come to finish what he had started? Probably not, else Mia would be dead already.
True. To Vlad humans are cattle and he never remembers individual names or faces.
The man seemed to be on the lookout for a cheap maid or... worse.
"Take me instead!" Gordon shouted. "I mean, as a slave one so young is of no use to you! Except, of course, if you'd want to eat her, in this case you couldn't find a fatter pig in the woods."
It had been meant as an attempt at gallows humour, but next thing Gordon saw was the man lowering his head and trying to bite little Mia for real! Now Gordon had often seen Mia bite nannys, doctors and assorted adults, but never the other way around!
Vlad learned that morning that trying to drink from someone who had only recently eaten garlic wasn't the best idea. He retched, dropped the toddler and vomited again.
Talking to Vlad was no use, either, so I resetted him to re-gain control of Mia. Don't know why the garlic pieces Mia had eaten dropped upon resetting Vlad, but it fit nicely with the story.
Afterwards the evil man fled into the safety of the house, as if the sun was hurting him physically.
Vlad will hibernate in a coffin I placed in the abandoned house until he's needed again to re-stock the buffet.
And finally food for Mia!
I cheated, by the way. All the while Mia was being held by Vlad as the result of me telling him to go home, I had her motives frozen.
Good kid that he is, Gordon packed the leftovers. It raised his responsibility, but won't do anything for Mia, who cannot use sack lunches.
The next day started with an unfortunate accident. One of the vagrants had caught fire:
Within mere moments the man was consumed by the flames, leaving only a pile of ashes.
Now from sad experience Gordon knew that fire was a cruel way to die and it should not have happened that fast.
The boy didn't know what to make of all of this. Everything he had seen tonight fit the stories he'd heard about vampires. But he was six years old and shouldn't believe in fairy tales anymore! And besides, vampires couldn't enter houses uninvited, least of all Gordon's well protected home.
Before he went fishing, Gordon told Mia: "Be good! Don't go anywhere! And do not talk to strangers!"
Yeah, sure...
Mia is totally different from Karl. She excels in the skills he had problems with: imagination and thinking. As a clingy toddler she isn't much interested in exploring and instead of priding herself in her independence she tests ways in which she can manipulate the adults.
You must admit, dear brother, they are useful, those strangers:
He even gave Mia an apple - that IS an apple, right...?
And he cleaned away the mess, because if it stayed into daytime, the police might get alert to the vandalism.
So that was day 1. I plan to play 14 days again, fodder for maybe three or four more chapters.
As for the backstory, I'm rather proud of it, but it's not very subtle, so every revelation threatens to give away the whole thing already.
Hint 1: Remember that marriage partners of the same rank keep their surnames in my game and that the game assigns newborns their mother's surname. Paternally the McNally kids are actually linked to...
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Yeah, I should have sticked (stuck?) with him.
I'm having fun playing the MacNally and chronicling their adventures, but I'm afraid they are lacking the special charme Karl had.
The second day into the challenge I had a dangerous idea. When the popup for the Humour and Hijinks festival appeared, I remembered the 500 thalers price and decided to enroll Gordon. So the siblings hid in a cart and on to San Myshuno they went!
Gordon joined the jokester team:
Despite spamming fun interactions, the other team was getting ahead. Worse: the translations are so ambigious that I was under the impression MY team was in the lead and took it easy. So in the end Gordon's team lost.
Sometimes I feel I fail at The Sims so bad...
And though Mia had mastered the art of turning food eaten by others into free to grab leftovers by starting a conversation with them...
... upon returning to the Hollow I recieved no less than three warnings before I finally had mended the damage caused by this trip. Without the power-napping mod I'd most likely lost the energy/fun/hunger race.
Back to business as usual in Forgotten Hollow:
Once Gordon could reliably catch enough fish to buy the evening meal, the siblings would be out of danger and could start making plans for their future. But so far each day was an uphill battle.
Being ashamed to scavenge was a thing of the past.
As was bathing.
Often the food was old and makes Gordon ill, so he could not fish. But he needed to chow it down to survive.
Mia didn't even touch food when it was spoiled. Well, LITERALLY she touched alright, but only to play with it.
Sleeping in shifts:
On rare occasions the siblings felt well enough to explore the hinterlands of Forgotten Hollow together. Then Gordon took the time to teach his sister something: "Say "arsonist", Mia! It is important!"
Mia had fallen behind in thinking, with imagination and communication going strong now. The world was too cold and too hard to understand, so she made up her own worlds.
Like all little girls Mia loved flowers:
One thing was certain: even if Gordon managed to cover each and every need of his sister's, her upbringing in this strange town wouldn't exactly prepare her for an average life.
Meantime I'm curious about all the downloaded Karls and their fates. It will be a long time 'till I see him grow up, so a sneak peak what he'll look like would be nice.
Very interesting story with Mia and Gordon! what characters those two are :)
Gallery: Kathykins
AHQ - Game help and Bugs
Being half fairies became the McNally siblings' cover story. As citizens of the fairy court they's not be enrolled in school and their home would be in Sylvan glade. As long as they pretended to go home (aka hide in the hollow tree in town) from time to time, the children were left alone.
Though the tree was dead and couldn't be used to travel anymore, the fairies still kept tabs in this place:
However, they were far too fickle to care about two human children that could look after themselves well enough.
Chances were, the adults knew fully well the siblings were street urchins, but in pretending to believe their lie, they could decline all responsibility. Of all the adults the Vattore siblings proved the most helpful, lending a hand when a task was beyond Gordon's abilities.
On a sidenote, am I imagining things or is Gordon growing fatter? They both overeat, because food is so rare that I want their hunger bar filled 100% whenever they have the chance. Too bad sims don't lose weight if their hunger stays in the red for some time.
The Vattore didn't seem to sleep ever. Day and night they could be encountered in Forgotten Hollow while other residents, like the Langley cousins, never showed their faces. Helpful as the Vattores' presence was, it made Gordon suspicous of them!
One of these nights the boy dared to ask what Lilith and Caleb knew about vampires.
"I never studied that kind of lore. If you are interested, you should go visit a library."
Hm, that was certainly interesting! Though she showed no particular interest in vampire lore, the woman had just confirmed that it was a research-worthy subject, instead of the stuff of fireplace tales!
The next day the Vattore invited Gordon and Mia to their home. Lilith planned to offer them some reading-to, under the belief that any book would take Gordon's mind off his vampire fixation.
First the boy raided the fridge on Mia's behalf. It went unscolded.
Then he took a bath, only to be told that the Vattore didn't tolerate "that kind of thing" in their house.
Gordon: "What, lady, does that mean you never shower and only ever slap perfume on your body to hide the stench?!"
Lilith: "Of course not. (sighs) We do not tolerate strangers in our bathtub."
Typically for adult double standards, when she asked for it, Mia was given a bath without complains:
Gordon figured his sister was under some kind of puppy license and that he was considered old enough to work for whatever he wanted. Trouble was, for starters the boy was too young to get legally employed, three years too young exactly. And what he wanted most of all was nothing money could buy anyway, but his revenge.
So one night, despite the danger, the children sneaked into Windenburg's library...
...and while they were there, also into the local pool. Much to Gordon's surprise there were still people in there one hour before midnight.
Hallenbad 1900 by schlummikatz and my screenshot doesn't do this spot-on lot justice.
Back "home" in Forgotten Hollow Gordon made a friend: Elke Bjergsen. She seemed to like fishing, too.
Gordon: "Caught you bugger and the big one will fall, too!"
Elke: "There are even bigger fish in there?"
Gordon: "Nah, I mean the vampire."
Elke: "Yay, let's play vampire hunters!"
Play vampire hunters... Aside from a few chores, Elke's world revolved around playing. She could fish and didn't have to be particularly good at it, because she had no toddler sister to care and buy toys for.
Not long after Gordon entered a mean phase and Elke was the only person he cared not to offend.
"She's a burden!" he claimed about Mia. "I should just drop her off at an orphanage!"
As he did in my first draft, before I decided I wanted to play this.
One day Gordon caught a leather-bound tome in the pond.
He couldn't believe it when he read the title - and neither could I, so here's proof:
Encyclopedia Vampirica Volume 1
Now who knows that Gordon is interested in vampires, spends his time fishing at this particular spot and placed the book secretly there?
The Vattore come to mind, having reason not to draw attention to themselves, but willing to assist the boy. Provided "endangering" still falls under "assisting", that is.
Had Gordon made true on his threat? Were these the orphanage representatives?!
Who are you? - Fairykin.
What are doing here? - Play.
You smell! Don't you ever bath? - No, why should we? Mom casts a cleaning spell on us when we come home.
At this point Gordon wasn't certain if Mia was aware that she was making up stuff. His sister was so eager to talk to people, on the other hand side she withdrew more and more, never really answering his questions about the strangers. She probably only knew their roles within the imaginary worlds she created, but not their real names.
Adult: "Ah, hm. Well, you cannot play here any longer. The house was sold and this is private property now. Just so you know."
Bummer.
So where to go from here...? - Let me retcon something, children, bb in a minute!
So, there you go:
There was a small church of The Watcher in Forgotten Hollow. Ever since medieval times followership in this cult had declined after the Watcher had outright forbidden mortals to venerate her. So her houses served as libraries, concert halls and community centers nowadays. Probably for this reason the Watcher's house was the only religious site tolerated in Forgotten Hollow, because it wasn't REALLY religious.
The residents' avoidance of contact to the divine once again confirmed Gordon's suspicion that at least one vampire controlled this town.
Entering the church, Gordon let Mia look around while he sank into contemplation.
And this is how my sims do that:
I use the cube to provide an outcome to their musings. In-story it doesn't even exist.
In Gordon's case his answer was YES and the question, of course, whether he should become a vampire slayer. Several months into his hardships, with trying to block out his sorrow, the boy's mind was so fixated on that idea that he wouldn't have been able to hear a real divine answer.
The Watcher's house provided a new means of making money: by looking cute, no actual pipe organ skill required.
Meanwhile Mia made the local priest's aquaintance. She was in her sunday dress, which would have looked adoreable if she hadn't also been covered in mud all over.
Priest: "Yes, the Watcher knows everything that transpires in the world. You ask how, my child? By putting a little piece of herself into everyone of us. So you could say we ARE the watcher."
Mia: "D'oh."
Despite Mia's overt lack of respect for the spiritual, the children were tolerated on the premises from that day on.
They moved their few posessions into the yard and never looked back.
The McNally children's new hideout came with a few perks.
First, the charity table was moved over here from the abandoned house.
(As was Vlad's coffin, as I need him to restock the buffet as well as put soap into the fountain).
Second, hygiene was covered at least for Gordon now (thanks to a soapy-fountain-raises-hygiene mod).
And third, the benches were long enough for both siblings to sleep at the same one! Snuggling time!
As for the downside...
Vampire ghost.
And the glowing sphere inside the spirit, that could only be the piece of the Watcher that the priest had lectured the girlchild about!
Mia: "Oh! Is true! Shiny!"
Further proof that the McNally are fairykin: a ghost is by no means solid, yet Mia hovers in midair.
Life was easier now and the chidren could have relaxed, if not for the minor annoyances that came from the adults living in a totally different world then them:
This is food, why are you throwing it away! Granted, spoiled food that makes your stomach revolt, but at least food. You know? The stuff that's friggin' expensive and that you need to survive?!
So much for week one.
Mia has mastered imagination and communication, movement is at 4 and thinking at 3, potty zero for lack of one.
(But I think I can add one to the Watcher's house, as a community center would be equipped for toddlers.)
Gordon made good progress in empathy, manners and responsibility.
Also now would be the time to guess how the children are related to premade sims and Sims 4 canon, because tomorrow I'll reveal that part
I can't post pictures or working links, but I put some pics up on my Photobucket. You can post them if you like, Enki...incase other people also want to see what he looks like, and maybe compare with their own Karl :) Would be very interesting to compare pics :)
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f376/kathykins69/RPG/TS4/KarlBaumHugCass.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f376/kathykins69/RPG/TS4/KarlBaumPLAYCASS.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f376/kathykins69/RPG/TS4/KarlBaumBDaycake.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f376/kathykins69/RPG/TS4/KarlBaumChildportrait.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f376/kathykins69/RPG/TS4/KarlBaumChildBD.jpg
As for Mia and Gordon, I really can't make any guesses. I just enjoy their story very much, and look forward to reading what happens! :)
Gallery: Kathykins
AHQ - Game help and Bugs
Aw A little heartbreaker in every lifestage, it seems. I absolutely adore the dark skin, red or blonde hair sims! My Cassie and Wolfgang have produced one of those, too (because I made her darker, more like in Sims 2) and he's one age with Karl. So, a direct rival for all the ladies's affection
I absolutely loved Cassie in TS2. Her household is one of my fav to play.
Gallery: Kathykins
AHQ - Game help and Bugs