@Skeilah That sounds awful. Good sleep, and I will hold my thumbs (German saying) that you can get everything back. And I thought I had bad luck today when I accidentally threw away half the update because of not saving!
If you somewhen have the time, I may ask you about Weebly. I tried setting up a blog some weeks ago and then got frustrated because it was so complicated, and I took on more than I could handle time and commitment-wise. It sounded just like what @permanentrose wrote about her attempt today...
The long-term plan of a blog will stay though, I think, so I am still curious.
@Skeilah , so sorry to hear, I know that feeling of frustration. I really hope they can retrieve your blog page !
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
Thanks so much, everyone. I'm finally feeling like I'm starting to get a "handle" on everyone's sims and stories... and everyone going out of their way to accommodate the newbies in this challenge is SO NICE! I really, really want to say thanks for all that. I'm having a really good time getting to know everyone's sims and teaching myself to post to my blog on an actual daily basis. I regret I'm not better at doing full comments for everyone, but I assure I'm reading! (And I'm trying to reply to everyone who comments on my story, as well.) Time on a daily basis is also an issue for me, and I completely understand those who are having to cut back on comments because so many of us have joined in. I love reading everything, though! Also, I think I've decided that I'll be writing a synopsis post at the end of each month (linked from here and my story over view page - https://illusorythrall.wordpress.com/thralls-one-month-one-world-one-year/ so that anyone reading, from wherever they're reading from - will be able to figure out what's going on in my story. I will also continue to post the link to each day post in this forum, as well as the contents of the post in spoilers here, so those who aren't really into leaving the forums to track down the story - don't have to. Hope that helps with ease of reading for my story!
I just finished playing today's update, so I gotta go format pics and write up story. It's very interesting how sometimes having no plan at all for a sim-day leads to finding random things to do, after all. I will say, though, since several people have commented on the difficulty of playing a large family like I have at the moment.. I don't find it very difficult. Pause key is a friend. I also have a LOT of practice with large families, though, so I may not be the best person to talk about the difficulty. So, don't feel like it's taking me forever to play each day, and I am enjoying every minute of it. I've really connected with this family, and will miss each and every one of them (even the awful ones) when they're gone from my daily playtime!
This will be a short update, but I didn't have that much sleep last night (fun in Thrall's stream instead ) and was kinda burnt after doing the overview post. (She said and then proceeds to write until 1am. Um... Perhaps I need to get a sleep schedule... )
I am still experimenting what to put in Updates and what to leave with the Overview - Especially for the links at the top, the disclaimer and the character list, I'd like to know your opinion.
Also, I don't know if I am overreacting by putting that Disclaimer everywhere, but I guess I am a bit burnt there. When I was younger, I was in some other forum, being my 14-year-old imaginative self, thinking up a story that touched all of this stuff. Of course I could not handle it well back then, it was full of bad clichés, and people were offended, and it didn't really end that nice. But that's why I am a bit concerned now.
last Update | Overview post&rules
Update 2 - Bridgeview
Sarah's Diary
Hello, dear Diary. I am so excited (or tired!) I can hardly write...
In the morning after I last wrote you, we got our first bills. I have to say, now I can see why Greg would need help with those! They were 1285$... And Greg makes only 112$ on each work day. I had to work three gigs in one day to get the money we needed. But I acutally had fun helping in an art class, I think I really like working with kids and with art.
That is more than I can say about Greg. He still hates his job in business, and I have to say, it isn't a good job: He works long hours for barely more than a scrap of money and then comes home annoyed, often shouting around to relieve his stress or snapping at me. Nevertheless, I asked him to stay at the firm for now. My art is good, but what if I get ill or have to take a break? I'd really prefer having at least one fixed income. Thankfully, he agreed after a while, saying that he could stay for now and look into making money with his Tournaments on the side, and perhaps take a programming class to go into Game development long-term. I think it sounds good, and I could see how much happier he was, feeling like there's a plan how he can make money with stuff he enjoys. (A/N: He gets a strong "tense" whenever going to work from his traits, so I think he should get a Freelancer job as soon as they are a bit more settled. In about a week of posts or two... )
After Greg went to work, one of the kids from the Art class came and visited. I think she was feeling a bit lonely, so I invited her in for a chat. Her name is Tessa Aldrich and she lives across the street. What a lovely coincidence! Soon after, we had even more guests. Her whole family came by to say hello and to apologize for her having invited herself into a pregnant lady's house. I had dressed up a bit and served everyone some Mac&Cheese.
Pamela, or "Granny" to the whole neighbourhood as she told me, seems to be a lovely lady. She loves to Garden and is a great cook. She cares for her Grandchildren after both their parents died in a plague at young years. Poor Tessa and Joey! I really admire how active she still is at her age. She said she'd even want to learn to knit, knowing that it isn't an easy skill to do. But right now, she is missing some time for that project... (And I some money to get the pack! ) Readhed Alexia, already a Young Adult, is the image of her mother according to Granny. She loves to paint, channeling all her emotions on the canvas. I am so happy I found a fellow artist around... I think she is a bit distant, but that's understandable: she feels heavily responsible for her younger siblings, Tessa and Joey (who are twins). Tessa loves to make crafts like her big Sister and is very creative, while Joey has a lot of Energy and is very much into sports. (That apparently includes doing sports with out pots and tins... I don't mind.)
After work, Greg's highschool friend Gary dropped by. They had a lovely conversation about Sports, Bro-Stuff and Gary's work. He works as a game developer and told Greg about all the cool details he gets to implement in Games. I think together with our conversation, this prompted Greg to perhaps start making real future plans and stop wasting his time on the TV... We'll see.
I did not have time to think about that, because suddenly, I was in *so much pain*, I couldn't walk straight! We quickly sent Gary home after that...
I am so happy to welcome my firstborn daughter Sophia Britton into this world! I will make sure she will have a good, happy life, no matter how what mountain I may have to move.
She did not come alone though, we were blessed again with the birth our first son Mark Britton. He came not even a minute after his sister!
I was completely dumbfounded. Twins? We hadn't really planned to have even one baby, and now there were two at once? You can imagine just how happy Greg was about the existence of even more people in his life... Oh boy, this was going to be hard. Luckily I had put a second bassinette upstairs that we were able to get down for Mark.
And then I came into the room after showering, and saw this, and knew we'd get through. It might get hard, and I might not want to continue at times. Greg might not have wanted these kids, he might still not fully want them in his life.
But I think after this sight, I believe in our family. Did you see that smile? Greg smiling at his little daughter! (And at Mark too before, but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture). Greg, who never wanted kids...
We're going to be okay. (Autonomous! I almost cried at that with her. I have a mod where Greg is marked as "struggling to come to terms with pregnancy" or similar, so this is truly special. )
Characters
--Gallery (Sims and houses): Hashtag #onemonthoneworldoneyear, Name "One Sim - Fam. Britton". My gallery name is Noctuara.
Parents: Sarah and Greg Britton. They live on the 20x15 "Comfy Cubby" in Bridgeview, Newcrest.
Kids: Sophia & Mark (Twins)
Greg Britton - Greg is a young adult who has a strong interest in Gaming and Computers and is quite a Geek. Unfortunately, he also is a bit slobby and mean. Due to his history, he is a bit troubled, has Bad Manners, is Irresponsible, Argumentative and Insensitive. But he can be nice as well... if he wants to... Most of the time, he simply wants to be left alone and to do "his own thing". At the moment, he works in Business (and hates it). On the side, he participates in Novice Tournaments.
Sarah Britton - Sarah on the other hand wants to be the best parent possible, even though she is a Young Adult herself. She is very neat, good and loves being with her family. She found a job as Freelancer Artist to try and keep the two of them afloat.
Sophia Britton - firstborn. Twin of Mark. Baby.
Mark Britton - secondborn. Twin of Sophia. Baby.
others:
Gary Whelan, a friend of Greg from high school. Lives on "Oak Alcove", 20x15, Bridgeview. He is a Bro, Geek and Active. He works as a Game developer.
Fam. Aldrich, the neighbours and friends of Sarah. They live on the 30x20 "Fernpark" in Bridgeview. Elderly Pamela lives here with her Grandchildren after both parents died in a plague at young years. Pamela loves to Garden, cook at spend time with her Grandchildren. And if she had the time (and I the money), she'd love to learn to knit. Readhed Alexia, already a Young Adult, is the image of her mother. She loves to paint, channeling all her emotions on the canvas. She feels heavily responsible for her younger siblings, Tessa and Joey (twins). Tessa loves to make crafts like her big Sister and is very creative, while Joey has a lot of Energy and is very much into sports.
lovely update
But now I am a bit of lost, haha.. so who will be the baby who will do the challenge? Sophia? Mark? Or someone not yet played? I apologize if this is a stupid question and I am clearly missing something
Sweet of you to say that Naturally everyone are always welcome to join the fun
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
Short answer before I go to bed: @Ellupelluellu I apologize for the confusion, I had hoped it would be clearer.
Neither Sophia nor Mark will be my "Main Sim", They should be teens when the Main Sim is born. Sarah and Greg will have a big family of 5-6 kids. The main Sim will be one of the youngest kids, I have not fully decided that detail.
The "real challenge" will be starting in June, when the Main Sim has their toddler birthday. I took May to set up the family, get to know their character and (most importantly) figure out how I want to do posts, and how it will work longterm. So don't expect any Challenge Sims here anytime soon!
Hope it helps.
And just like @IllusoryThrall has said so well, thank you to @everyone who are (is?) trying to give me and other newcomers a better overview so we can follow your stories too. I think it already works much better now.
@miss_eulenauge , oh okay , very clear now, I am sure you have mentioned it, but this thread has been so active lately that I cannot remember all Thank you for answering
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
I just realized I had not posted today's update yet.
Mia wakes up in the middle of the night, or maybe it was early in the morning. Either way, she wants attention and heads in to wake up Skye.
Today is Skye’s first shoot on the movie so she will be gone all day leaving Mia at home with Emily. Mia is going to try to master thinking today, so she begins by watching Skye and Emily, a lot.
Despite being fully potty trained, she still has accidents where the pee gets on the floor. It makes her sad when this happens, and she can’t wait until she is older so that she can always get the pee in the potty.
Emily takes Mia to the park, and there are a lot of interesting sims walking around. Mia watches everything and Emily reads her stories, but soon it is time to head home.
Back home, Mia masters thinking and becomes a top notch toddler just before bedtime. Tomorrow is her birthday!
Emily does earn her promotion to Executive Chef and heads straight to bed when she gets home. Tomorrow is the big day – Skye and Mia are moving out.
Day Six(has it really been almost a week already?!)
(I apologize, there isn’t much about Jaz in this post.. but she does get to go skating, which I never have my sims do…)
Benji’s day started innocently enough. He really wanted to spend time with someone.. anyone, and he wanted something fun. The only other person awake at this hour was hit little brother, Brett, and he was hungry. So Benji found him some breakfast (no, he didn’t attempt to cook it), and decided to sit down and talk to the toddler.
Brett, of course, was ecstatic to have someone paying full attention to him, and excitedly talked about all things toddler.
“Um… I have no idea what you’re saying, little man…” (Not that saying this dissuaded Brett- he was in a CHATTY mood.)
Inside, Myles was showing that his father’s temper was actually in him, too.. and instead of rage cleaning (there wasn’t anything left to clean for him), he was beating up the todders’ bear.
Finally, Benji escaped the toddler chat, and corralled Myles into playing a game. Marnie, of her own accord, grabbed some flash cards and started trying to teach Brett some actual words.
Speaking of being by themselves, Bennie was found inside the dumpster, looking for breakfast. (Apparently all the perfectly good leftovers in the fridge weren’t okay…)
He seems inordinately pleased that he found something that was still good. (Although I wonder what on earth an Island Vegetable Feast was doing in that particularly dumpster…)
Delighted with his find, he magnanimously answered Jaz’s quest for growing up advice (in this case, she was asking about what to do with bullies attacking a “friend”… Bennie’s answer was that, of course, she should cowardly wait until the friend’s beating was done, and step in after to console them.)
A few minutes later, Bennie decided he really WAS the man of the house, and headed off to repair the bathtub all by himself. (Spoiler: he failed, and I began wondering exactly what was wrong with Bennie.) (It was then that I noticed the stripes.) Clearly, Bennie was ill. And there certainly wasn’t money to go spending on medicine in this household. So Bennie did what he could – took a nap. Although Phoenix wasn’t helping, because he decided NOW was practice time.
Outside, Jaz had been busy most of the morning playing chess. That aspiration wasn’t going to complete itself.
But then… she had an idea. (Only to get rudely interrupted by Jay calling Benji and asking if he wanted to crash a party at a local nightclub. Obviously, Bennie was down for this!!!)
(So, off we spin to the local nightclub, and feeling pretty good about himself, Benji showed off a fake ID and ordered some real drinks for him and his buddy. A good german beer, obviously…. because that seemed the COOLEST thing he could think of to order.)
While waiting for Jay’s drink, because no way was Benji taking the second one… Benji started noticing some suspicious looks from the other bar patrons. Grinning back at them, he sipped at his beer, and turned to chat with Jay.
Inwardly, he cringed at the taste of the beer, and decided trying to chug it might be a better idea. He also was feeling particularly confident because Jay had elected to finally spend some time with him, his best friend, instead of with his girlfriend (for a change!)
So, feeling talkative and confident got to Benji’s head. (And the drink might not have helped either..) Before he thought twice about it, he was spilling the “beans” about his crush on Shaylee and complaining about his love life. Whatever was he going to do, when the girl he wanted was already “taken”??
While Jay was reeling from this confession – without Benji noticing the surprise – Benji suddenly noticed a real opportunity. There was a full, and seemingly unclaimed drink on the bar…. Benji waited all of two or three heartbeats before swiping it like it was his, and taking a drink.
He had no idea what it was, but it tasted a heck of a lot better than that beer he’d ordered, so he stood up and wandered around with his drink, hoping whoever had ordered it wouldn’t notice that he’d swiped a drink he hadn’t paid for.
One swiped drink turned into two.. and despite the strange looks – two hands on his drinks – Benji continued to prowl around the bar. Jay was completely forgotten, and so he never did have to reply to the blurted confession, and quietly left, trying to figure out what to do with his new intel.
One of the drinks Benji stole had REALLY gone to his head, and he wandered around a bit Dazed, but not so dazed that he couldn’t figure out how to always keep both hands full of new drinks.
Then, he noticed his club friend, Jack Ryan, (one of the brothers who like the dancer), had snuck into the bar confidently on the arm of some brunette who looked far too old for him. Benji said nothing about the brunette, in fact, I’m not sure he noticed her, but started mumbling some jokes he’d heard his dad tell at an open mic night to his friend. Jack gave him a strange look, and was going to ask what the heck Benji was talking about …
… When suddenly, a VERY irate (and no longer stripey) Bennie burst into the bar. Apparently someone had spread the news that Benji was at a bar drinking underage, and Bennie was NOT happy about it. Benji wasn’t going to be leaving the apartment for a while (except for school), and sneaking into this bar was certainly never going to happen again.
Back at home, we finally see what Jaz’s idea was. She had noticed a roller rink had been put up for the season, and she borrowed some old skates and was having some fun.
Well… she was TRYING to have fun. She was starting to wonder why this sport was so popular, though, when it ended up hurting so much….??
It was way past bedtime by the time she finally put up the skates and headed home, but nobody had even noticed she’d been gone. Marnie had finally gotten all the (other) kids in bed, and passed out in her own bed… and Bennie had escorted his misbehaving son home, and to his bed, and had gone to bed himself. Jaz rolled her eyes.. trying to not be upset that no-one had even noticed her being gone.. and slowly snuck past creaky boards to her empty bed.
…. Poor Marnie, however, hadn’t finished her night, it seems. Furious, she grabbed the crying twin and tried to shush him from waking Bennie before trying to put him back to bed. It was nearly sun-up before she had both of them back in bed.. and it was time for the next day to start.
Very true with needing funds to make a living. Homeless on a beach with just a tent, cooler, and sand can only get you so far. I'm excited with this Rags to Riches side challenge. I remember having a part-time job in high school cause my parents were the type that if I wanted something that wasn't essential, I had to pay for it myself. Of course, Jackson doesn't have that luxury right now of having essentials given to him by an adult. ... but hopefully he can do his best with what is given to him.
"Yes, you can, just drop it. You can do anything you set your mind to to do."
"My mind is set, I have to do this Josh." "Then you leave me no choice."
"Don't try it or I'll have you locked up."
"What?! You wouldn't really do that, would you?" "Bet on it Beautiful! I'd do it in a heartbeat if it's the only way I can keep you safe."
"Did you forget I'm a very powerful Spellcaster? Try it and I'll freeze you or turn you into a bunny, a gnome, a frog (if I could) or something else. Maybe make you delirious. I don't know what, but nobody, NOBODY, not even you is ever going to make me their prisoner again. It won't work Josh and I can't believe you even said that." "Arggh! I know, I know. I wouldn't really do that. I'm just so frustrated! I don't know what I'm saying. I just don't want you to get hurt. I'm sorry."
"I know, and it's very sweet of you, but I'm a big girl Josh, with lots of power. More power than you have brawn, I can take care of myself. You should know that by now." "Alright, how about this? Give me time to see if I can hear anything or find anything on base. Those guys are blabbermouths. Somebody knows something and just might be dumb enough to be proud they know and let it spill. Five guys already blew it in just one day, it's bound to happen. All I'm asking for is two weeks. Does that sound fair? Can you be patient that long and trust me?"
"If I can't find out anything, then we'll go to the lab and check it out. Together. Okay?"
"Seriously? Oh yeah, I can wait two weeks! That's not long at all!"
"Promise me you won't go there alone before the two weeks is up or any other time? I know you can take care of yourself, but you can't use a spell on an infection or a virus, or...whatever this is. We'll have to disguise ourselves, find some hazmat suits, or something too. We can't, we won't be going in their unprotected."
"I promise." "Okay, good, it's a deal then. You wait, and I snoop. Then we go to the lab, together, if I don't find out anything."
(If we get caught, she can just transportalate us to the Magic Realm or somewhere else. Why didn't I think of that before?)
"So what do you say we have some fun now? I've got all weekend off. I don't want to spend it arguing about this, do you?"
"No, I don't. Let's have a soak. Then maybe a dip in the pool, go for a walk or whatever else you'd like to do."
"Hey, by the way, I broke the Kickbot. I think I kicked it too hard. So I need a sparring partner. Want to spar with me later?"
"So you hit that thing so hard it broke and you want to kick at me? Josh, I'm pretty fit and firm, but I'm still softer than a metal Kickbot."
"Fit, firm and soft...oh yeah, that's you alright, in all the right places. Don't worry though, I'll take it easy on you."
"You're such a horn dog."
"I love it though! I'll do it. Josh?" "Hmm..."
"You're picturing me naked right now, aren't you?" "Always, always..."
"Okay, is this just for practice, conditioning or whatever? Or do I get something if I win?" "You can have whatever you want if you somehow, by some miracle beat me! Especially in that get-up."
"Hey! I do my best work in heels! Don't judge. But, anything huh? Oh I like that! How are we going to determine who wins?" "The first one to get an unblocked hit, wins. Sound good?"
"You're on!" "And you're going down!"
"Hmm, maybe later I will." *wink* "Don't try to distract me!" Josh said with a grin over Essa's naughty remark.
"Oh come on Josh, don't take it too easy on me. I can take it!"
"Whoa! Okay, that's better. Nice one. But you missed me! HA!"
"Another easy block! I saw that coming a mile away."
"Bet you didn't see THIS coming though!"
*Ooof* "No...I...didn't. I...can't...breathe! Ow..."
*Gasp* "Beautiful, are you okay? Oh God, I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?"
"I'm...okay, just... knocked the wind...out of me. It's cool. Really! Luckily you hit one of my fit and firm places, not a soft spot. My stomach's like a rock."
"So tell me Tiger, you won fair and square. What do you want? Anything, anything at all. Just say the word."
"Guess."
I'll comment and reply soon. Hope y'all had a great day/night!
May 5 - University - WK 1 - Monday - Term 1 Starts
Sakura's First Day:
Sakura felt rather confident getting up in the morning. She saw her roommate, Reyansh, and thanked him for his recommendation to his friend Bruce Sterling. Sakura told him that she got the position at 'Rival House.'
Reyansh: "Congrats, Sakura. I knew that Bruce would like you. So, I guess you'll be moving out of the dorm on Friday?"
Sakura: "Yes, seems like I just got here."
Reyansh{ "Well, good luck and if you're ever in San Myshuno, look me up." They shook hands and Sakura said she would.
And just like that, Term 1 started.
With her homework book in hand, she headed off to her first class. She smiled thinking of Wolfgang and how he must be feeling on his first day of class. Sakura felt both nervous and excited, and wondered if Wolfgang had butterflies in his stomach, too. Sakura had to admit that his idea of them living off-campus had been a good one. And she would have her own room, and her stuff would be safe. Although, when she thought about it, she wouldn't have minded sharing a room with Wolfgang either. She felt strange thinking about how she looked forward to sitting with him in the morning chatting and sharing a cup of tea together. Was that wrong? They were best friends, afterall, so of course, she enjoyed his company. But something had changed between them, and something had changed in how Sakura felt about Wolfgang. It was getting hard for her to resist reaching out and caressing his face, or just giving him a hug so that she could feel his strong arms wrapped around her, and smell the musky cologne he wore.
She stopped walking for a moment looking around confused. Her face felt flushed. She had been so lost in thought thinking about Wolfgang, that she had been walking around her dorm in circles and hadn't taken the elevator downstairs. Oh gosh, she better get going or she would be late for her first class. She smoothed her hair and took a deep breath and headed into the elevator.
And it looks like a few others were off to class, too. But where's Jules? Jules...did you sleep in? Don't you have class with Essa? Jules! Jules! Where are you? But, nope, no Jules on campus. Hope she makes it to class.
And Sakura finished her first class. Yeah! Since she had a bit of a break between classes, she worked on her homework for the class she just attended.
After her second class, there was an announcement that the Art Society was holding a Figure Painting session down by the canal at UBrite Commons. Sakura decided to attend, as she was rather interested in finding out more about the organization.
Sakura spoke to a few of the members and then tried her best to do a figure painting of the sim who was modeling for them.
Her final painting didn't look too bad, and she was just about to ask one of the members if she could join the organization, when it was time to leave for soccer practice. Drat!
And so off to soccer practice she went. While she was there she practiced passing and kicking drills.
When she was finally done practice, it was 10pm, and she still had homework to do from her second class. She didn't know how she would keep this schedule up. Sakura headed back to her dorm.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Wolfgang's First Day:
Wolfgang had two back-to-back classes on his first day and decided to eat breakfast at his dorm. One of the culinary students had made some omelets in class, which they brought back to the dorm, and Wolfgang grabbed one. As he sat eating breakfast, his mind wasn't on his up-coming class at all. All he could think about was Sakura, and how they would soon be sharing a place together. Wolfgang wished that they were moving in together...just the two of them...but he was happy that they would at least be together in the same house. It was a start, and Wolfgang was going to do everything in his power to show Sakura that he was the one that she should be with and not Kiyoshi. Wolfgang looked at the clock and realized he was going to be late for his first class if he didn't leave right now. He ran out of the dorm and jumped on his bike and rode off.
And it looks like Melody was heading to class, too. Let's hope Astrid, Bryon and River all made it to their classes.
After his classes, he went to Larry's Lagoon and started his homework. He was joined by Cristal Chappell. She was also a physics student, and he had met her at her dorm at the high school campus tour. It was great to have a homework buddy in the same class. Wolfgang headed home afterwards.
Pretty soon, it was time for Wolfgang to head off to his E-Sports meeting. Wolfgang hadn't had a chance to play any SimScuffle. He hoped he would do alright.
[Gah! Has Wolfgang secretly been working out? Because he DOES have muscles.]
At 10pm, Wolfgang was done E-Sports and returned to his dorm. Wolfgang saw his two roommates outside in front of the dorm and went to talk to them. When he did, his one roommate, Adonis Pimental, autonomously slapped him in the face. Luckily Wolfgang knew Adonis was just joking around and laughed it off. He later found out that Adonis was in the Villainy program and was just practicing a bit of mischief on Wolfgang.
They headed inside and worked on their homework together. And, yes, Adonis is Wolfgang's direct roommate. I guess he decided to do homework with Wolfgang on Wolfgang's bed since his side of the room was so messy.
Yay! Mia got the Top Notch Toddler! Congrats. Amd just in time for the move (Gives "watch somebody" thinking skill? Good to know!) When are you going to age her up? Tomorrow too? Sorry, I think I forgot your schedule a bit...
Uh oh for Benji getting drunk and spilling his secret (and getting grounded)... I wonder if, when the talk with Jay backfires, he'll be mortified enough to not drink again? Or would he just go into a rage? We'll see.
Poor Jaz always being overlooked and never noticed... That can't be good for her mental health (as could be living in this apartment in general) Will she someday get a real friend? An animal perhaps, or another kid?
Yay for Josh & Essa for reaching a good agreement! And how cute are these two?! Ultimate love story forever! *heart-eye emoji*. Your photos look stunning as always - do you use shaders or something?
@SoulGal7 I just noticed a setting in MCCC that should allow certain sims to have an easier/harder time in Uni. Perhaps you could use that for Melody and the others? (In case you have MCCC). If interested, I'll try to explain.
Aw, Wolfgang was so sweet, thinking about her. I really like how you depict the Uni gameplay! Poor Sakura, that schedule certainly is something...!
@LegacySims2017 Mr *grabby hands* ?! *insert bursts of laughter* I'm sorry, I don't know what I found so funny about that. I even went to look them up and see who you got! I saw some you haven't got yet, most notably Tessa (though I saw only about 8 on the Gallery myself with the hashtag). I used the hashtag #onemonthoneworldoneyear that @Karababy52 introduced (I think), so there's more for Mr Grabby hands
@SoulGal7, @LegacySims2017, @Ellupelluellu and others: I really like how other challenger's Sims just appear in your Stories so it seems more connected. Sigh. I should re-dress them all to fit my packs. But would we even recognize them? And I don't have time...
Okay, cool, thanks for your opinion on swapping these two worlds. How convenient that Erwin just happens to have a Hazmat suit and will give it to Bryon. Yay! HAHA I figured Naoki took care of the gnomes somehow. Oh dang! Jaquan figured out they're trying to get beyond the mist to the lower floors. o.O Not good!
Aww man, sorry about the troubles you had with your blog. I hope it all gets sorted out soon! o.O
Interesting story you've created for Jules' Aunt and parents. That yacht is gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing what happens now.
Essa just generally enjoys using magic, so I thought it would make sense she'd be thinking about ways to use it in SV with the mystery. If you've read my most recent post, you know they had a bit of tension going on, but ultimately came to an agreement. Yep, I knew you wouldn't want to wait until playing in Brindleton Bay for pets.
I apologize for not listing a link to your first post yet. Is that what you would like listed on the main thread post for your challenge or would you rather a link to your blog? Perhaps the index page you posted? Let me know.
Looks like Jenny and the girls are settling in well. Ok, reading the next post, maybe not. Very cute idea about the TV show. Lots of kids love certain TV shows and characters. I know my Grandchildren do anyway. Once again, I love how sweet and gentle Jenny is with her girls.
What a great idea for a townhouse with one side each for rival schools. The creator of that lot did a fabulous job and I love the way you remodeled it too! Very cool Sakura got the job and that she and Wolfgang will be living there next semester. Yay! Aww man, bummer about the soccer ball. I've had that happen to a lot of my couples, plus Josh and Frank and Don Lothario and his daughter in my Drifter challenge. Opps!
So sweet how Sakura is thinking about Wolfgang while on the way to her first class. Cute how she was so distracted doing so she was almost late. Awww... Fun seeing all the challenge Sims wandering around, including Essa! Oh darn about soccer practice making her miss joining the painting club. She'll just have to remember to go the next time they have a meeting. Looks like Wolfgang was so busy thinking about Sakura, he almost was late for his first class too! Whoa! So Wolfgang's dormmate is mischievous as well as a slob. Yeah, I bet he'll be glad when he moves out next semester.
@MonaSolstraale and a *NOTICE to Everyone else on the matter of Story Organization
Thank you for your comments about the organization of the stories here for the challenge. It hadn't occurred to me anyone else was reading our challenge posts other than those in the challenge. I guess I should've realized that could and would be happening. How else did the new challengers find us otherwise if they hadn't been reading our posts? It makes me smile that you've been following along for months. Thank you also for what you've said about my story for Essa and the screenshots I've taken for her story. That put a big smile on my face as well.
As mentioned, the idea of linking challengers Day 1 posts in the main post for the challenge was implemented on January 6th, so challengers have had the opportunity to keep their Day 1 post updated with links to all their posts since then. Or I'll post a link to their blog, if requested instead. I just assumed everyone was updating their Day 1 post with links to their ongoing posts for each day/month like I have been doing from the beginning and didn't feel it was my duty to remind others to keep theirs updated as well.
It wasn't a requirement of the challenge at the beginning to write an indepth story with our daily post pics, and it still isn't. Not everyone has a story and that's perfectly okay. A lot of challengers, myself included, have just elected to do so over time for fun. I didn't feel their was a need to include the names of all the 'extra' characters for each challenger, with explanations of who they were. I only include the name of the challenge Sim. I believe it's the challenger's choice whether or not to include this kind of character list with summaries in their Day 1 post or blog.
If challengers would rather start their own thread and post links to their challenge stories here, that's okay too. But it will be the challenger's responsibility to also update their Day 1 posts with these links, if they wish. I apologize, but I just don't have the time to do something like that for everyone myself. However, I will update and/or replace your Day 1 post links already implemented with a link to your new story thread if requested. Just let me know!
I hope all this makes sense and hasn't offended anyone. I love the fact y'all have joined me in this challenge. It's been incredibly fun and enjoyable reading all your daily posts, stories and seeing everyone's screenshots. I love how some of us have also included copies of other challengers' Sims in their challenge saves and even made them a part of your challenges.
One last thing in relation to challenge Sims. Most challengers have uploaded their challenge Sims to the Gallery for others to enjoy. I would agree to keep a list of Gallery links to challenge Sims on the main thread post if y'all would like something like that. Just send me links to them and I'll post them. I think it's a good idea to keep a list of them in one place so when new challengers start, they won't have to ask individuals for links every time. Does that make sense? This is of course optional. No one is required to upload their Sims for others to play in their games.
Also, this list will be for your challenge Sim only. If they are younger than a teen and can't be uploaded without another Sim in the household, that's fine. But if they are not born yet, your Sims are not technically challenge Sims and wouldn't belong on this list. Extra characters, such as family and friends would not belong on this list either unless they are in the same household as your challenge Sim. If you want to include links to extra characters other than those mentioned, that's your choice to post in your Day 1 post, blog or thread. Does that sound reasonable and fair?
I'm open to any questions, comments or ideas about everything I've mentioned here as well.
Also, I'll go ahead and swap out Evergreen Harbor and Brindleton Bay in the Worlds Schedule as it seems all the responses were in the positive to do so.
HAHA! It's perfectly fine if Roxanne wants to go around burning plants too, Essa doesn't 'own' magic in her story, everyone that has ROM and played it in the challenge already can use magic however they want too! Okay, maybe I'm just overly tired, but I don't get what you said about liking that Josh was ordered not to ask questions because that's questionable? Huh? Aww, thanks! I love having a gaming desktop now. The first four years of this game I had an old underpowered laptop, so it's a treat taking screenshots now. I probably take too many actually, but I can't help myself!
Sure thing! I'll make a link for Family Britton right after I post this gigantic comments post. o.O Thanks about Essa and Josh, I love these two Sims! I'm in love with love so these two will always be lovebirds in my story, whether together or apart, they'll always find their way back to each other.
Congrats to Sarah and Greg on the birth of their twins, Sophia and Mark! Wow, they certainly have their hands extra full now! o.O Happy to see Greg smiling when feeding them though, that's encouraging! Great update!
Whew! Think that's it for comments! Hope ya'll have a great day/night and Happy Simming!
Re the story organization: Still asking for opinions from everyone on whether to includer that disclaimer and the links at the top of each post. And general "how can I make it better organized stuff" @Karababy52
I hope I didn't make it too weird with the notion of starting without existing Main Sim. Since I never posted a story anywhere, I wanted time to figure that out (and then still start with a toddler). I would agree with you saying that only the Main Sim belongs in the Gallery List instead of the whole "extended family". Great idea about the Gallery List too!
Right now, I have the parents and their house up under the challenge hashtag #onemonthoneworldoneyear. Is that cool, or would you prefer me to make up my own hashtag (no idea how) and only put the Challenge Sim under the main hashtag?
Thank you for the kind comments on the young family. I agree, twins might make it extra hard for them, but they'll get through. (Truly, they have to, or my challenge won't work! )
I really don't think you need to use a disclaimer as long as you follow the main forum rules and don't post any links to unsupported Mods, such as for teen pregnancy, WW, etc. Lots of Simmers make similar 'Rags to Riches' stories about being homeless, poor, etc., and no disclaimers are needed. It's actually my favorite way to play! I would not worry about it if I were you. Just follow the forum/EA/Maxis rules and you're good.
No, it's fine. Y'all can start however you wish with your challenge. It just won't be 'official' until your challenge Sim is at least a teen. Does that seem reasonable? Thanks about the Gallery List idea. I figured it would be appreciated, I know I would love something like that myself. It's fine you're using the #onemonthoneworldoneyear hashtag for your family that will be the parents of your challenge Sim. No need to make your own.
May6
Rubanoid to Lenny "How do robots drive?.... They put their metal to the pedal!"
I fell asleep and got behind lol so just a picture to catch up yesterday the easy way! Trying to skill Rubanoid a little and Lenny needs to play chess for his in game work activity. Hopefully I'll do more "story" later. Just cornfest for now or dad jokes!
Still got no answer from the Weebly Community about the new blog page I deleted (but I guess they are asleep now lol), but at least the rest of my blog seems to function again. That made me very happy. I really thought I plumbed up yesterday. I still hope they can retrieve the blog page, or else I'll have to do it all over again ;-; And I'm not looking forward to that lol. But well, I can't blame anyone. I deleted it myself because I got scared, so if they can't get it back, I can't be mad.
For any new readers out there - Ruby is Jules' toddler daughter and the reason you haven't really seen her this month is because she's been living with her dad, Mario, and his wife, Becca, while Jules does the Strangerville mystery. I thought it would be nice to check in with her today and take a small break from the mystery.
So Ruby is very excited to announce that she's going to be a big sister! Mario and Becca are pregnant with twin girls! (The pregnancy is paused for now, not sure when they will make their official appearance. Becca is technically in her first trimester, but like with Jules' pregnancy, it seems to be a bit glitchy with displaying a belly, but I'm just gonna go with it haha)
Here are the outtakes from the photoshoot from the daily pic, because Ruby definitely needed to do some rocking before she was willing to cooperate
And this is just kind of a time-lapse of all Ruby has been doing while Jules has been tirelessly plowing her way through this mystery.
Fun in the snow with Daddy.
I guess you can play in the sand still even when there's snow! Hi there little sand crab, you must be chilly
Ew, Ruby, seriously?
I have autonomous mess making turned off in my game since it usually annoys me, but I thought I needed to let Ruby make a mess at least once as a toddler. I mean, let's be real, Ruby would realistically be making messes ALL THE TIME haha.
I apologize for not listing a link to your first post yet. Is that what you would like listed on the main thread post for your challenge or would you rather a link to your blog? Perhaps the index page you posted? Let me know.
One last thing in relation to challenge Sims. Most challengers have uploaded their challenge Sims to the Gallery for others to enjoy. I would agree to keep a list of Gallery links to challenge Sims on the main thread post if y'all would like something like that. Just send me links to them and I'll post them. I think it's a good idea to keep a list of them in one place so when new challengers start, they won't have to ask individuals for links every time. Does that make sense? This is of course optional. No one is required to upload their Sims for others to play in their games.
Also, this list will be for your challenge Sim only. If they are younger than a teen and can't be uploaded without another Sim in the household, that's fine. But if they are not born yet, your Sims are not technically challenge Sims and wouldn't belong on this list. Extra characters, such as family and friends would not belong on this list either unless they are in the same household as your challenge Sim. If you want to include links to extra characters other than those mentioned, that's your choice to post in your Day 1 post, blog or thread. Does that sound reasonable and fair?
@Karababy52 Yes, I think the index post itself would be the best to link. And no worries about not getting it done yet. I am here for the ride.
Also, I like the idea of a challenge sim index. I am not ready to add the other sims yet, wanting to wait until Mia is a teen, which will be June 1. I will also upload her at that time so she can be added to the list, officially.
@Skeilah Glad that your Blog seems to behave now! I hope you will get that page back whenever the Weebly people get up
@permanentrose Ahh, cute toddler alarm...! She is gorgeous (as are the pictures). And thank you again for introducing her, I would have probably mistaken her for Mia or something otherwise
Yay for twin girls... In case you want to tell, how does Jules feel about Mario's new wife and the fact that Ruby will be having half-sisters? Just curious.
@miss_eulenauge - "I just noticed a setting in MCCC that should allow certain sims to have an easier/harder time in Uni. Perhaps you could use that for Melody and the others? (In case you have MCCC). If interested, I'll try to explain."
Unfortunately, I don't use mods or cc and play a vanilla game. But thanks for the suggestion
@Karababy52 - I wanted to ask if you use cc on Josh for his body hair, or is this just naturally Josh? lol And as for my challenge sim, certainly you can provide a link to her on the first page if anyone wants to download her. Here is the gallery link to the unskilled Sakura Li.
@Skeilah - So sorry you were having all those issues with your blog. I use WordPress, so don't know much about Weebly. I hope you get it fixed soon. I have 3 blogs running off of 1 blog, and am near my limit and then I would have to start paying for the blog, which I won't do, so I am just going to try to link everything from the 1st post when I have time. I did write a synapsis which is on the first post, but it will take me awhile to link them all there.
I am still having problems doing multiple spoilers, as when I do my first spoiler and write that section and try to write a second spoiler under that, nothing is seen and the second spoiler is within the first spoiler. I am still not sure what I am doing wrong. So I would do [ spoiler] - write stuff and then do [ spoiler] again and it doesn't appear as 2 separate spoilers (just using spaces within the spoiler to show you what I am talking about. How do I end the first spoiler and start a second one? Thanks
@SoulGal7 I just got myself set up to work on comments (probably won't get them posted until later today though) but I thought I'd show you how the spoilers look on my posts so that they are set for each individual comment.
Finally, I got into the right rank to requisition my key card. I immediately went to sit down in front of my computer and went to the right website.
Soon I got a mail back. My key card is on its way!
(Bryon) “Naoki will be so proud of me when he comes back home.”
The hours passed by.
I waited and waited.
But Naoki never arrived.
Just as faith wanted it, mom called me just as I was feeling to run over to Johnny’s place. She missed me.
(Bryon) “Mom..."
(Randi) “Hey now. Why do you sound so sad?”
(Bryon) “Naoki didn’t come home and I’m worried...”
(Randi) “Oh no... Hey. Poof yourself over here. We'll talk about it in person.”
(Bryon) “But what if he comes back if I'm gone?”
(Randi) "Eh... You can poof me to your place if you want? I just want to be there for you now."
(Bryon) "Yeah, let's do that. I'll come get you."
To be continued...
Behind the scenes
(Jaquan) “Hey, Naoki. I got something for you.”
(Naoki) “What is it?”
(Jaquan) “Oh, it’s just an apple. I got one extra. Wanna have it?”
(Naoki) “Sure! I forgot breakfast, I’m starving! Thanks!”
(Jaquan) "Enjoy it."
(Naoki) “Ugh... Jaquan... I guess something is wrong with this apple...”
(Jaquan) “Oh no...”
(Jaquan) “Maybe that’s because it wasn’t an apple.”
(Naoki) “What do you mean... Jaquan...?”
(Jaquan) “You’re in our way, Naoki. I don’t like that. We don't like that.”
(Naoki) “What...”
(Jaquan) "Remember me now?"
(Naoki) “You... Stole... My... Babies...”
(Jaquan) “Those babies were never yours, Naoki. Just so you know, they are growing quite well inside of Mother. Don’t resist the power of Mother, Naoki.”
(Naoki) “I’ll... Keep... Fighting....”
(Jaquan) “You sure of that?”
(Jaquan) “Because to me it looks like you already lost.”
(Jaquan) “Ah... He’s such a pain. At least he’ll obey us while he’s in this state.”
...
...
(Naoki) “Ugh... Where... Am I?”
(Naoki) "Oh boy... This doesn't look good. Bryon.. Help me.”
Comments
If you somewhen have the time, I may ask you about Weebly. I tried setting up a blog some weeks ago and then got frustrated because it was so complicated, and I took on more than I could handle time and commitment-wise. It sounded just like what @permanentrose wrote about her attempt today...
The long-term plan of a blog will stay though, I think, so I am still curious.
time zone: Berlin, Germany - EA Gallery ID: Noctuara
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
I just finished playing today's update, so I gotta go format pics and write up story. It's very interesting how sometimes having no plan at all for a sim-day leads to finding random things to do, after all. I will say, though, since several people have commented on the difficulty of playing a large family like I have at the moment.. I don't find it very difficult. Pause key is a friend. I also have a LOT of practice with large families, though, so I may not be the best person to talk about the difficulty. So, don't feel like it's taking me forever to play each day, and I am enjoying every minute of it. I've really connected with this family, and will miss each and every one of them (even the awful ones) when they're gone from my daily playtime!
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
I am still experimenting what to put in Updates and what to leave with the Overview - Especially for the links at the top, the disclaimer and the character list, I'd like to know your opinion.
Also, I don't know if I am overreacting by putting that Disclaimer everywhere, but I guess I am a bit burnt there. When I was younger, I was in some other forum, being my 14-year-old imaginative self, thinking up a story that touched all of this stuff. Of course I could not handle it well back then, it was full of bad clichés, and people were offended, and it didn't really end that nice. But that's why I am a bit concerned now.
last Update | Overview post&rules
Update 2 - Bridgeview
Sarah's Diary
In the morning after I last wrote you, we got our first bills. I have to say, now I can see why Greg would need help with those! They were 1285$... And Greg makes only 112$ on each work day. I had to work three gigs in one day to get the money we needed. But I acutally had fun helping in an art class, I think I really like working with kids and with art.
That is more than I can say about Greg. He still hates his job in business, and I have to say, it isn't a good job: He works long hours for barely more than a scrap of money and then comes home annoyed, often shouting around to relieve his stress or snapping at me. Nevertheless, I asked him to stay at the firm for now. My art is good, but what if I get ill or have to take a break? I'd really prefer having at least one fixed income. Thankfully, he agreed after a while, saying that he could stay for now and look into making money with his Tournaments on the side, and perhaps take a programming class to go into Game development long-term. I think it sounds good, and I could see how much happier he was, feeling like there's a plan how he can make money with stuff he enjoys.
(A/N: He gets a strong "tense" whenever going to work from his traits, so I think he should get a Freelancer job as soon as they are a bit more settled. In about a week of posts or two...
After Greg went to work, one of the kids from the Art class came and visited. I think she was feeling a bit lonely, so I invited her in for a chat. Her name is Tessa Aldrich and she lives across the street. What a lovely coincidence! Soon after, we had even more guests. Her whole family came by to say hello and to apologize for her having invited herself into a pregnant lady's house. I had dressed up a bit and served everyone some Mac&Cheese.
Pamela, or "Granny" to the whole neighbourhood as she told me, seems to be a lovely lady. She loves to Garden and is a great cook. She cares for her Grandchildren after both their parents died in a plague at young years. Poor Tessa and Joey! I really admire how active she still is at her age. She said she'd even want to learn to knit, knowing that it isn't an easy skill to do. But right now, she is missing some time for that project... (And I some money to get the pack!
After work, Greg's highschool friend Gary dropped by. They had a lovely conversation about Sports, Bro-Stuff and Gary's work. He works as a game developer and told Greg about all the cool details he gets to implement in Games. I think together with our conversation, this prompted Greg to perhaps start making real future plans and stop wasting his time on the TV... We'll see.
I did not have time to think about that, because suddenly, I was in *so much pain*, I couldn't walk straight! We quickly sent Gary home after that...
I am so happy to welcome my firstborn daughter Sophia Britton into this world! I will make sure she will have a good, happy life, no matter how what mountain I may have to move.
She did not come alone though, we were blessed again with the birth our first son Mark Britton. He came not even a minute after his sister!
I was completely dumbfounded. Twins? We hadn't really planned to have even one baby, and now there were two at once? You can imagine just how happy Greg was about the existence of even more people in his life... Oh boy, this was going to be hard. Luckily I had put a second bassinette upstairs that we were able to get down for Mark.
And then I came into the room after showering, and saw this, and knew we'd get through. It might get hard, and I might not want to continue at times. Greg might not have wanted these kids, he might still not fully want them in his life.
But I think after this sight, I believe in our family. Did you see that smile? Greg smiling at his little daughter! (And at Mark too before, but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture). Greg, who never wanted kids...
We're going to be okay.
(Autonomous! I almost cried at that with her. I have a mod where Greg is marked as "struggling to come to terms with pregnancy" or similar, so this is truly special.
Characters
Parents: Sarah and Greg Britton. They live on the 20x15 "Comfy Cubby" in Bridgeview, Newcrest.
Kids: Sophia & Mark (Twins)
- Greg Britton - Greg is a young adult who has a strong interest in Gaming and Computers and is quite a Geek. Unfortunately, he also is a bit slobby and mean. Due to his history, he is a bit troubled, has Bad Manners, is Irresponsible, Argumentative and Insensitive. But he can be nice as well... if he wants to... Most of the time, he simply wants to be left alone and to do "his own thing". At the moment, he works in Business (and hates it). On the side, he participates in Novice Tournaments.
- Sarah Britton - Sarah on the other hand wants to be the best parent possible, even though she is a Young Adult herself. She is very neat, good and loves being with her family. She found a job as Freelancer Artist to try and keep the two of them afloat.
- Sophia Britton - firstborn. Twin of Mark. Baby.
- Mark Britton - secondborn. Twin of Sophia. Baby.
others:time zone: Berlin, Germany - EA Gallery ID: Noctuara
But now I am a bit of lost, haha.. so who will be the baby who will do the challenge? Sophia? Mark? Or someone not yet played?
@IllusoryThrall ,
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
@Ellupelluellu I apologize for the confusion, I had hoped it would be clearer.
The "real challenge" will be starting in June, when the Main Sim has their toddler birthday. I took May to set up the family, get to know their character and (most importantly) figure out how I want to do posts, and how it will work longterm. So don't expect any Challenge Sims here anytime soon!
Hope it helps.
And just like @IllusoryThrall has said so well, thank you to @everyone who are (is?) trying to give me and other newcomers a better overview so we can follow your stories too. I think it already works much better now.
time zone: Berlin, Germany - EA Gallery ID: Noctuara
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
May 6
Week 1 Friday
I just realized I had not posted today's update yet.
Today is Skye’s first shoot on the movie so she will be gone all day leaving Mia at home with Emily. Mia is going to try to master thinking today, so she begins by watching Skye and Emily, a lot.
Despite being fully potty trained, she still has accidents where the pee gets on the floor. It makes her sad when this happens, and she can’t wait until she is older so that she can always get the pee in the potty.
Emily takes Mia to the park, and there are a lot of interesting sims walking around. Mia watches everything and Emily reads her stories, but soon it is time to head home.
Back home, Mia masters thinking and becomes a top notch toddler just before bedtime. Tomorrow is her birthday!
Emily does earn her promotion to Executive Chef and heads straight to bed when she gets home. Tomorrow is the big day – Skye and Mia are moving out.
Benji’s day started innocently enough. He really wanted to spend time with someone.. anyone, and he wanted something fun. The only other person awake at this hour was hit little brother, Brett, and he was hungry. So Benji found him some breakfast (no, he didn’t attempt to cook it), and decided to sit down and talk to the toddler.
Brett, of course, was ecstatic to have someone paying full attention to him, and excitedly talked about all things toddler.
“Um… I have no idea what you’re saying, little man…” (Not that saying this dissuaded Brett- he was in a CHATTY mood.)
Inside, Myles was showing that his father’s temper was actually in him, too.. and instead of rage cleaning (there wasn’t anything left to clean for him), he was beating up the todders’ bear.
Finally, Benji escaped the toddler chat, and corralled Myles into playing a game. Marnie, of her own accord, grabbed some flash cards and started trying to teach Brett some actual words.
Speaking of being by themselves, Bennie was found inside the dumpster, looking for breakfast. (Apparently all the perfectly good leftovers in the fridge weren’t okay…)
He seems inordinately pleased that he found something that was still good. (Although I wonder what on earth an Island Vegetable Feast was doing in that particularly dumpster…)
Delighted with his find, he magnanimously answered Jaz’s quest for growing up advice (in this case, she was asking about what to do with bullies attacking a “friend”… Bennie’s answer was that, of course, she should cowardly wait until the friend’s beating was done, and step in after to console them.)
A few minutes later, Bennie decided he really WAS the man of the house, and headed off to repair the bathtub all by himself. (Spoiler: he failed, and I began wondering exactly what was wrong with Bennie.)
(It was then that I noticed the stripes.) Clearly, Bennie was ill. And there certainly wasn’t money to go spending on medicine in this household. So Bennie did what he could – took a nap. Although Phoenix wasn’t helping, because he decided NOW was practice time.
Outside, Jaz had been busy most of the morning playing chess. That aspiration wasn’t going to complete itself.
But then… she had an idea. (Only to get rudely interrupted by Jay calling Benji and asking if he wanted to crash a party at a local nightclub. Obviously, Bennie was down for this!!!)
(So, off we spin to the local nightclub, and feeling pretty good about himself, Benji showed off a fake ID and ordered some real drinks for him and his buddy. A good german beer, obviously…. because that seemed the COOLEST thing he could think of to order.)
While waiting for Jay’s drink, because no way was Benji taking the second one… Benji started noticing some suspicious looks from the other bar patrons. Grinning back at them, he sipped at his beer, and turned to chat with Jay.
Inwardly, he cringed at the taste of the beer, and decided trying to chug it might be a better idea. He also was feeling particularly confident because Jay had elected to finally spend some time with him, his best friend, instead of with his girlfriend (for a change!)
So, feeling talkative and confident got to Benji’s head. (And the drink might not have helped either..) Before he thought twice about it, he was spilling the “beans” about his crush on Shaylee and complaining about his love life. Whatever was he going to do, when the girl he wanted was already “taken”??
While Jay was reeling from this confession – without Benji noticing the surprise – Benji suddenly noticed a real opportunity. There was a full, and seemingly unclaimed drink on the bar…. Benji waited all of two or three heartbeats before swiping it like it was his, and taking a drink.
He had no idea what it was, but it tasted a heck of a lot better than that beer he’d ordered, so he stood up and wandered around with his drink, hoping whoever had ordered it wouldn’t notice that he’d swiped a drink he hadn’t paid for.
One swiped drink turned into two.. and despite the strange looks – two hands on his drinks – Benji continued to prowl around the bar. Jay was completely forgotten, and so he never did have to reply to the blurted confession, and quietly left, trying to figure out what to do with his new intel.
One of the drinks Benji stole had REALLY gone to his head, and he wandered around a bit Dazed, but not so dazed that he couldn’t figure out how to always keep both hands full of new drinks.
Then, he noticed his club friend, Jack Ryan, (one of the brothers who like the dancer), had snuck into the bar confidently on the arm of some brunette who looked far too old for him. Benji said nothing about the brunette, in fact, I’m not sure he noticed her, but started mumbling some jokes he’d heard his dad tell at an open mic night to his friend. Jack gave him a strange look, and was going to ask what the heck Benji was talking about …
… When suddenly, a VERY irate (and no longer stripey) Bennie burst into the bar. Apparently someone had spread the news that Benji was at a bar drinking underage, and Bennie was NOT happy about it. Benji wasn’t going to be leaving the apartment for a while (except for school), and sneaking into this bar was certainly never going to happen again.
Back at home, we finally see what Jaz’s idea was. She had noticed a roller rink had been put up for the season, and she borrowed some old skates and was having some fun.
Well… she was TRYING to have fun. She was starting to wonder why this sport was so popular, though, when it ended up hurting so much….??
It was way past bedtime by the time she finally put up the skates and headed home, but nobody had even noticed she’d been gone. Marnie had finally gotten all the (other) kids in bed, and passed out in her own bed… and Bennie had escorted his misbehaving son home, and to his bed, and had gone to bed himself. Jaz rolled her eyes.. trying to not be upset that no-one had even noticed her being gone.. and slowly snuck past creaky boards to her empty bed.
…. Poor Marnie, however, hadn’t finished her night, it seems. Furious, she grabbed the crying twin and tried to shush him from waking Bennie before trying to put him back to bed. It was nearly sun-up before she had both of them back in bed.. and it was time for the next day to start.
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
@Ellupelluellu / @SoulGal7 / @permanentrose (and @Skeilah on behalf of)
Notes
"Yes, you can, just drop it. You can do anything you set your mind to to do."
"My mind is set, I have to do this Josh."
"Then you leave me no choice."
"Don't try it or I'll have you locked up."
"What?! You wouldn't really do that, would you?"
"Bet on it Beautiful! I'd do it in a heartbeat if it's the only way I can keep you safe."
"Did you forget I'm a very powerful Spellcaster? Try it and I'll freeze you or turn you into a bunny, a gnome, a frog (if I could) or something else. Maybe make you delirious. I don't know what, but nobody, NOBODY, not even you is ever going to make me their prisoner again. It won't work Josh and I can't believe you even said that."
"Arggh! I know, I know. I wouldn't really do that. I'm just so frustrated! I don't know what I'm saying. I just don't want you to get hurt. I'm sorry."
"I know, and it's very sweet of you, but I'm a big girl Josh, with lots of power. More power than you have brawn, I can take care of myself. You should know that by now."
"Alright, how about this? Give me time to see if I can hear anything or find anything on base. Those guys are blabbermouths. Somebody knows something and just might be dumb enough to be proud they know and let it spill. Five guys already blew it in just one day, it's bound to happen. All I'm asking for is two weeks. Does that sound fair? Can you be patient that long and trust me?"
"If I can't find out anything, then we'll go to the lab and check it out. Together. Okay?"
"Seriously? Oh yeah, I can wait two weeks! That's not long at all!"
"Promise me you won't go there alone before the two weeks is up or any other time? I know you can take care of yourself, but you can't use a spell on an infection or a virus, or...whatever this is. We'll have to disguise ourselves, find some hazmat suits, or something too. We can't, we won't be going in their unprotected."
"I promise."
"Okay, good, it's a deal then. You wait, and I snoop. Then we go to the lab, together, if I don't find out anything."
(If we get caught, she can just transportalate us to the Magic Realm or somewhere else. Why didn't I think of that before?)
"So what do you say we have some fun now? I've got all weekend off. I don't want to spend it arguing about this, do you?"
"No, I don't. Let's have a soak. Then maybe a dip in the pool, go for a walk or whatever else you'd like to do."
"Hey, by the way, I broke the Kickbot. I think I kicked it too hard. So I need a sparring partner. Want to spar with me later?"
"So you hit that thing so hard it broke and you want to kick at me? Josh, I'm pretty fit and firm, but I'm still softer than a metal Kickbot."
"Fit, firm and soft...oh yeah, that's you alright, in all the right places. Don't worry though, I'll take it easy on you."
"You're such a horn dog."
"I love it though! I'll do it. Josh?"
"Hmm..."
"You're picturing me naked right now, aren't you?"
"Always, always..."
"Okay, is this just for practice, conditioning or whatever? Or do I get something if I win?"
"You can have whatever you want if you somehow, by some miracle beat me! Especially in that get-up."
"Hey! I do my best work in heels! Don't judge. But, anything huh? Oh I like that! How are we going to determine who wins?"
"The first one to get an unblocked hit, wins. Sound good?"
"You're on!"
"And you're going down!"
"Hmm, maybe later I will." *wink*
"Don't try to distract me!" Josh said with a grin over Essa's naughty remark.
"Oh come on Josh, don't take it too easy on me. I can take it!"
"Whoa! Okay, that's better. Nice one. But you missed me! HA!"
"Another easy block! I saw that coming a mile away."
"Bet you didn't see THIS coming though!"
*Ooof* "No...I...didn't. I...can't...breathe! Ow..."
*Gasp* "Beautiful, are you okay? Oh God, I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?"
"I'm...okay, just... knocked the wind...out of me. It's cool. Really! Luckily you hit one of my fit and firm places, not a soft spot. My stomach's like a rock."
"So tell me Tiger, you won fair and square. What do you want? Anything, anything at all. Just say the word."
"Guess."
I'll comment and reply soon. Hope y'all had a great day/night!
Sakura felt rather confident getting up in the morning. She saw her roommate, Reyansh, and thanked him for his recommendation to his friend Bruce Sterling. Sakura told him that she got the position at 'Rival House.'
Reyansh: "Congrats, Sakura. I knew that Bruce would like you. So, I guess you'll be moving out of the dorm on Friday?"
Sakura: "Yes, seems like I just got here."
Reyansh{ "Well, good luck and if you're ever in San Myshuno, look me up." They shook hands and Sakura said she would.
And just like that, Term 1 started.
With her homework book in hand, she headed off to her first class. She smiled thinking of Wolfgang and how he must be feeling on his first day of class. Sakura felt both nervous and excited, and wondered if Wolfgang had butterflies in his stomach, too. Sakura had to admit that his idea of them living off-campus had been a good one. And she would have her own room, and her stuff would be safe. Although, when she thought about it, she wouldn't have minded sharing a room with Wolfgang either. She felt strange thinking about how she looked forward to sitting with him in the morning chatting and sharing a cup of tea together. Was that wrong? They were best friends, afterall, so of course, she enjoyed his company. But something had changed between them, and something had changed in how Sakura felt about Wolfgang. It was getting hard for her to resist reaching out and caressing his face, or just giving him a hug so that she could feel his strong arms wrapped around her, and smell the musky cologne he wore.
She stopped walking for a moment looking around confused. Her face felt flushed. She had been so lost in thought thinking about Wolfgang, that she had been walking around her dorm in circles and hadn't taken the elevator downstairs. Oh gosh, she better get going or she would be late for her first class. She smoothed her hair and took a deep breath and headed into the elevator.
And it looks like a few others were off to class, too. But where's Jules? Jules...did you sleep in? Don't you have class with Essa? Jules! Jules! Where are you? But, nope, no Jules on campus. Hope she makes it to class.
And Sakura finished her first class. Yeah! Since she had a bit of a break between classes, she worked on her homework for the class she just attended.
After her second class, there was an announcement that the Art Society was holding a Figure Painting session down by the canal at UBrite Commons. Sakura decided to attend, as she was rather interested in finding out more about the organization.
Sakura spoke to a few of the members and then tried her best to do a figure painting of the sim who was modeling for them.
Her final painting didn't look too bad, and she was just about to ask one of the members if she could join the organization, when it was time to leave for soccer practice. Drat!
And so off to soccer practice she went. While she was there she practiced passing and kicking drills.
When she was finally done practice, it was 10pm, and she still had homework to do from her second class. She didn't know how she would keep this schedule up. Sakura headed back to her dorm.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Wolfgang's First Day:
Wolfgang had two back-to-back classes on his first day and decided to eat breakfast at his dorm. One of the culinary students had made some omelets in class, which they brought back to the dorm, and Wolfgang grabbed one. As he sat eating breakfast, his mind wasn't on his up-coming class at all. All he could think about was Sakura, and how they would soon be sharing a place together. Wolfgang wished that they were moving in together...just the two of them...but he was happy that they would at least be together in the same house. It was a start, and Wolfgang was going to do everything in his power to show Sakura that he was the one that she should be with and not Kiyoshi. Wolfgang looked at the clock and realized he was going to be late for his first class if he didn't leave right now. He ran out of the dorm and jumped on his bike and rode off.
And it looks like Melody was heading to class, too. Let's hope Astrid, Bryon and River all made it to their classes.
After his classes, he went to Larry's Lagoon and started his homework. He was joined by Cristal Chappell. She was also a physics student, and he had met her at her dorm at the high school campus tour. It was great to have a homework buddy in the same class. Wolfgang headed home afterwards.
Pretty soon, it was time for Wolfgang to head off to his E-Sports meeting. Wolfgang hadn't had a chance to play any SimScuffle. He hoped he would do alright.
[Gah! Has Wolfgang secretly been working out? Because he DOES have muscles.]
At 10pm, Wolfgang was done E-Sports and returned to his dorm. Wolfgang saw his two roommates outside in front of the dorm and went to talk to them. When he did, his one roommate, Adonis Pimental, autonomously slapped him in the face. Luckily Wolfgang knew Adonis was just joking around and laughed it off. He later found out that Adonis was in the Villainy program and was just practicing a bit of mischief on Wolfgang.
They headed inside and worked on their homework together. And, yes, Adonis is Wolfgang's direct roommate. I guess he decided to do homework with Wolfgang on Wolfgang's bed since his side of the room was so messy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
@IllusoryThrall
Poor Jaz always being overlooked and never noticed... That can't be good for her mental health (as could be living in this apartment in general)
@Karababy52
@SoulGal7 I just noticed a setting in MCCC that should allow certain sims to have an easier/harder time in Uni. Perhaps you could use that for Melody and the others? (In case you have MCCC). If interested, I'll try to explain.
@LegacySims2017 Mr *grabby hands* ?! *insert bursts of laughter* I'm sorry, I don't know what I found so funny about that. I even went to look them up and see who you got! I saw some you haven't got yet, most notably Tessa (though I saw only about 8 on the Gallery myself with the hashtag). I used the hashtag #onemonthoneworldoneyear that @Karababy52 introduced (I think), so there's more for Mr Grabby hands
@SoulGal7, @LegacySims2017, @Ellupelluellu and others: I really like how other challenger's Sims just appear in your Stories so it seems more connected. Sigh. I should re-dress them all to fit my packs. But would we even recognize them? And I don't have time...
time zone: Berlin, Germany - EA Gallery ID: Noctuara
Aww man, sorry about the troubles you had with your blog. I hope it all gets sorted out soon! o.O
@permanentrose
Essa just generally enjoys using magic, so I thought it would make sense she'd be thinking about ways to use it in SV with the mystery. If you've read my most recent post, you know they had a bit of tension going on, but ultimately came to an agreement. Yep, I knew you wouldn't want to wait until playing in Brindleton Bay for pets.
@sassytxbrat
I apologize for not listing a link to your first post yet. Is that what you would like listed on the main thread post for your challenge or would you rather a link to your blog? Perhaps the index page you posted? Let me know.
@lilypadmeulin
@SoulGal7
What a great idea for a townhouse with one side each for rival schools. The creator of that lot did a fabulous job and I love the way you remodeled it too! Very cool Sakura got the job and that she and Wolfgang will be living there next semester. Yay! Aww man, bummer about the soccer ball. I've had that happen to a lot of my couples, plus Josh and Frank and Don Lothario and his daughter in my Drifter challenge. Opps!
So sweet how Sakura is thinking about Wolfgang while on the way to her first class. Cute how she was so distracted doing so she was almost late. Awww... Fun seeing all the challenge Sims wandering around, including Essa! Oh darn about soccer practice making her miss joining the painting club. She'll just have to remember to go the next time they have a meeting.
@MonaSolstraale and a *NOTICE to Everyone else on the matter of Story Organization
As mentioned, the idea of linking challengers Day 1 posts in the main post for the challenge was implemented on January 6th, so challengers have had the opportunity to keep their Day 1 post updated with links to all their posts since then. Or I'll post a link to their blog, if requested instead. I just assumed everyone was updating their Day 1 post with links to their ongoing posts for each day/month like I have been doing from the beginning and didn't feel it was my duty to remind others to keep theirs updated as well.
It wasn't a requirement of the challenge at the beginning to write an indepth story with our daily post pics, and it still isn't. Not everyone has a story and that's perfectly okay. A lot of challengers, myself included, have just elected to do so over time for fun.
If challengers would rather start their own thread and post links to their challenge stories here, that's okay too. But it will be the challenger's responsibility to also update their Day 1 posts with these links, if they wish. I apologize, but I just don't have the time to do something like that for everyone myself. However, I will update and/or replace your Day 1 post links already implemented with a link to your new story thread if requested. Just let me know!
I hope all this makes sense and hasn't offended anyone. I love the fact y'all have joined me in this challenge. It's been incredibly fun and enjoyable reading all your daily posts, stories and seeing everyone's screenshots. I love how some of us have also included copies of other challengers' Sims in their challenge saves and even made them a part of your challenges.
One last thing in relation to challenge Sims. Most challengers have uploaded their challenge Sims to the Gallery for others to enjoy. I would agree to keep a list of Gallery links to challenge Sims on the main thread post if y'all would like something like that. Just send me links to them and I'll post them. I think it's a good idea to keep a list of them in one place so when new challengers start, they won't have to ask individuals for links every time. Does that make sense? This is of course optional. No one is required to upload their Sims for others to play in their games.
Also, this list will be for your challenge Sim only. If they are younger than a teen and can't be uploaded without another Sim in the household, that's fine. But if they are not born yet, your Sims are not technically challenge Sims and wouldn't belong on this list. Extra characters, such as family and friends would not belong on this list either unless they are in the same household as your challenge Sim. If you want to include links to extra characters other than those mentioned, that's your choice to post in your Day 1 post, blog or thread. Does that sound reasonable and fair?
I'm open to any questions, comments or ideas about everything I've mentioned here as well.
Also, I'll go ahead and swap out Evergreen Harbor and Brindleton Bay in the Worlds Schedule as it seems all the responses were in the positive to do so.
@Hermitgirl
@Ellupelluellu
Long Live Blond Dude!
@miss_eulenauge
Congrats to Sarah and Greg on the birth of their twins, Sophia and Mark! Wow, they certainly have their hands extra full now! o.O Happy to see Greg smiling when feeding them though, that's encouraging! Great update!
Whew! Think that's it for comments! Hope ya'll have a great day/night and Happy Simming!
@Karababy52
Right now, I have the parents and their house up under the challenge hashtag #onemonthoneworldoneyear. Is that cool, or would you prefer me to make up my own hashtag (no idea how) and only put the Challenge Sim under the main hashtag?
Thank you for the kind comments on the young family. I agree, twins might make it extra hard for them, but they'll get through. (Truly, they have to, or my challenge won't work!
time zone: Berlin, Germany - EA Gallery ID: Noctuara
I really don't think you need to use a disclaimer as long as you follow the main forum rules and don't post any links to unsupported Mods, such as for teen pregnancy, WW, etc. Lots of Simmers make similar 'Rags to Riches' stories about being homeless, poor, etc., and no disclaimers are needed. It's actually my favorite way to play! I would not worry about it if I were you. Just follow the forum/EA/Maxis rules and you're good.
No, it's fine. Y'all can start however you wish with your challenge. It just won't be 'official' until your challenge Sim is at least a teen. Does that seem reasonable? Thanks about the Gallery List idea. I figured it would be appreciated, I know I would love something like that myself. It's fine you're using the #onemonthoneworldoneyear hashtag for your family that will be the parents of your challenge Sim. No need to make your own.
Rubanoid to Lenny "How do robots drive?.... They put their metal to the pedal!"
I fell asleep and got behind lol so just a picture to catch up yesterday the easy way! Trying to skill Rubanoid a little and Lenny needs to play chess for his in game work activity. Hopefully I'll do more "story" later. Just cornfest for now or dad jokes!
My version of Jules that @permanentrose likes better
---
Still got no answer from the Weebly Community about the new blog page I deleted (but I guess they are asleep now lol), but at least the rest of my blog seems to function again. That made me very happy. I really thought I plumbed up yesterday. I still hope they can retrieve the blog page, or else I'll have to do it all over again ;-; And I'm not looking forward to that lol. But well, I can't blame anyone. I deleted it myself because I got scared, so if they can't get it back, I can't be mad.
Notes:
So Ruby is very excited to announce that she's going to be a big sister! Mario and Becca are pregnant with twin girls! (The pregnancy is paused for now, not sure when they will make their official appearance. Becca is technically in her first trimester, but like with Jules' pregnancy, it seems to be a bit glitchy with displaying a belly, but I'm just gonna go with it haha)
Here are the outtakes from the photoshoot from the daily pic, because Ruby definitely needed to do some rocking before she was willing to cooperate
And this is just kind of a time-lapse of all Ruby has been doing while Jules has been tirelessly plowing her way through this mystery.
Fun in the snow with Daddy.
I guess you can play in the sand still even when there's snow! Hi there little sand crab, you must be chilly
Ew, Ruby, seriously?
I have autonomous mess making turned off in my game since it usually annoys me, but I thought I needed to let Ruby make a mess at least once as a toddler. I mean, let's be real, Ruby would realistically be making messes ALL THE TIME haha.
And of course, she's bonding with Becca too
@Karababy52 Yes, I think the index post itself would be the best to link. And no worries about not getting it done yet. I am here for the ride.
Also, I like the idea of a challenge sim index. I am not ready to add the other sims yet, wanting to wait until Mia is a teen, which will be June 1. I will also upload her at that time so she can be added to the list, officially.
@permanentrose Ahh, cute toddler alarm...! She is gorgeous (as are the pictures). And thank you again for introducing her, I would have probably mistaken her for Mia or something otherwise
Yay for twin girls... In case you want to tell, how does Jules feel about Mario's new wife and the fact that Ruby will be having half-sisters? Just curious.
time zone: Berlin, Germany - EA Gallery ID: Noctuara
Unfortunately, I don't use mods or cc and play a vanilla game. But thanks for the suggestion
@Karababy52 - I wanted to ask if you use cc on Josh for his body hair, or is this just naturally Josh? lol And as for my challenge sim, certainly you can provide a link to her on the first page if anyone wants to download her. Here is the gallery link to the unskilled Sakura Li.
@Skeilah - So sorry you were having all those issues with your blog. I use WordPress, so don't know much about Weebly. I hope you get it fixed soon. I have 3 blogs running off of 1 blog, and am near my limit and then I would have to start paying for the blog, which I won't do, so I am just going to try to link everything from the 1st post when I have time. I did write a synapsis which is on the first post, but it will take me awhile to link them all there.
I am still having problems doing multiple spoilers, as when I do my first spoiler and write that section and try to write a second spoiler under that, nothing is seen and the second spoiler is within the first spoiler. I am still not sure what I am doing wrong. So I would do [ spoiler] - write stuff and then do [ spoiler] again and it doesn't appear as 2 separate spoilers (just using spaces within the spoiler to show you what I am talking about. How do I end the first spoiler and start a second one? Thanks
Bryons Diary
Finally, I got into the right rank to requisition my key card. I immediately went to sit down in front of my computer and went to the right website.
Soon I got a mail back. My key card is on its way!
(Bryon) “Naoki will be so proud of me when he comes back home.”
The hours passed by.
I waited and waited.
But Naoki never arrived.
Just as faith wanted it, mom called me just as I was feeling to run over to Johnny’s place. She missed me.
(Bryon) “Mom..."
(Randi) “Hey now. Why do you sound so sad?”
(Bryon) “Naoki didn’t come home and I’m worried...”
(Randi) “Oh no... Hey. Poof yourself over here. We'll talk about it in person.”
(Bryon) “But what if he comes back if I'm gone?”
(Randi) "Eh... You can poof me to your place if you want? I just want to be there for you now."
(Bryon) "Yeah, let's do that. I'll come get you."
To be continued...
Behind the scenes
(Jaquan) “Hey, Naoki. I got something for you.”
(Naoki) “What is it?”
(Jaquan) “Oh, it’s just an apple. I got one extra. Wanna have it?”
(Naoki) “Sure! I forgot breakfast, I’m starving! Thanks!”
(Jaquan) "Enjoy it."
(Naoki) “Ugh... Jaquan... I guess something is wrong with this apple...”
(Jaquan) “Oh no...”
(Jaquan) “Maybe that’s because it wasn’t an apple.”
(Naoki) “What do you mean... Jaquan...?”
(Jaquan) “You’re in our way, Naoki. I don’t like that. We don't like that.”
(Naoki) “What...”
(Jaquan) "Remember me now?"
(Naoki) “You... Stole... My... Babies...”
(Jaquan) “Those babies were never yours, Naoki. Just so you know, they are growing quite well inside of Mother. Don’t resist the power of Mother, Naoki.”
(Naoki) “I’ll... Keep... Fighting....”
(Jaquan) “You sure of that?”
(Jaquan) “Because to me it looks like you already lost.”
(Jaquan) “Ah... He’s such a pain. At least he’ll obey us while he’s in this state.”
...
...
(Naoki) “Ugh... Where... Am I?”
(Naoki) "Oh boy... This doesn't look good. Bryon.. Help me.”