What I'm Looking For, Part 4, 2006

Lovar, spring, 2006

Krissy Thorn and Bill Carr are seniors, Emma Seavey is a junior, Susie MacAstral and Benjamin Endeavor are sophmores, Lainey Lorde, S'Ahmisa Warwick and Verde Herendez are freshmen.

It had been a while since Pierce University had saw graduates from Apple Valley. Johan was more than happy to be residing over the graduating class. The ceremony would be quick and simple, two bachelor degree awards and two associate degree awards, one of which was going to his lovely wife.

The graduates tried not to look bored, so many this was a necessary evil and their minds were occupied with thoughts of babies and marriage.

Others were excited and proud to finally make it this far.

"Congratulations to Ms. Jadhira Shazad for receiving an Associate's Degree of Applied Science."

"Congratulations to Ms. Susie MacAstral for receiving an Associate's Degree of Fine Arts. Ms. MacAstral plans on continuing to teach dance part-time at Apple Valley Academy."

"Congratulations to Mr. Bill Carr for receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Physics. Mr. Carr has accepted a job with the Veronika Kent Medical Centre as a Lab Assistant."

"Congratulations to Ms. Krissy Thorn for receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics as well as the Dean's Award of Excellance. Ms. Thorn has accepted an assignment in Kimikura teaching high school calculus for a simyear."

----

"Congratulations, Susie." her family beamed as they posed for pictures in the new university garden.

Faith didn't mind that she was also supposed to graduate this year if she had stayed in university, well if she hadn't been kicked out.

"I'm so proud of you," Anthony whispered kissing her cheek.

"Thank you,"

"Now we can start planning our wedding."

"Um...yea...sure." Susie said forcing a smile for the camera.

Bill was silent as the camera clicked. He had his degree and he was an adult and responsible for his own choices now. "Congratulations, we're proud of you." Jesse said patting his son on the back.

"You did a good job," Fiona echoed. "Remember your aunt and uncle are coming to the house for dinner to celebrate."

---
"Did Bill tell you that he's engaged?" Fiona asked her sister-in-law.

"You're engaged, that's wonderful news." Suzanna said to the couple, ignoring Bill's look of discomfort.

"Thank you," Emma said smiling. She had been smiling eversince Bill handed her the small ring and mumbled "I guess you're getting what you wanted." She wanted to insist that he get on his knee and properly ask her, but she knew that she would be pushing her luck.

"Have you decided on a wedding date?"

"We're going to get married this summer, but Emma wants to have a formal wedding after the baby is born."

"Can you believe that Bill is all grown up now?" Fiona asked, turning to her sister-in-law. "He's a college graduate and soon he'll be a husband and a father."

"Lots of big changes coming soon, are you ready?"

"I can't help but be ready," Bill mumbled.

---

• Bill graduated with a 3.2 in Physics. He is a lab assistant with the Veronika Kent Medical Centre and is looking to get a job with a big science company. He is still adjusting to the thought that he will soon be father and husband.

• Susie graduated with a 2.8 in Fine Arts with a Dance concentration. She is continuing to teach part-time at the local school while auditioning for dance roles.

• Fiance, Anthony surprised her with a ballet barre in the apartment living room to help her along her way.

• Krissy gave a riveting speech at the graduation ceremony and graduated with a 3.9 in Mathematics. She is looking forward to her simyear long stint in Kimikura.

Poll Results

The recent poll has closed and the results were very interesting.

The behind-the-scenes tidbit that you'd most like to see is:

Gameplay Background, followed by a tie bewteen Lot Tours and Technical Gameplay.

With that in mind, I plan on posting at least one gameplay background post a month with either a lot tour or a technical gameplay post once a month as well. I have also linked some important and much used game-play documents in the sidebar.

Since you want to see more gameplay posts, is there anything in particular that you would like to see? Post a comment and I'll do my best to present it in a post.

What I'm Looking For, Part 3, 2006

Lovar, spring, 2006


Krissy Thorn and Bill Carr are seniors, Emma Seavey is a junior, Susie MacAstral and Benjamin Endeavor are sophmores, Lainey Lorde, S'Ahmisa Warwick and Verde Herendez are freshmen.

To say that Benjamin was different wasn't a surprise.  When his family had called him to tell him the news that he would be a father, he was floored. How could that be possible? He and Alisha hadn't seen each other for simweeks. Then another phone call, a few simweeks later with the news that he had a son and that his sister was adopting his son.

"That's wonderful news that your family is caring for him."

Benjamin nodded, was it wonderful? His sister was raising his son and her adoption of him meant that legally, Benjamin was his uncle instead of his father, but he was both.

"Do you think that you'll be going back to Simdale after graduation because of the baby?"

Benjamin hadn't thought that far out. To be honest, he was enjoying himself in Apple Valley and leading the basketball team to moderate success. He enjoyed teaching PE and he enjoyed the hood.

"I don't know...I doubt it."

"Well, you have two more simyears to think about it."

"Yea...and you? Where's your boyfriend."

S'Ahmisa sighed, she wished sims would stop calling him that. "Rashid is not my boyfriend, he's just a very good friend."

"Uh uh, where is this good friend of yours?"

"He went back to Simmington Hills, he has school too, you know."
---

Bill spent most of his days finishing up his senior project, a research into the physics of uneven aging rates amoung hoods in SimNation. When he wasn't working on his paper, he was entertaining Emma.

 
She would often stop by after her morning class

 
and they would spend the afternoons making out and woohooing.
 
Today was different, when he answered the door he saw his father, stepmother and Emma. The last time he was bombarded like this he discovered that Uma was pregnant and that she was giving their baby up for adoption.

 
"Emma said that you two have something to tell us," Jesse started the conversation.
 
"We do?" Bill said turning to Emma.

 
"Yes...I'm...we're pregnant."
 
The room was silent as the sims took it in. Fiona could feel the begining of a migraine and Jesse felt another wrinkle etch into his skin. Bill, on the other hand, felt his skin boil.

 
"Well, have you made any descions regarding the pregnancy?" Fiona asked.
 
Emma nodded. "My family would want Bill and I to get married-"

 
"What?"
 
"Get married. Sims do it all the time, Bill." Emma sighed.
 
"Yes, many sims get married for the sake of a baby everyday." Fiona agreed, "However, there's also adoption."
 
"No!" Emma refused. "I will not give my baby away."

 
Jesse turned to Fiona, "Well, Bill will be graduating in a few simdays and he's technically an adult. How about we go home, I'm sure these two can come to a conclusion on their own."
 
Fiona smiled as she walked to the door. Bill was an adult and this was one mess that she didn't have to clean up. "Yes, you call us and let us know what your plans are."
 
Bill waited until the door was firmly locked and his parents were walking down the street before turning to Emma.

 
"How could you?"
 
"I could I what?"
 
"How could you get pregnant? I don't need a baby right now!"
 
"Well you got one, like it or not."

 

"You did this to tie me down! You've been begging for an engagement ring and I said I wasn't ready so you did this!"

 

"How could you accuse me of such a thing?" Emma cried.

 
"You were the one who insisted on throwing away my birth control. You said that your birth control was plenty. I bet you don't even have birth control!"
 
"It doesn't matter how this happened, but we're going to be parents now, so you need to deal with it."
 

"No, you deal with it! Why can't you just give it up for adoption?"

 

"I'm not about to do like your last lover and quietly hand over my baby before disappearing. You will be in this baby's life wheter you want to or not."

 
"I'm not marrying you, Emma! You can get that out of your head!"

 
"We'll see about that," she said slamming the door.
 
---

 
"Hello?" Bill answered the phone. He hadn't seen Emma for a few simdays and he was still upset about the entire situation. He knew that just as the double moons rise in the west that Emma had set him up with this pregnancy.
 
"This is Payton, Emma's father." the gruff voice said on the phone.
 
"He-hello."

 
"I understand that you have gotten my baby girl...with child."
 
"Um...ye-yes sir."
 
"I take it that you plan on marrying her, correct?"

 
"Um...actually, Emma and I are still discussing our options."
 
"You mean your options in terms of when to get married, I assume?"

 

"Um...no-no sir...we're discussing adoption-"
 
"Emma said that she wants to keep the baby."
 
"Yes, she does."
 

"I will not have my daughter be a single mother. Her brothers agree with me as well."

 

"I see."

 

"So I take it that you will be marrying my baby girl."

 

"Um...."

 

"If you need to think about it, I will be happy to come over, along with Emma's four brothers, to...discuss why marriage is the best option. The only reason why we're not over there now discussing the issue is because of Emma. My baby girl thinks that she's in love with you and her heart is broken that you refuse to do the right thing and marry her and provide for this baby. I hate seeing my baby girl in pain...it makes me want to pass the pain along, understand?"

 
"I-I understand."
 
"Good, I expect for Emma to have a ring within three simdays or else we will come over there to discuss things with you."
 
Bill gulped as he hung up the phone. It was begining to look like Emma would get exactly what she wanted.
 
---
ROS: Knock up next sim you woohoo with-Bill Carr 
 
Benjamin is going to be a father; Benjamin is a father; Bill is a father; Bill is going to be a father; Bill meets Emma

Simmish Cultures

I was asked to give a little bit more detail about my simmish cultures and heritages of my simmies. I love learning about different cultures and since the world is full of them, here are a few of the current cultures in my hood. There will be more cultures as I delve deeper into my simmies lives and build the corresponding locales for them to visit as well. Feel free to steal/borrow/use these in your games as well. I hope to start adding downloads of the buildings in the future for those who are interested in recreating the locales in their game.

Inherited Cultures
These are cultures that I inherited from other simmers when their sims moved to my hood.

Sokitumi-Nicole Humphrey was originally from Sokitumi, an island nation that had several goddesses including the famed goddess of love, Goddess Lahubutaniya and the god, Anghj. This simmer did an excellant job of fleshing out Sokitumi from native words such as Melihari (hello), government names (Peaceful Regency) and a beautiful background. To hear this simmer discuss Sokitumi it seemed like a magical society untouched by modern spoils. You can check out Nicole's former blog and Nicole and Lyndon's conversations for more insight on this culture. I created Sokitumi on one the islands of my tropical subhood which uses the Emerald Isles from Amber's Journey. Sokitumi is also the only tropical island where the default Maxis tropical vacation clothing makes sense.

Simborough-Sandy Warwick and Jadhira Shazad arrived in Apple Valley after a Gender Swap with Simborough. Simborough is a FSBS hood and because this simmer is from the UK, that's what I envisioned Simborough as. You should browse through the website and learn more about Simborough's multicultural hood.

Native Cultures
These are cultures that I developed for my simmies based on gameplay options. Most of these are a result of Bon Voyage and not wanting to use the standard vacation hoods that shipped with the game.

Kimikuria: this is my "asian" vacation hood using the Ellis Island from Amber's Journey. It's loosely based on the east asian countries like Japan, China and Korea. Kimikuria is the land of zen gardens, old wise men, and mahjong . The lots are mostly the oriental series downloaded from wolfsim68 at TSR. The lots that I built use the same exterior wallpaper and roof color so that all the lots are uniform in apprearence. Li Yoo is originally from Kimikuria and the Warwick family spent three simyears there on assignment. The name was chosen based on the "asian" sound of it.

Hacienda Bay: this is the hometown of the Herendez family, starting with Alfonzo and Margurita Herendez (Greymount TS1, Apple Valley TS2) who immigrated from the bay. It is loosely based on the caribbean islands like Puerto Rico with it's british colonial style buildings, lush plants and ocean views. Currently this is only one lot in my "tropical" vacation subhood. I am in the process of rebuilding it since my first version will not "place" on the neighborhood thanks to the fact that it's a beach lot. The goal is to make it one complete island as my tropical subhood is the Emerald Isles from Amber's Journey. I don't remember exactly how or why I chose this name since it was during TS1 days (2004).

Tiki Isle: this is the hometown of the Kent family, starting with Toby and Veronika Kent (Greymount TS1, Apple Valley TS2) who immigrated from the isle. The isle is loosely based on the caribbean islands of Cayman Islands and Jamaica. The isle features a rich culture in terms of food, dance and "juice" exports. Currently this lot is in the planning stages and will eventually take up an entire island in my tropical subhood (Emerald Isles from Amber's Journey) as well. This name was chosen based on the shipped Tiki sets with the game.

Ozian: this is the birth place of Elphaba Mendenhall, who was born with a rare skin disorder that made her pigment a bright green. For those familar with the Wizard of Oz and Wicked, then you will recognize Elphaba as the Wicked Witch of the West. This place doesn't exist in the game yet, but I might consider creating this locale for Anthony and Susie to explore.

Thaindia: this is the hometown of Jadhira Shazad and I'm very excited to be starting the building of this island that is loosely based on the south east asian cultures like Thailand, India, Singapore and the Phillipines. Currently it's a single island set as a "asian" vacation subhood. I've included a sneak peek of one of the structures on the island. This name is basically a combination of Thailand and India :P

What I'm Looking For, Part 2, 2006

Lovar, spring, 2006
Krissy Thorn and Bill Carr are seniors, Emma Seavey is a junior, Susie MacAstral and Benjamin Endeavor are sophmores, Lainey Lorde, S'Ahmisa Warwick and Verde Herendez are freshmen.

 

Verde watched the curves of Lainey's hips as she confidently strode towards a spot on the beach.
 
"This spot will do," she declared, displaying every bit of her royal training with the fluid motions of her hands.
 
Verde happily nodded and dropped their stuff. "Should we swim or tan first?"
 
Lainey didn't answer him immediately, chosing instead to slowly strip her shorts and shirt off and neatly fold them before placing them in the small bag. She cocked her head considering the question. "Tan, then the ocean water can cool our skin afterwards."

 
"The way you say that, mi amor, drives me crazy." Verde said picking up her hand to press the delicate skin to his lips.

 
So they tanned,

 
then swam

 
and finally sat on the beach watching the waves flank the setting sun.
 
"My father wants me to get married."
 
"Why do you say that?"
 
"He said that he wants a family member to get engaged. Rojo is barely fourteen and Serendipity hasn't hit puberty yet. Thus that leaves me to fulfill his desire."

 
"What do you think about all of that?" Lainey asked cautiously, keeping her eyes trained on the waves, careful not to betray her feelings. She wanted to get married as well, but was trying to be patient.
 
"I want to get married, but sometimes I wonder if I'm too young." He said getting up.  "S'Ahmisa would say that I need to have a steady job and source of income before I even think about marriage. I just don't think that's the path for me. I sometimes wonder if I'm wasting my time getting a degree."
 
"How can a degree be a waste of time?"
 
Verde shrugged. "I used to have this dream about being a famous general, leading troops into battle and emerging victorious. Now...now I don't know if that's what I truly want. I want a wife, children and a nice little house. I want to spend my days watching clouds and enjoying leisurely activities."

 
"How will you afford a house for a wife and children if you have no job?"
 
"I will collect my inheritance soon and besides, the fort provides on-base housing for families."

 

"So you plan on joining the military full-time?"

 

Verde nodded. "I guess."

 

"You guess? Don't you have a plan, Verde?"

 

Verde shrugged. Life wasn't always about having plans and mapping things out. That wasn't what he was looking for. He wanted to live life day to day, to enjoy making friends and his family. He didn't have a plan to accomplish his dreams, but he knew that he would get it if he simply started to walk in the right direction.
 
"Does it bother you that I don't have a plan?" he asked. There was another woman who despised the fact that he didn't have a plan...or at least didn't have a plan that aligned with her plan for world domination. He would argue that he did have a plan, however it wasn't as long term as most plans.

 
"Verde, I love you, plan or no plan."
 
"I love you, too."
 
---

 
The couple continued to enjoy their short spring break by digging for shells,

 
making out on the beach,

 
pillow fights in their underwear,

looking into each other's eyes,

 
and nights cuddling on the couch.

 
"You do know that I will get my inheritance soon...it's not going to be much, but it will help."
 
Lainey smiled. "Are you still concerned about that?"
 
"I just..."
 
"What?"

 
Verde couldn't bring himself to say it just yet. He wanted to be sure that he was what she was looking for before putting his heart out there.
 
"I love you,"
 
"I love you too."
 
 
---
 
Verde and S'Ahmisa break up;

• Lainey has the want to get engaged to Verde, while Antonio has the want for a relative to get engaged. Verde has the want to juggle ^_^