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Well, I may not have my simmies back yet, but I finally got my butt in gear and decided I'd do some BTS and picspam for chapter 32. After all, I do have the pictures and there's stuff I've been wanting to talk about for a while (and there's stuff I can't talk about yet, too, but let's not talk about that :) ). So...



Well, first and most obvious: Charlie. As I've mentioned before, this is a storyline that has been in my head for a long time, perhaps the better part of a year, and now I'm finally playing it out.

In fact, I think the first time I came to think that Charlie will die, was when he was still a child. By the time he became a teenager I was sure he would, and if you look back in the chapter where his birthday took place, you can maybe tell I knew. My original plan was actually kill him - much in the same way as I did now - when the kids were teenagers, but I decided to postpone it for a couple of reasons. First, I had enough going on plot-wise back then, with Cyrus being vamped and all that, so it would have slowed me down even more. Second, I realized that if I wait, I can perhaps build the character more, and get a bigger effect when I finally put the plot into play. And third, I decided I wanted to give him his LTW first. That way he'd at least go happy. And, as a bonus, I'd score the point for an impossible want, if I could do it while he was still in college.

There were naturally plot motivations for killing Charlie. Partly it was because I felt that Sal was a little bit toothless, and I needed to give him some teeth. True enough, this was another accident and as such can't be blamed on Sal, just like the incident with Rebecca. But it goes to show where Sal is going with his obsession, how he doesn't really care for anything else anymore. And, he needed to find out why he can't resurrect Author, and in connection with Charlie's death it was convieniently arranged - someone needed to die so that Sal could find out that they cannot be brought back. Finding out was sort of a turning point for him, the point of no return. And finally, an additional motivation that has come clear during college, is the effect this all has on the siblings, especially Cho. But that goes into the "to be seen" department.

I also can't deny that there were gameplay motivations for Charlie's death, too. One was, of course, the ghost color point. I haven't collected those before, and as I, convieniently enough, have a villain and everything, I wanted to try a few for this legacy. Another reason was the population explosion that's going on and will be going on in my hood for generations to come. The Alphabet Legacy requirement of min three children in the main house per generation is a lot, and as I play the whole hood, one sim less to survive into adulthood and reproduce, and whose children will the grow up and reproduce, and... You get the idea. Don't worry, murder isn't actually my idea of birth control. I'm planning to use the more "standard" methods of marrying distant cousins and letting some sims stay childless, in general, rather than killing off my spares. Not that I'm in any way opposed to having lots of sims, to the contrary. But, they do breed like bunnies.

[/ sidetrack]


Anyway, back to Charlie. When I was getting ready to actually do the killing, I tried to make him as happy as I could. Even though he was permaplat, I tried to fulfill some wants - the usual go bowling and jump on couch type he rolls a lot. And I kind of had him say goodbye to his closest family and friends.


In a sort of a two birds with one stone manner, I gave him the party that was in his want panel. A want fulfilled and some buddies seen at once.





This party was always going to go on the cutting room floor, as its purpose was simply to make Charlie happy - and me less guilty about what I was going to do.


And then, then I killed him. Knowing I would for such a long time really didn't make it any easier.


I tried to keep Charlie from eating the previous night, and made him peek at Cyrus in the coffin. Still, I had to do it several times. All the pictures you saw in 31 and 32 of Charlie getting scared were staged with poseboxes before the fact. So when I posted chapter 31 Charlie was still alive and well in my game.


It took something like five tries to get Charlie's hunger drop enough so he'd die from the scaring, and each one hurt me. (I suppose it serves me right.) And in fact, as you can see from this picture, in the end it wasn't fright that killed him. He did the fright animation, walked away from the coffin, and just when I thought I would have to make him peek one more time, he did this. So yes, he accidentally died of starvation first.

(And it was at the last possible moment, too. Having to make him peek once more would have been impossible, as the clock hit seven, and Cyrus got out of the coffin. Had I not succeeded, I would have had to try again the next day. I wanted to wait as close to 7 o'clock as I could, since I wanted to minimize the risk that Cyrus fries himself to death when getting out of the coffin to cry.)






Poor, poor Charlie.

I considered resurrecting him off camera and trying again to get him to actually die of fright, but didn't. It felt cruel, and towards a sim that, I assure you, I liked very much. Besides, someone would have needed to get into the secret society to use the bone phone. And having to do the killing again - and maybe getting the wrong death again - didn't feel nice at all. I remember back when Curty died and his tombstone disappeared when sending to the graveyard. (I'd luckily just gotten the hack that prevents the file shredding when a tombstone disappears.) I wanted to fix it, so I cheated a bone phone and resurrected and re-killed him three times before I found the instructions how to re-make the tombstone - and the resurrection didn't help, the tombstone would just disappear again. (The other trick, thankfully, did work.) So back then, I watched my favorite sim die four times, and that's definitely not an experience I want to go through again if I can avoid it.




So, now I'll have to keep the wrong color ghost out of updates. He does like him some haunting and scaring. I'm considering sending him to the family graveyard where all the others are - it'd be nice to have everyone in the same place. Would anyone happen to know if it's safe, or if something bad happens to my game if I send a grave from college to a grave yard in the main hood? On the other hand, it feels somewhat comforting seeing him around still - even if it means he sometimes scares my sims.

So Charlie's death is different plot-wise and happenings-wise. I count him as a hunger ghost, but story-wise he was killed by fright. Maybe in the future I'll need to stage a death by hunger, and actually kill the sim by fright, then...?








Everyone was sad. There was a lot of this going on. I felt really sorry for the poor little things. Again, I suppose it serves me right.



Onto some sort of BTS and "how I did it" type of picspam, as well as some funny outtakes. I shot Charlie's death at night time in fact, so I could pose Cyrus safely without actually risking his life. I did it partly in combination with the big discussion scene, where I also needed prof Eric. It was slightly distracting that various sims came sneaking on the lot to leave date gifts. I had to be careful when taking shots outside or close to windows, so I wouldn't end up with, say, a dying Charlie on the foreground and then Chris cheering for a plasma tv showing through a window.


For instance, this I reshot when I noticed there was a pinball machine showing through the window, one that wasn't supposed to be there. ;) I don't think it would've been noticed really, but it bugged me. I was sorry to do that, as I liked Eric's pose here better than I could get in any picture afterwards, even though I used the exact same animation (I think it was the "you're fired" one from the OFB box.)


This one is, in fact, genuine, except for the fact that I went to the buy mode and changed the lightning into daylight. Prof. Eric was one of the sims that sneaked in to deliver date gifts when I was shooting. I happened to need someone to come in to help get Cyrus in the coffin, and with that, make sure that Cho forgets to plead, and Eric fit the bill perfectly. With the rose bouquet, I also got a reason for him to be there. So thanks, Eric, I guess.



Another thing in the past chapter that practically shot and wrote itself was this. I needed Sal to find out (partially, as you may have noticed) about the gypsy protection, and I had a vague idea that Komei might find that out for him, possibly from Cho who's grieving and doesn't realize to be careful about where she pours her heart out to someone. And then I sent her on another date, and while shooting the usual pictures of her dining with her date, I notice Komei walking in and setting in the queue for a table while the couple ate. At that moment I could almost hear the internal monologue he was keeping when eavesdropping. All I needed to do was to watch him and take the pictures. I love it when these things happen.


During one of the photoshoots (after which I always quit without saving, for safety reasons), we had a little incident as well. I was just ordering everyone to go downstairs and take a seat from the kitchen table for the big discussion, when I heard the all-too-familiar bo-boing noise, and went looking for its source. This is how I got reminded that as a professor NPC, Eric doesn't have an ACR token and hence he functions on Maxis jealousy coding. Oops!


And the reason to be jealous was in the hot tub. Cho! You're not supposed to be woohoing in Nicholas in the tub! You're supposed to be sitting at the kitchen table and looking sad, your brother has just died! Eric, you're not supposed to be running to slap Cho, you're needed at the table too! Charlie, you're not supposed to be wandering about downstairs when you're dead, go play cards or something! Nicholas, go... somewhere!


Now, onto more generic sort of picspam, and of the happy kind. Before my hard drive announced to me that it wanted to be replaced, I did a few growing-ups as well. Some were already seen in the chapter.


That's Cyrus, he's quite pleased his all grown-up look.


Chris was less enthusiastic, but I take happy as well.



The two of them are clearly happy to be living together. They could just about afford a decent house too.


They both want to be Hall of Famers, and got lucky with the careers on their first day as adults. (I've only played them for a couple of days.)


I'm curious to see how it is with Cyrus and woohoo now that he's no longer a vampire. I'm not sure what to think of that. On the one hand, if he stays the way he's always been, he may feel more like the Cyrus I know and love. On the other hand, if he's more into woohoo, there are better prospects of babiezzz... Which I'd love of course. Well, either way, I love these two. <3 And plot-wise I've already got plans for them, too.


Bobby was about the same age as Cyrus, so he's graduated too. He's currently waiting on Mehrissa to do (I think) her last semester in college and join him in his parents' house.


Bobby got a party as well.


And apparently Claire was rather embarassed by his parents, oh goodness, flirting! Claire, you're not supposed to be mortified, you're a romance sim!

"But it's Bobby's PARENTS!"


Bobby apparently followed Cyrus' example in grow-up clothing.


It wasn't terrible, but I still gave him something nicer.


Life settled quickly into its usual ways when Bobby moved back home. He likes him some badge building.


And Aurora and Andrew like shocking others, be it Claire or the cat.



But, the kitty got plenty of attention too, especially when Mehrissa was over. I'm waiting for her to move in too before I re-build the house. Then they should have plenty of money to do that, too.


As shown in the chapter, Claire grew up too. She invited Trevor to move in with her and her daddies. I decided that even though she's a romancer, she's the type to settle down, as she hasn't really payed serious attention to anyone but Trevor.


She got her hair back, and something that she'd be more likely to wear.


And here's Trevor. I was a little surprised when he moved in: he's actually knowledge. For some reason, I'd thought he was popularity. Well, in any case, Claire loves him, and I think I already like him quite much.


And here's Carl for you, he's all grown up too.



I should also show you these two new adults. Possibly you can tell who they are? :)



And finally, here's Ryker. You saw his adult look quickly in the end of 32. He's also waiting on Chloe to graduate, and a little tight on money, so I put him in one of the free apartments in the same house where (the other) Bill and Sandy live. They might stay there for a while with Chloe, too, the apartment is big enough. Bill and Sandy, on the other hand, might be getting their own house some time.


I'll finish this picspam with Cho and The Most Hilarious Date I've Seen for a While.

So yeah, Cho grew up, and I went the last few dates she had left to get permaplat. This is number 18 I think, and one of the loves I only showed as a flash in the end of last chapter, and likely this one will stay off camera, due to the way the date went. His name's Peter.


So Cho and Peter went on a date. They'd known each other for a while and were kinda friendly already. Everything was going smoothly.

Now, now you can see Peter's plate. The waitress just brought it.


(Two seconds later.) Now you can't.

What happened?


Mr. Vaddi Bobo here happened, that's what.

Now I didn't mention this in a chapter, but Cho got caught cheating Vasyl here with someone, don't remember who. So he's kinda furious with her. So apparently he thought that grabbing Peter's salmon before he could hit his fork in it and eating it would be a good revenge to Cho.

Way to go, mr. Mastermind! What a cunning plan!


Only he didn't get to eat the salmon, as the host gave his table away before he could hit his fork in it.


To make sure Peter wouldn't be all cranky because of mr. Smiling Fingergunner stole his salmon, I ordered cake for dessert and hoped he'd be happy and full.


The rest of the dinner went by in a somewhat normal manner. After they got up from the table, and before I could order Cho to socialize with her date, this lady came and socialized with him first. As you can see, Cho is standing right there, clearly thinking: "Flirting, awesome! Is it my turn yet?"


After that, Cho and Peter did indeed socialize.


And then... Of course Vasyl had to come in right here, right? With flamey thought bubble and all. Oops?


Well, in fact, he perfectly approved of Cho and Peter enjoying their date. He kept flamey-thought-ballooning Cho, and at the same time, nodding, smiling and saying "uh-huh". And had I let him, he probably would have pried Cho away from her date with his constant queued interactions, too.

All in all, the date was a success, and Peter did indeed become Cho's eighteenth (or something) lover. It was also a success in that it literally made me laugh so hard that I cried.


Alright, I think that's about all I can show you without giving away too much. I'm still waiting to get my disks back, I've reminded my sister to pack those with her for X-mas, so it shouldn't be too long until I get to do the installation dance. Yay! Until then, I hope you enjoy the picspam. :)

Date: Dec. 18th, 2010 10:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mzyra.livejournal.com
Awww, poor Charlie - it sucks having to kill sims off for plot reasons, even if you've known it's going to happen since forever. :(

And sim coding can be so messed up when you consider a situation as it would actually happen :P

Date: Dec. 19th, 2010 06:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] katrisims.livejournal.com
So you went and got yourself spoilered then? :D

Yeah, my poor boy Charlie... No matter how good the reasons, it still hurts. I comfort myself with the fact that I have him extracted, so I can put him elsewhere and give him a full life if I want to.

Yeah, that's how the hilarity ensues! From a sim point of view, Vasyl's behavior made perfect sense: he was furious with Cho, so he flamey-thought-ballooned her, but as she'd gotten caught cheating, he was no longer in love, and could not get jealous again. And as he's the outgoing type, he's bound to approve of public displays of affection. And apparently he was hungry too. :P

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