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Already in Progress, Chapter 57: Better Late Than Never
1. Hello! Welcome back to Already in Progress! I really have to
apologize for the horrible delay between chapters. I hope you can find
it in your hearts to forgive me someday.
It’s probably worth mentioning that just after I started this rotation, I
figured out how to take better pictures -- screenshots, really, not using
the in-game camera -- so there will be a little unevenness in a few of
the households. Also, since I am still getting the hang of the new
picture-taking technique, there will be some pictures with a visible
queue in the upper left-hand corner. I apologize for that as well.
Already in Progress will resume after this word from our sponsors…
2. Today’s episode of Goldberg & Silent Lady is brought to you by
Almighty Hat’s recolors of Marja’s edit of clubkitty’s hajib and by
The T’s luxurious coats. Because sometimes you just need that
early Sixties glamour look.
(in a rapid undertone) Almighty Hat’s recolors are available at
their Dreamwidth: http://hat-plays-
sims.dreamwidth.org/24857.html. The T’s coats are available from
Mod The Sims. Almighty Hat and The T are in no way aware of
this endorsement.
And now, it’s on to our story: Already in Progress…
3. Last time, I didn’t know if Dmitri and Rose were successful in the
Trying For A Baby.
It looks like they were.
Incidentally, does it strike anyone else as funny that this thought
bubble only ever shows up when a Sim really is pregnant? It’s
never “Whoops, my bad, just food poisoning.”
4. Alexander likes dancing as much as ever, only now he’s big
enough to start developing some real moves.
5. Dmitri makes him buckle down and do some serious studying,
though. Alexander may not be so stoked about it, but I think we
can all agree that his studying face is cute, no? (pinches cheeks)
I bet you thought you couldn’t have picspam once the Sims hit
Child stage, didn’t you? How wrong you were!
6. It’s actually ridiculous how much picspam you can have even with
Children. Especially if there are Pets involved.
Okay, I’ll stop now.
7. Tiger the cat aged up about halfway through the rotation, and I’m
sure you will agree with me that it hasn’t changed him a bit.
Random picture is random.
8. Early in the afternoon of Day Three of the rotation, Rose went into
labor. I may or may not have cheered at this, since I was convinced
that Rose had a stuck pregnancy.
Now, pregnancies last 72 hours, give or take, and Rose was
pregnant for somewhere between 72 and 76 hours. This is perfectly
normal. But I have been having troubles with the ’hood, and my
Doom Sensors were on high alert.
9. As you can see, baby Ivan was born with all his fingers and toes
present and correct, a perfectly healthy little boy in almost every
way.
I say almost for two reasons: One, he has the same borked eyes as
his father and brother, which are undoubtedly part of the reason the
’hood is going downhill. And two, he suffers from Firstborn
Syndrome.
10. Because I will need to rebuild, and because you cannot create
Toddlers in CAS, Ivan was aged up right away. Even though it
isn’t strictly necessary, I gave him a makeover, just because I can.
In the new ’hood (which will look exactly like the old ’hood, only
better), Ivan will get treatment for his Firstborn Syndrome. This
will likely involve personality randomization in CAS and careful
selection of custom hairstyles.
He can keep Daddy’s nose, though. I rather like it.
11. GOLDBERG
What kind of mishuggeneh client can only come to the
office after dark?
SILENT LADY frowns slightly and glances significantly
at the shadows behind him. VALA steps out of them,
heels clacking on the floor. GOLDBERG shrieks like a
schoolgirl.
VALA
Apologies. Old habits die hard.
12. Fortune Sim Buttercup rolled the Want to Buy A Car yet again, and
since she’s still down over Albert’s death, I decided to let her. This
car* is found in the “car” section of the catalog, but will allow
Penny to tinker with it to her heart’s content -- and earn some
Mechanical points in the process.
Unfortunately, this vehicle doesn’t actually fulfill that Want, even
if it is filed under “Cars.” Does anyone know how long it takes to
fix up a junker from Free Time? (That seems like a fair criteria for
swapping it out.)
*Tinkerable car is by psychosim based on an original by vpn. Both can be
found at VPN’s Garage. Hey, I don’t have Free Time, so I’ve got to do
something!
13. Buttercup seemed to derive much satisfaction from performing tai
chi in locations guaranteed to drive her daughter nuts, and also to
block her path to wherever she wanted to go.
JOESPHINE: Mo-om! Do you have to do that here? I have to go to
the bathroom!
As to why Jo is walking around in her underwear at ten o’clock in
the morning, well…
14. …Could you resist this handsome lunk of a man if your gender
preference was at all tilted towards males?
I didn’t think so.
15. A little later in the rotation, Jo went around the house in even less.
Not because of Phoenix, this time -- he was at work. No, Jo was
taking a bath until a crisis dragged out out of it in a hurry.
16. This was not the crisis, although you’d think it should be. I mean, I
know that if I personally was taking a bath and the fire alarm went
off, I would only grab my clothes if I could do so without breaking
stride. I certainly wouldn’t get dressed, or even dry off. I can get
more clothes easy. I can’t get another me.
Sims don’t agree with me on the appropriate reaction to fire, but as
I said, that wasn’t the crisis.
Do you see the little picture of Buttercup in both Jo and Penny’s
queues?
18. Buttercup Shankel, 78 years old. Buttercup was a well-known and
highly successful dealer in, ah, small, portable items that made life
more fun. You know, “party supplies.” Nudge nudge wink wink
knowwhatImean, hey? Buttercup was named for a Gilbert &
Sullivan character, and always dressed in her signature yellow from
Toddlerhood on. (It’s probably just as well that she dropped the
“tiger” war paint before she headed to college, though.) Buttercup
married an accountant and never ever found his discussions of the
tax code boring.
Rest in peace, Buttercup.
19. Skye did return home from Uni this rotation, but since she didn’t
do so until after I had decided that a rebuild was inevitable, and
since I didn’t want to start the spouse hunt when the potential
spouse almost certainly wouldn’t make it over, I decided not to
play her remaining two days. I will play them at the beginning of
the new rotation in the new ’hood, and I’ll throw in a couple of
extra pictures, I promise.
20. VALA
I would like to place money in a legal trust, to
be held until a person comes along to give certain
signs and passcodes.
GOLDBERG
That's pretty unusual. Why don't you just tell me
the name?
VALA
I do not know yet the name. It is a long-term
trust, very long.
21. First thing in the rotation, Nicholas Grew Up into a very cheerful
little boy.
I was going to say “pleasant,” but given the dearth of Nice points
in this house, that really isn’t particularly appropriate.
It’s not just the angle of the picture that makes his eyes look
crossed -- they really are.
22. His eyes are still crossed, but the glasses help hide the fact. The
rest of the outfit might be a little Where’s Waldo?, but it seemed to
fit Nicholas.
Come to think of it, the hair doesn’t help the resemblance to
Waldo.
Nicholas gets along very well with Draupadi, whose name I
apparently forgot to give out earlier. This is what a Family Kiss
between a Child and a Toddler looks like.
23. Fortunately, since Draupadi Grew Up Well the very next day, they
won’t have to put up with that extremely painful-looking pose
anymore.
For those who are interested, Draupadi was named for a character
from the Mahabarata. The original Draupadi was the most
beautiful woman of her age, and was married to five men -- all
brothers -- at the same time. (Arjuna, one of the brothers, won her
in an archery contest, but was under strict instructions to share his
prize with the other four, no matter what.) I doubt that this
Draupadi will end up with five husbands, but we can agree that
she’s quite pretty, no?
24. Aside from Draupadi’s age transition, the evening of the second
day was shaping up to be pretty ordinary.
OLIVER: Thanks, babe. (hopefully) Any tomato or spinach on this
sandwich?
OAKAPPLE: Don’t be… ridiculous.
26. Oliver Stanley Couderc, 74 years old. Oliver had one Nice point,
which made him the nice one of the pair. He was a dedicated fan of
All Possible Worlds (which exists nowhere but in my head now
that the Exchange is mercifully gone for good), and had no gender
preference throughout Uni. Nevertheless, his tendency to follow
Oakapple around like a puppy and to shoot him looks like this on a
regular basis decided the issue for me, and I think I can safely say
that neither Oliver nor Oakapple ever had cause to complain.
Goodbye, Oliver. You will be missed.
27. Missed by everyone except his husband, apparently. While
everyone else mourned, Oakapple was unconcerned enough to read
a book.
OAKAPPLE: Hmmmm. Now do… I want to read… Grilled
Cheese Through… The Ages, or… Grilled Cheese and… You?
29. Rather than moping around the house, he went shopping the next
day at Leila and Abhijeet’s home business.
LEILA: Are you sure you want this, Uncle Oakapple?
OAKAPPLE: Yes, I am… thanks.
LEILA (dubiously): Okay, well, I’m going to have to have you sign
for it. It’s a controlled substance.
OAKAPPLE: Not a… problem.
30. He cooked grilled cheese sandwiches with every evidence of
enjoyment, even humming “When a merry maiden marries,” from
The Gondoliers as he cooked.*
Not particularly well, but humming is humming.
*Oakapple’s mother was a professional operatic contralto specializing in the
works of Gilbert & Sullivan. Also, this was Oliver’s request for a wedding
song.
31. And when he served the grilled cheese sandwiches, they were eaten
with much enjoyment.
Possibly just to make Oakapple happy, but do the motives really
matter?
34. Oakapple Couderc, perpetually 29 days to Elder. Oakapple started
out as older than Oliver, and was eventually surpassed by first his
husband, then his daughter, and then his grandson. Oakapple had
multiple substance abuse problems in Uni, and although he was
fifty years sober, he still considered himself an addict. Oakapple
was, sequentially, a vampire, a zombie, and a plantsim, making him
the closest to a Black Sheep that I have ever had in my game.
Although he started as female-oriented, the personality reversal
that comes with zombiism left him male-oriented instead, and led
to his happy marriage with Oliver. I could not imagine Oakapple
without Oliver any more than he could, which is why.
Goodbye, Oliver. I hope you are happier now.
35. GOLDBERG
I don’t get it. Why would someone set things up like
that? She’s hiding something. And we’re going to find
out. Do you know how to shadow someone?
SILENT LADY scoffs at the absurdity of the question.
GOLDBERG
Why do I even bother asking these things? Okay, how
much better at it are you than me?
SILENT LADY holds up her thumb and forefinger an inch
apart, before grinning and increasing the distance to
three and a half inches.
36. I am new at this picture-taking technique, but this shot is not an
error. I took it deliberately to show you just how happy everyone
here is pretty much all the time. Sometimes they dip down into the
gold, but generally it’s platinum all the way.
37. Mr. Way-Too-Nice himself even came out for a haunting, but he
didn’t scare anybody, or boo because his bed was gone, or anything
disruptive at all. He did levitate a few lamps, but I can see him
doing that as more of a “Wheeeeeee, look what I can do!” thing
than anything else.
38. I suppose it’s not exactly fair to count Celeste’s platinum status as
proof of happiness, as she achieved permaplat some time ago.
She subsequently got demoted and made her way back up to the
top of the career again. The doodad is somewhat obscured by her
complaining about the noise, but it’s there.
CELESTE: That’s probably the only thing I didn’t miss from being
at the top.
FREDERIC: WHAT WAS THAT, MOM?
CELESTE: I SAID I DIDN’T MISS THE HELICOPTER!
39. Frederic did not get promoted at all, as the three days of the
rotation coincided with his three days off from work. He spent the
time with his family -- dates with Isaac featured prominently -- and
building skills. And a little too much time sampling the results,
apparently.
FREDERIC: Whoa! That was unexpected.
ISAAC: What? Did the baby kick? You are expecting, right?
FREDERIC: Oh, shut up. I’m just fat. If you need me, I’ll be
jogging for the next week straight. (heads upstairs to change)
ISAAC (calling after him): Why? Haven’t you ever heard the
saying “Never trust a skinny cook”?
40. Helen has only just started school, but she’s already starting to
make friends.
You may recognize this handsome fellow by his outfit…
41. The final picture for this family is of Isaac helping Helen with her
homework.
ISAAC: …So if it takes 1,500 XP to level up, and you have 892
XP right now, how much XP do you need to earn before you can
level up?
HELEN: 608. That’s easy.
ISAAC: That’s borrowing in subtraction.
HELEN: Really? Then why didn’t the teacher just say that?
Isaac’s got a knack for turning things around so they’ll fit in
people’s heads.
43. The first day of the rotation was a repeat of the previous rotation at
the Wheeler household: take to potty, feed, teach to walk/talk,
bathe, feed, put to bed, let out and start again….
I did find the time to redo Catherynne’s hair, and I think she looks
much better now.
44. Professor Douglas and Dongsool found some time for male
bonding, but they’re both fairly Nice and not particularly Macho,
so their game of punch-you-punch-me was kind of underpowered.
Just thought I’d point out that they are in the as-yet-undecorated
hallway on the second floor. (That’s the first floor for my British
readers.)
45. The biggest event of the rotation was the Grim Reaper finally
showing up for Charlie.
CHARLOTTE: No, it can’t be time! I haven’t finished all my reps
yet!
GRIM REAPER: .el. .ou ..a.: .ou ca. .ini.. ..em u. .n th. oth.. si...
CHARLOTTE (suspiciously): What kind of equipment do you
have there?
GRIM REAPER: .im..ex.
CHARLOTTE: Wellll… Okay. I guess.
46. Charlotte Ann “Charlie” Miller, 70-and-a-bit. When Charlie was
born, she had the first (read: “terrible”) version of my Birth Queen
Skin, but lost it in the last rebuild. She liked to work out, and she
liked to party, and she didn’t mind taking care of her great-nieces
and great-nephews occasionally. Charlie did not quite make it to
the next rebuild, but she probably would have been okay with that.
Rest in peace, Charlie.
47. The kiddies all aged up shortly after Charlie died, and fortunately,
they were all in good enough Moods to not throw tantrums
afterwards. They got makeovers right away, because that’s what
you do. (Also, roughly 90% of my Sim girls grow up into the
Marsha Bruenig hairstyle, and after seven years, I’m kind of tired
of it.)
Lavinia strikes me as being a good candidate for Popularity when
she hits Teen.
48. I don’t really have a feel for Trudy yet, but I wouldn’t be at all
surprised if she goes for something fast and/or active. Left
unguarded, she makes a beeline for the computer and chortles
madly the whole time she’s playing.
49. Paul tends to be happy with just about anything.
PAUL: I got a new haircut! Woo!
He has the same reaction to rain, meeting new people, playing with
his brother, and dinnertime.
Well, there’s nothing wrong with a little enthusiasm, now, is there?
50. HOBO
Wull, she's our boofer laidee, int she?
GOLDBERG
What do you mean?
HOBO
Wull, she's boofer, int she? An' she's a laidee, int
she? A real laidee, you kin tell. An', an', she's
real nice, an' she brings food an' that, an' if it
all gets too bad, she makes the pain go away.
51. The rotation did not start out promisingly at Leila and Abhijeet’s
house. As you may or may not remember, Leila’s previous home
was afflicted with fires.* This particular one started because rag
rugs in front of the fireplace are generally Not A Good Idea.
*See The Jack Point Home for Pedestrian Playables.
52. But when Abhijeet ran out to panic around the tree that caught fire,
I thought that Leila might be cursed somehow. Fortunately, I was
able to persuade Abhijeet to go to work, where he was safe from
any further lighting fires.
53. Since both Abhijeet and Leila work full-time, I don’t have too
many pictures of them this rotation. They did, however, find the
time to open up a little home business on the ground floor selling
magic potions. The one in the blue bottle with stars on it sends you
to sleep, and the one lying on its side is a crafted version of
Vamprocillin D. Both are part of the magic system developed by
Dumbledore’s Army over at MTS, which I use because I can’t have
Apartment Life.
The standing yellow bottle is a potion that allows Sims to fly, but
be warned that it creates an NPC when you install it, and you
should not just plain remove it from your downloads folder unless
you want to corrupt your ’hoods.
54. On Day Three of the rotation, Leila and Abhijeet decided to have a
small wedding on the front lawn. Abhijeet wore his formal brujo
robes, and took Leila’s name in defiance of tradition.
Well, if you could choose between “Fuchs” and “Shankel,” which
would you choose?
So would I.
55. Pretty much everybody agreed that this was a good thing.
CAT: How dare she? Abhijeet is mine! (hisses) Well, I hope she
doesn’t think I’m going to let him use the can opener for her! She
may carry fishy treats in her pocket at all times, but --
CAT: Wait, she carries fishy treats in her pocket at all times. I
approve of fishy treats. And she’s generous with them. Never mind.
CAT: Well, I’m still going to shred his broom anyway. Just so he
doesn’t think he can get away with doing things without consulting
me first.
56. GOLDBERG
So would you make the pain go away for me?
VALA gives him a long level look.
VALA
If the cancer, or the cirrhosis, or the acquired
immunodeficiency became more than you could bear,
then yes. I would. But not before.
57. BRYAN: Lissen, Vinnie. If youse don’t have da money by Friday,
Mr. the Spoon is gonna be Very Unhappy, capisce*?
*Pronounced “cah-PEESH” in English or “cah-PEE-shay” in Italian; means
“Do you understand?” or “Get it?” The correct response is capisco (cah-PEE-
skoh), which means “I understand.” It’s an especially correct response because
stereotypically, this question is used by members of the Mob.
58. At the House of the Double A’s and a B, Bryan moved back home
after Uni… briefly. He did his best to not be a freeloader, and also
to get out of the house quickly.
59. BRYAN: Quite. (pause) Margery, my darling, I only wish for your
happiness. If you are happier with Sebastian, I am certain we can
come to an… understanding.
60. And “not being a freeloader” means going to lots and lots and lots
of auditions.
BRYAN: I haff it! Mit zee accelerator und zee lightning, zis corpse
shall liff again! Muahahahahahahah!
61. ADAM: It’s okay that you’re not getting any work, son. You can
stay here as long as you like. And if you wanted to bring a nice girl
home, there’s plenty of room for another. (with increasing
enthusiasm) Maybe even two or three more if you wanted to have
some babies. We’ve got enough money that we could build an
addition on the back if you wanted a larger family, too.
BRYAN: Thanks, Dad. I know you mean well. But what I really
want is to be an actor, and I’m starting to feel kind of depressed
that I haven’t gotten cast in anything yet.
ADAM: Oh, cheer up. If sure you’ll find something!
BRYAN: I don’t know. I really am starting to scrape the bottom of
the barrel here. But hey -- any work is better than none, right?
62. Maybe not…
BRYAN: I don’t know, Jeff. Can Hemorrhoid Special really stop
the itching and burning?
63. But eventually, Bryan’s dedication paid off, and not with a
hemorrhoid cream commercial either! Instead, he will be starring in
Movin’ On Up!: A Creation to Future Challenge, coming soon to a
LiveJournal near you!
Amy and Adam are doing just fine, by the way.
64. VALA
That man in there is a good man. You know this?
SILENT LADY nods.
VALA
And he is observant, for some things. Not so much for
others.
SILENT LADY nods again, rolling her eyes.
VALA
So you will need to ask him for that you want,
always. Or better, tell him what he is to do.
65. Hi, Sally. What on earth are you doing?
SALLY: Washing the dishes. Don’t you ever do that?
Oh, sure. Once a week, like clockwork. I just didn’t think you did.
SALLY: Sure, I wash dishes sometimes. Most of the time, though,
that’s what husbands are for. Or children.
But Tamara’s at school now.
SALLY: No, she’s back.
She is?
66. SALLY (V.O.): Yes, briefly. She’s just staying with us until the
lease on her new apartment starts. Those things usually start on the
first or the fifteenth, you know, so when it’s the sixteenth, you need
somewhere to stay for a couple weeks. Of course, we’ll be moving
soon ourselves.
You will?
SALLY (V.O.): Yes, of course. What do two people need with a
four-bedroom, two-bath farmhouse?
Er… grandkids?
SALLY (V.O.): Will live with Tamara, assuming she has any.
Besides, with the mortgage payment, we could use a reduction in
the ol’ bills.
67. The mortgage?
SALLY (V.O.): On Troy’s new gym.
Oh, you decided to get it after all?
SALLY (V.O.): Well, anything was better than watching Troy
mope around the house and putter in the garden.
68. What garden?
SALLY (V.O.): My point exactly. We have one fruit tree that
produces… Um, actually, I’m not sure what it produces. But
whatever it is, we can get better right across the street at the farm
stand. But that didn’t stop Troy from puttering, puttering,
puttering! It’s enough to drive you nuts! So “Get out of the house,”
I said. “It’ll do you some good,” I said. “Why don’t you open that
gym you’ve always wanted to?,” I said. “We have all that money in
the Swiss bank account from Grandma Jasmine.”*
*Who was a Criminal Mastermind. See Chapter 24.
69. SALLY (V.O.): So now Troy gives private lessons and runs the place,
and we should be making a tidy little profit soon. Not that the money
is important. I mean, there’s still plenty left in that Swiss bank
account. It’s just that it makes Troy happy to be useful and
contributing, so I don’t see why he shouldn’t run the gym.
I see.
SALLY (V.O.): Anyway, I need to go look up some more property
listings now, so if you’ll excuse me…?
Oh sure, go ahead.
SALLY (V.O.): Thanks! Lovely to talk with you, as always.
…And that, dear readers, is where I will leave you. Until next time,
Happy Simming!
70. Credit where credit is due: Troy’s converted-warehouse gym is very
heavily based on the design and floorplan of the “Factory Starter”
created by V1ND1CARE over on MTS. I liked the layout, but didn’t
want all the associated cc, so I printed out the floor plans and recreated it
as best I could. (Partway through, I realized I used the wrong sized lot,
so I did some minor adapting.)
For my non-American readers, an inch is just over two and a half
centimeters, and three and a half inches is almost nine centimeters.
Silent Lady is a lot better than Goldberg at shadowing people, is the
point.
Yes, a rebuild really is both inevitable and imminent. Hopefully, this
won’t delay service. More than usual, anyhow.
71. The Grim Reaper’s lines, in order:
Tell you what: you can finish them up on the other side.
Simflex.
72. The Goldberg and Silent Lady sections used a lot of custom content and
poseboxes. All custom content is from Mod The Sims unless otherwise
indicated. In addition to the items advertised at the beginning and content
advertised in other episodes, I used:
“Timeless Office” set by jgwoods
Long drapes and recolors by KiaraRawks
“Hacked Coat Hook” by Mary-Lou and Numenor
“Custom Modeling Poses Hack V2 w/Facial Overlays” by decorgal21572
SimBlender by TwoJeffs, from Simbology
Castaway Stories oil drum conversion by J M Pescado, from MATY
Prop hack and accessories by Decorgal and Adele (a two-download set)
Castaway Stories clothing conversion by Simicka, from GOS
Layerable facial wrinkles by lolabythebay, from GOS
“Condemned” build set by mustluvcatz
