1. Welcome to the first Already in Progress chapter after the rebuild! I
always forget how long rebuilds take, what with rebuilding the
houses, restoring the genetics, recreating the Sims, putting back
skill points and personality points, and so on and so forth. I have
decided that from now on, any and all building/decorating will
either take pace in my “rebuilding” ‘hood or will be immediately
recreated in said ‘hood, so I don’t have to redo everything. Also a
tremendous help to me was loyal reader and good friend
joandsarah77, who extracted all my Sims with SimPE, meaning
that there will be no jarring changes to noses or cheekbones or
anything.
It also means that my Sims are up for grabs if you’re interested.
2. Now, you may be wondering about that cover shot. Well, as it turns
out, there’s a hack that will let you buy craftable items from the
catalog, which I put in for the purposes of restoring inventory
during the rebuild.
Unfortunately, you get to place them one by one. Which kind of
loses its appeal when you have forty of the same thing. The results
look more or less like this.
3. This episode of Goldberg & Silent Lady is brought to you by
“Seductive Sage” lingerie, created by natef005 and available on
MTS. Just because you’re planning to take it off right away doesn’t
mean that it can’t look good.
(in a rapid undertone) natef005 is apparently also known as
Natalia. No matter which name the creator uses, they are not aware
of this endorsement.
And now, let’s rejoin our story: Already in Progress…
4. Skye gets a little extra face time this rotation since I shorted her two
days last go round. I shorted her for good reason: I was planning to
rebuild, and I didn’t see any point starting the spouse hunt when
any possible spouses wouldn’t survive the trip.
5. I will be playing an Awesomesauce Challenge with Skye, at least
until I get bored with it, and that means that she gets to start out
with all the comforts of home: a tent, a cooler, and a toilet bush!
6. Although Skye did not meet any potential spouses her first day in
her new place, she did find out that the newly-generated townies
are surprisingly well-dressed. Look, this fellow’s hat matches his
pants!
7. The second day in her new home saw Skye dyeing her hair -- partly
to honor her recently deceased mother, who had dyed hair from the
age of twenty onward, and partly to comply with the rules of the
challenge, which state that this generation is to have as much blue
as possible.
Incidentally, “sky blue” is a shade of blue, and Skye herself has
worm blue-based outfits her whole life. See? I know what I’m
doing. (Well, sometimes.)
Also new is the foundation laid out to prepare for future house
building.
8. Skye did try to meet eligible spouses, by fishing at the park -- an
excellent way to socialize with more than one guy at once -- but
two of the three men pictured have negative chemistry with Skye
and one has neutral. And none of them are wearing blue.
9. The pool wasn’t much more help. This time, Skye spoke to both
gentlemen wearing blue, and again both had negative chemistry. In
fact, the redhead actively heartbarfed her.
Please forgive the lighting. The pool was never intended to be a
nighttime venue.
10. Skye found a science job, which was pretty far from her LTW of
becoming a chef, but a girl’s gotta eat. I have decided to try and
spend the home improvement funds on things that Skye rolls up
Wants for. In this case, that was a car, and cars are not cheap.
Cars require driveways, and driveways are not cheap either.
Skye ended the second bonus day with a whopping bank balance of
$65.
11. I wish I could report a better result for the three days of real play,
but this is the closest Skye came to finding a spouse: negative bolts
with one man, neutral bolts with the other, and the highest
relationship score is 15.
12. Since Skye’s been rolling Wants for things like computers (on a
$322 per day salary), they have been going unfulfilled. And her
social meter has gotten so low that she’s been reduced to playing
kicky bag with random Teen walkbys.
I guess it’s been so long since I had a proper challenge start that
I’m out of practice.
13. GOLDBERG
Another assault on Burlesque Row. That’s what, the
fourth in two months?
SILENT LADY considers, then nods.
GOLDBERG
Somebody ought to do something. It’s a sin and a
shame that girls have to make their living that way
-- they should at least be safe while they’re at it.
14. Rose, Dmitri, and family moved back into their (freshly
redecorated) home with no issues, and Alexander promptly headed
outside to fly his kite. This is not an interaction I use very often, but
Alexander seemed to have a really good time at it. And flying a kite
generates a “windy” sound effect, which is pretty cool.
Okay, one small issue: Alexander’s cc outfit somehow disappeared.
I’ve been clearing out my Downloads folder, and I think I
accidentally cleared out a file that I need to make the outfit work. I
should have it fixed soon, but I may leave Alexander in this outfit
anyway.
15. Rose gave Ivan a big dose of Smart Milk, taught him to talk, and
put him down for a nap. Then she went outside to push Alexander
on the swings, to their mutual delight. Dmitri stayed indoors and
got a workout in while keeping an ear out for Ivan.
And esmeiolanthe just noticed how bad the chains on the swing set
look. But since everything else looks the same as always, it’s
probably not a problem with my graphics card or anything.
16. Come evening, Ivan woke up and needed to go potty. Dmitri
decided it was a teachable moment.
DMITRI: Wooooooo! Our son is a genius! One hundred percent
potty trained in one sitting? A genius, I tell you, a certified genius!
ROSE: Dmitri, he had Smart Milk.
DMITRI: Which wore off two hours ago. He’s not glowing at all,
look!
ROSE: Huh. So he isn’t.
DMITRI: What did I tell you? A genius!
17. Ivan spends a lot of time bonding with both parents. He has
naptime with Mommy…
18. …And a Boy Dance Party* with Daddy.
*“Boy Dance Party” was a Saturday Night Live skit not too long ago, and was
one of the only recent ones I’ve enjoyed. There’s a link in the main post for
this chapter on my LJ.
19. Of course, Ivan is a Toddler now, and Toddlers are not as much fun
as Babies. And Rose and Dmitri are Family Sims who love Babies.
So guess what Want they rolled right away, and guess what they
did about it.
I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count.
20. GOLDBERG
Seriously? I’m not letting you anywhere near places
like that.
SILENT LADY begins to point at him, but GOLDBERG
cuts her off.
GOLDBERG
No. Absolutely not. And that’s final.
As GOLDBERG walks away, SILENT LADY turns to watch
him go with narrowed eyes and a scowl.
21. Abhijeet spent quite a bit of time remaking potions he used to have
in stock before the rebuild. They’re the one craftable I can’t restore
with a hack, since I use a pre-Apartment Life magic system.
22. Leila spent time on the phone, increasing her friend relationships
with relatives and non-relatives alive. (Her relationships with
family dropped dramatically during her tenure at the asy -- at the
residential facility for people with psychological differences.*)
*See The Jack Point Home for Pedestrian Playables, available at my LJ.
[/shameless self-promotion]
23. Both Abhijeet and Leila enjoyed getting to know some of their
neighbors, and invited them to come back for the grand re-opening
of the business, whenever that happened to be.
24. And Leila started coaxing Cat out of some of his bad habits.
LEILA: You need to stop sleeping on the bed. When you sleep
there, I can’t.
CAT: I always slept there before. That’s MY place.
LEILA: It was your place. It’s my place now.
CAT: I was here first! You’re just an interloper. He needs ME, not
YOU.
LEILA: Every time you sleep in your basket instead of on the bed, I
will give you a fishy treat.
CAT: …Well, all right then. If the fishy treats are forthcoming -and you’re quick about it!
25. BOUNCER
Here’s your seat, sir. You can look all you want, ask her
to do whatever you want, but the glass is there to stop you
touching. It’s reinforced and unbreakable, so I don’t
recommend trying anything funny, okay?
GOLDBERG
(chuckles weakly)
I don’t think you have to worry.
BOUNCER
We take the safety of our girls very seriously, sir. I
treat them like they were my own sisters.
26. The Miller family moved back into the newly-restored-after-therebuild home, and (as is usual) the day set to Monday, with no work
or school.
Frederic’s days off are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
I play three-day rotations.
So I sent Frederic to work manually. He needs the career
advancement for his LTW.
27. For whatever reason (possibly timing?) Celeste’s car pool -- I mean
helicopter pool -- arrived right on schedule, and she was able to
plan hostile takeovers on her lunch break, as usual.*
Helen and Isaac had a nice father-daughter day at home.
*Celeste likes to plan hostile takeovers, but has never actually executed one.
See “Charades.”
28. FREDERIC: What are you doing up? It’s after midnight!
HELEN: I’m done sleeping.
FREDERIC: But you only went to bed four hours ago!
HELEN: I’m still done sleeping. And it’s boring having to be quiet.
Can we go somewhere?
FREDERIC: …Let me get changed.
29. So Frederic and Helen went to a new lot I’ve built. It has an arcade,
a computer/electronics store, and a games club. While Helen played
at the arcade, Frederic made an important stop.
30. It was particularly important, because on Day Three of the rotation,
Helen went from this…
FREDERIC: What are you doing?! You missed the opportunity for
the level-up pellet! It was right there behind the chest!
HELEN: If you pick it up, then you can’t get the power sword on the
spaceship. The guide said.
FREDERIC: Who reads the guides? Real players learn by playing -Isaac! Not the triple jump! (mutters) I married an idiot.
31. …to this.
HELEN: For me? My very own smartphone?
FREDERIC: Yup.
HELEN (eagerly): Is it the SPR-DLX, with MMO capability and
Heavenedge pre-loaded?
FREDERIC: (rolls eyes) Of course. Is there any point in getting
anything less?
Helen is a Pleasure sim who likes mechanical, athletic boys who
don’t wear full-face makeup.
32. Sadly, Celeste did not live to see her granddaughter become a Teen.
In the old ‘hood, she would have made it, but rebuilds mess with
lifebars something awful. I can guarantee that she was happy,
loved, and loving until the end.
33. Celeste (Kalson) Miller, age 71 (or so). Celeste was originally
engaged to Oakapple Shankel, but ended up marrying Mr. WayToo-Nice himself, Edgar Miller. Nobody involved ever regretted it
for a moment, since Eddie and his Heavenly Bride had three, count
‘em, three bolts. Celeste was a successful businesswoman, topping
the career not once, but twice. She loved planning hostile takeovers
on her breaks, and she was very bad at charades. She will be
missed.
Goodbye, Celeste. Rest in peace.
34. As GOLDBERG settles nervously in his seat, “The
Stripper” begins to play. The eponymous woman comes
out from stage right, back to GOLDBERG. She does a
professional bump-and-grind to the middle of the
private booth; the camera focuses on the elaborate
rose tattoo in the small of her back as she does so.
When she reaches the middle of the booth, she turns
to face GOLDBERG.
GOLDBERG
You?!
35. Hi Sally! How are you liking your new house?
SALLY (V.O.): I love it! It’s exactly perfect for the two of us.
I’m glad you like it.
SALLY (V.O.): Yes, we like it very much. I think we’re going to
be very happy here.
Good!
36. SALLY (V.O.): We had some of our neighbors stop by after we
moved in. It was nice to meet such pleasant young people. Some of
them were also new to the street, so we had that in common right
away.
That’s a good start.
SALLY (V.O.): Yes, but I think I enjoyed it more than Troy did.
Why? He’s Pop, isn’t he?
37. SALLY (V.O.): Oh yes, he is! But he’s a professional athlete, you know,
and sometimes he gets a little tired of people going all fanboy on him.
GLEN SHANKEL*: Oh wow, Mr. Langerak, it’s really you! Wow! Golly,
you’re my favorite player! I have your jersey at home. Well, not yours
yours, obviously, because you wear in in games still, but a replica one.
Wow. Oh wow. I can’t believe I just said that to you. Esme, you must think
I’m a complete idiot. Listen to me run on at the mouth!
TROY: It’s okay.
GLEN: Oh wow, you’re the best, Mr. Langerak! Can I shake your hand?
*Glen comes from Ruth’s (u)OWBC, available at my LJ. [/shameless self-promotion]
38. SALLY (V.O.): But you know what the best thing was? Troy asked
me to marry him!
Haven’t you been married for years?
SALLY (V.O.): Again! He asked me to marry him again! We’ve
been married for a long time, but he said that he kind of always
thought that I thought we were getting married because of Tamara
-- which is so not true -- and he said he wanted me to know that he
wanted to marry me even with no babies!
Aw, that’s so sweet!
SALLY (V.O.): I know, right? So we RENEWED our vows.
39. SALLY (V.O.): Everyone came -- all our friends and neighbors.
See, that’s my niece Saigon in the yellow, and my great-nephew
Chant just there, and his wife Phoebe in the purple.
Who’s the lady in pink?
SALLY (V.O.): Oh, her name’s Allyn! She and her husband Cecil
live just next door, on the corner there. They’re a really sweet
couple, and they have lots of cute cats.*
*See Cecil’s CCL, available on my LJ. [/further self-promotion]
40. SALLY (V.O.): And Tamara looked like beautiful. She had such a
lovely new dress -- it really set off her eyes. I told her to bring her
roommate too, but she didn’t.
Why not?
SALLY (V.O.): She said that would make it seem like they were a
couple, but they aren’t.*
*See Sun, Moon & Tamara, available on my LJ. [/yet another instance of
egotistical self-promotion]
41. SALLY (V.O.): We talked about writing our own vows, but we
decided not to. I think there’s something nice about traditions, don’t
you?
Yes.
SALLY (V.O.): Plus, I write for a living, so there’s quite a bit of
pressure to come up with something really good, and Troy’s an
athlete, so people don’t expect him to be able to write anything at
all, and we just didn’t want that tsuris.* Not for what’s supposed to
be a fun party.
And was it? Fun, I mean?
*tsuris, SOOR-iss: Trouble, aggravation, stress. (Yiddish slang.)
42. SALLY (V.O.): You bet! Even when it started raining, that didn’t
stop the boys from dancing up a storm. See, there’s Troy, and that’s
Allyn’s husband Cecil, and that’s Old Adam. He’s Phoebe’s father
and -- let me see -- and he was my brother Oliver’s brother-in-law
until Oliver passed. What relation does that make him to me?
Ya got me.
43. SALLY (V.O.): Well, never mind. We’re some sort of family,
anyway, and that’s what counts. Did I tell you I had a chocolate
fountain at the wedding?
You did not.
SALLY (V.O.): I did! I always wanted to go to a party where they
had one of those, so I made sure we had one! You dip the
strawberries in the chocolate, and it’s delicious. I was afraid
someone might spike the chocolate with brandy or something, but
they didn’t.
44. SALLY (V.O.): Oh, look! Here’s when we cut the cake.
You shoved it into Troy’s face?
SALLY (V.O.): Of course! It was funny.
But aren’t you too Nice for that?
SALLY (V.O.): We don’t need to symbolize that we’ll take care of
each other. We know we will, because we already have. (laughs)
And you should have seen his face!
It sounds like it was a good party.
45. SALLY (V.O.): Oh, it was a wonderful time! Troy’s already talking
about our anniversary party, but I think we should wait a little bit
for that. Maybe take a second honeymoon. Or a first honeymoon,
really, because we didn’t have a proper honeymoon before.
Well, it sounds like things are going well for you. I’ll leave you to
your planning, then.
SALLY (V.O.): Okay!
46. GOLBERG
What the system crash do you think you’re doing here?
Come out of there right now!
SILENT LADY shakes her head violently. She points at
GOLDBERG’S crotch and then cups her own breasts and
bounces them emphatically, flinging her hands out and
snorting.
GOLDBERG
I know he only goes after girls! I don’t have to be a
girl to scope out the place on my own, thanks! Now go
put some clothes on and come out here!
SILENT LADY gives him the finger.
47. Jo, Phoenix, and Penny decided that they did not need a fourbedroom, three-bath house for just the three of them, and they
moved to a more reasonably-sized house just down the street from
both Cecil and Skye.
And when I say that they decided, I mean that I decided. I didn’t
want to have to redecorate that big farmhouse yet again. From now
on, all building and decorating aside from minor tweaks takes place
in the rebuilding ’hood!
48. Phoenix may be a Romance Sim, but even after the rebuild, he’s
clearly the kind who prefers much romance with one person than
much meaningless woohoo with a lot of people.
PENELOPE: Yeah, my parents are trying for a Dream Date again.
I’m gonna have to hang up now and go put my earphones in.
49. Penny enjoys talking with her friends on the phone, working on her
car, and playing her mother’s new keyboard. She does not enjoy
homework any more than she used to. I figure she’ll do homework
every other day if her Fun meter is high enough, although the point
is somewhat moot since she’s of an age to be heading to Uni
shortly.
On the other hand, given Penny’s general feelings about academics,
I’m thinking maybe she’ll go to a trade school instead? I just can’t
see her in the ivy-covered halls of academia.
50. Remember how I said Penny enjoyed playing Mom’s new
keyboard? Technically the family has had a keyboard for a while,
but in the old house (and the old ’hood), it was rarely played.
51. Jo also seems to have autonomously decided to take up cooking.
She will never go for the leftovers, and she usually makes enough
for everybody. I’m not sure yet if this is perhaps a midlife changeof-career calling. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.
53. While most of the Coderc family worked on replacing inventory,
Nicholas and Draupadi decided to open a lemonade stand.
This did not really surprise me, since Nicholas has always struck
me as something of a natural-born salesman, what with his
(possible) mind-control powers and all.
55. So did Draupadi.
Oddly enough, though, they didn’t end up with any more money
than they started with. Weird.
56. The humans in the family need to sleep, but the plantsims don’t.
Since they don’t need to sleep, they spent their time under the grow
lights, repainting the price lists they’ll need when they have enough
stock to reopen the farmstand.
57. But if the garden wasn’t up to restocking the farmstand quite yet, it
was more than good enough to earn membership in the Garden
Club (again) and a wishing well (again). Really, multiple plantsims
make getting into the Garden Club something of a cakewalk.
58. Although the household has one fewer plantsim now. Alas, Fantine
did not make it to the next rotation.
59. Fantine Couderc, age unknown. Fantine was the plantbaby spawned
by Oliver Couderc not long before his marriage to Oakapple
Shankel, and the mother to Chant Couderc. She was a Family Sim
who never even got her First Kiss, and she tended to complain at
every opportunity. This was my fault, since I didn’t find her as
interesting as I could have.
I’m sorry, Fantine. Rest in peace.
60. GOLDBERG (V.O.)
Isn’t… Isn’t that the bouncer from The Gypsy?
GOLDBERG (V.O.)
Do I want to know what happened to his sisters?
61. At the House of the Double A’s But No Longer a B,* things are
moving at a more sedate pace. Amy finally retired from the SWAT
team after an unfortunate incident with an artist’s articulated
wooden model.** Breaking down doors with guns blazing is a
younger person’s game, and Amy is happy to leave them to it. Now
she putters about in the garden instead.
*You can see Bryan in his very own spinoff: Movin’ On Up!, available at my
LJ.
**Or, you know, after the game consistently crashed when I tried to force
Elder!Amy into an Adult!Career.
62. Sometimes her TV star son comes over and shares all the
Tinseltown gossip, which amuses her greatly.*
*I did mention that Bryan has his own spinoff, right? It’s written in the style of
an 80’s sitcom, and is exactly as erudite and Byzantine as you would expect
from something based on that template.
63. Adam is thrilled to have Amy home and safe now, and he shows his
happiness by feeding her. It’s not doing her figure any favors, and
of course Adam gave up on his slim girlish figure years ago.
64. In fact, the only one in the house with no weight gain is bottemless
pit Theodore, who cheerfully consumes five times his body weight
in kibble every single day.
Seriously, you give him ten simoleons’ worth of food, and three
minutes later, he’s hungry again.
65. GOLDBERG
Listen, I uh. I want to say uh. I want to say that.
SILENT LADY waits patiently.
GOLDBERG
I want to say that I’m sorry I didn’t let you help
from the beginning. And I don’t usually go into
those places. At all. I don’t go in at all. I think
they’re kind of horrible, actually. And I definitely
didn’t look at your tataus at all either.
SILENT LADY smiles indulgently, pats him on the
shoulder, and walks past him to the bookcase.
66. At the Wheeler household, the kids are making friends with each
other (like Lavinia and Trudy in the back there) and with kids from
school (like Paul and Nicholas in the front).
It never fails to amuse me how little the Sims care about
stereotypical gender roles. When I was growing up, handclap
games were strictly for girls. Boys wouldn’t have been caught dead
playing one, although Red Hands was acceptable because it
involved hitting someone else very hard.
67. Dongsool invited a classmate over to give him Smustling lessons,
but his natural talents do not lie in that direction,and his classmate
was rather less than patient and encouraging.
DONGSOOL’S CLASSMATE: What do you call that one? The
Spaz Attack? (snickers)
I am well aware that “spaz” and “spastic” are rude and insulting
terms. Dongsool’s classmate is not a very nice person at all, and
that is why he was asked to leave a few short minutes after making
the comment. Nor will he be invited back if I have anything to say
about it.
68. The family makes a point of having breakfast together every
morning, even in it means that people have to run for the carpool or
the school bus. Professor Douglas generally does the cooking, and
Lavinia is usually the only one to finish her entire meal. She’s also
the only one who sprays food everywhere and talks with her mouth
fill. I wonder if the two things are related?
69. Indeed, the least functional members of this household are the
adults.
PROFESSOR DOUGLAS: Augh! Firefirefire!
CATHERYNNE: Weren’t you watching the stove?!
PROFESSOR DOUGLAS: Me watch the stove? I thought you were
watching the stove!
CATHERYNNE: Why would I be watching the stove? You were
doing that!
Fortunately, they have a fire alarm, and the fire was put out in short
order. And that’s me out of pictures again, so I’d best wrap this up.
70. Sally’s renewal of her vows may or may not be due to the fact that
somehow during the rebuild I forgot to make her married to Troy.
Also, I may have indulged in some picspam with their wedding
pictures. But I admit nothing!
“Burlesque” is a theatrical form that eventually became stripping
and pole dancing, but it’s classier than either. Also, the song
mentioned in the Goldberg & Silent Lady sequence, “The Stripper,”
is a real song. The most famous recording is by David Rose & His
Orchestra. It sounds exactly like you would expect a song called
“The Stripper” to sound, and there’s a link in the main post for this
chapter.
Until next time, Happy Simming!
71. 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
“Fashion Show Controller” by Paladin, from SimWardrobe
“Sailor Jerry Tattoos Vintage Tattoos ThatReally Stick!” and “Maxis Tattoos
That Really Stick!” overlay boxes by SpaceDoll
The Lean Body Builder bodyshape by Marvine and BeosBoxBoy from
Insiminator, with recolors/outfits by sgoobysnacks29 (Insiminator) and
engelchen (All 4 Ssims)
