Already in Progress, Chapter 57: Better Late Than Never

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…

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…

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.”

Alexander likes dancing as much as ever, only now he’s big enough to start developing some real moves.

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!

It’s actually ridiculous how much picspam you can have even with Children. Especially if there are Pets involved.

Okay, I’ll stop now.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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…

…Could you resist this handsome lunk of a man if your gender preference was at all tilted towards males?

I didn’t think so.

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.

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?

This would be why it’s there.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

At least, right up until the point where the clock ran out.

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.

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?

Yes, Oakapple was spectacularly unconcerned about Oliver’s death.

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.

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.

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?

And then Oakapple made use of his purchase.

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.

GOLDBERGI 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.

GOLDBERGWhy 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.

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.

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.

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!

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”?

Helen has only just started school, but she’s already starting to make friends.

You may recognize this handsome fellow by his outfit…

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.

GOLDBERG (V.O.)

What the woohoo is she doing? That’s the third guy she’s gone up to!

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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?

Maybe not…

BRYAN: I don’t know, Jeff. Can Hemorrhoid Special really stop the itching and burning?

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.

VALAThat man in there is a good man. You know this?

SILENT LADY nods.

VALAAnd he is observant, for some things. Not so much for

others.

SILENT LADY nods again, rolling her eyes.

VALASo you will need to ask him for that you want, always. Or better, tell him what he is to do.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

The Grim Reaper’s lines, in order:

Tell you what: you can finish them up on the other side.

Simflex.

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 jgwoodsLong drapes and recolors by KiaraRawks“Hacked Coat Hook” by Mary-Lou and Numenor“Custom Modeling Poses Hack V2 w/Facial Overlays” by decorgal21572SimBlender by TwoJeffs, from SimbologyCastaway Stories oil drum conversion by J M Pescado, from MATYProp hack and accessories by Decorgal and Adele (a two-download set)Castaway Stories clothing conversion by Simicka, from GOSLayerable facial wrinkles by lolabythebay, from GOS“Condemned” build set by mustluvcatz