Domestic troubles of a family sim

Domestic Troubles of a Family SimAn autobiography to date, told

by Noah Libros

I came from humble origins. The single son of a single, Knowledge-oriented mother, I was kept comfortable and well-educated—but also isolated. Secrets surrounded me from birth. Secrets of my father from me; secrets of my very existence from the neighborhood.

I spend my early years in my mother’s basement. This wasn’t a time when basements were common; it was designed and implemented specially for me. I painted beautiful landscapes; most of them were hung in the kitchen.

Sunlight and other children were both foreign things to me. I knew of them, of course; I could read from an early age. But reading and experiencing are two very different things.

....and then it all goes blank.

I don’t know what I did as a teenager. Was I a horrible jerk? Did I save the island from some foe? Did I ever leave the basement I was raised in?

The answer is that I have no idea. Though I am a Family Sim, I was raised in a house of knowledge. The knowledge that there is no knowledge is a thought that still frightens me day in and day out.

I may not know who I was as a young man, but I know the man I am today has made some grievous mistakes; or so it seems to me.

My first adult memory is of a woman. My wife, Sasha; a Family Sim like me.

The most concerning part is being unable to remember the wedding. All of a sudden—boom. I have a wife. It concerned me. I couldn’t handle it.

We talked. I explained. I don’t know if she understood; but I couldn’t do it. A wife was not something I could handle coming out of darkness with only childhood memories.

I went on a journey of self-discovery. I didn’t get far; perhaps half a mile down the road. I stumbled upon a local Casanova of sorts; an enchanting young woman with a young child and another on the way.

I wish fervently, to this day, that I had been able to stay content and not leave Sasha; this was my first mistake. I became involved, however insignificantly, with Linder Phantasma. I didn’t care about the children that weren’t mine. I loved all children. I didn’t care that a Romance Sim and a Family Sim make a terrible match.

Her father cared. Erik Phantasma saw me for what I was when both of us had missed it. Perhaps I should say OUR father—I was identified as the fifth Phantasma child; an accident with another woman.

My self-discovery had revealed the worst. I could not bear to venture further, lest I find still more harmful truths, and returned to Sasha.

Home once more, I was presented with the dearest dream of every Family Sim; Sasha was to bear my spawn. The time was too soon; I had fathered the child during the Black Time, but it was mine just the same.

I accepted my life. I happily took to the woman who claimed me as her husband and father of a child. In a choice between blissful ignorance and the gruesome truth I had discovered haunting the island, I chose bliss.

I was blessed with twin baby girls, who I named Ruby and Tina. I wish I could say that they have my deep blue eyes and black hair, but Sasha looks the same. Sometimes I worry, but I never question—Sasha is the best thing that ever happened to me; I do not wish to discover another sister in that way.

Ruby and Tina grew to be lovely little girls, nearly identical, but not quite. I doted over them—what more is a Family Sim to do?

In due course, another child graced my home; a baby girl named Chrysanthemum. She resembled her sisters very closely; with black hair, dark blue eyes, and a curiosity for life.

Ruby and Tina, meanwhile, grew into charming young ladies who were quite inseparable. If you didn’t look closely at who squinted ever so slightly more, it would be difficult to tell them apart—particularly as they had a habit of switching clothes.

I delighted in my family, worried ever so slightly less with each passing day about my mysterious past.

As a special treat for the girls, the family adopted a lovely Corgi by the name of Carli. She proceeded to give birth to four puppies; Cassie, Kinky, Kirby, and Sonic. Kinky was given to the mailman as a gift, Kirby to a local friendly shopkeeper. Sonic and Cassie were kept for the benefit of the children.

It was certainly a busy household, in more ways than one. Sasha was expecting again, and we were eagerly awaiting a new little one. I was personally beginning to hope for a son; daughters were all well and good, but I needed someone to pass on the name if my daughters were to be married like proper ladies.

I was quite as surprised as anyone when Sasha gave birth to not one, as could be expected, or even two, as I had learned was possible—but four. Quadruplets, one after the other, were laid in my arms. Among them was the son I had wished for; Merlin—and his three sisters, Minerva, Tarla, and Sabrina.

For the first time in my life, I was frightened by children. Raising twins had been a delightful challenge, and Chrysanthemum like a breath of fresh air. Now my family had just doubled in one shot, and I was beginning to panic.

I need not have panicked. Ruby and Tina, both sensible Knowledge, were quite large, and Chrysanthemum could at the very least take care of herself. I had hoped my firstborn girls could bring themselves to stay and help with their new siblings, but their interests lay more in the stars than in infant siblings.

I sent them to college with my blessing, and I will admit a few tears. They were not the first to be accepted to Phantasma University—the college of the family that claimed to by mine—but still they went.

My littlest children grew up most admirably in the colorful basement; enjoying the knowledge-rich isolation of my own childhood with the additional company of each other. I admit I spent rather too much time in that basement; enough to quite neglect Chrysanthemum.

Ruby and Tina did not call often. I kept waiting for them to graduate, get married, present me with grandchildren with the characteristic blue eyes and black hair. Not a peep; merely “Father, I have discovered a new star”, and “Father, I have written an excellent critical essay”. I wanted so much to hear the words “Daddy, I’m engaged”, but no call came.

No matter. Five more at home to call their father and bring home beautiful children. Four that I paid any attention to.

Chrysanthemum, without my supervision, grew into a lovely young lady and began to make friends. The men and women I knew vaguely to be my siblings had done as I had; begun raising impressive families. Cousins abounded for Chrysanthemum to socialize with.

I spent too long in the basement. Chrysanthemum didn’t know my history. She didn’t know that these friends of hers were related. I couldn’t worry too much; not only was I busy, but I knew from Sasha that the ones she spoke of the most were young ladies.

Perhaps I should have worried more. Chrysanthemum went against everything any self-respecting Family Sim would ever do—I realize that she is Popularity, but perhaps if I had chosen to raise her instead of Merlin and the girls, this would not have happened.

She got involved.

A cousin. A close cousin; the daughter of Linder Phantasma, the beginning and the end of my search for myself.

A daughter.

I was bid a swift good-bye as, without warning, Chrysanthemum ran away to college with her cousin Ariana*. Sasha looked at me with dark eyes, and told me that they had more than a friendship.

I worried. I hoped Chrysanthemum might fare better than her sisters—both doctors, and both single. Perhaps I could still get that call.

I returned to the nursery. My son needed my guidance if he was to become the first proper child in the family. I tried not to dwell on my three oldest daughters, who were not the daughters I had wanted.

*You’re not crazy—I haven’t mentioned Ariana yet. She’s Linder’s eighth child.

I finally got the call.

“Daddy, I’m engaged.”“Who’s the lucky suitor?”

“Ariana.”“That’s wonderful. Just promise me one thing, though, all right?”

“Anything, Daddy.”“Bring home a grandchild for me.”

“Of course I will.”

I was as happy as I could me. The child might even be mine by blood—there had been more to that conversation. Ruby and Tina were doctors—if anyone could help, it would be them.

This is where I stand. I have a shady past and seven children. My twins are doctors, helping those in need of it. My single child, my beautiful Chrysanthemum, is due to be married to her first cousin Ariana. My four youngest; my darling son Merlin and his three sisters, are still in the nursery.

Perhaps I will forget again. Sometimes I wish I could. I should have a dozen grandbabies by now; sometimes I think it would be easiest to start again. Then I think of my son and the girls I have yet to give a chance—they deserve a father.

I will be that father. The best father I can be.

Technical Notes by PhantomNoah has very nasty memory issues. He

became badly glitched and spent most of his teenage years in and out of existence. He literally has no idea who he is or who he’s related to.

The quads are not true quads. I don’t play hacked; they’re two sets of twins accelerated to be born the same day. Tarla and Sabrina are twins; so are Minerva and Merlin. Ruby and Tina also moved out of the house before they were born.

Chysanthemum got plastic-surgeried in college, as did Ruby and Tina. Noah got the short end of the stick when it comes to looks, and I couldn’t handle his genetics on innocent young ladies. They will look a bit different in adult scenes.

Join the Phantasma family for their next chapter, coming soon.