eulaliasims

[eulaliasims]

I'm gonna put so much ivy on this lot that my game crashes and I will have nothing to blame but myself.

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Salter 8 / 8

Brigid: How is your dating life going, Derelei? Any talks of marriage yet?

On the one hand, Derelei absolutely does not want to talk about this with her sister. On the other hand, it's the most animated Brigid has seemed in ages...

What if you chose someone who's actually into you, Derelei? Gede seemed nice!

Oh, no? Okay.

Derelei: *sniff* Shep... I miss youuuu.

Shep: Eheheh, okay, how much have you drunk? Do I have to take you home?

Derelei: Just two cups. But this batch of mead is reeeeeeeally strong! S'great!

Shep: Yeah, okay, either I'm taking you home or you can steal Gytha's mat for the night, come on.

Glamaer: Enna, do you... d'you think Brigid suspects something?

Enna: How could she know anything?

Glamaer: I don't know. It's just the way she looks at me sometimes...

Enna: Glam, she looks at everyone that way. You're just a bit paranoid. C'mere so I can distract you.

Helenet comes by early early, before the sun is quite up.

Enna: My back's been hurting all night. It's awful.

Helenet: I'm afraid that happens sometimes near your time.

Enna: Ugh.

Enna can't believe her mother was willing to do this so many times.

Before long, Enna delivers their firstborn, a boy with her own gray eyes, and they decide to call him Eamon.

It's near the end of the season, so Glamaer has to arrange to send off their summer tithe (a whopping 15,000 simoleons). Everyone has been paying taxes tithes this season, I just haven't taken pictures of all of it. :')

Brigid: I suppose I should leave the cooking to you and Enna. I tend to burn things a lot, don't I?

Glamaer: You do, yes. I'd really like to not have to put out another fire.

Enna: So what colors do you like?

Orla: Blue! Oh, and green. And yellow, and purple, and...

Gwendolen's birthday squeaks in under the line at the end of the round. Happy birthday, Gwen! Maybe next round you'll be less ignored!

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Salter 7 / 8

Glam bites the bullet and makes a plea to Brigid in an attempt to preserve what's left of the peace.

Glamaer: D'you think we could put any disagreements behind us, Brigid? Da... I'm sure my father wouldn't want us to fight.

Brigid: ...Fine.

I'm getting mixed messages here.

Enna's new friend Orla likes to drop by to visit some evenings. She claims to enjoy the trek to the shore and says things about the sea air being 'very bracing'.

Enna: Orla, would you like to go shopping with me soon? Maybe we could pick out some fabric for a new overdress for you?

Orla: That's a nice idea. I wouldn't mind a new dress!

Enna: No offense, but yours kind of looks like something was eating it.

Orla: Oh, that was Chewy! My pet goat!

Enna: ...You have a goat?

Brigid: My sweet little Gwen. You'll never leave me, right? You'll never leave Mama! That's right!

Gwendolen: ???

Drustan came over to spend time with his BFF Glamaer, and Orla also comes to visit again, bringing Gytha with her to everyone's surprise.

Enna: You actually came here? To this house?

Gytha: Don't get used to it. If I have to speak to that woman, I'm outta here.

Gytha: So, like, am I the only one here not pregnant?

Enna: You're slacking. You and that boy should get to work!

Gytha: One, ew. Two, I love how you call him a boy when he's a whopping three years younger than us.

Drustan: That's your opening move?

Orla: What's wrong with it?

Drustan: I suppose nothing. If it were anyone else, you'd probably lose, but you are playing Enna.

Enna: Hey. Be nice or I'll throw you out.

Feels weird to not see Drustan glaring at her. 😔 His problem is with Angus, not Gytha, I suppose, it's just that Gytha and Angus are so often together even when I'm not playing them.

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Salter 6 / 8

Norweni: How are you doing, Brigid?

Brigid: My husband is dead.

Norweni: Right. That does pretty much answer the question. I understand Glamaer is stepping up to take care of things, but is there anything we can do for you all?

Brigid: I don't suppose you can resurrect people?

Norweni: No. Uh, I brought you a casserole. I didn't make it, my sister did.

Brigid: *sniff* Okay.

To no surprise, Derelei is the only one who feels up to going down to the festival square in the village this summer. It's a relief to get out of the suffocating gloom of the house for a while.

(I finally sat down and took a stab at Piqiwi's custom holiday mod and I think I didn't screw anything up, so now I'm showing off.)

I happened to briefly make Gytha controllable on the festival lot and this was in her wants. :( She might have complicated feelings about her father's death, but it's certainly given her a jolt.

Derelei: Hi, Shep. Did I happen to see you at Wulfric's funeral?

Shep: Yep, I was there near the back. For Gytha. How's things?

Derelei: You don't want to know. It sounds horrible, but I almost wish I hadn't moved in with Brigid when I did...

Shep: You're a good sister, supporting her like this. I'm sure it's really hard.

Festivals aren't quite River's scene, but they're giving it a try. At least the celebrations are a little quieter here in Veridia.

Derelei: Aren't you warm in that outfit?

River: A bit. These are the only formal clothes I brought, though.

Derelei: Ooh, we should go to the market. If you pick out fabric, I could make something for you!

River: Um... maybe.

For some reason I thought townie Gede was gay, but I guess he's bi. Look, Derelei, there's so many people you could possibly date! At least three now!

The warm summer night feels so romantic. Derelei decides it's a good moment to ask River if they'd like to be her steady partner.

River: Um. Derelei, I barely know you. You've been coming on really strong and I... am nowhere near ready for it.

Derelei: What? Well, thanks for wasting my time!

River: How have I wasted your time?

Derelei can't help the tears, just tries to hide her face from anyone who might be watching. Why can't she find someone who wants to commit to her and means it?

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Salter 5 / 8

The therapist is getting a lot of business this round in Veridia

Gwen doesn't really know what's going on, but she knows that the grownups around her are suddenly upset and that Daddy isn't here to play with her or tuck her in at night.

Glamaer: Enna—

Enna: Wha—I'm awake!

Glamaer: Go to bed, love. Sleeping like that cannot be comfortable for your neck.

Enna: I wasn't sleeping... I was just closing my eyes. For a few minutes.

Enna is actually hydrophobic, and she refuses to get on the boat with Glam unless absolutely necessary—she'll take the longer walk into town, thanks—but she's happy to bait traps or haul fish once they're no longer in the water.

Enna: Brigid... this is a lot of burned dumplings. You know no one else is awake to eat, right?

Brigid: *sniff* I know... I got distracted thinking about Wulfric and then they were burnt.

It's so unfair. Why did it have to be Wulfric? Brigid still needs him, Gwendolen needs him. If it had been Glamaer who died, maybe they would all be better off.

Derelei: Brigid... you need to pay more attention to your poor sweet daughter. She lost her father; that means she needs her mama more than ever.

Brigid: I guess... you're right. I'll... try to do better with her.

Enna: Should we go open the shop?

Glamaer: Probably, but we? Do you feel up for that?

Enna: Of course! I'm hardly bedridden.

Some customers are a little skeptical to see the shop now in Glamaer's young hands, but he's doing his best to keep the town well-supplied in fish and salt, and Enna turns out to be a natural talent at sales. She'll have the customers eating out of her hand at this rate.

(Really, she earned both those badges one after the other in one day!)

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Salter 4 / 8

Glamaer: The boat—there was an accident—

Brigid, naturally, is devastated by the death of her husband. She can't stop crying. It's hard for her to believe a man who grew up on boats could die like this, even though she saw the wound to his head herself when his body was prepared for the pyre and even though she's heard Wulfric and his son talk before about the care they have to take docking near the rocky shore. The spirits have a cruel sense of humor.

Angus: You okay?

Gytha: I don't know if I'm sad or still angry at him. I should be sad and not angry, right? He was my father.

Angus: Um, I think you're allowed to be both. It's not like there's a set of rules for grief.

Gytha: Nah, I'm sure some enterprising priest or priestess somewhere has come up with some.

Glam and Enna have mostly been taking care of Gwendolen since the accident. Brigid is in no state to do it, and Derelei is busy doing her best to care for her sister.

It's all starting to weigh a little too heavily on Glamaer.

Glamaer: Enna… Enna, the boat. We were arguing again, and I—I shoved him, I didn't mean to, but he fell and—the rocks by the shore—I didn't mean to, I swear.

Enna: Shhh, it's okay. It's okay.

Glamaer: I have to tell someone. Kinet, or, or the headwoman, or—

Enna: I don't think anyone else needs to know about this.

Glamaer: But—

Enna: Shhh. If it was an accident, well, it could've happened without you at all. No one has to know.

[eulaliasims]

Bits and bobs about supernatural inheritance in Veridia that I mostly wrote for my own reference, but I know I like reading about how people handle these sort of things in their game, so I'm just gonna slap it up here. :)

Now that Veridia's population is actually growing, I've been using bog standard number rolls to decide who inherits magic/lycanthropy. It's not at all meant to mimic genetic inheritance, because it's magic.

Sims who have one parent with a supernatural life state get a d2 roll. 1 = yes and 2 = no. For Helenet and Elmet's kids, I roll twice, one for each supernatural state. So Lune and Fiona could witches, werewolves, both, or neither.

Some sims like Maddan have at least one parent with a supernatural state even if it didn't manifest in them. If such a sim has children with another "mundane" sim, their child has a 1 in 4 chance of inheriting, where a 1 = inheritance.

(For sims who only have a grandparent with a supernatural state, I may not bother to roll at all. If I do it'll be something like a d10 where again 1 = inheritance.)

Maddan and Orla's children have a 3 in 4 chance of inheriting magic because of Maddan's ancestry (1 = no inheritance and all other numbers are positive).

Does all this gibberish mean the children of two sims with the same supernatural state will always inherit it?

Well, we have sims like, again, Maddan (child of two witches with no magic), so that can't be. So instead there's a d6 roll, where 1 = no inheritance and all other numbers = inheritance.

If Wyll's witch families sounded somewhat incestuous in that other lore post, this is why.

Obviously werewolves can also pass on their lycanthropy by biting (under a full moon, except that's only a thing in my head and not the game). Elmet and Arturo are Very Responsible wolves, though, so I don't see that happening again soon. I also won't be using the spell to turn other sims into witches, but they probably arise spontaneously in the "normal" population from time to time. When will that happen in game? idk. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I've got the beginnings of an idea for vampire lore (something to do with a cave in Drossburh/a cult/a death god), but I have no inclination to explore it further than that yet, lol.

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Salter 3 / 8

Enna: Glam. Absolutely no one wants to hear about that while they're eating, okay?

Wulfric: How 'bout a game of catch, for old times' sake?

Glamaer: Uh, no, it's raining and I have to go bait the traps. Maybe Gwendolen wants to play with you.

And then when they get to the market, Wulfric starts poking and insulting his son. Cool cool cool.

Wulfric: I don't want to see you slacking off and chatting up girls today.

Glamaer: What?

Glamaer doesn't know what happened; he doesn't remember his father being like this when he was younger. Of course, he doesn't remember Wulfric spending too much time with them back then. He and Gytha were often left to their own devices while Wulfric was running the business...

It's okay if Wulfric is slacking off to gossip, though, right?

Leave your son aloneeeeeee.

Glamaer: You know what, Enna's right; I'm already doing most of the work here by myself, but what am I getting out of this? It's not my shop or my boat—

Wulfric: *scoffs* That girl doesn't know what she's talking about.

Glamaer: No, I think she sees things pretty clearly! It's me who didn't realize until she told me.

Speaking of Enna, she's been enjoying her new free time. Brigid is very particular about the way things are cleaned, so Enna is more than happy to leave it to her. She does make sure to take over any cooking Brigid's been doing, which is just better for everyone. Lately certain scents have been turning her stomach, though.

Enna: Wow, already? I mean, I did stop taking the tea, but for some reason I thought it would take longer.

Helenet: Sometimes it only takes once! Come by or send your husband for me if you have any more questions, okay, sweetheart?

Seems like a good idea.

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Salter 2 / 8

He's okay, guys, he's just reenacting that scene from Hamlet. Frankly I forgot I had a default for the aspiration failure volleyball.

Brigid: I hope you consulted the spirits about your choice of wedding day. It would be such a shame if you chose an unlucky day; who knows what could happen with your marriage?

Enna: *eye roll*

Glamaer: Brigid, could you at least try to be nice on my wedding day?

Brigid: Hmph. I'm only looking out for you, Glamaer.

Norweni: Cinaéd, we talked about this.

I'm sure Norweni will be so disappointed that you don't approve, Wulfric.

Glamaer: I'm so happy to be married to you.

Enna: Me too, so much.

Did I mention yet that Derelei moved in? Brigid's sister Derelei moved in. She may not show up very often, because she spends a lot of her time weaving and I lost interest in taking pictures of that two rounds ago.

She did offer to stay and care for Gwendolen while the rest of the family is at the wedding, which is no great hardship. Gwen is an easy child who likes to play quietly and take regular naps.

Of course, Derelei might have had ulterior motives for staying home, like inviting over River, who she has kind of been dating.

Derelei: Would you try telling my fortune? Please? I'm so curious!

River: I don't normally do readings for people I know, buuuuut I think I can make an exception.

Cryptic.

At least they had the courtesy to only use the bench in Enna and Glamaer's room and not the bed?

[eulaliasims]

How to Create an Invisible Pool

I use Cinema Secrets which can integrate Voeille's water mod. Of course, when you load up a lot that has water, it turns black and you need to place down a pool. However, it looks pretty tacky to have a random 1x1 pool, even if you try to cover it up with bushes and flowers.

I found a fix written out by MTS user damondamore that explains a very simple process on how to make an extra pool option in Build Mode that is invisible !

Add the below to .\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Apartment Life\TSData\Res\Catalog\Scripts\deckfoundations.txt (or whichever deckfoundations.txt goes with your latest EP-- I have the Ultimate Collection and use the file up there) manually even if you have the Scriptorium-- there's some quirk with pools/decks in it.

pool 900 wallStyle 29 floorPattern "floor_poolRoundedLipBlue" catalogTextIndex 6 notRendered

You will have an extra pool that will appear in pools with the OFB deck icon... but really it's an invisible pool. And, yes, sims can swim in it with ladders and diving boards too.

And now, you can see at the top that there is indeed an invisible 1x1 pool with a ladder attached to it, and you can also see that the water shader and reflections are properly loaded in !

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Salter 1 / 8

Guys, this is just a guess, but I think Glamaer and Enna want to get married?

Enna and Glamaer have both come of age, and Enna has joined the Salter household ahead of their wedding.

Anyway, let's see what the ROS cooked up for this household today!

Oh.

Glamaer hates his father and step-mother, Brigid hates everyone, even Wulfric is starting to get on the hate train this round.

Glamaer: Is he really still in bed with that woman? The sun's been up for ages! We have work to do!

Glamaer: Am I supposed to deal with the entire catch myself? Not to mention the salt—is screwing your wife really more important?

Enna is SO proud of herself for not saying any sort of 'I told you so' right now.

But it's time to put aside any familial feuding for a few hours to celebrate Glamaer and Enna's wedding. <3

Glamaer: You look so beautiful in your new dress.

Enna: Thank you. You clean up pretty well yourself, handsome.

Norweni: Now, Gytha...

Gytha: Yeah, yeah, I know, no fighting. But if I have to talk to Brigid or my father, you're probably just gonna have to fine me, because I don't know if I'll have the restraint to keep from slapping either one.

Norweni: ...Maybe just try to do it where I can't see you.

Gytha: Sure, which side are you blind on again?

Gytha managed not to fight anyone but she did leave immediately after the happy couple finished their vows. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Lucile: I can make up for that.

Wulfric's obliviousness is sometimes astounding.

Wow, you know what, I know a really simple way to avoid this fear ever coming true. You'll never guess what it is.

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Wyll 5 / 5

Maddan: Bedtime for you, wain.

Maddan: Alright, Orla, whose baby is that?

Orla: You're old enough, you ought to know neither pulling out nor herbs are foolproof methods.

Maddan: Uh-huh. Or is it the redhead's?

Orla: You're just mad that I didn't listen to you! That I might have found a way around you!

Maddan: Frankly, yes, I kind of am.

Orla: Well, what are you gonna do about it?

Maddan: You know very well there's nothing for me to do about it. It's not as if I'm going to force some potion down your throat like a monster or kick you out of the house.

Orla: Fine then!

Orla: Are we done with this now? I wanna go to bed.

River is somewhere trying to psychically beam the word 'divorce' into their minds. Divorce divorce divorce. Divooooooorce.

Sir, are you lost? It's summer???

Maddan: Well, it's you and me today, kid. Your mother went down to the market.

Bel: Mama?

Maddan: At least she took the goat with her. Not to sell, unfortunately.

Maddan: Alright, let me tell you what to do if you're ever chased by a bear in the woods like me.

Bel: B... bear?

Maddan: Yes. Fearsome creatures.

Chewy is so excited to visit the market! There's so many things to chew!!

Orla: Hi! You live across from us, right? With Shep? Your hair is so pretty!

Gytha: Hey, thanks. It took a lot of practice.

Cinaéd: *lurks*

Orla and Gytha make fast friends; I'm sure Gytha is excited to have a new target for her dirty jokes. And Gytha also introduces her to her best friend/new sister-in-law, Enna. They could all be the Braidy Bunch together.

Meanwhile, Chewy is the subject of adoration by everyone at the market.

Cinaéd: This... this might be too many dogs. :S

After Orla headed home, these two sat down at a table by the bar to chat. About who to murder for the ROS roll, maybe?

That's all from my current second most dysfunctional family here. I guess we'll have to wait until next round to find out who baby #2's father is! I mean, I already know, but it's more fun not to say.

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Wyll 4 / 5

Okay, so maybe Sun is less thrilled about this whole affair than she's been letting on.

Sun: She could at least make an attempt to hide it.

I don't think either of them is trying to hide anything at this point, tbh.

Spotted: I hid a mostly invisible photobooth in some bushes as a crappy attempt to recreate that woohoo bush thing from TS4, and Dinn and Fial went ahead and tested it out for me, lmao. Thanks for making sure the routing works, guys.

Pot, kettle, et cetera, et cetera.

I hope Norweni is also still taking that magic birth control tea stuff.

Orla has been getting sick in the mornings again. Combine that with her other symptoms and missing her monthly bleed, well, she doesn't really need cousin Helenet to tell her what's up. She'll be excited once she's done puking, really!

Orla: You're one of Drustan's fathers... Eisu, right? He's told me a little about you guys!

Eisu: Yep. And you're our dear Helenet's cousin, right?

Orla: Yes! I was so surprised to find her here! You know her well, then?

Eisu: I should say so. She's a dear friend, and married to my brother to boot.

Orla: Ooh, hang on a sec—

He's probably also wondering if that's his future grandchild.

Maddan: Well, come on, it's a nice day out and you've got to learn to walk sooner or later.

As he's bringing Bel back inside, Maddan spies Helenet's boy passing by. Maybe visiting the girlfriend across the road that Maddan has learned he has from the absolutely inescapable local gossip network (Maddan never asks, people just keep telling him things).

He often sees the boy—young man, really—around the village, but Angus hasn't shown any inclination to meet him, so Maddan is listening to Helenet's threats and staying firmly in his own lane. The boy probably knows where Maddan lives if he ever changes his mind.

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Wyll 3 / 5

Lucile: WOOOOOO, KICK HER ASS, GLAM!

Glamaer, I expected better of... no, I can't say it. I would've preferred to see this when she was bullying your sister, though.

Oh, did you expect our newest town guard members to break this up? Maddan doesn't care that much, and Jia was probably taking bets.

Lucile: MY TURN.

Brigid: What the FUCK—

Brigid has actually been so good lately and hasn't started a single fight since last winter, too.

Oh, yeah, I aged up Lucile when I did Glamaer/Gytha/etc. I like aging up the townies in this neighborhood, which is going to bite me in the ass eventually when they die and I need to make new ones. Anyway, she looks great in blue, right?

I was like 'I bet Maddan and Aífe would be friends', and Aífe quickly set us both straight on that matter.

Spotted, at the market: Xiang actually does like his brother-in-law. :) I think he likes him better now that they don't live together lmao

Orla: How's your new place?

River: Good. Quiet, which is all I really want. No offense. You should come visit soon.

Orla: I will! I've just been busy with Bel and stuff!

River: Well, you look like you're doing well. You're practically glowing. What've you been up to?

Orla: Thank you! Well, I've kinda been seeing someone. *giggle*

River: Uh... well, if that makes you happy.

River: Orla, you realize that you and Maddan don't have to stay married now, right? You could just divorce him.

Orla: Oh, I don't think that's really necessary.

River: Okay. But you could just do it. If your great-grandmother cares that much about you being married to him, she should've kept you two at home.

Orla: Sure, but I don't really see a point in doing that?

River: *sigh*

Toddler time for Bel! She's a very active, very nice sim, apparently.

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Wyll 2 / 5

Orla isn't stupid, or as naive as some people believe, and Maddan isn't as subtle as he might think himself to be. She's certainly noticed the flirting, the laughter and the way he touches Headwoman Norweni's shoulder.

Back in Wyll, 'fidelity' and 'monogamy' weren't the most common words amongst the magic families. Orla is certainly not the first to have her marriage arranged for her; she wasn't even the first of her siblings. If Maddan wants to step out with someone else, fine, whatever, though it would've been nice if he'd told Orla first.

No, Orla's problem is that he's not doing his duty. He's supposed to do two things: take care of her, and give her babies. The first he does well enough; the second…

( ❗ there's some naked pixels/woohoo under the read more just fyi ❗ )

He's happy enough to mess around with her, but not to, well. And she's pretty sure he takes those contraceptive herbs cousin Helenet sells people, too, though Orla's not sure where he's getting them if he's still avoiding Helenet.

Maddan: My uncle said they wanted a baby from us. A, as in, one.

Orla: Well, we don't know for certain yet if Bel inherited our magic. And wouldn't it be nice to have a whole little family here? I think it would be nice!

Maddan: One baby is enough for me, Orla. Quit asking.

Orla: Hmph.

That seems like an overreaction, but what do I know.

At least she has a puppy.

Orla: It's raining, little one! It sounds so nice, doesn't it?

Drustan appeared on the lot just as I was going to have Orla invite him over--how fortuitous!

Orla met Drustan recently while at the market, and he's been flirting with her pretty obviously from the start, offering her awkward compliments and asking her to dance at the summer festival.

And he's charmingly eager to please! Also she likes the red hair.

Besides, if Maddan has a girlfriend, she gets to have a boyfriend if she wants. That just makes sense.

lol. lmao, even.

Maddan: Orla…

Orla: Yesssss?

Maddan: That's not a dog. That is a wolf.

Orla: He's a wolf-dog.

Maddan: Where did you get this dog from again?

Orla: Helenet's husband gave him to me!

Maddan: Great.

Puppy is actually very well behaved. Much more so than Chewy.

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Wyll 1 / 5

The Salters should go next in the rotation, but I'm still deciding who should get murdered during their round (because of the ROS, not because I am randomly murdering sims willy-nilly), so I played these guys instead.

River's new house is finally ready (read: I finally built it), so they've moved out. The household currently consists of Orla, Maddan, Bel, and Orla's growing menagerie.

I was wrong when I said the goat is housebroken, btw.

I'm sure Maddan is really thrilled that someone gave Orla a puppy. The wolf-puppy has been named... Puppy. It's still better than what I named it, which was Two (I just gave up and numbered the wolf pups when there turned out to be FOUR of them).

Maddan: Orla, what does it want from me?

Orla: She's asking for a treat!

Maddan: You can't have my breakfast, goat.

Maddan: Ugh, fine, if I give you the bread, will you leave me alone?

Chewy: *snarf*

Orla picked up a flu somewhere, and unfortunately her healing spells aren't strong enough to clear it up, so she just has to soldier through. She spent most of the day going back and forth between bed, nursing Bel, and shoving food in her face after nursing.

The one benefit of the puppy is that maybe Maddan will have a chance to train this pet to not be a menace like the goat.

I feel like you should have better knife skills than this?

Diseta is surprisingly well-behaved in her fury toward Maddan. No trash can kicking, no fighting, just a lot of glowering and stomping. I wouldn't mind if you fought him a little bit, Diseta.

[eulaliasims]

I recolored a dress for Orla based on her current outfit, and I think she looks so cute that I had to do a photoshoot about it.