#shwc extras

[strangetomato]

Ophelia being "definitely not" a nature witch.

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Ancient History

"You know, Tank, we came up here and I didn't once think you were going to Cain and Abel me when we got to the top."

"Oh please… you're obviously the Cain."

"What?! You're the one who tried to kill me for real!"

"Yeah, but he was the disappointment. The bad kid. That's you."

"I think the murdering is the important part of the story."

"Heh. Maybe."

"We can both be him. It's not a pissing contest."

"Yeah I guess."

"Anyway, I'm so exhausted from climbing all those stairs, I would never have it in me to push you over."

"Comforting."

"Tank, I would never."

"I know."

"This is where you're supposed to say--"

"Ripp."

"What?"

"That's all ancient history."

.

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I'm Tank, the oldest of the family. I was molded into my father's image from birth, to the point that I have no identity of my own and have no idea who I really am. Am I angry? Yeah, sometimes, but it's fine. I just push it all inside until it eventually explodes out in a violent rage. I used to, anyway. I'm working on it.

Also, don't believe anything Ripp tells you about me.

I'm Ripp, the middle child, and boy am I ever. I’m the fuck up who Buzz would have been happy to send back, and yeah he said as much. I still hear him inside my head, as like my internal monologue of self hatred. And yeah, I'm in a lot of therapy now. But I'm not here to depress you. I'm also hot. Obviously. 

Did Tank say anything about me? It's all lies, if he did.

I'm Buck, the baby. My father barely noticed me most of the time. But seeing how things went with Tank and Ripp, I'm okay with that. 

I'm actually the most sensible of the three of us. You can ask them, and I'm sure they'll agree. I can't tell you how many times I've had to mediate between them and try to keep them from killing each other. It's exhausting. I wouldn't trade them for anything, though. They are always there for me when I need them.

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The Grunt Brothers

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Ophelia must be a pretty sound sleeper if she can sleep through that.

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I gave Buck new hair and his handsomeness increased by 100 points.

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Not this again, lol!

I think their cc photo surviving intact and floating above the house is a good omen?

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I found this little background detail in one of the images from P.T. No. 9's funeral (in chapter 37). I don't make reference to it in the writing, but Tank went over to speak to Jenny, even though he was feeling uncomfortable about the funeral as a whole. Frances goes with him and they stay to the back, but he does make a point to talk to Jenny. I had almost forgotten about this detail, but of course it makes perfect sense that Tank would do that.

I also love that he's wearing the exact military-styled shirt he'd been wearing at the time, but in black. I'm surprised he has any clothes that aren't that olive drab colour.

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I Love My Guitar

I could tell you that I'm a very talented guitarist, but that'd be like saying I'm really great in bed. Both are true, but I'm not about to say that now am I? But I've been told I'm quite good. And I put in the time. I love my guitar, and my guitar loves me right back. It's a well known scientific fact that the guitar is the sexiest instrument, so I guess we just relate to each other that way. Wait--What was that, Phi? Did you say something?Hahaaah. Okay, I'll be good.

Oh, and I'm a singer, too. I sing. It's what I do. Sort of compulsively, I guess. Ask anyone that has spent any amount of time in the same room with me. I like to sing. It's as simple as that. You should try it, it's fun!

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I was going back through some earlier chapters of SHWC and remembered that in the early days I had used custom guitar cc for Jaxy and Ripp's guitars (I later switched to recolours--less cc heavy). I know I put way too much thought into what their guitars would be. Jaxy has a Daisy Rock Rock Candy, which are designed and sized specifically for women. Ripp's is a Gibson Les Paul, which... leaves a lot of questions as to how Buck could afford to buy this for him. I think perhaps General Buzz was overcompensating for ignoring Buck for so many years, so he gave him his credit card for his room makeover project, and Buck used what was "left over" for the guitar. It's no wonder Ripp plays this thing nearly 24-7.

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Why does the Smith's cat hate Ripp so much? They have 0 relationship points, but the second he's on the lot, Pita is on him.

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A little WIP of decorating for a scene in the next update. These half walls are taken directly from my Aunt and Uncle's home, where I spent a lot of time growing up. I think they help make better use of the small space, plus they just remind me of a place that makes me happy.

[chrisnewbie]

As promised, here is a random sampling of cut footage, outtakes, and other fun moments I happened upon while making "Just A..." story.

This image is that missing key transitional picture (*) I mentioned. I wanted to express the trio's similar obsession with teenage vanity over "looking cool." It got cut for space, obviously, but it's still not exactly right in the end anyway so getting cut was probably for the best here. :\ (Note to self: get better at photo editing. And sizing.)

In all my sim years, I've never seen Ripp's dialogue about getting dumped before. O_O

It happened when I had Ripp ask Ophelia out on a date, then while on the date she called Johnny to ask him out on a date. Ripp's date abruptly ended with the above dialogue pop ups.

Johnny can "Fly To School"!?!?!

(My biggest regret is that I thought to take a screenshot of this option but NOT actually choosing it in the end. D'oh. I tried to re-create it but I can't get the option back??)

Completely opposite to what I posted in the story, here's Ripp's natural reaction to Phi and Johnny approaching him.

It took me hundreds of tries to get that Johnny/Ophelia walk scene right, and in one of the failed attempts I caught a great Tank moment.

This is how I intended to start the story btw, very Simpsons-like for no particular reason.

Here's Johnny and Ophelia's reactions to Tank beating up Ripp at school. I thought about writing it in somehow (ie. changing the camera angle so you could see their faces), but I had to routinely remind myself that "Just A..." is Ripp's story. He doesn't get to know how Johnny/Ophelia feel about him until the end.

I really loved this shot and I'm so sad I couldn't fit it in. Note the Johnny calendar/SHWC easter egg. And chips on the floor. ;)

...and that pretty much concludes all the "extras" I have.

Thank you for your collective warm reception to my little song story. It was fun to get out, in the end, and now I'm suddenly inspired to play with the premades again. :)

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“You have really big eyes, you know.”

“The better to... cry all my sloppy emotions all over you with?”

“How big can you make them?”

“What, like this?”

“Or how about this?”

“THIS???”

“Okay. Here we go. I think this is it.”

“...”

“What?”

“I like you.”

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An Intervention

“Okay, fuck-face! We need to talk!”

“Yyyyeeeeeessss, Jaxy?”

“Don’t Jaxy me, fucker! This is an intervention!”

"Wha? ... I haven’t had even like a sip--”

“No, not that kind of intervention--THIS!”

“Oh. Uh, shit. I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, I didn’t do it on purpose?”

“Unbelievable.”

“I can take it off if you want?”

“No! No, Will Wright dear god no! Leave it on.” 

“It could be cute as a band gimmick...”

“It’s like you’re trying.”