#test of time

[guessimate]

The Random Occurrence Scenario gods agreed with me I should have added more sims to my world! But I rolled again because I did that before I even rolled the dice, so the actual scenario for the Orange/Wolfen household was for a child to run away...

It might not be making the most sense, but Primula is becoming a Vestal Virgin, just because I think it makes more sense than Volesus going to the monastery in the Asian part of town...

Primula just turned into a child at the end of the last round. When she's around '36' (not sure how I'll determine it yet) she'll be able to start her own household, and maybe settle down with someone. I use just the regular Maxis aging and while it's not perfect, it works for me, especially that the teenage life stage is so long. But I might someday make my own, I will see.

~*~

Thanks to this ROS I will have an incentive to actually play the Vestals' lot because Primula has got a twin brother, so they need to age at around the same time.

On topic of how I play the Vestal lot:

I have one of these altars there just for the looks so the fire is everlasting, but also it's an easy way to either max out your sim's energy bar, or to make them pass out.

For the actual functional aspect of the lot I use Sun&Moon's All Fired Up. My sims need to light up the fire and collect the ashes every ~8 hours. But I give them an hour to do it, so I'm not very strict about it.

One Vestal Virgin has to be awake when another one is asleep so that there is always someone to collect the ashes and light the fire again as soon as possible, at all times. They also pray at the main altar, so that I can decide who is on the watch duty. I also allow them to go to the bathhouse once a day when I'm sure the fire won't stop burning.

~*~

Back to the main household...

Marius Wolfen met a newcomer to town, Polla, at the temple. She must have been mourning the unfortunate disappearance of their relative.

On the following day, her cousin Caesulla was walking by the Orange/Wolfen lot. Marius didn't have great chemistry with her, but she liked him quite a lot! Her relative, Polla, already made friends with Marius by that point, and to their knowledge she's her only relative, so this betrothal was fully approved.

The young couple went on two dates before they tied the knot. Their first date wasn't very good because Marius had to go to work, and I imagine he might have mentioned something about preparing for the upcoming war... But Caesulla warmed up to him the second time they met.

They didn't have a huge crowd at the wedding, but I decided to invite Primula and Rana, so everyone knows the whereabouts of the missing child. I'm sure it's reassuring to them to know she is fine and well, even if she's far away from home.

~*~

Marius and Caesulla had a baby girl named Maria together. She is a blue-eyed brunette. Maria Wolfen is totally fine and she will live a long, healthy life, unless something unexpected happens to her. Unfortunately, her mom felt bad after giving birth and she didn't survive... That also means the Wolfen family name will end with this generation.

Maria is a Pisces and she has a very similar personality to her mom's, the only difference is that she's 9 Nice (other than that she's the exact copy in terms of personality: 6 Neat, 3 Shy, 9 Active, 2 Serious). I think she has got her dad's nose, but she might have inherited her mom's eyes and mouth. She is darker skinned than her parents, I think it's because my alien skin is on the scale (or maybe she just inherited it from her grandpa, I'm not sure).

Caesulla's death was tragic and there was nothing funny about it, but I couldn't help but notice her husband was in the middle of something (likely sponge bathing) while she was 'expiring'... So he was captured mourning, clad in nothing but his tears, I suppose.

I am very sorry her life was so short, especially that we didn't really get to know her very well... I hope her cousin's fate will be better.

~*~

It was high time to find a mate for Fitela this round, before he would become an elderly dog. Fitela and Alia (a newly-adopted stray wolf) had one female puppy together. I called her Lykaia.

Luna (Fitela's mother, and enemy) crossed the rainbow bridge on the same day when the household witnessed the birth of two little goat kids. It is a slow process, but someday they will have a big goat farm.

~*~

The Orange/Wolfen home business earned ~800$, and together with Marius's military career paychecks they earned 1285$ this round.

500$ - rent

514$ - tax

129$ - tithe

They paid 1150$.

Before Marius and Ninildu went off to war, Volesus aged up into a teen and was rolled to become a Romance sim. He will stay home and take care of Aulus, to pay off his 'debt'. After all, he was well looked after in this household after he had been orphaned.

I also had Ninildu close the home business to avoid any issues. Volesus will need to open it on his own... after which I will probably have Aulus take over.

[johnmurphysgirl]

So, she does. Nienna tells him all about Bywater, Hobbiton, Bag-End, The Water, and the rolling hills. She paints him a vivid picture of the forests, second breakfast, and Bilbo's very favorite time of day, tea time. Stories of Old; her grandmother's trials and adventures, and her reasoning behind wanting stories to be told about her. Thorin drinks it all in. Her eyes light up whenever adventures are mentioned. There's fondness in the depths of her eyes, and Thorin is going to loathe the day their perilous journey dims her brightness. Nienna's nature is confounding. All that they have faced thus far, her smile has never wavered. It stands like a radiating beacon of light.

"Tell me of the mountain; of Dale."

And Thorin does. He tells her about the tunnels, and the abundance of the treasure hoard waiting for them. Thorin speaks eloquently of the halls, the laughter, mirth, and song. Long before the dragon Smaug set his sights on them. Nienna listens earnestly. Her hand lightly coming to brush her horses mane, eyes trained on Thorin, and his steady determination burning in his gaze. She'd follow him.

Fic link

“I think she likes me.”

Nienna’s gaze flits to Kíli’s, and then towards the Elf girl fluttering about the dais, putting plates of food and the like onto the elongated table. She chokes out a scoff.

“Hm,” Nienna murmurs. “I think she’s looking at Fíli, actually.” Nienna has no clue if she’s actually right about that, but she’s rewarded with Kíli’s affronted facial expression, and a loud gasp of faux betrayal which sends her into a fit of giggles.

[diaryofaphilosopher]

No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone.

— T. S. Eliot, "Test of Time."

Follow Diary of a Philosopher for more quotes!

[androdconstruction]

 “It is not the beauty of the building you should look at: it’s the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time.”

– David Allen Coe

[spookybokchoy]

“Hey, wanna go to the mall today?”

a personal challenge to see how many characters/references I could fit into one picture, could definitely still do more!

Edit-For everyone asking how long it took, 2 weeks of planning and a little less than month to draw/edit (I work fast)

[madewithonerib]

Romans 9:27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved. 28 For the LORD will carry out HIS sentence on the Earth thoroughly & decisively.” [Isaiah 10:22–23]

[brent-emery-pieczynski]

Gen Alpha Is Getting Permanent Brain Damage from a Drug Sold at Walmart

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Penelope's final gambit, you will always be famous, no matter the subtext.

[risingsunresistance]

you guys can see this too bc even tho i was wrong i think it's funny

[inthewindtunnel]

Humdrum

Test of Time

<3

[pangur-and-grim]

here are Belphie's x-rays from a couple weeks ago! I'm not a vet, so I don't know what to zero in on here, but they show a "dilated right sided heart with moderate amount of pericardial effusion".

in other words, the right side of his heart is too big, and there's fluid all around it. which is bad! we don't want fluid!

it's very possible that FIP has messed with his heart (and there is precedence of the virus doing this exact thing), which means that it should improve with more time on the medication. but it's also possible that this is an underlying structural problem. I'm hoping it's the former, because if it's the latter, he'll likely have a shortened lifespan.

the only way to find out is to let him recover from FIP, and then check all his insides again. and in the meantime, he'll be getting plenty of medically prescribed kisses to the forehead!

[guessimate]

Happy October, everyone!

It is quite sad, but I have landed on a deadly scenario for the Oranges. It's supposed to be death by poison, which makes a lot of sense for this season which is filled with feasting. With how much wine is being drunk chances are someone might come up with the idea of putting something special in one of the cups...

But who would poison Damu Orange, and why? It's not like he has enemies, but he doesn't have lots of friends either. Did someone think it unfair that Damu got to marry princess Tefnut (one of the original emperor's daughters, before he rose to power)? Is someone envious that the Oranges have connections to the imperial family and it's so easy for them to get the emperor himself to attend their parties?

Or maybe it's because of the patriarch of the family, Ninurta... While he didn't make enemies with anyone, he made quite a lot of 'service' sims fall head over heels in love with him. He also was the first sim to turn into a werewolf and he started a supernatural garden after the local garden club lady had supplied him with special seeds.

Although he's young, the heir Ninildu already has quite a few friends, mostly his family members, but also Sampsa Imago and Primula Venus. The only member of the imperial family who isn't friends with him would be Nepri. But I don't think Primula Venus or Nepri would poison the Oranges. The Oranges 'found' Venus and let her stay with them before she moved in with the Wolfens. Would Nepri be jealous they lived with Venus? I don't think he knew that she lived with them. Most sims in my town must think Venus is connected to the Wolfens rather than the Oranges since she 'adopted' or maybe 'mothered' the first alien baby in town. So if anything Nepri would be jealous of the Wolfens, not the Oranges.

Either way, I don't think this would have been a murder of kin... which would put the Tia family under suspicion. I don't think the Tias are very vengeful, at least for now. We don't know yet if the Orange name will survive, but they have a living male heir. The same cannot be said about the Tias. So this could lead to a rivalry, but for now I don't think the Tias would compete against the Oranges. After all they have a higher station and their descendant is going to become the empress.

~*~

Ninildu realized he had quite a bit of attraction towards the local cashier who sells clothes and other goods. He approached her while she was working and asked her to meet him outside of her 'working hours'. She agreed to come over the following day.

The young lady's name is Adriana Lam and she is quite proficient at using the cash register (but I'm sure she'll forget all of that when I make her playable).

Ninildu got a crush on Adriana almost immediately. It took a lot longer for her to succumb to Ninildu's charms. She is a shy knowledge sim, but she likes red hair, so there is definitely some attraction on her part. It was just a little harder and slower at first, especially that she didn't have the ACR token I could have totally given her. At first I thought that Adriana wasn't rolling a lot of wants during the date, but it changed when their relationship increased. In the end the pair became best friends and they shared their first kiss.

There is no reason for them to rush getting married as teens, but Ninildu might want someone to give him a helping hand in running the store, especially an experienced cashier. Running the house alone is no fun for a teenage boy and his dog.

~*~

Shortly after the date Ninildu decided he would like to 'go out' with Adriana. I thought this would work well for the poisoning scenario. There would be a party on the Oranges' lot, but the son wouldn't be there to witness his father's death, so he would have no clue as to who the culprit behind this murder was (to be honest I have no idea who the culprit is either).

One thing that makes me really sad is that there was noone creative enough in this house to paint a picture of Damu. Even though Damu painted multiple pictures of his dad and his son, there are no pictures to remember him by...

~*~

Ninildu didn't earn very much because he only opened his store at the very end of the round. That's because I didn't want his dad to help run the establishment.

For now it's a general store, mostly selling harvestables. He has to stock up on milk and he has too few goats to sell animal products. I would really like to turn this business into a dairy (milk and cheese) store someday, but it's impossible to do with only one pair of farm animals.

Ninildu got a positive review, but his grandfather's ghost appeared on the day of the opening of the store... I was afraid he would scare everyone, but I think the ghost disappeared as soon as Ninildu closed the store. I didn't want to shoo away the business reviewer, so I waited for her to leave before everyone was safe from the haunting presence.

He earned around 230$ this round. He has some spare money to pay the bills for now.

500$ - rent

92$ - tax (40%)

23$ - tithe

He will pay the burial fee of 200$ when I move both of the graves to the cemetery. He paid 615$.

~*~

Hera Flori, the teen servant, is a terrible customer. She didn't want to buy anything and I'm not even surprised Ninildu's dog decided to chase her.

I didn't realize it when I was playing, but I did when I looked at my notes later. She must be jealous that Ninildu got together with Adriana! She kept showing how attracted she was towards Adriana on the community lot when Ninildu was flirting with her. I should have taken a picture when the wolf was chasing Hera, but I didn't realize there was more drama behind her behaviour.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

hero/villain showdown but one of them has a spontaneous medical emergency and the battle gets put on hold while their archnemesis drives them to Urgent Care

[bacchuschucklefuck]

couldnt draw my thang for mid-autumn so treated myself to a calne redesign instead

[androdconstruction]

Quote of the Day!

“It is not the beauty of the building you should look at: it’s the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time.”

— David Allen Coe