Xenophobia: Pride & Prejudice - Chapter Twenty-four

[Hooligan]

So, how you like my new avatar?  I'll bet you'll never guess what it is from.

[Sam the T-man]

You're right, I won't Well, it's different

I actually came *this* close to re-writing parts, after playing a *working* Strangetown for a while - the playable version of the one I merged myself turned out to be severely borked; not only did I have to respawn the graves (didn't realise at the time that's why the ghosts were all the same colour), but pregnancies didn't work - known as "orphaned pregnancies" where they won't advance. I tried everything, even scrapping the inteen, but that wasn't the problem. Soo, after tucking aside a couple of houses, it looks like I'm gonna be scrapping those and using HP's merged one instead - at least that works Gonna tinker with the credits after my next update to reflect that.

Anyway, back on topic - the ghosts. It wasn't until after playing HP's merged project that I realised they were meant to be different colours, thus I kept in mind what each colour meant. Typically, this was after I'd written a load of stuff, and I nearly went back and revised it, before deciding it would be too much hassle and resorting to poetic license as my excuse :angel:

What am I on about? You'll find out in two updates' time The next chapter's a looooooong one... so long I needed to split it in two :angel:

[steelguy]

Yays! Long chapter split in two means less waiting time.
Possibly.

So there might be ghosts involved in further episodes?
Excellent. We await with polite anticipation...


Don't make me sing the update song again.

[Astral Faery]

Great chapter, Sadie!  I really enjoyed the shopping scene and Tank's discomfort about tight pants.  Hilarious!  And Ophelia's reaction to it was priceless.  I really like her.  Honest, straightforward, and outgoing.  I think she's a good influence on Tank.

Nice internal dialogue for Buzz.  At least he's standing there thinking, instead of acting first.  I'll be interested in seeing how he handles it.

[Hooligan]

The explanation for the new avatar is this: you all remember that song I posted weeks and weeks ago?  It's the logo of Enter The Haggis, the band who sings it.

It's also a screaming bagpipe.  Which just rocks my sox.

Ah, so, you merged the neighborhoods yourself?  I would love to do that, but in my mind they're all in different states.  That and the fact that I would just invariably bork it all to hell.  So, props for the attempt at least!

Yeah, Sim ghosts are all different colors; I was trying to get my Uglacy to have ghosts of all different colors before I irrepairably shattered it.  I really should have watched closer on Don's date--I knew there was a vampire on the lot, and so was Mrs. C, because she just got finished beating the snot out of him for sex in the hot tub.  Never let those on the same lot together unattended, let me tell you.  I grabbed a hack now, it shouldn't happen again.

Looks like Buzz is actually starting to think about the consequences of his actions.  Good for him; it's a long time coming it seems.

[joe_mulcahy]

Very good chapter!  I loved the closeness between the characters, the brotherly love Tank now expresses toward Ripp, and Ophelia beginning Tank's makeover.  Who would have thought Tank would agree to a bumhugger, imagine that!

I enjoyed the self talk in General Buzz Grunt's head as well.  Good show!  Keep up the good work.

[chocolatedalek]

WOW. This is amazing, I cannot wait for chapter 14. At all. Wow, wow, wow. My stories are'nt 1/2 as good, and I'm hoping to be an author!! Sadie, can I borrow/ Steal your talent?? Please?? I need it, You are amazing!!

(Also, just wondering, what's gonna happen to buck. He's in love with Jill in my game, just out of interest...)

[Sam the T-man]

Aww, thanks guys, I'm so glad you've all enjoyed the update About the next one.. erm, yeah. Started about to revise the start of chapter fourteen, then my imagination took over, and I've not long finished chapter nineteen :angel: I will get to it in a minute, honest.. after my picture perfect entry's out of the way I'll get the pics for that one

Wow, all these new comments too..

@steelguy: LOL @ update song :lol: But yeah, there's gonna be ghosts in future chapters. Not specifying which ones, but they pop up from time to time Gonna be some freaky stuff in general, I am partial to the paranormal

@Ari: :laughing: Glad you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it Yeah, I like her too, she's fun to work with They all are in different ways, I love 'em.. when I'm not trying to pose the buggers, that is... ¬_¬ Tank's makeover won't be "realistically" complete until part two - whether that's a "physical" or proverbial split in parts I haven't decided yet. And yeah, Buzz gets more complicated the further we get in the story

@Hooligan: Oh yeah, I remember that song you posted. Cool Yep, merged them myself - and borked it all to hell Still, I learned a few things.. I think. Yeah, the neighbourhoods might be in different states, although the greener areas could be dotted around the same one for all we know. From what I gather there's more temperate/colder areas of Arizona (the mountains), as well as possibly greener areas close by...? Would that work? :angel: Re: Mrs C - yep, either JM's vampire fixes, TJ's visitor controller or both will fix that problem. I've had the VC for ages, wouldn't be without it just for banning the Uni NPCs.. ugh >_< I sure as hell don't fancy a cranky old lady smacking my sims around just because of their obsession with PDAs.. got too many 3 bolters for that

@Joe: LOL Tank didn't agree to a "bumhugger", that was the whole idea of that scene But thanks. I'm having a lot of fun with Tank in shaping his character, you'll see a maybe familiar side to him a little later. And yeah, they do make quite the clique, these guys, they all gel so well I couldn't not write in the building closeness between them :love2: In fact it's quite inspiring, I think - although I say that after finishing chapter nineteen

@CD: Aaw, thanks I'll get to chapter fourteen soon, I'm making a point of it in fact (while the text's sent off for proof-reading I'll get the PP pics done too). What's gonna happen to Buck? You'll have a long wait for that one.. *cough* sequel *cough* I noticed something creepy about his appearance once he hits his teens though, but that's only through working with certain other sims so I'm keeping quiet :angel: Put it this way, it makes for extra story material ^_^

Thanks for the continued support guys *kisses* Much appreciated!

[ayako447]

nice! the pictures were superb!! keep up the good work!! hooray! i like the story

[steelguy]

I got Buck through to his teens once in my game and yeah, he doesn't age well. It was all like zap-colours-cheers etc and ... oh.
I think it's something to do with the nose?
Anyway - ghosts? Well I do know one place in Strangetown where you can find a bunch of them, but that's just me speculating.

[Sam the T-man]

Oh, I think he ages well enough (but then that's thanks to default replacements), but I wasn't talking about how he looks so much as who he resembles... his nose was what first got me wondering, before I took a good look at his face and compared it to another sim, and then I was like "Hooold on a minute..." I'm jumping way ahead of myself though :angel:

Yeah, I know the ghostly hang-out in Strangetown, but I have my own way of depicting ghosts. You know in the movies they all appear as normal people - solid, nothing ghostly about them? In Beetlejuice, 13 Ghosts and Sixth Sense they look just how they did when they died too, i.e. not a pretty sight depending how they went. It was them that inspired my way of portraying spirits here, in fact. Not see-through, not floating, no scaring with funny faces... I noticed they tend to be more creepy if at first glance they seem to be normal, living beings...

[steelguy]

Ah yes, the one time I "teened" him was without default replacements.
Must admit he cleaned up a bit after I put some in. But speculation on his parentage? Hmmm...

And the ghosts thing sound intriguing. I'm a little partial to the paranormal myself...

[Sam the T-man]

Ah, no wonder he didn't look so good, if you didn't have replacements :lol: They really do make all the difference, don't they? Anyway, not speculation on his parentage, it just looks like one of his ancestors paired with his mum instead of Buzz. Ripp meanwhile - this is really weird; I think he's got his mum's jaw and mouth, definitely his dad's cheekbones and brow. His nose I think is either from Missy or Wanda - yes, Wanda as in great-grandmother! He certainly has Wanda's eyes.

Yeah, I was that bored one day, I decided to open up SimPE and analyse each of the departed Grunts, 'cause it was bugging me where Ripp got his eyes from. Tank doesn't have Buzz's eyes either, but him you'll find out in due course At least I figured that one out soon enough - took me a while to realise he has his mum's nose though.

[SpeedSpin_88]

*gasps* It's like coming back from the dead!  I haven't been around in ages! But I have indeed been keeping up with your story Sadie! I've been lurking, yes. :lurk: I must say you've got me wrapped up as usual. Looking forward to the ghosts by the way.

[steelguy]

You traced his genetic ancestry? Lol! You must have been bored! And you weren't speculating? Oops. Sorry Buck! I just remember a similar thread somewhere else where people were wondering.

Always wondered how the hereditary thing works in this game. For instance, even with default replacements, the Curious brothers alien babies always come out butt ugly. I'm usually forced to break out the plastic surgery.