Gloria's Tale

[rachel631]

Righty then. I've attempted to post stories before, but they've never received much attention. I figured it was partly my images that were the problem, so I've been practising some shots. Anyway, here we go with story number two. Contains unpleasantness, but nothing too graphic I hope. The pics won't be rated 18 or anything silly like that!

Edit: Have only just read the content guidelines for this site and realise I've broken a rule, so I'm not sure what to do. I guess I'll continue for now, but with a warning.

WARNING: In this story, you will see

a) homosexual relationships
b) age inappropriate relationships (this is the one I'm concerned about)
c) violence and criminal behaviour
d) pretty unpleasant plotlines

But you will NOT see

a) nudity (teen sims posing in their underwear is as risque as this is going to get... I prefer the power of suggestion anyway. Explicit pics really put me off a story... it's like Barbie and Ken came to life and started doing things to each other that kind of made me want to tear out my eyes!)
b) swearing (although I reserve the right to $^*((&%^ when things begin to &($£ me off!)

[rachel631]

I suppose I should introduce myself to you. Well, my name is Gloria, and I’m the eldest daughter of Arcadia’s most notorious couple: Kimberly (nee Notario) and Tosha Go. Why so notorious? Well, not only were they the first lesbian couple in Arcadia to marry, but I am also the biological child of both of them! Yep, you heard me right… a child with two mothers… and no biological father.



Me (centre) and my mothers Tosha (left) and Kimberley (right)

My mothers

The truth behind my conception, and that of my sisters, Emmelina and Georgette, has always been a closely guarded secret, but I know for a fact that it was aided by Mama Kimberly’s job as a famous scientist. With so much money to hand, and complete liberty to practise her experiments, she soon found ways to turn this to her advantage. However, she never made her results public. She said if she did then her family would be treated like test tube freaks, and she wasn’t having it. So she’s down as my mother on my birth certificate, and my father is officially ‘unknown’. I know I’m Mama Tosha’s daughter though, because I look just like her, and we have the same blood group and everything.


My parents and my siblings. Emmelina is the child, and Georgette is still a baby

Anyway, my siblings and I grew up happily enough. Both my mothers have always had full time jobs, so we had plenty of money, especially as Mama Kimberly invented a device to revitalise potted plants a few years back. She made a fortune from the patent! The only problem we really had, in fact, was that Kimberly’s mother, Ruth, never really got on with Mama Tosha.






Grandma Ruth was very young when she had Kimberly… in fact, she could only have been slightly older than I am now. Her boyfriend turned around and ran as soon as he heard the news, and her father refused to even speak to her. She doesn’t talk about it much, but I know her mother died when she was very young, and her father sort of lost interest, so she was raised by nannies. I suppose her father felt guilty. Anyway, when he found out she was expecting Kimberly he went crazy… he gave her a cheque, called her a taxi and said he never wanted to see her again. Sadly enough, he got his wish… years later, he tried to track her down and she told him to get lost. He died of cancer shortly afterwards. I think Ruth still feels bad about it, even though it was so long ago. He was her father, after all.



Grandma Ruth tried her best to raise Kimberly on her father’s money, and whatever she could earn doing part time jobs, but it was still hard for her. She had to drop out of school, and never even got to sit her A levels. She worked hard though, and managed to get them later on with the Open University. She got three As and a B. Then she desperately worked all the hours she could, and saved up so she could go to university. Finally, she succeeded, and shortly after Mama Kimberly entered secondary school she got onto an adult education course to study medicine. She had to relocate, of course, to be closer to the university, but she was absolutely poverty stricken. That’s why she settled down here, in Arcadia, when it was still just a little village, out in the middle of nowhere. Rents were cheap back then, and there weren’t many young men to harass Mama Kimberly, either, which Grandma Ruth saw as a distinct advantage.



It was out in Arcadia that Grandma Ruth met Grandpa Dick, her husband and soulmate. He was a bachelor and a scientist, who had reconciled himself to being single and devoting his life to his studies. However, when he met Grandma Ruth at the local grocer, he was instantly attracted to her.



If he felt intimidated by the fact she was already the mother of a teenage girl he didn’t show it, and soon began to make friends with Mama Kimberly. She, having grown up feeling protective of (yet slightly bewildered by) her sensitive mother, adored Dick, and soon they were discussing science happily together. Of course, when Dick and Ruth announced their marriage she was ecstatic, and she adored her new half-siblings. These arrived at regular intervals: first her beloved brother, Uncle Arthur, then her fun-loving sister, Auntie Milly.

 
Arthur Notario

Milly Carter (ne Notario)

She also doted on my charming, but somewhat feckless, Uncle Jack, although she knew my Uncles Benjamin, Christopher and Mark less, as the triplets were late arrivals for Grandma Ruth, born after Mama Kimberley had already left to go to university.


Jack Notario



The triplets

The real surprise, however, was little Maddie, the miracle baby born long after Grandma and Grandpa had thought they would be unable to have children… I bet she will be spoilt rotten as she grows up.


Little Maddie

Problems cropped up between Grandma Ruth and Mama Kimberley shortly after Arthur was born, in the form of Tosha Go. Mama Kimberly and Mama Tosha had always been best friends from the moment Kimberly first moved to the area, but as they grew older they became closer, eschewing boys and spending their time exclusively in each other’s company. Even Mama Kimberly’s other best friends, Ivy and Sophie, were ignored for Tosha. At first, Grandma Ruth was very pleased with this arrangement, as it meant that Mama Kimberly would never be seduced like she was, nor abandon her studies for some boy. However, she slowly became more and more disturbed as it dawned upon her that, perhaps, her daughter and Tosha were more than just friends. Grandpa Dick, of course, had known the truth about their relationship all along, and accepted this with the same good nature as he accepted all other problems in life. As far as he was concerned, Mama Kimberly was still his little girl.



Grandma Ruth, instead of using her husband’s methods, dealt with the problem in the tried and tested way of hundreds of mothers before her. She ignored it. After all, it was probably only a teenage crush, right? And Tosha was about to go to university soon, right? After a year apart, she was sure that her daughter would forget Mama Tosha altogether. Besides, everyone knew that lesbianism just wasn’t… you know… normal. It couldn’t possibly last. So she focused on her children’s education, made sure they were well fed and happy, and pushed the whole matter from her mind.

But Mama Kimberly did not forget Mama Tosha. For the whole year they were apart, she studied like a maniac, barely pausing to eat and sleep. She amassed a small fortune in scholarships and student loans, and schemed desperately to get Mama Tosha back. For Mama Tosha, she knew, had got a new girlfriend, and she was worried. She knew they had both decided not to promise to stay together, in case they ended up at different universities, or simply outgrew each other. But, somewhere in her heart, she just couldn’t accept it. So she arrived at university with a purpose in mind. Mama Tosha’s new girlfriend didn’t stand a chance. To be honest, it was probably just as well. Mama Tosha was, indeed, seeing someone, but she had never brought herself to consummate the relationship. Clearly she still had a soft spot for Mama Kimberly as well.



At university, the pair were something of a celebrity couple, massively popular on campus and big in the union political scene. They even established the first ever American style fraternity, although there was a lot more studying done there than there was partying. Still, it’s the thought that counts. Their relationship, also, went from strength to strength, and by the time they graduated they decided to marry (or as close as they could get to it).




Grandma Ruth could no longer ignore the situation, and was decidedly unhappy about it. Although she couldn’t bear to argue with her beloved daughter, she was downright rude and hostile to Mama Tosha. In return, Mama Tosha began to tease and taunt Grandma Ruth, deliberately winding her up, and causing an unpleasant atmosphere. The whole family tried to reason with them, but they could do nothing to improve the situation. In the end, they just tried to stay out of the firing line, even if it was hard sometimes. For example, even though Grandma Ruth (after much begging and pleading from Grandpa Dick, Uncle Arthur and Mama Kimberly) eventually decided to come to Mama Kimberly and Mama Ruth’s ‘joining’ ceremony, she couldn’t bear to witness the actual blessing itself, and spent the entire time in Mama Kimberly’s newly installed hot tub. Even afterwards, whilst she managed to swallow her pride and congratulate her daughter, she couldn’t resist arguing with Mama Tosha, who delighted in shocking and outraging her. The two just couldn’t get on.

 


When I was born, Grandma Ruth was even more torn. What Mama Kimberly had done to have me shocked her, and she didn’t even want to think of what else her daughter could be capable of. She worked in a hospital, so it wasn’t as if she was squeamish, and she was perfectly OK with IVF and other treatments, but playing games with fertility in this way made her feel a little ill. But what was even worse was that her daughter had performed this experimental procedure on herself, risking her own health and that of her future children. And in a house, too…not even a hospital. And the project wasn’t funded by the government, nor cleared by the ethics committee… and Kimberly wasn’t sharing her data with the rest of the scientific community (although, if she was honest, she could understand why)… and… and… and this meant she could never see the back of Tosha, either, seeing as she had a biological stake in her grandchildren as well as a psychological one. This was a disaster!






Yet Grandma Ruth loved her grandchildren very much, so she pushed this to the back of her mind for the sake of her family. Besides, she had other things to worry about. Uncle Arthur, for example, was a father of three at only twenty five, and his relationship with his childhood sweetheart was feeling the strain as a result.


Charlie, Arthur, and their children Francis, Shakira and Phoenix

Uncle Jack, at nineteen, was also a father to a baby boy, to whom he paid no child support. His charm and wit meant that he had managed to escape his mother’s accusations (she, in fact, blamed his put-upon ex-girlfriend for seducing him), but his father was harder to placate, and this caused tension in the household.


Lisa Singleton, Jack's ex-girlfriend, little Tim, and my useless Uncle

Then there was flirty, fun-loving Auntie Milly, who Grandma Ruth was convinced would come to a bad end, despite her recent marriage.


Milly with her husband Luca Carter

Finally, the triplets were growing increasingly more boisterous and troublesome. So Grandma Ruth focused on the things she could change, accepted the things she could not, and prayed she had the wisdom to know the difference.

So that’s my family history as it stands. Pretty chaotic, right? You’d think, with a family history like this one, that I’d aim for a quiet life. Settle down, raise a family, get a little dog called Cuddles and use eco-friendly washing powder, right? Well, that was the plan. But, like all best laid plans, it didn’t quite work out that way.

[Zorom]

What! I can't believe no one posted comments on this! This is brilliant!

I love this story. I think it could turn out to be really interestiing. {lease, update soon!

[rachel631]

I was always a quiet child. I suppose I inherited Mama Kimberly’s thirst for knowledge. Certainly she always encouraged me to study, and offered a quiet environment for me to do so. With all the fuss around her relationship with Mama Tosha, and my unusual conception, I suppose she wanted to make my life as normal as it could be.

It was a good childhood, I suppose. And I doted on my younger siblings. I wasn’t jealous at all, which I’m told is unusual. I was far more interested in my studies, I guess.

I had some friends, but they were mostly girls. I was really shy around boys. I just didn’t know how to talk to them at all. Mama Kimberley thought this was OK, and that maybe I just wasn’t interested in boys.

Mama Tosha said that Mama Kimberley just wanted to think that way so she would have some justification for being a lesbian… so she could say it was genetic or something. Mama Tosha said I was just shy, and it worried her a little. She was concerned that I would be lonely in the end if I didn’t learn to talk to boys, even though she wasn’t exactly encouraging me to get a boyfriend at my age.

 

Then, one day, my life changed forever. I was taking out the garbage, when the bag split. Disgusting.

Whilst I was cleaning it all up, I sensed a presence next to me, and looked up into a pair of the prettiest blue eyes I’d ever seen.

 

“Bad luck there. What a mess!” he said, and I could sense a slight lilt to his voice. I was fascinated.
“Yeah. Guess we need to change our bags. Or eat less meat. Yuck!” I said, as I picked up the remains of a chicken. “Maybe vegetarianism is the way forward.”

He laughed.
“Well, I’ve been vegetarian for years” he said. “All that rubbish they put in processed food. Disgusting garbage in both sense of the word. Mind you, there are times I’d love a bacon sandwich!”
“Don’t blame you” I replied. “Anyway, it’s all cleaned up now.” Then, because I had to go inside, but didn’t want to be rude, I said “Well, it’s been nice talking to you.”
“You too. Good luck with the vegetarianism. Or the bacon sandwich. Whichever you prefer!”
And then he was gone. I returned to study, but I must admit he did cross my mind more than once. Which was strange because he was, of course, far too old for me.

The thing was, I kept running into Andre all the time. It turned out he lived locally, worked as an advertising agent for a local bank, and enjoyed yoga. He was also incredibly easy to talk to, and before long we were good friends.

I didn’t see anything wrong with this: after all, my Mum was friends with some of the neighbourhood kids as well as the adults, and we all got along well. Just as she enjoyed the company of children, their enthusiasm and enjoyment of life, I could enjoy the company of adults, I reasoned. After all, everyone said I was old beyond my years, and very mature. What could possibly be the harm in it?

The problem was, I started to have feelings for Andre which were more than friendly. I don’t know why… it seemed a little weird, I suppose… but I just couldn’t stop myself. I didn’t want to confide in anyone, but I listened closely to what my friends were saying, trying to work out if what I was feeling was normal. From what I could hear, it was. It appeared that my schoolmate, Masaki, had an older boyfriend, and she couldn’t stop talking about him.

She said he was twenty two, although she herself was only seventeen, and that he took her out for nice meals, and bought her presents. This was all much to the envy of her sister Chiyo (for Masaki was a triplet, with one additional older sister, Tai-San, and an adopted brother, Orlando, and competed fiercely for attention as a result). I reasoned that, although I was a little younger than Masaki (only just fifteen, in fact), my maturity would make those years up. It was therefore OK to feel the way I did, and I allowed myself to develop a fully fledged teenage crush. But how could I tell him? I decided that the only thing to do was to take the plunge, and to tell him everything. So, the next day, I asked him over.

The problem was, I didn’t know what to say to Andre once he got here. I started uming and ahing until he started to laugh, bemused at my indecision. Finally I just blurted it out.

“I… like you, Andre.”
“Well, I like you too. You really called me over to tell me that?”
“No, I mean… I really like you…”

“What do you mean, Gloria?”
I couldn’t help it. I was so jittery that I just decided to go for it before I lost my nerve. So I reached over, stroked his face, and kissed him.

As we pulled apart, I looked up at his face. He looked pleased… but also sort of horrified at the same time…
“Gloria, I… I mean, we… I mean, you’re so young!”

I pouted.
“I’m not that young. Besides, we get on well. We’re friends. Tell me you aren’t as attracted to me as I am to you, and you’ll be lying. I know you feel the same.”
“Gloria, I know, but… I mean… this isn’t even legal! This is… I mean…”
“It happens though. It happens all the time. Throughout history. Age is irrelevant when people are drawn to each other.” (I was so naïve. But I suppose all teenagers are. That’s why there are laws to stop people taking advantage of them, I suppose).

He seemed swayed by this argument, and looked thoughtful.
“I’m drawn to you, Gloria. But we must never let people find out about this. I mean, life would become very difficult for us if people knew. Could you live like that? I mean, at least until you’re a little bit older?”
I told him I could, I would, and that nothing would please me more. And so began what was, to my mind, one of the greatest love affairs in history.

It was glorious. We talked, ate meals out, kissed and cuddled, both at his house and (more rarely) at mine, when my parents were out. I don’t know what Emmelina and Georgette thought of him… they probably just thought he was a babysitter hired so I could do my own thing upstairs. If so, they must’ve wondered why he spent most of his time with me. Either way, they never told my parents. Maybe it just never occurred to my sisters that a teenager and an adult might be interested in each other in that way. Anyhow, they were pretty self-sufficient.

We were only seeing each other for a few weeks before we started sleeping together. I said I was too young for that sort of thing, and that I didn’t want to, but he persisted. He said we were in an adult relationship, so we had to do what adults did. Besides, we loved each other, didn’t we? I felt funny about it, but he persisted, and I was afraid of losing him, I guess. Besides that, I hadn’t had any other luck with men, so I reasoned this was normal. I hardly even saw my friends any more. I suppose they knew I was keeping a secret from them, but I couldn’t tell them about Andre. So I stopped talking to them. I saw Andre instead. The only friend I still saw all the time was Masaki. All she could go on about was her older boyfriend, and the things they got up to in the bedroom. First real boyfriend and all that. Her talk made me feel embarrassed, and a bit squeamish, but also somehow… normal. So I just… got on with it, I suppose.

I know what you’re thinking… contraception, right? Well, the problem was that I couldn’t get it just like that. Because I was underage, I was worried that they would tell my mothers. I know some places don’t tell your parents for precisely that reason… because otherwise people just won’t go, they’ll take chances instead. But I didn’t trust anyone… Andre had made it clear that I couldn’t. All I could do was to lie about my age and get free protection from local family planning centres. Getting something chemical or more permanent was out of the question. But the problem with…non-chemical methods is that they have to be used just right… and they can split. Which is what happened to me. I thought it would be OK, even though there was no way I could get the morning after pill without disclosing my age, and maybe being registered at the doctors as at risk… no chance of that. So I took that chance.

Two weeks later, I found out I was pregnant.

[rachel631]

Thanks Zorom! I said I'd try and write a story to the end this time, and I will! Unfortunately, my computer is in for a service at the moment (darn D: drive) and will probably be reformatted during this period. However, I have everything saved and ready to go in two weeks time, and I've written the next few chapters, so I don't see any problems... after all, this was my first sims family, and it's been relocated across three different computers and numerous reformats. I've got a soft spot for them :-)

[rachel631]

All righty then. Sorry if I seem to be spamming my own thread, but I thought I'd ask for some advice before my computer gets returned to me next week.

So far, I've written this whole story, and am working on the sequel. But it doesn't seem to be very popular. I was wondering why this is the case, because I really really want to improve, and I'll accept any criticism, however harsh, as long as it's useful. What I mean is that 'this completely sucks' simply isn't useful... not specific enough... but 'I feel some of your characters are a little cliched because...' etc. would be great advice, and I'd really appreciate it.

So, over to you guys. What do you think about:

1) The pics. Is medium size OK? I chose medium as it takes less time to load, and because my graphics card isn't that great. Would you guys prefer large? If so, should I reduce the number of pics? Also, do you have any tips or tricks? I realise one pic has a relationship ++ sign on it, and I'm kicking myself, but it won't happen again!

2) The content. Is the characterisation OK? I realise there are lots of teen pregnancy stories on insim at the moment, which is a shame because I wrote most of this last year, when it would have been more original. Still, it can't be helped now! That being said, I'd appreciate some advice.

All right. Well, thank you very much in advance, and I'll see you next week, I hope!

[Theraven]

on the pictures - it's easier to see when they're larger, but you don't have to strain your computer just because of that (turning off shadows and reflections might help a little on the game speed).

also, try to avoid gridlines in the outside pictures. it just doesn't look good (if you have to take pictures in buy/build mode - click the recoloring tool, because then they go away). Also, try to avoid speech bubbles (showheadlines off). You might also want to try not to cut heads, hands and feet in strange places. if there's tons of space on one side of the picture while a head or an arm is cut on the other side - then it usually don't look good.
Also try to avoid flying blue accessories

hope this helped a little

[rachel631]

Thanks Raven. The main problems with larger pics are that my computer is built for speed and not comfort (ie it's a very good, fast machine, but the graphics aren't so great, and I was a bit worried about the quality of shots), and that my internet isn't brilliant for the uploads. But if people prefer larger pics, I can oblige! To give you some idea, it loads my 16GB of downloads in about 5-10 minutes, without lag... but the pics you've seen are a bit blurry, however.

The gridlines idea would never have occurred to me. I noticed that they were there, but had no idea how you got rid of them! Thanks for that.

The thought bubble in ch2 was actually deliberate (shows what Gloria thinks about all the time), although it concerns me a bit that people might see it as a mistake. Makes me think I should reconsider a speech bubble pic in ch3. Although, like I said, the pic in Ch1 with the ++ signs was not deliberate... aaargh!

As for Jack's necklace... I keep forgetting to remove it... sloppy, I know! I promise I'll wave it goodbye asap!

The help is much appreciated. Will bear it in mind! :angel:

[Theraven]

amazing! 16 GB??? my laptop barely manages 5-6 GB in half an hour. over 10GB and I have to wait for somewhere between one and one and a half hour...
But I've got graphics on high, and all EP's and SP's (to FT) installed - so that might be it....

the thing about speech bubbles is that they work fine if there's a purpose with them - as long a you use them correctly. But if not, they're just annoying. Also, they fit better inside a funny story than in a drama story. I avoid them myself - but not nccessay if I find my sims in a funny setting where the speech/thought bubbles actually are funny (though, I mostly use those pics as funny comments or something in the picture threads)

[rachel631]

6GB in a half hour? It seems that's pretty normal from what I've read. Mine just seems to be that much faster... I guess that's what a dual core processor with custom motherboard and shedloads of RAM gets you!

I've got all the stuff packs and EPs except AL, Kitchen and Bathroom Stuff, and Ikea Stuff, and the graphics on high. It doesn't seem to make so much of a difference to the speed... it's just that my graphics card isn't great. Still, I can't complain...

Before you get too jealous though, my computer was an HP refit, which is why the D: drive has crashed and burned. Ugh. I hope they can fix it fast because they're probably going to reformat the whole thing, and I'll have to reinstall Microsoft Office and all my Sims games... nightmare! It's all backed up though. Fingers crossed!

[rachel631]

Good news! I got my computer back yesterday and started reinstalling my games! Bad news... it crashed and the brand new motherboard failed. So now it's going off to be repaired... again. Nevertheless... I'm working at it. Sigh. Give it another week or so...