Round 12: Days 56-60
Charlton and Aphrodite were still living together but with their work hours diverging more and more often, they hadn't spent much time together recently. Aphrodite slept during the day and Charlton occupied his time at the various recreational venues in Sullivan and its surrounds.
Most of the time, he ended up catching up with various relatives, like his dad.
Or his cousin Magdalena.
On one particular day (or night, as it was when they met), he came across Caterina, his brother's girlfriend. She was receptive to Charlton's flirting at first.
When Charlton moved in to kiss her, Caterina pushed him away.
Charlton hadn't seen Ben walk in but Caterina had spotted him immediately and quickly pulled away from Charlton.
Ben was furious, although surprisingly most of his anger was initially directed at Caterina.
That didn't mean he didn't have some rage stored up for Charlton too. Ben was feeling understandably irate and betrayed, so Charlton thought it best if he made a quick exit.
Racked with guilt, Charlton decided to focus his energies on looking for a new job. The legal field was boring him to tears lately and he thought he'd rather do something fun. Like say, become a Rock God! No luck as of yet, so he would have to stay put as a Paralegal.
Charlton didn't think he was really cut out to be a Romance Sim, after his experiences with Caterina and Ben, so he decided to get reacquainted with the girl he already had at home. He surprised himself by being excited when Aphrodite learned she was pregnant shortly after this encounter.
She was sick all the time but she was willing to put up with it for the end result.
It was unfortunately not meant to be. Aphrodite miscarried very early on in her pregnancy.
As soon as they got the okay from Aphrodite's doctor, she and Charlton tried again.
It was not long before they realised they'd been successful. Pregnancy does not agree with Aphrodite, apparently, because she was just as sick this time as she had been the first.
Aphrodite didn't know why Ben and Charlton weren't speaking. She just knew that the brothers used to be so close and now, for some reason, they weren't.
She managed to convince Ben to at least speak to Charlton. He apologised. Ben was still angry but maybe he was softening.
While Ben and Charlton were talking in the living room, Aphrodite made herself busy ensuring she didn't get too tired and that she was eating enough. Her diet was pinpointed as the most likely reason she miscarred last time so she was keen to improve it.Random funny:
That's Stan, not that you can tell. I'm amazed this hasn't happened at one of my apartment lots before, for all the time they spend outside in inclement weather!Notes:
- Charlton rolled an ROS this round - to change his aspiration and turn ons and turn offs. Normally, I would roll for the new aspiration but Charlton has never fit his aspiration anyway. With the criteria I use now to choose an aspiration for my Sims, Charlton would be Romance. So Romance he is and he still has his former aspiration of Fortune as a secondary.
- Charlton has three bolts with Caterina and she has three bolts with Ben. She's more attracted to Ben but he's not too fond of her right now! Their lot should be fun to play next college round. Someone's sleeping on the couch!
- Charlton is a really crap Romance Sim. He autonomously flirts with people all the time and they reject him. I didn't get any pictures of his failures, unfortunately.
- I am torn on putting the No Miscarriages flavour pack in. Miscarriages are so sad but it does make the game more difficult, which I am all about. Decisions, decisions.
Keep it in. lol No, it's up to you. I actually like the randomness of it. I mean it happens in RL so why not the sims.
ReplyDeleteI felt bad for her though, but at least there is another one on the way. *yay* Can't wait for the baby's birth.
I enjoy the miscarriages hack. I can't use it in my game b/c I actually cry when it happens! Lol, but I enjoy reading it in other people's blogs. It does add some randomness and difficulty to the game, and it's also interesting to read and I'm sure to play. But I hope this pregnancy works out...I bet their babies are gonna be so cute!
ReplyDeleteI have it in my game and it makes it a little more exciting. It sucks when a sim that you have been trying so hard to get pregnant has a miscarriage. That happen to Carol McDaniel and I almost had a fit. She was close to elder hood so her fertility rate was low.
ReplyDeleteI also say don't install the No Miscarriages flavour pack! It adds great randomness to the game. It is very sad though. I was really upset when it happened twice to one of my sims in my old hood.
ReplyDeleteHow do you choose the aspiration for your sims? I always roll the dice for mine because all my sims would be Family or Knowledge if I got to choose.
OK, you've all convinced me - I'll keep the miscarriages in!
ReplyDeleteCissieMae, to be assigned a certain aspiration, my Sims have to fit certain personality criteria.
Fortune - nice < 5
playful < 5
Knowledge - playful < 5
outgoing < 5
Family - neat > 5
nice > 5
Romance - outgoing > 5
active > 5
Popularity - outgoing > 5
nice > 5
Pleasure - playful > 5
active < 5
If they fit more than one, I'll choose which one they seem to fit more in my mind. If they fit none of them, I roll.
Whew, finally reached the end of the road, now I can stop playing catch-up in your hood!
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting way to assign aspirations - I've always just rolled for it when a sim teen transitions, but your personality criteria makes sense to me. Hope you don't mind if I steal this for my hood :-)
I've gotta get caught up! This story was very good. I feel for those brothers right now. It's gotta be a difficult situation for them, Ben especially. That's a terrible betrayal. Does Charlton have no conscience?
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm loving your ideas on how to assign Aspirations, too. It's an interesting way to think about it.
I've got the miscarriages hack in my hood too, but haven't had one yet. I hear it's tough to watch. But, I'm keeping it. Randomness and realism is the way I like it.
BTW, Aphrodite's hair is really cute!
I would keep it in. When I had InTeen, I loved it simply because it made me HAVE to pay attention to pregnancies. It's always good to add in a little difficulty!
ReplyDeletePoor Aphrodite, though.
Poor Aphrodite. I hope everything goes well with this pregnancy. But she needs to keep an eye on Charlton! Hitting on your brother's girlfriend is especially not cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone!
ReplyDeleteSimstate, I don't mind at all. I decided on the criteria myself but I'm sure I took the general idea from another blogger anyway!
Green, I think Charlton does have a conscience but is just a little too impulsive. Since Ben got angry at him, he's had no wants to even look at another girl. Of course, I have ACR, so he's autonomously tried to flirt a few times but it never goes well. Like I said, he's not very good at being a ladies' man!
Aw, poor Aphrodite! I agree with the others that the chance for Miscarriage makes the game more life-like and unpredictable, but I'm too chicken to put it in. :)
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of assigning aspiration based on personality. Makes perfect sense.
I'd be crying right along with my Simmies!
Snarky, I just had another miscarriage in the game not long ago and it really is sad. It was implemented really well though - their hygiene, comfort and fun goes right down and even when you improve those things, it can take a while before they're feeling okay again. There's a custom memory associated it with it too.
ReplyDeleteI don't always use personality to assign an aspiration. Sometimes I'll just roll for a random one and sometimes the Sim has been telling me what aspiration they should be since childhood.