Tuesday 28 August 2012

Mercy

Round 34: July 2039 (Winter)

last update/next update

Malcolm Novak is 29 and Hope Collins is 28.
(Emil is 67, Anna is 61 and Julia is 28)
Narrated by Hope Collins

Ever since Malcolm and I got settled in this house, we’ve been planning our wedding. Or at least, we’ve been trying to.

Mum has been making it really difficult. She's hated every dress I've picked out. She wants me to wear a big meringue-y thing like she did, which is not my style at all.

She wants us to hold the reception at Starry Nights or Cedardwood Hotel. They're both a little pricey and really more formal than we're after.

Dad is no help, because he’s smart enough to steer clear of her when she starts up once again about the wedding. If he can’t leave the room, he just tunes out.

I would just go ahead and do what I want to do anyway. It’s not that I really care what Mum thinks. I just can’t be certain she won’t sulk about it and put a dampener on the actual day. I don’t want that to happen.

Malcolm must be so sick of hearing about it. He’s been there and heard all the drama Mum has been starting, so when I vent to him, I know he gets it.

Several times, we’ve joked that we should just elope and get the wedding over and done with. Lately, it’s been starting to look really appealing.

One night, Malcolm suggested eloping again, only this time he was dead serious.

It’s really hard for him to take time off work but he had a couple of days we could use to go away somewhere, get married and come back.

I was reluctant at first; I’d always imagined having a big wedding here in Sullivan, with everyone we know in attendance.

But after I thought about it, that didn’t really matter to me that much any more. A lot of the stuff I thought would be fun with wedding planning has turned out to not really be that way at all. I really just want to be married.

Once I told Malcolm that we should go ahead with it, I felt immediately relieved. That’s when I knew it was the right decision for us.

I let Malcolm cancel the few things we’d already booked for our wedding. We took a small hit financially but I knew it would be worth it.

We didn’t have a whole lot of time to spare, so we checked in and headed right for our venue.

We chose a beautiful beach at Cape Elizabeth for our ceremony.

I was a little bit sad saying our vows, because when I always pictured myself surrounded by family and friends when I got married.

We just had two tourists there to serve as witnesses. They were nice enough but it wasn’t quite the same as having people we knew there with us.

We’ll celebrate with everyone back home at some point though, so I can live with that.

It didn’t all go to plan; once we got there, I realised I’d forgotten my shoes, so I got married barefoot.

But it’s a story to tell and we were still married at the end of it, which is the most important thing.

It was kind of nice to start our honeymoon the second the ceremony ended too. Having everyone with us would have been nice but not having to do any sort of mingling afterwards was pretty great as well.

We didn’t have much time to spend on Cape Elizabeth before Malcolm had to be back at work but we made the most of the time we did have.

We did a little sightseeing but we mostly just lazed around all day and enjoyed a very relaxed start to our married life.

Malcolm doesn’t really get a chance to do that very often. Even when he’s home, he’s often on call and could be called back to the hospital at any moment. So it was a very short honeymoon, unfortunately. It was completely stress-free though, which was exactly what we wanted.

Julia was only a little mad that I ran off and got married without her.

She got over it quickly and just wanted to hear all about it. She still can’t believe I did it.

Even though it wasn’t how I originally imagined it, I loved my wedding and was only too happy to spill all the details.

Julia is convinced her parents would flat out murder her if she got married without them there.

They probably would but I can’t imagine her parents ever being as impossible as my mother either!

Speaking of my mother, I knew she’d be annoyed about the elopement, so we had Mum and Dad over for dinner, to hopefully soften the blow.

I thought Dad might be angry too; he’s always been very much about family. But he was actually okay.

He said it was more important that we have the wedding we wanted than trying to make anyone else happy with it.

Mum…well, she didn’t say much at first. Not that it was terribly hard to know what she was thinking anyway.

Dad tried to placate her but she kept coming out with gems like “I can’t believe my daughter would shut me out of her wedding!”

Which I couldn’t quite believe. Did she forget that she was basically trying to shut me out of my own wedding?

She’s so dramatic sometimes.

Before we got married, Malcolm thought Mum would get over it fairly quickly but he doesn’t know her like I do.

I think she’ll be sulking for a while yet.

She was still grumpy when we said goodbye but I think maybe the mention of a party to celebrate with the family might have appeased her a bit.

I think she just needs to pout for a while, just to let me know she's still not happy with me. Then she'll move on.

I’m not going to let Mum ruin our honeymoon phase. I understand that she’s disappointed but it was our wedding.

Malcolm and I are so happy right now and I don’t want anyone spoiling that for us.

Posed shots:

I used that buyable sky thing for these, because the regular sky was looking really strange to me. I still think it looks weird in the photos by the water but I'm really happy with the others.

Extras:Why, thank you, game! That $10,000 will do very nicely! You might have noticed Hope and Malcolm's living room was a bit empty. That was because they had no money to decorate it. I had planned on having them take out a loan so they could fly to Cape Elizabeth but the bonus meant I didn't have to. They had plenty of money left over once they got home to spruce up the place, so the living room will look a bit different next time you see it!

Notes:
  • Title is from Mercy by Duffy.
  • Malcolm rolled the Quickie Wedding ROS this round. I was glad that I'd already written in Anna being a bit difficult during the planning process, because it made it easy to think of a reason why Hope and Malcolm might just elope!
  • Now that Hope has got herself married, I can reveal that she is supposedly Connor's best match, according to attraction scores. I actually considered getting them together for a while but I just couldn't see her with anyone but Malcolm and I couldn't see Connor with anyone at all! It wasn't until he got together with Lila that I thought a long-term relationship was a possibility for him at all. I still can't see him with Hope though! I think they'd drive each other up the wall!
  • I'm looking at Hope and Malcolm holding a reception-like party for their first anniversary, to take the place of the family wedding they didn't have. I'll probably move the Collins update to July next year (I haven't even checked when they're scheduled) and do it then.

33 comments:

  1. I had my suspicions that these two might be eloping although I have to say you hid it pretty well! I''m so happy for them and I'm glad they felt it was right for them even if Anna disapproves. Having a party to celebrate their first anniversary is a fantastic idea and should give Anna something to organise in replacement of the wedding. She does have a whole year to do it!
    I can't believe that Connor and Hope are best matches. To me that pairing seems all wrong. I think Hope would get bored by Connor and I think he would find her far to irritating. Especially when you consider how calm Lila is in comparison. This may be a silly question but how do you see who is a persons best match? I am not sure where the attraction scores are...
    Well done Malcolm for earning that bonus! It really did come at the perfect time and I can't wait to see what changes have been made to the living room. I'd love to see more of this house because I love the use of the bright colours. If I had 2 sims whose favourite colours were yellow and orange I would really struggle but it looks like you have done it yet again!

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    1. Glad I kept it sufficiently under wraps! Maisie asked me directly on Twitter the other night whether I'd been doing Malcolm and Hope's wedding and I managed to answer her truthfully without giving anything away!

      The anniversary party is definitely the route I'll be taking and I think Hope may concede a little on that and let Anna have some say, seeing there's no chance of her being able to take over the wedding any more. That ship has sailed!

      I know, right? Connor and Hope would be a terrible match. Hope's very high maintenance and I don't think Connor would have much patience for that. Not that the way Connor likes to spend his time would be all that exciting for Hope either! As far as I know, you can only see attraction scores if you have ACR. To find out Hope's attraction score for Connor, I'd make Hope selectable, click on Connor and then go to Adjust.../ACR.../Will I Woohoo? That brings up a pop-up box which tells you how likely the other sim is to accept an attempt at casual woohoo and also what their numeric attraction score is.

      Orange and yellow are challenging colours to work with! They're very citrusy, so they can seem sort of themey, which is not generally my thing. It's always easier when one sim has a neutral as their favourite colour! I'm pretty happy with how Hope and Malcolm's place has turned out though.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  2. I love how you wrote the ROS, very creative and it fits this couple, especially with Hope's mom taking over the wedding :)

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    1. Thanks, I was pretty lucky that Malcolm was the one who rolled the ROS! It kind of wrote itself, seeing Anna was already trying to assert her authority over the wedding. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  3. Your stories are so realistic, which is why I love reading them!
    I have no idea whether you (or anyone else here) has ever looked at my Sims2 blog, but my updates are mainly just reporting what's happened in my game, which is probably rather boring for most people :-)

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    1. I'm glad you enjoy them so much!

      I haven't looked at your blog but that's pretty much how this one started out - updates on what was happening in my game. It developed into something story-like without me realising it. This blog is nothing how I imagined it would be when I started but I'm happy with what it's become.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  4. Lol poor Hope! I think this ROS fit them perfectly and what an adorable wedding! I love that she was bare foot on the beach :). Anna will definitely get over it, especially once these two have a cute little baby on the way. Because that will obviously be the next thing Hope and her mother will have differing opinions on lol.

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    1. Heh, yeah, Hope had finally had enough! I'm glad you liked the wedding, sweet and simple as it was. I was happy with how it turned out but have t say I'm not especially impressed with Maxis landscaping. I'll need to fix that up. ;)

      Anna will definitely get over this with time but I'm not sure how she'll react to becoming a grandmother! We'll have to wait and see, I guess!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  5. That's great that he earned that giant bonus! I did notice their living room was in need of deco, I figured it was their budget, they've had a lot going on financially to put it into frivolous things like decorating.

    The wedding was great, and fit these two perfectly. I'm looking forward to the family celebration, and hopefully Anna will have come around to the idea. Does she roll any grandchildren wants? She doesn't necessarily seem the type to care about grandbabies, but I bet she will have an opinion on how one is raised!!

    I really like this couple, with their history, and his education/career, it's been a very realistic one, and I am happy to see them married finally! And yes, I totally don't see her with Connor at all!! That's crazy! I never saw Connor with anyone ether, figured he'd marry a townie one day, but him and Lila are too perfect together!

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    1. I was extremely happy with that bonus! The living room was driving me nuts. I had to use some selective photography to showcase the part that was actually furnished. They literally had a TV, two couches and that lamp, lol!

      I'm glad you enjoyed the wedding. It was very low key for me to play out too. I downloaded that dress a while ago thinking it would be perfect for a beach wedding. :)

      Anna is just sulking at the moment, just so Hope knows she's still in her bad books! Anna doesn't roll any grandchildren wants, though I'm expecting Emil might eventually. I think you're right though and Anna will still want to have her say with how the grandkids are raised. She and Hope are very alike in some ways but very, very different in others and I think parenting style will be one of them.

      Malcolm and Hope just work, I think, so it's hard for me to see them with anyone else. I didn't realise everyone else was so invested in them though until they broke themselves up that time and there were quite a few protests in the comments, lol! Connor and Lila and Malcolm and Hope are much better off as they are.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  6. Awww, I'm actually kind of glad they eloped! They seem so much happier without the muss and fuss of a big time wedding. I also loved that they got married on the beach. Shoes are useless. I bought a pair I wore for five minutes before taking them off. Shoes + sand = not fun!! I was married barefoot with black toenail polish. My MIL was aghast. ;)

    Oh wow, Connor and Hope?! That would have to be some kind of really crazy attraction... I really can't see her without Malcolm. I'm glad you didn't pursue it!

    Hopefully Anna gets over the drama and comes around...

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    1. Yeah, I hate being barefoot but even I hate wearing shoes in the sand. It really doesn't work well! I think the elopement suits them as well; I can't see either of them putting up with Anna's pushiness all the way to the wedding day!

      I don't even know why Connor and Hope's attraction is so high. Family and Fortune mix well but not overly so. She's really neat and playful and he's a little sloppy and quite serious. I'm baffled as to what the attraction would be. What really stopped me from letting them get together was that I couldn't think of a reason why they'd be attracted to each other. It didn't even make sense in game and it definitely didn't make sense in real world terms!

      Anna can deal. ;) She's so fussy that she must be used to things not being done exactly as she'd like them, lol!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  7. This was a really lovely wedding.I didn't know you had another wedding so soon.You're really good at incorporating the ROS into your updates.I'm glad it worked out this way for the couple---it's their wedding day and I'm glad they celebrated it in a way that makes them happy.Atleast the mom can be sort of content with maybe helping with the anniversary dinner celebration next year.Hopefully Anna is over it by then, I mean she did bring this on herself.

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    1. I kept this one a secret, because it was an ROS. ;) I was dying to talk about it with someone while I was planning it though, lol!

      Malcolm and Hope were happy with their wedding and that's the most important thing. The anniversary celebration will have to be good enough for the rest of the family. If Anna is lucky, Hope might let her help plan. ;) And yes, she did bring it all on herself, not that she'd admit that!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  8. Carl what year in game, did Sullivan begin as some people who died such as Pascal Lachance were born in the 1900s. Just wondered as it is very confusing

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  9. Me again
    I am so sorry I mosprinted your name.
    I am the girl from the previous comment.

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    1. No worries. :)

      I don't know how far back you've read but I didn't always track years in Sullivan. I was many rounds in before I switched to this style of play. So when I switched, I just made the game year the same as what the year was then, which was 2009. But doing some quick calculations, I guess that would make Sullivan's founding date around 1919?

      I wish I'd done the dates from the start and just began at 2008. But the system looked so confusing to me back then and I wasn't game to try it!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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    2. Thank you. I really enjoy your work. It`s very entertaining. I live in Scotland so our time`s a bit different to your`s. I love Sullivan. I`m only on Round 24 so I have lots of material. I have only started reading it last Sataurday. You are my idol. Thank you very much for answering my question.

      Lots of love
      Anon

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    3. No problem at all. Just so you know, you can post questions in whatever post you like - you don't need to go to the most recent one. I get e-mail notifications on all comments, so I'll definitely see it, no matter where you put it. :)

      Glad you're enjoying Sullivan and thanks again for reading!

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  10. I read your blog long ago with pleasure and admire. Your blog made carefully and with such love. Sullivan's and them neighbors inspired me to a new playstyle. Unfortunately my English is not good to write in English, but I'm glad I can read the Sullivan's, Apple Valley's and Wellington's stories :)
    Grateful for sharing your interesting ideas!

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    1. What a sweet comment! Thank you, I'm so happy you enjoy reading Sullivan. I'm sure your English skills are better than my skills in either of my other languages. I would never attempt to read a blog in Italian or French.

      Thanks again for reading and commenting!

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  11. What a beautiful wedding. I like smaller weddings anyway. They are way less complicated! I'm sure her mother will come around eventually. I liked the part with two tourists as witnesses. Cute and realistic!

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    1. True, the smaller weddings are very stress-free, aren't they? I wouldn't want to do them all the time though. I would miss having the bridal parties and all the family around. :) Glad you enjoyed the wedding!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  12. I really loved that they eloped! I can imagine it all getting a little bit too much with Anna trying to let them have the wedding she wants instead of what they want! I'm sure Anna will get over the fact that she wasn't at her daughter's wedding, at least one day.
    They both looked great, and despite the fact that they didn't have a lot of time, they seemed to have had a really nice time!

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    1. Eloping definitely guaranteed that Anna could not interfere in any way, so mission accomplished there! I think Anna is more upset about being intentionally shut out of the planning process than she is about not being at the wedding. Helping plan the anniversary party might be a nice compromise for her.

      It was so tempting to choose a more elaborate gown for Hope but I had to remind myself to keep it simple! She would have had to buy it at short notice and get it on a plane, so it had to be a low-key sort of thing. I like how the couple looked on their big day, in the end. Glad you did too. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  13. I don't blame them for eloping at all! that was the perfect ROS for Malcolm to roll. And good for Hope, not letting Anna bring her down. Sometimes you just have to let your mother throw her fit and ignore it as best you can until she can be civil again. Here's to hoping that Anna doesn't boss her way into helping Hope organize the party next year.

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    1. I really couldn't believe my luck that the sim who rolled that ROS was not only already engaged but already running into the kinds of issues with wedding planning that would make someone want to elope! A real stroke of luck, that was!

      Hope is well used to Anna by this point, though this is probably one of her bigger tantrums. She'll get over it and I think Hope will likely let her help plan the anniversary party a little, just to smooth things over.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  14. Oh wow! They eloped! And you know I didn’t even notice that she had a wedding band on when you posted that pic on Tumblr! I was waiting for this ROS to pop up but didn’t even think of these 2. It definitely fits, though. Man, I would be terrified if Anna was my mom and had “shut her out” like Hope did lol. But they had to do what’s best for them and they had a beautiful wedding day, even if she didn’t have any shoes. I like that she got married barefoot. My husband forgot his shoes on our wedding day so I can definitely believe Hope forgetting hers, especially with limited time to pack. I really, really like their wedding pics.

    And congrats to Malcolm on the bonus. Again, perfect timing. You did some creative photographing again because their living room didn’t look too bare to me! But I know it’ll look even nicer now that they have some spare cash to add some deco to the walls.

    LOL on the Connor and Hope thing. No way could I see that happening. ACR scores definitely don’t mean everything! I’m happy with the pairings as is and I know you are, too. Maybe it’s just a physical attraction between Hope and Connor. Maybe Hope is secretly attracted to nerdy, but hot guys. Malcolm certainly doesn’t look as studious as Connor but he is a doctor.

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    1. LOL, I thought for sure someone was going to notice the wedding band and ask! Hope's a pretty feisty girl herself and has been dealing with Anna all her life, so she's past being frightened of her now! She just handles her as best she can. They had the wedding they wanted and that's the most important thing for Hope and Malcolm.

      I'm quite lucky with the bonuses lately! I hope that luck continues until I next play Evan and Ione - they could really use a big bonus! But yes, so glad Hope and Malcolm's house is "done" now. The next time they have to add anything, it'll be a nursery, for the eventual baby (Hope already has the want!)

      I can barely even imagine Hope and Connor being physically attracted to each other but it makes more sense that imagining them being drawn together by any other quality! Studiousness...maybe. Malcolm is actually quite studious but he has that playful side as well that's a better match for Hope. Connor and Hope would be just the oddest pairing. I'm glad she has Malcolm and he has Lila - they make more sense.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  15. Holy crap, I just can't believe they eloped. But I can't blame them for doing so; Anna was being a bear. And I can't even remember what Anna got married in, and there's no way I'm going to go all the way back to see! When they mentioned it, I immediately liked the idea and hoped they would. Barefoot wedding in a tropical paradise versus a mother poking her head into my business every step of the way? Book my flight.
    "Now that Hope has got herself married, I can reveal that she is supposedly Connor's best match, according to attraction scores."
    WHAT. I think you just made my brain explode. That makes no sense anywhere. Malcolm's the only person willing and able to put up with Hope. As someone said, she's high-maintenance and he's even-keeled. Connor, on the other hand, would be ready to strangle her. He's a bit high strung himself and it's a good thing Lila came along for him.

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    1. I'm glad I could surprise people! Anna's dress was very pretty but nothing like what I saw Hope getting married in. I link to weddings in each sim's profile, by the way, so it's not as tedious as you might think to find them, should you ever want to look back! But yes, Hope and Malcolm's wedding day was stress-free in a way it probably wouldn't have been with Anna around!

      LOL, yeah, I was pretty sure no one would think Hope and Connor had missed their one true loves by sticking with Malcolm and Lila! They'd be an awful match. I don't think Connor would deal well with Hope at all. Lila is very grounded and complements Connor better than anyone else could.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  16. Ooh, very cool! I love how well the quickie wedding worked here.

    Connor with Hope?! No way! The game is so funny.

    I'm glad they got the wedding they wanted. :)

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    1. It was a very lucky ROS! I'm not sure what I would have done if I'd rolled it for a single sim. It certainly would have been interesting!

      I know, Connor and Hope...the mind boggles. I don't think they would have worked together at all!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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