Saturday, January 19, 2013

Chatper 1.20


Chapter 1.20- Not On Your Life


Reeling her first fish in is a thrill Phedra will never let herself forget. It doesn’t matter at all that it’s simply a minnow, and a tiny one at that. To her, it’s symbolic of all the fish she’ll catch in the rest of her life. It’s also the fish she’s going to put in Cyrus’ pillowcase when he’s not looking.

                She puts the minnow in her bucket quickly to cast her line again. She must catch many more fish, and quickly.

                “How many have you caught, so far?” Phedra calls along the bank. Cyrus isn’t too far away, their mom made them promise to keep close to one another before they came out. Today was the first fishing trip they had taken without an adult present. Both of them felt very grown up.




                Cyrus smiles lazily, tugging on his line a little to make the bait dance and flash for the fish.
                “I’ve caught two trout and a goldfish,” Cyrus calls back to his little sister. “The fish are biting really good today.”




                “I’ve caught 4 minnows, 2 goldfish, and a trout,” Phedra calls back, triumph dripping from her words. “And I’ll say they’re biting good! I can’t believe I’ve caught so many so quickly!”
                Suddenly, Cyrus’ day is clouded. He doesn’t want to fish anymore. How is it that Phedra can catch so much more than he can?

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                Buck is shocked by the morning conversation.
                “If you’re finished with your breakfast, you need to get up and wash your dishes,” Phedra sounds SO much like Helen. “That’s all I’m saying, Dad! It’s just not fair that someone has to clean up behind you!”



                How is it that Helen has managed to sound and look just like Phedra even while she sits right next to him?
                Out of the corner of her eye, Helen catches sight of Buck’s face.
                “She’s got a point, dear,” Helen chuckles.




                Buck calms down hearing her laugh. Standing up though, he decides his family is conspiring against him that day.
                “So when do I get my birthday cake?” Cyrus asks his mom eagerly. He can’t wait to be a teenager and leave Phedra in his dust for once.





                Buck closes his eyes, shaking his head. There is no way his little buddy is about to be a teenager. Nope. Never. He refuses to see it.
 Helen sighs. For her, it’s incredibly hard to know that she’s old enough to have a teenager.



                “Oh, for PlumbBob’s sake, Buck,” Helen’s voice is sharp. “Breathe! Dammit!”
                “Dad,” Cyrus’ voice is small. Buck was frightening him. “Dad, are you ok?”
                “He’s fine,” Helen snaps as Buck finally reopens his eyes. “He just panicked over your birthday.”




                “Why would Cyrus’ birthday scare Daddy?” Phedra is keeping a sharp eye on Buck, afraid she’ll miss something.
                “Because he doesn’t want to believe that Cyrus will be getting older,” Helen answers.
                Buck’s fright has made Cyrus nervous and edgy. Is being a teenager so awful that it frightens people? He’s seen the teenagers at school and has to admit that the bigger kids are certainly intimidating.




                “Will I be scary just because I’m older?” Cyrus asks Helen.
                She doesn’t use the sharp tone she used to admonish Buck with. Instead, Helen softens her voice and looks tenderly at her baby boy.
                “No, sweetie,” Helen says. “Daddy is just thinking of how little you used to be, and how much you’ve grown. He’s just worried that you might grow up too fast. And he’s totally OVERREACTING to it all. Ignore him. Go wash your hands. The bus will be here soon.”
                Cyrus still keeps an eye on the very concerned looking Buck. He doesn’t want to disappoint him, but he can’t wait to be a teenager and do all the fun teenager things he’s seen others do. Also, his best friend Olivia has already aged up and he’s ready to hang out with her at school again.




                A few minutes later, and Buck is still standing in the kitchen watching memories of Cyrus float by when the bus arrives. He can’t believe the boy he’s raised as a son is getting to be so old. Where did all the time go?

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                Opening the door after school, there is a table and cake waiting for Cyrus. It only takes him a moment to decide that he wants to blow out his candles sooner rather than later.
                “Mom!” Cyrus calls excitedly, going to stand by the cake. Helen is most likely doing something with the twins. “Mom! It’s my birthday!”
                Cyrus is pleasantly surprised to see that Phedra is already waiting. Patiently waiting at that. Maybe they can be a little better friends once he’s a teenager.




                With the older members of his family surrounding him and cheering him on, Cyrus really feels important. It almost feels like he’s about to take a big step into the unknown.
                Making his wish, he blows the candles out, enjoying being the total center of attention.

                He first feels it right along his neck. Glowing, burning, stretching, pulling. If it weren’t so brief growing up would be excruciating.


                As it is, this humiliation is excruciating enough.
                Behind him, he hears his mother’s gasp of laughter.
                “Oh, Cyrus!” She barely manages to choke out between peals that ring and mingle with Phedra’s startled “Ha!” and Buck’s horrified gasp.
                “Geez, mom,” Cyrus rolls his eyes. “Let me finish.”

                And Cyrus enters his teenage years with his mother’s laughter still ringing… along with her phone.




                “Geez, Mom,” Cyrus doesn’t think there is anything funny with the final product standing before Helen. “Way to make a guy feel good about himself.”
                Helen still giggles.
                “Please,” Cyrus pleads. “Please drop it.”


                “Not on your life!” Helen snorts.

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                So I feel like I’m a horrible person to my sims that I’d use that picture, but between the awful EA outfit, shoes, and hair for poor Cyrus and the look on Helen’s face, I couldn’t resist. Besides, it fits their relationship really well.
                FWIW- when I originally rolled this generation ‘Born With It’ was still in the rules (For those who don’t know, you couldn’t use a mirror or dresser to change your sims looks from what they aged up into.) And I had rolled it for this generation. I was really not looking forward to it, but there was a vote very shortly before I actually started playing this Legacy that cut it. I’m so glad it was cut. So is Cyrus. lol

16 comments:

  1. Oh, poor Cyrus, ageing up into that outfit! I'm very relieved for him that we did get rid of "born with it". Also, Buck's reaction to the prospect of Cyrus becoming a teenager was priceless

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    1. My jaw dropped when I saw him in that. I couldn't get CAS open fast enough! Buck will never embrace change. lol. Change is scary. :D

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  2. AhHAHAHAAAAA!!!! Cyrus looked like a right eejit when he aged up. What a dork.
    Looks a lot better now though, and I'm glad they got rid of born with it too! I have some bad CC lurking somewhere (seriously can't find it) and it makes sims have invisible body parts, so I would freak out, as almost all my sims have managed to wear this 'invisible' top/trousers/shoes upon aging up... One of my sims naked outfit is a floating head. Makes me lol whenever she has a shower.

    Anyway, loved everyone ganging up on Buck, was hilarious. I also noticed he didn't clear his plate in the end though. But I suppose he was freaking out. Does he spend his whole life pulling faces? :|

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    1. I know... poor Cyrus. And with his jowls he looked really awful.
      Buck doesn't do it ALL the time, but he does it a LOT. I've had a hard time sometimes getting him to NOT look terrified. Like I've had to tweak his motives to get him to smile for a change. And with the story line coming up, he's going to be pulling those terror eyes a quite a bit. However, I've just downloaded Misukisu's poseplayer add-on and there's a chance I'll just use that to change his expression. Maybe I should send him to the spa to get him to relax. lol

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  3. LMFAO! I bet Buck pooped his pants when Cyrus aged up into that bear suit (or whatever it is). hahahaha.

    And Phedra will be next...sigh...seems like only a few days ago she was a toddler ;)

    I didn't know that about the rule of not using a dresser....I'm glad they changed that. With the primitive theme of my story, I *have* to change their clothes. I probably won't mess with genetics, other than occasionally hair. I've always wished that children's hair color genetics could also include chance of a "blend" of their parent's hair. So sometimes I blend them myself.

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    1. OMG ITA. I've got a mod that rules out the mutations, but still... an actual BLEND of coloring would be FANTASTIC. I've done it myself a few times too. Obviously I couldn't do it with these two. The result just would have been... odd.
      Haha. I tend to rush through Toddler and infant stages unless there is something MAJOR about the kids. And normally I don't even do so much with the child stage. So... yup! A few days ago is about right! lol

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  4. Oh, haha, Born with It would have been torture on Cyrus.
    I'm glad we ditched that rule too. I have too much medieval and tribal CC from my other stories, and I get some really bizarre age up outfits. admittedly, though, nothing as funny as Cyrus'.
    I loved Helen's reaction to that.
    And Buck is, as eve,r adorable.

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    1. If EA hadn't had costumes or their parts random it might not have been quite so bad. Maybe. lol. And TBH I have no idea how I would have written that to fit the story. Suddenly he wanted to be a child again? who never cuts his hair or wears socks? Helen's reaction would have been me. I'm horrible at laughing at my kids. However, they are quite comfortable laughing at me too. Which makes me happy.

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  5. Just because I'm a jerk, I KIND OF wish we'd kept Born With It. Just to see Cyrus the teddy bear. All the time. LMAO. That pic made my day.

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    1. I laughed at loud when he popped out looking like that too. And Helen's expression just makes it all the funnier.

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  6. Oh, poor Cyrus! Pffft... LMAO How lucky he was allowed to change outfit, it would have been torture to spend his teen years dressed in that... thing!

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    1. Yes! I will be eternally grateful for that rule change. lol

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  7. Lol, in all my simming, I have never seen a more atrocious age-up outfit! Lol. I love that you shared it! :)

    Also, curious if Cyrus and Phedra are going to get along better now that he's a teenager. I have a feeling Phedra is a force to be reckoned with! I foresee him being more annoyed that she's a KID and beating him. :) Hehehe

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  8. Poor Cyrus! He... I could NOT keep that ponytail off of him. He died with it when I finally gave up fixing it. lol

    Phedra wants to go out and be the best at everything. Cyrus kind of stumbles along and is lucky most people ignore him. Bless him. lol

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  9. Ahahahahahahahahaha Poor Cyrus!
    Ugh! I'm so glad they cut born with it too. My 2nd gen heir for the Rose legacy had the game constantly putting him with girl hair. When he aged to toddler, he was in a dress! It was a girlie outfit for child too. I think it was trying to tell me something, but I ignored it! That was not the character I needed for gen 2.
    Still! What a cute teddy bear! Awwwwwww. And Helen's look was perfect.

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    1. Poor Cyrus indeed. I seriously wish I'd known about the whole Overwatch Purge Genetic Hair option prior. Poor guy died with that hair after I got tired of constantly fixing it for him. lol.

      Oh no! Hahaha! How funny! Sometimes the game just *knows* man... lol.

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