I had no idea how difficult it is for loner Sims to meet somebody to get together with! Being a loner myself, you’d think I’d remember all the awkward conversations back when I was trying to meet somebody, but that was a long time ago.
From childhood, we tried to have Acacia meet others.
“No, I’m not looking over there at the ‘unicorm’.”
On her first outing, she played chess with Colt Lozano. I started getting my hopes up–look! A cute boy! With a great name! And he’s playing chess! But soon their conversation went south.
Colt grew up to be one of those guys who sleeps in the park after a hard night partying.
Colt, I think there are programs for guys like you.
Then, there was Paris, who transformed into a teen before our very eyes and has been a close family friend ever since.
“Hey, are you Mesquite’s sister?”
And there’s Baby Babcock, also a friend from way back.
“Oh, man. He was like my second dad. Or I mean, since I live with two moms, he was like my dad I never knew. Not that I really knew him all that well. But now I’ll never get to!”
Though Acacia has been friends with Paris since they met, she still hasn’t really taken to Baby, even though he was hanging out when Timothy met the Reaper. Acacia still gets the Stranger negative moodlet when Baby comes around. And he comes over nearly every day!
“La, la, la. I’ll just pretend he’s not there. Maybe if I ignore Baby, he’ll go away.”
Mesquite was so busy making friends as a child to try to fulfill his social butterfly aspiration (not a success), that we didn’t even think about having him meet girls until he became a teen.
Since this is an exemplar legacy (which means that if either child carries the family trait–goofball, in this case–then that child is the heir), I wouldn’t know which of the siblings would be the heir until after Mesquite became an adult. If neither has the trait, then it falls to the eldest.
At the park, I got an idea for a twist to the exemplar rule: what if one of the siblings meets and gets involved with someone who has the goofball trait! Then, they could pass the torch through their partner!
Here’s the girl who gave me that idea. When I first spotted her, she was making the book talk like a puppet! Just cracked me up!
“BlebleblebleBLA!”
She and Mesquite really seemed to hit it off and became friends and lovebirds within a few short exchanges. But then she must have been a little too forward, for they kept getting negative romance interactions until they became “Just Friends.”
So much for my scheming.
“Yeah, I don’t really think she’s legacy material.”
Acacia and Mesquite, though always putting on a brave face in spite of orange plumbobs, were really having a tough time trying to keep the house together without Mom and Dad. Things kept breaking. Dirty dishes piled up. Toilets and showers needed cleaning. Timothy’s garden was dying. And nobody had trimmed the bonsai since Grimmy did when he stopped by for his appointments with Timothy and Cedar.
I feel for you, kid.
Acacia was advancing in her career, and Mesquite was working his way towards an A, but daily matters were falling apart.
Drastic times require drastic measures. Acacia hired a maid.
And met him.
“Where did you say you went to college?”
They really seemed to hit it off! He was embarrassed, so I could tell right away that he shared the loner trait. And they really seemed to like each other. And Acacia was so into him!
Soon it was time for Mesquite’s YA birthday party–let’s invite the maid! Oh, shoot. You can’t invite service people in TS4. Bummer.
We invited the usual crew. Paris, Baby, even Colt Lozano, who brought along his mom and sister. By now, word has gotten out that the parties at Cradle Rock really rock, so lots of uninvited guests show up, which is cool, because Acacia and Cedar each know maybe five people. (Loners-yup.)
I hope you’re wishing for a girlfriend, Mesquite!
Mesquite rolled “lazy” for his adult trait. Lazy? Really? It’s so not him! I figured that the hardships of being an orphaned teen led him to value a little relaxation. And he did work so hard during his teen years that I won’t begrudge him some couch-time as an adult.
I figured the household could use a little more help, so we asked Paris to move in. After all, he hangs out every day.
He’s a hot-head, neat, and childish. Since he practically adopted the Boughs as his own family, I figured that he had a poor relationship with his own family, but it turns out he was really close to his mom and sister, and once he moved in, they came over every day!
“So, Ma, what do you think of my new place?”
More potential friends for Mesquite, who as a loner striving for “Friend of the World” could use all the help he could get.
I also thought that once Paris moved in, he might develop into a romantic potential for Acacia. I was itching to see what his wishes were.
They had more to do with talking to his best friend Dino than to Acacia.
“Little pink llama, you’re as cute as my mama!”
I was waiting for the maid to return. Seems Maids-R-Us has a “no fraternizing” rule, for Acacia’s friend didn’t return. But the guy they did send seemed all right, and he and Acacia felt a few sparks!
“Oh, yeah? You went to an Ivy League school?”
Alas, he was also never to return.
All too soon, it was time for Acacia’s adult birthday party. Mesquite threw it and invited all the young men he knew. Plus all the young women he knew. Plus a few others. So, maybe five people were invited.
I hope you’re wishing for boyfriend, Acacia!
The party was great, and we were really ticking off all the little party accomplishments, on our way to gold, when we got to the “Have three Sims become playful” task. Not a problem–we’ve got “My Sims” dolls, even Zombie Carl. Since Acacia and Paris were sitting outside, I brought out two dolls and “enabled emotions.” I’d read at Pinstar’s tips that the outside really disperses the power of emotion-objects, so I figured we’d need two.
“Oh! Ha! Oh! Ack! Hack! Attack!”
Until Acacia stood up. So very confident –> So very playful –> Hysterical. Sure enough, her confidence had become hubris.
What? Wait! It’s your birthday! You’re the heir! You can’t do this!
She did.
“No! Acacia! Don’t go!”
Well, at least I could see who really cared about her. Paris wept buckets. Baby cried, too, but then he’d also witnessed Timothy’s death, so I think it was bringing up past trauma.
“Pretty please?”
Mesquite sauntered out (Run, dufous, run!) and had a word with Grimmy.
“Yeah. Ok. I’ve got another gig across the street at the Callahan’s later today. I guess I could let this one go.”
Whew!
The party earned a gold medal, anyway, and Acacia got another chance to talk with Grim.
Yowsers!
Acacia, are you flirting with Grimmy?
I’ve never seen her this into anyone else.
At the park, Acacia met someone intriguing. Since she always seemed to have a thing for Grim, I thought she might enjoy talking with this guy. But he must be evil, for he started being really mean.
“Like, I’m into the whole death thing.”
When Acacia was baking a cake for Paris’s adult birthday party, I noticed that Acacia had become as wide as the fridge.
Literally. As wide as the fridge.
“Life of the mind,” Acacia said, with self-assurance. But you’re a gym rat!
It was time for change.
That’s Max Ernst she’s working out with, another single guy that comes over every day, but that she’s just not into.
And a make-over
Is that your mom’s old flirty hat you’re wearing with that new outfit?
And a night on the town, alone.
She met a cute guy at the library, and he seemed self-assured like she is. But they got into an argument about Pi and he stormed off.
The trainer at the gym was really nice.
And then she met this guy who was running on the treadmill. They did an endurance run together. His name is Kyler, and I forgot to take photos. I was just so surprised at how well they got along.
She and Kyler talked all night. And really quickly, she found out his traits: Cheerful, Active, Foodie.
Wow, Acacia! He sounds like a winner!
“Ok. I flirted. Now let me go clean the fridge.”
Acacia kept wanting to go into the observatory–alone–to watch stars. Or she wanted to clean out the fridge. Or maybe play a few video games. Anything but hang out with Kyler. But he was really nice. And she did seem to enjoy the conversation.
And at this time I realized: maybe it doesn’t always have to be magic. Maybe it’s ok just to find a pleasant Sim who can contribute something to the household, and perhaps find a little happiness in doing so, and produce an heir or two.
Maybe that’s all it takes.
Relationships like Cedar and Timothy’s happen only now and then. Maybe it’s ok if those perfect matches don’t happen in every generation. Maybe just being kind to each other and treating each other well is ok.
“But hey! You don’t even know me yet! Give me a chance. ‘Cacia and I might make beautiful music together yet.”
Cathy Tea's SimLit Anthology 