Joint Parenting

The twins are about to age up to toddlers, and Jack and Jasmine are hoping to start sleeping through the night again!  They had several great bonding moments, though, when they would each play with a baby at the same time and then trade.  Also, Jack would often hold one of the girls and bring her over to listen to mommy play the guitar.

Since Jasmine is part of the bloodline now, having spawned the yet-to-be-determined heir, her portrait is worth a point!  She managed to finish a self-portrait in between diapers and bottles.

Jack has saved several sims, put out many fires and caught his fair share of gnomes (omg, I love gnome invasions!), so he's raking in a fair amount of money now.  He was finally able to finish the greenhouse he built for his dear wife.  Now she just needs to find the time to tend to her plants!

Next post should have toddlers in it!  I was able to get some cute girl's clothing by coming in second place in a contest (thank you, Bloo!), and I'm looking forward to when they're old enough to wear it.  You may notice that some of the patterns in the house have changed and Jasmine no longer has her pretty nightgown (last seen when she was vomiting in the toilet).  I reinstalled my game and am trying to keep my CC low, particularly patterns which bog down my Create-A-Style.  I do want that nightgown back, but I have to figure out where it is!

Scorecard

Previous Points: 3
Portrait of Jasmine Rackham: +1

New Point Total: 4

Babies everywhere!

Jack and Jasmine tied the knot the very next day.  They invited all of Jack's acquaintances, and the party was an epic hit.

Jasmine brought even more to the relationship than Jack had hoped for.  She had 5,000 simoleons and also brought another 1,500 or so in gifts.  She also turned out to be a level 6 or so painter... so she immediately started working on his portrait.  It ended up looking a little weird, so she did a second one, too.

 

Jack and Jasmine focused on their careers at first.  She wanted a greenhouse for gardening, so they slowly made enough money to build one.  Jack's commercial really helped out since he was paid 5,000 for it.  He also reverted to a few older money making habits and encountered his second love... a sports car.  This one is staying with him.

But when Jack realized it was his birthday soon, he also found out that Jasmine was a bit older than he was and only had 10 days before she aged up to elderly.  They got on with the baby making as soon as he took the fertility reward!

Although he was betting 5,000 Lifetime Happiness points on having a boy, Jack ended up with two girls!  He named them after the famous Anne Bonney, a female pirate.  Little Bonnie was born first and was automatically given the Virtuoso trait.  I was able to pick her family trait of Loves the Outdoors.  Anne wasn't quite so lucky.  She was automatically given the family trait, so I had to let the dice roll determine her next trait... which was Insane.  *laughs*  Ah, I was all set to make Bonnie the heir, and now I'm not so sure.  We'll have to see what happens as they grow up.

Well, Jack has already had his first interrupted night taking care of the girls while he let his wife sleep.  It'll be interesting to see how they balance gaining wealth and taking care of twins at the same time.

Scorecard

Previous Points: 1
Portrait of Jack Rackham: +1
Generation 2 Born: +1

New Point Total: 3

Crime Spree

The first week on the job has been a tiring one for Jack, but he's gained some skills and saved some lives.  People didn't appear to notice that when there was a fire put out in a neighborhood, a car would mysteriously go missing from the area that evening.

 

Jack finally had enough money to spruce up his house a bit, like putting the toilet in a separate room, so it was time to move onto his love life.  Time to find Mrs. Rackham!  He seemed to be hitting it off with a coworker...

but then he saved Miss Jasmine from her house fire (started by incense, apparently... ditz) and was smitten.  After just a couple words, their relationship had jumped higher than any other he had.  The next morning, she called to say Hi.  Even though he missed the call, he managed to return it later in the day.  That afternoon, she invited him over to a party.  The next evening, they met at the beach and I found out why they seemed to fall for each other so quickly... apparently she shares his family trait!

Then she fell for the old "I'm a firefighter" line.

Jack managed to get his second celebrity star along with his first kiss because they were being hounded by paparazzi.

Jasmine quickly agreed to spend the night, and they fell asleep cuddling.

How to survive with no furniture

I dispensed with Jack's excess money by making him a partner at Hogan's.  It seemed appropriate as it's a beach diner in a boat and Jack lives next door and is an angler.  He can supply them with fish.  Also, he never has to pick up the money once it comes available, or can at least wait until it's negligible to his finances.

With the remaining money, I was able to build this home for him.  It's meant to look like a beached boat :) and doesn't have any furniture.  It doesn't even have wall or floor coverings on the inside!

With 67 simoleons to his name, I sent Jack out to fulfill his wish of becoming a firefighter.  Not sure how it fits with his traits, but he wanted it, so he's got it.  I made him do some weight lifting to get ahead on his skills, but I didn't let him learn the athletic skill.  I figured he'd get a wish for it later, and I was right.  I let him shower at the fire station since he doesn't own one yet.

Afterward, he wanted to go fishing.  We tried fishing in the ocean, but he couldn't catch anything.  We headed over to a pond and he had a bit more luck.  Still, he made a pretty picture fishing in the ocean.

It was evening by the time Jack finished fishing and he was practically starving.  He doesn't own anything to eat and I don't think raw minnow would cut it, so I let him mooch off of the fire station again.

Two houses down there was a nice house with a fancy car outside... and evil Jack had some itchy fingers.  With the updated Legacy rules, he can sell what he steals, so Jack was suddenly almost 3,000 simoleons richer.

I used all except 300 simoleons to furnish his home according to his wishes.  He wanted a refrigerator, stove and bed, and I finished it off with some floor and wall coverings and a light so that he wouldn't whine at me.  The stove and fridge are victorian skins of the cheapest appliances, so they're not great quality, but I splurged a bit on the bed.  It's not the best he could get, but it's good quality and a nice bed is a good investment for a sim.  It makes everything else easier to do since they get more rest for their time.

At the end of the day, Jack's better off than when he started.  I don't think he's doing too bad so far.  I doubt I'll make my regular updates as in depth as this, one post dedicated to one day, but I've found that it's addictive to take pictures of all the cute little things he does.  I already had to veto using the picture of him riding around in a taxi.  He's just so cute in his little hat!  *laughs*

I almost forgot to add...

Points
+1 point for Generation 1

Total points: 1

Founder's Day!

Today I create my founder for the legacy!  I had to commit to a particular challenge so that I could start the sim off in the appropriate circumstances.  I really like some of the newer legacy models, particularly "All My Wishes" by buckeygirl80 over at http://buckeygirl80.blogspot.com/p/intro-and-rules.html.  But I think it may be a bit much for me to take on as my first legacy challenge, so we're going traditional with the rules outlined at http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/39862.page.  I'm still getting familiar with them, particularly with the ways in which sims can gain points.  We'll see how well I keep score!

Since my story is based around what I call a "pirate baron" family, in which their original wealth was made not-so-honestly, I've chosen Barnacle Bay as the hosting town.  My founder is named Jack Rackham in honor of Calico Jack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calico_Jack).   With the last name Rackham, I can one day have a Mazer and have a little homage to Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game.

The only problem I've run into so far is that I can't find a large empty lot in Barnacle Bay worth the amount specified in the rules ($14,700).  I haven't checked the referenced lots from the original towns to see if there's something special about them, but the rules only mention large, empty and expensive.  I've used the built in editing tool to create as large a lot as possible, but it still costs only slightly over $8,000.  Since the spirit is that the found only has $1,300 to build their house, I think I may just buy some useless items or try to find a way to get rid of the excess money in a way that isn't too beneficial.  Too bad he's not a Good sim; then I could just donate it away!

Ah yes, the traits.  Let's get to the meat of the post.  Meet my own dear Captain Jack.  I've chosen the family trait Loves the Outdoors so that all descendants will have a connection with their pirate ancestor.  Jack is also Ambitious, an Angler, and an Evil Kleptomaniac.  His main goal in life is to make money, and he doesn't care how he does it.  Hence, his lifetime wish is Living in the Lap of Luxury (have 100,000 simoleons).  His favorite food is Grilled Salmon, his favorite music is Chinese, and his favorite color is Red.  He's an Aries, just like me. :)  Also, I gave him a low sensuous voice and expect to give him the Master of Seduction trait at some point.  He wants to have little Jacks all over the place.  :-o

Here are some pics of my tasty pirate.

And here he is at his new home on Barnacle Bay beach.  He has nothing so far and he wants to be a firefighter!  I don't know whether to grant it to him or force him into being a criminal, but I think I'll let him do what he wants provided it stays within the rules of the legacy and leads to him spreading his seed around (in his house... maybe).

I've so excited!  I have to finish a video for a house I'm submitting to a contest, but after that I can play with Jack. >:-)

To start a legacy...

I've never looked into the Sims 3 legacy challenges before, most likely because I have an attention span of 1 sim generation.  I will extend that sim's life, but I have a hard time wanting to deal with even virtual children and I can barely stand getting them to teenager before choosing to start over with another single sim.  However, I have one family that I've really gotten into recently.  I love them so much that I actually want to see what their children turn out like.  So far, they're adorable.  I dress them in bear and fairy outfits and the little girl wants to sell baked goods every day.  The father wants her to grow up to be a genius, and I can't decide whether to make him proud or to take her in another direction.  Genius really didn't factor into my plans for her, but the dad has worked so hard at her education!

I went on a not so slight tangent there, but the point is that I think I'm ready to tackle a legacy challenge now.  That family won't do, not just because of where they live and how much money I've given them but also because the mother is a ghost and all children are post-ghost births.  Should I start the legacy family with my saved version of the mother from when I originally made her?  She is the sweetest sim I've ever made.  She's a small town girl making it big in the city.  But I'm leaning towards starting an entirely new sim for an entirely new family and story.

The idea I have in my mind, what I want to end up with, is a wealthy family who have "rascally" ancestors.  You know the kind of rascals I'm talking about... the ones who had nothing and stole and scraped for every simoleon, maybe did a few (or not so few) unsavory things.  But generations down the line, the only thing that matters is the wealth they "acquired" and that it keeps growing each generation.  And voilà, you have nobility.  I'm thinking we'll start with a klepto and see how it develops.  I'm thinking of going with the Family Trait option but not forcing the sex of the heir.

*squeals*  Oh, I'm so excited!  I'm not quite certain how much people document these things, but I'll try to record my story with some pictures.  I'm no serial snapper, though, so don't expect a damn photo journal.  :)