THIS is freaking awesome. Maybe I'm a sap, but there's such an unrestrained joy in it that I couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear.

I still have the two party houses in the main hood to play before winter is officially over but I wanted to do something different tonight so I decided to go ahead and send the first wave of teens on to UNI.  There's only three so far and only one of them actually counts as generation seven.    Blade is technically generation four, Diana isn't actually part of any generation since she's not a descendant but she's an honorary generation six, which leaves it to Eureka to be the first generation seven to make it on campus.

I'll probably do a Teen *Headdesk* season finale over the weekend sometime with the end of the season and graduation parties the anticipated drama started to occur.  I'm really kind of interested in how BFF states effect ACR acceptance, I haven't seen anyone turn anyone else down even if they were at -64/-70 as long as they were BFF's.  I'm also getting a good laugh over my first truly nice sims and their autonomous apologizing - no one wants to stay mad at anyone else

Here 'tis!

PB

I have all the pictures taken and even mostly sorted, so there will be an update anywhere from *very* late this evening to tomorrow sometime--4th of July at the latest.

PB

I don't really have any outtakes to show off for the last chapter, but I do have this. Johnson really did want Gaz to be dead. He wanted her to be more than dead. :P Of course I would have written it like that even if they were still in WHEE HAPPY AMAZING LOVE!!1!, but hey.

( moar moar moar )

housematehorror
Horror stories from the world of shared living spaces. EEK!

I'm crossing my fingers that I'm almost done with the births for this generation.   I'm at 59 generation sevens with three (?) births (including my spare) planned for spring.  While there's still a chance for some families to toss me a few more the odds are getting fairly slim.  Other than the shear number of children produced I'm fairly happy with the child count and ratio.   With 31 houses in play 65ish kids isn't all that extreme, the largest family has four children and there are a few with three but most seem to be happy with just one or two.  My problem at the moment is I'm in a twin rut as you'll see in a little bit.  I think that I only had eight births in the winter season and four of them were twins.  Yeah scary. 

As a side note next generation the naming theme for the hood is tossed out the window.  I'll probably do F names for the first cousins but everyone else will get something either from the used letters or from the second half of the alphabet.   I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel at the moment for E's and it's getting pretty silly.  I'm trying to think of nicknames for a lot of the kids since their names all seem so similar there just aren't that many variations.  Evan, Evander, Ewan.  Elise, Elisha, Elysia, Elizabeth

My next few chapters may get a little plotty, which means that the baby boom portions of the storyline may get cut back to bare minimum as I try to wrap up a few things and work with the kids that already have personalities (at least in my mind) and happenings.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing I've already had two chapters of baby boom it's time to move on.    But there are a few kids that I'd like everyone to meet and so we have livejournal.

Origins was a blast.

I went last year for the first time, and I enjoyed the convention itself, but I felt a little out of sorts during the downtime between games. Last year I went with a 'sometimes' friend and a friend of his. Both of them were very busy doing their own things, so I was pretty much left to my own devices when I wasn't in a game. Despite being obnoxiously outspoken at times, I'm a fairly shy person with people I don't know. Even with chatting folks up happily during games, it's not like I'm quite capable of finding random people to hang out with outside of those structured moments.

This year, though, I convinced two local friends to go with me. Doug said yes a while ago, and then a bit after that, Scott announced that he was going to go too. This meant I had company on the ride down and would have 'hang-out' company at the con. It really made all the difference in the world.

This time, I enjoyed both the gaming bits and the in-between bits.

The gaming bits are why I go, though. While Origins isn't as big as GenCon, it's still pretty darn huge. There's board gaming and collectible card gaming and miniatures gaming and LARPing and tons of stuff. Me? I'm there for the roleplaying games. When I go to a con, I'm not happy unless I get at least two RPGs in a day. More if I can fit it and still keep my sanity.

The 'sometimes' friend I mentioned is a guy named Kevin. He's someone I met at a local convention several years ago and have kept in touch with since. He's probably one of my all-time favorite GMs ever. As a history professor, he's got a vast storehouse of knowledge in his brain. As a GM, he's all about the story and the characters. He basically brings out everything I love in a roleplaying game. As it happened, I played in three of his games at this con.

Wednesday night, I got into one of his games based on Marvel comics and using the old Marvel SAGA system. The characters were all super powered teenagers from the Xavier Institute and they were searching for a lost classmate at a gaming convention. The characters he has for the game are a mix of canonical characters (Canonball, Cyclops, Angel, Kitty Pride, Cypher) and originals. I'd actually played this scenario before, but even if Kevin's running the same scenario, it'll end up being a different game.

Thursday, I started off with some Shadowrun. I LOVE me some good Shadowrun. This might seem a little out of character since Shadowrun can be a munchkin/hack-en-slash system, but there's just something about the setting and the conceit behind the setting that I love. I also discovered a couple years ago that the folks who run Shadowrun games at Origins and GenCon are part of a pretty solid group of GMs. They're all pretty good at mixing in the story along with the boom and the bang of the dice rolling. It was actually a good thing I started off with this particular game because I found out that the Shadowrun tournament I had wanted to take part in actually started on Thursday night, NOT Friday night.

So, as a result, I also played Shadowrun that night. The tournaments with this crew of GMs is always fun. The first year I played one, they had someone come in dressed like a federal agent and give the instructions in the type of manner you'd expect. Last year, they had garbled recordings they played to represent some of the data we found. This year, we all got mourning headbands as we raised a toast to a fallen comrade who had made a dying request of his teammates. It's good stuff and I got in with a great group of people.

Friday, I thought I was going to be starting out with a Firefly game. As it turned out, it wasn't Firefly, but it was a game using the same system. I'd signed up for a Castlemourne game using the Cortex system. I also apparently signed up to play with a couple of complete idiots. Even though the GM threw us opportunity after opportunity, it was a TPK within the first hour. (TPK = Total Party Kill) The chick playing the leader of the group just would not leave. Three of the other players weren't outgoing enough to go against the leader and the fourth was gleefully playing his character and waiting for the TPK. The GM actually apologized to me since my character was the only one saying, "We need to get the hell out of here!"

The GM ended up taking pity on us and pulled out another scenario to run for those of us that wanted to stick around. The idiot player stuck around, but she seemed to have gotten the point and behaved in the next game. The next scenario he ran was still the Cortex system, but this game was based on 'Supernatural'. We played a bunch of Texas teenagers getting into the trouble out in the woods. There was a mysterious hunting lodge, hints of cannibalism, scary ghosts, and a crotchety old man with a shotgun who swore too much. It was a blast. It also put the nail in the coffin about me actually getting around to watching 'Supernatural'.

After that, I went out to dinner with Doug and Scott. We went to Bucca Di Beppo, which I really love. Unfortunately, we ordered too much food and the dish I picked out wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. Still, it was nice to have dinner in a real restaurant.

The second half of the Shadowrun tournament was Friday night. Again, it was a blast. The group I was with was a lot of fun. It's always cool when there are some other roleplayers that you connect with and you can let your characters play off one another. There were only three teams, so everyone was going to win something. I think my team came in second. Regardless, I ended up with a $5 gift certificate to the Catalyst Game Labs booth. Yay!

On Saturday, I played in the Carcasonne Tournament with Scott. It really wasn't too much of a tournament, but we played a few fun games with a nice lady from some other state. We very nicely took turns coming in first, so we each won a game. In the end, we agreed amongst ourselves to let Scott 'win' our round of the tournament so he could come back later that night to play in the finals. I think he ended up coming in second, but still ended up getting the first place prize since the guy who actually won it didn't want it.

After that, I snuck in one more Shadowrun game. This one involved lots of explosions. I may like story in my games, but there's something to be said for some well executed action and big booms.

Saturday night was the second Kevin game. I wasn't going to play this particular game since it was another session of 'The Great Con Game' which is what I played on Wednesday. He told me to show up anyway and he'd pull out a different scenario to run. I dragged Scott along and we ended up having a blast. It was the same group of X-men based characters, but this time the kids were heading to NYC for a night on the town. Of course nothing could possibly go wrong. Again, it was a pretty good group of players, and there was some nice interaction in the way we played the characters off one another.

Sunday was an initial rush of getting the room packed up, getting checked out, and hitting the dealer's room one last time. The last game ended up being the final Kevin game, but this time it was a completely different system.

Four Colors Al Fresco is a quirky little game created by the game company 'Impossible Dream' which is also responsible for Dread (which is probably one of the simplest and most brilliant ideas I've ever seen in gaming – if you want a great horror/suspense game, take a look at Dread). Four Colors essentially takes the super hero concept and places it during the Renaissance. Kevin's Four Colors games revolve around the students of 'Professor Omega's School for Gifted Omegas'. Yes, another game with teenagers and super powers. If you sense a theme, you're right. I've played every scenario that Kevin has come up with for this particular setting and I'll avidly jump in on any others he comes up with. One of the characters is one I actually consider to be 'mine'. I came up with her initial concept that gave him the idea that created the larger focus of the scenarios he runs.

I've probably rambled in far more detail than anyone needs about the convention, but it was a blast. In the days leading up to it, I was actually dreading it to a certain degree, but once we were on the road (and my headache went away), I was starting to get a little excited. Once we were actually in Columbus, I forgot any worries I might have had about the trip.

Now I just need to save up for GenCon in August...

dwseason4
A journal where the alternative fourth season of the TV show Doctor Who is being written.

lol_comics
Keep youself smiling at the little things with some funny comics.

bikes
A community for everyone who loves bicycles, motorbikes, and more.

--they're beginning to make me feel a little bit punchy.  Four down, two to go, and then the "real" one of Sophia and Jack.  I suddenly remembered, "oh, yeah!  June, wedding season!  . . . I'm not going to be done in time for June.  Crud."  So when I do update, it's going to have to be, "well, the weddings *took place* in June."  Bleh.

BTW, the wedding lot is nice, except I found out that the trees are glitchy.  I'm not sure what it is; maybe it's that the recolor doesn't account for snowy trees, but I took some sims down to the bridal store next door and suddenly thought, "what's that ghastly blue glow?"  GAAH, flashing blue trees everywhere. I didn't notice when I sent Gilbert, because it's spring at his place.  My University is on a spring-fall-spring-fall setting, so I don't always know what season it's going to be when I send them to downtown or Bluewater.    Anyway, I got it fixed, but I'll have to be careful.

I already figured out the order that the weddings are going to be in the chapter, so that's the order I'm tossing them in.  Also, they're going in order of complexity.  Aubrey and Candida was simple, except that they got the community lot wedding; the Brutus and DG wedding is one of the later ones.  I just did a *really* complicated one and it is hard to sit on my hands and the pictures.

Something always goes wrong at a wedding.  Earnest came down with flu and I forgot and invited him to Casca and Gwen's wedding. Then he gave Sabinus the flu, and I broke down and cheated him well.  I have six weddings to throw; I can't have Sabinus getting everybody in the whole neighborhood sick, though if it were a Legacy house, it would just be too darned bad.

Also, chess arm is only funny when it happens to someone else.  I must have pulled the muscles or the tendons in my arms when I was lifting weights last week, and no kidding, my arms were flexed up like Popeye.  I could not get them to straighten out all the way, and it hurt. 

I'm going to give one of my favorite modders a plug again--JFade at DJSSims.  I'm a big fan of his vampire hacks.  He has a no-bitey hack I love, and also a SmartCoffin (TM) that takes a lot of the irritation out of playing vamps.  Get them to the coffin in time and they will sleep until 7 pm (mostly:  A+ cheering will still get them up.)  The one I really love right now is the Career Flamingo.  It costs about 20,000 aspiration points.  Go up to it when in gold mood or above, and you can ask for an adult career in whatever field you want.  You still have to have the skills:  it will only get you a career at the appropriate level, and it disappears after one use, so it feels way less cheaty, but it saves hunting on the computer every day for days and days when you're playing a spare household.

Finally, in ref to the book meme--a lot of my favorites didn't make that list (of course).  So I'd like to recommend one of the funniest books I've ever read--*Three Men in a Boat*, by Jerome K. Jerome.  Tim Curry did a TV version of it, and I wish I could find it, but it turns out that there's an audio version by Hugh Laurie, and that's almost as good.


PB

Well, I *really* am having trouble with the asthma.  That and a few other things are making it hard for me to sleep, and also hard for me to stay awake.

Last night I woke up too early and decided I would skim around looking for nice CC for the wedding lot I was building, especially some good windows.  And here are the results.


I did a lot of testing and building and fixing and moving.  The Caesars are now living in Orikes' Waterford Manor, so Diana will get to live in that splendid mansion with a game room.  I've got a house for Aubrey.

And now I'm in the mood to throw some weddings.

PB

Just one set of windows that line up with the wedding arch. Is that too much to ask, Maxis?  What have I gotta do?

The only really *nice* set of multi-level windows will not line up with the wedding arch and it is driving me freaking crazy.  I don't know why I'm bothering building a wedding community lot in Bluewater.  I don't really need one.  Of the six or seven weddings I'm tossing, most will be at home.  I thought about having DG and Brutus' wedding on a community lot, because the De Beers Gallery really has a tiny spot for weddings, but we managed last generation and it's really distinctive (you just don't put any seating in there.)  Also, if you owned an art gallery, wouldn't you have your wedding there?  Sure you would.  So that only really leaves Candida and Aubrey for this round, but I figured it might be useful later. 

And speaking of weddings, I am almost up to tossing all of them.  The Roman girls are waaaay behind everybody else and I am very tempted to speed them through with InSim.  If I don't, this could take forever.  Domitian, Numa, Aubrey and Liliane are still at college, even though they've graduated.  I need to give Aubrey a nice house, probably an Orikes-manse.  Domitian is still there because Diana is still there, and I keep thinking I will make some inroads on her horrible 50 Dream Dates LTW this way.  As for Liliane, she is a real rhymes-with-witch.  She keeps picking on poor Leia and they hate each other now. 

I would have moved them all home sooner, but I keep getting sidetracked on playing regular houses and tinkering with OFB.  I gave myself an excuse on Marcus and Greg's house--it was the middle of winter there, so I wanted to play until the weather cleared.  The fact that they're fun is no excuse at all.  Then I played Mortimer and Robin's house because I wanted to mess around with Mortimer's Robotorium, which has a whole second floor now.  I'm going to have to fool around with the seasons on Marina and Sabinus' lot--it's nearly fall there and I'd rather throw a summer wedding, I think. 

Weddings.  Sigh. 

If anyone knows where I can find nice multi-level windows, let me know.

I had an absolutely crudacious asthma attack today.  Ik.

PB

Well, officially. Stuff in H-berg is way too busy for me to keep up with much online right now, plus I've got some personal stuff going on. I figure there's time for all that stuff after I get home and have nothing to do except go to work and sleep once again, which is going to be a while...I've got a short trip to see Ali planned for right after I get back, so theoretically you won't hear much from me until July 18th. That means no Episode 7 until after that, most likely.

Apologies to my AIM buddies and those who still don't have update comments from me. I will still post Heidelberg updates to my personal journal since I am still writing those home, but that's about all I can handle right now.

And since the Prof wanted my opinion...I'm honestly not sure how great Brutus and DG will be at parenting, but they both are quite handsome and that is the only way Michelle's going to get grandbabies, so my vote goes to letting them spawn. De Beers and Michelle can pick up the slack if they need to. ^_^

Stealing this from swizzasnake

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Well let's see.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them

I apparently read way too many books if six is average.

knitted_wedding
Follow one woman's quest to knit an entire vow-renewing wedding. Encouragement is encouraged.

brigits_flame
For writers interested in an ongoing competition that tests your narrative chops.

hollow_art
A longstanding art, icon and base archive centered around RPGs.

Origins is this week. Yay!

I'll leave on Wednesday with my friends Doug and Scott, to head to Columbus for the convention. It's about a six hour drive, so we should get there about dinner time. Now that I'm decompressing a bit from this past week, I'm starting to look forward to it.

I went last year, and it was quite a bit of fun. This year it should be even better because I actually have ac ouple of close friends there with me. Last year, I only knew a couple of people peripherally, and they were busy with their own thing. Now I've got pals to pal around with, in addition to 10,000 other gamer geeks to be dorky with.

On the simming front, I had hoped to get the next BC update done and out before I left for Origins, but I don't think that's going to be happening. I've got it somewhat pulled together, but the writing isn't quite there.

Even though I wasn't able to jump start myself writing, I did do some building. Yay!

( If only building real houses was this easy... Sim Stuff Under The Cut... )