Last we left my Wishful Living Challenge family, Hope Shanley was living on her own in a house called Skunk Haven and searching for a decent spouse. Her mother Zuzu had just passed away, and Hope had traveled to China in order to regroup and revitalize, which is exactly what she did.
The spouse-search was put on hold while she had a good time, got over her mourning period, and made some moolah. She even found a Mysterious Mr. Gnome while fishing one evening. I named him Russ.
When she got back, though, the hubby-hunt became my number one priority. After all, Hope was only a couple of days away from the Adult stage, and she had to pop out some heirs pretty soon if I was to continue this challenge.
I had been receiving Twallan’s Story Progression alerts that Beckett Newbie and his wife Liv were fighting constantly and had declared each other to be enemies. TSP also made Liv the Town Bike, which means she flirts with every guy in town and is vilified by all of the women. Oddly enough, Beckett and Liv also had a child in the midst of all of this.
Well, I couldn’t feel too terribly bad about breaking up that marriage, child or no — they were obviously on the skids. So Hope dusted off her feminine wiles and invited Beckett over for some of her famous Key Lime Pie.
The day before, she had asked her friend from Shang Simla, Zhan Su, to visit for a couple of days. (He’s the one who taught her the Chinese song in the last update.) He showed up while Beckett was there.
So Hope ended up with two guys competing for her attention. Well, not really competing, as Beckett seemed more interested in playing computer games, but but Hope made him mosey outside to join the conversation.
Eventually Zhan wandered off to another part of the yard, and Hope tried win Beckett over with her various charms.
They could barely get to the flirting stage before Beckett got annoyed with Hope’s behavior, and to make matters worse, Hope had to rush off to work.
When she came out of the Bistro afterwards, she wore a very concerned expression.
Was it because she was going to have a birthday that night? Was she afraid of growing old? Or was it because she had left Zhan outside all night and never invited him into the house? Woops!
Poor Zhan. He couldn’t use that bathroom that whole time. He was a good sport about it, though. Hope invited him in officially, then changed into her formal duds and celebrated her birthday with him. She was now a mature Adult!
Zhan spent the night in the tent, and the next day Hope attempted to flirt with him. But it was too much, too soon. Hope was getting over-eager and losing her touch.
She invited Beckett over again to make one last attempt at wooing him, but he wasn’t having any of it. He didn’t respond favorably to any of her flirts – he’d just shrug at her, like, “What do you want me to do? I’m married. I have a kid. I’m Good. I just want to be friends, you know?â€
Hope tried to explain how she felt, that she just wanted someone to care for her, to hold her hand and be her partner, but it was to no avail. She and Beckett were not meant to be.
Russ the Gnome waved goodbye as Beckett fled the scene. “Don’t let the screen door hit you on the way out,†he muttered.
(continued on Page 2)
Nice one, Jen! Hope finally gets her rings and babies! I made a start on the standard TS3 Legacy the other night, now I’ve just got to get around to writing some semblance of a story around it. Is it just me, or are legacy challenges easier with Sims 3? It’s kinda hard, actually, I’ve had bad writer’s block since my dad died.
I do think legacies and such are easier in TS3, if only because it’s so much easier to make money and live off of “the land” until you get a decent house built. Hope you’re having fun with yours! And I’m so sorry to hear about your dad. *hugs*
TS3 elders seem to live longer than TS2 elders and they don’t age on vacation. So if you get him those rewards that lets him stay for a really long time, Travis still might be able to get his lifetime wish.
I’m glad Hope finally got her man. It was Travis all along! Awww. And their twins are adorable.
Good thinkin’, Carla – that’s exactly what I did. ;)
zomg its about time she got a man! Whew i thought for a moment you were gonna tell us your challenge is over. *wrings hands worriedly*
yay for twins!! ya they are cute in a doughy kind of way. heh
LOL at the doughy…it’s so true. I seem to be getting used to it, though. And yeah, I thought my challenge might end prematurely, too!
Wow … that exhausted me just reading it. I’m sorry that Hope picked guys that were just so totally hard to get to that “final” stage. DANG! But … I’m happy to see that she ended up with her best friend … FINALLY. And she even had 2 adorable (and yeah, I thought they were adorable, too) daughters to boot! Which one’s gonna be the heir? :OD))
Sorry I took so long to answer your question, but at least now you know who the heir is! Hah.
Finally :)
Violet ist a beautiful name! Is that her favorite color too ;)? I love love love Russ. I didn’t even know that gnomes moved and changed their positions!
I’m working on my challenge too, yippie, but my 2nd gen heir’s girlfriend he had from highschool simply doesn’t grow up, she’s teen teen teen and he is about be become adult in a few days – I’m hoping that this will change sometime soon, or else he’ll have to call back on his exgirlfriend (the paperdelivery girl, who came as a child in day 1, became his girlfriend on day 2 as soon as she was a teen, and on day 3, when he invited her round, she was already grown up. I really don’t get this timeprogression there ;).
All the best to Hope’s babies, yippie! Don’t they have a half-brother, by the way?
To EvaH:
You can use a birthday cake on a visitor to age him/her up.
Oh, really?? Thanks!
Now that’s cool! I’m going to use that once I’ll need it a second time ;). The teen aged up ‘naturally’ though, but still my Sim didn’t marry her because she turned out to be Insane and simply wouldn’t accept his engagement-ring ;).
He’s married off to another sim now!
Yes! I completely forgot to mention Travis’s other kid. Her name is Alaina, and I left her in the house (with Barry Newbie!) because I didn’t have all that much room at Skunk Haven. Later on I regretted it and tried to move her in, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it – Twallan’s super computer wasn’t recognizing her for some reason. She ended up OK, though — she became a YA soon after and got married. You’ll see a pic of her in the next update, I think. And hooray for your legacy! Sounds like you’re having fun. :)
Yay! I am so very happy that Hope finally found a husband. And more twin girls. That’s very fun. Man, that sure did take some maneuvering to get Hope married and have some babies. I admire your patience…I probably would have given up and cheated long ago! But it’s worth it in the end. Those girls are adorable, and now you get to have fun trying for the Seasoned Traveler wish. I recently made a sim who’s sole purpose in life is to let me explore the 3 destinations. I’ve had a blast exploring China, and even after 4 trips, I still haven’t seen it all! I think I’ve finally fallen in love with WA.
I can’t wait to see the next update for this challenge of yours. It’s very fun to read and I love hearing about your actual gameplay. It seems that I learn something new about the game every time I read one of your updates!
Hey Mandie! Glad you’re having a blast with WA! It may not have been what we were asking for, but it is great fun in its own way. I think doing a mini-challenge to explore all the destinations is an excellent way to explore all that the EP has to offer (although, like you said, it’s hard to see EVERYTHING – there’s just so much). I see you’ve been updating like a fiend lately — I gotta go catch up!
Holy crap, Jen! I’ve never seen a sim have such a hard time finding a donor… poor Hope. Luck was not with her, but at least she won out in the end. Kind of fitting that it turned out to be Travis after all. ;) Unflirty sims can be a huge pain in the butt, though! And how hilarious that all those statues were kind of doing the opposite of what you intended.
Donor…LOL! And you are definitely right about Unflirty Sims; what a pain. Although Flirty Sims can be difficult at times, too…heh.
Yay Hope finally found someone! I really miss the Shanleys and it’s so cool that you found a way to make them continue their story through Zuzu. What’s going on with the gnome, though? Does he do things that reflect the mood of the household and that’s why he does all those poses?
Hey Jadice! I see you’ve updated your blog — I’ll have to check it out! As for the gnomes, it’s my understanding that they just move and pose randomly, so I was just amusing myself by pretending he was reacting to events in the household. :)
I finally had time to catch up with the “New Shanleys”! And like many, the Sims 2 Shanleys were probably my favorite legacy family ever and the inspiration for my own.
Anyway, love these guys too! Great stuff! And the Grim cracked me up! :-D I couldn’t help but think of the character that is on the Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live sometimes, the French guy played by Keenan Thompson! :-D
Wow, thanks, Suzicat. Glad you’re enjoying the new Shanleys! And I don’t think I’ve ever seen Keenan Thompson’s French guy on SNL…I’ll have to look for a video. :)
OMG, Russ the Gnome is a hoot! *pouts* I really, really wanted a gnome when I was playing TS3, but couldn’t find one.
I’m glad Hope finally found her love. And Travis found love a second time.
Fern is just adorable! *tickles Fern under the chin* I love the look on her face.
I’m looking forward to reading more about your adventures.
Thanks, Lisa! Those gnomes are pretty fun. I enjoy looking for Russ every day to see what he’s doing.