Shadows and Blood: Chapter 6: 25 June 2010

[Sim Goddess]

Sadie:

Spoiler:

I tee-heed myself plenty of times thinking about those dreams. I've had some doosies before, believe me, but I don't think I've ever dreamed about meeting one of my Sims in real life before. Or evil nail varnishes for that matter... LOL I agree - it probably was just Sims invading my subconscious combined with my special attachment to Adelaide. I do love her so!

Patrick:

Spoiler:

SQUEEEEEE! LOL

Bec:
You're not a failure. Just look how long it takes for me to get out an update/reply to comments. I always have this feeling that I need to save my posts or something, so sometimes I see a comment but don't reply to it right away. And then time goes by and I totally forget that I never replied. It isn't until someone else comes along and bumps this thread that I remember that I never replied to the first comment! And no need for you to be jealous, you're quite talented yourself. But thank you all the same!

I have updated the Generational Statistics link on the front page to include Generation 2's stats. I've got a good amount of pictures taken for Chapter Four, but I have a lot more to take. It will probably be another week or two before I can post it. This chapter has a lot of outtakes so far too, so those of you who enjoy that sort of thing will be pleased.

[nickygal]

Hi

Spoiler:

You must be getting tired of people saying this but I really do love this legacy. I can see and feel all the effort and love that goes into writing this. You should seriously consider doing something like this in a book format. I think it would be awesome. You have some really incredible writing skills.
I'm also very jealous of your pictures. They are absolutely beautiful. I love your characters, especially Adelaide. And like I said in the toddler pic thread your babies are too cute for words.

I have to say that you have some interesting dreams. I usually can't make any sense of mine. They are all jumbled up. But I do know what you mean about having a dream and then wondering wether it was real or a dream. It has happened to me a few times. I hope your better soon by the way. *Sends some healing vibes your way*

Well keep up this awesome legacy. And update soon! We can't wait for more!

[Sim Goddess]

Nicky:
Believe it or not, having folks tell me they love this legacy is something I will never get tired of! Thank you for all the wonderful compliments.

It's good to know that other people have those "was it real?" dreams. I've had conversations with people (Sean, my mom, some of my friends) where I start to talk about something we did or said and they look at me strange until I realize I'm remembering a dream, not a real event. Talk about awkward!

Thanks again!


As far as updating, Chapter 4 is coming along nicely. It looks like it's going to be at least 100 pictures! I'm still in the process of taking some, but I have a list of pictures that I plan to take, and right now there are 125 pictures listed (I have 50 or 60 something taken). I know that number will change though when I start editing out unneeded pictures. I'm going to try to keep it under 100 but I'm not sure if I will be able to. I think I may be ready to start writing by the end of this weekend... so Chapter 4 will probably be out next week! Also, Chapter 4 will see a few... changes... from the previous chapters. I go into more detail here on my blog.

[MiEhrynn]

It's good to know that other people have those "was it real?" dreams. I've had conversations with people (Sean, my mom, some of my friends) where I start to talk about something we did or said and they look at me strange until I realize I'm remembering a dream, not a real event. Talk about awkward!

I've punched my husband because he cheated on me... then I realized it was a dream. I was still seething, though.

Spoiler:

I saw over at your blog the stats for Gen 2. Am I imagining things or will BOTH toddlers maximize a couple of skills? I was dumbfounded.

[Sim Goddess]

It's good to know that other people have those "was it real?" dreams. I've had conversations with people (Sean, my mom, some of my friends) where I start to talk about something we did or said and they look at me strange until I realize I'm remembering a dream, not a real event. Talk about awkward!

I've punched my husband because he cheated on me... then I realized it was a dream. I was still seething, though.

Now that is funny! LOL I hope you didn't hurt him... too hard.

Spoiler:

I saw over at your blog the stats for Gen 2. Am I imagining things or will BOTH toddlers maximize a couple of skills? I was dumbfounded.

Spoiler:

Yup yup! I think by the time toddlerhood ended Chance had maxed three skills and Mireille had maxed two (with one more being at 8 or 9). I love Fall! I chalk it up to a combination of the season, a couple of bottles of smart milk, and the fact that their parents sleep all day and therefore didn't harrass them while they were skilling (and with both Addie and Roger being Knowledge Sims, they didn't really roll up a lot of wants to interact with the twins anyway - other than teach them things). Plus Chance is really smart (as is Mire - yes, I've come to horribly shortening her name) and skills really fast (faster than his sister). I know it's not the borked Physiology glitch because I have the fix for that, and neither twin has studied that skill yet.

[MiEhrynn]

Spoiler:

Robin, I <3 you, really, I do, and I love your story. But... Mire? Sounds like... a truncation of Quagmire. It's possibly because you haven't heard the name said out loud: it's not pronounced "Mi-RELL-ee, but rather "Mee-RAY". So, most often, when it's shortened, Mimi is used; I've opted for simply Mi.

Sorry, I just... had to clear the air. I mean, you can call your Sim whatever you want, and nicknames are free for use, obviously, and I hope you take this for what it is (a comment meant to be helpful, if somewhat biased), and not for me trying to be an evil dictator in terms of French pronunciation.

Anyhow... a total of 5 maxed out skills and one nearly done? As a child, I always knew parents were only getting in the way... That is awesome, though. And don't let the season and smart milk take all the credit. I'm sure you cracked the toddler whip once or twice...

And uh... what borked Psychology glitch?

[Sim Goddess]

Spoiler:

Actually, that was a mistake on my part... I should have been more clear - I only call her that when I'm writing (or typing) the name out... because I'm lazy. LOL I've written Chance's name out several times as "Cha" just for quickness. When it comes to the story or when I think of her, I always think of Mireille. But yeah, I'm actually glad you pointed it out to me. I've heard the name out loud, but when it comes to me trying to be quick and agile I always shorten things terribly (Mireille = Mire, Chance = Cha, Adelaide = Ad, and Roger = Rog). It's sort of my own personal shorthand. But I'm glad you brought it up because now if I ever do end up giving Mireille a nickname, I have one to use - so thank you for that! I was seriously considering PMing you and asking for your advice when it came to this.

Oh, I cracked the toddler whip a few times (like when Chance would go to play with a skill building toy and that skill was already maxed - I'd send him to go play with something else). Parents - hmph - who needs 'em? (Of course, I jest.)

Supposedly when AL gave out the new skills (Fire Prevention, Physiology, Couples Counseling, Anger Management, and Lifelong Happiness - I think those are all of them) they messed up with Physiology and any time a Sim learned it, it would speed up how fast they skilled from that point on, turning everyone into super skillers. I got the fix before I ever had anyone learn the skill, so I've never seen any effects of this so called borking.

[Sim Goddess]

Double posting because of an update (finally). This chapter took forever and a day to write.

The link to Chapter 4 is on the first post, and please note that the "outtakes" now include the outtakes for Chapter 4.

I haven't updated the stats for generation 2 yet, but I will being doing that next chapter.

[MiEhrynn]

It's only 20 to four (it's all day-time savings' fault). It's a reasonable hour to read/comment on a story, right? Right?

Spoiler:

Addie's predicament regarding telling her kids about her and Roger being a vampire seems like such a bad situation. Tell the kids, possibly freaking them out 'cause they think mommy and daddy are monsters or not telling them, and risking being found out. Meeehhhhh. I do like how you dealt with it, though, and the personnalities they have really fit into their reactions of it. I do wonder however if in later Generations, you'll tie in denial of vampirism into the plot.

Is Chance is the heir you've chosen? I like him as heir, quite a bit more than Mireille, actually. More poised, relaxed, thoughtful. More vampire-esque, I guess you could say, in so far as how I like my vamps!

Have I mentioned that I really like how you deal with timelines and the way you 'gradually' age your Sims' up? Changing the outfits Addie and Roger were wearing was such an easy, but effective way to do it. And the way you deal with introducing 'weird' non real life aspects into your game (i.e.: S.E.R.V.O. - nice anagram, by the way)

Your rendition of toddler and child years is also really well done. The unconditional love for the children tied in with the fatigue of being a parent, over-whelmed and over-worked. Parent's arguing. So realistic but not too 'heavy'. The way we get insight on the children from their mom's perspective -- and how close it is to what actually happened.

And I really, really liked a couple of the pictures you took, regarding angles, lighting and setting. Namely when the headmaster is walking down the stairs and Addie is doing the 'bleh!' move with her arm in front of her mouth, and the picture where Addie is biting the headmaster and Chance looks terrified in the window.

I have the impression that Mireille will be showing the 'secret' room to someone she shouldn't in the near future though. I don't know why it'll be Mireille, but she's trouble. Mireille's are ALWAYS trouble

The kids eating roaches

Are we getting a werewolf soon? ^-^

“What’s wrong Addie?” Roger asked as he came in the door.

“I’m… HUNGRY!”

That was awesome. I'm no closer to curing my insomnia, but it was awesome. Can't wait for chapter 5!

[Sim Goddess]

It's only 20 to four (it's all day-time savings' fault). It's a reasonable hour to read/comment on a story, right? Right?

That's totally reasonable considering I'm still awake (I'm a night owl - Sean says it's because I like vampires too much).

Spoiler:

Adelaide is one fierce mother (woah that sounds really bad but I totally didn't mean it that way). She'll do anything to protect her children, even if it means lying to them. This take on it is completely different for me (the whole denial thing), because every other vampire family I've played, everyone knew what the families in question were. My Little Miss Sunshine Season 2 contestant's family were all vampires, and Andariel (the contestant, a little girl) just accepted it as so. It was fun to write it from this new angle. And the denial will definitely come into play... much, much later.

I would love to just let Chance be heir (I've got what I hope will be a very interesting storyline planned for him), but I've decided to have an heir poll. Mireille's personality will really blossom in the next chapter. The aspiration and secondary aspiration she rolled don't really lend themselves too much (in my opinion) for strong storytelling in the childhood years. Either way, both of the twins will end up being vamped... or at least, that's what I'm planning to do.

Ahhh, the S.E.R.V.O. anagram... I wracked my brain for hours trying to come up with something. In fact, it was me, not Addie, that couldn't come up with another "o" word. Ha ha! There's one sentence in that scene that had me stumped for days, and Sean dubbed it "the widowmaker". LOL I'm glad you liked it! Hard work FTW!

You'd know all about Mireilles being trouble, wouldn't you? As you saw, your suggested nicknames made it into the story. As Mireille gets older, I think she'll be using the nicknames more.

Thank you for the compliment on the camera angles. I work really hard on getting just the right shot! The scene of Addie waiting for the headmaster was one of pure luck though - she did that pose all on her own. She and Roger both stand around and hiss a lot. It never fails to amuse me. Especially when they're stuck in a posebox pose, because the poses and the "bleh" faces together are just so awesome. And Chance in the window took over half an hour (my time, NOT theirs) to get just right. After I took that picture (it was originally going to be the last in the chapter), I immediately downloaded treeag's Freeze Clock from MTS2. I still hate myself for not getting it sooner. It's going to be a life saver, I can tell you that (it already helped tremendously when taking the last... how ever many pictures came after the one of Chance's looking out the window).

Werewolves... oh yes. There will be one (if I can get it to happen, that is). And someone (not saying who) really wants it to happen. I am going to strive to make that Sim's wishes come true.

Oh God the roaches! I have this huge fear of them, and lobsters always look like huge, red roaches to me. *shivers* We had this incredible roach infestation in the last house we lived in and no matter what we did, we could not get rid of them. It was part of the reason we moved out of that house. The roaches were there when we moved in, and they probably still are. Sean and I battled the nasty buggers and THEY WON. I've been touched by a roach twice (once on my back - I was putting on my swimsuit which had been hanging in the shower and I felt something on my back, I thought it was a stray hair, but it was a ROACH, and the other time it was on my hand - God I'm about to be sick just thinking about it) and I hope that I never am again. And we had those horrible flying ones (German roaches?). It was soooo bad. Poor, poor Mireille... I think she somehow inherited my fear of them even though she's not my child and is a Sim.

Thank you again for reading!

[hazelred]

ooops i forgot to comment!!! i think i stumbled across this around the time you updated it, after the epic fan girl squeeing took place and i dilligently read every single word whilst drooling over the amazing pics, and read the hilarious outtakes well i looked like night of the living dead! so i thought id comment when i was more in my right state of mind (i didnt fancy waiting until hell freezed over so i'll comment now )

Spoiler:

ahhhh i just new that Roger would be a great dad and could those kids get any cuter! i applaud you for getting an update out, i would just follow them around with a camera going awwwwwww all the time! hee hee there such a funny little family. I dont have a favourite of the children yet so i dont know how your going to pick an heir.
The bit with the dog digging up the garden and adelaide worrying if he would bring back a femur bone i laughed so loud i thought i would wake everyone up and there was an inadvertantly funny shot of adelaide stalking the headmaster. hee hee im sorry but the vampire arm across face bit just makes me giggle. But i like your ingenious way of getting rid of the ugly townies...eat em!
ohh and it annoys the hec out of me when the parents lecture the baby for a dirty diaper! there newborn pixels, they cant help it! oooo cant wait to see the servo and the kids in their teen years, and how addie and roger will cope with mirielle bringing home every boy she can lay her hands on
fantastic update as per usual Brava!!!!

[Sim Goddess]

LOL Sadie!

I always look like Night of the Living Dead. I guess it's a bi-product of working with Vampire Sims for so long.

Spoiler:

I really did luck out with the twins, didn't I? They look so much like both of their parents. And, they get prettier!

Vampires with their arms across their faces amuse me too, which is why I included that particular picture (Adelaide did the hiss thing on Free Will). And as for fugly townies... my God. When I saw that headmaster I knew he had to die. I had originally planned for Chance to see Adelaide biting a delivery person! I'm not really all that picky about what my Sims look like (it's really about the personality for me), but the headmaster's face in combination with his hair... yuck. Some people have cowplants, I have the "Deadly Vampire Bite" hack.

Oh, Mireille's going to be a handful. Poor Adelaide and her Victorian morals... she's going to have her work cut out for her.

Thanks for reading!

Oh oh oh... I forgot to mention this earlier... but...

Spoiler:

Chapter 4 is the last chapter that will be narrated entirely by Adelaide. And while it makes me a little sad (I'm sentimental, what can I say?), I've known that this day will come. Now my little baby's all grown up!!

Also, I'll probably be taking the Prologue offline soon, to combine the two pages and make subpages. <-- Done! It worked and nothing blew up! Yay!
One of my Wordpress readers told me how to do that, and I'm glad she (?) did - it was something I had hoped was possible, but I just didn't know how to do it. Thank you arcadata!! (Go on, check out her blog - it do be awesome!)

[spyrothedragon]

I am in love with this already, and I'm not even halfway through Chapter 2.

Spoiler:

I love how lengthy the chapters are, by the way. They're so full of awesomeness that I wouldn't mind if they were like, ten slides long. You're very good at writing and I love the way that Adelaide is written, and how she's so intensely fascinated by electricity.
I can't believe it took me this long to find this and read it. Ughh... I can't explain how good it is and give you a review on everything that I like because there's just too much! When Pacha (I hope I spelled his name right) died, I was almost heartbroken myself. When Adelaide killed her brother for calling her a freak, I was actually kind of... happy. Because I could feel the liberation and excitement she got from doing that - her entire personality, her past, and her background just intertwine so perfectly that I just want to explode because I love reading this and... I... just don't know.

Kind of random, but do you use the maxis default skins? It's hard to tell, but I like the way your sims look. Your pictures are awesome, too. There's always such cool lighting effects.

[Sim Goddess]

Aww, thanks Sypro (I used to be sooo addicted to that game by the way).

Spoiler:

Ha ha, I'm glad you like the length of the chapters. I don't know exactly when you were reading, but I hope it wasn't while I was editing the pages to give them sub-pages! I ended up only taking the Prologue offline to work on it (because I ended up deleting the first part and combining it with the second part), but I didn't even think to take the others down while I tinkered with them. I hope they weren't messing up for you while you were trying to read!

I'm sorry Pasha's death broke your heart. It broke mine too... and Adelaide's of course. Oh yes, she got a big thrill when she bit Julien. Not only because he had made her mad, but because it was the ultimate comeuppance after all those years of their mother treating her like dirt while Julien was lavished with love and affection. And... he was her first human kill. I wish Vampires got the same kind of memory when they bite someone for the first time that all Sims get when they woohoo for the first time. The first kill is always... special. All of those things made Addie's attack on her brother even more, well, as you said, exciting and liberating (perfect words to describe it by the way!).

Actually, I use Lyran's default replacement skintones (as well as eyes). They are based on Maxis originals, so that's why they look so similar. But Lyran's are just a little lighter, the lips and cheeks are rosier, they have whiter teeth, and hand drawn eyelashes and eyelids. They also have a little bit of cleavage for the females (not OMG-uber-boobs like some skins) and some... other bits added to the female chest. I like them and I don't think I'll ever get rid of them.

ETA: I don't really see a point in double-posting and thus bumping this thread to the top of the list to announce that I have added a new sticky to my blog. To read all about "the blood rites", click here (link has also been added to the first post of this thread)!

[strangerhood7]

How did I miss this update?!

Spoiler:

Those kids, Robin... ADORABLE! And I love how totally different they are from each other. ^_^ Mirielle is the adventurous one, whereas Chance is the quiet one. Twins FTW.

I love how you portrayed the "cool parent/boring parent" thing at the kids' birthday where Adelaide gave them underwear while Roger gave them cool robots. I guess that's kind of how it is in real life.

Now that Chance and Mirielle know what it's like to be lied to about their parents' true identity, I wonder how [the heir] will tell his/her kids. I wonder if s/he'll come out and tell them or if they'll understand their parents' reason for not telling them and follow that way.

Can't wait for the next update!

[DEVONSIMS0]

Wow, I just finished reading this, and it's totally amazing.

Spoiler:

I loved the Roger chapter, and how you have the 'blood lust' thing. It's so refreshing to see a story about vampires that don't sparkle or have a Twilight-centric theme. I loved Chance's comment about sparkly vampires. (As you can see-not a huge Twilight fan here). And I'm dying to know if Pasha's going to come back. (pun not intended) You are a great writer, if you ever were a published author, I'd totally read it. Anyway, the chapter where Adelaide was in the crypt and was disturbed reminded me of The Brothers Grimm movie. You should watch it (if you haven't already), it has the same sort of plot. Plus, Heath Ledger is amazing.

[PetTech]

I stumbled across your story the other night and so far have read the chapters but not the supplemental items (yet). I really like your story line and a more classic take on vampires. I agree with Roger on the sillyness of sparkling vampires.

I'm very interested to see how you handle two vampire parents raising children. Will they establish their own clan? Or will the kids live their own mortal lives? It's all very tantalizing.

I added your thread to my book marks so I don't miss your next update.

[kamluvsimmy]

I have to say, you've really impressed me. I got hooked onto Shadow's and Blood the very first time i set eyes on it. This is one of my new favorite legacys!! Do you have any tips on writing for us readers, if you do..i'd love to know em'! I really am hoping to get my own legacy out but am currently having some "plotty" issues. Anyways, this is a great read and i hope you continue forward with your writing! Cant wait for the next updates to be outt. Im practically squirming im so excited!

[Sim Goddess]

Okay, I have quite a few comments to respond to here, and before I reply to each one individually, I have an over all statement to make:

Spoiler:

Roger's reaction to sparkling vampires - this was something I had planned on addressing in the introductory post for Chapter 5 (and still will). I really hope I didn't offend any Twilight fans out there; I read the series, and while it's not the best thing I've ever read, it certainly isn't the worst. But I did want to include what a "classic" (as Steph put it) vampire would think about not frying in the sun. You know they would think it was kind of silly! Roger's comment was not meant to be taken as a jab at the Twilight series - he was simply weighing in on something that affected him and correcting his daughter of a misconception. And as for the non-Twilight fans, you guys get it.

And now that we're past the disclaimer section of the post...

Patrick: Don't feel bad about missing an update. It takes me almost as long to reply to comments as it does for me to write a chapter!

Spoiler:

Aren't they cute? Of course, they are teens now, so I guess I really shouldn't refer to them as "cute" any more. LOL

The cool parent/fun parent thing... sooooo much like real life. For most kids I think there is one parent who will always say "no" when you ask them for something, and then one who lets you get by with almost anything. At least, that was the way it was for me (my dad was the enforcer). It seemed only natural that Adelaide would be the enforcer in the Carmichael house because she's older and more mature than Roger. Also, whether she likes it or not, she does take after her mother. One of my friends told me about when he was a kid, and how for Christmas he asked for some Nintendo games and instead got socks and underwear. He said he went outside and threw them into a tree. Maybe Chance and Mireille were a little better behaved than Jerry, because even though they may have wanted to do that, they accepted the gifts with only a little whining.

I think how Generation 3 finds out the truth will really depend on who ends up being the heir for Generation 2.

Devon: Thank you for the compliment!

Spoiler:

Pasha won't be coming back. His actions will still have an effect (after all, Adelaide wouldn't be a vampire if it wasn't for him), and his portrait will still play a part in the story, but he is dead. Sorry! And I haven't seen The Brothers Grimm movie. I guess I should watch it, huh? Really, the old tv series Dark Shadows (it was a gothic soap opera) is what inspired the crypt scenes. If you ever have a chance to watch any episode of that show (especially the ones with Barnabas Collins) I highly recommend it. It's kind of cheesy, and sometimes the sets are falling down in the background, and you can see boom mikes hovering above the actors' heads, and a few times I've heard the camera crew cough or sneeze, but for me that's part of the appeal. It's so bad it's good.

Steph: Thanks!

As for whether or not the children will stay mortal, you'll just have to stay tuned won't you? I guess you can already think of them as an established clan. They are just a really small clan, that's all.

kamluvsimmy: Aww, thanks! I don't really have any tips. Just write about something you love and the rest will come easy. If you're having to work for it, then it won't be fun for you or the reader. And sometimes it's good to have someone to bounce ideas off of. As much as Sean doesn't like to be spoiled, sometimes I have to ask his opinion/help with certain arcs in the storyline. My PM box is always open! (Hey - I guess I did have some tips after all!)


I'm working on Chapter 5 still. I don't think it will be ready for at least another couple of weeks. I had to work with a lot of extras in the beginning of the chapter, and after that I always need a little bit of a break. I'm not really sure how long the upcoming chapter will be. I had sort of thought I would end the whole chapter with Gen 2 going off to college, but I'm nearly 90 pictures in and I've only covered two weeks storyline-wise. I'm debating cutting the chapter off early and tacking the rest on to the next chapter. Either that or... a complete rewrite of the chapter's ending. I already had to rewrite the beginning of the chapter (before I started taking the pictures for it) so it wouldn't surprise me if I had to change the ending too.

[Cel]

Finally found the time to read this as I have wanted for like ages and it's awesome.
Your characters have lots of depth and personality, the picture taking is amazing as well as the story writing. I can't wait to read more