I’m so happy to be back with another update on the dynasty! Settle in, because this is a long one... (and, hopefully, you have an appetite for seeing a lot of builds!)
Winonaite and Mortimer were going to be busy in the early days of the babies’ lives. They were lucky to have two eager grandparents to rely on. The cribs even went in Rainbow and Stiles’ room.
As a reminder, Winonaite’s SuperMax skill is Science. I haven’t played much with the skill’s features; I usually just have my Sims level up with the skill books until they can clone. The two skill challenges are to analyze 100 samples and complete 100 experiments. Winoniate analyzed a hundred samples easily, but I had no idea where to begin with experiments. I thought these had to be completed with the “Group Science Project”—a humongous machine that gets put in the family inventory when you reach level ten.
I didn’t want to have the machine on the lot; it attracts random Sims from the Nerd social group, and it’s ugly. I’d thought about incorporating it into Winonaite’s property, but in the end, I couldn’t stomach marring one of the beautiful beaches or waterfalls of Sunset Valley with that thing. Then I had an idea: I could purchase an additional lot for the family, and turn it into Winonaite’s “lab”! So long as it never became the family’s main residence, this would be perfectly within the challenge rules. I bought an extra lot (on the road where the junkyard automatically gets placed) and free-styled with the build. I ended up having a lot of fun.
In the back are the two Group Science Projects (we have a second one from when Stiles mastered Science). I stuffed the interior of the lab with all the kinds of objects I hate having around the home lot—unsightly mechanical things and futuristic machines.
The first floor, with the Science research station and some other atmospheric details (including a lobby—for visitors, of course):
And the second floor, for the brain-enhancement fleet.
If you’ve never used those machines, they’re one of the most cheaty objects in the game—they can be used to modify traits on any Sim, including ones outside of your household, as well as to skill up essentially-instantly in nearly any skill of your choice. I find that the game isn’t very much fun if I lean on them too heavily, but I do like to use them for skilling up Photography, which I have most of my Sims master so they take good photos and have access to all the sizes and filters.
On that floor, there’s also a little break area with a vending machine, in case Winonaite needs a snack.
I can’t believe I haven’t had the idea to purchase a separate lot for a skill area before. It’s one of the challenges of the Immortal Dynasty that has always stumped me: how to build a coherent home that incorporates a science lab, a nectar cellar, an art studio, et cetera...
Back in the real file, Mortimer left the newly-engaged couple, went to City Hall, and signed the paperwork to purchase The Grind for roughly §90,000. I tore the entire club down, took meticulous screenshots of my wedding chapel, and rebuilt the entire thing on The Grind’s property. A very irritating and begrudgingly funny two hours for me. For my Sims—and for you—a mere blink of the eye!
The only difference between the old lot and new lot is the undeletable food truck parking spot; I didn’t want to do anything funny with it and possibly cause issues. People have those at events, sometimes, don’t they? And here, of course, is a fun shot of the two identical chapels side-by-side, before I tore the original down. Wonderfully, you cannot rename properties without going into edit town mode, so all future Stone couples will be married at The Grind.
One final oversight of mine: I set the wedding party start time for 4:00 PM, but the club doesn’t open until 5:00 PM. This means that none of the Sims could go inside until then (and that none of my future immortals can get married earlier than 5:00 PM). Thankfully, everyone congregated outside on the dance floor and waited patiently with no further snags, except for Winonaite’s boss dying.
Thornton had to sign a quick autograph before the ceremony.
Finally—a beautiful sunset wedding!
Winonaite, despite having only a distant relationship to her daughter, watched proudly front and center.
There was a bit of a traffic jam to get to the cake cutting—but doesn’t the couple at least look lovely?
Beautiful Diamond made her best attempt to sit at my sweetheart table.
I had the family initiate the party outside, to clear out some space in the banquet hall. Thornton and Rainbow, along with a few other Sims, were at least able to sit down, eat, and chat.
The nice thing about the lot technically being a dance club is that the bar gets staffed for free (even if the bartender dresses like that). The family ordered some Glow Goo drinks to keep their energy levels up.
A nighttime shot serves the dance floor much better than a daytime one.
I caught Diamond gazing at her ring, amazed—maybe in disbelief at how quickly she’d gone from a teenager to a full-grown bride!
Winonaite and Mortimer broke it down.
Diamond danced with her grandma.
Rainbow held up considerably well, given the fact that she is over a hundred years old. In the wee hours of the morning, she was one of the last Sims to leave the dance floor.
But the final dance of the night, of course, was had by the couple.
They had a late breakfast the next morning before graduation.
Thornton was awarded most likely to complete his lifetime wish (which is the same as his donor’s: CEO of a Mega-Corporation. Diamond would prefer to become a Superstar Actress). Diamond was voted most likely to be a millionaire, and—not one to be outdone—valedictorian, too.
Later that day, Diamond began dealing with some nausea. But instead of the customary porcelain-throne shot, you’re going to get one of her eating sweet grass—did you know that this cures the nausea moodlet? I didn’t! What an amazing discovery!
I had put together a cute, comfy athleisure outfit (in the same vein as her mother’s) for Diamond to wear throughout her pregnancy. Unfortunately, I hadn’t downloaded the pregnancy morphs that I thought I had, so Diamond ended up in that very un-Diamond-like squid t-shirt from Generations.
She said something to the effect of: I can tell that you’re trying to bribe your way into knowing me. Oh, really? What gave it away? The fact that it was a §20,000 sports car?
She ended up having to fire him, after I caught him sitting down to eat a piece of key lime pie. But Rainbow, I fear, took it a bit far. She dismissed him, then pointed and laughed. And then she ate his pie.
It had this cute little breakfast bar quickly replaced by the seating that Thornton is modeling, because my ridiculous Sims kept carrying the plates of food all the way to the first floor to eat in the nice chairs.
Diamond was heavily pregnant, and Winonaite called her work and told them she would need a few days off—she had decided it was time for something long-overdue.
The ladies drove to the spa together, first, to fulfill one of Diamond’s wishes. (When I went to take a screenshot of them, I noticed that the lighthouse perfectly lines up with Sunset Valley’s main street. What a beautiful and intentional detail.)
Then, they drove to the park, where they had a long, and finally uninterrupted, conversation.
They talked late into the evening.
Each woman shared her own side. Winonaite discussed the sacrifices she’d made in pursuit of the dynasty; Diamond expressed herself to her mother, who got a true sense of her daughter for the first time in their lives.
Diamond left the hospital with Gold Stone: Excitable and a Light Sleeper. (This is, officially, the farthest I’ve ever made it in an Immortal Dynasty attempt!)
Winonaite had been in the process of tying up her last few friendships, but she had to make a stop at the lab...
...to welcome Leighton Sekemoto (2.0!) into the world.
Thornton is meant to be sculpting around the clock, but he snuck in for a quick cuddle.
Finally, the eve of Winonaite’s Elder birthday had come; she was off work, and for the first time in a long while, she had nothing to do. She spent the morning with Mortimer.
She took a moment to care for her granddaughter.
Then, in the early evening, she, Mortimer, and Rainbow headed to her lab. Winonaite, always so industrious, was ready for immortality, and wasn’t going to waste a second.
And everyone slept.
The three awoke, reinvigorated, just before the clock struck midnight. At nearly twelve o’clock on the dot, Winonaite blew out her birthday candles.
No time to fret over her appearance or the new ache in her bones. She headed to the bathroom to clean herself up, then posed for her museum pieces.
She returned to the short locks of her childhood. I usually like to vary my Sims’ hairstyles throughout their lives—after all, very few of us have the same hairstyle at five, as we do at twenty, as we do at seventy!
She wasn’t alone with her thoughts for long. Mortimer joined her soon.
Winonaite had work that day, so Rainbow whipped up some Ambrosia, and I meant for Winonaite to eat it as soon as she got home. But I had the smart thought to check on her best friendships first—and sure enough, her relationship with Tawana Fitzgerald had slipped to “good friends.”
I had Winoniate Tell Inside Joke to bring them back into the realm of best friends. Remember, Tawana, when you almost jeopardized my entire dynasty by deciding we were only good friends? Then blew me off to watch TV? Surely you remember. Wasn’t that so funny?
I can’t believe I haven’t had the idea to purchase a separate lot for a skill area before. It’s one of the challenges of the Immortal Dynasty that has always stumped me: how to build a coherent home that incorporates a science lab, a nectar cellar, an art studio, et cetera...
Here’s Winonaite messing around with the Group Science Project. There are three “modes” your Sim can use to charge it up, and once it’s fully charged, a Sim pulls the “Lever of Doom” to unleash some kind of effect on the lot.
Around this time, I also had Winonaite join the Medical career. (I failed to mention this when she aged up—her LTW is World-Renowned Surgeon.) There’s all this talk, in-game, about the Science skill and the Science and Medicine degree boosting your pay and your starting level in the respective career tracks. Well, I’m not sure if I did something wrong, but I sent Winonaite to the hospital to get a job, with Science mastered and a University degree, and she started off... at level three. Three!
On her first day, I tried to have her do a vaccination clinic; it went horribly. Because she’s so famous, the patients kept constantly asking her for an autograph, and this action would cancel her entire queue. Some of them did that, then had the nerve to send me an angry red bubble that they were “getting tired of waiting”!
He and Rainbow took care of teaching them life skills.
Rainbow’s blue nightgown was starting to develop a reputation. She wears that thing everywhere.
You can’t tell quite yet, but Rainbow’s genetics have been on an unprecedented run. Diamond, save for her hair color—which is from Mortimer—is an exact copy of Winonaite, who herself is practically a copy of Rainbow.
It was at the sculpting station that a funny feeling overtook Stiles.
Rainbow rushed over, first feeling disbelief...
Then anguish.
Stiles begged for more time, but what Grim had already given him—nine extra days—was all there was to give.
Stiles passed at the age of 99 days. I came to love him an amount that surprised me. Rest in peace.
Is Grim really so hardhearted? No. He knew that Stiles, always so Neat, had helped keep the household afloat, tripping over himself to wash dishes and empty the perpetually-overflowing potties. Before he whisked back to the Netherworld, Grim took it upon himself to tidy up a bit.
The Stones can hold their own with the Landgraabs and the Altos now!
It’s based loosely off the Vanderburg Palace in Hidden Springs, which is one of my favorite EA builds. However, I tinkered with the layout and Immortal Dynasty-sized the house, adding two additional stories. I’m really happy with how it came out. I’m going to include some screenshots of the interior and exterior after the initial build; some things have changed and others remain unfinished, because I think trying to fully realize a massive house all at once has led to stalled progress in past attempts. I have, as I kept telling myself, a whole dynasty to fill these rooms!
The courtyard fountain:
The small building to the left is the entrance to the immortal museum, which is below ground. At the time, I had not yet built any of the museum itself.
At some point, I want each pedestal to feature a large cut of each immortal’s namesake gem (or, in Winonaite’s case, namesake space rock). Oh, and as for the first pedestal—to take a brief detour: Rainbow had an exciting find!
The other building is the garage. I’ll need to think of some way to expand it as we accumulate more cars.
Around back of the museum is a little space I might turn into a picnic or grill spot. Maybe some playground equipment for the kids.
A shot of the back of the house. I realize I didn’t get a good bird’s-eye picture of the whole grounds!
The gazebo...
The greenhouse:
The left wing of the house I’ve left for myself to fill as the Dynasty goes on. The only rooms with any established purpose are the small showers near the pool, a feature I’ve borrowed from the Vanderburg home.
There are small bathrooms behind each staircase. Then, the right wing of house opens into the formal dining room.
A spot for this dreamy painting Rainbow made:
The dining room gives access to a small room, currently empty, which will someday become some sort of study...
And the kitchen:
There’s no seating at the island, which I used moveobjects to create, but there is a cute little French breakfast nook.
Now for the second floor:
I have no idea why the daytime lighting is so messed up on the landing. It looks perfectly fine at night, so here are some nighttime shots:
I love the color scheme of the toddlers’ room. It has a little reading nook.
The right wing serves as bedrooms for the first few Immortals. Diamond will join Winonaite and Rainbow in that wing, once she’s an adult.
Winonaite’s bedroom is done in a clean, modern style. She has a massage chair, because she is a stressed physician.
That empty room to the right will be Diamond’s bedroom someday.
The third floor will be additional bedrooms for future immortals, while the fourth story was meant to be skill areas; that floor won’t need to go as far as I thought it would, now that I’ve had the idea to kick my immortals’ skill areas off the lot. Both floors gets some attention later in this update, so I’ll save that for then.
She had a real sleep in her bed, then spent some time with family the next day. The following picture is remarkable because it’s the first time since leaving the hospital that Winonaite had held Diamond in her arms. Winonaite’s sacrifices weigh heavy on her, sometimes.
Mortimer had finally made twenty-five ice sculptures. He took some time to get to know his little daughter, and to learn how to care for her.
I don’t know why I even bother designing an everyday outfit for the toddlers; they never leave their pajamas. Here’s Diamond walking out on the balcony. I bet her toes are cold. (Notice how they’re painted? Mortimer’s doing, maybe.)
The toddlers grew up fast.
Both of them gained the Snob trait. Diamond became a prim young lady. She reminds me of Eloise at the Plaza, in the new big house.
At the exact same moment, the two of them autonomously rolled the wish to become best friends. They started watching the shopping channel in Thornton’s room before school in the morning. Both always had plenty of commentary and critique.
Here’s Diamond, in her darling little dress with the bow in the back...
Rainbow paints, too, with Stiles watching over her. That’s the only portrait or photo we have of him.
Mortimer tried to play guitar in the park sometimes, but he ran into the same problem Winonaite ran into at the clinic: fans kept canceling his queue.
Here is Bella Bachelor, his old friend.
After an eternity, Winonaite completed her hundredth experiment and SuperMaxed Science!
She got a cash award of §10,000 and a plaque. I thought to myself, we could’ve had a billion Simoleons if she had spent all that time cloning Tiberium—I won’t be negative about your achievement, Winonaite. The plaque is nice.
Around this time, Winonaite had reached level eight of Nerd influence, which allowed her to choose a bonus trait (she was, to that point: Good, Genius, Loves the Outdoors, Friendly, Workaholic, Perceptive). Ambitious had been winking at me, but thankfully, Mortimer is Ambitious, and he reminded me how annoying that “Anxious to Advance” moodlet can get. I can only imagine how anxious Winona would be to advance after six more generations. I made her a Bookworm instead, to help her get through medical journals quicker.
Winonaite’s focus shifted to her other requirements. Here she is renaming her building, the Sacred Spleen Memorial Hospital (now the Stiles McGraw Memorial Hospital).
Diamond and Thornton used the time to become best friends. Diamond demonstrated her plié.
Thornton bragged about his badges.
Rainbow gave her lovely little granddaughter a pinch, then boasted to Mortimer about her grandchildren—she’s going to need a much longer folio as this dynasty goes on.
The following day, there was a small joint party for Winonaite, Thornton, and Diamond. Winonaite became an Adult. Thornton and Diamond became Teens, and both gained the Over-Emotional trait. Diamond decided to express her new theatrical streak with her hairstyle.
She ultimately went with a look less Bride-of-Frankenstein, more Margot-Robbie-as-Sharon-Tate (in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood).
Thornton didn’t look quite right until I added the sunglasses. They communicated something about his personality I was otherwise unable to capture.
Speaking of Thornton’s personality—I decided, after deliberation, that my cloned spouses would follow the contours of their original donors’ personalities, without necessarily taking on the exact same shape (nature versus nurture, and all that). The original Thornton Wolff is a cold and wishy-washy business-type: Frugal, Ambitious, Dislikes Children, Commitment Issues, and Perfectionist. My Thornton Wolff retains some of his donor’s snobbishness and ambition, but is a bit more lively and dramatic. After a trip to the brain enhancement machine, he is Ambitious and Hot-Headed, in addition to the aforementioned Snob and Over-Emotional.
The only thing that really changed for Winonaite in adulthood was her attire. She had become a doctor and, quite frankly, most of them seem too busy to dress for much beyond comfort and utility. Here she is, working from home in her new atheleisure clothes.
The updated fourth floor:
Those dark, paneled rooms will become some sort of sprawling library.
His birthday kind of snuck up on me. I wanted him to accomplish his lifetime wish, and he wasn’t very close, so I made him start spending much more time on his Painting skill. He got some facial hair as an elder, as Stiles had.
Hot-Headed Thornton had a mood swing and got a wish to insult Diamond; this was, amazingly, the same moment they realized they were attracted to one another.
The hallway leads to the central room of the museum.
Here’s an overhead shot of the whole thing:
First up is Rainbow’s room.
I tried to imbue each room with a sense of the immortal’s style any personality. These are still a work in progress, but I think we’re off to a good start. I want life plants growing in those pots eventually.
Lastly, Diamond’s room.
She only has one wall of finished pieces. Her Teen photograph cracks me up! I made her watch TV to get her to pull that face. I’m trying to come up with creative ways to vary the Immortals’ poses in photographs.
Famous doctor Winonaite signed a quick autograph for one of the kids’ friends.
She looks quite stoic in this shot, but this is the moment that she became a World-Renowned Surgeon, fulfilling her lifetime wish.
She and Mortimer went out to dinner at the bistro to celebrate. He serenaded a big crowd of Sims, but his song, of course, was really only for one person.
The kids had prom. Diamond’s penchant for a dress with a dramatic back remains.
During the prom, I got a message: “Thornton revealed that he likes Diamond a lot. Diamond was so happy that she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.” Aww. They became romantic interests and were prom king and queen (of course).
They did not watch much TV the next morning... ahem, six inches apart, you two!
Winonaite worked on her other requirements. She completed some opportunities—including the absolutely grueling “Hospital Mystery” chain, which requires befriending and speaking to so many Sims—and she purchased the Pleasant Rest Graveyard as her property. To fully upgrade it, I added a second mausoleum and a little fountain area between the two. Stiles was finally, properly laid to rest.
A few days before the end of her Teen stage, Diamond had her own mood swing and got the idea to cut her hair. It didn’t turn out as she had hoped. Fortunately, there are always hats!
This started as just a goofy bit to amuse me. But I was further amused by how many outfits the hairstyle is cleared for. Diamond slept in her hat. She hot-tubbed (in the family’s new hot tub area!) in her hat.
She even caught on fire in her hat.
Her hat got singed clean off!
Winonaite lost her mind at him. A science-minded woman, she surely felt for their biology teacher.
Diamond’s botched haircut had grown out, and she got a new, fittingly vintage-inspired style.
Thornton retained his aviators. He’s leaning into the fratty look. (He’s checking himself out in the mirror in Winonaite and Mortimer’s room; this must be a nice one, because he tends to autonomously prefer it.)
Both interior rooms are two stories. This is the interior ceremony setting.
There’s also a banquet hall, complete with a sweetheart table for the newlyweds.
There’s a smaller, outdoor ceremony area, too—with a lovely view—if the couple prefers it.
Finally, just to the side of the outdoor ceremony area, there’s a reception area with a bar and dance floor.
Diamond chose a vintage-inspired gown for her wedding. Yes, we must again admire the back.
Now here is where I ran into a snag. I sent Diamond, Thornton, and Mortimer over so that Mortimer could capture some photos of the couple; then, in the early afternoon, I had Diamond try to throw the wedding party. I learned, in this moment, that the game does not allow you to throw parties on auxiliary lots. Only the main home lot and public locations around town can be used for parties.
On that same hill—legally, pre-game—I had placed the dance club The Grind. It just so happens that The Grind’s lot is the exact same size as the wedding venue lot.
One of the effects—the most useful one, in my opinion, and the one Winonaite certainly used the most—causes every Sim on the lot pass out for a few hours, but when they wake up, all their motives are fully replenished.
Another effect causes a shower of space rocks, money bags, and other collectibles to rain down on the lot. When Winonaite activated that one, I directed Rainbow to teleport over and collect all the loot. I didn’t realize that you can teleport with a baby. I laughed so hard at this screenshot.
I soon realized that using the Group Science Project was not contributing to the “experiments completed” metric counted for the skill challenge. These had to be done with the Science research station. Winonaite began radiation-blasting bugs and herbs with relish; she created several plasma bugs, and many jars of Super Spice.
Around this time, I also had Winonaite join the Medical career. (I failed to mention this when she aged up—her LTW is World-Renowned Surgeon.) There’s all this talk, in-game, about the Science skill and the Science and Medicine degree boosting your pay and your starting level in the respective career tracks. Well, I’m not sure if I did something wrong, but I sent Winonaite to the hospital to get a job, with Science mastered and a University degree, and she started off... at level three. Three!
To be fair, her starting pay was §58/hour, as opposed to the typical §28/hour, but still. Here I was, thinking she would be a handful of shifts away from maxing her career!
Winonaite developed a routine where she would go to work, then head straight to her “lab” instead of going home. There, she would complete experiments all night, then knock herself out with the Group Science Project and wake up with her motives refilled right before her shift. It was effective, but it was lonely. Very lonely. At least she could savor the Perfect empanadas her experiments sometimes produced.
Back at home, the babies were growing up. Stiles, who relished every extra day with the family, brought them to their cakes.
He and Rainbow took care of teaching them life skills.
You can’t tell quite yet, but Rainbow’s genetics have been on an unprecedented run. Diamond, save for her hair color—which is from Mortimer—is an exact copy of Winonaite, who herself is practically a copy of Rainbow.
I had Mortimer working so crazy at the sculpting station because I had no idea if Stiles would be alive to do Diamond’s toddler sculpture. But he was, and Diamond struck a wonderful pose for her grandpa.
It was at the sculpting station that a funny feeling overtook Stiles.
Rainbow rushed over, first feeling disbelief...
Then anguish.
Stiles begged for more time, but what Grim had already given him—nine extra days—was all there was to give.
Stiles passed at the age of 99 days. I came to love him an amount that surprised me. Rest in peace.
Is Grim really so hardhearted? No. He knew that Stiles, always so Neat, had helped keep the household afloat, tripping over himself to wash dishes and empty the perpetually-overflowing potties. Before he whisked back to the Netherworld, Grim took it upon himself to tidy up a bit.
Thank you, Grim.
The Stones’ home had become steeped in painful memories. It was time for a fresh start. Rainbow and Mortimer took the children, so innocent and unaware, to the park. Winonaite, of course, was at work.
Selling large Tiberiums had brought the family to over a million Simoleons; the old house was torn down, and a few (real-life) days later, a new home had been built.
The Stones can hold their own with the Landgraabs and the Altos now!
It’s based loosely off the Vanderburg Palace in Hidden Springs, which is one of my favorite EA builds. However, I tinkered with the layout and Immortal Dynasty-sized the house, adding two additional stories. I’m really happy with how it came out. I’m going to include some screenshots of the interior and exterior after the initial build; some things have changed and others remain unfinished, because I think trying to fully realize a massive house all at once has led to stalled progress in past attempts. I have, as I kept telling myself, a whole dynasty to fill these rooms!
First, a closer shot of the front exterior:
The courtyard fountain:
The small building to the left is the entrance to the immortal museum, which is below ground. At the time, I had not yet built any of the museum itself.
At some point, I want each pedestal to feature a large cut of each immortal’s namesake gem (or, in Winonaite’s case, namesake space rock). Oh, and as for the first pedestal—to take a brief detour: Rainbow had an exciting find!
The other building is the garage. I’ll need to think of some way to expand it as we accumulate more cars.
Around back of the museum is a little space I might turn into a picnic or grill spot. Maybe some playground equipment for the kids.
A shot of the back of the house. I realize I didn’t get a good bird’s-eye picture of the whole grounds!
The pool, which is gated to the immortals, because I want someone to SuperMax the Athletic skill:
The gazebo...
The greenhouse:
The second story mirrors the first floor. Just more planters.
Now, the house itself. An overview of the first floor:
The left wing of the house I’ve left for myself to fill as the Dynasty goes on. The only rooms with any established purpose are the small showers near the pool, a feature I’ve borrowed from the Vanderburg home.
The foyer:
There are small bathrooms behind each staircase. Then, the right wing of house opens into the formal dining room.
A spot for this dreamy painting Rainbow made:
The dining room gives access to a small room, currently empty, which will someday become some sort of study...
And the kitchen:
There’s no seating at the island, which I used moveobjects to create, but there is a cute little French breakfast nook.
Now for the second floor:
I have no idea why the daytime lighting is so messed up on the landing. It looks perfectly fine at night, so here are some nighttime shots:
The left wing of the house is the children’s space. There’s a boys’ room, a girls’ room, and a nursery. The boys’ room is modeled after my boyfriend’s room when he was a teenager (hehe); the girls’ room is modeled after the room I would’ve wanted when I was a preteen girl.
The right wing serves as bedrooms for the first few Immortals. Diamond will join Winonaite and Rainbow in that wing, once she’s an adult.
Winonaite’s bedroom is done in a clean, modern style. She has a massage chair, because she is a stressed physician.
I love Rainbow’s bedroom, especially the Moroccan-inspired tiles and colors of her bathroom:
That empty room to the right will be Diamond’s bedroom someday.
The top two stories of the house were, at this time, unfinished:
The third floor will be additional bedrooms for future immortals, while the fourth story was meant to be skill areas; that floor won’t need to go as far as I thought it would, now that I’ve had the idea to kick my immortals’ skill areas off the lot. Both floors gets some attention later in this update, so I’ll save that for then.
The day Stiles died was nearly unbearable for Winonaite. Not only did she lose her beloved father, but her childhood home was torn down without the chance for her to give it one last goodbye. I had to let her take a break from her rigorous routine, just for one night. Mortimer tried his best to comfort her.
She had a real sleep in her bed, then spent some time with family the next day. The following picture is remarkable because it’s the first time since leaving the hospital that Winonaite had held Diamond in her arms. Winonaite’s sacrifices weigh heavy on her, sometimes.
Mortimer had finally made twenty-five ice sculptures. He took some time to get to know his little daughter, and to learn how to care for her.
I don’t know why I even bother designing an everyday outfit for the toddlers; they never leave their pajamas. Here’s Diamond walking out on the balcony. I bet her toes are cold. (Notice how they’re painted? Mortimer’s doing, maybe.)
Mortimer also took up playing the electric guitar, to work towards his lifetime wish. He tested the acoustics out by the dumpsters at Winoniate’s lab, and in the new dining room.
The toddlers grew up fast.
Both of them gained the Snob trait. Diamond became a prim young lady. She reminds me of Eloise at the Plaza, in the new big house.
I dressed Thornton in Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren—or as close as the game would allow.
At the exact same moment, the two of them autonomously rolled the wish to become best friends. They started watching the shopping channel in Thornton’s room before school in the morning. Both always had plenty of commentary and critique.
Here’s Diamond, in her darling little dress with the bow in the back...
She was “throwing a tea party.” I had never done that before. If you’ve never seen the interaction… I’ll let you discover it for yourself!
Mortimer worked on his painting, also for his lifetime wish. This one is titled “Diamond and Thornton.”
Rainbow paints, too, with Stiles watching over her. That’s the only portrait or photo we have of him.
Rainbow, in her Famous Blue Nightgown, is also working on a side project: having every harvestable growing in her garden at Perfect quality. I hope, as the dynasty goes on, we reach a point where we have a functionally limitless stash of perfect harvestables to cook with and otherwise utilize.
Mortimer tried to play guitar in the park sometimes, but he ran into the same problem Winonaite ran into at the clinic: fans kept canceling his queue.
Here is Bella Bachelor, his old friend.
I had originally planned to build a museum-piece-making studio on the fourth floor of the house. However, I decided it would be much easier to just buy the family an additional lot, like I had with Winonaite’s lab. The studio is across from the lab. A very simple build.
After an eternity, Winonaite completed her hundredth experiment and SuperMaxed Science!
She got a cash award of §10,000 and a plaque. I thought to myself, we could’ve had a billion Simoleons if she had spent all that time cloning Tiberium—I won’t be negative about your achievement, Winonaite. The plaque is nice.
To celebrate, Winonaite treated herself to a deluxe foot massage, then she and Mortimer spent some quality time together.
Around this time, Winonaite had reached level eight of Nerd influence, which allowed her to choose a bonus trait (she was, to that point: Good, Genius, Loves the Outdoors, Friendly, Workaholic, Perceptive). Ambitious had been winking at me, but thankfully, Mortimer is Ambitious, and he reminded me how annoying that “Anxious to Advance” moodlet can get. I can only imagine how anxious Winona would be to advance after six more generations. I made her a Bookworm instead, to help her get through medical journals quicker.
Winonaite’s focus shifted to her other requirements. Here she is renaming her building, the Sacred Spleen Memorial Hospital (now the Stiles McGraw Memorial Hospital).
As soon as she signed the papers, she turned back around and headed inside... she had been on call, and there was an emergency at the hospital. Sigh.
Around that time, I decided it was time for a family bonding day. Too many of the household members were only acquaintances with one another. It was a Saturday, and everyone had the day off; I sent them to the beach. Winonaite and Diamond tried to finally get to know one another, but they had barely started talking when there was, yet again, an emergency at the hospital, and Winonaite had to run off. Ugh!
Diamond and Thornton used the time to become best friends. Diamond demonstrated her plié.
Thornton bragged about his badges.
Rainbow gave her lovely little granddaughter a pinch, then boasted to Mortimer about her grandchildren—she’s going to need a much longer folio as this dynasty goes on.
The following day, there was a small joint party for Winonaite, Thornton, and Diamond. Winonaite became an Adult. Thornton and Diamond became Teens, and both gained the Over-Emotional trait. Diamond decided to express her new theatrical streak with her hairstyle.
She ultimately went with a look less Bride-of-Frankenstein, more Margot-Robbie-as-Sharon-Tate (in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood).
Thornton didn’t look quite right until I added the sunglasses. They communicated something about his personality I was otherwise unable to capture.
Speaking of Thornton’s personality—I decided, after deliberation, that my cloned spouses would follow the contours of their original donors’ personalities, without necessarily taking on the exact same shape (nature versus nurture, and all that). The original Thornton Wolff is a cold and wishy-washy business-type: Frugal, Ambitious, Dislikes Children, Commitment Issues, and Perfectionist. My Thornton Wolff retains some of his donor’s snobbishness and ambition, but is a bit more lively and dramatic. After a trip to the brain enhancement machine, he is Ambitious and Hot-Headed, in addition to the aforementioned Snob and Over-Emotional.
The only thing that really changed for Winonaite in adulthood was her attire. She had become a doctor and, quite frankly, most of them seem too busy to dress for much beyond comfort and utility. Here she is, working from home in her new atheleisure clothes.
The house went through some changes. Diamond’s SuperMax skill is Sculpting, and she needed a place to do it. The third floor landing got some attention, as did the fourth floor; art studios came to occupy the right wing.
The third floor:
The updated fourth floor:
Those dark, paneled rooms will become some sort of sprawling library.
The sculpting and painting studios:
Diamond got to work on some clay.
Meanwhile, Mortimer became an elder without much fuss.
His birthday kind of snuck up on me. I wanted him to accomplish his lifetime wish, and he wasn’t very close, so I made him start spending much more time on his Painting skill. He got some facial hair as an elder, as Stiles had.
Hot-Headed Thornton had a mood swing and got a wish to insult Diamond; this was, amazingly, the same moment they realized they were attracted to one another.
Winonaite spotted the first giant space rock of the dynasty gazing through her telescope. Still no Winonaites! But this find was nonetheless exciting.
With Diamond’s Teen museum pieces complete, I decided it was time to build a real museum. To this point, all the portraits and sculptures had simply been stored in these unfinished corridors in the basement.
The elevator in the museum entrance takes museum-goers down to a long hall. Behind those velvet ropes, my plan is to line the hall with... something. Other collectibles? Paintings? I’m not sure yet! (But I even went to the trouble of placing ceiling tiles!)
The hallway leads to the central room of the museum.
Here’s an overhead shot of the whole thing:
Atop the central displays, I hope to eventually showcase a large cut of every gem in the game. For now, there are some normal-sized placeholders.
First up is Rainbow’s room.
I tried to imbue each room with a sense of the immortal’s style any personality. These are still a work in progress, but I think we’re off to a good start. I want life plants growing in those pots eventually.
Then Winonaite’s room... (No Winonaite to display, yet.)
Lastly, Diamond’s room.
She only has one wall of finished pieces. Her Teen photograph cracks me up! I made her watch TV to get her to pull that face. I’m trying to come up with creative ways to vary the Immortals’ poses in photographs.
Finally, and somewhat unrelatedly to the other renovations, one of the empty rooms on the ground floor became a TV room. I didn’t work very hard on decorating it, because I’m hoping that one of the family members who is a five-star celebrity will get the celebrity-exclusive TV in the mail, and we can redo the room around that.
Famous doctor Winonaite signed a quick autograph for one of the kids’ friends.
She looks quite stoic in this shot, but this is the moment that she became a World-Renowned Surgeon, fulfilling her lifetime wish.
She and Mortimer went out to dinner at the bistro to celebrate. He serenaded a big crowd of Sims, but his song, of course, was really only for one person.
The kids had prom. Diamond’s penchant for a dress with a dramatic back remains.
During the prom, I got a message: “Thornton revealed that he likes Diamond a lot. Diamond was so happy that she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.” Aww. They became romantic interests and were prom king and queen (of course).
They did not watch much TV the next morning... ahem, six inches apart, you two!
Winonaite worked on her other requirements. She completed some opportunities—including the absolutely grueling “Hospital Mystery” chain, which requires befriending and speaking to so many Sims—and she purchased the Pleasant Rest Graveyard as her property. To fully upgrade it, I added a second mausoleum and a little fountain area between the two. Stiles was finally, properly laid to rest.
A few days before the end of her Teen stage, Diamond had her own mood swing and got the idea to cut her hair. It didn’t turn out as she had hoped. Fortunately, there are always hats!
This started as just a goofy bit to amuse me. But I was further amused by how many outfits the hairstyle is cleared for. Diamond slept in her hat. She hot-tubbed (in the family’s new hot tub area!) in her hat.
She even caught on fire in her hat.
This gave me a good scare—I didn’t realize that Sims working on metal sculptures had a chance to catch on fire! Thank goodness that Mortimer was next door in the painting studio. There were, before that point, no showers on that entire floor of the house, and I’m not sure if Diamond would have made it to one in time. There is, needless to say, a shower now.
Her hat got singed clean off!
Thornton spent his Teen stage learning Charisma. His big moment of excitement came when he got arrested for pranking the school. He released 50,000 frogs, allegedly, which seems excessive to me; what high school keeps fifty thousand frogs in its science lab, let alone one with three students?
Winonaite lost her mind at him. A science-minded woman, she surely felt for their biology teacher.
Rainbow let Thornton off the hook. She’s a hippie, you know. She probably felt for the frogs.
Their Teen stage seemed to fly by. Everyone was skilling or working: Diamond in Sculpting, Thornton in Charisma, and the adults in their various disciplines. Soon, Diamond and Thornton were becoming young adults.
Diamond’s botched haircut had grown out, and she got a new, fittingly vintage-inspired style.
Thornton retained his aviators. He’s leaning into the fratty look. (He’s checking himself out in the mirror in Winonaite and Mortimer’s room; this must be a nice one, because he tends to autonomously prefer it.)
The two of them were in for a whirlwind day. I didn’t want to waste any time with bringing the fourth heir into the world, which means they had their birthdays early in the morning and set the wedding date for that afternoon. I bought yet another additional home lot and built a wedding venue up on the hill near Agnes Crumplebottom’s house. This will be the site of all future dynasty weddings.
Both interior rooms are two stories. This is the interior ceremony setting.
There’s also a banquet hall, complete with a sweetheart table for the newlyweds.
There’s a smaller, outdoor ceremony area, too—with a lovely view—if the couple prefers it.
Finally, just to the side of the outdoor ceremony area, there’s a reception area with a bar and dance floor.
Diamond chose a vintage-inspired gown for her wedding. Yes, we must again admire the back.
Now here is where I ran into a snag. I sent Diamond, Thornton, and Mortimer over so that Mortimer could capture some photos of the couple; then, in the early afternoon, I had Diamond try to throw the wedding party. I learned, in this moment, that the game does not allow you to throw parties on auxiliary lots. Only the main home lot and public locations around town can be used for parties.
This would have been easy enough to remedy in normal gameplay. I could have simply switched the family’s home lot to the chapel for the day, or made a copy of the chapel and turned it into a park using Edit Town; however, both of these, unsurprisingly, are prohibited by the challenge rules.
However...
On that same hill—legally, pre-game—I had placed the dance club The Grind. It just so happens that The Grind’s lot is the exact same size as the wedding venue lot.
I had the (insane) idea that I could have the family purchase The Grind; that I could tear down the entire building and (legally, by hand) re-build the chapel; and that I could then throw the wedding party at the renovated The Grind. I could’ve, you know, also just thrown their wedding at central park—that was definitely an option.
I decided to go with the former. (Here’s a shot of the test file I made, to ensure that my backup plan would work properly.)
Back in the real file, Mortimer left the newly-engaged couple, went to City Hall, and signed the paperwork to purchase The Grind for roughly §90,000. I tore the entire club down, took meticulous screenshots of my wedding chapel, and rebuilt the entire thing on The Grind’s property. A very irritating and begrudgingly funny two hours for me. For my Sims—and for you—a mere blink of the eye!
One final oversight of mine: I set the wedding party start time for 4:00 PM, but the club doesn’t open until 5:00 PM. This means that none of the Sims could go inside until then (and that none of my future immortals can get married earlier than 5:00 PM). Thankfully, everyone congregated outside on the dance floor and waited patiently with no further snags, except for Winonaite’s boss dying.
Thornton had to sign a quick autograph before the ceremony.
Finally—a beautiful sunset wedding!
There was a bit of a traffic jam to get to the cake cutting—but doesn’t the couple at least look lovely?
Beautiful Diamond made her best attempt to sit at my sweetheart table.
I had the family initiate the party outside, to clear out some space in the banquet hall. Thornton and Rainbow, along with a few other Sims, were at least able to sit down, eat, and chat.
The nice thing about the lot technically being a dance club is that the bar gets staffed for free (even if the bartender dresses like that). The family ordered some Glow Goo drinks to keep their energy levels up.
A nighttime shot serves the dance floor much better than a daytime one.
I caught Diamond gazing at her ring, amazed—maybe in disbelief at how quickly she’d gone from a teenager to a full-grown bride!
Winonaite and Mortimer broke it down.
Diamond danced with her grandma.
Rainbow held up considerably well, given the fact that she is over a hundred years old. In the wee hours of the morning, she was one of the last Sims to leave the dance floor.
But the final dance of the night, of course, was had by the couple.
They had a late breakfast the next morning before graduation.
Mortimer and Rainbow, unfortunately, hadn’t found the chance to shower off the grime from the night before.
As a graduation gift, the couple was given a new bedroom. They took a power nap that afternoon on their new bed.
Later that day, Diamond began dealing with some nausea. But instead of the customary porcelain-throne shot, you’re going to get one of her eating sweet grass—did you know that this cures the nausea moodlet? I didn’t! What an amazing discovery!
I had put together a cute, comfy athleisure outfit (in the same vein as her mother’s) for Diamond to wear throughout her pregnancy. Unfortunately, I hadn’t downloaded the pregnancy morphs that I thought I had, so Diamond ended up in that very un-Diamond-like squid t-shirt from Generations.
She relaxed and tried to relieve her backache with a candlelit bath in the new bathroom.
Winonaite was approaching elderhood, and her only remaining requirement, at this point, was her best friendships. This is quickly becoming my least favorite requirement. I did it with elixirs during one of my attempts, but I’m doing it the old-fashioned way this time, and I find it incredibly tedious. Alyssa Fitzgerald was uninterested in Winonaite’s gift.
She said something to the effect of: I can tell that you’re trying to bribe your way into knowing me. Oh, really? What gave it away? The fact that it was a §20,000 sports car?
Rainbow is having a good time being unattended to. She took advantage of the few child-free days on the lot; I found her skinny-dipping with the big TV on, to a robot movie no less. I giggled.
She also got a crush on the new male maid. She had a wish to learn his sign.
She ended up having to fire him, after I caught him sitting down to eat a piece of key lime pie. But Rainbow, I fear, took it a bit far. She dismissed him, then pointed and laughed. And then she ate his pie.
I forgot that Thornton needs to learn to sculpt, too, for Diamond’s museum pieces—I will be so excited when I’m done training sculptors!—so we’ve had a lot of Sims working on the top floor of the house. One of the details I’ve always found so charming and memorable in Pam’s Immortal Dynasty is her little yellow fourth-floor kitchen for her Dreamweavers. I realized that I had partitioned off one more bedroom than necessary, so instead, one of the third-floor bedrooms became a kitchen, in my little homage to Pam.
It had this cute little breakfast bar quickly replaced by the seating that Thornton is modeling, because my ridiculous Sims kept carrying the plates of food all the way to the first floor to eat in the nice chairs.
Diamond was heavily pregnant, and Winonaite called her work and told them she would need a few days off—she had decided it was time for something long-overdue.
The ladies drove to the spa together, first, to fulfill one of Diamond’s wishes. (When I went to take a screenshot of them, I noticed that the lighthouse perfectly lines up with Sunset Valley’s main street. What a beautiful and intentional detail.)
Then, they drove to the park, where they had a long, and finally uninterrupted, conversation.
They talked late into the evening.
Each woman shared her own side. Winonaite discussed the sacrifices she’d made in pursuit of the dynasty; Diamond expressed herself to her mother, who got a true sense of her daughter for the first time in their lives.
They ended the night in a good place; finally, finally best friends.
The next day, Diamond was remarkably calm as her labor developed. Thornton, not so much.
Diamond left the hospital with Gold Stone: Excitable and a Light Sleeper. (This is, officially, the farthest I’ve ever made it in an Immortal Dynasty attempt!)
Grandfather and great-grandmother greeted the new baby.
Winonaite had been in the process of tying up her last few friendships, but she had to make a stop at the lab...
...to welcome Leighton Sekemoto (2.0!) into the world.
As with the last set of babies, the parents will be busy skilling, so Rainbow has taken on childcare responsibilities. I put a door between the nursery and the girls’ bedroom, so that whoever is caring for the young ones can just sleep in there.
Thornton is meant to be sculpting around the clock, but he snuck in for a quick cuddle.
Finally, the eve of Winonaite’s Elder birthday had come; she was off work, and for the first time in a long while, she had nothing to do. She spent the morning with Mortimer.
She took a moment to care for her granddaughter.
Then, in the early evening, she, Mortimer, and Rainbow headed to her lab. Winonaite, always so industrious, was ready for immortality, and wasn’t going to waste a second.
She pulled the Lever of Doom...
And everyone slept.
The three awoke, reinvigorated, just before the clock struck midnight. At nearly twelve o’clock on the dot, Winonaite blew out her birthday candles.
No time to fret over her appearance or the new ache in her bones. She headed to the bathroom to clean herself up, then posed for her museum pieces.
She returned to the short locks of her childhood. I usually like to vary my Sims’ hairstyles throughout their lives—after all, very few of us have the same hairstyle at five, as we do at twenty, as we do at seventy!
While her mother and husband worked on her museum pieces, Winonaite cloned herself a death flower. Then she headed home and contemplated the chess board, and perhaps bigger things.
She wasn’t alone with her thoughts for long. Mortimer joined her soon.
Winonaite had work that day, so Rainbow whipped up some Ambrosia, and I meant for Winonaite to eat it as soon as she got home. But I had the smart thought to check on her best friendships first—and sure enough, her relationship with Tawana Fitzgerald had slipped to “good friends.”
Tawana had been nothing but a pain the entire process. I had picked her because she was young (so she wouldn’t die), because she lived with one of Winonaite’s coworkers (so she wouldn’t get culled), and because Winonaite had made a few wishes about befriending her, which I thought surely spoke to the character of the Sim in question. Nope. It took Winonaite something ridiculous like three days to befriend her. She has horrible traits—Mooch and Commitment Issues—and did nothing but beg Winonaite for food, blow off her phone calls, and reject her gifts. This time, it wasn’t even me: Commitment Issues sims, as I learned from the Wikia, will reject anything over §200!
I had Winonaite invite Tawana over. Tawana said yes, then said that something came up. So I teleported Winonaite to her house—and there she was, doing nothing, sitting and watching TV!
I had Winoniate Tell Inside Joke to bring them back into the realm of best friends. Remember, Tawana, when you almost jeopardized my entire dynasty by deciding we were only good friends? Then blew me off to watch TV? Surely you remember. Wasn’t that so funny?
But afterwards, at long last, Winonaite headed home for a hard-earned plate of Ambrosia.
Generation Two: Winonaite Stone, immortal at 73 days
Lifetime Wish: World-Renowned Surgeon
Career: Medicine
SuperMax Skill: Science
Building: Stiles McGraw Memorial Hospital (formerly Sacred Spleen Memorial Hospital)
Property: Pleasant Rest Graveyard
3 Unique LTRs: Honorary Degree, Food Replicator, Moodlet Manager
6 Best Friends: Mortimer Stone (Goth), Diamond Stone, Michael Bachelor, Tawana Fitzgerald, Alyssa Fitzgerald, Shane Cuevas
6 Opportunities: Riddle Away, A Stimulating Experiment, Fixing the Books, Logic 101, Hospital Mystery, Medical Knowledge Competition