Happy 2020!

Happy Monday, everyone! I tried as hard as I could to have the next chapter ready for today, but with the holidays and an endless work schedule as soon as they were done, it just isn't anywhere near ready. I started to put together a short story instead, but it simply wasn't coming out in any form I could consider decent. Thus, I put together this little New Years picture for some sort of something, as there hasn't been a couples picture with the main three pairs yet. As always, click to enlarge for the bigger size and better quality. Thank you for your patience, and have a wonderful new decade!

Gen Four- Chapter Eleven

The edges of my eyes pulled tight and scratchy. Fulfilling that urge to scratch, or even simply rubbing the skin, made the ache worse. I told myself it was because of the crying. Seriously, my running was getting scarily impressive. I'd bolted nearly the whole way to my hut, only slowing in the last third of the stretch. The exhaustion naturally hit me when I arrived where I spent at least an hour letting my tears flow without resistance. For one brief moment, the thought of turning myself in flittered about alluringly. If all I was going to experience was these miseries no matter how hard I tried, how much worse could letting the government control my fate truly be?

Then, as I remarked on how coldly most of the members of the 'family' treated me, Tulip's words stuck on me the most. I was not weak-willed, useless, or pampered. I'd been getting the hang of this kind of life. Why give up and prove her right? All I'd have to do was be a bit more creative in overcoming certain obstacles. Lying, possibly bribing, shouldn't be too hard to get someone old enough to buy me medicine. There were plenty of other homeless people in the city too. Having been avoiding them, perhaps taking the risk to befriend some allies wasn't actually that risky after all. I laid there on the bench at the tiny pond's tiny dock forcing myself to ignore the fact that the redness of my eyes was my sickness and letting the warmth of the sun be my blanket this morning as I contemplated if I'd seen any of those people enough to trust approaching them.

A New Blog Look!

Things probably look a little different :) I'd never been overly fond of the old theme, but I used it as it had the functionalities I was looking for at the time without having a million complicated widgets I didn't care for/would have to spend a lot of time editing or removing. I've been searching around recently knowing it was time, after several years, to finally get off my butt about the matter. Here we are now! I hope you like it :) If you notice anything off or that's not working, let me know.

Gen Four- Chapter Ten

From the dark and weightless void where I floated, a soft and gentle presence began to press upon my back. It cradled my shoulders and neck, and when I twitched and shifted it moved with me to make sure I wasn't left without support. What a wonderful thing it was. I couldn't ask for a more perfect existence. Then a burning dryness caught my throat and had me coughing loudly to make me remember what existence actually was. The fluffiness of the mattress remained, but the aches and pains of my body also manifested to bring to light once more the situation I was in. Paranoia jumped in easily too as soon as the sounds of someone shuffling about reached my ears. My eyes flashed open instinctively where upon spotting a man standing right by my side staring I hurriedly closed them.

     "If you're awake, be awake. There's no need to act," the man instructed.

Hesitantly, my lashes fluttered open once more. I'd woken on my side buried underneath the sheets and bed cover, and I was grateful they covered most of my face. The man looking down on me didn't give off a dangerous aura. Still, who knew what I'd ended up in after I passed out.

     "This is a safe place, in case you're wondering. My name's Leo."

     "Because you're orange like a lion?" I wondered before I could stop myself.

     "Yes."

     "That's unique. I like it."

     "I'm told your name is Cinnamon?"

     "...Yes," I warily confirmed the lie. "How do you know my name?"

     "We'll get to that in a bit. It was my turn to watch and wait for you to wake, but Coral knows what medicine you need now better than I do. Hold on."

Gen Four- Chapter Nine

The lower level of the library had become my favorite. It was quieter than the others what with it having more of the non-fiction books, less computers, and not hosting a desk for the workers. The librarians and people who put the material back on the shelves did wander through occasionally, but I didn't feel as if I was constantly watched. Everyone left me alone for the most part. It helped that I'd been more conscious about my time spent in the building. I only came on afternoons when school got out so no one questioned me about not being in class or on the weekends. I never spent more than three consecutive hours doing my studying, and I left before people began to wonder if I would be alright walking home by myself.

     "Today, let's do..."

I pondered over what to research. Naturally, I couldn't get a library card without having an address, identification card, or guardian. All my studying was confined to the building, so I had to be picky with what was most pertinent for my current need at the time.

Holiday Week Off

Just posting a little announcement to let you know I'm taking this week going into the next off to focus on the holiday as well as deal with an increase of work hours due to us once again being short-staffed. Monday, December 2nd will not have a CMW update. The story will return December 9th.

Gen Four- Chapter Eight

The coming of the new morning eased in so gently. I didn't recognize the moment where the dreams stopped and reality returned. My sluggish brain just relaxed and listened to the words, the comforting sound of a pleasant conversation that came from nowhere as the wafting warmth of a calm, sunny morning drenched me as a blanket.

     "...and she naturally hasn't noticed, as you can tell," the first woman's voice spoke. I could almost recall it from somewhere, but no answer came.

     "Are your family members mediums or something?" This time Jazzy spoke.

     "Not that I know. My grandmother apparently had seen a ghost though. My father said he saw strange lights in a place where fairies were said to roam, and my aunt said she saw a fairy directly. I had an experience myself where there was ghostly activity in the hospital I was staying at, although it happened while asleep. I'm, again, naturally more prone to believe some of that was real."

     "Not believing now is what would mark you as insane," Jazzy laughed. "You're one dedicated woman. Tell me more about this whole manipulating luck thing you do."

     "It's difficult to describe, but the best way to say it is I see these pulses of aura around her. The good surrounding her is light, and the bad is dark. I found after a certain time I can just...push some of the dark away. When I do, a vision of what I've dispelled flashes into my mind. This takes a lot of energy though, and, unfortunately, the darkness is growing more by the day while the light keeps shrinking."
     "Still, that's amazing! I wonder if I could do something like that."
     "I'm not sure. I'm here as I am because I willed myself to stay for a specific reason. Why did you decide to stay?"

Quiet took hold for a long moment, to the point where my sleepiness nearly made me forget about the conversation entirely.

     "I think..." Jazzy eventually mumbled, "I think that's because, like most of us, I was angry and upset about what happened. I didn't want to accept it."
     "I can understand that. Such a desire was what nearly what formed me. If I hadn't─" The voice suddenly halted. "Oh, she must be waking. We're weakening. I don't have much influence when she's awake."
     "You should─"

I sniffled as I snapped my head up. My eyes heavily blinked open, my body still tempted by the lure of more sleep even as it came to consciousness with the full energy of a good, deep rest. Yawning, I glanced around for Jazzy. She was nowhere to be seen. Strange. Hadn't I just heard her voice?

Laril Download

I know it will be unlikely, but I wanted to ask and check if anyone has a .sims3pack or .sim file for Laril from The Goddess' Order. I went back and read some chapters after not having looked at the story for quite a long while and wanted to do something with the characters again. However, it seems with all the computer switches and the great wipe my original folder containing my copies of all the TGO characters has been lost. I was able to find a few mixed in other Saved Sims folders, and some are even still up on the Exchange. Laril's file is completely gone in every way I can think to access it though.

Unless someone was reading TGO in 2014, downloaded Laril's file from the Exchange, still has it, and is still reading this blog.

Haha, yes, I know it's quite a stretch. Just figured I'd check. No worries if no one has him. I'll just do some recreating, as Ranimir, his son, came out almost identical.

Gen Four- Chapter Seven

This time I ran without caring who gave me a funny glance. If the walk light turned red or there was no option to dash across the sidewalk without being hit by a car, I turned the corner of the block until the chance to move on presented itself. A giant tumble of emotions crashing against the cage in my chest kept me bolting, but the way I lived up until now was what drove my mindless run on the most. My brain could barely think. Thus, it defaulted to a state familiar enough. I was to run until I could barely run anymore. To reach that fine line between a good workout and pushing my body too far. If I could reach that point, then I should be safe. The skyscrapers taunted me with the endless sea of them, but I finally worked my way to a lower area of the city where the crowds and buildings were less. My legs began to tremble, so I scattered towards the first place that looked to provide a semblance of shelter.

Gen Four- Chapter Six

I realized I could jump from Mr. Flaxen's arms and run back far too late. My mind couldn't grasp anything that was going on, but my heart still told me to stay with my family and whatever path that took me down instead of running off with this man I didn't really know. Unfortunately, the end of the long underground tunnel eventually came into sight. It slanted upwards where Mr. Flaxen opened a heavy iron door set against the slope of a steep hill. There at the bottom where we exited was a covert, man-made overhang providing protection for the escape car dad mentioned. He must have maintained it well as it turned on smoothly and was full of gas, but Mr. Flaxen grabbed several of the cans of spare fuel anyway.

I was dumped in the back seat as he drove us down the one, earthen road there was to follow. Twenty minutes of winding throughout the trees then brought us to an isolated and unfamiliar back road. Another twenty minutes got us on what had to be a main road. The car zoomed along a speed I'd never felt while the forest broke away to a wide sky and low roar of other vehicles nearby. I saw little of anything but the sky though, for Mr. Flaxen barked at me to stay lying down anytime I tried to peek my head closer to the window. So, I cried. It must have annoyed Mr. Flaxen for he turned on the radio, loud and clear for the first time, to drown out my sniffles and sobs. Such was fine with me. I could just cry harder.

However, not too much more time passed before the several lanes of road merged into just two. Large ridges and the rolls of the mountain foothills became more compact. Turns became more frequent, and I dared to peek my head up once more upon crossing two bridges when insanely tall buildings came into view.

     "Head down!" Mr. Flaxen snapped again.

     "Where are we at?" It was the first question I'd asked, and I expected him not to answer.

     "The city of Aspen Harbor," he did explain gruffly after a moment.

Never heard of it.

Gen Four- Chapter Five

I waited, frozen. It could very well be that this abrupt tense situation had nothing to do with what I'd done. My panicking mind couldn't think of anything other than that grandpa had been hurt somehow, which wasn't any better, but maybe there was something I missed.

Or there wasn't.

     "I will give you one opportunity," dad bent forward, linking his fingers together seriously and studying to me, "to tell me why you think we're here like this."

My hands shook, so I clasped them upon on another as well. The innocent, unknowing expression I tried to hold fell impossibly fast while my stomach vigorously churned. I'd been caught. Someone figured out I'd altered DV2. Still, a stupid and naive part of me kept me silent. What if that wasn't it? Could I have accidentally done another troublesome thing without realizing it? What if they only thought I'd taken Mr. Plantain's keycard?

     "Nutmeg," dad prodded.

My gut burned with fire.

     "I..." My voice barely made any noise. "I took Mr. Plantain's keycard and used it to sneak into the robot room to mess with DV2's code."

Gen Four- Chapter Four

Dad worked on something during lunch. I couldn't find grandpa, so I downed the granola bar from my packed lunch and called my meal over. My whole body burned with a rage that tickled sweat on the back of my neck. Every vein pulsed with indignance while my stomach protested the thought of anything more than those quick bites inside it. Thus, my lunch break turned into me furiously bolting around the track again and again until my lungs could hardly keep up. Even then I kept going. With each step I imagined Ms. Cranberry's face underneath my foot. The harsh impact of my heel into her stupid mouth spouting lies worked wonders in keeping me from exploding.

The only truth she'd given me was that I had been a bit stupid. Stupid to expect anything of value from her. I wonder if I would have caught her off guard revealing I knew about her and dad's little get-together.

Gen Four- Chapter Three

In order to make up for the crummy Monday, on Tuesday Mr. Mint said we could have classes outside. It meant more effort for him as he had to trudge everything with us and rely more on traditional media like paper and pencils than the computers and stuff we typically used. We both worked with increased vigor though. The serious lack of windows meant being cooped up inside all day most days had us suffering from a lack of vitamin d among the other benefits of being connected to nature. It was why I spent a lot of my time outside when at home.

     "That was a terrible story," I complained, closing my book firmly.
     "Was it actually poorly written, or is it terrible because it has an unfortunate ending?" Mr. Mint probed studiously.
     "Both. I don't like it because it makes me feel sad. It's also badly written because the situation is deliberately set up to make the girl's death inevitable. No real organization would allow such shoddy engineering where a small amount of additional weight would require the pilot to jettison the girl out the airlock. They'd save more money and resources that they're trying to conserve if they use more of those resources to allow a margin of error. Then the flights wouldn't be so risky and catastrophic if something small goes wrong."
     "A fair point," Mr. Mint acknowledged. "Because you had good reasoning, I'll save this reading of 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' for another day."
     "What, is it another depressing story?"
     "Mayhaps," Mr. Mint smirked.
     "Why are you giving me all these harder-to-read dark tales anyway?"
     "Despite your dislike of most literature, you read at an exceptionally high level. These are standard stories for study, and I thought it'd be best to get them out of the way so I don't have to continually throw them at you."
     "I'd rather you actually throw the book at me if it meant I didn't have to read them," I mumbled.

Mr. Mint just laughed.

Gen Four- Chapter Two

Neither of us knew how to react. I knew most people in the building and had formed the basic, pleasant general relationship one has with acquaintances on average at least twenty years older than you. Mr. Sterling though, well, he was essentially a ghost to me. A figure I saw only rarely and who only ever flashed a quick appearance in the corner of my eye before he impossibly darted off. Seriously, maybe he could walk through walls. I'd tried to follow him once or twice, and it was if he'd vanished from reality.

     "Good afternoon, Nutmeg," he greeted quietly and meekly.

I stopped his attempt at walking by by moving in his way. Needing to move down the hallway I blocked, he was trapped between getting to his destination and knowing walking in the opposite direction wouldn't help him.

     "Hey, Mr. Sterling, can I talk to you for a moment?" A bold request on my part, and one I knew he wouldn't accept.

     "Unfortunately, there's something I must take care of. If I could be on my way."

He sighed and rubbed at his forehead when I jumped to halt him once more.

Gen Four- Chapter One

One of the most difficult questions I've ever attempted to answer in my life is one many have pondered...what does it mean to be a good person? Or, likewise, what does it mean to be a bad person? I've known people I believed to be good who turned out to be absolute monsters. There are those who the world shuns as horrible when all I've ever known from them is kindness. Can a lifetime of repentance undo the worst of crimes? Can one terrible action dissolve every honorable act done until then?

I don't have an answer after all this time. Honestly, I don't think it's a question that can be answered. All one can do is take a look at the situation before them and judge to the best of their ability with their heart and mind. Such a conclusion was a long time in the making. It was during the late summer in my tenth year when I first had to ponder that above question, but it's probably best to go back a little before that. I'll start with a certain Friday. A day with a bright sun, lively early summer breeze, and moment after moment of subtle changes to my stagnant life.

The Simplified Color My World Summary...With Pictures!

Gen One

Ethereal is the protagonist of Generation One. She's an albino, a person devoid of her natural coloring due to a genetic defect. She lives a quiet and peaceful though isolated life behind locked doors with a small yard surrounded by large, white walls. Ethereal initially doesn't mind the situation. She's been told she's an important part of a plan for The Company, the organization who has been taking care of her.

Color My World Generation Three In-Depth Summary

     In the passing years, Coal has come to marry Holly. Their first pregnancy together results in fraternal twin daughters, Gilly and Dianthus. Dianthus, not long after turning three, is taken by Eden to visit an ailing Ethereal in the hospital. Ethereal's body has been deteriorating due to the vast amount of genetic manipulation that created her, but Eden does not suspect her time would be up that day. He and Dianthus find her on her last breath. Eden gets to say a final farewell to his sister before she passes, and Dianthus sees from her uncle's despair what it means to have your heart broken. A grieving Amaranth has her promise after the funeral to do all she can to prevent herself from being lost before her time.

Back in Business!

In final good news, the computer shipped sooner than stated. It arrived earlier last week, and I've been hard at work installing everything and getting the game as well as the rest of everything up to scratch. I've even been able to begin taking pictures for the start of Gen 4. There's still a lot of prep work to be done to set the scene for the new location, but hopefully most of that should be done in a day or two. For now, to still give me time to produce a decent backstock, the return date will continue to be October 6th.

There's not too much I can share at the moment, but here's the opening picture for the new generation:

Also, for the commenter asking for Arbor's download, here you go! I also put the link in list in the directory. Here's where you can get his tattoos, and next time I'm in-game I'll see if I can track down where his hair comes from. I found out which hair it is, but the download link I got it from is invalid now. I uploaded it to my Mediafire instead. Here you go!

Thank you all for your patience!

Color My World Character Vines

I got bored and wanted to try to do a few things on this blog to start waking it up before my computer arrives, so I decided to put this together. It's a fun little compilation of vines that I felt suited each tagged character from Color My World, be it something they would do, is their sense of humor, highlights their skill set or lack thereof, or references characteristics from any point in the series. Enjoy!

Also, contains kinda spoilers.

Almost There!

Hello, all!

I just wanted to give a quick update to let you know I've finally got a new computer!

Well, almost, haha.

It's been paid for, and the site estimates it will be built and shipped in about two weeks. If you're curious, I got the HP Omen Obelisk. I'll be able to play Sims better than ever before, and because of the easier upgradability of PCs I shouldn't have to worry about a huge computer breakage like what's caused this stretching hiatus.

Once the computer arrives, I'll do my best to get a good backstock of content as soon as I can. I want to go through a lot of the CC and mods I rarely used to declutter my game as well. The tentative return date is the good, old anniversary date of October 6th. I'll let you know if that changes though, for I have more outside projects on my plate than I used to have, so dedicating all my writing time to my Sims stories is harder.

Again, thank you as always for your patience, and I hope to see you soon.

~Kelsey

A Needed Update

Hello once again, all!

I figured it was about time to pop in and let you know how things were progressing. The quick and short version of everything is that it took a lot longer to get a hold of the car than anticipated. I've had it about two months now, but getting it shipped and other expenses after the holidays drained practically everything of my savings. It's only now that I'm really able to start saving up for a new computer. Hopefully, it won't take more than several months, but we all know life. I just want to say that I am completely committed to this blog and its stories. If I'm the only one making stories with Sims 3 in the years to come, if I have to move everything to the Sim 5 or the Sims 6 to finish things, or the like I will do everything I can to keep trucking on. With no computer to create content with currently though, I'm afraid this place will have to be quieter a bit longer. I do still get out chapters for Devout on Tapas if you've yet to check it out, but otherwise I can't do much. I did at least finish up the last CMW short story I had pictures for, however, as I'm sure you can see.

Sorry for another long hiatus, but I hope to see you all relatively soon with more content!

Kelsey

Color My World Short Story #10

I smiled at the little scene around me. The business that'd been the kitchen and dining room hardly ten minutes ago was gone. Prism, Desire, Coal, and Cerise had scattered off, and mom and dad had wandered into the spare bedroom to rest. They were feeling under the weather again, but they'd done their best to come down for Wisp's and Glade's birthday. The other family members who'd been here for the presents and cake had also left to return home. Wisp would meet up with his friends later to celebrate some more, but for now the festivities were over. Blaze and I stood talking while Wisp continually kept an eye on his watch for the alarm to go off. The important moment came, and the trilling beeping filled the area.

     "There we go," Wisp bounced Glade playfully. "Now you're officially a year old. Congratulations."

Glade laughed loudly at the bouncing and Wisp peppering her cheeks with kisses. I wandered over to sneak a kiss on her cheek too. Despite my best attempt at cleaning her face, she still smelled of the cake she'd messily smashed into her mouth. My lips pulled back a little bit sticky. A little bit of stickiness, of course, was nothing compared to be the mess she'd been exactly a year ago as the doctors pulled her out of me. What a day that'd been.