under the skin, part 3

August 2083 - Cameron Gibson is 32, Bella Bradshaw is 27, Micah and Mariah Buchanan are 25, James Porter is 26.

* soundtrack: "The Blower's Daughter," by Damien Rice. Warnings: unapologetic cheese? It's a wedding, I'm allowed ;) *

Bella Bradshaw and Cameron Gibson are married on a sweltering day in August, in a garden ceremony at Riley Hall, hot enough even the flowers seem to sweat. Their wedding is elaborate, but appropriate for a rising young film star and Lake City's prettiest playboy socialite. The guests are adorned in shades of silver and scarlet, as per Bella's fancy. Delilah and Naomi don't exactly understand all the fuss, but they're happy enough to be held and cooed over, while their parents make funny gestures and faces at each other.

under the skin, part 2.5

August 2083 - Cameron Gibson is 32, April Hutchins is 20, James Porter is 26, Drew Bruty is 27, Bella Bradshaw is 27, Amelia Bradshaw is 28.

* soundtrack: "Reckoner," by Radiohead. Warnings: NSFW/kids *

Men are, by their nature, quite simple creatures. They like beer. They like women. But Cameron Gibson is not just any ordinary kind of man.

James, he's pretty ordinary. He'll drink cheap keg beer as long as it's free, and he certainly likes the sight of April.

Cameron, however, is not impressed with anything less than his usual rich and frothy imported ale. And April, sure, she cute, but next to Bella Bradshaw, a quickly rising young film star and the beautiful mother of his children, April is unfortunately just the average little college tart.

under the skin, part 2

August 2083 - Maxwell Shaw 37, Valerie is 42, Angelo is 13, Devon is 7. (Cecilia Dawson is 14, Cameron Gibson is 32, Bella Bradshaw is 27.)

* soundtrack: "Trouble," by Coldplay. Warnings: vulgarity? lol! You know, it is Max ;) *

Maxwell Shaw starts the day like any other man, though maybe a bit later. Valerie looks over him as she pulls back their sheets. He's almost peaceful, almost calm, with the covers pulled up to his chin and snoring lightly. But she knows better. He isn't peaceful in the least. Especially not lately. He confided in her about it, because this is about her now too. In truth, it always was. The closer he gets to the top, the more people there are just waiting to knock him back down.

under the skin, part 1

August 2083 - April Hutchins is 20, James Porter is 26, Maxwell Shaw and Heather Huffington are 37.

They have errands to run for Max. April's are quite simple, pick up some supplies for the bar, some random trivial things the delivery service had forgotten. James is here to help her carry them. Then afterward, he has his own errands to run for Max. These ones are secret - they always are. April doesn't ask anymore. She's never been a big rules kind of person. She hardly even thinks about it - what he does, that is.

But him, yes, she thinks about him. She thinks about him a lot. There's something about him that just sticks. She grins at him as they're walking. "You're a hard egg to crack open, Mr. Porter," she says.

dig your grave

August 2083 - Fiona McCullough is 16, Robbie is 13, Liza Hathe is 15.

* soundtrack: "Gold Dust Woman," by Fleetwood Mac *

If you think they don't have powers, these regular kids in the regular world, you'd be wrong.

Everyone has powers. Like her brother, with that stupid dopey smile of his. It's a power, and it certainly gets the girls all smitten. Fiona has power too, lots of it. She has her breasts for example, which are quite powerful. Maybe not powerful enough to win over Charlie Roseland, but that's okay. That isn't all Fiona has in her arsenal. That isn't even that start of it, if you want to know the truth.

Fiona has her brain. And Fiona has the world of knowledge available to her, all the books in the library, all the words on every website ever written. Fiona has some very interesting information, a strange-looking, old and worn book she found in the back shelves of some little book store. You can learn a lot of things in books, and Fiona is onto something. She'll get back at Charlie Roseland. She doesn't know how yet, and she doesn't know when, but she's learning things, very interesting things.

Curse him all to hell, for choosing dorky, chubby Natty over her! She'd burn him, push him straight into that fire. But that would be too easy, too quick. Sure, he might squirm a little, but that's not enough. She doesn't just want to make him cry, she wants to make him pay. And it's only a matter of time - sooner or later, she's going to figure out how.

fall 2083: take it down

Our little project is well in the works now, so let's dig ourselves out of the past around here and carry on. With the new year, we'll start a new chapter. The theme for fall 2083 is "take it down." This chapter will span from August through November.

SBP: master list of stories

Who is Samantha Bradshaw?

Samantha Bradshaw went missing ten years ago, and none of her family or friends have seen her since. Where did she go, and what was she doing there? The Samantha Bradshaw Project will seek out her adventures, from one place to the next. Stories will be added as her whereabouts are confirmed. Find out more?

***

So, where in the world is Samantha Bradshaw?

birth to age 22: Lakeside Heights
prequel stories #4
prequel stories #5
The Samantha Bradshaw Project

age 23
1. Tierra de Legado (Lunar Fox): 3 months
Just arrived
Dinner and a show
Back where we started
Down that road
Spilling Over

(LH present: a conversation with Autumn Phillipine)

2. Kayton (Billy/bbop): 6 months
Natural Curiosity
Pleasantly Surprised, Part 1
Beginning to Feel
The Ladies Who Lunch
Autumn Breezes
Spooked
Dead Wrong, Part 2
Silent Night
(after her departure, You Never Really Know)

age 24-25
3. Richmond (Blackcat): 18 mo.
Welcome to Richmond
Pearls of Wisdom
Friday
Storybook Families
Personal Matters
Facing the Changes
Growing Up, Part Two
Different Roads, Part One
Different Roads, Part Two
Different Roads, Part Three

(LH present: a conversation with Maxwell Shaw)

The Important Part
Something Else
Happy Holidays
Happy New Year, Part One
Happy New Year, Part Two
Happy New Year, Part Three
One Single Choice
Forsaking All Others, Part One
Forsaking All Others, Part Two
The Only Right Thing, Part One
The Only Right Thing, Part Two
Healer, Part One


age 25-26
4. SimsVille (Tanja): 18 mo.
Now What?
A Second Option
On Your Own, or Not Just Yet
Exciting
On a Rollercoaster
The Story of Her Life, a Little Bit Different

age 27-28
5. Richmond, revisit (Blackcat): ~6 months
???

6. Riverdale: 6 mo.
???

age 29-32
7. Sullivan (Carla): 3 years
???

age 33
8. Apple Valley (Starrsim): 6 mo.
???

9. Millwood (Maisie): 6 mo.
???

age 34-35
10. Pine Hollow (Shana): 2 years
???

age 36
11. Lakeside Heights (home): ???
???


Extras:

Sam's Mementos:
Tierra de Legado: booth pictures of Sam and Sam
Kayton: the swallow necklace from Jeff
Richmond: Sam's photos for Cory
SimsVille: her friend Niels


Behind the scenes chatter on the Samantha Bradshaw Project at Valley Sun Sims.

The Samantha Bradshaw Project

Flashback - Lake City, August 2073.

The night was so warm and humid even the hallway dripped sweat from a cold metal pipe above her head. In front of the building, some young men stood dribbling a basketball to madness in the late hours of the evening. Samantha knocked on the door to her best friend's apartment in the South End of Lake City.

Riley answered the door and waved her in.

LH stuff: my random file

My random file, to be used in conjunction with the RandomStuff program.

(download here)

Includes things like: my random event list, the randomly selected Sim (you'll have to replace my name list with names from your own hood), the depression roll, a weighted turn-ons/offs roll, and the usual aspiration roll, gender preference and such.

I shared this once ages and ages ago over at MATY, but I've been tweaking and adding to it over the years, so I'll host the updated version here :)

Updated 2/1/10: added the career risks roll.

LH stuff: t-shirts!

This is a test, this is only a test... kind of. This is my first attempt at trying to share anything, ever, so you can tell me if I'm totally doing this wrong or whatever. I'm trying to get everything figured out so I can get this Samantha project started :)

I'll share much better stuff in the future, but I thought I'd start off small, like with cheap logo t-shirts! :) So now your Sims can be Lakeside Heights fans! Or they can wish they'd gone to LCU instead of wherever it was you sent them.

(I don't know what exactly I'll have to share, or how frequently. I know some of you wanted my graying elder hair recolors. And I've probably got a building or two worth sharing... but anyway...)

(from left to right)
April is wearing a "Lakeside Heights" t-shirt, in Simlish.
Vicky is wearing a long-sleeve college t-shirt, featuring "LCU" in her college colors.
Summer is wearing the same "Lakeside Heights" t-shirt, but in English.

(download is here)

All shirts are made on base game meshes.

So, since we're testing and all, would somebody mind checking these out for me. Did I do it right? Do they actually show up in the game? They're zipped, and file names are labeled.

You can delete them afterward if you want. You won't hurt my feelings ;)

prequel stories #5: what ever happened to Samantha Bradshaw?

A follow-up on prequel story #4: sorry, I've owed this to you guys for some time now ;)

They didn't call Samantha's mother a diva, they called her "The Diva." She came from old money. She was a proud and classy woman. She was also very busy, with her partial celebrity status, her involvement in charities, small-time politics, and little bit of stage acting. The wholesome exterior was something of an illusion, because she wasn't a wholesome woman in her heart. She wasn't available to her family much. She was a fine woman, but not an affectionate woman, and she didn't raise her daughter to be a particularly soft or affectionate girl.

author's picks (round 2080 and earlier)

I enjoy seeing other writers discussing their stories, after the fact, about what their intentions were, or what their story was meant to do. So I'm going to do something of my own.

I usually try to be pretty impartial in my notes, so that my opinions won't persuade the way you read these stories, but I thought it might be fun to share which ones are my favorites. I can usually tell which ones are your favorites, from the comments and the way you react to the entry. Your favorites and mine are not always one in the same, though sometimes they are.

It takes some time after the round is finished to look back and reflect on the ones that really stand out. So these are the ones I spent a lot of time on or felt particularly proud of. And maybe some time after this current round is over, I'll post something like this again.

And it's a good way for me to stall and take a little Christmas/mid-round/just finished a huge-ass chapter break, lol! So here, go read something I already wrote! :)

***

November 2079: Summer's place

At some point, I started writing these updates a little less commentary-style, and started shaping them into stories. I think it might have been around the time of this update. The writing of this one isn't my best, but it reflects this change, the opportunity I saw for turning these prosperity-style updates into actual stories.

And I guess I also noticed that writing these updates in any less quality than I was capable of wasn't beneficial to my real storytelling. So my pace has slowed down considerably in doing this, but the end result was a good one - a better story for you to read, and better practice for me.

But like I said, this wasn't my best writing ever, and it almost makes me want to not showcase it, but for sentimental reasons, I will.

I also wrote this story the same week I conceived the novel I'm working on (I remember, because I was thinking what the crap is up with all these tragic stories???). Which makes it a very nostalgic time in my storytelling life. *sigh* LOL!


May 2080: blissfully clueless

Even though Piper had been around Lakeside Heights since before this blog began, this was sort of her "debut" story. She'd never been a feature of her own story before, though I have no idea why I waited so long, because this one really just made me fall in love with her!

Then this was also Jodie's first real story as a side-kick since she moved to Lakeside Heights, in all her arctic cold glory, and certainly made me fall in love with her as well.

Amelia has always been one of my favorites, and then add Carly in there too, and I really found that these girls would become (and still are!) one of my very favorite groups of friends to write about. All of them are so completely different in character, but yet they're all looking for the same things, to have fun, to love and be loved, and wondering what it's all about - is that not the formula for a great sitcom or something? (Well, yeah, duh... Sex in the City? But set in Michigan, lol!) Can I sell this idea to someone? Any TV producers reading? ;)

But anyway, this was the start of many fun stories to come.


August 2080: you're doing it wrong

When you're a parent, you're not supposed to have a favorite child... you love each of them for their individual quirks and beauty, though some of them give you more joy, while others give you more grief. The Deppiesse family would be that beautiful, bright, and quirky child that gives me nothing but joy, lol!

The twins are always hilarious fun, and Dallas is always charming and adorable. And this story in particular, the start of Dallas and Lucy as a Lakeside Heights power-couple, lol! That's enough in itself :)

March 2081: the love shack

And if we were to carry on the child comparison, Maxwell Shaw would be the one who gives me nothing but grief, lol!

But I love him just the same. Being in Max's head is so much fun, probably because he's just so foreign to my way of life (any maybe most people's?). I love him for bringing color to my story, and forcing me to think outside of my own personal comfort zone. I love that even though he's quite honestly a creepy pervert, he adores his family and is madly in love with his wife. I love that even when he screws up, he manages to weasel his way back stronger than ever. But most of all I love that he does actually have a little bit of a soul in there, buried deep, deep down. Who knew? :)

I just posted a new family picture in the database for them, and I think it really captures the essence of them as a family. And I love that I couldn't for the life of me manage to squeeze a genuine smile out of Max for that picture. It was like pulling teeth! He strikes me as the kind of guy who doesn't smile willingly for pictures.


April 2081: fourteen percent

This one erupted from my brain in a flash of words and images before I'd even started up my game. Its initial form was very poem-like, and was maybe one of the first in this blog to really show off (with no apologies) my mad poetic skillz, yo! ;)

I think each manifestation of grief is a very complex and personal thing, and Hayden's head has been both a very dark and beautiful place to be. I'm happy to finally see him leaning more towards the beautiful lately though.


August 2081: outshine

I love Melissa Fortney! Who doesn't love Melissa Fortney? I love how she always manages to make sunshine out of the little bits of light she has in her life.

Well, I've always had a soft spot for her mother as well, who never meant to be such a screw up. These two are so dynamic as characters in my head that I already know they'll exist in some form or another after this story ends...

(psst, maybe novel #2?)


September 2081: headcount

This one wasn't exactly a literary masterpiece or anything, but it's always been one of my favorites. The whole Deppiesse clan are hilarious together. It was just plain fun, from beginning to end, and who can ever get enough of Fiona McCullough? And I still laugh out loud when I read it :)


October 2081: curiouser and curiouser

Well, who doesn't like dropping secret bombshells? Except for the people they're dropped on, I guess... This one was just a lot of fun to write. I always have fun bringing up history from the neighborhood that I didn't get to write while it was happening. And this one brought to light the secret past binding together two very unlikely families. Hmmm...

I also tried to weave in a little bit of a subtle Alice in Wonderland theme, though I don't think anybody picked up on it at the time... too subtle maybe, lol! :)


December 2081: in real life

I have to identify with Hailey quite a bit, a hopeless romantic writing about love. This one was maybe one of the smartest I tried to write in that round, if you were inclined to try to pick it apart, with the facade of Hailey's idealistic romance novels against all these portraits of realistic love and its failures. I had a ridiculous amount of fun writing that scene in the literary cafe... and all of the therapy scenes too for that matter. You guys should see me writing these things - I must look like a lunatic, cracking myself up, lol! :)

I loved including Jodie, Mariah, and Hayden with their smaller cameos, so that all these different love stories became interwoven, finally coming to the conclusion that what it means to be honestly happy in life turns out to be not very idealized after all.


May 2082: lost and found

Now tell me that picture of Hazel with the bear doesn't still make you spew your coffee!!! What is she doing?!?

Besides that even, it's got Dallas and Lucy doing ballet, Beau being adorable and clueless, April being fun, Robbie and Liza getting in trouble together! And all those stories seemed to revolve around this central theme that pulled it all together. What more could you possibly want from an update? :)

July 2082: Summer's place, continued, part 1 and part 2

Summer is a girl so close to my own heart, and I draw on much personal experience when I'm writing her stories. We (Summer and myself, lol) slaved over this decision that she needed to take a break from Tyler, and we still stand by it, even knowing what we know now about how it would unfold.

I love writing about choices and consequences, and that also means letting them make mistakes if they're so inclined to make them. I don't really believe in mistakes though, they're just chances to learn something. And sometimes what you discover is what you thought you knew after all.

***

So those were my favorites of round 2080, all the ones I put my blood, sweat, and tears into. Maybe half-way through the next round, I'll do this again for round 2082.

And Merry Christmas everyone! :)

come undone, extras

Psst, Lara... that's not your husband...

After what was the longest "chapter" I've ever written for this story (totally got carried away there, lol!), I've decided to start doing these extras by chapter from now on, instead of by year.

Okay, so let's see what other extras, misfits, and outcasts we might have from the spring/summer 2083, "come undone" chapter...

more than I could ever promise, part 2

August 2083 - Dallas Deppiesse is 19, Delphie and Dakota are 13. (Lucy Harris is 17.)

* soundtrack: "The Way I Am," by Ingrid Michaelson. Warnings: cheese? Dude, I tried to avoid it, but sorry, it couldn't be helped :) And maybe a tissue or two. *

Problem one, Delphie and Dakota are bored. But that isn't the most pressing problem. Things can be done about that. Problem two, they're supposed to tell Dallas before they go anywhere, where they're going, and when they'll be back. That's not exactly the problem either. The problem is, it's only twelve hours until Dallas leaves in the morning, and he's busy saying goodbye to Lucy. They've been saying goodbye for months it seems, all gross and entangled in all that affection.

Dakota says, "No way, I'm not going up there. You go up there and tell him."

more than I could ever promise, part 1

July 2083 - Orion Deppiesse is 49, Violet is 48, Dallas is 18, Delphie and Dakota are 12.

* soundtrack: "The Way I Am," by Ingrid Michaelson *

Dallas is leaving next week, and his sisters haven't wasted a single minute trying to decide who gets to move into his bedroom when he's gone. They've been sharing a bedroom since they were born, and Dakota, for one, is ready to break free into her own space. She's already staked her claim. "I'm the second-oldest," she says. "I was born fifteen minutes before her."

"I hope you don't think you're getting the stuff in my room," he says. "It's just a room. It's going to be empty. I know you just want my computer."

"You can't put it in the attic," Dakota says. "Electronics shouldn't be stored outside of room temperatures, in the winter, that attic can get down to fifteen degrees."

"It does," Delphie says.

"Only you guys would know that," he says.