Generation 3- Afterword

Ok so. Where do I begin? This generation was a sinkhole. I tossed stuff into it- ideas, time, effort, etc. and it would eat them up, plop, plop, plop and they would disappear. NIGHTMARE. So I am inordinately happy I got here.

First, about that ending: There is a lack of cars in Sims 4, so Taurus did not really get hit by a truck. I was playing around with the game, some visitor died on the lot and the Reaper was visiting, Iris went into labor, then Taurus himself died. I wasn’t too upset. I had heirs after all, not quite born yet but heirs nonetheless (which is probably against the rules but whatever).

Then after the whole situation ended- after the reaper left and the twins were born (oh come on, twins? Seriously?)- something unexpected happened. I started to cry.

This wasn’t even my first sim death! I hadn’t cried for any of the previously deceased sims. This was absolutely ridiculous. I wasn’t even remotely sad five minutes ago. Was it because he was the first sim to die that I raised through toddlerhood? Or because he was the first to die of anything other than old age? Maybe it was because it was too sudden. I will never know. Either way, I cried my eyes out that day.

Secondly, I finally made the banner for generation 3. Goodness why did it take me so long? I am so lazy.

Also, the updated family tree:

Last but not least, I got a thoughtful question from Simscognito, and I thought I’d post the answer here. This is stuff that really should have been explained in the actual story, but I failed to get it across- that’s all on me.

Question: “Can the Reaper change anyone’s fate to suit him?”

Answer: “I always thought that reapers, being the blue-collar workers they are, have some sort of higher power they answer to and who gives them their lists. Now if they don’t keep to their lists, they get into trouble with said higher ups. So Jerk Reaper is in for it now. I guess he could argue that his deal was a good deal (“Please sir- it was for the good of the office”) but either way, he overstepped his authority here. At least he tried to make it look like an accident.

As for why he did it, yes it made his job easier. But I don’t think he would have done it for anyone that’s not Taurus. He won’t admit it, but he did it out of loyalty to his dead (?) friend. Taurus’ number 1 role model was always Grimmie, and even until the end he is on his mind. Jerk would have seen that too and, begrudgingly, helped Taurus follow in his father’s footsteps. (Not a stunt he can pull often, because he might lose his reaper job and never pay off his reaper student loan and his reaper rent.) It’s the same for why he didn’t nab Taurus a while ago. Can’t do that to your bestie’s son, and also… reaper rent.”

Whoo, that got long. I’m going to be taking a little break from Winter’s Alchemy to write that other story of mine (it’s on this blog, if you want to check it out), but I’ll be back soon for the next gen.

Thank you all for reading, and see you in Generation 4!

 

Previous post <3.15 Late (Beginning of the End)> / Winter’s Alchemy Screenshots

3.15 Late (Beginning of the End)

ISAAC

“I’m sorry, did I startle you?” drawled the Reaper. “I thought I’d hitch a ride. We’re going the same way after all.”

I sat, tongue-tied, as the Reaper gazed at me with shameless expectation. “Well aren’t you going to drive? I’ll get there in time either way. It’s just you who’ll be late.”

Wordlessly, I started the car and slowly began down the road.

“It’s nice to be driven places,” said the Reaper. “I usually don’t have company on the job. This reminds me of the good old days.”

“Why are you in my car?” I managed to get out.

“Have I not said? You and I have the same destination. Your home, Winterstead.”

“But why? Who are you after?”

“All of them. It is time for all of them. Your first child, your second child, your wife.”

“I don’t have a second-“ Then it dawned, far too late. “Twins,” I said numbly.

“I knew you’d get there one day. It took you so long. I thought you were the smart one.” He leaned back. “You thought I was lying? I was not. Ever wondered why your father chose silence over lies? It’s because there was never a choice. We can’t lie. Then he met someone with just as many secrets and all this happened.”

Just as I met someone with secrets.

I blamed my father for leaving us so unceremoniously, but I was just the same, wasn’t I? I couldn’t live without her. If anyone had to go first, it should be me.

“How long?” I said, interrupting the Reaper’s soliloquy.

“How long until what? Their deaths? About an hour or so left, I’d say.”

I pulled the car over to the side of the road and stopped it.

“What? Why are we stopping?” said the Reaper.

“I can’t let them die,” I said, and I had never felt more certain of something in my life.

“Tough for you. Death doesn’t bargain.”

“Death doesn’t bargain, but Reapers do. Delay their deaths and I’ll go with you instead.”

“Why would I do that?

“Because if not I will live forever just to spite you, Reaper. I hope you’re alright with that.”

Finally, the smirk melted off his face. “You’re serious.”

“Will you do it?”

There was a long moment of silence, and the only sound in the car was that of my stilted breath.

“Keep driving,” the Reaper said at last. “I’ll say it was an accident.”

I did as I was told. As I started up the car again, the Reaper took his list from his robes and began to slowly tear it up. “Their death records have been wiped,” he said. “All this will do is delay their deaths an unidentified amount. It may not change how. It may not change why.”

“It gives them a chance,” I said. “That will be enough.” I looked away from his expressionless, unreadable face and towards the road.

“Straight down the road,” I heard him say, but my ears were muffled. What was this feeling crowding my head? Fear at my impending death? Regret that my children will never know me?

A light appeared at the end of the road, growing closer and closer, larger and larger. As it swallowed me, I wondered if this was what my father would have done.

Hoped he would be proud of me.

Closed my eyes.

 

ELIZABETH

Even the little sliver of light coming from the door crack hurt my eyes and the screams made my ears ring, but I couldn’t move away. I felt I owed Taurus that much, and I knew Altair felt the same.

It was already so many hours ago when they told us our brother won’t be here to see his baby. He never will. Hit by a truck, they said. He was the only casualty. I wish they had kept their voices down, but it was too late. Since then, Iris took a turn for the worse.

I wanted to lean against Altair’s shoulder and cry but I had already cried myself dry. Now I was weary down to my bones.

I must have fallen asleep somehow among the din, because the next thing I remember was Altair gently shaking me awake. The door was now open, and the light was almost blinding.

“It was a close one,” the midwife told me. “The girl barely made it.”

There were two babies lying side by side in the single bassinet. It vaguely occurred to me I should go buy another.

“The older one’s the boy,” said the midwife. “The wee one’s the girl. They’ll need names.”

Iris looked over to us with half-closed eyes. “His name is Gemini.”

“And the girl?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Iris, turning away. “Name her whatever you will.”

—–

That’s the end of Gen 3. There’ll be an afterword soonish.

Also, Winter’s Alchemy now has a forum thread! If you want to pop over and leave comments there, I would love to have you all 🙂

Thanks for reading!

 

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3.14 Late (End of the Beginning)

ISAAC

It was Iris that put me straight. It made sense, really. She was always the one keeping me from getting carried away.

She told me, with her calm reasoning, that the Reaper had no reason to tell the truth. “Even if it’s true we still have time,” she said. “This is only our first child, and if death is not set in stone, it means it can be changed. We can change it.”

I felt better.

It wasn’t easy to let go of the foreboding, but over time it got washed away with clear-headed logic and with life and its normality.

Since then, Vega turned down a proposal from a gentleman she knew from the café downtown. For a while I was concerned that she was still waiting for Sterling, who was recently divorced. But she assured me it was only because she did not see the man as anything other than a friend, and I believed her.

Altair’s move date to Brindleton was finalized, around two months after Iris’ due date. I suspect he is going later than he needs to so he can see the baby before he leaves. The baby whom I am nervous yet excited to meet.

As for the Reaper, well, I hadn’t seen him in months.

How could I stay worried?

 

By unfortunate timing, I was at my clinic still closing up when Iris went into labor early. The call came from Vega, who had already called the midwife. I was the one running late, it seemed.

Everything turned into a mad rush. I hurried out of my office, leaving the ‘CLOSED’ sign hanging crookedly from the door.

Out on the street, I yanked open the car door and pulled myself in- and almost fell back out.

For the Grim Reaper was in my passenger seat.

—–

Next chapter is the end of generation 3, and it’ll be out… probably tomorrow 🙂 Thank you all for reading!

 

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3.13 On the Record

ISAAC

I was being followed by an immortal stalker, it seemed. Everywhere I went, everywhere I turned I would see a fleeting black robe fading into the air. Several times I ran after him to find him gone, or that I had followed a complete stranger. It was enough to make me begin questioning my sanity.

It was sheer coincidence I was on the way home from a patient’s house call when the man collapsed. Everyone surrounded the man but my gaze was fixed on the drifting black figure smoothly approaching him.

“Alchemist,” said the Reaper. “We meet again. But this is not the time for a chat.”

I deliberately placed myself between him and the collapsed man.

He glared at me, the expected response. “You are infuriatingly like your mother.”

“Tell me why you’ve been following me.”

“Step aside.”

“I will when you tell me.”

An irritated sigh. “You took a potion of youth. I’m watching you, as it is my job to watch those that try to escape death. Did your parents never warn you?”

Yet another thing they should have told me but did not. Though this one I should have known.

“It’s nothing personal,” he continued, in a way that suggested otherwise. “As for your family, I merely mill around them because their deaths are on my record.”

“On the record?”

“Well, deaths are not set in stone. But for you…” He broke off to smirk.

“What is it?” His words sent a cold shiver down my spine.

“You’re that type, the curious type that needs to know.” His voice flew up in a mocking tone for the last three words. “But will you be able to live with it?” At my nonresponse, he sneered, “If I tell you, will you really step aside, doctor? His condition is reversible. If I don’t reap him now, you could save that man.”

I couldn’t reply. The inside of my mouth was too dry.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll tell you what is in your future,” he said. “Two children. The second one will kill the other, your wife, and eventually, you.”

And how nonchalantly he said that, as if he weren’t telling me anything but the weather. Like an insensitive joke. But those words turned my mind white, paralyzed me to the spot.

I barely noticed the Reaper stepping around me.

A second later, from an impossible distance away came the sound of keening.

I didn’t turn around. I walked away on numb legs, heavy with knowledge and the weight of a life, and it seemed that the shadows pooling under the newly lit lamps were dragging me down.

 

I’m not sure how long it took for me to reach home but when I did, the sky was fully dark. I barely had time to take off my hat before she rushed forward and threw her arms around me.

“Taurus,” she said with giddy euphoria, “We’re going to have a baby.”

As I looked into her face, long enough for it to change from excitement to worry, I could almost see the Reaper’s foretold ending written in her eyes.

It was already starting.

 

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3.12 Shadow

ISAAC

The liquid inside the cup looked deceptively like Darjeeling. But instead of Darjeeling’s characteristic musk, it tasted of stirred embers and liquid light- the taste of life.

Since my wedding, I’ve been going through my mother’s book, her magnum opus. Every detail of research on alchemy spanning centuries condensed into one this one book.

It wasn’t perfect, of course. In the margins I supplemented some incomplete information, unfinished research and flawed theories.

It was professional curiosity as a doctor that led me to concoct the potion of youth. Even if it was not a viable method of longevity for the human race as a whole, I couldn’t help but be fascinated in the substance- especially as the one who had optimized the formula had been my very own grandfather. If only I had more of it. I could have experimented its effects on other living beings.

Making a note to myself to look into the curious nature of the plant growing in the back yard, I took another sip from my cup. It definitely didn’t have the same relaxing effect as tea but it would have to do. Still, my mind wandered.

For the past year or so, everything had finally begun to settle into a routine. Married life, the clinic, family matters. Some changes were on the horizon: Altair, along with Nia and Aria, were planning to move overseas to Brindleton. I would miss them when they leave. My brother admitted with a grudging smile that he would miss me too. But we would be able to visit each other quite often, I reckoned. The move wasn’t until next year anyhow.

I put the cup down.

It was that moment when I saw something fleeting out of the corner of my eye. Something out of place. Something unwelcome.

He was standing far below on the street, looking up at my window. From where I sat, he was only a distant smudge of shadow, but with the instinct built into every living being I knew what he was.

The Grim Reaper.

He saw me staring. He waved.

Then he was gone, like the shadow he was.

—–

Fun fact: Iris is the granddaughter of Elsa Bjorgsen, and happens to be the heir of the Lighthouse. See, I got that house in the end! Or I would have if Sims had inheritance laws… Hehe.

 

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3.11 1/2 Intermission: Yet more stories and a goodbye

Hi everyone! So this is just another interlude in which I talk about stuff outside the story. I write these so later I can remember all the associated stuff that never made it in. xD

I felt bad because I sent off Libra and Grim so abruptly, but whenever I thought of their exit it always happened like this. Typical me to cut out the important stuff. Anyway that’s why I’m writing a few words here.

I am always sorry to Libra. Her story, I feel, is overshadowed by Leo’s. His secrets, his doubts, carried over to the second generation. Libra Winter was the first Sim I followed from birth to death. As she grew up I was delighted with the traits she rolled: creative, music lover and dance machine. In short, Leo’s three traits exactly. Her personality and hobbies, though, she seemed to take after Yuki. Direct in their words and actions, moving purposefully.

When I reimagined Libra’s sim, her personality helped me imagine how she’d go about in this pseudo-historical world. The time period is quite hazy and I haven’t kept up with the exact timeline, but I imagine she lived at the time of the women’s suffrage movement (which took place for our world in the late 19^th century). Libra would have been quite invested in this cause, I think. She isn’t one to sit and take injustice done to her, especially since she was raised by a somewhat non-conforming mother. I didn’t mention this explicitly in the story I don’t think, but it’s the kind of random background fact that makes it into an intermission. xD

I can’t remember any ridiculous stories while playing Libra. First and foremost, it’s been a while since I played her, and second, I was much more used to the game by then. No more random mistakes! Though I miss the days I did the stupid things. I did have a cowplant around that time. Some of the family members took a trip down that gullet once or twice (but nothing permanent, thank goodness).

Now a random fact about Grim! The guy really, REALLY liked watching cooking shows on TV. Since reapers don’t need to eat, he never cooked a meal but his cooking skill was maxed out just by watching that one TV show. He became like Gordon Ramsey after watching years’ worth of Master Chef.

That’s all the background stuff about those two. Weird to think they won’t ever appear in the story anymore. But surely as stories extend beyond the pages of a book, their story will extend beyond my meager words written here.

Sometime, somewhere, they’ll meet again.

 

Previous post <3.11 Leaving No Regrets> / Next post <3.12 Shadow>

3.11 Leaving No Regrets

ISAAC

The circle of mourners was small, just our family, close friends, and a few townspeople. A quiet affair.

“Vega, Altair, Taurus. There’s something we need to tell you.”

Two men began to lower the coffin into the ground.

My parents, sitting across from us as my father addressed us.

I stared hard at the hole in the ground as they began to shovel earth into it, hoping it would hold back the tears.

“It’s something we should have told you a long time ago.”

My mother was my guiding light. My father was my compass that points north. After my mother died my father disappeared. We never searched for him. We knew he was gone, never to be seen again; his first and last selfish act in the time we’d known him.

Now here I stood on the edge of a grave- at the edge of an ending- saying goodbye to my mother, with the crushing knowledge that I had not lost one parent, but two.

 

“I have to go now,” said Iris, gentling placing her hand on my arm. “My train leaves in an hour. I’m sorry I have to leave so soon…”

“It’s alright,” I said. “Are you sure you can go alone?”

“I’ll be fine. Stay. Your place is here.”

I watched her walk away.

The other mourners left too, in a trickle. Altair excused himself to help Nia feed Aria, who was fussing again, and I was left alone with Vega. She gave me a wan grin, her eyes red from crying. “Finally some quiet. How are you holding up?”

“Honestly, I could have been better.”

“Yeah.” She scuffled the dirt with her feet. “I feel like we should all talk more. You first. I know you have a problem that’s not because of all… this.” She gestured to our surroundings. “Tell me. I might be of some help, even if I’m your fussy old maiden sister.”

I couldn’t help but smile though it vanished as quickly as it came, like a wave on sand. “Vega, tell me honestly. What do you think of Iris?”

“Well, I would know her better if I saw her more,” said Vega with mild disapproval. “You should bring her over more often. From what I have seen of her, though, she’s lovely. I like her.”

“Her family are pushing us to get married. They say they’ll set me up with my own practice.”

“Well, that’s great!” said Vega with surprise. “But what’s the problem? Are you not ready to get married? Or is it that you don’t love her?”

“It’s not that.” I exhaled and looked down, gathering my thoughts. “I wasn’t sure why they were so eager for us to marry, since I don’t have a title, nor am I particularly well-off.”

“So?”

“So, I did a little digging. Her mother’s side of the family has a history. A history of paranoia, delusions and rage. Her younger brother- did you know she had a younger brother? He was sent to an institution years ago and none of them ever mention him.”

“Oh.” It took her a few moments to process this, as various emotions flashed across her face. “So what are you going to do?”

“That’s the problem! I don’t know what to make of it! Logically, in the long run, the stakes outnumber the benefits. I could easily start my own practice in a few years even without the Farias’ help.”

“Taurus,” sighed Vega, “I am not the best person for advice. But here’s what I think- you always choose the logical things, and that is one of your strengths. But when it comes to this, is the logical choice truly the right one?”

“Logic is all I have,” I muttered.

“I just don’t want you to regret letting her go. Also to be fair we’re not too normal ourselves. Some might say our family has secrets that are… harder to accept.”

Our family secrets. Secrets wrapped in pages and candle light, never spoken of but ever present. Had that been my parents’ one regret?

There’s something we need to tell you. It’s something we should have told you a long time ago.

Why was I hesitating? What I should do, logically, was clear. Yet I was asking Vega for advice because I wanted her to change my mind. Because…

“I love Iris,” I said aloud. “I don’t want to regret unspoken things. I have to talk to her. Tell her. Now! Before I change my mind!”

“You might still catch her if you run,” she said, and thrust a handful of coins into my hands. “Here, take these. And run! Run!”

I don’t remember how I got to the train station and then onto the platform. I vaguely remember bribing my way onto the train, but that may be a memory I made up later to explain the money gone from my pockets.

I found Iris reading in her compartment. She must have been astonished to see me there, panting and out of breath, on a train I was not meant to be on.

“Iris,” I said, in between breaths, “I know you have secrets. I do too. Ones you might not believe. But I think we should tell these to each other and not hide them away. Like my parents did. They were great parents, but I don’t want to be like them. I want you to tell me things, and I want to tell you things, and… What I’m trying to say is… There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Well sit down,” she said. I did.

Unbeknownst to us, the train to Windenburg travelled across the land, across a day and a night. If I had taken a moment to pause the conversation we would have seen the landscape change dramatically. But I was too busy wrapped up in telling her things I should have told her before.

Telling her everything.

—–

And here we say goodbye to our 2^nd generation heir, Libra. I’ll write a little something on that shortly. Thanks for reading! ❤

 

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3.10 Starlight Silver

GRIM

I found Libra in by the window overlooking the garden. She wandered often these days, both in the house and in her mind, but this time was different. She turned to me as I approached, and though she was smiling, her expression was inexplicably sad.

“What is it?” I asked.

She turned back to the window. “Taurus has been writing a lot to that girl in Windenburg, hasn’t he? What was her name?”

“Iris.”

“Iris. She seems like a nice girl. Good for him, do you think?”

“She will certainly keep him alive. He often needs a reminder to feed himself.”

Libra chuckled. “He does tend to get lost in his ideas sometimes. But it’s up to him to decide.”

“It is indeed.”

We fell silent. I tried to savor this moment- a moment of her clarity. They were growing far and in between.

After a while she asked, quietly, “We’ve done well, haven’t we?”

“We did our best,” I said.

“Did we?” A tone of agitation crept into her voice. Something was on her mind. “We never…”

“Never what?”

She took a deep breath. “There’s something I never told you. My father… he left me potions. Potions of youth. I never took them. I hid them.”

Of all the things I expected her to say, this was not one of them. “I know. I’ve always known.”

She, on the other hand, showed no hint of surprise. Just that same, calm sorrow. “You never said.”

“No. It’s something we do, isn’t it?” Like a dance we perfected over the years. We trust each other on what to leave unsaid.

“I wish I had said it before. The secret became a burden.”

“I wish I had said it. I didn’t realize what you were going through.”

“I don’t want it to be our family burden anymore.” She looked into my eyes with tranquil determination. “It ends here, with us. We have to tell them. Tell them everything.”

I pulled her close and wrapped my arms around her, and felt her do the same.

“Why did you never say?” she said into my shoulder, and for the first time, her voice shook. “We could have had more time. We could have had forever.”

As we named each of our children after the stars we wondered together how long this tradition will last. Maybe what we were really wondering was how long our legacy will last until it is forgotten. We will, one day, be lost to time. Our names and epitaphs turned to dust. But watching our children grow, I knew things in the far future could never compare to this very now.

“I don’t need forever,” I said, and it was the truth. “I wanted to leave that decision to you. And I have no regrets. None.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be together again.” Pulling away, she absentmindedly reached out and brushed a lock of hair out of my face. “I’ve seen it. She had your hair, starlight silver.”

She was wandering again. I squeezed her hand; a futile attempt to keep her with me. “We’ll tell them before it’s too late,” I said. “I promise.”

 

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3.9 Enough

JAMES

My peace back at home didn’t even last a week. She marched towards me across our backyard with no regards for property boundaries. That’s when I knew I was in deep trouble.

“You’ve been avoiding me!” yelled Nia, and in her rage she was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

There was a truth to her words. After Taurus and I arrived back home I think I slept for almost two days. We both did. After that, though, I hid away at home. I only left my room for meals. Every time she knocked on our door I said I was too tired for visitors. Here I was at last, cornered. I should have known it was unavoidable. Nia was like a force of nature.

“I didn’t want you to see me like this.” Less than the person that left.

“I am not blind, James,” spat Nia. “I would have seen you some day. And guess what? I wouldn’t have thought any less of you. But this is low.” She spoke through tears and gritted teeth. “I suppose you don’t want to date me then? Should I just back out of your life? Like how you were trying to back out of mine?”

“I… I don’t want to date you.” I bit my lip as her face hardened.

Deep breath. Say the rest, say it now.

“I want to marry you.”

Her eyes were frozen wide.

“I want to spend every day next to you. I love you so much…” I awkwardly reached into my pocket and held out my handkerchief to her. It was frayed and stained but in the center, the rouge still blossomed red. “You… you are the one that keeps me alive.”

Nia was openly sobbing now, her flushed face almost matching her hair. I tried to wipe her tears away- I had a handkerchief after all- but she grabbed my hand and held it tight.

“I wish you wouldn’t cry,” I said weakly instead.

“You are an idiot, James Altair.”

“An agreeable one?”

“Yes.”

“Well at least there is that.”

“That’s not what I meant.” She laughed through her tears, like sunshine through rain. “I meant, yes, I’ll marry you.”

 

Some days in my life I will hate myself as my missing arm threatens to choke me. Some days I will crouch in the corner and shake and scream as the sounds overwhelm me. Some days I will look around me and see old ghosts in every shadow, and I will curse them and chase them through the haze of my memory.

But every day you will put your arms around me and bring me back to reality

and that will be enough.

 

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3.8 Returns and Endings

ELIZABETH

The war blew over as quickly as it started. It made sense, I guess. Something that started as a mere whim of someone high and removed, a whim as flighty as a flip of a hand, can be undone just as easily. For them at least.

The rest of our family back at home awaited the return of Altair and Taurus. There was no sign of them yet. In the meantime, life at home went on like normal. I helped my mother cook dinner. I watered the garden with my father. And of course, I sat by the stream side and listened to Sterling’s latest troubles.

Nothing ever changed in Sterling’s world. The same problems went round and round but with different names attached to them.

“I’m not really ready to settle down with Anna,” he said. “I don’t think I’m in love with her.”

I barely managed to conceal my exasperation. “What is she then, a friend you kiss on occasion?”

“To put it simply, yes.”

“I think you know what you should do,” I told him, my temper rising. “You just don’t want to do it.”

“Actually, I have no idea,” he said.

Round and round, with none of us getting any wiser.

“You’re talking to the wrong person, Sterling. You should be talking about these things you’re your fiancée. Not with me!” It’s not fair to me, I added to myself.

I realized I was tired of him. I’ve been tired for a long while now. How long ago has the flutters of my heart dulled away to nothing? It used to pound so hard around him but now when I looked into his perplexed face I could feel it beating out only dust.

Something moved on the edge of my vision and I turned. Behind me, Sterling started to say something, but I ignored him. Two figures were walking up the road. They were bedraggled and worn, and one walked with a slight stagger, but both were achingly familiar.

“They’re back! My brothers are back!”

That was the first time, I think, I left him without saying goodbye. I ran from the stream side, tears blurring my eyes and blood rushing in my ears, and threw my arms around my brothers.

 

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