marmiteprinter

[marmiteprinter]

That evening, Oliver invited his dad over so he could have a chat with him but, to his surprise, General John opened the conversation first.

"Son, I'm glad you invited me over. I heard about your promotion - congratulations! You're so close now to becoming a General yourself so I think it's time for me to clock out once and for all. Then you can take over the running of this base. What do you say?"

Oliver took a deep breath. "Well, I think that would be great but I need to tell you something that might affect your decision..."

John interrupted him. "Oliver, I think I know what you're about to say. Your mother and I always knew you were different. There's a reason you've never brought a girl home, eh? I know I'm a gruff old man, but just know that I love you no matter what, and you'll make a great General. Besides, maybe it's time for a bit of a shake-up in the old Military regime, eh?"

Oliver understood what his dad was telling him and smiled. "Thanks, Dad. I love you too."

The pair hugged and said goodbye, with Oliver feeling more satisfied than he had in years and finally ready to take the reins from his father once he retired.

Note: I'm counting this for the ROS. They hadn't exactly 'lost touch' but for some reason they weren't even friends before this, and now they're besties!

[marmiteprinter]

The following day, Oliver had an opportunity at work. The son of a powerful higher-up had been accused of leaking military secrets to their enemies. Oliver had the choice of gently pardoning him, or proceeding with the court martial.

He decided to follow the rules, despite receiving personal death threats, and during the trial it emerged that the recruit had actually been framed by his own father! The superior officer was jailed for treason and Oliver received a promotion to Astronaut for his excellent work.

[marmiteprinter]

After a few rounds of Woohoo, the two men were tired and hungry. They headed downstairs for some refreshment.

Vance spoke what was on his mind. "So, not that I don't love everything about what we're doing, and I know we originally agreed to take things slow, but I would really like for us to be able to be together openly. Is there any chance you're planning on coming out to your dad soon?"

Oliver sighed. "Yes. I think it's time. I kind of regret not doing it sooner because my mum died without ever knowing the truth about me. I don't want to have the same regrets about Dad. I just hope it doesn't change how he views me."

"And then we'll be together properly, right?"

Oliver took Vance's hand. "Definitely."

[marmiteprinter]

Once inside, Oliver felt more free to express himself. He stroked Vance's cheek tenderly.

"I've missed you," he said. "I have a lovely new double bed upstairs that needs breaking in, if you're interested..."

Vance chuckled. "Well, it's better than the closet in the Barracks!"

[marmiteprinter]

Oliver spent a couple of hours before work running training drills on the obstacle course in his back garden.

After work, all he wanted to do was see his new flame Vance Bridger. He picked up the phone and invited him over to see his new house.

When Vance arrived, Oliver greeted him with a furtive look around and a quick peck on each cheek.

"Quick, come inside before anyone sees us!" he whispered urgently.

Vance rolled his eyes. He wasn't exactly keen on being forced back into the closet but at the same time he completely understood Oliver's reasons and didn't want to out him to the General, especially seeing as Oliver had literally just lost his mum (and the General his wife). Deciding to keep his mouth shut for now, he followed Oliver inside.

[marmiteprinter]

A very useful mod I had no idea about, now made even better!

What is this? Not my typical post, at all. The preview is weird and today is Thursday. Dunno if I've ever posted CC on a Thursday. And the thing itself? Just a tiny tweak on what's probably my favorite lesser-known modded object, the Sim Control Tool by christianlov. It's a handy little thing that lets you send kids and teens off to do their homework, send sims to do skilling, chores, etc. It's not something I couldn't play without, but it's such a convenience. I use it on every single lot.

So why am I posting it? I learned how to change the models it uses. (I followed these instructions, kinda. Thanks, Dee, if you see this!) The original options were mostly...um...design challenges. I wound up hiding it or only ever using option 9, the cheap BG mirror. I've wanted to change the model options on this thing for, no kidding, like 15 years. And now I have!

I couldn't figure out how to give the model options names instead of numbers, but the first five are mirrors (shown above), then two kitchen and two bathroom items (shown below).

I'm particularly happy to have the wavy Ikea mirror as an option, because I can "hide" it alongside the regular version of that mirror.

Neat, right? I tried changing a few other things, but they mostly didn't work. I did change it to be in only one Buy category (Misc>Misc), and re-priced it to §0 (years ago).

Requires Ikea, FT, and K&B because of the models I used.

Download: SFS or MediaFire

Credits: christianlov for the original version of this modded object

[marmiteprinter]

Round 11 - Summer 3 - The Matthews II Family

ROS for Oliver is to reconnect with an old friend, someone he's lost touch with recently. He hasn't really been a playable long enough to have lost touch with anyone but we'll work something out!

Oliver's round began with him moving into his new, Commander-level housing as assigned to him for his position.

It was still relatively bare bones (the Military apparently didn't 'do' decoration), but it was larger and nicer than his previous home, with three bedrooms (including a nursery), two bathrooms and even a pool in the back yard for those hot summer days. Plus the Military had supplied him with a decent SUV for his personal use - a definite upgrade from the minivan!

Note: credit for the house goes to @theneonplumb on ModtheSims here. I only redecorated it slightly!

[marmiteprinter]

With that, it was the end of the round for General John when the season rolled over that night.

He's now 68 and, with the loss of his beloved wife, more ready than ever to hand over the reins of running the Wildflats base to his son Oliver and embrace civilian life once more.

So let's see how Commander Oliver is getting on - is he ready to have the torch passed to him?

[marmiteprinter]

Most of the Military underlings politely declined John's offer to attend the wake at his house, including his son Oliver who regretfully had to command the troops, but all of his daughter Louise's family came to commiserate with him after they'd stopped by their house to fetch Gunner.

John reheated some leftover ribs for everyone in the microwave.

"I'm sorry it's not much. I don't really know how to cook. It was always Helen who..." he stopped mid-sentence, his voice faltering.

"It's okay, Dad. Those look great," Louise reassured him. "I'll just go and warm a bottle for Gunner then I'll join you all."

They convened in the lounge to raise a glass to the dearly-departed Helen.

After the toast, it was time for the Sandersons to leave.

"Sorry, Dad," Louise apologised, "but the kids have to get to bed. Amelia is still attending school off-base and obviously she had the day today but she needs to go back in tomorrow."

John nodded. "Of course. Thank you all for coming. I'll see you soon."

"Love you! Be kind to yourself, okay?" Louise pecked him on the cheek and they headed out of the door.

[marmiteprinter]

A quick default for umbodysupervillain (Elders share the AM mesh).

All credit goes to @simstralia and @mdpthatsme for the conversion (I've also borrowed simstralia's picture above - I hope that's okay!). My only contribution was making it into a default because I thought it would 100% suit my Criminal Masterminds!

Download: SFS (Compressorised)

It's been playtested and works in my game but please let me know if you encounter any problems!

Credits: EAxis, @simstralia, @mdpthatsme

[marmiteprinter]

Happy New Year everyone!

Apologies for the lack of posts in December - it was completely unexpected and unplanned. I actually spent most of December in hospital with pneumonia - yay me! (Not fun LOL!)

I'm finally home now so hopefully I should be back to my regularly scheduled programming as soon as possible.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and I wish you all a happy, healthy and safe 2025!

[marmiteprinter]

Content warning: bereavement. This post is under a cut. If you’re experiencing loss in your personal life at the moment and don’t wish to read this, please do skip this post.

The small group gathered by the graveside. While John openly wept, his son Oliver knelt down to lay some flowers while his daughter Louise was comforted by her husband.

Little Amelia was a bit confused by the whole thing. "Mum, are we going home soon? We left Gunner all on his own."

"No we didn't, sweetie; we got a childminder for him. Let me just say goodbye to Grandma, okay? Then we're going to go back to Grandpa's house for a bit before we go home."

John turned and wiped his tears. "Yes, thank you everyone for coming. If you wish to join me at my house on the base for a brief celebration of Helen's life, I would be honoured to host you."

[marmiteprinter]

Content warning: bereavement. This post is under a cut. If you’re experiencing loss in your personal life at the moment and don’t wish to read this, please do skip this post.

The funeral was held that very afternoon at the Wildflats Cemetery. John and Helen's children and grandchildren were there, as well as some of the troops from the base who wished to pay their respects.

John stepped up to the podium to deliver his eulogy.

He finished speaking with tears welling up in his eyes.

"She was taken too soon by a cruel illness that neither of us took seriously enough, but I loved her until the very end just as she loved me. I know she'll be smiling down on me and our beautiful children and grandchildren for the rest of time."

He turned to her picture. "Goodbye my love. I hope I see you again soon."

[marmiteprinter]

The next morning, John got up and got ready for work, same as he'd always done every day for over 40 years. He slowly put on his officer's garb, thinking the whole time about his beloved wife. Eventually, he realised that there was no way he'd be able to actually go into work and command his troops without crumbling.

He didn't think he could remember ever doing it before, but he lifted the phone and called Headquarters, informing them of what had happened to Helen and that he wouldn't be coming into work that day.

Then he straightened his hat and decided to get on with preparations for the funeral. It was time to call his children. He took a deep breath and braced himself.

"Oliver first..." he whispered to himself.

[marmiteprinter]

John didn't get a wink of sleep that night. Of course. He spent the whole night alternately raging and weeping in the room where Helen passed.

As the first rays of the dawn's light crested above the horizon, he tried to pull himself together. He felt like he could barely function without his beloved wife but he knew there were things to be done now, preparations that had to be made.

[marmiteprinter]

Content warning: unexpected death, bereavement. This post is under a cut. If you’re experiencing loss in your personal life at the moment and don’t wish to read this, please do skip this post.

John headed to bed alone that night, just as he had the previous night.

But while Helen was heading to her own, separate, bed, she suddenly felt her illness overcoming her.

"John!" she cried, as she fell to her knees. "John, I need you!"

He woke up as soon as he heard her voice and rushed up the stairs. "I'm coming, darling!"

But he was too late. Helen's flu had passed the point of no return and she was gone. As the Grim Reaper came to collect her, he stood there and wept. What would he do without her?

[marmiteprinter]

For the rest of the afternoon, Helen sat in the blazing desert sunshine outside, hoping that the heat and vitamin D would do her some good.

When General John got home, he immediately asked his wife how she was feeling.

"Should I call the medics? You look very flushed," he said.

Helen shook her head. She didn't like people making a fuss of her. "Don't be silly, dear, I'm absolutely fine. I probably just caught the sun when I was sitting outside today. I'll be right as rain before you know it!"