Fortune & Romance - Chapter 3: Goths

[sevenskellington]

Warnings: implied adultery, death



Previously: And with a tear in my eye, give me the sweetest goodbye, that I ever did receive"



Cassandra Goth did not consider herself an artist. In fact, it had been years since she'd even had the desire to paint at all. That's why she got so annoyed when her mother would chide her about technique and proportions, completely ignoring the actual issue. Painting was just one way to archive her thoughts when they couldn't be put into words.

Specifically, her dreams.



Unfortunately, her dreams weren't any easier to remember than anyone else's, and even when she did hold onto the basic gist, the details would slip away in the time it took her to get out of bed. But the content was a lot more extraordinary, or so she thought.

She'd first shown signs of clairvoyance when she was really little and too young to understand, but once she'd hit kindergarten her "inner eye" had gone out like an old light bulb. Still, she was convinced those past six years had just been a latency stage. As she'd learned from the hundreds of YA novels on her shelves: superpowers manifested at puberty, so the gift was due to come back any day now. She had a feeling it already had; just no proof because the future hadn't happened yet.

"Cassandra Minerva Goth! This is the last I'm going to tell you to stop being anti-social."



She heard her mother calling her from downstairs but pretended she didn't. It was times like this when she wished her room had a door instead of an open staircase. The lack of privacy got more annoying the older she got.

"If you're not downstairs in five minutes, I'm sending your father up there."

That's actually what Cassandra was hoping for. At least he would make her come down out of the misplaced idea that parties were actually fun, rather than the "you suffer, I suffer" mentality that possessed her mother on special occasions.



It was the night of her parents' anniversary party. Now that she was old enough to understand their wedding date in significance to her birthday, the whole thing kind of grossed her out.

Her mother continued. "And no, you cannot bring the voodoo doll or let the ghosts out. There are elderly people at this party and we don't want anyone dropping dead on the dance floor."

Cassandra sighed as loudly as possible. Through the window she saw a limousine pulling up to the house, out of which stepped a robot. She'd seen him before but tonight some playful person had squeezed him into a tuxedo jacket.



This was the limo and robot of Ocean Big, professional party guest.



Ocean brought with him two attractive ladies. They looked strangely familiar, but she wasn't sure if that was because they'd actually met.



So familiar, that Cassandra actually felt the urge to go downstairs and find out where she'd seen them before.















"Hi, Olive. What are you doing all the way out here?"

"They pay me for it, dear. Speaking of which, I see your sister is dating my biggest rival in the business."

"Don't ask me how she managed that. I think she'd be a billionaire by now if she put half as much effort into making money as she does trying to marry it."



Mrs. Thanasia (formerly known as Mrs. Mortis) was a long time family friend who Cassandra had always found a little off (then again, it might have just been the painted on eyebrows.) She could never understand why anyone would want to make a living going to parties. She gleaned from their exchange that the redhead and the blonde were sisters who had also known Mrs. Thanasia for a long time. After they were finished talking, Cassandra decided to make an attempt at socialization.



"You have a very large forehead."



"I'm guessing you're a Sagittarian?"

"Scorptarian, emphasis on the Scorpio. And my twin sister got the Sagittarius."

"Twins with different star signs, born on the Cusp of Revolution. Interesting." Cassandra decided they hadn't met before, since the lady wasn't cooing over how much she'd grown or expecting her to perform an impromptu piano recital. She just silently ate her sushi, waiting for someone else to start a conversation.

After the last bite she asked, "So are there any single men at this party?”

"My uncle should get here soon. He doesn't take dates to our house anymore." Cassandra suppressed a grin. "Not since the last one caught on fire."



Cassandra's mother passed by and gave them an approving look. The blonde woman was at her heels, wearing a goofy grin on her face as she followed her into the kitchen.



"Bella Goth you amaze me. Gardener, musician, and master chef?"

"Just hobbies I've picked up fighting the old ennui," said Bella with a half smile. "By the way, don't eat the cake with the glowing red berries; that's for" special dieters." The berries weren't just glowing; they were pulsating like a beating heart. Dina didn't ask why.

"Too bad, it looks delicious!"

The Goth home was small yet elegant, decorated in bold splashes of red and violet. It wasn't what Dina would have chosen for herself, but she coveted it anyway. As she was taking it all in, she saw something weird going on with the closet in front of the grand piano. Bella didn't notice, as she was busy deciding whether the desserts were impeccable enough for display.

"Have you gotten anything to drink this evening?" she asked.

"The only drinks I saw were smashed all over the floor. But I'm fine, thanks— um, are there supposed to be fireworks shooting out of the closet?"



Bella didn't raise her voice, if anything it got quieter, but the tone was sharper than a folded steel katana and cold enough to drop the room temperature. "You must be mistaken. Certainly no one would be woohooing in my house at my party where my child could walk in on them." She threw open the doors with a dramatic flourish.



"Hello, Bella. Rainelle and I were just admiring your new coat closet."

"Thank goodness, Jon. For a moment, I was afraid my bartender had gone gallivanting off with an adulterous lecher while my entire party died of thirst." She glanced at Rainelle, who looked like she wanted to run.

The old man was not as susceptible to Bella's glare. "Really, the whole remodeling job looks great. Jen and I ought to have you do our house. I don't think we're utilizing all the space in our basement." He snickered before turning his attention to Dina. "Hello there. You're Mr. Big's new girl, aren't you? Sumamente Caliente?"

"Um, actually, it's Dina."



"Encantada," he said, kissing her hand. "Any relation to Nestor Caliente of Strangetown?"

She drew in her breath, not daring to ask how he knew that name. "No."

He didn't let go of her hand, instead caressing it between his thumb and forefingers. "You have rather exotic features, you know. As an artist I take note of these things—"

Bella cut him off in a sing-song voice. "Oh my, what is that sound that draweth nearer by the second? Is it a violin? Or a banshee foreshadowing someone's death?"

It was a violin, but the point of that statement was lost on him and everyone who wasn't Bella. "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "Your wife is just outside the door. Maybe you should go communicate with her or something."



He didn't seem too concerned, but took the opportunity to make an exit, as Rainelle had already done when no one was looking. "It was nice to meet you, Dina. Let me know if you ever want to be immortalized; I am always looking for new models." With a wink, he was gone.

Dina blinked. "Well, he's very"virile for his age."

"And so shamelessly revolting—" Bella rolled her ‘r's with reckless abandon. "—that it almost circles back around to attractive."

Dina blurted out the first change of topic that came to mind. "Sooo, you recently remodeled?"

Bella nodded, the fury slowly draining from her eyes. "Yes, I did the floorplan myself. The original house was an architectural nightmare. Since Morty's latest invention took off we were also able to put in a garage slash laboratory so he can spend more time at home," she said, over-annunciating every syllable in "gar-age" and "lab-or-a-tory".

"Wow, you're just good at everything aren't you? What is your secret?"

"Magic," someone replied, but it wasn't Bella.



"My darling brother! I almost didn't recognize you looking so dapper."



"Br-brother?"

"I know. It's hard to believe," said Bella, gesturing to the family photos hanging over the piano. "He may be obnoxiously normal, but we love him anyway."



Dina went in for a closer look. "That doesn't look anything like you."

"Yes, he had quite the little puddin' face, didn't he?"



Michael sighed. "Happy anniversary, kiddo. Anything I can help you with?"

"Be a dear and put out the dessert spread? Especially the plasma cake, we don't want Kiernen and Kvornan to get ravenous." There was that rolling ‘r' again. "I'm going to make some drinks. It appears our bartender's gone AWOL."

And then they were alone.



"Michael Bachelor. Nice tux."

"It's my brother-in-law's."

"Nice brother-in-law." Dina shrugged. "Do you recognize me?"

"Of course, Dina. It's just not something I wanted to bring up in front of my sister. I'm sure you noticed she's kind of..." His voice trailed off as he attempted to pick up two cakes at a time.

"Fantastic? Amazing? Wonderful?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You like her?"

"I want to be her." Dina grabbed the last cake and got the door with her spare hand. "Is that creepy?"

"I don't know, it is from my angle."



"So what have you been up to, Mr. Bachelor? Did you ever figure out what to do with your life?"

"I somehow ended up teaching high school math." That would explain the lines on his face and the two or three grey hairs. "I also coach the golf team. How about you?"

"Well, first we moved back to our hometown for a while. It's called Strangetown; you've probably never heard of it."

"Isn't that where Mrs. Mortis—I mean, Thanasia is from?"



"Yeah, I used to babysit for her little guy! Anyways, my sister got herself a degree in massage therapy at La Fiesta Tech while I just fiesta'd, and after that we headed to Sim City in search of fortune and romance."

"Are you working? Soccer-pro, perhaps?"

Dina laughed. "Lately, I've been peddling cosmetics. I'm pretty good at it too; I actually won a car—which I traded it in for something less pink."

"You know, if you're looking for new customers," he said with a smirk, "I bet you could make a small fortune selling eyeliner to the Tricou family."

They were interrupted by the smell of cologne and pomade.



"Darling, there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. Stop stalking Bella's relatives and come dance!"

Dina gave Mike an apologetic smile. "Gotta go break some toes. It was good to see you again."





"You're gonna marry that lady, Uncle Mike."



"Excuse me?"

"But not until you're really old." Cassandra finally remembered where she'd seen the blonde woman before. The sight of her and Uncle Mike in front of the dessert table had brought back a picture in her head. The redhead had been there in the background wearing an ugly dress and a rip-off of her mother's hairstyle. There'd been cake there too.

"...I really don't know what to say to that, Cass."

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

He gave up trying to come up with an appropriate response. "May I have this dance?"



Uncle Mike's future wife was not a very good dancer. She wasn't even moving her feet as she and Ocean barely swayed in one place. Over on the other side of the dance floor, Cassandra noticed that the redhead had found a dance partner too.



Though, he apparently wasn't up to her standards.





She didn't slap him very hard; you couldn't even hear it above the sound of the violin.

And yet, he fell to the ground.



Then Cassandra heard the most ominous sound in the world.



"Dada!"

She'd never witnessed anything like this before, but something thing quickly became apparent. It was moments like this when you could tell a person's mundanity by who was staring at the corpse...



...and who wasn't.

Comments

[poppyperson.livejournal.com]

Wow! I loved this from Cassandra's perspective, it brought a new life to the story. Dina meeting up with Michael again was perfect, and Nervous Subject's 'Daddy' made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I loved this chapter, especially the creepy ending...

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

It's interesting writing from the perspective of a middle-schooler, which I've found to be the hardest age group to deal with in real life. The childishness of a little kid combined with the "too cool for school" attitude of a teenager, not to mention puberty just starting to kick in!

[simtopi]

Nice! I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd surf a bit. I didn't expect to see an update but this was great! So many good things here! :D

I love the "pudding face" quip. And your Tricous! Especially Jon! And Olive and Nervous! And the plasma cake!

I really love the build up to the last shot too. This whole party was just fantastic actually. Very appropriate for a "Goth" party even. :D

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It was pretty tough dealing with all those Sims. The youngest Tricous didn't even make it in! Kind of funny that the number of people at the party who were supernaturally inclined enough to see the Reaper far outweighed the "normal" ones!

[doda-lani.livejournal.com]

SCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARY. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Awesome part. :)

Love the house. though the original one looked nicer but it's really beautiful. :)

I can't wait for the next chapter. :)

PS:WCIF the fish tank and the buffet table? :)

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

The fish tank is in one of the expansion packs,and the buffet is actually just one of the normal tables with Exnem's Sushi (which you can find at the booty) and some food clutter from Simcredible Designs on it.

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

Awesome. :) Your pictures really remind me of the promo pictures for TS2, they're all so clear and carefully planned out.

Olive is terrifying. Love the painted on eyebrows. And the Tricous. Heheh, Jon bears a striking resembelance to Andy Warhol, I suppose he did the Bella painting there.

You really have an eye for detail, I love the little references (pudding!) and searching your pictures for things going on in the background.

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I didn't even realize the Andy Warhol thing, but I see it now! He's actually pretty much all Face 1 when you age him down.

Heheh, I like that everyone likes the puddin' line. That was pretty much added in at the last minute!

[serpentskiss.livejournal.com]

Little Nervous is adorable. I love reading this story. It's the only one I follow.

[bunheadsbuns.livejournal.com]

I got an Adams family vibe from the Goths in this update, I love it. And little Nervous, goodness. That last scene is amazing. I just love what you're doing with this story :)

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

"I got an Adams family vibe from the Goths in this update"

Me too. :D

[vampirina-08.livejournal.com]

Love it!! And Cassandra is darling. Where did you get the drawings on her wall though? I've been looking everywhere for them.

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I believe those are from Club Crimsyn, under "TSR sets" on their website, but I'm not on a computer where I can check.

[peasant007.livejournal.com]

This was yet another wonderful chapter. I loved how you tied in Nervous and Olive. I totally envy your CC, BTW. I love little Cassie's dress.

Oh, and <3 Michael and Dina. In fact all I can shamefully do is gush over everything you've done so far :)

I can't wait for more!

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! Trapping converted the dress for me. It's a little figure-hugging for her age, but I liked the idea of introducing her in the same dress she starts the game in as an adult.

[potential-fate.livejournal.com]

I really love that last picture.

and god, mini - Nervous is adorable!

So is mini - Cassandra :)

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I had to do all sorts of post-editing to get his transparent self to be more visible. I like that Cassandra is still recognizable no matter what life stage she's in.

[sophie8.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this chapter. The pictures are great, so much going on in them. And Cassandra's narration was spot on for a awkward but intelligent pre-teen.

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Her relationship with her mother is somewhat based on myself at that age.

[superfr0g.livejournal.com]

Clearly, it's not a party at the Goths without supernatural and some sort of death.

I like how you worked in Jon Tricou's romancing nature, too. Admiring the closet with Rainelle, indeed!

I'm really enjoying this :)

[alexxschmidt.livejournal.com]

This was so fucking AWESOME. You are incredibly talented. :)

[simsarenotfood.livejournal.com]

Yay! I was so happy to see this on my friends list :D The update was great, and Cassandra's naration was just how I imagined she would talk in real life, I liked the new perspective :)

[aledstrange.livejournal.com]

Great update!

I can't have enough of your pics and attention to detail on each one of them. And the way you're mixing all the characters from different hoods and the different ideas introduced in the various games (sims 1,2,3) is very creative.

Lit' Cassandra is adorable!!! And yay for the Tricou. Love them, love Jon (and totally like he should be too lol)

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Jon is so fun. I actually extended his part from what I'd originally planned. Don Lothario only wishes he was that dashing!

[katee412.livejournal.com]

It's obvious how much thought and care you put into this story. And your pictures are simply astounding, it seems like every time I take another look at them I notice another level of detail!

And I had a good giggle when at Michael's response to Dina asking if it was creepy she wanted to be his sister ;D

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

I'm glad people are noticing the little background details! There might be some hints there for future chapters. ;)

[petchy-14.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm loving this update - it's so brilliant! Worth the wait, by FAR!

Your goths are really amazing, but I'm wondering if they're Vampires, Witches, or something else.. my guess was always to make the Goths Witches from Makin' Magic.. but.. something tells me you've added a different realm!

Pudding reference was full of win, I adore how you're attempting to bring in Sims Two, One and Three.. really REALLY refreshing to see.

Nervous and Olive! ..But I guess Nervy wouldn't be called Nervous yet, would he? I hope that story is fleshed out a little more, and also you've given some great parallels between Him and Cassandra!

GAH. SO GOOD!

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Yes, I still haven't thought of a good "real" name for Nervous yet. He might just remain nameless. The Cassandra parallel wasn't intentional at first, but I definitely noticed it while I was writing.

[tomwood1906.livejournal.com]

Jesus, only Olive can bring a baby to a party (though I must admit I thought her little dance with Nerv was adorablz (never thought I'd describe anything to do with Olive as adorable)). She looks amazing, btw.

You single-handedly changed my view of Goths with this chapter. I recognised their resemblance to the Adams family before, but I never played them like such a bunch of eccentrics. Crap, and I've just finished remodeling their house into this very conservatively classical manor.

I'm already missing teenage Dina and Nina. Ocean is totally gross. I loved Dina and Bella together, I hope they become friends. I wonder if Nina will feel like she killed Jon. I like how you didn't make a big emotional scene out of Dina and Michael's reunion. I loled at that 'pudding face' line. This is just me throwing random impressions after reading this chapter out there. :D

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I kind of miss them too, but eventually you'll get to see a few more of the Pleasantview adults as teens. Especially since Mike's a teacher now ;)

Dina and Bella is a very interesting relationship that I can't wait to explore. You'll find out more about Ocean (towniest name I could think) in the next chapter. I will say he the easiest character to direct. Whenever I needed him to primp he would already be doing it on his own! I do think Nina's going to feel guilty, but I can definitely say it wasn't her fault, just very bad timing. I'm glad the reunion didn't come off as too sappy. :D

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

Wow! This is great stuff! I'm off to read the earlier installments.

[ikichi.livejournal.com]

This is fantastic!

[wgroome.livejournal.com]

That is one of the best endings to a chapter of any story (Sims or other) I've read! :) Bravo! I eagerly await more!

[wgroome.livejournal.com]

And the whole no resemblance/Sims 3 pudding face bit is just pure genius! :P

[lady-leia-solo.livejournal.com]

This was awesome! Little Cassandra is just adorable &hearts

[lillzy.livejournal.com]

Oh my! Amazing chapter! :)

[erykahfairy.livejournal.com]

I think this is my favorite chapter :D I just loved baby Nervous! Especially dressed in a cute little outfit for the party.
Anyway, amazing chapter. Can't wait for the next one :D

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Heh, it was hard to think of what Olive would dress her kid in. The mini-peacoat and fauxhawk turned out to be perfect.

[mdpthatsme.livejournal.com]

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! This was great and the ending was just plain ppppperfect! :)

[antimaccassar.livejournal.com]

(Pretends to not be on the computer :P)

Wow! This was great! I love all the tiny details that make each picture so fun to look at and almost like a puzzle. I am not really familiar with the Tricous but your story makes me want to go look them up and figure out their stories... Its also fun to see the grown-up Calientes and see Dina and Mike meet again.

It was really interesting when Dina said she wanted to be Bella, made me think of current Pleasantview where she really is trying to be Bella. Also I can't tell you how weird I found her chatting with Bella and going to a party at their house when someday she might be mistress of Morty's house... I guess I never thought about what happened in their family dynamic when Dina married Bella's brother. I think my brain just broke thinking of all the possibilites :) I certainly can't wait to see how you work it out !

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The Tricou house is freaking creepy, if you check it out you'll see what's funny about the "basement" line. Actually, they're a family that might fit in well with your Victorian hood.