Strange Tomato (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
strangetomato) wrote2008-03-20 11:25 am
strangetomato) wrote2008-03-20 11:25 am
Entry tags:
Strangetown, Here We Come: Chapter List
For your convenience, I present a master directory of my sims stories. They are also organized under tags, but that lacks the human touch of having a little blurb describing every chapter, so here you go. I will update this post as new chapters and stories appear.
Warnings: language, violence, death, drug use, and sexual situations. These warnings apply to the stories in general, but each individual update will also has its own warnings listed.
Strangetown, Here We Come
This story is my interpretation of the Maxis neighbourhood, Strangetown, and attempts to stay true to the characters as they are presented by the game, at least initially, including the story prompts given by the game. It involves all of the characters in Strangetown in some capacity, and sometimes features appearances from characters in other Maxis neighbourhoods too. The focus is on the teenage and child characters at game start, and follows their development into adulthood. It's a coming of age story. And a love story. Well, several.
These are not my characters. I am merely borrowing them and stepping into their world to tell a story. This is within the spirit of The Sims 2 when it was launched, as storytelling tools and the means of sharing them were baked right into the game. The TS2 community has always been about making and freely sharing content and stories. This has been my small contribution to that.
That said, these are my characters. The way I've interpreted and developed them, they are my own. The beauty of the premades is you can make your own version, do whatever you want with them.
Prologue - Meet Jayne Doe: privileged only child, successful artist, and half alien. Jayne explains her background in her own words, leaves for college, and makes a deal with Pollination Technician No. 9.
Chapter One - A look at life in the Grunt family from Ripp's point of view. Ripp is desperate to get out of Strangetown, and General Buzz presents him with the opportunity that he's been waiting for.
Chapter Two - Nervous Subject lives in a waking nightmare, but his dreams are even worse. His growing friendship with Pascal Curious angers the notorious Beakers.
Chapter Three - The members of the Curious/Smith family are an odd bunch. The whole family gets together to celebrate the impending birth of Pascal's baby.
Chapter Four - Ripp attempts to pass high school, despite the many distractions. Ophelia, Johnny and Jill are introduced in more detail. Buck gets a present, and Johnny throws a party that Tank isn't invited to.
Chapter Five - Tension is high in the Grunt household, and things get taken too far. Ophelia turns to Ripp about her greatest fear. The teens take their final exams, and Johnny has a very important talk with P.T.
Chapter Six - Pascal gives birth to his daughter, and Nervous Subject pays him a visit. Things heat up between Lazlo and Crystal Vu. Nervous makes a mistake, and the wrath of Circe Beaker is unleashed.
Chapter Seven - Things get really bad for Nervous Subject, and the Beakers use some horrible tactics to get information from him. Olive Specter decides that it's time to go looking for her son.
Chapter Eight - The teens arrive at college. Johnny's conversation with P.T. is revealed in more detail, Ripp rids himself of that pesky virginity, and Johnny gets a phone call from a stranger that knows his name.
Chapter Nine - Buck is adjusting to his new role in the Grunt family, and opens up to his father. General Buzz finds love for a second time. The close quarters at college cause relationships to develop, and Johnny meets the girl to whom he his potentially betrothed.
Chapter Ten - Pascal makes plans to save Nervous. Loki is up to something mysterious. Tank and Ophelia get closer, Ripp auditions for a band, and the college kids look into off-campus housing. Tank meets Frances J. Worthington III.
Chapter Eleven - Tension and jealousy is rising in the apartment of Johnny, Ripp, and Ophelia. Kristen Loste goes up against the Beakers. A Grunt family dinner ends badly.
Chapter Twelve - Johnny and Ophelia reconnect, while Ripp gets a little out of control. Pascal and Lola deal with the aftermath of their failed plan. Johnny and Ripp get drunk, sing karaoke, and Ripp opens up to Johnny.
Chapter Thirteen - A look inside the personal diary of Jill Smith.
Chapter Fourteen - Olive Specter speaks with the father of her son, and discovers his current whereabouts. Somebody dies in the process.
Chapter Fifteen - The Grunt family is faced with tragedy.
Chapter Sixteen - Ripp Grunt has an interesting dream. The Grunt brothers each attempt to cope with their situation in their own way. Ripp pays Tank a visit.
Chapter Seventeen (part one) - The college kids are invited to have dinner with the Smiths.
Chapter Seventeen (part two) - Various dramas ensue during and after dinner.
Chapter Eighteen - Olive Specter pays the Beakers a visit.
Chapter Nineteen (part one) - The fire at the Beaker mansion is all over the news. Circe Beaker is covering her tracks. Ophelia Nigmos gets a very bad feeling about the whole thing.
Chapter Nineteen (part two) - Johnny, Ripp, and Ophelia explore the Specter estate and find Nervous Subject in desperate need of help. Buck and Jill trade secrets.
Chapter Twenty - Stella Terrano is an alien attending La Fiesta Tech., in preparation for her future career as a pollination technician. She provides some information on the alien mission, and gives Ripp Grunt a very detailed lesson in alien anatomy.
Chapter Twenty-One - Nervous Subject is recovering from his ordeal, with help from Pascal. Buck and Jill take advantage of Buck's empty house. Tank and Ripp both take trips into Sim City, and continue to build bridges in their relationship. Circe plots revenge.
Chapter Twenty-Two (part one) - Johnny, Ripp, and Ophelia attend a dinner party at Jayne and Stella's apartment. Several characters wonder about the secrets being hidden by other characters.
Chapter Twenty-Two (part two) - The Shifting Paradymes perform at the sorority party. The LFT students meet and mingle with each other. Frances hopes to make a move on Tank, but things do not go as planned.
Chapter Twenty-Two (part three) - The party continues. Ripp is faced with his true feelings for Ophelia, and this fact is also picked up by someone else. Tank reveals his feelings about Johnny Smith and the alien invansion to Frances. Johnny tells Ophelia about Jayne and his father's plans for him, and he chooses to be with Ophelia instead.
Chapter Twenty-Three - The Grunt brothers are questioned by the military about their father's disappearance, and also the Smith family. Erin Beaker reflects on her new living situation. Circe gives birth to her son, Vali Beaker.
Chapter 23.5 - The fish speak, and reveal some of the Grunt family secrets.
Chapter Twenty-Four (part one) - Frances and Edie Worthington discuss their troubles and catch up on family gossip over coffee. They are observed by a young man who seeks their position of privilege in life. The Curious Brothers are not communicating like they used to. Vidcund receives a somewhat unexpected phone call.
Chapter Twenty-Four (part two) - Pascal learns the truth about Nervous Subject's mother. Jill and Buck take the next steps in their relationship, and Jill has an important discussion with her father. Vidcund pays Circe Beaker a visit. Frances decides that it's time to tell Tank the truth.
Chapter Twenty-Five (part one) - She might be Johnny's girl, but, right or wrong, she was his girl, too. "I wonder if they got the groceries...?"
Chapter Twenty-Five (part two) - He couldn't keep the truth from Johnny. It was Johnny. His Johnny. Maybe he would understand. It wouldn't be so hard for him the understand that, right? They were all so close. All three of them, so intertwined. Johnny deserved to know the truth.
Chapter Twenty-Five (part three) - Crushing lows and soaring highs. Forgiveness. The people with easy lives will never know what it's like. Not all wounds are physical. Everybody's the same from the neck up, right?
Chapter Twenty-Six (part one) - Darlin' don't you go and cut your hair. Do you think it's gonna make him change?
Chapter Twenty-Six (part two) - The boy just smiled, with his million simolean grin. "I'm Beau." A surprisingly civil Grunt brother meal, thanks to Buck. "Haircuts... keeping the family together... you know, the usual."
Chapter Twenty-Six (part three) -
Chapter 26.5 - In Pleasantview, someone is seeking the truth about a missing person.
Chapter Twenty-Seven (part one) - Erin Beaker feels a change in the air. She's having trouble balancing her old life with her new situation. Someone has taken one of the clones away from her, but for what purpose?
Chapter Twenty-Seven (part two) - "Pascal suggested that I write down all the things I didn't feel comfortable saying, at least for now." Nervous Subject writes in his journal about the past, present, and future.
Chapter Twenty-Eight - A cut to events that take place sometime in the not-too-distant-future. Ripp is not himself, Ophelia seems to be up the stick, and Tank is harbouring a secret that weighs on his mind. Did this have something to do with the events surrounding Bella's disappearance from Strangetown after Mortimer's death? What does any of this have to do with Johnny, and where is he, anyway?
Chapter Twenty-Nine (part one) - Frances J. Worthington III had no idea how much his life would change in his senior year at LFT. It all started when Beau Broke blew into his life like a tornado.
Chapter Twenty-Nine (part two) - Beau and Frances are discovering a real connection between them, and Tank is adjusting to the realities of having Beau in his life too. Frances is dreading the day of his sister's wedding to Malcolm Landgraab, and he decides to take Beau along with him, against better judgement.
Chapter Twenty-Nine (part three) - Frances comes out with a bang. He realizes that he's in love with Beau, and Beau returns his feelings. They look to the future, even as Frances's life seems to be falling down all around him. Tank has a mysterious new Servo.
Chapter Thirty (part one) - It's not easy being Tank Grunt. When you bury your troubles, they haunt your dreams. Tank has been dealing with Ripp, he's been dealing with Frances and Beau, and he's been dealing with Kendall. He still hates Johnny Smith, and he secretly wants to bang Lucy Burb. Does he learn anything from any of this, or is his life just a sick joke?
Chapter Thirty (part two) - Tank spends a day in the city with Ripp. Things seem to be going pretty well, until he hears a little too much of Ripp's private business, and gets himself into Kendall's bad books. And then he meets Sugar Tits.
Chapter Thirty-One (part one) - Two's company and three's a crowd. Johnny, Ripp, and Ophelia are trying to keep it together as their relationship grows ever deeper and more entangled. After facing some of his fears head-on, Johnny suggests that they all take a trip to Three Lakes together.
Chapter Thirty-One (part two) - Johnny, Ripp, and Ophelia enjoy everything that Three Lakes has to offer, and then some, and find that tents can get pretty crowded with three people in them. They rent a private cabin and proceed to play house for three.
Chapter Thirty-One (part three) - How close is too close? The trio are set to discover where their boundaries truly lie, if indeed there are any, and everything seems to be going well. Maybe a little too well. Then Johnny receives a phone call that throws off their delicate balance.
Chapter 31.5 - Buck reflects back on the day Jill received that fateful phone call from home.
Chapter Thirty-Two - Don Lothario had no idea what he was getting himself into when he agree to show Bella Goth his telescope that fateful night. He tries to convince himself he's not a bad man, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Chapter 32.5 - Zoe Zimmerman is in Sim City, putting up posters, when she meets a man named Mr. Humble.
Chapter Thirty-Three - Jayne Doe reflects on her time with Stella and her regret at what she did to Johnny Smith, but she still believes it's all for the greater good. Stella gets word that she should leave Sim Earth immediately, and she does. Jayne waits for her to come back for her, hoping that Johnny will reach a decision before she returns.
Chapter Thirty-Four (part one) - Bella Goth has a terrible dream. or was it a memory? Samantha Cordial is tracking the situation, while her sister is following another item of interest to them.
Chapter Thirty-Four (part two) - Nobody ever claws their way up from the very bottom of the barrel. Or do they? Jaxy Rai reflects on her past from a hospital bed, and comes to the conclusion that she has the power to change her life for the better. Elsewhere, In a city alleyway, a group of people share a fire and different points of view.
Chapter Thirty-Five (part one) - Jules O'Mackey moves to Veronaville and writes a book about her experiences there.
Chapter Thirty-Five - (part two) Bottom Summerdream returns home to Veronaville for spring break, and is joined by Vidcund Curious, who wishes to study some of the mysterious plants of the forest. Bottom is reminded that the soil her roots are planted in is watered by the blood of conflict and a touch of something very much like magic.
Chapter Thirty-Five (part three) - Bottom and Vidcund visit the faery forests and travel a little further than they intended to.
Chapter Thirty-Five (part four) - Vidcund is called away from an impromptu faery wedding party by disturbing news from Strangetown.
Chapter Thirty-Six (part one) - The Smith-Curious family gathers together on the eve of Pollination Technician No. 9 Smith's death to reflect on his life, the ties of family, and the potentially dangerous times ahead.
Chapter Thirty-Six (part two) - Johnny Smith has a heart to heart talk with his father and comes to understand him better than he ever did before. The Grunt brothers become more aware of some of the consequences of forming relationships with aliens.
Chapter Thirty-Seven (part one) - A funeral is held in Strangetown.
Chapter Thirty-Seven (part two) - Ripp makes a late night visit to the Smith's house to try to convince Johnny to stay.
Chapter Thirty-Eight (part one) - How quickly things had fallen apart.
Chapter Thirty-Eight (part two) - "... Us, together... without him." "Are you sure you still want me?"
Chapter Thirty-Nine - "So Johnny left, and I'm still here."
Chapter 39.5 - Johnny and Lola at the new alien colony.
Chapter Forty (part one) - It's a new day in Strangetown.
Chapter Forty (part two) - coming soon (no, really)
SHWC Story Odds and Ends
These story bits that aren't chapters, but are still plot relevant.
A Message from Johnny Smith - Johnny defends his uptight ways, and shows us just what he's up against.
Close to You - Ripp and Ophelia watch the sun set together.
The Banana Question - Sometimes a banana is more than just a banana.
Nice to Meet You - The Shifting Paradymes find a new drummer.
The Magic Show - Beau and Frances discuss the merits of magic (and belief in general).
Mirror, Mirror - Dina reflects on her life, following Mortimer's funeral.
Flower Shopping
Blind Date - Beau and Frances set Tank up on a blind date.
Conjuring the Spirit - It's Halloween and Beau and Lucy attempt to contact the spirit of his dead father.
The Life and Death of Jimmy Phoenix - How Jimmy got his name.
No good deed goes unpunished. - The how and some of the whys of the Caliente sister's involvement with Bella's abduction.
Free Will - Beau, Frances, and Tank discuss free will vs. destiny.
Breaking News - The alien controversy is all over the headlines, as is another recent scandal in high society.
SHWC Outtakes and Extras
There is no real rhyme or reason to when I post Strangetown outtakes, but I have listed them according to which chapters they refer to. As it is with many things, these were once a regular feature (it was more of a convention for sim storytellers at the time I started posting), but then became more sporatic over time.
Outtakes 01: prologue to chapter nine
Outtakes 02: chapters ten to sixteen
Outtakes 03: chapters seventeen to twenty
Outtakes 04: chapter 29
Shorter one-shot stories that relate to S,HWC, but are not to be considered part of the plot of the story.
Strangetown Christmas Special - Johnny, Ripp, and Ophelia throw a Christmas party in their apartment at LFT. This occurs in an alternate reality to the story, and thus, the events do not actually happen. Everyone is still in character, and hints of things to come are dropped liberally.
April Fish - The only proper way to celebrate April Fool's Day.
Strange Bedfellows - Johnny Smith wakes up in an unfamiliar bed. Inspired by the Kitchen and Bath Interior Design Stuff Pack.
Happy Mother's Day - Mother's Day means different things to different people.
Step into my office, baby. - Ripp Grunt seeks some much-needed therapy.
Short Stories
These short one-shot stories have nothing to do with Strangetown, Here We Come. They're different takes on the Sims universe from the one I have developed for the main story.
The Black Widow - In another possible reality for some of my favourite Strangetown characters, Ophelia comes to a realization about her future. It's significantly darker than my usual take on things.
Bella Returns - Bella Goth returns home after her visit to a very strange town, but things are not as she expected them to be. Comedy.
All That Remains - Another dark alternate interpretation of Strangetown, based loosely on some of the character details from the PSP Sims 2 game and the idea that alien births are fatal.
Sneak Out With Ophelia - Ophelia can't sleep at night, so Ripp sneaks out with her to keep her company. A story about their friendship as teenagers.
Challenges
These are challenge entries for
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simstorytellers Many of these are relevant to Strangetown, HWC, and do not appear in an official chapter.Challenge 001: Drabble: Welcome
Challenge 002: Drabble+: Death
Challenge 003: Drabble: Pic Prompt
Challenge 004: Drabble+: Blame
Challenge 006: Short Story
Challenge 007: Song Lyrics
Challenge 008: Day Off
Challenge 013. Creature of the Night
Drabbles
A drabble is a piece of writing that is 100 words long. Short and bite-sized, these often find their way into longer stories.
Drabble group drabbles 01
Drabble group drabbles 02
Simstoryteller drabbles: Tenderly and Condom
Simstoryteller drabbles: Perfect and Carelessly
Unprompted drabbles: Johnny, on the balcony
Drabble request post - You can request a drabble here by posting a prompt word or idea. It can be open or specific to a character or group of characters. I've also posted links to completed drabbles in the comments, so I'm not going to list to them here too. Some drabbles have been promoted to a drabble+ or ficlet, if I was really inspired by it.
Sim Scenes Challenges
These are stories told through images only.
Sim Scenes Weekly Challenge:Parenting - Sympathy - Grouchy
Sim Scenes Weekly Challenge: Allergies - Affection - Health
If you notice any errors or omissions in the Story Directory, or have any other questions or observations, please feel free to leave a comment below.
Also, don't hesitate to comment on any of these posts, if you feel so inclined, no matter how long ago they were posted. I always appreciate the feeedback, even if I don't have time to respond to every comment. If you have a question, I'll always try my best to answer it. If I don't, please feel free to remind me in a PM.
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