Challenge 002: Drabble+: Death

[strangetomato]

Here's my response to the current challenge over at simstorytellers . I thought I would post this now, since it's based on the Strangetown, Here We Come, and I won't be able to post the next chapter until Sunday at the earliest. I'm heading out of town tomorrow evening for a long weekend. This drabble+ (slightly longer than a regular drabble, which is exactly 100 words) is related to the next couple of chapters in the story, and is thus a slight spoiler, but I like to think of it as more of an appetizer. I hope the next installment will follow by early next week.

This week's challenge was to create a 150-200 word drabble+, using a maximum of two in-game pics, with "death" as the prompt.





CHALLENGE 002:  Drabble+: Death

Prompt: death
Pic max: 2
Word count: 150-200
Expires: 4/16/08

Nervous Subject looked around the cemetery.

He was surrounded by death. This was his legacy. This is what his mother had left him with: a collection of dead people, each of them hand-picked to suit her various whims.

It was also his father's work. He performed his task thoroughly and carefully, leaving nobody behind. Death touched everyone.

Nervous didn't have to look far for examples of the impact that his parents had made on this little desert town. There was Ophelia, his cousin, who had lost her entire family to death at an early age. There was Ripp Grunt, whose parents had also been brutally murdered, though he didn't know that yet. There was Johnny Smith, who had, so far, been lucky, but his troubles would come. Death didn't spare anyone. Nervous knew that his father had an appointment with Johnny's family, and sooner than any of them expected.

There was Pascal.




Nervous hoped that somehow, despite logic, Death might decide to grant Pascal some special privilege to walk untouched and happy throughout his long life.

If Nervous asked, he could make it so, but asking favours of Death always came with a price. 





 

Comments

[sinderellah.livejournal.com]

ooooh!!! I hope the next few days pass quickly so we get our next update! Very good writing... I wasn't sure if I wanted to read or not... I'm glad I did but also sad?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. This gets covered pretty early in the beginning of the next section (the second half of chapter 24), so it's not really giving too much away. It is hinting at things to come, though...

[indigoleo.livejournal.com]

AHHHH! Death!
*Hands out lots and lots of elixer of life to all her favorite sims.*

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Sadly, you can't stop Death if your name's one the list. Also, the elixer can only delay a natural death...

They all have to go some time. *sheds a tear*

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

Awwww, that's so sad! :(

(No further comment at the risk of spoiling things to someone else in case I might be right with my suspicions)

Other than that, I've never read Sim Drabbles and the examples I've seen so far are very neat! This one was lovely, and I really liked the very last picture.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I'm interested to know what your suspicions are now, but you can tell me after the truth is revealed. I suspect you might partly know, but maybe the details will still surprise you? I hope so, anyway.

I really like sim story drabbles too. It's great fun to do these short pieces with images included, since a lot of the story can be told in the image alone (though I haven't really pushed that side of it yet). Have you considered participating in some of these challenges too?

I do traditional drabbles based on my sim stories too, in a drabble group that I'm involved with. Some of those can be found if you follow the drabble tag. I have a new batch too, but they tend to be even more spoilery than this one is, so only read them if you're okay with some hinting at things to come. Many of them get recycled into actual chapters. The end of chapter twenty two (part one), with Johnny looking at the stars and thinking about his decision, started out as a drabble.

[xel-squirgle-ox.livejournal.com]

Aww, I think I know what's gonna happen with Johnny's family next. :(

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you do. It is keeping with the "script" of Strangetown, at least a little. There are some differences. ;)

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

**shivers** A wee bit of foreshadowing in that last line, methinks?

I, too would like Pascal to live forever (wink) But as an adult. I like him as an adult. He's a highly annoying Elder, lol.

Do I sense that poor PTech is going to be meeting Grimmie soon? **Sniff!**

Hope you have a great weekend!!!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yes, the last line does hint at the troubles that might ultimately arise from asking favours of Death, which is something that Nervous has already done. Also, it refers to the fact that you can't even speak to him unless someone dies, which is the other meaning of "comes with a price". Someone pays with their life to grant another the opportunity to speak with Death. That's just how it works in this story (and the game, since you can't normally conjure up Grimmy in any other way). Even Nervous can't just call him up on the phone... at least not yet (and I'm not really sure if I plan to involve that Grim phone in the story at all).

Well, maybe they'll discover the secret to eternal youth. I think that some scientist (or maybe even more than one) might have been working on a way to beat death (and Death too). It's not the focus of Pascal's studies, but he'd surely know if a discovery was made.

It might be P.T. That would make sense, but I'm not going to give it away just yet.

Thank you! You too.

[lovelysims.livejournal.com]

That was very awesome. And touching. And Nervous is right, Death Spares no one.

thanks for sharing!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Death has no reason to favour anyone, except maybe Nervous himself. He might be the one with special privileges, but Death may also intend to simple collect him too one day, just like everyone else. He wanted a living legacy, afterall, and death is a part of living.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

=O

I'm eager for Sunday! I cant wait to see what goes down. ppor Nervous. Poor Pascal! *worries*

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) You won't see the outcome of Nervous Subject's premonition in the next update (though it's not too far off), but I promise that several other areas of the plot with make significant advancements. You'll have to wait a little longer to see what's going to happen to the Smith/Curious family.

[mjo5oh.livejournal.com]

i just found your livejournal at simstorytellers.... and i love it! not to mention, strangetown was the only maxis hood i ever really played in.... and nervous subject is my favorite character by far. now i'm off to read your past strangetown entries!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm happy to have you as a reader! If you have any comments/questions for any of the previous chapters, don't hesitate to leave them. I have some catching up to do with some of the back-comments, but I will respond to them all.

Nice to meet you!

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Curses, I know PT has to buy off eventually but I just love that old fart so damn much.

I didn't realize Nervous knew about his mother's killing of the Grunt parents. But I suppose he's looked at the tombstones (though technically they don't have names on them and it would seem odd for a serial killer to put the names on them, but then again, that could be her trophy. . .but if he's in contact with his father. . .sorry, thinking out loud).

Have I mentioned how much I like that hair on Nervous? Very flattering (though I miss his mohawk).

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Nobody can live forever... not even quirky old aliens (though they do have a longer lifespan than sims).

Nervous knows about all of the murders because he witnessed them in his dreams. He didn't understand who they were about at the time, but now that he's met some of the people connected to them, he has pieced it together. He knows that the General was Ripp's father because he recognizes Ripp from his dream of the General's death. The dreams get more vivid as the event draws nearer, until Nervous can even see some of the victim's own thoughts (which makes no sense, but neither does any of the "Death's son can see into people's deaths" angle - you'll have to just accept this as the "rules" of my fantasy logic, as weak as they may be).

So, with that being so, Nervous saw Ripp in the General's thoughts, and he's also made the connection between Buzz and Lyla. I'm thinking that Nervous can also hear what ghosts are saying (but not communicate back to them), while nobody else can. Does that make enough sense? If it doesn't, I might be able to make adjustments. I think I'm pretty safe as long as I stick to my own rules, though, right?

Nervous can't actually contact his father by his own choice, unless someone dies. (Though maybe I will bring that Grim phone into the picture at some point. I'm not sure yet.)

Yeah, you actually did mention that you liked that hair on him. I think it works pretty well, but I'll be changing it for the next time you see him, since he's growing it out (and I'm sure you know why *wink*).

[hathakleen.livejournal.com]

Baaaahh, you are just so good at creating well-written hooks! Have I mentioned before how much I love your story?

Ohh, now I'm all worried about Pascal. :S

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :) There's nothing quite like a good hook or cliffhanger, so I try my best.

Nervous is mostly just reflecting on how he wouldn't like to see Pascal affected by death at all, since he doesn't want him to be unhappy, but I won't say too much about what might happen there.

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

I don't want to see PT 9 gone. He's so darn lovable and his old guy outfit + Elvis hair...no, he can't die!

Johnny's sad face makes me sad. :(

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

Oh no, wait, wait. Johnny's family = huge. It might not be the PT, but...I don't want of the Curious-es to die either. :(

[ricamarcella.livejournal.com]

So if it is PT who the Grim's going to visit soon, how will that impact the pressure on Johnny to fulfill his father's expectations? Will he then feel less compelled to marry Jayne Doe, or will he feel a stronger need to do so in order to honor his father's memory?

[ricamarcella.livejournal.com]

What I mean is, he might (a) either no longer feel the pressure to marry another half-alien, his father being dead or (b) feel the need to act out what PT anted so much, in memory of him.

[mothproof-ammeh.livejournal.com]

NERVOUS SHOULD BE GLAD TO HAVE THOSE GRAVESTONES. *is just resentful because her game ate them all*

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

What happened to the gravestones in your game? Did you place them in the inventory? I lost one that way before. I moved these stones to a new lot, and I seem to have been lucky enough not to lose any.

For fans of Strangetown...

[ricamarcella.livejournal.com]

there's a hilarous clip on YouTube called "Strangetown Con-Piracy" by user joe mulcahy about what would happen if the Curious Bros. turned themselves into women and got chased by the General, Ripp, and Tank. You should all go watch it, it made me crack up. Sorry that this doesn't have anything to do with the drabble... just thought you people would find it entertaining.

Re: For fans of Strangetown...

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Hey, get that ad spam out of here! *snicker*

Thanks for the heads up. I've watched some of his videos before, and, while I have to be honest that they aren't really to my taste, they are quite well done. Also, his Ripp cries more than mine does, which is no small feat.

General Buzz has a very "interesting" outfit in that video. Yikes! (I'm embarrassed for him.) I also giggle at the premise that switching genders is the only way to deal with the imbalance in Strangetown. That's not how most players deal with it. *wink*

[80sfiend.livejournal.com]

Oooh! :D I loved this. :D Of course I love all your stories. :) Looking forward to the next update. :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I hope to post the next update soon. Within the next couple of days, for sure.