Strangetown Extras: Ophelia loves Johnny and Ripp

[strangetomato]

Well, it's official. Ophelia really does love Johnny and Ripp equally. With the return of InSIM (w00t!), I was able to even up the turn ons, so that the boys were both attracted to blondes with makeup and Ophelia is attracted to guys who are fit and have high charisma, which applies equally to Johnny and Ripp. With all factors equal, so is the chemistry.

Wow. That's a lot of bolts for one household.

Notice that Ophelia would be traumatized if one of them died, but would also hate to lose a dance competition. :P I hope the aspiration hit is less for the dance defeat.

In conclusion, this seems to prove that the secondary aspirations do effect chemistry. Well done, EAxis!

Comments

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

So, what you're saying is, you're not buying it, but you'll read it anyway? Or am I reading that wrong? (It's okay... you don't have to sugar-coat it.)

Well, if I try it and I don't pull it off, I suppose that's all I can do. It don't think it will be the first sim story where a character acts in a way that isn't really explained or makes sense, and it wouldn't be the first change in a character in this story to be unrealistic (like Tank, in the last chapter... if I was being completely realistic, he would probably never speak to Frances again. He changed, which is nice, but it's not really all that believable).

It does make sense to me. It didn't at first, but I wouldn't have headed down this road if I couldn't believe it. Johnny's not a static character, and I thought I was at least giving things time to develop, so it's not all just happening completely out of the blue, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I have written it in such a way as to shoot myself in the foot with this. Well, if I can't sell it, I can't sell it. The thought of having to make this all make some sort of perfectly logical sense is making me feel exhausted. If people really aren't buying it, I could make it all go up in smoke and revert back to one of my many other possible outcomes. Or I could just write it the way I want to, regardless of whether anyone believes it (which is more likely).

I must add, though, that I don't see Ophelia's family aspiration as anything to stop this from happening. I think that having two lovers is not completely out of the question for someone who wants to have a family. It's odd, but I think Ophelia is lost and odd enough to adapt to any form of family she can get.

I also don't know if this possible development will ever be a seamless merging of the three (in a number of senses of that word), but that doesn't mean they couldn't come to some workable arrangement.

I hope I'm not coming off as too defensive/defeated here.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

No, it's not an "I'm not buying it" thing. I think it's more of an "I don't want to see it too easily resolved" thing. Meaning I don't want to see a simple "we're a happy family" trio from them. To that extent, I know that's not possible (given the assorted baggage each bring to the trio). I think Ripp and/or Ophelia really believe they could have that "happy family" thing and Johnny's more realistic about the whole thing (because deep down he really doesn't want to "share" Ophelia).

(I'm going to send you an email about this topic, since I'm going to be a little wordy)

Suffice to say, I don't see ROJ as a poly family but more an open marriage type thing (with Johnny and Ophelia being the married part).

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Okay, well that eases my mind. That's how I hope a lot of people will feel about it, really. I was just afraid you weren't buying that Johnny would even consider letting himself get pulled into this sort of thing at all, even tentatively. I had my own concerns about that at first, but now I really do see him going there, especially with the alien situation. It pushes him into that sort of desperate, unfamiliar territory that Ripp and Ophelia are already occupying.

You can be sure that this won't morph into a "happy family" overnight. I promise you that it won't be so easily resolved (as if you couldn't guess). Part of the reason I like this scenario, and want to dive into it a little, is that it is so complicated and has a lot of potential for drama.

Well, an open marriage is a form of a poly thing, really. One of many forms it could take. I could see them being a "household of three", though. One day... if they work it all out.