DOARS- Week 9 Day 2- The Easiest Thing

Welcome back! Thanks for baring with me while I went through my terribly unromantic phase! I'm not sure that I'm out of it, but here's a new chapter none-the-less.

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Dear Diary,



Have you ever been in love? It sounds like a simple question. The answer is either yes or no. But the heart complicates things. That heart wants to so desperately be in love, it wants so badly that it can fool us into anything. It is so deceptive that when we earnestly try to see if we're doubting, and thus know if it's real love or not, the heart will give a firm, instant, never doubting stand. It lies. Have I ever been in love? Am I in love? It sounds like a simple question. It sounds like the easiest thing to answer. After all, when love's real, it's as hard to ignore as the green tint to my parent's skin tone, right?

Today when I woke up, I felt like I was in love. Not that I was overly familiar with love stories, or common perceptions of love. You may have noticed that in my childhood my head was not filled with tales of romance or really any example of love other than my parents. Truly, my parents are the only love that I'm acquainted with. They are the shining example in my life of a romance that brings security and happiness, a love that creates the beautiful family I grew up in. Is this how my mother feels about my father?

Today I woke up with a feeling. I belonged to Rommich, my heart, mind, soul, everything that I was, it was all his for the asking. It was a peculiar feeling. I think I should feel scared, but I don't. I think I should feel nervous, but I don't. I just feel... right. I feel like my life is exactly how it should be. I feel like it would be fantastic to spend every minute of every day with Rommich just to find out what he's like; what he likes; what he thinks. Wouldn't it be worth it, if I could someday just look at his remarkable alien face and know exactly what he was thinking? Or if I could tell how he felt, just by the way he held my hand? If I could do that, anything would be worth it.



When I peaked out my window I saw my parents in their garden and wondered, did they ever just know? I can't imagine that they didn't when they're so obviously in love. When they got married, did my mother know for sure that he was the man for her and he was her soul mate? Does she even believe in soul mates? Did they just settle for each other? How did they keep the spark alive?

It's at this point that you can tell that my mother and my relationship hasn't necessarily been as thorough as it maybe should have when it comes to teaching me to have a healthy relationship. I'll figure things out, though. I don't know if I have grandparents, but I know that there was never a strong maternal influence in my mother's life and she figured things out, so I will, too.

Wait, that made it sound like she hasn't been a strong maternal influence in my life. Well, she just never really sat down with me and talked about how to be wifely or womanly, but she was a strong influence, for sure.

Moving onto matters that don't require searching the soul or sounding deep, the bush that turned me blue for a day made my mother glow for six hours. I told her not to touch it, that thing is death in bush form, but she did anyway. Silly woman.

At least she didn't die.

This time.



As soon as I got up and around I made a homemade salad with enough for a whole family and thought to myself that there was only one person that I really wanted to be eating it with. Sure I might enjoy it without him there, but if he was there, I'm sure the salad would be that much crisper and satisfying. After all doesn't being with the man you lo-really like, make everything better?

 Fortunately he called me, and he thought it was an excellent idea to do lunch.


I casually mentioned to him while he was eating that he was free to take up permanent residence in the house. I know, I know, smooth really isn't in my vocabulary. I'm a blunt person... what can I say?

His reaction was not readable. I like to think he was pleasantly surprised, but the truth is he might have been confused. Poor guy, he's never been in love with a sim girl before. I'm sure I must be terribly confusing for him. Well, that is if he's in love. To be on the safe side, he's never had a sim girl in love with him, so it's probably confusing. Not that I'm for sure in love. I'd hate to be that kind of girl, the one so certain of something that's really not true. I might be in love. Maybe.




We played hopscotch for several hours and I beat him. Heh, I'm a Sw0rd, he really didn't have a chance.



Some post hopscotch conversation was had to make sure his dignity and feelings were in tact.


They were certainly in tact, so much so that I'm not sure he even knew that he lost... but that worked out for me and my new beautiful roses. That was so thoughtful of him to stash them in his pocket for me!


He even leaned in for a kiss! Well that clarified his feelings on the matter for sure. I'm not sure I even remembered to breath. I know that I didn't do anything but just stand there in shock. He kissed me! We shared our first kiss!

Now I have to admit, I have never been a believer in magical first kisses, or that special spark when you're with the one you love. Until now. It sounds silly, I know! That you could receive a shock or a spark when your lips touch your soul mates. I mean, poppycock! Right? Well, is it any sillier than believing a malevolent force powered by the moon unleashed an army of zombies to destroy the planet? Or that a silly little girl and her silly little brother could find a way to stop them and save two races? You've believed crazier things, so just trust me on this. Our first kiss magical.


The look in his eyes definitely confirmed that he felt the same that I did. It was very reassuring to be gazing into the eyes of my soul mate and knowing that he's as in love with me as I am with him. We were at the same level and the same point in our relationship. It can't get better than that. I wasn't wondering if he was about to take a step back, because we were taking the same steps forward. Together. That's special.

How did I get so fortunate to find the love of my life so quickly?








 Whether we are fools for rushing in, or wise to not delay this relationship that we're both so sure about, is up to you to decide. Where one would say rush, I would say eager.

I can't wait to start my life with him. I'm not going to wait for silly notions about making sure he's the one, testing the relationship, making it take longer than how you really feel, and setting a slow pace. Is he the one for me? Absolutely! Do I want to live my life with him? Without a doubt.
You can have your common conceptions about love and time, but I'm going to have a vow with myself that no matter what I learn about him, I'll love him and accept him, and the promise from him that he'll do the same for me. Have whatever opinion about it you wish. None the less, we're engaged and I couldn't be happier about it. It was the simplest decision of my life.



And as we opened our eyes for the first time as an engaged couple, the house changed.




The entire color scheme looked like lime, pink, and sea foam threw up everywhere. I must say that the gnomes do lack a certain finesse when it comes to decorating. Sea foam is the color that Rommich likes best, so I suppose this means that the gnomes are all on board for our marriage.
















My father and his future son-in-law bonded over energy collection. You can see my father's tan very well in this picture. All of his hard work farming turns his green skin to a slightly sickly color. Hopefully Rommich won't ever spend that much time outside. His skin color is perfect the way it is.


As the day ended, I thought about just how great my life was. I have the man I love, the approval of the mysterious gnomes, and the promise of all my hopes and dreams of a bigger family.

What more could I want?

Happily engaged,

Raquel Sw0rd


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So, I think trying to write the romance of these two is going to be really hard for me! Playing them is so simple and they're so sweet together, but when it comes to writing it, it's quite the challenge!

I'm sure things will get easier after they get married and move to Starlight Shores. :)

Edit: It was painfully obvious to me that I wrote this when I was in a relationship that wasn't special in any way shape or form. After falling love, real love, and getting married to the man of my dreams, I learned. Yes, first kisses can be magical. Yes, there can be tangible sparks. Yes, love at first sight really does exist. You really can just know without being scared even a little bit. This chapter was re-written for just such reasons.

DOARS- Where are we going?

Hello all!

I am growing weary of SV, also it's getting harder and harder to save there w/o error 12s, so the DOARS are moving! Don't worry about the story details, I can handle those, just pick the town that you think they'd be best in. I'll have a poll up on the side, it'll be open for a week or so. :)

Also, we're coming up on the year anniversary, which makes me sad, but happy. Sad because I'm only at the start of generation two and it took me only a year to get through my DITFT, so yeah... I'm playing MUCH slower than I used to!

So! Any ideas for the anniversary special?

Lastly, it is highly likely that the format of chapters is about to change, this is your heads up on that score.

Thanks for your participation!

-Isa

P.S. I'll leave you with a cute picture of a random alien baby named Abbey

DOARS- Week 9, Day 1- Not the One

Welcome back!
Last time we dealt with a sudden and unexpected transformation of Raquel's parents into aliens. Raquel, also unexpectedly, felt like they were no longer her parents. She seemed to get over that and move on to bigger and better things, like planning a family with someone who I think most of you have guessed already. If not, you'll find out soon! Enjoy!

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Dear Diary,

Early this morning I had an unexpected visitor interrupt my dreams.

He was not at all unwelcome, though.

My parents were less excited by his visit, which was appropriate. When I mentioned that he had come to help us with their new transition to alienhood, they seemed even less impressed. Or maybe it was that the chef on tv had destroyed the dish he was trying to make. It's hard to tell.

He seemed happy enough to chat with me for a bit, though. We talked about the 'why's and 'how's of the cure and if the cured ones fertility would return to normal. I imagine his interest in the topic was for much the same reason as mine. Which should be obvious, and if it isn't, well... you didn't stop reading last week when you were supposed to, did you? Please stop now.


He didn't stay long and after he left I returned to bed and my parents started working on their garden. I say their, because I think they put an equal amount of work into it. I bet my mother never would have thought that she'd have a thriving garden!

In celebration of family bonding and in an effort to feel more like a family, we went to the festival and enjoyed some of the seasonal activities.



After having stars painted on my face in honor of the man whom I hoped would father my future children, I had a pleasant surprise. Rommich had popped by to spend the day with us. Wasn't that thoughtful of him?

Apparently Zhiddezoe was losing her hold on the alien race. Now that the zombies were being cured, the former leaders were taking back over, and this nonsense about aliens needing to marry other aliens to produce alien offspring was being abandoned. Of course, if it didn't turn out that the cured aliens could reproduce, I'm sure they'd pick it back up again.

In the meanwhile, I was content to enjoy my time with Rommich and motivated to possibly speed things up. I know that may be sudden for you, but let me explain.

I decided when I was a child and first met Rommich that I was going to marry him. I know, I never said anything, that wasn't the nicest thing I've ever done. I should have mentioned it before. Regardless, that was what I decided. When I was a teen, you may have noticed that I never had a boyfriend and aside from asking a mildly attractive boy to dance, I never pursued anyone either. Now you know why. Rommich is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and after years of knowing him and being his confidant, I know what I'm doing. He's the man for me.

After hours of skating my parents went home, but I stayed behind to chat with Rommich, and then after night fell, he kindly took me home.

I thought about making a move when he said goodnight, but I settled for a hug. Although I'm confident in my feelings for him, I'm not as confident in his feelings for me, and I'm a little too scared to make the first move. Instead I wrote him a poem while I took a bath.

Those deep dark orbs that capture my soul
That touch of your smooth, silky skin
Those lingering looks that make me whole
That struggle to breath air suddenly too thin
Those arms of yours that take me home
That scent of your clothes from far away
Those bonds of love that never will roam
That unending promise of every new day
That proprietary longing my heart won't deny
Only to be broken when eternity has gone by

Trying to decide when I can call him back,
-Raquel Sw0rd
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So here I thought I was better about writing romance, but I'm still not, so it'll be a bit before the next chapter comes out, unless you all are okay with an extremely unromantic romance for Raquel, if so leave a comment and I'll trudge along.
Edited to be a mushier (hopefully) poem!

DOARS- Week 8 Day 7- G-nomes

Welcome Back!
Last time on DOARS, Raquel used the cure on her parents, Rommich offered to help her, and she refused, and she was awarded prom queen. Also behind the scenes, she was supposed to grow up last night, but the game glitched and prolonged her teenage life an extra day... drat. Which means that she ALMOST got arrested for breaking curfew while I was staging the pictures.

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Now the continuation....
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Dear Diary,


I know last night I ended my diary entry abruptly. I wasn't sure how to describe what happened. After my parents were cured from their zombification we fled back to our home as quickly as we could, whether that was due to their eagerness to see see their house again or an actual danger with staying at simHenge after the attack on Tony I don't know. We left so quickly that I didn't even get a good look at them, but something wasn't right. In the darkness and the dimming moon, I couldn't see what it was, but I just knew, something had gone wrong.

It wasn't until we got home that I saw what had happened. They weren't zombies anymore, but they weren't exactly sims either.
I felt a mix of conflicting emotions that didn't make sense to my logical mind; my parents are aliens. Aliens. Without discussing the why or the how, I felt like they weren't the same. They weren't really my parents. I'm a sim through and through, so how could my parents be aliens? They couldn't be. And yet, they were. I felt obligated to love them as much as I did, and guilty that I didn't.

I suddenly saw the value of having sim test subjects instead of just alien test subjects. Whatever happened to cure them re-wrote their genetic code in stead of resetting it. It was at once fascinating and heart breaking. I knew that I should be happy that my parents were back, happy that they were no longer dead and happy that Tony was (hopefully) dead or dying. Well, the last one did make me happy.

This emotional side of myself had now betrayed me twice in regards to my parents. It almost destroyed me when they died, and now this. I yearned for the ability to control my feelings and my emotions. To love who I wanted and feel indifferent when I wanted. I wanted to love my parents as much if not more than ever, but I couldn't. The emotional entity that helped make up my personality felt a peculiar lack of anything for these new people. When I looked at them I felt... nothing. I think it would be less unsettling if I felt repulsed. This lack of anything gave me nothing to work with and mold.

If their new state of being bothered them, they didn't show it. When we got home there were lots of tears and hugs and kisses, and I tried not to be bothered by emotional displays of people who felt like strangers. I'm sure they noticed that. Thus my guilt builds. I feel again completely unprepared for this outcome.

Story of my life, right? Me not being prepared for what's happening. I should get used to that. They're still my parents, does it matter that they're green and hairless? It shouldn't and maybe someday it won't.

These would be impostors did tell me that they thought Tony would be considerably weakened by their cure. Apparently their being cured during the full moon contaminated his web of zombies and his connection to sims. They didn't believe that it had destroyed him, but it had come awfully close and over time the contamination would grow in strength, much like a computer virus. They said that it should only be a matter of time before he became incapable of interacting with the physical world.
That wasn't good enough for me.

But, it was good enough for that night. I was tired, confused, and more than a little disappointed, so at my parent's urging I went to bed and tried to fall asleep. Surprisingly I fell asleep very quickly despite my racing thoughts. I imagine there was some sort of alien influence in that.

That morning my mother was doing laundry. That kind of put things in perspective for me. Of course, she was still my mother, I knew that, but seeing her do what she always did and pick her routine back up, really made it hit home. Knowing my mother, she was probably freaking out more than I was about her new form, just trying to hide it from the rest of us. I bet if I went into the bathroom our toothpaste would be almost gone if not completely so. We always kept lots of backups for just such occasions.

Although it couldn't make up for the strangeness, this was a step in the right direction.


There was gardening to do, which my parents did together. I watched them for a little while and yes I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I watched them because I worried about their reactions to each other. Would it be weird for my dad that my mom was an alien now? And vice versa, of course. Well, as aliens don't sleep, they had several hours to get used to it as I slept, and if they were weirded out by it, they didn't show it.

That reassured me. They were people, after all, and if they lost not only their connection to their daughter but also their connection to each other, that would be tragic. I would feel for them, even if it was more of a compassion for others than a familial love that moved me to pity them. As it was, though, they seemed happy together and solid in their relationship. Good for them.

With all their new free time, they enjoyed some of their favorite activities together. I hope that someday I can have that with someone. Lynn and Cycl0n3 have been married forever, but they still make time to spend together. And I bet if I asked them who they enjoyed spending time with the most, they would say each other. My dad is even resigned to the fact that he will never ever win a game of hopscotch. If that's not love then I don't know what is.

Just kidding, heheh. I do realize that there's more to it than just that.


The happy couple were a sight to see as they worked out. Their green skin was on display for all to see, well I hope the neighbors don't gawk too much. Though they should probably just get used to it, I mean, between working out and gardening, my parents spend a lot of time outside.

I suppose that applied to me, I should just get used to it, too. I live with them after all. Mmm. I hadn't thought of that. I will be an adult soon, and I'm ashamed to say that a big part of me wants to run away and deal with this from afar where I can forget it if I wish. That's really irresponsible, but I don't know if that side of me will win or not. Will I be able to resist that temptation?

The ambassador was judging me. I could see it in his beady little eyes. He was disappointed in me. As a savior of the alien race, he expected more of me. So disappointed was he that he would not even mention my offence, instead he told me to call Rommich for "alien lessons" when I moved the laundry to the dryer.
Did he mean for me or for them?



Either way, I could recognize a good idea when I saw one. With a situation as complicated as this, it was plain to see we could use a little alien help.

Rommich however was neck deep in the dezombification process and couldn't make the trip to our planet today, but he'd be available tomorrow. I think he could hear how urgently I needed his help, though, because he leave me with some advice: to just be honest with them. I thanked him halfheartedly and ended the conversation.

I don't know if I'm brave enough to do that.

My mother went back to work this afternoon. I'm not sure how the Llamas will feel about having an alien show up as Lynn Sw0rd, but I suppose she is Lynn Sw0rd so maybe that will make up for it.


That left me alone for several terrifying hours with the man that was my father. After an awkward conversation about my mother's skin color, I busied myself with something else in my room. Well, I surfed the web. Yes, I know, I am a coward. I could have spent that time getting reacquainted with my father, or learning how it felt to be a zombie, if he even remembered. And if he did remember, I might have even been able to learn more about Tony and how the war had gotten started.

As I surfed the web, guilt ate away at me. I'm a terrible daughter.

Do vegetables taste the same or have you been drawn to a carnivorous diet?

My mother came home that evening with my brother in tow. He was sickeningly okay with this new development. He found as fascinating and intriguing as I should have.



That evening I became an adult.

It was time to be done with this childish foolery. These were my parents. They hadn't changed who they were, just what they looked like and their sleeping habits. If I continued to let myself pull away, I would regret it. If it didn't drive me mad this life stage or the next, then when I was at the end of my life it would and I would never get the opportunity to make it right. If not family, then what was the most important thing in life? Feelings? Pesky emotions? Scientific Research? Vengeance on Tony?

None of those things mattered if I didn't have my family around me.

I took Rommich's wise advice and told my parents how they were feeling. My mom patted me on the head and suggested spending the night all together as a family, doing family things, and while she made dinner my dad explained more of the technical differences between sims and aliens.


And then my mother entered the final stage of her life.

... and finished making dinner.

I told my father how much I wanted to love them, and although it wasn't ideal, he was understanding and comforting about the whole thing.


I think we're going to be okay.


With just the three of us sitting around our living room, there's something missing, and I don't mean just my brother and Pat. My parents are going to be gone, and sooner than I'd like. It's never too soon to start planning a family of my very own.

Family planner extraordinaire (someday!)

-Raquel Sw0rd

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Sorry for the delay in posting! Apparently this chapter was only half written.

Raquel has officially taken over, we now have to follow her rules... oh boy, homemade is in full swing. (Hence Lynn making dinner in this chapter)