Didily's Sims

Retired blog. Home of the Pine Lake BaCC.

[didilysims]

The End

What a strange couple of words to put together. It's been a long ride. It was really nice to revisit my favourite and longest running neighbourhood and give my Sims a proper sendoff. It was harder than I thought to post these farewells...I knew I would be sad, but it's amazing how making something so final is pretty emotional!

I'm so glad that I could share Pine Lake with this community. Thank you to all the folks who have been there from the very beginning, to those who came on at the end with equal enthusiasm, to those who dropped in and out, to those who have also moved on now, to the quiet readers who I never even knew...I appreciate all of your support and encouragement along the way.

TS2 was a fun hobby for me for many years, and though I've gone on to other things, I'll always have fond memories of it and the community that still enjoys it. How neat to see what I've learned from it too: my writing has definitely improved, my knowledge of computers certainly increased, and I strongly believe the space to practise creativity has been so so valuable.

I am moving on now, and this might be the last thing I ever post here. But I am leaving the blog up, and I will never delete it. One day if I have some free time and inspiration I might make a backup of it somewhere. It's nice to be able to look back on everything.

Some folks have said I've inspired them, and that is such a humbling comment. I have been inspired by so many in this community too. It feels trite to try to express that through text, but really, thank you. Thank you to everyone for being a part of this journey, and may you continue to encourage and inspire others through this classic wacky and wonderful game.

2025 edit: If you ever want to read through it again, Pine Lake has been fully archived to LiveJournal. Mirroring to Dreamwidth will follow one day.

[didilysims]

And finally, a handful of outtakes.

I like the kissing cowplant picture I posted of Marzipan much better than this first take, but at least here you can see her face.

Armand has apparently been spending too much time away from the big city investigating hick towns...

This was the very first picture I took for this wrap-up project, back when I planned to make things quick and simple. But then all the other pictures were much better and I felt bad for not giving Stella a real picture, so I took some nicer shots of the Swains. But I still like the father-daughter gardening, which is totally what these two would do all the time.

Freyja and Jonah seem like the type not to have kids, but seeing as I was breeding a nation for Thor anyway, I went ahead and let those two have one just to see what could happen. Miracle of miracles...Jonah's child has a chin!

And Frank will close us off. He absolutely is a professional ballet dancer and loves it, but he also practises modern moves in his club. (Thanks to Jonah for filling in as DJ!)

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Worthington-Rai

Frances and Jasmine lived blissfully in the fire hall until their daughter went off to university and Jasmine officially retired. She could boast putting out over 300 fires in her lifetime, and it was estimated she single-handedly saved over 50 individual buildings from burning down. Not a single Sim ever died by fire while she was fire chief.

Frances eventually managed to get his gold toy badge, though he was almost an elder at the time. He worked harder at his job on the police force, staying mostly at his desk rather than out on patrol. He and Jasmine retired together and enjoyed their golden years in peace and quiet at the seniors home.

Francesca Jane graduated with highest honours in physics, but decided to scrap her plans of becoming a rocket scientist in favour of joining the circus, a dream she had held since childhood. Her work with lion-taming led her to reconnect with an old friend from daycare, and she and Nathaniel Ruben have been dating since.

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Bratford

Monica and Kevin moved into the seniors home and lived out the rest of their lives in blissful freedom from responsibility, completely obsessed with one another. Never to be accused as doting parents, they usually only saw Jamal at family dinners, organized by Anya, who made sure to schedule a visit to her folks once a month.

Jamal moved into a studio apartment in the city to focus on his art and try to make it as a freelance painter. He had a long-term affair with a married woman who became his biggest patron. Though he never made it big, he was always able to pay the rent on time, and considered that success enough.

Anya, on the other hand, was driven to top everything she went into. Graduating university early with a double-major in economics and political science, she went straight into politics and became the youngest mayor in Pine Lake and surrounding area. Under her leadership, the town flourished, with a population boom and thriving economy. She married and had two children so her regular newsletters would always feature a picture of her perfect family. Rumours circulating about her dabbling in the dark arts are completely unfounded and will not be commented on.

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Williamson & Moonbeam

William stayed at Blossom’s for a while, but was always saving up for his own place, and keeping an eye out for a better job than pizza delivery. Although he never forgave Sophronia for leaving a baby on his doorstep, he determined to be a good father to Faye and did allow her mother to see her. (Despite strongly disapproving of Sophronia’s lifestyle, he didn’t want to cut her out of their daughter’s life...especially if Faye developed any fairy quirks that he wouldn’t know how to deal with.) He rekindled his relationship with the mysterious hobby instructor Valentina, but soon she had a bombshell to drop on him as well.

Valentina worked with Jimmy Phoenix, and Jimmy noticed William had a surprising attention to detail, being more aware of his surroundings than the average Sim. This was a quality very useful in Jimmy’s organization so he asked Valentina to get close to William and see if he could make a good recruit. She thought so, and so offered William a job in Intelligence. Disgusted by yet another Sim dating him just to use him, William broke things off right there. But after cooling down, he saw the potential in such a career path, and accepted the job with the condition of working completely separately from his ex. So far he has the makings of an excellent spy, and nosim would ever suspect his secret life...except maybe Blossom.

Faye grew up very well, considering her eccentric parents. Her “Aunt” Blossom was always a fixture in her life, even when they moved out of her place, and was a big influence in Faye growing up as a next generation flower child. William constantly worried that she would turn out too much like her mother, but Faye had a good head on her shoulders and plans to go into politics, seeing the best way to stick it to the man is to improve the system from the inside.

Blossom’s daycare business boomed, particularly when a family of six kids moved to town. After graduating the program, one of these six, Gallagher Newson, came back as a teen to work part-time with the little ones. Blossom was happy to teach him all she knew, and eventually hand the reins over to him.

Blossom had two more children, each from a different father, and raised them in a world of free range education. She and Armand DeBateau went on several more dates, but were happy to keep things casual. One of her children very well may have been his, but this topic was never discussed between them.

Raindrop grew up into a highly rebellious teen and acted out against his mother in the best way he knew how: by putting on a suit and going into business. He did fairly well at it, and even when the rebellious stage ended, he decided to stick with it, although he did tone down the suit a bit. He and Blossom had a decent relationship once they agreed not to discuss work together.

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Ruben

Silas became a highly successful business-sim, yet was always bitter that he had never made it into Science. He built a lab in his basement, but never had as much time to pursue it as a hobby as he would have liked, due to his other commitments with career, family business, and army of children.

Sarah was also in business, but quit to focus on raising her children. With her staying home full-time, Silas saw no need for a Servo anymore, and had Tik-Tok dismantled.

Nathaniel the animal lover spent most of his free time over at Auntie Sophronia’s and eventually took a job as her assistant until taking over the shelter as an adult. He and Erika Swain had mutual crushes but never acted on them, and he wound up dating Francesca Jane Worthington-Rai instead.

Sebastian grew up quietly in the shadow of his much friendlier brother, and was quite happy for Nate to get all the attention. Somehow he caught the eye of the far more outgoing Elise Frost, and the unlikely pair are going strong. Silas wishes his son would find somesim more prestigious like his brother did, but isn’t excessively vocal about the situation.

Roderick grew up to be very business-minded and plans to study economics. Although the family business is promised to his sister, he doesn’t mind, and is excited at the prospect of starting something new to build from the ground up.

Josephine is the tinkerer and most interested in machines, much like her grandmother, Jane. She also inherited her great-uncle’s athleticism, though and an interest in history learns her toward exercising in martial arts and ancient weaponry. She found the scrap-pile of the family’s erstwhile Servo and has been trying to figure out how to put him back together.

Uncle Josh died peacefully at the seniors home, mercifully before seeing Tik-Tok disassembled. He was mourned by friends and family, but especially his girlfriend Eowyn.

Martin lived slightly longer than his older brother, making sure to visit his grandchildren regularly, and be sure that they were all taking their vitamins and a healthy dose of comfort soup during flu season.

Cordelia moved into a suite of her own and turned to serial dating to—in her words—make up for lost time and experiences. She suffered a major demotion at work, followed shortly by a breakdown and general feeling of unfulfillment. She took a vacation to Takemizu Village and met a mysterious old man who advised her to discover herself first. Coming home, she swore off dating for one season and saw a therapist. That season led her to find out more about who she was on her own, which led to another season of singleness and self-awareness...although she did adopt a puppy to keep her company. She moved to the city and found a new position at a bigger publishing house, eventually working her way up to senior editor. She occasionally called up her siblings to say hello but never visited Pine Lake again.

Sophronia happily remained at the animal shelter all her life. Even when her nephew took over running the place, she worked part-time to make sure every furry, feathered, and finned friend got plenty of love and attention. Dating somesim new remained her number one source of off-hour fun, and even in her old age she managed to find plenty of first-datees. She occasionally visited her daughter, when remembering her existence, and always laughed when William tried to lecture her.

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Hart, Verse, & DeBateau

Ethan ultimately decided he had had enough of local crime boss Armand DeBateau dictating his life, and he went against him by building up his own underground criminal empire. Armand easily disposed of him by tipping off the local authorities, and Ethan went straight to prison for life. Discovering her fiancé had been leading a secret life of lies all this time, DJ had a major breakdown and cut all ties to him. She took their son, Everett, their two cats, and moved in with her best friend, Zoe Zimmerman.

Everett never saw his father again and had a difficult childhood. But an anonymous donor granted him a full scholarship to university where he found he liked learning and built up a much better life for himself.

As for Ethan, he had a few visits from Kiera in prison. She also attempted to meet Everett, but DJ never allowed it. Ethan claimed to accept his sister’s apology, but could never let go of the bitterness that had shaped his life, and eventually she stopped coming. Ferdy never visited.

Armand DeBateau prospered and was untouchable until his death at a ripe old age, surrounded by wealth untold. His daughter Tara was his sole heir and she lived in quiet privacy, donating most of the fortune through scholarship programs. His criminal organization became a power vacuum and crumbled from the inside, though Jessica Peterson did reasonably well for herself by remaining independent.

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Hart

Ferdinand and Cordelia never got back together again. He never got over her and never took off his engagement ring, despite Frank’s attempts to set him up with other, arguably more stable Sims. Ferdy spent a lot of time at the office, very busy as Pine Lake’s top lawyer, and even in demand by many big city clients. His son, Zephyr, spent a lot of his time at his cousins’ house, where he mostly got into fights with Elise, but they are good friends now. Though he got along with his dad, Zephyr sometimes felt he wasn’t enough for him. He plans to move to university as soon as possible, and maybe with some distance between them their relationship can improve.

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Thomas

Pine Lake finally got a military base, so Sam ended her furlough and packed up the family to boot camp. Her past experience and high skill helped her to move quickly up the ranks and soon they were enjoying the view from the comfortable officer quarters. Even in times of peace, senior officer doesn’t have much free time, but in the little she finds, Sam enjoys tinkering on an old car with her boys.

Aldric’s name was becoming widely known as a headliner during the base’s construction, and once Sam re-enlisted, he was offered a job as chief of the base’s entertainment. It wasn’t long before the military stage became the destination for a good night out...for military personnel and civilians alike! He and Charlie made sure to meet up every few seasons to catch up and share laughs about life in the limelight. He made a decent effort to stay in touch with his brother’s family too, but life took them in different directions so the cousins were never particularly close.

Ivor grew up more in his father’s footsteps, loving the spotlight, and less so the exercise machines. He did enjoy spending time with Mum on the old car, though, and was proud to drive the beater around, even if they could use much fancier vehicles whenever they liked...including the helicopter.

Caleb was the complete opposite of his brother, growing up into a total fitness nut. He met Georgia Newson through the cross country club, and they’ve been an item ever since.

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Frost

Almeric lost his next mayoral election and decided to retire from politics to work on his businesses and focus on his family. The businesses never reached top-level, but his daughters turned out well.

Kiera held on to her architecture career long into her golden years, but when she finally did retire, she passed on the company to her apprentice, Gavin Newson. She also retired most of her own grudges, but her ongoing enmity with the local contessa remained as undead as the vampire. With some help from police chief Eowyn, she managed to track down her long lost brother and attempted to make peace with him. Once the girls moved out, she adopted another dog and is ready to fight anysim who tries telling her she and Almeric can’t bring him into the seniors home with them.

Emerald was generally happy to fade into the background with her bestie, Erika Swain, but her more playful nature drew her into a few other circles. She got to know Orlando Bertino through the school’s physics club, and they remained friends throughout university. They didn’t start dating until after graduation; however, an engagement announcement came very quickly after.

Social butterfly Elise surprised everysim by dating shy Sebastian Ruben, and even persuaded him to be in the community production of Simerella with her. (She was the star; he was a coachman.) She also met her best friend, Gabriella Newson, through the play, though at first Gabby held a grudge for Elise getting the lead instead of her. They are now roommates at university, both studying drama.

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Lee

Emily forced her foot in the door of show biz and was a highly successful commercial actor for a long time: toilet paper sales were never higher than when she was the face of three-ply comfort. Eventually she made it into her dream of movie acting, but never manged to land a major role. She did, however, fully live up the star actress lifestyle, with multiple affairs, luxury homes, and plastic surgeries. The expenses of this life came less from her actress salary than they did from her husband’s pizza money.

Bernie perhaps could have been a bigger star than his wife once he started a cooking show and released a cookbook of secret pizza recipes. But he tried to support his daughter’s music by playing it on one of his shows and she promptly sued him for copyright infringement. He retired in shame, but his pizza restaurant chain continued to thrive and he later sold it for a small fortune.

Marzipan was shipped off to boarding school and hardly saw her parents growing up, which perhaps is how she turned out so well. She became a plant biologist and spends most of her time in her greenhouse, but does enjoy going out dancing on weekends.

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Moritz & Davenport

Frank had amazing success in his career, making it big in ballet almost immediately. Nosim who knew him was surprised: Frank’s unquenchable optimism plus ridiculous good luck always resulted in success. His dance club also became the hottest spot in Pine Lake, especially after the grand opening where Charlie Davenport made her big breakthrough.

Charlie moved to the city shortly after the club's opening to pursue full-time songwriting and performing, but visited often to check on her used record shop.

Frank finally persuaded her to go out with him, and they are now married, living in Pine Lake with their son. They both took a break to look after him, which gave Charlie the opportunity to write even more. She plans to get into the recording studio when he's a little older, and then go on tour with the new album. She and Frank talked about having another child, but they’re waiting until after the tour to decide for certain. Simoleons flow like water for the couple, so they donate regularly and generously to music and dance camps for youth.

Eowyn lived happily in the seniors home with her boyfriend, Joshua Ruben, until her relatively early death. She never retired, leaving big shoes to fill in the police department.

Allegra thrived more in her senior years than she ever had in her life. Focused on painting, she started teaching classes for fun, and was a major influence on Jamal Bratford. She and Martin Ruben put past hurts behind them and married, remaining happily so for the rest of their days. Her relationship with Charlie also improved, and though she wished Charlie would visit more, Allegra fully supported her daughter pursuing the career she loved.

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Wrightley & Dosser

Guy outlived every other original settler, including the second batch of younger arrivals. He lived long enough to hold his first grandson (Frank’s) and to persuade Kiera to allow him to host a slumber party for his granddaughters. When he finally died, most of his fortune was left to Frank, but a large amount was put in trust for Kiera’s kids. Almeric took over the businesses for his LTW, and immediately regretted it when he found out how much work they all are.

Zelda and Sam downsized to a much more practical lot and built a comfortable family home for their adopted children and wolf pack. Thanks to a generous donation from Uncle Guy, they purchased a vacation home in Three Lakes and visit Sam’s old stomping grounds at least twice a year.

Zelda flourished in the Science career, despite vocal opposition from a long-time rival, and was forefront in the Telescope Project, which is still considered instrumental to the Alien Act, shaping relations between our two planets today.

While his wife focused on astronomy, Sam took over running the toy shop, which was never considered a booming business, but did well for a hobby project.

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Swain

Stella kept her mechanic’s shop, especially after hiring Ginger Newson and realizing the girl showed promise and desperately needed a mentor. Under her patient teaching, Ginger flourished and found peace from her many anxieties in the garage. Stella eventually passed on the shop to her apprentice and retired fully to maximize her right to spoil her grandchildren. But she did still drop in to tinker with the odd engine now and then.

Leif and Natasha divorced with shared custody of the two kids. (While Natasha never formally adopted Erika, Leif had allowed her legal guardianship.) They agreed to remain friends and, though they never really were, did manage to keep a civil relationship between them.

Natasha quit the school system to focus on her art full-time. She never made much money at it, but the alimony kept her from going bankrupt, and well supplied in fine cheeses.

Leif focused on his farm and, thanks to a literal green thumb, was highly productive in it. He did try dating again, but found he was too busy for a serious relationship. Even with a Plantsim daughter to help out full time, a farmer’s work is never done.

Erika had a tough go of high school due to her incredible shyness and reluctance to put more than three words together, which the other teens often interpreted as snobbishness. She did not go to university, preferring to stay home on the farm. In fact, if not for her best friend, Emerald, forcing her to go out once in a while, she’d probably live quite happily has a lonely hermit.

Jeremy also had trouble in school, but it was because of his incessant pranking and frequent trips to the principal’s office with his best friend and partner in crime, Garrett Newson. His only motivation for doing his homework was the threat of being excluded from the weekly video game tournaments with his dad, and occasionally his super cool aunt...who sometimes would bring a sneak peek of a new game.

Freyja and Jonah stayed in the city to focus on their careers. Freyja works quite high up in an indie video game company, and though the work probably outweighs the salary, she loves every minute of it. Jonah sold his coffee shop when they first moved and now operates a local brewery on the border of the bohemian and gearhead sections of the city. It’s equally popular with both social classes, and even a few prominent socialites have been spotted there now and then. They adopted a small dog and are happy to be simply aunt and uncle for the time being.

Thor and his university sweetheart, Ivy Copur, married immediately after graduation. Ivy took a job at the hospital, while Thor ran the sound system at his brother-in-law's coffee shop for a while. But after their first child was born, he quit to become a full-time dad...which was good, because they soon had enough children to keep his Family Sim heart happy. He does occasionally make house calls to tune pianos, however.

[didilysims]

Ooh, one more bonus post before I really get going. (Because I don't want to have it at the end.)

If you have a really good memory, you may recall my breeding experiment with a small dog and big dog. While I was in the neighbourhood, I decided to age up Tiedye and see what monstrosity would be created. How disappointing that he was just a clone of his mother!

Oh well, at least I have some closure to this mystery....5 years later, ha ha.

[didilysims]

Hi. :)

I promised *cough* *mumble* *cough* ago that I would post some wrap-ups to say goodbye to Pine Lake. And I did write them immediately, but then I decided I wanted to do things right and take some nice pictures to go with them. And then I never finished that project.

So recently I thought I should really get around to finishing that off, and I think I'm finally ready to post the farewells.

It was fun to revisit the neighbourhood and try my hand at posing again, but I'm still sure that I'm making the right decision by stepping away from this game and community. It's nice to be able to give Pine Lake a proper send-off, though.

Anyway, I'm still getting organized, but I hope to have things posted by tomorrow. I'm not going to queue these up or anything, so I apologize in advance for the spam, but if you're annoyed by it...well, I won't be doing it again. :) While I learn how to use this website again, please enjoy the CC-free version of the Swain farm. I think that diver may have once been their tractor...

[didilysims]

Hi, I love your game. Just wanted to know, why is it bad that Tik Tok has a crush on Prof. Bonnie Willoughby?

I guess there was a bit more context than I had suggested, sorry. :)

I was annoyed by the crush for a variety of reasons:

1) That he had a crush on anyone because my favourite Servo is supposed to be staying at home and cleaning all the time, not out flirting;

2) that he had a crush on some random NPC and I'd never even seen them interact before; but mostly,

3) I am generally just fed up with ACR and how it forces Sims to be desperate, lovesick, and woohoo-crazy. (This is usually a phase I go through, having uninstalled and reinstalled the mod more times than I can count. I like the idea of the mod, but most recently I preferred the Maxis settings, which actually do give a lot of autonomy if you set things up a bit. In an unpublished Strangetown game, I had default Maxis romance plus risky woohoo and I had plenty of drama and surprise babies and no constant beelines for the bedroom. Perfect!)

Thanks for your nice words. :)