juushika

As I post more of these boys, it's getting harder for new readers to catch up on what's come before. So for everyone's ease, I finally offer:


Ghost and Aaron: A Sims 3 Story
Introduction and Master List
Aaron (with freckles and dyed black hair) is brash and rude, but behind his bravado is certain vulnerability. Ghost (with white hair and pale eyes) is inward-turned, expressing himself through the arts—but his passivity hides depth. They are cousins who, for most of their lives, were only casual acquaintances. Two years ago, Aaron moved in with Ghost and his mother, and the boys quickly became close friends. But one day, after they had moved into a filthy suburban home in Sunset Valley, Aaron kissed Ghost—changing their relationship forever, and beginning their chronicled story.

From their first spontaneous kiss onward, Ghost and Aaron's story has been almost entirely autonomous. I set up premises, and they provide plot—and the boys have a strange magic that makes it all possible. I post lightly annotated, image-heavy chronicles of their daily lives, supplemented with text-only, non-chronological storybits that fill in gaps in their daily developments and backstory. Storybits in particular may contain explicit sexual content, so consider yourself warned.

The list below contains every post where Aaron and Ghost appear, from cameos to major developments. The numbering system is completely meaningless (but keeps things in order); storybits are often non-chronological and tangentially related, but add significant depth. I have no posting schedule—updates come when they come. Comments and discussion are always welcome. Enjoy!

Master List — The time when...

001 They first appear.
002 Aaron kisses Ghost.
003 Aaron sets fire to the TV.
004 Their romantic relationship gets going.
005 Ghost quits his job.
006 They finally have sex.
          Bonus House tour.
007 They cameo during their honeymoon period.
008 The repoman comes.
          Bonus Family photos and Storybit 01: Aaron on the doorstep.
009 Ghost says "I love you."
           Bonus Storybit 02: Ghost dreams of death.
010 Ghost's dreams get worse.
          Bonus Storybit 03: Aaron says "I love you."
011 Storybit 04: The second round, while Ghost should be sleeping.
012 They have a surprising amount of sex.
          Bonus Storybit 05: Aaron picks Ghost up from work.
013 Ghost started to come to terms with Aaron's thievery.
          Bonus Storybit 06: Aaron questions Ghost's sexual history.
014 They cameo at the Silverman-Moore wedding.
015 Storybit 07: Aaron bottoms for the first time.
016 They visit Mouse.
          Bonus Storybit 08: The night with Nathan.
017 Everything's going well, so Aaron's parents show up.
          Bonus Storybit 09: The rings.
018 Things do not happen in France.
019 Aaron's parents visit.
          Bonus Storybit 10: What does not happen after Aaron's parents leave.
020 Previous update outtakes.
021 They spend a couple irresponsible days.

You can also browse my tags for Sims 3 and Sims 3: Ghost and Aaron for some supplemental discussion and photo logs of my other Sims. All my Sims photos are gathered in galleries on my Flickr.

Ghost and Aaron: Master List | Next Update

The irony is that I've had this finished for near a month—but I thought I wanted to make this installment a bit longer, and so I held off on posting until I could play again. As it turns out, I needn't've. Sorry for the delay!


We begin as we ended: with Aaron's parents, Lauren and Jonathan Dar, showing up unexpectedly .
Lauren begins the reunion by berating Aaron for disappearing without a word.

( Family, arguments, love, arguments: +41 pictures. )

Not that it'll be easy.


So. Something interesting happened when I was playing: I lost half a day of playtime. I played through the night after Aaron's parents left and was thrilled with what developed the next morning—and then (although it had been perfectly stable), my game crashed just before I went to save. I was heartbroken, but eventually went back and replayed that missing half-day. It started out eerily similar and then took its own, unique route.

And, crazy as it is to ever say this: I'm glad the game crashed. What I saw was an alternate view, events that could be but are not, and I believe the fact that they did not materialize is revealing. So, as an odd piece of variation, this time as a storybit I present:


Storybit 10: What does not happen after Aaron's parents leave.
1300 words, +3 pictures.
Would take place near the end end of this update, if it happened.
Contains foul language and explicit descriptions of sex.

( These things do not happen: )

Ghost and Aaron: Master List | Next Update

I've been quiet, lately—distracted, introverted, and a little depressed and anxious (situational rather than simple brain crazies, which ... is what it is: less frightening, for having a cause; more frightening, for the fact that I can find few solutions), which mostly means I've been taking in a bit and giving out little. And I've been playing a lot of Sims. No meaningful play, mind—AwesomeMod is still dead, so I'm still goofing off with a legacy that I won't blog in any depth.

But I will picspam for it. Ergo: Some truly random snapshots of the Sydel legacy. Nothing is logical or coherent here, so I'll tack on a half-assed family tree so that things make a tiny bit more sense. I'm playing this to distract myself, kill time, and to breed a few sims to go in my real town—depending on how they turn out. Just about everyone is in this town (I'm playing with Riverview for a change, although I don't like it half as much as Sunset Valley), so expect to see familiar faces in entirely nonsensical contexts (confused as to who's who? ask, if you care). I'm playing World Adventures but not Ambitions, and my game's clean—pretty much no hacks, right now. 45-day aging, but I age up babies in 12 hours because they bore me, and kill off some seniors. Ready, then?


Meet Andrew Sydel, the founder.
I've had him sitting around forever, so figured I might as well put him to use now.

( Bugs, nudity, and breeding in various combinations: +53 pictures. )

Because that's it for now, save for the slightly elucidating Sydel family tree of doom, which I started making after cleaning out 500 screenshots, so ... the headshots aren't all perfect, but they're there. And I just realized I misspelled Corrie's name. Oh well, you'll figure it out.



( 1000 pixel size version below the cut. )

Ghost and Aaron: Master List | Next Update

As visible above, I've finally put together an intro post for the boys, and made a few other changes so it's easier to browse their archives.

This update is epic-long (long enough that I'll put outtakes and random non-G&A pics in another post), and I'm sorry for that. But I enjoyed it, and mayhap you will too—and it opens the door for many things to come. Ah, less talk! More pictures! We open with:


Nika calls to invite Ghost over for the afternoon.
"Yeah, sure! I'll bring the boyfriend."

( Friends, a persistent ghost, thievery, music, and a cliffhanger: +51 pictures. )

To state the obvious: there is much to come (and I'm nervous about it all). In the meantime we take a step back, returning to Ghost and Aaron's pasts and to issues of music and theft—and rings. Have you noticed that they both wear—and have always worn—plain black bands?

Storybit 09: The rings.
1700 words
Takes place when Aaron has been living with Ghost and Sylvie for 11 months, and around the time of this update.
No warnings.

( Ghost comes into his room to find Aaron sprawled out on his bed... )

Ghost and Aaron: Master List | Next Update

Ghost and Aaron: Master List | Next Update

I should mention, before I'm distracted by the overlong post to follow: If you missed it over the weekend but might be interested in downloading, I've uploaded my pseudo-self sim, Nika Sarto, for your pleasure.

This is a slightly unusual update, because getting The Sims running again was buggy to start, and I spent some time randomly househopping to get a feel for things. So there's more themes and beginning and rediscovered footing than there is story, this time—yet I still manged to take a good number of shots. Less talk (don't worry, they're be plenty later) and more action! So then:


The very first bug: the food system broke. Absolutely, completely, and for a while I didn't notice.
Which meant no one ate while I was sitting there going YOU KNOW WHERE THE FRIDGE IS GUYS, USE IT.
Before anyone starved, I had Ghost order pizza. I think it was a lucky thing no one died of food poisoning.

( Bugs and strangeness, househopping and events in the park, music and theft: +38 photos. )

So the boys are quietly content save for the sound of music in the house...
...Ghost with his Lady and Aaron with his Ghost.
They have not always, of course, been so. I append to this post a stoybit that I wrote ages ago. I considered a different selection for this post, but wasn't able to get one finished; and in a way, this one is suiting because I allude above to the fact that Ghost attracts male attention. I've mentioned it a few times, in fact: above, with Terry; here, with Jude; here, with Skylar. As if with a sixth sense, some people sense in Ghost a passive, receptive, moreover accepting partner. With the exception of his high school girlfriend, his past sexual partners have been one night stands, have been casual hookups, have overlapped and repeated, and what unites them is that they have been based in what the other person desired: what they wanted, he acquiesced to. For Ghost, this wasn't self-denial or self-punishment. Being and fulfilling what others wanted was, in a way, what he wanted.

I usually try not to write huge introductions to the storybits. I prefer that they speak for themselves. But I give this one such an intro because it is in part a view of Ghost's past—not an average encounter, but not too far off—and foreshadowing of the changes to come. (Now that I'm finally recording a precise chronology of events—I know these boys well, but need help to keep dates straight—I'm keenly aware of where it falls in the timeline.) I'm also nervous about any content which isn't strictly Ghost/Aaron, and more nervous about jumping back in with talk of sex, so I feel the need to pad it with explanations. Explanations done, to the fiction!

Storybit 08: The night with Nathan.
2300 words
Takes place when Aaron has been living with Ghost and Sylvie for a year. (Current events take place one year later.)
Contains brief but explicit descriptions of sex and some foul language.

( Ghost is sitting on the library steps nursing a beer when this guy comes up to him. )

Ghost and Aaron: Master List | Next Update

When weaning myself off Sims 3 last go-around, I was left with the awkward situation of pics taken but not posted. So, as a way of weaning myself back on (which makes no sense as a turn of phrase), I present: old pics of the Boarders and Silverman-Moore (because, let's be honest: they're taking over) household.

When we last saw this household, Manson and Sarah were busy repopulating the planet with one more baby (and their last) while their other children made forays into childhood and adolescence, Matson was dumping one guy and picking up another because what else is new?, and Skylar was mooning over men he'll never have.

This time:


Mariella is adorable. No, really: the wonder that is Mariella is a big trend here.

( As for the rest: naked ladies, inappropriate romance, and a beautiful family growing up: +21 photos. )

Once the Silverman-Moores move out I imagine most of the rest of the household will stay: ageless ancient Colette to run the place with a motley crew of occupants sharing a communal space while they go about their lives. Matson isn't even halfway yet in her quest towards romantic decimation; Skylar and Rose still have a story to tell and I may return to them with more focus in the future. And maybe someone in the crew will pop out a kid for future, more diverse breeding stock...

Wow, this all sounds awfully final! It's not. Because only now can I finally return to playing the game...

I'm baaaaaack!

This is a family of artists and musicians—here, Andrea delights in her father's music.
Manson, not long after, achieved his lifetime wish (first is the household!): he's a movie music composer.

( +42 photos of children and children growing up, failed loves and new loves, oddities, and a bit of Ghost and Aaron. )

You may or may not have noticed that Manson and Sarah have aged a little bit. It seemed only appropriate. But time does work very strange in my town: children can grow up while adults barely seem to gain a year, and you'll find that when I go back to Ghost and Aaron it's likely that only a month or so has passed. I have no shame in forgoing realism!

That's almost all for now. Right after I post this, I have a bit of porny Ghost & Aaron fic for you all—posted separately to divide children from porn and to save the disinclined from accidentally scanning it. (Of course I'll probably post a suggestive picture to suit it, so it's not like any eyes will really be spared. But oh well.)

So, for a change of pace: I'm switching over to an overstuffed (thank you, Awesomemod) house comprised of one landlady and her ten boarders.

The house is three stories. The first and second stories contain 12 bedrooms (10 occupied; sleeps up to 21; there are 2 cribs with room for more) and 6 bathrooms. There's an eat-in kitchen, a formal dining room, and four common rooms. The third floor is an attic which is part junk room and part activity room. The grounds contain a large front porch and a small back garden with vegetable patch. The house is fully furnished and decorated. I built it myself. It took forever and turned out wonderfully—which you all may never get to see because photoing it would be a ton of work.

More important than the house is, of course, those that live in it:


The new crew. (Bigger better.)
( Meet all eleven. )

So then, that's the new crew. This household will be more play, less story. With eleven folk in the house, I'm playing with a lot of autonomy for maximum amusement and to save my sanity—I wouldn't even want to try micromanaging that many sims. Concurrently, this first update comes with plenty of funny events which are pretty meaningless on the large scale. Ah, but they amuse me. So we begin:

( 20 images of housemates, sleeping arrangements, Deathtoilet, and a strange visit from Dominic. )

Skylar and Rose don't get along with many people save for each other, where they indulge in immature passions which no one else shares. Indeed, they reject meaningful connections to anyone but one another. Hal is adorable, I have a soft spot for Michael, Sai is so beautiful, Matson amuses me, and I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of kids Manson and Sarah make (because we all saw that coming)—but Rose and Skylar are my true favorites in this household so far. (The same night as this picture, they stayed at the park until dawn, just hanging out together.)

That's all for this time!

(Help me, I cannot stop listening to this album. Every time I think I can finally stop, Zydrate Anatomy comes on again and I end up keeping it on for another playthrough.)

Ghost and Aaron: Master List | Next Update


I love what counts as a totally normal morning in this house.
(Ghost has been waking up earlier to catch a few extra moments with Aaron—and the dead.)

( +37 pictures: sex, painting, theft, coping, a right mess, and love: another week or two. )

In the same vein, the writing for this time is about how Aaron helped Ghost though his last bit of sleep troubles. Aaron doesn't really know that he helped—but even if he's no good at reaching out, his concern is visible in all that he does.

Storybit 05: Aaron picks Ghost up from work.
900 words
Takes place at the same time as this picture from this update.
Resolves Storybit 02: Ghost dreams of death from this update.
Contains swearing and allusions to sex.

( It's been a foul day. )

So. I'm planning to take a short break from Ghost and Aaron to play with an overstuffed household and potentially some more genetics. As with Nika's household, there'll probably be less blogging and less story as that goes, but I'm so addicted to picspams that I expect there shall still be some. I'm confident that I'll return to Ghost and Aaron before long—they're just too precious to leave.

Before that, though, some truly random Ghost and Aaron humor. I am (no surprise, after Second Life) addicted to custom content; as such I spend plentiful time demoing new items. I stumbled across a (shiny!) skin which I had not tried before and thought I'd check it out, so I installed it and had the boys strip down and was playing Barbie—er, Ken doll. Meanwhile I'd forgotten that Emily was in the house but, oh, not the boys! As soon as they were free they both made nakey beelines across the house to go chat with her.

( So if it looks like Aaron is insulting Emily's family in the nude... +3 pictures of naked boybum. )

Everyone has lost all memory of these events, as they do of most of my CC demos, and obviously I have scrapped the (shiny!) skins, but yeps, it amused me.

Ghost and Aaron: Master List | Next Update

Ghost and Aaron: Master List | Next Update

Long update is long. It would be longer, but my brain has taken a sudden turn towards completely inoperable and so the second storybit will have to wait until I can get that sorted out. Instead, you get pictures. Tons and tons of pictures. It took a while to find the stopping point this time but, having done so? Yeah, I love this update, too.


To open: mostly just a picture.
(But Ghost and sleep is a heavy theme here, and it is a pretty picture.)

( Pick up right were we left off, we begin a few more days with a night: fire, work, friendships, sleep, sex, and the troubles that come with it all. +44 pictures. )

I can't understate the level of autonomy the boys have, and it just amazes me. From Aaron reading books for work (which none of my other sims have ever done) to rearranging his sleep schedule, from conversations to long hours spent having sex ... they are so self-directed. (Fully disclosed, my involvement is limited to: triggering woohoo (once they've autonomously maxed out the attraction tree—the autuonomous woohoo mod I was using is just too buggy to function), canceling activities from queue (rarely, and often only after they've been at the activity for a while, like ending game-playing or TV-watching), and sending them out of the house. All the rest is them. I do, however, have a number of mods, from dangerous stoves to ghost reaction remover, to say nothing of Awesomemod, which impact gameplay and sim behavior.)

And all that autonomy makes them so real. I don't know how bored you all are with their daily lives—but I'm not. I expected that much of my fascination would pass about the time that the boys formed a stable relationship, but there are enough ongoing events that their lives and my fascination both continue apace. After all of my prior angst, that's a relief—but it never ceases to amaze me. They are so real to me, and their love is beautiful, and so I can't even begrudge them the fact that while I play them I can't manage to tear myself away and spend time playing other sims.

I suspect that there will be some more writing to come, eventually, on Ghost and his dreams. When probably depends on how he deals with them, but there's more to be said, there. When I write about Aaron, it's usually his backstory, because I will never have the chance to photograph that—but Aaron is often easy to show: his personality is very visible in his actions and his body language. Ghost, however, lives in his mind, and begs a lot of writing so that his mind has some visibility. He's quieter, he internalizes, and his dreamworld is complex and terrifying; his sexuality and his role in this relationship is also more internal than external, though there's some evidence of his initiative every now and then, as there is here.

The writing for this time, though, is as promised above:

Storybit 03: Aaron says "I love you."
300 words (amazing, I know!)
Takes place at the same time as this picture from this update.
No warnings, there's just some romance.

( "I love you too, you know," says Aaron. )

Ghost and Aaron: Master List | Next Update