Fanon:Torres family

The Torres family is a family in SimVille. It consists of Simon and Lucas Torres, two brothers who are forced to live on their own after the death of their father, Frank Torres.

Original MTS post
The Torres: A Story of Brotherly Love

Another non-nuclear family idea that originally had a much deeper backstory... or at least, one that I tried to develop. Initially I was going to write a fully-fledged novel based on this family I created in The Sims 2. However, I lost my bearing on which direction I should take the story on, and consequently lost my writer's flame while trying to find it. Combined with the fact that I got distracted by other novel projects that were far more appealing to me, and the scanty amount of writing that I wrote for this novel was shelved. I barely wrote four paragraphs of the novel, and two of them are one-sentence paragraphs (And, if you are not aware of the struggles a writer must face, abandoning projects when the circumstances call for it can be quite difficult at times). The best paragraph in that piece so far also happened to be the last paragraph I wrote before abandoning the project:


 * A happy home. Beautiful, sunny days in the summer and frigid, frolicking snowy days in the winter. Snowmen on cold days and snow cones on warm ones. The autumn sightseeing where the nearby forests burst into a smokeless, heatless flame as the leaves changed into their bright, carotene colours. The crisp, spring mornings that felt like ice-cold soda in a glass bottle, and the rainy afternoons where the warmth of the indoors lent itself to board games and LAN parties.

...and then I got distracted by For my little brother. Ah well. I at least make some effort to archive the stuff I wrote, which comes in handy later on in life when you're making a conscious effort to learn from the successes — and the failures — of the past.

Anyways, even though the novel project was scrapped, I kept this family in my game, and being the Simmer that I am now, I created a story for them as I played. I don't have a novel for you, unfortunately, but I do have something to write about! Without further ado...




 * Ever since their father's untimely death, Simon and Lucas have only each other in a large, dangerous, and scary world. How far will brotherly love go for these two?

This actually isn't the first time I revealed these two Sims to the public, although I have mostly teased the idea for it. I posted an image a year ago here along with a brief explanation, but I mostly left it at that.


 * Originally Posted by k6ka
 * Perhaps inspired by the Newson family that shipped with AL, and perhaps inspired by some of my own writing, I just created a brand spanking new family with three members... well, two now. I wanted to create a family with no living parents, with the idea that the siblings would have to take care of each other. Since CAS won't allow for an adultless family, I created the three Sims (one adult, one teen, and one child), moved them into a temporary lot, killed the father, and moved his grave to a cemetery lot. Now it's just the teen and the child; I moved them into a cheap apartment that costs about §500 per week, and we'll see how it goes from there.

The Sims

Frank Torres (deceased)



The father of two sons and the husband to an unknown Sim was pronounced dead at the scene of a house fire in Lion Gates County. The cause of the fire is unclear, but the fire marshal suggests that it may have been caused by an accident in the kitchen. He left behind no will, no letter, and no other legal document that could assist SimNation's bureaucracy in determining what to do with his property... or at least, what remains of it.

Okay, in all honesty, Frank Torres never really had a storyline, mostly because he was a temporary Sim I created to allow for Simon and Lucas to live on their own. Since CAS wouldn't allow for teens and younger to be created without any older Sims (annoyingly), I had to create an adult Sim that would have to see the Reaper's scythe before I could get the results that I wanted. Well, how heartless of me, belittling this array of pixels! I am quite certain that Frank was a good father when he lived, and his children miss him dearly. He will not be forgotten...

Frank is currently buried at the The Last Resort cemetery. He is currently the only Sim I made in this hood that is deceased (Soon, however, he won't be alone in that regard... *evil wink*).

Simon Torres




 * With no protective adults around, Simon was left to raise his younger brother Lucas alone. He's unprepared, but the love for his brother fuels him every day.

Simon has always wanted a job working with kids, and what better way to train for that job than taking care of your own younger siblings? At first, it wasn't anything unusual — mostly walking his younger brother to and from school — but after Frank died, Simon had to jump from being a big brother to a little daddy... can he manage it? He had no cooking skill, no job of any kind... he didn't even know how to change a diaper (And he still doesn't)! But he had love, and while that isn't all you need in The Sims, it was enough to get by.



Simon is only a teenager, so he can't have a full-time job yet. Balancing the stress of high school life was hard even when his parents were alive. After Frank's death, he got a job in the Education career in order to ensure that he and his brother were able to eat. At first, Simon was a machine, working double time (and overtime) at work and school. Amar Newbie gave him some excellent study tips, and he was able to snag that A+ grade in no time. Popping donuts and coffee into his mouth, he also managed to stay awake and alert long enough to impress his bosses at work, and reached the top of the teen education career. Simon was an overachiever, and even though his parents weren't around to celebrate his victory, inside he felt quite proud of himself.

At least, until a chance card sent him back to square one.



Simon attempted to report Ms. Moorington, but oh, that old hag!



Simon's firing plunged the Torres into grave financial trouble as they had no other source of income. No paycheque, no food, no lodging, no hope. The drop in morale also caused his grades to tank, dropping from an A+ to a B-, with no sign of improving anytime soon. Simon is unhappy, unable to find another job, and feeling like he's a failure at everything in general. Things are not looking good for Simon.

Lucas Torres




 * After the death of his father, Frank, Simon is the only person Lucas has left in the world. He's always wanted to be a basketball player — let's see if he can still achieve his goals.

It was hard for Lucas to leave his old home and move to the city. Lucas loves space, and the grassy fields and well-stocked parks near his old house fuelled his love for sports. While SimVille has facilities for sports enthusiasts, Lucas just doesn't like how the world around him is smaller and more compact. Lucas wants to be a basketball player, but he'd rather play on solid ground than on the rooftop of a building.



Lucas is second-born, and as you probably have guessed correctly, that's why I like him best. While Simon's bogged down by work, work, and more work, Lucas has time to befriend other children after completing his homework.

And what better friend is there to have than Evan Newbie himself?



While Simon may be the breadwinner of the household, Lucas correctly grasps the fact that good friends won't go away even when your money disappears. To the Torres, Evan's not someone who leaves people when they're at their worst, and while the rest of his family might be too wrapped up in their world of popularity to pay much attention to the little guys, Evan will happily sleep over at someone else's crappy apartment if it makes the residents feel any better.

(Yes, the day after Simon got fired Evan Newbie actually did sleep over at their apartment, something his older brother Justin would never do. In fact, he spent the entire day there.)













(Yes, that is Evan washing his own dishes, albeit in a strange location...)



The house

The Torres are one of the poorest families in the hood, and one of the worst off as well, having no adults and no source of income (at least for now). They consequently live in the smallest apartment in SimVille. At least the apartment lot has a nice name: Lil' Apartments, a modified version of the West Vista Apartments download.



The communal area's nice, at least. There's a swimming pool, a grill, and some vending machines available to the tenants.



The roof has a basketball court, a monkey bars set, and a chess table.



A brief glimpse of life in the Torres family

Despite the fact that they have the smallest apartment in the hood, Simon and Lucas have their own beds to sleep in... mostly because the design of the bedroom makes it unfit for a double bed.



Saving money is a priority for the Torres, and they save every leftover bit of food from meals. I have a mod that allows for 8 servings per meal instead of the default six. With two living Sims in this household, and assuming that they only need to worry about breakfast and dinner, a single serving platter/bowl can provide up to two days worth of food for the family. Sure does save a lot of food points (and money).

Yesterday I had them pick up some mac and cheese at Fresh Rush Grocery, one of Amar's owned businesses. It not only sells groceries, but it also sells garden-grown produce and fully-cooked meals. This means that Sims who want a Baked Alaska but don't have the cooking skill needed to make one can simply purchase one at Fresh Rush Grocery. For Simon and Lucas, buying these fully-cooked meals is more expensive than making it themselves at home, but it saves them a bit of time. This morning they feasted on the leftover mac and cheese. Yes... mac and cheese for breakfast. Now I'm hungry.



Being poor doesn't mean you can just slack off and leave the apartment a mess. And in this town, the rich are slobs that require maids and Servos to do the job. Poorer Sims do not have this luxury — and they don't need it either. Poorer kids learn to clean the house much more quickly than their richer counterparts.



It's Monday. TGIM! ...Okay, so not really. Simon and Lucas both have to go to school. When Simon was doing well in his job, both of them surged ahead in their grades. In fact, they were doing really well in almost all areas of their lives. Now that Simon's unemployed, though, things are probably going to go downhill from here.



At 9AM, the landlord arrives to tend to the lot. And look who the landlord is: Beth Love, the same landlady who's dating Cody Day! Erm, yeah...



Go trim those hedges, you little—



Simon gets home by 1. Normally he'd have work in an hour, but... I think you get the gravity of the situation by now.



Simon is noticeably unhappy.



Lucas gets home by 3; he brought Evan Newbie home with him. Dan and Betty didn't give him permission to sleep over tonight, unfortunately, but it's still nice to have such a good friend.







Evan kicks off a slap dance session, and the Torres follow along. Even though the apartment seems way too small for dancing, the three had a lot of fun together.



Evan needs to be home by dinnertime, and his parents are stricter with him than they are with Justin. Sad... I know the feeling.



The supply of mac and cheese has been exhausted, and there isn't any leftover food left in their inventory tonight, so Simon's going to have to cook.



There isn't enough room in the apartment for a permanent countertop though...



...so I keep a "temporary" countertop in Simon's inventory, which I place in front of the door to the bathroom.



It's fine as long as nobody else needs to go for a pee...



There are chairs and tables out in the communal area, so Sims will go and serve meals there. I lock the apartment door so that they'll sit on the couch to eat instead.



Dinner in front of the TV seems like what lazy slobs do... but for Simon and Lucas, they seriously have no room in their apartment for a proper dining table.



Every bit of leftover food is saved for later.



I love the snuggle interaction... I wish it was available in more places though. For instance, why can't child Sims snuggle up with other child Sims? And why can't Sims half-hug each other while standing up? Would certainly help with picture-taking.



It's Rent Monday today. Rent is precisely §550 per week. With no source of income, though, that's gonna eat away at the Torres' money fast. Will Simon be able to find another job before the landlord gives them the boot?



'nother day, 'nother night. Who knows what the future holds?



Conclusion

While the novel project is dead, the characters certainly lived on! During the "Golden Days" of living on their own, Simon was awfully preoccupied with work and didn't spend an awful lot of time with Lucas. Being unemployed might not necessarily be the curse a lot of people imagine it to be, though. As the saying goes, "When God closes a door, He opens a window." Maybe Simon needs to stop looking outside of his family for answers and instead look inside. Lucas isn't unhappy at all, and it's not because he's ignorant or that he's selfish. Frank may be dead, but not having a father doesn't mean not having a future. Original post

Outtakes
The following images were cut from the final version of the forum post.