1. Hello, everyone! Today Ruth’s (un)Officially Wacky Boolprop
Challenge is one year old, and for your reading pleasure and
general edification, I am pleased to present a special feature
about my writing process! The example used will actually be
Chapter 1, since that is probably the chapter where the most
steps happened consciously. (Actually, Myrna probably
happened even more consciously, but I’m still trying to forget
how difficult that was.)
The pictures don’t all relate to what I’m talking about – many
of them are just there for visual interest.

2. I decided more or less arbitrarily when she was a child that
Ruth Shankel was going to start an OWBC. She and her family
were all kinda dull, and I wanted to try one. Rather than add yet
another family to the rotation, I thought it would be efficient to
combine the two.

3. I figure that an OWBC needs a plot, especially since if Ruth
was interesting enough to be wacky on her own, she wouldn’t
need to be officially wacky. Unfortunately, I couldn’t plot my
way out of a paper bag.
You know who could plot, though? W. S. Gilbert of Gilbert &
Sullivan. Their work was referred to as “topsy turvy,” and you
know what that means: wacky.
I decided that I would rip off Gilbert’s plots wholesale pay
loving homage to Gilbert’s creative genius by appropriating
some of his plots. (Mainly for my college chapters. College is
boring and Gilbert & Sullivan usually involves many romantic
complications.) So that this would not come as a complete
shock, I gave Ruth an interest in Gilbert & Sullivan.

4. Alas, there was no plot that really fit Ruth. Princess Ida takes
place at a women-only college, The Gondoliers is too male-
centered, The Sorcerer is too hard to stage and takes place at a
wedding anyway…
So I decided that Ruth would simply be in a number of Gilbert
& Sullivan shows, to sort of set the mood. But which shows?
The Mikado, of course – I love that one, and it’s set in Japan, so
I can do the costumes with no problem. I don’t use any custom
content for fear of viruses. (shudders in horror at the very
thought) Ruth could be Katisha in The Mikado, since Katisha is
hands-down my favorite character and I would totally play her
if I got the chance.

5. So: Katisha in Mikado, and she can be Ruth in Pirates because
that’s the same vocal part and there’s that female Maxis pirate
outfit. And then Little Buttercup in Pinafore, because I’ve
heard recordings of the same woman singing all three parts and
I can maybe use that yellow and white dress with the yellow
shrug, maybe that will look period enough if I crop it right. And
for the last one – Mad Margaret from Ruddigore. She’s mad, so
she can wear pretty much whatever, and I can give her funky
hair and maybe use a smustle pic.
Good, that’s settled. On to the next steps.

6. With those goals in mind, I wrote down some dialog.
I always carry around a notebook to jot down things I want to
remember – dialog, grocery lists, whatever. I’m also very into
the whole reduce-reuse-recycle thing, and as you can see, this
notebook started life as an address book.
As you can also see, I change my mind a lot.

7. (It was at about this point that Ruth’s former crush, who wasn’t
interested as a Teen, decided that he was interested after all, so
that had to be factored in.)

8. One of the things I do with my writing is make sure that any
real information I provide is accurate, and that any made-up
information is internally consistent. So the first thing I did was
check to be sure that Katisha, Ruth, Little Buttercup, and Mad
Margaret are all written for the same range.
Nope.
Mad Margaret’s a mezzo-soprano, while the other three are
contraltos. (Contraltos are lower.) I know most people don’t
care, but what if Professor Butters reads this? She knows
Gilbert & Sullivan.
I’d die of shame.

9. Okay, so who’s the contralto in Ruddigore? Dame Hannah?
Dame Hannah is boring. She does have any good lines, and
anyway, I can’t dress her using Maxis wear. What other
contraltos are there?
Can’t costume Princess Ida or Patience – and anyway, I might
need the plot of Patience. Can’t remember the contralto in
Iolanthe or Sorcerer. Haven’t seen Grand Duke. I might want
the plot of Yeomen, and that contralto’s boring too. Hey, the
Duchess of Plazatoro’s a contralto. I don’t want the plot of
Gondoliers, and she does get off a zinger in the second act, plus
I can use a Maxis outfit. The Duchess it is.
Now I’ve got the roles picked out, what’s next?

10. Costuming and sets, I think. This is a bit tricky. Mikado can just
look generically Eastern, and there are Maxis kimonos that will
work. I can even use a blond or red hairdo because some
productions do that and then the line “The lady who dyes a
chemical yellow/Or stains her grey hair puce” takes on an extra
layer of funny. (I’ve also seen “red” stretched to fit the meter.)
I’ll need a gray “wig” for the Duchess, and I’ll use the theater
lobby as sort of somewhere generically grand since I don’t
remember where the characters are supposed to be standing. I’ll
need a different gray “wig” for Pirates Ruth, plus I’ll need to
have a set that looks rather like a mausoleum. As for
Pinafore… Ay yi yi.

11. The yellow shrug doesn’t really look period, no matter what
angle you use, and I need something that looks sort of like the
deck of a ship. Not the real deck of a ship, because then I could
just use the pirate ship that came with Bon Voyage, but like a
theater set made to look like the deck of a ship, and there’s no
way I can do that without custom content. And much better
design skills than I possess. Plus, I think I might want the plot.
Maybe I should just forget Pinafore and pick another show?
No, because that’s one of the only ones where the contralto can
logically kiss someone – they tend to get the plain-older-woman
roles in G&S – and I want that for my plot. So they’ll be in
rehearsal. She’ll look a little funny, but people will just have to
go with that.

12. Which is what I did.
DIRECTOR #2: Okay, Rafe and Josephine: “Oh bliss, oh
rapture!” and then kiss followed by Captain Corcoran and
Little Buttercup: “Oh rapture, oh bliss!” and then kiss.
RUTH: It’s not scripted that they kiss, is it?
DIRECTOR #2: No, but I like the symmetry. Let’s –
“SIR JOSEPH”: Sir Joseph doesn’t have to kiss Cousin Hebe,
do I? Only you’ve got Philip playing her, and I don’t like him
like that.

13. Plus, that gave me an excuse to have Ryan-the-indecisive-suitor
kiss Ruth.
RYAN: You okay?
RUTH: Little Buttercup has to kiss Captain Corcoran.
RYAN: I thought there wasn’t any kissing.
RUTH: There is now.

14. I can’t make a mausoleum set without custom content either, so
I’m going to make it a generic outdoor set and show Ruth in the
audience afterwards. Professional theater companies don’t do
that, but they did where I went to college. After the show, the
actors would all come down off the stage and greet their friends
in the audience. And that gives me a chance to develop Ryan
and Ruth’s relationship.
RYAN: Wow, Ruth, you were great! I mean, I know we went
over everything a million times, but you were really good up
there. And the costume is really something.
RUTH: Aw, you just like it because it’s revealing.
RYAN: Not as revealing as what you usually wear.
RUTH: Point. And you can buy me dinner for noticing.

15. But I have to be careful about camera angles, because there
actually isn’t a pirate outfit for the YA age group, and my
homemade custom content came out kind of funky. (See the
backside and the boots? The front of the boots are even worse.)
I’m not too good at making custom content.

16. While costuming and sets were going on, there was also the
matter of plot. Previously in the story, Ryan had been pretty
definite in his rejection of Ruth, even attempting to date another
girl. Now, for some inexplicable programming reason, they
have two bolts and he will autonomously Leap Into Arms. I
need answers.
1. Why does Ryan like Ruth now?
2. He had his reasons for the rejection. All of a sudden, they
don’t matter?
3. How is he going to break the ice?
4. Ruth was aware that Ryan was uninterested. How is she
going to take this 180?

17. I decided that question #1 didn’t necessarily need an answer
spelled out. I already had a pretty good picture and sometimes
people really do look at people they’ve known for a long time
through new eyes. Especially when said someone is in their
jammies. (I later decided that the re-evaluation was prompted
by Ruth’s not wearing a bra under her jammies.)

18. To answer question #2, Ryan had a chat with Ruth’s cousin
Simon.
(Technically, Ryan is first cousin once removed to both Simon
and Ruth, but it’s by adoption, the game doesn’t recognize the
relationship, it’s legal in all 50 states, and relatively few people
could name their parent’s cousins anyway, so I’m not worried.
It’s only incest if you’re too closely related to legally marry.)
RYAN: So, Simon… What do you think of Ruth?
SIMON: She’s my cousin. I don’t.
RYAN: No, not like that. I mean… She’s weird, right?
SIMON: Ruth? Weird? Nah.

19. To answer question #3, I figure Ryan would start by expressing
interest in something Ruth liked or was doing. It’s the sort of
thing that you’d do with anyone you wanted to get to know
better. And since his rejection was in no small part based on her
being so into Gilbert & Sullivan, why not have him express
interest in one of their works?
RYAN: This is by those opera guys you’re into, right?
RUTH: Gilbert & Sullivan, yup.

20. And for question #4, I thought that Ruth would probably be
rather like me: slow to realize that things had changed and
unwilling to believe it once she did.
RYAN: I, uh, haven’t seen you in a while.
RUTH: How’s Lucy? Weren’t you two dating?
RYAN: I, uh, not exactly…
RUTH: Gee, that’s too bad.
RUTH: I – You – But Lucy’s at school now! Aren’t you going to
start dating her again?

21. Now I have everything figured out, the only thing left to do is
play. Sometimes the pictures come before the words (Ryan and
Simon playing catch; I just thought that would be a logical spot
to put that conversation), and sometimes the words come before
the pictures (Ryan kissing Ruth), but the hard part is over.

22. Or so I thought. Then some shots that should have been easy to
get became very very difficult. For the “Miyasama” number, I
needed a controllable Mikado and Ruth doing something that
looked like singing. I had an easy answer for this: move in an
extra Sim, just for the shots.
Nope. I already had eight in the dorm, and the game refused to
add number nine.

23. Okay, okay, I can work around this. I’ll just put one of the
regulars in a Mikado costume and crop carefully. I don’t have
the funny hat for the Mikado, but probably nobody has made
that, and anyway, I play without custom content.
This is Mifune Sanders as the Mikado. Pretty obviously Mifune
Sanders as the Mikado, unfortunately. Also, Katisha has to
wear a terribly un-Japanese hairdo because I haven’t got
anything else that works. All the red and yellow hairstyles make
her look too young and pretty. Fine. I can only do what I can
do, right?
I’ll have Ruth Freestyle – that gives some good faces and hand
gestures, and with a little cropping, it should be good, right?

24. Except that when you tell someone to Freestyle on a
community lot, everyone and their grandmother rushes over to
join in.
And then complains about having to go to the bathroom –
which, by the way, is what I had told them to do before they
took it into their little pixilated heads to run up on stage!
I was lucky to get one useable shot.

25. I didn’t want that to happen with the all-important proposal
scene, especially since you only get one try at that. So I took a
bunch of pictures, just to be sure. Here you see about half of
them.
I ended up using seven.
And that, boys and girls, is how I write my stories.
(Sometimes.)

26. I hope you enjoyed this special feature, brought to you by Story
Anniversaries.
Story Anniversaries: Delaying proper chapters since 2009.
We will return to our regularly scheduled programming next
time. Until then, Happy Simming!