Meet Stanlee Leigassee and Barnaby Benefactor

Stanlee and Barnaby, best friends since grade school, saved up enough money for a voyage to Prosperity, a neighborhood where life is good, money comes easily and the future is always bright. At least that is what it said on the notice posted in the general store. Six days into the voyage, the ship ran into a storm and lost all navigation controls. Captain Jonas Grumby, twisted knobs, flipped switches and turned dials in vain. The navigation system was dead. An hour later, the engine sputtered and gave up its ghost as well. The only sound was the pounding rain and howling of Mitzy, a purebred beagle that belonged to Athens Moneymaker, granddaughter of billionaire Howard Moneymaker who built his fortune in real estate.

As the waves tossed the ship this way and that, the passengers huddled together in the lounge and the captain and first mate were scrambling to keep the S.S. Goldfish upright when the ship banged against an underground boulder, and then another. The listing of the ship made the passengers seasick. Stanlee, who could not swim and never liked the ocean, ran to the deck and fed the partially digested lunch to the fish in the sea. As he leaned over the railing, he saw his life pass before his eyes.

He was not dying. At least not yet. What he saw were photos of his fifth birthday and his high school graduation. They, along with many other of the passengers possessions bobbed and floated on the rough sea. Stanlee looked down at the gaping hole in the cargo hold and knew it meant disaster.

He rushed back down the stairs and threw open the door to passenger lounge. "We're taking on water. The ship is gonna sink. We've got to get off this ship. We've got to get --." Before Stanlee could finish, another wave crashed against the S.S. Goldfish, knocking Stanlee off balance. Everything after that was a blur.

Shipwrecked

When Stanlee woke, he was surprised to find himself on the deck of the S.S. Goldfish. He had expected to wake at the bottom of the sea. What about Barnaby? Was he okay? Stanlee tried to stand but dizziness overtook him.

"Whoa, now. Take it easy, buddy. You took a nasty blow to the head."

Stanlee looked up, focused on Barnaby's face. "You're alive. Me, too. Everybody else okay?"

Barnaby shrugged. "I haven't seen anyone since you came back to the lounge screaming about us sinking. Everyone else ran up to the deck. By the time I pulled you up to the deck, the life raft was gone and so was everybody else." Before he could finish his sentence, Stanlee had drifted back into unconsciousness. Barnaby let him sleep.

As dawn began to break, Barnaby noticed an outline that looked like land. Come morning light, he saw the island with waterfalls on its mountaintop. He looked at his friend, tired and weak, and knew they had to get off the rock and find shelter on the island before the next storm blew in.


Barnaby grabbed two life preservers, one for himself and one for Stanley and waited for"Your job is to stay in the preserver," he said. "Just hang on and float. I'll do the swimming."



Alone
An hour later, Barnaby had Stanlee reached shore. Both of them exhausted. Barnaby used tree branches and a scrap of canvas he found floating in the water and crafted a lean-to for shade. Though it was late summer, the beach was empty. No sunbathers. No fishermen. Not a building in sight. Barnaby gathered fallen branches and pulled a scrap of canvas out of the water and built a sun shelter for his friend.

http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosti...0006_GetDry.jpg

Two days had passed when Stanlee decided he was strong enough to hike higher on the island. "We need to get up there for a better view. Maybe we aren't the only ones on this island."

They were surprised to find a wide variety of landscape on their hike. The shoreline was mostly tropical, with coconut, papaya and banana trees. The flatlands was an odd mix of tropical and wooded area, dotted with small ponds teeming with fish. Higher up was a forest filled with tall sturdy pine trees where birds chirped and flitted from branch to branch. There was wildlife everywhere, but nothing that resembled humans or a civilization. The land was lush, green with foliage and dotted large boulders and small ponds.

Feeling better, Stanlee suggested they climb the mountain and look for signs of a rescue. They climbed above the tree line and gazed off into the distance. They looked right, then in the center and left. Nothing but miles of grass, trees and rocks.

Well, I followed Jo's instructions in this thread: http://www.modthesims.info/showthre...ht=insert+photo
But I failed to heed Simmer22's warning in the post below it. I obviously used the thumbnail links.
I went into edit and did not see any options to change things but couldn't figure it out.
I did not use an image hosting site. I uploaded directly using the "old" uploader. I did not see a new one on the page.

Any tips?

Hi SIMelissa

You need to precede the picture address with [img] and follow it with [/img] - use square brackets and don't leave any spaces. Its the same format as the spoiler tags and you can put the picture into spoilers as well.

Like this, but I am deliberately using the wrong brackets so you can see it. (spoiler)(img)https://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/...(/img)(/spoiler)

Here's one of mine

Thank you, Aysarth!
I had [url] instead of [img].

Is there a way to get rid of the thumbnails at the bottom of the page?

Yes, but I don't know it.

Maybe just delete them?

You are brilliant!
I thought for sure that if I deleted them that it would delete all the pics. But no. It got rid of the little thumbnails at the bottom.
You Are Awesome!

Oh my!!!!!!!! Its beautiful!!!!! Loving the map! And the men too. And I loved your writing style. Wish there was a lovex10 button.

Umm my tip is to use modyourpanties.com as your image hosting page, it is set up for use exclusively by MTS and it works very easily. Then just copy the link that it gives to your image and besure to put [ img ] in front of the image link when you paste it and then [ /img ] after the image link like usual. I never have to mess with thumbnails at all when I do my posts.


Good post btw, I am looking forward to more of the ship wrecked pair.

Povertyville, what an interesting name! I love this hood concept, and I can't wait to hear about a pair of sims shipwrecked on an island, this ought to get pretty intriguing !

the pics won't show for me in your intro post but i do like the story set up! reminds me a bit of Gilligan's island :P

Your post reminds me of The Sims 2 Castaways on the PS2 which I have played many times. {never did get into The Sims 2 Castaways Stories on the computer}

I love The Sims 2 Castaways on the PS2. So reminding me of Castaways is a good thing. Great Pictures.

I love your update and I can see your updated pics and how it looks like the sims is spelling out words with driftwood! Still cannot see your OP pics even after I click on spoilers buttons - are the links still active? Here is what I see

Ah, broken links. I uploaded directly from my computer and linked to the thumbnails on MTS. I'll transfer the pics to modyourpanties and see if that helps.



I've never played Castaways, or any other Sims game. Also, I don't play any of the PS2/3/4 games. I tried playing LA Noir, but I just couldn't get the hang of the controller. I'm old school. Thirty years ago, I would play Mario Bros and Donkey Kong on Nintendo with my eldest son. Even back then I was a terrible gamer.

They work now, thank you!

Such a great idea for a neighbourhood @SIMelissa !

It reminds me of Castaway, too. I love the pictures!

Well, I reinstalled Sims and am now using M&G to launch my game, which means my old saved game does not work. So ... I restarted the game with the same characters -- who look a little different -- and the same storyline. I've updated my thread with new pics. I meant to "edit" my previous post (the deleted one), but it wouldn't save so I put the text in this post instead.


Chapter 2

"I can't call for help. I left my cellphone on the ship," Barnaby said. "Do you have yours?"
Stanlee shook his head. "No. Would't matter if I did. There's not a cell tower in sight. No reception."
"What do we do now?"
"I guess we build a fire, try to signal another ship or maybe a plane." Stanlee started to gather fallen branches.
"We should use bigger branches to write an S.O.S. on the beach. That way, if a plane flies over, they might see it. Over the next few weeks, Stanlee and Barnaby foraged for food, gathered wood and played catch with an old football that washed up on the beach.

The days passed, one after the other. No planes. No ships. And no signs of a rescue.
"I'm beginning to think the rest of the passengers forgot about us," Stanlee said. "They are probably all together in Paradise, building their new lives, forgetting that we were ever on that ship with them."
"Or maybe they weren't as lucky as we were. Both rescue rafts were pretty full when they left."
"You saw them go?"
"Forget about that," Barnaby said. "The important thing is that we are alive and have plenty of time to lounge on the beach and play in the surf. A year ago, we would never have dreamed of having a vacation like this."

Summer turned to fall, and the ocean's surf washed away the S.O.S. sign.

Barnaby and Stanlee sat on the beach, watching the ocean in silence as they did most evenings.
"I don't think anyone is coming to get us," Stanlee said. "And with winter coming, we need to be prepared. I think we should move camp up to the forest area."
"The forest? In winter? I don't think so. I think we should stay here, just in case a ship comes looking for us."

"Nobody is looking for us, Barn. If they were, we'd have seen signs of them by now. No ships. No planes. Nobody is coming."
"You just don't like the ocean. You never liked the ocean."
"And after being on a sinking ship and nearly dying in the ocean, I won't be changing my mind any time soon. I've thought about this a lot. You've seen it. It's beautiful up there. Waterfalls, streams of fresh drinking water and acres of fir trees. We can build a log cabin to keep us warm in the winter, catch fresh-water fish, maybe hunt."

"What do you know about hunting?"
"I'll learn," Stanlee said. "We're going to have to learn a lot of things if we are going to stay alive."
Barnaby picked up a shell and tossed it into the surf. "I'm not going to the forest. I'm staying here on the beach. I've always wanted to learn how to surf and scuba dive. If I'm going to be stuck on this island, this is where I want to stay."
And so, the two friends parted ways. Stanlee moved to the forest where he chopped down trees, fished for trout and bathed in a hollowed out tree stump.

Barnaby spent most of his time as he did before Stanlee left. He sat in the shade of his lean-to and watched the ocean for hours at a time. Only now, he had only his thoughts to keep him company.

This is a fun story concept, and I like how you're telling it. What will happen to Stanlee and Barnaby now that they've split up?!

I love your story so far. The pictures are great as well.

btw You did forget to put the / in one of the trailing img tags though, [/img] it needs to be and you have [img] on both ends on one of your links

Ah,that's why it didn't show. I went back and added the picture again, just a little higher. (the one of them sitting on the beach at night)
I have played a bit ahead, so I have some story catch-up to do. I'll probably post a few more photos over the next week.

I love the SOS spelled out with the logs on your beach! How would Barnaby be able to learn to Scuba dive if he doesn't have a means to get scuba gear? Unless you mean he wanted to snorkel. I would prefer the mountains, so I'm team Stanlee! Also just a tip for pictures if you care but you can see the grid on the beach in build mode. You can line up your shot, hit pause - then make any changes in build mode and then go back to live mode while still in pause to get rid of those lines. Great update

Stanlee was right. Help was not coming. But it was not because the other passengers had forgotten to tell someone about the two guys who did not make it onto the lifeboat. They did not tell anyone because they were never rescued.

All the passengers and crew in the lifeboats survived. Their boats washed ashore on a distant part of the island not yet explored by Barnaby and Stanlee. Fearing another storm, Captain Grumby convinced the other survivors to set up camp in the shelter of giant boulders at the base of a mountain.

Members of the survivor party included five families, several with young children, and four adults who had no family ties on the ship. In no particular order, the survivors are:
Captain Jonas Grumby; his First Mate Rolf Nestor; Athens Moneymaker--who has never worked for anything in her life; and Gina Matthews, an intelligent family Sim with a questionable taste in men. These are the Sims who have no family on the island.


The Merrymakers:
In high school, Rodney worked as a mechanic's apprentice in his uncle's garage. With the money he saved, Rodney planned to attend college. Then, in his senior year he met Matilda and fell hopelessly in love. They married immediately after graduation, and right away Matilda became pregnant with Zach. With a family to support, Rodney gave up his hopes of college and continued to work in his uncle's garage. Matilda was content with their lives, but she knew her husband was destined for a better life. Not long after Anna was born, Matilda convinced Rodney to follow his dream. Rodney worked in the garage during the day and attended classes at night. Six long years and one child later (Gretchen), Rodney earned a degree in mechanical engineering. The Merrymakers were heading to Paradise for Rodney's new engineering job when the storm nearly capsized the ship on which they traveled.


The Eatons:
David's wife died unexpectedly, leaving him alone with their two children, Wanda and Jasper. In every corner of the house, were reminders of his wife. At first, David held tight to the memories and his wife's possessions. After a couple years, however, David realized that his inability to move forward with his life was taking a toll on the children, especially his teenage daughter. David sold everything, except for their clothes, and bought three tickets to Paradise where he planned for a fresh start for himself and his children.


The Killjoys:
Settling down was never part of Ivan's agenda. But when his girlfriend, Ima, became pregnant with their son, Jack, family members on both sides insist the two get married. A couple years later, Ingrid was born. Ivan owned a local restaurant where he worked a a chef before becoming a survivor. With an ever-roaming eye for the opposite sex, Ivan quickly developed a reputation for turning up the heat in and out of the kitchen. Ima learned about her husband's infidelities during a visit to the restaurant, where she caught Ivan in the food pantry with one of the waitresses. That day, she gave Ivan an ultimatum. "You sell the restaurant and we move away from this place, or you sell the restaurant and give me half the money. After all, this is a community property state." Ivan had little choice. He sold the restaurant and bought passage to Paradise with the hopes that he would settle down--or at least not get caught.


The Dagmars:
Like David Eaton, Otis Dagmar is a single father. Otis, however, is not a widower. His wife, Ernestine, left him for another man and moved to Paradise. Ernestine filed for divorce. Otis told her he'd grant her the divorce, but only if she took custody of their kids. He and the children were on their way to Paradise to seal the deal when the storm put a kink in their plans. So Otis, his eldest child, Winston, named after his ex-wife's favorite cigarettes, and youngest child Travis were stuck being a family for awhile longer.
Otis' sisters, Elaine and Regina, were also on the S.S. Goldfish. The stigma of being a Dagmar was more than they could bear. Without telling anyone, especially their brother, the sisters had packed up their belongings and boarded the ship with plans to legally change their name once they arrived in Paradise. Running into their shiftless brother on the deck of the Goldfish was a shock, but learning they were trapped on a deserted island with him was devastating.


The Lopezes:
Carlos and Catalina Lopez grew up in a small house near the Moneymaker estate. Their mother worked as a housekeeper for the Moneymakers. After their father's death, Carlos took on the Moneymaker's gardening responsibilities. Catalina was Athens Moneymaker's yes woman, for fear that saying "no" would lead to her mother's or brother's dismissal.
"Catalina, doesn't this dress look divine on me?" "Yes, Athens, divine."
"Catalina, hold my bags." "Yes, Athens."
"Catalina, I want you to go with me to Paradise. I need someone to watch Mitzy (her beagle) while I go to the clubs." "Yes, Athens."
"Catalina, our valet quit. I need your brother to go to Paradise to carry my bags." "Yes, Athens."
Carlos was thrilled for the chance to carry Athen's luggage. He'd had a crush on her since they were children. Unfortunately, Athens never saw him as anyone but "the son of the help."

uuuuhhh more!

Dang SIMelissa, you got some really good backstories going here! I'm particularly intrigued on WHY exactly 'being a Dagmar' is a stigma? Otis just seemed like a guy wanting to shove his kids off on his ex but people have done worse so I'm wondering what's so bad about the surname Dagmar - which I'm sure you'll reveal through some awesome storytelling. I also love the aspect of the Lopez siblings working for Athens and the brother having a crush on her. Is it for naught or could he prove himself to her while surviving on this island and fall for him? Or would she just see him as useful and use her wiles to get what she wants?? It could any way! Keep us posted!

Wow SIMelissa, you have some really good backstories for your Sims! Facinating, I will await your next intallment with great interest.