Lifelines: A SC4 Storybook by RHF

[RadioheadFan 1]

     Well, after over a month with sporadical visits to ST and journeys of self-discovery, I must say, I've returned a much different person. Simtropolis used to be the focal point of my social experiences, the over 100 contacts from ST on my MSN list a testament to that statement. But now, after seeing that there's more to life than a computer screen, I return with a different point of view, and the philosophy that I'll never be at ST as much as I once was.

     Anyways, after that lengthy introductory paragraph, I will explain the premise of this new CJ. Lifelines will pick up where the super-successful Life on an Airplane left off. This time around, instead of one main character, short stories will be constructed in cities and towns of varying styles and histories. So, why don't we start things off with the first story?

 

Laments of a Broken Heart: Love Lost in the Suburbs

 

Chapter 1: Max

 

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/4818/newburghhillsjan29721124376533.jpg align=baseline>

 

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/8347/newburghhillsfeb57211243765599.jpg align=baseline>

 

     Newburgh Mills: suburbia at its finest. Max Young's home for all of his 15 years was another forgotten victim to North American sprawl. The city council and residents were powerless to resist, as developers raced to the shady streets with their big plans. Just one more thing for the teens of the town of 5400 to keep out of their minds.

 

     Ouch!

 

     Max banged his head on his headboard as his alarm rang with a sharp trill. He reached out for the snooze button, although it was to no avail, as he

 

     Oh God, I hate Mondays...guess I'd better shower.

 

     He walked out of his room to the bathroom and turned the shower on. The hot water pulsated against his arms, and he slowly became conscious. The radio was blaring, and the M

[gurrgkud 2]

WELCOME BACK!!

 

Im loving the new story.. and very nice pic to begin with!  Good luck!  

 

*FIRST TO POST*

[RadioheadFan 1]

gurrugkud: Thanks for the warm welcome back! Glad you like the initial pics...Newburgh Mills was my foray into the industrial suburb type city. Once again, thank you!

Jamie

[Mikeaut1 261]

RADIOHEADFAN LIVES!

GREAT to see you back in action!! I can't wait to see more of your pictures. I am going to keep my eye on this!

[sirgeoj2 1]

First off that is great that you were able to have such a profound experience, enough to change your outlook on life in a more positive way.  The storyline is great, good pics as well!  I will be looking for the next update! 

[Traffic_Jam 0]

Awesome start!

[Cjah 15]

Welcome back my friend.I'm glad you've learned and gained so much in such a short time.This C.J. will be your best work yet.I'm going to have to remember to keep an eye on this aswell....

 

 

[hyped_up_boy 15]

woo!  he's back!  and i can follow his new cj from the beginning for once!  like the story, sounds like my life.

[Quack 0]

I love you! Great story so far... Hopefully the city will be... as creative as your story as from what we all see.. the standard grid start.. Good job, and welcome back.

[SC4 meister 7]

*insert colorful language here*  WHY YOU.....  HOW COULD YOU.....   You started a new CJ and didn't tell me?  You never even told me that you're back!  I'm really hurt dude.  Oh well, looking good, well, too few pictures to say that.  BUT, it's SOUNDING good.  I'm still stunned though...I mean, I've ALWAYS been your #1 biggest fan, and I thought we were good friends too, how could you do this to me?  I'm not even on ST much anymore, I mean, look at my post count, only say 50 posts or so since you left, it's only by chance that i saw this in the recent posts, or I might never have known about it.  *points to the PM button*  I almost don't wanna follow this CJ now....

[Glenni 1,447]

hey great to see u back RHF.oh and great small suburban town!!!

[Nardo69 51]

Welcome back on ST, RHF!

To your story: A beginning of a not very extraordinairy life (a lot of the really great stories begin like that!) so let's see what wıll follow.

To your city: The overall view is okay, let's see what your story brings us as closups

[jacqulina 162]

welcome back and a great start look forward to more

[bazzuka 0]

Very interesting story and a very nice city!Keep up the good work!

[sloppet 3]

nice start! very interesting!

[PhilsCafe 8]

Welcome back and great start to this CJ. I like your writing style and I'm looking forward to more updates.

- Phil

[RadioheadFan 1]

Mikeaut1: Hehe...indeed, I am back. Thanks for the warm greetings. Glad you like everything so far.

 

sirgeoj2: Yes, it was a great experience, and I come back here fully changed. Max's story is kind of based on mine, with ma cherie...I suppose you'll see what happens as the story continues!

 

Traffic_Jam: Thank you!

 

Cjah: Thanks for the WB. I certainly hope that this CJ will be my best work so far, and once again, thanks!

 

hyped_up_boy: Good to hear all these WBs! Interesting to see the story resembles your life...Max is entirely based on myself as well, even though my name isn't Max...lol.

 

Quack: I love you too! In that prototypical friend way, of course. Glad you like the story so far. I want to make one thing clear here: Newburgh Mills was an experiment. The city is supposed to be a boring, griddy, perfect little suburb, albeit with an industrial base.

 

     The story has been tailored to fit the city, and the pictures are not for showcasing the city, they are for complementing the story. Because(and it's so true)half of the battle of writing a City Journal here at Simtropolis, especially in story format, is presentation! I hope things are a little clearer now.

 

Meister: All I can say right now is thanks for the very lengthy and smiley-filled comment. I'll explain everything to you on MSN, if you ever get on there...I understand your disappointment at no forewarning from yours truly.

 

Nardo: Thanks for the WB! Glad you like the story so far, and if you have any questions pertaining to the style of the city, see my reply to Quack's comment. Don't worry, there are going to be some really great industrial closeups along with the customary R/C shots!

 

jacqulina: Thanks!

 

bazzuka: Thank you too!

 

sloppet: Thank you x3! Glad to see you back and in good health!

 

PhilsCafe: Thanks! Glad you like my style of writing: I really like to establish the characters clearly as soon as possible. More updates will come ASAP!

 

---

 

     Thanks for all the great comments everyone, they're really appreciated. I'll try to get some stuff out to you guys as soon as I can, but I'm gridlocked for today and most of tomorrow. We'll see what happens.

 

Jamie

[RadioheadFan 1]

Hey all...want to apologize for the lack of updates, I had something ready but then decided that I wanted to take the story in a whole new direction. Tune in tonight at 8:30 p.m. EST for the next update!

Jamie

[nedal2001 285]

Nice to see you back with a new CJ, RHF. You have an avid fan here, keep it up.

[RadioheadFan 1]

nedal2001: Thanks so much dude! I've known you since I came to ST, and it's good to know that you're on board.

Well, here's the update, I guess!

---

 

Chapter 2: Moving Day

 

     Max arrived back at home after another uneventful day at Jefferson High. Except for the fact that Marco canceled their science project plans, it was one of the most boring days he'd ever had. His mom greeted him at the door with a hug and a kiss.

 

     Hello dear. I thought you were heading over to Marco's to work on your science project?

 

     Nah, he canceled our plans. I'm still not sure why, he didn't give a reason.

 

     Oh, well that's too bad. How was your day otherwise?

 

     The usual: nothing. Why can't once, just once, be something interesting going on around here? If it wasn't for Blockbuster and the Plaz, I'd sleep all day.

 

     Main Street, where all the businesses were centered, contained the only franchises in town. Blockbuster was near the end, towards the West Side Railyards, while the Main Street Plaza had 30 stores and was on the corner of Liberty and Main beside Jefferson High.

 

     Well, I've got some news for you that's going to change everything. We're...MOVING!!!

 

     WHAT??? THAT'S AWESOME!

 

     I never thought you'd take it this well...oh, this is fantastic! We leave in 1 month! Stephanie's excited too...and I can't wait to show you where we're going!

 

---

 

1 MONTH LATER

 

     Are we there yet?

 

     Stephanie, for the last time, we'll tell you when we get there! Carlota Young's patience was wearing thin. A mother can only take so much! Max was in the backseat, sleeping. When suddenly...

 

     Guys, there it is! Kingston!

 

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http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/2329/kingstonoct52311247545473au.jpg align=baseline>

 

     And there it was. Kingston, Manitoba, population 2,016. Max and Stephanie pulled their heads up and stared out the windshield.

 

     Max spoke first, Well...I must say it's not what I expected. It looks so dead!

 

     Steph agreed, For once, Max and I are on the same page. What is there to do around here?

 

     Shh...just watch. I'll give you the tour. There's the Kingston Grain Elevators, where your father is going to be working as CEO!

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/5636/kingstonoct52311247546011ej.jpg align=baseline>

 

     And there's all the grain that gets transported in the elevators. These are only 2 of the farms; there are 6 throughout the town.

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/676/kingstonoct52311247546268gy.jpg align=baseline>

 

     Oh, and there's our new house...isn't it stunning? Carlota spoke with a fervor not seen in the Young household since the birth of Stephanie. You could smell the euphoria in the Grand Caravan.

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/6774/kingstonoct52311247546668hy.jpg align=baseline>

      There's your new school, the Carver Military Academy.

 

     WHAT?

 

     Oh, don't get your boxers in a knot, Max, I was kidding. Belanger High is a great school.

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/4711/kingstonoct52311247546981gu.jpg align=baseline>

 

     There's Applebees, the food's great there. Our celebratory dinner tonight is going to be there! Supposedly they're the busiest restaurant for a town this size in the province.

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/2218/kingstonoct292311247553088pm.jpg align=baseline>

 

     See guys? If the town was dead, they would'nt be building offices here, now would they? And true to her word, offices along Despatie Boulevard were springing up before their eyes.

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/9911/kingstonoct292311247553483ip.jpg align=baseline>

 

     And to keep you guys occupied, they just finished building the strip mall along the highway. Old Navy, Chapters, McDonald's, Mark's Work Warehouse...everything you need!

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/8945/kingstonoct292311247554484qz.jpg align=baseline>

 

     And look at those beautiful homes along the shore. Not as big as ours, but the location is stunning. This area is amazing.

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     Before they knew it, they had spent 2 hours driving around town looking at everything. Carlota's cellphone rang just as they were passing through the industrial centre.

 

     Hello?

 

     It's me, dear. You guys have to hurry up and get ready, our reservations wear out in an hour!

 

     Alright, I'll bring the kids home and get them ready. Love you!

 

     I love you too babe. Bye!

 

     Alright kids, we have to get home now and get ready if we want to make our reservations. Let's get a move on!

 

     And so, the Young family's first adventure in Kingston concluded with perfect timing. Little did our hero, Max, know that the rest of his stay in Kingston would be as well planned...

 

---

 

     And that's it for update #2! Please leave a comment if you drop by, and thanks for your support for this new CJ!

 

Jamie

    

[dhoppeii 12]

RHF my friend.  Good to see you and awesome to read you.  I hope things are going well for you in RL, I can assume as much since I log on and find a CJ started several days ago that I seem to have missed.

I look forward to following the lives of Max and his family.  The story appears to be off to a great start and the in game pics look equally as great.

 

Take your time with the updates, they are always worth the wait and never forget to enjoy life.

 

Regards my friend,

 

D

[Chris M 406]

Jamie: Nice to see you back! I think I can speak for the whole City journaling comminity, we really missed you. Very nice stories and pics, look forward to seeing more!

[hyped_up_boy 15]

whew... almost missed this one!  good thing there's the recent reply thing here... i really need to subscribe... anyways, good to see another update!  looks wonderful, i like how the story turned.  can't wait till the next one!

[Traffic_Jam 0]

Excellent, Excellent work!

[gurrgkud 2]

wow very nice update. Kingston looks amazing. they got a really really nice house *jealous*.. lol.


i wish radiohead would take your example and come back with a new cd

[Darmok 34]

RHF
You sneaky dog! Did it behind our back did you! Welcome back my friend, it's always a pleasure to read your stories. As dhoppe said, take your time this ain't a race, we're here to enjoy ourselves. And seeing you here again is certainly a plus!

Take care buddy!

[Mikeaut1 261]

Beautiful work! Great job!

[Quack 0]

Ewwwww!!! micky D's Ewwww!!!


Nice so far.. I like the officer near the shore I think it is... But other than that good storyline so far. Just going to mope around waiting for the next update!

[sloppet 3]

hi there RHF!! I do not know if you remember, but the pictures shoul be 800x600 or less, so maybe you should edit those bigger pics?!

BTW, great work so far! fantastic updates!!

[PhilsCafe 8]

Kingston looks nice. It's definitely a better place to live...

Can't wait to read more about Max too.

- Phil