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eulalia
Big, huge, important news at Hill Farm this round: Ash has returned, this time with his little brother Birch, who he will hopefully not chase off like he did his father Mouse.
Oh, and Drustan and Una moved out to live with Orla last round. But surely you agree that the cats are more important?
I'm sure Xiuying appreciates having to take on aaaaaaaaaaall of Jia and Drustan's chores.
The garden is suffering after a series of late spring storms that flooded parts of the valley, washing out a lot of their seedlings. They can replant some things for a late harvest, but not everything.
The cat who appeared right after Mouse's death came back. Even cats cannot resist Eisu's charm. I, personally, enjoy how he matches Eisu's trousers.
Xiuying: Da, can you cut my hair for me again? I want it shorter. Really short, if you can...
Eisu: Sure thing. Got sick of having it long? I always found it annoying if mine gets any longer than this.
Xiuying: Yeah... I don't think it's for me.
Xiuying: Actually, um, I've been thinking about this a lot, and... I don't think I'm your daughter. I think I want to be your son. If that's okay with you.
Eisu: Ah! If that's what you want, of course! I'm sorry if we ever gave you cause to think that it wouldn't be okay. C'mere—
Eisu: You know, we must have some tunics Drustan outgrew that I could cut down to size for you, if you want. That boy grew faster than I could sew.
Xiuying: Really?
Eisu: Sure. Let's go look through the trunk upstairs this afternoon.
Cináed: Hey! Wow, your hair got short.
Xiuying: Oh, yeah. Good wow or bad wow?
Cináed: Good, I guess. I thought you were growing it out like Senovara.
Xiuying: Nah. Speaking of, do you know where your sister is? She's usually showed up here by now.
Cináed: Do I look like her keeper? Just 'cause we're twins doesn't mean I automatically know what she's doing.
Xiuying: Okay, Mister Hothead, calm down. It was just a question.
Ash would like to interrupt this teen drama with something more interesting: himself.
Drustan brought Una and Baby Dunk over to visit.
Eisu and Xiang both dote over their grandchildren even more than they did their own kids, if that's even possible.
Xiang: I wanted to tell you, I believe it's time for me to step down from your village guard.
Norweni: I can't say I'm surprised. Well, I will miss practicing with you. I'm going to be outnumbered by the children at this rate.
Xiang: I am sure that you and I can find a bit of time to spar every now and then.
Norweni: What d'you plan to do with your free time now?
Xiang: Keep the house, spend time with Drustan's children... help Eisu round up his sheep when they escape.
Norweni: The sheep are probably easier to deal with than merchants fighting at the market over stall space, or getting Sabren to actually block instead of just attacking during practice.
Xiang: Do you think you'll step down soon as well? You're not getting any younger either.
Norweni: Don't remind me. But you know I don't do too much with the guard these days besides the organization stuff and training the children.
Duncan: Grandfather! Yéye! Listen to this—
Xiuying had to go to the market to buy a replacement handheld
Elmet is probably congratulating her on finally kicking him out. 😂
Also spotted: Bel convincing her dad to dance with her.
Drustan: Hey. Uh, Da caught me up on you being... or not being... uh—
Xiuying: Is this sentence going somewhere?
Drustan: I had something but I lost it. Anyway, um, that's nice. Now I won't be outnumbered by you and Jia.
Xiuying: Oh, no, we're definitely still going to make fun of you whether I'm your sister or, um, brother.
Drustan: Damn.
Xiuying: You just make it so easy, Dunk!
He couldn't make the bed because the cat was sleeping on it. The Sims: it's just like real life!
Oh wow, I might actually be able to fulfill this want after all. We'll see what Drustan's wants say when I get to that household...
Fial and Dinn also stopped by today (Dinn is here, I swear, he just went out to play football with Xiang).
Fial: Do you happen to know what happened between my sister and Diseta?
Eisu: What, the divorce? I mean, yeah...
Fial: No, we ran into Diseta outside of the mead hall one evening, and then Wenna popped her head in to say she was taking Diseta home and never actually came back. I guess that was her attempt at saying she wasn't actually going to spend the evening with me after all.
Eisu: I try not to pry too deeply into her romantic life. It's probably better for all of us that way, especially my sanity.
Fial: I s'pose you're right. Am I being a busybody, Eisu?
Eisu: A bit, but it's very charming on you.
Fial: I know Norweni likes to insist on being the one to take care of everything, but I can't help but worry about her sometimes.
Eisu: It'll be nice to have you here all to myself, love.
Xiang: Ah, you just want to put me to work.
Eisu: Hmm, Xiuying probably could use a hand with weeding the garden tomorrow...
Xiuying: Bloody basin... is that a crack? Better tell Da it needs fixed...
Not all of the garden suffered from the rain; Xiuying gets to picking the last of the spring peas and cutting the hay for drying, while Eisu is in the kitchen making preserves with some early summer fruit.
Xiang: Do you have any honey for sale? Eisu's been talking about using it to preserve some of the fruit this year.
Shep: Hmm, let me see what I have that isn't marked for mead production. Trade you for next year's fertilizer?
Xiang: It's a deal.
Birch confetti'd his way into adult cathood.
He's very cute. I absolutely can't tell him apart from his sisters.
Ash immediately tries to hiss at him, but this tactic fails, because like their brother Salmon, Birch suffers from No Thoughts, Head Empty Disorder.
Xiuying: Hey!
Senovara: Hi! Your hair! It looks good!
Xiuying: Thanks. Come inside? I want your opinion on something.
Xiuying: Well? What do you think?
Xiuying: ...Senna?
Senovara: Sorry, I was thinking too much again... you look great!
Eisu: Very handsome, lad. Even more important, you look happy.
Xiuying: Yeah, I just… feel more comfortable. It's like I was wearing shoes I'd outgrown and now I've put on a new pair that don't pinch my feet.
Eisu: Wait, do you need new shoes too?
Xiuying: No, Da, it's just a metaphor.
As a general rule, Eisu tries not to interfere in his children's romantic lives, but he's starting to think he might have to issue some strategic advice here. He doesn't really want to watch a repeat of what happened with Jia and Sun. On the other hand, Xiuying has been seeing that girl, Kara, so perhaps it isn't that serious?
Xiuying: Did I make this weird or something?
Senovara: Huh? What d'you mean by that?
Xiuying: You haven't been coming over as often as you usually do. I thought maybe I made you uncomfortable by dumping all my feelings in your lap, or the whole... yeah.
Senovara: No!
Senovara: My sister thinks I'm being, um, being too clingy. She's usually right about things. I wanted to make sure I give you enough space so you won't get sick of me. I don't want that to happen.
Xiuying: That's really silly, Sen. Your sister isn't a part of this friendship. If I want more space, I'll just say something. I'm trying to be better about asking for what I need and that kinda stuff, so…
Senovara: Okay. I should try to be better about... not assuming things, I guess?
Xiuying: You could also try to be better about not doing that thing where you make extended eye contact without blinking. No offense, but it's a little weird sometimes. Uh, intense, not weird.
Senovara: Ugh, you say I do it too much, Mam says I don't do it enough—how am I s'posed to know the exact right way to do it?
Xiuying: Maybe just try blinking once in a while.
Senovara: You just try blinking once in a while!
Xiuying: That doesn't make any sense!
Senovara: I know!
Eisu: Are you paying attention, lad?
Xiuying: Yes?
Eisu: Because you seem a little distracted by your friend—
Xiuying: Da! Yes, I am paying attention to the gross wool concoction.
But thankfully Lune showed up and provided an excuse to stop paying attention. 👍️ Lune has absolutely no comment on Xiuying's new look. He's not sure whether she's actually noticed the difference.
Xiuying: Bàba, I was wondering... is my name mostly used for girls in Huaxia?
Xiang: Well, yes. But no one here knows that, they only know that it is your name.
Xiuying: I know, but... it's the name you guys gave me when you thought I was a girl, when I thought I was. I think I might want to try using a different one. If that's okay?
Xiang: It might take me a little time to get used to it, but your comfort is always more important than my habit.
Xiuying: I do like having a name like yours. Would you, um, would you help me find another one?
Xiang: It would be my honor, érzi.
Eisu: Soooo, Wenna, are you sleeping with your ex-wife?
Norweni: What?
Eisu: Diseta—
Norweni: Right, that ex-wife, as opposed to my many other ex-wives. No, of course not, what are you talking about?
Eisu: Oh, good, I was going to advise you to not do that, but now I don't have to.
Norweni: Where the fuck did this come from?
Eisu: Eh...
Norweni: Was Fial talking to you?
Eisu: I mean, you did abandon your sister to go somewhere else with Diseta. You do see how that looks, right?
Norweni: I told Fial I was leaving. Diseta was having a shitty night and dealing with it by getting plastered; I brought her home to sleep it off and kept an eye on her, that's all.
Eisu: That's very nice of you. I can't imagine doing the same thing for any of my exes.
Norweni: You weren't married to any of them and haven't even seen any of them for thirty years, so...
Eisu: Wenna... you have a tendency to throw yourself at walls like they're regular obstacles. I just don't want to watch you break your own heart.
Norweni: No chance of that. Now can we please talk about anything besides this?
Eisu: Just, don't confuse Diseta, alright? It wouldn't be very fair.
Norweni: The only confused person here is me, over why you think any of this would actually happen.
Mouse's ghost almost looks normal... almost.
Farm life means early mornings. As much as Xiuying isn't an early bird, even he can admit that it's nicer to get most of the chores done early rather than in the hot noontime sun during summer.
Aw, Snow is extra snowy now.
Helenet: Good morning, sweetheart. How are you? You look very nice today.
Xiuying: Thanks, Aunt Netty. Uh, to be totally honest, I'm kind of sick of people commenting on it? They're being nice, but I'd kind of like for it to just be a thing. No offense.
Helenet: Noted! Well, don't worry, I'm sure something else will take over the village gossip soon.
Aw, the brother are getting along!
Eisu: ...I suppose we don't really have a good excuse to throw a party right now, but then again, do you really need an excuse for a party? Helenet?
Helenet: I think your cats are fighting.
....Never mind. Goddammit, Ash!
Xiuying: Ohhh, poor baby Birch, is Ash being mean to you?
Birch: ???
Kara: Hi! So... new look?
Xiuying: Yeah, um. Sorry I haven't seen you lately. I've been trying to figure some stuff out.
Kara: Well...
Kara: I hope you weren't worrying about my reaction. I like people; what they look like doesn't matter so much.
Xiuying: Oh—good.
It occurs uncomfortably to Xiuying that he was kind of hoping Senovara would also be at the pond today, and that he maybe shouldn't be thinking about that while Kara is literally sitting in his lap.
I would like it to be known that they're having this moderately emotional conversation while all the other teens eavesdrop nearby.
Sabren: Are you really dating my cousin?
Gwendolen: Yes?
Sabren: But he's such a dork.
Gwendolen: I don't think so. I like him.
Sabren: Whatever. At least now that you live in town we can spend more time together. Want to come over and play fidchell tonight?
Xiuying spots some ripe blackberries and stops to pick some before he heads home. Some scratches and a stained tunic is a small price to pay for Eisu's blackberry pie.
Maerwine had no idea there were so many weird fae creatures in this village. Not his problem, tho!
There's a whole platter of food inside. You don't have to eat the apple you found in the dirt.
Arturo: Elmet, must you talk with your mouth full?
Elmet: Yesh.
Xiang: You have very particular manners for a man who spent decades living in the forest.
Arturo: Perhaps that's why I decided to stay there.
Xiuying: I know it's getting late, but I was thinking of walking over to see Senna.
Eisu: Not Kara?
Xiuying: Er, no, I hung out with Kara earlier.
Eisu: Well, take the lantern with you just in case you need it coming home!
Eisu and Xiang decide to head out too, visiting the mead hall for a bit of socializing. The problem with sending them out on dates is that there's always someone there (like Drustan!) who they absolutely must talk to instead. :D
And Xiang maxed another skill. 🥳️
put those things away and go eat the delicious breakfast Eisu went to all that trouble to make for you. >:(
Ash: *lurks*
He decided not to choose violence today.
In fact, they had a positive interaction!
Ash: Yes, sometimes I violently chase every other cat I encounter, even if they haven't done anything to me personally. But don't I look cute on this counter?
Delicious soup. (Eisu is just finishing up cleaning all the fleeces from the spring shearing.)
Xiuying's bàba becomes very invested in helping him choose another name and scribbles down lists of suggestions and meanings. Over the course of the summer, he tries on a half-dozen of them, weighing the way each name sits on him, how it feels on his tongue or in his ear. He wants to take his time with it; if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
Senna also gleefully volunteers her help. This mostly consists of calling him by different names when no one is around to overhear and offering her own opinions, of which she usually has plenty.
("I don't think you look like a Jiao," she tells him one time.
"I don't know what a Jiao is supposed to look like," he says in return.)
Xiuying: What do you think of 'Zijun'?
Senovara: Zijun. Zijun, Zijun... I like the way it feels when I say it. I think it's nice!
Xiuying: I really like it too.
Senovara: Hello, Zijun.
Zijun: *laughs* Hello, Senovara.
Wow, lots of heartfarting happening in here. The hall is going to be filled with cartoon hearts at this rate.
Zijun has been trying to quash the weird little fixation—okay, crush—he's kind of developed for Senna, because he really doubts she sees him that way. He would know; Senovara shows her emotions quite freely. He doesn't think she could hide them even if she tried. It's hard, though, when she's always around, all smiley and cheerful, and she's often hugging him, so he unfortunately knows that her hair smells like the sweet-scented oil she puts in it, and, wow, this line of thought is really not helping his attempt to get over these feelings.
Distracting manual labor it is!
The next group of visitors is Drustan, Orla, and their collective children. I love that this is how Xiang greets his son whom he has a 100/100+ relationship with.
Eisu is just going to have to buy another table at this point; Zijun already had to eat at the bench instead of the table, and it's just going to be even harder to fit everyone in when Orla and Drustan have more children or when Jia comes back to visit.
This furry bastard is constantly haunting the house. I'm worried one of them is going to be scared to death by him (probably Xiang, my game seems to have a vendetta against him for some reason).
The late summer seedlings are coming along nicely, so at least everyone will be well-fed when Mouse kills them off.
Eisu: There you are, lad. I'm going to tell you something I probably ought to have told Jia—
Zijun: Don't put your wet cloak on the wooden bench because it'll stain?
Eisu: What? I mean, yes, that too, but no. Let me rephrase: you like Senovara, don't you? Romantically?
Zijun: I guess I'm being obvious.
Eisu: You are a bit, yes.
Zijun: I, um... yeah, I keep thinking about her like that. And I shouldn't, because there's Kara, and... I don't know if Senna would ever even feel that way about me. You know, I thought after I got the whole who am I thing sorted, I would be less confused, but now I'm just confused about different things. Is this what growing up is? Just being confused by different sets of things forever?
Eisu: Sometimes we need to sit with our feelings and think about them for a bit to make sense of things. Which is what I think you might want to do right now, and figure out whether you would regret not telling Senna how you feel. And it's probably not very fair to Kara to be pining after someone else while you're with her, don't you think?
Zijun: Yeah... you're probably right.
Eisu: I know some people don't feel a need to choose between partners—your uncle, for one—but that's not for everyone...
Eisu: Listen, what I actually wanted to tell you was that if you decide you do want to tell Senovara, tell her how you feel directly. She takes after her mother in a lot of ways, and if she's anything like Norweni in this aspect too, she might be a bit… oblivious, even if you think you're being really obvious. I spent a solid year watching your Aunt Diseta mooning after her before Wenna finally caught on, bless her. Even if you're not sure about Senovara's feelings, tell her and let her decide whether or not she feels anything other than friendship, don't just assume that she knows and she's ignoring it or something like that.
Zijun: That's... good advice, honestly. Thanks, Da.
This Relationships 102 class has been interrupted by: swords.
There's a towel right next to you!
Eisu spends part of the afternoon baking another blackberry pie for the party he and Xiang have been planning.
Oh, she really is out there.
Xiang: Fial, how are you?
Fial: Oh... I was thinking about Kinet again and eventually I decided I needed to get out of the house for a while.
Xiang: I'm happy to talk if you want.
Sir, you weren't invited to this conversation.
Eisu is always trying to properly befriend Diseta when he runs into her, but she's a tough nut to crack.
oh my god, you have two identical bowls, you don't have to fight Birch over this one. 🙄
Anyway, lately I've been actually checking my sims' LTWs and apparently this is Xiang's! Adorable, absolutely called for a party.
You could've have this delicious baked fish Eisu made, Diseta, but you just had to eat the dirt apple instead.
Sooooo at the start of the round I kinda removed Drustan's 'commitment issues' trait, with the rationale that he's grown out of it. (It was him immediately accepting Orla’s asking him to go steady that did it for me.) And I might have noticed that Eisu and Xiang both had wants for a family member to get engaged. 👀 They're both delighted and looking forward to having Orla as their official daughter-in-law.
Dinn's chair got put down backwards. Sorry, bb.
Drustan: Um, I hope I didn't steal anyone's thunder. I figured Da wouldn't mind and it felt like a nice moment?
Xiang: You know your father is absolutely over the moon that one of you is getting married, Drustan. He already practically adopted Orla as it is.
Girl, what is that stink face for?
The cats have relegated themselves to the solitude of Zijun's room.
Cináed: Hey, cool clothes. I guess it's good we didn't end up dating—I'm pretty sure I don't like boys.
Zijun: Only pretty sure?
Cináed: Eh, Acca is kinda pretty, but Gwen is prettier, ya know?
Zijun: Your sister is right, I have no idea how you actually managed to romance your way into having a girlfriend.
Cináed: Sheer charisma, obviously.
Speaking of Cináed's sister...
Zijun: Hey! I wanted to tell you um—
Zijun: Uh, thanks! For being such a good friend lately. I really appreciate it. You. Both.
Senovara: Of course! Also, did you drink some of the mead? You're acting weird.
Zijun: No, but should we see if we can sneak some past my da?
He did not chicken out, you see, it's just not the right moment. Senna's mother is right there and everything.
Birch has never been fed in his whole life. Not once.
Good thing Diseta carries... cat treats? Pieces of jerky? in her pockets.
Norweni stuck around after the party wound down to help Zijun clean up. It's the least she can do for Eisu after their lifelong friendship.
And these two snuck off to have their own private party. <3
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Date: 2026-09-28 09:10 pm (UTC)also, i love how birch was dreaming about himself (or maybe it was about one of his identical siblings, instead 😆)
and yay for drustan and orla! i wasn't sure we'd ever see the day drustan decided to settle down. can't wait for the wedding, eeeee!
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Date: 2026-09-29 12:10 am (UTC)you know, I assumed Birch was dreaming about himself, but I have no idea now! they really do all look alike, except one of the girl cats has a skinny tail. 😂️