Introduction
So, I am finally here, creating a Journal about my Sims and their lives thanks to Thrior's encouragement. The first chapters of my Sims' stories were created for my personal thread at SimsCave, so any of you who have been there you already know what to expect and you definitely know how the story unfolds up to a certain point -- in the meantime my Sims have gone nuts though.
About the title: English title of Saikaku Ihara's “Nanshoku okagami” published in 1687. It is a collection of short stories depicting male-male love -- quite fitting for a Sim population consisted by ¾ of males in love with other males. Some Sims will go through the path of love and betrayal, have their hearts be broken more than once, while others will live happily ever after with their one and only love.
Photo Sessions: It is my intention to post them in a chronological order according to my Sims’ creation and how their lives evolve. Expect me to fail at some point though, as discipline and organisation skills are not my strong points.
Neighbourhood: Kiku Heaven [ex-Pleasantview] or, in plain English, Chrysanthemum Heaven.
In his famous book of short-stories “Ugetsu monogatari” (Tales of Moonlight and Rain), published in 1775-6, Akinari Ueda tells one of the most beautiful and touching stories I have ever read, Kikuka no chigiri (The Chrysanthemum Vow). My Sims’ neighbourhood was named with that story in mind.
The Beginning: First inhabitants of Kiku Heaven
The first inhabitants of Kiku Heaven were mainly single-father/mother families living together with friends or distant relatives so as to help each other with children’s care and make their adjustment to their new home less stressful. This explains why one can find two Ishikawas or two Strifes, for example, completely unrelated when their family trees are checked. With the exception of the Wu and Yamasaki families, the rest were relatively poor, and had had to work hard to make ends meet and provide a better future for their offspring. Although little is known about these self-sacrificing Sims other than their names and the relations they developed with their neighbours, they surely deserve our respect --or, at least, their kids' respect-- for being such a caring and generous parents.
P.S. For those interested in further exploring and possibly reading the aforementioned books, Saikaku Ihara's "The Great Mirror of Male Love" was published in 1990 by Stanford University Press, in a wonderful translation by Mr Paul Gordon Schalow. Akinari Ueda's "Tales of Moonlight and Rain" was published in 2007 by Columbia University Press, translated by Mr Anthony H. Chambers. He is said to have done the best translation of Akinari's work to these days.
First Families of Kiku Heaven at a glance
The Wu families.
Andy, father of Stephen, and Debora, mother of Ceci. Relation: Andy and Debora are childhood friends.
The Reikos
Parents: Koichi and Akiko. Children: Tenzen and Hyoma.
The Yamasaki families.
Yamasaki Seamon, father of Nenki, Yoshi and Kelly; Yamasaki Michiko, mother of Yokito, Ichiro and Jade. Relation: Seamon and Michiko were said to be distant cousins.
The Strifes: Strife Kiyoshi, father of Cloud, Hikaru and Nobu; Strife Koshiro, father of Hiroshi and Kazuo. Relation: Kiyoshi and Koshiro were best friends.
The Kobayashi family.
Parents: Kenji and Emily. Children: Akitomi, Kumi and Takeshi
The Ishikawa families.
Kagero, mother of Fujio and Norikazu; Keiko, mother of Daisuke and Yashamaru. Relation: Kagero and Keiko were friends from school.
The Shan family.
Hotarubi, mother of Hiroyuki, Ying and Toshiyuki*. Hiroyuki and Toshiyuki are [literally] twins.
*Toshiyuki came to Kiku Heaven at the age he was about to go to College. That's why he is not shown at the family photo.
The Naoki family
Gero and his first-born son, Tatsuya.
The Chikuma family
Keni'chi and his daughters, Sachiko and Yukiko.
The Nomura family. Kato with his sons, Shinobu and Yoshinori.
The Kageyama family.
Suchiko with his son, Nobuo.
The Natsuki family.
Ito and his sons, Light and Hiroki.
The Muroga family.
Yusuke, father of Hitoshi, and Yama, father of Norihiro. Relation: Yusuke and Yama had been inseparable since first grade.