The Show Must Go On (MYSIMS, TPG + Spincycle)

[TinyPuddleGhost]

Goth boy stood at his desk arranging papers and sorting through them as best as he could. For the past couple of weeks things have been rather hectic for the sorrowful sim, he had a performance planned later this month and it was his best piece yet. It was a poetry performance, as most of his writing was, however it was more of a playwright as well. With actual characters and a fully thought out storyline to it. He had come up with it while he was brooding to himself and dwelling on potential new poetry ideas. It was a story about a young princess who foolishly falls in love with an outlaw and pursues him against her parents wishes. Only for both her lover and herself to be killed in the end during a confrontation between the outlaw and a disgruntled client gone wrong, proving how foolish of an endeavor it was. It took quite a bit of inspiration from Romeo and Juliet and other similar romantic tragedies of the like. Goth Boy never exactly considered himself a theatrical genius but the idea of combining a play and poetry made his creative muscles tingle.

However, there was one issue, roles and casting. Goth boy had already casted himself as the lead male role but there were many other roles to fill. Such as the King, Queen, and the prince the princess is rebelling against. So far though, much to Goth boy’s dismay, a lot of Fun sims were bothering to take up the roles. Up to this point he hadn’t been able to get a single spooky sim involved. Perhaps they weren’t the performing type? Was it the play itself? Goth boy didn’t know. But what he did know was he at least wanted someone tolerable for the lead female role. Last thing he wanted was for this performance to turn into some kind of fun fest! Eugh…

He was planning to ask Violet Nightshade, a friend of his to take on the role of the princess. They were friends due to their shared interest in the macabre and dreary. Though Violet had a bit of spunk it was manageable, and to be frank she was one of the few sims the dark and sullen fellow could tolerate. Hopefully she’d accept the role without much struggle, it’s not like he had many other choices to pick from.

Taking the papers he had been organizing through he got up and walked out of his home, towards the dark purple household not too different from his own, ‘please please please…’ he thought to himself as he knocked on the door to his friends house. Hoping and pleading she would say yes, she’s the only spooky sim he had yet to ask, many spooky sims scoffed at the idea of playing a princess, and there weren’t many spooky sims who were women to begin with. He took a deep breath as he prepared the proposal.

[spincycle]

Violet was spending her afternoon tucked away from the world in her gloomy bedroom. Like any other normal day of the week. She was sat comfortably on the floor and resting her head on her windowsill. In front of her face she was admiring a wilting flower. She seemed to have the opposite of her sister's green thumb. How lucky she was. She reached up to fiddle with a blackening leaf, which quickly snapped and fell in front of her nose. She smiled for just a moment before her solitude was interrupted. Then she quickly frowned as she realized there was a knock at her door. She sat up straight and wondered if she should answer or continue brooding. But her curiosity got the best of her. Things had almost felt too quiet lately. Not that she really believed in too much solitude.

Violet found herself getting up with a roll of the eyes. She dusted off her long dress with a sigh and carried herself to the front door. She put on her best grumpy expression to preemptively warn her visitor that she wasn't really in the mood for pointless chatter. But the other side of the door had a pleasant surprise for her. One of the few other Spooky Sims had come out of hiding.

"Goth boy? You've been brooding longer than usual lately. I was starting to think you were never coming back outside again," she joked, "Not that I blame you or anything."

She looked down and caught a glimpse of the stack of papers he was clutching. The boy was an avid poet, but this seemed to be more work than usual. Probably the reason she hasn't spotted him out of his house lately.

"Finished writing a novel, have we? What's all that?"

[TinyPuddleGhost]

Goth Boy organized his papers as he waited for Violet to open the door, silently hoping to himself that this wouldn't prove to be more difficult than he hoped. Violet wasn't exactly the type of person to perform, but hopefully she could extend her pity to him depending on how miserable he looked. When he heard the door open he looked up to see Violet standing in the doorway.

He didn't bother to laugh at her joke, he was never one for them anyway, "Violet, I have been struck with the ghastliest of inspiration yet, I've been spending hours in my house of darkness and have come up with something that will shake my next audience to their core." he rambled, trying to partly hide his excitement. After all, he was best known for being all doom and gloom, "It's a mix of poetry and theater acting, it's a tragic story about a princess foolishly falling for an outlaw, only for them to both perish in the end." he explained, hoping the gist of the story would hook her in and make her want to participate.

He sighed sadly, "However I have been...struggling significantly to get roles for this poetic masterpiece...a majority of the sims I've auditioned are fun sims in some way..." he vented, "I was hoping you'd be willing to take up the role of the female lead, the princess." he requested. He handed her one of the papers that had the princess' lines on it so she could have a look, "Although I know we may disagree when it comes to fun at times, you are the only spooky sim i have left to ask...as the others have declined my request and I would much prefer spending a majority of the play alongside someone who I can tolerate." he said.

Violet had been Goth Boy's friend for a long while now, they both came through for each other whenever they really needed it despite their small disagreements. Hopefully now that would stay the same...or if she couldn't do it for whatever reason she'd give a suggestion for whoever could. Although he'd prefer to not have anyone he couldn't tolerate, Goth Boy only had a set few days to get roles assigned so he could start rehearsals.

[spincycle]

Violet skimmed over the (a bit cliche, though she'd never say that aloud) script she was handed and hummed a vague sound of acknowledgement. It was an odd request. Goth Boy had never shown interest in plays before, but this script had his writing style all over it. Dramatic and angsty was an understatement. Violet didn't dislike the piece by any means. But she wasn't an actress.

"This is certainly an interesting request, Goth Boy. And this new piece of yours is really... gloomy," she smiled before handing the sheet of paper back to its author. She nervously pushed some of her long hair away from her face- only for it to fall back into place.

"But this isn't really my thing. I'm not really into playing pretend. Or princesses. Not even the cool goth ones. Shocking, I know," she tried to explain gently. The two weren't best friends by any means, but Violet still felt a bit bad turning down the opportunity. Especially after Goth Boy seemed a little desperate for an actress. She had to come up with something quick to soften the blow before Goth Boy took the news too personally and sulked for days. Maybe he could ask Summer? She's princess-y! No... they'd drive each other crazy. Maybe Goth Boy could play the princess? No, that's an even worse idea. But then genius struck Violet.

She quickly put her hands up and smiled at Goth Boy before he could be completely heartbroken.

"But hey-! I know someone who loves playing pretend and dressing up as a princess! It's your lucky day!"

[TinyPuddleGhost]

Goth boy anxiously waited as he witnessed Violet skimming the pages of lines he had written up ever so carefully. Anticipating with hope that she would agree and this horrific search would be over and done with. He tried not to show it much, but his brow was furrowed moreso than normal anticipating her reaction to his work, and his gaze was fixed on her as he waited.

'Hopefully she'd at least consider it' he thought to himself...

Only to sigh a bit dramatically the moment she declined, it wasn't uncommon for the sim to mope at least a tad whenever he experienced a loss of some kind, and if anything it was more of a way to relieve the stress he knew he would be faced with trying to find someone else. He quickly straightened up as he took the paper back from Violet, "Thank you for considering Violet...woe is me I suppose" he said sarcastically. A common way for him to joke. Goth boy was relatively used to taking losses, he wasn't exactly the best at doing so but since he usually kept his hopes down he was rarely too disappointed whenever they occurred.

He did however seem interested in Violets offer for a suggestion, after all it was less work on him and it was coming from someone he trusted, "Go ahead, if you think they could play the role well enough I'll be appeased..not like I have many options to choose from" he was a little concerned as to who Violet would pick. However she knew him pretty well so...maybe she wouldn't pick anybody too unbearable...

There were many sims with many different interests after all....

[spincycle]

Violet flashed a nervous smile at her friend as idly adjusted her long dress. She wasn't thrilled to say it, but maybe it would get Goth Boy to take his sights off of Violet for a while.

"Just a sim we happen to know...she's got black hair...!" she quickly justified. Violet knew pretty well that Goth Boy would not be thrilled about her suggestion. But he was never thrilled about anything. In fact, he sort of thrived under disappointment. So maybe the news she was about to break would push him into the idea.

"I'm just saying...it wouldn't be terribly difficult to convince my sister to do it."

Violet's younger sister Poppy was not Goth Boy's favorite person. Especially not in terms of casting for the gloomiest masterpiece of a lifetime. But if she got to play dress up in a "fairy tale" then she'd likely be on board. Maybe she wouldn't offer too much resistance when asked to play someone heartbroken. At the very least, she'd be a warm body to fill the role.

[TinyPuddleGhost]

Goth boy felt his spirits drop into a dark pit once he heard the name of the suggested sim, there was no way Poppy would say yes to this. For one, to his understanding the sim hated anything scary, and this performance would certainly not from the faint of heart. Not to mention she seemed...overwhelming from the small amount of interactions he's had with her, Goth boy didn't exactly do quite well with the extroverted perky types.

"A-Are you serious?" He asked Violet in somewhat of a stunned tone, "Doesn't she hate stuff like this? There's no way she would agree to such a miserable performance. If you tell her what the play is about she'd surely turn the other cheek." he protested. Unless Violet knew something about her sister that Goth Boy didn't know of.

It was not unknown to the town that the sisters were polar opposite from one another, both in appearance and in interests. Goth Boy's dislike for her rather excitable personality aside, unless Violet planned to do something to trick Poppy into agreeing to participate, Goth Boy couldn't see the girl even coming into the poetry house to audition for the role let alone play it in it's entirety.

[spincycle]

With a roll of the eyes, Violet told Goth Boy not to be so dramatic. Although this was clearly a joke- dramatic was his middle name.

"I know, she won't be thrilled with the writing. But maybe if you offer a little...creative liberty...she'll be on board."

Goth Boy would never allow anyone to change the premise of his story, but maybe just a few small details here and there so Poppy doesn't get too bummed out. A small splash of color here and there. Maybe just nothing too pink. Hopefully, this would seem like a good alternative to Goth Boy. Tolerating one cheery sim Violet can calm down a little, or suffering alongside a cheery sim he hardly knew.

"Just give her a tiny bit of freedom to do things her way. Just a bit. Then she'll feel like it's her story too- and she'll love playing along! Letting her put a few flowers on your stage and wear a tiny bit of color will go a long way."

She didn't usually like sounding optimistic, but she was willing to for a moment to avoid playing princesses with Goth Boy. Being on stage wasn't really her thing. Or acting- though she seemed to be doing good enough at acting cheery to get Poppy nominated for the role.

[TinyPuddleGhost]

Goth boy couldn't help but internally cringe at Violet's suggestion, sure, just change some things about a play that he worked not only hours but days on. Especially with a sim like Poppy, who when given an inch would gladly take a mile.

As if working with a sim who had an interest in fun wasn't bad enough. He took a breath about to snap at the woman for proposing such a blasphemous idea but huffed as settled.

The only way Goth boy could see this going was downhill, which wasn't uncommon for him but particularly meaningful in this case, this would be his first ever performance like this. He couldn't risk anything screwing it up, however, he was still at a loss. Unfortunately, Violet was giving him an out that might help him start up production as soon as possible, "Fine. But, if she suggests anything outrageous I'll kick her out the casting." he threatened, "Sure maybe we could have a couple flowers for stage props but I've planned this script from top to bottom and not much will be up for negotiation" he reasoned.

After all, Poppy still needed to audition for the role, so maybe there's a chance she had the ability of foresight and would dip out upon hearing his name. He gave Violet an extra role sheet, describing the role of the young and naive princess Poppy had to play.