Hello! Welcome back to Ruth’s (un)Officially Wacky Boolprop Challenge and to the Plot! Last time, we had three engagements in quick succession, plus a rash of rock paper scissors played for very high stakes: the loser legally dies (even if they’re still breathing and walking around and such), and the winner takes their place! Casilda cheated in both games, first beating her sister Olga (engaged to Caryl) and then beating her sister Pitti-Sing (engaged to Alec). Casilda herself is engaged to Dongsool, rounding out the roster nicely. Olga wanted to lose the game in order to impress Caryl with her goth cred, and Pitti-Sing wanted to lose because the Red-Headed League has finally tracked her down for nefarious purposes! Or have they?

And now, Act II of “The Middle Child, or, Rock Paper Scissors”!

OLGA: Caryl! Caryl! I did it! My sister and I had a rock paper scissors duel, and she won, so now I’m dead and she’s me!CARYL: Vunderbar! Und now how do you kome to life again so ve kan be married?OLGA: Uh… I, um… I. I don’t think I can. Censor blur. I’m permanently dead, aren’t I?

CARYL (putting a brave face on it): No, it vill be all right. You say your sister is you now, ja? (walks over to Casilda and holds out her hand) Hello. I am Caryl Jung, and ve are engaged now.

CASILDA: Uh…DONGSOOL: Hey, wait a minute! You can’t be engaged to her – I’m engaged to her!CARYL: There vas a duel, ja? Und Casilda is now Olga, ja? Und I vas engaged to Olga, so I am now engaged to Casilda.DONGSOOL: But I got engaged to Casilda first!

CARYL: Ja? Und vhen, exactly, did you bekome engaged?DONGSOOL: At two o’clock this afternoon, before the duel.CARYL: Und I became engaged to Olga at one forty-five this afternoon, before your engagement. I have seniority, und I vill be getting married. (sits primly but firmly on the couch) Und after my marriage, I vill begin holding séances.

ALEC (hums): Here comes the bride… Here comes the bride…

ALEC: Knock knock! Is Pitti-Sing here?CASILDA (warily): Who wants to know?ALEC: I’m her fiancé.(Dongsool begins to laugh)CASILDA: Oh dear. How to explain? (pause) Have you ever heard of dueling with rock paper scissors?ALEC: You mean, where the loser is Officially dead, and the winner Officially takes over the identity of the loser? Sure, who hasn’t?

CASILDA: We-eeeeeeell, Pitti-Sing and I had a duel. So… I’m Pitti-Sing. I guess.ALEC: So we’re engaged now?CARYL: No.DONGSOOL: Yes.CASILDA: Maybe. When did you get engaged to Pitti-Sing?ALEC: Uh… At one forty this afternoon. Why?DONGSOOL (to Caryl): Ha!CASILDA: Then you’ve got seniority. So yes, we’re engaged.ALEC: Oh. (sits despondently)

BEAUDELAIRE (from downstairs): Excuse me – Can you tell me which room is Pitti-Sing’s?(Pitti-Sing yelps and scurries to hide ineffectively behind a potted tree)PITI-SING (hisses): It’s the Red-Headed League! Don’t tell them where I am!

BEAUDELAIRE: Hi! I’m looking for my fiancée, Ms. Shankel, Ms. P – CASILDA: I’m Ms. Shankel, but I’m afraid I’m already full up on fiancés.

BEADELAIRE: Genevive, she’s already got a fiancé!CASILDA: Got one? I’ve got three – two guys and a girl. (gestures glumly)GENEVIVE (eyeing Alec): Very nice. Are there more like him at home?

BEADELAIRE: Who cares? Genevive, I am not going to let Pitti-Sing marry someone else! You’ll help me sue, right?GENEVIVE: You bet I will!CASILDA: Pitti-Sing? Oh, she’s dead.GENEVIVE and BEADELAIRE: WHAT?!CASILDA: Died earlier today. That’s her fiancé over there. (indicates Alec) Tragic, really.

GENEVIVE: What happened?CASILDA: Rock paper scissors. I won.BEAUDELAIRE: So you’re Pitti-Sing now?CASILDA: Yup.BEAUDELAIRE: And when did Pitti-Sing get engaged to that fellow?CASILDA: At one forty this afternoon.BEAUDELAIRE: Well, in that case, I have a prior claim. I’ve been engaged to her for thirteen years! (to the assembled affianced) Sorry. Genevive, back me up here.

GENEVIVE (to Casilda): I just have one question. Who threw what in your rock paper scissors game?CASILDA: I threw scissors and Pitti-Sing threw paper. Why?GENEVIVE: Because if you’re using rock paper scissors to duel – and I assume you are, since you said that Pitti-Sing was dead after a round of rock paper scissors – then according to the rules, paper beats scissors.CASILDA: Really?GENEVIVE: The rules are backwards for duels. If you followed the game rules, then the duel was invalid.CASILDA: Then…?

OLGA: Then I’m not dead?GENEVIVE: Not if you did paper and she did scissors.OLGA (to Caryl): I’m not dead!CARYL: That means it is not nekrophilia to marry you!BEAUDELAIRE: Wait, I thought…CASILDA: Then Pitti-Sing isn’t dead either! (to Dongsool) And that means I can marry you!BEAUDELAIRE: But if you’re not Pitti-Sing, who is?

CASILDA: Oh, come out of there!PITTI-SING (resisting): He’s from the Red-Headed League! He wants to get me! And he’s poor as a rat!BEAUDELAIRE (bowing): Onegai shimasu.* I don’t want to hurt you. I want to marry you. I’ve been reading up on how to be a good husband and father. I don’t belong to any secret societies. And I’m not a bit poor anymore. I own a casino.

*In Japanese, this is a phrase that expresses the hope that things will go well in a new relationship. There is no English equivalent. Say “oh-Nah-GAH she-MOSS.”

PITTI-SING (hopefully): You do?BEAUDELAIRE (reassuringly): I do. And the house wins. The house always wins.PITTI-SING: And really no secret societies at all?BEAUDELAIRE (cheerfully): Not a one.PITTI-SING: Okay, then.

ALEC: But – !GENEVIVE (to Alec): You look like you could use a shoulder to cry on. Let me loan you one – and buy you a drink while we’re at it, hmmmm?

And that is where Gilbert & Sullivan rang down the curtain. But we still have a little bit of Uni to get through, so let’s venture onwards, shall we?

Olga spent what little remained of her college career celebrating her engagement.

So she’s juggling coffee cups, so what? You have to start with something before you move on to knives, right? Anyway, what do you know about goths? Nothing, that’s what.

Winifred, Dongsool, and Olga all Grew Up into typical transition outfits. Olga’s was, once again, not particularly goth.

Given what Caryl Grew Up into, both ladies agreed to never speak of transition outfits again. Ever.

You can read about Dongsool, Olga, and Caryl in Already in Progress, available at my LJ or my Tumblr. You can read more about Win in The Sandersville Small Business Association, available on my Tumblr. [/shameless self-promotion]

It was at this point that I went ahead and installed a shorter semester mod, in the interest of my own sanity. That means that Pitti-Sing and Casilda had less time at Uni after the conclusion of the Plot than anyone else in the family. Pitti-Sing spent her time getting to know her fiancé.

She approves.

Because I play my Uni to my sims’ Wants, and have for a while now, Casilda definitely struggled in school. She needed lots of Body points, and never rolled up anything that could be interpreted as the desire to skill for one. Eventually, I settled for taking her to the fine arts building, which has several dance bars. Dance bars a) advertise very strongly and b) build Body skill, so Casilda ended up with enough points to allow her to pass her classes.

Allyn was held back a semester thanks to her also not rolling Wants that would allow her to pass her classes, and graduated at the same time as Pitti-Sing.

You can read more about Pitti-Sing in Already In Progress, available at my LJ and Tumblr, and you can read more about Allyn in a forthcoming Perfect Mother challenge that will also be available on my LJ and Tumblr. [/further shameless self-promotion]

Casilda finished the last requirement for the (un)Officially Wacky Boolprop Challenge just before the end of her senior year. Her graphic novel Riding the Rooster garnered lots of critical acclaim, but did not sell particularly well.

That’s all right, though. With the new-to-me Free Time novel writing functionality, Casilda has written an actual book that she will give to the local library, and then everyone can read it any time they like.

EXTRA FOR CLONING AS NEEDED

Shortly after her graphic novel was published, Casilda graduated into the same outfit as Winifred. Casilda was not best pleased about this fashion faux pas.

And that’s where the challenge ends. I won!

But that’s not where this story stops. I have one Plot left, and I’ve been setting it up for honest-to-God years of real time and over three stories, so I’m not going to waste it. Until next time, Happy Simming!

Notes, disclaimers, and other triviaThis Plot was based on The Grand Duke, or, The Statutory Duel. It was Gilbert & Sullivan’s last collaboration, a huge flop (it actually lost money) that is frequently described as “bloated.” And since a lot of it is about actors going into politics and how wicked awesome Ancient Greece was, I can’t necessarily argue with that assessment. But it’s a lot more immediately accessible than Iolanthe or Princess Ida, and you have to admit that being engaged to four people at the same time is pretty Wacky. I trimmed and adapted pretty freely, bringing the fifteen-minute Act I finale down to three slides, two of which have no writing. There’s no one-to-one scene equivalent for this show, but you can find the cast list on the next slide.

Rudolph (Grand Duke of Pfenning-Halbpfenning): Pitti-Sing ShankelErnest Dumkopf (a Theatrical Manager): Olga ShankelLudwig (his Lead Comedian): Casilda ShankelDr. Tanhäuser (a Notary): Ryan WheelerThe Prince of Monte Carlo: Genevive RossiThe Princess of Monte Carlo (betrothed to Rudolph): Beaudelaire RossiThe Baroness von Krakenfeld (betrothed to Rudolph): Alec LondonJulia Jellicoe (an English Comedienne): Caryl JungLisa (a Soubrette): Dongsool Wheeler

I wasn’t sure if I should give this the full treatment, with two acts and all, because it doesn’t follow the original as closely as a previous adaptations. But then I thought that the other two heirs got the full treatment, so Casilda should too. I hope this was the right decision for my readers.

It is traditional to break the fourth wall in Act I when wondering where to find witnesses for the second duel. The Grand Duke usually gestures at the audience while saying “Bless your heart, they’ve been staring at us through those windows for the last half-hour!” In this case, I have swapped the character who speaks the line, because it fit the personalities better.

Regular readers may recognize Beaudelaire and Genevive from Auspicious It Ain’t, my Nickel & Dimed Challenge. Beaudelaire was earmarked for his role from the beginning, since he was appropriately “poor as a rat!” In the original, the Prince of Monte Carlo is father to the Princess, but Genevive is only Beaudelaire’s older sister. The Monte Carlo fortunes were indeed restored by gambling – more specifically, by the invention of roulette.

You will notice that most of the genders in this story have been switched. That is because of the babies my game threw me.

The original duel was cutting cards and was rigged with cards up the sleeve, but since Sims can’t do that, I went with something they could do that also had an outcome that could be determined in advance.

“Pfenning-Halbpfenning” is pronounced “Penny-Ha’penny.” “Mensch” is a Yiddish word that literally means “man,” but that is also slang for a good guy, a pal, a stand-up human being.

One final bit of trivia: The original show is set in Germany, or at least the part of Europe that later became Germany, and all the characters except Julia Jellicoe are supposed to be German. However, because this is an English opera, they all speak perfect English – except for Julia, who traditionally speaks with a heavy German accent. Oh, that Gilbert! Talk about Wacky!

I hope you have enjoyed this little bit of opera fun, and that you will join me for the last little bit of Plot coming up soon.