"What should we call this?"...the making of a Sims story

1. Setting the stage

Exactly one month ago, Z and I were browsing the forum when we saw a thread called SweetieWright's Save File. This talented builder has created save files filled with builds and Sims of their own creation. "That looks SO COOL!" Z exclaimed when she saw these files for the first time. And, since neither Z nor I are good builders, we wasted no time downloading them.

Since that day, most of our Simming time has been spent in the worlds @SweetieWright_84 created. This story will take place in the unpopulated version of SweetieWright's save, which we're populating with our own cast of characters. Some of SweetieWright's delightful Sims have already been added to our game. We placed her entire Henford-on-Bagley ensemble in our world, along with a few others. You'll see glimpses of SW's talent whenever we post a screenshot; follow the link above to see much, much more.

The first family
It only seemed fitting that the family we're playing is one of the first we brought to life.

The Ross family were not created to be the founders of a great dynasty or the subjects of an epic tale. Z and I made them for a "random" save in which we tried out gameplay elements from our newest game packs. We took a liking to them, however and, like actors who move from bit parts to starring roles, the Rosses have become the First Family of our Sims universe.
https://i.imgur.com/cHfcT4q.jpg
Dan Ross, wearing his red Everyday shirt, stands in the center of the family photo above. On his left is his wife Courtenay. They were created as a Young Adult couple with a Teen and two Children, but Z and I have aged them all up one level.

To Dan's right stands their oldest child, Cameron. He was the protagonist of the Simstory I started writing in August, the one that ended when the chemistry he seemed to be developing with Sofia Bjergsen turned out to be as dreary as a rainy Spring morning on the gritty side of Evergreen Harbor. We decided Cameron deserved another chance. We moved him out of his household to begin a life of his own.
https://i.imgur.com/hPATRsU.png
As I described him once before, Cam is "not dark or tormented, or terribly complicated in any way. He is the kind of fellow you'd expect to see as the main character in a Frank Capra movie."

Cameron's sister, Halle, is visible proof of how adorably well Sims genetics can work.
https://i.imgur.com/dQQnn8v.jpg
Except for a the light makeup Z gave her, Halle appears exactly how she emerged when we let CAS create a child from Dan and Courtenay. We're working on repairing the Cuteness Meter she broke.

It's not easy being Patrick Ross, with siblings like Cameron and Halle. That's Patrick, standing beside his mom. Patrick loves dogs. He's the only child who inherited Dan's green eyes, and he's Creative like Courtenay. Cameron and Patrick have always spent lots of time together, and even though Cam has moved to Brindleton Bay, the brothers get together at least twice a week.

So the story begins
We're playing with 28-day Seasons, and we've turned Aging off. The Watchers will decide who ages up and when. ;) We played through six Sim-days, trying things out, so our tale starts on Saturday, 7 Spring.

Let's see what happens, shall we?