Simming family

[Valdivia]

All characters we can encounter, both in simming and in other kinds of fiction, are partly defined by a large number of relationships they have. Friends, lovers, coworkers… and family. If we think back to Star Trek, we can remember several characters with differing relationships with their families. 

Some had not talked to them in a long time, while others did regularly. Some had their families living far, possibly in their home planet, but maybe elsewhere, whereas some had their families living with them in their quarters. Some had close relationships, while others were distant, even confrontational.

And these family relationships were also defining for characters, with some even having turning points in their lives that were either affected by their families, or affected the way they interacted with their family. 

The same happens to our characters. Some have their families close by, while others have them far away in their home planets. And some sim them regularly, while some almost never interact with them. Which are you?

This is a new post in our category Simming Questions. Here we will be asking questions about our community, our characters and our writing, and how you interact with it all.

[Oddas Aria]

I had planned for my character to have a distant family, and then through simming she gained a surrogate family.  They were literally characters I mentioned in a sim and then they grew in popularity with myself and another character I regularly sim with.  It was very unexpected but very fun.

[Piravao sh'Qynallahr]

My character is very close to her family. Unfortunately she doesn't get to see them often as they are on earth. However during our current shore leave on earth she is spending lots of time with them.

[+ Trellis Vondaryan]

Trellis talks to his family on a regular basis, but they aren't members of Starfleet and live on Vissia. I've simmed them on occasion. He's also got a bit of a surrogate family with one of my PNPCs.

[Vylaa]

It depends.  The wife and children get simmed relatively often, but Alucard's father and in-laws have only been simmed directly a few times, and mainly appear just as asides, such as "I talked to dad today..."

[Evan Delano]

I went with the first option, though I don't really sim them regularly - just when it makes sense for whatever's going on. 

[+ Arturo Maxwell]

I've posted the first option, although it's really a mix of that and the second option.

Maxwell's dad has been to -and is currently aboard - the station and I've simmed him as an NPC, whereas his mother - who he is especially close to - has only really been mentioned briefly. The exception being 'The Admirals Ball' sim where she is present but does not speak.

His daughter is referenced often, but lives in Scotland with her grandparents and Maxwell's brother and sister are there too. Both of these have only really been mentioned as an aside.

Maybe I ought to wheel them out at some point?

[+ catscatscats]

I play a father and daughter on the Constitution, a PNPC and PC respectively; for those characters, the relationship and the surrounding events are integral to their personality, so obviously, family matters get quite a bit of screen time. I think, with different characters, I might focus on different aspects of their lives. So for me, it's an "it depends".