Hi! My name’s Zayne Rosebrook and this is my super special diary-journal book-thingy! Opa has one and his Mama has one and Tante Joce has one and now I have one too.
I don’t really know how to write anything. Words are HARD. So I hope it’s okay to just draw a whole buncha lines on the paper. I think it’s fair ‘cause I can’t read anything the grown-ups write so now they can’t read anything I write either! It’s like a secret spy message!
Bruce tol’ me it was a good idea. He’s the only one who can read this too. Bruce is one of my bestest friends ever. And he’s super special and super awesome and super-secret because nobody else can see him ‘cept for ME. But Mama and Papa like to pretend they can see him sometimes. They tuck me in at night and they give me a kiss and they save a special kiss for Bruce too.
Bruce likes that a lot. Bruce doesn’t have a Mama or a Papa, so I like to share mine. Oh! I forgot to tell you somethin’ real important! Bruce is Batman! But a kid-Batman. Which is way more cool than a grown-up Batman.
He’s my ‘maginary friend. Which is the bestest kinda friend. Just like how he’s the bestest Batman too.
Now Bruce says I’m like him. He says I don’t have a Mama or a Papa either. But I don’t think he’s tellin’ the truth.
But that’s what all the grown-ups are sayin’ too. They say Mama and Papa are dead. And whenever I ask ’em what it means, they say Mama and Papa went away to a special place. Forever. They say they went away the night the Bad Thing happened.
I don’t like to talk to anybody about the Bad Thing, but they still ask me lotsa questions. I don’t like it.
I don’t even ‘member a lot. Lotsa smoke. Big red fire. Bruce kept tellin’ me we had to run away, but I couldn’t leave without Mama and Papa.
I ran as fast as I could to their room, but then I heard a SUPER loud CRASH and somethin’ really hot fell down on my face, and another thing that weighed a million-jillion tons.
I screamed and screamed and then I couldn’t breathe and then a big scary man with a big helmet picked me up and carried me away.
Bruce says he was a superhero, like him.
But I think he was a bad man. ‘Cause he took me away from Mama and Papa.
I love my Oma and my Opa and my grandpa. And Onkel Auggy and Tante Clara and Onkel Florian. And Tante Joce is nice too. And everybody’s been extra-super-special nice to me ever since the Bad Thing.
But I really just wanna go home. I don’t like sleeping in Papa’s old bedroom anymore. I want my bed.
But they keep tellin’ me I don’t have a bed anymore. Just like Bruce says I don’t have a Mama or a Papa.
My Tante Joce says she’s gonna take care of me now. But she’s kinda like a stranger. A really nice stranger who sends me presents on my birthday and gives me a kiss at Christmastime. But still a stranger.
And I don’t want her to take care of me. I want Mama and Papa!
I can’t wait for them to come back and take me home.
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Huge shoutout to Yunanesca at Sims4Studio! She custom-made Zayne’s scar per my request back in August. It’s available on her creator studio for public download, as well as a bunch of other awesome creations. 🙂
Ashes to Ashes 
My heart Breaks for Zayne 😦 😥 I hope he’ll be able to cope when he gets older and understands what’s up
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My heart breaks too! He is so pure and innocent 😦 I definitely think he’ll start understanding in time. Poor kid!
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Zayne, you’re breaking my heart already! I really feel for you kid. I wish you could go back to your Mama and Papa as well but unfortunately ‘Bruce’ is right, they’re gone to the special place. 😦
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I adore him and writing him is so fun, but yes, this is so tragic. He doesn’t understand that death is permanent
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He’s only is five, five year olds don’t understand concept of death. If he was 11 or older then maybe he would understand.
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Yeah he’s a bit too young to fully grasp it right now. Poor thing!
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Oh, dear…I think this will only makes things worse, to tell him again, and again that their parents die, or having to show him their ashes…but, I get it, he has 5(?) years, and don’t understand death and all tha things, so he must only think they are…away, in some vacation tipe of thingy.
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Exactly, he’s too young to really understand those types of things. The poor kid! 😦
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Oh no, Zayne. This is so tragic. I wonder what the significance of Bruce is. Hopefully Jocelyne can take care of him well. He’s so innocent… I wonder when that’ll be ruined.
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There’s not a whole lot of deep significance to Bruce — just a child’s imaginary friend! Though in a way, I think he also represents Zayne’s subconscious. “Bruce” knows Luc and Hazel are gone, but Zayne does not want to believe it
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I heard adults with mental illness can have imaginarily friends as well.
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Eeeeeek! I just love Zayne! He so adorable I just want to hung him till he’s blue! The whole stranger comment is so true he doesn’t really know Joce all that well so to be kinda stuck with her could be confusing. And the whole kid Batman imaginary friend was cute I wonder how long he’ll stick around! That last comment oh sweetie don’t make stride sad faces or I’ll cry!
Overall gen 5 has just begun and I’m already over the moon!
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I love him too! I’m glad you do as well 🙂 It’s definitely challenging having a near-stranger as his guardian now
we’ll have to see how he handles it.
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I’m crying right now. Poor Zayne!! I almost caused a scene, but I managed to control myself. THIS WAS VERY SAD! 😥
I feel for him. I wish he can go back to mommy and daddy, but Brucey is right. They’ve gone to a very special place. That special place we know as heaven. I’m sure Luzel is watching Zayne from there and wishing him the best.
One day, Zayne, you’ll learn about heaven and how your parents wind up there. I was expecting a fire to have caused their deaths! Maybe either Hazel or Luc’s poor cooking skills, a burning candle, someone’s revenge plan, an appliance malfunction, or an electrical fault must’ve caused it.
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Sorry for the tears! This really is tragic though 😦 I think when he’s older he will more fully understand.
We are gonna learn what caused the fire in a few chapters 🙂
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What a cute start
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Thank you, Zayne is a very sweet kid ^_^
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Aww he just doesn’t understand 😥
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Yeah, it’s so sad 😦 The poor little guy!
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Yeah, there are a few other scars she made in the set as well (I basically showed her a couple pics and said I wanted a left-side facial scar). The one I picked is the one that best fit my vision ^_^
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This is so sad 😦
I’ve spent the last five days studying for my psychopathology exam tomorrow and all kinds of psychological terms/advice/warning signs are racing through my mind for him. Somebody get this poor kiddo a therapist, and quickly!
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Zayne sees a counselor (this will come up in a couple of chapters) don’t worry! He definitely has lots of issues to work through. The poor kid!
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Imaginary friends: the voice of reason and the truth that all kids know deep down but are too scared to accept.
*sigh* Poor Zayne. He’ll understand one day. How old is he at the moment? 5?
This has made me all nostalgic for my imaginary friend when I was little.
Bruce was incredibly clever, Citizen. My hat goes off to you.
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Yes, Zayne is only five so it’s really hard for him to fully grasp what’s happening 😦 I’m glad you like Bruce! He’s definitely the voice of truth/reason for Zayne right now!
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Bruce makes me nervous. Maybe I have an inherent distrust for imaginary friends? I don’t know, the whole situation is freaking me out. To be fair, though, I really like Zayne so far. I feel bad that he doesn’t totally get it yet, because when he finally figures it out, it’s going to be hell.
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Hopefully Bruce is a good imaginary friend! Time will tell haha
I’m glad you like Zayne. I love writing him. Especially having him so sweet an a innocent 🙂
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Oh he’s so precious! Poor little thing. I really “like” how he’s dealing with what happened through Bruce, could definitely see how that would happen.
I’m kind of glad he’s protected by his youth and innocence at the moment. Once he gets older, he’s imevitably gonna blame himself for what happened. If I hadn’t gone in to try to get my parents so that the firemen didn’t have to go get me first, if I didn’t let the thing fall on me so that they didn’t spend as much time getting me out… not understanding is his salvation right now.
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I’m so glad you like him! I adore Zayne so much already 🙂 That’s an interesting insight/prediction for Zayne’s future. His perspective will most definitely change as he gets older and more fully understands, poor thing!
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Awww…sweet, sweet Zayne. My heart goes out to him. He is going to be troubled for some time. Bruce aka Batman is going to help a bit, but I hope he outgrows it normally and he doesn’t lose touch with reality as he grows older. I wonder if Jocelyn will get him into therapy.
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We are gonna learn in a few chapters that Zayne does see a grief counselor, so he’s getting a bit of therapy for the time being, at least. The poor little guy is definitely going to feel the effects of this for a long time. 😦
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I love that sweet innocence, and I’m so glad that Zayne’s portrayal seems realistic to you! And hopefully Bruce will help him through, yes!
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“And Tante Joce is nice too.” HA! Wow. This should be fun.
“Hey, kid…uhhh…remember me from Christmas? Yeah…you’re going to live with me now, so…yeah…” [cricket]
Poor Joce. Yet another constant reminder (at least for now) of how she screwed things up.
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This whole thing is just painful all-around haha
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Oh no. He’s so sweet and innocent here, and he isn’t going to stay that way is he?
The adults are using vague language so they don’t have to answer tough questions (like what happens when you die). And poor Zayne doesn’t understand what’s happening at all. When reality sets it, he’s gonna be a handful that makes child-age Clara look like a little lamb. Poor thing.
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Well, we’ll have to see if he really gets as bad as you say haha Hard to say at this point… he is so sweet and innocent, like you said!
Part of Zayne’s problem is that he’s only five years old. He simply can’t understand how permanent death is, even though he’s been told repeatedly that Luc and Hazel are not coming back. He does see a grief counselor every now and then who is helping, but he’s at an age where I think there will be heavy denial for a while
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Poor Zayne…
I understand why Luc entrusted his son to Jocelyne, and I understand why Jocelyne accepted that responsibility. However, I do think it would be better for someone he knows slightly better to take him in, at least for now. Not that Jocelyne would do a bad job – I think she’d do a good job! But for a five-year old kid to be told that his parents aren’t coming back and he has to go live with a person he sees once a year…that’s pretty hard on him.
How much of a role will Charlie, Alex and Tony play in the next generation? Do they have diaries or do they just have interlude chapters from their POVs? Or are they more background-y characters?
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Don’t worry, he is not being completely thrust into Jocelyne’s arms yet haha It would definitely be way too much for the poor kid to handle if he was!
The triplets will not have journals, but we will get the occasional interlude from their POVs. 🙂 They’ll probably be like… maybe Auggy-in-the-latter-half-of-gen-4 level characters. Kinda-sorta background, but still legit characters (but also not Clara-level haha)
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Citizen i am still reading your posts and decided to be silent a bit.
Love your work a lot! You are doing great!
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Thank you so much Tizy 🙂 I know this is a really tough section of the story, so don’t feel like you have to comment. I am so grateful that you are still reading. Thank you ❤
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Aw poor Zayne, he doesn’t deserve this 😦 He’s a real cutie though! ❤️ How old is he?
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He’s 5 years old 🙂 (That’s why he says he doesn’t know how to write and just scribbles LMAO the poor little guy!) I adore him. ❤
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Oh no…we have a really bad feeling there is going to be on hell of a fall out from this little dude once he realises his Mum and Dad are never ever going to be able to come home and the reality of what everyone has been telling him sinks in. Yay for Bruce to stick by his side…we all need a superhero in our lives whether others can see them or not!
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It’s definitely going to be tough for poor Zayne to come to terms with the reality of the situation 😦 But yes, yay for Bruce! I think it does good for Zayne, given his current age 🙂
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Bruce is such a nice addition to the story. I love the idea (and the costume). 😉
I can’t wait to see how this all plays out in the future and what kind of man Zayne grows up in.
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I’m glad you like Bruce! 🙂 I’m loving writing Zayne so far, and I can’t wait to see what he’s like when he’s older 🙂
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The effects were outstanding in these screenshots, I will never know how you got the rubble on him even! Great job, and I am so sad for little Zayne. Is his ‘special secret friend’ a ghost?
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Thank you, lee! I used the special effects mod to get the smoke and flames. The rubble was the “compost pile” and a random decorative plank thingy from get together 🙂
I love your theory about Bruce being a ghost! Haha I guess you never know 😛
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Aw – it’s hard to be sad when Zayne himself isn’t sad. I mean he’s sad but not sad sad. At least not yet. I really adore your kid voices, Citizen, you can just hear them through the screen.
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Giant bear hug for Zayne….. ❤
He's so sweet and innocent, but he doesn't understand what happened yet, and my heart is going to break even more for him once he does. I feel like Bruce might be Zayne's subconscious telling him the truth, but he's in denial.
Zayne is super cute, though. 🙂
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Wonderful start glad to meet little Zayne
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Thanks 🙂 I love him
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He’s so incredibly sweet QAQ
His imaginary friend is adorable QAQ
He doesn’t understand QAQ
#ProtectZayne2k17
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I love this hashtag 😂
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I wonder how that fire started and why was little Zayne up in the middle of the night…
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We will find out what caused the fire in an upcoming chapter. As for why he was awake, the fire was actually what woke him
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Good! I was afraid you’d pull some evil tricks on poor little Zayne like you always do. 😛
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A lot of the same feelings I had when I lost my dad 12 years ago. And I was an adult. I can’t imagine it happening as a child.
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I’m so sorry 😦 I can’t even imagine how devastating that must have been for you and your family. Hugs ❤️
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It was rough. It was a heart attack. The hardest part was the choice of taking Dad off life support. I would never wish that on my worst enemy.
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❤️❤️❤️ Hugs for you
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I’m back to Gen 5, but I’m done reading for the night. I should be all caught up to where I was before within a few days and then I’ll be commenting like a mad woman.
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You’re so fast!!!! Thank you so much for reading!!!! I’m temporarily doing just one chapter a week (ughh 😦 ) because real life is crazy busy right now haha so it’ll hopefully be manageable once you do catch up ^_^
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I haven’t been sleeping so I just pop on some music and read XD plus I’ve been doing legacy writing again so while I’m editing together chapters I’ve been reading. Life being busy is super understandable, but maybe I should slow down then XD I don’t know what I’ll do once I’m all caught up.
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