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2.18 Home Is Where the Dragons Aren’t

Posted by Echo Weaver on February 1, 2015
Posted in: Gen 2. Tagged: , , , , , , . 11 comments

After the dragon attack, we gathered up our things, our kids, and our random body parts and moved to a new place.

It was a townhouse in a row of townhomes. The red one.

I knew moving was the right thing. We all felt much better when we got there.

William immediately found the video game system.


Mama enjoyed the view out the window.

Franklin appreciated the wall art.

I found the most perfect lamp I’d ever seen!

Nova found the best source of drinking water.


Those block tables, though. They make me so mad!

William didn’t like it either. “You put the block table in the middle of the living room? You know how sharp these blocks are when you step on them? You have no brain!”

I was in no mood to put up with his crap. “You’ll wish you had no brain when I cut your head in half!”

After that we got all hot and bothered.

And made wild woohoo in our new bed.

Much better.

While we were otherwise distracted, the kids found other things to do.


When I came downstairs, I had to fish Helen out of the toy box.

William had to make sure he was just as beautiful as usual. Trust me, he is.

He’s crazy about his little girls.

I don’t let on that I know he’s a softie.

The girls are getting to be good friends with each other.

Aren’t they adorable?

It just made me want to do the same thing.

The only one in the house who was lonely was Nova. When we moved to the new place, my brothers and sisters wanted to take the other cats home with them. So Nova was all-of-a-sudden an only cat.

That wasn’t really fair. So we adopted a new cat to keep her company.

Meet Mikhail.

They immediately hit it off.

In the middle of all this suffocating cuteness, I got a party invitation. I can’t say that the location of the party was all that inviting.

I met a cute little old fairy. Who hit on me.

I figured a little bit of flirting was just revenge for William’s conduct at our last party.



“Aren’t you married?” some guy asked me.

So I blasted him.

Much easier than answering awkward questions.

———-

Hey! It’s the Wonderlands! I haven’t written them in ages because I was trying to focus on getting the Samples finished. That failed. Instead, I burned out and didn’t do anything for months. So I’m going to try to give my other challenges a little love and see if I can get back into things :).

BTW: The two toddlers hugging was an experiment. I’ve always hated that most interactions are turned off for toddler-toddler. An adult can hug a toddler. An adult can chat with a toddler. A child can play peek-a-boo with a toddler. But without the playpen, they can’t do anything with each other. So I tried using NRaas Retuner to turn on hugs between toddlers, then I tested it to see what the animation would do. It was perfect! Soooo cute! I will now turn it on for all of my games.

2.17 The Perils of Politics

Posted by Echo Weaver on June 18, 2014
Posted in: Gen 2. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 5 comments

Apparently, word of William’s little loyalty fail at the costume party didn’t get out.

William, on the other hand, turned out to REALLY like his hotdog costume. He said it really piqued his creativity.

He did everything in it.

When he came to bed in it, I told him that I couldn’t stand to look at it. He’d have to get rid of the costume or find someplace else to sleep.

You see how that worked out.

I heard from my brother and sister.

Branden’s a medical intern these days. He and his girlfriend just moved into a fancy new house.

Deanne is just head over heels about her new girlfriend. At least, I think Kristina is her girlfriend. I’m a little unclear on that.

Back at home, Imogen was getting into everything.

Franklin actually started doing his homework! Maybe now he won’t fail school.

Apparently, Helen did nothing cute at all in this chapter because you only see her once in the background.

Bungle, on the other hand, started making my life difficult again. He started following me around, whining that we never talk anymore.

Once he even trapped me in a corner of the nursery.

“Look,” I shouted at him, “You may be my best friend, I have got to set some boundaries here! Give me some space, or I’ll turn you back into a doll and give you to my kids.”

That shut him up for a while.

I had to get out of the house, and I got a tip that took me to the local Sim Fu Academy. I passed  Caitlin on the way and waved at her.

It was a long stakeout on a bleak, chilly night. But that’s the kind of thing you sign up for when you become a private eye. I could handle it.

At least the Sim Fu Academy was pretty.

Finally, paydirt!

Except it was actually just two people meeting up after a sim fu class to flirt. They weren’t even married to other people or anything.

So much for that tip.

William had much more fun with his evening.

I think he’s picked a favorite child.

It’s not really fair to the other children, but if he’s paternal at all, I’m going to call it a win.

Imogen really is just a little bit… wild. I think they may have the most compatible personalities.

After he put his littlest princess to bed, William got down to the really important stuff in his life.

When I got home, a neighbor’s dog with some kind of pigment disorder was shredding our old newspaper. I yelled at him to go home.

Mama had a long day at work. She was getting ready to run for Governor! Her campaign was in crazy fundraising mode.

At least, I thought she was running for Governor.

When she got home, she had an odd, wicked smile on her face. She said that she’s had enough of politics after all and was going to go change to a more suitable career.

She didn’t elaborate, and I was afraid to ask. I thought Mama got all her Evil out of her system when we kids were young, but you never can tell.

Then this happened.

This big blue dragon-like thing just reached its head down through the ceiling and took a big bite out of the kitchen counter.

It didn’t even knock!

I got out my phone. “All right,” I said. “That’s enough. We’re moving.

———-

Fired from job: 0 + 1 = 1

Hetal got fired, and it was my fault. Whenever she had the open to steal from campaign funds, I said yes. I mean, she is Evil after all. I didn’t think she’d be able to resist. I didn’t realize she’d immediately get an offer to join the Criminal career, though. That was awesome.

And let’s here it for really epic game glitches!

As far as I can tell, the happiness reward pet bed was glitched in Hetal’s bedroom on the second floor. It was causing all sorts of graphics collapses whenever I moved the camera upstairs. I tried to delete it, and that sort of helped, but not enough.

So next post will be back on an apartment lot!

2.16 The Masks We Wear

Posted by Echo Weaver on June 15, 2014
Posted in: Gen 2. Tagged: , , , , , , . 8 comments

Life settled into a routine for a little while. The girls played together.

The boys played together.

Mama flipped out at doing all the parenting work

and took her aggression out on the local lawn gnome.

OK, I guess everyone needed a break. Fortunately, that break came when a former client whose name I don’t remember invited us to a costume party for Spooky Day.

I got William and the boys together.

“It’s raining outside,” Gideon pointed out.

“What’s the problem?” I asked. “There’s no sun. It’ll be great for the vampires!”

Mama, ahem, stayed home with the girls. She wanted to, I swear.

The address turned out to be a bleak gray townhome on a bleak gray street. Nobody answered the door. It was hailing.

“This is going to be fun!” I said. I hoped they believed me.

Other guests arrived to wait in the rain for our hostess to notice we were there.

William thought this was a good time to change into his costume.

And Gideon and Franklin.

I picked something suitable for the occasion.

“It’s cold and nasty out here!” Gideon grumbled.

“Yeah, this sucks!” Franklin added.

“Well, you’re going to stay and have a good time!” I shouted. “We’re going to relax or you’re grounded!”

Some of the guests didn’t seem to mind the rain at all.

“Look, they don’t mind the cold,” I told Gideon. “Follow their example!”

“At my age, you do not want me following their example,” Gideon said.

At this point, our hostess noticed remembered to open the door. It was pretty clear why she was distracted.

William immediately got to the important stuff.

Franklin was getting pretty tired already, though, so he asked his dad for a bedtime story.

William followed him up to our hostesses bedroom, then booed him for being a sissy and left. That’s my love. He learned parenting at the School of Dudebro.

Another guest stepped in to fill the void.

So Franklin slept all night in the bed of some woman we barely know.

Meanwhile, William stormed downstairs in a rage. “You brainless idiot!” he shouted to some lady. “I’ve never seen you before in my life, but I know a bimbo when I see one.”

“But, you know, I find idiocy strangely hot.”

The lady was pretty put out by the mixed signals. That was understandable.

What was less understandable is why he came on some bimbo while I was watching from the next room.

I left the kids to fend for themselves to get the walking libido out of harm’s way.

Someone is definitely going to be dead on the couch tonight.

———-

Again no fails! Woot!

2.15 Count Your Children

Posted by Echo Weaver on June 4, 2014
Posted in: Gen 2. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

So we brought lovely little Imogen home from the hospital.

I’m not sure the other kids knew we were gone.

I got back to work.

Then, before I knew it, it was Gideon and Imogen’s birthdays!

Two birthdays together seemed like a good reason for a party, so I booked the bowling alley next door.

I guess we made quite a stinky racket. Christof showed up, took one look, and then turned around and ran.

Way to love your sister, bro.

I hurried to get Gideon to the cake because everyone was hungry.

We were pretty loud with Gideon, Helen, and Imogen all squalling at once. I think even sweet Branden was driven to drink.

Here’s Gideon!

And Imogen!

And Helen, who was mad that her siblings were getting all the attention.

And then the bowling alley kicked us out for driving out the other customers, so we headed home. The nerve of some people.

Hmm… Mama was reading to Gideon.

And Franklin was wasting time playing video games. Like son —

Like father.

And I put Helen in her playpen.

Do you get the feeling we’re missing something?

Oh!

Ok, now I have all the kids I started with.

I got home to William complaining that my bed didn’t match his tomb.

Excuse me? Someone may end up being dead on the couch tonight.

And Mama was putting Franklin to bed TOO.

Sometimes she really is super-grandma.

 

We left the girls to get acquainted with each other.

While I went out to buy a new car!

I love my broom, but it’s really that time in your life when you want a minivan.

———-

No fails! And with that mess of a party, that’s kind of a miracle.

Imogen has kind of an unfortunate face for a toddler, but I have a lot of hope pinned on her growing into it. I think she has William’s mouth and cheekbones, and I’m pretty sure that’s the indomitable Anjali nose.

Gideon looks like he might really be an Erin clone. Humpf. We’ll see how he grows up.

I am nothing if not consistent. 19 posts for April, 1 for May. It’s see if I can get June off well.

The Cat Heir Poll that Wasn’t

Posted by Echo Weaver on May 1, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: . Leave a Comment

I took all the pictures for an heir poll for the cat legacy, then decided not to hold it.

The heir is Nova, which I totally didn’t expect when she was born.

Quasar, Comet, and Nebula all look too much like Peanut for my tastes. Eclipse looks pretty awesome, and I thought about holding a poll for just Nova and Eclipse. But I was really sucked in by Nova’s layered Cheshire and Singularity coloring.

I just loaded the next mate into the game and tried for kittens, so it’s a done deal in the far future of the blog.

But here are the poll pictures. Feel free to say who you would have voted for :).

Nova

Quasar

Eclipse

Comet

Nebula

I swear those pics of Comet and Nebula are different pictures. They really are identical.

2.14 Life after Death

Posted by Echo Weaver on May 1, 2014
Posted in: Gen 2. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 11 comments

  Once we got Helen settled and Gideon in bed, I decided to take some time to relax.

When William wandered by, I called to him, “Come on in, the water’s fine!”

“Um,” he said. “I’m sure you’re really angry at me, but–“

“Hush now,” I replied. “Here’s where you make it up to me.”


“Yes, ma’am!” he replied!

And he did.

Not creepy at all that Bungle watched the whole thing. No siree.

One of these days I’m going to really kick his butt.

After that, it was back to feed the baby.

William decided to keep Franklin company on his first night in a big boy bed. Awww.

OK, maybe not so cute now.

I love how he just shook the pee off his ankle and wandered off as if nothing happened. Way to be classy.

Right to bed with me. How nice.

Franklin’s such a conscientious kid. It’s good to have someone to help clean up, rather than just someone who LEAVES HIS BOTTLES OF BLOOD EVERYWHERE.

Then, when we were all least prepared, it happened.

Mum was, I think 107. We knew she was on borrowed time. But that didn’t make me any more ready to see her go.

She seemed to take everything in stride. I’m sure that the Netherworld will just be another adventure for her.

Somehow it seems appropriate that Grim couldn’t even reach her across a level floor with no obstructions.

So she just left him there, complaining on the landing, and walked off into the next world.

That left the rest of us behind. Mama was, of course, devastated. I don’t think she really could believed it had happened.

Bungle slammed the door on William, and both of us missed our chance to see her go. I have no regrets, though. She and I patched up our teenage feuds a long time ago.

Poor Franklin. I’m sorry he had to go through it.

I don’t think I’m speaking to Bungle right now.

At least Gideon and Helen are too young to know what happened, though now they won’t get to know their Grandmum.

Nova slept through the whole thing, but at least she dreamed of Mum.

And hey, I’m feeling sick again. I don’t think I need to guess what this is.

William and I buried ourselves in our work to get through our grief.

Hey, I think I found a potion for morning sickness!

And of course we treasured our children.

Franklin was so lost in thought about his Grandmum that he didn’t make it home from school one day.

Instead, he went back to his classroom to play games by himself.

I think he just needed the alone time.

I took a few more cases and used public bathrooms for my office.

Get a load of this client! Not bad!

With Mum gone, William and Mama worked a lot harder at being civil to each other.

Gideon continued to make noise.

Franklin went on a field trip to the science center.

Where he tried to work up the nerve to talk to a girl from his class.

And almost managed it.

But she headed home on her bike instead.

He was pretty choked up about it.

By the time Helen’s birthday rolled around, I think we were doing a lot better.

Wait! Where’d she go?

Oh, there she is!

My little girl.

I got out and took a long walk one evening to meet with a client.

Who asked me to go all the way back home and collect dirt — literally — on the family in the house next door.

About the time I reported back to her, it was really time!

So I made the trek back to the hospital by myself.

I have to give it to William, though — he learned his lesson. He came racing in like an undead, bloodsucking Superman. Faster than a speeding bullet!

And guess who was on duty to help me bring our fourth child into the world!

Meet Imogen

I think maybe I’m going to call our family done now.

———-

Children: 8 + 1 = 9

Deaths: 0 + 1 = 1 (but it’s not untimely)

Self-peeing: 10 + 1 = 11

I let Allison live out her very long life without giving her any trouble, just because she was Allison, but everyone seems to be way outliving their lifespans now. I’ve changed some StoryProgression settings to make the chance of death a lot more likely after a sim reaches the end of her lifespan.

I’m going with the one-child-per-letter convention, and I turned out to be really hard. If she were male, I’d’ve gone for Ivan. I’ve renamed her several times, but I think I’m going with Imogen. It’s sort-of Ire in Wonderland, pronounced a little funny. I also just like the name Imogen :).

Helen just aged up to child in gameplay, so I’m actually getting pretty close to being caught up!

2.13 Kids and More Kids

Posted by Echo Weaver on April 30, 2014
Posted in: Gen 2. Tagged: , , , , , , . 5 comments

Franklin continues to get more independent. He’s even cute when he poops.

Even cuter when someone else takes away the mess.

I’ve been able to take some time to spend with Bungle. He may be a pain in the butt, but he’s my imaginary pain in the butt, and I don’t want to lose him — at least most of the time.

Business continues to be good. Here I am meeting a client at the hot springs at night. I didn’t ask her why.

William got invited to a party. I was kind of put out that I wasn’t invited. He said not to be jealous. All he did was watch TV while some guy peed himself.

Gideon is wilder than Franklin. He’s always engaged in something.

He’s also louder.

He likes pushing his toys into pretty patterns. I think he’s going to be an artist like his father.

He also loves to be the center of attention, and he makes his serious big brother laugh.

He plays hard and, mercifully, sleeps hard.

Which you could also say of William.

Mum is such a sweet and trusting child at heart. I have to keep an eye on her to make sure some jerk doesn’t take advantage of her.

Mama, on the other hand, has been giving William a hard time for letting me make all the money.

She thinks if he had any brains at all, he’d be trying to sell his paintings or *something*.

Don’t worry. I sneak them out of the house and sell them when he isn’t looking anyway.

William prefers to defend himself by being gross. It works pretty well.

And the kitties continue to be cute. We haven’t seen them for a while.

Mama helps clean a lot. And that’s great because she’s usually cleaning up messes she made to begin with.

My folks have never lost than lovin’ feeling. It warms my heart to see them — in that icky, wash out your brain sort of way.

Wow. I can’t believe it, but Franklin’s going to be a child!

For some reason, everyone in the family wanted to blow their horns at ME. My ears still ring a little.

And here’s my little vampire boy in cross-eyed splendor.

We celebrated my oldest son’s birthday with a big show in the back yard.

Then my dear family tried to clean up their cake plates and broke EVERYTHING.

Argh!

Mum read Franklin his first bedtime story. The first of many.

I went to put Gideon to bed.

Hmm. Actually, I think I’d better put him down again.

BECAUSE THIS REALLY HURTS!

William decided to take a nap while I ran off to the hospital.

Then he realized I’d probably stake him if he didn’t come with me, but he got lost on the way to the hospital and ended up in a crowd of people hanging around at the tavern after closing time.

That’s the story he told me. I don’t know if I believe it. He is going to have to make this up to me. A lot.

By myself, I brought our baby girl into the world

Meet little Helen!

———-

Babies: 7 + 1 = 8

And here we have the third member of Generation 3! Helen is also a vampire and a witch.

“Hell in Wonderland,” get it?? I’ve been dying to use that name, which is why Erin had to eat watermelons :).

2.12 What the Future Holds

Posted by Echo Weaver on April 28, 2014
Posted in: Gen 2. Tagged: , , , , , . 3 comments

My parents still have this thing about the rocking chair.

They both want to rock in it, and they don’t care whether they have a baby with them or not.

I could just get another one, but I refuse to give in.

And did I mention that Franklin is sweet? And smart?

He’s just so good at amusing himself. So long as someone feeds him and cleans his potty, he’s good to go.

I’ve been able to take it easy while I’m gestating.

And at last the day has arrived for my littlest boy!

William insisted on doing the honors this time.

Hey, is it a little hot in here?

Sometimes William is such a showoff.

He really resented it when we were more interested in the baby than we were in him.

And here’s Gideon!

This birthday certainly made me hungry, and cake doesn’t look so good. Pardon me while I eat a baby watermelon.

After I got Gideon settled in his playpen, I headed over to the market square to check the alchemical consignment shop for some ingredients in need.

They had a few items for horrible prices, but beggars can’t be choosers. I don’t have the time or interest to start a garden.

And hey, look what they have here. What witch can resist a crystal ball?

I wonder what the future holds for me?

Whee! Something good! I knew it would.

Something VERY good, I see. Get a load of this fellow. Yum.

He wanted to know if I would read his fortune. How cute!

So, what does the future hold for him? And how long can I keep him here, looking at me like that?

Not very long. There’s his girlfriend.

Ah well. It was a nice fantasy. Now to head home to my devoted husband.

When I got home, all heck had broken loose — if  you can pardon my language.

Mama reported that Peanut’s time had come. I couldn’t tell if she was miserable or delighted. Maybe both. Mama can be hard to read sometimes.

Peanut had a good life. We’ll miss him, but I think he knew we loved him.

And to my surprise, I found that Grim was still around, cackling a the refrigerator.

I wanted to get onto good terms with this Grim as soon as possible.

He seemed pretty cheerful and nonthreatening. He said he’d love to stay to dinner the next time someone in our family died.

I can’t say the prospect was thrilling, but at least he wasn’t threatening.

That’s all good for you, little one. We’re going to protect you.

———-

Gideon is a witch, but not a vampire. And he clearly has the Anjali nose :). I looked up his traits recently, and I STILL can’t remember them. Argh. I know he’s a Savvy Sculptor.

He looks like he got a lot of looks from Erin — possibly too many. But we’ll have to wait until he’s a teen to know.

New baby with the next post!

2.11 No Rest for the Weary

Posted by Echo Weaver on April 26, 2014
Posted in: Gen 2. Tagged: , , , , , . 2 comments

Now our nursery holds two. How sweet.

I think Franklin will be a great big brother.

He’s already so independent.

And creative!

So independent that William and I could take a little time to ourselves.

We made good use of it.

I guess no pleasure comes without consequences. I don’t know when I’ll find time to fix the shower.

I guess I got a little too upset. Sometimes I don’t know my own witchcraft.

The least fun part of parenting is the potty training.

See what I mean?

Or maybe it’s SLOPPY HUSBANDS WHO CLOG THE TOILET.

And leave it for their hard-working wife to plunge. Yuck!

At least he’s a good father.

So good that I think sometimes Mama feels threatened.

Isn’t he sweet! When he’s not screaming his head off, Franklin always has a smile on his face.

After I plunged the toilet, I really needed to get out of the house. So I took a case.

The mayor of Aurora Skies wanted me to get the dirt on her political opponents.

Classy. Well, you know I’m always up to get paid.

I headed back to the mayor to tell her that she didn’t have much to worry about.

But wow, did the whole thing leave a bad taste in my mouth.

I had a real craving for watermelons, so I headed to the grocery store to buy a snack.

Mama cleaned while I was out. I really appreciate my parents.

Mum got lonely and hung out on the swing under the stars.

I dashed to the salon to check on a new case.

Clues, clues. There can be clues anywhere. You just have to look.

Oh hey, my sister Caitlin showed up!

I guess she’s seriously thinking about getting into Style. She brought our niece Rosie with her to give her a new look.

And voila! Actually, Rosie wasn’t that wild about the new look. Caitlin will have to practice some more, I think.

When I got home, the kids were in good hands.

And William was back to his normal self. Well, normal with an enormous cloud of stink.

As I was headed to bed, I had a familiar feeling.

Another baby on the way!

———-

Wow, I really did roll through the kids fast with Erin, didn’t I?

2.10 Family Matters

Posted by Echo Weaver on April 25, 2014
Posted in: Gen 2. Tagged: , , , , , . 9 comments

Another day past in beautiful Aurora Skies!

 So, I heard about the candy-stealing incident.

I love Mama very much, but sometimes she goes to far, and I just had to let her know.

I hope she gets the message that in the future my kids are going to keep their candy.

After I had it out with Mama, I dropped by Deanne’s place. She called me and wanted to get together.

I don’t think her daughter Rosie likes me very much.

Deanne’s house is hard to get into.

But fortunately she eventually came to the door.

It turned out she wanted to hire me, of all things.

We had a long talk about her life and the stuff she wanted me to investigate.

With frequent digressions.

I mean, she IS my sister.

I told her that her secrets were safe with me. Provided she paid me my fee when the work was done. That ought to go without saying.

It was great catching up, but finally I had to leave.

On my way out, I tried again to make nice with my niece.

Rosie is a hard girl to get to know!

It turns out that Franklin takes after both me AND William.

My sweet little vampire witch boy!

William really dotes on him.

When I got home, I let William go on playing with our little dark angel and set about making some dinner.

Once Franklin was in bed, William was suddenly struck by his muse.

He decided to draw my computer desk.

Mum stayed in the nursery to keep an eye on the, um, baby. I’m sure that’s what she was doing.

Then she went about cleaning again! I guess I’m going to have to get used to that.

You don’t think pregnancy is making my face look puffy, do you?

I do hope the baby weight comes off fast.

Oh noes! Fretful baby!

William to the rescue!

I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about Franklin. It gives me so much more time to work. And incubate the next kid.

Since Franklin didn’t seem interested in going back to sleep after his nighttime tantrum, Mama stayed up with him.

Or maybe her real goal was to get time in the rocking chair. There seems to be some kind of feud going on between my folks over it.

My investigation took me to meet the very interesting sim I first saw at the tavern.

She turned out to be very chatty. I wonder if Deanne is interested in her.

Just in case, I suggested that if she were married, she ought to get a divorce.

William tried to intimidate Mum.

She was delighted. Did he really think that a show of fangs would scare Mum? She loves that stuff.

I got home to find a random neighbor angry because we lock our doors. Well, that’s a bit too friendly for my taste.

I made sure she got a BIG GREETING!

She didn’t like it much. Maybe she’ll get the message.

William cleaned! I have such a helpful family.

Mum discovered that some of our old family pictures were destroyed. Wiped clean and gray. It’s pretty sad.

She was really mad about it.

William is so into fatherhood that he decided to draw his sleeping son. Isn’t that the sweetest thing you ever saw? I think William might be losing his edge.

And then it was that time again!

William was busying with his drawing when the pains hit.

I decided not to bother him and just left a message with Mum to let him know I was off having our child.

This is such a nice, modern hospital compared to Moonlight Falls. I hope the pain medication is also extra modern.

William heard that I was at the hospital and dropped what he was doing to get there as fast as possible. I guess he knows how important it is to stay in my good graces. He’s already very well trained.

But he took a shortcut.

That didn’t work out so well for him.

That turned out to be a great thing because I had someone to laugh at while I was giving birth.

Introducing our second son, Gideon!

———-

Still no fails. How lovely.

I love the name Gideon. Also, “Giddy in Wonderland” entertains me.

What I really need are suggestions for I names, particularly female I names. If you have anything in mind, drop it on the name suggestion page!