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So what’s our score so far?

Posted by Echo Weaver on April 13, 2014
Posted in: Gen 2. 5 comments

While I’m assembling the introduction to Erin as our new patroness, I was wondering — WTH *is* the score of this ISBI? I’m tracking all kinds of things on the scoresheet that don’t even have scores just because they amuse me, and I was deliberately not trying to find out how bad the score was. How seems like a time to take stock.

5 Children (+ 5) = +25
1 Twin Birth(+10) =  +10
2 Fulfilled LTWs (+40)  = +80
1 sim on the honour roll (+5) = +5

Total Positive = +120

17 Passing Out (-5) = -85
9 Self-wettings (-5) = -45
3 Fires in Home (-5) = -15
1 Repo Visit (-5) -5
1 Fight (-5) -5

Total Negative = -155

Total Score: -35

Awww. Even with 80 points from LTWs, I’m still in the hole from all of Jin’s fails!

Hmmm. The score list from the Boolprop entry doesn’t seem to include fights. Not sure where I got the idea those would be scored. I’ll keep counting them for because it’s entertaining :).

I am also working from rules where I get some points for every 100k of net worth. I haven’t tracked what the family is worth in ages, so we’ll see on that one :).

Since ISBIs I linked to don’t seem to actually HAVE the scorecard I was using, guess I should put that in my own About page. Whoops. I’ll get on that.

1.46 Celebration Time!

Posted by Echo Weaver on April 10, 2014
Posted in: Gen 1. Tagged: , , . 4 comments

Things were still going ever so slowly. The most exciting thing that happened for days was listening to Jin call and talk about her woohoo exploits. Jin just never stops. Don’t tell her, but I’m sick of hearing about it. I think she’s bragging.


Erin has been grumbling a lot about that figment of her imagination. She says he never gives her any privacy.

She says he better remember who’s boss. If he doesn’t shape up, she might just stop imagining him.

I told her I thought that was a great idea. She should focus on imagining relationships with real people. But she looked pretty guilty after that and changed the subject.

I found the most adorable music box at the consignment store when I was selling some of those non-rainbow gems I found.

A mummy! Isn’t he cute!

Sometimes creepy is the new adorable.

The kitties are being kitties.

Aren’t they so sweet?

Deanne is off shopping for a daddy for my baby granddaughter.

And Christof has gotten interested in politics! He’s also a cheapskate.

Caitlin decided not to let that boyfriend of hers get away after all. Good for her. What’s a happy marriage without constant fighting?

Hetal is still Evil, but in that sexy way.

Erin is always on a computer, and I mean always. She has this little one that she carries with her everywhere.

I don’t know if everything she does on those computers is completely wholesome. I tried to raise that girl right, but sometimes I’m not so sure.

Her grades are great, though, and that’s what really matters. Right? Right?

Erin and Hetal haven’t been getting along very well.

Hetal has some really violent tendencies in her old age. Sometimes I worry about her.

Deanne’s love life isn’t getting any better.

But Caitlin’s seems to be going very well!

And so is Branden’s career!

And this is where life finally started to get interesting again!

It was an important day for me.

And I got the best present ever — a three-alarm fire!

It turned out to be the Ivy house, home of Caitlin’s new mother-in-law. What does that make her to me, anyway? Sister-in-law-in-law?

“It’s OK!” I shouted. “There’s no fire here! You don’t have to stand there screaming!”

I had the privilege of rescuing my new something-in-law from a building that wasn’t burning anymore.

I’d never felt so satisfied. I got the feeling that I had finally reached my life’s ambition.

When I got home, I was thinking about spending more time with my grandkids — Deanne’s little Rosie and the kids that Caitlin will have if she knows what’s good for her.

As if it was a sign, my sweet litter of kittens grew up.

Quasar!

Eclipse!

Comet and Nebula decided not to age up until tomorrow. I guess they can do that.

It was a moment of truth. I had a good argument with the voices in my head. It was a big decision, and I didn’t want to rush into it.

But I think the voices were right. I’ve saved 30 sims from certain death! That’s more than anyone could ask. It was time to retire.

Hetal and Erin celebrated with me.

Maybe it was time to start something new and exciting!

Hetal glared at me just at that moment. “Don’t even think about it,” she said.

What?

And we had one more celebration yet tonight! My littlest baby girl was growing up.

This day started out so boring, but it turned out to be the most exciting one in my life.

I can’t imagine what the future holds, but I bet it will be so much fun!

———-

Lifetime Wishes: 1 + 1 = 2

WAHOO!

This is it! The very last post of Allison’s generation!

Allison finished her LTW about two days before Erin would have aged up automatically. It was a long slog. Her career was fun, but I’m also kind of disappointed. I’ve read about all kinds of encounters she never got — fixing gas leaks, special disasters at places like the science center, earthquakes! I got kind of tempted to just trigger one of these artificially. In retrospect, maybe I should have. I didn’t because it would have gotten Allison to her LTW artificially. I didn’t want to take points for a cheat. But in retrospect, the WHOLE POINT is to be as goofy and interesting as possible. Next time maybe I’ll do whatever the heck I want and just give myself a point penalty or something.

It’s hard to sign off on Allison, but I was really ready to let her retire to idiocy and get to let her Childishness out more. She is very close to the end of her lifespan here, and I thought she’d get a few days at best. I’ll give you a spoiler and say that she lived to be over 100. You’ll be seeing Allison as a idiot for a long time coming.

As for the cat legacy, I think I’m going to skip the heir vote and declare Nova to be the heir. Quasar, Comet, and Nebula are all cute, but their coloring just came out so close to Peanut’s. Eclipse is different, and he looks awesome. But Nova has Cheshire’s stripes under Singularity’s spots. That’s just too awesome to give up.

Erin takes over next chapter. Wow!

1.45 Defense against Boredom

Posted by Echo Weaver on April 8, 2014
Posted in: Gen 1. Tagged: , , , . 4 comments

[Allison]

“This is your day,” I told my reflection. “This is the day you are going to set the record for civilians saved from certain death.”

I really needed the pep talk. I may be an amazing hero, but nobody seemed to need a hero recently. Everyone was being incredibly responsible with their kitchen appliances, and nobody’s home was going up in a fireball.

It was just so depressing.

I consoled myself by using all that time was NOT spending fighting fires to take up a new hobby.

Anatomy seemed like a good one. Studying what people might look like if I DIDN’T save them from burning buildings.

Nova grew up into a truly beautiful adult cat.

I thought she was a bit awkward as a kitten, but look at her now! Singularity’s spots AND Cheshire’s stripes!

Even her Dinah face seems a bit more natural.

She’s so humble about her beauty too. What a regal beauty!

News drifted in from the family. My mother-in-law was still rockin’ it all night long.

Deanne, meanwhile, broke up with her latest girlfriend. I can’t say I was too disappointed about this. She’s old enough to make her decisions, but her grandmother’s best friend?

Things got kind of boring around the house. We had almost an empty nest, and there wasn’t much going on.

“OK, everyone!,” I declared. “We’re going out for a night on the town!”

“Not another one!” Erin cried. She can be such an ungrateful girl!

“I’m your mum, and you’ll have fun if I tell you to,” I told her in no uncertain terms.

So we all headed to the Toadstool.

To play hacky-sack in the parking lot.

Erin wasn’t really into it, though, so she decided to go inside for a nice bowl of brains.

She’s such a moody girl.

That’s when we got the phone call! Deanne was having a baby! Now I totally forgive her for her weird choice in girlfriends. Who cares? We have a granddaughter! Wahoo!

While I was chatting it up with Deanne, Hetal also got a phone call. “Hey, my boss is throwing a party. I really ought to go to this one. I hope you don’t mind.”

It wasn’t really a question, and she was gone before could answer.

This hadn’t exactly turned out to be the kind of evening on the town I’d been hoping for.

But then Erin caught my eye from across the room.

Maybe she knows how to have fun after all.

Hetal said the party was kind of a bust.

Her boss was happy to see her there.

So happy that he forgot all about her in five minutes and decided to get it on with his wife instead.

If that weren’t annoying enough. Ayden van Gould showed up!

She still hasn’t forgiven him for how he treated her mom, so she kicked his ass. Hetal seems to have gotten quite violent in her old age. Everyone remember not to piss her off.

She was so pumped about beating up Ayden that she rushed back into the party to tell her boss all about it.

“And then I gave him an upper cut! Hear me roar like a space rocket!”

That turned out to be kind of awkward.

The party, such as it was, finished up with her watching TV while her boss Mike nix burned the mac and cheese he was planning to serve to his guests.

Nix can’t even cook right.

Hetal had a mind to give him what-for, but she finally decided she wanted to keep her job.

She was still watching TV when I called her and asked her to come home.

“Home!” she said. “That’s a great idea. This place is SO boring anyway.”

I hope my love’s memory is all right.

———-

Fights: 0 = 1 = 1

I totally missed the money shot of Hetal fighting with Ayden van Gould and kicking his butt. It made me laugh, so I’m happy to take the fail.

I was trying to make this the last post of Gen 1, but I made it just TOO LONG. So — spoiler — the next post will be the last with Allison as a patroness. Bittersweet, eh? It is for me.

I was very meh about Nova as a kitten, but she grew up with Singularity’s spots on top of Cheshire’s stripes! That is so awesome I may not be able to have a cat legacy heir poll.

1.44 Spring is Springy

Posted by Echo Weaver on April 6, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . Leave a Comment

[Erin]

The place is basically a madhouse of cats.

I try to keep them all straight. I know this one is Eclipse.

But is this Comet or Nebula? Argh.

Nova’s still a kitten, but I think she gets kind of annoyed having all the other younger ones around too. She kind of has her head in the clouds.

They’re all cute, of course, but sometimes I can’t move without almost stepping on a kitten!

And I think Quasar scares me a little bit.

Peanut and Singularity seem to have decided that they have done everything they need out of life, and they spend most of their time sleeping.

Cheshire even came to visit for a while from wherever he’s hanging out on the other side.

Peanut was really glad to see him.

Mum was, of course, the happiest I’ve ever seen her.

Cats make her so content. I think she really felt less at home when Branden took last batch away.

Spending all that time with the cats just seemed to improve her entire outlook on life.

There was another reason for her good mood. She also said she ran into Christof one day at the fire station.

He was giving some hot chick a tour of the facilities and bragging about Mum.

There could be only one thought in Mum’s mind: Grandkids!

All I can say is that I hope somebody gives Mama and Mum grandkids soon. I can’t stand the pressure.

Caitlin keeps taunting my folks with her on-again-off-again thing with Peanut Ivy.

And Branden of all people has taken up with the town bike. Now way they’re getting grandkids out of HER.

Mama actually asked me the other day whether I had a significant other. She said there’s nothing like that rocket of pleasure you get from a good mate.

I don’t even WANT to know what she meant.

My parents so weird I don’t even want to be seen in public with them.

Mum decided I was spending too much time at the computer, so she insisted that we take a “family trip” to the spring festival.

Whatever.

I have a tablet computer now that I can take with me anywhere. Mum and Mama just don’t appreciate how important my work is. I’ve finally hacked into the school records to change my grades!

Mum had something cute painted on her face. She always does her best to embarrass me.

Meanwhile Mama got pissed off at some innocent bystander and gave her what for.

The girl never knew what hit her. Literally.

I went up and apologized to her later.

Sometimes Mama takes the whole witch thing way too seriously.

Later, she seemed to be in a much better mood and got all lovey-dovey with Mum.

I got as far as I could from them. Watching your parents do that can do serious psychological damage. There have been actual studies.

So of course, instead Bungle walked in on me in the shower.

I love him, but sometimes he can be such a moron.

———-

Idiots on honor roll: 0 + 1 = 1

Woot!

The pics from Gen 1 have been laid out in posts FOREVER. I’m honestly not sure why I had so much trouble writing this post.

1.43 All Work and No Play

Posted by Echo Weaver on February 21, 2014
Posted in: Gen 1. Tagged: , , , . 12 comments

[Allison]

Strawberry came by to go hunting under the foundation of our house. I was thrilled to see her, but I’m not sure where she got the power to walk through walls.

Dinah got to say hi, though. I’m sure she misses her little kitties. I do hope Branden is taking good care of them.

Strawberry appears to be superhuman in other ways.



I’m living proof that human girls can make babies together in this world, but I didn’t think it extended to cats!

Erin just spends too much time on her computer! She needs to get out there and live a little. I’m sure all she needs to change her ways is a good heart-to-heart with her mum.

When I heard her at the keyboard again, I headed into her room to tell her how it is. In the gentlest way possible, of course.

But who did I see on her computer screen? I picture of my old coworker, William Pierce!

“What are you doing looking at HIM?” I asked.

“Isn’t he dreamy?” Erin said. “That’s the man for me. I going to marry him and make beautiful babies.”

“Are you crazy?” I cried. “He’s older than I am! You’re just a kid!”
I never heard any daughter of mine shout like that!
She told me her love life was none of her business. Of course it’s my business! She’s my daughter. It’s my job to meddle in her affairs.

AND she said I was humiliating her by treating her like a child.
Well, she IS a child, dangit.

After that, I went off to cool down with some quality dollhouse time. At least the dolls don’t talk back and call you names. Hmmf.

Later, I asked Hetal to go talk some sense into the girl.

They talked, but I’m not sure how much sense was involved.

They got all into witch bonding and went off to some witch stuff together.



I didn’t feel left out or anything. Not at all. I’m much too mature for that kind of thing.

Besides, neither of them has my biceps.

While Erin was at school the next day, I showed her there were no hard feelings by upgrading her computer to be unbreakable.

I might’ve poked around to see if she had any more files on Mr. Pierce, but that’s just between you and me. It didn’t matter anyway because all her stuff is encrypted. She’s a strange kid.

Singularity’s been extra cuddly recently. It’s so sweet to watch. She’s also been a bit, ah, extra-fluffy.

Then in the middle of the night, I woke up to the sound of yowling.

Now I know why she was acting so motherly.


Four kittens!
The black one with amber stripes is Eclipse.

The fluffy purple one (in the back) is Quasar.

And then there are the boy-girl identical twins, Comet and Nebula.

Nobody can tell them apart.

So we pretty much just treat them as interchangeable.

All the yowling brought everyone downstairs to crowd into the corner of my bedroom. I couldn’t even get out of bed!

Then Erin realized she’d forgotten to do her homework and stayed up the rest of the night doing that.

Now the house is filled with kitten, just like when Peanut was young! It’s hard not to trip over bundles of fluff, but it’s worth it.



Hetal was late home from work because she got a promotion!


Erin was late home from for I don’t know why. I hope she’s OK. She’s still not talking to me much after that whole incident with Pierce.

When she did get home, she spent a lot of time standing in the corner of the foyer, looking at a family picture and making sighing sounds.


Then she went to lie down and take a nap.


So my siren immediately woke her up.

Turns out there was a fire at Branden’s new house!

You’d think the pouring rain might help put out these outdoor fires, but you’d be wrong.

The fire didn’t take much work, so I took a minute to size up Branden’s roommate.

Not bad. If he’s into boys, he can pick that one.

Not that I’m into boys. At all. Of course.

Actually, I think that dork is the one who set the fire, but at least he’s pretty to look at.

Branden was very grateful that he had a mom who could keep his house from burning down.

But Strawberry was the most grateful of all.

Strawberry is one heck of a kitty.

The next day was more of the same.

Ho hum.

Just a major house fire that nearly killed a local family.

Nothing terribly interesting.

At least these folks could really make their garage look pretty.

It was truly elegant to look at in the light of the fire that was burning it all up.

While I was gone, I missed Peanut’s birthday. Sigh.

We got a call from Deanne. She’s pretty happy with her love life. I’m going to be grown up and not give her crap about the age gap.

Sometimes all you can do is drown your sorrows in a bubble bath.

And sing to your rubber ducky. Rubber duckies like that.

———-

Passing Out: 17 + 1 = 18

Whoa! And now we have FIVE heirs to the cat legacy. Woo, it’s a lot of cats in the house again.

At this point, I’m mostly letting everyone run on autonomy except making sure that Allison keeps in shipshape for her job. She’s creeping along, saving 2 sims here, 2 sims there. She’s doesn’t HAVE to reach her LTW for this challenge, but I’m not willing to give it up. Augh.

1.42 Kind of Lonely

Posted by Echo Weaver on January 9, 2014
Posted in: Gen 1. Tagged: , , , , . 6 comments

[Allison]

After such a rough day, it was nice to be reminded of the cycle of life. Little Nova was such a doll. I bet she had just a bit of Cheshire in her, since she was born so close to when he died.

Singu’s first gift to her little daughter was a turtle! It was almost as big as Nova!

Singu is such a wild thing, and she’s an amazing huntress. I think she expected little Nova to, um, *eat* that turtle. Ick. I snatched it up before anything that gross could happen. I prefer my kitties to eat the kind of food that comes out of a bag. At least in the house.

I made an arrangement to sell the turtle at the flea market across the street. Apparently it was pretty rare and worth a lot of money.

I’m sure it was happier living in someone’s aquarium than not living in Nova’s stomach.

Nova herself settled in very quickly. I’d forgotten how much I missed having a kitten about!

Singularity, meanwhile, was soon up and consoling her beloved Peanut about his father’s death.

He seemed a lot more cheerful after that.

Soon he perked up and was back to his old adventurous self again. Peanut might not be as smart as his daddy, but he sure is resilient.

I had to charge up on all the kitty sweetness I could because I was about to lose another one of my girls.

This time, it was Deanne’s turn to grow up and get her start in the world.

She chose a very different look! I don’t think I’m brave enough to chop off all those long locks, but she certainly looks smart and capable this way!

Um, apparently, Erin was a bit too eager to cheer for Deanne and forgot the macaroni and cheese she had cooking on the stove.

I swear, we have more trouble with macaroni in this house. It’s such a temperamental noodle.

Deanne and Erin grabbed their slices of cake while I dealt with the fire.

I guess they know better than to get too worried about a house fire when I’m here.

Hetal was kind of cranky about the whole thing. This is the third fire we’ve had in this kitchen.

When I finally sat down to eat my own cake, Deanne nudged me. “There’s a firefighter at the door.”

Then she took another look.

“I really, really hot firefighter! Oh my gosh! Is he looking at me?”

He certainly was, and it was quite a manly stare. Not that I’d know much about things like that.

I didn’t recognize this fellow. He must have been a new guy. It turns out he was here to give us a lecture! Because there was no fire! Because I’d already put it out!

Well, I never!

Deanne was furious! She gave that guy a lecture like you wouldn’t believe. She said that he ought to be throwing a party in my honor.

She refused to calm down until he gave her is phone number.

That’s my enterprising girl.

At last we all had to hug Deanne goodbye. She knew what she wanted to do with her life, and it wasn’t here. She was going to get a small apartment closer to downtown.

It was pretty clear why she wanted to move out so fast.

Her grandmother’s friend even. Well, she doesn’t look a day over my age.
I guess it didn’t work out with the firefighter. Too bad.
She also didn’t forget that she needed to pay the bills.
Deanne will make an excellent test subject. I haven’t met a brain more impenetrable.
Erin was the only child left in the house now, and I could see that she was having a hard time with it. It’s hard to be picked on by four older siblings and then suddenly have the run of the house.

I tried to cheer Erin up by piling all three of us into the fire engine and heading out to the fairy gardens to take a tour of the Arboretum.

It didn’t work.

I’d never have thought a tour of fairy houses would be boring, but there you go.

We all went home, and I set about making the stove fireproof. It’s caused us enough trouble, and there’s always the chance that a fire might break out while I’m not around.

Hetal played video games on Erin’s new game console.

Erin did her homework and then hung out in some chat room on her new iTab. I swear, she spends too much time staring at a screen. She misses out on so much of real life! Like beautiful burning fires and kitties.

Speaking of kitties.

I rest my case.

———-

Fires in home: 2 + 1 = 3

Couldn’t go without a fail forever. 🙂

All of the spares are out of the house now.

Also of interest is my post on the Sample blog about Twallan’s resignation: http://sims3sample.blogspot.com/2014/01/it-couldnt-last-forever.html

1.41 A Really Confusing Day

Posted by Echo Weaver on December 30, 2013
Posted in: Gen 1. Tagged: , , , , , . 5 comments

[Erin]

I don’t know if I ever mentioned it, but I have a way with computers. When Caitlin talks about having “Golden Fingers,” she seems to think it has something to do with music. I have the REAL golden fingers. With just a few strokes of my fingers on a computer keyboard, I have any information I want.

By the day after I saw him on Snowflake Day, I knew everything there was to know about William Pierce.

He’d been married for almost as long as my folks to some woman named Beatrice nee Saunders. Apparently, she had quite a reputation amongst vampires, and it wasn’t a good one. I’m not entirely sure what kept them together, but it seemed to work.

But it seems like things had gone south recently.

Which was probably William’s fault. He seemed to have a thing for old witches.

Plus, he had a huge blowout with his son recently and kicked him out of the house.

Wow. It sounds like you’d have to be crazy to be into this guy.
Fortunately, I am certifiably Insane. For real. I took a test at school and everything.
And, hey, he was a Creature of the Night, which meant that he’d keep that young, hard, touchable… ahem, body for a good long time still. That made up for a lot of ills.
I’m pretty good at making people like me. I even made prom queen in school. I felt like destiny was pulling me toward William. Just how hard was I willing to work for some guy who was an asshole by all accounts?

I looked at the greeting card pictures we had up in the hall. My folks have always been crazy about each other. If I was meant for William, I was going to have to burn the fear of witchcraft into him. If he didn’t like the sun, wait till he saw me when he pissed me off.

While I was thinking these deep thoughts, the rest of the family was ignoring me with a rousing game of dominoes.

Deanne things that Hetal needs to beg for a promotion. Hetal says she’d rather blackmail her boss instead.

Peanut tried to figure out where the water was coming from.

I told Bungle what was I feeling while I made breakfast for everyone. Bungle is my best friend of all. He’s the only one I can really talk to. I don’t really care that nobody else thinks he exists.

Bungle kind of thought I was crazy too. There are other fish in the sea, he said. A lot of them are less inclined to cheat on you. I told him that was a mixed metaphor anyway.

He gave up and decided to watch some television. He couldn’t actually turn on the TV, but he said his imagination is enough.

It was a relaxed holiday weekend, and we decided to have some fun in the snow.

Deanne swears she can catch things in that pond, even when it’s frozen over. She may not be a witch, but I think she has some kind of fish magic.

Mum wanted to play tag.

I had nothing better to do, and it got William off my mind for a while.

Then Mama decided she wanted a rousing game of ping pong.

That’s when things started to get nuts.

Mum always had an affinity for the cats, and I think she sensed that they were in distress, even from the other side of the house.

But she couldn’t do anything about it because Mama was having her birthday.

So while Deanne and I said goodbye to dear old Cheshire,

Mama got old.

I think they both felt really guilty about the timing.

The comfort in each other, though.

Deanne took her feelings out on the trash compactor.

The two of them have never gotten along all that well anyway.

I think it was hardest for Dinah, though.

Then when we were just settling down into the depths of despair, Singularity started yowling and making a huge racket!

We ran to her to make sure she was all right, and she popped out a kitten!

So much for my perceptiveness. I didn’t even realize she was pregnant.

This is little Nova. Isn’t she cute?

———-

All that happened in one sim evening. It’s enough to make your head swim!

RIP, Cheshire. He lived a good bit past his lifespan, and he got a good run.

This is the first kitten of the cat legacy Generation 3. I was not happy with her when she was a kitten, but I liked her more as she grew into an adult cat. I’ll see what you think.

1.40 The Real Meaning of Snowflake Day

Posted by Echo Weaver on December 30, 2013
Posted in: Gen 1. Tagged: , , , , , , . 5 comments

[Erin]

Caitlin couldn’t stop talking about this girl she kissed at prom. A girl! She swore she was going to call her as soon as she got home. As far as I know, she never did call her.

We didn’t notice until we got home that Deanne wasn’t with us.

She turned up later looking pretty funny. She said she didn’t want to talk about it.

But, wow, did she make the rest of us want to jump off a cliff.



Maybe the sinking feeling of despair wasn’t her fault, though. My big brother and sister were growing up and moving out.

It’s hard to imagine them gone. The house is going to feel empty without them.

I did my best to smile for their sake. Moving out has to be scary. I’m never going to do it unless Mama and Mum kick me out on my butt.

Deanne didn’t try to so hard to put on a brave face. She can be a real pain sometimes.

And, of course, Mum got called for an emergency right in the middle of cake. She always gets called at the worst possible moment.

Apparently the local gypsies got very confused about what air conditioning was for.

Mum sorted them out.

Deanne and I were kind of ticked at Mum for leaving while we were saying goodbye to Caitlyn and Christof. She swore she’d make it up to everyone. She wanted us to have a real Snowflake Day with the whole family.

I loved the idea. What a great way to get presents!

Caitlyn and Christof were the first ones to arrive. I guess they weren’t so eager to be out on their own after all.

Grandma.

Larry Pierce from school? I thought this was supposed to be a family party!

And Caitlyn’s ex Gustavo Singh?

Who is this, anyway?

Everyone rushed to drop their pitch-in food on the end table in the folks’ room instead of the kitchen counter or the dining table, which are much closer. It seems to be a tradition.

And then HE walked in the door and into my heart forever.


He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. 
Who was this mystery man, and why was he here?
There was magic between us, drawing us together. I was just sure he could feel it.

Then Mum breeze by. “Erin!” she said. “Did you clean your room like I told you? I invited a few more people to the party. I’m sure nobody minds. Have you met William Pierce? He’s an old friend from the fire station. You might have met him before. He’s your little friend Larry’s daddy.”

Oh.

Thanks, Mum, you just told my cosmic soulmate that I’m still a teenager. You just ruined my life.

I don’t think William Pierce — isn’t that a beautiful name? So sensual! — was even listening. Deanne was doing that thing she does again.



Then we got down to the important stuff — the swag.

I got exactly what I wanted!

I just know William must have given it to me! Or, well, it might have been Mama and Mum, but I bet he knew what I was getting anyway.

I tried to meet his eyes when I thanked everyone for my game console.

But then this lady, Dawn Saunders, had to make everything about HER. Apparently she just split with her husband or something. Some people are just drama queens.

Branden got a chemistry set. He was very sweet about it.

HE just sat in the back, cool as a cucumber, and watched everyone giggling and unwrapping.

Mum got a chess set.

She said she’d really rather have something sporty.

William mocked her for being all old and saggy. Sure, he was kind of an asshole, but he was so eloquent about it.

I think he got something arty. He seemed to like it.

I know who bought Mama’s gift.



Grandma got coal!

Whose bright idea was that? Certainly not mine. She’s so old that the shock could induce cardiac arrest or something.


When we were done with the important stuff, Caitlin told everyone about her new job. She certainly looked great.

She was really into music, so I didn’t expect her to get a job as a corporate drone. But you just never know what makes people tick sometimes.

I’m certainly not going to get a job with The Man. I’m going to be my own boss.
At any rate, the party ran late because we wanted to maximize our family time. But I have to admit that after William left, I found it hard to pay much attention. Visions of his amazing face, not to mention his amazing chest, kept fluttering through my mind.

When everyone was left and Deanne had given us all a break by taking her tragic clown butt to bed, I really wanted to try out my new Adventure Time game console.

But my folks wanted to try out Mama’s present.

I locked myself in my room before they could get really gross.

I’m sure that seeing them together will land me in therapy later in life as it is.

———-
And then there were four. 
I don’t know if Erin will get another perspective post before she takes over, but this was too good to miss. BTW, I used her free action to throw a friendship potion at William. It would be terribly annoying if she didn’t know him to invite him over when she inherited the ISBI.
Caitlin rolled the Golden Tongue, Golden Fingers LTW and she got an A in school, so I gave her Virtuoso. She immediately got a job in business, and I’ve seen no evidence that she’s ever even learned Guitar.
Christof became an athlete, which I think will surprise no one.
I replaced the game console that Erin received from the Gift Giving Party with the Adventure Time console created by Anubis Under the Sun. That thing is adorable.
This was my first Gift Giving Party, and it was pretty cute. Though some people went through the gift opening animation twice. I guess that interaction just keeps going until you stop it or everyone leaves.

1.39 A Night to Remember

Posted by Echo Weaver on December 21, 2013
Posted in: Gen 1. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 8 comments

Christof was the man of the house these days. Well, the only man in the house anyway. I think sometimes it made him a little lonely.

The kitties tried to make sure he felt appreciated. They’re so empathic sometimes.

He was also working harder in school.

Hetal was trying out new recipes. She called this one “Stu Surprise.” We knew better than to ask what the surprise was.

Our kitties continued to be sweet together.



Deanne was really into playing in the snow. She came up with some…. interesting…. snow sculptures.

Sometimes she really didn’t seem to like her work, though.

Hetal decided to run for City Council. She started spending time campaigning around town, including giving speeches at the school.


And guess what? She was elected!! There was plenty of nectar passed around the house that night!

Erin decided to make friends with an honors student in hopes of improving her grades. She decided to take the easy way and used a potion someone sent us in the mail.

This girl, Meredith immediately really liked her.

But it turned out that they didn’t have a lot to talk about.

Oh, and here’s William Pierce’s son Larry, who is kind of a creeper.

I came home from work to take a much needed shower.

And it had an unexpected effect.

Huh. Too bad it washes out. I could get used to this.

I figured out what to do with all those stones I collected that turned to not be rainbow gems. This could be come quite a side business.

And then it was time for another party! Erin was growing up, plus we had Hetal’s election to celebrate.

My littlest girl turned out lovely, don’t you think?

Hetal was so happy to see Erin grow up. I’ve never seen her so content.

Right after we finished our cake, a limousine pulled up in front of the house. It turns out Christof had rented it. It was time for prom!

Hetal and I were left with no kids for an entire evening. You can guess what we were doing.
———-
LTW: 0 + 1 = 1
Woot! Finally some points! And a lot of them, as I recall. Though I’m sure we’re still in the negative after all those fails. I’ll try doing a tally when Erin takes over.
I used Erin’s childhood action to use a friendship potion to get an opportunity for school, and I aged her up just a little bit early so that they could all go to prom together :).
Caitlin returned from prom with a female love interest named Mona, but nothing became of it after she moved out. I guess it was just a single golden moment. 🙂

1.38 Hooky in Reverse

Posted by Echo Weaver on December 20, 2013
Posted in: Gen 1. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Peanut and Singularity were getting along just swell these days. You’d think they were brother and sister! Or, well, something.

Christof started his day cleaning up after the bathtub that had been broken for three days. He’s such a responsible boy.

Maybe I should fix the bathtub.

Hetal made breakfast.

But then her carpool showed up, so left everything out on the counter and dashed out to work complaining about how hungry she was. We had a fridge full of leftovers she could have eaten instead.

The kids all caught the school bus.

And then everyone was gone, leaving their breakfast mess behind them.

I swear. The things I won’t do for this family.

Just as I’d finished loading the dishwasher, Erin showed up back at home.

“Why aren’t you at school, you lady??” I demanded.

Erin grinned. “There’s no school!” she said. “It’s a snow day!”

“Wait, didn’t you leave on the bus?” I asked.
“Yeah, and the school was closed when we got there. And I had to come home on my broom. Pretty lame.”
“Then where are your brother and sisters?”
Erin shrugged. “Still there I guess.”
And they were.

Apparently, they played in the school yard all day, then took the bus back home.

It was like hooky in reverse — going to school when you’re not supposed to instead of ditching it when you are.

Peanut had a nice snooze under the snow.

Just as the teens got home from “school,” my home fire alarm went off.

I dashed off to do my duty as a hero.

And what do you know? It was Jules MacDuff. Haven’t heard from him in a while.

I think he’s MacDuff-Slymer or something now. He married that ghost who has been stalking Chauncey for her whole unlife.

This fire was a big spectacle. Everyone on the block came over to freak out.

Saving Jules’s life was very satisfying.

Though when I asked him to leave, he decided to just stay and play foosball while I saved the rest of the house. He has a lot of confidence in me, considering what an ass he was to my wife. I’m sure that’s all water under the bridge at this point in our lives. SURE.

The bedroom was really cramped. It was hard to find a place where I could really swing my ax. It’s a good thing I didn’t care what I did to his furniture.

With the fire extinguished and everyone saved yet again, I headed outside to address my adoring fans.

They all started to hoot and wave noisemakers at me. It was so nice to be loved.

And then a strange feeling overcame me….

And I got old.

I could have picked a better place to do that than the front steps of my wife’s ex-boyfriend’s house.

Ah well. What’s done is done. I headed home to show the new me to the most important person in my life.

Hetal didn’t seem to mind at all.

She let me know I was just as sexy to her as ever.

In the best way possible.

It really is nice to be loved.

———-

I have got to start posting again because Erin has already taken over in gameplay and is about to have her first kid!!

It appears that kids always leave on the bus on a snow day. Way to defeat the purpose of a snow day. I think I will consider it legal in the future to cancel that action.

I was kind of misty-eyed about this one because it signals the beginning of the end for Allison. She’s been a lot of fun.

I rather liked the blue flower hair she aged into. It seemed kind of appropriate. But I finally decide she had to have her old hair back and changed in when I gave her a makeover.