Pleasantview Prosperity

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Getting Crowded

Parry House, week 2: Violet, Bevan, Sam, Amin, Randy, Vince, Edith, Chris, Cai, and Gretchen! (But not all at once.)


Violet's boys began to grow up. First there was Sam, who followed in his big brother's footsteps to become a knowledge sim.


Amin was more interested in having lots of friends. Here he is with one of them, a downtownie girl named Edith Midlock, who celebrated her birthday at the Parry house. Immediately afterwards the three of them departed for college.


Cai started school. Here he is with his uncle Vince.


Randy still thinks family is the most important thing in the world - just like when he used to run away to look for his little brother.


Not so little any more, it seems. Vince is a fortune sim. The girl in the doorway is Chris, and the one who just grew up is Gretchen - they're the girls Violet adopted this round.


While working on his body skills, Bevan mysteriously disappeared - only to reappear a few hours later. We know what that means...




Grew up: Sam, knowledge, LTW max all skills, turn-ons stink and vampirism, turn-off grey hair
Amin, popularity, LTW Mayor, turn-ons formal wear and brown hair, turn-off make-up
Randy, family, LTW Captain Hero, turn-ons black hair and fatness, turn-off brown hair
Vince, fortune, LTW earn 100,000, turn-ons fatness and custom hair, turn-off cologne
Adopted: Chris, Aries, 5/8/6/3/3
Gretchen, Scorpio, 6/5/8/3/3


Edith Midlock, Taurus, 5/5/3/8/4, knowledge, LTW Chief of Staff, turn-ons stink and fullface make-up, turn-off swimwear

Lilith's Revenge

Pleasant House, week 2: Daniel, Mary-Sue, and Corinne


Arriving home from work one day, Daniel was surprised to find that a big package had been delivered to his home - from Lilith, of all people. "Dear Mom and Dad," the note attached to it read, "this is the only way I know how to thank you for everything you've done for me while I was growing up. Please accept it in the spirit in which it was given. Your daughter, Lilith."

Filled with curiosity, Daniel opened the package, muttering that it was about time that wench showed some gratitude. After admiring the machine inside for a while, he decided to try it out.


"Oh, wow! This thing is amazing! I have to tell Mary-Sue!"


After quite a bit of nagging from her husband - he seemed somehow different now - she too agreed to give it a try.


How come they had never before realized what life was really about? All that time wasted pursuing money or romance - when they could have been eating wonderful, delicious, incredible grilled cheese sandwiches! Well, they'd make up for it from now on...


They were so busy chowing down, they barely noticed when their youngest daughter Corinne grew into a child. Here she is, talking to Kennedy Broke. Hmm, they seem to be getting along well...


Guess he stayed for dinner. Uh, Daniel, not sure you're the one to talk to impressionable kids about marriage - even if you are reformed now.



Grew up: Corinne, Pisces, 6/3/7/2/8
Orbed: Daniel and Mary-Sue, both Grilled Cheese, LTW Eat 200 GCS

Daniel: Reached top of first career, Hall of Famer

Aunt Mom And Uncle Dad

Caliente House, week 2: Dina, Griff, Tina and Drake



Dina and Griff had their hands full raising two kids - their own son, and Nina's daughter. No sooner was one of them ready for a nap, than the other was clamoring for a bottle, or a change, or a snuggle. Fortunately Griff's job as a Professional Party Guest meant he could be home with the little ones all day while Dina went to work, so he put of his dream of a career in medicine until the kids were a little older.


Despite the inevitable strain of never really having any time to themselves, they were still very much in love.


Drake and Tina were good little kids for the most part, playing nicely together. Soon enough it was time for them to start school.


"I'm all grown up now, not a little baby anymore," Tina informs her birth mother over the phone...


.. and shortly afterwards Nina shows up for a visit. She and Tina stay in touch and remain friends, although it isn't your typical mother-daughter relationship.


Drake is more interested in being friends with Vince Parry, the neighbor from across the street.


Sunday brunch with the family.


Grew up: Tina Caliente, Scorpio, 8/5/9/2/3
Drake Fancey, Capricorn, 10/6/4/8/6

Growing Family

Goth House, week 2: Cassandra, Mitch, Alexander, Daphne, Jason and Hector


Mitch embarked on a career in law enforcement. Makes sense for a former fireman, I suppose.


Alexander finally came to terms with the fact that he prefers boys, and asked Alon Livingston to go steady. They're very cute together! Sadly, though, Alexander is ready to leave for college - and Alon isn't going.


Cassandra gave birth to Jason...


... who soon became a very active toddler, constantly up to some kind of mischief or other.


By the time she and Mitch actually made it to the wedding arch, Cassandra was already pregnant again.


Her daughter with Don, Daphne, grew into a pretty little girl. Unfortunately, she's every bit as sloppy as her father - in fact, her personality matches his perfectly.


She also has a knack for asking awkward questions. "Mom, if you and my daddy loved each other when you made me, how come you're married to Mitch? Do you love him more than my daddy? Do you love Jason more than me because Mitch is his daddy?"


Then came Hector, the first baby born with the Larrea name. He looks so much like Jason as a toddler, the only way I could tell them apart is by who's holding them at the birthday. They even wore the same clothes. Aren't the Goths rich enough that there's no need for hand-me-downs?


"Congratulations on growing up well, son!" Jason is now a child, and ready to start school. Cassandra is - wait for it - pregnant again.


Born: Jason Goth, child, Sagittarius, 8/4/10/10/3
Hector Larrea, toddler, Gemini, 6/7/10/5/4

The Don

Lothario House, week 2: Don


Aside from formally breaking up with Cassandra, not much out of the ordinary happened to Don this week. He earned promotions at work (getting logic points from the telescope, and cleaning points from dates, so all he had to actually study was mechanical)...


... made some new friends...


... went on some dates (staying clear of community lots!)...


...and stargazed all night long.


What would you expect two romance sims to talk about?

Love And Marriage

Dreamer House, week 2: Darren and his wives



Darren married Angharad Parry. With Dirk gone off to college, the two of them had the house all to themselves, and they were quietly happy.


Angharad tooh up Darren's interest in painting, and soon became even better at it than he was. Meanwhile, Darren decided he needed to find a better way of providing for his bride - she was a fortune sim, after all - and got a job in the medical field.


First bump in the road came when Darren met and became friends with Count Vincent Fleig... Angharad was less than thrilled to suddenly find herself married to a vampire.


Someone else who was less than thrilled was Darren's first wife, Darleen. She constantly haunted the house, and finally managed to catch Angharad at the wrong time. Or perhaps the right time, from Darleen's point of view.


Darren was heartbroken that his second wife had been so cruelly slain by his first wife...


But not so heartbroken he didn't soon find himself a third. Brandi Broke had also lost a first spouse to a terrible accident, then married someone much older and lost that second spouse, too. Their sons were at college together. It seemed like a perfect match. (And as soon as she changed her hairstyle, they went from two to three bolts.)


Brandi brought along her three younger kids - leaving her teenage boys to mind the old house until big brother Dustin graduated - and the happy couple looked forward to wedded bliss, even talking about having more children together.



Darren braves the light of day to mourn Angharad.

Sunday, April 30, 2006

No Longer Broke

Broke House, week 2: Brandi, Beau, Marlon, Mortimer, and four new little ones


Brandi: Things can change real fast sometimes, you know. I mean, there I was, struggling to raise three boys on my own. Then I met Mortimer, and everything seemed to happen all at once. I got pregnant. Dustin, my oldest, went off to college. Mortimer moved in. We adopted Kennedy - well, technically I did, since I started the whole process before Mortimer had joined the family, but Morty always treated Kennedy like his own. He did with all my kids.


And then we were married. It was just a quiet exchange of vows - well, maybe not so quiet, with kids playing all around us - but just him and me, promising to love and honor each other as long as we both should live.

Of course, we knew from the very beginning that that wasn't going to be very long, the "we both shall live" part, I mean. Mortimer was old, a grandfather already - his daughter isn't much younger than me! But to us, that just meant we had to make the most of the time that we did have together. The two of us, and the kids.


I think Marlon was the one of my boys who was happiest about the wedding. He never knew his own father, poor thing, since Skip died before he was born. He took to Morty right away, hanging on his every word. And Morty always seemed to have time for him, and patience.

You need patience with Marlon, see. He's not always the best behaved little sim. Things were so stressful when he was a baby, I guess I didn't know how to give him what he needed. Dustin was a great help, but with him gone off to college... Well, Marlon could use a good father figure, someone to help take off some of his rougher edges.


Beau is a teenager now, as hard as that is to imagine. To my great despair, his only goal in life seems to be to romance as many young girls as possible. I ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, and he says an athlete, "Because they get all the girls." If I didn't know better, I'd swear he was switched at birth!

Or if not at birth, then maybe when those aliens came and got him. Picked him right off our front yard, they did, when he was looking at the stars through Morty's fancy telescope. It was hours before their spaceship came back and spit him out onto the street in front of the house. Who knows what they did to him while they had him!


Well, marrying Morty meant I no longer had to pinch pennies. He left most of his money with his kids, but brought enough with him that we could add a second floor to the house! The whole upstairs is pretty much one big master suite, with bedroom, sitting room, nursery and bathroom. We tore out Dustin's old bedroom downstairs, to expand the kitchen, and added a new bedroom for the boys. We haven't furnished it all yet, but I figure that'll happen of itself over time.


I've made friends with a neighbor of ours, too. Well, I guess Darren does live a couple blocks away, but his boy Dirk is at college with Dustin, and is dating the other Pleasant girl, so we do have a lot in common. He lost his first wife, Darleen, and is now in love with someone a lot older than him, so he knows what that's like, too... We talk a lot. I really like him.


The baby was born, and it's another boy! Am I only ever going to have boys? It's not that I don't love them, of course, but I've been hoping for a little girl... We named him Harrison, Harrison Goth. I think that name has style, don't you? Dustin was always complaining about his name, and now Beau and Marlon are, but I like their names! What's wrong with sharing a name with a movie star? I didn't choose Kennedy's name, of course, but I still think it's so classy!


After Harrison was born, Mortimer suggested that we adopt another child - a girl, this time. Oh, I adore him! He's so good to me! He called the social worker and everything, and of course they weren't going to say no to Mortimer Goth! I made sure to thank him that night...

So of course by the time Chris arrived, I was pretty sure I was pregnant again.


Mortimer just adores being a father again. He says he was always working when his older kids were small, and that it's great to be able to spend so much time with Harrison, Chris and the boys. Oh, he still goes off to bury his nose in a book now and then, but he says he's pretty much learned all he needs to, and from now on his focus is going to be on the children. He knows he doesn't have forever.


What a night! What a night! On the one hand, giving birth to little Sylvester... On the other, losing my beloved Mortimer! I'm happy and miserable, all at the same time!


But I can't spend all my time crying, you know? I have kids to take care of, growing kids. We had a whole lot of birthdays at once. There was Harrison...


And Kennedy...


And Marlon!



Grew up: Beau, romance, turn-ons fullface make-up and glasses, turn-off custom hair, LTW Hall of Famer
Marlon, popularity, turn-ons cologne and custom hair, turn-off brown hair, LTW Hall of Famer
Adopted and grew up: Kennedy, teen, pleasure, Pisces, 5/3/7/3/7, turn-ons hats and vampirism, turn-off swimwear, LTW Celebrity Chef
Adopted: Chris, child, Aries, 5/8/6/3/3
Born: Harrison, child, Taurus, 8/6/4/6/4
Sylvester, baby

Mortimer: Fulfilled (CAS elder) impossible and LTW, max all skills. Died in platinum.



"You're a romance sim?!?"