AndrewGloria, at your service

Zacharias


Demi

Silence Falls 2.0; My four families are still lodged comfortably in a small apartment block overlooking the ocean. Its Winter and the lap pool in the common yard has caused some problems - everyone goes swimming in it despite the thick snow on the ground. I freak out when they come out blue. I can use sim blender to reset temperature, but for some reason this doesn't correct the kidlets, so there's always at least one kid running about coughing and looking terrible.
Gerard had to pay off neighbour David, so he would stop harassing him. I didn't even notice what David was doing, maybe stealing the paper, but the option was there so I had him do it. Gerard is unaware that wife Veronica has been madly flirting with David while he's at work, but to her credit she hasn't cheated yet. But in other ways she has reverted to her usual personality, which is somewhat unpleasant. When she throws a football with William in the backyard she throws it too hard, hurting his hand! She has taken on a psychotic dislike of David's wife Meredith, slapping her in the common yard with no provocation. When the family funds dwindled to 160simols, leaving them short of rent, she waited until her family had left for work/school and stood out on the pavement, waiting for the first townie that came along. His name was Juan, and she lured him inside. She spent most of the day moving him in, emptying his inventory and chasing him about with the simvac until she got too cold and locked him out in the snow. When her family came home she kept them inside for the rest of the day, to hide what she was doing, and plying them with food and the new games she had bought, before going to bed early, tired out. Poor Juan lay mostly hidden in the snow, unseen by other sims who moved about the yard during the evening, chatting and joking between quick dips in the freezing pool. I wish pools would freeze over in Winter, like ponds. For her efforts Veronica added almost 19,000s to the family funds through her day's work.
The Burberry family are much more stable; John and Jules work hard at their career's and little Lucy works hard at throwing water bombs at everyone and building so many snowmen in the yard that people can't move around properly. Mr Bigglesworth the cat has a career in showbiz, but otherwise stay indoors, batting his toys and snoozing on beds. On weekends the obedience trainer comes around and tries to teach him new tricks between his naps. The Burberry's are looking forward to moving out of the apartment and into a little house of their own.
The Prescott family on the other hand are less than happy. David is a selfish git who's career in sport has always sucked up the attention. Now that he's no longer a star and has gone into coaching Meredith has finally done something for herself and gone into politics. David's reaction is to largely ignore her. Meredith no longer seems to care much for him, and I suspect she's aware of his flirting with Veronica. She's very much focused on her career and making new friends in the apartment, so the poor twins, Angelina and Lilly, are kind of ignored by both of them. They've grown very close to each other and often wander into the other apartments in the evenings to watch telly and eat with the other family's. I'm going to give them a dog, because I feel bad for them.
The Mornington's, my long suffering favourite family, insist that this time I let the kids grow up and go into college at the very least before I scrap my hood and start again. I've promised to try. Evelyn is working again in journalism, Michael in medicine. Evelyn has yet to start her writing career; I want her to reach the level of investigative journalist before she does that. Crammed into a two bedroom place with two kids, Xavier and Samantha, and Ollie the dog, they are desperate to move out, and would like to buy a rundown farmhouse in the rural part of Silence, where they can keep chickens and horse's and grow organic vegetables.

Old people's home
Dunya functions well in the hospital and is now a doctors assistant. Thanks to the oldies, who jostle each other in wanting to take care of the youngsters, she was able to keep up with the studies and the workhours. Dunya doesn't see it as interference of them. It was good for her. Then she had a chance to withdrew into herself after work and think about what Darim might do, what her future should bring and divorcing Darim. She has to take care that she doesn't lose sight of Hana, though. She does get overlooked sometimes by her mother and everybody else. Only Cujo seems to notice her enough. He sometimes comes to her for attention.
Chelsea told Dunya about the earlier call of her mother-in-law. Dunya called Hanifa back, they talked it through and Dunya agreed to meet Hanifa at the old people's home to see her grandchildren. As long as she didn't bring Darim or told him they were there. This was really important. If Hanifa wouldn't stick to these 'rules', Dunya could not go on with these visiting hours. Hanifa surely agreed. She was very excited to finally see her grandchildren. Darim is her son and she loves him very much, but she also blames him for keeping her from her grandchildren and what he did to her daughter-in-law and her children. She wasn't willing to jeopardize building a relationship with her grandchildren. Darim was in the fault here and she wasn't enabling him in terrorizing Dunya and kids.
Hanifa had joyfull times during her visit. Hana told her a joke and asked her for a ball play session. She also met with her two grandsons. The youngest grew up as a toddler while she was there. He asked her for attention, but when she wanted to pick him up he rejected. He didn't want that closeness from that strange woman he never saw before. Hanifa stayed as long as she could and went home a very happy woman.

Butter, former Ben Magee's now Chelsea's cat, got into a big fight with a neighborhood stray, Moonshine. Amin Zamorano saw it, called Butter over to scold her for being hostile and fighting. Later he felt bad. What if Butter would run off? Then it would be his fault. He seems more aware of his own role in things. What he does can have more severe consequences he could have foreseen beforehand. The situation around Dunya had made him wary and insecure.

No sign of Darim, but somehow that felt more threatening than hearing him rant on the phone or demand Dunya had to come back. The oldies tried to keep him calm on the phone and also tried to convince him she wasn't even there, but he wasn't buying their stories. It was too quiet on that side. The calm before the storm?

Oldie Victoria Haydon doesn't seem to feel her bladder anymore as well as she used to. Twice in a two day rotation she peed her pants. Unfortunate inconvenience when getting old. Incontinence is around the corner then. She and the others still have time left in the winter of their lives, but soon we will have some new pass aways.

Last edited by mirjamsim2love : 16th May 2013 at 01:31 PM. Reason: I noticed later still some Dutch words were in *grin*

The Ramirez house gave me a very annoying time with Tessa's hair -- it got this weird transparency glitch where the edge of the mesh was transparent, making parts of her head see-through. I finally got rid of it by sending her to her first day of private school in a dragon-costume head and face-paint, then changing to normal hair again when she got home, but when she changed into her underwear to go to bed at the end of the day, the glitch was back...well, maybe it'll go away by itself? (These things really, really, really annoy me!)

Otherwise, the day was uneventful, with the adults resting in expectation of a big party tomorrow, and Estella proving that she too jumps on the counter to eat food from it...even when Lisa was right next to her, washing the dishes! Also, despite Checo's mockery, Lisa insisted that being a housewife and helping at the shop was not enough for her -- she found a job opening as an EMT, and she wasn't going to turn down a chance at a job in the field of her dreams.

~

Florence Delarosa made a lot of money off the shop, and got the LeTourneau Prize just to help out a bit when she got to rank 2. She also met a wolf named Alabama, and spent the end of her evening happily playing fetch with said wolf in the snow on her patio. Yes, she's odd...

~

The Jacquets managed to take advantage of the holiday to sell a few things at the bakery, but the viability of the business was undermined by Gilbert's instance on hiring both his lovers when the townie girl quit. Florence, having gotten a bronze cashier badge from her shop, became the new cashier, while the townie who'd gotten his first WooHoo became the cleaner. This led to a great deal more money being spent than was being made, and then the rank somehow fell to -1... Good thing Denise got a nice little promotion in her Criminal job.

~

I'm due for a backup and a HoodChecker run, but I wanted to get the Ottomas babies born and whatever might come of Consort Capp's attempt to kill Bianca Monty dealt with before making the backup...so SimCity Hospital was the first lot to welcome Winter Day.

Bianca was alive and showing no ill effects from the stabbing and shooting -- of course that wouldn't do at all for drama and storyline purposes! I quickly got Circe dressed in her own clothes and moved out and back home, moved in Samantha Ottomas, and got Bianca a few nice little facial wounds I'd downloaded that could feasibly heal into scars that I've also downloaded.

At this point the "real" storyline commenced. Bianca spent Winter Day unconscious and in and out of surgery (i.e. I made her bed one of the patient beds, and made her stay in it every moment I could, asleep most of it and daydreaming otherwise). Her immediate family, her Capp acquaintances, and the Summerdream-Gossamers were all being questioned by the police, and Officer Erin Beaker was standing guard outside Bianca's room at the hospital. Antonio Monty, though unable to come himself due to the aforementioned police entanglement, got Father Laurence Stratford to come and see to his sister. This led to serious and rather arbitrary friction between Laurence and Erin -- Laurence was very upset by what was happening, and confused as to why such nice people would feud so horribly; Erin, though she didn't want to show it, was badly shaken by what had befallen the doctor who so recently had helped her sister-in-law through the rocky start to her pregnancy. This led to Erin screaming at Laurence to shut up about how sensationalist the news coverage of the attack was when they both ended up parked in front of the same waiting-room TV during one of Bianca's surgeries (or rather, when they wandered off and ended up there together ). You can tell she's a Beaker...

Meanwhile, Samantha gave birth to twins Anna and Adam in the maternity ward hallway, just steps from her room -- at least both the Doctors Larson were there to help, although Jodi wished Bianca had been there. And outside, as Ajay Loner (he's the chief surgeon) built a snowman to try to let off the confused emotions of having had to work on his friend, a sneaky-looking figure pondered how good the security the SCPD was putting on the hospital was...yes, Consort chose that moment to do a very sinister-looking walkby.

Bianca woke just before dawn next morning. The first thing she saw was the vase of daisies on the nearest flat surface. The next was the equipment surrounding her bed. The third was the sleepy-looking, scared-looking priest sitting on the uncomfortable, institutional couch facing her bed. "I was in bad enough shape they sent you? How many of my family is dead by now? Or locked up?" Those were the words she croaked out of her dry throat. She knew her family.

((I'm sorry about the dramatics in the last part! I just couldn't help myself...and this is exactly the instance of civil blood making civil hands unclean to get Escalus Prince to try to stop the feud, making matters worse.))

Cavanah-Tjing house
When Brody invited Rowan Dumitru over, and just when he arrived, Darim Akbari came walking through his street. Brody saw him and gave Darim attitude. Besides what he did to Dunya, he also didn't trust him there. His sister Bailey lived across the street and it happened before that Darim tried to seduce Bailey. It could happen again! He doesn't know yet he is too late to prevend anything.
Darim has been suspicious of Brody for a long time now too. He thinks Brody will go after Dunya and claim her for himself. Suddenly he thought the smug face of Brody meant Dunya was there in Brody's house! Darim took a run for the door and entered the house.
He knew he had little time before Brody would catch up with him, so while he hurried for the stairs he quickly looked around, but didn't see anyone. Maybe she was in his bedroom! He ran up the stairs and encountered Rowan and Tessa. Dunya wasn't there after all. Hm, maybe this had been a stupid idea. Then Brody was upstairs too. This could get ugly..

Tessa wasn't happy with Darim there. She heard the stories about him and knows what he looks like. She got on a high horse asking what the hell he was doing here! How did he get in, passed Brody. Did Darim do something to Brody. Well? Then she saw Brody got upstairs too and looked fine. Before he could say or do anything, Darim had started irritating Tessa, who cried about it. Brody got really mad and hit Darim in the face. He felt good about that, by the look on his face after. Darim wouldn't be Darim to nót doing anything also, to return the favor. He hit back, hard. Brody didn't know how to react to that for a second or two. It didn't take him longer to attack Darim and get entangled in a fight with him. Darim clearly had the upper hand. Tessa thought it was pitiable for Brody and scoffed at Darim. She didn't like him at all. Darim attacked her for it. Rowan didn't know where to go and how to act. He ran to the balcony, came back and ran to another corner of the bedroom. Mán, what a dangerous mess here! Was he even safe himself here? He took off. Just to be on the safe side.

Brody was through with Darim completely. Beating up women too? That was a new low in Darim's life. Tessa might have kicked Darim's ass, serves Darim well, but that kind of thing you just did nót do. Especially not to his girlfriend in théir house. Therefor Brody fought with Darim again and this time beat him. Darim was done and beat a retreat after his humiliating defeat. Brody waved him good-bye rejoicefully. He added in a sarcastically tone: 'Bye, Bye!'.

The next day Brody and Tessa had other things on their mind. Their new to start business. They bought a piece of land for their 'Ca-Tj-I-Net Cafe'. The name is explainable. 'Ca' stands for Cavanah. Brody's last name. 'Tj' stands for Tjing. Tessa's last name. The sound of CaTjiN(g) stands for Kaching. The money that has to come rolling in, but that mustn't be too obvious for the customers. Therefor they left out the G. I-net, ofcourse, stands for internet. It will take some time before they will have it up and running. They will keep working on their business contracts as freelancers. They need the money and can't get out of the contracts yet anyway. Brody would like to have a child, but at the moment they will have their hands full with their internetcafe.
When they got back from their owned land, they saw Faustin walk by. They had heard his mother passed away, because Brody is friends with Fabienne, one of Faustin's sisters. They wanted to give him condolances and invite him in to be friendly. Brody had 'a talk' with Faustin to cheer him up a bit and that certainly helped. Then one of Rowan's sons showed up. Briar Dumitru. Both teenage boys got invited to eat the hamburgers Tessa had made. Her cooking wasn't something to write home about it, so to speak, so they all trifled with their food. It was the idea behind it that counted.
The last day of the rotation they went to their property to oversee the renovation development. Ca-Tj-I-Net Cafe isn't ready for opening yet.

It's been too long!! Been busy revising for my exams Anyways, I've played more I think, than I have typed up besides simple notes from a particular game session. Anywhoo...

5.5.13

Don Lothario’s traits: Athletic, Great Kisser, Handy, Adventurous, Loves the outdoors
Dina Lothario’s traits: Genius, Savvy, Ambitious, Loves Fashion, Loves the Heat

Don was promoted to Resident and Dina was promoted to Executive respectively and thanks to Christy, Dina was quickly moving up the corporate ladder and the people at Sim Nation were finally starting to trust Dina with the bigger projects… and bigger budgets. As for Don, well although his promotion meant he would have to work the night shift he knew it wouldn’t be too long before he finally got his own proper office at the Hospital.

Dina upon returning from work got a phone call from her estate agent whom she had hired (instead of finding a place herself) to find her and Don a new home maybe in the city or in Pleasantview, so that they could finally start their life together properly. Well it seemed that her agent came through, with a huge house on Sim Lane, with dark wooden floors and at least 4 bedrooms. Dina decided that she was going to get an extra 10,000 loan so that they could buy the house and so later that night when Don returned home they packed up their things and moved homes.

While Dina quickly went to work that morning, it was left to Don to unpack and move everything into its right place. Afterwards, Don decided to invite Addie English over for brunch and Kennedy Grove was the only member of the welcoming party, so Don decided to invite him into their new home for some lunch.

Dina brought home Gordon Wolosenko from Sim Nation, same guy Allegra had woohoo with…small world right (no pun intended), and they networked and had some drinks over brunch, while Dina talked about the current affairs (yes as in relationship affairs) that were happening at the office. Oh Dina you gossip.

---

Daniel Pleasant’s traits: Athletic, family orientated, Charismatic, loves the outdoors, hopeless romantic,
Kaylynn Pleasant’s traits: Natural Cook, loves the indoors, protective, nurturing, family orientated,
Angela Pleasant’s traits: flirty, diva, dramatic…
(I decided to not give Carol any traits as her time is coming to an end soon, therefore I did not see the point.)

She’s cried herself to sleep every night since Herb’s death. Poor Carol Oldie, in the 50 years that she has been Mrs. Oldie not once did she truly think she’ll be alone in her golden years. Herb and Carol hadn’t had the chance to celebrate their wedding anniversary which was going to be held on the first day of autumn.

Now Carol is unsure of what she wants to do now? Daniel and Kaylynn are currently happy with their growing family, and with Lilith living with Dustin’s family and Angela having finally gone off to University…Carol believed she wasn’t needed. She knew that her mood was affecting the happy mood in the rest of the house; she knew that Kaylynn had approached Daniel about maybe asking Carol to move out so that they could use her room as another nursery for another potential baby in the future. Yet if Daniel did in fact ask her to move out, where would she go? To an elderly home? Alone?

While Carol was thinking about what she was going to do with the remainder of her life, Angela was also making a new start in life as she had gotten an early entrance into Sim State University by applying to the Sorority. After Angela called Heather to tell her the news about the University accepting her application, it was time to pack up her things and of course buy more clothes and new make up for University.

Daniel stayed by the door as Kaylynn and Angela were packing up her things for University…Daniel had not felt so proud of his little girl so much until now. He was glad that Angela hadn’t followed the path that Lilith had taken and was going to make something of herself rather than just be some teenage mother with no qualifications. How was Lilith going to make something of herself if she wasn’t going to get further qualifications?

Daniel breathed and took a moment to pause, he said to himself that he wouldn’t let his disappointment on how Lilith turned out affect the way he felt about Angela. He was just going to enjoy this moment and be thankful that at least one of his daughters turned out okay. With her last things all packed up, Angela said buy to her baby brother and to Kaylynn. Daniel grabbed his keys and off they went for the 8 hour drive to Sim State so that Angela could finally begin a new life on campus.
…

Early that day while Daniel had been at work he had bumped into none other than Nolan Baxter (the new NFL player that not a lot of people knew), this might have been due to the fact that no one really liked him and everyone was surprised that he had made the team during the summer transfers…well that was Daniel’s opinion. But when Nolan came up to him and they started talking about sports and their favourite teams, Daniel realised that he wasn’t a bad kid. Of course Daniel couldn’t help asking whether it was true about him and a certain Cass Goth, yes he had heard the rumours about Nolan getting Cass Goth pregnant. Heck most of Pleasantview knew except maybe Mortimer. Daniel decided to invite Nolan back for some dinner, and Nolan talked to Daniel about his feelings about Cass’s pregnancy over dinner that night.

Kaylynn had gotten promoted to Midwife Apprentice at the hospital, and for the first time in her career she was help with the state of her career. She was learning so much on the job that Kaylynn realised that maybe she would need to take some night classes to boost her chances of getting further up the career ladder. Later that night after Nolan had left and before Daniel took Angela off to Sim State, Kaylynn and Daniel managed to have a few hours alone and decided to try for another baby so that the house could be full again now that Angela was leaving and soon Carol could be leaving. Daniel and Kaylynn tried for a baby (ACR) and now it seems Kaylynn is pregnant with their second child.

Consort Capp indulged in a ridiculous piece of petty crime: he stole the Corntons' Saturday morning paper. There were no less than 5 teen boys in the front garden when he did it, and they all pointed at him in unison! At his age, he really should know better!

I never thought of phoning the police until now. There certainly were plenty of witnesses. But they'd probably have taken his word as a respectable businessman, and fined the boys for wasting police time! Since Julian Moltke got fined for phoning for the Fire Brigade when he really thought his dad was going to burn to death, the Veronaville teens don't have much faith in their emergency services!

I got that backup and HoodChecker run done, so here's more drama...

Father Laurence Stratford had been dreading three Christmas sermons in one day, but events of the moment made him forget his fear; he tossed his tame, tidiness-encouraging sermons in the bin as he marched off to SimCity Cathedral, fire and brimstone swirling through his mind. He was going to take a stand with a great sermon about how spilling the blood of innocents would not go unpunished, and that was only going to be the preparation for an even better one in Veronaville...

Bad idea. Some bored townies stood around watching the first sermon, but they seemed more interested in getting out of the cold and buying candles than listening to Laurence. He knew things were getting bad when he had to chase a Contessa out of the vestry -- not that he personally thought she had any less right than anyone else to use the bowling alley a previous priest had had installed there, but he had to keep up some sort of appearances. Vampires weren't supposed to come to church, and if they did, he was supposed to expel them.

Veronaville was even worse. He realized the church was lacking in both food and cheer, so along with the ticket machine, a buffet table and, after some reflection, a carousel were installed in the grounds. The service was worse than a fiasco -- while Paris Prince made an appearance, he was disruptive, since he considered it just fine to chat loudly with Don Goth about what even Laurence suspected was confidential police information about the Monty attempted murder case. Patrizio Monty intimidated Juliette Capp into leaving in tears halfway through, and then stormed up to berate Laurence for preaching against revenge -- Patrizio had already lost one child to the Capps, and he had no intention of losing another. The only person who seemed to actually enjoy the sermon was Nervous Subject, who was hiding behind a pillar. To add insult to injury, Antonio Monty approached Laurence afterwards, delicately pointing out that it would be in his best interests, both financially and safety-wise, to bleat pleasing platitudes and prepare flattering eulogies for the myriad Capp funerals Antonio predicted. Outraged, Laurence went looking for Paris, but he had left at this point; Laurence took the hint and set out for Strangetown.

Strangetown Christmas was very wet -- there was a thunderstorm going on the whole time Laurence was there. This was actually the best-received sermon, despite General Buzz walking around laughing at the décor -- the many residents (none of them Jacoban) sitting in the pews probably just wanted first-hand gossip of the feud, but Laurence wasn't going to be picky about his audience at this point. He'd heard there were troubles between the prominent families of Strangetown too, so perhaps he could prevent those troubles from reaching Veronaville scale by his sermon.

~

Regan Capp of the Downtown Capps didn't want to be teased about it by her ambitious husband and agnostic brother, but she wanted to go to church. Since Kent had the flu, she was able to escape the house with ease once Cornwall had gone to work. She puttered around the cathedral a bit before finally locating Laurence scrubbing a sink, then told him that she wanted a "private talk" (and since I haven't located any working confessionals that aren't actually photobooths, a secluded corner of the cathedral had to serve). The conversation ended up being about business, irritating Laurence, who asked her if her job was really all she had to tell him about. Miffed, she marched off and amused herself by loudly substituting unflattering remarks about his facial features for the lyrics of the inspirational songs loaded on the karaoke machine. Laurence quickly found another sink to scrub.

Finally satisfied with her karaoke skills, Regan went to Comandgo Emporium to buy herself and Cornwall some new underwear for a little celebration of their own. That celebration was -- you guessed it -- autonomous try for baby shortly after Cornwall got home, pleased with himself for getting a promotion. And yes, there was a lullaby...Regan may well get exactly what she wants from Cornwall...

Cornwall woke up in the middle of the night and checked the computer yet again to see if there were any sports jobs...and there was one! Yes, it was a team mascot job, yes, he'd just gotten a promotion, but that was his LTW field...so he took it. Regan may not be pleased...

~

The SimCity Police Station was a place of high emotion, and the only good kind around was Chloe and Lola Curious inviting Pascal over and giving him their presents for Sirius -- the stork cradle Chloe had bought at Electronics Superstore, and a toy fire truck Lola had bought from Stephen Tinker "for when he's a little older".

The rest of it was tension. Claire Wood (I forgot her name before, and misremembered it as Woods -- it's even more suggestive this way!) hung around, annoying Escalus, who then had to have a not-very-nice conversation with Patrizio Monty. Paris watched in annoyance as Chloe flirted with that nerd, Chester Gieke. Did he love her? Should he say something? It was just flirting, right? Oh, screw it -- if he ran into Consort Capp at this point, it was going to be a matter of who was a faster shot. After Chester had gone out on patrol, Paris caught Chloe playing on one of the reception computers. Spinning her chair around, he dropped to one knee. "I love you, Chloe. Everything that's happening has made me realize that. Marry me, Chloe Curious, and I'll be happy forever." (That last bit is totally untrue -- he has the least common Pleasure LTW, to be a game designer!) Startled, and realizing it would not be a good idea to reject Captain Prince, Chloe agreed.

Upstairs, Escalus stared at himself in the locker room mirrors. How much longer could he do this? How much longer could he ignore the Veronaville madness? They were all people's children, he thought -- no, this had to stop. He would be devastated if his own son were to die, so how could he allow the children of others to be slaughtered for the sake of old men's quarrels? Whispered to the mirror were the words, "Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace...if ever you disturb our streets again,your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace...well, I could make a good speech out of that."

"It'd be your last, Chief," said Alexandra Teatherton, entering with a mop. "Veronville's got the highest tax base in the whole county. They'd have you sacked for telling them off."

"I know, Detective Teatherton. I know. But if it's my resignation speech already...what can they do?"

The mop was dropped. "You? Quit? They'd kill us all!"

Escalus shook his head. "I have full faith in Paris, Detective...and in you. Would you consider leaving undercover work?"

((Yes, I intend for Escalus to move out of the police station in the next rotation or so, leaving room for the grandchild he so very much wants to be conceived. I have zilch idea what, if anything, is going to happen between Paris and Juliette -- even in the play, he never really has a chance with her, and he and Chloe are so sweet together I don't want to split them up. Unless fate makes the choice for me...))

Once when clicking on the phone, I got the option "Report Newspaper Missing" but I thought that it had something to do with neighborhood corruption.

Tara Kat managed to drag herself away from her cats long enough to become an expert in anger management. She decided to test her new skills by setting up a party. It turned out they really weren't needed.

Urbani Nigmos was introduced to fellow party guest Gabriel Green by Tara, and they had a pleasant conversation. This turned into a succession of games of red hands and becoming best friends. Meanwhile, Hb'hvorniou Something-or-Other went straight for the plate of Santa cookies (he wasn't on the invite list, but who can resist brightly-coloured icing?) Cyd Roseland played with the kitten, Faline, while latecomer Scott Bradshaw played with one of the other cats, Samantha.

Then, Hb'hvorniou and Gabriel partook of Tara's chess set, eventually becoming best friends themselves. The others ate cookies except for Gabriel, who had a short chat with Tara. They'd just become friends when Tara's eyes drifted elsewhere... ...and all the guests simultaneously "aah"ed as she took Cyd's hand in a classic dance. She was still dancing with him four hours later, when the party was declared a roaring success. Everyone went home with the feelgood factor that can only come with SimHampton's two most pet-devoted Sims finally falling in love with each other. Now they just have to figure out how to make room in each other's houses for the furry loves of their lives...

(Also, free party tip from next-door neighbour Alexandra O'Mackey. Just because you think seeing twin noblewomen Elandrae and Elandré Picaso have a big fight just inside your front door is the funniest thing since your pirate days doesn't mean any of your guests will necessarily agree. All her guests agreed with each other never to speak of the wasted evening again).

America has been promoted to mascot in the slacker career while Nathan just got a job.

Nathan is as boyish as ever, and is currently romancing Chloe Singles, who he has intense attraction to. I feel like they could have a wonderful future together but he's too much of a playboy and can't commit to make it happen. He's already dropped one girl from the neighborhood because she wouldn't woohoo with him after a date. He's a shallow, self centered person. At work on day he was the caddy for a big time golfer who was not satisfied with his results on the green so he tasked Nathan - who is completely ignorant of golf despite taking the job - his expertise. Nathan replied with a I dunno, but during his reply the big wig got a call that his company just struck a major business deal and tipped 50 dollars to Nathan. Nathan celebrated by buying the love making hot tub and spent the evening romancing Chloe.

America is much better off considering, but still a complete child. She stays out late partying downtown and doing karaoke and drinking and dancing late into the morning, enough to see the sunrise, with Nervous Subject and Pascal, her best friends. Still, she's a hard worker at work and despite her late party nights she's able to do her work and live a relatively normal life that's wrapped in excess.

Over at the Beaker household, Nervous has just about had it. He wants to go home with his mother. He realizes she doesn't have much time and wants to spend as much time possible with his family - his REAL family. Circe and Loki have a budding relationship but exclude Nervous out of it so he's trying his hardest to move out and live with his mom and cousin. He took a job doing what he knew best, as a test subject. It isn't fun, but Nervous figures that given the way his body is it would be a contribution to science to let them test him. He's in love with America but isn't sure she would love him back given everyone else in his life excluding his mother treats him like a freak. Why would she want to be with him forever? Can we see a happy ending for Nervous?

At the Grunt house, Tank is striving hard to please his father. Most of the teens and adults have the same clique: America, Nervous, Nathan, Pascal, Ophelia, Ripp, Johnny, and most of the Singles mostly get along together and go out on regular outings. They try to include Tank but he's reluctant all the time and his feud with Johnny always boils to a head. Still, it isn't like he hasn't given Johnny another chance and he tries to be nice. He's ultimately a good kid who wants to please his father, I really want him to come out of his shell. Ripp, more than anyone has tried to break the gap of communication between the two eldest Grunts and the two youngest but nothing has been working and he has given up. His father and brother have no interest in being a part of his life. Buck only gets along with Ripp and simply wants his fathers love which Buzz is slowly giving. Buzz, however, feels like he has failed as a father. He reads to Buck late at nights even at the expense of his own fatigue. Sometimes Buck is already sleep and he puts the book back. He tries to spend time with Ripp but they simply do not get along as they are completely different people with two different motivations in life. Meanwhile, he is starting to find a friend in one Mr. Smith as he overcomes his bias and tries to be a better father and neighbor. The Grunts is a sad house filled with expectations, wants, and needs. They all want something and that something is appreciation by the rest of their pack. Hopefully they find it.

Olive Specter is brewing over her own mortality by trying to make things right before she passes. She's spending more time than ever with her niece and son. They go bowling, she treats them to high class food, and she even joins in with America's partying whenever Nervous brings her over. Ophellia is...well, she just is. She works So. Hard. She brought home an A, but was starving for some entertainment so Olive bought a family TV for her hard work and rewarded her a night out. Ophellia, despite not growing up too well, seems to put her all in everything, from relationships to school and I really respect her courage to continue pushing even after her mothers death. The Specter house is a family of people who, despite not having the best of life, seem to be wanting to get a full cup.

Last edited by Simuro : 18th May 2013 at 09:41 AM.

11.5.13

Brandi Broke’s traits: Natural cook, Frugal, Artistic, Family oriented, hopeless romantic, easily impressed

Kennedy Grove’s traits: Disciplined, Athletic, Handy, hates the indoors, natural born performer, great sense of humour,

Dustin Broke’s traits: Gatherer, Vehicle Enthusiast, born salesman

Lilith Pleasant’s traits: Nurturing, Artistic, Loves Music,

Beau Broke’s traits: Supernatural fan, bookworm,

Hmm maybe Kennedy Grove isn’t what he seems to be. Kennedy has decided to make a change in his career after having worked so long as a coach at Sim State, and what better way to make an honest living than combining the two things he loves…sports and books. He’s current attempting to write a novel with the current title of ‘The perks of being a Sports fanatic’, Brandi is fully supporting him by being okay with being the only adult bringing in money into the household. (Although Dustin is bringing money in too, the main bills get paid by Brandi) Kennedy wanted to thank Brandi for supporting him that he planned to make an honest woman out of her. Therefore, over dinner that night asked Brandi to marry him.

Elle stopped by the house and Lilith invited her in, only for her to start crying half way through lunch. Kennedy asked her what was wrong and Elle then began to talk about everything her and Morty had gone through recently. (I don’t think Morty will be too happy about Elle telling the neighbourhood about their problems though).

Lilith and Dustin are coming to grips with being new parents, yet Lilith is trying not think about the fact that Angela has left for college and that she should have been with her. But looking at Lilly-May reminds Lilith that she has a good life now, and will do in the future. Dustin got promoted to Host at the ‘MIA’ restaurant somewhere downtown, yes that means that Dustin has to travel further to get into work but at least that means more money and more responsibilities. And it also means that he doesn’t have to see Dirk everyday at work, trying to be all bossy and what not.
Beau went to his summer workshop at the Boyle Dance Academy; it seems that Beau is really taking to his love for dance. Maybe that could be a future for him one day?

Nina Caliente’s traits: Flirty, commitment issues, daredevil, social butterfly, perfectionist, hopeless romantic,

Nina decided to go on a casual date with Ryan Wheeler as he had nicely come to her house warming party despite not knowing her well and she thought it was best to repay him the only way she knew how. The date went fantastic. Nina invited him back to her place, and they did the deed. Ryan and herself managed to fall in love that night. She’s such a hopeless romantic, she just falls in love so easily and woohoos with the guys. I think she mistakes lust for love.

Last edited by NewSimgirl2011 : 18th May 2013 at 12:05 PM. Reason: I can't seem to spell today

I planned to add another piece of the Csonka Canon's weal and woe but I don't have time anymore. I'm about to walk out the door and stay away for the next 12 days.
My story will continue when I get back.
Everybody happy simming and writing in the mean time.
Bye for now.

Have a great time, mirjamsim2love!

At SimCity Prison, Cyd Roseland was worried. He wasn't sure if he should be hoping Consort Capp would be dragged in (less bloodshed likely if it was) or dreading it (he really didn't want to see that troublemaker again). He also was straddling the line of being worried Tybalt would try to follow his grandfather in escape, and worrying that someone would try to get him killed in prison, on Cyd's watch. To make matters worse, Olive Specter either had the flu worse than he did, or she was taking advantage of it to lay around and refuse to leave her cell -- he thought the former, since even the offer of chess didn't interest her. He humoured her, but he didn't feel like trusting Tybalt to do housekeeping tasks, so he had to do a lot of his own cleaning. Tybalt was caught with keys in his possession that he had no right to have, but he claimed he had just been trying to smuggle them to Olive -- he didn't think a nice old lady like her should be locked up.

Olive seems to take prison fine, not trying to escape or slip her cell when locked in, being perfectly happy with the bookcase in her cell, and able to get enough socialization by daydreaming of her many husbands. Tybalt, by contrast, has been found in inappropriate parts on the prison, has a bad attitude, and when tasked with giving Porthos his evening bath, managed to slip away from his task during Leod McGreggor's short absence from the warden's apartment, stealing food from the kitchen and chatting with Herb Oldie on Cyd's computer before being caught and ordered back to his cell...and that allowed Porthos to roll around in the puddles his splashing had made on the bathroom floor, making a large mess and getting dirty again!

Still, Tybalt got his back...his social totally crashed as he slept, causing a Social Bunny to haunt his dreams yet again. I think if he ever encounters the bunny while awake, he'll beat it up!

Everyone got healthy again, so at least this flu crisis is over, though I fear it may spread again from other sources...it's pretty hard to see roaches in the snow, and a lot of trash-can-kicking has been going on...

~

At the SimCity Asylum, the Ramaswamis had a great New Years party as their holiday gala; as its highlight, Paris Prince played the piano badly as the revellers alternately danced to the music and booed him. The theme was "Madness at the Madhouse"...I think the board of directors may object to the title, despite the fact that there are currently no patients in residence.

Sanjay met the Leader of the Pack, who is named Poochi...er, what? I think Loki Beaker would prefer his white beauty, Allegra...

~

At the Burb-Monty-Oldie rowhouses, Coral Oldie decided she'd had enough of seeing her husband acting like an oversexed teenage boy. Thanking Antonio Monty for his hospitality, she called a taxi to the train station -- she was moving to Pleasantview, where she was sure her daughter would have room for her. She didn't believe in divorce, but she also didn't see why she had to live with a man who didn't respect her any more.

The kids had Christmas Day off, since it was a snow day -- they were all delighted, and only Beatrice had any interest in homework, getting Antonio to teach her how to study. Benedick was relieved that Antonio, fearing for their safety, nixed all plans for either church or a festive meal out; it meant he could teach Lucy Burb to make snow angels in the shared back yard. "We've got to make them to show Mother that we're happy down here," was his view of it; Lucy wondered if her famous Grandpa Pleasant who she'd heard about but never met could see them too.

Herb decided that Coral's leaving was Jennifer's fault, and loudly berated her on the front sidewalk for messing up Coral's mind with her nasty modern feminist ideas. Jennifer, confused and angry, fled to the Monty kitchen, where Antonio sat her down with a nice plate of spaghetti and sympathy, explaining the actual reason why Coral had left. Antonio, unpleasant though he is to the Capps and anyone else involved in the feud, is a good neighbour -- he makes a habit of making sure nobody else needs to cook much, and the fourth chair at his kitchen table is seldom empty. He made Christmas dinner for all of them, although it was a little too modernist an experiment for everyone's taste. He called it chicken fritters with vanilla-lime sorbet, but Jennifer said it reminded her of stuff she'd made for herself when she was pregnant with Lucy, John agreed, Herb decided that free food above his cooking level was not to be refused, and the kids were delighted to eat what they saw as ice cream for dinner -- though they left most of the chicken on their plates.

Malcolm Landgraab was invited over by John, and came in hopes of getting a chance to talk with Jennifer. He got to compliment her by saying he preferred her turkey canapés to any fancified chicken and ice cream, but then he was dragged outside for a midnight snowball fight with John -- John has been reading the papers, and he doesn't trust any of the Montys or Capps much. Jennifer insists having Antonio and his children as neighbours is very good for Lucy's prospects of the future -- she's only a day behind them in ageing up to teen -- but John is hoping another rich acquaintance will make her realize that the Montys may be more trouble than they're worth. Little does he know said acquaintance has an eye for her...

And Herb? He used his freedom to get a blind date that ended up being with Heather Huffington. He couldn't get her into bed with him, but he came close...

I played the Davis household instead of finishing with the Williams. I had one day left with the Williams but that one day was technically the day they go on vacation (So it'd be more days) and I didn't have that much time before work.

As usual the Davis' drive me nuts. They have a small house and there's three sims in one room and 4 in another with another one on the couch. The twins Ellen and Evan take turns on who gets the couch. On the second day Emma was getting ready to leave for college. Things haven't been going very well for her, this will be a new experience. After getting pregnant in high school with her twins, her babies' father not talking to her and then dating one of her good friends, she is ready to start over in college. I usually have my college students leave their home around 1pm on their last day as a teenager but Emma stayed as long as she could so she could say goodbye to Sarah and Emette. The only good thing about Emma leaving? Besdies one less sim to take care of is her brother, Evan, gets to sleep on a bed now yay!

The night Emma left, her father aged into an elder. Its weird now because he's old but his wife Adelle isn't even at the half mark in the adult stage and he has a toddler with her. On day 3 their daughter Genevi aged into a child. So now Almeric has a child and grandchildren the same age I thought Evan was going to go back on the couch but luckily there was room for one more bed in her parent's room.

Sometimes I wonder what their life would be like if Almeric's first wife (Emma, Ellen, and Evan's mom) Sarah hadn't died in that fire. Would they be better off? Maybe Emma wouldn't have gotten pregnant if she had a role model to look up to or to talk about safe woohoo. Oh well, too late now! If you think about it Adelle really was a blessing to the family. Almeric had a horrible paying job and Adelle was a taxi driver making 400 a day, so she helped financially big time. She also aborted her first child since they couldn't afford another baby in the house.

Emma moved into the free/poor dorms. I gave her a makeover so she can start anew. New clothes and a new hair style. No one will say 'Hey! Its that girl who had twins in high school!' She is majoring in economics and will work in the dorm cafeteria. I can't decide if I want her to use the money she's earning to start paying off her loan or to save up for after college. I'll probably do half and half, they make a pretty good amount working there. Her first semester was pretty boring. Just work and school and any extra time she has she works out to lose that baby weight she never had time to lose. After she gets in shape she'll have more time to socialize and hopefully find a future husband Coincidentally the only other sim joining Sim State this year will be her 'arch nemesis/ex best friend' Lilly. Okay, you got me! She's not really her enemy, Emma doesn't hate her in the slightest. But after she got pregnant Dakota started dating Lilly. She should be a little upset! Plus they haven't spoken since she got pregnant since Emma's been too busy being a mom. Luckily Lilly wont get in her way because she'll be joining Jamie Harris at the other dorm. Or maybe even Landgraab Dormitory if she gets enough scholarships.

I went and made a parody Sim-Self, named him Ham Setlay, and employed him in the gamer Career. He's probably just gonna end up being treated like a townie, but the grumpy personality should make for some funny moments on community lots.

I feel much better about the situation in Widespot. Mary, after a morning spent toddler-wrangling, finally got a free moment when Scot brought David Ottomas home with him. With the house filling up with babysitters, she invited Valentine over, apologized about three times, and then I turned her loose, keeping an eye out to block anything disastrously stupid. She did very well, proffering only friendly actions, such as playing catch. And he clearly wanted to make up, making no hostile moves, loving on Rhein, and accepting her overtures. He threw a ball at her head once, but only once, during a game of catch, and you know - if he'd wanted to hit her head he'd have hit her. The man was a pro. He was clearly making the point that she didn't have control of the ball and needed to figure out what she wanted. They talked for a long time, but he didn't kiss her good-by.

At the Weiss house, however, Penny had just learned couples counseling and wanted to use it! So she invited household on Rhett, and Mary by herself. She talked to Valentine while Mary stood back hopefully, they reconciled, and everybody had a big smustle party. Rhett ignored his daughter Laika, but Candy put her to bed and tucked her in. Skye got a good chance card and came home with a bonus and a promotion, but there were too many people in his house and he wanted to go on a date. So he called up Dora Ottomas and they had a magical evening, ending up slow dancing and falling in love at the Swimming Hole.

At Academie La Tour, Edwin Sharpe moved in with Delilah O'Feefe and got engaged to her; Jonah finally got Roxie to love him again after the Cow Mascot Incident (she's still mad, though, and he's entirely innocent!), and Dixie Land got engaged to Mitch Indie, moved in with him and Max, threw a semester-ending party that included her family and friends from home, and moved into a more convenient residence. Scot Land and Ginger Newson spent the entire party in Max's bedroom playing rock-paper-scissors while Scot's girlfriend Goldie drank juice with her back to them. Max is strongly drawn toward Mary, who spent most of the party talking to his parrot, Matey; and then Roxie (who had come without Jonah) gave him a big fat smooch good-by, which presumably gave him something to think about.

Both boys are thrilled to have a real live gurl living with them, btw. They dance attendance on her like she's the queen of Sheba. Dixie lets them.

At La Fiesta Tech, Almeric Davis has attacked David Ottomas twice for taking his place with Tank, and gotten his ass handed to him both times. Tank has changed his aspiration to Knowledge, which won't please the General, and his major to Poli Sci, which will. He wants to be Head of the SCIA now; a career path that's actually open to him in Strangetown. Aldric Davis caught Jessie with Mickey at Guy's graduation party, but made best friends with Matthew. Francis J. and Jasmine finished the semester with lackluster grades, but threw a party anyway, which was successful once they broke up Guy and Gunnar. The Jessie Incident that put them at loggerheads is ancient history, but it's not really about that any more. Gunnar is living in the Strangetown Trailer Park and Guy has moved into a fancy (by Strangetown standards) apartment.

And finally, vacation time at Drama Acres, where George and Jovita Hawkins went to Three Lakes and ignored all the attractions in favor of getting pregnant. Seriously, although when I dragged them to lots they rolled a couple of wants about buying souvenirs or logrolling, all they cared about was skill points, canoodling, and that big fat "have baby" want. Of course George knocked it out of the park first try and Jovita settled in to mind her dropping needs.

At the Oasis Dorm at LFT, Ophelia Nigmos was completely oblivious to the fact that Stella Terrano was slowly sinking into a deep depression. All she cared about was the injured hawk she'd found on her way back from class, a bird she named Evermore -- yeah, you can tell she's a Literature major. She got a bit annoyed when Stella got her hands on a bit of alien tech -- a Weathernaught -- and used it to cause a hailstorm, for reasons she refused to explain. Soon, however, Ophelia had other things on her mind -- a night of strange dreams ended with her holding the strangely-carved stick her aunt had slipped into her bag before she left Strangtown, and the chair she was facing kept fading in and out of existence. Yes, Ophelia carries the magic too... Despite all distractions, both girls got good grades, though Stella's weren't perfect this time around.

~

Frances Worthington allowed himself to cut loose a little bit -- not only did he put soap in the fountain at the plaza, he also streaked there, much to the shock of the sorority girls, who were hanging around. He then realized he had an easier way to boost his grade than by studying...he asked a rather distinguished-looking old professor out on a date to the Crypt O' Night Club, which went very well indeed. The professor ate fried chicken while Frances ate cake, Frances impressed the professor by staying in the dance sphere for a long time on high speed before falling out, and then they danced on the dance floor. The dear old fellow has quite a crush on Frances, but Frances is uninterested in him -- he just liked the grade boost he got from that date. He won't have to take a housemate, at least!

~

The Shifting Paradymes spent the first part of the rotation having a great time, partying, inviting the sorority over in a failed attempt to get Zoe in faster, Gunnar and Jasmine spending a lot of time in bed together, playing music on the roof in the middle of the night, pranking the cow mascot until it actually fled the lot...and then they realized that Gunnar was on academic probation, and the girls weren't much better off. Cue frantic studying and a lot of time spent at the library...but it was all for naught as far as Gunnar went. He got expelled, just as Jasmine realized his love of being in love was what she wanted to live her life like, using her chance at an aspiration change to turn Romance. Hmm...maybe Gunnar will be Malcolm Landgraab's first "helper" at the club? Oh, and now all of them want to be Celebrity Chefs -- some band they are!

~

The Tri-Fruhm Sorority didn't have too much drama; Jessie Pilferson drank too much again, but managed to keep herself somewhat together, and with the help of a love potion, managed to get a rather dazed DJ Verse to get in bed with her so they could have their first WooHoo together. Sarah and Monica noticed that DJ was acting very strange, and had started hitting the cask of the strong stuff too, but they were too in love with each other to mind much. DJ threw several rubbish parties, and ended up changing her aspiration to Fortune after finals -- she decided that while she still wants to have a career in music, she wants to be the kind of artist who makes a lot of money, not the one who's got heaps of friends but has to sponge off of them.

Oh, and they got a little one-tile wall with nice tiles on it and communal showers on each side by the pool, so that the overload of the bathroom isn't too horrible -- especially when someone suddenly needs a shower during parties. Of course, this means there's naked sorority girls showering by the pool, but who really cares?

~

The Oresha-Hoh-Var Fraternity didn't do too well...Mickey Dosser totally failed to either have WooHoo with Goopy or find another lover, and despite his best efforts, Guy Wrightly got expelled. Mickey managed to stay in a good mood, despite his romantic failings and getting back on academic probation, since he declared an Art major (he wanted it and was afraid of Physics) just before finals. Matthew also got horrible grades, so they're also broke... Well, at least Guy looked good in his new adult clothes. Yeah, college isn't such a party with the shortened years I need for my sanity!

~

Reports on Veronaville drama will come when I have the time...though you may have seen some pictures already!

Joey Simons just moved in to a new house (from MTS, thank you seren) in Desiderata Valley. I have always thought that Desiderata Valley has some ugly houses, but I traded out the ones I did not like and I added a beach lot plus some neighborhood decorations so now everything is great!

Joey wanted a career as a burglar or something, although he only got a job doing the dishes at some place.
I only had like five minutes to play with him on the lot, but I like him alot

Ripp Grunt has recently become a Rock God, bought himself a penthouse, and so far has knocked up Chloe and Lola Curious, and Erin and Circe Beaker.

He's almost literally the Town Father.

Craig Royce, AKA "The Slob", has just moved into a big downtown house at 35 King Street. The idea is to turn it into a hostel for teen townies wishing to get more involved in community life.

Lilly has joined her old classmates at Sim State University. She is majoring in political science and hopes to become a lawyer. I feel bad for her mother because she went down that path and she's still a file clerk! (The dice just doesn't want her to get promoted and when she does she'll get a chance card and the dice chooses to demote her) Hopefully Lilly has better luck after college.

Lilly is in the same dorm Jamie Harris is in. Jamie isn't doing too well right now. I left off with them on academic probation. He was dating a girl for about two years and called it off because I just realized she's a romance sim and that wasn't going to work out. He still a bit attached to her but he's also eyeing the girl next to his dorm room.

After their dorm I moved on to Emma's dorm. She finally worked off those extra pounds and she looks great! Now that that's out of the way she has time to socialize. I was debating on who she could go out with but then I realized, why not Jamie Harris? They have at least one bolt for each other, he'll inherit his house so no need to worry about that after college and they're close in age so there won't be too big of an age difference. They both have a fortune aspiration in common too and the same LTW. I wish we could see which YA are attracted to which teens because I know that Jamie was attracted to Emma's younger sister Ellen, just not sure how much. Ellen is a bit young for Jamie but that's not too big of a problem, but when he graduates she'll barely be going into Sim State.

The slum is coming on really nice. I have an apartment building and there are puddles, people sleeping on the sidewalk, and stairwell (?) and blocking the stairs and being stinky. Spink harris' ex room mate is stalking him and when he is not home she usually waits outside, until she passes out. His ex neighbor has not showed up, Kenya Miceli whose heart was broken when his room mate flirted with him. The romance ended very abruply but for now he has 2 women in his life, the room mate (he appreciates elder women because they are so mature, considerate, caring, tender and understanding) but there is also a new star which he met at work (I think) a red head townie who likes fatness and custom hair. And jazz music and bubble blowing. Anyways his former room mate has been very persistent.

In the main hood:
Gogam
If he opens a toy store maybe he will be more interesting, and Joy can move in with them, because she is boring too so might as well hit 2 birds with the one stone, or 3 even with Paul. Plus they can help with the toy store.

Joseph Mossberry
I hope the wife likes gardening because I bought fruit trees for them so they should get fruit for their grocery store. It was so tiresome to give them fruits from others, who had some. Besides, Deryn died and he was the one who had a gardening gold badge. They still have aubergines and peppers from his greenhouse.

At the Summerdream-Gossamer house, Oberon found himself hard-pressed to explain just how Consort Capp, last seen strolling casually upstairs, had disappeared with some very critical evidence -- the sword, the sword stand, and the rifle. Eventually the simoleon dropped as he realized that the elaborate construction of the house had allowed Consort to go up the inside stairs, wait until Loki and Vidcund were distracted, then stroll down the outside stairs and slink around until he could make off with the weapons and leave. (And at that point I paused, put the house in all-floors, roof-on mode, and admired how that house's impracticality at least has a point -- externally, at least, it's a very good model of the kind of theatre set Romeo & Juliet would have been first performed on!)

Soon things grew much worse. Not only were Consort and the weapons missing, but so were several pieces of sculpture, a cake, Otis's bowl and bed, and Otis himself. Oberon weakly jested that he was lucky Consort hadn't taken Bottom too, which the police did not find amusing. He was interrupted by a hue and cry from the garden, where Titania's lifeless body had been found in the shrubbery.

At this point everyone's version of things started differing. The police report empathised the extremely overgrown state of the garden, and how it was not their fault that it took them ten minutes to get from the house to the spot where Titania lay; it was as if the ground itself was tripping them up. The statement of Patrizio Monty, who had come to demand immediate vengeance and had found Titania, went on and on about how he couldn't move a step from the moment he touched her neck and realized he didn't feel a pulse until the police finally arrived. He saw Oberon rushing across the garden at unearthly speed, his feet not even looking like they were touching the ground, then kneel in a pleading attitude over Titania's body, whispering rapidly in a language Patrizio had never heard before. Just as the local police officer who was first on the scene arrived, Titania's eyes snapped open and she took a deep breath; she said, "I saw Queen Mab. She said..." and was then cut off by Oberon kissing her, just as it started snowing.

Oberon's statement, if it could be called that, was much shorter; it consisted of him rejecting Patrizio's ramblings with the words, "What? I learned CPR in high school. Now, if you don't mind, I am a victim here, not a witness or a suspect. I've nearly lost a dear friend, my wife, and our unborn child -- what, didn't you know we're going to have a baby? -- my dog and property have been stolen, the cake I purchased for the Solstice has also been taken, and the sword that I would have used to celebrate it tonight is both stolen and evidence in an attempted murder case. Now if you don't mind, please finish taking your photos, get rid of this yellow tape, and get out of my house before the children have returned from school! I didn't want to send them, but it's better than them seeing their house a crime scene!"

Titania refused to say anything beyond telling Oberon "I love you," repeatedly, and considering the circumstances, nobody pressed her. She was taken to the hospital, where it was discovered that she had no injuries, no evidence of poisoning, no heart problems...so what had happened? Well, she was clearly pregnant, and it was decided to keep her for observation...and protection, considering that Consort was behaving sp unpredictably. (And as for what happened, it was very mundane, and you probably know what it was already -- she passed out in the garden, her hunger crashed, and while she didn't have a miscarriage, she died of starvation. Oberon pleaded for her and won, but oddly, even though he got the memory of saving her, she didn't get the memory of being saved. It wasn't a bad time for it to happen, though...)

Oberon spent the rest of the increasingly snowy Solstice brooding, painting on an easel he'd bought, and teaching Bottom to study; Puck read his father's magazine, then invited over Romeo, who brought his Uncle Antonio to check the Summerdream-Gossamers' loyalty. Antonio was marginally satisfied that Oberon had harboured Consort out of overmuch faith in humanity rather than malice toward the Montys, but couldn't help referring to Oberon's outburst and joking that it was the first time he'd ever heard him talk about his school days; Oberon raised his eyebrows and retorted that "humans are not the only ones who can lie, Mr. Monty." Antonio was struck by how he said that as if he wasn't human... (People may suspect, but they don't know the reason for those pointy ears yet.)

~

Just as soon as the rotation started at the Monty Ranch, the lovely silver Christmas tree in the courtyard caught fire; I didn't know leaving the lights on too long could do that until it happened at the Goth house last rotation, and I didn't have time to turn them off before this one went up. Patrizio and a sleepy-headed Romeo got it out without too much trouble, but Patrizio insisted it was a Capp plot... Isabella rolled her eyes, and when Romeo, for reasons he refused to discuss, invited Juliette over before going to his part-time job, Isabella corralled her to come play chess for a while before leaving. They talked about food and first WooHoo, confusing me greatly, but it was clear that Isabella wanted to stop the fighting. Once the boys were home, Patrizio pulled off the feat of making his first lobster thermidor without burning it, while at the same time, Isabella invited Antonio over. A good Christmas dinner was had by all, only slightly marred by Mercutio inviting over Hermia after dinner. Hermia loudly blabbed about why Juliette had been over at the house earlier -- Romeo had invited her to propose to her in the courtyard, and Juliette had accepted. Isabella backed the story up, saying that she'd seen the ring on Juliette's finger, and the festive evening ended in the Monty males looking daggers at each other. Antonio snarkily pointed out that this had been Romeo's last day of high school, noting the age difference between him and Juliette, and Romeo stormed off to invite Juliette onto a date to the One-Twenty-Five Café. There they had a much more peaceful second Christmas dinner together, warily watched by Escalus Prince from the booth opposite them, and ended up slow dancing and making out in the entranceway. Romeo invited Juliette home, and after the date ended as a dream date, they got busy on the TV room couch...at which point Patrizio walked in. He didn't leave, they didn't stop...and then, when it was over, I saw that Romeo hadn't gotten his first-WooHoo and WooHoo memories from it. I got him a Love Tub to make up for it, but then he had to get out and use the toilet, and since the date was over, Juliette left due to the lateness, and...I figured I'd get them some WooHoo at the Capp place. Boy, was I in for a surprise...

~

At the Capp Manor, I immediately checked Juliette's memories. She had the first WooHoo memory...but it was from before her dream date with Romeo, which I knew was from the café date. I went back to the Monty place, checked Romeo's memories further back, and yep, they'd had their first WooHoo at at point in the memories that could only have been as guests at the Summerdream-Gossamer house the day Binaca was attacked. I think it must have been on a sofa there, since I would have seen the video if they'd gotten going in bed or in a hot tub...my, I had no idea! Suddenly suspicious, I checked Mercutio's memories, and found that in the same time period, he'd had his first kiss with Hermia (that must have been what set off the "boing!" of heartbreak I heard from Puck) and shortly after, had had his first WooHoo with her! And I thought they were being restrained...

Back at he Capp place, I examined Hermia's memories; it was all there, kissing Mercutio, having an affair, being caught cheating, having two loves at once, having WooHoo with Mercutio...she's really making a mess of things! She wanted to go steady with Mercutio, which I took as wanting to break off the engagement with Puck, but she couldn't get Puck to come over to do it...so she had Mercutio over instead, kept him from picking on Juliette too much, and had a lot of fun with him. One great moment was them having WooHoo on the couch in her bedroom as an angry ghost roamed by the street. She knows she can't marry him, but she wants him...but she wants Puck too, and she can get away with marrying him if she can make up for her cheating...but she wants Mercutio!

Mercutio stayed the night, and played fetch with Cleo in the graveyard, in the snow, in the middle of the night... I was hoping he'd get scared by a ghost, but no such luck.