Vacha Legacy

Generation 4, Chapter 5

2006-03-15T08:16:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family
Satellite Home #3 - Home of Aspen and Jessica Vacha

I would like to introduce you to the best freaking nanny in the game. Please meet Nicole Thompson. I swear, this woman was a LIFE SAVER for Aspen and Jessica. She took care of feeding Jessie.

She took care of cleaning, because the new mom had no money to hire a maid and very little time to clean.

She showered lots of affection on little Jessica, reassuring her that despite her beginnings she was loved and cared for.

Lots of affection! She also bathed Jessica and put her into her crib and *shock* took her OUT of her crib when she woke up!! In fact, after her mom, Nanny Nicole was Jessica's first friend. :-D So it is possible to get a good nanny. *beams happily*

Time, as it always does, continued to fly past and before Aspen knew it, it was time for Jessica to turn into a child and get ready for school.

And here's our sweet girl after she blew out her candles.

Realizing the time goes quickly, Aspen had a family portrait taken of her and Jessica just before her daughter started school.

"Nanny Nicole, momma says fate is in the stars and it was my other parents' time to go to heaven so momma and I could be together."

"And some day, Nanny Nicole, we're going to go on a cruise! Do you think I'll see my other mommy there?"

I kept trying to snap a picture of Jessica dreaming of her parents, but I always JUST miss it. But at least I got a picture of her dreaming of Aspen. *grin*

"We're okay with money, dad, really. It's tight, but we're doing okay. I've got another promotion coming up, so the bonus will help. But thanks for offering."

"Bye Bus Lady! School was fun!! I'll see you tomorrow!"
Unfortunately, I couldn't angle things so you could see Jessica's face and the bus driver's face, but the bus driver was actually smiling! I don't think I've ever seen her smile at a kid before. It's like all the NPCs and Townies in Strangeville know what a rough start Jess had and are going out of their way to make things good for her. :-)

Hmmm, methinks we have a Burkie-in-training here! :-D

Aspen makes sure to teach Jessica the importance of good study habits.

Oh no! Why'd you have to come around, you stinky burglar! These two are just barely starting to get ahead and now YOU show up? Fortunately, the thief tried to sneak around to the back of the house after triggering the alarm in the front, giving the cops time to show up before she stole anything. So I guess not every NPC is playing guardian angel to Jessica. *frowns fiercely*

"This poor kid. She's already had it so rough and now this. I promise, we'll have a patrol car swing by each night for a while to make sure you're both okay."
"Thank you, officer. We appreciate it."

Aww, poor Jess. It's okay, sweetie. The burglar didn't take anything.
"But it was still scary!"
Um, you know you slept through it, right?
"But she could have come and taken my mommy! *wails*"
*hugs*
(Sadly, both she and Aspen are STILL angry at the thief, even though Jessica is now off at college in my current game play. They really do stay mad far too long.)

"Yes! I got an A+! Mommy's going to be so proud of me!"
Especially what with her being a knowledge sim. :-)

We'll close with a sweet ritual these two do every morning. Either a hug or a family kiss. 90% of the time it's purely autonomous. So as you can see, Jessica is doing fine after the death of her parents. But wait until you see her as a teen. She's stunning! :-)

Generation 4, Chapter 4

2006-03-10T14:10:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family
Satellite Home #2 - Home of Coryander and Andrew Vacha

*Warning* Silly me, I've gotten so used to having the blur turned off, I don't even notice when naked pictures show body parts. *giggle* So anyway, there's a picture of Andrew's butt while he's in the shower in this update. Nothing major, but didn't want to surprise anyone. ;-)

A family portrait of the newlywed and newly parented couple. Life is moving along wonderfully for this family. Let's check in with them, shall we?

Both parents adore taking care of their daughter, Jessica. Neither one has ever spun up any sort of fear around dirty diapers or anything and they constantly want to cuddle her.

*cough* Of course, Andrew seems to think of more than simply his daughter. Well, at least it's his wife he's daydreaming about in there, yes?

Time flies by for this happy family and Jessica is ready to become a toddler!

Erm, their camera broke during her birthday party. That's why there's no transition picture. (Actually, if I remember correctly, their kitchen is so small, I couldn't get a good angle for a picture.) So anywho, meet Jessica Vacha, a Libra (5/9/6/4/9). I can definitely life with those stats.
Although Andrew, I just hope Cory doesn't get upset that you've manipulated things so that Jessie's first word is "daddy."
"Nah, Cory was at work and asked me to teach Jess some of her skills."
Mm-hmm. *grins*

I didn't take any pictures of it, but Cory was trying to make herself an omlet and caught the kitchen on fire. This nice fireman, Dorian Miguel, came to the family's rescue. Although I'm not entirely certain what that expression is all about. Oh well. He's still cute. Possible potential for the main lot line. I'll have to have Cory introduce him to someone there.

So, anyway, Cory refused to eat her burnt omlet and she was almost starving. So I had Andrew go make her breakfast. Doofus set himself on fire this time. *sigh* Maybe I should have had someone clean the stove first? Anyway, Cory rushes out of her shower and runs over to put Andrew out.

Erm, well, that was the plan, anyway... Instead, she caught on fire too. Now, remember how I was saying their kitchen was too small for me to get a good picture of Jessica when she became a toddler? Apparently it was too small for Dorian (yup, same fireman came back again) to get in there to extinguish the flames. Either that or he decided these two were simply two stupid to live, having 2 fires in one night.

"Heya Grim! Looks like these two are all yours now, so I'll just be moseying on out of here."
"Hmm, yes, they do appear to be on my list. Although when I set off for the collection, there was only one name here."

"Hello? Yes. This is Grim Reaper #7. I have a collection of two souls at this location. Right. Except there is a child here. What should I do?"

"Geeze, lady, you don't have to yell like that! I've never had this happen before, so I wanted to check in with base. Chill out, will ya?"
Poor Jessica, sitting there in the kitchen, sucking on her thumb, wondering where her parents went. *sniffles* I sat here with my game on pause for almost 10 minutes trying to decide what I was going to do. I mean, this is a satellite house. The rules don't count here, right? I can just exit my game without saving and nobody would be the wiser. But, wow, this is great drama. And I was worried about too many homes to play. But what about poor Jessica? Ooo, I know. Okay, let's let this play out and we'll figure out how to make it happen. *nods* Save, unpause, continue on.

Well, hello there Miss Social Worker. It's actually too bad you can't talk to her, because she looks like she's got some good genetics there.

And we say farewell to our Satellite #2 home. Oh well. I suppose some day a future Vacha will move in there. (Although they might not be able to afford it, since it is now fully decorated...)

Okay, well, let's move on to the next satellite home, shall we?

Satellite Home #3 - Aspen Vacha

"Hey Ari. Yeah, I'm all unpacked from college. Not that there's a lot to unpack. ... Hehe, yeah, I know. Actually, if you can get past her flatulence, Linds is actually really cool. I'm glad you two are getting along so well. ... Yeah, she does make dad very happy. ... Okay, give everyone a kiss for me and I'll see you soon, Arizona. Bye!"

Aspen heads off to Red's for a quick bite to eat and to meet some of the other people living downtown. Little did she know she was getting dinner AND a show! I gree with the guy in the blue shirt. Trista is one brave girl, fighting with the Grand Vampire like that.

Okay, what is your problem, Mrs. Crumplebottom? You certainly can't be complaining that Aspen is undressed, because she's in her everyday outfit. You can't be showing what a prude you are that she's making out in public, because SHE HAS NEVER EVEN BEEN KISSED! So what the heck is up? Huh?? You leave my girl alone, you crazy old bat!

Now, this shot just made me laugh for quite some time. Poor Count Perry looks so mortified that he lost a fight to a GIRL. *giggles*

Aspen gets a premonition that something is wrong with Coryander.

"Yes, daddy. I sent flowers to the grave site. I think I'm going to invite Arizona and the twins over so we can hold our own wake for Cory. I just can't believe she and Andrew are really gone!"

Generation 3 gathers together to mourn the loss of one of their own. Aspen makes one final phone call though. She looks so sneaky, glancing over her shoulder at her cousins and sister like that, doesn't she? *giggle*

"I'll be right back guys. There is one last guest who needs to be here for our wake."

Did you figure it out yet? :-)

"Hi Jessica. Hello baby. You're going to live with me now. No way I was going to leave you in an orphanage when you have family alive and well, sweetling."
She may have never been kissed, and certainly never WooHoo'd, but Aspen knew instantly she wanted to raise Cory's daughter for her. (Yup, right after she cried with the tombstone over her head, she wanted to adopt a baby, which fit EXACTLY with what I already had planned. I love this sim!) But MAN was it hard to get the adoption agency to find Aspen suitable. She just never had enough money for almost a sim-week before she got approved.

The twins both had big smiles on their faces, but Arizona looks a little hesitant about Aspen's decision.

So Aspen brings Jessica and Arizona into the kitchen to talk privately. Whatever she said must have been convincing, because it looks like her older sister finally gives her stamp of approval on Aspen's decision too.

Just a cute shot towards the end of the wake. They all left with full 100's with each other again, something I haven't been able to achieve since they were at the Greek House together.

"Okay, wait. Nobody told me I still had to teach Jess this part!"
*giggles* Anyway, we'll close out with that shot, because it just looks so perfect for our new mother. *chuckles*

Generation 4, Chapter 3

2006-03-08T11:05:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

The family poses for yet another portrait. Now, someone please explain this to me... when Dragons was younger, Chervil held him for the portrait. Now that Chamomile has infant twins, she's gotta juggle them both? *shakes her head in wonder*

And the eldest of Generation 4 (on the main Estate), Dragons becomes a good looking teenager. He's a Family oriented sim with a strong desire to graduate 3 kids from college.

The shirt is okay, but those hideous green shorts need to go! He really is a little cutie-pie though.

"Aw, crap. I guess it wasn't the steak tartar I had for dinner last night that was making me sick..."
Sorry, nope. You can blame your current medical condition on my husband though, Chamy.
"Why? I didn't sleep with him!"
Well, no, you didn't. But he's the one who said if I was going to let you and your brother have sex, then I needed to roll the dice and click on "Try for Baby."
"That #*%^#$. Tell him he better learn to sleep with his eyes open!"

"Wow, I can't believe I'm having Chervil's baby!"
Yup, you sure are.
"Oh, crap. I'm having Chervil's baby. What am I going to tell our parents..."
Well, you could tell them it's someone else's baby.
"Except they know I haven't been seeing anyone lately, what with my career and Dragons and the twins there just isn't time."
Welp, you're on your own then, sugar. Get Chervil to figure something out.

"Uncle Chervil, why do you keep staring into the telescope every night?"
"Because everyone in Strangeville keeps insisting there are aliens out there and I've been looking for proof. I haven't seen anything yet though."
"Maybe I can help you look some times?"
"That would be great, kiddo!"

And the twins helps the twins transition into their childhood years.

Even blowing out their candles is done practically in unison! :-D

And, ditz that I am, I seem to have neglected to snap any actual transition shots. So here are the twins (post make-over) running the obstacle course. Daffodill really does have a normal mouth, she's just doing that "whoah" thing they do when they jump through that last obstacle. And for some reason, Dill has an abnormally long neck. Hopefully it won't seem quite so long as he grows up.

And the twins play Cops and Robbers. Doesn't she just look so incredibly graceful there? :-)

"Oh my goodness! I killed my brother!"

"Home Alone" anyone? *giggle* They definitely look like they're having fun.

The Vacha's sad attempt at a "Stargazing Army." Can you call 2 people an army? And STILL nobody has been abducted on any of the Vacha lots. *sighs loudly* Stupid frelling aliens. What's wrong with my sims? Huh? They not good enough for you? Hah! I bet they're TOO good for you! *shakes a fist at the rude aliens*

I love this shot. They look like two typical old Italian men who just happened to run into each other on the street. *giggle*

The grandparents make sure their grandchildren take the time to learn how to study properly.

Dragons decides it's time for him to head on off to college. Yeah, sadly, he did get sort of ignored what with the twins and the drama with the older twins. Sorry about that, Dragons.
"That's okay. You can just make it up to me at college. At least I don't have to worry about trying to get into grandpa's silly fraternity either."
Nope. You get to be your own man and do your own thing. You're almost like Generation 3.5 or something, since the rest of your generation are all still either in diapers or barely into elementary school.
"I don't mind being the tend-setter for my generation. Besides, I just want to find a nice wife and settle down to a quiet, non-drama filled life."
I think we can work that out for you after skipping you for most of your childhood. At least you head off to school with a bunch of skills and scholarships under your belt.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! What do I do? What do I do?"
Chervil! You've been through this TWICE before, doofus!
"Yeah, but this time it's MINE!"
Shhhh, you guys haven't told your parents about that yet, remember?
"Who cares about that? Where's that stupid doctor already?"
Ugh, not this again. *rolls her eyes*

"Okay, okay. Just breath. In. Out."
I thought it was the woman who was supposed to do the breathing exercises...

So Chamomile and Chervil's child is born healthy and whole. And Chervil channels his inner dorkiness and does a Funky Dance.

No, really. He really did do this funky dance when the baby was born. No clue why, I've never seen another sim do that EVER, but I was in stitches, watching him dance like that. *snicker* See? I told you these two insisted that Taboo chapter be written. (And this is NOT the doppleganger!)

Yeah, Chamy, I agree. Your brother is very strange. But since this is the only kid he's likely to have, I guess I can forgive him his enthusiasm.

So, I would like to introduce you all to Daisy Vacha. She has her parents' Black Hair and Brown Eyes, not surprisingly. And either S1 or the custom skin that Anise started with.

"Oh, my sweet little girl. My precious darling one."
Okay, Chervil, you're a pleasure sim, not family. Remember?
"And my daughter gives me much pleasure. Go away."
*stares at Chervil for a moment, then wanders off* I'll be keeping an eye on you though, bub!

Yup, these two are still so very much in love. :-D And I absolutely adore the way Daisy is craining her head back to look at Jill.

Chamy maxes her Mechanical skill. Pretty soon she'll be able to help Burdock train the kids on all of the skilling machines.

I think Daisy enjoys her baths just as much as all of the other Vacha children have. I like having nice sims. *sighs with pleasure*

"Hey Squirt! You hear we have a new baby sister? I'm going to go check her out!"
"You can't call me Squirt! I'm older than you!"
"Uncle Chervil calls you Squirt, so so can I."

"Hi mommy! Hi Daisy!"

"Hi mommy! Hi Daisy!"
"Copycat Dill."
"Hey, you're the one who has my name in her name."
"You're still a copycat."

"Peek-a-boo! *giggle*"
DD is so sweet with her little sister.

"Peek-a-boo!"
Smart boy, waiting until his sister is out of the room to copy her again.
"I'm not copying her. She just did it first. But I was gonna do it too!"
Of course you were, honey. *pats Dill on the head*

Ah, and Chamomile maxes out her Logic skill, finishing off the set. It's too bad she's a Romance sim. I can't count that point (not that I'm counting points anyway). But at least now she can teach the rest of the kids all of their skills.

"Mom, Uncle Chervil keeps saying there are aliens living on other worlds. Is that true?"

"You know, Squirt, you could become an astronaut and find out for certain for us."

"And I'd get to blast off in a big rocket ship if I did that, wouldn't I?"

"But you'd have to study hard and get good grades if you want to become an astronaut, Dill."

"I can do that, right mom? I just won't ever miss the school bus and I'll study hard every night."

"Of course you can, sweetling. Just make sure you study your geometry extra hard. Math is very important if you want to become an astronaut."
Freakily enough, that really was the order the speech bubbles came through in. And as you can see, everyone was responding to Dill's comments. I'm just glad I started snapping pictures with Dill's first planet one. I was just going to work that in to him asking to replace Dragons on the terrace. Instead, I got this fully formed conversation from everyone. *beams*

Next time, drama ensues in the satellite homes!

Interlude - Taboos

2006-03-04T11:14:00.000-05:00

***WARNING***WARNING***

This chapter contains subject matter that can quite easily offend even those not easily offended. I will do my best in future chapters to merely gloss over any information revealed here, although it will be impossible to completely ignore this chapter of the Vacha Family Legacy. However, if you are easily offended, you can skip this chapter and figure out quite easily what's going on in future chapters without actually witnessing the events. If you are horribly offended and choose not to read my story any longer, that's your perogative. Just please don't leave me any horrible comments. I've been debating if I was going to "go there" with these two for a very VERY long time, but finally decided if the plot line refused to be brushed off, then it needed to be written. You have been duly warned now, I think. If you choose to continue reading, scoll down.

***WARNING***WARNING***

Keep scrolling. I wanted to make sure you couldn't see any pictures while reading the warning. ;-)

Vacha Family
Some things are better left alone...

Let's take a step back a little while in time. Chamomile and Chervil have just graduated from college and head out to a quaint little 50's diner downtown to celebrate.
Without any of the various Generation 3 children around to keep up appearances in front of, the twins feel a bit freer to show affection and hold hands while waiting for their food.

After eating, they tentatively express to each other what they've been feeling for years.

However, while they're hugging, Chamomile sees something that makes her stomach drop to the floor and she realizes this isn't something she and her brother can do, so she pulls away.

And what did she see, that she hadn't noticed in the rush of emotions she was feeling before?

That their cousin, Aspen, was sitting and having dinner with a friend at the very next table. Chamy immediately calls a cab and it looks like that might be the end of it.

On that same fateful night, Jill happened to be wandering by after a meeting with her publisher and sees Chervil getting in a cab.

~I thought Chervil was going out with his sisters and cousins to celebrate their graduations. Where is everyone else...~

Although Chamy is able to play it cool, Jill notices something odd with Chervil's behavior. But she lets it slide. Her son is a fully grown man now and if he's having an issue, he knows she and his father will always be there to help.

We slip forward in time to Chamomile going into labor with Skylar's (the Mascot's) child. A scene Chervil bribed me to keep out of the main chapter. :-)

~Oh, why does she have to be my sister? She should be my wife and that should be my baby she's giving birth to...~

~Yes! Finally! Our parents are out, the kids are all asleep, and Chamy crawled into the double bed, instead of our single beds. Maybe now's my chance.~

Unfortunately for poor Chervil, Chamy was dead tired after giving birth and wouldn't wake up, so he simply fell asleep besides his beloved sister.

And we slip forward in time yet again. Skylar's children are now toddlers and neither Chervil nor Chamomile have gone out with anyone, life being as chaotic as it is.

For all these years, the twins have buried their feelings, Chamy moreso than Chervil. Being a Romance sim, she understood the ways of the heart far better than her brother, who only thought of the Pleasure of the moment. But they both knew what they felt was forbidden and tried to go on with their lives as normal.

But finally, Chervil convinced Chamomile to go out on another date with him. This time, they go to FM, where they know none of their family has ever gone before.

They make some beautiful music together at the karoke machine.

And then they make some "beautiful music" together in the photo booth, finally giving in to the temptation that's been plaguing them for years.

"Chervil, I've given birth to the heir our parents and Aeronwy want. Why don't we just move out, move somewhere far away?"

"I don't know, Chamy. I mean, we've got everything a person would want at the estate. Leave it all and start from scratch? I don't think I'm cut out for that and I doubt you are too. We've always had whatever we wanted when we wanted."

"Except each other. And if we move to a new town, we don't have to tell anyone we're twins. We can say we're husband and wife and not have to sneak around. After my facial reconstruction, we don't even look like twins anymore!"

"This is a big step. Let's go home and sleep on it, okay?"

They do go home and climb into bed. But sleeping on this descision isn't what they do. So wrapped up in each other, the twins don't even notice that their aging father has gotten up in the middle of the night to make himself a snack. And set the kitchen on fire! I guess they thought the alarm was just the music of their lovemaking or something...

They spend the night between the sheets, Chervil waking up early in the morning and sneaking back to the room where the twins' single beds are. He knows they can't leave the estate and there's a good chance this was the only evening they would ever have where everything worked out for them to give in to their passions. Instead, they'll have left each other with a precious memory and the knowledge of how well they fit together. Resigned to their life of tortured denial, they go on about things, attending to work and the three children in the home.

Of course, it looks like maybe Chervil has left Chamomile a bit more than a simple memory... *grins wickedly*

Generation 4, Chapter 2

2006-03-03T13:00:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

So, when last we left off, Chervil had kicked us out to go find a doctor. Of course, you and I know there's no such thing as an OB doctor in any Sim city, so let's just slip quietly back inside and see how things are progressing, shall we?

~Oh, please let my daughter give birth to another straight A student! Basil will never let me live it down if his kids do better than mine in school!~
~Oh my god, oh my god, my sister is having this baby without a doctor here! What's wrong with Aeronwy, making her do this again!!~
Chervil, as the Controller, you know I can hear what you're thinking, don't you?
"WHAT?? Oh, oh my, that means you know..."
Yup. I know all about it, sweetcheeks. *grins like the Cheshire Cat*
"Oh crap..."
Pshaw, I'm not all evil, you know. In fact, if you behave, I may even let you have what you want...

But now, on to more pressing matters. Chamomile gives birth to a healthy happy baby boy. Meet Dill Vacha - Black hair, brown eyes, S1 or custom skin (I won't know until he gets older which it is).

Aww, that's so sweet! Chamy is handing her newborn son over to her brother so they can bond. :-D

Or, she's handing him over to Chervil so she can give birth to Dill's twin sister, Daffodill Vacha - Black hair, brown eyes, also S1 or custom skin.

(Author's Note: It looks like something got messed up with the formatting right here, but I can't seem to fix it. Sorry! And damnit, trying to fix the formatting for the next picture, which was also messed up, I deleted the picture of the twins holding the twins! *grumbles and stomps her foot*)
(Author's Note 2: So I apparently fixed it somehow, but the picture is still gone. Ah well.)

So, anyway, even with the birth of the second set of twins in the Vacha line, Chamy doesn't forget her first-born son. Another one of those incredibly sweet, purely autonomous actions. These Vacha's really are so precious. :-D

And because infancy is rather boring (and rather stressful with twins), let's move on to the twins toddler birthday!

Dill Vacha gets tossed in the air by his grandmother, Jill. Dill is a Virgo: 10 Neat, 2 Shy, 9 Outgoing, 4 Serious, and 10 Playful. (He's got 35 points!! Sweet!)

Perfection! Our new heir! Oh, he's so going to be a little heartbreaker, I can just see it, with those big soft brown eyes. *sighs* And no Talin lips!! *does a happy dance*

Daffodill Vacha is helped into toddlerhood by her grandfather, Burdock. Daffy is a Pisces: 3 Sloppy, 3 Shy, 9 Outgoing, 4 Serious, and 8 Nice.

It looks like she got the Talin lips, but otherwise seems to be doing well in the genetics department.

"Marie Mazza, will you be my friend? Everyone in the house is so busy with the twins nobody has time for me anymore."
Not exactly true, but we'll let tempermental boys be tempermental boys. ;-)

Chamomile and Burdock teach the twins how to walk.

While our founder, Anise, looks on. I think she is quite pleased with how the family is turning out. She hasn't scared anyone in quite a while and hangs around the windows wherever the twins are located. :-)

Chamy works on getting her pre-pregnancy figure back as soon as possible and maxes out her Body skill.

Burdock, meanwhile, reads through some of his old journals, wondering about people he's lost touch with over the years. This was Tamara Landry, a young girl he and his brother had met long ago. Basil had a crush on her, but she seemed to connect more with Burdock. Fortunately for their sibling relationship, Burdock never went beyond friendship with her.

Welp, that's it for this chapter. Next time, we get to venture into the realm of the taboo. :-)

Generation 4, Chapter 1

2006-02-28T10:15:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

A cute family picture, although I'm not entirely certain why Chervil is the one holding Dragons, instead of Chamomile. Oh well!

It's already time for our young vampire, um, boy to become a toddler. This will give us a clue if Chamy gets to give in to her "romance" ways or if she has to keep popping those kids out for me. ;-)

Dragons Vacha, Aries sign (7/9/5/4/3 ). And sadly, Chamy, hon, he's got your grandfather's lips. So you get to keep birthing 'em, sweetie!
"$*%^@#*!"
Such language! You're a mother now, Chamomile, and you should behave like one!
"I'll show you behavior..."
Um, right, let's move on, shall we?

The obligatory shots of young Dragons learning his skills.

Ah, clothing change for Chamomile! She didn't wear this outfit long. Although I love it, it wasn't quite slutty enough for her, given her rebellious nature at this time in her life.
"Jill, look at our sweet grandson, playing with his toy like that."
"Oh, he's smart enough to be an astronaut when he grows up, Burdock!"
"Baseball! Want baseball!"

As angry as she is with me, Chamy really is an incredible mother. Never afraid of dirty diapers and always having at least one want spun up to teach or play with Dragons.

"If I'm going to have to keep giving birth until you get a genetically pleasing brat, I'm going to go upstairs and play with dad's facial reconstruction machine!"
Okay. But you know that's only a skin-deep change, right? It won't actually change the genetics you'll be passing on to your kids.
"Quiet! It will so make a difference!"

Chamomile looks exceptionally pleased with her new look. I can't say I blame her one bit. She looks quite striking now. :-) Oh and yes, here's Chamy's next outfit. She keeps this one for a while (actually, she's still wearing it in current game-play).

And here's our heiress showing off her new look. I must admit, I wish I looked like that!

Poor Dragons. He looks so sad. Maybe he just got the news he's not going to be the 5th Generation Heir because of his lips. (I really want those huge things OUT of my genetics, if I can swing it at all!)

Chamy is so thrilled that Dragons' first word is "mommy". I'm glad she got to teach him all of his skills like that.

She's so happy, in fact, she runs upstairs and maximizes her Charisma skill! Heh, okay, I doubt it's the same day, but let's just pretend.
"Let's just pretend I'm actually going to do what you want and get knocked up again then too, okay?"
Quiet, chika, or I'll keep you permanently pregnant!
"..."

Jill finished painting Chamomile's Heiress portrait. Since she won't be getting married and her brother moved back to the Legacy lot with her, I'll have a portrait painted of Chervil to hang alongside Chamy's.

Our Portrait Wall as it stands right now. I'm so glad I started doing still life pictures, instead of actual portraits, so I can catch people in poses unique to each one. :-D

Time for a bit more research for your next Borage novel, Jill?
"No, time for a bit of smooching and fooling around with my husband."
*cough* Oh, um, okay, let's just leave you two at it then, shall we?
"Yes, please."
Yup, despite a rather shaky start, when our Diva didn't want to give Burdock the time of day, these two have continuously done these very sweet autonomous actions. I must say, I do good work, pairing my sims up!

Ah, now it's Skylar's turn to produce an heir for me. Poor Chervil, he doesn't look too thrilled, watching Chamomile being turned into a baby-making machine for me.

So he goes upstairs and works out his angst on the poor mechanical dummy. I don't know about you, but I choose to believe he's doing something OTHER than giving that thing a gynecological exam. Especially given how far he's got his arm shoved in there! *shiver*

"Mom, can't you do something about Aeronwy? She's making me get pregnant AGAIN!"
"So use protection, dear."
"I tried, but I suspect she tampered with it. I don't know why, just this sinking feeling I have in the pit of my stomach."
"That's probably just your brother's eggs. You know how he likes to spice them so they're almost inedible."
"No, I'm pretty sure it's Aer's fault."

However, time moves on and it's time for Dragons to turn into a young boy.

"Watch out for the candles, sweetie! They'll hurt your little hand!"

So, obviously, I forgot to take a transition picture of Dragons. And, um, this was the best of the ones I do have of him as a kid. At least he learned like a little wiz, skilling up like mad! So, do you all picture Burdock as saying "Viola!" or "Egads!" here? *giggle*

As you can see, Burdock took over teaching his grandson once he got out of his toddler years. Dragons is a sweet kid, always wanting to do his homework or learn a skill.

Gah! More smoochies??
"You were just congratulating yourself on how well you did pairing us up. Now you're complaining?"
I'm not complaining. But I leave you two alone for two minutes and you're macking on each other!
"And the problem is?"
No problem, but sheesh, try fooling around in the bedroom instead of the bathroom, 'kay?
"Why? It's our master bathroom. The kids don't come in here at all."
Yeah, yeah, whatever.

Burdock may be an old retired fuddy-duddy, but he sure is a limber fuddy-duddy! Hmm, maybe that's why Jill is still so enamoured with him...

Okay, now you're just showing off, Burdock.

"MOOOOOOMMMM!!!! I TOLD YOU AERONWY TAMPERED WITH MY PROTECTION!"
*giggles loudly* Looks like Skylar was successful, eh?
"Don't think I'm not going to find a way to make you pay for this, Aeronwy. Just you wait!"
*pats Chamomile on the head and grins* Do you forget which one of us is the Controller, sweetie?
"Like we haven't figured out ways around you before?"
Hmm, good point... *goes off to Sim-proof her home*

"You've gotta admit, sis, you really are quite beautiful when you're pregnant."
"Don't you start in too, buster! You're just going to give her ideas about keeping me pregnant!"
*grins again*

Chervil, you were just saying how pretty she looks, why do you look so scared?
"Because childbirth can be dangerous! I can't lose my sister!"
Well, you can't have her pregnant and NOT have childbirth. One sort of follows the other, you know?
"Shush up and go get the doctor already!"
There are no doctors in Strangeville.
"What?!? Why is she giving birth here then!"
Because Sim-birth is easy. You've seen her give birth once already, now shush and watch.
"Go find a doctor already!"
Fine, fine. Sorry readers, Chervil is kicking us out to go find a "doctor." Guess we'll have to see if Chamy gives birth to the Heir next chapter.

Generation 3, Chapter 14

2006-02-16T13:40:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

My goodness, Chamomile, you sure have grown up there, haven't you? *cough*slut*cough*
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that last bit you said there, Aer?"
Oh, nothing, nothing. I, um, love your dress, Chamy.

Oh yeah, she's 100% a Romance sim. Of course, that means I get to play dress up with her for all the outfits none of my other sims will put on. *giggle* I think she changes clothes twice more before I settle on an outfit for her. :-)

And here's Chervil, all nicely grown up. Mrowr!

"So Chamy, have you heard from Cory? Your dad and I visited her downtown. She and Andrew have such a lovely little home. And I hear they're expecting a child!"
(Sorry, yeah, lame caption to this picture. Just couldn't figure out anything better... *sigh*)

Chervil maxes out his Body skill. He looks so intense there!

And Chamomile maxes out her Cleaning skill. But unlike Chervil, I don't think she's got a serious or intense bone in her body. *cough* Uh... *looks back over her comment, smirks like a little kid and wanders off, not making the comment*

And, slave-driver that I am, I have Chamy immediately invite over Count Nolan and have them renew their acquaintanship. Of course, she thinks she just gets to play...

~Okay, in this novel, I think I'll have him foil a bank robbery. And with all of my time as the head of a criminal organization, I should be able to write this wonderfully!~

"Oy, my bursitis is acting up. I need to stop this workout and go sit down!"
You sound just like your dad did when he became an elder.
"Yeah, but he got a party!"
So would have you. If, you know, I hadn't forgotten today was your birthday. And completely lost track of time. *blush*

Hmm... I don't remember which ghost got Burdock, but obviously someone wished our Knowledge sim a happy birthday!

"razza-frazza fraking stupid controller..."
Chamy? What's the matter?
"What's the matter? I'll tell you what's the matter! You picked that stupid "Try for Baby" option with the Count!"
Well, we need to get Generation 4 on the way, you know.
"Not so quickly we didn't! I thought I was going to get to have some fun and play around for a while here!"
Sorry, hon. The heiress has her duties to perform and all.
"razza-frazza frelling rotten controller..."

And Jill earns, sadly, only $50,000, not $100,000. Oh well!

And she celebrates it by becoming old as well! (Yup, this is all the same day, since she and Burdock share a birthday.)

"Aeronwy! Aeronwy!!"
*yawns* What? What's wrong? It's the middle of the night...
"I don't feel right. What's the matter with me?"
Hmm? Oh. Oh, I see. Um, give it a moment. You'll understand, Chamy.

"Oh my god, I got fat!"
No, hon, you got pregnant.
"Oh, so it'll go away?"
Yeah, in about 9 months. Let's see how you handle pregnancy, eh? Hopefully more like your sister and less like your cousin.

Burdock didn't turn out bad looking at all as an elder, unlike his big brother Basil. However, the first morning he woke up, he had a want spun up for a face lift. Since he was perma-plat, I figured why not. Good way to figure out how this thing works.

Unfortunately, I had to give him a completely new face, because any minor alterations I tried to make to any one portion of his face looked really REALLY bad. But he was quite happy with the results. And to be honest, so are Jill and I. :-)

Speaking of Jill, after a quick shopping trip, she calls work to hand in her retirement notice. I must say, she's one of the prettier elders I've seen. I suspect if I let her dye her hair dark again, you'd be hard-pressed to tell she was an elder (except for the stupid saggy boobs and GIANT hips... why do the elders get such huge hips anyway?). She's got no wrinkles, no bags under her eyes, none of the usual old age signs I've seen with other elder sims. :-)

And our heavily pregnant Chamomile maxes out her Cooking skill on the candy maker.

Chamy, I know you look very happy there, but don't you think you should lose the spiked collar when you're wearing a pink floral maternity outfit?
"But I like my collar. It reminds me that I'm a wild thing and not to be chained down by this whole family business."
Mm-hmm. We'll see.
(And once again, I didn't change her clothes, didn't mix up her pregnancy pictures. Her outfit just randomly changed, like Jill's, I think it was, had done. I think when she puts on or takes off the thinking cap.)

And baby Dragons Vacha(-Perry) was born, while her twin stood there staring at himself in a mirror. Oh and for the record, Chamomile had an extremely easy pregnancy. She ate a little more than usual and sleep a smidge more than usual, but otherwise, she chatted on the phone or worked on her few unmaxxed skills.

Our resident Grand Vampire apparently has S4 skin. And Dragons also has brown hair from his dad. And brown eyes, I suppose could be from either of 'em, since I can't see Nolan's real eye color.

That morning, Burdock retired from his job-of-the-month to be able to spend more time with his grandson. Yes, poor Burdock was my work horse, making sure we got all of the career rewards. Makes skilling up SO much easier!

She may be a Romance sim and has never once spun up a want or even a thought bubble to have kids. But Chamomile's an AWESOME mom. She never spins up a fear of changing diapers. And once her kids have each hit toddler years (nope, she's not done popping 'em out for me, but let's not tell her this yet, 'kay?), she constantly has wants spun up to teach them their skills or teach them to study when they're children or play with them. *sighs* As gorgeous as Arizona is, I think Chamomile is the best mom I've had in my game yet. :-)

"Marylena is safe to invite over. Aeronwy can't get me knocked up if I stick with women for my lovers!"

She really is a fast worker, isn't she. *g*

And while mom is working it, grandma is enjoying having an infant around to spoil, even if he does pull her hair.

Looks like your romance/adventure novel sold quite well there, Jill!
"Yes, Borage is such a well loved character. My editor told me I need to branch out and have him get involved with lots of different scenarios. I've already got some ideas for the next Borage novel."

And a lame closing shot. My first 30 untapped Elixir of Life bottles. Now I just have to remember to delete the darn things so I can start on my next 30.

Generation 3, Chapter 13

2006-02-14T09:38:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family
Two Satellite Homes

Because I wanted to make sure Coryander had a telephone when she moved into her condo downtown, she got played before Arizona did, who was moving into the main Satellite House. So even though Ari's the oldest of Generation 3, Cory got played first. So, on to Cory's life as an adult!

Satellite Home 2, Coryander's Downtown Condo

The first thing Coryander and Andrew did was decorate their new home, then ran down to the court house and had a civil ceremony. They waited until they were married to actually have sex and now that Cory graduated from college, they weren't willing to wait any longer.

So may I introduce you to Andrew Bruty-Vacha (NPC: Pizza Delivery Man). I guess delivering pizzas is a lucrative job in Strangetown, as he'd managed to save up $12,000! Andrew is a Popularity sim, with a lifetime desire to become Captain Hero. He's an Aries (5/7/6/4/3) who likes women with Red or Black hair, but oddly enough doesn't like to see them in bathingsuits.

Their first day in their new place and Cory's parents come wandering by to say hello to the new couple. And yes, even as guests, those two are constantly macking on each other! :-) I was worried about Burdock hooking up with someone called The Diva, but I'm glad I moved past my fear, seeing how very much in love they are.

Heh, well, lookie here! It appears Coryander and Andrew enjoyed their newlywed period a bit more than they thought they would.
"We were trying to have a child, Aeronwy. You know that."
Well, yeah, but my way sounded far more entertaining to the readers.
"Yeah, okay. Now let me eat my omlet in peace before I throw it back up, okay?"
Actually, Cory had a VERY smooth pregnancy. Except for her Energy and Comfort going down a little faster than normal, she had no problems with anything the entire time.

Cory looks adorable in her new maternity duds. Sadly, she couldn't keep wearing them because apparently there's a glitch or something with them and she never got her 2nd trimester bump until I changed her back into regular maternity clothes. :-( (These were "undies" that she'd pop into when I put the Thinking Cap on her head, if she was wearing the maternity "undies" when she put the cap on.)

You know... I hadn't even realized Andrew was talking about Aspen while he was rubbing Cory's belly. I'm assuming he's suggesting Cory's younger cousin as a babysitter or something. At least, I hope that's what he's talking about there, since Andrew and Aspen have 2 lightingbolts!

Fortunately, he still finds his pregnant wife extremely sexy. And yes, this was an autonimous action. *melts*

*zips forward in time* Wow, look at that! Coryander's in labor already! *cough* You know... I don't even remember what jobs these two have. I know one of them has the Athletic Career, because they have a punching bag out back. Not sure where the other one is working. I'm such a bad Sim-Controller. *hangs her head in shame* So anyway, there really wasn't much going on with these two, just working and waiting for the baby to pop out, so no reason to show you all that stuff.

Coryander and Andrew Vacha are proud to introduce you to their daughter Jessica. She has her mother's black hair and brown eyes. Don't know yet if she has her mom's custom skin or her dad's regular S1 skin.

See? Toldja they have the punching bag in their back yard. Shortly after giving birth Cory maxes her Body skill and gets her pre-birth figure back. :-) That's where I stopped playing this household.

So now it's time to catch up with Arizona.

Satellite House 1, Vacha Secondary Estate

We'll start off with a shot of my prettiest sim ever as an adult.

She very quickly got out of her RenFaire dress and into normal people clothing.

Followed immediately by asking her fiance, Damion Copur, to move in. I guess living in the dorms really lets one horde that scholarship money, because he brought $14,000 to the household with him! Although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, since he is a Fortune sim, with a lifetime dream to become the Chief of Staff at Strangetown Memorial. He's a Scorpio (6/5/8/3/? (I hit delete by mistake, I'll edit this back in)). Now I see why poor Arizona had to buy a bottle of perfume to get Damion to like her. He's attracted to Perfume and Fat women, but apparently doesn't want to see them in their Undies.

Oh, Basil. My dear sweet HOT Basil. What happened to you?
"I got old."
Yeah, but you got ugly too!
"Blame it on my dad."
He didn't get ugly when he became an Elder.
"Well, neither did my mom. So you tell me what happened."
I don't know, sweetie. But we'll see what we can do to fix it.

And that outfit is just SO not you!
"I know. Can we go shopping now? Please?"
Definitely.

.... some time later....

*giggle* This outfit is just SO Basil.
"I picked it out myself. And grew my beard really quickly."
And thankfully the hat covers the Cro-Magnom brows that became quite pronounced.

Arizona?
"Wmt?"
I take it the little pee-stick had a + sign on it, eh?
"Mm-hmm."
Poor thing. As easy a pregnancy as her cousin had, she had the exact opposite. She didn't get tired all the time and her comfort meter actually hardly ever moved. But everything else dropped almost faster than I could keep up with.

"So, baby. Now that we're going to have a baby, don't you think we should actually get married?"
"I'd love to marry you! Unfortunately, this Aeronwy character seems to have other plans for us."
No I don't. I want you two married.
"So why does he still carry his last name, hmm?"
Because I'm a ditz and didn't remember I hadn't gotten you two hitched immediately after college. *blush*

"So dad, now that you're an elder, you can retire and play with your grandchild all day long. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"
I don't know, Ari. It looks like he's still busy contemplating the WooHoo he had last night with his still hot young girlfriend.
"I know. She's like -barely- older than I am!"
You noticed that too, eh?

So, with the influx of people and cash, I decided it was time to redo the secondary Vacha Estate. I've gotta admit, I'm pretty darn proud of how it turned out! (Although I should probably dump those two columns that aren't actually holding anything up...)

And here's the house from the back. (Those are the extra career rewards and stuff, that I didn't want cluttering up the house, back there.)

Here is the redesigned upstairs. Plenty of room for everyone!

And the redesigned downstairs. I need to add in a few more desks though, because I know at least one of those has a computer on it. And the "Skill Up Room" is also the entertainment room, where the TV and easles and stereo is at. I've got to remember to buy them a pool table too.

Basil may be old with freakishly big lips and overhanging brow bones, but Lindsay still finds him irresistable. She's always got at least one want spun up to do something with Basil. And thankfully, she's held to their bargain of never pressuring him to get married. (Never spun up a want to get so much as engaged, even.)

I think Basil is talking about how going to school teaches one good table manners or something, since the only non-college graduate is the one shoveling the food into her mouth...

And Basil happily retires as the time for the birth of his first grandchild approaches.

The corner of Basil's desk is cluttered with pictures of his women. :-) Aspen's picture on the desk is from just before she went off to college. And the wall let's him stare at his beautiful girlfriend and heavily pregnant daughter.

And Basil has become the artist of choice for portraits in the kitchen. I've got to say, I'm really quite proud of these, as each one is extremely unique AND fits the personality of the subject to a T. (And yes, Lindsay is darn near ALWAYS in the bathtub, since she cannot seem to stay clean!)

"So, Burdock, I hear your wife wrote some sort of steamy love story based on you."
"Yeah, it became a best seller and they want her to turn it into a series."
"Should I tell her how much of a geek you were when you were younger?"
"Only if you want me to tell Lindsay what a psycho you were, brother."
Ah, isn't brotherly love grand?
(Actually, I don't think Basil was talking to Burdock here. But I had to think of something that wouldn't completely wig me out for WHY he had the little hearts thing surrounding a chat bubble of his brother! *shiver* First Arizona, then Basil. What's with this family??)

Ah, it's time for our sweet Arizona to give birth! Even in labor, she manages to stay pretty.

And I don't think I've ever seen a Sim smile during labor like that before either. Oh, and for the record... Arizona and Damion are STILL not married, because it was only long after this chapter was played that I realized I forgot to marry them to each other. *fidgets*

Arizona Vacha and Damion Copur welcome their lovely daughter Brooklyn into their lives. I don't know what happened to the close-up picture I know I took, but Brooklyn has both of her parents' red hair and her dad's light blue eyes.

The night of Brooklyn's birth is the first night Suzie comes out to play. Rather appropriate, I'd say, since Brooklyn is her granddaughter.

Of course, she apparently wasn't happy about not being around for the birth of her first grandchild.

Really, really unhappy. That was 2 times in a row she got Basil.

Poor Arizona, just after giving birth, collapses in bed. Only to be woken up TEN TIMES by Suzie. Scared 3 or 4 times. How Arizona didn't get scared to death, I have absolutely no clue. Because honestly, she should have been.

The very next morning, Basil went out to the back yard and dug up all the graves buried out there and moved everyone's bones off to the nearby community cemetary. (I realized, this isn't my main lot, I don't get any points for anything that happens here, so there is NO REASON to subject my poor Sims to the ravings of a very angry ghost. When I got lucky enough to have nobody die that night, I sent the graves packing immediately.)

Well, I didn't have a close-up shot of Brooklyn in Arizona's arms, but you can see what a cute little girl she is here. She definitely enjoys her bath time with her grandpa. And like Arizona was, she's such a sweet little baby, never fussing for anything ever. :-D I can't wait to see what she looks like with her red hair and blue eyes as she grows up. I'm going to have to pick her spouse VERY carefully. *bounce*

And here's our replacement Slob, Claire Riley. Assuming I can deal with the 0 Neat points, she looks like she has some very good physical genetics to pass on to kids in the main Vacha line.

Generation 3, University Chapter 4

2006-02-09T15:05:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family
The University Years

**WARNING** There are two naked male butt shots in this chapter. I've gotten so used to not having the blur thingy in my game, that I didn't even realize these should have been blurred until now. *cough* So, um, yeah, there's a naked man, but in both pictures of him you can't see anything but his hiney. :-)

Var-Annya got a visit from Connor Olshfski, the Streaker. I wonder if this is Lindsay's younger brother? *g*

Okay, I think we ALL know little Miss Romance here wouldn't actually be shocked by a bit of nudity, so I can only guess what's making her gasp like that. *whistles innocently*

I guess whatever made her gasp, she rather liked, eh? *cackles*
"Shush up and go away. I've got some work to do with this one before I can see if what he advertises holds true."

In the meantime, I guess she decided to go with someone a little easier to woo, our trusty mascot, Skylar.

I told you this girl moves fast. She'd met the Grand Vampire... you know, haven't a clue when she met him. She talked on the phone with him once, then invited him over. Same night and she's already got Count Nolan Perry falling for her! (They have 1 lighting bolt when she's in everyday clothes and 2 lighting bolts when she's in a bathinsuit. Guess what she wore every other time she invited him over...)

Um... Chamy?
"What? Can't you see I'm busy here?"
Yes, I can. But why are you thinking about your brother while you're flirting with the Count?
"Because... never you mind why. Nosy wench!"
*stares at Chamomile*
"Go away."
This isn't over.
"..."

At least the Count has gotten Chervil off her mind.

I don't know about you, but Count Nolan looks quite shocked that he's the one being sucked on there, instead of the other way around.

Dude!
"Who are you?"
I'm the controller. You can call me Goddess.
"Nolan, sweetie, we just call her Aeronwy. Don't bother with that goddess nonsense."
*clears her throat* ANYWAY... Count Perry...
"Yes?"
You realize it's rude to not only be staring at her chest like that, but to be grinning like the proverbial cat that ate the canary on top of it is, well, it's downright ungentlemanly.
"She's a romance sim, Aeronwy."
And your point is?
"She likes this."
It's demeaning.
"No it's not, Aer. It just means he's recognizing some of my better assets."
*closes her eyes* I'll never win with you, will I?
"Nope!"

The residents of Var-Annya parked the old sedan on the lawn and brought home a fancy new car. Just watch out for speed traps, kids! (And I haven't a bloody CLUE where I got the "invisible" driveway. If I find it again, I'll let you all know. Because it's rather neat to be able to park the car on the lawn like that.)

Chamomile and Aspen break convension yet again. The girls talk about sports over some pizza and beer. (Well, pizza at least.)

It's kind of hard to see (I didn't realize I was so far away), but Chamomile just earned 15,000 aspiration for snagging her 5th lover while at college.
So, Chamy, did Connor display false advertising?
"*smiles broadly and wanders off* I'm sleepy now, Aer. Come back later."

And our little braniac maxes out her Charisma skill. Fortunately, she also hit the end of her sophmore year. And, hard as it is to believe, I really honestly truly did roll a 2 on my dice. Knowledge aspiration, here we come! And yes, with only 1 point left in 1 skill, she IMMEDIATELY spun up the want to max out her skills. AND it was her LTW. So, being the kind and generous controller that I am...

Aspen was sent to max out her Cleaning skill. Of course, since she's from the Satellite lot and won't even be moving back there but to her own place downtown, the IW point doesn't count. But she finishes up her last 2 years of college and all of her adult life already in platinum. :-) I swear, she was THE BRIGHTEST sim I've ever had in my game. I've never seen someone learn skills like she did!
"Aer, shush, you're making me blush."
Sorry, Aspen. But damn, do I wish you were my heir.
"Don't be sorry. I get to live my life the way I want with no cares or worries."
Good point.

And with Aspen finishing up her Sophmore year and becoming a Junior, it's time for the twins to graduate and head back home. (No, nobody gets graduation parties, or birthday parties, or wedding parties, or any sort of party. I absolutely SUCK at throwing Sim-parties and I'd rather they not have one than have a bad one.)
So, anyway, here's Chervil growing up. Yeah, um, purple and tan are just so not his colors.

And here's Chamomile growing up into an adult as well. Again, not exactly an outfit that just screams our Chamy, is it... They'll be going shopping when they get back to Strangetown.

Speaking of shopping, let's just fast forward in time here. In her senior year, Aspen decided to give herself a make-over. And yet, despite being this gorgeous, she STILL doesn't find a man (or woman) who remotely intrigues her. I guess the business with her mom and dad and then her dad's warning before she went off to college really stuck with her. (I've never seen a sim so picky. The only person she was remotely attracted to was Vidcund. And that was just SO not going to happen.)

Hopefully Chamomile's influence will wear off as she gets older...

Her only real addition to the Greek House after the rest of Generation 3 graduated was this mural she put in the study room. Of course, I think Generation 4 will have to tear the whole thing down and rebuild from scratch, because there's already 5 of them and 2 of Gen 3 haven't had kids yet!

And the youngest from Generation 3 graduates. Finally, an adult outfit I think I just might keep. :-D

I know pictures got VERY scarse there, but Aspen's Junior and Senior years were spent working on classwork, doing her term papers, going to class, and stargazing. And she STILL didn't get abducted. I did send her downtown a couple of times to see if she could find someone who interested her (who wasn't her grandmother's stalker!), but no luck. I guess we'll have to hope she meets someone at work.

And here ends the University Years for another generation. Next chapter we'll check in on the older kids from Generation 3 and see how they're doing.

Generation 3, University Chapter 3

2006-02-03T15:47:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family
The University Years

Not that it has had ANY affect on my game play (darnit!), but I have installed 2 hacks at this point in my game. I have installed the Cute Aliens hack and the Equal Opportunity hack (the second one lets females who get abducted get pregnant too). Unfortunately, nobody has gotten abducted yet!! *stomps her foot and has a temper tantrun* Anyway, just wanted to make the statement here for the record. :-)

As usual, we start off this chapter with a shot of those I'm focusing on. As you can see, Aspen has finally arrived at State.

I'm missing the picture of Aspen arriving, but here's her pledging. Oddly enough, she was accepted just as quickly as the rest of these guys, but they actually came over. Go figure.
Chamy, hon, aren't you supposed to be thinking about getting your cousin into the greek house?
"Yeah, but one of my lovers lives here. And I've never had sex in a toga before."
*pinches the bridge of her nose* Romance sims...

I don't even remember what Aspen showed up to college in, but here's the outfit she picked up after class. Doesn't she look like a little cutie-pie! Innocent and sexy at the same time. :-)

"Wow, we can really eat whatever we want here?"
"You bet!"

"The beauty of living in a greek house is there's nobody to watch what you're doing. Nobody tells you when to do your homework, you don't have to eat that horrible cafeteria worker's cooking, you don't have to worry your boyfriend will come home from class and catch you with your teacher, nothing!"
Ah yes, greek living from the perspective of a romance sim. :-D Can you tell I enjoy playing that aspiration? *giggle*

Our little braniac maxes out her Creativity skill within her first day at Var-Annya. She really should be Knowledge, don't you think?

Chamy maxes her's out just a couple of minutes later. Yup, they've added a couple of musical instruments to their study room. The kids figured they needed to have easy access to relaxation items after all that hard book learning!

My own mini version of the Alien Brigrade. *shakes her fist at those rotten aliens* How can you not want to snag one of these two cuties??

Boy, the twins sure are limber, aren't they...

Coryander finally pops the question to Andrew, who answers with an enthusiastic yes! (I liked him, but I didn't necessarily want him for one of my heirs. So, since Cory had been spinning up wants revolving around Andrew since she was a teenager, she got to have him. *grins* See? Some of us can be nice controllers and give our Sims what they want.)

Heh, I know someone just posted a very similar picture, but this was the first time I'd ever seen this happen in my game. Heather Huffington (I believe that's her name), a very prim and proper looking college "townie," came wandering by, uninvited, and started rummaging through their garbage!! Those crazy sims.

Chamomile got tired of the school girl look and went for a more mature, but still Romance appropriate look. She also took down her ponytail, which had grown long since arriving at college. I'm quite happy with her new look. So is she, I just didn't snap the picture in time.
"There's no way the boys will resist me now! Heck, even the girls will fall under my sway..."
Big difference from when you were a teenager and couldn't find anyone to give you your first kiss, isn't it, Chamy?
"No kidding! I wish I'd gotten to come to college earlier even!"
And despite all her woo-hooing, or maybe because of it (one of her lovers WAS an instructor), even Chamy maintained a 4.0 all throughout college. :-)

And here's the updated study room, once the kids had earned enough bonus money. A nice set of encyclopedias over the desk to help with term papers, a large rug to help muffle sound, a cow to influence to write their term papers (they ALL picked him to write their papers, since he kept coming over uninvited and nobody liked him), and, although you can't see it, there's a guitar there too. Oh and they upgraded the old greek house desk that didn't match the others.

And here's another conquest of Chamy's, the Llama mascot, Skylar Hanby. He's also cute and a potential father for Gen 4.

Yay! Chervil finally maxed out his Creativity skill too!

Chamy not only got our mascot into bed, she apparently performed with such skill and enthusiasm, that Marylena Goss, the Cheerleader, ran upstairs to show them her appreciation. Freaky cheerleader. Especially when you consider the fact that there were other people home she could have cheered for.

Her Freshman year, and already Aspen has sold a couple of masterpieces. Painted by HER, not her cousins! Although now they're helping to keep the baby of the family happy by having more masterpieces standing by for those quick fixes. :-)

Chervil maxes out his Logic skill! (It's just after 7am, hence the daylight. He'd been star-gazing all evening, with no luck. But since he was so close to max, I left him at it even after the sun came up.)

Although usually it's rather quiet at Var-Annya, rarely more than a single guest, there were definitely days that they saw a full house. Outside, still in the glow of good Woo-Hoos are Camryn Ying (Chervil's girlfriend) and Skylar Hanby (Mascot).
Inside, left to right, we have Cory in the kitchen, Scot McCullough (Repairman) fixing the stereo, Aspen on the phone, Chervil doing some last minute craming before his final, and Chamy working on Marylena Goss (Cheerleader). Chamy won't start anything with Marylena while she's still in college, since both she and the mascot frequently come in uninvited. I'm willing to risk having her get caught "cheating" with by one person, but two people is just BEGGING to get caught.

Oh! And something that's been bugging me... why do Romance sims need to be in love before they'll have woo-hoo?!? I mean, I can understand the other sim needing to be in love first, but a Romance sim should be willing to jump into bed just at a crush! Hmph.

You know... I'm not so sure Weldon is in the running as the father for Gen 4 anymore. I might save the fireman NPC for this lovely lady to marry one of the male heirs. Steffie, er, somethingorother. I've clean forgotten her last name. If her name isn't exactly Steffie, it's something close.
"You're already matching her off to a future nephew of mine and you don't even remember her name? Shame on you, Aeronwy!"
Oh, hush up, Cory. Just because you get to marry the man YOU chose, you know the rest of your family isn't so lucky. At least I'm picking pretty ones for them, unlike those Cleve lines!
"Good point."

And it's time for Coryander to graduate and head on to downtown Strangetown. :-D Not the world's greatest outfit, but at least she doesn't look like she's heading off for the RenFair like her cousin.

Geeze! What is it with people leaving a house worrying about Aspen? I mean, I know she's the baby of the extended family. And she's definitely been sheltered her whole life and is still quite innocent. But she's not helpless! Well, we'll just have to show them, won't we, Aspen. :-)

Generation 3, University Chapter 2

2006-02-02T10:45:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family
The University Years

WARNING: There is some psuedo-nudity in this chapter. Kinda. So if you're easily offended, er, well, consider yourself warned?

A shot of 4 of the 5 Vacha children at college. The twins haven't even transitioned to Young Adults yet!

Ah, there they go. Again, their outfits actually aren't really all that bad, they just don't suit them. Here's Chamomile in the clothes her mom sent her to college in.

And Chervil looking all collegiate.

And after a quick shopping trip, Chamy announed to the entire dorm exactly what sort of Sim she is. She went all out with the whole "schoolgirl" look, even down to a ponytail with a bow on it! *rolls her eyes*

And Chervil went and bought himself something a bit more in line with his personality than what he arrived in.

Coryander finally tells Andrew Bruty (Pizza Deliveryman) how she's felt about him ever since she met him while still a high school student. It seems he took the news quite well, don't you think?

Hmm, very well indeed! Cory receives her first kiss from the guy she's wanted to date for quite a few years now.

The siblings still maintain their tradition of having as many meals together as they can. Although WHAT Chamy is wearing there, I have no bloody clue. Little trollop. (FYI - She's the one in the blue see-through number, like that's a surprise.)

As Arizona hits her senior year of college, she decides she needs to cut loose a little bit. She's always been so prim and proper and she doesn't want to look back and regret anything. She's about to head out into the world to be a mature adult in less than a year and it's about time she she did something irresponsible. Looks like her cousin is wondering what's gotten into Ari. (She did actually have a want to streak, which shocked the heck out of me!)

Heh, looks like she's getting cheered on while she gives a hula demonstration. In the nude! Now go put some clothes on girl before your fiance sees you! (I really did blur the nudity out, but it's hard to tell, because she's so far away, if I blurred too much, you wouldn't see what she was doing...)

And here's Arizona heading off to a Renaissance Festival... er, graduating from college and heading back to Strangetown, I mean. Yeah, she'll be hitting the clothes store REAL fast when she gets back to town.

And here the 3 Legacy siblings wave goodbye to their cousin.

Slight change of scenery here.
Because the 3 siblings were all already friends with each other and with Jan, when I had them pledge, there was none of the usual "come over in a toga and greet the applicant" bit. They were just immediately accepted. And that same day, they all moved over to the house (and Jan moved out and into the dorms). So, anyway, they're now at Vary-Annya, the Vacha co-ed fraternity. :-)

Chervil dated Camryn Ying all 4 years of college. She was great for giving them gifts to spruce up the fraternity and keeping our boy happily in the platinum. But, despite 2 lighting bolts, he never once sput up the want to get engaged to her, so apparently she's not his "one and only." Here she is leaving them a lovely stereo system. :-D

And the siblings have added an extra room to the fraternity. There wasn't enough space for all 3 of them to work on term papers or homework assignments, so they created a study room.

"Living on our own is so awesome!"
"I know. This is so much better than the dorms. I don't have to worry about one boyfriend seeing me with another one here!"
"This is great, but I can't wait to get my own condo downtown. I'm not moving back to the suburbs for anything!"
"Well, Chamy has to move back in with mom and dad. And where Chamy goes, I go."
"Ooo, Cherv, what about making an old person's guest quarters type thing in the back corner of the lot? Then we'd get a bit more privacy for ourselves."
"Think mom and dad would go for it?"
"We can try."
The twins frequently worry me. One is Romance and one is Pleasure. So neither of them has a lick of sense between them. And now they're looking to kick their parents off to a back corner? I think I need to sit down with them and explain that Chamy has to have a son to pass the legacy on to and their life will be easier with their parents around...

Andrew seems pretty happy Cory's not living in the dorms anymore.

At the end of her Sophmore year, Coryander realized she didn't need to surround herself with a ton of people, all hanging on her every word. During her college years, she realized that knowledge in and of itself was a valuable goal and she had the desire to help people. (Sophmore Year Reroll - Knowledge - LTW: Chief of Staff)

She went shopping for new clothes and hit the beauty salon to pull together a new look more appropriate for her new focus in life. She seems quite happy with the change, eh?

To be honest, so am I! (Well, okay, I could still live without those huge lips, but otherwise, I love how she looks. *g*)

Chamomile is making a new friend. Weldon is from the Strangetown Fire Department, someone she'd met when she was still living at home. She called him up and seduced his cute uniformed butt. Not that he was a hard seduction, being a romance sim himself...
Oh, yeah, and there in the background is Chervil getting himself back up to platinum. I mean, greeting his girlfriend. ;-)

Heh, yeah, not a hard sell at all there, were you Weldon. (And nope, it wasn't the magic of the Love Tub, since that got worn out in her dad's time by some stupid guest.) Doesn't Chamy just look so self satisfied there? *snicker*
"Well, hey, it was my first time. I'd always heard it would hurt and boy did it not! Now go away, I'm not done with Weldon yet..."

We'll end with a shot of the siblings doing their favorite pasttime, painting. Their younger cousin will be quite glad they're all so gung-ho about painting... :-)

Generation 3, Chapter 12

2006-01-31T11:54:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

I wanted to start off this chapter with some of the NPCs I've come across in Strangetown.

The original Diva, Jill, is now Burdock's wife and has given him 3 lovely children. Here is her replacement (who's name I failed to jot down). I don't know about you, but I think the Vacha's got the better of the Divas! (I was surprised that the Diva was an overweight sim, just didn't seem to fit, you know?)

And here's an almost-Cleve I've come across in my game. :-) Nope, don't remember his name either, but he's obviously a bartender. *g* And no, he won't be making any appearances in the Vacha family!

Okay, and now back to the real story. We stop off for a brief visit at the main Legacy lot.

Jill gets the phone call that her romance novel was a best seller and the publisher wants her to start a whole series based on this character Borage. Does it come as any surprise her novel sold like hotcakes, considering her inspiration was Burdock? :-)

Speak of the devil, the poor guy was just cleaning up after dinner and his father decided a scare was in order. Thank goodness Talin and Anise mostly limit themselves to scaring the one sim in the house that enjoys it. *g*
"Does it LOOK like I'm enjoying this?"
Yes. You have a white ghost floating over your head instead of a red one. Now shush up and finish cleaning up from dinner.
"*grumble, mutter, complain*"

And it is time for the twins to go join their big sister and the elder of their cousins at Sim State! They did pretty well for themsevels in scholarships. But I really don't know how people have the patience to go for more than the skills these days.

Apparently, the twins had too much luggage to be able to take the same taxi to college. (I really wish you -could- have twins at least leave in the same taxi.)

Vacha Family
Satellite Home

Basil reaches a lifelong dream of becoming an accomplished chef. Well, okay, so it wasn't a dream of his. But he still maxed out the skill.
"I just like the candies."
It's a good thing you like the obstacle course too, considering you refuse to put a shirt on, Basil.

Oh yeah, Jan, that's real ladylike. Even Basil seems more than a bit put off by that and he's dating the Slob right now!

I'm sure there's already been pictures of the baby of Gen 3 as a teen, but she's just so darn pretty here's another picture. Man, I'm kicking myself for not having Basil as the heir, because both of his daughters are so bloody gorgeous and so different from each other!

After a long conversation, where he made it clear in no uncertain terms he had no intention of ever getting married again, Basil finally worked up the courage to ask Lindsay Olshfski (the Slob) to move in. She only came with $14 to her name and was a Pleasure sim with a LTW of 100 First Dates. Thankfully, this is NOT the Legacy lot, just my main Satellite lot. And although I usually follow all the same rules on this lot, this one time I made an exception. So now Lindsay is a Knowledge sim with a LTW of becoming a Criminal Mastermind. She's a Libra with the following rather heinous stats: 0/6/0/4/5. Thank goodness she's not being allowed to breed!
"What do you mean I don't get to breed? I moved in here just for the sex!"
There's a difference, dear, between being allowed to have sex and being allowed to have kids. You need to keep my boy happy, after all, so feel free to have all the sex you want. And now that you're no longer interested in dating all of Strangetown (I'm not even sure there ARE 100 people for you to date!), I don't have to worry you're going to break his heart like Suzie did.
"Oh, I heard about that tramp. Didn't she die? Or run away? Something like that..."
Yes, something like that. *whistles innocently*

I have to say, for a Slob, Lindsay sure does clean up well. Okay, so she's only allowed to take baths and she still farts at the most inappropriate places, but she sure does look good. :-)

"Oh honey, I'm home!"
"Hi sweeth--hmmph!"
*sigh* If only my husband would greet me like that when I walk in the door...

~*sigh* Basil is such a good kisser.~
~Mmm, Lindsay is such a good kisser.~
Glad to see they're so compatible. :-) Yup, 2 lightingbolts and usually one or the other of them has a want to do something with the other one. *grin*

*cough* See?
"Go away, Aer. My girl and I are busy."
Going.... *whistles in a very self-congratulatory manner*
"Don't go getting all cocky there, Aeronwy. You screwed up big time with my wife you know!"
Nope, didn't screw up at all. She gave you 2 of the prettiest sims I think I've just about ever seen. And her stats were GREAT for passing on. Then we got her out of the way and now you get a pretty sim who's crazy about you and is already best friends with both your daughters.
"Well, yeah, but you had to break my heart first."
Every artist needs to suffer for their craft.
"But it's YOUR craft, not mine!"
Hmm, good point... Sorry?
"*grumbles*"

She really isn't destined to be a Popularity sim, I think. Here's Aspen maxing out her Llogic skill.

Oh look! Here she is maxing out her Body skill.

Well, let's see now... here's the baby of the family maxing out her Cooking skill.

*gasp* Quelle surprise! Here's Aspen maxing out her Mechanical skill.
I forced her to keep her Charisma, Cleaning, and Creativity at 9 points, so that if during college, she rerolls as a Knowledge sim and gets the LTW to max all her skills, she'll be able to achieve it. :-)

"So daddy, I know I'm only a Junior in high school, but I really think I'm ready for college. I'm always on the dean's list and I want to get there before my cousins all graduate. It would be nice to get to know them better. And you know I'll keep getting my straight A's. And Ari's still there, so you know she'll keep an eye on me too!"
"Alright, pumpkin. We'll put through the paperwork to get you early admission into Sim State. But this house is going to be mighty lonely without you here."
"Don't be silly, dad. Lin's here with you now."
"But your my little girl. I can't believe how fast you've grown up!"

"But be careful with who you meet at college, pumpkin. Don't let yourself get all turned around by the freedom and all the boys. I don't want you to end up in an unhappy marriage because you think the person you meet at college is the one you should be with forever. Promise me you'll take things slowly and wait until you graduate to get engaged to anyone."
"I promise, daddy."

And here she is finishing up the last of the paperwork to get her into Sim State a year early. Ditzy me didn't have her grab a teen job first. Oh well. It's not like they're hurting for money over at university.

Next chapter, we get to join the Generation 3 Vacha children while they take over Sim State. 5 kids in college at once... at least it should be crazy enough I won't have any worries about getting bored! *g*

Generation 3, University Chapter 1

2006-01-23T16:30:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family
Generation 3 - University Years

The eldest of the Generation 3 Vacha children arrives safely at Sim State. Arizona Vacha (oldest daughter of Basil (non-heir), oldest son of Anise (founder)). Her outfit is actually very cute, but she knew she could find something more suited to her.

"Of course, if I realized how angry people downtown were, I might have just stuck with my travelling clothes!"
I know what you mean, Ari. I hate how often people get in fights now. :-(

Geeze people, let the poor girl get through to the clothing racks at least! Yes, this is a SECOND fight in the time it took her to walk from where the taxi dropped her off to inside. *sigh*

She really doesn't look like she's enjoying it either. *comforts Arizona* I think this was the only time she went downtown all 4 years of college, the poor thing.

And here's her redecorated dorm room! Suits her to a T, I think. :-D

Our beautiful Arizona, sporting her new clothing and hairdo.

I can't get over how pretty she turned out. If I'd known Basil could produce a kid who looked like her, no way he would have lost out on the Heirdom.
"My life was much easier growing up though, knowing I didn't have to deal with all that legacy stuff."
You were still run by the same rules though...
"True. But we didn't -have- to be, was the point. And in fact, when we got too big for our old place, we just picked up and moved."
Good point.

She looks so happy at college. :-)

Even first thing in the morning, she looks perfect. *grumbles loudly*

"Coffee!!"
I agree. *g*

Quite an accomplished young lady, isn't she?

Hehehe, I can't get over how small Chervil looks next to his cousin. They'll get to be fast friends when he joins her at school, but that's a ways off still.

Hmm... either this picture is out of order or Arizona did go downtown again... Not sure which.

Of course, I can't remember his last name, but meet Damion, the man who's captured Arizona's heart (2 lighting bolts!).

A year later, Coryander (oldest daughter of Burdock (heir), second son of Anise (founder)) joins Arizona at college. Again, I really like her outfit, it just doesn't fit with Cory. So she'll be going shopping soon too (I wonder if that's what that 3rd fight picture was from...)

And here's Cory's redecorated dorm room. Note the mass of open books on her desk. Already hard at work, knowing she's going to have to make it on her own when she graduates, since she's not the heir to the Vacha Estate.

This is a look that suits our Popularity sim much better!

She approved of the change as well.

Towards the end of her sophmore year, Arizona realized she truly had found the man of her dreams and asked Damion to marry her. It looks like he thinks she's quite a catch too, since he didn't even hesitate before he said yes.

Dude, you're supposed to be giving her a back rub, not climbing inside her skin!

And this picture just FREAKED me the heck out. Arizona is talking about her UNCLE (Burdock) here!! And no, there was no hidden thought bubble of someone else she was attracted to. I mean, yeah, Burdock is a hottie, but geeze, she's his neice and a Family sim for crying out loud!

Besides, he is VERY much in love with his wife. An autonimous action on his part that they both had the want for. Is it any wonder she wrote her romance novel about him? :-) Next chapter will be much bigger. I'll probably just shove all of the remaining college years in there for all 5 Vacha children.

Generation 3, Chapter 11

2006-01-12T15:46:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Okay, Chamy, I know you're a Romance sim and all, but don't you think it's a little creepy to be congratulating your father about WooHoo?
"What? Mom was saying how good in bad dad was and I think it's great a guy his age can still perform."
*mutters softly under her breath about creepy kids*

And here Chervil sneaks out to go hit the town with his cousin, Aspen. Not sure where she got such a hot car from, but oh well!

And a successful dash back inside and into bed! But boy, was he exhausted when he got home from school later that day. :-D

.....
*walks away*

Talin didn't waste any time coming to check out that his bed was still there. But that was about all he did that night, besides wander around aimlessly.

Anise also made an appearance that same night. She's happy to see their marital bed was still around as well.

Unlike her husband though, she didn't stop there. She made her feelings on Chamomile's change QUITE plain!
"Damnit, Aer, can't you do something about their tombstones?"
Nope. Sorry. Going to TRY to keep them around for my ghost points.
"I get to move out soon and never come back, right?"
Nope again, kiddo. You're the heir. You're the only one who HAS to come back.
"#*$&%$^(%^, then get rid of these stupid ghosts!"
*cackles*

What with them being a Romance sim and a Pleasure sim, the twins decided their room needed a decided make-over. I rather like how it turned out! (Although I did have to move the plants to the foot of their beds, since they couldn't get in.)

Le Rowr! *winks at Cleve* Jill reached the top of the Criminal Career track. Now, normally, I'd then start sending a perma-plat sim bouncing through careers to snag the rewards. But, I'm sorry, she looks freaking HOT in this outfit! She gets to stay right where she is. :-) I'm sure Burdock will find some way to thank me. Hmm, you know, I think her portrait might have to be redone in this outfit...

Although apparently, Anise doesn't think much of her daughter-in-law being a Mastermind Criminal. Made the poor woman pee her pants there!
"You had to point that out to them? I mean, they might not have noticed if you hadn't said anything!"
Oops. Um, my bad. Guys? Forget I said anything, okay?
"It's too late now. They've all seen it."
Oh, quit pouting. You're still a good looking sim. I can make you stop drinking Elixir and let you get old, you know...
"A little embarrassment is a good character builder."
Mm-hmm, I thought so. *smirks knowingly*

Chamy?
"What!"
Why are you stomping on those flowers?
"Because I'm angry!"
Why are you angry?
"Because I've found ONE stinking teen in this desert stinking town and he turned me down for a kiss!"
But what does that have to do with those posies?
"They're just so pretty and I don't want to see them!"
*steps out of earshot*
Poor Chamomile. Being a Romance sim, all she wants to do is flirt and kiss and stuff. And I've had a devil of a time finding teens for some reason. Well, I should say, teens she didn't have a negative lightening bolt with. Poor thing was heading for a shrink visit when she fortunately ran into Arizona's old boyfriend, Blair. He's certainly an easy one to have a teen hook up with. :-)

"Basil, what happened to Suzie?"
"I don't know dude."
"It's me. Your brother. You can tell me."
"I swear, I don't know. We'd had another fight and she went storming off to the back corner of the yard, near Bovine's cage. I never saw her again."
"You promise you didn't do anything? I remember how you got when we were kids..."
"Nah. Now, her lover, Amar... let's just say that Bovine fed well that night."
"Basil, Basil, Basil... don't you know the cops can find stuff like that?"
"I've already refertilized his cage and milked him to remove any essence of Amar. It's cool."

~Sis, the place is going to be ours soon!~
~Finally, the old stick-in-the-mud is going off to college.~

~I can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast!~

*pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head*
Chamy, you're not supposed to be checking out your -own- butt.
"Why not? I've got a FINE backside here."

Will all of her free time, only having to work a few evenings a week, Jill has decided to write a novel. A romance novel. Of course, she's a Fortune sim. Wonder where she's getting her inspiration from?

I don't know 'bout the rest of you, but I think that's pretty sweet. And looks like a good place to close out this chapter.

Generation 3, Chapter 10

2006-01-03T14:37:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family
Satellite Home - Basil

Boy, such a difference from the last family portrait. (I love how Arizona looks pissed too and Aspen just obliviously waves to the camera. Fits so well with how my story has been! *giggle*)

Suzie decided to take her lover bowling, to try and forget about her problems at home. It appears, though, that she's got too many flames going at once and nowhere is safe for her! (I think the redhead looking distraught's name is Carmen and the brunette she's on the date with is Amy? I think. But we'll call them that now, even if that's not their names. *g*)

Suzie looks utterly and completely shocked! I'm not sure if it's because she never expected Carmen to like bowling or if it's because she knew Carmen knew she was married, so she obviously wasn't being exclusive with anyone. Either way, Suzie is not having a good week.

Ouch. That hadda hurt. And Amy doesn't look even the tiniest bit phased by this display!

Okay, Carmen, I think you're laying it on a little thick now, don't you?
"She was my heart! My soul! I thought we shared something special!"
Yeah, you did. A very special tumble in bed and a few lunchtime quickies.
"Oh, you know what I mean!"
*rolls her eyes*
"I saw that!"

"I got a call from Jessica telling me all about that little scene down at the bowling alley!"
(For those of you who are curious, Jessica is the brunette in the pink workout suit at the bar in the previous picture. And she did coincidentally call Basil (they met when he was in college) when I got back to the lot.)
"Basil, don't do this. My life is falling apart around me!"
"Your life? YOUR LIFE?!? What about mine and the girls' lives?? Did you ever ONCE think about us while you were whoring it around town?"
"I'm not a whore!"
"Fine, slut, if you prefer!"

Boo-hoo.
Sorry, Suzie. I've gotta agree with Arizona. You made your bed, now you have to lie in it.

~My life sucks! Basil is such a horrid man! How could I have ever thought I was in love with him?~

~My life sucks! Why didn't I listen to all those rumors back at Sim State? Why did I give in the pleasure of the moment? No, no. I have two beautiful daughters from this mistake. But WHY did she have to stray!~

"Oh, sweet Bovine. At least someone in this house loves me. How did you know that a piece of cake is exactly the kind of comfort food I could use right now?"
Um, Suzie? You haven't really been paying much attention to this plant Basil brought home, have you...

"No Bovine! Don't you torment me too! Give me that!"

BUUUURRRPPPPP!
*giggle* I love the little puff of smoke there.
To date, no one in Strangetown knows what became of Suzie Futa-Vacha. Most assume she simply ran away to another town so she can take lovers to her hearts content. Some remember Basil's childhood nature and wonder if the freshly dug corner of the backyard are from Suzie or some other hapless passerby. All Basil and the girls know is they suddenly feel a weight lifted off them and for the first time in years, feel like they can start moving on with their lives.
(They do have the memory of her dying. But there were no funds dispersed. And not one single tear was shed over the passing of Suzie.)

Arizona finally finds herself a boyfriend, Blair. He works after school as a cashier at one of the local shops. Basil, for the first time ever, invites people over as well.

Arizona is so cute when she's blushing. She definitely does not take after her mother. Simple flirting seems almost an effort for this teenager.

Basil quickly realizes that his friendship with Lindsay Olshfski (yup, the slob!) has the potential to be much more than simple friendship.

A whole lot more! Lindsay is just about Suzie's polar opposite, wouldn't you say? That may be why Basil feels safe giving his heart away again.

Lindsay seems to have a knack for drawing Basil out of his funks, doesn't she?

Wow, love is just blossoming everwhere!

Way to go, Ari! Finally got bold enough with Blair to sneak that first kiss!
(Poor girl was just about ready for a visit from the shrink. I hadn't been able to get any of her wants done for some reason. Blair saved the day! *cheers*)

*grumbles under her breath* Showoff.
"Not my fault you can't grab air on your dives like this, Aeronwy."
*mutters a few choice words*
"Now, now, there are children present."

Bloody showoff pulled off a perfect dive there. Hardly a splash, perfect form, nice tuck. Man, if I could have dived like that back in the day, I... well, no, I'm not disciplined enough to think I would have gone pro, but oh well!

Well, there's a splash!

Um, Basil? You're only newly single you know...
"Go away. The girls are gone for the evening and I'm enjoying a simple cuddle here."

That's not cuddling.
"It's just a tender kiss. Nothing to get all worked up about. Now vamoose!"

....
"We're just playing. It's, um, a couple of bad cannonballs. Yeah, that's it."

Just a cannonball, eh?
"FINE! So we did it. You're so bloody nosy, you know that?"
It's my JOB to document everything you guys do. You should be used to it by now. I mean, heck, there was that picture of you taking a shower back at college even.
"Oh, hey, speaking of that... think I could borrow it? Linds wants a copy to put on her mirror."
*sigh*

I've got to admit, I absolutely ADORE the expression on Lindsay's face here as she's looking at Basil.
"So do I, Aer. Makes my stomach do flip-flops!"
:-D

And a very sweet post-coital cuddle. They really are quite cute together. Although Lindsay's friend, the one Basil used to be confused with all the time, does NOT look at all happy with this situation. Think there'll be trouble down the line? We'll have to wait and see.

Lindsay seemed to realize her friend wasn't happy, because she quickly made her excuses and took off. Just as Basil was about to ask her to move in, too!
"How could you let me almost do that? I mean, look at what happened with the last woman I loved!"

And although she doesn't have very many scholarships yet, Arizona decided it was time for her to head on off to college. Her mom wasn't around to cause problems for her father and sister anymore and she felt she could now try for a life of her own.
I love that even as she's waiting for the taxi to take her off to Sim State, she's still thinking about her little sister. :-)

I doubt if she'll ever stop being a surrogate mom to Aspen.

Such a pretty teenager. It'll be interesting to see how she does off at school without her family.

Generation 3, Chapter 9

2006-01-02T16:00:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family
Satellite Home - Basil

Aaaah, such a happy family. If only pictures told the whole story...

I don't think I've ever seen a teen autonimously tuck in a child. But Arizona really is like a mother to Aspen. :-)

The sisters share a good morning kiss.

And a nice quiet family breakfast, talking about the latest bands.

You think maybe Suzie's starting to catch on? She sits down for breakfast and suddenly the table clears of everyone else.

Arizona makes sure she and Aspen get to school on time.

Suzie, for shame! You shouldn't be gossiping about your husband like that!

If this woman were any more of a brazen hussy, she'd be ravaging her lovers in front of her husband... I can't even remember the name of this one. I think this is lover 8 now.

Do we have to keep watching?

"No, you don't. You can go away and leave Suzie and me some privacy!"

...

Suzie, you know Arizona's home, right?
"Who cares? It's not like she hasn't seen me before."

Geeze, watch where you put those hands... um, whatever your name is! She's a married woman!

"Aspen is growing up so fast, dad. She's going to be entering high school soon. So, have you thought any more about what we'd talked about?"
"Not today, pumpkin. Please, just give me one day without badmouthing your mother."

This is a co-worker of Basil's who came home from work with him. The two of them were hanging out in the hot tub, drinking some beers and telling tall tales about busts they'd made. Basil got out to go to the bathroom and who should slip in, but Suzie. This does not bode well...

"You look like a fine specimen of a man. I bet your a real tiger in bed!"
"Lady, I work with your husband!"
"So? He walks around oblivious to everything. You know you want me. Everyone does."
Fortunately for my sanity, Basil's friend took that moment to say it was getting late and he had to go home.

I'm guessing he must have said something to Basil the next day at work though and the two of them got into a fight, 'cause something happened to get poor Basil fired. (It wasn't a bad chance card; no, really, it wasn't! Honest! *looks innocent*)

"Lindsay, how am I going to provide for my family? I've got a little bit of money tucked away, but not enough for long!"
Basil called his best friend, Lindsay Olshfski (a.k.a. The Slob), wondering what he was going to do now that he was unemployed.

Fortunately, Lindsay seems to know just how to get Basil laughing again.
"I can't believe how lucky I am to have a friend like you, Linds!"
Yeah, dude, if only you knew some of the wants she's got for you... (I used the ask command. I think she's got a bit of a crush on Basil, even though he's never used any flirt commands.)

Suzie brings home a co-worker of her own, Amar Futa. Too bad the plants lining the driveway blocked her view. Otherwise, she might have seen Basil's motorcycle sitting there.

Yes, this is the same day Basil got canned, as you can see if you look carefully at the background. He's still quite upset about it. Suzie, in the meantime, is getting busy on conquest #9.

Basil and Arizona watch as Aspen finally grows out of her childhood. This is one VERY busy day in the Vacha household!

Aspen Vacha, Popularity sim. She likes blondes with glasses, but not when they cover up that wonderful hair with a hat. Her lifetime want is to have 20 best friends. She turned out to be quite a beautiful young lady too!

Basil heads out to take care of some bills while he's still got money in his savings account.
~Hmm, who's that Suzie's playing with? I don't think I know him.~
Poor Suzie has her back to the house, or maybe, just maybe, things might have stopped there.

Alas, she went in for another kiss from Amar while Basil was standing right there.

~*~INSERT DRAMATIC MUSIC, RISING TO A CRESCENDO~*~

"What is wrong with you! How could you do this to our family!"
"Basil?? What are you doing here?"
"I live here! I lost my job today because I got in a fight with my friend when I thought he was starting trouble by telling me you'd come on to him! Now I see he was telling me the truth!"
"Basil, I don't know what your friend said, but I never touched him!"

"And what about all the people you've slept with while our children were home!!"

"How dare you betray me and the girls like this!"
"Basil, I-- I-- I'm sorry..."
"Sorry doesn't cut it!"

"How can you treat me like this? I thought you loved me!"
"I did. Once."

Suzie, hon, I don't think you're entitled to tears when you brought this on yourself.

She spent the next day or so eating her meals on her own.

And Basil began sleeping on the couch, unwilling to share a bed with her anymore.

Yeah, I don't blame you for shielding your eyes from her. I probably would too, if I were in your shoes.
"Shut it, Aer. You saw what she was doing and you could have stopped her."
Well, true. But she is a Romance sim. And it makes for good storytelling. *looks sheepish*
"Mm-hmm."
*sigh*

~I can't believe I was stupid enough to fall in love with someone who would betray me like this.~

~And this idiot! Didn't he know she was married! Man, he better hope I never get my hands on him!~
*coughs delicately* No worries of that, Basil. Your pet plant took care of him for you.
"Really? Such a good plant!"

"Aspen, hon, don't feel badly for mom. She brought this on herself. She's been bringing lovers home since before you were born. It was only a matter of time before she got too careless and got caught."

What will happen with Suzie? Will Basil ever forgive her? Will she move out and start her own life? Will Basil's childhood tendencies rear its ugly head? Tune in next time to find out.

Generation 3, Chapter 8

2005-12-29T00:11:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Such a sweet and normal family. One about to undergo a few changes.

"Mom, why can't I go travelling after college?"
"Because you're our heir, sweetie. You have to come back here and continue on your grandmother's legacy."
"But there are no cute guys here, mom!"
"I'm sure you'll make do, Chamomile. I'm sure you'll make do somehow."

All three children working on their skills over the weekend.

Ever since Anise's death, Talin just mopes around the house. He's not only already picked out the suit he wants to be buried it, but he's wearing it all the time, so he's ready for whenever the Grim Reaper comes for him. He looks at the pictures on the wall, remembering his younger days (yeah, yeah, so I STILL haven't gotten Jill's portrait done)...

Or off in the family cemetary, mourning the loss of the love of his life.

I swear, these two scare me sometimes. It's like they're not really two people at all, but one person split into two bodies.

Hah! Finally a sign they might be normal siblings. First time I've seen them do anything that might piss the other one off. *dance*

And Talin just had time to change back into his suit after his afternoon nap when Grimmy finally came calling.

(Hmm, you know... I can't think of any cute or even remotely interesting quote to put here. Oh well! Moving on...)

"Oh, I've heard about these drinks!"
I'm not sure if Talin is excited about going or if he's having second thoughts, but either way, it's time to say goodbye to a very sweet townie spouse (even if he did curse my family with those lips).
Talin Trimble-Vacha
Died at the age of 75 with 10 friends, leaving behind a decent dispursement of funds to his children and grandchildren (which of course, I forgot to write down).
Family sim, with his lifetime want unachieved. I believe he died in the gold though, darnit!

Nobody feels much like cooking, so they invite a few friends over and order in a bunch of chinese food, talking about some of the more entertaining stories of their Founder's husband. The girls become best friends in their grief too.

I guess even Anise wanted to come to Talin's wake. Here's her first appearence (although she's hard to see). She didn't do much, just cried at the spot she'd died in...

...played with the tub, and just sort of floated about for a while before going back to the other side to reuinite with Talin.

Poor Coryander was completely inconsolable for days after her grandfather's death.

Whereas the twins expressed their grief in a different way. They went downtown and picked up some new clothes that they felt fit their personalities better than what their parents had given them. Here's Pleasure sim Chervil with his new shades.

And dressed all in hip black.

Romance sim Chamomile went for a far more drastic makeover. It appears her grandparent's influence was the only thing keeping this little hellion in check! Her mom is too into her own appearance and her father is too into achieving his own brand of perfection to pay much attention.

I feel so sorry for the boys in high school...

During this tumultuous time in the Vacha household, Burdock achieved his Impossible Want of maxxing out all 7 skills.

That same evening, he underwent his own brand of makeover as well. I guess I can see why he wouldn't notice his youngest childrens' obvious cry for help...
(Burdock achieved his 2nd LTW of becoming a Mad Scientist, his 1st having been to become Chief of Staff. I guess I can see the connection.)

I dunno 'bout you guys, but I know I sure as heck don't want to run into him in any dark alleys any time soon! I'd be lucky to walk away only missing an organ or two! *shivers* (I love the lighting I somehow got on this picture. *dance*)

Okay, after that last image, I think I want to end this chapter with a much more pleasant picture. So we'll just play Peeping Tom here as Chervil takes a shower without making sure he's modestly covered. Although, you know, being a Pleasure sim, he might have planned that. Oh well, he's still cute!

Generation 3, Chapter 7

2005-12-26T18:06:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family
Satellite House

*sighs loudly* Aaah, such a happy normal well-adjusted family. Everyone's so loving and considerate of each other.

Well... almost everyone. Suzie seems to be rapidly making the rounds of eligible men (and I'm sure some not-so-eligible men) in Strangetown. I think this is her 5th affair to date. And with Nervous, no less!

~Damnit, mom, the baby's in the house and you're pulling that crap? Bad enough you do it when I'm home...~

"It's okay, Aspen. Let's go downstairs and I'll get you something to eat and we'll watch a little television. Really loudly..."
At least one of the two people home is concerned about the little one's needs. Someone else seems to be concerned only with her needs.

"Sweetheart, I just wanted to tell you how very proud I am of you. You're doing so fantastically in school I have no doubt you'll get some great scholarships for college!"

"Thanks, dad. But look, I'm halfway through high school and I really think we need to talk about this again."
"I'm sure I don't know what you're referring to, pumpkin."
"Yes. You do. I'm talking about mom."

"Look, it was bad enough when she had her flings leaving when I got home from school as a kid. But now she's bringing them home and doing them with Aspen in the next room! I don't want her growing up with that sort of crap like I had to."
"Arizona, stop!"

"Look, I know your mom's a bit of a space cadet, but I really don't think she'd be doing what you're implying she's doing."
"I'm not implying anything. I'm telling you flat out. Mom's screwing around on you with half the men in town. And if you don't deal with it, then at least find a way to shelter Aspen from it."

Poor Basil. He really doesn't want to face what's going on.

~God, is Arizona right? Is Suzie really cheating on me?~
~Man, he's so gorgeous. But why does he look so worried?~

Good try, Suzie. But I'm thinking it might be too little, too late. But I suppose we'll see. It's not like my Sims haven't surprised me before...

But now, on to happier events. It's time for Aspen to transition into a child! *cheers*

"Help daddy blow out the candles, swee'pea!"

Daaaaayyyaaammmm, that girl outta try out for the basketball team! :-)

And I proudly present to you Aspen Vacha. In a rather hideous outfit and with a hairstyle I'll go change momentarily.
~My little girls are growing up so fast...~
*hugs Basil* Poor guy.

Heh, well, ditzy me forgot to take a post-makeover picture. But the next few pictures will let you get a good idea of what Aspen looks like. :-) And what is the fascination little girls have for makeup?

Yup, the girls are still the best of friends, despite the differences in their ages.

Basil takes the time to each his youngest daughter how to study properly. No matter what else goes on in one's life, it's important to get good grades.

Basil, what's that?
"Huh? This? Oh, it's nothing. Just a new toy I picked up."

Uh-huh. Methinks someone is having a bit of a midlife crisis there.
"I am not!"
So then what? Trying to prove your verility with a powerful motorcycle?
"Um, no. I'm having a midlife crisis."
Okay. *grins and wanders off*
"It's a midlife crisis and don't you go saying otherwise!"

Ouch. Poor Arizona. That really looks like it had to hurt.
"Thank goodness the school photos were last week, 'cause I'm going to have one heck of a burn on my chin!"
And think of the rumors that will start...
"I'm a Family sim, not Romance!"
That just makes it all the more fun to tease you.
*Arizona pouts and stomps off*

"Charisma is important, sweetie. If you can schmooze well, you'll get far in life. More importantly, people will give you what you want if you can phrase your desires well."
"And I believe air pollution should be curbed. Especially hot air emitted by people who should simply keep their mouths shut." ~Not to mention their legs...~

"...and so the kids at school were talking about this new game and it's got this neat race car stuff and controllers and..."
~Why has Basil been so distant lately?~

The girls playing SSX3 together, with Basil watching and cheering each of them on. Have you caught on who's usually missing from most of these family pictures... *shakes her head* She really is a space cadet, isn't she. So darn tired from all her extramarital affairs that if she's not studying for a promotion or eating a meal, she's usually asleep when everyone else is home.

Speaking of extramarital affairs, Suzie has brought Carmen home from work. Lover number 6 (7 if you count Basil). She's either completely oblivious that her family is on to her or she no longer cares. Arizona is taking care of cooking dinner as Aspen takes a short nap, while...

...Suzie heads upstairs with Carmen.

Apparently, the ladies were loud enough to wake Aspen up from her nap.

"Carmen, my husband should be home soon, so you've got to hurry out. But we'll definitely head out for lunch tomorrow, okay?"

Just a shot of young Aspen greeting Basil when he gets home from work. You know, I'm realizing, the girls have NEVER once rushed out to welcome Suzie when she came home. I guess children aren't quite as oblivious as Suzie would like to think, eh?

Burdock and Jill get an evening off from watching their own kids and come to visit (they were both autonimously walking by outside, so I had Basil rush out to greet them before they left the lot).

Jill and Suzie were friends while Suzie and Basil were still in college (but I didn't realize it until the boys were both graduated and starting their own families). If only Jill caught on to what was going on with her brother-in-law's family, maybe she could have said something to her friend. But, being the Diva she is, she's mostly interested in her own affairs. (No, not THOSE kinds of affairs!)

We'll close out this chapter with a shot of the brothers reconnecting. They've lost touch over the years, dealing with their own family issues and, although still friends, they'd drifted apart and had a lot to catch up on. They talked late into the evening and were the best of friends again by the time Burdock went home (Jill had left hours earlier).

Generation 3, Chapter 6

2005-12-21T18:41:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

The Vacha family posing yet again for a family portrait.

Chamomile and Chervil are already the best of friends and do everything together.

"Mr. Headmaster, sir, my youngest children are pure geniouses. You should admit them both to your school. The bragging rights your school will receive from two such rocket scientists as these would be tremendous. That and I'm worth a fortune and will donate the money for the new school gym."

"Mom, you should have stopped at the rocket scientist part. Trying to bribe a Headmaster is degrading. Not to mention I cannot immagine it would actually work on such a worthy gentleman."

~Damn loudmouthed kids. Now to figure out a way to admit the kids and still get the school that money.~
"You're absolutely correct, child, that bribing a Headmaster is unethical. However if your mother wishes to donate funds as a sign of gratitude or to improve the school you and your sisters attend that is entirely her choice."

Yup, you heard the man right! The twins are now officially enrolled in private school. :-D

And no sooner did the Headmaster leave than the twins decided it was time for them to grow up. Without cakes. Again. *sighs*

Here's our heiress, Chamomile as a teenager. I like her outfit enough that she's keeping it for now. :-) She turned out pretty well! Yeah, she's still got the big lips, but I can live with that.

Chammie is a Romance sim, attracted to fit blondes and she really doesn't like brunettes. She has a lifetime goal of becoming a Professional Party Guest. (YES!! Platinum Romance tombstone, here I come!)

And her brother, Chervil, who turned out to be one heck of a hottie, if you ask me! I can't wait to see what he looks like as an adult.

Chervil is a Pleasure sim who's attracted to redheads who like hats. He's not too fond of women with gray hair. He's nurtured a lifetime desire to become a Celebrity Chef.

Anise and Talin share a tender kiss as they congratulate each other on a fabulous start to the Vacha legacy.

Anise spends a few last hours working with Coryander, who'd started packing on a few too many pounds.

After the family had one last dinner together, the Grim Reaper decided it was time to pay a visit for one of our founding couple.

Anise looks pleased to be moving on. I know I sure as heck am! I was reaching the point that I didn't know what to do with my elders anymore, now that they're retired and the kids are all teens.

The entire household is gathered together to mourn the passing of their tender yet determined founder.
Anise Vacha
Died at the age of 73 with 11 friends.
Anise did not achieve her lifetime wish to marry off 6 children.
However, she left behind a platinum Family tombstone and a rather NICE dispersement of funds to her family ($9,800 to each son, $20,000 to her husband, and around $2,500 to each grandchild).

At which point, my game decided to freeze time. I guess it wasn't as ready for her to pass on as I was. So, I exited without saving and watched Anise die a second time. And my game got pissy with me again. Found what the problem was and exited once more without saving and made sure to remove the offending items before Grimmy came again.

But I think her family was getting tired of the whole death and mourning thing. Only 3 out of the other 6 showed up. And only Chamomile was crying. Can't say I blame them though. I was getting pretty darn tired of her dying over and over too. But at least it's done and she's resting peacefully in the back corner of the yard. (Heh, that makes her sound like the family pet, buried in the backyard or something. *shakes her head*)

I thought I'd close this chapter with a rather bizarre glitch from Anise's third death attempt. :-) See you again soon!

Generation 3, Chapter 5

2005-11-25T10:49:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

It's time for the twins to finally gain a smidge of independence. (Thank goodness!)

An adorable picture of Burdock tickling Chamomile before helping her blow out her candles.

WHEE!

And our sweet little Chamy as a toddler.

Now it's time for her brother to grow up as well. Such a mature, considering pose he's got going on there. :-)

"Mom? Did you guys throw me about like that when I grew up too?"
Heh, Coryander doesn't look so thrilled with her parent's birthday traditions, does she...

And young Chervil making a face after becoming a toddler.

And after getting rid of that horrid powder blue tuxedo. I mean, who on earth puts a toddler into a tux for everyday wear!!

So Chamomile is a Virgo, with 10 neat, 3 outgoing, 9 active, 4 serious, and 9 nice.
Chervil is a Scorpio, with 10 neat, 8 outgoing, 8 active, 6 playful, and 1 grouchy.

"Mr. Headmaster, my granddaughter has aspirations to become a surgeon and I believe your school will aid in her quest. You will grant her entry to your fine establishment, yes?"
I guess Anise really knows how to convince a guy. ;-)

The family portrait of the Vacha family, with Anise and her husband holding their youngest grandchildren. You can just barely make out that Chamomile got a makeover as well.

*giggle* Another fear I'd never seen before. Talin is definitely a typical elder. He's got a fear of e-mailing someone! *rolls on the floor laughing*

Whew, time sure does fly when you're having fun! Here Burdock is heading over to toddler Chervil to bring him to his birthday cake, but Chervil had ideas of his own. I guess he was tired of taking second billing to his sister, just because she was born first (and is the heir to the Vacha Legacy) so he grew up into a child in the nursery.

A very cute little boy and WITHOUT Talin's lips!! *sigh* Darn him being a boy though. He can't inherit the third generation. :-(

Here's sweet little Chamy being brought to her cake like a good little girl. Notice Cory in the back there noticing her little brother grew up all on his own. She's probably wondering why she had to wait for everyone to come make a fuss over her when she become a child.

"Time to blow out the candles, sweetie!"

And our heiress, Chamomile, grows into a cute little girl.

The three Generation 3 Vacha children sitting around watching TV together. Oddly enough, only Chervil looks like he's enjoying himself.

A shot of the twins bedroom, with their bunk bed, pirate ship bookcase, pirate ship "doll house" and treasure chest toy chest. (I hadn't bought their treasure map carpets yet, but you'll see those soon.)

The twins heading off for their first day of school. They look so excited!! I'm really not sure why Chamy looks like such a sourpuss all the time. I guess maybe she's overwhelmed, knowing she's going to have to figure out how to make this Legacy her own some day (especially when she's got no real personality...).

No, Cory doesn't desperately have to go to the bathroom. She's completely ignoring the freshly baked birthday cake sitting in the kitchen and instead decided that if Chervil didn't have to do the whole cake and crowd thing, neither did she. ;-) And see? I told you you'd see their treasure map rugs soon. *g*

Not too shabby there, Cory! But we can definitely do better for you I think.

And a shot of Coryander after she let her hair grow out a little during the summer break and got a new haircut and bought some new clothing. She definitely turned out quite pretty, I'd say!
Coryander is a Popularity sim, attracted to Red-heads and Blondes, turned off by fat and has a dream to become the Mayor of Strangetown.

This looks like a good place to end things for now. Enjoy!

Generation 3, Chapter 4

2005-11-25T10:39:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Satellite House

Arizona loves to play with her baby sister. Hopefully she and Aspen will be friends for life.

Time sure does fly! It's time for little Aspen to grow into a toddler already.

Allez-oop!

And here's young Aspen. Although it's hard to see in this picture, she's got her dad's green eyes and black hair, the Vacha lip and I'm not sure what skin tone, but I -think- she might have the Vacha custom skin too.

"Daddy! Daddy!"
*grin* As annoying as it is that they cancel out anything in their queue to go say hello to a returning parent, now that it doesn't happen every day I think it's incredibly sweet.

Basil and Arizona are having a quiet dinner just the two of them, since Suzie and Aspen are both upstairs asleep.
--- INSERT DRAMATIC MUSIC HERE ---

"Daddy? Why do our things break so much?
And daddy? Why does mommy do kissy-faces with the different repair men who come to fix our things? She makes a face like this! MWWAH!"

*cough* Okay, despite how it looks in these pictures, there was a day or two in between Ari's inadvertent "outing" of mom and her transitioning to teen years. And her family is all there, I just decided we didn't need to see yet another picture of everyone blowing their horns or twirling their noisemakers. ;-) So, anyway, without further ado, I present to you the transitioning of Arizona!

"Aeronwy, I'm already done transitioning. And hey! I actually got a pretty cool outfit for my birthday! I love mom's taste in clothing. This skirt goes wonderfully with my hair."

"So? What do you guys think? Mom? Dad? Um, guys? What's so interesting out there? The birthday girl is in here!"
Well, I'm here and paying attention to you at least, Ari.
"Thanks, Aer. I knew I could count on you."
Arizona rolled a Family aspiration, but no Lifetime Want (and I haven't gone back into the house since to check out what her heart's desire is yet). Interesting that a Pleasure and Romance sim couple should raise a Family sim... seems wrong somehow. I mean, Family shouldn't be because one is rebelling against one's parents, should it? Anyway, I left this household where it stands and went to play catch-up in the overwhelming main Vacha Estate.

Vacha Estate

A quick family portrait of the Vacha family. Coryander is such a ham for the camera, don't you think?

Our founder and her husband take a moment out to admire their portraits and not-so-subtly remind their controller that she hasn't gotten around to getting the 2nd Generation portraits done yet. And then they go and do this every freaking day! Alright already! I'll get to work on it! Sheesh.

Cory doesn't seem to mind that her mom walks a slightly shady path in her life. Of course, what Cory was doing up at this time of night, I have no idea.

Remember the visitor I told you to take note of at some birthday party back in Chapter 1 of Generation 3? Well, here she is again. *cough* As mentioned before, I didn't realize anyone had died until I wanted Burdock to go feed his cowplant and saw the option for him to milk it. I thought about having he ressurected, but then figured what the heck, there's one ghost out of the way. :-) Besides, Burdock wanted to see her ghost, so I locked in the want and then waited. And waited. And ... well, Jenny finally decided to come out of her tombstone.

And this is mostly all she ever does. She just wanders back and forth outside (never so much as sets foot inside the house for some reason) making angry fist-into-hand gestures and thinking about the babies in the house. Either she wants to kill the kids or she's waiting for them to grow up so she can haunt the house properly.

She also thinks about one of the, erm, Strange brothers? (One of Vidcund's brothers, whatever their last name is.) So she thinks of him and then waves her arms wildly about like what the sims do when they really really want something, like sleep or fun. Guess I should have someone in the house make friends with this guy and invite him over during the evening to see what she does with him there. *grins wickedly* Could be fun!

And yes, the first night she went haunting, I had Burdock go running outside, hoping to see her.

And here is Jenny Smith's only scaring to date. I mean, her only one, even up to my current play-time. Even though folks have been outside on evenings she's been wandering the grounds, she's never scared anyone else. She's such a sweet ghost, appearing only to the one person in the house who -wanted- to see her.

You know, their entire married life, these two NEVER spun up a want to WooHoo. Flirt, appreciate, tell jokes, tickle, yes. Even once or twice the want to kiss. But never to make out and never to woohoo. So, now that they're elders, what's at least one want in their panel? To woohoo, or to woohoo in bed, or woohoo in the car, or woohoo with Talin/Anise specifically. *rolls her eyes* Dirty old people. :-D

Hmm, Talin, I wonder why you're sitting there in your underwear and thinking about your wife...

"Because we just had WooHoo again, ya big nosy-body. You know that 'cause you're the one who let us do it. Now go away and let me bask in my post-woohoo glow."

Heh, I think we'll just end this chapter here. *wave* (I'd like to take a moment to apologize for the rather ho-hum tone of this chapter. It's been a crazy week both at work and at home and it's "that time of the month" AND I'm sick on top of everything. So I haven't been feeling terribly creative, but this has been sitting out here for a week now and it's been bugging the heck out of me that I haven't done anything with it. Hopefully the other chapter I've got loaded (which I hope to post this weekend, maybe) will be better. Sorry!)

Generation 3, Chapter 3

2005-11-13T11:19:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family
Satellite House

Here's a close up of little Arizona. I believe I'd mentioned it before, but she's got her grandmother's red hair and her grandfather's brown eyes (and mom's tanned skin). It's nice seeing the previous genetics come into play like this.

I'm not sure which one of them is having more fun. Basil trying to teach Ari to walk or Ari teasing her dad by refusing to.

"The time goes by so quickly. I can't believe our little girl is already going to be a child! She'll be going to school this year and everything now."
I know what you mean, Basil. (Especially when the house is played at medium speed. *cough*)

And here's Arizona as a child. Nope, I didn't change her hair (as I'm sure you can figure out by the fact that she's only first carrying off her piece of cake). She's got her grandmother's custom hair entirely, not just the color. :-D

"And daddy? When I go to school, I'll make lots of friends, right?"
"Of course you will, Pumpkin."
"And daddy? I won't have to play with any stinky boys, right?"
"Only if you want to, Pumpkin."

"And mom? Can I play soccor when I go to school?"
"You might skin your knees if you play soccor, Arizona."
"And mom? I'll get to learn all kinds of new things when I go to school?"
"Of course you will, Ari."
"And mom...."
Geeze, I don't know about Basil and Suzie, but I'll sure be glad when little miss chatterbox goes off to school!

Now, Jill. Just because you heard through your husband that his brother came into some money (yay for good chance cards!), that doesn't mean you should be casing out the joint! He's family, after all!!

"Hi Miss Busdriver! You're taking me to school now, right?"
"Yes, hon. Now go find a seat."
"And Miss Busdriver? You'll drive me and my friends home after school, right?"
"Yes. Now please find a seat."
"And Miss Busdriver? Can I sit up front so I can watch?"
"Um, no. Please go find a seat in the back..."
Heh, can't say I blame her.

*keeps her mouth shut and quietly leaves Suzie to her privacy...*

With the very nice chance card and some good promotions and another child on the way, Basil decided it was time to move his family to a bigger home. Unfortunately, the home wouldn't fit on their old property, so they moved to the other side of the Vacha Estate. One of the only homes in Strangetown to have a fully manicured lawn, even!
The two long rooms on the left-hand side are the office/study in the front and the entertainment room in the back. The small room at the right-hand front is the conservatory (an easle is there, but eventually I'll put a piano in too). Behind that is the kitchen and off to the left of the kitchen is the table (sort of in the main entry room).

And a shot of the back of the house, complete with a pool and all of their career rewards and date gifts and other assorted outdoor things.

And a shot of the upstairs. The front left-hand room is currently unoccupied. The back room is Arizona's. Each with their own bathroom. Next to Ari's room is the nursery. Next to the nursery is the master bedroom and that bathroom. (The bedroom is actually significantly smaller than the other 2 rooms, but the bathroom is much bigger. I figure they needed to both be able to pee at the same time, whereas the kids needed to have room for toys.)
There is another small room at the front right-hand corner, but I don't know yet what I'm going to use that for.

And Basil finally got tired of being mistaken for that other townie. That and he was grumbling far too often about the 70's Era clothes I'd had him in. So, this is now his everyday outfit. How I let him talk me into going around shirtless, I have no idea. At least he's got a nice cut abdomen to show off.

And a close-up shot of our middle-aged boy.

After getting teased mercilessly by the outfit her mom had insisted on dressing her in, Ari managed to convince her dad to take her shopping. I think she's very happy with her new clothes! I know I am. :-)

It's nice to see a Sim look excited when her stomach pops out for a change, instead of the surprise they usually express! I swear, she should have been a family sim, not romance.

"Mommy! Mommy! Is that my little brother or sister in there?"
"Yes, Ari. In a little while, you'll get to meet them. You'll be a good big sister and help take care of the little tyke, won't you?"
"Of course I will, mommy! Hi little brother or sister! I can't wait to meet you!"

*cough* okay, so this is obviously out of order, given that she's still in her old clothes. But oh well. I love watching the kids rush out to greet their parents. Especially now that they don't do it every day.

Uh-oh... looks like Basil has gotten himself a new pet. And no, I am NOT going to go listen in on his thoughts!! *shudders*

Basil! Your wife is pregnant! Can't you show a little decorum and at least WooHoo in the bed?
"Hey, she's the one who wanted to come out here and do it. Scold her! I'm just letting my wife know I still think she's sexy and doing it wherever she wants to."
Okay, so maybe she really is a romance sim. *shakes her head*

And yup, Basil -still- dreams about this guy. They have 0/0 relationship points, but despite almost 2 children and a wife who constantly wants to have sex, he still thinks about this guy.

Um, Suzie? What are you doing with Blazej Trimble?
"Hey, if Basil is allowed to have wet dreams about some guy, I'm allowed to do what I want too."
Yeah, but, I mean, you're pregnant with Basil's kid there!
"I don't mind. And obvious Blazej doesn't mind. So just butt out."

~Who's that man? Did something break in the house?~
~Ah, crap. Cut it too close and the brat's home. Just act casual...~

"Hi Mr. Man!"
~Ignore her and maybe she'll just forget I was here.~
"Bye Mr. Man! See you later!"
~He wasn't very nice for a repair man.~

"Mommy! Mommy! I got an A+! I got an A+!"
"That's great, Ari!" ~Now let's just hope you continue to be oblivious about strange men being here...~

A little father/daughter bonding time before the new baby comes.

Basil! Can't you give your wife a little privacy?
"I can't help it. She's just so sexy, I have to whistle at her every time I see her."

"BASIL!! Wake up!"
"Hmm? Oh! Oh, it's time already!"
At least this brother doesn't take the time to make the bed while his wife is in labor.

And Basil cheers the birth of his newest daughter.

Meet little Aspen. She has her daddy's dark hair and green eyes and it looks like she's got her mom's tanned skin.

"Who's my good little girl? Who's daddy's little angel?"

Even with her cheating ways, Suzie is still happiest when she's taking care of a little baby. I swear, this Sim absolutely confuses me.

I just thought this was the cutest shot, I simply had to include it. I know Aspen is going to hate me for it when she gets older, but I couldn't help myself! *melts*

And no, we haven't forgotten about Arizona. Here she is pretending she's got a baby of her own. :-)

See!! Sim children CAN play with the teddybears in a sweet and gentle manner! No smacking them on the floor or anything! Just talking with them and cuddling them. *hugs Arizona* She really is an angel of a child. And wait until you see her as a teen. She's a real cutie! But I don't have those pictures formatted yet, so you're going to have to wait a while. *g*

Generation 3, Chapter 2

2005-11-11T16:09:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Aww, poor Coryander is so sad. She's such a happy child usually too. Let's see if we can't figure out what's got her so unhappy.

ACK! Okay, if I was teething that badly, I think I'd be crying too! Poor sweetpea.

Fortunately, daddy knows how to make her giggle, even if her mouth hurts.

Looks like Burdock and Cory enjoy playing airplane too, just as he and his parents did.

Ah, this is much more usual for our sweet girl. She just sits happily in her crib playing and singing to herself, until someone comes and lets her out.

*cough* Like father, like daughter. :-D

And here's a close-up shot of Anise as an elder. Her eyebrows are a little scary, but she's still very good looking. Her eyes look even more cat-like in her old age, I think. I'm really going to be sad when she goes. *sighs*

"Oh my god! Burdock, look what you did to me! Again!"
Yeah, I don't think he's waking up to listen to you, Jill.
"Hmph. Men."

Poor Teddy is -really- starting to show his age there, isn't he.

"Burdock!! Wake up this instant!"
"*mumble*kee' it down, will ya? tryin' sleep....zzzzz"
"BURDOCK!"
"Wha- huh-? What's... Oh! Is it time already! But you were just noticing you were pregnant a moment ago!"

And Jill pops out a beautiful little girl! Anise is so thrilled to have another grandchild, she has to fan herself to calm down again.

Okay all... please take note of the infant on the floor. And the nicely made bed. And remember where Jill and Burdock where when she went into labor? Yup! The doofus had to make the freaking bed while his wife was giving birth to TWINS! *shakes her head sadly*

Meet the second-born twin, Burdock's son, Chervil. Like both of his sisters, he's got black hair and brown eyes. It looks like he might have his mom's pale skin, instead of his dad's custom skin. I think. What amazes me the most is that even as infants, he and his twin sister don't look identical. I can tell them apart on the side panel before I ever mouse-over for their names. He's MUCH more round faced than his sister.

And speaking of Chervil's sister, here is the first born twin, Chamomile. As mentioned before, black hair, brown eyes, dad's custom skin.

And thankfully, the following day, it's time for Coryander to grow up into a child.
Um, Burdock? I don't think you should be doing that so close to your daughter's ear.
"Nah, it's okay. It's good for Sim toddlers!"
"Momma? Can we move more that way?"

"Help Momma blow out the candles, sweetheart!"

Aww, sweet little Cory has grown up in a cute little girl! Well, a cute girl with a huge pouty lower lip... hopefully it'll be more attractive on a girl than it is on boys. Looks like she dodged the curse of the Cro-Magnam Brows, at least.

Hmm, I guess growing up is even harder than it looks! Poor Cory didn't even eat her cake before she passed out. And she doesn't look all too pleased to be sleeping on that hard wooden floor, does she.

And with the little ones popped out and two elders nicely retired, Jill decided it was time to persue her lifetime dream. Yes, our Diva has always wanted to become a Criminal Mastermind.

She may be in a "keep your head down and avoid notice" type of job, but there are obviously some things a Diva simply will not do without! Like her makeup and jewelry. *g* I just hope she has receipts for those earrings and matching necklace!

Generation 3, Chapter 1

2005-11-08T11:55:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

We'll start off this update with a family portrait.

When last we left off, Jill had just given birth to the first child of Generation 3. I would like to formally introduce you to their daughter Coryander. As this generation will have a female heir, she stands a good chance of inheriting the family estate. She has her parents' dark hair and her mother's brown eyes with her father's custom skin, thick lips and round'ish face.

I'm not so sure Cory appreciates your style of peek-a-boo there, Burdock. And suddenly, after their first child, Anise and Talin have spun up all kinds of wants to have more grandchildren, including an impossible want of 20 grandkids (which has even less of a chance of happening then their joint LTW of marrying off 6 kids).

Here's a shot of little Cory getting her first bath.

And while his mom takes care of his kid, Burdock manages to max out his cleaning skill!

Er, okay, a slightly abrupt change of scenery.... we've shot on over to the satellite house where Basil and Suzie live. I'd say Suzie was out partying late last night, but we all know that's not what has her bent over the toilet bowl. ;-)
"Shut up and go away, before I give Basil a knife and send him your home address."
Um, right. Okay, let's move on, shall we?

I've got to admit, given that Suzie is a Romance sim, I thought she'd hate pregnancy. But I've never had a sim look so radiant or have her needs go down so slowly. The only 2 needs that would crash would be her energy and her comfort, each easily fixed by going to sleep for a while.

And a close-up of our lovely pregnant lady.

My goodness how time flies when you don't take unnecessary pictures! ;-)

And the Vacha satellite family also welcomes a daughter as well, little Arizona. (There's a close-up picture of her a little ways down.)

Arizona seems to enjoy her baths more than her cousin Coryander does, doesn't she?

Even changing diapers, Suzie does with a smile!

And here's a shot of Arizona. She has her grandmother's red hair, her grandfather's brown eyes, and her mother's tan skin.

Woot! Look at that. Time warp again! It's already time for little Arizona to turn into a toddler. *dance* (The house got played on fast-foward with only three people here, so it did go almost that fast for me too.)

The tuxedo has to go, but Ari is a cute little girl. :-D She's a Cancer sign with 10 neat, 1 shy, 6 active, 8 playful, and 10 nice. And one of the most even-tempered little sims I've EVER had. I don't know that she even cried when she woke up and if she did, she started playing in her crib almost immediately anyway.

Aaah, the world from the perspective of a crawling toddler!

We'll close out our visit to the satellite house with a shot of our little angel fast asleep.

You know, it's really not fair for a Sim who is just a day or two away from becoming an elder to still look so darn good in her underwear. But I guess she'll flaunt it while she's got it. ;-)

Ooops, and there it goes! Poor Anise didn't even get to make it inside to her cake. She just came home from work and transitioned there in the driveway.
"Why would I want a big fuss made anyway about my turning old? It's bad enough I'm going to slouch for the remainder of my days, I don't need to get fat on cake either."
Good point, hon. Good point.

At least she transitioned into a decent outfit! She looks pretty good for an old lady too. I love that her hair didn't turn gray either. :-D So, what's the first thing Anise does, now that she's an elder?

Why, she goes inside and immediately retires, so she can spend her time with her grandchild!

*pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head* Burdock, Burdock, Burdock.... just what sort of mischief are you causing now?
"Darn, that was mom's stalker, wasn't it?"
Yup. Quick, go pretend you were doing something different.

"Dude, what's your problem? I'm just sitting here playing a game of chess by myself."
"$(*@#, get up from that table and face me like a man! And where's your mom...."

"You get off my property and stay away from my mother! She's spent the last 50 years happily married to my dad and wants nothing to do with you!"
You tell him, Burdock!

Ah, finally time for Talin to enter his golden years.

"Oy, my bursitis is acting up. I have to go sit down!"
Talin, you don't have bursitis. Just 10 minutes ago you were a healthy middle-aged man. Quit being a hypochondriac.
"No sympathy, I tell ya. No sympathy at all for an old man..."

Although Talin doesn't make a bad looking old-timer, does he. :-)

Aaah, a much safer way to finish maxing out your logic skill there, Burdock. Good boy.

And it's time for Cory to become a toddler! Take note of the visitor visible through the open door to the backyard. Apparently, that's the last time we'll see Jenny Smith. Alive that is. The next day, I thought I'd have Burdock go feed his cow-plant, only to notice he had the option to milk it. My heart sinking, I zoomed over and low and behold, there was a tombstone sitting in the fenced in area with the man-eater. *sigh* I decided to leave her dead anyway though, since that same day Burdock spun up the want to see Jenny's ghost.

Coryander looks so pleased with her birthday cake. She's another sweet child.

Hmm, I obviously forgot to snag a picture of her right after her transformation, but it's really close, since mom's grabbing herself a piece of cake there. So here's another shot of the World From a Toddler's Perspective.

Anyway, Cory is a Virgo, with 10 neat, 3 shy, 9 active, 4 playful, and 9 nice. Not too far different from her cousin. This looks like a good place to close out this chapter.

Generation 2, Chapter 8

2005-11-04T15:51:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Here's a nice closeup of Burdock all grown up. Although that huge lower lip still bugs me, he's definitely grown into his mouth, more or less. And I still swoon over those eyes! :-)

The one bad part about having moved back in with his parents is, he and Jill have trouble finding a little privacy. So he snagged his mom's pick-up truck, picked up his fiance (somewhere along the line, he asked her to marry him -- I just managed to neglect to take a picture of it), and they had a wonderful date, capped off by testing out the shock absorbers on the pick-up.

And here they are at a small backyard ceremony. Yes, sadly, Talin showed up in a PINK tuxedo. *sigh*

Just his parents and the happy couple. Although both of them have a lot of friends, they're unlucky enough to be played by a controller who has an irrational fear of parties of any sort. Which means my Sims never get to go on honeymoons either. ;-) And yes, Anise's dress DOES have a skirt on it.

Poor Burdock. He looks like he's trying to figure out what he got himself in for. He barely managed to get a kiss in before Jill went stalking off. Probably wanted to see what she looked like in a wedding dress or something. And see? Anise's dress does, um, barely cover her up. Hey, if you're getting that close to your elder years and can still pull off a dress like that, I say go for it!

Aah, I see. She was anxious to get her post-marriage make-over. Definitely much better!

Is it just me or does the Diva look an awful lot like a young Barbara Streisand there? ;-)

And a shot of the Vacha Estate after the influx of funds Jill brought with her. :-D She was definitely worth the negative NPC points.

The picture is a little small, since that was the only way everything would fit, but let me give you a walk-through anyway. Starting from the left front side: The driveway and attached garage.
Next row of inside rooms, from the front of the house to the back: Teenager's bedroom & private bathroom. Hallway to the garage. Next is the elder's bedroom and their bathroom.
Next row: Front porch. Then the great room with 2 desks and stereo and towards the back is a long sectional facing a large TV. The back room is the child's bedroom.
Next row of rooms: Dining room with a bay window. Then their all white & glass kitchen. Right behind the kitchen is the guest bathroom and behind that is the child's bathroom (which is usually used as a 2nd "I've just come home from work and I really have to go!" bathroom).
Last row of rooms: The nursery, with its own fridge and counter for the smart milk (actually, I think the picture was taken before the fridge went in). Then the master bedroom, also with a bay window, and the master bathroom. The master bath has 2 toilet bowls, a shower stall and a wonderful big tub.
There's also a back deck, where all the career rewards are being placed. And since this picture was taken, I've added a driveway on the other side of the house for a 3rd car.

Here's a close-up of the white & glass kitchen. Very cool looking stuff! (I think I got it from SimChic... I think?)

You'd think Burdock was a Romance sim, not a Knowledge sim, with a strut like that. :-D

And it's time for Generation 3 to get brewing! (I love the replacement maternity clothes! Thank you!!)

Here's Burdock heading off to work. Unfortunately, for like the entire first week after he graduated, there were no openings in the Medical field, so he went to work as a Witch Doctor. I guess any sort of doctor is better than no doctor, eh? He actually looks pretty good with no hair and all those tattoos.

Later that night, Jill went into labor. Would Burdock make it home in time to see his first child being born?

Yup! He even took the time to change his clothes. Men.

And Jill gives a command performance to a full house! Personally, I'd be shouting at people to stop standing around like idiots and do something useful. Of course, Anise does look like she's a bit fed up with the gasping the men are both doing, doesn't she?

Yay! The first child of Generation 3 is born!

We'll close with a shot of everyone gathering around congratulating Jill on giving birth to such a beautiful child. Oh, you want to see too? Sorry, don't have that picture loaded up here yet. I'll let you see the baby and tell you his or her name when I update again. (And I promise, it won't be so long between updates!)

Generation 2, University Chapter 3

2005-10-25T14:43:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Burdock has recently discovered the pleasure that is the band Llama Mama. He hasn't managed to acquire any of their concer shirts, but he did snag one of their posters.

And just because I think he's such a cutie, here's a nice closeup of Burdock. I still don't understand why it's so hard to see his bright green eyes in all these pictures though. :-(

Uh-oh... Oscar has shown up again and obviously Burdock still remembers him from the break-in when he was a child!

Heh, fooled ya! Burdock has actually been working hard at making Oscar a friend. Although I didn't realize Sim State University was located in France. *watches the men kiss cheeks*

I do really want the NPC point for bringing the burglar into my family, but OMG that nose is just SCARY!! *shudders*

"Excuse me, boy, but my eyes are up HERE!"
"Yeah, but, wowza, that dress..."
That's it, way to wow the ladies, Burdock. You know, you did better when you were a child.

Ah, yes, I see. The ever popular way to win a lady's heart. Smacking her as hard as you can in the head with a feather pillow. How silly of me not to have thought of it sooner!

Such lovely genetics I'm giving my sims here though... Burdock has Talin's lips. I suspect he's still got Talin's Cro-Magnum brows lurking in his genetic cesspool somewhere. And now I'll be bringing in Jill's nose. *sigh* I'm doomed to ugly sims. I just know it...

Whatdyaknow! Smacking the Diva in the head with a pillow seems to have worked! Well, okay, so did the 2 Dream Dates in a row, but we'll pretend we didn't know that.

*rubs her hands together in a mercenary fashion* Ah yes... what did you bring our poor college boy, Miss Fancy Britches?

Score! A DJ booth! Exactly what every college fraternity needs! *dance*

No, I didn't slip a picture of Basil in here by mistake. I think Burdock was either really upset about what happened on his favorite soap or he's been taking repair lessons from Basil. Either way, I'm worried. We need to get him graduated and on to the real world. College stress is obviously getting to him...

"So, um, how 'bout those Knicks?"
If that's not the epitomy of awkwardness, I don't know what is. Poor boy...

Somehow, I completely forgot to take pictures of Burdock losing his cherry, but, well, here they are after the deed, so I guess they got over that awkward stage. :-)

Shy much, Jill?
"Hey, when you have it, there's no reason not to flaunt it, right?"

Okay, I see Burdock doesn't mind Jill's floozy, um, I mean, outgoing ways.
"Aeronwy?"
Yeah, Burdock?
"Buzz off, will you?"
....

So, er, oh, here we go.
Yay! Got a car port added to the fraternity! Burdock was never able to afford to buy a car, but at least Gen 3 will have somewhere to park one when they get to school. (Although I've decided each generation will have to spend a minimum of 1 year in the dorms, before being allowed to start pledging Var-Annya. That way they can make friends with other students and stuff.)

Um, Burdock? Wha- uh, what are you doing in there?
"Aeronwy?!? Why are you barging in to my bathroom? Go away!"
*giggles wickedly* Seems I've let it go too long between dates with Jill for our poor boy here, doesn't it...

Geeze, Burdock. If you were that desperate, I would have had her come to your home where you'd have a little privacy!
"She said she wanted to get pictures of us, you know, 'in action.' So, we figured we'd sneak into one of the photo booths."
Didn't think to keep it down while you were in there though, did you.
"Heh, no, we didn't. Fortunately, Crumplebottom isn't around, so it's all good."

"At last, my love has come along,
My lonely days are over,
And life is like a song.

Ohh at last
The stars above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover,
The night I looked at you.

I found a dream that I could speak to,
A dream that I can call my own,
I found a thrill to press my cheek to,
A thrill that I have never known.

Ohh you smile, you smile
And then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven,
For you are mine at last!"
At Last, by Etta James

"Alright, I did the gushy stuff. Do not make me do that again, Aeronwy. It was embarassing."

Based on the gift Jill just left you, Burdock, I'd say she rather enjoyed you serenading her. So you might have to do it again. *whistles innocently*

*sigh* This poor boy. He always seems to have the most bizarre expressions on his face when he transforms. Yes, Burdock is already graduating college. I mean, there's not all that much exciting to show here, so no need to bore you all to tears any more than I have. ;-) That and I don't want him murdering any more innocent televisions.

And we'll close with a better shot of Burdock as an adult. Tell me he's not an absolute hottie. :-D He even grew into his lips (mostly). You can almost see the gorgeous bright green eyes I hope he passes on to his heir (and if I'm really lucky, she'll have the slanted eyes too) -- if you click on the picture, it'll show up a little bit bigger (not much, but a little) and you can see his eyes better.

Generation 2, University Chapter 2

2005-10-20T12:23:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

It is nice to see that Suzie Futa has managed to bring out a more normal side to Basil. True, they still spin up wants to WooHoo pretty much wherever they are, but they also constantly spin up wants to play and hug and flirt and give backrubs to each other. :-) (I can't imagine what a three-lighting bolt couple must be like!)

Basil has even been making lots of friends! Except for the fact that he -never- spun up the want to become Big Man on Campus, he'd made enough friends during his 4 years there to have succeeded. I've never seen the cafeteria worker come out from behind the counter, grab a bowl of his food, and sit down with one of the students before. And yes, he was still on shift!

*covers her eyes* These two really need to have like curtains or something up around them. Constantly!

Basil had a blast working as the DJ (and yes, he found yet another excuse to take his shirt off) and frequently spun up wants to do it again.

Poor Suzie, however, wasn't having -quite- as much of a blast at school. I don't know what originally set these two off, but Suzie and Kacper have hated each other since first semester Freshman year. Although it looks like Kacper tried to kiss Suzie here and she didn't appreciate it. (I wasn't paying attention to her until she'd already slapped him. And since I can't control either of these two, it's not always easy to see what they're up to. But they definitely made college interesting!)

Wussy-boy. Letting a girl see you cry like that! And whoo, does Suzie still look pissed.

Yup, they got into a nice tussle here.

I think this is the same fight, but I'm not sure. These two fought literally every day. Doesn't help that their rooms were directly opposite each other in the dorm. *snicker*

Hey, what a surprise! Suzie and Kacper are fighting again! And what does Basil do each time they start to fight? He goes running into his room. Probably because he knows there's no way he'd come out ahead if he got in the middle of his fiance and his best friend fighting. Yup, Kacper was the first friend Basil made in the dorms, after Suzie. :-)

And here's something I would have PAID to see in school. The cheerleader and the mascot getting into a hair-pulling, knockdown fight. And what's our boy doing? Chatting on the phone. He is SO not interested in all this fighting going on all around him. Not quite sure what's up with that... maybe there's not enough blood? Either that, or he's putting on an act for the other students.

Yup, Basil traipsing around without his shirt. Again. He really should just hook up with that guy and get it out of his system already. His constant thinking about him is sort of weirding me out, since that's the ONLY guy he'll get hearts about.

And lookie who's finally made it to college! Yeah, yeah, I know. That was rather abrupt. There are just a couple of household pictures from the time when Basil left until Burdock left. Not enough for its own chapter, so they'll show up in the first chapter after Basil graduates.

But remember my comment about Burdock being even brighter than his brother? He had 8's in all skills (except Body, which I specifically kept low, to give me an easy boost for those random "gain skill point" wants). He also had the Overachiever and the A+ grants. They don't have a pool table and I didn't work on his dancing much, so he didn't get those. *shrugs*

Erm, okay, I didn't realize this was going to look SO tiny. So, anyway, Burdock called the registrars office and registered as a Biology Major the moment he walked into his dorm. (He wasn't assigned the same dorm as Basil. Alright, fine, I admit it. I didn't want to put him into the same dorm and risk either Suzie or Kacper moving out. Their daily, sometimes more than once per day, fighting made me giggle.) His next order of business was to get rid of the hiddeous suit his mom insisted he show up at college in. I don't know -what- she was thinking, putting someone with his skin coloring in a deep purple suit with a bright pink turtleneck. *shudders*

Aaah, there we go. MUCH better! One thing I don't quite get with this kid... he makes some of the most bizarre expressions, for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Oh well. He's still a hottie. And he does have eyebrows, Kristen! He's just got his mom's delicate eyebrows, instead of his dad's Cro-Magnam eyebrows. :-b

I can't remember her name, but this -was- going to be Burdock's college sweetheart. I can't remember if they had 2 or 3 lighting bolts, but it was an instant attraction between them. She wasn't going to become his wife, 'cause she's a townie and not an NPC, but he would have had fun anyway. Instead, she became the dorm's living statue. I logged out of the game, I went to a different neighborhood, anything I could think of. She stayed like this the entire year Burdock lived in the dorm. (Basil's cafeteria worker did the same thing, but I put in a second stove, and another cook showed up. About a sim-week later, the first cook started moving again, so I deleted the second stove.)

And here's the on-campus house the boys moved into. They don't have much, since buying the house took most of their available cash, but they were able to *cough* "borrow" a few necessities from the dorms when they moved in. Burdock plans to found a Greek House here, Var-Annya Fraternity. (Closest I could get to anything remotely resembling Vasha.)

And what is one of Burdock's first orders of business in the new home? Why, set himself on fire, of course! The boy has a cooking skill of EIGHT and was making a bloody grilled cheese sandwich. Geeze. At least he'd met Weldon, a potential NPC mate for the daughter he'll have to make his heir. Who, of course, I forgot to snap a picture of.

Right after setting himself on fire (and for a Sim with max neat points, I would have thought he'd be -running- for the shower, but no...), he decided the computer needed fixing. I sat there chewing on my fingernails, figuring that 8 Mechanical skill wasn't going to save him from getting electrocuted. Fortunately, I was wrong.

Their first environment enhancing item! A present Suzie left on the doorstep for Basil. Isn't she sweet?

Yeah, I apparently got -really- sloppy with remembering to take pictures. Anyway, Basil has finished school, summa cum laud, with a degree in... erm, Philosophy I think? I dunno. Something that'll help him achieve his goal of becoming a professional party guest. ;-)

Poor Burdock looks so sad to see his brother leaving so soon. Either that, or he's wondering what the heck Basil was thinking, wearing this outfit. He's not exactly the hippy type, you know? So, next time, you'll either get to see Burdock's remaining college years or Basil as he adjust to adult life. Whichever strikes my fancy. ;-)

Yeah, I know. This chapter was kinda lame. :-/ It's hard to make everyday college stuff exciting though. But I wanted to get something up with both boys here. *shrugs* I'll do better next chapter, I promise.

Generation 2, University Chapter 1

2005-10-19T18:02:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Hey there, Pipsqueak. I know you've been debating pushing for early graduation at high school or not. Well, let me tell you, college is AMAZING! The freedom is heady. Not just for me, but for all of us. Hopefully you'll be able to blow through high school in 3 years and make it to Sim State before I graduate. Yeah, I know. Mom wanted us both to stay in Strangetown for school, but I've gotta tell you, it's exhilirating, being around so many people.

My first day in the doorm, I found out all of the buildings here are co-ed and I've got this -sweet- honey living in the room next to me. We plopped down on the floor to just chat and get aquanted and she LAID DOWN AND SPREAD HER LEGS! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Suzie grew up in Pleasantville and I guess folks are a lot ... freer there or something.

So I flirted with her and gossiped and walked about in my pajama bottoms often (you know the girls back in high school always loved watching me play basketball in just my shorts).

Heck, I even gave her my patented Basil Backrub.

And then under the willow tree, I managed to sneak a kiss.

She said I curled her toes, kissing her like that!

Unfortunately, despite showing me the goods, that was as far as she was willing to go that day. Talk about needing a cold shower.

Well, I figured a cosmopolitan honey like this needed to be wined and dined before she'd give up the goods. So, maybe I exagerated a bit about the money our family has. But she didn't have to know that, right?

After a fabulous night downtown, we headed back to the dorms. Fortunately, she didn't want the evening to end any more than I did. Before I knew it, we were rolling around on my bed, getting all hot and heavy. I swear, if I had to take a cold shower that night, that chick woulda been gone in my book!

However, turns out she was wanting it just as much as I was. And you know something, Pipsqueak? What they say about sex... well, it doesn't even come close to the real thing! I saw stars when we peaked!

I'm glad she was really ready for it by the time we got to the deed, if you know what I mean, because Suzie had been a virgin too. But from the smile she gave me afterwards, I guess I did things right.

Okay, back from class and doing my homework. Mom would -kill- me if I got anything less than a 4.0, as I'm sure you know quite well. So, where was I... Oh yeah, Suzie.

Suzie asked me if I'd ever "experimented" with playing the other side. At first I didn't realize what she was talking about, but when I did, I told her no, I hadn't. But there was this one guy I'd seen around campus I wouldn't mind trying with.

Although I let Sweet Suzie know in no uncertain terms that she definitely had -all- the right equipment for this man!

I think we made a bit of a scene at the restaurant though and the matre de asked us to leave. I don't know what his problem was. It's not like we were getting stains on the seats. Yet. Hehe

So Suzie and I rushed back to the dorm and hopped into the hot tub. Next thing I know, she's crawling on my lap!

Let me tell you, that was the BEST hot tub soak I've ever had! I swear, ever since our first time together, we're like rabbits or something.

She even told me she wanted to try it with handcuffs next time. When I asked her which one of us was going to be tied down, she giggled and said we'd take turns!

Towards the end of the year, we decided to risk going back to that fancy-pants restaurant. I realized over the course of the year that I wasn't going to find another woman like Suzie. She was into all the same things I was and she didn't care about some of my "oddball quirks" as mom calls them.

So, I figured I should pop the question. I mean, she's got a slamming body, a brilliant mind, and is always ready for a quick tumble no matter where we are. What more could a boy ask for!

She realized we were definitely made for each other and said yes without a moment's hesitation. I know mom and dad will freak and say I'm too young. But we're not dropping out of school and we won't get married until we both graduate. But I wasn't willing to risk her slipping into another man's bed while I wasn't looking!

(Yes, in case you haven't already figured it out, Suzie is a Romance sim. Hence why she was CONSTANTLY spinning up wants on their dates to have sex... well, -everywhere-.)

We toasted to a long and happy life together (which, as long as we both stay as gorgeous as we are, we'll keep wanting to WooHoo, which means we'll be happy) and then I flagged down a cab to take us home.

So hurry up through college! You've gotta meet Suzie and I'll introduce you around to other folks.
~Basil

Oh! I almost forgot! When you get here, watch out for Mrs. Crumplebottom. Apparently she terrorizes everyone around town. She's got this overinflated opinion of her own opinions and has an absolute fit whenever someone so much as holds hands in public. And I think she keeps a brick in her purse.

She's definitely an absolute loon though.

P.S. Give mom and dad my love.

Generation 2, Chapter 7

2005-10-18T21:25:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

(Author's Note: Sorry for being a complete airhead and posting up a chapter with no text! :-o Guess I'll go take care of that right now.)

A few pictures from the main household. These probably should have been in Chapter 6, but oh well. :-) The family portraits of our founder, Anise, and she and her townie husband, Talin. Now to remember to get pictures of Burdock and Jill done...

And a one! And a two! That's right! Keep your motions in sync!

"Hey, this chick is actually helping put out a fire, instead of standing around panicking like every other Sim family I meet? What's up with that?"
Well, Mr. Fireman (who's name I no longer remember... Whelon or something?), our Anise is a very level-headed and talented young woman. She's just not the panicking sort.

"Anise, our youngest is heading off to college already! What are we going to do with this empty house?"
"Oh, I'm sure we can think of a few things to fill our time with, Talin..."

"Huh? Oh. Oh! Right! Bye son! Have a good time at college! Don't let the door hit you on the way out, son. Make sure you write. Bye!"

And, despite this looking like it would be a shot of Burdock transitioning into a Young Adult, it's actually a shot off at Sim State of Basil graduating and transitioning into an Adult. Bad editing job!

A close up of our psycho child, also with mom's bright green eyes.

And here is Basil's modest home. It's not much, but it more than suits his needs.

Well, lookie here. Who should be one of Basil's first visitors but his mom's former stalker! I think Basil is calling Vidcund a dunce for even trying to contact him.

And a shot of our boy in his new threads. Little did I know there was another dark haired townie wearing this exact same outfit that I will now frequently confuse with Basil whenever any sim I have goes downtown, since that guy seems to show up -everywhere-.

And a shot of Basil's bedroom. Nice decorations, don't you think? :-D

Ah, Basil's brand new car-port (which I was -almost- able to afford... had to use a single Kaching to get the rest of the plants).

So. Anyone surprised by the car Basil picked out for himself?

Suzie is still finishing up her senior year of college, so they have to settle for a few dates worked in between Basil's job and Suzie's classes and tests. Looks like they had a very nice date. So what'd she leave him?

Ah, my favorite vase. (No, I'm not being sarcastic. This is one of the first things I buy when my sims get a bit of money. Dunno why, I just really like it.) Looks like she's going to make a clean get-away from her stealth-gifting too.

Basil, what are you up to?
"Who, me? Nothing."

"So... how's your eyesight?"
"My eyesights? Why do you want to know about that?"
"Oh, just one of my hobbies. I like to know who's got good vision or not."
"Well, I have perfect vision. Great hearing and good teeth too, if you were wondering."

~Darn, that means this one's off my list if she'll see me coming...~
Gah! Why do I insist on listening to his thoughts!!

Ooooo, looks like our boy REALLY wow'd Suzie on this date! :-D

This came out a bit smaller than I thought it would, but I darn near fell out of my chair when I saw one of Basil's fears. He has a fear of going to the bathroom in a public restroom!! *snickers loudly*

Hmm, looks like Basil and Suzie are enjoying themselves...

I can't tell if she looks horrified, shocked, or thrilled there...

Okay. Someone please explain to me HOW Suzie fit THIS into that little sack that she carried over her shoulder!! But I guess she must have really enjoyed their time in Basil's car.

Graduation time for Suzie!! Here she is as she transitions into an adult.

Hmm, she may be an adult, but looks like she can still behave childishly. ;-)

And here's Suzie after a trip downtown to a salon and clothing store. She cleans up quite nicely.

Basil and Suzie were earning enough money that they were able to hire contractors to raze their house and build a new one. Here's the downstairs. Essentially just one big room (and a bathroom), different areas decorated for different rooms.

And a shot of Basil coming home from work. If an outfit like that doesn't make someone suicidal or murderous, I don't know what will!

Yeah, Basil looks thrilled with that rediculous outfit, doesn't he.

And the rest of the Vachas have come over to visit Basil and his new bride. Except I think Suzie must have been at work, because none of them have her on their contact lists.

Generation 2, Chapter 6

2005-10-08T15:51:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Burdock must have taken dancing lessons from Basil, looks like. :-)

"Moooom! I want a fish tank for my birthday!"

"You got all kinds of toys, pipsqueak. You've got more than I had, so quit whining."

Poor Burdock. Comforting himself by hugging Teddy tightly.

"No, Basil. You're supposed to save the victim. Not pinch his nose and cover his mouth so he can't breath!"
~Let's see how long it takes for the light to go out. 3 minutes? I can hold someone down for that long...~

I guess psycho killers need to be in the yellow to wear the Noodlesoother too, eh? Sorry 'bout that, Basil!

It's already time for our little angel to grow up into a teenager? Where -does- the time go!
"I know what you mean. I can't believe we're not going to have the little pitterpatter of children running around anymore."
*conveniently misses Anise's rather blunt hint*

Burdock's family cheers him on as he gets ready to blow out his candles.

Shall we see what Basil is thinking about here?
~ C'mon brows! If he has dad's brows too, then I still stand a shot of inheriting the legacy. C'mon brows!~
Ah, brotherly love.

Okay, the clothing and hair MUST be changed IMMEDIATELY. But dorky expression aside, Burdock's not a bad looking kid.

And here he is after his makeover. Kinda cute, if you ask me. Burdock is a Scorpio and a Knowledge Sim with the lifetime want to become Chief of Staff. VERY doable! Don't mind Burdock pouting there in the background. He'll get over it soon, I'm sure.

And Burdock follows in his big brother's footsteps and maxes out his creativity his first day as a teenager.

Unfortunately, he also followed in Basil's footsteps by killing the poor mannequin! The big difference, however, is you can see Burdock is attempting to administer CPR.

Unlike the older son however, Burdock at least displays his distraught feelings. Of course, being a knowledge Sim, I'm not sure if he's more upset over "losing a life" or failing in the skill. *snicker*

A close-up shot of Burdock getting out of the shower. It's not so easy to tell in this shot, but he's got his mom's very yummy slanted green eyes. :-D Super neat, SUPER smart (blows his brother away in his ability to learn skills like a freaking sponge), very cute, and has the great tilt to his green eyes. Yup, this one's our heir. *cheers*

"I've had it. I don't care that I don't have much in scholarships, I'm heading off to college. Bloody rotten pipsqueak is getting all the attention around here!"
Now, now, Basil. Don't go feeling too sorry for yourself. By not being the heir, it means you can marry whomever you want and you don't have to live in a house you built by yourself. Heck, when you have money, you can move to whatever house you want. You don't have to stay on this one lot!
"Oh, so I can move when the bodies start to smell? Sweet! Oops, pretend you didn't hear that, 'kay? I'd hate to have to hurt you, what with you being our controller and all."
I was hoping you'd grow out of your killer tendencies, but I guess not. I suppose that's why you want to reach the top of the slacker career too. More time for stalking your victims. *sighs* You feed and clothe them and try to teach them right from wrong and still, you can wind up with a Sim that scares the beejeezers out of you.

"You wanna say that again when you get me those scissors?"
I'm not getting you those scissors, Basil.
"Yes you are. I'll do something horrible in the future if you don't."
I am NOT getting you those scissors. You can just forget it.
"Fine, fine. I'm heading off to college. I won't have the parentals around at least, even if YOU'LL still be there."
Basil, I'll -always- be here.
"If you like to think so..."

You know, I think I'll be quite glad when Basil gets old and dies, if he doesn't die before then. *shudders*

Generation 2, Chapter 5

2005-10-08T15:40:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Here's a shot of my rather lame attempt at a car port. ;-) (Yes, the picture was taken at night and I had to lightening in Photoshop. I'll try to remember not to do that again.) As you can see, I ran out of funds before I finished putting up plants. *snicker* And for some reason, I couldn't put foundation down like the guide suggested to use as planter boxes or column bases. When I redo the house, I'll try again. But at least there's a roof over the car now so it won't have to be washed every other day.

You know, looking at Talin, I can see why Anise didn't notice his huge lips or overhanging brows. That's a quite yummy body he's got there!

Heh, had to get a better shot of Talin's bare chest. *stares for a couple of minutes*
"That's my HUSBAND you're staring at, Aeronwy. Stop it."
Your right. Sorry, Anise. *takes one last look before moving on*

And a shot of the outside of the house. Yes, I had to lighten it -again-. Oh well. As you can see from the rather ... interesting roof line, they were only able to expand one room at a time. *snicker* It'll look much better when the family gets money.

And a shot of the completed car port, with the family's new pick-up truck. (Had a bug that prevented Talin from going to work even though Anise was home with the baby. So I had to cave and buy them a car before they could really afford one, so he'd go earn money for the clan.)

Yes, Burdock LOVES to clean. The only time he doesn't pump his fists about it is when his mood is REALLY low. I've never had a sim neat enough to give me the little bubbles, so I'm still loving making him clean everything in sight, even though they've got a maid. *giggle* The sad thing is, even after the maid comes around and cleans, I'll STILL have the option for Burdock to clean an item, no matter if it's been used or not. Obsessive little kid.

Talin maxes out his mechanical skill. So this means the family shouldn't have to hire a repairman unless the garbage disposal breaks. I won't let ANY playable sim touch that death trap!

"I call shotgun!"
"You had it last time, Basil. It's my turn now!"
"Sorry, you were too slow."
"Let your brother sit in the cab this time, Basil."
"*sigh* Fine. You can have the seat, pipsqueak. But you'll have to do my chores when we get home, since I called it."
It was the weekend and the boys were home from school. And, wonder of wonders, both Anise and Talin had the day off of work. So they decided to take advantage of this rare occurrence and have a family outing to the local park.

Fortunately, no Mrs. Crumplebottom (until later in the day), because they got there and Talin pulled Anise in for a very sweet kiss.

And then they spent some time slow dancing. You know, I really don't understand why these two don't have 3 lightning bolts. But they are a joy to watch. :-)

*winces* The Vacha's need to afford a pool at their place so that future generations don't wind up tattoo'ing their stomachs bright red by duplicating this move.

Of course, he seemed to recover quite quickly. Sad that child Burdock is doing better with the ladies than teen Basil is. (Yes, that's Basil standing all by his lonesome back there.) *g* I guess that's what comes of having a skill of 8 in Charisma and 9 points in Outgoing (even if he's got 1 point in Grumpy/Nice - yes, my points were wrong in the previous chapter).

Smile pretty for the camera, Mrs. Crumplebottom!
What I want to know is, who the HECK married this sourpuss for her to have a "Mrs." title?!?

They'd had hot dogs for lunch and met lots of fun people and played games and swam and danced. Finally, as the sun went down, the Vacha's decided it was time to head on home, since it was Sunday night and everyone had school or work the next morning. I like that all four of them have 100/100 relationship points with each other. They're such a tight-knit clan!

Generation 2, Chapter 4

2005-10-08T15:23:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

I was going to give Burdock a break and not include the obligatory "going potty" snapshot. But when I realized he frequently patted the potty while he was going, like the object itself was doing a good job, well, I couldn't resist including that. :-D He is such an oddball child. Guess that's what comes of having NINE neat points! (His parents each have 5 and his brother has 6. How he got 9, I've no clue.) He is definitely not a clone of his brother. Of course, my sheet with his stats is at home... I belive he's Scorpio, with 9 neat, 9 or 10 playful and active, and 4 or 5 of the rest, although only 3 nice points.

And little Burdock getting his first big-boy bath. Until I removed the blurs, I didn't realise how much cuter these bathroom pictures would be with little baby bottoms!

Yay! Time for Basil to turn into a teenager! Hopefully he'll grow out of his psycho-killer phase and grow up into a cute teen.

~I wish for a big big knife for my birthday...~
*shudders* Honestly, he scares me as a child.

Sparklers are fun!

*cough* Um, er... *looks around to make sure there are no knives nearby* You're a, um, decent looking young man there, Basil.

Well, at least he doesn't seem to mind his Cro-Magnon eyebrows. Those overhanging brow bones are easily visible from this angle. I'm still glad Anise found Talin, because they make each other VERY happy. But I do regret not seeing those lips or eyebrows until the boys were born. *sigh* Maybe a make-over will hide things a bit.

Okay, Nervous, you don't even KNOW the Vachas! Why are you stealing their newspaper? At least their mailman was there to scold you for doing it. What is with the townies since NL and stealing papers?

"Brrbrbrbrrrrrr, aipane! Aipane!"
*g* Just a cute picture of Anise playing with Burdock that I had no choice but to include.

The day he hit his teenager years, Basil maxed out his creativity.

A shot of our Pleasure Sim, Basil, juggling some water bottles. His fascination with WooHoo obviously never went away. Let's get a close-up and see if his bad genes are less noticeable.

Okay, so the water bottle is hiding it, but you can still see those horrid eyebrow bones from the side. His hair does mask things a lot, but they're definitely not great.

And time for the little angel of the family to grow into his childhood! Are y'all out there getting an inkling that the heirdom has probably already been decided? Even if Burdock gets dad's eyebrows, he's such a SWEET kid that I'd have a hard time not keeping him around. :-)

Does anyone else think Basil's expression is a little suspicious looking while he's tooting on that horn? It's like, he's looking off to the side, wondering what mischief he can get into.

Mother and son blow out the candles together. This one didn't try to reach for the fire, unlike his big brother.

I'm not sure I want to post what it looks like is going on here. I'll just let you all use your imagination. *whistle*

Yay! No perpetually surprised expression! Maybe that means he doesn't have his father's eyebrows. *crosses her fingers and waits for Burdock to turn into a teen*

But I have got to say, when I saw his childhood outfit, I burst out laughing. And yes, he kept that outfit his entire childhood. I absolutely loved it. :-)

We'll close this chapter with a shot of Talin autonomously kissing Anise. I like to think he's thanking her for giving him two great sons, even if they're worried their oldest is going to turn out to be a murderer or something. :-)

Generation 2, Chapter 3

2005-10-08T13:29:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Anise tucks Burdock in quite frequently. Something she never did with Basil. Favorites, anyone?

At least Basil -finally- got a teddybear to cuddle with. Poor kid was approaching his teen years before anyone spun up a want for another toy.

Cute tyke, looks like he's making up for lost time. Of course, I neglected to snap a picture of the next scene, where the little psycho was slamming Teddy's head against the floor... I think it was at this point his parents began to wonder if Basil was really going to become the heir or not.

Heh, got wind of your parent's doubts, didja?
"What? I always like to read the newspaper before I go to school. I'm very mature like that."
*snort* Yeah, right, that's why you still sleep in ducky pajamas and carry your teddybear around.

Talin enjoys taking care of Burdock just as much as he did Basil. Fortunately. Since he was near the top of the medicine career track and had lots of time off, while his wife rarely got a day off because I had her jumping from career to career grabbing rewards. *g*

Family sims really are very sweet, even if I've never given a single one their Impossible Lifetime Wants.

"Daddy! Daddy! You're home! And you got a promotion! I'm so proud of you!"
"Aeronwy, get this little psycho away from me, will you?"
Sorry, Talin, he's your son, you deal with him.

I'm sorry this was so far away and only in stills. Because OMG can this kid NOT dance! *snicker*

He's either got a scratch he can't reach, he's hiding a big knife behind his back, or he's still trying to dance. I'm not sure which and I don't think I want to know.

One guess which is Anise's painting and which one is Basil's painting. The kid is an artistic genius, I'll give him credit for that.

And it's time for little Burdock to grow up into a toddler! Just a little while longer and we'll at least have an idea of how he'll look.

Nice hang time, kiddo!

That's some mouth you've got there, Burdock! We'll have to wait and see which son has better genetics, I guess.

The obligatory shots of the toddler learning to talk...

... and walk. If I thought Basil was a genius, this kid is a rocket scientist or something. He learns skills even faster than his brother does.

Burdock really does seem to be Anise's favorite. But shh, we won't tell Basil that. He might try to get us in our sleep if we do.

"Mom, don't you think it's time I learned about the birds and the bugs?"

"Oh, well, that's easy enough. When parents want a baby, they just call up the stork and he comes and drops the child off. That's all."
"Where do the bugs fit into it?"

"Well, Basil, the bugs go around polinating the flowers. If the flowers don't get polinated, you don't get more flowers. It's like that with people. The man has to polinate the woman before - "

Heh, I think he just got a glimpse of Anise's expression and realized his explanation was heading into dangerous territory.

"So where does the WooHoo fit in? One of the boys at school was telling me that you get babies if you WooHoo. Did you and mommy WooHoo to get me and Burdock? When can I try this WooHoo? Is that the polinating stuff you were talking about? Do men have to polinate lots of women to keep babies coming or..."
Damn, kid, you're not a teen yet. Stop thinking about this stuff, will ya?

"Well, you should always be in love with someone before you WooHoo with them. That's the most important ingredient. Your mom and I fell in long and got married before we ever, er, we'll talk when you're older son."
I think Anise just grumbled under her breath while she ate her hamburger, but I suspect Talin got an earful that night when they went to bed. :-)

Of course, all can be forgiven when a guy goes to and from work in a bloody limo! Nice going, Talin. :-D That's all for now, but more should be coming out soon.

Generation 2, Chapter 2

2005-10-08T13:02:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Basil gets a make-over from the horrible toddler hair. He's a Cancer sign and looks like he will likely be the heir.

Fortunately, he seems to really like his makeover. :-D

And here's the little knowledge sponge off for his first day of school. He's rather excited to get to learn all sorts of new things.

But he's so happy when his daddy gets home that he stops whatever he's doing to rush out and give him a big hug hello.

Awww, his parents bought him a Babar notebook to use for his class assignments. That's so sweet!

Talin takes the time after work to help his son with his homework.

But he still finds the time to act like an adorable goof with his unborn child. He really is such a sweetie.

Um, Talin? I'm not sure what you think your child could possibly be trying to say, since the tyke isn't even born yet. Do we need to find that doctor for you or something?
"What? I'm not allowed to let my child know that I'll always listen to whatever he or she has to say?"

These two really are so very much in love with each other, even with only 2 lightening bolts instead of 3. No, I didn't make them kiss, just came back from doing stuff with Basil to find them like this. :-)

The family sitting down to a simple meal. (They had a friend of Talin's from work over, but she apparently didn't feel like eating dinner.)

"I can't wait to give birth already. I miss my weekly tennis games!"
"Anise, love, we don't have that game here."
"Well, we should!"
I agree, Anise. Especially since you Sims talk about it all the time.

Poor thing. She was practically starving to death, but she was also, obviously, quite exhausted. This second pregnancy was much harder on her than her first one was.

"Ow, I think that's going to show a bruise in the morning..."

And finally, the blessed moment arrives.

"Blessed moment? Are you out of your freaking mind? This hurts like HECK!!"
Yeah, and your dear, sweet, attentive husband is sleeping through your screams of pain too.
"He'll get his, trust me."

Talin managed to wake up just in time to greet his newly born son, Burdock Vacha.

Burdock has his mother's custom skin, his father's black hair, and his mother's green eyes. Just like his older brother. (No, I didn't do the roll the baby thing in CAS.)

Generation 2, Chapter 1

2005-09-29T17:26:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Here's a shot of Basil's nursery room. There is a changing table in the corner you can't see, but yeah, it's pretty sparse. But then, infants don't exactly need much either, do they. ;-)

A sweet picture of Anise cuddling Basil. She actually didn't spend much time at home after his birth, however. Just that first day. She had changed careers to Law Enforcement and was anxious for some promotions. Besides, Talin was off for the next three days, so he got to play homemaker.

You know... I'm -always- nervous to have parents actually play with their infants, because they seem to throw up on then more often than not. Here, Anise managed to get away with it.

Gotta love those middle of the night feedings, don't you, Ani.
"What? I love taking care of my son. I'm getting enough sleep and they grow up just so darn fast."
Thank god for small favors.
"What was that?"
Hmm? Oh, nothing, nothing. Just go on taking care of your little one.

I sure hope you warm that cold porcelain sink up before you stick him in there.
"Well, of course I do. The tricky part is keeping him from making too much of a mess of the counters!"

A cute shot of Basil looking like he's having a blast getting bathed.

And Talin manages to dodge the Puke Gods. Actually, he never got thrown up on at all. That's simply not fair, if you ask me.

"Abbppppppbpbbbbpbpbpbbbbpbpp"

Poor Anise, on the other hand, had that ONE play session where she got lucky. Every other time, she got thrown up on. I even tried it when the kids hadn't been fed, when they'd just been fed, when they'd just woken up, when they'd been awake for a while... She just did not have any luck playing with her children.

"She was supposed to be mine. MINE! I'll show her! She can't resist me if I keep coming around. And if she thinks her husband is tossing the newspapers, she'll dump him and come back to ME!"

"Oh, Anise, my love! I'm back! Did you miss me?"

"Damnit, why won't she come out? This is the fifth time I've 'casually' strolled by her house and she still ignores me."

"Vidcund, I told you to stay away! The cops said if you come within 100 yards of me or my family they'll arrest you."
"We were meant to be together. You know it! We've even got those 2 little lightening bolts!"
"You're crazy and I want nothing to do with you. I'll whup your ass if that's what it takes to make you get the message, wimpy-man!"

Oooh, nice headlock you've got him in there, Anise!

"Hah! Take that, Vidcund. Now go away and don't come back!"
"You'll see. We'll be together yet. Accidents can happen to medical staff people."
"Another comment like that and I'll beat you up again."

Anise, sweetie, it's really not ladylike to gloat like that.
"Yeah, but I've got 2 lousy Body points and I -still- beat that wuss! I had rightous fury on my side!"
Okay, okay. You can gloat a little bit. Done? Good. Let's move on, shall we?

Anise had to miss Basil's birthday as he entered his toddler years, since she was due for another promotion at work. So Talin and Basil had a quiet celebration with just the two of them.

"Wow! My son can run through the air!"

And here's Basil, as an absolutely adorable toddler. I love the new NL toddler outfit, with the gloves and sweater. He looks so cute!

Talin? I hope you didn't just feed him, if you're going to hold him upside down like that.
"Nah, no worries. He only throws up for his mom. I'm safe."
Cocky bugger.

These two love playing together.

Here's Anise giving Basil his first big-boy bath. And yes, I didn't realize how dirty the tub had gotten. *blush*

Here's the little angel fast asleep. I've got to say, Basil is absolutely, without a doubt, the best kid I've had yet in the game. He never cries. I mean NEVER. He wakes up, rattles the railing for about 10-sim minutes, then sits down and plays until he's let out. He learns every skill I give him like he's a sponge or something. I just hope he doesn't turn into some sort of nightmare teenager...

Here, Basil has discovered the wonder of ... his nose.

And that, um, "interesting things" come out of his nose, if he digs around enough. *fidgets*

And then he spends the next several minutes trying to shake those "interesting things" off his finger. At least he always shoves his OTHER hand into his mouth...

And it's already time for Basil to grow up into a child! He spent his days mostly working up his Charisma skill. Got it to 5 or 6 (most of those without the use of Smart Milk, since he was hardly ever hungry). Just before 6:00pm, Anise brings him over to the cake, lights the candles and then they just stand there. I was worried I had a glitch already!

Instead, they were simply waiting for Talin to get out of his carpool and come join them. :-D

"Basil, no! Fire is hot. You don't touch the fire with your hands, sweetie."

And here's the miracle child as a, er child. You can't really see it in this picture, but this kid has got the biggest freaking lips I've ever seen! I know Anise has pretty and delicate lips, so I went and zoomed in on Talin and sure enough, he's got big lips too. He just sort of fits them, being all grown-up sized and all. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Basil grows into his lips too. Otherwise, he's actually a very good looking kid (the expression of surprise on his face notwithstanding).

"Hehehe, she'll never know it's me taking her newspapers still! She'll blame her husband and then when they get into a big fight, she'll come running to me for comfort."

Generation 1

2005-09-28T18:00:00.000-05:00

Vacha Family

Meet Anise Vacha. She decided she was tired of the hectic and often crowded life in Pleasantville and decided to take her meager wealth and buy a large tract of land in Strangetown. Although buying so much land left her with barely enough money for the necessities, she wanted to ensure that she and her future generations would always have room to breath and never feel closed in like she did in her old life.

Anise is a Family Sim, with a star sign of Cancer, and a lifetime want to marry off 6 children.

You thought I was kidding about her barely having enough money to purchase the bare necessities? Thankfully, she moved to a desert town and didn't have to worry about rain, since she has neither walls nor ceiling.

Sadly, bad Sim-Master that I am, I completely forgot to take pictures of her early dates! :-o She had a decent date with Vidcund Curious, but found him a little creepy.
"And I really didn't want to pass on that nose or chin to my children. Did you SEE his profile?"
Yeah, not so great.

Her next date, which I also have no pictures of, was another Good Time, this time with Gerard Landry, the Mayor of Strangetown. Nice catch there, hon!
"Yeah, except when I asked him to move in, he didn't have all that much cash. So I'm wondering, if they're paying him so much money, where's he spending it all?"
I suppose only coming in with $3,000 when you're the Mayor of a town, even one as small as Strangetown, isn't necessarily a good sign, is it... So, she booted his butt, but, smart girl that she is, not before she spent his money to renovate her property a bit.

She was finally able to get some walls up around her belongings and even had a burglar alarm installed. Not that they seem to have much issue with thievery here.
"Another nice change from Pleasantville!"

And she had roofers come over while Gerard was at work. Then she changed the locks.
"I did not! I had a quiet and very adult conversation with him about frugality and incompatability and, well, that nose of his."
Of course, my mistake.

"Why, oh why can't my Controller set me up on a date that does THIS? And oh my god, is he really... oh, he is! I want romance and passion in my life! No more of these mediocre dates, understand?"
Yes, dear. *sigh*

And, yes, I once again forgot to take pictures at her dates. She had a Dream Date with Talin Trimble, who then sent her a lovely bouquet of flowers, which are still on display at her home. The next day, she found out he'd pulled some strings and gotten her a promotion at work. A couple of days later, they had a second date, but Anise had to cut it short because she was exhausted from work. He still sent her a lovely letter letting her know he'd like to go out again. So they did. Since both of them were hungry, they went to Red's diner, hearing several friends rave about the food there.

Anise had an extra special surprise planned for the night and couldn't help but grin widely as she pushed a small velvet box across the table towards Talin.

The poor thing. She looks so nervous while he stares at the ring, waiting to hear his response.
"Hey, you'd be nervous too, you know, if you asked your man to marry you!"
(Oh, and I promise, the pictures get better soon. I forgot to change the settings my first play-session.)

"He said yes! Can you believe it? He said yes! Now I get my romance and love and affection and all those fun naughty things that book was talking about!"

Anise decided she'd waited long enough for those "naughty things" and invited Talin over as soon as she got home from work the next day. They exchanged heartfelt vows in the privacy of their home.
"We did do that mail-in wedding license thing though, so we're all legal. Don't you worry about that!"

The happy couple, holding hands after joining their lives together.

And lookee here! Talin even came with a career reward already ready for use. :-D

Very shortly after their wedding, Anise earned her own Medical reward, so I didn't have to feel guilty for using his. ;-)

The lovely couple the morning after their wedding night. Such blissful domesticity.

Talin didn't bring much cash with him, but it was enough to finally get flooring in and wallpaper up, as well as purchase a couple of small items. The place is starting to look like a home.

"I promise, honey, someday, our family will be one of the richest in town, with a huge estate on our property and lots of kids everywhere."
"We definitely should keep working on that kids aspect, Anise."
(Yes, they BOTH are Family sims and BOTH want to marry off 6 children. And, coincidently, they're both Cancer signs too.)

"If I'm *pant* going to be *pant* popping out *pant* kids left and *pant* right, I need *pant* to be in shape!"

This girl has a one-track mind! Actually, it's kind of strange. They constantly have wants to appreciate and tickle and tell jokes and talk and even kiss and make out. But they've never once had the want to WooHoo with each other. Very odd. At least they're the easiest pair of sims I've -ever- had to keep platinum, which is good, 'cause they're not getting their LTW's. Just don't tell them that.

Ah, Anise is finally pregnant! I was worried one of them was infertile or something. 4 nights in a row, and no lullaby. The next 3 days, morning AND night. Then finally, the morning of their 1 "year" (read: week) anniversary, she finally conceived. Hopefully it'll be a boy, since I plan to alternate genders for the heir.

Talin loves talking to his unborn child and rubbing Anise's belly. He says she looks more beautiful now than when he first met her.

"Love, turn around. Let me give you a massage. I've heard how stressful being pregnant can be."
"*sigh* I finally got my romance novel man..."

Anise went into labor shortly after Talin left for work. The maid was there to give her support. So was Vidcund Curious, which really freaked Anise out, since she hadn't talked to him since he went nuts after he saw her on a date with Talin. He hit her and everything! She tried apologizing and explained that they had only gone on one date and there simply was no common ground between them, but he still thinks she's betrayed him in some fashion.

"Oh, I think I'm going to faint!"
"Xavier, I'm the one in pain here, now shut up!"

And meet the heir to the Vacha estate, Basil Vacha. He has his father's black hair, and his mom's green eyes and light skin tone (hopefully he has her custom skin).

We'll end things here. Next installment will start with Generation 2. :-)