That makes...someone something something, at least that was what I heard. I wonder if it refers to me or my OWBC sims.
Anyway, moving on...
Last time, on "Hark(er)! An OWBC", there was some progress towards the Ghost Hunt, with unsuspecting townie Dustin Donnelly moving in and dying of starvation shortly after. I proved I fail at this challenge more spectacularly than anyone had thought possible when Olenna was taken away by the Social Worker. Olive was chosen as the gen 1 heiress, and she and Oil headed off to college, while the now-adult Börje and Bruna (whose grades had been too low for a chance at a higher education), stayed home to help with the Workaholics Anonymous mini-challenge. At Académie Le Tour, there were few events of note, with Olive fulfilling her part of the Nightlife bonus by going on a date (with one of the streakers, Fergus Graves) and becoming a Grilled Cheese sim.
And now, for the chapter itself...
"Grilled Cheese is officially one of the greatest things ever. Suddenly 20 loves or 20 woohoos seem so overrated."
"What? Olive, how could you forget the awesomeness that is the Romance aspiration, even after becoming a boring cheesehead? I'm ashamed to call you my twin!"
And to prove she was right, Oil promptly went outside and fulfilled the promise made to Morella in the last chapter. Morella had no complaints about the now-grown Oil making her moves on her, and became love #1 for our spare here.
She also ended up being Oil's first woohoo.
Love #2 was a fellow dormie, Edwina Woods, who couldn't resist Oil offer to warm her up during the cold winter night.
To her dismay, Oil had to take a short break from romance after that point, because there was work to be done.
Not that college work stopped her from chatting up everyone she could every time she got a chance. The cow mascot wasn't impressed, though.
Olive, meanwhile, spent her study breaks trying to lose the extra weight she got from eating all those sandwiches. (It was a bit of a futile attempt, because she was nowhere near her LTW by the time she graduated, let alone at this point.)
At the main Harker household, Nisha was thrilled to see her youngest daughter again. (Olenna had grown up into a teenager shortly before, rolling Fortune, LTW to become a Hall of Famer, and randomizing as being attracted to male sims.)
Since she had offered to raise Olenna after she was taken by the Social Worker, Nisha and Cody owed sim Jo a favour, and she made them promise she'd be invited for all their parties from then on. (The oldest Harker children weren't pleased to hear that, to say the least.)
Bruna finally got a few aspiration points thanks to her job. She was still very frustrated over her Bad Apple status, though.
Nisha got yet another bad chance card which resulted in her being fired. I gave up on having her find yet another job at this point, and so she stayed home, enjoying her pseudo-retirement.
Which involved being the target of unwanted attention on the part of desperate Romance sim Reese...
...making Nisha turn to gardening to avoid him during the day.
Cody, being luckier than his wife when it came to chance cards, kept getting promoted, eventually fulfilling his LTW of becoming Minister of Education.
Karma caught up with Bruna (after she'd picked on Danielle's simself mercilessly a few chapters back), and she became the target of Cyd's wrath after daring to use the telescope during the day.
Shortly after that, Nisha asked one of her friends, dormie Donna Holmes, to move in and become victim #3 for the Ghost Hunt (but only after helping out with the career rewards, much like Reese).
Donna's stats: Virgo 9/2/6/3/5, Knowledge sim with the LTW to become Chief of Staff. Joined the household with 11 skill points, 18000 simoleons and 1 friend.
After getting a job in the Gamer career track, her days were numbered.
I was also very pleased to see that Dustin's ghost had restricted access to the house due to the pond. I hadn't expected that to work, at least not for very long.
"So, we've been getting lots of new family members lately, huh? I bet you're loving the new clothes, the makeover, the free food and all that, Reese. Too bad it was kind of a poisoned gift."
"Bruna..."
"Please, let her continue, Mrs. H. What do you mean, a poisoned gift?"
"Two words: ghost hunt. Figure it out by yourself. Oh, you sweet summer child, you and Donna have no idea what you're in for."
After scolding her daughter for revealing too much to poor doomed Reese, Nisha went back to gardening to keep her mind of all those stressful things. As she worked to get that gold gardening badge, I decided I'd try to make her become a member of the Garden Club and try to get that wishing well we need for the Seasons bonus.
Donna paid no mind to whatever Reese and Bruna told her, and kept skilling blissfully, unaware of her impending doom.
One day, after making sure the plants were at least somewhat healthy, Nisha called the Garden Club folks over.
And thus, the "fun" began with their inspection of the garden.
It turns out that the Garden Club really, really hates flamingos with a fiery burning passion. Tiffany Zarubin's parents must have been killed by a rabid army of flamingos or something, because she kept referring to them as "trash" scattered around the lawn, and got her minions to do the same (even if there were decorations for them to fawn over, the plants were fairly healthy, and there was no actual trash outside). Nisha did get in, but barely, and this was when I knew that getting that wishing well wouldn't be easy.
The Garden Club's general nastiness didn't affect any of the other household members much. Reese was happy with his current life, even after everything Bruna had told him. (He probably decided that a Bad Apple that had frequent visits of invisible bunnies and therapists couldn't be trusted. Bad call, Reese.)
Bruna brought Jo (
joandsarah's simself) from work one night, and the two soon became friends.
I think Bruna was thrilled to hear Jo's tales about an OWBC family (Jo's
"Fair Dinkum Flamingos" OWBC) in which the Bad Apples seemed to be so well-adjusted and happy. It got her to cheer up a bit and have some hope for her future after leaving the OWBC house.
Eventually, the two went on to become best friends (I'd say BFFs, but technically that wouldn't be possible in my game, since I don't have FT; they did act like the best of friends pretty much from this day on, though).
Cody also met a simself at work, that being Amylu (
amylu1988), but things weren't so rosy here. Poor Cody wanted to become friends with Amylu, but she seemed to be bored by everything he had to say.
Soon enough, it was time for...another party! Oh joy. I have a serious lack of enthusiasm over those by now.
"I heard you didn't believe Bruna about the whole Ghost Hunt thing. You do know she's not crazy, right? She's just had some rough times because of being the Bad Apple. I'd be dreading the day I got that career reward if I was in your place, because that's the day you become expendable."
"Yvonne, I've thought about this, and I don't think the Harkers would actually go and let me die. Just look at them, they're all so nice! They wouldn't hurt a fly!"
"Well, I tried to warn you, even if it was useless. I'll just tell you that the Harkers are not the ones in charge here. And the person in charge...isn't nearly as nice as them. Remember that, Reese."
"I was loving our game of red hands, Nisha, but I think it's time for me to go over there and smack Yvonne over the head so that she'll keep quiet about the Ghost Hunt. I'll have those tombstones, no matter what, and I don't want your townie friends getting any ideas and running away, damn it!"
"Another great party, don't you think, Bruna?"
"Yes, Mom, sure...if you ignore Yvonne and Jo getting into a fight, and Jo glaring at Reese and Donna after that. Honestly, I think the evil laughter was a bit too much, there's no way they haven't guessed what's in store for them by now."
I'd be drowning my sorrows if I was in Nisha's place too, this is becoming one messed up household. Even if it was just with fruit juice.
"I feel weird...as if the sensation of impending doom just got stronger..."
We have another career reward, thanks a bunch, Reese! Three down, 17 to go. Slowly getting there.
"Good news, everyone! I just got promoted again, and..."
"...I finally got a career reward!"
Alright, four out of 20, things are starting to look up!
"I'm the only one who hasn't earned any career rewards yet, Mom. Should I be worried? Jo might decide to punish me for my failure somehow, maybe even make me a part of the Ghost Hunt..."
"Nonsense, Börje! Don't say anything like that ever again! You're just taking a bit longer than Reese and Bruna, and that's okay. Jo would never use you for the Ghost Hunt...besides, she has the two she still needs for this generation already. You're safe."
It turns out Börje wouldn't need to worry about being caught up in the Ghost Hunt (as if I'd do that), because Donna sealed her fate the next day by getting the Gamer career reward (25% done already, hurray!).
"Oh no, Bruna was right all along! Cody! Nisha! Reese! Someone help me! Börje, Bruna! Someone? Please, help me!"
"...wait, is this rain? It will put out the fire, so I might still live!"
Haha, no. I might have had a stupid moment there by forgetting the roof in your little locked room mystery, Donna, but guess what, the fire going out means Buy & Build Mode are available again. And you get the roof of doom.
"I regret the day I accepted Nisha's invitation forever! I really hope my ghost sticks around and scares everyone, except the Knowledge sims!"
"...damn you aaaall...."
"Death by fire, not very original. I miss the days challenge players killed their sims in creative ways."
"I just saw someone dying right in front of me, again. I think I might need more therapy after all."
While trying to pretend the whole thing didn't happen, Nisha cleans away the remains of Donna's fiery demise. A master of denial, our Nisha.
Cody eventually joins Operation Wishing Well. He and Nisha soon get their gold badges, not that'll help change those annoying Garden Club sims' minds about the flamingos.
Börje gets the Science career reward shortly after Donna's death, so it's time for him to switch over to the Music career track. (I didn't mention it before, but Reese switched to Law and Bruna to Political after they got their respective CRs.)
I also have Cody (and Nisha) drink some elixir, as they're getting dangerously close to the end of their life bars (especially Cody). I want them to live to see Olive return and get married, at least. Not to mention Nisha still needs those 6 grandchildren for her LTW, and the total is currently at zero.
Reese, who's too successful for his own good, gets the Law career reward.
And his own reward: death by drowning. Congratulations, Reese, you just helped us complete Ghost Hunt for this generation!
"Drowning? That's even more of a cliché than fire. I suppose it would be too much to hope for a nice death by satellite next generation..."
Reese's tombstone joins Dustin and Donna's in the small island. I hope the pond "magic" works on their ghosts too. Fingers crossed.
Poor Bruna has been working too hard for these career rewards, but her plight is almost over.
She and Börje both get their second career rewards in quick succession. They've done their part for this challenge, so they're now free to move out and live happily ever after.
Goodbye and good luck, you two, your parents, Glycogen and the flamingos will miss you!
They move to one of the houses that came with Nightlife...
...congratulating each other on their newfound freedom.
OK, I might have lied about Börje's contribution for the OWBC being done, because Nisha still needs her grandchildren. Börje is also a Family sim, so it's a win-win situation here.
His longtime friendship with Yvonne soon turns into something more...
...and they quickly get engaged.
Yvonne moves in and gets a makeover before the wedding. I kept her hairstyle and her now-iconic flower, and her clothes have the same black and white colour scheme her default ones had.
She really rocks that face template, doesn't she?
(Her stats: she's a Knowledge sim, Pisces 5/3/7/3/7, with the LTW to become a Mad Scientist. She's into hardworking sims who are also great cooks, and she's turned off by underwear, just like her husband-to-be. They really are perfect for each other! She joined the family with a job in the Criminal career, 9 skill points, 3000 simoleons and 3 friends.)
The rest of the Harker family is invited over for Börje and Yvonne's wedding, and for once I don't need to throw a freaking party, which thrills me to no end.
Börje takes Yvonne's last name (so that there can be some variation in the family tree), so he's now Börje O'Connor.
As for the rest of the Harkers? Nisha, Cody and Bruna are over the moon to see Börje get married, and Oil is apparently trying to hide in the garage.
And Olive is that one guest that's distracted by something else inside the house. There's always one at every sim wedding.
To wrap the "happy ending" feeling in a nice little bow, Bruna quits her old job and gets one in the Criminal career track (her LTW).
Börje and Yvonne, meanwhile, get started on Nisha's LTW.
I shall leave you with this picture of the happy couple, who are now expecting their first child.
The next chapter should be out soon enough. Until then, goodbye and happy simming to each and every one of you.
[Note: The
"Download a Harker" entry has been updated again, with Yvonne now being available for download.]
***
Current challenge stats:
Base Game Bonuses:
-Obtain an alien through a legit abduction
-Go one whole generation - from birth to birth - without getting any promotions
-Have a gnome to guard the flamingos [Glycogen, with Pheromone standing in for him at ALT]
Nightlife Bonuses:
-The heir(ess) for every generation must go on a date via gypsy matchmaker and see it through to completion [1st generation: Olive's date with Fergus; ...]
-Every heir(ess) is turned into a Grilled Cheese sim [1st generation: Olive; ...]
-A sim must be turned into a vampire
Seasons Bonuses:
-Throw a party once per season [spring: Nisha and Cody's wedding, Olenna's toddler birthday, 2 house parties (1 at college); summer: Börje & Bruna's toddler birthday, 3 house parties (1 at college); autumn: Olive & Oil's toddler birthday, 4 house parties (2 at college); winter: 3 house parties (1 at college)]
-Earn a wishing well
-A sim must be turned into a plantsim
Story Bonus:
-Finishing the challenge and posting it online [work in progress]
"Boolprop Naming Scheme" Mini-Challenge:
-First generation: children resulting from the 3 mandatory pregnancies must have names starting with B, O and O respectively [Börje & Bruna, Olive & Oil, Olenna]
-Second generation: children resulting from the 3 mandatory pregnancies must have names starting with L, P and R respectively
-Third generation: children resulting from the 3 mandatory pregnancies must have names starting with O, P and C respectively
"One Bad Apple" Mini-Challenge:
-Every generation, one child (chosen at birth) must be uncontrollable (they get 8 commands at day after reaching young adulthood/adulthood) [1st generation: Bruna; ...]
"Cowforbrains' Ghost Hunt" Mini-Challenge:
-Three sims must die every generation, and every cause of death must be different [1st generation: Dustin (death by starvation), Donna (death by fire), Reese (death by drowning); ...]
"Family Scrapbook" Mini-Challenge:
-Every member of the family must have their picture taken or their portrait painted and hung somewhere around the house [Nisha, Cody, Börje, Bruna, Olive, Oil, Olenna, Dustin, Reese, Donna, ...]
-The founder and each one of the 3 heirs/heiresses must write a novel [Nisha, ...]
"Workaholics Anonymous" Super Mini-Challenge:
-Earn all the career rewards available [9 out of 20: 2 earned by Cody, 2 earned by Reese, 2 earned by Börje, 2 earned by Bruna, 1 earned by Donna]