Build A City Challenge - Week Two: Wrightly
Gail and Ginnie Wrightly were the first of the second wave of settlers, arriving during the middle of the whole 'Mass Gave Kabloosh' incident. The delay in settling actually worked to their advantage in the end, although it hadn't seemed that way at the time. They'd been all packed up and ready to move in, after all! But after some time spent waiting with the established settlers . . well, they'd had to change plans.
First had been working their connections with the IFCP to get some leverage with the local foster care system - the Ottomas family had quickly become fast friends, and hearing about the loss of their kids had been a shock. Ginnie had been determined not to risk losing her alien-sired twins again, and hearing the story had lit a bit of a bonfire under her plans to prevent it. Much to their surprise, they'd found the foster system at their wit's end - while well-meaning, they hadn't the staff or the supplies to take care of all four toddlers. The whole department consisted of two women at the time, with more incoming.
It had been time to strike a deal.
Meeting their new neighbors for the second time was far less nerve-wracking that what was needed. A very carefully handled maneuver between them, the foster system, and the Ottomas - by law, the Ottomas couldn't have their children back. And by granting the couple vistation rights, Ginnie and Gail ended up making some other agreements, such as regular visits from the social workers to assess how the two they were adopting were doing. But in the end, they had a bit of extra funding for adopting, and little Adoette and Pollux had a new home.
(They did have a few 'nudge nudge wink wink' suspicions about one of their neighbors though . . . )
Luckily that first meet 'n greet with their closest neighbors went well.
(I have no idea why I took this shot.)
(Or this one! Although it does amuse me they're using the tiny bit of yard in the back to have a water balloon fight.)
The next day was a delight - already the Twins had warmed up to their new siblings, and were quite content playing patty-cake and peek-a-boo on the balcony while their moms woke up to face the day. And make breakfast.
There was just enough of summer left to make the day really enjoyable. And the toddlers wouldn't be toddlers for much longer - best to let the children bond while they had the chance to really focus on each other.
There was other necessary bonding to do as well.
(First peeping tom of the new neighborhood! I missed getting a shot of who the new slapper is, and now I can't remember who it was.)
Polly was a sweet girl for the most part, if leaning towards being a tomboy in dresses. Her twin brother, Dactyl, was definitely taking after Ginnie - to the point where he insisted on dressing just like his dear Momma Gin.
(Shot included because I like it, and to show off Adoette's cheekbones of doom. I am SO looking forward to how her face changes as she ages.)
Since I don't want more slappage on the first day, Gail got routed to her part of managing the family funds - producing boquets to sell at the family business. 'Pistons N' Pistils'. I had originally plannned they would sell flowers as well as refurbished cars. Which ended up not being the case for now. More on that later, with pictorial evidence.
Ginnie had no problems with being told to put out the fire . . .
. . it just took her until HERE to get it all out. That's . . . eight parts of the kitchen that caught on fire and had to be put out before she extinguished it all. In a weird way it was pretty impressive.
She did manage to get some food, shower, and a nap before the kids got home though. And I have to say, having all the families plunked down is paying off. The rugrats make friends, and potential connections for later romance. I just wish the game would stop offering my married sims dates.
But friends aside, there's always homework.
And then play time! Hi Metallia!
And I was serious about Dactyl wanting to spend most of his time with Momma Gin - every chance he gets (when his twin doesn't want to play), he goes to either talk with Ginnie or ask her to play. And speaking of Ginnie . .
. . . let's hop to the business lot. This building design did NOT last. I ended up ripping out the space between the two buildings and joining them into one.
And after realizing I had no idea how to set things up for the sale of cars, I installed a bar and a ticket dispenser. And a card table, juke box . . anything I could think of, really.
At least business is consistent, if not thriving. Despite three visits this week, it only reaches Level 2.
Also, Juliana Cooke is gorgeous, and not for you.
While the business is great for indulging some of Ginnie's . . . milder Romance sim wants, she seems rather focused on this lady. Thankfully this is the only time she's ever shown up.
All in all, the business is bringing in a slow trickle of funds, but I don't like it. I really want to get it back to the original plan of selling flowers and refurbished cars. I just need to figure out how, and in the meantime have Ginnie and Gail build up stock to sell.
In the meantime, life goes on, and the children get older. It's time for Castor and Pollux to join the ranks of being tall enough to do dishes. And school!
In short order Adoette and Pollux have both been admitted to the exclusive treehouse of childhood. And now I have two black-haired boys with messy mops of hair . . thankfully one of 'ems green too.
And so the next morning, they all proudly tromp off to gain in learnings and playground politics. Polly . . . you'd probably do better if you'd SHOWER.
Their moms celebrated. I'll leave it at that.
Ginnie dotes on all her children, but she seems to get along the best with her boys - both Pollux and Dactyl gravitate towards playing with her or asking her to read to them. But then, she is less 'girly' than her wife.
Her girly, very pregnant wife. Apparently celebrating has consequences.
Thus began a period of frequent, if smaller, meals and Momma Gail being easily upset or utterly unflappable.
Not that the kids really cared much - both sets of twins seemed to take it all in stride, although they did start spending more time with each other than than their other siblings.
Although Polly did seem a little more thoughtful than usual, frequently pausing and watching Gail as she waddled around the house. Neither of her mothers, or her brothers, managed to get anything out of her though.
(Included for cuteness, and marveling that this couple would have so much pink. Also, retro wallpapers are AWESOME.)
. . I had no idea these two were that comfortable around each other. Should I worry about this?
I'm starting to wonder if Polly even has a functioning sense of smell.
At least she makes the effort to get clean again on her own.
The kids are also bringing home one, two other neighborhood kids each day after school. Lots of little friends! Also, compared to the 'native' aliens, man are Polly and Dactyl green.
WHY MUST YOU LOOK SO EVIL?!
"Hon, could you take this kid so I can pop out the other one?"
"Woohoo!"
"Yay! A baby brother!"
"Yeah, could someone take this one? I need to go fall on my face."
Everybody, meet Pewdie and Cryaotic - both have black hair and indistinctly blue eyes. Pewdie is the paler of the two.
Not long after the birth of the latest set of twins, it's time for the oldest set of twins to join the ranks of the hormonally challenged. Yes, they're becoming teenagers. The power years for finding and courting potential romantic interests, and putting their noses to the grindstone of supporting the colony.
Yes, Polly, that's your brother. And sadly, whatever eye fix that worked for some of the other families is not working for them.
At least normal eyes looks . . . pretty darn good on them, actually. I think I'll just roll with it. And this reminds me, we haven't had any good shots of Adoette or Pollux yet!
The Ottomas is just stamped all over Adoette. She's not exactly ugly, or pretty . . . or homely. I just don't know what to call her other than interesting.
Pollux . . I think I'm just going to have to wait and see. Mostly he just seems a bit lumpy.
And Dactyl proves to not be the typical teenage boy, choosing to feed his baby brother as his first thing after aging up. Are you sure you're not a family sim?
Anyways! Polly gets the mirror first! And dang . . . she's pretty. Totes not expecting that, considering Ginnie's somewhat odd features.
Polly rolled up a Knowledge/Knowledge aspiration, which pleasantly surprised me. Adorable, and easy to take care of, considering her high intelligence. She's one smart cookie! . . . who eats rotten food. And is going to go into aspiration failure upon adulthood due to there being no college.
I also wasn't expecting Pewdie to be such a quiet baby.
Here's Dactyl post-makeover! Sure, he was adorable with the short hair, but it didn't really go well with his clothes. Which he's stuck with until the clothing store re-opens. This cut just seems to work.
Come morning he was the first one up, and the first to feed Pewdie . .
. . and then fed Cryaotic. And this is the boy who rolled to be Romance first and foremost. Yet most of his wants and autonomous actions are guided by his Family secondary aspiration..
I'll confess now - I named these twins after a pair of youtube Let's Play guys who do a lot of horror games. Chaotic Monkey AKA Cry and Pewdie Pie. Out of the two of them, Cry has a very soothing voice and excellent reactions to both the horror and the absurdities of the games he plays (a lot of Indie horror as well as mainstream), while Pewdie Pie is noisy, spazzy, and prone to a lot more profanity. I find them both hilarious, but be warned they're NSFW. Or kids.
. . . you two had better not be planning on popping out more spawn. You've got six kids already! But that closes this week at their place. On to the next family!
There's been no additional robberies - in fact, beyond having so many kids, the Wrightlys had a very quiet starting week. They were able to donate $248 to the college fund, add another business to the total tally, and boost the population number by quite a bit. Adoette and Castor were adopted in without using adoption - spliced into the household using the Insiminator family tree. So I can predict shenanigans down the line, which I'm looking forward to. *evil grin*