The shenanigans continue with generation 3! Last time, Valentine was dazzling customers, Brendan grew into a cute little boy, Sinéad looked evil and Edith gave birth to twins Connor and Murphy. So much Irish and so little room!
And just to show I'm not a COMPLETE failure at playing OFB, our lamp shop is the first to get a top ranking! Which means that now I can ignore the damn thing and everyone can go back to lighting their homes with torches and bonfires, just like in the good old days!
Mh-hm, yeah, OK. Your brother did this when he was a toddler. Now you're just trying to gain brownie points. I refuse to let this get to me!
Brendan: No, mother! I will never experience jail! What a thing to say!
For some reason, this notion displeases Edith. Woman, what kind of expectations do you have on your children? O_o
It's somebody's birthday! I do love transition periods, they're an exciting time to see how the kiddies of a generation turn out. And just like IRL, sometimes puberty just puts a Sim child's looks to POOP. Poop with flies buzzing around it. But I'm not worried for this family too much.
Oh... Oh, look at you. You're so pretty! And now I have a thousand songs in my head about bonnie Irish lasses, and I don't know which one to sing! *Listens to too much Irish music*
Sinéad: Oh yay, sisterly duties! Look at you and how cute you are, hahahaha, yaaaay Can I go now
Dirty diapers at the same time? I know you're twins and all, but somehow coordinating to release your bowels together is going a mite too far with the whole thing, don't you think?
Well, that's what Grandpa (who keeps waking up at 2 in the morning) is here for! Murphy shows Terrell that he loves him thiiiiiis much! *Stretches arms wide*
You crazy kids and your new-fangled dances! *Shakes cane* Get off my lawn computer screen!
So we've bought another lot and opened a new store, the Mercantile Mart. What do we sell here, you ask? Why, only the finest objets d'art, I assure you! Please be so kind as to turn up your nose while you browse and to sip tea with your pinky up at the café (not that we have one. But a Simmer can dream! *shiny eyes* )
Someone *cough*Edith*cough* was going on about getting Sinéad into private school, so I invited the headmaster over again. He seems to think that he and Brendan are BFFs now, but that works in our favour. It goes without saying that she got in.
No, the win never ends!
Canadia's first appearance! And who else to scare but her beloved husband? I miss you, darling. I may resuscitate you before this thing is over... but probably not. I feel like I should let you go. LET YOU GO! *sad Titanic music*
Oh God, I was wondering why one of the twins was shrieking. Who left the baby on the floor? >:T There better be a good explanation for this!
Sinéad: Quick! Drop to the floor and play dead!
Brendan: Oh, is this a game? :D
Brendan: Grandma's ghost, I didn't think she was so serious about this!
Sinéad: No! Like this, with feeling! God, don't you know how to die dramatically? I have to teach you everything!
Birthday time for the twins, you say? Why yes, that would be lovely, thank you.
Whoah, what-Hey, HEY! Where are you going? Come back here and let me photograph you properly! Also, the bathroom is CLEARLY occupied!
Connor, who made a mess just after Brendan left. Don't try to look innocent, sir. I SAW WHERE YOU WERE CRAWLING.
Murphy, who stayed diligently in his dad's arms.
A shot of Sinéad in her adorable little shamrock PJs. You wouldn't believe how happy I was to see they had quite a bit of clover-themed clothes over at TSR!
We now have a toy shop and- For God's sakes, is it so hard to change out of your PJs before you go to work? We need someone to create a mod for good employer ethics or something.
Weeeeell, at least our customer seems to be enjoying the view.
...And just WHEN did you get a gut? >8\ This is inadmissible, sir. INADMISSIBLE.
Terrell: *Cracks back* Ugh, I'm getting too old for this!
Don't look at me, you were rolling wants to teach someone to walk.
Just so you know, I am doing heir portraits. There's a giant empty room with bare walls that I can fill! Though I'm most likely going to build them a new house once the kids move out; I'm not quite satisfied with this one.
What is it about Romance Sims that make them such good grandparents? WHERE'S YOUR FEAR NOW, TERRELL? (Actually, the fear of having a baby is permanently in his panel. Not like he's been getting any, so there's no harm. He's already permaplat, I can ignore his needs, OK? )
Sinéad: *Pant gasp* Stop! I... need a break!
Brendan enjoys his pillow fights a lot.
... Maybe a little too much. Calm yo tits, son. This isn't the Peloponnesian War or anything.
Connor: Let's sail on a boat! :D
Murphy: Psh. Rocket ships are the way to go.
Future careers in the maritimes and in space, mayhap?
... No really, this isn't my doing. Terrell autonomously sat down and played with Connor. I do not force these things! The adorable happens all on its own. *backs away*
Brendan: This muffin... It's golden surface, its fluffiness... It is... perfection!
Sinéad: You're doing my homework later right?
Brendan: What I just made a muffin that's all D:
Hopefully I'll be able to tell them apart a little more now. Yes, I realize putting them both in green overalls was my doing, but dang if it wasn't adorable while it lasted.
Connor: Hooraaaay! Autonomy!
Murphy: *Does not move*
This should've been my first sign that something was off, but I shrugged it off and sent them for their wardrobe changes.
Connor looked fine and dandy and all that, in his little green polo shirt.
Murphy was all good too until he stepped down from the mirror, and then all of a sudden, he DISAPPEARED. Just... POOF. Vanished. Into thin air! His little portrait on the left was gone as well! I was freaking out at that point and wondering why the hell one of the kids had stopped existing. I checked the family tree, and it said Murphy was still there. So I closed my game and reloaded it.
And then I saw the Holidays' loading screen. TERRELL, WHY THE FUDGE ARE YOU CARRYING MURPHY HE JUST TURNED INTO A KID. Is this a new pose I don't know about?
And then it hit me. My game somehow pushed Murphy's age back all the way to the beginning of toddlerhood, even though he was physically a child. So he was sitting there still doing toddlery things in a toddler voice, crawling on the floor and eating his hand. It was scary, I tell you. So, I boolproped him to his birthday AGAIN.
He got a second birthday, and a whole new outfit apparently.
Murphy: I'm a child! Hooray!
Yeah, and DON'T ever scare the jingles out of me again, y'hear?
No more problems after that. CRISIS AVERTED!
Meanwhile, in one of the Holidays' gazillion stores...
Aphrodite, I don't understand your excitement. Your brother is in his pajama bottoms for one thing. For another, you have no children to want to buy a block builder.
Valentine is THAT GOOD, ladies and gentlemen. He will CONVINCE YOU THAT YOU NEED THIS USELESS THING RIGHT NOW.
Hellooooo, pretty Townie! I want you in this legacy at some point. MRRROW.
Samantha Ottomas, in her constant cranky preggers mood, never wants to buy anything. I pretty much kick her off the lot the moment she makes me lose a star. THIS IS HARD ENOUGH WITH YOU BEING A SHITTY SHOPPER OK
We also lost a few stars due to a tree getting set on fire by lightning. But even after the storm passed, it kept on burning and people ignored it after that. So now we have a biblical burning bush! I think this toy store has my blessing.
What is that intense face for? Is it a first-person shooter? A particularly rough bend on SSX3? Trying to snag an item before someone else on e-Bay?
Hell no! It's trying to find the perfect clothes in the Sim builder, obviously. What were you all thinking, silly readers? >_>
Yes, I have been working out Valentine! He had the want to get fit again, and now he's got his +2500 aspiration points to keep on truckin' in the sales department. It's taking forever to get another shop to level 10. *LE SIGH*
Valentine's network is huge now thanks to his business perks, so he and the headmaster are on a first name basis by now. Just let the twins in and we'll all be friends!
Brendan, you can't possibly keep eating muffins actually, you can and it saves us groceries. I treat my children well, can't you tell?
Well, that's it. No more muffins for you!
What is it with this family and crazy hard LTWs? You're just trying to create more drama, aren't you? (Although, think of the beautiful genetically varied illegitimate children we could have! *Slaps self* NO! NO! I'M TERRIBLE ). Also, what happened to your shirt, son? Did you buy it at the Salvation Army or something?
Bluewater Village has this totally legitimate holiday called 'Bring your eldest child to work for you for a day' Day, so that's exactly what Valentine did. He got Brendan to restock things in our new little barn that sells just about everything under the sun (and wouldn't you know it, it's doing pretty well).
But then he got distracted by the dressing-room mirror. Teen Romance Sims, you have to let them preen daily or else they will wilt like a badly-kept fern. Not that I've ever tried to keep a fern. My roommate in freshman year did, and it grew crazy big. She named it Christian Bale and everything! But enough about my little side stories.
Brendan: Unfff! Yessss, look at me! My artfully ripped shirt makes me look like a romance novel hero!
The pets in the background look highly unamused.
Brendan: Hey, Auntie V! You look like you could use a nice Persian in your home to love and cuddle! Y'know, since you're never getting married and all!
Venus: Hmmm... You have a point there.
I had a sudden vision of Venus and Aphrodite turning into Patty and Selma, just sitting on the couch chain smoking and watching soap operas all day-
...
That would make an amazing spare chapter, wouldn't it? *plots*
Someone wants a date, and since we're financially prospering, we're calling in a little help! I got him a date with a dude because I KNOW that there are some gorgeous male teen Townies about in this neighborhood.
... But he's not one of them. I honestly cannot even remember his name, so he shall be Nameless Date Boy.
Brendan: Come to me, my sweet prince!
NDB: Uh, no I uh... think I'm good right here.
*FACEPALM*
NDB: Just so you know, I can't stay until nighttime, I have a curfew-
Brendan: LALALA I'M NOT HEARING THIS
Brendan: Are you ready to come a little closer?
NDB: Please stay away.
*Clutches face* They're supposed to have two boooooltssssss
*FOUR FUCKING HOURS LATER THEY TOUCH*
Not the most romantic setting, I'll admit. Especially with your dad and little brother in their swimsuits in the background. I've decided that Nameless Date Boy was too much trouble and to only bring him around when Brendan needs someone to make out with.
Murphy: Can you believe I've learned to walk?
Sinéad: Silence, I'm watching TV.
I know it's you, Canadia. There are no other ghosts haunting this lot. And the microwave, really? Please have more class, woman! I did not spend 10 minutes in the Body Shop to have you haunt a common appliance!
Terrell: I feel like my dead wife is watching me somewhere. *uneasy*
This was mostly just an excuse to take a picture of his face. Uuughhh I've never loved an Elder so muuuuuch. <3
Our miscellaneous store has all kinds of customers. Even the exterminator needs new clothes, man! It's not healthy to be walking around in chemical-drenched suits all day.
And we end by discovering Murphy is a rampant ecologist. He catch Brendan littering or something? *Shrugs* Hell if I know.