The Throttlewoods - Part 7: Realisation of the Self.
Insert text here, in order to bump the first picture down, and make them all align all nicely. If one line of text is not sufficient, insert a second line directly below.
Just trying to recreate the loading screen for Twinbrook. :)
There we have it. :D
While the kids were at EJ's short-lived party, Melody decided to head out to see Harmony at the fire-station.
Melody: Be greeted, younger sister. I'm running for President, and I want to spend some time with the brave women and men who keep our citizens safe.
Harmony: Oh. That's... nice of you. We appreciate it, really.
Melody: This place could use a proper bar. Wanna go somewhere more lively?
Harmony: Sorry. I'm on the night shift, so I can't leave the premises until 5am.
Melody: There's a bar right next door! You'd hear the alarm from there. Or I could just pop over and bring you something?
Harmony: Thanks, but I'll have to pass. I have to be sober if I'm going to drive the fire-engine.
Betty: How dare you? How dare you be the way you are, and do the things you do, and think those thoughts you have, and just... D:<
Troy: But I... I... just... I dunno.
Betty: So when are you transferring?
Troy: I'm not going anywhere! It's you who've got a problem with me, for no good reason, so you're the one who's transferring.
Betty: You are my problem, and that's not my fault, so it's you who has to go!
Betty: Boo! Go home! It's almost bedtime.
Melody: Oh, but I'm planning on staying over. Just reading myself a goodnight story before supper.
Melody: Free food! I should come over more often. Still, would have been nice if they had something more organic in their fridge than canned soup. I'll have to look into that when I'm the President.
Melody: Better clean up after myself, so they'll want to vote for me.
Melody found a bed on the second floor, and Harmony and the Riley guys spent their shift playing in the back yard. Then suddenly they all went home, and Melody was all alone. To anyone else, that would have been majorly awkward.
EJ: Listen, Loll...a. I'm really sorry for what I did (although I wish I knew what it was), and I want to make it up to you. You're the first good thing that's happened in my life since... yeeeah, and I don't want to lose you.
Lola: That's okay. I can tell that you've totally learned your lesson. Plus, I'm already here, so maybe we could hang out?
Lola: EJ, is that... love potion?
EJ: Huh? No, it's just a cherry-strawberry flavoured...
Lola: That's so romantic! I've always wanted to take love potion, just like Romeo and Juliet! We'll be in love forever!
EJ: Um, Dad's been helping me with Shakespeare, and I think that was poison. But cheers!
EJ: See... The thing is that I'm in love with a chick. This chick right here, actually. And I'm supposed to have done something stupid that has upset her, but I can't think of what it could be!
Cho: Uh...
Then I got a curfew-remover! :D
Kat: Oh, Buck!
Buck: Oh, Kat!
Buck: So you're going to beat up Andrew for me?
Kat: He won't be able to sit for three weeks!
Speaking of Andrew...
Ulric: He made that man unconscious, just by talking to him! Do you think he's a wizard?
Tay: Yeah, he could be a dark mage, or something. Maybe we should go home, I think.
Melody gave up her ambitions of presidency when she saw the hideous outfit she was expected to wear after her next promotion at the city hall. Instead she decided to find her true calling in a career as a sculptor and inventor.
Melody: Wow! I've invented the Eternity Machine on my first try! I'm good at this!
JB's car is called Elisabeth. I'm not sure why his and EJ's cars show up in their relationship panel as a BFF, with an option for naming them. EJ's car is called "Retta," in case you wondered.
JB didn't like being listed as unemployed, so he went to register as a gardener.
He got to socialize a little, since he's hardly ever away from home. I think I need to keep an eye on him around Abigail, though. x)
Abigail: Melody is a very lucky woman. Then of course, you are a very lucky man!
This is Shane Hathaway, resident brooding Goth Boy. I created him as a potential romantic interest for Eveline. He desperately needs a better outfit, but I want him to be a Romantic Goth, not a spiky leather one. Tracking down a dark poet outfit for teens hasn't been as easy as I hoped.
This is Quinn, his brother, who's more on the emo side personality-wize. I intended Bianca and Helena to fight over him, because I'm so nice to my Sims.
These are their dogs, Eika and Bella. The game has spawned a few auto-litters for both of them, and two of Eika's "puppies" live with the Winslows.
Sure. Just start your relationship with your daughter-in-law on the worst possible note.
And be sure to antagonize your extended family too. You're doing a good job with your brother already.
Helena: I was sitting on a bench next to a fat lady. Two feet away, there were a couple of prepz flirting and making kissy faces. They were really ugly, like a cactus. I started crying depressedly, because I wanted someone interesting and special to come and notice me.
Lady in blue: You're aware that you're internal-monologuing out loud, right?
Helena: It's very important to put my thoughts and feelings into words. I read that on the internet.
Everett: Hey! You're that girl from the beach! We met on my first night in town.
Jade: Oh, that was you! I like your new style. :)
Everett: I like what you've done with your hair!
Helena: I was completely surrounded by the preppy mollusks, and I wanted to slit my wrists in desperation and despair, but I didn't have anything sharp with me. Which was good for everyone else. I was very sad that I didn't have fangs, because my mother bribed the dentist into removing them when I was a kid. She said that it was just a couple of my baby teeth that wouldn't come out, but I knew better. I decided to go home and cry while watching Doctor Who.
Eveline: Mom is so not going to be happy when I tell her about this... :(
Natelie, version 3.0, I think.
Wow! The deer rarely hang out together!
Cat Stielburg, who has come to burgle and steal. The house didn't have a burglar alarm. Crap.
Cat: Heee heee heee heee!
The dogs growled at her, but didn't chase her away like in the Pets trailer. Maybe they need to be trained to do that. She stole the TV, and Paddy was really upset. x(
JB went to the consignment store to see if anyone had dropped off any foreign seeds or fruits. Instead he came home with a miner.
He had pretty good luck with that first drill site. The first things he unearthed were Soulpeace and Tiberium.
Butch: Hi there, guv. Where did the house go, eh?
Melody: James, darling?
JB: Yes, darling?
Melody: Don't go into the basement, darling. It's a bit hard to breathe in there.
Melody: Catch!
JB: Umph! You've put on half a kilo, haven't you?
Melody: Nonsense!
EJ and Everett went home with the Racket-kids. As usual, with Sims 3 teens, it ended up as a homework-party. In TS2, I've got my hands full trying to keep my Sims on the straight and narrow. In TS3, they're so automatically well-behaved I have to direct them to be naughty.
This is "Lola"'s brother, Shark. I couldn't believe that was his actual name, so I made the game generate a "birth name" for him. Officially, he's called David now.
Melody: This one's going to be a space ship. :D Owwww! It bit me!
Melody: *Cough cough!* My ass feels hot. Oh, but that's normal. My ass is hot!
Melody: AAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!
Melody: Pffffewww!
That wasn't even the first fire of the day. EJ went to school leaving waffles in the oven. By the time the fire-fighter arrived, JB and Melody had mostly put the flames out, but the fire woman kept hanging out. And right before that, both the showers broke. I bet Melody was really happy that she'd mended them.
I found this little metal ball in the pigpen. It's called a "jig", and has something to do with idle animations. Too bad I couldn't pick it up and move it, so Melody could display her alien artifact in her living room.
Oh look! Jeff's found friends on his own maturity-level!
I like the background in this picture. It looks like it could be somewhere along the coast of the British Isles.
Melody: Maybe building a space rocket was a little too ambitious. I think I'll try a transmogrifyer first, for practice.
Or maybe she should practice tinkering a bit more on the bathtubs and toilets first.
Melody: OOoooowaaaahhh! Do something, stupid fire-woman!
Christa: I like your wall paper.
Almost every time EJ goes out with Lola, Erica shows up. It's almost as if she's jealous, even if I'm pretty certain the game recognizes them as related, and there are no romantic feelings involved.
The game forces everyone who decides to eat inside the bistro to change to formal wear. And the person(s) who designed what passes for formal wear in this game, shouldn't even be allowed to pick out their own clothes.
I used to think Lolly/Lola was sooooo pretty. :) She's got potential, though.
Back home on the farm, Wilma dropped by. Ulric likes her it seems. He hates Bianca, because she hogs his toys.
EJ: Wanna stay over tonight? We're actually a really nice family. Maybe my stepmom is a little mentally ill. And there are a few mini-pigs running around, that you could stumble over if you don't look properly. And there is a fire-fighter in the kitchen who just stands there. We're really curious how long she can do that before she starves to death. But apart from that, we are really normal.
Lolly: Yeah! Of course I want to stay over! :D
She would get used to it eventually, if I should start a parallel storyline with aging on, and marry her into the family.
Christa: Pfffff ha ha ha! She's doing home work on a Saturday morning! What a loser!
I started to realise that Christa was immune to starvation, and was probably going to stand there, blocking the micro-wave, for eternity.
She got a stylish new look as a parting gift, before I resat her.
Paddy didn't like it at the pool.
Melody: *spluttre* *pluff* Maybe I shouldn't have been standing on the wheel when I poured the clay? I hope it dries quickly, so I can chip myself out of here.
Melody: Look at that! There was a beautiful man inside the clay. Good thing I found him!
JB: What's that supposed to be?
Melody: He is named Herbert, and I rescued him from a block of clay!
JB: You made it? Not bad for a first attempt.
Melody: No, he was already in the clay, with me, and I found him when I excavated us.
JB: Is he dead? I don't want a dead guy in my living room. He's gonna give Paddy and Everett nightmares.
Melody: No, no! He's not dead. His joints are just a bit stiff from not being able to move for so long. And he's staying right where he is, so you can look at his perfect form and get inspired to drop a few.
I felt the need for a quiet place for Sims to be alone with a romantic interest. This is a little park I originally built in Sunset Valley, to see if the food truck would work. It's actually The Grind, bulldozed and re-purposed since it had the parking spot.
I think I based it somewhat on a park that used to exist in my hometown. It was outside of the downtown area, near a retirement home. A few years ago I tried to find it, but I think it had been made into a parking lot.
I love old fountains, and will never understand why it's considered tacky to create a new one in classic style, while making one that's clearly meant to represent a splurting penis is in good taste.
Vent: I remember when our town square used to be a lively spot, with market stalls and ice cream vendors. There was a big fountain in the middle, and people used to sit on the edge around it, eating popsicles and soothing their feet. Mom used to take me there when I was in town with her as a child. Nowadays it's mostly deserted. Sometimes I feel that the efforts to make the town more "cultured" pretty much killed it. /vent
Melody: I wonder who is inside this one! Poor Herbert needs a friend.
Just trying to recreate the loading screen for Twinbrook. :)
There we have it. :D
While the kids were at EJ's short-lived party, Melody decided to head out to see Harmony at the fire-station.
Melody: Be greeted, younger sister. I'm running for President, and I want to spend some time with the brave women and men who keep our citizens safe.
Harmony: Oh. That's... nice of you. We appreciate it, really.
Melody: This place could use a proper bar. Wanna go somewhere more lively?
Harmony: Sorry. I'm on the night shift, so I can't leave the premises until 5am.
Melody: There's a bar right next door! You'd hear the alarm from there. Or I could just pop over and bring you something?
Harmony: Thanks, but I'll have to pass. I have to be sober if I'm going to drive the fire-engine.
Betty: How dare you? How dare you be the way you are, and do the things you do, and think those thoughts you have, and just... D:<
Troy: But I... I... just... I dunno.
Betty: So when are you transferring?
Troy: I'm not going anywhere! It's you who've got a problem with me, for no good reason, so you're the one who's transferring.
Betty: You are my problem, and that's not my fault, so it's you who has to go!
Betty: Boo! Go home! It's almost bedtime.
Melody: Oh, but I'm planning on staying over. Just reading myself a goodnight story before supper.
Melody: Free food! I should come over more often. Still, would have been nice if they had something more organic in their fridge than canned soup. I'll have to look into that when I'm the President.
Melody: Better clean up after myself, so they'll want to vote for me.
Melody found a bed on the second floor, and Harmony and the Riley guys spent their shift playing in the back yard. Then suddenly they all went home, and Melody was all alone. To anyone else, that would have been majorly awkward.
EJ: Listen, Loll...a. I'm really sorry for what I did (although I wish I knew what it was), and I want to make it up to you. You're the first good thing that's happened in my life since... yeeeah, and I don't want to lose you.
Lola: That's okay. I can tell that you've totally learned your lesson. Plus, I'm already here, so maybe we could hang out?
Lola: EJ, is that... love potion?
EJ: Huh? No, it's just a cherry-strawberry flavoured...
Lola: That's so romantic! I've always wanted to take love potion, just like Romeo and Juliet! We'll be in love forever!
EJ: Um, Dad's been helping me with Shakespeare, and I think that was poison. But cheers!
EJ: See... The thing is that I'm in love with a chick. This chick right here, actually. And I'm supposed to have done something stupid that has upset her, but I can't think of what it could be!
Cho: Uh...
Then I got a curfew-remover! :D
Kat: Oh, Buck!
Buck: Oh, Kat!
Buck: So you're going to beat up Andrew for me?
Kat: He won't be able to sit for three weeks!
Speaking of Andrew...
Ulric: He made that man unconscious, just by talking to him! Do you think he's a wizard?
Tay: Yeah, he could be a dark mage, or something. Maybe we should go home, I think.
Melody gave up her ambitions of presidency when she saw the hideous outfit she was expected to wear after her next promotion at the city hall. Instead she decided to find her true calling in a career as a sculptor and inventor.
Melody: Wow! I've invented the Eternity Machine on my first try! I'm good at this!
JB's car is called Elisabeth. I'm not sure why his and EJ's cars show up in their relationship panel as a BFF, with an option for naming them. EJ's car is called "Retta," in case you wondered.
JB didn't like being listed as unemployed, so he went to register as a gardener.
He got to socialize a little, since he's hardly ever away from home. I think I need to keep an eye on him around Abigail, though. x)
Abigail: Melody is a very lucky woman. Then of course, you are a very lucky man!
This is Shane Hathaway, resident brooding Goth Boy. I created him as a potential romantic interest for Eveline. He desperately needs a better outfit, but I want him to be a Romantic Goth, not a spiky leather one. Tracking down a dark poet outfit for teens hasn't been as easy as I hoped.
This is Quinn, his brother, who's more on the emo side personality-wize. I intended Bianca and Helena to fight over him, because I'm so nice to my Sims.
These are their dogs, Eika and Bella. The game has spawned a few auto-litters for both of them, and two of Eika's "puppies" live with the Winslows.
Sure. Just start your relationship with your daughter-in-law on the worst possible note.
And be sure to antagonize your extended family too. You're doing a good job with your brother already.
Helena: I was sitting on a bench next to a fat lady. Two feet away, there were a couple of prepz flirting and making kissy faces. They were really ugly, like a cactus. I started crying depressedly, because I wanted someone interesting and special to come and notice me.
Lady in blue: You're aware that you're internal-monologuing out loud, right?
Helena: It's very important to put my thoughts and feelings into words. I read that on the internet.
Everett: Hey! You're that girl from the beach! We met on my first night in town.
Jade: Oh, that was you! I like your new style. :)
Everett: I like what you've done with your hair!
Helena: I was completely surrounded by the preppy mollusks, and I wanted to slit my wrists in desperation and despair, but I didn't have anything sharp with me. Which was good for everyone else. I was very sad that I didn't have fangs, because my mother bribed the dentist into removing them when I was a kid. She said that it was just a couple of my baby teeth that wouldn't come out, but I knew better. I decided to go home and cry while watching Doctor Who.
Eveline: Mom is so not going to be happy when I tell her about this... :(
Natelie, version 3.0, I think.
Wow! The deer rarely hang out together!
Cat Stielburg, who has come to burgle and steal. The house didn't have a burglar alarm. Crap.
Cat: Heee heee heee heee!
The dogs growled at her, but didn't chase her away like in the Pets trailer. Maybe they need to be trained to do that. She stole the TV, and Paddy was really upset. x(
JB went to the consignment store to see if anyone had dropped off any foreign seeds or fruits. Instead he came home with a miner.
He had pretty good luck with that first drill site. The first things he unearthed were Soulpeace and Tiberium.
Butch: Hi there, guv. Where did the house go, eh?
Melody: James, darling?
JB: Yes, darling?
Melody: Don't go into the basement, darling. It's a bit hard to breathe in there.
Melody: Catch!
JB: Umph! You've put on half a kilo, haven't you?
Melody: Nonsense!
EJ and Everett went home with the Racket-kids. As usual, with Sims 3 teens, it ended up as a homework-party. In TS2, I've got my hands full trying to keep my Sims on the straight and narrow. In TS3, they're so automatically well-behaved I have to direct them to be naughty.
This is "Lola"'s brother, Shark. I couldn't believe that was his actual name, so I made the game generate a "birth name" for him. Officially, he's called David now.
Melody: This one's going to be a space ship. :D Owwww! It bit me!
Melody: *Cough cough!* My ass feels hot. Oh, but that's normal. My ass is hot!
Melody: AAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!
Melody: Pffffewww!
That wasn't even the first fire of the day. EJ went to school leaving waffles in the oven. By the time the fire-fighter arrived, JB and Melody had mostly put the flames out, but the fire woman kept hanging out. And right before that, both the showers broke. I bet Melody was really happy that she'd mended them.
I found this little metal ball in the pigpen. It's called a "jig", and has something to do with idle animations. Too bad I couldn't pick it up and move it, so Melody could display her alien artifact in her living room.
Oh look! Jeff's found friends on his own maturity-level!
I like the background in this picture. It looks like it could be somewhere along the coast of the British Isles.
Melody: Maybe building a space rocket was a little too ambitious. I think I'll try a transmogrifyer first, for practice.
Or maybe she should practice tinkering a bit more on the bathtubs and toilets first.
Melody: OOoooowaaaahhh! Do something, stupid fire-woman!
Christa: I like your wall paper.
Almost every time EJ goes out with Lola, Erica shows up. It's almost as if she's jealous, even if I'm pretty certain the game recognizes them as related, and there are no romantic feelings involved.
The game forces everyone who decides to eat inside the bistro to change to formal wear. And the person(s) who designed what passes for formal wear in this game, shouldn't even be allowed to pick out their own clothes.
I used to think Lolly/Lola was sooooo pretty. :) She's got potential, though.
Back home on the farm, Wilma dropped by. Ulric likes her it seems. He hates Bianca, because she hogs his toys.
EJ: Wanna stay over tonight? We're actually a really nice family. Maybe my stepmom is a little mentally ill. And there are a few mini-pigs running around, that you could stumble over if you don't look properly. And there is a fire-fighter in the kitchen who just stands there. We're really curious how long she can do that before she starves to death. But apart from that, we are really normal.
Lolly: Yeah! Of course I want to stay over! :D
She would get used to it eventually, if I should start a parallel storyline with aging on, and marry her into the family.
Christa: Pfffff ha ha ha! She's doing home work on a Saturday morning! What a loser!
I started to realise that Christa was immune to starvation, and was probably going to stand there, blocking the micro-wave, for eternity.
She got a stylish new look as a parting gift, before I resat her.
Paddy didn't like it at the pool.
Melody: *spluttre* *pluff* Maybe I shouldn't have been standing on the wheel when I poured the clay? I hope it dries quickly, so I can chip myself out of here.
Melody: Look at that! There was a beautiful man inside the clay. Good thing I found him!
JB: What's that supposed to be?
Melody: He is named Herbert, and I rescued him from a block of clay!
JB: You made it? Not bad for a first attempt.
Melody: No, he was already in the clay, with me, and I found him when I excavated us.
JB: Is he dead? I don't want a dead guy in my living room. He's gonna give Paddy and Everett nightmares.
Melody: No, no! He's not dead. His joints are just a bit stiff from not being able to move for so long. And he's staying right where he is, so you can look at his perfect form and get inspired to drop a few.
I felt the need for a quiet place for Sims to be alone with a romantic interest. This is a little park I originally built in Sunset Valley, to see if the food truck would work. It's actually The Grind, bulldozed and re-purposed since it had the parking spot.
I think I based it somewhat on a park that used to exist in my hometown. It was outside of the downtown area, near a retirement home. A few years ago I tried to find it, but I think it had been made into a parking lot.
I love old fountains, and will never understand why it's considered tacky to create a new one in classic style, while making one that's clearly meant to represent a splurting penis is in good taste.
Vent: I remember when our town square used to be a lively spot, with market stalls and ice cream vendors. There was a big fountain in the middle, and people used to sit on the edge around it, eating popsicles and soothing their feet. Mom used to take me there when I was in town with her as a child. Nowadays it's mostly deserted. Sometimes I feel that the efforts to make the town more "cultured" pretty much killed it. /vent
Melody: I wonder who is inside this one! Poor Herbert needs a friend.