The Vincis (A) - Round 14

Starring:

Gretchen Chin, Elder Knowledge Sim, 4th LTW Own 5 Top Level Businesses

Craig Chin, Elder Knowledge Sim, 2nd LTW Max Out 7 Skills

Bitsy Ray, Knowledge Servo, 4th LTW Become Space Pirate

Cole Chin, Adult Popularity Sim, LTW Become Hall of Famer


~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Vinci house wasn't terribly entertaining. Mostly, Craig, Gretchen, and Bitsy worked on their careers and earning new badges. Bitsy earned a gold sewing badge, a gold pottery badge, and a gold toymaking badge. Gretchen and Craig each earned a gold sewing badge. Let's see if they manage to be interesting in round 14. (SPOILER: They don't.)

Craig and Gretchen had to admit: having Cole home was definitely an adjustment. It surprised them how interested he was in making new friends, especially since he had always been so painfully shy. They suspected his new clothing choices were chosen with the intent to override that innate shyness and attract attention. It didn't seem to suit him, but Craig and Gretchen were mature enough at this point to know that Cole was an adult capable of making his own decisions and developing his own personality.



Craig, having finally reached his lifetime want of becoming a criminal mastermind and his second lifetime want of maxing out all seven skills, decided that his last goal on earth would be to eat as many grilled cheese sandwiches as was humanly possible.



Bitsy, in honor of her creator, chose the same secondary aspiration. As she watched Craig get older, she was filled with dread for the day when he would no longer be around. This was a way to honor him while he was still here.





The household tradition of earning as many badges as possible was also still going strong. Bitsy tackled gardening next, and Craig tackled pottery. Both felt convinced that between the four residents of the house, every talent badge possible could be earned, and they worked hard at this pastime goal.




Cole, knowing he needed to contribute to the household income somehow but unable to find a job in his chosen field, decided to start writing novels. After all, he was an alien...there was a huge market out there for sci fi fans who wanted to read about the life of someone who was spawned in outer space.



Fortunately, after a brief while, a new opportunity opened up in the athletic field, and Cole snapped it up. With all of his skills and his seemingly unearthly ability to learn new things and make friends despite his shyness, he was sure he would be a Hall of Famer in no time.






Bitsy, too, continued to reliably climb the job food chain. Even though she really wanted to be working in the Adventurer career track, that didn't mean she couldn't be good at what she did.





Luckily for her, too, a job suddenly came up in her path of choice, and she quickly snapped it up. She would be a space pirate no matter what it took!






As for Cole, it only took him a few weeks on the job to make it all the way to the top. He had to admit it was thrilling to achieve such a lofty goal, but on the high of his success, he decided he needed something else equally challenging to tackle. From now on, he would put everything he had toward becoming a celebrity chef.




The success of his achievement allowed him to change his world view a bit as well. Sure, it was awesome to have lots of friends...it counteracted the loneliness he felt as an essentially shy person. But now that he was an adult and watching his parents in their golden years, he knew he wanted something more. Commitment? Lasting relationships? Perhaps not. But a good woohoo now and then would be nice!





Sadly for Cole, the luck that day would go to his parents, not to himself. A genial gypsy left them a magic lamp that would allow up to three wishes to be granted. Craig and Gretchen, as the senior members of the house, got first dibs.






Predictably, Craig wished for the power to cheat death, and Gretchen wished for a longer life. They weren't quite ready to shuffle off this mortal coil quite yet. The genie granted each wish happily.







Bitsy was a bit oblivious to the new, magical influence in the house. With no finite lifespan and never knowing someone who died, she wasn't as concerned with the end of life as her human counterparts were. She just kept plugging along at her job.



This boost of confidence that a servo could never, in fact, actually die only gave her more motivation to do well... perhaps to support the family, and perhaps to encourage her maker and his mate in their golden years.



Bitsy became almost obsessed with proving to Gretchen and Craig that she could and would take care of things around the house as the couple passed into their golden years. Though a servo wasn't familiar with the concept of grief, she knew the couple well enough to understand that they wouldn't be along forever, and that that knowledge worried them.




Happily, Cole managed to find a job in his next chosen career field: the culinary field. Bitsy could see that it did all three of her human friends' good to see these successes.




...which was exactly why she hid the fact that she forgot to pay the electric bill and had to sacrifice an expensive bed to the repo man. She replaced it with her own funds. After all, she had a family that consisted of two elderly sims longing to feel they made a difference in the world and a brand new adult who was still just feeling out his way. Bitsy felt both stressed and grateful to know that she could be the one consistent driving force in the Vinci house that could keep it going for generations.



[[Author's Notes: Gosh, these guys are boring. Even Cole is boring, though I suspect he'll be booty-calling Willow Vinci on a regular basis in the next round. I'm going to shoot for earning ALL of the talent badges on this lot, which should be easy since Bitsy will live forever, but I have no clue where I stand and what still needs to be earned. I'll possibly post about that next round to give everyone a status update. No bloopers for you; this house was definitely a quick, simple play!]]

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The Beaumonts (A) - Round 14

Starring:

Alexandre Beaumont, Adult Knowledge Sim, 3rd LTW Become Media Magnate

Cooper Bigfoot, Adult Bigfoot, 2nd LTW Become Media Magnate


~*~*~*~*~

Last round at the Beaumont house, we had both sad and happy news. The sad news was that Armand Beaumont, father of Alexandre, finally passed away. The happy news was three-fold: Armand got to fulfill one final wish by adopting a puppy named Mojo, Alex found himself happily abducted by aliens and impregnated, and Alex also managed to achieve his second LTW of maxing all 7 skills. Also, Alex might have started a new hobby as Rosebud's first serial killer, using his Natural Science career reward of the cowplant to dispatch some of Rosebud's elders who have been around way too long. Let's see how the preggers Alex and the bereaved best bigfoot friend and puppy of the deceased do this round.

We begin the round by discovering that, apparently, all the knowledge in the world can't prevent a kitchen fire when the cook has to run off in the middle of prep to pee because of a full pregnancy bladder.




The chaos apparently spurred Alex into labor, though whether he was birthing an alien child or a cell phone was unclear.



Happily, it was a healthy and bouncing baby boy, who was quickly named Jupiter after Alex's favorite planet in the solar system.



Alex could hardly believe the miracle both of male birth and of the minty green skin and black hair that clearly was inherited from Jupiter's alien father.



Cooper, ever the helpful hand around the house, was always eager to take care of Jupiter when Alex was at work or otherwise indisposed. Jupiter would certainly grow up with an interesting family story... something that would make a good auto-biography someday with the title My Two (or sort of actually three) Dads.




Oh gee, old townie, however did you manage to find your way into that pen with the large, unusual plant offering a piece of birthday cake?




Ahem...nothing to see here. Alex is just realizing that with a little one, he might need some more energy to raise a child who was rapidly approaching the active toddler years. And after all, why shouldn't he take advantage of the rewards coming from his hard work and careful study over the years?



Jupiter wasn't the only one growing, either. Mojo became an adult dog who looked surprisingly wolf-like in his coloration and coat. Cooper was instantly smitten with this domestic version of his former wildlife companions.



The feeling was clearly mutual. Mojo spent the majority of his time following Cooper around and sleeping on his bed.




Cooper had to admit that he was proud and delighted to become the new master of this puppy, who had been adopted by the man who rescued Cooper from the wilderness. He felt it was a tribute to Armand that he was now Mojo's "daddy."





Alex, ever the inquisitive knowledge sim, decided that one visit with aliens wasn't enough. He simply HAD to contact them again, regardless of the consequences. And if you'd asked him, he would have admitted that he wouldn't mind another adorable green baby in the household...





His venture was successful, and yet again, Alex visited with his neighbors from outer space and was unceremoniously dumped back on his front lawn when he'd worn out his welcome.




Though he wasn't showing any signs after his most recent encounter, Alex couldn't help but daydream and somehow know that a little brother or sister was growing in his belly for Jupiter.



Oh, hi Makoto. Would you like some cake?



Let's not get too out of hand, here, Alex. I mean, I know you're a super-motivated knowledge sim and all, but let's at least have some respect for your elders your victims the dead.




Cooper, the best bigfoot in the whole world, came home with a second lifetime want achieved. Now that he was a media magnate, what did he think he'd like to try his hand at next?




Obviously, becoming a game designer. After all, he had a little honorary nephew that he wanted to see well-entertained as a child.





Awwwww, Adelaide and Armand are sad. Why? Because their son is a serial killer? No. Because their bed disappeared? No. (I put it in the back yard when I converted their room to the nursery to avoid angry ghosts.) I honestly think they're just sad they aren't around to enjoy their grandchild.





Despite the surprisingly quiet first trimester, Alex did indeed find himself pregnant once again. But there were more important things at hand, namely, baby Jupiter's first birthday!




Little Jupiter grew up into a very handsome, active, kind young man who would inevitably be an enormous slob. Judging from Jupiter's hair color and his vague familiarity with his alien "friends," Alex suspected that he had been inseminated by the Pollination Technician the aliens called Schroedinger. If that was the case, Jupiter would grow up to be a very handsome young man.





Cooper, in addition to helping out with the raising of Jupiter, took his duties as Mojo's owner very seriously. Being a very skilled bigfoot, he decided that Mojo should be very skillful as well. He found Mojo to be very quick to learn new tricks and commands.






Mojo was turning out to be a very smart and good-natured dog, which was no doubt due a lot to Cooper's kind and nurturing love for the dog. Mojo even got along well with little Jupiter, which was surprising given how rough small children could be with pets without realizing it.




Once more that winter, a surprising event sparked the birth of a child. Alex was spending time training Jupiter when the ghost of his father appeared to him. They didn't speak, but Alex got the comforting feeling that both Armand and Adelaide were always around, watching him and loving him from beyond.






That night Armand got to witness the birth of his second grandchild, if he was still floating around in the ether.





A baby sister, called Saturn, was born to the household that night, and Alex was certain that everyone there, both alive and beyond, were delighted to see her.



[[Author's Notes: Whew, it took me so long to get through university, I thought I would never make it back to the first house in the 'hood again. I'm really excited to see how Jupiter and Saturn turn out, as they are the first children born of my newly installed multi pt hack by applesims. I was hoping that Alex would get impregnated by one of the PTs with a recessive hair, but it looks like Saturn's "mommy" is Schroedinger as well. Something exciting turned up while I was playing a later lot this round that involves Alex, though, so expect some interesting changes to this household come round 15! Only other thing to mention with this house is that I am finding it REALLY hard to let Cooper age. Maybe I'll let the cowplant keep him alive forever. :X

Bloopers:
Little bit of a delayed reaction here, Cooper, given that not only has Alex met aliens, he's also already given birth to their spawn. That, or you're just really eager for the pitter-patter of more green little feet in the house. :) // I'm sorry, but when I see a toddler eating kibble, it cracks me up EVERY TIME. ]]

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