Monday, January 31, 2022

Harmony 1/31/22

 Today we have Maya Chinn and Reese Durkee.  They've only moved in recently.  They started out as roommates, but have since begun dating.  This round they made things official by becoming engaged and then married in rapid succession, thanks to Maya's unexpected pregnancy.  They had a baby girl who they named Rachel and are already expecting a second child.  

Story-wise they're pretty vanilla, not having been involved in any drama really, but you never know when that could change.  At least their children will bring some new blood into a 'hood that's becoming increasingly interrelated.  I don't let anyone date outside of the available playable sims, so it gets tough sometimes for sims to find someone they're not related to.

Happy Simming!

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Harmony 1/30/22

 We return briefly to Pretty Russell and Luis Lopez who moved into an apartment next door to Pretty's ex-husband and daughter and across the street from Luis' family.  Since they're basically social outcasts at the moment, they're trying to just lay low for a while.  Neither has any thoughts towards marriage - maybe they're unsure if the relationship can withstand the fallout from the affair?

At this point I hit a snag.  Nicholas Crane was up next, but when I entered his apartment I discovered that an exterior door was locked which prevented him from entering his apartment.  I don't remember if I mentioned this, but this apartment lot was built prior to me installing AL.  When I first came into this neighborhood, the lot was glitched and I couldn't enter it at all.  Consequently, I had to move everyone out to fix it.  While I was at it, I went ahead and converted the building to a true apartment.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize that one of the doors was locked from before, making two of the six apartments inaccessible.  Normally this wouldn't be too much of an issue, as I could just leave those units for the AL townies, however when converting the building I ran into some problems with doors/stairs and had to place the entry doors to the other two upstairs apartments in such a way that they actually open up into the kitchen, which I hate.  I had intended those two units to be for the AL townies, leaving all three downstairs units, and the one upstairs unit for my playable sims.  You see my dilemma.  The problem may correct itself once either Vincent or Pretty (whichever one locked the door in the first place) dies, but in the meantime I can't use those units and I don't want to use the other two, so I had to move Nick out.

I ended up moving him into a small two-bedroom house instead, which will be perfect for his new little family (girlfriend, now fiancé, Crystal Sanbourne) and their soon-to-be-born child.  I had planned to move his friend David Vanderheusen in and let them be roomies for a while, but when Crystal ended up pregnant at the end of her week, the plan had to change.  I still don't see David wanting to stay where he is, but luckily his older brother Ethan, who I think he's fairly close with, is now living the bachelor life all on his own after Bethie died and Spike moved out, so David can move in there instead.  Problem solved.

Story-wise, not much happened with Nick, though I should remind you of his history, I suppose.  He's the son of Beth Wallace Crane and Julian Crane.  He has a twin brother Fox and a younger brother Spike, as well as several older siblings on his father's side who he doesn't keep up with (the Lopezes).  While his brothers tend to be a little on the shady side, Nick is the upstanding member of the family, which is why he's keen to avoid scandal by getting married right away and giving his child a "proper" family.  He's embarrassed about the way his family deals with things (his father was never married to Pilar, the mother of his older kids, Beth was rumored to be a gold-digger/cougar at best, and a murderer at worst, and his brothers are definitely into some sort of criminal activity) so he's eager to do things the "right" way.

Happy Simming!

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Harmony 1/29/22

 Everything was quiet with Vincent Russell and his daughter Simone for the remainder of their week.  Simone had been dating Spike Crane, but since he grew up at the end of his round, she was kind of at a loss.  She did have her cousins Hank and Jessica Bennett over and also spent some time with Marty Sanbourne, who is technically her uncle, but more like a cousin age-wise.  Since the divorce, Vincent has been obsessed with pretty much two things: skilling and cats.  He built up his charisma and then went on a fitness binge, but also kept adopting kittens - he now has four in total.  At least he'll have some company when he retires and Simone moves out.

Happy Simming!

Friday, January 28, 2022

Harmony 1/28/22

 Today we have Beth Crane, her boyfriend Ethan Bennett, and her son Spike.  Beth Wallace came to town with one agenda - to snag a rich husband.  Thanks to Tabby's meddling, Beth believed that Julian Crane was secretly wealthy and since his commitment-phobe girlfriend wouldn't marry him, nor would she even be faithful, it was pretty easy for Bethie to steal Julian away from Pilar.  She hadn't really planned on having kids, but before she knew it she had twin boys, Nicholas and Foxworth, and a short time later Spike came along.  Even though Julian turned out not to be wealthy, Beth couldn't really afford to kick him to the curb since she had the boys to think of.  She did the next best thing and took out a large insurance policy on Julian, who was significantly older than her, with four grown kids already (technically only three kids, since Antonio is not actually his, but he didn't know that).  There were rumors that Beth helped Julian along to his final rest, but it's never been proven.

Shortly after Julian's death, Noah Bennett made Beth an offer she couldn't refuse.  He wanted to keep Esme away from his brother Ethan, so he paid Beth to seduce his brother.  Beth was game and eventually Ethan moved in with her and away from Esme.  Though she found him trying at first (he's immature, egotistical, and prone to angry outbursts that might be caused by steroid use), she ended up falling for him for real.  She began to worry about holding onto a younger man as she aged.  She needn't have worried, since no one else wants the creep.

As of this round, Beth passed away and Spike became an adult and moved out.  Ethan will keep the house, since both the older boys have already settled into places of their own as well.  Spike will likely move into Kay Bennett's half of the duplex (she can stay in the other half with her younger siblings until they reach adulthood and then probably move to the retirement home?) where he'll be involved in some criminal activities.  We'll learn more about Nick and Fox later on.

Happy Simming!

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Harmony 1/27/22

 Today we have the Sanbourne household.  Frank, Crystal, and Marty Sanbourne are the children of Liz Sanbourne and Martin Fitzgerald.  Liz and Martin had an affair during Martin's marriage to Ivy.  Ivy never had any idea.  Sadly, Liz died shortly after Marty's birth, prompting Martin to finally claim the kids as his and move in to care for them (Ivy had already died at this point and Martin was very old).  Martin's older children were not pleased to learn about their half-siblings and have never really made any attempt to get to know them.  Pretty has been especially snooty towards them, even forbidding her daughter Simone from having any contact with them.  Simone, of course, ignored that and is quite close friend with both Marty and Crystal.

By the time Frank became a teen, Martin had died, and he had to do his best to care for his younger siblings on his own, as they were not welcome in the homes of their only other living relatives.  It was a struggle, but they made it through and Frank is an adult now, with Crystal reaching adulthood just at the end of the round, and Marty still a teen.  Frank is good friends with Fox Crane and David Vanderheusen, but hasn't had the time for romance at all.  Crystal, on the other hand, has had plenty of time for romance with Nick Crane (Fox's twin).  They dated all through high school and have reconnected now that they're both adults.  Besides his cousins, Jessica and Simone, Marty's closest friend is Spike Crane, Nick and Fox's younger brother, who is not a great influence on him, to say the least.

This round with the Sanbournes was quiet until the very end when Crystal found herself pregnant with Nick's baby.  We should see that come to light soon.  Nick is ready to get married, but Crystal is definitely not.  They'll likely move in together at least.

Happy Simming!

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Harmony 1/26/22

 Today we're visiting the residents of the trailer park.  Since I built this 'hood before I had AL, it's not a true apartment lot, but I will eventually make it into one when I get the chance.  For now, we have two families living here: Fancy and Noah Bennett with their two kids, and Antonio Lopez and Rebecca Fitzgerald with their two kids.

Fancy and Rebecca are sisters, the daughters of Ivy and Martin Fitzgerald.  They have one full sister, Pretty, and three younger half-siblings that were the result of an affair their father had.  They don't really know them though.  Fancy is married to Noah Bennett, the oldest of Sam and Grace Bennett's children.  He has two full siblings (Kay and Ethan) and four half siblings from his dad's affairs, one of whom is Antonio Lopez.  Story-wise Noah and Antonio have no idea they're brothers, as Pilar passed Antonio off as Julian Crane's son.  Antonio, therefore, has quite a few half-siblings that he's unaware of and only a few his is aware of, Theresa Russell, and the twins Luis and Miguel Lopez.  If you're not totally confused by now, congratulations.  Fancy and Noah have two kids, Hank and Jessica, and Rebecca and Antonio have twins Jane and Jonathan.

Though this round was fairly quiet, this family has been involved in some important plots.  Noah absolutely can't stand Esme Vanderheusen, the woman his father was involved with later in his life.  It caused quite the rift between him and his dad.  After Sam died, Noah noticed that Esme seemed to have her sights set on his younger brother Ethan and so, in true soap opera fashion, he devised a complex scheme to separate his brother from Esme, rather than simply talking to him.  He used his kids' college fund to pay Beth Wallace Crane (Julian's widow) to date his brother and keep him away from gold digger Esme.  His wife, Fancy, still doesn't know he's spent the college money, but she's got secrets of her own because not too long ago, at a costume party thrown by her sister, she got drunk and had a one-night stand with Miguel Lopez.  Tabitha, of course, knows both these secrets due to her spying, but she's yet to reveal them.

Antonio and Rebecca are a relatively new couple who had only been dating a short time when Rebecca got pregnant.  They've moved in together and may eventually get married if things with the twin ever settle down.  Pretty gave her sister some grief over the "backwards" flow of their relationship, but now that she's been outed as a cheater and is currently living with Luis, after breaking up two marriages, she's probably got less to say on the matter.

Happy Simming!

Monday, January 24, 2022

Harmony 1/24/22

 Theresa Lopez Russell is the daughter of Pilar Lopez and Julian Crane.  She is the sister of Luis and Miguel, Antonio, and also Julian's three younger sons: Nick, Fox, and Spike.  She's not very close with the younger boys, however, having not grown up in the same household with them.  She's married to Chad Russell, son of Eve and T.C., brother of Whitney and Vicent.  They have two children, Valerie and Miles.

Theresa and Chad are caught in the middle of all the drama going on with their siblings, but are trying to stay as neutral as possible.  They don't get featured much since they're a pretty drama-free family, however they did have a storyline a while back that just might crop up again at some point.  Chad's father, T.C., lived with them after they got married and he was never a fan a Theresa.  He equated her with her mother, Pilar, who he blamed entirely for the affair he had with her that effectively, if not officially, ended his marriage.  Though he and Eve "made up", things were never the same between them.  After Eve (and Pilar) had passed away, T.C. turned his bitterness towards Theresa.  Eventually Theresa had enough of his behavior and they had a huge fight in which she wished him dead.  That night he did, in fact, die.

His death was considered to be from natural causes, but Tabitha knows that there was a break-in that night and suspects that Theresa may have paid someone to murder T.C.  Chad initially had some suspicions as well, due to the timing, but was ultimately convinced that his wife had nothing to do with his father's death.  Secrets never stay secrets though, do they?  Tabitha loves nothing more than causing chaos.  Who knows what she might do with her insider information?

Happy Simming!

Sunday, January 23, 2022

Harmony 1/23/22

 It's been an eventful couple of days in Harmony.  I went over to Vincent and Pretty's house to deal with the consequences of Vincent catching Pretty cheating with Luis.  Before I get into it, I suppose I should give the backstory on these two.  As I mentioned, Vincent is Whitney's brother, the son of Eve and T.C. Russell.  He also has a brother, Chad.  Pretty is the daughter of Ivy and Martin Fitzgerald.  She has two full sisters (Fancy and Rebecca), and three half-siblings (Frank, Crystal, and Marty) from her father's extramarital affair.  She doesn't accept or claim those siblings and does everything in her power to keep her daughter Simone away from them.  She's quite the snob for someone who grew up in a trailer park, with very little money and few prospects.  She and Vincent are rather wealthy and live in an upscale apartment.

So, back to the events at hand.  Vincent wasn't having it with Pretty's infidelity and divorced her.  Back in the Lopez household, Whitney did the same with Luis.  Consequently, Luis and Pretty moved into an apartment next door to Vincent and Simone (who opted to stay with her father) and Miguel (who was living in the same building) moved in with Whitney, who announced that she was pregnant.  Luis, of course, knows this baby can't possibly be his, but he can't very well say so, as it would seem like sour grapes coming from the guy who was caught cheating on his pregnant wife, so he's kept silent, allowing everyone to believe it's his.  So far, Miguel and Whitney are pulling off their scheme beautifully.  No one suspects they've been cheating since even before Whit married Luis.

By the end of the week in the Lopez household, baby Lopez was born - another boy named Jared.  I'm finished with them for now, but they may crop up in someone else's update.  As for Vincent's household and Luis and Pretty, they still need to be played for the remainder of the week, so there will likely be subsequent updates on them.  Next up will be Whitney and Vincent's brother Chad, who is married to Luis and Miguel's sister Theresa.

Happy Simming!

Friday, January 21, 2022

Harmony 1/21/22

 Today we have Luis and Whitney Lopez.  Luis is the son of Pilar Lopez and Julian Crane.  He has two full siblings, Theresa and Miguel, and four half-brothers, Antonio, Nicholas, Foxworth, and Spike.  His mother was quite the philanderer, passing off his brother Antonio as Julian's for many years.  Eventually, Julian had enough and left Pilar, marrying a much younger woman and having three sons with her.  Luis has never really had much contact with these brothers.  Both his parents are now deceased.

Whitney (Russell) Lopez is the daughter of Eve and T.C. Russell.  She has two brothers, Chad and Vincent.  Whitney's father T.C. also had an affair with Pilar at one point and, while he managed to save his marriage, he always blamed Pilar entirely for the situation.  Whitney has been torn between Luis and Miguel (who are twins, incidentally) since they were all teens.  Ultimately, she married Luis, but has continued to be with Miguel behind his back.  In fact, one of their three sons is actually Miguel's child.

Recently, Luis began having an affair as well, with Pretty Russell (Whitney's brother Vincent's wife) and Miguel found out about it.  He confronted Luis and ended up spilling the beans about his own long-term relationship with Whitney.  Miguel and Whitney conspired to out Luis' relationship with Pretty at a party, thereby placing the blame for their failed marriage squarely on his shoulders and ensuring that Whitney will retain custody of the three boys (Roberto, Bryan, and James).  Miguel, of course, will move in to "help out" with the kids and "eventually" they'll fall in love.

I'll probably have another update for this household, as I only played 3 days out of 7.  There was just so much happening that I wanted to get to some of the other households to deal with the fallout and shift sims around accordingly without screwing up their ages.

Happy Simming!

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Harmony 1/19/22

 If you were able to read the story over on proboards, you already know most of this, but for the benefit of those who couldn't, I will try to include as much backstory as possible.

Harmony is a town that is based on the soap opera "Passions".  It revolves around the residents of a small town in New England, where a lot of weird things happen.  These weird things are primarily caused by the resident witch, Tabitha Lenox, who spends her days dreaming up new ways to torture her neighbors, while pretending to be nothing more than a harmless old woman.  I have kept Tabitha's household pretty much in keeping with the show, as the story is told primarily from her perspective as she spies on townsfolk through her magic bowl and casts spells on them, etc.  She has a doll that can come to life, a giant vicious cat, and a young daughter.  Apart from Tabitha, however, I took liberties with the other characters, mixing up couples, changing their appearances, changing their personalities, and shifting relationships.  Basically, only their names have remained the same.  From that point, the characters have been played to their wants, and the story has been written around their actions, so if you're familiar with the show it won't help you much in terms of who's who, but you might get a chuckle out of the divergences from their original character traits/relationships.  Since the story is only being continued within my game, I'll just be posting updates about the households as I play through them here.  I'll try to include as much story info as I can in the updates so you'll still know what's going on, even though you won't have access to the actual story.

All that being said, the first household is comprised of Kay Bennett, Esme Vanderheusen, and Esme's three children: David, John, and Viki.  Kay Bennett is the daughter of Sam and Grace Bennett, both now deceased.  She has two full brothers, Noah and Ethan, as well as a half-brother, Antonio, who was the result of a long-time affair her father had with Pilar Lopez.  Esme's kids are also Kay's half-siblings, since her father was in a relationship with her after Grace died.  Sam Bennett's romantic conquests are not limited to these women (he was quite the philanderer), but these three are the only women with whom he fathered children.  Kay and Esme each live in their own half of the duplex Kay grew up in.  (It's not a true apartment lot yet, as I built it before I had AL, but as soon as it becomes empty - or glitched - I'll make it so.)  Kay is nearly an elder now and, despite desperately wanting to find that special someone, she remains single.  She has inherited her mother's mental instability and is therefore often unpredictable.  Up until this week, for example, she got along with Esme just fine - they were friends even.  However, for some reason, on the last day of the week she began arguing and fighting with Esme until they became enemies.  That night Esme died.  That should make for good storytelling, though I haven't worked out exactly how it's going to go just yet.

Esme has always been the consummate gold digger.  She rolled into town, set her sights on Sam Bennett, and didn't stop until she got him (well, as much as anyone ever "got him" - he continued to see all the other women in his "harem").  Sam was significantly older, which meant he died and left her a single mother of three.  She never did find anyone else, but it wasn't for lack of trying.  She spent nearly all her free time hunting for a new man, leaving her oldest son David to more or less raise his younger siblings.  He has a lot of resentment towards his mother because of this and now that he's an adult, will likely move out and never look back.  John and Viki are both teens (John is nearly an adult) and I think they'll probably stay together for the time being, though they may ship their crazy big sis off to the retirement home as soon as she ages to elder, so they can each have their own side of the duplex.  With their mother gone now, it remains to be seen where they'll go with their lives.

That's it for today.  Happy Simming!

Thursday, January 13, 2022

Franklin 1/13/22

 I know it's been short, but I think I'm finished with Franklin for now.  I've just spent the past few days playing through all the "non-playable playables", which consists of all the premades and bin families who will not be part of the challenge unless someone from one of the four main families becomes involved with them.  I really just fast forward through them for the purpose of aging them up and having them eventually die of old age.  It is a tedious process, however, and I'm now burned out on this 'hood.  Also, I think it still needs some refinement because it's just not as much fun as some of the other 'hoods.  

In any event, I'll be moving on to my final neighborhood, which is one that I based on characters from a soap opera I used to watch.  I started writing a story for it a long time ago and posted the first few chapters up on a site I was really involved with at the time.  I've copied everything over into my game now and will continue the story there for myself, but I don't have any plans to make it public.  I may, however, post some updates about what's going on here.  If anyone's interested in reading the part I posted years ago, you can find it at: Home | P-U-R-E (proboards.com), under Brandi's Studio, titled "In Perfect Harmony".  I'm not sure if non-members can actually see the Studios, so you might have to join to read, but there's the info for anyone who's interested.

Happy Simming!

Friday, January 7, 2022

Franklin 1/7/22

 Isabel found a new job in Politics, which is covered by her degree, so she's pretty happy about that.  Juan continues to work as a Gamer and scored a promotion.

Kevin continues to work in Culinary, but Paige found a better job as an Artist.  She also talked Kevin into having another baby, now that things are starting to look up for them.  What she doesn't know, however, is that Kevin is having an affair with their neighbor Calista Fuchs.

Keiko and Takeo got married and are already expecting their first child.  Keiko also got a promotion at work, but neither was able to find a job in their field.

Jamar got a promotion.  Lashana is short a couple of skill points, so she did not, however they're doing quite well financially.  They might be the first family to move out of the trailer park.

Happy Simming!

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Franklin 1/6/22

 Isabel was fired from her job in Show Business and later that night gave birth to a son, Manuel.  Juan continued (unsuccessfully) to search for a job within his degree field.

Kevin got promoted to level 2 in Culinary, while Paige found a job in Music.  Emma grew into a toddler.

Keiko and Takeo both got promoted to level 3 of Entertainment and Adventure, respectively.  They've finally saved enough money for a wedding, which will occur next round.

Lashana got promoted to level 4 of Education, allowing the couple to stage an impromptu wedding ceremony in the park that night, since neither of them has a day off for a while.  They had just enough money to afford an easel as well, so that Jamar can work on his creativity skills and hopefully earn a promotion of his own.

Happy Simming!

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Franklin 1/5/22

 Juan and Isabel got married in a quiet ceremony and are trying to save money for the baby.

Paige and Kevin both got fired due to bad chance cards.  Kevin was able to find a job in Culinary, but Paige remains unemployed.

Takeo got promoted, but neither he nor Keiko found a job related to their degree.

Lashana got promoted to substitute teacher, while Jamar had the day off.  The promotion bonus really helped with their finances and things are looking up for them.

Happy Simming!

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Franklin 1/4/22

 Juan and Isabel got a surprise after their date night - Isabel is pregnant!  The next day, however, Isabel found a job in Show Business, which corresponds with her degree in Drama, so she'll be making better money now.

Paige and Kevin got married in a civil ceremony, since they wanted to be married before their baby is born.  The next day their daughter, Emma, was born.

Keiko and Takeo found a genie lamp, which they sold for cash.  Keiko found a job in Entertainment and got promoted to level 2.

Jamar got promoted to level 2 of the Artist career.  Lashana had the weekend off, but will hopefully get promoted soon.

Happy Simming!

Monday, January 3, 2022

Franklin 1/3/22

 I'm back!  Happy New Year to everyone.  I had a blast with my legacy, but now I'm on to a fairly new 'hood that still in development.  It's loosely based on the Prosperity Challenge (I think).  I started with four couples in college, who have now graduated and are living in a trailer park until they save up for better accommodations.  Some rules are still being play tested, others are incomplete - it's a work in progress.  In any event, there won't be much to report, but I'll give you as much scoop as I have.

First up is the Martinez/Molina family.  Juan Martinez has an Art degree, which qualifies him to work in Architecture, Artist, or Journalism, as well as any of the 11 jobs that don't require a degree.  He's currently working in the Gamer career at level 3.  Isabel Molina has a Drama degree, which allows her to work in Show Business or Politics, in addition to the non-degree jobs.  She is currently at level 4 in the Culinary career.  The couple is engaged and very broke.  The only piece of furniture they own is a bed.  They will hopefully be able to get married soon, though they'll need to save up for the wedding (and, you know other furniture).

Next is the Morris/Murphy family.  Paige Morris has a History degree an is working in Politics at level 2.  Her fiancé, Kevin Murphy, has a degree in Art and is at level 2 in the Journalism career.  They are equally poor, with only a bed, but they have the added financial pressure of being expectant parents already.  The baby was not planned, but they'll have to find a way to make it work because baby Morris will be arriving soon.

Next is the Nagai/Nakahara family.  Keiko Nagai has just finished her degree in Physics and has not yet found a job.  Takeo Nakahara has a Philosophy degree and is working in the Adventure career at level 1.  They are even more poor than the previous couples, since they've had trouble finding employment.  However, if Keiko can find a job in Medicine or Science, they should move up fairly quickly.

Finally, we have the Washington/White family.  Jamar Washington has an Art degree which he's putting to good use working as a level 1 Artist.  His fiancé, Lashana White, has a Psychology degree and is working in the Education career at level 2.  Not surprisingly, they are also broke, but with both of them working in their degree fields, they should get their heads above water before too long.

That's all for today.  Happy Simming!