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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!