Round 1: Frio 1–Dereliction of Duty

Me: Hello, Jared. It looks like you’re learning a new recipe.

Jared: Yes, Fruit Parfait.

Me; Good. You’re in the Culinary track, so you need to improve your cooking skill for promotions. And you could really use a promotion right now.

Jared: You’re telling me. Connor moved out, so it’s just me and Ayesha left to pay the mortgage.

Me: *snorts* Figures.

Jared: What’s that supposed to mean?

Judy: It means you should be more concerned about paying child support to poor Claire who you knocked up and abandoned.

Judy: Pool girl. I heard she’s running around town, collecting bugs to help with her bills.

Not only do you abandon her to have her baby, you go and marry another woman on practically the same day. What kind of man does that?

Jared: Are you going to let her talk to me like that?

Me: I can’t say I disagree with anything she’s said so far.

Jared: Look, man, you need to put a muzzle on that wife of yours. Where does she get off talking to me like that? She doesn’t know me. Your wife needs to come out of the Victorian Age. These days, just because you get a girl pregnant doesn’t mean you have to marry her.

Jack: Frio, you’ve got about ten seconds to walk away before my foot finds it way up your as-

Me: As I was saying, Jared, I still haven’t heard the Bunches say anything I disagree with yet.

Jared: Why are you letting everyone be mean to me?

Me: Jared, I’m going to give it to you straight. When it comes to you, I’m not a fan. In fact, I’m gonna just go now. I’ll see what your wife is up to. Later, man.

Me: Hey, Ayesha. I see you’re working on the Perfect Mind part of your lifetime wish.

Ayesha: Yeah, I’ve been keeping a low profile until things blow over with Jared and Claire, but it’s been lonely. I need to get out of this house, so I’m going to visit my old roommates.

Madison: Ayesha, I’m so glad you came over. I’ve got some prime gossip to dish.

Madison: Illiana has been messing around with Pablo Martinez behind Dustin’s back.

Madison: Meanwhile, Chuck Colbert is messing around with Pablo’s ex-wife Jennifer behind the back of Pablo’s other ex-wife Fiona.

Madison: And I heard the real reason Hank dumped Kristine is because he’s totally smitten with Jamie.

Ayesha: Jamie? You mean Jamie Frio, as in my brother-in-law’s wife?

Madison: *blushing* Oops. I forgot y’all were related.

Ayesha: I think I’d rather talk to Tori right now.

Ayesha: Tori, you know you have my support for Mayor, but be careful around Vita Alto. She fights dirty.

Tori: Thanks for the warning, but it’s not necessary. I know what Vita is capable of. Say, Ayesha, could you do me a big favor?

Ayesha: Anything, Tori.

Tori: I know you and Nick are in the same line of work. I need you to keep your eyes and ears on him. I have the feeling he’s pulling strings to help Vita get where she is.

Ayesha: I’d do anything for you but that. I don’t want to get on the wrong side of the Altos.

Tori: At least think about it.

Ayesha: Look, a bunch of us are getting together at Marley’s before work tonight. If I see anything suspicious, I’ll give you a call.

Tori: Thanks.

Ayesha: Thanks for inviting me, Marley.

Marley: Of course, Ayesha. Obviously, in our line of work, there are trust issues. I thought if I could get the gang together outside of the warehouse, I could help build those trust bridges. I’m so pleased that everyone came.

Marley: Xander walked in just before you did.

Marley: Nick is here. (I’m really surprised he showed up.)

Marley: And your boss, Claire, is upstairs showing off her guitar skills. I didn’t know she was such a Virtuoso.

Ayesha: Did you say Claire was here?

Me: Oh, snap. I forgot you worked for your husband’s baby mama.

Ayesha: Wow, Claire, your playing was wonderful.

Claire: Ayesha, there’s no need to kiss up to me.

Ayesha: I’m not kissing up. Look, Claire, our situation sucks.

Me: I would say more for her than for you.

Ayesha: The point is, I don’t care what you may have heard from the gossip mongers around town.

Me: You mean like your good friend Madison?

Ayesha: I had nothing to do with you and Jared breaking up. We got together after your relationship ended. I love Jared, and I’m going to be in his life. That means I’m going to be in Emily’s life, too. But you are her mother, and I respect that. I would never do anything to hurt her, and I would never do anything to prevent Jared from being a part of her life.

Me: *singing* Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends?

Claire: Ayesha, does your conscience feel better now? Is your ego thoroughly stroked now that you’ve taken the high road?

Ayesha: Claire, what the-?

Claire: Spare me, Ayesha. And do yourself a favor. Stop feeling guilty that Jared doesn’t spend time with his daughter, because he sure as heck doesn’t feel guilty.

Ayesha: I’m sorry.

Claire: Don’t be. You’ve done me the biggest favor. Thanks to you, I won’t waste one more minute hoping Jared will come back to me. Thanks to you, Emily and I can move on and find someone who really wants to be with us. I just hope for your sake that Jared has changed. Good luck to you, Ayesha. I’ll see you around the office.

Jared: *muttering to self* What am I doing here?

Me: A noble gesture, but you’re wasting your time. Claire is at work.

Jared: Look, I’m not a bad guy.

Me: You expect me to believe that? I know your traits, remember?

Jared: I panicked, okay? Claire told me she was pregnant, and I freaked. She was looking at me with all that hope and expectation. I didn’t know what to do besides run.

Me: I’d have a little more sympathy for you if you didn’t up and marry Ayesha.

Jared: Ayesha is different. Claire expected me to be her hero. Ayesha is smart enough to know that I’m no hero, and she loves me anyway.

Me: You bought a crib?

 

Jared: I know you think I’m an a-hole, but I really do care about my daughter. I just need time.

Me: Okay, I’ll give you time, Jared. But don’t wait forever. Before you know it, Emily won’t need that crib anymore. See you next round.

Other SP Updates:

Oooh, Tamara’s got a man. They might be serious because Shelby moved in with her.

I enabled romance with Service Sims, so Talia is getting serious with the repair guy. I predict wedding bells soon.

I thought Zachariah was seeing Talia’s roommate, Noemi.

Ian Bowler is one of the eleven original Sunset Valley townies. I’m not sure how, but they got deleted from my hood, so I harvested them from a fresh copy of Sunset Valley. I used Twallan’s Master Controller mod to Edit them in CAS. From the CAS screen, I saved them to the Sim bin. Then I created two households (one for the guys and one for the girls) and saved them to my Family Bin. Then I came back to this hood, and moved them in via the Edit Town option.

I know I said I wasn’t going to show stories that only involved townies, but I’m getting attached to them. Since Markus and Lori are both townies, they won’t become playable (unless they move in with a playable family), but they could have a child someday who might marry a playable Sim.

Round 1: Crumplebottom 1–Mean Girls

Okay, I am going to admit up front that this entry is more about two townies than about Agnes Crumplebottom. She spent the majority of the day working, and then her wishes only revolved around skilling.

Me: Hi, Agnes. It is a beautiful morning for a run on the beach.

Agnes: Everyday is a beautiful morning here.

Me: True. I can only hope that EAxis releases weathers in the next expansion pack.

Agnes: I’m actually here to collect bugs. This is a light beetle. It is uncommon and should net me a good sum.

Me: Oh, you frugal Sim, you.

This is a random shot of the hot air balloon.

After Agnes got off work, I sent her to the Consignment Store to put her bugs up for sale. For some reason, I couldn’t consign them, but I saw she had other bugs already on consignment.

Also note that the Consignment Specialist is Dustin Langerak. I think that is part of Twallan’s mod that playables can fill some of the service positions.

Agnes herself caught Fiona and Chuck out on the town. Chuck looks very young. Fiona, you cougar!

Agnes also spied Cora Francisco. She starts out the game as the paper girl. While the playables don’t age when not being played, the NPCs still do.

Agnes was reading a recipe book outside the bookstore when I heard someone get slapped. I moved the camera and saw Talia Epperson and Victoria Andrews going at it. I don’t know what started the fight. I didn’t even know they knew each other. Maybe Talia works for the Fashion Police and was slapping Vicki with a citation for that hideous dress.

I can’t decide which one has the meanest stare.

After the fight, Talia sat down and chatted with her roommate, Noemi Foley.

This made me chuckle. Talia and Noemi were sitting outside the theater when Becky Baker got off of work. She gave them both a look that said, “Don’t even think of messing with me.”

Both girls have new men in their lives, so maybe they will be more pleasant to be around soon.

Other SP Updates:

Congrats, Erin and Iqbal. Erin moved in with the Alvis.

Emily Ursine-Frio is going to have her pick of men because she’s still the only girl to be born into Sunset Valley. Twallan’s mod tries to balance the male to female ratio. In the young adult category, the women outnumber the men nearly 3 to 1, so I think that’s why mostly boys are being born.

Even though she’s married, the Town Tart is still doing her thing.

I actually hope Pablo and Tamara get together. Tamara is Flirty and a Mooch. If any woman can give Pablo his comeuppance, it will be Tamara.

Round 1: Clavell 1–A New Leaf

Me: Good morning, Clavells. Xander, is that you?

Xander: Of course, it’s me.

Me: It’s just, well you know, you’re…

Xander: Reading? I know how to read. I graduated high school.

Me: I know. I just would have never pegged you for a bookworm.

Buster: He’s hooked on these mystery novels by some “co-worker” of his.

Xander: Marley, Pops. Marley Williams, he’s self-published. He’s writing this series about a private eye. He let me read his first one and I couldn’t put it down until I finished it.

Buster: Whatever, the books keep him out of trouble.

Xander: Marley’s books have really inspired me. I think I’ve found my purpose in life.

Me: And what’s that, Xander?

Xander: I’m going to be a private eye. Let’s face it, I’ve got too much of a record to join the police force. I’m not smart enough to be doctor or scientist, but I’ve got street smarts. I can put them to good use.

Me: I’m proud of you, Xander, for getting out of the Criminal career. You’re turning over a new leaf. Good for you. Maybe you’ll meet a nice girl and settle down.

Xander: Let’s not get crazy.

Me: Have you got a case, yet?

Xander: I’m not exactly sure what it is, but Vita Alto needs my computer skills. She’s a Congresswoman, so it’s got to be big.

Unbeknowst to Xander, Vita was part of the crowd watching his mother play guitar outside the bookstore. She was enjoying the music until her nemesis, Nancy Landgraab, showed up. I thought there was going to be a cat fight, but all they did was size each other up.

I think this is the real reason Nancy restrained herself.

But while we’re on the subject of cat fights…

Issac evidently didn’t break it off with Talia Epperson before marrying Zelda.

Talia was distraught at seeing the newlyweds being affectionate with each other, but poor Talia isn’t the only one nursing a broken heart in Sunset Valley.

That would be ex-boyfriend #2 for Pauline and ex-wife #2 for Pablo.

Since Pablo moved out of Fiona’s house, I changed her name back to McIrish. Her household is once again McIrish 1, and Pablo is now Martinez 2.

Jennifer! I’m too through with you, girl. You’re a hopeless cause.

Xander finally tracked Vita down at the gym.

Vita: Ah, yes, Mr. Clavell, good of you to contact me. I need your assistance.

Xander: What can I do for you. Mrs. Alto?

Vita: I’m running for Mayor. As I pursue these higher offices, I know I’m going to be scrutinized heavily. Now, in the past, when Nick and I were just starting out, we had a little bit of credit trouble.

Xander: What does that have to do with me?

Vita: I can’t risk any of that information coming to light. Who would trust me to manage a city budget if I can’t manage my own finances? Xander, I need you to hack into the Credit Bureau’s database and erase my records.

Xander: Mrs. A., that’s really risky. I could do serious time if I’m caught.

Vita: So don’t get caught, Xander. Do this for me, and I will see to it that you are compensated handsomely. You’re just starting out your firm. I’m sure you could use some start-up cash for equipment.

Xander: That would be a big help.

Vita: Then consider me your angel investor, Xander.

Xander: Okay, Mrs. A. you’ve got a deal.

Me: Xander, I thought you were turning over a new leaf, but you hopped right in bed with the devil.

Xander: This is my last con, I promise. She’s right. I need money to establish myself. I’ll do this and then I’ll walk the straight and narrow.

Me: I don’t have a good feeling about this…

Xander: All done, Mrs. A., your record is clear.

Vita: Thank you, Xander. I’ll wire the funds to your account first thing in the morning.

Xander: It’s a pleasure doing business with you, ma’am.

Vita: Likewise, and Xander, I’m sure it goes without saying that this will stay between us. I’d hate for your parents to miss out on the joy of grandchildren.

Xander: *gulp* You’re right, Mrs. A., it goes without saying.

Me: Xander, Xander, Xander.

Xander: Please don’t say anything else.

Me: I won’t. I need to be moving on to Agnes Crumplebottom anyway. I’ll see you next round…I hope.

Other SP Updates:

I don’t get why Judy and Tori are always hatin’ on Pauline. She hasn’t gone anywhere near either of their men.

I think Iqbal and Erin are going to settle down. I approve of this match.

I really approve of this match. I know he’s supposed to be the bad boy and she’s the bad girl, but I think they are both just misunderstood.

My other teens aren’t matching up as I would have hoped.

If I had it my way, River would be with Michael Bachelor, and Bebe would be with Ethan. I guess that would leave Holly with either Parker or Lawrence, but I don’t see her with either one of those guys. If only Malcolm Landgraab were a few years older. Imagine Nancy and Vita planning a wedding together!