Chapter 17: Candius Maximus

What are you two cavorting about?

"It's Groundhog Day! Tee Hee! Tee Hee!"

Um, I'm pretty sure the Spring holiday in your world is called Love Day...

"Tee Hee!"

"You'll See!"

Crazy gnomes.

Just to get this out of the way, here's Kesari in toddler form. This cute little rugrat has Social Butterfly and Perfectionist for traits.

Chelsea has recently discovered the joy of chemistry. 

What could you possibly be making that would require that particular beaker placement?

"Stink Juice."

Okay, then. I'll leave you to it.

I recently discovered (by actually reading the the thing) that Chelsea's LTW is not to reach the top of her tedious career, but to solve 35 cases. She's at level 8 or 9 and has less than 20 total cases done. And I've gotten more and more lax about sending her out; at first I was doing at least one case per day, two if they were short ones. Now it's more like 2 or 3 per week, since I can't be bothered. So, the thought of having to do 35 total was more than I could deal with. I used her happiness points to buy the LTW changing reward to The Tinkerer, which is to max Handiness and Logic. She's actually been rolling handy skill type wishes lately, and also more Logic related wishes from her new obsession with chemistry, so she has a shot at that.

Now, back to Groundhog Love Day. After Kiran finishes teaching Sitara to drive, fulfilling both their wishes, Sitara, Tamira and Kairavi all head out to the Spring Festival in the park, where I'm immediately distracted by Darshan and the heavily tattooed kissing booth lady.

Wow, she should be paying him.

While I'm focused on this, the girls so a little egg hunting and then decide to take a greeting card photo. And I get the brilliant idea to click the 'share this greeting card to your wall' button. The game freezes and I have to force quit.

Sorry, Darshan, but this never happened.

Once again, Groundhog Love Day dawns, bringing a light morning rain.

Once again, Kiran takes Sitara out to finish her driving lessons. Tamira gets a wish to catch another snake. This one is a Malayan Krait snake named Crimson. 

After she gets her driving certificate, I save. Because, not doing that again. Once again, the girls head out to the festival afterwards. Prom is scheduled for this evening, and Sitara tells a bored Kairavi about her expectations for the dance.

Tamira practices her moves on the dance floor.

Kiran and Chelsea have been left at home, both engaged in fulfilling wishes to upgrade 5 objects. They must have completed their tasks and snuck in a quick try for baby, because I hear baby chimes. 

The girls go home and get in some homework before the big night.

Then they get into their dresses.

Jamie shows up to pick up Tamira in a hot dog costume. He interrupts Kiran working on making the hot tub unbreakable.

"I'm sorry kid. There's no way I'm letting my daughter date a wiener."

Jamie changes into formals. I was in a capricious mood when I choose a tiger print tuxedo jacket for him. The girls go off in the limo and Jamie follows in a taxi.

Aurelio shows up in a gnome costume, demanding candy handouts.

"I thought trick-or-treating was for Spooky Day," Chelsea says.

"I'll be old by the time Spooky Day comes around. Hand over the candy or prepare to be egged!"

Tamira is crowned Prom Queen and Jamie asks her to go steady. Sitara hooks up with Don King. 

Then, the game crashes.

Groundhog Love Day, version 3. Last save was right after Sitara finished her driving lessons. Once again, the three girls fulfill their wish to go to the festival. This time, Sitara obsesses over picking wildflowers. First she wants to pick 1, then 5, then 10, then 20. We keep a few in the house as decoration, the rest get sold, bring a couple extra thousand to the house.

Shawn Hudson's bold and sexy hair style has become more popular, and is now being sported by other local men as they age up into adult. It must be a midlife crisis thing. This is the same guy that got a makeover into a normal hairstyle in Chapter 15, while Chelsea was dusting for prints in his house.

"Normal hair is for sissies. Real men wear pig tails in pretty red ribbons."

Tamira: Look at me! I'm doing the butterfly stroke!

Once again, Kiran and Chelsea finish their assigned tasks upgrading the plumbing, and sneak off for a quick risky woohoo. This time, however, they don't get pregnant.

At least wait until you wish for another baby, Kiran. Because you know you will.

Kairavi stuck around the festival long enough to get her face painted, and then she snuck home to hangout in the chat rooms all day.

Who are you chatting with?

"Some guy called PeddyBear. He wants to know if my parents are home and if I like candy."

0.o

Again, homework and getting ready for prom. I have to do the dresses again, and manage to get a slightly different shade of pink this time.

Jamie shows up and interrupts Kiran upgrading the hot tub again. This time, he's not in costume. I give him a completely different formal outfit, and I can't be bothered with customizing patterns.

Gnome: Tee Hee! We told you!

The girls ride off in the limo; Jamie has to be told to leave.

Emperor Aurelio shows up right after the girls leave.

"Ave, inferior female. True to Caesear! Your Emperor demands candius maximus!"

In this version of prom, Sitara gets crowned queen instead of Tamira, and she hooks up with Timothy Tanner instead of Don King. Jamie still asks Tamira to go steady.

Finally, Groundhog Love Day is over, and we successfully progress to a normal Saturday morning. Kiran and Chelsea will be busy fulfilling wishes to upgrade 5 objects, and Chelsea will also continue working on the Stink Juice potion she wants to discover.

Maybe you could use the contents of that potty. That's pretty stinky...

"Chemistry later. Woohoo now."

Okay. Try not to get pregnant.

Tamira's got a lot of Jamie centered wishes, including one to go on a date with him. Since he's already at the arcade with is little sister Athena, she joins him there to ask him out.

"Your own your own, Athena, I'm going to go make out with my girlfriend."

"My cuddly teddy bear."

"My claw machine."

Claw machine?

Emperor Aurelio takes in the last day of the Spring Festival.

"Plebians! Caesar demands festival eggs and marshmallow bunnies! Then it's off to the Colosseum for blood sports."

0.o

@_@

Suresh, just back away from this now.

(Thankfully, Suresh wanders off before this goes anywhere.)

Back to Tamira's date. She's hungry and has a wish to invite Jamie home. 

Sitara has spent the afternoon indulging a wish to learn painting. Although prom has made Timothy Tanner her romantic interest, she hasn't rolled any wishes about him, or even generic romantic wishes.

Tamira eats and then joins Jamie's game.

Then they go out to the newly upgraded hot tub.

Sitara finishes her painting and decides to insert herself into her sister's date.

I should note, I use a mod that makes asking for sign a friendly, not a romantic interaction. But still, Tamira is not pleased by the interruption. Why can't Sitara invite her own guy over to socialize with?

And then it hits; if Tamira threw a party, she could invite Timothy Tanner over and get Jamie back to herself.

Tamira invites every teen in town to her impromptu party. Just in time, too, as Sitara and Jamie are discovering they not only have compatible signs, but also traits in common.

Look who finished upgrading the washing machine. Tamira vows never to bring her dates home again.

Timothy Tanner is the first guest to show up.

"I want to meet my new romantic interest."

She's in the hot tub already. Why don't you join her?

Tim did join Sitara in the hot tub. That last for a minute before she got out again. It's like she's avoiding him. 

Here he is, all skinny and shirtless. Timothy is Alvaro's nephew, by the way. 

Just as Sitara has traits in common with Tamira's boyfriend, Tamira shares traits with Timothy, Childish and Virtuoso. He heads right into the nursery to play with the dollhouse, while Sitara puts Kesari in her crib.

Are you even going to talk to him, Sitara?

I dunno. It was just a prom thing, you know? I don't know that I want to be attached to him for life.

Yeah, see, the way romance works in your world, you either have to break up with or marry this guy, or deal with a naughty cheater reputation that will haunt you to your grave.

Who came up with that fucked up system?

Not me. There's always the option to buy the Clean Slate reward, which will wipe this relationship out. But, think about it first. Timothy is cute, at least. You could definitely do worse, you know. In the prom that crashed, you got hooked up with Don King.

Don King? Ew, no way! He's Insane!

I know. Lucky for you, the world crashed without that being saved. 

Okay. I'll give Timothy a chance. Sheesh.

Outside, other teen couples engage in more romantic activities. Tamira and Jamie slow dance, while her uncle Ezra watches the stars with Somer Tanner.

Other guests mill about aimlessly or play gnubb.

No woohoo, just homework going on up here. This boy is Darleen's nephew.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" Timothy finally gets around to talking to Sitara.

"Is that a trick question?"

Sitara and Timothy actually flirt for a little while. But it's past midnight and they don't have long before everyone starts leaving.

Hey, can one of you round up the wild toddler and get her back into her crib?

Chapter 16: Pools Don't Work That Way

After watching his wife attempt to get it on with his brother, Suresh decides it's time to move his family to their own place. As CEO of a mega corporation, he should really have his own place anyway. Suresh is a king after all. Behold, his castle: 4 bedrooms +  nursery, with a home office for himself and a large playroom/study for the kids. And of course a pool and hot tub. 

Lourdes is pleased. She and Suresh had been saving their happiness points to buy some Inheritnce rewards to afford all this.

Kiran hosts his first campaign fundraiser at the Fairway Country Club. Everyone dances for hours. Kiran's campaign war chest gets filled. On to the Mayoral election!

Lucky Palms doesn't get snow in winter (except for the freak season in gen 1, before I installed the Tempest mod), but the winter festival still has snow related activities. Tamira went out to try some snowboarding. Dressed as an astronaut, because it's cooler that way.

Tamira discovered her life's calling while on a school assignment to catch a variety of insects for a science project, to be a Zoologist. No small animal is safe now, Tamira is on the hunt. Here's her first non-insect catch, a shrew. It escapes from her pocket later.

The girls swarm their father, both clamoring for him to play catch with them.

"One at a time! Catch is a two Sim interaction only."

Water. So pretty. So tempting.

The two conflicting 'play catch' actions drop out of queue as Kiran displays a heartwarming moment of true quality parenting, saving Kairavi from certain death.

"Don't be silly. You know she can't fall in. Pools don't work that way."

I forgot Chelsea had this sketchbook in her inventory until she decided to bust it out and ask Kiran to pose for her.

"Now that you're mayor, you need a portrait to hang in City Hall," Chelsea says.

"Um, that's great, Chel. I love how you gave me a beard and glasses. But I think City Hall would want something more accurate. So people aren't confused about who is actually mayor..."

That night, Tamira ages up without a party. Which is kind of sad since she's a party animal. Her traits so far are Virtuoso, Family Oriented, Party Animal and she picked up Childish with this birthday.

"I want to skinny dip with Ethan Tanner."

Ew. No. He's almost an elder. Wish for something else, I'm not doing that.

"Can I sign up for an after school class? And learn Guitar?"

Done. Music Club for you.

Right after dinner, Chelsea pops into maternity wear. She wants a boy, but that wish doesn't get locked in. Kiran wishes for another girl, and it does get locked it. I'm not influencing gender either way.

Finally, Kiran's Handy trait decides to kick in. He rolls a wish to learn the handiness skill, and when he gets that point he wants to upgrade something, followed by a wish to upgrade 5 somethings. Self-cleaning toilets, woo!

Family Oriented Tamira loves playing with the toddler.

Put her down so she can age up.

"But she's so cute, I just want to tickle her!"

Kairavi becomes a child. Her favorite color is Lime Green. She's a Heavy Sleeper, Computer Whiz and gets Clumsy for her childhood trait.

You'll have to do better than that if you want to be heir.

Sitara ages up, too. Wow. Her traits are Night Owl, Perfectionist, Lucky and Genius. She decided when she was a child that she wanted to a Star News Reporter, after writing a couple of books. Since then, she hasn't shown any interest in writing, so I worry about her commitment to LTW.

"I don't care about writing. I want to be on TV!"

Okay, but the Journalism career requires writing skills.

"Whatever."

By the fourth pregnancy, I can't be bothered with pics of the bump, or the labor panic. The first pic of new baby Kesari is taken the morning after she's born. Another girl for Kiran. I don't remember her traits right now. I think she got Perfectionist. 

Tamira catches a garter snake she names Murphy. She buy a terrarium to keep him in, but she sticks him in her pocket when she goes to school that morning and he escapes.

"You do realize I did that on purpose, right? The teacher panicked when she saw a snake slithering around the classroom, and we got out of class that day."

Clever.

"I'd be an awesome heir."

I've kind of written you off, because you're the oldest. But you have enough personality to still be in the running. Also, I haven't had a house full of snakes and lizards since Pets came out.

Chelsea: You, um, have an assignment for me? *giggle*

Shawn: Yes, Ethan Tanner has been going around spreading rumors that my mother is a crazy llama head. I want you to--

Chelsea: *giggle*

Shawn: Are you listening to me?

Chelsea:*snicker* The ribbons in your hair are pretty. *giggle*

Shawn: Thank you! They keep the hair out of my eyes. Now, I need you to convince 3 Sims that my mother isn't a crazy llama had.

Chelsea: I'll get right on that.

Percy Vogt, whoever he is, catches my attention while Chelsea is off on her mission to convince 3 Sims that Shawn's mother isn't nuts. It's pretty easy, no one actually thought she was nuts. But, they all have doubts about Shawn himself. I mean, look at his hair!

Chelsea runs into Shawn again later while snooping for clues in other case.

"On closer inspection, I've discovered that Shawn is wearing swimming trunks as pants."

You're supposed to be looking for clues about a stolen car...?

"I know. But right now I'm more interested in finding the source of Shawn's crazy."

Kiran wanted to throw Kesari a birthday party. Mostly just the usual suspects are invited, but at his teen daughters' requests, some teen boys are invited too.

Tamira wanted to learn Jamie Lancaster's sign. They are compatible! And he jumps right in with the compliments and flirting. Prom date acquired!

Instant makeover (and some minor facial surgery) for the prom date and potential boyfriend of the firstborn.

Monica shows up for the party right then. "You're blocking my way!" Monica uses her laser vision to burn a hole through Jamie's skull.

I almost forgot, I'd already sent Kiran to the cake with Kesari. Looks like everything is going all right in here. Kairavi looks a little singed, but the birthday is happening.

Back outside, I see Jamie has wasted no time getting this romance started. He's Inappropriate, so he jumped ahead to the serious kiss, bypassing that whole shy first kiss deal, and immediately upgrading himself to Romantic Interest. Right after the kiss, he takes off. No matter, we'll see you at the prom. Well, we'll see pop ups about you, anyway.

Inside, everyone is having cake. Chelsea rolled a wish to potty train Kesari, so she's off doing that.

Yes, once again I failed to get an age up picture of the birthday girl. She is cute, I assure you. I have nothing to hide. Nothing!

Wow, my grandfather is a rockstar!

There was some other boy here that Sitara wanted to learn signs with, but he wasn't very compatible. So now she's talking to Jordan Hudson.

And then playing video games with Jordan Hudson.

I've looked around, Sitara, he may be the cutest boy in your generation.

"I'm not ready to pick a boyfriend yet."

If you go to the prom single, you might not get a choice.

"I'll take my chances."

Alvaro announces he has to leave and then spins into thug wear. 

Weren't you in the medical career when you married Kamala?

"Kamala likes bad boys."

Okay, Have a good time with your thuggery.

There was a surprising lack of woohoo at this party. I guess they all saw what happens to Sims who get it on other Sims' beds at the Vorhees house, mandatory MC pollination. Only Alvaro and Kamala went at it, and Kamala is already pregnant.

Suresh has decided that this chapter has featured an insufficient amount of Suresh, so he remedies the situation by inserting himself between Sitara and her maybe potential boyfriend. That's okay, this party has run late and the guests are starting to drop. Time for everyone to go home.

I promise I'll get a picture of Kesari for the next chapter.