Fallout Springs

Hiatus

2007-12-10T12:50:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the lack of activity, but until further notice, this is on hiatus. It's actually been this way for the past three months. You see, I could just play through it all, but the point is to go back and forth. Vlad is entirely too busy trying to find a job pertaining to his degree and dealing with the work schedule he has now. We're also getting ready for some other changes, so yeah. He can't really sit down and play the sims at the moment.

Apologies all around. I still hope to eventually complete this.

We're not dead!

2007-09-02T19:03:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of activity. We haven't thrown in the towel. Vlad has had the hood since my last post, but he's working on serious stuff (because real life is SERIOUS BUSINESS! ;)), so he's either too busy or too tired.

Don't fret, though... an update is coming. :D

Generation 4: Surviving an Apocalypse 101 - Part Three

2007-07-27T18:40:00.000-05:00

Yes, yes... it has been over a month since my last update. Many apologies, but The Sims 2 and I have this sort of relationship where... I'll get into moods where I want to play. Unfortunately, that mood seems to have vanished over the past month. It has come back enough for me to finish out this generation, at least. Phew! So... here we go...

Last time, Helen had just given birth to the first of generation five, Mandy Dual. She has blonde hair and Maxis green eyes. Unfortunately for her, while she has the Dual skintone... she doesn't have the eyes! So, she isn't going to be heir.

Which, if you couldn't tell, is probably why she's on the floor wailing about a dirty diaper. Sigh. Helen!!

Yay! Sinjnn brings home his final promotion and is now at the top of the Athletic career. You know what that means, don't you?

Sinjin: 'I get cats scrambling around at my feet?'

Er, well, no. Ignore them! It means you've broken the athletic restriction and we can finally move stuff! Hurrah! Now time to re-do this house...

Say 'hello' to the Dual Compound; half zombie-proof bunker, half funky plastic walls. Woohoo! It is also bigger, more roomy, and hopefully is sparse enough that it won't lag Vlad's computer. The old wooden shack was driving me nuts. It is nice to have a change of scenery.

Helen: 'Like, this is... cool and all, but where's the pink? It's all blue!'

Pfft, pink is for sissies. You are a post-apocalyptic family. Blue is what you need, not pink!

Okay, so this picture has no purpose. I just thought it was really cute. I love it when they hug cats... awwww! Bombadil is adorable.

Poor Helen wasn't making out well in the new compound. I never said it was ghost proof! We may have lost Kyung-Soon in all the ruckus, but the other ghosts are still as nasty as ever. Here we see Generation 2's first heir, Eris, scaring the crap out of her. Looks like little baby Mandy isn't the only one who wet her diaper...

And again, on the same night. This time by Kyung-Soon's look-a-like, and Generation 2's second heir, Phoebe.

Helen: 'Omigawd! Like, how am I supposed to live like this?!'

That's what I said when we named you heir, Helen. Sigh.

I had the twins working on paintings to secure Helen's aspiration so she could at least attempt to be a somewhat decent mother. It worked out pretty well and it kept the old fogies from messing with my mojo while I bossed everyone around.

Julian: 'I'd like to think that Jake enjoys it a bit more than I do...'

Jake: 'Heeeheee! Fluffy painty clouds... woosh!'

Julian: 'His mind isn't in the best shape anymore. I think it is all the years of sexual repression and desperation coming to head.'

Don't look at me! Blame Vlad for teasing him with Goopy encounters.

Hooray for birthdays! Mandy is now an annoying toddler. Yippee! I see that Julian shares my enthusiasm for the moment. I think post-apocalyptic life has jaded the entire family. Sinjin appears to be recoiling in horror at the sight of the toddler. He also has a fear of dirty diapers.

Sinjin: 'I am not changing any diapers! Do you hear me? None!'

Nienna enjoys watching TV. You can see that Helen is again pregnant. Woohoo! I was hoping for someone with a bit more of the Dual genetics to pass on. I really enjoy them.

Helen: 'Gah! How could you do that to her? You... you are like, slime of the earth!'

Sounds like Helen is watching the Soaps; she's rather fond of Life and Times in Coventry and City of Veryani.

Awww, Bombadil's time is up! The reaper has come calling. Goldberry, Nienna, and Eowyn are there to mourn the loss. Many yowls followed the death of Bombadil kitty...

Eowyn was apparently so overwrought with grief that she attacked her poor daughter Nienna! That's not very nice, Eowyn, you big kitty bully! Leave her alone.

I have no idea what's up with the cats and fighting. None of them are overly aggressive. Buh.

More death! This time it is Julian's turn. Poor guy doesn't even get to go out with dignity. He leaves with omelet leftovers stuck to the bottom of his shoe! That Grim Reaper, he's one ruthless bugger.

Julian, sighing: 'It is but a small price to pay to get out of this Post-Apocalyptic hell!'

Life and death seem to go together, don't they? Helen gave birth to twins. D'oh! What is it with me and twins when I want them the least? Darn twins! You're supposed to be rare, rare I say! At least little Selma has all the Dual genes and blonde hair. The controller is appeased. I think we have our heir!

Helen: 'Like, what do you mean twins?! There's another one?!'

You're an idiot Helen. Anyway, here's the second, Penelope. She has default skin, the Dual eyes, and blonde hair. Sheesh. This is like the generation of the blondes! Lets hope their collective IQ is higher than Helen's...

Meanwhile, little Mandy became slighty bigger Mandy. What's up with the Niobe hair, Mandy? This may be a post-apocalyptic life, but that doesn't make it worthy of Matrix ripoffs! Besides, I really don't think that kind of... hairstyle is appropriate for someone so shamelessly Caucasian as you. Quit frontin', white girl.

More birthdays! Yes, this was fast-paced playing, folks. Nothing really interesting happened. I didn't even get any new chance cards to show. Bah! Anyway, Selma's hair is thankfully a bit more normal than her older sister's...

Penelope's turn! Uhh... nice tux? That's a bit... strange. Hmm...

Is your head spinning yet? Yes, they're children already. Nothing interesting happened, I swear! Aren't they cute kids? Selma apparently thinks she's a fairy while Penelope wants to front with her sister. Sigh. Selma is definitely our heir.

Goldberry's time is up! Which means there's finally room to move in Nienna's mate that I made for her in Create-A-Pet. Hurrah! More kittens to clutter the house up with. Thank goodness for that hack...

Mandy becomes a rebellious teen who wants Popularity. Well, at least it kinda matches her bizarre choice in hair style. In the background, it looks like Helen and Ajax are debating over how long it will take her to get stuck in the pokey. Oh, silly people. There is no slammer in post-apocalyptic Fallout Springs!

Jake's time is finally up. To be honest, I didn't think he'd ever die. Nienna and her new mate Faramir couldn't have kittens until he croaked. Now Nienna is fully pregnant. Too bad I forgot to get a picture of Faramir... he's adorable!

I love how Grim is popping out of the toilet... bathroom macabre! Poor Jake. Talking about 'scaring the pee out of you'...

The twins, Selma and Penelope, finally become teens. If you can't tell them apart, I'm gonna smack you. How can you miss the Niobe hair on Penelope? To tell you the truth, I mix up Penelope and Mandy more than anything. Darn girls!

Selma is Knowledge while Penelope wants a Family.

Sinjin and Helen get gray hair and lose the fashion sense they barely had a grasp on to begin with. Ahhh to be old! This is where it ends for me. It is up to Vlad to get these gals through college. There's no need to bring all three back into the house if he doesn't want to. So we'll see who returns.

Athletic restriction lifted
All pet restrictions suppressed

Generation 4: Surviving an Apocalypse 101 - Part Two

2007-06-26T07:27:00.000-05:00

And we're back with Helen and Ajax at the family abode. Uh, and the ponytail guy. His name is Sinjin, I've realized. Well, I still prefer Ponytail. Anyway, the house is pretty crowded and the ghosts are back in full-force, plus there's five cats yeowling for attention. Ahhh... it is good to be back!

Helen: 'Like, show some respect or something. Can't you see we're totally busy?'

Of course, as I said before, the ghosts are out in their scaring best. Kyung-Soon is always the star scarer. Woe be to anyone who steps up to the second floor...

Kyung-Soon: 'I'll teach you to smash my urn!'

Unfortunately, death comes. Thankfully, not for one of our current residents! He's come for Elrond, who is an old kitty. Bye, Elrond! Now you've freed up a slot for new kittens!

Death was just taunting me, it seems. As is her way, Kyung-Soon scared poor Dagmar as she was fleeing to the downstairs. Right at the edge of the steps, too! Poor Dagmar.

Dagmar: 'Why did I ever agree to move in here?!'

Dagmar: 'Oh... Not feeling so well...'

Oh, no... not again. Kyung-Soon seems to have scared poor Dagmar to death. Isn't this like victim number 3 now?

Dagmar: '...The light! I see the light!'

Bye-bye, Dagmar...

Of course, it wasn't all bad! Dagmar's death made room for good old Sinjin to move in. Since he was a Dormie, he had to move in and graduate before gettin' hitched. They had a uh, impromptu ceremony on the porch.

Sinjin: 'I really don't think you're supposed to put the ring over my glove, dear.'

Helen: 'Oh, teehee! Don't be silly. I like, know exactly what I am doing, Sinny!'

Match made in Heaven, obviously!

Ajax was nice enough to break the first restriction for this generation--Hooray for Adventurer! Now we can use Career Rewards... which will help out Helen with Paranormal, as she needs to maximize two skills yet. Sinjin came with very sad skills, so he'll need to pump it up to make it through Athletics!

Ajax: 'Can I take a break now? All that endless skilling and scaring by ghosts... has made me really... tired...'

Sure, sure! Just don't die on me like your mother did.

When the ghosts are out in full force (around 4 ghosts at once), they normally haunt both the 1st and 2nd floors. So I have everyone run upstairs to the 3rd floor and I lock the door. There are no beds or food or anything up there... but there's also NO ghosts. Here you can see them all after being holed up a few hours...

Amidst all the ghosts, we had a new member of the family arrive! A kitty! I named her Nienna. You can finally also see Eowyn and Aragorn in the background. The kitty is the product of Eowyn and Bombadil.

I just wanted a picture of Ajax in his space pirate suit, hehe! This is my first time getting it. Very hilarious!!

Ajax: 'It itches...'

And Helen was nice enough to break the second restriction for this update--Paranormal! That means I can FINALLY move all these annoying ghosts and force them to haunt elsewhere. I've built them a big old mausoleum in the backyard. Kyung-Soon still likes harassing the 2nd floor, though.

Uh, Helen... isn't it a bit chilly out for a tube top?

Helen: 'Like, no way! Fashion before anything else. No wonder you are such a total fashion disaster!'

And no wonder you are always freezing...

Looks like I am doing better with chance cards this time around--woohoo!

...or not...

Helen decides to fix something only to realize that requires an actual working thought process. Poor Helen!

Helen: 'Like! It burns! And not in the good way!'

Nienna grows up--she looks a lot like Bombadil, but she's got her mother's eyes. Very cool. I love cats! The cats are on the same generation as the family now, generation four.

Helen has her first baby bump! Here's hoping she has enough mind in her to stay alive...

Helen: 'Like, wow! Chinese food is fattening!'

((facepalm)) You're pregnant, idiot!

All right, Sinjin! You're the only one left to lift a restriction... better get moving, I wanna change this house. It's driving me nuts!

Sinjin: 'So pushy... I am doing my best!'

Well do your best-er!

Awww, babytime! Here we have Mandy--she's got the Dual skintone and eyes, yay! She also has blonde hair.

Helen: 'Like, can I put it down now? I don't want it to barf all over me.'

Oh, Helen. You're going to make a fantastic mother. /end sarcasm

Well, that's all she wrote for this time around. Next time we'll hopefully have the Athletic restriction burninated and another little mite running around!

Adventurer Restriction Lifted
Paranormal Restriction Lifted
All Pet Restrictions Suppressed

-Part Three-

Generation 4: Surviving an Apocalypse 101 - Part One

2007-06-20T19:19:00.000-05:00

All right, I've returned for another fun-filled round of Apocalyptic action with the very haunted family, the Duals. Fortunately for Ajax and Helen, they are far away from the fearsome ghosts of their ancestors. They're holed up in a... er... shack out in the middle of nowhere that poses as a university in progress. Why don't we check and see how they're doing?

Helen, our heir apparent, will be breaking the Paranormal restriction. She will single-handedly remove her family from the cruel and cold clutches of the ever-fearsome Kyung-Soon. Now if only she could figure out how exactly these shiny horsey dudes work...

Helen: 'Like, I don't appreciate you degrating my intelligence and stuff!'

Er, degrading, you mean? I think you manage well enough on your own.

Ajax, meanwhile, is working his way through the rigorous studies of history. He's going to bust down the ties that bind us from using Career rewards. That's right, Ajax is a future Adventurer!

Ajax: 'If you had picked me I would have named my child Indiana Jones!'

As amusing as that would be, it would break my current theme!

Since they're poor as dirt and are still confined by certain restrictions, Helen and Ajax find fun in nature. Uh, Helen... I don't think those are butterflies...

Helen: 'Wow, you are like totally stupid! Butter doesn't fly! These are like, mutated moths.'

Either way, I wouldn't be trying to catch them. Don't you have a class to get to? Or some brains to eat? Darn zombies...

Helen: 'Like, Dear Diary... life totally sucks. The evil voice won't let me do anything fun. She makes me play on the boring old chess set! I hate those horsey guys. They totally don't make sense. xoxoxoxo Helen. PS: Ajax snores like a truck!!!'

I hope IQ isn't genetic...

Since they had to wait so long initially for money, I had them phone over their family and get their rap on for cash. It worked surprisingly well and soon they netted 1k or so each! Hooray for nearly maxed Creativity. Not so hooray for really, really bad white girl and guy rhymes. Eminem you two are not.

Helen: 'Vanilla Ice is like, my idol!'

By some miracle or another, a somewhat attractive dormie wandered by. Since I had been having no luck with the allowable NPCs, I decided he would have to do. Here's hoping he's fit and charismatic, as he'll be busting down Athletics!

Too bad I can't remember his name. Ha!

Unfortunately, it took awhile for Helen and Ajax to have enough money for walls. Until that time came, Helen spent a lot of time as an ice cube. Here we can see Ajax snoozing comfortably, somewhat aware of the fact that his sister is currently a human popsicle, but deciding he doesn't care enough to wake up. Classy.

Helen: 'Like, omigawd! What are you doing?!'

Ajax: 'Trying to defrost you...'

Helen: 'You'll mess up my hair!'

Ajax: '((sighs)) We don't have showbiz unlocked, sis. You look like crap either way. Deal with it.'

Despite her complete and utter lack of a brain, Helen and Ponytail Man's relationship blossomed. They flirted, tittered, and even smooched. Zombo watched from the background. I have no idea how he got here or why he's here... should I be scared?

Eventually, she popped the question.

Helen: 'That sweater is like, so this season. Will you marry me?'

Pony Tail: 'Does your house have zombie-proof doors?'

Helen: 'Totally!'

Pony Tail: 'Then hell yes!'

You! It's you! ARGH! Where did you come from, how did you find them? Why don't you ever come when VB is playing?! This is not fair!

Zombie Burglar: 'Mwehehehe... I told you I'd be back!'

Fiending bugger! Give back that chess set, book case, and easel! Helen and Ajax need those for skilling.... grrrr

Zombie Burglar: 'That'll teach you to try and smite the zombie mafia... mwehehehehe!!!'

All right, Demi Love! You are awesome! This may have just earned you a place in the Dual family tree... provided we have a male heir. Uh, wait a minute... where is all the stuff he stole? And the reward money? Hello?

GRRR!!! I hate that burglar. HATE!

Zombie Burglar: 'Mwehehehehe!!! I still win!'

Oh, fantastic! No sooner did they get enough money to replace the stolen goods does Ajax start a fire. I forgot to install a fire alarm, so he has to put it out himself. Sigh. How are you all supposed to get your skills if all you do is start fires and annoy the crap out of me?!

Of course, let us not forget about the frigid conditions of a post apocalyptic world! If they're not complaining about low needs, then they're freezing! I had to install a fire place and watch them fight over it. Not surprisingly, Helen was always the one who looked like a zombie.

Helen: 'Blue is like, totally not my color!'

Ajax was constantly in the red due to his impossible to fulfill wants as a Pleasure sim. Thankfully, we get to use the Sophmore roll! VB randomly picked a number and it came out as Knowledge. His LTW even matches up with his restriction! Rock on.

Another fire!? Come on, you two! Time is ticking away--we need to get you as many skills as we can. Grrr! Stop starting fires!

Ajax: 'It's all Helen's fault! She caught the light fixture on fire!'

That's impossible! Yet... it has happened twice now. Sigh.

Helen: 'Like, it totally burns! Ouch!'

Finally, the time came for graduation. Ajax grew into an adult and bid a not-so-fond farewell to the shack he had called home for the past four years.

Ajax: 'All right! I can't wait to go home and get scared by some ghosts!'

You won't have to wait very long... trust me.

Helen grew into an outfit completely out-of-character for a brain dead cheerleader. I think she was really just that worried about freezing to death. No worries anymore, Helen. Your biggest concern is now not to be scared to death!

Helen: 'This is totally not hot.'

-Part Two-

Generation 3: Brokeback Apocalypse - Part Two

2007-06-15T21:21:00.000-05:00

Okay, it seems that I've been allowed to continue my posting, so that makes for two bits of wonderful news for me this week, and I'm sure you all don't mind all that much either! So here I am, back again with a FANTASTIC update for you all...and if you dare to disagree with me, I'm not all that opposed to get what I want.

Our glorious update begins with a glorious death! Captain Hero, a.k.a. Gavin, came home to find Death knock knock knockin' at his dooooooor. (I would have sung that line for you, but I have been advised against singing by my co-conspirator on this blog)

A very gay looking Death showed up in a lei to get up all in Gavin's face and say, "Heeeeeeeey!"

I'm pretty sure that Gavin was kinda weirded out by just how fruity Death was looking, until he saw the nice pair of hula zombies that came to help take him over to the other side. Note the fact that I said pair, and only showed one zombie in the background. That, kids, is what we in the biz like to call innuendo.

So Gavin crossed over, leaving his ashes by the door, and outside...kitties got their busy on. Bombadil and Arwen got to bringing in some new additions to the household. Hey dol, merry dol indeed!

Back on the inside of the shack, Dagmar was present for Ajax to turn from an infant into a toddler. Awww, let's all look at this picture and try to figure out whether he looks more like Dagmar or Julian...

...anyone? Any guesses? He uhh...seems to have a bit of a tan...ish...complexion.

In the back of the room, suddenly an urn began to eerily levitate. Was it Kyung-Soon? Stephan? Skanky Cowgirl Eris??

...Gandalf (the Gray Cat) had returned from the other side, only this time...
HE.

MEANS.

BUSINESS.

Mao and I had a slight disagreement over his purpose for returning to the mortal realm (of sorts). It was my opinion that Gandalf came back to be cute, make mroow noises, and cause small objects to fly around the room. Mao seemed to think that he came back to plant seeds of terror throughout the shack and drain the wants of all nearby sims. Pssh, what harm can a little ghost kitty back from the dead cause?

Sadly, there was no time to test my theory, for the limp wrist of Death was back to bring Artanis over to the discotheque in the sky.

Elrond meanwhile was given a chance card. Should he invite the Paparazzi out to lunch, or try to evade them on a high speed chase through a tunnel or two on the outskirts of a faraway village?

On a hunch that the other option may lead to something nasty, I chose to have a meet and greet with the Paparazzi...and was stuck with the bill. I guess that must mean it is always better to just let the Paparazzi chase you than have a cup 'o tea with them.

The good news for the day came in the form of Julian becoming a mad scientist. Reaching the top of that career could only mean one thing...

Lights all over the house. At least six per room. Turned on 24/7. 365. You get the hint. These guys have been without a lightbulb for years...so of COURSE they are going to have more candlepower going through that shack than a six year old left in a dark house for more than five minutes.

Phoebe had been doing nanny duty on our little future leader in the Zombie Trojan War, who had decided to sit looking adorable with a bottle.

Outside though, Death stopped by for a little chat with Phoebe. He probably didn't want much...maybe to have a little chat or play a quick game of Rummy or something.

Unfortunately, he caught Phoebe at a very inopportune time, as she had just littered. Where I'm from, the penalty for littering is maybe $100 or so, but in Fallout Springs, the penalty for littering is DEATH.

After Pheobe's death, it wasn't long before Ajax grew into a child. I still can't quite put my finger on whether or not he looks like Phoebe, Julian, or any number of random zombie townies that I've seen wandering past...

...nah, he looks like a mirror image or Julian, don't you think?

The wonder twins started to throw a hissy fit over the paternity of Ajax, and it appeared that Jake had been rubbing off just a bit too much onto Julian.

Man love aside, a war was once again underway elsewhere in the house. This time, Elrond made a move for a very cranky Arwen's food bowl. Don't you know anything Elrond? You do NOT come between a pregnant cat and her food bowl. Elrond's Tai Chi Flying Suplex unfortunately, was not enough to save him from losing the fight, and then hearing about it for the next several days.

Better news was on the way for Bombadil though, as he reached the top of the security career, and sims were once again free to cross the ~~barrow-downs~~ street with peace of mind.

Just in case ~~the twins~~ Julian wasn't already drowning in the sea of estrogen created by Dagmar and the pregnant cat, with all of the ghosts roaming about, the house needed a backup heir, so much woohooing was done until Dagmar was once again with child.

After eating God only knows how many plates of lobster, hamburgers, and other assorted cravings, Dagmar finally fell asleep in her pancakes late into the pregnancy. Julian in the meantime, was busy reading the ~~obituaries~~ comics.

Unfortunately, it was soon found that poor Arwen was bugged, and her kittens were stuck. Everything from hacks to coat hangers were tried, and the kittens just wouldn't come out, so after nearly 5 days, Arwen was sent away and replaced with Goldberry, a new yellow cat.

Julian's estrogen filled twin meanwhile was busy reaching top of career in education. With his achievement, all sims in this generation had lifted a restriction, and were free to die. (I'm such a sweetie, aren't I?)

Shortly thereafter, Dagmar had Helen, the newest addition to the Dual household. Aww, isn't a cute...

...

Okay, I would like to take this time to make a public service announcement. Retarded babies are never funny or to be used in jokes.

...until their heads are on sideways.

Something tells me that I should have named this girl after Helen Keller instead of Helen of Troy.

Some people are supportive and loving when a ~~retarded~~ special baby is born, but oh no. Not Dagmar. She decided to poke fun and imitate her new baby girl.

Goldberry was very unhappy about Dagmar's jokes that were just uncalled for. All I have to say is that thankfully, I'm far more politically correct than Dagmar, and would NEVER make a joke about the mentally challenged.

Now someone hurry up and get that girl some waah-terr.

...okay, so I lied.

Soon thereafter, Goldberry got her busy on with Elrond, a slightly less funny looking Helen was put to bed, and oh yeah, the dead again roamed the earth. Poor Ajax for the worst of it, and after several attacks, fell asleep between a plate of lobsters and the ashes of his ancestors.

Dagmar didn't last too long that night, either. She fell asleep in a recliner downstairs while trying to escape the Wrath of Kyung-Soon on the second floor. Don't you worry Kyung-Soon...if our favorite Mad Scientist ever reinvents the vacuum cleaner, your ass is getting a ride through some massive cyclonic action.

And now, here is our friendly Don Zombo, reminding us to pay the zombie mafia for protection this week. See the snowman stump? That was a threat!

Helen soon grew up into an adorable little tyke, while Jake fantasized about some birthday cake.

Red hair? Now I am seriously starting to question Dagmar's fidelity. First the dark skinned Ajax, and now a red haired Helen. Something tells me that she found herself a tall, dark, red-haired zombie and got her necro freak on.

Shortly after Julian began to ask for a paternity tesy, Goldberry had two adorable kittens named Eowyn and Aragorn. (Please don't tell anyone, but all of the cats so far have been named with a common theme in mind.)

Goldberry celebrated the occasion by attempting to eat her offspring. See, if the damn ghosts wouldn't keep turning the food bowls around, we wouldn't have this problem.

Back in the shack, Ajax passed out after another assault by Kyung-Soon. Julian looked on at his alleged son, wondering if he should wake him up, or just give him a little push and laugh.

Not long after Ajax woke up, he attempted to go upstairs and get some sleep. Kyung-Soon just wouldn't allow it however. She scared poor Uncle Jake until his he lost his mind, and then went after Ajax causing him throw his hands in the air like he just didn't care.

Before the twins could make it back to the relative safety of the downstairs, Kyung-Soon unleashed a surprise, synchronized attack, leading to a hilarious surprise, synchronized slapping of the forehead.

Eventually, the twins made it down the stairs. Jake made it to the recliner just in time, but Julian and Ajax weren't as lucky. Julian passed out in the middle of the floor, and Goldberry decided to have a late night snack of Ajax's Goldberries.

Soon enough Ajax grew up into his player outfit, and after receiving a cool, "What up?", Julian decided that he wanted nothing more to do with his son.

Meanwhile, Helen too grew up, into a nice combination of a naughty schoolgirl and a Hogwart's uniform...or, for any viewers as seen on To Catch a Predator, a Naughty Hogwart's Schoolgirl uniform.

...something tells me that girl is going to be trouble, as well as our next entertaining heir.

Meanwhile, it was chance card time for our lovable Uncle Jake. Should he choose to integrate a computer game about a great...big...hard...spelling carrot, or the more traditional mullet inspired "Hunting and Fishing: Scavenging for Algebra"?

Who are we kidding, this is Uncle Jake we're talking about!

$45,000 later, the survivors have even more money that they will never need, and Jake is going to be permanently dreaming of carrots and other assorted vegetables.

I had hung a picture of clowns over the beds on the second floor, hoping to scare the children throughout the night, but Skanky Cowgirl Eris proved to be far more efficient at scaring Helen in the middle of the night. As if that girl doesn't already have enough issues to deal with, now she has this.

Goldberry soon got a chance card very reminiscent of one I had run across in another early play session. Before, I had chosen to turn away potential clients, and been fired from the job because of it. I was smarter this time though, and invited the clients in to see the house.

...and again, was fired from the job. Some luck I have. Outside the home, pandemonium ensued as several sleepy residents of the shack returned and instantly feel asleep by the curb. Jake fell asleep standing up, Zombo showed up to discuss some new "business arrangements" with a partially completed snowman, and Elrond gave his best impression of a wounded soldier from back in the glory days of 'Nam.

In a flurry of chance cards, it was Eowyn's turn to pick whether or not to eat cat food potentially containing ingredients imported all the way from China, or let her rival stars take a bite of a new line of cat food. Eowyn passed the job up, and was fired. Her ancestors were surely not pleased by this turn of events.

...suddenly the cute, cuddly, ethereal Gandalf turned into one bad mutha. (Shut 'yo mouth)

The first of his many victims that night was Helen, who passed out after being terrorized by the ghastly apparition of Gandalf, using an urn as her pillow. Aww, how sweet...in a creepy sort of way.

Upstairs, Kyung-Soon observed as Eris terrorized Dagmar, ensuring that she was doing her job properly. Thankfully, Dagmar soon escaped.

That night, somewhere in a dark, secluded laboratory, Julian began working on a sinister machine capable of raising the deaaaaaad!...plaaaaants!

After yet another reward of $55,000, I decided that I never want to see a chance card again in my life.

...and that it was time for Helen to grow up into a teenager!

Naughty Hogwart's Schoolgirl? Now it was time for her to grow up into...a...

um...a...

...a Naughty Badass Cheerleader. (Check the logo, that has to be what it means)

Okay, my mind is made up...forget Ajax, he died in the Odyssey anyway. The new heir shall be Helen of Fallout Springs! May she reign in her cheerleader outfit for days to come!

And on that note, Dagmar and the twins all grew into elderhood, and again, into the same clothes. As this generation in Fallout Springs draws to a close, Ajax and his sister Helen are off to college, the rest of the shack is aging, and the spirits still lurk in the background.

Okay guys, to the living room! Wheel of Fortune is on, and I'm OUT!

On that note, I must wish my adoring fans a wonderful time until I return again. With the Generation IV on its way to college, it has once again become Mao's turn to work on some updates. In the meantime, feel free to continually shower me with affection, adoration, and tribute!

...okay, still waiting on the tribute here. Annnny time now...right? Hello? Adoring fans?

-Vlad

Science restriction lifted
Education restriction lifted

Important Post

2007-06-13T10:57:00.000-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen, this may be my last update on this blog.

As you know, the blog belongs to Mao, and she has the ultimate say on what gets
posted here, and what doesn't...but that doesn't mean that I can't slip
a few things in past her from time to time.

Of course, none of you will see this exactly when she does, but rest assured, I'm
probably going to already be waiting in position to STRIKE when the time comes.

...until then though, let's take a trip down nostalgic lane, shall we?  May
I direct your attention to this long forgotten place that took me quite awhile to
locate.  I'm sure Mao remembers it quite well...don't you, Mao?

[Link Removed]

The post said: "I find it somehow funny that being one of the early posters at the
forum, that I will be one of the last. Seven and a half long years ago,
I met a wonderful moderator here named Ann, and after quite a long
while of searching for this place, I have at last found it and returned
home. I had to find my way back to this place, because I felt it only
right to return here to ask:


WILL YOU MARRY ME?

...and you thought you could avoid all of this stuff and just go straight to the ring, didn't you? " 




...now, let's see if she ever trusts me with one of her blogs again

;b

-Vlad

Generation 3: Brokeback Apocalypse - Part One

2007-06-04T18:29:00.000-05:00

*ahem* Ladies and gentlemen. Hi. I'm Vlad. I'm here today to talk to you about something rather disturbing, and honestly, quite shocking. I have been posting challenge updates for my loyal ~~servants~~ readers for quite some time now, and sadly, have not yet received one bit of tribute. No small unmarked currency, no statues, no idols, nothing. Not even a Vlad is great, Vlad is good, now we thank him for this hood. Perhaps you all need reminded of my awesometastic power and might and SimDiety status. By the end of this update, someone will die. See? Look what you're going to make me do. Now let's get down to business this week with a recap, shall we?

Previously on Apocalypse Mao...
My wonderful Mao was kind enough to set Julian up with all of the skills he would need as a scientist but cooking, and have him build a relationship with a certain Dagmar Bertino. Unfortunately, Jake must have drawn the short straw, as well as ridden the short bus, as his skills were minimal. It was decided that Julian would go into science as planned, his future wife would go into military in order to help decimate the zombie population (as well as help send a sim to college), and Jake would go into education (ironic, isn't it?). As ~~pretty~~ handsome as Jake was, it was clear that he would still need some help to land a job anywhere other than the back of a McDonald's.

Jake and Julian were allowed to skill build (and drop a pound or two) while they were waiting for the appropriate jobs to become available. I did however allow them to find the time to construct a few sentries to protect their shack

Finally, Jake did manage to land a job in education, while Julian went into science. Julian took off right away and did great, but Jake for whatever reason, appeared to want to make out with a lipstick wearing pirate drawn on a paper plate. Perhaps this was an omen of things to come?

After the twins' first day of work, Julian decided to invite Dagmar to move in with them. As you can see, she brought more than enough skills with her to make up for Jake's lack of skills. I shouldn't say that like it is a bad thing though. Jake has always just...somehow seemed to be different than his brother.

Meanwhile, night began to fall on the quaint little ~~town~~ shack of Fallout Springs. With the advance of night, so too did the spirits of the dead awaken from their slumber, to feast upon the souls of the...hey wait, is she looking at her own skanky cowgirl portrait?

I'm sure Eris must have been flattered to see that she was at least being remembered fondly...outfit and all. Unfortunately, not all ethereal sims present were all that touched by this little moment.

The Bitch was back.

Kyung-Soon struck with a vengeance! She tore through the shack, scaring everyone she could find, and even went into the cat's house where Gandalf was made to question why his master hadn't been litter box trained like he was.

That was it! It was ON! That wench was going DOWN! Zombo called a press conference for his fellow Americans, to help ease their troubled minds during this time of crisis.

Did I say Americans? I meant snowmen. Either way, ladies and gentlemen....LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLE! (VLAD style)

Had the fight have taken place, likely it would have ended with the toilet both clogging and emitting a foul odor, while Kyung-Soon continued to be pissed off about her destroyed bed and care less about a stinky toilet...however the Hand of Mao intervened, keeping Kyung-Soon's ashes safe...for now.

Kyung-Soon celebrated her victory by listening to Thriller and busting out some sweet new moves.

I'll get you one day, Kyung-Soon...one day.

In the meantime however, Dagmar and a very frostbitten Julian started to get cozy!

...and before long, they were engaged! Fortunately for Dagmar, she didn't notice the violent beating of Gavin in the back of the room. See, Dagmar? This is what you have to look forward to. Cramped conditions, poor environments for children to be raised in, and oh yeah, the dead wandering the earth in a cheery post-apocalyptic setting. As I like to say, fun for the entire family!

A short while later, in a private ceremony attended by Dagmar, a stinky frostbitten Julian, and maybe the wandering eye of a zombie penguin, the two were finally wed behind the shack, as an exchange of shiny magician's rings appeared to take place.

Gandalf meanwhile decided that while everyone's eyes were on the cute couple behind the shack, his time to strike Artanis was now. Gandalf did some sort of Cracked Out Kung Fu Leap of the Cat onto poor Artanis, and nearly got away with it.

Zombo attempted to interview a mutant snowman about his thoughts on the recent violent outbursts in the Dual shack, however he learned nothing aside from a detailed account of what Fallout Springs looked like before "the accident".

The bad luck in the household didn't end with threats of flushing or leaping cats, however. Arwen chose (okay, or I chose for her) to turn away some potential buyers from her nice security job, and unfortunately, that earned her some time off work, a new career, and no unemployment check. Arwen was fired.

Things simply couldn't get any worse elsewhere in the house, so maybe it is time to see what else was going on.

We know what had been going on with Julian and his lovely wife...and the ghost of Kyung-Soon...and the War of the Cats...but has anyone seen Jake?

Jake? Hello? Ja...oh hey, you seem like you've met some sort of new friend. Care to introduce us?

Wow Jake...you um...sure seem to be happy. That's an odd look for you. What are you two talking about so intently?

...J...Jake? Why are you touching his hand? Worse yet...why are you talking about trains?!? Is this a euphemism for something that isn't quite rated G?!

OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH OF THAT. BREAK IT UP.

It seems that our good buddy Jake enjoys talking about dresses with his new special friend...and asking, "Do you think I would look good in that?"

At this rate, it looks like Julian's kids are going to end up with a friendly and over-excitable Uncle Jake.

While the entire house (okay, me) was still reeling from this latest development...the ghost of Stephan was stalking Artanis, demanding revenge for the destruction of his bed.

Phoebe was in the upstairs of shack, when Kyung-Soon tried oh so hard to get her revenge. It didn't work. Phoebe just started imitating her ghostly mother.

Ah, you crack me up Phoebe. In the background, you can see part of a spooky portrait of Phoebe that I put by the cribs. If that doesn't scare the hell out of any new additions to the family, I don't know what will.

The next day, Julian, Dagmar, and Uncle Jake all got chance cards at work.

BAM! PROMOTION!

BAM! FIVE GRAND!

BAM!...wait, $970? A stupid hot chocolate volcano? I'm starting to think that Julian may need to get his butt in gear and move up in his career track. Speaking of moving up though...

...someone came calling for Gandalf, to take him up to the big fluffy cat bed in the sky. Gandalf soon evaporated and turned into this nice, portable cat carrier...of sorts, while his friends and victims looked on. Even Artanis bowed before what was left of poor Gandalf (the Grey cat).

Gavin spun up wants both to sell a masterpiece and to sell a novel, so inspired by the passing of Gandalf, he put on his favorite bandana and begun work on his epic masterpiece, "Shit, Dawg. We All Gonna Die".

Dagmar, nearing the top of her career track, received another chance card...

...and scored $50k for the family to spend on maintaining their shack! Sweet!

Even better, within hours, both Elrond and Dagmar returned home, both reaching their respective top of careers!

Top of career? Several days off in a row? It was baby time!

The time to get busy is now!

...I honestly don't know how she did it in that suit, but whatever she did worked. Dagmar became pregnant, and the next generation was on its way.

Julian climbed out of bed to practice chess with his twin brother. Kyung-Soon made an appearance, looking displeased as always, while her son Jake tried to ask Julian what he thought of the Village People.

To replace Gandalf, a new cat was brought into the house. Hey dol! Merry dol! Bombadil the cat is here to save the day!

I must admit, Bombadil is QUITE the nice looking cat.

The next night, Phoebe walked in to take care of the cats, and started sobbing uncontrollably. Before I knew it, she was going crazy in the floor, and a retarded zombie was walking in to see what was going on with her. Eventually, she was okay, and had a few wants spin up that could be completed even under the restrictions, so in the end, all was well.

Arwen was the next pet to make it to the top of her career, ensuring that any sims in need of rescue from the zombie hordes would be well taken care of.

Gavin, being the oldest sim in the house, proved to us all that he certainly didn't FEEL like the oldest one when...eww. I'm sorry, that still just doesn't seem right...

LOOK! Even Dagmar is screaming in pain at the thought! That or...hey wait, she's having a baby!

Everyone, please greet Ajax, the newest member of the Dual household. Say hi, Ajax!

...okay, or just gurgle and spit up, that works too.

And with that, my ~~servants~~ loyal readers, I end this quite lengthy update with the birth of the next generation. Let's keep your favorite VB in mind with those unmarked bills though, okay? ;b

Military restriction lifted [Dagmar]

-Part Two-

Generation 2: Kyung-Soon's Revenge - Part Three

2007-05-31T11:43:00.000-05:00

Hooray, the twins are now teens and somewhat easier to tell apart. Why? Because they've finally realized that being unique is pretty cool. They grew up into different clothes.

First we have Jake Dual, who is a Romance sim hoping to reach top of Music career. He's the sloppy one and quite possibly hiding in the closet.

Jake: 'Tch, tch! It isn't nice to make accusations.'

Truth hurts, pal. You're the fruitiest would-be Criminal Mastermind of them all! Unless we have you break Law, that is.

And here's our heir for generation three, Julian. He's a Popularity sim looking forward to becoming a Hall of Famer. Sorry, dude, but I'm training you for Science. Your wife will break Military.

Julian: '...Wife? But I'm barely sixteen!'

Fine, fine... we could wait... and VB could breed you with someone ugly!

Julian: 'Er, nevermind, then... carry on...'

Artanis was kind enough to DESTROY the bed downstairs, leaving poor Julian to clean up the mess. Well, he is a neat freak...

Now the ghosts are going to be angry. But I'm glad to have freed up the space. They were already angry anyway.

Julian: 'You are very lovely, but I have to warn you... we're cursed.'

Julian! What are you doing? Dagmar is to be your intended. Don't scare her off with silly rumors. There's no curse...

Julian: 'But there is! My grandmother, Kyung-Soon, has sworn her revenge on the whole family! None will rest until we are all dead or we give up!'

Are you trying to ruin the challenge? Shut your trap with that nonsense!

Dagmar: 'Uh, look... anything is better than the zombies I've got to hack through to deliver the daily mail. I live in a cave, for Wright's sake!'

See, Julian... she doesn't care. So stop all this nattering about death and curses before people think you've gone crazy!

Julian: 'Gah! Mother!!! Why??'

Eris: 'No more heirs! You cannot be heir!'

Julian: 'That's the fourth time tonight... I'm so hungry, stinky, mentally anguished, and exhausted! I can't live through another scare.'

Then hurry upstairs, you ninny! It is safe up there! I won't lose another sim, grrr... hurry up!

Jake: 'Excellent, mother. Soon, our plan will come to fruition. My dearest brother Julian won't know what hit him!'

Jake! You sneaky little... how could you!? Julian is your own brother, your twin!

Jake: 'Quite simple, controller. I should be heir, not him. I am the stronger one! Plus, have you seen what he wears? Teal and green do not match!'

((facepalm)) Oh, Jake... what am I going to do with you? I hope you don't think I'm going to let this go, because I'm not. Julian is heir, deal with it. At least this means you don't have to marry a woman... hee hee hee!

Finally! Phoebe gets promoted to Mayor of Fallout Springs and subsequently breaks the politics restriction. No more building limitations, woohoo! Now if only we could move the beds...

Phoebe: 'Hey, don't look at me. I'm the Mayor not the Incredible Hulk!'

With no building restrictions I immediately built a little place for the cats. I plopped down a shoddy little dog house and had them try for kittens. Yay, kittens! I assume VB will change the house to his liking now that we can actually build. Just can't move 2 tile objects! Too bad Athletic isn't more important so we could feel compelled to break it sooner.

Of course, we could just let the cats tear up those 'annoying' objects...

While the cats were gettin' it on... Jake started a fire.

Julian: 'He's trying to kill me!'

No, no, Julian. You're delusional. Gavin! Put down that stupid lobster and do something!

Gavin: 'Why? We've got a fire alarm now. They're en route!'

Sigh... you are useless!! All you do is dance around in your underwear, which causes severe mental scarring for the poor cats!

Gavin: 'I do not!'

Yes, yes you do. See? Look, that's you. And there are the cats. It is like a car wreck to them... they just can't look away! What's with the fruity boxers--literally--anyway?

Gavin: '...Is there no privacy in this house?!'

Nope.

Phoebe: 'What are you screaming about? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep!'

Gavin: 'G-G-Ghoooost!!!'

Yes, Gavin. There have been ghosts for awhile now, remember? Especially Eris. She's been haunting up a storm. I think Kyung-Soon is on vacation. Go to bed and stop waking Phoebe up with your girly screams!

Gavin: 'And here I thought females were supposed to be the 'sensitive' ones concerned with other people's feelings!'

Phoebe: 'Not under post-apocalyptic standards... now shuddap! I can't hear the mailbox talking to me over your sissy screams.'

There's a whole lot of hostility going around in this house lately. Gandalf, for some reason, felt compelled to attack poor Artanis! I felt so bad. She's a pregnant kitty, that's not cool! Bad Gandalf!!

Artanis gave birth later that night after coming home from work. Two kittens! They look exactly the same so far, one boy and a girl. I named them Arwen and Elrond in going with my pet naming theme. VB named Artanis. I'm not entirely sure where that is from.

And then it was time for me to fumble up some more chance cards... yay! I knew I should've picked the other option. Siiigh... curse you Eris! We could've had Slacker unlocked and then I could ignore these dubious chance cards of doom! At least they are loaded. Speakin of Eris, however...

She and Kyung-Soon are pretty determined with their mission to try and kill poor Julian. Here Eris is scaring him for the third time on his way to try and go to bed. I was getting worried, really worried. Thankfully he made it and Eris went back downstairs. Apparently ghosts get cold, too... because Eris spent the night going in and out the front door and changing into her outerwear. Weird.

I have no idea what's going on in this picture. Artanis was making this hilarious face. Maybe she is mad because Julian is cleaning her cat bed. Julian loves cleaning, so he takes care of the pet stuff. With so many, there is always something that needs a scrub. Good thing we didn't have dogs... it would be 24/7 bathing!

Julian: 'What's wrong with that?'

Not everyone is OCD like you, pal.

Phoebe takes some time out of her busy schedule of mail box worshiping to check out one of the kittens. I'm not entirely sure which one this is.

Phoebe: 'Awww... who is a cute little kitty-kitty? You are! Don't worry, I won't let the mailbox eat you!'

I'm telling you, Phoebe. This is NOT the Heiress of Strangetown. That mailbox is HARMLESS! You are a nutcase.

Phoebe: 'Don't listen to the mean old control, kitty. She's just mad because the voices don't talk to her.'

Whoa. And that folks, is why you don't want to survive a nuclear fallout. Because if you do, you'll go freaking crazy!

The kittens grow up and look... exactly alike! Except Arwen has some of Artanis' siamese markings on her face. Either way, they are both staying and getting pet jobs. Without Law, some restrictions are only 'suppressed'... and when the person or pet suppressing them dies... we lose it. Bah. Annoying Seasons rules!

Gavin grows into his gray hairs the only way he knows how... as an old pervert. Gavin! What are you doing? Can't poor Phoebe shower in peace?!

Gavin: 'An old man has to get his aspiration points somehow!'

Sigh...

Oh, great! It's you again.

Zombie Burglar: 'Indeed, indeed! Let me see what you have to take this time...'

Sorry pal, you're out of luck.

Zombie Burglar: 'Whaat? Mwehehehe... what do you plan to try and do to stop me?'

Oh, not me, you see...

But that guy in blue behind you... he may have a few tricks up his sleeves.

Zombie Burglar: 'Curse you! I will be back! I shan't be caught! Mwehehehe!'

Of course, he got away, because policemen in post-apocalyptic times are useless... but he didn't take anything. That's the important part! Yay burglar alarms.

Oh, no! Jake, what have you done? Is that the remains of what used to be Kyung-Soon's urn?!

Jake: 'I won't be controlled by some silly old crank! I am the one in charge here.'

Sorry about your luck, fruit loop... but I'm Master of all that is pixelated. You're just one of my many minions. So jump off the high horse!

Jake: 'I bow to no one!'

Oh really? So if I waved a copy of the latest 'Interior Decorator's Bible--Turning Nuclear Waste Cans to Fab Fireplaces'... you wouldn't be compelled to do as I say?

Jake: 'Oh, OH! Gimme, gimme, gimme! I MUST know the latest design tips!'

Gee, that sucked the evil right out of you. Even the evil tone to your voice is gone.

Jake: 'Don't mess with me, woman! Give me that magazine before I have a BF!'

Fine, fine... here you go. Nutball.

Phoebe ages into the gray hair... and looks exactly like Kyung-Soon. She has her hair and outfit, though her face is a bit different. Uh, Phoebe... is there something you need to tell me?

Phoebe: '((shrieks)) Oh no! It's a sign, it's a sign!'

Jake follows in suit, growing up into the flasher trench coat outside. Nice choice there, slick.

Jake: 'Trench coat or not, I'm still the most fashionable in allll of Fallout Springs!'

And Julian makes equally as embarrassing fashion mistakes. Thank goodness I don't have to look at these outfits... What exactly do you call that, Julian? Soccer dad at the top, hiphop at the bottom? What the heck?

Julian: 'Hey! I'm just glad we don't have to make clothes out of bags.'

Do you still have those bags? I'd like one to put over my head and hide the ugly of your outfit!!

Jake, upon growing up, immediately falls into Aspiration failure upon realizing that the outfit beneath his trench coat is far worse than he originally envisioned.

Julian, meanwhile, had the crap scared out of him again by his mother! She's really intent on keeping her promise!

That's all for me. Generation 3 will be taken over by VB. He's already got the lot and was apparently playing... so keep your eyes peeled. Here's hoping no one else dies!

Politics Restriction Lifted

Generation 2: Kyung-Soon's Revenge - Part Two

2007-05-28T22:28:00.000-05:00

((Cue Dramatic Music))

Phoebe: '...It is I, Phoebe, replacing my late father Stephan here at this log of solitude and death. Countless days have turned to weeks, months, and years. I grow older with each passing sunset, unknowing when my last moment will be, for the cruel creator has cast the die of fate my way--'

((Music ends abruptly))

Oh, no! Not you, too. Give me a break. I'm the one and only narrator here. Sheesh. And what's with the sappy music? Get away from that computer!

Phoebe: 'I cannot be heiress! The mailbox needs a servant.'

Right. Try and deny me! You're heiress, like it or not.

Phoebe: 'But she threatened me! She said I would be next if I took the helm as heiress!'

What, who? Kyung-Soon?

Phoebe: 'Yes! She came to me while I was writing over all my worldly possessions to the mailbox. She spoke to me! A ghost!'

You'll believe a mailbox can talk, but not a ghost? Weirdo. Anyway, forget about Kyung-Soon... we've got more important things to do. You need a job! Politics sounds good for your current skill set. Where is Gavin? We all need to talk... if he's no longer the heiress' husband, his contribution to the restrictions won't count! And he's so close.

Phoebe: 'Oh, ew! You can't possibly mean...'

Oh, yes. I can. This is a challenge... no holding back. We've gotta be in it to win it... and throw it in the face of that sour old biddy, Kyung-Soon! I'll show her yet!

Gavin: 'But, she threatened me, too! She told me if I married Phoebe, I'd die!'

Oh, phooey to her! You'll be fine. I'll make sure you don't die before your time. Besides, you're nearly Captain Hero... and you're afraid of a ghost?!

Gavin: 'I may be a Romance Sim and All, but this is too Jerry Springer... even for me!'

You're too paranoid, Gavin. Look, you even did well on a Chance Card! You're Chief of the Fallout Springs Police Department! You can't be scared of some revenge-seeking ghost. Come on, now.

Gavin: 'Are you trying to get me killed? Eris is dead! My wife! And if she comes back as a ghost and sees me with Phoebe... she won't be happy.'

Pfft, now you're just being paranoid. Trust me. I'll take care of everything.

Well, that seems to have worked. Although, do you think you guys could've done this somewhere away from Eris' urn? That's not very respectful, you know.

Phoebe: 'After that mind-altering substance the controller had me drink, you're... strangely attractive to me now, Gavin. Agh! What am I saying?!'

Gavin: 'I'm feeling the same way, Phoebe! Ugh... this is so wrong... must resist...'

Phoebe: 'What have you done to us, you evil controller?! I shouldn't feel this way about my brother-in-law!'

Well, he won't be your brother-in-law for much longer... now back to the flirting!

Ahhh, love... isn't it grand the second time around? I can only imagine what Eris is thinking right now... her sister and widower marrying right in front of her urn. Seriously you guys, that isn't cool. She's going to be super pissed!

Gavin: 'Can't... think straight. Urge to WooHoo... rising.'

It is so nice of the programmers to make born in-game sims come with ReNuYu Potions... makes these sorts of things so much easier!

Phoebe: 'I hope you don't expect me to give you any twisted spawn from this!'

Of course not. Julian and Jake are still part of the bloodline. This marriage is just necessary to overcome a technicality! That's all.

Stephan: 'Um, controller... I do believe I require your attention post-haste!'

Oh, Stephan... what is it now?

Stephan: 'It appears my lovely wife has taken it upon herself to cut my time short. She wishes for me to join her horde of angry and vengeful ghosts...'

Wait, what? Oh crap...

Stephan: 'Indeed. I have no pulse, controller!'

What? No! I need your friends for their promotions!

Stephan: 'My sincere apologies... but my time has come. I must go.'

Grrr... Kyung-Soon! I'll get you yet!

Stephan: 'Oh... to go the same way my dearest daughter Eris went... Adieu, sweet world... adieu!'

Sigh... things really aren't going my way. Even a fool-proof chance card is messed up! Of all the times. Darn it, Gavin! I blame you.

Gavin: 'Hey, I'm not the one who pissed off that crazy old lady and then let her daughter and husband die!'

Silence you! You're supposed to be Captain Hero... not Captain Obvious!

Grrrr... chalk up another screw up for Mao! What on Earth is with me today? I think I played too long.

Phoebe: 'Thanks a lot! Now the mailbox is going to yell at me again...'

Despite all the icky chance cards, Gavin comes through as... Captain Hero! Dun dun dunnaaa! Hooray! Another restriction lifted. Awesome.

Gavin: 'No thanks to you... killing off my wife and then confusing me to the point of no return by making me marry her sister!'

Be seen and not heard, peon! You're lucky I need you to stick around until someone unlocks Law...

The twins grow up... and in the same fashion as when they were toddlers... are identical. We're talking 100%, I can't tell the freaking difference, identical. I did realize they both have different eyebrows, though. Julian has the more 'natural' brows, so he's on the right; Jake has the thick ones, so he's on the left. Wow, yeah. That works a lot.

Not. Darn you clone children!

Julian: 'We're not clone children! We have different personalities. Jake is a slob!'

Jake: 'You're just OCD!'

Boys, boys... come on now. Stop with the fighting! Sheesh... twins.

Meanwhile, thanks to Gavin breaking the Law Enforcement restriction... the kitties are back! Yay! I was tempted to title this, "Hey, the cats are back!" but only VB and I would have got the joke. Unless anyone else reading has play World of Warcraft... hehe. With Gandalf back, we automatically break the Showbiz restriction, allowing kiddos to skill with ease and do homework as they please. Artanis still needs to break Service Pet so elders can be controlled.

Of course, the first thing Artanis does? Attack Eris' urn... that's not cool, kitty! The poor girl is dead! Let her rest in peace, lest she rise up as an angry ghost like her mother.

With the cats back, it was time to work on breaking the Service Pet restriction! Gavin was the man for the job. As you can see, I also found a way to make my night pictures brighter without compromising quality. Ha!

Gavin: 'Why am I stuck with the cat? Do I look like a cat person to you?'

No, but you look like someone who doesn't want to immediately lose their mind upon becoming an elder!

Gavin: 'Touche.'

Oh, great... it's you two again. Don't you ever do anything apart? You even complain together!

Jake: 'But we're complaining about two different things!'

Julian: 'Yeah! I want fun and he wants to sleep!'

Oh, right. Big difference there... clones.

Gavin: 'Hi, sweetie. I'm sorry about the whole 'marrying your sister' thing, but the controller kind of forced us. And she forced us to WooHoo, too... a lot. So yeah, if you're going to become a horrible and cruel ghost like your mother, remember that. It wasn't me!'

You truly are a coward, Gavin! I didn't make you two WooHoo... you're the one that spun up the wants! I was only following your whims. Darn men...

Jake: '((shrieking like a little girl)) Grandma!!!'

Kyung-Soon: 'No heirs! You won't be heir or you'll die!'

Jake: 'Ahhh!!! Controller, make her go away!!'

Darn it, Kyung-Soon! You're going to scare what little straightness he has out of him! Then he definitely can't be heir. Go away!

Gavin: 'Ahhh!!! I don't think she bought it!!'

What gave you that idea, Sherlock? Sigh. Not you, too, Eris!

Eris: 'I have joined mother's cause. We will kill all heirs!'

Oh, that's just fantastic. But wait, Gavin isn't an heir...

Eris: 'No, but he is sleeping with my SISTER!'

True, true... scare away, then.

Gavin: 'A lot of help YOU are!'

Pfft, I'm not the one sleeping with my sister-in-law, who is now my wife, and trying to blame it on the controller to my dead wife! You asked for this, pal. Try not to die.

Eris: 'You took my husband and my spot as heiress! You will die, thieving wench!'

Phoebe: 'Ahhh, sister! Does being dead automatically make you mean and cranky? I don't want to die!'

Nor do I! Get out of there... Eris is on a roll tonight! Run upstairs before she gets you again. Darn ghosts... looks like we'll be unlocking Paranormal ahead of schedule...

Eris: 'You can run, but you can never hide!'

Phoebe: 'Gaah! My needs are depleting rapidly!'

Stop gaping and run! Run like you've never ran before! Darn ghosts.

Phew, another chance card to break the ghostly fright! This time I don't screw it up. A cool 50k, coming my way! Awesome. It is kind of difficult to mess this one up... even in Gavin's case. Big scaredy cat. How did you face the gigantic robot, hmm? Did you two have a slap fight?

Gavin: 'No!!!'

Oh, you did so, and you know it! Now I know where Jake gets it!

Gavin: 'Grrr! I kicked big, metallic robot butt!'

Sure, sure... why don't you go play with your dollies now? I have important things to do.

Artanis breaks the Service Pet restriction! Hooray! Now my Elders don't have to be all crazy and senile! They'll actually be USEFUL!

And we'll end it there. I've got a ton of pictures yet and the twins are barely into teenhood. Whew. Who will be heir? Will Kyung-Soon kill another? Will Mao ever finish with this generation!?

Law Enforcement Restriction Lifted [Gavin]
Showbiz (pet) Restriction Lifted [Gandalf]
Service Animal (pet) Restriction Lifted [Artanis]

-Part Three-

Generation 2: Kyung-Soon's Revenge - Part One

2007-05-26T13:41:00.001-05:00

((Cue Dramatic Music))

Stephan: '...And again, I am here, at this computer... logging my experiences after the nuclear fallout. Ash falls from the sky like snow, piling up and impeding those who would dare travel outside. I have grown old now, my bones too weak to fight off the plagued hordes. I am confined to this shack, this one place of safety. But I could not have known, I could not have forseen what the coming years would bring...'

((Music ends abruptly))

Stephan, what the hell are you going on about? I'm the narrator here. And why are you writing a novel? That's in direct violation of the Service Pet restriction, which we did not lift! You're supposed to be rendered ISBI-like, meaning you get in the way and generally make me wish you'd die faster.

Stephan: 'I was just trying to spice things up! What better to do so than an old man's memoirs?'

The only memoirs you're going to have is of my foot up your butt if you don't butt out and let me do my thing! Sheesh, sims. Post-apocalyptic and think I owe them something! Anyway, forget what Stephan said. We've got a long way to go before that...

Anyway, when I last played, Kyung-Soon was a fresh Adult in front of a barren wasteland. She's been through some trials and tribulations with VB, but now she's back with me! Hey, Kyung-Soon... so what do you think of Nuclear Fallouts now? Heh, heh...

Kyung-Soon: 'I hope that rabid zombies come along and eat your innards!'

Such hostility for an old lady! At least you didn't grow up in some ugly sweat suit or anything. Besides, you're ISBI now. Enjoy it. Eris is my victim of choice this time...

Kyung-Soon: 'It is not over, evil controller! For when you least expect it, I will have my revenge!'

Blah, blah, blah... are you done yet? Good. Moving on...

VB never bothered getting Eris (who will break Slacker restriction) a beau, so it was up to me to do all the hard stuff! I was at a loss until I realized... with Culinary unlocked, we can force Pizza Delivery folks to drive through the zombie hordes! Enter Gavin, uh... crap. I can't remember his last name. Either way, many deliveries later, they were best buddies.

Eris: 'Because nothing says 'Post-Apocalyptic' like Pizza Delivery love!'

Indeed, Eris. Indeed.

Eris: 'Displaying personal moments for other people's amusement is totally not cool.'

Sure it is! Quit your whining. It is my job to chronicle your life, and chronicle I shall! Anyway, best buddies leads to first kisses which lead to...

...Marriage! Hooray. Kyung-Soon hangs out in the background, probably plotting her 'so-called' revenge. Pfft. I'm not afraid of some sour old biddy. Anyway, welcome to the house, Gavin!

Gavin: 'Uhh... thanks, I think.'

No, thank YOU for having such a plethora of skills! Romance sim or not, you rock. Hope you like Law Enforcement.

So much for that revenge, Kyung-Soon! Your time is UP! See ya on the otherside, heh.

Kyung-Soon: 'Laugh all you like! This is only the beginning. It is not over! I will have my REVENGE!'

Blah, blah, blah... less talky, more dying. Take her away, Grimmy Old Boy!

If Kyung-Soon's 'big revenge' was infesting the house with cockroaches, she succeeded. Darn things! Leave it to them to be the only thing aside from sparse humans and zombies to survive a Nuclear Fallout. Bah. At least Phoebe is responsible enough to try and clean up the mess. Her lazy sister is too busy building snowmen!

Phoebe: 'Yuck. This is disgusting! How are we supposed to live like this?'

Blame your mother. Or the zombie that kicked over the trash bin. One or the other!

Zombo returns! It seems he's discussing something a little more appropriate with one of the snowman sentries this time. It is probably because I am here playing and not VB. You can't fool me, Zombo. I am totally on to your evil zombie penguin ways!

Um, speaking of zombies... Phoebe, you're starting to look a little 'zombified' yourself. Are you feeling okay? Did one of them bite you? Do I have to go grab the boomstick?

Phoebe: 'I'm not a zombie, you idiot! I'm freezing. You've had me out here socializing with zombies all MORNING!'

Oh, right. Well, your sister needs 13 friends to reach ToC of Slacker! It is the least you can do, as a useless spare and all.

Phoebe: 'I should be going to SCHOOL... you know, like NORMAL teenagers. Not talking to creepy old zombies!'

Complain, complain! Man, that's all you guys ever do...

Ack! Zombie! There's a zombie in the house! Why aren't you two panicking? Can't you see the zombie right in front of your eyes? Don't let the camo pants fool you, she's there!

Eris: '...She's one of the zombie friends you've had Phoebe make. You made them come inside, remember?'

Oh, right... so I did. Nevermind, then... carry on...

Unfortunately, Post-Apocalyptic situations leave sims in mental distress. There are many ways to cope with this. It seems that our Heiress Eris has decided food is her comfort. She's certainly not pregnant.

Eris: 'Shut up! It's hardly noticeable.'

Sure, maybe if you're looking from a different solar system! You're huuuge!

Eris: '...Sniff. I knew I shouldn't have indulged in that last plate of pancakes!'

Meanwhile, other sims just plain lose there minds. Like Phoebe here. Freshly turned adult and she's panhandling for simoleons... from the mailbox. What the hell?

Phoebe: 'Oh pious mailbox! Please, have mercy on me. Just one simoleon... okay, just half of one. One fourth? Come on here. Give me a break! I need simoleons... NEED!'

Phoebe, sweetie, this isn't the Heiress of Strangetown. That is a completely harmless mailbox that does nothing but eat bills and get in the way of carpools. I think you need to go inside and lie down for a bit...

Phoebe: '((whispering)) Don't listen to her, mailbox... she's crazy.'

Right. I'm the crazy one. Okay.

Phoebe: 'Ahhh! Mother!'

Gavin: 'Whoa! Who was that scary old lady?'

That would be your former mother-in-law, Kyung-Soon. Pfft! A few little scares is hardly revenge. I'm not impressed.

Uh, Gavin... we need to have a talk. You're glaring at Phoebe, you have negative chemistry, and you guys are barely even friends. So explain to me why exactly you want to not only flirt with her, but also kiss her?

Gavin: 'Have you seen Eris lately? Her butt is huuuge! Phoebe is a little crazy, sure, but she's quite pretty!'

Yes, I will agree (as I wanted her to be heir ;p), but nevertheless... love, honor, obey! Romance sim or not! How can you be so shallow?

Gavin: 'Don't get all high and mighty with me, lady! My turn-off says I don't like 'em big and therefore, I don't like 'em big. That's how it goes!'

Siiigh... well, keep dreamin', cause it isn't happening. Poor Eris!

Aww, how sweet. Phoebe invited her aging father, Stephan, to build a snowman with her! It is one of the greatest sources of fun in Post-Apocalyptic times. Nothing says 'good family fun' like nuclear ash!

Stephan: 'Actually, we're building snow sentries. To keep the zombies at bay.'

Is that so? Well, we'll see how well it works... they sure don't keep the zombie penguin away!

Wow, Eris... how did you manage to get pregnant? Last time I spoke with Gavin, he wasn't exactly happy with your, er, 'growth'.

Eris: 'Haven't you ever heard that you shouldn't provoke a hungry and very pregnant woman?'

Sorry. But seriously... how'd you do it?

Eris: 'Well, it took him a bit to realize that certain... 'other' things were bigger!'

Oooh, gotcha. He's a boob man. Right on.

Uuhh, Eris! You might want to stop sighing over that damn lobster and concern yourself with the RAGING INFERNO it caused!

Eris: 'B-but... my lobster!'

Move, move, move!!

Ack! Gavin, why did you stop? Put that fire out--NOW!

Gavin: 'Aghh! It's that old woman--she just jumped out of the fire!'

What?! Kyung-Soon! You old wretch!! Argh! Forget about her and squelch that flame! What kind of protector of the innocent are you, anyway?!

Gavin: 'A very jumpy one!'

Thankfully, everyone survived the fire... but hey, wait a minute. You... what do you think you're doing?

Zombie Burglar: 'I'm about to make off with all your valuables! Mwehehehe!'

...What the hell? It's an Apocalypse! You shouldn't exist... there's no one around for MILES! Where did you come from!? We've been paying the Zombie Crime Syndicate!

Zombie Burglar: 'Mwehehehe... we burglars are everywhere! And part of the Zombie Crime Syndicate, as well. They demand more!'

You, sir, are an asshat. An asshat of epic proportions. In fact, there is none in all the land that can possibly compare to the sheer magnitude of asshattery that you contain!

Zombie Burglar: 'Oh boo-hoo-hoo! I'm heartbroken. Now excuse me while I show my grief by taking your crib, easel, bookshelf, chairs, and changing table! Mwehehehe!'

ARGH! HATE!!! Couldn't you have at least waited until Eris was done giving birth?!

Despite having some of their 'valuables' taken, Eris gives birth to two healthy baby boys. That's right, twins. At present baby state, they look exactly alike. So you only get to see one. While VB's naming theme is Greek Mythology figures (I think it is Greek, at least), I will be using Actor's. I named the twins Julian (after Julian McMahon) and Jake (after Jake Gyllenhaal).

With not much to do while the babies sleep, the defacto nanny, Phoebe... shakes her groove thing. Gavin is with her in the back. Smustling is actually a really good way to raise fun. Phoebe also really, really enjoys it.

Phoebe: 'Hoo-yeah! Shake it like a Polaroid picture!'

Poor girl... in post-apocalyptic times, there's nothing on the radio except techno. Darn zombies and their zombie raves!

Thanks to the joint effort of all sims in the house--yes, even Stephan the listless was helpful--the twins became toddlers. Julian looks like Eris while Jake looks like his grandma, Kyung-Soon. Fitting, because Kyung-Soon and Gavin have essentially the same face templates (made by me!).

They grew up in exactly the same outfits, though. The black and green striped jumper. It is very hard to tell them apart via just the little thumbnail and portrait picture. I think this might be Julian in the picture.

Meanwhile, their mother is losing her mind. Not you, too, Eris...

Eris: 'Woowoo! Zombie raves are awesome!'

Poor Pleasure sim, always in the red! You're not at a rave, Eris. You're at home. And the twins need you.

Eris: 'Paaartttaaaaay!'

Siiigh... Eris! Your needs are awful. You need to do something other than pretend you're at a zombie rave!

Gavin: 'Don't bother. She's been like that since she got home from work.'

Phoebe: 'I'll go take care of the twins. I don't want the evil mailbox to get them!'

And then, it happened. Kyung-Soon was out scaring... and she scared Eris way, way too much. So much so that... Eris' portrait disappeared from the family sidebar.

Eris: 'I... I don't... feel so well!'

No, no! Eris! Hang in there! You were headed to the fridge... you were so close...

Eris: 'I... don't have a pulse...'

Nooooo! We were so close! One more day of work and we would have broken the restriction! You can't do this to me! Why?!

Eris: 'I... think... I'm dead.'

Noooo! Eris!! Grimmy, you can't take her! She still has to break the restriction! One more day... damn it! Useless sims!

Gavin: 'Hey, it isn't our fault you didn't break the Paranormal restriction...'

Phoebe: 'Yeah, really. Don't blame us! This is all YOUR fault!'

Stephan: 'Oh! What a cruel and merciless world in which we live! Where life can be so easily snuffed out--'

Not NOW Stephan!!

Crap, crap, crap... what am I going to do?!

Kyung-Soon: 'I told you I would have my revenge!'

Kyung-Soon? What? But you're dead! You can't talk! And you would kill your own daughter?!

Kyung-Soon: 'I am in your head... forever! It was a necessary loss.'

You are a sick and very sad old biddy ghost, Kyung-Soon!

Kyung-Soon: 'Perhaps... but now I have had my revenge! Now what will you do?'

You can't rid of me that easily! It is on like Donkey Kong now, sucka. I WILL continue this challenge... just you wait and see...

Gavin: 'Uh, who are you talking to?'

Er, no one. I wasn't talking to anyone.

Stephan: '...'Tis a sad day when the one in control falls privvy to the madness surrounding--'

Oh for GOODNESS SAKE! All of you, shut up! I need to think. Geeze!! Well... that's it for part I guys. As for Part II? I'm not going down without a fight!

-Part Two-

Generation 1: Aftermath - Part Two

2007-05-23T11:41:00.000-05:00

After having a CC apocalypse of my own, I, VLAD, have returned to you all with the next thrilling installment of Apocalypse ~~Mao!~~ Vlad!

When we last left our sim survivors, Kyung-Soon had just become an elder, I had stopped the challenge partway, and my not-so-loyal readership was more than willing for me to pass the torch back over. I don't think that I need to remind you all of THIS!

That's right. I have the cats hostage. If you ever want to see Gandalf (the Grey) and Artanis again, you will read my post, enjoy it, pay me tribute in small unmarked bills, and bear with me for one more update. If you're strapped for cash, I understand...but at least do the part involving the bearing with me.

Now, back to Apocalypse Vlad!

Eris grew up nicely as a pleasure sim, and picked up the LTW to become a Professional Party Guest. Something just tells me that she is BEGGING to be the heir from this generation. A bit of education would be nice for her, but of course, due to restrictions, teens are unable to go to school. No school...no law...no Mao...this can only mean one thing! Free labor!

Building some skills before adulthood would be nice, but aside from what few she picked up as a toddler, she is restricted from skilling on any items unless they also give her fun. Unfortunately for her, cooking and cleaning don't count as using objects to build skills, so she got to spend her teenage years preparing all of the meals and cleaning everything in the house. Sorry Eris, but with that F you're getting in school, u dont read skill books 2 good. Your spaghetti however, is superb.

See! Doesn't she look happy to be doing my bidding and working as free labor in the house! I'm such a generous master, don't you think? In the background, you can see Stephan studying up on his cleaning skill since it was one of only two skills preventing him from getting the Maximize 7 Skills LTW. Phoebe however, just wouldn't leave him in peace.

Phoebe, I understand your excitement at getting that A+ in school and all...but just wait. See your sister? You're next...mwahahahaha...ha...ha.

After getting Phoebe to leave him alone for two minutes, Stephan maximized his cleaning skill, and went straight to doing yoga to work on his body skill.

Once again however...Phoebe had to have the last word. If daddy can do funny handstands, so can she!

Eris was clearly more impressed by what I will refer to as the one-handed anti-flamingo handstand of DOOM! (doom?) Yes, DOOM!

After refilling a few needs that had gotten a little low, Stephan resumed his yoga training in the upstairs of the ~~house~~ shack.

Stephan of couse, while in the midst of the Inverted Fetal Donkey Pushup of DOOM, maxed his body skill and became the first post-apocalyptic sim to achieve his LTW, while onlookers...well, looked on at other onlookers.

In celebration of his achievement, Stephan oddly enough, went outside to build a snowman. Unfortunately, this would be the last real fun he had as an adult, because it wasn't too long thereafter that he followed Kyung-Soon ~~into senility~~ in becoming an elder.

Isn't that a nice family photo? Kyung-Soon is in bed already (with no Wheel of Fortune on TV, she had nothing to stay up for), Stephan is facing his own mortality (and receding hairline) with a stern look, the girls are probably trying to discuss who is prettier, and the penguin is...

...wait, the penguin?

As the last picture was being taken, there were strange sounds coming from outside of the shack. A penguin (in my mind, I like to think of it as a Zombie Penguin) had stumbled across the partially constructed snowman and started up a fascinating discussion involving a parabolic graph centered about the x-axis on a 2D plane. Zombo the Penguin...you are now one of the coolest little zombie animals ever in my book (take THAT Zombie Lassie!)

Zombo left soon thereafter, and the next day and night passed without incident. The next evening however, it was Phoebe's turn to become Vlad's ~~slave~~ free labor.

As you can see, Phoebe inherited her mother's looks almost to the point...of being...a clone. Ladies and gentlemen, this is exactly why we don't sleep under power lines, eat lead paint chips, or sleep in a shack surrounded by nuclear fallout in a post-apocalyptic wasteland of ridiculous proportions. Any combination of the above may result in genetic anomalies including cloned ~~freaks of nature~~...wait no, I had it right the first time...cloned freaks of nature.

I hear a noise! What's this? Let's check in with the PenguinCast and see what startling revelation he has for us today!

...this little guy disturbs me more and more with each visit he makes. I don't see a mushroom cloud, but I'm pretty sure he is trying to talk to the snowman about a nuclear blast that killed hundreds...if not dozens of ugly unplayed townies, and turned the landscape into a frozen wasteland.

On the inside of the shack, a fire broke loose in the oven, causing flames to leap into the air while Kyung-Soon had a heart palpitation, and Stephan nearly wet himself. Thankfully, Phoebe came to the rescue and in this awesome action shot, and checked herself out in the mirror while battling the flames ever so valiantly.

What Phoebe somehow failed to mention was that the oven burst into flames because she decided to go to the restroom while cooking dinner for herself. That will teach you to be selfish! Thanks to you, Phoebe, you just shaved years off of your mother's life, and probably somehow managed to make her arthritis worse, too!'

All of these fires and such sure drop the needs of people in the house pretty quick, and it wasn't long until everyone was fighting over the one bathroom in the home. At some point, a very stinky Kyung-Soon managed to change into her normal outfit, and meet Stephan in the bathroom either to serenade him, or complain that she had just fallen and broken her hip. Again.

Meanwhile, Phoebe ether checked her freakish cloned self out in the mirror, and realized what an abomination she was, or felt guilt about nearly burning her elderly parents alive, instead of fixing a tasty and delicious hamburger for herself.

The family went to bed that night, relieved that they had all survived their encounter with the stove/inferno, and awoke the next morning to...hey, this isn't right.

I don't care how many ads I've seen for prescription medication on TV...elders may wake up at 6 am regardless of if the Today show is on or not, but they most certainly do NOT turn on the boombox, wake their youngest daughter, and go straight to playing kicky bag. Maybe this is one last hurrah from Kyung-Soon.

By the end of the day, there was another transition to celebrate.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Skanky Cowgirl Eris. With her all grown up, it was decided to select her as the next heir (as opposed to the fortune loving genetic freak across the room), and that marked the end of my round. I'd tell y'all to come on back fer my next update, but...

BACK TO THE PENGUINCAST! Zombo! Your reaction, please!

.....

..........

Zombo. I'm only going to say this once. I don't care if she's an adult or not, I still say she's too young for that.

It was great writing for you all, and I'll be back around after the next generation had ended (whether you like it or not) !

-Vlad

Generation 1: Aftermath - Part One

2007-05-15T20:15:00.000-05:00

The year was 2008. Countless sims were going about their daily lives as they had always done...until one fateful day, when a small explosion rocked the landscape.

Sorry, did I say small explosion? I meant to say nuclear meltdown of apocalyptic proportions. Same thing, really.

Into this landscape, one sim returned home from college...one sim who...found other survivors?

Oh no no. This is the apocalypse! This is the nuclear holocaust!! THIS! IS! FALLOUT SPRINGS! Survivors? No. Try zombies. Thankfully the Hand of Mao came forth and SMOTE the zombies into submission...and tombstones. With the zombie welcome wagon beaten into eternal submission from this hood, our unlikely heroine began her challenge as any post apocalyptic survivalist would...stockpiling food as leftovers.

Zombie apocalypse or not, life must begin anew, so our unlikely heroine went straight into work in the Medical career. In her first day, she was faced with a dilemma... a dilemma resulting in 2 logic and 2 charisma points being added to her skills.

By the end of a long day of work, Kyung-Soon was promoted to Chief of Staff, and with that, had lifted both the medical and hopelessness restrictions that had plagued Fallout Springs for less than a week. No more twenty hand washings for this sim, oh no! She bought a state of the art communal shower for her ~~home~~ shack! Most important of all, this meant that she could move in sims...and pets!

First came Stephan, with his nearly maxed set of skills. Right away he was put to work in the Culinary career, so that the family could stop hoarding food and eat whenever they wanted to.

However, a new member of the family was on the way. Enter Gandalf (a Grey cat, no less!).

Gandalf went into Show Business to make some movie about a tower or two, while Stephan...well he was either filling in a hole dug by dog, or filling a hole WITH a dog. Either way, it was clear that he wasn't all that happy about the black pooch who had violated his lawn.

It is kind of hard to call that a lawn when it's covered in nuclear fallout, all plant life has been eliminated from the landscape, and zombie hordes are roaming the streets, but one hole in the lawn is still unacceptable!

It only took one more day of work but, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I present to you all... (this is where you imagine a really awesome drum roll)

Stephan, the Celebrity Chef! Behold his awesomeness and silhouettedness! I'm sure that entire legions of zombies are watching their TV sets with glee as he shouts Bang! and kicks his food up by a bit. Actually, this challenge is starting to sound less and less post-apocalyptic come to think of it...

Right behind him was Gandalf (the Grey), who wowed entire audiences with his theatrical performances.

Between the two of them, the Culinary AND Showbiz Animal restrictions had been lifted! To add into the excitement, Kyung-Soon got yet another chance card, resulting in 80,000 simoleons being added to the family funds!

In celebration, Stephan went outside and built a friendly little snowman. The family was able to stop stockpiling ribs, buy a stove, and allow children in the region to study for school. With no restriction on the addition of a second pet, it was decided that Gandalf needed a friend. Another adorable and cuddly kitty named Artanis was added to the home and instantly started to work at...MR. SNOWMAN! NOOOOOO!!!

Artanis became Hell on Four Legs. Instantly terrorizing snowmen, then leaping onto cat toys within her first 5 minutes, whild Gandalf looked on in absolute terror. Meows of, "You want me to make kittens with WHO?!" echoed throughout the shack!

Artanis went to work as a Service Animal, with the hopes of lifting the restrictions preventing elder sims from being controllable. Within several days, her task was completed, and Gandalf and Artanis went about becoming friends, with the hopes that they could repopulate Fallout Springs with their offspring.

Kyung-Soon waited until she had a few days off work, and instead went to work doing something else...starting the second generation

Several days later, Eris was born

Unfortunately, in a first for both Vlad and Mao, in the midst of the chaos of adding to the house, a new baby, and all of the other crazy challenge rules, the food bowl for Gandalf and Artanis somehow became turned around. Lowering wants went unnoticed, and within moments of getting the warning that the hunger want was falling to dangerous levels...the pets were taken away. No law enforcement exists in Fallout Springs to make sure the sims sleep safe at night, but if a pet goes without food for a minute, the Man is breathing down your neck and taking your poor cats away :(

If it is the LAST thing I do, I WILL get my cats back. You hear that Gandalf (the Grey Cat), I'm coming back for you in a generation or two! Sadness aside though...does this mean he will come back as Gandalf (the White Cat)?

With all of the recent losses, Kyung-Soon and Stephan finally tied the knot and restored some semblance of order to their shack.

Unfortunately, although Kyung-Soon managed to make it to work on time, without a nanny present, Stephan had to miss his first...and therefore last day of work. His show was cancelled, and Stephan Dual Live was replaced with extended episodes of 30 Minute Zombie Meals.

Eris grew up into a nice little demonic looking toddler, and soon thereafter into a slightly less demonic looking child (I'll be a sweet father one day, I'm sure of it)

Do I have to prove my claims? Fine. I'd like to present Exhibit A to the blog in the case of Vlad v. Creepy Child. Stephan never dealt well with the loss of his two pets. His needs plummeted as he cried almost as much as Spiderman in the last film (Note that I said almost) and fell from exhaustion in the snow. Eris, who was hard at work constructing a Snowman Sentry to fend off wandering zombies had two choices available to her. 1) Help her dear ol' dad out, or 2)...

TA-DAA. Present her dad to the world. She looks like she is trying to say, "Hey, check out what I did!"

Before long, Kyung-Soon had her second potential heir, and another girl. With the addition of Phoebe to the household, Stephan now has one more reason to cry himself to sleep in the snow. Let's face it. The guy has no male friends, and is surrounded by estrogen every direction that he turns. At this rate, the guy is going to have gray hair before his wife, and she is four days older than him!

The children both continued to grow, and actually both moved beyond the near-demonic stage of looks and became very nice looking young ladies.

It is nice to see that even in such a desolate place, children can still have fun...even if it means both of the hellions waking up at 6:00 am to dance together in front of a boombox. If they know what is good for them, they had better hope that all of the noise upstairs doesn't wake the parents.

As for Kyung-Soon...sadly she transitioned on into becoming the first sim to become an Elder in this apocalyptic nuclear winter.

And with the transition of the first of the survivors into the final life stage, this round of the apocalypse challenge has drawn to a close. Fallout still rains down upon the land, and although the sims are attempting to rebuild their society, it is still going to be a long road until civilization is restored, and the winter finally ends. I leave you now with a picture of the modest two story ~~house~~ shack, and the promise that one day, both Gandalf and Artanis shall have....FREEDOOOOOOM!

Hopeless restriction lifted
Medical restriction lifted
Culinary restriction lifted
Showbiz Animal restriction lifted
Service Animal restriction lifted
Showbiz Animal and Service Animal restrictions restored

-Part Two-

Generation 1: Before the Fallout

2007-05-13T22:54:00.000-05:00

Welcome, welcome to the first post of this 'Shared' challenge. The original inspiration came from Wen & Lynn's Shared Legacy Challenge. However, instead of two ladies... we've got myself, and my boyfriend. The ladies from Legacy Land know him as 'My Vlad'... so he's going by Vlad here. His updates will likely just be pictures... because he's lazy. Mine will involve something similar to my DHW Challenge. Updates will happen when they happen; we're on different schedules and connections.

Here's our lovely founder, Kyung-Soon, fresh out of bodyshop! I'm on a fresh install of the game (secondary, my original is still there), but I snuck in a few tidbits of CC for good measure. She's got custom skintone and eyes from Enayla, and hair from peggysims2.com. She also comes with an attitude that rivals Texas in size.

Kyung-Soon: 'Pfft, are you done yapping yet?'

See what I mean? Why did I ever let my sims talk to me?

Her first day there and there is a fire. I hope this isn't some sort of foretelling of the future. These Apocalypse Challenges are rough! We've decided on Medical and Culinary as our first restrictions to lift. We'll also be lifting a pet restriction.

But that means no Emergency or fire things, so no fires, Kyung-Soon! Do you hear me?

Kyung-Soon: 'Yeah, yeah... whatever. Nuclear fallout? Puh-lease. I'll believe it when I see it!'

Being the wonderfully kind sim that she is, Kyung-Soon immediately makes friends by pelting them with water balloons. That's great, how do you expect to break the first restriction requiring Top of Career if you don't have any friends?

Kyung-Soon: 'In my country, water balloons to the face mean "hello"!'

And what country is that, exactly? Retardo Land, MATY?

Kyung-Soon: 'Don't make me rip off your lips!'

Since this is kind of like a ridiculously extreme version of the Legacy Challenge, we need a spouse-to-be. Kyung-Soon wastes no time and recruits Stephan Gothier to the cause... after a make over, of course.

Kyung-Soon: 'Voyeur! Don't you have anything better to do than watch pixelated makeouts?'

Sure, but embarrassing you is always fun!

Kyung-Soon: 'Begone with you, bothersome pest!'

This is the first time I've had two dormies show any sort of relationship. These two are total enemies, fighting, poking, scratching, and what-have-you constantly. They fought several times a day. It kept interrupting the actions my boyfriend and I had queued up for Kyung-Soon (we were both playing here, on my computer, taking turns on semesters).

Despite this, Kyung-Soon did manage to find time to max Mechanical, Logic, and Cleaning... as well as rustle up 12 friends to secure her the Chief of Staff position when she graduates!

Kyung-Soon: 'Too bad my LTW is to raise 20 puppies or kittens, idiot!'

Shush!!

Hooray... I hate college. And seeing as this is a fresh install, I have none of my hacks. None, nadda, zippo... zilch. It was hard, very hard. Thus why I made my boyfriend play through the majority of it! I did get her most of her friends and skills, though. He just had to sit here and babysit.

Kyung-Soon: 'Pfft! I need no babysitting.'

Sure you do. You kept dancing... even though your needs were red!

Kyung-Soon: 'Lies and propaganda! In my country, getting one's groove on is the only way to recooperate one's needs!'

Sure, sure... whatever, weirdo.

The obligatory graduation picture... woohoo! I'm done, done, done for a graduation. You can take your sass and can it, sister... you're under Vlad's control now. And we play very, very differently.

Kyung-Soon: 'I think that will be a good thing, yes. Anyone that is not you.'

Good riddance!

A close-up of Kyung-Soon in her youth. The next time I see her, she'll be old, feeble, and rendered ISBI like in her behavior due to the restriction... I forget which one.

Kyung-Soon: 'My beauty will be unending, you will see!'

Sure, sister. That's what they all say.

Believe in Nuclear winters now?? Heh, heh, heh...

Kyung-Soon: 'I hate you.'

Restrictions Lifted by Generation

2000-05-12T09:52:00.000-05:00

Generation Two

Law Enforcement

-Your Sims may not purchase smoke detectors, fire sprinklers, burglar alarms or car alarms.
-Your Sims may not use the “emergency” tab on the phones.
-Teenage and Elder sims that have less than a 10 body may not leave the lot for any reason, including going to work or community lots. The ONLY exception to this rule is that teenage Sims can go to High School without penalty.
-Your Sims may not call the police to look for runaway teens.
-Only Sims in the Law enforcement career field may use the fingerprint scanner.
-You may not call adoption services to adopt or give up a pet.
-You may not call to report a lost pet.

Once a brave hero from the family emerges, they can clean up the streets and restore order, allowing police and fire fighters to once again help people. The Law Enforcement restrictions are lifted. The smoke detector and burglar alarm may be purchased and used, even if the Science restriction has not been lifted.

Slacker

-Sims may not use vacation days.
-If a sim misses a SINGLE day of work for any reason (including pregnancy) they must quit their job. (If a pregnant sim is lucky enough to have 2 days off in a row and they time their 2nd and 3rd days of pregnancy on those, they can keep their job).
-If a sim loses employment in a career for any reason (quitting or being fired) they may never take a job in that career again. This cross-applies to teenage, adult and elder careers. (For example, if a sim was fired or quit from the Science career as a teenager, they may never take a job in the Science career, even when they become an adult or elder)
-Elders may not retire, they must quit if they wish to stop working.
-You may not ignore chance cards; you MUST select one of the two options.
-Only those in the slacker career may use the slacker career reward object.
-All of the slacker rules apply to pet careers as well.

Once a sim from the family becomes a professional party guest, they host a huge party and invite all the leaders of industry to attend. Little do they know that the federal labor enforcement agents have also been invited. Confronted by the federal agents, the labor leaders agree to follow the proper labor laws. The Slacker restrictions are lifted.

Generation One

Medicine

Showers and bathtubs of all types may not be purchased or used at home or on a community lot.

Dish washers (both types) may not be purchased or used.

Pools may not be built or used.

Sims may not use medicine to become well.

Whenever Sims woohoo, they MUST choose “Try for baby” If ‘try for baby’ is not an option, they may not woohoo. (Unless the sim is already pregnant, too old to get pregnant or the two Sims woohooing are the same gender).

You may not purchase or use the changing table.

Sims may not purchase vamprocill. (They may use it if they brought a bottle back from college)

Only Sims currently employed in the medical career may use the surgical dummy

You may not give dogs a bath

You may not purchase or use the litter box.

Culinary

Sims may not purchase or use anything from the “Ovens” or “Small appliances” category except for the cheapest grill.

You may only prepare food once per sim day. Once any sim has prepared food, no other may do so for the rest of the day. A sim making a one-serving meal counts. (An easy way to keep track of this restriction is to turn the fridge backwards after a sim has taken food from it, and keeping it that way until midnight)

Sims pulling out baby bottles does NOT count against this limit and may be done as many times per day as needed.

Sims may not prepare food on community lots

Sims may not eat at restaurants on community lots.

You may not use the “Delivery” menu on the phone to order Pizza or Chinese food.

Sims may not purchase prepared food from community lots (such as pre-made cakes from a bakery)

Sims may not hold food in inventory.

Sims may not flag any food item as ‘for sale’ with the wholesale tool.

Sims may not purchase or use birthday cakes, wedding cakes, the bakery display case or any catering buffet tables.

Only Sims in the culinary career track can make use of the Chocolate maker.

Filling any pet food bowl, the wormrat cage or bird cages counts against the family’s “one meal per day” limit.

Sims may not “give treat” to pets.

Service Animal
The combination of stress of living in fallout with the lingering radiation in the air has had a terrible effect on the minds of the elderly. Older minds decay faster and senility sets in early and badly. Surviving to elder hood in this new world is both a blessing and a curse.

-Once any Sim turns elder, you may no longer issue any direct commands to them, nor cancel any of their actions. You may still cancel actions that would otherwise break another restriction (such as playing computer games). You may also direct an elder to quit their job if they happen to miss a day of work with the slacker restriction still in effect.

Once a pet reaches the top of the service career, they help the house’s elderly. Interacting with a trained service animal heals the mental and emotional damage done to the minds of the elders. They are slowly helped out of their cloud of senility and brought back to reality by their furry friends.
The service restriction is lifted. (Or suppressed)

Animal Show Business
Life in a desolate world is harsh to Sims of all ages. Younger Sims find the new world they are growing up in not only scary, but mind numbingly boring as well. With no entertainment for kids and teenagers, concentrating on work is very difficult.

-Children and teenagers may not “Learn to do homework”
-Children and teenagers may not skill build with objects that do not also raise fun.

Once a family pet raises to the top of the animal show biz career, they provide some much needed entertainment to the house’s youngsters. With their minds finally stimulated, they can finally focus on school work and learning.

Animal show Biz restrictions are lifted (or suppressed)