Hiatus

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!

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

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

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

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-