Gen 4 Chapter 4: Puzzle-d

Sebastian's invisible friend is becoming a distraction for him! I mean, he even forgot to go to work this morning! Sebastian has never forgotten that kind of thing. He was always the straight arrow while I was the flaky one.

Not really flaky, if you ask me, but that's how I've heard my Mom and Dad talk about me.

Not that it bugs me. Because I kind of am.

Flaky. Not a bug.

I prefer "unconventional". Because that's a nice, big word that sounds impressive.



Anyway, Sebastian's friend is a bad influence is my point.



I mean, even Nemo noticed! And Nemo hardly ever notices anything!



It got so bad that Dad rummaged through all of the old boxes that we brought with us and found some weird concoction that his Grandpa VJ made ages ago! I don't know what was in it or why he thought it would be good to give to Sebastian. Dad didn't seem like he was paying much attention to Sebastian's invisible people obsession, but I guess he was.

I should still totally be in charge of the family. Dad is old.

So anyway, I wasn't there but Sebastian apparently knew just what to do with this potion. Or maybe Dad knew? Someone had to know. Or maybe it was just an experiment? Maybe they tried different things? I don't know.



Hmmm... isn't something supposed to happen now? I'll bet it didn't taste very good.



Wow. Sebastian waited all night for this?



For some reason, this is not how I thought Sebastian's invisible friend would look. He looks a little... flaky. But not necessarily in a good way, like me. Poor Sebastian.



I think Dad is wondering if he made the right decision. I would be, too.

See? I'm better at running the family.



Even the cats think Puzzle is weird! And they live with me and Sebastian! Cats are good judges of character.



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A/N: Shortly after Sebastian started obsessing over playing with Puzzle, I remembered that VJ had made a whole bunch of potions way back when he was alive. I never really used any or even looked very closely at them, but sure enough there was an IF one in there! I decided to see if Puzzle and Sebastian could find love in the real world. Not sure if that's going to happen, though... Puzzle has a very strange combination of traits: Loser, Hopeless Romantic, Never Nude, Light Sleeper, Nurturing. He wants to be a CEO of a Mega Corp. Not sure how that's going to work with Loser, though! Anyway, now that he's real, I'm not sure that he's Sebastian's type but at least it might force Sebastian to get out into the real world again.


Outtakes!

Another shot of Puzzle. He looks very smug, doesn't he? Also, no one has ever sat on any of the couches in this house. Sims are weird.


Nemo was so shocked by the appearance of Puzzle that he peed his pants!


This has been an ongoing issue with Zeke since he was a teen, at least. Sitting down with his food and then complaining that he's hungry. When his food is right in front of him! It cracks me up every time. You put it there, Zeke! Look down!

Gen 4 Chapter 3: Casting about

Hey, look what I found! I found a picture from graduation! It's a little dark. You can kind of see that Grim guy behind me, with his invisible face.

Or, I mean, you can't actually see his invisible face. Because it's invisible.

I worry that Sebastian might be suicidal. I told him that swimming in water was very dangerous, and he should take me more seriously now that I've graduated. And he just talked about how happy he was to see Grim. Sounds suspicious.



Sigh. It's like I'm talking to myself. (A/N: kind of hard to see but the entire family, other than Ariel, are thinking about the swimming pool. I thought it was funny, considering how much she tells everyone that she hates water.)



Speaking of talking to myself, Sebastian's been doing it a lot. Talking to himself, I mean, not to myself. Though it's not like he's talking to himself, it's like he talking to someone who's invisible. He even pauses like he's listening to them talk back to him. Oh! Maybe that's why he was so impressed with Grim! Maybe Sebastian isn't suicidal after all... he just likes invisible people! That makes so much more sense.




Mom's worried about him. Maybe I should tell her my "invisible people" theory. That might make her feel better.



I'll have to pick a time when she's not all cranky, though. She's starting to obsess about keeping the house cleaner. She's always after one of us to do the dishes or pick up the clutter. Dad says she used to be able to keep the house very neat and tidy before us kids showed up and it's been driving her crazy ever since. Not that he thinks Mom is actually crazy. It's not like she talks to invisible people or anything.



I like cats.



Because I like cats so much, I decided to adopt one! This is Rylee. She's cute. The other cats seems to like her, too. Mostly, though, they just all wander around sniffing each other. (A/N: since Ariel's LTW happened after the other two cats were adopted, this is the first cat who counts... so 1/6 done!)



Lunar Lakes has some crazy domes scattered around town. I finally got around to checking them out and it turns out that they're like parks. But parks that are modeled after different people's home worlds.



I'm not sure if it actually makes people feel less homesick or whatever, though. When I went, there wasn't anyone there! If anything, it's more lonely! Then again, it was at night so I guess it's possible that more people are there during the day. I decided to play my guitar.



I also checked out the local gym. I was going to try some of the equipment, but I ran into this guy- Michael- and just had to ask him about his uniform. Wouldn't it have been great if it was a costume he wore around town for fun?



But, no, he's actually military. My Mom used to be military, back before she married Dad. And not in this town. Still, I told him all about how cool she used to be. I could tell that he was fascinated.



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A/N: Not too much going on here, I'm still recovering from losing so many pictures! Ariel isn't rolling any social wishes, so I try to send her to random community lots whenever she has a skill wish (in this case, guitar and athletic) in hopes that she'll make some friends. It almost worked with Michael as she continued to talk to him after the initial forced greeting (wishacy rules allow one un-wished social interaction per day). He wasn't very interested, though. And she didn't seem to care.


Outtakes!

Someone forgot to pay the bills! The whole family was sad for days. This is trampoline that Gwyn wished for and then no one actually used, so no real loss there.


Rylee is apparently a magical cat.



After talking for a bit, Michael wandered off to use the toilet. Then Ariel decided that she needed to be in there, too, for some reason (she didn't need to pee or anything). They stood on opposite sides of the door forever, unable to get past each other, and getting annoyed that their paths were blocked. I eventually made Ariel step away from the door. Sims are weird.

Gen 4 Chapter 2: Missing time

A/N: This has been a weird week. My 2-year-old broke her leg a couple of days ago on Grandma's trampoline, so I've spent a lot of time trying to keep her from moving around (she doesn't get her cast until tomorrow and she's not supposed to put any weight on the splint). That means I've been sitting on the couch with her watching lots of Dora and not uploading my latest Sims pictures. Today, I sat down to upload my THREE CHAPTERS WORTH of pictures and they were... not there. Poof gone. Again. Only the pictures from my most recent session were there! I'm dying. There were some really good pictures in there! So Ariel will be summing up what's been going on, but there are no pictures to back her up. I know wall-o-text posts on Sims blogs kind of suck, so I've got a random picture at the end as a reward.

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Strange things happen around here in Lunar Lakes. I mean besides the tricky bodies of water.

I'm guessing that I'm supposed to tell you what they are now that Dad has made me the head of the family.

My Aunt Lorali is living in sin with my Cousin Denis, so that's weird.  I actually had an opportunity to do some kind of experiment where I worked out and then returned this weird meter thing to the medical center. So when I called them up to tell them I was ready to return it, they told me to meet the doctor in charge of that experiment in the middle of the night at a park! It was all very exciting for a medical experiment. And guess who I was meeting?!? Aunt Lorali! Apparently, she's working at the hospital now instead of at the science center. She must have changed careers when we all moved here, but I don't know. I wonder why she didn't just retire like Aunt Bonni and Uncle Jagger.

Uncle Jagger is still beating people up, though, so I guess some things never change. I think he must lead such an exciting life.

Not like Aunt Bonni. She's pretty boring. Though Lorali told me that Bonni got married not long ago, it wasn't even to the guy she's been fighting over (Arvid something or other, he's dating, like, everyone else in town) so I don't know what the point is, but whatever floats her boat I guess.

Some of the people who moved here with us have already died... some guy named Adjo and some lady named Sunny. My parents were sad.

Then their friend Patience and her family ended up homeless! And had another baby! And Patience's son is dating Sean Flynn's daughter! And Patience's daughter is dating Sunny's son!

I hove no idea who those people are, but it meant something to Dad so I figured I'd better include it and sound excited.

I decided to start playing the guitar. I liked it so much that I played all through the night in the park. I was hungry after that and decided to get a tattoo. It's a gnome. Gnomes are good luck. And the guy who did it was named Ariel, too! It's like serendipity. Also, he really liked looking at me in my bathing suit.

Nemo has been going to school, I think. It's hard to tell.

Sebastian is still acting all weird. He talks to himself and does... unusual... things to thin air. Once, I heard him in my shower making all kinds of strange noises. I think I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, though, and act like it's all completely normal. (A/N: Sebastian and Puzzle have quite an interesting relationship... Sebastian was stressed so, per wishacy rules, I clicked on the box and let him decide how to relieve his stress. He chose to "try for baby" with Puzzle in Ariel's shower!!! That was not what I was expecting at all. Luckily, it didn't take.)

Then, even though we've been out of school for years, it was time for Sebastian and me to graduate! Maybe they make sure you're really done with school before they give you a diploma around here, I don't know. The ceremony took forever and there was an invisible person named Grim there. I didn't get tto talk to him, though. I tried to get Sebastian to do it, but he wouldn't. Mom and Dad are all proud, of course, but I don't see what the big deal is. I was voted "Most likely to offend others"- like that's so hard to figure out! Sebastian was voted "Most likely to burn down houses"! That was more of a surprise since he's always been the stable one of us kids. I guess news of his odd behavior has gotten out.

So there you are, up to date.

I like cats. Nemo says I'm going to end up like this picture. But my home is going to be so much cooler.

Gen 4 Chapter 1:Unusual

Hi! I'm Ariel!

My dad decided to retire from the family, so he told me to take over.

Or something, I wasn't really paying attention.

I guess it's some kind of legacy started by my great-grandmother. She must have been pretty cool.

I can see why Dad decided that I'd be the best person to take over though. Ever since we moved here, Sebastian has been acting really weird.

And I know weird when I see it!



Mom has given up gardening. I guess the dirt here is different. I don't know.



Nemo must have good eyesight. He likes to read.



I told Nemo that he shouldn't read in the dark. Also, that he should be more careful around the pool. When you're reading, you're not paying attention to the water and anything can happen. Water is very tricky. I don't trust it at all.

I think I'm going to be good at this "being in charge of the family" job.



Dad keeps trying to tell me that I'm not in charge of the family, I'm just in charge of the family story. I think he might be getting senile. I should totally be in charge of the family!

Usually, he's either sleeping or running off to work, though, so it's not like I have to listen to him.



Dad loves his job here. He is very excited about the research that he gets to do and is very interested in the extraterrestrial life, both plant and animal. Then again, I guess it's just "terrestrial" around here...

Also. Dad can walk to work! We're just down the block from the lab!



Mom says he's being too enthusiastic. I don't think there's any such thing.



Mom and I have been exploring the town. Everything is so strange here. I love it!



I tried to warn Mom about the pool at our new house. I don't understand why everyone thinks it's ok to turn their backs on it!



I like cats.




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A/N: And so Ariel's story begins. She's a very random kind of girl, but she's fun to play. She tells everyone about her hatred of water, which just cracks me up. She and Gwyn have a good time together since neither of them is working these days. 

Outtakes!

Sebastian was acting a little strange.


Turns out, he and "Puzzle" have been socializing.


I got this picture of Nemo cutting his finger... and then notice Sebastian passed out in the background!


Awww, Dink is lonely.


Zeke and Gwyn are still cute.

Gen 4: Prologue

A/N: I almost forgot to post this week! I'm going to blame the holiday and some house hunting activity. We're not ready to move yet, but I found a cute house that Hubby and I both love so we went to peek in the windows on Tuesday instead of me hanging out at home posting Sim stories! I'm pretty sure there's no way that this house will work out for us, but it's fun to dream!

Before I have Ariel take over, I figured I'd put up a 'you are here' kind of post showing off the new house.

The Hodgins have arrived in Lunar Lakes! (That's Neli's old cop car out front, they "drove" it to the new town!)

 

I picked one of the houses in town that seemed like a good starting place for them. The architecture is unusual, but there's room for all of the adults (and Nemo) to have their own space.



First floor features the kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom, giant entryway, and a nice outdoor pool area for those in the family who don't hate the water.



One floor up is the first bedroom suite. This one will be Nemo's. As the only teenager, it seemed like he'd have the least say in which room was his... poor Nemo!



The third floor is the second bedroom suite. I gave this one to Sebastian. It seemed like a nice place for him to relax and/or be all serious about life. I added a desk on his balcony so he has a place to study.



The fourth floor has a bedroom suite and access to a stand alone room. I gave this one to Ariel since there is plenty of room for her exercise equipment and the roof-top room is perfect for the cats she plans on adopting.



Zeke and Gwyn get the top floor. I know it's a lot of stairs for their elder bones, but it seemed like they should get the best view and the quietest room. The kids don't have any incentive to venture up there much so Zeke and Gwyn can get all of the peace and quiet that they need.



A view over the top of the roof.



A view of the town.



Zeke and Gwyn seem to like the new digs.




I haven't decided if I'm going to keep Ariel in this house for her generation or move her after Zeke and Gwyn die, but I'm loving Lunar Lakes so far! There are several unique places that I can see an eccentric like Ariel living.