From the Hart:An OWBC

Part 2.7:Tantrums & Tours

Welcome back to my OWBC, where the Harts are still partying from the last update!

Last time, Brian the Bigfoot moved out, Paul discovered he loved to dance with just about everyone, and a majority of the kids were cute. Ringo was a goofball, everyone made friends and there were more birthdays – Paul became a teen. There was romance and vampire biting, more birthdays and Strawberry’s first act as a child was to wet herself. There were more vampire bites, more dancing, and Strawberry got addicted to the karaoke machine. There was a trip to the park, a water balloon fight, and a wedding! And we ended the update with Ringo become a teen.

That was a really lame recap, so if you’ve missed an update, I’d recommend taking a quick look back.

And as always, thanks to Keika who willingly allowed her simself to be used as a baby factory for the generation. Thanks, Keika! (Keika writes Clitheroe: A BaRKC)

But before we get started…

Let’s talk about the heir!

The heir poll ended with a three-way tie between Basil, Lennon and Strawberry. So I grabbed a D4 and rolled it (1 for Basil, 2 for Lennon, 3 for Strawberry, 4 roll again).

And now, I can officially tell you, Strawberry is the new heir!

Okay, on with the update!

We join the family to find Lennon going steady with his girlfriend, Daisy.

She’s the adopted daughter of the family’s old servo, Binaree, if you remember.

Lennon and Daisy aren’t the only teen couple having a moment. Uncontrollable bad apple Paul is upstairs with his sweetheart, Jenna Couderc, who for some reason comes home with Keika from the criminal career track.

Strawberry’s just helping set the mood with some well-sung karaoke.

“I call this one ‘Get a Room’!”

Ringo, meanwhile, has been a teenager for three minutes and already looks uncomfortable.

He’s such a cutie, and I love him.

“I really like talking to people!”

Something tells me Paul’s rolling in nice points, just like the rest of the family. Well, everyone except Strawberry.

Elsewhere, Basil, the last member of generation two I haven’t shown you yet in this update, has completed the xylophone trick.

“And that’s how it’s done!”

At the point of playing, I didn’t know who the heir was going to be, and I was having most of them try the xylophone trick for the uni bonus. Basil’s the only one who succeeded before I got bored/distracted.

The party finished with a water balloon fight between the teens – and Strawberry, who’s determined not to be left out.

Paul, however, was okay with being left out. Let’s face it, he was probably slap-dancing.

“You know, if you keep biting him, he’s probably going to live forever.”

“I know, Basil, that is why I must bite him!”

“…I’ll get some more vamp cure from the gypsy.”

It took Basil a little while to get some vamprocillin-D, leaving Randy to kill time as a vamp.

What killed me was him tub-pirating in a wet suit. His imagination is so good he needs to protect his body from the harsh elements of the sea!

“Were you aware that I was pregnant?”

“No, but I’m not really surprised. You woohoo all the time.”

I’m like 99.9% sure this is the last generation one baby. I really don’t think she’ll be able to get another one of Randy before he goes. Which is a relief, but it’s also sad because he’ll barely get to know the child she’s carrying.

Kana then bit Basil, and now everything is terrible.

Romance sims don’t want to be vampires, and with the amount of vamp cure these guys get through, you’d think Kana would’ve taken a hint.

“Doc, what are you doing?”

“Examining your skull shape. Did you know you can tell a lot about a person from the lump and bumps on their head?”

“I thought science said that was crap.”

“Sir, you have hired me as your imaginary therapist, I will use what methods I see fit.”

“Now tell me about your childhood.”

“Well, I, er, didn’t really have one.”

“I see. Your development as a youth was ruined by your parents, and that’s why you’re feeling so insecure right now, hmm?”

“Or maybe I didn’t get a childhood because I’m a plantsim. You know.”

“Gah, nonsense!”

“What you must do, sir, is reconcile with your mother and then the imbalance between the parts of your personality shall go away!”

“He’s not a real therapist is he?”

No but it’s still fun to watch him work.

The next morning, and it’s time to head off for the vacation I have to hold once a generation, as per the rules.

This time the family’s off to Takemizu Village!

“We’re packing light!”

“It’s the cool way to travel!”

People always complain about how bad the premade vacation houses are, but I had forgotten until my sims arrived here and omg they’re so bad.

The kids are sleeping in what is essentially a dormitory because the family’s too broke to fix up this hut. Luckily they’re only here for a few days and two of the sims here don’t have all of the normal needs!

I suppose the whole point of the holiday home is that it’s literally just a place to sleep, and so the family set off to see the sights (minus Onyx).

They found a ninja straight away! And I have no idea why that depresses Keika so much.

And seeing as Basil’s my sim who’s going to get all of the vacation mementos for the Bon Voyage mini-challenge, I may as well start now!

“Courage, or wisdom, young traveller.”

“Courage, of course! Think too much and you’ll miss out on life!”

“Well, I see your point.”

“I see your point, and so I shall teach you to teleport, young traveller.”

I can’t believe I got it first time. That’s never happened before, ever!

Basil was cool before he learnt to teleport, but now he’s the coolest plantsim ever.

Just another teleport picture, just in case you weren’t convinced that it’s awesome.

I don’t remember the last time I had a sim who could do this!

So what’s everyone else up to while Basil’s busy gaining mementos? They’re greeting, and annoying, the locals.

“Hi mister! I’m Strawberry!”

“That’s a pretty name.”

Strawberry has one nice point, but so far, everyone’s she met likes her! I keep waiting for the mean streak to show up.

“There you go! Enjoy!”

“What’s that floating in it?”

“Shellfish. Delicious, just try it okay?”

“You know, I don’t normally eat…”

“And I don’t normally cook for green people. Life’s strange.”

Basil’s trying all of the food and drinks today, something he rarely does at home , seeing as, you know, he doesn’t need to eat.

Of course, he’s sharing the experience with his siblings.

“I don’t know if I want this. It smells odd.”

“Just drink it, Ringo. The British all drink tea, how bad can it be?”

And what were Keika and Paul doing at this point? Well…

“This vacation was worth every penny!”

I can’t believe the family paid for you to fly to another country and sit on a bench.

“It’s nice to finally unwind!”

Well, I guess you do come from a chaotic family. Sit and relax all you like, Keika.

Paul, meanwhile, had found a nice puddle to jump in.

Could you imagine his review of this place? Ten out of ten, would recommend the puddles.

Well, it may not be your traditional family holiday, but at least they’re spending time together.

I also decided to knock out the Takemizu tours on the first day. I only sent Basil, as they’re not cheap, and he needs all the mementos.

It’s sort of unfair, but necessary. Besides, I don’t think the others minded too much.

“Why did he let the bees on the helicopter?!”

Welp, that’s the tours out of the way!

Back at the house dormitory, Keika fills Onyx in on the events of their day.

“I wish I could have been there, Keika. But the sun really, really dries me out. It sucks. I’m so sorry.”

“You know, you could give up vampirism.”

“What?!”

“Just for the holiday. Basil’s got some vamp cure, and we can get Kana to bite you when we get home.”

“That’s an amazing idea, Keika! I could kiss you right now! In fact, I will!”

“For the family!”

And so Onyx cured his vampirism, just for the trip. I really couldn’t take him off the lot otherwise, his water need would just tank.

“Look Mum, I learnt to bow!”

“Me, er, too, I’m not just werewolf walking!”

I think they both need a little more practise.

Elsewhere, Paul was reading Strawberry a bedtime story. I mean, she’s already asleep so she won’t hear it, but you know. It was sweet.

And I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen a Pleasure sim do this autonomously before. I just assumed it’d be the Family sims who did that.

“GAH! I HATE BEING A PLEASURE SIM!”

Yeah, Paul’s aspiration must be getting a tad low. I don’t think Pleasure sims make good bad apples, if you ask me.

“Where are we?”

“I’m hungry.”

“How come Dad got to fly and we had to walk?”

“Mum, make Strawberry stop complaining.”

“Shut up, Lennon, you smell.”

“Kids, come on. Basil, go ask that old man for directions.”

To be honest, I’d forgotten the Wise Old Man is floating when you first meet him.

I don’t take my sims on holiday a whole lot.

So the grown-ups do tea while the kids run wild.

“Did you catch that episode of real housewives of Pleasantview last week? Honestly, I thought I’d die of envy when I saw Goth Manor.”

“I don’t have a television.”

“Oh. Yeah. Hmm.”

After tea, I thought the Wise Old Man would launch into his usual dragon legend stuff, but he just sort of hung out with the family.

Although, I don’t think the Harts quite know how to behave appropriately in the company of a Wise Old Man.

“Lalala, I’m such a NICE warlock, I totally deserve some MAGICAL, EPIC story of some sort!”

“…The air is nice out here tonight, isn’t it?”

“Oh I give up.”

“Come on, kids, we’ve wasted a whole day here. Let’s go just before he gives us the opportunity to learn tai chi.”

A whole day of the holiday was lost to the man who wouldn’t tell the dragon legend. I’ve never had that happen before.

The following day, the final day of the holiday, the family set about Basil getting a few more of the vacation mementos done. So it was off to the spa!

Which was actually very boring for the kids, but the adults definitely deserved it.

The afternoon activity was a bit more fun for the family – trying to let Basil beat them at Mahjong.

“I think we should go back to that old man tonight.”

“Why Lennon? He didn’t want to tell us the story, so why bother him?”

“Well, he might tell us this time! If we go back, maybe he’ll think we’re his friends!”

So the entire family went back that evening.

“Hey, mister. Time to tell me a story.”

It looks a little more like Basil’s about to beat the story out of the old man, but trust me, the Harts have far too many nice points for that.

Well. Maybe not Strawberry, but the rest of them do.

“…And the secrets of the dragons, known only to us Wise Old Men, are now passed down to travellers, in a bid to improve tourism to the area!”

“I knew it!”

“We came back here for that.”

“Well, I liked his story.”

And so ends another family holiday, and this time, we got a family picture as a souvenir.

I still need to display a picture of Rainbow, and eventually, the new baby, but I’m making progress!

So everything goes back to normal. And by normal, I mean dragging home random townies from school in hopes they’re cute.

This is Ryan Ottomas, one of the twins that Samantha Ottomas (a bin sim) was carrying. I turned all the bin sims into townies at the beginning of the challenge.

“So Ryan. Do you like what you see?”

Luckily, the kids this generation are quite good at finding people they have bolts for. It means the Harts don’t have to scrape cash together for lots of gypsy drops.

They don’t really have the money after that trip to Takemizu.

Outside, and Jenna has come home with Keika from work again. I really need to figure out why that’s happening.

Anyway, Paul zipped over to see her, and they fell in love! I’m so pleased, especially as I can’t control Paul!

Romance is very quickly progressing for Ryan and Ringo, too.

Ringo rolled the want to go on a date, which I allowed. Date gifts are always welcome, afterall!

Things move so much more quickly when you’re playable, it seems. Paul’s been quietly flirting with Jenna for ages, but Ringo gets straight in there and falls in love on his first date.

“Pfft. I got demoted AND my girlfriend’s not here.”

Lennon was at the top of the teen Adventurer track, but due to a bad chance card lost it, and his scholarship. He’ll be earning that promotion back before he heads to uni.

I don’t know what that townie did, but it must have been pretty back to make the Harts angry.

Have I told you about their nice points more than fifty times yet

Eeee, the romance sim strut! I haven’t seen it in so long!

It must mean Heather’s about somewhere.

“Mum, I hate being a Pleasure sim! I’m so grumpy, all the time!”

“I’ll say. Have some cereal, can’t go wrong with cereal.”

“UGH! No one understands me .”

I finally remembered I needed to revamp Onyx, and this time Kana was friends with him enough to do it herself, rather than by biting Randy.

Progress, right?

He looks a bit different.

I’m guessing the order of supernatural transitions must have an affect. Hmm.

“Everything is awful! Someone help me!”

I feel really bad for Paul, but there’s literally nothing I can do but make sure someone cleans up after he kicks the bin over.

In other news, Basil topped the slacker career, and has achieved his lifetime want!

I mean, it was pretty easy because he got all of Onyx’s skills (who later lost them due to his zombification), and he had an entire family behind him to make friends, but even so!

I’m pretty pleased – I hardly ever fulfil LTWs!

Rainbow brought second generation cousin, Kurt, home with her from school so the others could all get to know him.

He’s the adopted son of generation one spare, Orchid, and her wife Sharlene. He’ll be going to uni with the other generation twos in a couple of updates.

Kurt Royce5/10/4/7/8 (Libra)

While the kids get to know Kurt, Jenna gets to know the slap-dance.

I’m guessing she already knows it, based on how often she’s here, but let’s let Paul think he taught her.

Ringo’s a Knowledge sim, and loses aspiration points every time Randy or Basil cures themselves after Kana gets bite-y, so he’s getting pretty close to tantrums himself.

Luckily, he wants to be a vamp himself, and that can be arranged…

Once vamped, he immediately rolled up wants to bite everyone. Looks like he’s taking after his grandmother!

Luckily, he doesn’t fear curing vampirism, seeing as that’s what’s happening.

Sorry Ringo, I can’t have too many immortal sims at once.

Maybe when you’re older.

The next morning, and Kana decided not to get in her coffin, as it’s baby time!

This will be the fifth (and hopefully final) baby of generation one.

Randy’s so used to birth he didn’t even react! Onyx has got him covered in terms of panicking, though.

It’s a little boy, the first son of Randy and Kana (Onyx was an abduction, remember). His name is Dazzle, here on known as ‘Daz’.

That puts the house total back up to eleven sims, and so Lennon will be leaving for college that night.

That evening, the headmaster was invited because Ringo, Rainbow and Strawberry all need to be admitted to private school. And we got my favourite headmaster again!

“Hello there, you must be the headmaster!”

“Duuuude, your hair is radical!”

“Thanks! Come in, I’ll show you where the bubble blower is.”

Neither Rainbow nor Ringo looked impressed by the headmaster, or his table manners, as this generation is considerably neater than the last two.

Despite that, they still got into the academy.

Once the headmaster had left, it was time for Lennon to go, too.

One more update, and we should have all the kids at uni. Well, not Daz, but you know what I mean.

He grew up handsome, don’t you think?

That’s all I’ve got for you this time, See you soon for the last chapter of generation two!