1.8 – Really, EA?

Back again!

Previously, I added Seasons and Generations to my game, which resulted in a whole lot more gameplay than before – meaning the Kalayas have upgraded from pretty boring to not as boring and actually a bit annoying! Other things of note were Leighton becoming an adult, Alex becoming a teen and Blakey becoming a child, as well as the next babby getting ready to make its real-life (or Sim-life?) debut!

Also, apologies for any pictures with strange lighting/effects, I actually tried to edit them properly this time instead of just cropping, but I’m not very good at it right now. Ah well, a learning curve is all it is.

We begin the chapter with King Blake ruling over his Royal Court.

Blake: I hereby decree that all those who make fun of me for not being able to open both my eyes properly shall be henceforth EXECUTED!

Sam finally uses the easel! I put it in specifically for him, because he is artistic, but it sat for the first couple of days without use.

His first paining was worth §12, which seems about right.

I finally remembered to send Ari off to finish the opportunity she was working on last chapter! She got §750 for it, if I remember correctly.

I’ve been playing Sims 3 for about 7 years now, and I felt like such an amateur when I only just noticed that the Science building in Sunset Valley had its own garden and pond. I guess it’s because I never really have Sims out exploring the town. I did send Ari over to collect some of the produce, and then I had her get some seeds and metal that was nearby.

I did get a scolding mod after the shenanigans of last chapter, but I didn’t put it in until about halfway through this chapter. I’m not even fully sure what Blake did wrong, I think he may have tried to prank the kitchen sink. Not very smart, Blakey.

Of course Ari decides to go into labour in the worst angled room.

Ari: I took one look at the dirty toilet and I-AAAAAAGGGHHHHHH

Cole is born! And look, a title card! How new and fancy!

I’m going to start doing title cards for new babbies and for when the heir takes over and (if) a spouse moves in. Also if I get enough readers to do heir polls in the future, I’ll be using title cards for them too.

It’s Leisure Day! Gonna be a bit difficult to throw a pool party without a pool, Ari.

Ari: We could use the bath?

You don’t have a bath.

Ari: A puddle?

Denied.

Cole ages up! I did say I was going to let the babbies spend a night as babbies, but since Cole was born at 1am, I figured the time between then and a regular waking-up time could count as a night, since the adults slept during it.

He has a nice mix of genetics! Leighton’s eye shape and skintone and definitely Ari’s nose. He did get Alex’s gross brown hair though. EA genetics are so weird, that’s 2 kids out of Ari and Leighton’s 3 so far.

Learning from previous mistakes means that potty-training will last toddler skill for Cole to learn, to avoid any potty-trained-accidents that lose me points.

Cole is the first Kalaya kid to get an Imaginary Friend doll! It is kind of cute to see the toddlers interact with them, even if he does look a bit possessed in this picture. The doll is called Boinky, which is probably supposed to sound cute but it sounds more like a clown name to me. Ergo, nightmares ensue.

Cole being born means Ari can age up to full adult. All the up-and-walking Kalaya boys are on hand to celebrate (Blake is there too, but all you can see of him are his shoes off in the left).

I didn’t get a picture of her post-age-up (nothing changed), but she did start having a Midlife Crisis.

Sam, you’re right in front of the toilet! -5

Sam: I was waiting for everyone to leave!

I think I can guess who the culprit was >>>

Ari’s first wish is one we’re unable to do, but good try anyway.

While the whole bedtime story deal is extremely annoying, it is cute to see the boys bond like this. What’s even cuter is that that’s Sam’s bed, meaning he let Blakey lie in there to get the story.

The first prank to be pulled off! This was a result of one of Sam’s mood swings. There are two other pranks (both whoopie cushions under beanie chairs in the boys’ room) that have yet to be set off.

Sam’s becoming a YA today!

Leighton! -5

Leighton: I couldn’t help it!

His accident faces are hilarious though.

Ari’s first doable MLC wish was to get a makeover. There was no stylist around, so I got the tattoo artist to do it. I have to agree with Ari, although she does manage to pull it off surprisingly well. At least the tattoo artist’s having fun.

Birthday time!

Awww, he got Hopeless Romantic, so cute.

Post-makeover Sam is a gift, and I feel no guilt saying that considering he’s technically around my age now.

Prom! I actually could’ve sent Sam off with him, but I knew that by the time they got home it might be too late for Sam to age up manually, so I just did it beforehand.

Prom spam!

He got Prom King! And a Romantic Interest, how…interesting.

This is the girl in question, Nikia Hart. She’s the daughter of Gus Hart and Monika Hart (née Morris). I changed her hair and gave her a bit of makeup and I guess she’s cute, but I’m not a huge fan of how her mouth and chin are close to colliding. No matter, if Alex is our heir he’ll have a whole bunch of other spouses to choose from (ones with far more interesting genetics).

First prom picture! Alex is a cutie.

I knew that Generations automatically gave some sims Alma Maters, but I didn’t think it’d happen considering the game had already been started when I installed it. Ari got the Art School as her AM, which is strange because so far the only Boarding School she’s wanted to send her kids to has been the posh one. I guess she doesn’t want musician babies.

Nope!

She followed it up with this one. Does it look like you have §10,000 to waste on a car?

Ari: We could take out a loan?

Haha, nice try.

I admit I was a bit disappointed that Sam chose Cornelia Goth to bestow his Hopeless Romantic trait on, but I do so love the Goth family that I’m willing to get over it.

Remember Alex’s RI? Yeah, looks like she’s starting a harem.

And they’re official! Quick work, Sammy.

You’ll have to ignore the potty that needs fumigating, but Cole learnt all his skills! By this time it was like 10pm, so I decided he could age up in the morning.

Also at this point I quit the game to put in the scolding mod, as well as some others that I was in need of (including but not limited to: NRaas ErrorTrap and NRaas Overwatch)

Immediately after restarting the game I get told that there are 15 errors already.

And then my computer had a stroke and my game crashed and I lost everything.

Just kidding! But it did crash. It wasn’t the mods that did it though, as I’d first thought. Turns out Windows was just updating and decided to be a little bitch about it. Everything worked fine once I started the game back up, and I found out that it was Emma Hatch and Madison VanWhatever throwing out errors and going missing and the like, as well as Gobias Koffi and a kid born in-game called Venus (good name) who had stopped aging. I’m glad that got sorted, because that’s a pretty common glitch in my games.

They’re engaged!

This won’t end well.

Time for Cole to grow up!

He’s cute! I am glad none of the kids so far have gotten Leighton’s nose, but I’m still very annoyed with this awful brown colour. The terms coming to mind are Sludge Brown, Silage Brown, Slurry Brown and Manure Brown. I live basically next to a farm so these are all sights and smells I am highly familiar with, and I’m NOT PLEASED.

At this point I checked up on Blake because he was still very much in the red, only to find that he’d left school to take a trip to the pool? I also have no idea if he passed out at any point, so even though it’s very possible he could’ve taken a nap on one of the loungers (his energy bar wasn’t fully down as it had been before he’d gone to school), I’m going to take the points. -5

I did keep getting pop-ups like this even though he was definitely at the pool and not on his field trip to the theatre, but whatever.

And now it’s time for the best thing I’ve ever seen in all my 13 years of playing the Sims:

Majestic! Beautiful! Stunning! But, unfortunately, -5.

See what I mean about the nose? It’s wide from the front, and then in profile it’s really flat. Weirds me out.

While Leighton’s bladder was failing him, Ari was in the corner frozen, only to thaw out long enough to do her maternity spin, heralding the arrival of the final baby of Generation 1.

She’s had the wish to have a girl since she was pregnant with Blake, which I’ve kept locked in all this time. She did wish for a boy after doing her maternity spin with both Blake and this one, but I so hope this one is a girl.

Blake eventually did come home from his pool outing, but apparently he sensed that I was going to allow Ari to scold him for skipping school, so he started running as far away from the lot as his little legs could take him.

It wasn’t until he started running down the hill that I figured it was time to reset him. That obviously did away with any scolding he would’ve gotten, and I could’ve had Ari scold him manually but I never did.

Generations has definitely turned this household around: Cole plays with Boinky in the puddle of the previously broken sink and King Blake reigns supreme. Granted, I’d prefer if they made like the rest of the family and actually went to sleep, but it is good to see them having fun.

Sam got married! Cornelia Kalaya has a great ring to it, like Cole Kalaya. Such fun names to say.

Leighton immediately rolled this. Somehow, I don’t think your son’s elderly wife is going to be able to have many kids. I did lock it in anyway, for when the other spares move out and into Story Progression’s clutches, or if Sam moves on once Cornelia inevitably dies.

I have no idea why they’re unable to move in together, as Cornelia (I’m assuming) still lives in the Goth mansion and Sam definitely has his own house.

Ari rolled a want to buy a seesaw, so I decided to spoil the kiddies a little more since they had the funds for it.

Finally! I was waiting for this one to come up. Obviously she can’t do it write now, being pregnant and all, but there is enough time left in her MLC to allow her to go to the Salon after popping the kid out to get this done.

This kid came home with Blake and Cole after school. His name is Sammie Hart and I believe he’s the son of Bebe Hart and Connor Hart (né Frio), making him the nephew of Alex’s RI, Nikia. Ari autonomously asked him if he wanted to feel her tummy, which I thought was cute. It’s the first time she’s done this, which makes me think she has a bit more of a connection to it than the other three.

Hey, at least it’s only a flirt!

I spotted this woman, Ann Adcock, hanging out in the big park opposite the Kalaya house, so I sent Ari over to say hi. It was late, so there wasn’t a lot of time to befriend her, so I just went straight in with the flirt to see what would happen.

Naturally, it didn’t work.

Ari: What’s not sexy about books?

Ann: Ugh, I’m way too tired to be dealing with this.

Obviously, the want isn’t fulfilled by this. But there is time in the morning to head out and befriend someone before she goes into labour.

She did immediately roll a wish to kiss Leighton when she went home and saw him, so at least the flirt want is just a passing thing.

Cole’s first fail! Poor baby, -5.

Yes!! Time for Blakey to become a teen and bring in money.

Passing out and an accident? It’s really not this kid’s day. Also I see that moodlet, get to bed! -5

Had to include this because it nauseated the hell out of me. I don’t mind so much that Thornton is almost an elder and they’re doing the do, but it’s the fact that when the game starts Bella is a child and Thornton is a YA. That’s just wrong.

Oh yeah, Ari still had that flirt wish to complete. Well, I noticed some other people in the big park opposite their house, the one she’d met Ann in the night before, so I sent her over there again. Actually, Ann was still there, so there’s a chance she may actually live in that park.

Anyway this guy’s name was Galen something-or-other, and he was cute so I had them meet and talk for a bit.

The flirting didn’t go down so well.

Ari: What, you don’t like flowers? Weirdo.

Any further attempts to rectify their relationship were promptly shat on by Ari going into labour.

Galen: I hope this isn’t another attempt at seducing me.

She has the baby, but you won’t meet them until later 😉

Birthday time!

Friendly! What’s with these boys and having good traits locked in?

I gasped so loud when I saw him. Forget being a Leighton clone, there’s definitely a lot of Ari in him too. You’ll also have to ignore the stink fumes, but at least it’s not pee stink.

Poor baby got so caught up in the celebrations he didn’t get to sleep, -5.

With the baby born, I sent Ari off to the Salon to get a tattoo, bearing in mind that she still needed to flirt with someone, so I was on the lookout while she was here. This guy is the tattoo artist who gave her the makeover earlier, but this time they heartfarted, because apparently you don’t meet someone when they’re styling you? Weird.

Susan: Oh look, I see my wonderful husband Boyd! Hello Boyd!

Oh, and Sam was there too, looking very nice in his music uniform.

Boyd: What is this, a speck of dust? On my clothes? Oh, the atrocity!

This is tattoo guy, so at least she has the same idea as me.

Looks like the Wainwrights are just like the Goths, except one of them isn’t married to someone old enough to be their grandkid (yet, anyway).

Madison VanWhatever: Money. I like money.

Chiquita Villa (the stylist): Why hello Sam. My, don’t you look dashing today.

Keep it in your pants, chica.

Boyd: What the HELL, Susan? I told you not to do things like that in public!

Susan: </3 ?

And then tattoo guy finally gives her the tattoo she’s been wanting. I’d forgotten I’d given her sunglasses with her swimwear, this is the first time she’s worn it.

I figured that since getting the tattoo was part of her Midlife Crisis, she might want something hip and edgy, so I got her the Grim Reaper one. Also he’s playing the scythe like a guitar, and she’s obsessed with music, so it makes sense.

And then I found out that not only could she not find out tattoo-guy’s sign, she couldn’t flirt with him either. With only a few hours left until her MLC was over, I sent her off to the house of her highest non-family relationship: Pauline Wan.

Who had apparently left her daughter lying out on the porch. Her name’s Teri, and I’m not looking forward to when she grows up considering her dad is Gobias Koffi.

Pauline: Hello, woman I work with who’s been off on maternity leave for several years now. Please come into my home.

They were talking and I heard sad hunger noises, so I turned to see that Tori Kimura was hanging out in her kitchen.

And then Morgana Wolff appeared and I noticed they were both wearing Formalwear, and I put 2 and 2 together: Pauline had actually invited Ari to a party, but I’d said no to it and then forgot. So it turned out Ari went after all.

It was good to see Ari in her Formalwear however.

So, my plan was to have her flirt with Pauline (they were never friends, but for some reason it started saying they were ‘Distant Friends’ and I don’t know why), I even made Pauline bisexual – no that’s not cheating shut up – but the option to flirt with her never came up, so in the end I sent Ari home.

2 wishes isn’t bad, especially considering that most of them were impossible financially, or meant divorcing Leighton.

I don’t know why this took so long to be honest.

Cole finally set off one of the whoopie cushions in their room! I have no idea which is which, but one was Sam’s doing and the other was Alex’s.

At the same time I heard prank music coming from the main room, and I looked to see someone had pranked the kitchen sink. Gee, I wonder who could’ve done that.

Alex: *whistles* Wasn’t me. Nope. No sir.

Oh come on Ari, seriously? This is the first baby wish you’ve ever had.

Ari: Please? I know you’ve tried to portray me as someone irritated by the idea of pregnancy, but I want this.

Well, let’s see what Leighton has to say.

*sigh* I should’ve known. Fine, I’ll let you have another.

Guess what time it is?

Time to meet the newest Kalaya! This is Zahara, and boy was I ready to ragequit the game when I looked at her. Blue eyes? BLUE EYES, EA? REALLY? AND THE GROSS BROWN HAIR AGAIN? Granted, she is cute, but COME ON. 3 OUT OF 4 KIDS HAVE THAT BROWN HAIR???

Maybe it’s a good thing I’m letting them have another.

---

And that’s it for this chapter. Alex has 6 days until he ages up to YA, so by that time the next baby should be around. Who the heir is actually hinges on what happens to Alex when he ages up, so there is a chance we’ll reach Generation 2 next chapter, but no promises.

As it stands, Alex is the only kid without the Insane trait (well Zahara doesn’t either, but she’ll get it easily once she’s skilled up), so if he ages up well and I get to pick his trait, he’ll get Insane and then I’ll be able to include him as an heir potential. If his trait is locked in and it’s not Insane, he won’t be eligible so he’ll move out and I’ll wait until Blake is about to age up again to find out who’ll be heir. But, if Alex locks in Insane, he’ll automatically be the heir. See my dilemma? This is what happens when you change and make rules as you go along.

Also here, have a bonus picture:

Scoring:

Self-Wettings (-5): 9 (-45)
Pass-Outs (-5): 8 (-30)
Fires (-5): 3 (-15)
Failing School (-20): 1 (-20)
Demotion (-20):
Getting Fired (-30):
Accidental Deaths (-10):
Social Worker Visits (-10):
Births (+5): 4 (+20)
Twin Births (+10):
Triplet Births (+15):
Fulfilling LTW (+40):
Honour Roll (+5):
Randomising every Trait + LTW for a Generation (+10):
Not using Spares’ Happiness Points for a Generation (+10):
Every $100,000 (+20):
Having an NPC Reach Top of their Career (+50):

Totals:
Good: +20
Bad: -120
Total: -100