My first day back into the main file was pretty productive. Within 1 Sim hour, she had managed to finally, finally complete her Lifetime Wish of becoming a Professional Author.
While there was no doubt that the book in question, Fertile Bodies , was going to be a Best-Seller, I still preferred the trashy goodness that is Harry Hunger and the Twilight Games.
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| Don't think I didn't notice that awkward space at the end of Fertile Bodies' title. I'm keeping it that way. |
With the extra 32,500 Lifetime Reward points under her belt (what a random number), I bought that one thing from Showtime:
Ian got a part-time job since he got a request from school to do so. Anything for better grades and some Simoleons is good enough for the Hollands.
Meanwhile, the family's favorite generically named hairball machine, Fluffy, managed to age up from a cute kitten into a beautiful young adult. Seriously, her coat is freaking gorgeous.
Today was great as well, since Angeline managed to snag her second reward for maxing out her Writing skill. It looks good next to her handiness one!
Also, Gwen met a kid at school with an awesome randomly generated name.
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| His parents are the laziest geniuses ever. |
Today was extremely bittersweet for all parties involved. . .
Angeline had generated a wish for a cane (since I had just bought Generations, finally), so I gladly obliged her request. She also spend an awful lot of time around Fluffy that day. Not an hour passed by without at least one hug and pet.
As soon as Gwen, Heather and Ian left their school for the day, I was notified that Gwen had finally reached honor roll status. Her younger sister and brother would just have to work hard for just one more day! As soon as the girl had reached home, Angie had walked over to her daughter, brightened her day even more with a few words and a hug. She extended this well being to Heather and Ia.
The family was about to begin having dinner, before Angeline ended up passing away from old age in the family living room.
Yes, our Generation 1 baby mama is no longer with us . . . at least, not in Sim form. Seeing as she had just finished her sudden goodbyes to her youngest teen-aged children, the Grim Reaper himself appeared so he can send Angeline off into the Netherworld. Angeline's spirit went quickly and quietly, as she had a life that was well fulfilled, what with nine loving children at her side and a collection of books that showed all of Midnight Hollow just what was going inside this mother's mind.
What was going through Grim's head, however, was a quick game of basketball. No joke, this guy hauled his bony ass to the backyard's hoops and attempted to go against Heather in a game of King/Queen of the Hoops. In the pouring rain in the dead of autumn.
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| This feels like sort of symbolism I should be getting. |
Heather was having none of that, so she remained inside, cursing Grim's good name, whilst her sister wept over their mother's spirit.
It's interesting to note that Gwen was the only one who openly sobbed about her mother's passing. Heather, being a Hot-Headed type of girl, preferred to scream to the sky randomly whenever Angeline crossed her mind, while Ian - while he always looked a little upset - seemed to quietly carry on whatever activity he was doing, albeit with a small pout and furrowed brows. Everyone mourns differently, and evidently, that's true of Sims as well. (These reactions also happened when their older brother, Daniel, and his fiancee, Jeanette, passed suddenly in that house fire.) Still, in a family emergency like this, funeral preparations must begin immediately.
Bradley and Ye, the trio's older brother and sister-in-law, decided to briefly stay in the house in order to help the teens deal with this sudden event; the couple's first action was to console and help the teens in anyway they can.
That's not to say that all of these interactions went over positively:
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| On a serious note, the animation in the Console social interaction is wonderful. .Kudos to whoever at Maxis worked on it. |
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| It's like they're posing for a Sims 3 Store banner or a Tim Burton movie poster. |
Mandatory Brad photo shoot:
His charm seems to have rubbed off on Ye, too:
After that bout of dramatic tea slurping, the two were about to go to bed when Emma dropped by all the way from Moonlight Falls, and upon being invited in for the night, decided to go straight to sleep in her deceased mother's bed. She hadn't even been gone for 24 Sim hours.
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| "I like ciphering spirits in my sleep." |
The morning of the funeral arrives with no fanfare. Emma decides to be more of a creep by shifting through Angeline's clothes in order to find something to wear.
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| "I'm just getting a feel for what it's like in her skin!" |
The twins express their grief some more by giving me some magazine worthy shoots. Ian was too busy shoveling down blueberry pancakes to partake in this family activity, that lazy little Brad clone.
The funeral itself wasn't much of an event. The other family members arrived, immediately flooded into Ian's small, cramped excuse of a bedroom . . .
They only left once I called them to a meal of organic French toast. Leftover organic French toast that Angeline had made the morning of her passing. Also with a side of blueberry pancakes and autumn salad.
Seriously, only our teen trio were the only ones to actually go over to their mother's grave and observe this solemn moment. Their older siblings and in-laws would occasionally express condolences, but that was about it.
Emma, for instance, gravitated toward the phonograph playing classical music and decided to share a dance with her sister-in-law, Kara. In return, half of the party considered it as witnessing a romantic betrayal, and Em ended up stepping on Kara's foot. (Fiona was in the crapper when this happened.)
Regardless of any misunderstandings, the Hollands seemed to enjoy this family gathering.
Gwen went to the mailbox that's out front and got some stuff as well. The reward-handing-out people gave more of a crap about Angie than half of her kids.
On the bright side, I didn't end up having to plan another funeral. Ye decided to be a heroine and try to fix a broken dishwasher, with no handiness skill and while standing in a puddle.
Gwen took her sister-in-law's actions as a hint that she should brush up on her own handiness skill. Hey, it helps save
Also, we finally had that one awkward moment where one kid walks in on another one in the bathroom. I'm shocked it too so long.
At least Gwen seems to have some idea on where she should go after all of this madness. . .
