A Family Gathering

Guess what day it is?
Yep. It's Snowflake Day again, and this time, it is Hespa's turn to organise the party. She forgot the decorations and the food .... but she did lay on the music. I tried my hardest, made room for the pile of presents ....

.... and they end up at the front door.
Nice.

 Despite the fact that Hespa is still uncomfortable around people, she was determined to get the whole family together this year. This meant inviting William, Hannah, J1NX1E, S0NNY EM ... even Aunt Teagan.

Blaine stomped off declaring it a bust before the festivities began! How rude.

Oh and for those observant of you, yes there's a butler (haven't got her name yet, stay tuned in future updates). Drea's 'special surprise' for everyone. That was what he was organising in the last update. He also got himself a job too. In the Criminal career. This should be interesting, since his mother in law is in Law Enforcement (DNA Profiler)

Nessa was the first to open her gift. And was pleased that she got exactly what she wanted. A sonoflux guitar!

To celebrate, she strode outside to play her violin to whoever would stand and listen to her. Such is her dedication to her career!

Even the butler - who had literally only just started work that day - got a gift! It was a large, expensive painting that she hoped would go on the walls of her room.

Because Hespa kept her mouth clammed shut and refused to tell anybody what she wanted, got a rainbow light.

She wasn't sure how to take this. I'm guessing it's one of the booby prizes, because of the pop up announcement.

Sophie got a present. She was a little secretive about it though and wouldn't reveal what it was.
We'll find out soon enough.

She managed to grab Hannah and tease her about avoiding mom for so long. Hannah just ducked her head down and continued eating her meal. She wasn't about to spill any time soon.

Despite the poor organization (my fault there), Hespa's first attempt at a gift giving party ... was a raging success!!No doubt, to her horror, she'll be getting party invites for months to come now.

This .... Is Seriously Twisted!

Whilst Sophie is struggling to make ends meet and running around the town with her sing a grams, Nessa suddenly fancied the idea of being in the music industry too. Not as a serious singer. She has a lousy voice. But maybe perhaps, an instrumentalist. After all, this was kinda/sorta her LTW (actually it was exactly the same as her twin sister Sophie but let's not split hairs shall we?)

So, after a fun session with the water slide, she decides to pluck a futuristic looking guitar from her backpack - you can see where this is going? No? Well ... read on and thee shalt be illuminated!

Where was I? Oh, yes. Nessa playing her guitar ... in her rather skimpy swimsuit .... coming up to the end of Autumn, when leaves are already falling and the temperature starting to plummet.

As she played, she mused about the idea of her and Sophie hooking up as a group and playing gigs together. Shame the game just won't allow that at the Simfests. Oh well. She's pretty good, as she bounced up to level 4 in next to no time! Maybe I should get them together, somehow?

Anyways, there she was, alone, quietly playing her guitar sans an audience.

In the meantime, Sophie got a call from ....

.... wait for it ....

.... still here? ...

.... none other than BLAINE!

Yep, that old Simbot himself! Apparently he got himself a job - not a clue what mind you, and a promotion to boot. So his work colleagues got together and decided to send him a sing a gram to celebrate the occasion.

Sophie jumped at the chance. After all, gigs were drying up for some reason and she desperately needed the money - as I'd explained before. So she said yes, happily. She expected to be sent to a home address, but instead, she was told to meet him outside City Hall.

Hmm. Strange.

What was even stranger, was that when she arrived, there was a full blown protest going on....

... and the instigator of this protest?

... wait for it ...

... seriously, you'll never believe it ....

.... J1NX1E!!

Yep. She was protesting extremely loudly about the sheer lack of computers in and around the town!
This, coming from a Plumbot .... from the FUTURE!?!?!?!?

In a medieval town of all things?!?!?!?!

That is so twisted.

O-kay. I believe I've just about seen everything here. I have screwed up Dragon Valley once and for all, and do I care? Nope. Tis my game and my town to play how I want.

Sooooo ..... NYAH!

Anywho. Going back on track. Despite the loud protests, Sophie managed to get Blaine's attention and delivered her sing a gram without any mishaps at all! No deflated balloons, no tripping over her feet.  Despite the fact that she was exhausted beyond measure.

It takes some skill ... and an extremely powerful voice to rise about the shouts and yells of an angry crowd, baying for blood ... or in this case .... computers!

Edit: 

I am so glad I returned to Sims 3. Oh how I have missed the nutty randomness that is it's appeal. Seriously. They're going to have to really pull something spectacular out of the bag to tempt me back to 4, I can tell you! But, yeah. That was what I found when I sent Sophie over to do her sing a gram!

There Are Things That A Plumbot or Simbot Are Useful For

Sophie got home, to find there'd been a few developments around the place. Gone were Blaine, J1NX1E, S0NNY EM and BL4IN3. They'd had a bit of a chat and decided that 8 Sims - be they Fae, human, IF and Bots - was a little too much.

Besides, they'd seen how Sophie was around Andrea, and realised that someone must move out to let him in and start the next generation.

They couldn't agree on who should sacrifice their comfy position....
... so they all left, en masse.

This left a house of females only, who had to survive without a male presence for the first time ever. And it was tough. Especially when dealing with the beehive.

Poor Sophie got stung badly, because the bees had been terribly neglected, starved and overflowing with honey.

See? This is where Plumbots and Simbots come in handy. Their metal bodies are resistant to bee stings!

Still sore from the stings, Sophie retired to bed. Pat, as her unofficial 'protector' joined her in doll form. Just to make sure that those nasty bees couldn't get to her!

Aww, he DOES have a nice side after all! I just wish he'd show it a little more often.

He still finds it fit to insult her at every opportunity, no matter how nice she is to him. Especially when he breaks the hot tub without any good reason.

Pat: Wasn't me.
Sophie: Aw c'mon, there was nobody else near there.
Pat: Ness was outside.
Sophie: Yeah, playing on the water slide ... with Hespa.

Pat: Urgh, that goody two shoes. Hate her already.
Sophie: At least she's doing something around the house and not being a royal pain in the butt.
Pat: Blah.
Sophie: Besides, what were you doing there in the first place? You know, once you got wet, you'd have a hard time drying out.
Pat: Because I wanted to.

It was true, Hespa wanted to get a job, since the income had dropped considerably from Blaine's pension. So she scoured the local paper to see what they had on offer. One of her wishes was to join the Business career, making coffees. Well.... it's a start! She also wanted to enrol in college, but first things first!

Shannon was mighty proud of her adopted daughter. Even though the atmosphere was still a little awkward between them.

Shannon: I'm so happy you're fitting in here.
Hespa: Um.... thanks.... aren't you going to answer your phone?
Shannon: Meh, it can wait.
Hespa: No, seriously, you really should answer your phone. It could be important!

Oh god, how I hate that Loner trait. It makes relationships REALLY difficult indeedy. The only one that Hespa truly trusted, was Nessa.

Plus, since the Bots were no longer around to keep house, and everyone else was so busy, it was time to bring Bonehilda back.

Much to Hespa's dismay and horror.
Especially when she walked into her bedroom to chat online.

Poor Hespa couldn't get out of the room fast enough!

To calm her nerves - and keep out of the way of Boney - she decided to fix the hot tub.

Another good reason why Pat despises her so much. She's making him look bad (not that he had any problems in that area!)

EDIT:

I realised I couldn't move Andrea in if there was a full house of 8 Sims, so I decided to move all the Bots together. That way they'll be all together.

There's Something Nasty In Dragon Valley

It had been a year to the day since Sophie set off on her adventures in college and now she was back. Dumped in the middle of nowhere, in the worst storm the sleepy little town had ever encountered.

 It was then that she realised why only Nessa and Hespa were available for her graduation.

Blaine was busy fighting one of the worst emergencies he'd had in his entire career.

And Shannon was going out on a 'date' with a vampire! Although she was kinda sorta out of touch, as he thought she was a little like the weather ... wet. But still, it's nice to see her getting out and about anyways.

BL4IN3 and S0NNY EM were busy at home. S0NNY EM was proving to be quite a prolific artist actually.

Although, sticking one's head through a block of clay, isn't exactly 'modern art'.

But..... it was Blaine - the original Simbot that uncovered a dirty little secret that was now unfolding in the Valley.

His latest emergency had 4 Sims trapped in a house. No fire, but people panicking nonetheless. So he popped over to help out. And that's when he discovered a shocking sight!

Shannon's sister, Teagan MacAnna, had been deliberately locked in the basement with no means of escape! The door leading down to the basement had a powerful spell cast upon it that Blaine could not undo. Not even his trusty axe would break down  the door. Such was the powerful force that had been placed!

And to make matters worse .... the owners of the house ... were none other than senior members of the Dragon Valley Committee! The same ones who'd poured scorn upon Shannon when she brought the Bots to Sophie's high school graduation!

They pleaded their case, but Blaine was having none of it. He yelled through the door to Teagan to ask her if she could teleport at all. She was far too scared but he managed to calm her down so she could think rationally.

As soon as she was calm, she felt foolish for being such a coward and not thinking straight. But she managed to teleport back home. At the same time, Blaine got on the phone and called in the higher authorities to deal with this serious case.

And then dialled another number. To tell the fire station that he was officially retiring. Just two Sims from his goal, he'd seen far too much and had had enough of saving people .... full stop.

He tracked down Teagan to see if she was okay and filled her in on what he'd done. She was still a little shaken, but grateful for his help.

It was at this point that he felt his battery back up starting to falter and wondered if she wouldn't mind lending him an electric socket he could plug himself into.

She was quite surprised that this 'old man' was, in fact, a hunk of metal underneath!

Editor's Notes:

I sent Blaine in to rescue Teagan from the basement, there was a routing issue that meant that he couldn't chop the door down properly. No matter how many times I told him to. Time was ticking onward and I got really frustrated. So I used ResetSim for Teagan to send her back home. However, this didn't complete the emergency. So I got him to retire instead.

But really? A fairy Sim trapped in a basement of an apparently 'esteemed and powerful' member of the 'committee' and unable to free herself???? THAT stinks of conspiracy (in my minds' eye anyways)

Pat Makes His Feelings Well Known

Even though being in the Singer career was a dream come true for Sophie, she found that she didn't quite feel so fulfilled. Ever since finishing her one and only term at college - and failing miserably, she'd had a long standing wish to complete a degree ... ANY degree, just to say she'd done it. Besides, singing wasn't as cracked up as she thought it would be.

Sooooo ... right on Spooky Day, she took the plunge and filled out her aptitude test in the hopes that she would qualify for some funding towards her studies.

Alas that wasn't to be. According to the results, she still hadn't worked hard enough with any of her skills to get even a teeny tiny foothold. But that still didn't stop her. Mind you, the test DID prove to be a little difficult for her this time around. Even the poor postman wasn't much help.

Postman: Morning! Happy Spooky Day!
Sophie: Do you know what the percentage rate is if someone sells a camel at the market and the government takes its cut?
Postman: Sorry, maths wasn't my thing at school.
Sophie: Yeah, mine either. Thanks anyways.

It was then that she spotted Pat. He'd overheard her plans for college and he was not happy.

Pat: So, when were you going to spring THIS surprise on me?
Sophie: I was going to tell you Pat.
Pat: Yeah, whatever.
Sophie: Pat, please. Stop acting like a child.
Pat: A child you say? You know fine well that I'm not allowed to go to college with you.
Sophie: Pat, I did try.
Pat: Obviously not hard enough by the looks of it.
Sophie: Look Pat, I need to do this. And stop being so clingy.
Pat: I hate you. Now go away.

With that he vanished briefly. Obviously to sulk in a corner. The way I see it, considering that he was originally a doll, he's got some serious abandonment issues. And the only solution is to be turned. The problem is, their relationship just isn't that strong enough for Sophie to do that. So she's stuck with a whiny brat of an imaginary friend.

Just then, the rain clouds gathered and deposited a whole bunch of water all over Dragon Valley. But that didn't stop almost everyone gathering to see Sophie off.

Nessa: You going to be okay sis?
Sophie: I'm ... not sure.

She looked frantically around for Pat. She hated leaving with  this bad atmosphere between them. But then she spotted him standing near the doorway, the physical as well as spiritual distance between them VERY noticeable.

Nessa: You know where we are if you need us.
Sophie: Yeah, I know. A phone call away.
Hespa: I'm so envious of you.
Sophie: You could come along too you know!
Hespa: I'm ... not so sure ... you know. Too many people there? It might get a little too crowded for me.
Sophie: Understood.
Blaine: Just go fulfill your wishes kiddo.
Sophie: Thanks.

She glanced across at Pat, who resolutely and defiantly stood with his back still turned. Sighing, Sophie picked up her suitcase and started towards the moving van. Just then, one of the patrol cars that her parents had, pulled up and J1NX1E honked the horn.

J1NX1E: Want a ride?
Sophie: Does mom know you're driving this? More to the point, I didn't know you could drive!?!
J1NX1E: Ah pfft, what she doesn't know won't hurt her.
Sophie: Thanks, but I think I'd be better off in the van.
J1NX1E: Okay, no problem. Don't forget where we all are and have fun!

And so begins a two year course on Fine Arts. Sophie is determined to knuckle down and get that degree - by hook or by crook?

As for Pat?
Well, he'll just have to suck it up and wait for her return