1. Hello! Welcome back to Ruth’s (un)Officially Wacky Boolprop
Challenge, the only challenge where you are both entertained and
educated about popular Victorian operettas! There’s not much in
the way of education this time around, but I hope that you are at
least reasonably entertained.
You may recall that last time around we only had a new baby and a
spate of birthdays in the extended family. Well, that’s what you get
when you have a lull between setting up Plots. Hopefully once
Baby C is born and the heir poll is concluded there will be more
excitement. (Er, pretend that picture up there is not, in fact up there
for one moment, okay?)
2. Let’s start with an update on the status of the business over the
three days of the rotation.
Adam and Myrna are still mostly running the business these days.
As you can see in the background there, Adam invited Rose down
to the lot in an attempt to Pass Along various business rewards.
After all, Rose and Dmitri have a business too.
That tactic didn’t work -- apparently, you can only Pass Along
those things to someone in the actual household. But I did learn
that a Plantsim exuding Spores of Happiness can make a business
gain stars like nothing else.
3. However, as you can see in this post-partum picture, Pass Along
works fine on the business lot for Lisa. She now has all of Adam’s
Business Perks. Eventually, I hope to spread certain of them --
Head for Numbers and Perk Up -- throughout the entire ’hood,
although that will require a little strategy.
4. For whatever reason, college students love to patronize the Tacky
Flamingo.
As you probably remember, I have far too many doppelgangers in
my college.
As you also probably remember, the business is at Level 10 and
nothing needs to be done.
Myrna is taking advantage of this by providing free makeovers to
any dormies that stop by.
5. Including Kevin Cho here, who readers of 100 Days of Awesome
can be forgiven for possibly mistaking for Pong Dennis.
This is why dormie makeovers are necessary, whenever and
wherever possible.
6. We had yet another reporter stop by without giving us a review.
The business did get a good review ages ago, but I’m hoping
(perhaps futilely) for a Best of the Best Award.
(mutters) I think the reporters just like getting comped their ticket.
7. And as long as we’re discussing work-related topics, I would like
to take this opportunity to point out that Lisa was able to poach the
Adventurer career reward quite handily. This picture was taken
with the game on pause, and Jumbok was subsequently tucked into
Lisa’s inventory, since he is verboten, just like the Gootentagen
Award.
8. Why, whatever can this be?
Is it an empty carpool car, destined to drive away with no-one in it?
9. I do believe it is!
GLEN: Hello. I just wanted to let you know that I’m quitting.
GLEN: Because I have a toilet that needs fixing, that’s why.
GLEN: No, I meant an actual toilet.
10. GLEN (V.O.): I’m very sorry to heat that your priorities are so out
of whack. If my replacement has any questions about the job,
please don’t give them my number.
11. After fixing the toilet, Glen embarked on the creation of moar
robots. He’s got to get his Gold badge sometime, and until then, he
can make robots until they come out his ears.
12. He also has to be abducted, but since the aliens don’t seem to be
interested in helping with that any time soon, Glen can just work
on those robots.
13. Olga Grew Up on the first day of the rotation, and I took the
opportunity to conduct a little experiment.
You see, I created a little challenge a while back that involves
keeping a Sim in Platinum the hard way for their entire life.
However, there was some speculation that age transition causes an
automatic drop to gold aspiration level. I have been able to
demonstrate that no such drop occurs when going from Child to
Teen, but Olga here is the first Toddler to transition since the
theory was proposed.
Note the platinum plumbbob.
14. Which is now not-platinum, despite a fresh injection of aspiration
points for Growing Up Well.
This would appear to confirm the theory, and a modification will
be made to the rules of my challenge. Many thanks to Olga for
assisting with advancing the cause of Science!
15. With a little assistance, Pitti-Sing Grew Up that same evening. Her
transition was significantly later, however -- even after a fresh
diaper and a bottle.
16. She is apparently a clone of her sister in every respect, including
personality.
Do you know, before I heard of the “first-born effect,” I never once
encountered it? Now that I know about it, it’s actually happened
repeatedly!
This, boys and girls, demonstrates why you should never ever learn
anything and should instead make up your own facts.
17. As I suspected, there are no Everyday outfits with gloves for
Children. The options for Teens and up are also pretty limited, with
most of them being some variation on “Goth.” In keeping with this,
I’ve given Olga the Gothiest hair and outfit I could find in the
Eaxis repertoire… that hadn’t already been used by Aunt Phoebe.
(The hairstyle was used by Aunt Rose, but not at this age, so it’s
okay.)
I fear that Olga may be not fond enough of grunge for a true Goth,
though. She did this autonomously, and gained Fun while she was
at it.
18. However, Olga does have every outfit I can find that has gloves or
mittens as an option. Here, she shows of her stylish new Outerwear
as she heads out to steal the gnome back two times in a row.
20. Oh, just fine. Everybody loves plunging the toilet, don’t they?
21. And this pregnancy is easy enough that she’s able to help Olga
with her homework instead of being on a continuous eat-sleep-pee
cycle.
LISA: …So you just add that one to the other one, and there’s your
answer.
OLGA: But shouldn’t I carry the two?
LISA: No, because eeeeauuuuuuuuuugh!
22. LISA: Esme, this hurts! Why does this have to hurt so much?
(screeches) Glen, if you want any more babies, you woohooing
have them!
Lisa is the most successful member of this family at breaking
EAxian conditioning: two out of three babies were not born in the
bathroom!
23. Say hello to the readers, Casilda!
CASILDA: brrrrrrrroo (sneezes)
Casilda here is named after a character from The Gondoliers, who
was married in infancy to the King of Barataria, but who is secretly
in love with her family’s one remaining servant. Naturally, she
shows her affection in public by demanding that he be whipped
and/or fired.
But you want to see what the other households are up to. Let’s go!
24. The Buttercup-and-Albert household is doing quite well at the
moment. The married folks still act like three-bolters, although
both couples only have two bolts. Skye is working on that Fifty
First Dates LTW, and Penny has Learned to Study.
25. Phoebe and Chant have a new addition to their household:
Nicholas Couderc! Nicholas has black hair and dark blue eyes, just
like his cousins. Well, that’s dominant genetics for you.
Note to self: Marry in lots of Sims with recessive genes next
generation.
26. Both Fantine and Saigon aged up at the very end of the rotation.
You should be able to tell them apart now, but just in case: Fantine
is the one in the leaves, with the giant ears, who is cross with me
because I wouldn’t let her Get Married Right Now, Dammit!
I will buy them new outfits next time around.
27. And finally, Rose and Dmitri have welcomed little Alexander
Shankel!
You can’t tell in this picture, but Alexander’s eyes are brown.
Genetically, this should not be possible, so he must have been
slated to inherit his father’s custom alien eyes that went missing in
the Great Computer Switch of 2012. When he is old enough, I will
give him alien contacts, just like I gave Dmitri.
28. The heir poll is up on LiveJournal, so don’t forget to go vote!
(Technically, it should be up on Boolprop, but I’ve been having a
heck of a time logging in lately. Or more accurately, I’ve been
having a heck of a time staying logged in. The site seems to log me
back out within about ten seconds of my logging in…)
Until next time, Happy Simming!
29. Notes, disclaimers, and other trivia
The title of this chapter is taken from an Act II song in The Grand
Duke. It seemed to fit.
Readers of Already in Progress might recognize a few pictures.
Alas, that is the price of keeping things separate for the folks who
only read one story or the other. Please accept my deepest
apologies for the déjà vu.
