Generation 6b: Koetsu’s Krush(es) and a Birthday BashHello, Anastasia here. You remember me, I hope. I’m Seimei’s wife, the family member who is left out of all the photos. Anyway, noticing her oversight, Watchette asked me to talk with you all today. I feel a little better, knowing that Watchette is making an effort to show her appreciation for my efforts to support the dynasty household.
Today is Tuesday, four days after Uncle Tetsuji (Uncle T) received his second notice. All the family is wondering how much time he has left. Does he get bonus days for maxing Fitness and the BodyBuilder career? He seems to think often about his legacy, what is left of him here after he’s gone. He paints a portrait of Seimei for the dynasty museum. It’s a masterpiece!
Today, I achieve a professional milestone. I earn my final promotion in the Business Investor career and become an Angel Investor! I’m looking mighty fine in my grey linen suit and pearl necklace. Also, I'm officially Watchette's first sim to max a Business career.
Recently, Watchette has been on a rampage to minimize the game lag. Today, she suggests that we sell our shop. No one minds. We’d only opened for business twice. It’s not like we need the moneyy, either.
The store’s exterior is designed to match the Enchanting Springs pool lot, which had been next door temporarily.
Several weeks ago, Watchette consulted
@Playalot about the relationship between inventory and file bloating, then followed Play’s initiative in moving all our collections to the store’s basement. This basement, too, we sell off with the store today. But before the sale, Koetsu insists that we keep the insects, one of each, since we never completed that collection and still have a few herbal remedies to brew.
Next stop is the South Square Café where the family has a club hangout, expanded mainly with a child heir in mind. Watchette went a little overboard a few weeks ago with a basement expansion (see below), also replacing the first-floor study space with a kitchenette. Since this remodeling, this is the first time we’ve visited. Because we don’t use this hangout, we decide it must go but Watchette says she can’t let it go completely and simply downsizes the basement room by 40%. Because of the game lags so much at our home lot, we enjoy spending time elsewhere.
Our teenager Koetsu looks quite bewitched by the barista, named Brooke Wang. Apparently, she loves the outdoors, which makes her a good match for him and our household, not to mention she is also very pretty. Koetsu discovers that she’s an alien, which intrigues him even more. Most perfect of all, she isn’t even distantly related to any of us, having just recently moved to Windenberg. Alas, she’s an adult! Koetsu will be a young adult in nine more days, so he’ll need to keep an eye on her ageing.
Jedidiah Spencer-Kim and Ashley MacAlister also show up at the café.
I wonder what outfit Jedidiah is wearing. Is it a new career uniform? He looks like a pilot? He looks pretty cool.
We then proceed to Desert Bloom Park. We’re seeking an elderly gentleman who might possibly move in during the short interval after Tetsuji passes and before Koetsu becomes a young adult, thereby blessing our world with a few more citizens of no relation to our family in the existing households.
We meet no one new, although Koetsu introduces himself to 4-5 people and Uncle T gains yet one more opportunity to possibly leave behind a keepsake of his existence. Uncle T is still going incredibly strong! Or, perhaps, Grimm has just been busy elsewhere these days?
Watchette gets so excited she forgets to take a shot, but we run into the perfect short-term populator at Hare Square in Windenberg, Leo McAlister. Leo’s also a criminal so he and Seimei became good friends really fast. While we're at the park, Uncle T invites a half dozen people there for the family to meet so we won’t lose contact with them after he’s gone.
Since it’s Tuesday, we head over to the Shrieking Llama Bar for Aliens’ Night in the evening. As Koetsu hopes, Brooke Wang from the South Square Café appears! They get to know each other and become good friends. Great!
Then another attractive woman arrives at the Bar, Nicolette Esparza. She’s sitting at the far left in the brown shirt.
So, now Koetsu has a choice of sorts, though both ladies are adults.
A barista a South Square Café, the redhead Brooke Wang (right) is a known alien with the traits Loves the Outdoors, Cheerful, and Snob.
A regular at the Shrieking Llama Bar, Nicolette Esparza (left) has black hair and the traits Good, Creative, and Genius.
Koetsu hasn’t done his homework for tomorrow yet, so we leave the bar, without learning whether or not Nicolette is also an alien. Though Nicolette isn’t glowing in either snapshot, Brooke Wang wasn’t glowing either at first. Who knows. Maybe a bar regular just shows up all the time, whether it’s a night for aliens, bears, or knights. (In the bottom center, Uncle T sits in his swimming trunks, chatting up the ladies. Give it a rest, Uncle T!)
Look who shows up while Koetsu’s attending high school! Seimei wants to know, once and for all, whether Nicolette is an alien or not. Like his grandfather and father, Seimei naturally wades into the shallows to chat, after which Nicolette surprisingly obliges by also wading to stand in front of him. I wonder if this behavior is contagious.
Despite his mischievous past, Seimei makes good friends faster than anyone else in the household. I wonder why.
Later in the evening, we suddenly hear that weird music. Watchette looks around, wondering who the aliens’ target will be this time. Although Seimei is outdoors, writing a song on the violin, the aliens oddly choose to abduct me.
Meanwhile, Koetsu is cloistered in the reading area on the second-floor balcony, starting his second book for Renaissance Sim’s first milestone. Watchette’s been concerned about Koetsu lately. He’s been the most coddled and pampered dynasty heir of all, yet he takes longer to do certain activities; he takes forever to finish his homework and he couldn’t finish reading all three books in one afternoon, like the other heirs. The fact that he stands and stares for at least a half hour between books is not helping. Read, please.
W: Who me? Of course not, I would never lock him out on the second-floor balcony to read! That would be...uh...cruel.... *slinks away
And, of course, as soon as I criticize my son, he whizzes through the last two books, gaining four levels per book. Koetsu rose from level 1 to level 4, reading skill books written by The Founder. Only when he reached level 4 did Renaissance Sim recognize that he finished reading one book. Odd.
The Founder’s been replacing our store-bought skill books with ones written by family members. Seems to be a good practice, although we don’t know if it’s because Koetsu is brilliant or if a bestseller skill book is more effective.
After reading the two books, Koetsu now phones in to throw me a birthday party, as planned. Well, we’d originally planned to start the party much earlier, but whatever. Everyone gathers in the living area, then starts wandering off in their usual way, while Watchette gets busy locking the doors to the Focused Office, Inspired Studio, and Massage Room.
My age bar had been bubbling since the afternoon, so I blow out my birthday candles as soon as the party starts. Notice the enthusiastic support of my family (only Seimei is watching me). I told you they’ve all wandered off. Thanks. Sadly, it gets worse.
By the way, you’ve only seen photos of our son, Koetsu, in his school or work clothes. Here he is in his party clothes. I disagree with Watchette that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a Serial Romantic. Well, okay, Koetsu is not oozing with allure but he’s attractive in a most delightful and pleasant way.
Whatever, he’ll just have to be the cutest Outdoor Enthusiast ever.
When we all grab servings of the meal, a most incredible thing happens. Can you believe that no one sits with me? Not.a.single.person! This has to be THE most pathetic excuse for a birthday party ever. *sniff, sniff
Fortunately, “Compliment the birthday sim” shows up as a party milestone, so Watchette quickly arranges for me to be surrounded by sociable family members.
Remind me never to marry into a dynasty again! (Why, yes, of course I believe in transmigration. Why do you ask?)
Koetsu earns his first gold medal for my birthday party when it ends at 8:04 a.m., just in time for Koetsu and me to leave for school and work. We get our “Time for school” and “Time for work” notices on time instead of 30+ minutes later, and we immediately change clothes and leave for work. We are out the door 5 minutes later at 8:09 a.m.
So, our entire household gives a huge thank-you to Playalot! Getting rid of all that stuff has improved our speed conspicuously. *Crosses fingers that it stays this way
It is now Thursday morning, so Uncle T has lived nearly a week past his second notice, which he received last Friday afternoon. If you ask me, he’s carrying his “leave a keepsake behind” campaign a little too far. From morning to night, he flits around in his swimming trunks and now he’s going after our maid?!
While working on his daily task, Seimei looks out the window and spies another potential bride for our Koetsu as she strolls by our lot. Seimei gets his hustle on and learns that her name is Tamara O’Keefe and she is unemployed.
She is the third newcomer we’ve met in the past two days that might be a good match for Koetsu.
I wish Uncle T were there—his Observant trait lets him learn a person's traits so quickly, but Uncle T is "busy" right now. Seimei pursues her personal info until the “Become Best Friends” option pops up. Oh no, we do NOT want that, husband of mine. Uncle T “frees up” and we rush him over. After introducing himself, he learns her three traits with a single "Get to Know."
Seimei and Uncle T chat with Tamara until Koetsu comes home from school and can introduce himself. Run along now, Seimei and Uncle T. You are no longer needed here. (What I want to know is how they end up becoming good friends with her so fast? Uncle T and I are still only acquaintances! Sheesh!!!)
So to recap, all three potential brides are adult newcomers to our world:
• Brooke Wang: redhead, barista at South Square Café, known alien; Loves the Outdoors, Cheerful, Snob
• Nicolette Esparza: black hair, bar regular (how is that different from “unemployed”?); Good, Creative, Genius
• Tamara O’Keefe: brunette, unemployed; Clumsy, Bookworm, Family-Oriented
Koetsu met Brooke first and has the highest friendship with her, but I wonder whose company he'd prefer if his friendship level with all three were equal?
Any one of these three would be a welcome addition to our household. I must confess I'm rather partial to Brooke, since she’s the only working girl among them.
Of course, the main issue now is all three might all become elders while Uncle Dynasty-Bottleneck lingers on. Watchette learned tonight from Big Grasshopper (a.ka.
@Playalot) that an elder with the Active trait (like Uncle T) typically lives 20 days after Grim’s first notice. 20 days is the average adult life span!
Arrgggh, does that mean Uncle T will be doing his little “keepsake” number for another two weeks? *Clenches teeth and pulls hair
I caught Watchette crying in the closet just now. She's taking the news about Uncle T really hard, too.
