When the Zombies Come -- a Cottoneye Decadynasty (COMPLETED)

[RainBeau]

He is now my favourite. As an aspiring auteur myself, I heartily support this development! He's a good sense of comedy, that one. Tell him I will send him lots of Simoleons to fund his progress.

[MarianT]

Chapter Two – Scary Things

Dear Cousin Aurelia, et al.,

Basil is one cute kid. I want a plantsim or an alien baby, but that would probably be against the rules of my dynasty. Virgil, good luck with finding  Ms. Right. Anyway, I've been doing research into what things are scary and what aren't. I'm hoping to someday make a movie that rivals They Came with Tweezers for sheer adrenalin rushes and terror.

Blog 1 – Getting medical treatment from my Dad is one scary thing. I don’t know which is worse – his diagnosis…



…or the boulder he expects you to choke down for treatment.



Blog 2 – Going through the Haunted House is really not all that scary.



Running into my cousin Shelley is a little scary. (What happened to her hair? Has she been sick? Is it catching? Why doesn’t she wear a hat when it gets cold?)



Blog 3 – Going trick-or-treating is not particularly scary.



Unless, maybe, a zombie comes to the door.



Blog 4 – Seeing my mom summon a genie was kind of scary.



She was asking for money so that my Dad would complete his lifetime wish.



But what was really scary was my attempt to impress the very attractive genie afterwards. (“I just made the honor roll, you know.” FACE PLANT!) What makes things worse is that my younger brother is never going to let me forget that moment.



Blog 5 – Seeing my mom in her Halloween costume is not scary at all. (Incidentally, that house belongs to the only single woman in Lucky Palms who isn’t a vampire or werewolf and who is fairly close to my age. Will I live there someday? That's a little scary.)



Seeing my mom come home from work in the same t-shirt that I wore to school that day – terrifying.



I had to change my clothes immediately. I just hope no one from school saw her.



Woden Cottoneye, over and out.

[Turoskel]

I like Woden, he makes me laugh 

Nice idea using the new blog system for his letters, I'm also liking the look of Lucky Palms, from the outside that looks like a nice new home for Woden if he marries that single lady.

[ArianaJade]

That really is social suicide, wearing the same t-shirt as your mother. I love his attempts at chatting up the genie as well.

[RainBeau]

I may have said this exact statement before, but I have to say it again. Woden's my favourite. This is going to sounds conceited, but I don't care--he's so me!

[MarianT]

Rosa, Maybe when he grows up, he can appear on The Bachelorette 2 or 3? Incidentally, his traits are eccentric, easily impressed, bookworm, and schmoozer.

[RainBeau]

I definitely see him as the behind-the scenes type--I could see him running the show! But if I do a second season you may feel free to enter him at that time. I would be delighted to work with him

[MarianT]

Chapter Three – A Visit from Grim

Dear Aunt Aurelia,

   My blogs this time probably aren’t going to be very funny. Something happened – well, you’ll find out later. Glad to hear that Virgil’s a father. Claudia’s going to be a lucky little girl.

Blog 1 – Someone sent us a couple of gifts. One was a bottle of citrus oxide, which sounds like a chemical but is really a can of pop.



The other was an arcade game – The Shambling Shades IV. Really cool. It’s about zombies, so is perfect for our family.



I’ve decided that all my books are going to be horror novels like Great-Aunt Mercy’s, only they’ll be about zombies. My first one is titled A Visit from Grim, which starts out realistic, but then gets weird.



   Mom enjoyed playing with the zombies, too. Her job is so cool – a video game developer. If I weren’t going into the movies, I would like to do that, too, but something more complicated than arcade games.



The other thing Mom enjoys is flirting with Dad. I hope I'll be as happy with my marriage as the two of them are with theirs.
 


Blog 2 – Well, anyway, as you could probably guess, Dad died. He was 98, but it still seemed too soon. If Grim could have waited a few more days, Dad would have become a World-Renowned Surgeon.



When Grim came, I tried to take a film of his arrival. Some people might be shocked that I would do that, but an auteur has to be ready to record events, no matter how upsetting.



Later on, I chatted with Grim for a few minutes. I forgot to get a picture, however, so nobody (mainly Valor) believes me. Which just goes to show the value of getting a record. But I did get a picture of Dad’s urn, with our little witch gnome guarding it.



Blog 3 – A kind of funny thing happened the next day. Mom went to turn on the computer and discovered that Valor had pranked it. She got really mad and yelled at him, “You could have given your father a heart attack with that!” I started laughing hysterically because of course Dad was dead.



   Mom didn’t get mad at me, which you might expect. She just said that everyone reacts differently to grief. She should know. We had to get rid of the fridge because she kept trying to cook things even though she’s one autumn salad away from maxing the skill. We’re all eating the apples we conjure up now. That’s okay for Mom and Valor because they’re pretty talented, but I keep getting poison apples.



   Then she wanted to exercise, and reached 9 skill points before we noticed. We got rid of the TV set, too, because her maxing athletics would really cause our dynasty to fail.



   Finally, she and Valor settled down with a spell-casting duel. Like Mom says, everyone reacts differently to grief.



   While they were doing that, I tried out the time machine. I wanted to collect some material for my book. I got to help with a cattle drive and met Napoleon (not on the cattle drive, obviously -- meeting Napoleon came later).



   Oh, I forgot to mention that I completed my third black op. I recited a monologue and got to meet the actress Olivia Street. I asked her if she’d like to be in one of my movies, and she said I should talk to her agent.



   Anyway, we put Dad’s tombstone in back, next to the moondial. Maybe the little witch gnome will come and keep him company. Rest in peace, Perry Saavedra Cottoneye.



Bye for now, Woden

[RainBeau]

Awww. We'll miss you, Perry. They had such a sweet love story. I still remember what a hard time he had when he had to reprimand her as her commanding officer. I'm glad Woden was covering it, I really love his style and I think he's going to be an amazing director.

[SimBlip]

Hehe... Woden keeps his eye on the ball even when things get upsetting. I shouldn't really laugh about this. Perry's death is a sad fact after all. But it's the way he acts and writes about it.
I totally loved reading these updates. Great work, Marian!

[MarianT]

Chapter Four – A Change in Plans

Congratulations, Aunt Aurelia! Wow, an Immortal – that is so cool. I wish I could come to Monte Vista and film your transformation. Maybe someday, huh?

Blog 1 – The last few days of high school pass in kind of a blur. With the refrigerator gone, we’re all living on the apples we conjure up. Mom and Valor are pretty good; I keep producing the poison kind.



The night before my birthday, there’s an awards ceremony for everyone who participated in an after-school activity. I could count it as a black op, but won’t. Some future Cottoneyes might want to go too.



Blog 2 – Finally, it’s my birthday! I decide to have cake as soon as I get up, with Mom and Valor celebrating. The cake tastes really good after a steady diet of apples. I am now officially neurotic (Valor says I always was).



Wardrobe comes next. These are my new pajamas.



Here’s my formal outfit – perfect for the Distinguished Director that I intend to become.



With goggles and flippers, I’m ready for a swim in the ocean – assuming I ever get close to an ocean.



And here’s my outerwear.



What’s really important for an auteur, however, is his headgear. Spielberg has his baseball cap; there was some French guy with his beret; Hitchcock favored the bald dome. I’m not ready to go bald or wear a beret, so tried the baseball cap.



Meh. I tried some other hats.







I was about to give up, when I found it, the perfect hat, the one that says “Woden Cottoneye, Director.”



I then picked out something warm to cover my ears when I went outside.

Blog 3 – The next thing on my agenda was getting ready for college. I took the SimU Aptitude Test (the SAT), and discovered that I could get credit in every major but the one I wanted, Fine Arts. So I got a drum set and practiced for a few hours.



I had a lot of fun, and when I took the test again, I’d picked up 18 credits toward my degree. Yahoo!



While waiting for high school graduation (recommended for people going off to university), I checked out the profiles on the Online Dating Service. Ichelle Grimm is grumpy and mean-spirited, but her sister Melody looks nice. So does Emi Irwin, except for being a vampire. Or maybe there's some sweet young thing out there who is still too young to go online.

Blog 4 – And that’s when the Grim Reaper showed up. Valor and I knew that Mom had just turned 90, but we thought she’d be around a little while longer. I mean, nobody dies at 90 these days; sometimes they live to well over 100. So it was a big shock when Valor called me to the computer room.



Mom protested a little to Grim. “My son’s graduating from high school tomorrow,” she said. “Can’t I at least stick around till then?”



I was named Valedictorian. Mom might not have been there physically, but I thought about her the whole time.



So I won’t be going to college for a while. Someone has to stay home and keep an eye on Valor. I’ll start at the film studio as a background extra. And who knows? By the time Valor graduates, I might decide not to go to college at all.

I guess the good news is that Mom and Dad are together again. She’s been kind of mopey ever since he died. She had a great life, meeting an alien and becoming an astronaut, not to mention making 10 time machines for my requirements. I just wish the Grim Reaper could have waited a bit.

[RainBeau]

Oh. Good-bye, Diana. I hate losing the former heirs. I get so attached. I love Woden, though. He's my absolute favourite. He definitely chose the right headgear. I love a fedora. I can't wait to see him become a director. He's going to be great.

[maisie]

Woden's new wardrobe is really suitable for a prospective director. He's so cute but I think it's a little pity that you can't see his great orange hair.
R.I.P. Diana, your family sure will miss you.  But finally, she can be together with her beloved what Immortal Dynasty heirs aren't allowed for a very long time.

[SimBlip]

Love the hat! Such a nice idea to include the headgear fashion show.
R.I.P. Diana. Woden is right: 90 days is way too early to pass on and a rather rare occurrence.

[MarianT]

Chapter Five – Background Extras

Dear Aunt Mercy,

   Little Claudia looks like a sweetheart; tell Virgil he’s a lucky guy. And I do thank you and Aunt Aurelia for your offer. So far Valor and I are managing – it helps that we have a maid. And Mom’s ghost showed up the other night and made us some French toast, so we’re not going hungry.

Blog 1 – The movie I’ll be appearing in is Star Yacht, and I wouldn’t recommend going to see it. If you do, look for me in the Yacht Club scene – I’ll be one of the aliens at the bar.



Blog 2 – We had a burglar the other night, and I shot some footage to show to the powers-that-be when I make a push for a promotion.



I also got to meet our friendly neighborhood cop – Griselda Horton.



Unfortunately, Mom broke up my attempt to make friends with her, shouting “She doesn’t have a house! She doesn’t have a house!” I tried to explain to Mom that Griselda might help fulfill the NPC friend requirement, but by the time I got through to Mom (ghosts don’t seem to be quite as quick on the uptake), Griselda had to leave.



The next day I put in some more work on the NPC requirement by skating with Sylvia Gavin at the Winter Festival. For an acrobat, she’s not too coordinated.



Blog 3 – Valor decided to throw a party for his birthday. Not surprisingly, he invited more young ladies than men. That’s his high-school girlfriend, Krystal Purnell blowing a horn.



He’s decided to get a job at Plumbob Pictures, too, but as an actor rather than director. I handed him the dress code sheet that they gave me, when I applied:

“Hair – no longer than the top of your shirt collar. We’ll give you a wig if one’s needed.
Tattoos – no. If you have any, be prepared to have them surgically removed.
Piercings – no.
Facial hair – shave it off.”

Valor loves his dreads, so I thought he might look for another job, but no – he came up with a different hair-style.



This is his everyday outfit:



And here is his formal. I have to admit, the camera is going to love him.



Back to the party – For me the most exciting part was dancing with Emi Irwin and finding out that she’s not involved with anyone.



Blog 4 – So Valor graduated and was named valedictorian and Most Popular.



Immediately after graduation, he went and got hired at the studio. This meant that he worked the next day, but I didn’t. Also, he’s in a different movie – one where the extras don’t play aliens. As you might guess, the result was that he was promoted at the end of his first day, which means he now outranks me. Sigh.



Blog 5 – The good news is that I’ve finished writing three books, and am almost done with the fourth. My agent recommended that I try sports books, even though (thanks to you, Aunt Mercy) the Cottoneyes are a big name in horror. I have to say it’s a good move since I’m not going for literary merit. They only have to be 120 pages long, and they follow an easy format (unlikely wannabe becomes the hero of the big game). The pay-off, however, is great -- $700+ per novel, which is more than I got for my horror novel which was three times as long.



Blog 6 – To celebrate after finishing Dive Bomb (instead of big game, substitute Olympics), I wrote a love letter to Emi. Yes, she’s a vampire, but I have an elixir that can change that. Anyway, my grandfather Weston was a vampire, and Great-great grandmother Elaine was a werewolf. So it’s not the big deal it used to be. And she may be a criminal, but she’s family-oriented, so that has to count for something.