The Rao Random Town Jump: The Move (17)

[Audren]

Inspired by a True Name

It seems my theory about the lack of WooHoo was correct, as both Mia and Roger rolled wishes to have a child. Since I've had that wish ever since Zara was born, I was happy to oblige. I was a bit worried because I didn't hear any chimes.



But it seems that I had nothing to worry about, since Mia promptly vomited only a few hours later. For an act that most of us dislike watching in real life, we Simmers sure do love seeing it in stories. Kind of weird.



At this point, Roger absolutely blew up with child-related wishes, including wishes to have both a boy and a girl. Since I intend to have one of each anyway, I didn't feed Mia any fruit. I'll let the game decide. Roger's wishes did start to wear me out, since his wish box was nearly always filled. His Family-Oriented trait probably has something to do with that.



Since Mia has at least two pregnancies to go through before she can have a good stretch of working time, I figured I'd indulge one of Mia's constant wishes and have her join the Painter Career. I didn't change her Lifetime Wish, since I still want her to join the Medical career eventually. I might as well use the chess set and telescope I bought, after all.



Amid all this pregnancies business, Zara managed to age up alone in the nursery. It seems she's being neglected by everyone, which unfortunately includes me. I don't seem to have a close-up of her as a toddler. I couldn't really tell which parent she resembled more, since I think Roger and Mia look a lot alike. It will probably be more clear when she becomes a child.



Zara also seems to be a rather smart little toddler. She's the first toddler I've ever seen actually get the right block in the right hole. I'm really getting a Leonardo da Vinci vibe with Zara, and I'm not quite sure why.



Of course, she proceeded to have a temper tantrum when the blocks wouldn't fit where she wanted them. Angry little baby. Maybe that's why she reminds me of Leonardo.



Remember back when Mia gave birth to Zara, and I said I was hoping for pregnancy brain hijinks? I changed my mind.



Zara appreciated her mother's attempts to introduce her to the world of the two-legged. She appreciated that her mother was clothed even more.



This is the third cooking-related speech bubble I've seen the two of them both say. If Zara rolls the Natural Cook trait, I'm applauding the game's level of foresight.



But don't get the wrong idea. Roger is involved in his daughter's life, too. It's just that most of the time he's strumming away at his guitar. It takes forever for Roger to raise his Guitar skill. He decided to take a break and attack Zara with The Claw. If there's one thing I love about Generations, it's this interaction. Watch those mouths widen in awe!



Gaze upon the descent of The Claw towards the defenseless toddler! Seriously, who can't love this? If every parent doesn't do this, they should!



In fact, Mia decided she needed two nooboos so they'd be more toddlers to Attack with The Claw! I don't think she expected her eyes to cross so much, though.



Once again, Roger is exhausted as he drives his wife to the hospital. Once again he was considerate enough not to mention anything. He even let her borrow his umbrella.



All the better to protect Zander Rao from the rain. It never occured to me to spell that name with a 'Z' instead of an "X," until I met someone who spelled it like that. His brother was named Zane, (or possibly Zayne, I'm not sure) which gave me the idea for naming everyone with 'Z.' While Zane will not be appearing in this story, know that his influence is felt by the Raos. I'm not sure what I need to do to make Mia's pregnancy happy because Zander had his traits assigned again; Brave and Loves the Heat. Not bad traits for a firefighter, I suppose.



Sometimes, I wonder how these babysitters think. I've had one that built snowmen all day, and now one that simply stood outside all day. What's going on? Must be something in the water.

[Louise56]

Congrats with the nooboo. The picture of the babysitter is funny, it looks like he is hiding lol.

[Blayzen]

I am loving this story! You've managed to crack me up with every update! You really do have quite a talent for story-telling and the ability to work with your Sims little quirks is quite impressive! (Mia' s pregnancy brain comes to mind, more specifically Zara' s pleasure at her Mother's decision to put on clothes) Well done! I am really looking forward to the next chapter 

[Audren]

Triple Z

Poor Mia. She just looks so miserable with her son.



Somehow, Mia managed to sell a blank canvas for $79. That's talent.



Roger's slowly climbing the ranks in the Music career, and climbing even slowly in his Guitar skill. I'm not all that worried, though. He's just shy of his Adult birthday. Roger still has plenty of time.



Now that Zara's birthday is coming up, I'm ready for Roger and Mia to have their final child. They opted for a more... unconventionally approach.



Zander aged up to toddler that same day. I think he resembles his dad more than Mia, but I can't tell. His eyes are beautiful, though I don't know where his hair came from. Roger and Mia both have this black-with-brown-highlights color, and so does Zara. Zander's is just black.



To spare Mia's dignity, I've decided not to show her morning sickness, as is the custom. Instead, I will show her breaking the toilet after the fact. Poor Mia. Maybe I should've shown her morning sickness shot.



I think both Zara and Zander have Roger's nose, now that I've seen Zara as a child. I don't mind, though. It looks pretty cool.



Mia gorges on her tenth watermelon once she starts showing. Once again, Roger rolled wishes for both a boy and a girl, but this time Mia wanted a girl, too. (Not to mention me, I already have her name)



Father and son take a rest from their skill learning for a coordinated bathroom break.



My first death in this game is not one of the Raos, but some random zombie that showed up and died of old age a few hours later. Even in death, she needs a cane to walk. Her grave disappeared after she died, though. I kind of wanted to keep it around, if only to have a ghost hanging out on the lot. All well.



Since Roger and Mia's friendships have decayed since they experienced the horrors joys of parenthood, I decided to throw Zara a birthday party so they could improve their relationships. It didn't really work, but it was fun.



Mia is no stranger to the awesomeness that is Attack with the Claw.



After a particularly taxing morning with the kids, Roger feels the need to let out some rage and kick his flamingo statue. Yay for Free Will!



I got this block table so Zara and Zander could play together and maybe raise their relationship, but Zander always wanted to use the other blocks. Zara played with them both, but Zander wants nothing to do with the table. I finally just forced them to play together to get the screenshot before Zara aged up.



Juan Inkbeard Jr. is probably one of my favourite townies in Barnacle Bay. He makes for a particularly fashion forward werewolf. He left the party as soon as he showed up, though. Not sure why he bothered to come at all.



Even after moving most of the furniture to the backyard, the Rao house was still too cluttered for so many guests. It took close to an hour for Mia to get over to the cake.



I got my first aging up deformity! Sometimes the pause function is not your friend. This is not one of those times. 



I think Zara resembles her father more, too. She definitely has his nose, unlike Zander. She aged up as a Loser. Not quite so Leonardo anymore, I guess.



Now that Zara has aged up, I've given her her own room. Later I added an easel once she started rolling Painting wishes.



Mia went into labor for the last time while teaching Zander how to talk. This time, I let her have a home birth.



And thus the second daughter of Roger and Mia Rao was born. Once again, I couldn't choose any of Zelda's traits (not that I would be choosing them anyway) and she was born with Hydrophobic and Absent-Minded. I haven't decided who will be the heir yet, though I'm leaning towards Zelda. I want Roger and Mia's hair color to be passed down, and I'm hoping Zelda will have it, since Zander doesn't. We'll find out soon.

[Louise56]

Zara and Zander are cute, I hope Zelda get the hair color you want. That grow up picture look painful lol.

[Audren]

Snazzy Jacket Time

Roger's looking pretty snazzy in his new work outfit. Once he got promoted and his outfit changed again, I switched it back to the suit. Handsome, right?



Recently, Roger and Mia haven't been the only ones practicing chess. Ever since Mia went back to work in the medical field, I've had to hire a babysitter, this one in fact. I believe her name is... actually, I have no idea what her name is. Sophie? I've been letting her stay over after Roger gets home, since the family needs more friendships.



Only problem is, she doesn't leave. After two days, she finally packed up and left, right after this screenshot. Whether the disgusting toilet has anything to do with her departure, I'll let you judge. I don't think it's a coincedence. It's filthy, absolutely filthy.



As befitting her Artistic trait, Zara has taken up art. I'll raise her Athletic skill once she becomes a teenager, since I don't know of any way to raise it right now.



And she's cooking on her baking oven. I'm not sure how the game decides how to choose traits if you randomize it, whether it's truly random or if it takes into consideration the things your Sims have already done, but I'm convinced that Zara has Natural Cook as a hidden trait. She always rolls wishing to go on bake sales and whatnot. We'll see, I guess.



In addition to art and athletics, it seems Zara has an interest in space. Or hopping around the house, at least. Who knows with children?



Zander is one of the loudest toddlers I've ever had. I can here him crying from anywhere in the house, and he's crying a lot. Either he wants a diaper change (which makes no sense, since he's potty-trained) or he's trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Even my Dynasty babies weren't so loud, and they were spoiled rotten.



Everybody in the household aged up within a few days, and Roger was first up to plate. The only one who celebrated is Felix Soto, who I let inside because it was the middle of winter and I was worried he might freeze to death. Or starve, since he's a vampire. They're not always that bright when it comes to keeping high plasma levels. Poor vampires.



Despite looking grim-faced and all around miserable, Roger didn't have a Midlife Crisis. Mia did, and she was all sorts of happy on her birthday. Things are always backwards in the Rao household.



Unfortunately, Felix didn't heed my advice, and he leaves soon after only to get attacked by a zombie. And he's starving. Good grief. It's a miracle he didn't die.



Zelda's birthday was a lot happier for both her and me. It's tough to see in this picture, since she doesn't have much hair, but Zelda inherited Roger and Mia's hair color. I'm almost certain that she'll be the heir. Zander will probably move with us, though. Zara will probably stay here.



After all, she's got this kid with him. Whose I also can't remember. I might've paid more attention to him if he actually helped Zara with her snowman.



Zander was the last of the Raos to age up this week. (Mia aged up, too, but I didn't take any good screenshots of it) I sent him off for a makeover, and he got stuck in the sink. I did that once. Long story short, I was a lot smaller than Zander, and it still wasn't any fun.



Zander decided to get some snazzy jacket time, too. I'm not sure if the jacket really suits Zander's personality, but it looks really cool. And those glasses. They're in every one of his outfits except sleepwear. Overall, pretty cool outfit if you ask me.

[Blayzen]

Those silly vampires...they never learn! I'm happy that your latest baby inherited Roger & Mia's hair, Zelda will be perfect as your heir! Great update...

[Louise56]

That toilet is filthy lol! Zelda is a cutie. Great update as always.

[Audren]

Zombie Repellent

As winter turns to spring in our world, (unless it isn't wherever you are living, readers) the Raos are slammed in the middle of winter. I'm a bit worried about Zander's grades, to be honest. He hasn't had a day of school yet, and the snow doesn't seem to be lifting anytime soon. Then I remember that his traits are randomized anyway, and I don't care anymore. Also, don't mind the sloppy add-on to the house on the right. I'm still not good with roofing, and it shows.



In order to accomodate two children who obviously cannot sleep in cribs, (or shouldn't, at the very least) I've converted Zara's bed into a bunkbed, so Zander can sleep in here, too. The room is still decorated entirely with Zara's stuff, and will remain that way until she moves out. After all, Zander will get his own room anyway when we move.



Zander decides to welcome his new bed by checking under the bed for monsters. While I couldn't get a screenshot, (can't scare off the children, after all) rest assured that he did, in fact, find one. I think he'll let Zara take the bottom bunk.



Of course, after all of my failures to get Zara and Zander to play together at the block table, Zara and Zelda get together almost immediately. Must be a girl thing or something. Zander plays with that table plenty by himself, but never with anyone else. I think he's a Loner at heart.



I mentioned last time (two months ago, so if anybody remembers that I'll be surprised) that Mia got a makeover as part of her Midlife Crisis. Now, I have a screenshot to show it off to the world. Zander disapproves. As a sidenote, he had just finished cleaning the bathroom as part of his punishment for trying to set a booby-trap. Bad news for Zander, but good news for me; that toilet is finally clean! Took long enough. If it had lasted any longer, I'd have to label it a health hazard or something. And that would be boring.



Zara taps into her father's vast hatred of flamingos. Poor guy. I wonder why Roger even bought it in the first place if he hates it so much.



In case it isn't clear what's actually going on in this screenshot, Zelda is watching TV. Zelda's actually the only Rao baby that I can safely identify as favouring one parent or the other. Even now that Zara's a teen, I'm not too sure. Zelda, on the other hand, looks quite a bit like Roger, mainly in the cheekbones.



Due to something of an oversite on my part, I ended up giving Zander and Zara the exact same outerwear outfits. (minus Zander's glasses, of course) At least Zander's helping with the snowman, unlike Chuck. (the one kid Zara was playing with a while ago. I found out his name. He's an unborn at the start of the game, like Zara)



In an effort to prevent Zara's Loserness from re-occuring, Mia is taking the time now to instill some proper winning tactics into Zelda. As to whether she'll succeed, who knows.



I'd try to make this funny in some way, but considering this is the third time I'm using this interaction in this story, (let alone all my other ones) I'll just let it speak for itself. Even though I'm still talking. Or typing, as it would happen.



We should've ended this update with Zara's jublient teenage birthday, but unfortunately we must interrupt our regularly scheduled programming-



Oh bother, not this again! This is the second zombie to die on my lot in a week! I remember a Building Contest from a while back that I almost entered (I couldn't get the supports to work the way I wanted to, and I was sapped for other ideas) to build a zombie shelter. Clearly, all you need is to live with the Raos. They seem to be zombie repellent.



Fortunately, Zara still managed to get a makeover, even if she decided to blink in the screenshot. I think that she resembles Roger just a bit more, but it's really a nice blend. I also got to use a new Store hair I just picked up, so good news for everyone.

[saltpastillen]

Great to see another update.

[Blayzen]

I am also happy to see another update about the Rao' s - I'd been wondering what happened to them. I thought it might have been a Zombpocalypse* but that clearly isn't the case since this family seems to have some sort of special immunity to Zombie infestations! Thrilled to see they're still alive! <whew>

*It may not be in the dictionary but I think it should be... 

[Audren]

Zara the Conductor

So I decide to start up my Town Jump again and the very first time I see Zara, she's in a foul mood. I have no idea what she might be upset about, besides the fact that I haven't even touched their file since April. I guess that would make anybody a bit testy. On the other hand, I finally realize that Zara looks a lot like Mia, which somehow I hadn't noticed before.



It could also have something to do with the fact that Zara got pranked by someone in the house. The logical trickster here would be Zander, but due to the timing of this, I don't think Zander would've been old enough to set the trap, leaving Zara's only possible prankster to be... Zara. Why she would fall for her own prank, I don't really know.



It's only been a week since I took this screenshot, and I've already forgotten why I took it. I guess Roger might've been modeling his fancy World Adventures sweater, but I could've sworn he was going something interesting.



Due to the extensive snow days we've had in this file, this is actually the first day of school for Zander. Yes, he's halfway through his life stage, and he's never even gone to school. I'm actually happy about school starting up, though, since having to deal with five Sims at once is kind of annoying. Mia and the kids all leave at the same time, leaving Roger home alone to do stuff until he heads off to the theatre around 2:00. It works out that Roger leaves just around the time that Zara gets home, so no babysitters.



Good thing, too, considering what our current babysitter gets up to. He goes into the nursery, tosses Zelda in the air, runs outside to kick down one of Zander's snowmen, and then goes back inside to toss Zelda in the air. Rinse and repeat until Zara gets home. I think he ended up aging up and becoming a paparazzi, which is probably even worse.



Roger and Mia, clearly needing a break from the babysitter, head out on a Free Vacation. Zara, who's been in a bad mood ever since she aged up, takes the opportunity to throw a teen party. Despite the fact that she only knows two teens.



Fortunately, Chuck Lai also aged up at some point, allowing Zara and Chuck some bonding time. Right now they're having a good time, but a few days later he comes back over and refuses all romantic interactions. He still gets a positive bonus to the relationship, but he rejects the romance. We'll see if reloading the game fixes that, or if Zara will have to find love somewhere else.



I hope she doesn't have to do that, though. Despite his tiny eyes, Chuck has some really cool genetics, and his facial expression are hilarious. The other guy there is the babysitter, I think.



In all of the excitement of a teen party, Zelda is lost in the action and takes a nap on the hardwood floor. Ouch. She gets back to her crib eventually, though.



I'm not sure if it's established in the code for teen parties to break stuff and make a mess, which would make sense I suppose, but the four teenagers manage to break everything. The only appliance left unharmed is the sink. Everything else (the toilet, tub, shower, and dishwasher) is all trashed. I have Zara start off on the dishwasher on her quest of repairing, but something I should've expected but didn't happened.



Thanks to all the water floating around nearby, Zara makes the perfect conductor for some good old fashioned electrocution, hitting her with a nasty moodlet. I should've started her off with the shower, so I'd have a place to clean up in case she did get zapped. I'd have her fix the shower right now, but we hit a roadblock there, too.



With such the horrible mood Zara is in, she refuses to try to fix the shower. However, since her singed moodlet is the main cause of her grouchiness, the only way for her to feel better is to... fix the shower. Faced with such an impossible choice, Zara takes a third option and calls a repairwoman, who fixes everything except the shower. Figures. The only thing to make this day worse would be if a cop showed up or something.



Oh, brilliant. Fortunately for Zara, there is no cop attached to the car. The car just sat there, with nobody inside, yet no police officer on the outside. By the time Roger and Mia got back, it was gone.



And, just to make things even better, another zombie dies on the lot. The first time, I was kind of touched, but now it's just annoying. Why won't these zombies go die somewhere else!



The best part of the whole thing happens when Mia and Roger come home. They come back to find half of their appliances broken, the dishes from the party still unwashed, puddles in the kitchen and bathroom, and their three children peacefully and innocently watching TV (with Zelda watching through the sofa, no less) with their oldest daughter singed in some sort of mysterious circumstance. That'd be enough to set off some bells for the parents, right?

Wrong. Roger and Mia don't suspect a thing.



Instead, Roger gets re-acquainted with his old enemy, The White Bishop.



Somewhere in there, our heir Zelda ages up. At first I want to take her to the mirror immediately to get rid of that ridiculous hair style, but I quickly decide that I'm too tired to give a Sim a makeover, so I save it until morning.



Morning comes around and I realize that I don't hate the hair style as much as I did the night before. In fact, I like it enough to let Zelda keep it. She'll shy away from the PlantSim style when she ages up again, but for now she can pretend to be Cress.*



Zelda runs off into Zara's room to try on her old princess clothes. Ordinarily Zara would get mad, but she has more important things on her mind right now.



Important things like getting electrocuted again. I guess this is Zara's Loser trait coming to the forefront.



Zander ages up the day after Zelda, and the only screenshot I get of it is Roger blowing his heart out. Poor Zander.



I had inklings of this earlier, but now that Zander is a teen I can tell that he looks a good deal like Roger. I'm not sure what he got from Mia, if anything, but it certainly isn't much. He inherited Roger's squinty eyes, which neither of his sisters got. Zander doesn't mind too much, though, since he gets a cool makeover, too.

*At this point, I was supposed to link to Sutz's Story of a PlantSim, as it was the story referenced in my "Cress" comment, while also simultaneously mocking my habit of placing asterisks in my stories to note references and then never comment on them. My joke would have been somewhat undercut by the fact that I once again forgot to comment on my asterisk. This time, I actually went back to add it. Congratulations, Audren.

[JudesSims]

Welcome back! Poor Zara. She sure had one bad day!

[Audren]

Lai-ing Around

This is Roy Thigpen, one of Zara's classmates in Barnacle Bay. I seriously consider promoting him to spouse-material in light of his insanity, but ultimately I decided that being an original townie was more important then being Insane. Chances are we'll get an Insane heir sooner or later anyway.



Mia is steadily progressing through the Medical career, even if her hours are becoming increasingly long and the workload increasingly heavy. This is her first Vaccination event, where she successfully treats six townies and is attracted to three of them. I would be worried about that, but Mia was promoted that same day and now works 10 hour work days plus being on-call. Quite a load for a Sim.



Part of the fun of this screenshot is that it is my 2,525 screenshot that I've uploaded. The other part is that Zara shows up and blocks out the TV with his exercise right in the middle of Zelda's show. Zelda is not amused.



Chuck Lai eventually comes back over, and this time he's quite a bit more receptive to Zara's romantic advancements. Their first kiss was a bit abrupt, but he doesn't seem to mind at all.



Chuck really only started being bothered by the whole situation when he started running out of air. Up to that point, he was having a blast.



Chuck does take slight offense to Zara's Loser trait, (as does essentially the entire school) while Zara rebukes his Brave trait. I had never realized that Brave and Loser were incompatible traits. Chuck doesn't really hold it against her, though, especially since he can now breathe again.



A day or two later, Zara has a mood swing. (Zander had one the day before, but he didn't really get into too many hijinks) Zara, on the other hand, wastes no time in pranking every appliance she could get her hands on. Zelda falls victim to an off-screen exploding sink, while Roger gets a face full of toilet.



Followed by hair brighter than a mermaid's scales. Oddly enough, Roger's skin looks a lot darker to me with aqua hair than with his natural dark colour. I guess there's a greater amount of constrast between skin and hair now than before. I also find it kind of weird that Roger's chest hair is dyed but not his facial hair. Maybe because his beard doesn't match the root hair colour?



Zara's other major wish during his mood swing was to either dye or cut her hair. Since I'm rather fond of this hair style, (Constance Shelley borrowed it for my Life States Dynasty) I chose the former, so Zara gets a dirty blonde makeover. She seems to be conflicted about it. As a side-effect, I found out that Roger and Mia don't actually have the same hair colour like I thought they did. Mia has black hair with brown highlights, as does (or did, as the case would be) Zara, while Roger has brown hair with black highlights. I'm not sure which hair colour Zelda inherited, though I suspect she got her mother's colour.

[Blayzen]

I have to say, I'm really happy to have another Rao update to catch up on. As you know, I've read your other stories but there's something about the writing style with this one that I really like. Your running commentary never fails to make me laugh. You have a real talent for going with the flow of your Sim's antics and finding the humor in everything they do. Especially Zara. I really like Zara. It's a shame she can't be your heir.

Looking forward to more!