Chapter 6 – Girls & Earthquakes
I lied. After the failed slumber party, one additional guest lingers long after everyone else has left (including Marcelo, the pillow fighter): Larissa Varner. Can you guess which originally townie is her dad? (Hint: it’s all in the skin tone.) After wandering around the house, presiding over the royal court, and dancing in the backyard for most of the night, Larissa starts the morning around 5 a.m. by making some potions in the kids’ bedroom.
This doesn’t seem to faze Ash, for some reason.
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“Oh hey, Larissa. Discover anything cool? My sister can’t figure out a potion for the life of her, heh heh.”
Seraphina, despite her calm-ish facial expression, is not so pleased.
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“If you mess ANYTHING up, I’ll kick that stool out from under you.”
Turns out, Larissa also managed to prank the sink. That’s what you get for never using the sink in the kitchen, Justin!
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I have a positive update on Blaise’s career––she’s finally managed to handle some emergencies! As Blaise has moved up the ranks in the firefighter career, the glitches seem to be smoothing out a little. She still misses the occasional fire, but she gets to actually use her fire extinguisher about once a day. Hooray!
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However, I do decide at this point that there’s no use trying to have Blaise accomplish her lifetime wish of being a Firefighter Superhero. Even at the higher levels of her career, she just isn’t getting enough emergencies to save 30 sims before we move to the next town. Since Blaise has enough Lifetime Happiness points for the Change of Lifetime Wish reward, she picks a new one: to be a Renaissance Sim. She’s already well on her way to maxing handiness and athletic, and since she gardens on the side, it shouldn’t be too hard to get all three. (Of course, I say that now...)
I don’t even realize when the first actual fire happens. The emergency popup appears when I’m distracted at home, and Blaise drives her Big Friendly Firetruck (BFF) all the way across town by herself. It’s only a small house fire, and Marc Brandt isn’t even home to see the excitement, but Blaise gets a promotion for her five-minute efforts and a fancy fireman’s coat to hang on the wall. Praise for Blaise!
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Now that both kids are in school, they spend most afternoons doing their homework together. Justin is also awake this particular afternoon, for some reason (he usually sleeps until dinnertime due to his overnight hacking).
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Ash and Seraphina get along very well, as expected, but Seraphina doesn’t like it when her father chimes in with unsolicited homework advice.
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See?
The other obligation that comes with Ash’s teenage years is spouse-hunting. As always, NRaas’s Story Progression tends to pair everybody up by the time they’re young adults, so the sooner we nail down a spouse, the better. There are only a couple of girls in town Ash’s age. This one is Corrie Sargeant.
Ash starts hanging out with Corrie one evening after his homework is done. Corrie is lovely and has excellent traits, and she seems to like Ash, from what I can tell…
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…but it’s not even an hour after their impromptu “date” when Story Progression sends me a notification that Corrie is dating another boy in town.
And not just any boy. Marcelo Drudge. Remember him? The cutie who was swatting Seraphina with a pillow just last chapter? I already had him in mind for Seraphina!
After leaving her date with Ash, Corrie doesn’t even go home. I track her down and find her out at Marcelo’s place doing THIS in the middle of the night!
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And this!
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And…and THIS!
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How are they not getting caught for breaking curfew?! They’re literally making out in the middle of a swamp at 2 a.m.! And there’s a cop car about ten feet away!
So…yeah. This provides a problem. I haven’t made any decisions yet, of course, but the two sims that I had in mind for future spouses are now actually dating each other. I mean, really? Sometimes this game just mocks me and my dreams.
Ash decides to distract himself from his romantic woes by picking up the guitar. Thanks to his love for banging away on the xylophone as a toddler, he starts at level 3 of the skill.
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Even so, when Seraphina decides to come outside and support her brother, she stands VERY far away.
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“You’re doing great, Ash! I’m just going to stand waaaaay over here until you get to at least level 5.”
Ash also starts getting to know the other girl his age, Adria Bayless. Actually, Adria is already best friends with him and Seraphina thanks to that hours-long game of tag at Ash’s birthday party. And she’s certainly an enthusiastic get-to-knower. But…she’s a Bayless. And she has the classic Bayless looks, as much as I feel bad saying it. (She also has some pretty undesirable traits––Unlucky, Loner, and Snob, if I remember correctly.)
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Blaise continues to excel as a firefighter. The townspeople have come to trust her so much that they leave their toddlers in dangerous places, assuming that Blaise will come along and take care of everything. Even the toddler herself in this picture doesn’t look scared!
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Blaise gets her first earthquake long before I expect it. I’ve never actually experience one in game, so the violent shuddering of the screen definitely freaks me out for a second.
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Justin makes the vast majority of our income with his nightly hacking. He typically hacks all night, from 9 pm to 7 am, and earns upwards of $1,000 a night. Not bad for a guy who’s technically unemployed! Of course, you have to wonder where all this money is coming from, exactly. Is it coming from honest, ordinary sims’ bank accounts? Should I be feeling squirmy inside?
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A few days of teenhood show that Ash really, really likes playing his guitar. It’s the first thing he does in the morning (outside, at the crack of dawn, in his boxer shorts) and the last thing he does at night. I think we’re going to have to give this guy some sort of music-related career in the future. Of course, he’s become a skilled painter as well. The most artistic guy ever has a colorful future ahead of him.
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Seraphina bakes something every day in an attempt to get her cooking skill up. Somehow, even at level 2, she still manages to burn every single thing she makes.
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After the first date with Corrie and the afternoon homework date with Adria, I’ve been leaving Ash alone for a little bit, hoping he’ll pop some romantic wishes for one girl or the other (or for someone else entirely). He doesn’t pop any. Then, about a week into Ash’s teen years, the first sign finally appears––Ash wants to go over to Corrie’s house after school.
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Ash and Corrie spend the afternoon and evening talking. They’re already friends, but after becoming good friends, Ash feels brave enough to broach a touchy subject.
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“Corrie, I know we’ve only hung out a couple of times, but I really like you. You’re funny, you’re smart, you’re outdoorsy, and…well…I like how excited you get at the smallest thing that makes you happy. It’s adorable. What I’m trying to say is, I really think we’d be great together.”
“Oh really.”
“Yeah. I heard you’ve been going out with Marcelo, but I was wondering if…”
“Whoa.”
“What?”
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“It’s just that, in the last twenty seconds, you haven’t said anything about my looks.”
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“Oh, there’s that too! Of course, I think you’re beautiful. In fact, you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever––“
“No, I mean, THANK YOU for not just wanting to date me because of my appearance. That’s all Marcelo ever talks about. Well, he doesn’t talk about much at all, really. All he ever wants to do is make out.”
“Oh.” Ash pauses. “Are you happy with him?”
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“He makes me feel good, I guess, but…I don’t think we’re meant to be. He’s a sweet guy, but he’s a little immature right now. He doesn’t want a real relationship. You know, you’re right. I should break up with him before he gets too attached.”
Ash can’t help but smile. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure my little sister has a crush on Marcelo.”
“Hah, really? She has almost a dozen boys in her class to choose from, all of whom will be tripping over themselves to ask her to prom when she’s older.”
“I suppose so. Hey, speaking of prom…”
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Ash reaches out and takes Corrie’s hand for the first time, then asks her if she’ll go to prom with him. She says yes.
Well! That’s settled, or nearly settled. Ash doesn’t get a chance to ask Corrie to go steady (or even kiss her) that night, but at least he has a date to the prom. Next time, we'll see how that plays out. Toodle-oo!
