The Loveland Random Town Jump

[hazelnut]

I'm not sure about a patch changing it. I'm fully patched as I play via Origin.

I was talking historically there.  I played The Ghosts of Twinbrook, my Life States Dynasty, in 2012-2013, which would have been patches 39-50, according to Sims Wiki.  (Gosh, was it really that long ago?!)

But with my research into ghost glitchiness, that's one of the things that could happen that happened in my test game.
Other traveling issues with ghosts were that they could keep their ghostliness but lose their tombstone from their inventory, preventing them from returning to the netherworld.

Pretty sure the issue is with NRaas mods, much as I love them.  Dynasties have to be played without mods but I installed Master Controller, Overwatch and Error Trap after I'd officially finished, so that I could play with more than eight Sims for the epilogue.  I had to remove the mods again because the family all lost their tombstones from inventory and, when the time came for them to eat ambrosia and become human, they went through all the animations but stayed as ghosts.  Wouldn't be surprised if travelling also got messed up, although I didn't try it at that point.  Playing without mods, it was fine: several of them travelled to WA destinations as ghosts.

[Beks]

Playable ghosts should show up in the flesh using MasterController's Stylist function. We're all aching to see Freya!

I was thinking of revealing Freya in the flesh once she ages up to young adult (maybe doing a sort of grand reveal and include pictures of all her life stages at her YA birthday), but I'd be open to showing her earlier if y'all want. It still wouldn't be for a few chapters as I've got the next few written already.

I remember Ira Lee!  (Which somehow sounds quite a lot like 'I am Spartacus!')  After cloning him in my current game, I have a bit of a soft spot for Ira.

The little ghost bunny is adorable .

So was 'later' another hint?
Moonlight Falls?  Starlight Shores?  Midnight Hollow?  Basically, I have no idea .

Oh yes, I remember Ira from your story! I actually thought of Nio (it was Nio, right?) when I first spotted Ira wandering around Lucky Palms. I don't think I've ever seen him in past games, but I recognized him this time.

Your guesses are excellent, but "later" wasn't the hint! (Now I'll have to think of something cleverer for those towns in the future...) I did hide a hint in this chapter but it's a very vague and unhelpful one. It basically doesn't even count as a hint. I plan to post the next chapter this evening, so all will be revealed soon!

Yes, when I had Kimberly and Antony Salas travel to France in a test game, Antony lost his ghostly look.
I added this link to show his pics.
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=28396.msg504083#msg504083

That is super weird and interesting. Makes me wonder what Freya is going to look like in the flesh when I finally get around to checking.

other life states can combine with the ghost state without mods and are the only life state that will barring major glitches. (ah the joys of moderating the Life States Dynasty rules, this happens all the time!) I've definitely traveled with playable ghosts without any life state changes (without mods for the record) but I wonder if it's prone to corruption and that Twallan made a difficult choice in the effort to not break people's games when they traveled with ghosts.

So Freya could have been a fairy ghost? Dang, that would've been incredible. Actually I do remember seeing a couple of combined life states in other games--or rather, I've peeked at Sims' traits using MC and discovered that they had two different occult traits, for instance. In my short dynasty there was a townie at one point who was a vampire by looks and abilities, but she also had the fairy trait even though she had no fairy powers or anything. I'm pretty sure it was a glitch because I'd been playing in that town for many generations and most townies were glitched in some way.

Thanks Trip! I never knew that ghosts are the only occult state that could have more than one without mods. I guess that makes sense though as if you're a fairy, or any other life state when you meet Grim, you'd then be a ghost as well. But I didn't realize that it could happen to ghost babies without a mod, to be both, as I've not played Sims 3 without mods for a very long time.

This is making me want to run an experiment to see how many and what sorts of double occult babies can be born. Or maybe somebody with more experience running experiments should do it. And make the results into an infographic for all to see and enjoy!

I was talking historically there.  I played The Ghosts of Twinbrook, my Life States Dynasty, in 2012-2013, which would have been patches 39-50, according to Sims Wiki.  (Gosh, was it really that long ago?!)

Incidentally, I just finished reading through The Ghosts of Twinbrook and it was truly amazing. I really should go over there and leave a proper comment on the story itself. I loved every second of it!

[Beks]

Chapter 80 - Magic & Water



Welcome to Riverview, everyone! A peaceful country town with lots of greenery and a lovely rolling river. I think this generation of Lovelands will fit in pretty well here.



The Lovelands move into Beaux Chateau, in the rich part of town, because we are LOADED, baby, and also there aren't very many empty houses with adequate space for a full household. And surprise, this house still doesn't have enough bedrooms. At least it's full of activities.



Here's the ground floor.



And the upper floor. According to edit town, this house has 1 bedroom. And like, I'm pretty sure there are two here.



The house also has this weird attic with absolutely nothing in it, not even lights. I find it a little creepy that the stairs go up here, but it's all just empty. Except for the magical pet washing machine and foosball table that I put in. (And I end up having to put a couple beds up here too, because I'm a good renovator.)



Archie starts things off by, of course, fainting at the sight of the new house. Actually I think he just had a moment of remembering that he has a ghost for a sister. But anyway.

Now, as I mentioned last chapter, we've got a full household at the moment, which means that there is currently no space for nooboos. This is problematic, because nooboos are the point of living. So a little bit of household juggling needs to be done, for all our sakes.



"Promise you'll visit as often as you can, Trev. And I'll come over when I finish my magician gigs every night."
"Sounds perfect, babe."



Yes, Trevor has to move out of the household. I'm sad, mostly because we haven't had a single Insane Sim in this RTJ yet and Trevor has such an adorable personality. But he'll still be around a lot, and he's moving to a house just down the road.



Trevor also brings Tink along for the ride. Tink is a contented elder who deserves some peace and quiet after living in a crazy busy household her whole life. I think she and Trevor will get along fine. Bye, Tink! Visit soon!

As you've probably guessed, I'm keeping Heather in the main household at least for now because I want to play her as a magician. Also, I'm kind of really attached to her. If Franky ever decides to die more room opens up in the household, maybe she'll even have a child while she's with us.



But for right now, she's got a career to join. Heather drives over to the new Performance Park and seeks out the proprieter to see about signing up as a magician.



The proprietor agrees to start her off as a magician and tells her to go practice some tricks, considering she's never done one in her life. Probably a good idea.



Heather goes home to practice, and by lunchtime, she's proven that she's a natural.



Less than an hour after Trevor and Tink move out, Angela runs into them while harvesting produce from the community garden.



Honestly, Tink seems to be thriving in her new home. She's literally bouncing around Trevor's feet. Perhaps she really needed a fresh start.



Anastasia gets little Freya settled in and starts working on her toddler skills.



She and Angela also start a new garden together. It's sandy because Angela's from Lucky Palms and doesn't know what grass is it occurred to me that this is a game and I can do whatever I want, which includes planting plants in sand to make them easier to see.



The second day in Riverview is Heather's graduation day. I keep forgetting that this is a thing. I really should start waiting until all graduations have happened before moving towns, but here we are. Heather gets a super cute graduation hat and is REALLY excited about it. Aren't you, Heather?

Heather: *forced smile*

Heather graduates with honors and is voted Most Likely to Never Leave the House. I really wish she'd gotten Class Clown. Besides, she'll be leaving the house pretty much 24/7.



Lots more settling in happens over the next couple days. Archie is already at level 5 of the photographer career, and since I'm too busy dealing with everybody else, he kind of falls by the wayside for a bit. As such, he gets acquainted with the mini bar in the foyer and starts learning mixology. (In retrospect, this is probably not a good pastime for somebody who's Neurotic...)



And Franky gets acquainted with...whatever this thing is. Why would this not cause the immediate death of a 122-year-old man? Instead, it seems to instill Franky with a renewed vigor and sense of wonder at the universe.



Angela goes to her first day of work at the Riverview science center.

And Heather keeps working on her magic tricks and is absolutely adorable every time.



"Now, brother, I am going to make this freakishly oversized coin..."



"...DISAPPEAR!"



Archie: "......"

I laughed really hard at that, okay?



Anastasia continues to fish, because I kind of forgot for a while that she's an angler by trade. Gotta make the most of those rivers in Riverview.



Tootles makes the most of the waters of Riverview, too--specifically the pool in the backyard. I didn't even know dogs could swim autonomously.

[hazelnut]

Totally failed to pick up on any hint about Riverview (unless it was that bit about being tired of deserts).

She and Angela also start a new garden together. It's sandy because Angela's from Lucky Palms and doesn't know what grass is it occurred to me that this is a game and I can do whatever I want, which includes planting plants in sand to make them easier to see.

  That's a great idea.

I didn't even know dogs could swim autonomously.

Yep, any time I've had Sim dogs in a house with a pool, they've gone swimming - even without the 'Loves to Swim' trait.

[Beks]

Chapter 81 - Getting Tricksy



Freya rapidly learns her toddler skills. Archie has become surprisingly enthusiastic about hanging out with his ghostie sister. He's often the first one to get to her when she needs something, and he's always popping wishes to teach her skills or cuddle her.



I take this as a sign that he's ready to be a father. I know Angela is--she pops the wish to have her first child just a couple days after arriving in Riverview.



Franky, who was playing computer games in the bedroom, must be shooed from the vicinity for the baby-making to ensue.



So what does Franky do? He goes out onto the tiny balcony to, uh, cheer them on. Literally. He's probably just saying "Woohoo!" over and over, but I'll let your imagination run wild.



Heather practices enough magic tricks so that she can start performing for tips. She heads down to the bookstore to give it a shot.



It doesn't go very well.



That's it, dear, just smile and pretend it didn't happen. That's Life 101 right there.



It could be that she's overshadowed by Jon Lessen playing guitar twenty feet away. It could also be that it's like 10 am on a Tuesday, and everybody is at work. Not sure.



Heather also keeps in touch with her hubby in between magician practice sessions. They chat on the phone almost every day, mostly because Trevor is never home when Heather has time to go visit him.



Heather's second trip downtown goes somewhat better, in that she actually attracts a crowd. She's still having trouble with the bouquet trick, but hey! Trevor is there to clap unenthusiastically with the other townies.



By the end of the afternoon, however, Heather starts having more success with her tricks and even makes a few hundred simoleons in tips.



Level 2 of the magician career achieved, she goes to the Performance Park to audition for a gig with the proprietor. Amazingly, he buys into her coin trick and gives her a gig for the following evening.



Back home, on her way in from the garden, Angela discovers that she's expecting her first child. She is immediately plunked in front of the TV to watch the kids channel and listen to kids music.



Angela: "Why does THIS increase the odds of twins?? You'd think there would be some sort of medical process by now that would increase that likelihood...but instead, we just have to watch a bunch of creepy bunnies dance?"
Anastasia: "Yeah, I don't get it either."



Angela is a level 4 scientist at this point, so she needs to start learning handiness. Her pregnancy is a perfect time to start using dangerous tools and risking electrocution, right? Right.



Archie doesn't have a lot to do these days, mostly because I'm distracted and lazy and don't enjoy micromanaging his photography career. So he instead hangs out with Tootles, teaching him to shake.



Anastasia spends her last day as an adult in the best way possible: exposing her rockin' bod in a bikini.



She ages up at bedtime.



"Never thought you'd live to see ME get old, eh, Franky?"
"Why do I feel like you should've been an elder a long time ago?"
"Because you're 124 and losing your mind."
"Ah."

(In reality, Anastasia got a tattoo during her adult years, around the time she got pregnant with Freya. So her adult life stage WAS extended by about a week.)



I don't know if Franky's losing his mind, but he's certainly not trying to keep it intact. How is this contraption not a serious threat to elder health??



Franky also does a lot of this: bonding with his youngest grandchild while he has the chance.



Heather's first gig actually goes really well. I think her Good Sense of Humor is paying off in this job--the audience responds well when she tells jokes alongside her tricks. That Absent-Minded trait probably won't be doing her any favors, though.



Angela's pregnancy goes by pretty quickly. She keeps up with the garden in the backyard, preparing for that next promotion.



Archie is, surprisingly, not that terrified of being a father. Or if he is, he doesn't show it.



He is deathly afraid every time the paparazzi flirts with him, though. Poor Archie. Maybe it's time for a restraining order...or a fence.

[Beks]

Chapter 82 - The Box of Mystery



Angela goes into labor and Archie does not pass out. For some reason I fully expected him to. I feel like that would be flush with the whole Coward thing.



"Thanks for driving me to the hospital, Angie. I'm feeling really faint--I should probably get checked out as quickly as possible."
"Yeah, yeah."



"Right, you park the car and I'll go get sedated."
"Sigh"



Angela somehow gets the medical care she needs and gives birth to a baby girl named Moira. Yay, a girl! Except Master Controller told me that Angela had a 1,000% chance of giving birth to twins? Was that, like, a really rough estimate or something? I'm feeling a little cheated here.



I swear there was room in the household, too, but I can't help wondering if this has something to do with it.



Grim: "Come on, Mr. Loveland. Do we need to do this HERE?"
Franky: "YOU decide when I die, not me! You could have waited for me to finish peeing!"
Grim: "UGH"



Grim: "Oh, you're just going to shut me out, are you? I see. You know it doesn't work like that, right?"
Franky: *muffled insult*



Well, it finally happens. On his 125th day, Franky Loveland finally gets to meet his maker. And then he has the audacity to beg for more time. The nerve!

Anyway...RIP, Franky. You were an unusually wonderful husband, a legendary politician, and a long-lived, well-loved guy all around. Now GO FIND GEORGIANA FOR WATCHER'S SAKE SHE'S PROBABLY LOSING HER MIND WONDERING WHERE YOU ARE.



The tragic thing about this, of course, is that Franky was about 2 seconds away from being the first Loveland to meet a great-grandchild. Grim arrived while Angela was on the way home from the hospital, and though Angela arrived on the lot before Franky was finished dying, she went to the nursery first to deposit baby Moira in the crib and then came to see all the action. Franky just missed seeing Moira in the flesh. Ah, well.



We now have two babies in the house, and Archie still seems to favor the creepy ghost baby.



Heather is making progress in her magician career, but it comes with some complications. When she levels up enough to acquire the Box of Mystery, she places it on the coffeehouse lot to give it a try. But before she can use it, two townies sneak inside and use it to WOOHOO. Poor Heather is traumatized.



Meadow Carpenter-Rhodes: "Wow. That was...magical."



As Sherman Bagley exits the box behind Meadow and the two start a nice post-woohoo makeout session, Heather gets an idea.



"Mr. Bagley, welcome! Thank for volunteering to be my first ever--I mean, first today--victim, or rather--uh, that is--th-thanks for volunteering to participate in the Swords of Destiny!"



She shuts Sherman into the box and starts carefully sticking swords in.



One of the swords gets stuck. Heather slaps on a nervous smile and starts jiggling it anxiously. And that's when the death music starts. Oh, no. Oh NO.

I don't see the Grim Reaper on the lot yet, but that music is unmistakable. I vaguely remember reading that Showtime comes with a new death...did Heather just kill her very first volunteer?!?



She throws open the box. Sherman stumbles out looking a bit pale.



...but he's fine. Wait, he's fine? Then where is Grim? Is somebody dying of old age on the other side of the lot or something...?



Oh.



Yeah, I'm an idiot. I heard the music because Grim was AT OUR HOUSE, coming to collect Tootles. (I'm also an idiot because the Swords of Destiny trick doesn't ever kill sims. It's a different magician trick that has a slight chance of causing death. Heather can't do that one yet...)



Well, that's that. Tootles did live a few days past his life bar, and he was a delightful, affectionate dog. RIP, Tootles. We'll miss you dearly.



Heather is determined to bounce back from this terrifying incident that actually turned out okay. She's been driving the Motive Mobile around lately, so she's still got full needs after midnight. Where can she go to perform magic tricks for tips? The graveyard, of course! Her new "fireball" trick attracts the attention of the graveyard's resident fire ghost. Understandably, he gives the performance a bad review. ("A REAL fireball will KILL you, and I'm proof of that!")



Heather meets another fire ghost that same night when she gets home sometime before dawn. Peter haunts the lot for the first time since the move--and officially meets his daughter for the first time. I think. I feel like they haven't met before. I might be wrong.



"Dad, I'm such a failure! My magic tricks are no good, I almost stabbed a guy to death earlier, people keep woohooing in my box of mystery..."
"They keep what-ing in your WHAT?!"
"I'm just--I'm not good enough at magic to be a magician. I don't think I'm ever going to make it in this career."



"It'll take time to find your strengths, Heather. You'll discover your very own brand of magic with practice. But in the meantime...here's a little something that might help."
*GASP* "Fairy dust?!"
"Don't get too excited. It's purely symbolic. But if you keep it with you, it might bring you a little bit of luck."
"Thank you, Dad. I'll make you proud."

[Trip]

And don't let the door hit ya on the way out!

Though if I could trade Franky's death for a magician's box death...it wouldn't free up household space but both the ghosts you can get from it are two of my faves! I never had anyone woohoo inside the box but the worst spot for spontaneous woohoo is the fixer-upper car that comes with Roaring Heights. I guess you even have it or you don't but I have never seen sims so...sinful.s

Anyways the loss of Tootles is the worst death in the chapter.

[Beks]

And don't let the door hit ya on the way out!

Though if I could trade Franky's death for a magician's box death...it wouldn't free up household space but both the ghosts you can get from it are two of my faves! I never had anyone woohoo inside the box but the worst spot for spontaneous woohoo is the fixer-upper car that comes with Roaring Heights. I guess you even have it or you don't but I have never seen sims so...sinful.s

Anyways the loss of Tootles is the worst death in the chapter.

I'm so excited, yet terrified, to experience these box of mystery deaths! If they even happen. I just hope nobody in the household dies. Dispensable townies only!

I agree, losing Tootles was harder than losing Franky. Franky was around for 1.25 centuries, so that was no problem. But Tootles...my heart broke a little bit.

[Beks]

Chapter 83 - Nine Lives



Every time Heather goes over to visit Trevor, she gets to check on Tink. And every time she checks on Tink, she finds her absolutely living her best life. I've started to really miss Tink, so seeing her stretching out like a slinky queen on the floor of her new house makes me feel better.



Angela is still on a very long maternity leave, so the only things she can do for her career are work on her skills and befriend her boss, Aiden Jones. Thank goodness we still have a bajillion of Francisco and Peter's friendship elixirs that we haven't used yet. (And thank goodness the Joneses have been busy in the baby department, so we can keep an eye on some potential spouses.)



This is just a funny aside that's not important to the story. I forget to pay the bills one time (I must have accidentally deleted the notification), and we get repo'd. And this particular repo-woman actually teleports herself down into the garage, which is underground, un-enterable, and completely bare and dark, in order to repossess the family motorbike. I'm just glad she didn't repo the Motive Mobile, but WOW. I had no idea NPCs could teleport!



On the night of Freya's birthday, I find her sitting alone in the middle of the sandy garden, singing to her imaginary friend. I don't know who put her there or who walked away.



She starts sparkling all by herself under the sparkly stars.





I remembered to take a CAS photo this time. Freya acquires the Technophobe trait. I never get this trait! Sounds like fun!



And as a special present, here's Freya in the flesh. I don't know why I thought a big reveal at her YA birthday would be exciting. She's literally a copy of her dad. No wacky hair color or anything.



It's somebody else's birthday too...little Moira's!



This family is struggling with the whole "put the baby down in a safe place" concept. Heather plops Moira down on the brick front porch and immediately forgets what's happening.

"Why did I bring the baby out here again?"



She proceeds to go inside, leaving Moira to age up alone.



We have a redhead! Yesss! Moira is a super-cute mini-Angela, so far at least. She's a Slob and a Genius (our first Genius!), and she likes Pop, Firecracker Shrimp, and Lilac.



Mother and daughter start bonding for realsies now that they definitely share the same hair color. Love didn't matter before, but now it does!



Moira also takes to the peg box quickly, maxing out her baby version of the logic skill in record time.



Archie is a good daddy, if a little distracted. I swear, he was much more attentive to Freya when she was a toddler.



Shortly after Moira's birthday, Angela gives her watcher that knowing look that says "I'm pregnant again already?? Sigh"

Speaking of pregnancy, Angela isn't the only one with motherly wishes in this household. (She pops wishes to have a child like clockwork, which is why I let her get pregnant again so soon.) Heather has also been holding onto a wish to have her first child.



So she makes a special visit to Trevor's one day, making sure to go in the morning before he has his shift at the theatre. They have a nice breakfast of normal-quality waffles and update each other on their lives.



But when Heather tries to turn up the heat...Trevor shuts her down. He'll go as far as making out with her, but he gets all no-touchy when she tries to take things further.

In the end, I wonder if it's a glitch. There's no reason for Trevor to reject her every advance, unless the Insane trait makes some Sims not want to woohoo. (I suppose that's not impossible.) Fortunately, Heather has enough LTH points stored up to buy the Master of Seduction reward, ensuring that Trevor will say yes to every romantic interaction. Problematic? Yes! Effective? Also yes! (Incidentally, I had to do the same thing in order for Anastasia to try for baby with ghost Peter. He must have been nervous about his first woohoo while dead or something.)



So Heather and Trevor try for a baby in the shower while Tink chows down on their leftover waffles nearby.

That evening, while performing for tips, Heather discovers a new magic trick.



"Whoa, I can vomit up neon green liquid on demand? Cool!"



Franky makes his first appearance as a ghost and goes straight for the gyroscopic...magitron...supersonic...contraption. I can never remember what this thing is called, but it keeps even dead people busy for hours at a time.



Speaking of death...Anastasia knows how to circumvent it. She has learned to make ambrosia, something I haven't done since my long-ago first attempt at an Immortal Dynasty. Why is she making it, you ask?



For Nibs.



I have thoroughly enjoyed having a ghost kitty in the house. But after much internal debate, I decided that I want Nibs to father a new generation of kittens, and I want them to be ordinary cats. Plus, I really want to see what our handsome ghost cat looks like in the flesh. (In the fur?)



Ta-da! He's adorable! He's got a lot of Chewie in him. And...is it just me, or does he really resemble Satine?* I don't know if her genes have persisted this long, but we can dream. It may be that Nibs the lost boy (er, cat) has left Neverland, but some great adventures await him in real life--if we can find him a suitable lady cat, that is.


*Satine (the Loveland cat way back in Twinbrook) was largely modeled on a real-life cat belonging to my brother. That real-life cat actually passed away two days ago after an illness. So in a silly, slightly backwards way, bringing Nibs to full life is a little bit of a tribute to Yossarian, a handsome and independent cat who died too young.

[deedee_828]

Yay for Moira getting her mother's red hair! One of my favorite 'natural' hair colors in the game.
Double yah's for more nooboos!!!
And yet another for ambrosia for ghostly Nibs so he can father 'live' kittens!

That contraption is called the PlasmaPunch Gyroscopic Conductor---I had to refer to my Farmacy story to remember the name! lol
But my Farmacy heir sim, Rielle, calls it the Sphere of Nauseousness!

Oh and I found the Technophobe trait quite annoying as they are always getting a bad moodlet when in a room with technology, TV, etc.
And as soon as they are able, teen and up, I believe, they start breaking anything that's technology related, the brain enhancer seemed to be a favorite.
Though, if you had a sim in the house that needed to skill up in Handiness, a Technophobe could provide plenty of broken items!

[Trip]

[blows kiss to the sky] for Yossarian. 🥺 I think Riverview has a lot of family-oriented sims? StoryProgression definitely takes that into consideration. Makes up for no pre-made pregnancies!

[Beks]

Yay for Moira getting her mother's red hair! One of my favorite 'natural' hair colors in the game.
Double yah's for more nooboos!!!
And yet another for ambrosia for ghostly Nibs so he can father 'live' kittens!

That contraption is called the PlasmaPunch Gyroscopic Conductor---I had to refer to my Farmacy story to remember the name! lol
But my Farmacy heir sim, Rielle, calls it the Sphere of Nauseousness!

Oh and I found the Technophobe trait quite annoying as they are always getting a bad moodlet when in a room with technology, TV, etc.
And as soon as they are able, teen and up, I believe, they start breaking anything that's technology related, the brain enhancer seemed to be a favorite.
Though, if you had a sim in the house that needed to skill up in Handiness, a Technophobe could provide plenty of broken items!

I love redheads too! It's been forever since I've had one in my main household. Angela was a refreshing change, and now it continues with Moira. I'm thrilled.

No matter how many times I remind myself what the thing is called, I just can't remember it. I have selective memory loss for it or something. Oh well. When the family first got it, I had Franky upgrade it without really thinking about it. I guess the upgrade he did removed the chance of Sims getting nauseous, because nobody ever does. They occasionally get thrown out of the machine, but that's it--no bad moodlet or anything. I almost wish I hadn't done the upgrade just to experience added chaos.

And yeah, I don't know why I thought Freya being a Technophobe was going to be fun. It's the worst! She's constantly breaking stuff around the house, and she goes for the...the...Gyroscopic Conductor more than anything. And even Angela, who's level 5 or 6 handiness, keeps getting singed whenever she tries to fix it. Super frustrating. But hey, all of Freya's other traits are boring, so at least she has something of a personality?

[blows kiss to the sky] for Yossarian. 🥺 I think Riverview has a lot of family-oriented sims? StoryProgression definitely takes that into consideration. Makes up for no pre-made pregnancies!

Thanks, Trip. If you're right about the family-oriented sims, then I am definitely seeing the fruit of that. So many townie babies!

[Beks]

Chapter 84 - 2 Cool 4 U



Heather comes to a halt in the doorway of the foyer, staring at nothing with a very fixed smile on her face. You okay, honey?



Honey...?



Oh, okay, she's just pregnant. Phew!



Life is good in the Loveland house. An elderly Anastasia and a prime-of-life Archie spend a lot of time playing in the sprinkler together. What a cute mother-and-son activity.



Freya bonds with her older brother in the best way a ghost can. (I don't know why she does this. She doesn't have any of the appropriate traits. Maybe she's just a self-aware ghost.)



Angela goes into labor in the middle of a foyer already littered with toddler objects.



Archie: "You're going to the hospital, babe? Need me to come with?"
Angela: "Nah, I got it."
Archie (quietly): "Oh thank watcher."



Angela's in labor for quite a while, but eventually, she comes out of the hospital holding a new baby boy in her arms. This is Killian, everyone.



Angela and Archie celebrate their second round of parenthood with a nice spin on the supertronic megascopic hydrophonic magicontraption. Angela falls out of it and Archie LAUGHS AT HER. Archie! Sweet, scared Archie! What on earth is wrong with you?!



Well, not much, aside from that. Archie is adjusting to fatherhood well and often takes on full daddy duties for both babies while Angela gardens and works on her handiness.



Moira is just cute as a button, isn't she?



Look at those lil' cheeks!



One night, Peter haunts again, and Freya is finally old enough to meet him! She excitedly follows him into the upstairs bathroom...



...where he hovers calmly in between the walls of three rooms, where Freya can't get to him. Dude, could you move, like, two inches to the right? Please?



It takes a while, but eventually, Peter finds his way into an actual physical space. Alas--he is something like a four-star celebrity, which means he won't talk to his youngest daughter, and she's only a kid, which means she can't "try to impress" him yet. Peter's all like, "I am too cool to talk to you, child, although you are my own non-flesh and non-blood." And Freya's all like, "Sigh."



So instead, she just follows him around. Very, very closely.



Seriously, she just drifts in his wake for the rest of the night. It's kind of adorable.



At least Peter can say hello to Heather.

Heather: "Wow, this family is SO COOL!"

Yeah, it is, isn't it?



Heather can't do any magic while she's pregnant, so she's forced to stick around home and bond with her family members (including Nibs--I keep forgetting who this weird cat is before I remember that, um, IT'S NIBS).



Archie is certainly excited to be an uncle.

Now, as for the father of the child...we need to talk about him. As I think I've mentioned before, Trevor is almost never home during normal human functioning hours, and whenever Heather does see him, he's always running off before she can say a word. She hasn't even had a chance to tell him she's expecting. Heather asks him to come over a lot; he says he's not interested. Anastasia, who's friends with Trevor, asked him to come over (and bring the household, i.e. Tink); he agreed, but only Tink showed up. It's almost like Trevor is avoiding Heather...but he wouldn't do that, right?



So one night, Heather takes matters into her own hands. If Trevor insists on working all the time, she'll just wait outside the theatre until he shows up!



He does show up. He emerges from the building around eleven p.m., strolls right past his clearly pregnant wife, and heads to catch his ride. (Which appears to be a horse in this photo. I don't judge.)

Well, at least we know where he's going. Heather follows him to his house and finally manages to get five minutes with him.



"Trevor Trevor Trevor! I've been trying to contact you for days! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!"



"OMG OMG OMG! THAT'S SO EXCITING!"

Awww. Okay, see, Trevor has this thing where he acts all antisocial and uninterested, and then when Heather finally gets to interact with him, he's the most excited and in-love guy you ever saw. He keeps winning me back over, even after I get really tired of his crap. Ah, well. You win this time, Trevor.



As for Tink...ever since Trevor failed to show up at the house the other day, she's never left. I think she missed getting to sleep above the soothing hum of a dishwasher.

[Trip]

Freya is autonomously scaring others because of her trait of...ghost. They do that thing when playable.

And a ban on magic is kind of stupid...PREGNANT SIMS CAN STILL DRINK HELLO-

[hazelnut]

Maybe I'm just easily amused today but this cracked me up:

Angela: "Why does THIS increase the odds of twins?? You'd think there would be some sort of medical process by now that would increase that likelihood...but instead, we just have to watch a bunch of creepy bunnies dance?"
Anastasia: "Yeah, I don't get it either."

As did this:

Franky: "YOU decide when I die, not me! You could have waited for me to finish peeing!"

When she levels up enough to acquire the Box of Mystery, she places it on the coffeehouse lot to give it a try. But before she can use it, two townies sneak inside and use it to WOOHOO.

Erwhat?!

This is just a funny aside that's not important to the story. I forget to pay the bills one time (I must have accidentally deleted the notification), and we get repo'd. And this particular repo-woman actually teleports herself down into the garage, which is underground, un-enterable, and completely bare and dark, in order to repossess the family motorbike. I'm just glad she didn't repo the Motive Mobile, but WOW. I had no idea NPCs could teleport!

Yeah, NPCs don't let themselves be stopped by little things like walls and locked doors.  I remember trying out the social worker thing once (I was trying to get the photo).  I had to lock the baby in a doorless room so that my adult Sim wouldn't feed or change it.  The social worker just teleported into the room and teleported out again with the baby.  No photo .

Freya bonds with her older brother in the best way a ghost can. (I don't know why she does this. She doesn't have any of the appropriate traits. Maybe she's just a self-aware ghost.)

I found my playable ghosts tended to go around scaring people, unless they had the good trait.  I seem to remember that evil or rebellious ones were the worst (childish and mean-spirited ghosts would probably be as bad, but I'm pretty sure there weren't any in that game).