The Frio DecaDynasty - Generation 4.2: Heir's Responsibilities (14.12.2013)

[Tipi]

Interlude: Surprises
 
After the wedding ceremony the newlywed Frio couple hurried over to the taxi, which was going to take them to their new home. 
 
"Wait a minute. Aren't we going the wrong way?", asked Aidan, when the taxi turned to the north instead of going west along the beach to the Madsen house. "I have a little surprise for you, darling." answered Eve cheerfully.
 
The taxi drove past Central Park and the City Hall and turned north along the Skyborough Blvd. The suspense was almost killing Aidan.
 

 
Finally the cab pulled over in front of a romantic,Victorian house.
 
"Tadaa!" exclaimed Eve, "This is our new home. I bought it just yesterday. It's called the Primrose, though I don't know why. It looks green to me. But isn't it sooo cute?" she enthused.
 
At first Aidan could not get a word out of his mouths. This surely was a big surprise!
 
"But what about your parents and your sister Imelda, will they be living with us? Isn't the house a bit small for such a large family?" He finally managed to get some words out of his mouth.
 
Eve was a bit disappointed at Aidan's lack of enthusiasm, when she answered: "No, they will be staying in the Cormorant. This house is just for the two of us... and for our future family. When my baby sister Tina was born recently, the house became far too small. And I wanted us to have some privacy. Don't you like my surprise?"
 
"Oh, I love it. And I love you, too.", smiled Aidan and gave a shy kiss to his wife. "Why don't you give me a tour of the house. I especially want to see the bedroom."
 
(I was as surprised as Aidan to see where the game took the couple.)
 

 
Not only did Eve show Aidan the bedroom, which was in need of immediate remodeling they both agreed, she also showed him how to use the bed properly.
 

 
Afterwards, Aidan was a bit puzzled of what just took place. But Eve knew exactly what happened. "I think we have a liftoff", she thought to herself.
 

 
And she was right. Eve had been feeling unusually tired all the time, and a pop a little later confirmed her suspicion. She was indeed pregnant!
 

 
The next day, Eve consulted her boss Emma Hatch - a highly respected doctor - who performed an ultra scan. She predicted that Eve was expecting a girl, and hinted also with a wink, that there might be a little surprise in store for Eve.
 

 
Aidan and Eve could not be any happier. They were almost inseparable. When Aidan, who loves the outdoor, was reading a book on the porch, Eve joined him although she would have preferred to stay inside because of the airconditioning.
 

 
They shared the angler trait, so naturally they went fishing together. And Aidan was kind enough to postpone his fishing trips until the evening, when the weather was a little cooler. Eve and her swollen ankles appreciated this enormously.
 

 
On day Eve invited some relatives over for a small housewarming party. Eve was happy to notice, that her dad Walter Madsen and father-in-law Connor Frio did not seem to mind that Eve served just pizza to them. She was far too tired to cook a proper meal for them.
 

 
Aidan's cousin Claire Ursine assured a pizza was a welcome change for the gourmet food her dad Jared Frio had always served at his parties. Eve could not tell, if she was sincere or sarcastic. But she was sure that her dad and mother-in-law Madison certainly enjoyed the party.
 

 
But the party was interrupted dramatically, when Eve's water broke. Everybody panicked!
 

 
Well, everybody but one. "Been there, done that!" thought Madison, when she observed the chaos around her.
 

 
"Calm down, Connor. It's not good for your blood pressure to freak out like that. It's just childbirth - a completely natural occurence."
 

 
And then Madison called a cab to take Eve and Aidan to the hospital. On their way in, they met Rudolf and Danita Frio. They had both good and bad news: Danita had just given birth to a baby boy, Gerry, but had to leave him in the NICU because of mild jaundice. Eve was a bit frightened by the news, but they assured, she needed not be alarmed. Everything would surely go nicely for her and Aidan.
 

 
Rudolf and Danita decided to wait and found excellent ways to pass their time.
 

 
They were still busy at it and did not even notice, when Eve and Aidan came out carrying two little bundles. "So this was the surprise Emma mentioned", thought the happy mother.
 

 
Eve and Aidan did not interrupt the hanky-panky of their relatives. They wanted to get home as soon as possible. The twins, Maeve - the heir - and Lydia needed feeding, changing and snuggling.
 

 

[loveSims]

This is the first time I see Emma become a doctor! Congrats with the twins.

[Tipi]

You may have noticed that my writing changes from pure commentary to a more storylike narration. I hope you don't find this distracting, because I will continue in this way. I shall write however I feel at the moment. I don't want to commit myself to a real storystyle, because it will eventually be too difficult for me whos native language is Finnish.
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Generation 2.1: The twins' first years
 

 
Soon after giving birth to the twins Eve turned into adult.
 

 
Like father Aidan before, also Maeve and Lydia spend their baby and toddler stages outside.
 

 
Aidan pays regular visits to his old home. This is his nephew Gerry, who is already a toddler although he was born on the same night as Maeve and Lydia.
 

 
Aidan is happy to see his parents are still as happy as ever together. Though the main reason for Aidan's visits is more mundane: money. He comes and harvests the money trees in the backyard regularly.
 

 
Time flies and the twins are having their first birthday. All the relatives are invited, like auntie Melissa Goth...
 

 
... and her daughter Leticia, who is already a teen.
 

 
It was really sweet that the grandparents took the twins to the cake.
 

 

 
Our heir Maeve deserves the fireworks.
 

 
And this is Lydia.
 

 
The evil uncle Rudolf steals the candy from a birthday child.
 

 
Most of the guests did not bother to go outside and see the blowing out of candles. They preferred to listen to Danita Frio play guitar in the living room.  
 

 
Rudolf Frio grooving with grandmother Lena Madsen whom you have not seen before. She and Eve are almost like twins.
 

 
After the mother, Rudolf turned his eyes on her daughter Imelda Madsen.
 

 
Walter Madsen and Leticia Goth.
 

 
The twins got makeovers. They have the same favourite colour violet so it seemed natural to dress them identically. Maeve is the redhead and Lydia the little brunette.
 

 
In real life someone sitting on your book would cause a tantrum, but in sims Maeve kept on reading her book without trouble.
 

 
The twins are not the only avid readers - unfortunately.
 

 
The Frios keep close contact with their relatives. When cousin Marcella Ursine came over one day, she was grieving for this unknown townie with a really weird hairstyle. Marcella was so heartbroken that soon after this she moved out from Sunset Valley. I guess she wanted to start over somewhere else.
 

 
Sisters-in-law discussing their love life over pizza - sweet.
 

 
It was also sweet that grandparents came over and bought little Gerry along.
 

 
Now the three cousins got to meet each other.
 

 
Generation two is collecting their own bunch of gnomes (I love the gnomes). These three seem quite a close knit bunch.
 

[Tipi]

I have noticed that most storytellers are using larger pictures than the recommended 640 x 480, so I also will start using bigger pictures. They look so much nicer.
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Generation 2.2: Learning from the older generations
 

 
Our heir Maeve is a lively toddler. And also really cute playing in the toybox.
 
Besides playing the twins' days were filled with skilling. Both Maeve and Lydia learned all their toddler skills and Maeve even read all the toddler skilling books. Lydia was a bit slower reader, but she managed to get through most of them.
 

 
Those busy toddler years just flew past, and soon it was time for yet another birthday. Once again all the relatives were invited.
 

 
Maeve went first and grew into a freaky toddler-child mutant.
 

 
Luckily the effect was temporary. 
 

 
Our little princess is a real cutie.
 

 
Lydia grew up without freaky glitches.
 

 
She looks like most of the Sims 3 kids in my game. I wish they started showing more of their real features at this age.
 

 
Cousin Gerry - the son of Rudolf and Danita Frio in case you have forgotten - is also a child by now.
 

 
Once again most of the guests preferred music over birthdays. Connor Frio is providing the entertainment and the guests enjoying the show are (from the back) Melissa Goth, Sandi French (a party-crasher and woman, who made Mortimer a cheater), mother-in-law Lena Madsen, Rudolf Frio and father-in-law Walter Madsen.
 

 
The girls pay regular visits to their relatives. Walter Madsen helps Lydia with her homework.
 

 
And at the same time in the Goth household Maeve gets help from aunt Melissa.
 

 
A few days later Madison comes over to bring terrible news: Connor had just passed away.
 

 
She is grief-stricken, but Maeve is there for her. She consoles her grandmother and tells her to cheer up.
 

 
Madison gets herself together for the sake of her grandchild. And to get her mind off of her sorrow, she even helps Maeve with the homework.
 

 
But after they finish the feelings take over Madison again. She does not even notice, that her eldest is having a birthday.
 

 
Aidan became an elder. His features changed so much, that he looks like a stranger now.
 

 
While all the commotion was taking place at the active Frio household, Lydia was visiting the old Frio home. She and Gerry got help from Danita with their homework. Apparently they were not affected by the death of Connor that much.
 

 
Poor Aidan did not get to enjoy his elder years for long. On day he went and started to repair their old TV, which had been acting up lately. His four or five mechanics skill points seemed quite adequate for the task (in Sims 2 there's no risk of getting electrocuted with that). But it turned out that he did get electrocuted anyway.
 

 

 
Having filled all his duties for the DecaDynasty Aidan had not had much to do anymore. His life had become pretty boring and he was tired of it all. So he was ready to go with the Grimmie now.
 

 
Thus Aidan gave his last contribution to the Frio dynasty: a handsome tombstone.
 

 

 
Both children and gnomes enjoy good music.

[Lilygirl]

I love how you're writing this story, Tipi!

I'm also enjoying the frequent connections between the different family homes that playing a DecaDynasty can create, it's fun to see how everyone else is doing.

The gnome pictures at the end of each update are awesome!

[Tipi]

 
 
Thanks to everyone for reading this story. Over 500 views already!
 
And thank you, Lilygirl, for a nice comment. I'm so glad you like the story.
 
I enjoy seeing relatives and how the non-playable families' lives develop over time. I'm making a family tree and will be linking to it here as soon as it is ready.
 
The gnomes are my favourites - such a random and lovely thing in the game! I try and have some gnomes in each household as the dynasty goes on. Hopefully I get some nice pictures of them, too.
_______________________________________________________
 
Generation 2.3: September romance
 

 
In the previous update Aidan Frio met a dramatic, untimely, and completely accidential, death. Soon after the incident the extended Frio family gathered once again for a birthday party. Rudolf Frio spent a long time at his brother's grave. It was sweet until Rudolf started to think about all the nice decorations on the grave. He's a criminal and a natural kleptomaniac after all.
 

 
Of course the family was there to celebrate Maeve and Lydia's birthday. Maeve, the eldest and the heir, naturally went first.
 

 
But the poor girl could hardly manage to blow out the candles. She was still grieving after her beloved father.
 

 
Well, in the end she pulled herself together, blew out the candles, and grew into a beautiful teen. I think she is very pretty and unique-looking.
 

 
And then Lydia.
 

 
She is certainly taking after the Frio side of the family.
 

 
Then Aidan decided to join the party. It was his first appearance. "Hi mom!"
 

 
He went straight for the cake and the others politely made room for him.
 

 
When the party was over and everybody had gone to bed, Aidan went to sleep beside Eve. Sweet.
 

 
Here's a close-up of our heiress after a slight makeover. The hair seemed to suit Maeve well, so I did not change that. She just got some makeup to highlight her pretty features.
 

 
And a look at the twins together on their way to school. They both made on the honor roll in grade school and have every intention of repeating their success in high school, too.
 

 
Both Lydia and Maeve are athletic. One evening Lydia (in the violet cap) made a jogging trip to grandma Madsen's place. She was met by familiar figures: cousins Leticia Goth and Tina Madsen and the Grim Reaper. He was there to take grandmother Lena Madsen to the other side.
 

 
The Grimmie was really busy those days collecting elders all over Sunset Valley. This townie met her fate in Central Park while discussing with a friend. This townie is not just another townie. She's Lakisha Brandt, the mother of the blond guy, Rhett Brandt, Maeve is chatting with in the background. Poor guy - or is it poor mother - who does not even notice his mother's death. Well, you'll see a lot more of Rhett Brandt later in this dynasty.
 

 
Eve Frio is on the medical career. She turned elder on her way out of the hospital surrounded by townies and colleagues.
 

 
Losing a husband and becoming an elder almost simultaneously can make anyone go crazy. It definitely shook Eve. She had a mid-life crisis of sorts: she changed her hair, changed her style and got some tattoos.
 

 
And she began to chase guys (she got a wish to get married). Chasing elders can be a bit risky, when they can go and drop dead just when it has started to warm up between you and him. That happened to Eve with a couple of elder gentlemen. Luckily she found Samuel Keaton. Yes, he's the same cute Samuel whom we first saw lurking in the toybox, and later met as Melissa Frio's high school sweetheart. I had felt sorry for Samuel ever since Melissa dumped him to marry Mortimer Goth, but now I finally had a chance to make that up to him.
 

 
After a short courtship - they are elders and, as I said before, you never know when the Grimmie comes for you,...
 

 
... Eve proposed to Samuel and naturally he agreed. Leticia Goth witnessed from close quarters both the proposal...
 

 
... and the wedding. Wonder if she knows he is her mothers ex?
 

 
It was a lovely ceremony. Only the groom's attire left something to desire for.
 

 
During the party the old sweethearts met again after several decades. This simple conversation made their hearts flutter like before, and at least made Samuel have a red heart for Melissa in his relationship panel. Old love never dies...
 

 
Hup, two, three, four - until the next chapter.
 

[Choccolatee]

Awww, the gnomes and wedding are so sweet! Great job!

[loveSims]

Great updates! Maeve is very pretty.

[TallStar]

Nice update!
Good job for Eve and Sam, and Maeve is very pretty!

[Tipi]

Thanks for the nice and supportive comments!
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Generation 2.4: From teenhood to (young) adulthood  
  


Samuel could not be happier than he was now after marrying Eve. Every morning he woke up, he admired the shining ring on his finger and thanked simgod for his new happiness.  
  
 
  
To celebrate his love Samuel got a tattoo. He had a heart with Eve's name inked on his arm. The tattoo artist was not satisfied with such a small job - he had wanted to do more, much more.  
  
 
  
Samuel wanted to become friends with his step-daughters. To break the ice he offered to buy a new computer to them.  
  
 
  
By and by Maeve and Lydia accepted Samuel in the family, although there were some slight glitches on the way.  
  
 
  
Samuel was retired. To fill his days he did some time traveling with a time machine he found at the consignment store. He also took on sculpting as a new hobby.  
  
 
  
He wanted to make a sculpture of the love of his life. I don't know if Eve is pleased with his vision of her, though. By the way, Eve and Samuel have the same favourite colour: blue.  
  
 
  
Maeve seemed to also have found the love of her life. She started to go steady with Chance Brandt. He is the younger son of the late Lakisha Brandt whose death we witnessed in the previous chapter.  
  
 
  
The youngsters sealed their relationship with a sweet first kiss.  
  
 
  
Both Maeve and Lydia did well at school and got on the honor roll. They also made a lot of friends.  
  
 
  
The blond girl they brought home here, is Bridgett Brandt, the twin sister of Maeve's boyfriend Chance.  
  
 
  
Even the ridiculously long teenage years come to an end sometime. Another birthday party for the twins in the Frio garden. The relatives came of course. Rudolf Frio had already become an elder, and cousin Gerry (in the checkered trousers) was a young adult. The young ladies are Leticia Goth and Imelda Madsen.  
  
 
  
However, there were some new faces among the guests, namely the Brandt siblings. Rhett Brandt is the eldest.  
  
 
  
The fourth Brandt sibling is Emily, the blond woman in the foreground. The man she is talking to might be her dad, Irvin Brandt, but I'm not 100% sure of that.  
  
 
  
Time to blow out the candles. Maeve went first again.  
  
 
  
"Where is Chance? Can we get married already" Unfortunately Chance is still a teen and besides, Maeve has a lot of requirements to fill and has to become an adult, before she can marry anyone.  
  
 
  
But isn't she lovely. Her traits are: athletic, loves the outdoors, lucky, perceptive, party animal.  
  
 
  
One last look at Lydia as teen.  
  
 
  
Chance decided to show up to cheer for Lydia. Maeve repaid for his absence from her own transition by blowing a horn straight into his ear. Grandma Madison is still going strong thanks to the death flowers in her inventory.  
  
 
  
Lydia is truly a female copy of grandfather Connor and father Aidan. Her traits are: charismatic, athletic, perceptive, genius. I know that I chose a fifth trait for her, but probably forgot to click the "up" arrow to actually add it. If I remember right, she wants to become a renaissance sim.  
  
 
  
Aidan decided to show up even for this birthday. But this time he was not in a good mood. He accused Eve of cheating him with Samuel !!!  
  
 
  
Eve decided it was best to apologize, though in fact she had no cause for that. Aidan is dead, for God's sake, and should not meddle with the affairs of the living.  
  
 
  
Lydia got extremely well along with Rhett Brandt. They shared their first kiss before Rhett went home from the party.  
  
 
  
Maeve could not wait to start working towards her LTW of becoming a Superstar Athlete. Even the same night she took a trip to the Llama Stadium and joined the athletic career.  
  
 
  
It seems that two of the gnomes had a bit too much to drink at the birthday party.  
  

[Tipi]

 
Generation 2.5: Lydias lycka*
 
*Lycka is Swedish and means happiness. I could not resist using the title, because it rhymes so well.
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Lydia and Rhett Brandt had been dating for a while. There was no doubt in Lydia's mind that Rhett was the right one for her. He was handsome, tall and blond. He could always make her laugh with his childish ways and, above all, he wanted to work on law enforcement career. He could not be much more honest and reliable than that, could he. Since Lydia was not the heir, she had no obligations to fill and she was free to propose to Rhett any time. And she did just that.
 

 
"Eeeekkk..." Rhett responded with a joyous shriek. Of course, he would marry Lydia.
 

 
Lydia was not quite sure, if Rhett was once again joking when he behaved in such a foolish, girly manner. But when she put the ring on his finger, Rhett was dead serious. Lydia could see that he really, really loved her.
 

 
Afterwards, they went to Rhett's place. Lydia spent the whole night with him talking and ... doing other nice things.
 

 
Lydia was working as a private investigator. She did stakeouts,...
 

 
... searched thought the suspects' trash cans...
 

 
... and every now and then even read their mail. She knew, that she was treading the line there, but it was the result - finding the culprit- that mattered, wasn't it?
 

 
Some assignments forced her to hack private and public computers and databases. Once again she had to keep repeating to herself "it's okay, it's okay, you are doing it for a good cause". But she avoided going into details, when telling Rhett, what she had been doing on the job.
 

 
Lydia's conscience was tested once again, when she one night heard her uncle Rudolf planning a robbery with an accomplice. When she was little, she had overheard her parents worrying over Rudolf and his bad ways. But she had not known exactly, what those 'bad ways' were before this. What was she to do? Should she do the right thing and report what she had just heard? Or should she cover up for her uncle? It took a couple of sleepless nights for Lydia to come to a conclusion.
 

 
Lydia was out on an assignment when she felt sharp pains in her abdomen: the baby, that was conceived when Rhett and Lydia celebrated their engagement, would soon be born.
 

 
She did make it to the hospital in time, and so did father Rhett. 
 

 
The first born of generation three in the Frio family is a boy. They called him Poseidon, because it was the name of the day at 'Behind the Name'
 

 
That same night Rhett moved into the Frio household, but must have soon regretted this, when he realized he had to sleep in the bunk bed.
 

 
The next evening Lydia and Rhett had a private wedding in front of Aidan's grave. And in front of a small congregation.
 

 
Though in the morning this one will not be able to tell what he witnessed.
 

 

 
Mr and Mrs Brandt spent their wedding night out in the garden, because there is not room for a double bed indoors. 
 

 
Rhett got a makeover. The long coat just had to go, but I let him still wear some leather.
 

 
And what has our heir Maeve been up to all this time. The career of a professional athlete is very demanding. So Maeve's days were filled by training, training, preparation for a game, a game, training, training and so on and so on.
 

 
Maeve had only one day off per week, which made it hard to maintain relationships with other than team mates. However, sha had a relationship that was more important than the others - her relationship with her (ex-)boyfriend Chance Brandt. Chance was still a teen, so they could only meet as friends and never went further than friendly hugs. But Chance would not be a teen forever and then....
 

 
What about Eve and Samuel? Samuel sculpted and sold his sculptures with a good profit at the consignment store. Eve still worked in the hospital. On her days off she took part in the ranked chess tournaments and was pretty successful, too. The secret to her success - her little cheerleaders perharps?
 

 
The cheerleaders greeting a new member of the Frio gnome family.
 

[loveSims]

Wow Maeve is so pretty its scary! She almost look human to me. Great updates the gnomes is very funny lol!

[Tipi]

I agree, Maeve looks almost like a real person while Lydia is more like a typical sim. I don't know why though. Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Generation 2.6: The waiting is the hardest part
 
Maeve had been enviously following her sister Lydia's life and happiness. She almost wished she was not the heir now. She still had some requirements to fill, before she could even consider having her own family. But luckily Chance was a young adult now. Finally the waiting for that had come to the end.
 

 
So Maeve invited Chance out to a romantic date by the waterfall. Unfortunately that did not go too well. It turned out that Chance was unflirty, so he did not like Maeve's advances at all. And on top of it all Maeve had picked a wrong spot for the date. What Maeve considered a romantic setting, was appalling to Chance, who hates the outdoors. So a change of scenery was in order.
 

 
Once in the library Chance revealed another secret of his: he likes to run around town dressed in just his speedos!
 

 
Maeve tried not to look down and kept her eyes fixed on Chance's eyes. Luckily moving indoors did the trick: Chance was feeling more flirty and they had a nice date.
 

 
Next day after a quick trip to the jeweller's, Maeve invited Chance back to the library. 
 

 
She had told Chance that she had a big surprise for him and he waited impatiently what it was.
 

 
Oh My God! A ring!
 

 
"Will you marry me and be the next DecaDynasty spouse?"
 

 
Chance did not have to contemplate his answer too long...
 

 
Chance was proposed by the heir of Frio dynasty, when his big brother Rhett only got to marry the spare!
 

 
So, of course he said "Yes!".
 

 
Although Rhett Brandt only got to marry the spare, he considered himself the luckiest guy on sim earth: he was happily marred to a wonderful young woman, he got a job in his dream career law enforcement...
 

 
... and on top of it all, he had a healthy son who was growing up fast.
 

 
Poseidon was a little cutie.
 

 
As the only child in the household little Poseidon got a lot of attention. Mother Lydia taught him to talk. I think she wants him to take up grandfather Aidan's profession, fishing, when he grows up.
 

 
And grandmother Eve read him a lot of books, so he'd be super-skilled, when he grows up.
 

 
Daddy Rhett was already growing up (to adult).
 

 
Maeve climbed up her career pretty fast. Here she's entering the Maeve Frio Memorial Stadium for yet another game. Yes, she owns the stadium now and the team decided to rename it after their star player. Maeve had supermaxed the athletic skill, which means that the Llamas were unbeatable. They had never let the other team score and thus had never lost a game with Maeve in the team. Their game record was really impressive: the smallest victory margin had been 12-0! By the way, cousin Gerry (the blond guy in the background) had also joined the Llamas.
 

 
After the game Maeve met aunt Melissa and cousin Leticia, who were very excited of having witnessed yet another victory for the Llamas. Melissa was getting very old and would not be with us for long (I already got the pop-up), so Maeve spent some time chatting with her. Notice that Leticia had become very fit thanks to Maeve training her.
 

 
Eve and Samuel had a rough patch in their marriage, when they both accused each other of cheating: Eve Samuel for cheating with Melissa (ex-girlfriend with whom he had not been romantic since teen) and Samuel Eve for cheating with Aidan (who is dead!). Both accusations were ridiculous and quite unfounded, which the couple realized initially. Now they could not be more happy together.
 

 
Lydia had the main responsibility of making friends. You know that a DecaDynasty generation is drawing near to it's end, when you see a lot of NPCs visiting the household.
 

 
The repo was free to take the old sloppy jalopy. It was promptly replaced with a shiny new, violet 4-Everything Van.
 

 
One more new addition to the band of gnomes: the Troglodyte, who was bought from the consignment store.
 
 

[loveSims]

Great update! It's funny to see a sim in a leather jacket and speedo lol!

[lvrugger]

I'm loving your story, Tipi! You're doing a great job of weaving the games mechanics with the characters' traits and creating a fun, readable, gnome-filled good time. Keep it up!