In Which The Characters Take OverIt's like a horror movie. Slowly, sim by sim, the sparkles are taking over in the CrumpleSteel/Morey household. You stop paying attention for one second and bam! you're engulfed in pretty sparkly colours!
Abbie: Oh, stop being dramatic.
Remind me, who spent three days huffing and complaining about feeling sick and their back hurting recently?
Abbie: I was pregnant. With twins.
Fine. Be that way.
Abbie: Maybe I should take over narrating.
Abbie: Kristal had her elder birthday a few days after Hazel and Harry were born. She didn't tell anyone it was her birthday so she aged up in her room by herself.
Cruz: Bit sad really.
Abbie: Or maybe you should have rememberd your own mother's birthday.
Cruz: Moving swiftly on.
Abbie: Then, just as we'd all filed into Kristal's room to congratulate her, there's a big scream from outside. Turns out Collin Fair, that paparazzi who I'd told to stay away from me after he'd spread all those lies, had decided to chance his luck at the house anyway. And obviously went and died.
Cruz: Abbie says she had nothing to do with it.
Abbie: I didn't! I actually felt quite bad. Maybe I should have apologised.
Cruz: He begged for some extra time from the Grim. Probably to continue spreading lies.
Abbie: I'm reconsidering apologising. I just remembered all the other stuff he wrote about my family. He did a whole feature once on how Mum was digging around in trash cans to get information for the police force.
Cruz: Yeah, but that one was true.
Hector: What are you two doing?
Go back to your chemistry set Hector. You've only got two more potions left to discover, so make sure it's the Young Again one first, right?
Hector: I hate you.
That's it Hector, let it all out.
Abbie: Excuse us.
Cruz: We were trying to tell our readers a story, thank you.
I'm not even going to have the conversation about how the readers can't hear you talking.
Abbie: Ahh, but you'll type it all up later, like a good little watcher. I'll make you cookies if you do.
I'm being controlled, controlled by my own characters! Help! Somebody, help!
Abbie and Cruz: We want to break free! We want to break free! We want to break free from these lies and...
Grim: Will you shut up! Seriously, this house! Just no facilities for reapers. The computer doesn't work, there's a mad guy in the basement exploding things, and some baby thinks I'm going to feed it. I'm going to hand in my notice to the Boss if things keep going the way they are.
Abbie: Or you could, y'know, go home.
Cruz: While my dear wife gets into an argument with the Grim Reaper...
Cruz: It was also time this week for the twins to outgrown their coocoons and become beautiful
butterflies toddlers. Hazel was first.
See! Told you the sparkles were taking over!
Cruz: It's called a birthday.
Well, that's put me in my place. Get back behind the fourth wall!
Cruz: She seems to have Abbie's hair and eyes and most of her face shape too. If I didn't know better I'd suspect she was a clone of my wife. But maybe there'll be more of me in her when she grows up. Her favourite colour is spiceberry, but I let Abbie take care of the clothes. I'm in charge of cuddles.
Cruz: And then it was Harry's turn. My little man. He looks a little bit like me. He's got my hair colour and eyes at least.
Cruz: Together, they are possibly the most adorable thing I have ever seen.
Abbie: Oh! You did the birthdays bit without me!
Hector: At least you're not in the basement.
Abbie: This is true.
Abbie: They're both little characters. They get pretty much everything they want around here. Nobody can resist their adorable faces. Of course, with three out of four of the adults here being family-oriented, that also helps. It's a struggle stopping everyone playing with and cuddling them for long enough to teach them their toddler skills.
That's going in the next update.
Abbie: Yeah, because we haven't actually managed to start yet.
So next time on the CrumpleSteel DecaDynasty, Hazel and Harry have to actually learn things instead of just being cuddled and tickled. And maybe the watcher will get her story back.
Abbie: Fat chance. I'm way better at this.
Hector: Hey, everyone!
No, you can't come out the basement.
Hector: I've got the potion!
Cruz: Awesome!
Cruz: I'm young, free, free as the wind! I can do anything I want to! Be whoever I want to be!
With your two kids, wife and job as a traffic cop.
Cruz: Don't spoil it for me.
Hector: Don't I even get a thank you?!
Thanks Hector. Tell you what. You can have whatever you want now.
Hector: I'll just go make a phone call.