Erik Swain was a family-oriented man. He had messy hair and a pleasant face. He was sloppy and a little grumpy, but I didn't really care. He was otherwise perfect. When Erik and I were seniors in college, he proposed to me. I was considering waiting until I had graduated, but we had one more semester left at the time, so I said yes. I was majoring in economics. I was hopeful that I could become the business tycoon of the family, like my grandfather Jamie and my uncle Fernando. I have a weakness for money...I like buying things, and I like earning money in order to buy more things. Now how can a family man consider marrying a professional shopper like myself? I guess it was just because he was flat out in love with me, as I was with him. When we, the love birds, graduated with honors from Sim State University, we moved back to my parents' house. It was quite a shocker to see my aged parents. My dad still had the ridiculous haircut, even though it had turned from shocking red to gray. My mom had cut her hair, which was quite disappointing. All my life I remembered her having the long, flowing, wavy hair. Now it was gone. Speaking of gone, right when I moved into the house, my twin brothers moved out! They graduated from high school and were moving on with their lives. They moved into that horrible rental property with my horrible cousins. Pablo, whose chin was so huge it made his face look crescent-moon-like, used the plastic surgery machine to reduce the size of his massive jaw. Zach had some cosmetic changes of his own: he got himself some tattoos. Erik and I will be married soon. I cannot wait!
Mateo Cormier became the neighborhood's "ladies' man." He fell hard for every single woman he met, as long as they did not have any strings attached. He fell for college girls. He fell for adult women. He even fell for a Ms. Aurora, who was in her late 60s. I got an earful about his conquests from his first love Chloe, who lived next door to him. You see, Chloe and Mateo were supposed to "be together" but it did not work out. She said she did not want to get attached to one man, and he did not want to get attached to one woman. Also, Chloe thought it was a downer that she was going to live with his parents...AND his family-oriented sister, who did not approve of her brother's behavior (I for one feel sorry for Alvin Futa now, since he's engaged to marry Lupe, but oh well. I have my man!). So Chloe announced that she was through and moved out. Mateo followed. I get an earful from Sancho as well. He is living with his non-aging parents and grandparents. Sancho still wants Chloe (he gave up on "that other girl"). I feel like I'm stuck in the middle of everything. Erik tells me to just listen and not get involved, and I don't get involved. I never have been involved. I'm just hoping no one gets hurt in all of this. I do believe Mateo's in love with, what, 12 different women? Sheesh, what a wandering eye!
Pancho Platz married Madeleine Bendett and had a baby boy, Marco. He moved into a newly built house and moved his aging parents in. Chandler Platz, the neighborhood ecological guru, gave his brother-in-law a cowplant as a thank you. Chandler and Adora, and their aging dog Chuy, had moved in with Adora's twin brother Luis, whose "Lawson Nose" had shrunk with old age. Luis is in charge of my grandfather's corporation. "He always had a knack for business," Jamie Cormier always said. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to wait a while to get my hands on the corporation, since my uncle Fernando is next in line. Adora and my mother Adriana are hall of famers together. Adora sometimes comes over for dinner. Luis's wife Brittany is a criminal mastermind and my aunt Lorena's boss. This neighborhood has too many connections. It's so hard to keep track of it all! Last two pictures are of Selena Lawson and Dominique Simpson, and of Veronica and Erik. I do believe Bender approves.
Here's an odd one for you: Tomas Cormier is a really boring person in my game. He has a wife, Brittany Parker Cormier, and he has four children. The eldest, Natalia, is in college. The middle child, Juana, is a teen. The youngest are twins, a boy named Fabio and a girl named Yolanda. Fabio is a weeny. Yolanda is downright mean. Fabio went into red when his grandparents died, and you know what happened? Picture attached! I've NEVER seen children fight, especially not twin siblings! 1. Juana, who looks like her sister Natalia. They're both Knowledge Sims too, like their dad. 2. Tomas can't believe his eyes either! 3. Yolanda won. I think the clothes are suited for her too.
Very funny. I've never seen kids fight, either. Is that Brittany in the criminal mastermind outfit? She looks cool! I just had a robot promoted to Captain Hero but haven't seen her fly yet. And I think I see fangs on Bender! (But the picture's small and my eyes are tired.)
Yep it is! It is cool, but I only seem to have old lady criminal masterminds, so it's funny too. That ought to be fun seeing the robot fly! Indeed he does have fangs He's still the lovable robot we know and love, 'cept he walks funny.
Sorry guys! I had to take another break from Sims to clear my mind...that and other distractions in real life took time away from my Simming...school mostly, and also I had gotten obsessed with World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. To catch everyone up, there has been several weddings and a baby boom in Tropico. Oh gosh...Pancho and Madeleine, Lupe and Alvin, Gabriel and Lola had twins..., Carlos and Lainey, even Veronica and Erik had a baby boy. It was hard to juggle all these people. The generation is so broad! The youngest in Veronica's generation is Gustavo, Castor Nova's alien offspring, and he's still a child. And the oldest, Pancho Platz, has a toddler of his own. The only two males that haven't gotten married and had children are Sancho and Mateo, since they didn't seem to be the marrying type. Speaking of Mateo, that was the most hilarious thing I had ever done to a Sim was make him fall in love with twenty different women. It was challenging, because I've never done that to a Sim before, but the crowning touch was when he fell in love with the downtown slob! Ouch! I would do the same with Chloe Curious, but that took several Sim days to do with Mateo, and she's fallen hard for a Sim that isn't Sancho OR Mateo. Can't make up her mind, can she? Lola has decided to stay with Gabriel, mainly because they have two toddlers, a dog and a cat. I moved Chloe in but realized that she wouldn't be much help, so I moved in one of Sancho's parents' robots, Tanya. She'll play an integral part to the story later on. You know how Tomas's family was dull? Now I have a reason why it isn't dull anymore. On a whim I made a few townies that I borrowed from Knox Patch, like the Curious family. Guess who has three lighteningbolts for Juana? Maybe in the Dagmar Diaries I can examine this romance further. Dagmar does take a route in Sim State University.
Lorena Cormier Nova had been a vampire since she was a senior in high school. It was the only life she had ever lived. Castor Nova, her husband of many years, accepted and loved her for who she was. However, he never did want to become one. So over the years he aged, and she stayed the same. They accepted it. Castor was abducted by aliens when he was 47 years old. He had a son from the incident, whom he named Gustavo. As an old man it was a handful to raise a child on his own, but with Lorena home, and nocturnal, it made things easier. Time went by. Castor became the chief of staff at the hospital. Lorena finally got a job that could use her services better in the dark: cat burglar. Gustavo was a strapping teenager with a thirst for love. One day, though, Lorena and Castor got a phone call from their son Hector. Ivy Shaw, his fianc, was pregnant with twins and about perished from carrying the two babies. He was concerned and wanted to move back home, but their one family house was too small for four adults, a teen, and a couple babies (thank goodness no more cats that fought likecats). With Castors promotion money and the inheritance from Jamie Cormiers estate (he was a successful business tycoon), they bought a mansion and remodeled it to suit their needs. Hector and Ivy lived upstairs. Gustavo had his own room. Lorena and Castor shared a bedroom that had a door leading to the garage, so Lorena could hop out of her coffin and drive to work without being exposed to the sun. Life was good, until a few more things occurred. Lorena was cleaning up the house before Ivy's babies were due. Her husband was doing what he loved best: looking at the stars with the telescope in the courtyard. Suddenly she saw the familiar light flash out side the window. She opened it up and peered through. CASTOR, GET OUT OF THERE! she yelled out the window. Mom, whats up? Hector ran to join her. Ivy waddled over. The aliens! she cried, then turned into a bat and flew out the window. Gustavo was already in the courtyard. He, too, had seen the lights through the stained glass windows. He panicked, not knowing how to save his father from the tractor beam. Hold on! Please hold on! Lorena sobbed. Too late, for Castor lost hold and was sucked in. Gustavo swore he could see the green people inside the UFO. Thats when he realized what his origins were. Cool, he said, looking over at his new girlfriend, Renee Bui. Aliens? I thought they werent real, she stared wide eyed. And I thought you said you had a skin condition. Uh Enough. Goodbye, Renee. Get back inside, all of you. Lorena was angry, upset with her helplessness, and could not believe that the aliens came back for Castor after all these years. There had been sightings of aliens in the area. Apparently there was a crashed UFO several miles away. Yet why did they want Castor twice and her great-grandfather? She waited hours, as did Hector. The others went back to sleep. Finally the lights came back. They threw Castor out onto the street. Lorena and Hector ran out to greet him. They knew the drill. Fortunately an old man was unsusceptible to alien pregnancies, but who knows what sort of damage was done to him. Yet, Castor was fine. Life went on.
A few weeks later, Lorena received a phone call from her sister Adriana. How are you? Fine, as always. Whats up? You meanyou dont know? Know what? My son Pablo was bitten by a vampire when he went to a wedding. Know anything about that? No. I didnt even know you had more kids. UghI do, theyre in college. Right, and why would I bite my own nephew? Whose wedding was this? A friend of his from college was getting married. The groom was already a vampire. He bit the bride, Pablo, Pablos girlfriend, and tried to bite Zach and his girlfriend before Zach punched the guy in the face. Needless to say that wedding ended right then. I still dont know who youre referring to. ConnorRahathe girl was Natalia Cormier. Rightnope, doesnt ring a bell. I have NEVER bitten anyone, you know that Adriana. I knowIm justworried, you know? Biting people isnt random. I know it. Just, please be careful, alright? The girls mothers a lieutenant in the police force and is investigating this. I know of your criminal history. Look, if there was some report of a gray woman with red eyes, wearing a leopard skin dress, out biting people at random, youd know itd be me. Ok. I know you havent changed a bit. Adriana smiled and sighed on her end of the phone. Im starting to wonder about you, though, if youre suspecting that your sister is out biting people. Youre the only vampire that I know. Benders a werewolf. And there havent been any werewolf attacks since Diego attacked his wife. Lorena laughed. Not funny, Adriana said sternly, then started to laugh as well. So hows it going, sister? Fine, Veronica has her hands full with Che, but then again, shes keeping me busy too. Ah, being a grandmother is fantastic. Its very rewarding. Yeah, at least you dont have to deal with twins. Oh, Pablo and Zach were trouble. Still are, especially with this vampire thing. I suppose so. Im happy to hear youre alright, sister. Same here; please dont be a stranger. I wont be, I apologize for not calling sooner but this worried me. Lorena just laughed. Dont worry about me, Ill be fine.
Veronica's cousin Carlos came home from work one day to find his wife Lainey in labor. They already had one son, Miguel, who was celebrating his 4th birthday. Carlos was concerned. Lainey was big as a house, her belly larger than when she was carrying Miguel. She was a big girl to begin with: she had a little extra weight but she was a rookie on the Llamas ball team. He was in outright panic when she went into labor that day. They went to the hospital. The doctors helped Lainey deliver the babies. Yes, multiple babies. Yet always having to outdo his brothers in any way, whereas Gabriel and Hector had twins each, Carlos had Isidora Lidia Manuela Silvia Yes. Four babies. Each with their own little features, each with different colored hair and different skintones. Four little girls, and a son. That had Veronica beat, as at the moment she only had Che, but she thought he was nuts to attempt to handle them all on his own. Gabriel sent over the live-in nanny that was helping Lola out with the twins Horacio and Filomena. Since Lola's sister Chloe was now in residence, they did not need the robot anymore. The robot was offended, however. "Yeah, you just fire me for doing a good job taking care of my grandchildren! I quit! Oooh if Nacho were still here I'd give him a piece of my mind! Let's hope your brother is more gracious than you are, Mr. Moneybags! Oh and by the way, your decor? It's quite tacky! Living in an aluminum house indeed!" The robot took a taxi and rode further down the street. She was greeted by a little boy, a charming woman and a nicer looking young man than Gabe. Inside the house, in which all the walls were a flaming red, she found the nursery. The walls were lined with cribs. "Oh my goodness!" Carlos looked at the robot funny. She didn't act like a robot. She didn't sound like a robot. She sounded like a person. She behaved like Bender. "Excuse me...do you know a robot named Bender?" "Know him?" She tilted her head back and laughed for a really long time. "Know him!? Honey, I BUILT him!" "No way..." This robot, this female robot, was practically new. Bender was starting to rust after all the years he was functioning, though he was built so well that he only malfunctioned once. He looked at this nanny bot more closely. "That can't be true. Who are you?" "I'm the nanny, that's all. I just want to visit my grandchildren. I haven't seen them in so long...I've been asleep for a long time. It was welcoming to see Alonso again." "Alonso..." Alonso was that former vampire that never aged after he was cured. Who knows how old that guy was. Did he build this robot? Did he do something to it? "It was funny. I woke up and I was in my old house again. My goodness, Javier is so bland. I thought he had done something fun with the place. I guess his son painted over the bamboo." "Who...what?" The robot just chattered on. She was a pretty darn good nanny. She changed each baby's diaper with such speed and skill. She gave each one a bottle, then put them all to bed. She had cross words with Karen Gast. "You are a poor excuse for a nanny! You peed on my grandson's carpet! What are you, a dog!? OUT! I can take care of these babies myself, but keep in mind, I have a job on the side. I can't believe my restaurant is still thriving, but no one recognizes me...is everyone gone?" "Who's gone? Who are you supposed to be?" Carlos stared at the robot for a long time. "Kiara. But don't tell anyone, I know it's weird because I've been gone for so long. I go by Tanya right now..." "Oh. Ok...Tanya..." "Isn't she great, Carlos?" Lainey kissed his cheek and then went outside to do yoga. "Yeah...she's...something..."
Gosh my story keeps getting knocked to the second page. It's hard to find enough material to write about.
Nova-Reeves Household The appearance of the robot that acted like a grandmotherly nanny made Carlos want to investigate where the female bot came from. From his brother Gabe, he was able to trace the origin of the bot to Alonso Cormier, the former vampire. He was supposedly as old as Grandpa Jamie and Grandma Stella, who were long since dead. Yet this fellow had not aged since he was thirty years old, and neither did his wife Jade, nor did his children and grandchildren. He gave the man a phonecall. Alonso was happy to explain. "No one knows if it's a side effect of being a vampire, or if it's due to the fact that my offspring and I had to bargain with the Reaper for our loved ones' lives. I'm not sure if it's a curse or if it's due to Jade's genes. I mean, her grandfather doesn't age either, and he's old. But it doesn't explain my case any. It's a drag but oh well." "About that robot...you see, I deal with paranormal activities. Ghosts, vampires, werewolves, cults, etc. Concerning Tanya, apparently there have been disappearing tombstones in the neighborhood. The Lawsons down the street from me have a masoleum on their property and the urn of Kiara Gonzales Cormier was the first one to disappear. I have reason to believe that this robot is..." "You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Carlos. "I kid you not," Alonso said in a serious tone. "And it's happened before, in various places around the world." "Wow." "Yeah it's a fairly common occurrance, disappearing tombstones. I did not realize that spirits could inhabit inanimate objects like robots. If I had known, I would not have built it." Carlos looked over at the robot, who was helping tend to the quadruplets. So was this a malfunctioning robot and Alonso was some crazy guy, or is Alonso correct? Carlos assumed that if this guy was an expert, then surely this was true. "Ok, I think I understand this...but can you explain Bender? Tanya knew Bender." "When Kiara was alive, she built Bender. That's all I know from talking with the Lawsons and from my personal experience. Apparently the legacy was that we as a whole family had to 'take care of him.' I'm not sure if it was just the last words of a dying woman for an object with sentimental value, or whether she knew that robot had a soul and was special, or whether she had actually, literally, put her heart and soul into that thing. I'm still trying to figure it out to this day." "He's my grandfather. I'm fairly sure he can take care of himself." Carlos laughed. Alonso smiled on the other end of the line. "Yeah, he's been taking care of himself and his family for six generations now. He's gonna be here a good while longer." "So should I just treat Tanya as a person or a robot?" "It's up to you. I'd say respect her either way." "Thanks, you've cleared up a lot." "Pleasure." Then Carlos heard shrill shrieks, and he turned to see his wife and son gathered at the window. "Daddy! It's snowing!" "Alonso? Since when has a tropical island had snow?" "Uh...I've never seen that happen before. Lemme check it out." And with that Alonso hung up. Carlos went to see what the snow looked like. It was snowing hard and it piled up against the house. His son Miguel ran to put on his rarely worn coat and snow pants and went to play out in the flakes. Lainey continued to stare at it in the comfort of the indoors. Tanya looked at Lainey and said "Darling, you should be tending to your babies instead of looking out there like a schoolgirl." "I know, but oh gosh...it's never snowed here before!" "Lainey! Looks like we've had accidents! You take Isadora and Silvia to the potty while I bathe Manuela and Lidia. My god I actually feel relieved I was fired from my job!" "Carlos Nova, when the heck were you gonna tell me that?!" "Just now." "This is terrible! We're always busy, we never have time to talk, I'm stressed..." Meanwhile Miguel enjoyed the quiet of the outdoors and built a snowman. He smiled, laughed and enjoyed himself. He didn't have to listen to four toddlers crying at the same time, he didn't have to deal with his parents arguing and then kissing and making up five minutes later. He did like his nanny. That was a plus for having four baby sisters. He went inside when he finished the snowman. He was unable to see the penguin that came to admire his work.
I did get a glitch that caused all my tombstones to disappear when kids moved back home from college. I can still resurrect the dead people, though. However, it's a storytelling tool I'm using to explain why my legacy challenge founder no longer exists in the neighborhood.
F. Cormier Household Veronica had to compete with her uncle Fernando for the top spot of her grandfather's company. Fernando had the features of a grumpy old man, but he was really and truly a fun loving kind of guy. However, he was not pleased with the lifestyle of his good-for-nothing son Rafael. When Rafael came back from college, he had brought with him his fiance Marsha Brunig. She was the victim of a plastic surgery mishap that caused her to lose her original looks. She also was not satisfied with good-for-nothing Rafael either, and was holding a grudge for his unintended and accidental flirt with the university's mascot. Needless to say Marsha broke the engagement to the woe of Rafael. It did not help that Fernando had taken an almost romantic liking to her, which she objected to. So Rafael wallowed in his sorrows for several days. He was wanting to be a chef like his mother, but he was a lowly fast food manager. His expectations were really low. They were so low that he started dating the downtown slob, Crystal. This Fernando disliked more than anything else his good-for-nothing son had done before. Yet his wife Chloe believed that it was good that Rafael was dating again. She was even more thrilled when Rafael became engaged to the girl. Sure Crystal was a slob and always had a vacant look on her face, but look how happy Rafael is! That's what the argument always ended with, and finally Fernando gave his permission for Rafael to marry her...when he found out the girl was pregnant. They moved to a larger house after the wedding. Fernando occupied himself with this newly built vegetable garden. He seemed oddly enough happy that he had a granddaughter, Alejandra. Everything seemed to fall into place, and that gave him a sense of contentment. Once Rafael started getting promotions, he no longer was a good-for-nothing that wore funky clothes and did strange things. Life was good. Even when it did snow... SNOW?! "Since when did it ever snow here?" Fernando exclaimed.
I especially like the snow covered lemonade stand. Nice pictures. I hadn't seen the penquin, yet, but I heard about him. That's quite a nose that Rafael has.
