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#76
15th Aug 2023 at 11:15 PM
Last edited by gummilutt : 7th Nov 2023 at 6:26 PM.
Last week I sat down to filter my screenshots of our relevant families to make it easier for myself to continue posting episodes, and oh boy is there a lot to get through. I'm a little conflicted on how to move forward with the story, I imagine any readers may have noticed the number of screenshots only increase as the story goes forward. I am not a consumer of stories myself so I do not know what the norm is, or what a person reading may want. When I play for myself, I screenshot constantly, wanting to capture every play session in detail so I can go back and relive it both for enjoyment, and to help myself get immersed again the next time that family comes up in the rotation. For example, the Sawyer family album is over four thousand screenshots as this point Lots of those are only interesting/relevant to me, but it is difficult to decide where to draw the line between keeping it consumable and still have you, the reader, immersed in the story and understanding changes that happen. One of the comments I received back then was that my Sims felt more real to the person than they are used to, and that is exactly what I am going for. I want the Sims to feel real, I want the story to feel natural and believable. A picture speaks a thousand words, the old saying goes, and we all know I am extremely long winded, so in a way I think sticking to pictures to convey the tone ends up shorter than if I tried to use text instead The point being, I hope you are willing to bear with me as the story gets heavier in terms of number of pictures I have done my best to trim it down, but I don't want to lose the nuance, so picture heavy it will be
The Sawyer family
While I imagine some are wondering how Siri and Isamu are getting on, we spent a long time away from the Sawyer family and there is much to catch up on. So today, we are once again going to stop by the trailers and check in with Sally Mae, Billy Bob and the kids.
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
The Sawyer family
While I imagine some are wondering how Siri and Isamu are getting on, we spent a long time away from the Sawyer family and there is much to catch up on. So today, we are once again going to stop by the trailers and check in with Sally Mae, Billy Bob and the kids.
When we left the Sawyers, I spoke of the growing tension between Billy Bob and Sally Mae. But that is not the only tension in the household. As the family grows, and the kid get older, the lack of space is beginning to show. Peggy Sue and Lulu Belle are big girls now, and although the magic of Sims helps them sleep despite crying siblings, it does get a little tiresome to wake up every morning to two screaming toddlers, usually with a diaper adding it's stink to further lower the mood.
And judging by Sally Mae's enormous belly, there's another set of twins that will be coming out any second now.
No wonder Peggy Sue frequently needs a hug from the teddybear, to get through the awkwardness of her parents and living in so little space with her many siblings.
I think Sally Mae knows the kids are a bit cramped, and does what she can to help, like take Anna Nicole outside to practice walking.
Billy Bob kept up his ways, jealously guarding his territory, chasing away any men that pass by their trailers on the outskirts of town.
Remaining distant with his family, reading the paper or watching his TV as Sally Mae constantly works around him, cleaning and taking care of the kids.
The trailers may be small but keeping it all clean, cooking and taking care of the kids is a non stop job that combined with pregnancy ensures Sally Mae is bone weary most days, here she is sneaking in a nap when she had a moment to sit down.
As much as he detests it, Billy Bob has to help out more with the kids as Sally Mae simply can't keep up. Once again he realizes there are benefits to the windows Sally Mae had insisted on having between their bedroom and the kids trailer. It ensures that whenever he offers to put the kids to bed, the last thing Sally Mae sees as she falls asleep is his figure on the other side keeping an eye on the kids.
Billy Bob even made breakfast one day when he had the day off from work. Only cereal, but who would have thought to find him cooking.
She looks at him quite fondly as she sits down to eat and he takes his bowl over to the other trailer to keep an eye on the little ones so she can eat in peace.
Though I don't think she quite trusts him to do the job well, because she always goes to see how the kids are. Or perhaps she just misses them. She picked a real adorable moment to walk in.
Anna Nicole had already eaten so Sally Mae entertained her with some peek-a-boo while Junior has his breakfast.
It doesn't seem Billy Bob's punishment of forcing them to run the obstacle course deterred Peggy Sue and Lulu Belle for very long, because the two of them snuck in to their parents bedroom to jump on the bed. Quite daring of them, with Billy Bob home from work.
Lucky for them, he did not notice because he was busy outside helping Sally Mae in the garden. It seems his newly found improved method of subjugating Sally Mae is putting him in a good enough mood that he's fine helping out more with tasks he would have otherwise felt are beneath him.
It seems all that bending over to tend weeds in the garden kicked things in to motion, because not long after Sally Mae is in labour!
She always looks so very loving and tender as she looks down on her new child, you'd think after 4 the feeling might lessen but it seems not, every one is as miraculous as the one before.
Even Billy Bob is looking at the newcomer with tender eyes as Sally Mae hands over baby 1 to him so she can get busy birthing baby 2.
Billy Bob even finds it within himself to cheer for the babies. One wonders if the dewy eyes and the cheering may have something to do with the fact that Sally Mae finally gave him another son, and this time, a son with Billy Bobs genetics, unlike Billy Bob Junior who looks so much like his mother.
Peggy Sue comes and says hi to her new baby sister. Lulu Belle looks a little less excited, and Sally Mae seems to notice. I'm guessing Lulu Belle is thinking of trying to cram another two cribs in to the cramped bedroom she already shares with three siblings.
Billy Bob however is in a great mood, having finally gotten a worthy son, whom he named Joe Bob. He even sat down with the girls to eat, telling them not to waste their time with home work and school.
Outside Sally Mae has changed clothes now she's back to normal size, and is nursing her new daughter, which she named Tamie Lee. Billy Bob is still as thrilled as ever with his new baby boy.
Kids, kids, kids everywhere!
Billy Bob opted to bring Joe Bob with him to his and Sally Mae's trailer, to the camoflauge play mat he has there. Sally Mae stops by to check in on him.
He even seems a little kinder towards Junior now, helping feed him for the night and put him to bed. Probably easier to not care now that he has a second son to put his hopes on.
Billy Bob already ate with the girls, but when Sally Mae goes to grab a quick plate of dinner he comes with her and keeps her company as he eats, talking about old times when they'd go out on dates.
Sally Mae seems to wonder what has gotten in to him, she looks quite confused when she asked why he's talking about that now.
Billy Bob only smiles, strokes her cheek and tells her to follow him.
Hang on, where did that trailer come from? There did not use to be a trailer on the other side of the yard
Billy Bob leads Sally Mae inside, to show her the trailer he has purchased and furnished, to give the older kids their own space away from the little ones where they can sleep in peace, and there is room for them to have a table and sofa and some toys of their own.
Sally Mae is overjoyed, hugging and kissing him as a thank you
Peggy Sue seems as excited as mum, talking animatedly with her about the new trailer
After Peggy Sue and Lulu head to bed on their new bedroom, Billy Bob and Sally Mae sit on the sofa outside to chat a bit. Billy Bob telling her how he knew they'd need more space now that they have even more kids.
Now at this point you might be wondering, what is going on? Is Billy Bob somehow turning in to less of a crappy dude? He's been helping out more with the kids, letting Sally Mae rest, he cooked (!!) and now he's even showing he noticed the increasing crowdedness of the kids trailer and that his oldest daughters are getting tired of sharing space with their younger siblings. The simple answer is no, Billy Bob is not turning in to a nicer more caring father and husband. But he's not stupid, he knows that Sally Mae cares deeply about her children, that she will go to lengths to protect them that she does not go to for herself. She might put up with the broken furniture and the depressing environment for herself, but for her kids, she will start to ask questions, and make demands, just as she did when she learned he had gotten a bonus at work. She is no longer the young naive teenager he once courted, viewing Billy Bob as the cool older man with all the answers. She's a grown mom of six, and even if she's isolated from society and from other people, she is stronger in herself now than she was back then, because she has to be for the sake of her kids. As much as he tries to keep her down by making her bend to his whims regularly (read woohoo) and by keeping her busy with housework, her strength grows. So he has to be careful, and keep up appearances of being a devoted father and husband. It's eating him up inside though, all this doing what his wife wants and spending his hard earned money on the kids instead of himself. So what's a guy to do, when he has a bone to pick with his wife that he does not dare pick with her?
He goes to a place where there are women he can speak his true thoughts to, of course. Meet Hot House, the seedy downtown location for all Sims wishing to get up to things you don't necessarily want known outside.
If you have enough money, all manner of things can be arranged.
But Billy Bob can be himself, fully. I suspect he wishes he could act the same with Sally Mae when she does something he does not want, shove a hand in her face to say "stop". Not that he's actually going to say no to Jaqueline, he's just making sure she knows anything that happens will be on his initiative.
Billy Bob spents most of the night at the Hot House, getting out his frustrations and quenching his thirst with a number of women willing to participate. The small hours of the morning find him laying on a hammock, half asleep but feeling real pleased with himself.
I don't like the look in his eyes as he moves in to spoon Sally Mae in their bed back home
He looks happy as he drifts off to sleep, not realizing that next to him Sally Mae is quite awake and probably wonders where he's been all night.
The next day Billy Bob kept mostly to himself, reading the paper as the news player on the TV.
That night, as Billy and the girls were helping themselves to some leftovers and Sally Mae was over with the younger kids, an unexpected guest came knocking on the door
Billy Bob rushes outside to get rid of him, telling him to get lost immediately
Stoffe looking rather grim as he walks away
All of it visible from the window in the young kids trailer, but Sally Mae of course is not looking out the window. She's busy taking care of the toddlers.
Billy Bob definitely does not want Stoffe anywhere near there, he never likes any men anywhere near his family but especially not one that actually knows Sally Mae and may open her eyes to the situation. As all abusers do, he wants her isolated from anyone whose word she might actually listen to. He worries she might catch a glimpse of him down the road as Stoffe walks back towards Simville, so he goes over to make sure her attention is away from the windows.
What better way than to keep her attention on him, and romance her a little so her thoughts are on him
I think by the end of the night Sally Mae was rather tired, in her night gown just wanting to go to bed and Billy Bob still putting on charms. Looks about to fall asleep standing, to me.
But as ever she musters a smile for her husbands attentions. After all, he's only expressing his love for her, so even if she's maybe tired and not in the mood, surely it's a good thing that he's wooing her? Not something that should make her uncomfortable and tired...
And get his way he does, which is why the next morning, Sally Mae finds herself once again rushing to the toilet. Uh oh...
She knows the signs. As she draws a rare bubble bath for herself, she does not look as pleased at the prospect as she once might have. I think she might have preferred to remain unpregnant a while longer, she only just gave birth to twins and currently has two toddlers, and two babies to take care of. It's a lot.
I feel you Sally Mae, I'd be tired and achey too, lugging around kids all day long and once again pregnancy adding to the strain internally.
It is drawing towards autumn out by the trailers, the color of the light is changing and Sally Mae's vegetable garden is almost done for the season. The girls are quite enjoying it though, hopping around in rain puddles.
Sally Mae decides to be proactive, and prepare in advance for what is to come. Spent a whole day cooking meals to put away as leftovers for when her pregnancy progresses and it becomes even harder for her to keep up. Which was definitely wise, every other screenshot I have from this period shows her either throwing up or dry heaving where she stands, rubbing her neck or holding her stomach.
And now that the older kids have a fridge and table over in their trailer, the pre-prepared food means they can eat whenever they want to without Sally Mae or Billy Bob needing to get involved. Probably not quite how Sally Mae would want it, but one Sim can only do so much!
Even the babies have to settle for pre-prepared food, no more nursing as Sally Mae simply does not have the time or the strength.
But luckily, it was soon time for the toddlers to grow up which will make things a little easier for them.
Sally Mae looks so pleased as she's helping Anna Nicole with the birthday candles. Those two always had a bit of a special bond.
She grew up into such a little cutie!
Then it was Juniors turn
Not quite as cute as his sister, I'm not sure his genes did him any favors, but he looks pleased with himself and his new form
As they ate their slices of cake, Junior seems a little afraid or distasteful towards his dad. As I've said before, kids are intuitive, I think Junior realizes his dad does not much care for him.
Even more so now that Billy Bob has his golden boy, Joe Bob.
And that is where I will leave off for today. Bit of a boring stopping point but that's all I had energy for, and perhaps not leaving off on a cliff hanger is a nice change of pace Anna Nicole and Junior have grown up, the third pair of twins has been born giving Joe Bob and Tamie Lee as additions to the family, and Sally Mae is pregnant for the fourth time. Billy Bob has picked up a new hobby behind Sally Maes back, as a means to get back at her for making it necessary for him to play nice towards her and for his own enjoyment.
Next time, we will finally be checking in with Siri over in her cottage in the woods
And judging by Sally Mae's enormous belly, there's another set of twins that will be coming out any second now.
No wonder Peggy Sue frequently needs a hug from the teddybear, to get through the awkwardness of her parents and living in so little space with her many siblings.
I think Sally Mae knows the kids are a bit cramped, and does what she can to help, like take Anna Nicole outside to practice walking.
Billy Bob kept up his ways, jealously guarding his territory, chasing away any men that pass by their trailers on the outskirts of town.
Remaining distant with his family, reading the paper or watching his TV as Sally Mae constantly works around him, cleaning and taking care of the kids.
The trailers may be small but keeping it all clean, cooking and taking care of the kids is a non stop job that combined with pregnancy ensures Sally Mae is bone weary most days, here she is sneaking in a nap when she had a moment to sit down.
As much as he detests it, Billy Bob has to help out more with the kids as Sally Mae simply can't keep up. Once again he realizes there are benefits to the windows Sally Mae had insisted on having between their bedroom and the kids trailer. It ensures that whenever he offers to put the kids to bed, the last thing Sally Mae sees as she falls asleep is his figure on the other side keeping an eye on the kids.
Billy Bob even made breakfast one day when he had the day off from work. Only cereal, but who would have thought to find him cooking.
She looks at him quite fondly as she sits down to eat and he takes his bowl over to the other trailer to keep an eye on the little ones so she can eat in peace.
Though I don't think she quite trusts him to do the job well, because she always goes to see how the kids are. Or perhaps she just misses them. She picked a real adorable moment to walk in.
Anna Nicole had already eaten so Sally Mae entertained her with some peek-a-boo while Junior has his breakfast.
It doesn't seem Billy Bob's punishment of forcing them to run the obstacle course deterred Peggy Sue and Lulu Belle for very long, because the two of them snuck in to their parents bedroom to jump on the bed. Quite daring of them, with Billy Bob home from work.
Lucky for them, he did not notice because he was busy outside helping Sally Mae in the garden. It seems his newly found improved method of subjugating Sally Mae is putting him in a good enough mood that he's fine helping out more with tasks he would have otherwise felt are beneath him.
It seems all that bending over to tend weeds in the garden kicked things in to motion, because not long after Sally Mae is in labour!
She always looks so very loving and tender as she looks down on her new child, you'd think after 4 the feeling might lessen but it seems not, every one is as miraculous as the one before.
Even Billy Bob is looking at the newcomer with tender eyes as Sally Mae hands over baby 1 to him so she can get busy birthing baby 2.
Billy Bob even finds it within himself to cheer for the babies. One wonders if the dewy eyes and the cheering may have something to do with the fact that Sally Mae finally gave him another son, and this time, a son with Billy Bobs genetics, unlike Billy Bob Junior who looks so much like his mother.
Peggy Sue comes and says hi to her new baby sister. Lulu Belle looks a little less excited, and Sally Mae seems to notice. I'm guessing Lulu Belle is thinking of trying to cram another two cribs in to the cramped bedroom she already shares with three siblings.
Billy Bob however is in a great mood, having finally gotten a worthy son, whom he named Joe Bob. He even sat down with the girls to eat, telling them not to waste their time with home work and school.
Outside Sally Mae has changed clothes now she's back to normal size, and is nursing her new daughter, which she named Tamie Lee. Billy Bob is still as thrilled as ever with his new baby boy.
Kids, kids, kids everywhere!
Billy Bob opted to bring Joe Bob with him to his and Sally Mae's trailer, to the camoflauge play mat he has there. Sally Mae stops by to check in on him.
He even seems a little kinder towards Junior now, helping feed him for the night and put him to bed. Probably easier to not care now that he has a second son to put his hopes on.
Billy Bob already ate with the girls, but when Sally Mae goes to grab a quick plate of dinner he comes with her and keeps her company as he eats, talking about old times when they'd go out on dates.
Sally Mae seems to wonder what has gotten in to him, she looks quite confused when she asked why he's talking about that now.
Billy Bob only smiles, strokes her cheek and tells her to follow him.
Hang on, where did that trailer come from? There did not use to be a trailer on the other side of the yard
Billy Bob leads Sally Mae inside, to show her the trailer he has purchased and furnished, to give the older kids their own space away from the little ones where they can sleep in peace, and there is room for them to have a table and sofa and some toys of their own.
Sally Mae is overjoyed, hugging and kissing him as a thank you
Peggy Sue seems as excited as mum, talking animatedly with her about the new trailer
After Peggy Sue and Lulu head to bed on their new bedroom, Billy Bob and Sally Mae sit on the sofa outside to chat a bit. Billy Bob telling her how he knew they'd need more space now that they have even more kids.
Now at this point you might be wondering, what is going on? Is Billy Bob somehow turning in to less of a crappy dude? He's been helping out more with the kids, letting Sally Mae rest, he cooked (!!) and now he's even showing he noticed the increasing crowdedness of the kids trailer and that his oldest daughters are getting tired of sharing space with their younger siblings. The simple answer is no, Billy Bob is not turning in to a nicer more caring father and husband. But he's not stupid, he knows that Sally Mae cares deeply about her children, that she will go to lengths to protect them that she does not go to for herself. She might put up with the broken furniture and the depressing environment for herself, but for her kids, she will start to ask questions, and make demands, just as she did when she learned he had gotten a bonus at work. She is no longer the young naive teenager he once courted, viewing Billy Bob as the cool older man with all the answers. She's a grown mom of six, and even if she's isolated from society and from other people, she is stronger in herself now than she was back then, because she has to be for the sake of her kids. As much as he tries to keep her down by making her bend to his whims regularly (read woohoo) and by keeping her busy with housework, her strength grows. So he has to be careful, and keep up appearances of being a devoted father and husband. It's eating him up inside though, all this doing what his wife wants and spending his hard earned money on the kids instead of himself. So what's a guy to do, when he has a bone to pick with his wife that he does not dare pick with her?
He goes to a place where there are women he can speak his true thoughts to, of course. Meet Hot House, the seedy downtown location for all Sims wishing to get up to things you don't necessarily want known outside.
If you have enough money, all manner of things can be arranged.
But Billy Bob can be himself, fully. I suspect he wishes he could act the same with Sally Mae when she does something he does not want, shove a hand in her face to say "stop". Not that he's actually going to say no to Jaqueline, he's just making sure she knows anything that happens will be on his initiative.
Billy Bob spents most of the night at the Hot House, getting out his frustrations and quenching his thirst with a number of women willing to participate. The small hours of the morning find him laying on a hammock, half asleep but feeling real pleased with himself.
I don't like the look in his eyes as he moves in to spoon Sally Mae in their bed back home
He looks happy as he drifts off to sleep, not realizing that next to him Sally Mae is quite awake and probably wonders where he's been all night.
The next day Billy Bob kept mostly to himself, reading the paper as the news player on the TV.
That night, as Billy and the girls were helping themselves to some leftovers and Sally Mae was over with the younger kids, an unexpected guest came knocking on the door
Billy Bob rushes outside to get rid of him, telling him to get lost immediately
Stoffe looking rather grim as he walks away
All of it visible from the window in the young kids trailer, but Sally Mae of course is not looking out the window. She's busy taking care of the toddlers.
Billy Bob definitely does not want Stoffe anywhere near there, he never likes any men anywhere near his family but especially not one that actually knows Sally Mae and may open her eyes to the situation. As all abusers do, he wants her isolated from anyone whose word she might actually listen to. He worries she might catch a glimpse of him down the road as Stoffe walks back towards Simville, so he goes over to make sure her attention is away from the windows.
What better way than to keep her attention on him, and romance her a little so her thoughts are on him
I think by the end of the night Sally Mae was rather tired, in her night gown just wanting to go to bed and Billy Bob still putting on charms. Looks about to fall asleep standing, to me.
But as ever she musters a smile for her husbands attentions. After all, he's only expressing his love for her, so even if she's maybe tired and not in the mood, surely it's a good thing that he's wooing her? Not something that should make her uncomfortable and tired...
And get his way he does, which is why the next morning, Sally Mae finds herself once again rushing to the toilet. Uh oh...
She knows the signs. As she draws a rare bubble bath for herself, she does not look as pleased at the prospect as she once might have. I think she might have preferred to remain unpregnant a while longer, she only just gave birth to twins and currently has two toddlers, and two babies to take care of. It's a lot.
I feel you Sally Mae, I'd be tired and achey too, lugging around kids all day long and once again pregnancy adding to the strain internally.
It is drawing towards autumn out by the trailers, the color of the light is changing and Sally Mae's vegetable garden is almost done for the season. The girls are quite enjoying it though, hopping around in rain puddles.
Sally Mae decides to be proactive, and prepare in advance for what is to come. Spent a whole day cooking meals to put away as leftovers for when her pregnancy progresses and it becomes even harder for her to keep up. Which was definitely wise, every other screenshot I have from this period shows her either throwing up or dry heaving where she stands, rubbing her neck or holding her stomach.
And now that the older kids have a fridge and table over in their trailer, the pre-prepared food means they can eat whenever they want to without Sally Mae or Billy Bob needing to get involved. Probably not quite how Sally Mae would want it, but one Sim can only do so much!
Even the babies have to settle for pre-prepared food, no more nursing as Sally Mae simply does not have the time or the strength.
But luckily, it was soon time for the toddlers to grow up which will make things a little easier for them.
Sally Mae looks so pleased as she's helping Anna Nicole with the birthday candles. Those two always had a bit of a special bond.
She grew up into such a little cutie!
Then it was Juniors turn
Not quite as cute as his sister, I'm not sure his genes did him any favors, but he looks pleased with himself and his new form
As they ate their slices of cake, Junior seems a little afraid or distasteful towards his dad. As I've said before, kids are intuitive, I think Junior realizes his dad does not much care for him.
Even more so now that Billy Bob has his golden boy, Joe Bob.
And that is where I will leave off for today. Bit of a boring stopping point but that's all I had energy for, and perhaps not leaving off on a cliff hanger is a nice change of pace Anna Nicole and Junior have grown up, the third pair of twins has been born giving Joe Bob and Tamie Lee as additions to the family, and Sally Mae is pregnant for the fourth time. Billy Bob has picked up a new hobby behind Sally Maes back, as a means to get back at her for making it necessary for him to play nice towards her and for his own enjoyment.
Next time, we will finally be checking in with Siri over in her cottage in the woods
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
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#77
3rd Sep 2023 at 10:25 PM
I had a health crash in August so I haven't had enough creative juice to update here, I'd like to but I need more energy for this type of Sims doing. Temporary break I'm starting to get better so I am hoping I can post the next chapter soon. In the meantime, I thought I'd drop a picture from a play session about a month ago. It pertains to our stories, but the details will come many chapters forward. Still, it's a sweet image and it does not spoil anything so I thought it might be fun to share
Sigrid playing on a roundabout with two of the current residents of the orphanage
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Sigrid playing on a roundabout with two of the current residents of the orphanage
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
#78
19th Sep 2023 at 8:40 PM
Posts: 435
Thanks: 91 in 1 Posts
Finally catch up this one
~~~~Call me Ellu ~~~
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
#79
19th Sep 2023 at 8:47 PM
I haven't been feeling well unfortunately, body getting up to no good again But today I finally feel fit to post another update, and it really is long over-due. We haven't seen Siri and Isamu since 2019
Siri & Isamu Kim-Sjöström & the Sjöströms
When we left them, Siri had recently had a visit from her mother. Tom would never have agreed, due to risk of bringing attention to and getting Siri discovered, but as you may recall from this episode, it seems that sending Siri away broke Tom's mind. He doesn't seem to know where he is, he constantly escapes Sigrids watchful eyes turning up in kids stores or the homes of families with children. He never used to show up as a walk by, or in the background on community lots, but now he somehow manages to defy the coding, inviting himself in to houses of people who does not know, to sit in their nursery.
No idea when the next post might come given health stuff getting worse again, but I will try my best
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Siri & Isamu Kim-Sjöström & the Sjöströms
When we left them, Siri had recently had a visit from her mother. Tom would never have agreed, due to risk of bringing attention to and getting Siri discovered, but as you may recall from this episode, it seems that sending Siri away broke Tom's mind. He doesn't seem to know where he is, he constantly escapes Sigrids watchful eyes turning up in kids stores or the homes of families with children. He never used to show up as a walk by, or in the background on community lots, but now he somehow manages to defy the coding, inviting himself in to houses of people who does not know, to sit in their nursery.
One of their neighbours in the elderly home has a bunch of dogs, and one of the dogs asked Tom to play fetch with him. Which Tom agreed to, but the facial expressions he made as he was tossing the branch were quite interesting. He really does seem to be out of his mind ever since they lost Siri.
Because of his deterioration and descent in to confusion, Sigrid has taken over as the decision maker, choosing to sell the house and move to an elderly home so there are more people to keep an eye on Tom. Not that it really helped, he still shows up in other homes constantly. So lost in his own bubble of confusion, drawn to pregnant women or children without understanding why. Here he is walking in to the bedroom of Pernilla Löfgren, the roomie of Elna Sernman and Max Flex, who got whoopsie pregnant by Max. Barged right in one morning with Pernilla still in her underwear, he really has no boundaries these days.
He'll walk up to the person, and then just stand there staring at them with a smile on his face.
At this point the whole hood is familiar with the story, the poor old couple losing their daughter in a fire, and the father now wandering searching for his daughter. They all feel quite sorry for them, so while it's a nuisance to have Tom showing up in their homes, they all treat him kindly. Elna saw him walk in to Pernillas bedroom, and called for him to come out.
He wouldn't go on his own, so Pernilla walked him out to where Elna waited.
Elna wants to see how he is, but he won't quite meet her eye. She used her business know-how, perking him up like she would one of the customers at her business.
Then she picks up the phone to call Sigrid and let her know Tom is there, which is what everyone does when Tom shows up unannounced. You'll notice the moment Elna stopped interacting with Tom, he makes a beeline back for Pernilla who went back to her bedroom to get clothed.
It doesn't take long for Sigrid to walk over to come pick up Tom. Elna comes down to greet her, amusingly choosing the kiss cheek greeting. I really do get the vibe that my Sims feel bad for them, and that they sort of are considered friends or family to everyone even though nobody really knows them. They know the story, and that's enough it seems.
Elna brings Sigrid upstairs to their apartment, where Pernilla has managed to lure Tom out to the living room. He would not stop following her around, his obsession with pregnant Sim ladies is impressive.
Sigrid always tells him off for running off behind her back, and for barging in to peoples homes, but Tom doesn't really care.
Too busy still looking at Pernilla with that smile on his face
But he agrees to come with Sigrid back home. Sigrid thanks Elna for calling her and gives her a hug.
Then they head out to go back to their home, Tom making me laugh as he's walking out with his choice to do the finger point thing at the two women before he leaves.
And that's pretty much how Tom and Sigrid pass their days, he'll escape her watch and show up somewhere with young kids or pregnancies, until the home owners call Sigrid and she comes and picks him up. It never occurred to Tom that Sigrid might be planning to visit Siri in the cottage, so he has no reason to be suspicious of her actions, and I'm guessing even if he did, he's too lost in his own inner turmoil to notice. Which is why Sigrid decided to make the trip to visit Siri when last we saw them. She can't do it often, because Tom does have a point that it risks discovery, but she figured nobody would find it odd if she went there once to check in on the power plant after the winter. That Tom did not come with her would not surprise anyone, given his current mental status that everyone knows about since he keeps showing up uninvited.
So after that one visit, Siri returned to normal, preparing for the next winter. Last we saw of her, it was time for Isamu to grow up. I wish I hadn't cut the episode there given it took me so long to continue, but here we are finally, we get to see what Isamu grew up to look like
No surprise, he's still a cutie! The hair was a little surprising to me, but I went and looked and the PT he got his genes from is a redhead, so the alien genes are strong it seems!
Siri gets started on potty training right away, she only has a limited supply of diapers so the sooner Isamu learns the better.
Then Isamu gets to go down for his midday nap
Siri eats a slice of his cake while he sleeps
Over the next few days Isamu got to explore the various toys his grandparents had stashed away in the cottage, for him to use once he got old enough. He loves the pop up clown box.
The dolls are strange, but he's figuring them out
Before long he wants to know what's on the other side of the door, taking his chance to crawl out while Siri is hugging Sessan
Siri of course chases after him, can't let him fall in to the pond, or crawl off in to the woods.
He just wanted to check out the bumblebee rider. It's funny I always felt like him and Siri somehow managed to communicate even though he was just a baby, like they could speak with their minds, and this picture it really looks like he's wondering why Siri was running, he's fine, just having fun.
Either way it seems Siri agrees that he's okay, so she heads over to harvest the last of the summer crops.
Isamu moves on to try his hand at some drawing. I love the toddler drawings, they are so cute! Nice addition to the walls inside.
Siri starts teaching Isamu to speak human language, and she's so adorably happy every time he manages to say a word
They practice walking too, with Sessan running around them chasing imaginary flies after consuming cat nip. Sessan isn't quite sure what to think of Isamu yet, this whole crawling around thing is overrated in her book, she much preferred when he'd stay put in one spot wriggling.
Encourage as she may, Isamu rather look at the silly cat running around than try to walk
As autumn drags on, the days enter a new sort of routine, with Isamu the toddler rather than Isamu the baby They bathe, they play, they cuddle. Isamu learns to master the potty
And that's about it for this time. Life for Siri is repetitive, with preparing food for the winter and taking care of herself, Isamu and Sessan. But now you have finally gotten to see Isamu as a toddler, starting to explore the world There's a lot more to cover with the other two, so this is the last we'll see of Siri and Isamu for a bit.
Because of his deterioration and descent in to confusion, Sigrid has taken over as the decision maker, choosing to sell the house and move to an elderly home so there are more people to keep an eye on Tom. Not that it really helped, he still shows up in other homes constantly. So lost in his own bubble of confusion, drawn to pregnant women or children without understanding why. Here he is walking in to the bedroom of Pernilla Löfgren, the roomie of Elna Sernman and Max Flex, who got whoopsie pregnant by Max. Barged right in one morning with Pernilla still in her underwear, he really has no boundaries these days.
He'll walk up to the person, and then just stand there staring at them with a smile on his face.
At this point the whole hood is familiar with the story, the poor old couple losing their daughter in a fire, and the father now wandering searching for his daughter. They all feel quite sorry for them, so while it's a nuisance to have Tom showing up in their homes, they all treat him kindly. Elna saw him walk in to Pernillas bedroom, and called for him to come out.
He wouldn't go on his own, so Pernilla walked him out to where Elna waited.
Elna wants to see how he is, but he won't quite meet her eye. She used her business know-how, perking him up like she would one of the customers at her business.
Then she picks up the phone to call Sigrid and let her know Tom is there, which is what everyone does when Tom shows up unannounced. You'll notice the moment Elna stopped interacting with Tom, he makes a beeline back for Pernilla who went back to her bedroom to get clothed.
It doesn't take long for Sigrid to walk over to come pick up Tom. Elna comes down to greet her, amusingly choosing the kiss cheek greeting. I really do get the vibe that my Sims feel bad for them, and that they sort of are considered friends or family to everyone even though nobody really knows them. They know the story, and that's enough it seems.
Elna brings Sigrid upstairs to their apartment, where Pernilla has managed to lure Tom out to the living room. He would not stop following her around, his obsession with pregnant Sim ladies is impressive.
Sigrid always tells him off for running off behind her back, and for barging in to peoples homes, but Tom doesn't really care.
Too busy still looking at Pernilla with that smile on his face
But he agrees to come with Sigrid back home. Sigrid thanks Elna for calling her and gives her a hug.
Then they head out to go back to their home, Tom making me laugh as he's walking out with his choice to do the finger point thing at the two women before he leaves.
And that's pretty much how Tom and Sigrid pass their days, he'll escape her watch and show up somewhere with young kids or pregnancies, until the home owners call Sigrid and she comes and picks him up. It never occurred to Tom that Sigrid might be planning to visit Siri in the cottage, so he has no reason to be suspicious of her actions, and I'm guessing even if he did, he's too lost in his own inner turmoil to notice. Which is why Sigrid decided to make the trip to visit Siri when last we saw them. She can't do it often, because Tom does have a point that it risks discovery, but she figured nobody would find it odd if she went there once to check in on the power plant after the winter. That Tom did not come with her would not surprise anyone, given his current mental status that everyone knows about since he keeps showing up uninvited.
So after that one visit, Siri returned to normal, preparing for the next winter. Last we saw of her, it was time for Isamu to grow up. I wish I hadn't cut the episode there given it took me so long to continue, but here we are finally, we get to see what Isamu grew up to look like
No surprise, he's still a cutie! The hair was a little surprising to me, but I went and looked and the PT he got his genes from is a redhead, so the alien genes are strong it seems!
Siri gets started on potty training right away, she only has a limited supply of diapers so the sooner Isamu learns the better.
Then Isamu gets to go down for his midday nap
Siri eats a slice of his cake while he sleeps
Over the next few days Isamu got to explore the various toys his grandparents had stashed away in the cottage, for him to use once he got old enough. He loves the pop up clown box.
The dolls are strange, but he's figuring them out
Before long he wants to know what's on the other side of the door, taking his chance to crawl out while Siri is hugging Sessan
Siri of course chases after him, can't let him fall in to the pond, or crawl off in to the woods.
He just wanted to check out the bumblebee rider. It's funny I always felt like him and Siri somehow managed to communicate even though he was just a baby, like they could speak with their minds, and this picture it really looks like he's wondering why Siri was running, he's fine, just having fun.
Either way it seems Siri agrees that he's okay, so she heads over to harvest the last of the summer crops.
Isamu moves on to try his hand at some drawing. I love the toddler drawings, they are so cute! Nice addition to the walls inside.
Siri starts teaching Isamu to speak human language, and she's so adorably happy every time he manages to say a word
They practice walking too, with Sessan running around them chasing imaginary flies after consuming cat nip. Sessan isn't quite sure what to think of Isamu yet, this whole crawling around thing is overrated in her book, she much preferred when he'd stay put in one spot wriggling.
Encourage as she may, Isamu rather look at the silly cat running around than try to walk
As autumn drags on, the days enter a new sort of routine, with Isamu the toddler rather than Isamu the baby They bathe, they play, they cuddle. Isamu learns to master the potty
And that's about it for this time. Life for Siri is repetitive, with preparing food for the winter and taking care of herself, Isamu and Sessan. But now you have finally gotten to see Isamu as a toddler, starting to explore the world There's a lot more to cover with the other two, so this is the last we'll see of Siri and Isamu for a bit.
No idea when the next post might come given health stuff getting worse again, but I will try my best
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
#80
7th Nov 2023 at 11:25 PM
Last edited by gummilutt : 21st Feb 2024 at 2:05 PM.
Life continues to get in the way, I've barely touched Sims in the last month, but I've been wanting to post another update and today I am finally finding a little bubble of calm in the chaos to sit down and get one posted. Today, we are going to check in with Stoffe.
Stoffe Andersson
I hope you have enjoyed!
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Stoffe Andersson
Our last check in with Stoffe ended with Vanessa asking for a divorce, and Stoffe wandering off in his underwear, his stubborn side provoked. He's been blamed by his wife and the insurance company for the fact that their house burned down, told by Lena that his worldview is lacking nuance, and finally rejected by Vanessa when he tried to repair things after everything that happened. And his mood was not improved when, after storming away from Rakel's house, he discovered that none of the landlords in Simville would rent to him. They'd all heard how his lack of care with the mansions garden resulted in the entire house burning down, and putting the mansions nearby at risk as well. Who wants that kind of risky tenant in their precious property? None of them. So Stoffe finds himself in quite a tough spot, having lost his money and knowing he'll be owing Vanessa a hefty alimony, and nowhere to live. Does he sell his car business so he can buy a house of his own to live in? Could he find someone wanting to sell to him if he did? How will he make money to pay the alimony and child support, without the business? Not to mention he worked hard to establish himself in the car world, laying the foundations by running the city branch of the Sernman group, and eventually starting up his own business in Bluewater. With his marriage ended, and the mansion gone, the business is all he has left in terms of acclaim and accomplishment. No, Stoffe would not give up the one thing he has left, his main means of rebuilding his fortune. If that make him homeless, then so be it.
Lena would have let Stoffe stay at the orphanage, there were two spare bedrooms after the Eklund sisters went off to university, but Stoffe is too proud to ask. Crawl back to once again let the state fund his survival, after he's a grown man with two university degrees? A business man, live in an orphanage at his age? Absolutely not, that takes a degree of humility that Stoffe does not have. So he did what he could, he went scouting through the forests to find somewhere he could hide out from society while he slept, somewhere he could use as his base of operations as he works to rebuild his life.
And find one he did, a clearing on the north eastern side of town. In fact, it's located a little to the north and west in the same forest that Siri's cottage is hidden in. Here he is arriving, checking out the trees that are his new shelter.
He doesn't have long to look around, because he has to head off to work. Thankfully his regular job is not in Simville, so they have not heard about the unfortunate events, and with everything that has happened Stoffe feels he needs all the influence and high-placed friends he can get, so he hurries off to the carpool to head to work in his suit.
And what do you know, he got promoted to vice president of the company
Back in his clearing he sets up a tent for him to sleep in. It's really quite beautiful, flowers and greenery all around.
It might not be a toilet, but bushes work in a pinch
With his salary from today he is able to go and buy himself some clothes, he'll need warmer things if he's going to be living outdoors for the foreseeable future.
It's a good thing he still has the car businesses, he can go there and use the employee break rooms to make himself food. Here he is at the city center branch of the Sernman group car stores. Those of you with a long memory might recognize it, that break room is where Stoffe first started flirting with Vanessa when she worked for him at the business
He splurged on a tiny tv to mount on the wall, so he can watch some tv and relax, not many sources of fun in his clearing in the woods.
But you have to sleep sometime and you aren't really allowed to sleep on commercial properties, so back to the clearing he heads to go get some sleep in his tent.
The next day he decides to visit the luxury gym north of the river. It's run by Rakel, Vanessa's friend (you may recognize it, that is where Billy Bob once hooked up with Rakel, before Sally Mae moved with him to the trailers), so it's a bit awkward for Stoffe but it's where all the high rollers go to work out, and it has better facilities than other gyms with a buffet, and a comprehensive changing room where Stoffe can have a hot shower and do his beard trimming and other grooming to hide the fact that he's living in the woods.
Stoffe always tries to keep in shape, he finds people respect you more if you do, and it's a great way to work out some of his frustrations with all the things that have happened to him recently.
Though this gym is perhaps not ideal for actually coming to peace with his situation, because the view is sure to remind him of it. It looks out over the rich side of town, in the distance he can see Rakel's mansion where Vanessa still resides, and to the right of it out of view from us is where Stoffe's and Vanessa's mansion used to be.
All in all, not great for Stoffe's general mood, but as mentioned the facilities are excellent which makes it worth it. It's also the closest to his clearing, the other gyms are all on the other side of the river. Once he finishes his workout he heads upstairs to get a shower and make himself presentable.
Nobody would ever think he's homeless, in this dashing suit and his hair and beard on point.
It's time to get to work on rebuilding his life. And that means, sell cars, sell a lot of cars! He heads over to his dealership over in Bluewater Village, it has more cars on sale than the Sernman one. There, he gets right to it. He spots one of the hoods business reviewers, and he makes sure to make a good impression and give her everything she needs.
Another advantage to his own dealership, the break room for employees is better stashed and more spacious. He sneaks away to make himself a quick grilled cheese sandwich for dinner.
And then it's right back to car sales. I love this picture of him, it really captures that cheesy quality that one tends to associate with car salesmen, the excessive excitement, the overselling of the cars fabulousness, the charm dialed up to max. I don't think his customer looks all that convinced by the smiles and the finger pointing. Who need a lambo? Silly useless car
But he does manage to make some sales that day, making a start on rebuilding.
He definitely needs it, checking his email he found the decision by the court regarding the alimony he owes Vanessa. Because the fire was deemed to be his fault and the couple lost all their possessions due to it, the court has ruled that he owes Vanessa a full restoration of what she lost. His alimony is set to a whopping 700,000 simoleons, enough for Vanessa to purchase a new mansion, replace all her lost art, fine clothing and jewelry. And then there's the future child support on top. Here he is after the business closed for the night, thinking angrily about his ex wife. I'd be pretty angry too, in his shoes. Here he is living in the woods, and the court mandates him to send almost all his money to Vanessa until she has a mansion again. The courts lets him keep enough for himself to live, but no landlord will accept him as a tenant and what he can keep is not enough to buy a place, so it looks like Stoffe is going to be living in the woods for a while to come.
I can't help but wonder what on earth the limousine driver must think, I imagine they see a lot of weird things but picking up the vice president of a corporation in the middle of nowhere by the side of the woods must be high on the list of oddities. But drivers know not to question, who are they to comment on the goings on of the tops of the business?
Back home from work, Stoffe is still fuming about the court's decision. Initially he was mostly sad about the divorce, now he's moved on to pure anger.
And that's when Stoffe's playful side comes out. He's always been a little childish, no matter how old he gets or how fancy he likes to make himself out to be, there's still the little boy inside him, and one upside of being in the woods, nobody there to see you and think less of you because you are splashing in puddles as a grown man in a suit.
Though, rain storms aren't good weather to be outdoors in. Lightning in Simville is ferocious, as Stoffe to his great regret experienced with his garden. I felt quite bad for him when the lightning ignited one of the trees right by his tent. I mean jesus, let the man have his tent in peace!
Thankfully the rain put out this blaze before it got out of hand, but Stoffe realized he should probably take cover for now. He gets inside his tent, and I must say the view is thoroughly depressing.
The storm raged on, Stoffe slept and by the small hours of the morning he crawled out to head to the gym before work. It was almost as if lightning was just waiting for him to show himself, because right as he got outside, it struck!
I don't know if I've ever felt so sorry for a sim, as I did for Stoffe in that moment. What does the RNG gods have against this poor man? He's lost his home, he's lost his wife, he's had the courts hand him a harsh ruling, he's homeless. And they decide to get him hit by lightning too, leading to this moment of him wetting himself half burned to a crisp in the middle of the woods at about 4am in the morning.
So what do you do, if you are Stoffe? You are in the middle of the woods, you do not have running water to get cleaned up. The clearing has a pond, but unfortunately Stoffe can't swim in it. He uses the luxury gym to take care of his showering needs, but that's run by Rakel, is he really going to show up there at 4am in this state and risk anyone seeing him? After all lots of high rollers wake up stupidly early to exercise before work, can he really sneak upstairs without being spotted? I don't think so, and nor did Stoffe. He could go to Bluewater to his business there, but that's a long trip to be making in your underwear stinking of pee. In the end, he chose to head for the city central car business, because it's closer, and it's closed so nobody should be there. It's in the center of Simville, but while it's more densely populated, the buildings also mean alleys you can hide in. He thinks he can make it there without getting spotted.
And make it there he did, but that is where his luck ran out. For some reason, Daniel too was awake in the wee hours of the morning, and doing an inspection round of all his businesses. As Stoffe arrives in his underwear, he finds Daniel standing by the door of the business. It really looks to me like Stoffe is saying "Aw man..." and throwing up his hand in despair, cursing his bad luck this day.
As you may remember, Daniel is the actual owner of this store, it's part of his car dealership group that has locations all over Simville. It used to be run by Daniel's son Joel, but Joel wanted out to have more time for his family, and Daniel let Stoffe take over after he got to know Stoffe when Stoffe worked at his newspaper as a teenager. Stoffe runs the store, but Daniel owns it, it's under his branding, and he is none too pleased to find the person he entrusted the store to showing up in this state.
"What the hell is wrong with you man, you look like you've been hit by lightning!"
To add insult to injury. while Daniel was working in newspaper when he and Stoffe met, he left the newspaper business to his daughter Elna, and focused his attentions on law instead. Not long ago, he got promoted to The Law in Simville. Even cases that are not in his courtroom he oversees and is aware of, so that means he is one of the few people that knows all about Stoffe's divorce, the house fire and alimony. And while Daniel is usually a very kind, empathetic and understanding man, he has a bit of a blind spot in this area. One of his daughters recently had a very nasty divorce with her husband, after the husband faked birth control and knocked her up, and upon the divorce the family discovered that the prenuptial agreement had been faked by the husband, so Daniel's daughter ended up having to pay a hefty alimony to the now ex husband, as she is a talented artist and had a lot more money going in to the marriage. Very frustrating for Daniel to have failed to catch the faked prenuptial agreement, being powerless to change it afterwards. And unfortunately for Stoffe, there are certain similarities in the two stories, Vanessa wound up pregnant unplanned, Stoffe is to blame for her losing her money etc. And while I am sure Daniel would normally still have given Stoffe a chance to explain his side of the story about the divorce, showing up in this state only helps boost the image of Stoffe being the same type of irresponsible scoundrel as Daniel's daughters ex husband. By showing up in this state Stoffe risks making Daniel's business look bad, I know I'd wonder what type of establishment a place is if the owner shows up looking like he rolled in ashes. Daniel entrusted his family business to someone not in the family, and I'm sure Daniel is second-guessing that decision now. After all, why ever would a person show up in this state to the business? Daniel doesn't know that Stoffe is homeless, because Stoffe has not taken the landlords to court for refusing him housing. To Daniels mind any reasonable person would get cleaned up at home before going to work.
If Stoffe was more mature, he might have realized that this was an opportunity for him to come clean, to ask for help. Daniel is known to be kind, he's shown it many times. If Stoffe explains he's homeless and that's why he arrives in this state he could definitely have broken through no matter how upset Daniel might be. Daniel is The Law, he has the power to force a landlord to grant Stoffe housing, given that it's a court decision that limits Stoffe to renting in the first place. But that would require Stoffe to actually let someone in, to let them see how bad things have gotten, to explain that he couldn't get cleaned up at home because he does not HAVE a home. And Stoffe can't bring himself to do that. He still believes that how people see you is the only thing that matters. Daniel is a really influential person, just the type of person Stoffe wanted to earn admiration from. So instead of telling the truth, he bites down and holds it all inside. Puffing up his cheeks in indignation at the insult of being yelled at, for something that once again was outside of Stoffe's control. Not only is he blamed for a freak accident fire, now he's being yelled at for having the misfortune of getting hit by lightning. Grrr!
But Stoffe keeps quiet and accepts the tirade. After Daniel has had his say, they agree to meet later in the day to discuss this incident. Daniel departs for his home, and Stoffe climbs up to the break room in the attic.
I'm sure you've realized that a lot of what happens in the stories are designed that way by me, after all houses can't actually burn down in Sims, but in this case it was entirely the games decision to get Stoffe struck by lightning, and have Daniel standing by the business when he arrived. I am continually amazed by how the game seems to read my mind, and play in to the stories I am creating, giving me new twists that I would not have come up with by myself. This game is truly magical!
While Stoffe does want to shower immediately, he's ravenously hungry and needs to get something in him before he has energy to get clean. He stares down his chop, while waiting for it to cook, saying hurry up!
This one time I can understand his lack of table manners, gobbling down his plate of pork chops.
Then it's time to get all that soot off him, and get his hair back to normal. A good shower can work wonders.
Once he's back to his normal self, Stoffe returns to his clearing in the woods to await the carpool to take him to his regular job. After work, he heads to a local coffee shop, where he had agreed with Daniel they would meet up after work to discuss the incident.
Stoffe is a little early, so he orders himself a cup of espresso and sits down to drink and chat. Alex does not seem to be a fan of what Stoffe is saying, which might have something to do with the fact that Alex is Daniels half-brother.
And Alex is not the only person there to make Stoffe nervous. He suggested the coffee shop because it's neutral ground and he thought they could talk in relative anonymity. But luck is not on his side at the moment, and it turns out that someone he knows is also there that day. Andreas Nilsson, a semi-colleague from Stoffe's regular job. You may remember Andreas from episode 9. Andreas is the CEO of another corporation that makes a lot of business with the one Stoffe works for, so as vice president he often has dealings with Andreas, and back in episode 9 Andreas invited Stoffe to come home with him and meet his family. It would be real awkward for Stoffe if Alex asks him about the incident this morning in front of Andreas, but luckily for Stoffe, Andreas seems consumed in looking at magazines.
At this point it's too late to change the plans, so Stoffe simply prays that his misfortune is at an end and awaits Daniels arrival. Daniel shows up right on time, and Stoffe goes out to greet him.
To minimize the chances of Andreas overhearing something, Stoffe suggests they take seats at the back of the coffee shop, up on the dais. The rest of the patrons all favor the sofas at the front. But the longer they talk the more likely it is that something gets overheard, so he gets straight to the point and tells Daniel that he will relinquish the contract and hand the business back to Daniel. No point trying to defend himself, since he can't without telling the truth, easier to resign.
He's not happy about it though, even if he knows it was the only choice to make. Daniel is tactful and affects not to notice.
Instead he says that works fine for him, that in fact he had been talking with his son about getting Joel involved with the businesses again, as Joel's wife is about to give Daniel another grandchild and could use some extra income.
I think Daniel meant to be kind, to sort of offer Stoffe a good excuse to give people as to why he will no longer run the business. But I don't think Stoffe appreciated it, just ends up reminding him of the fact that he too is about to have a child and is in need of money. And I imagine it's tough hearing about happy families, given he never had one as a child, and his adult family just fell apart, right as they were about to have a child.
But at least Stoffe was successful in handling the situation quickly, without Andreas being any the wiser to the details of Stoffes current private life strife. He quickly excused himself and left the coffee shop. He ended up going to the luxury gym, this time choosing to have a swim in the pool to cool off his hot angry thoughts.
Afterwards he made use of the change rooms, to change out of his suit to something warmer. It's the tail end of summer, and being outdoors in a tent all night is already starting to get cold, so he wants to be in something more comfortable and warm than a business suit. Then he wanders back to his clearing, to go to sleep in his tent.
And that is where I will end this episode. All in all, it's been a very tough summer for Stoffe. His whole world has been turned upside-down, and things keep happening that are outside of his control, but end up getting him in trouble anyway. Sometimes life seems that way, determined to keep piling on. But in my experience, things turn around for the better, one day.
Lena would have let Stoffe stay at the orphanage, there were two spare bedrooms after the Eklund sisters went off to university, but Stoffe is too proud to ask. Crawl back to once again let the state fund his survival, after he's a grown man with two university degrees? A business man, live in an orphanage at his age? Absolutely not, that takes a degree of humility that Stoffe does not have. So he did what he could, he went scouting through the forests to find somewhere he could hide out from society while he slept, somewhere he could use as his base of operations as he works to rebuild his life.
And find one he did, a clearing on the north eastern side of town. In fact, it's located a little to the north and west in the same forest that Siri's cottage is hidden in. Here he is arriving, checking out the trees that are his new shelter.
He doesn't have long to look around, because he has to head off to work. Thankfully his regular job is not in Simville, so they have not heard about the unfortunate events, and with everything that has happened Stoffe feels he needs all the influence and high-placed friends he can get, so he hurries off to the carpool to head to work in his suit.
And what do you know, he got promoted to vice president of the company
Back in his clearing he sets up a tent for him to sleep in. It's really quite beautiful, flowers and greenery all around.
It might not be a toilet, but bushes work in a pinch
With his salary from today he is able to go and buy himself some clothes, he'll need warmer things if he's going to be living outdoors for the foreseeable future.
It's a good thing he still has the car businesses, he can go there and use the employee break rooms to make himself food. Here he is at the city center branch of the Sernman group car stores. Those of you with a long memory might recognize it, that break room is where Stoffe first started flirting with Vanessa when she worked for him at the business
He splurged on a tiny tv to mount on the wall, so he can watch some tv and relax, not many sources of fun in his clearing in the woods.
But you have to sleep sometime and you aren't really allowed to sleep on commercial properties, so back to the clearing he heads to go get some sleep in his tent.
The next day he decides to visit the luxury gym north of the river. It's run by Rakel, Vanessa's friend (you may recognize it, that is where Billy Bob once hooked up with Rakel, before Sally Mae moved with him to the trailers), so it's a bit awkward for Stoffe but it's where all the high rollers go to work out, and it has better facilities than other gyms with a buffet, and a comprehensive changing room where Stoffe can have a hot shower and do his beard trimming and other grooming to hide the fact that he's living in the woods.
Stoffe always tries to keep in shape, he finds people respect you more if you do, and it's a great way to work out some of his frustrations with all the things that have happened to him recently.
Though this gym is perhaps not ideal for actually coming to peace with his situation, because the view is sure to remind him of it. It looks out over the rich side of town, in the distance he can see Rakel's mansion where Vanessa still resides, and to the right of it out of view from us is where Stoffe's and Vanessa's mansion used to be.
All in all, not great for Stoffe's general mood, but as mentioned the facilities are excellent which makes it worth it. It's also the closest to his clearing, the other gyms are all on the other side of the river. Once he finishes his workout he heads upstairs to get a shower and make himself presentable.
Nobody would ever think he's homeless, in this dashing suit and his hair and beard on point.
It's time to get to work on rebuilding his life. And that means, sell cars, sell a lot of cars! He heads over to his dealership over in Bluewater Village, it has more cars on sale than the Sernman one. There, he gets right to it. He spots one of the hoods business reviewers, and he makes sure to make a good impression and give her everything she needs.
Another advantage to his own dealership, the break room for employees is better stashed and more spacious. He sneaks away to make himself a quick grilled cheese sandwich for dinner.
And then it's right back to car sales. I love this picture of him, it really captures that cheesy quality that one tends to associate with car salesmen, the excessive excitement, the overselling of the cars fabulousness, the charm dialed up to max. I don't think his customer looks all that convinced by the smiles and the finger pointing. Who need a lambo? Silly useless car
But he does manage to make some sales that day, making a start on rebuilding.
He definitely needs it, checking his email he found the decision by the court regarding the alimony he owes Vanessa. Because the fire was deemed to be his fault and the couple lost all their possessions due to it, the court has ruled that he owes Vanessa a full restoration of what she lost. His alimony is set to a whopping 700,000 simoleons, enough for Vanessa to purchase a new mansion, replace all her lost art, fine clothing and jewelry. And then there's the future child support on top. Here he is after the business closed for the night, thinking angrily about his ex wife. I'd be pretty angry too, in his shoes. Here he is living in the woods, and the court mandates him to send almost all his money to Vanessa until she has a mansion again. The courts lets him keep enough for himself to live, but no landlord will accept him as a tenant and what he can keep is not enough to buy a place, so it looks like Stoffe is going to be living in the woods for a while to come.
I can't help but wonder what on earth the limousine driver must think, I imagine they see a lot of weird things but picking up the vice president of a corporation in the middle of nowhere by the side of the woods must be high on the list of oddities. But drivers know not to question, who are they to comment on the goings on of the tops of the business?
Back home from work, Stoffe is still fuming about the court's decision. Initially he was mostly sad about the divorce, now he's moved on to pure anger.
And that's when Stoffe's playful side comes out. He's always been a little childish, no matter how old he gets or how fancy he likes to make himself out to be, there's still the little boy inside him, and one upside of being in the woods, nobody there to see you and think less of you because you are splashing in puddles as a grown man in a suit.
Though, rain storms aren't good weather to be outdoors in. Lightning in Simville is ferocious, as Stoffe to his great regret experienced with his garden. I felt quite bad for him when the lightning ignited one of the trees right by his tent. I mean jesus, let the man have his tent in peace!
Thankfully the rain put out this blaze before it got out of hand, but Stoffe realized he should probably take cover for now. He gets inside his tent, and I must say the view is thoroughly depressing.
The storm raged on, Stoffe slept and by the small hours of the morning he crawled out to head to the gym before work. It was almost as if lightning was just waiting for him to show himself, because right as he got outside, it struck!
I don't know if I've ever felt so sorry for a sim, as I did for Stoffe in that moment. What does the RNG gods have against this poor man? He's lost his home, he's lost his wife, he's had the courts hand him a harsh ruling, he's homeless. And they decide to get him hit by lightning too, leading to this moment of him wetting himself half burned to a crisp in the middle of the woods at about 4am in the morning.
So what do you do, if you are Stoffe? You are in the middle of the woods, you do not have running water to get cleaned up. The clearing has a pond, but unfortunately Stoffe can't swim in it. He uses the luxury gym to take care of his showering needs, but that's run by Rakel, is he really going to show up there at 4am in this state and risk anyone seeing him? After all lots of high rollers wake up stupidly early to exercise before work, can he really sneak upstairs without being spotted? I don't think so, and nor did Stoffe. He could go to Bluewater to his business there, but that's a long trip to be making in your underwear stinking of pee. In the end, he chose to head for the city central car business, because it's closer, and it's closed so nobody should be there. It's in the center of Simville, but while it's more densely populated, the buildings also mean alleys you can hide in. He thinks he can make it there without getting spotted.
And make it there he did, but that is where his luck ran out. For some reason, Daniel too was awake in the wee hours of the morning, and doing an inspection round of all his businesses. As Stoffe arrives in his underwear, he finds Daniel standing by the door of the business. It really looks to me like Stoffe is saying "Aw man..." and throwing up his hand in despair, cursing his bad luck this day.
As you may remember, Daniel is the actual owner of this store, it's part of his car dealership group that has locations all over Simville. It used to be run by Daniel's son Joel, but Joel wanted out to have more time for his family, and Daniel let Stoffe take over after he got to know Stoffe when Stoffe worked at his newspaper as a teenager. Stoffe runs the store, but Daniel owns it, it's under his branding, and he is none too pleased to find the person he entrusted the store to showing up in this state.
"What the hell is wrong with you man, you look like you've been hit by lightning!"
To add insult to injury. while Daniel was working in newspaper when he and Stoffe met, he left the newspaper business to his daughter Elna, and focused his attentions on law instead. Not long ago, he got promoted to The Law in Simville. Even cases that are not in his courtroom he oversees and is aware of, so that means he is one of the few people that knows all about Stoffe's divorce, the house fire and alimony. And while Daniel is usually a very kind, empathetic and understanding man, he has a bit of a blind spot in this area. One of his daughters recently had a very nasty divorce with her husband, after the husband faked birth control and knocked her up, and upon the divorce the family discovered that the prenuptial agreement had been faked by the husband, so Daniel's daughter ended up having to pay a hefty alimony to the now ex husband, as she is a talented artist and had a lot more money going in to the marriage. Very frustrating for Daniel to have failed to catch the faked prenuptial agreement, being powerless to change it afterwards. And unfortunately for Stoffe, there are certain similarities in the two stories, Vanessa wound up pregnant unplanned, Stoffe is to blame for her losing her money etc. And while I am sure Daniel would normally still have given Stoffe a chance to explain his side of the story about the divorce, showing up in this state only helps boost the image of Stoffe being the same type of irresponsible scoundrel as Daniel's daughters ex husband. By showing up in this state Stoffe risks making Daniel's business look bad, I know I'd wonder what type of establishment a place is if the owner shows up looking like he rolled in ashes. Daniel entrusted his family business to someone not in the family, and I'm sure Daniel is second-guessing that decision now. After all, why ever would a person show up in this state to the business? Daniel doesn't know that Stoffe is homeless, because Stoffe has not taken the landlords to court for refusing him housing. To Daniels mind any reasonable person would get cleaned up at home before going to work.
If Stoffe was more mature, he might have realized that this was an opportunity for him to come clean, to ask for help. Daniel is known to be kind, he's shown it many times. If Stoffe explains he's homeless and that's why he arrives in this state he could definitely have broken through no matter how upset Daniel might be. Daniel is The Law, he has the power to force a landlord to grant Stoffe housing, given that it's a court decision that limits Stoffe to renting in the first place. But that would require Stoffe to actually let someone in, to let them see how bad things have gotten, to explain that he couldn't get cleaned up at home because he does not HAVE a home. And Stoffe can't bring himself to do that. He still believes that how people see you is the only thing that matters. Daniel is a really influential person, just the type of person Stoffe wanted to earn admiration from. So instead of telling the truth, he bites down and holds it all inside. Puffing up his cheeks in indignation at the insult of being yelled at, for something that once again was outside of Stoffe's control. Not only is he blamed for a freak accident fire, now he's being yelled at for having the misfortune of getting hit by lightning. Grrr!
But Stoffe keeps quiet and accepts the tirade. After Daniel has had his say, they agree to meet later in the day to discuss this incident. Daniel departs for his home, and Stoffe climbs up to the break room in the attic.
I'm sure you've realized that a lot of what happens in the stories are designed that way by me, after all houses can't actually burn down in Sims, but in this case it was entirely the games decision to get Stoffe struck by lightning, and have Daniel standing by the business when he arrived. I am continually amazed by how the game seems to read my mind, and play in to the stories I am creating, giving me new twists that I would not have come up with by myself. This game is truly magical!
While Stoffe does want to shower immediately, he's ravenously hungry and needs to get something in him before he has energy to get clean. He stares down his chop, while waiting for it to cook, saying hurry up!
This one time I can understand his lack of table manners, gobbling down his plate of pork chops.
Then it's time to get all that soot off him, and get his hair back to normal. A good shower can work wonders.
Once he's back to his normal self, Stoffe returns to his clearing in the woods to await the carpool to take him to his regular job. After work, he heads to a local coffee shop, where he had agreed with Daniel they would meet up after work to discuss the incident.
Stoffe is a little early, so he orders himself a cup of espresso and sits down to drink and chat. Alex does not seem to be a fan of what Stoffe is saying, which might have something to do with the fact that Alex is Daniels half-brother.
And Alex is not the only person there to make Stoffe nervous. He suggested the coffee shop because it's neutral ground and he thought they could talk in relative anonymity. But luck is not on his side at the moment, and it turns out that someone he knows is also there that day. Andreas Nilsson, a semi-colleague from Stoffe's regular job. You may remember Andreas from episode 9. Andreas is the CEO of another corporation that makes a lot of business with the one Stoffe works for, so as vice president he often has dealings with Andreas, and back in episode 9 Andreas invited Stoffe to come home with him and meet his family. It would be real awkward for Stoffe if Alex asks him about the incident this morning in front of Andreas, but luckily for Stoffe, Andreas seems consumed in looking at magazines.
At this point it's too late to change the plans, so Stoffe simply prays that his misfortune is at an end and awaits Daniels arrival. Daniel shows up right on time, and Stoffe goes out to greet him.
To minimize the chances of Andreas overhearing something, Stoffe suggests they take seats at the back of the coffee shop, up on the dais. The rest of the patrons all favor the sofas at the front. But the longer they talk the more likely it is that something gets overheard, so he gets straight to the point and tells Daniel that he will relinquish the contract and hand the business back to Daniel. No point trying to defend himself, since he can't without telling the truth, easier to resign.
He's not happy about it though, even if he knows it was the only choice to make. Daniel is tactful and affects not to notice.
Instead he says that works fine for him, that in fact he had been talking with his son about getting Joel involved with the businesses again, as Joel's wife is about to give Daniel another grandchild and could use some extra income.
I think Daniel meant to be kind, to sort of offer Stoffe a good excuse to give people as to why he will no longer run the business. But I don't think Stoffe appreciated it, just ends up reminding him of the fact that he too is about to have a child and is in need of money. And I imagine it's tough hearing about happy families, given he never had one as a child, and his adult family just fell apart, right as they were about to have a child.
But at least Stoffe was successful in handling the situation quickly, without Andreas being any the wiser to the details of Stoffes current private life strife. He quickly excused himself and left the coffee shop. He ended up going to the luxury gym, this time choosing to have a swim in the pool to cool off his hot angry thoughts.
Afterwards he made use of the change rooms, to change out of his suit to something warmer. It's the tail end of summer, and being outdoors in a tent all night is already starting to get cold, so he wants to be in something more comfortable and warm than a business suit. Then he wanders back to his clearing, to go to sleep in his tent.
And that is where I will end this episode. All in all, it's been a very tough summer for Stoffe. His whole world has been turned upside-down, and things keep happening that are outside of his control, but end up getting him in trouble anyway. Sometimes life seems that way, determined to keep piling on. But in my experience, things turn around for the better, one day.
I hope you have enjoyed!
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
#81
20th Nov 2023 at 1:24 PM
Last edited by gummilutt : 21st Feb 2024 at 3:56 PM.
Quick next episode for once (EDIT: Well it was when I first started writing this post, then it took a week to finish ) You've seen what Stoffe has been up to, since the divorce, but what has Vanessa been up to? Ever since she came in to view, it was as Stoffe's love interest, now she's ended that by her own choice, right before she's about to have a baby. What'll become of her now? We know the court's ruling regarding alimony, but what will Vanessa do? It's time to answer some of those questions
Vanessa van Derbirth
If anyone is reading and feels up to giving input, I'd be interested to know to what extent you want backstory/surrounding information of other households that we come across in the main story. For example, we have heard a brief excerpts about Moa Sernman's past, and in this episode we are introduced to her sister. I love talking about all my Sims, so I'd love to do a brief post sharing the main points of the stories of these side characters so the points where they overlap make sense to you as well, but I'm not sure how interesting it is to someone that is reading. Do you like the brief summaries I have done so far, is it too much, too little or just enough?
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Vanessa van Derbirth
I thought we'd begin with a short recap of Vanessa. Her family is mostly unknown, they are not from Simville and live far away. Vanessa chose to come to university near Simville, not with the goal of getting a degree necessarily, but to find a wealthy husband who would keep her in comfort for all her days (can you tell I love Hamilton?). What we do know of her family is that they are an old one, a modern day nobility of sorts, the type of people who were prominent and their name carries weight in the fancier circles of town, but I don't believe they are wealthy now. The type that was, once, but squandered their wealth and now only live off influence. Why else would Vanessa go somewhere far away, to find her future there? What she brought with her was her name, and her upbringing.
She was raised in the traditional way for a family of her type, taught the responsibilities of the wife of an influential rich man, how to dress and look the part, what sort of activities are appropriate for a woman of status. To aid her husband's success from the shadow, befriending women of other famous men to help build those connections and support his ambitions, because at the end of the day, her success depends on her husband's success. This gave Vanessa a very business-minded view of relationships, everything is an exchange of services, you do something for me and I do something for you. Love isn't something that was really taught to her, her parents weren't in love, it was simply an exchange of benefits for two parties. She had no siblings, one heir is enough in those circles. Stoffe fit her criteria, and he was fit and conventionally attractive, which is what Vanessa was brought up to search for.
And then her whole world got turned upside down, when her husband who seemed destined for greatness, suddenly fails his most basic duty towards her, of keeping her safe. She got mugged in public, their vacation home was burglarized, and then their home burned down to the ground. All while Vanessa was unexpectedly pregnant, and trying to figure out how to view being with child at such a young age. She certainly had not planned to have children already, if anything she would have elected to have children late in life. For the first time in her life, Vanessa found herself having to re-examine her values in regards to her marriage. To her surprise, she found herself feeling something for her coming child, and suddenly the idea of raising a child with this man did not seem at all appealing to her. Doing it on her own wasn't appealing either, but the things she had been taught marriage provides she was not getting, so what was the point in continuing? Mostly Vanessa felt confused, and unsure, and as people often do in those situations, she lashed out at the person she felt was to blame for it all which was Stoffe. And that is where we rejoin Vanessa today.
Having told Stoffe to get lost, Vanessa calmly sits down to have breakfast with her friend. Through the window, we see Stoffe storming off in his underwear. Rakel is trying to pretend like nothing is happening, as the well born so often do, trying to engage Vanessa in conversation about fresh produce. There is a strong belief in Simville that fresh produce is great for pregnancy. Over all Simville is a very green hood, most everyone grows crops for food, not because they need to but because they want too. There is a proper farm that churns out produce at a high rate, but a lot of people still grow their own, and they are very proud of their produce, so any pregnant lady is going to hear a lot of advice to eat locally grown greenery to stay strong and healthy. And the ladies of the ladies who lunch (as I've dubbed Vanessa's group of wealthy female friends) often discuss food, what to serve guests at a party, the latest fad in appetizers, and they are currently eating, so trying to talk about food is an easy "lets ignore the situation"-topic for Rakel to reach for.
But as we saw in the episode of the divorce, Vanessa is finding it harder and harder to keep to her upbringing of shoving it all deep down inside and acting like everything is fine. Her manners make her inclined to try, but her thoughts are all on Stoffe.
Rakel moves on to another usual banger of a topic, clothing. The underwear of her latest cougar conquest, perhaps? But Vanessa's feelings boil over, and the tears come out. Can't be easy going through this turbulent time with pregnancy hormones all over the place.
After breakfast Rakel suggests that Vanessa relax by painting for a bit. Vanessa from an early age was taught an appreciation of the arts, both paintings and music, and those are the hobbies she has focused on as suitable activities for her to fill the hours. In Vanessa's own mansion she had a music room, and easels to paint. Rakel has a painting room in her mansion too, though she has no interest, her sport of choice is men. But she is a good friend, and although she does not wish to speak of the topic, she will sit there quietly to keep her friend company as she paints.
The divorce continues to weigh heavy on Vanessa's mind, alternating between that and Stoffe himself, and tearing up here and there.
Towards the afternoon Rakel suggest they go get some sun and fresh air in the backyard, another thing lauded for its health benefits in Simville. They hang out in the lounge chairs in the back patio, soaking up some rays and chatting. Vanessa talks about the upcoming birth, and what she wants to do for a nursery.
Rakel doesn't really know anything about babies, having never had any and certainly not wishing to have any, But she tries to be supportive, telling Vanessa she's sure she'll be able to grow something good out of all this.
It's summer, and after a while all that soaking up the sun gets hot, so they decide to have a refreshing swim in the pool. I can't help but think that Rakel is stunting on Vanessa a little bit, getting all fancy with her jump and showing off her slender perfectly poised body. Whereas Vanessa had to settle for getting in by the ladder.
But the water is refreshing, and floating on her back and closing her eyes Vanessa can almost forget she's pregnant and alone.
It takes its toll though, all that worrying and lack of sleep the night before. By dinner, Vanessa falls asleep in her bowl right there at the dinner table.
Rakel looks rather dismayed, good well-bred women don't pass out in their plates, as a guest in someone else's home. If you need to collapse, you do it in the privacy of your own home, says Rakel.
After waking up Vanessa excuses herself from the table, saying she needs an early night (Hello Downton Abbey ladies!) and retreats to her guest room to sleep.
Until her pregnancy bladder rudely awakes her to inform her that it is fit to burst, only giving her time to get up out of bed before she wets herself on the floor. Embarrassing!
Good thing Rakel has a butler to take care of messes, though I don't imagine a pee puddle was on his list of things he expected to clean this day.
Vanessa isn't too keen to face the butler, so she snuck off to get cleaned off in a nice soothing bubble bath.
Probably wise, butler doesn't seem to think too highly of this house guest of his mistress'.
But you can't sweat it, after all butlers see all kinds of private matters in the families they serve, and being employed by Rakel I am sure it's not the first body fluid he has cleaned up So after some more sleep Vanessa gets up for the day, and gets dressed.
The mission for today is shopping, shopping and shopping. Stoffe has already sent the first payment of Vanessa's alimony, and it's time to make a serious start at rebuilding her wardrobe. Both maternity wear for the rest of the pregnancy, and pretty clothes for when she's back to her normal size.
A nice comfortable cute summer dress for today, to replace the unstylish sweats.
Some new jewelry, since all she had left is what she'd brought on vacation with her
They have a bite to eat at the restaurant at Sunnyside mall, to replenish their energy for further shopping. Over a lunch of shrimp and filet mignon Vanessa tells Rakel all about the horrors of her trip.
A fruitful day of shopping is complete, and Vanessa looks quite pleased with herself as she gets in the car to return back to Rakel's mansion.
For once, Rakel decides to cook dinner for the two of them instead of letting the butler handle it. She doesn't cook often, but she can, as she knows most men are impressed by a home cooked meal every now and then.
The things she can cook are typical dude food though, so pork chops is what's on the menu. Vanessa doesn't seem to mind, chowing down with her usual decorum (or lack thereof). Over dinner, Rakel tries to show interest and talks about baby toys and such. She actually has a nursery in her home, that's next to the guest room she put Vanessa up in, and if Vanessa wants she's welcome to stay there and use it. You can tell Vanessa isn't sold on the idea though.
And indeed she is not keen to remain with Rakel until Stoffe has sent her enough to buy a new mansion. She loves Rakel, but in these circles accepting hospitality, even from a friend, means you owe them something down the line and Vanessa does not care to keep adding to that social debt. Now that she has a starting amount of funds, it's time for her to look for her own space. So the next morning she gets dressed comfortably.
Then she goes down to tell Rakel what she's decided, thanking her for her hospitality and for support, and then Rakel waves her off as she makes it to the taxi waiting to take her downtown.
And where might she be headed? She can't afford a mansion, and a small house or cottage holds no appeal to her. After her recent experiences of being mugged and burglarized in the same day, she thought she might feel safer somewhere less isolated. Somewhere there's always people around, so hopefully thieves don't dare strike there. And she thinks she found just the spot! Yesterday's excursion to Sunnyside she happened to notice a sign across the street about a vacant apartment, in the City Apartments. With the mall right on the other side, and shops in the front of the building, she'll never really be alone. And as a new single mother, the proximity to shops is great as she has everything she needs right outside her door. She'll be able to nip out while the baby sleeps to get food or clothes, and still be within hearing distance of the baby monitor. Score! (The lot is my expanded version of MogHughson's British style High Street)
The wallpaper is hideous, in her opinion, but any true housewife knows that with a little money and effort any space can be improved.
Sold! It's small, and not very flashy, but the location is perfect and after all it's only temporary. First time for Vanessa handling paperwork herself, her parents helped her get in to college and after that Stoffe handled everything. But there's no time like now to start learning to be your own independent grown up.
The wallpaper had to go right quick! She puts up some curtains, and a desk so she can access her bank to withdraw more money to get started on the rest.
She of course has to have a piano, to keep practicing her musical pursuits. I'm not so sure about the placement, but it was the only place a piano might fit, and perhaps it'll convince some guests that this is a fancy establishment, to be greeted by a great white piano as soon as they enter
She makes immediate use of the proximity to shops. She finds the clothing store in the apartment complex quite agreeable, much fancier and nicer than the H&M across the street at the Sunnyside Mall. She's got a lot of work to do, restoring her wardrobe to its former pre-house fire glory.
An easel also a prioritized item. Art is one of Vanessa's passions in life, and she would love to be a talented artist herself, one day. Plus it's a very suitable hobby for a highborn lady like herself so it's something she can participate in without fear of judgement from her peers.
Cooking however is not something Vanessa enjoys, and has never had to learn either. Stoffe would buy food or cook for her in their first home, and once they moved to the mansion the butler was always there to cook for her. No butler now, so takeout it is. Everything is strangely exhilarating to Vanessa, this whole taking care of yourself thing feels quite empowering. Even something as simply and mundane as going out to greet the delivery girl is a new exciting experience for her.
The next day she continues her efforts to turn her small apartment to a home fit for a woman of importance, and a place she enjoys being in. And for her, that requires fine artwork. She does not have many walls, but those walls must impress! And in Simville, that means you head to Galleri de Arte, run by Moa Sernman who herself is a very talented and much admired artist. Her taste is well respected, so anyone that needs art for their home heads to her gallery where you can buy more commercialized artwork, or arrange a private session to buy some of Moa's own exquisite work.
This is the first time Vanessa visits the art gallery, so she makes sure to introduce herself to Moa. They hit it off immediately, over their love of fine art and the joys of painting yourself.
And they realize they have more things in common, such as complicated divorces. Moa is in fact the daughter with the ex husband that fueled Daniels anger towards Stoffe, in our last episode. While Moa was the one ended up paying alimony, and Vanessa is the recipient, there's a shared experience of ending up pregnant when you did not necessarily want to be, and of feeling cheated and lied to and betrayed. Vanessa gets quite animated, talking about how she felt played like a marionette.
Moa has heard a little about the situation from her father, and she's intelligent enough to realize that Vanessa is probably somewhat lonely. Although the Sernman family are very influential and run a lot of businesses and hold positions of power in society, they are just an ordinary family at the end of the day. They have managed to avoid getting ensnared in the empty world and ridiculous ideals of the lofty side of town. They mingle professionally, but outside of work they enjoy normal lives without the obsession with money and appearances. Having heard about the type of family that Vanessa grew up in, Moa can guess that Vanessa is rather short on true friends. And that she does not have a loving supportive family to help her navigate the difficulties, like Moa is fortunate enough to have. So when Moa finds out that Vanessa has taken an apartment in the City Apartments, she tells Vanessa that her twin sister Elna actually lives in the apartment above Vanessa. She suggests Vanessa knock on her door and introduce herself, thinking quietly to herself thinking that it might do Vanessa good to befriend someone outside of her usual social circles. Elna is a popularity Sim that lives a life of parties and friends, she's always ready to make a new friend, so Moa is certain her sister would be happy to take Vanessa in.
Vanessa is not sure, but she decides to introduce herself at least. So when she returns back after her art shopping spree she goes over to knock. Elna lives in the biggest apartment, it has an entrance to the garage on the ground floor, but then stairs lead to the apartment itself which is partly above Vanessa's.
Elna received a call from her sister when Vanessa left, so she was expecting the visit. She lets Vanessa in and they chat for a bit. Elna was a drama major at university, seems Vanessa is trying to make a good impression by talking about things Elna enjoys.
Elna invites her upstairs to meet the rest of the household. Vanessa seems to hit it off with Max, Elna's long time boyfriend and the athletic soccer star of the Simville soccer team. Vanessa seems to have university on her mind, talking to Max about the undeclared major they all start off with. I guess it makes sense, since Vanessa is technically still enrolled although she hasn't really cared about it much in the last year. Perhaps she's starting to feel more motivated to care about her classes?
Vanessa is invited to make herself at home, sitting down to watch the game with Max, and Elna's and Max's roommate Pernilla. Max compliments Vanessa on her violin playing, which they've heard through the floor. They get pretty rowdy too so they don't mind Vanessa's practice sessions.
After hanging out for a bit Vanessa heads back down to her own home. There's something about the set of her shoulders that looks a little sad to me.
But Vanessa's life soon settles in to a new routine, in her new home. Bit by bit she adds to the furniture, and getting ready for the baby. Here she is talking on the phone with one of the members of her ladies who lunch group. She's not comfortable letting them visit her yet, but she stays in touch.
She's not quite used to this whole being the adult of the house though, her first set of bills she forgot to pay promptly. Stoffe always took care of those things, she's never had to be the one to keep on top of the finances.
Her apartment is small, but she made sure to get an exercise bike so she can keep in shape. Pregnant yes, out of shape no! Can't say I share her enthusiasm, lucky for me I don't have to care what people think
The whole cooking thing is still beyond her. She did give the kitchen a makeover so it's more in her style, but so far it's all show. She might not need to work out as much if she ate something other than takeout, but at least fruit juice is healthy
She kept visiting her upstairs neighbours, knocking on the door once a day to hang out and chat.
Eventually they told her to just come on up if the door is unlocked, she's welcome anytime she wants. I think they could all tell that she doesn't have many people, and they are a friendly bunch that always have friends over anyway. Whenever she'd come by, she'd find them there enjoying themselves in some way.
Rather to her surprise, Vanessa finds she really enjoys their company. The apartment has zero style, but there's an atmosphere that she's never really known before. It's a home, that someone lives in, not a declaration of wealth. They have pictures of family and each other on the walls, and the furniture is about comfort and having a good time together, not about looking some type of way. They don't conduct themselves in a dignified manner standing around being important, they lounge and joke and just have fun. Even though she's only known them a short while, she finds herself able to relax and drop her guard while she's there. She can let herself just be.
University kept being a topic that Vanessa would talk about, in a way I think she envies Elna her university experience. Vanessa went to find a husband, Elna went to have a good time. Spent her years socializing, making friends, throwing parties, having flings. Perhaps Vanessa is wondering what that would have been like, and going to visit Elna has become a sort of surrogate campus life for her.
After a while, Elna started to rub off a little on Vanessa. She was taught that having picture frames on the walls is tacky and low class, but she found herself wishing she had something to put on her walls like her new friend. Elna has pictures of her as a kid with her siblings, of her parents wedding, of her out on the town with Max. Vanessa is going to be a mother any day now, and she's been thinking a lot about her own upbringing. The more she hears about Elna's childhood, the more she feels she wants her kid to get to grow up happier than she did. After all, it's not like anyone that matters is seeing her apartment anyway, so perhaps it would not be too tacky to have a few pictures on the walls, especially if she puts them up in the bedroom. So as summer rolls over to autumn, the delivery man shows up with an order of framed pictures for her.
You might be surprised by some of the pictures she chose to order, pictures of her marriage with Stoffe aren't quite the obvious choice. The courts have granted Vanessa full custody of their child, because of the fire Stoffe is deemed irresponsible and not to be trusted, and because of the general trauma of it all the courts feels Vanessa should not have to be subjected to seeing her ex husband. So for the time being, Stoffe will not be allowed to see his child. He has been assigned a representative, that will meet with the child on his behalf and pass on information to Stoffe so he's somewhat in the loop. Vanessa has decided that although she's angry with Stoffe about everything that happened, he is still the father of her child, and her child should at least know what her father looks like. So she got some pictures of them as a couple, that way even if he's not there in person, he has some kind of presence in the life of his child right from the start. The rest of the pictures she got are of her favorite room of their old mansion, to bring some of the good memories back to life.
Vanessa has even decided it might be time to learn how to cook. The apartment is far too small for a butler to make sense, paying for one would just delay getting back to a proper house, and who knows how long it'll take for Stoffe to pay her the full amount. She can live on takeout, her child cannot, so it's time to learn.
To her surprise, she finds there's a degree of satisfaction in cooking and cleaning up after. She does have a maid, but she does not yet want the maid to see her sloppy first attempts at cooking, so she cleans up herself. Who knew taking care of yourself could feel so satisfying?
It's lucky for Vanessa that she did make friends with her upstairs neighbours, as singing at the top of your voice while playing the piano is usually not a good move in apartments, but Elna and Max do not mind so Vanessa pass many an hour by the piano, playing away the hours.
And that is where she is, when her labour finally kicks in. All alone, nobody there to comfort her or cheer her on as she wails out her pain.
But not alone for much longer, as she greets her new baby girl with slightly disbelieving but dewy eyes. Meet Lily Rose Van Derbirth!
She looks so happy, as she gives baby girl her first ever bath to wash off some of the birth gunk.
Giving birth wore out Vanessa completely, so after the bath she tucks baby in on a cosleeper pad, and gets ready to go to bed herself. She could not seem to take her eyes off her new baby daughter, whatever she was doing her eyes remained glued on the baby.
Even in her sleep, she seemed to instinctively lean in towards her new companion. Lily Rose was not sleepy at all, she remained awake studying her mommy with her big grey eyes, but remaining calm letting her get some well-earned rest. Stoffe and Vanessa both have the same eyes, so can't say whose gene got used there, but she has her mother's hair and skin. It'll be interesting to see if she displays more of Stoffe as she grows older
And that is where we'll leave Vanessa and the new baby Lily Rose for now. I hope you have enjoyed seeing this glimpse in to the new life of Vanessa, post-divorce, trying to find her way on her own for the first time in her life. Stoffe's circumstances are different, but in a way, they are living through the exact same struggle. They are both young adults (in the non-game meaning of the term), that have had their entire world view put in to question, and are now trying to figure out what to believe in when what they held firm proved to perhaps not be as solid as they thought. Both of them put a great deal of belief in the appearance of things, of money and influence being the only thing that matters, that the main thing that mattered in life is to be wealthy and to be admired by certain people, and they had reached that, and yet somehow their life still managed to crumble around them. So clearly it was not all that mattered, which begs the question, what does? Stay tuned for future updates on how they both get on, as they try to figure out the answer to that question
She was raised in the traditional way for a family of her type, taught the responsibilities of the wife of an influential rich man, how to dress and look the part, what sort of activities are appropriate for a woman of status. To aid her husband's success from the shadow, befriending women of other famous men to help build those connections and support his ambitions, because at the end of the day, her success depends on her husband's success. This gave Vanessa a very business-minded view of relationships, everything is an exchange of services, you do something for me and I do something for you. Love isn't something that was really taught to her, her parents weren't in love, it was simply an exchange of benefits for two parties. She had no siblings, one heir is enough in those circles. Stoffe fit her criteria, and he was fit and conventionally attractive, which is what Vanessa was brought up to search for.
And then her whole world got turned upside down, when her husband who seemed destined for greatness, suddenly fails his most basic duty towards her, of keeping her safe. She got mugged in public, their vacation home was burglarized, and then their home burned down to the ground. All while Vanessa was unexpectedly pregnant, and trying to figure out how to view being with child at such a young age. She certainly had not planned to have children already, if anything she would have elected to have children late in life. For the first time in her life, Vanessa found herself having to re-examine her values in regards to her marriage. To her surprise, she found herself feeling something for her coming child, and suddenly the idea of raising a child with this man did not seem at all appealing to her. Doing it on her own wasn't appealing either, but the things she had been taught marriage provides she was not getting, so what was the point in continuing? Mostly Vanessa felt confused, and unsure, and as people often do in those situations, she lashed out at the person she felt was to blame for it all which was Stoffe. And that is where we rejoin Vanessa today.
Having told Stoffe to get lost, Vanessa calmly sits down to have breakfast with her friend. Through the window, we see Stoffe storming off in his underwear. Rakel is trying to pretend like nothing is happening, as the well born so often do, trying to engage Vanessa in conversation about fresh produce. There is a strong belief in Simville that fresh produce is great for pregnancy. Over all Simville is a very green hood, most everyone grows crops for food, not because they need to but because they want too. There is a proper farm that churns out produce at a high rate, but a lot of people still grow their own, and they are very proud of their produce, so any pregnant lady is going to hear a lot of advice to eat locally grown greenery to stay strong and healthy. And the ladies of the ladies who lunch (as I've dubbed Vanessa's group of wealthy female friends) often discuss food, what to serve guests at a party, the latest fad in appetizers, and they are currently eating, so trying to talk about food is an easy "lets ignore the situation"-topic for Rakel to reach for.
But as we saw in the episode of the divorce, Vanessa is finding it harder and harder to keep to her upbringing of shoving it all deep down inside and acting like everything is fine. Her manners make her inclined to try, but her thoughts are all on Stoffe.
Rakel moves on to another usual banger of a topic, clothing. The underwear of her latest cougar conquest, perhaps? But Vanessa's feelings boil over, and the tears come out. Can't be easy going through this turbulent time with pregnancy hormones all over the place.
After breakfast Rakel suggests that Vanessa relax by painting for a bit. Vanessa from an early age was taught an appreciation of the arts, both paintings and music, and those are the hobbies she has focused on as suitable activities for her to fill the hours. In Vanessa's own mansion she had a music room, and easels to paint. Rakel has a painting room in her mansion too, though she has no interest, her sport of choice is men. But she is a good friend, and although she does not wish to speak of the topic, she will sit there quietly to keep her friend company as she paints.
The divorce continues to weigh heavy on Vanessa's mind, alternating between that and Stoffe himself, and tearing up here and there.
Towards the afternoon Rakel suggest they go get some sun and fresh air in the backyard, another thing lauded for its health benefits in Simville. They hang out in the lounge chairs in the back patio, soaking up some rays and chatting. Vanessa talks about the upcoming birth, and what she wants to do for a nursery.
Rakel doesn't really know anything about babies, having never had any and certainly not wishing to have any, But she tries to be supportive, telling Vanessa she's sure she'll be able to grow something good out of all this.
It's summer, and after a while all that soaking up the sun gets hot, so they decide to have a refreshing swim in the pool. I can't help but think that Rakel is stunting on Vanessa a little bit, getting all fancy with her jump and showing off her slender perfectly poised body. Whereas Vanessa had to settle for getting in by the ladder.
But the water is refreshing, and floating on her back and closing her eyes Vanessa can almost forget she's pregnant and alone.
It takes its toll though, all that worrying and lack of sleep the night before. By dinner, Vanessa falls asleep in her bowl right there at the dinner table.
Rakel looks rather dismayed, good well-bred women don't pass out in their plates, as a guest in someone else's home. If you need to collapse, you do it in the privacy of your own home, says Rakel.
After waking up Vanessa excuses herself from the table, saying she needs an early night (Hello Downton Abbey ladies!) and retreats to her guest room to sleep.
Until her pregnancy bladder rudely awakes her to inform her that it is fit to burst, only giving her time to get up out of bed before she wets herself on the floor. Embarrassing!
Good thing Rakel has a butler to take care of messes, though I don't imagine a pee puddle was on his list of things he expected to clean this day.
Vanessa isn't too keen to face the butler, so she snuck off to get cleaned off in a nice soothing bubble bath.
Probably wise, butler doesn't seem to think too highly of this house guest of his mistress'.
But you can't sweat it, after all butlers see all kinds of private matters in the families they serve, and being employed by Rakel I am sure it's not the first body fluid he has cleaned up So after some more sleep Vanessa gets up for the day, and gets dressed.
The mission for today is shopping, shopping and shopping. Stoffe has already sent the first payment of Vanessa's alimony, and it's time to make a serious start at rebuilding her wardrobe. Both maternity wear for the rest of the pregnancy, and pretty clothes for when she's back to her normal size.
A nice comfortable cute summer dress for today, to replace the unstylish sweats.
Some new jewelry, since all she had left is what she'd brought on vacation with her
They have a bite to eat at the restaurant at Sunnyside mall, to replenish their energy for further shopping. Over a lunch of shrimp and filet mignon Vanessa tells Rakel all about the horrors of her trip.
A fruitful day of shopping is complete, and Vanessa looks quite pleased with herself as she gets in the car to return back to Rakel's mansion.
For once, Rakel decides to cook dinner for the two of them instead of letting the butler handle it. She doesn't cook often, but she can, as she knows most men are impressed by a home cooked meal every now and then.
The things she can cook are typical dude food though, so pork chops is what's on the menu. Vanessa doesn't seem to mind, chowing down with her usual decorum (or lack thereof). Over dinner, Rakel tries to show interest and talks about baby toys and such. She actually has a nursery in her home, that's next to the guest room she put Vanessa up in, and if Vanessa wants she's welcome to stay there and use it. You can tell Vanessa isn't sold on the idea though.
And indeed she is not keen to remain with Rakel until Stoffe has sent her enough to buy a new mansion. She loves Rakel, but in these circles accepting hospitality, even from a friend, means you owe them something down the line and Vanessa does not care to keep adding to that social debt. Now that she has a starting amount of funds, it's time for her to look for her own space. So the next morning she gets dressed comfortably.
Then she goes down to tell Rakel what she's decided, thanking her for her hospitality and for support, and then Rakel waves her off as she makes it to the taxi waiting to take her downtown.
And where might she be headed? She can't afford a mansion, and a small house or cottage holds no appeal to her. After her recent experiences of being mugged and burglarized in the same day, she thought she might feel safer somewhere less isolated. Somewhere there's always people around, so hopefully thieves don't dare strike there. And she thinks she found just the spot! Yesterday's excursion to Sunnyside she happened to notice a sign across the street about a vacant apartment, in the City Apartments. With the mall right on the other side, and shops in the front of the building, she'll never really be alone. And as a new single mother, the proximity to shops is great as she has everything she needs right outside her door. She'll be able to nip out while the baby sleeps to get food or clothes, and still be within hearing distance of the baby monitor. Score! (The lot is my expanded version of MogHughson's British style High Street)
The wallpaper is hideous, in her opinion, but any true housewife knows that with a little money and effort any space can be improved.
Sold! It's small, and not very flashy, but the location is perfect and after all it's only temporary. First time for Vanessa handling paperwork herself, her parents helped her get in to college and after that Stoffe handled everything. But there's no time like now to start learning to be your own independent grown up.
The wallpaper had to go right quick! She puts up some curtains, and a desk so she can access her bank to withdraw more money to get started on the rest.
She of course has to have a piano, to keep practicing her musical pursuits. I'm not so sure about the placement, but it was the only place a piano might fit, and perhaps it'll convince some guests that this is a fancy establishment, to be greeted by a great white piano as soon as they enter
She makes immediate use of the proximity to shops. She finds the clothing store in the apartment complex quite agreeable, much fancier and nicer than the H&M across the street at the Sunnyside Mall. She's got a lot of work to do, restoring her wardrobe to its former pre-house fire glory.
An easel also a prioritized item. Art is one of Vanessa's passions in life, and she would love to be a talented artist herself, one day. Plus it's a very suitable hobby for a highborn lady like herself so it's something she can participate in without fear of judgement from her peers.
Cooking however is not something Vanessa enjoys, and has never had to learn either. Stoffe would buy food or cook for her in their first home, and once they moved to the mansion the butler was always there to cook for her. No butler now, so takeout it is. Everything is strangely exhilarating to Vanessa, this whole taking care of yourself thing feels quite empowering. Even something as simply and mundane as going out to greet the delivery girl is a new exciting experience for her.
The next day she continues her efforts to turn her small apartment to a home fit for a woman of importance, and a place she enjoys being in. And for her, that requires fine artwork. She does not have many walls, but those walls must impress! And in Simville, that means you head to Galleri de Arte, run by Moa Sernman who herself is a very talented and much admired artist. Her taste is well respected, so anyone that needs art for their home heads to her gallery where you can buy more commercialized artwork, or arrange a private session to buy some of Moa's own exquisite work.
This is the first time Vanessa visits the art gallery, so she makes sure to introduce herself to Moa. They hit it off immediately, over their love of fine art and the joys of painting yourself.
And they realize they have more things in common, such as complicated divorces. Moa is in fact the daughter with the ex husband that fueled Daniels anger towards Stoffe, in our last episode. While Moa was the one ended up paying alimony, and Vanessa is the recipient, there's a shared experience of ending up pregnant when you did not necessarily want to be, and of feeling cheated and lied to and betrayed. Vanessa gets quite animated, talking about how she felt played like a marionette.
Moa has heard a little about the situation from her father, and she's intelligent enough to realize that Vanessa is probably somewhat lonely. Although the Sernman family are very influential and run a lot of businesses and hold positions of power in society, they are just an ordinary family at the end of the day. They have managed to avoid getting ensnared in the empty world and ridiculous ideals of the lofty side of town. They mingle professionally, but outside of work they enjoy normal lives without the obsession with money and appearances. Having heard about the type of family that Vanessa grew up in, Moa can guess that Vanessa is rather short on true friends. And that she does not have a loving supportive family to help her navigate the difficulties, like Moa is fortunate enough to have. So when Moa finds out that Vanessa has taken an apartment in the City Apartments, she tells Vanessa that her twin sister Elna actually lives in the apartment above Vanessa. She suggests Vanessa knock on her door and introduce herself, thinking quietly to herself thinking that it might do Vanessa good to befriend someone outside of her usual social circles. Elna is a popularity Sim that lives a life of parties and friends, she's always ready to make a new friend, so Moa is certain her sister would be happy to take Vanessa in.
Vanessa is not sure, but she decides to introduce herself at least. So when she returns back after her art shopping spree she goes over to knock. Elna lives in the biggest apartment, it has an entrance to the garage on the ground floor, but then stairs lead to the apartment itself which is partly above Vanessa's.
Elna received a call from her sister when Vanessa left, so she was expecting the visit. She lets Vanessa in and they chat for a bit. Elna was a drama major at university, seems Vanessa is trying to make a good impression by talking about things Elna enjoys.
Elna invites her upstairs to meet the rest of the household. Vanessa seems to hit it off with Max, Elna's long time boyfriend and the athletic soccer star of the Simville soccer team. Vanessa seems to have university on her mind, talking to Max about the undeclared major they all start off with. I guess it makes sense, since Vanessa is technically still enrolled although she hasn't really cared about it much in the last year. Perhaps she's starting to feel more motivated to care about her classes?
Vanessa is invited to make herself at home, sitting down to watch the game with Max, and Elna's and Max's roommate Pernilla. Max compliments Vanessa on her violin playing, which they've heard through the floor. They get pretty rowdy too so they don't mind Vanessa's practice sessions.
After hanging out for a bit Vanessa heads back down to her own home. There's something about the set of her shoulders that looks a little sad to me.
But Vanessa's life soon settles in to a new routine, in her new home. Bit by bit she adds to the furniture, and getting ready for the baby. Here she is talking on the phone with one of the members of her ladies who lunch group. She's not comfortable letting them visit her yet, but she stays in touch.
She's not quite used to this whole being the adult of the house though, her first set of bills she forgot to pay promptly. Stoffe always took care of those things, she's never had to be the one to keep on top of the finances.
Her apartment is small, but she made sure to get an exercise bike so she can keep in shape. Pregnant yes, out of shape no! Can't say I share her enthusiasm, lucky for me I don't have to care what people think
The whole cooking thing is still beyond her. She did give the kitchen a makeover so it's more in her style, but so far it's all show. She might not need to work out as much if she ate something other than takeout, but at least fruit juice is healthy
She kept visiting her upstairs neighbours, knocking on the door once a day to hang out and chat.
Eventually they told her to just come on up if the door is unlocked, she's welcome anytime she wants. I think they could all tell that she doesn't have many people, and they are a friendly bunch that always have friends over anyway. Whenever she'd come by, she'd find them there enjoying themselves in some way.
Rather to her surprise, Vanessa finds she really enjoys their company. The apartment has zero style, but there's an atmosphere that she's never really known before. It's a home, that someone lives in, not a declaration of wealth. They have pictures of family and each other on the walls, and the furniture is about comfort and having a good time together, not about looking some type of way. They don't conduct themselves in a dignified manner standing around being important, they lounge and joke and just have fun. Even though she's only known them a short while, she finds herself able to relax and drop her guard while she's there. She can let herself just be.
University kept being a topic that Vanessa would talk about, in a way I think she envies Elna her university experience. Vanessa went to find a husband, Elna went to have a good time. Spent her years socializing, making friends, throwing parties, having flings. Perhaps Vanessa is wondering what that would have been like, and going to visit Elna has become a sort of surrogate campus life for her.
After a while, Elna started to rub off a little on Vanessa. She was taught that having picture frames on the walls is tacky and low class, but she found herself wishing she had something to put on her walls like her new friend. Elna has pictures of her as a kid with her siblings, of her parents wedding, of her out on the town with Max. Vanessa is going to be a mother any day now, and she's been thinking a lot about her own upbringing. The more she hears about Elna's childhood, the more she feels she wants her kid to get to grow up happier than she did. After all, it's not like anyone that matters is seeing her apartment anyway, so perhaps it would not be too tacky to have a few pictures on the walls, especially if she puts them up in the bedroom. So as summer rolls over to autumn, the delivery man shows up with an order of framed pictures for her.
You might be surprised by some of the pictures she chose to order, pictures of her marriage with Stoffe aren't quite the obvious choice. The courts have granted Vanessa full custody of their child, because of the fire Stoffe is deemed irresponsible and not to be trusted, and because of the general trauma of it all the courts feels Vanessa should not have to be subjected to seeing her ex husband. So for the time being, Stoffe will not be allowed to see his child. He has been assigned a representative, that will meet with the child on his behalf and pass on information to Stoffe so he's somewhat in the loop. Vanessa has decided that although she's angry with Stoffe about everything that happened, he is still the father of her child, and her child should at least know what her father looks like. So she got some pictures of them as a couple, that way even if he's not there in person, he has some kind of presence in the life of his child right from the start. The rest of the pictures she got are of her favorite room of their old mansion, to bring some of the good memories back to life.
Vanessa has even decided it might be time to learn how to cook. The apartment is far too small for a butler to make sense, paying for one would just delay getting back to a proper house, and who knows how long it'll take for Stoffe to pay her the full amount. She can live on takeout, her child cannot, so it's time to learn.
To her surprise, she finds there's a degree of satisfaction in cooking and cleaning up after. She does have a maid, but she does not yet want the maid to see her sloppy first attempts at cooking, so she cleans up herself. Who knew taking care of yourself could feel so satisfying?
It's lucky for Vanessa that she did make friends with her upstairs neighbours, as singing at the top of your voice while playing the piano is usually not a good move in apartments, but Elna and Max do not mind so Vanessa pass many an hour by the piano, playing away the hours.
And that is where she is, when her labour finally kicks in. All alone, nobody there to comfort her or cheer her on as she wails out her pain.
But not alone for much longer, as she greets her new baby girl with slightly disbelieving but dewy eyes. Meet Lily Rose Van Derbirth!
She looks so happy, as she gives baby girl her first ever bath to wash off some of the birth gunk.
Giving birth wore out Vanessa completely, so after the bath she tucks baby in on a cosleeper pad, and gets ready to go to bed herself. She could not seem to take her eyes off her new baby daughter, whatever she was doing her eyes remained glued on the baby.
Even in her sleep, she seemed to instinctively lean in towards her new companion. Lily Rose was not sleepy at all, she remained awake studying her mommy with her big grey eyes, but remaining calm letting her get some well-earned rest. Stoffe and Vanessa both have the same eyes, so can't say whose gene got used there, but she has her mother's hair and skin. It'll be interesting to see if she displays more of Stoffe as she grows older
And that is where we'll leave Vanessa and the new baby Lily Rose for now. I hope you have enjoyed seeing this glimpse in to the new life of Vanessa, post-divorce, trying to find her way on her own for the first time in her life. Stoffe's circumstances are different, but in a way, they are living through the exact same struggle. They are both young adults (in the non-game meaning of the term), that have had their entire world view put in to question, and are now trying to figure out what to believe in when what they held firm proved to perhaps not be as solid as they thought. Both of them put a great deal of belief in the appearance of things, of money and influence being the only thing that matters, that the main thing that mattered in life is to be wealthy and to be admired by certain people, and they had reached that, and yet somehow their life still managed to crumble around them. So clearly it was not all that mattered, which begs the question, what does? Stay tuned for future updates on how they both get on, as they try to figure out the answer to that question
If anyone is reading and feels up to giving input, I'd be interested to know to what extent you want backstory/surrounding information of other households that we come across in the main story. For example, we have heard a brief excerpts about Moa Sernman's past, and in this episode we are introduced to her sister. I love talking about all my Sims, so I'd love to do a brief post sharing the main points of the stories of these side characters so the points where they overlap make sense to you as well, but I'm not sure how interesting it is to someone that is reading. Do you like the brief summaries I have done so far, is it too much, too little or just enough?
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Test Subject
#82
7th Jan 2024 at 1:29 AM
Posts: 9
Thanks: 15 in 1 Posts
@gummilutt
Hi there, I made an account here yesterday and was exploring the website and found this thread/group and just wanted to say something a little interesting
I don't think your hood name is boring at all! I've been on and off calling most of my custom/empty hoods "Simsville" with an "s" for almost twenty years!
Simville! I think it's really neat that at least one other person had the same idea! Alright, take care!
Hi there, I made an account here yesterday and was exploring the website and found this thread/group and just wanted to say something a little interesting
I don't think your hood name is boring at all! I've been on and off calling most of my custom/empty hoods "Simsville" with an "s" for almost twenty years!
Simville! I think it's really neat that at least one other person had the same idea! Alright, take care!
#83
15th Feb 2024 at 11:27 AM
Last edited by gummilutt : 25th Feb 2024 at 11:44 PM.
Time for another update. A lot longer passed than I would wish, I love this story and I want to finish it but health does what health wants and I've been short-stacked on energy as I usually am in winter. But here we are, once again, taking a trip to Simville and one of the families therein. And today, we are stopping back in with the Sawyers!
The Sawyer family
Reminder that this story is a little dark, and deals with topics like abuse, so although I keep it PG13 as per the site rules, if you are sensitive you may want to skip the Sawyers for now
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
The Sawyer family
Reminder that this story is a little dark, and deals with topics like abuse, so although I keep it PG13 as per the site rules, if you are sensitive you may want to skip the Sawyers for now
In our last visit, the dynamics in the family had changed a little. Sally Mae is pregnant yet again, and she's started making more demands on her husband in defense of the kids, and simply being so overwhelmed she can't cope on her own and Billy Bob has to either step up or risk pushing her past the point where she'll take it. He let her go on an outing with the oldest girls to get them some clothes, thanks to a work bonus, and he's been helping out more at home. It's made easier on him by the arrival of his son Joe Bob, who takes on his daddy's hair and eye genes, but deep down it infuriates Billy Bob that he should have to adapt in any way to Sally Mae. She's supposed to adapt to him, pleasing him and giving him everything he needs. Initially he got back at her by demanding she perform her wifely duties more regularly, but as she's pregnant once again he has to ease up which is how he found himself becoming a regular at the Hot House downtown where he can pay for subservience and doesn't have to pretend. He scored some big husband points by purchasing a third trailer for the grown up kids to live in, away from their younger loud siblings, and putting down money to make it nicer than their previous trailers. But having 6 kids to care for, three trailers to clean, and yet another pregnancy draining her reserves is proving very difficult for Sally Mae.
As we join the family in their little slice of desolation, we find Sally Mae sound asleep even though it's 7am and she's usually the first person to wake up.
The older kids are very responsible for their age, and can take care of themselves in a pinch. Thanks to Sally Mae's prep they have breakfast food ready in the fridge which Anna Nicole took out for her and her siblings, so they could eat and then they headed off to school.
Billy Bob headed off for work too, leaving Sally Mae behind to sleep. The owner of the modern bachelor pad across the river probably isn't thrilled that the Sawyer lot is part of their view
Sally Mae slept through them leaving, and slept, and slept. Billy Bob had kept her up late last night and she slept right through her internal clock and woke up quite late, desperately worried about the little ones left in their cribs all morning in to the afternoon.
Thankfully they are study little babies, and didn't seem any the worse for wear despite being alone for so long.
Soon the older kids were dropped off by the school bus, and one of them brought a friend with them! Little Tyrell Kansal. Who apparently is a hot-blooded little guy showing up in shorts in winter. Brrr! Or perhaps his mother does not pay enough attention to what he's wearing, or ensuring he has outerwear with him to school
Billy Bob also arrives back home not long after, and sees Tyrell in the distance (you can maybe see him, he sort of blends in to the leaves of the apple tree, he's right by the compost bin). Now you might wonder, is Billy Bob going to chase Tyrell away? He's usually not keen on any sort of outside male presence in his family, of any age.
That is why the kids don't really bring home anyone from school, because they know their dad is not cool with visitors. But today Tyrell convinced them that their dad wouldn't mind him and they risked it. And so far it seems Tyrell was right, as Billy Bob ignores him.
Sally Mae is still with the babies in their trailer, so Lulu Belle takes out a plate of food for everyone to partake.
Over in the babies trailer Sally Mae is really feeling that she too could do with a plate of food. She dashed off to check on them as soon as she woke up and she hasn't had time to go eat something, so she's not had a bite since the day before and she's ravenous.
Outside it has begun to snow, and the ground is soon covered in a thick layer of snow. The kids head outside to make use of this with a fun snowball fight.
Billy Bob didn't even come inside to say hi, instead staying outside and working his muscles in the obstacle course.
Lulu Belle decided to build a snowman, and I was a bit alarmed by her choice of decorations. Apparently our girl has a mean streak! Or perhaps living in this environment is getting to her, and it's her interpretation of her dad
Sally Mae finds time to make a warm pot of spaghetti for the kids to warm up after their play in the snow, I think she too fancied something hot rather than more leftovers.
When Billy Bob finally comes inside that night, Sally Mae is pissed. She's worn down to the bone, and he doesn't even come say hi when he's back from work, doesn't involve himself in the kids and just runs his stupid obstacle course all evening. What does he think this is, some kind of vacation? Sally Mae tells him in no short terms that it's not so think again.
He can't shout back at her, so what does he do? He turns around and marches straight out the door and off in to the distance. Thinking as he goes of the early days when she was too smitten to shout at him.
He heads to the stores, and buys some clothes for her and the kids to appease her.
And then he heads to the Hot House, to work out his aggression and frustrations there, so he can keep himself from taking it too far with Sally Mae.
That night once he came back to bed, they kept to their sides of the bed. Both angry with the other.
Feeling guilty about barely seeing the kids the day before, Sally Mae makes sure to make time for them first thing the next morning, going over to their trailer to say good morning and check in before they head off for school.
Junior seems to sense that mommy is having a rough go of it and could do with a hug from her little boy.
The shower is broken, yet again. With 2 adults and 4 children taking constant showers the plumbing breaks with mind-numbing regularity. They got no money for a repairman, and Billy Bob has never shown an interest in helping so it always come down to Sally Mae to get it sorted.
Billy Bob has gone off to work again, and after the shower fixing Sally Mae finds herself spent. This pregnancy turned out to be the straw that broke the camels back, her body is worn out from the constant pregnancies and working round the clock day in and day out. So she heads back to take a nap, but not wanting the little ones to be all alone without supervision she brings them to the bedroom to sleep next to her so that she'll wake if they do.
She's awoken by Junior, who is excited to show off his latest report card where he managed to get top grades. She's a good mom, proud of all her kids and wanting to be there, but she definitely wishes Junior had chosen a different day to get a good grade.
She manages a cheer, and tells Junior mommy isn't feeling well. And she really does look unwell, barely able to stand on her own two legs for that brief moment.
So when Billy Bob comes home from work an hour later, he finds her fast asleep with the two babies awake but calm next to her. He's angry, because he was going to make a thing of coming in to say hi to her today and present her with the gift, and his ungrateful wife isn't even awake to notice him! He's positively fuming as he leaves the gift box next to the bed so at least she'll see it the moment she wakes up.
He settles in to keep stewing, reading his newspaper, until he notices Lulu Belle next to him chowing down on some leftover spaghetti from yesterday. No daughter of his is going to put the pounds, he's in tip top shape and his kids should be too, in his opinion. So he marches her off towards the obstacle course to run til he says she can stop. Right as they exit Sally Mae, who has finally woken up, comes out with Tamie Lee in her arms.
As usual Peggy Sue gets roped in alongside her twin sister. Billy Bob doesn't abide by quitters, and he keeps them working, in the snow, until late before letting them traipse off to bed.
Sally Mae has stayed in the main trailer, taking care of the two babies. When Billy Bob comes in, she's settled them in the danglemasters and is giving herself time to eat something.
Billy Bob just quietly picks up Joe Bob and gets him fed, then heads out to put him in his crib for the night, making a new milestone in his relationship with his baby son. He's not best friends with any of them, but Joe Bob gets there. First one to interest him enough to build up a relationship.
He comes back and tells Sally Mae to hand over Tamie Lee to him as well and he'll settle her in, so she can go have an early night since she's so so tired.
The next morning, he keeps it up. Waking up before Sally Mae, going and getting the twins to feed them while she gets to sit down and have breakfast right away, for once.
As Sally Mae gets started on the chores, having not had a chance to clean the last two days, Billy Bob starts playing with the babies. What is going on?
And to make it even weirder, he went and made their bed. First "cleaning" chore he's ever done.
While Sally Mae is over with the older kids, keeping them company as they have breakfast, Billy Bob pulls out his phone to make a call. He then proceeded to call Sally Mae asking her to come over so he can tell her something.
And what is that something you might ask? Why is he taking care of the babies, even doing a slight chore? What's he got up his sleeve now? Believe it or not, he arranged a playdate for the kids. Calling Tyrells mom and inviting them over to spend the day with them.
Those of you with good memories (and good back of head recognition) may recognize her from a past episode. Jaqueline Kansal, the mother of Tyrell, and sometime host at the Hot House
Sally Mae doesn't know what to think, he's never invited anyone over before. And arranging a playdate for the kids? What? It's saturday and the kids will be home all day, so Billy Bob tells her he wanted to do something fun for the kids that keeps them busy, and that Jaqueline is great with kids and can help him keep an eye on them so Sally Mae can get even more rest and hopefully have energy for a surprise the next day. As they settle the babies in before Sally Mae goes to nap, he even splurges on calling for a pizza to be delivered.
While Billy Bob keeps the older kids busy with the pizza, Sally Mae seems to be dreaming of spring and the planting she'll be able to do. She doesn't get much time for herself, her little vegetable garden is the thing she does that's sort of about her, even if the veggies also help feed the family. Meanwhile Jaqueline took Tamie Lee over for a bath.
Which is the first thing Sally Mae sees when she wakes up, somewhat horrified seeing a total stranger to her giving her daughter a bath.
But by the time she's dressed and come out to the main room of the trailer, Jaqueline is there ready to hand over a newly bathed baby girl to Sally Mae, who does look quite pleased at having her baby back and nice and clean. Billy Bob once again giving Billy Bob his bottle.
The trailers are usually some degree of chaos, because of all the kids, but this is a type of chaos that is totally unfamiliar with Sally Mae and she doesn't look quite sure what to make of it. Strangers, the smell of pizza, Billy Bob giving Lulu Belle a dance on his toes.
She seems almost relieved when she can turn her back on it all for a moment to wash up plates from breakfast.
The kids seem to have picked up on the fact that their father is in a charitable mood today, which Peggy Sue takes advantage of and goes to show Tyrell how bouncy her parents bed is.
Meanwhile Sally Mae has time to give Lulu Belle help with her homework, for the first time in a little bit. Jaqueline and Billy Bob told her to take her time, they got the babies covered so Sally Mae can focus her attention on the older kids that evening.
Peggy Sue wants to talk to the belly and her upcoming new sibling(s).
Sally Mae even gets to kiss her precious kids goodnight, for once.
Then she too heads to sleep after a very strange, but for once somewhat relaxing day for her. Billy Bob wanders off after everyone else has gone to bed, heading to the orchard in Bluewater to pick some apples as a gift for Sally Mae. She's been unable to make pepper punch to perk her up, because she ran out of apples, and she relies on it to get through the day and that's why she's been sleeping so much as she can't really manage without it. So Billy Bob figures she'll be nice and grateful if he gets her more apples.
Once he's done apple-picking, he heads to his real destination for the night, which I'm sure you have guessed is the Hot House. But he's not just there to partake in the usual offerings, he's arranged to meet up with someone. And who else but Jaqueline?
They arranged the whole thing, a few nights back when Billy Bob came there. He spoke to Jaqueline about his growing frustration with his wife and having to play the nice husband to her. Jaqueline suggested this little scheme, as a way for Billy Bob to get back at his wife without her realizing it. Bringing Jaqueline home, letting her take care of Sally Mae's beloved kids, while secretly sleeping with Billy Bob behind Sally Mae's back. Jaqueline, you may be surprised to learn, is actually married, but has an open relationship and sometimes comes to the Hot House with her husband to spice things up. Not part of the staff, just a woman that enjoys her kicks and she finds Billy Bob extremely attractive. The fact that he's rude to her is just more spice. And Billy Bob thoroughly enjoys what she has to offer, both bodily, and the fact that she's got a selfish and cruel twist to her just like he does. He doesn't have to pretend with her, he can act as he wishes he could to Sally Mae and know she'll accept it. He's just as thrilled by the fact that he's insulting Sally Mae, without her being any the wiser. In a way managing to make his good husband act, that he's forced to put up to keep Sally Mae from questioning her existence, in to acts of domination that he can feel good about, rather than frustrated and angry. It puts him back in control, and that is exciting to him. And as Billy Bob heads in to the Hot House with Jaqueline in tow, we leave the Sawyers for today.
As we join the family in their little slice of desolation, we find Sally Mae sound asleep even though it's 7am and she's usually the first person to wake up.
The older kids are very responsible for their age, and can take care of themselves in a pinch. Thanks to Sally Mae's prep they have breakfast food ready in the fridge which Anna Nicole took out for her and her siblings, so they could eat and then they headed off to school.
Billy Bob headed off for work too, leaving Sally Mae behind to sleep. The owner of the modern bachelor pad across the river probably isn't thrilled that the Sawyer lot is part of their view
Sally Mae slept through them leaving, and slept, and slept. Billy Bob had kept her up late last night and she slept right through her internal clock and woke up quite late, desperately worried about the little ones left in their cribs all morning in to the afternoon.
Thankfully they are study little babies, and didn't seem any the worse for wear despite being alone for so long.
Soon the older kids were dropped off by the school bus, and one of them brought a friend with them! Little Tyrell Kansal. Who apparently is a hot-blooded little guy showing up in shorts in winter. Brrr! Or perhaps his mother does not pay enough attention to what he's wearing, or ensuring he has outerwear with him to school
Billy Bob also arrives back home not long after, and sees Tyrell in the distance (you can maybe see him, he sort of blends in to the leaves of the apple tree, he's right by the compost bin). Now you might wonder, is Billy Bob going to chase Tyrell away? He's usually not keen on any sort of outside male presence in his family, of any age.
That is why the kids don't really bring home anyone from school, because they know their dad is not cool with visitors. But today Tyrell convinced them that their dad wouldn't mind him and they risked it. And so far it seems Tyrell was right, as Billy Bob ignores him.
Sally Mae is still with the babies in their trailer, so Lulu Belle takes out a plate of food for everyone to partake.
Over in the babies trailer Sally Mae is really feeling that she too could do with a plate of food. She dashed off to check on them as soon as she woke up and she hasn't had time to go eat something, so she's not had a bite since the day before and she's ravenous.
Outside it has begun to snow, and the ground is soon covered in a thick layer of snow. The kids head outside to make use of this with a fun snowball fight.
Billy Bob didn't even come inside to say hi, instead staying outside and working his muscles in the obstacle course.
Lulu Belle decided to build a snowman, and I was a bit alarmed by her choice of decorations. Apparently our girl has a mean streak! Or perhaps living in this environment is getting to her, and it's her interpretation of her dad
Sally Mae finds time to make a warm pot of spaghetti for the kids to warm up after their play in the snow, I think she too fancied something hot rather than more leftovers.
When Billy Bob finally comes inside that night, Sally Mae is pissed. She's worn down to the bone, and he doesn't even come say hi when he's back from work, doesn't involve himself in the kids and just runs his stupid obstacle course all evening. What does he think this is, some kind of vacation? Sally Mae tells him in no short terms that it's not so think again.
He can't shout back at her, so what does he do? He turns around and marches straight out the door and off in to the distance. Thinking as he goes of the early days when she was too smitten to shout at him.
He heads to the stores, and buys some clothes for her and the kids to appease her.
And then he heads to the Hot House, to work out his aggression and frustrations there, so he can keep himself from taking it too far with Sally Mae.
That night once he came back to bed, they kept to their sides of the bed. Both angry with the other.
Feeling guilty about barely seeing the kids the day before, Sally Mae makes sure to make time for them first thing the next morning, going over to their trailer to say good morning and check in before they head off for school.
Junior seems to sense that mommy is having a rough go of it and could do with a hug from her little boy.
The shower is broken, yet again. With 2 adults and 4 children taking constant showers the plumbing breaks with mind-numbing regularity. They got no money for a repairman, and Billy Bob has never shown an interest in helping so it always come down to Sally Mae to get it sorted.
Billy Bob has gone off to work again, and after the shower fixing Sally Mae finds herself spent. This pregnancy turned out to be the straw that broke the camels back, her body is worn out from the constant pregnancies and working round the clock day in and day out. So she heads back to take a nap, but not wanting the little ones to be all alone without supervision she brings them to the bedroom to sleep next to her so that she'll wake if they do.
She's awoken by Junior, who is excited to show off his latest report card where he managed to get top grades. She's a good mom, proud of all her kids and wanting to be there, but she definitely wishes Junior had chosen a different day to get a good grade.
She manages a cheer, and tells Junior mommy isn't feeling well. And she really does look unwell, barely able to stand on her own two legs for that brief moment.
So when Billy Bob comes home from work an hour later, he finds her fast asleep with the two babies awake but calm next to her. He's angry, because he was going to make a thing of coming in to say hi to her today and present her with the gift, and his ungrateful wife isn't even awake to notice him! He's positively fuming as he leaves the gift box next to the bed so at least she'll see it the moment she wakes up.
He settles in to keep stewing, reading his newspaper, until he notices Lulu Belle next to him chowing down on some leftover spaghetti from yesterday. No daughter of his is going to put the pounds, he's in tip top shape and his kids should be too, in his opinion. So he marches her off towards the obstacle course to run til he says she can stop. Right as they exit Sally Mae, who has finally woken up, comes out with Tamie Lee in her arms.
As usual Peggy Sue gets roped in alongside her twin sister. Billy Bob doesn't abide by quitters, and he keeps them working, in the snow, until late before letting them traipse off to bed.
Sally Mae has stayed in the main trailer, taking care of the two babies. When Billy Bob comes in, she's settled them in the danglemasters and is giving herself time to eat something.
Billy Bob just quietly picks up Joe Bob and gets him fed, then heads out to put him in his crib for the night, making a new milestone in his relationship with his baby son. He's not best friends with any of them, but Joe Bob gets there. First one to interest him enough to build up a relationship.
He comes back and tells Sally Mae to hand over Tamie Lee to him as well and he'll settle her in, so she can go have an early night since she's so so tired.
The next morning, he keeps it up. Waking up before Sally Mae, going and getting the twins to feed them while she gets to sit down and have breakfast right away, for once.
As Sally Mae gets started on the chores, having not had a chance to clean the last two days, Billy Bob starts playing with the babies. What is going on?
And to make it even weirder, he went and made their bed. First "cleaning" chore he's ever done.
While Sally Mae is over with the older kids, keeping them company as they have breakfast, Billy Bob pulls out his phone to make a call. He then proceeded to call Sally Mae asking her to come over so he can tell her something.
And what is that something you might ask? Why is he taking care of the babies, even doing a slight chore? What's he got up his sleeve now? Believe it or not, he arranged a playdate for the kids. Calling Tyrells mom and inviting them over to spend the day with them.
Those of you with good memories (and good back of head recognition) may recognize her from a past episode. Jaqueline Kansal, the mother of Tyrell, and sometime host at the Hot House
Sally Mae doesn't know what to think, he's never invited anyone over before. And arranging a playdate for the kids? What? It's saturday and the kids will be home all day, so Billy Bob tells her he wanted to do something fun for the kids that keeps them busy, and that Jaqueline is great with kids and can help him keep an eye on them so Sally Mae can get even more rest and hopefully have energy for a surprise the next day. As they settle the babies in before Sally Mae goes to nap, he even splurges on calling for a pizza to be delivered.
While Billy Bob keeps the older kids busy with the pizza, Sally Mae seems to be dreaming of spring and the planting she'll be able to do. She doesn't get much time for herself, her little vegetable garden is the thing she does that's sort of about her, even if the veggies also help feed the family. Meanwhile Jaqueline took Tamie Lee over for a bath.
Which is the first thing Sally Mae sees when she wakes up, somewhat horrified seeing a total stranger to her giving her daughter a bath.
But by the time she's dressed and come out to the main room of the trailer, Jaqueline is there ready to hand over a newly bathed baby girl to Sally Mae, who does look quite pleased at having her baby back and nice and clean. Billy Bob once again giving Billy Bob his bottle.
The trailers are usually some degree of chaos, because of all the kids, but this is a type of chaos that is totally unfamiliar with Sally Mae and she doesn't look quite sure what to make of it. Strangers, the smell of pizza, Billy Bob giving Lulu Belle a dance on his toes.
She seems almost relieved when she can turn her back on it all for a moment to wash up plates from breakfast.
The kids seem to have picked up on the fact that their father is in a charitable mood today, which Peggy Sue takes advantage of and goes to show Tyrell how bouncy her parents bed is.
Meanwhile Sally Mae has time to give Lulu Belle help with her homework, for the first time in a little bit. Jaqueline and Billy Bob told her to take her time, they got the babies covered so Sally Mae can focus her attention on the older kids that evening.
Peggy Sue wants to talk to the belly and her upcoming new sibling(s).
Sally Mae even gets to kiss her precious kids goodnight, for once.
Then she too heads to sleep after a very strange, but for once somewhat relaxing day for her. Billy Bob wanders off after everyone else has gone to bed, heading to the orchard in Bluewater to pick some apples as a gift for Sally Mae. She's been unable to make pepper punch to perk her up, because she ran out of apples, and she relies on it to get through the day and that's why she's been sleeping so much as she can't really manage without it. So Billy Bob figures she'll be nice and grateful if he gets her more apples.
Once he's done apple-picking, he heads to his real destination for the night, which I'm sure you have guessed is the Hot House. But he's not just there to partake in the usual offerings, he's arranged to meet up with someone. And who else but Jaqueline?
They arranged the whole thing, a few nights back when Billy Bob came there. He spoke to Jaqueline about his growing frustration with his wife and having to play the nice husband to her. Jaqueline suggested this little scheme, as a way for Billy Bob to get back at his wife without her realizing it. Bringing Jaqueline home, letting her take care of Sally Mae's beloved kids, while secretly sleeping with Billy Bob behind Sally Mae's back. Jaqueline, you may be surprised to learn, is actually married, but has an open relationship and sometimes comes to the Hot House with her husband to spice things up. Not part of the staff, just a woman that enjoys her kicks and she finds Billy Bob extremely attractive. The fact that he's rude to her is just more spice. And Billy Bob thoroughly enjoys what she has to offer, both bodily, and the fact that she's got a selfish and cruel twist to her just like he does. He doesn't have to pretend with her, he can act as he wishes he could to Sally Mae and know she'll accept it. He's just as thrilled by the fact that he's insulting Sally Mae, without her being any the wiser. In a way managing to make his good husband act, that he's forced to put up to keep Sally Mae from questioning her existence, in to acts of domination that he can feel good about, rather than frustrated and angry. It puts him back in control, and that is exciting to him. And as Billy Bob heads in to the Hot House with Jaqueline in tow, we leave the Sawyers for today.
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
#84
15th Feb 2024 at 11:29 AM
Quote: Originally posted by danbot
@gummilutt Hi there, I made an account here yesterday and was exploring the website and found this thread/group and just wanted to say something a little interesting I don't think your hood name is boring at all! I've been on and off calling most of my custom/empty hoods "Simsville" with an "s" for almost twenty years! Simville! I think it's really neat that at least one other person had the same idea! Alright, take care! |
Very sweet of you to come tell me that you too have a similar name for your hood I think it's probably a fairly common name, along with things like Simtown or Sim City. Easy name to come up with, and to the point descriptive. It's a little cliche, but it's what's inside the hood that matters to me, not the name
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
#85
22nd Feb 2024 at 3:55 PM
For once, an update not too long after the last one was posted Lets check back in with Stoffe, and see how he's getting on.
Stoffe
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Stoffe
In our recent episode, Stoffe's streak of bad luck continued. He's homeless, living in a clearing in the forest unbeknownst to everyone as Stoffe is too proud to ask for help or let anyone know how far he's fallen. He got hit by lightning in a raging storm, and it resulted in him having to hand in his notice to the Sernman business group rather than get fired. He still has his own store in Bluewater, and his job as vice president of a big corporation, but it was a big blow to Stoffe's self estreem and his life goals since the Sernman family are so influential and he made himself look a fool in the eyes of Daniel, who is the head of the group. And he got handed a massive alimony ruling that means that unless he's willing to admit to people he's homeless and get help, he's going to be living in the woods for a long time until he's paid off the alimony he owes Vanessa.
His entire world view is being questioned and shaken up, he had achieved a fortune, he had a wife from a prestigious family, all the things he thought as a child would make him happy. But was he happy? Was his marriage with Vanessa actually solid? If it had been, would she have divorced him the way she did the moment things got difficult? Those are the thoughts Stoffe can't keep out of his mind as he sits away the hours inside his tent in the woods. Aside from the fact that gyms offer facilities he can use to hide his homelessness, it also gives him an outlet for all his frustration with how his life has gone. Rakel's gym is closest to the clearing and has the best facilities, but because she is Vanessa's closest friend and witnessed their marriage falling apart it's not an entirely comfortable feeling for Stoffe to go there. So he changes it up and sometimes visits the other gyms in the area. One day while he's running on the treadmill in the small gym in Sunnyside Mall in the city center of Simville, Vanessa and Rakel show up, also visiting the mall.
Rakel often checks who is visiting the other gyms, to check her clients are loyal to her gym and she's not too pleased on finding Stoffe working out there. She gives him a piece of her mind, for being disloyal to her gym, and tells him it's unbecoming to be working out with the poor people.
At first Stoffe decides to just leave the mall, looking quite melancholy as he quietly slips past Vanessa to head out of the mall.
And just as he's about to get outside, he changes his mind, turns around and walks back towards Vanessa.
He doesn't know how he feels about her, and interacting with her at all is making it worse, but that is his child she's carrying and he decided he should take this opportunity to speak to her tummy.
Vanessa however is not having any of that, and recoils from him which makes Stoffe upset. Surely she doesn't think he'd harm her or something?
All he wanted was to interact with his unborn child, and this how she reacts. He's done a lot of swallowing his emotions and saying nothing, but this time he can't help himself and suddenly he's shouting at her. "I just wanted to greet the baby and you act like I'm contagious. What have I ever done to hurt you?!"
"Don't touch me! You did hurt me, you jerk! You think losing my home and possessions is harmless? How dare you!"
Stoffe doesn't have a comeback to that, and realizes he should have stuck with his first choice and just left. Getting seen in public screaming at his very visibly pregnant ex-wife is not a good look, and one that comes back to bite him later. As you know from Vanessa's perspective (although this took place before she left Rakel's house) she ended up getting sole custody of their daughter, and this incident was part of the reason. Because there were witnesses that could verify that Stoffe tried to touch her, and it made her uncomfortable, and then he yelled at her. She has that pregnant lady empathy card, it doesn't look good to be trying to touch her or yell at her. So in the end as you know the courts granted Vanessa custody, and placed a visitation ban on Stoffe so that Vanessa does not have to worry about interacting with her ex husband since it is triggering for her. It's all very sad, Stoffe has no ill intentions towards anyone, least of all the mother of his child. However angry he may be with her, he does love his child and and wants his child to have both his parents since he knows what it's like to not have that. But the legal system cares little about your intentions, so for now, Stoffe will have to love his daughter through a representative.
Since he got driven away from the gym at the mall and he wasn't in the mood to go to Rakel's place right after she yelled at him, Stoffe decided to just run around town instead. Which is how he found himself on the street outside of Andreas' and Isabelle's house on the north side of town.
Isabelle was outside tending to her fruit trees, and spotted him. They hadn't met since Andreas brought him home from work back in Episode 9, but out of all of Andreas friends/visitors Stoffe is the only one Isabelle actually liked. As you may recall they have a toddler son named Tore, who was born prematurely due to Isabelle being at risk of dying from how sick the pregnancy made her. She feels she is partly to blame for the health struggles Tore still has from his early arrival in this world, and that makes her fiercely protective of him. Most of Andreas friends are typical bros, that don't necessarily take naturally to the concept of being quiet and not disturbing the baby, so him and Isabelle agreed that he meets those friends elsewhere and not at the house. But she knows her boyfriend is a very social man and that he wishes he could still have people over, so she was thrilled to come across an acquaintance of his that wasn't your typical bro. Stoffe was gentle in his interactions with Tore, and helpful towards her and Andreas so their evening went more smoothly. She'd been telling Andreas he should invite Stoffe again, but so far he had not done so, and so when she spotted Stoffe jogging past she waved him down and went to say hi, inviting him to come inside and say hi to Andreas and Tore.
Tore had just woken up from his nap and Andreas was coming downstairs with him to his afternoon meal. Stoffe came in to say hi to him, but figured he'd better leave Andreas to tend to Tore.
So instead he went back outside, and asked Isabelle if she would like some help tending to her vegetable garden. As you know Simville is a very green place and has great faith in the health benefits and restorative properties of fresh produce, so once they moved to the house Isabelle immediately started a vegetable garden to ensure Tore had constant access to good greens. Stoffe hasn't the first idea about gardening, but he figured he could probably handle watering them and Isabelle agreed, so while she tended to the weeds he walked around with the watering can giving them all a nice splash of water. More plus points in Isabelle's book!
After they finished tending the garden Andreas called them inside to come eat the pancakes he had made for lunch. I don't think pancakes are food, but Andreas agrees with my mother that they are excellent lunch material. Isabelle looked so happy as she tucked in to hers, Tore safely settled in with his Jack-in-the-box, and Andreas and Stoffe talking away about tv. Andreas is a sports enthusiast that loves soccer, and Stoffe suggested perhaps they could get tickets and go to a game together sometime.
Stoffe once again proving he's a very helpful house guest, getting up to clean up Tore's bowl and the lunch plates. Give Andreas and Isabelle a moment to sit and talk, very sweet of him. Tore had crawled off to play with other toys just out of frame.
Andreas and Isabelle had planned to go run some errands today, and they told Stoffe he's very welcome to stay in their home while they are off, if he wants to. Stoffe appreciates the offer since their house is a lot more fun than a clearing in the woods, and graciously accepts the offer, thanking them for being so welcoming to him. Unfortunately for Stoffe, as Andreas and Isabelle head outside to greet Andreas mother who has come over to babysit, they also spot Daniel Sernman walking by. Andreas doesn't know about Stoffe's incident with Daniel, as far as he knows they split ways amicably so that Daniel's son Joel could resume control of the car dealership. Joel is married to Andreas sister Emma, so he knew Joel had been debating taking it up again and saw nothing strange about the story Daniel put out there. Additionally Daniel and his wife are good friends with Andreas parents, so when they spotted Daniel outside they of course said hi to him as well and said he was welcome to stay and keep Andreas mother company if he'd like. Then they head off to run their errands.
Stoffe did not catch this interaction, because he was in the backyard having a grand old time with the trampoline there. He truly is a kid at heart, made so happy by bouncing up and down and letting his body flail around like a kid would.
He was less amused when he came back inside and found Daniel and Andreas mother Maja watching TV together. But he couldn't very well turn around and go back outside now he'd come inside, so he sat down with them and tried his best at making conversation, though you can tell he's clenching his teeth and is very uncomfortable about it. They all seem a bit tense and like they can all feel the atmosphere isn't great.
Stoffe decides to excuse himself and goes outside to grab a glass of wine from Andreas supply. Unfortunately Daniel follows him out there, and as they stand awkwardly in silence Stoffe can't help but start to sweat and get stinky. So he decides it's time to call it quits, and after asking Andreas mother to pass along is thanks for the hospitality to her son when he returns, he heads off.
Despite his earlier unwillingness to visit Rakel's gym again, it's on the way to the clearing, so he decides to go there anyway to have a shower and change his clothes. It's still early evening so he decides to sit and read the paper. He's procured a lawn chair and an outdoor table so he has somewhere to sit outside as it gets a bit cramped in the tent, and he sits down there to read his paper and think upon the events of the day, with a group of fireflies buzzing around him in the darkness.
The day has given Stoffe a lot to think about. Started unpleasant with running in to Vanessa and getting in a fight with her, and he could have gladly skipped the Daniel-part at the end, but for the first time in a long time he felt welcome. Ever since returning from Twikki it had been a lot of rude awakenings for him, and doors slamming shut. He didn't expect Vanessa to divorce him, and he certainly had no idea divorce could would be so harsh and cold. He thought he had made progress in becoming part of the upper echelon of Simville, being recognized as one of them. Sure he's still very young, but his rapid ascent to wealth had impressed a lot of people and given him a lot of contacts, and his marriage to Vanessa had helped lend him a degree of authenticity. He lost that in the divorce, but by now he had established himself, he figured it wouldn't be that much of a blow to lose the name. But to his surprise, his connections in Simville were shutting their doors to him, seeming happy to pretend they never knew him. He hadn't noticed a big difference among the customers at his business or from his employees, but all those contacts he had made at endless company events, networking and mingling, the ones whose approval and admiration he so deeply craved, they suddenly seemed to think he had a bad smell and was contagious to boot. Rakel he had counted on, given that she was Vanessa's closest friend. But every single one he reached out to responded with hostility and hanging up the phone. Even the Mayor and his family, who had been so proud of Stoffe previously as the great new star of the town that was going to bring job opportunities and up the prestige of Simville. What Stoffe didn't realize is that nothing makes you more undesirable than losing your wealth. You aren't anyone unless you got the money to back that up. They may have had some degree of sympathy if it was a market crash, since that would have impacted them all, but in their opinion Stoffe had only himself to blame for his folly. He even risked damaging their nearby mansions with his recklessness! What if the fire had spread? And for the Mayor specifically it's a PR-disaster, his big star turned into some kind of.. of... fire hazardist! Or arsonist or something. What are people going to think? Does he not realize how badly this reflects on the Mayor? The last thing Mayor Bloonberg wants to do is remind people of his previous approval of Stoffe, he wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole right now! And that is exactly what Stoffe, in his idolization of the big mansions and flashy people north of the river, failed to realize. To a kid with nothing in the orphanage, living in a mansion and being rich and admired might seem like the greatest thing in the world, but that world is cut-throat and cold. If your usefulness drops, then what's the point? The connections made are very rarely genuine, and are more business transactions than real human connections. And at his core, that is not who Stoffe is. He's business savvy, but he's not selfish, nor cruel. He's the type of dude to give the butler a vacation when he's going to be out of town, because if he's going to rest and enjoy himself, why shouldn't the butler get to do the same? That is not how people of that world think. They aren't considered with the lives of anyone else, or their happiness or enjoyment. Self-interest is their guiding star. They are happy to exchange business cards and be your friend when it's beneficial. They were all happy to embrace Stoffe because his drive and ambition seemed destined to take him far and by getting in early they were sure to be viewed more favorably down the road if Stoffe became the big cheese. And then his fortunes took a total nosedive, the investment didn't pan out so they cut him loose and went on with their lives. That's how they operate.
Lena had been trying to gently open Stoffe's eyes to this, during their conversation in the park after he argued with Vanessa. She moves in these circles to scrounge up donations to the orphanage, she's well aware of how they operate. She berates herself a little for not challenging Stoffe's world view more when he was a teen, but she doesn't like to get in the way of the choices made by her charges. After all, maybe he would succeed and not necessarily have to deal with the negative aspects of that world. And some mistakes you have to make in order to learn from them. An adult telling you how the world works is rarely as effective as experiencing it yourself, and sometimes people just don't want to hear your advice even if you know you are right. Stoffe has to figure this one out for himself, all she can do is drop hints and let him work it out for himself. She told him money is not a cure all, and that he has to get to the root of the problem, though at the time Stoffe didn't really pick up on what she was trying to say. He still tried to solve Vanessa being mad at him by buying her more things, thinking once again that expensive things would somehow make everything okay. It didn't work. He found himself signing divorce papers, getting the cold shoulder from people, and suddenly living in a tent. The people he thought would support him, didn't. And then while he's out jogging, someone he'd only met once briefly shines up seeing him and dashes over to say hi and invites him to please come in and stay awhile. Nobody had been reaching out to him, to see how he was doing. It felt so good to see a friendly smile, to feel welcome, to feel like someone was actually happy to see him. The more he thought it, the kinder it seemed that they would invite him to stay even though they had a prior engagement they had to go to, letting him hang out with Andreas mother. He wasn't sure what to think, and as he headed to his tent to get some sleep his head was full of questions and a general sense of confusion.
His entire world view is being questioned and shaken up, he had achieved a fortune, he had a wife from a prestigious family, all the things he thought as a child would make him happy. But was he happy? Was his marriage with Vanessa actually solid? If it had been, would she have divorced him the way she did the moment things got difficult? Those are the thoughts Stoffe can't keep out of his mind as he sits away the hours inside his tent in the woods. Aside from the fact that gyms offer facilities he can use to hide his homelessness, it also gives him an outlet for all his frustration with how his life has gone. Rakel's gym is closest to the clearing and has the best facilities, but because she is Vanessa's closest friend and witnessed their marriage falling apart it's not an entirely comfortable feeling for Stoffe to go there. So he changes it up and sometimes visits the other gyms in the area. One day while he's running on the treadmill in the small gym in Sunnyside Mall in the city center of Simville, Vanessa and Rakel show up, also visiting the mall.
Rakel often checks who is visiting the other gyms, to check her clients are loyal to her gym and she's not too pleased on finding Stoffe working out there. She gives him a piece of her mind, for being disloyal to her gym, and tells him it's unbecoming to be working out with the poor people.
At first Stoffe decides to just leave the mall, looking quite melancholy as he quietly slips past Vanessa to head out of the mall.
And just as he's about to get outside, he changes his mind, turns around and walks back towards Vanessa.
He doesn't know how he feels about her, and interacting with her at all is making it worse, but that is his child she's carrying and he decided he should take this opportunity to speak to her tummy.
Vanessa however is not having any of that, and recoils from him which makes Stoffe upset. Surely she doesn't think he'd harm her or something?
All he wanted was to interact with his unborn child, and this how she reacts. He's done a lot of swallowing his emotions and saying nothing, but this time he can't help himself and suddenly he's shouting at her. "I just wanted to greet the baby and you act like I'm contagious. What have I ever done to hurt you?!"
"Don't touch me! You did hurt me, you jerk! You think losing my home and possessions is harmless? How dare you!"
Stoffe doesn't have a comeback to that, and realizes he should have stuck with his first choice and just left. Getting seen in public screaming at his very visibly pregnant ex-wife is not a good look, and one that comes back to bite him later. As you know from Vanessa's perspective (although this took place before she left Rakel's house) she ended up getting sole custody of their daughter, and this incident was part of the reason. Because there were witnesses that could verify that Stoffe tried to touch her, and it made her uncomfortable, and then he yelled at her. She has that pregnant lady empathy card, it doesn't look good to be trying to touch her or yell at her. So in the end as you know the courts granted Vanessa custody, and placed a visitation ban on Stoffe so that Vanessa does not have to worry about interacting with her ex husband since it is triggering for her. It's all very sad, Stoffe has no ill intentions towards anyone, least of all the mother of his child. However angry he may be with her, he does love his child and and wants his child to have both his parents since he knows what it's like to not have that. But the legal system cares little about your intentions, so for now, Stoffe will have to love his daughter through a representative.
Since he got driven away from the gym at the mall and he wasn't in the mood to go to Rakel's place right after she yelled at him, Stoffe decided to just run around town instead. Which is how he found himself on the street outside of Andreas' and Isabelle's house on the north side of town.
Isabelle was outside tending to her fruit trees, and spotted him. They hadn't met since Andreas brought him home from work back in Episode 9, but out of all of Andreas friends/visitors Stoffe is the only one Isabelle actually liked. As you may recall they have a toddler son named Tore, who was born prematurely due to Isabelle being at risk of dying from how sick the pregnancy made her. She feels she is partly to blame for the health struggles Tore still has from his early arrival in this world, and that makes her fiercely protective of him. Most of Andreas friends are typical bros, that don't necessarily take naturally to the concept of being quiet and not disturbing the baby, so him and Isabelle agreed that he meets those friends elsewhere and not at the house. But she knows her boyfriend is a very social man and that he wishes he could still have people over, so she was thrilled to come across an acquaintance of his that wasn't your typical bro. Stoffe was gentle in his interactions with Tore, and helpful towards her and Andreas so their evening went more smoothly. She'd been telling Andreas he should invite Stoffe again, but so far he had not done so, and so when she spotted Stoffe jogging past she waved him down and went to say hi, inviting him to come inside and say hi to Andreas and Tore.
Tore had just woken up from his nap and Andreas was coming downstairs with him to his afternoon meal. Stoffe came in to say hi to him, but figured he'd better leave Andreas to tend to Tore.
So instead he went back outside, and asked Isabelle if she would like some help tending to her vegetable garden. As you know Simville is a very green place and has great faith in the health benefits and restorative properties of fresh produce, so once they moved to the house Isabelle immediately started a vegetable garden to ensure Tore had constant access to good greens. Stoffe hasn't the first idea about gardening, but he figured he could probably handle watering them and Isabelle agreed, so while she tended to the weeds he walked around with the watering can giving them all a nice splash of water. More plus points in Isabelle's book!
After they finished tending the garden Andreas called them inside to come eat the pancakes he had made for lunch. I don't think pancakes are food, but Andreas agrees with my mother that they are excellent lunch material. Isabelle looked so happy as she tucked in to hers, Tore safely settled in with his Jack-in-the-box, and Andreas and Stoffe talking away about tv. Andreas is a sports enthusiast that loves soccer, and Stoffe suggested perhaps they could get tickets and go to a game together sometime.
Stoffe once again proving he's a very helpful house guest, getting up to clean up Tore's bowl and the lunch plates. Give Andreas and Isabelle a moment to sit and talk, very sweet of him. Tore had crawled off to play with other toys just out of frame.
Andreas and Isabelle had planned to go run some errands today, and they told Stoffe he's very welcome to stay in their home while they are off, if he wants to. Stoffe appreciates the offer since their house is a lot more fun than a clearing in the woods, and graciously accepts the offer, thanking them for being so welcoming to him. Unfortunately for Stoffe, as Andreas and Isabelle head outside to greet Andreas mother who has come over to babysit, they also spot Daniel Sernman walking by. Andreas doesn't know about Stoffe's incident with Daniel, as far as he knows they split ways amicably so that Daniel's son Joel could resume control of the car dealership. Joel is married to Andreas sister Emma, so he knew Joel had been debating taking it up again and saw nothing strange about the story Daniel put out there. Additionally Daniel and his wife are good friends with Andreas parents, so when they spotted Daniel outside they of course said hi to him as well and said he was welcome to stay and keep Andreas mother company if he'd like. Then they head off to run their errands.
Stoffe did not catch this interaction, because he was in the backyard having a grand old time with the trampoline there. He truly is a kid at heart, made so happy by bouncing up and down and letting his body flail around like a kid would.
He was less amused when he came back inside and found Daniel and Andreas mother Maja watching TV together. But he couldn't very well turn around and go back outside now he'd come inside, so he sat down with them and tried his best at making conversation, though you can tell he's clenching his teeth and is very uncomfortable about it. They all seem a bit tense and like they can all feel the atmosphere isn't great.
Stoffe decides to excuse himself and goes outside to grab a glass of wine from Andreas supply. Unfortunately Daniel follows him out there, and as they stand awkwardly in silence Stoffe can't help but start to sweat and get stinky. So he decides it's time to call it quits, and after asking Andreas mother to pass along is thanks for the hospitality to her son when he returns, he heads off.
Despite his earlier unwillingness to visit Rakel's gym again, it's on the way to the clearing, so he decides to go there anyway to have a shower and change his clothes. It's still early evening so he decides to sit and read the paper. He's procured a lawn chair and an outdoor table so he has somewhere to sit outside as it gets a bit cramped in the tent, and he sits down there to read his paper and think upon the events of the day, with a group of fireflies buzzing around him in the darkness.
The day has given Stoffe a lot to think about. Started unpleasant with running in to Vanessa and getting in a fight with her, and he could have gladly skipped the Daniel-part at the end, but for the first time in a long time he felt welcome. Ever since returning from Twikki it had been a lot of rude awakenings for him, and doors slamming shut. He didn't expect Vanessa to divorce him, and he certainly had no idea divorce could would be so harsh and cold. He thought he had made progress in becoming part of the upper echelon of Simville, being recognized as one of them. Sure he's still very young, but his rapid ascent to wealth had impressed a lot of people and given him a lot of contacts, and his marriage to Vanessa had helped lend him a degree of authenticity. He lost that in the divorce, but by now he had established himself, he figured it wouldn't be that much of a blow to lose the name. But to his surprise, his connections in Simville were shutting their doors to him, seeming happy to pretend they never knew him. He hadn't noticed a big difference among the customers at his business or from his employees, but all those contacts he had made at endless company events, networking and mingling, the ones whose approval and admiration he so deeply craved, they suddenly seemed to think he had a bad smell and was contagious to boot. Rakel he had counted on, given that she was Vanessa's closest friend. But every single one he reached out to responded with hostility and hanging up the phone. Even the Mayor and his family, who had been so proud of Stoffe previously as the great new star of the town that was going to bring job opportunities and up the prestige of Simville. What Stoffe didn't realize is that nothing makes you more undesirable than losing your wealth. You aren't anyone unless you got the money to back that up. They may have had some degree of sympathy if it was a market crash, since that would have impacted them all, but in their opinion Stoffe had only himself to blame for his folly. He even risked damaging their nearby mansions with his recklessness! What if the fire had spread? And for the Mayor specifically it's a PR-disaster, his big star turned into some kind of.. of... fire hazardist! Or arsonist or something. What are people going to think? Does he not realize how badly this reflects on the Mayor? The last thing Mayor Bloonberg wants to do is remind people of his previous approval of Stoffe, he wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole right now! And that is exactly what Stoffe, in his idolization of the big mansions and flashy people north of the river, failed to realize. To a kid with nothing in the orphanage, living in a mansion and being rich and admired might seem like the greatest thing in the world, but that world is cut-throat and cold. If your usefulness drops, then what's the point? The connections made are very rarely genuine, and are more business transactions than real human connections. And at his core, that is not who Stoffe is. He's business savvy, but he's not selfish, nor cruel. He's the type of dude to give the butler a vacation when he's going to be out of town, because if he's going to rest and enjoy himself, why shouldn't the butler get to do the same? That is not how people of that world think. They aren't considered with the lives of anyone else, or their happiness or enjoyment. Self-interest is their guiding star. They are happy to exchange business cards and be your friend when it's beneficial. They were all happy to embrace Stoffe because his drive and ambition seemed destined to take him far and by getting in early they were sure to be viewed more favorably down the road if Stoffe became the big cheese. And then his fortunes took a total nosedive, the investment didn't pan out so they cut him loose and went on with their lives. That's how they operate.
Lena had been trying to gently open Stoffe's eyes to this, during their conversation in the park after he argued with Vanessa. She moves in these circles to scrounge up donations to the orphanage, she's well aware of how they operate. She berates herself a little for not challenging Stoffe's world view more when he was a teen, but she doesn't like to get in the way of the choices made by her charges. After all, maybe he would succeed and not necessarily have to deal with the negative aspects of that world. And some mistakes you have to make in order to learn from them. An adult telling you how the world works is rarely as effective as experiencing it yourself, and sometimes people just don't want to hear your advice even if you know you are right. Stoffe has to figure this one out for himself, all she can do is drop hints and let him work it out for himself. She told him money is not a cure all, and that he has to get to the root of the problem, though at the time Stoffe didn't really pick up on what she was trying to say. He still tried to solve Vanessa being mad at him by buying her more things, thinking once again that expensive things would somehow make everything okay. It didn't work. He found himself signing divorce papers, getting the cold shoulder from people, and suddenly living in a tent. The people he thought would support him, didn't. And then while he's out jogging, someone he'd only met once briefly shines up seeing him and dashes over to say hi and invites him to please come in and stay awhile. Nobody had been reaching out to him, to see how he was doing. It felt so good to see a friendly smile, to feel welcome, to feel like someone was actually happy to see him. The more he thought it, the kinder it seemed that they would invite him to stay even though they had a prior engagement they had to go to, letting him hang out with Andreas mother. He wasn't sure what to think, and as he headed to his tent to get some sleep his head was full of questions and a general sense of confusion.
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
#86
28th Mar 2024 at 11:06 AM
I am aware I haven't updated this in a month, and I'm sorry about that. It's because I am doing some major developing and planning, that will benefit this in the end. I had been stuck on how to continue in my own game play for a while and I've finally figured it out. I've also been getting inspired by Charmful and working on my hood in general. I will resume posting this story when I have some chapters lined up so I can try to post with a regular schedule. I have over 20 ready picture-wise, but they need writing to go along and as this story gets more complicated I am trying to shift over to more text to better convey the nuances. So apologies for drought, hopefully you will feel it's worth it in the end
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
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