Orpiment – Round 1

Nadya Orpiment: G1 Elder, Popularity/Romance, LTW: Become an Icon, Taurus 5/5/3/8/4, Turn Ons: Makeup, Charismatic; Turn Off: Custom Hair
Cyrus Orpiment: G1 Adult, Family/Romance, LTW: Reach Golden Anniversary, Aquarius 4/4/4/7/6, Turn Ons: Unemployed, Facial Hair; Turn Off: Logical
After the taxi dropped them off at their new house, Cyrus and Nadya spent most of the morning out front, talking and playing games like they had when Cyrus was younger. Nadya found that she still loved to play even the simple games she’d played with him as a child.

In the afternoon, some of their new neighbors dr0pped by, and they spent the rest of the day getting acquainted with them.  The next day passed in a similar lazy fashion, with the day spent largely on meeting new neighbors and working on their skills. Cyrus did take time in the evening to check the want ads, however, and after a few phone calls had landed a job in the law enforcement field as a security guard. It paid well for a starting position, and that was about all that Cyrus cared about since his main interest in life lay in finding someone to marry and grow old with. He hoped that one of the neighbors they’d met that day, Laurena Hightower, might prove to be the woman he was looking for.
Wednesday, he called her up and asked her on a date, and was pleased when she accepted. Since he wasn’t really sure what places in the area would be good to take a date, he asked her to come over to the house, and then spent the afternoon wooing her. His efforts paid off, and it wasn’t long before they were falling in love with one another. One thing led to another, and…

Needless to say, it was a dream date for them both, and Cyrus was so taken with Laurena that after their date had ended he dropped to one knee and proposed to her before she could get away. She happily accepted.

Thursday was a quieter day for them. Having found his bride, Cyrus turned his attention to working on the skills he needed to earn a promotion at work. He spent the day working out on the exercise machine they’d bought, and that evening, his hard work paid off when he found out at the end of his shift that the promotion he’d put in for had gone through.

By Friday, Nadya was feeling a bit cooped up in the house, and decided to take a trip downtown to meet some new people. While she liked Laurena, she was a little bit worried that Cyrus might have been a little hasty in asking practically the first woman he met here to marry him the  way he had. So, she determined find some other women to introduce him to, just so he could be certain there wasn’t someone else who would be a better match for him. Secretly, Nadya hoped there might be another yellow woman around that he liked better so that they could be certain that their color of the spectrum wouldn’t die out. So, with this goal in mind, she went to Rodney’s Hideout downtown, and spent the afternoon playing cards and chatting with various people she met there, including another yellow woman.

That evening, Nadya invited Breanna, and another yellow woman she’d met, Vesta Cantave, over to meet Cyrus. He graciously spent time with both women and made a good effort at getting to know them a bit for his mother’s sake. While he didn’t wish to hurt Laurena, he was willing to change his mind about who he would marry if it turned out he liked one of the women his mother had met better. As it happened, however, neither Breanna nor Vesta proved to be all that compatible with him. He got along well enough with Breanna, but didn’t feel much chemistry there, certainly less than he felt with Laurena. He had a hard time even holding a conversation with Vesta, and gave up on trying to get to know her fairly quickly since it was clear they weren’t compatible. Thus, by the end of the evening, he’d determined that he would be keeping his wedding plans with Laurena, and he went ahead and made the arrangements to have the arch and a table and cake delivered the next day so they could go ahead and have the wedding.
Saturday dawned, and after the wedding items had arrived, he got on the phone and invited several of his and his mother’s friends over for a party to watch him and Laurena exchange their vows. He put on his best suit, and Laurena arrived in a lovely short white lace gown. They mingled with their guests for a bit, then once they were certain everyone had arrived who was coming, they called for everyone to gather outside by the arch while they took their places underneath it.

"I Laurena, take you Cyrus, to be my lawfully wedded husband..."

"I Cyrus, take you Laurena, to be my lawfully wedded wife..."

Finally, as their friends looked on and cheered for them, Cyrus made it official by kissing his new wife quite thoroughly.

Laurena (Hightower) Orpiment: G1 Adult, Family/Grilled Cheese, LTW: Become Captain Hero, Aquarius 4/4/4/7/6, Turn ons: Black Hair, Great Cook; Turn off: Red Hair
The observed all of the traditions despite the relatively casual atmosphere of the party, and Cyrus had great fun shoving the first bite of cake into his wife's mouth.

The party proved to be a roof raising success, and when it was over, Cyrus and Laurena both ran eagerly to get into the limo that showed up to take them off to their rented hotel room for the evening – where they had a great deal of fun of a different sort. All too soon, the evening ended however, and not long after they arrived home again, Laurena began to suspect that their honeymoon, brief though it had been had not been…unproductive.

The next day at work, Cyrus has to make a choice between studying for upcoming exams or socializing with his fellow academy cadets. He chooses to study, and it proves to be the right choice, and his performance on a pop quiz later that day nets him an early promotion.

Meanwhile, now that her son was married, Nadya began to think about possibly finding someone for herself again. Thusfar she had met mostly women in Spectrum Hills, but there was one man her age that she’d become acquainted with, and on Sunday afternoon she invited him over for a casual date to see if there was anything there.

Unfortunately, the date didn’t go very well, and her attempts at becoming more…friendly…with him, seemed to only irritate Percy. Before long, she conceded that it just wasn’t going to work out, and worked to simply not lose the friendship they’d been building until now instead of trying to flirt with him.
Later on that night, Laurena awoke with a strange feeling in her stomach. She stood up to head to the bathroom, but before she could take even one step, her belly popped out, confirming her pregnancy. Relieved that the sickness she’d been having should be over now, she climbed back into bed to get some more sleep.
As Monday morning dawned, the Orpiment’s first week in Spectrum Hills came to a close. It had been a good week for them, and they were certain that the future would only continue to bring them more happiness.

Gamboge – Round 1

Cipriano Gamboge: G1 Elder, Popularity/Pleasure, LTW: Become an Icon, Sagittarius 2/3/9/7/4, Turn Ons: Unemployed, Vampirism; Turn Off: Charismatic
Irina Gamboge: G1 Elder, Pleasure/Knowledge, LTW: Have 50 Dream Dates, Aquarius 4/4/4/7/6, Turn Ons: Facial Hair, Red Hair; Turn Off: Underwear
Arthur Gamboge: G1 Elder, Knowledge/Family, LTW: Become Ecological Guru, Aries 5/8/6/3/3, Turn Ons: Underwear, Plantsimism; Turn Off: Witchcraft
Timoteo Gamboge: G1 Adult, Fortune/Romance, LTW: Become World Class Ballet Dancer, Leo 4/10/4/4/3, Turn Ons: Custom Hair, Unemployed; Turn Off: Witchcraft
Carla Gamboge: G1 Adult, Popularity/Knowledge, LTW: Become Rock God, Taurus 5/5/3/8/4, Turn Ons: Unemployed, Formal Wear; Turn Off: Unemployed
Erick Gamboge: G1 Toddler, Leo 4/10/4/4/3

After arriving at their new home, the Gamboge family spent the rest of the day on Monday settling in and getting to know a few of their new neighbors. Timoteo stayed out front with Erick for awhile working on teaching him how to talk then brought him inside to the potty when he figured the little guy was probably needing it. He and Carla were hoping to get Erick potty trained soon to save the time of having to change his diapers all the time.

Once Erick was down for a nap, Timoteo and Carla both searched the want ads and were lucky enough to both find jobs in their desired fields. A few phone calls was all it took for them both to be employed. While Carla hated to leave little Erick when she went to work, she was glad that they had Timoteo’s parents and uncle to look after him and didn’t have to call in a nanny. Arthur in particular was a big help to them since, as a Knowledge sim, he loved working on teaching Erick his skills. It didn’t take long of him working with him for Erick to learn how to talk.

Timoteo got off to a good start with his new job on Tuesday when he impressed the gym supervisor with his dedication to his job by going ahead with the class he was to teach despite having injured himself slightly. The supervisor was so impressed that he offered Timoteo a promotion despite the fact that he wasn’t really qualified for one yet.

Timoteo was ecstatic about the promotion, and determined to prove he was worthy of it. Instead of celebrating when he got home early, he headed inside and started working with the ballet bar to build his skills. He found he had so much fun working out that way that he was certain he had made the right career choice.

Meanwhile, Cipriano and Irina had spent the afternoon with each other, having one of their in-house dates that they enjoyed so much. Though the others in the household politely ignored their more extravagant displays of affection, Timoteo rarely could help smiling to himself at how in love his parents still seemed to be. And when he heard the tell-tale sounds coming from their bedroom, he simply turned up the TV to give them their privacy.

Carla also did well at work on Tuesday. While she didn't receive any special opportunities, she did manage to earn a promotion on her first day at work. Though excited, she was tired when she got home and anxious to see Erick and spend some time with him before she went to bed.

That evening, Irina worked with Erick on learning how to walk, and Cipriano completed his potty training.

Timoteo worked with Erick a bit more before he left for work, and beamed with pride when his son finally managed to walk across the room to him.

Wednesday was another good day at work for both Carla and Timoteo. Carla caught a break when she managed to exceed the expectations of a picky piano tuning client and managed a promotion out of the deal.

Then Timoteo unexpectedly gets a chance to fill in for the lead dancer when the other man suddenly falls ill. He manages to wow the crowd, and is offered a new and better position after the performance.

Carla spent the extra time at home trying to teach Erick one of the nursery rhymes she remembered learning as a child. She didn’t have a lot of success in getting him to sing the rhyme with her, but she could tell that Erick really loved the music as she sang to him and was certain he was going to follow in his father’s hobby footsteps.

Meanwhile, Arthur had been keeping himself busy studying different cooking recipes and techniques to feed his insatiable thirst for knowledge. He developed something of an aptitude for cuisine in the process, and on Wednesday evening a strangely dressed man stopped by to offer him an invitation to a secret lot.

The job luck continued for Carla on Thursday when she managed to turn a bad decision she’d made into an opportunity to impress her boss with her honesty. It netted her another promotion.

That evening it was time to celebrate Erick’s birthday. The whole family gathered around the cake that Carla had picked up on her way home from work and cheered for him as Carla helped him blow out his candles then set him on the floor so he could transition to being a child.

Friday proved to be less eventful for the family. Erick had his first day of school and met a girl named Daniela Histand that came home with him on the bus. They played together for awhile until it was time for her to go home, managing to become true friends in the process. Meanwhile, his parents and grandparents took advantage of some free time they had to spend time with each other doing in-house dates. Cipriano and Irina still couldn’t ever get enough of being together and were as romantic as a pair of teenagers most of the time. Timoteo and Carla had fewer chances to spend time together, so they made the most of it when they did get a chance. This time, however, their little home date was not without consequences.

On Saturday, Arthur helped Erick get his homework done and taught him how to study effectively so that he’d be able to do it on his own more easily when there wasn’t anyone available to help him. As they were finishing, Cipriano called for a taxi to head over to Bluewater to do some grocery shopping.

While he was at the store, Cipriano met several people, including their neighbor Lata Brandeis. He spent some time talking with her and with another lady, Annetta Gunner, and became friends with both women.

On Sunday, most of the family members spent a quiet day at home, reading and working on their skills. There were a number of payoffs for them, with Irina being the first to be rewarded when a woman stopped by to offer her a membership to an exclusive nature park nearby.

Carla had her pregnancy confirmed when her stomach suddenly popped out on her after she finished eating breakfast.

Timoteo had to work that day, and by the end of the day he learned that his hard work with the exercise equipment and ballet bar had paid off when he was offered another promotion.

That evening, the man in the strange red jumpsuit came by the house twice. First to present Arthur with a hobby plaque for cuisine for all the studying he’d been doing to improve his cooking skills, and second to offer Cipriano, who’d also been studying cooking some, a membership to the secret cooking lot.

As Monday morning rolled around again, the first week in Spectrum Hills came to a close for the Gamboge family. They all felt that they had learned a great deal here and had changed in significant ways already, and continued to look forward to what the future would bring, especially with a new family member on the way.

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Author’s Note: This was a busy household with so many sims living here, but the week seemed to flow by fairly easily. I don’t think there was ever a point in time when there wasn’t someone awake though, no matter what time of the day or night it was. Leave it to unemployed elders to keep really wacky schedules…lol. Also, I’m not really sure why the hobby people aren’t dressed the way they usually are here. I can only surmise that it has something to do with the fact I started with blank templates in this neighborhood, sets to custom townies, and batch-spawned downtownies and extra townies.

Carmine – Round 1

Claudia Carmine: G1 Teen, Knowledge/Fortune, LTW: Become City Planner, Capricorn 7/4/1/8/5, Turn Ons: Unemployed, Custom Hair; Turn Offs: Blond Hair

After her father’s sudden death upon their arrival at their new home, Claudia had gone inside to grieve in private. She quickly realized, however,  that if she was going to make it on her own she’d have to pull herself together and get on with doing the things she needed to be doing, instead of sitting in the house crying about her father.  And the first thing she needed to do was go to school. She was a knowledge sim after all, and anxious to see her new school and get back to learning more about the world and all the subjects in it. And so, even though she knew she’d be late and could easily just wait until tomorrow to start, she decided to walk up to the school and at least make sure that she was properly registered and get her class schedule and such. While there, she met a few other teens, and one of them, Kurtis Watson, decided to accompany her home on the school bus. When they got there, several people from the neighborhood were waiting to welcome her to Spectrum Hills. She greeted them, invited them all in, and spent the afternoon chatting with them and with Kurtis until finally bidding them all goodbye around dinner time so she could get her homework done and get to bed at a reasonable hour.

The next morning while she was fixing herself a bowl of cereal for breakfast, she discovered that she really liked cooking and wanted to learn more about cuisine in general. School was uneventful that day, and when she got home, there was an old gypsy hanging around on the front lawn with a crystal ball. Claudia went over to speak with her and the woman explained that she could help Claudia find true love…for the right price of course. Mindful of her limited funds, and the need to conserve what money she had right now, Claudia politely declined the offer, but promised to give the woman a call if she ever changed her mind. After saying goodbye to the old woman, she went inside and heard the phone ringing. It was Kurtis, and he invited her to come downtown with him and some of his friends who were going to SimBowl Lanes. Claudia agreed to meet them there.

Upon arriving, Claudia was surprised to find that the group wasn’t just teenagers, but people of all ages, including a little girl and an older man. She was excited to see that two of them were reds like her, as she was afraid she might be the only one left since her father died. After the taxi pulled away, she struck up a conversation with one of the, Archie Hakimi.

After talking to Archie for a bit, she went inside and mingled with the others in the group, eventually getting everyone to sit around and talk as a group so they could all get to know one another.  While everyone had a ok time, when the time they’d allotted for the outing was over, everyone agreed that it was just ok, and not spectacular, and they weren’t entirely sure if they wanted to get together again or not.

Claudia stuck around a bit after the outing ended, bowling a few frames with Archie, and chatting with a few of the other people there. Before long, however, she found she was getting tired, so she called a taxi and headed home.

That evening and most of the day on Wednesday went by fairly uneventfully. She got her homework done, slept, went to school, came home and took a nap before starting on her homework since she was still tired from the outing the day before. Though she didn’t notice him since she was still asleep on the couch, her father’s ghost appeared out front, and wandered around the yard and inside the house for awhile, looking sad, and re-enacting his own death.

It was at this point that something curious happened. Time seemed to warp a bit, and when she awoke from her nap it was Tuesday afternoon again and she was just getting back from the bowling alley. (Author’s Note: I accidentally exited the game without saving while trying to get a picture of Nelson’s ghost re-enacting his death, and thus I had the time-warp. Nelson didn’t make a re-appearance when I played things through again.)  Again, Tuesday evening went by un-eventfully, but on Wednesday, one of the girls from school that she’d just met came home with her on the bus. Her name was Tessa Shelton and she and Claudia hung out for the afternoon, watching TV, chatting, and having a water balloon fight.

After Tessa left, Claudia had a quiet evening of homework and painting before getting to bed. Thursday turned out to be a good day for her. She got her first A report card that day, and she had a little celebration for herself as she got off the bus.

Another potential friend came home with her that day. Her name was Karly Brewer and they hung out together for the afternoon, watching TV and chatting.

That evening Karly had left, while she was making herself some macaroni and cheese for dinner, she looked out the window and noticed a large black dog in the yard. He almost looked more like a wolf actually instead of just a dog, and it piqued her curiosity. She went outside to say hello to him, and was glad that he appeared to be friendly. She petted him, fed him a few treats, somehow knew that his name was Diddy, and then started to try to teach him a trick.

Before long, however, her grumbling stomach forced her to go back inside and finish her dinner. She saw Diddy lope off down the street. She made her dinner, did her homework, and then climbed into bed, exhausted.

Friday afternoon, a guy named Bastian Grant came home from school with her. He bore a striking resemblance to Kurtis, whom she’d met earlier in the week, but she felt that she and Bastian might have a bit more of a connection. After chatting with him for awhile, she tentatively started flirting with him, and he seemed receptive. Encouraged, she hugged him, and as they embraced, she decided she wanted to have her first kiss to see what it was like. Slowly, she leaned in…only to be crushed when he suddenly pushed her away and asked her what she thought she was doing and told her he liked her well enough, but wasn’t ready to go there with her yet. She nodded mutely, then they chatted a bit more and she managed to mend the damage to their budding relationship that her premature attempt to kiss him had caused. She didn’t try again, and gave him a simple friendly hug and wished him goodbye when he told her he needed to get going. The rest of the evening went by fairly uneventfully for her.

Finally the weekend was upon her, though she didn’t have any big plans like other teens might have. Instead, she was looking forward to the extra time to work on her skills and catch up with a few things around the house that she hadn’t had time for during the week. And so, she spent the weekend mostly painting and reading, developing her creativity, mechanical skills, and cooking skills. On Saturday, she met Cyrus Orpiment who lived down the street from her when he walked past her house. She chatted with him for a little while, but she didn’t really like him much so she said goodbye after only a short while.  She also spent some time talking on the phone with the various people she’d met during the week. Diddy wandered by again and she got to spend a little time with him, and she also encountered another dog/wolf named Rascal. He had glowy eyes that fascinated Claudia, but she found that it was harder to try to get to know him. Before she knew it the weekend was over and it was Monday morning again and time to get ready for school.

And that is where we leave Claudia for this week. Join us again soon when we spend a week with the Gamboge family.