The Caliente-Curious Household

Welcome to the Curious Family! The three Curious brothers have long given up the weird and impractical house originally given to them by Maxis; this "Tudor" mansion suits their needs much better. A drive for the big family car has been added as well as hot springs. Now let's take a look at the current inhabitants, shall we?

Pascal Curious is the one everybody remembers probably as being their first pregnant male Sim in the game :-) He is now an elderly gentleman who has reached his lifetime want a little while back; at 56, he became a World Class Ballet Dancer (and is still working).

His daughter Carolina has only him as biological parent - the Alien heritage had to be abandoned when I cleaned up the memories and family trees of all the Maxis-made Sims before moving them to New Maximiliania. Carolina is a teenager with the Pleasure aspiration; she wants to have 50 first dates. Her first one she's already had with Buck Grunt before the start of this week.

Next is the only one of the three brothers who has found his love - and not only found her, but also lives with her: Lazlo loves Dina Caliente. He wants to be Criminal Mastermind and is working as a Smuggler at the moment. Dina's lifetime want was to be Chief of Staff; she reached that when she still had 6 days to go until Elderhood.

Vidcund is convinced he will make a very good Education Minister. For the moment, he is in the position of College Senior Professor.

Last but not least, the household has a four-legged member: the dog named Tinkerbell was a gift from, I think, Cassandra Roseland.

Because their butler (the only one in New Maximiliania, if I am not mistaken) produces burnt waffles for breakfast, Dina rather gets herself a bowl of cereals.

On Monday evening, Carolina has the 2nd of her planned 50 first dates. The "lucky" one is Garret Newson.

On Tuesday, Vidcund is fired because of the wrong decision with a chance card.

He instantly runs upstairs and checks the job adverts online, hoping to find a position in the Education career again, but to no avail. The bitter tears he cries are justified - tonight, he will turn into an Elder and thus his last chance to make his lifetime want come true has gone.

And, as expected, at 6.00 pm, a still distraught Vidcund age-transitions - in the bathroom (where else!), and into an outfit that can only be described as sartorial catastrophe.

Fortunately, he finds a pair of jeans and a purple polo neck shirt in the wardrobe, and as he looks better, he also starts to feel better. Even though he will never reach Permanent Platinum, most of his wants revolve around skill-building, and this is what he is going to do now - after all, being unemployed, he has plenty of time for that.

He uses a lot of his time to try and keep on top of the gardening, too. Somehow, there is always something that needs doing out there!

If it isn't watering the plants or raking the leaves, it is trimming the maze hedge.

It is during one such prolonged gardening session on Wednesday that Dina turns into an Elder. As she is already on Permanent Platinum, I am sure she will still be around for a long time!

Carolina has invited Sharla Ottomas over for a game of chess.

On Thursday, Lazlo reaches permanent platinum by being promoted to Criminal Mastermind! He is 4 days away from his next birthday.

This is his outfit. Somehow, it looks sexy on a female Sim but ridiculous on a male :-)

On the same evening, Carolina maximizes her logic skill.

It is Friday, and when Vidcund is not studying one skill or another...

...he makes sure to greet any New Maximilianian passing by. This time, it is Brittany Upsnott.

Carolina has her 3rd "First Date" with Garrett Newson's brother Gallagher.

He is so impressed with her that he leaves a dance sphere after his visit!

Saturday afternoon is nice and sunny, although with an autumnal chill in the air. Dina and Lazlo enjoy a game of pool.

Later, a skunk appears, attracted by the rubbish next to the bin. Dina tries to pet it but is "rewarded" with a spray of the most horrible smell she can imagine.

Sometimes I wonder what the household are paying their butler for! The dog house needs cleaning, there is a pile of smelly rubbish next to the bin, and an infestation of bugs have resulted from it.

In the end it is Pascal, not the butler, to tackle the problem.

On Sunday afternoon, Carolina's first date No. 4 is Hal Capp.

Her uncle Vidcund gets invited to Games of Glory.

Take a look at Lazlo - it will be the last time you see him like this...

...because in the evening, he turns into an Elder.

Carolina is now so full of games enthusiasm that she is positively glowing with it :-) We are soon going to be back; this time, we visited the household because of Dina Caliente's surname. The name Curious is not far off on the alphabetical list!

- - - Update 17.10.2010 - - - It took longer than expected to be back at this household, mostly because other things demanded my attention and I did not have as much time for playing as I would have liked to. But now we are back and will see how this week at the Curious household is going to go. On Monday, we find Vidcund, the most studious of the three brothers, maximizing his mechanical skill.

Carolina is watching her dad making breakfast. She knows she won't be here much longer; college is waiting with all its opportunities.

Lazlo is taking a trip into town to buy himself some jewellery: an earring and a watch. Although he and Dina are determined to stay together for the rest of their natural lives and are as much in love with each other as always, they are still "only" a 2-bolt-couple, and Lazlo would really like to be Dina's 3-bolt-man. One of her turn-ons is jewellery, so he gives it a try. (They remain on 2 bolts. I have tried everything I could, but it looks like this is not going to change.)

Tinkerbell meets Tramp, the beautiful white wolf who keeps visiting her throughout the week.

Carolina has just finished building a snow man.

 Late in the evening, Pascal is accepted as a member at "Peerless Park".

Tuesday morning, Carolina applies for scholarships and then makes her move to college...

...with a good-bye from her Uncles Lazlo and Vidcund as well as Auntie Dina who, strictly speaking, is not her aunt, as she is not a blood relative nor married to her uncle Lazlo. And where is her dad? Asleep, I'm afraid to say. Well, I could just pretend that he is already in the car, waiting to take his beloved daughter to her dorm at college.

So far, the Curious household has been the only one in all of New Max to have a butler. They have never been entirely happy with his services; he tried to tackle the huge garden on his own, neglecting other duties, instead of ordering a gardener. One day, he keeps walking back and forth between two of the triangular flower beds, seemingly unable to focus on any other task. The Curious brothers finally have had enough and fire the butler, who is obviously deeply unhappy about this.

So, the brothers do their best once again, and many an hour is spent gardening, sometimes way into the night.

The week goes by with Pascal mooching around the house, missing his daughter.

On Friday, Vidcund is given his membership card to the Peerless Park...

...followed by Lazlo on Saturday.

Pascal still works as a World Class Ballet Dancer, and Tara DeBateau is one of his colleagues.

Very early on Sunday morning, the Gypsy Lady (I miss her arrival, so the screenshot only shows the lamp and not her) places a magic lamp at the back door.

Now, everyone but Vidcund has reached Permanent Platinum, and he does not stand a chance since he was fired and then too old to get back into the Education Career. Therefore, it seems only fair that he gets the chance now to get to Permanent Platinum, too.

He seems to think that it would be good if the Genie was able to make the necessity of trimming the hedges and water the flowers go away for ever :-) But in the end he asks for Peace of Mind which equals Permanent Platinum, and his wish is granted. There are still two wishes left, but at the moment, nobody needs anything else.

Sunday night and the week ends with a thunderstorm, setting one of the trees on fire, but with the rain extinguishing the flames very quickly. We leave the brothers with Pascal now being 70, Vidcund 66 and Lazlo 61, while Dina is 65. Of course, we are going to check on Carolina and how she is doing at college - remember, her goal in life is to have 50 first dates, and with male students around her, she should be able to add quite a few to the four she has managed during her teenage years.

(Note: when I wrote this, the dramatic fire at the dorm at La Fiesta Tech obviously had not yet happened. If you read this post, you will find out what happens to Carolina and why we won't see her return to her Dad and her uncles after graduation.