Family names and related posts

Wednesday 2 September 2015

The Hart-Stacks Family: Week 7

You can click here for week 6 at this household.


Sorry, dear readers - for a change, this post does not begin with a picture of the house, because I forgot to take it at the start to the week. But I can tell you nonetheless where we are: At the Hart-Stacks family.
Matthew Hart lives here, he is 68 and an Infallibly Good Warlock. His wife of many years and 3-bolt-love Jane (nee Stacks) is here, too. But who is the woman next to the mail box? It is Frances Hart - a townie I have now decided to turn into a playable. As she has the same surname as one of the original playables (Matthew), I treat her as a distant cousin of his.
During my last post, you've seen her become best friends (and more...) with Ripp Grunt. Frances is a Knowledge Sim who wants to become Chief of Staff.

Matthew and Jane had a daughter before they were married, Helena, whose surname is still Stacks. Because both Matthew and Jane dream of having six grandchildren, Jane has twin daughters with Cedric Cooke, half-Alien son of the late Julien Cooke. Cedric does not live here, but is invited over often and has an excellent relationship with his daughters and his "in-laws".
Helena is currently the only member of this household who is on Permanent Platinum (being a Rock Goddess).

This is Stacy, one of Helena's twins. "So you and my granddad are cousins? But he is very old, and you're only old," the little girl is puzzled by how this newfound relation of hers fits in.

It's crucial for Frances to find a job in the medical career if she wants to make her LTW come true, but she is not successful on this Monday.

Jane feels a distinct chill in the air this autumn morning and lights the fire. (It is a wish of hers recurring all week to light the fire.)


Then she sits down with her new household member to have a good chat with the younger woman. "So, Frances, is there... erm... anyone special in your life right now?"
Frances does not think so - all week she does not roll any romantic wants. The fling with Ripp certainly was nothing special - for Ripp anyway.

Fenya Hart, nee Furley, still lives here as well. As a child, she was adopted by the Harts after her entire family perished in a house fire induced by the lights on a Christmas tree. The traumatic event has not left any negative traces on the girl; she is happy to be part of the big, loving Hart family. Because family means everything to her, it is only fitting that has the Family aspiration and dreams of her Golden Anniversary.

Frances has the wish to go swimming, so I send her to the 1-2-3 Gym.

Helena and Jane go with her, making it a small family outing. It's nice of them to show Frances her new neighbourhood, I think. Chester Gieke and Lisa Ramirez have just arrived, too.

There are more New Maximilianians gathering in the TV room where hot dogs are served than in the actual gym rooms!

Back home, Fenya plays with her little sister Stephanie before the younger girl sits down to do her homework.

That same evening, she leaves for college. She does not need it for her LTW, but she had the wish and did not go away. Jane was secretly hoping for her to stay and have one or two babies as soon as possible, but she would never put any pressure on her daughters.

On Tuesday, Jane is first to get up. She aways does things like making the bed and cleaning up the table after a meal without me telling her.

Frances makes herself useful, too.

Who's that? A younger version of Frances? It's Sophie Miguel, a teenage townie who at closer inspection only has skin tone and hairstyle in common with Frances.

Stephanie and Stacy both come home with their first A+ reports that day. How proud they are!

Caleb Capp is with them.

Stephanie runs inside to show her A+ to her mum and her grandparents.

When Stacy follows a few minutes later, it seems she can't get through to her mum, because Caleb is asking her all sorts of questions about the magic abilities of her father.

(This really happened - Stacy couldn't show off her A+, and nobody seemed to be thrilled the way they were with Stephanie.) In revenge, Stacy goes upstairs and jumps on her mother's bed, something she knows exactly she is not supposed to do.

Helena still works as a Rock Goddess, which sometimes means she is not home in the afternoons and evenings. But Grandma Jane and Grandpa Matthew always look after the girls then, not only making sure they get wholesome meals, but also that they do their homework.

By the time Helena comes home after a concert, the girls are fast asleep and all she can do is check on her daughters.

It is Wednesday, and the computer needs repairing. Frances is best suited to do the job, and also she needs the computer the most - she still has not found a job.

Instead, she does what she can to help around the house and garden.
Can you believe I still get to see thíngs have not yet seen before in my game? This time, it is Jane waving to Cedric when she spots him walking up to the house. I checked the action and found it is called "Faraway Greet".

Jane and Cedric retreat upstairs. Soon, the little bells ring to announce there will be another family member before the week is over.

Jane invites Hailey over - she has recently graduated from college but chose to live in a place of her own for now. Strictly speaking, Hailey is not Jane's daughter, but only Matthew's. Her other dad is the same Pollination Technician that has fathered about 20 other New Maximilianians.

When the twins come home from school, they are happy to find their Dad there. Stacy loves being swung around! Catherine Capp gets off the bus with the girls today.

Soon, a water balloon fight provides fun for nearly everyone. It's school girls against adults! This was one of the last sunny afternoons warm enough for such entertainment.

To celebrate Hailey's visit, Jane decides on her own accord to make a Holiday Roast.

"These two... Mum, do you think they'll ever get married?" Hailey wonders.
So far, neither Helena nor Cedric have showed the wish, although they can hardly keep their hands off each other when he is visiting.

Thursday morning, Matthew uses a handy spell to get rid of water puddles on the bathroom floor.

Stephanie flies the kite for half an hour before the school bus arrives. You can tell it is well and truly autumn now.

And Frances has finally found a job! She starts as an Intern.

"Mum, guess what - I need to eat for two again..." Jane is very happy when she learns of Helena's pregnancy.

She immediately sets about making cheesecake. Another set of twins would be so nice!

The girls return from school with two class mates in tow. First, there is Maria Monty, half-Alien daughter of Romeo Monty, and through their Alien grandfather, related to Stephanie and Stacy.

But she is not a very nice guest - the first thing she does is to steal the sculpture from the front garden.

Second is Nelson Newson. He is a rather unhappy, aggressive kid. I've never seen another Sim-kid behave like that!

He kicks the air and screams for no apparent reason. A veritable little terror!

But after a while, things calm down and the children play nicely together. Frances returns from her first day at work with a promotion to Resident.

Helena's pregnancy is now visible, and Stacy is intrigued.

It is the last day of autumn, and the twins are allowed to have a sort of mini-Halloween at home. I've found they have these princess dresses in their wardrobe, and it was nice to have them dress up.

They are even allowed cheesecake for their tea, something that does not happen every day!

It is still dark on Friday morning when Matthew decides to go and steal back the sculpture Maria Monty nicked the day before.

Cedric has been invited over again. He knows just what Helena needs in her condition.

While Frances is busily studying for her next promotion, Helena takes a rest on the settee.

The first snow flakes are a reminder that autumn is over.

On Saturday morning, Frances returns from work as a GP.

It snows for several hours, and by the time the girls wake up, not only do they find a winter wonderland outside, but their grandparents have also taken the Halloween decoration down and put up Christmas trees and reindeers.

Hailey and Cedric have come over to enjoy a batch of Christmas cookies and the company of their family.

The lounge has turned all Christmassy, too.

In the middle of all this...

...little Stella Stacks is born, much to the delight of her parents and grandparents.

Everyone competes for a chance to give the baby its bottle.

The same afternoon, the twins turn into teenagers.

Stacy (back) rolls the Romance aspiration and the LTW to become Celebrity Chef. Her twin sister Stephanie turns out to be a Fortune Sim and wants to be The Law one day. Neither of the girls shows a particular good dress sense... But that can be easily remedied.

Sunday starts with Grandma Jane giving her youngest grandchild the bottle.

It is good to have someone with magic abilities in the house - colds, flus and mysterious diseases are cured just so much quicker!

Helena asks Cedric over again. Still no romantic wishes, but look at them!

Helena has to play a concert that night, but Cedric stays with his daughters and makes sure they all have some fun. Even Frances joins in.

Will Frances remain with her relatives or eventually find a place on her own? Is there going to be a special someone in her life?
Are Helena and Cedric ever going to live together, and get married?
What about the twins - will they join Fenya at college? And how is Haily doing on her own?
How long are Matthew and Jane going to be around - long enough to see three more  grandchildren?

10 comments:

  1. i thought Helena ate the cheesecake? Maybe it was too late. It is nice that you are welcoming outsiders into your game? Hopefully the new hart will find love on her own accord. Lovely read.

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    1. She did, but this time did not have twins. Maybe she ate it too early - before her belly showed. Or cheesecake is not a 100 % guarantee for twins. It means the other two daughters - Fenya and Hailey - will have to have babies, too.

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  2. I love what you did with the lounge!

    Your Frances is playable in my game too, only she's named Ratna. She kept coming home from work with General Buzz Grunt, and eventually they got married and had a baby (quite late in his life). They later divorced, and she's now married to a different former-townie and has had more children. I think she's a doctor in my game too!

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    1. Thank you! It certainly is a bit of a different house, what with the two levels on the ground floor. That was there originally, I only did the decorating and furnishing and quite like it myself :-)
      Isn't it funny that we have the same ex-townie integrated in our 'hoods?

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  3. I really enjoyed this story. How interesting that you chose to make Matthew a witch and that you joined him up with Jane. In college he's with Sarah Love right? Also interesting to add Frances who has the same last name... Love it! Well you may remember I said I was going to catch myself up on your back stories and now I have a couple questions. 1- who is Buck? he had on the black fedora? also how did you get the sims to do those fancy skate moves? I know you dont cheat so it must come with the game. Its great! I never knew you could do that. These questions come from the Academie Le Tour students entry 22.11.2010. Hey is there a "how to blog" section on blogger?

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    1. Yes, the original Maxis set-up was to pair Matthew Hart with Sarah Love, but in my game, that never happened, because I had to clean out all their memories with SimPE before setting up New Maximiliania.
      Jane and Matthew were ideally suited because they both have the same LTW.

      Buck is one of the three sons General Buzz Grunt originally raises on his own: Tank, Ripp and Buck. At the start of the game, Buck is a little boy of school age, Ripp and Tank are teenagers.
      The skate moves are part of the game, as you have guessed.

      I am sure there is a help section on blogger somewhere; I just never use it. Just ask away if you have any questions about blogging - I am always happy to help with that :-)

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    2. Ooohhhh! Thats right I forgot you did say you made a clean hood and that is what I going to use but im just going to download one - not too tech savvy. And that does make sense to have them w matching ltw! cool! also forgot about the Grunts - dont usually play them but I will when I get my hood together - I found the help section after but it is confusing so I will definitely take you up on the offer to bug you lol! Its amazing to watch sims' older stories I saw Cedric in college over the weekend - I forgot which story I read. thanks for being so nice and keep writing you're very good!

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    3. Thank you - it's great to have readers like you, and not just writing things up for myself :-)

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  4. What an action packed round- (I'm playing catch up after a holiday).
    I do love to see the 'firsts' in the game after all this time of playing, it shows how much content there actually is doesn't it?
    Hot Dogs at the gym, haha you don't see that much. ;)
    The 6 player water fight looks like great fun, I didn't realise so many Sims could play at once.
    I like the idea of adding townies/npc's with the same surnames, it does make it feel like the family experience.

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    1. I love group games such as waterballoon/snowball fights! I think even more Sims can participate. All you have to do is choose one Sim who is already playing as your active Sim and then click on other Sims and choose "join" (or "Ask to join" or something).
      There are a few more townies with surnames like residents: there is a Christian Love who could be an elderly uncle to Sarah Love; there is at least one "Kim" and the "Hart" townie I have recently added, as well as a few Cho students who already live on campus but are not being played at the moment.

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Whether you play The Sims 2 yourself or not, it would be great hearing from you. As I will reply to comments regularly, please remember to come back if you have asked a question.